History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 8

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761

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TJUGH-SAGH-RON-DIE.

This was the Indian name of a Huron village which formerly stood on the site of Detroit, probably as early as 1650-55,* and quite likely planted there upon the disper-

# Some writers elaim that there was an Indian village here in 1620. It is also stated that a colony of Hurons settled on the site of Detroit in 1680. There were probably Indian settlements there at various periods.

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

sion of the Hurons by the Iroquois ; though when the two Sulpitian priests-Dollier and Galinee-passed through the strait in the spring of 1670 they made no mention of any village, only recording the fact that they found on the site of the future city what they supposed was an Indian god, roughly carved in stone, and which they piously broke in pieces with their axes and sunk in the river.

It is quite probable that the village was not a permanent one, but only located there during the fishing season, or possibly for a few years at a time. The name is curiously interwoven in an interesting poem by Levi Bishop, of De- troit .*

It seems to have been a grand plan of M. de Cadillac to gather all the Indians of the West-at least those in the vicinity of the lakes-around the new post at Detroit. He cordially hated the Jesuits, and they, in turn, bore him no good-will. The Jesuit father Marest clung tenaciously to the mission at Mackinac, and determined that there should be no great gathering of the savages at Detroit, certainly not to the detriment of his mission.

But, notwithstanding the obstinacy of the priests, Cadil- lac succeeded in persuading a great number of the Western Indians to come to Detroit, and the fur trade largely cen- tered there for many years. Among the nations who were represented at Detroit in 1703, Cadillac enumerates the Sauteurs, t Mississagues, Hurons from Mackinac, several bands of the Miamis, Ottawas, and others.

The colony seems to have been similar to the one gath- ered by La Salle and Tonti at the great Illinois town twenty years before.

In the year 1702 the "Company of the Colony" becom- ing dissatisfied with the first contract made at Quebec, en- tered into a new one with M. de Cadillac, with the consent of the Governor-General and intendant. By this new ar- rangement Cadillac was to have one-third of the commerce of the post, and the company were to be relieved from all responsibility to other officers. This not proving satisfac- tory, another contract was entered into, by which Cadil- lac was to be paid two thousand francs a year, and his subordinate, M. de Tonti, thirteen hundred and thirty- three francs per year, in consideration of which sums Cadil- lac agreed not to traffic with the savages. This agreement continued in force for about one year, when the Governor detected M. Tonti and the commissioners carrying on a contraband trade. He reported them, and thereby got himself into trouble, for they were highly connected, and in 1704, when Cadillac was in Montreal, he was arrested and a suit commenced against him, which was not decided until 1705.

In the mean time M. de Tonti was in command at De- troit until, at the request of Cadillac, M. Bourmont super- seded him.

The establishment of the post at Detroit was strongly objected to by the Iroquois, and the Jesuits were also op- posed to it. In 1702 war broke out between England, France, and Holland, and its consequences were felt to a greater or less degree in America. In the summer of 1703

the English invited the Indian nations living in the vicinity of Detroit to a grand council at Albany. It does not ap- pear that any except the Ottawas accepted the invitation. But these returned with a bitter prejudice against the French, who, the English informed them, had established a fort at Detroit with the ulterior purpose of exterminating them.

The attempt to destroy the fort soon after the return of their chiefs from Albany was probably traceable to the hostility of the English.

M. de Cadillac was cleared from all the charges against him, and in August, 1706, returned to the command of the post.

Difficulties increased, and the savages, in 1707, murdered three Frenchmen near the fort. It would appear that the principal people of Canada were greatly opposed to the es- tablishment of the post at Detroit and to the " Company of the Colony," because of their monopoly of the fur trade.

In the same year, 1707, Cadillac led a party of four hun- dred French and Indians into the country of the Miamis, and compelled them to come to terms and furnish hostages for their good behavior, besides paying dearly for their depredations.

In the summer of 1711, M. du Buisson succeeded M. de Cadillac in command at Detroit. The war between the French and English involved the Five Nations (made six in 1712 by the admission of the Tuscaroras from North Carolina), and they had stirred up some of the Western nations against the French,-among others the Outagamies, or Foxes, and the Mascoutins, who dwelt west of Lake Michigan.

