PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY.
BY E. 0. RANDALL. For a century and a half (1600-1750) France and England had been rivals for the possession of the fairest part of the North American continent. Each nation had acquired a fixed |
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come for a final test of the supreme power of each claimant. The expedition of Coloron de Bienville, on the part of the French, through the Ohio country, and of Christopher Gist through the same territory on the part of the English, precipitated the conclu- sion as to the respective rights of the parties. Each proposed to secure at once this fair land by military occupation. The clash of arms was preluded by attempted arbitration. Legardeur St. Pierre as envoy of the French authority; Tanacharison, the Half King of the Iroquois tribes, on the part of the Indians; and George Washington as representative of Governor Dinwiddie of Vir- ginia, on the part of the British, held tripartite conferences at (410) |
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 411
Logstown, Le Boeuf and Venango. These
peculiar international
parleyings were held in the winter of
1753-54. The French
claimed the Ohio and Mississippi valleys
by priority of discovery
and settlement; the English by right of
the western continuation
of their Atlantic coast charters and
grants; the Indian, by right
of original occupation and uninterrupted
tenancy. Naught but
the gage of war could decide this
dispute. The defeat of Brad-
dock was the opening battle. In the
early spring of 1754, Cap-
tain Trent, under the instructions of
Governor Dinwiddie, with
a company of Virginia colonists,
hastened across the mountains
to the confluence of the Alleghany and
Monongahela rivers,
known as the forks of the Ohio. That
point was regarded as
the commanding site for the Ohio Valley.
It intercepted the
waterway of the Frenchmen from their
Canadian capital to the
Ohio country. The soldiers of Captain
Trent, some forty in num-
ber, began to erect a fort at the above
named site while awaiting
the arrival of Washington with
reinforcements, when, on the
17th of April, 1754, Captain
Contracoeur, with a thousand French
and Indians, and eighteen cannon,
proceeded down the Alle-
ghany river in sixty bateaux and three
hundred canoes, took
possession of the unfinished fort,
completed it, and named it
Fort Duquesne in honor of the
Captain-General of Canada. The
soldiers of Captain Trent were permitted
to retreat to the quar-
ters of Washington at Wills creek.
Early in 1755, fleets from England and
France, respec-
tively arrived with munitions of war and
strong bodies of troops
to inaugurate the long and bloody war
that was to ensue. Gen-
eral Edward Braddock, an experienced
British warrior, was
placed in command of the British forces
and organized an ex-
pedition for the capture of Fort
Duquesne. With some two
thousand men* Braddock made a forced
march towards his
destination, when, on the 8th day of
July, on the banks of the
Monongahela, at a point not far distant
from the new French
Fort (Duquesne) he was met by the
combined French soldiers
and Indian braves under the French
Captain De Beaujeu. For
more than two hours the battle raged fearfully. Braddock's
chief subordinate officer was George
Washington. It was the
*The authorities vary from 1,200 to
2,300.
412 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
first great military action of his
wonderful career. In Braddock's
command also were Thomas Gage, who
twenty years later at
the outbreak of the Revolution, was
Governor of Massachusetts
Colony and general-in-chief of the
British forces in America;
and Horatio Gates, who in the Revolution
espoused the side of
the Americans and received the sword of
Burgoyne at Saratoga.
There were many others in Braddock's
ranks who subsequently
distinguished themselves in the War for
Independence. The mot-
ley army of the enemy consisted of two
hundred and fifty French
and Canadian troops, and hundreds of
savages whom the French
had mustered from far and near. They were the Ojibwas,
Ottawas, Hurons, Caughnawagas, Abenakis
and Delawares. The
Ottawas were led, most authorities
agree, by the then great
hero of the Indian race, Pontiac. The
brave De Beaujeu fell at
the commencement of the fight, but the
victory was to his
army of French and Indians. Braddock, unused to Indian
warfare, insisted upon marching his
handsomely uniformed,
thoroughly equipped and skillfully
trained soldiers into the face
of the enemy in close columns, as he had
done in his European
victories. The fierceness of the attack
and hideous war-whoops
of the Indians, which the British
regulars had never before heard,
frightened and confused them, and they
fell into a panic. Brad-
dock himself was killed, and of
eighty-six English officers sixty-
three were slain or wounded, and half of
his private soldiers
were cut down. Washington rode through
the tumult calm
and undaunted. Two horses were killed
under him, and four
bullets pierced his clothes.* The
slaughter was terrific, and the
survivors fled tumultuously from the
scene of carnage and
hastened back across the Monongahela. It
was a terrible and
tragical commencement of the French and
Indian war. In the
lengthy contest that was to ensue the
Indian of the Ohio and
Mississippi valley cast his lot with the
Frenchmen. This was
a natural and logical selection. The
French colonists of Canada
had from the beginning cultivated a
peculiar intimacy of re-
* It was in this battle that an Indian
subsequently reported he had
deliberately fired at Washington more
than a dozen times but was unable
to hit him.
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 413
lationship with the Indian tribes. The
possession of Canada
and the establishment of the French
posts along the southern
shores of the Great Lakes and on the
inland rivers brought the
Frenchmen into close touch with the
forest life of the native
savage. The Frenchmen, moreover, were
tradesmen going and
coming as adventure or commerce
dictated, and with the Gallic
facility of manner and pliability of
temperament they readily
made friends with the red men of the
forest. They gave them
presents, flattered and amused them.
Their missionaries, too,
brought religion, aid and sympathy to
the superstitious natives.
The French adventurers, moreover, of
easy habits, often made
love to the dusky maidens of the tribes,
sometimes married them
and in an apt and adroit manner adapted
themselves to the
wild life of the tribesmen. With the
British it was far other-
wise.
The Anglo-Saxon displayed "no such phenomena of
mingling races." Cold, sturdy, indomitable, the Briton came
for a serious purpose and he came to
stay. He settled to culti-
vate the land for agriculture and for
the establishment of per-
manent homes. The Indian, by contract
and intuition, there-
fore rightly decided that he had more to
fear from the emi-
grants from England than from the
volatile and more compla-
cent invaders from France. The defeat of
Braddock and the
ignominious flight of his soldiers
strengthened the idea of the
Indian that the Frenchman was the more
agile and courageous
and in the end would be conqueror.
It is not the province of this article
to follow the varying
fortunes of the French and Indian war.
