The Story of Fort Ontario
As told through the paintings of George Gray
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1. Pontiac
Pontiac was chief of the Ottawa Indians and leader in "The Conspiracy of Pontiac,"
1763-64. An ally of the French, Pontiac met British Major Robert Rogers 1760,
and agreed to let his troops pass unmolested through Ottawa territory to occupy
Michilmackinac on condition that he should be treated with respect by the British.
When that was not forthcoming, in 1762 Pontiac enlisted the support of nearly
all the tribes from Lake Superior to the lower Mississippi for a joint move to
expel the British from the western Great Lakes and what is now the State of Michigan.
His "conspiracy" or "Pontiac's War" as it was also called, continued throughout
1763 and 1764. However, after their devastating defeat at Bushy Run, the Indians
were forced to sue for peace and release their prisoners. Pontiac made the long
journey from Michigan to Oswego by way of the Great Lakes with his fleet of war
canoes. At Oswego he met with Sir William Johnson, the king's most successful
Indian agent. Here, on July 25, 1766, he signed a treaty of peace and amity which
concluded his leadership of the Indians and hostilities in the west. The meeting
with Johnson was the largest gathering of Indians on the North American continent
during the colonial period. Pontiac was one of the most remarkable leaders in
American history, possessing a commanding energy and force of mind combined with
subtlety and skill and an extraordinary gift for leadership. His valiant battle
for the rights of his people made him one of the first great spokesmen for freedom
on the North American continent. 2. The British Meet with Pontiac at Oswego in 1766.
Major Robert Rogers was one of the most colorful and romantic figures on the colonial
frontier. During the French and Indian War he organized his famous Rangers and
took an active part in the campaigns around Lake George. He led the notorious
raid on the Indians at St. Francis which crippled the Indians loyal to the French
and changed the face of the war. He and his Rangers took part in Wolfe's expedition
against Quebec and the Montreal campaign of 1760. In July of 1766, he was named
Governor commandant of Michilimackinac in the northern part of what is now the
State of Michigan. While on his way there, he was ordered to proceed first to
Oswego and take charge of the meeting with Pontiac and the western Indians. Details
of the meeting are given by Mary Jemison, an English woman who had been captured
by the Indians and who chose to remain with them in her fascinating autobiography,
"A Narrative of the Life of Mrs. Mary Jemison." Upon Rogers' eventual arrival
at Michilimackinac, he launched his famous expedition in search of the Northwest
Passage, which was immortalized by Kenneth Roberts in his classic novel of the
same name. Rogers' colorful life made him the romantic prototype for the adventurers
of his time and insured him a prominent place in the history of colonial America.
3. Major Lundie's School House on Wheels
In 1760, the commander of Fort Ontario was Major Alexander Duncan, commonly called,
"Duncan of Lundie," from the estate which belonged to his family. One of his captains
was Duncan McVicar, who came to the fort in October of 1760 accompanied by his
wife and six-year old daughter. Nearly fifty years later Annie McVicar, now Mrs.
Grant, wrote a book entitled, "Memoirs of an American Lady." In it she described
the fort as it looked in the middle of the Eighteenth Century. Historians and
artists, including George Gray, have used the book ever since as a definitive
work on the early fort. Mrs. Grant says that Major Duncan had a small house built
on wheels, which could be moved to any part of the parade ground. The walls and
floor were covered with deer and bear skins and the interior was divided into
two parts; one seving as the commander's bedroom and the other as a dining room
and library. Here, during the long winters, when all communication with the outside
world ceased, Major Duncan gathered his men and instructed them in the rudiments
of mathematics, reading, writing and geography. Since many of them were illiterate,
this became a valuable experience as well as a way to ease the boredom of a long,
uneventful winter. Thus, the little building became Oswego's first school house.
The beautiful woman in the foreground is said to be the artist's interpretation
of the wife of one of the junior officers. She becamse the central figure in the
fort's first romantic story. Legend has it that her husband and one of the other
officers fought a duel over her. 4. Triumph at Saratoga
Few people realize that infamous traitor Benedict Arnold led one of the great
naval victories of the American Revolution. It took place on Lake Champlain off
Valcour Island, October 11. 1776. Arnold had supervised the building of a fleet
on the lake and led it to a victory which was a major factor in the defeat of
the British in the Champlain area. A second story depicted in the larger part of the painting makes the connection between Fort Ontario and the Battle of Saratoga. Colonel Barry St. Leger had arrived at the fort in the Spring of 1777. He was to be part of the famous "pincers movement." This was a British military plan which intended that St. Leger, "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne and Lord Howe would converge on Albany and split the colonies. In the latter part of June 1777, St. Leger set forth on what he thought was to be his triumphant march down the Mohawk Valley to Albany. Fate, however, intervened in the form of a doughty little band of Dutch farmers led by General Nicholas Herkimer, who met St. Leger at Oriskany and defeated him. This, combined with the unsuccessful siege of Fort Stanwix, forced St. Leger to turn back. His dispirited troops returned to Fort Ontario, regrouped, and set off again in their attempt to reach Albany. They joined Burgoyne at Montreal and were with him at the Battle of Saratoga. The painting depicts St. Leger's Hesssians, in their meeting with destiny, falling before Benedict Arnold, their long, roundabout journey from Fort Ontario finally at an end.
5. The US Army Ninth Infantry Victorious in the Boxer Rebellion
At
the end of the Nineteenth Century, China was in turmoil. Resentment against foreigners
rose to a fever pitch culminating in an order from the dowager empress to reactivate
the militia. Combining with the militia were bands of local rowdies and numerious
secret societies, all violently anti-western. They practiced rites which they
believed would make them invulnerable to bullets and came to be known to foreigners
as "Boxers," a loose translation of the Chinese name for the societies. The conflict
within the country finally reached its climax with an order from the empress ordering
all foreigners to be killed. This resulted in combined action by the western powers
which came to be known as the Boxer Rebellion. Although formal war against China
was never declared, troops were raised in Europe and the United States, among
them the Ninth Infantry stationed at Fort Ontario. The painting tells their story
which culminated in victory at Tientsin.