Having adjusted affairs with the Indians at Fort Pitt, Croghan set out from there on May 15th with two boats, accompanied by several white companions and a party of Shawnee Indians. [68] In compliance with messages from Croghan, representatives of numerous tribes along the route met him at the mouth of the Scioto and delivered up a number of French traders who were compelled to take an oath of allegiance to the English crown, or pass to the west of the Mississippi. [69] The only other incident of importance on this voyage was the attack of the Kickapous and Mascoutin Indians near the mouth of the Wabash on June 8th, [70] which contributed greatly to the success of the mission. After the attack in which two whites and several Shawnees were killed, the assailants expressed their profound sorrow, declaring that they thought the party to be a band of Charokees with whom they were at enmity. [71] Nevertheless, they plundered the stores and carried Croghan and the remainder of the party to Vincennes, a small French town on the Wabash. Croghan was now separated temporarily from his companions and carried to Fort Ouiatanon, about 210 miles north of Vincennes. The political blunder of the Kickapous in firing upon the convoy now became apparent; [72] they were censured on all sides for having attacked their friends the Shawnees, since the latter might thus be turned into deadly enemies. [73] During the first week of July deputations from all the surrounding tribes visited Croghan, assuring him of their desire for peace and of their willingness to escort him to the Illinois where Pontiac was residing. [74] July 11th, Maisonville, whom Fraser had a few weeks before left at Fort Chartres, arrived at Ouiatanon with messages from St. Ange requesting Croghan to come to Fort Chartres to arrange affairs in that region. [75] A few days later Croghan set out for the Illinois, attended by a large concourse of savages; but he had advanced only a short distance when he met Pontiac himself who was on the road to Ouiatanon. They all returned to the fort where, at a great council, Pontiac signified his willingness to make a lasting peace and promised to offer no further resistance to the approach of the English troops. [76] There was now no need to go to Fort Chartres; instead Croghan turned his steps toward Detroit, where another important Indian conference was held in which a general peace was made with all the western Indians. [77]
Immediately after effecting an accomodation with Pontiac at Ouiatanon, Croghan sent an account of the success of his negotiations to Fort Pitt. [78] Here Captain Stirling with a detachment of about one hundred men of the 42d or Black Watch regiment, had been holding himself in readiness for some time, waiting for a favorable report before moving to the relief of Fort Chartres. Although the 34th regiment under Major Farmer was supposed to be making its way up the Mississippi to relieve the French garrison in Illinois, General Gage would not depend upon its slow and uncertain movements. [79] Upon receipt of the news, on the 24th of August, Stirling left Fort Pitt [80] and began the long and tedious journey. Owing to the season of the year the navigation of the Ohio was very difficult, forty-seven days being required to complete the journey. [81] The voyage, on the whole, was without incident until about forty miles below the Wabash River. Here Stirling's force encountered two boats loaded with goods, in charge of a French trader, who was accompanied by some thirty Indians and a chief of the Shawnees, who had remained in the French interest. [82] On account of the allegations of a certain Indian that his party had planned to fire on the English before they were aware of the latters' strength, Stirling became apprehensive lest the attitude of the Indians had changed since Croghan's visit. He therefore sent Lieutenant Rumsey, with a small party by land from Fort Massac to Fort Chartres, in order to ascertain the exact situation and to apprise St. Ange of his approach. [83] Rumsey and his guides, however, lost their way and did not reach the villages until after the arrival of the troops. [84] Sterling arrived on the 9th of October; and it is said that the Indians and French were unaware of his approach until he was within a few miles of the village, and that the Indians upon learning of the weakness of the English force, assumed a most insolent and threatening attitude. [85] On the following day St. Ange and the French garrison were formally relieved, [86] and with this event, the last vestige of French authority in North America, except new Orleans, passed away.
CHAPTER III.
STATUS OF THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY IN THE EMPIRE.
Before entering upon the more detailed study of events in the Illinois country during the period of the British occupation, it is necessary to take into consideration certain general aspects of the subject which will enable us to understand more clearly the bearing of those events. The relation of that country to the empire and the view held by British statesmen of the time relative to its status are problems which naturally arise and demand solution. What was the nature of the government imposed upon the French in Illinois after its occupation? Is the hitherto prevailing opinion that the British government placed the inhabitants of those villages under a military government any longer tenable? Was the government de jure or de facto?
The treatment received by the settlements in the Northwest and West in general was fundamentally different in nature from that accorded other portions of the new empire. By the terms of the Proclamation of 1763, [87] civil governments were created for the provinces of Quebec, East Florida, West Florida, and Grenada, while all the western territory outside the prescribed limits of those colonies, including a large portion of southern Canada of today, was reserved as a vast hunting ground for the Indian nations. No mention whatsoever is made in the Proclamation concerning the settled portions of the West and since it is, therefore, impossible to ascertain in this document their governmental status, we will examine the official correspondence of the ministry which immediately proceeded the issuance of the Proclamation to find, if possible, what the directors of the British colonial policy had in mind.
When the question of the Proclamation was under discussion by the Ministry in the summer of 1763, two opposing views with reference to the West were for a time apparent in the ministry. It appears to have been the policy of Lord Egremont, at that time Secretary for the Southern Department, which included the management of the colonies, to place the unorganized territory within the jurisdiction of some one of the colonies possessing a settled government, preferably Canada. [88] It was at least his aim to give to the Indian country sufficient civil supervision so that criminals and fugitives from justice from the colonies might be taken. That he did not intend to extend civil government to the villages or any of the French inhabitants of the West seems clear: his only reference is to the "Indian country" and to "criminals" and "fugitives from justice."
Lord Shelburne, President of the Board of Trade and a member of the Grenville ministry, and his colleagues were of the opinion that the annexation of the West to Canada might lend color to the idea that England's title to the West came from the French cession, when in fact her claim was derived from other sources; that the inhabitants of the province to which it might be annexed would have too great an advantage in the Indian trade; and finally that such an immense province could not be properly governed without a large number of troops and the governor would thus virtually become a commander-in-chief. [89] Shelburne then announced his plan of giving to the commanding general of the British army in America jurisdiction over the West for the purpose of protecting the Indians and the fur trade. [90] Lord Halifax, who succeeded to Egermont's position at the latter's death in August, 1763, fell in with Shelburne's views. But the commission to the commanding general does not appear to have been issued; for Hillsborough, who succeeded Shelburne as President of the Board of Trade in the autumn of 1763, favored a different policy. There is nothing, however, to indicate that Shelburne and his advisers had any thought of the government of the French colonies. There is no hint in any of this correspondence that the ministry had any idea of the existence of the several thousand French inhabitants of the West. [91]