Today in the Sobel Timeline: July 21

On July 21, 1839, a two-week siege of Michigan City, Indiana ended when the city was taken by an Indian army led by Chief John Miller, a Christianized leader of the Osage who claimed to be both the Messiah and a reincarnation of the earlier Shawnee leader Tecumseh. After taking the city, Miller's men killed some 5,000 of its half million inhabitants.