in the hands of the Indians for years, were attended with demonstrations which brought tears to the eyes of grizzled veterans, and even moved Indian stoicism to the betrayal of emotion. Mothers again beheld their long-lost children. Husbands embraced their wives whom they had mourned as either dead or dishonored. But others, alas, who had hoped to meet their loved ones once more found that they had perished either by the tomahawk or through cruel exposure. Some children had forgotten not only their mothers, but their mother-tongue; and there were found young women who were decidedly opposed to being taken from their savage lords, the fathers of their offspring, some of whom sought the earliest opportunity of returning to the wigwam, where they voluntarily reassumed the position of a squaw.

The relentless spirit of the morose Pontiac, however, was still unsubdued. He sullenly refused to take part in any negotiations for peace, and-like Achilles at the siege of Troy-" remained, sulking, in his tent." Loving the French as sincerely as he hated the British, he had risked all in what he believed to be their interest. That he had confidently counted upon their aid and had hoped to see French troops again fighting side by side with his own warriors can not be doubted. Ordinary caution, however, had prevented the crafty Gauls from furnishing Pontiac with men, and the blunt savage declared that he had been deceived. His confederates had made terms-each for themselves--with those whom he considered a common foe, and not a few of his own warriors had deserted him. Despondent, yet revengeful, he returned to the Illinois country. Here he had first received the encouragment from French traders and settlers which determined him to make his desperate attempt to throw off the British yoke, and here, at least, he would find his old friend Villiers, to whom he went, and to that officer he unfolded his plans for a continuance of the war, and sought coöperation. But the Frenchman coldly told him, as he had already sent him word, that France and Great Britain were at peace and that his cherished scheme was impracticable.

Notwithstanding this rebuff, he continued his efforts to form a new league, visiting the Kickapoos, Miamis, and others, and succeeded to some extent in reviving the war-spirit among

PONTIAC'S SURRENDER AND DEATH.

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them. Feeling once more hopeful, and learning that his friend St. Ange was now in command at Fort Chartres, he repaired to that point and demanded of that officer arms, ammunition, and troops, stating that he loved the French and that he would yet succeed in avenging their wrongs. St. Ange, with equal kindness and firmness, protested his inability to furnish the aid requested. The great chief bitterly declaimed against such lukewarm friendship, and, with his warriors, encamped about the fort in a menacing attitude for some days.

Disappointed here, he next turned to New Orleans. Thither he dispatched an embassy of trusted braves, whose return only added to his chagrin when they told their tale of ill-success. Failing to secure French coöperation and support, and deserted in great measure by his confederates, the great chief at length perceived the folly of attempting to carry on unaided a struggle which could have but one result. Learning therefore of the approach of Col. Croghan, he resolved to go and meet him and to apprise him of his intention to establish friendly relations with those whom he saw no way to defeat. The conference which ensued was entirely satisfactory, and Pontiac soon after followed the colonel to Detroit. At the great powwow which followed-in August, 1765—all the western tribes were represented, and after much speech-making, the terms of peace were finally agreed upon, which were to be thereafter incorporated in a treaty executed on the part of the conquerors by Sir Wm. Johnson.

Thus terminated the great War of Pontiac, and with it all his hopes of the restoration of the empire of France in America. The following spring, according to agreement, he assisted at the making of a treaty with the British, and thenceforth the great chief disappears from the pages of history. Even the manner of his death is a matter of dispute. As related by Francis Parkman on the authority of Pierre Chouteau it was as follows: Pontiac had been paying a visit to his old friends St. Ange and Chouteau at St. Louis, where, learning that a large party of Indians were carousing at Cahokia, he concluded, against the protest of his friends, to join them. Here with the others he drank deeply, and while in this condition, one Williamson, an English trader, hired a strolling Kaskaskia Indian for a barrel

of whisky to take his life. This he did by stealing up behind him and burying a tomahawk in his brains. He lay on the spot where he had fallen until St. Ange, hearing of the catastrophe, claimed the body and buried it in St. Louis. Whether these details are correct or not, the main fact is authenticated by the authority of Father Louis S. Muerin, the parish priest at Cahokia, who positively declares in a letter: "Pontiac was assassinated in this village in the second week after Easter [between April 2 and 8], 1769.”*

In person, the great forest chieftain was a singularly finelooking man. His complexion was nearly white, a circumstance which gave rise to the belief that French blood ran in his veins. His bearing was stern and resolute. Brave, cruel at times, and vindictive, he was shrewd and cunning, and by his great ability exercised almost regal authority over the Northwestern Indians.†

* O. W. Collet.

