PONTIAC IN COUNCIL
THE CONTEST FOR NORTH AMERICA
The Pontiac Conspiracy
SIX
Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas, a remarkable Indian in many ways, had a power rare among members of his race, the power of organization. He was the leader of the Indian rising known as “Pontiac’s Conspiracy,” which took place in 1763-1764. He was cruel and treacherous, but a brave fighter. Pontiac was probably born sometime between 1712 and 1720. He became chief of the Ottawas about 1755. As an ally of France he took part in the defeat of General Braddock on July 9, 1755.
In 1762 Indian prophets began preaching a union of tribes to expel the English. The French took advantage of this religious fervor to stir up trouble. On April 27, 1763, representatives of the Algonquin tribes met near Detroit. It was at this meeting that Pontiac outlined the plans for his conspiracy.
With sixty warriors he attacked Detroit on May 7; but this attempt failed. Major Henry Gladwin, with one hundred and sixty men, was in command of this fort. When Pontiac’s attack failed he and his braves calmly sat down outside the stockade and besieged the fort until the end of October. Reinforcements managed to get into the fort during this time, and there were many bloody fights between the besiegers and the besieged; but the fort held out, and on October 30, after Pontiac learned that the French were not going to help him, the Indians quietly stole away.
In the meanwhile other English forts all along the frontier were being attacked. On June 22, 1763, Fort Pitt, with a garrison of three hundred and thirty men, stoutly repelled an assault. At Michilimackinac (Mackinac), Michigan, on June 4, the Indians gained admission to the fort by a trick, killed nearly twenty of the garrison, and captured the rest, seven of whom were killed in cold blood by a chief of the Ojibwas. Fort Sandusky at Sandusky, Ohio, Fort Miami at Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort St. Joseph at Niles, Michigan, and many other British outposts were captured and their brave little garrisons massacred.