History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

40

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

Capt. Beletre, was in a situation similar to that of the Indians,
and received the news of the defeat of the French from Major
Rogers. He was indignant and incredulous, and tried to rouse the
fury of his old-time friends, the Indians, but found them " faithless " in this hour of his need. He surrendered with an ill grace,
amid the yells of several hundred Indian warriors. It was a source
of great amazement to the Indians to see so many men surrender
to so few. Nothing is more effective in gaining the respect of Indians than a display of power, and the above proceedings led them
to be overawed by English prowess. They were astonished also at
the forbearance of the conquerors in not killing their vanquished
enemies on the spot.
This surrender of Detroit was on the 29th of November, 1760.
The posts elsewhere in the lake region north and west were not
reached until some time afterward. The English now thought they
had the country perfectly in their own hands and that there was
but little trouble ahead; but in this respect they were mistaken.
The French renewed their efforts to circulate reports among the
Indians that the English intended to take all their land from them,
etc. The slaughter of the Monongahela, the massacre at Fort
William Henry and the horrible devastation of the Western frontier, all bore witness to the fact that the French were successful in
prejudicing the Indians against the British, and the latter began to
have trouble at various points. The French had always been in
the habit of making presents to the Indians, keeping them supplied
with arms, ammunition. etc., and it was not their policy to settle
upon their lands. The British, on the other hand, now supplied
them with nothing, frequently insulting them when they appeared
around the forts. Everything conspired to fix the Indian population in their prejudices against the British Government. Even the
seeds of the American Revolution were scattered into the West and
began to grow.
The first Indian chief to raise the war-whoop was probably Kiashuta, of the Senecas, but Pontiac, of the Ottawas, was the great
George Washington of all the tribes to systemize and render effectual the initial movements of the approaching storm. His home
was about eight miles above Detroit, on Pechee Island, which looks
out upon the waters of Lake St. Clair. He was a well-formed man,
with a countenance indicating a high degree of intelligence. In
1746 he had successfully defended Detroit against the northern
tribes, and it is probable he was present and assisted in the defeat
of Braddock.
About the close of 1762 he called a general council of the tribes,"
sending out embassadors in all directions, who with the war-belt of
wampum and the tomahawk went from village to village and camp
to camp, informing the sachems everywhere that war was impending, and delivering to them the message of Pontiac. They all
approved the message, and April 27, 1763, a grand council was held
near Detroit, when Pontiac stood forth in war paint and delivered