48
��HISTOKY OF OHIO.
��of the natives, began to exhibit impatience and re- sentment as they saw their lands gradually taken from them. The English policy differed very materially from the French. The French made the Indian, in a measure, independent and taught him a desire for European goods. They also affiliated easily with them, and became thereby strongly endeared to the savage. The French were a merry, easy-going race, fond of gayety and delighting in adventure. The English were harsh, stern, and made no advances to gain the friend- ship of the savage. They wanted land to cultivate and drove away the Indian's game, and forced him farther west. " Where shall we go?" said the Indian, despondently; "you drive us farther and farther west; by and by you will want all the land." And the Anglo-Saxon went sturdily on, paying no heed to the complaints. The French
��traders incited the Indian to resent the encroach- ment. " The English will annihilate you and take all your land," said they. " Their father, the King of France, had been asleep, now he had awakened and was coming with a great army to reclaim Can- ada, that had been stolen from him while he slept." Discontent under such circumstances was but natural. Soon all the tribes, from the mountains to the Mississippi, were united in a plot. It was discovered in 1761, and arrested. The next sum- mer, another was detected and arrested. The officers, and all the people, failed to realize the danger. The rattlesnake, though not found, was ready to strike. It is only an Indian discontent, thought the people, and they went on preparing to occupy the country. They were mistaken — the crisis only needed a leader to direct it. That leader appeared.
��CHAPTER IV.
PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY— ITS FAILURE— BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION— OCCUPATION BY THE
ENGLISH.
��PONTIAC, the great chief of the Ottawas, was now about fifty years old. He had watched the conflict between the nations with a jealous eye, and a.s he saw the gradual growth of the English people, their encroachment on the lands of the In- dians, their greed, and their assumption of the soil, his soul was stirred within him to do something for his people. He had been a true friend of the French, and had led the Indians at the defeat of Braddock. Amid all the tumult, he alone saw the true state of affairs. The English would inevit- ably crush out the Indians. To save his race he saw another alliance with the French was neces- sary, and a restoration of their power and habits needed. It was the plan of a statesman. It only failed because of the perfidy of the French. Matur- ing his plans late in the autumn of 1762, he sent messengers to all the Western and Southern tribes, with the black wampum and red tomahawk, em- blems of war, from the great Pontiac. "On a cer- tain day in the next year," said the messenger, "all the tribes are to rise, seize all the English posts, and then attack the whole frontier."
The great council of all the tribes was held at the river Ecorces, on the 27th of April, 1763. There, before the assembled chiefs, Pontiac deliv-
��ered a speech, full of eloquence and art. He recounted the injuries and encroachments of the English, and disclosed their designs. The French king was now awake and would aid them. Should they resign their homes and the graves of their fathers without an effort? Were their young men no longer brave ? Were they squaws ? The Great Master of Life had chided them for their inactivity, and had sent his commands to drive the "Red Dogs" from the earth. The chiefs eagerly accepted the wampvim and the tomahawk, and separated to prepare for the coming strife.
The post at Detroit was informed of the plot the evening before it was to occur, by an Ojibway girl of great beauty, the mistress of the com- mander, Major Gladwin. Pontiac was foiled here, his treachery discovered, and he was sternly ordered from the conference. A regular seige followed, but he could not prevail. He exhibited a degree of sagacity unknown in the annals of savage war- fare, but all to no purpose ; the English were too strong for him.
At all the other posts, save one, however, the plans of Pontiac were carried out, and atrocities, unheard of before in American history, resulted. The Indians attacked Detroit on the first of May,
��17 ■;
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