In 1763, the French government ceded its territories in the far north of America to Great Britain. First Nations tribes in the Great Lakes area soon found that the English were exploiting their dominant position, raising prices and stealing tribal lands, and at last the indigenous peoples decided that they had no other recourse but war.

An Ottawa chieftain named Pontiac emerged as the leader of the revolt. Not every tribe supported him; nevertheless, within months his warriors had taken several key forts in the Great Lakes area, while harassing civilian settlements further east. The British Army eventually turned the tide, but it was not until the summer of 1766 that the danger was truly past.

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