In May, 1712, a large number of these nations appeared before Detroit, and throwing up intrenchments, it is said within fifty yards of the fort, sat down to a regular siege of the place. The French garrison consisted of only thirty men, and their allies, the Ottawas, Hurons, and others, were absent hunting. The enemy made a fierce onslaught, but were bravely met by the garrison under M. du Buisson, and held in check until their Indian allies returned.

. The church and several buildings outside the pickets were pulled down by order of the commandant, lest they should be set on fire by the savages, and thus endanger the fort.

On the arrival of the friendly Indians the contest grew more and more furious, until at length, outnumbered and beaten, the enemy were forced to retreat from the vicinity to a fortification which they had previously thrown up. Here they were besieged for a period of nineteen days, when they asked for terms. A parley ensued, but ended without defi- nite results, and the fight was renewed. At length the Foxes and Mascoutins took advantage of a rainy night to steal away from their works, and retreated to an island in the river above Detroit, whither they were pursued, and after a siege of several days their stronghold was taken, all the warriors slain, and the women and children (if there were any present) taken prisoners. M. du Buisson esti- mated their total loss at over one thousand.

From a letter written by Father Joseph Marest, from Mackinac, in June, 1712, it would appear that as a military post it had been abandoned since the establishment of De-

* Mr. Bishop writes it Teuchsa Groudie. In the Ojibwa language this place was called Wa-we-at-a-nong.

t Probably Ojibwas.

THE COLONY UNDER ENGLISH RULE.

troit; but the mission had been kept up, and constant en- deavors made by the father to have the post restored. The letter in question contains a renewed request for the re-estab- lishment of the post, because of the danger of attack from the Sacs, Foxes, and Mascoutins, who would fall upon Mackinac to revenge themselves for their defeat at Detroit.

Deserters and coureurs des bois were then in control of that post, and the missionaries prayed for a military com- mandant and garrison.

The complete defeat of the Foxes and Mascoutins before Detroit did not destroy these warlike people, and their dep- redations continued until the French Governor-General, M. Vaudreuil, determined to humble them. To this end a strong force of eight hundred men was fitted out and placed under command of M. Louvigny, the lieutenant of Quebec. In the spring of 1716 this force proceeded to the country of the Outagamies, whom they found in- trenched and ready for battle in the vicinity of Green Bay. This expedition was successful, and the Outagamies were compelled to sue for peace, which was granted upon terms greatly to the advantage of the French, and henceforth they were troubled no more by the warriors who had been such formidable enemies.

It would appear from certain correspondence that the post of Mackinac was re-established about 1713 .*

M. de Tonti was again in command of Detroit in the fall of 1717. Under his administration the fort was rebuilt in a more substantial manner, the lands adjacent were sold to actual settlers, the colony increased, and prosperity gener- ally smiled upon the country.

In June, 1721, M. de Tonti held a council with the chiefs of the Hurons, Ottawas, and Pottawattomies, and united them in a league against the warlike Indians living beyond Lake Michigan. M. Vaudreuil, the Governor-Gen- eral, died on the 10th of October, 1725. He had been Governor for a period of twenty-one years. His successor was M. Beauharnais.

Nothing of great importance concerning the territory of Michigan occurred while it remained under French rule, from this period to 1760, when the whole country held by the French in what is now British America fell under the dominion of the English. The forts and missions in the neighborhood of the lakes were kept up, and occasionally a new one was added. Detroit and Mackinac continued to be the principal centres of the fur trade, and the former grew slowly in population and commercial importance. It is stated, on good authority, that in 1749, under the rule of Count de Gallissionière, the French cut a military road from Detroit to the Ohio River. This road crossed the Maumee River at the " rapids," above Toledo. The first settlements at Vincennes and other points on the Wabash, in the present State of Indiana, were made from Detroit as a base of operations, and it was the centre of the fur trade for the larger portion of the lower peninsula and all the country now occupied by the States of Indiana and Illi- nois, and portions of Ohio and Wisconsin.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE COLONY UNDER ENGLISH RULE.

Surrender of Detroit to Captain Rogers-Pontiac's War-Siege of Detroit- Bloody Bridge-The " Quebec Act"-Detroit during the Revolution-Expeditions.

