The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922; / Clarence M. Burton, editor-in-chief, William Stocking, associate editor, Gordon K. Miller, associated editor. [Vol. 2]

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CITY OF DETROIT

the invaders took advantage of it to withdraw. They were pursued the next
morning by M. de Vincennes with a few French soldiers and a large body of
Indians and were found near what is now known as Windmill Point, where they
had intrenched themselves. In his report of the affair, Dubuisson says cannon
were sent up from the fort to dislodge the enemy and about one thousand of
them were killed, while his own loss was trivial. Subsequent events indicate
that these figures were based more upon imagination than upon fact. The
survivors returned to Green Bay, where they erected a large stockade on an
eminence called Buttes des Morts (Hills of the Dead) and for years their scouting
parties infested all the trails leading to the posts, killing and plundering the
traders. They were secretly encouraged by the Iroquois and their irregular
warfare was so successful that some of the Siouan tribes formed an alliance with
them. This would hardly have occurred had their chastisement been as severe
as represented by Dubuisson.
By 1716 the situation had become so serious that Governor Vaudreuil determined to send an expedition against the Fox band at Green Bay. The expedition of 800 French and Indians was commanded by M. de Louvigny, who found
the Indians in a position fortified by palisades. Artillery was brought into
requisition and after a seige of a few days the occupants of the fort offered to
capitulate, but the terms they offered were not satisfactory to Louvigny and the
attack upon their stronghold was renewed. Finally they surrendered and placed
in the hands of the French six sons of the six principal chiefs, to be taken to
Montreal as a pledge that a deputation of Indians would be sent there the next
spring to ratify a treaty of peace.
Notwithstanding this action, another Fox attack was made upon Detroit in
1717, but it was repulsed without loss or serious inconvenience to the garrison.
Mrs. Sheldon Stewart, in her "History of Early Michigan," states:
"From this time until the close of 1724 there was a succession of conflicts
with the savages. As soon as one 'bad affair' was settled, another would crop
up and some real or fancied grievance would cause the hatchet to be dug up and
war declared by some tribe upon the French at Detroit. The forts at this post
and Michilimackinac were at a low ebb and poorly defended, and to the savages
were subjects of contempt rather than terror. It is impossible to trace a connected chain of events at these points and only now and then can be found
isolated incidents known to be authentic."
HURON AND OTTAWA QUARREL
For some time prior to 1738, jealousy among the Indian tribes about Detroit
led to frequent petty quarrels, which sometimes threatened the safety of the
post. In 1738 Desnoyelles, then commandant, summoned the chiefs to a
council at his residence, hoping to allay the jealousies and restore harmony.
At this council the head chief of the Huron Nation gave a belt to the Ottawa
head chief, saying:
"We have made peace with the Flatheads of the West. We are now brothers
and we invite you to regard them in the same way. We would be glad to have
peace in the land. If you continue to send war parties against the Flatheads,
some of our young men may go to warn them of their danger."
The Ottawa chief resented the advice of the Huron, accused him of interference in a matter which did not concern him or his tribe, and the Chippewa
and Pottawatomi sided with the Ottawa. The result was that the council came