Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Dowdy and our subject
Speaker 1: for today is definitely on our top ten list of
Speaker 1: most requested. It's Takumsa, who was the leader of the
Speaker 1: biggest Indian resistance movement ever. He was a visionary and
Speaker 1: a hero and died fighting for the survival of his people,
Speaker 1: much like Sitting Bowl, but he almost won. And Tekomsa
Speaker 1: was born in seventeen sixty eight and what's now Ohio
Speaker 1: along the Scioto River, and he was of the Panther
Speaker 1: clan like his dad, and it was one of the
Speaker 1: divisions of the Shawnee tribe. And he may have also
Speaker 1: had a little bit of Creak and English blood in him.
Speaker 1: But his name meant shooting star or a panther crouching
Speaker 1: for his prey, which are both really awesome definitions, I think.
Speaker 1: And a little background on his background, we have to
Speaker 1: talk about the French and Indian War. When that ended
Speaker 1: in seventeen sixty three, the British had won, and they
Speaker 1: thought they had won Canada, which technically they did, but
Speaker 1: the Indians saw them as a threat and rose up.
Speaker 1: The Shawnees were a big part of this rebellion. There
Speaker 1: was a lot of killing and a lot of settlers captured.
Speaker 1: And in seventeen sixty eight, when Takamsa was born at
Speaker 1: the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy of New York,
Speaker 1: which was very powerful, sold Kentucky and part of Pennsylvania
Speaker 1: along the Ohio in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, which
Speaker 1: completely screwed the Shawnees and they didn't even share the
Speaker 1: money with them. So that's a little background on where
Speaker 1: he's from. Yeah, and the Shawnee are scattered all over
Speaker 1: the country, and that's partly due to the Iroquois influence
Speaker 1: and then partly because of the influx of settlers and
Speaker 1: two comes of parents had settled in Ohio and joined
Speaker 1: an established community there has had a lot of the
Speaker 1: scattered Shawnee um but because of their troubles, they thought
Speaker 1: that maybe the Great Spirit was displeased with them, and
Speaker 1: if they returned to one of their homelands like Ohio,
Speaker 1: where there were lots of sacred objects and um important
Speaker 1: things to the tribe, they could maybe regain the Great
Speaker 1: spirits favor, Ohio was the center of the world for them.
Speaker 1: But talking about some of their troubles, we have the
Speaker 1: encroachment on land by settlers and speculators. The Indians were
Speaker 1: pushed farther and farther from their homelands, losing not only
Speaker 1: their homes, but also their traditions, their togetherness, and their
Speaker 1: entire way of life. Well in their game, which is
Speaker 1: a really huge part of it all. I mean, it
Speaker 1: meant starvation, and instead of trying to coexist, the settlers
Speaker 1: simply forced the Indians out, and tension between the two
Speaker 1: often erupted in violence on both sides. So if you
Speaker 1: were a small child growing up like t comes, you
Speaker 1: would witness death after violent death, and plenty of torture.
Speaker 1: And you would also be a uh, sort of the
Speaker 1: straddling of two different eras for your for your people,
Speaker 1: because a lot of the white customs were starting to
Speaker 1: infiltrate Indian culture, everything from diet to clothing and also
Speaker 1: some not so great gifts like smallpox and alcohol. So
Speaker 1: your world would be changing and it would be very
Speaker 1: different from the way your parents grew up. So the
Speaker 1: Indians are losing everything at this point, and they don't
Speaker 1: know what to do. Do you fight, do you go
Speaker 1: for a policy of appeasement, do you try to go
Speaker 1: to the king and talk to him and see what
Speaker 1: he can do. But those questions are answered for them
Speaker 1: when Lord Dunmore's comes in the seventeen seventy four Lord
Speaker 1: Dunmore's War, and his premise was basically that we needed
Speaker 1: to fight the hostile Indians, although we would like to
Speaker 1: point out that the Indians were only hostile because you
Speaker 1: were taking their land and making them starve. So the Shawnee,
Speaker 1: of course, will find and to come, says a young
Speaker 1: boy then, and he's watching the war parties leave, and
Speaker 1: here's the stories of them fighting fiercely and bravely, but
Speaker 1: they were outnumbered and eventually lost. But he gets an
Speaker 1: idea of honor, and his father sends back a message
Speaker 1: with one of his other sons to maintain the dignity
Speaker 1: and honor of their family. So the outcome of Lord
Speaker 1: Dunmore's War for the Shawnee is that their crops have
Speaker 1: been destroyed. Their ammunition has been used up, which is
Speaker 1: a big deal because they don't have ammunition to hunt game.
