Page:Lacrosse- The National Game of Canada (New Edition).djvu/85

68 so famous in the annals of Indian history and the early associations of Lacrosse.

The war belt of black and purple wampum had been sent to all the nations of the Ohio and its tributaries, the upper lakes, the borders of the river Ottawa, and the mouth of the Mississippi, and with the exception of the Iroquois confederacy—except the Senecas who joined the rest,—all the tribes accepted the invitation and prepared for war. Pontiac held several councils of the warriors; the plans were discussed and decided upon, but nothing was said of the ball-play snare. It would seem as if that portion of the plan was a new ruse decided upon after the failure of the first attempt upon Detroit; as the scheme there tried, and which was frustrated through the revelations of an Ojibway girl, was to obtain admittance to the fort, and during a council meeting, suddenly fall upon and massacre the officers, while the Indians outside would fill upon the garrison. The next afternoon, to calm the apprehensions of the garrison, Pontiac summoned the players of the different tribes to a game of ball, on the common adjacent to the fort; and it is possible that it was this occasion which suggested the