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F the red men have been benefited by their intercourse with the whites,
they have also received much degradation from the same cause. Created
with strong and active physical powers, united with keen sensibility,
they have an innate love of excitement, of which the white man has taken
advantage to work their ruin. For a few bottles of any kind of ardent
spirits, which the Indians term “firewater,” keen traders have purchased
the produce of weeks of hunting and toil, and even the land which
contains within its bosom the bones of the red man’s ancestors. How many
of these noble children of the woods, whose native powers of intellect
rivalled those of the most distinguished orators, statesmen, and
warriors, among the civilized nations, have become degraded in mind and
weakened in body through the influence of the evil spirit sent to them
by the avaricious and wiser white men! See Logan, whose qualities
of mind, and whose misfortunes have excited so much admiration and
sympathy, spending the evening of his days in beastly intoxication! See
the mighty Sagona, more widely known as Red Jacket, who maybe considered
as the Demosthenes of his race; whose judgment and foresight guided his
nation in many an intricate negotiation, and whose eloquence has been
compared to the Niagara, near whose thundering tumult he was reared,
weakened in body and mind by the “firewater” given him by those who
feared his influence! This bane of the red man has ever been extended
to him by the hand of civilization; and those tribes which inhabit the
country nearest the citizens of the western states are fast melting away
under its blighting breath. Occasionally a chief has arisen who despised
the “fire-water,” and who indignantly denounced those who introduced it
among his people. Of one of these we are about to speak.
[Illustration: 0222]
Pontiac was a chief of the Ottawas, a tribe which inhabited the
neighborhood of Lake Erie, in the territory now included in the state of
Michigan. But at one time, he was the chief of a confederacy, consisting
of the Ottawas, Miamis, Chippewas, Wyandottes, Pot-towatomies,
Missisagas, Shawanese, Ottaga-mies, and Winnebagoes--all powerful
tribes. Pontiac was gifted with a great and noble spirit, which fitted
him for command. He possessed a daring courage, tempered and guided by
wisdom and judgment. Fertile in the invention of means to gain an end,
he was generally successful in his undertakings, and became a formidable
enemy to the whites, whose encroachments roused his hatred.
In the Indian war, which broke out in 1763, which is justly denominated
“Pontiac’s War,” the great chief appointed a commissary, and began to
make and issue bills of credit, all of which he carefully redeemed. He
made his bills or notes of bark, on which was drawn the figure of the
commodity he wanted for it The shape of an otter was drawn under that of
the article wanted, and an otter was the insignia of his nation. He
had also, with great sagacity, urged upon his people the necessity of
dispensing entirely with European commodities, of having no intercourse
with the whites, and of depending entirely upon their ancient modes of
procuring sustenance.
Some English traders, with a considerable quantity of brandy in bottles,
were detected among the Indians, bartering “fire-water” for skins, and,
by order of Pontiac, brought into his presence. The noble chief stood
in state, gaudily dressed, and with a lofty mein, in front of his highly
decorated wigwam. A guard of warriors were upon each side of him, and
subordinate chiefs waited the command of the mighty forest king. The
traders were bold men, but they trembled when led into his presence.
They knew his power, the ferocity of the men whom he ruled, and the
criminal nature of the business in which they were engaged.
Pontiac spoke the English tongue sufficiently well to make himself
understood, and he asked the traders if they were not aware that he had
forbidden his people to have any intercourse with the whites, and warned
the latter to leave his territory. He then alluded to the many services
he had done the whites, and the many acts of hospitality his people had
performed. “And how have you repaid them?” continued he. “They gave you
shelter and venison, and you gave them poison--fire-water, to burn away
their strength, and blind their eyes, so that you could cheat them out
of their skins and furs, and perhaps their land.”
The white traders attempted to excuse themselves, by saying that they
had only given the Indians the liquor at their own earnest entreaty.
But Pontiac indignantly commanded their silence. “You knew what the
fire-water could do, what it has done, and what it will do; and yet you
gave it to them.” The chief raised himself to his full height. He was a
tall and noble-looking man. His brow was high and broad, his eye black,
keen, and lively, and his nose aquiline and prominent. The compressed
mouth expressed the firmness of his will. “For your fault,” said he,
“you have deserved a severe punishment, and were you at the mercy of
many of my people, death would quickly be your lot. I spare your lives
now, and my warriors shall conduct you safely out of my country. But
if you again are found upon this land, expect to burn at the stake. Go!
Pontiac has said.” The white men concealed the joy which they felt
at their escape from death. They had expected nothing less. Pontiac
directed some of his warriors to accompany the traders and then retired
to his wigwam. The traders, once safely out of his country were very
careful not to revisit it while he lived. A war broke out soon after
this event, in which Pontiac displayed the skill and courage of a great
commander. He was victorious on many occasions, but was at last forced
to conclude a peace, by the superior numbers and discipline of the
whites. His exertions could not prevent his people from using the
“fire-water” occasionally; and consequently, he could not prevent their
becoming weakened, and so blinded to their own interest as to sell the
land of their forefathers, and aid the encroachments of the whites. The
people whom he governed, have either entirely melted away before the
influence of war and the use of ardent spirits, or greatly reduced in
numbers, have removed far beyond the Mississippi.
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