94 T. C. ELLIOTT
ruary following. The French garrison at Mackinac had evacuated voluntarily and he returned from Detroit, traveling almost alone by the forest trails of Ohio to Pittsburg and from there across Pennsylvania to Philadelphia and New York.
While on his way out to Detroit an incident occurred which was of far reaching influence. The major and his men were proceeding along the southern shore of lake Erie and landed one day near the site of the present city of Cleveland. Some Indians appeared and demanded that he proceed no further until their chief arrived to talk to him. That chief turned out to be the famous Ponteac, who already had knowledge of the prowess of Major Rogers on the field of battle. They now met in council with due ceremonies, first that evening and again the next morning. Major Rogers was as calm and audacious before the council fire as he had been in the fighting line. Ponteac listened to the reasons for his presence and decided not to oppose the transfer of authority over the country from French to English. Later when at Detroit the tricolor of France was lowered and the cross of Saint George raised in its stead not only did the garrison of French soldiers out- number those under Major Rogers but the assembled Indians were numerous enough to overwhelm both ; and Ponteac was there to hold them in restraint.
Major Rogers again visited the West in the summer of 1763 with the detachment sent by General Amherst to put down the general uprising of that year. The fort at Mackinac was captured by the Indians that summer by a clever ruse; Francis Parkman has graphically described the events of the year in his volumes entitled "The Conspiracy of Ponteac" and makes prominent mention of Rogers. He was not in command of the expedition but acted rather as its guide, with twenty picked men under him. The route was familiar because the same he had traveled in 1760. By quiet and swift advances the boats reached the fort at Detroit in the early morning of July 28th before the Indians were aware of it and carried relief to Colonel Gladwyn and the garrison there. That success
