OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tecumseh, Son of Pucksinwah [8]
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Darlene E. Kelley
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374
April 13, 2000
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Historical Collections of Ohio
Diaries of S. J. Kelly
Plains Dealer
Know Your Ohio
by Darlene E. Kelley
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Tecumseh, Son of Pucksinwah -- " The Shawnee War Chief " -- part 8--


At 2:30 A.M. December 16,1811, the earth shook-- In the south of Canada,
in the village of the Iroquois, Ottawa, Chippewa and Huron, it came as a
deep and terrifying rumble. Creek banks caved in and huge trees toppled
in a continuous crash of snapping branches.

In all of the Great Lakes, but especially Lake Michigan and Lake Erie,
the waters danced and great waves broke erratically on the shores,
though there was no wind.

In the western plains, there was a fierce grinding sound and a
shuddering, which jarred the bones and set teeth on edge. Earthen
vessels split apart and great herds of bison staggered to their feet and
stampeded in abject panic.

To the south and west, tremendous boulders broke loose on hills and cut
swaths through the trees and brush to the bottoms. Rapidly running
streams stopped and eddied, and some of them abuptedly went dry and the
fish that lived in them flopped away their lives on the muddy or rocky
beds.

To the south, whole forests fell in incredible tangles. New streams
sprang up where none had been before. In the Upper Creek village of
Tuckabatchee, every dwelling shuddered and shook, and then collapsed
upon itslf and its inhabitants.

To the south and east, palm trees lashed about like whips, and lakes
emptied of their waters, while ponds appeared in huge declivities which
suddenly dented the surface of the earth.

All over the land, birds were roused from their roosting places with
screams of fright and flapping wings. Cattle bellowed and kicked, lost
their footing, and were thrown to the ground where they rolled about,
unable to regain their balance.

In Kentucky, Tennessee and the Indian Territory, settlers were thrown
from their beds, heard the timbers of their cabins wrench apart, and
watched the bricks crumble into heaps of debris masked in choking clouds
of dust. Bridges snapped and tumbled into the rivers and creeks. Glass
shattered, fences and barns collapsed and fires broke out. Along steep
ravines, the cliffside slipped and filled their chasms, and the country
was blanketing with a deafening roar.

In the center of all this, in the area where the Ohio River meets the
Mississippi, where Tennessee,Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois
come together, fantstic splits appeared in the ground and huge tracts of
land were swallowed up. A few miles from the Mississippi. near the
Kentucky-Tennesee border, a monstrous section of ground sank as if some
gigantic foot had stepped on the soft earth and mashed it down. Water
gushed forth in fantasic volume and the depression became filled and
turned into a large lake, to become known as Reelfoot Lake. The whole
midsection of the Mississippi writhed and heaved and tremendous bluffs
toppled into the muddy waters. Entire sections of land were inundated,
and others that had been riverbed were left high in the air. The
Mississippi itsef turned and flowed backwards for a time. It swirled and
eddied, hissed and gurgled, and at length, when it settled down, the
face of the land had changed. New Madrid was destroyed and the tens of
thousands of acres of land, including virtually all that was owned by
Simon Kenton, vanished forever and what remained was ugly and austere.

Such was the great sign of Tecumseh.

This was the earthquake which occurred where no tremor had ever been
recorded before. Where there was no scientific explanation for such a
thing happening. Where no one could possibly have anticipated or
predicted that an earthquake could happen. No one except Tecumseh.

And though they were only a small percentage of those who had pledged
themselves to do so, neverless quite a number of warriors of various
tribes gathered up their weapons an set out at once to join the amazing
Shawnee chief near Detroit.

The earthquake of December 16 was only a starter. It lasted,
intermittently, for two terrior filled days and at the end of that time,
the atmosphere was so choked with dust and smoke that for a week
afterwards, the sunshone sickly reddish-bronze through an ugly haze.

The second earthquake struck on January 23, and the third hit four days
later. And finally, on February 13, came the last and worst of them-- a
hideous grinding and snapping which last for only an hour, but caused
about as much damage as the other three combined.

This was powerful medicine-- more powerful than the Indians had ever
seen. Those who had deserted Tecumseh now begn to reconsider. although
most were in no hurry to rejoin the Shawnee chief, the inclination was
there, if, as Tecumseh had predicted, there would be war with the
whites, why not make the most of it right where they were?

And so began the hostilities.,

Tecumseh joined forces with the British against the Americans at the
outset of the war of 1812. 

After American, Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British fleet at the
Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813, Harrison began pursueing
Tecumseh into Southern Canada, and won a decisive victory on October 5,
1813.

In the morning -- October 4-- advance troops from Harrison was again
closing on them and some minor instances of firing occurred. Tecumseh
broke camp and with the exception of a small number of warriors left to
spy on Harrison's movements, put the remaining warriors of his party--
now numbering of about five hundred-- into movement, waiting until every
man of his party was out of danger before following. Desite the anger he
was showing in regard to Proctor, Tecumseh seemed actually to be
enjoying being engaged again in serious fighting and with the knowledge
that there was more to come. 

The Indians had set up their camp along the Thames and now,well into the
night, Tecumseh had just uttered the prediction of his own death on the
marrow---

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to be continued in final part 9--