THE French war of 1754-60, which resulted in the sur- render of Canada to the British, did not seriously disturb the French posts in the West. It is probable that small bands of savages may have joined the French from this region in their war against the English ; and it is claimed by some writers that the celebrated Ottawa chieftain, Pon- tiac, with a band of trusty followers, took part in the bloody defeat of Braddock on the Monongahela, in July, 1755, but the evidence is not satisfactory on this point.

In 1759, when the gallant Capt. Pouchot was struggling against the army under Sir William Johnson, at Niagara, M. de Aubrey collected a force of seventeen hundred French troops, coureurs des bois, and Indians, from the posts of De- troit, Mackinac, and the Wabash, and attempted to raise the siege, but the English force was too strong for his mot- ley army ; he was defeated with loss, and the post surren- dered.

With the surrender of Montreal, on the 8th of Septem- ber, 1760, to Gen. Amherst, virtually fell all the French possessions in America ; though some of their settlements and posts were not occupied by English troops for a con- siderable period thereafter.

On the 12th of the same month, Maj. Robert Rogers, a provincial officer, born in New Hampshire, and a comrade of Stark and Putnam, was ordered by Gen. Amherst to proceed with a detachment of rangers to the Western lakes, and take military possession of the French posts. The major left Montreal on the 13th, with a command of two hundred rangers, in fifteen bateaux. Slowly toiling over the rapids of La Chine and the Cedars, they entered Lake Ontario, and skirting its northern shore in rough and bois- terous weather, reached Fort Niagara on the 1st of October.

Carrying their boats and supplies over the portage, they launched them again above the falls, and leisurely pursued their voyage, while Rogers, with a few men, made a journey to Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh), overland, to deliver dispatches to Gen. Monckton, then in command of that post. This ac- complished, the major rejoined his command at Presque Isle about the last of the month, when the detachment pro- ceeded more rapidly on its voyage along the southern shore of Lake Erie. "The season was far advanced. The wind was chill, the lake was stormy, and the forests along the shore were tinged with the fading hues of autumn."

On the 10th of November they reached the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and encamped for the night on the site of the present city of Cleveland. It was the first time a body of English troops had penetrated so far to the West. Rain set in, and Rogers determined to rest his troops until the weather became more favorable. They pitched their tents in the neighboring woods, on the spot where now are found the busy streets and buildings of a city of one hun- dred and fifty thousand people.

* The new post of Michilimackinac was built on the south side of the strait, and thither also the mission and chapel of St. Ignace fol- lowed. The fort on the island of Mackinac was built and garrisoned by the British in the summer of 1780.

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN.

The command had not been long in their temporary camp when a party of Indian chiefs and warriors entered it from the west. and announced themselves as an embassy from Pontiac, who claimed to be ruler of all the adjacent country, sent forward by the chief to forbid their farther advance until he should hold a conference with them. Be- fore the close of the day Pontiac himself appeared at the head of a strong war-party, and haughtily demanded of Rogers, " What is your business in this country, and how dare you enter it without my permission ?" Rogers ex- plained that the French had surrendered all their posses- sions to the English, and he was on his way, under orders from the British commander-in-chief, to take possession of Detroit. Pontiac listened attentively, but made no reply except " I shall stand in the path until morning," and withdrew.

This was the first time an English officer or body of troops had met the famous Ottawa warrior.

He was then about fifty years of age, and occupied the position of head chief of the Ottawas, and controlled also the Ojibwas and Pottawattomies-these three tribes being somewhat loosely united in a kind of confederacy. His influence extended over all the northwestern nations from the head-waters of the Ohio to those of the Mississippi. He was the model of the great Tecumseh in later years.

From his earliest manhood to this time he had been the fast friend of the French, who had studiously treated the Indians, and especially their principal chiefs, with the great- est deference. But he was shrewd and politic, a man of great natural abilities, while at the same endowed with all the cunning and treachery characteristic of the Indian race. The news of the overthrow of the French fell like a thun- der-clap upon him ; but he was sagacious enough to see that he might enter into an alliance with these new sovereigns of Canada which would be as advantageous to him and his people as had been his former connection with the French.

The detachment of Rogers stood well on their guard during the following night, fearful of treachery on the part of the Indians, but the hours passed quietly, and in the morning Pontiac returned to the camp and replied to Rogers that he was willing to let the English remain in the country and to treat them as he had the French, pro- vided they showed him proper respect as became his posi- tion.