Speaker 1: So their face with starvation, and on a more personal
Speaker 1: level for two come to he loses his father, and
Speaker 1: his mother left shortly thereafter, maybe to go to relatives,
Speaker 1: and she didn't return. And he also lost his white
Speaker 1: foster brother, who had been captured a long time earlier
Speaker 1: by his father and had lived with him for his
Speaker 1: entire childhood. But after Lord Dunmore's wore, a lot of
Speaker 1: captives were reforced to return to their families, even though
Speaker 1: this boy did not want go back and begged to
Speaker 1: stay so for a while. He lives with a chief
Speaker 1: named Blackfish and more white foster brothers, which is an
Speaker 1: interesting point to consider with his upbringing, that he does
Speaker 1: grow up with white brothers, and uh, something to consider
Speaker 1: for the future when we're talking about two comes to
Speaker 1: fighting against white people, right, And for a little more
Speaker 1: about his adolescence, he was a very good hunter once
Speaker 1: he killed sixteen buffaloes in a row, according to legend,
Speaker 1: and he was very charismatic. Tribal people in the nineteenth
Speaker 1: century said he was a man of very strong medicine,
Speaker 1: and he was respected and loved. He was a great speaker,
Speaker 1: and it was clear to everyone that he was going
Speaker 1: to be someone special. Yeah. Well, and he's also starting
Speaker 1: to reform his ideas about the right way to fight.
Speaker 1: He'd seen family and friends killed by white men, and
Speaker 1: he's also seen the Indians fight back, and sometimes pretty cruelly,
Speaker 1: and so he's seen this ruthless violence on both sides
Speaker 1: and decides that that's not the way he wants to fight.
Speaker 1: He's in favor of violent resistance when it's necessary, but
Speaker 1: he's anti torture and anti cruelty if pro ruthlessness again
Speaker 1: when necessary. So to put us again in historical context,
Speaker 1: now it's the American Revolution. Both sides want the armed Indians,
Speaker 1: but because the American settlers have been so terrible to
Speaker 1: them so far, the Indians decide to fight with the
Speaker 1: British with the promise that they will get some of
Speaker 1: their land back for their service. But when it's all
Speaker 1: done three piece of Paris, the Brits give all the
Speaker 1: land to the Americans. They don't recognize their Indian allies
Speaker 1: in any way. They're not even mentioned. Yeah, so they're
Speaker 1: completely forgotten. And after that the fighting doesn't end either,
Speaker 1: the fight for the Northwest and two come to joins in. Finally,
Speaker 1: he's old enough to be a warrior, and he sees
Speaker 1: his brothers die. So the Brits say that if the
Speaker 1: Indians want to fight the Americans, they'll give them guns support.
Speaker 1: So it's a question, now are you going to trust
Speaker 1: the British again a second time? And you do. But
Speaker 1: at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the Indians lost and
Speaker 1: they went to a British fort expecting help and support,
Speaker 1: and the British wouldn't even let them in. So Two
Speaker 1: Comes has learned an important lesson, as have the rest
Speaker 1: of the Indians. The Brits have betrayed them yet again,
Speaker 1: and now they have to sign the Treaty of Greenville
Speaker 1: in August, in which the Indians gave up almost all
Speaker 1: of their land in Ohio. But to Come so refused
Speaker 1: to recognize it. Yeah, he thought that you couldn't just
Speaker 1: go and talk to individual tribes about purchasing land, that
Speaker 1: all Indians own the land together. It was a communal
Speaker 1: possession and one individual or even one tribe can't go
Speaker 1: about giving it away. So he's emerging as a leader
Speaker 1: now and developing his ideology that all Indians are in
Speaker 1: danger and they have to figure out something to do.
Speaker 1: And to give you an idea of what two Comes
Speaker 1: was up against in the early eighteen hundreds, Jefferson said
Speaker 1: that for the backward Indians who wouldn't yield, we shall
Speaker 1: be obliged to drive them with the beasts of the
Speaker 1: forests into the stony mountains. And he had a plan,
Speaker 1: the factory system, to put all Native Americans in debt. Basically,
Speaker 1: you could trade for for goods with the government, but
Speaker 1: it would never be equal, and it would put you
Speaker 1: slowly deeper and deeper into debt. And once you got
Speaker 1: so deep into debt that you couldn't pay it anymore, well,
Speaker 1: the government was so kindly to take your land off
Speaker 1: of your hands. Yeah, so this is what two come
Speaker 1: so is up against, not only violence and war, but
Speaker 1: these tricky little plans that are being worked out behind
Speaker 1: the scenes. And so he formulates his own plan, and
Speaker 1: that's too unite the Indians against the whites. And the
Speaker 1: goal of unity is to put aside tribal rivalries, which
Speaker 1: is not something that UH many were inclined to do.
