USA > Ohio > The picturesque Ohio : a historical monograph > Part 8
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"While the war was on the eve of breaking out, an event occurred which had afterwards an important effect upon its progress, the signing of the treaty of peace at Paris, 011 the roth of February, 1763. By this treaty
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France resigned her claims to the territories east of the Mississippi, and that great river now became the western boundary of the British colonial possessions. England left the valley of the Ohio and the adjacent regions as an Indian domain, and, by the proclamation of the 7th of October follow- ing, the intrusion of settlers upon these lands was strictly prohibited. But the remedy came too late. While the sovereigns of France, England, and Spain were signing the treaty at Paris, countless Indian warriors in the American forests were singing the war-song and whetting their scalping-knives.
"The council took place on the 27th of April. On that morning sev- eral old men, the heralds of the camp, passed to and fro among the lodges, calling the warriors, in a loud voice, to attend the meeting.
" All were soon seated in a wide circle upon the grass, row within row, a grave and silent assembly. Pipes, with ornamented stems, were lighted, and passed from hand to hand.
"Then Pontiac rose, and walked forward into the midst of the coun- cil, plumed and painted in the full panoply of war. Looking round upon his wild auditors, he began to speak, with fierce gesture, and loud, im- passioned voice ; and at every pause, deep guttural ejaculations of assent and approval responded to his words. He inveighed against the arrogance, rapacity, and injustice of the English, and contrasted them with the French, whom they had driven from the soil. He represented the danger that would arise from the supremacy of the English. Then holding out a broad belt of wampum, he told the council that he had received it from their great father, the king of France, in token that he had heard the voice of his red children ; that his sleep was at an end; and that his great war-canoes would soon sail up the St. Lawrence, to win back Can- ada, and wreak vengeance on his enemies. The Indians and their French brethren should fight once more, side by side, as they had always fought; they should strike the English as they had struck them many moons ago, when their great army marched down the Monongahela, and they had shot them from their ambush, like a flock of pigeons in the woods.
"Having roused in his warlike listeners their native thirst for blood and vengeance, he next addressed himself to their superstition1.
"Pontiac told them, in conclusion, that on the 2d of May he would. gain admittance, with a party of his warriors, on pretense of dancing the Calumet dance before the garrison; that they would take note of the
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strength of the fortification; and, this information gained, he would summon another council to determine the mode of attack.
"On the Ist of May Pontiac came to the gate with forty men of the Ottawa tribe, and asked permission to enter and dance the Calumet dance before the officers of the garrison. After some hesitation he was ad- mitted, and proceeding to the corner of the street where stood the house of the commandant, Major Gladwyn, he and thirty of his warriors began their dance, each recounting his own valiant exploits, and boasting him- self the bravest of mankind. The officers and men gathered around then1; while, in the meantime, the remaining ten of the Ottawas strolled about the fort, observing every thing it contained. When the dance was over, they all quietly withdrew, not a suspicion of their sinister design having arisen in the minds of the English.
" After a few days had elapsed, Pontiac's messengers again passed among the Indian cabins, calling the principal chiefs to another council in the Pottawattamie village. He once more addressed the chiefs, inciting them to hostility against the English, and concluded by the proposal of his plan for destroying Detroit.
" On the afternoon of the 5th of May, a Canadian woman, the wife of Lieutenant Aubin, one of the principal settlers, crossed over from the western side, and visited the Ottawa village, to obtain from the Indians a supply of maple-sugar and venison. She was surprised at finding several of the warriors engaged in filing off the muzzles of their guns, so as to reduce them, stock and all, to the length of about a yard.
"Returning home in the evening, she mentioned what she had seen to several of her neighbors. Upon this, one of thein, the blacksmith of the village, remarked that many of the Indians had lately visited his shop, and attempted to borrow files and saws for a purpose which they would not explain. These circumstances excited the suspicion of the experi- enced Canadians. M. Gouin, an old and wealthy settler, went to the com- inandant and conjured him to stand upon his guard; but Gladwyn, a man of fearless temper, gave no heed to the friendly advice.
