Michigan, during the colonial era in Michigan from 1607 to 1775, was first the dominion of the Indians, then the French, then the British. This remote wilderness, largely unexplored by the Europeans until the mid-18th century, evolved into a battleground for control of the fur trade. Beavers were hunted to near extinction for their pelts, which were made into fashionable hats in Europe for two centuries. Much of the colonial history of the land that would become the State of Michigan in 1837 was colored by the struggle for “brown gold” in the so-called “Beaver Wars.”

The Indians of Michigan

At the dawn of the 17th century, there were an estimated 100,000 Indians living in the Great Lakes region. Primarily, the tribes in this area were Algonquian, which was a common language but they were culturally distinct. The other major language groups were Iroquoian to the east, and Siouan to the west.

Chief among the Algonquians in Michigan was the “Three Fires Confederacy,” an alliance between the Ojibwe (Ojibway or Chippewa), the Odawa (Ottawa), and the Potawatomi. According to legend, the Anishinaabe, or Original People as they call themselves, lived in the St. Lawrence River area 1,000 years ago, and moved to the Great Lakes region sometime before the Europeans arrived, probably due to warfare with the Iroquois Indians

The Ojibwe, the oldest brother of the Three Fires, were named for the native word “to pucker” or “puckered up.” This likely refers to the puckered seam on the moccasins they wore. Ojibwe was anglicized to the more familiar Chippewa by the Europeans. They lived mostly in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the eastern lower peninsula. The tribe lived in small villages of perhaps 5-25 families leading a nomadic life primarily as hunters and gatherers. The Ojibwe built wigwams by bending sapling trees together in a circle and then covering with the bark from birch trees. They also built birchbark canoes for travel on Michigan’s many inland lakes (an estimated 11,000) because the area was densely forested. In addition to hunting deer, elk, and moose, the men fished the lakes and gathered apples, berries, and nuts. Torch Lake, Michigan’s second largest inland lake, derives its name from the Ojibwe practice of spearing fish at night by the light of torches.

The Odawa, anglicized to Ottawa, were named for the native word “to trade”. The Odawa, as the middle brother, were recognized as the middleman or trader of the group. Living in the northwestern part of the lower peninsula, the Odawa were also skilled fisherman. Their most famous leader was Chief Pontiac, who directed an attack on Fort Detroit and other British forts in 1763.

The Potawatomi, meaning the “People of the Place of the Fire,” were the youngest brother. They were the “fire keepers” who tended the sacred fire of the Three Fires Confederacy. They lived in southwestern Michigan, and due to the more fertile soils, they planted corn, beans, and squash. Like other Indians, they produced sugar from the sap of maple trees.

The Huron Indians, also known as the Wyandots (from Wendat “peninsula people”) may have been the most numerous Indians in Michigan. The French called them hure, meaning “wild boar”, because their Mohawk hairstyles resembled the bristles on a boar’s neck. The Hurons spoke an Iroquoian language, but were enemies of other Iroquois tribes, and they were driven westward by constant warring. They were considered by Europeans to be more “civilized” than other tribes due to their more sedentary lifestyle which included farming. Like the Iroquois, the Hurons built 130′ longhouses instead of small wigwams of the Algonquian tribes.

Other significant tribes included the Miami, who lived in extreme southwest portion of Michigan. Their most famous chief, Little Turtle, would lead an alliance of tribes against the Americans in 1794 until his defeat by General “Mad” Anthony Wayne. The Sauk (or Sac) Indians lived in the Saginaw Valley area. The most famous Indian trail in Michigan – called the “Sauk Trail” – would eventually become Interstate 94 from Detroit to Chicago. The tribe’s most famous chief, Black Hawk, would lead a “rebellion” in 1832. The Fox Indians, closely related to the Sauk, spoke a Siouan language, but were closer culturally to Algonquian. The Menominee – the “wild rice people” – harvested wild rice in the Upper Peninsula by bending the stalks over their canoes and beating them with a stick. The Winnebago tribe, speaking a Siouan dialect, lived mainly the Green Bay area.

French Settlements

As a part of European discovery of the North American continent, French exploration of the North American continent began with Jacques Cartier in 1534. He sailed up St. Lawrence River, hoping that it was the “Northwest Passage” to India. He called it the “Country of Canadas,” an Iroquois name for the two big settlements of Stadacona (later renamed Quebec City) and Hochelaga (later Montreal). Like many explorers, he sought gold and diamonds, but found only iron pyrite and quartz (“Canadian diamonds”).

The “Father of New France,” Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608. Like Cartier, he hoped the Northwest Passage would provide access to Asian markets in China and India. Champlain made at least 21 trips across the Atlantic and established several settlements, while drawing detailed maps. He is the namesake of Lake Champlain in New York.

It has been said that the French settlement was a quest for “God, Gold, and Glory.” Missionaries, mostly Catholic priests, sought to convert the “heathen” Indians to Christianity. The “Black Robes” were austere and adventurous men who lived among the Indians and were often explorers themselves. Gold and other precious minerals were sought to compete with the Spanish in the Southwest. When only small amounts of copper were discovered in the Upper Peninsula, the French realized that control of the fur trade over the hated English was paramount. Finally, the race for a colonial empire in the North America motivated the French to build settlements like the English and Dutch were doing in the East and the Spanish in the West.

