USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > Discovery and conquests of the Northwest, with the history of Chicago, Vol. I > Part 15
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*Mr. Gamelin subsequently became a resident of Vincennes, and acted as mediator between the Americans and Indians.
152
Pontiac Meets Rogers.
While he was penetrating the country along the southern shore of Lake Erie in his little fleet of whale boats, in his advanced path a savage hero lay, ruminat- ing in his mind how to receive him.
This was Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas. He was yet in the heyday of youth and strength, but a veteran in bush fighting warfare. He had made himself con- spicuous among the subtle spirits who had overwhelmed Braddock on the Monongahela. He had ever since been in the van of the war path against the English, and his achievements had won for him a singular distinction, which, by common consent, made him the acknowledged chief, not only of his own tribe, but of all the surround- ing tribes, who looked up to him as their Moses. His summer residence was on Pechu Island, eight miles above Detroit, and in the winter he lodged in the Ottawa village opposite on the Canadian shore .* As soon as he heard of the advance of the English into the country, he hastened, with a few of his attendants, to meet them. The first interview was held November 7th, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, at its western extremity .. Here Rogers, having entered the mouth of a small stream, moored his boats and encamped.
An Indian deputation soon waited on him, requesting him to proceed no farther till Pontiac, the king of the country, came up. Shortly afterward he came, and, at the first salutation, demanded how he dared to enter the country without his permission. In reply, Rogers informed him (with naïve respect and dignity com- bined) that he had come, not to injure the Indians, but to remove the French soldiers of the country, who had hitherto been an obstacle to peace between the Indians and the English.
The answer disarmed the chief and modified his demeanor at once. Rogers next proceeded to inform him of the surrender of Canada to the English, which was news to Pontiac, though perhaps not unexpected, from the ill success of the French since the fall of Niagara and Quebec several months before.
On leaving, he told Rogers that if he needed anything
*Lanman's Hist. of Mich., p. 91.
153
Pontiac Conciliated.
his country could supply, he would send his warriors for it. He then took his leave, requesting Rogers not to advance farther till a council should be held the next morning. This opened as proposed-the peace-pipe was smoked, and Pontiac promised to protect Rogers on his way to Detroit. This promise he kept in good faith. Had he not done this, Rogers could not have reached the place without a battle with the Indians, who, in heavy force, stood guard at the mouth of the river to prevent his passage.
To these Pontiac gave orders to let the English pass unmolested, and, at the same time, ordered some of his men to assist Capt. Brewer along with the oxen driven from Presque Isle. Besides this act of courtesy, he manifested a disposition to learn the elements of civilization, asking Rogers about the English method of disciplining their forces, and even inquired how cloth and iron were made, and offered to give him a part of the country if he would take him to England on a visit. This offer was accompanied with the conciliatory pro- posal of paying an annual tribute to the king of England and calling him his uncle. These were the terms on which the English might be permitted to settle in the country and remain as long as they treated the Indians with respect. If they failed to do this, he should drive them out and "shut up the door."*
Rogers now resumed his march toward Detroit, taking care to send Lieut. Brheme, a French war prisoner, in advance, with the following letter to Capt. Bellestre, the French commander :
"To Capt. Bellestre, or the Officer Commanding at Detroit:
"SIR .- That you may not be alarmed at the ap- proach of the English troops under my command when I come to Detroit, I send forward this by Lieut. Brheme, to acquaint you that I have Gen. Amherst's orders to take possession of Detroit and such other posts as are in that district ; which by capitulation, agreed to and signed by Marquis de Vaudreuil and Gen. Amherst, the 8th of September last, now belong to Great Britain. I have with me the Marquis de Vaudreuil's letters to
*Concise Account.
I54
Device of the Crow.
you, directed for your guidance on this occasion ; which letters I shall deliver to you when I am at or near your post, and shall encamp the troops I have with me at some distance from the fort, till you have reasonable time to be made acquainted with the Marquis de Vau- dreuil's instructions and the capitulation, a copy of which I have with me likewise. I am, sir,
"Your humble servant,
"ROBERT ROGERS."
