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May 31, 2013

"250 Years Ago Today", Pontiac's Plan comes together





   Before other British outposts had learned about Pontiac's siege at Detroit, Native Americans under Pontiac's plan captured five small forts in a series of attacks between May 16 and June 2. 

   The first to be taken was Fort Sandusky, a small blockhouse on the shore of Lake Erie. It had been built in 1761 by order of General Amherst, despite the objections of local Wyandots, who in 1762 warned the commander that they would soon burn it down.  On May 16, 1763, a group of Wyandots gained entry under the pretense of holding a council, the same stratagem that had failed in Detroit nine days earlier. They seized the commander and killed the other 15 soldiers, as well as British traders at the fort.  These were among the first of about 100 traders who were killed in the early stages of the war.  The dead were ritually scalped and the fort—as the Wyandots had warned a year earlier—was burned to the ground.

   Fort St. Joseph was captured on May 25, 1763, by the same method as at Sandusky. Potawatomis seized the commander and killed most of the 15-man garrison outright.

    Fort Miami was the third fort to fall. On May 27, 1763, the commander was lured out of the fort by his Native mistress and shot dead by Miami Native Americans. The nine-man garrison surrendered after the fort was surrounded.

   In the Illinois Country, Weas, Kickapoos, and Mascoutens took Fort Ouiatenon, on June 1, 1763. They lured soldiers outside for a council, and took the 20-man garrison captive without bloodshed. The Native Americans around Fort Ouiatenon had good relations with the British garrison, but emissaries from Pontiac at Detroit had convinced them to strike. The Natives apologized to the commander for taking the fort, saying that "they were obliged to do it by the other Nations."  In contrast with other forts, the Natives did not kill the British captives at Ouiatenon.

   The fifth fort to fall, Fort Michilimackinac, was the largest fort taken by surprise. On June 2, 1763, local Ojibwas staged a game of stickball with visiting Sauks. The soldiers watched the game, as they had done on previous occasions. The ball was hit through the open gate of the fort; the teams rushed in and were given weapons which Native women had smuggled into the fort. The Natives killed about 15 of the 35-man garrison in the struggle; later they killed five more in ritual torture.

   Three forts in the Ohio Country were taken in a second wave of attacks in mid-June. Iroquois Senecas took Fort Venango around June 16, 1763. They killed the entire 12-man garrison outright, keeping the commander alive to write down the grievances of the Senecas. After that, they ritually burned him at the stake. Possibly the same Seneca warriors attacked Fort Le Boeuf on June 18, but most of the 12-man garrison escaped to Fort Pitt.
   On June 19, 1763, about 250 Ottawa, Ojibwa, Wyandot, and Seneca warriors surrounded Fort Presque Isle , the eighth and final fort to fall. After holding out for two days, the garrison of about 30 to 60 men surrendered, on the condition that they could return to Fort Pitt.  The warriors killed most of the soldiers after they came out of the fort.

May 30, 2013

Five Sheaths for Five Knives

 I was sent a box full of knives, made by a variety of makers, some of the touch marks I knew, some I didn't.  I was asked to make up new sheaths for them.  
 From left to right,
 #1...Jack Hubbard
 #2...Curt Lyles
 #3...Daniel Casey
 #4&5..Randy Wolfe of Bethel Forge

May 27, 2013

"250 Years Ago Today"

On May 28, 1763, a supply convoy commanded by Lieutenant Abraham Cuyler stopped at Point Pelee on its way to Detroit. Unaware of the ongoing siege, Cuyler and his men made camp without taking extra security precautions. About 200 Indians attacked, killing or capturing 61 of the 96 men of Cuyler's expedition. Those who escaped made their way to Fort Sandusky, but found it destroyed, and so they returned to Fort Niagara. The Indians took their captives to Detroit, where they were tortured and mutilated. The bodies were then tossed into the river to float by Fort Detroit, which undermined morale in the fort.

May 9, 2013

"250 Years Ago Today"

 250 years ago today, one of the greatest Native chiefs,"Pontiac" laid siege to Fort Detroit.

On May 7, Pontiac entered the fort with about 300 men, armed with weapons hidden under blankets, determined to take the fort by surprise. However, the British commander Henry Gladwin had apparently been informed of Pontiac's plan, and the garrison of about 120 men was armed and ready. Pontiac withdrew and, two days later, May 9th, laid siege to the fort. A number of British soldiers and civilians in the area outside the fort were captured or killed; one of the soldiers was ritually cannibalized, as was the custom in some Great Lakes Indian cultures. The violence was directed only at the British: French colonists were left alone. Eventually more than 900 Indian warriors from a half-dozen tribes joined the siege.


May 8, 2013

New Priming Horn & Shot Bag #17


 One of our members from Wulff's Rangers is a accomplished Horner, Roy Howman, I had him make up this priming horn for me and as you can see he did a excellent job.He asked what I wanted engraved on the horn and he delivered.
Roy dose excellent work and you can check more of his work on his web site.    http://royhowmanbhw.weebly.com/index.html

 So now that I have a new priming horn I needed a new shot bag. I have been working hard on trying to get caught up on my orders and  decided to take a brake and make up a new bag. So I spent some time on  Sunday and Monday to put this bag together. The bag that I am currently using just wasn't deep enough, so using the same bag pattern I made it a little deeper and half inch wider, (7x8) and changed the style of the flap. I also played around with the strap. I had some left over piece of strapping left from other project, so I ended up with it being 1 1/4" wide and tapering it down to fit a one inch iron buckle. I then spliced in a one inch wide tongue to fit the buckle. It worked out well and I like the look. It's just a simple leather bag 3/4 oz. veg tanned leather, welted seam and hand sewn with waxed linen thread. The flap is made up of two pieces of leather 4 oz. backed with 2 oz. so not to be to thick, the edge is hand stitched then burnished to give it a nice finished look. A small amount of tooling added along with a button closer.
I also added a very small inside pocket to carry my hunting tags in, they are out of sight but not left at home. The new horn will fit nicely in on top of what I carried in my old bag. Now I'm thinking a new powder horn!!!  


May 2, 2013

Two more axes

I think I have done at least two dozen of these ax sets. One of these is already sold and the other one will make the trip down to
 Martian's Station next weekend along with a few other leather accouterments that I make and will hopefully sell.