Speaker 1: It wasn't an entirely new idea. Indians have been trying
Speaker 1: to do so ever since it became clear that these
Speaker 1: white settlers were a threat, but it hadn't really worked
Speaker 1: so far, and the obstacles to unity described by John Sugden,
Speaker 1: and two Comes to a life where that the tribes
Speaker 1: all had different languages, they had different cultures, they were
Speaker 1: rivalries between them, tribal authority was weak, and they were
Speaker 1: politically decentralized. So they're not well positioned for the kind
Speaker 1: of confederacy that Two Comes I was hoping to build.
Speaker 1: So but what's so impressive about Two Comes as uh
Speaker 1: plan and his ambition here is that it is very broad.
Speaker 1: I mean, he visits Indian tribes from Canada to the
Speaker 1: Gulf of Mexico personally, and he envisioned this confederacy of Indians,
Speaker 1: that he would bring people together through his charisma, his
Speaker 1: fantastic speaking skills, but also the clear need that they
Speaker 1: all had to save themselves. And he had a powerful
Speaker 1: ally For a time, his brother who was known as
Speaker 1: the Prophet, and the Prophet hadn't been such a great
Speaker 1: guy to start with. He was an alcoholic, he couldn't
Speaker 1: take care of his family, and then one day he
Speaker 1: has this near death experience and he has a vision
Speaker 1: and it just turns his life around completely. He quits
Speaker 1: drinking cold turkey and um starts to preach and again
Speaker 1: it's it's clear to everyone now that the way of
Speaker 1: life is dying for the Indians. But the question for
Speaker 1: them is why and what can they do? But the
Speaker 1: prophet has their answer. He says that if they give
Speaker 1: up all of their white customs and get rid of
Speaker 1: white influence from alcohol to iron cookware, that the Great
Speaker 1: Spirit will once again be happy with them and will
Speaker 1: take the settlers away from their land. It's a return
Speaker 1: to what once was and hope for downtrodden people. A
Speaker 1: half of their men had been killed at this point,
Speaker 1: or twice as many women as men. They've lost so much. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're looking for anything here. And so the two brothers
Speaker 1: settled at a place called Prophets Town in eighteen o eight,
Speaker 1: and their followers come, and a lot of Indians in
Speaker 1: one place really upset the white people. They got very,
Speaker 1: very nervous. And Uh two comes his winning support too,
Speaker 1: So this is extra unsettling. He gains a reputation for
Speaker 1: defying the government. And one man takes notice, William Henry Harrison,
Speaker 1: who was federal governor of the Indiana Territory, and he
Speaker 1: had of course communicated with Jefferson and understood what his
Speaker 1: mission was. He negotiated with two comes a couple of
Speaker 1: times face to face, and two comes to told him
Speaker 1: that basically there was going to be a war. Harrison
Speaker 1: kept up his dirty dealings, they would fight, and Harrison
Speaker 1: had every intention of doing so. He called him an
Speaker 1: uncommon genius. But that doesn't mean he was above bribing
Speaker 1: Indians for their land and taking what little they had left.
Speaker 1: Many of his land deals were possibly very legal. So
Speaker 1: Harrison pulls what he probably thought was a pretty smart
Speaker 1: move and challenges the profit to prove himself. And then
Speaker 1: what do you know, A solar eclipse happens and profit delivered.
Speaker 1: Not just any unlike seven Arola, It's not just any
Speaker 1: solar eclipse either. I mean it's a very very dramatic one.
Speaker 1: And uh now the prophet and his brother two come,
Speaker 1: so that really have followers. People who are sort of
Speaker 1: on the fence before, not quite knowing if they believed
Speaker 1: in it, are really gung ho now and the white
Speaker 1: people are freaked out. I mean, this is a disturbing turn. Well,
Speaker 1: up to this point, the settlers have simply been able
Speaker 1: to bulldoze the Indians, but this is different. This is
Speaker 1: a real threat, something that could grow into big opposition,
Speaker 1: and in two Comes told Harrison that he represented every
Speaker 1: Indian on the continent. According to PBS is We Shall Remain,
Speaker 1: which is part of the American Experience series, and that
Speaker 1: was a huge deal to have one man not representing
Speaker 1: just his tribe or his people, but all the Indians
Speaker 1: at once. He's embodying what he wanted in that Confederates.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's something that I'd say the Americans aren't
Speaker 1: even entirely comfortable with. Yet. In eighteen eleven, two Comes
Speaker 1: is on the road down south talking to some other
Speaker 1: tribes and urging them to come together, and he was
Speaker 1: aware that Harrison was near Prophetstown and planning to do something.