" In the Pottawattamie village lived an Ojibway girl, who, if there be truthı in tradition, could boast a larger share of beauty than is common in the wig- wam. She had attracted the eye of Gladwyn, and she had become mnuch attached to him. On the afternoon of the 6th, Catharine-for so the offi- cers called her-came to the fort, and repaired to Gladwyn's quarters,
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bringing with her a pair of elk-skin moccasins, ornamented with porcu- pine work, which he had requested lier to make. There was something unusual in her look and manner. Her face was sad and downcast. She said little, and soon left the room; but the sentinel at the door saw her still lingering at the street corner, though the hour for closing the gates was nearly come. At length she attracted the notice of Gladwyn hin1- self; and calling to her, he pressed her to declare what was weighing upon her mind. Still she remained for a long time silent, and it was only after much urgency and many promises not to betray her, that she revealed her momentous secret.
" 'To-morrow,' she said, 'Pontiac will come to the fort with sixty of his chiefs, each will be armed with a gun, cut short, and hidden under his blanket. Pontiac will demand to hold a council; and after he has deliv- ered his speech, he will offer a peace-belt of wampum, holding it in a re- versed position. This will be the signal of attack. The chiefs will spring up and fire upon the officers, and the Indians in the street will fall upon the garrison. Every Englishman will be killed, but not the scalp of a single Frenchman will be touched.'
" Gladwyn was an officer of signal courage and address. Calling his subordinates together, he imparted what he had heard. Every preparation was made to meet the sudden emergency. Half the garrison were ordered under arms, and all the officers prepared to spend the night upon the ramparts. 'It rained all day,' writes the chronicler, 'but cleared up to- wards evening, and there was a very fair sunset.'
"From sunset till dawn an anxious watch was kept from the slender palisades of Detroit. The soldiers were still ignorant of the danger, and the sentinels did not know why their numbers were doubled, or why, with such unwonted vigilance, their officers visited their posts. Again and again Gladwyn mounted his wooden ramparts and looked forth into the gloom. There seemed nothing but repose and peace in the soft, moist afr; but at intervals, as the night wind swept across the bastion it bore sounds of fear- ful portent to the ear, the sullen booming of the Indian drum and the wild chorus of quavering yells, as the warriors, around their distant camp-fires, danced the war-dance in preparation for the morrow's work.
"The sun rose upon fresh fields and newly budding woods, and scarcely had the morning mists dissolved, when the garrison could see a fleet of birch canoes crossing the river from the eastern shore, within range of can-
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non-shot above the fort. Only two or three warriors appeared in each, but all inoved slowly, and seemed deeply laden. In truth, they were full of sav- ages lying flat on their faces, that their number might not excite the sus- picion of the English.
"At an early hour the open common behind the fort was thronged with squaws, children, and warriors, some naked, and otliers fantastically arrayed in their barbarous finery. All seemed restless and uneasy, moving hither and thither, in apparent preparation for a general game of ball. Then, with an air of assumed indifference, they would move towards the gate. They were all admitted, for Gladwyn wlio, in this instance, at least, showed some knowledge of Indian character, chose to convince his crafty foe that, though their plot was detected, their hostility was despised.
"At ten o'clock the great war chief, with liis treacherous followers, reached the fort, and the gateway was thronged with their savage faces. All were wrapped to the throat in colored blankets. Some were crested with hawk, eagle, or raven plumes; others had shaved their heads, leaving only the fluttering scalp-lock on the crown. For the most part they were tall, strong men, and all had a gait and bearing of peculiar stateliness.
"As Pontiac entered it is said that he started, and that a deep ejacula- tion half escaped from his broad chest. On either hand, within the gate- way, stood ranks of soldiers and hedges of glittering steel. The swarthy, half-wild engagés of the fur-traders, armed to the teeth, stood in groups at the street corner, and the measured tap of a drum fell ominously on the ear. Pontiac strode forward into the narrow street, and his chiefs filed after him in silence. Their rigid muscles betrayed no sign of emotion ; yet, looking closely, one might have seen their sınall eyes glance froin side to side with restless scrutiny.
