Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/228



2. Conspiracy of Pontiac—About the time this treaty was made, a very strange and remarkable plot took place. Its object was the seizure of all the British forts along the Upper Lakes and in the Great West, and the holding them for the French. A famous Indian chief, Pontiac, who did not want the British to rule in Canada, and who did not know that the French had given up all hope of recovering it, stirred up the Indian warriors in the valley of the Ohio, and along the line of the Great Lakes, to seize the rude forts in the West recently handed over by the French to the British. A short time after the Peace of Paris was signed, a sudden and almost simultaneous attack was made on these forts, and in nearly every instance they fell into the hands of the Indians, their garrisons being murdered or made prisoners. Detroit was besieged for over a year by thousands of Indians, who managed to prevent supplies and assistance coming to the garrison. At last a strong force came to the relief of the brave defenders of the fort, and the Indians sullenly withdrew. Fort Pitt and Niagara also were able to hold their own against the dusky warriors, and the Indians finding that French power was at an end in America, ceased hostilities. Pontiac, a few years later, while drunk, fell by the hands of a treacherous Illinois Indian.

Two things make this conspiracy remarkable in Indian history. One is the vastness of the scheme planned and carried out by Pontiac with so much skill and success ; the other is the determination shown by the Indians in the siege of Detroit, their usual mode of warfare being to capture forts, if at all, by surprise, and not by a long siege.

3. Military Rule.—There was an interval of more than two years between the surrender of Canada by the last French Governor and the Peace of Paris, and during that period the colony was governed by Military Rule. General Murray ruled over the district of Quebec; General Gage, that of Montreal; and Colonel Burton, that of Three Rivers. A Council of officers met twice a week, and settled all disputes. The people were allowed the free use of their religion, and were treated justly and kindly. The French militia, who had been called from their homes to defend the colony against the British were allowed to go back to their farms and occupations, and the regular soldiers were sent to France. Canada was in a sad