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CHAPTER III.

PONTIAC'S DECLINE AND FALL

WE have seen the results of the campaign on the northern lakes under Colonel Bradstreet, and of the expedition against the Delawares, Shawanoes and Senecas under Colonel Bouquet. These various tribes, who had so long been the terror of the border settlements, were at last humbled and compelled to sue for peace, but the proud and haughty spirit of Pontiac was not subdued. Some time back we left him, with such of his warriors as chose to follow the fortunes of their indomitable leader, sending his defiance to the commander at Detroit from the banks of the Maumee. The Delawares and the Shawanoes, on whom he had chiefly relied after his retirement from Detroit, were now humbled and had yielded a reluctant

Toward the close of 1763, the French officers commanding the posts in the Illinois country received notice that that territory was included in the treaty of cession from France to England, and ordering them to give possession as soon as English troops should appear to occupy it. The Indian war then raging with the tribes further east rendered this remote country difficult of access. The principal French post was Fort Chartres on the Mississippi above the mouth of the Kaskaskia. Here ruled Neyon de Villiers, the French commandant, with almost absolute sway, and decided matters both civil and military among the colonists. It should be said, however, that he exercised his powers prudently, and preserved the respect and confidence of the people. At this time France had also made a treaty with Spain, by which she ceded all her vast territory west of the Mississippi to the latter power, but this treaty was for some time kept secret. These trans-Mississippi possessions, however, subsequently went back to France. Great was the indignation felt by the people of the French colonies when they learned of the transfer of the Illinois posts and territory to the English. Neyon de Villiers, the commandant, followed by some of the colonists, abandoned the country, and retired to New Orleans. Some crossed to the west bank of the Mississippi and established themselves at Ste. Genevieve, while others joined a company of fur-traders who, under the leadership of Pierre Laclede and Choteau, had erected a store-house and some