It was prosecuted for
five succeeding years with the full
energy of both nations. The
earlier years were unpropitious to the
British, but in the year
1758 the tide began to turn and the
culmination was reached
in that memorable encounter on the
Plains of Abraham before
Quebec. It was September 13, 1759, that
the invincible Wolfe
led his British forces against the
French under the intrepid
Montcalm. Both leaders fell in that
contest and the "rock-built
citadel of Canada passed forever from
the hands of its ancient
masters." The Hurons of Lorette,
the Abenakis, and other tribes
domiciled in Canada, ranged themselves
on the side of France
414 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
throughout the war. The numerous tribes
of the remote west
had also, with few exceptions, been the
active allies of the
French. The conquest of Canada left the
Indians of the Ohio
and Mississippi Valleys subject to
British domination. The
Red men were repulsed but not conquered.
They were scattered
over a vast territory, their total
number between the Mississippi
on the west, the Ocean on the east,
between the Ohio on the
south and the Great Lakes on the north,
was probably not in
excess of two hundred thousand and their
fighting warriors not
more than ten thousand.* Fort Duquesne
was in November,
1758, captured from the French by the
British forces under
Gen. John Forbes. The military posts of
the French in the
east, on the waters of Lake Erie and the
Alleghany, viz., Presqu'
Isle, Le Boeuf and Venango, passed into
the hands of the
British soon after the taking of Fort
Dequesne. Most of the
western forts were transferred to the
English, during the autumn
of 1760; but the extreme western
settlements on the Illinois,
viz., Forts Ouatanon, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia, Chartres and Ca-
hokia remained several years longer
under French control. In
the fall of 1760 Major Robert
Rogers was directed by the
then British commander, Sir Jeffrey
Amherst, to traverse the
great lakes with a detachment of
provincial troops and, in the
name of England, take possession of
Detroit, Michillimackinac
and the other western forts included in
the surrender of the
French. Major Rogers with two hundred
rangers left Mon-
treal, ascended the St. Lawrence,
crossed lakes Ontario and
Erie and reached the mouth of the
Cuyahoga+ on the 7th of
November. No body of troops under the
British flag had ever
before penetrated so far west on the
lakes. Rogers and his
men encamped in the neighboring forest.
Shortly after their
arrival a party of Indian chiefs and
warriors appeared at the
* Estimate
of William Johnson in 1763; Iroquois 1,950; Delawares
600; Shawnees 300; Wyandots 450; Miamis
and Kickapoos 800; Ottawas,
Ojibwas and other wandering tribes of
the Northwest "defy all efforts at
enumeration." The British
population in the colonies was then about
1,000,000; the French something like
100,000.
+Rogers called this river Chocage.
Roger's camp was on the present
site of the City of Cleveland.
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 415
camp and declared they were envoys from
Pontiac, "ruler of
all that country," and demanded in
his name, that the British
soldiers "should advance no
further" until they had conferred
with the great chief, who was rapidly
approaching. That same
day Pontiac himself appeared; and
"it is here," says Parkman,
"for the first time, that this
remarkable man stands forth dis-
tinctly on the page of history."
The place and date of birth
of Pontiac are both matters of dispute.
There seems to be no
doubt that he was the son of an Ottawa
chief; his mother is
variously stated to have been an Ojibwa,
a Miami, and a Sac.
Preponderance of evidence, as the
lawyers say, seems to favor
the Ojibwas. Authorities also vary as to
the date of his nativity
from
1712 to 1720.* Historical writers usually
content them-
selves with the vague statement that he
was born "on the
Ottawa river" without designating
which Ottawa river, for
many were so called; indeed, the Ottawas
were in the habit of
calling every stream upon which they
sojourned any length
of time, Ottawa, after their own tribe.
The Miami Chief Rich-
ardville is on record as often asserting
that Pontiac was born
by the Maumee at the mouth of the
Auglaize.+ In any event
Pontiac, like his great successor, the
incomparable Shawanee
chief, Tecumseh, was a native of Ohio.
The Ottawas, Ojibwas and the
Pottawattamies had formed
a sort of alliance of which Pontiac was
the virtual head. He was
of a despotic and commanding
temperament, and he wielded prac-
tical authority among all the tribes of
the Illinois country, and
was known to all the Indian nations of
America. Pontiac, con-
scious of his power and position,
haughtily asked Major Rogers,
"What his business was in that
country," and how he dared enter
it without Pontiac's permission. Rogers
informed the chief that
* Parkman says he was about fifty years
old when he met Major
Rogers, which was in 1760.
+ Chief Richardville also asserted that
Pontiac was born of an Ot-
tawa father and a Miami mother. The
probability of this tradition
is followed by Knapp in his History of
the Maumee Valley and
accepted by Dr. C. E. Slocum of Defiance,
a very careful and reliable
authority. Dodge in Redmen of the Ohio
Valley says some claimed
Pontiac was a Catawba prisoner, adopted
into the Ottawa tribe.
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 417
the war was over, the French defeated,
the country surrendered
to the British, and he was on his way to
receive the posts from
the French occupiers. Pontiac was wily
and diplomatic. He re-
ceived the news stolidly, reserved his
answer till next morning,
when his reply was that as he desired to
live in peace with the
British, he would let them remain
in his country as long as "they
treated him with due respect and deference." Both parties
smoked the calumet and protested
friendship. Rogers proceeded
on his errand. On November 29, 1760, the French
garrison at
Detroit transferred that historic and
most important western
station to British possession.*
The stormy season prevented Rogers from
advancing farther.
Michillimackinac and the three remoter
posts of St. Marie, La
Baye (Green Bay) and St. Joseph remained
in the hands of the
French until the next year. The interior posts of the Illinois
country were also retained by the
French, but the British con-
quest of America was completed. The
victory of England and
the transfer of the French strongholds
to British commanders was
a terrible and portentous blow to the
Indian. He could not fail
to foresee therein dire results to his
race. His prophetic vision
read the handwriting on the wall!
Expressions and signs of dis-
content and apprehension began to be
audible among the Indian
tribes; "from the Potomac to Lake
Superior, and from the Alle-
ghanies to the Mississippi, in every
wigwam and hamlet of the for-
est, a deep-rooted hatred of the English
increased with rapid
growth." When the French occupied
the military posts of the
lakes and the rivers they freely
supplied the neighboring Indians
* Detroit was first settled by Cadillac,
July 24, 1701 with fifty sol-
diers and fifty artisans and traders. So
it had been the chief western
stronghold of the French for 150 years.
