Tecumseh, a statesman, warrior, and patriot, was born in March 1768 three miles west of Springfield at the Shawnee town of Piqua, near Route 40 and State Route 369, the site of the battle of Piqua on August 8th, 1780, now George Rogers Clark Memorial Park. As a leader of the Shawnee tribe and a spokesman for the Western Indian, he resolutely resisted encroachment on their territory. Through his efforts and leadership, the Indian tribes for a time combined in confederation in an attempt to create an Indian nation in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes area. He disappeared while leading the combined Indian force at the battle of the Thames on October 5th, 1813.