Transcriber’s Note: The original publication has been replicated faithfully except as listed [here].
The text conforms to changes in window size.
There are two volumes: Volume I, below, and [Volume II].
There is an [index].
Author: Francis Parkman (1823-1893).
THE
CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC
AND THE
INDIAN WAR
AFTER
THE CONQUEST OF CANADA.
Vol. I.
TO
JARED SPARKS, LL.D.,
PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY,
THESE VOLUMES ARE DEDICATED
AS A TESTIMONIAL OF HIGH PERSONAL REGARD,
AND A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT
FOR HIS DISTINGUISHED SERVICES TO
AMERICAN HISTORY.
Preface
TO THE SIXTH EDITION.
I chose the subject of this book as affording better opportunities than any other portion of American history for portraying forest life and the Indian character; and I have never seen reason to change this opinion. In the nineteen years that have passed since the first edition was published, a considerable amount of additional material has come to light. This has been carefully collected, and is incorporated in the present edition. The most interesting portion of this new material has been supplied by the Bouquet and Haldimand Papers, added some years ago to the manuscript collections of the British Museum. Among them are several hundred letters from officers engaged in the Pontiac war, some official, others personal and familiar, affording very curious illustrations of the events of the day and of the characters of those engaged in them. Among the facts which they bring to light, some are sufficiently startling; as, for example, the proposal of the Commander-in-Chief to infect the hostile tribes with the small-pox, and that of a distinguished subordinate officer to take revenge on the Indians by permitting an unrestricted sale of rum.