Every 20 years, the subject of "Tecumseh's Curse" becomes the talk of presidential folklore. Popular legend has it that the curse was pronounced in 1836 when Tecumseh's brother, Tenskwatawa, the Prophet, was sitting for the painting shown. The divisive presidential election that year between Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison became a topic of conversation. Van Buren, a vice-president coming out of the shadow of Andrew Jackson, a popular two-term president, was being challenged by William Henry Harrison, the famous general of Tippecanoe and former Governor of Indiana Territory. The conventional wisdom in the room was that Harrison, as leader of the fledgling Whig Party, would have little chance against Van Buren, coming out of the shadow of a popular two-term president. Others disagreed, pointing to Harrison's popularity against the dour and colorless Van Buren. Tenskwatawa then spoke his famous prophecy:
"'Harrison will not win this year to be the Great Chief. But he may win next time. If he does...He will not finish his term. He will die in his office.'
'No president has ever died in office,' declared a visitor.
'But Harrison will die I tell you. And when he dies you will remember my brother Tecumseh's death. You think that I have lost my powers. I who caused the sun to darken and Red Men to give up firewater. But I tell you Harrison will die. And after him, every Great Chief chosen every 20 years thereafter will die. And when each one dies, let everyone remember the death of our people."
Tecumseh (Shooting Star) was born in 1768, probably at Old Piqua, along the Mad River in Ohio. He was a Shawnee Indian and eventually became one of their greatest leaders. Tecumseh’s father died at the Battle of Point Pleasant during Lord Dunmore’s War in 1774. Fearing the encroaching white settlers, many Shawnees, including Tecumseh’s mother, moved westward first to Indiana, then Illinois, and finally to Missouri. Tecumseh, only eleven years old at the time, remained in the Ohio Country and was raised by his eldest brother, Chiksika, and his sister, Tecumpease.
By the early 1800s, Tecumseh decided that the best way to stop white advancement was to form a confederacy of Indian tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains. Tecumseh believed that no single tribe owned the land and that only all tribes together could turn land over to the whites. He also believed that, if the Indians united together, they would have a better chance militarily against the Americans. Tecumseh visited most Indian tribes west of the Appalachian Mountains between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico, trying to convince them to unite together.
The governor of the Indiana Territory, William Henry Harrison, noted the growing number of Indians congregating at Prophetstown. In 1811, Harrison led an army towards the village. Tecumseh was recruiting Indian allies in the southern part of the United States. He left his brother with orders not to attack the Americans. The Prophet claimed to have received another vision from the Master of Life. In this vision, the Master of Life told him to send his warriors against the Americans. The Master of Life also purportedly said that the soldiers’ bullets would not harm the Indians. The resulting battle was known as the Battle of Tippecanoe. The Americans defeated the Prophet and his followers, and they destroyed Prophetstown. Although Harrison lost more men in this battle than the Indians, he held the ground at the end of the day. It was a victory that would eventually elect "Old Tippecanoe" to be President of the United States.
This defeat tremendously weakened Tecumseh’s Confederation. Tecumseh had already experienced difficulties in convincing tribes to put aside their traditional differences to unite as one against the Americans. Other Indians, including some Shawnees led by Black Hoof, had actually adopted white customs and had no desire to relinquish them. During the War of 1812, Tecumseh and his remaining followers allied themselves with the British. Tecumseh hoped that, if the English won, that they would return the Indians’ homeland to them. Tecumseh died at one of the most important battles of the conflict, the Battle of the Thames, in 1813. A combined English-Indian force met an American army led by William Henry Harrison. The British soldiers ran from the battlefield, leaving Tecumseh and his Indian followers to continue on their own. The Americans drove the natives from the field, and an American’s bullet killed Tecumseh. Tecumseh’s death signified the end of united Indian resistance against the Americans
