Ever anxious for peace, White Eyes made a visit to Pittsburg in the winter of 1779-80, to talk with the Indian agent. He went with General McIntosh to the country of the Tuscaroras, where a fort was to be built for the protection of the neutral Indians, but, sad to say, he took the smallpox and died. The death of the great and good chief caused profound grief not only among the Delawares, but with other tribes. One of the truest friends the American Indians ever knew had gone to his final hunting grounds. White Eyes being out of the way, Captain Pipe naturally gained control of his people. He fought on the side of the British, and at times showed a high sense of honor and chivalry. He is believed to have died about the year 1820. CHAPTER VI THE GREATEST OF INDIAN CONSPIRATORS PONTIAC, CHIEF OF THE OTTAWAS We are now to learn of another great American Indian,--one who ranks beside King Philip and Tecumseh, and whose career stamped itself upon the history of the frontier. This native leader was Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas. [Illustration] Down to the opening of the last half of the eighteenth century, England and France were the leading rivals in colonizing America. The English planted their settlements along the coast, while the vast territory to the westward remained a wilderness, trodden only by the red men and wild beasts. France settled Canada, but, while doing so, she dreamed of founding a mighty empire, reaching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. She sent her surveyors into the Mississippi Valley, and they buried leaden plates at different points to let every one know that the country belonged to the King of France. They also built forts to the number of sixty or more throughout that vast region, leaving no doubt that they meant to hold it if necessary by force of arms. French trappers, hunters and explorers began pushing eastward into the valley of the Ohio. At the same time some of the English pressed westward. These pioneers of two civilizations met in the gloomy solitudes, and fighting and bloodshed followed. Neither would yield, and war was certain to come. You know that the building of Fort Le Bœuf, in the far northwest corner of Pennsylvania, was looked upon by Virginia as an invasion of her territory, and Governor Dinwiddie sent a messenger, named +George Washington+, with a letter protesting against the act. The gallant young Virginian came back with word from the French officer that he not only meant to stay there, but would drive out every Englishman who showed himself in the country which belonged to the King of France. The French and Indian War followed, ending with the triumph of England. France gave up every foot of soil she had held on the Western Hemisphere, except a little fishing station or two, and agreed to turn over all the western posts to her conqueror. It was this change of masters that brought Pontiac forward and caused one of the greatest crises in the history of that region.