The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada Part 14

Conspiracy of the Indians against the English after the French war, 131; its causes, 131; the English neglect to cultivate their friends.h.i.+p, 133; disorders of the English fur-trade, 133; intrusion of settlers on the Indian lands, 133; the arbitrary conduct of Sir Jeffrey Amherst, 147; the discontent of the Indians artfully increased by the French, 134; Indian plot to destroy the English, 137; a great crisis for the Indian race, 140; the conspiracy discovered, 165, 166; treachery of Pontiac, 169-174; the war begins, 175; attack on the fort at Detroit, 177, 178; negotiation, 179; comes to no good result, 180 et seq.

Conyngham, Redmond, publishes an account of the ma.s.sacre at Conestoga, 361 note.

Council of Indians summoned by Pontiac, 151 et seq.; appearance of Pontiac, 152; his speech, 153 et seq.; council-house at Onondaga, 21 note, 26, 27.

"Coureurs de bois," or bush-rangers, 68, 160; their degradation, ib.; and superst.i.tion, 68; excite the Indians against the English, 135.

Creek nation hostile to the English, 356.

Creoles along the Mississippi, their character and modes of life, 459.

Croghan, George, his representations to the Lords of Trade, 387; they are disregarded, 389; sent to negotiate with the western Indians, 475; his convoy seized by the Paxton men, 476, 477; at Fort Pitt he meets Indians in council, 480; finds them undecided in their plans, 480; descends the Ohio, 484; is attacked by the Kickapoos, 485; arrives at Vincennes, 485; meets with Pontiac, who offers the calumet of peace, 486; proceeds to Detroit, 487; holds a council there with the Indians, 487-490; his speech to the Ottawas, 488; outdoes the Indians in the use of figurative language, 488, 489 note; his complete success, 490.

Crown Point, a French fort erected there, 79; plan for its reduction, 86; the plan fails, 93; another attempt, 99; the fort evacuated, 100.

c.u.mberland County, Pa., settled by the Scotch-Irish, 335.

Cusick, a Tuscarora Indian, the historian of his tribe, 24, 25 notes.

Cuyler, Lieutenant, leaves Niagara with a reinforcement for Detroit, 198; is attacked by Indians, 199; fate of his detachment, 200.

D.

D'Abbadie, governor of the French, New Orleans, 472; gives audience to the messengers of Pontiac, 473; refuses aid, ib.; dies, ib.

Dahcotah, their estimated military strength, 265; their hatred of the Ojibwas, 268; their interference saves the English garrison at Green Bay, ib.

Dalzel, Captain, leaves Niagara with a reinforcement for Detroit, 226; attacked by the Indians, 227; arrives at Detroit, ib.; his night attack on the Indians, 228; his great bravery, 231; falls in the action, 232.

Davers, Sir Robert, murdered by Indians, 176; the transaction erroneously reported, 196.

Delaware tribe of Indians, a brave and generous people, 36; called also Lenni Lenape, 35; the parent stem of the Algonquin tribes, ib.; subjugated by the Iroquois, 19; recover their independence, 36; their treaty with William Perm, 36, 70; oppressed by his descendants, proprietors of Pennsylvania, 71-74, 84; driven from their homes, 73; some of them present at the battle of the Monongahela, 88; in alliance with the French, 111; attack the English settlements, 111; their number estimated, 115; where located in 1760, 116; found at present beyond the Mississippi, 36; incensed against the English, 134; a Delaware prophet, his wide influence, 136; the Delawares attack Fort Pitt, 284, 292; attack a body of British troops at Bushy Run, 319; are repulsed with great loss, 323; moral effect of the affair, 326; their hostile inroads in Pennsylvania, 345; a party of them brought prisoners to Albany, 356; their inveterate hostility, 410, 413; their worthless promises, 414; they sue for peace, 431-436.

Detroit founded, 159; description of, 159, 160, 163; held by a French garrison, 52, 57, 100, 126, 128; it capitulates to the English, 129, 130; its population at that time, 159; character of its inhabitants, 160; the fortifications, ib.; the British garrison in 1760, 163; plan of Pontiac to seize the fort, 165, 166; the plot revealed, 166; See Appendix C. Pontiac in Detroit, 169 et seq.; attack on the fort 170, 171; distress of the garrison, 185; Detroit alone of all the frontier posts escapes capture by the Indians, 204; the garrison reinforced, 216; Gladwyn holds a council with the Canadians, 216, 217; his speech to them, 217; Indian attempt to burn an armed schooner, 223; the garrison again reinforced, 227; their numbers, 234; a supply of provisions collected, 351; the Ojibwas and other tribes ask for peace, ib.; the siege of Detroit abandoned, 353; moral effect of the failure, 355; the garrison continue to be hara.s.sed by Indian hostility, 404; arrival of Bradstreet with a large military force, ib.; he meets the Indians in council, 405; his absurd demands, 406; gives great offence to the Indians, 407.

