CHAPTER II
PONTIAC AND THE TRIBES OF THE HINTERLAND
Foremost among the Indian leaders was Pontiac, the
over-chief of the Ottawa Confederacy. It has been customary
to speak of this chief as possessed of 'princely grandeur'
and as one 'honoured and revered by his subjects.' But
it was not by a display of princely dignity or by inspiring
awe and reverence that he influenced his bloodthirsty
followers. His chief traits were treachery and cruelty,
and his pre-eminence in these qualities commanded their
respect. His conduct of the siege of Detroit, as we shall
see, was marked by duplicity and diabolic savagery. He
has often been extolled for his skill as a military
leader, and there is a good deal in his siege of Detroit
and in the murderous ingenuity of some of his raids to
support this view. But his principal claim to distinction
is due to his position as the head of a confederacy
--whereas the other chiefs in the conflict were merely
leaders of single tribes--and to the fact that he was
situated at the very centre of the theatre of war. News
from Detroit could be quickly heralded along the canoe
routes and forest trails to the other tribes, and it thus
happened that when Pontiac struck, the whole Indian
country rose in arms.
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