d to them. They
existed by hunting and fishing--feasting to-day and
famishing to-morrow--and were easily roused by the hope
of plunder. The weakly manned forts containing the white
man's provisions, ammunition, and traders' supplies were
an attractive lure to such savages. Within the confederacy,
however, there were some who did not rally round Pontiac.
The Ottawas of the northern part of Michigan, under the
influence of their priest, remained friendly to the
British. Including the Ottawas and Chippewas of the Ottawa
and Lake Superior, the confederates numbered many thousands;
yet at no time was Pontiac able to command from among
them more than one thousand warriors.

In close alliance with the Confederacy of the Three Fires
were the tribes dwelling to the west of Lake Michigan--the
Menominees, the Winnebagoes, and the Sacs and Foxes. These
tribes could put into the field about twelve hundred
warriors; but none of them took part in the war save in
one instance, when the Sacs, moved by the hope of plunder,
assisted the Chippewas in the capture of Fort Michilimackinac.

The Wyandots living on the Detroit river were a remnant
of the ancient Hurons of the famous mission near Lake
Simcoe. For more than a century they had been bound to
the French by ties of amity. They were courageous,
intelligent, and in every way on a higher plane of life
than the tribes of the Ottawa Confederacy. Their two
hundred and fifty braves were to be Pontiac's most
important allies in the siege of Detroit.

South of the Michigan peninsula, about the head-waters
of the rivers Maumee and Wabash, dwelt the Miamis,
numbering probably about fifteen hundred. Influenced by
French traders and by Pontiac's emissaries, they took to
the war-path, and the British were thus cut off from the
trade-route between Lake Erie and the Ohio.

The tribes just mentioned were all that came under the
direct influence of Pontiac. Farther south were other
nations who were to figure in the impending struggle.
The Wyandots of Sandusky Bay, at the south-west corner
of Lake Erie, had about two hundred warriors, and were
in alliance with the Senecas and Delawares. Living near
Detroit, they were able to assist in Pontiac's siege.
Directly south of these, along the Scioto, dwelt the
Shawnees--the tribe which later gave birth to the great
Tecumseh--with three hundred warriors. East of the
Shawnees, between the Muskingum and the Ohio, were the
Delawares. At one time this