"Traversing the entire width of the little town, they reached the door of the council-house, a large building standing near the margin of the river. Entering, they saw Gladwyn with several of his officers seated in readiness to receive thein, and the observant chiefs did not fail to remark that every En- glishman wore a sword at his side and a pair of pistols in his belt. The con- spirators eyed each other with uneasy glances. 'Why,' demanded Pontiac, 'do I see so many of my father's young men standing in the street with their guns?' Gladwyn replied through his interpreter, La Butte, that he had or- dered the soldiers under arıns for the sake of exercise and discipline. With inuch delay and many signs of disgust the chiefs at length sat down on the
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inats prepared for them, and after the customary pause, Pontiac rose to speak. Holding in his hand the wampum-belt, which was to have given the fatal signal, he addressed the commandant, professing strong attachment to the English, and declaring, in Indian phrase, that he had come to smoke the pipe of peace and brighten the chain of friendship. The officers watched him keenly as he uttered these hollow words, and once, it is said, he raised the wampum-belt as if about to give the signal of attack. But, at that in- stant, Gladwyn signed slightly with his hand. The sudden clash of arms sounded from the passage without, and a drum rolling the charge filled the council-room with its stunning din. At this Pontiac stood like one con- founded, and soon sat down in amazement and perplexity.
" Another pause ensued, and Gladwyn commenced a brief reply. He assured the chiefs that friendship and protection should be extended towards them as long as they continued to deserve it, but threatened ample venge- ance for the first act of aggression. The council then broke up; but be- fore leaving the room Pontiac told the officers that he would return in a few days, with his squaws and children, for he wished that they should all shake hands with their fathers, the English. To this new piece of treachery Gladwyn deigned no reply. The gates of the fort, which had been closed during the conference, were again flung open, and the baffled savages were suffered to depart.
" Balked in his treachery, the great chief withdrew to his village, en- raged and mortified, yet still resolved to persevere. That Gladwyn had suf- fered him to escape, was to his mind an ample proof either of cowardice or ignorance. The latter supposition seemed the more probable, and he re- solved to visit the English once more, and convince them, if possible, that their suspicions were unfounded. Early on the following morning he re- paired to the fort with three of his chiefs, bearing in his hand the sacred calumet, or pipe of peace, the bowl carved in stone and the stem adorned with feathers. Offering it to the commandant, he addressed him and his officers : 'My fathers, evil birds have sung lies in your ear. We that stand before you are friends of the English. We love them as our brothers, and, to prove our love, we have come this day to smoke the pipe of peace.'
"At his departure he gave the pipe to Major Campbell, second in coin- mand, as a farther pledge of his sincerity.
" Early on the following morning, Monday, the gtlı of May, before eleven o'clock, the common behind the fort was once more thronged with Indians of
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all the four tribes; and Pontiac; advancing from among the multitude, ap- proached tlie gate. It was closed and barred against him. Pontiac shouted to the sentinels, and demanded why he was refused admittance. Gladwyn himself replied that the great chief might enter, if he chose, but that the crowd he had brought with him must remain outside. Pontiac rejoined that he wished all his warriors to enjoy tlie fragrance of the friendly calumet. Gladwyn's answer was more concise than courteous, and imported that he would have none of his rabble in the fort. Thus repulsed, Pontiac threw off the mask which he had worn so long; he turned abruptly from the gate and strode towards his followers, who in great multitudes lay flat upon the ground, just beyond reach of gunshot. At his approach they all leaped up and ran off, yelping, in the words of an eye-witness, like so many devils.
"Looking out from the loop-holes, the garrison could see them run- ning in a body towards the house of an old English woman, who lived, with her family, on a distant part of the common. They beat down the doors and rushed tumultuously in. A moment more and the mournful scalp-yell told the fate of the wretched inmates.
"During the evening fresh tidings of disaster reached the fort. A Canadian, named Desnoyers, came down the river in a birch canoe, and, landing at the water-gate, brought news that two English officers, Sir Rob- ert Davies and Captain Robertson, had been waylaid and murdered by the Indians, above Lake St. Clair. The Canadians declared, moreover, that Pontiac had just been joined by a formidable band of Ojibways, from the Bay of Saginaw.
" Every Englishman in the fort, whether trader or soldier, was now ordered under arms. No man lay down to sleep, and Gladwyn himself walked the ramparts throughout the night.
"All was quiet till the approach of dawn. But as the first dim redness tinged the east, and fields and woods grew visible in the morning twilight, suddenly the war-whoop rose on every side at once. Indians, pealing their terrific yells, caine bounding naked to the assault. The soldiers looked from the loop-holes, thinking to see their assailants gathering for a rush against the feeble barrier. But, though their clamnors filled the air, and their guns blazed thick and hot, yet very few were visible.
