Description

Two accounts of Pontiac of the Ottawa

This book contains two accounts of Pontiac, the great Ottawa chief of the eighteenth century American colonial period. After the end of the French and Indian War there was, irrespective of the treaties made, no peace on the frontiers of the New World. The indigenous Indian tribes-broadly the Huron and Iroquois-had made their allegiances with the British or the French according to their loyalties and those were not readily to be curtailed. Pontiac rose in rebellion and conspired with his allies to destroy the British and American settlers on the frontier, burning outposts and outlying forts and putting their defenders to the knife. His tactic of deception worked well for a time culminating in the significant Battle of Bloody Run. However, when his forces came up against the substantial defences of fortified Detroit, its defenders were not taken in by his ruse and his failure to take the fort by assault ultimately contributed to his undoing. These two accounts are quite different in their character, One concentrates primarily on the culmination of his career with the great 'Conspiracy' and the other takes an over view of the chiefs life generally to give the reader context. Also included is a little known play by the famous ranger, Robert Rogers, that lends a first hand perspective to the events described herein. Available in softcover and hardcover with dust jacket.