Speaker 1: So he told his brother, the Prophet, absolutely not to attack,
Speaker 1: but according to the Prophet, the Master of Life told
Speaker 1: him that he had to, and so he obeyed. He
Speaker 1: told his men that the bullets wouldn't hurt them and
Speaker 1: attacked Harrison's forces on November seventh, eighteen eleven, which became
Speaker 1: known as the Battle of Tippecanoe in today's Indiana, and
Speaker 1: the Indians lost, but the Americans did have heavy losses themselves.
Speaker 1: They then destroyed Prophets Town, and this is considered the
Speaker 1: first battle of the War of eighteen twelve. But it
Speaker 1: so terrible moral blow for the Indians too, because since
Speaker 1: the prophet had told people he was invincible through the
Speaker 1: Master of Life's grace, now people not only don't believe
Speaker 1: in the religion anymore, but they don't believe anything the
Speaker 1: two brothers have said. And supposedly Two Comes It comes
Speaker 1: back to see his brother and is so enraged that
Speaker 1: he shakes him. And it seems like their dream of
Speaker 1: a confederacy has dimmed a bit. It seems like they're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to rebound from this setback.
Speaker 1: But Two Come so won't give up, and he continues
Speaker 1: to travel all around the country speaking to his people
Speaker 1: and trying to rally them to the cause. And he
Speaker 1: wanted a permanent homeland for them. The way it's been
Speaker 1: explained in some of the sources I was reading was
Speaker 1: to picture a country within a country, a country that
Speaker 1: has its own rules and customs and borders, and that's
Speaker 1: what they could have. That was the hope. And it
Speaker 1: comes to this argument that if they don't stick together,
Speaker 1: they're gonna lose is persuasive enough to win back people
Speaker 1: who were skeptical after tip a canoe in May eighteen twelve.
Speaker 1: He's got eight hundred warriors in Prophets Town and four
Speaker 1: thousand more getting ready in the Northwest, and he knows
Speaker 1: war is coming. And to give you a little snapshot
Speaker 1: of the War of eighteen twelve, the Brits were taking
Speaker 1: American sailors by force, and no one likes impressment. They
Speaker 1: also didn't want the US to trade with the French,
Speaker 1: and they won't leave the country as they promised, So
Speaker 1: tensions between the Americans and the British are already there.
Speaker 1: And to come to as hoping to be able to
Speaker 1: take advantage of this. Yeah, so he joins the British
Speaker 1: in Canada with the idea that they'll help him get
Speaker 1: some of his lands back, some of the Indians lands
Speaker 1: in return for Indian service. And the British need the numbers,
Speaker 1: they need people to help them with this fight, and
Speaker 1: they're impressed with him when British general says of him,
Speaker 1: a more gallant or sagacious warrior does not exist, So
Speaker 1: to come so it brought his best, hoping to save
Speaker 1: his people from being extinguished, and brought all of his
Speaker 1: followers with him and was very successful. He managed to
Speaker 1: scare the Americans out of Canada. Brigadier General William Hull
Speaker 1: retreated all the way to Detroit and in August eighteen twelve,
Speaker 1: whole surrendered Detroit before they'd even attacked. They had this
Speaker 1: em ploy where they were marching, you know, Americans and
Speaker 1: Canadians outside, to make it seem like there were so
Speaker 1: many things at their numbers. Then there were, and Hull
Speaker 1: looked out and thought no, just no, and raised the
Speaker 1: white flags. So we lost to Canadians, you guys, and
Speaker 1: we didn't even fight. So that must be why the
Speaker 1: Canadians keep on suggesting this man. So TKMS has been
Speaker 1: fighting with a British officer named Isaac Brock, but unfortunately
Speaker 1: for us, Brock was killed and the new guy who
Speaker 1: takes his place is named Henry Proctor, and he's not
Speaker 1: quite the man that Brock was, and he's much more
Speaker 1: interested in just keeping Canada defended and not helping t
Speaker 1: Comesa in his cause. So two Comesa's left with this
Speaker 1: guy Proctor, who really leaves a lot to be desired
Speaker 1: to fight against William Henry Harrison, who is a tough
Speaker 1: cookie for sure. And Harrison has invaded Ontario in eighteen thirteen,
Speaker 1: and at the Battle of the Thames in October thirteen,
Speaker 1: Harrison has three thousand, five hundred men. There are eight
Speaker 1: hundred Brits, and there are five hundred Indians, and two
Speaker 1: comesas as to Proctor, you have got to make a
Speaker 1: stand against Harrison. But Proctor retreats, and I mean he
Speaker 1: actually runs away from the battle, barely even fights. And
Speaker 1: so two Comsa and his troops are left alone against
Speaker 1: this huge opposing force of Harrison's and they'll never win.