"There was one low liill, at 10 great distance from the fort, behind which countless black heads of Indians alternately appeared and vanished,
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while all along the ridge their guns emitted incessant white puffs of smoke. Every loop-hole was a target for their bullets; but the fire was returned with steadiness, and not without effect. The Canadian engagés of the fur- traders retorted the Indian war-whoops with outcries not less discordant, while the British and provincials paid back the clamor of the enemy with musket and rifle balls. Within half gunshot of the palisade was a cluster of out-buildings, behind which a host of Indians found shelter. A cannon was brought to bear upon theni, loaded with red-liot spikes. They were soon wrapped in flames, upon which the disconcerted savages broke away in a body, and ran off yelping, followed by a shout of laughter from the soldiers.
"For six hours the attack was unabated ; but as the day advanced the assailants grew weary of their futile efforts. Their fire slackened, their clamiors died away, and the garrison was left once more in peace, though from time to time a solitary shot, or lonely whoop, still showed the presence of some lingering savage, loath to be balked of his revenge. Among the garrison only five men had been wounded, while the cautious enemy had suffered but trifling loss.
"Gladwyn was still convinced that the whole affair was but a sudden ebullition, which would soon subside; and being, moreover, in great want of provision, he resolved to open negotiations with the Indians. The 'in- terpreter, La Butte, was dispatched to the camp of Pontiac, to demand the reasons of his conduct, and declare that the commandant was ready to re- dress any real grievance of which he might complain. Two old Canadians, of Detroit, Chapeton and Godefroy, earnest to forward the negotiations, offered to accompany him.
"Reaching the Indian camp, the three ambassadors were received by Pontiac with great apparent kindness. La Butte delivered his message, and the two Canadians labored to dissuade the chief, for his own good and for theirs, from pursuing his hostile purposes. Pontiac stood listening, armed with the true impenetrability of an Indian. Yet with all this seeming ac- quiescence, the heart of the savage was unmoved as a rock. The Canadians were completely deceived.
"At La Butte's appearance all the chiefs withdrew to consult among themselves. They returned after a short debate, and Pontiac declared that, out of their earnest desire for firm and lasting peace, they wished to hold council with their English fathers themselves. With this view, they were
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expressly desirous that Major Campbell, second in command, should visit their camp. This veteran officer, from his just, upright, and manly char- acter, had gained the confidence of the Indians. To the Canadians the pro- posal seemed a natural one, and, returning to the fort; they laid it before the commandent. Gladwyn suspected treachery, but Major Campbell urgently asked permission to comply with the request of Pontiac. He felt, he said, no fear of the Indians, with whom he had always maintained the most friendly terms. Gladwyn, with some hesitation, acceded, and Camp- bell left the fort, accompanied by a junior officer, Lieutenant McDougal, ind attended by La Butte and several other Canadians.
"In the meantinie Mr. Gouin, anxious to learn what was passing, had entered the Indian camp, and, moving from lodge to lodge, soon saw and heard enough to convince him that the two British officers were advanc- ing into the lion's jaws. He hastened to dispatch two messengers to warn them of the peril. The party had scarcely left the gate, when they were met by these men, breathless with running; but the warning came too late. Once embarked on the embassy, the officers would not be di- verted from it; and passing up the river road, they approached the little wooden bridge that led over Parent's Creek. Crossing this bridge, and as- cending a rising ground beyond, they saw before them the wide-spread canıp of the Ottawas. A dark multitude gathered along its outskirts, and no sooner did they recognize the red uniform of the officers, than they all raised at once a horrible outcry of whoops and howlings. Indeed, they seemed disposed to give the ambassadors the reception usually ac- corded to captives taken in war; for the women seized sticks, stones, and clubs, and ran towards Campbell and his companions, as if to make them pass the cruel ordeal of running the gauntlet. Pontiac came forward, and liis voice allayed the tumult. He shook the officers by the hand, and turning, led the way through the camp. He paused before the entrance of a large lodge, and, entering, pointed to several mats placed on the ground at the side opposite the opening. Here, obedient to his signal, the two officers sat down. Instantly the lodge was thronged with savages. At their entrance, Pontiac had spoken a few words. A pause then en- sued, broken at length by Campbell, who from his seat addressed the In- dians in a short speech. It was heard in perfect silence, and no reply was made. At length Major Campbell, conscious, no doubt, of the danger in which he was placed, resolved fully to ascertain his true position, and
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rising to his feet, declared his intention of returning to the fort. Pontiac made a sign that he should resume his seat. 'My father,' he said, 'will sleep to-night in the lodges of his red children.' The gray-haired soldier and his companion were betrayed into the hands of their enemies.
