Pontiac a letter from M. Neyon-dated September 27th-refusing any help whatever, and the next day he brought a letter containing the same information to Major Gladwin. Seeing his prospects of victory thus dissipated, and realizing that his cause was lost, Pontiac sent word to Major Gladwin that he was ready to make peace. But, as in the case of the other chiefs, Gladwin would only agree to a truce. The wily chief, mortified over his failure to destroy the post, accepted the terms and withdrew to the Maumee country to win the support of the Indians there for an aggressive campaign in the spring. Soon after this most of the Indians left the vicinity of Detroit for winter quarters. Gladwin took advantage of the situation to reduce the garrison to about two hundred men-all that could be comfortably cared for during the winter-sending the remainder of the troops to Niagara. The siege of Detroit had lasted for 153 days. EVENTS OF 1764 Early in the spring of 1764, the English authorities decided to assume the offensive and carry the war into the Indian country. Col. John Bradstreet, with 1,200 men, was ordered to proceed to Detroit by way of the lakes, while Col. Henry Boquet, with a large force, was to operate against the tribes between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes. Bradstreet assembled his troops at Albany and reached Niagara late in June. There he was joined by 300 Iroquois, commanded by Sir John Johnson and Capt. Henry Montour (a half-breed), and 100 other Indians under the command of Alexander Henry. The latter, however, soon became dissatisfied and abandoned the expedition. Upon arriving at Presque Ile, Bradstreet held a council with some of the Ohio Indians and made a treaty of peace with them, although he had no authority to do so. On August 26, 1764, he arrived at Detroit, bringing large supplies of provisions, clothing and ammunition. His army was the largest military force ever seen at Detroit and the Indians now realized that further resistance to the English was useless, though Pontiac sent defiant messages from the Maumee Valley. On the last day of August, Colonel Bradstreet succeeded Major Gladwin as commandant of the post and the latter left for the east the next day. Instead of chastising the Indians, as he had been directed to do, the new commandant met them in council and concluded treaties of peace. His punishment was directed against the French who had aided the Indians, though many of them had fled before his arrival. In letters to the British Board of Trade, Sir William Johnson denounced Bradstreet's course and a few months later he was relieved by Col. John Campbell. Colonel Boquet marched by way of Fort Pitt into the Ohio country. He refused to recognize the unauthorized treaty made by Bradstreet at Presque Ile and began the work of punishing the tribes which had taken part in the great conspiracy. Reinforcements constantly flocked to his standard and in a short time the Indians not only begged for peace, but also agreed to deliver to Boquet unharmed all the captives held by them. In this way many white prisoners were restored to their friends and homes. Although the conspiracy was dead, Pontiac still thirsted for revenge. He continued to hope for some fortunate turn in affairs that would enable him to destroy the hated English and recover the hunting grounds of his people. Again he appealed to the French commandant at Fort Chartres for assistance, but M. Neyon was adamant to all his entreaties. Returning to the Maumee Valley, Vol. II-4 he collected some five hundred warriors and with this force appeared before Fort Chartes with a demand for arms and ammunition, with which to continue his war against the English. He also sent a messenger to New Orleans to ask for French cooperation. Before the return of this messenger, he learned that the western possession of the French had been ceded to Spain by a secret treaty and his last hope was destroyed. CROGHAN'S TREATY In February, 1765, Sir William Johnson sent Capt. George Croghan, accom panied by Lieutenant Frazer and a small escort, into the western country for the purpose of distributing presents among the Indians, thus preparing the way for the English occupation of the country. Near the mouth of the Wabash River, Croghan's party was captured by a band of Kickapoo Indians, taken to Vincennes and from there to Ouiatenon, where Croghan found friends and the prisoners were released. While at Ouiatenon, Croghan received an invitation from the commandant at Fort Chartres to visit that post and set out on his journey. Before reaching Fort Chartres, he met Pontiac and concluded a treaty of peace. He then gave up his visit to Fort Chartres and returned with Pontiac to Detroit, arriving here August 17, 1765. Croghan remained at Detroit until September 26th, when he took passage on a vessel for Niagara. His treaty with Pontiac ended the war. PONTIAC'S DEATH In the summer of 1766, Pontiac appeared before Sir William Johnson, at Oswego, New York, and then and there acknowledged his formal submission to English authority. Broken in spirit, he then withdrew into the depths of the western wilderness and little can be learned concerning his life during the next three years. Accounts vary as to the manner of his death, but it is known that he was assassinated in 1769 at a council held among the