THE SQUAW'S WARNING. 225 



In 1763, the garrison consisted of about eight officers 

 and 120 regular soldiers *of the 8oth Regiment * 

 under the command of Major Gladwin, a man of 

 fearless courage; f some 40 fur-traders, and other em- 

 ployes, completed the strength of the garrison; and if 

 there be any truth in tradition, it seems that in the Potta- 

 wattamie village hard by, there lived a girl of the Ojibwa 

 tribe, who it is said could boast a far larger share of 

 beauty than was common in the wigwams. She was one 

 of the wild beauties of the forest and was known to the 

 whites as " Catherine. " This girl had become devotedly 

 attached to the British Commander. It so happened 

 on the 6th of May 1763, she came to the fort, and 

 Gladwin on seeing her was at once struck by something 

 unusual in her appearance and manner. What was 

 the matter? But though he pressed her to disclose 

 what was weighing upon her mind, for a long time 

 the girl remained silent; but at last she took courage 

 and made a clean breast of it. " To-morrow (said she) 

 Pontiac will come to the Fort with 60 of his chiefs; 

 each will be armed with a gun cut short, and hidden 

 under his blanket. Pontiac will demand to hold a 

 council, and after he has delivered his speech will 

 offer a peace-belt of wampum. This will be the 

 signal ! Every Englishman will be killed ! ! " 



* See History of the United States of America, by George Bancroft, 

 1876, Vol. iii, p. 279. 



f Fort Detroit at this time was a large stockade about 20 feet high, 

 and 1 200 yards in circumference, enclosing perhaps 80 houses; it had, 

 however, only two 6 pounders and one 3 pounder gun, with 3 mortars 

 of little use (Bancroft's History, 1876, Vol. iii, p. 377). 



The Conspiracy of Pontiac, by Francis Parkman (the younger), 1885, 

 Vol. i., p. 216. (Extract letter, from H. H. Schoolcraft, containing the 

 account given from the lips of the interpreter, Henry Connor). See also, 

 Carver's Travels, p. 155, publ. London, 1778. 



VOL. II. 15 



