father probably was an Ottawa, his mother an Ojibwa.

By reason of his strong mind, and his generalship in peace and in war,
he was accepted as a leader throughout all the Great Lakes country.
The name and fame of Pontiac had extended far into the south and into
the east. It is said that he commanded the whole Indian force at the
bloody Braddock's Field south of Pittsburg, when on July 9, 1755, the
British regulars of General Sir William Braddock, aided by the colonial
militia of Major George Washington, were crushed and scattered by the
French and Indians.

Before that he had saved the French garrison of Detroit from an attack
by hostile Foxes.

Having talked with Major Rogers, Pontiac sent runners to notify the
villages that the English had his permission to march through the
country. He himself went on with the party. He astonished the major
by his shrewd questions--as to how the English waged war, how their
clothing was made, how they got iron from the ground, for their weapons.

He even stated that he was willing to form an alliance with the king of
England and to call him uncle; but that he must be allowed to reign as
he pleased in his own country, or "he would shut up the way and keep
the English out."

Puzzled and stung by the news that their fathers, the French, had been
beaten in war, a great number of Ottawas, Potawatomis, Chippewas, Sacs
and Wyandots gathered at old Detroit, to witness the surrender. They
could not understand why the French should march out and lay down their
arms to such a small company of English. Evidently these English were
gifted with powers that made their enemies weak.

For a brief space all went well, while the Indians of Pontiac's country
watched, to see what kind of men these English should prove to be.

But the name of the English already was bad. These Northern tribes
well knew what had occurred in Virginia and in New England. The
Powatans, the Pokanokets, the Narragansetts and other peoples had been
wiped out, their lands seized. The English were bent upon being
masters, not allies.

There was found to be a great difference in the methods of the French,
and these English.

The French treated chiefs as equals, and tribes as brothers and
children; lived in their lodges, ate of their food, created good
feeling by distributing presents, interfered little with ancient
customs, traded fairly, and forebade whiskey.

The English despised the Indians, lived apart, de