That portion of the Ojibways, forming by far the main body of the tribe, who occupied the area of Lake Superior, and those bands who had already formed distinct villages on the headwaters of the Mississippi and its principal north-eastern tributaries, were not engaged in the bloody transaction of the taking of Fort Michilimackinac, or at most, but a few of their old warriors who have all now fallen into their graves, were noted as having been accidentally present on the occasion of this most important event in the history of their tribe.

It is true that the war-club, tobacco, and wampum belt of war had been carried by the messengers of Pontiac and his lieutenant, the Mackinaw chieftain, to La Pointe, and the principal villages of the tribe on Lake Superior, but the Ojibways listened only to the advice and the words of peace of a French trader who resided at Sault Ste. Marie, and from this point (with an influence not even surpassed by that which his contemporary, Sir Win. Johnson, wielded over the more eastern tribes), he held sway, and guided the councils of the Lake Superior Ojibways, even to their remotest village.

This man did not stand tamely by, as many of his fellow French traders did, to witness the butchery of British soldiers and subjects, and see the blood of his fellow whites ruthlessly and freely flowing at the hands of the misguided savages. On the contrary, he feared not to take a firm stand against the war, and made noble and effective efforts to prevent the deplorable consequences, which their opposition to the British arms, would be sure to entail on the Ojibways. He knew full well that the French nation had withdrawn forever from their possessions in this country, and that their national fire, which was promised would blaze forever with the fire of the Ojibways, was now totally extinguished, and knowing this, he did not foolishly stimulate, as others did, the sanguinary opposition which the Indians continued to make against the predominant Saxon race, by telling them that "the great king of the French had only fallen into a drowse, but would soon awaken, and drive the English back into the great salt water."

On the contrary, he pointed out to the Ojibways, the utter uselessness and impotence of their efforts; and he told them that the war would only tend to thin the ranks of their warriors, causing their women to cover their faces with the black paint of mourning, and keep them miserably poor, for the want of traders to supply their wants.

It is through the humane advice of this French trader, and the unbounded influence which he held over the Lake Superior Ojibways, which prevented them from joining the alliance of Pontiac, in his war against the English, and which has thereby saved them from the almost utter annihilation which has befallen every other tribe who have been induced to fight for one type of the white race against another, and which enables them at this day to assume the position of the most numerous and important branch of the Algic race, and the largest tribe residing east of the Mississippi.

The name of this man was John Baptiste Cadotte, and he was a son of the Mons. Cadeau who first appeared in the Ojibway country, as early as in 1671, in the train of the French envoy, Sieur du Lusson, when he treated with the delegates of the northwestern Indian tribes at Sault Ste. Marie.

John Baptist Cadotte (as his name was spelt by the British, and has been retained to this day) had, early in life, followed the example of the hardy western adventurers who had already found their way to the sources of the Great Lakes and the Great River, Mississippi. He went as a "Merchant voyageur," and visited the remotest villages of the Ojibways on Lake Superior, to supply their wants in exchange for their valuable beaver skins. He became attached to one of their women, belonging to the great clan of A-waus-e, and married her according to the forms of the Catholic religion, of which he was a firm believer. For a notice of Cadot or Cadotte gleaned from parish and other records, see another article in this volume.--E. D. N.

At the breaking out of the war between France and Great Britain, which resulted in the ending of the French domination in America, Mons. Cadotte made it his permanent residence at Sault Ste. Marie, from which point he eventually wielded the salutary influence, which we have mentioned. He is the only French trader of any importance whom the Ojibways tell of having remained with them, when the French people were forced to leave the Lake Superior country. And it is said that though he made several attempts to leave the Ojibway people in company with his departing countrymen, such was the affection which they bore to himself and his half-breed children, that their chiefs threatened to use force to prevent his departure.

His Ojibway wife appears to have been a woman of great energy and force of character, as she is noted to this day for the influence she held over her relations--the principal chiefs of the tribe; and the hardy, fearless manner, in which, accompanied only by Canadian "Coureurs du bois" to propel her canoes, she made long journeys to distant villages of her people to further the interests of her husband.

She bore him two sons, John Baptiste, and Michel, who afterwards succeeded their father in the trade, and became, with their succeeding children of the same name, so linked with the Ojibways, that I shall be forced often to mention their names in the future course of my narrative, although at the evident risk of laying myself open to the charge of egotism, Or making them prominent because they happen to be my direct progenitors.

Alex. Henry, in his straightforward and truthful narrative, gives full testimony to all, which I have said respecting the position and influence of Mons. Cadotte among the Ojibways during the middle of the past century, and not only for the purpose of making known the noble and philanthropic conduct of this man during this trying season in Ojibway history, but also to more fully illustrate to the reader the position and affairs of the tribe during this era, I will take the liberty to introduce a few more paragraphs from his pen. In the spring of the following year after his capture, having passed the winter as an Indian in the hunting camp of his adopted brother Wa-wa-tam, in whose family he was ever kindly treated,he returned to the fort at Michilimackinac, which now contained but two French traders. He says:--
"Eight days had passed in tranquility, when there arrived a band of Indians from the bay of Sag-u-en-auw (Saginaw.)

They had assisted at the siege of Detroit, and came to muster as many recruits for that service as they could. For my own part, I was soon informed that, as I was the only Englishman in the place, they proposed to kill me, in order to give their friends a mess of English broth to raise their courage. This intelligence was not of the most agreeable kind, and in consequence of receiving it, I requested my friend to carry me to the Sault de Saint Marie, at which place I knew the Indians to be peaceably inclined, and that M. Cadotte enjoyed a powerful influence over their conduct. They considered M. Cadotte as their chief, and he was not only my friend, but a friend to the English. It was by him that the Chippeways of Lake Superior were prevented from joining Pontiac."

conclude chapter 17

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