J
4
mam
PRESENTED BY
J)ora IT. Spalding.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofconspirOOpark
HISTORY
CONSPIRACY OP PONTIAC
HISTORY
CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC,
AND THE WAR OF THE
NOBTH AMERICAN TRIBES
AGAINST THE
ENGLISH COLONIES
AFTER THE
ONQTJEST OF CANADA
By FRANCIS PARKMAN, Jr.
" Deesse nobis terra, in qui vivamus ; in qui moriamur, non potest."
Tacit. Ann. xiii. 56.
BOSTON:
CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN.
LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY.
1851.
.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S51, by
Francis Pa.bkma.n', Jr.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
STEREOTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE POUNDRY.
1 ";• I
\ ■ 3
JARED SPARKS, LL. D.,
PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY,
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
AS A TESTIMONIAL OF HIGH PERSONAL REGARD,
AND A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT
FOR HIS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES
TO AMERICAN HISTORY.
PREFACE.
The conquest of Canada was an event of moment-
ous consequence in American history. It changed
the political aspect of the continent, prepared a way
for the independence of the British colonies, rescued
the vast tracts of the interior from the rule of mili-
tary despotism, and gave them, eventually, to the
keeping of an ordered democracy. Yet to the red
natives of the soil its results were wholly disastrous.
Could the French have maintained their ground, the
ruin of the Indian tribes might long have been post-
poned; but the victory of Quebec was the signal of
their swift decline. Thenceforth they were destined
to melt and vanish before the advancing waves of
Anglo-American power, which now rolled westward
unchecked and unopposed. They saw the danger,
and, led by a great and daring champion, struggled
fiercely to avert it. The history of that epoch,
crowded as it is with scenes of tragic interest, with
marvels of suffering and vicissitude, of heroism and
endurance, has been, as yet, unwritten, buried in
the archives of governments, or among the obscurer
Vlll PEEEACE.
records of private adventure. To rescue it from ob-
livion is the object of the following work. It aims
to portray the American forest and the American In-
dian at the period when both received their final
doom.
It is evident that other study than that of the
closet is indispensable to success in such an attempt.
Habits of early reading had greatly aided to pre-
pare me for the task; but necessary knowledge of a
more practical kind has been supplied by the indul-
gence of a strong natural taste, which, at various
intervals, led me to the wild regions of the north
and west. Here, by the camp-fire, or in the canoe,
I gained familiar acquaintance with the men and
scenery of the wilderness. In 1846, I visited various
primitive tribes of the Rocky Mountains, and was,
for a time, domesticated in a village of the western
Dahcotah, on the high plains between Mount Laramie
and the range of the Medicine Bow.
The most troublesome part of the task was the
collection of the necessary documents. These con-
sisted of letters, journals, reports, and despatches,
scattered among numerous public offices, and private
families, in Europe and America. When brought to-
gether, they amounted to about three thousand four
hundred manuscript pages. Contemporary newspa-
pers, magazines, and pamphlets have also been ex-
amined, and careful search made for every book
which, directly or indirectly, might throw light upon
the subject. I have visited the sites of all the
PKEFACE. IX
principal events recorded in the narrative, and gath-
ered such local traditions as seemed worthy of con-
fidence.
I am indebted to the liberality of Hon. Lewis
Cass for a curious collection of papers relating to
the siege of Detroit by the Indians. Other impor-
tant contributions have been obtained from the state
paper offices of London and Paris, from the archives
of New York, Pennsylvania, and other states, and
from the manuscript collections of several historical
societies. The late "William L. Stone, Esq. com-
menced an elaborate biography of Sir William John-
son, which it is much to be lamented he did not
live to complete. By the kindness of Mrs. Stone, I
was permitted to copy from his extensive collection
of documents, such portions as would serve the pur-
poses of the following History.
To President Sparks of Harvard University, Gen-
eral Whiting, U. S. A., Brantz Mayer, Esq. of Balti-
more, Francis J. Fisher, Esq. of Philadelphia, and
Rev. George E. Ellis of Charlestown, I beg to return
a warm acknowledgment for counsel and assistance.
Mr. Benjamin Perley Poore and Mr. Henry Stevens
procured copies of valuable documents from the ar-
chives of Paris and London. Henry R. Schoolcraft,
Esq., Dr. Elwyn of Philadelphia, Dr. O'Callaghan of
Albany, George H. Moore, Esq. of New York, Ly-
man C. Draper, Esq. of Philadelphia, Judge Law of
Vincennes, and many others, have kindly contributed
materials to the work. Nor can I withhold an
X PREFACE.
expression of thanks to the aid so freely rendered
in the dull task of proof-reading and correction.
The crude and promiscuous mass of materials pre-
sented an aspect by no means inviting. The field of
the history was uncultured and unreclaimed, and the
labor that awaited me was like that of the border
settler, who, before he builds his rugged dwelling,
must fell the forest-trees, burn the undergrowth, clear
the ground, and hew the fallen trunks to due pro-
portion.
Several obstacles have retarded the progress of the
work. Of these, one of the most considerable was
the condition of my sight, seriously, though not per-
manently, impaired. For about three years, the light
of day was insupportable, and every attempt at read-
ing or writing completely debarred. Under these cir-
cumstances, the task of sifting the materials and
composing the work was begun and finished. The
papers were repeatedly read aloud by an amanuensis,
copious notes and extracts were made, and the narra-
tive written down from my dictation. This process,
though extremely slow and laborious, was not with-
out its advantages ; and I am well convinced that the
authorities have been even more minutely examined,
more scrupulously collated, and more thoroughly di-
gested, than they would have been under ordinary
circumstances.
In order to escape the tedious circumlocution,
which, from the nature of the subject, could not
otherwise have been avoided, the name English is
PREFACE. XI
applied, throughout the volume, to the British Ameri-
can colonists, as well as to the people of the mother
country. The necessity is somewhat to be regretted,
since, even at an early period, clear distinctions were
visible between the offshoot and the parent stock.
Boston, August 1, 1851.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I
Introductory. — Indian Tribes East of the Mississippi.
General Characteristics .
Tribal Divisions .
Mode of Government
Social Harmony .
The Totem .
Classification of Tribes
The Iroquois .
Their Position and Character
Their Political Organization
Traditions of their Confederacy
Their Myths and Legends
Their Eloquence and Sagacity
Arts — Agriculture .
Their Dwellings, Villages, and
Forts ....
Their Winter Life
The War Path
Festivals and Pastimes
Pride of the Iroquois
The Hurons or Wyandots .
Their Customs and Character
Their Dispersion .
The Neutral Nation — Its Fate
The Eries and Andastes .
Triumphs of the Confederacy
The Adoption of Prisoners
PAGE
PAGE
. 1
The Tuscaroras .
24
2
Superiority of the Iroquois Race
24
. 2
The Algonquins .
25
3
The Lenni Lenape .
26
. 4
Their changing Fortunes
27
5
The Shawanoes
28
. 6
The Miamis and the Illinois
29
7
The Ojibwas, Pottawattamies,
. 8
and Ottawas
30
y ii
The Sacs and Foxes
30
. 32
The Menomonies and Kniste-
13
neaux ....
30
. 14
Customs of the Northern Al-
I
gonquins ....
31
. 14
Their Summer and Winter Life
31
16
Legends of the Algonquins
33
16
Religious Faith of the Indians
34
18
The Indian Character
35
. 18
Its Inconsistencies
36
19
Its Ruling Passions
36
20
Pride — Hero-worship .
37
21
Coldness, Jealousy, Suspicion
37
j 21
Self-control ....
38
. 22
Intellectual Traits .
38
22
Inflexibility ....
39
. 23
Generous Qualities .
39
CHAPTER II.
France and England in America.
Contrast of French and Eng-
lish Colonies . . .41
Feudalism in Canada
Priests and Monks .
b
42
42
XIV
Puritanism and Democracy in
New England
French Life in Canada
Military Strength of Canada .
Religious Zeal .
Missions — The Jesuits .
Brebeuf and Lallemant
Martyrdom of Jogues
Results of the Missions
French Explorers .
CONTENTS.
La Salle ....
51
42
His Plan of Discovery .
51
43
His Sufferings — His Heroism
52
44
He discovers the Mouth of the
45
Mississippi
54
46
Louisiana ....
55
47
France in the West
56
48
Growth of English Colonies .
56
49
Approaching Collision .
57
50
CHAPTER III,
The French, the English, and the Indians
Champlain defeats the Iroquois 59
The Iroquois Wars . . 60
Misery of Canada . . .61
Expedition of Frontenac . 61
Success of the French . . 63
French Influence in the West 63
La Verandrye .... 63
The English Fur-trade . 64
Protestant and Romish Missions 65
The English and the Iroquois 65
Policy of the French . . 66
The Frenchman in the Wig-
wam .... 69
Coureurs des Bois . . .69
The White Savage
The English Fur-trader .
William Penn and his Eulo-
gists ....
The Indians and the Quakers
Injustice of Penn's Successors
The Walking Purchase .
Speech of Canassatego
Removal of the Delawares
Intrusion of Settlers .
Success of French Intrigues
Father Picquet .
Sir William Johnson
Position of Parties
70
71
71
72
73
75
76
77
77
78
79
80
83
CHAPTER IV.
Collision of the Rival Colonies.
The Puritan and the Canadian 85
Fort Frederic ... 85
Acadia 86
The French on the Ohio . 86
Mission of Washington . . 87
Trent driven from the Ohio . 88
Death of Jumonville . . 89
Skirmish at the Great Mead-
Alarm of the Indians . . 90
Congress at Albany . . 91
French and English Diplomacy 91
Braddock and Dieskau . 92
Naval Engagement . . .92
The War in Europe and America 93
Braddock in Virginia . . 94
March of his Army . . 95
Beaujeu at Fort du Quesne . 96
CONTENTS.
XV
Ambuscade at the Monongahela 99
Rout of Braddock . . .100
Its Consequences . . 102
Acadia, Niagara, and Crown
Point 102
Battle of Lake George . 103
Prosecution of the War . . 107
Oswego — Fort William Henry 109
Storming of Ticonderoga . 110
State of Canada . . .111
Plans for its Reduction . . 112
Progress of the English Anns 112
Wolfe before Quebec . . 113
Assault at Montmorenci . .115
Heroism of Wolfe . . 117
The Heights of Abraham . 119
Battle of Quebec . . 121
Death of Wolfe . . . 123
Death of Montcalm . . 124
Surrender of Quebec . . 125
Fall of Canada . . .126
CHAPTER V.
The Wilderness and its Tenants at the Close of the
French War.
Sufferings of the Frontier . 127
Treaties with the Western
Tribes .... 127
Christian Frederic Post . . 128
The Iroquois . . ' . 130
The remote Tribes . . .131
The Forest .... 131
Indian Population . . . 132
Condition of the Tribes . 133
Onondaga .... 133
The Delawares and neighbor-
ing Tribes . . . .134
Their Habits and Condition 134
The Shawanoes, Miamis, Illi-
nois, and Wyandots . . 134
English Settlements . . 135
Forest Thoroughfares . . 135
Fur-traders — Their Habits
and Character . . . 136
The Forest Traveller . . 137
The French at the Illinois . 139
Military Life in the Forest . 140
The Savage and the European 140
Hunters and Trappers . . 141
Civilization and Barbarism . 142
CHAPTER VI.
The English take Possession of the Western Posts.
The victorious Armies at Mon-
treal 144
Major Robert Rogers . . 144
His Expedition up the Lakes . 147
His Meeting with Pontiac . 148
Ambitious Views of Pontiac . 149
He befriends the English . 149
The English take Possession
of Detroit . . .151
Of other French Posts . . 152
British Power Predominant in
the West . . . .152
XVI
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
Anger of the Indians. — The Conspiracy.
Discontent of the Tribes . 153
Impolitic Course of the English 154
Disorders of the Fur-trade . 155
Military Insolence . . 155
Intrusion of Settlers . . 156
French Intrigue . . . 157
The Delaware Prophet . . 158
An abortive Plot . . . 160
Pontiac's Conspiracy . . 161
Character of Pontiac . . 161
Gloomy Prospects of the Indian
Race 163
Designs of Pontiac . . 164
His War Messengers . . 165
Tribes engaged in the Con-
spiracy .... 166
Dissimulation of the Indians . 167
The War-belt among the Mi-
amis .... 167
CHAPTER VIII.
Indian Preparation.
The Indians as a military Peo-
ple 169
Their inefficient Organization 169
Their insubordinate Spirit . 170
Their Improvidence . . 171
Policy of the Indian Leaders . 171
Difficulties of Forest Warfare 172
Defenceless Condition of the
Colonies .... 172
The Peace of Paris . . 173
Royal Proclamation . . 173
The War-chief. His Fasts and
Vigils .... 174
The War-feast. The War-
dance 175
Departure of the Warriors . 175
The Bursting of the Storm . 176
CHAPTER IX.
The Council at the River Ecorces.
Pontiac musters his Warriors . 177
They assemble at the River
Ecorces .... 177
The Council . . .178
Speech of Pontiac . . . 179
Allegory of the Delaware . 180
The Council dissolves . . 184
Calumet Dance at Detroit . 185
Plan to surprise the Garrison . 186
CONTENTS.
XV11
CHAPTER X.
Strange Phenomenon
Origin and History of Detroit
Its Condition in 1763
Character of its Inhabitants .
French Life at Detroit .
The Fort and Garrison
Pontiac at Isle a la Peche
Detroit.
187
Suspicious Conduct of the In-
188
dians
192
188
Catharine, the Ojibwa Girl .
193
189
She reveals the Plot
194
189
Precautions of the Command-
190
ant
194
191
A Night of Anxiety
195
CHAPTER XI.
Treachery of Pontiac.
The Morning of the Council .
Pontiac enters the Fort
Address and Courage of the
Commandant
The Plot defeated
The Chiefs suffered to escape .
Indian Idea of Honor .
Pontiac again visits the Fort .
False Alarm
197
Pontiac throws off the Mask .
204
198
Ferocity of his Warriors
205
The Ottawas cross the River .
206
199
Fate of Davers and Robertson
207
200
General Attack
207
201
A Truce ....
209
202
Major Campbell's Embassy
210
203
He is made Prisoner by Pon-
203
tiac
213
CHAPTER XII.
Pontiac at the Siege of Detroit.
The Christian Wyandots join He exacts Provision from the
Pontiac .... 215 French . . . .224
Peril of the Garrison . . 216 He appoints Commissaries . 224
Indian Courage . . . 217 He issues Promissory Notes . 225
The English threatened with His Acuteness and Sagacity 225
Famine .... 219 His Authority over his Fol-
Pontiac's Council with the lowers 226
French . . . .220 His Magnanimity . . 227
His Speech .... 221
c 5*
XV111
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII,
Rout of Cuyler's Detachment. — Fate of the Forest Garrisons.
Reenforcement sent to Detroit 229
Attack on the Schooner . . 230
Relief at Hand ... 231
Disappointment of the Garrison 231
Escape of Prisoners . . 232
Cuyler's Defeat . . . 234
Indian Debauch . . . 235
Fate of the Captives . . 236
Capture of Fort Sandusky . 238
Strength of the Besiegers . 239
Capture of Fort St. Joseph . 240
Capture of Fort Michillimack-
inac .... 242
Capture of Fort Ouatanon . 243
Capture of Fort Miami . 244
Defence of Fort Presqu'Isle . 246
Its Capture ... 249
CHAPTER XIV,
The Indians continue to Blockade Detroit.
Attack on the armed Vessel . 252
News of the Treaty of Paris 253
Pontiac summons the Garrison 255
Council at the Ottawa Camp 255
Disappointment of Pontiac . 257
He is joined by the Coureurs
des Bois . . . .258
Sortie of the Garrison . 260
Death of Major Campbell . 260
Attack on Pontiac's Camp . 262
Fire Rafts . . . .263
The Wyandots and Pottawat-
tamies bear for Peace . 265
CHAPTER XV
The Fight at Bloody Bridge.
Dalzell's Detachment
Dalzell reaches Detroit
Stratagem of the Wyandots .
Night Attack on Pontiac's
Camp
Indian Ambuscade
Retreat of the English .
26?
Terror of Dalzell's Troops
274
269
Death of Dalzell
275
269
Defence of Campau's House
276
Grant conducts the Retreat
276
270
Exultation of the Indians .
278
271
Defence of the Schooner Glad-
273
wyn ....
279
CONTENTS.
XIX
CHAPTER XVI
Ml C HILLIMAC KINA C .
The Voyager on the Lakes . 282
Michillimackinac in 1763 . 283
Green Bay and Ste. Marie . 284
The Northern Wilderness . 284
Tribes of the Lakes . . 285
Adventures of a Trader . 286
Speech of Minavavana . . 288
Arrival of English Troops . 290
Disposition of the Indians 291
The Ojibwa War-chief . 291
Ambassadors from Pontiac . 292
Sinister Designs of the Ojibwas 292
Warnings of Danger . . 293
Wawatam .... 293
Eve of the Massacre . . 295
CHAPTER XVII.
The Massacre.
The King's Birthday . . 296
Heedlessness of the Garrison 297
Indian Ball-play . . . 297
The Stratagem . . .298
Slaughter of the Soldiers . 298
Escape of Alexander Henry 299
His appalling Situation . . 301
His Hiding-place discovered 304
Survivors of the Massacre . 306
Plan of retaking the Fort . 306
Adventures of Henry . . 307
Unexpected Behavior of the
Ottawas . . . .308
They take Possession of the
Fort 309
Their Council with the Ojibwas 309
Henry and his Fellow-prisoners 311
He is rescued by Wawatam . 311
Cannibalism . . . 313
Panic among the Conquerors . 314
They retire to Mackinaw . 314
The Island of Mackinaw . 314
Indian Carouse . . . 316
Famine among the Indians .316
They disperse to their Winter-
ing Grounds . . . 317
Green Bay. The neighboring
Tribes .... 317
Gorell. His Address and Pru-
dence 318
He conciliates the Indians . 319
He abandons Green Bay . . 321
The English driven from the
Upper Lakes . . .322
CHAPTER XVIII.
Frontier Forts and Settlements.
Extent of British Settlements Forts and Military Routes . 324
in 1763 . . . .323 Fort Pitt 324
XX
The Pennsylvania Frontier .
Alarms at Fort Pitt .
Escape of Calhoun
Slaughter of Traders
Fort Ligonier. Fort Bedford
Situation of Fort Pitt
Indian Advice
Reply of Ecuyer
CONTENTS.
326
News from Presqu'Isle .
• oo5
327
Fate of Le Bosuf
336
328
Fate of Venango .
. 337
328
Danger of Fort Pitt .
338
331
Council with the Delawares
. 339
. 332
Threats of the Commandant
341
333
General Attack
. 342
334
CHAPTER XIX.
The War on the Borhers.
Panic among the Settlers . 344
Feeble Resources of the Eng-
lish 345
Measures of Defence . . 346
Alarm at Carlisle . . . 347
Scouting Parties . . . 347
Ambuscade on the Tuscarora . 348
The dying Borderer . . 349
Scenes at Carlisle . . . 350
CHAPTER XX,
The Battle of Bushy Run.
The Army of Bouquet . . 352
Dangers of his Enterprise . 353
His Character .... 354
Fort Ligonier relieved . . 356
Bouquet at Fort Bedford . . 356
March of his Troops . . 357
Unexpected Attack . . . 358
The Night Encampment . 360
The Fight resumed . . . 362
Conflict of the second Day . 363
Successful Stratagem . . 364
Rout of the Indians . . 365
Bouquet reaches Fort Pitt . 367
Effects of the Victory . . 368
CHAPTER XXI.
The Iroquois. — AnsuscAnE of the Devil's Hole.
Congress of Iroquois . . 370
Effect of Johnson's Influence 371
Incursions into New York . 372
False Alarm at Goshen . 372
The Niagara Portage
The Convoy attacked
Second Attack
Disaster on Lake Erie
373
374
375
377
CONTENTS.
XXI
CHAPTER XXII.
Desolation of the Frontiers.
Virginian Backwoodsmen . 378
Frontiers of Virginia . . 379
Population of Pennsylvania . 380
Distress of the Settlers . 381
Attack on Greenbrier . . 383
A captive Amazon . . 384
Attack on a School-house . 385
Sufferings of Captives . . 387
The escaped Captive . . 388
Feeble Measures of Defence 390
John Flder .... 391
Virginian Militia . . .392
Courage of the Borderers . 393
Encounter with a War-party . 394
Armstrong's Expedition . 395
Slaughter at Wyoming . . 396
Quaker Prejudice . . 397
Gage assumes the Command . 398
Political Disputes . . 399
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Indians raise the Siege of Detroit.
The Besiegers ask for Peace . 401
A Truce granted . . . 402
Letter from Neyon to Pontiac . 403
Autumn at Detroit . . 404
Indians at their Wintering
Grounds .... 405
Iroquois War-parties . . 406
The War in the South . . 407
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Paxton Men.
Desperation of the Borderers . 409
Effects of Indian Hostilities 411
The Conestoga Band . . 411
Paxton . . . .412
Matthew Smith and his Com-
panions .... 413
Massacre of the Conestogas . 414
Further Designs of the Rioters 416
Remonstrance of Elder . 417
Massacre in Lancaster Jail . 417
State of public Opinion . 420
Lazarus Stewart . . . 421
The Moravian Converts . 421
Their Retreat to Philadelphia . 424
Their Reception by the Mob 425
CHAPTER XXV.
The Rioters march on Philadelphia.
Excitement of the Borderers . 426 Alarm of the Quakers . . 429
Their Designs . . . 428 The Converts sent to New York 430
XX11
The Converts forced to return
Quakers and Presbyterians
Warlike Preparation .
Excitement in the City .
False Alarm
CONTENTS.
43
Paxton Men at Germantown .
437
433
Negotiations with the Rioters
438
434
Frontiersmen in Philadelphia .
440
435
Paper Warfare .
441
436
Memorials of the Paxton Men
443
CHAPTER XXVI,
Bradstreet's Army on the Lakes.
Memorials on Indian Affairs . 446
Character of Bradstreet . 448
Departure of the Army . . 449
Concourse of Indians at Niagara 450
Indian Oracle . . . .451
Temper of the Indians . 455
Insolence of the Delawares and
Shawanoes .... 456
Treaty with the Senecas . 456
Ottawas and Menomonies . 457
Bradstreet leaves Niagara . 459
Henry's Indian Battalion . . 460
Pretended Embassy . . 461
Presumption of Bradstreet . 462
Indians of Sandusky . . 464
Bradstreet at Detroit . . 465
CouncU with the Chiefs of De-
troit 466
Terms of the Treaty . . 467
Strange Conduct of Bradstreet 468
Michillimackinac reoccupied . 469
Embassy of Morris . . 469
Bradstreet at Sandusky * . . 475
Return of the Army . . 476
Results of the Expedition . 477
CHAPTER XXVII.
Bouquet forces the Delawares and Shawanoes to sue for
Peace.
Renewal of Indian Ravages . 479
David Owens, the White Sav-
age 480
Advance of Bouquet . . 482
His Message to the Delawares 483
The March of his Army . . 485
He reaches the Muskingum . 486
Terror of the Enemy . . 487
Council with the Indians . 488
Speech of the Delaware Orator 489
Reply of Bouquet . . . 491
Its Effect . . . .493
The English Camp . . .494
Letter from Bradstreet . . 495
Desperate Purpose of the Shaw-
anoes 496
Peace Council . . . 498
Delivery of English Prisoners . 502
Situation of Captives among
the Indians .... 507
Their Reluctance to return to
the Settlements . . 508
The Forest Life . . .508
Return of the Expedition . 511
CONTENTS,
XX111
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Illinois.
Boundaries of the Illinois . 513
The Missouri. The Mississippi 513
Plants and Animals of the Illi-
nois 515
Its early Colonization . . 517
Creoles of the Illinois . . 519
Its Indian Population . . 521
CHAPTER XXIX.
PONTIAC RALLIES THE WESTERN TRIBES.
Cession of French Territory in
the West .
. 522
St. Louis
. 523
St. Ange de Bellerive
. 524
Designs of Pontiac
. 526
His French Allies .
. 527
He visits the Illinois .
. 529
His great War-belt .
530
Repulse of Loftus . . 531
The English on the Mississippi 533
New Orleans in 1765 . . 534
Pontiac's Embassy at New Or-
leans ... . 536
CHAPTER XXX.
Ruin of the Indian Cause.
Mission of Croghan
Plunder of the Caravan
Exploits of the Borderers
Congress at Fort Pitt .
Fraser's Discomfiture
Distress of the hostile Indians
Pontiac. His desperate Po-
sition
Croghan's Party attacked
539
Croghan at Ouatanon
551
540
His Meeting with Pontiac .
552
542
Pontiac offers Peace
553
545
Croghan reaches Detroit
553
546
Conferences at Detroit .
554
547
Peace Speech of Pontiac
556
Results of Croghan's Mission .
558
549
The English take Possession
550
of the Illinois .
559
CHAPTER XXXI.
Death of Pontiac.
Effects of the Peace . . 560 Congress at Oswego . . 562
Pontiac repairs to Oswego . 560 Speech of Sir William Johnson 563
XXIV CONTENTS.
Reply of Pontiac . . . 565 The Village of Cahokia . 569
Prospects of the Indian Race 566 Assassination of Pontiac . . 571
Fresh Disturbances . . 567 Vengeance of his Followers 571
Pontiac visits St. Louis . . 568
APPENDIX.
A. — The Iroquois. — Extent of their Conquests. — Policy pur-
sued TOWARDS THEM BY THE FRENCH AND THE ENGLISH. MEASURES
of Sir William Johnson.
1. Territory of the Iroquois ... .... 575
2. French and English Policy towards the Iroquois. Measures of
Sir William Johnson 576
B. — Causes of the Indian War.
1. Views of Sir William Johnson 579
2. Tragedy of Ponteach 581
C. — Detroit and Michillimackinac.
1. The Siege of Detroit 588
2. Massacre of Michillimackinac 596
D. — The War on the Borders.
The Battle of Bushy Run 598
E. — The Paxton Riots.
1. Evidence against the Indians of Conestoga . . . . 602
2. Proceedings of the Rioters 603
3. Memorials of the Paxton Men 613
F. — The Campaign of 1764.
1. Bouquet's Expedition 620
2. Condition and Temper of the Western Indians . . . 622
HISTORY
CONSPIEACY OF PONTIAC.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY. — INDIAN TRIBES EAST OF THE
MISSISSIPPI.
The Indian is a true child of the forest and the
desert. The wastes and solitudes of nature are his
congenial home. His haughty mind is imbued with
the spirit of the wilderness, and the light of civiliza-
tion falls on him with a blighting power. His unruly
pride and untamed freedom are in harmony with the
lonely mountains, cataracts, and rivers among which
he dwells; and primitive America, with her savage
scenery and savage men, opens to the imagination a
boundless world, unmatched in wild sublimity.
The Indians east of the Mississippi may be divided
into several great families, each distinguished by a
radical peculiarity of language. In their moral and
intellectual, their social and political state, these va-
rious families exhibit strong shades of distinction ; but,
before pointing them out, I shall indicate a few promi-
nent characteristics, which, faintly or distinctly, mark
the whole in common.
1 A
2 INDIAN TEIBES. [Chap. I.
All are alike a race of hunters, sustaining life wholly,
or in part, by the fruits of the chase. Each family is
split into tribes; and these tribes, by the exigencies
of the hunter life, are again divided into sub-tribes,
bands, or villages, often scattered far asunder, over a
wide extent of wilderness. Unhappily for the strength
and harmony of the Indian race, each tribe is prone to
regard itself, not as the member of a great whole, but
as a sovereign and independent nation, often arrogat-
ing to itself an importance superior to all the rest
of mankind ; x and the warrior whose petty horde might
muster a few scores of half-starved fighting men, strikes
his hand upon his heart, and exclaims, in all the pride
of patriotism, " I am a Meno-mone."
In an Indian community, each man is his own
master. He abhors restraint, and owns no other au-
thority than his own capricious will ; and yet this wild
notion of liberty is not inconsistent with certain gra-
dations of rank and influence. Each tribe has its
sachem, or civil chief, whose office is in a manner he-
reditary, and, among many, though by no means among
all tribes, descends in the female line; so that the
brother of the incumbent, or the son of his sister, and
not his own son, is the rightful successor to his digni-
ties.2 If, however, in the opinion of the old men and
subordinate chiefs, the heir should be disqualified for
the exercise of the office by cowardice, incapacity, or
any defect of character, they do not scruple to discard
1 Many Indian tribes bear names 2 The dread of female infidelity
which in their dialect signify men> has been assigned, and with probable
indicating that the character belongs, truth, as the origin of this custom.
par excellence, to them. Sometimes The sons of a chief's sister must
the word was used by itself, and necessarily be his kindred; though
sometimes an adjective was joined his own reputed son may be, in fact,
with it, as original men, men sur- the offspring of another.
passing all others.
Chap. I.] THEIR PECULIAR CHARACTERISTICS. 3
him, and elect another in his place, usually fixing their
choice on one of his relatives. The office of the sa-
chem is no enviable one. He has neither laws to ad-
minister nor power to enforce his commands. His
counsellors are the inferior chiefs and principal men
of the tribe ; and he never sets himself in opposition
to the popular will, which is the sovereign power of
these savage democracies. His province is to advise,
and not to dictate ; but, should he be a man of energy,
talent, and address, and especially should he be sup-
ported by numerous relatives and friends, he may often
acquire no small measure of respect and power. A
clear distinction is drawn between the civil and mili-
tary authority, though both are often united in the
same person. The functions of war-chief may, for the
most part, be exercised by any one whose prowess and
reputation are sufficient to induce the young men to
follow him to battle; and he may, whenever he thinks
proper, raise a band of volunteers, and go out against
the common enemy.
We might imagine that a society so loosely framed
w^ould soon resolve itself into anarchy; yet this is
not the case, and an Indian village is singularly free
from wranglings and petty strife. Several causes con-
spire to this result. The necessities of the hunter life,
preventing the accumulation of large communities,
make more stringent organization needless; while a
species of self-control, inculcated from childhood upon
every individual, enforced by a sentiment of dignity and
manhood, and greatly aided by the peculiar tempera-
ment of the race, tends strongly to the promotion of
harmony. Though he owns no law, the Indian is in-
flexible in his adherence to ancient usages and cus-
toms ; and the principle of hero-worship, which belongs
4 TOTEMSHIP. [Chap. I.
to his nature, inspires him with deep respect for the
sages and captains of his tribe. The very rudeness of
his condition, and the absence of the passions which
wealth, luxury, and the other incidents of civilization
engender, are favorable to internal harmony; and to
the same cause must likewise be ascribed too many of
his virtues, which would quickly vanish, were he ele-
vated from his savage state.
A peculiar social institution exists among the In-
dians, highly curious in its character ; and though I
am not prepared to say that it may be traced through
all the tribes east of the Mississippi, yet its prevalence
is so general, and its influence on political relations
so important, as to claim especial attention. Indian
communities, independently of their local distribution
into tribes, bands, and villages, are composed of several
distinct clans. Each clan has its emblem, consisting
of the figure of some bird, beast, or reptile ; and each
is distinguished by the name of the animal which it
thus bears as its device ; as, for example, the clan of the
Wolf, the Deer, the Otter, or the Hawk. In the lan-
guage of the Algonquins, these emblems are known by
the name of Totems.1 The members of the same clan,
being connected, or supposed to be so, by ties of kin-
dred, more or less remote, are prohibited from inter-
marriage. Thus Wolf cannot marry Wolf; but he
1 Schoolcraft, Oneota, 172. The word tribe might, perhaps,
The extraordinary figures intend- have been employed with as much
ed to represent tortoises, deer, propriety as that of clan, to indicate
snakes, and other animals, which are the totetnic division; but as the for-
often seen appended to Indian trea- mer is constantly employed to repre-
ties, are the totems of the chiefs, sent the local or political divisions
who employ these devices of their of the Indian race, hopeless confu-
respective clans as their sign manual, sion would arise from using it in a
The device of his clan is also some- double capacity,
times tattoed on the body of the
warrior.
Chap. L] GENERIC DIVISIONS. 5
may, if he chooses, take a wife from the clan of Hawks,
or any other clan but his own. It follows that when
this prohibition is rigidly observed, no single clan can
live apart from the rest ; but the whole must be
mingled together, and in every family the husband
and wife must be of different clans.
To different totems attach different degrees of rank
and dignity; and those of the Bear, the Tortoise, and
the Wolf are among the first in honor. Each man is
proud of his badge, jealously asserting its claims to
respect; and the members of the same clan, though
they may, perhaps, speak different dialects, and dwell
far asunder, are yet bound together by the closest ties
of fraternity. If a man is killed, every member of the
clan feels called upon to avenge him ; and the way-
farer, the hunter, or the warrior is sure of a cordial
welcome in the distant lodge of the clansman whose
face perhaps he has never seen. It may be added
that certain privileges, highly prized as hereditary
rights, sometimes reside in particular clans ; such as
that of furnishing a sachem to the tribe, or of per-
forming certain religious ceremonies or magic rites.
The Indians east of the Mississippi may be divided
into three great families ; the Iroquois, the Algonquin,
and the Mobilian, each speaking a language of its own,
varied by numerous dialectic forms. To these families
must be added a few stragglers from the great western
race of the Dahcotah, besides several distinct tribes of
the south, each of which has been regarded as speaking
a tongue peculiar to itself.1 The Mobilian group em-
braces the motley confederacy of the Creeks, the crafty
Choctaws, and the stanch and warlike Chickasaws. Of
1 For an ample view of these divisions, see the Synopsis of Mr. Gal-
latin, Trans. Am. Ant. Soc. II.
A*
6 THE IROQUOIS. [Chap. I.
these, and of the distinct tribes dwelling in their vi-
cinity, or within their limits, I shall only observe
that they offer, with many modifications, and under
different aspects, the same essential features which
mark the Iroquois and the Algonquins, the two great
families of the north.1 The latter, who were the con-
spicuous actors in the events of the ensuing narrative,
demand a closer attention.
THE IROQUOIS FAMILY.
Foremost in war, foremost in eloquence, foremost in
their savage arts of policy, stood the fierce people called
by themselves the Uodenosaunee, and by the French
the Iroquois, a name which has since been applied to
the entire family of which they formed the dominant
member.2 They extended their conquests and their
depredations from Quebec to the Carolinas, and from
the western prairies to the forests of Maine.3 On the
1 It appears from several passages Iroquois by different writers, French,
in the writings of Adair, Hawkins, English, and German: —
and others, that the totem prevailed Iroquois, Five, and afterwards Six
among the southern tribes. In a Nations; Confederates, Hodenosau-
conversation with the late Albert nee, Aquanuscioni, Aggonnonshioni,
Gallatin, he informed me that he was Ongwe Honwe, Mengwe, Maquas,
told by the chiefs of a Choctaw Mahaquase, Massawomecs, Palenach
deputation, at Washington, that in endchiesktajeet.
their tribe were eight totemic clans, The name of Massawomees has
divided into two classes, of four each, been applied to several tribes; and
It is very remarkable that the same that of Mingoes is often restricted
number of clans, and the same di- to a colony of the Iroquois which
vision into classes, were to be found established itself near the Ohio,
among the Five Nations, or Iroquois. 3 Francois, a well-known Indian
2 A great difficulty in the study belonging to the remnant of the Pe-
of Indian history arises from a redun- nobscots living at Old Town, in
dancy of names employed to designate Maine, told me, in the summer of
the same tribe ; yet this does not pre- 1843, that a tradition was current,
vent the same name from being often among his people, of their being
used to designate two or more differ- attacked in ancient times by the
ent tribes. The following are the Mohawks, or, as he called them, Mo-
chief of those which are applied to the hogs, a tribe of the Iroquois, who de-
Chap. I.] THE IROQUOIS. 7
south, they forced tribute from the subjugated Dela-
wares, and pierced the mountain fastnesses of the
Cherokees with incessant forays.1 On the north, they
uprooted the ancient settlements of the "Wyandots ; on
the west, they exterminated the Eries and the An-
dastes, and spread havoc and dismay among the tribes
of the Illinois; and on the east, the Indians of New
England fled at the first peal of the Mohawk war-
cry. Nor was it the Indian race alone who quailed
before their ferocious valor. All Canada shook with
the desolating fury of their onset; the people fled to
the forts for refuge; the blood-besmeared conquerors
roamed like wolves among the burning settlements,
and the youthful colony trembled on the brink of ruin.
The Iroquois in some measure owed their triumphs
to the position of their country ; for they dwelt with-
in the present limits of the state of New York, whence
several great rivers and the inland oceans of the north-
ern lakes opened ready thoroughfares to their roving-
warriors through all the adjacent wilderness. But the
true fountain of their success is to be sought in their
own inherent energies, wrought to the most effective
action under a political fabric well suited to the In-
dian life; iii their mental and moral organization; in
their insatiable ambition and restless ferocity.
stroyed one of their villages, killed beads of shell, an article of inesti-
the men and women, and roasted mable value with the Indians. " Two
the small children on forked sticks, old men commonly go about, every
like apples, before the fire. When year or two, to receive this tribute ;
lie began to tell his story, Francois and I have often had opportunity to
was engaged in patching an old ca- observe what anxiety the poor In-
noe, in preparation for a moose hunt ; dians were under, while these two
but, soon growing warm with his re- old men remained in that part of the
cital, he gave over his work, and at country where I was. An old Mo-
tile conclusion exclaimed with great hawk sachem, in a poor blanket and
wrath and earnestness, " Mohog all a dirty shirt, may be seen issuing his
devil ! " orders with as arbitrary an authority
i The tribute exacted from the as a Roman dictator."— Golden, Hist.
Delawares consisted of wampum, or Five JYations, 4.
8 THE IROQUOIS. [Chap. I.
In their scheme of government, as in their social cus-
toms and religious observances, the Iroquois displayed,
in full symmetry and matured strength, the same charac-
teristics which in other tribes are found distorted, with-
ered, decayed to the root, or, perhaps, faintly visible in
an imperfect germ. They consisted of five tribes or
nations, the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas,
the Cayugas, and the Senecas, to whom a sixth, the
Tuscaroras, was afterwards added.1 To each of these
tribes belonged an organization of its own. Each had
several sachems, who, with the subordinate chiefs and
principal men, regulated all its internal affairs ; but,
when foreign powTers were to be treated with, or mat-
ters involving the whole confederacy required delibera-
tion, all the sachems of the several tribes convened
in general assembly at the great council-house, in the
Valley of Onondaga. Here ambassadors were received,
alliances were adjusted, and all subjects of general in-
terest discussed with exemplary harmony.2 The order
1 The following are synonymous side six seats were placed, each con-
names, gathered from various wri- taining six persons. No one was
ters : — admitted besides the members of the
Mohawks, Anies, Agniers, Agni- council, except a few, who were par-
errhonons, Sankhicans, Canungas, ticularly honored. If one rose to
Mauguawogs, Ganeagaonoh. speak, all the rest sat in profound
Oneidas, Oneotas, Onoyats, Ano- silence, smoking their pipes. The
yints, Onneiouts, Oneyyotecaronoh, speaker uttered his words in a sing-
Onoiochrhonons. ing tone, always rising a few notes
Onondagas, Onnontagues, Onon- at the close of each sentence. What-
dagaonohs. ever was pleasing to the council was
Cayugas, Caiyoquos, Goiogoens, confirmed by all with the word Nee, or
G weugwehonoh. Yes. And, at the end of each speech,
Senecas, Sinnikes, Chennessies, the whole company joined in applaud-
Genesees, Chenandoanes, Tsonnon- ing the speaker by calling Hoho.
touans, Jenontowanos, Nundawaro- At noon, two men entered bearing a
noh. large kettle filled with meat, upon a
2 " In the year 1745, August Gott- pole across their shoulders, which
lieb Spangenburg, a bishop of the was first presented to the guests. A
United Brethren, spent several weeks large wooden ladle, as broad and
in Onondaga, and frequently attend- deep as a common bowl, hung with
ed the great council. The council- a hook to the side of the kettle, with
house was built of bark. On each which every one might at once help
Chap. L] TOTEMSHIP. 9
of debate was prescribed by time-Honored customs ;
and, in. the fiercest beat of controversy, the assembly
maintained its iron self-control.
But the main stay of Iroquois polity was the sys-
tem of totemskip. It was this which gave the structure
its elastic strength; and but for this, a mere confed-
eracy of jealous and warlike tribes must soon have
been rent asunder by shocks from without or discord
from within. At some early period, the Iroquois must
have formed an individual nation ; for the whole people,
irrespective of their separation into tribes, consisted
of eight totemic clans ; and the members of each clan,
to what nation soever they belonged, were mutually
bound to one another by those close ties of fraternity
which mark this singular institution. Thus the five
nations of the confederacy were laced together by an
eight-fold band; and to this hour their slender rem-
nants cling to one another with invincible tenacity.
It was no small security to the liberties of the
Iroquois — liberties which they valued beyond any
other possession — that by the Indian custom of de-
scent in the female line, which among them was more
rigidly adhered to than elsewhere, the office of the
sachem must pass, not to his son, but to his brother,
his sister's son, or some yet remoter kinsman. His
power was constantly deflected into the collateral
branches of his family ; and thus one of the strongest
temptations of ambition was cut off.1 The Iroquois
himself to as much as he could eat. stop, joke, and laugh heartily." —
When the guests had eaten their fill, Loskiel, Hist. Morav. Miss. 138.
they begged the counsellors to do i The descent of the sachemship in
the same. The whole was conducted the female line was a custom univer-
in a very decent and quiet manner, sally prevalent among the Five Na-
Indeed, now and then, one or the other tions, or Iroquois proper. Since,
would lie flat upon his hack to rest among Indian tribes generally, the
himself, and sometimes they would right of furnishing a sachem waa
2
10
THE IROQUOIS.
[Chap. I.
had no laws; but they had ancient customs which
took the place of laws. Each man, or rather, each
clan, was the avenger of its own wrongs ; but the
manner of the retaliation was fixed by established
usage. The tribal sachems, and even the great coun-
cil at Onondaga, had no power to compel the execution
of their decrees ; yet they were looked up to with a
respect which the soldier's bayonet or the sheriff's
staff would never have commanded; and it is highly
to the honor of the Indian character that they could
exact so great an authority where there was nothing
to enforce it but the weight of moral power.1
The origin of the Iroquois is lost in hopeless ob-
scurity. That they came from the west; that they
came from the north; that they sprang from the soil
vested in some particular totemic
clan, it results of course that the
descent of the sachemship must fol-
low the descent of the totem ; that
is, if the totemship descend in the fe-
male line, the sachemship must do the
same. This custom of descent in
the female line prevailed not only
among the Iroquois proper, but also
among the Wyandots, and probably
among the Andastes and the Eries,
extinct members of the great Iroquois
family. Thus, among any of these
tribes, when a Wolf warrior married
a Hawk squaw, their children were
Hawks, and not Wolves. With the
Creeks of the south, according to the
observations of Hawkins, (Georgia
Hist. Coll. III. 69,) the rule was the
same ; but among the Algonquins,
on the contrary, or at least among
the northern branches of this family,
the reverse took place, the totem-
ships, and consequently the chieftain-
ships, descending in the male line,
after the analogy of civilized nations.
For this information concerning the
northern Algonquins I am indebted
to the courtesy of Mr. Schoolcraft,
whose opportunities of observation
among these tribes have only been
equalled by the ability and faithful-
ness with which he has used them.
1 An account of the political insti-
tutions of the Iroquois will be found
in Mr. Morgan's series of letters, pub-
lished in the American Review for-
1847. Valuable information may also
be obtained from Schoolcraft's Notes.
on the Iroquois.
Mr. Morgan is of opinion that these
institutions were the result of "a
protracted effort of legislation." An
examination of the customs prevail-
ing among other Indian tribes makes
it probable that the elements of the
Iroquois polity existed among them
from an indefinite antiquity ; and the
legislation of which Mr. Morgan
speaks could only involve the ar-
rangement and adjustment of already
existing materials.
Since the above chapter was writ-
ten, Mr. Morgan has published an
elaborate and very able work on the
institutions of the Iroquois. It forms
an invaluable addition to this depart-
ment of knowledge.
Chap. I] TRADITIONS OE THEIR CONFEDERACY. 11
of New York, are the testimonies of three conflicting
traditions, all equally worthless as aids to historic
inquiry.1 It is at the era of their confederacy — the
event to which the five tribes owed all their great-
ness and power, and to which we need assign no
remoter date than that of a century before the first
arrival of the Dutch in New York — that faint rays
of light begin to pierce the gloom, and the chaotic
traditions of the earlier epoch mould themselves into
forms more palpable and distinct.
Taounyawatha, the God of the Waters — such is the
belief of the Iroquois — descended to the earth to in-
struct his favorite people in the arts of savage life;
and when he saw how they were tormented by giants,
monsters, and evil spirits, he urged the divided tribes,
for the common defence, to band themselves together
in an everlasting league. While the injunction was
as yet unfulfilled, the sacred messenger was recalled
to the Great Spirit; but, before his departure, he
promised that another should appear, empowered to
instruct the people in all that pertained to their con-
federation. And accordingly, as a band of Mohawk
warriors was threading the funereal labyrinth of an
ancient pine forest, they heard, amid its blackest
depths, a hoarse voice chanting in measured cadence;
and, following the sound, they saw, seated among the
trees, a monster of so hideous an aspect, that, one and
all, they stood benumbed with terror. His features
were wild and frightful. He was encompassed by
hissing rattlesnakes, which, Medusa-like, hung writhing
from his head; and on the ground around him were
1 Recorded by Heckewelder, Col- by the whites, is rendered probable
den, and Schoolcraft. That the Iro- by several circumstances. See Mr.
quois had long dwelt on the spot Squier's work on the Aboriginal
where they were first discovered Monuments of New York.
12 THE IROQUOIS. [Chap. I.
strewn implements of incantation, and magic vessels
formed of human skulls. Recovering from their amaze-
ment, the warriors could perceive that in the mystic
words of the chant, which he still poured forth, were
couched the laws and principles of the destined con-
federacy. The tradition further declares that the mon-
ster, being surrounded and captured, was presently
transformed to human shape, that he became a chief
of transcendent wisdom and prowess, and to the day of
his death ruled the councils of the now united tribes.
To this hour, the presiding sachem of the council at
Onondaga inherits from him the honored name of
Atotarho.1
The traditional epoch which preceded the auspicious
event of the confederacy, though wrapped in clouds
and darkness, and defying historic scrutiny, has yet a
character and meaning of its own. The gloom is
peopled thick with phantoms ; with monsters and prod-
igies, shapes of wild enormity, yet offering, in the Teu-
tonic strength of their conception, the evidence of
a robustness of mind unparalleled among tribes of
a different lineage. In these evil days, the scattered
and divided Iroquois were beset with every form of
peril and disaster. Giants, cased in armor of stone,
descended on them from the mountains of the north.
Huge beasts trampled down their forests like fields
of grass. Human heads, with streaming hair and glar-
ing eyeballs, shot through the air like meteors, shedding
pestilence and death throughout the land. A great
horned serpent rose from Lake Ontario ; and only the
thunder-bolts of the skies could stay his ravages, and
1 This preposterous legend was him by Mr. Schoolcraft, in his Notes.
first briefly related in the pamphlet The curious work of Cusick will
of Cusick, the Tuscarora, and after again be referred to.
Chai-.I.] THEIR MYTHS AND LEGENDS. 13
drive him back to his native deeps. The skeletons
of men, victims of some monster of the forest, were
seen swimming in the Lake of Teungktoo ; and around
the Seneca village on the Hill of Genundewah, a two-
headed serpent coiled himself, of size so monstrous
that the wretched people were unable to ascend his
scaly sides, and perished in multitudes by his pestilen-
tial breath. Mortally wounded at length by the magic
arrow of a child, he rolled down the steep, sweeping
away the forest with his writhings, and plunging into
the lake below, where he lashed the black waters till
they boiled with blood and foam, and at length, ex-
hausted with his agony, sunk, and perished at the
bottom. Under the Falls of Niagara dwelt the Spirit
of the Thunder, with his brood of giant sons; and
the Iroquois trembled in their villages when, amid the
blackening shadows of the storm, they heard his deep
shout roll along the firmament.
The energy of fancy, whence these barbarous cre-
ations drew their birth, displayed itself, at a later
period, in that peculiar eloquence which the wild de-
mocracy of the Iroquois tended to call forth, and to
which the mountain and the forest, the torrent and
the storm, lent their stores of noble imagery. That
to this imaginative vigor was joined mental power
of a different stamp, is witnessed by the caustic irony
of Garangula and Sagoyewatha, and no less by the
subtle policy, sagacious as it was treacherous, which
marked the dealings of the Iroquois with surround-
ing tribes.1
1 For traditions of the Iroquois see dian, who, being disabled by an acci-
Schoolcraft, Notes, Chap. IX. Cu- dent from active occupations, essayed
sick, History of the Five Nations, to become the historian of his people,
and Clark, Hist. Onondaga, I. and produced a small pamphlet, writ-
Cusick was an old Tuscarora In- ten in a language almost unintelli-
14 THE IROQUOIS. [Chap. I.
With all this intellectual superiority, the arts of
life among them had not emerged from their primi-
tive rudeness; and their coarse pottery, their spear
and arrow heads of stone, were in no way superior to
those of many other tribes. Their agriculture deserves
a higher praise. In 1696, the invading army of Count
Frontenac found the maize fields extending a league
and a half or two leagues from their villages; and,
in 1779, the troops of General Sullivan were filled
with amazement at their abundant stores of corn,
beans, and squashes, and at the ancient apple orchards
which grew around their settlements.
Their dwellings and works of defence were far
from contemptible, either in their dimensions or in
their structure ; and though by the several attacks of
the French, and especially by the invasion of De Non-
ville, in 1687, and of Frontenac, nine years later, their
fortified towns were levelled to the earth, never again
to reappear ; yet, in the works of Champlain and other
early writers we find abundant evidence of their pris-
tine condition. Along the banks of the Mohawk,
among the hills and hollows of Onondaga, hi the for-
ests of Oneida and Cayuga, on the romantic shores
of Seneca Lake and the rich borders of the Genesee,
surrounded by waving maize fields, and encircled from
afar by the green margin of the forest, stood the
ancient strongholds of the confederacy. The clus-
tering dwellings were encompassed by palisades, in
gible, and filled with a medley of from the first Atotarho downwards,
traditions in which a few grains of His work, which was printed at the
truth are inextricably mingled with Tuscarora village, near Lewiston, in
a tangled mass of absurdities. He 1828, is illustrated by several rude
•relates the monstrous legends of his engravings representing the Stone
people with an air of implicit faith, Giants, the Flying Heads, and other
and traces the presiding sachems of traditional monsters.
the confederacy in regular descent
Chap. I.] THEIR FORTS AND VILLAGES. 15
single, double, or triple rows, pierced with loopholes,
furnished with platforms within, for the convenience
of the defenders, with magazines of stones to hurl
upon the heads of the enemy, and with water con-
ductors to extinguish any fire which might be kindled
from without.1
The area which these defences enclosed was often
several acres in extent, and the dwellings, ranged in
order within, were sometimes more than a hundred
feet in length. Posts, firmly driven into the ground,
with an intervening framework of poles, formed the
basis of the structure; and its sides and arched roof
were closely covered with layers of elm bark. Each
of the larger dwellings contained several distinct fam-
ilies, whose separate fires were built along the central
space, while compartments on each side, like the stalls
of a stable, afforded some degree of privacy. Here,
rude couches were prepared, and bear and deer skins
spread; while above, the ripened ears of maize, sus-
pended in rows, formed a golden tapestry.2
1 Lafitau, Mceurs des Sauvages with a grave, chearful complaisance,
Ameriquains, II. 4-iO. according to their custom ; they
Frontenac, in his expedition against shew'd us where to lay our baggage,
the Onondagas, in 1696, (see Of- and repose ourselves during our stay
ficial Journal, Doc. Hist. New York, with them ; which was in the two end
I. 332,) found one of their villages apartments of this large house. The
built in an oblong form, with four Indians that came with us were
bastions. The wall was formed of placed over against us. This cabin
three rows of palisades, those of the is about eighty feet long and seven-
outer row being forty or fifty feet teen broad, the common passage six
high. The usual figure of the Iro- feet wide, and the apartments on
quois villages was circular or oval, each side five feet, raised a foot above
and in this instance the bastions were the passage by a long sapling, hewed
no doubt the suggestion of some Eu- square, and fitted with joists that go
ropean adviser. from it to the back of the house ; on
2 Bartram gives the following ac- these joists they lay large pieces of
count of the great council-house at bark, and on extraordinary occasions
Onondaga, which he visited in 1743. spread mats made of rushes : this fa-
" We alighted at the council-house, vor we had ; on these floors they set
where the chiefs were already assem- or lye down, every one as he will ;
bled to receive us, which they did the apartments are divided from each
16 THE IROQUOIS. [Chap. I.
In the long evenings of midwinter, when in the
wilderness without the trees cracked with biting cold,
and the forest paths were clogged with snow, then,
around the lodge-fires of the Iroquois, warriors, squaws,
and restless naked children were clustered in social
groups, each dark face brightening in the fickle fire-
light, while, with jest and laugh, the pipe passed round
from hand to hand. Perhaps some shrivelled old war-
rior, the story-teller of the tribe, recounted to atten-
tive ears the deeds of ancient heroism, legends of spirits
and monsters, or tales of witches and vampires — super-
stitions not less rife among this all-believing race, than
among the nations of the transatlantic world.
The life of the Iroquois, though void of those mul-
tiplying phases which vary the routine of civilized
existence, was one of sharp excitement and sudden
contrast. The chase, the war-path, the dance, the
festival, the game of hazard, the race of political am-
bition, all had their votaries. When the assembled
sachems had resolved on war against some foreign
tribe, and when, from their great council-house of bark,
in the Valley of Onondaga, their messengers had gone
forth to invite the warriors to arms, then from east
to west, through the farthest bounds of the confed-
eracy, a thousand warlike hearts caught up the sum-
other by boards or bark, six or seven roof of the cabin are made of bark,
foot long, from the lower floor to the bound fast to poles set in the ground,
upper, on which they put their lum- and bent round on the top, or set
ber, when they have eaten their hom- aflatt, for the roof, as we set our rafters ;
ony, as they set in each apartment over each fireplace they leave a hole
before the fire ; they can put the bowl to let out the smoke, which, in rainy
over head, having- not above five foot weather, they cover with a piece of
to reach ; they set on the floor some- bark, and this they can easily reach
times at each end, but mostly at one ; with a pole to push it on one side or
they have a shed to put their wood quite over the hole ; after this model
into in the winter, or in the summer, are most of their cabins built." —
to set to converse or play, that has a Bartram, Observations, 40.
door to the south ; all the sides and
Chap. I.] THE WAR-PATH. 17
mons with glad alacrity. With fasting and praying,
and consulting dreams and omens ; with invoking the
war-god, and dancing the frantic war-dance, the war-
riors sought to insure the triumph of their arms ;
and, these strange rites concluded, they began their
stealthy progress, full of confidence, through the de-
vious pathways of the forest. For days and weeks, in
anxious expectation, the villagers await the result.
And now, as evening closes, a shrill, wild cry, pealing
from afar, over the darkening forest, proclaims the re-
turn of the victorious warriors. The village is alive
with sudden commotion; and snatching sticks and
stones, knives and hatchets, men, women, and chil-
dren, yelling like fiends let loose, swarm out of the
narrow portal, to visit upon the miserable captives a
foretaste of the deadlier torments in store for them.
And now, the black arches of the forest glow with
the fires of death ; and with brandished torch and
firebrand the frenzied multitude close around their
victim. The pen shrinks to write, the heart sickens
to conceive, the fierceness of his agony ; yet still, amid
the din of his tormentors, rises his clear voice of scorn
and defiance. The work is done ; the blackened trunk
is flung to the dogs, and, with clamorous shouts and
hootings, the murderers seek to drive away the spirit
of their victim.1
The Iroquois reckoned these barbarities among their
i " Being at this place the 17 of of them was burnt two women, and
June, there came fifty prisoners from a man and a child killed with a stone,
the south-westward. They were of Att night we heard a great noyse as
two nations, some whereof have few if ye houses had all fallen, butt itt
guns ; the other none at all. One was only ye inhabitants driving away
nation is about ten days' journey from ye ghosts of ye murthered.
any Christians, and trade onely with " The 18th going to Canagorali,
one greatt house, nott farr from the that day there were most cruelly
sea, and the other trade only, as they burnt four men, four women, and one
say, with a black people. This day boy. The cruelty lasted aboutt seven
3 B*
18 THE IKOQUOIS. [Chap. I.
most exquisite enjoyments; and yet they had other
sources of pleasure,- which made up in frequency and
in innocence all that they lacked in intensity. Each
passing season had its feasts and dances, often mingling
religion with social pastime. The young had their
frolics and merry-makings; and the old had their no
less frequent councils, where conversation and laugh-
ter alternated with grave deliberations for the pub-
lic weal. There were also stated periods marked by
the recurrence of momentous ceremonies, hi which the
whole community took part — the mystic sacrifice
of the dogs, the wild orgies of the dream feast, and
the loathsome festival of the exhumation of the dead.
Yet, in the intervals of war and hunting, these mul-
tiform occupations would often fail; and, while the
women were toiling in the cornfields, the lazy warriors
vainly sought relief from the scanty resources of their
own minds, and beguiled the hours with smoking or
sleeping, with gambling or gallantry.1
If we seek for a single trait preeminently charac-
teristic of the Iroquois, we shall find it hi that bound-
less pride which impelled them to style themselves,
not inaptly as regards their own race, " the men sur-
passing all others." 2 " Must I," exclaimed one of their
great warriors, as he fell wounded among a crowd of
Algonquins, — " must I, who have made the whole earth
tremble, now die by the hands of children 1 " Their
power kept pace with their pride. Their war-parties
hours. When they were almost dead Charlevoix, Letters to the Duchess
letting them loose to the mercy of of Lesdiguieres ; Champlain, Voyages
ye boys, and taking the hearts of such de la Nouv. France ; Clark, Hist,
as were dead to feast on." — Green- Onondaga, I., and several volumes
halgh, Journal, 1677. of the Jesuit Relations, especially
1 For an account of the habits and those of 1656-'7 and 1659-60.
customs of the Iroquois, the follow- 2 This is Coldcn's translation of
ing works, besides those already the word Ongwehonwe, one of the
cited, may be referred to: — names of the Iroquois.
Chap.I] THE HURONS OR WYANDOTS. 19
roamed over half America, and their name was a terror
from the Atlantic to the Mississippi; but, when we
ask the numerical strength of the dreaded confederacy,
when we discover that, in the days of their greatest
triumphs, their united cantons could not have mus-
tered four thousand warriors, we stand amazed at the
folly and dissension which left so vast a region the
prey of a handful of bold marauders. Of the cities
and villages now so thickly scattered over the lost
domain of the Iroquois, a single one might boast a
more numerous population than all the five united
tribes.1
From this remarkable people, who with all the fe-
rocity of their race blended heroic virtues and marked
endowments of intellect, I pass to other members of
the same great family, whose different fortunes may
perhaps be ascribed rather to the force of circum-
stance, than to any intrinsic inferiority.
The peninsula between the Lakes Huron, Erie, and
Ontario was occupied by two distinct peoples, speak-
ing dialects of the Iroquois tongue. The Hurons or
Wyandots, including the formidable bands called by the
French the Dionondadies, or Tobacco Nation,2 dwelt
1 La Hontan estimated the Iro- Chalmers' Political Annals, and in
quois at from five thousand to seven the Documentary History of New
thousand fighting men ; but his means York. Subsequent estimates, up to
of information were very imperfect, the period of the revolution, when
and the same may be said of several their strength had much declined,
other French writers, who have over- vary from twelve hundred to two
rated the force of the confederacy. In thousand one hundred and twenty.
1677, the English sent one Greenhalgh Most of these estimates are given by
to ascertain their numbers. He visited Clinton, in his Discourse on the Five
all their towns and villages, and re- Nations, and several by Jefferson, in
ported their aggregate force at two his Notes on Virginia,
thousand one hundred and fifty fight- 2 Hurons, Wyandots, Yendots,
ing men. The report of Colonel Ouendaets, Quatogies.
Coursey, agent from Virginia, at The Dionondadies are also de-
about the same period, closely cor- signated by the following names :
responds with this statement. Green- Tionontatez, Petuneux — Nation of
halgh's Journal will be found in Tobacco.
20 THE HURONS OR WYANDOTS. [Chap. I.
among the forests which bordered the eastern shores
of the fresh water sea, to which they have left their
name ; while the neutral nation, so called from their
neutrality in the war between the Hurons and the
Five Nations, inhabited the northern shores of Lake
Erie, and even extended their eastern flank across the
strait of Niagara.
The population of the Hurons has been variously
stated at from ten thousand to thirty thousand souls,
but probably did not exceed the former estimate. The
Franciscans and the Jesuits were early among them,
and from their copious descriptions it is apparent
that in legends and superstitions, manners and hab-
its, religious observances and social customs, this peo-
ple were closely assimilated to their brethren of the
Five Nations. Their capacious dwellings of bark,
and their palisaded forts, seemed copied after the same
model.1 Like the Five Nations, they were divided into
tribes, and cross-divided into totemic clans ; and, as
with them, the office of sachem descended in the fe-
male line. The same crude materials of a political
fabric were to be found in both ; but, unlike the Iro-
quois, the Wyandots had not as yet wrought them
into a system, and woven them into an harmonious
whole.
Like the Five Nations, the Wyandots were in some
measru'e an agricultural people ; they bartered the sur-
plus products of their maize fields to surrounding tribes,
usually receiving fish in exchange ; and this traffic was
so considerable, that the Jesuits styled their country
the Granary of the Algonquins.2
i See Sagard, Hurons, 115. into a slight mistake when he says
2 Bancroft, in his chapter on the that no trade was carried on by any
Indians east of the Mississippi, falls of the tribes. For an account of the
Chap. I.] THE NEUTRAL NATION. 21
Their prosperity was rudely broken by the rancorous
hostilities of the Five Nations; for though the con-
flicting parties were not ill matched in point of num-
bers, yet the united counsels and ferocious energies
of the confederacy swept all before them. In the
year 1649, in the depth of winter, their warriors in-
vaded the country of the Wyandots, stormed their
largest villages, and involved all within in indiscrimi-
nate slaughter.1 The survivors fled in panic terror,
and the whole nation was dispersed and broken.
Some found refuge among the French of Canada,
where, at the village of Lorette, near Quebec, their
descendants still remain ; others were incorporated
with their conquerors ; while others again fled north-
ward, beyond Lake Superior, and sought an asylum
among the desolate wastes which bordered on the
north-eastern bands of the Dahcotah. Driven back by
those fierce bison hunters, they next established them-
selves about the outlet of Lake Superior, and the
shores and islands in the northern parts of Lake Hu-
ron. Thence, about the year 1680, they descended to
Detroit, where they formed a permanent settlement, and
where, by their superior valor, capacity, and address,
they soon acquired a marvellous ascendency over the
surrounding Algonquins.
The ruin of the Neutral Nation followed close on
that of the Wyandots, to whom, according to Jesuit
authority, they bore an exact resemblance in charac-
ter and manners.2 The Senecas soon found means to
pick a quarrel with them; they were assailed by all
traffic between the Hurons and Al- 2 According to Lallemant, the pop-
gonquins, see Mercier, Relation des illation of the Neutral Nation amount-
Hurons, 1637, p. 171 . ed to at least twelve thousand : but the
1 Charlevoix, Nouvelle France, I. estimate is probably exaggerated. — ■
290-295. Relation des Hurons, 1641, p. 50.
22 THE ANDASTES AND ERIES. [Chap. I.
the strength of the insatiable confederacy, and within a
few years their destruction as a nation was complete.
South of Lake Erie dwelt two potent members of
the Iroquois family. The Andastes built their vil-
lages along the valleys of the Alleghany and the Up-
per Ohio; while the Erigas, or Eries, occupied the
borders of the lake which still retains their name.
Of these two nations little is known, for the Jesuits
had no missions among them, and few traces of them
survive beyond their names and the record of their
destruction. The war with the Wyandots was scarcely
over, when the Five Nations turned their fratricidal
arms against their Erie brethren.
In the year 1655, using their canoes as scaling-
ladders, they stormed the Erie strongholds, leaped
down like tigers among the defenders, and butchered
them without mercy.1 The greater part of the nation
was involved in the massacre, and the remnant was
incorporated with the conquerors, or with other tribes,
to which they fled for refuge. The ruin of the An-
dastes came next in turn ; but this brave people fought
for twenty years against their inexorable assailants,
and their destruction was not consummated until the
year 1672, when they shared the fate of the rest.2
Thus, within less than a quarter of a century, four
nations, the most brave and powerful of the North
American savages, sank before the arms of the con-
federates. Nor did their triumphs end here. Within
1 An account of the destruction of on this subject, as related to the wri-
the Eries, drawn from the Jesuit wri- ter by a chief of the Cayugas, do not
ters, may be found in an interesting agree with the narratives of the Jes-
lecture, delivered by O. H. Marshall, uits.
Esq., and published in the Western 2 Charlevoix, Nouvelle France, I.
Literary Messenger for May and 443.
June, 1849. The Iroquois traditions
Chap. I] ADOPTION OF PRISONERS. 23
the same short space they subdued their southern
neighbors the Lenape,1 the leading members of the
Algonquin family, and expelled the Ottawas, a nu-
merous people of the same lineage, from the borders
of the river which bears their name. In the north,
the west, and the south, their conquests embraced every
adjacent tribe; and meanwhile their war parties were
harassing the French of Canada with reiterated in-
roads, and yelling the war-whoop under the very walls
of Quebec.
They were the worst of conquerors. Inordinate
pride, the lust of blood and dominion, were the main-
springs of their warfare ; and their victories were
stained with every excess of savage passion. That
their triumphs must have cost them dear ; that, in
spite of their cautious tactics, these multiplied con-
flicts must have greatly abridged their strength, would
appear inevitable. Their losses were, in fact, consid-
erable ; but every breach was repaired by means of a
practice which they, in common with other tribes, con-
stantly adhered to. "When their vengeance was glut-
ted by the sacrifice of a sufficient number of captives,
they spared the lives of the remainder, and adopted
them as members of their confederated tribes, sepa-
rating wives from husbands, and children from parents,
and distributing them among different villages, in or-
der that old ties and associations might be more
completely broken up. This policy, as Schoolcraft
informs us, was designated among them by a name
which signifies "flesh cut into pieces and scattered
among the tribes."
In the years 1714-15, the confederacy received a
1 Gallatin places the final subjection of the Lenape at about the year
1750. — Synopsis, 48.
24: IROQUOIS TSIBES — THEIR CHARACTER. [Chap. I
great accession of strength. Southwards, about the
head waters of the Rivers Neuse and Tar, and separated
from their kindred tribes by intervening Algonquin
communities, dwelt the Tuscaroras, a warlike people
belonging to the generic stock of the Iroquois. The
wrongs inflicted by white settlers, and their own un-
distinguishing vengeance, involved them in a war with
the colonists, which resulted in their defeat and ex-
pulsion. They emigrated to the Five Nations, whose
allies they had been in former wars with southern
tribes, and who now gladly received them, admitting
them, as a sixth nation, into their confederacy, and
assigning to their sachems a seat in the council-house
at Onondaga.
It is a remark of Gallatin, that, in their career of
conquest, the Five Nations encountered more stubborn
resistance from the tribes of their own family, than
from those of a different lineage. In truth, all the
scions of this warlike stock seem endued with singu-
lar vitality and force, and among them we must seek
for the best type of the Indian character. Few tribes
could match them in prowess and constancy, hi moral
energy and intellectual vigor. The Jesuits remarked
that they were more intelligent, yet less tractable, than
other savages ; and Charlevoix observes that, though
the Algonquins were readily converted, they made but
fickle proselytes ; while the Hurons, though not easily
won over to the church, were far more faithful in
their adherence.1 Of this tribe, the Hurons or Wy-
andots, a candid and experienced observer declares,
that of all the Indians with whom he was conversant,
they alone held it disgraceful to turn from the face
i Nouvelle France, I. 196.
Chap. I.] THE ALGONQUINS. 25
of an enemy when the fortunes of the fight were
adverse.1
Besides these inherent qualities, the tribes of the
Iroquois race derived great advantages from their su-
perior social organization. They were all, more or
less, tillers of the soil, and were thus enabled to con-
centrate a more numerous population than the scat-
tered tribes who live by the chase alone. In their
well-peopled and well-constructed villages, they dwelt
together the greater part of the year ; and thence the
religious rites and social and political usages, which
elsewhere existed only in the germ, attained among
them a full and perfect development. Yet these ad-
vantages were not without alloy, and the Jesuits were
not slow to remark that the stationary and thriving
Iroquois were more loose in their observance of social
ties, than the wandering and starving savages of the
north.2
THE ALGONQUIN FAMILY.
Except the detached nation of the Tuscaroras, and
a few smaller tribes adhering to them, the Iroquois
family were confined to the region south of the Lakes
Erie and Ontario, and the peninsula east of Lake
Huron. They formed, as it were, an island hi the
vast expanse of Algonquin population, extending from
Hudson's Bay on the north to the Carolinas on the
south; from the Atlantic on the east to the Missis-
sippi and Lake Winnipeg on the west. They were
1 William Henry Harrison, Dis- wee did : they made great feasts and
course on the Aborigines of the Ohio, dancing, and invited us y' when all
See Ohio Hist. Trans. Part Second, ye maides were together, both wee
!• 257. and our Indyans might choose such
2 "Here ye Indyans were very de- as lyked us to ly with.'' — Green-
sirous to see us ride our horses, wch halgh, Journal.
4 c
26 THE ALGONQUINS. [Chap. L
Algonquins wlio greeted Jacques Cartier, as his ships
ascended the St. Lawrence. The first British colonists
found savages of the same race hunting and fishing
along the coasts and inlets of Virginia; and it was
the daughter of an Algonquin chief who interceded
with her father for the life of the adventurous Eng-
lishman. They were Algonquins who, under Sassacus
the Pequot, and Philip of Mount Hope, waged deadly
war against the Puritans of New England; who dwelt
at Penacook under the rule of the great magician,
Passaconaway, and trembled before the evil spirits of
the Crystal Hills; and who sang aves and told their
beads hi the forest chapel of Father Rasles, by the
banks of the Kennebec. They were Algonquins who,
under the great tree at Kensington, made the cove-
nant of peace with William Penn ; and when French
Jesuits and fur-traders explored the Wabash and the
Ohio, they found their valleys tenanted by the same
far-extended race. At the present day, the traveller,
perchance, may find them pitching their bark lodges
along the beach at Mackinaw, spearing fish among
the boiling rapids of St. Mary's, or skimming the
waves of Lake Superior in their birch canoes.
Of all the members of the Algonquin family, those
called by the English the Delawares, by the French
the Loups, and by themselves Lenni Lenape, or Origi-
nal Men, hold the first claim to attention; for their
traditions declare them to be the parent stem whence
other Algonquin tribes have sprung. The latter rec-
ognized the claim, and at all solemn councils, accorded
to the ancestral tribe the title of Grandfather.1
i The Lenape, on their part, call Brothers ; hut they confess the supe-
the other Algonquin tribes Children, riority of the Wyandots and the Five
Grandchildren, Nephews, or Younger Nations, by yielding them the title of
Chap. I] THE LENNI LENAPE. 27
The first European colonists found the conical
lodges of the Lenape clustered in frequent groups
about the waters of the Delaware and its tributary
streams, within the present limits of New Jersey and
Eastern Pennsylvania. The nation was separated into
three divisions, and three sachems formed a trium-
virate, who, with the council of old men, regulated
all its affairs.1 They were, in some small measure, an
agricultural people ; but fishing and the chase were
their chief dependence, and through a great part of
the year they were scattered abroad, among forests and
streams, in search of sustenance.
When William Penn held his far-famed council with
the sachems of the Lenape, he extended the hand of
brotherhood to a people as unwarlike in their habits
as his own pacific followers. This is by no means
to be ascribed to any inborn love of peace. The
Lenape were then in a state of degrading vassalage,
victims to the domineering power of the Five Nations,
who, that they might dram to the dregs the cup of
humiliation, had forced them to assume the name of
Women, and forego the use of arms.2 Dwelling un-
der the shadow of the tyrannical confederacy, they
were long unable to wipe out the blot ; but at length,
pushed from their ancient seats by the encroachments
of white men, and removed westward, partially be-
yond the reach of their conquerors, their native spirit
Uncles. They, in return, call the into subjection, is wholly unworthy of
Lenape Nephews, or more frequently credit. It is not to be believed that
Cousins. a people so acute and suspicious
1 Loskiel, Part I. 130. could be the dupes of so palpable a
2 The story told by the Lenape trick; and it is equally incredible
themselves, and recorded with the that a high-spirited tribe could be in-
utmost good faith by Loskiel and duced, by the most persuasive rhet-
Heckewelder, that the Five Nations oric, to assume the name of Women,
had not conquered them, but, by a which in Indian eyes is the last con-
cunning artifice, had cheated them fession of abject abasement.
28 THE ALGONQUINS. [Chap. I.
began to revive, and they assumed a tone of unwonted
defiance. During the Old French War they resumed
the use of arms, and while the Five Nations fought
for the English, they espoused the cause of France.
At the opening of the revolution, they boldly asserted
their freedom from the yoke of their conquerors ; and
a few years after, the Five Nations confessed, at a
public council, that the Lenape were no longer women,
but men.1 Ever since that period, they have stood in
high repute for bravery, generosity, and all the savage
virtues; and the settlers of the frontier have often
found, to their cost, that the women of the Iroquois
have been transformed into a race of formidable war-
riors. At the present day, the small remnant set-
tled beyond the Mississippi are among the bravest
marauders of the west. Their war-parties pierce the
farthest wilds of the Rocky Mountains ; and the prairie
traveller may sometimes meet the Delaware warrior
returning from a successful foray, a gaudy handker-
chief bound about his brows, his snake locks fluttering
in the wind, his rifle resting across his saddle-bow,
while the tarnished and begrimed equipments of his
half-wild horse bear witness that the unscrupulous
rider has waylaid and plundered some Mexican cavalier.
Adjacent to the Lenape, and associated with them
in some of the most momentous passages of their his-
tory, dwelt the Shawanoes, the Chaouanons of the
French, a tribe of bold, roving, and adventurous spirit.
Their eccentric wanderhigs, their sudden appearances
and disappearances, perplex the antiquary, and defy
research; but from various scattered notices, we may
gather that at an early period, they occupied the
1 Heckewelder, Hist. Ind. Nat. 53.
Chap. I.J THE MIAMIS — THE ILLINOIS. 29
valley of the Ohio ; that, becoming embroiled with the
Five Nations, they shared the defeat of the Andastes,
and about the year 1672 fled to escape destruction.
Some found an asylum in the country of the Lenape,
where they lived tenants at will of the Five Nations ;
others sought refuge in the Carolinas and Florida,
where, true to their native instincts, they soon came
to blows with the owners of the soil. Again, turning
northwards, they formed new settlements in the valley
of the Ohio, where they were now suffered to dwell
in peace, and where, at a later period, they were
joined by such of their brethren as had found refuge
among the Lenape.1
Of the tribes which, single and detached, or co-
hering in loose confederacies, dwelt within the limits
of Lower Canada, Acadia, and New England, it is
needless to speak ; for they offered no distinctive traits
demanding notice. Passhig the country of the Lenape
and the Shawanoes, and descending the Ohio, the
traveller would have found its valley chiefly occupied
by two nations, the Miamis or Twightwees, on the
Wabash and its branches, and the Illinois, who dwelt
in the neighborhood of the river to which they have
given their name. Though never subjugated, as were
the Lenape, both the Miamis and the Illinois were
reduced to the last extremity by the repeated attacks
of the Five Nations; and the Illinois, in particular,
suffered so much by these and other wars, that the
population of ten or twelve thousand, ascribed to
them by the early French writers, had dwindled, dur-
ing the first quarter of the eighteenth century, to a
i The evidence concerning the 65. See also Drake, Life of Tecum-
movements of the Shawanoes is well seh, 10.
summed up by Gallatin, Synopsis,
30 THE ALGONQUINS. [Chap. I
few small villages.1 According to Marest, they were
a people sunk in sloth and licentiousness ; but that
priestly father had suffered much at their hands, and
viewed them with a jaundiced eye. Their agriculture
was not contemptible; they had permanent dwellings
as well as portable lodges; and though wandering
through many months of the year among their broad
prairies and forests, there were seasons when their
whole population was gathered, with feastings and
merry-makings, within the limits of their villages.
Turning his course northward, traversing the Lakes
Michigan and Superior, and skirting the western mar-
gin of Lake Huron, the voyager would have found
the solitudes of the wild waste around him broken
by scattered lodges of the Ojibwas, Pottawattamies,
and Ottawas. About the bays and rivers west of
Lake Michigan, he would have seen the Sacs, the
Foxes, and the Menomonies ; and penetrating the
frozen wilderness of the north, he would have been
welcomed by the rude hospitality of the wandering
Knisteneaux.
The Ojibwas, with their kindred, the Pottawatta-
mies, and their friends the Ottawas, — the latter of
whom were fugitives from the eastward, whence they
had fled from the wrath of the Iroquois, — were banded
into a sort of confederacy.2 In blood and language,
in manners and character, they were closely allied.
The Ojibwas, by far the most numerous of the three,
occupied the basin of Lake Superior, and extensive
adjacent regions. In their boundaries the career of
Iroquois conquest found at length a check. The fu-
5 Father Rasles, 1723, says, that 2 Morse, Report, Appendix, 141.
there were eleven. Marest, in 1712,
found only three.
Chap. I] THE 0 JIB WAS. 31
gitive Wyandots sought refuge in the Ojibwa hunting-
grounds; and tradition relates, that at the outlet of
Lake Superior, an Iroquois war-party once encountered
a disastrous repulse.
In their mode of life, they were far more rude than
the Iroquois, or even the southern Algonquin tribes.
The totemic system is found among them in its most
imperfect state. The original clans have become
broken into fragments, and indefinitely multiplied ;
and many of the ancient customs of the institution
are but loosely regarded. Agriculture is little known,
and, through summer and whiter, they range the wil-
derness with restless wandering, now gorged to reple-
tion, and now perishing with want. In the calm
days of summer, the Ojibwa fisherman pushes out his
birch canoe upon the great inland ocean of the north ;
and, as he gazes down into the pellucid depths, he
seems like one balanced between earth and sky.
The watchful fish-hawk circles above his head; and
below, farther than his line will reach, he sees the
trout glide shadowy and silent over the glimmering
pebbles. The little islands on the verge of the hori-
zon seem now starting into spires, now melting from
the sight, now shaping themselves into a thousand
fantastic forms, with the strange mirage of the waters ;
and he fancies that the evil spirits of the lake lie
basking their serpent forms on those unhallowed
shores. Again, he explores the watery labyrinths
where the stream sweeps among pine-tufted islands, or
runs, black and deep, beneath the shadows of moss-
bearded firs; or he lifts his canoe upon the sandy
beach, and, while his camp-fire crackles on the grass
plat, reclines beneath the trees, and smokes and laughs
away the sultry hours, in a lazy luxury of enjoyment.
32 THE ALGONQUIKS. [Chap. I.
But when winter descends upon the north, sealing
up the fountains, fettering the streams, and turning
the green-robed forests to shivering nakedness, then,
bearing their frail dwellings on their backs, the Ojibwa
family wander forth into the wilderness, cheered only,
on their dreary track, by the whistling of the north
wind, and the hungry howl of wolves. By the banks
of some frozen stream, women and children, men and
dogs, lie crouched together around the fire. They
spread their benumbed fingers over the embers, while
the wind shrieks through the fir-trees like the gale
through the rigging of a frigate, and the narrow con-
cave of the wigwam sparkles with the frost-work of
their congealed breath. In vain they beat the magic
drum, and call upon their guardian manitoes; — the
wary moose keeps aloof, the bear lies close in his
hollow tree, and famine stares them in the face. And
now the hunter can fight no more against the nipping
cold and blinding sleet. Stiff and stark, with haggard
cheek and shrivelled lip, he lies among the snow drifts ;
till, with tooth and claw, the famished wildcat strives
in vain to pierce the frigid marble of his limbs. Such
harsh schooling is thrown away on the incorrigible
mind of the northern Algonquin. He lives in misery,
as his fathers lived before him. Still, in the brief
hour of plenty he forgets the season of want ; and
still the sleet and the snow descend upon his house-
less head.1
I have thus passed in brief review the more prom-
inent of the Algonquin tribes ; those whose struggles
1 See Tanner, Long, and Henry. Lower Canada, two hundred years
A comparison of Tanner with the ago, was essentially the same with
accounts of the Jesuit Le Jeune Algonquin life on the Upper Lakes
will show that Algonquin life in within the last half century.
Chap. I] THEIR LEGENDARY LORE. 33
and sufferings form the theme of the ensuing History.
In speaking of the Iroquois, some of the distinctive
peculiarities of the Algonquins have already been
hinted at. It must be admitted that, in moral sta-
bility and intellectual vigor, they are inferior to the
former; though some of the most conspicuous off-
spring of the wilderness, Metacom, Tecumseh, and
Pontiac himself, boasted their blood and language.
The fireside stories of every primitive people are
faithful reflections of the form and coloring of the
national mind; and it is no proof of sound philoso-
phy to turn with contempt from the study of a fairy
tale. The legendary lore of the Iroquois, black as
the midnight forests, awful in its gloomy strength,
is but another manifestation of that spirit of mastery
which uprooted whole tribes from the earth, and
deluged the wilderness with blood. The traditionary
tales of the Algonquins wear a different aspect. The
credulous circle around an Ojibwa lodge-fire listened
to wild recitals of necromancy and witchcraft — men
transformed to beasts, and beasts transformed to men,
animated trees, and birds who spoke with human
tongue. They heard of malignant sorcerers dwelling
among the lonely islands of spell-bound lakes; of
grisly weendigoes, and bloodless geebi ; of evil manitoes
lurking in the dens and fastnesses of the woods; of
pygmy champions, diminutive in stature, but mighty in
soul, who, by the potency of charm and talisman, sub-
dued the direst monsters of the waste ; and of heroes,
who, not by downright force and open onset, but by
subtle strategy, by trick or magic art, achieved mar-
vellous triumphs over the brute force of their assail-
ants. Sometimes the tale will breathe a different
spirit, and tell of orphan children abandoned in the
5
34 BELXGIOUS BELIEF OE THE INDIANS. [Chap. I.
heart of a hideous wilderness, beset with fiends and
cannibals. Some enamoured maiden, scornful of earthly
suitors, plights her troth to the graceful manito of
the grove ; or bright aerial beings, dwellers of the
sky, descend to tantalize the gaze of mortals with
evanescent forms of loveliness.
The mighty giant, the God of the Thunder, who
made his home among the caverns, beneath the cata-
ract of Niagara, was a conception which the deep
imagination of the Iroquois might fitly engender. The
Algonquins held a simpler faith, and maintained that
the thunder was a bird who built his nest on the pin-
nacle of towering mountains. Two daring boys once
scaled the height, and thrust sticks into the eyes of
the portentous nestlings ; which hereupon flashed forth
such wrathful scintillations, that the sticks were shiv-
ered to atoms.1
The religious belief of the Algonquins — and the
remark holds good, not of the Algonquins only, but
of all the hunting tribes of America — is a cloudy
bewilderment, where we seek hi vain for system or
coherency. Among a primitive and savage people,
there were no poets to vivify its images, no priests to
i For Algonquin legends, see The Dahcotah, as well as the Al-
Schoolcraft, in Algic Researches gonquins, believe that the thunder
and Oneota. Le Jeune early dis- is produced by a bird. A beauti-
covered these legends among the ful illustration of this idea will be
tribes of his mission. Two centuries found in Mrs. Eastman's Legends of
ago, among the Algonquins of Lower the Sioux. An Indian propounded
Canada, a tale was related to him, to Le Jeune a doctrine of his own.
which, in its principal incidents, is According to his theory, the thunder
identical with the story of the " Boy is produced by the eructations of a
who set a Snare for the Sun," recent- monstrous giant, who had unfortu-
ly found by Mr. Schoolcraft among nately swallowed a quantity of snakes ;
the tribes of the Upper Lakes. Com- and the latter falling to the earth,
pare Relation, 1637, p. 172, and One- caused the appearance of lightning,
ota, p. 75. The coincidence affords "Voila une philosophie bien nou-
a curious proof of the antiquity and velle ! " exclaims the astonished Jes-
wide diffusion of some of these tales, uit.
Chap. 1] THE UsTDIAN CHARACTER. 35
give distinctness and harmony to its rites and symbols.
To the Indian mind, all nature was instinct with
deity. A spirit was embodied in every mountain, lake,
and cataract; every bird, beast, or reptile, every tree,
shrub, or grass-blade, was endued with mystic influ-
ence; yet this untutored pantheism did not exclude
the conception of certain divinities, of incongruous and
ever-shifting attributes. The sun, too, was a god, and
the moon was a goddess. Conflicting powers of good
and evil divided the universe ; but if, before the arrival
of Europeans, the Indian recognized the existence of
a one, almighty, self-existent Being, the Great Spirit,
the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the belief was so
vague and dubious as scarcely to deserve the name.
His perceptions of moral good and evil were perplexed
and shadowy ; and the belief in a state of future re-
ward and punishment was by no means of universal
prevalence.1
Of the Indian character, much has been written
foolishly, and credulously believed. By the rhapsodies
of poets, the cant of sentimentalists, and the extrava-
gance of some who should have known better, a
counterfeit image has been tricked out, which might
seek in vain for its likeness through every corner of
the habitable earth; an image bearing no more re-
semblance to its original than the monarch of the
tragedy and the hero of the epic poem bear to their
living prototypes in the palace and the camp. The
shadows of his wilderness home, and the darker man-
tle of his own inscrutable reserve, have made the In-
dian warrior a wonder and a mystery. Yet to the
i Le Jeune, Schoolcraft, James, Mercier, Vimont, Lallemant, Lafitau,
Jarvis, Charlevoix, Sagard, Brebeuf, De Smet, etc
36 THE INDIAN CHARACTER. [Chap. I.
eye of rational observation there is nothing unintel-
ligible in him. He is full, it is true, of contradiction.
He deems himself the centre of greatness and renown ;
his pride is proof against the fiercest torments of fire
and steel; and yet the same man would beg for a
dram of whiskey, or pick up a crust of bread thrown
to him like a dog, from the tent door of the travel-
ler. At one moment, he is wary and cautious to the
verge of cowardice ; at the next, he abandons himself
to a very insanity of recklessness, and the habitual
self-restraint which throws an impenetrable veil over
emotion is joined to the wild, impetuous passions of
a beast or a madman.
Such inconsistencies, strange as they seem in our
eyes, when viewed under a novel aspect, are but the
ordinary incidents of humanity. The qualities of the
mind are not uniform in their action through all the
relations of life. With different men, and different
races of men, pride, valor, prudence, have different,
forms of manifestation, and where in one instance
they lie dormant, in another they are keenly awake.
The conjunction of greatness and littleness, meanness
and pride, is older than the days of the patriarchs ;
and such antiquated phenomena, displayed under a
new form in the unreflecting, undisciplined mind of
a savage, call for no special wonder, but should rather
be classed with the other enigmas of the fathomless
human heart. The dissecting knife of a Rochefou-
cault might lay bare matters of no less curious obser-
vation in the breast of every man.
Nature has stamped the Indian with a hard and
stern physiognomy. Ambition, revenge, envy, jealousy,
are his ruling passions ; and his cold temperament is
little exposed to those effeminate vices which are the
Chap. I] THE INDIAN CHARACTER. 37
bane of milder races. With him revenge is an overpow-
ering instinct ; nay, more, it is a point of honor and
a duty. His pride sets all language at defiance. He
loathes the thought of coercion; and few of his race
have ever stooped to discharge a menial office. A wild
love of liberty, an utter intolerance of control, lie at
the basis of his character, and fire his whole ex-
istence. Yet, in spite of this haughty independence,
he is a devout hero-worshipper ; and high achieve-
ment in war or policy touches a chord to which
his nature never fails to respond. He looks up with
admiring reverence to the sages and heroes of his
tribe; and it is this principle, joined to the respect
for age, which springs from the patriarchal element
in his social system, which, beyond all others, con-
tributes union and harmony to the erratic members
of an Indian community. With him the love of glory-
kindles into a burning passion ; and to allay its crav-
ings, he will dare cold and famine, fire, tempest, tor-
ture, and death itself.
These generous traits are overcast by much that is
dark, cold, and sinister, by sleepless distrust, and
rankling jealousy. Treacherous himself, he is always
suspicious of treachery in others. Brave as he is, —
and few of mankind are braver, — he will vent his pas-
sion by a secret stab rather than an open blow. His
warfare is full of ambuscade and stratagem; and he
never rushes into battle with that joyous self-aban-
donment, with which the warriors of the Gothic races
flung themselves into the ranks of their enemies. In
his feasts and his drinking-bouts we find none of that
robust and full-toned mirth which reigned at the rude
carousals of our barbaric ancestry. He is never jovial
D
38 THE INDIAN CHARACTER. [Chap. I.
in his cups, and maudlin sorrow or maniacal rage is
the sole result of his potations.
Over all emotion he throws the veil of an iron self-
control, originating in a peculiar form of pride, and
fostered by rigorous discipline from childhood up-
ward. He is trained to conceal passion, and not to
subdue it. The inscrutable warrior is aptly imaged
by the hackneyed figure of a volcano covered with
snow ; and no man can say when or where the wild-
fire will burst forth. This shallow self-mastery serves
to give dignity to public deliberation, and harmony to
social life. Wrangling and quarrel are strangers to
an Indian dwelling ; and while an assembly of the
ancient Gauls was garrulous as a convocation of mag-
pies, a Roman senate might have taken a lesson from
the grave solemnity of an Indian council. In the
midst of his family and friends, he hides affections,
by nature none of the most tender, under a mask of
icy coldness ; and in the torturing fires of his enemy,
the haughty sufferer maintains to the last his look
of grim defiance.
His intellect is as peculiar as his moral organiza-
tion. Among all savages, the powers of perception
preponderate over those of reason and analysis; but
this is more especially the case with the Indian. An
acute judge of character, at least of such parts of it
as his experience enables him to comprehend; keen
to a proverb in all exercises of war and the chase,
he seldom traces effects to their causes, or follows out
actions to their remote results. Though a close ob-
server of external nature, he no sooner attempts to
account for her phenomena than he involves himself
in the most ridiculous absurdities ; and quite content
Chap. I.] THE INDIAN CHARACTER 39
with these puerilities, he has not the least desire to
push his inquiries further. His curiosity, abundantly
active within its own narrow circle, is dead to all
things else ; and to attempt rousing it from its torpor
is but a bootless task. He seldom takes cognizance
of general or abstract ideas ; and his language has
scarcely the power to express them, except through
the medium of figures drawn from the external world,
and often highly picturesque and forcible. The ab-
sence of reflection makes him grossly improvident,
and unfits him for pursuing any complicated scheme
of war or policy.
Some races of men seem moulded in wax, soft and
melting, at once plastic and feeble. Some races, like
some metals, combine the greatest flexibility with the
greatest strength. But the Indian is hewn out of a
rock. You cannot change the form without destruc-
tion of the substance. Such, at least, has too often
proved the case. Races of inferior energy have pos-
sessed a power of expansion and assimilation to which
he is a stranger; and it is this fixed and rigid qual-
ity which has proved his rum. He will not learn
the arts of civilization, and he and his forest must
perish together. The stern, unchanging features of
his mind excite our admiration, from their very im-
mutability; and we look with deep interest on the
fate of this irreclaimable son of the wilderness, the
child who will not be weaned from the breast of his
rugged mother. And our interest increases when we
discern in the unhappy wanderer, mingled among his
vices, the germs of heroic virtues — a hand bountiful
to bestow, as it is rapacious to seize, and, even in ex-
tremes t famine, imparting its last morsel to a fellow-
40 THE INDIAN CHAKACTEE. [Chap. I.
sufferer; a heart which, strong in friendship as in
hate, thinks it not too much to lay down life for its
chosen comrade ; a soul true to its own idea of honor,
and burning with an unquenchable thirst for great-
ness and renown.
The imprisoned lion in the showman's cage differs
not more widely from the lord of the desert, than the
beggarly frequenter of frontier garrisons and dram-
shops differs from the proud denizen of the woods.
It is in his native wilds alone that the Indian must
be seen and studied. Thus to depict him is the aim
of the ensuing History; and if, from the shades of
rock and forest, the savage features should look too
grimly forth, it is because the clouds of a tempestu-
ous war have cast upon the picture their murky
shadows and lurid fires.
CHAPTER II.
FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN AMERICA.
The American colonies of Prance and England
grew up to maturity under widely different auspices.
Canada, the offspring of Church and State, nursed
from infancy in the lap of power, its puny strength
fed with artificial stimulants, its movements guided
by rule and discipline, its limbs trained to martial
exercise, languished, in spite of all, from the lack of
vital sap and energy. The colonies of England, out-
cast and neglected, but strong in native vigor and
self-confiding courage, grew yet more strong with con-
flict and with striving, and developed the rugged pro-
portions and unwieldy strength of a youthful giant.
In the valley of the St. Lawrence, and along the
coasts of the Atlantic, adverse principles contended
for the mastery. Feudalism stood arrayed against De-
mocracy; Popery against Protestantism; the sword
against the ploughshare. The priest, the soldier, and
the noble, ruled in Canada. The ignorant, light-
hearted Canadian peasant knew nothing and cared
nothing about popular rights and civil liberties. Born
to obey, he lived in contented submission, without the
wish or the capacity for self-rule. Power, centred
in the heart of the system, left the masses inert.
The settlements along the margin of the St. Lawrence
were like a far-extended camp, where an army lay at
6 d*
42 TRANCE AND ENGLAND IN AMERICA. [Chap. II.
rest, ready for the march or the battle, and where
war and adventure, not trade and tillage, seemed the
chief aims of life. The lords of the soil were noble-
men, for the most part soldiers, or the sons of sol-
diers, proud and ostentatious, thriftless and poor ;
and the people were their vassals. Over every clus-
ter of small white houses glittered the sacred emblem
of the cross. The church, the convent, and the road-
side shrine were seen at every turn ; and in the towns
and villages, one met each moment the black robe of
the Jesuit, the gray garb of the Recollet, and the
formal habit of the Ursuline nun. The names of
saints, St. Joseph, St. Ignatius, St. Francis, were per-
petuated in the capes, rivers, and islands, the forts
and villages of the land, and, with every day, crowds
of simple worshippers knelt in adoration before the
countless altars of the Roman faith.
If we search the world for the sharpest contrast to
the spiritual and temporal vassalage of Canada, we
shall find it among her immediate neighbors, the stern
Puritans of New England, where the spirit of non-
conformity was sublimed to a fiery essence, and where
the love of liberty and the hatred of power burned
with sevenfold heat. The English colonist, with
thoughtful brow and limbs hardened with toil; call-
ing no man master, yet bowing reverently to the law
which he himself had made; patient and laborious,
and seeking for the solid comforts rather than the
ornaments of life ; no lover of war, yet, if need were,
fighting with a stubborn, indomitable courage, and
then bending once more with steadfast energy to his
farm, or his merchandise, — such a man might well be
deemed the very pith and marrow of a commonwealth.
In every quality of efficiency and strength, the
Chap.H.] THE FKENCH CANADIANS. 43
Canadian fell miserably below his rival; but in all
that pleases the eye and interests the imagination, he
far surpassed him. Buoyant and gay, like his ances-
try of France, he made the frozen wilderness ring
with merriment, answered the surly howling of the
pine forest with peals of laughter, and warmed with
revelry the groaning ice of the St. Lawrence. Care-
less and thoughtless, he lived happy in the midst of
poverty, content if he could but gain the means to
fill his tobacco pouch, and decorate the cap of his
mistress with a painted ribbon. The example of a beg-
gared nobility, who, proud and penniless, could only
assert their rank by idleness and ostentation, was not
lost upon him. A rightful heir to French bravery
and French restlessness, he had an eager love of wan-
dering and adventure; and this propensity found am-
ple scope in the service of the fur-trade, the engrossing-
occupation and chief source of income to the colony.
When the priest of St. Ann's had shrived him of his
sins; when, after the parting carousal, he embarked
with his comrades in the deep-laden canoe; when
their oars kept time to the measured cadence of their
song, and the blue, sunny bosom of the Ottawa opened
before them; when their frail bark quivered among
the milky foam and black rocks of the rapid; and
when, around their camp-fire, they wasted half the
night with jests and laughter, — then the Canadian was
in his element. His footsteps explored the farthest
hiding-places of the wilderness. In the evening dance,
his red cap mingled with the scalp-locks and feathers
of the Indian braves ; or, stretched on a bear-skin by
the side of his dusky mistress, he watched the gam-
bols of his hybrid offspring, in happy oblivion of the
partner whom he left unnumbered leagues behind.
44 FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN AMERICA. [Chap. II.
The fur trade engendered a peculiar class of rest-
less bush-rangers, more akin to Indians than to white
men. Those who had once felt the fascinations of
the forest were unfitted ever after for a life of quiet
labor; and with this spirit the whole colony was in-
fected. From this cause, no less than from occasional
wars with the English, and repeated attacks of the
Iroquois, the agriculture of the country was sunk to
a low ebb; while feudal exactions, a ruinous system
of monopoly, and the intermeddlings of arbitrary power,
cramped every branch of industry.1 Yet, by the zeal
of priests and the daring enterprise of soldiers and
explorers, Canada, though sapless and infirm, spread
forts and missions through all the western wilder-
ness. Feebly rooted in the soil, she thrust out branches
which overshadowed half America; a magnificent ob-
ject to the eye, but one which the first whirlwind
would prostrate in the dust.
Such excursive enterprise was alien to the genius
of the British colonies. Daring activity was rife among
them, but it did not aim at the founding of military
outposts and forest missions. By the force of ener-
getic industry, their population swelled with an un-
heard-of rapidity, their wealth increased in a yet greater
ratio, and their promise of future greatness opened
with every advancing year. But it was a greatness
rather of peace than of war. The free institutions,
the independence of authority, which were the source
of their increase, were adverse to that unity of coun-
sel and promptitude of action which are the soul of
i Raynal, Hist. Indies, VII. 87, eighteenth century. For the feudal
(Lond. 1783.) tenure as existing in Canada, see
Charlevoix, Voyages, Letter X. Bouchette, I. Chap. XIV., (Lond.
The Swedish traveller Kalm gives 1831,) and Garneau, Hist. Canada,
an interesting account of manners in Book III. Chap. III.
Canada, about the middle of the
Chap. II] EELIGIOUS ZEAL OF CANADA. 45
war. It was far otherwise with their military rival.
France had her Canadian forces well in hand. They
had but one will, and that was the will of a mistress.
Now here, now there, hi sharp and rapid onset, they
could assail the cumbrous masses and unwieldy strength
of their antagonists, as the king-bird attacks the eagle,
or the swordfish the whale. Between two such com-
batants the strife must needs be a long one.
Canada was a true child of the Church, baptized in
infancy and faithful to the last. Champlain, the found-
er of Quebec, a man of noble spirit, a statesman and
a soldier, was deeply imbued with fervid piety. " The
saving of a soul," he would often say, " is worth more
than the conquest of an empire ; " x and to forward the
work of conversion, he brought with him four Fran-
ciscan monks from France. At a later period, the
task of colonization would have been abandoned, but
for the hope of casting the pure light of the faith
over the gloomy wastes of heathendom.2 All France
was filled with the zeal of proselytism. Men and
women of exalted rank lent their countenance to the
holy work. From many an altar daily petitions were
offered for the well-being of the mission; and in the
Holy House of Mont Martre, a nun lay prostrate day
and night before the shrine, praying for the conversion
of Canada.3 In one convent, thirty nuns offered them-
selves for the labors of the wilderness; and priests
flocked in crowds to the colony.4 The powers of
darkness took alarm ; and when a ship, freighted with
the apostles of the faith, was fearfully tempest-tost
1 Charlevoix, Nouv. France, 1. 197. c'est a vray dire vivre dans le sein
2 Charlevoix, I. 198. de Dieu." Such are the extravagant
3 A. D. 1635. Relation des Hu- words of Le Jeune, in his report of
rons, 1636, p. 2. the year 1635.
4 "Vivre en la Nouvelle France
46 FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN AMERICA. [Chap. H.
upon her voyage, the storm was ascribed to the malice
of demons, trembling for the safety of their ancient
empire.
The general enthusiasm was not without its fruits.
The Church could pay back with usury all that she
received of aid and encouragement from the temporal
power; and the ambition of Louis XIII. could not
have devised a more efficient enginery for the accom-
plishment of its schemes, than that supplied by the
zeal of the devoted propagandists. The priest and the
soldier went hand in hand; and the cross and the
fleur de lis were planted side by side.
Foremost among the envoys of the faith were the
members of that singular order, who, in another hem-
isphere, had already done so much to turn back the
advancing tide of religious freedom, and strengthen
the arm of Rome. To the Jesuits was assigned, for
many years, the entire charge of the Canadian mis-
sions, to the exclusion of the Franciscans, early labor-
ers in the same barren field. Inspired with a self-
devoting zeal to snatch souls from perdition, and win
new empires to the cross; casting from them every
hope of earthly pleasure or earthly aggrandizement,
the Jesuit fathers buried themselves in deserts, facing
death with the courage of heroes, and enduring tor-
ments with the constancy of martyrs. Their story is
replete with marvels — miracles of patient suffering
and daring enterprise. They were the pioneers of
Northern America.1 We see them among the frozen
forests of Acadia, struggling on snow-shoes, with some
wandering Algonquin horde, or crouching in the
1 See Jesuit Relations and Lettres Chap. II. ; and Bancroft, Hist. U. S.
Edifiantes ; also, Charlevoix, passim ; Chap. XX.
Garneau, Hist. Canada, Book IV.
Chap. H.J JESUIT MISSIONARIES. 47
crowded hunting-lodge, half stifled in the smoky den,
and battling with troops of famished dogs for the
last morsel of sustenance. Again we see the black-
robed priest wading among the white rapids of the
Ottawa, toiling with his savage comrades to drag
the canoe against the headlong Avater. Again, radiant
in the vestments of his priestly office, he administers
the sacramental bread to kneeling crowds of plumed
and painted proselytes in the black forests of the
Hurons; or, bearing his life in his hand, he carries
his sacred mission into the strong-holds of the Iro-
quois, like a man who invades unarmed a den of
angry tigers. Jesuit explorers traced the St. Law-
rence to its source, and said masses among the soli-
tudes of Lake Superior, where the boldest fur-trader
scarcely dared to follow. They planted missions at
St. Mary's and at Michillimackinac ; 1 and one of their
fraternity, the illustrious Marquette, discovered the
Mississippi, and opened a new theatre to the bound-
less ambition of France.2
The path of the missionary was a thorny and a
bloody one ; and a life of weary apostleship was often
crowned with a frightful martyrdom. Jean de Bre-
beuf and Gabriel Lallemant preached the faith among
the villages of the Hurons, when their terror-stricken
flock were overwhelmed by an irruption of the Iro-
quois.3 The missionaries might have fled ; but, true to
their sacred function, they remained behind to aid the
wounded and baptize the dying. Both were made cap-
tive, and both were doomed to the fiery torture. Bre-
beuf, a veteran soldier of the cross, met his fate with
an undaunted composure, which amazed his murderers.
i A. D. 1668-1671. 2 A. D. 1673, 3 A. D. 1649.
48 FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN AMERICA. [Chap. II.
With, unflinching constancy he endured torments
too horrible to be recorded, and died calmly as a
martyr of the early church, or a war-chief of the
Mohawks.
The slender frame of Lallemant, a man young in
years and gentle in spirit, was enveloped in blazing
savin-bark. Again and again the fire was extin-
guished; again and again it was kindled afresh; and
with such fiendish ingenuity were his torments pro-
tracted, that he lingered for seventeen hours before
death came to his relief.1
Isaac Jogues, taken captive by the Iroquois, was
led from canton to canton, and village to village, en-
during fresh torments and indignities at every stage
of his progress.2 Men, women, and children vied with
each other in ingenious malignity. Redeemed, at
length, by the humane exertions of a Dutch officer,
he repaired to France, where his disfigured person
and mutilated hands told the story of his sufferings.
But the promptings of a sleepless conscience urged
him to return and complete the work he had begun;
to illumine the moral darkness upon which, during
the months of his disastrous captivity, he fondly
hoped that he had thrown some rays of light. Once
more he bent his footsteps towards the scene of his
living martyrdom, saddened with a deep presentiment
that he was advancing to his death. Nor were his
forebodings untrue. In a village of the Mohawks, the
blow of a tomahawk closed his mission and his life.3
Such intrepid self-devotion may well call forth our
highest admiration ; but when we seek for the results
of these toils and sacrifices, we shall seek in vain
i Charlevoix, I. 292. 2 a. D. 1642. 3 Charlevoix, I. 238-276. !
Chap. II.] JESUIT MISSIONARIES. 49
Patience and zeal were thrown away upon lethargic
minds and stubborn hearts. The reports of the Jes-
uits, it is true, display a copious list of conversions ;
but the zealous fathers reckoned the number of con-
versions by the number of baptisms; and, as Le Clercq
observes, with no less truth than candor, an Indian
would be baptized ten times a day for a pint of
brandy or a pound of tobacco. Neither can more
nattering conclusions be drawn from the alacrity which
they showed to adorn their persons with crucifixes
and medals. The glitter of the trinkets pleased the
fancy of the warrior ; and, with the emblem of man's
salvation pendent from his neck, he was often at
heart as thorough a heathen as when he wore in its
place a necklace made of the dried forefingers of his
enemies. At the present day, with the exception of
a few insignificant bands of converted Indians in
Lower Canada, not a vestige of early Jesuit influence
can be found among the tribes. The seed was sown
upon a rock.1
While the church was reaping but a scanty harvest,
the labors of the missionaries were fruitfid of profit
to the monarch of France. The Jesuit led the van
of French colonization ; and at Detroit, Michillimack-
inac, St. Mary's, Green Bay, and other outposts of
the west, the establishment of a mission was the pre-
cursor of military occupancy. In other respects no
less, the labors of the wandering missionaries advanced
the welfare of the colony. Sagacious and keen of
sight, with faculties stimulated by zeal and sharpened
by peril, they made faithful report of the temper and
movements of the distant tribes among whom they
1 For remarks on the futility of Jesuit missionary efforts, see Halkett,
Historical Notes, Chap. IV.
50 FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN AMERICA. [Chap. II.
were distributed. The influence which, they often
gained was exerted in behalf of the government un-
der whose auspices their missions were carried on;
and they strenuously labored to win over the tribes
to the French alliance, and alienate them from the
heretic English. In all things they approved them-
selves the stanch and steadfast auxiliaries of the
imperial power ; and the Marquis du Quesne observed
of the missionary Picquet, that in his single person
he was worth ten regiments.1
Among the English colonies, the pioneers of civili-
zation were for the most part rude, yet vigorous men,
impelled to enterprise by native restlessness, or lured
by the hope of gain. Their range was limited, and
seldom extended far beyond the outskirts of the set-
tlements. With Canada it was far otherwise. There
was no energy in the bulk of her people. The court
and the army supplied the main springs of her vital ac-
tion, and the hands which planted the lilies of France
in the heart of the wilderness had never guided the
ploughshare or wielded the spade. The love of adven-
ture, the ambition of new discovery, the hope of mili-
tary advancement, urged men of place and culture to
embark on bold and comprehensive enterprise. Many
a gallant gentleman, many a nobleman of France,
trod the black mould and oozy mosses of the forest
with feet that had pressed the carpets of Versailles.
They whose youth had passed in camps and courts
grew gray among the wigwams of savages; and the
lives of Castine, Joncaire, and Priber2 are invested
with all the interest of romance.
1 Picquet was a priest of St. Sul- Adair, 240. I have seen mention of
pice. For a sketch of his life, see this man in contemporary provincial
Lett. Edif. XIV. newspapers, where he is sometimes
2 For an account of Priber, see spoken of as a disguised Jesuit. He
Chap. II] LA SALLE. 51
Conspicuous In the annals of Canada stands the
memorable name of Robert Cavalier de La Salle, the
man who, beyond all his compeers, contributed to
expand the boundary of French empire in the west.
La Salle commanded at Fort Frontenac, erected near
the outlet of Lake Ontario, on its northern shore,
and then forming the most advanced military outpost
of the colony. Here he dwelt among Indians, and
half-breeds, traders, voyageurs, bush-rangers, and Fran-
ciscan monks. Fie ruled his little empire with ab-
solute sway, enforcing respect by his energy, but
offending many by his rigor. Here he brooded upon
the grand design which had long engaged his thoughts.
He had resolved to complete the achievement of
Father Marquette, to trace the unknown Mississippi
to its mouth, to plant the standard of his king in
the newly-discovered regions, and found colonies which
should make good the sovereignty of France from the
Frozen Ocean to Mexico. Ten years of his early life
had passed in connection with the Jesuits, and his
strong mind had hardened to iron under the disci-
pline of that relentless school. To a sound judg-
ment, and a penetrating sagacity, he joined a boundless
enterprise and an adamantine constancy of purpose.
But his nature was stern and austere; he was prone
to rule by fear rather than by love ; he took counsel
of no man, and chilled all who approached him by
his cold reserve.
At the close of the year 1678, his preparations were
complete, and he despatched his attendants to the
banks of the River Niagara, whither he soon followed
in person. Here he erected a little fort of palisades,
took up his residence among the labored to gain them over to the
Cherokees about the year 1736, and French interest.
52 FRANCE AND ENGLAND LN AMERICA. [Chap. H.
and was the first military tenant of a spot destined to
momentous consequence in future wars. Two leagues
above the cataract, on the western bank of the river,
he built the first vessel which ever explored the
waters of the upper lakes.1 Her name was the Griffin,
and her burden was sixty tons. On the seventh of
August, 1679, she began her adventurous voyage amid
the speechless wonder of the Indians, who stood
amazed, alike at the unwonted size of the wooden
canoe, at the flash and roar of the cannon from her
decks, and at the carved figure of a griffin, which,
with expanded wings, sat crouched upon her prow.
She bore on her course along the virgin waters of
Lake Erie, through the beautiful windings of the
Detroit, and among the restless billows of Lake Hu-
ron, where a furious tempest had well nigh ingulfed
her. La Salle pursued his voyage along Lake Michi-
gan in birch canoes, and, after protracted suffering
from famine and exposure, reached its southern ex-
tremity on the eighteenth of October.2
He led his followers to the banks of the river now
called the St. Joseph. Here, again, he built a fort;
and here, in after years, the Jesuits placed a mission
and the government a garrison. Thence he pushed
on into the unknown region of the Illinois; and now
dangers and difficulties began to thicken about him.
Indians threatened hostility ; his men lost heart, clam-
ored, grew mutinous, and repeatedly deserted; and,
worse than all, nothing was heard of the vessel which
had been sent back to Canada for necessary supplies.
Weeks wore on, and doubt ripened into certainty.
She had foundered among the storms of these wil-
i Sparks, Life of La Salle, 21.
2 Hennepin, New Discovery, 98, (Lond. 1698.)
Chap. II.] LA SALLE. 53
derness oceans; and 'her loss seemed to involve the
ruin of the enterprise, since it was vain to proceed
farther without the expected supplies. In this disas-
trous crisis, La Salle embraced a resolution eminently
characteristic of his intrepid temper. Leaving his men
in charge of a subordinate at a fort which he had
built on the River Illinois, he turned his face again
towards Canada. He traversed on foot twelve hun-
dred miles of frozen forest, crossing rivers, toiling
through snow-drifts, wading ice-encumbered swamps,
sustaining life by the fruits of the chase, and threat-
ened day and night by lurking enemies. He gained
his destination, but it was only to encounter a fresh
storm of calamities. His enemies had been busy in
his absence ; a malicious report had gone abroad that
he was dead; his creditors had seized his property;
and the stores on which he most relied had been
wrecked at sea, or lost among the rapids of the St.
Lawrence. Still he battled against adversity with his
wonted vigor, and in Count Frontenac, the governor
of the province, — a spirit kindred to his own, — he
found a firm friend. Every difficulty gave way before
him; and with fresh supplies of men, stores, and am-
munition, he again embarked for the Illinois. Hound-
ing the vast circuit of the lakes, he reached the mouth
of the St. Joseph, and hastened with anxious speed
to the fort where he had left his followers. The
place was empty. Not a man remained. Terrified,
despondent, and embroiled in Indian wars, they had
iled to seek peace and safety, he knew not whither.
Once more the dauntless discoverer turned back
towards Canada. Once more he stood before Count
Frontenac, and once more bent all his resources and
all his credit to gam means for the prosecution of
e*
54 FRANCE AND ENGLAND IN AMERICA. [Chap. II.
his enterprise. He succeeded. With his little flotilla
of canoes, he left his fort, at the outlet of Lake On-
tario, and slowly retraced those interminable waters,
and lines of forest-bounded shore, which had grown
drearily familiar to his eyes. Pate at length seemed
tired of the conflict with so stubborn an adversary.
All went prosperously with the voyagers. They passed
the lakes in safety ; they crossed the rough portage to
the waters of the Illinois; they followed its winding
channel, and descended the turbid eddies of the Mis-
sissippi, received with various welcome by the scattered
tribes who dwelt along its banks. Now the waters
grew bitter to the taste; now the trampling of the
surf was heard; and now the broad ocean opened
upon their sight, and their goal was won. On the
ninth of April, 1682, with his followers under arms,
amid the firing of musketry, the chanting of the Te
Deum, and shouts of " Vive le roi," La Salle took
formal possession of the vast valley of the Missis-
sippi, in the name of Louis the Great, King of France
and Navarre.1
The first stage of his enterprise was accomplished,
but labors no less arduous remained behind. Repair-
ing to the court of France, he was welcomed with
richly merited favor, and soon set sail for the mouth
of the Mississippi, with a squadron of vessels amply
freighted with men and material for the projected
colony. But the folly and obstinacy of a worthless
naval commander blighted his fairest hopes. The
squadron missed the mouth of the river; and the
wreck of one of the vessels, and the desertion of the
commander, completed the ruin of the expedition.
1 Proces Verbal, in appendix to Sparks' La Salle.
Chap. II.] EEENCH POSTS IN THE WEST. 55
La Salle landed, with a band of half-famished follow-
ers, on the coast of Texas ; and while he was toiling
with untired energy for their relief, a few vindictive
miscreants conspired against him, and a shot from a
traitor's musket closed the career of the iron-hearted
discoverer. i
It was left with another to complete the enterprise
on which he had staked his life; and, in the year
1699, Lemoine d' Iberville planted the germ whence
sprang the colony of Louisiana.1
Years passed on. In spite of a vicious plan of
government, in spite of the bursting of the ever-mem-
orable Mississippi bubble, the new colony grew in
wealth and strength. And now it remained for
France to unite the two extremities of her broad
American domain, to extend forts and settlements
across the fertile solitudes between the valley of the
St. Lawrence and the mouth of the Mississippi, and
intrench herself among the forests which lie west of
the Alleghanies, before the swelling tide of British
colonization could overflow those mountain barriers.
At the middle of the eighteenth century, her mighty
project was fast advancing towards completion. The
great lakes and streams, the thoroughfares of the
wilderness, were seized and guarded by a series of
posts distributed with admirable skill. A fort on the
strait of Niagara commanded the great entrance to
the whole interior country. Another at Detroit con-
trolled the passage from Lake Erie to the north.
Another at St. Mary's debarred all hostile access to
Lake Superior. Another at Michillimackhiac secured
the mouth of Lake Michigan. A post at Green Bay,
and one at St. Joseph, guarded the two routes to the
1 Du Pratz, Hist. Louisiana, 5. Charlevoix, II. 259.
56 EEANCE AND ENGLAM) IN AMEBICA. [Chap. II.
Mississippi, by way of the Rivers Wisconsin and Il-
linois; while two posts on the Wabash, and one on
the Mamnee, made France the mistress of the great
trading highway from Lake Erie to the Ohio. At
Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and elsewhere in the Illinois,
little French settlements had sprung up; and as the
canoe of the voyager descended the Mississippi, he
saw, at rare intervals, along its swampy margin, a few
small stockade forts, half buried amid the redundancy
of forest vegetation, until, as he approached Natchez,
the dwellings of the habitans of Louisiana began to
appear.
The forest posts of France were not exclusively of
a military character. Adjacent to most of them, one
would have found a little cluster of Canadian dwell-
ings, whose tenants lived under the protection of the
garrison, and obeyed the arbitrary will of the com-
mandant; an authority which, however, was seldom
exerted in a despotic spirit. In these detached settle-
ments, there was no principle of increase. The charac-
ter of the people, and of the government which ruled
them, were alike unfavorable to it. Agriculture was
neglected for the more congenial pursuits of the fur-
trade, and the restless, roving Canadians, scattered
abroad on their wild vocation, allied themselves to
Indian women, and filled the woods with a mongrel
race of bush-rangers.
Thus far secure in the west, France next essayed
to gain foothold upon the sources of the Ohio, and,
about the year 1748, the sagacious Count Galissonniere
proposed to bring over ten thousand peasants from
France, and plant them in the valley of that beau-
tiful river, and on the borders of the lakes.1 But
i Smith, Hist. Canada, I. 208.
Chap. II.] THEIR APPROACHING COLLISION. 57
while at Quebec, in the Castle of St. Louis, sol-
diers and statesmen were revolving schemes like this,
the slowly-moving power of England bore on with
silent progress from the east. Already the British
settlements were creeping along the valley of the Mo-
hawk, and ascending the eastern slopes of the Alle-
ghanies. Forests crashing to the axe, dark spires of
smoke ascending from autumnal fires, were heralds of
the advancing host; and while, on one side of the
Alleghanies, Celeron de Bienville was burying plates
of lead, engraved with the arms of France, the ploughs
and axes of Virginian woodsmen were enforcing a surer
title on the other. The adverse powers were drawing
near. The hour of collision was at hand.
CHAPTER III.
THE FRENCH, THE ENGLISH, AND THE INDIANS.
The French colonists of Canada held, from the
beginning, a peculiar intimacy of relation with the
Indian tribes. With the English colonists it was far
otherwise; and the difference sprang from several
causes. The fur-trade was the life of Canada; agri-
culture and commerce were the chief fountains of
wealth to the British provinces. The Romish zealots
of Canada burned for the conversion of the heathen;
their heretic rivals were fired with no such ardor.
And finally, while the ambition of France grasped at
empire over the farthest deserts of the west, the
steady industry of the English colonist was contented
to cultivate and improve a narrow strip of seaboard.
Thus it happened that the farmer of Massachusetts
and the Virginian planter were conversant with only
a few bordering tribes, while the priests and emissa-
ries of France were roaming the prairies with the
buffalo-hunting Pawnees, or lodging in the winter
cabins of the Dahcotah ; and swarms of savages, whose
uncouth names were strange to English ears, descended
yearly from the north, to bring their beaver and otter
skins to the market of Montreal.
The position of Canada invited intercourse with the
interior, and eminently favored her schemes of com-
merce and policy. The River St. Lawrence, and the
Chap, in.] THE IROQUOIS — CHAMPLAIN. 59
chain of the great lakes, opened a vast extent of in-
land navigation; while their tributary streams, inter-
locking with the branches of the Mississippi, afforded
ready access to that mighty river, and gave the rest-
less voyager free range over half the continent. But
these advantages were well nigh neutralized. Nature
opened the way, but a watchful and terrible enemy
guarded the portal. The forests south of Lake On-
tario gave harborage to the five tribes of the Iro-
quois, implacable foes of Canada. They waylaid her
trading parties, routed her soldiers, murdered her
missionaries, and spread havoc and woe through all
her settlements.
It was an evil hour for Canada, when, on the
twenty-eighth of May, 1609,1 Samuel de Champlain,
impelled by his own adventurous spirit, departed from
the hamlet of Quebec to follow a war-party of Al-
gonquins against their hated enemy, the Iroquois.
Ascending the Sorel, and passing the rapids at Cham-
bly, he embarked on the lake which bears his name,
and, with two French attendants, steered southward,
with his savage associates, toward the rocky promon-
tory of Ticonderoga. They moved with all the pre-
caution of Indian warfare; when, at length, as night
was closing in, they descried a band of the Iroquois
in their large canoes of elm bark approaching through
the gloom. Wild yells from either side announced
the mutual discovery. Both parties hastened to the
shore, and all night long the forest resounded with
their discordant war-songs and fierce whoops of defi-
ance. Day dawned, and the fight began. Bounding
from tree to tree, the Iroquois pressed forward to the
i Champlain, Voyages, 136, (Paris, 1632.) Charlevoix, I. 142.
60 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. IH.
attack; but when Champlain advanced from among
the Algonquins, and stood full in sight before them,
with his strange attire, his shining breastplate, and
features unlike their own; when they saw the flash
of his arquebuse, and beheld two of their chiefs fall
dead, they could not contain their terror, but fled for
shelter into the depths of the wood. The Algonquins
pursued, slaying many in the flight, and the victory
was complete.
Such was the first collision between the white men
and the Iroquois; and Champlain flattered himself
that the latter had learned for the future to respect
the arms of France. He was fatally deceived. The
Iroquois recovered from their terrors, but they never
forgave the injury; and yet it would be unjust to
charge upon Champlain the origin of the desolating
wars which were soon to scourge the colony. The
Indians of Canada, friends and neighbors of the
French, had long been harassed by inroads of the
fierce confederates, and under any circumstances the
French must soon have become parties to the quarrel.
Whatever may have been its origin, the war was
fruitful of misery to the youthful colony. The passes
were beset by ambushed war-parties. The routes be-
tween Quebec and Montreal were watched with tiger-
like vigilance. Bloodthirsty warriors prowled about
the outskirts of the settlements. Again and again the
miserable people, driven within the palisades of their
forts, looked forth upon wasted harvests and blazing-
roofs. The Island of Montreal was swept with fire
and steel. The fur-trade was interrupted, since for
months together all communication was cut off with
the friendly tribes of the west. Agriculture was
checked; the fields lay fallow, and frequent famine
Chap. Ill] EXPEDITION OF COUNT FEONTENAC. 61
was the necessary result.1 The name of the Iroquois
became a by-word of horror through the colony, and
to the suffering Canadians they seemed no better than
troops of incarnate fiends. Revolting rites and mon-
strous superstitions were imputed to them ; and, among
the rest, it was currently believed that they cherished
the custom of immolating young children, burning
them with fire, and drinking the ashes mixed with
water to increase their bravery.9 Yet the wildest
imaginations could scarcely exceed the truth. At the
attack of Montreal, they placed infants over the em-
bers, and forced the wretched mothers to turn the
spit ; 3 and those who fell within their clutches endured
torments too hideous for description. Their ferocity
was equalled only by their courage and address.
At intervals, the afflicted colony found respite from
its sufferings ; and through the efforts of the Jesuits,
fair hopes began to rise of propitiating the terrible
foe. At one time, the influence of the priests availed
so far, that under their auspices a French colony
was formed in the very heart of the Iroquois country ;
but the settlers were soon forced to a precipitate
flight, and the war broke out afresh.4 The French,
on their part, were not idle; they faced their assail-
ants with characteristic gallantry. Courcelles, Tracy,
De la Barre, and De Nonville invaded by turns, with
various success, the forest haunts of the confederates ;
and at length, in the year 1696, the veteran Count
Frontenac marched upon their cantons with all the
force of Canada. Stemming the surges of La Chine,
sweeping through the romantic channels of the Thou-
i Vimont, Golden, Charlevoix, pas- 3 Charlevoix, I. 549.
sim. 4 a. D. 1654-1658. Doc. Hist.
2 Vimont seems to believe the N. Y. I. 47.
story. Rel. de la N. F. 1640, 195.
F
62 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. HI.
sand Islands, and over the glimmering surface of Lake
Ontario, and, trailing in long array up the current of
the Oswego, they disembarked on the margin of the
Lake of Onondaga, and, startling the woodland echoes
with the unwonted clangor of their trumpets, urged
their perilous march through the mazes of the for-
est. Never had those solitudes beheld so strange a
pageantry. The Indian allies, naked to the waist and
horribly painted, adorned with streaming scalp-locks
and fluttering plumes, stole crouching among the
thickets, or peered with lynx-eyed vision through the
labyrinths of foliage. Scouts and forest-rangers scoured
the woods in front and flank of the marching columns
— men trained among the hardships of the fur-trade,
thin, sinewy, and strong, arrayed in wild costume of
beaded moccason, scarlet leggin, and frock of buckskin,
fantastically garnished with many-colored embroidery
of porcupine. Then came the levies of the colony,
in gray capotes and gaudy sashes, and the trained
battalions from old France in burnished cuirass and
head-piece, veterans of European wars. Plumed cava-
liers were there, who had followed the standards of
Conde or Turenne, and who, even in the depths of a
wilderness, scorned to lay aside the martial foppery
which bedecked the camp and court of Louis the
Magnificent. The stern commander was borne along
upon a litter in the midst, his locks bleached with years,
but his eye kindling with the quenchless fire which,
like a furnace, burned hottest when its fuel was almost
spent. Thus, beneath the sepulchral arches of the for-
est, through tangled thickets, and over prostrate trunks,
the aged nobleman advanced to wreak his vengeance
upon empty wigwams and deserted maize-fields.1
i Official Papers of the Expedition. Doc. Hist. N. Y. I. 323.
Chap. HI] TRIUMPHS OF THE FRENCH. 63
Even the fierce courage of the Iroquois began to
quail before these repeated attacks, while the grad-
ual growth of the colony, and the arrival of troops
from France, at length convinced them that they could
not destroy Canada. With the opening of the eigh-
teenth century, their rancor showed signs of abating ;
and in the year 1726, by dint of skilful intrigue,
the French succeeded in erecting a permanent mili-
tary post at the important pass of Niagara, within
the limits of the confederacy.1 Meanwhile, in spite
of every obstacle, the power of France had rapidly
extended its boundaries in the west. French influ-
ence diffused itself through a thousand channels, among
distant tribes, hostile, for the most part, to the dom-
ineering Iroquois. Forts, mission-houses, and armed
trading stations secured the principal passes. Traders,
and coureurs des hois pushed their adventurous traf-
fic into the wildest deserts ; and French guns and
hatchets, French beads and cloth, French tobacco and
brandy, were known from where the stunted Esqui-
maux burrowed in their snow caves, to where the
Camanches scoured the plains of the south with their
banditti cavalry. Still this far-extended commerce con-
tinued to advance westward. In 1738, La Verandrye
essayed to reach those mysterious mountains which,
as the Indians alleged, lay beyond the arid deserts
of the Missouri and the Saskatchewan. Indian hos-
tility defeated his enterprise, but not before he had
struck far out into these unknown wilds, and formed
a line of trading posts, one of which, Fort de la
Heine, was planted on the Assinnibbin, a hundred
leagues beyond Lake Winnipeg.2 At that early pe-
i Doc. Hist. N. Y. I. 446. 2 Garneau, II. 3SS.
64 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS [Chap. IH.
riod, France left her footsteps upon the dreary wastes
which even now have no other tenants than the In-
dian buffalo-hunter or the roving trapper.
The fur-trade of the English colonists opposed but
feeble rivalry to that of their hereditary foes. At an
early period, favored by the friendship of the Iro-
quois, they attempted to open a traffic with the Al-
gonquin tribes of the great lakes ; and in the year
1687, Major McGregory ascended with a boat load of
goods to Lake Huron, where his appearance excited
great commotion, and where he was promptly seized
and imprisoned by a party of the French.1 From
this time forward, the English fur-trade languished,
until the year 1725, when Governor Burnet, of New
York, established a post on Lake Ontario, at the mouth
of the River Oswego, whither, lured by the cheapness
and excellence of the English goods, crowds of sav-
ages soon congregated from every side, to the un-
speakable annoyance of the French.2 Meanwhile, a
considerable commerce was springing up with the
Cherokees and other tribes of the south ; and during
the first half of the century, the peoj)le of Pennsyl-
vania began to cross the Alleghanies, and carry on a
lucrative traffic with the tribes of the Ohio. In 1749,
La Jonquiere, the governor of Canada, learned, to his
great indignation, that several English traders had
reached Sandusky, and were exerting a bad influence
upon the Indians of that quarter ; 3 and two years later,
lie caused four of the intruders to be seized near the
Ohio, and sent prisoners to Canada.4
These early efforts of the English, considerable as
i La Hontan, Voyages, I. 74. Col- 3 Smith, Hist. Canada, I. 214.
den, Memorial on the Fur-Trade. 4 Precis des Faits, 89.