Devil's Hole, near Niagara, described, 330; a convoy attacked there by Indians, ib.; the fearful issue, 331.

Dieskau, Louis Auguste, Baron, sails from Brest with troops for Canada, 84; his defeat at Lake George, 94-95; wounded dangerously, but not mortally, 95, 96 note.

Dinwiddie, Robert, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, remonstrates against French encroachment, 80.

Dionondadies, or Tobacco Nation, 30.

Dogs, proposal to hunt the Indians with them, 304; the plan given in detail, 305 note.

E.

Easton, Pa., peace there made with the Indians, 111.

Ecuyer, Captain Simeon, commander at Fort Pitt, 279; his letters to Colonel Bouquet quoted, 279, 280 note, 282, 284, 293; his answer to the proposal to surrender, 285; his answer to a similar and subsequent demand, 292; his precautions for the safety of the fort, 295 note; his gallant conduct, 294; his discontent at the service, 390.

Elder, John, pastor at Paxton, Pa., his creditable military career, 343; his report to Governor Perm, 343 note; his character, 360; preaches to armed men, ib.; endeavors to divert the Paxton men from their murderous design, but in vain, 363; his letter to Colonel Burd, 365 note. See Appendix E.

Eliot, Charles, brave action of his, 312.

English colonies, their characteristics as contrasted with those of France, 46, 47, 48, 59, 64; neglect to cultivate the friends.h.i.+p of the Indians, 65, 131; plan for a union of these colonies, 83; its failure, and the reason why, 84; English colonies, their exposure to Indian hostility, in 1760, 147; how far they extended at that time, 277.

English treatment of the Indians, 65, 131, 140, 147; English parsimony towards them, 131. See Appendix B. English fur-trade badly conducted, 133; profligacy of the traders, ib.; treatment of the Indians by the soldiers in garrison, ib.

Eries, Indian tribe, destroyed by the Iroquois, 32.

Etherington, Captain George, commands at Michillimackinac, 246; is warned of danger, ib.; his disregard of the warning, ib.; his extreme carelessness, 250; the ma.s.sacre of his men, 251; he is taken by the Indians, 206, 251; his letters quoted, 205, 266; how he pa.s.sed the night after the ma.s.sacre, 256, 257; his complimentary letter to Colonel Bouquet on his promotion, 450.

F.

Fire, torture by, inflicted by Indians, 28, 51, 61, 201 note, 290, 303 note.

Fisher, Sergeant, murdered by the Indians, 175; treatment of his body, ib.

Forbes, General John, drives the French from Fort Du Quesne, 98, 111, 113.

Forest of the West, 114; routes and modes of travel through it, 117-120; the scattered Indian and French settlements, 115, 120; the forest garrisons, 121; hunters and trappers, 122.

Fort Du Quesne, built by the French, 86; Braddock's approach to it, 87; taken by General Forbes, 98, 113; the fort destroyed and rebuilt, 278; and the name changed to Fort Pitt, 118.

Fort Le B[oe]uf, taken by the Indians after a gallant defence, 287, 288.

Fort Ligonier, 279; attacked by Indians, 283, 308, 309; the fort is reinforced and holds out to the end, 316.

Fort Miami taken by the Indians, 207.

Fort Pitt, originally Fort Du Quesne, 118, 126; its commanding position, 278; built on the ruins of the old fort, 278; two roads from it to the English settlements, 278; exposed to danger from the Indians, 279, 285; strength of the garrison, 284; attacked by Indians, 285; the Indians frightened and withdraw, 286; the surrender of the fort twice demanded, 286, 292; a vigorous attack by the Indians, 294; the attack ineffectual, 295; the fort reinforced and secured from further danger, 324, 325; brief history of the siege by one of the garrison, 325 note.

Franklin, Benjamin, his account of the murder of Indians in Lancaster jail, 364 note; his energetic conduct in providing for the defence of Philadelphia, 377.

Fraser, Lieutenant Alexander, accompanies Croghan in an emba.s.sy to the Indians, 475; visits the country of the Illinois, 481; his account of that country, 459 note; is ill-treated and his life in danger, 481; Pontiac saves his life, 482; descends the Mississippi and arrives at New Orleans, ib.