An early significant battle, the first of several “Beaver Wars,” was fought in the Lake Champlain area in 1609. The Iroquois tribes (the Mohawks, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Onondagas, collectively called “The Five Nations”) had signed a non-aggression pact after many years of intertribal warfare, and they blocked the westward expansion of the French. However, allied with the Huron Indians, the French easily defeated the Mohawks, who retreated quickly after Champlain killed two chiefs with a single musket shot. In doing so, Champlain earned the enmity of the Iroquois Confederacy, who largely continued to prevent any French exploration of the lower Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence River. Thus, the earliest settlements in Michigan were in the Upper Peninsula, which was accessed via the Ottawa River, which flows entirely through Canada.

Around the same time the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth in 1620, a young protégé of Champlain named Etienne Brule became the first European to see what would become Michigan (some sources say the year was 1622). He sailed from Montreal via the Ottawa River to visit the Sault Ste. Marie area (“St. Mary’s Rapids”), which connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron. Brule, who lived for many years with the Huron Indians as an ambassador/spy at the request of Champlain, eventually fell out of favor with his countrymen. Indeed, Champlain called him, “very vicious in character, and much addicted to women.” Nevertheless, it is speculated that Brule explored all of the Great Lakes except Lake Michigan. Ironically, Brule was allegedly murdered in a “trade dispute” with some Huron Indians.

The distinction of being the first European to explore Lake Michigan belongs to Father Jean Nicolet. He sailed past Mackinac Island and through the Straits, and followed the northern shore of Lake Michigan until he finally landed in Green Bay in 1634. Nicolet was so certain that he had found India that he meet the native Winnebago Indians dressed in a colorful silk robe, while carrying two pistols. Despite his confusion, the Indians were sufficiently impressed, and Nicolet wrote they thought him “descended from the gods.” Ultimately, Nicolet died when his boat capsized eight years later.

European Expansion

European discovery of North America, and the Beaver Wars of the 1600’s, had a devastating impact on the Native Americans. It is estimated that fifty percent of the native population died in the first century of contact due to exposure to European diseases to which they had no immunity, including smallpox, measles, malaria, and flu. Moreover, the fur trade disrupted traditional lifestyles, as the insatiable French demand caused beaver pelts to evolve into a form of currency. With the Iroquois allied with the English and Dutch, and the Algonquians allied with the French, the traditional object of war morphed from a demonstration of courage into a battle with lethal weaponry for control of valuable land. Although the Indians welcomed the superior European goods, they were generally appalled by the European obsession for land and natural resources, and opposed to the concept of private property. Not surprisingly, the missionaries were largely unsuccessful in their efforts to convert Indians to Christianity by making them into sedentary farmers, and giving up their belief in animism.

The men who directed the fur trade were voyageurs (French for “traveler”) who were licensed fur traders, and coureur de bois (French for “woodlands runner”) who were unlicensed bootleggers. Voyageurs were strong and stocky (usually not over 5’6″) men who wore colorful clothing and who could paddle up to 100 miles per day. They traveled in 36′ long Montreal canoes with 12 men and 3 tons of cargo. Coureur de bois were skilled in hunting, fishing, canoeing and snowshoeing. They sometimes lived among the Indians, and encouraged them to kill fur-bearing animals to trade for goods. Some explored rather than traded, so they adopted Indian dress and language to ensure safe passage.

In 1667, after years of skirmishes against the Iroquois, the French signed a peace treaty with the Mohawks and Oneida which opened the way to settlement in Michigan. A year later, the Jesuit priest, Father Jacques Marquette, sometimes call Pere (“Father”) Marquette, founded the first settlement in Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie. Three years later in 1671, he also founded the second oldest town in Michigan at St. Ignace on the north side of Mackinac Straits. For this, Marquette is recognized as the “Father of Michigan.”

Around the same time, the first Europeans visited the area that would become Detroit, although there is some dispute about which explorer was first. Some say it was Adrien Joliet, the older brother of the more famous Louis Joliet. Joliet is believed to have paddled south from Sault Ste. Marie down the Detroit River in 1669. Other historians argue that it was two Sulpician priests named Galinee and Dollier in 1670, who left detailed journals of their upstream trip from Montreal. They also drew detailed maps that showed all the Great Lakes were connected.

Father Marquette’s name is forever linked with Louis Joliet (sometimes spelled Jolliet). In 1673, leaving from St. Ignace with two canoes and five other men, Marquette and Joliet were the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River, and sailed down it as far as the Arkansas River. Like the men before them, they were seeking the inland route to the Pacific Ocean. Although they did not reach the Gulf of Mexico, the map they drew referred to Lake Michigan as “Lac de Michigami” rather than “Lac des Illinois.” Unfortunately, Marquette died just two years later, but he left behind detailed journals of their travels.

One of the most famous French explorers was Rene-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle. La Salle purchased a noble title (a seigneurie, or semi-feudal manor) but sold it to fund his disastrous first voyage. He was reputedly a bad navigator who could speak neither Algonquian nor Iroquoian. But his fortune changed when he met the Governor of New France, Louis de Buade de Frontenac, who directed La Salle to build Fort Frontenac at the eastern end of Lake Ontario in 1673. Later, in 1678, La Salle became the first white man to see Niagara Falls. Relying of Iroquois guides, he bypassed the falls, and camped in the Niagara River.

