by treachery. Jenkins was invited to one of their cabins
for a conference. Totally unaware of the Pontiac
conspiracy, or of the fall of St Joseph, Sandusky, or
Miami, he accepted the invitation. While passing out of
the fort he was seized and bound, and, when taken to the
cabin, he saw there several of his soldiers, prisoners
like himself. The remaining members of the garrison
surrendered, knowing how useless it would be to resist,
and under the threat that if one Indian were killed all
the British would be put to death. It had been the original
intention of the Indians to seize the fort and slaughter
the garrison, but, less blood-thirsty than Pontiac's
immediate followers, they were won to mercy by two traders,
Maisonville and Lorain, who gave them presents on the
condition that the garrison should be made prisoners
instead of being slain. Jenkins and his men were to have
been sent to the Mississippi, but their removal was
delayed, and they were quartered on the French inhabitants,
and kindly treated by both French and Indians until
restored to freedom.

The capture of Forts Miami and Ouiatanon gave the Indians
complete control of the route between the western end of
Lake Erie and the rivers Ohio and Mississippi. The French
traders, who had undoubtedly been instrumental in goading
the Indians to hostilities, had now the trade of the
Wabash and lower Ohio, and of the tributaries of both,
in their own hands. No British trader could venture into
the region with impunity; the few who attempted it were
plundered and murdered.

The scene of hostilities now shifts to the north. Next
to Detroit the most important fort on the Great Lakes
west of Niagara was Michilimackinac, situated on the
southern shore of the strait connecting Lakes Huron and
Michigan. The officer there had supervision of the lesser
forts at Sault Ste Marie, Green Bay, and St Joseph. At
this time Sault Ste Marie was not occupied by troops. In
the preceding winter Lieutenant Jamette had arrived to
take command; but fire had broken out in his quarters
and destroyed the post, and he and his men had gone back
to Michilimackinac, where they still were when the Pontiac
War broke out. There were two important Indian tribes in
the vicinity of Michilimackinac, the Chippewas and the
Ottawas. The Chippewas had populous villages on the island
of Mackinaw and at Thunder Bay on Lake Huron. They had
as their hunting-grounds the eastern half of the peninsula
which