carcely had he begun his
journey when he was warned that it was dangerous to
proceed, as the nations in the west were unfriendly and
would surely fall upon his party. But Johnson was confident
that his presence among them would put a stop to 'any
such wicked design.' As he advanced up Lake Ontario the
alarming reports continued. The Senecas, who had already
stolen horses from the whites and taken prisoners, had
been sending ambassadors abroad, endeavouring to induce
the other nations to attack the British. Johnson learned,
too, that the Indians were being cheated in trade by
British traders; that at several posts they had been
roughly handled, very often without cause; that their
women were taken from them by violence; and that they
were hindered from hunting and fishing on their own
grounds near the posts, even what they did catch or kill
being taken from them. He heard, too, that Seneca and
Ottawa warriors had been murdered by whites near Forts
Pitt and Venango. At Niagara he was visited by Seneca
chiefs, who complained that one of their warriors had
been wounded near by and that four horses had been stolen
from them. Johnson evidently believed the story, for he
gave them 'two casks of rum, some paint and money to make
up their loss,' and they left him well satisfied. On Lake
Erie, stories of the hostility of the Indians multiplied.
They were ready to revolt; even before leaving Niagara,
Johnson had it on good authority that the Indians 'were
certainly determined to rise and fall on the English,'
and that 'several thousands of the Ottawas and other
nations' had agreed to join the dissatisfied member 'of
the Six Nations in this scheme or plot.' But Johnson kept
on his way, confident that he could allay dissatisfaction
and win all the nations to friendship.

When Sir William reached Detroit on September 3 he was
welcomed by musketry volleys from the Indians and by
cannon from the fort. His reputation as the great
superintendent of Indian Affairs, the friend of the red
man, had gone before him, and he was joyously received,
and at once given quarters in the house of the former
commandant of Detroit, Beletre. On the day following his
arrival the Wyandots and other Indians, with their priest,
Father Pierre Potier (called Pottie by Johnson), waited
on him. He treated them royally, and gave them pipes and
tobacco and a barbecue of a large ox roasted whole. He
found the French inhabitants most friendly, especially
Pi