Chief Pontiac's War in 1763
The habitants had shown a fair degree of hospitality to the Indians, and all had gone well under the French regime. It soon became apparent to the natives that their treatment by most of the English would be totally different. The British government cut back the amount of goods for which they could trade; with insufficient ammunition even to hunt game to feed their families, the Indians believed that the British were trying to starve them to death. Chief Pontiac and many others had good friends in the French community and, although it was treason, some Frenchmen fueled the Indians' unrest. Pontiac managed to unite three or four tribes of the fiercely independent Indians, but twice his plans for surprise attacks on the fort at Detroit failed.
The French settlers felt ambivalent as time wore on. Some pleaded with Chief Pontiac to make peace; a few smuggled necessities to the fort when supplies ran low. But enough of them openly encouraged the natives that Major Gladwin considered half of the French settlers to be traitors and referred to them as "the scoundrel inhabitants of Detroit."
The major battle fought at Parent's Creek near present Adair Street was won by the Indians. It was such a vicious victory that the stream took on the name "Bloody Run." But this success was the zenith of the Indians' effort. They did not have the patience for the "white man's" style of warfare. One by one, the tribes made peace. Detroit was the only western post never held by the Indians.
The American Revolution: Our Waters Become an International Boundary
A few new people, usually English or Scottish in origin, came to Detroit after the Indian wars ended, and more French families moved out to the farms. Some of these were situated in present-day Grosse Pointe. The people of this area were only minimally involved in the American Revolution, even though Detroit was the base from which the "hair-buyer of Detroit," the British Lt. Col. Henry Hamilton, sent out his "scalping parties."
The weather usurped the attention of local people during the war-time winter of 1779/80, for it was one of this region's most severe. When the snow melted, bodies of cattle and the French farmers' hardy little horses were found by the scores in the woods where they had starved or frozen. A winter of comparable severity awaited this area in 1785/86.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Great Lakes region became part of The Thirteen United States of America. Although the British government was not totally sorry to be rid of her nettlesome colonies, it was loathe to give up the busiest of the fur trading centers. Therefore, despite the treaty, the British stayed on at Detroit and continued to encourage the natives against the new American settlers who poured into the region.
As the strife continued, President Washington sent General Anthony Wayne to end the bloodshed. In 1795, the Indians gave up most of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Britain had problems enough in Europe, so agreed to evacuate Detroit.