There, commissioned by Frontenac, La Salle oversaw the construction of a 40′ long sailing vessel called “Le Griffon” (The Griffin). A griffin is a mythological creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, and it was featured in Frontenac’s family coat of arms. In August 1679, accompanied by a Belgian priest, Father Louis Hennepin, and a crew of 32 men, La Salle sailed through Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan to Green Bay. There, La Salle and Hennepin disembarked. The plan was for the ship to return to Montreal with the furs they obtained from the Indians, while La Salle and Hennepin waited in Green Bay. However, on the trip to Montreal, the ship and all hands were lost at sea. There are several theories: either the ship was lost in a storm, or it was boarded by Indians who killed the crew and took the cargo, or the crew of six men scuttled it and made off with the furs (a theory favored by La Salle). In any event, the fate and exact location of the first sailing ship – and first shipwreck – on the Great Lakes remains a mystery to this day.

While waiting for the Griffin, La Salle and his party canoed down the west side of Lake Michigan, eventually reaching the southwest corner of Michigan at the St. Joseph River – then called the Miami River. There, he built Fort Miami, the first French outpost in the lower peninsula. When he received news that the Griffin was missing, La Salle and five companions proceeded to hike 1,000 miles from central Illinois to Fort Frontenac in 1680. In doing so, he is credited with being the first European to explore the interior of the Lower Peninsula. They avoided Indian trails, didn’t build fires, and couldn’t use rivers that were clogged with fallen trees. He wrote the woods were “so interlaced with thorns and brambles that…our clothes were all torn and our faces so covered with blood that we hardly knew each other.”

Resupplying at Fort Frontenac, La Salle, this time using canoes, journeyed through the Great Lakes, paddled past Fort Miami, and reached the Mississippi River. He descended the river, and in 1682, he reached the Gulf of Mexico, claiming all of “Louisiana” for France. The significance of his “discovery” cannot be overstated: this land became the basis of the 1804 Louisiana Purchase by which the United States obtained 530 million acres of land, including the future state of Michigan. La Salle met an ironic end in 1687, as his ambitions sometimes exceeded his abilities. Sailing from France in 1684, La Salle landed in the future Houston area, but got lost trying to find the Mississippi. While wandering through Texas, he was killed by his exhausted men.

Territorial Disputes and Colonial Power

King Williams War

Frontenac, who was appointed by King Louis XIV in 1672, was a pivotal figure in the late 17th century. As Governor of New France, he ignored the wishes of the Minister of Finance Colbert, and authorized the construction of military forts and trading posts in the Great Lakes area, as opposed to traders bringing their furs to Montreal. With the opening of King William’s War in 1688, the first of four wars fought in North America between the French and English, Frontenac directed the construction of several forts in Michigan at strategic locations. They included: La Salle’s Fort Miami, Fort St. Joseph in Niles, the short-lived Fort St. Joseph in Port Huron, and finally, Fort de Buade in St. Ignace (called by locals “Michilimackinac” due to its location). Fort Michilimackinac became the most important trading, missionary, and military center in the West. With the end of King William’s War in 1697, French soldiers withdrew from the western forts.

The most famous commandant of Fort Michilimackinac from 1694-1697 was Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. Born Antoine Laumet in France in 1658, Cadillac lost both of his parents in 1677, and enrolled in the military. In 1683, he sailed from France to Canada at age 25 for reasons not completely understood, but may relate to debts he owed. There, he changed his name from “Laumet” to “Lamothe” and he started using the title of “Sieur de Cadillac” to suggest nobility. The use of two names, and the adoption of a title was not an uncommon practice at the time, and La Salle did the same thing. Governor Frontenac initially described Cadillac as “a man who carries out his duties to the fullest and who is wise, prudent, perhaps more penetrating than certain people…would prefer.” However, Cadillac soon disobeyed the missionaries and royal decrees by trading brandy for beaver pelts with the Indians. Cadillac further alienated the clergy by promoting interracial marriage. Frontenac defended him, believing that fur trading took precedence over saving souls. Still, the greed that Cadillac flaunted would be his undoing later. One contemporary noted: “Never before had a man amassed so much wealth in such a short time.”

With the death of Frontenac in 1698, Cadillac sought a new benefactor. He found it in Count Jerome de Pontchartrain, Louis XIV’s chief minister and the Chancellor of France. Cadillac was able to convince Count Pontchartrain to give him $300 to build a fort and settlement in the strait between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. The site that would become Detroit was well known. The Algonquian Indians who traded with the French in the area called it Yon-do-ti-ga, or “Great Village.” Encounters with the unfriendly Iroquois in the area were not uncommon.

On June 5, 1701, with 25 canoes bearing 50 soldiers, 50 voyageurs, and 100 Indians, Cadillac left Montreal. 600 miles and 30 portages later, Cadillac arrived at Detroit on July 24.. He selected the narrowest point on the north bank of the river with no island in between. His landing spot also had a 40’ high bluff, which would be helpful for defense. In addition, the now-extinct Savoyard River flowed behind where a fort would be built, allowing easier provisioning. Cadillac planted the French flag on the shore, and claimed all the land to be the property of King Louis XIV. From here, the French could control access to the Upper Great Lakes. The location was so advantageous that both habitants (French settlers) and Indians moved in large numbers from the Michilimackinac area, and Fort de Buade/Michilimackinac in St. Ignace was abandoned. Some 2,000 Indians settled near the fort, well outnumbering the French settlers. Ville d’etroit — “city of the straits,” but soon shortened to D’etroit — was born.

