On the eastern bank of the Mississippi, within
the country ceded to England by the Treaty of Paris, was
an important settlement over which the French flag still
flew, and to which no British troops or traders had
penetrated. It was a hotbed of conspiracy. Even while
Bouquet was making peace with the tribes between the Ohio
and Lake Erie, Pontiac and his agents were trying to make
trouble for the British among the Indians of the
Mississippi.
French settlement on the Mississippi began at the village
of Kaskaskia, eighty-four miles north of the mouth of
the Ohio. Six miles still farther north was Fort Chartres,
a strongly built stone fort capable of accommodating
three hundred men. From here, at some distance from the
river, ran a road to Cahokia, a village situated nearly
opposite the site of the present city of St Louis. The
intervening country was settled by prosperous traders
and planters who, including their four hundred negro
slaves, numbered not less than two thousand. But when it
was learned that all the territory east of the great
river had been ceded to Britain, the settlers began to
migrate to the opposite bank. The French here were hostile
to the incoming British, and feared lest they might now
lose the profitable trade with New Orleans.
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