No authentic images of Pontiac are known to exist.^[1] This artistic interpretation was painted by John Mix Stanley.

Pontiac or Obwandiyag (c. 1720 – April 20, 1769), was an Ottawa leader who became famous for his role in Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–1766), an American Indian struggle against the British military occupation of the Great Lakes region following the British victory in the French and Indian War. Historians disagree about Pontiac's importance in the war that bears his name. Nineteenth century accounts portrayed him as the mastermind and leader of the revolt, while some subsequent interpretations have depicted him as a local leader with limited overall influence. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... // John Mix Stanley was born in Canandaigua, New York on January 17, 1814. ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Ottawa (also Odawa, Odaawa, Outaouais, or Trader) are a Native American and First Nations people. ... Combatants British Empire American Indians Commanders Jeffrey Amherst, Henry Bouquet Pontiac, Guyasuta Strength ~3,000 soldiers[1] ~3,500 warriors[2] Casualties 450 soldiers killed, 2,000 civilians killed or captured, 4,000 civilians displaced ~200 warriors killed, possible additional war-related deaths from disease Pontiacs Rebellion was a... A Sioux in traditional dress including war bonnet, circa 1908. ... The Great Lakes states of the U.S. are colored red in this map. ... Combatants France First Nations allies: Algonquin Lenape Wyandot Ojibwa Ottawa Shawnee Great Britain American Colonies Iroquois Confederacy Strength 3,900 regulars 7,900 militia 2,200 natives (1759) 50,000 regulars and militia (1759) Casualties 3,000 killed, wounded or captured 10,040 killed, wounded or captured The French and...

The war began in May 1763 when Pontiac and 300 followers attempted to take Fort Detroit by surprise. His plan foiled, Pontiac laid siege to the fort, and was eventually joined by more than 900 warriors from a half-dozen tribes. Meanwhile, messengers spread the word of Pontiac's actions, and the war expanded far beyond Detroit. In July 1763, Pontiac defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but he was unable to capture the fort. In October he lifted the siege and withdrew to the Illinois country. Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. ... Combatants Pontiacs confederacy Great Britain Commanders Pontiac Wasson Henry Gladwin Donald Campbell † Strength Casualties For the action in the War of 1812, see the Siege of Detroit The Siege of Fort Detroit was an ultimately unsuccessful attempt by North American Indians to capture Fort Detroit during Pontiacs Rebellion. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... French settlements and forts in the Illinois Country in 1763, showing U.S. current state boundaries. ...

Although Pontiac's influence had declined around Detroit because of the unsuccessful siege, he gained stature in the Illinois and Wabash country as he continued to encourage resistance to the British. Seeking to end the war, British officials made Pontiac the focus of their diplomatic efforts. In July 1766, Pontiac made peace with British Superintendent of Indian Affairs Sir William Johnson. The attention which the British paid to Pontiac created resentment among other Indian leaders, particularly because Pontiac claimed far greater authority than he actually possessed. Increasingly ostracized, in 1769 he was assassinated by a Peoria Indian. The Wabash River at Lafayette, Indiana, showing the Main Street bridge, and the Amtrak station. ... Sir William Johnson Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet (1715 – 11 July 1774), founder of Johnstown, New York, was an Irish pioneer and army officer in colonial New York, and the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1755 to 1774. ... The Peoria tribe was one of the Native American tribes that formed the Illiniwek tribal group in what is now the Midwest of the United States of America. ...

Early years

There is little reliable information about Pontiac before the war of 1763. He was probably born between 1712 and 1725, perhaps at an Ottawa village on the Detroit or Maumee Rivers.^[2] The tribal affiliation of his parents is uncertain. According to an 18th century Ottawa tradition, Pontiac's father was an Ottawa and his mother an Ojibwa, although other traditions maintained that one of his parents was a Miami. Pontiac was always identified as an Ottawa by his contemporaries.^[3] Landsat satellite photo, showing Lake Saint Clair, as well as St. ... The Maumee River at Grand Rapids, Ohio. ... This article is about the native North American people. ... The Miami are a Native American tribe originally found in Indiana and Ohio, and now living also in Oklahoma. ...

