Tecumseh / Shawnee Prophet's Town Marker

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Near Greenville in Darke County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Tecumseh / Shawnee Prophet's Town

Tecumseh Marker (Side A) Photo, Click for full size

By William Fischer, Jr., February 15, 2009

1. Tecumseh Marker (Side A)

Inscription.
Side A: Tecumseh
One of the most influential Native Americans of the 19th century, Tecumseh was born in 1768 in the Pickaway settlements on the Mad River and raised by older siblings at Old Town. A prominent Shawnee war leader who vigorously opposed American expansion, he fought at the Battle of Fallen Timbers but refused to attend the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Greene Ville in 1795. Angered by purchases of Native American land in Indiana by the United States, Tecumseh promoted a pan-Indian confederacy to resist the encroachment of white settlers, traveling thousands of miles throughout the western and southern frontiers in an effort to gain supporters for the alliance. Tecumseh sided with the British during the War of 1812 and was killed at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813. His death ended hopes for a united Indian coalition.

Side B: Shawnee Prophet's Town
Tecumseh and his younger brother Tenskwatawa (Open Door or the Shawnee Prophet) established a village here in 1805 as a mission for Native American unity. Upon receiving a vision from the Great Spirit or Master of Life, Tenskwatawa vowed to renounce alcohol and preached to return to traditional Indian practices, native foods, implements, dress, and ceremonies of their ancestors. Tensions grew as settlers feared the growing contingent

Shawnee Prophet's Town Marker (Side B) Photo, Click for full size

By William Fischer, Jr., February 15, 2009

2. Shawnee Prophet's Town Marker (Side B)

living south of the Greene Ville Treaty line. Pressured by William Henry Harrison, the Prophet moved his followers to the Indiana Prophetstown in 1808, which was destroyed in the ill-fated Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. During the Shawnee removal west in 1826, the Prophet asked the U. S. Army for permission to spend a few days here to honor their ancestors. The Prophet died in November 1836 and is buried somewhere under modern Kansas City.

Erected 2003 by Ohio Bicentennial Commission, Treaty of Greene Ville Bicentennial Commission, and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 6-19.)

Location. 40° 5.935′ N, 84° 38.803′ W. Marker is near Greenville, Ohio, in Darke County. Click for map. Marker is in the Shawnee Prairie Preserve, east adjacent to the Nature Center parking lot and about 50 feet NNW of the center. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4267 State Route 502, Greenville OH 45331, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. Signing of the Treaty of Greene Ville (approx. 0.6 miles away); Annie Oakley, 1860 - 1926 (approx. 0.7 miles away); Treaty of Greeneville (approx. 0.7 miles away); Site of Fort Green-Ville (approx. 0.7 miles away); Treaty of Greene Ville 1795 (approx. 0.8 miles away); St. Clair's Defeat (approx. 5.1 miles away); Fort Jefferson (approx. 5.1 miles away); Fort Jefferson: A Link in a Chain (approx. 5.1 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Greenville.

Tecumseh / Shawnee Prophet's Town Marker Photo, Click for full size

By William Fischer, Jr., February 15, 2009

3. Tecumseh / Shawnee Prophet's Town Marker

Looking SW toward Nature Center.

Also see . . .
1. Tecumseh. (Submitted on March 15, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Fort Scott, Kansas.)
2. Tecumseh's Confederation. (Submitted on March 15, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Fort Scott, Kansas.)
3. The Prophet. (Submitted on March 15, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Fort Scott, Kansas.)
4. Battle of Tippeanoe. (Submitted on March 15, 2010, by William Fischer, Jr. of Fort Scott, Kansas.)