Continuing to advance, Rogers met a squad of Hurons, from whom he learned that Bellestre had detained the messenger sent with his letter, and intended to oppose his entrance into the town.
In order to arouse a spirit of resistance among the Indians, he had erected on a pole an effigy of Rogers, with a crow pecking his eyes out, as an emblem of the fate in store for him if he attempted to enter Detroit ; but the Indians were skeptical as to such a result, and, notwithstanding the shallow device, accepted the wam- pum belt from Rogers, who represented, in their esti- mation-and correctly, too-the rising star of power, to whom they must now look for favors.
The impossibility of holding the town against the English soon became evident to the French commander, and he began to conciliate. First, he dispatched a messenger to Rogers with a letter, to inform him that he had put. the inhabitants, and particularly the Indians, on their guard to prevent being plundered by the Indians who had joined the standard of the English, and also to preserve the English themselves from a like disaster when the government of the town should change from French to English hands. Rogers replied as follows :
"SIR .- I acknowledge the receipt of your two letters, both of which were delivered to me on yesterday. Mr. Brheme has not yet returned. The inclosed letter from the Marquis de Vaudreuil will inform you of the surrender of all Canada to the king of Great Britain, and of the great indulgence granted to the inhabitants; as also of the terms granted to the troops of his Most Christian Majesty. Capt. Campbell, whom I have sent forward with this letter, will show you the capitulation. I desire
27
155
Detroit under the English Flag.
you will not detain him, as I am determined, agreeable to my instructions from General Amherst, speedily to relieve your post. I shall stop the troops I have with me at the hither end of the town till four o'clock, by which time I expect your answer. Your inhabitants will not surprise me; as yet I have seen no other in that position but savages waiting for my orders. I can assure you, sir, the inhabitants of Detroit shall not be molested -they and you complying with the capitulation-but be protected in the quiet and peaceable possession of their estates ; neither shall they be pillaged by my Indians, nor by yours that have joined me. I am, etc.,
"R. ROGERS. " To Capt. Bellestre, Commanding at Detroit."
Having dispatched this letter, without awaiting a reply, Rogers pushed his boats up the river, and landed within half a mile of the place. Here a messenger soon came to him from Bellestre, with his compliments, signifying that he awaited his orders. Lieuts. Lefflie and McCormick were now sent with thirty-six American troops to take possession of Detroit.
The first item in the formula was to lower the French flag, and elevate the English flag in its place. This was done, and a burst of riotous applause rent the air from the guttural voices of 700 Indians, while the French beheld the humiliation with silent and pain- ful emotions, such as have never yet been felt in the breast of an American citizen.
It was now the 29th of November, and Rogers, with his accustomed promptness, set about the execution of his still unfinished work. The French militia were dis- armed and the oath of allegiance administered to them. The regular soldiers, with their commander, Bellestre, were sent as prisoners of war to Philadelphia, under the escort of Lieut. Holmes and thirty men.
A party of twenty men were sent to take possession of the posts of Ouatanon,* on the head waters of the Wabash and Miami, at the bend of the Maumee. These had been the extremes of canoe navigation on the two rivers-a portage connecting them by a well fre-
*Rogers called this Gatanois in his Journal, p. 229.
156
Michilimackinac Taken Possession of.
quented Indian trail, which had been in existence from time immemorial. After the French had settled at Vincennes, this thoroughfare to the lakes became an important one to them; hence the erection of the post of Ouatanon, at the head of canoe navigation on this stream. Ft. Miami was also designed to facilitate the same end,* and its early possession by the English was necessary, in order to command the respect of the Indians and establish the fur trade among them along their highway to the lakes.
Capt. Campbell was now left in command of Detroit, while Rogers, with a small force, started toward Michili- mackinac to establish the English standard at that important post. After a vain attempt to force his way along the icy and boisterous shore of Lake Huron, he was obliged to return to Detroit, and, on the 21st of December, started with a few attendants across the country to Ft. Pitt, arriving there on the 23d of January, 1761. He passed through Sandusky on his way, says Perkins' Western Annals (p. III), but does not inform us whether he left a garrison there or not. The next summer, Michilimackinac, Ste. Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior, Green Bay and St. Joseph, were taken peaceable possession of by a detachment sent from Detroit by Capt. Campbell.
