Senior Moments

The Tippecanoe Battlefield Monument

Did you learn about ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler too’ in school?  I not only learned about  the slogan but I also got familiar with  the site of the battle that gave William Henry Harrison the nickname Tippecanoe.  The battleground was adjacent to a church camp that I attended several years as a youngster.

The Battle of Tippecanoe came about because of the efforts of two Shawnee indian brothers, Tecumseh and the Prophet.  The Prophet led a spiritual movement to encourage the Indians to return to traditional ways, while Tecumseh worked to form a confederation  among the various tribes.  In 1808 the brothers moved their followers to Prophetstown near the Tippecanoe River in the Indiana Territory.  By 1811 such a large number of natives lived at Prophetstown that white settlers in Ohio and the Indiana Territory demanded that the government do something to proptect them.  William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory led an army against Prophetstown in the fall of 1811.

The Prophet, against the advice of Tecumseh who was absent, attacked the Americans after telling his followers that the white’s bullets would not harm them.  The Indians attacked Harrison’s men before daybreak  on the morning of November 7, 1811.  Harrison’s army defeated the Indians, but they suffered heavy losses:  62 men killed and 126 wounded.  The Indian’s losses are not known, but the Americans did drive off the natives and burn Prophetstown to the ground.

The Battle of Tippecanoe

The defeat fatally weakened Tecumseh’s confederation, but Harrison became known as “Old Tippecanoe”.  In 1840 Harrison used his reputation as a successful Indian fighter to  run for President of the United States.  His campaign slogan was “Tippecanoe and Tyler too!”