Detroit History Timeline
from 1760 to 1796

176009-08-1760
The British capture Montreal. The Articles of Capitulation stipulate that all remaining French posts are to be handed over to the British.
176011-29-1760
Major Robert Rogers takes command of Fort Ponchartrain (now called Fort Detroit) for the British.
176012-23-1760
Major Rogers leaves Detroit for Fort Pitt. Captain Donald Campbell becomes commandant.
1761(January) Hamback and Van der Velder arrive in Detroit with supplies and plans to establish a trade business.
1762(July) Major Henry Gladwin becomes commandant of Fort Detroit. (Woodford says September 3, 1761)
1763October - A peace treaty is signe between the British and the French. France no longer supports Pontiac and his forces against the British.
176302-10-1763
A peace treaty is signed ending the war between France and England. New France is handed over to the British.
176305-08-1763
Pontiacs siege on Detroit begins.
176305-28-1763
Lieutenant Abraham Cuyler of the Queen's Rangers and his troops are attacked by a faction of Pontiac's army on their way to take supplies to Fort Detroit.
176305-30-1763
Pontiac and his men kill captives from Cuyler's group and send their bodies down the Detroit River on logs.
176307-29-1763
Major Rogers and Captain Dalzell (or Dalyell) bring supplies to Detroit to help sustain the settlement during Pontiac's attack.
176307-30-1763
Captain Dalzell and Major Rogers lead 250 soldiers and rangers on an attack against Pontiac's camp. The result is a bloody battle of which only 90 of the British sruvive. The incident becomes known as the Battle of Bloody Run.
176310-31-1763
Pontiac sends a message to Major Gladwin asking for peace. Gladwin forwards the request to General Amherst and shortly after Pontiac returns to his home on the Maumee River.
1764Colonel John Bradstreet becomes the fourth official British commandant of Fort Detroit.
176409-14-1764
Bradstreet leaves Detroit. Major Robert Bayard becomes the unofficial commandant.
1765Detroit gets its first standard currency: New York Currency.
1766(Fall) Campbell leaves Detroit. Captain George Turnbull replaces him as commandant of Fort Detroit.
1766a) Lieutenant-Colonel John Campbell becomes commandant of Fort Detroit.
1766b) Captain George Turnbull becomes commandant of Fort Detroit.
176607-23-1766
Pontiac signs a peace treaty with the British.
176608-07-1766
Citizen's of Detroit write a letter to John Campbell, protesting his plans for tax increases.
176704-24-1767
Turnbull appoints Philippe Dejean the equivalent of notary, chief justice, and sheriff.
176805-04-1768
King George III gives Lieutenant George McDougall permission to, with the permission of the Native Americans there, occupy Hog Island (Belle Isle).
176805-21-1768
A report is completed detailing the results of an investigation into the conduct of Philippe Dejean
176806-14-1768
Misconduct investigation is determined inconclusive and Dejean returns to his job as notary of Detroit.
1769Captain Turnbull retires from his post as commandant of Detroit. Thomas Bruce likely replaces him, but holds the post only from June to September of 1770.
176905-18-1769
A citizen committee writes to Captain Turnbull requesting that their rights to Belle Isle be recognized. They are refused.
176905-24-1769
The citizen committee writes to General Gage and Governor Carleton requesting that their rights to Belle Isle be recognized. They are refused.
176906-05-1769
Ojibwa and Ottawa tribes sell Hog Island (Belle Isle) to George McDougall for a total of 8 barrels of rum, 3 rolls of tobacco, 6 pounds of vermillion, and a wampum belt.
176910-31-1769
A meeting is held in Detroit in which the citizen committee has a chance to voice their opinions regarding the sale of Belle Isle and their loss of rights to the island. The meeting has no effect on the decision to cancel rights to the island.
1770(September) Captain James Stephenson becomes commandant of Fort Detroit. He holds the post until January 8, 1772.
1771(Spring) George McDougall takes full possession of Belle Isle.
1772(Autumn) Major Henry Bassett replaces Captain Etherington as commandant of Fort Detroit.
177201-08-1772
Captain George Etherington replaces James Stephenson as commandant of Fort Detroit.
1774Major Bassett retires from the post of commandant at Fort Detroit; Captain Richard Beringer Lernoult takes his place.
177404-21-1774
Major Bassett hires James Sterling to survey and report on the land in and around Detroit.
177406-22-1774
The Quebec Act is passed by British Parliament, placing all settlements in the west under English law for criminal matters and old French provincial law for civil matters.
1775(April) Detroit is annexed to Quebec.
1775(April) The Revolutionary War begins with the Battle of Lexington.
1775(June) Governo-general (Canada) Guy Carleton declares martial law in the area around the upper Great Lakes.
1778(October?) Thomas Williams succeeds Philip Dejan as justice of the peace at Fort Detroit. He was officially commissioned by authorities in Quebec in 1779.
177805-12-1778
Paul Joseph le Moine dies in Tours.
177908-28-1779
Captain Lernoult is promote to major.
177908-29-1779
Major Lernoult is ordered to Niagara. Colonel Arent Schuyler de Peyster becomes commandant.
1784(Spring) Colonel de Peyster leaves Detroit. Major William Ancrum replaces him as military commandant.
178407-12-1784
Jehu Hay arrived in Detroit as the post's last lieutenant-governor.
178409-22-1784
Captain Thomas Bennett writes Colonel de Peyster seeking his helping in securing an appointment as commandant of Fort Detroit.
178508-02-1785
Jehu Hay dies in Detroit.
1786Captain Thomas Bennett becomes commandant of Fort Detroit.
1787Captain Robert Matthews becomes commandant of Fort Detroit.
1788(Date not firm) Major Patrick Murray became commandant of Fort Detroit.
1790Major John Smith becomes commandant of Fort Detroit.
1792(a) William Claus briefly serves as commandant at Fort Detroit.
1792(summer) Captan Richard England becomes commandant of Fort Detroit. He is the last commandant under British rule.
179607-11-1796
American forces take over command of Detroit.
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Glossary:
Algonquin

