of our chiefs had to pass from the north to the south, and from the east to the west." Colonial period British merchants, seeking to expand their economic base, convinced some Miami to travel East for trade, in violation of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. In 1749, the pro-British La Demoiselle left Kekionga to establish the English trading village of Pickawillany, which grew rapidly. Fighting between pro-French and pro-British villages broke out among the Miami in 1751, as tensions rose in the region. French officials tried to persuade the Miami to return to Kekionga, which was nearer their stronghold of Detroit and harder for the British to reach. Lieutenant Louis Coulon de Villiers was sent to the dilapidated Fort Miamis and given authority to commandeer French voyageurs to construct a new fort, which was finished in 1752. In the same year, the pro-French chief Cold Foot died at Kekionga in another smallpox epidemic. When the French-allied Three Fires Confederacy destroyed Pickawillany, most of the surviving Miami returned to Kekionga, which stopped assisting the French. After the French and Indian War (1756-1763) ended with the French defeated, France ceded Canada to the British Empire. The Miami of Kekionga became involved in Pontiac's Rebellion in the spring of 1763, capturing the British garrison and killing the two ranking officers. The following year, Pacanne emerged as the village chief when he spared the life of the captive Captain Thomas Morris and returned him to Detroit. By 1765, Kekionga had accepted the British. Deputy commissioner George Croghan described Kekionga: The Twightwee Village is situated on both Sides of a River called St. Joseph's ... The Indian Village Consists of about 40 or 50 Cabins besides nine or ten French Houses. As part of the Northwest Territory In 1780 during the American Revolutionary War, Kekionga was sacked by a force of French colonials led by Colonel Augustin de La Balme, who planned to take Detroit from the British. A Miami force led by Chief Little Turtle destroyed the French force. The Miami and the European-American traders of Kekionga remained economically tied to the British-held Fort Detroit, even after the British ceded all claims of the Northwest Territory to the new United States following the war in the Treaty of Paris (1783). The village in this period served as a gathering center for Miami warriors who engaged on the frontier. Approximately 26 war parties were known