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The record of the official proceedings, made at the time, show, however, that immediately upon the close of Harrison's last speech of September twenty-ninth, that Winamac arose to reply, but upon noting that fact all the Mississinewa Miamis left the council house in contempt.
He closed by stating that the Miamis had been forced by the Potawatomi to make the late treaty of Fort Wayne, and that it would be proper to make an inquiry as to the person who had held the tomahawk over their heads, and punish him. This was, of course, an allusion to Winamac.
He told Harrison that they were surprised at his rapid advance upon them; that they had been given to understand by a party of Delawares and Miamis whom the Governor had sent forward, that he would not march on their town until an answer had been made to his demands; that Winamac had been detailed two days before to meet the Governor and arrange terms, but that he had proceeded down the south side of the Wabash.
As the consummation of that treaty was the principal and immediate cause which led up to the great controversy with Tecumseh, and the stirring events that followed, including the Battle of Tippecanoe, and as the charge was subsequently made by Tecumseh that it was brought about through the threats of Winamac, the Potawatomi chief, it may rightfully be said to be the most important Indian treaty ever negotiated in the west, outside of General Wayne's Treaty of Greenville, in 1795.
The Chippewas, Ottawas and Potawatomi refused to take up arms, the council broke up without any concerted action, and Winamac and the Potawatomi were sent to the Governor to make report of the proceedings.
There were chiefs of the Mississinewa, loud and defiant, who openly declared their connection with the British. There was Winamac, the Potawatomi, who afterwards slaughtered the surrendered garrison at Fort Dearborn, and boasted of his murder. There were Silver Heels and Pecan, Five Medals and The Owl. But above them all stood Little Turtle, the Miami.
Not only was the treaty of 1809 concluded by a larger number of Indians than were present at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, but the influence of Winamac with the Miamis seems to have been of a very negligible quantity. The truth is that the final consummation of the pact of 1809 was brought about by the ready tact and hard common sense of Harrison himself.
He declared that the Treaty of Fort Wayne had been made with the consent of only a few; that it was largely brought about by the threats of Winamac, and that a reluctant consent had been wrung from the Weas because they were few in number. So fierce and vitriolic became his abuse of Winamac that that chieftain primed his pistols and seemed ready at any moment to take Tecumseh's life.
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