2 Doc. Hist. N. Y. I. 444.
Chap. Ill] THE ENGLISH AND THE IKOQUOIS. 65
they were, can ill bear comparison with the vast ex-
tent of the French interior commerce. In respect
also to missionary enterprise, and the political influ-
ence resulting from it, the French had every advantage
over rivals whose zeal for conversion was neither kin-
dled by fanaticism nor fostered by an ambitious gov-
ernment. Eliot labored within call of Boston, while
the heroic Brebeuf faced the ghastly perils of the
western wilderness; and the wanderings of Brainerd
sink into insignificance compared with those of the
devoted Easles. Yet, in judging the relative merits
of the Romish and Protestant missionaries, it must
not be forgotten that while the former contented them-
selves with sprinkling a few drops of water on the
forehead of the warlike proselyte, the latter sought
to wean him from his barbarism, and penetrate his
savage heart with the truths of Christianity.
In respect, also, to direct political influence, the
advantage was wholly on the side of France. The
English colonies, broken into separate governments,
were incapable of exercising a vigorous and consist-
ent Indian policy; and the measures of one govern-
ment often clashed with those of another. Even in
the separate provinces, the popular nature of the con-
stitution and the quarrels of governors and assemblies
were unfavorable to efficient action; and this was
more especially the case in the province of New York,
where the vicinity of the Iroquois rendered strenuous
yet prudent measures of the utmost importance. The
powerful confederates, hating the French with bitter
enmity, naturally inclined to the English alliance ;
and a proper treatment would have secured their firm
and lasting friendship. But, at the early periods of
her history, the assembly of New York was made up
66 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND ESTDLiNS. [Chap. HI.
in great measure of narrow-minded men, more eager
to consult their own petty immediate interests than
to pursue any far-sighted scheme of public welfare.1
Other causes conspired to injure the British interest
in this quarter. The annual present sent from Eng-
land to the Iroquois was often embezzled by corrupt
governors or their favorites.2 The proud chiefs were
disgusted by the cold and haughty bearing of the
English officials, and a pernicious custom prevailed
of conducting Indian negotiations through the medium
of the fur-traders, a class of men held in contempt
by the Iroquois, and known among them by the sig-
nificant title of " rum-carriers." 3 In short, through
all the counsels of the province, Indian affairs were
grossly and madly neglected.4
With more or less emphasis, the same remark holds
true of all the other English colonies.5 "With those
of France, it was far otherwise; and this difference
between the rival powers was naturally incident to
their different forms of government, and different
c onditions of develonment. France labored with ea^er
diligence to conciliate the Indians and win them to
1 Smith, Hist. N. Y., passim. agers of these times." — MS. Letter
2 Rev. Military Operations, Mass. — Johnson to the Board of Trade,
Hist. Coll. 1st Series, VII. 67. May 24, 1765.
3 Colden, Hist. Five Nat. 161. 5 " I apprehend it will clearly ap-
4 MS. Papers of Cadwallader Col- pear to you, that the colonies had
den. MS. Papers of Sir William all along neglected to cultivate a
Johnson. proper understanding with the In-
" We find the Indians, as far back dians, and from a mistaken notion
as the very confused manuscript rec- have greatly despised them, without
ords in my possession, repeatedly considering that it is in their power
upbraiding this province for their to lay waste and destroy the fron-
negligence, their avarice, and their tiers. This opinion arose from our
want of assisting them at a time confidence in our scattered numbers,
when it was certainly in their power and the parsimony of our people,
to destroy the infant colony of Can- who, from an error in politics, would
ada, although supported by many not expend five pounds to save twen-
nations ; and this is likewise con- ty." — MS. Letter — Johnson to the
fessed by the writings of the man- Board of Trade, November 13, 1763.
Chap. III.] POLICY OF THE FRENCH. 67
espouse her cause. Her agents were busy in every
village, studying the language of the inmates, com-
plying with their usages, nattering their prejudices,
caressing them, cajoling them, and whispering friendly
warnings in their ears against the wicked designs of
the English. When a party of Indian chiefs visited a
French fort, they were greeted Avith the firing of cannon
and rolling of drums ; they were regaled at the tables
of the officers, and bribed with medals and decorations,
scarlet uniforms and French flags. Far wiser than
their rivals, the French never ruffled the self-complacent
dignity of their guests, never insulted their religious
notions, nor ridiculed their ancient customs. They met
the savage half way, and showed an abundant readiness
to mould their own features after his likeness.1 Count
Frontenac himself, plumed and painted like an Indian
chief, danced the war-dance and yelled the war-song
at the camp-fires of his delighted allies. It would
have been well had the French been less exact in their
imitations, for at times they copied their model with
infamous fidelity, and fell into excesses scarcely credible
but for the concurrent testimony of their own writers.
Frontenac caused an Iroquois prisoner to be burnt
alive to strike terror into his countrymen ; and Lou-
vigny, French commandant at Michillimackinac, in
1695, tortured an Iroquois ambassador to death, that
he might break off a negotiation between that people
and the Wyandots.9 Nor are these the only well-
attested instances of such execrable inhumanity. But
1 Adair, Post's Journals, Croghan's lected that while Iroquois prisoners
Journal, MSS. of Sir W. Johnson, -were tortured in the wilds of Can-
etc, etc. ada, Elizabeth Gaunt was burned to
2 La Hontan, I. 177. Potherie, death at Tyburn for yielding to the
Hist. Am. Sept. II. 298, (Paris, 1722.) dictates of compassion, and giving
These facts afford no ground for shelter to a political offender,
national reflections when it is recol
68 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. III.
if the French were guilty of these cruelties against
their Indian enemies, they were no less guilty of un-
worthy compliance with the demands of their Indian
friends, in cases where Christianity and civilization
would have dictated a prompt refusal. Even the brave
Montcalm stained his bright name by abandoning the
hapless defenders of Oswego and William Henry to the
tender mercies of an Indian mob.
In general, however, the Indian policy of the French
cannot be charged with obsequiousness. Complaisance
was tempered with dignity. At an early period, they
discerned the peculiarities of the native character, and
clearly saw that, while, on the one hand, it was neces-
sary to avoid giving offence, it was not less necessary,
on the other, to assume a bold demeanor and a show
of power ; to caress with one hand, and grasp a drawn
sword with the other.1 Every crime against a French-
man was promptly chastised by the sharp agency of
military law ; while among the English, the offender
could only be reached through the medium of the civil
courts, whose delays, uncertainties, and evasions excited
the wonder and provoked the contempt of the Indians.
It was by observance of the course indicated above
— a course highly judicious in a political point of
view, whatever it may have been to the eye of the mor-
alist — that the French were enabled to maintain
themselves in small detached posts, far aloof from the
parent colony, and environed by barbarous tribes, where
an English garrison would have been cut off hi a
twelvemonth. They professed to hold these posts, not
in their own right, but purely through the grace and
condescension of the surrounding savages ; and by this
1 Le Jeune, Rel. de la N. F. 1636, 193.
Chap, in.] AMALGAMATION OF FRENCH AND INDIANS. 69
conciliating assurance they sought to make good their
position, until, with their growing strength, conciliation
should no more be needed.
In its efforts to win the friendship and alliance of
the Indian tribes, the French government found every
advantage in the peculiar character of its subjects —
that pliant and plastic temper which forms so marked
a contrast to the stubborn spirit of the Englishman.
From the beginning, the French showed a tendency to
amalgamate with the forest tribes. " The manners of the
savages," writes the Baron La Hontan, " are perfectly
agreeable to my palate ; " and many a restless adven-
turer, of high or low degree, might have echoed the
words of the erratic soldier. At first, great hopes were
entertained that, by the mingling of French and In-
dians, the latter would be won over to civilization and
the church; but the effect was precisely the reverse;
for, as Charlevoix observes, the savages did not become
French, but the French became savages. Hundreds
betook themselves to the forest, never more to return.
These outflowings of French civilization were merged
in the waste of barbarism, as a river is lost in the sands
of the desert, The wandering Frenchman chose a wife
or a concubine among his Indian friends ; and, in a
few generations, scarcely a tribe of the west was free
from an infusion of Celtic blood. The French empire
in America could exhibit among its subjects every shade
of color from white to red, every gradation of culture
from the highest civilization of Paris to the rudest
barbarism of the wigwam.
The fur-trade engendered a peculiar class of men,
known by the appropriate name of bush-rangers, or
coureurs des bois, half-civilized vagrants, whose chief
vocation was conducting the canoes of the traders
70 THE EBENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. HI.
along the lakes and rivers of the interior: many
of them, however, shaking loose every tie of blood
and kindred, identified themselves with the Indians,
and sank into litter barbarism. In many a squalid
camp among the plains and forests of the west, the
traveller would have encountered men owning the
blood and speaking the language of France, yet, in
their wild and swarthy visages and barbarous costume,
seeming more akin to those with whom they had
cast their lot. The renegade of civilization caught
the habits and imbibed the prejudices of his chosen
associates. He loved to decorate his long hair with
eagle feathers, to make his face hideous with vermil-
ion, ochre, and soot, and to adorn his greasy hunting
frock with horse-hair fringes. His dwelling, if he
had one, was a wigwam. He lounged on a bear-skin
while his squaw boiled his venison and lighted his
pipe. In hunting, in dancing, in singing, in taking
a scalp, he rivalled the genuine Indian. His mind
was tinctured with the superstitions of the forest.
He had faith in the magic drum of the conjurer;
he was not sure that a thunder cloud could not be
frightened away by whistling at it through the wing
bone of an eagle ; he carried the tail of a rattlesnake
in his bullet pouch by way of amulet ; and he placed
implicit trust in the prophetic truth of his dreams.
This class of men is not yet extinct. In the cheer-
less wilds beyond the northern lakes, or among the
mountain solitudes of the distant west, they may still
be found, unchanged in life and character since the
day when Louis the Great claimed sovereignty over
this desert empire.
The borders of the English colonies displayed no
such phenomena of mingling races ; for here a thorny
Chap. IH-l ENGLISH FUR-TRADERS. 71
and impracticable barrier divided the white man from
the red. The English fur-traders, and the rude men
in their employ, showed, it is true, an ample alacrity
to fling off the restraints of civilization ; but though
they became barbarians, they did not become Indians;
and scorn on the one side, and hatred on the other,
still marked the intercourse of the hostile races.
With the settlers of the frontier it was much the
same. Rude, fierce, and contemptuous, they daily
encroached upon the hunting-grounds of the Indians,
and then paid them for the injury with abuse and
insult, curses and threats. Thus the native popula-
tion shrank back from before the English, as from
before an advancing pestilence ; while, on the -other
hand, in the very heart of Canada, Indian communi-
ties sprang up, cherished by the government, and
favored by the easy-tempered people. At Lorette, at
Caughnawaga, at St. Francis, and elsewhere within
the province, large bands were gathered together, con-
sisting in part of fugitives from the borders of the
hated English, and aiding, in time of war, to swell
the forces of the French in repeated forays against
the settlements of New York and New England.
There was one of the English provinces marked
out from among its brethren by the peculiar charac-
ter of its founders, and by the course of conduct
which was there pursued towards the Indian tribes.
William Penn, his mind warmed with a broad philan-
thropy, and enlightened by liberal views of human
government and human rights, planted on the banks
of the Delaware the colony which, vivified by the
principles it embodied, grew, with a marvellous rapid-
ity, into the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Penn's treatment of the Indians was equally prudent
72 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. HI.
and humane, and its results were of high advantage to
the colony; but these results have been exaggerated,
and the treatment which produced them made the
theme of inordinate praise. It required no great be-
nevolence to urge the Quakers to deal kindly with
their savage neighbors. They were bound in common
sense to propitiate them ; since, by incurring their re-
sentment, they would involve themselves in the dilem-
ma of submitting their necks to the tomahawk, or
wielding the carnal weapon, in glaring defiance of
their pacific principles. In paying the Indians for
the lands which his colonists occupied, — a piece of
justice which has been greeted with a general clamor
of applause, — Penn, as he himself confesses, acted on
the prudent counsel of Compton, Bishop of London.1
Nor is there any truth in the representations of Eay-
nal and other eulogists of the Quaker legislator, who
hold him up to the world as the only European who
ever acquired the Indian lands by purchase, instead
of seizing them by fraud or violence. The example
of purchase had been set fifty years before by the
Puritans of New England; and several of the other
colonies had more recently pursued the same just and
prudent course.9
With regard to the alleged results of the pacific
conduct of the Quakers, our admiration will diminish
on closely viewing the circumstances of the case.
1 "I have exactly followed the their tytle, that we may avoid the
Bishop of London's counsel, by buy- least scruple of intrusion." — Imtruc-
ing, and not taking- away, the natives' tions to Endicot, 1629. — See Hazard,
land." — Penns Letter to the Ministnj, State Papers, I. 263.
Aug. 14, 1683.— See Chalmers, Polit. " The inhabitants of New England
Ann. 666. had never, except in the territory of
2 " If any of the salvages pretend the Pequods, taken possession of a
right of inheritance to all or any part foot of land without first obtaining a
of the lands granted in our patent, title from the Indians." — Bancroft,
we pray you endeavor to purchase Hist. U. S. II. 98.
• Chap. Ill] THE QUAKERS AND THE INDIANS. 73
The position of the colony was a , most fortunate one.
Had the Quakers planted their settlement on the
banks of the St. Lawrence, or among the warlike
tribes of New England, it may well be doubted whether
their shaking of hands and assurances of tender regard
would long have availed to save them from the visita-
tions of the scalping-knife. But the Delawares, the
people on whose territory their colony was planted,
were, like themselves, debarred the use of arms. The
Iroquois had conquered them, and reduced them to
abject submission, wringing from them a yearly tribute,
disarming them, forcing them to adopt the opprobrious
name of women, and forego the right of war. The
humbled Delawares were but too happy to receive
the hand extended to them, and dwell in friendship
with their pacific neighbors; since to have lifted the
hatchet would have brought upon their heads the
vengeance of their conquerors, whose good will Penn
had taken pains to secure.1
The sons of Penn, his successors in the proprietor-
ship of the province, did not evince the same kindly
feeling towards the Indians which had distinguished
their father. Earnest to acquire new lands, they com-
menced, through their agents, a series of unjust meas-
ures, which gradually alienated the attachment of the
Indians, and, after a peace of seventy years, produced
a most disastrous rupture. The Quaker population
of the colony sympathized in the kindness which its
founder had cherished towards the benighted race.
This feeling was strengthened by years of friendly
intercourse; and except where private interest was
concerned, the Quakers made good their reiterated
1 He paid twice for his lands ; them by right of conquest, and once
once to the Iroquois, who claimed to their occupants, the Delawares.
10 G
74 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. III.
professions of attachment. Kindness to the Indian
was the glory of their sect. As years wore on, this
feeling was wonderfully reenforced by the influence
of party spirit. The time arrived when, alienated by
English encroachment on the one hand and French
seduction on the other, the Indians began to assume
a threatening attitude towards the province ; and
many voices urged the necessity of a resort to arms.
This measure, repugnant alike to their pacific princi-
ples and to their love of the Indians, was strenuously
opposed by the Quakers. Their affection for the in-
jured race was now inflamed into a sort of benevo-
lent fanaticism. The more rabid of the sect would
scarcely confess that an Indian could ever do wrong.
In their view, he was always sinned against, always
the innocent victim of injury and abuse; and in the
days of the final rupture, when the woods were full
of furious war-parties, and the German and Irish
settlers on the frontier were butchered by hundreds,
when the western sky was darkened with the smoke
of burning settlements, and the wretched fugitives were
flying in crowds across the Susquehanna, a large party
among the Quakers, secure by their Philadelphia fire-
sides, could not see the necessity of waging even a
defensive war against their favorite people.1
The encroachments on the part of the proprietors,
which have been alluded to above, and which many
of the Quakers viewed with disapproval, consisted in
i 1755-1763. The feelings of the ernor'Denny. See Proud, Hist. Pa.,
Quakers at this time may be gathered appendix. Haz., Pa. Reg. VIII. 273,
from the following sources : MS. Ac- 293,323. But a much livelier pic-
count of the Rise and Progress of ture of the prevailing excitement
the Friendly Association for gaining will be found in a series of party
and preserving Peace with the In- pamphlets, published at Philadelphia
dians by pacific Measures. Address in the year 1764.
of the Friendly Association to Gov-
Chap, ni.] THE WALKING PURCHASE. 75
the fraudulent interpretation of Indian deeds of con-
veyance, and in the granting out of lands without
any conveyance at all. The most notorious of these
transactions, and the one most lamentable in its re-
sults, was commenced in the year 1737, and known
by the name of the ivalking purchase. An old, for-
gotten deed was raked out of the dust of the previous
century, a deed which was in itself of doubtful va-
lidity, and which, moreover, had been virtually can-
celled by a subsequent agreement. On this rotten
title the proprietors laid claim to a valuable tract of
land on the right bank of the Delaware. Its western
boundary was to be defined by a line drawn from a
certain point on Neshaminey Creek, in a north-west-
erly direction, as far as a man could walk in a day
and a half. From the end of the walk, a line drawn
eastward to the River Delaware was to form the north-
ern limit of the purchase. The proprietors sought
out the most active men who could be heard of, and
put them in training for the walk ; at the same time
laying out a smooth road along the intended course,
that no obstructions might mar their speed. By this
means an incredible distance was accomplished within
the limited time. And now it only remained to adjust
the northern boundary. Instead of running the line
directly to the Delaware, according to the evident
meaning of the deed, the proprietors inclined it so
far to the north as to form an acute angle with the
river, and enclose many hundred thousand acres of
valuable land, which would otherwise have remained
in the hands of the Indians.1 The land thus in-
i Causes of the Alienation of the written by Charles Thompson, after-
Delaware and Shawanoe Indians from wards secretary of Congress, and de-
the British Interest, 33, 68, (Lond. signed to explain the causes of the
1759.) This work is a pamphlet, rupture which took place at the out-
76 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH. AND INDIANS. [Chap. HI.
famously obtained lay in the Forks of the Delaware,
above Easton, and was then occupied by a powerful
branch of the Delawares, who, to their unspeakable
amazement, now heard the summons to quit forever
their populous village and fields of half-grown maize.
In rage and distress they refused to obey, and the
proprietors were in a perplexing dilemma. Force was
necessary; but a Quaker legislature would never con-
sent to fight, and especially to fight against Indians.
An expedient was hit upon, at once safe and effect-
ual. The Iroquois were sent for. A deputation of
their chiefs appeared at Philadelphia, and having been
well bribed, and deceived by false accounts of the
transaction, they consented to remove the refractory
Delawares. The delinquents were summoned before
their conquerors, and the Iroquois orator, Canassatego,
a man of noble stature and imposing presence,1 look-
ing with a grim countenance on his cowering audi-
tors, addressed them in the following words : —
" You ought to be taken by the hair of the head
and shaken soundly till you recover your senses. You
don't know what you are doing. Our brother Onas'2
cause is very just. On the other hand, your cause is
bad, and you are bent to break the chain of friend-
ship. How came you to take upon you to sell land
at all % We conquered you ; we made women of you ;
you know you are women, and can no more sell land
break of the French war. The text notes, though he cavils at several un-
is supported by copious references to important points of the relation, he
treaties and documents. I have seen suffers the essential matter to pass
a copy in the possession of Francis unchallenged.
Fisher, Esq., of Philadelphia, con- 1 Witham Marshe's Journal,
taining marginal notes in the hand- 2 Onas was the name given by the
Avriting of James Hamilton, who was Indians to William Penn and his
twice governor of the province under successors,
the proprietary instructions. In these
Chap. III.] TYRANNY OF THE IROQUOIS. 77
than women. This land you claim is gone down your
throats; you have been furnished with clothes, meat,
and chink, by the goods paid you for it, and now you
want it again, like children as you are. What makes
you sell land in the dark] Did you ever tell us you
had sold this land? Did we ever receive any part,
even the value of a pipe-shank, from you for it 1 We
charge you to remove instantly ; we don't give you
the liberty to think about it. You are women. Take
the advice of a wise man, and remove immediately.
You may return to the other side of Delaware, where
you came from; but wTe do not know whether, con-
sidering how you have demeaned yourselves, you will
be permitted to live there; or whether you have not
swallowed that land down your throats as well as the
land on this side. We therefore assign you two places
to go, either to Wyoming or Shamokin. We shall
then have you more under our eye, and shall see how
you behave. Don't deliberate, but take this belt of
wampum, and go at once."1
The unhappy Delawares dared not disobey this ar-
bitrary mandate. They left their ancient homes, and
removed, as they had been ordered, to the Susque-
hanna, where some settled at Shamokin, and some at
Wyoming.2 From an early period, the Indians had
been annoyed by the unlicensed intrusion of settlers
upon their lands, and, in 1728, they had bitterly
complained of the wrong.3 The evil continued to in-
crease. Many families, chiefly German and Irish, be-
gan to cross the Susquehanna and build their cabins
along the valleys of the Juniata and its tributary
waters. The Delawares sent frequent remonstrances
1 Minutes of Indian council held 2 Chapman, Hist. Wyoming, 19.
at Philadelphia, 1742. 3 Colonial Records, III. 340.
G*
78 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. IIL
from their new abodes, and the Iroquois themselves
made angry complaints, declaring that the lands of
the Juniata were theirs by right of conquest, and that
they had given them to their cousins, the Delawares,
for hunting-grounds. Some efforts at redress were
made ; but the remedy proved ineffectual, and the dis-
content of the Indians increased with every year.
The Shawanoes, with many of the Delawares, removed
westward, where, for a time, they woidd be safe from
intrusion ; and by the middle of the century, the Del-
aware tribe were separated into two divisions, one of
which remained upon the Susquehanna, while the
other, in conjunction with the Shawanoes, dwelt on
the waters of the Alleghany and the Muskingum.
But now the French began to push their advanced
posts into the valley of the Ohio. Most unhappily
for the English interest, they found the irritated minds
of the Indians in a state which favored their efforts
at seduction, and held forth a flattering promise that
tribes so long faithful to the English might soon be
won over to espouse the cause of France.
While the English interests wore so inauspicious
an aspect in this quarter, their prospects were not
much better among the Iroquois. Since the peace
of Utrecht, in 1713, these powerful tribes had so far
forgotten their old malevolence against the French,
that the latter were enabled to bring all their ma-
chinery of conciliation to bear upon them. They
turned the opportunity to such good account as not
only to smooth away the asperity of their ancient foes,
but also to rouse in their minds a growing jealousy
against the English. Several accidental circumstances
did much to aggravate this feeling. The Iroquois
were in the habit of sending out frequent war-
Chap, in.] FATHER PICQUET. 79
parties against their enemies, the Cherokees and Cataw-
bas, who dwelt near the borders of Carolina and Vir-
ginia ; and in these forays the invaders often became so
seriously embroiled with the white settlers, that sharp
frays took place, and an open war seemed likely to
ensue.1
It was with great difficulty that the irritation of
these untoward accidents was allayed ; and even then
enough still remained in the neglect of governments,
the insults of traders, and the haughty bearing of offi-
cials, to disgust the proud confederates with their
English allies. In the war of 1745, they yielded but
cold and doubtful aid ; and fears were entertained of
their final estrangement.9 This result became still
more imminent, when, in the year 1749, the French
priest Picquet established his mission of La Presenta-
tion on the St. Lawrence, at the site of Ogdensburg.3
This pious father, like the martial churchmen of an
earlier day, deemed it no scandal to gird on earthly
armor against the enemies of the faith. He built a
fort and founded a settlement ; he mustered the Indians
about him from far and near, organized their govern-
ments, and marshalled their war-parties. From the
crenelled walls of his mission-house the warlike apostle
could look forth upon a military colony of his own
creating, upon farms and clearings, white Canadian
cabins, and the bark lodges of many an Indian horde
which he had gathered under his protecting wing. A
chief object of the settlement was to form a barrier
against the English ; but the purpose dearest to the
missionary's heart was to gain over the Iroquois to
1 Letter of Governor Spots wood, 2 Minutes of Indian Council, 174o.
of Virginia, Jan. 25, 1720. See Col- 3 Doc. Hist. N. Y. I. 423.
onial Records of Pa. III. 75.
80 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. III.
the side of France ; and in this he succeeded so well,
that, as a writer of good authority declares, the num-
ber of their warriors within the circle of his influence
surpassed the whole remaining force of the con-
federacy.1
Thoughtful men in the English colonies saw with
anxiety the growing defection of the Iroquois, and
dreaded lest, in the event of a war with France, her
ancient foes might now be found her friends. . But in
this ominous conjuncture, one strong influence was at
work to bind the confederates to their old alliance;
and this influence was wielded by a man so remarkable
in his character, and so conspicuous an actor in the
scenes of the ensuing history, as to demand at least
some passing notice.
About the year 1734, in consequence, it is said, of
the hapless issue of a love affair, William Johnson, a
young Irishman, came over to America at the age of
nineteen, where he assumed the charge of an extensive
tract of wild land in the province of New York, be-
longing to his uncle, Admiral Sir Peter Warren.
Settling in the valley of the Mohawk, he carried on
a prosperous traflic with the Indians; and while he
rapidly rose to wealth, he gained, at the same time, an
extraordinary influence over the neighboring Iroquois.
As his resources increased, he built two mansions
in the valley, known respectively by the names of
Johnson Castle and Johnson Hall, the latter of which,
a well-constructed building of wood and stone, is still
standing in the village of Johnstown. Johnson Castle
was situated at some distance higher up the river.
Both were fortified against attack, and the latter was
1 MS. Letter — Colden to Lord Halifax, no date.
Chap. III.] SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON. 81
surrounded with cabins built for the reception of the
Indians, who often came in crowds to visit the propri-
etor, invading his dwelling at all unseasonable hours,
loitering in the doorways, spreading their blankets in
the passages, and infecting the air with the fumes of
stale tobacco.
Johnson supplied the place of his former love by
a young Dutch damsel, who bore him several children ;
and, in justice to the latter, he married her upon her
death-bed. Soon afterwards he found another favorite
in the person of Molly Brant, sister of the celebrated
Mohawk war-chief, whose black eyes and laughing
face caught his fancy, as, fluttering with ribbons, she
galloped past him at a muster of the Tryon county
militia.
Johnson's importance became so conspicuous, that
when the French war broke out in 1755, he was made
a major-general; and soon after, the colonial troops
under his command gained the battle of Lake George
against the French forces of Baron Dieskau. For this
success, for which, however, the commander was entitled
to little credit, he was raised to the rank of baronet,
and rewarded with the gift of five thousand pounds
from the king. About this time, he was appointed
superintendent of Indian affairs for the northern tribes,
a station in which he did signal service to the country.
In 1759, when General Prideaux was killed by the
bursting of a cohorn in the trenches before Niagara,
Johnson succeeded to his command, routed the French
in another pitched battle, and soon raised the red cross
of England on the conquered rampart of the fort.
After the peace of 1763, he lived for many years at
Johnson Hall, constantly enriched by the increasing
value of his vast estate, and surrounded by a hardy
11
82 THE FRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. HI.
Highland tenantry, devoted to his interests ; hut when
the tempest which had long been brewing seemed at
length about to break, and signs of a speedy rupture
with the mother country thickened with every day, he
stood wavering in an agony of indecision, divided
between his loyalty to the sovereign who was the source
of all his honors, and his reluctance to become the
agent of a murderous Indian warfare against his
countrymen and friends. His final resolution was
never taken. In the summer of 1774, he was attacked
with a sudden illness, and died within a few hours, in
the sixtieth year of his age, hurried to his grave by
mental distress, or, as many believed, by the act of his
own hand.
Nature had well fitted him for the position in which
his propitious stars had cast his lot. His person was
tall, erect, and strong; his features grave and manly.
His direct -and upright dealings, his courage, elo-
quence, and address were sure passports to favor in
Indian eyes. He had a singular facility of adaptation.
In the camp, or at the council-board, in spite of his
defective education, he bore himself as became his
station; but at home he was seen drinking flip and
smoking tobacco with the Dutch boors, his neighbors,
talking of improvements or the price of beaver-skins ;
and in the Indian villages he would feast on dog's flesh,
dance with the warriors, and harangue his attentive
auditors with all the dignity of an Iroquois sachem.
His temper was genial ; he encouraged rustic sports,
and was respected and beloved alike by whites and
Indians.
His good qualities, however, were alloyed with seri-
ous defects. His mind was as coarse as it was vigor-
ous ; he was vain of his rank and influence, and being
Chap. Ill] POSITION OF PARTIES. 83
quite free from any scruple of delicacy, he lost no
opportunity of proclaiming them. His nature was
eager and ambitious ; and in pushing his own way, he
was never distinguished by an anxious solicitude for
the rights of others.1
At the time of which we speak, his fortunes had not
reached their zenith ; yet his influence was great, and
during the war of 1745, when he held the chief control
of Indian affairs in New York, it was exercised in a
manner most beneficial to the province. After the
peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, finding his measures
ill supported, he threw up his office in disgust. Still
his mere personal influence sufficed to embarrass the
intrigues of the busy priest at La Presentation ; and a
few years later, when the public exigency demanded
his utmost efforts, he resumed, under better auspices,
the official management of Indian affairs.
And now, when the blindest could see that between
the rival claimants to the soil of America nothing
was left but the arbitration of the sword, no man
friendly to the cause of England could observe without
alarm how France had strengthened herself in Indian
alliances. The Iroquois, it is true, had not quite gone
over to her side, nor had the Delawares yet forgotten
their ancient league with William Penn. The Miamis
in the valley of the Ohio had even taken umbrage at
the conduct of the French, and betrayed a leaning to
the side of England, while several tribes of the south
showed a similar disposition. But, with few and slight
exceptions, the numerous tribes of the Great Lakes and
i Allen, Am. Biog\ Diet., and au- Papers relating to Sir W. Johnson,
thorities there referred to. Camp- See Doc. Hist. N. Y. II. MS. Papers
hell, Annals of Tryon County, ap- of Sir W. Johnson, etc., etc.
pendix. Sabine, Am. Loyalists, 398.
84 THE TRENCH, ENGLISH, AND INDIANS. [Chap. III.
the Mississippi, besides a host of domiciliated savages
in Canada itself, stood ready at the bidding of France
to grind their tomahawks and turn loose their ravenous
war-parties ; while the British colonists had too much
reason to fear that even those tribes who seemed most
friendly to their cause, and who formed the sole bar-
rier of their unprotected borders, might, at the first
sound of the war-whoop, be found in arms against
them.
CHAPTER IV.
COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES.
The people of the northern English colonies had
learned to regard their Canadian neighbors with the
bitterest enmity. "With them, the very name of Canada
called up horrible recollections and ghastly images;
the midnight massacre of Schenectady, and the deso-
lation of many a New England hamlet ; blazing dwell-
ings and reeking scalps ; and children snatched from
their mothers' arms, to be immured in convents and
trained up in the heresies of Popery. To the sons
of the Puritans, their enemy was doubly odious. They
hated him as a Frenchman, and they hated him as a
Papist. Hitherto he had waged his murderous war-
fare from a distance, wasting their settlements with
rapid onsets, fierce and transient as a summer storm ;
but now, with enterprising audacity, he was intrenching
himself on their very borders. The English hunter,
in the lonely wilderness of Vermont, as by the warm
glow of sunset he piled the spruce boughs for his
woodland bed, started as a deep, low sound struck
faintly on his ear, the evening gun of Fort Frederic,
booming over lake and forest. The erection of this
fort, better known among the English as Crown Point,
was a piece of daring encroachment which justly
kindled resentment in the northern colonies. But it
was not here that the immediate occasion of a final
H
86 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
|
rupture was to arise. By an article of the treaty of
Utrecht, confirmed by that of Aix la Chapelle, Aca-
dia had been ceded to England ; but scarcely was the
latter treaty signed, when debates sprang up touch-
ing the limits of the ceded province. Commissioners
were named on either side to adjust the disputed
boundary; but the claims of the rival powers proved
utterly irreconcilable, and all negotiation was fruitless.1
Meantime, the French and English forces in Acadia
began to assume a belligerent attitude, and indulge
their ill blood in mutual aggression and reprisal.2
But while this game was played on the coasts of the
Atlantic, interests of far greater moment were at stake
in the west.
The people of the middle colonies, placed by their
local position beyond reach of the French, had
heard with great composure of the sufferings of their
New England brethren, and felt little concern at a
danger so doubtful and remote. There were those
among them, however, who, with greater foresight, had
been quick to perceive the ambitious projects of the
French; and, as early as 1716, Spots wood, governor
of Virginia, had urged the expediency of securing
the valley of the Ohio by a series of forts and set-
tlements.3 His proposal was coldly listened to, and
his plan fell to the ground. The time at length was
come when the danger was approaching too near to
be slighted longer. In 1748, an association, called
the Ohio Company, was formed, with the view of
making settlements in the region beyond the Alle-
i Garneau, Book VIII. Chap. III. 3 Smollett, III. 370, (Edinburgh,
2 Holmes, Annals, II. 183. Me- 1805.)
moire contenant Le Precis des Faits,
Pieces Justificatives, Part I.
Ciiap.IV.] MISSION OF WASHINGTON. 87
ghanies ; and two years later, Gist, the company's sur-
veyor, to the great disgust of the Indians, carried
chain and compass down the Ohio as far as the falls
at Louisville.1 But so dilatory were the English, that
before any effectual steps were taken, their agile ene-
mies appeared upon the scene.
In the spring of 1753, the middle provinces were
startled at the tidings that French troops had crossed
Lake Erie, fortified themselves at the point of Presqu'-
Isle, and pushed forward to the northern branches
of the Ohio.9 Upon this, Governor Dinwiddie, of
Virginia, resolved to despatch a message requiring
their removal from territories which he claimed as
belonging to the British crown; and looking about
him for the person best qualified to act as messenger,
he made choice of George Washington, a young man
twenty-one years of age, adjutant general of the Vir-
ginian militia.
Washington departed on his mission, crossed the
mountains, descended to the bleak and leafless valley
of the Ohio, and thence continued his journey up the
banks of the Alleghany until the fourth of Decem-
ber. On that day he reached Venango, an Indian
town on the Alleghany, at the mouth of French Creek.
Here was the advanced post of the French, and here,
among the Indian log-cabins and huts of bark, he saw
their flag flying above the house of an English trader,
whom the military intruders had unceremoniously
ejected. They gave the young envoy a hospitable re-
ception,3 and referred him to the commanding officer,
i Sparks, Life and Writings of tains documents relating to this period
Washington, II. 478. Gist's Journal, which are not to be found elsewhere.
1750. 3 » He invited us to sup with them,
2 Olden Time, II. 9, 10. This ex- and treated us with the greatest com-
cellent antiquarian publication con- plaisance. The wine, as they dosed
88 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLOMES. [Chap. IV.
whose head-quarters were at Le Boeiif, a fort which
they had just erected on French Creek, some distance
above Venango. Thither Washington repaired, and
on his arrival was received with stately courtesy by
the officer Legardeur de St. Pierre, whom he describes
as an elderly gentleman of very soldier-like appear-
ance. To the message of Dinwiddie, St. Pierre replied
that he would forward it to the governor general of
Canada; but that, in the mean time, his orders were
to hold possession of the country, and this he should
do to the best of his ability. With this answer Wash-
ington, through all the rigors of the midwinter forest,
retraced his steps, with one attendant, to the English
borders.
With the first opening of spring, a newly-raised
company of Virginian backwoodsmen, under Captain
Trent, hastened across the mountains, and began to
build a fort at the confluence of the Monongahela
and Alleghany, where Pittsburg now stands; when
suddenly they found themselves invested by a host
of French and Indians, who, with sixty bateaux
and three hundred canoes, had descended from Le
Bceuf and Venango.1 The English were ordered to
evacuate the spot; and, being quite unable to resist,
they obeyed the summons, and withdrew in great dis-
comfiture towards Virginia. Meanwhile Washington,
themselves pretty plentifully with it, prevent any undertaking of theirs,
soon banished the restraint Which at They pretend to have an undoubted
first appeared in their conversation, right to the river from a discovery
and gave a license to their tongues made by one La Salle, sixty years
to reveal their sentiments more freely, ago ; and the rise of this expedition
They told me, that it was their abso- is, to prevent our settling on the river
lute design to take possession of the or waters of it, as they heard of some
Ohio, and by G — d they would do it ; families moving out in order there-
for that, although they were sensible to." — Washington, Journal.
the English could raise two men for i Sparks, Life and Writings of
their one, yet they knew their mo- Washington, II. 6.
tions were too slow and dilatory to
Chap. IV.] DEATH OF JUMONVILLE. 89
with another party of backwoodsmen, was advancing
from the borders ; and hearing of Trent's disaster, he
resolved to fortify himself on the Monongahela, and
hold his ground, if possible, until fresh troops could
arrive to support him. The French sent out a scout-
ing party under M. Jumonville, with the design, prob-
ably, of watching his movements ; but, on a dark and
stormy night, Washington surprised them, as they lay
lurking in a rocky glen not far from his camp, killed
the officer, and captured the whole detachment.1 Learn-
ing that the French, enraged by this reverse, were about
to attack him in great force, he thought it prudent to
fall back, and retired accordingly to a spot called the
Great Meadows, where he had before thrown up a
slight intrenchment. Here he found himself furiously
assailed by nine hundred French and Indians, com-
manded by a brother of the slain Jumonville. From
eleven in the morning till eight at night, the back-
woodsmen, who were half famished from the failure
of their stores, maintained a stubborn defence, some
fighting within the intrenchment, and some on the
plain without. In the evening, the French sounded a
parley, and offered terms. They were accepted, and on
the following day Washington and his men retired
across the mountains, and the disputed territory re-
mained in the hands of the French.2
While the rival nations were beginning to quarrel
for a prize which belonged to neither of them, the
unhappy Indians saw, with alarm and amazement, their
i Sparks, II. 447. The conduct Le Precis des Faits. This volume,
of Washington in this affair has been an official publication of the French
misrepresented, but the passage re- court, contains numerous documents,
ferred to contains a full justification, among which are the papers of the
2 For the French account of these unfortunate Braddock, left on the
operations, see Memoire contenant field of battle by his defeated army.
12 H*
90 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
lands becoming a bone of contention between rapacious
strangers. The first appearance of the French on the
Ohio excited the wildest fears in the tribes of that
quarter, among whom were those who, disgusted by
the encroachments of the Pennsylvanians, had fled to
these remote retreats to escape the intrusions of the
white men. Scarcely was their fancied asylum gained,
when they saw themselves invaded by a host of armed
men from Canada. Thus placed between two fires,
they knew not which way to turn. There was no
union in their counsels, and they seemed like a mob
of bewildered children. Their native jealousy was
roused to its utmost pitch. Many of them thought
that the two white nations had conspired to destroy
them, and then divide their lands. " You and the
French," said one of them, a few years afterwards, to
an English emissary, " are like the two edges of a pair
of shears, and we are the cloth which is cut to pieces
between them." l
The French labored hard to conciliate them, plying
them with gifts and flatteries,2 and proclaiming them-
selves their champions against the English. At first,
these arts seemed in vain, but their effect soon began
to declare itself; and this effect was- greatly increased
by a singular piece of infatuation on the part of the
proprietors of Pennsylvania. During the summer of
i First Journal of C. F. Post. said, ' See here, you fools, what the
2 Letters of Robert Stobo, an Eng- French have given me. I was in
lish hostage at Fort du Quesne. Philadelphia, and never received a
" Sharnokin Daniel, who came farthing;' and (directing himself to
Avith me, went over to the fort me) said, ' The English are fools, and
[du Quesne] by himself, and coun- so are you.' " — Post, First Journal.
selled with the governor, who pre- Washington, while at Fort Le
sented him with a laced coat and Bceuf, was much annoyed by the
hat, a blanket, shirts, ribbons, a new conduct of the French, who did
gun, powder, lead, &c. When he their utmost to seduce his Indian
returned, he was quite changed, and escort by bribes and promises.
Chap. IV.] FRENCH AND ENGLISH DIPLOMACY. 91
1754, delegates of the several provinces met at Albany,
in order to concert measures of defence in the war
which now seemed inevitable. It was at this meeting
that the memorable plan of a union of the colonies
was brought upon the carpet; a plan, the fate of
which was curious and significant, for the crown
rejected it as giving too much power to the people,
and the people as giving too much power to the
crown.1 A council was also held with the Iroquois,
and though they were found but lukewarm in their
attachment to the English, a treaty of friendship and
alliance was concluded with their deputies.3 It would
have been well if the matter had ended here; but,
with ill-timed rapacity, the proprietary agents of Penn-
sylvania took advantage of this great assemblage of
sachems to procure from them the grant of extensive
tracts, including the lands inhabited by the very tribes
whom the French were at that moment striving to
seduce.3 When they heard that, without their consent,
their conquerors and tyrants, the Iroquois, had sold the
soil from beneath their feet, their indignation was
extreme ; and, convinced that there was no limit to
English encroachment, many of them from that hour
became fast allies of the French.
The courts of London and Versailles still maintained
a diplomatic intercourse, both protesting their earnest
wish that their conflicting claims might be adjusted
by friendly negotiation ; but while each disclaimed the
i Trumbull, Hist. Conn. II. 355. regard to the French, who, as the
Holmes, Annals, II. 201. speaker averred, had behaved like
2 At this council an Iroquois sa- men and warriors. — Minutes of Con-
chem upbraided the English, with ferences at Mbany, 1754.
great boldness, for their neglect of 3 Causes of the Alienation of
the Indians, their invasion of their the Delaware and Shawanoe Indians
lands, and their dilatory conduct with from the British Interest, 77,
92 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
intention of hostility, both were hastening to prepare
for war. Early in 1755, an English fleet sailed from
Cork, having on board two regiments destined for
Virginia, and commanded by General Braddock; and
soon after, a French fleet put to sea from the port of
Brest, freighted with munitions of war and a strong
body of troops under Baron Dieskau, an officer who
had distinguished himself hi the campaigns of Marshal
Saxe. The English fleet gained its destination, and
landed its troops in safety. The French were less for-
tunate. Two of their ships, the Lys and the Alcide,
became involved in the fogs of the banks of New-
foundland ; and when the weather cleared, they found
themselves under the guns of a superior British force,
belonging to the squadron of Admiral Boscawen, sent
out for the express purpose of intercepting them.
" Are we at peace or war 1 " demanded the French
commander. A broadside from the Englishman soon
solved his doubts, and, after a stout resistance, the
French struck their colors.1 News of the capture
caused great excitement in England, but the conduct
of the aggressors was generally approved of; and
under pretence that the French had begun the war by
their alleged encroachments in America, orders were
issued for a general attack upon their marine. So
successful were the British cruisers, that, before the
end of the year, three hundred French vessels, and
nearly eight thousand sailors, were captured and
brought into port.2 The French, unable to retort in
1 Garneau, II. 551. Gent. Mag. acts of piracy ; and some neu-
XXV. 330. tral powers of Europe seemed to
2 Smollett, III. 436. consider them in the same point of
" The French inveighed against view. It was certainly high time to
the capture of their ships, before check the insolence of the French
any declaration of war, as flagrant by force of arms ; and surely this
Chap. IV.] THE WAR IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. 93
kind, raised an outcry of indignation, and Mirepoix,
their ambassador, withdrew from the court of London.
Thus began that memorable war which, kindling
among the wild forests of America, scattered its fires
over the kingdoms of Europe, and the sultry empire
of the Great Mogul; the war made glorious by the
heroic death of Wolfe, the victories of Frederic, and
the marvellous exploits of Clive ; the War which con-
trolled the destinies of America, and was first in the
chain of events which led on to her revolution, with
all its vast and undeveloped consequences. On the
old battle-ground of Europe, the struggle bore the
same familiar features of violence and horror which
had marked the strife of former generations — fields
ploughed by the cannon ball, and walls shattered by
the exploding mine, sacked towns and blazing sub-
urbs, the lamentations of women, and the license of
a maddened soldiery. But in America, war assumed
a new and striking aspect. A wilderness was its sub-
lime arena. Army met army under the shadows of
primeval woods ; their cannon resounded over wastes
unknown to civilized man. And before the hostile
powers could join in battle, endless forests must be
traversed, and morasses passed, and every where the
axe of the pioneer must hew a path for the bayonet
of the soldier.
Before the declaration of war, and before the break-
ing off of negotiations between the courts of France
and England, the English ministry formed the plan
of assailing the French in America on all sides at
might have been as effectually and neighbors, and fixed the imputation
expeditiously exerted under the usual of fraud and freebooting on the be-
sanction of a formal declaration, the ginning of the war." — Smollett, III.
omission of which exposed the ad- 481. See also Mahon, Hist. Eng-
ministration to the censure of our land, IV. 72.
94 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
once, and repelling them, by one bold push, from all
their encroachments.1 A provincial army was to ad-
vance upon Acadia, a second was to attack Crown
Point, and a third Niagara ; while the two regiments
which had lately arrived in Virginia under General
Braddock, aided by a strong body of provincials, were
to dislodge the French from their newly-built fort of
Du Quesne. To Braddock was assigned the chief
command of all the British forces in America ; and a
person worse fitted for the office could scarcely have
been found. His experience had been ample, and none
could doubt his courage; but he was profligate, arro-
gant, perverse, and a bigot to military rides.2 On his
first arrival in Virginia, he called together the gov-
ernors of the several provinces, in order to explain his
instructions and adjust the details of the projected
operations. These arrangements complete, Braddock
advanced to the borders of Virginia, and formed his
camp at Fort Cumberland, where he spent several
1 Instructions of General Brad- more to his credit. " He once had
dock. See Precis des Faits, 160, a duel with Colonel Gumley, Lady
168. Bath's brother, who had been his
~ The following is Horace Wal- great friend. As they were going to
pole's testimony, and writers of bet- engage, Gumley, who had good hu-
ter authority have expressed them- mor and wit, (Braddock had the lat-
selves, with less liveliness and ter,) said, ' Braddock, you are a poor
piquancy, to the same effect: — dog! Here, take my purse. If you
" Braddock is a very Iroquois in dis- kill me, you will be forced to run
position. He had a sister, who, hav- away, and then you will not have a
ing gamed away all her little fortune shilling to support you.' Braddock
at Bath, hanged herself with a truly refused the purse, insisted on the
English deliberation, leaving only a duel, was disarmed, and would not
note upon the table with those lines, even ask his life. However, with all
'To die is landing on some silent his brutality, he has lately been gov-
shore,' &c. When Braddock was ernor of Gibraltar, where he made
told of it, he only said, 'Poor Fanny ! himself adored, and where scarce
I always thought she would play till any governor was endured before."
she would be forced to tuck herself — Letters to Sir H. Mann, CCLXV.
up.' " CCLXVI.
Here follows a curious anecdote Washington's opinion of Brad-
of Braddock's meanness and profli- dock may be gathered from his
gacy, which I omit. The next is Writings, II. 77.
Chap. IV.] MARCH OF BRADDOCK. 95
weeks in training the raw backwoodsmen, who joined
him, into such discipline as they seemed capable of;
in collecting horses and wagons, which could only be
had with the utmost difficulty ; in railing at the con-
tractors, who scandalously cheated him; and in vent-
ing his spleen by copious abuse of the country and
the people. All at length was ready, and early in
June, 1755, the army left civilization behind, and
struck into the broad wilderness as a squadron puts
out to sea.
It was no easy task to force their way over that
rugged ground, covered with an unbroken growth of
forest; and the difficulty was increased by the need-
less load of baggage which encumbered their march.
The crash of falling trees resounded in the front,
where a hundred axemen labored, with ceaseless toil,
to hew a passage for the army.1 The horses strained
their utmost strength to drag the ponderous wagons
over roots and stumps, through gullies and quagmires ;
and the regular troops were daunted by the depth
and gloom of the forest which hedged them in on
either hand, and closed its leafy arches above their
heads. So tedious was their progress, that, by the
advice of Washington, twelve hundred chosen men
moved on in advance with the lighter baggage and
artillery, leaving the rest of the army to follow, by
slower stages, with the heavy wagons. On the eighth
of July, the advanced body reached the Monongahela,
at a point not far distant from Fort du Quesne.
The rocky and impracticable ground on the eastern
side debarred their passage, and the general resolved
to cross the river in search of a smoother path, and
1 MS. Diary of the Expedition, in the British Museum.
96 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
recross it a few miles lower down, in order to gain
the fort. The first passage was easily made, and the
troops moved, in glittering array, down the western
margin of the water, rejoicing that their goal was
well nigh reached, and the hour of their expected
triumph close at hand.
Scouts and Indian runners had brought the tidings
of Braddock's approach to the French at Fort du
Quesne. Their dismay was great, and Contrecceur, the
commander, thought only of retreat; when Beaujeu, a
captain hi the garrison, made the bold proposal of
leading out a party of French and Indians to waylay
the English in the woods, and harass or interrupt
their march. The offer was accepted, and Beaujeu
hastened to the Indian camps.
Around the fort and beneath the adjacent forest
were the bark lodges of savage hordes, whom the
French had mustered from far and near ; Ojibwas and
Ottawas, Hurons and Caughnawagas, Abenakis and
Delawares. Beaujeu called the warriors together,
flung a hatchet on the ground before them, and in-
vited them to follow him out to battle; but the
boldest stood aghast at the peril, and none would ac-
cept the challenge. A second interview took place
with no better success; but the Frenchman was re-
solved to carry his point. " I am determined to go,"
he exclaimed. " What, will you suffer your father to
go alone \ " * His daring spirit proved contagious.
The warriors hesitated no longer; and when, on the
morning of the ninth of July, a scout ran in with
J Sparks, Life and Writings of scripts, which throw much light on
Washington, II. 473. I am indebted the incidents of the battle. These
to the kindness of President Sparks manuscripts are alluded to in the
for copies of several French manu- Life and Writings of Washington.
Chap. IV.J THE AMBUSCADE. 9T
the news that the English army was but a few miles
distant, the Indian camps were at once astir with the
turmoil of preparation. Chiefs harangued their yell-
ing followers, braves bedaubed themselves with war-
paint, smeared themselves with grease, hung feathers
in their scalp-locks, and whooped and stamped till
they had wrought themselves into a delirium of
valor.
That morning, James Smith, an English prisoner
recently captured on the frontier of Pennsylvania,
stood on the rampart, and saw the half-frenzied mul-
titude thronging about the gateway, where kegs of
bullets and gunpowder were broken open, that each
might help himself at will.* Then band after band
hastened away towards the forest, followed and sup-
ported by nearly two hundred and fifty French and
Canadians, commanded by Beaujeu. There were the
Ottawas, led on, it is said, by the remarkable man
whose name stands on the title-page of this history;
there were the Hurons of Lorette under their chief,
whom the French called Athanase,2 and many more,
all keen as hounds on the scent of blood. At about
nine miles from the fort, they reached a spot where
the narrow road descended to the river through deep
and gloomy woods, and where two ravines, concealed
by trees and bushes, seemed formed by nature for an
ambuscade. Here the warriors ensconced themselves,
and, levelling their guns over the edge, lay hi fierce
1 Smith's Narrative. This interest- dance. Got well acquainted with
ing- account has been several times Athanase, who was commander of the
published. It may be found in Drake's Indians who defeated General Brad-
Tragedies of the Wilderness. dock, in 1755 — a very sensible fel-
2 "Went to Lorette, an Indian vil- low." — MS. Journal of an English
lage about eight miles from Quebec. Gentleman on a Tour through Canada,
Saw the Indians at mass, and heard in 1765.
them sing- psalms tolerably well — a
13 T
98 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
expectation, listening to the advancing drums of the
English army.
It was past noon of a day brightened with the clear
sunlight of an American midsummer, when the forces
of Braddock began, for a second time, to cross the
Monongahela, at the fording-place, which to this day
bears the name of their ill-fated leader. The scarlet
columns of the British regulars complete in martial
appointment, the rude backwoodsmen with shouldered
rifles, the trams of artillery and the white-topped
wagons, moved on in long procession through the
broad and shallow current, and slowly mounted the
opposing bank.1 Men were there whose names have
become historic; Gage, who, twenty years later, saw
his routed battalions recoil in disorder from before
the breastwork on Bunker Hill; Gates, the future
conqueror of Burgoyne ; and one destined to far loftier
fame, George Washington, a boy in years, a man in
calm thought and self-riding wisdom.
With steady and well-ordered inarch, the troops
advanced into the great labyrinth of woods which
shadowed the eastern borders of the river. Rank
after rank vanished from si^ht. The forest swallowed
them up, and the silence of the wilderness sank down
once more on the shores and waters of the Monon-
gahela.
Several guides and six light horsemen led the way;
a body of grenadiers was close behind, and the army
1 " My feelings were heightened order of the men, the cleanliness of
by the warm and glowing narration their appearance, the joy depicted on
of that day's events, by Dr. Walker, every face at being so near Fort du
who was an eye-witness. He pointed Quesne — the highest object of their
out the ford where the army crossed wishes. The music reechoed through
the Monongahela, (below Turtle the hills. How brilliant the morn-
Creek, 800 yards.) A finer sight could ing — how melancholy the evening ! "
not have been beheld — the shining — Letter of Judge Yeates, dated August,
barrels of the muskets, the excellent 1776. See Haz., Pa. Reg. VI. 104.
Chap. IV.] BKADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 99
followed in such order as the rough ground would
permit.1 Their road was tunnelled through the forest ;
yet, deaf alike to the voice of common sense and to
the counsel of his officers, Braddock had neglected to
throw out scouts in advance, and pressed forward
in blind security to meet his fate. Leaving behind
the low grounds which bordered on the river, the
van of the army was now ascending a gently-sloping
hill; and here, well hidden by the thick standing
columns of the forest, by mouldering prostrate trunks,
by matted undergrowth, and long rank grasses, lay
on either flank the two fatal ravines where the In-
dian allies of the French were crouched in breathless
ambuscade. No man saw the danger, when sudden-
ly a discordant cry arose in front, and a murderous
fire blazed in the teeth of the astonished grenadiers.
Instinctively as it were, the survivors returned the
volley^ and returned it with good effect; for a ran-
dom shot struck down the brave Beaujeu, and the
courage of the assailants was staggered by his fall.
Dumas, second in command, rallied them to the at-
tack; and while he, with the French and Canadians,
made good the pass in front, the Indians opened a
deadly fire on the right and left of the British col-
umns.2 In a few moments, all was confusion. The
advanced guard fell back on the main body, and
every trace of subordination vanished. The fire soon
extended along the whole length of the army,
from front to rear. Scarce an enemy could be seen,
though the forest resounded with their yells ; though
every bush and tree was alive with incessant flashes ;
1 Plans of Braddock's march, in the Library of Harvard College.
2 Sparks, II. 473.
COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
though the lead flew like a hailstorm, and with every
moment the men went down by scores. The regular
troops seemed bereft of their senses. They huddled
together in the road like flocks of sheep; and happy
did he think himself who could wedge his way into the
midst of the crowd, and place a barrier of human flesh
between his life and the shot of the ambushed marks-
men. Many were seen eagerly loading their muskets,
and then firing them into the air, or shooting their own
comrades, in the insanity of their terror. The officers,
for the most part, displayed a conspicuous gallantry;
but threats and commands were wasted alike on
the panic-stricken multitude. It is said that at the
outset Braddock showed signs of fear; but he soon
recovered his wonted intrepidity. Five horses were
shot under him, and five times he mounted afresh.1
He stormed and shouted, and, while the Virginians
were fighting to good purpose, each man behind a tree,
like the Indians themselves, he ordered them with fu-
rious menace to form in platoons, where the fire of the
enemy mowed them down like grass. At length, a
mortal shot silenced him, and two provincials bore
him off the field. "Washington rode through the tu-
mult calm and undaunted. Two horses were killed
under him, and four bullets pierced his clothes;2 but
his hour was not come, and he escaped without a
wound. Gates was shot through the body, and Gage
also was severely wounded. Of eighty-six officers,
only twenty-three remained unhurt; and of twelve
hundred soldiers who crossed the Monongahela, more
than seven hundred were killed and wounded. None
1 Letter — Captain Orme, his aide-de-camp, to , July 18.
2 Sparks, I. 67.
Chap. IV.] RESULTS OF BEADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 101
suffered more severely than the Virginians, who had
displayed throughout a degree of courage and steadi-
ness which put the cowardice of the regulars to
shame. The havoc among them was terrible, for of
their whole number scarcely one fifth left the field
alive.1
The slaughter lasted three hours ; when, at length,
the survivors, as if impelled by a general impulse,
rushed tumultuously from the place of carnage, and
with dastardly precipitation fled across the Monon-
gahela. The enemy did not pursue beyond the river,
flocking back to the field to collect the plunder, and
gather a rich harvest of scalps. The routed troops
pursued their flight until they met the rear division of
the army under Colonel Dunbar ; and even then their
senseless terrors did not abate. Dunbar's soldiers
caught the infection. Cannon, baggage, and wagons
were destroyed, and all fled together, eager to escape
from the shadows of those awful woods, whose hor-
rors haunted their imagination. They passed the de-
fenceless settlements of the border, and hurried on to
Philadelphia, leaving the unhappy people to defend
themselves as they might against the tomahawk and
scalping-knife.
The calamities of this disgraceful overthrow did not
cease with the loss of a few hundred soldiers on the
1 " The Virginia troops showed a inclined to do their duty, to almost
good deal of bravery, and were nearly certain death ; and at last, in despite
all killed ; for I believe, out of three of all the efforts of the officers to the
companies that were there, scarcely contrary, they ran, as sheep pursued
thirty men are left alive. Captain by dogs, and it was impossible to
Peyrouny, and all his officers, down rally them." — Writings of Washing-
to a corporal, were killed. Captain ton, II. 87.
Poison had nearly as hard a fate, for The English themselves bore re-
only one of his was left. In short, the luctant testimony to the good con-
dastardly behavior of those they call duct of the Virginians. — See Entick.
regulars exposed all others, that were Hist. Late War, 147.
102 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
field of battle; for it entailed upon the provinces all
the miseries of an Indian war. Those among the
tribes who had thus far stood neutral, wavering be-
tween the French and English, now hesitated no
longer. Many of them had been disgusted by the
contemptuous behavior of Braddock. All had learned
to despise the courage of the English, and to regard
their own prowess with unbounded complacency. It
is not in Indian nature to stand quiet in the midst
of war ; and the defeat of Braddock was a signal for
the western savages to snatch their tomahawks and
assail the English settlements with one accord; to
murder and pillage with ruthless fury, and turn the
whole frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia into one
wide scene of woe and desolation.
The three remaining expeditions which the British
ministry had planned for that year's campaign were
attended with various results. Acadia was quickly
reduced by the forces of Colonel Monkton ; but the
glories of this easy victory were tarnished by an act
of high-handed oppression. Seven thousand of the
unfortunate people, refusing to take the prescribed
oath of allegiance, were seized by the conquerors, torn
from their homes, placed on shipboard like cargoes
of negro slaves, and transported to the British prov-
inces.1 The expedition against Niagara was a total
failure, for the troops did not even reach their des-
tination. The movement against Crown Point met
with no better success as regards the main object of
the enterprise. Owing to the lateness of the season,
and other causes, the troops proceeded no farther than
Lake George; but the attempt was marked by an
i Haliburton, Hist. Nova Scotia, I. Chap. IV.
Chap. IV.] BATTLE OF LAKE GEORGE. 103
achievement of arms, which, in that day of failures,
was greeted, both in England and America, as a signal
victory.
General, afterwards Sir William Johnson had been
charged with the conduct of the Crown Point expedi-
tion ; and his little army, a rude assemblage of hunters
and farmers from New York and New England, lay
encamped at the southern extremity of Lake George.
Here, while they languidly pursued their preparations,
their active enemy anticipated their designs. Baron
Dieskau, who, with a strong body of troops, had
reached Quebec in the squadron which sailed from
Brest hi the spring, had intended to take forcible pos-
session of the fort of Oswego, erected upon ground
claimed by the French as part of Canada. Learning
Johnson's movements, he changed his plan, crossed
Lake Champlain, made a circuit by way of Wood
Creek, and gained the rear of the English army, with
a force of about two thousand French and Indians.
At midnight, on the seventh of September, the tidings
reached Johnson that the army of the French baron
was but a few miles distant from his camp. A council
of war was called, and the strange resolution formed
of detaching a thousand men to meet the enemy. " If
they are to be killed," said Hendrick, the Mohawk
chief, " they are too many ; if they are to fight, they
are too few." His remonstrance was unheeded, and
the brave old savage, unable, from age and corpulence,
to fight on foot, mounted his horse, and joined the
English detachment with two hundred of his warriors.
At sunrise, the party defiled from the camp, and, enter-
ing the forest, disappeared from the eyes of their
comrades.
Those who remained behind labored with all the
104 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
energy of alarm to fortify their unprotected camp.
An hour elapsed, when from the distance was heard a
sudden explosion of musketry. The excited soldiers
suspended their work to listen. A rattling fire suc-
ceeded, deadened among the woods, but growing louder
and nearer, till none could doubt that their comrades
had met the French, and were defeated.
This was indeed the case. Marching through thick
woods, by the narrow and newly-cut road which led
along the valley stretching southward from Lake
George, Williams, the English commander, had led his
men full into an ambuscade, where all Dieskau's army
lay in wait to receive them. From the woods on both
sides rose an appalling shout, followed by a storm of
bullets. Williams was soon shot down ; Hendrick
shared his fate; many officers fell, and the road was
strewn with dead and wounded soldiers. The English
gave way at once. Had they been regular troops, the
result would have been most fatal ; but every man was
a woodsman and a hunter. Some retired in bodies
along the road ; but the greater part spread themselves
through the forest, opposing a wide front to the enemy,
and fighting stubbornly as they retreated. They shot
back at the French from behind every tree or bush that
could afford a cover. The Canadians and Indians
pressed them closely, darting, with shrill cries, from
tree to tree, while Dieskau's regulars, with steadier
advance, bore all before them. Far and wide through
the forest rang shout, and shriek, and Indian whoop,
mingled with the deadly rattle of guns. Retreating
and pursuing, the combatants passed northward towards
the English camp, leaving the ground behind them
strewn with dead and dying.
A fresh detachment from the camp came in aid of
Chap. IV.] BATTLE OF LAKE GEOEGE. 105
the English, and the pursuit was checked. Yet the
retreating men were not the less rejoiced when they
could discern, between the brown columns of the
woods, the mountains and waters of Lake George,
with the white tents of their encampments on its
shore. The French followed no farther. The blast
of their trumpets was heard recalling their scattered
men for a final attack.
During the absence of Williams' detachment, the
main body of the army had covered the front of their
camp with a breastwork, if that name can be applied
to a row of logs, behind which the marksmen lay flat
on their faces. This preparation was not yet complete,
when the defeated troops appeared issuing from the
woods. Breathless and perturbed, they entered the
camp, and lay down with the rest. Full of dismal
forebodings, the army waited the attack. Soon, at the
edge of the woods which bordered the open space in
front, painted Indians were seen, and bayonets glittered
among the foliage, shining, in the homely comparison
of a New England soldier, like a row of icicles on a
January morning. The French regulars marched in
column to the edge of the clearing, and formed in line,
confronting the English at the distance of a hundred
and fifty yards. Their complete order, their white
uniforms and bristling bayonets, were a new and
startling sight to the eyes of Johnson's rustic soldiers,
who raised but a feeble cheer in answer to the shouts
of their enemies. Happily, Dieskau made no assault.
The regulars opened a distant fire, throwing volley
after volley of musketry against the English, while the
Canadians and Indians, dispersing through the morasses
on each flank of the camp, fired sharply, under cover
of the trees and bushes. In the rear, the English
U
106 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
were protected by the lake ; but on the three remaining
sides, they were hedged in by the flash and smoke of
musketry.
The fire of the French had little effect. The Eng-
lish recovered from their first surprise, and every
moment their confidence rose higher and their shouts
grew louder. Levelling their long limiting guns with
cool precision, they returned a fire which thinned the
ranks of the French, and galled them beyond endurance.
Two cannon were soon brought to bear upon the mo-
rasses which sheltered the Canadians and Indians ; and
though the pieces were served with little skill, the
assailants were so terrified by the crashing of the
balls among the trunks and branches, that they gave
way at once. Dieskau still persisted in the attack.
From noon until past four o'clock, the firing was
scarcely abated, when, at length, the French, who had
suffered extremely, showed signs of wavering. At
this, with a general shout, the English broke from
their camp, and rushed upon their enemies, striking
them down with the buts of their guns, and driving
them through the woods like deer. Dieskau was
taken prisoner, dangerously wounded, and leaning for
support against the stump of a tree. The slaugh-
ter would have been great, had not the English gen-
eral recalled the pursuers, and suffered the French to
continue their flight unmolested. Fresh disasters still
awaited the fugitives ; for, as they approached the
scene of that morning's ambuscade, they were greeted
by a volley of musketry. Two companies of New
York and New Hampshire rangers, who had come
out from Fort Edward as a scouting party, had lain
in wait to receive them. Favored by the darkness of
the woods, — for night was now approaching, — they
Chap. IV.] PROGRESS OF THE "WAR. 107
made so sudden and vigorous an attack, that the
French, though far superior in number, were totally-
routed and dispersed.1
On this day, the British colonists of America, for
the first time, encountered in battle the trained sol-
diers of Europe. That memorable conflict has cast
its dark associations over one of the most beautiful
spots in America. Near the scene of the evening
fight, a pool, half overgrown by weeds and water lilies,
and darkened by the surrounding forest, is pointed out
to the tourist, and he is told that beneath its stagnant
waters lie the bones of three hundred Frenchmen,
deep buried in mud and slime.
The war thus begun was prosecuted for five succeed-
ing years with the full energy of both nations. The
period was one of suffering and anxiety to the colonists,
who, knowing the full extent of their danger, spared
no exertion to avert it. In the year 1758, Lord Aber-
crombie, who then commanded in America, had at his
1 Holmes, II. 210. Trumbull, Hist, lying flat on their faces, behind their
Conn. II. 368. Dwight, Travels, III. breastwork, and busily firing at the
361. Hoyt, Indian Wars, 279. En- French and Indians, who are seen
tick, Hist. Late War, I. 153. Re- skulking among the woods and
view of Military Operations in North thickets.
America. Johnson's Letter to the I am again indebted to President
Provincial Governors. Blodgett's Sparks for the opportunity of exam-
Prospective View of the Battle near ining several curious manuscripts re-
Lake George. lating to the battle of Lake George.
Blodgett's pamphlet is accompa- Among them is Dieskau's official ac-
nied by a curious engraving, giving count of the affair, and a curious
a bird's eye view of the battle, in- paper, also written by the defeated
eluding the surprise of Williams' genera], and containing the story of
detachment, and the subsequent at- his disaster, as related by himself
tack on the camp of Johnson. In in an imaginary conversation with
the first half of the engraving, the his old commander, Marshal Saxe,
French army is represented lying in in the Elysian Fields. Several wri-
ambuscade in the form of a horse- ters have stated that Dieskau died of
shoe. Hendrick is conspicuous among his wounds. This, however, was
the English, from being mounted on not the case. He was carried pris-
horseback, while all the others are oner to England, where he lived for
on foot. In the view of the battle at several years, but returned to France
the lake, the English are represented after the peace of 1763.
108 COLLISION OE THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
disposal a force amounting to fifty thousand men, of
whom the greater part were provincials.1 The opera-
tions of the war embraced a wide extent of country,
from Cape Breton and Nova Scotia to the sources of
the Ohio ; but nowhere was the contest so actively
carried on as in the neighborhood of Lake George, the
waters of which, joined with those of Lake Champlain,
formed the main avenue of communication between
Canada and the British provinces. Lake George is
more than thirty miles long, but of width so slight
that it seems like some broad and placid river, enclosed
between ranges of lofty mountains; now contracting
into narrows, thickly dotted with islands and shadowed
by cliffs and precipices, and now spreading into a clear
and open expanse. It had long been known to the
French. The wandering Jesuits had called it Lac St.
Sacrement, in admiration of its romantic scenery and
the cool purity of its waters, which they loved to
use in their sacred rites. Its solitude was now
rudely invaded. Armies passed and repassed upon its
tranquil bosom. At its northern point the French
planted their stronghold of Ticonderoga ; at its south-
ern stood the English fort William Henry, while the
mountains and waters between were a scene of ceaseless
ambuscades, surprises, and forest skirmishing. Through
summer and winter, the crack of rifles and the cries
of men gave no rest to their echoes, and at this day, on
the field of many a forgotten fight, are dug up rusty
tomahawks, corroded bullets, and human bones, to
attest the struggles of the past.
The earlier years of the war were unpropitious to
the English, whose commanders displayed no great
i Holmes, II. 226. .
Chap. IV.] OSWEGO — FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 109
degree of vigor or ability. In the summer of 1756,
the French general Montcalm advanced upon Oswego,
took it, and levelled it to the ground. In August
of the following year, he struck a heavier blow.
Passing Lake George with a force of eight thousand
men, including about two thousand Indians, gathered
from the farthest parts of Canada, he laid siege to Fort
William Henry, close to the spot where Dieskau had
been defeated two years before. Erecting his batteries
against it, he beat down its ramparts and dismounted
its guns, until the garrison, after a brave defence, were
forced to capitulate. They marched out with the hon-
ors of war ; but scarcely had they done so, when
Montcalm's Indians assailed them, cutting down and
scalping them without mercy. Those who escaped
came in to Fort Edward with exaggerated accounts
of the horrors from which they had fled, and a general
terror was spread through the country. The inhab-
itants were mustered from all parts to repel the ad-
vance of Montcalm; but the French general, satisfied
with what he had done, repassed Lake George, and
retired behind the walls of Ticonderoga.
In the year 1758, the war began to assume a differ-
ent aspect, for Pitt was at the head of the government.
Sir Jeffrey Amherst laid siege to the strong fortress
of Louisburg, and at length reduced it ; while in the
south, General Forbes marched against Fort du Quesne,
and, more fortunate than his predecessor, Braddock,
drove the French from that important point. Another
successful stroke was the destruction of Fort Fron-
tenac, which was taken by a provincial army under
Colonel Bradstreet. These achievements were coun-
terbalanced by a signal disaster. Lord Abercrombie,
with an army of sixteen thousand men, advanced to
j
110 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV
the head of Lake George, the place made memorable
by Dieskau's defeat and the loss of Fort William
Henry. On a brilliant July morning, he embarked
his whole force for an attack on Ticonderoga. Many
of those present have recorded with admiration the
beauty of the spectacle, the lines of boats filled with
troops stretching far down the lake, the flashing of
oars, the glitter of weapons, and the music ringing
back from crags and rocks, or dying in mellowed
strains among the distant mountains. At night, the
army landed, and, driving in the French outposts,
marched through the woods towards Ticonderoga,
One of their columns, losing its way in the forest, fell
in with a body of the retreating French ; and in the
conflict that ensued, Lord Howe, the favorite of the
army, was shot dead. On the following morning, they
prepared to storm the lines which Montcalm had drawn
across the peninsula in front of the fortress. Advan-
cing to the attack, they saw before them a breastwork
of uncommon height and thickness. The French army
were drawn up behind it, their heads alone visible, as
they levelled their muskets against the assailants, while,
for a hundred yards in front of the work, the ground
was covered with felled trees, with sharpened branches
pointing outward. The signal of assault was given.
In vain the Highlanders, screaming with rage, hewed
with their broadswords among the branches, struggling
to get at the enemy. In vain the English, with their
deep-toned shout, rushed on in heavy columns. A
tempest of musket balls met them, and Montcalm's
cannon swept the whole ground with terrible carnage.
A few officers and men forced their way through the
branches, passed the ditch, climbed the breastwork, and,
leaping among the enemy, were instantly bayonetted.
Chap. IV.] STATE OE CANADA. 1 1 ]
Yet, though the English fought four hours with
determined valor, the position of the French was im-
pregnable ; and at length, having lost two thousand
of their number, the army drew off, leaving many of
their dead scattered upon the field. A sudden panic
seized the defeated troops. They rushed in haste to
their boats, and, though no pursuit was attempted,
they did not regain their composure until Lake George
was between them and the enemy. The fatal lines
of Ticonderoga were not soon forgotten in the prov-
inces; and marbles in Westminster Abbey preserve
the memory of those who fell on that disastrous day.
This repulse, far from depressing the energies of
the British commanders, seemed to stimulate them to
new exertion ; and the campaign of the next year,
1759, had for its object the immediate and total re-
duction of Canada. This unhappy country was full
of misery and disorder. Peculation and every kind
of corruption prevailed among its civil and military
chiefs, a reckless licentiousness was increasing among
the people, and a general famine seemed impending,
for the population had of late years been drained
away for military service, and the fields were left un-
tilled. In spite of their sufferings, the Canadians,
strong in rooted antipathy to the English, and highly
excited by their priests, resolved on fighting to the
last. Prayers were offered up in the churches, masses
said, and penances enjoined, to avert the wrath of God
from the colony, while every thing was done for its
defence which the energies of a great and patriotic
leader could effect.1
By the plan of this summer's campaign, Canada
i Smith, Hist. Canada, I. Chap. VI.
112 COLLISION OF THE EIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
was to be assailed on three sides at once. Upon the
west, General Prideaux was to attack Niagara ; upon
the south, General Amherst was to advance upon
Ticonderoga and Crown Point; while upon the east,
General Wolfe was to besiege Quebec ; and each of
these armies, having accomplished its particular ob-
ject, was directed to push forward, if possible, until
all three had united their forces in the heart of
Canada. In pursuance of the plan, General Prideaux
moved up Lake Ontario and invested Niagara. This
post was one of the greatest importance. Its capture
would cut off the French from the whole interior
country, and they therefore made every effort to raise
the siege. An army of seventeen hundred French
and Indians, collected at the distant garrisons of De-
troit, PresquTsle, Le Bceuf, and Venango, suddenly
appeared before Niagara.1 Sir William Johnson was
now in command of the English, Prideaux having
been killed by the bursting of a cohorn. Advancing
in order of battle, he met the French, charged, rout-
ed, and pursued them for five miles through the
woods. This success was soon followed by the sur-
render of the fort.
In the mean time, Sir Jeffrey Amherst had crossed
Lake George, and appeared before Ticonderoga; upon
which the French blew up their works, and retired
down Lake Champlain to Crown Point. Retreating
from this position also, on the approach of the Eng-
lish army, they collected all their forces, amounting
to little more than three thousand men, at Isle Aux
Noix, where they intrenched themselves, and j>repared
to resist the farther progress of the invaders. The
i Annual Register, 1759, p. 33.
Chap. IV.] WOLFE BEEOEE QUEBEC. 113
lateness of the season prevented Amherst from carry-
ing out the plan of advancing into Canada, and com-
pelled him to go into winter-quarters at Crown Point.
The same cause had withheld Prideaux's army from
descending the St. Lawrence.
While the outposts of Canada were thus success-
fully attacked, a blow was struck at a more vital
part. Early in June, General Wolfe sailed up the
St. Lawrence with a force of eight thousand men, and
formed his camp immediately below the city, on the
Island of Orleans.1 From thence he could discern,
at a single glance, how arduous was the task before
him. Piles of lofty cliffs rose with sheer ascent on
the northern border of the river; and from their
summits the boasted citadel of Canada looked down
in proud security, with its churches and convents of
stone, its ramparts, bastions, and batteries, while over
them all, from the very brink of the precipice, towered
the massive walls of the Castle of St. Louis. Above,
for many a league, the bank was guarded by an un-
broken range of steep acclivities. Below, the River
St. Charles, flowing into the St. LawTence, washed
the base of the rocky promontory on which the city
stood. Lower yet lay an army of fourteen thousand
men, under an able and renowned commander, the
Marquis of Montcalm. His front was covered by in-
trenchments and batteries, which lined the bank of
the St. Lawrence ; his right wing rested on the city
and the St. Charles; his left on the cascade and deep
gulf of Montmorenci ; and thick forests extended along
his rear. Opposite Quebec rose the high promontory
of Point Levi; and the St. Lawrence, contracted to
i Mante, Hist. Late War, 238.
15 j
114 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
less than a mile in width, flowed between, with deep
and powerful current. To a chief of less resolute
temper, it might well have seemed that art and nature
were in league to thwart his enterprise ; but a mind
like that of Wolfe could only have seen in this ma-
jestic combination of forest and cataract, mountain
and river, a fitting theatre for the great drama about
to be enacted there.
Yet nature did not seem to have formed the young
English general for the conduct of a doubtful and
almost desperate enterprise. His person was slight,
and his features by no means of a martial cast. His
feeble constitution had been undermined by years of
protracted and painful disease.1 His kind and genial
disposition seemed better fitted for the quiet of do-
mestic life, than for the stern duties of military com-
mand; but to these gentler traits he joined a high
enthusiasm, and an unconquerable spirit of daring
and endurance, which made him the idol of his sol-
diers, and bore his slender frame through every hard-
ship and exposure.
The work before him demanded all his courage.
How to invest the city, or even bring the army of
Montcalm to action, was a problem which might have
perplexed a Hannibal. A French fleet lay in the river
above, and the precipices along the northern bank
were guarded at every accessible point by sentinels
1 " I have this day signified to Mr. would lead me into Germany ; and if
Pitt that he may dispose of my slight my poor talent was consulted, they
carcass as he pleases, and that I am should place me to the cavalry, be-
ready for any undertaking within the cause nature has given me good eyes,
reach and compass of my skill and and a warmth of temper to follow the
cunning. I am in a very bad con- first impressions. However, it is not
dition, both with the gravel and rheu- our part to choose, but to obey." —
matism; but I had much rather die Letter — Wolfe to William Rickson,
than decline any kind of service that Salisbury, December 1, 1758.
offers : if I followed my own tastQ, it
Chap. IV.] ASSAULT AT MONTMORENCL 115
and outposts. Wolfe would have crossed the Montr
morenci by its upper ford, and attacked the French
army on its left and rear ; but the plan was thwarted
by the nature of the ground and the sleepless vigi-
lance of his adversaries. Thus baffled at every other
point, he formed the bold design of storming Mont-
calm's position in front; and on the afternoon of the
thirty-first of July, a strong body of troops was em-
barked in boats, and, covered by a furious cannonade
from the English ships and batteries, landed on the
beach just above the mouth of the Montmorenci.
The grenadiers and Royal Americans were the first
on shore, and their ill-timed impetuosity proved the
ruin of the plan. Without waiting to receive their
orders or form their ranks, they ran, pellmell, across
the level ground between, and with loud shouts be-
gan, each man for himself, to scale the heights which
rose in front, crested with intrenchments and bristling
with hostile arms. The French at the top threw
volley after volley among the hotheaded assailants.
The slopes were soon covered with the fallen ; and
at that instant a storm, which had long been threat-
ening, burst with sudden fury, drenched the combat-
ants on both sides with a deluge of rain, extinguished
for a moment the fire of the French, and at the same
time made the steeps so slippery that the grenadiers
fell repeatedly in their vain attempts to climb. Night
was coming on with double darkness. The retreat
was sounded, and, as the English reembarkcd, troops
of Indians came whooping down the heights, and
hovered about their rear, to murder the stragglers
and the wounded; while exulting shouts and cries of
Vive le roi, from the crowded summits, proclaimed
the triumph of the enemy.
116 COLLISION OF .THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
With bitter agony of mind, Wolfe beheld the head-
long folly of his men, and saw more than four hun-
dred of the flower of his army fall a useless sacri-
fice.1 The anxieties of the siege had told severely
upon his slender constitution; and not long after this
disaster, he felt the first symptoms of a fever, which
soon confined him to his couch. Still his mind never
wavered from its purpose ; and it was while lying-
helpless in the chamber of a Canadian house, where
he had fixed his head-quarters, that he embraced the
plan of that heroic enterprise which robbed him of
life, and gave him immortal fame.
The plan had been first proposed during the height
of Wolfe's illness, at a council of his subordinate
generals, Monkton, Townshend, and Murray. It was
resolved to divide the little army, and, while one por-
tion remained before Quebec to alarm the enemy by
false attacks, and distract their attention from the
scene of actual operation, the other was to pass above
the town, land under cover of darkness on the north-
ern shore, climb the guarded heights, gain the plains
above, and force Montcalm to quit his vantage-ground,
and perhaps to offer battle. The scheme was daring-
even to rashness ; but its singular audacity was the
secret of its success.
Early in September, a crowd of ships and trans-
ports, under Admiral Holmes, passed the city amidst
the hot firing of its batteries; while the troops de-
signed for the expedition, amounting to scarcely five
thousand, marched upward along the southern bank,
beyond reach of the cannonade. All were then em-
barked ; and on the evening of the twelfth, Holmes'
1 Knox, Journals, I. 358.
Chap. IV.] HEROISM OF WOLFE. 117
fleet, with the troops on hoard, lay safe at anchor in
the river, several leagues above the town. These
operations had not failed to awaken the suspicions
of Montcalm; and he had detached M. Bougainville
to watch the movements of the English, and prevent
their landing on the northern shore.
The eventful night of the twelfth was clear and
calm, with no light but that of the stars. "Within
two hours before daybreak, thirty boats, crowded with
sixteen hundred soldiers, cast off from the vessels,
and floated downward, in perfect order, with the cur-
rent of the ebb tide. To the boundless joy of the
army, Wolfe's malady had abated, and he was able
to command in person. His ruined health, the gloomy
prospects of the siege, and the disaster at Montmo-
renci, had oppressed him with the deepest melancholy,
but never impaired for a moment the promptness of
his decisions, or the impetuous energy of his action.1
He sat in the stern of one of the boats, pale and
weak, but borne up to a calm height of resolu-
tion. Every order had been given, every arrangement
made, and it only remained to face the issue. The
ebbing tide sufficed to bear the boats along, and noth-
ing broke the silence of the night but the gurgling
1 Entiok, IV. 111. courage of a handful of brave troops
In his Letter to the Ministry, dated should be exerted only where there
Sept. 2, Wolfe writes in these de- is some hope of a favorable event,
sponding words : — However, you may be assured, that
" By the nature of the river, the the small part of the campaign which
most formidable part of this arma- remains shall be employed (as far as
ment is deprived of the power of act- I am able) for the honor of his Majes-
ing ; yet we have almost the whole ty, and the interest of the nation ; in
force of Canada to oppose. In this which I am sure of being well sec-
situation there is such a choice of onded by the admiral and by the
difficulties, that I own myself at a generals : happy if our efforts here
loss how to determine. The affairs can contribute to the success of his
of Great Britain I know require the Majesty's arms in any other part of
most vigorous measures, but then the America."
118 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
of the river and the low voice of Wolfe as he re-
peated to the officers about him the stanzas of Gray's
Elegy in a Country Churchyard, which had recently
appeared, and which he had just received from Eng-
land. Perhaps, as he uttered those strangely appropri-
ate words,
" The paths of glory lead but to the grave,"
the shadows of his own approaching fate stole with
mournful prophecy across his mind. " Gentlemen,"
he said, as he closed his recital, " I would rather
have written those lines than take Quebec to-morrow." x
As they approached the landing-place, the boats
edged closer in towards the northern shore, and the
woody precipices rose high on their left, like a wall
of undistinguished blackness.
" Qui vive ? " shouted a French sentinel, from out
the impervious gloom.
" La France ! " answered a captain of Fraser's
Highlanders, from the foremost boat.
"A quel regiment?" demanded the soldier.
" De la Heine ! " promptly replied the Highland
captain, who chanced to know that the corps so des-
ignated formed part of Bougainville's command. As
boats were frequently passing down the river with
supplies for the garrison, and as a convoy from Bou-
gainville was expected that very night, the sentinel
was deceived, and allowed the English to proceed.
1 " This anecdote was related by in the Transactions of the Royal So-
the late celebrated John Robison,Pro- ciety of Edinburgh,
fessor of Natural Philosophy in the
University of Edinburgh, who, in his ' The paths of glory lead but t0 the grave
youth, was a midshipman in the Brit- is one of the lines which Wolfe must
ish navy, and was in the same boat have recited as he strikingly exern-
with Wolfe. His son, my kinsman, plified its application." — Grahame,
Sir John Robison, communicated it Hist. U. S. IV. 50. See also Play-
to me, and it has since been recorded fair's Works, IV. 126.
Chap. IV.] THE HEIGHTS OF ABRAHAM. 119
A few moments after, they were challenged again,
and this time they could discern the soldier running
close down to the water s edge, as if all his suspicions
were aroused ; but the skilful replies of the Highlander
once more saved the party from discovery.1
They reached the landing-place in safety — an in-
dentation in the shore, about a league above the city,
and now bearing: the name of Wolfe's Cove. Here a
narrow path led up the face of the heights, and a
French guard was posted at the top to defend the
pass. By the force of the current, the foremost boats,
including that which carried Wolfe himself, were borne
a little below the spot. The general was one of the
first on shore. He looked upward at the rugged
heights which towered above him in the gloom. " You
can try it," he coolly observed to an officer near him ;
"but I don't think you'll get up."2
At the point where the Highlanders landed, one of
their captains, Donald Macdonald, apparently the same
whose presence of mind had just saved the enterprise
from ruin, was climbing in advance of his men, when
he was challenged by a sentinel. He replied in
French, by declaring that he had been sent to relieve
the guard, and ordering the soldier to withdraw.3 Be-
fore the latter was undeceived, a crowd of Highlanders
were close at hand, while the steeps below were
thronged with eager climbers, dragging themselves up
by trees, roots, and bushes.4 The guard turned out,
i Smollett, V. 56, note, (Edinburgh, Quebec, by John Johnson, clerk and
1805.) Mante simply mentions that quartermaster in the 58th regiment,
the English were challenged by the The journal is written with great
sentinels, and escaped discovery by care, and abounds in curious details,
replying in French. 3 Knox, Journal, II. 68, note.
2 This incident is mentioned in a 4 Despatch of Admiral Saunders,
manuscript journal of the siege of Sept. 20, 1759.
120 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
and made a brief though brave resistance. In a mo-
ment, they were cut to pieces, dispersed, or made pris-
oners ; while men after men came swarming up the
height, and quickly formed upon the plains above.
Meanwhile, the vessels had dropped downward with
the current, and anchored opposite the landing-place.
The remaining troops were disembarked, and, with
the dawn of day, the whole were brought in safety
to the shore.
The sun rose, and, from the ramparts of Quebec, the
astonished people saw the Plains of Abraham glittering
with arms, and the dark-red lines of the English form-
ing in array of battle. Breathless messengers had
borne the evil tidhigs to Montcalm, and far and near
his wide-extended camp resounded with the rolling of
alarm drums and the din of startled preparation. He
too had had his struggles and his sorrows. The civil
power had thwarted him ; famine, discontent, and dis-
affection were rife among his soldiers; and no small
portion of the Canadian militia had dispersed from
sheer starvation. In spite of all, he had trusted to
hold out till the winter frosts should drive the invaders
from before the town ; when, on that disastrous morn-
ing, the news of their successful temerity fell like a
cannon shot upon his ear. Still he assumed a tone of
confidence. " They have got to the weak side of us at
last," he is reported to have said, " and we must crush
them with our numbers." With headlong haste, his
troops were pouring over the bridge of the St. Charles,
and gathering in heavy masses under the western ram-
parts of the town. Could numbers give assurance of
success, their triumph would have been secure ; for five
French battalions and the armed colonial peasantry
amounted in all to more than seven thousand five
Chap. IV.] BATTLE OP QUEBEC. 121
hundred men. Full in sight before them, stretched the
long, thin lines of the British forces — the half-wild
Highlanders, the steady soldiery of England, and the
hardy levies of the provinces — less than five thousand
in number, but all inured to battle, and strong in the
full assurance of success. Yet, could the chiefs of
that gallant army have pierced the secrets of the future,
could they have foreseen that the victory which they
burned to achieve would have robbed England of her
proudest boast, that the conquest of Canada would
pave the way for the independence of America, their
swords would have dropped from their hands, and the
heroic fire have gone out within their hearts.
It was nine o'clock, and the adverse armies stood
motionless, each gazing on the other. The clouds hung
low, and, at intervals, warm light showers descended,
besprinkling both alike. The coppice and cornfields
in front of the British troops were filled with French
sharpshooters, who kept up a distant, spattering fire.
Here and there a soldier fell in the ranks, and the gap
was filled in silence.
At a little before ten, the British could see that
Montcalm was preparing to advance, and, in a few
moments, all his troops appeared in rapid motion.
They came on in three divisions, shouting after the
manner of their nation, and firing heavily as soon as
they came within range. In the British ranks, not a
trigger was pulled, not a soldier stirred; and their
ominous composure seemed to damp the spirits of the
assailants. It was not till the French were within
forty yards that the fatal word was given. At once,
from end to end of the British line, the muskets rose
to the level, as if with the sway of some great ma-
chine, and the whole blazed forth at once in one crash-
16 K
COLLISION OF THE KIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
ing explosion. Like a ship at full career, arrested with
sudden ruin on a sunken rock, the columns of Mont-
calm staggered, shivered, and broke before that wasting-
storm of lead. The smoke, rolling along the field, for
a moment shut out the view; but when the white
wreaths were scattered on the wind, a wretched spec-
tacle was disclosed; men and officers tumbled in
heaps, columns resolved into a mob, order and obedi-
ence gone ; and when the British muskets were levelled
for a second volley, the masses were seen to cower and
shrink with uncontrollable panic. For a few minutes,
the French regulars stood their ground, returning a
sharp and not ineffectual fire. But now, echoing cheer
on cheer, redoubling volley on volley, trampling the
dying and the dead, and driving the fugitives in crowds,
the British troops advanced and swept the field before
them. The ardor of the men burst all restraint. They
broke into a run, and with unsparing slaughter chased
the flying multitude to the very gates of Quebec.
Foremost of all, the light-footed Highlanders dashed
along in furious pursuit, hewing down the Frenchmen
with their broadswords, and slaying many in the very
ditch of the fortifications. Never was victory more
quick or more decisive.1
In the short action and pursuit, the French lost fif-
teen hundred men, killed, wounded, and taken. Of the
remainder, some escaped within the city, and others
fled across the St. Charles to rejoin their comrades who
1 Despatch of General Townshend, cess of Quebec. Annual Regis-
Sept. 2(X Gardiner, Memoirs of the ter for 1759, 40.
Siege of Quebec, 28. Journal of An eloquent account of the siege
the Siege of Quebec, by a Gentle- and capture of Quebec will be found
man in an Eminent Station on the in Mr. Warburton's Conquest of
Spot, 40. Letter to a Right Hon- Canada,
orable Patriot on the Glorious Sue-
Chap. IV.] DEATH OF WOLFE. 123
had been left to guard the camp. The pursuers were
recalled by sound of trumpet ; the broken ranks were
formed afresh, and the English troops withdrawn be-
yond reach of the cannon of Quebec. Bougainville,
with his detachment, arrived from the upper country,
and, hovering about their rear, threatened an attack ;
but when he saw what greeting was prepared for him,
he abandoned his purpose and withdrew. Townshend
and Murray, the only general officers who remained
unhurt, passed to the head of every regiment in turn,
and thanked the soldiers for the bravery they had
shown; yet the triumph of the victors was mingled
with sadness as the tidings went from rank to rank
that Wolfe had fallen.
In the heat of the action, as he advanced at the
head of the grenadiers of Louisburg, a bullet shattered
his wrist ; but he wrapped his handkerchief about the
wound, and showed no sign of pain. A moment more,
and a ball pierced his side. Still he pressed forward,
waving his sword and cheering his soldiers to the
attack, when a third shot lodged deep within his breast.
He paused, reeled, and, staggering to one side, fell to
the earth. Brown, a lieutenant of the grenadiers, Hen-
derson, a volunteer, an officer of artillery, and a private
soldier raised him together in their arms, and, bearing
him to the rear, laid him softly on the grass. They
asked if he would have a surgeon ; but he shook his
head, and answered that all was over with him. His
eyes closed with the torpor of approaching death, and
those around sustained his fainting form. Yet they
could not withhold their gaze from the wild turmoil
before them, and the charging ranks of their compan-
ions rushing through fire and smoke. " See how they
run," one of the officers exclaimed, as the French fled
124 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
in confusion before the levelled bayonets. "Who
run 1 " demanded Wolfe, opening his eyes like a man
aroused from sleep. " The enemy, sir," was the reply ;
" they give way every where." " Then," said the dying
general, " tell Colonel Burton to inarch Webb's regi-
ment down to Charles Eiver, to cut off their retreat
from the bridge. Now, God be praised, I will die in
peace," he murmured; and, turning on his side, he
calmly breathed his last.1
Almost at the same moment fell his great adversary,
Montcalm, as he strove, with useless bravery, to rally
his shattered ranks. Struck down with a mortal
wound, he was placed upon a litter and borne to the
General Hospital on the banks of the St. Charles. The
surgeons told him that he could not recover. " I am
glad of it," was his calm reply. He then asked how long
he might survive, and was told that he had not many
hours remaining. " So much the better," he said ; " I
am happy that I shall not live to see the surrender of
Quebec." Officers from the garrison came to his bed-
side to ask his orders and instructions. " I will give
no more orders," replied the defeated soldier ; " I have
much business that must be attended to, of greater
moment than your ruined garrison and this wretched
country. My time is very short ; therefore, pray leave
me." The officers withdrew, and none remained in the
chamber but his confessor and the Bishop of Quebec.
To the last, he expressed his contempt for his own
mutinous and half-famished troops, and his admiration
for the disciplined valor of his opponents.2 He died
i Knox, II. 78. Knox derived his 2 Knox, II. 77.
information from the person who
supported Wolfe in his dying mo-
ments.
Chap. IV.] SURRENDER OE QUEBEC. 125
before midnight, and was buried at his own desire in
a cavity of the earth formed by the bursting of a
bombshell.
The victorious army encamped before Quebec, and
pushed their preparations for the siege with zealous
energy ; but before a single gun was brought to bear,
the white flag was hung out, and the garrison surren-
dered. On the eighteenth of September, 1759, the
rock-built citadel of Canada passed forever from the
hands of its ancient masters.
The victory on the Plains of Abraham and the down-
fall of Quebec filled all England with pride and exulta-
tion. From north to south, the whole land blazed
with illuminations, and resounded with the ringing of
bells, the firing of guns, and the shouts of the multi-
tude. In one village alone all was dark and silent
amid the general joy; for here dwelt the widowed
mother of Wolfe. The populace, with unwonted del-
icacy, respected her lonely sorrow, and forbore to ob-
trude the sound of their rejoicings upon her grief
for one who had been through life her pride and sol-
ace, and repaid her love with a tender and constant
devotion.1
Canada, crippled and dismembered by the disasters
of this year's campaign, lay waiting, as it were, the
final stroke which was to extinguish her last remains
of life, and close the eventful story of French domin-
ion in America. Her limbs and her head were lopped
away, but life still fluttered at her heart. Quebec,
Niagara, Frontenac, and Crown Point had fallen ; but
Montreal and the adjacent country still held out, and
thither, with the opening season of 1760, the British
1 Annual Register for 1759, 43.
126 COLLISION OF THE RIVAL COLONIES. [Chap. IV.
commanders turned all their energies. Three armies
were to enter Canada at three several points, and, con-
quering as they advanced, converge towards Montreal
as a common centre. In accordance with this plan,
Sir Jeffrey Amherst embarked at Oswego, crossed Lake
Ontario, and descended the St. Lawrence with ten thou-
sand men ; while Colonel Haviland advanced by way
of Lake Champlain and the River Sorel, and General
Murray ascended from Quebec, with a body of the vet-
erans who had fought on the Plains of Abraham.
By a singular concurrence of fortune and skill, the
three armies reached the neighborhood of Montreal on
the same day. The feeble and disheartened garrison
could offer no resistance, and on the eighth of Septem-
ber, 1760, the Marquis de Vaudreuil surrendered Can-
ada, with all its dependencies, to the British crown.
CHAPTER V.
THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS AT THE CLOSE
OF THE FRENCH WAR.
We have already seen Iioav, after the defeat of
Braddock, the western tribes rose with one accord
against the English. Then, for the first time, Penn-
sylvania felt the scourge of Indian war; and her
neighbors, Maryland and Virginia, shared her misery.
Through the autumn of 1755, the storm raged with
devastating fury ; but the following year brought
some abatement of its violence. This may be ascribed
partly to the interference of the Iroquois, who, at the
instances of Sir William Johnson, urged the Dela-
wares to lay down the hatchet, and partly to the per-
suasions of several prominent men among the Quakers,
who, by kind and friendly treatment, had gained the
confidence of the Indians.1 By these means, that por-
tion of the Delawares and their kindred tribes who
dwelt upon the Susquehanna, were induced to send
a deputation of chiefs to Easton, in the summer of
1757, to meet the provincial delegates; and here,
after much delay and difficulty, a treaty of peace was
concluded.
This treaty, however, did not embrace the Indians
of the Ohio, who comprised the most formidable part
i Gordon, Hist. Penn. 321. Causes Shawanese Indians from the British
of the Alienation of the Delaware and Interest, MS. Johnson Papers.
128 THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
of the Delawares and Shawanoes, and who still con-
tinued their murderous attacks. It was not till the
summer of 1758, when General Forbes, with a consider-
able army, was advancing against Fort du Quesne, that
these exasperated savages could be brought to reason.
Well knowing that, should Forbes prove successful,
they might expect a summary chastisement for their
misdeeds, they began to waver in their attachment to
the French; and the latter, in the hour of peril,
found themselves threatened with desertion by allies
who had shown an ample alacrity in the season of
prosperity. This new tendency of the Ohio Indians
was fostered by a wise step on the part of the Eng-
lish. A man was found bold and hardy enough to
venture into the midst of their villages, bearing the
news of the treaty at Easton, and the approach of
Forbes, coupled with proposals of peace from the
governor of Pennsylvania.
This stout-hearted emissary was Christian Frederic
Post, a Moravian missionary, who had long lived with
the Indians, had twice married among them, and, by
his upright dealings and plain good sense, had gained
their confidence and esteem. His devout and consci-
entious spirit, his fidelity to what he deemed his duty,
his imperturbable courage, his prudence and his ad-
dress, well fitted him for the critical mission. His
journals, written in a style of quaint simplicity, are
full of lively details, and afford a minute and graphic
picture of forest life and character. He left Phila-
delphia in July, attended by a party of friendly In-
dians, on whom he relied for protection. Reaching
the Ohio, he found himself beset with incalculable
perils from the jealousy and malevolence of the sav-
age warriors, and the machinations of the French,
Chap. V.] THE DELA WARES AND SHAWANOES.
129
who would gladly have destroyed him.1 Yet he found
friends wherever he went, and finally succeeded in
convincing the Indians that their true interest lay in
a strict neutrality. When, therefore, Forbes appeared
before Fort du Quesne, the French found themselves
1 The following are extracts from
his journals : —
" We set out from Knshkushkee
for Sankonk; my company consisted
of twenty-five horsemen and fifteen
foot. We arrived at Sankonk in the
afternoon. The people of the town
were much disturbed at my coming,
and received me in a very rough man-
ner. They surrounded me with drawn
knives in their hands, in such a man-
ner that I could hardly get along ;
running up against me with their
breasts open, as if they wanted some
pretence to kill me. I saw by their
countenances they sought my death.
Their faces were quite distorted with
rage, and they went so far as to say,
I should not live long ; but some In-
dians, with whom I was formerly ac-
quainted, coming up and saluting me
in a friendly manner, their behavior
to me was quickly changed." ....
" Some of my party desired me not to
stir from the fire, for that the French
had offered a great reward for my
scalp, and that there were several par-
ties out on that purpose. Accordingly
I stuck constantly as close to the fire
as if I had been chained there
" In the afternoon, all the captains
gathered together in the middle town ;
they sent for us, and desired we should
give them information of our message.
Accordingly we did. We read the
message with great satisfaction to
them. It was a great pleasure both
to them and us. The number of cap-
tains and counsellors were sixteen.
In the evening, messengers arrived
from Fort Duquesne, with a string
of wampum from the commander;
upon which they all came together
in the house where we lodged. The
messengers delivered their string,with
these words from their father, the
French king : —
17
" ' My children, come to me, and
hear what I have to say. The Eng-
lish are coming with an army to de-
stroy both you and me. I therefore
desire you immediately, my children,
to hasten with all the young men ; we
will drive the English and destroy
them. I, as a father, will tell you
always what is best.' He laid the
string before one of the captains.
After a little conversation, the captain
stood up, and said, 'I have just heard
something of our brethren, the Eng-
lish, which pleaseth me much better.
I will not go. Give it to the others ;
maybe they will go.' The messenger
took up again the string, and said,
' He won't go ; he has heard of the
English.' Then all cried out, 'Yes,
yes, we have heard from the Eng-
lish.' He then threw the string to
the other fire-place, where the other
captains were ; but they kicked it
from one to another, as if it was a
snake. Captain Peter took a stick,
and with it flung the string from one
end of the room to the other, and
said, ' Give it to the French captain,
and let him go with his young men ;
he boasted much of his fighting ; now
let us see his fighting. We have often
ventured our lives for him ; and had
hardly a loaf of bread when we came
to him ; and now he thinks we should
jump to serve him.' Then we saw
the French captain mortified to the
uttermost ; he looked as pale as death.
The Indians discoursed and joked till
midnight; and the French captain
sent messengers at midnight to Fort
Duquesne."
The kicking about of the wampum
belt is the usual indication of contempt
for the message of which the belt is
the token. The uses of wampum will
be described hereafter.
130 THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
abandoned to their own resources ; and, unable to hold
their ground, they retreated down the Ohio, leaving
the fort an easy conquest to the invaders. During
the autumn, the Ohio Indians sent their deputies to
Easton, where a great council was held, and a formal
peace concluded with the provinces.1
While the friendship of these tribes was thus lost
and regained, their ancient tyrants, the Iroquois, re-
mained in a state of loose and critical attachment.
At the outbreak of the war, they had shown, it is
true, many signs of friendship ; 2 but the disasters of
the first campaign had given them but a contemptible
idea of British prowess. This impression was deep-
ened, when, on the following year, they saw Oswego
taken by the French, and the British general, Webb,
retreat with dastardly haste from an enemy who did
not dream of pursuing him. At this time, some of
the confederates actually took up the hatchet on the
side of France, and there was danger that the rest
might follow their example.3 But now a new element
was infused into the British counsels. The fortunes
of the conflict began to change. Du Quesne and Lou-
isburg were taken, and the Iroquois conceived a better
opinion of the British arms. Their friendship was no
longer a matter of doubt; and in 1760, when Amherst
was preparing to advance on Montreal, the warriors
flocked to his camp like vultures to the expected car-
cass. Yet there is little doubt, that, had their sachems
and orators followed the dictates of their cooler judg-
ment, they would not have aided in destroying Canada ;
for they could see that in the colonies of France lay
1 Minutes of Council at Easton, the Chief Sachems and Warriors of
1758. the Six Nations, (Lond. 1756.)
2 Account of Conferences between 3 MS. Johnson Papers.
Major General Sir W. Johnson, and
Chap. V.] WESTERN TRIBES — THE FOREST. 131
the only barrier against the growing power and ambi-
tion of the English provinces.
The Hnrons of Lorette, the Abenakis, and other
domiciliated tribes of Canada ranged themselves on the
side of France throughout the war, and at its conclu-
sion, they, in common with the Canadians, may be re-
garded in the light of a conquered people.
The numerous tribes of the remote west had, with
few exceptions, played the part of active allies of the
French ; and warriors might be found on the farthest
shores of Lake Superior who garnished their war-dress
with the scalp-locks of murdered Englishmen. With
the conquest of Canada, these tribes subsided into a
state of passive inaction, which was not destined long
to continue.
And now, before launching into the story of that
sanguinary war, which forms our proper and immediate
theme, it will be well to survey the grand arena of the
strife, the goodly heritage which the wretched tribes
of the forest struggled to retrieve from the hands of
the spoiler.
One vast, continuous forest shadowed the fertile soil,
covering the land as the grass covers a garden lawn,
sweeping over hill and hollow in endless undulation,
burying mountains in verdure, and mantling brooks
and rivers from the light of day. Green intervals
dotted with browsing deer, and broad plains blackened
with buffalo, broke the sameness of the woodland
scenery. Unnumbered rivers seamed the forest with
their devious windings. Vast lakes washed its bounda-
ries, where the Indian voyager, in his birch canoe, could
descry no land beyond the world of waters. Yet this
prolific wilderness, teeming with waste fertility, was but
a hunting-ground and a battle-field to a few fierce
132 THE WILDEKNESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
hordes of savages. Here and there, in some rich
meadow opened to the sun, the Indian squaws turned
the black mould with their rude implements of bone
or iron, and sowed their scanty stores of maize and
beans. Human labor drew no other tribute from that
inexhaustible soil.
So thin and scattered was the native population, that,
even in those parts which were thought well peopled,
one might sometimes journey for days together through
the twilight forest, and meet no human form. Broad
tracts were left in solitude. All Kentucky was a va-
cant waste, a mere skirmishing ground for the hostile
war-parties of the north and south. A great part of
Upper Canada, of Michigan, and of Illinois, besides
other portions of the west, were tenanted by wild
beasts alone. To form a close estimate of the num-
bers of the erratic bands who roamed this wilderness
would be a vain attempt ; but it may be affirmed that,
between the Mississippi on the west and the ocean on
the east, between the Ohio on the south and Lake
Superior on the north, the whole Indian population, at
the close of the French war, did not greatly exceed ten
thousand fighting men. Of these, following the state-
ment of Sir William Johnson, in 1763, the Iroquois
had nineteen hundred and fifty, the Delawares about
six hundred, the Shawanoes about three hundred, the
Wyandots about four hundred and fifty, and the Miami
tribes, with their neighbors the Kickapoos, eight hun-
dred ; while the Ottawas, the Ojibwas, and other wan-
dering tribes of the north, defy all efforts at enu-
meration.1
i The estimates given by Cro- But the discrepancy is no greater
ghan, Bouquet, and Hutchins, do not than might have been expected from
quite accord with that of Johnson, the difficulties of the case.
Chap. V.] NATIVE POPULATION. 133
A close survey of the condition of the tribes at this
period will detect some signs of improvement, but many
more of degeneracy and decay. To commence with
the Iroquois, for to them with justice the priority be-
longs: Onondaga, the ancient capital of their confed-
eracy, where their council-fire had burned from imme-
morial time, was now no longer what it had been in
the days of its greatness, when Count Frontenac had
mustered all Canada to assail it. The thickly-clustered
dwellings, with their triple rows of palisades, had van-
ished. A little stream, twisting along the valley,
choked up with logs and driftwood, and half hidden
by woods and thickets, some forty houses of bark, scat-
tered along its banks, amid rank grass, neglected clumps
of bushes, and ragged patches of corn and peas, — such
was Onondaga when Bartram saw it, and such, no
doubt, it remained at the time of which I write.1 Con-
spicuous among the other structures, and distinguished
only by its superior size, stood the great council-house,
whose bark walls had often sheltered the congregated
wisdom of the confederacy, and heard the highest
efforts of forest eloquence. The other villages of the
Iroquois resembled Onondaga ; for though several were
of larger size, yet none retained those defensive stock-
ades which had once protected them.2 From their Euro-
pean neighbors the Iroquois had borrowed many appli-
ances of comfort and subsistence. Horses, swine, and in
some instances cattle, were to be found among them.
Guns and gunpowder aided them in the chase. Knives,
hatchets, kettles, and hoes of iron had supplanted their
i Bartram, Observations, 41. missionary tour among the Iroquois
2 I am indebted to the kindness in 1765. The journal contains much
of Rev. S. K. Lothrop for a copy of information respecting their manners
the journal of Mr. Kirkland on his and condition at this period.
134 THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
rude household utensils and implements of tillage ;
but with all this, English whiskey had more than can-
celled every benefit which English civilization had
conferred.
High up the Susquehanna were seated the Nanti-
cokes, Conoys, and Mohicans, with a portion of the
DelaWares. Detached bands of the western Iroquois
dwelt upon the head waters of the Alleghany, mingled
with their neighbors, the Delawares, who had several
villages upon this stream. The great body of the latter
nation, however, lived upon the Beaver Creeks and the
Muskingum, in numerous scattered towns and hamlets,
whose barbarous names it is useless to record. Squalid
log cabins and conical wigwams of bark were clustered
at random, or ranged to form rude streets and squares.
Starveling horses grazed on the neighboring meadows ;
girls and children bathed and laughed in the adjacent
river; warriors smoked their pipes in haughty indo-
lence; squaws labored in the cornfields, or brought
fagots from the forest, and shrivelled hags screamed
from lodge to lodge. In each village one large build-
ing stood prominent among the rest, devoted to pur-
poses of public meeting, dances, festivals, and the
entertainment of strangers. Thither the traveller
would be conducted, seated on a bear-skin, and plenti-
fully regaled with hominy and venison.
The Shawanoes had fixed their abode upon the
Scioto and its branches. Farther towards the west,
on the waters of the Wabash and the Maumee, dwelt
the Miamis, who, less exposed, from their position, to
the poison of the whiskey keg, and the example of
debauched traders, retained their ancient character and
customs in greater purity than their eastern neighbors.
This cannot be said of the Illinois, who dwelt near the
Chap. V.] THOROUGHFARES OF THE FOREST. 135
borders of the Mississippi, and who, having lived for
more than half a century in close contact with the
French, had become a corrupt and degenerate race.
The Wyandots of Sandusky and Detroit far surpassed
the surrounding tribes in energy of character and
social progress. Their log dwellings were strong and
commodious, their agriculture was very considerable,
their name stood high in war and policy, and by all
the adjacent Indians they were regarded with deference.
It is needless to pursue farther this catalogue of tribes,
since the position of each will appear hereafter as they
advance in turn upon the stage of action.
The English settlements lay like a narrow strip be-
tween the wilderness and the sea, and, as the sea had
its ports, so also the forest had its places of rendezvous
and outfit. Of these, by far the most important in the
northern • provinces was the frontier city of Albany.
From thence it was that traders and soldiers, bound to
the country of the Iroquois, or the more distant wilds
of the interior, set out upon their arduous journey.
Embarking in a bateau or a canoe, rowed by those
hardy men who earned their livelihood in this service,
the traveller would ascend the Mohawk, passing the
old Dutch town of Schenectady, the two seats of Sir
William Johnson, Fort Hunter at the mouth of the
Schoharie, and Fort Herkimer at the German Flats,
until he reached Fort Stanwix at the head of the river
navigation. Then crossing over land to Wood Creek,
he would follow its tortuous course, overshadowed by
the dense forest on its banks, until he arrived at the
little fortification called the Royal Blockhouse, and the
waters of the Oneida Lake spread before him. Cross-
ing to its western extremity, and passing under the
wooden ramparts of Fort Brewerton, he would descend
136 THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
the River Oswego to Oswego,1 on the banks of Lake
Ontario. Here the vast navigation of the Great Lakes
would be open before hhn, interrupted only by the
difficult portage at the Cataract of Niagara.
The chief thoroughfare from the middle colonies to
the Indian country was from Philadelphia westward,
across the Alleghanies, to the valley of the Ohio.
Peace was no sooner concluded with the hostile tribes,
than the adventurous fur-traders, careless of risk to life
and property, hastened over the mountains, each eager
to be foremost in the wilderness market. Their mer-
chandise was sometimes carried in wagons as far as
the site of Fort du Quesne, which the English rebuilt
after its capture, changing its name to Fort Pitt. From
this point the goods were packed on the backs of
horses, and thus distributed among the various Indian
villages. More commonly, however, the whole journey
was performed by means of trams, or, as they were
1 MS. Journal of Lieutenant Go- pay, I think the gentlemen discover
rell, 1763. Anonymous MS. Journal no common share of philosophy in
of a Tour to Niagara in 1765. The keeping themselves from running
following is an extract from the mad. Officers and soldiers, with
latter: — their wives and children, legitimate
"July 2d. Dined with Sir Wm. and illegitimate, make altogether a
at Johnson Hall. The office of pretty compound oglio, which does
Superintendent very troublesome, not tend towards showing military
Sir Wm. continually plagued with matrimony off to any great advan-
Indians about him — generally from tage. . . .
300 to 900 in number — spoil his " Monday, 14th. Went on horse-
garden, and keep his house always back by the side of Wood Creek 20
dirty. . . . miles, to the Royal Blockhouse, a
"10th. Punted and rowed up the kind of wooden castle, proof against
Mohawk River against the stream, any Indian attacks. It is now aban-
which, on account of the rapidity of doned by the troops, and a Sutler
the current, is very hard work for lives there, who keeps rum, milk,
the poor soldiers. Encamped on the rackoons, etc., which, though none
banks of the River, about 9 miles of the most elegant, is comfortable
from Harkimer's. to strangers passing that way. The
" The inconveniences attending a Blockhouse is situated on the east
married Subaltern strongly appear in end of the Oneida Lake, and is sur-
this tour. What with the sickness rounded by the Oneida Indians, one
of their wives, the squealing of their of the Six Nations."
children, and the smallness of their
Chap. V.] THE FOREST TRAVELLER. 137
called, brigades of packhorses, which, leaving the fron-
tier settlements, climbed the shadowy heights of the
Alleghanies, and threaded the forests of the Ohio,
diving through thickets, and wading over streams.
The men employed in this perilous calling were a
rough, bold, and intractable class, often as fierce and
truculent as the Indians themselves. A blanket coat,
or a frock of smoked deer-skin, a rifle on the shoulder,
and a knife and tomahawk in the belt, formed their
ordinary equipment. The principal trader, the owner
of the merchandise, would fix his head-quarters at some
large Indian town, whence he would despatch his subor-
dinates to the surrounding villages, with a suitable sup-
ply of blankets and red cloth, guns and hatchets, liquor,
tobacco, paint, beads, and hawk's bells. This wild traffic
was liable to every species of disorder ; and it is not to
be wondered at that, in a region where law was un-
known, the jealousies of rival traders should become
a fruitful source of broils, robberies, and murders.
In the backwoods, all land travelling was on foot, or
on horseback. It was no easy matter for a novice, em-
barrassed with his cumbrous gun, to urge his horse
through the thick trunks and undergrowth, or even to
ride at speed along the narrow Indian trails, where, at
every yard, the impending branches switched him across
the face. At night, the camp would be formed by the
side of some rivulet or spring, and, if the traveller was
skilful in the use of his rifle, a haunch of venison
would often form his evening meal. If it rained, a
shed of elm or bass wood bark was the ready work of an
hour, a pile of evergreen boughs formed a bed, and the
saddle or the knapsack a pillow. A party of Indian
wayfarers would often be met journeying through the
forest, a chief, or a warrior, perhaps, with his squaws
18 L*
138 THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
and family. The Indians would usually make their
camp in the neighborhood of the white men ; and at
meal time the warrior would seldom fail to seat himself
by the traveller's fire, and gaze with solemn gravity at
the viands before him. If, when the repast was over,
a fragment of bread or a cup of coffee should be
handed to him, he would receive these highly-prized
rarities with a deep ejaculation of gratitude ; for noth-
ing is more remarkable in the character of this people
than the union of inordinate pride and a generous love
of glory with the mendicity of a beggar or a child.
He who wished to visit the remoter tribes of the
Mississippi valley — an attempt, however, which, until
several years after the conquest of Canada, no English-
man could have made without great risk of losing
his scalp — would find no easier course than to descend
the Ohio in a canoe or bateau. He might float for
more than eleven hundred miles down this liquid
highway of the wilderness, and except the deserted
cabins of Logstown, a little below Fort Pitt, the
remnant of a Shawanoe village at the mouth of the
Scioto, and an occasional hamlet or solitary wigwam
along the luxuriant banks, he would discern no trace
of human habitancy through all this vast extent.
The body of the Indian population lay to the north-
ward, about the waters of the tributary streams. It
behoved the voyager to observe a sleepless caution
and hawk-eyed vigilance. Sometimes his anxious
scrutiny would detect a faint blue smoke stealing-
upward above the green bosom of the forest, and
betraying the encamping place of some lurking war-
party. Then the canoe would be drawn in haste be-
neath the overhanging bushes which skirted the shore ;
nor would the voyage be resumed until darkness closed,
Chap. V.] THE FOREST TRAVELLER. 139
when the little vessel would drift swiftly and safely
past the point of danger.1
Within the nominal limits of the Illinois Indians,
and towards the southern extremity of the present
state of Illinois, were those isolated Canadian settle-
ments, which had subsisted here since the latter part
of the previous century. Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and
Vincennes were the centres of this scattered popula-
tion. From Vincennes one might paddle his canoe
northward up the Wabash, until he reached the little
wooden fort of Ouatanon. Thence a path through
the woods led to the banks of the Maumee. Two
or three Canadians, or half breeds, of whom there were
numbers about the fort, would carry the canoe on their
shoulders, or, for a bottle of whiskey, a few Miami
Indians might be bribed to undertake the task. On
the Maumee, at the end of the path, stood Fort Mi-
ami, near the spot where Fort Wayne was after-
wards built. From this point one might descend the
Maumee to Lake Erie, and visit the neighboring fort
of Sandusky, or, if he chose, steer through the Strait
of Detroit, and explore the watery wastes of the
northern lakes, finding occasional harborage at the
little military posts which commanded their impor-
tant points. Most of these western posts were trans-
ferred to the English, during the autumn of 1760;
but the settlements of the Illinois remained several
years longer under French control.
Eastward, on the waters of Lake Erie and the Al-
1 Mitchell, Contest in America, die British Colonies. Beatty, Journal
Pouchot, Guerre de l'Amerique. of a Tour in America. Smith, Nar-
Hutchins, Expedition against the rative. M'Cullough, Narrative. Jem-
Ohio Indians, appendix. Hutchins, mison, Narrative. Post, Journals.
Topographical Description of Vir- Washington, Journals, 1753-1770.
ginia, etc. Pownall, Topographical Gist, Journal, 1750. Croghan, Jour-
Description of North America. Ev- nal, 1765, etc., etc.
ans, Analysis of a Map of the Mid-
140 THE WILDEENESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
leghany, stood three small forts, Presqu'Isle, Le Bceuf,
and Venango, which had passed into the hands of
the English soon after the capture of Fort du Quesne.
The feeble garrisons of all these western posts, exiled
from civilization, lived in the solitude of military her-
mits. Through the long, hot days of summer, and
the protracted cold of winter, time hung heavy on
their hands. Their resources of employment and rec-
reation were few and meagre. They found partners
in their loneliness among the young beauties of the
Indian camps. They hunted and fished, shot at tar-
gets, and played at games of chance; and when, by
good fortune, a traveller found his way among them,
he was greeted with a hearty and open-handed wel-
come, and plied with eager questions touching the
great world from which they were banished men.'
Yet, tedious as it was, their secluded life was seasoned
with stirring danger. The surrounding forests were
peopled with a race dark and subtle as their own
sunless mazes. At any hour, those jealous tribes
might raise the war-cry. No human foresight could
predict the sallies of their fierce caprice, and in cease-
less watching lay the only safety.
When the European and the savage are brought
in contact, both are gainers, and both are losers. The
former loses the refinements of civilization, but he
gains, in the rough schooling of the wilderness, a proud
independence, a self-sustaining energy, and powers of
action and perception before unthought of. The sav-
age gains new means of comfort and support, cloth,
iron, and gunpowder ; yet these apparent benefits
have often proved but instruments of ruin. They
soon become necessities, and the unhappy hunter, for-
getting the weapons of his fathers, must thenceforth
Chap. V.] HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS. 141
depend on the white man for ease, happiness, and
life itself.
Those rude and hardy men, hunters and traders,
scouts and guides, who ranged the woods beyond the
English borders, and formed a connecting link be-
tween barbarism and civilization, have been touched
upon already. They were a distinct, peculiar class,
marked with striking contrasts of good and evil.
Many, though by no means all, were coarse, auda-
cious, and unscrupulous; yet, even in the worst, one
might often have found a vigorous growth of warlike
virtues, an iron endurance, an undespairing courage, a
wondrous sagacity, and singular fertility of resource.
In them was renewed, with all its ancient energy,
that wild and daring spirit, that force and hardihood
of mind, which marked our barbarous ancestors of
Germany and Norway. These sons of the wilderness
still survive. We may find them to this day, not in
the valley of the Ohio, nor on the shores of the
lakes, but far westward on the desert range of the
buffalo, and among the solitudes of Oregon. Even
now, while I write, some lonely trapper is climbing
the perilous defiles of the Rocky Mountains, his
strong frame cased in time-worn buck-skin, his rifle
griped in his sinewy hand. Keenly he peers from
side to side, lest Blackfoot or Arapahoe should am-
buscade his path. The rough earth is his bed, a mor-
sel of dried meat and a draught of water are his food
and drink, and death and danger his companions.
No anchorite could fare worse, no hero could dare
more; yet his wild, hard life has resistless charms;
and, while he can wield a rifle, he will never leave it.
Go with him to the rendezvous, and he is a stoic no
more. Here, rioting among his comrades, his native
142 THE WILDERNESS AND ITS TENANTS. [Chap. V.
appetites break loose in mad excess, in deep carouse,
and desperate gaming. Then follow close the quarrel,
the challenge, the fight, — two rusty rifles and fifty
yards of prairie.
The nursling of civilization, placed in the midst of
the forest, and abandoned to his own resources, is
helpless as an infant. There is no clew to the laby-
rinth. Bewildered and amazed, he circles round and
round in hopeless wanderings. Despair and famine
make him their prey, and unless the birds of heaven
minister to his wants, he dies in misery. Not so
the practised woodsman. To him, the forest is a
home. It yields him food, shelter, and raiment, and
he threads its trackless depths with undeviating foot.
To lure the game, to circumvent the lurking foe, to
guide his course by the stars, the wind, the streams,
or the trees, — such are the arts which the white
man has learned from the red. Often, indeed, the
pupil has outstripped his master. He can hunt as
well; he can fight better; and yet there are niceties
of the woodsman's craft in which the white man
must yield the palm to his savage rival. Seldom
can he boast, in equal measure, that subtlety of
sense, more akin to the instinct of brutes than to
human reason, which reads the signs of the forest as
the scholar reads the printed page, to which the
whistle of a bird can speak clearly as the tongue of
man, and the rustle of a leaf give knowledge of life
or death.1 With us the name of the savage is a
i A striking example of Indian water, a branch of Laramie Creek,
acuteness once came under my obser- As we prepared to encamp, we ob-
vation. Travelling in company with served the ashes of a fire, the foot-
a Canadian named Raymond, and an prints of men and horses, and other
Ogillallah Indian, we came at night- indications that a party had been
fall to a small stream called Chug- upon the spot not many days before.
Chap. V.]
THE EUROPEAN AND THE INDIAN.
143
byword of reproach. The Indian would look with
equal scorn on those, who, buried in useless lore, are
blind and deaf to the great world of nature.
Having secured our horses for the
night, Raymond and I sat down and
lighted our pipes, my companion, who
had spent his whole life in the Indian
country, hazarding various conjec-
tures as to the numbers and charac-
ter of our predecessors. Soon after,
we were joined by the Indian, who,
meantime, had been prowling about
the place. Raymond asked what
discovery he had made. He an-
swered, "that the party were friendly,
and that they consisted of eight men,
both whites and Indians, several of
whom he named, affirming that he
knew them well. To an inquiry how
he gained his information, he would
make no intelligible reply. On the
next day, reaching Fort Laramie, a
post of the American Fur Company,
we found that he was correct in every
particular — a circumstance the more
remarkable, as he had been with us
for three weeks, and could have had
no other means of knowledge than
we ourselves.
CHAPTER VI.
THE ENGLISH TAKE POSSESSION OF THE WESTERN
POSTS.
The war was over. The plains around Montreal
were dotted with the white tents of three victorious
armies, and the work of conquest was complete. Can-
ada, with all her dependencies, had yielded to the
British crown ; but it still remained to carry into full
effect the terms of the surrender and take possession
of those western outposts, where the lilies of France
had not as yet descended from the flagstaff. The execu-
tion of this task, neither an easy nor a safe one, was
assigned to a provincial officer, Major Robert Rogers.
Rogers was a native of New Hampshire. He com-
manded a body of provincial rangers, and stood in high
repute as a partisan officer. Putnam and Stark were
his associates; and it was in this woodland warfare
that the former achieved many of those startling adven-
tures and hair-breadth escapes which have made his
name familiar at every New England fireside. Rogers'
Rangers, half hunters, half woodsmen, trained in a
discipline of their own, and armed, like Indians, with
hatchet, knife, and gun, were employed in a service of
peculiar hardship. Their chief theatre of action was
the mountainous region of Lake George, the debatable
ground between the hostile forts of Ticonderoga and
Crown Point. The deepest recesses of these romantic
Chap. VI.] ROGERS' RANGERS. 145
solitudes had heard the French and Indian yell, and
the answering shout of the hardy New England men.
In summer, they passed down the lake in whale boats
or canoes, or threaded the pathways of the woods in
single file, like the savages themselves. In whiter, they
journeyed through the swamps on snowshoes, skated
along the frozen surface of the lake, and bivouacked
at night among the snow-drifts. They intercepted
French messengers, encountered French scouting par-
ties, and carried off prisoners from under the very walls
of Ticonderoga. Their hardships and adventures, their
marches and countermarches, their frequent skirmishes
and midwinter battles, had made them famous through-
out America; and though it was the fashion of the
day to sneer at the efforts of provincial troops, the
name of Rogers' Rangers was never mentioned but
with honor.
Their commander was a man tall and vigorous in
person and rough in feature. He was versed in all the
arts of woodcraft, sagacious, prompt, and resolute, yet
so cautious withal that he sometimes incurred the un-
just charge of cowardice. His mind, naturally active,
was by no means uncultivated, and his books and un-
published letters bear witness that his style as a writer
was not contemptible. But his vain, restless, and
grasping spirit, and more than doubtful honesty, proved
the ruin of an enviable reputation. Six years after the
expedition of which I am about to speak, he was tried
by a court-martial for a meditated act of treason, the
surrender of Fort Michillimackinac into the hands of
the Spaniards, who were at that time masters of Upper
Louisiana.1 Not long after, if we may trust his own
1 MS. Gage Papers.
19 M
146
THE ENGLISH IN THE WEST.
[Chap. VI.
account, he passed over to the Barbary States, entered
the service of the Dey of Algiers, and fought two bat-
tles under his banners. At the opening of the war of
independence, he returned to his native country, where
he made professions of patriotism, but was strongly
suspected by many, including Washington himself, of
acting the part of a spy. In fact, he soon openly
espoused the British cause, and received a colonel's
commission from the crown. His services, however,
proved of little consequence. In 1778, he was pro-
scribed and banished, under the act of New Hamp-
shire, and the remainder of his life was passed in such
obscurity that it is difficult to determine when and
where he died.1
On the twelfth of September, 1760, Rogers, then at
1 Sabine, American Loyalists, 576.
Sparks, Writings of Washington,
III. 208, 244, 439; IV. 128, 520,
524.
Although Rogers, especially where
his pecuniary interest was concerned,
was far from scrupulous, I have no
hesitation in following his account
of the expedition up the lakes. The
incidents of each day are minuted
down in a dry, unambitious style,
bearing the clear impress of truth.
Extracts from the orderly books and
other official papers are given, while
portions of the narrative, verified by
contemporary documents, may stand
as earnests for the truth of the whole.
Rogers' published works consist
of the Journals of his ranging ser-
vice and his Concise Account of North
America, a small volume containing
much valuable information. Both
appeared in London in 1765. To
these may be added a curious drama,
called Ponteach, or Ike Savages of
America, which appears to have been
written, in part at least, by him. It
is Very rare, and besides the copy in
my possession, I know of but one
other, which may be found in the
library of the British Museum. For
an account of this curious produc-
tion, see Appendix, B. An engraved
full-length portrait of Rogers was
published in London in 1776. He is
represented as a tall, strong man,
dressed in the costume of a ranger,
with a powder-horn slung at his side,
a gun resting in the hollow of his
arm, and a countenance by no means
prepossessing. Behind him, at a lit-
tle distance, stand his Indian fol-
lowers.
The steep mountain called Rogers'
Slide, near the northern end of Lake
George, derives its name from the
tradition that, during the French
war, being pursued by a party of
Indians, he slid on snowshoes down
its precipitous front, for more than a
thousand feet, to the frozen lake be-
low. On beholding the achieve-
ment, the Indians, as well they might,
believed him under the protection of
the Great Spirit, and gave over the
chase. The story seems unfounded ;
yet it was not far from this mountain
that the rangers fought one of their
most desperate winter battles, against
a force of many times their number.
Chap. VI.] THE RANGERS ON THE LAKES. 147
the height of his reputation, received orders from Sir
Jeffrey Amherst to ascend the lakes with a detachment
of rangers, and take possession, in the name of his Bri-
tannic Majesty, of Detroit, Michillimackinac, and other
western posts included in the late capitulation. He
left Montreal, on the following day, with two hundred
rangers, in fifteen whale boats. They passed the chapel
of St. Anne's, where Canadian voyageurs, bound for
the north-west, received absolution and paid their votive
offerings. Stemming the surges of La Chine and the
Cedars, they left behind them the straggling hamlet
which bore the latter name, and formed at that day the
western limit of Canadian settlement.1 They gained
Lake Ontario, skirted its northern shore, amid rough
and boisterous weather, and crossing at its western
extremity, reached Fort Niagara on the first of October.
