their alliance to the English. In 1739 the Huron leader Orontony relocated his community from Detroit to Junundat and became openly hostile towards the French. In 1747 a combined force of Huron and Miami Indians attacked French outposts including Fort St. Philippe (Fort Miami), which was destroyed. The French forced the Wyandots to abandon Junundat in that year, but they were then faced with the growing influence of the newly-founded Miami community of Pickawillany, under the leadership of Memeskia, a Piankeshaw war chief. Memeskia had gained influence over many in the Miami tribe by encouraging a stronger trade relationship with the English rather than the French. The Miami elder Cold Foot had maintained loyalty to the French for many years, but English goods were cheaper and more readily available than those of the French, leading many tribes to settle closer to English trading posts. In late 1747 Memeskia led a group of Miami Indians about to the southeast from their community at Kekionga on the Maumee River, to settle Pickawillany on the west bank of the Great Miami River, opposite the mouth of what was later named Loramie Creek. The village was at the convergence of several trading trails in western Ohio, giving it unusual influence over trade in the region. In addition, it was the southern terminus of three key portages (overland carrying places between rivers) that provided access between the Ohio/Great Miami River systems and Lake Erie and other points to the north and west. Traveling by water from the east and the headwaters of the Ohio River toward the western Great Lakes, it would have been almost a necessity to pass through Pickawillany to get from one region to the other. Pickawillany was near enough to the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Illinois, and other tribes for trade, and accessible to the English traders of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its location was a threat to the French, as it was easily accessible by many tribes allied to the French, and brought English traders far into territory the French considered theirs. However, it was also deep in Ohio Country, too far from English colonial territory to expect military assistance if attacked. William Trent states that the Miamis had a village on the west side of the Great Miami river, at the mouth of what afterward became known as Loramies creek. That point was visited by the Coureurs des Bois at an early