Tippecanoe Battlefield Museum

Time for a presidential campaign song! Let’s all sing along to “Tip and Ty,” more commonly known as “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.” Oh, maybe you don’t know that one?

The nickname “Old Tippecanoe” belonged to William Henry Harrison, who defeated the Shawnee Native Americans on November 7, 1811, at a site along Burnett’s Creek in what is now modern-day Battle Ground, Indiana.

Harrison was the governor of the Indiana Territory in 1811 and took command of approximately 900 troops with plans to defeat Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa, also known as “The Prophet.” Tenskwatawa and the Shawnee were at a village known as Prophetstown, where Tecumseh planned to build a Native American confederacy. Harrison’s forces arrived near Prophetstown on November 6, 1811, and were met with a white flag and a request to parley. Tenskwatawa was leading the Shawnee while Tecumseh was away meeting with other tribes about his confederacy. Harrison agreed to wait for Tecumseh and encamped on Burnett’s Creek about one mile away. Harrison was leery, however, and positioned his troops defensively for the night.

Back at Prophetstown, Tenskwatawa had another plan—to attack the next morning. From high above on Prophet’s Rock, he sang songs and chanted to inspire and protect his people from harm. By dawn the next morning, they were in position to strike.

When you visit the grounds and museum today, there is an excellent fiber-optic electric map with a five-minute narration that explains the battle. The Shawnee broke through some of Harrison’s lines, but with superior firepower and numbers, Tenskwatawa’s attack was repelled. This failure caused the tribes to doubt Tenskwatawa, and Prophetstown was abandoned. On November 8, 1811, Harrison’s troops burned Prophetstown. When Tecumseh returned a few months later, he found the village in ruins and his dream of a Native American confederacy destroyed. The Battle of Tippecanoe would later be considered one of the key events leading to the War of 1812.

Now, about that song—the first verse goes like this:

“What has caused this commotion, motion, motion,Our country through?It is the ball a-rolling onFor Tippecanoe and Tyler too.”

The nickname and song were so popular that in 1840, Harrison (“Tip”) and his running mate John Tyler (“Ty”), the Whig Party candidates, defeated incumbent Democrat Martin Van Buren. Harrison became the ninth president of the United States but died of pneumonia after only 31 days in office.