Carrying their boats over the portage, they launched
once more above the cataract, and slowly pursued their
voyage, while Rogers, with a few attendants, hastened
on in advance to Fort Pitt, to deliver despatches, with
which he was charged, to General Monkton. This
errand accomplished, he rejoined his command at
PresquTsle, about the end of the month, and the whole
proceeded together along the southern margin of Lake
Erie. The season was far advanced. The wind was
chill, the lake was stormy, and the woods on shore
were tinged with the fading hues of autumn. On the
seventh of November they reached the mouth of Caya-
hoga Eiver, the present site of Cleveland. No body
of troops under the British flag had ever before ad-
vanced so far. The day was dull and rainy, and resolv-
ing to rest until the weather should improve, Rogers
1 Henry, Travels and Adventures, 9.
148 THE ENGLISH IN THE WEST. [Chap. VI.
ordered his men to prepare their encampment in the
neighboring forest. The place has seen strange changes
since that day. A youthful city has usurped the
spot where the fish-hawk and the eagle, the wolf and
the hear, then reigned with undisputed mastery.
Soon after the arrival of the rangers, a party of In-
dian chiefs and warriors entered the camp. They pro-
claimed themselves an embassy from Pontiac, ruler
of all that country, and directed, in his name, that the
English should advance no farther until they had had
an interview with the great chief, who was already
close at hand. In truth, before the day closed, Pontiac
himself appeared ; and it is here, for the first time, that
this remarkable man stands forth distinctly on the page
of history. He greeted Rogers with the haughty de-
mand, what was his business in that country, and how
he dared enter it without his permission. Rogers
informed him that the French were defeated, that
Canada had surrendered, and that he was on his way
to take possession of Detroit, and restore a general
peace to white men and Indians alike. Pontiac listened
with attention, but only replied that he should stand
in the path of the English until morning. Having
inquired if the strangers were in need of any thing
which his country could afford, he withdrew, with his
chiefs, at nightfall, to his own encampment ; while the
English, ill at ease, and suspecting treachery, stood well
on their guard throughout the night.
In the morning, Pontiac returned to the camp with
his attendant chiefs, and made his reply to Rogers'
speech of the previous day. He was willing, he said,
to live at peace with the English, and suffer them to
remain in his country as long as they treated him with
due respect and deference. The Indian chiefs and
Chap. VII VIEWS OE PONTIAC. 149
provincial officers smoked the calumet together, and
perfect harmony seemed established between them.1
Up to this time, Pontiac had been, in word and deed,
the fast ally of the French ; but it is easy to discern
the motives that impelled him to renounce his old ad-
herence. The American forest never produced a man
more shrewd, politic, and ambitious. Ignorant as he
was of what was passing in the world, he could clearly
see that the French power was on the wane, and he
knew his own interest too well to prop a falling cause.
By making friends of the English, he hoped to gain
powerful allies, who would aid his ambitious projects,
and give him an increased influence over the tribes ;
and he flattered himself that the new-comers would
treat him with the same studied respect which the
French had always observed. In this, and all his other
expectations of advantage from the English, he was
doomed to disappointment.
A cold storm of rain set in, and the rangers were
detained some days in their encampment. During this
time, Rogers had several interviews with Pontiac, and
was constrained to admire the native vigor of his in-
tellect, no less than the singular control which he exer-
cised over those around him.
On the twelfth of November, the detachment was
again in motion, and within a few days, they had
reached the western end of Lake Erie. Flere they
heard that the Detroit Indians were in arms against
them, and that four hundred warriors lay in ambush at
the entrance of the river to cut them off. But the
powerful influence of Pontiac was exerted in behalf of
his new friends. The warriors abandoned their design,
1 Rogers, Journals, 214. Account of North America, 240, 243.
M*
150 TKE ENGLISH IX THE WEST. [Chap. VL
and the rangers continued their progress towards De-
troit, now within a short distance.
In the mean time. Lientenant Brehm had heen sent
forward with a letter to Captain Beletre. the com-
mandant at Detroit, informing him that Canada had
capitulated, that his garrison was included in the ca-
pitulation. and that an English detachment was ap-
proaching to relieve it. The Frenchman, in great
wrath at the tidings, disregarded the message as an
informal communication, and resolved to keep a hos-
tile attitude to the last, lie did his best to rouse
the fury of the Indians. Among other devices, he
displayed npon a pole, before the yelling multitude,
the effigy of a crow pecking a man's head, the crow
representing himself, and the head, observes Rogers.
" being meant for my own." All his efforts were un-
availing, and his faithless allies showed unequivocal
symptoms of defection in the hour of need.
Rogers had now entered the mouth of the River
Detroit, whence he sent forward Captain Campbell
with a copy of the capitulation, and a letter from
the Marquis de Vaudreuil. directing that the place
should be given up. in accordance with the terms
agreed upon between him and General Amherst. Be-
letre was forced to yield, and with a very ill grace
declared himself and his garrison at the disposal of
the English commander.
The whale boats of the rangers moved slowly up-
wards between the low banks of the Detroit, until
at length the green uniformity of marsh and forest
was relieved bv the Canadian houses, which began
to appear on either bank, the outskirts of the se-
cluded and isolated settlement. Before them, on the
right side, they could see the village of the TVvandots.
Chap. VI.] THE RANGERS AT DETROIT. 151
and on the left the clustered lodges of the Potta-
wattamies, while, a little beyond, the flag of France
was flying for the last time above the bark roofs
and weather-beaten palisades of the little fortified town.
The rangers landed on the opposite bank, and
pitched their tents upon a meadow, while two offi-
cers, with a small detachment, went across the river
to take possession of the place. In obedience to
their summons, the French garrison defiled upon the
plain, and laid down their arms. The fleur de lis
was lowered from the flagstaff, and the cross of St.
George rose aloft in its place, while seven hundred
Indian warriors, lately the active allies of France,
greeted the sight with a burst of triumphant yells.
The Canadian militia were next called together and
disarmed. The Indians looked on with amazement
at their obsequious behavior, quite at a loss to un-
derstand why so many men should humble themselves
before so few. Nothing is more effective in gaming
the respect, or even attachment, of Indians than a dis-
play of power. The savage spectators conceived the
loftiest idea of English prowess, and were beyond
measure astonished at the forbearance of the conquer-
ors in not killing their vanquished enemies on the spot.
It was on the twenty-ninth of November, 1760,
that Detroit fell into the hands of the English. The
garrison were sent as prisoners down the lake, but
the Canadian inhabitants were allowed to retain their
farms and houses, on condition of swearing allegiance
to the British crown. An officer was sent southward
to take possession of the forts Miami and Ouatanon,
which guarded the communication between Lake Erie
and the Ohio, while Rogers himself, with a small
party, proceeded northward to relieve the French gar-
152 THE ENGLISH IN THE WEST. [Chap. VI.
rison of Michillimackinac. The storms and gathering
ice of Lake Huron forced him back without accom-
plishing his object, and Michillimackinac, with the
three remoter posts of St. Marie, Green Bay, and St.
Joseph, remained for the time in the hands of the
French. During the next season, however, a detach-
ment of the 60th regiment, then called the Royal
Americans, took possession of them ; and nothing now
remained within the power of the French, except the
few posts and settlements on the Mississippi and the
Wabash, not included in the capitulation of Montreal.
The work of conquest was consummated. The
fertile wilderness beyond the Alleghanies, over which
France had claimed sovereignty, — that boundless for-
est, with its tracery of interlacing streams, which, like
veins and arteries, gave it life and nourishment, — had
passed into the hands of her rival. It was by a few
insignificant forts, separated by oceans of fresh water
and uncounted leagues of forest, that the two great
European powers, France first, and now England, en-
deavored to enforce their claims to this vast and wild
domain. There is something ludicrous in the disparity
between the importance of the possession and the
slenderness of the force employed to maintain it. A
region embracing so many thousand miles of surface
was consigned to the keeping of some five or six
hundred men. Yet the force, small as it was, ap-
peared adequate to its object, for there seemed no
enemy to contend with. The hands of the French
were tied by the capitulation, and little apprehension
was felt from the red inhabitants of the woods. The
lapse of two years was enough to show how complete
and fatal was the mistake.
CHAPTER VII.
ANGER OF THE INDIANS.— THE CONSPIRACY.
The country was scarcely transferred to the Eng-
lish when smothered murmurs of discontent began
to be audible among the Indian tribes. From the
head of the Potomac to Lake Superior, and from
the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, in every wigwam
and hamlet of the forest, a deep-rooted hatred of the
English increased with rapid growth. Nor is this to be
wondered at. We have seen with what sagacious policy
the French had labored to ingratiate themselves with
the Indians; and the slaughter of the Monongahela,
with the horrible devastation of the western frontier,
the outrages perpetrated at Oswego, and the massacre
at Fort William Henry, bore witness to the success
of their efforts. Even the Delawares and Shawanoes,
the faithful allies of William Penn, had at length
been seduced by their blandishments; and the Iro-
quois, the ancient enemies of Canada, had half for-
gotten their former hostility, and well nigh taken part
against the British colonists. The remote nations of
the west had also joined in the war, descending in
their canoes for hundreds of miles, to fight against
the enemies of France. All these tribes entertained
towards the English that rancorous enmity which an
Indian always feels against those to whom he has
been opposed in war.
20
154 ANGER OF THE INDIANS. [Chap. VII.
Under these circumstances, it behoved the English
to use the utmost care in their conduct towards the
tribes. But even when the conflict with France was
impending, and the alliance with the Indians of the
last importance, they had treated them with indiffer-
ence and neglect. They were not likely to adopt a
different course now that their friendship seemed a mat-
ter of no consequence. In truth, the intentions of the
English were soon apparent. In the zeal for retrench-
ment, which prevailed after the close of hostilities,
the presents which it had always been customary to
give the Indians, at stated intervals, were either with-
held altogether, or doled out with a niggardly and
reluctant hand ; while, to make the matter worse, the
agents and officers of government often appropriated
the presents to themselves, and afterwards sold them
at an exorbitant price to the Indians.1 When the
French had possession of the remote forts, they were
accustomed, with a wise liberality, to supply the sur-
rounding Indians with guns, ammunition, and cloth-
ing, until the latter had forgotten the weapons and
garments of their forefathers, and depended on the
white men for support. The sudden withholding of
these supplies was, therefore, a grievous calamity.
Want, suffering, and death were the consequences,
and this cause alone wrould have been enough to
produce general discontent. But, unhappily, other
grievances were superadded.2
1 MS. Johnson Papers. tributed, but only observe, as I did
2 Extract from a MS. letter — Sir in a former letter, that the Indians
W. Johnson to Governor Coklen, (whose friendship was never culti-
Dec. 24, 1763. vated by the English with that atten-
" I shall not take upon me to point tion, expense, & assiduity with wh ye
out the Originall Parsimony &c. to French obtained their favour,) were
wh the first defection of the Indians for many years jealous of our growing-
can with justice & certainty be at- power, w'ere repeatedly assured by
Chap. VII] DISORDERS OF THE EUR-TRADE. 155
The English fur-trade had never been well regu-
lated, and it was now in a worse condition than ever.
Many of the traders, and those in their employ, were
ruffians of the coarsest stamp, who vied with each
other in rapacity, violence, and profligacy. They
cheated, cursed, and plundered the Indians, and out-
raged their families; offering, when compared with
the French traders, who were under better regulation,
a most unfavorable example of the character of their
nation.
The officers and soldiers of the garrisons did their
full part in exciting the general resentment. For-
merly, when the warriors came to the forts, they had
been welcomed by the French with attention and
respect. The inconvenience which their presence oc-
casioned had been disregarded, and their peculiarities
overlooked. But now they were received with cold
looks and harsh words from the officers, and with
oaths, menaces, and sometimes blows, from the reck-
the French (who were at ye pains of wh however considerable could not
having many proper emissaries among protect Trade, or cover Settlements,
them) that so soon as we became mas- but must remain cooped up in their
tersofthis country, we should imme- garrisons, or else be exposed to the
diately treat them with neglect, hem Ambuscades & surprises of an En-
tliem in with Posts & Forts, encroach emy over whom (from the nature &.
upon their Lands, and finally destroy situation of their country) no im-
them. All wh after the reduction of portant Advantage can be gained, —
Canada, seemed to appear too clearly from a sense of these Truths the
to the Indians, who thereby lost the French chose the most reasonable &
great advantages resulting from the most promising Plan, a Plan which
possession wh the French formerly has endeared their memory to most
had of Posts & Trade in their Coun- of the Indian Nations, who would I
try, neither of which they could have fear generally go over to them in
ever enjoyed but for the notice they case they ever got footing again
took of the Indians, & the presents in this Country, & who were repeat-
they bestowed so bountifully upon edly exhorted, & encouraged by the
them, wh however expensive, they French (from motives of Interest &
wisely foresaw was infinitely cheap- dislike wh they will always .possess)
er, and much more effectual than the to fall upon us, by representing that
keeping of a large body of Regular their liberties & Country were in
Troops, in their several Countrys ye utmost danger."
156 ANGER OF THE INDIANS. [Chap. VE
less and brutal soldiers. "When, after their trouble-
some and intrusive fashion, they were lounging every
where about the fort, or lazily reclining in the shadow
of the walls, they were met with muttered ejacula-
tions of impatience or abrupt orders to depart, enforced,
perhaps, by a touch from the but of a sentinel's
musket. These marks of contempt were unspeakably
galling to their haughty spirit.1
But what most contributed to the growing discon-
tent of the tribes was the intrusion of settlers upon
their lands, at all times a fruitful source of Indian
hostility. Its effects, it is true, could only be felt by
those whose country bordered upon the English set-
tlements; but among these were the most powerful
and influential of the tribes. The Delawares and
Shawanoes, in particular, had by this time been roused
to the highest pitch of exasperation. Their best lands
had been invaded, and all remonstrance had been fruit-
less. They viewed with wrath and fear the steady
progress of the white man, whose settlements had
passed the Susquehanna, and were fast extending to
the Alleghanies, eating away the forest like a spread-
ing canker. The anger of the Delawares was abun-
dantly shared by their ancient conquerors, the Six
Nations. The threatened occupation of Wyoming by
settlers from Connecticut gave great umbrage to the
1 Some of the principal causes of They have possessed themselves of
the war are exhibited with spirit and our Country, it is now in our power
truth in the old tragedy of "Ponte- to Dispossess them and Recover it,
ach," written probably by Major if we will but Embrace the opportu-
Rogers. The portion of the play re- nity before they have time to assem-
ferred to is given in Appendix, B. ble together, and fortify themselves,
" The English treat us with much there is no time to be lost, let us
Disrespect, and we have the greatest Strike immediately." — Speech of a
Reason to believe, by their Behavior, Seneca chief to the "Wyandots and Ot-
they intend to Cut us off entirely; tawas of Detroit, July, 1761.
Chap. VII.] SINISTER MOVEMENTS OF THE FRENCH. 157
confederacy.1 The Senecas were more especially
incensed at English intrusion, since, from their po-
sition, they were farthest removed from the soothing
influence of Sir William Johnson, and most exposed
to the seductions of the French, while the Mohawks,
another member of the confederacy, were justly
alarmed at seeing the better part of their lands pat-
ented out without their consent. Some Christian-" In-
dians of the Oneida tribe, in the simplicity of their
hearts, sent an earnest petition to Sir William John-
son, that the English forts within the limits of the
Six Nations might be removed, or, as the petition
expresses it, kicked out of the way}
The discontent of the Indians gave great satisfac-
tion to the French, who saw in it an assurance of
safe and bloody vengeance on their conquerors. Can-
ada, it is true, was gone beyond hope of recovery;
but they still might hope to revenge its loss. Interest,
moreover, as well as passion, prompted them to in-
flame the resentment of the Indians; for most of
the inhabitants of the French settlements upon the
lakes and the Mississippi were engaged in the fur-
trade, and, fearing the English as formidable rivals,
they would gladly have seen them driven out of the
country. Traders, habitans, coureurs des bois, and all
other classes of this singular population, accordingly
1 Minutes of Conference with the Brother Soldiers don't fear God, we
Six Nations at Hartford, 1763, MS. therefore desire that these Forts may-
Letter — Hamilton to Amherst, May be pull'd down, & kick'd out of the
10, 1761. way."
2 "We are now left in Peace, and At a conference at Philadelphia,
have nothing to do but to plant our in August, 1761, an Iroquois sachem
Corn, Hunt the wild Beasts, smoke said, " We, your Brethren of the sev-
our Pipes, and mind Religion. But en Nations, are penned up like Hoggs,
as these Forts, which are built among There are Forts all around us, and
us, disturb our Peace, & are a great therefore we are apprehensive that
hurt to Religion, because some of our Death is coming upon us."
Warriors are foolish, & some of our
N
158 ANGER OF THE INDIANS. [Chap. VII.
dispersed themselves among the villages of the In-
dians, or held councils with them in the secret places
of the woods, urging them to take up arms against
the English. They exhibited the conduct of the lat-
ter in its worst light, and spared neither misrepresen-
tation nor falsehood. They told their excited hearers
that the English had formed a deliberate scheme to
root out the whole Indian race, and, with that design,
had already begun to hem them in with settlements
on the one hand, and a chain of forts on the other.
Among other atrocious plans for their destruction,
they had instigated the Cherokees to attack and de-
stroy the tribes of the Ohio valley.1 These groundless
calumnies found ready belief. The French declared,
in addition, that the King of France had of late years
fallen asleep; that, during his slumbers, the English
had seized upon Canada ; but that he was now awake
again, and that his armies were advancing up the St.
Lawrence and the Mississippi, to drive out the in-
truders from the country of their red children. To
these fabrications was added the more substantial en-
couragement of arms, ammunition, clothing, and pro-
visions, which the French trading companies, if not
the officers of the crown, distributed with a liberal
hand.3
The fierce passions of the Indians, excited by their
wrongs, real or imagined, and exasperated by the
representations of the French, were yet farther wrought
upon by influences of another kind. A prophet rose
among the Delawares. This man may serve as a coun-
terpart to the famous Shawanoe prophet, who figured
i Croghan's Journal. See Hil- 2 Examination of Gershom Hicks,
dreth, Pioneer History, 68. Also a spy. See Pennsylvania Gazette,
Butler, Hist. Kentucky, Appendix. No. 1846.
Chap. VII.] DELAWAKE PEOPHET. 159
so conspicuously in the Indian outbreak under Te-
cumseh, immediately before the war with England in
1812. Many other parallel instances might be shown,
as the great susceptibility of the Indians to religious
and superstitious impressions renders the advent of a
prophet among them no very rare occurrence. In
the present instance, the inspired Delaware seems to
have been rather an enthusiast than an impostor; or
perhaps he combined both characters. The objects
of his mission were not wholly political. By means
of certain external observances, most of them suf-
ficiently frivolous and absurd, his disciples were to
strengthen and purify their natures, and make them-
selves acceptable to the Great Spirit, whose messenger
he proclaimed himself to be. He also enjoined them
to lay aside the weapons and clothing which they
received from the white men, and return to the primi-
tive life of their ancestors. By so doing, and by
strictly observing his other precepts, the tribes would
soon be restored to their ancient greatness and power,
and be enabled to drive out the white men who in-
fested their territory. The prophet had many follow-
ers. Indians came from far and near, and gathered
together in large encampments to listen to his exhor-
tations. His fame spread even to the nations of the
northern lakes ; but though his disciples followed most
of his injunctions, flinging away flint and steel, and
making copious use of emetics, with other observances
equally troublesome, yet the requisition to abandon
the use of fire-arms was too inconvenient to be com-
plied with.1
i M'Cullough's Narrative. See In- awares, at the time of the prophet's
cidents of Border Life, 98. M'Cul- appearance,
lough was a prisoner among the Del-
160 THE CONSPIRACY. [Chap. VII.
With so many causes to irritate their restless and
warlike spirit, it could not be supposed that the In-
dians would long remain quiet. Accordingly, hi the
summer of the year 1761, Captain Campbell, then com-
manding at Detroit, received information that a depu-
tation of Senecas had come to the neighboring village
of the Wyandots for the purpose of instigating the
latter to destroy him and his garrison.1 On farther
inquiry, the plot proved to be general, and Niagara,
Fort Pitt, and other posts, were to share the fate of
Detroit. Campbell instantly despatched messengers to
Sir Jeffrey Amherst, and the commanding officers of
the different forts; and, by this timely discovery, the
conspiracy was nipped in the bud. During the fol-
lowing summer, 1762, another similar design was
detected and suppressed. They proved but the pre-
cursors of a tempest. Within two years after the
discovery of the first plot, a scheme was matured
1 MS. Minutes of a Council held and that they have Sent Belts of
by Deputies of the Six Nations, with Wampum & Deputys to all the Na-
the Wyandots, Ottawas, Ojibwas, tions, from Nova Scotia to the Illi-
and Pottawattamies, at the Wyandot nois, to take up the Hatchet against
town, near Detroit, July 3, 1761. the English, and have Employed the
Extract from a MS. Letter — Cap- Messagues to send Belts of Wam-
tain Campbell, commanding at De- pum to the Northern Nations
troit, to Major Walters, commanding " Their project is as follows : the Six
at Niagara. Nations — a.t least the Senecas are to
Assemble at the head of French
5 " Detroit, June 17th, 1761, Creek,within five and twenty Leagues
( two o'clock in the morning. of Presqu'Isle, part of the Six Na-
" Sir : tions, the Delawares &. Shanese, are
" I had the favor of Yours, with to Assemble on the Ohio, and all at
General Amherst's Dispatches. the same time, about the latter End
" I have sent You an Express with of this Month, to surprise Niagara
a very Important piece of Intelli- & Fort Pitt, and Cut off the Com-
gence I have had the good fortune munication Every where ; I hope this
to Discover. I have been Lately will Come time Enough to put You
alarmed with Reports of the bad De- on Your Guard and to send to Os-
signs of the Indian Nations against wego, and all the Posts on that com-
this place and the English in Gen- munication, they Expect to be Joined
eral ; 1 can now Inform You for cer- by the Nations that are Come from
tain it Comes from the Six Nations ; the North by Toronto."
Chap. VII.] PONTIAC. 161
greater in extent, deeper and more comprehensive in
design — such a one as was never, before or since,
conceived or executed by a North American Indian.
It was determined to attack all the English forts upon
the same day; then, having destroyed their garrisons,
to turn upon the defenceless frontier, and ravage and
lay waste the settlements, until, as many of the In-
dians fondly believed, the English should all be driven
into the sea, and the country restored to its primi-
tive owners.
It is difficult to determine which tribe was first to
raise the cry of war. There were many who might
have done so, for all the savages in the backwoods
were ripe for an outbreak, and the movement seemed
almost simultaneous. The Delawares and Senecas
were the most incensed, and Kiashuta, chief of the
latter, was perhaps foremost to apply the torch ; but,
if this were the case, he touched fire to materials
already on the point of igniting. It belonged to a
greater chief than he to give method and order to
what would else have been a wild burst of fury, and
to convert desultory attacks into a formidable and
protracted war. But for Pontiac, the whole might
have ended in a few troublesome inroads upon the
frontier, and a little whooping and yelling under the
walls of Fort Pitt.
Pontiac, as already mentioned, was principal chief
of the Ottawas. The Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Potta-
wattamies, had long been united in a loose kind of
confederacy, of which he was the virtual head. Over
those around him his authority was almost despotic,
and his power extended far beyond the limits of the
three united tribes. His influence was great among
all the nations of the Illinois country; while, from
21 N*
162 THE CONSPIRACY. [Chap. VII.
the sources of the Ohio to those of the Mississippi,
and, indeed, to the farthest boundaries of the wide-
spread Algonquin race, his name was known and re-
spected.
The fact that Pontiac was born the son of a chief
would in no degree account for the extent of his
power; for, among Indians, many a chief's son sinks
back into insignificance, while the offspring of a com-
mon warrior may succeed to his place. Among all
the wild tribes of the continent, personal merit is
indispensable to gaining or preserving dignity. Cour-
age, resolution, wisdom, address, and eloquence are
sure passports to distinction. With all these Pontiac
was preeminently endowed, and it was chiefly to them,
urged to their highest activity by a vehement am-
bition, that he owed his greatness. His intellect
was strong and capacious. He possessed command-
ing energy and force of mind, and in subtlety and
craft could match the best of his wily race. But,
though capable of acts of lofty magnanimity, he was a
thorough savage, with a wider range of intellect than
those around him, but sharing all their passions and
prejudices, their fierceness and treachery. Yet his
faults were the faults of his race; and they cannot
eclipse his nobler qualities, the great powers and
heroic virtues of his mind. His memory is still cher-
ished among the remnants of many Algonquin tribes,
and the celebrated Tecumseh adopted him for his
model, proving himself no unworthy imitator.1
i Drake, Life of Tecumseh, 138. government interpreter for the north-
Several tribes, the Miamis, Sacs, ern tribes, declared, on the faith of
and others, have claimed connection Indian tradition, that he was born
with the great chief; but it is certain among the OttaAvas of an Ojibwa
that he was, by adoption at least, an mother, a circumstance which proved
Ottawa. Henry Conner, formerly an advantage to him by increasing
Chap. VII.] GLOOMY PROSPECTS OF THE INDIANS. 163
Pontiac was now about fifty years old. Until Ma-
jor Rogers came into the country, he had been, from
motives probably both of interest and inclination, a
firm friend of the French. Not long before the French
war broke out, he had saved the garrison of Detroit
from the imminent peril of an attack from some of
the discontented tribes of the north. During the war,
he had fought on the side of France. It is said that
he commanded the Ottawas at the memorable defeat
of Braddock; but, at all events, he was treated with
much honor by the French officers, and received espe-
cial marks of esteem from the Marquis of Montcalm.1
"We have seen how, when the tide of affairs changed,
the subtle and ambitious chief trimmed his bark to
the current, and gave the hand of friendship to the
English. That he was disappointed in their treat-
ment of him, and in all the hopes that he had formed
from their alliance, is sufficiently evident from one
of his speeches. A new light soon began to dawn
upon his untaught but powerful mind, and he saw
the altered posture of affairs under its true aspect.
It was a momentous and gloomy crisis for the In-
dian race, for never before had they been exposed to
such pressing and imminent danger. With the down-
fall of Canada, the Indian tribes had sunk at once
from their position of power and importance. Hith-
erto the two rival European nations had kept each
other in check upon the American continent, and the
his influence over both tribes. An I The venerable Pierre Chouteau,
Ojibwa Indian told the writer that of St. Louis, remembered to have
some portion of his power was to be seen Pontiac, a few days before the
ascribed to his being a chief of the death of the latter, attired in the com-
Metai, a magical association among plete uniform of a French officer,
the Indians of the lakes, in which which had been given him by the
character he exerted an influence on Marquis of Montcalm not long before
the superstition of his followers. the battle on the Plains of Abraham.
164 THE CONSPIRACY. [Chap. VII.
Indian tribes had, in some measure, held the balance
of power between them. To conciliate their good
will and gain their alliance, to avoid offending them
by injustice and encroachment, was the policy both
of the French and English. But now the face of
affairs was changed. The English had gained an un-
disputed ascendency, and the Indians, no longer im-
portant as allies, were treated as mere barbarians,
who might be trampled upon with impunity. Aban-
doned to their own feeble resources and divided
strength, the tribes must fast recede, and dwindle
away before the steady progress of the colonial power.
Already their best hunting-grounds were invaded, and
from the eastern ridges of the Alleghanies they might
see, from far and near, the smoke of the settlers' clear-
ings, rising in tall columns from the dark-green bosom
of the forest. The doom of the race was sealed, and
no human power could avert it; but they, in their
ignorance, believed otherwise, and vainly thought that,
by a desperate effort, they might yet uproot and over-
throw the growing strength of their destroyers.
It would be idle to suppose that the great mass
of the Indians understood, in its full extent, the dan-
ger which threatened their race. With them, the
war was a mere outbreak of fury, and they turned
against their enemies with as little reason or fore-
cast as a panther when he leaps at the throat of
the hunter. Goaded by wrongs and indignities, they
struck for revenge, and relief from the evil of the
moment. But the mind of Pontiac could embrace a
wider and deeper view. The peril of the times was
unfolded in its full extent before him, and he resolved
to unite the tribes in one grand effort to avert it.
He did not, like many of his people, entertain the
Chap. VII.] DESIGNS OF PONTIAC. 165
absurd idea that the Indians, by their unaided strength,
could drive the English into the sea. He adopted
the only plan that was consistent with reason, that
of restoring the French ascendency in the west, and
once more opposing a check to British encroachment.
With views like these, he lent a greedy ear to the
plausible falsehoods of the Canadians, who assured
him that the armies of King Louis were already ad-
vancing to recover Canada, and that the French and
their red brethren, fighting side by side, would drive
the English dogs back within their own narrow limits.
Revolving these thoughts, and remembering more-
over that his own ambitious views might be advanced
by the hostilities he meditated, Pontiac no longer hesi-
tated. Revenge, ambition, and patriotism, wrought
upon him alike, and he resolved on war. At the
close of the year 1762, he sent out ambassadors to
the different nations. They visited the country of
the Ohio and its tributaries, passed northward to the
region of the upper lakes, and the wild borders of
the River Ottawa; and far southward towards the
mouth of the Mississippi.1 Bearing with them the
war-belt of wampum,2 broad and long, as the impor-
1 MS. Letter — M. D'Abbadie to purple, and white. When used for
M. Neyon, 1764. ornament, they were arranged fanci-
2 Wampum was an article much fully in necklaces, collars, and em-
in use among many tribes, not only broidery ; but when employed for
for ornament, but for the graver pur- public purposes, they were disposed
poses of councils, treaties, and em- in a great variety of patterns and de-
bassies. In ancient times, it consisted vices, which, to the minds of the In-
of small shells, or fragments of shells, dians, had all the significance of
rudely perforated, and strung togeth- hieroglyphics. An Indian orator, at
er ; but more recently, it was manu- every clause of his speech, delivered
factured by the white men, from the a belt or string of wampum, varying
inner portions of certain marine and in size, according to the importance
fresh water shells. In shape, the of what he had laid, and, by its fig-
grains or beads resembled small ures and coloring, so arranged as to
pieces of broken pipe-stem, and were perpetuate the remembrance of his
of various sizes and colors, black, words. These belts were carefully
166 THE CONSPIRACY. [Chap. VH.
tance of the message demanded; and the tomahawk
stained red, in token of war; they went from camp
to camp, and village to village. Wherever they ap-
peared, the sachems and old men assembled, to hear
the words of the great Pontiac. Then the head chief
of the embassy flung down the tomahawk on the
ground before them, and holding the war-belt in his
hand, delivered, with vehement gesture, word for word,
the speech with which he was charged. It was heard
every where with approbation ; the belt was accepted,
the hatchet snatched up, and the assembled chiefs
stood pledged to take part in the war. The blow
was to be struck at a certain time in the month of
May following, to be indicated by the changes of the
moon. The tribes were to rise together, each destroy-
ing the English garrison in its neighborhood, and
then, with a general rush, the whole were to turn
against the settlements of the frontier.
The tribes, thus banded together against the Eng-
lish, comprised, with a few unimportant exceptions, the
whole Algonquin stock, to whom were united the Wy-
andots, the Senecas, and several tribes of the lower
Mississippi. The Senecas were the only members
stored up like written documents, and will of the tribe whose alliance is
it was generally the office of some sought. In the summer of the year
old man to interpret their meaning. 1846, when the western bands of the
When a wampum belt was sent to Dahcotah were preparing to go in
summon the tribes to join in war, its concert against their enemies the
color was always red or black, while Crows, the chief who was at the head
the prevailing color of a peace-belt of the design, and in whose village
was white. Tobacco was sometimes the writer was an inmate, impov-
used on such occasions as a substi- erished himself by sending most of
tute for wampum, since in their coun- his horses as presents to the chiefs
cils the Indians are in the habit of of the surrounding villages. On this
constantly smoking, and tobacco is occasion, tobacco was the token borne
therefore taken as the emblem of de- by the messengers, as wampum is not
liberation. With the tobacco or the in use among the tribes of that re-
belt of wampum, presents are not un- gion.
frequently sent to conciliate the good
Chap. VII] DISSIMULATION OF THE INDIANS. 167
of the Iroquois confederacy who joined in the league,
the rest being kept quiet by the influence of Sir
William Johnson, whose utmost exertions, however,
were barely sufficient to allay their irritation.1
While thus on the very eve of an outbreak, the
Indians concealed their design with the deep dissimu-
lation of their race. The warriors still lounged about
the forts, with calm, impenetrable faces, begging as
heretofore for tobacco, gunpowder, and whiskey. Now
and then, some slight intimation of danger would
startle the garrisons from their security, and an Eng-
lish trader, coming in from the Indian villages, would
report that, from their manner and behavior, he sus-
pected them of mischievous designs. Some scoundrel
half-breed would be heard boasting in his cups that
before next summer he would have English hair to
fringe his hunting-frock. On one occasion, the plot
was nearly discovered. Early in March, 1763, En-
sign Holmes, commanding at Fort Miami, was told
by a friendly Indian, that the warriors in the neigh-
boring village had lately received a war-belt, with a
message urging them to destroy him and his garri-
son, and that this they were preparing to do. Holmes
called the Indians together, and boldly charged them
with their design. They did as Indians on such oc-
casions have often done, confessed their fault with
much apparent contrition, laid the blame on a neigh-
boring tribe, and professed eternal friendship to their
brethren the English. Holmes writes to report his
discovery to Major Gladwyn, who, in his turn, sends
the information to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, expressing his
opinion that there has been a general irritation among
1 MS. Johnson Papers*
168 THE CONSPIRACY. [Chap. VII.
the Indians, but that the affair will soon blow over,
and that, in the neighborhood of his own post, the
savages were perfectly tranquil.1 Within cannon shot
of the deluded officer's palisades, was the village of
Pontiac himself, the arch enemy of the English, and
prime mover in the plot.
With the approach of spring, the Indians, coming
in from their wintering grounds, began to appear in
small parties about the different forts ; but now they
seldom entered them, encamping at a little distance
in the woods. They were fast pushing their prepara-
tions for the meditated blow, and waiting with stifled
eagerness for the appointed hour.
1 MS. Speech of a Miami Chief it, and have found it out to he True ;
to Ensign Holmes. MS. Letter — Whereon I Assembled all the Chiefs
Holmes to Gladwyn, March 16, 1763. of this Nation, & after a long and
Gladwyn to Amherst, March 21, 1763. troublesome Spell with them, I Ob-
Extract from a MS. Letter — En- tained the Belt, with a Speech, as You
sign Holmes, commanding at Miamis, will Receive Enclosed; This Affair
to Major Gladwyn : — is very timely Stopt, and I hope the
News of a Peace will put a Stop to
IJ'^W, any further Troubles with these In-
l March 30th, 1763. dianSj who are ^ principal 0nes of
"Since my Last Letter to You, Setting Mischief on Foot. I send
wherein I Acquainted You of the you the Belt, with this Packet, which
Bloody Belt being, in this Village, I I hope You will Forward to the Gen-
have made all the search I could about eral."
CHAPTER VIII.
INDIAN PREPARATION.
I interrupt the progress of the narrative to glance
for a moment at the Indians in their military capacity,
and observe how far they were qualified to prosecute
the formidable war into which they were about to
plunge.
A people living chiefly by the chase, and there-
fore, of necessity, thinly scattered over a great space,
divided into numerous tribes, held together by no
strong principle of cohesion, and with no central
government to combine their strength, could act
with little efficiency against such an enemy as was
now opposed to them. Loose and disjointed as a
whole, the government even of individual tribes, and
of their smallest separate communities, was too feeble
to deserve the name. There were, it is true, chiefs
whose office was in a manner hereditary; but their
authority was wholly of a moral nature, and enforced
by no compulsory law. Their province was to ad-
vise, and not to command. Their influence, such as
it was, is chiefly to be ascribed to the principle of
hero-worship, natural to the Indian character, and to
the reverence for age, which belongs to a state of
society where a patriarchal element largely prevails.
It was their office to declare war and make peace;
but when war was declared, they had no power to
22 o
170 INDIAN PREPARATION. [Chap. Vm.
carry the declaration into effect. The warriors fought
if they chose to do so; but if, on the contrary, they
preferred to remain quiet, no man could force them
to lift the hatchet. The war-chief, whose part it was
to lead them to battle, was a mere partisan, whom his
bravery and exploits had led to distinction. If he
thought proper, he sang his war-song and danced his
war-dance, and as many of the young men as were
disposed to follow him gathered around and enlisted
themselves under him. Over these volunteers he had
no legal authority, and they could desert him at any
moment, with no other penalty than disgrace. "When
several war-parties, of different bands or tribes, were
united in a common enterprise, their chiefs elected a
leader, who was nominally to command the whole ; but
unless this leader was a man of high distinction, and
endowed with great mental power, his commands were
disregarded, and his authority was a cipher. Among
his followers was every latent element of discord,
pride, jealousy, and ancient half-smothered feuds, ready
at any moment to break out, and tear the whole
asunder. His warriors would often desert in bodies;
and many an Indian army, before reaching the ene-
my's country, has been known to dwindle away until
it was reduced to a mere scalping party.
To twist a rope of sand would be as easy a task
as to form a permanent and effective army of such
materials. The wild love of freedom, and impatience
of all control, which mark the Indian race, ren-
der them utterly intolerant of military discipline.
Partly from their individual character, and partly
from this absence of subordination, spring results
highly unfavorable to the efficiency of continued and
extended military operation. Indian warriors, when
Chap. VIII] THE INDIANS AS A MILITARY PEOPLE. 171
acting in large masses, are to the last degree way-
ward, capricious, and unstable; infirm of purpose as
a mob of children, and devoid of providence and fore-
sight. To provide supplies for a campaign forms no
part of their system. Hence the blow must be struck
at once, or not struck at all; and to postpone victory
is to insure defeat. It is when acting in small, de-
tached parties, that the Indian warrior puts forth his
energies, and displays his admirable address, endur-
ance, and intrepidity. It is then that he becomes
a truly formidable enemy. Fired with the hope of
winning scalps, he is stanch as a bloodhound. No
hardship can divert him from his purpose, and no
danger subdue his patient and cautious courage.
From their inveterate passion for war, the Indians
are always prompt enough to engage in it; and on
the present occasion, the prevailing irritation afforded
ample assurance that they would not remain idle.
While there was little risk that they would capture
any strong and well-defended fort, or carry any im-
portant position, there was, on the other hand, every
reason to apprehend wide-spread havoc, and a destruc-
tive war of detail. That the war might be carried
on with vigor and effect, it was the part of the Indian
leaders to work upon the passions of their people,
and keep alive the feeling of irritation ; to whet their
native appetite for blood and glory, and cheer them
on to the attack ; to guard against all that might
quench their ardor, or abate their fierceness; to avoid
pitched battles; never to fight except under advan-
tage; and to avail themselves of all the aid which
surprise, craft, and treachery could afford. The very
circumstances which unfitted the Indians for continued
and concentrated attack were, in another view, highly
172 INDIAN PKEPAKATION. [Chap. VIII.
advantageous, by preventing the enemy from assail-
ing them with vital effect. It was no easy task to
penetrate tangled woods in search of a foe, alert and
active as a lynx, who would seldom stand and fight,
whose deadly shot and triumphant whoop were the
first and often the last tokens of his presence, and
who, at the approach of a hostile force, would vanish
into the black recesses of forests and pine swamps,
only to renew his attacks afresh with unabated ardor.
There were no forts to capture, no magazines to de-
stroy, and little property to seize upon. No species
of warfare could be more perilous and harassing in
its prosecution, or less satisfactory in its results.
The English colonies at this time were but ill
fitted to bear the brunt of the impending war. The
army which had conquered Canada was now broken
up and dissolved ; the provincials were disbanded, and
most of the regulars sent home. A few fragments
of regiments, miserably wasted by war and sickness,
were just arrived from the West Indies ; and of these,
several were already ordered to England, to be dis-
charged. There remained barely troops enough to
furnish feeble garrisons for the various forts on the
frontier and in the Indian country.1 At the head of
this dilapidated army was Sir Jeffrey Amherst, the
able and resolute soldier who had achieved the re-
duction of Canada. He was a man well fitted for
the emergency; cautious, bold, active, far-sighted,
and endowed with a singular power of breathing
his own energy and zeal into those who served un-
der him. The command could not have been in bet-
ter hands; and the results of the war, lamentable as
1 Mante, 485.
Chap. VIIL] THE PEACE OE PAEIS. 173
they were, would have been much more disastrous,
but for his promptness and vigor, and, above all, his
judicious selection of those to whom he confided the
execution of his orders.
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, on the tenth of February, 1763.1
By this treaty France resigned her claims to the ter-
ritories east of the Mississippi, and that great river
now became the western boundary of the British co-
lonial possessions. In portioning out her new acqui-
sitions into separate governments, England left the
valley of the Ohio and the adjacent regions as an
Indian domain, and by the proclamation of the sev-
enth of October following, the intrusion of settlers
upon these lands was strictly prohibited.3 Could these
just and necessary measures have been sooner adopted,
it is probable that the Indian war might have been
prevented, or, at all events, rendered less general and
violent, for the treaty would have made it apparent
that the French could never repossess themselves of
Canada, and have proved the futility of every hope
which the Indians entertained of assistance from that
quarter, while, at the same time, the royal proclama-
tion would have greatly tended to tranquillize their
minds, by removing the chief cause of irritation. 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.
i Holmes, Annals, II. 258.
2 See Proclamation, Gentleman's Magazine, XXXIII. 477.
174 INDIAN PKEPAKATION. [Chap. VTH.
Throughout the western wilderness, in a hundred
camps and villages, were celebrated the savage rites
of war. Warriors, women, and children were alike
eager and excited; magicians consulted their oracles,
and prepared charms to insure success ; while the war-
chief, his body painted black from head to foot,
withdrawing from the people, concealed himself among
rocks and caverns, or in the dark recesses of the forest.
Here, fasting and praying, he calls day and night
upon the Great Spirit, consulting his dreams, to draw
from them auguries of good or evil ; and if, perchance,
a vision of the great war-eagle seems to hover over
him with expanded wings, he exults in the full con-
viction of triumph. When a few days have elapsed,
he emerges from his retreat, and the people discover
him descending from the woods, and approaching their
camp, black as a demon of war, and shrunken with
fasting and vigil. They nock around and listen to
his wild harangue. He calls on them to avenge the
blood of their slaughtered relatives; he assures them
that the Great Spirit is on their side, and that vic-
tory is certain. With exulting cries they disperse to
their wigwams, to array themselves in the savage dec-
orations of the war-dress. An old man now passes
through the camp, and invites the warriors to a feast
•in the name of the chief. They gather from all
quarters to his wigwam, where they find him seated,
no longer covered with black, but adorned with the
startling and fantastic blazonry of the war-paint.
Those who join in the feast pledge themselves, by so
doing, to follow him against the enemy. The guests
seat themselves on the ground, in a circle around the
wigwam, and the flesh of dogs is placed in wooden
dishes before them, while the chief, though goaded
Chap. VIII.] THE WAR-FEAST — THE WAK-DANCE. 175
by the pangs of his long, unbroken fast, sits smoking
his pipe with unmoved countenance, and takes no
part in the feast.
Night has now closed in, and the rough clearing
is illumined by the blaze of fires and burning pine
knots, casting their deep red glare upon the dusky
boughs of the tall surrounding pine-trees, and upon
the wild multitude who, fluttering with feathers and
bedaubed with paint, have gathered for the celebra-
tion of the war-dance. A painted post is driven into
the ground, and the crowd form a wide circle around it.
The chief leaps into the vacant space, brandishing
his hatchet as if rushing upon an enemy, and, in a
loud, vehement tone, chants his own exploits and
those of his ancestors, enacting the deeds which he
describes, yelling the war-whoop, throwing himself
into all the postures of actual fight, striking the post
as if it were an enemy, and tearing the scalp from
the head of the imaginary victim. Warrior after war-
rior follows his example, until the whole assembly, as
if fired with sudden frenzy, rush together into the
ring, leaping, stamping, and whooping, brandishing
knives and hatchets in the fire light, hacking and
stabbing the air, and working themselves into the
fury of battle, while at intervals they all break forth
into a burst of ferocious yells, which sounds for miles
away over the lonely, midnight forest.
In the morning, the warriors prepare to depart.
They leave the camp in single file, still decorated in
all their finery of paint, feathers, and scalp-locks ; and
as they enter the woods, the chief fires his gun, the
warrior behind follows his example, and the discharges
pass in slow succession from front to rear, the salute
concluding with a general whoop. They encamp at no
176 INDIAN PREPARATION. [Chap. VIII.
great distance from the village, and divest themselves
of their much-valued ornaments, which are carried
back by the women, who have followed them for this
purpose. The warriors pursue their journey, clad in
the rough attire of hard service, and move silently
and stealthily through the forest towards the hapless
garrison, or defenceless settlement, which they have
marked as their prey.
The woods were now filled with war-parties such
as this, and soon the first tokens of the approaching
tempest began to alarm the unhappy settlers of the
frontier. At first, some trader or hunter, weak and
emaciated, would come in from the forest, and relate
that his companions had been butchered in the In-
dian villages, and that he alone had escaped. Next
succeeded vague and uncertain rumors of forts at-
tacked and garrisons slaughtered; and soon after, a
report gained ground that every post throughout the
Indian country had been taken, and every soldier
killed. Close upon these tidings came the enemy
himself. The Indian war-parties broke out of the
woods like gangs of wolves, murdering, burning, and
laying waste, while hundreds of terror-stricken families,
abandoning their homes, fled for refuge towards the
older settlements, and all was misery and ruin.
Passing over, for the present, this portion of the
war, we will penetrate at once into the heart of the
Indian country, and observe those passages of the
conflict which took place under the auspices of Pon-
tiac himself — the siege of Detroit, and the capture
of the interior posts and garrisons.
CHAPTER IX.
THE COUNCIL AT THE RIVER ECORCES.
To begin the war was reserved by Pontiac as his own
peculiar privilege. With the first opening of spring
his preparations were complete. His light-footed mes-
sengers, with their wampum belts and gifts of tobacco,
visited many a lonely hunting camp in the gloom of
the northern woods, and called chiefs and warriors to
attend the general meeting. The appointed spot was
on the banks of the little River Ecorces, not far from
Detroit. Thither went Pontiac himself, with his squaws
and his children. Band after band came straggling in
from every side, until the meadow was thickly dotted
with their slender wigwams.1 Here were idle warriors
smoking and laughing in groups, or beguiling the lazy
hours with gambling, with feasting, or with doubtful
stories of their own martial exploits. Here were
youthful gallants, bedizened with all the foppery of
beads, feathers, and hawk's bells, but held as yet in
light esteem, since they had slain no enemy, and taken
no scalp. Here also were young damsels, radiant with
bears' oil, ruddy with vermilion, and versed in all the
arts of forest coquetry ; shrivelled hags, with limbs of
wire, and voices like those of screech-owls ; and troops
* Pontiac MS. See Appendix, C.
23
178 THE COUNCIL. [Chap. IX.
of naked children, with small, black, mischievous eyes,
roaming along the outskirts of the woods.
The great Roman historian observes of the ancient
Germans, that when summoned to a public meeting,
they would lag behind the appointed time in order to
show their independence. The remark holds true, and
perhaps with greater emphasis, of the American In-
dians ; and thus it happened, that several days elapsed
before the assembly was complete. In such a motley
concourse of barbarians, where different bands and dif-
ferent tribes were mustered on one common camping
ground, it would need all the art of a prudent leader
to prevent their dormant jealousies from starting into
open strife. No people are more prompt to quarrel,
and none more prone, in the fierce excitement of the
present, to forget the purpose of the future ; yet,
through good fortune, or the wisdom of Pontiac, no
rupture occurred; and at length the last loiterer ap-
peared, and farther delay was needless.
The council took place on the twenty-seventh of
April. On that morning, several old men, the heralds
of the camp, passed to and fro among the lodges, call-
ing the warriors, in a loud voice, to attend the meeting.
In accordance with the summons, they came issuing
from their cabins — the tall, naked figures of the wild
Ojibwas, with quivers slung at their backs, and light
war-clubs resting in the hollow of their arms; Otta-
was, wrapped close in their gaudy blankets; Wyan-
dots, fluttering in painted shirts, their heads adorned
with feathers, and their leggins garnished with bells.
All were soon seated in a wide circle upon the grass,
row within row, a grave and silent assembly. Each
savage countenance seemed carved in wood, and none
could have detected the deep and fiery passions hidden
Chap. IX.] SPEECH OFjPONTIAC. 179
beneath that immovable exterior. Pipes with orna-
mented stems were lighted, and passed from hand to
hand.
Then Pontiac rose, and walked forward into the
midst of the council. According to Canadian tradi-
tion, he was not above the middle height, though his
muscular figure was cast in a mould of remarkable
symmetry and vigor. His complexion was darker than
is usual with his race, and his features, though by no
means regular, had a bold and stem expression, while
his habitual bearing was imperious and peremptory,
like that of a man accustomed to sweep away all oppo-
sition by the force of his impetuous will. His ordi-
nary attire was that of the primitive savage — a scanty
cincture girt about his loins, and his long, black hair
flowing loosely at his back ; but on occasions like this,
he was wont to appear as befitted his power and char-
acter, and he stood before the council plumed and
painted in the full costume of war.
Looking round upon his wild auditors, he began to
speak, with fierce gesture, and loud, impassioned 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 declared that the
British commandant had treated him with neglect and
contempt ; that the soldiers of the garrison had foully
abused the Indians ; and that one of them had struck
a follower of his own. He represented the danger that
would arise from the supremacy of the English. They
had expelled the French, and now they only waited for
a pretext to turn upon the Indians and destroy them.
Then, holding out a broad belt of wampum, he told
180 THE COUNCIL. [Chap. IX.
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 Canada, and wreak ven-
geance 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 him-
self to their superstition, and told the following tale.
Its precise origin is not easy to determine. It is pos-
sible that the Delaware prophet, mentioned in a former
chapter, may have had some part in it ; or it might
have been the offspring of Pontiac's heated imagina-
tion, during his period of fasting and dreaming. That
he deliberately invented it for the sake of the effect it
would produce, is the least probable conclusion of all ;
for it evidently proceeds from the superstitious mind of
an Indian, brooding upon the evil days in which his
lot was cast, and tut-ning for relief to the mysterious
Author of his being. It is, at all events, a characteris-
tic specimen of the Indian legendary tales, and, like
many of them, bears an allegoric significancy. Yet
he who endeavors to interpret an Indian allegory
through all its erratic windings and puerile inconsis-
tencies, has undertaken no easy or enviable task.
" A Delaware Indian," said Pontiac, " conceived an
eager desire to learn wisdom from the Master of Life ;
but, being ignorant where to find him, he had recourse
Chap. IX.] ALLEGORY OF THE DELAWARE. 181
to fasting, dreaming, and magical incantations. By
these means it was revealed to him, that by moving for-
ward in a straight, nncleviating course, he would reach
the abode of the Great Spirit. He told his purpose to
no one, and having provided the equipments of a
hunter, — gun, powder-horn, ammunition, and a kettle
for preparing his food, — he set forth on his errand.
For some time he journeyed on in high hope and confi-
dence. On the evening of the eighth day, he stopped
by the side of a brook at the edge of a small prairie,
where he began to make ready his evening meal, when,
looking up, he saw three large openings in the woods
on the opposite side of the meadow, and three well-
beaten paths which entered them. He was much sur-
prised; but his wonder increased when, after it had
grown dark, the three paths were more clearly visible
than ever. Remembering the important object of his
journey, he could neither rest nor sleep ; and, leaving
his fire, he crossed the meadow, and entered the largest
of the three openings. He had advanced but a short
distance into the forest, when a bright flame sprang out
of the ground before him, and arrested his steps. In
great amazement, he turned back, and entered the sec-
ond path, where the same wonderful phenomenon again
encountered him ; and now, in terror and bewilderment,
yet still resolved to persevere, he pursued the last of
the three paths. On this he journeyed a whole day
without interruption, when at length, emerging from
the forest, he saw before him a vast mountain, of
dazzling whiteness. So precipitous was the ascent,
that the Indian thought it hopeless to go farther, and
looked around him in despair : at that moment, he saw,
seated at some distance above, the figure of a beautiful
woman arrayed in white, who arose as he looked upon
p
182 THE COUNCIL. [Chap. IX.
her, and thus accosted him : ' How can you hope, en-
cumbered as you are, to succeed in your design ? Go
down to the foot of the mountain, throw away your
gun, your ammunition, your provisions, and your cloth-
ing ; wash yourself in the stream ' which flows there,
and you will then be prepared to stand before the
Master of Life.' The Indian obeyed, and again began
to ascend among the rocks, while the woman, seeing
him still discouraged, laughed at his faintness of heart,
and told him that, if he wished for success, he must
climb by the aid of one hand and one foot only. After
great toil and suffering, he at length found himself at
the summit. The woman had disappeared, and he was
left alone. A rich and beautiful plain lay before him,
and at a little distance he saw three great villages, far
superior to the squalid dwellings of the Delawares.
As he approached the largest, and stood hesitating
whether he should enter, a man gorgeously attired
stepped forth, and, taking him by the hand, welcomed
him to the celestial abode. He then conducted him
into the presence of the Great Spirit, where the Indian
stood confounded at the unspeakable splendor which
surrounded him. The Great Spirit bade him be seated,
and thus addressed him : —
" ' I am the Maker of heaven and earth, the trees,
lakes, rivers, and all things else. I am the Maker of
mankind; and because I love you, you must do my
will. The land on which you live I have made for
you, and not for others. Why do you suffer the white
men to dwell among you1? My children, you have for-
gotten the customs and traditions of your forefathers.
Why do you not clothe yourselves in skins, as they did,
and use the bows and arrows, and the stone-pointed
lances, which they used? You have bought guns,
Chap. IX.] ALLEGORY OF THE DELAWARE. 183
knives, kettles, and blankets from the white men,
until you can no longer do without them ; and what
is worse, you have drunk the poison fire-water, which
turns you into fools. Fling all these things away;
live as your wise forefathers lived before you. And as
for these English, — these dogs dressed in red, who have
come to rob you of your hunting-grounds, and drive
away the game, — you must lift the hatchet against
them. Wipe them from the face of the earth, and then
you will win my favor back again, and once more be
happy and prosperous. The children of your great
father, the King of France, are not like the English.
Never forget that they are your brethren. They are
very dear to me, for they love the red men, and under-
stand the true mode of worshipping me.'"
The Great Spirit next instructed his hearer in va-
rious precepts of morality and religion, such as the
prohibition to marry more than one wife, and a warn-
ing against the practice of magic, which is worship-
ping the devil. A prayer, embodying the substance
of all that he had heard, was then presented to the
Delaware. It was cut in hieroglyphics upon a wooden
stick, after the custom of his people, and he was
directed to send copies of it to all the Indian vil-
lages.1
The adventurer now departed, and, returning to the
earth, reported all the wonders he had seen in the
celestial regions.
Such was the tale told by Pontiac to the council ;
and it is worthy of notice, that not he alone, but
i Pontiac MS. — M'Dougal MSS. writes on the authority of Canadians,
M'Dougal states that he derived his some of whom were present at the
information from an Indian. The au- council,
thor of the Pontiac MS. probably
184 THE COUNCIL. [Chap. IX.
many of the greatest men who have arisen among the
Indians, have been opponents of civilization, and
stanch advocates of primitive barbarism. Red Jacket
and Tecumseh would gladly have brought back their
people to the wild simplicity of their original con-
dition. There is nothing progressive in the rigid, in-
flexible nature of an Indian. He will not open his
mind to the idea of improvement, and nearly every
change that has been forced upon him has been a
change for the worse.
Many other speeches were doubtless made in the
council, but no record of them has been preserved.
All present were eager to attack the British fort, and
Pontiac told them, in conclusion, that on the second
of May he would gain admittance with a party of his
warriors, on pretence of dancing the calumet dance
before the garrison; that they would take note of
the strength of the fortification; and, this information
gained, he would summon another council to determine
the mode of attack.
The assembly now dissolved, and all the evening the
women were employed in loading the canoes, which
were drawn up on the bank of the stream. The en-
campments > broke up at so early an hour, that when
the sun rose, the savage swarm had melted away; the
secluded scene was restored to its wonted silence and
solitude, and nothing remained but the slender frame-
work of several hundred cabins, with fragments of
broken utensils, pieces of cloth, and scraps of hide,
scattered over the trampled grass, while the moulder-
ing embers of numberless fires mingled their dark
smoke with the white mist which rose from the little
river.
Every spring, after the winter hunt was over, the
Chap. IX.] THE CALUMET DANCE. 185
Indians were accustomed to return to their villages,
or permanent encampments, in the vicinity of Detroit ;
and, accordingly, after the council had broken up,
they made their appearance as usual about the fort.
On the first 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
admitted ; 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 himself the bravest of mankind. The officers
and men gathered around them; while, in the mean
time, 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.1
After a few days had elapsed, Pontiac' s messengers
again passed among the Indian cabins, calling the
principal chiefs to another council, in the Pottawatta-
mie village. Here there was a large structure of
bark, erected for the public use on occasions like the
present. A hundred chiefs were seated around this
dusky council-house, the fire in the centre shedding
its fitful light upon their dark, naked forms, while
the sacred pipe passed from hand to hand. To
prevent interruption, Pontiac had stationed young
men, as sentinels, near the house. He once more ad-
dressed the chiefs, inciting them to hostility against
the English, and concluding by the proposal of his
1 Pontiac MS.
24 p *
186 THE COUNCIL. [Chap. IX.
plan for destroying Detroit. It was as follows : Pon-
tiac would demand a council with the commandant
concerning matters of great importance; and on this
pretext he flattered himself that he and his princi-
pal chiefs would gain ready admittance within the
fort. They were all to carry weapons concealed be-
neath their blankets. While in the act of addressing
the commandant in the council-room, Pontiac was to
make a certain signal, upon which the chiefs were to
raise the war-whoop, rush upon the officers present,
and strike them down. The other Indians, waiting
meanwhile at the gate, or loitering among the houses,
on hearing the yells and firing within the building,
were to assail the astonished and half-armed soldiers ;
and thus Detroit would fall an easy prey.
In opening this plan of treachery, Pontiac spoke
rather as a counsellor than as a commander. Haughty
as he was, he had too much sagacity to wound the
pride of a body of men over whom he had no other
control than that derived from his personal character
and influence. No one was hardy enough to venture
opposition to the proposal of their great leader. His
plan was eagerly adopted. Deep, hoarse ejaculations
of applause echoed his speech; and, gathering their
blankets around them, the chiefs withdrew to their
respective villages, to prepare for the destruction of
the unhappy little garrison.
I Ijv-Geo. G.Smith..
CHAPTER X.
DETROIT.
To the credulity of mankind each great calamity
has its dire prognostics. Signs and portents in the
heavens, the vision of an Indian bow, and the figure
of a scalp imprinted on the disk of the moon, warned
the New England Puritans of impending war. The
apparitions passed away, and Philip of Mount Hope
burst from the forest with his Narragansett warriors.
In October, 1762, thick clouds of inky blackness
gathered above the fort and settlement of Detroit.
The river darkened beneath the awful shadows, and
the forest was wrapped in double gloom. Drops of
rain began to fall, of strong, sulphurous odor, and so
deeply colored that the people, it is said, collected and
used them for the purpose of writing.1 A prominent
literary and philosophical journal seeks to explain this
strange phenomenon on some principle of physical
science ; but the simple Canadians held a different
faith. Throughout the winter, the shower of black
rain was the foremost topic of their fireside talk ; and
dreary forebodings of evil disturbed the breast of
many a timorous matron.
La Motte Cadillac was the founder of Detroit. In
i Carver, Travels, 153. Gent. Mag. XXXIV. 408.
188 DETROIT. [Chap.X.
the year 1701, lie planted the little military colony,
which time has transmuted into a thriving American
city.1 At an earlier date, some feeble efforts had been
made to secure the possession of this important pass ;
and when La Hontan visited the lakes, a small post,
called Fort St. Joseph, was standing near the present
site of Fort Gratiot. At about this time, the wander-
ing Jesuits made frequent sojourns upon the borders of
the Detroit, and baptized the savage children whom
they found there.
Fort St. Joseph was abandoned in the year 1688.
The establishment of Cadillac was destined to a better
fate, and soon rose to distinguished importance among
the western outposts of Canada. Indeed, the site was
formed by nature for prosperity ; and a bad government
and a thriftless people could not prevent the increase
of the colony. At the close of the French war, as
Major Rogers tells us, the place contained twenty-live
hundred inhabitants.9 The centre of the settlement
was the fortified town, currently called the Fort, to
distinguish it from the straggling dwellings along the
river banks. It stood on the western margin of the
river, covering a small part of the ground now oc-
cupied by the city of Detroit, and contained about a
hundred houses, compactly pressed together, and sur-
rounded by a palisade. Both above and below the fort,
the banks of the stream were lined on both sides with
small Canadian dwellings, extending at various inter-
vals for nearly eight miles. Each had its garden and
its orchard, and each was enclosed by a fence of
rounded pickets. To the soldier or the trader, fresh
from the harsh scenery and ambushed perils of the
i Memorial of La Motte Cadillac. 2 Rogers, Account of North Amer-
See Schoolcraft, Oneota, 407. ica, 168.
Chap. X.] ITS ORIGIN AND HISTORY. 189
surrounding wilds, the secluded settlement was wel-
come as an oasis in the desert.
The Canadian is usually a happy man. Life sits
lightly upon him ; he laughs at its hardships, and soon
forgets its sorrows. A lover of roving and adventure,
of the frolic and the dance, he is little troubled with
thoughts of the past or the future, and little plagued
with avarice or ambition. At Detroit, all his propen-
sities found ample scope. Aloof from the world, the
simple colonists shared none of its pleasures and ex-
citements, and were free from many of its cares. Nor
were luxuries wanting which civilization might have
envied them. The forests teemed with game, the
marshes with wild fowl, and the rivers with fish. The
apples and pears of the old Canadian orchards are
even to this day held in esteem. The poorer inhab-
itants made wine from the fruit of the wild grape,
which grew profusely in the woods, while the wealthier
class procured a better quality from Montreal, in ex-
change for the canoe loads of furs which they sent
down with every year. Here, as elsewhere in Canada,
the long winter was a season of social enjoyment ; and
when, in summer and autumn, the traders and voy-
ageurs, the coureurs des bois, and half-breeds, gathered
from the distant forests of the north-west, the whole
settlement was alive with frolic gayety, with dancing
and feasting, drinking, gaming, and carousing.
Within the limits of the settlement were three larsre
Indian villages. On the western shore, a little below
the fort, were the lodges of the Pottawattamies ; nearly
opposite, on the eastern side, was the village of the
"Wyandots ; and on the same side, two miles higher up,
Pontiac's band of Ottawas had fixed their abode. The
settlers had always maintained the best terms with
190 DETROIT. [Chap. X.
tlieir savage neighbors. In truth, there was much
congeniality between the red man and the Canadian.
Their harmony was seldom broken ; and among the
woods and wilds of the northern lakes roamed many
a lawless half-breed, the mongrel offspring of inter-
marriages between the colonists of Detroit and the
Indian squaws.
We have already seen how, in an evil hour for the
Canadians, a party of British troops took possession of
Detroit, towards the close of the year 1760. The Brit-
ish garrison, consisting partly of regulars and partly of
provincial rangers, was now quartered in a well-built
range of barracks within the town or fort. The latter,
as already mentioned, contained about a hundred small
houses. Its form was nearly square, and the palisade
which surrounded it was about twenty-five feet high.
At each corner was a wooden bastion, and a block-
house was erected over each gateway. The houses
were small, chiefly built of wood, and roofed with bark
or a thatch of straw. The streets also were extremely
narrow, though a wide passage way, known as the
chemin du ronde, surrounded the town between the
houses and the palisade. Besides the barracks, the
only public buildings were a council-house and a rude
little church.
The garrison consisted of a hundred and twenty
soldiers, with about forty fur-traders and engages ;
but the latter, as well as the peaceful Canadian in-
habitants of the place, could little be trusted, in the
event of an Indian outbreak. Two small armed
schooners, the Beaver and the Gladwyn, lay anchored
in the stream, and several light pieces of artillery
were mounted in the bastions.
Such was Detroit — a place whose defences could
Chap. X.] PONTIAC — HIS AMBITION — HIS PATRIOTISM. 191
have opposed no resistance to a civilized enemy; and
yet, situated as it was, far removed from the hope of
speedy succor, it could only rely, in the terrible strug-
gles that awaited it, upon its own slight strength and
feeble resources.1
Standing on the water bastion of Detroit, the land-
scape that presented itself might well remain impressed
through life upon the memory. The river, about half
a mile wide, almost washed the foot of the stockade ;
and either bank was lined with the white Canadian
cottages. The joyous sparkling of the bright blue
water; the green luxuriance of the woods; the white
dwellings, looking out from the foliage; and in the
distance, the Indian wigwams curling their smoke
against the sky, — all were mingled in one great
scene of wild and rural beauty.
Pontiac, the Satan of this forest paradise, was ac-
customed to spend the early part of the summer upon
a small island at the opening of the Lake St. Clair,
hidden from view by the high woods that covered
the intervening Isle au Cochon.2 " The king and
lord of all this country," as Rogers calls him, lived
in no royal state. His cabin was a small, oven-sha/ped
structure of bark and rushes. Here he dwelt with
his squaws and children ; and here, doubtless, he might
often have been seen, carelessly reclining his naked
form on a rush mat, or a bear-skin, like any ordinary
warrior. We may fancy the current of his thoughts,
the uncurbed passions swelling in his powerful soul,
i Croghan, Journal. Rogers, Ac- town of Detroit, was erected at a
count of North America, 168. Va- date subsequent to the period of this
rious MS. Journals, Letters, and history.
Plans have also been consulted. The 2 Tradition, communicated to H.
regular fortification, which, within the R. Schoolcraft, Esq., by Henry Con-
recollection of many now living, cov- ner, formerly Indian interpreter at
ered the ground in the rear of the old Detroit.
192 DETROIT. [Chap.X.
as he revolved the treacheries which, to his savage
mind, seemed fair and honorable. At one moment,
his fierce heart would burn with the anticipation of
vengeance on the detested English; at another, he
would meditate how he best might turn the approach-
ing tumults to the furtherance of his own ambitious
schemes. Yet we may believe that Pontiac was not
a stranger to the high emotion of the patriot hero,
the champion not merely of his nation's rights, but
of the very existence of his race. He did not
dream how desperate a game he was about to play.
He hourly flattered himself with the futile hope of
aid from France. In his ignorance, he thought that
the British colonies must give way before the rush
of his savage warriors; when, in truth, all the com-
bined tribes of the forest might have chafed in vain
rage against the rock-like strength of the Anglo-
Saxon.
Looking across an intervening arm of the river,
Pontiac could see on its eastern bank the numerous
lodges of his Ottawa tribesmen, half hidden among
the ragged growth of trees and bushes. On the
afternoon of the fifth of May, a Canadian woman,
the wife of St. 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
them, the blacksmith of the village, remarked that
many of the Indians had lately visited his shop, and
Chap. X/| THE PLOT EEVEALED. 193
attempted to borrow files and saws for a purpose which
they would not explain.1 These circumstances excited
the suspicion of the experienced Canadians. Doubt-
less there were many in the settlement who might,
had they chosen, have revealed the plot ; but it is no
less certain that the more numerous and respectable
class in the little community had too deep an -inter-
est in the preservation of peace to countenance the
designs of Pontiac. M. Gouin, an old and wealthy
settler, went to the commandant, and conjured him to
stand upon his guard ; but Gladwyn, a man of fear-
less temper, gave no heed to the friendly advice.2
In the Pottawattamie village lived an Ojibwa girl,
who, if there be truth in tradition, could boast a
larger share of beauty than is common in the wig-
wam. She had attracted the eye of Gladwyn. He
had formed a connection with her, and she had be-
come much attached to him. On the afternoon of
the sixth, Catharine — for so the officers called her —
came to the fort, and repaired to Gladwyn' s quarters,
bringing with her a pair of elk-skin moccasons, orna-
mented with porcupine work, which he had requested
her 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 sen-
tinel 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 himself; and calling her to him, he pressed
her to declare what was weighing upon her mind.
Still she remained for a long time silent, and it was
1 St. Aubin's Account, MS. See Appendix, C.
2 Gouin's Account, MS.
25 o
194 DETROIT. [Chap.X.
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 delivered his speech, he will offer a peace-belt of
wampum, holding it in a reversed 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 French-
man will be touched.1
Gladwyn was an officer of signal courage and ad-
dress. He thanked his faithful mistress, and, promis-
ing a rich reward, told her to go back to her village,
that no suspicion might be kindled against her. Then,
calling his subordinates together, he imparted what
he had heard. The defences of the place were feeble
and extensive, and the garrison by far too weak to
repel a general assault. The force of the Indians at
this time is variously estimated at from six hundred
to two thousand ; and the commandant greatly feared
that some wild impulse might precipitate their plan,
and that they would storm the fort before the morn-
ing. 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 towards evening, and there was a very
i Letter to the writer from H. R. interpreter, Henry Conner. See, also,
Schoolcraft, Esq., containing the tra- Carver, Travels, ]55, (Lond. 1778.)
ditional account from the lips of the
Chap. X.] A NIGHT OF ANXIETY. 195
fair sunset." Perhaps it was such an one as even
now, when all else is changed, may still be seen at
times from the eastern shore of the Detroit. A canopy
of clouds is spread across the sky, drawn up from
the horizon like a curtain, as if to reveal the glory
of the west, where lies a transparent sea of liquid
amber immeasurably deep. The sun has set ; the last
glimpse of his burning disk has vanished behind the
forest ; but where he sank, the sky glows like a con-
flagration, and still, from his retreat, he bathes heaven
and earth with celestial coloring. The edges of the
cloudy curtain are resplendent with gold, and its dark
blue drapery is touched with blood-red stains by the
Hoods of fiery radiance. The forests and the shores
melt together in rich and shadowy purple, and the
waters reflect the splendor of the heavens. Gazing on
the gorgeous sublimity of earth and sky, man may
forget his vexed and perturbed humanity. Goaded by
passions, racked by vain desires, tossed on the tumul-
tuous sea of earthly troubles, amid doubt and disap-
pointment, pain and care, he awakens to new hope as
he beholds the glory of declining day, and rises in
serene strength to meet that majestic smile of God.
The light departed, and the colors faded away.
Only a dusky redness lingered in the west, and the
darkening earth seemed her didl self again. Then
night descended, heavy and black, on the fierce In-
dians and the sleepless English. 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 un-
wonted vigilance, their officers visited their posts.
Again and again Gladwyn mounted his wooden ram-
196 DETROIT. [Chap. X.
parts and looked forth into the gloom. There seemed
nothing but repose and peace in the soft, moist air
of the warm spring evening, with the piping of frogs
along the river bank, just roused from their torpor
by the genial influence of May. But, at intervals, as
the night wind swept across the bastion, it bore sounds
of fearful 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 mor-
row's work.1
i Maxwell's Account, MS. See Appendix, C.
CHAPTER XI.
TREACHERY OF PONTIAC.
The night passed without alarm. 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-
non shot above the fort. Only two or three warriors
appeared in each, but all moved slowly, and seemed
deeply laden. In truth, they were full of savages,
lying flat on their faces, that their numbers might not
excite the suspicion of the English.1
At an early hour, the open common behind the fort
was thronged with squaws, children, and warriors,
some naked, and others fantastically arrayed in their
barbarous finery. All seemed restless and uneasy,
moving hither and thither, in apparent preparation for
a general game of ball. Many tall warriors, wrapped
in their blankets, were seen stalking towards the fort,
and casting malignant furtive glances upward at the
palisades. Then, with an air of assumed indifference,
they would move towards the gate. They were all
admitted ; for Gladwyn, who in this instance, at least,
showed some knowledge of Indian character, chose to
convince his crafty foe that, though their plot was de-
tected, their hostility was despised.2
i- Meloche's Account, MS. 2 Penn. Gaz. No. 1808.
198 TREACHERY OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XI.
The whole garrison was ordered under arms. Ster-
ling, and the other English fur-traders, closed their
storehouses and armed their men, and all in cool con-
fidence stood waiting the result.
Meanwhile, Pontiac, who had crossed with the canoes
from the eastern shore, was approaching along the river
road, at the head of his sixty chiefs, all gravely march-
ing in Indian file. A Canadian settler, named Beaufait,
had been that morning to the fort. He was now re-
turning homewards, and as he reached the bridge
which led over the stream then called Parent's Creek,
he saw the chiefs in the act of crossing from the farther
bank. He stood aside to give them room. As the last
Indian passed, Beaufait recognized him as an old friend
and associate. The savage greeted him with the usual
ejaculation, opened for an instant the folds of his
blanket, disclosed the hidden gun, and, with an em-
phatic gesture towards the fort, indicated the ferocious
purpose to which he meant to apply it.1
At ten o'clock, the great war-chief, with his treach-
erous 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 ; while others, again, wore their long, black
hair flowing loosely at their backs, or wildly hanging
about their brows like a lion's mane. Their bold
yet crafty features, their cheeks besmeared with ochre
and vermilion, white lead and soot, their keen, deep-
set eyes gleaming in their sockets, like those of rat-
tlesnakes, gave them an aspect grim, uncouth, and
i.This incident was related, by See Cass, Discourse before the Mich-
the son of Beaufait, to General Cass, igan Historical Society, 30.
Chap. XI.] THE PLOT DEFEATED. 199
horrible. 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 ejaculation half escaped from his broad
chest. Well might his stoicism fail, for at a glance he
reacl the ruin of his plot. On either hand, within the
gateway, stood ranks of soldiers and hedges of glitter-
ing steel. The swarthy, half-wild engages of the fur-
traders, armed to the teeth, stood in groups at the
street corners, and the measured tap of a drum fell
ominously on the ear. Soon regaining his composure,
Pontiac strode forward into the narrow street, and his
chiefs filed after him in silence, while the scared faces
of women and children looked out from the windoAvs
as they passed. Their rigid muscles betrayed no sign
of emotion ; yet, looking closely, one might have seen
their small eyes glance from side to side with restless
scrutiny.
Traversing the entire width of the little town, they
reached the door of the council-house, a large build-
ing standing near the margin of the river. Entering,
they saw Gladwyn, with several of his officers, seated
in readiness to receive them, and the observant chiefs
did not fail to remark that every Englishman wore a
sword at his side, and a pair of pistols in his belt.
The conspirators 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 1 " Gladwyn replied through his interpreter, La
Butte, that he had ordered the soldiers under arms for
the sake of exercise and discipline. With much delay
and many signs of distrust, the chiefs at length sat
down on the mats prepared for them; and after the
200 TREACHERY OF'PONTIAC. [Chap. XL
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, pro-
fessing strong attachment to the English, and declar-
ing, in Indian phrase, that he had come to smoke
the pipe of peace, and brighten the chain of friend-
ship. The officers watched him keenly as he uttered
these hollow words, fearing lest, though conscious that
his designs were suspected, he might still attempt to
accomplish them. And once, it is said, he raised the
wampum belt as if about to give the signal of attack.
But at that instant, 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 confounded. Some writers
will have it, that Gladwyn, rising from his seat, drew
the chief's blanket aside, exposed the hidden gun,
and sternly rebuked him for his treachery. But
the commandant wished only to prevent the consum-
mation of the plot, without bringing on an open rup-
ture. His own letters affirm that he and his officers
remained seated as before. Pontiac, seeing his un-
ruffled brow and his calm eye fixed steadfastly upon
him, knew not what to think, 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 vengeance for the first
act of aggression. The council then broke up; but
before 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
Chap. XL] THE CHIEFS ALLOWED TO ESCAPE. 201
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, rejoiced, no doubt, to
breathe once more the free air of the open fields.1
Gladwyn has been censured, and perhaps with jus-
tice, for not detaining the chiefs as hostages for the
good conduct of their followers. An entrapped wolf
meets no quarter from the huntsman ; and a savage,
caught in his treachery, has no claim to forbearance.
Perhaps the commandant feared lest, should he ar-
rest the chiefs when gathered at a public council,
and guiltless as yet of open violence, the act might
be interpreted as cowardly and dishonorable. He
was ignorant, moreover, of the true nature of the
plot. In his view, the whole affair was one of those
impulsive outbreaks so common among Indians, and
he trusted that, could an immediate rupture be
averted, the threatening clouds would soon blow over.
Here, and elsewhere, the conduct of Pontiac is
J- Carver, Travels, 159, (London, the Night before, that he was coming
1778.) M'Kenney, Tour to the with an Intention to Surprize Us ;
Lakes, 130. Cass, Discourse, 32. Upon which I took such Precautions
Penn. Gaz. Nos. 1807, 1808. Pon- that when they Entered the Fort,
tiac MS. M'Dougal, MSS. Gouin's (tho' they were, by the best Accounts,
Account, MS. Meloche's Account, about Three Hundred, and Armed
MS. St. Aubin's Account, MS. with Knives, Tomyhawks, and a
Extract from a MS. Letter — Ma- great many with Guns cut short,
jor Gladwyn to Sir J. Amherst. and hid under their Blankets,) they
were so much surprized to see our
" Detroit, May 14th 1763. Disposition, that they would scarcely
" Sir : sit down to Council : However in
" On the First Instant, Pontiac, about Half an hour, after they saw
the Chief of the Ottawa Nation, their Designs were Discovered, they
came here with about Fifty of his Sat Down, and Pontiac made a
Men, (forty, Pontiac MS.,) and told speech which I Answered calmly,
me that in a few days, when the rest without Intimating my suspicion of
of his Nation came in, he Intended their Intentions, and after receiving
to Pay me a Formal Visit. The 7th some Trifling Presents, they went
he came, but I was luckily Informed, away to their Camp."
26
202 TREACHERY OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XL
marked with the blackest treachery ; and one cannot
but lament that a nature so brave, so commanding,
so magnanimous, should be stained with the odious
vice of cowards and traitors. He could govern, with
almost despotic sway, a race unruly as the winds.
In generous thought and deed, he rivalled the heroes
of ancient story, and craft and cunning might well
seem alien to a mind like his. Yet Pontiac was a
thorough savage, and in him stand forth, in strongest
light and shadow, the native faults and virtues of
the Indian race. All children, says Sir Walter
Scott, are naturally liars ; and truth ' and honor are
developments of later education. Barbarism is to
civilization what childhood is to maturity, and all
savages, whatever may be their country, their color,
or their lineage, are prone to treachery and deceit.
The barbarous ancestors of our own frank and manly
race are no less obnoxious to the charge than those
of the cat-like Bengalee ; for in this childhood of
society, brave men and cowards are treacherous alike.
The Indian differs widely from the European in
his notion of military virtue. In his view, artifice
is wisdom, and he honors the skill that can circum-
vent, no less than the valor that can subdue, an
adversary. The object of war, he argues, is to de-
stroy the enemy. To accomplish this end, all means
are honorable ; and it is folly, not bravery, to incur
a needless risk. Had Pontiac ordered his followers
to storm the palisades of Detroit, not one of them
would have obeyed him. They might, indeed, after
their strange superstition, have reverenced him as a
madman; but, from that hour, his fame as a war-
chief would have sunk forever.
Balked in his treachery, the great chief withdrew
Chap. XL] FALSE ALAEM. 203
to his village, enraged and mortified, yet still resolved
to persevere. That Gladwyn had suffered him to
escape, was to his mind an ample proof either of cow-
ardice or ignorance. The latter supposition seemed
the more probable, and he resolved to visit the Eng-
lish once more, and convince them, if possible, that
their suspicions against him were unfounded. Early
on the following morning, he repaired 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 to
the following effect: "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 com-
mand, as a farther pledge of his sincerity.
That afternoon, the better to cover his designs,
Pontiac called the young men of all the tribes to a
game of ball, which took place, with great noise and
shouting, on the neighboring fields. At nightfall,
the garrison were startled by a burst of loud, shrill
yells. The drums beat to arms, and the troops were
ordered to their posts; but the alarm was caused
only by the victors in the ball play, who were an-
nouncing their success by these discordant outcries.
Meanwhile, Pontiac was in the Pottawattamie village,
consulting with the chiefs of that tribe, and with the
Wyanclots, by what means they might compass the
ruin of the English.1
i Pontiac MS.
204 TREACHERY OE PONTIAC. [Chap. XI.
Early on the following morning, Monday, the ninth
of May, the French inhabitants went in procession
to the principal church of the settlement, which stood
near the river bank, about half a mile above the
fort. Having heard mass, they all returned before
eleven o'clock, without discovering any signs that
the Indians meditated an immediate act of hostility.
Scarcely, however, had they done so, when the com-
mon behind the fort was once more thronged with
Indians of all the four tribes ; and Pontiac, advancing
from among the multitude, approached the 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 the
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. With a grin of hate and rage, 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 ap-
proach, they all leaped up and ran off, " yelping," in
the words of an eye-witness, "like so many devils."1
Looking out from the loopholes, the garrison could
see them running 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
1 MS. Letter — Gladwyn to Amherst, May 14. Pontiac MS., etc.
Chap. XL] PONTIAC THROWS OFF THE MASK. 205
more, and the mournful scalp yell told the fate of
the wretched inmates. Another large body ran, with
loud yells, to the river bank, and, leaping into their
canoes, paddled with all speed to the Isle au Cochon.
Here dwelt an Englishman, named Fisher, formerly a
sergeant of the regulars.
They soon dragged him from the hiding-place
where he had sought refuge, murdered him on the
spot, took his scalp, and made great rejoicings over
this miserable trophy of brutal malice. On the fol-
lowing day, several Canadians crossed over to the
island to inter the body, which they accomplished, as
they thought, very effectually. Tradition, however, re-
lates, as undoubted truth, that when, a few days after,
some of the party returned to the spot, they beheld
the pale hands of the dead man thrust above the
ground, in an attitude of eager entreaty. Having
once more covered the refractory members with earth,
they departed, in great wonder and awe; but what
was their amazement, when, on returning a second
time, they saw the hands protruding as before. At
this, they repaired in horror to the priest, who
hastened to the spot, sprinkled the grave with holy
water, and performed over it the neglected rites of
burial. Thenceforth, says the tradition, the corpse
of the murdered soldier slept in peace.1
Pontiac had borne no part in the wolfish deeds of
his followers. When he saw his plan defeated, he
turned towards the shore, and no man durst approach
him, for he was terrible in his rage. Pushing a
canoe from the bank, he urged it, with vigorous
strokes, against the current, towards the Ottawa
1 St. Aubin's Account, MS.
R
206 TEEACHEEY OP PONTIAC. [Chap. XT.
village, on the farther side. As he drew near, he
shouted to the inmates. None remained in the lodges
but women, children, and old men, who all came flock-
ing out at the sound of his imperious voice. Pointing
across the water, he ordered that all should prepare to
move the camp to the western shore, that the river
might no longer interpose a barrier between his fol-
lowers and the English. The squaws labored with
eager alacrity to obey him. Provision, utensils,
weapons, and even the bark covering to the lodges,
were carried to the shore; and before evening all
was ready for embarkation. Meantime, the warriors
had come dropping in from their bloody work, until,
at nightfall, nearly all had returned. Then Pontiac,
hideous in his war-paint, leaped into the central area
of the village. Brandishing his tomahawk, and
stamping on the ground, he recounted his former ex-
ploits, and denounced vengeance on the English. The
Indians nocked about him. Warrior after warrior
caught the fierce contagion, and soon the ring was
filled with dancers, circling round and round with
frantic gesture, and startling the distant garrison with
unearthly yells.1
The war-dance over, the work of embarkation was
commenced, and long before morning the transfer
was complete. The whole Ottawa population crossed
the river, and pitched their wigwams on the west-
ern side, just above the mouth of the little stream
then known as Parent's Creek, but since named
Bloody Pun, from the scenes of terror which it wit-
nessed.2
During the evening, fresh tidings of disaster reached
1 Parent's Account, MS. Meloche's Account, MS.
2 Gouin's Account, MS.
Chap. XI.] GENERAL ATTACK. 207
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 Davers and Captain Robertson, had been waylaid
and murdered by the Indians, above Lake St. Clair.1
The Canadian declared, moreover, that Pontiac had
just been joined by a formidable band of Ojibwas,
from the Bay of Saginaw.2 These were a peculiarly
ferocious horde, and their wretched descendants still
retain the character.
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. As wolves
assail the wounded bison, howling their gathering
cries across the wintry prairie, so the fierce Indians,
pealing their terrific yells, came bounding naked to
the assault. The men hastened to their posts. And
truly it was time, for not the Ottawas alone, but the
whole barbarian swarm, Wyandots, Pottawattamies,
and Ojibwas, were upon them, and bullets rapped
hard and fast against the palisades. The soldiers
i Perm. Gaz. Nos. 1807, 1808. always appeared gay, to spite the
Extract from an anonymous letter Rascals. They boiled and eat Sir
— Detroit, July 9, 1763. Robert Davers ; and we are informed
" You have long ago heard of our by Mr. Pauly, who escaped the other
pleasant Situation, but the Storm is Day from one of the Stations sur-
blown over. Was it not very agree- prised at the breaking out of the War,
able to hear every Day, of their and commanded by himself, that he
cutting, carving, boiling and eating had seen an Indian have the Skin of
our Companions ? To see every Day Captain Robertson's Arm for a To-
dead Bodies floating down the River, bacco-Pouch ! "
mangled and disfigured ? But Brit- 2 Pontiac MS.
ons, you know, never shrink ; we
TREACHERY OF PCXNTIAC. [Chap. XI.
looked from the loopholes, thinking to see their as-
sailants gathering for a rush against the feeble barrier.
But, though their clamors filled the air, and their
guns blazed thick and hot, yet very few were visible.
Some were ensconced behind barns and fences, some
skulked among bushes, and some lay flat in hollows
of the ground ; while those who could find no shel-
ter were leaping about with the agility of monkeys,
to dodge the shot of the fort. Each had filled his
mouth with bullets, for the convenience of loading,
and each was charging and firing without suspending
these agile gymnastics for a moment. There was one
low hill, at no great distance from the fort, behind
which countless black heads of Indians alternately
appeared and vanished, while, all along the ridge,
their guns emitted incessant white puffs of smoke.
Every loophole was a target for their bullets ; but
the fire was returned with steadiness, and not with-
out effect. The Canadian engages 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 outbuildings, behind which a host of Indians found
shelter. A cannon was brought to bear upon them,
loaded with red-hot 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.1
For six hours, the attack was unabated; but as the
day advanced, the assailants grew weary of their
futile efforts. Their fire slackened, their clamors died
I Pontiac MS. Perm. Gaz. No. 1808. MS. Letter — Gladwyn to Am-
herst, May 14, etc.
Chap. XI.] A TRUCE. .209
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 sub-
side ; and being, moreover, in great want of provision,
he resolved to open negotiations with the Indians,
under cover of which he might obtain the necessary
supplies. The interpreter, La Butte, who, like most
of his countrymen, might be said to hold a neutral
position between the English and the Indians, was
despatched to the camp of Pontiac to demand the
reasons of his conduct, and declare that the com-
mandant was ready to redress any real grievance of
which he might complain. Two old Canadians of
Detroit, Chapeton and Godefroy, earnest to forward
the negotiation, offered to accompany him. The
gates were opened for their departure, and many
other inhabitants of the place took this opportunity
of leaving it, alleging as their motive, that they did
not wish to see the approaching slaughter of the
English.
Keaching the Indian camp, the three ambassadors
were received by Pontiac with great apparent kind-
ness. 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 pur-
poses. Pontiac stood listening, armed with the true
impenetrability of an Indian. At every proposal, he
uttered an ejaculation of assent, partly from a strange
notion of courtesy peculiar to his race, and partly
27 r*
210 TREACHERY OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XI.
from the deep dissimulation which seems native to
their blood. Yet with all this seeming acquiescence,
the heart of the savage was unmoved as a rock.
The Canadians were completely deceived. Leaving
Chapeton and Godefroy to continue the conference
and push the fancied advantage, La Butte hastened
back to the fort. He reported the happy issue of
his mission, and added that peace might readily be
had by making the Indians a few presents, for
which they are always rapaciously eager. When,
however, he returned to the Indian camp, he found,
to his chagrin, that his companions had made no
progress in the negotiation. Though still professing
a strong desire for peace, Pontiac had evaded every
definite proposal. 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 ex-
pressly desirous that Major Campbell, second in com-
mand, should visit their camp. This veteran officer,
from his just, upright, and manly character, had
gained the confidence of the Indians. To the Cana-
dians the proposal seemed a natural one, and return-
ing to the fort, they laid it before the commandant.
Gladwyn suspected treachery, but Major Campbell
urgently asked permission to comply with the request
of Pontiac. He felt, he said, no fear of the In-
dians, with whom he had always maintained the
most friendly terms. Gladwyn, with some hesitation,
acceded, and Campbell left the fort, accompanied by
a junior officer, Lieutenant M'Dougal, and attended
by La Butte and several other Canadians.
Chap. XL] EMBASSY OF MAJOR CAMPBELL. 211
In the mean time, M. Go-uin, 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 advancing into the lion's jaws.1 He hastened
to despatch two messengers to warn them of 1 the
peril. The party had scarcely left the gate when
they were met by these men, breathless with run-
ning ; but the warning came too late. Once em-
barked on the embassy, the officers would not be
diverted from it ; and passing up the river road, they
approached the little wooden bridge that led over
Parent's Creek. Crossing this bridge, and ascending
a rising ground beyond, they saw before them the
wide-spread camp of the Ottawas. A dark multi-
tude 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 accorded to
captives taken in war ; for the women seized sticks,
stones, and clubs, and ran towards Campbell and his
companion, as if to make them pass the cruel ordeal
of running the gantlet.2 Pontiac came forward, and
1 Gouin's Account, MS. village, and seldom escaping without
2 When a war party returned with the loss of a hand, a finger, or an
prisoners, the whole population of eye. Sometimes the sufferer was
the village turned out to receive them, made to dance and sing, for the bet-
armed with sticks, clubs, or even ter entertainment of the crowd,
deadlier weapons. The captive was The story of General Stark is well
ordered to run to a given point, known. Being captured, in his youth,
usually some conspicuous lodge, or by the Indians, and told to run the
a post driven into the ground, while gantlet, he instantly knocked down
his tormentors, ranging themselves the nearest warrior, snatched a club
in two rows, inflicted on him a mer- from his hands, and wielded it with
ciless flagellation, Avhich only ceased such good will that no one dared ap-
when he had reached the goal. — proach him, and he reached the goal
Among the Iroquois, prisoners were scot free, while his more timorous
led through the whole confederacy, companion was nearly beaten to
undergoing this martyrdom at every death.
212 TREACHERY OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XI.
his voice allayed the tumult. He shook the officers
by the hand, and, turning, led the way through the
camp. It was a confused assemblage of huts, chiefly
of a conical or half-spherical shape, and constructed
of a slender framework covered with rush mats or
sheets of birch bark. Many of the graceful birch
canoes, used by the Indians of the upper lakes, were
lying here and there among paddles, fish-spears, and
blackened kettles slung above the embers of the
fires. The camp was fidl of lean, wolfish dogs, who,
roused by the clamor of their owners, kept up a
discordant baying as the strangers passed. Pontiac
paused before the entrance of a large lodge, and, en-
tering, 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. Some, and these
were for the most part chiefs, or old men, seated
themselves on the ground before the strangers, while
the remaining space was filled by a dense crowd,
crouching or standing erect, and peering over each
other's shoulders. At their first entrance, Pontiac
had spoken a few words. A pause then ensued,
broken at length by Campbell, who from his seat
addressed the Indians in a short speech. It was
heard in perfect silence, and no reply was made.
For a full hour, the unfortunate officers saw before
them the same concourse of dark, inscrutable faces,
bending an unwavering gaze upon them. Some were
passing out, and others coming in to supply their
places, and indulge their curiosity by a sight of the
Englishmen. At length, Major Campbell, conscious,
no doubt, of the danger in which he was placed,
resolved fully to ascertain his true position, and,
Chap. XL]
CAMPBELL MADE PRISONER.
2V6
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 cap-
tives on the spot, but Pontiac would not carry his
treachery so far. He protected them from injury
and insult, and conducted them to the house of M.
Meloche, near Parent's Creek, where good quarters
were assigned them, and as much liberty allowed as
was consistent with safe custody.1 The peril of their
situation was diminished by the circumstance that
two Indians, who, several days before, had been de-
tained at the fort for some slight offence, still re-
mained prisoners in the power of the commandant.2
1 Meloche's Account, MS. Perm.
Gaz. No/ 1808.
2 Extract from a MS. Letter — Sir
J. Amherst to Major Gladwyn.
" New York, 22nd June, 1763.
" The Precautions you took when
the Perfidious Villains came to Pay
you a Visit, were Indeed very wisely
Concerted ; And I Approve Entirely
of the Steps you have since taken
for the Defence of the Place, which,
I hope, will have Enabled You to
keep the Savages at Bay untill the
Reinforcement, which Major Wil-
kins Writes me he had sent you, Ar-
rives with you.
" I most sincerely Grieve for the
Unfortunate Fate of Sir Robert Da-
vers, Lieut. Robertson, and the Rest
of the Poor People, who have fallen
into the Hands of the Merciless Vil-
lains. I Trust you did not Know of
the Murder of" those Gentlemen,
when Pontiac came with a Pipe of
Peace, for if you had, you certainly
would have put him, and Every In-
dian in your Power, to Death. Such
Retaliation is the only Way of
Treating such Miscreants.
" I cannot but Approve of your
having Permitted Captain Campbell
and Lieut. MacDougal to go to the
Indians, as you had no other Method
to Procure Provisions, by which
means you may have been Enabled
to Preserve the Garrison ; for no
Other Inducement should have pre-
vailed on you to Allow those Gentle-
men to Entrust themselves with the
Savages. I am Nevertheless not
without my Fears for them, and were
it not that you have two Indians in
your Hands, in Lieu of those Gentle-
men, I should give them over for
Lost.
" I shall Add no more at present ;
Capt. Dalzell will Inform you of the
steps taken for Reinforcing you : and
you may be assured — the utmost
214
TREACHERY OE PONTIAC.
[Chap. XI.
Late in the evening, La Butte, the interpreter,
returned to the fort. His face wore a sad and
downcast look, which sufficiently expressed the mel-
ancholy tidings that he brought. On hearing his
account, some of the officers suspected, though prob-
ably without ground, that he was privy to the de-
tention of the two ambassadors ; and La Butte,
feeling himself an object of distrust, lingered about
the streets, sullen and silent, like the Indians among
whom his rough life had been spent.
Expedition will be used for Collect- the Treacherous and Bloody Villains
ing such a Force as may be Sufficient who have so Perfidiously Attacked
for bringing Ample Vengeance on their Benefactors."
CHAPTER XII.
PONTIAC AT THE SIEGE OF DETROIT.
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 threat-
ened with destruction if they should longer remain
neutral, they were forced to join the rest. They
stipulated, however, that they should be allowed time
to hear mass, before dancing the war-dance.1 To this
condition Pontiac readily agreed, " although," observes
the chronicler in the fulness of his horror and detes-
tation, "he himself had no manner of worship, and
cared not for festivals or Sundays." These nominal
Christians of Father Pothier' s flock, together with
the other Wyandots, soon distinguished themselves in
the war; fighting better, it was said, then all the
other Indians — an instance of the marked superi-
ority of the Iroquois over the Algonquin stock.
Having secured these new allies, Pontiac prepared
to resume his operations with fresh vigor ; and to this
intent, he made an improved disposition of Ms forces.
Some of the Pottawattamies were ordered to lie in
wait along the river bank, below the fort; while
i Pontiac MS.
216 PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. XII.
others concealed themselves in the woods, in order to
intercept any Englishman who might approach by
land or water. Another band of the same tribe were
to conceal themselves in the neighborhood of the fort,
when no general attack was going forward, in order
to shoot down any soldier or trader who might chance
to expose his person. On the twelfth of May, when
these arrangements were complete, the Indians once
more surrounded the fort, firing upon it from morn-
ing till night.
On the evening of that day, the officers met to
consider what course of conduct the emergency re-
quired; and, as one of them writes, the commandant
was almost alone in the opinion that they ought still
to defend the place.1 It seemed to the rest that the
only course remaining was to embark and sail for
Niagara. Their condition appeared desperate, for, on
the shortest allowance, they had scarcely provision
enough to sustain the garrison three weeks, within
which time there was little hope of succor. The
houses being, moreover, of wood, and chiefly thatched
with straw, might be set on fire with burning mis-
siles. But the chief apprehensions of the officers
arose from their dread that the enemy would make a
general onset, and cut or burn their way through the
pickets — a mode of attack to which resistance would
be unavailing. Their anxiety on this score was re-
lieved by a Canadian in the fort, who had spent half
his life among Indians, and who now assured the
commandant that every maxim of their warfare was
opposed to such a measure. Indeed, an Indian's idea
of military honor widely differs, as before observed,
i Penn. Gaz. No. 1808.
Chap. XII.] PERIL OF THE GARRISON. 217
from that of a white man; for he holds it to con-
sist no less in a wary regard to his own life than
in the courage and impetuosity with which he assails
his enemy. His constant aim is to gain advantages
without incurring loss. He sets an inestimable value
on the lives of his own party, and deems a victory
dearly purchased by the death of a single warrior. A
war-chief attains the summit of his renown when he
can boast that he has brought home a score of scalps
without the loss of a man; and his reputation is wo-
fully abridged if the mournful wailings of the women
mingle with the exulting yells of the warriors. Yet,
with all his subtlety and caution, the Indian is not
a coward, and, in his own way of fighting, often
exhibits no ordinary courage. Stealing alone into the
heart of an enemy's country, he prowls around the
hostile village, watching every movement; and when
night sets in, he enters a lodge, and calmly stirs the
decaying embers, that, by their light, he may select
his sleeping victims. With cool deliberation, dealing
the mortal thrust, he kills foe after foe, and tears
away scalp after scalp, until at length an alarm is
given; then, with a wild yell, he bounds out into
the darkness, and is gone.
Time passed on, and brought little change and no
relief to the harassed and endangered garrison. 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.1
i MS. Letter from an officer at " We have been besieged here two
Detroit — no signature — July 31. Months, by Six Hundred Indians.
Extract from a letter dated De- We have been upon the Watch Night
troit, July 6. , and Dav, from the Commanding Offi-
28 ■ s
218 PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. XII.
Parties of volunteers sallied, from time to time, to
bum the outbuildings which gave shelter to the
enemy. They cut down orchard trees, and levelled
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, sweep-
ing the northern and southern curtains of the works
with their fire, deterred the Indians from approaching
those points, and gave material aid to the garrison.
Still, worming their way through the grass, shelter-
ing themselves behind every rising ground, the per-
tinacious savages would crawl close to the palisade,
and shoot arrows, tipped with burning tow, upon the
roofs of the houses ; but cisterns and tanks of water
were every where provided against such an emer-
gency, and these attempts proved abortive. The little
church, which stood near the palisade, was particu-
larly exposed, and would probably have been set on
fire, had not the priest of the settlement threatened
Pontiac with the vengeance of the Great Spirit, should
he be guilty of such sacrilege. Pontiac, who was
filled with eagerness to get possession of the garrison,
neglected no expedient that his savage tactics could
supply. He even went farther, and begged the French
inhabitants to teach him the European method of
attacking a fortified place by regular approaches ;
cer to the lowest soldier, from the but we gave them so warm a Recep-
8th of May, and have not had our tion that now they don't care for com-
Cloaths off, nor slept all Night since ing to see us, tho' they now and then
it began ; and shall continue so till get behind a House or Garden, and
we have a Reinforcement up. We fire at us about three or four Hundred
then hope soon to give a good Ac- yards' distance. The Day before
count of the Savages. Their Camp Yesterday, we killed a Chief and
lies about a Mile and a half from the three others, and wounded some
Fort ; and that's the nearest they more ; yesterday went up with our
choose to come now. For the first Sloop, and battered their Cabins in
two or three Days we were attacked such a Manner that they are glad to
by three or four Hundred of them, keep farther off."
Chap. XII] HE SUMMONS THE GARRISON. 219
but the rude Canadians knew as little of the matter
as he; or if, by chance, a few were better informed,
they wisely preferred to conceal their knowledge.
Soon after the first attack, the Ottawa chief had
sent in to Gladwyn a summons to surrender, assur-
ing 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 defence, he would
treat him as Indians treat each other; that is, he
would burn him alive. To this Gladwyn made an-
swer that he cared nothing for his threats.1 The
attacks were now renewed with increased activity, and
the assailants were soon after inspired with fresh ar-
dor by the arrival of a hundred and twenty Ojibwa
warriors from Grand River. Every man in the fort,
officers, soldiers, traders, and engages, now slept upon
the ramparts; even in stormy weather, none were
allowed to withdraw to their quarters;2 yet a spirit
of confidence and cheerfulness still prevailed among
the weary garrison.
Meanwhile, great efforts were made to procure a
supply of provisions. Every house was examined, and
all that could serve for food, even grease and tallow,
was collected and placed in the public storehouse,
compensation having first been made to the owners.
Notwithstanding these precautions, Detroit must have
been abandoned or destroyed, but for the assistance
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. These, under cover of night,
were carried from his farm to the fort in boats, the
i Pontiac MS. 2 peim. Gaz. No. 1808.
220 PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. XII.
Indians long remaining ignorant of what was going
forward.1
They, on their part, began to suffer from hunger.
Thinking to have taken Detroit at a single stroke,
they had neglected, with their usual improvidence, to
provide against the exigencies of a siege; and now,
in small parties, they would visit the Canadian fami-
lies along the river shore, passing from house to house,
demanding provisions, and threatening violence in
case of refusal. This was the more annoying, since
the food thus obtained was wasted with character-
istic recklessness. Unable to endure it longer, the
Canadians appointed a deputation of fifteen of the
eldest among them to wait upon Pontiac, and com-
plain of his followers' conduct. The meeting took
place at a Canadian house, probably that of M. Me-
loche, where the great chief had made his head-quar-
ters, and where the prisoners, Campbell and M'Dougal,
were confined.
"When Pontiac saw the deputation approaching along
the river road, he was seized -with an exceeding eager-
ness to know the purpose of their visit; for having
long desired to gain the Canadians as allies against
1 Extract from a MS. Letter — Calculated to Keep the Indians Quiet,
Major Gladwyn to Sir J. Amherst. as We were Affraid of them ; but
they were not such Fools as to Be-
" Detroit, July 8th, 1763. lieve me ; Which, Avith a thousand
" Since the Commencement of this other Lies, calculated to Stir up Mis-
Extraordinary Affair, I have been In- chief, have Induced the Indians to
formed, that many of the Inhabitants take up Arms ; And I dare say it will
of this Place, seconded by some Appear ere long, that One Half of
French Traders from Montreal, have the Settlement merit a Gibbet, and
made the Indians Believe that a the Other Half ought to be Decimat-
French Army & Fleet were in the ed ; Nevertheless, there is some Hon-
River St. Lawrence, and that Anoth- est Men among them, to whom I am
er Army would come from the Illi- Infinitely Obliged ; I mean, Sir, Mon-
nois ; And that when I Published the sieur Navarre, the two Babys, & my
cessation of Arms, they said it was a Interpreters, St. Martin & La Bute."
mere Invention of Mine, purposely
Chap. XII.] HIS SPEECH TO THE FRENCH. 221
the English, and made several advances to that effect,
he hoped that their present errand might relate to the
object next his heart. So strong was his curiosity,
that, forgetting the ordinary rule of Indian dignity
and decorum, he asked the business on which they
had come before they themselves had communicated
it. The Canadians replied, that they wished the chiefs
to be convened, for they were about to speak upon
a matter of much importance. Pontiac instantly
despatched messengers to the different camps and
villages. The chiefs, soon arriving at his summons,
entered the apartment, where they sat down upon the
floor, having first gone through the necessary for-
mality of shaking hands with the Canadian deputies.
After a suitable pause, the eldest of the French rose,
and heavily complained of the outrages which they
had committed. " You pretend," he said, " to be friends
of the French, and yet you plunder us of our hogs
and cattle, you trample upon our fields of young
corn, and when you enter our houses, you enter with
tomahawk raised. When your French father comes
from Montreal with his great army, he will hear of
what you have done, and, instead of shaking hands
with you as brethren, he will punish you as enemies."
Pontiac sat with his eyes rivetted upon the ground,
listening to every word that was spoken. When the
speaker had concluded, he returned the following
answer : —
" Brothers :
" We have never wished to do you harm, nor al-
low any to be done you; but among us there are
many young men who, though strictly watched, find
opportunities of mischief. It is not to revenge my-
self alone that I make war on the English. It is to
PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. XII.
revenge you, my brothers. When the English in-
sulted us, they insulted you also. , I know that they
have taken away your arms, and made you sign a
paper which they have sent home to their country.
Therefore you are left defenceless ; and I mean now
to revenge your cause and my own together. I mean
to destroy the English, and leave not one upon our
lands. You do not know the reasons from which
I act. I have told you those only which concern
yourselves ; but you will learn all in time. You will
cease then to think me a fool. I know, my brothers,
that there are many among you who take part with
the English. I am sorry for it, for their own sakes ;
for when our father arrives, I shall point them out
to him, and they will see whether they or I have
most reason to be satisfied with the part we have
acted.
" I do not doubt, my brothers, that this war is very
troublesome to you, for our warriors are continually
passing and repassing through your settlement. I am
sorry for it. Do not think that I approve of the
damage that is done by them ; and, as a proof of this,
remember the war with the Foxes, and the part which
I took in it. It is now seventeen years since the
Ojibwas of Michillimackinac, combined with the Sacs
and Foxes, came down to destroy you. Who then
defended you ] Was it not I and my young men 1
Mickinac, great chief of all these nations, said in
council, that he would carry to his village the head
of your commandant — that he would eat his heart
and drink his blood. Did I not take your part 1 Did
I not go to his camp, and say to him, that if he wished
to kill the French, he must first kill me and my
warriors? Did I not assist you in routing them and
Chap. XII] HIS SPEECH TO THE FRENCH. 223
driving them away]1 And now you think that I would
turn my arms against you ! No, my brothers ; I am
the same French Pontiac who assisted you seventeen
years ago. I am a Frenchman, and I wish to die a
Frenchman; and I now repeat to you that you and
I are one — that it is for both our interests that I
should be avenged. Let me alone. I do not ask you
for aid, for it is not in your power to give it. I
only ask provisions for myself and men. Yet, if
you are inclined to assist me, I shall not refuse you.
It would please me, and you yourselves would be
sooner rid of your troubles ; for I promise you, that
as soon as the English are driven out, we will go
back to our villages, and there await the arrival of
our French father. You have heard what I have to
say; remain at peace, and I will watch that no
harm shall be done to you, either by my men or by
the other Indians."
This speech is reported by a writer whose chief
characteristic is the scrupulous accuracy with which
he has chronicled minute details without interest or
1 The annals of these remote and other. The Sacs and Foxes were
gloomy regions are involved in such nearly all cut off; and this proved the
obscurity, that it is hard to discover cause of their eventual expulsion
the precise character of the events from that country."
to which Pontiac here refers. The The M'Dougal manuscripts, above
only allusion to them, which the writer referred to, belonged to a son of the
has met with, is the following, in- Lieutenant M'Dougal who was the
scribed on a tattered scrap of soiled fellow-prisoner of Major Campbell.
paper, found among the M'Dougal On the death of the younger M'Dou-
manuscripts : — gal, the papers, which were very
" Five miles below the mouth of voluminous, and contained various
Wolf River is the Great Death notes concerning the Indian war, and
Ground. This took its name from the captivity of his father, came into
the circumstance, that some years the possession of a family at the
before the Old French War, a great town of Palmer, in Michigan, who
battle was fought between the French permitted such of them as related to
troops, assisted by the Menomonies the subjects in question to be copied
and Ottaways on the one side, and by the writer,
the Sac and Fox Indians on the
224 PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. XII.
importance. He neglects, moreover, no opportunity
of casting ignominy and contempt upon the name
of Pontiac. His mind is of so dull and common-
place an order as to exclude the supposition that he
himself is author of the words which he ascribes to
the Ottawa chief, and the speech may probably be
taken as a literal translation of the original.
As soon as the council broke up, Pontiac took
measures for bringing the disorders complained of to
a close, while, at the same time, he provided sus-
tenance for his warriors; and, in doing this, he dis-
played a policy and forecast scarcely paralleled in
the history of his race. He first forbade the com-
mission of farther outrage.1 He next visited in turn
the families of the Canadians, and, inspecting the
property belonging to them, he assigned to each the
share of provisions which it must furnish for the
support of the Indians.2 The contributions thus
levied were all collected at the house of Meloche,
near Parent's Creek, whence they were regularly is-
sued, as the exigence required, to the savages of
the different camps. As the character and habits of
an Indian but ill qualify him to act the part of
commissary, Pontiac in this matter availed himself
of French assistance.
On the river bank, not far from the house of
Meloche, lived an old Canadian, named Quilleriez, a
man of exceeding vanity and self-conceit, and noted
in the settlement for the gayety of his attire. He
wore moccasons of the most elaborate pattern, and
a sash plentifully garnished with beads and wam-
pum. He was continually intermeddling in ,the
i Peltier's Account, MS. 2 Gouin's Account, MS.
Chap. XII] HE ISSUES PROMISSORY NOTES. 225
affairs of the Indians, being anxious to be regarded
as the leader or director among them.1 Of this man
Pontiac evidently made a tool, employing him, to-
gether with several others, to discharge, beneath his
eye, the duties of his novel commissariat. Anxious
to avoid offending the French, yet unable to make
compensation for the provisions he had exacted, Pon-
tiac had recourse to a remarkable expedient, sug-
gested, no doubt, by one of these European assist-
ants. He issued promissory notes, drawn upon birch
bark, and signed with the figure of an otter, the
totem to which he belonged ; and we are told by a
trustworthy authority, that they were all faithfully
redeemed.2 In this, as in several other instances, he
exhibits an openness of mind and a power of adap-
tation not a little extraordinary among a people
whose intellect will rarely leave the narrow and
deeply-cut channels in which it has run for ages,
who reject instruction, and adhere with rigid tenacity
to ancient ideas and usages. Pontiac always exhib-
ited an eager desire for knowledge. Rogers repre-
sents him as earnest to learn the military art as
practised among Europeans, and as inquiring curi-
ously into the mode of making cloth, knives, and
the other articles of Indian trade. Of his keen and
subtle genius we have the following singular testi-
mony from the pen of General Gage: "From a
paragraph of M. D'Abbadie's letter, there is reason to
judge of Pontiac, not only as a savage possessed of
the most refined cunning and treachery natural to
the Indians, but as a person of extraordinary abil-
ities. He says that he keeps two secretaries, one to
1 Tradition related by M. Baby.
2 Rogers, Account of North America, 244.
29
226 PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. XII.
write for him, and the other to read the letters he
receives, and he manages them so as to keep each
of them ignorant of what is transacted by the
other." 1
Major Rogers, a man familiar with the Indians,
and an acute judge of mankind, speaks in the high-
est 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." 2
In the present instance, few durst infringe the
command he had given, that the property of the
Canadians should be respected; indeed, it is said
that none of his followers would cross the cultivated
fields, but always followed the beaten paths ; in such
awe did they stand of his displeasure.3
Pontiac's position was very different from that of
an ordinary military leader. When we remember
that his authority, little sanctioned by law or usage,
was derived chiefly from the force of his own indi-
vidual mind, and that it was exercised over a people
singularly impatient of restraint, we may better ap-
preciate the commanding energy that could hold
control over spirits so intractable.
1 MS. Letter — Gage to Lord Hal- hear, if any survive to relate them,
ifax, April 16, 1764. very tragical Accounts. The Be-
Extract from a MS. Letter — Wil- siegers are led on by an enterprising
liam Smith, Jr., to . Fellow called Pondiac. He is a
Genius, for he possesses great Bra-
" New York, 22d Nov. 1763. very, Art, & Oratory, & has had the
" 'Tis an old saying that the Devil Address to get himself not only at
is easier raised than laid. Sir Jef- the Head of his Conquerors, but
frey has found it so, with these In- elected Generalissimo of all the con-
dian Demons. They have cut his federate Forces now acting against
little Army to Pieces, & almost if us — Perhaps he may deserve to be
not entirely obstructed the Commu- called the Mithridates of the West."
nication to the Detroite, where the - Rogers, North America, 240.
Enemy are grown very numerous ; 3 Gouin's Account. MS.
and from whence I fancy you'll soon
Chap. XHJ TRAITS OF HIS CHARACTER. 227
The glaring faults of Pontiac's character have
already appeared too clearly. He was artful and
treacherous, bold, fierce, ambitious, and revengeful;
yet the following anecdotes will evince that noble
and generous thought was no stranger to the savage
hero of this dark forest tragedy. Some time after
the period of which we have been speaking, Rogers
came up to Detroit with a detachment of troops,
and, on landing, sent a bottle of brandy, by a friendly
Indian, as a present to Pontiac. The Indians had
always been suspicious that the English meant to
poison them. Those around the chief endeavored to
persuade him that the brandy was drugged. Pon-
tiac listened to what they said, and, as soon as they
had concluded, poured out a cup of the liquor, and
immediately drank it, saying that the man whose life
he had saved had no power to kill him. He re-
ferred to his having prevented the Indians from
attacking Rogers and his party when on their way
to demand the surrender of Detroit. The story may
serve as a counterpart to the well-known anecdote
of Alexander the Great and his physician.1
Pontiac had been an old friend of Baby; and one
evening, at an early period of the siege, he entered
his house, and, seating himself by the fire, looked
for some time steadily at the embers. At length,
raising his head, he said he had heard that the
English had offered the Canadian a bushel of sil-
ver for the scalp of his friend. Baby declared that
the story was false, and protested that he would
never betray him. Pontiac for a moment keenly
studied his features. "My brother has spoken the
1 Rogers, North America, 244.
228 PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. XII.
truth," he said, " and I will show that I believe
him." He remained in the house through the even-
ing, and, at its close, wrapped himself in his blanket,
and lay down upon a bench, where he slept in full
confidence till morning.1
Another anecdote, from the same source, will ex-
hibit the power which he exercised over the minds
of his followers. A few young Wyandots were in
the habit of coming, night after night, to the house
of Baby, to steal hogs and cattle. The latter com-
plained of the theft to Pontiac, and desired his protec-
tion. Being at that time ignorant of the intercourse
between Baby and the English, Pontiac hastened to
the assistance of his friend, and, arriving about night-
fall at the house, walked to and fro among the barns
and enclosures. At a late hour, he distinguished the
dark forms of the plunderers stealing through the
gloom. " Go back to your village, you Wyandot
dogs," said the Ottawa chief; "if you tread again on
this man's land, you shall die." They slunk back
abashed; and from that time forward, the Canadian's
property was safe. The Ottawas had no political
connection with the Wyandots, who speak a lan-
guage radically distinct. Over them he could claim
no legitimate authority; yet his powerful spirit forced
respect and obedience from all who approached him.2
1 Tradition related by M. Francois Pontiac's friend, who lives opposite
Baby. Detroit, upon nearly the same site
2 Tradition related by M. Francois formerly occupied by his father's
Baby, of Windsor, U. C, the son of house.
CHAPTEK XIII.
ROUT OF CUYLER'S DETACHMENT. — FATE OF THE
FOREST GARRISONS.
While perils were thickening around the garrison
of Detroit, the British commander-in-chief at New
York remained ignorant of their danger. Indeed,
an unwonted quiet had prevailed, of late, along the
borders and about the neighboring forts. With the
opening of spring, a strong detachment had been sent
up the lakes, with a supply of provisions and ammu-
nition for the use of Detroit and the other western
posts. The boats of this convoy were now pursu-
ing their course along the northern shore of Lake
Erie; and Gladwyn's garrison, aware of their ap-
proach, awaited their arrival with an anxiety which
every day increased.
Day after day passed on, and the red cross of St.
George still floated above Detroit. The keen-eyed
watchfulness of the Indians had never abated; and
woe to the soldier who showed his head above the
palisades, or exposed his person before a loophole.
Strong in his delusive hope of French assistance, Pon-
tiac had sent messengers to M. Neyon, commandant
at the Illinois, earnestly requesting that a force of
regular troops might be sent to his assistance; and
Gladwyn, on his side, had ordered one of the vessels
to Niagara, to hasten forward the expected convoy.
T
230 ROUT OF CUYLER'S DETACHMENT. [Chap. XIII.
The schooner set sail; but on the next day, as she
lay becalmed 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 Camp-
bell, with the dastardly purpose of interposing him
as a screen between 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. Hap-
pily, at that moment a fresh breeze sprang up ; the
flapping sails stretched to the wind, and the schooner
bore prosperously on her course towards Niagara,
leaving the savage flotilla far behind.1
The fort, or rather town, of Detroit had, by this
time, lost its wonted vivacity and life. Its narrow
streets were gloomy and silent. Here and there
strolled a Canadian, in red cap and gaudy sash; the
weary sentinel walked to and fro before the quarters
of the commandant ; an officer, perhaps, passed along
with rapid step and anxious face; or an Indian girl,
the mate of some soldier or trader, moved silently by,
in her finery of beads and vermilion. Such an aspect
as this the town must have presented on the morn-
ing of the thirtieth of May, when, at about nine
1 Pexm. Gaz. No. 1807. MS. Let- Robert D , the young officer, was
ter — Wilkins to Amherst, June 18. in Indian costume, and wishing to
This incident may have suggested surprise his friends, he made no an-
the story told by Mrs. Grant, in her swer when hailed from the vessel,
Memoirs of an American Lady. A whereupon he was instantly fired at
young British officer, of noble birth, and killed.— The story is without con-
had been living for some time among firmation in any contemporary docu-
the Indians, and having encountered ment, and, indeed, is impossible in
many strange adventures, he was now itself. Sir Robert Davers was killed,
returning in a canoe Avith a party of as before mentioned, near Lake St.
his late associates, — none of them, it Clair ; but neither in his character,
appears, were aware that hostilities nor in the mode of his death, did he at
existed,— and approached the schoon- all resemble the romantic adventurer
er just before the attack commenced, whose fate is commemorated by Mrs.
expecting a friendly reception. Sir Grant.
Chap. XIII] EEIIEF AT HAND. 231
o'clock, the voice of the sentinel sounded from the
south-east bastion, and loud exclamations, in the di-
rection of the river, roused Detroit from its lethargy.
Instantly the place was astir. Soldiers, traders, and
habitans, hurrying through the water gate, thronged
the canoe wharf and the narrow strand without. The
half-wild coureurs des bois, the tall and sinewy pro-
vincials, and the stately British soldiers, stood crowded
together, their uniforms soiled and worn, and their
faces haggard with unremitted watching. Yet all
alike wore an animated and joyous look. The long-
expected convoy was full in sight. On the farther
side of the river, at some distance below the fort, a
line of boats was rounding the woody projection, then
called Montreal Point, their oars flashing in the sun,
and the red flag of England flying from the stern
of the foremost.1 The toils and dangers of the garri-
son were drawing to an end. With one accord, they
broke into three hearty cheers, again and again re-
peated, 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, hi the boats,
while, in 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 made captive. Officers and men stood gazing
in mournful silence, when an incident occurred which
caused them to forget the general calamity in the ab-
sorbing interest of the moment.
i Pontiac MS.
232 EOUT OF CUYLER'S DETACHMENT. |Chap. XIII.
Leaving the disappointed garrison, we will pass over
to the principal victims of this deplorable misfortune.
In each of the boats, of which there were eighteen,
two or more of the captured soldiers, deprived of
their weapons, were compelled to act as rowers, guard-
eel by several armed savages, while many other In-
dians, for the sake of farther security, followed the
boats along the shore.1 In the foremost, as it hap-
pened, there were four soldiers and only three Indians.
The larger of the two vessels still lay anchored in
the stream, about a bow-shot from the fort, while her
companion, as we have seen, had gone down to Ni-
agara to hasten up this very reenforcement. As the
boat came opposite this vessel, the soldier who acted
as steersman conceived a daring plan of escape. The
principal Indian sat immediately in front of another
of the soldiers. The steersman called, in English,
to his comrade to seize the savage and throw him
overboard. The man answered that he was not strong
enough; on which the steersman directed him to
change places with him, as if fatigued with rowing,
a movement which would excite no suspicion on the
part of their guard. As the bold soldier stepped for-
ward, as if to take his companion's oar, he suddenly
seized the Indian by the hair, and griping with the
other hand the girdle at his waist, lifted him by main
force, and flung him into the river. The boat rocked
till the water surged over her gunwale. The Indian
held fast to his enemy's clothes, and, drawing himself
upward as he trailed alongside, stabbed him again
and again with his knife, and then dragged him
overboard. Both went down the swift current, rising
1 Pontiac MS.
Chap. XIII] ESCAPE OF PRISONERS. 233
and sinking; and, as some relate, perished, grappled
in each other's arms.1 The two remaining Indians
leaped out of the boat. The prisoners turned, and
pulled for the distant vessel, shouting aloud for aid.
The Indians on shore opened a heavy lire upon them,
and many canoes paddled swiftly in pursuit. The
men strained with desperate strength. A fate inex-
pressibly horrible was the alternative. The bullets
hissed thickly around their heads ; one of them was
soon wounded, and the light birch canoes gained on
them with fearful rapidity. Escape seemed hope-
less, when the report of a cannon burst from the side
of the vessel. The ball flew close past the boat, beat-
ing the water in a line of foam, and narrowly miss-
ing the foremost canoe. At this, the pursuers drew
back in dismay; and the Indians on shore, being far-
ther saluted by a second shot, ceased tiring, and scat-
tered among the bushes. The prisoners soon reached
the vessel, where they were greeted as men snatched
from the jaws of fate ; " a living monument," writes an
officer of the garrison, "that Fortune favors the brave."2
They related many particulars of the catastrophe
which had befallen them and their companions.
Lieutenant Cuyler had left Fort Niagara as early
as the thirteenth of May, and embarked from Fort
Schlosser, just above the falls, with ninety-six men
and a plentiful supply of provision and ammunition.
Day after day he had coasted along the northern
shore of Lake Erie, and had seen neither friend nor
foe amid those lonely forests and waters, when, on
1 Another witness, Gouin, affirms 2 perm. Gaz. No. 1807. St. Au-
that the Indian freed himself from the bin's Account, MS. Peltier's Ac-
dying grasp of the soldier, and swam count, MS.
ashore.
30 t*
234 ROUT OF CUYLER'S DETACHMENT. [Chap. XIII.
the twentv-eiffhth. of the month, he landed at Point
Pelee, not far from the mouth of the River Detroit.
The boats were drawn on the beach, and the party
prepared to encamp. A man and a boy went to
gather firewood at a short distance from the spot,
when an Indian leaped out of the woods, seized
the boy by the hair, and tomahawked him. The
man ran into camp with the alarm. Cuyler imme-
diately formed his soldiers into a semicircle before
the boats. He had scarcely clone so when the enemy
opened their fire. For an instant, there was a hot
blaze of musketry on both sides: then the Indians
broke out of the woods in a body, and rushed fiercely
upon the centre of the line, which gave way in every
part; the men flinging down their guns, running in
a blind panic to the boats, and struggling with ill-
directed efforts to shove them into the water. Five
were set afloat, and pushed off from the shore, crowd-
ed with the terrified soldiers. Cuyler, seeing himself,
as he says, deserted by his men, waded up to his
neck in the lake, and climbed into one of the retreat-
ing boats. The Indians, on their part, pushing two
more afloat, went in pursuit of the fugitives, three
boat loads of whom allowed themselves to be recap-
tured without resistance; but the remaining two, in
one of which was Cuyler himself, made their escape.1
They rowed all night, and landed in the morning
1 " Being abandoned by my men, I the Indians having manned two
was Forced to Retreat in the best Boats, pursued and Brought back
manner I could. I was left with 6 men Three of the Five, keeping a con-
on the Beech, Endeavoring to get off tinual Fire from off the Shore, and
a Boat, which not being able to Ef- from the two Boats that followed us,
feet, was Obliged to Run up to my about a Mile on the Lake ; the Wind
Neck, in the Lake, to get to a Boat springing up fair, I and the other
that had pushed off, without my Remaining Boat Hoisted sail and Es-
Knowledge. — When I was in the caped." — Cuyler 's Report, MS.
Lake I saw Five Boats manned, and
Chap. XIIL] INDIAN DEBAUCH. 235
upon a small island. Between thirty and forty men,
some of whom were wounded, were crowded in these
two boats; the rest, about sixty in number, being
killed or taken. Cuyler now made for Sandusky,
which, on his arrival, he found burnt to the ground.
Immediately leaving the spot, he rowed along the
south shore to Presqu'Isle, from whence he proceeded
to Niagara, and reported his loss to Major Wilkins,
the commanding officer.1
The actors in this bold and well-executed stroke
were the Wyandots, who, for some days, had lain in
ambush at the mouth of the river, to intercept trading
boats or parties of troops. Seeing the extreme fright
and confusion of Cuyler's men, they had forgotten
their usual caution, and rushed upon them in the
manner described. The ammunition, provision, and
other articles, taken in this attack, formed a valuable
prize; but, unfortunately, there was, among the rest,
a great quantity of whiskey. This the Indians seized,
and carried to their respective camps, which, through-
out the night, presented a scene of savage revelry
and riot. The liquor was poured into vessels of birch-
1 Cuyler's Report, MS. Necessary to Transmit them to Your
Extract from a MS. Letter — Major Excellency, which I have now Done.
Wilkins to Sir J. Amherst. " It is probable Your Excellency
will have heard of what has Hap-
" Niagara, 6th June, 1763. pened by way of Fort Pitt, as Ensign
" Just as I was sending off my Christie, Commanding at Presqu'Isle,
Letter of Yesterday, Lieutenant dry- writes me he has sent an Express to
ler, of the Queen's Rangers, Arrived Acquaint the Commanding Officer at
from his Intended Voyage to the De- that Place, of Sanduskie's being De-
troit. He has been very Unfortunate, stroyed, and of Lieut. Cuyler's De-
Having- been Defeated by Indians feat.
within 30 miles of the Detroit River ; " Some Indians of the Six Nations
I observed that he was Wounded and are now with me. They seem very
Weak, and Desired him to take the Civil ; The Interpreter has just told
Surgeon's Assistance and some R,est, them I was writing to Your Excel-
and Recollect the Particulars of the lency for Rum, and they are very
Affair, and let me have them in glad."
Writing, as nerhaps I should find it
236 ROUT OF CUYLER'S DETACHMENT. [Chap. XIII.
bark, or any thing capable of containing it ; and the
Indians, crowding around, scooped it up in their cups
and ladles, and quaffed the raw whiskey like water.
While some sat apart, wailing and moaning in maud-
lin drunkenness, others were maddened to the ferocity
of wild beasts. Dormant jealousies were awakened,
old forgotten quarrels kindled afresh, and had not
the squaws taken the precaution of hiding all the
weapons they could find before the debauch began,
much blood would, no doubt, have been spilt. As it
was, the savages were not entirely without means of
indulging their drunken rage. Many were wounded,
of whom two died in the morning ; and several oth-
ers had their noses bitten off — a singular mode of
revenge, much in vogue upon similar occasions, among
the Indians of the upper lakes. The English were
gainers by this scene of riot; for late in the evening,
two Indians, in all the valor and vain-glory of drunk-
enness, came running directly towards the fort, boast-
ing their prowess in a loud voice; but being greeted
with two rifle bullets, they leaped into the air like a
pair of wounded bucks, and fell dead on their tracks.
It will not be proper to pass over in silence the
fate of the unfortunate men taken prisoners in this
affair. After night had set in, several Canadians
came to the fort, bringing vague and awful reports
of the scenes that had been enacted at the Indian
camp. The soldiers gathered round them, and, frozen
with horror, listened to the appalling narrative. A
cloud of deep gloom sank down upon the garrison,
and none could help reflecting how thin and frail a
barrier protected them from a similar fate. On the
following day, and for several succeeding days, they
beheld frightful confirmation of the rumors they had
Chap. XIIL]
FATE OF THE CAPTIVES.
237
heard. Naked corpses, gashed with knives and
scorched with fire, floated down on the pure waters
of the Detroit, whose fish came up to nibble at the
clotted blood that clung to their ghastly faces.1
Late one afternoon, at about this period of the
siege, the garrison were again greeted with the dismal
cry of death, and a line of naked warriors was seen
issuing from the woods, which, like a wall of foliage,
rose beyond the pastures in rear of the fort. Each
savage was painted black, and each bore a scalp
i "The Indians, fearing that the
other barges might escape as the first
had done, changed their plan of going
to the camp. They landed then-
prisoners, tied them, and conducted
them by land to the Ottawas village,
and then crossed them to Pondiac's
camp, where they were all butchered.