Detroit at this time (1760) con-
tained about two thousand inhabitants.
The center of the settlement was
a fortified town, known as the Fort, to
distinguish it from the dwellings
scattered along the river banks. The
Fort stood on the we tern bank of
the river and contained about a hundred
small wood houses with bark
or thatch straw roofs. These primitive
dwellings were packed closely to-
gether and surrounded and protected by a
palisade about twenty-five
feet high; at each corner was a wooden
bastion and a blockhouse was
erected over each gateway. The only
public buildings in the enclosure
were a council house, the barracks and a
rude little church.
418 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
with weapons, clothing, provisions and
fire water. The sudden
cessation of these bounties was a
grievous and significant calamity.
The English fur trader and incomer was
rude and coarse and
domineering as compared with the
agreeable and docile French-
man. Worse and more alarming than all
was the intrusion into
the forest solitude and hunting ground
of the Indian by the Eng-
lish settler, who regarded the redman as
having no rights he was
bound to respect. While the rivalry
between the two white na-
tions was in progress, the redman was
courted by each as holding
in large degree the balance of power.
But the war over, the as-
cendant Briton no longer regarded the
Indians as necessary allies
and they were in large measure treated
with indifference and in-
justice. The hostility of the Indian
against the British was of
course, assiduously promoted by the
French who saw in it trouble
for the British, possibly a regaining of
their lost ground. The
warlike and revengeful spirit of the
Indian began to give itself
vent. The smouldering fires were bound
to burst forth. During
the years 1761 and 1762, plots were
hatched in various tribes,
to stealthily approach and by attack or
treacherous entrance, de-
stroy the posts of Detroit, Fort Pitt
and others. These plots
were severally discovered in time to
forestall their attempt. In-
dian indignation reached its height when
in 1763 it was announced
to the tribes that the King of France
had ceded all their (Indian)
country to the King of England, without
consulting them in the
matter. At once a plot was contrived,
"such as was never be-
fore or since conceived or executed by
North American Indians."
It was determined and planned to make an
assault upon all the
British posts on the same day;
"then, having destroyed the gar-
risons to turn upon the defenseless
frontier and ravage and lay
waste the white settlements." It
was fondly believed by thou-
sands of braves that then the British
might be exterminated or
at least driven to the sea board and
confined to their coast settle-
ments. It was the great Chief Pontiac,
who if he did not origin-
ally instigate, fostered, directed and
personally commanded this
secretly arranged universal movement.
His master mind compre-
hended the importance and necessity of
combined and harmonious
effort. He proposed to unite all the
tribes into one confederacy
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 419 for offensive operations. At the close of 1762 he dispatched em- bassadors to the different nations; to the tribes of the north on |
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worthy the brain and courage of the greatest general and shrewdest statesman. The plan was divulged by individual Indians to officers at two or three of the posts, but was either disbelieved or its importance ignored. While this gigantic and almost chimerical plot was being developed by Pontiac and his associate chiefs, the Treaty of Peace between France 6 Vol. XII-4. |
420 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
and England was signed at Paris,
February 10, 1763. By
this compact France yielded to England
all her territory
north of the Great Lakes and the St.
Lawrence and east of
the Mississippi. The Spanish possessions
on the Gulf of Mexico
were ceded to England, the territory
west of the Mississippi going
to Spain, France was left no foothold in
North America. While
the powers of England, France and Spain
were in the French
capital arranging this result as Parkman
remarks, "countless In-
dian warriors in the American forests
were singing the war song
and whetting their scalping
knives." The chief center of Indian
activity and the main point of attack
was the Post of Detroit,
the western headquarters of the British
government. Pontiac was
personally to strike the first blow. The
rendezvous of his painted
and armed warriors was to be the banks
of the little river Ecorces
which empties into the Detroit river a
few miles below the fort,
now the city of Detroit. It was the 27th
of April when the assem-
bled warriors listened to the final war
speech of the great chief.
Pontiac was an orator of a high order,
fierce and impassioned in
style. He presented at length the
injustice of the British as com-
pared with that of the French; he set
forth the danger to his race
from the threatened supremacy of the
British power; he predicted
the awakening of "their great
father the King of France," during
whose sleep the English had robbed the
Indian of his American
possessions. In passionate appeals he
aroused the vengeance and
superstition of his people and warned
them that the white man's
civilization was poisoning and
annihilating the red race. In his
dramatic way he related to the
superstitious Indians a dream
wherein the Great Spirit sent his
message that they were to cast
aside the weapons, the utensils of
civilization and the "deadly rum"
of the white men, and, with aid from the
Great Spirit, drive the
dogs in red from every post in their
(Indian) country. He re-
vealed his plans of destruction of the
whites and the details of the
plot to secure Detroit. He and a few of
his chosen chiefs were to
visit the fort, under pretense of a
peaceful visit, gain admittance,
seek audience with Major Henry Gladwyn,
the commandant and
his officers, and then at an agreed
signal the chiefs were to draw
their weapons, previously concealed
beneath their blankets, raise
the war whoop, rush upon the officers
and strike them down. The
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 421
Indian forces waiting meanwhile at the
gate were then to assail
the surprised and half-armed soldiers.
Thus through this perfidi-
ous murder Detroit would fall an easy
prey to the savages and
Pontiac's conspiracy have a successful
inauguration. His plan
was approved. Just below Detroit, on the
same side of the river,
was a Pottawattamie village; across the
river some three miles
up the current was an Ottawa village; on
the same eastern side
about a mile below Detroit was the
Wyandot village. Along each
side of the river for two or three miles
were houses of the French
settlers. "The King and lord of all
this country," as Major
Rogers called Pontiac, had located one
of his homes, where
he spent the early summer, on a little
island (Isle a Peche)
at the opening of Lake St. Clair. Here
he had a small oven-
shaped cabin of bark and rushes. Here he dwelt with his
squaws and children, and here doubtless
he might often have
been seen, lounging, Indian style, half
naked, on a rush mat
or bearskin.
The number of warriors under the command
of Pontiac is
variously estimated from six hundred to
two thousand. The gar-
rison consisted of one hundred and
twenty soldiers, eight officers,
and about forty others capable of
bearing arms. Two armed
schooners, "The Beaver" and
"The Gladwyn," were anchored in
the river near the Fort. Pontiac's plot
was revealed to Gladwyn
the night before its proposed execution
by an Ojibwa girl from
the Pottawattamie village.* Gladwyn thus
warned was forearmed.
