Pontiac


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Pontiac

, Ottawa chief
Pontiac, fl. 1760–66, Ottawa chief. He may have been the chief met by Robert Rogers in 1760 when Rogers was on his way to take possession of the Western forts for the English. Although the Native American uprising against the English colonists just after the French and Indian Wars is known as Pontiac's Rebellion or Pontiac's Conspiracy, Pontiac's role is uncertain. He definitely was present at the siege of Detroit, and encouraged other tribes to fight the British, but most of the actual fighting and strategy was probably planned independently by other Native American leaders. After the rebellion had failed and a treaty had been concluded (1766), Pontiac is supposed to have gone west and to have been murdered by Illinois at Cahokia. This story is, however, accepted by few authorities.

Bibliography

See bibliography under Pontiac's Rebellion.

Pontiac

, city, United States
Pontiac, industrial city (1990 pop. 71,166), seat of Oakland co., SE Mich., on the Clinton River; founded 1818 by promoters from Detroit, inc. as a city 1861. Industries developed early and expanded after the railroad came. Carriage making, important in the 1880s, gave way to the automobile industry and the manufacture of trucks, buses, and automotive parts. Pontiac still is an auto-manufacturing center, but on a much smaller scale since the decline of the U.S. auto industry in the 1970s and 80s. Chemicals, ferrous and nonferrous metals, wood products, and electrical equipment are also manufactured. The city was named for the Ottawa chief Pontiac, who is said to be buried nearby. The Silverdome sports and entertainment complex is there. Numerous state parks and several hundred lakes are in the area.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Pontiac

 

Born circa 1720; died 1769. Chief of the Ottawa, an Algonquian Indian tribe of North America.

In the 1760’s Pontiac was the leader of an uprising of the Indian tribes against the British settlers. The alliance created by Pontiac united all the Indian tribes in eastern North America. On May 2, 1763, the Indians, under the leadership of Pontiac, attacked British forts and gained a number of victories. After the long siege of Detroit, Pontiac was compelled in 1766 to conclude peace with the British and to recognize the authority of the British king. The circumstances of Pontiac’s death are unclear.

Pontiac

 

a city in the northern USA, in the state of Michigan; a northwestern industrial suburb of Detroit. Population, 86,400 (1974). Pontiac is an important center of the automobile industry, including automobile parts and accessories. The General Motors Corporation is located there. Smaller industries supply machine tools and rubber and chemical products.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pontiac

(1720–1769) brains behind widespread American Indian uprising (1762). [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 398]
See: Conspiracy
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Pontiac

died 1769, chief of the Ottawa Indians, who led a rebellion against the British (1763--66)
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Pontiac

(?1720–69) Ottawa chief; born in present-day Ohio. Nothing is known of his early years, but according to the 19th-century historian Francis Parkman, he was an Ottawa chief who favored the French in their struggle with the English. Opposing the British takeover of the Old Northwest, about 1762 he organized a coalition of Indian tribes against them. He led the year-long siege of Fort Detroit (1763–64) while other Indian forces captured eight British forts before they were eventually defeated. Pontiac agreed to peace in 1766. He was apparently murdered by a Peoria warrior in the pay of an English trader. Historians are unsure whether Pontiac actually led what is called "Pontiac's conspiracy" or "rebellion," or if he was only one of several Indian leaders; his role was dramatized and highlighted by Parkman.
The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.
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