Cadillac’s first order of business was to build a fort, which he named Fort Pontchartrain, in honor of his benefactor. The square fort was 200′ long on the sides, and had a 12′ high wooden palisade. The first building inside the fort was named for Ste. Anne, the patron saint of New France. Ste. Anne de Detroit Church is today the second oldest continuous parish in the United States. Cadillac’s wife, Marie, arrived in 1702 with their nine-year-old son, and later, she gave birth to several children, some of whom died very young.

As commandant of D’etroit, Cadillac quickly asserted his power. In the manner of a feudal lord, he gave land grants to 75 habitant families. These “ribbon farms” were only 200-600 feet wide along the river, but extended 1-3 miles inland. The names of some these pioneer families still grace the street names today: Beaubien, St. Aubin, Chene, etc. As renters, the habitants had to pay Cadillac an annual fee, and their grain had to be ground at Cadillac’s mill, and he took a percentage of the crop. The tenant farmers also had to work a certain number of days on Cadillac’s own farm, which also provoked resentment. Cadillac controlled all trade and all land sales, and he set exorbitant prices for liquor, beaver pelts, and silver to enrich himself. As before, he also offended the religious community by encouraging intermarriage and providing the Indians with liquor.

After several years of receiving complaints, lawsuits, and charges against Cadillac, Count Pontchartrain ordered an investigation which concluded that he “was generally hated by all the French and Indians.” Pontchartrain wrote that Cadillac displayed “too much greed,” and Louis XIV effectively removed him from his post in 1710 by demoting him to Governor of Louisiana. Although one historian called him “one of the worst scoundrels ever to set foot in North America,” Cadillac attempted to do some positive things. He wanted to build a permanent settlement, as opposed to just a fort or trading post. He also encouraged the settlement of Indians around Detroit and intermarriage to promote peace. And he maintained the defenses so the village was never attacked. However, under his watch, Detroit failed to grow in both population or cultivated acreage, so it remained largely just a trading post.

Cadillac went back to France in 1710 to seek investors for a new scheme in Louisiana, so he did not arrive in that territory until 1713. There, he alienated local leaders and was recalled to France in 1716, where he spent five months in the Bastille. He cleared his name, and retired to his family’s estate, where he eventually became governor and mayor of the town. When he died in 1730, his only noteworthy accomplishment – beyond the founding of Detroit – was the discovery and initial mining of lead in what would become the most prolific region in the United States today: the Southeast Missouri Lead District.

Queen Anne’s War

Queen Anne’s War, the second of the English-French wars in North America, started in 1702, and continued until 1713. Louis XIV allowed only French citizens – and only Catholics – to emigrate to New France, which inhibited population growth relative to the English who invited all nationalities to their colonies. The only noteworthy conflict in Michigan was the Fox Indian Massacre in 1712 in Grosse Pointe, a lakefront community north of Detroit. The Fox Indians, allied with the British, attacked Fort Pontchartrain for 19 days. Ottawa and Huron Indians, allied with the French, fought back until the Fox retreated to the Windmill Pointe area (then called Presque Isle). There, over 1,000 Fox and Mascoutin Indians were killed. As an aside, the “English” became the known as the “British” after Scotland and England united into Great Britain in 1707.

The attack on Fort Pontchartrain inspired the French to rebuild Fort Michilimackinac in 1715 on the south side of the Straits of Mackinac. Fort de Buade in St. Ignace, abandoned since 1701 in favor of Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit, was dismantled and parts were used to build the new fort.

For the next thirty years, relative peace existed in the Great Lakes region and New France. Detroit’s population continued to grow very slowly, as only an estimated 2,000 people lived there in 1760. The French eventually built eleven forts in the Great Lakes region, including the three in Michigan: Pontchartrain, Michilimackinac, and St. Joseph. Conflict again arose in the form of King George’s War from 1744 to 1748. The French foiled a small conspiracy by the British and Iroquois to attack Detroit. In 1747, the French sent 150 troops to Michigan to repel attacks by the Hurons, who were now allied with the British. The British launched incursions into the Ohio Valley, and their navy blockaded Montreal, revealing French weakness. Most of the theater of war was in Massachusetts and the Hudson River Valley in New York, but it became apparent that the British now coveted the Ohio Valley to control the fur trade.

Into the story comes Charles Langlade, one of the more interesting Michiganders in history. Born at Fort Michilimackinac in 1729, the son of a French trader and an Odawa woman, he went on his first war party at age 10, led by his Odawa uncle. By his early 20’s, he was leading war parties, and was now skilled at the art of Indian warfare, including guerrilla warfare tactics of ambushes, surprise attacks, and mass casualties. As both a respected French officer and fierce Indian warrior, he moved seamlessly between two worlds. He spoke both languages fluently, and married an Odawa woman, and later, a French woman.