Pontiac and his six chiefs were admitted
to the council chamber.
Pontiac began the harangue of peace and
friendly palaver and
was about to give the preconcerted
signal when Gladwyn
raised his hand and the sound of
clashing arms and drum
beating was heard without. Pontiac
feared he was foiled and
announcing he would "call
again," next time with his squaws
and children, he and his party withdrew.
The next morning
Pontiac, in hopes of regaining Gladwyn's
confidence, repaired
* There are many versions of the
divulging of the plot; one that
it was by an old squaw; another that a
young squaw of doubtful char-
acter told it to one of the subordinate
officers; still another that it was
by an Ottawa warrior. Parkman seems to
favor the Ojibwa girl, called
Catherine and said to be the mistress of
Gladwy... It is certain, how-
ever, that Gladwyn was warned.
422 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
to the Fort with but three of his chiefs
and bearing in his hand
the pipe of peace. Offering it to
Gladwyn he again protested
his friendship for the British whom he
declared "we love as
our brothers." A
few days later the Indians thronged the
open field behind the Fort gate. It was
closed and barred. Pon-
tiac advancing demanded admittance.
Gladwyn replied that he
might enter, but only alone. The great
chief, baffled and en-
raged, then "threw off the mask he
had so long worn" and
boldly declared his intention to make
war. A day or two later
the four tribes, Ottawas, Ojibwas,
Pottawattamies and Wy-
andots clamored about the fort and the
attack was begun by
volleys of bullets fired at the palisade
walls. Thus opened the
famous siege of Detroit, which lasted
six months, from May 1
to November 1 (1763), one of the longest
and most bitterly
contested sieges in the history of
western Indian warfare. The
incomparable treachery of Pontiac in
endeavoring to secure the
Fort by dissemblance of friendship was
further evidenced by
his pretense at a truce. Pontiac
declaring his earnest desire
for "firm and lasting peace,"
requested Gladwyn to send to the
camp of the chief, Captain Campbell,
Gladwyn's second in com-
mand, a veteran officer and most upright
and manly in character.
Campbell went, was made prisoner and
subsequently foully and
hideously murdered. Pontiac neglected no
expedient known to
Indian perfidy, cruelty or deviltry. He
surpassed his race in
all the detestable elements of their
nature. His conduct from
first to last was only calculated to
create distrust, contempt and
loathing. His warriors murdered the British settlers in the
vicinity of the fort, burned their huts,
robbed the Canadians
and committed every variety of
depredation. The story of that
siege cannot be told in detail here.
Pontiac realizing the seriousness of the
situation and the
obstinate courage of the British garrison,
prepared for a lengthy
campaign. He ordered the Ottawa village
moved across the
river to the Detroit side, where it was
located about a mile
and a half northeast of the Fort at the
mouth of Parent's
creek, afterwards known as Bloody
Run.
The garrison bravely and patiently
withstood all assaults
and bided the time of rescue. By
midnight sallies and other
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 423
expedients they removed all exterior buildings, fences, trees and other obstacles that lay within the range of their guns or that might afford protection to sneaking and stealthy Indians who would crawl snake-like close to the palisade and fire at the sen- tinels and loopholes, or shoot their arrows tipped with burning tow upon the roofs of the structures within the Fort. For- tunately the supply of water was inexhaustible; the provisions |
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were wisely husbanded; friendly Canadians across the river under cover of night brought supplies. These Canadian far- mers were also subject to tribute to the Indians, who seized their supplies by theft or open violence. They appealed to Pontiac and about the only creditable act recorded of that perfidious chief was his agreement to make restitution to the robbed set- tlers. Pontiac gave them in payment for their purloined property |
424 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. promissory notes drawn on birch bark and signed with the figure of an otter--the totem to which he belonged--all of which promises to pay, it is said, were redeemed. Day after day passed with varying incidents of attack and repulse. The keen-eyed watchfulness of the Indians never for an instant abated; their vigils were tireless and ceaseless; woe to the soldier who ventured without the Fort or even lifted his head above the palisade. Pontiac's patience was strengthened with the delusive idea that the French were only temporarily defeated and would rally to his assistance. He even dispatched messengers across the interior to the French commandant Neyon at Fort Chartres on the Mississippi, requesting that French troops be sent without delay to his aid. Meanwhile Gladwyn had sent one of his schooners to Ft. Niagara |
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with the remaining men (36), many of whom were wounded, escaped in the other boats and crossed to Ft. Sandusky, which they found had been taken and burned by the Wyandots; the garrison had been slaughtered and Ensign Paully sent prisoner to Pontiac's camp. Cuyler with his escaping companions slowly wended his way back where he reported the result of his ex- pedition to the commanding officer, Major Wilkins. At the same time the Wyandots, with the captured boats and prisoners, pro- ceeded up the Detroit to Pontiac's quarters, arriving in full sight of the Fort's garrison, when Gladwyn of course learned of the destruction of the Cuyler flotilla. The disappointment to the |
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 425
inmates of the Fort was almost
unbearable. Gladwyn's schooner,
however, reached Ft. Niagara and
returned about July 1, laden
with food, ammunition and reinforcements
and the most welcome
news of the Treaty of Paris. Pontiac,
undismayed, continued
his efforts. His forces now numbered, it
is recorded, about eight
hundred and twenty warriors; two hundred
and fifty Ottawas,
his own tribe and under his immediate
command; one hundred
and fifty Pottawattamies, under Ninivay;
fifty Wyandots under
Takee; two hundred Ojibwas under Wasson,
and one hundred
and seventy of the same tribe under
Sekahos.*
The two schooners were a serious menace
to the movements
of the Indians, and many desperate
attempts were made to burn
them by midnight attacks, and the
floating of fire rafts down upon
them; but all to no avail. Pontiac had
the stubborn persistency of
a later American general who said he
would fight it out on that
line if it took all summer. He exerted
himself with fresh zeal to
gain possession of the fort. He demanded
the surrender of Glad-
wyn, saying a still greater force of
Indians was on the march to
swell the army of besiegers. Gladwyn was
equally tenacious and
unyielding, he proposed to "hold
the fort" till the enemy were
worn out or re-enforcements arrived.