The French towns of Southern Illinois and Vincennes, on the Wabash, had hitherto been disturbed only by war's alarms from afar. Their country had changed from French to English rule, but distance had yet and was still destined to give them a few more years under the lilies of France, though severed from the parent stem by the tornado of war, like a limb of a tree broken from the trunk.
The Indians had always loved the French, because they met them on terms of social equality. Their ideas of chivalry were well suited to the savage imagination.
*According to Brice's History of Ft. Wayne, p. 12, Ft. Miami was. built in 1733. Volney in his researches dates the building of Vincennes in 1735; but Law's date of 1710 is more consistent with 1733 as the date of Miami. Ft. Ouatanon probably bears a similar date. Late researches by H. W. Beckwith, of Danville, Ill., show that it was built on the west. side of the Wabash, instead of the east, as indicated by the current his- tories. It is pronounced We-au-ta-non.
157
Michilimackinac Taken Possession of.
Both were dashing and impetuous. A liberal sprinkling of blanched cheeks, whose mothers were the honored wives of Frenchmen, were so many pledges of that friendship which forest life had charmed into being. Before the Anglo-Americans and English had set foot into the great West, the French had been there a century, and, instead of attempting to deprive them of their lands, had often held out inducements to them to amalgamate the two races and inherit the country
BRANCH OF THE HURON OR SAVOYARD R.
PLAN
OF
DETROIT AS IT WAS August 20th, 1749.
REFERENCES.
A-Commandant's House.
B .- Guard House and Barracks.
C .- Powder Magazine.
D .- Parish Church.
E .- Priest's House. F .- Cemetery.
G .- Royal Gardens.
H,-Individual Gardens.
P
U
DETROIT RIVER.
together. This course made any especial promise of friendship unnecessary, or, if made, gave it consistency.
During the French and Indian war, both sides had vied with each other in their excess of zeal to preserve the rights of the Indians. Unhappily for them, the side they had taken had been beaten, and now their first care was to set themselves right before the conquerors, which accounts for Pontiac's assistance to Rogers in conducting him safely to Detroit. But beneath this
158
Warning to the English.
friendly exterior there lurked, at least, doubt and mis- giving, if not feelings of deadly hate.
The English, on their part, had formed too low an estimate of the ability of the Indians to oppose them, in the event of hostilities. They had conquered them and the French combined, and the savage, single- handed, was but a pigmy in their estimation.
Under this impression, the English fur traders hastened forward among the lodges of the wilderness, to renew the trade begun before the war, and appropriate that which the French had hitherto held exclusively along the lakes. With this intent, Alexander Henry started for Michilimackinac early in the spring succeed- ing the English possession of Detroit. Ere he had reached Detroit, he witnessed abundant signs of dis- content among the Indians.
No pains had been taken by the English or Americans to win their favor by means of presents or those fulsome professions of good fellowship so essential to fill the measure of savage etiquette. But these omissions were not the greatest cause of complaint. Blows had been inflicted on some of the Ottawas at a trading station, by. some indiscreet traders, * for which indignity retaliation was only deferred. In consequence of these causes of disaffection, Henry was obliged to make his way from Detroit to Michilimackinac in the disguise of French costume. Having reached his destination, he was soon waited upon by a tenacious advocate of Indian rights, supposed to be Pontiac himself, who addressed him the following terse words :
"Englishmen, you know that the French king is our father. He promised to be such, and we in return prom- ised to be his children. This promise we have kept.
"Englishmen, it is you that have made war with this our father. You are his enemy; and how then could you have the boldness to venture among us, his children ? You know that his enemies are ours.
"Englishmen, we are informed that our father the king of France, is old and infirm ; and that, being fatigued with making war upon your nation, he has
*Cass' Discourse; Rogers' Account.
159
Warning to the English.
fallen asleep. During this sleep, you have taken advan- tage of him, and possessed yourselves of Canada. But his nap is almost at an end. I think I hear him already stirring and inquiring for his children the Indians; and when he does awake, what must become of you? He will destroy you utterly.
