Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-05-24
PONTIAC.
BY JAMES PARTON.

stiffness of the little building. The
voice Of the sehOOlmaster was not
heard, and the hum Of the children
coming their lessons issued not from
the open windows. The wayfarer
pushed open the door and looked in.
A spectacle horrible and CHASTITY met
his view. Near the middle Of the
room, the teacher, scalped and dead,
Law upon the floor with Bible clasp
ed in one of his hands. Around the
room were the bodies Of the pupils,
nine Of them, scalped and mangled,
and all dead but one, who still feebly
gasped. ---,
OF all the Indian massaeres record
ed. none seems so horrible as TINS !
and even the Indians themselves,
mereiless as they are toward the weak
aud helpless, spoke Of it with disap-
provaI
why this massacre in Pennsylva-
mia?
The reason was this: In making
the peace of 1868, between Prussia,
England, France and Spain, the
negotiators never bestowed Thought
upon the original ownerR Of North
Ameriea-the Indians. But the red
men, whose passions had been in
famed by long warfare, could not
comprehend this sudden transfer Of
their land, ut the bidding of un-
known men in a distant country.
Generally speaking, the Indians
liked the French and hated the Eng
lish. It Is a thing to be HOted. that
men of the Celtic races get on better
with Indians than men Of Saxon
blood. The Frenehman Of the West
ern wilds built q wlgwRm, married a
squaw, and took to the Indian mode
Of life with a certain relish. The
Saxon, on the contrary, with his aus
terer morals and more Radical ciyili-
cation, disdained to rear a brood Of
tawny children, and held the idle,
lshiftless sRvages In q contempt which
he did not care enough to conceal.
The French would never have estab-
lished an empire in North America.
The Romans, the English, the Ger
mans, who have founded civiliZa-
tions in barbarous countries, have
| hated barbarism, and instead Of bor-
rowing institutions and usages from
the conquered, have imposed their
own institutions and customs upon
them.
Then, again, as long as the French
and English were fighting, both par
/ ties had an interest in cOurting the
I Indians. The French and English
Governors strove which should make
the Indians the most acceptable pres
ents, and which should treat them in
] the most agreeable and winning man
ner. The unanimous support might
have decided the issue of the war.
4 But the moment the war was ended,
/ the Indians ceased to be Of conse-
/ quenee to either party, and both treat
ed them with indifference. No more
profuse gifts Of guns, powder, hatch
/ cts and knives-Whieh had now be-
come almost necessary TO the exist
! ence of some Of the tribes; for they
had forgotten the use Of the bow and
/ arrow, and had lost their skill in the
use Of the ancient implements.
After the war, too, the Indians saw,
with dismay, the settlements extend
/ ing more rapidly than ever, and the
/ pioneer pushing his way westward.
Hence, throughout all the tribes Of
/ the interior there was q deep and
/ growing discomfort. At tsueh time,
I IL there chances to be q gifted and
powerful individual who shares the
! passion Of the hour, people become
/ capable Of heroic efforts. There was
such an individual then among the
IndiRns-POSTIAC, the great chief Of
the Ottawas, then fifty years Of age
long an ally of the French, for whom
he had fought, during the Seven
! Years War, with all the cunning and
more than the eonstaney Of his race.
Except Tecumseh, Pontiac was the
ablest Indian OF whom we have any
knowledge. Teeumseh, indeed, ae-
knOwledged Pontiac as his model,
and endeavOred TO carry out the
scheme Pontiac had derived from the
traditions Of King Phillips war in
New England. Pontiac saw that the
Indians had but one chance for the
recovery OF their ancient domain. 1t
was to unite and attack the English
posts by surorise on the same day.
When the posts were captured and
the garrison massaered, then the In
dians were TO rush upon the settle
ments, burning and destroying, and
drive all the English into the sea who
had escaped the tOmahawk.
From the great lakes TO the Gulf Of
Mexico, from the Alleghanies TO be-
yond the Mississippi, Pontiac travers-
ed the wilderness, rousing the tribes
by his elOquenee, and communicating
to the chiefs his plans. He found
willing listeners everywhere, and the
result Of his mission was that exten-
sive combination of the Northern and
Western tribes which is known in the
annals of the last century as POntiac's
Conspiracy.
The attacks were not made on pre-
cisely the same day. But on sudden,
simultaneously enough to prevent the
alarm from spreading from one past
to another, tile war broke out. Many
OF the smaller posts were captured.
The smoke from q hundred burning
villages assembled to heaven at once.
Whole counties were abandoned by
the settlers in CONSERVATION. Every
where on the frontier such scenes
were exhibited as that which curdled
the blood Of the passer-by when he
pushed open the door Of that Penn
sylvania schOOl-house.
OF all the Western posts the most
important at that time was Detroit,
situated upon the narrow straits
which connect Lake Erie with the
great lakes Of the North, Huron and
Superior. The settlement contained
twenty-five hundred inhabitants. In
the centre Of it was a considerable
tract inclosed by a palisade, which I
was called the Fort. This inelOsure |
contained about a hundred houses for |
the residence OF the garrison, which
consisted OF a hundred and twenty
British troops. The settlers had their
houses and gardens scattered along
the strait, for the space Of eight miles.
Pontiac claimed the right TO lead in
person the attack upon this important
post.
One afternoon, an Indian girl, who
had been, they say, the warm friend
Of Major Gladwyn, the commander of
the garrison, came into the fort, ev-
identity in great distress Of mind.
After much persuasion, Major Glad |
wyn induced her to reveal her secret.
Pontiac" said she, twill come to-
morrow to the fort with sixty Of his |
chiefs. Each will be armed with a |
gun cut short, and hidden under his /
Blanket. Pontiac will demand to |
hold a council; and after he has de-
livered his speech, he will offer a |
peace belt Of wampum, holding It up /
side dowF This will be the signal II
attack. The chiefs will spring up and |
fire upon the officers, and the Indians /
in the street will fall upon the garri- |
son. Every Englishman will be /
killed, but not the scalp of a French /
man will be touched.
All that night, from dark to dawn, /