Terror on the Ohio Frontier: 'Old Britain' is Boiled and Eaten For Being Allies With the British
While conditions at the head of the Maumee and throughout the Wabash valley grew more alarming for the French, there was increased activity at the English settlement at Pickawillay. Chris Topher Gist, sent on an exploring expedition to the west in the interest of the Ohio Land Company (of which George Washington was a member) visited the place in February, 1751. His journal tells of the activity of the village and of the re-construction of the post — the first established by the English in the west, and which was designed to prove a menace to the Kekionga and Detroit strong holds of the French. But the scenes were soon to shift. Celeron, commandant of Detroit, had been directed by Governor Jonquiere, of Canada, to proceed to Pickawillany and accomplish its destruction. Whether Celeron shirked the undertaking or was too deliberate in his preparations, it does not appear, but it is true that another arose to the occasion and accomplished the work which had been outlined for him. This leader was Charles Langlade. The Indians at Kekionga, no less than the garrison at the post, were taken by surprise one day in June, 1752, when a small army of French and two hundred Chippewas and Ottawas, came rapidly up the Maumee and turned westward into the St. Mary's on their way to the portage point nearest the Pickawillay post. (Piqua Ohio) It was the army come to drive out the English. Langlade had gathered his followers from the Green Bay region and piloted them to Detroit, where their assistance was offered to the commandant. Celeron accepted their service, supplemented the force by the addition of a few French regulars and Canadians, under M. St. Orr (or St. Orr), and directed the expedition against Pickawillany. No word had reached the British post to warn it of the approach of the attacking party. "Langlade," says one writer, after describing the landing of the canoes on the bank of the St. Mary's, "led his painted savages through the forest to attack La Demoiselle and his English friends."" The assault was spirited and decisive. "Among the Indians who had been captured was the principal chief of the Piankeshaws, called 'Old Britain' [La Demoiselle], on account of his friendship for the British ; he was killed, cut in pieces, boiled and eaten in full view of the fort, after which the French and their allies moved away."