"Englishmen, although you have conquered the French, you have not yet conquered us. We are not your slaves. These lakes, these woods and mountains, are left to us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance, and we will part with them to none. Your nation sup- poses that we, like the white people, cannot live without bread, and pork, and beef; but you ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for us in these spacious lakes and on these woody mountains.
"Englishmen, our father, the king of France, em- ployed our young men to make war upon your nation. In this warfare many of them have been killed, and it is our custom to retaliate until such time as the spirits of the slain are satisfied. But the spirits of the slain are to be satisfied in either of two ways: the first is, by the spilling the blood of the nation by which they fell; the other, by covering the bodies of the dead, and thus allaying the resentment of their relations. This is done by making presents.
"Englishmen, your king has never sent us any pres- ents, nor entered into any treaty with us ; wherefore he and we are still at war ; and until he does these things, we must consider that we have no other father or friend among the white men than the king of France. But for you, we have taken into consideration that you have ventured among us in the expectation that we should not molest you. You do not come armed, with an in- tention to make war. You come in peace to trade with us, and supply us with the necessaries of which we are in much want. We shall regard you, therefore, as a brother ; and you may sleep tranquilly, without fear of the Chippewas. As a token of our friendship, we present you with this pipe to smoke."*
Henry, p. 43.
160
Indian Conspiracy.
Matters went on during the next two years with in- creased dissatisfaction. Frequent ominous rumors of Indian uprising had been current ; but little importance had been attached to them, especially by Sir Jeffrey Amherst, who still held military command of the whole country.
During all this time, no definitive treaty of peace had been negotiated between England and France, and, through some dreamy illusion of the Indians, a pleasing theory had obtained currency that the king of France had been asleep, and the English had taken advantage of his slumbers to conquer the country-that he would soon awaken and utterly destroy the English. Fortified by their faith in this visionary hope, the Indians through- out the country north of the Ohio river and east of the Mississippi, conspired with Pontiac to bring about this desired result. *
After these alliances had been secured, he plied his seductive arts of diplomacy to the different tribes of the Iroquois, and won over the Senecas to his cause ; but the other five tribes, owing to the influence of Sir William Johnson, remained true to the English.
Some of the French residents, either through national pique to the English or personal attachment to the Indians, were fast friends to the latter, although the better portion preserved a neutrality, at least, by mental reservation, as they would not have dared to oppose the schemes of Pontiac, had they been informed of them.
The French population of Detroit at that time oc- cupied about 100 houses in town and 50 farm houses
* Carver relates a phenomenon which among the timorous-minded habitants of Detroit, foretold the Indian outbreak. It is worth record- ing for its meteorological merits, if not its supernatural. It runs as follows : "In the year 1762, in the month of July, it rained on this town and the parts adjacent, a sulphurous water of the color and consistence of ink; some of which being collected into bottles and written with, appeared perfectly intelligible on the paper, and answered every purpose of that useful liquid. Soon after, the Indian wars, already spoken of, broke out in these parts. I mean not to say that this incident was ominous of them, notwithstanding it is well known that innumerable well attested instances of extraordinary phenomena happening before extraordinary events, have been recorded in almost every age by his- torians of veracity; I only relate the circumstance as a fact of which I was informed by many persons of undoubted probity, and leave my readers, as I have hitherto done, to draw their own conclusions from it."
16.
Convening a Council.
along the river, above or below it .* The walls of these were built with logs and the roofs covered with bark or thatched straw. Their fences were constructed with pickets. Wheat was sowed in drills and cultivated by hand. They had no potatoes till the English brought the seed. Their horses had been obtained from Ft. Duquesne, descended from the English stock captured from Braddock's defeated army. + The Ottawas, Wyandots and Pottowattomies had villages close by, which, with the French population, gave to the place a metropolitan character, to which no other spot in the whole country could be compared ; consequently, its conquest was undertaken by Pontiac himself.
But, before the first blow was to be struck, a council was convened. This was summoned to meet early in the spring, on the banks of a small stream near Detroit. Here were assembled chiefs from all the principal tribes of the country, ¿ each supposing himself to be sapient in the savage policy of the times; but at that moment, could they have known the real power of the English colonists, they would have kicked the war belt from their midst and flung themselves at the feet of the English, claiming their friendship with the eloquence of savage metaphor. Of this, however, they had no conception, and entertained no doubt that they could kill off the English garrisons in the entire country, and bar the door against the entrance of any more.