As soon as the canoes reached the
shore, the barbarians landed their
prisoners, one after the other, on the
beach. They made them strip them-
selves, and then sent arrows into dif-
ferent parts of their bodies. These
unfortunate men wished sometimes
to throw themselves on the ground to
avoid the arrows ; but they were beat-
en with sticks and forced to stand up
until they fell dead ; after which those
who had not fired fell upon their
bodies, cut them in pieces, cooked,
and ate them. On others they exer-
cised different modes of torment by
cutting their flesh with flints, and
piercing them with lances. They
would then cut their feet and hands
off, and leave them weltering in their
blood till they were dead. Others
were fastened to stakes, and chil-
dren employed in burning them with
a slow fire. No kind of torment was
left untried by these Indians. Some
of the bodies were left on shore ; oth-
ers were thrown into the river. Even
the women assisted their husbands in
torturing their victims. They slitted
them with their knives, and mangled
them in various ways. There were,
however, a few whose lives were
saved, being adopted to serve as
slaves." — Pontiac MS.
" The remaining barges pro-
ceeded up the river, and crossed to
the house of Mr. Meloche, where
Pontiac and his Ottawas were en-
camped. The barges were landed,
and, the women having arranged
themselves in two rows, with clubs
and sticks, the prisoners were taken
out, one by one, and told to run the
gantlet to Pontiac's lodge. Of sixty -
six persons who were brought to the
shore, sixty-four ran the gantlet, and
were all killed. One of the remain-
ing two, who had had his thigh
broken in the firing from the shore,
and who was tied to his seat and
compelled to row, had become by
this time so much exhausted that he
could not help himself. He was
thrown out of the boat and killed
with clubs. The other, when di-
rected to run for the lodge, suddenly
fell upon his knees in the water, and
having dipped his hand in the water,
he made the sign of the cross on his
forehead and breast, and darted out
in the stream. An expert swimmer
from the Indians followed him, and,
having overtaken him, seized him by
the hair, and crying out, ' You seem
to love water ; you shall have enough
of it,' he stabbed the poor fellow,
who sunk to rise no more." — Gotmt's
Account, MS.
238 FATE OF THE FOREST GARRISONS. [Chap. XIII.
fluttering from the end of a pole. It was but
too clear that some new disaster had befallen; and
in truth, before nightfall, one La Brosse, a Canadian,
came to the gate with the tidings that Fort San-
dusky had been taken, and all its garrison slain or
made captive.1 This post had been attacked by the
band of Wyandots living in its neighborhood, aided
by a detachment of their brethren from Detroit.
Among the few survivors of the slaughter was the
commanding officer, Ensign Paully, who had been
brought prisoner to Detroit, bound hand and foot,
and solaced on the passage with the expectation of
being burnt alive. On landing near the camp of
Pontiac, he was surrounded by a crowd of Indians,
chiefly squaws and children, who pelted him with
stones, sticks, and gravel, forcing him to dance and
sing, though by no means in a cheerful strain. A
worse infliction seemed in store for him, when hap-
pily an old woman, whose husband had lately died,
chose to adopt him hi place of the deceased warrior.
Seeing no alternative but the stake, Paully accepted
the proposal ; and having been first plunged in the
river, that the white blood might be washed from
his veins, he was conducted to the lodge of the
widow, and treated thenceforth with all the consider-
ation due to an Ottawa warrior.
Gladwyn soon received a letter from him, through
one of the Canadian inhabitants, giving a full ac-
count of the capture of Fort Sandusky. On the
sixteenth of May — such was the substance of the
communication — Paully was informed that seven In-
dians were waiting at the gate to speak with him.
As several of the number were well known to him,
1 Pontiac MS.
Chap. XIIL] FORT SANDUSKY. 239
he ordered them, without hesitation, to be admitted.
Arrived at his quarters, two of the treacherous vis-
itors seated themselves on each side of the command-
ant, while the rest were disposed in various parts
of the room. The pipes were lighted, and the con-
versation began, when an Indian, who stood in the
doorway, suddenly made a signal by raising his head.
Upon this, the astonished officer wras instantly pounced
upon and disarmed ; while, at the same moment, a
confused noise of shrieks and yells, the firing of
guns, and the hurried tramp of feet, sounded from
the area of the fort without. It soon ceased, how-
ever, and Paully, led by his captors from the room,
saw the parade ground strown with the corpses of
his murdered garrison. At nightfall, he was con-
ducted to the margin of the lake, where several
birch canoes lay in readiness; and as, amid thick
darkness, the party pushed out from shore, the cap-
tive saw the fort, lately under his command, bursting
on all sides into sheets of flame.1
Soon after these tidings of the loss of Sandusky,
Gladwyn's garrison heard the scarcely less unwel-
come news that the strength of their besiegers had
been reenforced by two strong bands of Ojibwas.
Pontiac's forces in the vicinity of Detroit now
amounted, according to Canadian computation, to
about eight hundred and twenty warriors. Of these,
two hundred and fifty wTere Ottawas, commanded by
himself in person; one hundred and fifty were Pot-
tawattamies, under Ninivay; fifty were Wyandots,
under Takee ; two hundred were Ojibwas, under
i MS. Official Document — Report Major Gladwyn to Sir Jeffrey Am-
of the Loss of the Posts in the Indian herst, July 8, 1763.
Country, enclosed in a letter from
240 FATE OE THE FOEEST GAREISONS. [Chap. Xm.
Wasson; and added to these were a hundred and
seventy of the same tribe, under their chief, Sekahos.1
As the warriors brought their squaws and children
with them, the whole number of savages congregated
about Detroit no doubt exceeded three thousand ;
and the neighboring fields and meadows must have
presented a picturesque and stirring scene.
The sleepless garrison, worn by fatigue and ill
fare, and harassed by constant petty attacks, were
yet farther saddened by the news of disaster which
thickened from every quarter. Of all the small
posts scattered at wide intervals through the vast
wilderness to the westward of Niagara and Fort
Pitt, it soon appeared that Detroit alone had been
able to sustain itself. For the rest, there was but
one unvaried tale of calamity and ruin. On the
fifteenth of June, a number of Pottawattamies were
seen approaching the gate of the fort, bringing with
them four English prisoners, who proved to be En-
sign Schlosser, lately commanding at St. Joseph's,
together with three private soldiers. The Indians
wished to exchange them for several of their own
tribe, who had been for nearly two months prisoners
in the fort. After some delay, this was effected, and
the garrison then learned the unhappy fate of their
comrades at St. Joseph's. This post stood at the
mouth of the River St. Joseph's, near the head of
Lake Michigan, a spot which had long been the site
of a Roman Catholic mission. Here, among the
forests, swamps, and ocean-like waters, at an unmeas-
ured distance from any abode of civilized man, the
daring and indefatigable Jesuits had labored more
1 Pontiac MS.
Chap. XIIL] EORT ST. JOSEPH. 241
than half a century for the spiritual good of the
Pottawattamies, who lived in great numbers near the
margin of the lake. As early as the year 1712, as
Father Marest informs us, the mission was in a
thriving state, and around it had gathered a little
colony of the forest-loving Canadians. Here, too,
the French government had established a military
post, whose garrison, at the period of our narrative,
had been supplanted by Ensign Schlosser, with his
command of fourteen men, a mere handful, in the
heart of a wilderness swarming with insidious en-
emies. They seem, however, to have apprehended no
danger, when, on the twenty-fifth of May, early in
the morning, the officer was informed that a large
party of the Pottawattamies of Detroit had come to
pay a visit to their relatives at St. Joseph's. Imme-
diately after, a Canadian came in with intelligence
that the fort was surrounded by Indians, who evi-
dently had hostile intentions. At this, Schlosser ran
out of the apartment, and crossing the parade, which
was full of Indians and Canadians, hastily entered
the barracks. These were also crowded with savages,
very insolent and disorderly. Calling upon his ser-
geant to get the men under arms, he hastened out
'again to the parade, and endeavored to muster the
Canadians together; but while busying himself with
these somewhat unwilling auxiliaries, he heard a wild
cry from within the barracks. Instantly all the In-
dians in the fort rushed to the gate, tomahawked
the sentinel, and opened a free passage to their com-
rades without. In less than two minutes, as the
officer declares, the fort was plundered, eleven men
were killed, and himself, with the three survivors,
made prisoners, and bound fast. They then con-
31 u
242 FATE OF THE FOREST GAERISONS. [Chap. XIII.
ducted him to Detroit, where he was exchanged, as
we have already seen.1
Three days after these tidings reached Detroit,
Father Jonois, a Jesuit priest of the Ottawa mission
near Michillimackinac, came to Pontiac's camp, to-
gether with the son of Minavavana, great chief of
the Ojibwas, and several other Indians. On the fol-
lowing morning, he appeared at the gate of the fort,
bringing a letter from Captain Etherington, com-
mandant at Michillimackinac. The commencement
of the letter was as follows : —
" Michillimackinac, 12 June, 1763.
" Sir :
" Notwithstanding what I wrote you in my last,
that all the savages were arrived, and that every
thing seemed in perfect tranquillity, yet on the fourth
instant, the Chippeways, who live in a plain near
this fort, assembled to play ball, as they had done
almost every day since their arrival. They played
from morning till noon; then, throwing their ball
close to the gate, and observing Lieutenant Lesley
and me a few paces out of it, they came behind
us, seized and carried us into the woods.
"In the mean time, the rest rushed into the fort,
where they found their squaws, whom they had pre-
viously planted there, with their hatchets hid under
their blankets, which they took, and in an instant
killed Lieutenant Jamet, and fifteen rank and file,
and a trader named Tracy. They wounded two, and
took the rest of the garrison prisoners, five of whom
they have since killed.
1 Loss of the Posts in the Indian Country, MS.
Chap. XIII] FORT OUATANON. 243
" They made prisoners all the English traders, and
robbed them of every thing they had; but they
offered no violence to the persons or property of
any of the Frenchmen."
Captain Etherington next related some particulars
of the massacre at Michillimackinac, sufficiently star-
tling, as will soon appear. He spoke in high terms
of the character and conduct of Father Jonois, and
requested that Gladwyn would send all the troops
he could spare up Lake Huron, that the post might
be recaptured from the Indians, and garrisoned afresh.
Gladwyn, being scarcely able to defend himself, could
do nothing for the relief of his brother officer, and
the Jesuit set out on his long and toilsome canoe voy-
age back to Michillimackinac.1 The loss of this place
was a very serious misfortune, for, next to Detroit,
it was the most important post on the upper lakes.
The next news which came in was that of the
loss of Ouatanon, a fort situated upon the "Wabash,
a little below the site of the present town of La
Fayette. Gladwyn received a letter from its com-
manding officer, Lieutenant Jenkins, informing him
that, on the first of June, he and several of his men
had been made prisoners by stratagem, on which the
rest of the garrison had surrendered. The Indians,
however, apologized for their conduct, declaring that
they acted contrary to their own inclinations, and
that the surrounding tribes had compelled them to
take up the hatchet.2 These excuses, so consolatory
i Pontiac MS. we are not in much better, for this
" Ouatanon, June 1st, 1763. morning the Indians sent for me, to
" Sir : speak to me, and Immediately bound
" I have heard of your situation, me, when I got to their Cabbin, and
which gives me great Pain ; indeed, I soon found some of my Soldiers in
244 FATE OP THE EOREST GARRISONS. [Chap. Xm.
to the sufferers, might probably have been founded
in truth, for these savages were of a character less
ferocious than many of the others, and as they were
farther removed from the settlements, they had not
felt to an equal degree the effects of English inso-
lence and encroachment.
Close upon these tidings came the news that Fort
Miami was taken. This post, standing on the Hiver
Maumee, was commanded by Ensign Holmes ; and
here I cannot but remark on the forlorn situation of
these officers, isolated in the wilderness, hundreds of
miles, in some instances, from any congenial asso-
ciates, separated from every human being except the
rude soldiers under their command, and the white
or red savages who ranged the surrounding woods.
Holmes suspected the intention of the Indians, and
was therefore on his guard, when, on the twenty-
seventh of May, a young Indian girl, who lived with
him, came to tell him that a squaw lay dangerously
ill in a wigwam near the fort, and urged him to
come to her relief. Having confidence in the girl,
the same Condition : They told me sorry, but that they were obliged to
Detroit, Miamis, and all them Posts do it by the Other Nations. The
were cut off, and that it was a Folly Belt did not Arrive here 'till last
to make any Resistance, therefore night about Eight o'Clock. Mr. Lo-
desired me to make the few Soldiers, rain can inform you of all. Just
that were in the Fort, surrender, now Received the News of St. Jo-
otherwise they would put us all to seph's being taken, Eleven men killed
Death, in case one man was killed, and three taken Prisoners with the
They were to have fell on us and Officer : I have nothing more to say,
killed us all, last night, but Mr. Mai- but that I sincerely wish you a
songville and Lorain gave them warn- speedy succour, and that we may be
pum not to kill us, & when they told able to Revenge ourselves on those
the Interpreter that we were all to that Deserve it.
be killed, & he knowing the condi- " I Remain, with my Sincerest
tion of the Fort, beg'd of them to wishes for your safety,
make us prisoners. They have put " Your most humble servant,
us into French houses, & both In- " Edw» Jenkins.
dians and French use us very well : " N. B. We expect to set off in a
All these Nations say they are very day or two for the Illinois."
Chap. XIII] FORT PEESQU'ISLE. 245
Holmes followed her out of the fort. Pitched at
the edge of a meadow, hidden from view by an in-
tervening spur of the woodland, stood a great num-
ber of Indian wigwams. When Holmes came in
sight of them, his treacherous conductress pointed
out that in which the sick woman lay. He walked
on without suspicion ; but, as he drew near, two guns
flashed from behind the hut, and stretched him life-
less on the grass. The shots were heard at the fort,
and the sergeant rashly went out to learn the reason
of the firing. He was immediately taken prisoner,
amid exulting yells and whoopings. The soldiers in
the fort climbed upon the palisades, to look out,
when Godefroy, a Canadian, together with two other
white men, made his appearance, and summoned
them to surrender, promising that if they did so,
their lives should be spared, but that otherwise they
would all be killed without mercy. The men, being
in great terror, and without a leader, soon threw open
the gate, and gave themselves up as prisoners.1
Had detachments of Rogers' Rangers garrisoned
these posts, or had they been held by such men as
the Rocky Mountain trappers of the present day,
wary, skilful, and almost ignorant of fear, some of
them might, perhaps, have been saved; but the sol-
diers of the 60th Regiment, though many of them
were of provincial birth, were not qualified by their
habits and discipline for this kind of service.
The loss of Presqu'Isle will close this black cata-
logue of calamity. Rumors of it first reached Detroit
on the twentieth of June, and two days after, the
garrison heard those dismal cries, announcing scalps
1 Loss of the Posts, MS.
U *
246 FATE OF THE FOREST GARRISONS. [Chap. XIII.
and prisoners, which, of late, had grown mournfully
familiar to their ears. Indians were seen passing, in
numbers, along the opposite bank of the river, lead-
ing several English prisoners, who proved to be En-
sign Christie, the commanding officer at Presqu'Isle,
with those of his soldiers who survived.
There had been hot fighting before Presqu'Isle
was taken. Could courage have saved it, it would
never have fallen. The fort stood near the site of
the present town of Erie, on the southern shore of
the lake which bears the same name. At one of its
angles was a large blockhouse, a species of structure
much used in the petty forest warfare of the day. It
was two stories in height, and solidly built of mas-
sive timber, the diameter of the upper story exceed-
ing that of the lower by several feet, so that, through
openings in the projecting floor of the former, the
defenders could shoot down upon the heads of an
enemy assailing the outer wall below. The roof, be-
ing covered with shingles, might easily be set on fire;
but to guard against this, there was an opening at
the summit, through which the garrison, partially
protected by a covering of plank, might pour down
water upon the flames. This blockhouse stood on a
projecting point of land, between the lake and a small
brook which entered it nearly at right angles. Un-
fortunately, the bank of the brook rose in a high,
steep ridge, within forty yards of the blockhouse, thus
affording a cover for assailants, while the bank of
the lake offered similar facilities on another side.
At early dawn on the fifteenth of June, the gar-
rison of Presqu'Isle were first aware of the enemy's
presence ; and when the sun rose, they saw themselves
surrounded by two hundred Indians, chiefly from the
Chap. Xin.] FORT PRESQU'ISLE. 247
neighborhood of Detroit. At the first alarm, they
abandoned the main body of the fort, and betook
themselves to the blockhouse as a citadel. The In-
dians, crowding together in great numbers, under cover
of the rising ground, kept up a rattling fire, and not
only sent their bullets into every loophole and crevice,
but shot fire-arrows upon the roof, and threw balls
of burning pitch against the walls. Again and again
the building took fire, and again and again the flames
were extinguished. The Indians now rolled logs to
the top of the ridges, where they constructed three
strong breastworks, from behind which they could dis-
charge their shot and throw their fire-balls with still
greater effect. Some of them tried to dart across the
intervening space, and shelter themselves in the ditch
which surrounded the fort; but all of these were
killed or wounded in the attempt. And now the de-
fenders could see the Indians throwing up earth and
stones, behind one of the breastworks. Their impla-
cable foes were laboring to undermine the block-
house, a sure and insidious expedient, against which
there was no defence. There was little leisure to re-
flect on this new peril; for another more imminent
and horrible soon threatened them. The barrels of
water, always kept in the blockhouse, were nearly emp-
tied iii extinguishing the frequent fires; and though
there was a well in the parade ground, yet to ap-
proach it woidd be certain death. The only resource
was to dig one in the blockhouse itself. The floor
was torn up, and while some of the men fired their
heated muskets from the loopholes, to keep the ene-
my in check, the rest labored with desperate energy
at this toilsome and cheerless task. Before it was
half completed, the roof was again on fire, and all
248 FATE OF THE FOREST GARRISONS. [Chap. XIII.
the water that remained was poured down to extin-
guish it. In a few moments, the cry of fire was once
more raised, when a soldier, at imminent risk of his
life, tore off the burning shingles, and averted the
danger.
By this time it was evening. From earliest day-
break, the little garrison had fought and toiled with-
out a moment's rest. Nor did the darkness bring
relief, for guns flashed all night long from the Indian
intrenchments. They seemed resolved to wear out
the obstinate defenders by fatigue; and while some,
in their turn, were sleeping, the rest kept up the as-
sault. Morning brought fresh dangers. The well
had been for some time complete; and it was happy
that it was so, for by this time the enemy had pushed
their subterranean approaches as far as the house of
the commanding officer, which they immediately set
on fire. It stood on the parade, close to the block-
house; and, as the pine logs blazed fiercely, the de-
fenders were nearly stifled by the heat. The outer
wall of the blockhouse scorched, blackened, and at
last burst into flame. Still the undespairing garrison
refused to yield. Passing up water from the well be-
low, they poured it down upon the fire, which at
length was happily subdued, while the blazing house
soon sank into a glowing heap of embers. The men
were now, to use the words of their officer, " exhausted
to the greatest extremity ; " yet they kept up their for-
lorn and desperate defence, toiling and fighting with-
out pause, within the wooden walls of their dark
prison, where the close and heated atmosphere was
clogged with the smoke of gunpowder. The fire
on both sides continued through the day, and did
not cease till midnight; at which hour a voice was
Chap.XIIL] FORT PKESQU'ISLE. 249
heard to call out, in French, from the enemy's in-
trenchments, warning the garrison that farther resist-
ance would be useless, since preparations were made
for setting the blockhouse on fire, above and below
at once. Christie demanded if there were any among
them who spoke English ; upon which, a man in the
Indian dress came out from behind the breastwork.
He was a soldier, who, having been made prisoner early
in the French war, had since lived among the savages,
and now espoused their cause, fighting with them
against his own countrymen. He said that if they
yielded, their lives should be spared, but if they fought
longer, they must all be burnt alive. Christie, resolv-
ing to hold out as long as a shadow of hope re-
mained, told them to wait till morning for his answer.
They assented, and suspended their fire ; and while
some of the garrison watched, the rest sank exhausted
into a deep sleep. When morning came, Christie sent
out two soldiers, as if to treat with the enemy, but,
in reality, to learn the truth of what they had said
respecting their preparations to burn the blockhouse.
On reaching the breastwork, the soldiers made a sig-
nal, by which their officer saw that his worst fears
were well founded. In pursuance of their orders,
they then demanded that two of the principal chiefs
should meet with Christie midway between the breast-
work and the blockhouse. The chiefs appeared ac-
cordingly, and Christie, going out, yielded up the
little fortress which he had defended with such in-
domitable courage; having first stipulated that the
lives of all the garrison should be spared, and that
they might retire unmolested to the nearest post.
The soldiers, pale, wild, and haggard, like men who
had passed through a fiery ordeal, now issued from
32
250 FATE OF THE FOREST GARRISONS. [Chap. XIII.
the blockhouse, whose sides were pierced with bullets
and scorched with fire. In spite of the capitulation,
they were surrounded and seized, and, having been
detained for some time in the neighborhood, were
sent as prisoners to Detroit, where Ensign Christie
soon after made his escape, and gained the fort in
safety.1
After Presqu'Isle was taken, the neighboring little
posts of Le Bceuf and Venango shared its fate, while
farther southward, at the forks of the Ohio, a host
of Delaware and Shawanoe warriors were gathering
around Fort Pitt, and blood and havoc reigned along
the whole frontier.
i Loss of the Posts, MS. Pontiac MS. Christie's Report, MS.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE INDIANS CONTINUE TO BLOCKADE DETROIT.
We return once more to Detroit and its beleaguered
garrison. On the nineteenth of June, a rumor reached
them that one of the vessels had been seen near Tur-
key Island, some miles below the fort, but that, the
wind failing her, she had dropped down with the cur-
rent, to wait a more favorable opportunity. It may
be remembered that this vessel had, several weeks be-
fore, gone down Lake Erie to hasten the advance of
Cuyler's expected detachment. Passing these troops
on her way, she had held her course to Niagara ; and
here she had remained until the return of Cuyler, with
the remnant of his men, made known the catastrophe
that had befallen him. This officer, and the survivors
of his party, with a few other troops spared from the
garrison of Niagara, were ordered to embark on board
of her, and make the best of their way back to De-
troit. They had done so, and now, as we have seen,
were almost within sight of the fort; but the critical
part of the undertaking yet remained. The river
channel was in some places narrow, and more than
eight hundred Indians were on the alert to intercept
their passage.
For several days, the officers at Detroit heard noth-
ing farther of the vessel, when, on the twenty-third,
a great commotion was visible among the Indians,
252 BLOCKADE OE DETROIT. [Chap. XIV.
large parties of whom were seen to pass along the
outskirts of the woods, behind the fort. The cause
of these movements was unknown till evening, when
M. Baby came hi with intelligence that the vessel
was again attempting to ascend • the river, and that
all the Indians had gone to attack her. Upon this,
two cannon were fired, that those on board might
know that the fort still held out. This done, all re-
mained in much anxiety awaiting the result.
The schooner, late that afternoon, began to move
slowly upward, with a gentle breeze, between the
main shore and the long-extended margin of Fight-
ing Island. About sixty men were crowded on board,
of whom only ten or twelve were visible on deck,
the officer having ordered the rest to lie hidden
below, in hopes that the Indians, encouraged by
this apparent weakness, might make an open attack.
Just before reaching the narrowest part of the
channel, the wind died away, and the anchor was
dropped. Immediately above, and within gunshot of
the vessel, the Indians had made a breastwork of
logs, carefully concealed by bushes, on the shore of
Turkey Island. Here they lay in force, waiting for
the schooner to pass. Ignorant of this, but still cau-
tious and wary, the crew kept a strict watch from the
moment the sun went down. Hours wore on, and
nothing had broken the deep repose of the night.
The current gurgled with a monotonous sound around
the bows of the schooner, and on either hand the
wooded shores lay amid the obscurity, black and silent
as the grave. At length, the sentinel could discern,
in the distance, various moving objects upon the dark
surface of the water. The men were ordered up from
below, and all took their posts in perfect silence.
Chap. XIV.] ATTACK ON THE SCHOONER. 253
The blow of a hammer on the mast was to be the
signal to fire. The Indians, gliding stealthily over
the water in their birch canoes, had, by this time,
approached within a few rods of their fancied prize,
when suddenly the dark side of the slumbering ves-
sel burst into a blaze of cannon and musketry, which
illumined the night like a flash of lightning. Grape
and musket shot flew tearing among the canoes, de-
stroying several of them, killing fourteen Indians,
wounding as many more, and driving the rest hi
consternation to the shore.1 Recovering from their
surprise, they began to fire upon the vessel from
behind their breastwork; upon which she weighed
anchor, and dropped down once more beyond their
reach, into the broad river below. Several days
afterwards, she again attempted to ascend. This
time, she met with better success; for, though the
Indians fired at her constantly from the shore, no
man was hurt, and at length she left behind her the
perilous channels of the islands. As she passed the
Wyandot village, she sent a shower of grape among
its yelping inhabitants, by which several were killed;
and then, furling her sails, lay peacefully at anchor
by the side of her companion vessel, abreast of the
fort.
The schooner brought to the garrison a much
needed supply of men, ammunition, and provision.
She brought, also, the interesting and important
tidings that peace was at length concluded between
France and England. The bloody and momentous
struggle of the French war, which had shaken
North America since the year 1755, had indeed been
i Pontiac MS.
254 BLOCKADE OF DSTEOIT. [Chap. XIV.
virtually closed by the victory on the Plains of
Abraham, and the junction of the three British
armies at Montreal. Yet up to this time, its embers
had continued to burn, till, at length, peace was com-
pletely established by formal treaty between the hos-
tile powers. France resigned her ambitious project of
empire in America, and ceded Canada and the region
of the lakes to her successful rival. By this treaty,
the Canadians of Detroit were placed in a new posi-
tion. Hitherto they had been, as it were, prisoners
on capitulation, neutral spectators of the quarrel be-
tween their British conquerors and the Indians; but
now their allegiance was transferred from the crown
of France to that of Britain, and they were subjects
of the English king. To many of them, the change
was extremely odious, for they cordially hated the
British. They went about among the settlers and
the Indians, declaring that the pretended news of
peace was only an invention of Major Gladwyn ;
that the King of France would never abandon his
children; and that a great French army was even
then ascending the St. Lawrence, while another was
approaching from the country of the Illinois.1 This
oft-repeated falsehood was implicitly believed by the
Indians, who continued firm in faith that their
great father was about to awake from his sleep,
and wreak his vengeance upon the insolent English,
who had intruded on his domain.
Pontiac himself clung fast to this delusive hope;
yet he was greatly vexed at the safe arrival of
the vessel, and the assistance she had brought to
the obstinate defenders of Detroit. He exerted
i MS. Letter — Gladwyn to Amherst, July 8.
Chap. XIV.] PONTIAC'S COUNCIL WITH THE FRENCH. 255
himself with fresh zeal to gain possession of the
place, and attempted to terrify Gladwyn into sub-
mission. He sent a message, in which he strongly
urged him to surrender, adding, by way of stimulus,
that eight hundred more Ojibwas were every day
expected, and that, on their arrival, all his influence
could not prevent them from taking the scalp of
every Englishman in the fort. To this friendly ad-
vice Gladwyn returned a very brief and contempt-
uous answer.
Pontiac, having long been anxious to gain the
Canadians as auxiliaries in the war, now determined
on a final effort to effect his object. For this pur-
pose, he sent messages to the principal inhabitants,
inviting them to meet him in council. In the Ot-
tawa camp, there was a vacant spot, quite level,
and encircled by the huts of the Indians. Here
mats were spread for the reception of the dep-
uties, who soon convened, and took their seats in a
wide ring. One part was occupied by the Cana-
dians, among whom were several whose withered,
leathery features proclaimed them the patriarchs of
the secluded little settlement. Opposite these sat
the stern-visaged Pontiac, with his chiefs on either
hand, while the intervening portions of the circle
were filled by Canadians and Indians promiscuously
mingled. Standing on the outside, and looking over
the heads of this more dignified assemblage, was a
motley throng of Indians and Canadians, half breeds,
trappers, and voyageurs, in wild and picturesque,
though very dirty attire. Conspicuous among them
were numerous Indian dandies, a large class in
every aboriginal community, where they hold about
the same relative position as in civilized society.
256 BLOCKADE OF DETEOIT. [Chap. XIV.
They were wrapped in the gayest blankets, their
necks adorned with beads, their cheeks daubed with
vermilion, and their ears hung with pendants. They
stood sedately looking on, with evident self-compla-
cency, yet ashamed and afraid to take their places
among the aged chiefs and warriors of repute.
All was silent, and several pipes were passing
round from hand to hand, when Pontiac rose, and
threw down a war-belt at the feet of the Canadians.
"My brothers," he said, "how long will you suf-
fer this bad flesh to remain upon your lands 1 I
have told you before, and I now tell you again, that
when I took up the hatchet, it was for your good.
This year, the English must all perish throughout
Canada. The Master of Life commands it, and you,
who know him better than we, wish to oppose his
will. Until now I have said nothing on this matter.
I have not urged you to take part with us in the
war. It would have been enough had you been con-
tent to sit quiet on your mats, looking on, while we
were fighting for you. But you have not done so.
You call yourselves our friends, and yet you assist
the English with provision, and go about as spies
among our villages. This must not continue. You
must be either wholly French or wholly English.
If you are French, take up that war-belt, and lift
the hatchet with us ; but if you are English, then
we declare war upon you. My brothers, I know
this is a hard thins-. We are all alike children of
our great father the King of France, and it is hard
to fight among brethren for the sake of dogs. But
there is no choice. Look upon the belt, and let us
hear your answer."1
i Pontiac MS.
Chap. XIV.] PONTIAC'S COUNCIL WITH THE EKENCH. 257
One of the Canadians, having suspected the pur-
pose of Pontiac, had brought with him, not the
treaty of peace, but a copy of the capitulation of
Montreal with its dependencies, including Detroit.
Pride, or some other motive, restrained him from
confessing that the Canadians' were no longer chil-
dren of the King of France, and he determined to
keep up the old delusion that a French army was
on its way to win back Canada, and chastise the
English invaders. He began his speech in reply to
Pontiac by professing great love for the Indians,
and a strong desire to aid them in the war. "But,
my brothers," he added, holding out the articles of
capitulation, " you must first untie the knot with
which our great father, the king, has bound us. In
this paper, he tells all his Canadian children to sit
quiet and obey the English until he comes, because
he wishes to punish his enemies himself. We dare
not disobey him, for he would then be angry with
us. And you, my brothers, who speak of making
war upon us if we do not do as you wish, do you
think you could escape his wrath, if you should
raise the hatchet against his French children? He
would treat you as enemies, and not as friends, and
you would have to fight both English and French
at once. Tell us, my brothers, what can you reply
to this?"
Pontiac for a moment sat silent, mortified, and
perplexed; but his purpose was not destined to be
wholly defeated. " Among the French," says the
writer of the diary, "were many infamous charac-
ters, who, having no property, cared nothing what
became of them." Those mentioned in these oppro-
brious terms were a collection of trappers, voy-
33 v*
258
BLOCKADE OF DETROIT.
[Chap. XIV.
ageurs, and nondescript vagabonds of the forest, who
were seated with the council, or stood looking on,
variously attired hi greasy shirts, Indian leggins, and
red woollen caps. Not a few among them, however,
had thought proper to adopt the style of dress and
ornament peculiar to the red men, who were their
usual associates, and appeared among their com-
rades with paint rubbed on their cheeks, and feath-
ers dangling from their hair. Indeed, they aimed to
identify themselves with the Indians, a transforma-
tion by which they gained nothing; for these rene-
gade whites were held in light esteem, both by those
of their own color and the savages themselves.
They were for the most part a light and frivolous
crew, little to be relied on for energy or stability ;
though among them were men of hard and ruffian
features, the ringleaders and bullies of the voy-
ageurs, and even a terror to the Bourgeois1 himself.
1 This name is always applied,
among the Canadians of the north-
west, to the conductor of a trading
party, the commander in a trading
fort, or, indeed, to any person in a
position of authority.
Extract from a Letter — Detroit,
July 9, 1763, (Perm. Gaz. No.
"Judge of the Conduct of the
Canadians here, by the Behaviour of
these few Sacres Bougres, I have
mentioned ; I can 'assure you, with
much Certainty, that there are but
very few in the Settlement who are
not engaged with the Indians in their
damn'd Design; in short, Monsieur
is at the Bottom of it ; we have not
only convincing Proofs and Circum-
stances, but undeniable Proofs of it.
There are four or five sensible, hon-
est Frenchmen in the Place, who
have been of a great deal of Service
to us, in bringing us Intelligence
and Provisions, even at the Risque
of their own Lives : I hope they will
be rewarded for their good Services ;
I hope also to see the others exalted
on High, to reap the Fruits of their
Labours, as soon as our Army ar-
rives ; the Discoveries we have made
of their horrid villianies, are almost
incredible. But to return to the
Terms of Capitulation : Pondiac pro-
poses that we should immediately
give up the Garrison, lay down our
Arms, as the French, their Fathers,
were obliged to do, leave the Can-
non, Magazines, Merchants' Goods,
and the two Vessels, and be escort-
ed in Battoes, by the Indians, to Ni-
agara. The Major returned Answer,
that the General had not sent him
there to deliver up the Fort to In-
dians, or any body else ; and that he
would defend it whilst he had a
single man to fight alongside of him.
Upon this, Hostilities recommenced,
since which Time, being two Months,
the whole Garrison, Officers, Soldiers,
Chap. XIV.] FEAST OF DOGS. 259
It was one of these who now took up the war-belt,
and declared that he and his comrades were ready to
raise the hatchet for Pontiac. The better class of
Canadians were shocked at this proceeding, and vainly
protested against it. Pontiac, on his part, was much
pleased at such an accession to his forces, and he
and his chiefs shook hands, in turn, with each of
their new auxiliaries. The council had been protract-
ed to a late hour. It was dark before the assem-
bly dissolved, " so that," as the chronicler observes,
" these new Indians had no opportunity of displaying
their exploits that day." They remained in the In-
dian camp all night, being afraid of the reception
they might meet among their fellow-whites in the set-
tlement. The whole of the following morning was
employed in giving them a feast of welcome. For
this entertainment a large number of dogs were killed,
and served up to the guests ; none of whom, accord-
ing to the Indian custom on such formal occasions,
were permitted to take their leave until they had
eaten the whole of the enormous portion placed be-
fore them.
Pontiac derived little advantage from his Canadian
allies, most of whom, fearing the resentment of the
English and the other inhabitants, fled, before the war
was over, to the country of the Illinois.1 On the night
succeeding the feast, a party of the renegades, joined
by about an equal number of Indians, approached
Merchants and Servants, have been ference; judge what a Figure we
upon the Ramparts every Night, not make on the Works."
one having slept in a House, except The writer of the above letter is
the Sick and Wounded in the Hos- much too sweeping and indiscrim-
pital. inate in his denunciation of the
" Our Fort is extremely large, con- French,
sidering our Numbers, the Stockade l Croghan, Journal. See Butler,
being above 1000 Paces in Circum- Hist. Kentucky, 463.
260 BLOCKADE OF DETROIT. [Chap. XIV.
the fort, and intrenched themselves, in order to fire
upon the garrison. At daybreak, they were observed,
the gate was thrown open, and a file of men, headed
by Lieutenant Hay, sallied to dislodge them. This
was effected without much difficulty. The Canadians
fled with such despatch, that all of them escaped un-
hurt, though two of the Indians were shot.
It happened that among the English was a soldier
who had been prisoner, for several years, among the
Deiawares, and who, while he had learned to hate
the whole race, at the same time had acquired many
of their habits and practices. He now ran forward,
and, kneeling on the body of one of the dead sav-
ages, tore away the scalp, and shook it, with an exult-
ing cry, towards the fugitives.1 This act, as afterwards
appeared, excited great rage among the Indians.
Lieutenant Hay and his party, after their success-
ful sally, had retired to the fort ; when, at about four
o'clock in the afternoon, a man was seen running to-
wards it, closely pursued by Indians. On his arriving
within gunshot distance, they gave over the chase,
and the fugitive came panting beneath the walls,
where a wicket was flung open to receive him. He
proved to be the commandant of Sandusky, who, hav-
ing, as before mentioned, been adopted by the Indians,
and married to an old squaw, now seized the first
opportunity of escaping from her embraces.
Through him, the garrison learned the unhappy
tidings that Major Campbell was killed. This gen-
tleman, from his high personal character, no less than
his merit as an officer, was held in general esteem ; and
his fate excited a feeling of anger and grief among all
l Pontiac MS.
Chap. XIV.] DEATH OF MAJOR CAMPBELL. 261
the English in Detroit. It appeared that the Indian
killed and scalped, in the skirmish of that morning,
was nephew to Wasson, chief of the Ojibwas. On
hearing of his death, the enraged uncle had imme-
diately blackened his face in sign of revenge, called
together a party of his followers, and repairing to the
house of Meloche, where Major Campbell was kept
prisoner, had seized upon him, and bound him fast
to a neighboring fence, where they shot him to death
with arrows. Others say that they tomahawked him
on the spot ; but all agree that his body was mutilat-
ed in a barbarous manner. His heart is said to have
been eaten by his murderers, to make them coura-
geous, a practice not uncommon among Indians, after
killing an enemy of acknowledged bravery. The
corpse was thrown into the river, and afterwards
brought to shore and buried by the Canadians. Ac-
cording to one authority, Pontiac was privy to this
act; but a second, equally credible, represents him as
ignorant of it, and declares that Wasson was com-
pelled to fly to his own village at Saginaw, to escape
the rage of the offended chief.1 Lieutenant M'Dougal,
Campbell's fellow in captivity, had previously found
means of escaping.
The two armed schooners, anchored opposite the
fort, were now become objects of awe and aversion
to the Indians. This is not to be wondered at, for,
besides aiding in the defence of the place, by sweep-
ing two sides of it with their fire, they often caused
great terror and annoyance to the besiegers. Several
times they had left their anchorage, and, taking up a
convenient position, had battered the Indian camps
1 Gouin's Account, MS. St. Aubin's Account, MS.
262 BLOCKADE OF DETROIT. [Chap. XIV.
and villages with no little effect. Once in particular,
— and this was the first attempt of the kind, — Glad-
wyn himself, with several of his officers, had embarked
on board the smaller vessel, while a fresh breeze was
blowing from the north-west. The Indians, on the
banks, stood watching her as she tacked from shore
to shore, and pressed their hands against their mouths
m amazement, thinking that magic power alone could
enable her thus to make her way against wind and
current.1 Making a long reach from the opposite
shore, she came on directly towards the camp of
Pontiac, her sails swelling, her masts leaning over
till the black muzzles of her guns almost touched
the river. The Indians watched her in astonishment.
On she came, till their fierce hearts exulted in the
idea that she would run ashore within their clutches,
when suddenly a shout of command was heard on
board, her progress was arrested, she rose upright, and
her sails flapped and fluttered as if tearing loose from
their fastenings. Steadily she came round, broadside
to the shore; then, leaning once more to the wind,
bore away gallantly on the other tack. She did not
go far. The wondering spectators, quite at a loss to
understand her movements, soon heard the hoarse
rattling of her cable, as the anchor dragged it out,
and saw her furling her vast white wings. As they
looked unsuspectingly on, a puiF of smoke was emitted
from her side; a loud report followed; then another
and another ; and the balls, rushing over their heads,
flew through the midst of their camp, and tore wildly
among the thick forest-trees beyond. All was terror
and consternation. The startled warriors bounded away
J Penn. Gaz. No. 1808.
Chap. XIV.] FIRE RAFTS. 263
on all sides; the squaws snatched up their children,
and fled screaming; and, with a general chorus of
yells, the whole encampment scattered in such haste,
that little damage was done, except knocking to pieces
their frail cabins of bark.1
This attack was followed by others of a similar
kind; and now the Indians seemed resolved to turn
all their energies to the destruction of the vessel
which caused them such annoyance. On the night
of the tenth of July, they sent down a blazing raft,
formed of two boats, secured together with a rope,
and filled with pitch pine, birch bark, and other com-
bustibles, which, by good fortune, missed the vessel,
and floated down the stream without doing injury.
All was quiet throughout the following night; but
about two o'clock on the morning of the twelfth, the
sentinel on duty saw a glowing spark of fire on the
surface of the river, at some distance above. It grew
larger and brighter; it rose in a forked flame, and
at length burst forth into a broad conflagration. In
this instance, too, fortune favored the vessel; for the
raft, which was larger than the former, passed down
between her and the fort, brightly gilding her tra-
cery of ropes and spars, lighting up the old palisades
and bastions of Detroit with the clearness of day,
disclosing the white Canadian farms and houses
along the shore, and revealing the dusky margin of
the forest behind. It showed, too, a dark group of
naked spectators, who stood on the bank to watch
the effect of their artifice, when a cannon flashed, a
loud report broke the stillness, and before the smoke
of the gun had risen, these curious observers had
i Pontiac MS.
264 BLOCKADE OF DETROIT. [Chap. XIV.
vanished. The raft floated down, its flames crackling
and glaring wide through the night, until it was
burnt to the water's edge, and its last hissing em-
bers were quenched in the river.
Though twice defeated, the Indians would not aban-
don their plan, but, soon after this second failure, be-
gan another raft, of different construction from the
former, and so large that they thought it certain to
take effect. Gladwyn, on his part, provided boats
which were moored by chains at some distance above
the vessels, and made other preparations of defence,
so effectual that the Indians, after working four days
upon the raft, gave over their undertaking as useless.
About this time, a party of Shawanoe and Delaware
Indians arrived at Detroit, and were received by the
Wyandots with a salute of musketry, which occa-
sioned some alarm among the English, who knew
nothing of its cause. They reported the progress of
the war in the south and east ; and, a few days
after, an Abenaki, from Lower Canada, also made
his appearance, bringing to the Indians the flattering
falsehood that their great father, the King of France,
was at that moment advancing up the St. Lawrence
with his army. It may here be observed, that the
name of father, given to the Kings of France and
England, was a mere title of courtesy or policy; for,
in his haughty independence, the Indian yields sub-
mission to no man.
It was now between two and three months since
the siege began ; and if one is disposed to think slight-
ingly of the warriors whose numbers could avail so
little against a handful of half-starved English and
provincials, he has only to recollect, that where bar-
barism has been arrayed against civilization, disorder
Chap. XIV.] CHANGING TEMPEE OF THE INDIANS. 265
against discipline, and nngoverned fury against con-
siderate valor, such, lias seldom failed to be the result.
At the siege of Detroit, the Indians displayed a
high degree of comparative steadiness and persever-
ance; and their history cannot furnish another in-
stance of so large a force persisting so long in the
attack of a fortified place. Their good conduct may
be ascribed to their deep rage against the English,
to their hope of speedy aid from the French, and
to the controlling spirit of Pontiac, which held them
to their work. The Indian is but ill qualified for
such attempts, having too much caution for an as-
sault by storm, and too little patience for a block-
ade. The Wyandots and Pottawattamies had shown,
from the beginning, less zeal than the other na-
tions ; and now, like children, they began to tire
of the task they had undertaken. A deputation of
the Wyandots came to the fort, and begged for
peace, which was granted them ; but when the Pot-
tawattamies came on the same errand, they insisted,
as a preliminary, that some of their people, who were
detained prisoners with the English, should first be
given up. Gladwyn demanded, on his part, that the
English captives known to be in their village should
be brought to the fort, and three of them were ac-
cordingly produced. As these were but a small part
of the whole, the deputies were sharply rebuked for
their duplicity, and told to go back for the rest.
They withdrew angry and mortified; but, on the fol-
lowing day, a fresh deputation of chiefs made their
appearance, bringing with them six prisoners. Hav-
ing repaired to the council-room, they were met by
Gladwyn, attended only by one or two officers. The
Indians detained in the fort were about to be given
34 w
266 BLOCKADE OF DETROIT. [Chap. XIV.
up, and a treaty concluded, when one of the prison-
ers declared that there were several others still re-
maining in the Pottawattamie village. Upon this,
the conference was broken off, and the deputies
ordered instantly to depart. On being thus a second
time defeated, they were goaded to such a pitch of
rage, that, as afterwards became known, they formed
the desperate resolution of killing Gladwyn on the
spot, and then making their escape in the best way
they could; but, happily, at that moment the com-
mandant observed an Ottawa among them, and, re-
solving to seize him, called upon the guard without
to assist in doing so. A file of soldiers entered, and
the chiefs, seeing it impossible to execute their de-
sign, withdrew from the fort, with black and sullen
brows. A day or two afterwards, however, they re-
turned with the rest of the prisoners, on which
peace was granted them, and their people set at
liberty.
CHAPTER XV.
THE FIGHT OF BLOODY BRIDGE.
From the time when peace was concluded with
the Wyandots and Pottawattamies until the end of
July, little worthy of notice took place at Detroit.
The fort was still watched closely by the Ottawas
and Ojibwas, who almost daily assailed it with petty
attacks. In the mean time, unknown to the gar-
rison, a strong reenforcement was coming to their
aid. Captain Dalzell had left Niagara with twenty-
two barges, bearing two hundred and eighty men,
with several small cannon, and a fresh supply of
provision and ammunition.1
Coasting along the south shore of Lake Erie,
they soon reached PresquTsle, where they found the
scorched and battered blockhouse so gallantly de-
fended by Ensign Christie, and saw with surprise
the mines and intrenchments made by the Indians
i Extract from a MS. Letter — and Obliged him to Return to Ni-
Sir J. Amherst to Sir W. Johnson. agara, with (I am sorry to say) too
" New York, 16th June, 1763. few of his Men.
" Sir : " Upon this Intelligence, I have
" I am to thank you for your Let- thought it Necessary to Dispatch
ter of the 6th Instant, which I have Captain Dalyell, my Aid de Camp,
this moment Received, with some with Orders to Carry with him all
Advices from Niagara, concerning such Reinforcements as can possibly
the Motions of the Indians that Way, be collected, (having, at the same
Ihey having attacked a Detachment time, a due Attention to the Safety
under the Command of Lieut. Cuy- of the Principal Forts,) to Niagara,
ler of Hopkins's Rangers, who were and to proceed to the Detroit, if
on their Route towards the Detroit, Necessary, and Judged Proper."
268 THE FIGHT OF BLOODY BRIDGE. [Chap. XV.
in assailing it.1 Thence, proceeding on their voy-
age, they reached Sandusky on the twenty-sixth of
July; and here they marched inland to the neigh-
boring village of the Wyandots, which they burnt
to the ground, at the same time destroying the corn,
which this tribe, more provident than most of the
others, had planted there in the spring. Dalzell
then steered northward for the mouth of the De-
troit, which he reached on the evening of the
twenty-eighth, and cautiously ascended under cover
of night. " It was fortunate," writes Gladwyn, " that
they were not discovered, in which case they must
have been destroyed or taken, as the Indians, being
emboldened by their late successes, fight much bet-
ter than we could have expected."
On the morning of the twenty-ninth, the whole
country around Detroit was covered by a sea of fog,
the precursor of a hot and sultry day; but at sun-
rise, its surface began to heave and toss, and, parting
at intervals, disclosed the dark and burnished surface
of the river; then lightly rolling, fold upon fold,
the mists melted rapidly away, the last remnant
clinging sluggishly along the margin of the forests.
Now, for the first time, the garrison could discern
the approaching convoy.2 Still they remained in
suspense, fearing lest it might have met the fate of
the former detachment ; but a salute from the fort
was answered by a swivel from the boats, and at
once all apprehension passed away. The convoy soon
reached a point in the river midway between the
villages of the Wyandots and the Pottawattamies.
About a fortnight before, as we have seen, these
i Perm. Gaz. No. 1811. 2 pontiac MS.
Chap. XV.] DALZELL REACHES DETROIT. 269
capricious savages had made a treaty of peace,
which they now thought fit to break, opening a hot
fire upon the boats from either bank.1 It was an-
swered by swivels and musketry; but before the
short engagement was over, fifteen of the English
were killed or wounded. This danger passed, boat
after boat came in to shore, and landed its men
amid the cheers of the garrison. The detachment
was composed of soldiers from the 55th and 80th
Regiments, with twenty independent rangers, com-
manded by Major Rogers; and as the barracks in
the place were too small to receive them, they were
all quartered upon the inhabitants.
Scarcely were these arrangements made, when
a great smoke was seen rising from the Wyandot
village across the river, and the inhabitants, appar-
ently in much consternation, were observed paddling
down stream with their household utensils, and even
their dogs. It was supposed that they had aban-
doned and burned their huts ; but in truth, it was
only an artifice of these Indians, who had set fire
to some old canoes and other refuse piled in front
of their village, after which the warriors, having
concealed the women and children, returned and lay
in ambush among the bushes, hoping to lure some
of the English within reach of their guns. None
of them, however, fell into the snare.2
Captain Dalzell was the same officer who was the
companion of Israel Putnam in some of the most
adventurous passages of that rough veteran's life;
but more recently he had acted as aide-de-camp to
Sir Jeffrey Amherst. On the day of his arrival, he
i MS. Letter — Major Rogers to , Aug. 5.
2 Pontiac MS.
W*
270 THE FIGHT OF BLOODY BRIDGE. [Chap. XV.
had a conference with Glaclwyn, at the quarters of
the latter, and strongly insisted that the time was
come when an irrecoverable blow might be struck at
Pontiac. He requested permission to march out on
the following night, and attack the Indian camp.
Gladwyn, better acquainted with the position of
affairs, and perhaps more cautious by nature, was
averse to the attempt; but Dalzell urged his request
so strenuously that the commandant yielded to his
rej)resentations, and gave a tardy consent,1
Pontiac had recently removed his camp from its
old position near the mouth of Parent's Creek, and
was now posted several miles above, behind a great
marsh, which protected the Indian huts from the
cannon of the vessel. On the afternoon of the thir-
tieth, orders were issued and preparations made for
the meditated attack. Through the inexcusable care-
lessness of some of the officers, the design became
known to a few Canadians, the bad result of which
will appear in the sequel.
About two o'clock on the morning of the thirty-
first of July, the gates were thrown open in silence,
and the detachment, two hundred and fifty in num-
ber, passed noiselessly out. They filed two deep
along the road, while two large bateaux, each bear-
ing a swivel on the bow, rowed up the river abreast
of them. Lieutenant Brown led the advanced guard
1 Extract from a MS. Letter — that I was of opinion he was too
Major Gladwyn to Sir J. Amherst. much on his Guard to Effect it ; he
(( -p, . . . then said he thought I had it in my
Uetroit, Aug. 8th, 1/63. pQwer to giye Mm a gtroke; and tjiat
"On the 31 st, Captain Dalyell if I did not Attempt it now, he would
Requested, as a particular favor, that Run off, and I should never have
I would give him the Command of a another Opportunity ; this induced
Party, in order to Attempt the Sur- me to give in to the Scheme, con-
prizal of Pontiac's Camp, under cover trary to my Judgement."
of the Night, to which I answered
Chap. XV.] PLAN OF A NIGHT ATTACK. 271
of twenty-five men ; the centre was commanded by
Captain Gray, and the rear by Captain Grant. The
night was still, close, and sultry, and the men
marched in light undress. On their right was the
dark and gleaming surface of the river, with a mar-
gin of sand intervening, and on their left a succes-
sion of Canadian houses, with barns, orchards, and
cornfields, from whence the clamorous barking of
watch-dogs saluted them as they passed. The inhab-
itants, roused from sleep, looked from the windows
in astonishment and alarm. An old man has told
the writer how, when a child, he climbed on the
roof of his father's house, to look down on the
glimmering bayonets, and how, long after the troops
had passed, their heavy and measured tramp sounded
from afar, through the still night. Thus the Eng-
lish moved forward to the attack, little thinking that,
behind houses and enclosures, Indian scouts watched
every yard of their progress — little suspecting that
Pontiac, apprised by the Canadians of their plan,
had broken up his camp, and was coming against
them with all his warriors, armed and decorated for
battle.
A mile and a half from the fort, Parent's Creek,
ever since that night called Bloody Run, descended
through a wild and rough hollow, and entered the
Detroit amid a growth of rank grass and sedge.
Only a few rods from its mouth, the road crossed it
by a narrow wooden bridge, not existing at the
present day. Just beyond this bridge, the land rose
in abrupt ridges, parallel to the stream. Along their
summits were rude intrenchments made by Pontiac
to protect his camp, which had formerly occupied
the ground immediately beyond. Here, too, were
272 THE FIGHT OF BLOODY BRIDGE. [Chap. XV.
many piles of firewood belonging to the Canadians,
besides strong picket fences, enclosing orchards and
gardens connected with the neighboring houses. Be-
hind fences, wood-piles, and retrenchments, crouched
an unknown number of Indian warriors with lev-
elled guns. They lay silent as snakes, for now they
could hear the distant tramp of the approaching
column.
The sky was overcast, and the night exceedingly
dark. As the English drew near the dangerous
pass, they could discern the oft-mentioned house of
Meloche upon a rising ground to the left, while in
front the bridge was dimly visible, and the ridges
beyond it seemed like a wall of undistinguished
blackness. They pushed rapidly forward, not wholly
unsuspicious of danger. The advanced guard were
half way over the bridge, and the main body just
entering upon it, when a horrible burst of yells rose
in their front, and the Indian guns blazed forth in
a general discharge. Half the advanced party were
shot down ; the appalled survivors shrank back
aghast. The confusion reached even the main body,
and the whole recoiled together ; but Dalzell raised
his clear voice above the din, advanced to the front,
rallied the men, and led them forward to the attack.1
Again the Indians poured in their volley, and again
the English hesitated; but Dalzell shouted from the
van, and, in the madness of mingled rage and fear,
they charged at a run across the bridge and up the
heights beyond. Not an Indian was there to op-
pose them. In vain the furious soldiers sought their
enemy behind fences and intrench ments. The active
1 Penn. Gaz. No. 1811.
Chap. XV.] RETREAT OF THE ENGLISH. 273
savages had fled; yet still their guns flashed thick
through the gloom, and their war-cry rose with un-
diminished clamor. The English pushed forward
amid the pitchy darkness, quite ignorant of their
way, and soon became involved in a maze of out-
houses and enclosures. At every pause they made,
the retiring enemy would gather to renew the attack,
firing back hotly upon the front and flanks. To
advance farther would be useless, and the only alter-
native was to withdraw and wait for daylight. Cap-
tain Grant, with his company, recrossed the bridge,
and took up his station on the road. The rest fol-
lowed, a small party remaining to hold the enemy in
check while the dead and wounded were placed on
board the two bateaux, which had rowed up to
the bridge during the action. This task was com-
menced amid a sharp fire from both sides; and be-
fore it was completed, heavy volleys were heard from
the rear, where Captain Grant was stationed. A
great force of Indians had fired upon him from the
house of Meloche and the neighboring orchards.
Grant pushed up the hill, and drove them from the
orchards at the point of the bayonet — drove them,
also, from the house, and, entering the latter, found
two Canadians within. These men told him that
the Indians were bent on cutting off the English
from the fort, and that they had gone in great num-
bers to occupy the houses which commanded the
road below.1 It was now evident that instant retreat
was necessary ; and the command being issued to
that effect, the men fell back into marching order,
and slowly began their retrograde movement. Grant
1 Detail of the Action of the 31st of July. See Gent. Mag. XXXXII. 486.
35
274 THE TIGHT OF BLOODY BEIDGE. [Chap. XV.
was now in the van, and Dalzell at the rear. Some
of the Indians followed, keeping up a scattering and
distant fire ; and from time to time the rear faced
about, to throw back a volley of musketry at the
pursuers. Having proceeded in this manner for half
a mile, they reached a point where, close upon the
right, were many barns and outhouses, with strong-
picket fences. Behind these, and in a newly-dug
cellar close at hand, lay concealed a great multitude
of Indians. They suffered the advanced party to
pass unmolested; but when the centre and rear came
opposite their ambuscade, they raised a frightful yell,
and poured a volley among them. The men had
well nigh fallen into a panic. The river ran close
on their left, and the only avenue of escape lay
along the road in front. Breaking their ranks, they
crowded upon one another in blind eagerness to es-
cape the storm of bullets; and but for the presence
of Dalzell, the retreat would have been turned into
a flight. "The enemy," writes an officer who was
in the fight, " marked him for his extraordinary
bravery ; " and he had already received two severe
wounds. Yet his exertions did not slacken for a
moment. Some of the soldiers he rebuked, some he
threatened, and some he beat with the flat of his
sword ; till at length order was partially restored,
and the fire of the enemy returned with effect.
Though it was near daybreak, the dawn was ob-
scured by thick fog, and little could be seen of the
Indians, except the incessant flashes of their guns
amid the mist, while hundreds of voices, mingled in
one appalling yell, confused the faculties of the men,
and drowned the shout of command. The enemy
had taken possession of a house, from the windows
Chap. XV.] DEATH OF DALZELL. 215
of which they fired down upon the English. Major
Rogers, with some of his provincial rangers, burst
the door with an axe, rushed in, and expelled them.
Captain Gray was ordered to dislodge a large party
from behind some neighboring fences. He charged
them with his company, but fell, mortally wounded,
in the attempt.1 They gave way, however; and now,
the fire of the Indians being much diminished, the
retreat was resumed. No sooner had the men faced
about, than the savages came darting through the
mist upon their flank and rear, cutting down strag-
glers, and scalping the fallen. At a little distance
lay a sergeant of the 55 th, helplessly wounded, rais-
ing himself on his hands, and gazing with a look
of despair after his retiring comrades. The sight
caught the eye of Dalzell. That gallant soldier, in
the true spirit of heroism, ran out, amid the firing,
to rescue the wounded man, when a shot struck
him, and he fell dead. Few observed his fate, and
none durst turn back to recover his body. The de-
tachment pressed on, greatly harassed by the pur-
suing Indians. Their loss would have been much
more severe, had not Major Rogers taken possession
of another house, which commanded the road, and
covered the retreat of the party.
He entered it with some of his own men, while
many panic-stricken regulars broke in after him, in
their eagerness to gain a temporary shelter. The
house was a large and strong one, and the women
of the neighborhood had crowded into the cellar for
refuge. While some of the soldiers looked in blind
terror for a place of concealment, others seized upon
1 Penn. Gaz. No. 1811.
276 THE FIGHT OF BLOODY BRIDGE. [Chap. XV.
a keg of whiskey in one of the rooms, and quaffed
the liquor with eager thirst, while others, again,
piled packs of furs, furniture, and all else within
their reach, against the windows, to serve as a bar-
ricade. Panting and breathless, their faces moist
with sweat and blackened with gunpowder, they
thrust their muskets through the openings, and fired
out upon the whooping assailants. At intervals, a
bullet flew sharply whizzing through a crevice, strik-
ing down a man, perchance, or rapping harmlessly
against the partitions. Old Campau, the master of
the house, stood on a trap-door to prevent the
frightened soldiers from seeking shelter among the
women in the cellar. A ball grazed his gray head,
and buried itself in the wall, where a few years
since it might still have been seen. The screams of
the half-stifled women below, the quavering war-
whoops without, the shouts and curses of the sol-
diers, the groans and blaspheming of the wounded
men, mingled in a scene of clamorous confusion, and
it was long before the authority of Rogers could
restore order.1
In the mean time, Captain Grant, with his ad-
vanced party, had moved forward about half a mile,
where he found some orchards and enclosures, by
means of which he could maintain himself until the
centre and rear should arrive. From this point he
detached all the men he could spare to occupy the
houses below; and as soldiers soon began to come in
from the rear, he was enabled to reenforce these de-
tachments, until a complete line of communication
l Many particulars of the fight Williams, Esq. of Detroit, a con-
at the house of Campau were re- nection of the Campau family,
lated to me, on the spot, by John R.
Chap. XV.] GRANT CONDUCTS THE RETREAT. 277
was established with the fort, and the retreat effect-
ually secured. Within an hour, the whole party had
arrived, with the exception of Rogers and his men,
who were quite unable to come off, being besieged
in the house of Campau, by full two hundred In-
dians. The two armed bateaux had gone down to
the fort, laden with the dead and wounded. They
now returned, and, in obedience to an order from
Grant, proceeded up the river to a point opposite
Campau' s house, where they opened a fire of swivels,
which swept the ground above and below it, and
completely scattered the assailants. Rogers and his
party now came out, and marched down the road,
to unite themselves with Grant. The two bateaux
accompanied them closely, and, by a constant
fire, restrained the Indians from making an attack.
Scarcely had Rogers left the house at one door,
when the enemy entered it at another, to obtain the
scalps from two or three corpses left behind. Fore-
most of them all, a withered old squaw rushed in,
with a shrill scream, and, slashing open one of the
dead bodies with her knife, scooped up the blood
between her hands, and quaffed it with a ferocious
ecstasy.
Grant resumed his retreat as soon as Rogers had
arrived, falling back from house to house, and joined
in succession by the parties sent to garrison each.
The Indians, in great numbers, stood whooping and
yelling, at a vain distance, quite unable to make an
attack, so well did Grant choose his positions, and
so steadily and coolly conduct the retreat. About
eight o'clock, after six hours of marching and com-
bat, the detachment entered once more within the
sheltering palisades of Detroit.
x
278 THE FIGHT OF BLOODY BKIDGE. [Chap XV.
In this action, the English lost fifty-nine men,
killed and wounded. The loss of the Indians could
not be ascertained, but it certainly did not exceed
fifteen or twenty. At the beginning of the fight,
their numbers were probably much inferior to those
of the English; but fresh parties were continually
joining them, until seven or eight hundred warriors
must have been present.
The Ojibwas and Ottawas only formed the am-
buscade at the bridge, under Pontiac's command; for
the Wyandots and Pottawattamies came later to the
scene of action, crossing the river in their canoes,
or passing round through the woods behind the fort,
to take part in the fray.1
In speaking of the fight of Bloody Bridge, an
able writer in the Annual Register for the year
1763 observes, with justice, that although in Eu-
ropean warfare it would be deemed a mere skirmish,
yet in a conflict with the American savages, it rises
to the importance of a pitched battle; since these
people, being thinly scattered over a great extent of
country, are accustomed to conduct their warfare by
detail, and never take the field in any great force.
The Indians were greatly elated by their success.
Runners were sent out for several hundred miles,
through the surrounding woods, to spread tidings of
the victory; and reinforcements soon began to come
in to swell the force of Pontiac. " Fresh warriors,"
writes Gladwyn, " arrive almost every day, and I
believe that I shall soon be besieged by upwards of
i MS. Letters — M'Donald to Dr. count, MS. Gouin's Account, MS.
Campbell, Aug. 8. Gage to Lord St. Aubin's Account, MS. Peltier's
Halifax, Oct. 12. Amherst to Lord Account, MS. Maxwell's Account,
Egremont, Sept. 3. Meloche's Ac- MS., etc.
Chap. XV.] ATTACK ON THE SCHOONER GLADWYN. 279
a thousand." The English, on their part, were well
prepared for resistance, since the garrison now com-
prised more than three hundred effective men; and
no one entertained a doubt of their ultimate success
in defending the place. Day after day passed on; a
few skirmishes took place, and a few men were
killed, hut nothing worthy of notice occurred, until
the night of the fourth of September, at which time
was achieved one of the most memorable feats which
the chronicles of that day can boast.
The schooner Gladwyn, the smaller of the two
armed vessels so often mentioned, had been sent
down to Niagara with letters and despatches. She
was now returning, having on board Horst, her mas-
ter, Jacobs, her mate, and a crew of ten men, all
of whom were provincials, besides six Iroquois In-
dians, supposed to be friendly to the English. On
the night of the third, she entered the River Detroit;
and in the morning the six Indians asked to be set
on shore, a request which was foolishly granted.
They disappeared in the woods, and probably re-
ported to Pontiac's warriors the small numbers of
the crew. The vessel stood up the river until night-
fall, when, the wind failing, she was compelled to
anchor about nine miles below the fort. The men
on board watched with anxious vigilance; and as
night came on, they listened to every sound which
broke the stillness, from the strange cry of the night-
hawk, wheeling round and round above their heads,
to the bark of the fox from the woods on shore.
The night set in with darkness so complete, that at
the distance of a few rods nothing could be dis-
cerned. Meantime, three hundred and fifty Indians,
in their birch canoes, glided silently down with the
THE FIGHT OF BLOODY BRIDGE. [Chap. XV.
current, and were close upon the vessel before they
were seen. There was only time to fire a single
cannon-shot among them, before they were beneath
her bows, and clambering up her sides, holding their
knives clinched fast between their teeth. The crew
gave them a close fire of musketry, without any
effect; then, flinging down their guns, they seized
the spears and hatchets with which they were all
provided, and met the assailants with such furious
energy and courage, that in the space of two or
three minutes they had killed and wounded more
than twice their own number. But the Indians were
only checked for a moment. The master of the ves-
sel was killed, several of the crew were disabled,
and the assailants were leaping over the bulwarks,
when Jacobs, the mate, called out to blow up
the schooner. This desperate command saved her
and her crew. Some Wyandots, who had gained the
deck, caught the meaning of his words, and gave
the alarm to their companions. Instantly every In-
dian leaped overboard in a panic, and the whole
were seen diving and swimming off in all di-
rections, to escape the threatened explosion. The
schooner was cleared of her assailants, who did not
dare to renew the attack; and on the following
morning she sailed for the fort, which she reached
without molestation. Six of her crew escaped un-
hurt. Of the remainder, two were killed, and four
seriously wounded, while the Indians had seven men
killed upon the spot, and nearly twenty wounded,
of whom eight were known to have died within a
few days after. As the whole action lasted but
a few minutes, the fierceness of the struggle is suffi-
ciently apparent from the loss on both sides. The
Chap. XV.]
THE "WAR IN THE NORTH.
281
survivors of the little crew were afterwards rewarded
as their undaunted bravery deserved.1
And now, taking leave, for a time, of the garrison
of Detroit, whose fortunes we have followed so lone-,
we will turn to observe the progress of events in a
quarter of the wilderness yet more wild and remote.
1 MS. Letter — Gladwyn to Am-
herst, Sept. 9. Carver, 164. Re-
lation of the Gallant Defence of the
Schooner near Detroit, published by
order of General Amherst, in the
New York papers. Penn. Gaz. No.
1816. MS. Letter — Amherst to
Lord Egremont, Oct. 13. St. Au-
bin's Account, MS. Peltier's Ac-
count, MS.
The commander-in-chief ordered a
medal to be struck and presented to
each of the men. Jacobs, the mate
of the schooner, appears to have
been as rash as he was brave ; for
Captain Carver says, that several
years after, when in command of the
same vessel, he was lost, with all his
crew, in a storm on Lake Erie, in
consequence of having obstinately
refused to take in ballast enough.
As this affair savors somewhat of
the marvellous, the following evi-
dence is given touching the most re-
markable features of the story. The
document was copied from the ar-
chives of London.
Extract from " A Relation of the
Gallant Defence made by the Crew
of the Schooner on Lake Erie, when
Attacked by a Large Body of In-
dians ; as Published by Order of Sir
Jeffery Amherst in the New York
Papers."
" The Schooner Sailed from Ni-
agara, loaded with Provisions, some
time in August last : Her Crew
consisted of the Master and Eleven
Men, with Six Mohawk Indians,
who were Intended for a particular
Service. She entered the Detroit
River, on the 3d September ; And on
the 4th in the Morning, the Mohawks
36
seemed very Desirous of being put
on Shore, which the Master, very In-
considerately, agreed to. The Wind
proved contrary all that Day ; and in
the Evening, the Vessell being at
Anchor, about Nine o'Clock, the
Boat-swain discovered a Number of
Canoes coming down the River,
Avith about Three Hundred and Fifty
Indians ; Upon which the Bow Gun
was Immediately Fired; but before
the other Guns could be brought to
Bear, the Enemy got under the Bow
and Stern, in Spite of the Swivels
& Small Arms, and Attempted to
Board the Vessell ; Whereupon the
Men Abandoned their Small Arms,
and took to their Spears, with which
they were provided ; And, with
Amazing Resolution and Bravery,
knocked the Savages in the Head ;
Killed many ; and saved the Vessell.
. . It is certain Seven of the Savages
were Killed on the Spot, and Eight
had Died of those that were Wound-
ed, when the Accounts came away.
The Master and One Man were
Killed, and four Wounded, on Board
the Schooner, and the other Six
brought her Safe to the Detroit."
It is somewhat singular that no
mention is here made of the com-
mand to blow up the vessel. The
most explicit authorities on this
point are Carver, who obtained his
account at Detroit, three years after
the war, and a letter published in the
Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1816.
This letter is dated at Detroit, five
days after the attack. The circum-
stance is also mentioned in several
traditional accounts of the Canadians.
X
CHAPTER XVI.
MICHILLIMACKINAC.
In the spring of the year 1763, before the war
broke out, several English traders went up to Mich-
illimackmac, some adopting the old route of the Ot-
tawa, and others that of Detroit and the lakes.
We will follow one of the latter on his adventurous
progress. Passing the fort and settlement of De-
troit, he soon enters Lake St. Clair, which seems
like a broad basin filled to overflowing, while, along
its far distant verge, a faint line of forest separates
the water from the sky. He crosses the lake, and
his voyageurs next urge his canoe against the cur-
rent of the great river above. At length, Lake Hu-
ron opens before him, stretching its liquid expanse,
like an ocean, to the farthest horizon. His canoe
skirts the eastern shore of Michigan, where the
forest rises like a wall from the water's edge; and
as he advances northward, an endless line of stiff
and shaggy fir-trees, hung with long mosses, fringes
the shore with an aspect of monotonous desolation.
In the space of two or three weeks, if his Cana-
dians labor well, and no accident occur, the trader
approaches the end of his voyage. Passing on his
right the extensive Island of Bois Blanc, he sees,
nearly in front, the beautiful Mackinaw, rising, with
its white cliffs and green foliage, from the broad
Chap. XVI.] MICHILLIMACKINAC. 283
breast of the waters. He does not steer towards it,
for at that day the Indians were its only tenants,
but keeps along the main shore to the left, while his
voyageurs raise their song and chorus. Doubling a
point, he sees before him the red flag of England
swelling lazily in the wind, and the palisades and
wooden bastions of Fort Michillimackinac standing
close upon the margin of the lake. On the beach,
canoes are drawn up, and Canadians and Indians are
idly lounging. A little beyond the fort is a cluster
of the white Canadian houses, roofed with bark, and
protected by fences of strong round pickets.
The trader enters at the gate, and sees before him
an extensive square area, surrounded by high pali-
sades. Numerous houses, barracks, and other build-
ings form a smaller square within, and in the vacant
space which they enclose, appear the red uniforms
of British soldiers, the gray coats of Canadians, and
the gaudy Indian blankets, mingled in picturesque
confusion, while a multitude of squaws, with chil-
dren of every hue, stroll restlessly about the place.
Such was Fort Michillimackinac in 1763.1 Its name,
which, in the Algonquin tongue, signifies the Great
Turtle, was first, from a fancied resemblance, applied
to the neighboring island, and thence to the fort.
Though buried in a wilderness, Michillimackinac
was still of no recent origin. As early as 1671, the
Jesuits had established a mission near the place, and
a military force was not long in following ; for, under
the French dominion, the priest and the soldier went
hand in hand. Neither toil, nor suffering, nor all
i This description is drawn from the stumps of the pickets and the
traditional accounts, aided by a per- foundations of the houses may still
sonal examination of the spot, where be traced.
284 MICHILLIMACKINAC. [Chap. XVI.
the terrors of the wilderness, could damp the zeal
of the undaunted missionary; and the restless am-
bition of France was always on the alert to seize
every point of vantage, and avail itself of every means
to gain ascendency over the forest tribes. Besides
Michillimackinac, there were two other posts in this
northern region, Green Bay, and the Sault Ste. Marie.
Both were founded at an early period, and both pre-
sented the same characteristic features, a mission-
house, a fort, and a cluster of Canadian dwellings.
They had been originally garrisoned by small parties
of militia, who, bringing their families with them,
settled on the spot, and were founders of these little
colonies. Michillimackinac, much the largest of the
three, contained thirty families within the palisades
of the fort, and about as many more without. Be-
sides its military value, it was important as a centre
of the fur-trade; for it was here that the traders en-
gaged their men, and sent out their goods in canoes,
under the charge of subordinates, to the more distant
regions of the Mississippi and the north-west.
During the greater part of the year, the garrison
and the settlers were completely isolated — cut off
from all connection with the world; and, indeed, so
great was the distance, and so serious the perils,
which separated the three sister posts of the northern
lakes, that often, through the whole winter, all inter-
course was stopped between them.1
It is difficult for the imagination adequately to
conceive the extent of these fresh-water oceans, and
vast regions of forest, which, at the date of our nar-
rative, were the domain of nature, a mighty hunting
1 MS. Journal of Lieutenant Gorell, commanding at Green Bay, 1761-63.
Chap. XVI.] THE NEIGHBOEING TEIBES. 285
and fishing ground, for the sustenance of a few
wandering tribes. One might journey among them
for days, and even weeks together, without behold-
ing a human face. The Indians near Michillimack-
inac were the Ojibwas and Ottawas, the former of
whom claimed the eastern section of Michigan, and
the latter the western, their respective portions be-
ing separated by a line drawn southward from the
fort itself.1 The principal village of the Ojibwas
contained about a hundred warriors, and stood upon
the Island of Michillimackinac, now called Mackinaw.
There was another smaller village near the head of
Thunder Bay. The Ottawas, to the number of two
hundred and fifty warriors, lived at the settlement of
L'Arbre Croche, on the shores of Lake Michigan, some
distance west of the fort. This place was then the
seat of the old Jesuit mission of St. Ignace, originally
placed, by Father Marquette, on the northern side of
the straits. Many of the Ottawas Avere nominal Cath-
olics. They were all somewhat improved from their
original savage condition, living in log houses, and
cultivating corn and vegetables to such an extent as
to supply the fort with provision, besides satisfying
their own wants. The Ojibwas, on the other hand,
were not in the least degree removed from their prim-
itive barbarism.2
These two tribes, with most of the other neighbor-
ing Indians, were strongly hostile to the English.
Many of their warriors had fought against them in
the late war, for France had summoned allies from
the farthest corners of the wilderness, to aid her in
her desperate struggle. This feeling of hostility was
1 Carver, Travels, 29. derived from memoranda furnished
2 Many of these particulars are by Henry R. Schoolcraft, Esq.
286 MICHILLIMACKINAC. [Chap. XVI.
excited to a higher pitch by the influence of the
Canadians, who disliked the English, not merely as
national enemies, but also as rivals in the fur-trade,
and were extremely jealous of their intrusion upon
the lakes. The following incidents, which occurred
in the autumn of the year 1761, will illustrate the
state of feeling which prevailed: —
At that time, although Michillimackinac had been
surrendered, and the French garrison removed, no
English troops had yet arrived to supply their place,
and the Canadians were the only tenants of the fort.
An adventurous trader, Alexander Henry, who, with
one or two others, was the pioneer of the English
fur-trade in this region, came to Michillimackinac by
the route of the Ottawa. On the way, he was sev-
eral times warned to turn back, and assured of death
if he proceeded, and, at length, was compelled for
safety to assume the disguise of a Canadian voya-
geur. When his canoes, laden with goods, reached
the fort, he was very coldly received by its inhab-
itants, who did all in their power to alarm and dis-
courage him. Soon after his arrival, he received the
very unwelcome information, that a large number of
Ojibwas, from the neighboring villages, were coming,
in their canoes, to call upon him. Under ordinary
circumstances, such a visitation, though disagreeable
enough, would excite neither anxiety nor surprise;
for the Indians, when in their villages, lead so mo-
notonous an existence, that they are ready to snatch
at the least occasion of excitement, and the prospect
of a few trifling presents, and a few pipes of to-
bacco, is often a sufficient inducement for a journey
of several days. But in the present instance, there
was serious cause of apprehension, since Canadians
Chap. XVI] ADVENTURES OF A TRADER. 287
and Frenchmen were alike hostile to the solitary
trader. The story could not be better told than in
his own graphic and truthful words.
" At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Chippewas
(Ojibwas) came to the house, about sixty in num-
ber, and headed by Minavavana, their chief. They
walked in single file, each with his tomahawk in one
hand and scalping-knife in the other. Their bodies
were naked from the waist upward, except in a few
examples, where blankets were thrown loosely over
the shoulders. Their faces were painted with char-
coal, worked up with grease, their bodies with white
clay, in patterns of various fancies. Some had feath-
ers thrust through their noses, and their heads deco-
rated with the same. It is unnecessary to dwell on
the sensations with which I beheld the approach of
this uncouth, if not frightful assemblage.
" The chief entered first, and the rest followed with-
out noise. On receiving a sign from the former, the
latter seated themselves on the floor.
" Minavavana appeared to be about fifty years of
age. He was six feet in height, and had in his
countenance an indescribable mixture of good and
evil. Looking steadfastly at me, where I sat in
ceremony, with an interpreter on either hand, and
several Canadians behind me, he entered, at the same
time, into conversation with Campion, inquiring how
long it was since I left Montreal, and observing, that
the English, as it would seem, were brave men, and
not afraid of death, since they dared to come, as I
had done, fearlessly among their enemies.
"The Indians now gravely smoked their pipes,
while I inwardly endured the tortures of suspense.
At length, the pipes being finished, as well as a long
MICPIILLIMACKINAC. [Chap. XVI.
pause, by which they were succeeded, Minavavana,
taking a few strings of wampum in his hand, began
the following speech: —
« ' Englishman, it is to you that I speak, and I
demand your attention.
" ' Englishman, you know that the French king is
our father. He promised to be such ; and we, in re-
turn, jDromised to be his children. This promise we
have kept.
" ' Englishman, 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.
" ' Englishman, we are informed that our father,
the King of France, is old and infirm; and that, be-
ing fatigued with making war upon your nation, he
is fallen asleep. During his sleep, you have taken
advantage 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.
" ' Englishman, although you have conquered the
French, you have not yet conquered us. We are
not your slaves. These lakes, these woods and moun-
tains, were left to us by our ancestors. They are our
inheritance; and we will part with them to none.
Your nation supposes 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.
'"Englishman, our father, the King of France,
employed our young men to make war upon your
Chap. XVI.] SPEECH OF MINAVAVANA. 289
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 of the blood
of the nation by which they fell ; the other, by cover-
ing the bodies of the dead, and thus allaying the re-
sentment of their relations. This is done by making
presents.
" ' Englishman, your king has never sent us any
presents, nor entered into any treaty with us ; where-
fore he and we are still at war; and, until he does
these things, we must consider that we have no other
father nor friend, among the white men, than the
King of France; but for you, we have taken into
consideration that you have ventured your life among
us, in the expectation that we should not molest
you. You do not come armed, with an intention to
make war; you come in peace, to trade with us, and
supply us with 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 this pipe to smoke.'
"As Minavavana uttered these words, an Indian
presented me with a pipe, which, after I had drawn
the smoke three times, was carried to the chief, and
after him to every person in the room. This cere-
mony ended, the chief arose, and gave me his hand,
in which he was followed by all the rest." 1
These tokens of friendship were suitably acknowl-
edged by the trader, who made a formal reply to
1 Henry, Travels, 45.
37
290 MICHILLIMACKINAC. [Chap. XVI.
Minavavana's speech. To this succeeded a request
for whiskey on the part of the Indians, with which
Henry unwillingly complied; and, having distributed
several small additional presents, he beheld, with
profound satisfaction, the departure of his guests.
Scarcely had he ceased to congratulate himself on
having thus got rid of the Ojibwas, or, as he calls
them, the Chippewas, when a more formidable inva-
sion once more menaced him with destruction. Two
hundred L'Arbre Croche Ottawas came in a body
to the fort, and summoned Henry, together with
Goddard and Solomons, two other traders, who had
just arrived, to meet them in council. Here they
informed their startled auditors that they must dis-
tribute their goods among the Indians, adding a
worthless promise to pay them in the spring, and
threatening force in case of a refusal. Being allowed
until the next morning to reflect on what they had
heard, the traders resolved on resistance, and, accord-
ingly, arming about thirty of their men with muskets,
they barricaded themselves in the house occupied by
Henry, and kept strict watch all night. The Otta-
was, however, did not venture an attack. On the
following day, the Canadians, with pretended sympa-
thy, strongly advised compliance with the demand ;
but the three traders resolutely held out, and kept
possession of their stronghold till night, when, to
their surprise and joy, the news arrived that the
body of troops known to be on their way towards
the fort were, at that moment, encamped within a
few miles of it. Another night of watching and anx-
iety succeeded; but at sunrise, the Ottawas launched
their canoes and departed, while, immediately after,
the boats of the English detachment were seen to
Chap. XVI] THE OJIBWA WAK-CHIEF. 291
approach the landing-place. Michillimackinac re-
ceived a strong garrison, and for a time, at least,
the traders were safe.
Time passed on, and the hostile feelings of the
Indians towards the English did not diminish. It
necessarily follows, from the extremely loose charac-
ter of Indian government, — if indeed the name gov-
ernment be applicable at all, — that the separate
members of the same tribe have little political con-
nection, and are often united merely by the social
tie of totemship. Thus the Ottawas at L'Arbre
Croche were quite independent of those at Detroit.
They had a chief of their own, who by no means
acknowledged the authority of Pontiac, though the
high reputation of this great warrior every where
attached respect and influence to his name. The
same relations subsisted between the Ojibwas of
Michillimackinac and their more southern tribesmen;
and the latter might declare war and make peace
without at all involving the former.
The name of the Ottawa chief at L'Arbre Croche
has not survived in history or tradition. The chief
of the Ojibwas, however, is still remembered by the
remnants of his people, and was the same whom
Henry calls Minavavana, or, as the Canadians en-
titled him, by way of distinction, Le Grand Sauteur,
or the Great Ojibwa. He lived in the little village
of Thunder Bay, though his power was acknowl-
edged by the Indians of the neighboring islands.
That his mind was of no common order is suffi-
ciently evinced by his speech to Henry; but he had
not the commanding spirit of Pontiac. His influ-
ence seems not to have extended beyond his own
tribe. He could not, or, at least, he did not, control
292 MICHILLIMACKINAC. [Chap. XVI.
the erratic forces of an Indian community, and turn
them into one broad current of steady and united
energy. Hence, in the events about to be described,
the natural instability of the Indian character was
abundantly displayed.
In the spring of the year 1763, Pontiac, in com-
passing his grand scheme of hostility, sent, among
the rest, to the Indians of Michillimackinac, inviting
them to aid him in the war. His messengers, bear-
ing in their hands the war-belt of black and purple
wampum, appeared before the assembled warriors,
flung at their feet a hatchet painted red, and deliv-
ered the speech with which they had been charged.
The warlike auditory answered with deep ejaculations
of applause, and, taking up the blood-red hatchet,
pledged themselves to join in the contest. Before
the end of May, news reached the Ojibwas that
Pontiac had already struck the English at Detroit.
This wrought them up to a high pitch of excite-
ment and emulation, and they resolved that peace
should last no longer. Their numbers were at this
time more than doubled, by several bands of their
wandering people, who had gathered at Michilli-
mackinac, from far and near, attracted probably by
rumors of impending war. Being, perhaps, jealous
of the Ottawas, or willing to gain all the glory and
plunder to themselves, they determined to attack the
fort, without communicating the design to their
neighbors of L'Arbre Croche.
At this time there were about thirty-five men,
with their officers, in garrison at Michillimackinac.1
1 This appears from the letters of the inhabitants of the fort, both sol-
Captain Etherington. Henry states diers and Canadians, in his enumer-
the number at ninety. It is not un- ation
likely that he meant to include all
Chap. XVI.] WAENINGS OF DANGEE. 293
Warning of the tempest that impended had been
clearly given ; enough, had it been heeded, to have
averted the fatal disaster. Several of the Cana-
dians least hostile to the English had thrown out
hints of approaching danger, and one of them had
even told Captain Etherington, the commandant, that
the Indians had formed a design to destroy, not
only his garrison, but all the English on the lakes.
With a folly, of which, at this period, there were
several parallel instances among the British officers
in America, Etherington not only turned a deaf ear
to what he heard, but threatened to send prisoner to
Detroit the next person who should disturb the fort
with such tidings. Henry, the trader, who was at
this time in the place, had also seen occasion to dis-
trust the Indians ; but on communicating his sus-
picions to the commandant, the latter treated them
with total disregard. Henry accuses himself of
sharing this officer's infatuation. That his person
was in danger, had been plainly intimated to him,
under the following curious circumstances : —
An Ojibwa chief, named Wawatam, had conceived
for him one of those strong friendly attachments
which often form so pleasing a feature in the Indian
character. It was about a year since Henry had
first met with this man. One morning, Wawatam
had entered his house, and placing before him, on
the ground, a large present of furs and dried meat,
delivered a speech to the following effect: Early in
life, after the ancient usage of his people, he had
withdrawn to fast and pray in solitude, that he
might propitiate the Great Spirit, and learn the
future career marked out for him. In the course of
his dreams and visions on this occasion, it was
Y*
294 MICHILLIMACKINAC. [Chap. XVI.
revealed to him that, in after years, he should meet
a white man, who should be to him a friend and
brother. No sooner had he seen Henry, than the
irrepressible conviction rose up within him, that he
was the man whom the Great Spirit had indicated,
and that the dream was now fulfilled. Henry re-
plied to the speech with suitable acknowledgments
of gratitude, made a present in his turn, smoked a
pipe with Wawatam, and, as the latter soon after
left the fort, speedily forgot his Indian friend and
brother altogether. Many months had elapsed since
the occurrence of this very characteristic incident,
when, on the second of June, Henry's door was
pushed open without ceremony, and the dark fig-
ure of Wawatam glided silently in. He said that
he was just returned from his wintering ground.
Henry, at length recollecting him, inquired after the
success of his hunt; but the Indian, without reply-
ing, sat down with a dejected air, and expressed his
surprise and regret at finding his brother still in the
fort. He said that he was going on the next day
to the Sault Ste. Marie, and that he wished Henry
to go with him. He then asked if the English had
heard no bad news, and said that through the win-
ter he himself had been much disturbed by the
singing of evil birds. Seeing that Henry gave little
attention to what he said, he at length went away
with a sad and mournful face. On the next morn-
ing, he came again, together with his squaw, and,
offering the trader a present of dried meat, again
pressed him to go with him, in the afternoon, to the
Sault Ste. Marie. "When Henry demanded his reason
for such urgency, he asked if his brother did not
know that many bad Indians, who had never shown
Chap. XVI.] EVE OF THE MASSACRE. 295
themselves at the fort, were encamped in the woods
around it. To-morrow, he said, they are coming to
ask for whiskey, and would all get drunk, so that it
would be dangerous to remain. Wawatam let fall,
in addition, various other hints, which, but for
Henry's imperfect knowledge of the Algonquin lan-
guage, could hardly have failed to draw his atten-
tion. As it was, however, his friend's words were
spoken in vain ; and at length, after long and per-
severing efforts, he and his squaw took their de-
parture, but not, as Henry declares, before each had
let fall some tears. Among the Indian women, the
practice of weeping and wailing is universal upon
all occasions of sorrowful emotion; and the kind-
hearted squaw, as she took down her husband's
lodge, and loaded his canoe for departure, did not
cease to sob and moan aloud.
On this same afternoon, Henry remembers that
the fort was full of Indians, moving about among
the soldiers with a great appearance of friendship.
Many of them came to his house, to purchase
knives and small hatchets, often asking to see silver
bracelets, and other ornaments, with the intention,
as afterwards appeared, of learning their places of
deposit, in order the more easily to lay hand on
them at the moment of pillage. As the afternoon
drew to a close, the visitors quietly went away; and
many of the unhappy garrison saw for the last
time the sun go down behind the waters of Lake
Michigan.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE MASSACRE.
The following morning was warm and sultry. It
was the fourth of June, the birthday of King
George. The discipline of the garrison was relaxed,
and some license allowed to the soldiers. Encamped
in the woods, not far off, were a large number of
Ojibwas, lately arrived; while several bands of the
Sac Indians from the River Wisconsin had also erect-
ed their lodges in the vicinity. Early in the morn-
ing, many Ojibwas came to the fort, inviting officers
and soldiers to come out and see a grand game of
ball, which was to be played between their nation
and the Sacs. In consequence, the place was soon
deserted by half its tenants. An outline of Michilli-
mackinac, as far as tradition has preserved its gen-
eral features, has already been given; and it is easy
to conceive, with sufficient accuracy, the appearance
it must have presented on this eventful morning.
The houses and barracks were so ranged as to form
a square, enclosing an extensive area, upon which
their doors all opened, while behind rose the tall
palisades, forming a large external square. The pic-
turesque Canadian houses, with their rude porticoes,
and projecting roofs of bark, sufficiently indicated
the occupations of their inhabitants ; for birch ca-
noes were lying near many of them, and fishing
Chap. XVII.] INDIAN BALL PLAY. 297
nets were stretched to dry in the sun. Women and
children were moving about the doors; knots of
Canadian voyageurs reclined on the ground, smoking
and conversing; soldiers were lounging listlessly at
the doors and windows of the barracks, or strolling
in a careless undress about the area.
Without the fort, the scene was of a very differ-
ent character. The gates were wide open, and the
soldiers were collected in groups under the shadow
of the palisades, watching the Indian ball play.
Most of them were without arms, and mingled
among them were a great number of Canadians,
while a multitude of Indian squaws, wrapped in
blankets, were conspicuous in the crowd.
Captain Etherington and Lieutenant Leslie stood
near the gate, the former indulging his inveterate
English propensity; for, as Henry informs us, he
had promised the Ojibwas that he would bet on
their side against the Sacs. Indian chiefs and war-
riors were also among the spectators, intent, appar-
ently, on watching the game, but with thoughts, in
fact, far otherwise employed.
The plain in front was covered by the ball play-
ers. The game in which they were engaged, called
baggattaway by the Ojibwas, is still, as it always has
been, a favorite with many Indian tribes. At either
extremity of the ground, a tall post was planted,
marking the stations of the rival parties. The object
of each was to defend its own post, and drive the
ball to that of its adversary. Hundreds of lithe
and agile figures were leaping and bounding upon
the plain. Each was nearly naked, his loose black
hair flying in the wind, and each bore in his hand
a bat of a form peculiar to this game. At one
38
298 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
moment the whole were crowded together, a dense
throng of combatants, all struggling for the ball;
at the next, they were scattered again, and running
over the ground like hounds in full cry. Each, in
his excitement, yelled and shouted at the height of
his voice. Rushing and striking, tripping their ad-
versaries, or hurling them to the ground, they pur-
sued the animating contest amid the laughter and
applause of the spectators. Suddenly, from the midst
of the multitude, the ball soared into the air, and,
descending in a wide curve, fell near the pickets of
the fort. This was no chance stroke. It was part of
a preconcerted stratagem to insure the surprise and
destruction of the garrison. As if in pursuit of the
ball, the players turned and came rushing, a mad-
dened and tumultuous throng, towards the gate. In
a moment they had reached it. The amazed English
had no time to think or act. The shrill cries of the
ball players were changed to the ferocious war-whoop.
The warriors snatched from the squaws the hatchets,
which the latter, with this design, had concealed be-
neath their blankets. Some of the Indians assailed
the spectators without, while others rushed into the
fort, and all was carnage and confusion. At the
outset, several strong hands had fastened their gripe
upon Etherington and Leslie, and led them away
from the scene of massacre towards the woods.1
Within the area of the fort, the men were slaugh-
tered without mercy. But here the task of descrip-
tion may well be resigned to the simple and manly
pen of the trader Henry.
"I did not go myself to see the match which
1 MS. Letter — Etherington to Gladwyn, June 12. See Appendix C.
Chap. XVII.] ESCAPE OF ALEXANDER HENRY. 299
was now to be played without the fort, because,
there being a canoe prepared to depart on the
following day for Montreal, I employed myself in
writing letters to my friends, and even when a fellow-
trader, Mr. Tracy, happened to call upon me, saying
that another canoe had just arrived from Detroit, and
proposing that I should go with him to the beach,
to inquire the news, it so happened that I still re-
mained to finish my letters; promising to follow Mr.
Tracy in the course of a few minutes. Mr. Tracy
had not gone more than twenty paces from my door,
when I heard an Indian war-cry, and a noise of gen-
eral confusion.
" Going instantly to my window, I saw a crowd
of Indians, within the fort, furiously cutting down
and scalping every Englishman they found: in par-
ticular, I witnessed the fate of Lieutenant Jamette.
" I had, in the room in which I was, a fowling-
piece, loaded with swan shot. This I immediately
seized, and held it for a few minutes, waiting to hear
the drum beat to arms. In this dreadful interval, I
saw several of my countrymen fall, and more than one
struggling between the knees of an Indian, who, hold-
ing him in this manner, scalped him while yet living.
"At length, disappointed in the hope of seeing re-
sistance made to the enemy, and sensible, of course,
that no effort of my own unassisted arm could avail
against four hundred Indians, I thought only of seek-
ing shelter amid the slaughter which was raging. I
observed many of the Canadian inhabitants of the
fort calmly looking on, neither opposing the Indians
nor suffering injury; and from this circumstance, I
conceived a hope of finding security in their houses.
300 THE MASSACEE. [Chap.XVH.
" Between the yard door of my own house and that
of M. Langlade, rny next neighbor, there was only a
low fence, over which I easily climbed. At my en-
trance, I found the whole family at the windows,
gazing at the scene of blood before them. I ad-
dressed myself immediately to M. Langlade, begging
that he would put me into some place of safety, un-
til the heat of the affair should be over; an act of
charity by which he might, perhaps, preserve me from
the general massacre; but while I uttered my pe-
tition, M. Langlade, who had looked for a moment at
me, turned again to the window, shrugging his shoul-
ders, and intimating that he could do nothing for
me — ' Que voudriez-vous que j'en ferais ? '
"This was a moment for despair; but the next a
Pani1 woman, a slave of M. Langlade's, beckoned me
to follow her. She brought me to a door, which she
opened, desiring me to enter, and telling me that it
led to the garret, where I must go and conceal my-
self. I joyfully obeyed her directions; and she, hav-
ing followed me up to the garret door, locked it after
me, and, with great presence of mind, took away
the key.
"This shelter obtained, if shelter I could hope to
find it, I was naturally anxious to know what might
still be passing without. Through an aperture, which
afforded me a view of the area of the fort, I beheld,
in shapes the foulest and most terrible, the ferocious
1 This name is commonly written Sacs and Foxes, who often brought
Pawnee. The tribe who bore it lived, their prisoners to the French settle-
as at the present day, upon the plains ments for sale. It thus happened
west of the Mississippi. They were that Pawnee slaves were to be found
at war with many surrounding na- in the principal families of Detroit
tions, and, among the rest, with the and Michillimackinac.
Chap. XVII] ESCAPE OF ALEXANDER HENRY. 301
triumphs of barbarian conquerors. The dead were
scalped and mangled; the dying were writhing and
shrieking under the unsatiated knife and tomahawk;
and from the bodies of some, ripped open, their
butchers were drinking the blood, scooped up in the
hollow of joined hands, and quaffed amid shouts of
rage and victory. I was shaken not only with hor-
ror, but with fear. The sufferings which I witnessed
I seemed on the point of experiencing. No long
time elapsed before, every one being destroyed who
could be found, there was a general cry of ' All is
finished.' At the same instant, I heard some of the
Indians enter the house where I was.
"The garret was separated from the room below
only by a layer of single boards, at once the flooring
of the one and the ceiling of the other. I could,
therefore, hear every thing that passed; and the In-
dians no sooner came in than they inquired whether
or not any Englishmen were in the house. M. Lang-
lade replied, that 'he could not say, he did not
know of any,' answers in which he did not exceed
the truth; for the Pani woman had not only hidden
me by stealth, but kept my secret and her own.
M. Langlade was, therefore, as I presume, as far from
a wish to destroy me as he was careless about saving
me, when he added to these answers, that 'they
might examine for themselves, and would soon be sat-
isfied as to the object of their question.' Saying this,
he brought them to the garret door.
" The state of my mind will be imagined. Arrived
at the door, some delay was occasioned by the ab-
sence of the key; and a few moments were thus
allowed me, in which to look around for a hiding-
place. In one corner of the garret was a heap
z
302 THE MASSACEE. [Chap. XVII
of those vessels of birch, bark used in maple sugar
making.
" The door was unlocked and opening, and the In-
dians ascending the stairs, before I had completely crept
into a small opening which presented itself at one end
of the heap. An instant after, four Indians entered the
room, all armed with tomahawks, and all besmeared
with blood, upon every part of their bodies.
" The die appeared to be cast. I could scarcely
breathe; but I thought the throbbing of my heart
occasioned a noise loud enough to betray me. The
Indians walked in every direction about the garret;
and one of them approached me so closely, that, at a
particular moment, had he put forth his hand, he must
have touched me. Still I remained undiscovered; a
circumstance to which the dark color of my clothes,
and the want of light, in a room which had no win-
dow in the comer in which I was, must have contrib-
uted. In a word, after taking several turns hi the
room, during which they told M. Langlade how many
they had killed, and how many scalps they had taken,
they returned down stairs, and I, with sensations not
to be expressed, heard the door, which was the bar-
rier between me and my fate, locked for the second
time.
" There was a feather bed on the floor ; and on
this, exhausted as I was by the agitation of my mind,
I threw myself down and fell asleep. In this state
I remained till the dusk of the evening, when I was
awakened by a second opening of the door. The
person that now entered was M. Langlade's wife, who
was much surprised at finding me, but advised me
not to be uneasy, observing that the Indians had
killed most of the English, but that she hoped I
Chap. XVII.] ESCAPE OF ALEXAOT>EK HENKY. 303
might myself escape. A shower of rain having begun
to fall, she had come to stop a hole in the roof.
On her going away, I begged her to send me a little
water to drink, which she did.
"As night was now advancing, I continued to lie
on the bed, ruminating on my condition, but unable
to discover a resource from which I could hope for
life. A flight to Detroit had no probable chance of
success. The distance from Michillimackinac was
four hundred miles; I was without provisions, and
the whole length of the road lay through Indian
countries, countries of an enemy in arms, where the
first man whom I should meet would kill me. To
stay where I was, threatened nearly the same issue.
As before, fatigue of mind, and not tranquillity, sus-
pended my cares, and procured me farther sleep.
" The respite which sleep afforded me during the
night was put an end to by the return of morning.
I was again on the rack of apprehension. At sun-
rise, I heard the family stirring ; and, presently after,
Indian voices, mforming M. Langlade that they had
not found my hapless self among the dead, and they
supposed me to be somewhere concealed. M. Lang-
lade appeared, from what followed, to be, by this
time, acquainted with the place of my retreat; of
which, no doubt, he had been informed by his wife.
The poor woman, as soon as the Indians mentioned
me, declared to her husband, in the French tongue,
that he should no longer keep me in his house, but
deliver me up to my pursuers; giving as a reason
for this measure, that, should the Indians discover
his instrumentality in my concealment, they might
revenge it on her children, and that it was better
that I should die than they. M. Langlade resisted,
304 THE MASSACEE. [Chap. XVII.
at first, this sentence of his wife, but soon suffered
her to prevail, informing the Indians that he had
been told I was in his house ; that I had come there
without his knowledge, and that he would put me
into their hands. This was no sooner expressed than
he began to ascend the stairs, the Indians following
upon his heels.
" I now resigned myself to the fate with which I
was menaced; and regarding every effort at conceal-
ment as vain, I arose from the bed, and presented
myself full in view to the Indians, who were entering
the room. They were all in a state of intoxication,
and entirely naked, except about the middle. One
of them, named Wenniway, whom I had previously
known, and who was upwards of six feet in height,
had his entire face and body covered with charcoal
and grease, only that a white spot, of two- inches in
diameter, encircled either eye. This man, walking up
to me, seized me, with one hand, by the collar of
the coat, while in the other he held a large carving-
knife, as if to plunge it into my breast; his eyes,
meanwhile, were fixed steadfastly on mine. At length,
after some seconds of the most anxious suspense, he
dropped his arm, saying, ' I won't kill you ! ' To this
he added, that he had been frequently engaged in wars
against the English, and had brought away many
scalps ; that, on a certain occasion, he had lost a
brother, whose name was Musinigon, and that I should
be called after him.
"A reprieve, upon any terms, placed me among
the living, and gave me back the sustaining voice
of hope; but Wenniway ordered me down stairs,
and there informing me that I was to be taken to
his cabin, where, and indeed every where else, the
Chap. XVH.] ESCAPE OF ALEXANDEE HENEY. 305
Indians were all mad with liquor, death again was
threatened, and not as possible only, but as certain.
I mentioned my fears on this subject to M. Lang-
lade, begging him to represent the danger to my
master. M. Langlade, in this instance, did not
withhold his compassion, and "Wenniway immediately
consented that I should remain where I was, until
he found another opportunity to take me away."
Scarcely, however, had he been gone an hour,
when an Indian came to the house, and directed
Henry to follow him to the Ojibwa camp. Henry
knew this man, who was largely in his debt, and
some time before, on the trader's asking him for pay-
ment, the Indian had declared, in a significant tone,
that he would pay him soon. There seemed at pres-
ent good ground to suspect his intention; but, having
no choice, Henry was obliged to follow him. The
Indian led the way out of the gate; but, instead of
going towards the camp, he moved with a quick
step in the direction of the bushes and sand-hills
behind the fort. At this, Henry's suspicions were
confirmed. He refused to proceed farther, and
plainly told his conductor that he believed he meant
to kill him. The Indian coolly replied, that he was
quite right in thinking so, and at the same time,
seizing the prisoner by the arm, raised his knife to
strike him in the breast. Henry parried the blow,
flung the Indian from him, and ran for his life.
He gained the gate of the fort, his enemy close at
his heels, and, seeing Wenniway standing in the
centre of the area, called upon him for protection.
The chief ordered the Indian to desist; but the lat-
ter, who was foaming at the mouth with rage, still
continued to pursue Henry, vainly striking at him
39 z*
306 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
with his knife. Seeing the door of Langlade's house
wide open, the trader darted in, and at length found
himself in safety. He retired once more to his gar-
ret, and lay down, feeling, as he declares, a sort of
conviction that no Indian had power to harm him.
This confidence was somewhat shaken when, early
in the night, he was startled from sleep by the
opening of the door. A light gleamed hi upon him,
and he was summoned to descend. He did so, when,
to his surprise and joy, he found, in the room be-
low, Captain Etherington, Lieutenant Leslie, and Mr.
Bostwick, a trader, together with Father Jonois, the
Jesuit priest from L'Arbre Croche. The Indians
were bent on enjoying that night a grand debauch
upon the liquor they had seized; and the chiefs,
well knowing the extreme danger to which the pris-
oners would be exposed during these revels, had
conveyed them all into the fort, and placed them in
charge of the Canadians.
Including officers, soldiers, and traders, they
amounted to about twenty men, this handful being
all that had escaped the massacre.
When Henry entered the room, he found his
three companions in misfortune engaged in earnest
debate. These men had supped full of horrors; yet
they were almost on the point of risking a renewal
of the bloodshed from which they had just escaped.
The temptation was a strong one. The fort was
this evening actually in the hands of the white men.
The Indians, with their ordinary recklessness and
improvidence, had neglected even to place a guard
within the palisades. They were now, one and all,
in their camp, mad with liquor, and the fort was
occupied by twenty Englishmen, and about three
Chap. XVH.] ADVENTURES OF HENRY. 307
hundred Canadians, principally voyageurs. To close
the gates, and set the Indians at defiance, seemed no
very difficult matter. It might have been attempted,
but for the dissuasions of the Jesuit, who had acted
throughout the part of a true friend of humanity,
and who now strongly represented the probability
that the Canadians would prove treacherous, and the
certainty that a failure would involve destruction to
every Englishman in the place. The idea was there-
fore abandoned, and Captain Etherington, with his
companions, that night shared Henry's garret, where
they passed the time in condoling with each other
on their common misfortune.
A party of Indians came to the house in the
morning, and ordered Henry to follow them out.
The weather had changed, and a cold storm had set
in. In the dreary and forlorn area of the fort were
a few of the Indian conquerors, though the main
body were still in their camp, not yet recovered from
the effects of their last night's carouse. Henry's
conductors led him to a house, where, in a room
almost dark, he saw two traders and a soldier im-
prisoned. They were released, and directed to follow
the party. The whole then proceeded together to
the lake shore, where they were to embark for the
Isles du Castor. A chilling wind blew strongly
from the north-east, and the lake was covered with
mists, and tossing angrily. Henry stood shivering
on the beach, with no other upper garment than a
shirt, drenched with the cold rain. He asked Lang-
lade, who was near him, for a blanket, which the
latter, with cold-blooded inhumanity, refused to fur-
nish unless security was given for payment. Another
Canadian proved more merciful, and Henry received
308 THE MASSACEE. [Chap. XVII.
a covering from the weather. With his three com-
panions, guarded by seven Indians, he embarked in
the canoe, the soldier being tied by his neck to one
of the cross-bars of the vessel. The thick mists
and the tempestuous weather compelled them to
keep along the shore, close beneath the wet drip-
ping forests. In this manner they had proceeded
about eighteen miles, and were approaching L'Arbre
Croche, when an Ottawa Indian came out of the
woods, and called to them from the beach, inquiring
the news, and asking who were their prisoners.
Some conversation followed, in the course of which
the canoe approached the shore, where the water
was quite shallow. All at once, a loud yell was
heard, and a hundred Ottawas, rising from among
the trees and bushes, rushed into the water, and
seized upon the canoe and prisoners. The aston-
ished Ojibwas remonstrated in vain. The four Eng-
lishmen were taken from them, and led in safety to
the shore. Good will to the prisoners, however, had
by no means prompted the Ottawas to this very un-
expected proceeding. They were jealous and angry
that the Ojibwas should have taken the fort without
giving them an opportunity to share in the plunder;
and they now chose this summary mode of asserting
their rights.
The chiefs, however, shook Henry and his com-
panions by the hand, professing great good will, as-
suring them, at the same time, that the Ojibwas
were carrying them to the Isles du Castor merely
to kill and eat them. The four prisoners, the sport
of so many changing fortunes, soon found themselves
embarked in an Ottawa canoe, and on their way
back to Michillimackinac. They were not alone. A
Chap. XVII] QUAEEELS OF THE CONQUEEOES. 309
flotilla of canoes accompanied them, bearing a great
number of Ottawa warriors; and before trie day was
over, the whole had arrived at the fort. At this
time, the principal Ojibwa encampment was near the
woods, in full sight of the landing-place. Its occu-
pants, astonished at this singular movement on the
part of their rivals, stood looking on in silent
amazement, while the Ottawa warriors, well armed,
filed into the fort, and took possession of it.
This conduct is not difficult to explain, when we
take into consideration the peculiarities of the In-
dian character. Pride and jealousy are always strong
and active elements in it. The Ottawas deemed
themselves grossly insulted because the Ojibwas had
undertaken an enterprise of such importance with-
out consulting them, or asking their assistance. It
may be added, that the Indians of L'Arbre Croche
were somewhat less hostile to the English than the
neighboring tribes ; for the great influence of the
priest Jonois seems always to have been exerted on
the side of peace and friendship.
The English prisoners looked upon the new comers
as champions and protectors, and conceived hopes
from their interference not destined to be fully real-
ized. On the morning after their arrival, the Ojibwa
chiefs invited the principal men of the Ottawas to
hold a council with them in a building within the
fort. They placed upon the floor a valuable present
of goods, which were part of the plunder they had
taken; and their great war-chief, Minavavana, who
had conducted the attack, rose and addressed the
Ottawas.
Their conduct, he said, had greatly surprised him.
They had betrayed the common cause, and opposed
310 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
the will of the Great Spirit, who had decreed that
every Englishman must die. Excepting them, all the
Indians had raised the hatchet. Pontiac had taken
Detroit, and every other fort had also heen destroyed.
The English were meeting with destruction through-
out the whole world, and the King of France was
awakened from his sleep. He exhorted them, in
conclusion, no longer to espouse the cause of the
English, but, like their brethren, to lift the hatchet
against them.
When Minavavana had concluded his speech, the
council adjourned until the next day; a custom com-
mon among Indians, in order that the auditors may
have time to ponder with due deliberation upon
what they have heard. At the next meeting, the
Ottawas expressed a readiness to concur with the
views of the Ojibwas. Thus the difference between
the two tribes was at length amicably adjusted.
The Ottawas returned to the Ojibwas some of the
prisoners whom they had taken from them, still,
however, retaining the officers and several of the
soldiers. These they soon after carried to L'Arbre
Croche, where they were treated with kindness, prob-
ably owing to the influence of Father Jonois.1 The
priest went down to Detroit with a letter from Cap-
tain Etherington, acquainting Major Gladwyn with
the loss of Michillimackinac, and entreating that a
force might be sent immediately to his aid. The
letter, as we have seen, was safely delivered; but
Gladwyn was, of course, unable to render the re-
quired assistance.
Though the Ottawas and Ojibwas had come to
i MS. Letter — Etherington to Gladwyn, June 28.
Chap. XVII.] TREATMENT OE THE PRISONERS. 311
terms, they still looked on each other with distrust,
and it is said that the former never forgot the slight
that had been put upon them. The Ojibwas took
the prisoners who had been returned to them from
the fort, and carried them to one of their small vil-
lages, which stood near the shore, at no great dis-
tance to the south-east. Among the other lodges
was a large one, of the kind often seen in Indian
villages, erected for use on public occasions, such
as dances, feasts, or councils. It was now to serve
as a prison. The soldiers were bound together, two
and two, and farther secured by long ropes tied
round their necks, and fastened to the pole which
supported the lodge in the centre. Henry and the
other traders escaped this rigorous treatment. The
spacious lodge was soon filled with Indians, who
came to look at their captives, and gratify them-
selves by deriding and jeering at them. At the
head of the lodge sat the great war-chief Minava-
vana, side by side with Henry's master, Wenniway.
Things had remained for some time in this position,
when Henry observed an Indian stooping to enter
at the low aperture which served for a door, and, to
his great joy, recognized his friend and brother, Wa-
watam, whom he had last seen on the day before
the massacre. "Wawatam said nothing; but, as he
passed the trader, he shook him by the hand, in
token of encouragement, and, proceeding to the head
of the lodge, sat down with Wenniway and the
war-chief. After he had smoked with them for a
while in silence, he rose and went out again. Very
soon he came back, followed by his squaw, who
brought in her hands a valuable present, which she
312 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVH
laid at the feet of the two chiefs. Wawatam then
addressed them in the following speech : —
"Friends and relations, what is it that I shall
say1? You know what I feel. You all have friends,
and brothers, and children, whom as yourselves you
love; and you, — what would you experience, did
you, like me, behold your dearest friend — your
brother — in the condition of a slave ; a slave, ex-
posed every moment to insult, and to menaces of
death ? This case, as you all know, is mine. See
there, [pointing to Henry,] my friend and brother
among slaves, — himself a slave !
"You all well know that, long before the war
began, I adopted him as my brother. From that
moment, he became one of my family, so that no
change of circumstances could break the cord which
fastened us together.
" He is my brother ; and because I am your rela-
tion, he is therefore your relation too; and how,
being your relation, can he be your slave]
" On the day on which the war began, you were
fearful lest, on this very account, I should reveal
your secret. You requested, therefore, that I would
leave the fort, and even cross the lake. I did so ;
but I did it with reluctance. I did it with reluc-
tance, notwithstanding that you, Minavavana, who
had the command in this enterprise, gave me your
promise that you would protect my friend, deliv-
ering him from all danger, and giving him safely
to me.
" The performance of this promise I now claim.
I come not with empty hands to ask it. You, Min-
avavana, best know whether or not, as it respects
Chap. XVII] CANNIBALISM. 313
yourself, you have kept your word; but I bring
these goods to buy off every claim which any man
among you all may have on my brother as his
prisoner." *
To this speech the war-chief returned a favorable
answer. Wawatam's request was acceded to, the
present was accepted, and the prisoner released. Henry
soon found himself in the lodge of his friend, where
furs were spread for him to lie upon, food and drink
brought for his refreshment, and every thing done to
promote his comfort that Indian hospitality could
suggest. As he lay in the lodge, on the day after
his release, he heard a loud noise from within the
prison-house, which stood close at hand, and, looking
through a crevice in the bark, he saw the dead bodies
of seven soldiers dragged out. It appeared that a
noted chief had just arrived from his wintering ground.
Having come too late to take part in the grand
achievement of his countrymen, he was anxious to
manifest to all present his entire approval of what
had been done, and with this design he had entered
the lodge and despatched seven of the prisoners with
his knife.
The Indians are not habitual cannibals. After a
victory, however, it often happens that the bodies of
their enemies are consumed at a formal war-feast —
a superstitious rite, adapted, as they think, to increase
their courage and hardihood. Such a feast took place
on the present occasion, and most of the chiefs par-
took of it, though some of them, at least, did so with
repugnance.
1 Henry, Travels, 102. The strict Henry was living at Montreal as
authenticity of this very interesting late as the year 1809.
hook has never been questioned.
40 A A
314 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
About a week had now elapsed since the massacre,
and a revulsion of feeling began to take place among
the Indians. Up to this time all had been triumph
and exultation ; but they now began to fear the con-
sequences of their conduct. Indefinite and absurd
rumors of an approaching attack from the English
were afloat in the camp, and, in their growing un-
easiness, they thought it expedient to shift their po-
sition to some point more capable of defence. Three
hundred and fifty warriors, with their families and
household effects, embarked in canoes for the Island
of Michillimackinac, seven or eight miles distant.
Wawatam, with his friend Henry, was of the num-
ber. Strong gusts of wind came from the north,
and when the fleet of canoes were half way to the
island, it blew a gale, the waves pitching and tossing
with such violence, that the frail and heavy-laden
vessels were much endangered. Many voices were
raised in prayer to the Great Spirit, and a dog was
thrown into the lake, as a sacrifice to appease the
angry manitou of the waters. The canoes weathered
the storm, and soon drew near the island. Two
squaws, in the same canoe with Henry, raised their
voices in mournful wailing and lamentation. Late
events had made him sensible to every impression of
horror, and these dismal cries seemed ominous of some
new disaster, until he learned that they were called
forth by the recollection of dead relatives, whose
graves were visible upon a neighboring point of the
shore.
The Island of Michillimackinac, or Mackinaw, ow-
ing to its situation, its beauty, and the fish which
the surrounding waters supplied, had long been a
favorite resort of Indians. It is about three miles
Chap. XVII.] ISLAND OF MACKINAW. 315
wide. So clear are the waters of Lake Huron, which
wash its shores, that one may count the pebbles at
an incredible depth. The island is fenced round by
white limestone cliffs, beautifully contrasting with the
green foliage that half covers them, and in the centre
the land rises in woody heights. The rock which
forms its foundation assumes fantastic shapes — natu-
ral bridges, caverns, or sharp pinnacles, which, at this
day, are pointed out as the curiosities of the region.
In many of the caves have been found quantities of
human bones, as if, at some period, the island had
served as a grand depository for the dead; yet of
these remains the present race of Indians can give
no account. Legends and superstitions attached a
mysterious celebrity to the place, and here it was
said the fairies of Indian tradition might often be
seen dancing upon the white rocks, or basking in
the moonlight.1
The Indians landed at the margin of a little bay.
Unlading their canoes, and lifting them high and dry
upon the beach, they began to erect their lodges, and
i Tradition, preserved by Henry " When the savages, in those quar-
Conner, Esq. See also Schoolcraft, ters, make a feast of fish, they invoke
Algic Researches, II. 159. the spirits of the island, thank them
" Their tradition concerning the for their bounty, and entreat them to
name of this little island is curious, continue their protection to their fam-
They say that Michapous, the chief ilies. They demand of them to pre-
of spirits, sojourned long in that vi- serve their nets and canoes from
cinity. They believed that a moun- the swelling and destructive billows,
tain on the border of the lake was the when the lakes are agitated by storms.
place of his abode, and they called All who assist in the ceremony
it by his name. It was here, say lengthen their voices together, which
they, that he first instructed man to is an act of gratitude. In the obser-
fabricate nets for taking fish, and vance of this duty of their religion,
where he has collected the greatest they were formerly very punctual and
quantity of these finny inhabitants of scrupulous ; but the French rallied
the waters. On the island he left them so much upon the subject, that
spirits, named Imakinakos ; and from they became ashamed to practise it
these aerial possessors it has re- openly." — Heriot, Travels in Cana-
ceived the appellation of Michili- da, 185.
makinac.
316 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
before night had completed the work. Messengers
arrived on the next day from Pontiac, informing them
that he was besieging Detroit, and urging them to
come to his aid. But their warlike ardor had well
nigh died out. A senseless alarm prevailed among
them, and they now thought more of securing their
own safety than of injuring the enemy. A vigilant
watch was kept up all day, and the unusual precau-
tion taken of placing guards at night. Their fears,
however, did not prevent them from seizing two Eng-
lish trading canoes, which had come from Montreal by
way of the Ottawa. Among the booty found in them
was a quantity of whiskey, and a general debauch
was the immediate result. As night closed in, the
dolorous chanting of drunken songs was heard from
within the lodges, the prelude of a scene of riot ; and
"Wawatam, knowing that his friend Henry's life would
be in danger, privately led him out of the camp to
a cavern in the hills, towards the interior of the
island. Here the trader spent the night, in a soli-
tude made doubly dreary by a sense of his forlorn
and perilous situation. On waking in the morning,
he found that he had been lying on human bones,
which covered the floor of the cave. The place had
anciently served as a charnel-house. Here he spent
another solitary night, before his friend came to ap-
prise him that he might return with safety to the
camp.
Famine soon began to be felt among the Indians,
who were sometimes without food for days together.
No complaints were heard ; but with faces blackened,
in sign of sorrow, they patiently endured the priva-
tion with that resignation, under inevitable suffering,
which distinguishes the whole Indian race. They
Chap. XVII] GREEN BAY. 317
were at length compelled to cross over to the north
shore of Lake Huron, where fish were more abundant,
and here they remained until the end of summer,
when they gradually dispersed, each family repair-
ing to its winter hunting-grounds. Henry, paint-
ed and attired like an Indian, followed his friend
Wawatam, and spent a lonely winter among the
frozen forests, hunting the bear and moose for sub-
sistence.1
The posts of Green Bay and the Sault Ste. Marie
did not share the fate of Michillimackinac. During
the preceding winter, Ste. Marie had been partially
destroyed by an accidental fire, and was therefore
abandoned, the garrison withdrawing to Michillimack-
inac, where many of them perished, in the massacre.
The fort at Green Bay first received an English gar-
rison in the year 1761, at the same time with the
other posts of this region. The force consisted of
seventeen men, commanded by Lieutenant Gorell.
i The following description of Min- I had -done from the others ; but, to
avavana, or the Grand Sauteur, who my great surprise, he withheld his
was the leader of the Ojibwas at hand, and looking fiercely at me, said,
the massacre of Michillimackinac, is in the Chipeway tongue, ' Cmvin
drawn from Carver's Travels : — nishishin saganosh,'' that is, ' The
" The first I accosted were Chipe- English are no good.' As he had
ways, inhabiting near the Ottowaw his tomahawk in his hand, I expected
lakes ; who received me with great that this laconick sentence would
cordiality, and shook me by the hand, have been followed by a blow ; to
in token of friendship. At some lit- prevent which I drew a pistol from
tie distance behind these stood a my belt, and, holding it in a careless
chief remarkably tall and well made, position, passed close by him, to let
but of so stern an aspect, that the him see I was not afraid of him.
most undaunted person could not be- .... Since I came to England, I
hold him without feeling some degree have been informed, that the Grand
of terror. He seemed to have passed Sautor, having rendered himself more
the meridian of life, and by the mode and more disgustful to the English
in which he was painted and tatowed, by his inveterate enmity towards
I discovered that he was of high them, was at length stabbed in his
rank. However, I approached him tent, as he encamped near Michilli-
in a courteous manner, and expected mackinac, by a trader." — Carver, 96.
to have met with the same reception
A A *
318 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
Though so few in number, their duties were of a
very important character. In the neighborhood of
Green Bay were numerous and powerful Indian
tribes. The Menomonies lived at the mouth of Fox
River, close to the fort. The Winnebagoes had several
villages on the lake which bears their name, and the
Sacs and Foxes were established on the River Wis-
consin, in a large village composed of houses neatly
built of logs and bark, and surrounded by fields of
corn and vegetables.1 West of the Mississippi was
the powerful nation of the Dahcotah, whose strength
was loosely estimated at thirty thousand fighting men,
and who, in the excess of their haughtiness, styled
the surrounding tribes their dogs and slaves.9 The
commandant of Green Bay was the representative of
the British government, in communication with all
these tribes. It devolved upon him to secure their
friendship, and keep them at peace ; and he was also
intrusted, in a great measure, with the power of reg-
ulating the fur-trade among them. In the course of
each season, parties of Indians, from every quarter,
would come to the fort, each expecting to be received
with speeches and presents.
Gorell seems to have acquitted himself with great
judgment and prudence. On first arriving at the
fort, he had found its defences decayed and ruinous,
the Canadian inhabitants unfriendly, and many of
the Indians disposed to hostility. His good conduct
contributed to allay their irritation, and he was par-
ticularly successful in conciliating his immediate neigh-
bors, the Menomonies. They had taken an active
1 Carver, Travels, 47. ' library of the Maryland Historical
2 Gorell, Journal, MS. The origi- Society, to whom it was presented by
nal manuscript is preserved in the Robert Gilmor, Esq.
Chap. XVII] LETTER FROM ETHERINGTON. 319
part in the late war between France and England,
and their spirits were humbled by the losses they
had sustained, as well as by recent ravages of the
small-pox. Gorell summoned them to a council, and
delivered a speech, in which he avoided wounding
their pride, but at the same time assumed a tone of
firmness and decision, such as can alone command
an Indian's respect. He told them that the King
of England had heard of their ill conduct, but that
he was ready to forget all that had passed. If, how-
ever, they should again give him cause of complaint,
he would send an army, numerous as the trees of
the forest, and utterly destroy them. Flattering ex-
pressions of confidence and esteem succeeded, and the
whole was enforced by the distribution of a few pres-
ents. The Menomonies replied by assurances of
friendship, more sincerely made and faithfully kept
than could have been expected. As Indians of the
other tribes came from time to time to the fort, they
met with a similar reception, and, in his whole in-
tercourse with them, the constant aim of the com-
mandant was to gain their good will. The result
was most happy for himself and his garrison.
On the fifteenth of June, 1763, an Ottawa Indian
brought to Gorell the following letter from Captain
Etherington : —
" Michillimackinac, June 11, 1763.
"Dear Sir:
"This place was taken by surprise, on the fourth
instant, by the Chippeways, [Ojibwas,] at which time
Lieutenant Jamet and twenty [fifteen] more were
killed, and all the rest taken prisoners ; but our good
friends, the Ottawas, have taken Lieutenant Lesley, me,
320 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
and eleven men, out of their hands, and have promised
to reinstate us again. You'll therefore, on the receipt
of this, which I send by a canoe of Ottawas, set out
with all your garrison, and what English traders you
have with you, and come with the Indian who gives
you this, who will conduct you safe to me. You
must be sure to follow the instruction you receive
from the bearer of this, as you are by no means to
come to this post before you see me at the village,
twenty miles from this I must once more beg
you'll lose no time in coming to join me; at the
same time, be very careful, and always be on your
guard. I long much to see you, and am, dear sir,
"Your most humble serv't.
" Geo. Etherington.
" J. GORELL,
" Royal Americans."
On receiving this letter, Gorell summoned the Me-
nomonies to a council, told them what the Ojibwas
had done, and said that he and his soldiers were
going to Michillimackinac to restore order, adding,
that during his absence he commended the fort to
their care. Great numbers of the Winnebagoes and
of the Sacs and Foxes afterwards arrived, and Gorell
addressed them in nearly the same words. Presents
were given them, and it soon appeared that the
greater part were well disposed towards the Eng-
lish, though a few were inclined to prevent their de-
parture, and even to threaten hostility. At this
juncture, a fortunate incident occurred. A Dahcotah
chief arrived with a message from his people to
the following import: They had heard, he said, of
the bad conduct of the Ojibwas. They hoped that
Chap. XVII.] GKEEN BAY ABANDONED. 321
the tribes of Green Bay would not follow their exam-
ple, but, on the contrary, would protect the English
garrison. Unless they did so, the Dahcotah would
fall upon them, and take ample revenge. This au-
spicious interference must, no doubt, be ascribed to
the hatred with which the Dahcotah had long re-
garded the Ojibwas. That the latter should espouse
one side of the quarrel, was abundant reason to the
Dahcotah for adopting the other.
Some of the Green Bay Indians were also at en-
mity with the Ojibwas, and all opposition to the
departure of the English was now at an end. In-
deed, some of the more friendly offered to escort the
garrison on its way ; and on the twenty-first of June,
Gorell's party embarked in several bateaux, accompa-
nied by ninety warriors in canoes. Approaching Isle
du Castor, near the mouth of Green Bay, an alarm
was given that the Ojibwas were lying there in am-
bush ; on which the Menomonies raised the war-song,
stripped themselves, and prepared to do battle in be-
half of the English. The alarm, however, proved
false; and, having crossed Lake Michigan in safety,
the party arrived at the village of L'Arbre Croche
on the thirtieth. The Ottawas came down to the
beach to salute them with a discharge of guns, and,
on landing, they were presented with the pipe of
peace. Captain Etherington and Lieutenant Leslie,
with eleven men, were in the village, detained as
prisoners, though treated with kindness. It was
thought that the Ottawas intended to disarm the
party of Gorell also ; but the latter gave out that he
would resist such an attempt, and his soldiers were
permitted to retain their weapons.
Several succeeding days were occupied by the
41
322 THE MASSACRE. [Chap. XVII.
Indians in holding councils. Those from Green Bay
requested the Ottawas to set their prisoners at lib-
erty, and the latter, at length, assented. A difficulty
still remained, as the Ojibwas had declared that they
would prevent the English from passing down to
Montreal. Their chiefs were therefore summoned;
and being at this time, as we have seen, in a state
of much alarm, they at length reluctantly yielded the
point. On the eighteenth of July, the English, es-
corted by a fleet of Indian canoes, left L'Arbre Croche,
and reaching, without interruption, the portage of
the River Ottawa, descended to Montreal, where they
all arrived in safety, on the thirteenth day of Au-
gust.1 Except the garrison of Detroit, not a British
soldier now remained in the region of the lakes.
i Gorell, Journal, MS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS.
We have followed the war to its farthest confines,
and watched it in its remotest operations; not be-
cause there is any thing especially worthy to he
chronicled in the capture of a backwoods fort, and
the slaughter of a few soldiers, but because these
acts exhibit some of the characteristic traits of the
actors. It was along the line of the British fron-
tier that the war raged with its most destructive vio-
lence. To destroy the garrisons, and then turn upon
the settlements, had been the original plan of the
Indians; and while Pontiac was pushing the siege
of Detroit, and the smaller mterior posts were treach-
erously assailed, the tempest was gathering which
was soon to burst along the whole frontier.
In 1763, the British settlements did not extend
beyond the Alleghanies. In the province of New
York, they reached no farther than the German
Flats, on the Mohawk. In Pennsylvania, the town
of Bedford might be regarded as the extreme verge
of the frontier, while the settlements of Virginia
extended to a corresponding distance. Through the
adjacent wilderness ran various lines of military
posts, to make good the communication from point
to point. One of the most important among these
passed through the country of the Six Nations, and
324 FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVIIX.
guarded the route between the northern colonies
and Lake Ontario. This communication was formed
by the Hudson, the Mohawk, Wood Creek, the
Oneida Lake, and the River Oswego. It was de-
fended by Forts Stanwix, Brewerton, Oswego, and
two or three smaller posts. Near the western ex-
tremity of Lake Ontario stood Fort Niagara, at the
mouth of the river whence it derived its name. It
was a strong and extensive work, guarding the
access to the whole interior country, both by way
of the Oswego communication just mentioned, and
by that of Canada and the St. Lawrence. From
Fort Niagara the route lay by a portage past the
great falls to PresquTsle, on Lake Erie, where the
town of Erie now stands. Thence the traveller
could pass, by a short overland passage, to Fort Le
Bceuf, on a branch of the Alleghany; thence, by
water, to Venango; and thence, down the Alleghany,
to Fort Pitt. This last-mentioned post stood on the
present site of Pittsburg — the point of land formed
by the confluence of the Alleghany and the Monon-
gahela. Its position was as captivating to the eye
of an artist as it was commanding in a military
point of view. On the left, the Monongahela de-
scended through a woody valley of singular beauty;
on the right, flowed the Alleghany, beneath steep
and lofty banks ; and both united, in front, to form
the broad Ohio, which, flanked by picturesque hills
and declivities, began at this point its interminable
progress towards the Mississippi. The place already
had its historic associations, though, as yet, their
roughness was unmellowed by the lapse of time. It
was here that the French had erected Fort du
Quesne. Within a few miles, Braddock encountered
Chaf. XVIIL] PORT PITT. 325
his disastrous overthrow; and on the hill behind
the fort, Grant's Highlanders and Lewis' Virginians
had been surrounded and captured, though not with-
out a stout resistance on the part of the latter.
Fort Pitt was built by General Stanwix, in the
year 1759, upon the ruins of Fort du Quesne, de-
stroyed by General Forbes. It was a strong fortifi-
cation, with ramparts of earth, faced with brick on
the side looking down the Ohio. Its walls have
long since been levelled to the ground, and over
their ruins have risen warehouses, and forges with
countless furnace chimneys, rolling up their black
volumes of smoke. Where once the bark canoe
was tied to the bank, a throng of steamers now
lie moored along the crowded levee.