French colonies, their distinctive characteristics, 46 et seq.; devotion to the Romish church, 47, 48; engaged in the fur-trade, 48; their lack of energy, 53; have an extended military frontier, 48, 56; French plan to exclude the Anglo-Saxon race from the valley of the Mississippi, 56; French expeditions against the Iroquois, 60-62; French influence among the Indians widely extended, 63, 65; instances of French inhumanity, 65, 66; complaisance towards the savages, 66; French blood mingles largely with Indian, 67, 163; the French in the Ohio valley, 74; obtain an influence over the Iroquois, 74, 75; and over the Indians on the Ohio, 82; occupation of Fort Du Quesne, 87; driven from all their possessions in North America, 109; French settlements in the Illinois valley, 120; French policy towards the Indians, 132 note. See Appendix B.

Frontenac, Count, Governor of Canada, aids the enterprises of La Salle, 55; his expedition against the Iroquois, 61, 62; cultivates the friends.h.i.+p of other Indians, 66; burns alive an Iroquois prisoner, ib.

Frontier of Virginia, 333; of Pennsylvania, 334; the frontiersman described, 333, 334.

Frontiers of the English provinces, 277; how guarded, 277; ravaged by the Indians, 296; sufferings of the settlers, 306; difficulties of communication between the outposts and the settled country, 309; the frontiers desolated, 335 et seq.; consternation of the settlers, 336; fearful scenes enacted, 337 et seq.; general distress, 342; the number slain or captivated during four months, 357; the frontier people make loud complaints of neglect, 357; their resentment against the Quakers, ib.; their intense hatred of the Indians, 358. See Appendix E.

Fur-trade as carried on from Canada, 48, 59, 63; from the English colonies, 63, 68; the coureurs de bois, renegades from civilization, 68; fur-trade, mode of operation, 118; equipment and character of the fur-trader, 119, 122; difficulties, hards.h.i.+ps, and dangers of the way, 119, 120; the call for energy and courage, 121; character and habits of the existing trapper and hunter in the far west, 121, 122; the white savage compared with the red, 121; fur-trade as conducted by the English; its great faults, 133; bad character of the English traders, 133; French fur-traders inflame the resentment of the Indians, 134, 240.

G.

Gage, General Thomas, present at Braddock's defeat, 89; receives a severe wound, 91; his singular testimony concerning Pontiac, 191; succeeds Amherst as commander-in-chief, 348; sends a body of troops to Philadelphia, to protect it against the Paxton rioters, 376.

Galissonniere, Count, his plan of French colonization, 57.

Gallatin, Albert, quoted, 18, 32, 33.

Gates, General Horatio, present at Braddock's defeat, 89; severely wounded, 91.

Gladwyn, Major, commands at Detroit, 143, 157; the hostile plans of Pontiac disclosed to him, 165; his precautions, 167; scene between him and Pontiac, 170, 171; his letters to General Amherst, 172 note, 187 note; suffers Pontiac to escape, 171, 172, 174; refuses to abandon the fort, 184; Pontiac in vain endeavors to terrify him, 216; Gladwyn holds a council with the Canadians, 217-220; his speech to them, 217; obtains a supply of provisions, 351; proposes to exterminate the Indians by a free sale of RUM, 352, 353 note.

Gladwyn, schooner, on her return to Detroit from Niagara, is attacked by Indians, 235, 236; gallant defence by the crew, 235; saved by a desperate expedient, 236.

Glendenning, Archibald, killed by the Indians, 337; masculine spirit of his wife, 338.

Gnadenhutten, Pa., a Moravian missionary station, destroyed, 367.

G.o.ddard, an English fur-trader, 244.

G.o.defroy, a Canadian, summons Fort Miami to surrender, 208; goes to Illinois as interpreter to an English emba.s.sy, 408; saves Morris's life, 409; stands firmly by his captain, 410-413.

Gordon, Lieutenant, commander at Fort Venango, 289; tortured to death by the Indians, 290; roasted alive during several nights, 303 note.

Gorell, Lieutenant J., extracts from his journal, 118; commands at Green Bay, 265; his important duties, ib.; his prudent conduct, 266; his speech to the Menomonies, 266, 267; embarks with his garrison, 268; arrives at Montreal, 268.

Goshen, N. Y., false alarm there; its singular cause, 329.

Gouin, ----, a Canadian, cautions Gladwyn, 165; endeavors the security of British officers, 179; his account of transactions near Detroit, Appendix C., 201 note.

Grant, Mrs. Anne, her erroneous account of the murder of Sir Robert Davers, 196 note.

Grant, Captain, in the disastrous affair at b.l.o.o.d.y Bridge, 229, 230, 233.

Gray, Captain, falls in the fight at b.l.o.o.d.y Bridge, 232.

