The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-09-12
DEATH OF TECUl[SEH.
POINTS ON A QUESTION THAT HAS
LONG BEEN IN DISPUTE.

tho Late Richard Conncr's Papers.
Tho following account of the death
of the great Indian chieftain Tecumseh,
or Tccumthe, was found Smong the pa
pers of Richard j. Conner, editor of the
Peru Sentinel, who died i'll this city
July 30, 1895. 1t contains information
touching tho question that has hereto
fore been widely disputed. Tho death
of Mr.. Conner prevented the fulfillment
OF the task, says the indianapolis News:
My fathers family was captured by
the Indians about the year 1855 1t may
have been earlier or IL year or two later.
They were carried to Michigan, and
were afterward ransomed by some Mo
ravians, and tho family settled about
four or five miles below the present site
OF Mount Clemens, on the Clinton river,
% miles north of the city of Detroit
When captured. the family lived ut
q place called Conner's Town, or Con-
ner's Station, near what is now the east
line of Coshocton county o., adioin-
ing Pennsylvania. The long journey
through tho wilderness then covering
tho distance from eastern Ohio TO the
Clinton river in Michigan WAS most
painful and fatisuing.
My father settled on White river III
central Indiana i'll 1902, hat lie had
made trip to the Wabash III 1900. He
remained at his trading post until the
breaking ont of the war with Great
Britain i'll 1912, when he Joined the
forces under General Harrisonsat Fort
Mcigs, on the :Maumee river and with
. do, ~
terprcter for General Harrison He was
sent by the general down the WabaslE
to the N1iamis, Rattawatomies and
Shawnees, to learn if possible their in
tentions and attitude III the approach
ing trouble with British forces. He
knew Tecumthe and his brother, the
Prophet, intimately. The Prophet often
befriended him, and was trustworthy
friend. My father always spoke we'll Of
these Indians He had many converse
lions with Tecumthe III regard to the
attitude of tho Indian tribes under his
direction and his reasons for his adher-
ence to the British cause, and his CO.
operation with that country in the war
that followed. Tecumthe complained
bitterly of the lack of faith on the part
OF tho United States III regard to per
formanco Of treaty stipulations and
contrasted it with the policy as carried
ont by Great Britain i'll its management
of Indian affairs in Canada He felt
that there was 10 security for tho In
dian and clearly foresnw that the timo
was not distant when the Indian would
possess little or no part of the domain
he had inherited from his fathers.
H.
that step by step the tribes would be
pushed farther west or exte.minated
by the bitterness and hate of the white
man. With power warlike and ag-
grcssive as Great Britain 10 back and
ally the Indian, ho hoped TO put off the
final day and possibly save Il remnant
of his people.
"These, i'll part at least, were the
reasons that actuated him in that Won
derful crusade he was making, visiting
tho tribes covering the country from
tho lakes to Arkansas. My father said
no had persuasive tongue and power
70 movo his fellow savages rare indeed,
and he never failed to rally the red man
on to tho war path. His nature WAS not
naturally savage one, and he often cx-
pressed adherence of unnecessary blood.
shed.
Ho declared that he would not tolor-
ate crueltics or predatory warfare on
peaceful, noncombatant settlements of
white people, but he felt it his duty to
rally the tribes and inflame them to
point of resistance and fair warfare
against the government Of the United
States, which had for hundred years
persistently pushed the Indians from
their homes and the places which that
government had assigned TO them with
solemn pledges that they should always
retain such as their future homes, and
that it would protect them from the
restless greed of white pioneers.
My father was III command of 500
friendly Indians al the battle OF the
Thames, i'll Canada. His command was
attached to Colonel Paul's regiment in
that battle. His Indians did some good
service and contributed to the defeat Of
the British and Indians
After the battle, late in the after
noon. he was summoned to the hcadquar-
ters of Colonel r. NJ. Johnston, who
stated to him that it was the rumor that
the great chief Tccumtho was among
the SLAIN Ill battle and requested my
father to take some Of his friendly In
dians and search the field and ascertain
if it We're indeed true. My father i'm
mediately took with him four or five
Delawares and began the search, which
was successful. When they found the
body, some of the Indians were not sure
that it was that of Tecumthe. There
was striking resemblance between the
two brothers, Tecunthe and the Prophct,