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.