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Themes: Christ the Lord D.A. His name is not as famous as Geronimo's. His victories are not as well remembered as Sitting Bull's. However, he may have been the greatest American Indian in history. His name was Tecumseh.
Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief. He worked, almost without rest, to unite Indian tribes into a confederacy that could hold back white settlement. He wanted the Indians to remain true to their traditions, and not take on the ways of the white man. He was a great man, a great warrior, and a great leader. He devised a great plan. He had, however, a great opponent.
His opponent's name was William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory. He would leap from his dealings with Tecumseh to be the ninth President of the United States. Harrison had his own plans for the Indiana Territory - statehood. The two men's ideas were absolutely opposite.
Now, Tecumseh was great, but Harrison was the Governor. Harrison had all the power of the United States War Department to back him. What he needed was the right to the land. On September 30, 1809, Harrison got what he wanted. With 1,309 Indians present, 3,000,000 acres of Indiana territory was sold to the United States by the Treaty of Fort Wayne. Harrison now had both the power and the right to accomplish his plan. Indiana would become the 19th state.
The Treaty of Fort Wayne angered Tecumseh. He decided to fight and ignore Harrison's ability to keep the Treaty. However, on November 7, 1811, Harrison lead an army of 910 men towards an Indian camp on the Tippecanoe river. There Harrison, expecting an ambush, defeated the Indian attack. It was not an impressive battle, but it was important. Afterwards, the Indian army scattered and turned their backs on Tecumseh. He was determined to try again, but he died in battle, helping the British in the War of 1812.
Our library has four biographies of this man Tecumseh, and not even one of William Henry Harrison. Yet, it was Tecumseh's cause that failed. Each biographer carefully notes the questionable tactics used by the government. Regardless, Tecumseh's cause failed. History captures this man as bright, gifted, clever, and able. Yet his cause failed.
Those at the Tower of Babel skillfully built a great city. Yet their cause failed. They became a major force in the world, and indeed, made themselves notable. Yet their cause failed. It failed because they proudly went against God, the Almighty Creator of the world. The One from whose face the earth and the heaven will flee away. There is no one who has the right to question God's ways. The Bible states that "every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God".
Whose side are you on? Have you agreed with God concerning your sin? Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, God's remedy for sin? Or are you full of pride, like those at the Tower of Babel, and not willing to submit to God's plan. Don't choose to ignore or defy the God of eternity, because His cause shall never fail.
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Peter Orasuk
