Stuart was captured by Indians in Great Cove, Pennsylvania
October 25, 1755. He was taken to Fort Duquesne, Sandusky, Detroit, and
Montreal before being exchanged and sent to England. He returned to New
York in 1757. Stuart apparently make this statement to military
authorities on what he had seen during his captivity.
The French have a Settlement abt 5 days Travel From
Detroit on a Part of Lake Huron wch must Lay Far Towards Oswego For
Capt Jarvis who Owns a Saw Mill There Told Mr Stuart that he Cou'd go
from his Saw Mill to Oswego, Crossing Lake Ontario, in 3 days or 3 1/2
days - The Wondot at Detroit Told Mr Stuarat thaty they Coud go from
their Town in Canoes Along the North Side of Lake Erie Till they got
Between Briskell & Fort Niagara and then Cross the Lake in their
Canoes and after Crossing the Lake, Travel the Rest By Land and In this
Method they Coud go from their Town to Oswego in 10 Days & return
again wth Loaded Canoes in the Same Time - Mr Stuart Was Told By Capt
Jarvis That the French and Indians had Two Forts at the Settlement where
His Say Mill was, But he CantTell what Nation the Indians Belongd to
nor The Number of them or the French there, Only he Knows in general the
the French Settlement was Small But that there was a French Commander
there - On the DeTroit or West Side of the Strait that Emptys Lake Huron
there are no Inhabitants Either French or Indians Till you come within
abt l 1/4 [miles] of Fort De Troit or abt 16 3/4 miles From Lake Erie
and at sd Distance of 1 1/4 miles from the Fort Stands an Outotoway Town
Containing abt 32 Houses the Cheif of wch are Small, and Contains in
the whole abt 70 Warriours Besides Young Boys - this is the Town that
Peter Looney Lived in who Can Tell the Number with Greater Certainty But
he Thinks the above Number Cannot be For Wrong - the Above are all the
Indian Towns that are any Way near De Troit -
The next Nearest Indian Town that he Knows anything about Is
an Outotoway town at Fort St Joseph 7 days Travel Westward from De
Troit. It was at this place Capt Smith was Prisoner who was brot there
from Voss's Fort when taken in 1756, Capt Smith Told Mr Stuart that
these Indians appeared disposed to Join the English if they Coud geta
Proper Opertunity to do it and its Certain that while Capt Smith was at
De Troit the Outotaway Indians Both of Detroit and the Town on Lake
Huron Appeared very Fond of Conversing with him while at De Troit wch
was From Decr 1756 Till Apr 1757 wch gave the French Commandant at De
Troit So much Dissatisfaction that he Ordered Capt Smith to Keep to his
own Room, For he did not Like his Making so Free with the Indians But
Capt Smith did not obey the Commandants Orders But Still Continued
Useing his Influence with the Indians to Brings them over To the
English, Telling them of the Great Advantages they woud Be under In
Tradeing & liveing wth the English who did not desire the Indians to
go to War for them But only to Live in Peace and deal with them, and
what Disadvantages they were under in dealing with the French, & the
Indians themselves are Sensible that the English Supplies them much
Cheaper than the French wch the Indians Feel more Sensibly Since the
Loss of Oswego than Before, and those Indians who Assisted the French
most in Takeing Oswego are reproachd By the other Indian Nations for
doing it who had But Small Parties Engaged in that affair But were
obliged By the French To Send some - The Takeing of Oswego Open'd the
Eyes of the Indians to See their own Folly in Assisting the French in
Takeing it -
The French oblige their Indians to go to War against the
English by Threatening the Nations that Refuse with Bringing Another
Indian Nation on them To Cut them off, and they Credt these Threats the
more By Seeing the Success the French have against the English and by
Knowing that the French Formerly at Settleing De Troit Cut Off Great
Part of the Wondot Nation and obliged the Rest to Submit To them and
Turn Papists - a party of abt 18 OutOtaways were Forced To go out
Against the English But Returnd Back Again the next day and Went to
their Hunting Camps and Sent Two or Three of their People to Fort
Detroit When the Govr Enquired the Reason of their not going to War and
was answerd that as he had Threatened to Cut off their Town By Bringing
the Tawas on it they did not Know but he might do it in their Absence
and therefore Thot Proper to Come Back to Take Care of it - the