French and Indian War

In 1752, Langlade and his Indian allies initiated the French and Indian War by destroying a British trading post and Miami village in Pickawillany (now Piqua, Ohio). This conflict was fought for control of the future states of Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. The British wanted to clear the land for farming, while the French wanted to continue the fur trade. However, the 50,000 French were vastly outnumbered by the 1.5 million British colonists. Thus, Charles Langlade and his allies had to adopt new tactics to fight the superior discipline and firepower of the British. He led the attack on Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania in July 1754, which marked the only time that the Virginia surveyor George Washington surrendered in battle. A year later, Langlade’s combined French and Indian forces defeated General Edward Braddock and Washington as they tried to capture Fort Duquesne in near now-Pittsburgh. The tide of war turned in 1758 when the British successfully captured Fort Duquesne, and renamed it Fort Pitt, in honor of William Pitt, the wartime political leader. By signing the Treaty of Easton, which promised the lands west of the Appalachians to the Indians, the British won the support – or at least the neutrality – of tribes that formerly backed the French. A year later, the decisive British victory in the Battle of Quebec effectively ended the French and Indian War, although the French did not formally surrender until September 1760 in Montreal. The Treaty of Paris was not signed until 1763, and it was during this interregnum that Michigan experienced tremendous upheaval.

A year later, Langlade’s combined French and Indian forces defeated General Edward Braddock and Washington as they tried to capture Fort Duquesne in near now-Pittsburgh. The tide of war turned in 1758 when the British successfully captured Fort Duquesne, and renamed it Fort Pitt, in honor of William Pitt, the wartime political leader. By signing the Treaty of Easton, which promised the lands west of the Appalachians to the Indians, the British won the support – or at least the neutrality – of tribes that formerly backed the French. A year later, the decisive British victory in the Battle of Quebec effectively ended the French and Indian War, although the French did not formally surrender until September 1760 in Montreal. The Treaty of Paris was not signed until 1763, and it was during this interregnum that Michigan experienced tremendous upheaval.

Lord Jeffery Amherst was the foremost British military leader during the victorious French and Indian War. As such, he was elevated to the position of Governor-General of British North America in September 1760. He disliked the French, but he hated Indians. In November, Amherst ordered British Major Robert Rogers and his troops to take command of Detroit. Rogers would have been a good match for Charles Langlade. Rogers trained his famous “Robert’s Rangers” in guerrilla warfare tactics. He even created 28 “rules of ranging” that are still used by Army Rangers today. With the British takeover, 150 years of French rule ended in Detroit.

Rogers and his troops soon left Detroit for Michilimackinac, and command of Fort Pontchartrain, now renamed Fort Detroit, was turned over to Captain Donald Campbell. The French habitants were allowed to stay in Detroit, and life there continued as before. But it changed dramatically for the Indians living in the area. Rogers briefly commanded Fort Michilimackinac in early 1760, but he soon disbanded his rangers, and retired to New Hampshire, assuming the war between the British and French was over.

Pontiac’s Rebellion

The French, knowing they were greatly outnumbered, were generally fair and respectful in their dealings with the Indians, and basically let them live as they chose. The British, on the other hand, viewed the Indians as inferior savages, and any interracial relations were strictly forbidden. Indian captives were sent to sugar plantations in the Caribbean or English colonies in North Africa. Campbell instituted Amherst’s order to halt gifting-giving which Amherst saw as bribery. Such gifts were sometimes necessities including clothing and food. But he also stopped giving liquor to which the Indians had become accustomed. He also restricted gun and ammunition sales, which made hunting more difficult. He decreed that all trading had to be done at British forts – and at very high prices. The British were not interested in “saving” souls either. Thus, relations between the haughty British and the Algonquians deteriorated over the next three years. In fairness, the British, seeking to preserve the fur trade, actively discouraged settlement of the interior region of Michigan. But the British settlers began making their way across the mountains and established settlements in Kentucky and along the Ohio River. Hatred of British policies and their encroaching settlers led to Pontiac’s Rebellion (also called Pontiac’s War or Pontiac’s Conspiracy) in 1763. This event was by far the most significant military activity in Michigan during the colonial period.

Relations between the haughty British and the Algonquians deteriorated over the next three years. In fairness, the British, seeking to preserve the fur trade, actively discouraged settlement of the interior region of Michigan. But the British settlers began making their way across the mountains and established settlements in Kentucky and along the Ohio River. Hatred of British policies and their encroaching settlers led to Pontiac’s Rebellion (also called Pontiac’s War or Pontiac’s Conspiracy) in 1763. This event was by far the most significant military activity in Michigan during the colonial period.

Pontiac, an Odawa war chief, was the foremost Native American leader in the Great Lakes region. Like Tecumseh during the War of 1812, he preached a message of separatism: “My children…you have forgotten the customs and traditions of your forefathers…You have bought guns, knives, kettles and blankets from the white man until you can no longer do without them; and what is worse, you have drunk the poison firewater, which turns you into fools. Fling all these things away; live as your wise forefathers did before you.” Inspired by French promises of military aid, Pontiac traveled extensively throughout the region meeting with war chiefs from several tribes. His plan was to launch a series of coordinated attacks on British forts from Illinois to Pennsylvania to force a retreat from the western settlements.