Gray, a soldier at Presqu' Isle, 286; escapes ma.s.sacre, 287.

Gray, Thomas, his "Elegy in a Country Church-Yard," repeated by Wolfe, the night before his death, 104.

Green, Thomas, a trader, slain by the Indians, 281 note.

Green Bay, a French settlement, 52, 57; taken possession of by the English, 130; its early history, 239; an important post, 265; abandoned by its commander, but its garrison preserved 267, 268.

Greenbrier, Va., attack on, 337.

"Griffin," the first vessel built on the upper lakes, 54; her voyage on Lakes Erie and Huron, ib.

H.

Heckewelder, John, Moravian missionary, relates a curious story of the superst.i.tious regard of Indians for insane persons, 283.

Hendrick, the Mohawk chief, slain at the battle of Lake George, 94.

Henry, Alexander, pioneer of the English fur-trade in the extreme North-west, 241; his adventures, 241; his interview with an Ojibwa chief, 241-243; attacked by a party of Ottawas, 244; an Ojibwa chief takes a liking to him, 246; and warns him of danger, 247; escapes the ma.s.sacre at Michillimackinac, 252; his account quoted, 251-255; his extreme danger, 253; his life spared, and the manner thereof, 252 et seq.; his further adventures, 256-258, 263; painted and attired like an Indian, 264; extract from Henry's Travels, 395, 396; he is delivered from captivity and brought safely to Niagara, 400.

Hodenosaunee, the Indian name for the Five Nations, 19.

Holmes, Ensign, commander of Fort Miami, discovers a plot of the Indians against the English, 143; the fort is taken, and he is killed by the Indians, 207.

Hopkins, Mr., of Wyoming, escapes the ma.s.sacre there, 347, 348.

Howe, Lord, killed at Ticonderoga, 98.

Hughes, John, of Lancaster, Pa., details of his plan to hunt the Indians with dogs, 305 note.

Hurons or Wyandots, their population, 30; had characteristics in common with the Iroquois, 31; their utter ruin and dispersion, 32; present at Braddock's defeat, 88; their population estimated, 115; their energy, 117; a conquered people, 114.

I.

Iberville, Lemoine d', founds the colony of Louisiana, 56.

Illinois nation of Indians, 37; tribes of which that nation was composed, 501 note.

Illinois River, the region described, 452 et seq.; its early colonization, 456-458; character of the first settlers, 458; the population, its numbers and location, 459; the Indians of that country, 460, 461; the English take possession of Fort Chartres, and of the Illinois country, 471, 491.

Insanity, persons laboring under it, superst.i.tious regard of Indians for, 283.

Indian summer described, 353, 354.

Indians, their general character, 15; all live by the chase, ib.; their pride and self-consciousness, 15; they cannot endure restraint, ib.; influence of the sachems, what, ib.; distinction between the civil and military authority, ib.; the Indian inflexibly adheres to ancient usages, 17; division into clans, ib.; the totems, or symbols of the clans, ib.; peculiar character of the clan, ib.; its privileges, 18; division of the Indian population into three great families, ib.; their dwellings and works of defence, 25; their mode of life, 27; their legendary lore, 40; and religious belief, 41; the unity of G.o.d unknown to them, 42; the Indian character often mistaken, ib.; the Indian strangely self-contradictory, ib.; his character summed up, 43-45; treatment of Indians by the French, 64-67; by the English, 63; by William Penn, 69; by his sons, 71; by the Quakers, 70, 71; att.i.tude of the Indian tribes towards the English in 1755, 78; their alarm at the appearance of the French on the waters of the Ohio, 82; the French conciliate them, 83; effect on them of Braddock's defeat, 92; attached to the French interest, 114; estimate of the Indian population in 1760 in the present territory of the United States, 115; striking instance of Indian acuteness, 123 note; their feelings at the surrender of Detroit, 129; intense hatred of the English takes possession of the Indians, 131; its manifestations, ib.; treatment of the Indians by the English, 131, 132 note, 141; plot formed for the destruction of the English, 137, 138; their imperfect preparation for the war, 145; defects of their social system, ib.; without any central authority, ib.; their chiefs had no power but of advice and persuasion, 146; Indians will not submit to restraint or discipline, ib.; they are capricious and unstable, ib.; often desert their leaders, 146; they are formidable in small detached parties only, ib.; they are fond of war and ready to engage in it, ib.; they never fight but when sure to win, 147; alert and active, crafty and treacherous, they cause wide-spread havoc, but carefully avoid collision with a foe, ib.; Indians p.r.o.ne to quarrel, 151; Indian council, 151 et seq.; war-dance, 176; Indian attack on Detroit, 177 et seq.; idea of military honor, 184; courage, 185; sad effect of whiskey, 200; Indians fight from ambush, 198; Indian barbarity. See Barbarity, Indian. Indians attempt to destroy an armed schooner, 223; their prolonged blockade of Detroit, 224; a curious instance of Indian friends.h.i.+p, 246; Indian ball-play, 250; fearful ma.s.sacre by Indians at Michillimackinac, 251 et seq.; cannibalism, 262; revulsion of feeling, 262, 264; Indian faithlessness, 147, 250, 281, 282; Indians fight in ambuscade, 330, 344; cannot stand before border riflemen, 344; great conference of Indians at Niagara, 395 et seq.; veneration of Indians for the rattlesnake, 395 note; to some white people Indian life has charms, 446; Indians of the Illinois, 460; council of Indians meet Sir William Johnson at Johnson Hall, 327; again at Niagara, 395; council at Detroit, 487-490; Indians are pleased when white men adopt their figurative language, 489 note.

