Description: Shawnee leader Tecumseh presented this ceremonial pipe to Thomas Worthington in 1807. It is 16 inches (40.64 cm) long and measures 5 inches (12.7 cm) at its widest point. The pipe is made of forged metal and the wooden handle is decorated with engraved silver inlay. Tecumseh was one of many American Indian leaders who met at Adena, Worthington's home, in 1807. Tecumseh (1768-1813) began to establish a reputation as a leader during the Indian Wars of the late 18th century, when he fought in several minor skirmishes and the Battle of Fallen Timbers. He refused to sign the Treaty of Greeneville, correctly fearing that it would increase white settlement and eventually cost American Indians their land. He argued that all American Indians held land in common and that one tribe could not cede the land to the U. S. government. During the War of 1812, Tecumseh supported the British, in hopes of regaining lost land. He was killed during the Battle of the Thames in 1813. Thomas Worthington (1773-1827) moved to the Northwest Territory in 1798 and settled in Ross County, where he quickly became a leader in the Ohio statehood movement. Politically active throughout his life, Worthington served as one of the first two U. S. senators from Ohio and as governor. Later he served several terms in the Ohio House of Representatives. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H39472_01
Subjects: American Indians in Ohio; Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813; Ohio Government; Pipes (Smoking);
Places: Chillicothe (Ohio); Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait of Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. Tecumseh, meaning Shooting Star, was born in 1768 near Chillicothe, Ohio, the son of the reigning Chief Pukeshinwau. Throughout his childhood, Tecumseh experienced many malevolent, violent expansions by the United States which would later sustain his hatred towards the United States. Tecumseh proved himself able-bodied when, as a teenager, he contributed to a successful attack on a group of Americans sailing down the Ohio River. He would later be given charge of a mass amount of men to direct during ongoing clashes with white settlers, and was made a commander who would resume leadership if his superior was killed. The ending to the Pan-Indian Movement occurred in late 1794 with the Battle of Fallen Timbers where the First Nations tribal alliance was heavily outnumbered and outmaneuvered by the U.S military. During the battle, Tecumseh led an offensive attack that led to a temporary U.S. retreat and the release of American battle animals, mainly horses. When the United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18, 1812, Tecumseh and the group of men he led traveled to Canada to organize militant strategies. Tecumseh and his men were assigned to overtake the city of Detroit with Major General Isaac Brock. The taking of the city was a major success as the Americans surrendered due to fear of the unknown numbers of American Indians there were attacking. Tecumseh, who led the First Nations into battle, was regarded as a hero among the tribes, Canada, and Britain. During the Battle of the Thames, the U.S. launched a surprise attack against the British and their First Nations allies, which had them heavily outnumbered. While many soldiers felt that retreat was the only option, Tecumseh pursued his attack forward, including an offensive on the "long knives" whilst alone. In a final stand against the Americans, Tecumseh was killed. Many of his tribal men refused to continue participating in the conflict because their allegiance was only to Tecumseh. His life represented the American Indian struggle against U.S. expansion and although he never personally experienced victory he influenced many tribes to continue their resistance. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07699
Subjects: Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813; Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history and society
 

Description: Portrait of the Shawnee military and political leader Tecumseh, ca. 1800-1813. Tecumseh (1768-1813) began to establish a reputation as a leader during the Indian Wars of the late 18th century, when he fought in several minor skirmishes and the Battle of Fallen Timbers. He refused to sign the Treaty of Greeneville, correctly fearing that it would increase white settlement and eventually cost American Indians their land. He argued that all American Indians held land in common and that one tribe could not cede the land to the U. S. government. During the War of 1812, Tecumseh supported the British, in hopes of regaining lost land. He was killed during the Battle of the Thames in 1813. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00198
Subjects: Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813; American Indian history; American Indian tribal leaders
 

Description: Full-length portrait of Tecumseh, drawn by F. Brigden, ca. 1790-1799. Tecumseh (1768-1813) began to establish a reputation as a leader during the Indian Wars of the late 18th century, when he fought in several minor skirmishes and the Battle of Fallen Timbers. He refused to sign the Treaty of Greeneville, correctly fearing that it would increase white settlement and eventually cost American Indians their land. He argued that all American Indians held land in common and that one tribe could not cede the land to the U. S. government. During the War of 1812, Tecumseh supported the British, in hopes of regaining lost land. He was killed during the Battle of the Thames in 1813. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00241
Subjects: Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813; American Indian history; American Indian tribal leaders
 

Description: This color illustration depicts a Shawnee Indian holding a spear. He is walking in a stream or a lake, and appears to be spear-fishing. He is carrying pack slung over one shoulder. The Shawnee Indians were living in the Ohio Valley as early as the late 1600s. The Iroquois natives were unwilling to share these rich hunting grounds and drove the Shawnee away. Some went to Illinois; others went to Pennsylvania, Maryland or Georgia. As the power of the Iroquois weakened, the Shawnee moved back into Ohio from the south and the east. They settled in the lower Scioto River Valley. Fierce warriors, the Shawnee were allies of the French until British traders moved into the Ohio Country around 1740. The French pushed the British out of Ohio, and the Shawnee allied with the French again until the British victory in the French and Indian War. Ohio natives, including the Shawnee, fought the British and their colonists. During the American Revolution, the Shawnee fought alongside the British against the Americans, believing that Britain would prevent the colonists from encroaching further upon the natives' land. After the war the American Indians continued to fight the Americans. General Anthony Wayne defeated the Shawnee and other Ohio natives at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. The Shawnee were forced to surrender most of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville. Many of the Shawnee moved into the Indiana Territory. Some of these people, however, hoped to reclaim their Ohio lands. Chief among them was Tecumseh, who hoped to unite together all native tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains against the United States. Due to the advanced technology of the whites and the American Indians' failure to put aside their traditional differences, Tecumseh's efforts at confederation failed. General William Henry Harrison defeated the Shawnee and their allies at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Other Shawnee leaders, like Black Hoof, adopted white customs, in the hope that the whites would allow the natives to continue to live on the land if the American Indians adopted white customs. Between 1831 and 1833, the United States government forced the Shawnee to give up their land claims in Ohio, and forcibly removed the tribe to reservations in Oklahoma and Kansas. The Shawnee divided themselves into different clans. The principal leader of the Shawnee could only come from one clan. The name of this clan was “Chillicothe.” When a village was called Chillicothe, it meant that it was home to the principal chief, the “capital city” of the Shawnees. Chillicothe was also the name of Ohio's first state capital. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07000
Subjects: Shawnee Tribe; American Indian history and society; Shawnee Indians--Government relations; Tecumseh, Shawnee Chief, 1768-1813; Greenville, Treaty of, 1795