support this view. But his principal claim to distinction
is due to his position as the head of a confederacy
--whereas the other chiefs in the conflict were merely
leaders of single tribes--and to the fact that he was
situated at the very centre of the theatre of war. News
from Detroit could be quickly heralded along the canoe
routes and forest trails to the other tribes, and it thus
happened that when Pontiac struck, the whole Indian
country rose in arms. But the evidence clearly shows
that, except against Detroit and the neighbouring
blockhouses, he had no part in planning the attacks.
The war as a whole was a leaderless war.

Let us now look for a moment at the Indians who took part
in the war. Immediately under the influence of Pontiac
were three tribes--the Ottawas, the Chippewas, and the
Potawatomis. These had their hunting-grounds chiefly in
the Michigan peninsula, and formed what was known as the
Ottawa Confederacy or the Confederacy of the Three Fires.
It was at the best a loose confederacy, with nothing of
the organized strength of the Six Nations. The Indians
in it were of a low type--sunk in savagery and superstition.
A leader such as Pontiac naturally appealed to them. They
existed by hunting and fishing--feasting to-day and
famishing to-morrow--and were easily roused by the hope
of plunder. The weakly manned forts containing the white
man's provisions, ammunition, and traders' supplies were
an attractive lure to such savages. Within the confederacy,
however, there were some who did not rally round Pontiac.
The Ottawas of the northern part of Michigan, under the