Pontiac was an Ottawa war leader by 1747, when he allied himself with New France against a resistance movement led by Nicholas Orontony, a Huron leader.^[4] Pontiac continued to support the French during the French and Indian War (1754–1763). Although there is no direct evidence, he possibly took part in the famous French and Indian victory over the Braddock expedition on 9 July 1755.^[5] Capital Quebec Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholicism Government Monarchy King See List of French monarchs Governor See list of Governors Legislature Sovereign Council of New France Historical era Ancien Régime in France  - Royal Control 1655  - Articles of Capitulation of Quebec 1759  - Articles of Capitulation of Montreal 1760  - Treaty... Nicolas Orontondi (Orontony, Rondoenie or Wanduny) ( 1739 - 1750) was a Wyandot leader, reportedly a member of a sect of the Turtle clan. ... Combatants France First Nations allies: Algonquin Lenape Wyandot Ojibwa Ottawa Shawnee Great Britain American Colonies Iroquois Confederacy Strength 3,900 regulars 7,900 militia 2,200 natives (1759) 50,000 regulars and militia (1759) Casualties 3,000 killed, wounded or captured 10,040 killed, wounded or captured The French and... Combatants France Indian Tribes Britain Commanders Liénard de Beaujeu † Jean-Daniel Dumas Charles de Langlade Edward Braddock † Strength 105 regulars 147 militia 600 natives 1,459 regulars and militia Casualties 23 killed 20 wounded 456 killed 521 wounded The Braddock expedition (also called Braddocks campaign) was a failed... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1755 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

In one of the earliest accounts of Pontiac, the famous British frontier soldier Robert Rogers claimed to have met with Pontiac in 1760; historians now consider Rogers's story to be unreliable.^[6] Rogers wrote a play about Pontiac in 1765 called Ponteach: or the Savages of America, which helped to make Pontiac famous and began the process of mythologizing the Ottawa leader.^[7] This does not cite any references or sources. ...

Siege of Detroit

Main articles: Pontiac's Rebellion and Siege of Fort Detroit

Pontiac's council

After the French and Indian War, Native American allies of the defeated French found themselves increasingly dissatisfied with the trading practices of the victorious British. The architect of British Indian policy, General Jeffrey Amherst, decided to cut back on the provisions customarily distributed to the Indians from the various forts, which he considered to be bribes. Additionally, the French had made gunpowder and ammunition readily available, which were needed by the Indians to hunt food for their families and skins for trade. However, Amherst did not trust his former Indian adversaries, and restricted the distribution of gunpowder and ammunition. Combatants British Empire American Indians Commanders Jeffrey Amherst, Henry Bouquet Pontiac, Guyasuta Strength ~3,000 soldiers[1] ~3,500 warriors[2] Casualties 450 soldiers killed, 2,000 civilians killed or captured, 4,000 civilians displaced ~200 warriors killed, possible additional war-related deaths from disease Pontiacs Rebellion was a... Combatants Pontiacs confederacy Great Britain Commanders Pontiac Wasson Henry Gladwin Donald Campbell † Strength Casualties For the action in the War of 1812, see the Siege of Detroit The Siege of Fort Detroit was an ultimately unsuccessful attempt by North American Indians to capture Fort Detroit during Pontiacs Rebellion. ... Image File history File links Pontiac_conspiracy. ... Image File history File links Pontiac_conspiracy. ... Jeffrey Amherst by Joshua Reynolds Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst (sometimes spelled Geoffrey, he himself spelled his name as Jeffery) (January 29, 1717 - August 3, 1797) served as an officer in the British army Born in Sevenoaks, England, he became a soldier aged about 14. ... A modern black powder substitute for muzzleloading rifles in FFG size Gunpowder (also called black powder) is a pyrotechnic composition, an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre or saltpeter) that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as...

Pontiac, like other Indian leaders, was unhappy with the new British policies. Taking advantage of this dissatisfaction, as well as a religious revival inspired by a Delaware (Lenape) prophet named Neolin, Pontiac planned a resistance. He hoped to drive British soldiers and settlers away, and to revive the valued French and Indian alliance. On April 27, 1763, he held a large council about 10 miles below Fort Detroit (present-day Council Point Park in Lincoln Park, Michigan). Pontiac urged the listeners to join him in a surprise attack on Fort Detroit. On May 1, Pontiac visited the fort with 50 Ottawas in order to assess the strength of the garrison.^[8] According to a French chronicler, in a second council Pontiac proclaimed: For the language, see Lenape language. ... Neolin (the Delaware Prophet) was a prophet of the Lenni Lenape, who was derided by the British as The Imposter. Beginning in 1762, Neolin believed that Native Americans should reject European goods abandon dependancy on foreign settlers in order to return to a more traditional aboriginal lifestyle. ... is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit was a fort established by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac in 1701. ... Lincoln Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

It is important for us, my brothers, that we exterminate from our lands this nation which seeks only to destroy us. You see as well as I that we can no longer supply our needs, as we have done from our brothers, the French.... Therefore, my brothers, we must all swear their destruction and wait no longer. Nothing prevents us; they are few in numbers, and we can accomplish it.^[9]

