" They certainly showed themselves the
better for their religion, and they were still the bravest of the brave.
But though the Wabash Indians in answering spake them fair, they had no
wish to go to peace; and the Wyandots were the only tribes who strove
earnestly to prevent war. The American agents who had gone to the
Detroit River were forced to report that there was little hope of
putting an end to hostilities. [Footnote: _Do_., James Rinkin to Richard
Butler, July 20, 1788.] The councils accomplished nothing towards
averting a war; on the contrary, they tended to band all the
northwestern Indians together in a loose confederacy, so that active
hostilities against some were sure in the end to involve all.
Even the Far-Off Chippewas Make Forays.
While the councils were sitting and while the Americans were preparing
for the treaties, outrages of the most flagrant kind occurred. One, out
of many; was noteworthy as showing both the treachery of the Indians,
and the further fact that some tribes went to war, not because they had
been in any way maltreated, but from mere lust of blood and plunder. In
July of this year 1788, Governor St. Clair was making ready for a treaty
to which he had invited some of the tribes.
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