OutOtaways even of DeTroit are still Heathen and have not Embraced the
Popish Religion - Mr Stuart Says he is certain that the Outotaways in
Genl woud Be very glad of an Opertunity of Turning to the English and
Even the Tawas who have Warrd most For the French against the English
had Several Times Attempted to Destroy the French Fort and Cut off the
French Entirely But were Discover'd and Prevented
The Fort DeTroit is a Stockade, Its a Square with Bastions
and the Side next to the Water had Three Bastions, But they have no
Cannon In the Fort or Settlement Except a Small Mortar wch its said they
have in one of their Stores - The Fort Takes in abt 4 (or 5) Acres of
Ground and Contains abt 70 Houses wch are Built of Loggs & Coverd
with Boards of abt an Inch Thick, Cut at a Saw Mill But have No defence
agt Bombs and the Side of the Fort Next the Water is Very Weak and may
be Easily Thrown Down By Mens Pushing against it, they have no Earth
Thrown Up agt the Stockades nor Liners for the Seams Except some Small
Stakes of abt 5 or 6 Foot high and People with Small Arms from without
may Easily Kill those in it thro' the Openings between the Stockades -
the Houses in the Fort are Built in Streets and are a much better
defence than the Fort itself - The French have 18 Familys Settled
Between De Troit Fort and the Outotoway Town and their Settlements On
the North of the Fort Extend abt 6 miles up to Lake Huron. Settlements
off of the river - Mr Stuart Thinks the whole Number of French Familys
In the whole De Troit Settlements will Amount to But abt 360 Familys,
and he has seen their Militia under arms at their general Muster wch
Amounted to Only abt 220 Men -
Mr Stuart got to Sandusky Decr 21st 1755 and
Continued there Till Christmas and then he was Carried to the Popish
Preists House on the Little Lake where the Indians Had a great Council
at wch the Priest and the Head Indian Traders Assisted and it was
determind that Mr Stuart and his Wife was to be carrd By the Indian
Traders To the Place where they Lived wch he Supposed was at Fort St
Joseph, But by the next Morning the Indians alterd their determinations
& Concluded to Keep him among themselves wch they did Till Apr 27,
175[6] and then they Carrd him & his Wife wth them To the Wondot
Town at De Troit where They Lived and the 25th of June 17546
They were Sold to Two Popish Preists One of wch was a Jesuit who Lived
at the Wondot Town, and with these Preists they remaind Till they had
Workt Out their Ransom money wch amtd To abt 24 Pennsylva Moneys Worth
of European Goods as they sell at retail Price in the Country Stores,
the Ransom Meoney was wor'd Out By the 1st of March 1757 After wch they workt one month for 30 French Livres and on the 13th
of Apr they wth Capt Smith, Richd Joyce Thos Millakin Wm Brattin and
John Gill were Sent off By the Govr of De Troit to Montreal...
The Constant Orders given By the French Govr & French
Preists at De Troit To the Indian Parties thy Send agt the English Is To
Kill Burn and destroy all, Save none Unless it be one for their Own Use
- At De Troit they have two Saw Mills & 2 Grist Mills go By Water, 2
Grist Mills By Wind and one by Horses - It Takes abt 10 Days Paddleing
in a Canoe From Sandusky Round the West End of Lake Erie To Fort Detroit
and will Take Two or 3 Days more to go by Land, there Being a Small
Lake or Bason that Puts out from Lake Erie wch Takes Two or 3 days to go
round it and may Be crossd at its Mouth wch Joins the Main Lake in an
Hour or Two ...
The Land about De Troit in Genl is Entreamly rich and Great
Quantitys of Bottom Land along the rivers Fit for Grain and Considerable
Quantitys of Summer Wheat there wch is exceedingly Good and an Acre of
their Ground will Produce as much as 2 Acres of our Common Land - They
have But one Smiths Shop at De Troit and He Is Chiefly Employd in
mending of Guns, They are Furnishd with most of their Smith Work from
Montreal and almost Every thing they Wear Comes from France they are not
allowd To made Linnen nor hardly Any thing Else there - De Troit
Furnishes Du Quesne wth a Considerable Quantity of Provisss they Raise a
Great Deal of Peas But Little Indian Corn & Oats and very Little
Barley and Mr Stuart Saw no Rye - nor any Flax or Hemp, Almost Every
Planter of Note Has a Small Cart wch goes with one Horse and some wth
Two Horses -
From: Bond, Beverly W. Jr. The Captivity of Charles Stuart, 1755-1757. The Mississippi Valley Historical Review 1926 13 (1) 58-81. Pp 75-80.