Pontiac sought to arouse
the active aid of the neighboring
Canadians, but the treaty of
Paris had made them British subjects,
and they dared not war on
their conquerors. History scarcely
furnishes a like instance of so
large an Indian force struggling so long
in an attack on a fortified
place.
The Wyandots and Pottawattamies,
however, never as en-
thusiastic in this war as the other
tribes, late in July decided to
withdraw from the besieging confederacy
and make peace with
the British. They did so and exchanged
prisoners with Gladwyn.
The Ottawas and Ojibwas, however, still
held on, watching the
fort and keeping up a desultory
fusilade. The end was drawing
nigh. On July 29 Captain James Dalzell
arrived from Niagara
with artillery supplies and two hundred
and eighty men in twenty-
two barges. Their approach to the fort
was bravely contested
*Parkman observes that as the warriors
brought their squaws and
children with them, the whole number of
Indians congregated about De-
troit, at this time, must have been more
than three thousand.
426 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
by the combined Indian forces, even the
Wyandots and Potta-
wattamies breaking their treaty and
treacherously joining in the
assault. Dalzell's troops entered the
fort and he proposed an im-
mediate sortie. Dalzell was bravery
personified, and he had
fought with Israel Putnam. On the
morning after his arrival
(July 31) at two o'clock, he led a force
of two hundred and fifty
men out of the fort. They silently in
the darkness marched along
the river towards the Ottawa village
just across the Parent's creek.
The Indians were prepared and had
ambuscaded both sides of the
road. They were, Indian fashion,
secreted behind trees and fences
and Canadian houses. Their presence was
not discovered till the
van of Dalzell's column reached the
bridge over the creek, when
a terrible fire was opened upon the
soldiers from all sides. It was
still dark, the Indians could not be
seen. A panic ensued. The
troops in disorder retreated amid an
awful slaughter. Dalzell
himself was killed and Major Robert
Rogers assumed command,
and the fleeing soldiers were only
spared from total destruction
by two of the British boats coming to
the rescue. About sixty
men were killed or wounded. It was known
as the Battle of
Bloody Bridge. Upon the retreating into
the fort of Major Rog-
ers' survivors the siege was renewed.
Pontiac was greatly en-
couraged over this victory and his
Indians showed renewed zeal.
The schooner "Gladwyn" was
sent to Niagara for help. On its
return it was attacked and its crew and
supplies practically de-
stroyed. Another relief expedition under
Major Wilkins in Sep-
tember was overwhelmed in a lake storm
and seventy soldiers
drowned. But even Indian persistency
began to tire. The reali-
zation that the French were beaten and
time only would bring
victory to the British led all the
tribes, except the Ottawas, to
sue for peace. This was October 12. Pontiac could
only hold his
own tribe in line. The Ottawas sustained
their hostility until
October 30, when a French messenger
arrived from Neyon who
reported to Pontiac that he must expect
no help from the French,
as they were now completely and
permanently at peace with the
British.* Pontiac was advised to quit
the war at once. His cause
* True to his Indian nature Pontiac
determined to assume a mask
of peace and bide his time. Gladwyn
wrote as follows to Lord Jeffrey
Amherst: "This moment I received a
message from Pontiac telling me
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 427
was doomed. The great chief who had so
valiantly and unremit-
tently fought for six months sullenly
raised the siege and retired
into the country of the Maumee where he
vainly endeavored to
arouse the Miamis and neighboring tribes
to another war upon
the invading British.
Though the memorable siege of Detroit,
personally conducted
by Pontiac, ended in failure to the
great chief, his conspiracy else-
where met with unparalleled success. The
British posts, planned
to be simultaneously attacked and
destroyed by the savages were
some dozen in number, including besides
Detroit, St. Joseph, Mich-
illimackinac Ouiatenon, Sandusky, Miami,
Presque Isle, Niagara,
Le Boeuf, Venango, Fort Pitt and one or two
others of lesser
importance. Of all the posts from
Niagara and Pitt westward,
Detroit alone was able to survive the
conspiracy. For the rest
"there was but one unvaried tale of
calamity and ruin." It was
a continued series of disasters to the
white men. The victories
of the savages marked a course of blood
from the Alleghanies
to the Mississippi. We have already made
note of the destruction
of Fort Sandusky. On May 16 (1763) the
Wyandots sur-
rounded the fort and under pretense of a
friendly visit, sev-
eral of them well known to Ensign
Paully, the commander, were
admitted. While smoking the pipe of
peace the treacherous and
trusted Indians suddenly arose, seized
Paully and held him
prisoner while their tribesmen killed
the sentry, entered the Fort,
and in cold blood murdered and scalped
the little band of soldiers.
The traders in the Post were likewise
killed and their stores
plundered. The stockade was fired and
burned to the ground.
Paully was taken to Detroit where he was
"adopted" as the hus-
band of an old widowed squaw, from whose
affectionate toils he
finally escaped to his friends in the
Detroit Fort.
St. Joseph was located at the mouth of
the river St. Jo-
seph, near the southern end of Lake
Michigan.* Ensign
Schlosser was in command with a mere
handful of soldiers,
that he should send to all the nations
concerned in the war to bury the
hatchet; and he hopes your excellency
will forget what has passed"-
Parkman.
* This post of St. Joseph was the site
of a Roman Catholic Mis-
sion founded about the year 1700. Here
was one of the most prominent
French military posts.
428 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
fourteen in number. On the morning of
May 25, the com-
mander was informed that a large
"party" of Pottawattamies
had arrived from Detroit "to visit
their relations" and the chief
(Washashe) and three or four of his
followers wished to hold a
"friendly talk" with the
commander. Disarmed of suspicion, the
commander Ensign admitted the callers;
the result is the oft re-
peated history. The entering Indians
rushed to the gate, toma-
hawked the sentinel, let in their
associates who instantly pounced
upon the garrison, killed eleven of the
soldiers, plundered the fort
and later carried Schlosser and his
three surviving companions,
captives to Detroit.
Fort Michillimackinac was the most important
point on the
upper lakes, commanding as it did the
straits of Mackinac, the
passage from Lake Huron into Lake
Michigan. Great numbers
of the Chippewas, in the last of May,
began to assemble in the
vicinity of the Fort, but with every
indication of friendliness.