Fort Pitt stood far aloof in the forest, and one
might journey eastward full two hundred miles,
before the English settlements began to thicken.
Behind it lay a broken and woody tract; then
succeeded the great barrier of the Alleghanies, trav-
ersing the country in successive ridges ; and beyond
these lay vast woods, extending to the Susquehanna.
Eastward of this river, cabins of settlers became
more numerous, until, in the neighborhood of Lan-
caster, the country assumed an appearance of pros-
perity and cultivation. Two roads led from Fort
Pitt to the settlements, one of which was cut by
General Braddock in his disastrous march across the
mountains, from Cumberland, in the year 1755.
The other, which was the more frequented, passed
by Carlisle and Bedford, and was made by General
Forbes, in 1758. Leaving the fort by this latter
route, the traveller would find himself, after a jour-
ney of fifty-six miles, at the little post of Ligonier,
BB
326 FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVIII.
whence he would soon reach Fort Bedford, about
a hundred miles from Fort Pitt. It was nestled
among mountains, and surrounded by clearings and
log cabins. Passing several small posts and settle-
ments, he would arrive at Carlisle, nearly a hun-
dred miles farther east, a place resembling Bed-
ford in its general aspect, although of greater ex-
tent. Numerous houses of settlers were scattered
here and there among the valleys on each side of
the road from Fort Pitt, so that the number of fam-
ilies beyond the Susquehanna amounted to several
hundreds, thinly distributed over a great space.
From Carlisle to Harris' Ferry, now Harrisburg, on
the Susquehanna, was but a short distance; and
from thence, the road led directly into the heart of
the settlements. The frontiers of Virginia bore a
general resemblance to those of Pennsylvania. It is
not necessary at present to indicate minutely the
position of their scattered settlements, and the small
posts intended to protect them.1 Along these bor-
ders all had remained quiet, and nothing occurred to
excite alarm or uneasiness, until the twenty-seventh
of May, when, at about dusk in the evening, a
rjarty of Indians was seen from Fort Pitt, descend-
ing the banks of the Alleghany, with laden pack-
horses. They built fires, and encamped on the
shore till daybreak, when they all crossed over to
the fort, bringing with them a great quantity of
valuable furs. These they sold to the traders, de-
manding, in exchange, bullets, hatchets, and gun-
i The authorities for the foregoing cellent antiquarian work, published
topographical sketch are drawn from at Pittsburg ; together with various
the Pennsylvania Historical Collec- maps, plans, and contemporary pa-
tions, and the Olden Time, an ex- pers.
Chap. XVIII] ALARMS AT FORT PITT. 327
powder; but their conduct was so peculiar as to
excite the just suspicion that they came either as
spies or with some other insidious design.1 Hardly
were they gone when tidings came in that Colonel
Clapham, with several persons, both men and women,
had been murdered and scalped near the fort; and it
was soon after discovered that the inhabitants of an
Indian town, a few miles up the Alleghany, had
totally abandoned their cabins, as if bent on some
plan of mischief. On the next day, two soldiers
were shot within a mile of the fort. An express
was hastily sent to Venango, to warn the little gar-
rison of danger; but he returned almost immediately,
having been twice fired at, and severely wounded.2
A trader named Calhoun now came in from the
Indian village of Tuscaroras, with intelligence of a
yet more startling kind. At eleven o'clock on the
night of the twenty-seventh, a chief named Shingas,
with several of the principal warriors in the place,
had come to Calhoun's cabin, and earnestly begged
i Gordon, Hist. Pa. 622. five of Macrae's and Alison's Horses,
2 MS. Letter — Bouquet to Am- loaded with Skins, are all taken."
herst, June 5. Extract from a MS. Letter —
Extract from a letter — Fort Pitt, Captain Ecuyer to Colonel Bouquet.
May 31, (Perm. Gaz. No. 1798.) « Fort Pitt, 29th May, 1763.
" We have most melancholy Ac- " Just as I had finished my Letter,
counts here — The Indians have Three men came in from Clapham's,
broke out in several Places, and with the Melancholy News, that
murdered Colonel Clapham and his Yesterday, at three O'clock in the
Family ; also two of our Soldiers at Afternoon, the Indians Murdered
the Saw-mill, near the Fort, and two Clapham, and Every Body in his
Scalps are taken from each man. House: These three men were out
An Indian has brought a War-Belt at Work, & Escaped through the
to Tuscarora, and says Detroit is in- Woods. I Immediately Armed them,
vested ; and that St. Dusky is cut and sent them to Assist our People
off, and Ensign Pawley made Pris- at Bushy Run. The Indians have
oner — Levy's Goods are stopt at told Byerly (at Bushy Run) to Leave
Tuscarora by the Indians — Last his Place in Four Days, or he and
Night eleven Men were attacked at his Family would all be murdered :
Beaver Creek, eight or nine of whom, I am Uneasy for the little Posts —
it is said, were killed — And Twenty- As for this, I will answer for it."
328 FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chaf. XVIII.
him to depart, declaring that they did not wish to
see him killed before their eyes. The Ottawas and
Ojibwas, they said, had taken up the hatchet, and
captured Detroit, Sandusky, and all the forts of the
interior. The Delawares and Shawanoes of the Ohio
were following their example, and were murdering
all the traders among them. Calhoun and the
thirteen men in his employ lost no time in taking
their departure. The Indians forced them to leave
their guns behind, promising that they would give
them three warriors to guide them in safety to Fort
Pitt; but the whole proved a piece of characteristic
dissimulation and treachery. The three guides led
them into an ambuscade at the mouth of Beaver
Creek. A volley of balls showered upon them ;
eleven were killed on the spot, and Calhoun and
two others alone made their escape.1
The intelligence concerning the fate of the traders
in the Indian villages proved but too true. They
were slaughtered every where, without mercy, and
often under circumstances of the foulest barbarity.
A boy named M'Cullough, captured during the
French war, and at this time a prisoner among the
Indians, relates, in his published narrative, that he,
with a party of Indian children, went out, one even-
ing, to gaze with awe and wonder at the body of
a trader, which lay by the side of the path, mangled
with tomahawks, and stuck full of arrows.2 It was
i Copy of intelligence brought to Dickson, among the white people)
Fort Pitt by Mr. Calhoun, MS. came to our house ; he had a pistol
2 M'Cullough gives the following and a large scalping-knife, concealed
account of the murder of another of under his blanket, belted round his
the traders, named Green:— body. He informed Kettoohhalend,
"About sunrise, Mussoughivhese (for that was my adopted brother's
(an Indian, my adopted brother's name,) that he came to kill Tom
nephew, known by the name of Ben Green ; but Kettoohhalend endeav-
Chap. XVIIL]
SLAUGHTER OF TRADERS.
329
stated in the journals of the day, that more than a
hundred traders fell victims, and that the property
taken from them, or seized at the capture of the
interior posts, amounted to an incredible sum.1
The Moravian Loskiel relates that in the villages
of the Hurons or Wyandots, meaning probably those
of Sandusky, the traders were so numerous that the
Indians were afraid to attack them openly, and had
recourse to the following stratagem: They told their
unsuspecting victims that the surrounding tribes had
risen in arms, and were soon coming that way, bent
on killing every Englishman they could find. The
Wyandots averred that they would gladly protect
their friends the white men ; but that it would be
impossible to do so, unless the latter would consent,
for the sake of appearances, to become their prisoners.
oured to persuade him off it. They
walked out together, and Green fol-
lowed them, endeavouring, as I sup-
pose, to discover the cause of the
alarm the night before ; in a short
time they returned to the house, and
immediately went out again. Green
asked me to bring him his horse, as
we heard the bell a short distance
off; he then went after the Indians
again, and I went for the horse. As
I was returning, I observed them
coming out of a house about two
hundred yards from ours ; Kettooh-
halend was foremost, Green in the
middle ; I took but slight notice of
them, until I heard the report of a
pistol ; I cast my eyes towards them,
and observed the smoke, and saw
Green standing on the side of the
path, with his hands across his
breast; I thought it had been him
that shot; he stood a few minutes,
then fell on his face across the path.
I instantly got off the horse, and
held him by the bridle, — Kettoohha-
lend sunk Ms pipe tomahawk into his
skull ; Mussoughwhese stabbed him
under the armpit with his scalping-
42
knife ; he had shot him between the
shoulders with his pistol. The
squaws gathered about him and
stripped him naked, trailed him
down the bank, and plunged him
into the creek ; there was a freshet in
the creek at the time, which earned
him off. Mussoughwhese then came
to me, (where I was holding the
horse, as I had not moved from the
spot where I was when Green was
shot,) with the bloody knife in his
hand ; he told me that he was coming
to kill me next ; he reached out his
hand and took hold of the bridle,
telling me that that was his horse ; I
was glad to parley with him on the
terms, and delivered the horse to
him. All the Indians in the town
immediately collected together, and
started off to the Salt Licks, where
the rest of the traders were, and
murdered the whole of them, and
divided their goods amongst them,
and likewise their horses."
i Gent. Mag. XXXIII. 413. The
loss is here stated at the greatly ex-
aggerated amount of £ 500,000.
BB*
330 FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVIII.
In this case, they said, the hostile Indians would
refrain from injuring them, and they should be set
at liberty as soon as the danger was past. The
traders fell into the snare. They gave up their
arms, and, the better to carry out the deception,
even consented to be bound ; but no sooner was
this accomplished, than their treacherous counsellors
murdered them all in cold blood.1
A curious incident, relating to this period, is given
by the missionary Heckewelder. Strange as the
story may appear, it is in strict accordance with In-
dian character and usage, and perhaps need not be
rejected as wholly void of truth. The name of the
person to whom it relates several times occurs in
the manuscript journals and correspondence of offi-
cers in the Indian country. A trader named Chap-
man was made prisoner by the Indians near Detroit.
For some time, he was protected by the humane in-
terference of a Frenchman ; but at length his cap-
tors resolved to burn him alive. He was tied to
the stake, and the fire was kindled. As the heat
grew intolerable, one of the Indians handed to him
a bowl filled with broth. The wretched man, scorch-
ing with fiery thirst, eagerly snatched the vessel,
and applied it to his lips ; but the liquid was pur-
posely made scalding hot. With a sudden burst of
rage, he flung back the bowl and its contents into
the face of the Indian. "He is mad! he is mad!"
shouted the crowd; and though, the moment before,
they had been keenly anticipating the delight of
seeing him burn, they hastily put out the fire, re-
leased him from the stake, and set him at liberty.2
i Loskiel, 99. 2 Heckewelder, Hist. Ind. Nat. 250.
Chap. XVIII.] FORT LIGONIER— FORT BEDFORD. 331
Such is the superstitious respect which the Indians
entertain for every form of insanity.
While the alarming incidents just mentioned were
occurring at Fort Pitt, the garrison of Fort Ligonier
received yet more unequivocal tokens of hostility; for
one morning a volley of bullets was sent among
them, with no other effect, however, than killing a
few horses. In the vicinity of Fort Bedford, several
men were killed ; on which the inhabitants were mus-
tered and organized, and the garrison kept constantly
on the alert. A few of the best woodsmen were
formed into a company, dressed and painted like In-
dians. A party of the enemy suddenly appeared,
whooping and brandishing their tomahawks, at the
skirts of the forest ; on which these counterfeit sav-
ages dashed upon them at full gallop, routing them in
an instant, and driving them far though the woods.1
At Fort Pitt every preparation was made for an
attack. The houses and cabins outside the rampart
were levelled to the ground, and every morning, at
an hour before dawn, the drum beat, and the troops
were ordered to their alarm posts.2 The garrison,
commanded by Captain Ecuyer, consisted of three
hundred and thirty soldiers, traders, and backwoods-
1 Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1799. with a Party of Men, when we were
I shall frequently refer to the columns fired upon, and one of the Serjeants
of this journal, which are filled with was killed ; but we beat off the In-
letters, and extracts from letters, writ- dians, and brought the Man in with
ten at different parts of the frontier, his Scalp on. Last Night the Bul-
and containing very minute and au- lock Guard was fired upon, when one
thentic details of the events which Cow was killed. We are obliged to
daily occurred. be on Duty Night and Day. The
2 Extract from a Letter — Fort Indians have cut off above 100 of
Pitt, June 16, 1763, (Penn. Gaz. No. our Traders in the Woods, besides
1801.) all our little Posts. We have Plenty
" We have Alarms from, and of Provisions ; and the Fort is in
Skirmishes with, the Indians every such a good Posture of Defence, that,
Day ; but they have done us little with God's Assistance, we can defend
Harm as yet. Yesterday I was out it against 1000 Indians."
332 FRONTIER POETS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVIII.
men, and there were also in the fort about one hun-
dred women, and a still greater number of children,
most of them belonging to the families of settlers
who were preparing to build their cabins in the
neighborhood.1
The sudden and desultory outrages with which the
war began, and which only served to put the garrison
on their guard, prove that among the neighboring
Indians there was no chief of sufficient power to
curb their wayward temper, and force them to con-
form to any preconcerted plan. The authors of the
mischief were unruly young warriors, fevered with
eagerness to win the first scalp, and setting at
defiance the authority of their elders. These petty
annoyances, far from abating, continued for many
successive days, and kept the garrison in a state of
restless alarm. It was highly dangerous to venture
outside the walls, and a few who attempted it were
shot and scalped by lurking Indians. " They have
the impudence," writes an officer, " to fire all night
at our sentinels ; " nor were these attacks confined to
the night, for even during the day no man willingly
exposed his head above the rampart. The surround-
ing woods were known to be full of prowling Indians,
whose number seemed daily increasing, though as
yet they had made no attempt at a general attack.
At length, on the afternoon of the twenty-second of
June, a party of them appeared at the farthest ex-
tremity of the cleared lands behind the fort, driving
off the horses which were grazing there, and killing
the cattle. No sooner was this accomplished than
a general fire was opened upon the fort from every
i MS. Letter — Ecnyer to Bouquet, June 5.
Chap. XVIIL] INDIAN ADVICE. 333
side at once, though at so great a distance that only
two men were killed. The garrison replied by a dis-
charge of howitzers, the shells of which, bursting in
the midst of the Indians, greatly amazed and dis-
concerted them. As it grew dark, their fire slackened,
though, throughout the night, the flash of guns was
seen at frequent intervals, followed by the whooping
of the invisible assailants.
At nine o'clock on the following morning, several
Indians approached the fort with the utmost confi-
dence, and took , their stand close to the outside of
the ditch, where one of them, a Delaware, named
the Turtle's Heart, addressed the garrison as fol-
lows : —
" My brothers, we that stand here are your friends ;
but we have bad news to tell you. Six great nations
of Indians have taken up the hatchet, and cut off all
the English garrisons, excepting yours. They are
now on their way to destroy you also.
"My brothers, we are your friends, and we wish
to save your lives. What we desire you to do is
this : You must leave this fort, with all your women
and children, and go down to the English settle-
ments, where you will be safe. There are many bad
Indians already here; but we will protect you from
them. You must go at once, because if you wait
till the six great nations arrive here, you will all be
killed, and we can do nothing to protect you."
To this proposal, by which the Indians hoped to
gain a safe and easy possession of the fort, Captain
Ecuyer made the following reply. The vein of hu-
mor perceptible in it may serve to indicate that he
was under no great apprehension for the safety of
his garrison.
334 FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVHI.
" My brothers, we are very grateful for your kind-
ness, though we are convinced that you must be
mistaken in what you have told us about the forts
being captured. As for ourselves, we have plenty of
provisions, and are able to keep the fort against all
the nations of Indians that may dare to attack it.
We are very well off in this place, and we mean to
stay here.
" My brothers, as you have shown yourselves such
true friends, we feel bound in gratitude to inform
you that an army of six thousand English will short-
ly arrive here, and that another army of three thou-
sand is gone up the lakes, to punish the Ottawas
and Ojibwas. A third has gone to the frontiers of
Virginia, where they will be joined by your enemies,
the Cherokees and Catawbas, who are coining here
to destroy you. Therefore take pity on your women
and children, and get out of the way as soon as
possible. We have told you this in confidence, out
of our great solicitude lest any of you should be hurt;
and we hope that you will not tell the other In-
dians, lest they should escape from our vengeance."1
This politic invention of the three armies had an
excellent effect, and so startled the Indians, that, on
the next day, most of them withdrew from the neigh-
borhood, and went to meet a great body of warriors,
who were advancing from the westward to attack
the fort. On the afternoon of the twenty-sixth, a
soldier named Gray, belonging to the garrison of
Presqu'Isle, came in with the report that, more than
a week before, that little post had been furiously
attacked by upwards of two hundred Indians from
i MS. Report of Alexander M'Kee, deputy agent for Indian affairs at
Fort Pitt. » *-.* 6
Chap.XVHI] disastrous tidings. 335
Detroit, that they had assailed it for three days, re-
peatedly setting it on fire, and had at length under-
mined it so completely, that the garrison was forced to
capitulate, on condition of being allowed to retire in
safety to Fort Pitt. No sooner, however, had they left
their shelter, than the Indians fell upon them, and,
as Gray declared, butchered them all, except himself
and one other man, who darted into the woods, and
escaped amid the confusion, hearing behind them, as
they tied, the screams of their murdered comrades.
This account proved erroneous, as the garrison were
carried by their captors in safety to Detroit. Some
time after this event, Captain Dalzell's detachment,
on their way to Detroit, stopped at the place, and
found, close to the ruined fort, the hair of several of
the men, which had been shorn off, as a preliminary
step in the process of painting and bedecking them
like Indian warriors. From this it appears that some
of the unfortunate soldiers were adopted on the spot
into the tribes of their conquerors. In a previous
chapter, a detailed account has been given of the
defence of Presqu'Isle, and its final capture.
Gray informed Captain Ecuyer that, a few days
before the attack on the garrison, they had seen a
schooner on the lake, approaching from the west-
ward. She had sent a boat on shore with the tidings
that Detroit had been beleaguered, for more than six
weeks, by many hundred Indians, and that a detach-
ment of ninety-six men had been attacked near that
place, of whom only about thirty had escaped, the
rest being either killed on the spot or put to death
by slow torture. The panic-stricken soldier, in his
flight from Presqu'Isle, had passed the spots where
lately had stood the little forts of Le Bceuf and
336
FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVIII.
Venango. Both were burnt level with, the ground,
and he surmised that the whole of their wretched
garrisons had fallen victims.1 The disaster proved
less fatal than his fears led him to suspect; for, on
the same day on which he arrived, Ensign Price, the
officer commanding at Le Bceuf, was seen approach-
ing along the bank of the Alleghany, followed by
seven haggard and half-famished soldiers.2 On the
evening of the eighteenth, a great multitude of In-
dians had surrounded his post, the available defences
of which, at that time, consisted of only one block-
house. Showering bullets and fire-arrows against it,
they soon set it in flames ; and at midnight, in spite
of every effort, the whole upper part of the building
was in a light blaze.
The assailants now gathered
in a half circle before the entrance, eagerly expect-
ing the moment when the inmates, stifled amid flame
and smoke, should rush out upon certain death.
i MS. Letter — Ecuyer to Bou-
quet, June 26.
2 Extract from a Letter — Fort
Pitt, June 26, (Penn. Gaz. No. 1802.)
" This Morning, Ensign Price, of
the Royal Americans, with Part of
his Garrison, arrived here, being sep-
arated from the rest in the night. —
The Enemy attacked his Post, and
set it on Fire, and while they watched
the Door of the House, he got out
on the other side, and the Indians
continued firing a long Time after-
wards, imagining that the Garrison
was in it, and that they were con-
sumed with the House. — He touched
at Venango, found the Fort burnt to
the Ground, and saw one of our Ex-
presses lying killed on the Road.
"Four o'clock in the Afternoon.
Just now came in one of the Soldiers
from Presque Isle, who says, Mr.
Christie fought two Days ; that the
Enemy Fifty times set Fire to the
Blockhouse, but that they as often
put it out: That they then under-
mined the House, and was ready
to blow it up, when they offered Mr.
Christie Terms, who accepted them,
viz., That he, and his Garrison, was
to be conducted to this Place. — The
Soldier also says, he suspected they
intended to put them all to Death ;
and that on hearing a Woman scream
out, he supposed they were murdering
her ; upon which he and another Sol-
dier came immediately off, but knows
nothing of the rest : That the Vessel
from Niagara was in Sight, but be-
lieves she had no Provisions, as the
Indians told them they had cut off
Little Niagara, and destroyed 800
Barrels : And that he thinks, by
what he saw, Venango had capitu-
lated."
The soldier here spoken of was
no doubt Gray, who was mentioned
above, though his story is somewhat
differently given in the letter of Cap-
tain Ecuyer, just cited.
Chap. XVIIL] DESTEUCTION OF VENANGO. 337
But Price and his followers, with the energy of des-
peration, hewed an opening through the massive tim-
bers which formed the back wall of the blockhouse,
and escaped unperceived into the dark woods behind.
For some time, they continued to hear the reports
of the Indian guns, as these painted demons were
still leaping and yelling in front of the blazing
building, firing into the loopholes, and exulting in
the thought that their enemies were suffering the
agonies of death within. The fugitives pressed on-
ward through the whole of the next day, until, at
one o'clock of the succeeding night, they came to
the spot where Fort Venango had stood. Nothing
remained of it but piles of glowing embers, among
which lay the half-consumed bodies of its hapless
garrison. They continued their journey; but six of
the party soon gave out, and were left behind in
the woods, while the remainder were half dead with
fear, hunger, and exhaustion, before their eyes were
gladdened by the friendly walls of Fort Pitt.1
Not a man remained alive to tell the fate of Ve-
nango; and it was not until some time after that an
Indian, who was present at its destruction, described
the scene to Sir "William Johnson. A large body of
Senecas gained entrance under pretence of friendship,
then closed the gates, fell upon the garrison, and
butchered them all except the commanding officer,
Lieutenant Gordon, whom they tortured over a slow
fire for several successive nights, till he expired.
This done, they burnt the place to the ground, and
departed.9
1 MS. Letter — Price to Bouquet, years since, some traces of Fort Ve-
June 27. nango were yet visible. The follow-
2 MS. Johnson Papers. Not many ing description of them is from the
43 cc
338
FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVIII.
While Le Bceuf and Venango were thus assailed,
Fort Ligonier was also attacked by a large body of
Indians, who fired upon it with great fury and per-
tinacity, but were beaten off after a hard day's
fighting. Fort Augusta, on the Susquehanna, was
at the same time menaced; but the garrison being
strengthened by a timely reenforcement, the Indians
abandoned their purpose. Carlisle, Bedford, and the
small intermediate posts, all experienced some effects
of savage hostility,1 while among the settlers, whose
houses were scattered throughout the adjacent val-
leys, outrages were perpetrated, and sufferings en-
dured, which defy all attempt at description.
At Fort Pitt, every preparation was made to repel
the attack Which was hourly expected. A part of
the rampart, undermined by the spring floods, had
fallen into the ditch; but, by dint of great labor, this
injury was repaired. A line of palisades was erected
along the ramparts, the barracks were made shot-
Historical Collections of Pennsylva-
nia:—
" Its ruins plainly indicate its de-
struction by fire. Burnt stone, melted
glass and iron, leave no doubt of
this. All through the groundworks
are to be found great quantities of
mouldering bones. Amongst the
ruins, knives, gun-barrels, locks, and
musket-balls have been frequently
found, and still continue to be found.
About the centre of the area are seen
the ruins of the magazine, in which,
with what truth I cannot vouch, is
said to be a well. The same tradi-
tion also adds, ' And in that well
there is a cannon ; ' but no examina-
tion has been made for it."
1 Extract from a Letter — Fort
Bedford, June 30, 1763, (Penn. Gaz.
No. 1802.)
"This Morning a Party of the
Enemy attacked fifteen Persons, who
were mowing in Mr. Croghan's
Field, within a Mile of the Garrison ;
and News is brought in of two Men
being killed. — Eight o'clock. Two
Men are brought in, alive, toma-
hawked and scalped more than Half
the Head over — Our Parade just
now presents a Scene of bloody and
savage Cruelty ; three Men, two of
which are in the Bloom of Life, the
other an old man, lying scalped (two
of them still alive) thereon : Any
thing feigned in the most fabulous
Romance, cannot parallel the horrid
Sight now before me; the Gashes
the poor People bear are most terri-
fying. — Ten o'clock. They are just
expired — One of them, after being
tomahawked and scalped, ran a little
way, and got on a Loft in Mr. Cro-
ghan's House, where he lay till found
by a Party of the Garrison,"
Chap. XVIIL] DANGER OF FORT PITT. 339
proof, to protect the women and children ; and as
the interior buildings were all of wood, a rude fire
engine was constructed, to extinguish any flames
which might be kindled by the burning arrows of
the Indians. Several weeks, however, elapsed with-
out any determined attack from the enemy, who
were engaged in their bloody work among the settle-
ments and smaller posts. From the beginning of
July until towards its close, nothing occurred except
a series of petty and futile attacks, by which the
Indians abundantly exhibited their malicious inten-
tions, without doing harm to the garrison. During
the whole of this time, the communication with the
settlements was completely cut off, so that no letters
were written from the fort, or, at all events, none
reached their destination ; and we are therefore left
to depend upon a few meagre official reports, as our
only sources of information.
On the twenty-sixth of July, a small party of In-
dians was seen approaching the gate, displaying a
flag, which one of them had some time before re-
ceived as a present from the English commander.
On the strength of this token, they were admitted,
and proved to be chiefs of distinction; among whom
were Shingas, Turtle's Heart, and others, who had
hitherto maintained an appearance of friendship.
Being admitted to a council, one of them addressed
Captain Ecuyer and his officers to the following
effect : —
"Brothers, what we are about to say comes from
our hearts, and not from our lips.
"Brothers, we wish to hold fast the chain of
friendship — that ancient chain which our forefathers
held with their brethren the English. You have
340 FKONTIEE FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVIII.
let your end of the chain fall to the ground, but
ours is still fast within our hands. Why do you
complain that our young men have fired at your
soldiers, and killed your cattle and your horses'?
You yourselves are the cause of this. You marched
your armies into our country, and built forts here,
though we told you, again and again, that we wished
you to remove. My brothers, this land is ours, and
not yours.
" My brothers, two days ago we received a great
belt of wampum from the Ottawas of Detroit, and
the message they sent us was in these words : —
" ' Grandfathers the Delawares, by this belt we
inform you that in a short time we intend to pass,
in a very great body, through your country, on our
way to strike the English at the forks of the Ohio.
Grandfathers, you know us to be a headstrong
people. We are determined to stop at nothing, and
as we expect to be very hungry, we will seize and
eat up every thing that comes hi our way.' 1
" Brothers, you have heard the words of the Ot-
tawas. If you leave this place immediately, and go
home to your wives and children, no harm will
come of it; but if you stay, you must blame your-
selves alone for what may happen. Therefore we
desire you to remove."
To the very just and reasonable statement of
wrongs contained in this speech, Captain Ecuyer re-
plied, by urging the shallow pretence that the forts
were built for the purpose of supplying the Indians
with clothes and ammunition. He then absolutely
refused to leave the place. " I have," he said,
i This is a common Indian metaphor. To destroy an enemy is, in their
phrase, to eat him up.
Chap. XVHL] THEEATS OE THE COMMANDANT. 341
" warriors, provision, and ammunition, to defend it
three years against all the Indians in the woods; and
we shall never abandon it as long as a white man
lives in America. I despise the Ottawas, and am
very much surprised at our brothers the Delawares,
for proposing to us to leave this place and go home.
This is our home. You have attacked us without
reason or provocation ; you have murdered and plun-
dered our warriors and traders; you have taken our
horses and cattle; and at the same time you tell
us your hearts are good towards your brethren the
English. How can I have faith in you'? Therefore,
now, brothers, I will advise you to go home to your
towns, and take care of your wives and children.
Moreover, I tell you that if any of you appeal-
again about this fort, I will throw bombshells,
which will burst and blow you to atoms, and fire
cannon among you, loaded with a whole bag full of
bullets. Therefore take care, for I don't want to
hurt you." 1
The chiefs departed much displeased with their
reception. Though the course pursued by Captain
Ecuyer was a wise and justifiable one, and though
the building of forts in the Indian country could
not in this instance be charged as a crime, except
by the most overstrained casuistry, yet we cannot
refrain from sympathizing with the intolerable hard-
ship to which the progress of civilization subjected
the unfortunate tenants of the wilderness, and which
goes far to extenuate the perfidy and cruelty which
marked their conduct throughout the whole course
of the war.
1 MS. Report of Conference with the Indians at Fort Pitt, July 26, 1763.
CC*
342 FRONTIER FORTS AND SETTLEMENTS. [Chap. XVHI.
Disappointed of gaining a bloodless possession of
the fort, the Indians now, for the first time, began a
general attack. On the night succeeding the confer-
ence, they approached in great multitudes, under
cover of the darkness, and completely surrounded it;
many of them crawling beneath the banks of the
two rivers, which ran close to the rampart, and, with
incredible perseverance, digging, with their knives,
holes in which they were completely sheltered from
the fire of the fort. On one side, the whole bank
was lined with these burrows, from each of which
a bullet or an arrow was shot out whenever a sol-
dier chanced to expose his head. At daybreak, a
general fire was opened from every side, and contin-
ued without intermission until night, and through
several succeeding days. Meanwhile, the women and
children were pent up in the crowded barracks, terror-
stricken at the horrible din of the assailants, and
watching the fire-arrows as they came sailing over
the parapet, and lodging against the roofs and sides
of the buildings. In every instance, the fire they
kindled was extinguished. One of the garrison was
killed, and seven wounded. Among the latter Was
Captain Ecuyer, who, freely exposing himself, re-
ceived an arrow in the leg. At length, an event
hereafter to be described put an end to the attack,
and drew off the assailants from the neighborhood
of the fort, to the unspeakable relief of the har-
assed soldiers, exhausted as they were by several
days of unintermitted vigilance.1
1 Extract from' a MS. Letter— without further Opposition than Scat-
Colonel Bouquet to Sir J. Amherst. tered Shots along the Road.
" Fort Pitt, 11th Aug. 1763. " The Delawares, Shawnese, Wi-
" Sir : andots, & Mingoes had closely Beset,
" We Arrived here Yesterday, and Attacked this Fort from the 27th
Chap. XVIII]
ATTACK ON FORT PITT.
343
July, to the First Instant, when they
Quitted it to March against us.
" The Boldness of those Savages
is hardly Credible ; they had taken
Post under the Banks of Both Riv-
ers, Close to the Fort, where Digging
Holes, they kept an Incessant Fire,
and threw Fire Arrows : They are
good Marksmen, and though our
People were under Cover, they Killed
one, & Wounded seven. — Captain
Ecuyer is Wounded in the Leg by
an Arrow. — I Would not Do Justice
to that Officer, should I omit to In-
form Your Excellency, that, without
Engineer, or any other Artificers
than a few Ship Wrights, he has
Raised a Parapet of Logs round the
Fort, above the Old One, which hav-
ing not been Finished, was too Low,
and Enfiladed; He has Traised the
Whole ; Palisadoed the Inside of the
Aria, Constructed a Fire Engine ;
and in short, has taken all Precau-
tions, which Art and Judgement
could suggest for the Preservation
of this Post, open before on the three
sides, which had suffered by the
Floods."
CHAPTER XIX.
THE WAR ON THE BORDERS.
Along the western frontiers of Pennsylvania, Mary-
land, and Virginia, terror reigned supreme. The In-
dian scalping-parties were ranging every where, lay-
ing waste the settlements, destroying the harvests,
and butchering men, women, and children, with ruth-
less fury. Many hundreds of wretched fugitives
flocked for refuge to Carlisle and the other towns
of the border, bringing tales of inconceivable horror.
Strong parties of armed men, who went out to rec-
onnoitre the country, found every habitation reduced
to cinders, and the half-burned bodies of the inmates
lying among the smouldering ruins; while here and
there was seen some miserable wretch, scalped and
tomahawked, but still alive and conscious. One
writing from the midst of these scenes declares that,
in his opinion, a thousand families were driven from
their homes ; that, on both sides of the Susquehanna,
the woods were filled with fugitives, without shelter
and without food; and that, unless the havoc were
speedily checked, the western part of Pennsylvania
would be totally deserted, and Lancaster become the
frontier town.1
While these scenes were enacted on the borders
1 Penn. Gaz. Nos. 1805-1809.
Chap. XIX.] FEEBLE EESOURCES OE THE ENGLISH. 345
of Pennsylvania and the more southern provinces,
the settlers in the valley of the Mohawk, and even
along the Hudson, were menaced with destruction.
Had not the Six Nations been kept tranquil by the
strenuous exertions of Sir William Johnson, results
must have ensued too disastrous to contemplate.
The Senecas and a few of the Cayugas were the
only members of the confederacy who took part in
the war. Venango, as we have seen, was destroyed
by a party of Senecas, who soon after made a feeble
attack upon Niagara. They blockaded it, for a few
days, with no other effect than that of confining the
garrison within the walls, and, soon despairing of
success, abandoned the attempt.
In the mean time, tidings of disaster on disaster
came in from the westward. The siege of Detroit,
and the capture of post after post, followed each
other in quick succession, until it became known
that nine forts had fallen into the hands of the
enemy; and Sir Jeffrey Amherst was forced to the
reluctant conclusion that the tribes had risen in a
general insurrection. The regions lately won from
the French, with so much blood and treasure, were
suddenly snatched from the hands of the conquerors;
and this, too, at a time when, from the want of
troops, it was extremely difficult to retrieve the loss.
The few regiments lately arrived from the West In-
dies were so reduced that most of them numbered
less than a hundred feeble and sickly men. By
combining these fragments, and collecting from the
less important garrisons, and even from the hospitals,
every soldier capable of bearing a musket, a small
force was with difficulty brought together. All that
could immediately be done was to strengthen the posts
44
346 THE WAR ON THE EOEDEES. [Chap. XIX.
which still held out, reserving more active operations
for the future. A reenforcement was accordingly
thrown into Niagara, and a detachment, under Cap-
tain Dalzell, sent up to Detroit. The unfortunate
issue of this expedition, the sally in the night
against the camp of Pontiac, the surprise and de-
feat of the English, and the death of Dalzell, have
been already described.
While these movements were made in the direction
of Detroit, it was equally necessary to send troops
to Fort Pitt, as that post, though its commander
had assured the Indians to the contrary, was but ill
supplied with provision. With the first news of
hostilities in that quarter, orders were therefore sent
to Colonel Bouquet, who commanded at Philadel-
phia, to assemble as large a force as possible, and
cross the Alleghanies with a convoy of provision
and ammunition. With every effort, no more than
five hundred men could be collected for this service.
They consisted chiefly of Highlanders of the 42d
Regiment, which had suffered less than most of the
other corps, from West Indian exposure. Having
sent agents to the frontier to collect horses, wagons,
and supplies, Bouquet soon after followed with the
troops, and reached Carlisle about the first of July.
He found the whole country in a panic. Every
building in the fort, every house, barn, and hovel in
the little town, was crowded with the families of
settlers, driven from their homes by the terror of
the Indian tomahawk. None of the enemy, how-
ever, had yet appeared in the neighborhood, and
the people flattered themselves that their ravages
would be confined to the other side of the moun-
tains. Whoever ventured to predict the contrary
Chap. XIX.] ALARM AT CARLISLE. 347
drew upon himself the indignation of the whole
community.
On Sunday, the third of July, an incident occurred
which redoubled the alarm. A soldier, riding express
from Fort Pitt, galloped into the town, and alighted
to water his horse at the well in the centre of the
place. A crowd of countrymen were instantly about
him, eager to hear the news. " Presqu'Isle, Le Bceuf,
and Venango are taken, and the Indians will be here
soon." Such was the substance of the man's reply,
as, remounting in haste, he rode on to make his re-
port at the camp of Bouquet.1 All was now con-
sternation and excitement. Messengers hastened out
to spread the tidings, and every road and path-
way leading into Carlisle was beset with the flying
settlers, flocking thither for refuge. Soon rumors
were heard that the Indians were come. Some of
the fugitives had seen the smoke of burning houses
rising from the valleys, and these reports were fearful-
ly confirmed by the appearance of miserable wretches,
who, half frantic with grief and dismay, had fled
from the sight of blazing dwellings and slaughtered
families. A party of the inhabitants armed them-
selves and went out, to warn the living and bury the
dead. Reaching Shearman's Valley, they found fields
laid waste, stacked wheat on fire, and the houses yet
in flames, and they grew sick with horror, at seeing a
group of hogs tearing and devouring the bodies of the
dead.2 As they advanced up the valley, every thing
betokened the recent presence of the enemy, while col-
umns of smoke, rising among the surrounding moun-
tains, showed how general was the work of destruction.
i Penn. Hist. Coll. 267. 2 Perm. Gaz. 1804.
348 THE WAR ON THE BORDERS. [Chap. XIX.
On the previous day, six men, assembled for reap-
ing the harvest, had been seated at dinner at the
house of Campbell, a settler on the Juniata. Four
or five Indians suddenly burst the door, fired among
them, and then beat down the survivors with the
buts of their rifles. One young man leaped from
his seat, snatched a gun which stood in a corner,
discharged it into the breast of the warrior who was
rushing upon him, and, leaping through an open
window, made his escape. He fled through the forest
to a settlement at some distance, where he related his
story. Upon this, twelve young men volunteered to
cross the mountain, and warn the inhabitants of the
neighboring Tuscarora valley. On entering it, they
found that the enemy had been there before them.
Some of the houses were on fire, while others were
still standing, with no tenants but the dead. Under
the shed of a farmer, the Indians had been feasting
on the flesh of the cattle they had killed, and the
meat had not yet grown cold. Pursuing their course,
the white men found the spot where several detached
parties of the enemy had united almost immediately
before, and they boldly resolved to follow, in order
to ascertain what direction the marauders had taken.
The trail led them up a deep and woody pass of
the Tuscarora. Here the yell of the war-whoop and
the din of fire-arms suddenly greeted them, and five
of their number were shot down. Thirty warriors
rose from their ambuscade, and rushed upon them.
They gave one discharge, scattered, and ran for their
lives. One of them, a boy named Charles Eliot, as
he fled, plunging through the thickets, heard an In-
dian tearing the boughs behind him, in furious pur-
suit. He seized his powder-horn, poured the contents
Chap. XIX.] THE DYING BORDERER. 349
at random down the muzzle of his gun, threw in a
bullet after them, without using the ramrod, and,
wheeling about, discharged the piece into the breast
of his pursuer. He saw the Indian shrink back
and roll over into the bushes. He continued his
flight; but a moment after, a voice earnestly called
his name. Turning to the spot, he saw one of his
comrades stretched helpless upon the ground. This
man had been mortally wounded at the first fire, but
had fled a few rods from the scene of blood, before
his strength gave out. Eliot approached him. " Take
my gun," said the dying frontiersman. "Whenever
you see an Indian, kill him with it, and then I shall
be satisfied." * Eliot, with several others of the party,
escaped, and finally reached Carlisle, where his story
excited a spirit of uncontrollable wrath and ven-
geance among the fierce backwoodsmen. Several par-
ties went out, and one of them, commanded by the
sheriff of the place, encountered a band of Indians,
routed them after a sharp fight, and brought in sev-
eral scalps.2
The surrounding country was by this time com-
pletely abandoned by the settlers, many of whom, not
i Robison, Narrative. Robison being killed in the Valley, so that,
was one of the party, and his brother since last Sunday Morning to this
was mortally wounded at the first Day, Twelve o'clock, we have a pret-
fire. ty authentic Account of the Number
2 Extract from a Letter — Carlisle, slain, being Twenty-five, and four or
July 13, (Perm. Gaz. No. 1804.) five wounded. — The Colonel, Mr.
" Last Night Colonel Armstrong Wilson, and Mr. Alricks, are now on
returned. He left the Party, who the Parade, endeavouring to raise
pursued further, and found several another Party, to go out and succour
dead, whom they buried in the best the Sheriff and his Party, consisting
manner they could, and are now all of Fifty Men, which marched Yester-
returned in. — From what appears, day, and hope they will be able to
the Indians are travelling from one send off immediately Twenty good
Place to another, along the Valley, Men. — The People here, I assure
burning the Farms, and destroying you, want nothing but a good Leader,
all the People they meet with. — This and a little Encouragement, to make
Day gives an Account of six more a very good Defence."
DD
350 THE WAK ON THE BORDEES. [Chap. XIX.
content with seeking refuge at Carlisle, continued
their flight to the eastward, and, headed by the cler-
gyman of that place, pushed on to Lancaster, and
even to Philadelphia.1 Carlisle presented a most de-
plorable spectacle. A multitude of the refugees, unable
to find shelter in the town, had encamped in the
woods or on the adjacent fields, erecting huts of
branches and bark, and living on such charity as
the slender means of the townspeople could supply.
Passing among them, one would have witnessed every
form of human misery. In these wretched encamp-
ments were men, women, and children, bereft at one
stroke of friends, of home, and the means of sup-
porting life. Some stood aghast and bewildered at
the sudden and fatal blow ; others were sunk in the
apathy of despair; others were weeping and moan-
ing with irrepressible anguish. With not a few, the
craven passion of fear drowned all other emotion,
and day and night they were haunted with visions
of the bloody knife and the reeking scalp; while in
others, every faculty was absorbed by the burning
thirst for vengeance, and mortal hatred against the
whole Indian race.2
1 Extract from a Letter — Carlisle, 2 Extract from a Letter — Carlisle,
July 5, (Haz. Pa. Reg. IV. 390.) July 12, (Perm. Gaz. No. 1804.)
" Nothing could exceed the terror " I embrace this first Leisure, since
which prevailed from house to house, Yesterday Morning, to transmit you
from town to town. The road was a brief Account of our present State
near covered with women and chil- of Affairs here, which indeed is very
dren, flying to Lancaster and Phila- distressing ; every Day, almost, af-
delphia. The Rev. , Pastor fording some fresh Object to awaken
of the Episcopal Church, went at the the Compassion, alarm the Fears, or
head of his congregation, to protect kindle into Resentment and Ven-
and encourage them on the way. A geance every sensible Breast, while
few retired to the Breast works for flying Families, obliged to abandon
safety. The alarm once given could House and Possession, to save their
not be appeased. We have done all Lives by an hasty Escape ; mourn-
that men can do to prevent disorder, ing Widows, bewailing their Hus-
All our hopes are turned upon Bou- bands surprised and massacred by
quet." savage Rage ; tender Parents, la-
Chap. XIX.]
SCENES AT CARLISLE.
351
meriting the Fruits of their own
Bodies, cropt in the very Bloom of
Life by a barbarous Hand; with Re-
lations and Acquaintances, pouring
out Sorrow for murdered Neighbours
and Friends, present a varied Scene
of mingled Distress.
" To-day a British Vengeance be-
gins to rise in the Breasts of our
Men. — One of them that fell from
among the 12, as he was just expir-
ing, said to one of his Fellows, Here,
take my Gun, and kill the first In-
dian you see, and all shall be well."
CHAPTER XX.
THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN.
The miserable multitude were soon threatened with
famine, and gathered in crowds around the tents of
Bouquet, soliciting relief, which he was too humane
to refuse. In the mean time, the march of the little
army had been delayed beyond expectation, since, from
the terror and flight of the inhabitants, it was almost
impossible to collect upon the frontier the necessary
horses, wagons, and provision.1 Recourse was had to
the settlements farther eastward; and, after the lapse
of eighteen clays, every obstacle being now overcome,
Bouquet broke up his camp, and set forth on his du-
bious enterprise. As the troops, with their heavy con-
voy, defiled through the street of Carlisle, the people
crowded to look on, not with the idle curiosity of
rustics, gazing on an unwonted military srjectacle,
but with the anxious hearts of men whose all was at
stake on the issue of the expedition. The haggard
looks and thin frames of these worn-out veterans
filled them with blackest forebodings ; nor were these
diminished when they beheld sixty invalid soldiers,
who, unable to walk, were borne forward in wagons
to furnish a feeble reenforcement to the small garri-
sons along the route.2 The desponding spectators
i MS. Letter — Bouquet to Am- 2 Hutchins, Account of Bouquet's
herst, July 3. expedition. Introduction, VI.
Chap. XX.] DEPARTURE OF BOUQUET. 353
watched the last gleam of the bayonets, as the rear-
guard entered the woods, and then returned to their
hovels, prepared for tidings of defeat, and ready, on
the first news of the disaster, to desert the country
and fly beyond the Susquehanna.
In truth, the adventure would have seemed des-
perate to any but the manliest heart. In front lay
a vast wilderness, terrible alike from its own stern
features and the ferocious enemy who haunted its
recesses. Among these forests lay the bones of Brad-
dock and the hundreds who fell with him. The
number of the slain on that bloody day exceeded
the whole force of Bouquet, while the strength of
the assailants was far inferior to that of the swarms
who now infested the woods. Except a few rangers,
whom Bouquet had gathered on the frontier, the
troops were utterly unused to the forest service; a
service, the terrors, hardships, and vicissitudes of
which seldom find a parallel in the warfare of civil-
ized nations. Fully appreciating the courage of
the frontiersmen, their excellence as marksmen, and
their knowledge of the woods, Bouquet had endeav-
ored to engage a body of them to accompany the
expedition; but they preferred to remain for the im-
mediate defence of their families and friends, rather
than embark in a distant and doubtful adventure.
The results involved in the enterprise were altogether
disproportioned to the small numbers engaged in it;
and it was happy, not only for the troops, but also
for the colonies, that the officer in command pre-
sented, in every respect, a marked contrast to his
perverse and wrong-headed predecessor Braddock.
Henry Bouquet was by birth a Swiss, of the can-
ton of Berne, His military life began while he was
45 DD*
354 THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN. [Chap. XX.
yet a boy. He held a commission in the army of
the King of Sardinia; but when the war between
France and England broke out, in 1755, he was en-
gaged in the service of the States of Holland. At
this time, a plan was formed, under the auspices of
the Duke of Cumberland, to organize a corps to serve
in the provinces, and to be called the Royal Ameri-
cans. The commissions were to be given to foreigners,
as well as to Englishmen and provincials, while the
ranks were to be filled chiefly from the German
emigrants in Pennsylvania and other provinces.1 Bou-
quet was induced to accept the commission of lieu-
tenant colonel in this regiment; and his services soon
proved of the utmost value, since his military talents
and personal character were alike fitted to command
respect and confidence. His person was fine, his
bearing composed and dignified. In the provinces,
and especially in Pennsylvania, he was held in the
i " The next object of the imme- that a regiment of good and faithful
diate attention of Parliament in this soldiers might be raised out of them,
session was the raising of a new regi- particularly proper to oppose the
ment of foot in North America ; for French ; but to this end it was neces-
which purpose, the sum of £ 81,178 sary to appoint some officers, espe-
16 s. was voted. This regiment, cially subalterns, who understood
which was to consist of four bat- military discipline and could speak the
talions of 1000 men each, was in- German language ; and as a sufficient
tended to be raised chiefly out of the number of such could not be found
Germans and Swiss, who, for many among the English officers, it was
years past, had annually transported necessary to bring over and grant
themselves in great numbers to Brit- commissions to several German and
ish plantations in America, where Swiss officers and engineers. But
waste lands had been assigned them as this step, by the Act of Settle-
upon the frontiers of the provinces ; ment, could not be taken without the
but, very injudiciously, no care had authority of Parliament, an act was
been taken to intermix them with the now passed for enabling his majesty
English inhabitants of the place, so to grant commissions to a certain
that very few of them, even of those number of foreign Protestants, who
who have been born there, have yet had served abroad as officers or en-
learned to speak or understand the gineers, to act and rank as officers or
English tongue. However, as they engineers in America only." — Smol-
were all zealous Protestants, and in let, England, III. 475.
general strong, hardy men, accus- The Royal American Regiment is
tomed to the climate, it was judged now the 60th Rifles.
Chap. XX.] BOUQUET — HIS CHARACTER. 355
highest esteem. He was a master of the English
language, writing in a style of great purity; and
though enthusiastic in the study of his profession,
his tastes led him to frequent the society of men
of science and literature. As a soldier, he was
disthiguished by great activity, an unshaken cour-
age, and an unfailing fertility of resource; while
to these qualities he added a power of adaptation
which had been lamentably wanting in some of the
English officers who preceded him.1 He had acquired
a practical knowledge of Indian warfare, and it is
said that, in the course of the hazardous partisan
service in which he was often engaged, when it was
necessary to penetrate dark denies and narrow passes,
he was sometimes known to advance before his
men, armed with a rifle, and acting the part of a
scout.
The route of the army lay along the beautiful
Cumberland Valley. Passing here and there a few
scattered cabins, deserted or burnt to the ground,
they reached the hamlet of Shippensburg, some-
what more than twenty miles from their point of
departure. Here, as at Carlisle, was congregated a
starving multitude, who had fled from the knife and
the tomahawk.2
By the last advices from the westward, it appeared
that Fort Ligonier, situated beyond the Alleghanies,
was in imminent clanger of falling into the enemy's
i Relation Historique de l'Expe- distressed Back Inhabitants, viz.
dition contre les Indiens de l'Ohio. Men, 301 ; Women, 345 ; Children,
Traduit de l'Anglois. Preface du 738 ; Many of whom were obliged
Traducteur. to lie in Barns, Stables, Cellars, and
2 " Our Accounts from the west- under old leaky Sheds, the Dwelling-
ward are as follows, viz.: — houses being all crowded." — Penn.
" On the 25th of July there were Gaz. No. 1806.
in Shippensburgh 1384 of our poor
356 THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN. [Chap. XX.
hands before the army could come up ; for its de-
fences were slight, its garrison was feeble, and the
Indians had assailed it with repeated attacks. The
magazine which the place contained made it of such
importance that Bouquet resolved at all hazards to
send a party to its relief. Thirty of the best men
were accordingly chosen, and ordered to push for-
ward with the utmost speed, by unfrequented routes
through the forests and over the mountains, carefully
avoiding the road, which would doubtless be infested
by the enemy. The party set out on their critical
errand, guided by frontier hunters, and observing
a strict silence. Using every precaution, and ad-
vancing by forced marches, day after day, they came
in sight of the fort without being discovered. It
was beset by Indians, and, as the party made for
the gate, they were seen and fired upon; but they
threw themselves into the place without the loss of
a man, and Ligonier was for the time secure.1
In the mean time, the army, advancing with
slower progress, entered a country where as yet
scarcely an English settler had built his cabin.
Beaching Fort Loudon, on the declivities of Cove
Mountain, they ascended the wood-encumbered defiles
beyond. Far on their right stretched the green
ridges of the Tuscarora, while, in front, mountain
beyond mountain rose high against the horizon.
Climbing heights and descending into valleys, pass-
ing the two solitary posts of Littleton and the Ju-
niata, both abandoned by their garrisons, they came
in sight of Fort Bedford, hemmed in by encircling
mountains. Their arrival gave infinite relief to the
1 Hutchins, Account of Bouquet's Expedition. Introduction, VI.
Chap. XX.] MARCH OF BOUQUET. 357
garrison, who had long been beleaguered and endan-
gered by a swarm of Indians, while many of the
settlers in the neighborhood had been killed, and
the rest driven for refuge into the fort. Captain
Gurry, the commanding officer, reported that, for sev-
eral weeks, nothing had been heard from the west-
ward, every messenger having been killed, and the
communication completely cut off. By the last in-
telligence, Fort Pitt had been surrounded by In-
dians, and daily threatened with a general attack.
Having remained encamped, for three days, on the
fields near the fort, Bouquet resumed his march on
the twenty-eighth of July, and soon passed beyond
the farthest verge of civilized habitation. The whole
country lay buried in foliage. Except the rocks
which crowned the mountains, and the streams
which rippled along the valleys, the unbroken forest,
like a vast garment, invested the whole. The road
was channelled through its depths, while, on each
side, the brown trunks and tangled undergrowth
formed a wall so dense as almost to bar the sight.
Through a country thus formed by nature for am-
buscades, not a step was free from danger, and no
precaution was neglected to guard against surprise.
In advance of the marching column moved the pro-
vincial rangers, closely followed by the pioneers.
The wagons and cattle were in the centre, guarded
in front, flank, and rear by the regulars, while a
rearguard of rangers closed the line of march.
Keen-eyed riflemen of the frontier, acting as scouts,
scoured the woods far in front and on either flank,
so that surprise was impossible. In this order the
little army toiled heavily on, over a road beset with
all the obstructions of the forest, until the main
358 THE BATTLE OF BUSHY BUN. [Chap. XX.
ridge of the Alleghanies, like a mighty wall of
green, rose up before them, and they began their
zigzag progress up the woody heights, amid the
sweltering heats of July. The tongues of the pant-
ing oxen hung lolling from their jaws, while the
pine-trees, scorching in the hot sun, diffused their
resinous odors through the sultry air. At length,
from the windy summit the Highland soldiers could
gaze around upon a boundless panorama of forest-
covered mountains, wild as their own native hills.
Descending from the Alleghanies, they entered upon
a country less rugged and formidable in itself, but
beset with constantly increasing dangers. On the
second of August, they reached Fort Ligonier, about
fifty miles from Bedford, and a hundred and fifty
from Carlisle. The Indians who were about the
place vanished at their approach ; but the garrison
could furnish no intelligence of the motions and de-
signs of the enemy, having been completely block-
aded for weeks. In this uncertainty, Bouquet re-
solved to leave behind the oxen and wagons, which
formed the most cumbrous part of the convoy, since
this would enable him to advance with greater celer-
ity, and oppose a better resistance in case of attack.
Thus relieved, the army resumed its march on the
fourth, taking with them three hundred and fifty
pack horses and a few cattle, and at nightfall en-
camped at no great distance from Ligonier. Within
less than a day's march in advance lay the danger-
ous defiles of Turtle Creek, a stream flowing at the
bottom of a deep hollow, flanked by steep decliv-
ities, along the foot of which the road at that time
ran for some distance. Fearing that the enemy
would lay an ambuscade at this place, Bouquet
Chap. XX.] UNEXPECTED ATTACK. 359
resolved to march on the following day as far as a
small stream called Bushy Run, to rest here until
night, and then, by a forced march, to cross Turtle
Creek under cover of the darkness.
On the morning of the fifth, the tents were struck
at an early hour, and the troops began their march
through a country broken with hills and deep hol-
lows, every where covered with the tall, dense forest,
which spread for countless leagues around. By one
o'clock, they had advanced seventeen miles, and the
guides assured them that they were within half a
mile of Bushy Run, their proposed resting-place.
The tired soldiers were pressing forward with re-
newed alacrity, when suddenly the report of rifles
from the front sent a thrill along the ranks; and, as
they listened, the firing thickened into a fierce, sharp
rattle, while shouts and whoops, deadened by the in-
tervening forest, showed that the advanced guard
was hotly engaged. The two foremost companies
were at once ordered forward to support it ; but
far from abating, the fire grew so rapid and furious
as to argue the presence of an enemy at once nu-
merous and resolute. At this, the convoy was halted,
the troops formed into line, and a general charge
ordered. Bearing down through the forest with
fixed bayonets, they drove the yelping assailants be-
fore them, and swept the ground clear. But at the
very moment of success, a fresh burst of whoops
and firing was heard from either flank, while a con-
fused noise from the rear showed that the convoy
was attacked. It was necessary instantly to fall
back for its support. Driving off the assailants, the
troops formed in a circle around the crowded and
terrified horses. Though they were new to the
360 THE BATTLE OF BUSHY BUN. [Chap. XX.
work, and though the numbers and movements of
the enemy, whose yelling resounded on every side,
were concealed by the thick forest, yet no man
lost his composure; and all displayed a steadiness
which nothing but implicit confidence in their com-
mander could have inspired. And now ensued a
combat of a nature most harassing and discouraging.
Again and again, now on this side and now' on
that, a crowd of Indians rushed up, pouring in
a heavy fire, and striving, with furious outcries, to
break into the circle. A well-directed volley met
them, followed by a steady charge of the bayonet.
They never waited an instant to receive the attack,
but, leaping backwards from tree to tree, soon van-
ished from sight, only to renew their attack with
unabated ferocity in another quarter. Such was
their activity that very few of them were hurt,
while the English, less expert in bush fighting, suf-
fered severely. Thus the fight went on, without in-
termission, for seven hours, until the forest grew
dark with approaching night. Upon this, the In-
dians gradually slackened their fire, and the ex-
hausted soldiers found time to rest.
It was impossible to change their ground in the
enemy's presence, and the troops were obliged to
encamp upon the hill where the combat had taken
place, though not a drop of water was to be found
there. Fearing a night attack, Bouquet stationed
numerous sentinels and outposts to guard against it,
while the men lay down upon their arms, preserving
the order they had maintained during the fight.
Having completed the necessary arrangements, Bou-
quet, doubtful of surviving the battle of the morrow,
wrote to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in a few clear, concise
Chap. XX.] DISTRESS AND DANGER OE THE TROOPS. 361
words, an account of the day's events. His letter
concludes as follows: "Whatever our fate may be, I
thought it necessary to give your excellency this
early information, that you may, at all events, take
such measures as you will think proper with the
provinces, for their own safety, and the effectual
relief of Fort Pitt; as, in case of another engage-
ment, I fear insurmountable difficulties in protecting
and transporting our provisions, being already so
much weakened by the losses of this day, in men
and horses, besides the additional necessity of
carrying the wounded, whose situation is truly
deplorable."
The condition of these unhappy men might well
awaken sympathy. About sixty soldiers, besides sev-
eral officers, had been killed or disabled. A space
in the centre of the camp was prepared for the
reception of the wounded, and surrounded by a wall
of flour-bags from the convoy, affording some pro-
tection against the bullets which flew from all
sides during the fight. Here they lay upon the
ground, enduring agonies of thirst, and waiting, pas-
sive and helpless, the issue of the battle. Deprived
of the animating thought that their lives and safety
depended on their own exertions ; surrounded by a
wilderness, and by scenes to the horror of which
no degree of familiarity could render the imagina-
tion callous, they must have endured mental suffer-
ings, compared to which the pain of their wounds
was slight. In the probable event of defeat, a fate
inexpressibly horrible awaited them ; while even vic-
tory would by no means insure their safety, since
any great increase in their numbers would render it
impossible for their comrades to transport them.
46 ee
362 THE BATTLE OF BUSHY BUN. [Chap. XX.
Nor was the condition of those who had hitherto
escaped an enviable one. Though they were about
equal in numbers to their assailants, yet the dex-
terity and alertness of the Indians, joined to the
nature of the country, gave all the advantages of a
greatly superior force. The enemy were, moreover,
exulting in the fullest confidence of success ; for it
was in these very forests that, eight years before,
they had well nigh destroyed twice their number of
the best British troops. Throughout the earlier part
of the night, they kept up a dropping fire upon the
camp, while, at short intervals, a wild whoop from
the thick surrounding gloom told with what fierce
eagerness they waited to glut their vengeance on the
morrow. The camp remained in darkness, for it
would have been highly dangerous to build fires
within its precincts, which would have served to
direct the aim of the lurking marksmen. Sur-
rounded by such terrors, the men snatched a
disturbed and broken sleep, recruiting their ex-
hausted strength for the renewed struggle of the
morning.
With the earliest dawn of day, and while the
damp, cool forest was still involved in twilight,
there rose around the camp a general burst of
those horrible cries which form the ordinary prel-
ude of an Indian battle. Instantly, from every side
at once, the enemy opened their fire, approaching
under cover of the trees and bushes, and levelling
with a close and deadly aim. Often, as on the pre-
vious day, they would rush up with furious impet-
uosity, striving to break into the ring of troops.
They were repulsed at every point; but the Eng-
lish, though constantly victorious, were beset with
Chap. XX.] CONFLICT OF THE SECOND DAY. 363
undiminished perils, while the violence of the enemy
seemed every moment on the increase. True to their
favorite tactics, they would never stand their ground
when attacked, but vanish at the first gleam of the
levelled bayonet, only to appear again the moment
the danger was past. The troops, fatigued by the
long march and equally long battle of the previous
day, were maddened by the torments of thirst, more
intolerable, says their commander, than the fire of
the enemy. They were fully conscious of the peril
in which they stood, of wasting away by slow de-
grees beneath the shot of assailants at once so
daring, so cautious, and so active, and upon whom
it was impossible to inflict any decisive injury. The
Indians saw their distress, and pressed them closer
and closer, redoubling their yells and ho wrings,
while some of them, sheltered behind trees, as-
sailed the troops, in bad English, with abuse and
derision.
Meanwhile the interior of the camp was a scene
of confusion. The horses, secured in a crowd near
the intrenchment which covered the wounded, were
often struck by the bullets, and wrought to the
height of terror by the mingled din of whoops,
shrieks, and firing. They would break away by
half scores at a time, burst through the ring of
troops and the outer circle of assailants, and scour
madly up and down the hill sides; while many of
the drivers, overcome by the terrors of a scene in
which they could bear no active part, hid them-
selves among the bushes, and could neither hear
nor obey orders.
It was now about ten o'clock. Oppressed with,
heat, fatigue, and thirst, the distressed troops still
364 THE BATTLE OE BUSHY RUN. [Chap. XX.
maintained a weary and wavering defence, encircling
the convoy in a yet unbroken ring. They were fast
falling in their ranks, and the strength and spirits
of the survivors had begun to flag. If the fortunes
of the day were to be retrieved, the effort must be
made at once; and happily the mind of the com-
mander was equal to the emergency. In the midst
of the confusion he conceived a stratagem alike
novel and masterly. Could the Indians be brought
together in a body, and made to stand their ground
when attacked, there could be little doubt of the
result; and to effect this object, Bouquet determined
to increase their confidence, which had already
mounted to an audacious pitch. Two companies of
infantry, forming a part of the ring which had been
exposed to the hottest fire, were ordered to fall back
into the interior of the camp, while the troops on
either hand joined their files across the vacant
space, as if to cover the retreat of their comrades.
These orders, given at a favorable moment, were
executed with great promptness. The thin line of
troops who took possession of the deserted part
of the circle, were, from their small numbers,
brought closer in towards the centre. The Indians
mistook these movements for a retreat. Confident
that their time was come, they leaped up on all
sides, from behind the trees and bushes, and, with
infernal screeches, rushed headlong towards the spot,
pouring in a most heavy and galling fire. The
shock was too violent to be long endured. The men
struggled to maintain their posts, but the Indians
seemed on the point of breaking into the heart of
the camp, when the aspect of affairs was suddenly
reversed. The two companies, who had apparently
Chap. XX.] SUCCESSFUL STRATAGEM. 365
abandoned their position, were in fact destined to
begin the attack ; and they now sallied out from
the circle at a point where a depression in the
ground, joined to the thick growth of trees, con-
cealed them from the eyes of the Indians. Making
a short detour through the woods, they came round
upon the flank of the furious assailants, and dis-
charged a deadly volley into their very midst. Num-
bers were seen to fall; yet though completely sur-
prised, and utterly at a loss to understand the
nature of the attack, the Indians faced about with
the greatest intrepidity, and boldly returned the fire.
But the Highlanders, with yells as wild as their
own, fell on them with the bayonet. The shock
was irresistible, and they fled before the charging
ranks in a tumultuous throng. Orders had been
given to two other companies, occupying a contig-
uous part of the circle, to support the attack when-
ever a favorable moment should occur; and they had
therefore advanced a little from their position, and
lay close crouched in ambush. The fugitive multi-
tude, pressed by the Highland bayonets, passed
directly across their front, upon which they rose
and poured among them a second volley, no less
destructive than the former. This completed the
rout. The four companies, uniting, drove the flying-
savages through the woods, giving them no time to
rally or reload their empty rifles, killing manyj and
scattering the rest in hopeless confusion.
While this took place at one part of the circle,
the troops and the savages had still maintained their
respective positions at the other; but when the lat-
ter perceived the total rout of their comrades, and
saw the troops advancing to assail them, they also
EE*
366
THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN.
[Chap. XX.
lost heart, and fled. The discordant outcries which
had so long deafened the ears of the English soon
ceased altogether, and not a living Indian remained
near the spot. About sixty corpses lay scattered
over the ground. Among them were found those of
several prominent chiefs, while the blood which
stained the leaves of the bushes showed that num-
bers had fled severely wounded from the field. The
soldiers took but one prisoner, whom they shot to
death like a captive wolf. The loss of the English
in the two battles surpassed that of the enemy,
amounting to eight officers and one hundred and
fifteen men.1
Having been for some time detained by the
necessity of making litters for the wounded, and
1 MS. Letters — Bouquet to Am-
herst, Aug. 5, 6. Penn. Gaz. 1809-
1810. Gent. Mag. XXXIII. 487.
London Mag. for 1763, 545. Hutch-
ins, Account of Bouquet's Expedi-
tion. Annual Register for 1763, 28.
Mante, 493.
The accounts of this action, pub-
lished in the journals of the day, ex-
cited much attention, from the wild
and novel character of this species
of warfare. A well-written descrip-
tion of the battle, together with a
journal of Bouquet's expedition of
the succeeding year, was published
in a thin quarto, with illustrations
from the pencil of West. The
writer, Thomas Hutchins, became
afterwards known as the author of
several geographical works relating
to the western territories of Amer-
ica. A French translation of his
narrative was published at Amster-
dam in 1769.
Extract from a Letter — Fort Pitt,
August 12, (Penn. Gaz. No. 1810.)
" We formed a Circle round our
Convoy and Wounded; upon which
the Savages collected themselves,
and continued whooping and popping
at us all the Evening. Next Morn-
ing, having mustered all their Force,
they began the War-whoop, attacking
us in Front, when the Colonel feigned
a Retreat, which encouraged the In-
dians to an eager Pursuit, while the
Light Infantry and Grenadiers rushed
out on then Right and Left Flanks,
attacking them where they little ex-
pected it ; by which Means a great
Number of them were killed ; and
among the rest, Keelyuskung, a Del-
aware Chief, who the Night before,
and that Morning, had been Black-
guarding us in English: We lost
one Man in the Rear, on our March
the Day after.
" In other Letters from Fort Pitt, it
is mentioned that, to a Man, they
were resolved to defend the Garrison
(if the Troops had not arrived) as
long as any Ammunition, and Provis-
ion to support them, were left ; and
that then they would have fought
their Way through, or died in the
Attempt, rather than have been made
Prisoners by such perfidious, cruel,
and Blood-thirsty Hell-hounds."
See Appendix, D.
Chap. XX.] BOUQUET REACHES EOItT PITT. 367
destroying the stores which the flight of most of
the horses made it impossible to transport, the army
moved on, in the afternoon, to Bnshy Run. Here
they had scarcely formed their camp, when they were
again fired upon by a body of Indians, who, however,
were soon repulsed. On the next day, they resumed
their progress towards Fort Pitt, distant about twenty-
five miles, and though frequently annoyed on the
march by petty attacks, they reached their destination,
on the tenth, without serious loss. It was a joyful
moment both to the troops and to the garrison.
The latter, it will be remembered, were left sur-
rounded and hotly pressed by the Indians, who had
beleaguered the place from the twenty-eighth of July
to the first of August, when, hearing of Bouquet's
approach, they had abandoned the siege, and inarched
to attack him. From this time, the garrison had seen
nothing of them until the morning of the tenth,
when, shortly before the army appeared, they had
passed the fort in a body, raising the scalp-yell, and
displaying their disgusting trophies to the view of
the English.1
1 Extract from a Letter — Fort than the Small-pox. — From the 16th
Pitt, August 12, (Perm. Gaz. No. of June to the 28th of July, we were
1810.) pestered with the Enemy ; sometimes
"As you will probably have the with their Flags, demanding Con-
Accounts of these Engagements from ferences ; at other Times threaten-
the Gentlemen that were in them, I ing, then soothing, and offering their
shall say no more than this, that it Cordial Advice, for us to evacuate the
is the general Opinion, the Troops Place ; for that they, the Delawares,
behaved with the utmost Intrepidity, tho' our dear Friends and Brothers,
and the Indians Avere never known to could no longer protect us from the
behave so fiercely. You may be sure Fury of Legions of other Nations,
the Sight of the Troops was very that were coming from the Lakes,
agreeable to our poor Garrison, being &c, to destroy us. But, finding that
penned up in the Fort from the 27th neither had any Effect on us, they
of May to the 9th Instant, and the mustered their whole Force, in Num-
Barrack Rooms crammed with Men, ber about 400, and began a most furi-
Women, and Children, tho' provi- ous Fire from all Quarters on the Fort,
dentially no other Disorder ensued which they continued for four Days,
368 THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN. [Chap. XX.
The battle of Bushy Run was one of the best con-
tested actions ever fought between white men and
Indians. If there were any disparity of numbers, the
advantage was on the side of the troops, and the
Indians had displayed throughout a fierceness and
intrepidity matched only by the steady valor with
which they were met. In the provinces, the victory
excited equal joy and admiration, more especially
among those who knew the incalculable difficulties
of an Indian campaign. The assembly of Pennsyl-
vania passed a vote expressing their high sense of
the merits of Bouquet, and of the important service
which he had rendered to the province. He soon
after received the additional honor of the formal
thanks of the king.1
In many an Indian village, the women cut away
their hair, gashed their limbs with knives, and ut-
tered their dismal howlings of lamentation for the
fallen. Yet, though surprised and dispirited, the rage
and great Part of the Nights, viz., but am afraid they will disperse in
from the 28th of July to the last. — small Parties, among the Inhabitants,
Our Commander was wounded by an if not well defended."
Arrow in the Leg, and no other Per- 1 Extract from a MS. Letter — Sir
son, of any Note, hurt, tho' the Balls J. Amherst to Colonel Bouquet,
were whistling very thick about our ^T - , n, , ,„„„
Ears. Nine Rank and File wound- " New York> 31st AuSust' 1/63-
ed, and one Hulings having his Leg " The Disposition you made for
broke, was the whole of our Loss the Reception of the Indians, the
during this hot Firing ; tho' we have Second Day, was indeed very wisely
Reason to think that we killed sev- Concerted, and as happily Executed ;
eral of our loving Brethren, notwith- I am pleased with Every part of your
standing their Alertness in skulking Conduct on the Occasion, which be-
behind the Banks of the Rivers, &c. ing so well seconded by the Officers
— These Gentry, seeing they could and Soldiers under your Command,
not take the Fort, sheered off, and Enabled you not only to Protect
we heard no more of them till the your Large Convoy, but to rout a
Account of the above Engagements Body of Savages that would have
came to hand, when we Avere con- been very formidable against any
vinced that our good Brothers did us Troops, but such as you had with
this second Act of Friendship. — you."
What they intend next, God knows,
Chap. XX.] EFFECTS OF THE VICTOEY. 369
of the Indians was too deep to be quenched, even
by so signal a reverse, and their outrages upon the
frontier were resumed with unabated ferocity. Fort
Pitt, however, was effectually relieved, while the moral
effect of the victory enabled the frontier settlers to
encounter the enemy with a spirit which would have
been wanting, had Bouquet sustained a defeat.
47
CHAPTER XXI.
THE IROQUOIS. — AMBUSCADE OF THE DEVIL'S HOLE.
"While Bouquet was fighting the battle of Bushy
Run, and Dalzell making his fatal sortie against
the camp of Pontiac, Sir William Johnson was en-
gaged in the more pacific, yet more important task
of securing the friendship and alliance of the Six
Nations. After several preliminary conferences, he
sent runners throughout the whole confederacy to in-
vite deputies of the several tribes to meet him in
council at Johnson Hall. The request was not de-
clined. Prom the banks of the Mohawk, from the
Oneida, Cayuga, and Tuscarora villages, from the val-
ley of Onondaga, where, from immemorial time, had
burned the great council-fire of the confederacy, came
chiefs and warriors, gathering to the place of meet-
ing. The Senecas alone, the warlike tenants of the
Genesee valley, refused to attend, for they were al-
ready in arms against the English. Besides the Iro-
quois, deputies came likewise from the tribes dwelling
along the St. Lawrence, and within the settled parts
of Canada.
The council opened on the seventh of September.
The whole assembly wore a sour and sullen look;
but Sir William Johnson, by a dexterous mingling
of reasoning, threats, and promises, allayed their dis-
content, and banished the thoughts of war. They
Chap. XXI,] EFFECT OF JOHNSON'S INFLUENCE. 371
winced, however, when he informed them that, during
the next season, an English army must pass through
their country, on its way to punish the refractory
tribes of the west. " Your foot is broad and heavy,"
said the speaker from Onondaga ; " take care that you
do not tread on us." Seeing the improved temper
of his auditory, Johnson was led to hope for some
farther advantage than that of mere neutrality. He
accordingly urged the Iroquois to take up arms
against the hostile tribes, and concluded his final
harangue with the following figurative words : "I
now deliver you a good English axe, which I desire
you will give to the warriors of all your nations, with
directions to use it against these covenant-breakers,
by cutting off the bad links which have sullied the
chain of friendship."
These words were confirmed by the presentation
of a black war-belt of wampum, and the offer of a
hatchet, which the Iroquois did not refuse to accept.
That they would take any very active and strenuous
part in the war, could not be expected; yet their
bearing arms at all would prove of great advantage,
by discouraging the hostile Indians who had looked
upon the Iroquois as friends and abetters. Some
months after the council, several small parties actu-
ally took the field, and, being stimulated by the
prospect of reward, brought in a considerable num-
ber of scalps and prisoners.1
Upon the persuasion of Sir William Johnson, the
tribes of Canada were induced to send a message to
the western Indians, exhorting them to bury the
hatchet, while the Iroquois despatched an embassy of
i MS. Minutes of Conference with the Six Nations and others, at John-
son Hall, Sept. 1763.
372 THE IROQUOIS. [Chap. XXI.
similar import to the Delawares on the Susquehanna.
"Cousins the Delawares" — thus ran the message —
" we have heard that many wild Indians in the west,
who have tails like bears, have let fall the chain of
friendship, and taken up the hatchet against our
brethren the English. We desire you to hold fast
the chain, and shut your ears against their words."1
In spite of the friendly disposition to which the
Iroquois had been brought, the province of New
York suffered not a little from the attacks of the
hostile tribes who ravaged the borders of Ulster,
Orange, and Albany counties, and threatened to de-
stroy the upper settlements of the Mohawk.2 Sir
William Johnson was the object of their especial
enmity, and he several times received intimations that
he was about to be attacked. He armed his tenant-
ry, surrounded his seat of Johnson Hall with a
stockade, and garrisoned it with a party of soldiers,
which Sir Jeffrey Amherst had ordered thither for
his protection. About this time, a singular incident
occurred near the town of Goshen. Four or five men
went out among the hills to shoot partridges, and,
chancing to raise a large covey, they all fired their
guns at nearly the same moment. The timorous in-
habitants, hearing the reports, concluded that they came
1 MS. Harrisburg Papers. hensions of the Indians : As they
2 Extract from a MS. Letter — Sir in General Confide much in my Res-
W. Johnson to Sir J. Amherst. idence, they are hitherto Prevented
,, T , „ - from taking that hasty Measure, but
Johnson Hall, July 8th, 1763. shouW j b£ obliged to retire (which
" I Cannot Conclude without Rep- I hope will not be the case) not only
resenting to Your Excellency the my Own Tenants, who are upwards of
great Panic and uneasiness into 120 Families, but all the Rest would
which the Inhabitants of these parts Immediately follow the Example,
are cast, which I have endeavored to which I am Determined against doing
Remove by every Method in my 'till the last Extremity, as I know it
power, to prevent their Abandoning would prove of general bad Conse-
their Settlements from their appre- quence."
Chap. XXL] FALSE ALARM AT GOSHEN. 373
from an Indian war-party, and instantly fled in ex-
treme dismay, spreading- the alarm as they went.
The neighboring country was soon in a panic. The
farmers cut the harness of their horses, and, leaving
their carts and ploughs behind, galloped for their
lives. Others, snatching up their children and their
most valuable property, made with all speed for New
England, not daring to pause until they had crossed
the Hudson. For several days the neighborhood was
abandoned, five hundred families having left their
habitations and fled.1 Not long after this absurd af-
fair, an event occurred of a widely different character.
Allusion has before been made to the carrying-
place of Niagara, which formed an essential link in
the chain of communication between the province of
New York and the interior country. Men and
military stores were conveyed in boats up the River
Niagara, as far as the present site of Lewiston.
Thence a portage road, several miles in length, passed
along the banks of the stream, and terminated at
Fort Schlosser, above the cataract. This road trav-
ersed a region whose sublime features have gained
for it a world-wide renown. The River Niagara, a
short distance below the cataract, assumes an aspect
scarcely less remarkable than that stupendous scene
itself. Its channel is formed by a vast ravine, whose
sides, now bare and weather-stained, now shaggy with
forest-trees, rise in cliffs of appalling height and steep-
ness. Along this chasm pour all the waters of the
lakes, heaving their furious surges with the power
of an ocean and the rage of a mountain torrent.
About three miles below the cataract, the precipices
i Penn. Gaz. No. 1809.
FF
374 AMBUSCADE OF THE DEVIL'S HOLE. [Chap. XXL
which form the eastern wall of the ravine are broken
by an abyss of awful depth and blackness, bearing
at the present day the name of the Devil's Hole.
In its shallowest part, the precipice sinks sheer down
to the depth of eighty feet, where it meets a chaotic
mass of rocks, descending with an abrupt declivity to
unseen depths below. Within the cold and damp
recesses of the gulf, a host of forest-trees have rooted
themselves ; and, standing on the perilous brink, one
may look down upon the mingled foliage of ash,
poplar, and maple, while, above them all, the spruce
and fir shoot their sharp and rigid spires upward
into sunlight. The roar of the convulsed river swells
heavily on the ear, and, far below, its headlong waters
may be discerned careering in foam past the openings
of the matted foliage.
On the thirteenth of September, a numerous train
of wagons and pack horses proceeded from the lower
landing to Fort Schlosser, and on the following morn-
ing set out on their return, guarded by an escort of
twenty-four soldiers. They pursued their slow prog-
ress until they reached a point where the road passed
along the brink of the Devil's Hole. The gulf
yawned on their left, while on their right the road
was skirted by low and densely wooded hills. Sud-
denly they were greeted by the blaze and clatter of
a hundred rifles. Then followed the startled cries
of men, and the bounding of maddened horses. At
the next instant, a host of Indians broke screeching
from the woods, and rifle but and tomahawk finished
the bloody work. All was over in a moment. Horses
leaped the precipice; men were driven shrieking into
the abyss; teams and wagons went over, crashing to
atoms among the rocks below. Tradition relates that
Chap. XXL] THE CONVOY ATTACKED. 375
the drummer boy of the detachment was caught, in
his fall, among the branches of a tree, where he
hung suspended by his drum-strap. Being but slight-
ly injured, he disengaged himself, and, hiding in the
recesses of the gulf, finally escaped. One of the
teamsters also, who was wounded at the first fire,
contrived to crawl into the woods, where he lay con-
cealed till the Indians had left the place. Besides
these two, the only survivor was Stedman, the con-
ductor of the convoy, who, being well mounted, and
seeing the whole party forced helplessly towards the
precipice, wheeled his horse, and resolutely spurred
through the crowd of Indians. One of them, it is
said, seized his bridle ; but he freed himself by a
dexterous use of his knife, and plunged into the
woods, untouched by the bullets which whistled about
his head. Flying at full speed through the forest,
he reached Fort Schlosser in safety.
The distant sound of the Indian rifles had been
heard by a party of soldiers, who occupied a small
fortified camp near the lower landing. Forming in
haste, they advanced eagerly to the rescue. In an-
ticipation of this movement, the Indians, who were
nearly five hundred in number, had separated into
two parties, one of which had stationed itself at the
Devil's Hole, to waylay the convoy, while the other
formed an ambuscade upon the road a mile nearer
the landing-place. The soldiers, marching precip-
itately, and huddled in a close body, were suddenly
assailed by a volley of rifles, which stretched half
their number dead upon the road. Then, rushing
from the forest, the Indians cut down the survivors
with merciless ferocity. A small remnant only escaped
the massacre, and fled to Fort Niagara with the
376
AMBUSCADE OF THE DEVIL'S HOLE. [Chap. XXI.
tidings. Major Wilkins, who commanded at this
post, lost no time in marching to the spot, with
nearly the whole strength of his garrison. Not an
Indian was to be found. At the two places of
ambuscade, about seventy dead bodies were counted,
naked, scalpless, and so horribly mangled that many
of them could not be recognized. All the wagons
had been broken to pieces, and such of the horses
as were not driven over the precipice had been car-
ried off, laden, doubtless, with the plunder. The
ambuscade of the Devil's Hole has gained a tra-
ditionary immortality, adding fearful interest to a
scene whose native horrors need no aid from the
imagination.1
1 MS. Letter — Amherst to Egre-
mont, October 13. Two anonymous
letters from officers at Fort Niagara,
September 16 and 17. Life of Mary
Jemison. Appendix, MS. Johnson
Papers.
One of the actors in the tragedy, a
Seneca warrior, named Blacksnake,
was living a few years since at a
very advanced age. He described
the scene with great animation to a
friend of the writer, and as he related
how the English were forced over
the precipice, his small eyes glittered
like those of the serpent whose name
he bore.
Extract from a Letter — Niagara,
September 16, (Perm. Gaz. No. 1815.)
" On the first hearing of the Firing
by the Convoy, Capt. Johnston, and
three Subalterns, marched with about
80 Men, mostly of Gage's Light In-
fantry, who were in a little Camp ad-
jacent ; they had scarce Time to form
when the Indians appeared at the
above Pass ; our People fired briskly
upon them, but was instantly sur-
rounded, and the Captain who com-
manded mortally wounded the first
Fire ; the 3 Subalterns also were soon
after killed, on which a general Con-
fusion ensued: The Indians rushed
in on all Sides, and cut about 60 or
70 Men in Pieces, including the Con
voy : Ten of our Men are all we can
yet learn have made their Escape ;
they came here through the Woods
Yesterday. From many Circum-
stances, it is believed the Senecas
have a chief Hand in this Affair."
Extract from a Letter — Niagara,
September 17, (Penn. Gaz. No. 1815.)
" Wednesday the 14th Inst, a large
Body of Indians, some say 300, oth-
ers 4 or 500, came down upon the
Carrying-Place, attacked the Wag-
gon Escort, which consisted of a
Serjeant and 24 Men. This small
Body immediately became a Sacri-
fice, only two Waggoners escaped.
Two Companies of Light Infantry
(the General's and La Hunt's) that
were encamped at the Lower Land-
ing, hearing the Fire, instantly rushed
out to their Relief, headed by Lieuts.
George Campbell, and Frazier, Lieu-
tenant Rosco, of the Artillery, and
Lieutenant Deaton, of the Provin-
cials ; this Party had not marched
above a Mile and Half when they
were attacked, surrounded, and al-
most every Man cut to Pieces ; the
Chap. XXI.] DISASTER ON LAKE ERIE. 377
The Seneca warriors, aided probably by some of
the western Indians, were the authors of this unex-
pected attack. Their hostility did not end here.
Several weeks afterwards, Major Wilkins, with a
force of six hundred regulars, collected with great
effort throughout the provinces, was advancing to
the relief of Detroit. As the boats were slowly
forcing their way upwards against the swift cur-
rent above the Falls of Niagara, they were assailed
by a mere handful of Indians, thrown into con-
fusion, and driven back to Fort Schlosser with
serious loss. The next attempt was more fortunate,
the boats reaching Lake Erie without farther attack;
but the inauspicious opening of the expedition was
followed by results yet more disastrous. As they
approached their destination, a violent storm overtook
them in the night. The frail bateaux, tossing upon
the merciless waves of Lake Erie, were overset,
driven ashore, and many of them dashed to pieces.
About seventy men perished, all the ammunition and
stores were destroyed, and the shattered flotilla was
forced back to Niagara.1
Officers were all killed, it is reported, i MS. Diary of an officer in Wil-
on the Enemy's first Fire ; the Sav- kins' expedition against the Indians
ages rushed down upon them in at Detroit,
three Columns."
48
FF
CHAPTER XXII.
DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS.
The advancing frontiers of American civilization
have always nurtured a class of men of striking and
peculiar character. The best examples of this char-
acter have, perhaps, been found among the settlers
of Western Virginia, and the hardy progeny who
have sprung from that generous stock. The Virgin-
ian frontiersman was, as occasion called, a farmer, a
hunter, and a warrior, by turns. The well-beloved
rifle was seldom out of his hand, and he never
deigned to lay aside the fringed frock, moccasons,
and Indian leggins, which formed the appropriate
costume of the forest ranger. Concerning the busi-
ness, pleasures, and refinements of cultivated life, he
knew little, and cared nothing; and his manners
were usually rough and obtrusive to the last degree.
Aloof from mankind, he lived in a world of his
own, which, in his view, contained all that was de-
serving of admiration and praise. He looked upon
himself and his compeers as models of prowess and
manhood, nay, of all that is elegant and polite; and
the forest gallant regarded with peculiar compla-
cency his own half-savage dress, his swaggering
gait, and his backwoods jargon. He was wilful,
headstrong, and quarrelsome; frank, straightforward,
and generous; brave as the bravest, and utterly
Chap. XXII] THE VIRGINIAN BACKWOODSMAN. 379
intolerant of arbitrary control. His self-confidence
mounted to audacity. Eminently capable of heroism,
both in action and endurance, he viewed every
species of effeminacy with supreme contempt ; and,
accustomed as he was to entire self-reliance, the
mutual dependence of conventional life excited his
especial scorn. With all his ignorance, he had a
mind by nature quick, vigorous, and penetrating;
and his mode of life, while it developed the daring
energy of his character, wrought some of his facul-
ties to a high degree of acuteness. Many of his
traits have been reproduced in his offspring. From
him have sprung those hardy men whose struggles
and sufferings on the bloody ground of Kentucky
will always form a striking page in American his-
tory, and that band of adventurers before whose
headlong charge, in the valley of Chihuahua, neither
breastworks, nor batteries, nor fivefold odds could
avail for a moment.
At the period of Pontiac's war, the settlements of
Virginia had extended as far as the Alleghanies, and
several small towns had already sprung up beyond
the Blue Ridge. The population of these beautiful
valleys was, for the most part, thin and scattered, and
the progress of settlement had been greatly retarded
by Indian hostilities, which, during the early years
of the French war, had thrown these borders into
total confusion. They had contributed, however,
to enhance the martial temper of the people, and
give a warlike aspect to the whole frontier. At in-
tervals, small stockade forts, containing houses and
cabins, had been erected by the joint labor of the
inhabitants ; and hither, on occasion of alarm, the
settlers of the neighborhood congregated for refuge,
<j80 DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS. [Chap. XXII
remaining in tolerable security till the clanger was
past. Many of the inhabitants were engaged for a
great part of the year in hunting, an occupation
upon which they entered with the keenest relish.1
Well versed in woodcraft, unsurpassed as marksmen,
and practised in all the wiles of Indian war, they
would have formed, under a more stringent organiza-
tion, the best possible defence against a savage
enemy; but each man came and went at his own
sovereign will, and discipline and obedience were re-
pugnant to all his habits.
The frontiers of Maryland and Virginia closely
resembled each other, but those of Pennsylvania had
some peculiarities of their own. The population of
this province was of a most motley complexion,
being made up of members of various nations, and
numerous religious sects, English, Irish, German,
Swiss, Welsh, and Dutch ; Quakers, Presbyterians,
Lutherans, Dunkers, Mennonists, and Moravians.
Nor is this catalogue by any means complete. The
Quakers, to whose peaceful temper the rough fron-
tier oiFered no attraction, were confined to the east-
ern parts of the province. Cumberland county,
which lies west of the Susquehanna, and may be
said to have formed the frontier, was then almost
exclusively occupied by the Irish and their descend-
ants, who, however, were neither of the Roman faith,
i " I have often seen them get up intentions of his master, would wag
early in the morning at this season, his tail, and, by every blandishment
walk hastily out, and look anxiously in his power, express his readiness
to the woods, and snuff the autumnal to accompany him to the woods." —
winds with the highest rapture, then Doddridge, Notes on Western Va. and
return into the house, and cast a quick Pa. 124.
and attentive look at the rifle, which For a view of the state of the
was always suspended to a joist by a frontier, see also Kercheval, Hist, of
couple of buck's horns, or little forks, the Valley of Virginia ; and Smyth,
His hunting dog, understanding the Travels in America.
Chap. XXII.] CONSTERNATION OF THE SETTLERS. 381
nor of Hibernian origin, being emigrants from the
colony of Scotch, which forms a numerous and thrifty
population in the north of Ireland. In religious faith,
they were stanch and zealous Presbyterians. Long
residence in the province had modified their national
character, and imparted many of the peculiar traits
of the American backwoodsman ; yet the nature of
their religious tenets produced a certain rigidity of
temper and demeanor, from which the Virginian was
wholly free. They were, nevertheless, hot-headed and
turbulent, often setting law and authority at defiance.
The counties east of the Susquehanna supported a
mixed population, among which was conspicuous a
swarm of German peasants, who had been inun-
dating the country for many years past, and who for
the most part were dull and ignorant boors; a char-
acter not wholly inapplicable to the great body of
their descendants. The Swiss and German sectaries
called Mennonists, who were numerous in Lancaster
county, professed, like the Quakers, principles of
non-resistance, and refused to bear arms.1
It was upon this mingled population that the
storm of Indian war was now descending with ap-
palling fury — a fury unparalleled through all past
and succeeding years. For hundreds of miles from
north to south, the country was wasted with fire
and steel. It would be a task alike useless and re-
volting to explore, through all its details, this horrible
monotony of blood and havoc.2 The country was
1 For an account of the population 2 " There are many Letters in
of Pennsylvania, see Rupp's two his- Town, in which the Distresses of
tories of York and Lancaster, and the Frontier Inhabitants are set forth
of Lebanon and Berks counties, in a most moving and striking Man-
See also the History of Cumberland ner ; but as these Letters are pretty
County, and the Penn. Hist. Coll. much the same, and it would be end-
382
DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS. [Chap. XXII
filled with the wildest dismay. The people of Vir-
ginia betook themselves to their forts for refuge.
But those of Pennsylvania, ill supplied with such
asylums, fled by thousands, and crowded in upon the
older settlements. The ranging parties who visited
the scene of devastation beheld, among the ruined
farms and plantations, sights of unspeakable horror,
and discovered, in the depths of the forest, the half-
consumed bodies of men and women, still bound fast
to the trees, where they had perished in the fiery
torture.1
less to insert the whole, the following
is the Substance of some of them,
as near as we can recollect, viz. : —
" That the Indians had set Fire to
Houses, Barns, Corn, Hay, and, in
short, to every Thing that was com-
bustible, so that the whole Country
seemed to be in one general Blaze —
That the Miseries and Distresses of
the poor People were really shocking
to Humanity, and beyond the Power
of Language to describe — That
Carlisle was become the Barrier, not
a single Individual being beyond it
— That every Stable and Hovel in
the Town was crowded with miser-
able Refugees, who were reduced to
a State of Beggary and Despair ;
their Houses, Cattle and Harvest de-
stroyed ; and from a plentiful, inde-
pendent People, they were become
real Objects of Charity and Commis-
eration— That it was most dismal
to see the Streets filled with People,
in whose Countenances might be dis-
covered a Mixture of Grief, Madness
and Despair ; and to hear, now and
then, the Sighs and Groans of Men,
the disconsolate Lamentations of
Women, and the Screams of Chil-
dren, who had lost their nearest and
dearest Relatives : And that on both
Sides of the Susquehannah, for some
Miles, the Woods were filled with
poor Families, and their Cattle, who
make Fires, and live like the Sav-
ages."— Penn. Gaz. No. 1805.
Extract from a MS. Letter, signa-
ture erased — Staunton, July 26.
" Since the reduction of the Regi-
ment, I have lived in the country,
which enables me to enform yr HoVJC
of some particulars, I think it is a
duty incumbent on me to do. I can
assert that in eight years' service, I
never knew such a general conster-
nation as the late irruption of In-
dians has occasioned. Should they
make a second attempt, I am assured
the country will be laid desolate,
which I attribute to the following
reasons. The sudden, great, and
unexpected slaughter of the people ;
their being destitute of arms and
ammunition; the country Lieut, being
at a distance and not exerting him-
self, his orders are neglected; the
most of the militia officers being
unfit persons, or unwilling, not to
say afraid to meet an Enemy; too
busy with their harvest to run a risk
in the field. The Inhabitants left
without protection, without a person
to stead them, have nothing to do
but fly, as the Indians are saving
and caressing all the negroes they
take ; should it produce an insurrec-
tion, it may be attended with the
most serious consequences."
i " To Col. Francis Lee, or, in his
Absence, to the next Commanding
Officer in Loudoun County." (Perm.
Gaz. No. 1805.)
"I examined the Express that
Chap. XXIL] ATTACK ON GREENBRIER. 383
Among the numerous war-parties which were now
ravaging the borders, none was more destructive than
a band, about sixty in number, which ascended the
Kenawha, and pursued its desolating course among
the settlements about the sources of that river.
They passed valley after valley, sometimes attacking
the inhabitants by surprise, and sometimes murdering
them under the mask of friendship, until they came
to the little settlement of Greenbrier, where nearly
a hundred of the people were assembled at the for-
tified house of Archibald Glendenning. Seeing two
or three Indians approach, whom they recognized as
former acquaintances, they suffered them to enter
without distrust; but the new-comers were soon
joined by others, until the entire party were gathered
in and around the buildings. Some suspicion was
now awakened, and, in order to propitiate the dan-
gerous guests, they were presented with the carcass
of an elk lately brought in by the hunters. They
immediately cut it up, and began to feast upon it.
The backwoodsmen, with their families, were as-
sembled in one large room; and finding themselves
mingled among the Indians, and embarrassed by the
presence of the women and children, they remained
indecisive and irresolute. Meanwhile, an old woman,
who sat in a corner of the room, and who had
brought this Letter from Winches- knock her on the Head, to put an
ter to Loudoun County, and he in- End to her Agony, but this Express
formed me that he was employed as apprehending the Indians were near
an Express from Fort Cumberland to at Hand, and not thinking it safe to
Winchester, which Place he left the lose any Time, rode off, and left the
4tl1 Instant, and that passing from poor Woman in the Situation they
the Fort to Winchester, he saw lying found her."
on the Road a Woman, who had The circumstances referred to in
been just scalped, and was then in the text are mentioned in several
the Agonies of Death, with her pamphlets of the day, on the author-
Brains hanging over her Skull; his ity of James Smith, a prominent
Companions made a Proposal to leader of the rangers.
384 DESOLATION OF THE EEONTIERS. [Chap. XXII.
lately received some slight accidental injury, asked
one of the warriors if he could cure the wound.
He replied that he thought he could, and, to make
good his words, killed her with his tomahawk.
This was the signal for a scene of general butchery.
A few persons made their escape; the rest were
killed or captured. Glendenning snatched up one
of his children, and rushed from the house, but was
shot dead as he leaped the fence. A negro woman
gained a place of concealment, whither she was fol-
lowed by her screaming child; and, fearing lest the
cries of the boy should betray her, she turned and
killed him at a blow. Among the prisoners was the
wife of Glendenning, a woman of a most masculine
S]3irit, who, far from being overpowered by what she
had seen, was excited to the extremity of rage,
charged her captors with treachery, cowardice, and
ingratitude, and assailed them with a tempest of
abuse. Neither the tomahawk, which they bran-
dished over her head, nor the scalp of her murdered
husband, with which they struck her in the face,
could silence the undaunted virago. When the party
began their retreat, bearing with them a great quan-
tity of plunder, packed on the horses they had
stolen, Glendenning' s wife, with her infant child,
was placed among a long train of captives, guarded
before and behind by the Indians. As they defiled
along a narrow path which led through a gap in
the mountains, she handed the child to the woman
behind her, and, leaving it to its fate,1 slipped into
1 Her absence was soon perceived, ineffectual, he dashed out its brains
on which one of the Indians remarked against a tree. This was related by
that he would bring the cow back to one of the captives who was taken
her calf, and, seizing the child, forced to the Indian villages and afterwards
it to scream violently. This proving redeemed.
Chap. XXII] ATTACK ON A SCHOOL-HOUSE. 385
the bushes and escaped. Being well acquainted with
the woods, she succeeded, before nightfall, in reach-
ing the spot where the ruins of her dwelling had
not yet ceased to burn. Here she sought out the
body of her husband, and covered it with fence rails,
to protect it from the wolves. "When her task was
complete, and when night closed around her, the
bold spirit which had hitherto borne her up sud-
denly gave way. The recollection of the horrors
she had witnessed, the presence of the dead, the
darkness, the solitude, and the gloom of the sur-
rounding forest, wrought upon her till her terror
rose to ecstasy, and she remained until daybreak,
crouched among the bushes, haunted by the threat-
ening apparition of an armed man, who, to her
heated imagination, seemed constantly approaching to
murder her.1
Some time after the butchery at Glenclenning's
house, an outrage was perpetrated, unmatched, in its
fiend-like atrocity, through all the annals of the
war. In a solitary place, deep within the settled
limits of Pennsylvania, stood a small school-house,
one of those rude structures of logs which, to this
day, may be seen in some of the remote northern
districts of New England. A man chancing to pass
by was struck by the unwonted silence, and, push-
ing open the door, he looked within. In the centre
lay the master, scalped and lifeless, with a Bible
clasped in his hand, while around the room were
strewn the bodies of his pupils, nine in number,
miserably mangled, though one of them still retained
a spark of life. It was afterwards known that the
1 Doddridge, Notes, 221. MS. from the relation of Glendenning's
Narrative, written by Colonel Stuart wife.
49 GG
386 DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS. [Chap. XXII.
deed was committed by three or four warriors from
a village near the Ohio ; and it is but just to ob-
serve that, when they returned home, their conduct
was disapproved by some of the tribe.1
Page after page might be filled with records like
these, for the letters and journals of the day are re-
plete with narratives no less tragical. Districts were
depopulated, and the progress of the country put
back for years. Those small and scattered settle-
ments which formed the feeble van of advancing civ-
ilization were involved in general destruction, and the
fate of one may stand for the fate of all. In many
a woody valley of the Alleghanies, the axe and fire-
brand of the settlers had laid a wide space open to
the sun. Here and there, about the clearing, stood
rough dwellings of logs, surrounded by enclosures
and cornfields, while, farther out towards the verge
of the woods, the fallen trees still cumbered the
ground. From the clay-built chimneys the smoke
rose in steady columns against the dark verge of
the forest ; and the afternoon sun, which brightened
the tops of the mountains, had already left the val-
ley in shadow. Before many hours elapsed, the
1 Gordon, Hist. Penn. Appendix, they returned home with the scalps ;
Bard, Narrative. some of the old Indians were very
" Several small parties went on to much displeased at them for killing
different parts of the settlements : it so many children, especially Neep-
happened that three of them, whom paugh-ivhese, or Night Walker, an
I was well acquainted with, came old chief, or half king, — he ascribed
from the neighbourhood of where I it to cowardice, which was the great-
was taken from — they were young est affront he could offer them." —
fellows, perhaps none of them more M'Cullough, Narrative.
than twenty years of age, — they Extract from an anonymous Let-
came to a school-house, where they ter — Philadelphia, August 30? 1764.
murdered and scalped the master, "The Lad found alive in the
and all the scholars, except one, who School, and said to be since dead, is,
survived after he was scalped, a boy I am informed, yet alive, and in a
about ten years old, and a full cousin likely Way to recover."
of mine. I saw the Indians when
Chap. XXII] SUFFERINGS OF CAPTIVES. 387
night was lighted up with the glare of blazing
dwellings, and the forest rang with the shrieks of
the murdered inmates.1
Among the records of that day's sufferings and
disasters, none are more striking than the narratives
of those whose lives were spared that they might be
borne captive to the Indian villages. Exposed to the
extremity of hardship, they were urged forward with
the assurance of being tomahawked or burnt in case
their strength should fail them. Some made their
escape from the clutches of their tormentors; but of
these not a few found reason to repent their success,
lost in a trackless wilderness, and perishing miserably
from hunger and exposure. Such attempts could
seldom be made in the neighborhood of the settle-
ments. It was only when the party had penetrated
deep into the forest that their vigilance began to
relax, and their captives were bound and guarded
1 Extract from a MS. Letter — expect none, unless from the province
Thomas Cresap to Governor Sharpe. to which they belong. I shall sub-
«rMj r-ri t , ■.- ■, ,■„„„ mit to your wiser judgment the best
"Old Town, July loth, 1763. and ^ effectuaj m*thod for guch
" May it please yr Excellency : relief, and shall conclude with hoping
" I take this opportunity in the we shall have it in time."
height of confusion to acquaint you Extract from a Letter — Frederick
with our unhappy and most wretched Town, July 19, 1763, (Penn. Gaz.
situation at this time, being in hourly No. 1807.)
expectation of being massacred by " Every Day, for some Time past,
our barbarous and inhuman enemy has offered the melancholy Scene
the Indians, we having been three of poor distressed Families driving
days successively attacked by them, downwards, through this Town, with
viz. the 13th, 14th, and this instant." their Effects, who have deserted their
• • • • • * Plantations, for Fear of falling into
" I have enclosed a list of the des- the cruel Hands of our Savage Ene-
olate men and women, and children mies, now daily seen in the Woods,
who have fled to my house, which is And never was Panic more o-eneral
enclosed by a small stockade for safe- or forcible than that of the Back
ty, by which you see what a number Inhabitants, whose Terrors, at this
of poor souls, destitute of every neces- Time, exceed what followed on the
sary of life, are here penned up, and Defeat of General Braddock, when
likely to be butchered without im- the Frontiers lay open to the Incur-
mediate relief and assistance, and can sions of both French and Indians."
388 DESOLATION OF THE ERONTIEES. [Chap. XXII.
with, less rigorous severity. Then, perhaps, when
encamped by the side of some mountain brook, and
when the warriors lay lost in sleep around their fire,
the prisoner would cut or burn asunder the cords
that bound his wrists and ankles, and glide stealthily
into the woods. "With noiseless celerity, he pursues
his flight over the fallen trunks, through the dense
undergrowth, and the thousand pitfalls and impedi-
ments of the forest; now striking the rough, hard
trunk of a tree, now tripping among the insidious
network of vines and brambles. All is darkness
around him, and through the black masses of foli-
age above he can catch but dubious and uncertain
glimpses of the dull sky. At length, he can hear
the gurgle of a neighboring brook, and, turning to-
wards it, he wades along its pebbly channel, fearing
lest the soft mould and rotten wood of the forest
might retain traces enough to direct the bloodhound
instinct of his pursuers. "With the dawn of the misty
and cloudy morning, he is still pushing on his way,
when his attention is caught by the spectral figure
of an ancient birch-tree, which, with its white bark
hanging about it in tatters, seems wofully familiar
to his eye. Among the neighboring bushes, a blue
smoke curls faintly upward, and, to his horror and
amazement, he recognizes the very fire from which
he had fled a few hours before, and the piles of
spruce boughs upon which the warriors had slept.
They have gone, however, and are ranging the forest,
in keen pursuit of the fugitive, who, in his blind
flight amid the darkness, had circled round to the
very point whence he set out ; a mistake not uncom-
mon with careless or inexperienced travellers in the
woods. Almost in despair, he leaves the ill-omened
Chap. XXII] THE ESCAPED CAPTIVE. 389
spot, and directs his course eastward with greater
care, the bark of the trees, rougher and thicker on
the northern side, furnishing a precarious clew for
his guidance. Around and above him nothing can
be seen but the same endless monotony of brown
trunks and green leaves, closing him in with an im-
pervious screen. He reaches the foot of a mountain,
and toils upwards against the rugged declivity; but
when he stands on the summit, the view is still shut
out by impenetrable thickets. High above them all
shoots up the tall, gaunt stem of a blasted pine-tree,
and, in his eager longing for a view of the surround-
ing objects, he strains every muscle to ascend. Dark,
wild, and lonely, the wilderness stretches around
him, half hidden in clouds, half open to the sight,
mountain and valley, crag and glistening stream; but
nowhere can he discern the trace of human hand
or any hope of rest and harborage. Before he can
look for relief, league upon league must be passed,
without food to sustain or weapon to defend him.
He descends the mountain, forcing his way through
the undergrowth of laurel bushes, while the clouds
sink lower, and a storm of sleet and rain descends
upon the waste. Through such scenes, and under
such exposures, he presses onward, sustaining life
with the aid of roots and berries or the flesh of rep-
tiles. Perhaps, in the last extremity, some party of
rangers find him, and bring him to a place of refuge ;
perhaps, by his own efforts, he reaches some frontier
post, where rough lodging and rough fare seem to
him unheard-of luxury; or, perhaps, spent with fa-
tigue and famine, he perishes in despair, a meagre
banquet for the wolves.
Within two or three weeks after the war had
GG*
390 DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS. I Chap. XXII.
broken out, the older towns and settlements of Penn-
sylvania were crowded with refugees from the deserted
frontier, reduced, in many cases, to the extremity of
destitution.1 Sermons were preached in their behalf
at Philadelphia; the religious societies united for
their relief, and liberal contributions were added by
individuals. While private aid was thus generously
bestowed upon the sufferers, the government showed
no such promptness in arresting the public calamity.
Early in July, Governor Hamilton had convoked the
Assembly, and, representing the distress of the bor-
ders, had urged them to take measures of defence.3
But the provincial government of Pennsylvania was
more conducive to prosperity in time of peace than
to prompt efficiency in time of war. The Quakers,
who held a majority in the Assembly, were, from
principle and practice, the reverse of warlike, and,
regarding the Indians with a blind partiality, were
reluctant to take measures against them. Proud, and
with some reason, of the justice and humanity which
had marked their conduct towards the Indian race,
they had learned to regard themselves as its advo-
cates and patrons, and their zeal was greatly sharpened
by opposition and political prejudice. They now pre-
tended that the accounts from the frontier were
1 Extract from a Letter — Win- Numbers of poor People, who had
Chester, Virginia, June 22d, (Penn. abandoned their Settlements in such
Gaz. No. 1801.) Consternation and Hurry, that they
" Last Night I reached this Place, had hardly any thing with them but
I have been at Fort Cumberland sev- their Children. And what is still
eral Days, but the Indians having worse, I dare say there is not Money
killed nine People, and burnt several enough amongst the whole Families
Houses near Fort Bedford, made me to maintain a fifth Part of them till
think it prudent to remove from those the Fall ; and none of the poor Crea-
Parts, from which, I suppose, near tures can get a Hovel to shelter them
500 Families have run away within from the Weather, but lie about
this week. — I assure you it was a scattered in the Woods."
most melancholy Sight, to see such 2 Votes of Assembly, V. 259.
Chap. XXII] FEEBLE MEASURES OP DEFENCE. 391
grossly exaggerated; and, finding this ground untena-
ble, they alleged, with better show of reason, that the
Indians were driven into hostility by the ill treat-
ment of the proprietaries and their partisans. They
recognized, however, the necessity of defensive meas-
ures, and accordingly passed a bill for raising and
equipping a force of seven hundred men, to be com-
posed of frontier farmers, and to be kept in pay only
during the time of harvest. They were not to leave
the settled parts of the province, to engage in offen-
sive operations of any kind, nor even to perform gar-
rison duty, their sole object being to enable the people
to gather in their crops unmolested.
This force was divided into numerous small de-
tached parties, who were stationed here and there, at
farm-houses and hamlets on both sides of the Sus-
quehanna, with orders to range the woods daily from
post to post, thus forming a feeble chain of defence
across the whole frontier. The two companies as-
signed to Lancaster county were placed under the
command of a clergyman, Mr. John Elder, pastor of
the Presbyterian church of Paxton, a man of worth
and education, and held in great respect upon the
borders. He discharged his military functions with
address and judgment, drawing a cordon of troops
across the front of the county, and preserving the
inhabitants free from attack for a considerable time.1
1 Extract from a MS. Letter — However, both companies will, I im-
John Elder to Governor Penn. agine, be complete in a few days :
there are now upwards of 30 men in
" Paxton, 4th August, 1763. each, exclusive of officers, who are
"Sir: now and have been employed since
" The service your Honr was their enlistment in such service as is
pleased to appoint me to, I have per- thought most safe and encouraging
formed to the best of my power ; tho' to the Frontier inhabitants, who are
not with success equal to my desires, here and every where else in the
392 DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS. [Chap. XXII.
The feeble measures adopted by the Pennsylvania
Assembly highly excited the wrath of Sir Jeffrey Am-
herst, and he did not hesitate to give his feelings
an emphatic expression. " The conduct of the Penn-
sylvania legislature," he writes, " is altogether so
infatuated and stupidly obstinate, that I want words
to express my indignation thereat ; but the colony of
Virginia, I hope, will have the honor of not only
driving the enemy from its own settlements, but that
of protecting those of its neighbors, who have not
spirit to defend themselves."
Virginia did, in truth, exhibit a vigor and activity
not unworthy of praise. Unlike Pennsylvania, she
had the advantage of an existing militia law, and the
House of Burgesses was neither embarrassed by scru-
ples against the shedding of blood, nor by any pecu-
liar tenderness towards the Indian race. The house,
however, was not immediately summoned together, and
the governor and council, without awaiting the delay
of such a measure, called out a thousand of the
militia, five hundred of whom were assigned to the
command of Colonel Stephen, and an equal number
to that of Major Lewis.1 The presence of these
men, most of whom were woodsmen and hunters, re-
stored order and confidence to the distracted borders,
and the inhabitants, before pent up in their forts, or
flying before the enemy, now took the field, in con-
junction with the militia. Many severe actions were
fought, but it seldom happened that the Indians
could stand their ground against the border riflemen.
back countries quite sunk and dis- seek safety rather in flight than in
pirited, so that it's to be feared that opposing the Savage Foe."
on any attack of the enemy, a con- i Sparks, Writings of Wasbing-
siderable part of the country will be ton, II. 340.
evacuated, as all seem inclinable to
Chap. XXII.1 COURAGE OF THE BORDERERS. 393
The latter were uniformly victorious until the end
of the summer, when Captains Moffat and Phillips,
with sixty men, were lured into an ambuscade, and
routed, with the loss of half their number. A few
weeks after, they took an ample revenge. Learning
by their scouts that more than a hundred warriors
were encamped near Jackson's River, preparing to at-
tack the settlements, they advanced secretly to the
spot, and set upon them with such fury, that the
whole party broke away and fled, leaving weapons,
provision, articles of dress, and implements of magic,
in the hands of the victors.
Meanwhile the frontier people of Pennsylvania, find-
ing that they could hope for little aid from govern-
ment, bestirred themselves with admirable spirit in
their own defence. The march of Bouquet, and the
victory of Bushy Run, caused a temporary lull in the
storm, thus enabling some of the bolder inhabitants,
who had fled to Shippensburg, Carlisle, and other
places of refuge, to return to their farms, where they
determined, if possible, to remain. With this reso-
lution, the people of the Great Cove, and the adjacent
valleys beyond Shippensburg, raised among them-
selves a small body of riflemen, which they placed
under the command of James Smith, a man whose
resolute and daring character, no less than the na-
tive vigor of his intellect, gave him great popularity
and influence with the borderers. Having been, for
several years, a prisoner among the Indians, he was
thoroughly acquainted with their mode of fighting.
He trained his men in the Indian tactics and disci-
pline, and directed them to assume the dress of war-
riors, and paint their faces red and black, so that,
in appearance, they were hardly distinguishable from
50
394 DESOLATION OF THE FEONTIERS. [Chap. XXII.
the enemy.1 Thus equipped, they scoured the woods
in front of the settlements, had various skirmishes
with the enemy, and discharged their difficult task
with such success that the inhabitants of the neigh-
borhood were not again driven from their homes.
The attacks on the Pennsylvania frontier were
known to proceed, in great measure, from several
Indian villages, situated high up the west branch
of the Susquehanna, and inhabited by a debauched
rabble composed of various tribes, of whom the most
conspicuous were Delawares. To root out this nest
of banditti would be the most effectual means of
protecting the settlements, and a hundred and ten
men offered themselves for the enterprise. They
marched about the end of August ; but on their way
along the banks of the Susquehanna, they encoun-
tered fifty warriors, advancing against the borders.
The Indians had the first fire, and drove in the van-
guard of the white men. A hot fight ensued. The
warriors fought naked, painted black from head to
foot, so that, as they leaped among the trees, they
seemed to their opponents like demons of the forest.
They were driven back with heavy loss, and the vol-
unteers returned in triumph, though without accom-
plishing the object of the expedition, for which, in-
deed, their numbers were scarcely adequate.2
1 Petition of the Inhabitants of the of his ample experience, by publish-
Great Cove. Smith, Narrative. This ing a treatise on the Indian mode of
is a highly interesting account of the warfare. In Kentucky, where he
writer's captivity among the Indians, spent the latter part of his life, he was
and his adventures during several much respected, and several times
succeeding years. In the war of the elected to the legislature. This nar-
revolution, he acted the part of a zeal- rative may he found in Drake's Trage-
ous patriot. He lived until the year dies of the Wilderness, and in several
1812, about which time the western other similar collections.
Indians having broken out into hos- 2 Penn. Gaz. No. 1811.
tility, lie gave his country the benefit
Chap. XXIL] ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION. 395
Within a few weeks after their return, Colonel
Armstrong, a veteran partisan of the French war,
raised three hundred men, the best in Cumberland
county, with a view to the effectual destruction of
the Susquehanna villages. Leaving their rendezvous
at the crossings of the Juniata, about the first of
October, they arrived on the sixth at the Great
Island, high up the west branch. On or near this
island were situated the principal villages of the ene-
my. But the Indians had vanished, abandoning their
houses, their cornfields, their stolen horses and cattle,
and the accumulated spoil of the settlements. Leav-
ing a detachment to burn the towns and lay waste
the fields, Armstrong, with the main body of his men,
followed close on the trail of the fugitives, and, pur-
suing them through a rugged and difficult country,
soon arrived at another village, thirty miles above
the former. His scouts informed him that the place
was full of Indians, and his men, forming a circle
around it, rushed in upon the cabins at a given sig-
nal. The Indians were gone, having stolen away in
such haste that the hominy and bear's meat, prepared
for their meal, were found smoking upon their dishes
of birch bark. Having burned the place to the
ground, the party returned to the Great Island, and,
rejoining their companions, descended the Susque-
hanna, reaching Fort Augusta in a wretched con-
dition, fatigued, half famished, and quarrelling among
themselves.1
Scarcely were they returned, when another expe-
dition was set on foot, in which a portion of them
i Peiin. Gaz. Nos. 1816-1818. MS. Letter — Graydon to Bird, Octo-
ber 12.
396 DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS. [Chap. XXII.
were persuaded to take part. During the previous
year, a body of settlers from Connecticut had pos-
sessed themselves of the valley of Wyoming, on the
east branch of the Susquehanna, in defiance of the
government of Pennsylvania, and to the great dis-
pleasure of the Indians. The object of the expedition
was to remove these settlers, and destroy their corn
and provisions, which might otherwise fall into the
hands of the enemy. The party, composed chiefly of
volunteers from Lancaster county, set out from Har-
ris' Ferry, under the command of Major Clayton,
and reached Wyoming on the seventeenth of October.
They were too late. Two days before their arrival, a
massacre had been perpetrated, the fitting precursor
of that subsequent scene of blood which, embalmed
in the poetic romance of Campbell, has made the
name of Wyoming a household word. The settle-
ment was a pile of ashes and cinders, and the bodies
of its miserable inhabitants offered frightful proof of
the cruelties which, with diabolical ingenuity, had
been inflicted upon them.1 A large war-party had
fallen upon the place, killed and carried off more
than twenty of the people, and driven the rest, men,
women, and children, in terror to the mountains.
Gaining a point which commanded the whole ex-
panse of the valley below, the fugitives looked back,
and saw the smoke rolling up in volumes from their
burning homes, while the Indians could be discerned
roaming about in quest of plunder, or feasting in
groups upon the slaughtered cattle. One of the
i Extract from a MS. Letter — posed to be put in red hot, and several
Paxton, October 23. 0f the men had awls thrust into their
" The woman was roasted, and eyes, and spears, arrows, pitchforks,
had two hinges in her hands, sup- etc., sticking in their bodies."
Chap. XXII] QUAKER PREJUDICE. 397
principal settlers, a man named Hopkins, was sep-
arated from the rest, and driven into the woods.
Finding himself closely pursued, he crept into the
huge, hollow trunk of a fallen tree, while the In-
dians passed without observing him. They soon re-
turned to the spot, and ranged the surrounding
woods like hounds at fault, two of them approach-
ing so near, that, as Hopkins declared, he could
hear the bullets rattle in their pouches. The search
was unavailing; but the fugitive did not venture
from his place of concealment until extreme hunger
forced him to return to the ruined settlement in
search of food. The Indians had abandoned it
some time before, and, having found means to restore
his exhausted strength, he directed his course towards
the settlements of the Delaware, which he reached
after many days of wandering.1
Having buried the dead bodies of those who had
fallen in the massacre, Clayton and his party re-
turned to the settlements. The Quakers, who seemed
resolved that they would neither defend the people
of the frontier nor allow them to defend themselves,
vehemently inveighed against the several expeditions
up the Susquehanna, and denounced them as sedi-
tious and murderous. Urged by their blind prejudice
in favor of the Indians, they insisted that the bands
of the Upper Susquehanna were friendly to the Eng-
lish; whereas, with the single exception of a few
Moravian converts near Wyoming, who had not been
molested by the whites, there could be no rational
doubt that these savages nourished a rancorous and
malignant hatred against the province. But the
i MS. Elder Papers. Chapman, Hist. Wyoming, 70. Miner, Hist. Wy-
oming, 56.
HH
398 DESOLATION OF THE FKONTIERS. [Chap. XXII.
Quakers, removed by their situation from all fear of
the tomahawk, securely vented their spite against
the borderers, and doggedly closed their ears to the
truth.1 Meanwhile, the people of the frontier be-
sieged the Assembly with petitions for relief; but
little heed was given to their complaints.
Sir Jeffrey Amherst had recently resigned his office
of commander-in-chief, and General Gage, a man of
less efficiency than his vigorous and able predecessor,
was appointed to succeed him. Immediately before
his departure for England, Amherst had made a
requisition upon the several provinces for troops to
march against the Indians early in the spring, and
the first act of Gage was to confirm this requisition.
New York was called upon to furnish fourteen hun-
dred men, and New Jersey six hundred.2 The
demand was granted, on condition that the New
England provinces should also contribute a just
1 It has already been stated that dians so great a mark of his Oonsid-
the Quakers were confined to the eration, as to confess he could not
eastern parts of the province. That defend us, and to make a requisition
their security was owing to their of 1400 Provincials by the Spring —
local situation, rather than to the 600 more he demands from New Jer-
kind feeling of the Indians towards sey. Our People refused all but a
them, is shown by the fact, that, of few for immediate Defence, con-
the very few of their number who ceiving that all the Northern Colo-
lived in exposed positions, several nies ought to contribute equally, and
were killed. One of them in partic- upon an apprehension that he has
ular, John Fincher, seeing his house called for too insufficient an aid.
about to be attacked, went out to
meet the warriors, declared that he " Is not Gage to be pitied ? The
was a Quaker, and begged for mercy, war will be a tedious one, nor can it
The Indians laughed, and struck him be glorious, even tho' attended with
dead with a tomahawk. Success. Instead of decisive Battles,
2 MS. Gage Papers. woodland skirmishes — instead of
Extract from a MS. Letter — Colours and Cannon, our Trophies
William Smith, Jr., to . will be stinking scalps. — Heaven
"New York, 22nd Nov., 1763. preserve you, my Friend, from a War
"Is not Mr. Amherst the happiest conducted by a spirit of Murder
of men to get out of this Trouble so rather than of brave and generous
seasonably ? At last he was obliged offence."
to submit, to give the despised In-
Chap. XXII] POLITICAL DISPUTES. 399
proportion to the general defence. This condition was
complied with, and the troops were raised.
Pennsylvania had been required to furnish a thou-
sand men ; but in this quarter many difficulties inter-
vened. The Assembly of the province, never prompt
to vote supplies for military purposes, was now em-
broiled in that obstinate quarrel with the propri-
etors, which for years past had clogged all the
wheels of government. The proprietors insisted on
certain pretended rights, which the Assembly stren-
uously opposed ; and the governors, who represented
the proprietary interest, were bound by imperative
instructions to assert these claims, hi spite of all
orjposition. On the present occasion, the chief point
of dispute related to the taxation of the proprietary
estates, the governor, in conformity with his instruc-
tions, demanding that they should be assessed at a
lower rate than other lands of equal value in the
province. The Assembly stood their ground, and
refused to remove the obnoxious clauses in the sup-
ply bill. Message after message passed between the
house and the governor; mutual recrimination en-
sued, and ill blood was engendered. At length, in
view of the miserable condition of the province, the
desperation of the frontier people, and the danger
of a general insurrection, the Assembly consented to
waive their rights, and passed the bill under protest,
voting fifty thousand pounds for the service of the
campaign.1 The quarrel was so long protracted that
the bill did not receive the governor's assent until
the spring, and in the mean time the province had
become the scene of most singular disorders.
1 Gordon, Hist. Perm. 414. Perm. Gaz. No. 1840. Votes of Assembly,
V. 325.
400 DESOLATION OF THE FRONTIERS. [Chap. XXII.
These disturbances may be ascribed, in some degree,
to the renewed activity of the enemy, who, during a
great part of the autumn, had left the borders in
comparative quiet. As the winter closed in, their
attacks became more frequent, and districts, re-
peopled during the interval of calm, were again
made desolate. Again the valleys were illumined
by the flames of burning houses, and families fled
shivering through the biting air of the winter night,
while the fires behind them shed a ruddy glow
upon the snow-covered mountains. The scouts,
who on snowshoes explored the track of the ma-
rauders, found the bodies of their victims lying in
the forest, stripped naked, and frozen to marble
hardness. The distress, wrath, and terror of the
borderers produced results sufficiently remarkable to
deserve a separate examination.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE INDIANS RAISE THE SIEGE OF DETROIT.
I return to the long-forgotten garrison of De-
troit, which was left still beleaguered by an increas-
ing multitude of savages, and disheartened by the
unhappy defeat of Captain Darzell's detachment. The
schooner, so boldly defended by her crew, against
a force of more than twenty times their number,
brought to the fort a much needed supply of pro-
vision. It was not, however, adequate to the wants
of the garrison, and the whole were put upon the
shortest possible allowance.
It was now the end of September. The Indians,
with unexampled pertinacity, had pressed the siege
since the beginning of May; but at length their un-
wonted constancy began to fail. The tidings had
reached them that Major Wilkins, with a strong
force, was on his way to Detroit. They feared the
consequences of an attack, especially as their am-
munition was almost exhausted; and by this time,
most of them were inclined to sue for peace, as the
easiest mode of gaming safety for themselves, and
at the same time lulling the English into security.1
They thought that by this means they might retire
i MS. Letter — Gage to Johnson, Dec. 95, 1763. Penn. Gaz. No. 1827.
51 H H *
402 THE SIEGE OF DETEOIT EAISED. [Chap. XXIII.
unmolested to their wintering grounds, and renew
the war with good hope of success in the spring.
Accordingly, on the twelfth of October, Wapocom-
oguth, great chief of the Mississaugas, a branch of
the Ojibwas, living within the present limits of
Upper Canada, came to the fort with a pipe of
peace. He began his speech to Major Gladwyn,
with the glaring falsehood that he and his people
had always been friends of the English. They were
now, he added, anxious to conclude a formal treaty
of lasting peace and amity. He next declared that
he had been sent as deputy by the Pottawattamies,
Ojibwas, and Wyandots, who had instructed him to
say that they sincerely repented of their bad con-
duct, asked forgiveness, and humbly begged for
peace. Gladwyn perfectly understood the hollowness
of these professions, but the circumstances in which
he was placed made it expedient to listen to their
overtures. His garrison was threatened with famine,
and it was impossible to procure provision while
completely surrounded by hostile Indians. He there-
fore replied, that, though he was not empowered to
grant peace, he would still consent to a truce. The
Mississauga deputy left the fort with this reply, and
Gladwyn immediately took advantage of this lull in
the storm to collect provision among the Cana-
dians; an attempt in which he succeeded so well
that the fort was soon furnished with a tolerable
supply for the winter.
The Ottawas alone, animated by the indomitable
spirit of Pontiac, had refused to ask for peace, and
still persisted in a course of petty hostilities. They
fired at intervals on the English foraging parties,
until, on the thirtieth of October, an unexpected
Chap.XXIH.] letter erom neyon to pontiac. 403
blow was given to the hopes of their great chief.
French messengers came to Detroit with a letter from
M. Neyon, commandant of Fort Chartres, the principal
post in the Illinois country. This letter was one of
those which, on demand of General Amherst, Neyon,
with a very bad grace, had sent to the different In-
dian tribes. It assured Pontiac that he could expect
no assistance from the French; that they and the
English were now at peace, and regarded each other
as brothers, and that the Indians had better aban-
don hostilities which could lead to no good result.1
The emotions of Pontiac at receiving this message
may be conceived. His long-cherished hopes of as-
sistance from the French were swept away at once,
and he saw himself and his people thrown back
upon their own slender resources. In rage and mor-
tification, he left Detroit, and, with a number of his
chiefs, repaired to the River Maumee, with the design
of stirring up the Indians in that quarter, and re-
newing hostilities in the spring.
About the middle of November, not many days
after Pontiac' s departure, two friendly Wyandot In-
dians from the ancient settlement at Lorette, near
Quebec, crossed the river, and asked admittance into
the fort. One of them then unslung his powder-
horn, and, taking out a false bottom, disclosed a
closely-folded letter, which he gave to Major Glad-
wyn. The letter was from Major Wilkins, and con-
tained the disastrous news that the detachment under
his command had been overtaken by a storm, that
many of the boats had been wrecked, that seventy
1 MS. Lettre de M. Neyon tie ment a ceux de Detroit, a Pondiac,
Valliere, a tous les nations de la Chef des Oittawas a Detroit.
Belle Riviere et du Lac, et notam-
404 THE SIEGE OF DETROIT RAISED. [Chap. XXHI.
men had perished, that all the stores and ammunition
had been destroyed, and the detachment forced to re-
turn to Niagara. This intelligence had an effect upon
the garrison which rendered the prospect of the cold
and cheerless winter yet more dreary and forlorn.
The summer had long since drawn to a close, and
the verdant landscape around Detroit had undergone
an ominous transformation. Touched by the first
October frosts, the forest glowed like a bed of
tulips ; and all along the river bank, the painted
foliage, brightened by the autumnal sun, reflected its
mingled colors upon the dark water below. The
western wind was fraught with life and exhilaration,
and in the clear, sharp air, the form of the fish-
hawk, sailing over the distant headland, seemed
almost within range of the sportsman's gun.
A week or two elapsed, and then succeeded that
gentler season which bears among us the name of
the Indian summer ; when a light haze rests upon
the morning landscape, and the many-colored woods
seem wrapped in the thin drapery of a veil ; when
the air is mild and calm as that of early June, and
at evening the sun goes down amid a warm, volup-
tuous beauty, that may well outrival the softest tints
of Italy. But through all the still and breathless
afternoon, the leaves have fallen fast in the woods,
like flakes of snow, and every thing betokens that
the last melancholy change is at hand. And, in
truth, on the morrow the sky is overspread with
cold and stormy clouds, and a raw, piercing wind
blows angrily from the north-east. The shivering
sentinel quickens his step along the rampart, and
the half-naked Indian folds his tattered blanket close
around him. The shrivelled leaves are blown from
Chap. XXIII.] INDIANS AT THEIK HUNTING-GROUNDS. 405
the trees, and soon the gusts are whistling and
howling amid gray, naked twigs and mossy branches.
Here and there, indeed, the beech-tree, as the wind
sweeps among its rigid boughs, shakes its pale as-
semblage of crisp and rustling leaves. The pines
and firs, with their rough tops of dark evergreen,
bend and moan in the wind, and the crow caws
sullenly, as, struggling against the gusts, he flaps
his black wings above the denuded woods.
The vicinity of Detroit was now almost abandoned
by its besiegers, who had scattered among the forests
to seek sustenance through the whiter for themselves
and their families. Unlike the buffalo-hunting tribes
of the western plains, they could not at this season
remain together in large bodies. The comparative
scarcity of game forced them to separate into small
bands, or even into single families. Some steered
their canoes far northward, across Lake Huron, while
others turned westward, and struck into the great
wilderness of Michigan. Wandering among forests,
bleak, cheerless, and choked with snow, now famish-
ing with want, now cloyed with repletion, they
passed the dull, cold winter. The chase yielded
their only subsistence, and the slender lodges, borne
on the backs of the squaws, were their only cover-
ing. Encamped at intervals by the margin of some
frozen lake, surrounded by all that is most stern
and dreary in the aspects of nature, they were sub-
jected to every hardship, and endured all with stub-
born stoicism. Sometimes, during the frosty night,
they were gathered in groups about the flick-
ering lodge-fire, listening to traditions of their fore-
fathers, and wild tales of magic and incantation.
Perhaps, before the season was past, some bloody
406 THE SIEGE OF DETROIT RAISED. [Chap. XXIII.
feud broke out among them; perhaps they were
assailed by their ancient enemies the Dahcotah ; or
perhaps some sinister omen or evil dream spread
more terror through the camp than the presence of
an actual danger would have awakened. With the
return of spring, the scattered parties once more
united, and moved towards Detroit, to indulge their
unforgotten hatred against the English.
