mooney] PONTIAC'S PLAN OF CONFEDERATION 669 



Montcalm himself. By reason of his natural ability, his influence was 

 fell and respected wherever the name- of his tribe was spoken, while to 

 his dignity as chief he added the sacred character of high priest of the 

 powerful secret order of the Mide\ (Parkman, 3.) Now, in the prime 

 of manhood, lie originated and formulated the policy of a confederation 

 of all the tribes, an idea, afterward taken up and carried almost to a 

 successful accomplishment by the great Tecumtha. As principal chief 

 of the lake tribes, he summoned them to the great council near Detroit, 

 in April, 1763, and, as high priest and keeper of the faith, he there 

 announced to them the will of the Master of Life, as revealed to the 

 Delaware prophet, and called on them to unite for the recovery of 

 their ancient territories and the preservation of their national life. 

 Under the spell of his burning words the chiefs listened as to an oracle, 

 and cried out that he had only to declare his will to be obeyed. 

 (Parlcman, /.) His project being unanimously approved, runners were 

 sent out to secure the cooperation of the more remote nations, and in a 

 short time the confederation embraced every important tribe of Algon- 

 quian lineage, together with the Wyandot, Seneca, Winnebago, and 

 some of those to the southward. ( Parkman, o.) 



Only the genius of a Pontiac could have molded into a working unit 

 such an aggregation of diverse elements of savagery. His executive 

 ability is sufficiently proven by his creation of a regular commissary 

 department based on promissory notes — hieroglyphics graven on birch- 

 bark and signed with the otter, the totem of his tribe; his diplomatic 

 bent appeared in his employment of two secretaries to attend to this 

 unique correspondence, each of whom he managed to keep in ignorance 

 of the business transacted by the other (Parlcman, 6); while his military 

 capacity was soon to be evinced in the carefully laid plan which enabled 

 his warriors to strike simultaneously a crushing blow at every British 

 post scattered throughout the 500 miles of wilderness from Pittsburg 

 to the straits of Mackinaw. 



The history of this war, so eloquently told by Parkman. reads like 

 some old knightly romance. The warning of the Indian girl; the con- 

 certed attack on the garrisons; the ball play at Mackinac on the king's 

 birthday, and the massacre that followed; the siege of Fort Pitt and 

 the heroic defense of Detroit; the bloody battle of Bushy run, where 

 the painted savage recoiled before the kilted Highlander, as brave and 

 almost as wild; Bouquet's march into the forests of the Ohio, and the 

 submission of the vanquished tribes — all these things must be passed 

 over here. They have already been told by a master of language. 

 I lut the contest of savagery against civilization has but one ending, and 

 the scene closes with the death of Pontiac, a broken-spirited wanderer, 

 cut down at last by a hired assassin of his own race, for whose crime 

 the blood of whole tribes was poured out in atonement. (Parkman, 7.) 



