In the preceding winter Lieutenant Jamette had arrived to take command; but fire had broken out in his quarters and destroyed the post, and he and his men had gone back to Michilimackinac, where they still were when the Pontiac War broke out.

There were two important Indian tribes in the vicinity of Michilimackinac, the Chippewas and the Ottawas.

The Chippewas had populous villages on the island of Mackinaw and at Thunder Bay on Lake Huron.

They had as their hunting-grounds the eastern half of the peninsula which is now the state of Michigan.

The Ottawas claimed as their territory the western half of the peninsula, and their chief village was L'Arbre Croche, where the venerable Jesuit priest, Father du Jaunay, had long conducted his mission.
The Indians about Michilimackinac had never taken kindly to the new occupants of the forts in their territory.
When the trader Alexander Henry arrived there in 1761, he had found them decidedly hostile.