Old Fort Snelling | Page 5

Marcus L. Hansen
could survive only if
the free life of the hunt and the chase, which the Indians loved so well,
was left them. But with the Americans were associated the making of
treaties and the ceding of land. The Indians preferred to see upon their
rivers the canoe of the trader rather than the flatboat of the pioneer.[20]
The coming of hostilities was received joyfully by all the inhabitants of
the Northwest. To the Indian it meant an opportunity to avenge past
wrongs; the Canadian hoped to make secure his present condition; and
the American settler saw a chance to drive out both enemies--Indians
and foreign traders alike. The news of the declaration of war reached
the great rendezvous of the North West Company at Fort William on
the northern shore of Lake Superior on the sixteenth of July, 1812, and
the next day one of the traders left for the interior to rouse the natives.

The agent of the company at this post wrote enthusiastically: "I have
not the least doubt but our force, will in ten days hence, amount to at
least five thousand effective men."[21]
But already a sufficient number of Indians had come to the aid of the
English to render service. On the very next day the English flag
replaced the American above the fort at Mackinac. No sooner had the
news of the beginning of hostilities become known at the neighboring
British post at St. Joseph's than immediate preparations were made. The
Indians were marshalled for the attack, and a vessel belonging to the
North West Company was requisitioned. The morning of July 17th
revealed the American fort surrounded by Indians and commanded by a
cannon which had been dragged upon a height of land. Seeing the
futility of resistance the garrison surrendered and marched out before
noon. Of the total attacking force of 1021 there were Indians to the
number of 715, of whom the British leader wrote, "although these
people's minds were much heated, yet as soon as they heard the
Capitulation was signed they all returned to their Canoes, and not one
drop either of Man's or Animal's Blood was Spilt, till I gave an Order
for a certain number of Bullocks to be purchased for them".[22] The
ease with which the capture was made had the effect of bringing to the
English standards all the Indians of the Northwest, except a part of the
Miamis and Delawares, in spite of the fact that they had earlier made
promises of neutrality.[23]
Although the capture of the fort at Mackinac was accomplished without
any Indian atrocities, the success of that day was to precipitate a
massacre, long to rankle in the minds of the pioneers of the West.
Immediately upon hearing of the capture of the fort, General Hull wrote
to Captain Heald in command at Fort Dearborn ordering the evacuation
of that post. On the morning of August 15th, as the small garrison of
fifty-five regulars and twelve militia were leaving the fort with their
women and children, they were fallen upon by a force of five hundred
Indians. Twenty-six regulars, all the militiamen, two women, and
twelve children were murdered on the spot. An unknown number of
wounded prisoners were that evening victims at what the Indians
termed a "general frolic".[24]

In the meantime Robert Dickson, who for many years had been a
Prairie du Chien fur trader, was continuing his activities as recruiter of
Indians for British service. This was the same Dickson who had in
1802 received an American commission as a justice of the peace,[25]
and had later entertained Pike and his men "with a supper and a dram",
impressing the American explorer as a man of "open, frank
manners."[26] Now, in January, 1813, he was appointed by Great
Britain "agent for the Indians of the several Nations to the Westward of
Lake Huron".[27]
By June 23, 1813, he had already sent eight hundred Indians to Detroit
and had collected six hundred at Mackinac.[28] The summer of 1813
was spent in operations about Detroit, but in the winter he was again
active in the West.[29] Great alarm was felt at St. Louis when rumors
came telling of the great force he was collecting.[30] Accordingly, late
in the spring of 1814, Governor William Clark of Missouri Territory
proceeded up the Mississippi and at Prairie du Chien built a stockade
named Fort Shelby. It was garrisoned by about sixty men.[31] News of
this movement soon came to Mackinac, and prompted the British
commandant to prepare a counter-expedition. On the seventeenth of
July the force composed of five hundred and fifty men, of whom four
hundred were Indians, arrived outside the post. Immediately a
summons to surrender was sent. The American commander at first
refused, but two days later agreed to capitulate providing
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