Detroit had been the central point of the Indian
operations ; its capture had been their favorite pro-
ject; around it they had concentrated their greatest
force, and the failure of the attempt proved disas-
trous to their cause. Upon the Six Nations, more
especially, it produced a marked effect. The friendly
tribes of this confederacy were confirmed in their
friendship, while the hostile Senecas began to lose
heart. Availing himself of this state of things, Sir
William Johnson, about the middle of the winter,
persuaded a number of Six Nation warriors, by dint
of gifts and promises, to go out against the enemy.
He stimulated their zeal by offering rewards of fifty
dollars for the heads of the two principal Delaware
chiefs.1 Two hundred of them, accompanied by a
few provincials, left the Oneida country during the
month of February, and directed their course south-
ward. They had been out but a few days, when
1 Extract from a MS. Letter — Sir of the Party 50 Dollars for the Head
W. Johnson to . Men of the Delawares there, viz.
" Tor God's Sake exert yourselves Onuperaquedra, and 50 Dollars more
like Men whose Honour & every for the Head of Long Coat, alias ,
thing dear to them is now at stake ; in which case they must either bring
the General has great Expectations them alive or their whole Heads ; the
from the success of your Party, & Money shall be paid to the Man
indeed so have all People here, & I who takes or brings me them, or
hope they will not be mistaken, — in their Heads, — this I would have you
Order to Encourage your party I will, tell to the Head men of the Party,
out of my own Pocket, pay to any as it will make them more eager."
Chap. XXIIL] THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 407
they found an encampment of forty Delawares, com-
manded by a formidable chief, known as Captain
Bull, who, with his warriors, was on his way to attack
the settlements. They surrounded the camp undis-
covered, during the night, and at dawn of day raised
the war-whoop and rushed in. The astonished Dela-
wares had no time to snatch their arms. They were
all made prisoners, taken to Albany, and thence sent
down to New York, where they were conducted, un-
der a strong guard, to the common jail, the mob
crowding round them as they passed, and admiring
the sullen ferocity of their countenances. Not long
after this success, Captain Montour, with a party of
provincials and Six Nation warriors, destroyed the
town of Kanestio, and other hostile villages, on the
upper branches of the Susquehanna. This blow, in-
flicted by supposed friends, produced more effect upon
the enemy than greater reverses would have done, if
encountered at the hands of the English alone.1
The calamities which overwhelmed the borders of
the middle provinces were not unfelt at the south.
It was happy for the people of the Carolinas that
the Cherokees, who had broken out against them
three years before, had at that time received a chas-
tisement which they could never forget, and from
which they had not yet begun to recover. They
were thus compelled to remain comparatively quiet,
while the ancient feud between them and the north-
ern tribes would, under any circumstances, have pre-
vented their uniting witjh. the latter. The contagion
of the war reached them, however, and they per-
petrated numerous murders; while the neighboring
1 MS. Johnson Papers.
408 THE SIEGE OF DETROIT RAISED. [Chap. XXIH.
nation of the Creeks rose in open hostility, and com-
mitted formidable ravages. Towards the north, the
Indian tribes were compelled, by their position, to
remain tranquil, yet they showed many signs of un-
easiness ; and those of Nova Scotia caused great alarm,
by mustering in large bodies in the neighborhood of
Halifax. The excitement among them was tempo-
rary, and they dispersed without attempting mischief.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE PAXTON MEN.
Along the thinly-settled borders, two thousand per-
sons had been killed, or carried off, and nearly an
equal number of families driven from their homes.1
The frontier people of Pennsylvania, goaded to des-
peration by long-continued suffering, were divided
between rage against the Indians, and resentment
against the Quakers, who had yielded them cold sym-
pathy and inefficient aid. The horror and fear, grief
and fury, with which these men looked upon the
mangled remains of friends and relatives, set language
at defiance. They were of a rude and hardy stamp,
hunters, scouts, rangers, Indian traders, and back-
woods farmers, who had grown up with arms in their
hands, and been trained under all the influences of
the warlike frontier. They fiercely complained that
they were interposed as a barrier between the rest
of the province and a ferocious enemy, and that they
were sacrificed to the safety of men who looked with
1 Extract from a MS. Letter — whose frontiers they have killed and
George Croghan to the Board of captivated not less than two thousand
Trade. of his majesty's subjects, and drove
" They can with great ease enter some thousands to beggary and the
our colonies, and cut off our frontier greatest distress, besides burning
settlements, and thereby lay waste to the ground nine forts or block-
a large tract of country, which indeed houses in the country, and killing a
they have effected in the space of number of his majesty's troops and
four months, in Virginia, Maryland, traders."
Pennsylvania, and the Jerseys, on
52 ii
410 THE PAXTON MEN. [Chap. XXIV.
indifference on their miseries, and lost no opportunity
to extenuate and smooth away the cruelties of their
destroyers.1 They declared that the Quakers would
go farther to befriend a murdering Delaware than
to succor a fellow-countryman — that they loved red
blood better than white, and a pagan better than a
Presbyterian. The Pennsylvania borderers were, as
we have seen, chiefly the descendants of Presbyterian
emigrants from the north of Ireland. They had in-
herited some portion of their forefathers' sectarian
zeal, which, while it did nothing to soften the bar-
barity of their manners, served to inflame their ani-
mosity against the Quakers, and added bitterness to
their just complaints. It supplied, moreover, a con-
venient sanction for the indulgence of their hatred
and vengeance, for in the general turmoil of their
passions, fanaticism too was awakened, and they in-
terpreted the command that Joshua should destroy
the heathen2 into an injunction that they should ex-
terminate the Indians.
The prevailing excitement was not confined to the
vulgar. Even the clergy and the chief magistrates
shared it, and while they lamented the excess of the
popular resentment, they maintained that the general
J Extract from the Declaration of convicted, sentenced and hung with-
Lazarus Stewart. out delay. If an Indian kill a white
" Did we not hrave the summer's man, it was the act of an ignorant
heat and the winter's cold, and the Heathen, perhaps in liquor ; alas, poor
savage tomahawk, while the Inhabit- innocent ! he is sent to the friendly
ants of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Indians that he may be made a Chris-
county, Bucks, and Chester, 'ate, turn."
drank, and were merry ' ? 2 « And when the Lord thy God
" If a white man kill an Indian, it shall deliver them before thee, thou
is a murder far exceeding any crime shalt smite them, and utterly destroy
upon record; he must not be tried in them; thou shalt make no covenant
the county where he lives, or where with them, nor show mercy unto
the offence was committed, but in them." — Deuteronomy, vii. 2.
Philadelphia, that he may be tried,
Chap. XXIV.] EFFECTS OF INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 411
complaints were founded in justice. Viewing all the
circumstances, it is not greatly to be wondered at
that some of the more violent class were inflamed
to the commission of atrocities which bear no very
favorable comparison with those of the Indians
themselves.
It is not easy for those living in the tranquillity
of polished life fully to conceive the depth and force
of that unquenchable, indiscriminate hate which In-
dian outrages can awaken in those who have suffered
them. The chronicles of the American borders are
filled with the deeds of men, who, having lost all by
the merciless tomahawk, have lived for vengeance
alone ; and such men will never cease to exist so long
as a hostile tribe remains within striking distance of
an American settlement.1 Never was this hatred more
deep or more general than on the Pennsylvania fron-
tier at this period; and never, perhaps, did so many
collateral causes unite to inflame it to madness. It
was not long in finding a vent.
Near the Susquehanna, and at no great distance
from the town of Lancaster, was a spot known as
the Manor of Conestoga, where a small band of In-
dians, chiefly of Iroquois blood, had been seated since
the first settlement of the province. William Penn
had visited and made a treaty with them, which had
been confirmed by several succeeding governors, so
that the band had always remained on terms of
friendship with the English. Yet, like other Indian
communities in the neighborhood of the whites, they
had dwindled in numbers and prosperity, until they
were reduced to twenty persons, who inhabited a
1 So promising a theme has not es- has been adopted by Dr. Bird in his
caped the notice of novelists, and it spirited story of Nick of the Woods.
412 THE PAXTON MEN. [Chap. XXIV.
cluster of squalid cabins, and lived by beggary and
the sale of brooms, baskets, and wooden ladles, made
by the women. The men spent a small part of their
time in hunting, and lounged away the rest in idle-
ness. In the immediate neighborhood, they were com-
monly regarded as harmless vagabonds ; but elsewhere,
a more unfavorable opinion was entertained, and they
were looked upon as secretly abetting the enemy,
acting as spies, giving shelter to scalping-parties, and
even aiding them in their depredations. That these
suspicions were not wholly unfounded is shown by a
conclusive mass of evidence, though it is probable
that the treachery was confined to one or two in-
dividuals.1 The exasperated frontiersmen were not
in a mood to discriminate, and the innocent were
destined to share the fate of the guilty.9
On the east bank of the Susquehanna, some dis-
tance above Conestoga, stood the little town of Pax-
ton, a place which, since the French war, had occupied
a position of extreme exposure. In the year 1755,
the Indians had burned it to the ground, killing many
of the inhabitants, and reducing the rest to poverty.
It had since been rebuilt, but its tenants were the
relatives of those who had perished, and the bitter-
ness of the recollection was enhanced by the sense
of their own more recent sufferings. Mention has be-
fore been made of John Elder, the Presbyterian minister
of this place, a man whose worth, good sense, and su-
perior education gave him the character of counsellor
and director throughout the neighborhood, and caused
him to be known and esteemed even in Philadelphia.
His position was a peculiar one. From the rough
1 See Appendix, E.
2 For an account of the Conestoga Indians, see Penn. Hist. Coll. 390.
Chap. XXIV.] MATTHEW SMITH AND HIS COMPANIONS 413
pulpit of his little church, he had often preached to
an assembly of armed men, while scouts and senti-
nels were stationed without, to give warning of the
enemy's approach.1 The men of Paxton, under the
auspices of their pastor, formed themselves into a
body of rangers, who became noted for their zeal
and efficiency in defending the borders. One of their
principal leaders was Matthew Smith, a man who
had influence and popularity among his associates,
and was not without pretensions to education, while
he shared a full proportion of the general hatred
against Indians, and suspicion against the band of
Conestoga.
Towards the middle of December, a scout came
to the house of Smith, and reported that an Indian,
known to have committed depredations in the neigh-
borhood, had been traced to Conestoga. Smith's res-
olution was taken at once. He called five of his
companions, and, having armed and mounted, they
set out for the Indian settlement. They reached it
early in the night, and Smith, leaving his horse in
charge of the others, crawled forward, rifle in hand,
to reconnoitre, when he saw, or fancied he saw, a
number of armed warriors in the cabins. Upon this
discovery he withdrew, and rejoined his associates.
Believing themselves too weak for an attack, the
party returned to Paxton. Their blood was up, and
they determined to extirpate the Conestogas. Mes-
1 On one occasion, a body of In- enemy withdrew, and satisfied tliem-
dians approached Paxton on Snnday, selves with burning a few houses in
and sent forward one of then num- the neighborhood. The papers of
ber, whom the English supposed to Mr. Elder were submitted to the
be a friend, to reconnoitre. The writer's examination by his son, an
spy reported that every man in the aged and esteemed citizen of Har-
church, including the preacher, had risburg.
a rifle at his side; upon which the
II*
THE PAXTON MEN. [Chap. XXIV.
sengers went abroad through the neighborhood; and,
on the following day, about fifty armed and mounted
men, chiefly from the towns of Paxton and Don-
negal, assembled at the place agreed upon. Led by
Matthew Smith, they took the road to Conestoga,
where they arrived a little before daybreak, on the
morning of the fourteenth. As they drew near, they
discerned the light of a fire in one of the cabins,
gleaming across the snow. Leaving their horses in
the forest, they separated into small parties, and ad-
vanced on several sides at once. Though they moved
with some caution, the sound of their footsteps or
their voices caught the ear of an Indian, and they
saw him issue from one of the cabins, and walk
forward in the direction of the noise. He came so
near that one of the men fancied that he recognized
him. " He is the one that killed my mother," he
exclaimed with an oath ; and, firing his rifle, brought
the Indian down. With a general shout, the furious
ruffians burst into the cabins, and shot, stabbed, and
hacked to death all whom they found there. It
happened that only six Indians were in the place,
the rest, in accordance with their vagrant habits,
being scattered about the neighborhood. Thus
balked of their complete vengeance, the murderers
seized upon what little booty they could find, set
the cabins on fire, and departed at dawn of day.1
1 The above account of the mas- it had been written. The account
sacre is chiefly drawn from the nar- is partially confirmed by incidental
rative of Matthew Smith himself, allusions, in a letter written by
This singular paper was published another of the Paxton men, and also
by Mr. Redmond Conyngham, of published by Mr. Conyngham. This
Lancaster, in the Lancaster Intelli- gentleman employed himself with
gencer for 1843. Mr. Conyngham most unwearied diligence in collect-
states that he procured it from the ing a voluminous mass of documents,
son of Smith, for whose information comprising, perhaps, every thing that
Chap. XXIV.] MASSACRE OP THE CONESTOGAS. 415
The morning was cold and murky. Snow was
falling, and already lay deep upon the ground ; and,
as they urged their horses through the drifts, they
were met by one Thomas Wright, who, struck by
their appearance, stopped to converse with them.
They freely told him what they had done, and, on
his expressing surprise and horror, one of them de-
manded if he believed in the Bible, and if the
Scripture did not command that the heathen should
be destroyed.
They soon after separated, dispersing among the
farm-houses, to procure food for themselves and their
horses. Several rode to the house of Robert Barber,
a prominent settler in the neighborhood, who, seeing
the strangers stamping their feet and shaking the
snow from their blanket coats, invited them to enter,
and offered them refreshment. Having remained for
a short time seated before his fire, they remounted
and rode off through the snow-storm. A boy of the
family, who had gone to look at the horses of the
visitors, came in and declared that he had seen a
tomahawk, covered with blood, hanging from each
man's saddle, and that a small gun, belonging to one
of the Indian children, had been leaning against the
fence.1 Barber at once guessed the truth, and, with
several of his neighbors, proceeded to the Indian
settlement, where they found the solid log cabins
still on fire. They buried the remains of the vic-
tims, which Barber compared in appearance to half-
burnt logs. While they were thus engaged, the
sheriff of Lancaster, with a party of men, arrived
could contribute to extenuate the to time in the above-mentioned news-
conduct of the Paxton men ; and to paper, reference will often be made.
these papers, as published from time l Haz. Pa. Reg. IX. 114.
416 THE PAXTON MEN. [Chap. XXIV.
on the spot; and the first care of the officer was to
send through the neighborhood to collect the In-
dians, fourteen in number, who had escaped the
massacre. This was soon accomplished, and the un-
happy survivors, learning the fate of their friends
and relatives, were in great terror for their own
lives, and earnestly begged protection. They were
conducted to Lancaster, where, amid great excite-
ment, they were lodged in the county jail, a strong-
stone building, which it was thought would afford
the surest refuge.
An express was despatched to Philadelphia with
news of the massacre, on hearing which, the gov-
ernor issued a proclamation, denouncing the act, and
offering a reward for the discovery of the perpetra-
tors. Undaunted by this measure, and enraged that
any of their victims should have escaped, the Pax-
ton men determined to continue the work they had
begun. In this resolution they were confirmed by
the prevailing impression, that an Indian known to
have murdered the relatives of one of their number
was among those who had received the protection of
the magistrates at Lancaster. They sent forward a
spy to gain intelligence, and, on his return, once
more met at their rendezvous. On this occasion,
their nominal leader was Lazarus Stewart, who was
esteemed upon the borders as a brave and active
young man, and who, there is strong reason to be-
lieve, entertained no worse design than that of seiz-
ing the obnoxious Indian, Carrying him to Carlisle,
and there putting him to death, in case he should
be identified as the murderer.1 Most of his followers,
i Papers published by Mr. Conyngham in the Lancaster Intelligencer.
Chap. XXIV.] ATTACK ON LANCASTER JAIL. 417
however, hardened amidst war and bloodshed, were
bent on indiscriminate slaughter; a purpose which
they concealed from their more moderate associates.
Early on the twenty-seventh of December, the
party, about fifty in number, left Paxton on their
desperate errand. Elder had used all his influence to
divert them from their design; and now, seeing them
depart, he mounted his horse, overtook them, and
addressed them with the most earnest remonstrance.
Finding his words unheeded, he drew up his horse
across the narrow road in front, and charged them,
on his authority as their pastor, to return. Upon
this, Matthew Smith rode forward, and, pointing his
rifle at the breast of Elder's horse, threatened to fire
unless he drew him aside, and gave room to pass.
The clergyman was forced to comply, and the party
proceeded.1
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the riot-
ers, armed with rifle, knife, and tomahawk, rode at
a gallop into Lancaster, turned their horses into the
yard of the public house, ran to the jail, burst open
the door, and rushed tumultuously in. The fourteen
Indians were in a small yard adjacent to the build-
ing, surrounded by high stone walls. Hearing the
shouts of the mob, and startled by the apparition
of armed men in the doorway, two or three of them
snatched up billets of wood in self-defence. What-
ever may have been the purpose of the Paxton men,
this show of resistance banished every thought of
forbearance; and the foremost, rushing forward, fired
their rifles among the crowd of Indians. In a mo-
ment more, the yard was filled with ruffians, shout-
1 This anecdote was told to the writer by the son of Mr. Elder, and is
also related by Mr. Conyngham.
53
418
THE PAXTON MEN.
[Chap. XXIV.
ing, cursing, and firing upon the cowering wretches,
holding the muzzles of their pieces, in some in-
stances, so near their victims' heads that the brains
were scattered by the explosion. The work was soon
finished. The bodies of men, women, and children,
mangled with outrageous brutality, lay scattered about
the yard, and the murderers were gone.1
When the first alarm was given, the magistrates
were in the church, attending the Christinas service,
which had been postponed on the twenty-fifth. The
door was flung open, and the voice of a man half
breathless was heard in broken exclamations, " Mur-
der— the jail — the Paxton Boys — the Indians."
The assembly broke up in disorder, and Ship-
pen, the principal magistrate, hastened towards the
scene of riot; but, before he could reach it, all was
finished, and the murderers were galloping in a body
from the town.2 The sheriff and the coroner had
1 Deposition of Felix Donolly,
keeper of Lancaster jail. Declara-
tion of Lazarus Stewart, published
by Mr. Conyngham. Rupp, Hist, of
York and Lancaster Counties, 358.
Heckewelder, Nar. of Moravian Mis-
sions, 79. See Appendix, E.
Soon after the massacre, Franklin
published an account of it at Phila-
delphia, which, being intended to
strengthen the hands of government
by exciting a popular sentiment
against the rioters, is more rhetor-
ical than accurate. The following
is his account of the consummation
of the act : —
"When the poor wretches saw
they had no protection nigh, nor
could possibly escape, they divided
into their little families, the children
clinging to the parents ; they fell on
their knees, protested their inno-
cence, declared their love to the
English, and that, in their whole
lives, they had never done them in-
jury ; and in this posture they all re-
ceived the hatchet ! "
This is a pure embellishment of
the fancy. The only persons pres-
ent were the jailer and the rioters
themselves, who unite in testifying
that the Indians died with the un-
flinching stoicism which their race
usually exhibit under such circum-
stances ; and indeed, so sudden was
the act, that there was no time for
enacting the scene described by
Franklin.
2 Extract from a MS. Letter —
Edward Shippen to Governor Penn.
"Lancaster, 27th Dec, 1763, P. M.
" Honoured Sir : —
"I am to acquaint your Honour
that between two and three of the
Clock this afternoon, upwards of a
hundred armed men from the West-
ward rode very fast into Town,
Chap. XXIV.] MASSACRE IN LANCASTER JAIL. 419
mingled among the rioters, aiding and abetting them,
as their enemies affirm, but, according to their own
statement, vainly risking their lives to restore order.1
A company of Highland soldiers, on their way from
Fort Pitt to Philadelphia, were encamped near the
town. Their commander, Captain Robertson, after-
wards declared that he put himself in the way of
the magistrates, expecting that they would call upon
him to aid the civil authority; while, on the con-
trary, several of the inhabitants testify, that, when
they urged him to interfere, he replied, with an oath,
that his men had suffered enough from Indians
already, and should not stir hand or foot to save
them. Be this as it may, it seems certain that
neither soldiers nor magistrates, with their best exer-
tions, could have availed to prevent the massacre ;.
for so well was the plan concerted, that, within ten
or twelve minutes after the alarm, the Indians were
dead, and the murderers mounted to depart.
The people crowded into the jail yard to gaze
upon the miserable spectacle ; and, when their curios-
ity was sated, the bodies were gathered together, and
buried not far from the town, where they reposed
three quarters of a century, until, at length, the bones
turned their Horses into Mr. Slough's ceed to the Province Island, & de-
(an Innkeeper's) yard, and proceeded stroy the Indians there."
with the greatest precipitation to the ] Extract from a MS. Letter —
Work-House, stove open the door John Hay, the sheriff, to Governor
and killed all the Indians, and then Penn.
took to their Horses and rode off: all " They in a body left the town
their business was done, & they without offering any insults to the
were returning to their Horses be- Inhabitants, & without putting it in
fore I could get half way down to the power of any one to take or mo-
the Work-House. The Sheriff and lest any of them without danger of
Coroner however, and several others, life to the person attempting it ; of
got down as soon as the rioters, but which both myself and the Coroner,
could not prevail with them to stop by our opposition, were in great
their hands. Some people say they danger."
heard them declare they would pro-
420 THE PAXTON MEN. [Chap. XXIV.
were disinterred in preparing the foundation for a
railroad.
The tidings of this massacre threw the country
into a ferment. Various opinions were expressed ; but,
in the border counties, even the most sober and
moderate regarded it, not as a wilful and deliberate
crime, but as the mistaken act of rash men, fevered
to desperation by wrongs and sufferings.1
When the news reached Philadelphia, a clamorous
outcry rose from the Quakers, who could find no words
to express their horror and detestation. They assailed,
not the rioters only, but the whole Presbyterian sect,
with a tempest of abuse, none the less virulent for
being vented in the name of philanthropy and religion.
The governor again issued a proclamation, offering
rewards for the detection and arrest of the murderers ;
but the latter, far from shrinking into concealment,
proclaimed their deed in the face of day, boasted the
achievement, and defended it by reason and Scripture.
So great was the excitement in the frontier counties,
and so deep the sympathy with the rioters, that to
arrest them would have required the employment of
a strong military force, an experiment far too dan-
1 Extract from a Letter — Rev. Mr. counts, we must infer that much rests
Elder to Colonel Burd. for support on the imagination, or in-
terest of the witness. The characters
"Paxton, 1764. Qf gtewart an(j his friends were well
" Lazarus Stewart is still threat- established. Ruffians nor brutal they
ened by the Philadelphia party ; he were not ; humane, liberal and moral,
and his friends talk of leaving — if nay, religious. It is evidently not the
they do, the province will lose some wish of the party to give Stewart a fair
of their truest friends, and that by hearing. All he desires, is to be put
the faults of others, not their own ; for on trial, at Lancaster, near the scenes
if any cruelty was practised on the In- of the horrible butcheries, committed
dians at Conestogue or at Lancaster, it by the Indians at Tulpehocken, &c,
was not by his, or their hands. There when he can have the testimony of
is a great reason to believe that much the Scouts or Rangers, men whose
injustice has been done to all con- services can never be sufficiently re-
cerned. In the contrariness of ac- warded."
Chap. XXIV.] LAZARUS STEWART. 421
gerous to be tried. Nothing of the kind was attempt-
ed until nearly eight years afterwards, when Lazarus
Stewart was apprehended on the charge of murdering
the Indians of Conestoga. Learning that his trial
was to take place, not in the county where the act
was committed, but in Philadelphia, and thence judg-
ing that his condemnation was certain, he broke jail
and escaped. Having written a declaration to justify
his conduct, he called his old associates around him,
set the provincial government of Pennsylvania at de-
fiance, and withdrew to Wyoming with his band.
Here he joined the settlers recently arrived from
Connecticut, and thenceforth played a conspicuous
part in the eventful history of that remarkable
spot.1
After the massacre at Conestoga, the excitement
in the frontier counties, far from subsiding, increased
in violence daily, and various circumstances conspired
to inflame it. The principal of these was the course
pursued by the provincial government towards the
Christian Indians attached to the Moravian missions.
Many years had elapsed since the Moravians began
the task of converting the Indians of Pennsylvania,
and their steadfast energy and regulated zeal had
been crowned with success. They had increased in
both temporal and spiritual prosperity, and several
1 Papers published by Mr. Conyng- my life. Let me be tried where
ham. prejudice has not prejudged my case.
Extract from the Declaration of Let my brave Rangers, who have
Lazarus Stewart. stemmed the blast nobly, and never
" What I have done, was done for flinched ; let them have an equitable
the security of hundreds of settlers trial ; they were my friends in the
on the frontiers. The blood of a hour of danger — to desert them now
thousand of my fellow-creatures called were cowardice! What remains is
for vengeance. As a Ranger, I sought to leave our cause with our God, and
the post of danger, and now you ask our guns."
JJ
422 THE PAXTON MEN. [Chap. XXIV.
thriving settlements of their converts had sprung up
in the valley of the Lehigh, when the opening of the
French war, in 1755, involved them in unlooked-for
calamities. These unhappy neutrals, between the
French and Indians on the one side, and the English
on the other, excited the enmity of both, and while
from the west they were threatened by the hatchets
of their own countrymen, they were menaced on the
east by the no less formidable vengeance of the white
settlers, who, in their distress and terror, never doubt-
ed that the Moravian converts were in league with
the enemy. The popular rage against them at length
grew so furious, that their destruction was resolved
upon. The settlers assembled and advanced against
the Moravian community of Gnadenhutten ; but the
French and Indians gained the first blow, and, de-
scending upon the doomed settlement, utterly destroyed
it. This disaster, deplorable as it was in itself, proved
the safety of the other Moravian settlements, by
making it fully apparent that their inhabitants were
not in league with the enemy. They were suffered
to remain unmolested for several years ; but with the
murders that ushered in Pontiac's war, in 1763, the
former suspicion revived, and the expediency of de-
stroying the Moravian Indians was openly debated.
Towards the end of the summer, several outrages
were committed upon the settlers in the neighbor-
hood, and the Moravian Indians were loudly accused
of taking part in them. These charges were never
fully confuted ; and, taking into view the harsh treat-
ment which the converts had always experienced from
the whites, it is highly probable that some of them
were disposed to sympathize with their heathen coun-
trymen, who are known to have courted their alii-
Chap. XXIV.] THE MORAVIAN CONVERTS. 423
ance. The Moravians had, however, excited in their
converts a high degree of religious enthusiasm, which,
directed as it was by the teachings of the missiona-
ries, went farther than any thing else could have
done to soften their national prejudices, and wean
them from their warlike habits.
About three months before the massacre at Cones-
toga, a party of drunken rangers, fired by the general
resentment against the Moravian Indians, murdered
several of them, both men and women, whom they
found sleeping in a barn. Not long after, the same
party of rangers were, in their turn, surprised and
killed, some peaceful settlers of the neighborhood
sharing their fate. This act was at once ascribed,
justly or unjustly, to the vengeance of the converted
Indians, relatives of the murdered; and the frontier
people, who, like the Paxton men, were chiefly Scotch
and Irish Presbyterians, resolved that the objects of
their suspicion should live no longer. At this time,
the Moravian converts consisted of two communities^
those of Nain and Wecquetank, near the Lehigh, and
to these may be added a third, at Wyalusing, near
Wyoming. The latter, from its distant situation, was,
for the present, safe ; but the two former were in im-
minent peril, and the inhabitants, in mortal terror for
their lives, stood day and night on the watch.
At length, about the tenth of October, a gang of
armed men approached Wecquetank, and encamped in
the woods, at no great distance. They intended to
make their attack under favor of the darkness; but,
before evening, a storm, which to the missionaries
seemed providential, descended with such violence,
that the fires of the hostile camp were extinguished
424 THE PAXTON MEN. [Chap. XXIV.
In a moment, the ammunition of the men wet, and
the plan defeated.1
After so narrow an escape, it was apparent that
flight was the only resource. The terrified congrega-
tion of Wecquetank broke up on the following day,
and, under the charge of their missionary, Bernard
Grube, removed to the Moravian town of Nazareth,
where it was hoped they might remain in safety.2
In the mean time, the charges against the Moravian
converts had been laid before the provincial Assembly,
and, to secure the safety of the frontier people, it was
judged expedient to disarm the suspected Indians,
and remove them to a part of the province where it
would be beyond their power to do mischief.3 The
motion was passed in the Assembly with little dissent,
the Quakers supporting it from regard to the safety
of the Indians, and their opponents from regard to
the safety of the whites. The order for removal
reached its destination on the sixth of November,
and the Indians, reluctantly yielding up their arms,
prepared for departure. When a sermon had been
preached before the united congregations, and a hymn
sung, in which all took part, the unfortunate exiles
set out on their forlorn pilgrimage ; the aged, the
young, the sick, and the blind, borne in wagons, while
the rest journeyed on foot.4 Their total number, in-
cluding the band from Wyalusing, which joined
them after they reached Philadelphia, was about a
hundred and forty. At every village and hamlet
i Loskiel, Hist. Moravian Mis- 3 Votes of Assembly, V. 284.
sions, Part II. 211. 4 Loskiel, Hist. Moravian Mis-
a MS. Letter — Bernard Grube to sions, Part II. 214. Heckewelder,
Governor Hamilton, Oct. 13. Narrative of Missions, 75.
Chap. XXIV.] THE MORAVIAN CONVERTS. 425
which they passed on their way, they were greeted
with threats and curses; nor did the temper of the
people improve as they advanced, for, when they came
to Germantown, the mob could scarcely be restrained
from attacking them. On reaching Philadelphia, they
were conducted, amidst the yells and hootings of the
rabble, to the barracks, which had been intended to
receive them; but the soldiers, who outdid the mob
in their hatred of Indians, refused to admit them, and
set the orders of the governor at defiance. From ten
o'clock in the morning until three in the afternoon,
the persecuted exiles remained drawn up in the square,
before the barracks, surrounded by a multitude who
never ceased to abuse and threaten them; but wher-
ever the broad hat of a Quaker was seen in the
crowd, there they felt the assurance of a friend —
a friend, who, both out of love for them, and aver-
sion to their enemies, would spare no efforts in their
behalf. The soldiers continued refractory, and the
Indians were at length ordered, to proceed. As they
moved down the street, shrinking together in their
terror, the mob about them grew so angry and clam-
orous, that to their missionaries they seemed like
a flock of sheep in the midst of howling wolves.1 A
body-guard of Quakers gathered around, protecting
them from the crowd, and speaking words of sym-
pathy and encouragement. Thus they proceeded to
Province Island, below the city, where they were
lodged in waste buildings, prepared in haste for their
reception, and where the Quakers still attended them,
with every office of kindness and friendship.
1 Loskiel, Part II. 216.
54 JJ*
CHAPTER XXV.
THE RIOTERS MARCH ON PHILADELPHIA.
The Conestoga murders did not take place until
some weeks after the removal of the Moravian con-
verts to Philadelphia, and the rioters, as they rode,
flushed with success, out of Lancaster, after the
achievement of their exploit, were heard to boast
that they would soon visit the city and finish their
work, by killing the Indians whom it had taken un-
der its protection. It was soon but too apparent
that this design was seriously entertained by the peo-
ple of the frontier. They had tasted blood, and they
craved more. It seemed to them intolerable, that
while their sufferings were unheeded, and their wound-
ed and destitute friends uncared for, they should be
taxed to support those whom they regarded as authors
of their calamities, or, in their own angry words, " to
maintain them through the winter, that they may
scalp and butcher us in the spring."1 In their blind
rage, they would not see that the Moravian Indians
i Remonstrance of the Frontier brethren on the frontiers are almost
People to the Governor and Assem- destitute of the necessaries of life,
bly. See Votes of Assembly, V. 313. and are neglected by the public, is
The " Declaration," which accom- sufficient to make us mad with rage,
panied the " Remonstrance," contains and tempt us to do what nothing but
the following passage : " To protect the most violent necessity can vin-
and maintain these Indians at the dicate."
public expense, while our suffering See Appendix, E.
Chap. XXV.] EXCITEMENT OF THE BORDERERS. 427
had been removed to Philadelphia, in part, at least,
with a view to the safety of the borders. To their
enmity against Indians was added a resentment,
scarcely less vehement, against the Quakers, whose
sectarian principles they hated and despised. They
complained, too, of political grievances, alleging that
the five frontier counties were inadequately repre-
sented in the Assembly, and that from thence arose
the undue influence of the Quakers in the councils
of the province.
The excited people soon began to assemble at tav-
erns and other places of resort, recounting their
grievances, real or imaginary, relating frightful stories
of Indian atrocities, and launching fierce invectives
against the Quakers.1 Political agitators harangued
them on their violated rights, self-constituted preachers
urged the duty of destroying the heathen, forgetting
that the Moravian Indians were Christians, and their
exasperated hearers were soon ripe for any rash
attempt. They resolved to assemble and march in *
arms to Philadelphia. On a former occasion, they
had sent thither a wagon laden with the mangled
corpses of their friends and relatives, who had fallen
by Indian butchery; but the hideous spectacle had
failed of the intended effect, and the Assembly had
still turned a deaf ear to their entreaties for more
effective aid.9 Appeals to sympathy had been thrown
1 MS. Elder Papers. Devoutly then, make Affirmation,
t>i,„ f„ii„. .• 1 „ ,t „i„j You're Friends to George and British Nation ;
The following verses are extracted Encourage ev'ry friendly Savage,
from a poem, published at Philadel- To murder, burn, destroy, and ravage ;
phia by a partisan of the Paxton men, Fathers and Mothers here maintain,
r ■ , J-. r ' V\ hose Sons add .Numbers to the slain,
entitled. Of Scotch and Irish let them kill
As many Thousands as they will,
" The Cloven Foot discovered. That you may lord it o'er the Land,
" Go on, good Christians, never spare And have the whole and sole command."
To give your Indians Clothes to wear ;
Send 'em good Beef, and Pork, and Bread, o m, • • m , nrrnrrPrl drmnn-
Guns, Powder, Flints, and Store of Lead, J- ms incident occurred during
To Shoot your Neighbours through the Head ; the French war, and is thus described
428 THE RIOTERS MARCH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV.
away, and they now resolved to try the efficacy of
their rifles.
They mustered under their popular leaders, promi-
nent among whom was Matthew Smith, who had led
the murderers at Conestoga, and, towards the end of
January, took the road to Philadelphia, in force va-
riously estimated at from five hundred to fifteen
hundred men. Their avowed purpose was to kill the
Moravian Indians; but what vague designs they may
have entertained to change the government, and eject
the Quakers from a share in it, must remain a mat-
ter of uncertainty. Feeble as they were in numbers,
their enterprise was not so hopeless as might at first
appear, for they counted on aid from the mob of the
city, while a numerous party, comprising the mem-
bers of the Presbyterian sect, were expected to give
them secret support, or, at least, to stand neutral in
the quarrel. The Quakers, who were their most de-
termined enemies, could not take arms against them
* without glaring violation of the principles which they
had so often and loudly professed; and even should
they thus fly in the face of conscience, the warlike
borderers would stand in little fear of such unprac-
tised warriors. They pursued their march in high
confidence, applauded by the inhabitants, and hourly
increasing in numbers.
Startling rumors of the danger soon reached Phil-
adelphia, spreading alarm among the citizens. The
by a Quaker eye-witness: "Some people following — cursing the In-
of the dead bodies were brought to dians, and also the Quakers, because
Philadelphia in a wagon, in the time they would not join in war for their
of the General Meeting of Friends destruction. The sight of the dead
there in December, with intent to bodies, and the outcry of the people,
animate the people to unite in prep- were very afflicting and shocking."
arations for war on the Indians. They — Watson, Annals of Phil. 449,
were carried along the streets — many (Phil. 1830.)
Chap. XXV.] ALARM OF THE QUAKERS. 429
Quakers, especially, had reason to fear, both for
themselves and for the Indians, of whom it was their
pride to be esteemed the champions. These pacific
sectaries found themselves in a new and embarrassing
position, for hitherto they had been able to assert
their principles at no great risk to person or prop-
erty. The appalling tempest, which, during the
French war, had desolated the rest of the province,
had been unfelt near Philadelphia ; and while the in-
habitants to the westward had been slaughtered by
hundreds, scarcely a Quaker had been hurt. Under
these circumstances, the aversion of the sect to war-
like measures had been a fruitful source of difficulty.
It is true that, on several occasions, they had voted
supplies for the public defence; but unwilling to
place on record such a testimony of inconsistency,
they had granted the money, not for the avowed
purpose of raising and arming soldiers, but under the
title of a gift to the crown.1 They were now to be
deprived of even this poor subterfuge, and subjected
to the dilemma of suffering their friends to be slain
and themselves to be plundered, or openly appealing
to arms.
Their embarrassment was increased by the exagger-
ated ideas which prevailed among the ignorant and
timorous respecting the size and strength of the bor-
derers, their ferocity of temper, and their wonderful
skill as marksmen. Quiet citizens, whose knowledge
was confined to the narrow limits of their firesides
and shops, listened horror-stricken to these reports,
the prevalence of which is somewhat surprising, when
it is considered that, at the present day, the district
J See Gordon, Hist. Perm. Chaps. XII.-XVIII.
430 THE RIOTERS MARCH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV-
whence the dreaded rioters came may be reached from
Philadelphia within a few hours.
Tidings of the massacre in Lancaster jail had ar-
rived at Philadelphia on the twenty-ninth of Decem-
ber, and with them came the rumor that numerous
armed mobs were already on their march to the city.
Terror and confusion were universal; and, as the
place was defenceless, no other expedient suggested
itself than the pitiful one of removing the objects of
popular resentment beyond reach of danger. Boats
were sent to Province Island, and the Indians ordered
to embark and proceed with all haste down the river ;
but, the rumor proving groundless, a messenger was
despatched to recall the fugitives.1 The assurance
that, for a time at least, the city was safe, restored
some measure of tranquillity; but, as intelligence
of an alarming kind came in daily from the coun-
try, Governor Penn sent to General Gage an ear-
nest request for a detachment of regulars to repel
the rioters;2 and, in the interval, means to avert
the threatened danger were eagerly sought. A
proposal was laid before the Assembly to embark
the Indians and send them to England;3 but the
scheme was judged inexpedient, and another, of equal
weakness, adopted in its place. It was determhied
to send the refugees to New York, and place them
under the protection of the Indian superintendent,
Sir William Johnson; a plan as hastily executed as
timidly conceived.4 At midnight, on the fourth of
i Loskiel, Part II. 218.
2 MS. Letter — Penn to Gage, " Philadelphia, 5th January, 1764.
Dec. 31. « Satisfied of the advantages aris-
3 Votes of Assembly, V. 293. ing from this measure, I have sent
4 Extract from a MS. Letter — them thro' Jersey and your Govern-
Governor Penn to Governor Golden, ment to Sir W. Johnson, & desire
Chap. XXV.] THE CONVERTS SENT TO NEW YORK. 431
January, no measures having been taken to gain the
consent of either the government of New York or
Johnson himself, the Indians were ordered to leave
the island, and proceed to the city, where they ar-
rived a little before daybreak, passing in mournful
procession, thinly clad and shivering with cold,
through the silent streets. The Moravian Brethren
supplied them with food, and Fox, the commis-
sary, with great humanity, distributed blankets
among them. Before they could resume their prog-
ress, the city was astir; and as they passed the
suburbs, they were pelted and hooted at by the
mob. Captain Robertson's Highlanders, who had
just arrived from Lancaster, were ordered to escort
them. These soldiers, who had their own reasons
for hating Indians, treated them at first with no less
insolence and rudeness than the populace; but at
length, overcome by the meekness and patience of
the sufferers, they changed their conduct, and as-
sumed a tone of sympathy and kindness.1
Thus escorted, the refugees pursued their dreary
progress through the country, greeted on all sides
by the threats and curses of the people. When
they reached Trenton, they were received by Apty,
the commissary at that place, under whose charge
they continued their journey towards Amboy, where
several small vessels had been provided to carry
them to New York. Arriving at Amboy, however,
Apty, to his great surprise, received a letter from
you will favour them with your pro- bly, to form a Bill that shall enable
tection and countenance, & give them me to apprehend these seditious and
the proper passes for their journey to barbarous Murderers, & to quell the
Sir William's Seat. like insurrections for the future."
" I have recommended it, in the * Loskiel, Part II. 290. Heckewel-
most pressing terms, to the Assem- der, Nar. 81.
432 THE RIOTERS MARCH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV.
Governor Colclen of New York, forbidding him to
bring the Indians within the territories of that
province. A second letter, from General Gage to
Captain Robertson, conveyed orders to prevent their
advance; and a third, to the owners of the vessels,
threatened heavy penalties if they should bring the
Indians to the city.1 The charges of treachery
against the Moravian Indians, the burden their pres-
ence would occasion, and the danger of popular dis-
turbance, were the chief causes which induced the
government of New York to adopt this course ; a
course that might have been foreseen from the
beginning.2
Thus disappointed in their hopes of escape, the
hapless Indians remained several days lodged in the
barracks at Amboy, where they passed much of their
time in religious services. A message, however, soon
came from the Governor of New Jersey, requiring
them to leave that province; and they were com-
pelled reluctantly to retrace their steps to Philadel-
phia. A detachment of a hundred and seventy
soldiers had arrived, sent by General Gage, in com-
1 Extract from a MS. Letter — I have wrote to the Governor of
Thomas Apty to Governor Penn. this Province, acquainting him with
what has happened, & begging his
" Sir : — protection for the Indians, till I can
" Agreeable to your Honour's or- receive further orders from your
ders, I passed on through the Prov- Honour ; which I hope to receive by
ince of New Jersey, in order to take the return of the express, & must
the Indians under my care into New wait here with the Indians under my
York ; but no sooner was I ready to care, till your Honour shall be
move from Amboy with the Indians pleased to dispose of them in such
under my care, than I was greatly manner as your wisdom shall think
surpriz'd & embarass'd with express fit."
orders from the Governor of New 2 Letters to Governor Penn from
York sent to Amboy, strictly forbid- General Gage, Governor Franklin
ding the bringing of these poor In- of New Jersey, and Governor Col-
dians into his Province, & charging den of New York. See Votes of
all his ferrymen not to let them pass. Assembly, V. 300-302.
Chap.XXY.] QUAKERS AND PRESBYTERIANS. 433
pliance with the request of Governor Perm ; and
under the protection of these troops, the exiles
began their backward journey. On the twenty-
fourth of January, they reached Philadelphia, where
they were lodged at the barracks within the city,
the soldiers, forgetful of former prejudice, no longer
refusing them entrance.
The return of the Indians, banishing the hope of
repose with which the citizens had flattered them-
selves, and the tidings of danger coming in quick
succession from the country, made it apparent that
no time must be lost; and the Assembly, laying
aside their scruples, unanimously passed a bill pro-
viding means for the public defence. The pacific
city displayed a scene of unwonted bustle. All who
held property, or regarded the public order, might,
it should seem, have felt a deep interest in the
issue ; yet a numerous and highly respectable class
stood idle spectators, or showed, at best, but a luke-
warm zeal. These were the Presbyterians, who had
naturally felt a strong sympathy with their suffering
brethren of the frontier. To this they added a deep
bitterness against the Quakers, greatly increased by
a charge, most uncharitably brought by the latter
against the whole Presbyterian sect, of conniving at
and abetting the murders at Conestoga and Lan-
caster. They regarded the Paxton men as the vic-
tims of Quaker neglect and injustice, and showed a
strong disposition to palliate, or excuse altogether, the
violence of which they had been guilty. Many of
them, indeed, were secretly inclined to favor the de-
signs of the advancing rioters; hoping that by their
means the public grievances would be redressed,
55 kk
434 THE RIOTERS MARCH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV.
the Quaker faction put down, and the social and
political balance of the state restored.1
Whatever may have been the sentiments of the
Presbyterians, and of the city mob, the rest of the
inhabitants bestirred themselves for defence with all
the alacrity of fright. The Quakers were especially
conspicuous for their zeal. Nothing more was heard
of the duty of non-resistance. The city was ran-
sacked for arms, and the Assembly passed a vote,
extending the English riot act to the province, the
Quaker members heartily concurring in the measure.
Franklin, whose energy and practical talents made
his services invaluable, was the moving spirit of the
day ; and under his auspices, the citizens were
formed into military companies, six of which were
of infantry, one of artillery, and two of horse.
Besides this force, several thousands of the inhab-
itants, including many Quakers, held themselves
ready to appear in arm's at a moment's notice.2
These preparations were yet incomplete, when, on
the fourth of February, couriers came in with the
announcement that the Paxton men, horse and foot,
were already within a short distance of the city.
Proclamation was made through the streets, and the
people called to arms. A mob of citizen soldiers
repaired in great excitement to the barracks, where
the Indians were lodged, under protection of the
handful of regulars. Here the crowd remained all
night, drenched with the rain, and in a dismal
condition.3
i For indications of the state of 2 Gordon, Hist. Penn. 406. Penn.
feeling among the Presbyterians, see Gaz. No. 1833.
the numerous partisan pamphlets of 3 Haz. Pa. Reg. XII. 10.
the day. See also Appendix, E.
Chap. XXV.] EXCITEMENT IN THE CITY. 435
On the following clay, Sunday, a barricade was
thrown up across the great square enclosed by the
barracks, and eight cannon, to which four more
were afterwards added, were planted to sweep the
adjacent streets. These pieces were discharged, to
convey to the rioters an idea of the reception pre-
pared for them ; but whatever effect the explosion
may have produced on the ears for which it was
intended, the new and appalling sounds struck the
Indians in the barracks with speechless terror.1
"While the city assumed this martial attitude, its
rulers thought proper to adopt the safer, though less
glorious course of conciliation ; and a deputation of
clergymen was sent out to meet the rioters, and
pacify them by reason and Scripture. Towards night,
as all remained quiet, and nothing was heard from
the enemy, the turmoil began to subside, the citizen
soldiers dispersed, the regulars withdrew into quar-
ters, and the city recovered something of the ordi-
nary repose of a Sabbath evening.
Through the early part of the night, the quiet
was undisturbed; but at about two o'clock in the
morning, the clang of bells and the rolling of drums
startled the people from their slumbers, and count-
less voices from the street echoed the alarm. Im-
mediately, in obedience to the previous day's orders,
lighted candles were placed in every window, till
the streets seemed illuminated for a festival. The
citizen soldiers, with more zeal than regularity, mus-
tered under their officers. The governor, dreading
an irruption of the mob, repaired to the house of
Franklin, and the city was filled with the jangling
of bells, and the no less vehement clamor of
i Loskiel, Part II. 223
436 THE KIOTERS MARCH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV
tongues. A great multitude gathered before the
barracks, where it was supposed the attack would
be made; and among them was seen many a
Quaker, with musket in hand. Some of the more
rigid of the sect, unwilling to take arms with their
less scrupulous brethren, went into the barracks to
console and reassure the Indians ; who, however,
showed much more composure than their comforters,
and sat waiting the result with invincible calmness.
Several hours of suspense and excitement passed,
when it was recollected, that though the other fer-
ries of the Schuylkill had been secured, a crossing
place, known as the Swedes' Ford, had been left
open, and a party at once set out to correct this
unluck}^ oversight.1 Scarcely were they gone, when
a cry rose among the crowd before the barracks,
and a general exclamation was heard that the Pax-
ton Boys were coming. In fact, a band of horse-
men was seen advancing up Second Street. The
people crowded to get out of the way; the troops
fell into order; a cannon was pointed full at the
horsemen, and the gunner was about to apply the
match, when a man ran out from the crowd, and
covered the touchhole with his hat. The cry of a
false alarm was heard, and it was soon apparent to
all that the supposed Paxton Boys were a troop of
German butchers and carters, who had come to aid
in defence of the city, and had nearly paid dear for
their patriotic zeal.2
1 Historical Account of the Late Sparks, Writings of Franklin, VII.
Disturbances, 4. 293.
2 Haz. Pa. Reg. XII. 11. Me- The best remaining account of
raoirs of a Life passed chiefly in these riots -will be found under the
Pennsylvania, 39. Heckewelder, first authority cited above. It con-
Nar. 85. Loskiel, Part II. 223. sists of a long letter, written in a
Chap. XXV.] PAXTON MEN AT GERMANTOWN. 437
The tumult of this alarm was hardly over, when
a fresh commotion was raised by the return of the
men who had gone to secure the Swedes' Ford, and
who now reported that they had been too late; that
the rioters had crossed the river, and were already
at Germantown. Those who had crossed proved to
be the van of the Paxton men, two hundred in
number, and commanded by Matthew Smith; who,
learning what welcome was prepared for them,
thought it prudent to remain quietly at German-
town, instead of marching forward to certain de-
struction. In the afternoon, many of the inhabitants
gathered courage, and went out to visit them. They
found nothing very extraordinary in the aspect of
the rioters, who, in the words of a writer of the
day, were "a set of fellows in blanket coats and
moccasons, like our Indian traders or back country
wagoners, all armed with rifles and tomahawks, and
some with pistols stuck in their belts."1 They re-
ceived their visitors with the courtesy which might
doubtless be ascribed in great measure to their
knowledge of the warlike preparations within the
city; and the report made by the adventurers, on
their return, greatly tended to allay the general
excitement.
The alarm, however, was again raised on the
very animated strain, by a Quaker The scene before the barracks,
to his friend, containing a detailed and the narrow escape of the Ger-
account of what passed in the city man butchers, was made the subject
from the first alarm of the rioters to of several poems and farces, written
the conclusion of the affair. The by members of the Presbyterian
writer, though a Quaker, is free faction, to turn their opponents into
from the prejudices of his sect, nor ridicule ; for which, indeed, the sub-
does he hesitate to notice the incon- ject offered tempting facilities,
sistency of his brethren appearing i Haz. Pa. Reg. XII. 11.
in arms. See Appendix, E.
KK*
438 THE EIOTEES MAECH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV.
following day, and the cry to arms once more
resounded through the city of peace. The citizen
soldiers mustered with exemplary despatch; but their
ardor was quenched by a storm of rain, which
drove them all under shelter. A neighboring Quaker
meeting-house happened to be open, and a company
of the volunteers betook themselves in haste to this
convenient asylum. Forthwith, the place was bris-
tling with bayonets, and the walls which had listened
so often to angry denunciations against war now
echoed the clang of weapons — an unspeakable scan-
dal to the elders of the sect, and an occasion of
pitiless satire to the Presbyterians.1
This alarm proving groundless, like all the others,
the governor and council proceeded to the execution
of a design which they had formed the day before.
They had resolved, in pursuance of their timid
policy, to open negotiations with the rioters, and
persuade them, if possible, to depart peacefully.
Many of the citizens protested against the plan, and
the soldiers volunteered to attack the Paxton men;
but none were so vehement as the Quakers, who
held that fire and steel were the only welcome that
should be accorded to such violators of the public
peace, and audacious blasphemers of the society of
Friends.2 The plan was nevertheless sustained, and
Franklin, with three other citizens of character and
influence, set out for Germantown. The rioters re-
ceived them with marks of respect, and, after a long
conference, the leaders of the mob were so far
i Haz. Pa. Reg. XII. 12. the Quakers, in their elaborate replies
2 This statement is made in " The to these publications, do not attempt
Quaker Unmasked," and other Pres- to deny the fact.
byterian pamphlets of the day ; and
Chap. XXV.] TREATY WITH THE RIOTERS. 439
wrought upon as to give over their hostile designs,
the futility of which was now sufficiently apparent.1
An assurance was given, on the part of the govern-
ment, that their complaints should have a hearing,
and safety was guarantied to those of their number
who should enter the city as their representatives
and advocates. For this purpose, Matthew Smith
and James Gibson were appointed by the popular
voice, and two papers, a Declaration and a Remon-
strance, were drawn up, addressed to the governor
and Assembly. With this assurance that their cause
should be represented, the rioters signified their will-
ingness to return home, glad to escape so easily
from an affair which had begun to threaten worse
consequences.
Towards evening, the commissioners, returning to
the city, reported the success of their negotiations.
Upon this, the citizen soldiers were convened in front
of the court house, and addressed by a member of the
council. He thanked them for their zeal, and assured
them there was no farther occasion for their services,
since the Paxton men, though falsely represented as
enemies of government, were in fact its friends, en-
tertaining no worse design than that of gaining relief
to their sufferings, without injury to the city or its
inhabitants. The people, ill satisfied with what they
heard, returned in no placid tenrper to their homes.2
On the morrow, the good effect of the treaty was ap-
parent in a general opening of schools, shops, and
warehouses, and a return to the usual activity of
business, which had been wholly suspended for some
1 Sparks, Writings of Franklin, 148. Rupp, Hist. York and Lancas-
VII. 293. ter Counties, 362
2 Barton, Memoirs of Rittenhouse,
440 THE KIOTERS MAECH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV.
days. The security was not of long duration. Before
noon, an uproar more tumultuous than ever, a cry
to arms, and a general exclamation that the Paxton
Boys had broken the treaty and were entering the
town, startled the indignant citizens. The streets
were filled hi an instant with a rabble of armed mer-
chants and shopmen, who for once were fully bent
on slaughter, and resolved to put a summary end to
the long-protracted evil. Quiet was again restored,
when it was found that the alarm was caused by
about thirty of the frontiersmen, who, with singular
audacity, were riding into the city on a visit of curi-
osity. As their deportment was inoffensive, it was
thought unwise to molest them. Several of these
visitors had openly boasted of the part they had
taken in the Conestoga murders, and a large reward
had been offered for their apprehension; yet such
was the state of factions in the city, and such the
dread of the frontiersmen, that no man dared lay
hand on the criminals. The party proceeded to the
barracks, where they requested to see the Indians?
declaring that they could point out several who had
been in the battle against Colonel Bouquet, or en-
gaged in other acts of open hostility. The request
was granted, but no discovery made. Upon this, it
was rumored abroad that the Quakers had removed
the guilty individuals to screen them from just pun-
ishment; an accusation which, for a time, excited
much ill blood between the rival factions.
The thirty frontiersmen withdrew from the city, and
soon followed the example of their companions, who
had begun to remove homeward, leaving their leaders,
Smith and Gibson, to adjust their differences with
the government. Their departure gave great relief
Chap. XXV.] PAPER WARFARE. 441
to the people of the neighborhood, to whom they had,
at times, conducted themselves after a fashion some-
what barbarous and uncivil, uttering hideous out-
cries, in imitation of the war-whoop ; knocking down
peaceable citizens, and pretending to scalp them;
thrusting their guns in at windows, and committing
unheard-of ravages among hen-roosts and hog-pens.1
Though the city was now safe from all external
danger, contentions sprang up within its precincts,
which, though by no means as perilous, were not
less clamorous and angry than those menaced from
an irruption of the rioters.9 The rival factions turned
savagely upon each other, while the more philosophic
citizens stood laughing by, and ridiculed them both.
The Presbyterians grew furious, the Quakers dogged
and spiteful. Pamphlets, farces, dialogues, and poems
came forth in quick succession. These sometimes
exhibited a few traces of wit, and even of reasoning;
but abuse was the favorite weapon, and it is difficult
to say which of the combatants handled it with the
1 David Rittenhouse, in one of his name was Davis, and he was really a
letters, speaks with great horror of kind, good-natured man; yet from
the enormities committed by the Pax- the dominion of his religious or polit-
ton Boys, and enumerates various ical prejudices, he had been led to
particulars of their conduct. See apologize for, if not to approve of an
Barton, Mem. of Rittenhouse, 148. outrage, which was a disgrace to a
■2 " Whether the Paxton men were civilized people. He had been among
'more sinned against than sinning,' the riflemen on their coming into
was a question which was agitated the city, and, talking with them upon
with so much ardor and acrimony, that the subject of the Lancaster mas-
even the schoolboys became warmly sacre, and particularly of the killing
engaged in the contest. For my own of Will Sock, the most distinguished
part, though of the religious sect of the victims, related with an ah- of
which had been long warring with approbation, this rodomontade of the
the Quakers, I was entirely on the real or pretended murderer. ' I,' said
side of humanity and public duty, (or he, ' am the man who killed Will
in this do I beg the question?) and Sock — this is the arm that stabbed
perfectly recollect my indignation at him to the heart, and I glory in it.' "
the sentiments of one of the ushers — Memoirs of a Life chiefly passed in
who was on the opposite side. His Pennsylvania, 40.
56
442 THE RIOTERS MARCH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV.
greater freedom and dexterity.1 The Quakers accused
the Presbyterians of conniving at the act of murder-
ers, of perverting Scripture for their defence, and of
aiding the rioters with counsel and money, in their
audacious attempt against the public peace. The
Presbyterians, on their part, with about equal justice,
charged the Quakers with leaguing themselves with
the common enemy, and exciting them to war. They
held up to scorn those accommodating principles
which denied the aid of arms to suffering fellow-
countrymen, but justified their use at the first call
of self-interest. The Quaker warrior, in his sober garb
of ostentatious simplicity, his prim person adorned
with military trappings, and his hands grasping a
musket which threatened more peril to himself than
to his enemy, was a subject of ridicule too tempting
to be overlooked.
1 " Persons who were intimate
now scarcely speak ; or if they hap-
pen to meet and converse, presently
get to quarrelling. In short, harmony
and love seem to be banished from
amongst us."
The above is an extract from the
letter so often referred to. A frag-
ment of the " Paxtoniad," one of the
poems of the day, is given in the Ap-
pendix. Few of the party pamphlets
are worth quoting, and the titles of
some of them will give an idea of
their character: The Quaker Un-
masked — A Looking-Glass for Pres-
byterians—A Battle of Squirt —
Plain Truth — Plain Truth found to
be Plain Falsehood — The Author of
Plain Truth Stripped Stark Naked
— Clothes for a Stark Naked Author
— The Squabble, a Pastoral Ec-
logue — etc., etc.
The pamphlet called Plain Truth
drew down the especial indignation
of the Quakers, and the following
extract from one of their replies to it
may serve as a fan specimen of the
temper of the combatants : " But
how came you to give your piece
the Title of Plain Truth, if you had
called it downright Lies, it would
have agreed better with the Con-
tents ; the Title therefore is a de-
ception, and the contents manifestly
false : in short I have carefully exam-
ined it, and find in it no less than 17
Positive Lies, and 10 false Insinua-
tions contained in 15 Pages, Mon-
strous, and from what has been said
must conclude that when you wrote
it, Truth Avas banished entirely from
you, and that you wrote it Avith a
truly Pious Lying P n Spirit,
Avhich appears in almost every Line ! "
The peaceful society of Friends
found among its ranks more than one
such champion as the ingenious wri-
ter of the above. Tavo collections of
these pamphlets have been examined,
one preserved in the City Library of
Philadelphia, and the other in that of
the NeAv York Historical Society.
Chap. XXV.] MEMORIALS OF THE PAXTON MEN. 443
While this paper warfare was raging in the city,
the representatives of the frontiersmen, Smith and
Gibson, had laid before the Assembly the memorial,
entitled the Remonstrance ; and to this a second paper,
styled a Declaration, was soon afterwards added.1
Various grievances were specified, for which redress
was demanded. It was urged that those counties
where the Quaker interest prevailed sent to the Assem-
bly more than their due share of representatives.
The memorialists bitterly complained of a law, then
before the Assembly, by which those charged with
murdering Indians were to be brought to trial, not
in the district where the act was committed, but in
one of the three eastern counties. They represented
the Moravian converts as enemies in disguise, and
denounced the policy which yielded them protection
and support while the sick and wounded of the
frontiers were cruelly abandoned to their misery.
They begged that a suitable reward might be offered
for scalps, since the want of such encouragement
had " damped the spirits of many brave men." An-
gry invectives against the Quakers succeeded. To
the "villany, infatuation, and influence of a certain
faction, that have got the political reins in their
hands, and tamely tyrannize over the other good
subjects of the province," were to be ascribed, urged
the memorialists, the intolerable evils which afflicted
the people. The Quakers, they insisted, had held
private treaties with the Indians, encouraged them
to hostile acts, and excused their cruelties on the
charitable plea that this was their method of mak-
ing war.
1 See Appendix, E.
444 THE EIOTEES MAECH ON PHILADELPHIA. [Chap. XXV.
The memorials were laid before a committee, who
recommended that a public conference should be held
with Smith and Gibson, to consider the grounds of
complaint. To this the governor, in view of the ille-
gal position assumed by the frontiersmen, would not
give his consent, an assertion of dignity that would
have done him more honor had he made it when the
rioters were in arms before the city, at which time
he had shown an abundant alacrity to negotiate. It
was intimated to Smith and Gibson that they might
leave Philadelphia; and the Assembly soon after be-
came involved in its protracted quarrels with the
governor, relative to the granting of supplies for the
service of the ensuing campaign. The supply bill
passed, as mentioned in a former chapter; and the
consequent military preparations, together with a
threatened renewal of the war on the part of the
enemy, engrossed the minds of the frontier people,
and caused the excitements of the winter to be for-
gotten. No action on the two memorials was ever
taken by the Assembly, and the memorable Paxton
riots had no other definite result than that of ex-
posing the weakness and distraction of the provincial
government, and demonstrating the folly and absurdity
of all principles of non-resistance.
Yet to the student of human nature these events
supply abundant food for reflection. In the frontiers-
man, goaded, by the madness of his misery, to deeds
more horrible than those by which he suffered, and
half believing that, in the perpetration of these atroci-
ties, he was but the minister of divine vengeance;
in the Quaker, absorbed by one narrow philanthropy,
and closing his ears to the outcries of his wretched
countrymen; in the Presbyterian, urged by party
Chap. XXV.] THE MORAVIAN CONCERTS. 445
spirit and sectarian zeal to countenance the crimes
of rioters and murderers, — in each and all of these
lies an embodied satire, which may find its applica-
tion in every age of the world, and every condition
of society.
The Moravian Indians, the occasion — and, at least,
as regards most of them, the innocent occasion — of
the tumult, remained for a full year in the barracks
of Philadelphia. There they endured frightful suffer-
ings from the small-pox, which destroyed more than a
third of their number. After the conclusion of peace,
they were permitted to depart, and, having thanked
the governor for his protection and care, they with-
drew to the banks of the Susquehanna, where, under
the direction of the missionaries, they once more
formed a prosperous settlement.1
i Loskiel, Part II. 231.
LL
CHAPTER XXVI.
BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES.
The campaign of 1763, a year of disaster to the
English colonies, was throughout of a defensive
nature, and no important blow had been struck
against the enemy. "With the opening of the fol-
lowing spring, preparations were made to renew the
war on a more decisive plan. Before the commence-
ment of hostilities, Sir William Johnson and his
deputy, George Croghan, each addressed to the lords
of trade a memorial, setting forth the character,
temper, and resources of the Indian tribes, and sug-
gesting the course of conduct which they judged it
expedient to pursue. They represented that, before
the conquest of Canada, all the tribes, jealous of
French encroachment, had looked to the English to
befriend and protect them, but that now one gen-
eral feeling of distrust and hatred filled them all.
They added that the neglect and injustice of the
British government, the outrages of ruffian borderers
and debauched traders, and the insolence of English
soldiers, had aggravated this feeling, and given double
effect to the restless machinations of the defeated
French, who, to revenge themselves on their con-
querors, were constantly stirring up the Indians to
war. A race so brave and tenacious of liberty, so
wild and erratic in their habits, dwelling in a
Chap. XXVI] MEMORIALS ON INDIAN AFFAIRS. 447
country so savage and inaccessible, could not be ex-
terminated or reduced to subjection without an im-
moderate expenditure of men, money, and time.
The true policy of the British government was
therefore to conciliate ; to soothe their jealous pride,
galled by injuries and insults ; to gratify them by
presents, and treat them with a respect and attention
to which their haughty spirit would not fail to
respond. We ought, they said, to make the Indians
our friends, and, by a just, consistent, and straight-
forward course, seek to gain their esteem, and wean
them from their partiality to the French. To re-
move the constant irritation which arose from the
intrusion of the white inhabitants on their territory,
Croghan urged the expediency of purchasing a large
tract of land to the westward of the English settle-
ments ; thus confining the tribes to remoter hunting-
grounds. For a moderate sum, the Indians would
part with as much land as might be required. A
little more, laid out in annual presents, would keep
them in good temper; and by judicious management,
all hostile collision might be prevented, till, by the
extension of the settlements, it should become expe-
dient to make yet another purchase.1
This plan was afterwards carried into execution
by the British government. Founded as it is upon
the supposition that the Indian tribes must grad-
ually dwindle and waste away, it might well have
awakened the utmost fears of that unhappy people.
Yet none but an enthusiast or fanatic could con-
demn it as iniquitous. To reclaim the Indians from
their savage state has again and again been attempted,
1 MS. Johnson Papers.
BEADSTKEET'S AEMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
and each attempt has failed. Their intractable,
unchanging character leaves no other alternative
than their gradual extinction, or the abandonment
of the western world to eternal barbarism; and of
this and other similar plans, whether the offspring
of British or American legislation, it may alike be
said that sentimental philanthropy will find it easier
to cavil at than to amend them.
Whatever may have been the merits of the scheme
proposed to the lords of trade, it was necessary,
before attempting its execution, to suppress the exist-
ing outbreak — to beat the Indians into submission,
and bind them by treaties as firm and stringent as
circumstances would admit. With this view, it was
resolved to march two armies, from different points,
into the heart of the Indian country. The command
of the first was given to Colonel Bouquet, with
orders to advance to Fort Pitt, and thence to pen-
etrate into the midst of the Delaware and Shawanoe
settlements. The other army, under Colonel Brad-
street, was to ascend the lakes, and force the tribes
of Detroit and the regions beyond to unconditional
submission. The name of Bradstreet was already
well known in America. At a dark and ill-omened
period of the French war, he had crossed Lake On-
tario with a force of three thousand provincials, and
captured Fort Frontenac, a formidable stronghold of
the French, commanding the outlet of the lake. He
had distinguished himself, moreover, by his gallant
conduct in a skirmish with the French and Indians
on the River Oswego. These exploits had gained
for him a reputation beyond his merits. He was a
man of more activity than judgment, perverse, self-
willed, vain, and eager for notoriety; qualities which
Chap. XXVI.] DEPAETUEE OF BEADSTEEET.
became sufficiently apparent before the end of the
campaign.1
Several of the northern provinces furnished troops
for the expedition; but these levies did not arrive
until after the appointed time, and, as the service
promised neither honor nor advantage, they were
drawn from the scum and refuse of the population,
looking more like candidates for a hospital than like
men lit for the arduous duty before them. The ren-
dezvous of the troops was at Albany, and thence
they took their departure about the end of June.
Adopting the usual military route to the westward,
they passed up the Mohawk, crossed the Oneida
Lake, and descended the swift current of the Os-
wego. The boats and bateaux, crowded with men,
passed between the war-worn defences of Oswego,
which guarded the mouth of the river on either
hand, and, issuing forth upon Lake Ontario, steered
in long procession over its restless waters. A violent
storm threw the flotilla into confusion; and several
days elapsed before the ramparts of Fort Niag-
ara rose in sight, breaking the tedious monotony of
the forest-covered shores. The troops landed beneath
its walls. The surrounding plains were soon dotted
with the white tents of the little army, whose
strength, far inferior to the original design, did not
exceed twelve hundred men.
1 In the correspondence of Gen- above is derived from the letters of
eral Wolfe, recently published in Bradstreet himself, from the corre-
Tait's Magazine, this distinguished spondence of General Gage and Sir
officer speaks in high terms of Brad- William Johnson, and from a MS.
street's military character. His re- paper containing numerous details
marks, however, have reference solely of his conduct during the campaign
to the capture of Fort Frontenac ; of 1764, and drawn up by the officers
and he seems to have derived his who served under him.
impressions from the public prints, This paper is in the possession of
as he had no personal knowledge of Mrs. W. L. Stone.
Bradstreet. The view expressed
57 LL*
450 BKADSTKEET'S AEMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
A striking spectacle greeted them on their land-
ing. Hundreds of Indian cabins were clustered
along the skirts of the forest, and a countless mul-
titude of savages, in all the picturesque variety of
their barbaric costume, were roaming over the fields,
or lounging about the shores of the lake. Towards
the close of the previous winter, Sir "William John-,
son had despatched Indian messengers to the tribes
far and near, warning them of the impending blow,
and urging all who were friendly to the English, or
disposed to make peace while there was yet time, to
meet him at Niagara, and listen to his words.
Throughout the winter, the sufferings of the Indians
had been great and general. The suspension of the
fur-trade; the consequent want of ammunition, cloth-
ing, and other articles of necessity; the failure of
expected aid from the French; and, above all, the
knowledge that some of their own people had taken
up arms for the English, combined to quench their
thirst for war. Johnson's messengers had therefore
been received with unexpected favor, and many had
complied with his invitation. Some came to protest
their friendship for the English; others hoped, by
an early submission, to atone for past misconduct.
Some came as spies; while others, again, were lured
by the hope of receiving presents, and especially a
draught of English milk, that is to say, a dram of
whiskey.
The trader Alexander Henry, the same who so
narrowly escaped the massacre at Michillimackinac,
was with a party of Ojibwas at the Sault Ste.
Marie, when a canoe, filled with warriors, arrived,
bringing the message of Sir William Johnson. A
council was called, and the principal messenger,
Chap. XXVI] INDIAN ORACLE. 451
offering a belt of wampum, spoke as follows : " My
friends and brothers, I am come with this belt from
our great father, Sir William Johnson. He desired
me to come to you, as his ambassador, and tell you
that he is making a great feast at Fort Niagara;
that his kettles are all ready, and his fires lighted.
He invites you to partake of the feast, in common
with your friends, the Six Nations, who have all
made peace with the English. He advises you to
seize this opportunity of doing the same, as you
cannot otherwise fail of being destroyed; for the
English are on their march with a great army,
which will be joined by different nations of Indians.
In a word, before the fall of the leaf they will be
at Michillimackinac, and the Six Nations with
them."
The Ojibwas had been debating whether they
should go to Detroit, to the assistance of Pontiac,
who had just sent them a message to that effect;
but the speech of Johnson's messenger turned the
current of their thoughts. Most of them were in
favor of accepting the invitation; but, distrusting
mere human wisdom in a crisis so important, they
resolved, before taking a decisive step, to invoke the
superior intelligence of the Great Turtle, the chief
of all the spirits. A huge wigwam was erected,
capable of containing the whole population of the
little village. In the centre, a sort of tabernacle
was constructed by driving posts into the ground,
and closely covering them with hides. "With the
arrival of night, the propitious time for consulting
their oracle, all the warriors assembled in the spa-
cious wigwam, half lighted by the lurid glare of
fires, and waited, in suspense and awe, the issue of
BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
the invocation. The medicine man, or magician,
stripped almost naked, now entered the central tab-
ernacle, which was barely large enough to receive
him, and carefully closed the aperture. At once the
whole structure began to shake with a violence
which threatened its demolition, and a confusion of
horrible sounds, shrieks, howls, yells, and moans of
anguish, mingled with articulate words, sounded in
hideous discord from within. This outrageous clamor,
which announced to the horror-stricken spectators
the presence of a host of evil spirits, ceased as sud-
denly as it had begun. A low, feeble sound, like
the whine of a young puppy, was next heard within
the recess; upon which the warriors raised a cry of
joy, and hailed it as the voice of the Great Turtle
■ — the spirit who never lied. The magician soon
announced that the spirit was ready to answer any
question which might be proposed. On this, the
chief warrior stepped forward, and, having propitiated
the Great Turtle by a present of tobacco thrust
through a small hole in the tabernacle, inquired if
the English were in reality preparing to attack the
Indians, and if the troops were already come to
Niagara. Once more the tabernacle was violently
shaken, a loud yell was heard, and it was apparent
to all that the spirit was gone. A pause of anxious
expectation ensued, when, after the lapse of a quarter
of an hour, the weak, puppy-like voice of the Great
Turtle was again heard addressing the magician in
a language unknown to the auditors. When the
spirit ceased speaking, the magician interpreted his
words. During the short interval of his departure,
he had crossed Lake Huron, visited Niagara, and
descended the St. Lawrence to Montreal. Few
Chap. XXVI.] INDIAN ORACLE. 453
soldiers had as yet reached Niagara ; but as he
flew down the St. Lawrence, he had seen the water
covered with boats, all filled with English warriors,
corning to make war on the Indians. Having ob-
tained this answer to his first question, the chief
ventured to propose another, and inquired if he and
his people, should they accept the invitation of Sir
William Johnson, would be well received at Niagara.
The answer was most satisfactory. " Sir William
Johnson," said the spirit, " will fill your canoes with
presents; with blankets, kettles, guns, gunpowder
and shot, and large barrels of rum, such as the
stoutest of the Indians will not be able to lift; and
every man will return in safety to his family." This
grateful response produced a general outburst of ac-
clamations; and with cries of joy, many voices were
heard to exclaim, " I will go too ! I will go too ! " l
They set out, accordingly, for Niagara ; and thither
also numerous bands of warriors were tending, urged
by similar messages, and encouraged, it may be, by
similar responses of their oracles. Crossing fresh-
water oceans in their birch canoes, and threading the
devious windings of solitary streams, they came flock-
ing to the common centre of attraction. Such a
1 Henry, Travels and Adventures, ing assumed a visible and tangible
171. form, which exposed him to the inci-
The method of invoking the spirits, dents of mortality. During these in-
described above, is a favorite species vocations, the lodge or tabernacle
of imposture among the medicine was always observed to shake vio-
men of most Algonquin tribes, and lently to and fro, in a manner so
had been observed and described a remarkable as exceedingly to perplex
century and a half before the period the observers. The variety of dis-
of this history. Champlain, the found- cordant sounds, uttered by the medi-
er of Canada, witnessed one of these cine man, need not surprise us more
ceremonies ; and the Jesuit Le Jeune than those accurate imitations of the
gives an account of a sorcerer, who, cries of various animals, to which In-
having invoked a spirit in this man- dian hunters are accustomed to train
ner, treacherously killed him with a their strong and flexible voices,
hatchet, the mysterious visitant hav-
BRADSTEEET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
concourse of savages has seldom been seen in America.
Menomonies, Ottawas, Ojibwas, Mississaugas, from the
north, Caughnawagas from Canada, even "Wyandots
from Detroit, together with a host of Iroquois, were
congregated round Fort Niagara to the number of
more than two thousand warriors, many of whom had
brought with them their women and children.1 Even
1 MS. Johnson Papers.
The following extract from Henry's
Travels will exhibit the feelings with
which the Indians came to the con-
ference at Niagara, besides illus-
trating a curious feature of their
superstitions. Many tribes, including
some widely differing in language
and habits, regard the rattlesnake
with superstitious veneration, looking
upon him either as a manitou, or
spirit, or as a creature endowed with
mystic powers and attributes, giving
him an influence over the fortunes
of mankind. Henry accompanied
Ms Indian companions to Niagara,
and, on the way, he chanced to dis-
cover one of these snakes near their
encampment.
"The reptile was coiled, and its
head raised considerably above its
body. Had I advanced another step
before my discovery, I must have
trodden upon it.
" I no sooner saw the snake, than
I hastened to the canoe, in order to
procure my gun; but the Indians,
observing what I was doing, inquired
the occasion, and, being informed,
begged me to desist. At the same
time, they followed me to the spot,
with their pipes and tobacco-pouches
in their hands. On returning, I found
the snake still coiled.
" The Indians, on their part, sur-
rounded it, all addressing it by turns,
and calling it their grandfather, but
yet keeping at some distance. Dur-
ing this part of the ceremony, they
filled their pipes ; and now each blew
the smoke toward the snake, who, as
it appeared to me, really received it
with pleasure. In a word, after re-
maining coiled, and receiving in-
cense, for the space of half an hour,
it stretched itself along the ground,
in visible good humor. Its length
was between four and five feet. Hav-
ing remained outstretched for some
time, at last it moved slowly away,
the Indians following it, and still ad-
dressing it by the title of grandfather,
beseeching it to take care of their
families during their absence, and to
be pleased to open the heart of Sir
William Johnson, so that he might
slioio them charity, and fill their canoe
with rum.
" One of the chiefs added a pe-
tition, that the snake would take no
notice of the insult which had been
offered him by the Englishman, who
would even have put him to death,
but for the interference of the In-
dians, to whom it was hoped he would
impute no part of the offence. They
further requested, that he would re-
main, and not return among the Eng-
lish ; that is, go eastward.
" After the rattlesnake was gone,
I learned that this was the first time
that an individual of the species had
been seen so far to the northward and
westward of the River Des Francais ;
a circumstance, moreover, from which
my companions wTere disposed to in-
fer, that this manilo had come, or been
sent, on purpose to meet them; that
his errand had been no other than to
stop them on their way; and that
consequently it would be most ad-
visable to return to the point of de-
parture. I was so fortunate, however,
as to prevail with them to embark;
and at six o'clock in the evening we
again encamped.
Chap. XXVI.] INDIANS AT NIAGARA. 455
the Sacs, the Foxes, and the Winnebagoes had sent
their deputies ; and the Osages, a tribe beyond the
Mississippi, had their representative in this general
meeting.
Though the assembled multitude consisted, for the
most part, of the more pacific members of the tribes
represented, yet their friendly disposition was by no
means certain. Several straggling soldiers were shot
at in the neighborhood, and it soon became apparent
that the utmost precaution must be taken to avert
a rupture. The troops were kept always on their
guard, while the black muzzles of the cannon, thrust
forth from the bastions of the fort, struck a whole-
some awe into the savage throng below.
Although so many had attended the meeting, there
were still numerous tribes, and portions of tribes, who
maintained a rancorous, unwavering hostility. The
" Early the next morning we pro- and desiring him to satisfy his hunger
ceeded. We had a serene sky and with the carcass of the dog. The
very little wind, and the Indians there- snake was unpropitious, and the wind
fore determined on steering across increased. Another chief sacrificed
the lake, to an island which just ap- another dog, with the addition of
peared in the horizon ; saving, by this some tobacco. In the prayer which
course, a distance of thirty miles, accompanied these gifts, he besought
which would be lost in keeping the the snake, as before, not to avenge
shore. At nine o'clock A. M. we had upon the Indians the insult which he
a light breeze, to enjoy the benefit had received from myself, in the con-
of which we hoisted sail. Soon after, ception of a design to put him to
the wind increased, and the Indians, death. He assured the snake that I
beginning to be alarmed, frequently was absolutely an Englishman, and
called on the rattlesnake to come to of kin neither to him nor to them,
their assistance. By degrees the " At the conclusion of this speech,
waves grew high ; and at eleven an Indian, who sat near me, observed,
o'clock it blew a hurricane, and we that if we were drowned it would be
expected every moment to be swal- for my fault alone, and that I ought
lowed up. From prayers, the Indians myself to be sacrificed, to appease
now proceeded to sacrifices, both the angry manito ; nor was I without
alike offered to the god-rattlesnake, apprehensions, that in case of ex-
or manito-kinibic. One of the chiefs tremity, this would be my fate ; but,
took a dog, and after tying its fore happily for me, the storm at length
legs together, threw it overboard, at abated, and we reached the island
the same time calling on the snake safely." — Henry, Travels, 175.
to preserve us from being drowned,
456 BRADSTREETS ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
Delawares and Shawanoes, however, against whom
Bouquet, with the army of the south, was then in
the act of advancing, sent a message to the effect,
that, though they had no fear of the English, though
they regarded them as old women, and held them in
contempt, yet, out of pity for their sufferings, they
were willing to treat of peace. To this haughty mis-
sive Johnson made no answer; and, indeed, those who
sent it were, at this very time, renewing the bloody
work of the previous year along the borders of Penn-
sylvania and Virginia. The Senecas, that numerous
and warlike people, to whose savage enmity were to
be ascribed the massacre at the Devil's Hole, and
other disasters of the last summer, had recently made
a preliminary treaty with Sir William Johnson, and
at the same time pledged themselves to appear at
Niagara to ratify and complete it. They broke their
promise, and it soon became known that they had
leagued themselves with a large band of hostile Del-
awares, who had visited their country. Upon this, a
messenger was sent to them, threatening that, unless
they instantly came to Niagara, the English would
march upon them and burn their villages. The
menace had full effect, and a large body of these for-
midable warriors appeared at the English camp,
bringing fourteen prisoners, besides several deserters
and runaway slaves. A peace was concluded, on con-
dition that they should never again attack the Eng-
lish, and that they should cede to the British crown
a strip of land, between the Lakes Erie and Ontario,
four miles in width, on either side of the River, or
Strait, of Niagara.1 A treaty was next made with a
1 Articles of Peace concluded with the Senecas, at Fort Niagara, July
18, 1764, MS.
Chap. XXVI] OTTAWAS AND MENOMONIES. 457
deputation of Wyandots from Detroit, on condition
of the delivery of prisoners, and the preservation of
friendship for the future.
Councils were next held, in turn, with each of
the various tribes assembled round the fort, some of
whom craved forgiveness for the hostile acts they
had committed, and deprecated the vengeance of the
English; while others alleged their innocence, urged
their extreme wants and necessities, and begged that
English traders might once more be allowed to visit
them. The council-room in the fort was crowded
from morning till night ; and the wearisome formali-
ties of such occasions, the speeches made and replied
to, and the final shaking of hands, smoking of pipes,
and serving out of whiskey, engrossed the time of
the superintendent for many successive days.
Among the Indians present were a band of Otta-
was from Michillimackinac, and remoter settlements,
beyond Lake Michigan, and a band of Menomonies
from Green Bay. The former, it will be remembered,
had done good service to the English, by rescuing
the survivors of the garrison of Michillimackinac
from the clutches of the Ojibwas; and the latter had
deserved no less at their hands, by the protection
they had extended to Lieutenant Gorell, and the gar-
rison at Green Bay. Conscious of their merits, they
had come to Niagara in full confidence of a favorable
reception. Nor were they disappointed; for Johnson
met them with a cordial welcome, and greeted them
as friends and brothers. They, on their part, were
not wanting in expressions of pleasure; and one of
their orators exclaimed, in the figurative language of
his people, "When our brother came to meet us,
58 MM
458 BRADSTEEET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
the storms ceased, the lake became smooth, and the
whole face of nature was changed."
They disowned all connection or privity with the de-
signs of Pontiac. " Brother," said one of the Ottawa
chiefs, " you must not imagine I am acquainted with
the cause of the war. I only heard a little bird
whistle an account of it, and, on going to Michilli-
mackinac, I found your people killed; upon which I
sent our priest to inquire into the matter. On the
priest's return, he brought me no favorable account,
but a war-hatchet from Pontiac, which I scarcely
looked on, and immediately threw away."
Another of the Ottawas, a chief of the remoter
band of Lake Michigan, spoke to a similar effect, as
follows : " We are not of the same people as those
residing about Michillimackinac ; we only heard at a
distance that the enemy were killiDg your soldiers,
on which we covered our heads, and I resolved not
to suffer my people to engage in the war. I gath-
ered them together, and made them sit still. In the
spring, on uncovering my head, I perceived that they
had again begun a war, and that the sky was all
cloudy in that quarter."
The superintendent thanked them for their fidelity
to the English, reminded them that their true inter-
est lay in the preservation of peace, and concluded
with a gift of food and clothing, and a permission,
denied to all the rest, to open a traffic with the tra-
ders, who had already begun to assemble at the fort.
" And now, my brother," said a warrior, as the coun-
cil was about to break up, "we beg that you will
tell us where we can find some rum to comfort us,
for it is long since we have tasted any, and we are
Chap. XXVI.] HE LEAVES NIAGAEA. 459
very thirsty." This honest request was not re-
fused. The liquor was distributed, and a more
copious supply promised for the future; upon which
the deputation departed, and repaired to their en-
campment, much pleased with their reception.1
Throughout these conferences, one point of policy
was constantly adhered to. No general council was
held. Separate treaties were made with each individ-
ual band, in order to promote their mutual jealousies
and rivalries, and discourage the feeling of union,
and of a common cause among the widely-scattered
tribes. Johnson at length completed his task, and,
on the sixth of August, set sail for Oswego. The
march of the army had hitherto been delayed by
rumors of hostile designs on the part of the In-
dians, who, it was said, had formed a scheme for
attacking Fort Niagara, as soon as the troops should
have left the ground. Now, however, when the con-
course was melting away, and the tribes departing
for their distant homes, it was thought that the
danger was past, and that the army might safely
resume its progress. They advanced, accordingly, to
Fort Schlosser, above the cataract, whither their
boats and bateaux had been sent before them, craned
up the rocks at Lewiston, and dragged by oxen over
the rough portage road. The troops had been joined
by three hundred friendly Indians, and an equal
number of Canadians. The appearance of the latter
in arms would, it was thought, have great effect on
the minds of the enenr , who had always looked
1 MS. Johnson Papers. MS. Min- 20, 1764. The extracts given above
utes of Conference with the chiefs are copied verbatim from the original
and warriors of the Ottawas and record.
Menomonies at Fort Niagara, July
BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
upon them as" friends and supporters. Of the In-
dian allies, the greater part were Iroquois, and the
remainder, about a hundred in number, Ojibwas and
Mississaugas ; the former being the same who had
recently arrived from the Sault Ste. Marie, bringing
with them their prisoner, Alexander Henry. Henry
was easily persuaded to accompany the expedition,
and the command of the Ojibwas and Mississaugas
was assigned to him — "To me," writes the ad-
venturous trader, "whose best hope it had lately
been to live by their forbearance." His long-con-
tinued sufferings and dangers hardly deserved to be
rewarded by so great a misfortune as that of com-
manding a body of Indian warriors; an evil from
which, however, he was soon to be relieved. The
army had hardly begun its march, when nearly all
his followers ran off, judging it wiser to return
home with the arms and clothing given them for
the expedition than to make war against their own
countrymen and relatives. Fourteen warriors still
remained ; but on the following night, when the
army lay at Fort Schlosser, having contrived by
some means to obtain liquor, they created such a
commotion in the camp by yelling and firing their
guns as to excite the utmost indignation of the
commander. They received from him, in conse-
quence, a reproof so harsh and ill judged, that most
of them went home in disgust, and Henry found his
Indian battalion suddenly dwindled to four or five
vagabond hunters.1 A large number of Iroquois still
followed the army, the strength of which, farther
increased by a reenforcement of Highlanders, was
now very considerable.
1 Henry, Travels, 183.
Chap.XXVL] PRETENDED EMBASSY. 461
The troops left Fort Schlosser on the eighth.
Their boats and bateaux pushed out into the
Niagara, whose expanded waters reposed in a
serenity soon to be exchanged for the wild roar
and tumultuous struggle of the rapids and the cat-
aract. They coasted along the southern shore of
Lake Erie until the twelfth, when, in the neighbor-
hood of Presqu'Isle, they were overtaken by a
storm of rain, which forced them to drag their boats
on shore, and pitch their tents in the dripping
forest. Before the day closed, word was brought
that strange Indians were near the camp. They
soon made their appearance, proclaiming themselves
to be chiefs and deputies of the Delawares and
Shawanoes, empowered to beg for peace in the name
of their respective tribes. Various opinions were
entertained of the visitors. The Indian allies wished
to kill them, and many of the officers believed them
to be spies. There was no proof of their pretended
character of deputies, and for all that appeared to
the contrary, they might be a mere straggling party
of warriors. Their professions of an earnest desire
for peace were contradicted by the fact that they
brought with them but one small belt of wampum,
a pledge no less indispensable in a treaty with these
tribes than seals and signatures in a convention of
European sovereigns.1 Braclstreet knew, or ought to
have known, the character of the treacherous enemy
with whom he had to deal. He knew that the
1 Every article in a treaty must be Gage and Sir William Johnson,
confirmed by a belt of wampum ; Mante accompanied Bradstreet's ex-
otherwise it is void. Mante, the his- pedition with the rank of major, and
torian of the French war, asserts he is a zealous advocate of his com-
that they brought four belts. But mander, whom he seeks to defend, at
this is contradicted in contemporary the expense both of Colonel Bouquet
letters, including several of General and General Gage.
MM*
462 BRADSTREETS ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
Shawanoes and Delawares had shown, throughout
the war, a ferocious and relentless hostility; that
they had sent an insolent message to Niagara; and
finally, that in his own instructions he was enjoined
to deal sternly with them, and not be duped by pre-
tended overtures. Yet, in spite of the suspicious
character of the self-styled deputies, in spite of the
sullen wrath of his Indian allies and the murmured
dissent of his officers, he listened to their proposals,
and entered into a preliminary treaty. He pledged
himself to refrain from attacking the Delawares and
Shawanoes, on condition that within twenty-five days
the deputies should again meet him at Sandusky, in
order to yield up their prisoners, and conclude a
definitive treaty of peace.1 It afterwards appeared —
and this, indeed, might have been suspected at the
time — that the sole object of the overtures was to
retard the action of the army until the season
should be too far advanced to prosecute the cam-
paign. At this very moment, the Delaware and
Shawanoe wTar-parties were murdering and scalping
along the frontiers ; and the work of havoc con-
tinued for weeks, until it was checked at length by
the operations of Colonel Bouquet.
Bradstreet was not satisfied with the promise he
had made to abandon his own hostile designs. He
consummated his folly and presumption by despatch-
ing a messenger to his superior officer, Colonel Bou-
quet, informing him that the Delawares and Shaw-
anoes had been reduced to submission without his
aid, and that he might withdraw his troops, as there
1 Preliminary treaty between concluded at L'Ance aux Feuilles, on
Colonel Bradstreet and the deputies Lake Erie, August 12, 1764, MS.
of the Delawares and Shawanoes,
Chap. XXVI.] GAGE CENSURES HIS CONDUCT.
463
was no need of his advancing farther. Bouquet,
astonished and indignant, paid no attention to this
communication, but pursued his march as before.1
The course pursued by Bradstreet in this affair —
a course which can only be ascribed to the vain
ambition of finishing the war without the aid of
others — drew upon him the severe censures of the
commander-in-chief, who, on hearing of the treaty,
at once annulled it.2 Bradstreet has been accused
of havhig exceeded his orders in promising to con-
clude a definitive treaty with the Indians, a power
which was vested in Sir William Johnson alone;
but as upon this point his instructions were not
explicit, he may be spared the full weight of this
additional charge.3
1 MS. Letter — Bouquet to Gage,
Sept. 3.
2 Extract from a MS. Letter —
Gage to Bradstreet, Sept. 2.
" I again repeat that I annul and
disavow the peace you have made."
The following extracts will express
the opinions of Gage with respect to
this affair.
MS. Letter — Gage to Bradstreet,
Oct. 15.
" They have negotiated with you
on Lake Erie, and cut our throats
upon the frontiers. With your let-
ters of peace I received others, giv-
ing accounts of murders, and these
acts continue to this time. Had you
only consulted Colonel Bouquet, be-
fore you agreed upon any thing with
them, (a deference he was certainly
entitled to, instead of an order to
stop his march,) you would have been
acquainted with the treachery of
those people, and not have suffered
yourself to be thus deceived, and
you would have saved both Colonel
Bouquet and myself from the dilem-
ma you brought us into. You con-
cluded a peace with people who were
daily murdering us."
MS. Letter — Gage to Johnson,
Sept. 4.
" You will have received my let-
ter of the 2d inst., enclosing you
the unaccountable treaty betwixt
Colonel Bradstreet and the Shawa-
nese, Dela wares, &c. On considera-
tion of the treaty, it does not appear
to me that the ten Indians therein
mentioned were sent on an errand
of peace. If they had, would they
not have been at Niagara? or would
the insolent and audacious message
have been sent there in the lieu of
offers of peace ? Would not they
have been better provided with
belts on such an occasion? They
give only one string of Avam-
pum. You will know this better,
but it appears strange to me. They
certainly came to watch the motions
of the troops."
3 MS. Letter — Gage to Brad-
street, Sept. 2.
Bradstreet's instructions directed
him to offer peace to such tribes as
should make their submission. " To
offer peace," writes Gage, "I think
can never be construed a power to
conclude and dictate the articles of
464 BEADSTEEETS AEMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
Having, as he thought, accomplished not only^ a
great part of his own task, but also the whole of
that which had been assigned to Colonel Bouquet,
Bradstreet resumed his progress westward, and in a
few days reached Sandusky. He had been ordered
to attack the Wyandots, Ottawas, and Miamis, dwell-
ing near this place; but at his approach, these In-
dians, hastening to avert the danger, sent a deputa-
tion to meet him, promising that, if he would refrain
from attacking them, they would follow him to
Detroit, and there conclude a treaty. Bradstreet
thought proper to trust this slippery promise, though,
with little loss of time, he might have reduced them,
on the spot, to a much more effectual submission.
He now bent his course for Detroit, leaving the In-
dians of Sandusky much delighted, and probably no
less surprised, at the success of their embassy. Be-
fore his departure, however, he despatched Captain
Morris, with several Canadians and friendly Indians,
to the Illinois, in order to persuade the savages of
that region to treat of peace with the English.
The measure was in a high degree ill advised and
rash, promising but doubtful advantage, and exposing
the life of a valuable officer to imminent risk. The
sequel of Morris's adventure will soon appear.
The English boats now entered the mouth of the
Detroit, and on the twenty-sixth of August came
within sight of the fort and adjacent settlements.
The inhabitants of the "Wyandot village on the
right, who, it will be remembered, had recently
made a treaty of peace at Niagara, ran down to the
peace, and you certainly know that William Johnson, his majesty's sole
no such power could with propriety agent and superintendent for Indian
be lodged in any person but in Sir affairs."
Chap. XXVI.] BRADSTREET AT DETROIT. 465
shore, shouting, whooping, and firing their guns, — a
greeting more noisy than sincere, — while the cannon
of the garrison echoed salutation from the opposite
shore, and cheer on cheer, deep and heartfelt, pealed
welcome from the crowded ramparts.
Well might Gladwyn's beleaguered soldiers rejoice
at the approaching succor. They had been beset for
more than fifteen months by their wily enemy, and
though there were times when not an Indian could
be seen, yet woe to the soldier who should wander
into the forest in search of game, or stroll too far
beyond range of the cannon. Throughout the pre-
ceding winter, they had been left in comparative
quiet; but with the opening spring, the Indians had
resumed their pertinacious hostilities ; not, however,
with the same activity and vigor as during the pre-
ceding summer. The messages of Sir William John-
son, and the tidings of Bradstreet's intended expedi-
tion, had had great effect upon their minds, and some
of them were inclined to sue for peace; but still the
garrison were harassed by frequent alarms, and days
and nights of watchfulness were their unvarying lot.
Cut off for months together from all communication
with their race, pent up in an irksome imprisonment,
ill supplied with provisions, and with clothing worn
threadbare, they hailed with delight the prospect of
a return to the world from which they had been
banished so long. The army had no sooner landed
than the garrison was relieved, and fresh troops sub-
stituted in their place. Bradstreet's next care was to
inquire into the conduct of the Canadian inhabitants
of Detroit, and punish such of them as had given
aid to the Indians. A few only were found guilty,
59
466 BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
the more culpable having fled to the Illinois on the
approach of the army.
Pontiac too was gone. The great war-chief, his
vengeance unslaked, and his purpose unshaken, had
retired before an overwhelming force, and, with the
more resolute and warlike of his followers, with-
drawn to the banks of the Maumee, whence he sent
a haughty defiance to the English commander. The
Indian villages near Detroit were half emptied of
their inhabitants, many of whom still followed the
desperate fortunes of their indomitable leader. Those
who remained were, for the most part, sincerely de-
sirous of peace ; for the war had involved them in
great distress, by cutting off the fur-trade, and thus
depriving them of the supplies which habit had
made essential to their support. They therefore
readily obeyed the summons of Bradstreet to meet
him in council.
The council was held in the open air, on the
morning of the seventh of September, with all the
accompaniments of military display which could
inspire awe and respect among the assembled sav-
ages. The tribes, or rather fragments of tribes, rep-
resented at this meeting, were the Ottawas, Ojibwas,
Pottawattamies, Miamis, Sacs, and Wyandots. The
Indians of Sandusky kept imperfectly the promise
they had made, the Wyandots of that place alone
sending a full deputation, while the other tribes
were merely represented by the Ojibwa chief Was-
son. This man, who was the principal chief of his
tribe, and the most prominent orator on the present
occasion, rose and opened the council.
" My brother," he said, addressing Bradstreet,
Chap. XXVI.] TERMS OF THE TREATY. 467
"last year God forsook us. God has now opened
our eyes, and we desire to be heard. It is God's
will our hearts are altered. It was God's will you
had such fine weather to come to us. It is God's
will also there should be peace and tranquillity
over the face of the earth and of the waters."
Having delivered this eloquent exordium, Wasson
frankly confessed that the tribes which he represented
were all justly chargeable with the war, and now
deeply regretted their delinquency. It is common
with Indians, when accused of acts of violence, to lay
the blame upon the unbridled recklessness of their
young warriors ; and this excuse is often perfectly
sound and valid ; but since, in the case of a premed-
itated and long-continued war, it was glaringly inad-
missible, they now reversed the usual course, and
made scapegoats of the old chiefs and warriors, who,
as they declared, had led the people astray by sinister
counsel and bad example.1
Bradstreet would grant peace only on condition
that they should become subjects of the King of Eng-
land, and acknowledge that he held over their coun-
try a sovereignty as ample and complete as over any
other part of his dominions. Nothing could be more
impolitic and absurd than this demand. The small-
est attempt at an invasion of their liberties has
always been regarded by the Indians with extreme
jealousy, and a prominent cause of the war had been
an undue assumption of authority on the part of the
English. This article of the treaty, could its purport
have been fully understood, might have kindled afresh
the quarrel which it sought to extinguish; but hap-
1 MS. Minutes of Conference be- dians of Detroit, Sept. 7, 1764. See,
tween Colonel Bradstreet and the In- also, Mante, 517.
468 BEAD STREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
pily not a savage present was able to comprehend it.
Subjection and sovereignty are ideas which never en-
ter into the mind of an Indian, and therefore his
language has no words to express them. Most of
the western tribes, it is true, had been accustomed
to call themselves children of the King of France;
but the words were a mere compliment, conveying
no sense of any political relation whatever. Yet it
was solely by means of this harmless metaphor that
the condition in question could be explained to the
assembled chiefs. Thus interpreted, it met with a
ready assent, since, in their eyes, it involved no con-
cession beyond a mere unmeaning change of forms
and words. They promised, in future, to call the
English king father, instead of brother, unconscious
of any obligation which so trifling a change could
impose, and mentally reserving a full right to make
war on him or his people, whenever it should suit
their convenience. When Bradstreet returned from
his expedition, he boasted that he had reduced the
tribes of Detroit to terms of more complete submis-
sion than any other Indians had ever before yielded;
but the truth was soon detected and exposed by those
conversant with Indian affairs.1
At this council, Bradstreet was guilty of the bad
policy and bad taste of speaking through the medium
of a French interpreter; so that most of his own
officers, as well as the Iroquois allies, who were
strangers to the Algonquin language, remained in
ignorance of all that passed. The latter were highly
indignant, and refused to become parties to the
treaty, or go through the usual ceremony of shaking
1 MS. Letter — Johnson to the Board of Trade, Oct. 30.
CnAr.XXVL] EMBASSY OF MORRIS. 469
hands with the chiefs of Detroit, insisting that they
had not heard their speeches, and knew not whether
they were friends or enemies. In another particular,
also, Bradstreet gave great offence. From some un-
explained impulse or motive, he cut to pieces, with a
hatchet, a belt of wampum which was about to be
used in the council ; and all the Indians present,
both friends and enemies, were alike incensed at this
rude violation of the ancient pledge of faith, which,
in their eyes, was invested with something of a sacred
character.1
Having settled the affairs of Detroit, Bradstreet
despatched Captain Howard, with a strong detach-
ment, to take possession of Michillimackinac, which
had remained unoccupied since its capture on the
previous summer. Howard effected his object with-
out resistance, and, at the same time, sent parties of
troops to reoccupy the deserted posts of Green Bay
and Sault Ste. Marie. Thus, after the interval of
more than a year, the flag of England was again
displayed among the solitudes of the northern wil-
derness.2
While Bradstreet' s army lay encamped on the fields
near Detroit, Captain Morris, with a few Iroquois
and Canadian attendants, was pursuing his adventur-
ous embassy to the country of the Illinois. Ascend-
ing the Maumee in a canoe, he soon approached the
camp of Pontiac, who, as we have seen, had with-
drawn to the banks of this river, with his chosen
warriors. While yet at some distance, Morris and
1 MS. Remarks on the Conduct of Sandusky, published in several news-
Colonel Bradstreet — found among papers of the day.
the Johnson Papers. 9 MS. Report of Captain Howard.
See, also, an extract of a letter from
NN
470 BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
his party were met by about two hundred Indians,
who treated him with great violence and rudeness,
while they offered a friendly welcome to the Iroquois
and Canadians. Attended by this clamorous escort,
they all moved together towards the camp. At its
outskirts stood Pontiac himself. He met the am-
bassador with a scowling brow, and refused to offer
his hand. " The English are liars," was his first
fierce salutation. He then displayed a letter ad-
dressed to himself, and purporting to have been writ-
ten by the King of France, containing, as Morris
declares, the grossest calumnies which the most in-
genious malice could devise, to incense the Indians
against the English. The old falsehood was not for-
gotten. " Your French father," said the writer, " is
neither dead nor asleep ; he is already on his way,
with sixty great ships, to revenge himself on the
English, and drive them out of America." The letter
was written by a French officer, or more probably a
French fur-trader, who, for his own profit, wished to
inflame the passions of the Indians, and thus bar the
way against English competitors. If Bradstreet, be-
fore leaving Sandusky, had forced the Indians of that
place to submission, he would have inspired such an
awe and respect among the tribes of the whole adja-
cent region, that Morris might have been assured of
safety and good treatment, even in the camp of Pon-
tiac. As it was, the knowledge that so many of their
relatives were in the power of the army at Detroit
restrained the Ottawa warriors from personal violence;
and, having plundered the whole party of every thing
except their arms, their clothing, and their canoe,
they suffered them to depart.
Leaving the unfriendly camp, they urged their way,
Chap. XXVL] EMBASSY 01? MORRIS. 471
with poles and paddles, against the rippling current
of the Maumee, and on the morning of the seventh
day reached the neighborhood of Fort Miami. This
post, captured during the preceding year, had since
remained without a garrison; and its only tenants
were the Canadians, who had built their houses within
its palisades, and a few Indians, who thought fit to
make it their temporary abode. The meadows about
the fort were dotted with the lodges of the Kicka-
poos, a large band of whom had recently arrived;
but the great Miami village was on the opposite side
of the stream, screened from sight by the forest
which intervened.
Morris brought his canoe to land at a short dis-
tance below the fort, and while his attendants were
making their way through the belt of woods which
skirted the river, he himself remained behind to com-
plete some necessary arrangements. It was fortunate
that he did so, for his attendants had scarcely reached
the open meadow, which lay behind the woods, when
they were encountered by a mob of savages, armed
with spears, hatchets, and bows and arrows, and bent
on killing the Englishman. Being, for the moment,
unable to find him, the chiefs had time to address
the excited rabble, and persuade them to postpone
their intended vengeance. The ambassador, buffeted,
threatened, and insulted, was conducted to the fort,
where he was ordered to remain, though, at the same
time, the Canadian inhabitants were forbidden to ad-
mit him into their houses. Morris soon discovered
that this rough treatment was, in a great measure,
owing to the influence of a deputation of Delaware
and Shawanoe chiefs, who had recently arrived, bring-
ing fourteen war-belts of wampum, and exciting the
472 BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
Miamis to renew their hostilities against the common
enemy. Thus it was fully apparent that while the
Delawares and Shawanoes were sending one deputa-
tion to treat of peace with Bradstreet on Lake Erie,
they were sending another to rouse the tribes of the
Illinois to war. From Fort Miamis, the deputation
had proceeded westward, spreading the contagion
among all the tribes between the Mississippi and the
Ohio, declaring that they would never make peace
with the English, but would fight them as long as
the sun should shine, and calling on their brethren
of the Illinois to follow their example.
Morris had not remained long at the fort, when
two Miami warriors entered, who, seizing him by the
arms, and threatening him with a raised tomahawk,
forced him out of the gate, and led him to the
bank of the river. As they drew him into the water,
the conviction flashed across his mind that they in-
tended to drown him and then take his scalp; but
he soon saw his mistake, for they led him across the
stream, which at this season was fordable, and thence
towards the great Miami village. When they ap-
proached the lodges, they stopped and began to strip
him, but grew angry at the difficulty of the task.
In rage and despair, he himself tore off his uniform.
The warriors bound his arms behind him with his
own sash, and drove him before them into the vil-
lage. Instantly, from all the lodges, the savages ran
out to receive their prisoner, clustering about him
like a swarm of angry bees, and uttering their dis-
cordant death-yells — sounds compared to which the
nocturnal howlings of starved wolves are gentle and
melodious. The greater number were eager to kill
him; but there was a division of opinion, and a
Chap. XXVI.] EMBASSY OF MORRIS. 473
clamorous debate ensued. Two of his Canadian at-
tendants, Godefroy and St. Vincent, had followed
him to the village, and now ventured to interpose
with the chiefs in his behalf. Among the latter was
a nephew of Pontiac, a young man, who, though not
yet arrived at maturity, shared the bold spirit of his
heroic kinsman. He harangued the tumultuous crowd,
declaring that he would not see one of the English
put to death, when so many of his own relatives were
in their hands at Detroit. A Miami chief, named
the Swan, also took part with the prisoner, and cut
loose his bonds ; but Morris had no sooner begun to
speak in his own behalf, than another chief, called
the White Cat, seized him, and bound him fast by
the neck to a post. Upon this, Pontiac's nephew
rode up on horseback, severed the cord with his
hatchet, and released the unfortunate man. " I give
this Englishman his life," exclaimed the daring boy.
"If you want English meat, go to Detroit or to the
lake, and you will find enough of it. What business
have you with this man, who has come to speak with
US'?" The current of feeling among the throng now
began to change ; and, having vented their hatred and
spite by a profusion of words and blows, they at
length thrust the ambassador with violence out of
the village. He succeeded in regaining the fort,
although, on the way, he was met by one of the In-
dians, who beat his naked body with a stick.
He found the Canadian inhabitants of the fort dis-
posed to befriend him, as far as they could do so
without danger to themselves ; but his situation was
still, extremely critical. The two warriors, who had
led him across the river, were constantly lurking
about, watching an opportunity to kill him ; and the
60 nn *
474 BEADSTBEET'S AEMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
Kickapoos, whose lodges were pitched on the meadow,
sent him a message to the effect, that if the Miamis
did not put him to death, they themselves wTould do
so, whenever he should pass their camp. He was
still on the threshold of his journey, and his final
point of destination was several hundred miles dis-
tant; yet, with great resolution, he determined to
persevere, and, if possible, completely fulfil his mis-
sion. His Indian and Canadian attendants used
every means to dissuade him, and in the evening
held a council with the Miami chiefs, the result of
which was most discouraging. Morris received mes-
sage after message, threatening his life should he per-
sist in his design; and word was brought him that
several of the Shawanoe deputies were returning to
the fort, expressly to kill him. Under these circum-
stances, it would have been madness to persevere ; and,
reluctantly abandoning his purpose, he retraced his
steps towards Detroit, where he arrived on the seven-
teenth of September, fully expecting to find Brad-
street still encamped in the neighborhood. But that
agile commander had returned to Sandusky, whither
Morris, completely exhausted by hardships and suf-
ferings, was unable to follow him. He hastened,
however, to send Bradstreet the journal of his un-
fortunate embassy, accompanied by a letter, in which
he inveighed, in no very gentle terms, against the
authors of his misfortunes.1
i MS. Letter — Morris to Brad- the vessel, and that she had a hole in
street, Sept. 18. her bottom. Treachery should be paid
" The villains have nipped our fair- with treachery ; and it is a more than
est hopes in the bud. I tremble for ordinary pleasure to deceive those who
you at Sandusky ; though I was great- would deceive us."
ly pleased to find you have one of the The above account of Morris's
vessels with you, and artillery. I wish adventures is drawn from the journal
the chiefs were assembled on board which he sent to Bradstreet, and from
Chap. XXVI.] INACTION OE BRADSTREET. 475
Bradstreet had retraced his course to Sandusky,
to keep his engagement with the Delaware and
Shawanoe deputies, and await the fulfilment of their
worthless promise to surrender their prisoners, and
conclude a definitive treaty of peace. His hopes
were destined to be defeated. The appointed time
expired, and not a chief was seen, though, a few days
after, several warriors came to the camp, with a prom-
ise that, if Bradstreet would remain quiet, and refrain
from attacking their villages, they would bring in the
prisoners in the course of the following week. Brad-
street accepted their excuses, and, having removed his
camp to the carrying-place of Sandusky, lay waiting
in patient expectation. It was here that he received,
for the first time, a communication from General
Gage, respecting the preliminary treaty, concluded
several weeks before. Gage condemned his conduct
in severe terms, and ordered him to break the en-
gagements he had made, and advance at once upon
the enemy, choosing for his first objects of attack
the Indians living upon the plains of the Scioto.
The fury of Bradstreet was great on receiving this
message, and it was not diminished when the journal
of Captain Morris was placed in his hands, fully
proving how signally he had been duped. He was
in no temper to obey the orders of the commander-
in-chief; and, to justify himself for his inaction, he
alleged the impossibility of reaching the Scioto plains
at that advanced season. Two routes thither were
open to his choice, one by the River Sandusky, and
the testimony of his Indian and Ca- lars not mentioned by Morris himself.
nadian attendants, given in Brad- The original journal is in the Lon-
street's presence, at his camp near don Archives. The other document
Sandusky. This testimony was re- was found among Sir W. Johnson's
corded, and contains various particu- papers.
BEADSTREET'S AEMY ON THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
the other by the Cayahoga Creek. The water in the
Sandusky was sunk low with the drought, and the
carrying-place at the head of Cayahoga Creek was a
few miles longer than had been represented; yet the
army were ready for the attempt, and these difficul-
ties could not have deterred a vigorous commander.
Under cover of such excuses, Bradstreet remained
idle at Sandusky for several days, while sickness and
discontent were rife in his camp. The soldiers com-
plained of his capricious, peremptory temper, his
harshness to his troops, and the unaccountable ten-
derness with which he treated the Sandusky Indians,
some of whom had not yet made their submission,
while he enraged his Iroquois allies by his frequent
rebukes and curses.
At length, declaring that provisions were failing
and the season growing late, he resolved to return
home, and broke up his camp with such precipitancy
that several soldiers, who had gone out in the morn-
ing to procure game for the officers, were inhumanly
left behind. The boats of the army had scarcely en-
tered Lake Erie, when a storm descended upon them,
destroying several, and throwing the whole into con-
fusion. For three days the tempest raged unceas-
ingly; and when the angry lake began to resume
its tranquillity, it was found that the remaining
boats were insufficient to convey the troops. A large
body of Indians, together with a detachment of pro-
vincials, were therefore ordered to make their way
to Niagara along the pathless borders of the lake.
They accordingly set out, and, after many days of
hardship, reached their destination; though such had
been their sufferings, from fatigue, cold, and hunger,
from wading swamps, swimming creeks and rivers,
Chap. XXVI.] RESULTS OE THE EXPEDITION. 477
and pushing their way through tangled thickets, that
many of the provincials perished miserably in the
woods. On the fourth of November, seventeen days
after their departure from Sandusky, the main body
of the little army arrived in safety at Niagara, and
the whole, reembarking on Lake Ontario, proceeded
towards Oswego.1 Fortune still seemed adverse; for
a second tempest arose, and one of the schooners,
crowded with troops, foundered in sight of Oswego,
though most of the men were saved. The route to
the settlements was now a short and easy one. On
their arrival, the regulars went into quarters, while
the troops levied for the campaign were sent home
to their respective provinces.
This expedition, ill conducted as it was, produced
some beneficial results. The Indians at Detroit had
been brought to reason, and for the present, at
least, would probably remain tranquil ; while the
reestablishment of the posts on the upper lakes
must necessarily have great effect upon the natives
of that region. At Sandusky, on the other hand,
the work had been but half done. The tribes of
that place felt no respect for the English, while
those to the southward and westward had been left
in a state of turbulence, which promised an abun-
dant harvest of future mischief.2 In one particular,
at least, Bradstreet had occasioned serious detriment
to the English interest. The Iroquois allies, who
had joined his army, were disgusted by his treatment
of them, while they were roused to contempt by the
imbecility of his conduct towards the enemy ; and
thus the efforts of Sir William Johnson to secure
1 Mante, 535.
2 MS. Letter — Johnson to the Board of Trade, December 26.
478 BEADSTEEET'S AEMY OX THE LAKES. [Chap. XXVI.
the attachment of these powerful tribes were in no
small degree counteracted and neutralized.1
While Bradstreet's troops were advancing upon
the lakes, or lying idle in their camp at Sandusky,
another expedition was in progress at the southward,
with abler conduct and a more auspicious result.
1 The provincial officers, to whom particulars of his misconduct during
the command of the Indian allies was the expedition. This curious docu-
assigned, drew up a paper containing ment was found among the private
complaints against Bradstreet, and papers of Sir William Johnson.
CHAPTER XXVII.
BOUQUET FORCES THE DELAWARES AND SHAWANOES
TO SUE FOR PEACE.
The scruples of the Quakers, and the dissensions
in the provincial government, had so far protracted
the debates of the Pennsylvanian Assembly, that it
was late in the spring before supplies were granted
for the service of the ensuing summer. In the
mean time, the work of ravage had begun afresh
upon the borders. The Indians had taken the pre-
caution to remove all their settlements to the west-
ern side of the River Muskingum, trusting that the
impervious forests, with their unnumbered streams,
would prove a sufficient barrier against invasion.
Having thus, as they thought, placed their women
and children in safety, they had flung themselves
upon the settlements with all the rage and ferocity
of the previous season. So fierce and active were
the war-parties on the borders, that the English gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania had recourse to a measure
which the frontier inhabitants had long demanded,
and issued a proclamation, offering a high bounty for
Indian scalps, whether of men or women; a bar-
barous expedient, fruitful of butcheries and murders,
but incapable of producing any decisive result.1
1 The following is an extract from that there shall be paid out of the
the proclamation: — moneys lately granted for his majes-
" I do hereby declare and promise, ty's use, to all and every person and
480
BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
Early in the season, a soldier named David Owens,
who, several years before, had deserted and joined
the Indians, came to one of the outposts, accom-
panied by a young provincial recently taken prisoner
on the Delaware, and bringing five scalps. While
living among the Indians, Owens had formed a con-
nection with one of their women, who had borne
him several children. Growing tired, at length, of
the forest life, he had become anxious to return to
the settlements, but feared to do so without first
having made some atonement for his former deser-
tion. One night, he had been encamped on the Sus-
quehanna, with a party consisting of four Shawanoe
warriors, a boy of the same tribe, his own wife and
two children, and another Indian woman. The
young provincial, who came with him to the settle-
persons not in tlie pay of this province,
the following several and respective
premiums and bounties for the prison-
ers and scalps of the enemy Indians
that shall be taken or killed within
the bounds of this province, as lim-
ited by the royal charter, or in pur-
suit from within the said bounds ;
that is to say, for every male Indian
enemy above ten years old, who shall
be taken prisoner, and delivered at
any forts garrisoned by the troops
in the pay of this province, or at any
of the county towns, to the keeper
of the common jails there, the sum
of one hundred and fifty Spanish
dollars, or pieces of eight. For
every female Indian enemy, taken
prisoner and brought in as aforesaid,
and for every male Indian enemy of
ten years old or under, taken pris-
oner and delivered as aforesaid, the
sum of one hundred and thirty pieces
of eight. For the scalp of every
male Indian enemy above the age of
ten years, produced as evidence of
their being killed, the sum of one
hundred and thirty-four pieces of
eight. And for the scalp of every
female Indian enemy above the age
of ten years, produced as evidence
of their being killed, the sum of fifty
pieces of eight."
The action of such measures has
recently been illustrated in the in-
stance of New Mexico before its
conquest by the Americans. The
inhabitants of that country, too tim-
orous to defend themselves against
the Apaches and other tribes, who
descended upon them in frequent
forays from the neighboring moun-
tains, took into pay a band of for-
eigners, chiefly American trappers,
for whom the Apache lances had no
such terrors, and, to stimulate their
exertions, proclaimed a bounty on
scalps. The success of the meas-
ure was judged admirable, until it
was found that the unscrupulous con-
federates were in the habit of shoot-
ing down any Indian, whether friend
or enemy, who came within range of
their rifles, and that the government
had been paying rewards for the
scalps of its own allies and depend-
ants.
Chap. XXVILl DAVID OWENS. 481
merits, was also present. In the middle of the
night, Owens arose, and, looking about him, saw, by
the dull glow of the camp-fire, that all were buried
in deep sleep. Cautiously awakening the young pro-
vincial, he told him to leave the place, and lie quiet,
at a little distance, until he should call him. He
next stealthily removed the weapons from beside the
sleeping savages, and concealed them in the woods,
reserving to himself two loaded rifles. Returning to
the camp, he knelt on the ground between two of
the yet unconscious warriors, and, pointing a rifle at
the head of each, touched the triggers, and shot both
dead at once. Startled by the reports, the survivors
sprang to their feet in bewildered terror. The two
remaining warriors bounded into the woods; but the
women and children, benumbed with fright, had no
power to escape, and one and all died shrieking
under the hatchet of the miscreant. His devilish
work complete, the wretch sat watching until day-
light among the dead bodies of his children and
comrades, undaunted by the awful gloom and soli-
tude of the darkened forest. In the morning, he
scalped his victims, with the exception of the two
children, and, followed by the young white man,
directed his steps towards the settlements, with the
bloody trophies of his atrocity. His desertion wras
pardoned; he was employed as an interpreter, and
ordered to accompany the troops on the intended
expedition. His example is one of many in which
the worst acts of Indian ferocity have been thrown
into shade by the enormities of white barbarians.1
1 Gordon, Hist. Penn. 625. Rob- " Burnetsfield, June 18th, 1764.
ison, Narrative. " David Owens was a Corporal in
Extract from a MS. Letter — Sir Capt. McClean's Compy., and lay
W. Johnson to Governor Penn. once in Garrison at my House. He
61 oo
482 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
Colonel Bouquet was now pushing his preparations
for the campaign with his utmost zeal; but August
arrived before the provincial troops were in read-
iness. On the fifth of that month, the whole force
was united at Carlisle, and consisted of five hundred
regulars, — most of whom had fought in the battle
of Bushy Run, of which that day was the anniver-
sary,— a thousand Pennsylvanians, and a small but
invaluable corps of Virginia riflemen. After remain-
ing for a few days at Carlisle, the troops advanced
to Fort Loudon, which they reached on the thir-
teenth. Here they were delayed for several weeks,
and here Bouquet received the strange communica-
tion from Colonel Bradstreet, in which the latter
informed him that he had made a preliminary treaty
with the Delawares and Shawanoes, and that all
operations against them might now be abandoned.
We have already seen that Bouquet disregarded this
message, thinking himself in no way called upon
to lay aside his plans against an enemy who was
suing for peace on one side, and butchering and
scalping on another.1 Continuing therefore to advance,
deserted several times, as I am in- 1 Extract from a MS. Letter —
formed, & went to live among the Colonel Bouquet to Governor Penn.
Delawares & Shawanese, with whose
language he was acquainted. His "Fort Loudon, 27th Aug. 1764.
Father having heen long a trader " Sir :
amongst them. " I have the honor to transmit to
" The circumstances relating to you a letter from Colonel Bradstreet,
his leaving the Indians have been who acquaints me that he has grant-
told me by several Indians. That ed peace to all the Indians living
he went out a hunting with his In- between Lake Erie and the Ohio ;
dian Wife and several of her rela- but as no satisfaction is insisted
tions, most of whom, with his Wife, on, I hope the General will not con-
he killed and scalped as they slept, firm it, and that I shall not be a
As he was always much attached to witness to a transaction which would
Indians, I fancy he began to fear he fix an indelible stain upon the Na-
was unsafe amongst them, & killed tion.
them rather to make his peace with " I therefore take no notice of that
the English, than from any dislike pretended peace, & proceed forth-
either to them or their principles." with on the expedition, fully deter-
Chap. XXVII] HIS MESSAGE TO THE DELA WARES. 483
he passed in safety the scene of his desperate fight
of the last summer, and on the seventeenth of Sep-
tember arrived at Fort Pitt, with no other loss than
that of a few men picked off from the flanks and
rear by lurking Indian marksmen.
Soon after his arrival, a party of Delaware chiefs
appeared on the farther bank of the river, pretend-
ing to be deputies sent by their nation to confer
with the English commander. Three of them, after
much hesitation, came over to the fort, where, being
closely questioned, and found unable to give any
good account of their mission, they were detained as
spies, while their companions, greatly disconcerted,
fled back to their villages. Bouquet released one of
the three captives, and sent him home with the fol-
lowing message to his people: —
" I have received an account, from Colonel Brad-
street, that your nations had begged for peace, which
he had consented to grant, upon assurance that you
had recalled all your warriors from our frontiers ;
and in consequence of this, I would not have pro-
ceeded against your towns, if I had not heard that,
in open violation of your engagements, you have
since murdered several of our people.
" I was therefore determined to have attacked
you, as a people whose promises can no more be
relied on. But I will put it once more in your
power to save yourselves and your families from
total destruction, by giving us satisfaction for the
hostilities committed against us. And first, you are
to leave the path open for my expresses from hence
to Detroit ; and as I am now to send two men with
rained to treat as enemies any Del- my way, till I receive contrary orders
awares or Shawanese I shall find in from the General."
484 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
despatches to Colonel Bradstreet, who commands on
the lakes, I desire to know whether you will send
two of your people to bring them safe back with
an answer. And if they receive any injury either
in going or coining, or if the letters are taken from
them, I will immediately put the Indians now in
my power to death, and will show no mercy, for
the future, to any of your nations that shall fall into
my hands. I allow you ten days to have my letters
delivered at Detroit, and ten days to bring me back
an answer."1
The liberated spy faithfully discharged his mission,
and the firm, decisive tone of the message had a
profound effect upon the hostile warriors; clearly
indicating, as it did, with what manner of man they
had to deal. Many, who were before clamorous for
battle, were now ready to sue for peace, as the only
means to avert their ruin.
Before the army was ready to march, two Iroquois
warriors came to the fort, pretending friendship, but
anxious, in reality, to retard the expedition until the
approaching winter should make it impossible to
proceed. They represented the numbers of the
enemy, and the extreme difficulty of penetrating so
rough a country, and affirmed that if the troops
remained quiet, the hostile tribes, who were already
collecting their prisoners, would soon arrive to make
their submission. Bouquet turned a deaf ear to
their advice, and sent them to inform the Delawares
and Shawanoes that he was on his way to chastise
them for their perfidy and cruelty, unless they
should save themselves by an ample and speecly
atonement.
1 Hutchins, Account of Bouquet's Expedition, 5.
Chap. XXVII.] THE MAECH OE HIS ARMY. 485
Early in October, the troops left Fort Pitt, and
began their westward march into a wilderness which
no army had ever before sought to penetrate. En-
cumbered with their camp equipage, with droves of
cattle and sheep for subsistence, and a long train
of pack horses laden with provision, their progress
was tedious and difficult, and seven or eight miles
were the ordinary measure of a day's march. The
woodsmen of Virginia, veteran hunters and Indian-
fighters, were thrown far out in front, and on either
flank, scouring the forest to detect any sign of a
lurking ambuscade. The pioneers toiled in the van,
hewing their way through woods and thickets, while
the army dragged its weary length behind them
through the forest, like a serpent creeping through
tall grass. The surrounding country, whenever a
casual opening in the matted foliage gave a glimpse
of its features, disclosed scenery of wild, primeval
beauty. Sometimes the army skirted the margin
of the Ohio, with its broad eddying current and the
bright landscape of its shores. Sometimes they de-
scended into the thickest gloom of the woods, damp,
still, and cool as the recesses of a cavern, where the
black soil oozed beneath the tread, where the rough
columns of the forest seemed to exude a clammy sweat,
and the slimy mosses were trickling with moisture,
while the carcasses of prostrate trees, green with the
decay of a century, sank into pulp at the lightest
pressure of the foot. More frequently, the forest was
of a fresher growth, and the restless leaves of young-
maples and basswood shook down spots of sunlight
on the marching columns. Sometimes they waded
the clear current of a stream, with its vistas of arch-
ing foliage and sparkling water. There were intervals,
oo*
BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTEY. [Chap. XXVII.
but these were rare, when, escaping for a moment
from the labyrinth of woods, they emerged into the
light of an open meadow, rich with herbage, and
girdled by a zone of forest, gladdened by the notes
of birds, and enlivened, it may be, by grazing herds
of deer. These spots, welcome to the forest travel-
ler as an oasis to a wanderer in the desert, form the
precursors of the prairies, which, growing wider and
more frequent as one advances westward, expand at
last into the boundless plains beyond the Mississippi.
On the tenth day after leaving Fort Pitt, the army
reached the River Muskingum, and approached the
objects of their march, the homes and sanctuaries of
the barbarian warriors, who had turned whole dis-
tricts into desolation. Their progress had met no
interruption. A few skulking Indians had hovered
about them, but, alarmed by their numbers, feared
to venture an attack. The Indian cabins which they
passed on their way were deserted by their tenants,
who had joined their western brethren. When the
troops crossed the Muskingum, they saw, a little be-
low the fording-place, the abandoned wigwams of the
village of Tuscaroras, recently the abode of more
than a hundred families, who had fled in terror at
the approach of the invaders.
Bouquet was in the heart of the enemy's country.
Their villages, except some remoter settlements of
the Shawanoes, all lay within a few days' march, and
no other choice was left them than to sue for peace,
or risk the desperate chances of battle against a
commander who, a year before, with a third of his
present force, had signally routed them at the fight
of Bushy Run. The vigorous and active among them
might, it is true, escape by flight; but, in doing so,
Chap. XXVIL] TERROR OF THE ENEMY. 487
they must abandon to the victors their dwellings, and
their secret hordes of corn. They were confounded at
the multitude of the invaders, exaggerated, doubtless,
in the reports which reached their villages, and amazed
that an army should force its way so deep into the
forest fastnesses, which they had always deemed im-
pregnable. They knew, on the other hand, that Colo-
nel Bradstreet was still at Sandusky, in a position to
assail them in the rear. Thus pressed on both sides,
they saw that they must submit, and bend their stub-
born pride to beg for peace, not alone with words
which cost nothing, and would have been worth noth-
ing, but by the delivery of prisoners, and the surrender
of chiefs and warriors as hostages of good faith. Bou-
quet had sent two soldiers from Fort Pitt with letters
to Colonel Bradstreet; but these men, hi defiance of
his threats, had been seized and detained by the
Delawares. They now appeared at his camp, sent
back by their captors, with a message to the effect
that within a few days the chiefs would arrive and
hold a conference with him.
Bouquet continued his inarch down the valley of
the Muskingum, until he reached a spot where the
broad meadows, which bordered the river, would sup-
ply abundant grazing for the cattle and horses, while
the terraces above, shaded by forest-trees, offered a
convenient site for encampment. Here he began to
erect a small palisade work, as a depot for stores and
baggage. Before the task was complete, a deputation
of chiefs arrived, bringing word that their warriors
were encamped, in great numbers, about eight miles
from the spot, and desiring Bouquet to appoint the
time and place for a council. He ordered them to
•meet him, on the next day, at a point near the margin
488 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
of the river, a little below the camp; and thither a
party of men were at once despatched, to erect a sort
of rustic arbor of saplings and the boughs of trees,
large enough to shelter the English officers and the
Indian chiefs. With a host of warriors in the neigh-
borhood, who would gladly break in upon them,
could they hope that the attack would succeed, it
behoved the English to use every precaution. A
double guard was placed, and a stringent discipline
enforced.
In the morning, the little army moved in battle
order to the place of council. Here the principal
officers assumed their seats under the canopy of
branches, while the glittering array of the troops
was drawn out on the meadow in front, in such a
manner as to produce the most imposing eiFect on the
minds of the Indians, in whose eyes the sight of fif-
teen hundred men under arms was a spectacle equally
new and astounding. The perfect order and silence
of the far-extended lines, the ridges of bayonets flash-
ing in the sun, the fluttering tartans of the Highland
regulars, the bright red uniform of the Royal Ameri-
cans, the darker garb and duller trappings of the
Pennsylvania troops, and the bands of Virginia back-
woodsmen, who, in fringed hunting-frocks and Indian
moccasons, stood leaning carelessly on their rifles, —
all these combined to form a scene of military pomp
and power not soon to be forgotten.
At the appointed hour, the deputation appeared.