Iroquois, or Five Nations, afterwards Six Nations, 19; the term often applied to the entire family of which they were a part, ib.; their extended conquests, ib. See Appendix A. Causes of their success, 20; tribal organization, ib.; their manner of conducting public business, 21; divided into eight clans, ib.; great power of this system, ib.; descent of the sachems.h.i.+p in the female line, 22; extensive prevalence of this custom, ib. note; origin of the Iroquois, 23; Indian tradition concerning it, 23, 24; their fantastic legends, 24, 25; rude state of the arts among them, 25; their agriculture, ib.; their fortifications and strongholds, ib.; their dwellings, 26; their life of excitement, 27; preparation for war, 28; return from war, ib.; fiendish cruelty, ib.; their boundless pride, 29; military strength, ib.; destroy the Hurons, 31; and several other Indian nations, ib.; their cruel treatment of captives, 32; their licentiousness, 33; their G.o.d of thunder, 41; attack made on them by Champlain, 60; they become the irreconcilable foes of the French colonies, ib.; their attack on Montreal, 61; their extreme ferocity, ib.; expedition of Frontenac against them, 61, 62; their rancor abates, 62; irritated against the English and why, 74; influence over them gained by Sir William Johnson, 76. See Appendix A. They a.s.sume to dispose of lands in Pennsylvania, 72, 83; treaty of alliance with them, 84; they induce the Delawares to make peace with the English, 111; flock to the British standard, 114; estimate of their numbers, 115; what their approach to civilization, 116; meet Sir William Johnson in council, and are restrained by him from war against the English, 327; the Senecas already at war with them, 137, 142, 290, 296, 327; the Iroquois send a message to the Delawares, exhorting them to bury the hatchet, 328; a war-party of the Iroquois goes out to fight the Delawares, 356; their success, ib.

J.

Jacobs, mate of schooner Gladwyn, orders the vessel blown up, 235; lost in a storm, 236 note.

Jamet, Lieutenant, at Michillimackinac slain by the Indians, 251, 266.

Jenkins, Lieutenant Edward, taken prisoner by the Indians, 206; his letter, 207 note.

Jesuit missionaries in Canada, 50 et seq.; their religious zeal and enterprise, 51; their sufferings, 52; slender results, ib.; lead the van of French colonization, ib.; the firm auxiliaries of French power, ib.

Jogues, Isaac, a Jesuit missionary, a captive among the Iroquois, 51; tortured by them, ib.; his death, ib.

Johnson, Sir William, settles on the Mohawk River, 76; trades with the Indians, ib.; acquires great influence over them, ib. See Appendix A. Becomes a major-general and a baronet, 76; repeatedly defeats the French, 77, 93-96, 100; his death, 77; his good and bad qualities, ib.; his n.o.ble figure, 493; his estimate of the Indian population, 115; his annoyance from Indians, 118 note; his statement of the French policy toward the Indians and its results, 132 note; his letters quoted, 65 note, 328 note; his influence keeps the Indians around him quiet, 296; convokes a council of the Six Nations and persuades them not to attack the English, 327; arms his tenantry, 329; their numbers, 328 note; offers fifty dollars each for the heads of two noted Delaware chiefs, 355; sends messengers to the north-western tribes, 392; meets a conference of Indians at Niagara, 395 note; his interview with Pontiac at Oswego, 492 et seq.; his address, 494; his indecision at the outbreak of the Revolution, 77; his death, ib.

Johnston, Captain, cut off with nearly all his men, 331, 332 note.

Jonois, a Jesuit priest, 205; commended for humanity, 206, 256, 257, 259; visits Detroit, 205, 259.