The British had nothing to fear from them. But the Indians
were a force to be reckoned with. There were three Indian
villages in the vicinity--the Wyandot, on the east side
of the river, opposite the fort; the Ottawa, five miles
above, opposite Ile au Cochon (Belle Isle); and the
Potawatomi about two miles below the fort on the west
shore. The Ottawas here could muster 200 warriors, the
Potawatomis about 150, and the Wyandots 250, while near
at hand were the Chippewas, 320 strong. Pontiac, although
head chief of the Ottawas, did not live in the village,
but had his wigwam on Ile a la Peche, at the outlet of
Lake St Clair, a spot where whitefish abounded. Here he
dwelt with his squaws and papooses, not in 'grandeur,'
but in squalid savagery. Between the Indians and the
French there existed a most friendly relationship; many
of the habitants, indeed, having Indian wives.

Near the centre of the settlement, on the west bank of
the river, about twenty miles from Lake Erie, stood Fort
Detroit, a miniature town. It was in the form of a
parallelogram and was surrounded by a palisade twenty-five
feet high. According to a letter of an officer, the walls
had an extent of over one thousand paces. At each corner
was a bastion and over each gate a blockhouse. Within
the walls were about one hundred houses, the little
Catholic church of Ste Anne's, a council-house, officers'
quarters, and a range of barracks. Save for one or two
exceptions the buildings were of wood, thatched with bark
or straw, and stood close together. The streets were
exceedingly narrow; but immediately within the palisade