The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and ManuscriptsSchoolcraft, Henry Rowe
History
The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
Indians of North America
This is the true secret of the strenuous efforts made by the northern
and western Indians to sustain the French power, when it was menaced in
the war of 1744, by the fleets and armies of Great Britain. They rallied
freely to their aid at Detroit, Vincennes, the present sites of
Pittsburg and Erie, at Fort Niagara, Montreal, and Quebec, and they
hovered with infuriated zeal around the outskirts of the northern and
western settlements, during the many and sanguinary wars carried on
between the English and French. And when the French were beaten they
still adhered to their cause, and their chiefs stimulated the French
local commanders to continue and renew the contest, even after the fall
of Niagara and Quebec, with a heroic consistency of purpose, which
reflects credit upon their foresight, bravery, and constancy. We hope in
a future number to bring forward a sketch of the man who put himself at
the head of this latter effort, who declared he would drive the Saxon
race into the sea, who beseiged _twelve_ and took _nine_ of the western
stockaded forts, and who for four years and upwards, maintained the war,
after the French had struck their colours and ceded the country. We
refer to the great Algic leader, Pontiac.
At present our attention is called to a cotemporary chief, of equal
personal bravery and conduct, certainly, but who lived and exercised his
authority at a more remote point, and had not the same masses and means
at his command. This point, so long hid in the great forests of the
north, and which, indeed, has been but lately revealed in our positive
geography, is the area of Lake Superior. It is here that we find the
Indian tradition to be rife with the name of Wabojeeg and his wars, and
his cotemporaries. It was one of the direct consequences of so remote a
position, that it withdrew his attention more from the actual conflicts
between the French and English, and fixed them upon his western and
southern frontiers, which were menaced and invaded by the numerous bands
of the Dacotahs, and by the perfidious kinsmen of his nation, the
Outagamies and Saucs. He came into active life, too, as a prominent war
leader, at the precise era when the Canadas had fallen into the British
power, and by engaging zealously in the defence of the borders of his
nation west, he allowed time to mitigate and adjust those feelings and
attachments which, so far as public policy was concerned, must be
considered to have moulded the Indian mind to a compliance with, and a
submission to, the British authority. Wabojeeg was, emphatically, the
defender of the Chippewa domain against the efforts of other branches of
the Red Race. He did not, therefore, lead his people to fight, as his
father, Ma-mongazida, and nearly all the great Indian war captains had,
to enable one type of the foreign race to triumph over another, but
raised his parties and led them forth to maintain his tribal supremacy.
He may be contemplated, therefore, as having had a more patriotic object
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account