What would have been the signal that Pontiac would have given to attack in Fort Detroit?
score:3
An article in a book on the History of Macomb County, Michigan from 1882 agrees with your connection to the wampum belt (emphasis mine):
There is legend that a beautiful Chippewa girl well known to Gladwyn divulged to him scheme which the Indians had in view namely that the next day Pontiac come to the fort with sixty of his chiefs each armed with a gun cut short hidden under his blanket that Pontiac would demand a council deliver a speech offer a peace belt of wampum holding it in a reversed position as the signal for attack; that the chiefs sitting upon the ground would then spring up and fire upon the officers and the Indians out in the streets would next fall upon the garrison and kill every Englishman but spare all the French
We can get a little more information about this belt from the History of the Indian Tribes of the United States, by Henry Schoolcraft. On pg. 244 Schoolcraft discusses this (emphasis mine):
But an attack was not his first move he aimed to take the fort by a laid plot which was in effect to visit the commandant at his quarters accompanied a limited number of assassins bearing concealed weapons to smoke with him the of peace and to present him with a formal address which was to be accompanied by a belt of wampum the most solemn and honored custom in Indian diplomacy This was worked on one side with white and on the other with green beads finished his speech with the white side turned towards his auditor the reversal of it in his hands to the green side was to be the signal of attack
Schoolcraft cites the Pontiac Manuscript as his source for information about the belt. This primary source is described at the University of Michigan site:
The Robert Navarre Journal of the Pontiac Conspiracy is a manuscript transcription of the original French account of Pontiac's siege of Detroit in 1763. The journal describes in great detail affairs on both sides of the conflict between May 7 and July 31, 1763, providing an eyewitness account from within the fort, as well as intelligence, news, and rumors of Pontiac's activities.
Some digital copies of this source can be found here. (note this is handwritten and in French)
Another source which offers some insights into this event would be by Francis Parkman, The conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the conquest of Canada . (He has an interesting note pointing out variations on the identity and fate of the 'heroine' of the story.)
More post
- 📝 Could Great Britain have built the British Empire if it was not the pioneer of the Industrial Revolution?
- 📝 When were 'time zones' (or at least time difference) discovered?
- 📝 Why were there no increases in the train speed records between 1854-1934?
- 📝 How blockadable was the Strait of Gibraltar before Operation "Torch?"
- 📝 Good books on Kievan Rus era?
- 📝 Is there any evidence that Jesus' Mother lived in Ephesus?
- 📝 What does this symbol in the title page illustration of the "Margarita Philosophica" mean?
- 📝 What is the basis for the claims that the word "Israel" means "Exiled for their sins"?
- 📝 Can Bill Clinton run for president of France?
- 📝 What is the earliest known "one arrow is easily broken but a bundle of arrows is not" story?
- 📝 What was the basis for valuating large territorial purchases by USA?
- 📝 Cover Art of "Álbum de la Revolución Cubana"
- 📝 What is the first example of a nation where the first railroad network system was somebody's master plan?
- 📝 What advantage did Napoleon gain by attacking and antagonizing the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Are there any examples of California gold rush prospectors becoming exceedingly wealthy due to their claim(s)?
- 📝 Did syphilis, polio, hepatitis, and encephalitis come to general world from the Americas?
- 📝 Are photos of WWII US Navy damage reports available online?
- 📝 Were warhorses unable to graze in grass fields and thus needed to be manually fed an exclusive type of hay?
- 📝 How did pastoral nomads keep winning battles/wars? When did the tide turn against them for settled societies?
- 📝 Where did the idea of a Pharaoh originate?
- 📝 Why is the US Independent in 1776 but the first President isn't inaugurated until 1789?
- 📝 Why didn't the Cathars speak a language influenced by the East?
- 📝 What were the most common reactions to Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
- 📝 How common was gun ownership by Londoners in the early 20th century?
- 📝 Why America was not discovered from the left land at Bering strait?
- 📝 Were the Puritans for a State Church?
- 📝 Why were Axis bombings deadlier than Allied ones?
- 📝 What are the origins of the "News Reel Voice"?
- 📝 Was Crassus's fire brigade composed of slaves?
- 📝 Why was Maharana Kumbha killed by his own son?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What would have been the signal that Pontiac would have given to attack in Fort Detroit?
- 📝 What would have been the typical drinks for a US farmer in the late 18th/early 19th century?
- 📝 What would have been the price of a loaf of bread in 1645 Amsterdam?
- 📝 What courses would have been required to get a B.A. in America in the 1930s?
- 📝 What would have been the carrying capacity for 11th-13th century backpacks?
- 📝 What would have been on the menu in an Ancient Egyptian tavern?
- 📝 What psychology would have been taught at the 19th century Lyceum?
- 📝 What were factors that led to a decline in bond yields during World War II given that the opposite should have happened?
- 📝 What would the Royal Sussex Regiment have been doing in South Africa between 1900-1902?
- 📝 What materials would have been used in the ancient Mesopotamian crown?
- 📝 What populations have been denied the ability to leave a territory, so that its goverment could kill them?
- 📝 What explanations have been given as to why the Jews were not killed in Italy?
- 📝 What knowledge may have been lost at the Library of Alexandria?
- 📝 Where would the first nuke have been dropped in Germany?
- 📝 How would a king's servants prove that they are on a task given by the king?
- 📝 What is the historical basis for the claim that "Taiwan has always been part of China"?
- 📝 What was the "Favorable result" that the German admiralty was expecting from the naval attack on the Royal Navy in 1918?
- 📝 What effect did the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir have on Great Britain's international relations during WW2?
- 📝 What would a Norseman in the early 11th century have worn as daily clothing?
- 📝 What reasons did the Confederacy have for believing they would have a quick victory?
- 📝 What would the Arch of Titus have looked like painted?
- 📝 Why did Stephen Ambrose believe that the election of Aaron Burr would have led to the end of the USA?
- 📝 What would people have been smoking in 700 AD Central / Eastern Asia?
- 📝 What sources could Tacitus or Appian have used that have since been lost?
- 📝 Would the trial of Jesus of Nazareth have been recorded on an Acta Diurna?
- 📝 What plane would have been used to airdrop someone into occupied Europe?
- 📝 What was the South actually afraid Lincoln or Congress would do that precipitated the Civil War?
- 📝 What murals and decor might have been present in the earliest Sumerian temples?
- 📝 Why would the heads of the Manhattan Project have been imprisoned in the event of its failure?
- 📝 Considering what was known about Hitler in 1933, why would German bishops declare that Catholics could cooperate with the new State?