Speaker 1: They know they won't win. Everyone knows that they won't win.
Speaker 1: But to Comesa says, he simply will not retreat, and
Speaker 1: his men won't retreat. They're going to stay and fight.
Speaker 1: They asked the British for their weapons at least, and
Speaker 1: they headed to the woods, and Harrison's men went in
Speaker 1: after them. Two come So died there, and his cause
Speaker 1: died with him. But we don't exactly know where his
Speaker 1: body is. Some people say that it was buried in
Speaker 1: a secret place, safe from the Americans who may have
Speaker 1: wanted to desecrate it. But some say that his body
Speaker 1: was found and it was mutilated. The skin was cut
Speaker 1: from it to make Razor Strops according to a Smithsonian article,
Speaker 1: and everyone claimed that they were the one to kill
Speaker 1: two Comes. I mean, that would be a very impressive
Speaker 1: claim for for an American fighter, and since the war
Speaker 1: wasn't going well for the Americans, this victory was really
Speaker 1: exaggerated in the media. We've killed the great warrior two Comes.
Speaker 1: Things are going really great, guys. We remember this is
Speaker 1: before our bombardment of Baltimore exactly got some propaganda going.
Speaker 1: And William Henry Harrison went on to become president with
Speaker 1: the popular slogan behind him tipp a Canoe and Tyler too.
Speaker 1: But that's not his best reputation, is it, because he
Speaker 1: is the shortest lived president. Not if you've ever heard
Speaker 1: of two Comes his curse. So people thought that the
Speaker 1: Indians and two Comes to put a curse on Harrison
Speaker 1: for all of his tricky illegal land deals, and that
Speaker 1: was why he died so soon and in office. And
Speaker 1: that's also why presidents elected in a year ending with
Speaker 1: a zero died in office as well. But Ronald Reagan
Speaker 1: broke the curse, although Reagan was shot, so maybe it
Speaker 1: was just the power of the curse was diminishing over time.
Speaker 1: You never know. So two Comes. This legacy has certainly
Speaker 1: endured though even though he lost, he's become somewhat of
Speaker 1: a hero for Americans and for Canadians and a couple
Speaker 1: of Americans who were big fans of Two Come. So
Speaker 1: where William to comes? To Sherman's parents. But I can't
Speaker 1: say anything nice about him because I'm in atlantn So
Speaker 1: we'll end there and go to listener mail. Speaking of
Speaker 1: rising from the fire like a Phoenix, we got a
Speaker 1: lovely postcard dire actually a homemade card from Laura in Phoenix, Arizona,
Speaker 1: and um, she wisely learned that we're more likely to
Speaker 1: read things that we get mailed, and her husband even
Speaker 1: suggested that if she made something handmade, it would double
Speaker 1: her chance. A glitter on it as glitter and it
Speaker 1: says I'm a fan and it has a real picture
Speaker 1: of a fan on it. Sarah's been talking about this
Speaker 1: all day, so this is a big hit with us.
Speaker 1: But she mentioned that as a former art historian, I
Speaker 1: love the podcast about the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum, and
Speaker 1: I'm hoping for more art history topics and she listed
Speaker 1: off of you. So let us know what you guys think.
Speaker 1: If you're interested in hearing more about art history. Speaking
Speaker 1: of art, we get a lovely postcard from Anna Marie
Speaker 1: that's a panel from a Russian exposition in the Louver
Speaker 1: and she said, I'm in fashion design school in Paris
Speaker 1: and listening to episodes of Stuffy mist in History helps
Speaker 1: him get through long hours of sewing. And then she
Speaker 1: did a request for some old Russia topics, So if
Speaker 1: you have any, please feel free to email us at
Speaker 1: History Podcast at how stuff works dot com. We also
Speaker 1: take suggestions through our Twitter at misst in History and
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