June 4, was the King's (George)
birthday. It must be cele-
brated with pastimes. The discipline of
the garrison, some thirty-
five in number, was relaxed. Many squaws
were admitted as
visitors into the fort, while their
"braves" engaged in their
favorite game of ball just outside the
garrison entrance. It
was a spirited contest between the
Ojibwas and Sacs. Captain
George Etherington, commander of the
Fort and his Lieuten-
ant, Leslie, stood without the palisades
to watch the sport. Sud-
denly the ball was thrown near the open
gate and behind the
two officers. The Indians pretending to
rush for the ball in-
stantly encircled and seized Etherington
and Leslie, and crowded
their way into the Fort where the squaws
supplied them with
tomahawks and hatchets, which they had
carried in, hidden under
their blankets. Quick as a flash, the
instruments of death were
gleaming in the sunlight and Lieutenant
Jamet and fifteen sol-
diers and a trader were struck down
never to rise. The rest of
the garrison were made prisoners and
five of them afterwards
tomahawked. All of the peaceful traders
were plundered and
carried off. The prisoners were conveyed
to Montreal. The
French population of the Post was
undisturbed. Captain Ether-
ington succeeded in sending timely
warning to the little garrison
at La Bay (Green Bay); Lieutenant
Gorrell the commandant
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 429
and his men were brought as prisoners to
the Michillimackinac
fort and thence sent with Etherington
and Leslie to the Canadian
capital. The little post of Ste. Marie
(Sault) had been partially
destroyed and abandoned. The garrison
inmates had withdrawn
to Michillimackinac and shared its fate.
The garrison at Ouiatenon* suituated on
the Wabash-
(Indian Ouabache) -near the present
location of Lafayette
(Indiana) then in the very heart of the
western forest,
as planned, was to have been massacred
on June 1. Through
the information given by the French at
the post, the soldiers
were apprised of their intended fate and
through the intervention
of the same French friends, the Indians
were dissuaded from
executing their sanguinary purpose. Lieutenant Jenkins and
several of his men were made prisoners
by stratagem, the re-
mainder of the garrison readily
surrendered.
On the present site of Fort Wayne
(Indiana) was Fort Mi-
ami+ at the confluence of the rivers St.
Joseph and St. Mary,
which unite to form the Maumee. The Fort
at this time was in
charge of Ensign Holmes. On May 27, the
commander was de-
coyed from the fort by the story of an
Indian girl, that a squaw
lay dangerously ill in a wigwam near the
stockade, and needed
medical assistance, The humane Holmes
forgetting his caution on
an errand of mercy, walked without the
gate and was instantly
shot dead. The soldiers in the
palisades, seeing the corpse of their
leader and hearing the yells and
whoopings of the exultant
Indians, offered no resistance, admitted
the redmen and gladly
surrendered on promise of having their
lives spared.
Fort Presqu' Isle stood on the southern
shore of Lake Erie
at the site of the present town of Erie.
The block house, an
unusually strong and commodious one, was
in command of En-
sign Christie with a courageous and
skillful garrison of twenty-
seven men. Christie learning of the
attack on the other posts
"braced up" for his
"visit from the hell hounds" as he appropri-
ately called the enemy. He had not long
to wait. On June 15,
* Also spelled Ouachtanon and Ouatanon.
+ There were several forts called Miami
in those early days. This
one was built in 1749-50 by the French
commandant Raimond. - See page
181 supra.
430 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
about two hundred of them put in an
appearance from Detroit.
They sprang into the ditch around the
fort and with reckless
audacity approached to the very walls
and threw fire-balls of
pitch upon the roof and sides of the
fortress.. Again and again
the wooden retreat was on fire, but amid
showers of bullets and
arrows the flames were extinguished by
the fearless soldiers.
The savages rolled logs before the fort
and erected strong breast
works from behind which they could
discharge their shots and
throw their fire balls. For nearly three
days a terrific contest
ensued. The savages finally undermined
the palisades to the
house of Christie, which was at once set
on fire nearly stifling
the garrison with the smoke and heat for
Christie's quarters were
close to the block house. Longer resistance was vain, "the
soldiers pale and haggard, like men who
had passed through a
fiery furnace, now issued from their
scorched and bullet pierced
stronghold." The surrendering
soldiers were taken to Pontiac's
quarters on the Detroit river.
Three days after the attack on Presqu'
Isle, Fort Le Boeuf,
twelve miles south on Le Boeuf creek,
one of the head sources
of the Alleghany river, was surrounded and
burned. Ensign Price
and a garrison of thirteen men
miraculously escaped the flames
and the encircling savages and
endeavored to reach Fort Pitt.
About half of them succeeded, the
remainder died of hunger
and privation by the way.*
Fort Venango, still farther south, on
the Alleghany river,
was captured by a band of Senecas, who
gained entrance by re-
sorting to the oft employed treachery of
pretending friendliness.
The entire garrison was butchered,
Lieutenant Gordon the com-
mander slowly tortured to death and the
fort burned to the
ground. Not a soul escaped to tell the
horrible tale.
Fort Ligonier, another small post
commanded by Lieutenant
Archibald Blane, forty miles southeast
of Fort Pitt was attacked
but successfully held out till relieved
by Bouquet's Expedition.
Thus within a period of about a month
from the time the first
blow was struck at Detroit, Pontiac was
in full possession of nine
out of the twelve posts so recently
belonging to and, it was
thought, securely occupied by the
British. The fearful threat of
*Bryant's (Scribner's) History of the
United States.
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 431
the great Ottawa conspirator that he
would exterminate the whites
west of the Alleghanies, was well nigh
fulfilled. Over two hun-
dred traders with their servants fell
victims to his remorseless
march of slaughter and rapine and goods
estimated at over half
a million dollars became the spoils of
the confederated tribes.*
The result of Pontiac's widespread and
successful uprising
struck untold terror to the settlers
along the western frontier of
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The
savages roused to the
highest pitch of fury and weltering in
the blood of their victims
were burning the cabins and crops of the
defenseless whites and
massacring the men, women and children.
Many hundreds of
the forest dwellers with their families
flocked to the stockades
and protected posts. Particularly in the
Pennsylvania country
did dread and consternation prevail. The
frontiersmen west of the
Alleghanies fled east over the mountains
to Carlisle, Lancaster and
numbers even continued their flight to
Philadelphia. Pontiac
was making good his threat that he would
drive the pale face
back to the sea.