The peace-pipe was now passed around and smoked by Pontiac and his chiefs and by Rogers and his officers, and harmony reigned among them.

The expedition was detained by stormy weather until the 12th, when it was again in motion, and in a few days arrived at the head of the lake, where Rogers learned that a force of four hundred savages were in ambush at the mouth of the Detroit River to cut him off.

But this threatened danger was swept aside by the pow- erful wand of Pontiac, who ordered the path cleared for the English, and the command continued on unmolested up the river.

In the mean time Lieutenant Brehm had been sent for- ward with a letter to Captain Beletré, the French officer in command at Detroit, informing him of the conquest of

Canada, and that he was deputed to receive the surrender of the post. But that officer totally disregarded the report, and resolved to hold the place.

Failing in his first attempt, Rogers now sent forward Captain Campbell with a copy of the capitulation of Mon- treal, and a letter from M. Vaudreuil (late Governor-Gen- eral), directing that the place should be given up in accord- ance with the terms between himself and the English commander. This brought Beletre to terms, and he reluc- tantly yielded the place and pulled down the flag of France, which had waved in triumph over the walls of the border fortress for a period of fifty-nine years.

This surrender occurred on the 29th of November, 1760, in the presence of a great assemblage of Indians, who could not conceal their astonishment at the forbearance of the conquerors in not destroying their enemies at once. The French garrison was sent down the lake, and the Cana- dians were allowed to remain on condition of swearing allegiance to Great Britain, which, "making a virtue of necessity," they at once proceeded to do. An officer was sent down the Wabash to take possession of the posts at Vincennes and Ouatenon, and Fort Miami on the Maumee was also occupied by the English. Rogers took upon him- self the task of proceeding up Lake Huron and taking pos- session of Mackinac, the second most important post held by the French in these waters, but the lateness of the season compelled his return after reaching the outlet of the lake, and Mackinac, Green Bay, St. Marie, and St. Joseph remained in the hands of the French until the following season, when a detachment of the 60th Royal Americans took possession of them, and nothing remained in the power of France except the posts on the Mississippi .*

PONTIAC'S WAR.

It was fondly believed by the English government and by the American colonists that the transfer of the French possessions to the British government would be the begin- ning of an era of peace and prosperity, and under this belief the settlements increased and spread wonderfully through- out all the frontiers. But the calm which followed the war was of short duration.

The English government treated the Indians very differ- ently from that of the French. While the latter had always paid them proper respect and deference, the former, on the contrary, almost immediately began to thrust them aside and treat them as vagabonds and dependents upon public charity. They also kept continually encroaching upon their domain, through unauthorized treaties with petty chiefs, or by the strong hand of might. Even the Iroquois, who had been the allies of the English since the days of Champlain, began to murmur, and had refused to come to the aid of Braddock in the disastrous campaign in which he lost his army, his reputation, and his life. It is even possible that outlying bands of the Seneca nation, under Guyasutha, took part in the bloody encounter on the Monongahela.

Scarcely had the English garrisons taken possession of the various posts vacated by the French, when complaints

* From 1760 until 1775, Detroit and the surrounding settlements were under military rule.

SURRENDER OF DETROIT TO CAPTAIN ROGERS.

began to be heard among the Indians, and the French in- habitants of Canada and the borders of Michigan naturally sympathized with them in their grievances. As early as 1761-62, plots were secretly laid for the capture of the En- glish posts, but they were for the time being frustrated by the vigilance of Capt. Campbell, in command at Detroit.

TREATY OF PEACE, 1763.

By the "Treaty of Paris," in February, 1763, France ceded all her Canadian possessions to Great Britain, and, as before stated, the people of America fondly hoped their Indian troubles were at an end. But the short-sightedness of the English and their contemptuous treatment of such chiefs as Pontiac and Guyasutha, at length bore its legiti- mate fruit.

Scarcely had the treaty been promulgated in Europe ere the horrors of a savage war were precipitated upon the English frontiers from Lake Superior to Pennsylvania. The leading spirits in this unequaled outbreak were Pon- tiac, the Ottawa, and Guyasutha, the Seneca; the former commanding in the West, the latter in the East.

