The Conquest: The True Story of Lewis and Clark

  X

  _THE CITY OF THE STRAIT_

  Clark was not an hour too soon. Indians were already on the march.

  "Hamilton is taken!"

  Wabasha, the Sioux, from the Falls of St. Anthony, heard, and stoppedat Prairie du Chien.

  "Hamilton is taken!"

  Matchekewis, the gray-haired chief of the Chippewas, coming down fromSheboygan, heard the astounding word and fell back to St. Joseph's.

  The great Hamilton carried away by the rebels! The Indians were indeedcowed. The capture of Hamilton completed Clark's influence. The greatRed-Coat sent away as a prisoner of war was an object-lesson theIndians could not speedily forget.

  Out of Hamilton's captured mail, Clark discovered that the French inthe neighbourhood of Detroit were not well-affected toward theBritish, and were ready to revolt whenever favourable opportunityoffered.

  "Very well, then, Detroit next!"

  But Clark had more prisoners than he knew what to do with.

  "Here," said he, to the captured Detroiters, "I am anxious to restoreyou to your families. I know you are unwilling instruments in thiswar, but your great King of France has allied himself with theAmericans. Go home, bear the good news, bid your friends welcome thecoming of their allies, the Americans. And tell Captain Lernoult I amglad to hear that he is constructing new works at Detroit. It willsave us Americans some expense in building."

  The City of the Strait was lit with bonfires.

  "We have taken an oath not to fight the Virginians," said the paroledFrenchmen.

  The people rejoiced when they heard of Hamilton's capture; they hatedhis tyranny, and, certain of Clark's onward progress, prepared awelcome reception for "_les Americains_."

  "See," said the mistress of a lodging house to Captain Lernoult. "Seewhat viands I haf prepared for le Colonel Clark." And the Captainanswered not a word. Baptiste Drouillard handed him a printedproclamation of the French alliance.

  Everywhere Detroiters were drinking, "Success to the Thirteen UnitedStates!"

  "Success to Congress and the American arms! I hope the Virginians willsoon be at Detroit!"

  "Now Colonel Butler and his scalping crew will meet their deserts. Iknow the Colonel for a coward and I'll turn hangman for him!"

  "Don't buy a farm now. When the Virginians come you can get one fornothing."

  "See how much leather I am tanning for the Virginians. When they comeI shall make a great deal of money."

  "Town and country kept three days in feasting and diversions," wroteClark to Jefferson, "and we are informed that the merchants and othersprovided many necessaries for us on our arrival." But this the Coloneldid not learn until long after.

  Left alone in command, with only eighty men in the garrison, Lernoultcould do nothing. Bitterly he wrote to his commander-in-chief, "TheCanadians are rebels to a man. In building the fort they aid only oncompulsion."

  Even at Montreal the Frenchmen kept saying, "A French fleet willcertainly arrive and retake the country"; and Haldimand, GovernorGeneral, was constantly refuting these rumours.

  "Now let me help you," again pleaded The Tobacco's son to Clark atVincennes.

  "I care not whether you side with me or not," answered the AmericanColonel. "If you keep the peace, very well. If not you shall sufferfor your mischief."

  Such a chief! Awed, the Indians retired to their camps and becamespectators. To divert Clark, the British officers urged these Indiansto attack Vincennes.

  The Tobacco's son sent back reply, "If you want to fight the Bostonsat St. Vincent's you must cut your way through them, as we are BigKnives, too!" Their fame spread to Superior and the distant Missouri.

  "In the vicinity of Chicago the rebels are purchasing horses to mounttheir cavalry."

  "The Virginians are building boats to take Michilimackinac."

  "They are sending belts to the Chippewas and Ottawas."

  "The Virginians are at Milwaukee."

  So the rumours flew along the Lakes, terrifying every Briton intostrengthening his stronghold. And this, for the time, kept them wellat home.

  "Had I but three hundred I could take Detroit," said Clark. Every daynow came the word from the French of the city, "Come,--come to ourrelief."

  "But Vincennes must be garrisoned. My men are too few."

  Then a messenger arrived with letters from Thomas Jefferson, nowGovernor of Virginia, with "thanks from the Assembly for the heroicservice you have rendered," and the promise of troops.

  Now for the first time were the soldiery made aware of the gratitudeof their country. Tumultuous cheers rent the air. The Indians heard,and thought it was news of another victory.

  "Let us march this day on Detroit," begged the soldiers, few as theywere. Half the population of Vincennes, and all the Indians, wouldhave followed.

  "Too many are ill," Clark said to himself. "Bowman is dying, the landsare flooded, the rains are falling. An unsustained march might end indisaster. For five hundred troops, I would bind myself a slave forseven years!"

  To the soldiers he explained, "Montgomery is coming with men andpowder. Let us rendezvous here in June and make a dash at Detroit."

  Leaving a garrison in the fort, in answer to imperative call, Clarkset out with six boatloads of troops and prisoners for a flying tripto Kaskaskia.

  But every step of the way, day and night, "Detroit must be taken,Detroit must be taken," was the dream of the disturbed commander. "Icannot rest. Nothing but the fall of Detroit will bring peace to ourfrontiers. In case I am not disappointed, Detroit is already my own."