Widespread attacks against British forts and Anglo-American (but not French) settlements in the Ohio Country soon followed. The degree to which Pontiac personally influenced events beyond the Detroit region has been variously interpreted. Older accounts of the war portrayed Pontiac as a savage but brilliant mastermind behind a massive "conspiracy" which was planned in advance. Historians today generally agree that Pontiac's actions at Detroit were the spark that instigated the widespread uprising, and that he helped to spread the resistance by sending emissaries urging others to join the resistance, but Pontiac did not command the uprising as a whole. Native leaders around Fort Pitt and Fort Niagara, for example, had long been calling for resistance to the British and were not led by Pontiac. According to historian John Sugden, Pontiac "was neither the originator nor the strategist of the rebellion, but he kindled it by daring to act, and his early successes, ambition, and determination won him a temporary prominence not enjoyed by any of the other Indian leaders."^[10] The Ohio Country, showing the present-day U.S. state boundaries The Ohio Country (sometimes called the Ohio Territory) was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake... A Plan of the New Fort at Pitts-Burgh, drawn by cartographer John Rocque and published in 1765. ... Historical recreation actors at Old Fort Niagara Fort Niagara is a three hundred-year-old fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in northern North America. ...

Later years

After the failure to capture Fort Detroit in 1763, Pontiac withdrew to the Illinois Country, where he continued to encourage militant resistance to British occupation. Although the British had successfully pacified the uprising in the Ohio Country, British military dominance was tenuous, and they decided to negotiate with the troublesome Ottawa leader. Pontiac met with the British superintendent of Indian affairs Sir William Johnson on 25 July 1766, at Oswego, New York, and formally ended hostilities. French settlements and forts in the Illinois Country in 1763, showing U.S. current state boundaries. ... is the 206th day of the year (207th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Look up Oswego in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

This attention paid to Pontiac by the British Crown encouraged him to assert more power among the Indians of the region than he actually possessed. Local rivalries flared up, and in 1768 he was forced to leave his Ottawa village on the Maumee River. Returning to the Illinois Country, Pontiac was murdered on April 20, 1769, at the French village of Cahokia (nearly opposite St. Louis, Missouri) by a Peoria Indian, perhaps in retaliation for an earlier attack by Pontiac. According to a story recorded by historian Francis Parkman in The Conspiracy of Pontiac (1851), a terrible war of retaliation against the Peorias resulted from Pontiac's murder. Although this legend is still sometimes repeated, there is no evidence y63et43w4ye45y4tw574w45w754442wtyw54wy5425yw544w753wtews643s463s36stres643xrwdyd75ex4ardx.that there were any reprisals for Pontiac's murder.^[11] is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Cahokia is a village located in St. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area  - City  66. ... The Peoria tribe was one of the Native American tribes that formed the Illiniwek tribal group in what is now the Midwest of the United States of America. ... Francis Parkman Francis Parkman (September 16, 1823 – November 8, 1893) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts. ...

The city of Pontiac, Michigan was named for him, as well as cities in Illinois and Quebec. Pontiac is also the name of a popular General Motors automobile brand. Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. ... Old Log Cabin Restaurant, a popular stop on U.S. Route 66. ... Pontiac is a municipality in western Quebec, Canada, in Les Collines-de-lOutaouais Regional County Municipality on the Rivière des Outaouais (Ottawa River). ... This article is about Pontiac automobiles; for the Native American leader, see Chief Pontiac, for other uses see the Pontiac (disambiguation). ... General Motors Corporation, also known as GM, is a multinational corporation headquartered in the United States and has been the worlds largest and most dominant automaker since 1931 till the second half of 2007, surpassed by Toyota; as well as the global industry sales leader for 77 years. ...

His great-nephew was Shabbona {Chief}. For the village in Illinois named after the chief, see Shabbona, Illinois. ...

Notes

References

• Chevrette, Louis. "Pontiac". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.
• Dixon, David. Never Come to Peace Again: Pontiac's Uprising and the Fate of the British Empire in North America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8061-3656-1.
• Dowd, Gregory Evans. War under Heaven: Pontiac, the Indian Nations, & the British Empire. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-8018-7079-8, ISBN 0-8018-7892-6 (paperback).
• Parkman, Francis. The Conspiracy of Pontiac, 2 volumes. Boston, 1851.
• Peckham, Howard H. Pontiac and the Indian Uprising. University of Chicago Press, 1947. ISBN 0-8143-2469-X.
• Sugden, John. "Pontiac". American National Biography. 17:659–61. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-512796-X.
• White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815. Cambridge University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-521-42460-7.
• White, Richard. "Pontiac". Encyclopedia of North American Indians, 496–97. Ed. Frederick E. Hoxie. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. ISBN 0-395-66921-9.