As on other occasions, both among the Indians and the Europeans, a " Prophet" arose among the Delaware nation, who, like " Peter the Hermit," preached a crusade against the enemies of his people. He claimed to be inspired di- rectly from the " Great Spirit," and wrought up the savages to the highest pitch of excitement and enthusiasm.

Pontiac likewise found it convenient to make extrava- gant claims upon the credulity of his followers. The French inhabitants also circulated the report that the King of France had been sleeping, but was now awake, and that his white-coated legions and armed ships were advancing up the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi to drive out the Eng- lish and recover possession of the country.

In the latter part of 1762, Pontiac had matured his plans for a general rising of all the Indians east of the Mississippi against the English forts and settlements. It was the most stupendous scheme of warfare ever planned, up to that time, by any Indian warrior on the continent The great chieftain determined to strike at the same moment every English post from Niagara to the Sault St. Marie. He sent his embassies throughout the length and breadth of the land. They penetrated to the head of the Ohio, to the far northern wilds of the Ottawa, and descended the Mis- sissippi nearly to its mouth, bearing speeches from their leader, and carrying the great war-belt of wampum manu- factured by the cunning fingers of the Ottawa maidens expressly for the emergency.

The result of these proceedings was the banding together, for a war of extermination, of nearly the entire Algonquin race, including the Senecas of the Six Nations, the Wyan- dots, the Shawanese, the Loups or Delawares, and many of the tribes on the lower Mississippi. All the nations in- habiting the lake region were in arms, and the sagacious Pontiac found himself virtually at the head of the Indian nations of the East and West. The command was divided between him and Guyasutha, and the premeditated blow fell like a bolt of thunder from a clear sky.

Rumors, it is true, had reached Maj. Gladwyn, in com- mand of Detroit, through Ensign Holmes, who was stationed

at Fort Miami, of danger approaching ; but the Indians kept the matter so profoundlly secret and lounged about the various posts with such an air of peaceful nonchalance that nothing was suspected, and business went on as usual.

At the outbreak of the great "conspiracy" the post of Detroit was garrisoned with about one hundred and twenty soldiers, to whom might be added about forty fur-traders and engagés ; but little dependence, however, could be placed upon any except the regular soldiers. Two small armed schooners-the " Beaver" and the "Gladwyn"-were anchored in the river, and a few light guns were mounted on the bastions of the fort. The inclosing pickets were about twenty-five feet high, and there were within the work about one hundred straw- and bark-roof houses besides the barracks of the garrison. A wide passage-way or road encircled the place next the pickets, which was known as the chemin du ronde.

The attack upon the English posts was nearly simul- taneous. Michilimackinac, Miami, St. Joseph, Ouatenon, Sandusky, and Presq'isle were taken and destroyed, and their garrisons either massacred or held as prisoners. Michilimackinac was allotted to the Ojibwas, whose prin- cipal chief, Minavavana, captured it by the use of a strata- gem almost equal to the wooden horse of the Greeks.

On the 4th of June, 1763, the birthday of the English king, a grand Indian game of ball, called by them Bagatti- way, was arranged to come off in front of the garrison. During the game the savages managed to send the ball over the stockade and into the fort. The soldiers were mostly off duty, it being a holiday, and were watching the game, when suddenly the fort was filled with savages, under pretense of finding the ball; the war-whoop echoed, and in an incredibly short time the garrison were nearly all mas- sacred and the post in possession of the Indians.

Fort St. Joseph, as it was then called, on the St. Joseph River, was taken on the 25th of May; Fort Miami, on the Maumee, where Maumee City, Ohio, now stands, on the 27th ; Ouatenon, on the Wabash, a short distance below Lafayette, on the 1st of June; and Presq'isle, on the 16th of June. Green Bay was evacuated on the 21st of June. Thus at almost one fell swoop disappeared in blood and ashes all the English posts in the West except Detroit, Niagara, and Fort Pitt. Niagara was deemed by the In- dians impregnable, and was not attacked. Fort Pitt was besieged by a swarm of Shawanese, Delawares, and Sen- ecas, under the celebrated Guyasutha, while Detroit was environed by the Western Indians, under the immediate command of Pontiac.

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History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 8

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott Number of Pages: 761

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761