But Forts Niagara and Pitt were still in
the possession
of the "red coats" as the
British soldiers were often called
by the forest "redskins." Following the total destruction
of Le Boeuf and Venango, the Senecas
made an attack on Fort
Niagara, an extensive work on the east
side of Niagara River
near its mouth as it empties into Lake
Ontario. This fort guarded
the access to the whole interior country
by way of Canada and
the St. Lawrence. The fort was strongly
built and fortified and
was far from the center of the country
of the warpath Indians,
for with the exception of the Senecas,
the Iroquois tribes inhab-
iting eastern Canada and New York did
not participate in Pon-
tiac's conspiracy. The attack on Fort
Niagara therefore was
half hearted and after a feeble effort
the beseigers despaired of
success or assistance and abandoned the
blockade, which only
lasted a few days.
Fort Pitt was the British military
headquarters of the west-
ern frontier. It was the Gibralter of
defense, protecting the
eastern colonies from invasion by the
western Indians. The
consummation of Pontiac's gigantic
scheme depended upon
* De Hass - Indian Wars.
432 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. the capture of Fort Pitt. It was a strong fortification at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. Its northern ramparts were faced with brick on the side looking down the Ohio. Fort Pitt stood "far aloof in the forest and one might journey eastward full two hundred miles before the English settlements began to thicken." The garrison con- sisted of three hundred and thirty soldiers, traders and back- woodsmen, besides about one hundred women and a greater number of children. Captain Simeon Ecuyer, a brave Swiss officer, was in command. Every preparation was made for the expected attack. All houses and |
|
|
fort, saying vast numbers of braves were on the way to destroy it. Ecuyer displayed equal bravado and replied that several thou- sand British soldiers were on the way to punish the tribes for their uprising. The Fort was now in a state of siege. For about a month, "nothing occurred except a series of petty and futile attacks," in which the Indians, mostly Ottawas, Ojibwas and Dela- wares, did small damage. On July 26, under a flag of truce, the besiegers again demanded surrender. It was refused and Ecuyer told the savages that if they again showed themselves near the Fort he would throw "bombshells" amongst them and "blow them to atoms." The assault was continued with renewed fury. |
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 433
Meanwhile Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the
commander-in-chief of
the British forces, awakening to the
gravity of the situation,
ordered Colonel Bouquet, a brave and
able officer in his Majesty's
service, to take command of certain
specified forces and proceed
as rapidly as possible to the relief of
Fort Pitt, and then make
aggressive warfare on the western
tribes. Bouquet leaving his
headquarters at Philadelphia, reached
Carlisle late in June, where
he heard for the first time of the
calamities at Presqu' Isle, Le
Boeuf and Venango. He left Carlisle with
a force of five hun-
dred men, some of them the pick of the
British regulars, but many
of them aged veterans enfeebled by
disease and long severe expo-
sure. Bouquet had seen considerable
service in Indian war-
fare. He was not likely to be caught
napping. He marched
slowly along the Cumberland Valley and
crept cautiously over
the mountains, passing Forts Loudon and
Bedford, the latter sur-
rounded with Indians, to Fort Ligonier
which as noted above,
had been blockaded for weeks by the
savages who, as at Bedford,
fled at Bouquet's approach. On August
5th, the little army, foot
sore and tired and half famished,
reached a small stream within
twenty-five miles of Fort Pitt, known as
Bushy Run. Here in
the afternoon they were suddenly and
fiercely fired upon by a
superior number of Indians. A terrific
contest ensued, only ended
by the darkness of night. The encounter
was resumed next day;
the odds were against the British who
were surrounded and were
being cut down in great numbers by the
Indians who skulked
behind trees and logs and in the grass
and declivities. Bouquet
resorted to a ruse which was signally
successful. He formed
his men in a wide semi-circle, and from
the center advanced a
company toward the enemy, the advancing
company then made a
feint of retreat, the deceived Indians
followed close after and fell
into the ambuscade. The outwitted
savages were completely
routed and fled in hopeless confusion.
Bouquet had won one of
the greatest victories in western Indian
warfare. His loss was
about one hundred and fifty men, nearly
a third of his army. The
loss of the Indians was not so great. As
rapidly as possible
Bouquet pushed on to Fort Pitt which he
entered without moles-
tation on August 25. The extent and the
end of Pontiac's con-
434 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
spiracy had at last been reached. The
Pennsylvania Assembly
and King George, even, formally thanked
Bouquet.
Forts Detroit and Pitt, as has been
seen, proved impregnable,
neither the evil cunning nor the
persistent bravery of the savage
could dislodge the occupants of those
important posts. The
siege of Detroit had been abandoned by
the combined forces of
Pontiac but the country round about
continued to be infested with
the hostile Indians, who kept up a sort
of petty bushwacking
campaign that compelled the soldiers and
traders of the fort,
for safety, to remain "in
doors" during the winter of 1763-4.
Bouquet on gaining Fort Pitt, desired to
pursue the marauding
and murderous savages to their forest
retreats and drive them
hence, but he was unable to accomplish
anything until the fol-
lowing year.
In the spring of 1764, Sir Jeffrey
Amherst resigned his
office and General Thomas Gage succeeded
him as Commander-
in-Chief of the British forces in
America, with headquarters in
Boston.* Shortly after assuming office
General Gage determined
to send two armies from different points
into the heart of the
Indian country. The first, under
Bouquet, was to advance from
Fort Pitt into the midst of the Delaware
and Shawanee settle-
ments of the Ohio Valley and the other
under Bradstreet was to
pass from Fort Niagara up the lakes and
force the tribes of De-
troit and the region round about to
unconditioned submission.*
Colonel John Bradstreet left Fort
Niagara in July 1764 with
the formidable force of over a thousand
soldiers. In canoes and
bateaux this imposing army of British
regulars coasted along
the shore of Lake Erie, stopping at
various points to meet and
treat with the Indians, who realizing
their inability to cope with
so powerful an antagonist, made terms of
peace, or went through
the pretense of so doing. At Sandusky
(Fort), particularly,
Bradstreet accepted the false promises
of the Wyandots, Ottawas,
Miamies, Delawares and Shawanees. On
August 26, he arrived at
Detroit, to the great joy and relief of
the garrison which now,
for more than a year, had been "cut
off from all communication
with their race" and had been
virtually prisoners confined within
the walls of their stockade. Bradstreet
forwarded small detach-
* Amherst's Headquarters had been at New
York.
* Parkman.
