The Habitants' Folk Literature
Most habitants were superstitious. In the fog which lingered frequently over low places, it was easy to see the feu follet (sprite) ... did the French people really mark their horses with Christian crosses to save the beasts from the hard-driving night rider, a homed imp called le Lutin? ... was the Grosse Pointe bride named Archange truly carried off into the forest by le Loup Garou, the monster which walked erect, but had a wolf's head and an enormous tail? ...
A mill for grinding grain is the subject of an enduring folk tale. This first grist mill on Grosse Pointe was wind-driven, made of cobblestone, with cloth sails. It stood by the foot of Lakepointe Avenue where Fox Creek made almost an island, and was owned by Josette le Duc and her younger brother Jean Baptiste. Josette became critically ill; Jean nursed her as best he could, but grew anxious about the future status of her share of the mill. Asked once too often about to whom she would leave it, Josette retorted, "Oh, leave it to the devil!"
At the moment Josette breathed her last, a storm was raging, and a bolt of lightning split the mill, rendering it useless forever. Thereafter, when the weather grew violent, the habitants looked skyward for the devil coming to claim his share of the mill. People recalled the tales surrounding this event whenever they thought of Presque Isle, and eventually the area came to be known as "Windmill Pointe."
Habitant Life. The habitants cultivated only a few acres of their long, narrow farms, but each place had its orchard. The French pear trees have become legendary; a few gnarled relics are still found in the Pointes. Some are probably nearly two hundred years old and are much taller than modern varieties.
The various Algonkian tribes accepted the French farmers for the unobtrusive and friendly neighbors they were, but the Hurons (Wyandots) frequently came across the ice from Canada and drove off livestock. Other Indians often camped on Grosse Pointe en route to the fort to trade their furs. Uninvited guests at mealtime in the tiny cabins were commonplace; on many nights, Indians rolled up in their blankets before the fires of the farm families.
It is doubtful if the people who lived at a distance from the fort considered the consequences of increasing pressure from the English. In 1754, George Washington, then a major in the British army, was building a fort on the Ohio River. He was compelled by a force of Frenchmen to surrender. This was the beginning of the French and Indian War.
Transition
Fort Ponchartrain would escape attack during the ensuing hostilities, but its French days came to an end. Once the British occupied Detroit in 1760, Major Robert Rogers, the new commandant, required only that the habitants and artisan militiamen swear an oath of allegiance to King George III. The British soldiers behaved well, Rogers' replacement was hospitable to Detroiters, and social activity in the town actually increased. However, virtually all of the residents were of French extraction, and many of the families who had grants out of town moved to them. They felt more at ease when at a distance from British soldiers and the increasing number of English-speaking strangers.
