Tecumseh was the powerful leader of a breakaway Shawnee group living just north of the area covered in the treaty. He questioned the legality of the treaty stating that these Native leaders did not have the right to sign the treaty, and rightfully sell land that is held in common with other Native peoples. In August 1810, he led 400 armed warriors from several different tribes in traveling down the Wabash to meet with Harrison in Vincennes. Tecumseh insisted that the Fort Wayne treaty was illegitimate and asked Harrison to nullify it, ominously warning that Americans should not attempt to settle the lands sold in the treaty. Tecumseh acknowledged to Harrison that he had threatened to kill the chiefs who signed the treaty if they carried out its terms.Langguth, p. 164Owens, p. 212 Harrison responded to Tecumseh that the Miami were the owners of the land and could sell it if they so choose. In a move that further impacted American relations with the Indians, Harrison also rejected Tecumseh's claim that all the Indians formed one nation and that each nation could have separate negotiations with the United States.Langguth, p. 165