The first attack was to be on Fort Detroit, and led by Pontiac himself. On May 7, 1763, he and 60 warriors attempted to take the fort by concealing weapons under their coats, and calling for a council with Major Henry Gladwin. Another 240 men and women, also armed, would enter the fort after the council was granted. At the appropriate time, Pontiac would turn over his wampum belt, white on one side and green on the other, signaling the start of the attack. The plot was foiled because Gladwin had been tipped off the night before, most likely by an Indian sympathetic to a British officer or officers. Gladwin tipped his hand that he knew about the plot by allowing only Pontiac and his 60 warriors into the fort, where they were outnumbered by heavily-armed soldiers. Gladwin, knowing he only had 125 men and was low on provisions, chose to humiliate Pontiac rather than risk an open conflict or take any captives which would escalate the situation. Not surprisingly, Pontiac never turned over his wampum belt.

Giving up on the element of surprise, Pontiac directed his warriors to start killing settlers outside the fort. He set up a new camp at Parent’s Creek, a small stream about two miles north of the fort. By the end of the first week of the siege, the Indians had killed 15 British men and women, and captured another 15.

Meanwhile, on May 16, the first victory of Pontiac-inspired forces occurred in Ohio as the 15-man garrison at Fort Sandusky fell to a small band of Odawa and Huron Indians. As the victorious Indians arrived in Detroit with several British prisoners to celebrate the victory, Major Gladwin received news of the February 20th signing of the Treaty of Paris which officially ended the Seven Years’ War in Europe. France lost all of its possessions east of the Mississippi River, and Spain received all of the former New France west of the Mississippi. But the French civilians stayed in Michigan. In fact, it wasn’t until the early 1820s that the French were not the majority ethnicity. Pontiac was unaware that he had lost a very significant ally, but his enthusiasm never waned, as he attracted more Indian allies with each victory.

The next fort to fall was Fort St. Joseph in Niles on May 25, which also had only a 15-man garrison. Two days later, Fort Miami in Fort Wayne, Indiana fell easily, as the eleven soldiers there surrendered when their commanding officer was kidnapped and held at knifepoint. The next to fall was Fort Ouiatenon in Lafayette, Indiana on June 1. But the bloodiest encounter occurred at Fort Michilimackinac, which was the largest fort with a 35-man garrison. On June 2, Captain George Etherington, ignoring rumors of Native discontent in the area, allowed an estimated 500 Chippewas and rival Sauks to host a game of baggataway, a game from which lacrosse was derived, but played over a much larger area with many more participants. And no rules other than no touching the ball with your hands.

Etherington and his soldiers were enjoying the game until a Chippewa player launched the ball over the gates of the fort. The players surged in the fort ostensibly to retrieve the ball, but the squaws watching the game handed them knives and tomahawks concealed under their coats. The Indians instantly killed 20 soldiers on the spot, and captured the rest of them. The Frenchmen who lived at the fort had nothing to fear. One of these was the famous Charles Langlade. Captain Etherington and Lieutenant Leslye were seized immediately, but not harmed.

The most detailed depiction of this horrific event was recalled by a young British trader named Alexander Henry, who claimed to have warned Etherington himself of potential treachery. From a house inside the fort, Henry was writing letters to friends when he heard the commotion. “Going instantly to my window, I saw a crowd of Indians within the fort furiously cutting down and scalping every Englishman they found. In particular I witnessed the fate of Lieutenant Jemette.” Lt. Jemette (also spelled Jamet) was the only armed soldier, and he valiantly fought with his sword against several Indians, who eventually beheaded him. Noticing the French Canadians watching the slaughter impassively, Henry immediately sought refuge in Langlade’s house. Langlade himself was unsympathetic, but his servant led Henry to the attic (garret) of the house. Safe for the moment, Henry later wrote: “Through an aperture which afforded me a view of the area of the fort, I beheld, in shapes the foulest and most horrible, the ferocious triumphs of barbarian conquerors. The dead were scalped and mangled; the dying were writhing and shrieking under the unsatiated knife and tomahawk; and from the bodies of some, ripped open, their butchers were drinking the blood, scooped up in the hollow of joined hands and quaffed amid shouts of rage and victory.”

Henry’s life was still in jeopardy. A few minutes later, Langlade, unaware of Henry’s presence, invited the murderous Chippewas to search his house: including the attic. Henry quickly hid in a darkened corner under some birchbark vessels used for maple sugar making: “Four Indians entered the room all armed with tomahawks, and all besmeared with blood, upon every part of their bodies…I could scarcely breathe, but I thought the throbbing of my heart occasioned a noise loud enough to betray me. The Indians walked in every direction about the garret, and one of them approached me so closely that at a particular moment, had he put forth his hand, he must have touched me.” But the windowless attic and Henry’s dark clothing saved his life: for the moment. A few hours later, Langlade’s wife was surprised to find him in the attic, but allowed him to remain there for the night. The Indians returned the next day, and fearing retribution, the Langlades surrendered their uninvited guest to them. The terrified British trader endured several more near-death encounters with his captors. If not for a minor Chippewa chief named Wawatam, Henry would have been killed. To escape drunken warriors one night, Wawatam guided Henry to a cave in the middle of Mackinac Island. Upon awakening the next morning, Henry realized that he had slept on a large pile of human bones. Wawatam and the other Indians could not explain where the bones came from, but the cave has since become known as Skull Cave. Alexander Henry eventually reached Fort Niagara on June 22, 1764, and thus received his freedom. He lived another 61 years, but continued to try to recover the wealth he left behind at the fort. As for Captain Etherington and Lt. Leslye, they were “given” to the Odawas, who freed both men and several other survivors in exchange for money in Montreal in August 1763.

