Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. II.djvu/57

 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 35 Michigan, and Wisconsin, and Harrison was made its governor and superintendent of Indian affairs. Resigning his seat in congress, he entered on the duties of his office, which included the confirmation of land-grants, the defining of townships, and others that were equally important. Gov. Har rison was reappointed successively hy President Jefferson and President Madison. He organized the legislature at Vincennes in 1805, and applied himself especially to improving the condition of the Indians, trying to prevent the sale of intoxicat ing liquors among them, and to introduce inocu lation for the small-pox. He frequently held councils with them, and, although his life was sometimes endangered, succeeded by his calmness and courage in averting many outbreaks. On September 30, 1809, he concluded a treaty with several tribes by which they sold to the United States about 3,000,000 acres of land on Wabash and White rivers. This, and the former treaties of cession that had been made, were condemned by Tecumseh and other chiefs on the ground that the consent of all the tribes was necessary to a legal sale. The discontent was increased by the action of speculators in ejecting Indians from the lands, by agents of the British government, and by the preaching of Tecumseh s brother, the &quot;prophet,&quot; and it was evident that an outbreak was at hand. The governor pursued a conciliatory course, gave