+ Authorities: Dillon's "Historical Notes"; Parkman's "Pontiac "; Cort's "Col. Henry Bouquet and his Campaigns"; W. F. Poole in Winsor's "America," Vol. VI; Gayarre's "History of Louisiana."

CHAPTER VIII.

The British Government,* 1765-1778.

'HE obstructions in the path of the British, as narrated in the preceding chapter, rendered nugatory several attempts to assert their ownership by securing complete possession of the Northwest. The first of these was that under command of Maj. Arthur Loftus, who was ordered to proceed to the Illinois country from Pensacola by way of New Orleans, February 27, 1764. With a force of four hundred regulars, he embarked on the Mississippi and proceeding about two hundred miles up the river, was fired on by Indians from ambuscades on either bank. Several of his men being killed and wounded, he decided to abandon the enterprise.

The next attempt was made by Gen. Bradstreet, who despatched Capt. Thomas Morris of the Seventeenth Regiment with a small force, in August, 1764, "to take possession of the Illinois country." It was altogether a premature expedition. The Indians, so far from proving as friendly as the general had so unadvisedly supposed, treated his subordinate with great disrespect. On one occasion he was assaulted, on another threatened, and all sorts of indignities heaped upon him. At Fort Miami he was seized, stripped of his clothing, and tied to a post, and with a mob of howling savages around him, despaired of his life. He was at length driven out of the village, being only too glad to make his escape.

It was then determined to reach Fort Chartres from Fort Pitt, and Col. George Croghan, deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, was sent on in advance as an envoy. Some ap

The British governors of Canada from 1760 to 1796 were:-1760-63, Gen. Jeffrey Amherst; 1763–66, Gen. James Murray; 1766 (three months), Col. Paulius Emelius Irvine, president of Executive Council; 1766-70, Gen. Sir Guy Carleton, lieutenant-governor; 1770-74, Hector T. Cramahé, lieutenant-governor; 1774-78, Gen. Sir Guy Carleton; 1778-84, Gen. Frederick Haldimand, lieutenant-governor; 1784-85, Col. Henry Hamilton, lieutenant-governor; 1785, Col. Henry Hope, president of Council; 1785-92, Gen. Sir Guy Carleton, as Lord Dorchester; 1792–96, Gen. John Graves Simcoe, lieutenant-govern ›r.

prehension being felt lest the savages might commit some fresh outrage, Lieut. Alexander Fraser, who was to accompany Croghan, volunteered to proceed alone. When the lieutenant arrived at Kaskaskia, he met with rather a rough reception. The French traders quarrelled with him, and incited the Indians to take his life. Pontiac was at the settlement and was plied with liquor until he became intoxicated, in the hope that he might be prevailed upon either to make the lieutenant prisoner or offer him personal violence. A drunken debauch ensued, but Fraser fortunately escaped injury. His position, however, was precarious, and he left Kaskaskia in disguise and paddled down the Mississippi to New Orleans.

Meanwhile, Col. Croghan had left Fort Pitt on May 15, 1765, accompanied by a party of friendly Indians. His progress was uneventful until he arrived at a small promontory on the Wabash, where he disembarked. On June 8, six miles below the mouth of that stream, he was suddenly attacked by a band of Kickapoos, eighty in number. In the fight which followed, Croghan lost two white men and three Indians, while most of his party, including himself, were wounded. A surrender was unavoidable, and the victorious Kickapoos plundered the entire party. Subsequently, they assured the British officer that it was "all a mistake," and that they had supposed that the Indians accompanying him were their deadly foes, the Cherokees. They brought their prisoners in safety to Vincennes, where the Indians, many of whom had a friendly acquaintance with Croghan, strongly condemned the Kickapoos, and the latter in turn professed deep sorrow for what they persisted in calling a blunder. At Ouiatanon-now Lafayette, Indiana, other friendly Indians were met. Here he received a message from St. Ange, cordially inviting him to proceed to Fort Chartres.

The Indians were now submissive and entirely obsequious; but the most surprising and agreeable feature of what was beginning to resemble a triumphal march yet awaited him. He had proceeded but a short distance on his way to the Illinois country after receiving the message from St. Ange before he was met by a delegation of chiefs representing various tribes, and, on July 18, by the hitherto implacable Pontiac himself