"Many of the Indians were eager to kill the captives on the spot, but Pontiac would not carry his treachery so far.
"On the morning after the detention of the officers, Pontiac crossed over, with several of his chiefs, to the Wyandot village. A part of this tribe, influenced by Father Pothier, their Jesuit priest, had refused to take up arms against the English; but being now threatened with destruction if they should longer remain neutral, they were forced to join the rest. Having secured these new allies, Pontiac prepared to resume his opera- tions with fresh vigor. On the 12th of May, when these arrangements were complete, the Indians once more surrounded the fort, firing upon it from morning till night.
"On the evening of that day, the officers met to consider what course of conduct the emergency required ; and, as one of them writes, thie com- mandant was almost alone in his opinion that they ouglit still to defend the place.
"Day after day the Indians continued their attacks, until their war- cries and the rattle of their guns became familiar sounds.
"For many weeks no man lay down to sleep except in his clothes, and with his weapons by his side. Parties of volunteers sallied, from time to time, to burn the out-buildings, which gave shelter to the enemy. They cut down orchard trees, and leveled fences, until the ground about the fort was clear and open, and the enemy had no cover left from whence to fire. The two vessels in the river, sweeping the northern and southern curtains of the works with their fire, deterred the Indians from approach- ing those points, and gave material aid to the garrison. Soon after the first attack, the Ottawa chief had sent in to Gladwyn a summons to sur- render, assuring him that if the place were at once given up, he might embark on board the vessels, with all his men; but that, if he persisted in his defense, he would treat him as Indians treat each other; that is, he would burn him alive. To this Gladwyn inade answer that he cared noth- ing for his threats. The attacks were now renewed with increased ac- tivity, and the assailants were soon after inspired with fresh ardor by the arrival of a hundred and twenty Ojibway warriors from Grand River.
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" Detroit must have been abandoned or destroyed, but for the assist- ance of a few friendly Canadians, and especially of M. Baby, a prominent habitant, who lived on the opposite side of the river, and provided the garrison with cattle, hogs, and other supplies.
" Major Rogers, a man familiar with the Indians, and an acute judge of mankind, speaks in the highest terms of Pontiac's character and talents. 'He puts on,' he says, 'an air of majesty and princely grandeur, and is greatly honored and revered by his subjects.'
" Pontiac had sent messengers to M. Neyon, commandant at the Illinois, earnestly requesting that a force of regular troops might be sent to his as- sistance ; and Gladwyn, on his side, had ordered one of the vessels to Ni- agara, to hasten forward the expected convoy. The schooner set sail, but on the next day, as she lay becalined at the entrance of Lake Erie, a multi- tude of canoes suddenly darted out upon her from the neighboring shores. In the prow of the foremost the Indians had placed their prisoner, Major Campbell, with the dastardly purpose of interposing him as a screen be- tween themselves and the fire of the English. But the brave old man called out to the crew to do their duty, without regard to him. Happily, at that moment a fresh breeze sprang up; the flapping sails stretched to the wind, and the schooner bore prosperously on her course toward Niagara, leaving the savage flotilla far behind.
"On the 30th of May, at about nine o'clock, the voice of the sentinel sounded from the south-east bastion, and loud exclamations, in the direction of the river, roused Detroit from its lethargy. Instantly the place was astir. The long-expected convoy was full in sight. On the further side of the river, at some distance below the fort, a line of boats was rounding thie woody projec- tion, then called Montreal Point, their oars flashing in the sun, and the red flag of England flying from the stern of the foremost. The toils and dangers of the garrison were drawing to an end. With one accord they broke into three hearty cheers, again and again repeated, while a cannon, glancing from the bastion, sent its loud voice of defiance to the enemy, and welcome to approaching friends. But suddenly every cheek grew pale with horror. Dark, naked figures were seen rising, with wild gesture, in the boats, while, in the place of the answering salute, the distant yell of the war-whoop fell faintly on their ears. The'convoy was in the hands of the enemy. The boats had all been taken, and the troops of the detachment slain or inade captive. Officers and men stood gazing in a mournful silence, when an inci-
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