desire for vengeance: and the determination, to resist to the last became as much a matter of interest and policy, as it was one of duty and honour.

On the first of June, the fort of Outanon, on the Wabash, was attacked. Its site was some few miles south of the present town of Lafayette. The small party holding it was under the command of lieutenant Jenkins. He was seized when outside of the fort, and told that if the men defended the place, and one Indian was killed, the whole would be massacred. Without means of defence the few men surrendered. The Indians informed Jenkins that they had been forced to take this course by other tribes. In his report to Gladwin, which he was enabled to send, he states that he had been well treated both by Indians and French, and that he expected to be sent shortly to the Illinois.

The important fort of Michillimackinac was the scene of the next misfortune. Included in the command of Detroit, this post on lake Michigan was the centre of the trade of this district, and the forts of Sault Saint Mary and Green bay were subordinate to it. Green bay, the most western post in these northern waters, was under the command of lieutenant Gorell and seventeen men. The post of Sault Saint Mary, at that date, was not occupied. It had been destroyed by fire the preceding winter, and the detachment stationed there had been moved to Michillimackinac.

The Indians in the neighbourhood of Michillimackinac were the Ojibeways, whose hunting grounds extended over the eastern half of Michigan, and the Ottawas, who held the territory to the west. The former had established a village on the island of Mackinaw and a second village at Thunder bay, lake Huron. The Ottawas had a settlement a few miles to the south, on lake Michigan, at L'Arbre Croche, the seat of a mission. The Ottawas, in this locality, were perfectly. independent of those under Pontiac at Detroit, and acted as they held expedient. They had been equally influenced by French intrigue, and, with little love for the traders who came among them, had been only kept in subjection by the British garrison north of their village.

1763]

ALEXANDER HENRY.

27

The first British trader who, after the conquest, appeared in their neighbourhood, was Alexander Henry. As he was proceeding westwardly he had been warned of the danger he was incurring, and advised to turn back; nevertheless, assuming the character of a voyageur, he continued his journey to Michillimackinac. He arrived there in 1761, and was received in a hostile manner by the French Canadians present, who regarded his presence among them as an intrusion. He was visited by the Ojibeways, with their chief Minavavana. Henry reports the address made to him on the occasion, as it was translated to him. He was told that the Ojibeways were children of the king of France; although, of late, fallen asleep, he would wake up and entirely destroy his enemies. The French king had engaged them to fight his battles, for the Indians were not a conquered people; theirs were the lakes and woods. Many of their people had been killed, and the spirits of those slain could only be appeased by the blood of their destroyers, or by covering the bodies of the dead with presents; for by such means the resentment of their relations would be propitiated. The king of England had entered into no treaty with them; he had sent them no presents, therefore they were still at war with him, and until he made such concessions they must look upon the king of France as their chief. "But," continued the chief, "you do not come armed with an intention to make war; you come in peace to trade with us, to supply us with the necessaries of which we are in want. We shall regard you, therefore, as a brother, and you may sleep tranquilly." The calumet was then presented to Henry. They asked for whiskey, and on receiving some presents departed.

The visit of the Ottawas from L'Arbre Croche was not so peaceable. Two hundred came in a body, and called upon Henry and two other traders with him, to sell them their goods, for which payment would be made the ensuing spring. The traders resolved upon resistance. Their party consisted of thirty men; the house was barricaded with the resolution of defending their property. The Canadians of the neighbourhood counselled compliance, but the traders adhered

to their purpose. In a few hours the news arrived that a British detachment was on its way to Michillimackinac, and, as the boats shortly afterwards were seen approaching, the Ottawas took their departure.

The Ottawas, consequently, had no particular cause to regard the garrison with friendliness. Two years, however, passed in quietness. The garrison was under the command of captain Etherington, and some writers have blamed him, because he did not entertain suspicion of the plot forming around him. Reports of native hostility are constantly heard, wherever a population is held in subjection by a dominant race, and often, under an apparent and assumed indifference great caution is exercised. Etherington gives us the impression of having been a man of conciliatory manners, and the protection which he received, after the seizure of his person, suggests that personally he was much esteemed.

I cannot see cause for blame in the course followed by Etherington at the crisis. One of the conditions of the plot was its concealment; nevertheless whisperings of the spirit of unfriendliness had not been infrequent, but no overt act had taken place to suggest that doubt should be entertained of the good feeling of the tribes visiting the fort. From its position as the central point of the trade of the lake, Indians were constantly coming and going, and the behaviour of the new comers was not of a character to cause suspicion. Henry himself tells us, that he thought the reports groundless. Etherington even wrote to Gladwin, commanding the district at Detroit, that all the Indians had arrived, and everything seemed in perfect quietness."

