FT270


George W Bush is a fortunate man. Not only did he dodge the slings, grenades and occasional footwear of outrage and scorn during his presidential twin-term in office, but, some say, a pre-destined arrow exacting an ancient Indian thirst for revenge…

In the newly formed land of the free, democracy was in its first throes of infancy. One of its many defining tantrums, the quaintly named ‘Battle of Tippecanoe’, saw charismatic Shawnee chieftain Tecumseh take on the first gov­ernor of the Indiana Territories, William H Harrison – and not for the first time.

The previous year, they had failed to see eye to eye over the sale of land agreed by the Miami Indians under the Fort Wayne treaty.