Rise of Little Turtle

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune Jul 8, 2007

In this final part of the saga of Little Turtle, I chose to focus on the end of his career as a military leader and the begining of his career as a peacemaker. Due to limitations imposed by powers unseen, I was unable to tell more of his story. Hardly anything is known of his early life, or even how he managed to forge his confederacy, but what we do know comes from the man's own words. More can be said of Little Turtle than he was a leader...he was a visionary who sparked an new phase in the development of the United States. The war he fought caused the Americans to take serious the threat posed by Indians. The United States was able to build its military into a more effective fighting force to combat frontier warafe as a result of his campaign. When he realized the persistence of his enemy, Little Turtle tried to advocate peace to preserve his people and their way of life. Though pushed out for this change of thought, he eventually reached across to both sides and did make a difference in relations between whites and natives. So much time has been dedicated to this oft overlooked figure becase of what he represents...continuity and change--the objective of historical study.