Illinois. One story has it that he married a Peorie whom he abused so terribly that her tribe surprised and killed him, for which the Ottawa completely exterminated the race for revenge. Carver relates that a faithful Indian who had either been commissioned by one of the English governors or instigated by his love for the English, attended him as a spy when Pontiac held a council in Illinois, and being convinced that his speech was suspicious, he instantly killed him. Parkman relates that Pontiac, while among the tribes at Cahokia, went to a feast where he became drunk and wandered away towards the woods singing medicine songs. An English trader, Williamson, bribed an Indian of the Kaskaskia tribe to follow and kill the chief. This was done and when the murder was discovered, Pontiac's friends banded together and exterminated the whole race of the Illini. The handbook of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, which is considered a good authority upon Indian history, says he was killed in 1769 by a Kaskaskia Indian during a drunken orgy at Cahokia, Illinois. Avery's "History of the United States" says an English trader offered a Kaskaskia Indian a barrel of rum to kill Pontiac, that the Indian followed him into the forest near the present city of East St. Louis, caught him off his guard and killed him, and that the commandant of the post at St. Louis buried his body with the honors of war. In the main corridor of the Southern Hotel in St. Louis, the St. Louis chapter of the D. A. R. has erected a tablet, marking the burial place of "Pontiac, the friend of St. Ange, killed at Cahokia, Illinois, in April, 1769." CHAPTER XXXVII DETROIT IN THE REVOLUTION BY CLARENCE M. BURTON IMPORTANCE OF DETROIT IN THE REVOLUTION-DETROIT AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRY STREETS, BUILDINGS AND CHARACTER OF THE VILLAGE THE FORTIFICATIONS THE FRENCH INHABITANTS COMING OF HAMILTON-ILLEGAL ACTS OF HAMILTON AND DEJEAN-HAMILTON'S EMPLOYMENT OF INDIANSINTER-POST COMMUNICATIONS-ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN LERNOULT-HAMILTON'S DESIRE TO ESCAPE DETROIT-INDICTMENT OF HAMILTON AND DEJEANHAMILTON'S EXPEDITION ΤΟ VINCENNES-CLARK RETAKES VINCENNES HAMILTON AND DEJEAN AS PRISONERS-DETROIT UNDER LERNOULT-CONDITION OF DETROIT-APPOINTMENT OF DE PEYSTER-THE POST UNDER DE PEYSTER THE STORY OF COLONEL LA BALME-INDIAN CLAIMS AND LEGAL PROCEDURE-MEANING OF THE TERM "FORT"-RELIGION IN DETROITFINANCES OF THE TIME-CURSE OF RUM-DE PEYSTER'S INDIAN DIPLOMACYUNPOPULARITY OF THE WAR IN ENGLAND DETROIT NOT AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN THE WAR-MASSACRE OF MORAVIAN INDIANS SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS-APPOINTMENT OF JEHU HAY AS LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR-DE PEYSTER'S IMPROVEMENTS AT THE POST OF DETROIT—FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN DE PEYSTER AND THE INDIANS—HARVESTS IN 1782-EXPECTATION OF PEACE-CASE OF GERRIT GRAVERAT-CONDITION OF AFFAIRS AFTER PEACE DIFFICULTIES WITH INDIANS FIRST AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE ENTERS DETROIT-THE END OF THE WAR. It needed no formal act of parliament, no declaration of the American people, to proclaim to the world the existence of a state of war between the British colonies of North America and the mother country. Aggressive and conquering England, not contented with the possessions she already held in America, had, by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, obtained the relinquishment to herself from France of that vast tract of country then known as Canada, including all the possessions that are now known by that name, as well as the more valuable portion north of the Ohio River and west of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Greedy and ill-advised in her attempt at conquest, she grasped too much, and in order to retain possession of her new acquisition, she was compelled to loose her hold upon what she had originally claimed and the colonies. slipped away from her forever. Scarcely ten years elapsed from the signing of the Treaty of Paris, before there were mutterings of discontent in the colonies and when the year 1775 came, England's old possessions were in a state of rebellion which terminated in their independence. By the provisional Treaty of Paris in 1782, the independence of the colonies was recognized, and a few months later the final treaty was signed, which he collected some five hundred warriors and with this force appeared before Fort Chartes with a demand for arms and ammunition, with which to continue his war against the English. He also sent a messenger to New Orleans to ask for French cooperation. Before the return of this messenger, he learned that the western possession of the French had been ceded to Spain by a secret treaty and his last hope was destroyed. CROGHAN'S TREATY In February, 1765, Sir William Johnson sent Capt. George Croghan, accom panied by Lieutenant Frazer and a small escort, into the western country for the purpose of distributing presents among the Indians, thus preparing the way for the English occupation of the country. Near the mouth of the Wabash River, Croghan's party was captured by a band of Kickapoo Indians, taken to Vincennes and from there to Ouiatenon, where Croghan found friends and the prisoners were released. While