Death of Pontiac letter   Save
Thomas Hutchins Papers
Description: This letter was written by Thomas Hutchins, an American-born mapmaker and surveyor who served in the British army, to George Morgan, a merchant based at Fort Chartres and Cahokia in the Illinois country. Hutchins expresses his joy at the death of Pontiac, and warns Morgan of the anger of local American Indians about it. Hutchins also warns Morgan that Kaskaskia is in immenent danger of being attacked by the French and Indians, and advises him to have his goods moved within the fort as soon as possible. Chief Pontiac was born around 1720. By 1755, he was a chief of the Ottawa Tribe. Pontiac subscribed to the religious beliefs of Neolin, a prophet of the Delaware people, who encouraged native people to forsake English goods and customs. Shortly after the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, in the interest of defending their lands in the Ohio Country, Pontiac and the Ottawa encouraged local tribes to rise up in what was known as Pontiac's Rebellion. English military subdued the uprising by the fall of 1764, and Pontiac formally surrendered in July 1766. In 1769, he was killed by a member of the Peoria Tribe near Cahokia. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: VFM1455_01
Subjects: Pontiac, d. 1769; American Indian tribal leaders; American frontier; Forts & fortifications;
Places: Kaskaskia (Illinois);