Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 24 November 2004

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Gen. William Henry Harrison thus speaks of the intellectual and moral qualities of the Indians who roamed over this region, in his discourse before the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, on the Aborigines of the Ohio Valley:

"The Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees and Miamis were much superior to the other members of the confederacy. The Little Turtle of the Miami tribe was one of this description, as was the Blue Jacket, a Shawnee chief. I think it probable that Tecumseh possessed more integrity than any other of the chiefs who attained to much distinction; but he violated a solemn engagement, which he had freely contracted, and there are strong suspicions of his having formed a treacherous design, which an accident only prevented him from accomplishing. Similar instances are, however, to be found in the conduct of great men in the history of almost all civilized nations. But these instances are more than counterbalanced by the number of individuals of high moral character which were to be found amongst the principal and secondary chiefs of the four tribes above mentioned. This was particularly the case with Tarhe, or the Crane, the great sachem of the Wyandots, and Black Hoof, the chief of the Shawnees. Many instances might be adduced to show the possession on the part of these men of an uncommon degree of disinterestedness and magnanimity, and strict performance of their engagements under circumstances which would be considered by many as justifying evasion.

"By many they are supposed to be stoics, who willingly encounter deprivations. The very reverse is the fact. If they belong to either of the classes of philosophers which prevailed in the declining ages of Greece and Rome, it is to that of the Epicureans. For no Indian will forego an enjoyment or suffer an inconvenience if he can avoid it, but under peculiar circumstances, when, for instance, he is stimulated by some strong passion. But even the gratification of this he is ready to postpone whenever its accomplishment is attended with unlooked for danger or unexpected hardships. Hence their military operations were always feeble, their expeditions few and far between, and much the greater number abandoned without an efficient stroke, from whim, caprice, or an aversion to encounter difficulties." He adds: "When, however, evil comes which he cannot avoid, then he will call up all the spirit of the man and meet his fate, however hard, like the best Roman of them all."