The Old Northwest | Page 7

and when, a few days later, with a multitude of followers, he
sought admission to the fort to assure "his fathers" that "evil birds had
sung lies in their ears," and was refused, he called all his forces to arms,
threw off his disguises, and began hostilities. For six months the
settlement was besieged with a persistence rarely displayed in Indian
warfare. At first the French inhabitants encouraged the besiegers, but,
after it became known that a final peace between England and France
had been concluded, they withheld further aid. Throughout the whole
period, the English obtained supplies with no great difficulty from the
neighboring farms. There was little actual fighting, and the loss of life
was insignificant.
By order of General Amherst, the French commander still in charge of
Fort Chartres sent a messenger to inform the redskins definitely that no
assistance from France would be forthcoming. "Forget then, my dear
children,"--so ran the admonition--"all evil talks. Leave off from
spilling the blood of your brethren, the English. Our hearts are now but
one; you cannot, at present, strike the one without having the other for
an enemy also." The effect was, as intended, to break the spirit of the
besiegers; and in October Pontiac humbly sued for peace.
Meanwhile a reign of terror spread over the entire frontier. Settlements
from Forts Le Boeuf and Venango, south of Lake Eric, to Green Bay,
west of Lake Michigan, were attacked, and ruses similar to that
attempted at Detroit were generally successful. A few Indians in
friendly guise would approach a fort. After these were admitted, others
would appear, as if quite by chance. Finally, when numbers were
sufficient, the conspirators would draw their concealed weapons, strike
down the garrison, and begin a general massacre of the helpless
populace. Scores of pioneer families, scattered through the wilderness,
were murdered and scalped; traders were waylaid in the forest solitudes;
border towns were burned and plantations were devastated. In the Ohio
Valley everything was lost except Fort Pitt, formerly Fort Duquesne; in
the Northwest, everything was taken except Detroit.
Fort Pitt was repeatedly endangered, and the most important

engagement of the war was fought in its defense. The relief of the post
was entrusted in midsummer to a force of five hundred regulars lately
transferred from the West Indies to Pennsylvania and placed under the
command of Colonel Henry Bouquet. The expedition advanced with all
possible caution, but early in August, 1763, when it was yet twenty-five
miles from its destination, it was set upon by a formidable Indian band
at Bushy Run and threatened with a fate not un-like that suffered by
Braddock's little army in the same region nine years earlier. Finding the
woods full of redskins and all retreat cut off, the troops, drawn up in a
circle around their horses and supplies, fired with such effect as they
could upon the shadowy forms in the forest. No water was obtainable,
and in a few hours thirst began to make the soldiery unmanageable.
Realizing that the situation was desperate, Bouquet resorted to a ruse
by ordering his men to fall back as if in retreat. The trick succeeded,
and with yells of victory the Indians rushed from cover to seize the
coveted provisions--only to be met by a deadly fire and put to utter rout.
The news of the battle of Bushy Run spread rapidly through the frontier
regions and proved very effective in discouraging further hostilities.
It was Bouquet's intention to press forward at once from Fort Pitt into
the disturbed Ohio country. His losses, however, compelled the
postponement of this part of the undertaking until the following year.
Before he started off again he built at Fort Pitt a blockhouse which still
stands, and which has been preserved for posterity by becoming, in
1894, the property of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Daughters of the
American Revolution. In October, 1764, he set out for the Muskingum
valley with a force of fifteen hundred regulars, Pennsylvania and
Virginia volunteers, and friendly Indians. By this time the great
conspiracy was in collapse, and it was a matter of no great difficulty for
Bouquet to enter into friendly relations with the successive tribes, to
obtain treaties with them, and to procure the release of such English
captives as were still in their hands. By the close of November, 1764,
the work was complete, and Bouquet was back at Fort Pitt.
Pennsylvania and Virginia honored him with votes of thanks; the King
formally expressed his gratitude and tendered him the military
governorship of the newly acquired territory of Florida.
The general pacification of the Northwest was accomplished by treaties
with the natives in great councils held at Niagara, Presqu'isle (Erie),

and Detroit. Pontiac had fled to the Maumee country to the west of
Lake