The most prominent among them were Kiashuta,
chief of the band of Senecas who had deserted their
ancient homes to form a colony on the Ohio; Cus-
taloga, chief of the Delawares; and the head chief
of the Shawanoes, whose name sets orthography at
Chap. XXVII.] SPEECH OF THE DELAWARE ORATOR. 489
defiance. As they approached, painted and plumed in
all their savage pomp, they looked neither to the
right hand nor to the left, not deigning, under the
eyes of their enemy, to cast even a glance at the
military display around them. They seated them-
selves, with stern, impassive looks, and an air of
sullen dignity, while their black and sombre brows
betrayed the hatred still rankling in their hearts.
After a few minutes had been consumed in the in-
dispensable ceremony of smoking, Turtle Heart, a
chief of the Delawares, and orator of the deputation,
rose, bearing in his hand a bag containing the belts
of wampum. Addressing himself to the English com-
mander, he spoke as follows, delivering a belt for
every clause of his speech : —
" Brother, I speak in behalf of the three nations
whose chiefs are here present. With this belt I open
your ears and your hearts, that you may listen to
my words.
" Brother, this war was neither your fault nor
ours. It was the work of the nations who live to
the westward, and of our wild young men, who would
have killed us if we had resisted them. We now put
away all evil from our hearts, and we hope that your
mind and ours will once more be united together.
"Brother, it is the will of the Great Spirit that
there should be peace between us. We, on our side,
now take fast hold of the chain of friendship; but, as
we cannot hold it alone, we desire that you will take
hold also, and we must look up to the Great Spirit,
that he may make us strong, and not permit this
chain to fall from our hands.
" Brother, these words come from our hearts, and
not from our lips. You desire that wTe should deliver
62
490 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
up your flesh and blood now captive among us; and,
to show you that we are sincere, we now return you
as many of them as we have at present been able to
bring. [.Here he delivered eighteen white prisoners,
who had been brought by the deputation to the
council.] You shall receive the rest as soon as we
have time to collect them."1
In such figurative terms, not devoid of dignity, did
the Indian orator sue for peace to his detested ene-
mies. When he had concluded, the chiefs of every
tribe rose in succession, to express concurrence hi
what he had said, each delivering a belt of wampum
and a bundle of small sticks, the latter designed to
indicate the number of English prisoners whom his
followers retained, and whom he pledged himself to
surrender. In an Indian council, when one of the
speakers has advanced a matter of weight and
urgency, the other party defers his reply to the
following day, that due time may be allowed for
deliberation. Accordingly, in the present instance,
the council adjourned to the next morning, each
party retiring to its respective camp. But, when day
dawned, a change was apparent in the aspects of the
weather. The valley of the Muskingum was filled
with driving mist and rain, and the meeting was
1 This speech is taken from the faithfulness, though occasionally it
official journals of Colonel Bouquet, has been found advisable to have re-
a copy of which is preserved in the course to the original journals, to
archives of Pennsylvania, at Har- supply some omission or obscurity in
risburg, engrossed, if the writer's Hutchins' compilation. This writer's
memory does not fail him, in one of personal familiarity with the Indian
the volumes of the Provincial Rec- country, and his acquaintance with
ords. The narrative of Hutchins, the actors in these scenes, have, how-
which has often been cited, is chiefly ever, given a life and character to
founded upon the authority of these his narrative, which is altogether
documents ; and the writer has used wanting in the formal pages of an
his materials with great skill and official report.
Chap. XXVII] REPLY OF BOUQUET. 491
in consequence postponed. On the third day, the
landscape brightened afresh, the troops marched once
more to the place of council, and the Indian chiefs
convened to hear the reply of their triumphant foe.
It was not of a kind to please them. The first
opening words gave an earnest of what was to come ;
for Bouquet discarded the usual address of an In-
dian harangue, fathers, brothers, or children, — terms
which imply a relation of friendship, or a desire
to conciliate, — and adopted a sterner and more dis-
tant form.
" Sachems, war-chiefs, and warriors,1 the excuses
you have offered are frivolous and unavailing, and
your conduct is without defence or apology. You
could not have acted as you pretend to have done
through fear of the western nations; for, had you
stood faithful to us, you knew that we would have
protected you against their anger; and as for your
young men, it was your duty to punish them, if they
did amiss. You have drawn down our just resent-
ment by your violence and perfidy. Last summer, in
cold blood, and in a time of profound peace, you
robbed and murdered the traders, who had come
among you at your own express desire. You at-
tacked Fort Pitt, which was built by your consent,
and you destroyed our outposts and garrisons, when-
ever treachery could place them in your power.
You assailed our troops — the same who now stand
1 The sachem is the civil chief, the civil and military functions are
who directs the counsels of the tribe, discharged by the same person, as in
and governs in time of peace. His the instance of Pontiac himself,
office, on certain conditions, is heredi- The speech of Bouquet, as given
tary, while the war-chief, or military above, is taken, with some omission
leader, acquires his authority solely and condensation, from the journals
by personal merit, and seldom trans- mentioned in the preceding note,
mits it to his offspring. Sometimes
492 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chat. XXVIL
before you — in the woods at Bushy Run ; and, when
we had routed and driven you off, you sent your
scalping-parties to the frontier, and murdered many
hundreds of our people. Last July, when the other
nations came to ask for peace, at Niagara, you not
only refused to attend, but sent an insolent message
instead, in which you expressed a pretended contempt
for the English, and, at the same time, told the sur-
rounding nations that you would never lay down the
hatchet. Afterwards, when Colonel Bradstreet came
up Lake Erie, you sent a deputation of your chiefs,
and concluded a treaty with him; but your engage-
ments were no sooner made than broken ; and from
that day to this, you have scalped and butchered us
without ceasing. Nay, I am informed that, when you
heard that this army was penetrating the woods, you
mustered your warriors to attack us, and were only
deterred from doing so when you found how greatly
we outnumbered you. This is not the only instance
of your bad faith ; for, since the beginning of the last
war, you have made repeated treaties with us, and
promised to give up your prisoners ; but you have
never kept these engagements, nor any others. We
shall endure this no longer; and I am now come
among you to force you to make atonement for the
injuries you have done us. I have brought with me
the relatives of those you have murdered. They are
eager for vengeance, and nothing restrains them from
taking it but my assurance that this army shall not
leave your country until you have given them an
ample satisfaction.
"Your allies, the Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Wyan-
dots, have begged for peace; the Six Nations have
leagued themselves with us; the great lakes and
Chap. XXVIL] EFFECT OF BOUQUET'S SPEECH 493
rivers around you are all in our possession, and your
friends the French are in subjection to us, and can
do no more to aid you. You are all in our power,
and if we choose we can exterminate you from the
earth ; but the English are a merciful and generous
people, averse to shed the blood even of their great-
est enemies; and if it were possible that you could
convince us that you sincerely repent of your past
perfidy, and that we could depend on your good be-
havior for the future, you might yet hope for mercy
and peace. If I find that you faithfully execute the
conditions which I shall prescribe, I will not treat
you with the severity you deserve.
" I give you twelve days from this date to deliver
into my hands all the prisoners in your possession,
without exception; Englishmen, Frenchmen, women,
and children; whether adopted into your tribes, mar-
ried, or living among you under any denomination
or pretence whatsoever. And you are to furnish
these prisoners with clothing, provision, and horses,
to carry them to Fort Pitt. When you have fully
complied with these conditions, you shall then know
on what terms you may obtain the peace you sue
for."
This speech, with the stern voice and countenance
of the speaker, told with chilling effect upon the
awe-stricken hearers. It quelled their native haugh-
tiness, and sunk them to the depths of humiliation.
Their speeches in reply were dull and insipid, void
of that savage eloquence, which, springing from a
wild spirit of independence, has so often distinguished
the forest orators. Judging the temper of their ene-
mies by their own insatiable thirst for vengeance,
they hastened, with all the alacrity of terror, to fulfil
pp
494 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
the prescribed conditions, and avert the threatened
ruin. They dispersed to their different villages, to
collect and bring in the prisoners; while Bouquet,
on his part, knowing that his best security for their
good faith was to keep up the alarm which his de-
cisive measures had created, determined to march yet
nearer to their settlements. Still following the course
of the Muskingum, he descended to a spot near its
confluence with its main branch, which might be re-
garded as a central point with respect to the sur-
rounding Indian villages. Here, with the exception
of the distant Shawanoe settlements, they were all
within reach of his hand, and he could readily chas-
tise the first attempt at deceit or evasion. The
principal chiefs of each tribe had been forced to
accompany him as hostages.
For the space of a day, hundreds of axes were
busy at their work. The trees were felled, the ground
cleared, and, with marvellous rapidity, a town sprang
up in the heart of the wilderness, martial in aspect
and rigorous in discipline; with storehouses, hospi-
tals, and works of defence, rude sylvan cabins min-
gled with white tents, and the forest rearing its
sombre rampart round the whole. On one side of
this singular encampment was a range of buildings,
designed to receive the expected prisoners ; and ma-
trons, brought for this purpose with the army, were
appointed to take charge of the women and children
among them. At the opposite end, a canopy of
branches, sustained on the upright trunks of young
trees, formed a rude council-hall, in keeping with the
savage assembly for whose reception it was designed.
And now, issuing from the forest, came warriors,
conducting troops of prisoners, or leading captive
Chap.XXVIL] MESSAGE EROM BRADSTREET. 495
children, — wild young barbarians, born perhaps
among themselves, and scarcely to be distinguished
from their own. Yet, seeing the sullen reluctance
which the Indians soon betrayed in this ungrateful
task, Bouquet thought it expedient to stimulate their
efforts by sending detachments of soldiers to each
of the villages, still retaining the chiefs in pledge
for their safety. About this time, a party of friendly
Indians arrived with a letter from Colonel Brad-
street, dated at Sandusky. The writer declared that
he was unable to remain longer in the Indian coun-
try, and was on the point of retiring down Lake
Erie with his army; a movement which, at the least,
was of doubtful necessity, and which might have in-
volved the most disastrous consequences. Had the
tidings been received but a few days sooner, the
whole effect of Bouquet's measures would probably
have been destroyed, the Indians encouraged to re-
sistance, and the war brought to the arbitration of a
battle, which must needs have been a fierce and
bloody one. But, happily for both parties, Bouquet
now had his enemies firmly in his grasp, and the
boldest warrior dared not violate the truce.
The messengers who brought the letter of Brad-
street brought also the tidings that peace was made
with the northern Indians, but stated, at the same
time, that these tribes had murdered many of their
captives, and given up few of the remainder, so that
no small number were still within their power. The
conduct of Bradstreet in this matter was the more
disgraceful, since he had been encamped for weeks
almost within gunshot of the Wyandot villages at
Sandusky, where most of the prisoners were detained.
Bouquet, on his part, though separated from this place
496 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
by a journey of many days, resolved to take upon him-
self the duty which his brother officer had strangely
neglected. He sent an embassy to Sandusky, de-
manding that the prisoners should be surrendered.
This measure was in a great degree successful. He
despatched messengers soon after to the principal
Shawanoe village, on the Scioto, distant about eighty
miles from his camp, to rouse the inhabitants to a
greater activity than they seemed inclined to dis-
play. This was a fortunate step, for the Shawanoes
of the Scioto, who had been guilty of atrocious cru-
elties during the war, had conceived the idea that
they were excluded from the general amnesty, and
marked out for destruction. This notion had been
propagated, . and perhaps suggested, by the French
traders in their villages; and so thorough was the
conviction of the Shawanoes, that they came to the
desperate purpose of murdering their prisoners, and
marching, with all the warriors they could muster, to
attack the English. This plan was no sooner formed
than the French traders opened their stores of bul-
lets and gunpowder, and dealt them out freely to the
Indians. Bouquet's messengers came in time to pre-
vent the catastrophe, and relieve the terrors of the
Shawanoes, by the assurance that peace would be
granted to them on the same conditions as to the rest.
Thus encouraged, they abandoned their design, and
set out with lighter hearts for the English camp,
bringing with them a portion of their prisoners.
When about half way on their journey, they were
met by an Indian runner, who told them that a
soldier had been killed in the woods, and their tribe
charged with the crime. On hearing this, their fear
revived, and with it their former purpose. Having
Chap. XXVII.J SUBMISSION OF THE SHAWANOES. 497
collected their prisoners in a meadow, they sur-
rounded the miserable wretches, armed with guns,
war-clubs, and bows and arrows, and prepared to
put them to death. But another runner arrived
before the butchery began, and, assuring them that
what they had heard was false, prevailed on them
once more to proceed. They pursued their journey
without farther interruption, and, coming in safety
to the camp, delivered the prisoners whom they had
brought.
These by no means included the whole number
of their captives, for nearly a hundred were of ne-
cessity left behind, because they belonged to warriors
who had gone to the Illinois to procure arms and
ammunition from the French ; and there is no au-
thority in an Indian community powerful enough to
deprive the meanest warrior of his property, even in
circumstances of the greatest public exigency. This
was clearly understood by the English commander,
and he therefore received the submission of the
Shawanoes, though not without compelling them to
deliver hostages for the future surrender of the re-
maining prisoners.
Band after band of captives had been daily ar-
riving, until upwards of two hundred were now col-
lected in the camp ; including, as far as could be
ascertained, all who had been in the hands of the
Indians, excepting those belonging to the absent
warriors of the Shawanoes. Up to this time, Bou-
quet had maintained a stern and rigorous demeanor,
repressing the spirit of clemency and humanity
which eminently distinguished him, refusing all
friendly intercourse with the Indians, and telling
them that he should treat them as enemies until
63 p p *
498 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVH.
they had fully complied with all the required condi-
tions. In this, he displayed his knowledge of their
character ; for, like all warlike savages, they are
extremely prone to interpret lenity and moderation
into timidity and indecision; and he who, from
good nature or mistaken philanthropy, is betrayed
into yielding a point which he has before insisted
on, may have deep cause to rue it. As their own
dealings with their enemies are not leavened with
such humanizing ingredients, they are seldom able
to comprehend them; and to win over an Indian
foe by kindness should only be attempted by one
who has already given indubitable proofs of power,
and established an unanswerable claim to respect
and obedience.
But now, when every condition was satisfied, such
inexorable rigor was no longer demanded ; and
having convoked the chiefs in the sylvan council-
house, Bouquet signified his willingness to receive
their offers of peace.
" Brother," began the Indian orator, " with this
belt of wampum I dispel the black cloud that has
hung so long over our heads, that the sunshine of
peace may once more descend to warm and gladden
us. I wipe the tears from your eyes, and condole
with you on the loss of your brethren who have
perished in this war. I gather their bones together,
and cover them deep in the earth, that the sight of
them may no longer bring sorrow to your hearts ;
and I scatter dry leaves over the spot, that it may
depart forever from memory.
" The path of peace, which once ran between
your dwellings and mine, has of late been choked
with thorns and briers, so that no one could pass
Chap. XXVII-l SPEECH^ OF THE INDIAN OEATOE.
499
that way; and we have both almost forgotten that
such a path had ever been. I now clear away all
these obstructions, and make a broad, smooth road,
so that you and I may freely visit each other, as
our fathers used to do. I kindle a great council-
fire, whose smoke shall rise to heaven, in view of
all the nations, while you and I sit together and
smoke the peace-pipe at its blaze." 1
In this strain, the orator of each tribe, in turn,
1 An Indian council, on solemn
occasions, is always opened with
preliminary forms, sufficiently weari-
some and tedious, but made indis-
pensable by immemorial custom ; for
this people are as much bound by
their conventional usages as the
most artificial children of civiliza-
tion. The forms are varied to some
extent, according to the imagination
and taste of the speaker ; but in all
essential respects they are closely
similar, throughout the tribes of Al-
gonquin and Iroquois lineage. They
run somewhat as follows, each sen-
tence being pronounced with great
solemnity, and confirmed by the de-
livery of a wampum belt. Brothers,
with this belt I open your ears that
you may hear — I remove grief and
sorrow from your hearts — I draw
from your feet the thorns which
have pierced them as you journeyed
thither — I clean the seats of the
council-house, that you may sit at
ease — I wash your head and body,
that your spirits may be refreshed —
I condole with you on the loss of
the friends who have died since we
last met — I wipe out any blood
which may have been spilt between
us. This ceremony, which, by the
delivery of so many belts of wam-
pum, entailed no small expense, was
never used except on the most im-
portant occasions ; and at the coun-
cils with Colonel Bouquet, the angry
warriors seem wholly to have dis-
pensed with it.
An Indian orator is provided with
a stock of metaphors, which he al-
ways makes use of for the expres-
sion of certain ideas. Thus, to
make war is to raise the hatchet ; to
make peace is to take hold of the
chain of friendship ; to deliberate is
to kindle the council-fire ; to cover
the bones of the dead is to make
reparation and gain forgiveness for
the act of killing them. A state of
war and disaster is typified by a
black cloud; a state of peace, by
bright sunshine, or by an open patli
between the two nations.
The orator seldom speaks without
careful premeditation of what he is
about to say; and his memory is
refreshed by the belts of wampum,
which he delivers after every clause
in Ms harangue, as a pledge of the
sincerity and truth of his words.
These belts are carefully preserved
by the hearers, as a substitute for
written records ; a use for which
they are the better adapted, as they
are often worked with hieroglyphics
expressing the meaning they are
designed to preserve. Thus, at a
treaty of peace, the principal belt
often bears the figures of an Indian
and a white man holding a chain
between them.
For the nature and uses of wam-
pum, see note, ante, p. 165.
Though a good memory is an es-
sential qualification of an Indian ora-
tor, it would be unjust not to observe
that striking outbursts of spontaneous
eloquence have sometimes proceeded
from their lips.
500 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVH.
expressed the purpose of his people to lay down
their arms, and live, for the future, in friendship with
the English. Every deputation received a separate
audience, and the successive conferences were thus
extended through several days. To each and all,
Bouquet made a similar reply, in words to the fol-
lowing effect : —
" By your full compliance with the conditions
which I imposed, you have satisfied me of your sin-
cerity, and I now receive you once more as brethren.
The long, my master, has commissioned me, not to
make treaties for him, but to fight his battles; and
though I now offer you peace, it is not in my power
to settle its precise terms and conditions. For this,
I refer you to Sir William Johnson, his majesty's
agent and superintendent for Indian affairs, who will
settle with you the articles of peace, and determine
every thing in relation to trade. Two things, how-
ever, I shall insist on. And, first, you are to give
hostages, as security that you will preserve good
faith, and send, without delay, a deputation of your
chiefs to Sir "William Johnson. In the next place,
these chiefs are to be fully empowered to treat in
behalf of your nation, and you will bind yourselves
to adhere strictly to every thing they shall agree
upon in your behalf."
These demands were readily complied with. Hos-
tages were given, and chiefs appointed for the em-
bassy; and now, for the first time, Bouquet, to the
great relief of the Indians, — for they doubted his
intentions, — extended to them the hand of friend-
ship, which he had so long withheld. A prominent
chief of the Delawares, too proud to sue for peace,
had refused to attend the council, on which Bouquet
Chap. XXVII.] THE SHAWANOES— THEIR HAUGHTINESS. 501
ordered him to be deposed, and a successor, of
a less obdurate spirit, installed in his place. The
Shawanoes were the last of the tribes admitted to a
hearing; and the demeanor of their orator clearly
evinced the haughty reluctance with which he
stooped to ask peace of his mortal enemies.
"When you came among us," such were his con-
cluding words, "you came with a hatchet raised to
strike us. We now take it from your hand, and
throw it up to the Great Spirit, that he may do
with it what shall seem good in his sight. We
hope that you, who are warriors, will take hold of
the chain of friendship which we now extend to
you. We, who are also warriors, will take hold as
you do, and we will think no more of war, in pity
for our women, children, and old men." 1
On this occasion, the Shawanoe chiefs, expressing
a hope for a renewal of the friendship which in
former years had subsisted between their people and
the English, displayed the dilapidated parchments of
several treaties made between their ancestors and the
descendants of William Penn — documents, some of
1 The Shawanoe speaker, in ex- terms, the firmness of the peace
pressing his intention of disarming which had been concluded, had re-
his enemy by laying aside his own course to the following singular
designs of war, makes use of an un- figure : "In the country of the
usual metaphor. To bury tM hatch- Oneidas there is a great pine-tree,
et is the figure in common use on so huge and old that half its
such occasions, but he adopts a form branches are dead with time. I tear
of speech which he regards as more it up by the roots, and, looking down
significant and emphatic, — that of into the hole, I see a dark stream of
throwing it up to the Great Spirit, water, flowing with a strong current,
Unwilling to confess that he yields deep under ground. Into this stream
through fear of the enemy, he pro- I fling the hatchet, and the current
fesses to wish for peace merely for sweeps it away, no man knows
the sake of his women and children, whither. Then I plant the tree
At the great council at Lancaster, again where it stood before, and
in 1762, a chief of the Oneidas, thus this war will be ended for-
anxious to express, in the strongest ever."
502 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
which had been preserved among them for more
than half a century, with all the scrupulous respect
they are prone to exhibit for such ancestral records.
They were told, that, since they had not delivered
all their prisoners, they could scarcely expect to
meet the same indulgence which had been extended
to their brethren; but that, nevertheless, in full
belief of their sincerity, the English would grant
them peace, on condition of their promising to sur-
render the remaining captives early in the following
spring, and giving up six of their chiefs as hostages.
These conditions were agreed to; and it may be
added that, at the appointed time, all the prisoners
who had been left in their hands, to the number of
a hundred, were brought in to Fort Pitt, and deliv-
ered up to the commanding officer.1
From the hard formalities and rigid self-control of
an Indian council-house, where the struggles of fear,
rage, and hatred were deep buried beneath a surface
of iron immobility, we turn to scenes of a widely
different nature ; an exhibition of mingled and con-
trasted passions, more worthy the pen of the dram-
atist than of the historian, who, restricted to the
meagre outline of recorded authority, can reflect but
a feeble image of the truth. In the ranks of the
Pennsylvania troops, and among the Virginia rifle-
men, were the fathers, brothers, and husbands of
those whose rescue from captivity was a chief object
of the march. Ignorant what had befallen them,
and doubtful whether they were yet among the
1 Besides the authorities before accompanied him have been exam-
mentioned in relation to these trans- ined. For General Gage's summary
actions, several manuscript letters of the results of the campaign, see
from Bouquet and the officers who Appendix, F.
Chap.XXVIL] SCENES AT THE ENGLISH CAMP. 503
living, these men had joined the army, in the fever-
ish hope of winning them back to home and civil-
ization. Perhaps those whom they sought had per-
ished by the elaborate torments of the stake ; perhaps
by the more merciful hatchet; or perhaps they still
dragged out a wretched life in the midst of a savage
horde. There were instances in which whole fam-
ilies had been carried off at once. The old, the
sick, or the despairing, had been tomahawked as
useless encumbrances, while the rest, pitilessly forced
asunder, were scattered through every quarter of the
wilderness. It was a strange and moving sight,
when troop after troop of prisoners arrived in suc-
cession— the meeting of husbands with wives, and
fathers with children, the reunion of broken families,
long separated in a disastrous captivity ; and on the
other hand, the agonies of those who learned tidings
of death and horror, or groaned under the torture
of protracted suspense. Women, frantic between
hope and fear, were rushing hither and thither, in
search of those whose tender limbs had, perhaps,
long since fattened the cubs of the she wolf; or
were pausing hi an agony of doubt, before some
sunburnt young savage, who, startled at the haggard
apparition, shrank from his forgotten parent, and
clung to the tawny breast of his adopted mother.
Others were divided between delight and anguish :
on the one hand, the joy of an unexpected recogni-
tion; and on the other, the misery of realized fears,
or the more intolerable pangs of doubts not yet re-
solved. Of all the spectators of this tragic drama,
few were obdurate enough to stand unmoved. The
roughest soldiers felt the contagious sympathy, and
softened into unwonted tenderness.
504 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTEY. [Chap. XX VII.
Among the children brought in for surrender,
there were some, who, captured several years before,
as early, perhaps, as the French war, had lost every
recollection of friends and home. Terrified by the
novel sights around them, by the flash and glitter
of arms, and, above all, by the strange complexion
of the pale-faced warriors, they screamed and struggled
lustily when consigned to the hands of their rela-
tives. There were young women, too, who had
become the partners of Indian husbands, and now,
with all their hybrid offspring, were led reluctantly
into the presence of fathers or brothers, whose
images were almost blotted from their memory.
They stood agitated and bewildered, the revival of
old affections, and the rush of dormant memories,
painfully contending with more recent attachments,
and the shame of their real or fancied disgrace;
while their Indian lords looked on, scarcely less
moved than they, yet hardening themselves with
savage stoicism, and standing in the midst of their
enemies, imperturbable as statues of bronze. These
women were compelled to return with their children
to the settlements; yet they all did so with reluc-
tance, and several afterwards made their escape,
eagerly hastening back to their warrior husbands,
and the toils and vicissitudes of an Indian wigwam.1
1 Penn. Hist. Col. 267. Haz. Pa. an instance of attachment to Indian
Reg. IV. 390. M'Culloch, Narra- life similar to those mentioned
tive. M'Culloch was one of the above. After the conclusion of hos-
prisoners surrendered to Bouquet, tilities, learning that she was to be
His narrative first appeared in a pam- given up to the whites, in accordance
phlet form, and has since been repub- with a treaty, she escaped into the
lished in the Incidents of Border woods with her half-breed children,
Warfare, and other similar collec- and remained hidden, in great dismay
tions. The autobiography of Mary and agitation, until the search was
Jemison, a woman captured by the over. She lived to an advanced age,
Senecas during the French war, and but never lost her attachment to the
twice married among them, contains Indian life.
Chap. XXVII] SCENES AT THE ENGLISH CAMP. 505
Day after clay brought fresh renewals of these
scenes, deepening in interest as they drew towards
their close. A few individual incidents have been
recorded and preserved. A young Virginian, robbed
of his wife but a few months before, had volun-
teered in the expedition with the faint hope of
recovering her, and, after long suspense, had recog-
nized her among a troop of prisoners, bearing in her
arms a child born during her captivity. But the
joy of the meeting was bitterly alloyed by the loss
of a former child, not two years old, captured with
the mother, but soon taken from her, and carried,
she could not tell whither. Days passed on; they
could learn no tidings of its fate, and the mother,
harrowed with terrible imaginations, was almost driven
to despair, when, at length, she discovered her child
hi the arms of an Indian warrior, and snatched it
with an irrepressible cry of transport.
When the army, on its homeward march, reached
the town of Carlisle, those who had been unable to
follow the expedition came thither in numbers, to
inquire for the friends they had lost. Among the
rest was an old woman, whose daughter had been
carried off nine years before. In the crowd of
female captives, she discovered one in whose wild
and swarthy features she discerned the altered linea-
ments of her child; but the girl, who had almost
forgotten her native tongue, returned no answering
sign of recognition to her eager words, and the old
woman bitterly complained that the daughter, whom
she had so often sung to sleep on her knee, had
forgotten her in her old age. The humanity of
Bouquet suggested an expedient. " Sing the song
that you used to sing to her when a child." The
64 QQ
506 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
old woman obeyed, and a sudden start, a look of
bewilderment, and a passionate flood of tears, removed
every doubt, and restored the long-lost daughter to
her mother's arms.1
The tender affections by no means form a salient
feature in the Indian character. They hold them in
contempt, and scorn every manifestation of them ;
yet, on this occasion, they would not be repressed,
and the human heart betrayed itself, though throb-
bing under a breastplate of ice. None of the ordi-
nary signs of emotion, neither tears, words, nor
looks, declared how greatly they were moved. It
was by their kindness and solicitude, by their atten-
tion to the wants of the captives, by their offers of
furs, garments, the choicest articles of food, and
every thing which in their eyes seemed luxury, that
they displayed their sorrow at parting from their
adopted relatives and friends.2 Some among them
went much farther, and asked permission to follow
the army on its homeward march, that they might
hunt for the captives, and supply them with better
food than the military stores could furnish. A
young Seneca warrior had become deeply enamoured
of a Virginian girl. At great risk of his life, he
accompanied the troops far within the limits of the
settlements, and, at every night's encampment, ap-
proaching the quarters of the captives as closely as
the sentinels would permit, he sat watching, with
patient vigilance, to catch a glimpse of his lost
mistress.
. ] Ordinances of the Borough of meant to apply solely to the squaws.
Carlisle, Appendix. Penn. Hist. Coll. A warrior, who, under the eircum-
267. stances, should have displayed such
' ~ Hutchins speaks of the Indians emotion, would have been disgraced
" shedding torrents of tears." This forever.
is either a flourish of rhetoric, or is
Chap. XXVII.] PRISONERS AMONG THE INDIANS. 507
The Indian women, whom no idea of honor com-
pels to wear an iron mask, were far from emulating
the frigid aspect of their lords. All day they rail
wailing through the camp ; and, when night came,
the hills and woods resounded with their dreary lam-
entations.1
The word prisoner, as applied to captives taken by
the Indians, is a misnomer, and conveys a wholly
false impression of their situation and treatment.
When the vengeance of the conquerors is sated, when
they have shot, stabbed, burned, or beaten to death,
enough to satisfy the shades of their departed rela-
tives, they usually treat those who survive their wrath
with moderation and humanity, often adopting them
to supply the place of lost brothers, husbands, or
children, whose names are given to the successors
thus substituted in their place. By a formal cere-
mony, the white blood is washed from their veins,
and they are regarded thenceforth as members of the
tribe, faring equally with the rest in prosperity or
adversity, in famine or abundance. "When children
are adopted in this manner by Indian women, they
nurture them with the same tenderness and indul-
gence which they extend, in a remarkable degree, to
their own offspring; and such young women as will
1 The outcries of the squaws, on Inferno ; while some of the chief
such occasions, would put to shame mourners gashed their bodies and
an Irish death-howl. The writer was limbs with knives, uttering, mean-
once attached to a large band of In- while, most piteous lamentations. A
dians, who, being on the march, ar- few days later, returning to the
rived, a little after nightfall, at a spot same encampment after darkness had
where, not long before, a party of closed in, a strange and startling ef-
their young men had been killed by feet was produced by the prolonged
the enemy. The women instantly waitings of several women, who were
raised a most astounding clamor, pacing the neighboring hills, lament-
some two hundred voices joining in ing the death of a child, killed by the
a discord as wild and dismal as the bite of a rattlesnake,
shrieking of the damned in Dante's
508 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTEY. [Chap. XXVII.
not marry an Indian husband are treated with a
singular forbearance, in which superstition, natural
temperament, and a sense of right and justice may-
all claim a share. The captive, unless he excites
suspicion by his conduct, or exhibits peculiar contu-
macy, is left with no other restraint than his own
free will. The warrior who captured him, or to whom
he was assigned in the division of the spoil, some-
times claims, it is true, a certain right of property
in him, to the exclusion of others; but this claim is
soon forgotten, and seldom exercised to the incon-
venience of the captive, who has no other prison than
the earth, the air, and the forest.1 Five hundred
miles of wilderness, beset with difficulty and danger,
are the sole bars to his escape, should he desire to
effect it; but, strange as it may appear, this wish is
apt to expire in his heart, and he often remains to
the end of his life a contented denizen of the woods.
Among the captives brought in for delivery were
some bound fast to prevent their escape; and many
others, who, amid the general tumult of joy and sor-
row, sat sullen and scowling, angry that they were
forced to abandon the wild license of the forest for
the irksome restraints of society.2 Thus, to look back
with a fond longing to inhospitable deserts, where
men, beasts, and Nature herself, seem arrayed in arms,
and where ease, security, and all that civilization
reckons among the goods of life, are alike cut off,
may appear to argue some strange perversity or moral
i The captives among the Shawa- death, fearing that, in the attack
noes of the Scioto had most of them which they meditated, the captives
been recently taken ; and only a would naturally take part with their
small part had gone through the countrymen.
ceremony of adoption. Hence it was 2 Hutchins, Account of Bouquet's
that the warriors, in their desperation, Expedition, 29.
formed the design of putting them to
Chap. XXVII] THE FOREST LIFE. 509
malformation. Yet such lias been the experience of
many a sound and healthful mind. To him who
has once tasted the reckless independence, the haugh-
ty self-reliance, the sense of irresponsible freedom,
which the forest life engenders, civilization thence-
forth seems flat and stale. Its pleasures are insipid,
its pursuits wearisome, its conventionalities, duties,
and mutual dependence alike tedious and disgust-
ing. The entrapped wanderer grows fierce and rest-
less, and pants for breathing-room. His path, it
is true, was choked with difficulties, but his body
and soul were hardened to meet them; it was beset
with dangers, but these were the very spice of his
life, gladdening his heart with exulting self-confi-
dence, and sending the blood through his veins with
a livelier current. The wilderness, rough, harsh, and
inexorable, has charms more potent in their seductive
influence than all the lures of luxury and sloth.
And often he on whom it has cast its masic
finds no heart to dissolve the spell, and remains a
wanderer and an Ishmaelite to the hour of his
death.1
1 Colden, after describing the In- had been taken Prisoners by the
dian wars of 1699, 1700, concludes French Indians to leave the Indian
in the following- words : — Manner of living, though no People
" I shall finish this Part by observ- enjoy more Liberty, and live hi
ing that notwithstanding the French greater Plenty than the common In-
Commissioners took all the Pains habitants of New York do. No Ar-
possible to carry Home the French guments, no Intreaties, nor Tears of
that were Prisoners with the Five their Friends and Relations, could
Nations, and they had full Liberty persuade many of them to leave their
from the Indians, few of them could new Indian Friends and Acquaint-
be persuaded to return. It may be ance. Several of them that were by
thought that this was occasioned from the Caressings of their Relations
the Hardships they had endured in persuaded to come Home, in a little
their own Country, under a tyranni- Time grew tired of our Manner of
cal Government and a barren Soil, living, and ran away to the Indians,
But this certainly was not the Rea- and ended their Days with. them,
son, for the English had as much On the other Hand, Indian Children
Difficulty to persuade the People that have been carefully educated amone-
QQ
*
510 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY. [Chap. XXVII.
There is a chord, in the breasts of most men, prompt
to answer loudly or faintly, as the case may be, to
such rude appeals. But there is influence of another
sort, strongest with minds of the finest texture, yet
sometimes holding a controlling power over those
who neither acknowledge nor suspect its workings.
There are few so imbruted by vice, so perverted by
art and luxury, as to dwell in the closest presence
of Nature, deaf to her voice of melody and power,
untouched by the ennobling influences which mould
and penetrate the heart that has not hardened itself
against them. Into the spirit of such an one the
mountain wind breathes its own freshness, and the
midsummer tempest, as it rends the forest, pours its
own fierce energy. His thoughts flow with the
placid stream of the broad, deep river, or dance in
light with the sparkling current of the mountain
brook. No passing mood or fancy of his mind but
has its image and its echo in the wild world around
him. There is softness in the mellow air, the warm
sunshine, and the budding leaves of spring; and in
the forest flower, which, more delicate than the pam-
pered offspring of gardens, lifts its tender head
through the refuse and decay of the wilderness. But
it is the grand and heroic in the hearts of men
which finds its worthiest symbol and noblest inspira-
tion amid these desert realms, — in the mountain,
rearing its savage head through clouds and sleet, or
the English, clothed and taught ; yet, those that knew nothing of a civil-
I think, there is not one Instance that ized Manner of living. What I now
any of these, after they had Liberty tell of Christian Prisoners among In-
to go among their own People, and dians relates not only to what hap-
were come to Age, would remain pened at the Conclusion of this War,
with the English, but returned to but has been found true on many
their own Nations, and became as other Occasions." — Golden, 203.
fond of the Indian Manner of Life as
Chap. XXVII.] RETITKN OF THE EXPEDITION. 511
basking its majestic strength in the radiance of the
sinking sun ; in the interminable forest, the thunder
booming over its lonely waste, the whirlwind tearing
through its inmost depths, or the sun at length set-
ting in gorgeous majesty beyond its waves of verdure.
To the sick, the wearied, or the sated spirit, nature
opens a theatre of boundless life, and holds forth a
cup brimming with redundant pleasure. In the other
joys of existence, fear is balanced against hope, and
satiety against delight ; but here one may fearlessly
drink, gaining, with every draught, new vigor and a
heightened zest, and finding no dregs of bitterness
at the bottom.
Having accomplished its work, the army left the
Muskingum, and, retracing its former course, arrived
at Fort Pitt on the twenty-eighth of November.
The recovered captives were sent to their respective
homes in Pennsylvania or Virginia; and the provin-
cial troops disbanded, not without warm praises for
the hardihood and steadiness with which they had
met the difficulties of the campaign. The happy
issue of the expedition spread joy throughout the
country. At the next session of the Pennsylvania
Assembly, one of its first acts was to pass a vote of
thanks to Colonel Bouquet, expressing in the most
earnest terms their sense of his services and personal
merits, and conveying their acknowledgments for the
regard which he had constantly shown to the civil
rights of the inhabitants.1 The Assembly of Vir-
ginia passed a similar vote ; and both houses con-
curred in recommending Bouquet to the king for
promotion. Such recommendation proved superfluous,
1 See Appendix, F.
Dl2 BOUQUET IN THE INDIAN COUNTKY. [Chap. XXVII.
for, on tlie first news of his success, Bouquet had
been appointed to the rank of brigadier, and the
command of the southern department. " And," con-
cludes Hutchins, the chronicler of the campaign, "as
he is rendered as dear by his private virtues to
those who have the honor of his more intimate ac-
quaintance as he is by his military services to the
public, it is hoped he may long continue among us,
where his experienced abilities will enable him, and
his love of the English constitution entitle him, to
fill any future trust to which his majesty may be
pleased to call him." This hope was not destined
to fulfilment. Within three years after his return
from the Muskingum, he was attacked with a fever
at Pensacola, which closed, by a premature death,
the career of a gallant soldier and a generous man.
The Delawares and Shawanoes, mindful of their en-
gagement and of the hostages which they had given
to keep it, sent their deputies, within the appointed
time, to Sir William Johnson, who concluded a treaty
with them, stipulating, among the other terms, that
they should grant free passage through their country
to English troops and travellers; that they should
make full restitution for the goods taken from the
traders at the breaking out of the war; and that
they should aid their triumphant enemies in the dif-
ficult task which yet remained to be accomplished
■—that of taking possession of the Illinois, and oc-
cupying its posts and settlements with British troops.1
1 MS. Johnson Papers.
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Scale of Miles .
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CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE ILLINOIS.
We turn to a region of which, as yet, we have
caught but transient glimpses ; a region which to
our forefathers seemed remote and strange, as to us
the mountain strongholds of the Apaches, or the
wastes of farthest Oregon. The country of the Illi-
nois was chiefly embraced within the boundaries of
the state which now retains the name. Thitherward,
from the east, the west, and the north, three mighty
rivers rolled their tributary waters; while countless
smaller streams — small only in comparison — trav-
ersed the land with a watery network, impregnating
the warm soil with exuberant fecundity. From the
eastward, the Ohio — La Belle Riviere — pursued its
windings for more than a thousand miles. The
Mississippi descended from the distant north; while
from its fountains in the west, three thousand
miles away, the Missouri poured its torrent towards
the same common centre. Born among mountains,
trackless even now, except by the adventurous
footstep of the trapper, — nurtured amid the howl-
ing of beasts and the war-cries of savages, never
silent in that wilderness, — it holds its angry course
through sun-scorched deserts, among towers and
palaces, the architecture of no human hand, among
lodges of barbarian hordes, and herds of bison
65
514 THE ILLINOIS. [Chap. XXVIII.
blackening the prairie to the horizon. Fierce, reck-
less, headstrong, exulting in its tumultuous force,
it plays a thousand freaks of wanton power; bearing
away forests from its shores, and planting them, with
roots uppermost, in its quicksands ; sweeping off
islands, and rebuilding them; frothing and raging in
foam and whirlpool, and, again, gliding with dwindled
current along its sandy channel. At length, dark
with uncurbed fury, it pours its muddy tide into the
reluctant Mississippi. That majestic river, drawing
life from the pure fountains of the north, wandering
among emerald prairies and wood-crowned bluffs,
loses all its earlier charm with this unhallowed
union. At first, it shrinks as with repugnance, and
along the same channel the two streams flow side
by side, with unmingled waters. But the disturb-
ing power prevails at length ; and the united tor-
rent bears onward in its might, boiling up from
the bottom, whirling in many a vortex, flooding its
shores with a malign deluge fraught with pestilence
and fever, and burying forests in its depths, to in-
snare the heedless voyager. Mightiest among rivers,
it is the connecting link of adverse climates and
contrasted races ; and while at its northern source
the fur-clad Indian shivers in the cold, — where it
mingles with the ocean, the growth of the tropics
springs along its banks, and the panting negro cools
his limbs in its refreshing waters.
To these great rivers and their tributary streams
the country of the Illinois owed its wealth, its
grassy prairies, and the stately woods that flour-
ished on its deep, rich soil. This prolific land
teemed with life. It was a hunter's paradise. Deer
grazed on its meadows. The elk trooped in herds,
Chap. XXVIII.] THE ILLINOIS. 515
like squadrons of cavalry. In the still morning,
one might hear the clatter of their antlers for half
a mile over the dewy prairie. Countless bison
roamed the plains, filing in grave procession to
drink at the rivers, plunging and snorting among
the rapids and quicksands, rolling their huge bulk
on the grass, or rushing upon each other in hot en-
counter, like champions under shield. The wildcat
glared from the thicket ; the raccoon thrust his
furry countenance from the hollow tree, and the
opossum swung, head downwards, from the over-
hanging bough.
With the opening spring, when the forests are
budding into leaf, and the prairies gemmed with
flowers ; when a warm, faint haze rests upon the
landscape, — then heart and senses are inthralled
with luxurious beauty. The shrubs and wild fruit-
trees, flushed with pale red blossoms, and the small
clustering flowers of grape-vines, which choke the
gigantic trees with Laocoon writhings, fill the forest
with their rich perfume. A few days later, and a
cloud of verdure overshadows the land, while birds
innumerable sing beneath its canopy, and brighten
its shades with their glancing hues.
Yet this western paradise is not free from the
curse of Adam. The beneficent sun, which kindles
into life so many forms of loveliness and beauty,
fails not to engender venom and death from the rank
slime of pestilential swamp and marsh. In some
stagnant pool, buried in the jungle-like depths of
the forest, where the hot and lifeless water reeks
with exhalations, the water-snake basks by the mar-
gin, or winds his checkered length of loathsome
beauty across the sleepy surface. From beneath
516
THE ILLINOIS.
[Chap. XXVIII.
the rotten carcass of some fallen tree, the moc-
cason thrusts out his broad flat head, ready to
dart on the intruder. On the dry, sun-scorched
prairie, the rattlesnake, a more generous enemy, re-
poses in his spiral coil. He scorns to shun the
eye of day, as if conscious of the honor accorded
to his name by the warlike race, who, jointly with
him, claim lordship over the land.1 But some intru-
sive footstep awakes him from his slumbers. His
neck is arched; the white fangs gleam in his dis-
tended jaws ; his small eyes dart rays of unutterable
fierceness ; and his rattles, invisible with their quick
vibration, ring the sharp warning which no man
will rashly contemn.
The land thus prodigal of good and evil, so
remote from the sea, so primitive in its aspect, might
well be deemed an undiscovered region, ignorant of
European arts ; . yet it may boast a colonization as
old as that of many a spot to which are accorded
i The superstitious veneration
which the Indians entertain for the
rattlesnake has been before alluded
to. The Cherokees christened him
by a name which, being interpreted,
signifies the bright old inhabitants, a
title of affectionate admiration of
which his less partial acquaintance
would hardly judge him worthy.
" Between the heads of the north-
ern branch of the Lower Cheerake
River, and the heads of that of Tuck-
aschchee, grinding round in a long
course by the late Fort Loudon, and
afterwards into the Mississippi, there
is, both in the nature and circum-
stances, a great phenomenon. Be-
tween two high mountains, nearly
covered with old mossy rocks, lofty
cedars and pines, in the valleys of
which the beams of the sun reflect
a powerful heat, there are, as the
natives affirm, some bright old inhab-
itants, or rattlesnakes, of a more
enormous size than is mentioned in
history. They are so large and un-
wieldy, that they take a circle almost
as wide as their length, to crawl
round in their shortest orbit; but
bountiful nature compensates the
heavy motion of their bodies ; for,
as they say, no living creature moves
within the reach of their sight, but
they can draw it to them ; which is
agreeable to what we observe through
the whole system of animated beings.
Nature endues them with proper ca-
pacities to sustain life : as they can-
not support themselves by their
speed or cunning, to spring from an
ambuscade, it is needful they should
have the bewitching craft of their
eyes and forked tongues." — Adair,
237.
Chap. XXVIH.] ITS EAELY COLONIZATION. 517
the scanty honors of an American antiquity. The
earliest settlement of Pennsylvania was made in
1681 ; the first occupation of the Illinois took
place in the previous year. La Salle may be called
the father of the colony. That remarkable man
entered the country with a handful of followers,
bent on his grand scheme of Mississippi discovery.
A legion of enemies rose in his path ; but neither
delay, disappointment, sickness, famine, open force,
nor secret conspiracy, could bend his soul of iron.
Disasters accumulated upon him. He flung them
off, and still pressed forward to his object. His
victorious energy bore all before it, but the suc-
cess on which he had staked his life served only to
entail fresh calamity, and an untimely death; and
his best reward is, that his name stands forth in
history an imperishable monument of heroic con-
stancy. When on his way to the Mississippi in the
year 1680, La Salle built a fort in the country of
the Illinois, and, on his return from the mouth of
the great river, some of his followers remained, and
established themselves near the spot. Heroes of
another stamp took up the work which the daring
Norman had begun. Jesuit missionaries, among the
best and purest of their order, burning with zeal
for the salvation of souls, and the gaining of an
immortal crown, here toiled and suffered, with a
self-sacrificing devotion, which extorts a tribute of
admiration even from sectarian bigotry. While the
colder apostles of Protestantism labored upon the
outskirts of heathendom, these champions of the
cross, the forlorn hope of the army of Eome,
pierced to the heart of its dark and dreary do-
main, confronting death at every step, and well
RR
518 THE ILLINOIS. [Chap. XXVIII.
repaid for all, could they but sprinkle a few drops
of water on the forehead of a dying child, or hang
a gilded crucifix round the neck of some warrior,
pleased with the glittering trinket. With the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century, the black robe of
the Jesuit was known in every village of the Illi-
nois. Defying the wiles of Satan and the malice of
his emissaries the Indian sorcerers, exposed to the
rage of the elements, and every casualty of forest
life, they followed their wandering proselytes to war
and to the chase ; now wading through morasses,
now dragging canoes over rapids and sand-bars ;
now scorched with heat on the sweltering prairie,
and now shivering houseless in the blasts of Jan-
uary. At Kaskaskia and Cahokia they established
missions, and built frail churches from the bark of
trees, fit emblems of their own transient and futile
labors. Morning and evening, the savage worship-
pers sang praises to the Virgin, and knelt in suppli-
cation before the shrine of St. Joseph.1
Soldiers and fur-traders followed where these
pioneers of the church had led the way. Forts
were built here and there throughout the country,
and the cabins of settlers clustered about the mis-
sion-houses. The new colonists, emigrants from
Canada or disbanded soldiers of French regiments,
bore a close resemblance to the settlers of Detroit,
or the primitive people of Acadia, whose simple life
poetry has chosen as an appropriate theme. The
Creole of the Illinois, contented, light-hearted, and
thriftless, by no means fulfilled the injunction to
increase and multiply, and the colony languished in
1 For an account of Jesuit labors in the Illinois, see the letters of Father
Marest, in Lett. Edif. IV.
Chap. XXVIII] CKEOLES OF THE ILLINOIS.
spite of the fertile soil. The people labored long
enough to gain a bare subsistence for each passing
day, and spent the rest of their time in dancing
and merry-making, smoking, gossiping, and hunt-
ing. Their native gayety was irrepressible, and
they found means to stimulate it with wine made
from the fruit of the wild grape-vines. Thus they
passed their days, at peace with themselves, hand
and glove with their Indian neighbors, and igno-
rant of all the world beside. Money was scarcely
known among them. Skins and furs were the
prevailing currency, and in every village a great
portion of the land was held in common. The
military commandant, whose station was at Fort
Chartres, on the Mississippi, ruled the colony with a
sway absolute as that of the Pacha of Egypt, and
judged civil and crhninal cases without right of
appeal. Yet his power was exercised in a patri-
archal spirit, and he usually commanded the respect
and confidence of the people. Many years later,
when, after the War of the Revolution, the Illinois
came under the jurisdiction of the United States,
the perplexed inhabitants, totally at a loss to under-
stand the complicated machinery of republicanism,
begged to be delivered from the intolerable burden
of self-government, and to be once more subjected
to a military commandant.1
The Creole is as unchanging in his nature and
habits as the Indian himself. Even at this day,
1 The principal authorities for the Address before the Historical Soci-
above account of the Illinois colony, ety of Vincennes, 14. Brown, Hist.
are Hutchins, Topographical De- Illinois, 208. Journal of Captain
scription, 37. Volney, View of the Harry Gordon, in Appendix to Pow-
United States, 370. Pitman, Present nail's Topographical Description.
State of the European Settlements Nicollet, Report on the Hydrograph-
on the Mississippi, passim. Law, ical Basin of the Mississippi, 75.
520 THE ILLINOIS. [Chap. XXVIII.
one may see, along the banks of the Mississippi, the
same low-browed, cottages, with their broad eaves
and picturesque verandas, which, a century ago, were
clustered around the mission-house at Kaskaskia;
and, entering, one finds the inmate the same kindly,
honest, lively, story-telling, and pipe-smoking being
that his ancestor was before him. Yet, with all
his genial traits, the rough world deals hardly with
him. He lives a mere drone in the busy hive
of an American population. The living tide en-
croaches on his rest, as the muddy torrent of the
great river chafes away the farm and homestead of
his fathers. Yet he contrives to be happy, though
looking back regretfully to the better days of old.
At the date of this history, the population of the
colony, including negroes, who, in that simple com-
munity, were treated rather as humble friends than
as slaves, did not exceed two thousand souls, distrib-
uted in several small settlements. There were about
eighty houses at Kaskaskia, forty or fifty at Ca-
hokia, a few at Vincennes and Fort Chartres, and
a few more scattered in small clusters upon the
various streams. The agricultural portion of the
colonists were, as we have described them, marked
with many weaknesses, and many amiable virtues;
but their morals were not improved by a large ad-
mixture of fur-traders, — reckless, hairbrained adven-
turers, who, happily for the peace of their relatives,
were absent on their wandering vocation during the
greater part of the year.
Swarms of vagabond Indians infested the settle-
ments, and, to people of any other character, they
would have proved an intolerable annoyance. But
the easy-tempered Creoles made friends and comrades
Chap. XXVI1L] INDIANS OF THE ILLINOIS. 521
of them, ate, drank, smoked, and often married
with them. They were a debauched and drunken
rabble, the remnants of that branch of the Algon-
quin stock known among the French as the Illinois,
a people once numerous and powerful, but now mis-
erably enfeebled, and corrupted by foreign wars, do-
mestic dissensions, and their own licentious manners.
They comprised the broken fragments of five tribes
— the Kaskaskias, Cahokias, Peorias, Mitchigamias,
and Tamaronas. Some of their villages were in the
close vicinity of the Creole settlements. On a hot
summer morning, they might be seen lounging about
the trading-house, basking in the sun, begging for
a dram of whiskey, or chaffering with the hard-
featured trader for beads, tobacco, gunpowder, and
red paint.
About the Wabash and its branches, to the east-
ward of the Illinois, dwelt tribes of similar lineage,
but more warlike in character, and less corrupt in
manners. These were the Miamis, in their three
divisions, their near kindred, the Piankishaws, and a
portion of the Kickapoos. There was another settle-
ment of the Miamis upon the Eiver Maumee, still
farther to the east; and it was here that Bradstreet's
ambassador, Captain Morris, had met so rough a
welcome. The strength of these combined tribes was
very considerable ; and, one and all, they looked with
wrath and abhorrence on the threatened advent of
the English.
66 RR*
CHAPTER XXIX.
PONTIAC RALLIES THE WESTERN TRIBES.
When, by the treaty of Paris, 1763, France ceded
to England her territories east of the Mississippi,
the Illinois was of course included in the cession.
Scarcely were the articles signed, when France, as
if eager to rob herself, at one stroke, of all her
western domain, threw away upon Spain the vast
and indefinite regions beyond the Mississippi, des-
tined at a later day to return to her hands, and
finally to swell the growing empire of the United
States. This transfer to Spain was for some time
kept secret; but orders were immediately sent to the
officers commanding at the French posts within the
territory ceded to England, to evacuate the country
whenever British troops should appear to occupy it.
These orders reached the Illinois towards the close
of 1763. Some time, however, was destined to
elapse before the English arrived to demand its sur-
render ; for the Indian war was then at its height,
and the country was protected from access by a
broad barrier of savage tribes, in the hottest ferment
of hostility.
The colonists, hating the English with a more
than national hatred, deeply imbittered by years of
disastrous war, received the news of the treaty with
disgust and execration. Many of them left
Chap. XXIX.] ST. LOUIS. 523
country, loath, to dwell under the shadow of the Brit-
ish flag. Of these, some crossed the Mississippi to the
little hamlet of St. Genevieve, on the western bank;
others followed the commandant, Neyon de Villiers,
to New Orleans; while others, taking with them all
their possessions, even to the frames and clapboard-
ing of their houses, passed the river a little above
Cahokia, and established themselves at a beautiful
spot on the opposite shore, where a settlement was
just then on the point of commencement. Here a
line of richly-wooded bluffs rose with easy ascent
from the margin of the water, while from their
summits extended a wide plateau of fertile prairie,
bordered by a framework of forest. In the shadow
of the trees, which fringed the edge of the declivity,
stood a newly-built storehouse, with a few slight
cabins and wTorks of defence, belonging to a company
of fur-traders. At their head was Pierre Laclede,
who had left New Orleans with his followers in Au-
gust, 1763, and, after toiling for three months against
the impetuous stream of the Mississippi, had reached
the Illinois in November, and selected the spot al-
luded to as the site of his first establishment. To
this he gave the name of St. Louis.1 Side by side
with Laclede, in his adventurous enterprise, was a
young man, slight in person, but endowed with a
vigor and elasticity of frame which could resist heat
or cold, fatigue, hunger, or the wasting hand of time.
Not all the magic of a dream, nor the enchantments
of an Arabian tale, could outmatch the waking reali-
ties destined to rise upon the vision of Pierre Chou-
teau. Where, in his youth, he had climbed the
i Nicollet, Historical Sketch of drographical Basin of the Upper Mis-
St. Louis. See Report on the Hy- sissippi River, 75.
524 PONTIAC IN THE WEST. [Chap. XXIX.
woody bluff, and looked abroad on prairies dotted
with bison, he saw, with the dim eye of his old
age, the land darkened for many a furlong with the
clustered roofs of the western metropolis. For the
silence of the wilderness, he heard the clang and
turmoil of human labor, the din of congregated
thousands; and where the great river rolled down
through the forest, in lonely grandeur, he saw the
waters lashed into foam beneath the prows of pant-
ing steamboats, flocking to the broad levee.1
In the summer of 1764, the military commandant,
Neyon, had abandoned the country in disgust, and
gone down to New Orleans, followed by many of the
inhabitants, a circumstance already mentioned. St.
Ange de Bellerive remained behind to succeed him.
St. Ange was a veteran Canadian officer, the same
who, more than forty years before, had escorted Father
Charlevoix through the country, and who is spoken
of with high commendation by the Jesuit traveller
and historian. He took command of about forty
men, the remnant of the garrison of Fort Chartres,
1 Laclede, the founder of St. Louis, ing negro houses, filled with gay and
died before he had brought his grand contented inmates, were in singular
fur-trading enterprise to a conclusion ; harmony with the character of the
but his young assistant lived to real- patriarchal owner, who prided himself
ize schemes still more bold and com- on his fidelity to the old French
prehensive ; and to every trader, trap- usages. Though in extreme old age,
per, and voyageur, from the frontier he still retained the vivacity of his
of the United States to the Rocky nation. His memory, especially of
Mountains, and from the British Pos- the events of his youth, was clear
sessions to the borders of New Mexi- and vivid ; and he delighted to look
co, the name of Pierre Chouteau is back to the farthest extremity of the
familiar as his own. I visited this long vista of bis life, and recall the
venerable man in the spring of 1846, acts and incidents of his earliest
at his country-seat, in a rural spot years. Of Pontiac, whom he had
surrounded by woods, within a few often seen, he had a clear recollec-
miles of St. Louis. The building, in tion ; and I am indebted to this in-
the picturesque architecture peculiar teresting interview for several par-
te the French dwellings of the Mis- ticulars regarding the chief and his
sissippi Valley, with its broad eaves coadjutors,
and light verandas, and the surround-
Chap. XXIX.] ST. ANGE DE BELLERIVE. 525
which, remote as it was, was then esteemed one of
the best constructed military works in America. Its
ramparts of stone, garnished with twenty cannon,
scowled across the encroaching Mississippi, destined,
before many years, to ingulf curtain and bastion in
its ravenous abyss.
St. Ange's position was by no means an enviable
one. He had a critical part to play. On the one
hand, he had been advised of the cession to the Eng-
lish, and ordered to yield up the country whenever
they should arrive to claim it. On the other, he was
beset by embassies from Pontiac, from the Shawa-
noes, and from the Miamis, and plagued day and
night by an importunate mob of Illinois Indians, de-
manding arms, ammunition, and assistance against
the common enemy. Perhaps, in his secret heart,
St. Ange would have rejoiced to see the scalps of
all the Englishmen in the backwoods fluttering in
the wind over the Illinois wigwams; but his situ-
ation forbade him to comply with the solicitations of
his intrusive petitioners, and it is to be hoped that
some sense of honor and humanity enforced the dic-
tates of prudence. Accordingly, he cajoled them with
flatteries and promises, and from thne to time dis-
tributed a few presents to stay their importunity,
still praying daily that the English might appear and
relieve him from his uneasy dilemma.1
While Laclede was founding St. Louis, while the
discontented settlers of the Illinois were deserting
their homes, and while St. Ange was laboring to
pacify his Indian neighbors, all the tribes from the
Maumee to the Mississippi were in a turmoil of
i MS. Letter — St. Ange to D'Abbadie, Sept. 9.
PONTIAC IN THE WEST. [Chap. XXIX.
excitement. Pontiac was among them, furious as a
wild beast at bay. By the double campaign of 1764,
his best hopes had been crushed to the earth; but
he stood unshaken amidst the ruin, and still strug-
gled with desperate energy to retrieve his broken
cause. On the side of the northern lakes, the move-
ments of Bradstreet had put down the insurrection
of the tribes, and wrested back the military posts
which cunning and treachery had placed within their
grasp. In the south, Bouquet had forced to abject
submission the warlike Delawares and Shawanoes, the
warriors on whose courage and obstinacy Pontiac had
grounded his strongest confidence. On every hand
defeat and disaster were closing around him. One
sanctuary alone remained, the country of the Illi-
nois. Here the flag of France still floated on the
banks of the Mississippi, and here no English foot
had dared to penetrate. He resolved to invoke all
his resources, and bend all his energies to defend
this last citadel.1
1 By the following extract from settlement of Detroit,) & signed by
an official paper, signed by Captain Pontiac, from the Illinois, setting forth
Grant, and forwarded from Detroit, that there were five hundred English
it appears that Pontiac still retained, coming to the Illinois, & that they,
or professed to retain, his original de- the Ottawas, must have patience ; that
signs against the garrison of Detroit, he, Pontiac, was not to return until
The paper has no date, but was ap- he had defeated the English, and
parently written in the autumn of then he would come with an army
1764. By a note appended to it, we from the Illinois to take Detroit, which
are told that the Baptiste Campau re- he desired they might publish to all
ferred to was one of those who had the nations about. That powder &
acted as Pontiac's secretaries during ball was in as great plenty as water,
the summer of 1763. That the French Commissary La
" On Tuesday last Mr. Jadeau told Cleff had sold above forty thousand
me, in the presence of Col. Gladwin Aveight of powder to the inhabitants,
& Lieut. Hay of the 6th Regiment, that the English if they came there
that one Lesperance, a Frenchman, might not have it.
on his way to the Illinois, he saw a " There was another letter on the
letter with the Ottawas, at the Mi- subject sent to an inhabitant of De-
amee River, he is sure wrote by one troit, but he can't tell in whose hands
Baptist Campau, (a deserter from the it is."
Chap. XXIX.] HIS FRENCH ALLIES. 527
He was not left to contend unaided. The fur-
trading French, living at the settlements on the
Mississippi, scattered about the forts of Ouatanon,
Vincennes, and Miami, or domesticated among the
Indians of the Rivers Illinois and Wabash, dreaded
the English as dangerous competitors in their voca-
tion, and were eager to bar them from the country.
They lavished abuse and calumny on the objects of
their jealousy, and spared no falsehood which in-
genious malice and self-interest could suggest. They
gave out that the English were bent on the ruin of
the tribes, and to that end were stirring them up to
mutual hostility. They insisted that, though the
armies of France had been delayed so long, they
were nevertheless on their way, and that the bayonets
of the white-coated warriors would soon glitter among
the forests of the Mississippi. Forged letters were
sent to Pontiac, signed by the King of France, ex-
horting him to stand his ground but a few weeks
longer, and all would then be well. To give the
better coloring to their falsehoods, some of these in-
cendiaries assumed the uniform of French officers,
and palmed themselves off upon their credulous au-
ditors as ambassadors from the king. Many of the
principal traders distributed among the warriors sup-
plies of arms and ammunition, in some instances
given gratuitously, and in others sold on credit, with
the understanding that payment should be made from
the plunder of the English.1
1 MS. Gage Papers. MS. Johnson naturalized among the Indians. In
Papers. Croghan, Journal. Hildreth, the autumn of 1764, he accompanied
Pioneer History, 68. Examination a war-party against the frontier, and
of Gershom Hicks, see Perm. Gaz. volunteered to come as a spy to Fort
No. 1846. Pitt, to ascertain the possibility of
Hicks was an English miscreant, taking scalps in the neighborhood.
528
PONTIAC IN THE "WEST.
[Chap. XXIX.
Now that the Insurrection in the east was quelled,
and the Delawares and Shawanoes beaten into sub-
mission, it was thought that the English would lose
no time in taking full possession of the country,
which, by the peace of 1763, had been transferred
into their hands. Two principal routes would give
access to the Illinois. Troops might advance from
the south, up the great natural highway of the Mis-
sissippi, or they might descend from the east by way
of Fort Pitt and the Ohio. In either case, to meet
and repel them was the determined purpose of
Pontiac.
When we last took leave of him, he was on the
River Maumee, whither he had retired with his
chosen adherents, on the approach of Bradstreet's
army, and where, by successive tidings, he learned
the humiliation of his allies, and the triumph of his
enemies. Towards the close of autumn, he left his
encampment, and, followed by four hundred warriors,
He was detected, seized, and exam-
ined, and the information he gave
proved authentic.
Johnson's letters to the Board of
Trade, in the early part of 1765, con-
tain constant references to the sinis-
ter conduct of the Illinois French.
The commander-in-chief is still more
bitter in his invectives, and seems to
think that French officers of the
crown were concerned in these prac-
tices, as well as the traders. If we
may judge, however, from the corre-
spondence of St. Ange and his subor-
dinates, they may be acquitted of the
charge of any active interference in
the matter.
" Sept. 14. I had a private meet-
ing with the Grand Sauteur, when he
told me he was well disposed for
peace last fall, but was then sent for
to the Illinois, where he met with
Pondiac ; and that then their fathers,
the French, told them, if they would
be strong, and keep the English out
of the possession of that country but
this summer, that the King of France
would send over an army next spring,
to assist his children, the Indians ;
and that the King of Spain would
likewise send troops, to help them to
keep the English out of the country ;
that the English were a bad people,
and had a design to cut off all the
Indian nations in this country, and to
bring the southern Indians to live and
settle there. This account made all
the Indians very uneasy in their
minds ; and after holding a council
among themselves, they all deter-
mined to oppose the English, and not
suffer them to take possession of the
Illinois." — Croghan, Journal, 1765.
Chap. XXIX.] HE VISITS THE ILLINOIS. 529
journeyed westward, to visit in succession the differ-
ent tribes, and gain their cooperation in his plans
of final defence. Crossing over to the Wabash, he
passed from village to village, among the Kickapoos,
the Piankishaws, and the three tribes of the Miamis,
rousing them by his imperious eloquence, and breath-
ing into them his own fierce spirit of resistance.
Thence, by rapid marches through forests and over
prairies, he reached the banks of the Mississippi, and
summoned the four tribes of the Illinois to a general
meeting. But these degenerate savages, beaten by
the surrounding tribes for many a generation past,
had lost their warlike spirit, and, though abundantly
noisy and boastful, showed no zeal for fight, and en-
tered with no zest into the schemes of the Ottawa
war-chief. Pontiac had his own way of dealing with
such spirits. " If you hesitate," he exclaimed, frown-
ing on the cowering assembly, " I will consume your
tribes as the fire consumes the dry grass on the
prairie." The doubts of the Illinois vanished like
the mist, and with marvellous alacrity they declared
their concurrence in the views of the orator. Hav-
ing secured these allies, such as they were, Pontiac
departed, and hastened to Fort Chartres. St. Ange,
so long tormented with embassy after embassy, and
mob after mob, thought that the crowning evil was
come at last, when he saw the arch-demon Pon-
tiac enter at the gate, with four hundred warriors
at his back. Arrived at the council-house, Pontiac
addressed the commandant in a tone of high cour-
tesy : " Father, we have long wished to see you, to
shake hands with you, and, whilst smoking the calu-
met of peace, to recall the battles in which we
fought together against the misguided Indians and
67 ss
530 POXTIAC IN THE WEST. [Chap. XXIX.
the English dogs. I love the French, and I have
come hither with my warriors to avenge their
wrongs."1 Then followed a demand for arms, am-
munition, and troops, to act in concert with the
Indian warriors. St. Ange was forced to decline
rendering the expected aid; but he sweetened his
denial with soothing compliments, and added a few
gifts, to remove any lingering bitterness. Pontiac
would not be appeased. He angrily complained of
such lukewarm friendship, where he had looked for
ready sympathy and support. His warriors pitched
their lodges about the fort, and threatening symp-
toms of an approaching rupture began to alarm the
French.
In the mean time, Pontiac had caused his squaws
to construct a belt of wampum of extraordinary size,
six feet in length, and four inches wide. It was
wrought from end to end with the symbols of the
various tribes and villages, forty-seven in number,
still leagued together in his alliance.2 He consigned
it to an embassy of chosen warriors, directing them
to carry it down the Mississippi, displaying it, in
turn, at every Indian village along its banks, and
exhorting the inhabitants, in his name, to watch the
movements of the English, and repel any attempt
they might make to ascend the river. This done,
they were to repair to New Orleans, and demand
from the governor, M. D'Abbadie, the aid which
St. Ange had refused. The bark canoes of the
1 Nicollet, Report on the Basin of derived from Chouteau, Menard, and
the Upper Mississippi, 81. M. Ni- other patriarchs of the Illinois,
collet's account is worthy of full con- 2 MS. Letter — St. Ange to D'Ab-
fidence, being given on the authority badie, Sept. 9.
of documents and oral narratives
Chap. XXIX.] EEPULSE OF LOFTUS. 531
embassy put out from the shore, and whirled down
the current like floating leaves in autumn.
Soon after their departure, tidings came to Fort
Chartres, which caused a joyous excitement among
the Indians, and relieved the French garrison from
any danger of an immediate rupture. In our own
day, the vast distance between the great city of
New Orleans and the populous state of Illinois has
dwindled into insignificance beneath the magic of
science; but at the date of this history, three or
four months were often consumed in the upward
passage, and the settlers of the lonely forest colony
were sometimes cut off from all communication with
the world for half a year together. The above-men-
tioned tidings, interesting as they were, had occupied
no less time in their passage. Their import was as
follows : —
Very early in the previous spring, an English
officer, Major Loftus, having arrived at New Orleans
with four hundred regulars, had attempted to ascend
the Mississippi, to take possession of Fort Chartres
and its dependent posts. Flis troops were embarked
in large and heavy boats. Their progress was slow,
and they had reached a point not more than eighty
leagues above New Orleans, when, one morning, their
ears were greeted with the crack of rifles from the
thickets of the western shore; and a soldier in the
foremost boat fell, with a mortal wound. The
troops, in dismay, sheered over towards the eastern
shore; but, when fairly withhi gunshot, a score of
rifles obscured the forest edge with smoke, and filled
the nearest boat with dead and wounded men. On
this, they steered for the middle of the river, where
532 PONTIAC IN THE WEST. [Chap. XXIX.
they remained for a time, exposed to a dropping fire
from either bank, too distant to take effect.
The river was high, and the shores so flooded,
that nothing but an Indian could hope to find
foothold in the miry labyrinth. Loftus was ter-
rified; the troops were discouraged, and a council
of officers determined that to advance was impos-
sible. Accordingly, with their best despatch, they
steered back for New Orleans, where they arrived
without farther accident, and where the French, in
great glee at their discomfiture, spared no ridicule at
their expense. They alleged, and with much appear-
ance of truth, that the English had been repulsed
by no more than thirty warriors. Loftus charged
D'Abbadie with having occasioned his disaster by
stirring up the Indians to attack him. The gov-
ernor called Heaven to witness his innocence ; and,
in truth, there is not the smallest reason to believe
him guilty of such villany.1 Loftus, who had not
yet recovered from his fears, conceived an idea that
the Indians below New Orleans were preparing an
ambuscade to attack him on his way back to his
station at Pensacola ; and he petitioned D'Abbadie
to interfere in his behalf. The latter, with an ill-
dissembled sneer, offered to give him and his troops
1 D'Abbadie's correspondence with procured in the archives of the De-
St. Ange goes far to exonerate him ; partment of the Marine and Colonies
and there is a letter addressed to at Paris. These papers include the
him from General Gage, in which reports of various councils with the
the latter thanks him very cordially Indian tribes of the Illinois, and the
for the efforts which he had made in whole official correspondence of the
behalf of Major Loftus, aiding him French officers in that region during
to procure boats and guides, and the years 1763-5. They form the
make other preparations for ascend- principal authorities for this part of
ing the river. the narrative, and throw great light
The correspondence alluded to on the character of the Indian war,
forms part of a collection of papers from its commencement to its close.
Chap. XXIX.] THE ENGLISH ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 533
an escort of French, soldiers to protect them. Loftus
rejected the humiliating proposal, and declared that
he only wished for a French interpreter, to confer
with any Indians whom he might meet by the way.
The interpreter was furnished, and Loftus returned
in safety to Pensacola, his detachment not a little
reduced by the few whom the Indians had shot,
and by numbers who, disgusted by his overbearing
treatment, had deserted to the French.1
The futile attempt of Loftus to ascend the Missis-
sippi was followed, a few months after, by another
equally abortive. Captain Pittman came to New
Orleans with the design of proceeding to the Illi-
nois, but was deterred by the reports which reached
him concerning the temper of the Indians. The
latter, elated beyond measure by their success against
Loftus, and excited, moreover, by the messages and
war-belt of Pontiac, were in a state of angry com-
motion, which made the passage too imminently haz-
ardous to be attempted. Pittman bethought himself
of assuming the disguise of a Frenchman, joining a
party of Creole traders, and thus reaching his des-
tination by stealth; but weighing the risk of detec-
tion, he abandoned this design also, and returned to
Mobile.2 Between the Illinois and the settlements
around New Orleans, the Mississippi extended its
enormous length through solitudes of marsh and
forest, broken here and there by a squalid Indian
village, or, at vast intervals, by one or two military
posts erected by the French, and forming the resting-
i London Mag. XXXIII. 380. 2 MS. Correspondence of Pittman
MS. " Detail de ce qui s'est passe with M. D'Abbadie, among the Paris
a La Louisiane a l'occasion de la Documents,
prise de possession des Illinois."
SS
*
534 PONTIAC m THE WEST. [Chap. XXIX.
places of the voyager. After the failure of Pittman,
more than a year elapsed before an English detach-
ment could succeed in passing this great thorough-
fare of the wilderness, and running the gantlet of
the savage tribes who guarded its shores. It was
not till the second of December, 1765, that Major
Farmar, at the head of a strong body of troops,
arrived, after an uninterrupted voyage, at Fort
Chartres, where the flag of his country had already
supplanted the standard of France.1
To return to our immediate theme. The ambas-
sadors, whom Pontiac had sent from Fort Chartres
in the autumn of 1764, faithfully acquitted them-
selves of their trust. They visited - the Indian vil-
lages along the river banks, kindling the thirst for
blood and massacre in the breasts of the inmates.
They pushed their sanguinary mission even to the
farthest tribes of Southern Louisiana, to whom the
great name of Pontiac had long been known, and
of late made familiar by repeated messages and em-
bassies.2 This portion of their task accomplished,
they repaired to New Orleans, and demanded an
audience of the governor.
New Orleans was then a town of about seven
thousand white inhabitants, guarded from the river
floods by a levee extending for fifty miles along the
banks. The small brick houses, one story in height,
were arranged with geometrical symmetry, like the
i MS. Letter — Campbell to Gage, of New Orleans, whither they had
Feb. 24, 1766. come, partly to beg for aid from the
2 By the correspondence between French, and partly to urge the In-
the French officers of Upper and dians of the adjacent country to bar
Lower Louisiana, it appears that the mouth of the Mississippi against
Pontiac's messengers, in several in- the English,
stances, had arrived in the vicinity
Chap. XXIX.] NEW ORLEANS IN 1765. 535
squares of a chess-board. Each house had its yard
and garden, and the town was enlivened with the
verdure of trees and grass. In front, a public
square, or parade-ground, opened upon the river,
enclosed on three sides by the dilapidated church of
St. Louis, a prison, a convent, government buildings,
and a range of barracks. The place was surrounded
by a defence of palisades strong enough to repel an
attack of Indians, or insurgent slaves.1
When Pontiac's ambassadors entered Nev/ Or-
leans, they found the town in a state of confu-
sion. It had long been known that the regions
east of the Mississippi had been surrendered to Eng-
land; a cession from which, however, New Orleans
and its suburbs had been excluded by a special pro-
vision. But it was only within a few weeks that
the dismayed inhabitants had learned that their
mother country had transferred her remaining Amer-
ican possessions to the crown of Spain, whose gov-
ernment and people they cordially detested. With
every day they might expect the arrival of a Span-
ish governor and garrison. The French officials,
whose hour was drawing to its close, were making
the best of their short-lived authority by every
species of corruption and peculation; and the inhab-
itants were awaiting, in anger and repugnance, the
approaching change, which was to place over their
heads masters whom they hated. The governor,
D'Abbadie, an ardent soldier and a zealous patriot,
was so deeply chagrined at what he conceived to be
the disgrace of his country, that his feeble health
1 Pittman, European Settlements in the text as having made an un-
on the Mississippi, 10. The author successful attempt to reach the Illi-
of this book is the officer mentioned nois.
536 PONTIAC IN THE WEST. [Chap. XXIX.
gave way, and he betrayed all the symptoms of a
rapid decline.
Haggard with illness, and bowed down with shame,
the dying governor received the Indian envoys in the
council-hall of the province, where he was never
again to assume his seat of office. Besides the
French officials in attendance, several English officers,
who chanced to be in the town, had been invited to
the meeting, with the view of soothing the jealousy
with which they regarded all intercourse between
the French and the Indians. A Shawanoe chief, the
orator of the embassy, displayed the great war-belt,
and opened the council. " These red dogs," he said,
alluding to the color of the British uniform, "have
crowded upon us more and more; and when we ask
them by what right they come, they tell us that
you, our French fathers, have given them our lands.
We know that they lie. These lands are neither
yours nor theirs, and no man shall give or sell them
without our consent. Fathers, we have always been
your faithful children, and we now have come to
ask that you will give us guns, powder, and lead, to
aid us in this war."
D'Abbadie replied in a feeble voice, endeavoring
to allay their vindictive jealousy of the English, and
promising to give them all that should be necessary
to supply their immediate wants. The council then
adjourned until the following day ; but, in the mean
time, the wasted strength of the governor gave way
beneath a renewed attack of his disorder, and before
the appointed hour arrived, he had breathed his last,
hurried to a premature death by the anguish of
mortified pride and patriotism. M. Aubry, his suc-
cessor, presided in his place, and received the savage
Chap. XXIX.] PONTIAC'S EMBASSY AT NEW ORLEANS. 537
embassy. The orator, after the solemn custom of
his people, addressed him in a speech of condolence,
expressing his deep regret for B'Abbadie's untimely
fate.1 A chief of the Miamis then rose to speak,
with a scowling brow, and words of bitterness and
reproach. " Since we last sat on these seats, our
ears have heard strange words. "When the English
told us that they had conquered you, we always
thought that they lied; but now we have learned
that they spoke the truth. We have learned that
you, whom we have loved and served so well, have
given the lands that we dwell upon to your enemies
and ours. We have learned that the English have
forbidden you to send traders to our villages to
supply our wants, and that you, whom we thought
so great and brave, have obeyed their commands like
women, leaving us to starve and die in misery. We
now tell you, once for all, that our lands are our
own; and we tell you, moreover, that we can live
without your aid, and hunt, and fish, and fight, as
our fathers did before us. All that we ask of you
is this, that you give us back the guns, the powder,
the hatchets, and the knives which we have worn
out in fighting your battles. As for you," he ex-
claimed, turning to the English officers, who were
present as on the previous day, — "as for you, our
hearts burn with rage when we think of the rum
you have brought on us." Aubry returned but a
weak answer to the cutting attack of the Indian
sneaker. He assured the ambassadors that the
1 At all friendly meetings with offering, at the same time, a black
Indians, it was customary for the belt of wampum, in token of mourn-
latter, when the other party had sus- ing. This practice may be partic-
tained any signal loss, to commence ularly observed in the records of
by a formal speech of condolence, early councils with the Iroquois.
538 PONTIAC EST THE WEST. [Chap. XXIX.
French still retained their former love for the In-
dians, that the English meant them no harm, and
that, as all the world were now at peace, it behoved
them also to take hold of the chain of friendship.
A few presents were then distributed, but with no
apparent effect. The features of the Indians still
retained their sullen scowl ; and on the morrow,
their canoes were ascending the Mississippi on their
homeward voyage.1
1 MS. Report of Conference "with from Pontiac, held at New Orleans,
the Shawanoe and Miami delegates March, 1765. Paris Documents.
CHAPTER XXX.
RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE.
The repulse of Loftus, and rumors of the fierce
temper of the Indians who guarded the Mississippi,
convinced the commander-in-chief that to reach the
Illinois by the southern route was an enterprise of
no easy accomplishment. Yet, at the same time, he
felt the strong necessity of a speedy military occu-
pation of the country ; since, while the fleur de lis
floated over a single garrison in the ceded territory,
it would be impossible to disabuse the Indians of
the phantom hope of French assistance, to which
they clung with infatuated tenacity. The embers
of the Indian war would never be quenched until
England had enforced all her claims over her de-
feated rival. Gage determined to despatch a force
from the eastward, by way of Fort Pitt and the
Ohio; a route now laid open by the late success of
Bouquet, and the submission of the Delawares and
Shawanoes.
To prepare a way for the passage of the troops,
Sir William Johnson's deputy, George Croghan, was
ordered to proceed in advance, to reason with the
Indians as far as they were capable of reasoning, to
soften their antipathy to the English, to expose the
falsehoods of the French, and to distribute presents
540 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
among the tribes by way of propitiation.1 The mis-
sion was a critical one, but Croghan was well fitted
to discharge it. He had been for years a trader
among the western tribes, over whom he had gained
much influence by a certain vigor of character,
joined to a wary and sagacious policy, concealed
beneath a bluff demeanor. He and his assistant,
Lieutenant Eraser, with the men who were to attend
them, set out for Fort Pitt, in February, 1765; and
after traversing inhospitable mountains, and valleys
clogged with snow, reached their destination at
about the same time that Pontiac's ambassadors
were entering New Orleans, to hold their council
with the French.
A few days later, an incident occurred, which
afterwards, through the carousals of many a winter
evening, supplied an absorbing topic of anecdote and
boast to the braggadocio heroes of the border. A
train of pack horses, bearing the gifts which Croghan
was to bestow upon the Indians, followed him
towards Fort Pitt, a few days' journey in the rear
of his party. Under the same escort came several
companies of traders, who, believing that the long
suspended commerce with the Indians was about to
be reopened, were hastening to Fort Pitt with a great
quantity of goods, eager to throw them into the
market, the moment the prohibition should be re-
moved. The Paxton men, and their kindred spirits
of the border, saw this proceeding with sinister eyes.
In their view, the traders were about to make a
barter of the blood of the people; to place in the
hands of murdering savages the means of renewing
1 MS. Gage Papers.
Chap. XXX.] EXPLOITS OF THE BORDERERS. 541
the devastation to which the reeking frontier bore
frightful witness. Once possessed with this idea,
they troubled themselves with no more inquiries;
and, having tried remonstrances in vain, they adopted
a summary mode of doing themselves justice. At
the head of the enterprise was a man whose name
had been connected with more praiseworthy exploits,
James Smith, already mentioned as leading a party
of independent riflemen, for the defence of the bor-
ders, during the bloody autumn of 1763. He now
mustered his old associates, made them resume their
Indian disguise, and led them to their work with
characteristic energy and address.
The government agents and traders were in the
act of passing the verge of the frontiers. Their
united trains amounted to seventy pack horses, carry-
ing goods to the value of more than fifteen thousand
pounds. Advancing deeper among the mountains,
they began to descend the valley at the foot of Si-
dling Hill. The laden horses plodded knee-deep in
snow. The mountains towered above the wayfarers
in gray desolation; and the leafless forest, a mighty
iEolian harp, howled dreary music to the wind
of March. Suddenly, from behind snow-beplastered
trunks, and shaggy bushes of evergreen, uncouth ap-
paritions started into view. Wild visages protruded,
grotesquely horrible with vermilion and ochre, white
lead and soot; stalwart limbs appeared, encased in
buckskin; and rusty rifles thrust out their long
muzzles. In front, and flank, and all around them,
white puffs of smoke and sharp reports assailed
the bewildered senses of the travellers, who were
yet more confounded by the hum of bullets shot
by unerring fingers within an inch of their ears.
TT
542 EUTN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
Qi Gentlemen," demanded the traders, in deprecating
accents, " what would yon have us do 1 " " Un-
pack your horses," roared a voice from the woods,
" pile your goods in the road, and be off." The
traders knew those with whom they had to deal.
Hastening to obey the mandate, they departed with
their utmost speed, happy that their scalps were
not numbered with the booty. The spoilers appro-
priated to themselves such of the plunder as pleased
them, made a bonfire of the rest, and went on their
way rejoicing. The discomfited traders repaired to
Fort Loudon, and laid their complaints before Captain
Grant, the commandant, who, inflamed with wrath
and zealous for the cause of justice, despatched a
party of soldiers, seized several innocent persons,
and lodged them in the guard-house. In high
dudgeon at such an infraction of their liberties,
the borderers sent messengers through the country,
calling upon all good men to rise in arms. Three
hundred obeyed the summons, and pitched their
camp on a hill opposite Fort Loudon; a rare muster
of desperadoes, yet observing a certain moderation in
their wildest acts, and never at a loss for a plausi-
ble reason to justify any pranks which it might
please them to exhibit. By some means, they con-
trived to waylay and capture a considerable number
of the garrison, on which the commandant conde-
scended to send them a flag of truce, and offer an
exchange of prisoners. Their object thus accom-
plished, and their imprisoned comrades restored to
them, the borderers dispersed for the present to their
homes. Soon after, however, upon the occurrence of
some fresh difficulty, the commandant, afraid or un-
able to apprehend the misdoers, endeavored to deprive
Chap. XXX.] EXPLOITS OF THE BORDERERS.
543
them of the power of mischief by sending soldiers
to their houses and carrying off their rifles. His tri-
umph was short ; for, as he rode out one afternoon,
he fell into an ambuscade of countrymen, who, dis-
pensing with all forms of respect, seized the incensed
officer, and detained him in an imcomfortable cap-
tivity until the rifles were restored. From this time
forward, ruptures were repeatedly occurring between
the troops and the frontiersmen; and the Pennsyl-
vania border retained its turbulent character until
the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.1
1 The account of the seizure of the
Indian goods is derived chiefly from
the narrative of the ringleader, Smith,
published in Drake's Tragedies of
the Wilderness, and elsewhere. The
correspondence of Gage and John-
son is filled with allusions to this af-
fair, and the subsequent proceedings
of the freebooters. Gage spares no
invectives against what he calls the
licentious conduct of the frontier peo-
ple. In the narrative is inserted a
ballad, or lyrical effusion, written by
some partisan of the frontier faction,
and evidently regarded by Smith as
a signal triumph of the poetic art.
He is careful to inform the reader
that the author received his educa-
tion in the great city of Dublin. The
following melodious stanzas embody
the chief action of the piece : —
" Astonished at the wild design,
Frontier inhabitants combin'd
With brave souls to stop their career ;
Although some men apostatiz'd,
Who first the grand attempt advis'd,
The bold frontiers they bravely stood,
To act for their king and their country's good,
In joint league, and strangers to fear.
" On March the fifth, in sixty-five,
The Indian presents did arrive,
In long pomp and cavalcade,
Near Sidelong Hill, where in disguise
Some patriots did their train surprise,
And quick as lightning tumbled their loads,
And kindled them bonfires in the woods,
And mostly burnt their whole brigade."
The following is an extract from
Johnson's letter to the Board, dated
July 10, 3765: —
"I have great cause to think that
Mr. Croghan will succeed in his en-
terprise, unless circumvented by the
artifices of the French, or through
the late licentious conduct of our own
people. Although His Excellency
General Gage has written to the
Ministry on that subject, yet I think
I should not be silent thereupon, as
it may be productive of very serious
consequences.
" The frontier inhabitants of Penn-
sylvania, Maryland, and Virginia,
after having attacked and destroyed
the goods which were going to Fort
Pitt, (as in my last,) did form them-
selves into parties, threatening to
destroy all Indians they met, or all
white people who dealt with them.
They likewise marched to Fort Au-
gusta, and from thence over the West
branch of the Susquehanna, beyond
the Bounds of the last purchase made
by the Proprietaries, where they de-
clare they will form a settlement, in
defiance of Whites or Indians. They
afterwards attacked a small party of
His Majesty's troops upon the Road,
but were happily obliged to retire
with the loss of one or two men.
However, from their conduct and
threats since, there is reason to think
they will not stop here. Neither is
their licentiousness confined to the
544 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX
The plea of necessity, by which the border robbers
endeavored to excuse the plunder of the caravan, is
more plausible than valid, since the traders, with
their goods, would not have been allowed to leave
Fort Pitt until all difficulties with the Indians had
been fully adjusted. This act of lawless violence
wrought great injury to Croghan and his mission;
for the property of government had shared the fate
of that belonging to the traders, and the agency
most potent to gain the affections of an Indian
had been completely x3aralyze(i m the destruction
of the presents. Croghan found means, however,
partially to repair his loss from the storehouse of
Fort Pitt, where the rigor of the season and the
great depth of the snow forced him to remain several
weeks. This cause alone would have served to de-
tain him; but he was yet farther retarded by the
necessity of holding a meeting with the Delawares
and Shawanoes, along whose southern borders he
would be compelled to pass. An important object
of the proposed meeting was, to urge these tribes to
fulfil the promise they had made during the previous
autumn to Colonel Bouquet, to yield up their re-
maining prisoners, and send deputies to treat of
peace with Sir William Johnson ; engagements which,
when Croghan arrived at the fort, were as yet unful-
Provinces I have mentioned, the peo- have already gone too great a length
pie of Carolina having cut off a party, to receive a timely check, or prevent
coming down under a pass from Col. the Indians' Resentment, who see
Lewis, of the particulars of which themselves attacked, threatened, and
your Lordships have been doubtless their property invaded, by a set of
informed. ignorant, misled Rioters, who defy
" Your Lordships may easily con- Government itself, and this at a time
ceive what effects this will have upon when we have just treated with some,
the Indians, who begin to be all ac- and are in treaty with other Na-
quainted therewith. I wish it may not tions."
Chap. XXX.] CONGEESS AT FOET PITT. 545
filled, though, as already mentioned, they were soon
after complied with.
Immediately on his arrival, he had despatched mes-
sengers inviting the chiefs to a council; a summons
which they obeyed with their usual reluctance and de-
lay, dropping in, band after band, with such tardiness
that a month was consumed before a sufficient num-
ber was assembled. Croghan then addressed them,
showing the advantages of peace, and the peril which
they would bring on their own heads by a renewal
of the war, and urging them to stand true to their en-
gagements, and send their deputies to Johnson as soon
as the melting of the snows should leave the forest
pathways open. Several replies, all of a pacific na-
ture, were made by the principal chiefs ; but the most
remarkable personage who appeared at the council
was the Delaware prophet mentioned in an early
portion of the narrative, as having been strongly in-
strumental in urging the tribes to war, by means of
pretended or imaginary revelations from the Great
Spirit.1 He now delivered a speech by no means re-
markable for eloquence, yet of most beneficial conse-
quence ; for he intimated that the Great Spirit had
not only revoked his sanguinary mandates, but had
commanded the Indians to lay down the hatchet, and
smoke the pipe of peace.2 In spite of this auspicious
declaration, in spite of the chastisement and humilia-
tion of the previous autumn, Croghan was privately
informed that a large party among the Indians still
' See ante, p. 158. of Indians, at Fort Pitt, from the 28th
2 MS. Journal of the Transactions of of February, 1765, to the 12th of
George Croghan, Esq., deputy agent May following. In this journal the
for Indian affairs, with different tribes prophet's speech is given in full.
69 TT*
546 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
remained balanced between their anger and their
fears, eager to take up the hatchet, yet dreading the
consequences which the act might bring. Under this
cloudy aspect of affairs, he was doubly gratified when
a party of Shawanoe warriors arrived, bringing with
them the prisoners, whom they had promised Colonel
Bouquet to surrender; and this faithful adherence to
their word, contrary alike to Croghan's expectations
and to the prophecies of those best versed in Indian
character, made it apparent that whatever might be
the sentiments of the turbulent among them, the
more influential portion were determined on a pacific
attitude.
These councils, and the previous delays, consumed
so much time, that Croghan became fearful that the
tribes of the Illinois might, meanwhile, commit them-
selves by some rash outbreak, which would increase
the difficulty of reconciliation. In view of this clan-
ger, his assistant, Lieutenant Fraser, a young man
more bold than prudent, volunteered to go forward
in advance, leaving his principal to follow when he
had settled affairs at Fort Pitt. Croghan assented,
and Fraser departed with a few attendants. The
rigor of the season had now begun to relent, and the
ice-locked Ohio was flinging off its wintry fetters.
Embarked in a birch canoe, and aided by the cur-
rent, Fraser floated prosperously downwards for a
thousand miles, and landed safely in the country of
the Illinois. Here he met such a reception as he
might have expected, very similar to that which, dur-
ing the autumn before, Captain Morris had encoun-
tered in the Miami village. In short, he found
himself in a nest of hornets, and in terror for his
Chap. XXX.] ALTERED CONDUCT OE THE FRENCH. 547
life. Abandoning the purposes of his mission, he
fled in disguise down the Mississippi, to seek refuge
among the French at New Orleans.1
Had Fraser's rash attempt been made but a few
weeks earlier, his blood would doubtless have paid
the forfeit; but, of late, a change had taken place
in the Illinois. A rumor was abroad that an Eng-
lish detachment was about to descend the Ohio, and
the report had magical effect. The French traders,
before so busy with their falsehoods and calumnies
against the English, now held their peace, dreading
the impending chastisement. They no longer gave
arms and ammunition to the Indians ; and when the
latter questioned them concerning the fabrication of
a French army advancing to the rescue, they treated
the story as unfounded, or sought to evade the sub-
ject. St. Ange, too, and the other officers of the
crown, confiding in the arrival of the English, as-
sumed a more decisive tone, refusing to give the
Indians presents, telling them that thenceforward
they must trust to the English for supplies, reproving
them for their designs against the latter, and advising
them to remain at peace.2 Indeed, the Indians were
1 MS. Letter — Aubry to the Min- large kettle in which he was deter-
ister, July, 1765. Aubry makes him- mined to boil them and all other Eng-
self merry with the fears of Fraser ; lishmen that came that way
who, however, had the best grounds Pondiac told the French that he had
for his apprehensions, as is sufficient- been informed of Mr. Croghan's com-
ly clear from the minutes of a council ing that way to treat with the Indians,
held by him with Pontiac and other and that he would keep his kettle
Indians, at the Illinois, during the boiling over a large fire to receive
month of April. The minutes referred him likewise."
to are among the Paris Documents. Pontiac seems soon after to have
Extract from a Letter — Fort Pitt, relented, for another letter, dated
July 24, (Pa. Gaz.Nos. 1912, 1913:) — New Orleans, June 19, adds, "He
" Pondiac immediately collected all [Fraser] says Pondiac is a very clever
the Indians under his influence to the fellow, and had it not been for him,
Illinois, and ordered the French com- he would never have got away
manding officer there to deliver up alive."
these Englishmen [Fraser and his 2 « Harangue faitte a la nation Illi-
party] to him, as he had prepared a noise et au Chef Pondiak par M. de
548 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
in no condition to renew the war. The supplies ob-
tained from the French had been squandered after
their usual childish manner, and they were miserably
in want of food, arms, and clothing.1 It is true
that, about the time of Fraser's arrival, a most op-
portune, though inadequate, supply fell into their
hands, hi the following manner: the English officers
in the south, unable to send troops up the Missis-
sippi, had employed a Frenchman, whom they had
secured in their interest, to ascend the river with a
boat load of goods, which he was directed to dis-
tribute among the Indians, to remove their prejudice
against the English, and pave the way to reconcilia-
tion. Intelligence of this movement reached the ears
of Pontiac, who, though much pleased with the ap-
proaching supplies, had no mind that they should be
devoted to serve the interests of his enemies. He
descended to the river bank with a body of his war-
riors, and as La Garantais, the Frenchman, landed,
he seized him and his men, flogged them severely,
robbed them of their cargo, and distributed the goods
with exemplary impartiality among his delighted fol-
lowers.2 The supply fell far short of their exigen-
cies; and it is probable also that the cargo consisted
of whiskey, tobacco, paint, trinkets, and other articles,
useless in war.
Notwithstanding this good fortune, Pontiac daily
saw his followers dropping off from their allegiance;
for even the boldest had lost heart. Had any thing
St. Ange, Cap. Commandant au pais was written before the tidings of
des Illinois pour S. M. T. C. au sujet D'Abbadie's death had readied the
de la guerre que Les Indiens font aux Illinois.
Anglois, le 18 Avril, 1765." 2 MS. Letter — Aubry to the Min-
1 MS. Letter — St. Anj?e to D'Ab- ister, July 10, 1765.
badie, April 205 1765. This letter
Chap. XXX.] PONTIAC — HIS DESPERATE POSITION. 549
been wanting to convince him of the hopelessness
of his cause, the report of his ambassadors return-
ing from New Orleans would have banished every
doubt. No record of his interview with them re-
mains; but it is easy to conceive with what chagrin
he must have learned that the officer of France first
in rank in all America had refused to aid him,
and urged the timid counsels of peace. The vanity
of those expectations, which had been the main-
spring of his enterprise, now rose clear and palpa-
ble before him ; and with rage and bitterness, he saw
the rotten foundation of his hopes sinking into dust,
and the whole structure of his plot crumbling in
ruins about him.
All was lost. His allies were falling off, his fol-
lowers deserting him. To hold out longer would be
destruction, and to fly was scarcely an easier task.
In the south lay the Cherokees, hereditary enemies
of his people. In the west were the Osages and
Missouries, treacherous and uncertain friends, and the
fierce and jealous Dahcotah. In the east the forests
would soon be filled with English traders, and beset
with English troops, while in the north his own
village of Detroit lay beneath the guns of the victo-
rious garrison. He might, indeed, have found a par-
tial refuge in the remoter wilderness of the upper
lakes ; but those dreary wastes would have doomed
him to a life of unambitious exile. His resolution
was taken. He determined to accept the peace
which he knew would be proffered, to smoke the
calumet with his triumphant enemies, and patiently
await his hour of vengeance.1
i One of St. Ange's letters to Au- and motives of Pontiac similar to those
bry contains views of the designs expressed above.
550 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
The conferences at Fort Pitt concluded, Croghan
left that place on the fifteenth of May, and em-
barked on the Ohio, accompanied by several Dela-
ware and Shawanoe deputies, whom he had per-
suaded those newly-reconciled tribes to send with him,
for the furtherance of his mission. At the mouth of
the Scioto, he was met by a band of Shawanoe war-
riors, who, in compliance with a message previously
sent to them, delivered into his hands seven intriguing
Frenchmen, who for some time past had lived in
their villages. Thence he pursued his voyage smooth-
ly and prosperously, until, on the eighth of June,
he reached a spot a little below the mouth of the
Wabash. Here he landed with his party; when sud-
denly the hideous war-whoop, the explosion of mus-
ketry, and the whistling of arrows greeted him from
the covert of the neighboring thickets. His men fell
thick about him. Three Indians and two white men
were shot dead on the spot; most of the remainder
were wounded; and on the next instant the survivors
found themselves prisoners in the hands of eighty
yelling Kickapoos, who plundered them of all they
had. No sooner, however, was their prey fairly within
their clutches, than the cowardly assailants began to
apologize for what they had done, saying it was all
a mistake, and that the French had set them on by
telling them that the Indians who accompanied Cro-
ghan were Cherokees, their mortal enemies; excuses
utterly without foundation, for the Kickapoos had
dogged the party for several days, and perfectly un-
derstood its character.1
i A few days before, a boy belong- proved afterwards that he had been
ing to Croghan's party had been lost, seized by the Kickapoo warriors, and
as was supposed, in the woods. It was still prisoner among them at the
Chap. XXX,] CROGHAN AT OUATANON. 551
It is superfluous to inquire into the causes of this
attack. No man practically familiar with Indian
character need be told the impossibility of foreseeing
to what strange acts the wayward impulses of this
murder-loving race may prompt them. Unstable as
water, capricious as the winds, they seem in some of
their moods like ungoverned children fired with the
instincts of devils. In the present case, they knew
that they hated the English — knew that they wanted
scalps ; and thinking nothing of the consequences,
they seized the first opportunity to gratify their rabid
longing. This done, they thought it best to avert any
probable efFects of their misconduct by such false-
hoods as might suggest themselves to their invention.
Still apologizing for what they had done, but by
no means suffering their prisoners to escape, they
proceeded up the Wabash, to the little French fort
and settlement of Vincennes, where, to his great joy,
Croghan found among the assembled Indians some
of his former friends and acquaintance. They re-
ceived him kindly, and sharply rebuked the Kicka-
poos, who, on their part, seemed much ashamed and
crestfallen. From Vincennes the English were con-
ducted, in a sort of honorable captivity, up the river
to Ouatanon, where they arrived on the twenty-
third, fifteen days after the attack, and where Cro-
ghan was fortunate enough to find a great number
of his former Indian friends, who received him, to
appearance at least, with much cordiality. He took
up his quarters in the fort, where there was at this
time no garrison, a mob of French traders and Indians
time of the attack. They must have of Croghan and his companions,
learned from him the true character — MS. Gage Papers.
552 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
being the only tenants of the place. For several
days, his time was engrossed with receiving deputa-
tion after deputation from the various tribes and
sub-tribes of the neighborhood, smoking pipes of
peace, making and hearing speeches, and shaking
hands with greasy warriors, who, one and all, were
strong in their professions of good will, promising
not only to regard the English as their friends, but
to aid them, if necessary, in taking possession of the
Illinois.
While these amicable conferences were in progress,
a miscreant Frenchman came from the Mississippi
with a message from a chief of that region, urging
the Indians of Ouatanon to burn the Englishman
alive. Of this proposal the Indians signified their
strong disapprobation, and assured the startled envoy
that they would stand his friends- — professions the
sincerity of which, happily for him, was confirmed
by the strong guaranty of their fears.
The next arrival was that of Maisonville, a mes-
senger from St. Ange, requesting Croghan to come
to Fort Chartres, to adjust affairs in that quarter.
The invitation was in accordance with Croghan's
designs, and he left the fort on the following day,
attended by Maisonville, and a concourse of the Oua-
tanon Indians, who, far from regarding him as their
prisoner, were now studious to show him every mark
of respect. He had advanced but a short distance
into the forest when he met Pontiac himself, who was
on his way to Ouatanon, followed by a numerous train
of chiefs and warriors. He gave his hand to the
English envoy, and both parties returned together to
the fort. Its narrow precincts were now crowded
with Indians, a perilous multitude, dark, malignant,
Chap. XXX.] PONTIAC OFFEES PEACE. 553
inscrutable; and it behoved the Englishman to be
wary in his dealings with them, since a breath
might kindle afresh the wildfire in their hearts.
At a meeting of the chiefs and warriors, Pontiac
offered the calumet and belt of peace, and professed
his concurrence with the chiefs of Ouatanon in the
friendly sentiments which they expressed towards the
English. The French, he added, had deceived him,
telling him and his people that the English meant
to enslave the Indians of the Illinois, and turn
loose upon them their enemies the Cherokees. It
was this which drove him to arms; and now that he
knew the story to be false, he would no longer
stand in the path of the English. Yet they must,
not imagine that, in taking possession of the French
forts, they gained any right to the country; for the
French had never bought the land, and lived upon
it by sufferance only.
As this meeting with Pontiac and the Illinois
chiefs made it needless for Croghan to advance
farther on his western journey, he now bent his
footsteps towards Detroit, and, followed by Pontiac
and many of the principal chiefs, crossed over to
Fort Miami, and thence descended the Maumee, hold-
ing conferences at the several villages which he
passed on his way. On the seventeenth of August,
he reached Detroit, where he found a great gather-
ing of Indians, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, and Ojib-
was ; some encamped about the fort, and others
along the banks of the River Rouge. They obeyed
his summons to a meeting with ready alacrity,
partly from a desire to win the good graces of a
potent and victorious enemy, and partly from the
importunate craving for liquor and presents, which
70 uu
554 KUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
never slumbers in an Indian breast. Numerous
meetings were held, and the old council-hall where
Pontiac had essayed his scheme of abortive treachery
was now crowded with repentant warriors, anxious,
by every form of submission, to appease the con-
queror. Their ill success, their fears of chastise-
ment, and the miseries they had endured from the
long suspension of the fur-trade, had banished from
their minds every thought of hostility. They were
glad, they said, that the dark clouds were now dis-
persing, and the sunshine of peace once more re-
turning ; and since all the nations to the sunrising
had taken their great father the King of England
by the hand, they also wished to do the same.
They now saw clearly that the French were indeed
conquered; and thenceforth they would listen no
more to the whistling of evil birds, but lay down
the war-hatchet, and sit quiet on their mats. Among
those who appeared to make or renew their submis-
sion was the Grand Sauteur, the sanguinary chief
who had led the massacre at Michillimackinac, and
who, a few years after, expiated his evil deeds by a
bloody death. He now pretended great regret for
what he had done. "We red people," he said, "are
a very jealous and foolish people; but, father, there
are some among the white men worse than we are,
and they have told us lies, and deceived us. There-
fore we hope you will take pity on our women and
children, and grant us peace." A band of Potta-
wattamies from St. Joseph's were also present, and,
after excusing themselves for their past conduct by
the stale plea of the uncontrollable temper of their
young men, their orator proceeded as follows: —
are no more than wild creatures to you,
Chap. XXX.] CONFERENCES AT DETROIT. 555
fathers, in understanding ; therefore we request you
to forgive the past follies of our young people, and
receive us for your children. Since you have thrown
down our former father on his back, we have been
wandering in the dark, like blind people. Now you
have dispersed all this darkness, which hung over
the heads of the several tribes, and have accepted
them for your children, we hope you will let us
partake with them the light, that our women and
children may enjoy peace. We beg you to forget
all that is past. By this belt we remove all evil
thoughts from your hearts.
" Fathers, when we formerly came to visit our
fathers the French, they always sent us home joy-
ful; and we hope you, fathers, will have pity on
our women and young men, who are in great want
of necessaries, and not let us go home to our towns
ashamed."
On the twenty-seventh of August, Croghan held a
meeting with the Ottawas, and the other tribes of
Detroit and Sandusky; when, adopting their own
figurative language, he addressed them in the follow-
ing speech, in which, as often happened when white
men borrowed the tongue of the forest orator, he
lavished a more unsparing profusion of imagery than
the Indians themselves : —
" Children, we are very glad to see so many of
you here present at your ancient council-fire, which
has been neglected for some time past; since then,
high winds have blown, and raised heavy clouds
over your country. I now, by this belt, rekindle
your ancient fire, and throw dry wood upon it, that
the blaze may ascend to heaven, so that all nations
556 RUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
may see it, and know that you live in peace and
tranquillity with your fathers the English.
" By this belt I disperse all the black clouds from
over your heads, that the sun may shine clear on
your women and children, that those unborn may
enjoy the blessings of this general peace, now so
happily settled between your fathers the English
and you, and all your younger brethren to the sun-
setting.
" Children, by this belt I gather up all the bones
of your deceased friends, and bury them deep in
the ground, that the buds and sweet flowers of the
earth may grow over them, that we may not see
them any more.
"Children, with this belt I take the hatchet out
of your hands, and pluck up a large tree, and bury
it deep, so that it may never be found any more ;
and I plant the tree of peace, which all our chil-
dren may sit under, and smoke in peace with their
fathers.
" Children, we have made a road from the sun-
rising to the sunsetting. I desire that you will pre-
serve that road good and pleasant to travel upon,
that Ave may all share the blessings of this happy
union."
On the following day, Pontiac spoke in behalf of
the several nations assembled at the council.
" Father, we have all smoked out of this pipe of
peace. It is your children's pipe; and as the war is
all over, and the Great Spirit and Giver of Light,
who has made the earth and every thing therein,
has brought us all together this day for our mutual
good, I declare to all nations that I have settled
Chap. XXX.] PEACE SPEECH OF PONTIAC. 557
my peace with you before I came here, and now
deliver my pipe to be sent to Sir William Johnson,
that he may know I have made peace, and taken
the King of England for my father, in presence of
all the nations now assembled; and whenever any
of those nations go to visit him, they may smoke
out of it with him in peace. Fathers, we are
obliged to you for lighting up our old council-fire
for us, and desiring us to return to it; but we are
now settled on the Miami River, not far from
hence : whenever you want us, you will find us
there." x
" Our people," he added, " love liquor, and if we
dwelt near you in our old village of Detroit, our
warriors would be always drunk, and quarrels would
arise between us and you." Drunkenness was, in
truth, the bane of the whole unhappy race; but
Pontiac, too thoroughly an Indian in his virtues and
1 Journal of George Croghan, on will be found a list of numerous fig-
his journey to the Illinois, 1765. urative expressions appropriate to
This journal has been twice pub- the various occasions of public and
lished — in the appendix to Butler's private intercourse — forms which
History of Kentucky, and in the are seldom departed from, and which
" Pioneer History " of Dr. Hildreth. are often found identical among
A manuscript copy also may be tribes speaking languages radically
found in the office of the secretary distinct. Thus, among both Iroquois
of state at Albany. Dr. Hildreth and Algonquins, the " whistling of
omits the speech of Croghan to the evil birds " is the invariable expres-
Indians, which is given above as sion to denote evil tidings or bad
affording a better example of the advice.
forms of speech appropriate to an The Indians are much pleased
Indian peace harangue, than the when white men whom they respect
genuine productions of the Indians adopt their peculiar symbolical lan-
themselves, who are less apt to in- guage — a circumstance of which the
dulge in such a redundancy of met- Jesuit missionaries did not fail to
aphor. avail themselves. " These people,"
A language extremely deficient in says Father Le Jeune, " being great
words of general and abstract signifi- orators, and often using allegories
cation renders the use of figures and metaphors, our fathers, in order
indispensable ; and it is from this to attract them to God, adapt them-
cause, above all others, that the flow- selves to their custom of speaking,
ers of Indian rhetoric derive their which delights them very much, see-
origin. In the work of Heckewelder ing we succeed as well as they."
UU
#
558 KUIN OF THE INDIAN CAUSE. [Chap. XXX.
his vices to be free from its destructive taint, con-
cluded Ms speech with the common termination of
an Indian harangue, and desired that the rum barrel
might be opened, and his thirsty warriors allowed to
drink.
At the end of September, having brought these
protracted conferences to a close, Croghan left De-
troit, and departed for Niagara, whence, after a short
delay, he passed eastward, to report the results of
his mission to the commander-in-chief. But before
leaving the Indian country, he exacted from Pontiac
a promise that in the spring he would descend to
Oswego, and, in behalf of the tribes lately banded
in his league, conclude a treaty of peace and amity
with Sir William Johnson.1
Croghan' s efforts had been attended with signal
success. The tribes of the west, of late bristling in
defiance, and hot for fight, had craved forgiveness,
and proffered the peaceful calumet. The war was
over; the last nickelings of that wide conflagration
had died away; but the embers still glowed beneath
the ashes, and fuel and a breath alone were wanting
to rekindle those desolating fires.
In the mean time, a hundred Highlanders of the
42d Regiment, those veterans whose battle-cry had
echoed over the bloodiest fields of America, had left
Fort Pitt under command of Captain Sterling, and,
descending the Ohio, undeterred by the rigor of the
1 In a letter to Gage, without a than any Indian I ever saw could do
date, but sent hi the same enclosure among his own tribe. He, and all
as his journal, Croghan gives his im- the principal men of those nations,
pression of Pontiac in the following seem at present to be convinced that
words : — the French had a view of interest in
"Pondiac is a shrewd, sensible stirring up the late differences be-
Indian, of few words, and commands tween his majesty's subjects and
more respect among his own nation them, and call it a beaver war."
Chap. XXX.] THE ENGLISH AT THE ILLINOIS. 559
season, arrived at Fort Chartres just as the snows
of early winter began to whiten the naked forests.1
The flag of France descended from the rampart;
and with the stern courtesies of war, St. Ange
yielded up his post, the citadel of the Illinois,
to its new masters. In that act was consummated
the double triumph of British power in America.
England had crushed her hereditary foe ; and France,
in her fall, had left to irretrievable ruin the savage
•tribes to whom her policy and self-interest had lent
a transient support.
1 MS. Gage Papers. M. Nicol- mistake. Pontiac's reconciliation
let, in speaking of the arrival of had already taken place, and he
the British troops, says, "At this had abandoned all thoughts of re-
news Pontiac raved." This is a sistance.
CHAPTER XXXI.
DEATH OF PONTIAC.
The winter passed quietly away. Already the
Indians began to feel the blessings of returning
peace in the partial reopening of the fur-trade;
and the famine and nakedness, the misery and death,
which through the previous season had been rife in
their encampments, were exchanged for comparative
comfort and abundance. With many precautions,
and in meagre allowances, the traders had been per-
mitted to throw their goods into the Indian market,
and the starving hunters were no longer left, as
many of them had been, to gain precarious suste-
nance by the bow, the arrow, and the lance —
the half-forgotten weapons of their fathers. Some
troubles arose along the frontiers of Pennsylvania
and Virginia. The reckless borderers, in contempt
of common humanity and prudence, murdered sev-
eral straggling Indians, and enraged others by abuse
and insult; but these outrages could not obliterate
the remembrance of recent chastisement, and for the
present, at least, the injured warriors forbore to
draw down the fresh vengeance of their destroyers.
Spring returned, and Pontiac remembered the
promise he had made to visit Sir William Johnson
at Oswego. He left his encampment on the Maumee,
accompanied by his chiefs, and by an Englishman
Chap. XXXL] PONTIAC AT OSWEGO. 561
named Crawford, a man of vigor and resolution, who
had been appointed, by the superintendent, to the
troublesome office of attending the Indian deputation,
and supplying their wants.1
We may well imagine with what bitterness of
mood the defeated war-chief urged his canoe along
the margin of Lake Erie, and gazed upon the hori-
zon-bounded waters, and the lofty shores, green with
primeval verdure. Little could he have dreamed,
and little could the wisest of that day have imagined,
that, within the space of a single human life, that
lonely lake would be studded with the sails of com-
merce; that cities and villages would rise upon the
ruins of the forest; and that the poor mementoes of
his lost race — the wampum beads, the rusty toma-
hawk, and the arrowhead of stone, turned up by the
ploughshare — would become the wonder of school-
boys, and the prized relics of the antiquary's cab-
inet. Yet it needed no prophetic eye to foresee that,
sooner or later, the doom must come. The star of
his people's destiny was fading from the sky, and,
to a mind like his, the black and withering future
must have stood revealed in all its desolation.
The birchen flotilla gained the outlet of Lake
Erie, and, shooting downwards with the stream,
landed beneath the palisades of Fort Schlosser.
The chiefs passed the portage, and, once more em-
barking, pushed out upon Lake Ontario. Soon their
goal was reached, and the cannon boomed hollow
salutation from the batteries of Oswego.
Here they found Sir William Johnson waiting to
receive them, attended by the chief sachems of the
1 MS. Johnson Papers.
71
562 DEATH OF PONTIAC. [Chap XXXI.
Iroquois, whom he had invited to the spot, that
their presence might give additional weight and
solemnity to the meeting. As there was no building
large enough to receive so numerous a concourse, a
canopy of green boughs was erected to shade the
assembly from the sun ; and thither, on the twenty-
third of July, repaired the chiefs and warriors of
the several nations. Here stood the tall figure of
Sir "William Johnson, surrounded by civil and mil-
itary officers, clerks, and interpreters, while before
him reclined the painted sachems of the Iroquois,
and the great Ottawa war-chief, with his dejected
followers.
Johnson opened the meeting with the usual for-
malities, presenting his auditors with a belt of wam-
pum to wipe the tears from their eyes, with another
to cover the bones of their relatives, another to
open their ears that they might hear, and another
to clear their throats that they might speak with
ease. Then, amid solemn silence, Pontiac's great
peace-pipe was lighted and passed round the assem-
bly, each man present inhaling a whiff of the sacred
smoke. These tedious forms, together with a few
speeches of compliment, consumed the whole morn-
ing; for this savage people, on whose supposed sim-
plicity poets and rhetoricians have lavished their
praises, may challenge the world to outmatch their
bigoted adherence to usage and ceremonial.
On the following day, the council began in earnest,
and Sir William Johnson addressed Pontiac and his
attendant chiefs.
"Children, I bid you heartily welcome to this
place ; and I trust that the Great Spirit will permit
us often to meet together in friendship, for I have
Chap. XXXI] SPEECH OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON. 563
now opened the door and cleared the road, that all
nations may come hither from the sunsetting. This
belt of wampum confirms my words.
" Children, it gave me much pleasure to find that
you who are present behaved so well last year, and
treated in so friendly a manner Mr. Croghan, one
of my deputies, and that you expressed such con-
cern for the bad behavior of those, who, in order to
obstruct the good work of peace, assaulted and
wounded him, and killed some of his party, both
whites and Indians ; a thing before unknown, and
contrary to the laws and customs of all nations.
This would have drawn down our strongest resent-
ment upon those who were guilty of so heinous a
crime, were it not for the great lenity and kindness
of your English father, who does not delight in
punishing those who repent sincerely of their faults.
" Children, I have now, with the approbation of
General Gage, (your father's chief warrior in this
country,) invited you here in order to confirm and
strengthen your proceedings with Mr. Croghan last
year. I hope that you will remember all that then
passed, and I desire that you will often repeat it
to your young people, and keep it fresh in your
minds.
" Children, you begin already to see the fruits of
peace, from the number of traders and plenty of
goods at all the garrisoned posts ; and our enjoying
the peaceable possession of the Illinois will be
found of great advantage to the Indians in that
country. You likewise see that proper officers, men
of honor and probity, are appointed to reside at the
posts, to prevent abuses in trade, to hear your com-
plaints, and to lay before me such of them as they
5Q4: DEATH OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XXXI.
cannot redress.1 Interpreters are likewise sent for
the assistance of each of them ; and smiths are sent
to the posts to repair your arms and implements.
All this, which is attended with a great expense, is
now done by the great king, your father, as a proof
of his regard; so that, casting from you all jealousy
and apprehension, you should now strive with each
other who should show the most gratitude to this
best of princes. I do now, therefore, confirm the
assurances which I give you of his majesty's good
will, and do insist on your casting away all evil
thoughts, and shutting your ears against all flying
idle reports of bad people."
The rest of Johnson's speech was occupied in
explaining to his hearers the new arrangements for
the regulation of the fur-trade; in exhorting them
to forbear from retaliating the injuries they might
receive from reckless white men, who would meet
with due punishment from their own countrymen;
and in urging them to deliver up to justice those
of their people who might be guilty of crimes
against the English. " Children," he concluded, " I
now, by this belt, turn your eyes to the sunrising,
where you will always find me your sincere friend.
From me you will always hear what is true and
good; and I charge you never more to listen to
those evil birds, who come, with lying tongues, to
lead you astray, and to make you break the solemn
engagements which you have entered into in presence
1 The lords of trade had recently their traffic under the eye of proper
adopted a new plan for the manage- officers, instead of ranging' at will,
ment of Indian affairs, the principal without supervision or control, among
feature of which was the confine- the Indian villages. It was found
ment of the traders to the military extremely difficult to enforce this
posts, where they would conduct regulation.
Chap.XXXL] PONTIAC'S REPLY TO JOHNSON. 565
of the Great Spirit, with the king your father and
the English people. Be strong, then, and keep fast
hold of the chain of friendship, that your children,
following your example, may live happy and prosper-
ous lives."
Pontiac made a brief reply, and promised to return
on the morrow an answer in full. The meeting then
broke up.
The council o£ the next day was opened by the
Wyandot chief, Teata, in a short and formal address ;
at the conclusion of which Pontiac himself arose,
and addressed the superintendent in the following
words : —
"Father, we thank the Great Spirit for giving us
so fine a day to meet upon such great affairs. I
speak in the name of all the nations to the west-
ward, 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.
" Father, 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 prom-
ise to keep this covenant as long as I shall live."
Here he delivered a large belt of wampum.
" Father, when you address me, it is the same as
if you addressed all the nations of the west. Father,
this belt is to cover and strengthen our chain of
friendship, and to show you that, if any nation shall
vv
566 DEATH OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XXXI.
lift the hatchet against our English brethren, we
shall be the first to feel it and resent it."
Pontiac next took up in succession the various
points touched upon in the speech of the superin-
tendent, expressing in all things a full compliance
with his wishes. The succeeding days of the confer-
ence were occupied with matters of detail relating
chiefly to the fur-trade, all of which were adjusted
to the apparent satisfaction of the Indians, who, on
their part, made reiterated professions of friendship.
Pontiac promised to recall the war-belts which had
been sent to the north and west, though, as he
alleged, many of them had proceeded from the Sene-
cas, and not from him, adding that, when all were
gathered together, they would be more than a man
could carry. The Iroquois sachems then addressed
the western nations, exhorting them to stand true to
their engagements, and hold fast the chain of friend-
ship ; and the councils closed on the thirty-first, with
a bountiful distribution of presents to Pontiac and
his followers.1
Thus ended this memorable meeting, in which
Pontiac sealed his submission to the English, and
renounced forever the bold design by which he had
trusted to avert or retard the ruin of his race. His
hope of seeing the empire of France restored in
America was scattered to the winds, and with it van-
ished every rational scheme of resistance to English
encroachment. Nothing now remained but to stand
1 MS. Minutes of Proceedings at a A copy of this document is pre-
Congress with Pontiac and Chiefs of served in the office of the secretary
the Ottawas, Pottawattamies, Hu- of state at Albany, among the papers
rons, and Chippewais ; begun at Os- procured in London by Mr. Brod-
wego, Tuesday, July 23, 1766. head.
Chap. XXXI.] FRESH DISTURBANCES. 567
an idle spectator, while, in the north and in the
south, the tide of British power rolled westward in
resistless might; while the fragments of the rival
empire, which he would fain have set up as a barrier
against the flood, lay scattered a miserable wreck;
and while the remnant of his people melted away or
fled for refuge to remoter deserts. For them the
prospects of the future were as clear as they were
calamitous. Destruction or civilization — between
these lay their choice, and few who knew them could
doubt which alternative they would embrace.
Pontiac, his canoe laden with the gifts of his en-
emy, steered homeward for the Maumee; and in this
vicinity he spent the following winter, pitching his
lodge in the forest with his wives and children, and
hunting like an ordinary warrior. With the suc-
ceeding spring, 1767, fresh murmurings of discontent
arose among the Indian tribes, from the lakes to the
Potomac, the first precursors of the disorders which,
a few years later, ripened into a brief but bloody
war along the borders of Virginia. These threaten-
ing symptoms might easily be traced to their source.
The incorrigible frontiersmen had again let loose
their murdering propensities; and a multitude of
squatters had built their cabins on Indian lands be-
yond the limits of Pennsylvania, adding insult to
aggression, and sparing neither oaths, curses, nor any
form of abuse and maltreatment against the rightful
owners of the soil.1 The new regulations of the fur-
trade could not prevent disorders among the reckless
men engaged in it. This was particularly the case
1 "It seems," writes Sir William bring- on a new war, though then-
Johnson to the lords of trade, " as own ruin may be the consequence."
if the people were determined to
568 DEATH OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XXXI.
in the region of the Illinois, where the evil was
aggravated by the renewed intrigues of the French,
and especially of those who had fled from the English
side of the Mississippi, and made their abode around
the new settlement of St. Louis.1 It is difficult to
say how far Pontiac was involved in this agitation.
It is certain that some of the English traders re-
garded him with jealousy and fear, as prime mover
of the whole, and eagerly watched an opportunity
to destroy him.
The discontent among the tribes did not diminish
with the lapse of time; yet for many months we
can discern no trace of Pontiac. Records and tra-
ditions are silent concerning him. It is not until
April, 1769, that he appears once more distinctly on
the scene.2 At about that time he came to the Illi-
nois, with what design does not appear, though his
movements excited much uneasiness among the few
English in that quarter. Soon after his arrival, he
repaired to St. Louis, to visit his former acquaint-
ance, St. Ange, who was then in command at that
post, having offered his services to the Spaniards
after the cession of Louisiana. After leaving the
fort, Pontiac proceeded to the house of which young
Pierre Chouteau was an inmate ; and to the last
days of his protracted life, the latter could vividly
recall the circumstances of the interview. The sav-
age chief was arrayed in the full uniform of a
i Doc. Hist. N. Y. II. 861-893, etc. 1769, several letters from the Indian
MS. Johnson Papers. MS. Gage country, in which Pontiac is men-
Papers, tioned as having been killed during
2 Carver says that Pontiac was the preceding April. M. Chouteau
killed in 1767. This may possibly states that, to the best of his recol-
be a mere printer's error. In the lection, the chief was killed hi 1768 ;
Maryland Gazette, and also in the but oral testimony is of little weight
Pennsylvania Gazette, were pub- in regard to dates. The evidence
lished during the month of August, of the Gazettes appears conclusive.
Chap. XXXI] CAHOKIA. 569
French officer, which had been presented to him as
a special mark of respect and favor by the Marquis
of Montcalm, towards the close of the French war,
and which Pontiac never had the bad taste to wear,
except on occasions when he wished to appear with
unusual dignity. St. Ange, Chouteau, and the other
principal inhabitants of the infant settlement, whom
he visited in turn, all received him with cordial wel-
come, and did their best to entertain him and his
attendant chiefs. He remained at St. Louis for two
or three days, when, hearing that a large number
of Indians were assembled at Cahokia, on the oppo-
site side of the river, and that some drinking bout
or other social gathering was in progress, he told
St. Ange that he would cross over to see what was
going forward. St. Ange tried to dissuade him, and
urged the risk to which he would expose himself;
but Pontiac persisted, boasting that he was a match
for the English, and had no fear for his life. He
entered a canoe with some of his followers, and Chou-
teau never saw him again.
He who, at the present day, crosses from the city
of St. Louis to the opposite shore of the Mississippi,
and passes southward through a forest festooned with
grape-vines, and fragrant with the scent of flowers,
will soon emerge upon the ancient hamlet of Cahokia.
To one fresh from the busy suburbs of the American
city, the small French houses, scattered in picturesque
disorder, the light-hearted, thriftless look of their in-
mates, and the woods which form the background
of the picture, seem like the remnants of an earlier
and simpler world. Strange changes have passed
around that spot. Forests have fallen, cities have
sprung up, and the lonely wilderness is thronged with
72 vv*
570 DEATH OF PONTIAC. [Chap. XXXI.
human life. Nature herself has taken part in the
general transformation, and the Mississippi has made
a fearful inroad, robbing from the luckless Creoles a
mile of rich meadow and woodland. Yet, in the midst
of all, this relic of the lost empire of France has
preserved its essential features through the lapse of
a century, and offers at this day an aspect not widely
different from that which met the eye of Pontiac,
when he and his chiefs landed on its shore.
The place was full of Illinois Indians; such a
scene as in our own time may often be met with
in some squalid settlement of the border, where the
vagabond guests, bedizened with dirty finery, tie their
small horses in rows along the fences, and stroll
idly among the houses, or lounge about the dram-
shops. A chief so renowned as Pontiac could not
remain long among the friendly Creoles of Cahokia
without being summoned to a feast; and at such
primitive entertainment the whiskey bottle would not
fail to play its part. This was in truth the case.
Pontiac drank deeply, and, when the carousal was
over, strode down the village street to the adjacent
woods, where he was heard to sing the medicine
songs, in whose magic power he trusted as the war-
rant of success in all his undertakings.
An English trader, named Williamson, was then
in the village. He had looked on the movements of
Pontiac with a jealousy probably not diminished by
the visit of the chief to the French at St. Louis;
and he now resolved not to lose so favorable an op-
portunity to despatch him. With this view, he gained
the ear of a strolling Indian belonging to the Kas-
kaskia tribe of the Illinois, bribed him with a barrel
of liquor, and promised him a farther reward if he
Chap. XXXI.] DEATH OF PONTIAC. 571
would kill the chief. The bargain was quickly made.
When Pontiac entered the forest, the assassin stole
close upon his track, and, watching his moment, glided
behind him, and buried a tomahawk in his brain.
The dead body was soon discovered, and startled
cries and wild howlings announced the event. The
word was caught up from mouth to mouth, and the
place resounded with infernal yells. The warriors
snatched their weapons. The Illinois took part with
their guilty countryman, and the few followers of
Pontiac, driven from the village, fled to spread the
tidings and call the nations to revenge. Meanwhile
the murdered chief lay on the spot where he had
fallen, until St. Ange, mindful of former friendship,
sent to claim the body, and buried it with warlike
honors, near his fort of St. Louis.1
Thus basely perished this champion of a ruined
race. But could his shade have revisited the scene
1 Carver, Travels, 166, says that from M. Chouteau and from the no
Pontiac was stabbed at a public less respectable authority of the aged
council in the Illinois, by " a faithful Pierre Menard of Kaskaskia. The
Indian who was either commissioned notices of Pontiac's death in the pro-
by one of the English governors, or in- vincial journals of the day, to a cer-
stigated by the love he bore the Eng- tain extent, confirm this story. We
lish nation." This account is without gather from them, that he was killed
sufficient confirmation. Carver, who at the Illinois, by one or more Kas-
did not visit the Illinois, must have kaskia Indians, during a drunken
drawn his information from hearsay, frolic, and in consequence of his hos-
The open manner of dealing with his tility to the English. One letter,
victim, which he ascribes to the as- however, states on hearsay that he
sassin, is wholly repugnant to Indian was killed near Fort Chartres, and
character and principles ; while the Gouin's traditional account seems to
gross charge, thrown out at random support the statement. On this point,
against an English governor, might I have followed the distinct and cir-
of itself cast discredit on the story. cumstantial narrative of Chouteau,
I have followed the account which supported as it is by Cerre. M.
I received from M. Pierre Chou Chouteau's recollections, as already
teau, and from M. P. L. Cerre, mentioned, are in general remarka-
another old inhabitant of the Illinois, ble for their singularly close accord-
whose father was well acquainted ance with contemporary documents,
with Pontiac. The same account I am indebted to the kindness of
may be found, concisely stated, in my friend Mr. Lyman C. Draper for
Nicollet, p. 81. M. Nicollet states valuable assistance in my inquiries
that he derived his information both in relation to Pontiac's death.
572 DEATH OF PONTIAC [Chap. XXXI.
of murder, his savage spirit would have exulted in
the vengeance which overwhelmed the abetters of the
crime. Whole tribes were rooted out to expiate it.