No news of the attacks on the lower forts had reached Michillimackinac. The Indians, however, knew of these successes, and they were encouraged to proceed with their own plans. The day selected for the assault was the 4th of June, the birthday of George III. Several Ojibeways had lately arrived with a number of Sakis, from Fox river. In the morning some Ojibeway chiefs invited the officers and men of 12th June, relating the outbreak, Can. Arch., A. & W. I., 98. 1, p. 316.

1763]

FORT MICHILLIMACKINAC.

29

the garrison to be present at a game of La Crosse between themselves and the Sakis.

Etherington received them with courtesy, and as he regarded the Ojibeways as friends and neighbours, he told them he would back them in their play.

For some days previously both sides had been engaged. assiduously practising as if in training. The match was commenced in the morning, and the soldiers, for the most part, were present on the ground as spectators. The fort gates were wide open, and the squaws, without hindrance, went in and out as usual, huddled up in their blankets. They attracted no attention, no one suspecting that they held, concealed in this dress, the arms of their husbands and brothers engaged in the game. The men were necessarily without any weapon, for the slight clothing which they wore to keep their limbs free, made concealment an impossibility. The men of the garrison were scattered in groups; Etherington, with a lieutenant named Leslie, was standing not far from the front gate. About noon the ball was delivered near the spot where they were watching the game. The players, as if to dispute its possession, rushed forward amid cries of excitement. It was the work of a minute for these shouts of hilarious good nature to be changed into a war whoop. Etherington and Leslie were seized, bound and hurried off to the bush. The players, a second before so peaceable, rushed into the fort, obtained their weapons from the squaws, and "in an instant," the expression is Etherington's, the Indians killed a lieutenant named Janet and fifteen rank and file.

Under such circumstances resistance was not possible; the remainder were made prisoners, five of whom were subsequently killed. The Indians seized the English traders and robbed them of all they had. One was killed, it may be supposed, resisting pillage. No violence was offered to the persons and property of the French. Henry described the number of Indians entering the fort as four hundred, and he tells us the Canadians looked calmly on, as if in no way surprised. His own life was saved with some dramatic incidents; one of the

main instruments was an Indian slave of the class known by the name of " Panis,"* recognized by French law. The woman by her own instincts concealed Henry in a garret of a house, occupied by one Langlade, under a heap of birch bark vessels used in making maple sugar. Henry's clothes were dark in colour, and there was little light in the room. Langlade led up a party to the spot, to discover if any one lay concealed. During the search had one of the Ojibeways put out his hand, he must have touched Henry. As they were seeking for their victim, the Indians boasted to Langlade of the number they had killed and the scalps they had taken. After they had left, exhaustion of feeling led to sleep. Henry awoke refreshed, only to feel the desperation of his position, for the difficulties of his escape seemed insuperable. While considering what might be possible, Madame Langlade appeared to stop a hole in the roof, for it was raining. Although startled at seeing him, she spoke kindly to him; she hoped he would escape, and, at his request, brought him some water. Again Henry fell asleep; he was awakened at sunrise by hearing voices in the room below. It was some Ojibeways, saying that his body could not be found. Subsequently, he heard Madame Langlade tell her husband, that Henry could not be kept in the house, for the Indians would revenge his presence upon her children. Langlade, after some show of hesitation, accepted this view, and himself undertook to lead the Indians upstairs, explaining that Henry had entered the house without his knowledge. As Henry listened to their footsteps ascending the stairs, he felt that his doom was fixed. Rising from the bed on which he had thrown himself, he stood up in the centre of the room in full view. He was seized by an Indian named Wenniway, a powerful man, six feet in height, brandishing a large carving knife. In a few seconds he released his hold, and said that he would not kill Henry, but would keep him to replace his lost "Ordonnance au sujet des Nègres, et des sauvages appelés Panis, du 13 avril, 1709. Jacques Baudot, intendant." Documents Historical Society, Montreal, I., p. 5. "Nous, sous le bon plaisir de Sa Majesté, ordonnons, que tous, les Panis, et Nègres qui ont été achetés et qui le seront dans la suite, appartiendront en pleine propriété à ceux, qui les ont achetés comme étant leurs esclaves."