After the British defeat in the Revolutionary War,
Native Americans west of the Appalachian
would once again attempt to hold the Americans' push westward.
(narrator) Just outside Lafayette
in Northeast Indiana rises a well-tended monument
dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the Battle of Tippecanoe.
At this pastoral site on November 7, 1811,
a territorial militia, under the command
of a future President of the United States,
William Henry Harrison,
fought one of the most significant and bloody battles
in American frontier history.
No battle more decided the fate of Native Americans
and U.S. westward expansion.
In response to this white encroachment,
a Shawnee Indian chief, Tecumseh,
attempted to unify his people in defense of their lands.
Intelligent, courageous and humane,
he is regarded as one of the greatest native leaders
of the pioneer era.
In 1806, Tecumseh's brother, called the Prophet,
began preaching rejection of white civilization.
The brothers founded a community, Prophetstown,
at the confluence of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers.
When Tecumseh declared the 1809 sale
of 3 million acres in Indiana and Illinois invalid,
raids began on outlying settlements.
In September 1811, Tecumseh visited Harrison
in Vincennes, Kentucky, on a trip south.
He tried to assure Harrison
that there was nothing to be afraid of from the Indians.
But after he left, the governor put out a call for troops
to move up the Wabash River to Prophetstown.
On the morning of November 7th,
the Prophet began a walk to the top of a formation
later known as Prophet's Rock.
The night before, with Tecumseh gone,
he had taken charge of the Indians living in the city.
He ordered the warriors to sneak up on the militia camp
and kill Harrison and his officers.
He told them that, leaderless, the militia would scatter.
As the plan began to unfold,
the Indians' surprise attack was uncovered.
(man) Fire!
(narrator) A bloody, ferocious battle ensued
with many deaths and wounded on both sides.
Later, Harrison wrote about the battle:
(man as Harrison) "The bark was flying from the trees.
"The Indians had the best powder and bullets,
"as well as bow and arrow.
"At the southern end of the battlefield,
the Indian took his last stand."
(narrator) Harrison and his officers were not killed,
and the troops did not disperse as the Prophet had foretold.
This caused the Indians to retreat.
One day later, Harrison's soldiers
burned Prophetstown to the ground.
The battle marked the end of the tribal confederacy
and, with it, any hope of thwarting
the white man's inevitable expansion west.
In retrospect, it was the Indians' last chance
to be a partner in the new nation.