at Ouiatenon, Croghan received an invitation from the commandant at Fort Chartres to visit that post and set out on his journey. Before reaching Fort Chartres, he met Pontiac and concluded a treaty of peace. He then gave up his visit to Fort Chartres and returned with Pontiac to Detroit, arriving here August 17, 1765. Croghan remained at Detroit until September 26th, when he took passage on a vessel for Niagara. His treaty with Pontiac ended the war. PONTIAC'S DEATH In the summer of 1766, Pontiac appeared before Sir William Johnson, at Oswego, New York, and then and there acknowledged his formal submission. to English authority. Broken in spirit, he then withdrew into the depths of the western wilderness and little can be learned concerning his life during the next three years. Accounts vary as to the manner of his death, but it is known that he was assassinated in 1769 at a council held among the Illinois. One story has it that he married a Peorie whom he abused so terribly that her tribe surprised and killed him, for which the Ottawa completely exterminated the race for revenge. Carver relates that a faithful Indian who had either been commissioned by one of the English governors or instigated by his love for the English, attended him as a spy when Pontiac held a council in Illinois, and being convinced that his speech was suspicious, he instantly killed him. Parkman relates that Pontiac, while among the tribes at Cahokia, went to a feast where he became drunk and wandered away towards the woods singing medicine songs. An English trader, Williamson, bribed an Indian of the Kaskaskia tribe to follow and kill the chief. This was done and when the murder was discovered, Pontiac's friends banded together and exterminated the whole race of the Illini. The handbook of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, which is considered a good authority upon Indian history, says he was killed in 1769 by a Kaskaskia Indian during a drunken orgy at Cahokia, Illinois. Avery's "History of the United States" says an English trader offered a Kaskaskia Indian a barrel of rum to kill Pontiac, that the Indian followed him into the forest near the present city of East St. Louis, caught him off his guard and killed him, and that the commandant of the post at St. Louis buried his body with the honors of war. In the main corridor of the Southern Hotel in St. Louis, the St. Louis chapter of the D. A. R. has erected a tablet, marking the burial place of "Pontiac, the friend of St. Ange, killed at Cahokia, Illinois, in April, 1769." CHAPTER XXXVII DETROIT IN THE REVOLUTION BY CLARENCE M. BURTON IMPORTANCE OF DETROIT IN THE REVOLUTION-DETROIT AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRY STREETS, BUILDINGS AND CHARACTER OF THE VILLAGE THE FORTIFICATIONS-THE FRENCH INHABITANTS COMING OF HAMILTON-ILLEGAL ACTS OF HAMILTON AND DEJEAN-HAMILTON'S EMPLOYMENT OF INDIANSINTER-POST COMMUNICATIONS-ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN LERNOULT-HAMILTON'S DESIRE TO ESCAPE DETROIT INDICTMENT OF HAMILTON AND DEJEANHAMILTON'S EXPEDITION ΤΟ VINCENNES CLARK RETAKES VINCENNESHAMILTON AND DEJEAN AS PRISONERS-DETROIT UNDER LERNOULT-CONDITION OF DETROIT-APPOINTMENT OF DE PEYSTER THE POST UNDER DE PEYSTER THE STORY OF COLONEL LA BALME-INDIAN CLAIMS AND LEGAL - PROCEDURE-MEANING OF THE TERM "FORT"-RELIGION IN DETROITFINANCES OF THE TIME-CURSE OF RUM-DE PEYSTER'S INDIAN DIPLOMACYUNPOPULARITY OF THE WAR IN ENGLAND-DETROIT NOT AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN THE WAR-MASSACRE OF MORAVIAN INDIANS-SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS APPOINTMENT OF JEHU HAY AS LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR-DE PEYSTER'S IMPROVEMENTS AT THE POST OF DETROIT FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN DE PEYSTER AND THE INDIANS-HARVESTS IN 1782-EXPECTATION OF PEACE-CASE OF GERRIT GRAVERAT-CONDITION OF AFFAIRS AFTER PEACE DIFFICULTIES WITH INDIANS FIRST AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE ENTERS DETROIT-THE END OF THE WAR. It needed no formal act of parliament, no declaration of the American people, to proclaim to the world the existence of a state of war between the British colonies of North America and the mother country. Aggressive and conquering England, not contented with the possessions she already held in America, had, by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, obtained the relinquishment to herself from France of that vast tract of country then known as Canada, including all the possessions that are now known by that name, as well as the more valuable portion north of the Ohio River and west of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Greedy and ill-advised in her attempt at conquest, she grasped too much, and in order to retain possession of her new acquisition, she was compelled to loose her hold upon what she had originally claimed and the colonies slipped away from her forever. Scarcely ten years elapsed from the signing of the Treaty of Paris, before there were mutterings of discontent in the colonies and when the year 1775 came, England's old possessions were in a state of rebellion which terminated in their independence. By the provisional Treaty of Paris in 1782, the independence of the colonies was recognized, and a few months later the final treaty was signed, which |