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes (and others): Delaware, Fox, Huron, Miami, Ojibwa (Chippewa), Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sac, Shawnee and Winnebago.
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Glossary:
arquebus

A 39 pound (approximate) musket that two men would prop on a tri-pod and fire with a small torch. The arquebus was used by Champlain's men against the Iroquois to defend the Hurons. This may be the cause of decades of Iroquois abuse of the Hurons.
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Glossary:
clay and wattle

Building technique used in the construction of chimneys in the early days of Fort Ponchartrain. The technique involved piling sticks and packing them - inside and out - with clay and mud.
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Glossary:
Colbertism

Name for early French mercantilism in America, which Jean-Baptiste Colbert was influential in developing.
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Glossary:
conges

Trade permits issued by the Canadian government/court of France in the late 1600s to early 1700s.
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Glossary:
coureurs de bois

Very early French inhabitants of the current US and Canada who gave up their farmsteads for lives in the fur trade. They often lived with Native Americans.
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Glossary:
District of Hesse

Land district provisioned by the Canadian Council on July 24, 1788. The area was on the east side of the Detroit River.
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Glossary:
Fox

"Properly ""Mesh-kwa-ki-hug"". Native American tribe living in the area between Saginaw Bay and Thunder Bay at the time Detroit was founded. The French called the tribe Renyard. An allied tribe of the Sacs and Mascoutin."
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Glossary:
Huron

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
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Glossary:
Iroquoian

General term sometimes used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca.
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Glossary:
Iroquois

"A Native American tribe known for antagonizing and brutalizing the Hurons (see also arquebus)"
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Glossary:
Mascouten

Native American tribe living in the Grand Traverse Bay area at the time Detroit was founded. An allied tribe of the Foxes and Sacs. Also spelled Mascoutin.
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Glossary:
Miami

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
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Glossary:
Muskhogean

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek.
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Glossary:
New York Currency

First standard currency used in Detroit (first used in 1765).
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Glossary:
Ottawa

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
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Glossary:
Outagamies

Native American tribe living in the Grand Traverse Bay area at the time Detroit was founded. An allied tribe of the Foxes (and Sacs?).
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Glossary:
Plains Indians

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and Pawnee (Pani).
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Glossary:
Potawatomi

A Native American tribe that built a village near Fort Ponchartrain.
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Glossary:
Quebec Act

Act of June 22, 1774, in which British Parliament decides to exercise English law in criminal cases and old French provincial law in civil cases in western settlements. The idea was to discourage people from settling in the west.
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Glossary:
Renyard

See Fox
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Glossary:
ribbon farms

Original land grants given by Cadillac. The lots were typically around 200 feet wide at the river front, with lengths up to 3 miles.
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Glossary:
Sac

See Sauk
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Glossary:
Sakis

See Sauk
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Glossary:
Sauk

Native American tribe living in the area between Saginaw Bay and Thunder Bay at the time Detroit was founded. The French called the tribe Sakis; English and Americans generally call them Sacs. An allied tribe of the Foxes/Renyards and Mascouten.
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Glossary:
Shoshonean

General term used to describe Native Americans of the following tribes: Bannock and Shoshone.
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Glossary:
Treaty of Montreal

Treaty ending the war between the Iroquois and France and England. Negotiations began in July of 1698 and the treaty was signed in August of 1701.
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Glossary:
Treaty of Ryswick

September 20, 1697 treaty ending war between France and England.
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Glossary:
voyageurs

Early French explorers who traveled mainly by water.