The story I am about to tell is a true story based on documented facts from our recorded history. Most every one that has studied history has heard of the Madrid earthquake and also of the War of 1812. The earthquake was centered in Madrid, Illinois and was said to have shaken the entire eastern half of the continent. It wasn't a single quake but several occurred over the next four months. There was one story told that links these two events and it has always intrigued me. It was about a great and powerful Indian warrior and leader whose name was Tecumseh. As stories tell it, he was also a great prophet and he actually prophesied this historical earthquake right down to the very day it occurred!
On a quite night in 1768 a huge meteor burst up in the sky. The tales of the old people would say this was "The Panther" a shooting star. It was believed to be a great spirit passing over and it would find a deep hole to come to rest in. It was considered a good sign. Also on that night a baby boy was born to a Shawnee couple so they gave him the name "The Panther Passing Across" known as Tecumseh.
In 1788 Tecumseh's older brother had prophesied his own death in battle. Tecumseh rode with him into battle, just before his death he placed the leadership on to Tecumseh to bare.
In 1802 Tecumseh was travelling from village to village trying to unite the Indian tribes so they could fight against the white man. He prophesied a war coming between the two. The only way the Indians stood a chance was to unite, instead of each village standing on it's own. He told them of a great sign and his story was always the same. He told them when the time came and everything was ready, that the sign would come in the middle of the night. He said that the earth would tremble and roar. That even though there was no wind the trees would fall and the streams would flow backwards. That lakes would be swallowed up and new lakes would appear. That everyone would tremble and they could not mistake the sign. When this sign came they would no longer be separate tribes but would be united as Indians.
In 1809 Tecumseh sent his younger brother into the woods with orders to make many sacred slabs. He told him to make all of the slabs the same and make them out of red cedar. He also told him to bring a bundle of thin red sticks. Each time a bundle and slab was given to the chief of each village, they were told to throw away a stick at each full moon until they only had one and the slab left. Then they should prepare for the great sign to be given to them. Symbols that were carved onto the slab itself gave them directions of where to travel, so the Indians could unite and try and take back what the white's had taken from them. As Tecumseh traveled with these slabs to different tribes he claimed to do so under the guidance of the "Great Spirit". Some of them ask for proof and he prophesied other events but nothing even slightly compares to the great earthquake.
By 1811 Tecumseh had traveled all over to reach all of the separate tribes and each had received their sacred slab and bundle of sticks. When they followed his directions and had only one stick left, they would be given a sign to show that Tecumseh was still being guided by the "Great Spirit". It would be the sign after which he was named. A star would flash across the sky bright enough that everyone would see. Then they were to take their last stick and cut it into thirty pieces. Each day at dawn they were to burn one of these pieces except for the last piece, which they were to burn in the middle of the night. When this had taken place the great sign would be given. Some threw their sticks and some saw the flash in the sky and broke their sticks into thirty pieces to wait for the great sign. There were directions carved into the sacred slab that told them to head out to the British port when the great sign was received.
(Next is an excerpt from "The Frontiersmen" by Allan W. Eckert no one could describe it better.)
Monday December 16, 1811
At 2:30am the earth shook.
In the south of Canada, in the village of the Iroquois, Ottawa, Chippewa and Huron, it came as a deep and terrifying rumble. Creek banks caved in and huge trees toppled in a continuous crash of snapping branches.
In all of the Great Lakes, but especially Lake Michigan and Lake Erie, the waters danced and great waves broke erratically on the shores, though there was no wind.
In the western plains, there was fierce grinding sound and a shuddering, which jarred the bones and set teeth on edge. Earthen vessels split apart and great herds of bison staggered to their feet and stampeded in abject panic.
To the south and west, tremendous boulders broke loose on hills and cut swaths through the trees and brush to the bottoms. Rapidly running streams stopped and eddied, and some of them abruptly went dry and the fish that had lived in them flopped away their lives on the muddy or rocky beds.
To the south, whole forests fell in incredible tangles. New streams sprang up where none had been before. In the Upper Creek village of Tuckabatchee, every dwelling shuddered and shook, and then collapsed upon itself and its inhabitants.
To the south and east, palm trees lashed about like whips, and lakes emptied of their waters, while ponds appeared in huge declivities which suddenly dented the surface of the earth.
All over the land, birds were roused from their roosting places with scream of fright and flapping wings. Cattle bellowed and kicked, lost their footing, and were thrown to the ground where they rolled about, unable to regain their balance.
In Kentucky, Tennessee and the Indiana Territory, settlers were thrown from their beds, heard the timbers of their cabins wrench apart, and watched their bricks crumble into heaps of debris masked in choking clouds of dust. Bridges snapped and tumbled into rivers and creeks. Glass shattered, fences and barns collapsed and fires broke out. Along steep ravines, the cliffside slipped and filled their chasms, and the country was blanketing with a deafening roar.
In the center of this, in that area where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi, where Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois come together, fantastic splits appeared in the ground and huge tracts of land were swallowed up. A few miles from the Mississippi, near the Kentucky-Tennessee border, a monstrous section of ground sank as if some gigantic foot had stepped on the soft earth and mashed it down. Water gushed forth in fantastic volume and the depression became filled and turned into a large lake, to become known as Reelfoot Lake. The whole midsection of the Mississippi writhed and heaved and tremendous bluffs toppled into the muddy waters. Entire sections of land were inundated, and others that had been riverbed were left high in the air. The Mississippi itself turned and flowed backwards for a time. It swirled and eddied, hissed and gurgled, and at length, when it settled down, the face of the land had changed. New Madrid was destroyed and the tens of thousands of acres of land, including virtually al that was owned by Simon Kenton, vanished forever: that which remained was ugly and austere.
Such was the great sign of Tecumseh!
(This earthquake which occurred where no tremor had ever been recorded before; where there was no scientific explanation for such a thing happening; where no one could possibly have anticipated or predicted that an earthquake could happen. No one except Tecumseh.)
Tecumseh's war essentially led into the war of 1812 and he led some battles in it.
What do you think? If you want to read more about Tecumseh follow the link....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tecumseh
L.G.V.
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