At a later period
he affirmed with much solemnity, that he had received power from the Great
Spirit, to cure all diseases, confound his enemies, and stay the arm of
death, in sickness, or on the field of battle.
As time advanced, the prophet passed from nation, to nation, artfully
sustaining his assumptions, and proclaiming his doctrines. He gathered
around him adherents from various tribes, encouraged pilgrimages to his
camp, became conspicuous in all their general councils, and extended his
influence to the various Indian towns, in the vicinity of the northern
lakes, and on the broad plains, watered by the Mississippi and its
branches. He could now, as he did, forward very effectively the ambitious
views of his brother Tecumseh.
From the Prophet's town, which was established on the banks of the Wabash,
near the mouth of its tributary the Tippecanoe, as early as 1808, a
correspondence was kept up with the numerous tribes at the North and West,
and means were taken also to extend the combination they were forming, to
the Cherokees and other nations of the South. Runners were sent as far
even as the country of the Senecas, and the Iroquois in New York and
Canada, were solicited to join the Great Western Confederacy.
Connected with this movement was the holding of Indian councils, at
different places in the West. A very large council, was held at or near
Detroit, which embraced in it deputations from the most distant tribes.
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