het were busily stirring the tribes, far
and near, to rebellion. Governor Harrison was not a man to be easily
frightened, but he became apprehensive, and proposed to satisfy himself
by calling Tecumseh into conference.

The interview took place at Vincennes, and was extended over a period
of two weeks. There was a show of firmness, yet of good will, on both
sides. The Governor counseled peace, orderliness, and industry; the
warrior guest professed a desire to be a friend to the United States,
but said frankly that if the country continued to deal with the tribes
singly in the purchase of land he would be obliged to ally himself with
Great Britain. To Harrison's admonition that the redskins should leave
off drinking whiskey--"that it was not made for them, but for the white
people, who alone knew how to use it"--the visitor replied pointedly by
asking that the sale of liquor be stopped.

Notwithstanding the tenseness of the situation, Harrison negotiated
the land cessions of 1809, which cost the Indians their last valuable
hunting-grounds in Indiana. The powerful Wyandots promptly joined
Tecumseh's league, and war was made inevitable. Delay followed only
because the Government at Washington postponed the military occupation
of the new purchase, and because the British authorities in Canada,
desiring Tecumseh's confederacy to attain its maximum strength before
the test came, urged the redskins to wait.

For two more years--while Great Britain and the United States hovered on
the brink of war--preparations continued. Tribe after tribe in Indiana
and Illinois elected Tecumseh as their chief, alliances reached to
regions as remote as Florida. In 1810 another conference took place at
Vincennes; and this time, notwithstanding Harrison's request that not
more than thirty redskins should attend, four hundred came in Tecumseh's
train, fully armed.

"A large portico in front of the Governor's house [says a contemporary
account] had been prepared for the purpose with seats, as well for the
Indians as for the citizens who were expected to attend. When Tecumseh
came from his camp, with about forty of his warriors, he stood off, and
on being invited by the Governor, through an interpreter, to take his
seat, refused, observing that he wished the council to be held under the
shade of some trees in front of the house. When it was objected that it
would be troublesome to remove the seats, he replied that 'it would only
be necessary to