In all, Pontiac’s forces, scattered as they were, captured eight of eleven British forts in the first 30 days of his assault. Only Fort Detroit, Fort Niagara, and Fort Pitt remained unbowed. Pontiac remained outside Fort Detroit the entire summer, but his unwillingness to storm the fort at the cost of many Indian lives, prevented victory. Moreover, the few canoes he had were unable to prevent British warships from resupplying the fort, and he had no cannons. But Detroit was the scene of another dramatic event on July 30.

Captain James Dalyell was a hot-blooded young soldier who devised a plan to end the siege. Allegedly echoing the sentiments of General Amherst, Dalyell wanted to launch a surprise attack on Pontiac’s village at Parent’s Creek (which today is Elmwood Cemetery) to crush the Indian resistance. Major Gladwin warned him that they were outnumbered and unlikely to surprise Pontiac. His intuition was correct. Tipped off by French spies and his own observation that many British soldiers had arrived at the fort recently, Pontiac ordered a diversionary tactic. A large group of Huron Indians loaded their baggage and children in canoes to ostensibly paddle back to their winter hunting grounds. Instead, they paddled out of sight, landed the canoes, and hid in the woods, while the warriors circled back to Pontiac’s camp. The Odawa chief also ordered the women and children out of his village, knowing Dalyell’s men were coming.

Dalyell was allowed to take 247 men, including Major Robert Rogers and some of his Rangers. At 2:30 am on July 30, the soldiers left the fort, and marched two abreast as noiselessly as possible the two miles to Parent’s Creek. Pontiac was waiting for them with more than 400 Chippewa and Odawa warriors, which he split into two detachments. One group of 250 warriors had already circled back behind the marching soldiers, using the woods for concealment. The smaller group lined Parent’s Creek. Pontiac ordered his warriors to fire when the British were in the middle of the bridge that crossed the creek. Dalyell was hit in the thigh during the initial volley, but others were killed instantly. Firing in the rear occurred immediately after, and Major Rogers recognized he was surrounded. He and his Rangers immediately sought refuge in the first house he saw, and fired from there. Captain James Grant, who commanded the rear, advised Dalyell to order a retreat. Dalyell did so, with Rogers’ forces providing covering fire. The Indians slowed the retreat by embedding themselves behind a wall of corded wood. Dalyell led the charge to dislodge them so the retreat could continue, but he was shot dead, and other officers were seriously wounded until the retreat could continue. Dalyell’s body was never recovered. Lt. George McDougall took command, and Captain Grant devised a successful plan to extricate Rogers and his men from their precarious position. By 8:00 am, the fighting was over and the many wounded and dead were back in Fort Detroit. 20 men died, and 34 were wounded, and three died later. Others were taken prisoner, and witnessed the Indians mutilate Dalyell’s body. It was estimated that the Indians suffered seven deaths and perhaps a dozen wounded. Many of the bodies fell into Parent’s Creek, turning the water red, and thus the stream was renamed Bloody Run, and the engagement called the Battle of Bloody Run.

This was to be Pontiac’s only successful battle in Detroit. Throughout August, more British ships arrived unmolested to the fort carrying men and supplies. In early August, General Henry Bouquet had won a decisive victory at the Battle of Bushy Run near Fort Pitt. Bouquet is also infamously known for his distribution of smallpox-infested blankets to the Indians. This policy was first proposed by Lord Amherst on June 29. Amherst had originally scoffed at the idea that the Indians could capture any forts, so he angrily proposed exterminating all of them.

Although Fort Niagara in New York was never taken, the deadliest engagement during the summer of 1763 was the Devil’s Hole Massacre on September 14 in New York. Seneca warriors attacked a wagon train and killed 81 British soldiers. As the fall approached, more tribes ceased fighting and returned to their homelands to prepare for the winter. Pontiac officially ended his siege of Detroit on October 31. The six-month war was over, but the Indian uprising hastened King George III’s decision to issue the Proclamation of 1763 on October 7. Although contemplated prior to Pontiac’s War, this decree was intended to be a temporary measure to placate the Indians. It forbade British settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, which was designated as an “Indian Reserve.” It also forbade private land sales from Indians, which been a source of friction. Some of the colonies had prior claims to lands in the “Indian Reserve” area, but these were nullified. The colonists were angry that the Crown would prevent them from the vast wealth and resources of the Ohio Valley, leaving it to treacherous “savages.” This edict effectively became the opening shot of the Revolutionary War. Daniel Boone and other settlers opposed to the Proclamation flooded into the Ohio Valley, seeing both the French and the Indians as defeated peoples.

Pontiac spent the winter in the Maumee River area, and in the spring of 1764, he tried unsuccessfully to convince some Illinois tribes to continue the fight. Colonel John Bradstreet arrived at Fort Detroit in August 26, 1764 to replace Henry Gladwin, who retired to an English estate until his death in 1791. His goal was to negotiate a peace treaty without Pontiac, and he chopped up the peace belt that Pontiac sent. At the same time, frontier settlers continued to be attacked, especially in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, where the governor put a bounty on Indian scalps. In July 1765, the British signed a peace treaty with the Ohio Indians, which inspired Pontiac to finally “bury the hatchet.” The final agreement was signed with the British in 1766 with Pontiac present in Oswego, New York. Not all Indians were pleased with Pontiac’s decision. Three years later, he was murdered by three Peoria Indians in Illinois.