This was the aim of Pontiac, and it met the approval of his red brethren, without a dissenting voice in the council. Plans were laid to attack each English fort in the country, at a coming change of the moon, in the month of May. §
* Lanman's Mich. p. 98.
+ Manuscript Doc. of J. R. Williams; see Lanman's Mich., p. 99.
# The Ottawas, Miamis, Chippewas, Wyandots, Pottowattomies, Shawanese, Outagamies and Winnebagoes, composed the council; but there were other tribes from remote places, as well as smaller tribes near by, who were friendly to Pontiac's cause, while it is evident that a few deliberate thinkers had not full faith in his schemes.
§ These consisted of Detroit, Michilimackinac, Ste. Marie, Green Bay, St. Joseph, Ouatanon, Miami, Ft. Pitt, Venango, Le Bœuf, Presque Isle and Sandusky. Ft. Niagara was not to be attacked, its great strength and remoteness being looked upon as insurmountable obstacles to be overcome.
162
The Ojibway Girl.
True to the time honored custom of Indian warfare, treachery was the chief instrument to be used in taking them. In the attack of Detroit, Pontiac's plan was to gain admittance to the fort with a chosen band of his warriors, under the semblance of friendship, and, at a given signal, fall upon the unsuspecting garrison with their weapons, which were to be concealed under their blankets, and kill them before they had time to seize their arms. The success of this undertaking required preparation. Their guns had to be shortened by sev- eral inches being taken from the muzzles, in order to reduce them in length sufficiently for concealment under their blankets .* This was done with files and saws borrowed from the French inhabitants, who lent them these tools in ignorance of the purpose for which they were to be used.
While this was going on, the Indians kept up their friendly visits to the fort as usual; but one afternoon there came in a young Ojibway girl who had previously been employed to make a pair of Indian shoes for Major Gladwin, the commander. She delivered them to him, and the major was so pleased with the neatness with which they were made, that he proposed to her to make more of the same kind, and for that purpose gave her the remainder of the elk skin from which the first pair had been made. This done, he paid her for making the pair delivered, and dismissed her. Instead of directly leaving, the girl lingered about in a dreamy air of sadness, till she attracted the attention of the sen- tinels, who asked her the cause ; but she was silent. Meantime, her pensive mood did not escape the observ- ation of Gladwin. She was recalled to his presence, and revealed to him the plans of Pontiac, under a promise of secrecy. +
* A French citizen named M. Beaufait had been shown a shortened gun and informed of the plot, in advance. He afterward assisted Pontiac by his counsel.
t Carver, who visited Detroit in 1766, only three years after the siege, is the authority for this tradition of the Ojibway girl. Parkman quotes other traditions, attributing the disclosure of Pontiac's treacherous designs to others, but certainly with less plausibility; for who would be so likely to turn apostate to their own people as a young girl whose eyes might be dazzled with the glitter of epaulets? Recent
163
Failure of the Short Gun Conspiracy.
The next morning was the appointed time for the culmination of the treachery, and Gladwin set himself about the work of preparation to meet it. The strength of the garrison was about 300, while double that number of Indians hovered around them, hungry for their blood. Every man was immediately placed under arms, in readiness for the expected visit ; and, in addi- tion to these precautions, says Carver, "he sent round to all the traders to inform them that, as it was expected a great number of Indians would enter the town that day, who might be inclined to plunder, he desired they would have their arms ready, and repel every attempt of that kind."
At an early hour the next morning, an unusual stir was apparent among the Indians, and, at ten o'clock, Pontiac himself, at the head of sixty chiefs, with wooden- clad immobility stamped upon their faces, approached the fort. The gates were thrown open and they entered; but what was Pontiac's astonishment to see the entire garrison armed with swords and pistols ! He saw at once that his plot had been discovered, but with complete composure, concealed the emotions that were inwardly consuming him, and made a speech. The scene that followed is best described by Carver, whose words are here quoted :
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