With his unmatched ability to bring our vibrant early history to life, Allan W. Eckert now presents his latest saga of the battle for the North American wilderness.  Here, in all its fascinating human drama, is the struggle to control the "gateway to empire"--Chicago Portage, the vital link between the East and the untapped riches of the west.  Caught up in the turbulent sweep of events are two men--John Kinzie, a successful trader with a heroic taste for a new frontiers who fought to live in mutual respect with the Indians, and Tecumseh the  Shawnee leader, a man of unparalleled wisdom and courage who would see his dream of a united Indian empire betrayed.  As the British move toward the war 1812 both men and their people would be trapped in a tragic conflict that would threaten the land they so passionately loved.