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 435
ments to restore or retake, as the case
might be, the farther west-
ern British posts, which had fallen into
the hands of Pontiac's
wily and exultant warriors.
In October (1764) Bouquet, with an army
of fifteen hun-
dred troops, defiled out of Fort Pitt
and taking the Indian trail
westward, boldly entered the wilderness,
"which no army had
ever before sought to penetrate."
We cannot now follow the
fortunes of this romantic and decisive
campaign. It was a novel
sight, this regiment of regulars,
picking its way through the
woods and over the streams to the center
of the Ohio country.
Striking the Tuscarawas river he
followed down its banks, halt-
ing at short intervals to confer with
delegations of Indians until
October 25, when he encamped on the
Muskingum near the
forks of that river formed by the
confluence of the Tuscarawas
and Walhonding rivers.* Here with much
display of the pomp
and circumstances of war on the part of
Bouquet to impress
and overawe the savages, he held
conferences with the chiefs
of the various tribes. They agreed to
lay down their arms and
live for the future in friendship with
the white invaders. All
prisoners heretofore taken and then held
by the Indians were
to be surrendered to Bouquet. Over two
hundred of these, cap-
tives, including women and children were
delivered up, and with
these Bouquet with his successful
soldiery, retraced his course
to Fort Pitt, arriving there on the 28th
of November. It was
one of the most memorable expeditions in
the pre-state history
of Ohio.
The sudden and surprising victories of
Pontiac were being
rapidly undone. The great Ottawa chief
saw his partially accom-
plished scheme withering into
ignominious failure. Sullen, dis-
appointed, consumed with humiliation and
revenge, he withdrew
from active prominence to his forest
wigwam. He sought the
banks of the Maumee, scene of his birth
and the location of the
villages of many tribes who were his
sympathetic adherents. He
did not participate in any of the
councils held by Bradstreet and
the chiefs. "His vengeance was
unslaked and his purpose un-
shaken." But his glory was growing
dim and his power was
withering into dust. From the scenes of
his promising but short
* Bouquet's last encampment was near the
present site of Coshocton.
7 Vol. XII- 4.
436 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
lived triumphs, he retired into the
country of the Illinois and the
Mississippi. He tried to arouse the aid
of the French. He
gathered a band of four hundred warriors
on the Maumee and
with these faithful followers revisited
the western tribes in
hopes of creating another
confederation.* Not even would the
southern tribes respond to his appeals.
All was lost. His allies
were falling off, his followers,
discouraged, were deserting him.
Again and again he went back to his
chosen haunts and former
faithful followers on the Maumee. But
his day had passed.
In the spring of 1766 Pontiac met Sir
William Johnson ** at
Oswego. In his peace speech at that time
he said: "I speak in the
name of all the nations westward, of
whom I am the master. It
is the will of the Great Spirit that we
should meet here to-day;
and before him I now take you by the
hand. I call him to witness
that I speak from my heart; for since I
took Colonel Croghan+
by the hand last year, I have never let
go my hold, for I see that
the Great Spirit will have us friends.
"Moreover, when our great father of
France was in this
country, I held him fast by the hand.
Now that he is gone, I take
you, my English Father, by the hand, in
the name of all the
nations, and promise to keep this
covenant as long as I shall live."
But he did not speak from the heart, on
the contrary only
from the head. Leaving the Oswego
conference "his canoe
laden with the gifts of his enemy"
Pontiac steered homeward for
the Maumee; and in that vicinity he
spent the following winter.
* Pontiac sought the aid of the
Kickapoos, Piankishaws, Sacs, Foxes,
Dahcotahs, Missouris and other tribes on
the Mississippi and its head
waters.
** Sir William Johnson was at this time
Superintendent of Indian
affairs in the North (of the colonies)
by appointment from the King.
Johnson was a great favorite with the
Indians and exerted great power
over them, especially among the Six
Nations. He married a sister of
Brant, the Mohawk chief; he was moreover
adopted into the Mohawk
tribe and made a Sachem.
+ George Croghan was a deputy Indian
agent under Sir William John-
son. In 1765, at the instance of
Johnson, Croghan proceeded from Fort
Pitt down the Ohio to the mouth of the
Wabash, up which he journeyed
and thence across the country to
Detroit, treating with the Indians as he
passed. On this journey Croghan met
Pontiac who made promises of
peace and friendship. Croghan died in
1782. He is not the George
Croghan who figured in the siege of Fort
Stephenson (1813.)
Pontiac's Conspiracy. 437
From now on for some two years the great
Ottawa chief disap-
peared as if lost in the forest depths.
In April 1769 he is found at Fort St.
Louis on the west side
of the Mississippi where he gave himself
mainly to the temporary
oblivion of "firewater," the
dread destroyer of his race. He
was wont to cross the "father of
waters" to the fort on the British
side at Cahokia where he would revel
with the friendly Creoles.
In one of these visits, in the early
morning, after drinking deeply
he strode with uncertain step into the
adjacent forest. He was
arrayed in the uniform of a French
officer, which apparel had
been given him many years before by the
Marquis of Mont-
calm.
His footsteps were stealthily dogged by a Kaskaskia
Indian, who in the silence and seclusion
of the forest, at an
opportune moment, buried the blade of a
tomahawk in the
brain of the Ottawa conqueror, the
champion of his race. The
murderer had been bribed to the heinous
act by a British trader
named Williamson who thought to thus rid
his country (Eng-
land) of a dangerous foe. The unholy
price of the assassination
was a barrel of liquor.* It was supposed
the Illinois, Kaskaskia,
Peoria and Cahokia Indians were more or
less guilty as accom-
plices in the horrible deed. That an
Illinois Indian was guilty
of the act was sufficient. The Sacs and
Foxes and other western
tribes friendly to Pontiac and his
cause, were aroused to furious
revenge. They went upon the warpath
against the Illinois In-
dians. A relentless war ensued, and says
Parkman, "over the
grave of Pontiac more blood was poured
out in atonement, than
flowed from the veins of the slaughtered
heroes on the corpse of
Patroclus."
The body of the murdered chief was borne
across the river
and buried near Fort St. Louis. No
monument ever marked
the resting place of the great hero and
defender of his people.
Pontiac came "to open the purple
testament of bleeding war"
and he gave his
"Large kingdom for a little grave,
A little little grave, an obscure
grave."
* There are various accounts of the
death of Pontiac. The one
related by Parkman is here followed.