Towards American Independence

In 1766, Robert Rogers took command of Fort Michilimackinac. Disregarding Amherst’s order, he gave liquor to the Indians, and traded on his own account. From 1763-1775, Michigan and the Great Lakes area was mostly inhabited by Indians, with British forts only at Detroit, Michilimackinac, and St. Joseph.

The 1764 Sugar Act and the 1765 Stamp Act demonstrated that King George III was determined to tax the colonies to fund the vast British Empire after the long war with France. Ostensibly, the taxes were also intended to protect the western settlements in Michigan from Indian attacks. This area was under military rule until the 1774 Quebec Act. On the frontier territory of Michigan from 1764 to 1774, relative peace existed between the French, British, and Indian communities.

In 1774, Parliament passed the Quebec Act that extended the borders of the province of Quebec to the Mississippi River and south to the Ohio River. French civil law, combined with British criminal law, prevailed. Freedom of religion was guaranteed to French Catholics, which aided in retaining their loyalty in the upcoming clash with the rebellious colonists. There was no elected assembly in Quebec, on the assumption that the French citizens had no experience with or desire for elected government. But this facet further alienated the British colonists.

Michigan was but a remote British outpost when the Revolutionary War broke out in the East in 1775. The French settlers living in the Detroit and Michilimackinac were not sympathetic to the American cause, and some, like Charles Langlade, fought on the side of the British. Langlade traveled to Fort Detroit to join Indians in demanding that British Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Henry Hamilton provide them with arms and supplies to raid American settlements in Kentucky, which was then part of Virginia. Governor Hamilton consented, and following orders from his superiors, offered to pay Indians for American scalps, thus earning him the moniker “Hair Buyer.” During the Revolutionary War, Detroit also served as a prison for 500 American captives, the most famous of which was Daniel Boone. Captured by Shawnee Indians and brought to Detroit in April 1778, Boone was already a legendary figure, and the British commandant tried unsuccessfully to buy Boone from the Indians. Boone and his captors left Detroit after ten days. A few months later, Boone escaped in Ohio, and his legend was secure. After the war, Langlade retired in the Green Bay area. For his exploits and his many descendants, he is dubbed the “Father of Wisconsin.”

The capture of the British forts on the Wabash River – Kaskaskia in 1778 and Vincennes in 1779 – by George Rogers Clark (the older brother of explorer William Clark) was a major turning point in the war. It prompted several Indian tribes, including the Three Fires, to declare neutrality. It also prompted the British to build a new fort on Mackinac Island in 1781. British Major Patrick Sinclair purchased the island for 12 canoes of merchandise. Fort Mackinac was a stronger fort than Fort Michilimackinac, and made of limestone walls, perched high on a bluff. Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit was in disrepair, so British Captain Richard Lernoult built a new fort on a hill above the old fort, and renamed it Fort Lernoult upon completion in 1779. Although the “Conqueror of the Old Northwest” Clark wanted to take Fort Lernoult, he could not muster enough men or munitions to mount an attack on the 400-man fort. Fort Mackinac also was never threatened during the war.

At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson ordered “Hair Buyer” Hamilton imprisoned in Williamsburg, Virginia for 16 months. Hamilton later became the governor of Bermuda, and the namesake of the current capital.

Just as the French had remained in Detroit after their surrender in 1760, the British stayed in control of Detroit for 13 years after the Treaty of Paris in 1783. On July 4, 1783, the British refused to surrender Fort Detroit – and Fort Mackinac – to Major Ephraim Douglass. To a large degree, the Northwest Indian War from 1785-1795, was a continuation of the Revolutionary War but fought exclusively in the Great Lakes region. Just as Pontiac had led pan-Indian resistance 20 years earlier, Mohawk Joseph Brant, Miami chief Little Turtle, and Shawnee war chief Blue Jacket, with the aid of the British, led a confederation of tribes against the United States for control of the Ohio and Illinois countries. They inflicted two humiliating defeats on the U.S. Army in 1790 and 1791. The British refused to leave the territory they ceded in 1783, and worse, they incited and armed the Indians. Later, the British withheld their aid, allowing American General Anthony Wayne to decisively defeat Indian forces at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 near present day Toledo, Ohio. The Treaty of Greenville was signed the next year, ceding all of the Ohio Valley to the Americans. Finally, in 1796, Captain Moses Porter – who fought in the Revolutionary War, the Northwest Indian War, and later, the War of 1812 – raised the 15-star American flag over Fort Lernoult. The British built another fort downriver in 1795 on the Canadian side called Fort Malden in Amherstburg. This fort and Fort Detroit and Fort Mackinac would see significant action less than 20 years later during the War of 1812. After Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory over the British Royal Navy on Lake Erie in September 1813, and the subsequent defeat of Tecumseh’s warriors, Michigan was effectively open to settlement. After signing several treaties with local Indians, the Michigan Territory became the State of Michigan on January 1, 1837.