The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-01
WHOXILLED FAMOUS
 INDIAN CHIEFTAIN? :?
Louisville Man Is Credited With Fir ing Shot That Killed Tecumseh,
 But Many Doubt It

The renewal of the controversy as to who killed Tecumseh, the famous Indian war chief, recalls the fact that Tecumseh visited Oklahoma when he was trying to organize his vast confederation, embrac- ing all of the Indian tribes of the Great Lakes. Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast regions with which he was endeayoring to check the onward march of the whites and to prevent the establishment of any further white settlements in the Middle West, says an Oklahoma City special to the Kansas City Thi1es
 It was in the spring of 1Sll that Tecum- sch came to the village Of the Osage chief, Clermont near the historic Clare more mound. in Rogers county. Okla homa. He was accompanied by his broth CT, the Prophet" The latter is described as having been a man of commanding presence and an eloquent orator. yet so profound was the impression made upon the Osages by the words of Tecumseh that they scarcely noticed his brother "the Prophet at all Tecumseh was an impa ssioned orator and 1t was reported at the time that the natural sympathies of the Osages went out to him. However all of their deal ings had been with the French traders from St. Louis. by whom they had all ways been kindly treated Those traders were all loyal Americans at that time, so
 
 against Tecumseh and his ambitious de- signs. The Osages, therefore declined to join Tecumseh.
 Tecumseh was probably the most re- markable Indian of whom history takes account. His twin brother the Prophet :" whose name was Tensquatawa, claimed to have been inspired by a message from the Master of Life, in which all of the h. dians were directed to band themselves together to resist the further advance of white settlements. Tecumseh not only believed and adopted his brothers teach ings, but his own magnetic and persuasive eloquence gave to them an added force and influence.
 Tecumseh always disputed the validity of the treaties by which the Government had purchased the land of Ohio and h. diana from the Indians He claimed that they were not binding upon the Indians for the reason that only the chiefs had entered into such agreements. the war r1ors not being consulted at all having thus advocated the doctrine of practical referendum long before the white men of America ever dreamed of such a system, The battle of Tippecanoe. which oc- cured about six months after Tecumseh' S visit to the Osages, really spoiled all of his plans for confedera tionn of the h. dian tribes. He continued to labor for that end until the outbreak of the War of 1872. when he espoused the cause of the British and was commissioned a brga dier general in the army of King George His career ended with his death at the battle Of the Thames when he was still in the prime of life, being then about 45 years old.
 Col. R. M. Johnson of Louisville. Ky. has always been given the credit for kill ing Tecumseh, and was elected Vice Pres ident of the United States in 1886 largely
 on the strength of that record, but the claim Is now disputed by Dr. R. l. Spurr Of Lexington, Ky who says that accord ing to the story told by his uncle Richard Surr. survivor of the famous battle 1 1t was Col. William Whitley and not Col onel Johnson who killed Tecumseh The elder Spurr and Colonel Whitley were members of a party of volunteers de- | tailed to start the Indians out of the woods. In hand -to-hand combat Whitley killed two Indians, being shot bv the second one, who shot just as he did Spurr later recovered Whitley's body and also took in the bodies of the two In dians he killed. The second one. he said. ! was identified by General Harrison. who Knew him well, as being that of Tecum sch.
 Tecumseh's name is preserved fin Okla homa in the name of the county seat of Pottawatomie county. where a hand of Shawnee Indians, led by Tecumseh's S grandson, Wapameepto. better known in Oklahoma as Big Jim. lived many years.