The Prophet

In 1761 the tension among the Indians in the Old Northwest was increasing.  The appearance of a "prophet" among the Delawares, calling for all Indian races to purge itself of foreign influences and to unite to drive the white man from the land,  came forth.  The leadership of the great revolt fell upon Pontiac, who lived on a wooded island in Lake St. Clair outside the fortifications of Detroit.

Pontiac, principal chief of the Ottawa tribe, was made head of a powerful confederation of Ottawas, Ojibwas and Potawatomi in 1763.  He was respected from the Ohio to the Mississippi.  During the winter of 1763, his plans secretly passes from Indian nation to Indian nation throughout the Old Northwest and beyond. Upside down wampam belts and reddened tomahawks were the symbols of war.

In April of 1763, the tribes were summoned to a great council on the shores of Ecorces, below Detroit where Pontiac proclaimed the will of the "Master of Life" as revealed to him.  Algonquin and Senecas from the Iroquois confederacy pledged their support. 

A simultaneous attack, timed by a change in the moon, was planned on English forts and settlements throughout the Old Northwest.  The tribes would attack the nearest settlement to them, and Detroit belonged to Pontiac himself.  Four days prior to the planned attacks, Pontiac and 40 of his warriors visited Detroit to claim their undying friendship to the Great Father across the water.  The new commander, Major Gladwyn, had heard of trouble through his Ottawa girlfriend according to legend.

Pontiac saw that the whole garrison was under arms and was told by Gladwyn that they were training exercises.  After trying to talk peace, Pontiac was refused entrance and left.  On May 7th, the ruse was up and hostilities began in earnest. 

For six months the settlement was besieged.  There was little actual fighting and loss of life was insignificant.  The French refused to offer the Indians assistance, and in October Pontiac humbly sought peace again. 

Meanwhile a reign of terror spread...next time
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 14, 1639, in Hartford, Connecticut, the first constitution in the American colonies, the 'Fundamental Orders' was adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford."

Pontiac and the Great Spirit Rally the Indians

Now that the British and her colonies were in control. The trans-Appalachian country Indians saw the future as one of being overrun by settlers.  General Jeffrey Amherst, British commander of the New World, actually recommended smallpox be spread among the Indians to destroy them!

The Indians' only hope was to attack the lightly defended forts of the west.  Enter one "Abnaki Prophet" who claimed to be the Great Spirit and who was charged with rousing the Indians against the British.

The chief of the Ottawas, Pontiac, believed him and roused his tribe in 1763 to strike the British
outpost at Detroit.  News traveled fast, within a month most of the tribes of the region followed Pontiac's example, surrounding Fort Pitts and leaving a trail of death while sending the British fur traders and farmers who were heading west, running for cover.  British reaction was swift and the rebellion was quelled within a few months, but not without opening the British eyes to the power of the Indian in the west.  (Remember the "west" at this time was the Ohio Valley)  Pontiac was later killed by an Indian, probably bribed by a white man.

On October 7, 1763, the British issued a proclamation limiting white settlement to the region east of the Appalachian crest.  The settlers, however, defied it, coming into Kentucky by the Ohio River, through the Cumberland Gap by wagon, or by the Wilderness Road.

Many easterners, such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were land speculators who stood to lose fortunes if the proclamation stayed in effect. The British had no way to enforce the edict.  Pioneers moved into Kentucky, Tennessee, through the Alleghenies and established settlements around Pittsburgh.  The line became regarded as a temporary imposition, as the British kept moving the line westward to accommodate land speculators.

Next time...a familiar friend from the west
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Today in Pioneer Pieces History:  Early in the morning on September 17, 1868,  a large band of Cheyenne and Sioux stage a surprise attack on Major George A. Forsyth and a volunteer force of 50 frontiersmen in Colorado.