Chiefs and sachems, whose veins had thrilled with
his eloquence, young warriors, whose aspiring hearts
had caught the inspiration of his greatness, mus-
tered to revenge his fate, and from the north and
the east, their united bands descended on the villages
of the Illinois. Tradition has but faintly preserved
the memory of the event ; and its only annalists, men
who held the intestine feuds of the savage tribes in
no more account than the quarrels of panthers or
wildcats, have left but a meagre record. Yet enough
remains to tell us that over the grave of Pontiac
more blood was poured out in atonement than flowed
from the hecatombs of slaughtered heroes on the
corpse of Patroclus; and the remnant of the Illinois
who survived the carnage remained forever after sunk
in utter insignificance.1
1 " This murder, which roused the Morse says, in his Report, 1822,
vengeance of all the Indian tribes "In the war kindled against these
friendly to Pontiac, brought about the tribes, [Peorias, Kaskaskias, and Ca-
successive wars, and almost total ex- hokias,] by the Sauks and Foxes, in
termination, of the Illinois nation." — revenge for the death of their chief,
Nicollet, 82. Pontiac, these 3 tribes were nearly
" The Kaskaskias, Peorias, Caho- exterminated. Few of them now re-
kias, and Illonese are nearly all cle- main. About one hundred of the
stroyed by the Sacs and Foxes, for Peorias are settled on Current River,
killing in cool blood, and in time of W. of the Mississippi ; of the Kas-
peace, the Sac's chief, Pontiac." — kaskias 36 only remain in Illinois."
Mass. Hist Coll. Second Series, II. 8. — Morse, 363.
The above extract exhibits the General Gage, in his letter to Sir
usual confusion of Indian names, the William Johnson, dated July 10,
Kaskaskias, Peorias, and Cahokias 176-, says, " The death of Pontiac,
being component tribes of the Hlo- committed by an Indian of the Illi-
nese or Illinois nation. Pontiac is nois, believed to have been excited
called a chief of the Sacs. This, by the English to that action, had
with similar mistakes, may easily have drawn many of the Ottawas and other
arisen from the fact that he was ac- northern nations towards their coun-
customed to assume authority over try to revenge his death."
the warriors of any tribe with whom " From Miami, Pontiac went to
he chanced to be in contact. Fort Chartres on the Illinois. In a
Chap. XXXI.]
DEATH OF PONTIAC.
573
Neither mound nor tablet marked the burial-place
of Pontiac. For a mausoleum, a city has risen above
the forest hero; and the race whom he hated with
such burning rancor trample with unceasing footsteps
over his forgotten grave.
few years, the English, who had pos-
session of the fort, procured an Indian
of the Peoria [Kaskaskia] nation to
kill him. The news spread like
lightning through the country. The
Indians assembled in great numbers,
attacked and destroyed all the Peo-
rias, except about thirty families,
which were received into the fort.
These soon began to increase. They
removed to the Wabash, and were
about to settle, when the Indians col-
lected in the winter, surrounded their
village, and killed the whole, except-
ing a few children, who were saved
as prisoners. Old Mr. Gouin was
there at the time. He was a trader,
and, when the attack commenced, was
ordered by the Indians to shut his
house and not suffer a Peoria to en-
ter." — Gonitis Account, MS.
Pontiac left several children, whose
names may occasionally be found in
the minutes of treaties and confer-
ences held a few years after his
death. In a letter addressed to the
writer, Mr. H. R. Schoolcraft says,
" I knew Atoka, a descendant of Pon-
tiac. He was the chief of an Ot-
tawa village on the Maumee. A few
years ago, he agTeed to remove, with
his people, to the west of the Mis-
sissippi, where he is probably yet
living."
APPENDIX A.
THE IROQUOIS. — EXTENT OF THEIR CONQUESTS. — POLICY
PURSUED TOWARDS THEM BY THE ERENCH AND THE
ENGLISH. — MEASURES OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON.
1. Territory of the Iroquois, (p. 6.)
Extract from a Letter — Sir W. Johnson to the Board of Trade,
November 13, 1763.
My Lords :
In obedience to your Lordships' commands of the 5th of August last, I
am now to lay before you the claims of the Nations mentioned in the State
of the Confederacies. The Five Nations having in the last century sub-
dued the Shawanese, Delawares, Twighties, and Western Indians, so far
as Lakes Michigan and Superior, received them into an alliance, allowed
them the possession of the lands they occupied, and have ever since been in
peace with the greatest part of them ; and such was the prowess of the
Five Nations' Confederacy, that had they been properly supported by us,
they would have long since put a period to the Colony of Canada, which
alone they were near effecting in the year 1688. Since that time, they
have admitted the Tuscaroras from the Southward, beyond Oneida, and they
have ever since formed a part of that Confederacy.
As original proprietors, this Confederacy claim the country of their res-
idence, south of Lake Ontario to the great Ridge of the Blue Mountains,
with all the Western Part of the Province of New York towards Hudson
River, west of the Catskill, thence to Lake Champlain, and from Regioghne,
a Rock at the East side of said Lake, to Oswegatche or La Gallette, on the
River St. Lawrence, (having long since ceded their claim north of said line
in favor of the Canada Indians, as Hunting-ground,) thence up the River St.
Lawrence, and along the South side of Lake Ontario to Niagara.
In right of conquest, they claim all the country (comprehending the
Ohio) along the great Ridge of Blue Mountains at the back of Virginia,
thence to the head of Kentucky River, and down the same to the Ohio
576 APPENDIX A.
above the Rifts, thence Northerly to the South end of Lake Michigan, then
along the Eastern shore of said lake to Michillimackinac, thence Easterly
across the North end of Lake Huron to the great Ottawa River, (including
the Chippewa or Mississagey Country,) and down the said River to the
Island of Montreal. However, these more distant claims being possessed
by many powerful nations, the Inhabitants have long begun to render them-
selves independent, by the assistance of the French, and the great decrease
of the Six Nations ; but their claim to the Ohio, and thence to the Lakes,
is not in the least disputed by the Shawanese, Delawares, &c, who never
transacted any sales of land or other matters without their consent, and who
sent Deputies to the grand Council at Onondaga on all important occasions.
2. French and English Policy towards the Iroquois. — Measures
of Sir William Johnson, (pp. 65-83.)
Extract from a Letter — Sir W. Johnson to the Board of Trade,
May 24, 1765.
The Indians of the Six Nations, after the arrival of the English, having
conceived a desire for many articles they introduced among them, and
thereby finding them of use to their necessities, or rather superfluities, cul-
tivated an acquaintance with them, and lived in tolerable friendship with
their Province for some time, to which they were rather inclined, for they
were strangers to bribery, and at enmity with the French, who had espoused
the cause of their enemies, supplied them with arms, and openly acted
against them. This enmity increased in proportion as the desire of the
French for subduing those people, who were a bar to their first projected
schemes. However, we find the Indians, as far back as the very confused
manuscript records in my possession, repeatedly upbraiding this province
for their negligence, their avarice, and their want of assisting them at a
time when it was certainly in their power to destroy the infant colony of
Canada, although supported by many nations ; and this is likewise confessed
by the writings of the managers of these times. The French, after re-
peated losses, discovering that the Six Nations were not to be subdued, but
that they could without much difficulty effect their purposes (which I have
good authority to show were . . . standing) by favors and kindness, on a
sudden, changed their conduct in the reign of Queen Anne, having first
brought over many of their people to settle in Canada ; and ever since, by
the most endearing kindnesses, and by a vast profusion of favors, have
secured them to their interest ; and, whilst they aggravated our frauds and
designs, they covered those committed by themselves under a load of gifts,
which obliterated the malpractices of . . . among them, and enabled
them to establish themselves wherever they pleased, without fomenting the
Indians' jealousy. The able agents they made use of, and their unanimous
APPENDIX A. 577
indefatigable zeal for securing- the Indian interest, were so much superior to
any thing we had ever attempted, and to the futile transactions of the . . .
and trading Commissioners of Albany, that the latter became universally
despised by the Indians, who daily withdrew from our interest, and con-
ceived the most disadvantageous sentiments of our integrity and abilities.
In this state of Indian affairs I was called to the management of these
people, as my situation and opinion that it might become one day of service
to the public, had induced me to cultivate a particular intimacy with these
people, to accommodate myself to their manners, and even to their dress on
many occasions. How I discharged this trust will best appear from the
transactions of the war commenced in 1744, in which I was busily con-
cerned. The steps I had then taken alarmed the jealousy of the French ;
rewards were offered for me, and I narrowly escaped assassination on more
than one occasion. The French increased their munificence to the Indians,
whose example not being at all followed at New York, I resigned the man-
agement of affairs on the ensuing peace, as I did not choose to continue in
the name of an office which I was not empowered to discharge as its nature
required. The Albany Commissioners (the men concerned in the clandes-
tine trade to Canada, and frequently upbraided for it by the Indians) did
then reassume their seats at that Board, and by their conduct so exasper-
ated the Indians that several chiefs went to New York, 1753, when, after a
severe speech to the Governor, Council, and Assembly, they broke the
covenant chain of friendship, and withdrew in a rage. The consequences
of which were then so much dreaded, that I was, by Governor, Council, and
House of Assembly, the two latter then my enemies, earnestly entreated to
effect a reconciliation with the Indians, as the only person equal to that
task, as will appear by the Minutes of Council and resolves of the House.
A commission being made out for me, I proceeded to Onondaga, and
brought about the much wished for reconciliation, but declined having any
further to say of Indian affairs, although the Indians afterwards refused to
meet the Governor and Commissioners till I was sent for. At the arrival of
General Braddock, I received his Commission with reluctance, at the same
time assuring him that affairs had been so ill conducted, and the Indians so
estranged from our interest, that I could not take upon me to hope for suc-
cess. However, indefatigable labor, and (I hope I may say without vanity)
personal interest, enabled me to exceed my own expectations ; and my con-
duct since, if fully and truly known, would, I believe, testify that I have not
been an unprofitable servant. 'Twas then that the Indians began to give
public sign of their avaricious dispositions. The French had long taught
them it ; and the desire of some persons to carry a greater number of In-
dians into the field in 1755 than those who accompanied me, induced them
to employ any agent at a high salary, who had the least interest with the
Indians ; and to grant the latter Captains' and Lieutenants' Commissions, (of
which I have a number now by me,) with sterling pay, to induce them to
desert me, but to little purpose, for tho' many of them received the Commis-
sions, accompanied with large sums of money, they did not comply with
73 -\vw
578 APPENDIX A.
the end proposed, but served with me ; and this had not only served them
with severe complaints against the English, as they were not afterwards all
paid what had been promised, but has established a spirit of pride and av-
arice, which I have found it ever since impossible to subdue ; whilst our
extensive connections since the reduction of Canada, with so many power-
ful nations so long accustomed to partake largely of French bounty, has of
course increased the expense, and rendered it in no small degree necessary
for the preservation of our frontiers, outposts, and trade. . . .
Extract from a Letter — Cadwallader Colden to the Earl of Halifax,
December 22, 1763.
Before I proceed further, I think it proper to inform your Lordship of
the different state of the Policy of the Five Nations in different periods of
time. Before the peace of Utrecht, the Five Nations were at war with the
French in Canada, and with all the Indian Nations who were in friendship
with the French. This put the Five Nations under a necessity of depend-
ing on this province for a supply of every thing by which they could carry
on the war or defend themselves, and their behavior towards us was
accordingly.
After the peace of Utrecht, the French changed their measures. They
took every method in their power to gain the friendship of the Five Nations,
and succeeded so far with the Senecas, who are by far the most numerous,
and at the greatest distance from us, that they were entirely brought over
to the French interest. The French obtained the consent of the Senecas
to the building of the Fort at Niagara, situated in their country.
When the French had too evidently, before the last war, got the
ascendant among all the Indian Nations, we endeavored to make the Indians
jealous of the French power, that they were thereby in danger of becoming
slaves to the French, unless they were protected by the English. . . .
APPENDIX B.
CAUSES OF THE INDIAN WAE.
Extract from a Letter — Sir W. Johnson to the Board of Trade,
November 13, 1763. (Chap. VII.)
. . . The French, in order to reconcile them [the Indians] to their
encroachments, loaded them with favors, and employed the most intelligent
Agents of good influence, as well as artful Jesuits among the several
Western and other Nations, who, by degrees, prevailed on them to admit of
Forts, under the Notion of Trading houses, in their Country ; and knowing
that these posts could never be maintained contrary to the inclinations of the
Indians, they supplied them thereat with ammunition and other necessaries
in abundance, as also called them to frequent congresses, and dismissed them
with handsome presents, by which they enjoyed an extensive commerce,
obtained the assistance of these Indians, and possessed their frontiers in
safety ; and as without these measures the Indians would never have suf-
fered them in their Country, so they expect that whatever European power
possesses the same, they shall in some measure reap the like advantages.
Now, as these advantages ceased on the Posts being possessed by the
English, and especially as it was not thought prudent to indulge them
with ammunition, they immediately concluded that we had designs against
their liberties, which opinion had been first instilled into them by the French,
and since promoted by Traders of that nation and others who retired among
them on the surrender of Canada, and are still there, as well as by Belts of
Wampum and other exhortations, which I am confidently assured have been
sent among them from the Illinois, Louisiana and even Canada for that
purpose. The Shawanese and Delawares about the Ohio, who were never
warmly attached to us since our neglects to defend them against the
encroachments of the French, and refusing to erect a post at the Ohio, or
assist them and the Six Nations with men or ammunition, when they
requested both of us, as well as irritated at the loss of several of their
people killed upon the communication to Fort Pitt, in the years 1759 and
580 APPENDIX B.
1761, were easily induced to join with the Western Nations, and the Sen-
ecas, dissatisfied at many of our posts, jealous of our designs, and displeased
at our neglect and contempt of them, soon followed their example.
These are the causes the Indians themselves assign, and which certainly
occasioned the rupture between us, the consequence of which, in my opinion,
will be that the Indians (who do not regard the distance) will be supplied
with necessaries by the Wabache and several Rivers, which empty into the
Mississippi, which it is by no means in our power to prevent, and in return
the French will draw the valuable furs down that river to the advantage of
their Colony and the destruction of our Trade ; this will always induce the
French to foment differences between us and the Indians, and the prospects
many of them entertain, that they may hereafter become possessed of
Canada, will incline them still more to cultivate a good understanding with
the Indians, which, if ever attempted by the French, would, I am very
apprehensive, be attended with a general defection of them from our interest,
unless we are at great pains and expense to regain their friendship, and
thereby satisfy them that we have no designs to their prejudice.
The grand matter of concern to all the Six Nations (Mohawks excepted)
is the occupying a chain of small Posts on the communication thro' their
country to Lake Ontario, not to mention Fort Stanwix, exclusive of which
there were erected in 1759 Fort Schuyler on the Mohawk River, and the
Royal Blockhouse at the East end of Oneida Lake, in the Country of the
Oneidas, Fort Brewerton and a Post at Oswego Falls in the Onondagas
Country ; in order to obtain permission for erecting these posts, they were
promised they should be demolished at the end of the war. General Shir-
ley also made them a like promise for the posts he erected ; and as
about these posts are their fishing and hunting places, where they complain,
that they are often obstructed by the troops and insulted, they request that
they may not be kept up, the war with the French being now over.
In 1760, Sir Jeffrey Amherst sent a speech to the Indians in writing,
which was to be communicated to the Nations about Fort Pitt, &c, by
General Monkton, then commanding there, signifying his intentions to
satisfy and content all Indians for the ground occupied by the posts, as also
for any land about them, which might be found necessary for the use of the
garrisons ; but the same has not been performed, neither are the Indians in
the several countries at all pleased at our occupying them, which they look
upon as the first steps to enslave them and invade their properties.
And I beg leave to represent to your Lordships, that one very material
advantage resulting from a continuance of good treatment and some favors
to the Indians, will be the security and toleration thereby given to the
Troops for cultivating lands about the garrisons, which the reduction of
their Rations renders absolutely necessary
APPENDIX B. 581
Ponteach : or the Savages of America. A Tragedy. London:
Printed for the Author ; and Sold by J. Millan, opposite the Admiralty,
Whitehall. MDCCLXVI. (pp. 146-156.)
The author of this tragedy was evidently a person well acquainted
with Indian affairs and Indian character. Various allusions contained in it,
as Avell as several peculiar forms of expression, indicate that Major Rogers
had a share in its composition. The first act exhibits in detail the causes
which led to the Indian war. The rest of the play is of a different character.
The plot is sufficiently extravagant, and has little or no historical foundation.
Chekitan, the son of Ponteach, is in love with Monelia, the daughter of
Hendrick, Emperor of the Mohawks. Monelia is murdered by Chekitan's
brother Philip, partly out of revenge and jealousy, and partly in furtherance
of a scheme of policy. Chekitan kills Philip, and then dies by his own
hand, and Ponteach, whose warriors meanwhile have been defeated by the
English, overwhelmed by this accumulation of public and private calamities,
retires to the forests of the west to escape the memory of his griefs. The
style of the drama is superior to the plot, and the writer displays at times no
small insight into the workings of human nature.
The account of Indian wrongs and sufferings given in the first act
accords so nearly with that conveyed in contemporary letters and documents,
that two scenes from this part of the play are here given, with a few omis-
sions, which good taste demands.
ACT I.
Scene I. — An Indian Trading House.
Enter M'Doee and Murphey, Two Indian Traders, and their Servants.
ftP Dole. So, Murphey, you are come to try your Fortune
Among the Savages in this wild Desart ?
Murphey. Ay, any thing to get an honest Living,
Which, faith, I find it hard enough to do ;
Times are so dull, and Traders are so plenty,
That Gains are small, and Profits come but slow.
ftPDole. Are you experienced in this kind of Trade ?
Know you the Principles by which it prospers,
And how to make it lucrative and safe ?
If not, you're like a Ship without a Rudder,
That drives at random, and must surely sink.
Murphey. I'm unacquainted with your Indian Commerce
And gladly would T learn the arts from you,
Who're old, and practis'd in them many Years.
W AV
r*
582 APPENDIX B.
JWDole. That is the curst Misfortune of our Traders ;
A thousand Fools attempt to live this Way,
Who might as well turn Ministers of State.
But, as you are a Friend, I will inform you
Of all the secret Arts by which we thrive,
Which if all practis'd, we might all grow rich,
Nor circumvent each other in our Gains.
What have you got to part with to the Indians ?
Murphey. I've Rum and Blankets, Wampum, Powder, Bells,
And such like Trifles as they're wont to prize.
M'Dole. 'Tis very well : your Articles are good :
But now the Thing's to make a Profit from them,
Worth all your Toil and Pains of coming hither.
Our fundamental Maxim then is this,
That it's no Crime to cheat and gull an Indian.
Murphey. How ! Not a Sin to cheat an Indian, say you ?
Are they not Men ? hav'nt they a Right to Justice
As well as we, though savage in their Manners ?
M'Dole. Ah ! If you boggle here, I say no more ;
This is the very Quintessence of Trade,
And ev'ry Hope of Gain depends upon it ;
None who neglect it ever did grow rich,
Or ever will, or can by Indian Commerce.
By this old Ogden built his stately House,
Purchased Estates, and grew a little King.
He, like an honest Man, bought all by weight,
And made the ign'rant Savages believe
That his Right Foot exactly weighed a Pound.
By this for many years he bought their Furs,
And died in Quiet like an honest Dealer.
Murphey. Well, I'll not stick at what is necessary ;
But his Devise is now grown old and stale,
Nor could I manage such a barefac'd Fraud,
M'DoU. A thousand Opportunities present
To take Advantage of their Ignorance ;
But the great Engine I employ is Rum,
More pow'rful made by certain strength'ning Drugs.
This I distribute with a lib'ral Hand,
Urge them to drink till they grow mad and valiant ;
Which makes them think me generous and just,
And gives full Scope to practise all my Art.
I then begin my Trade with water'd Rum ;
The cooling Draught well suits their scorching Throats.
Their Fur and Peltry come in quick Return :
My Scales are honest, but so well contriv'd,
That one small Slip will turn Three Pounds to One ;
APPENDIX B. 583
Which they, poor silly Souls ! ignorant of Weights
And Rules of Balancing, do not perceive.
But here they come ; you'll see how I proceed.
Jack, is the Rum prepar'd as I commanded ?
Jack. Yes, Sir, all's ready when you please to call.
M'Dole. Bring here the Scales and Weights immediately ;
You see the Trick is easy and conceal'd. [Showing how to slip the Scale.
Murphey. By Jupiter, it's artfully contriv'd ;
And was I King, I swear I'd knight th' Inventor.
Tom, mind the Part that you will have to act.
Tom. Ah, never fear ; I'll do as well as Jack.
But then, you know, an honest Servant's Pain deserves Reward.
Murpliey. O ! I'll take care of that.
{Enter a Number of Indians ivith Packs of Fur.
1st Indian. So, what you trade with Indians here to-day ?
M'Dole. Yes, if my Goods will suit, and we agree.
2d Indian. 'Tis Rum we want ; we're tired, hot, and thirsty.
3^ Indian. You, Mr. Englishman, have you got Rum ?
M'Dole. Jack, bring a Bottle, pour them each a Gill.
You know which Cask contains the Rum. The Rum ?
1st Indian. It's good strong Rum ; I feel it very soon.
M'Dole. Give me a Glass. Here's Honesty in Trade ;
We English always drink before we deal.
2d Indian. Good way enough ; it makes one sharp and cunning.
M'Dole. Hand round another Gill. You're very welcome.
3d Indian. Some say you Englishmen are sometimes Rogues ;
You make poor Indians drunk, and then you cheat.
1st Indian. No, English good. The Frenchmen give no Rum.
2d Indian. I think it's best to trade with Englishmen.
M'Dole. What is your Price for Beaver Skins per Pound ?
1st Indian. How much you ask per Quart for this strong Rum ?
M'Dole. Five Pounds of Beaver for One Quart of Rum.
1st Indian. Five Pounds ? Too much. Which is't you call Five Pound ?
M'Dole. This little Weight. I cannot give you more.
1st Indian. Well, take 'em ; weigh 'em. Don't you cheat us now.
M'Dole. No ; He that cheats an Indian should be hanged.
[Weighing the Packs.
There's Thirty Pounds precisely of the Whole ;
Five times Six is Thirty. Six Quarts of Rum.
Jack, measure it to them ; you know the Cask.
This Rum is sold. You draw it off the best.
[Exeunt Indians to receive their Rim.
Murphey. By Jove, you've gained more in a single Hour
Than ever I have done in Half a Year :
584 APPENDIX B.
Curse on my Honesty ! I might have been
A little King, and lived without Concern,
Had I but known the proper Arts to thrive.
M'DoU. Ay, there's the Way, my honest Friend, to live.
[Clapping his shoulder.
There's Ninety Weight of Sterling Beaver for you,
Worth all the Rum and Trinkets in my Store ;
And, would my Conscience let me do the Thing,
I might enhance my Price, and lessen theirs,
And raise my Profits to a higher Pitch.
Murphey. I can't but thank you for your kind Instructions,
As from them I expect to reap Advantage.
But should the Dogs detect me in the Fraud,
They are malicious, and would have Revenge.
MWole. Can't you avoid them ? Let their Vengeance light
On others Heads, no matter whose, if you
Are but Secure, and have the Gain in Hand ;
For they're indiff'rent where they take Revenge,
Whether on him that cheated, or his Friend,
Or on a Stranger whom they never saw,
Perhaps an honest Peasant, who ne'er dreamt
Of Fraud or Villainy in all his Life ;
Such let them murder, if they will, a Score,
The Guilt is theirs, while we secure the Gain,
.Nor shall we feel the bleeding Victim's Pain. [Exeunt.
Scene II. — A Desart.
Enter Qe.se ourn and Honnyman, Two English Hunters.
Orshourn. Long have we toil'd, and rang'd the woods in vain ;
No Game, nor Track, nor Sign of any Kind
Is to be seen ; I swear I am discourag'd
And weary'd out with this long fruitless Hunt.
No Life on Earth besides is half so hard,
So full of Disappointments, as a Hunter's :
Each Morn he wakes he views the destin'd Pre}',
And counts the Profits of th' ensuing- Day ;
Each Ev'ning at his curs'd ill Fortune pines,
And till next Day his Hope of Gain resigns.
By Jove, I'll from these Desarts hasten home,
And swear that never more I'll touch a Gun.
APPENDIX B. 585
Honnyman. These hateful Indians kidnap all the Game.
Curse their black Heads ! they fright the Deer and Bear,
And ev'ry Animal that haunts the Wood,
Or by their Witchcraft conjure them away.
No Englishman can get a single Shot,
While they go loaded home with Skins and Furs.
'Twere to be wish'd not one of them survived,
Thus to infest the World, and plague Mankind.
Curs'd Heathen Infidels ! mere savage Beasts !
They don't deserve to breathe in Christian Air,
And should be hunted down like other Brutes.
Orsbourn. I only wish the Laws permitted us
To hunt the savage Herd where-e'er they're found ;
I'd never leave the Trade of Hunting then,
While one remain'd to tread and range the Wood.
Honnyman. Curse on the Law, I say, that makes it Death
To kill an Indian, more than to kill a Snake.
What if 'tis Peace ? these Dogs deserve no Mercy ;
They kill'd my Father and my eldest Brother,
Since which I hate their very Looks and Name.
Orsbourn. And I, since they betray'd and kill'd my Uncle ;
Tho' these are not the same, 'twould ease my Heart
To cleave their painted Heads, and spill their Blood.
I abhor, detest, and hate them all,
And now cou'd eat an Indian's Heart with Pleasure.
Honnyman. I'd join you, and soop his savage Brains for Sauce ;
I lose all Patience when I think of them,
And, if you will, we'll quickly have amends
For our long Travel and successless Hunt,
And the sweet Pleasure of Revenge to boot.
Orsbourn. What will you do ? Present, and pop one down ?
Honnyman. Yes, faith, the first we meet well fraught with Furs ;
Or if there's Two, and we can make sure Work,
By Jove, we'll ease the Rascals of their Packs,
And send them empty home to their own Country.
But then observe, that what we do is secret,
Or the Hangman will come in for Snacks.
Orsbourn. Trust me for that ; I'll join with all my Heart ;
Nor with a nicer Aim, or steadier Hand
Would shoot a Tyger than I would an Indian.
There is a Couple stalking now this way
With lusty Packs ; Heav'n favour our Design.
Are you well charged ?
Honnyman. I am. Take you the nearest,
And mind to fire exactly when I do.
74
586 APPENDIX B.
Orshourn. A charming Chance !
Honnyman. Hush, let them still come nearer.
[They shoot, and run to rifle tlie Indians.
They're down, old Boy, a Brace of noble Bucks !
Orshourn. Well tallow'd, faith, and noble Hides upon 'em.
[Taking up a Pack.
We might have hunted all the Season thro'
For Half this Game, and thought ourselves well paid.
Honnyman. By Jove, we might, and been at great Expence
For Lead and Powder ; here's a single Shot.
Orshourn. I swear I've got as much as I can carry.
Honnyman. And faith, I'm not behind ; this Pack is heavy.
But stop ; we must conceal the tawny Dogs,
Or their bloodthirsty Countrymen will find them,
And then we're bit. There'll be the Devil to pay ;
They'll murder us, and cheat the Hangman too.
Orshourn. Right. We'll prevent all Mischief of this Kind.
Where shall we hide their savage Carcases ?
Honnyman. There they will lie conceal'd and snug enough.
[They cover them.
But stay — perhaps ere long there'll be a War,
And then their Scalps wiil sell for ready Cash,
Two Hundred Crowns at least, and that's worth saving.
Orshourn. Well ! that is true ; no sooner said than done —
[Drawing his Knife.
I'll strip this Fellow's painted greasy Skull. [Strips off the Scalp.
Honnyman. Now let them sleep to Night without their Caps,
[Takes the other Scalp.
And pleasant Dreams attend their long Repose.
Orshourn. Their Guns and Hatchets now are lawful Prize,
For they'll not need them on their present Journey.
Honnyman. The Devil hates Arms, and dreads the Smell of Powder ;
He'll not allow such Instruments about him ;
They're free from training now, they're in his Clutches.
Orshourn. But, Honnyman, d'ye think this is not Murder ?
I vow I'm shocked a little to see them scalp'd,
And fear their Ghosts will haunt us in the Dark.
Honnyman. It's no more Murder than to crack a Louse,
That is, if you've the Wit to keep it private.
And as to Haunting, Indians have no Ghosts,
But as they live like Beasts, like Beasts they die.
I've killed a Dozen in this selfsame Way,
And never yet was troubled with their Spirits.
Orshourn. Then I'm content ; my Scruples are removed.
And what I've done, my Conscience justifies.
APPENDIX B. 587
But we must have these Guns and Hatchets alter'd,
Or they'll detect th' Affair, and hang us both.
Honnyman. That's quickly done — Let us with Speed return,
And think no more of being hang'd or haunted ;
But turn our Fur to Gold, our Gold to Wine,
Thus gaily spend what we've so slily won,
And bless the first Inventor of a Gun. [Exeunt.
The remaining scenes of this act exhibit the rudeness and insolence of
British officers and soldiers in their dealings with the Indians, and the
corruption of British government agents. Pontiac himself is introduced
and represented as indignantly complaining of the reception which he and
his warriors meet with. These scenes are overcharged with blasphemy
and ribaldry, and it is needless to preserve them here. The rest of the play
is written in better taste, and contains several passages of force and
eloquence.
APPENDIX C
DETROIT AND MICHILLIMACKINAC.
1. The Siege or Detroit. (Chap. IX.-XV.)
The authorities consulted respecting the siege of Detroit consist of
numerous manuscript letters of officers in the fort, including the official
correspondence of the commanding officer ; of several journals and frag-
ments of journals ; of extracts from contemporary newspapers ; and of
traditions and recollections received from Indians or aged Canadians of
Detroit.
The Pontiac Manuscript.
This curious diary was preserved in a Canadian family at Detroit, and
afterwards deposited with the Historical Society of Michigan. It is con-
jectured to have been the work of a French priest. The original is written
in bad French, and several important parts are defaced or torn away. As
a literary composition, it is quite worthless, being very diffuse and encum-
bered with dull and trivial details ; yet this very minuteness affords strong
internal evidence of its authenticity. Its general exactness with respect to
facts is fully proved by comparing it with contemporary documents. I am
indebted to General Cass for the copy in my possession, as well as for other
papers respecting the war in the neighborhood of Detroit.
The manuscript appears to have been elaborately written out from a
rough journal kept during the progress of the events which it describes. It
commences somewhat ambitiously, as follows : —
" Pondiac, great chief of all the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies,
and of all the nations of the lakes and rivers of the North, a man proud,
vindictive, warlike, and easily offended, under pretence of some insult which
he thought he had received from Maj. Gladwin, Commander of the Fort,
conceived that, being great chief of all the Northern nations, only himself
APPENDIX C 589
and those of his nations were entitled to inhabit this portion of the earth,
where for sixty and odd years the French had domiciliated for the purpose
of trading, and where the English had governed during three years by right
of the conquest of Canada. The Chief and all his nation, whose bravery
consists in treachery, resolved within himself the entire destruction of the
English nation, and perhaps the Canadians. In order to succeed in his un-
dertaking, which he had not mentioned to any of his nation the Ottawas, he
engaged their aid by a speech, and they, naturally inclined to evil, did not
hesitate to obey him. But, as they found themselves too weak to undertake
the enterprise alone, their chief endeavored to draw to his party the Chip-
pewa nation by means of a council. This nation was governed by a chief
named Ninevois. This man, who acknowledged Pondiac as his chief, whose
mind was weak, and whose disposition cruel, listened to his advances, and
joined him with all his band. These two nations consisted together of
about four hundred men. This number did not appear to him sufficient. It
became necessary to bring into their interests the Hurons. This nation,
divided into two bands, was governed by two different chiefs of dissimilar
character, and nevertheless both led by their spiritual father, a Jesuit. The
two chiefs of this last nation were named, one Takee, of a temper similar to
Pondiac's, and the other Teata, a man of cautious disposition and of perfect
prudence. This last was not easily won, and having no disposition to do
evil, he refused to listen to the deputies sent by Pondiac, and sent them back.
They therefore addressed themselves to the first mentioned of this nation,
by whom they were listened to, and from whom they received the war-belt,
with promise to join themselves to Pondiac and Ninevois, the Ottawas and
Chippewas chiefs. It was settled by means of wampum-belts, (a manner
of making themselves understood amongst distant savages,) that they should
hold a council on the 27th of April, when should be decided the day and
hour of the attack, and the precautions necessary to take in order that their
perfidy should not be discovered. The manner of counting used by the
Indians is by the moon ; and it was resolved, in the way I have mentioned,
that this council should be held on the 15th day of the moon, which cor-
responded with Wednesday the 27th of the month of April."
The writer next describes the council at the River Ecorces, and recounts
at full length the story of the Delaware Indian who visited the Great
Spirit. " The Chiefs," he says, " listened to Pondiac as to an oracle, and
told him they were ready to do any thing he should require."
He relates with great minuteness how Pontiac, with his chosen warriors,
came to the fort on the 1st of May, to dance the calumet dance, and observe
the strength and disposition of the garrison, and describes the council sub-
sequently held at the Pottawattamie village, in order to adjust the plan of
attack.
" The day fixed upon having arrived, all the Ottawas, Pondiac at then-
head, and the bad band of the Hurons, Takee at their head, met at the
Pottawattamie village, where the premeditated council was to be held.
Care was taken to send all the women out of the village, that they might not
XX
590 APPENDIX C.
discover what was decided upon. Pondiac then ordered sentinels to be
placed around the village, to prevent any interruption to their council. These
precautions taken, each seated himself in the circle, according to his rank,
and Pondiac, as great chief of the league, thus addressed them : —
" It is important, my brothers, that we should exterminate from our land
this nation, whose only object is our death. You must be all sensible, as well
as myself, that we can no longer supply our wants in the way we were
accustomed to do with our Fathers the French. They sell us their goods
at double the price that the French made us pay, and yet their merchandise
is good for nothing ; for no sooner have we bought a blanket or other thing
to cover us than it is necessary to procure others against the time of depart-
ing for our wintering ground. Neither will they let us have them on credit,
as our brothers the French used to do. When I visit the English chief, and
inform him of the death of any of our comrades, instead of lamenting, as our
brothers the French used to do, they make game of us. If I ask him for
any thing for our sick, he refuses, and tells us he does not want us, from
which it is apparent he seeks our death. We must therefore, in return,
destroy them without delay ; there is nothing to prevent us : there are
but few of them, and we shall easily overcome them, — why should we not
attack them ? Are we not men ? Have I not shown you the belts I
received from our Great Father the King of France ? He tells us to
strike, — why should we not listen to his words ? What do you fear ? The
time has arrived. Do you fear that our brothers the French, who are now
among us, will hinder us ? They are not acquainted with our designs, and
if they did know them, could they prevent them ? You know, as well as
myself, that when the English came upon our lands, to drive from them our
father Bellestre, they took from the French all the guns that they have, so
that they have now no guns to defend themselves with. Therefore now is
the time : let us strike. Should there be any French to take their part, let
us strike them as we do the English. Remember what the Giver of Life
desired our brother the Delaware to do : this regards us as much as it does
them. I have sent belts and speeches to our friends the Chippeways of
Saginaw, and our brothers the Ottawas of Michillimacinac, and to those of
the Riviere a la Tranche, (Thames River,) inviting them to join us, and they
will not delay. In the mean time, let us strike. There is no longer any
time to lose, and when the English shall be defeated, we will stop the way,
so that no more shall return upon our lands.
" This discourse, which Pondiac delivered in a tone of much energy, had
upon the whole council all the effect which he could have expected, and
they all, with common accord, swore the entire destruction of the English
nation.
" At the breaking up of the council, it was decided that Pondiac, with sixty
chosen men, should go to the Fort to ask for a grand council from the Eng-
lish commander, and that they should have arms concealed under their
blankets. That the remainder of the village should follow them armed with
tomahawks, daggers, and knives, concealed under their blankets, and should
APPENDIX C. 591
enter the Fort, and walk about in such a manner as not to excite suspicion,
whilst the others held council with the Commander. The Ottawa women
were also to be furnished with short guns and other offensive weapons
concealed under their blankets. They were to go into the back streets in
the Fort. They were then to wait for the signal agreed upon, which was
the cry of death, which the Grand Chief, was to give, on which they should
altogether strike upon the English, taking care not to hurt any of the French
inhabiting the Fort."
The author of the diary, unlike other contemporary writers, states that
the plot was disclosed to Gladwyn by a man of the Ottawa tribe, and not
by an Ojibwa girl. He says, however, that on the day after the failure of
the design, Pontiac sent to the Pottawattamie village in order to seize an
Ojibwa girl whom he suspected of having betrayed him.
" Pondiac ordered four Indians to take her and bring her before him ;
these men, naturally inclined to disorder, were not long in obeying their
chief ; they crossed the river immediately in front of their village, and passed
into the Fort naked, having nothing but their breech-clouts on and their
knives in their hands, and crying all the way that their plan had been de-
feated, which induced the French people of the Fort, who knew nothing of
the designs of the Indians, to suspect that some bad design was going
forward, either against themselves or the English. They arrived at the
Pottawattamie village, and in fact found the woman, who was far from
thinking of them ; nevertheless they seized her, and obliged her to march
before them, uttering cries of joy in the maimer they do when they hold a
victim in their clutches on whom they are going to exercise their cruelty :
they made her enter the Fort, and took her before the Commandant, as if
to confront her with him, and asked him if it was not from her he had learnt
their design ; but they were no better satisfied than if they had kept them-
selves quiet. They obtained from that Officer bread and beer for them-
selves, and for her. They then led her to their chief in the village."
The diary leaves us in the dark as to the treatment which the girl
received ; but there is a tradition among the Canadians that Pontiac, with
his own hand, gave her a severe beating with a species of racket, such as the
Indians use in their ball-play. An old Indian told Henry Conner, formerly
United States interpreter at Detroit, that she survived her punishment, and
lived for many years ; but at length, contracting intemperate habits, she fell,
when intoxicated, into a kettle of boiling maple sap, and was so severely
scalded that she died in consequence.
The outbreak of hostilities, the attack on the fort, and the detention of
Campbell and McDougal are related at great length, and with all the minute-
ness of an eye-witness. The substance of the narrative is incorporated in
the body of the work. The diary is very long, detailing the incidents of
every passing day, from the 7th of May to the 31st of July. Here it breaks
off abruptly in the middle of a sentence, the remaining part having been
lost or torn away. The following extracts, taken at random, will serve to
indicate the general style and character of the journal : —
592 APPENDIX C
" Saturday, June 4th. About 4 P. M. cries of death were heard from the
Indians. The cause was not known, but it was supposed they had obtained
some prize on the Lake.
" Sunday, June 5th. The Indians fired a few shots upon the Fort to-day.
About 2 P. M. cries of death were again heard on the opposite side of the
River. A number of Indians were descried, part on foot and part mounted.
Others were taking' up two trading boats, which they had taken on the lake.
The vessel fired several shots at them, hoping they would abandon their
prey, but they reached Pondiac's camp uninjured." ...
" About 7 P. M. news came that a number of Indians had gone down as
far as Turkey Island, opposite the small vessel which was anchored there,
but that, on seeing them, she had dropped down into the open Lake, to wait
for a fair wind to come up the river.
" Monday, June 20th. The Indians fired some shots upon the fort. About
4 P. M. news was brought that Presquisle and Beef River Forts, which had
been established by the French, and were now occupied by the English, had
been destroyed by the Indians." . . .
" Wednesday, June 22d. The Indians, whose whole attention was directed
to the vessel, did not trouble the Fort. In the course of the day, the news
of the taking of Presquisle was confirmed, as a great number of the Indians
were seen coming along the shore with prisoners. The Commandant was
among the number, and with him one woman : both were presented to the
Hurons. In the afternoon, the Commandant received news of the lading of
the vessel, and the number of men on board. The Indians again visited
the French for provisions.
" Thursday, June 23d. Very early in the morning, a great number of
Indians were seen passing behind the Fort : they joined those below, and
all repaired to Turkey Island. The river at this place is very narrow.
The Indians commenced making intrenchments of trees, &c, on the beach,
where the vessel was to pass, whose arrival they awaited. About 10
of the preceding night, the wind coming aft, the vessel weighed anchor,
and came up the river. When opposite the Island the wind fell, and they
were obliged to throw the anchor ; as they knew they could not reach the
Fort without being attacked by the Indians, they kept a strict watch. In
order to deceive the Indians, the captain had hid in the hold sixty of his
men, suspecting that the Indians, seeing only about a dozen men on deck,
would try to take the vessel, which occurred as he expected. About 9 at
night they got in their canoes, and made for the vessel, intending to board
her. They were seen far off by one of the sentinels. The captain imme-
diately ordered up all his men in the greatest silence, and placed them
along the sides of the vessel, with their guns in their hands, loaded, with
orders to wait the signal for firing, which was the rap of a hammer on the
mast. The Indians were allowed to approach within less than gunshot,
when the signal was given, and a discharge of cannon and small arms made
upon them. They retreated to their intrenchment with the loss of fourteen
killed and fourteen wounded ; from which they fired during the night, and
APPENDIX C 593
wounded two men. In the morning, the vessel dropped down to the Lake
for a more favourable wind.
" Friday, June 24th. The Indians were occupied with the vessel. Two
Indians back of the Fort were pursued by twenty men, and escaped.
" Saturday, June 25th. Nothing- occurred this day.
" Sunday, June 26th. Nothing of consequence.
" Monday, June 27th. Mr. Gamelin, who was in the practice of visiting
Messrs. Campbell and McDougall, brought a letter to the Commandant
from Mr. Campbell, dictated by Pondiac, in which he requested the Com-
mandant to surrender the Fort, as in a few days he expected Kee-no-cha-
meck, great chief of the Chippewas, with eight hundred men of his nation ;
that he (Pondiac) would not then be able to command them, and as soon
as they arrived, they would scalp all the English in the Fort. The
Commandant only answered that he cared as little for him as he did for
them." . . .
"This evening, the Commandant was informed that the Ottawas and
Chippewas had undertaken another raft, which might be more worthy of
attention than the former ones : it was reported to be of pine boards, and
intended to be long enough to go across the river. By setting fire to every
part of it, it could not help, by its length, coming in contact with the vessel,
which by this means they expected would certainly take fire. Some firing
took place between the vessel and Indians, but without effect.
" Tuesday, July 19th. The Indians attempted to fire on the Fort, but
being discovered, they were soon made to retreat by a few shot.
" Wednesday, July 20th. Confirmation came to the Fort of the report of
the 18th, and that the Indians had been four days at work at their raft, and
that it would take eight more to finish it. The Commandant ordered that
two boats should be lined or clapboarded with oak plank, two inches thick,
and the same defence to be raised above the gunnels of the boats of two
feet high. A swivel was put on each of them, and placed in such a way
that they could be pointed in three different directions.
" Thursday, July 21st. The Indians were too busily occupied to pay any
attention to the Fort ; so earnest were they in the work of the raft that they
hardly allowed themselves time to eat. The Commandant farther availed
himself of the time allowed him before the premeditated attack to put every
thing in proper order to repulse it. He ordered that two strong graplins
should be provided for each of the barges, a strong iron chain of fifteen
feet was to be attached to the boat, and conducting a strong cable under
water, fastened to the graplins, and the boats were intended to be so dis-
posed as to cover the vessel by mooring them by the help of the above
preparations, above her. The inhabitants of the S. W. ridge, or hill, again
got a false alarm. It was said the Indians intended attacking them during
the night : they kept on their guard till morning.
" Friday, July 22d. An Abenakee Indian arrived this day, saying that he
came direct from Montreal, and gave out that a large fleet of French was on
its way to Canada, full of troops, to dispossess the English of the country.
75 xx*
594 APPENDIX C.
However fallacious such a story might appear, it had the effect of rousing
Pondiac from his inaction, and the Indians set about their raft with more
energy than ever. They had left off working at it since yesterday." ... .
It is needless to continue these extracts farther. Those already given
will convey a sufficient idea of the character of the diary.
REMINISCENCES OP AGED CANADIANS.
About the year 1824, General Cass, with the design of writing a narrative
of the siege of Detroit by Pontiac, caused inquiry to be made among the
aged Canadian inhabitants, many of whom could distinctly remember the
events of 1763. The accounts received from them were committed to
paper, and were placed by General Cass, with great liberality, in the writer's
hands. They afford an interesting mass of evidence, as worthy of confi-
dence as evidence of the kind can be. With but one exception, — the
account of Maxwell, — they do not clash with the testimony of contemporary
documents. Much caution has, however, been observed in their use ; and
no essential statement has been made on their unsupported authority. The
most prominent of these accounts are those of Peltier, St. Aubin, Gouin,
Meloche, Parent, and Maxwell.
Peltier's Account.
M. Peltier was seventeen years old at the time of Pontiac's war. His
narrative, though one of the longest of the collection, is imperfect, since,
during a great part of the siege, he was absent from Detroit in search of
runaway horses, belonging to his father. His recollection of the earlier
part of the affair is, however, clear and minute. He relates, with apparent
credulity, the story of the hand of the murdered Fisher protruding from the
earth, as if in supplication for the neglected rites of burial. He remembers
that, soon after the failure of Pontiac's attempt to surprise the garrison, he
punished by a severe flogging a woman named Catharine, accused of having
betrayed the plot. He was at Detroit during the several attacks on the
armed vessels, and the attempts to set them on fire by means of blazing rafts.
St. Aubin's Account.
St. Aubin was fifteen years old at the time df the siege. It was his
mother who crossed over to Pontiac's village shortly before the attempt on
the garrison, and discovered the Indians in the act of sawing off the muzzles
of their guns, as related in the narrative. He remembers Pontiac at his
APPENDIX C. 595
head-quarters, at the house of Meloche, where his commissaries served out
provision to the Indians. He himself was among those who conveyed
cattle across the river to the English at a time when they were threatened
with starvation. One of his most vivid recollections is. that of seeing the
head of Captain Dalzell stuck on the picket of a garden fence, on the day
after the battle of Bloody Bridge. His narrative is one of the most copious
and authentic of the series.
Gouin's Account.
M. Gouin was but eleven years old at the time of the war. His father
was a prominent trader, and had great influence over the Indians. On sev-
eral occasions, he acted as mediator between them and the English, and
when Major Campbell was bent on visiting the camp of Pontiac, the elder
Gouin strenuously endeavored to prevent the attempt. Pontiac often came
to him for advice. His son bears emphatic testimony to the extraordinary
control which the chief exercised over his followers, and to the address
which he displayed in the management of his commissary department.
This account contains many particulars not elsewhere mentioned, though
bearing all the appearance of truth. It appears to have been composed
partly from the recollections of the younger Gouin, and partly from informa-
tion derived from his father.
Meloche's Account.
Mrs. Meloche lived, when a child, on the borders of the Detroit, between
the river and the camp of Pontiac. On one occasion, when the English
were cannonading the camp from their armed schooner in the river, a shot
struck her father's house, throwing down a part of the walls. After the
death of Major Campbell, she picked up a pocket-book belonging to him,
which the Indians had left on the ground. It was full of papers, and she
carried it to the English in the fort.
Parent's Account.
M. Parent was twenty-two years old when the war broke out. His recol-
lections of the siege are, however, less exact than those of some of the
former witnesses, though his narrative preserves several interesting in-
cidents.
Maxwell's Account.
Maxwell was an English provincial, and pretended to have been a soldier
under Gladwyn. His story belies the statement. It has all the ah- of a
narrative made up from hearsay, and largely embellished from imagination.
It has been made use of only in a few instances, where it is amply
596 APPENDIX C.
supported by less questionable evidence. This account seems to have
been committed to paper by Maxwell himself, as the style is very rude
and illiterate.
The remaining manuscripts consulted with reference to the siege of
Detroit have been obtained from the State Paper Office of London, and
from a few private autograph collections. Some additional information has
been derived from the columns of the New York Mercury and the Pennsyl-
vania Gazette for 1763, where various letters written by officers at Detroit
are published.
2. The Massacre of Michillimackinac. (Chap. XVII.)
The following letter may be regarded with interest, as having been
written by the commander of the unfortunate garrison a few days after the
massacre. A copy of the original was procured from the State Paper
Office of London.
Michillimackinac, 12 June, 1763.
Sir:
Notwithstanding what I wrote you in my last, that all the savages were
arrived, and that every thing seemed in perfect tranquility, yet, on the 4th
instant, the Chippeways, who live in a plain near this fort, assembled to play
ball, as they had done almost every day since their arrival. They played
from morning till noon ; then throwing their ball close to the gate, and ob-
serving Lieut. Lesley and me a few paces out of it, they came behind us,
seized and carried us into the woods.
In the mean time the rest rushed into the Fort, where they found their
squaws, whom they had previously planted there, with their hatchets hid
under their blankets, which they took, and in an instant killed Lieut. Jamet
and fifteen rank and file, and a trader named Tracy. They wounded two,
and took the rest of the Garrison prisoners, five [seven, Henry] of whom
they have since killed.
They made prisoners all the English Traders, and robbed them of every
thing they had ; but they offered no violence to the persons or property of
any of the Frenchmen.
When that massacre was over, Messrs. Langlade and Farli, the Inter-
preter, came down to the place where Lieut. Lesley and me were prisoners,
and on their giving themselves as security to return us when demanded,
they obtained leave for us to go to the Fort, under a guard of savages, which
gave time, by the assistance of the gentlemen above mentioned, to send for
the Cutaways, who came down on the first notice, and were very much dis-
pleased at what the Chippeways had done.
Since the arrival of the Cutaways they have done every thing in their
power to serve us, and with what prisoners the Chippeways had given them,
APPENDIX C. 597
and what they have bought, I have now with me Lieut. Lesley and eleven
privates, and the other four of the Garrison, who are yet living, remain in
the hands of the Chippeways.
The Chippeways, who are superior in number to the Outaways, have de-
clared in Council to them that if they do not remove us out of the Fort,
they will cut off all communication to this Post, by which means all the
Convoys of Merchants from Montreal, La Baye, St. Joseph, and the upper
posts, would perish. But if the news of your posts being attacked (which
they say was the reason why they took up the hatchet) be false, and you
can send up a strong reinforcement, with provisions, &c, accompanied by
some of your savages, I believe the post might be reestablished again.
Since this affair happened, two canoes arrived from Montreal, which put
in my power to make a present to the Ottaway nation, who very well deserve
any thing that can be done for them.
I have been very much obliged to Messrs. Langlade and Farli, the Inter-
preter, as likewise to the Jesuit, for the many good offices they have done us
on this occasion. The Priest seems inclinable to go down to your post for
a day or two, which I am very glad of, as he is a very good man, and had a
great deal to say with the savages, hereabout, who will believe every thing
he tells them on his return, which I hope will be soon. The Outaways say
they will take Lieut. Lesley, me, and the Eleven men which I mentioned
before were in their hands, up to their village, and there keep us, till they
hear what is doing at your Post. They have sent this canot for that purpose.
I refer you to the Priest for the particulars of this melancholy affair, and
am, Dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,
[Signed] Geo. Etherington.
To Major Gladwyn.
P. S. The Indians that are to carry the Priest to Detroit will not under-
take to land him at the Fort, but at some of the Indian villages near it ; so
you must not take it amiss that he does not pay you the first visit. And
once more I beg that nothing may stop your sending of him back, the next
day after his arrival, if possible, as we shall be at a great loss for the want
of him, and I make no doubt that you will do all in your power to make
peace, as you see the situation we are in, and send up provision as soon as
possible, and Ammunition, as what we had was pillaged by the savages.
Adieu.
Geo. Etheringtox.
APPENDIX D.
THE WAR ON THE BORDERS.
The Battle of Bushy Run. (Chap. XX.)
The despatches written by Colonel Bouquet, immediately after the
two battles near Bushy Run, contain so full and clear an account of
those engagements, that the collateral authorities consulted have served
rather to decorate and enliven the narrative than to add to it any important
facts. The first of these letters was written by Bouquet under the appre-
hension that he should not survive the expected conflict of the next day.
Both were forwarded to the commander-in-chief by the same express, within
a few days after the victory. The letters as here given were copied from
the originals in the London offices.
Camp at Edge Hill, 26 Miles from ?
Fort Pitt, 5th August, 1763. )
Sir:
The Second Instant the Troops and Convoy Arrived at Ligonier, whence
I could obtain no Intelligence of the Enemy ; The Expresses Sent since
the beginning of July, having been Either killed, or Obliged to Return,
all the Passes being Occupied by the Enemy : In this uncertainty I Deter-
mined to Leave all the Waggons with the Powder, and a Quantity of
Stores and Provisions, at Ligonier ; And on the 4th proceeded with the
Troops, and about 350 Horses Loaded with Flour.
I Intended to have Halted to Day at Bushy Run, (a Mile beyond this
Camp,) and after having Refreshed the Men and Horses, to have Marched
in the Night over Turtle Creek, a very Dangerous Defile of Several Miles,
Commanded by High and Craggy Hills : But at one o'clock this Afternoon,
after a march of 17 Miles, the Savages suddenly Attacked our Advanced
Guard, which was immediately Supported by the two Light Infantry Com-
panies of the 42d Regiment, Who Drove the Enemy from their Ambuscade,
and pursued them a good Way. The Savages Returned to the Attack, and
APPENDIX D. 599
the Fire being Obstinate on our Front, and Extending along our Flanks,
We made a General Charge, with the whole Line, to Dislodge the Savages
from the Heights, in which attempt We succeeded without Obtaining by it
any Decisive Advantage ; for as soon as they were driven from One Post,
they Appeared on Another, 'till, by continual Reinforcements, they were at
last able to Surround Us, and attacked the Convoy Left in our Rear ; This
Obliged us to March Back to protect it ; The Action then became General,
and though we were attacked on Every Side, and the Savages Exerted
themselves with Uncommon Resolution, they were constantly Repulsed
with Loss. — We also Suffered Considerably : Capt. Lieut. Graham, and
Lieut. James Mcintosh of the 42d, are Killed, and Capt. Graham Wounded.
Of the Royal Amer'n Regt., Lieut. Dow, who acted as A. D. Q. M. G. is
shot through the Body.
Of the 77th, Lieut. Donald Campbell, and Mr. Peebles, a Volunteer, are
Wounded.
Our Loss in Men, Including Rangers, and Drivers, Exceeds Sixty, Killed
or Wounded.
The Action has Lasted from One O'Clock 'till Night, And We Expect to
Begin again at Day Break. Whatever Our Fate may be, I thought it neces-
sary to Give Your Excellency this Early Information, that You may, at all
Events, take such Measures as You will think proper with the Provinces,
for their own Safety, and the Effectual Relief of Fort Pitt, as in Case of
Another Engagement I Fear Insurmountable Difficulties in protecting and
Transporting our Provisions, being already so much Weakened by the
Losses of this Day, in Men and Horses ; besides the Additional Necessity
of Carrying the Wounded, Whose Situation is truly Deplorable.
I Cannot Sufficiently Acknowledge the Constant Assistance I have Re-
ceived from Major Campbell, during this long Action; Nor Express my
Admiration of the Cool and Steady Behavior of the Troops, Who Did not
Fire a Shot, without Orders, and Drove the Enemy from their Posts with
Fixed Bayonets. — The Conduct of the Officers is much above my Praises.
I Have the
Honor to be, with great Respect,
Sir,
&ca.
Henry Bouquet.
His Excellency Sir Jeffrey Amherst.
Camp at Bushy Run, 6th August, 1763.
Sir:
I Had the Honor to Inform Your Excellency in my letter of Yesterday,
of our first Engagement with the Savages.
We Took Post last Night on the Hill, where Our Convoy Halted, when
the Front was Attacked, (a commodious piece of Ground, and Just Spacious
Enough for our Purpose.) There We Encircled the Whole, and Covered
our Wounded with the Flour Bags.
600 APPENDIX D.
In the Morning the Savages Surrounded our Camp, at the Distance of
about 500 Yards, and by Shouting and Yelping, quite Round that Exten-
sive Circumference, thought to have Terrified Us, with their Numbers:
They Attacked Us Early, and, under Favour of an Incessant Fire, made
Several Bold Efforts to Penetrate our Camp ; And tho' they Failed in the
Attempt, our Situation was not the Less Perplexing, having Experienced
that Brisk Attacks had Little Effect upon an Enemy, who always gave Way
when Pressed, & Appeared again Immediately ; Our Troops were besides
Extremely Fatigued with the Long March, and as long Action of the Pre-
ceding Day, and Distressed to the Last Degree, by a Total Want of Water,
much more Intolerable than the Enemy's Fire.
Tied to our Convoy We could not Lose Sight of it, without Exposing it,
and our Wounded, to Fall a prey to the Savages, who Pressed upon Us on
Every Side ; and to Move it was Impracticable, having lost many horses,
and most of the Drivers, Stupified by Fear, hid themselves in the Bushes,
or were Incapable of Hearing or Obeying Orders.
The Savages growing Every Moment more Audacious, it was thought
proper still to increase their Confidence ; by that means, if possible, to En-
tice them to Come Close upon Us, or to Stand their Ground when Attacked.
With this View two Companies of Light Infantry were Ordered within the
Circle, and the Troops on their Right and Left opened their Files, and
Filled up the Space that it might seem they were intended to Cover the
Retreat ; The Third Light Infantry Company, and the Grenadiers of the
42d, were Ordered to Support the two First Companys. This Manoeuvre
Succeeded to Our Wish, for the Few Troops who Took possession of the
Ground lately Occupied by the two Light Infantry Companys being
Brought in Nearer to the Centre of the Circle, the Barbarians, mistaking
these Motions for a Retreat, Hurried Headlong on, and Advancing upon
Us, with the most Daring Intrepidity, Galled us Excessively with their
Heavy Fire ; But at the very moment, that Certain of Success, they thought
themselves Masters of the Camp, Major Campbell, at the Head of the two
First Companys, Sallied out from a part of the Hill they Could not Observe,
and Fell upon their Right Flank ; They Resolutely Returned the Fire, but
could not Stand the Irresistible Shock of our Men, Who, Rushing in among
them, Killed many of them, and Put the Rest to Flight. The Orders sent
to the Other Two Companys were Delivered so timely by Captain Basset,
and Executed with such Celerity and Spirit, that the Routed Savages, who
happened to Run that Moment before their Front, Received their Full Fire,
when Uncovered by the Trees : The Four Companys Did not give them
time to Load a Second time, nor Even to Look behind them, but Pursued
them 'till they were Totally Dispersed. The Left of the Savages, which
had not been Attacked, were kept in Awe by the Remains of our Troops,
Posted on the Brow of the Hill, for that Purpose ; Nor Durst they Attempt
to Support, or Assist their Right, but being Witness to their Defeat, fol-
lowed their Example and Fled. Our Brave Men Disdained so much to
APPENDIX D. 601
Touch the Dead Body of a Vanquished Enemy, that Scarce a Scalp was
taken, Except by the Rangers, and Pack Horse Drivers.
The Woods being now Cleared and the Pursuit over, the Four Companys
took possession of a Hill in our Front ; and as soon as Litters could be
made for the Wounded, and the Flour and Every thing Destroyed, which,
for want of Horses, could not be Carried, We Marched without Moles-
tation to this Camp. After the Severe Correction We had given the
Savages a few hours before, it was Natural to Suppose We should Enjoy
some Rest ; but We had hardly Fixed our Camp, when they Fired upon
Us again : This was very Provoking ! However, the Light Infantry Dis-
persed them, before they could Receive Orders for that purpose. — I Hope
We shall be no more Disturbed, for, if We have another Action, We shall
hardly be able to Carry our Wounded.
The Behavior of the Troops, on this Occasion, Speaks for itself so
Strongly, that for me to Attempt their Eulogium, would but Detract from
their merit.
I Have the Honor to be, most Respectfully,
Sir,
&ca.
Henry Bouquet.
P. S. I Have the Honor to Enclose the Return of the Killed, Wounded,
and Missing in the two Engagements.
H. B.
His Excellency Sir Jeffrey Amherst.
76 YY
APPENDIX E.
THE PAXTON RIOTS.
1. Evidence against the Indians of Conestoga. (p. 412.)
Abraham Newcomer, a Mennonist, by trade a Gunsmith, upon his affirma-
tion, declared that several times, within these few years, Bill Soc and
Indian John, two of the Conestogue Indians, threatened to scalp him for
refusing to mend their tomahawks, and swore they would as soon scalp
him as they would a dog. A few days before Bill Soc was killed, he
brought a tomahawk to be steeled. Bill said, " If you will not, I'll have it
mended to your sorrow," from which expression I apprehended danger.
Mrs. Thompson, of the borough of Lancaster, personally appeared be-
fore the Chief Burgess, and upon her solemn oath, on the Holy Evangelists,
said that in the summer of 1761, Bill Soc came to her apartment, and threat-
ened her life, saying, " I kill you, all Lancaster can't catch me," which filled
me with terror ; and this lady further said, Bill Soc added, " Lancaster is
mine, and I will have it yet."
Colonel John Hambright, gentleman, an eminent Brewer of the Borough
of Lancaster, personally appeared before Robert Thompson, Esq., a justice
for the county of Lancaster, and made oath on the Holy Evangelists, that,
in August, 1757, he, an officer, was sent for provision from Fort Augusta to
Fort Hunter, that on his way he rested at M'Kee's old place ; a Sentinel was
stationed behind a tree, to prevent surprise. The Sentry gave notice In-
dians were near; the deponent crawled up the bank and discovered two
Indians ; one was Bill Soc, lately killed at Lancaster. He called Bill Soc
to come to him, but the Indians ran off. When the deponent came to Fort
Hunter, he learnt that an old man had been killed the day before ; Bill Soc
and his companion were believed to be the perpetrators of the murder. He,
the deponent, had frequently seen Bill Soc and some of the Conestogue
APPENDIX E. 603
Indians at Fort Augusta, trading with the Indians, but, after the murder of
the old man, Bill Soc did not appear at that Garrison.
John Hambright.
Sworn and Subscribed the 28th of Feb., 1764, before me,
Robert Thompson, Justice.
Charles Cunningham, of the county of Lancaster, personally appeared
before me, Thomas Foster, Esq., one of the Magistrates for said county, and
being qualified according to law, doth depose and say, that he, the deponent,
heard Joshua James, an Indian, say, that he never killed a white man in his
life, but six dutchmen that he killed in the Minisinks.
Charles Cunningham.
Sworn to, and Subscribed before Thomas Foster, Justice.
Alexander Stephen, of the county of Lancaster, personally appeared
before Thomas Foster, Esq., one of the Magistrates, and being duly
qualified according to law, doth say, that Connayak Sally, an Indian
woman, told him that the Conestogue Indians had killed Jegrea, an Indian,
because he would not join the Conestogue Indians in destroying the Eng-
lish. James Cotter told the deponent that he was one of the three that
killed old William Hamilton, on Sherman's Creek, and also another man,
with seven of his family. James Cotter demanded of the deponent a canoe,
which the murderers had left, as Cotter told him when the murder was
committed.
Alexander Stephen.
Thomas Foster, Justice.
Note. — Jegrea was a Warrior Chief, friendly to the Whites, and he
threatened the Conestogue Indians with his vengeance, if they harmed the
English. Cotter was one of the Indians, killed in Lancaster county, in 1763.
Anne Mary Le Roy, of Lancaster, appeared before the Chief Burgess,
and being sworn on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, did depose and
say, that in the year 1755, when her Father, John Jacob Le Roy, and many
others, were murdered by the Indians, at Mahoney, she, her brother, and
some others were made prisoners, and taken to Kittanning ; that stranger
Indians visited them ; the French told them they were Conestogue Indians,
and that Isaac was the only Indian true to their interest ; and that the Cones-
togue Indians, with the exception of Isaac, were ready to lift the hatchet
when ordered by the French. She asked Bill Soc's mother whether she had
ever been at Kittanning ? she said " no, but her son, Bill Soc, had been
there often ; that he was good for nothing."
Mary Le Roy.
2. Proceedings of the Rioters. (Chap. XXIV. XXV.)
Deposition of Felix Donolly, keeper of Lancaster Jail. (p. 418.)
This deposition is imperfect, a part of the manuscript having been
604 APPENDIX E.
defaced or torn away. The original, in the handwriting of Edward Ship-
pen, the chief magistrate of Lancaster, was a few years since in the posses-
sion of Redmond Conyngham, Esq.
The breaking open the door alarmed me ; armed men broke in ; they
demanded the strange Indian to be given up ; they ran by me ; the Indians
guessed their intention ; they seized billets of wood from the pile ; but the
three most active were shot ; others came to their assistance ; I was stupi-
fied ; before I could shake off my surprise, the Indians were killed and
their murderers away.
Q. You say, " Indians armed themselves with wood ; " did those Indians
attack the rioters ?
A. They did. If they had not been shot, they would have killed the
men who entered, for they were the strongest.
Q. Could the murder have been prevented by you ?
A. No : I nor no person here could have prevented it.
Q. What number were the rioters ?
A. I should say fifty.
Q. Did you know any of them ?
A. No ; they were strangers.
Q. Do you now know who was in command ?
A. I have been told, Lazarus Stewart of Donegal.
Q. If the Indians had not attempted resistance, would the men have
fled ? (fired ?)
A. I couldn't tell ; I do not know.
Q. Do you think or believe that the rioters came with the intent to
murder ?
A. I heard them say, when they broke in, they wanted a strange
Indian.
Q. Was their object to murder him ?
A. From what I have heard since, I think they meant to carry him off:
that is my belief.
Q. What was their purpose ?
A. I do not know.
Q. Were the Indians killed all friends of this province ?
A. I have been told they were not. I cannot tell of myself ; I do not
know.
Donolly was suspected of a secret inclination in favor of the rioters. In
private conversation he endeavored to place their conduct in as favorable a
light as possible, and indeed such an intention is apparent in the above
deposition.
Letter from Edward Shippen to Governor Hamilton, (p. 420.)
Lancaster, , 1764.
Honoured Sir :
I furnish you with a full detail of all the particulars that could be gath-
ered of the unhappy transactions of the fourteenth and twenty-seventh of
APPENDIX E. 605
December last, as painful for you to read as me to write , The Depositions
can only state the fact that the Indians were killed. Be assured the Borough
Authorities, when they placed the Indians in the Workhouse, thought it a
place of security. I am sorry the Indians were not removed to Philadelphia,
as recommended by us. It is too late to remedy. It is much to be regretted
that there are evil-minded persons among us, who are trying to corrupt the
minds of the people by idle tales and horrible butcheries — are injuring the
character of many of our most respectable people. That printers should
have lent their aid astonishes me when they are employed by the Assembly
to print their laws. I can see no good in meeting their falsehoods by coun-
ter statements.
The Rev. Mr. Elder and Mr. Harris are determined to rely upon the
reputation they have so well established.
For myself, I can only say that, possessing your confidence, and that of
the Proprietaries, with a quiet conscience, I regard not the malignant
pens of secret assailants — men who had not the courage to affix their
names. Is it not strange that a too ready belief was at first given to the
slanderous epistles ? Resting on the favor I have enjoyed of the Govern-
ment, on the confidence reposed in me, by you and the Proprietaries ; by
the esteem of my fellow-men in Lancaster, I silently remain passive.
Yours affectionately,
Edward Shippen.
Extract from a letter of the Rev. Mr. Elder to Governor Penn, Decem-
ber 27, 1763. (p. 417, etc.)
The storm which had been so long gathering, has at length exploded.
Had Government removed the Indians from Conestoga, which had frequently
been urged, without success, this painful catastrophe might have been
avoided. What could I do with men heated to madness. All that I could
do, was done ; I expostulated ; but life and reason were set at defiance.
And yet the men, in private life, are virtuous and respectable ; not cruel,
but mild and merciful.
The time will arrive when each palliating circumstance will be calmly
weighed. This deed, magnified into the blackest of crimes, shall be con-
sidered one of those youthful ebullitions of wrath caused by momentary
excitement, to which human infirmity is subjected.
Extract from " The Paxtoniade," a poem in imitation of Hudibras, pub-
lished at Philadelphia, 1704, by a partisan of the Quaker faction.
O'Hara mounted on his Steed,
(Descendant of that self-same Ass,
That bore his Grandsire Hudibras,)
And from that same exalted Station,
Pronounced an hortory Oration :
YY*
606 APPENDIX E.
For he was cunning as a Fox,
Had read o'er Calvin and Dan Nox ;
A man of most profound Discerning,
Well versed in P n Learning.
So after hemming thrice to clear
His Tlrroat, and banish thoughts of fear,
And of the mob obtaining Silence,
He thus went on — " Dear Sirs, a while since
Ye know as how the Indian Rabble,
With practices unwarrantable,
Did come upon our quiet Borders,
And there commit most desperate murders ;
Did tomahawk, butcher, wound and cripple,
With cruel Rage, the Lord's own People ;
Did war most implacable wage
With God's own chosen heritage ;
Did from our Brethren take their lives,
And kill our Children, kine and wives.
Now, Sirs, I ween it is but right,
That we upon these Canaanites,
Without delay, should Vengeance take,
Both for our own, and the K — k's sake ;
Should totally destroy the heathen,
And never till we've killed 'em leave 'em ; —
Destroy them quite frae out the Land ;
And for it we have God's Command.
We should do him a muckle Pleasure,
As ye in your Books may read at leisure."
He paused, as Orators are used,
And from his pocket quick produced
A friendly Vase well stor'd and fill'd
With good old wiskey twice distill'd,
And having refresh'd his inward man,
Went on with his harrangue again.
" Is't not, my Brethren, a pretty Story
That we who are the Land's chief Glory,
Who are i' the number of God's elected,
Should slighted thus be and neglected ?
That we, who're the only Gospel Church,
Should thus be left here in the lurch ;
Whilst our most antichristian foes,
Whose trade is Avar and hardy blows,
(At least while some of the same Colour,
With those who've caused us all this Dolor,)
In Matchcoats warm and blankets drest,
Are by the Q, rs much caress'd,
APPENDIX E. 607
And live in peace by good warm fires,
And have the extent of their desires ?
Shall we put by such treatment base ?
By Nox, we wont ! " — And broke his Vase.
" Seeing then we've such good cause to hate 'em,
What I intend's to exterpate 'em ;
To suffer them no more to thrive,
And leave nor Root nor Branch alive ;
But would we madly leave our wives
And Children, and expose our lives
In search of these wh' infest our borders,
And perpetrate such cruel murders ;
It is most likely, by King Harry,
That we should in the end miscarry.
I deam therefore the wisest course is,
That those who've beasts should mount their horses,
And those who've none should march on foot,
With as much quickness as will suit,
To where those heathen, nothing fearful,
That we will on their front and rear fall,
Enjoy Sweet Otium in their Cotts,
And dwell securely in their Hutts.
And as they've nothing to defend them,
We'll quickly to their own place send them ! "
The following letter from Rev. John Elder to Colonel Shippen, will serve
to exhibit the state of feeling among the frontier inhabitants, (pp. 426-428.)
Paxton, Feb. 1, 1764.
Dear Sir :
Since I sealed the Governor's Letter, which you'll please to deliver to
him, I suspect, from the frequent meetings I hear the people have had in
diverse parts of the Frontier Counties, that an Expedition is immediately
designed against the Indians at Philadelphia. It's well known that I have
always used my utmost endeavors to discourage these proceedings ; but to
little purpose : the minds of the Inhabitants are so exasperated against a
particular set of men, deeply concerned in the government, for the singular
regards they have always shown to savages, and the heavy burden by their
means laid on the province in maintaining an expensive Trade and holding
Treaties from time to time with the savages, without any prospect of advan-
tage either to his Majesty or to the province, how beneficial soever it may
have been to individuals, that it's in vain, nay even unsafe for any one to
oppose their measures ; for were Col. Shippen here, tlio' a gentleman highly
esteemed by the Frontier inhabitants, he would soon find it useless, if not.
dangerous to act in opposition to an enraged multitude. At first there were
but, as I think, few concerned in these riots, & nothing intended by some
608 APPENDIX E.
but to ease the province of part of its burden, and by others, who had suf-
fered greatly in the late war, the gratifying a spirit of Revenge, yet the
manner of the Quakers resenting these things has been, I think, very inju-
rious and impolitick. The Presbyterians, who are the most numerous, I im-
agine, of any denomination in the province, are enraged at their being charged
in bulk with these facts, under the name of Scotch-Irish, and other ill-
natured titles, and that the killing the Conestogoe Indians is compared to
the Irish Massacres, and reckoned the most barbarous of either, so that
things are grown to that pitch now that the country seems determined that
no Indian Treaties shall be held, or savages maintained at the expense of
the province, unless his Majesty's pleasure on these heads is well known ;
for I understood to my great satisfaction that amid our great confusions,
there are none, even of the most warm and furious tempers, but what are
warmly attached to his Majesty, and would cheerfully risk their lives to pro-
mote his service. What the numbers are of those going on the above-men-
tioned Expedition, I can't possibly learn, as I'm informed they are collecting
in all parts of the province ; however, this much may be depended on, that
they have the good wishes of the country in general, and that there are few
but what are now either one way or other embarked in the affair, tho' some
particular persons, I'm informed, are grossly misrepresented in Philadelphia ;
even my neighbor, Mr. Harris, it's said, is looked on there as the chief pro-
moter of these riots, yet it's entirely false ; he had aided as much in oppo-
sition to these measures as he could with any safety in his situation. Re-
ports, however groundless, are spread by designing men on purpose to
inflame matters, and enrage the parties against each other, and various
methods used to accomplish their pernicious ends. As I am deeply con-
cerned for the welfare of my country, I would do every thing in my power
to promote its interests. I thought proper to give you these few hints;
you'll please to make what use you think proper of them. I would heartily
wish that some effectual measures might be taken to heal these growing
evils, and this I judge may be yet done, and Col. Armstrong, who is now in
town, may be usefully employed for this purpose.
Sir,
I am, etc.,
John Elder.
Extracts from a Quaker letter on the Paxton riots, (p. 436.)
This letter is written with so much fidelity, and in so impartial a spirit,
that it must always remain one of the best authorities in reference to these
singular events. Although in general very accurate, its testimony has in a
few instances been set aside in favor of the more direct evidence of eye-
witnesses. It was published by Hazard in the twelfth volume of his Pennsyl-
vania Register. I have, however, examined the original, which is still pre-
served by a family in Philadelphia. The extracts here given form but a
small part of the entire letter.
APPENDIX E. 609
Before I proceed further it may not be amiss to inform thee that a great
number of the inhabitants here approved of killing the Indians, and declared
that they would not offer to oppose the Paxtoneers, unless they attacked the
citizens, that is to say, themselves — for, if any judgment was to be formed
from countenances and behavior, those who depended upon them for defence
and protection, would have found their confidence shockingly misplaced.
The number of persons in arms that morning was about six hundred, and
as it was expected the insurgents would attempt to cross at tire middle or
upper ferry, orders were sent to bring the boats to this side, and to take
away the ropes. Couriers were now seen continually coming in, their horses
all of a foam, and people running with the greatest eagerness to ask them
where the enemy were, and what were their numbers. The answers to
these questions were various : sometimes they were at a distance, then near
at hand — sometimes they were a thousand strong, then five hundred, then
fifteen hundred ; in short, all was doubt and uncertainty.
About eleven o'clock it was recollected the boat at the Sweed's ford
was not secured, which, in the present case, was of the utmost consequence,
for, as there was a considerable freshet in the Schuylkill, the securing that
boat would oblige them to march some distance up the river, and thereby
retard the execution of their scheme at least a day or two longer. Several
persons therefore set off immediately to get it performed ; but they had not
been gone long, before there was a general uproar — They are coming !
they are coming ! Where ? where ? Down Second street ! down Sec-
ond street ! Such of the company as had grounded their firelocks, flew to
arms, and began to prime ; the artillerymen threw themselves into order, and
the people ran to get out of the way, for a troop of armed men, on horse-
back, appeared in reality coming down the street, and one of the artillery-
men was just going to apply the fatal match, when a person, perceiving the
mistake, clapped his hat upon the touch-hole of the piece he was going to
fire. Dreadful would have been the consequence, had the cannon dis-
charged ; for the men that appeared proved to be a company of German
butchers and porters, under the command of Captain Hoffman. They had
just collected themselves, and being unsuspicious of danger, had neglected
to give notice of their coming ; — a false alarm was now called out, and all
became quiet again in a few minutes. . . .
The weather being now very wet, Capt. Francis, Capt. Wood, and Capt.
Mifflin, drew up their men under the market-house, which, not affording
shelter for any more, they occupied Friends' meeting-house, and Capt. Jo-
seph Wharton marched his company up stairs, into the monthly meeting
room, as I have been told — the rest were stationed below. It happened to
be the day appointed for holding of Youths' meeting, but never did the
Quaker youth assemble in such a military manner — never was the sound
of the drum heard before within those walls, nor ever till now was the Ban-
ner of War displayed in that rostrum, from whence the art has been so zeal-
ously declaimed against. Strange reverse of times, James — . Nothing of
any consequence passed during the remainder of the day, except that
77
610 APPENDIX E.
Captain Coultas came into town at the head of a troop, which he had just
raised in his own neighborhood. The Captain was one of those who had been
marked out as victims by these devout conquerors, and word was sent to him
from Lancaster to make his peace with Heaven, for that he had but about
ten days to live.
In the evening our Negotiators came in from Germantown. They had
conferred with the Chiefs of this illustrious — , and have prevailed with
them to suspend all hostility till such time as they should receive an answer
to their petition or manifesto, which had been sent down the day before.
The weather now clearing, the City forces drew up near the Court House,
where a speech was made to them, informing them that matters had been
misrepresented, — that the Paxtoneers were a set of very worthy men (or
something to that purpose) who labored under great distress, — that Messrs.
Smith, &c, were come (by their own authority) as representatives, from sev-
eral counties, to lay their complaints before the Legislature, and that the
reason for their arming themselves was for fear of being molested or abused.
By whom ? Why, by the peaceable citizens of Philadelphia ! Ha ! ha ! ha !
Who can help laughing ? The harangue concluded with thanks for the
trouble and expense they had been at, (about nothing,) and each retired to
their several homes. The next day, when all was quiet, and nobody
dreamed of any further disturbance, we were alarmed again. The report
now was, that the Paxtoneers had broke the Treaty, and were just entering
the city. It is incredible to think with what alacrity the people flew to
arms ; in one quarter of an hour near a thousand of them were assembled,
with a determination to bring the affair to a conclusion immediately, and not
to suffer themselves to be harassed as they had been several days past. If
the whole body of the enemy had come in, as was expected, the engage-
ment would have been a bloody one, for the citizens were exasperated
almost to madness ; but happily those that appeared did not exceed thirty,
(the rest having gone homewards,) and as they behaved with decency, they
were suffered to pass without opposition. Thus the storm blew over, and
the Inhabitants dispersed themselves. . . .
The Pennsylvania Gazette, usually a faithful chronicler of the events of
the day, preserves a discreet silence on the subject of the Paxton riots, and
contains no other notice of them than the following condensed statement : —
On Saturday last, the City was alarmed with the News of great Numbers
of armed Men, from the Frontiers, being on the several Roads, and moving
towards Philadelphia. As their designs were unknown, and there were va-
rious Reports concerning them, it was thought prudent to put the City in
some Posture of Defence against any Outrages that might possibly be
intended. The Inhabitants being accordingly called upon by the Governor,
great numbers of them entered into an Association, and took Arms for the
Support of Government, and Maintenance of good Order.
APPENDIX E. 611
Six Companies of Foot, one of Artillery, and two Troops of Horse, were
formed, and paraded, to which, it is said, some Thousands, who did not
appear, were prepared to join themselves, in case any attempt should be
made against the Town. The Barracks also, where the Indians are lodged,
under Protection of the regular Troops, were put into a good Posture of
Defence ; several Works being thrown up about them, and eight Pieces of
Cannon planted there.
The Insurgents, it seems, intended to rendezvous at Germantown ; but
the Precautions taken at the several Ferries over Schuylkill impeded their
Junction ; and those who assembled there, being made acquainted with the
Force raised to oppose them, listened to the reasonable Discourses and
Advice of some prudent Persons, who voluntarily went out to meet and
admonish them ; and of some Gentlemen sent by the Governor, to know the
Reasons of their Insurrection ; and promised to return peaceably to their
Habitations, leaving only two of their Number to present a Petition to the
Governor and Assembly ; on which the Companies raised in Town were
thanked by the Governor on Tuesday Evening, and dismissed, and the City
restored to its former Quiet.
But on Wednesday Morning there was a fresh Alarm, occasioned by a
false Report, that Four Hundred of the same People were on their March to
Attack the Town. Immediately, on Beat of Drum, a much greater number
of the Inhabitants, with the utmost Alacrity, put themselves under Arms ;
but as the Truth was soon known, they were again thanked by the Gov-
ernor, and dismissed ; the Country People being really dispersed, and gone
home according to their Promise. — Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1833.
The following extract from a letter of Rev. John Ewing to Joseph Reed,
affords a striking example of the excitement among the Presbyterians.
(See Life and Cor. of Joseph Reed, I. 34.)
" Feb. — , 1764.
As to public affairs, our Province is greatly involved in intestine feuds,' at
a time, when we should rather unite, one and all, to manage the affairs of
our several Governments, with prudence and discretion. A few designing
men, having engrossed too much power into their hands, are pushing matters
beyond all bounds. There are twenty -two Quakers in our Assembly, at pres-
ent, who, although they won't absolutely refuse to grant money for the King's
use, yet never fail to contrive matters in such a manner as to afford little or
no assistance to the poor, distressed Frontiers ; while our public money is
lavishly squandered away in supporting a number of savages, who have been
murdering and scalping us for many years past. This has so enraged some
desperate young men, who had lost their nearest relations, by these very
Indians, to cut off about twenty Indians that lived near Lancaster, who had,
during the war, carried on a constant intercourse with our other enemies ;
and they came down to Germantown to inquire why Indians, known to be
enemies, were supported, even in luxury, with the best that our markets
afforded, at the public expense, while they were left in the utmost distress
612 APPENDIX E.
on the Frontiers, in want of the necessaries of life. Ample promises were
made to them that their grievances should be redressed, upon which they im-
mediately dispersed and went home. These persons have been unjustly rep-
resented as endeavoring to overturn Government, when nothing was more dis-
tant from their minds. However this matter may be looked upon in Britain,
where you know very little of the matter, you may be assured that ninety-nine
in an hundred of the Province are firmly persuaded, that they are maintaining
our enemies, while our friends back are suffering the greatest extremities,
neglected ; and that few, but Quakers, think that the Lancaster Indians have
suffered any thing but their just deserts. 'Tis not a little surprising to us
here, that orders should be sent from the Crown, to apprehend and bring to
justice those persons who have cut off that nest of enemies that lived near
Lancaster. They never were subjects to his Majesty ; were a free, inde-
pendent state, retaining all the powers of a free state ; sat in all our Treaties
with the Indians, as one of the tribes belonging to the Six Nations, in alli-
ance with us ; they entertained the French and Indian spies — gave intelli-
gence to them of the defenceless state of our Province — furnished them
with Gazette every week, or fortnight — gave them intelligence of all the
dispositions of the Province army against them — were frequently with the
French and Indians at their forts and towns — supplied them with warlike
stores — joined with the strange Indians in their war-dances, and in the par-
ties that made incursions on our Frontiers — were ready to take up the
hatchet against the English openly, when the French requested it — actually
murdered and scalped some of the Frontier inhabitants — insolently boasted
of the murders they had committed, when they saw our blood was cooled,
after the last Treaty at Lancaster — confessed that they had been at war
with us, and would soon be at Avar with us again, (which accordingly hap-
pened,) and even went so far as to put one of their own warriors, Jegarie, to
death, because he refused to go to war with them against the English. All
these things were known through the Frontier inhabitants, and are since
proved upon oath. This occasioned them to be cut off by about forty or fifty
persons, collected from all the Frontier counties, though they are called by
the name of the little Township of Paxton, where, possibly, the smallest
part of them resided. And what surprises us more than all the accounts
we have from England, is, that our Assembly, in a petition they have drawn
up, to the King, for a change of Government, should represent this Province
in a state of uproar and riot, and when not a man in it has once resisted a
single officer of the Government, nor a single act of violence committed,
unless you call the Lancaster affair such, although it was no more than
going to war with that tribe, as they had done before with others, without a
formal proclamation of war by the Government. I have not time, as you
may guess by this scrawl, to write more at this time, but only that I am
yours, &c. T ^
John Lwing.
APPENDIX E. 613
3. Memorials of the Paxton Mex. (pp. 426-443.)
5. To the Honorable John Perm, Esq., Governor of the Province of
Pennsylvania, and of the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Sussex, upon
Delaware ; and to the Representatives of the Freemen of the said Province,
in General Assembly met.
We, Matthew Smith and James Gibson, in Behalf of ourselves and his
Majesty's faithful and loyal Subjects, the Inhabitants of the Frontier Coun-
ties of Lancaster, York, Cumberland, Berks, and Northampton, humbly be~
Leave to remonstrate and lay before you the following Grievances, which
we submit to your Wisdom for Redress.
First. We apprehend that, as Freemen and English Subjects, we have an
indisputable Title to the same Privileges and Immunities with his Majesty's
other Subjects, who reside in the interior Counties of Philadelphia, Chester,
and Bucks, and therefore ought not to be excluded from an equal Share
with them in the very important Privilege of Legislation ; — nevertheless,
contrary to the Proprietor's Charter, and the acknowledged Principles of
common Justice and Equity, our five Counties are restrained from electing
more than ten Representatives, viz., four for Lancaster, two for York, two
for Cumberland, one for Berks, and one for Northampton, while the three
Counties and City of Philadelphia, Chester and Bucks elect Twenty-six.
This we humbly conceive is oppressive, unequal and unjust, the Cause
of many of our Grievances, and an Infringement of our natural Privileges
of Freedom and Equality ; wherefore we humbly pray that we may be
no longer deprived of an equal Number with the three aforesaid Counties
to represent us in Assembly.
Secondly. We understand that a Bill is now before the House of As-
sembly, wherein it is provided, that such Persons as shall be charged with
killing any Indians in Lancaster County, shall not be tried in the County
where the Fact was committed, but in the Counties of Philadelphia,
Chester, or Bucks. This is manifestly to deprive British Subjects of their
known Privileges, to cast an eternal Reproach upon whole Counties, as if
they were unfit to serve their Country in the Quality of Jury-men, and to
contradict the well known Laws of the British Nation, in a Point whereon
Life, Liberty, and Security essentially depend ; namely, that of being tried
by their Equals, in the Neighbourhood where their own, their Accusers, and
the Witnesses Character and Credit, with the Circumstances of the Fact,
are best known, and instead thereof putting their Lives in die Hands of
Strangers, who may as justly be suspected of Partiality to, as the Frontier
Counties can be of Prejudices against, Indians ; and this too, in Favour of
Indians only, against his Majesty's faithful and loyal Subjects : Besides, it
is well known, that the Design of it is to comprehend a Fact committed
before such a Law was thought of. And if such Practices were tolerated,
no Man could be secure in his most invaluable Interest. — We are also
informed, to our great Surprise, that this Bill has actually received the
ZZ
614 APPENDIX E.
Assent of a Majority of the House ; which we are persuaded could not
have been the Case, had our Frontier Counties been equally represented in
Assembly. — However, we hope that the Legislature of this Province will
never enact a Law of so dangerous a Tendency, or take away from his
Majesty's good Subjects a Privilege so long esteemed sacred by Eng-
lishmen.
Thirdly. During the late and present Indian War, the Frontiers of this
Province have been repeatedly attacked and ravaged by skulking Parties
of the Indians, who have, with the most Savage Cruelty, murdered Men,
Women, and Children, without Distinction, and have reduced near a
Thousand Families to the most extreme Distress. — It grieves us to the
very Heart to see such of our Frontier Inhabitants as have escaped Savage
Fury, with the Loss of their Parents, their Children, their Wives or Rela-
tives, left Destitute by the Public, and exposed to the most cruel Poverty
and Wretchedness, while upwards of an Hundred and Twenty of these
Savages, who are, with great Reason, suspected of being guilty of these
horrid Barbarities, under the Mask of Friendship, have procured them-
selves to be taken under the Protection of the Government, with a View to
elude the Fury of the brave Relatives of the Murdered, and are now main-
tained at the public Expence. — Some of these Indians, now hi the Barracks
of Philadelphia, are confessedly a Part of the Wyalusing Indians, which
Tribe is now at War with us ; and the others are the Moravian Indians,
who, living with us, under the Cloak of Friendship, carried on a Correspond-
ence with our known Enemies on the Great Island. — We cannot but
observe, with Sorrow and Indignation, that some Persons in this Province
are at Pains to extenuate the barbarous Cruelties practised by these Sav-
ages on our murdered Brethren and Relatives, which are shocking to human
Nature, and must pierce every Heart, but that of the hardened Perpe-
trators or their Abettors. Nor is it less distressing to hear Others pleading,
that although the Wyalusing Tribe is at War with us, yet that Part of it
which is under the Protection of the Government, may be friendly to the
English, and innocent : — In what Nation under the Sun was it ever the
Custom, that when a neighbouring Nation took up Arms, not an Individual
should be touched, but only the Persons that offered Hostilities ? — Who
ever proclaimed War with a Part of a Nation and not with the whole ? —
Had these Indians disapproved of the Perfidy of their Tribe, and been
willing to cultivate and preserve Friendship with us, why did they not give
Notice of the War before it happened, as it is known to be the Result of
long Deliberations, and a preconcerted Combination among them ? — Why
did they not leave their Tribe immediately, and come among us, before
there was Ground to suspect them, or War was actually waged with their
Tribe ? — No, they stayed amongst them, were privy to their Murders and
Ravages, until we had destroyed their Provisions, and when they could no
longer subsist at Home, they come not as Deserters, but as Friends, to be
maintained through the Winter, that they may be able to scalp and butcher
us in the Spring.
APPENDIX E. 615
And as to the Moravian Indians, there are strong Grounds at least to
suspect their Friendship, as it is known that they carried on a Correspond-
ence with our Enemies on the Great Island. — We killed three Indians
going from Bethlehem to the Great Island with Blankets, Ammunition, and
Provisions, which is an undeniable Proof that the Moravian Indians were in
Confederacy with our open Enemies. And we cannot but be filled with
Indignation to hear this Action of ours painted in the most odious and
detestable Colours, as if we had inhumanly murdered our Guides, who pre-
served us from perishing in the Woods ; when we only killed three of our
known Enemies, who attempted to shoot us when we surprised them. —
And, besides all this, we understand that one of these very Indians is
proved, by the Oath of Stinton's Widow, to be the very Person that mur-
dered her Husband. — How then comes it to pass, that he alone, of all the
Moravian Indians, should join the Enemy to murder that family ? — Or can
it be supposed that any Enemy Indians, contrary to their known Custom of
making War, should penetrate into the Heart of a settled Country, to burn,
plunder, and murder the Inhabitants, and not molest any Houses in their
Return, or ever be seen or heard of? — Or how can we account for it, that
no Ravages have been committed in Northampton County since the Re-
moval'of the Moravian Indians, when the Great Cove has been struck
since ? — These Things put it beyond Doubt with us that the Indians now
at Philadelphia are his Majesty's perfidious Enemies, and therefore, to pro-
tect and maintain them at the public Expence, while our suffering Brethren
on the Frontiers are almost destitute of the Necessaries of Life, and are
neglected by the Public, is sufficient to make us mad with Rage, and tempt
us to do what nothing but the most violent Necessity can vindicate. — We
humbly and earnestly pray therefore, that those Enemies of his Majesty may
be removed as soon as possible out of the Province.
Fourthly. We humbly conceive that it is contrary to the Maxims of good
Policy and extremely dangerous to our Frontiers, to suffer any Indians, of
what Tribe soever, to live within the inhabited Parts of this Province, while
we are engaged in an Indian War, as Experience has taught us that they
are all perfidious, and their Claim to Freedom and Independency, puts it in
their Power to act as Spies, to entertain and give Intelligence to our Ene-
mies, and to furnish them with Provisions and warlike Stores. — To this
fatal Intercourse between our pretended Friends and open Enemies, we
must ascribe the greatest Part of the Ravages and Murders that have been
committed in the Course of this and the last Indian War. — We therefore
pray that this Grievance be taken under Consideration, and remedied.
Fifthly. We cannot help lamenting that no Provision has been hitherto
made, that such of our Frontier Inhabitants as have been wounded in De-
fence of the Province, their Lives and Liberties may be taken Care of, and
cured of their Wounds, at the public Expence. — We therefore pray that
this Grievance may be redressed.
Sixthly. In the late Indian War this Province, with others of his
Majesty's Colonies, gave Rewards for Indian Scalps, to encourage the
APPENDIX E.
seeking them in their own Country, as the most likely Means of destroying
or reducing them to Reason ; hut no such Encouragement has been given
in this War, which has damped the Spirits of many brave Men, who are
willing to venture their Lives in Parties against the Enemy. — We therefore
pray that public Rewards may be proposed for Indian Scalps, which may
be adequate to the Dangers attending Enterprises of this Nature.
Seventhly. We daily lament that Numbers of our nearest and dearest
Relatives are still in Captivity among the savage Heathen, to be trained up
in all their Ignorance and Barbarity, or to be tortured to Death with all the
Contrivances of Indian Cruelty, for attempting to make their Escape from
Bondage. We see they pay no Regard to the many solemn Promises
which they have made to restore our Friends who are in Bondage amongst
them. — We therefore earnestly pray that no Trade may hereafter be per-
mitted to be carried on with them, until our Brethren and Relatives are
brought Home to us.
Eighthly. We complain that a certain Society of People in this Province
in the late Indian War, and at several Treaties held by the King's Repre-
sentatives, openly loaded the Indians with Presents ; and that F. P., a Leader
of the said Society, in Defiance of all Government, not only abetted our
Indian Enemies, but kept up a private Intelligence with them, and publickly
received from them a Belt of Wampum, as if he had been our Governor, or
authorized by the King to treat with his Enemies. — By this Means the
Indians have been taught to despise us as a weak and disunited People, and,
from this fatal Source have arose many of our Calamities under which we
groan. — We humbly pray, therefore, that this Grievance may be redressed,
and that no private Subject be hereafter permitted to treat with, or carry on
a Correspondence with our Enemies.
Ninthly. We cannot but observe with Sorrow, that Fort Augusta, which
has been very expensive to this Province, has afforded us but little Assistance
during this or the last War. The Men that were stationed at that Place
neither helped our distressed Inhabitants to save their Crops, nor did they
attack our Enemies in their Towns, or patrol on our Frontiers. — We
humbly request that proper Measures may be taken to make that Garrison
more serviceable to us in our Distress, if it can be done.
N. B. We are far from intending any Reflection against the Com-
manding Officer stationed at Augusta, as we presume his Conduct was
always directed by those from whom he received his Orders.
Signed on Behalf of ourselves, and by Appointment of a great Number
of the Frontier Inhabitants,
Matthew Smith.
James Gibson.
APPENDIX E. 617
The Declaration of the injured Frontier Inhabitants, together with
a brief Sketch of Grievances the good Inhabitants of the Province labor
under.
Inasmuch as the Killing those Indians at Conestogoe Manor and Lancas-
ter has been, and may be, the Subject of much Conversation, and by invidi-
ous Representations of it, which some, we doubt not, will industriously
spread, many, unacquainted with the true State of Affairs, may be led to
pass a severer Censure on the Authors of those Facts, and any others of the
like Nature which may hereafter happen, than we are persuaded they would,
if Matters were duly understood and deliberated ; we think it therefore
proper thus openly to declare- ourselves, and render some brief Hints of the
Reasons of our Conduct, which we must, and frankly do, confess nothing but
Necessity itself could induce us to, or justify us in, as it bears an Appearance
of flying in the Face of Authority, and is attended with much Labour, Fatigue
and Expence.
Ourselves then, to a Man, we profess to be loyal Subjects to the best of
Kings, our rightful Sovereign George the Third, firmly attached to his Royal
Person, Interest and Government, and of Consequence equally opposite to
the Enemies of his Throne and Dignity, whether openly avowed, or more
dangerously concealed under a Mask of falsely pretended Friendship, and
chearfully willing to offer our Substance and Lives in his Cause.
These Indians, known to be firmly connected in Friendship with our
openly avowed embittered Enemies, and some of whom have, by several
Oaths, been proved to be Murderers, and who, by then: better Acquaintance
with the Situation and State of our Frontier, were more capable of doing us
Mischief, we saw, with Indignation, cherished and caressed as dearest
Friends ; — But this, alas ! is but a Part, a small Part, of that excessive
Regard manifested to Indians, beyond his Majesty's loyal Subjects, whereof
we complain, and which, together with various other Grievances, have not
only inflamed with Resentment the Breasts of a Number, and urged them
to the disagreeable Evidence of it, they have been constrained to give, but
have heavily displeased, by far, the greatest Part of the good Inhabitants
of this Province.
Should we here reflect to former Treaties, the exorbitant Presents, and
great Servility therein paid to Indians, have long been oppressive Grievances
we have groaned under ; and when at the last Indian Treaty held at Lan-
caster, not only was the Blood of our many murdered Brethren tamely cov-
ered, but our poor unhappy captivated Friends abandoned to Slavery among
the Savages, by concluding a Friendship with the Indians, and allowing
them a plenteous Trade of all kinds of Commodities, without those being
restored, or any properly spirited Requisition made of them : — How gen-
eral Dissatisfaction those Measures gave, the Murmurs of all good People
(loud as they dare to utter them) to this Day declare. And had here infatu-
ated Steps of Conduct, and a manifest Partiality in Favour of Indians, made
78 zz*
618 APPENDIX E.
a final Pause, happy had it been : — We perhaps had grieved in Silence for
our abandoned enslaved Brethren among the Heathen, but Matters of a
later Date are still more flagrant Reasons of Complaint. — When last Sum-
mer his Majesty's Forces, under the Command of Colonel Bouquet, marched
through this Province, and a Demand was made by his Excellency, General
Amherst, of Assistance, to escort Provisions, &c, to relieve that important
Post, Fort Pitt, yet not one Man was granted, although never any Thing
appeared more reasonable or necessary, as the Interest of the Province lay
so much at Stake, and the Standing of the Frontier Settlements, in any
Manner, evidently depended, under God, on the almost despaired of Success
of his Majesty's little Army, whose Valour the whole Frontiers with Grati-
tude acknowledge, as the happy Means of having saved from Ruin great
Part of the Province : — But when a Number of Indians, falsely pretended
Friends, and having among them some proved on Oath to have been guilty
of Murder since this War begun ; when they, together with others, known
to be his Majesty's Enemies, and who had been in the Battle against Colonel
Bouquet, reduced to Distress by the Destruction of their Corn at the Great
Island, and up the East Branch of Susquehanna, pretend themselves Friends,
and desire a Subsistence, they are openly caressed, and the Public, that
could not be indulged the Liberty of contributing to his Majesty's Assist-
ance, obliged, as Tributaries to Savages, to Support these Villains, these
Enemies to our King and our Country; nor only so, but the Hands that
were closely shut, nor would grant his Majesty's General a single Farthing
against a savage Foe, have been liberally opened, and the public Money
basely prostituted, to hire, at an exorbitant Rate, a mercenary Guard to pro-
tect his Majesty's worst of Enemies, those falsely pretended Indian Friends,
while, at the same Time, Hundreds of poor, distressed Families of his
Majesty's Subjects, obliged to abandon their Possessions, and fly for their
Lives at least, are left, except a small Relief at first, in the most distressing
Circumstances to starve neglected, save what the friendly Hand of private
Donations has contributed to their Support, wherein they who are most pro-
fuse towards Savages have carefully avoided having any Part. — When last
Summer the Troops raised for Defence of the Province were limited to
certain Bounds, nor suffered to attempt annoying our Enemies in their Hab-
itations, and a Number of brave Volunteers, equipped at their own Expence,
marched in September up the Susquehanna, met and defeated their Enemy,
with the Loss of some of their Number, and having others dangerously
wounded, not the least Thanks or Acknowledgment was made them from
the Legislature for the confessed Service they had done, nor any the least
Notice or Care taken of their Wounded ; whereas, when a Seneca Indian,
who, by the Information of many, as well as by his own Confession, had
been, through the last War, our inveterate Enemy, had got a Cut in his
Head last Summer in a Quarrel he had with his own Cousin, and it was
reported in Philadelphia that his Wound was dangerous, a Doctor was im-
mediately employed, and sent to Fort Augusta, to take Care of him, and
cure him, if possible. — To these may be added, that though it was impossible
APPENDIX E. 619
to obtain through the Summer, or even yet, any Premium for Indian Scalps,
or Encouragement to excite Volunteers to go forth against them, yet when
a few of them, known to he the Fast Friends of our Enemies, and some of
them Murderers themselves, when these have been struck by a distressed,
bereft, injured Frontier, a liberal Reward is offered for apprehending the
Perpetrators of that horrible Crime of killing his Majesty's cloaked Enemies,
and their Conduct painted in the most atrocious Colors ; while the horrid
Ravages, cruel Murders, and most shocking Barbarities, committed by
Indians on his Majesty's Subjects, are covered over, and excused, under the
charitable Term of this being their Method of making War.
But to recount the many repeated Grievances whereof we might justly
complain, and Instances of a most violent Attachment to Indians, were
tedious beyond the Patience of a Job to endure ; nor can better be expected ;
nor need we be surprised at Indians Insolence and Villainy, when it is con-
sidered, and which can be proved from the public Records of a certain
County, that some Time before Conrad Weiser died, some Indians belong-
ing to the Great Island or Wyalousing, assured him that Israel Pemberton,
(an ancient Leader of that Faction which, for so long a Time, have found
Means to enslave the Province to Indians,) together with others of the
Friends, had given them a Rod to scourge the white People that were settled
on the purchased Lands ; for that Onas had cheated them out of a great
Deal of Land, or had not given near sufficient Price for what he had bought ;
and that the Traders ought also to be scourged, for that they defrauded the
Indians, by selling Goods to them at too dear a Rate ; and that this Relation
is Matter of Fact, can easily be proved in the County of Berks. — Such is
our unhappy Situation, under the Villainy, Infatuation and Influence of a
certain Faction, that have got the political Reins in their Hands, and tamely
tyrannize over the other good Subjects of the Province! — And can it be
thought strange, that a Scene of such Treatment as this, and the now
adding, in this critical Juncture, to all our former Distresses, that disagree-
able Burden of supporting, in the very Heart of the Province, at so great
an Expence, between One and Two hundred Indians, to the great Disquie-
tude of the Majority of the good Inhabitants of this Province, should
awaken the Resentment of a People grossly abused, unrighteously bur-
dened, and made Dupes and Slaves to Indians ? — And must not all well-
disposed People entertain a charitable Sentiment of those who, at their own
great Expence and Trouble, have attempted, or shall attempt, rescuing a
laboring Land from a Weight so oppressive, unreasonable, and unjust ? — It
is this we design, it is this we are resolved to prosecute, though it is with
great Reluctance we are obliged to adopt a Measure not so agreeable as
could be desired, and to which Extremity alone compels. — God save the
King.
APPENDIX F.
CAMPAIGN OF 1764.
1. Bouquet's Expedition.
Letter — General Gage to Lord Halifax, December 13, 1764. (p. 502.)
The Perfidy of the Shawanese and Delawares, and their having broken
the ties, which even the Savage Nations hold sacred amongst each other,
required vigorous measures to reduce them. We had experienced their
treachery so often, that I determined to make no peace with them, but in
the Heart of their Country, and upon such terms as should make it as
secure as it was possible. This conduct has produced all the good effects
which could be wished or expected from it. Those Indians have been
humbled and reduced to accept of Peace upon the terms prescribed to
them, in such a manner as will give reputation to His Majesty's Arms
amongst the several Nations. The Regular and Provincial Troops under
Colonel Bouquet, having been joined by a good body of Volunteers from
Virginia, and others from Maryland and Pennsylvania, marched from Fort
Pitt the Beginning of October, and got to Tuscaroras about the fifteenth.
The March of the Troops into their Country threw the Savages into the
greatest Consternation, as they had hoped their Woods would protect them,
and had boasted of the Security of their Situation from our Attacks. The
Indians hovered round the Troops during their March, but despairing of
success in an Action, had recourse to Negotiations. They were told that
they might have Peace, but every Prisoner in their possession must first be
delivered up. They brought in near twenty, and promised to deliver the
Rest ; but as their promises were not regarded, they engaged to deliver the
whole on the 1st of November, at the Forks of the Muskingham, about one
hundred and fifty miles from Fort Pitt, the Centre of the Delaware Towns,
and near to the most considerable settlement of the Shawanese. Colonel
Bouquet kept them in sight, and moved his Camp to that Place. He soon
obliged the Delawares and some broken tribes of Mohikons, Wiandots, and
APPENDIX F. 621
Mingoes, to bring in all their Prisoners, even to the Children born of White
Women, and to tie those who were grown as Savage as themselves and
unwilling to leave them, and bring them bound to the Camp. They were
then told that they must appoint deputies to go to Sir William Johnson to
receive such terms as should be imposed upon them, which the Nations
should agree to ratify ; and, for the security of their performance of this,
and that no farther Hostilities should be committed, a number of their Chiefs
must remain in our hands. The above Nations subscribed to these terms ;
but the Shawanese were more obstinate, and were particularly averse to the
giving of Hostages. But finding their obstinacy had no effect, and would
only tend to their destruction, the Troops having penetrated into the Heart
of their Country, they at length became sensible that there was no safety
but in Submission, and were obliged to stoop to the same Conditions as the
other nations. They immediately gave up forty Prisoners, and promised
the Rest should be sent to Fort Pitt in the Spring. This last not being
admitted, the immediate Restitution of all the Prisoners being the sine qua
non of peace, it was agreed, that parties should be sent from the Army into
their towns, to collect the Prisoners, and conduct them to Fort Pitt. They
delivered six of their principal Chiefs as hostages into our Hands, and
appointed their deputies to go to Sir William Johnson, in the same manner
as the Rest. The Number of Prisoners already delivered exceeds two
hundred, and it was expected that our Parties would bring in near one
hundred more from the Shawanese Towns. These Conditions seem suf-
ficient Proofs of the Sincerity and Humiliation of those Nations, and in
justice to Colonel Bouquet, I must testify the Obligations I have to him,
and that nothing but the firm and steady conduct, which he observed in all
his Transactions with those treacherous Savages, would ever have brought
them to a serious Peace.
I must flatter myself, that the Country is restored to its former Tran-
quility, and that a general, and, it is hoped, lasting Peace is concluded with
all the Indian Nations who have taken up Arms against his Majesty.
I remain,
etc.,
Thomas Gags.
In Assembly, January 15, 1765, A. M.
To the Honourable Henry Bouquet, Esq., Commander in Chief of His
Majesty's Forces in the Southern Department of America.
The Address of the Representatives of the Freemen of the Province of
Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met.
Sir:
The Representatives of the Freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania,
in General Assembly met, being informed that you intend shortly to embark
622 APPENDIX P.
for England, and moved with a due Sense of the important Services you
have rendered to his. Majesty, his Northern Colonies in general, and to this
Province in particular, during our late Wars with the French, and barbarous
Indians, in the remarkable Victory over the savage Enemy, united to oppose
you, near Bushy Run, in August, 1763, when on your March for the Relief
of Pittsburg, owing, under God, to your Intrepidity and superior Skill in
Command, together with the Bravery of your Officers and little Army ; as
also in your late March to the Country of the savage Nations, with the
Troops under your Direction ; thereby striking Terror through the numerous
Indian Tribes around you; laying a Foundation for a lasting as well as
honorable Peace, and rescuing, from savage Captivity, upwards of Two
Hundred of our Christian Brethren, Prisoners among them. These eminent
Services, and your constant: Attention to the Civil Rights of his Majesty's
Subjects in this Province, demand, Sir, the grateful Tribute of Thanks from
all good Men; and therefore we, the Representatives of the Freemen of
Pennsylvania, unanimously for ourselves, and in Behalf of all the People
of this Province, do return you our most sincere and hearty Thanks for
these your great Services, wishing you a safe and pleasant Voyage to Eng-
land, with a kind and gracious Reception from his Majesty.
Signed, by Order of the House,
Joseph Fox, Speaker.
2. Condition and Temper oe the Western Indians.
Extract from a Letter of Sir William Johnson to the Board of Trade,
1764, December 26.
Your Lordships will please to observe that for many months before the
march of Colonel Bradstreet's army, several of the Western Nations had
expressed a desire for peace, and had ceased to commit hostilities, that even
Pontiac inclined that way, but did not choose to venture his person by
coming into any of the posts. This was the state of affairs when I treated
with the Indians at Niagara, in which number were fifteen hundred of the
Western Nations, a number infinitely more considerable than those who
were twice treated with at Detroit, many of whom are the same people,
particularly the Hurons and Chippewas. In the mean time it now appears,
from the very best authorities, and can be proved by the oath of several
respectable persons, prisoners at the Illinois and amongst the Indians, as
also from the accounts of the Indians themselves, that not only many French
traders, but also French officers came amongst the Indians, as they said,
fully authorized to assure them that the French King was determined to
support them to the utmost, and not only invited them to the Illinois, where
they were plentifully supplied with ammunition and other necessaries, but
also sent several canoes at different times up the Illinois river, to the
Miamis, and others, as well as up the Ohio to the Shawanese and Delawares,
APPENDIX F. 623
as by Major Smallman's account, and several others, (then prisoners,)
transmitted me by Colonel Bouquet, and one of my officers who accompanied
him, will appear. That in an especial manner the French promoted the
interest of Pontiac, whose influence is now become so considerable, as Gen-
eral Gage observes in a late letter to me, that it extends even to the Mouth
of the Mississippi, and has been the principal occasion of our not as yet
gaining the Illinois, which the French as well as Indians are interested in
preventing. This Pontiac is not included in the late Treaty at Detroit, and
is at the head of a great number of Indians privately supported by the
French, an officer of whom was about three months ago at the Miamis
Castle, at the Scioto Plains, Muskingum, and several other places. The
Western Indians, who it seems ridicule the whole expedition, will be influ-
enced to such a pitch, by the interested French on the one side, and the
influence of Pontiac on the other, that we have great reason to apprehend
a renewal of hostilities, or at least that they and the Twightees (Miamis)
will strenuously oppose our possessing the Illinois, which can never be
accomplished without their consent. And indeed it is not to be wondered that
they should be concerned at our occupying that country, when we con-
sider that the French (be their motive what it will) loaded them with favors,
and continue to do so, accompanied with all outward marks of esteem, and
an address peculiarly adapted to their manners, which infallibly gains upon
all Indians, who judge by extremes only, and with all their acquaintance with
us upon the frontiers, have never found any thing like it, but on the contrary,
harsh treatment, angry words, and in short any thing which can be thought of
to inspire them with a dislike to our manners and a jealousy of our views. I
have seen so much of these matters, and I am so well convinced of the utter
aversion that our people have for them in general, and of the imprudence
with which they constantly express it, that I absolutely despair of our seeing
tranquility established, until your Lordships' plan is fully settled, so as I
may have proper persons to reside at the Posts, whose business it shall be to
remove their prejudices, and whose interest it becomes to obtain their esteem
and friendship.
The importance of speedily possessing the Illinois, and thereby securing
a considerable branch of trade, as well as cutting off the channel by which
our enemies have been and will always be supplied, is a matter I have very
much at heart, and what I think may be effected this winter by land by Mr.
Croghan, in case matters can be so far settled with the Twightees, Shawa-
noes, and Pontiac, as to engage the latter, with some chiefs of the before-
mentioned nations, to accompany him with a garrison. The expense attend-
ing this will be large, but the end to be obtained is too considerable to be
neglected. I have accordingly recommended it to the consideration of Gen-
eral Gage, and shall, on the arrival of the Shawanoes, Delawares, &c, here,
do all in my power to pave the way for effecting it. I shall also make such
a peace with them, as will be most for the credit and advantage of the
crown, and the security of the trade and frontiers, and tie them down to such
conditions as Indians will most probably observe.
NOTE
More than half the documents intended for publication in the Appendix
have been omitted, from an unwillingness to increase the size of the
volume.
Of the accompanying maps, the first two were constructed for the illus-
tration of this work. The others are fac-similes from the surveys of the able
engineer Thomas Hutchins, the friend of Colonel Bouquet, and chronicler
of his expeditions into the Indian country. The original of the larger of
these fac-similes is prefixed to Hutchins' Account of Bouquet's Expedition.
That of the smaller will be found in his Topographical Description of Vir-
ginia, etc. Both these works are rare.
Acadia, dispute concerning its bounda-
ries, 86. Outrage upon its people, 102.
Albany, 135.
Algonquin family, the, its extent, 25.
Algonquins, Northern, the, their sum-
mer and winter life, 31, 405. Their
legendary law, 33.
Allegory of the Delaware Indian, 180.
Amalgamation of French and In-
dians, 69.
Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, captures Ticon-
deroga, 112. His character, 1 72. His
efforts for the prosecution of the
war, 345. Resigns his command,
398.
Andastes, the, 22.
Armstrong, Colonel, his expedition up
the Susquehanna, 394.
Atotarho, tradition of, 11.
Aubry, his council with the Indians,
537.
Autumn at Detroit, 404.
B.
Backwoodsman of Virginia, his charac-
ter, 378.
Ball-play of the Indians at Michilli-
mackinac, 297.
Battle of Bushy Run, 359, 598. Of
Lake George, 103. Of the Mononga-
hela, 98. Of Quebec, 121.
Bedford, Fort, attacked by Indians, 331.
Beleaguered by Indians, 357.
79
Bloody Bridge, fight of, 272.
Borderer, the dying, 349.
Borders, the war on the, 344.
Bouquet, Colonel, ordered to relieve
Fort Pitt, 346. His army leaves
Carlisle, 352. His life and charac-
ter, 353. March of his army, 357.
His victory at Bushy Run, 359. His
march into the Indian country, 1764,
482. Forces the Indians to ask peace,
487. His council on the Muskin-
gum, 488. He compels them to
surrender their prisoners, 494. Grants
peace to the Indians, 498. His pro-
motion, 511. His death, 512. His
expedition into the Indian country,
1764, 620. Vote of thanks for his
services, 621.
Braddock, General, sails for America,
92. Marches against Fort du Quesne,
94. His defeat and death, 98, 100.
Bradstreet, Colonel, his character, 448.
His army on the lakes, 449. Deceived
by the Indians, 461. Treats with the
Indians at Detroit, 466. Return of
his army, 476.
Brebeuf, his martyrdom, 47.
Bull, Captain, captured by the Iroquois,
407.
Bushy Run, battle of, 359, 59S.
C
Cahokia, village of, 569.
Calhoun, his escape, 327.
Calumet dance at Detroit, 1S5.
AAA
626
INDEX.
Campbell, Major, his embassy to Pon-
tiac's camp, 210. Made prisoner by
Pontiac, 212. His death, 261.
Canada, its military efficiency, 45. Its
religious zeal, 45. Attacked by the
Iroquois, 60. State of, in 1759, 111.
Conquered by the English, 126.
Canadians, the, their character, 43.
Cannibalism of the Indians at Michilli-
mackinac, 313.
Captive, the escaped, 388.
Captives, sufferings of, 387.
Carlisle, alarm at, 347. Scenes at, 350.
Carousal of the Indians at Detroit, 235.
Catharine, she betrays the Indian plot,
193.
Champlain, his expedition against the
Iroquois, 59.
Chapman, his escape from torture, 330.
Character of the Indian, 35. Of the
French Canadian, 43. Of the French
savage, 70. Of hunters and trap-
pers, 141. Of the Virginian back-
woodsman, 378. Of the Creole of
the Illinois, 518.
Chouteau, Pierre, 523, 568.
Christie, Ensign, his defence of Presqu'-
Isle, 246.
Civilization and barbarism, 140.
Collision of French and English colo-
nies, 85.
Colonies, French and English, com-
pared, 41.
Conestoga, manor of, 411.
Conestoga Indians, massacred by the
Paxton men, 414, 417. Evidence
against, 604.
Conspiracy, Pontiac's, 161.
Council at the Eiver Ecorces, 177.
Courage of the Indians, its character, 217.
Coureurs des bois, 69.
Croghan, George, his mission to the
west, 539. His councils at Fort Pitt,
544. Attacked by Indians, 550. His
meeting with Pontiac, 552. His coun-
cils with Indians at Detroit, 553.
Result of his mission, 558.
Crown Point, 85.
Cuyler, Lieutenant, capture of his de-
tachment, 231, 233.
D.
DAbbadie, 535.
Dalzell, Captain, he sails for Detroit,
267. His arrival, 269. His sortie
from Detroit, 270. His death, 275.
Davers, Sir Robert, murdered near De-
troit, 207.
Delawarcs, the, then history and charac-
ter, 26. Forced to remove westward,
76. Their treaty with the English in
1757, 127.
Detroit, surrendered to Major Rogers,
150. Black Rain at, 187. Its origin
and history, 187. Its French popula-
tion, 189. Indians of its neighbor-
hood, 189. Its defences, its garrison,
190. Plot against its garrison de-
feated, 199. General attack upon it,
207. The Indians continue to block-
ade it, 251. Truce granted to the
Indians at, 402. Its garrison relieved
by Bradstreet, 465. Councils at,
1765, 553.
Devil's Hole, ambuscade at, 374.
Dieskau, Baron, sails from Brest, 92.
Dinwiddie, Governor, sends Washing-
ton to the Ohio, 87.
E.
Ecorces, River, council at the, 177.
Ecuyer, Captain, his speeches to the In-
dian chiefs, 334, 340.
Elder, John, his efforts to defend the
frontier, 391 . His position and charac-
ter, 412. He remonstrates with the
Paxton men, 417.
English, their impolitic course towards
the Indians, 154.
Eries, the, 22.
Etherington, Captain, his letter to Glad-
wyn, 242. Made prisoner by the In-
dians, 298. His letter to Gorell, 319.
Feast of dogs, 259.
INDEX.
62?
Tight of Bloody Bridge, 272.
Eire rafts, 263.;
Fisher, murdered at Detroit, 205.
Forest traveller, the, 137.
Forest warfare, difficulties of, 171.
Franklin, Benjamin, his embassy to the
Paxton men, 438.
Eraser, Lieutenant, his mission to the
Illinois, 546.
Frederic, Fort, 85.
French, English, and Indians, 58.
French, the, their increasing power in
the west, 63. Their intrigues among
the Indians, 157.
French posts in the west, 55.
Frontenac, Count, his expedition against
the Iroquois, 61.
Frontier forts and settlements, 323.
Frontiers of Pennsylvania and Vir-
ginia, 379, 380.
Frontiers, desolation of, 381.
Frontiersmen of Pennsylvania, then-
distress and desperation, 409. Their
turbulent conduct, 541.
Fur-trade, the, of the French and Eng-
lish, 63, 64. English, its disorders, 155.
Fur-traders, English, 71, 137.
G.
Gage, General, assumes the command
in America, 398.
Gladwyn, Major, his address and resolu-
tion, 194, 199. His narrow escape, 266.
Glendenning, Archibald, attack on his
house, 383.
Gorell, Lieutenant, his prudence and
address, 318. He abandons Green
Bay, 321.
Goshen, false alarm at, 372.
Grant, Captain, he conducts the retreat
of the English at Bloody Bridge, 277.
Green Bay, 284, 317.
II.
Hay, Lieutenant, sallies from Detroit,
260.
Henry, Alexander, his adventures at
Michillimackinac, 286. Warned of
danger by "VVawatam, 294. His narrow
escape, 299. His adventures, 307.
His account of an Indian oracle, 451.
His Indian battalion, 460.
Holmes, Ensign, detects an Indian plot,
167. His death, 245.
Hurons, the, their character, 19. Con-
quered by the Iroquois, 21.
Illinois, the, nation of, 29. French set-
tlements at, 139. Its character and
products, 514. Its colonization, 517.
Its French population, 518. Neighbor-
ing Indians, 520. Its cession to the
English, 522. Occupied by the Eng-
lish, 559.
Indian tribes, their general characteris-
tics, 2. Their generic divisions, 5.
Indians, their religious belief, 34. Their
character, 35. The policy of the
French and English towards, 65, 68.
Iroquois family, the, 6, 24.
Iroquois, the extent of their Conquests,
6, 575. Their government, 8. Tra-
ditions of their confederacy, 11.
Their myths and legends, 13. Their
intellectual powers, 13. Their arts
and agriculture, 14. Their forts and
villages, 14. Their winter life, 16.
The war-path, 16. Their feasts,
dances, and religious ceremonies, 18.
Their pride, 18. They conquer the
Hurons, 21. Their warlike triumphs,
22. Their adoption of prisoners, 23.
Attacked by Champlain, 59. Their
wars with Canada, 60. Attacked by
Count Frontenac, 61. Their tyranny,
77. Inclined to the French alliance,
78. Their conduct during the French
war, 130. Their council with Sir
William Johnson in 1 763, 370. They
join the English in 1 763. 406. Policy
of the French and English towards
them, 576.
628
INDEX.
Jacobs, his desperate courage, 280.
Jenkins, Lieutenant, captured by the
Indians, 243.
Jesuits, the, in Canada, 46. Their mis-
sions in the Illinois, 517.
Jogues, his martyrdom, 48.
Johnson, Sir William, his life and char-
acter, 80. His expedition against
Crown Point, 103. Captures Niagara,
112. His council with the Iroquois
in 1763, 370. Threatened with an
attack from Indians, 372. He per-
suades the Iroquois to join the Eng-
lish in 1763,406. His councils with
the Indians at Niagara, 456. His
council with Pontiac, 562. His meas-
ures to secure the friendship of the
Iroquois, 577.
Jonois, Eather, arrives at Detroit, 242.
Befriends the English, 306. His em-
bassy to Detroit, 310.
Jumonville, death of, 89.
L.
La Butte, sent to Pontiac's camp, 209.
Lake George, battle of, 103. Lake
George, 108.
Lallemant, his martyrdom, 47.
La Salle, his character, 51. Embarks
on his enterprise, 51. Discovers the
Mississippi, 54. His death, 55.
Le Boeuf, Eort, captured by Indians, 336.
Lenni Lenape, the, their history and
character, 26.
Ligonier, Eort, attacked by Indians,
331, 338. Its garrison relieved, 355.
Loftus, Major, his repulse on the Mis-
sissippi, 531.
Louisiana, colony of, founded, 55.
M.
Mackinaw, Island of, 314.
Massacre at Michillimackinac, 298.
M'Dougal, Lieutenant, his embassy to
Pontiac's canm. 210
Miamis, the, 29.
Miami, Eort, its capture, 244.
Michillimackinac, tidings from, 242.
The trading routes thither, 282. Its
appearance in 1763, 283. Its origin
and history, 283. Indians in its neigh-
borhood, 285. Warnings of danger
to its garrison, 293. Massacre at,
298, 596. Reoccupied by the Eng-
lish, 469.
Military character of the Indians, 169.
Military life in the forest, 140.
Minavavana, his speech to Alexander
Henry, 288. His position and char-
acter, 291. His speech to the Otta-
was, 309.
Missionaries, Erench and English, 65.
Mississippi and Missouri, the, 513.
Mohawk, the, military posts upon, 135.
Monongahela, the, battle of, 98.
Montcalm, Marquis of, captures Os-
wego and William Henry, 109. His
death, 124.
Montmorenci, assault at, 115.
Moravians, their missions in Pennsyl-
vania, 421.
Moravian Indians, perilous situation of,
422. They retreat to Philadelphia,
424. Sent to New York, 431. Set-
tled on the Susquehanna, 445.
Morris, Captain, his embassy, 469.
N.
Neutral Nation, the, 21.
New Orleans in 1765, 534.
Neyon, his letter to Pontiac, 403.
Niagara, Eort, attacked by the Senecas,
345.
Niagara, carrying place of, 373. Con-
course of Indians at, 1764,454. Coun-
cils held at, 1764,456.
O.
Ohio, the, Indians of, their alarm at
Erench and English encroachment,
90.
INDEX.
629
Ojibwas, the, 30.
Onondaga, its appearance in 1743, 133.
Oswego, Fort, its capture, 109.
Ottawas, the, their character, 30. They
take possession of Michillimackinac,
309.
Ouatanon, Fort, its capture, 243.
Owens. David, his ferocity, 480.
Paris, peace of, 173. News of it reaches
Detroit, 253.
Paully, Ensign, captured at Sandusky,
238. Escapes from the Indians, 260.
Paxton men, they massacre the Conas-
toga Indians, 414, 417. They pre-
pare to march on Philadelphia, 427.
They reach Germantown, 437. Me-
morials of, 613,617.
Paxton riots, the, 606, 612.
Paxton, town of, 412.
Peace of Paris, 173. News of it reaches
Detroit, 253.
Pennsylvania, founded, 71. Frontiers
of, 325. Condition of Frontiers of, in
1763, 3S0. Political dissensions in,399.
Penn, Yv^illiam, 71.
Picquet, Father, 79.
Pioneers, French and English, 50.
Pitt, Fort, its origin and position, 325.
Alarms at, 327. Indian deputation
at, 333. Preparations for its defence,
338. General attack upon it, 342.
Its garrison relieved, 367.
Pittman, Captain, attempts to ascend
the Mississippi, 533.
Philadelphia, alarm in, 433, 440.
Plot, Indian, defeated, 160.
Pontiac, his meeting with Eogers, 148.
His character and political course,
161, 165. His war messengers, 165.
His speech at the River Ecorces, 179.
His ambition and patriotism. 191.
His treachery at Detroit, 202. He de-
clares open war on the English, 204.
He summons the garrison of Detroit,
219. His speech to the French, 221.
His commissary department, 224. He
issues promissory notes, 225. His
magnanimity, 227. His power over
his followers, 226, 228. He endeavors
to gain the alliance of the French, 255.
His ambuscade at Bloody Bridge, 271 .
He retires to the Maumee, 403. He
rallies the western tribes, 526. He
visits the Illinois, 529. His embassy
to New Orleans, 530, 536. He plun-
ders La Garantais, 548. Ruin of his
hopes, 549. His meeting with Cro-
ghan, 552. His speech to Croghan,
556. His departure for Oswego, 561.
His council with Sir William John-
son, 562. His speech, 565. His visit to
the Illinois, 1769, 568. His death, 571.
The vengeance of his followers, 572.
Pontiac Manuscript, the, 588.
Ponteach, a Tragedy, 581.
Post, Christian Frederic, his mission to
the Indians, 128.
Pottawattamies, the, 30.
PresquTsle, Fort, its attack and de-
fence, 245. Its capture, 249. Tidings
from, reach Fort Pitt, 334.
Prisoners, escape of, at Detroit, 232.
Surrendered to Bouquet, 495, 502.
Their situation in the Indian villages,
507.
Prophet, Delaware, the, 15S. His speech
to Croghan, 545.
Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, their
treatment of the Indians, 73.
Q.
Quakers, the, their conduct towards the
Indians, 72. Their reluctance to de-
clare war on the Indians, 390. Their
blind partiality for Indians, 397. Their
disputes with the Presbyterians. 441.
Quebec, battle of, 121. Besieged by the
English, 113.
R.
Rangers, Rogers', 144.
Reminiscences, of aged Canadians, of
Detroit, 594.
AAA*
INDEX.
Eogers, Kobert, his life and character,
144. His expedition up the lakes.
146. His meeting with Pontiac, 148.
He defends the house of Campau,
275.
Koval American Eegiment, the, 354.
S.
Sandusky, its capture, 238.
Sault Ste. Marie, 2S4, 317.
Scalps, reward offered for, 479.
Schlosser, Ensign, captured at St. Jo-
seph's, 240.
School-house, attack on, 385.
Schooner, attacks on, near Detroit, 230,
250, 279. Cannonades Pontiac's camp,
262. The Indians attempt to burn
her, 263.
Senecas, treaty with, 456.
Settlers, their intrusion upon Indian
lands, 156.
Shawanoes, the, their history and char-
acter, 28. Their desperation, 496.
Smith, James, his band of riflemen, 393.
His predatory exploits, 541 .
Smith, Matthew, and his companions,
413.
Spotswood, Governor, his plans to
thwart the French, 86.
St. Ange de Bellerive, 524.
St. Joseph's, Fort, captured, 240.
Ste. Marie, Sault, 284, 317.
St. Louis, fortndation of, 523.
Stedman, escape of, 375.
Stewart, Lazarus, 416, 421.
Ticonderoga, storming of, 110.
Totemship, 4.
Traders, slaughtered by the Indians,
328.
Trappers and hunters, 141.
Trent, Captain, driven from the Ohio,
Venango, Fort, captured by Indians,
337.
Virginia, frontiers of, their condition in
1763, 379. Her measures of defence,
392.
Virginian backwoodsman, his character,
37S.
W.
Walking purchase, the, 75.
War-belt, the, among the Miamis, 167.
War-dance, the, 175.
War-feast, the, 174.
Washington, his mission to the Ohio,
87. At the Monongahela, 100.
Wawatam, his warning to Alexander
Henry, 294. He rescues Henry from
captivity, 311.
Western Indians, their condition and
temper, 622.
West, the, French posts in, 55.
AVilderuess, the, its scenery, its popula-
tion, 131.
Wilkins, Major, wreck of his detach-
ment on Lake Erie, 377.
William Henry, Fort, its capture, 109.
White savage, 70.
Wolfe, General, lays siege to Quebec.
113. Scales the Heights of Abraham,
119. His death, 123.
Wyandots, the, their condition and char-
acter, 19. Conquered by the Iro-
quois, 21.
Wyandots of Detroit, they join Pontiac,
215.
Wyoming, massacre at, in 1763, 396.
/
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