A man approached me to discuss the career of Tecumseh. He referenced Eckert's Frontiersman, which is now rare and expensive, so I haven't read it. He said Eckert's thesis was that Tecumseh used his halfwit brother, The Prophet, as his religious proxy and fed his brother intelligence from learned contacts among the British for eclipses and heavenly signs to increase the prestige of the movement. He said Tenswatawa, "The Prophet," was a mere cypher and incapable of leadership. I think the best evidence for Tenswatawa's incapacity would be his fatal choice to attack Harrison on the Tippecanoe in 1811, which resulted in his defeat and the destruction of Prophetstown, but otherwise the thesis seems improbable to me. It is possible Tecumseh used scientific knowledge of heavenly signs to bolster his movement, but all of my sources suggest Tenswatawa was a compelling mystic and leader, though unsuited as a political pointman. Tecumseh gave his brother strict orders as regards diplomacy and politics every time he left Prophetstown, and the choice to attack Harrison was contrary to Tecumseh's instructions.