 Working as the Deputy Surveyor , Jones began to build good relations with the Mississauga Ojibwa Indians and Mohawk Indians of the area . He became fluent in the languages of these groups and earned the trust of many members of the tribes , including influential members like Joseph Brant , of whom he became a good friend . In 1797 the head chief of the Mississaugas in the Credit River area Wabakinine , as well as his wife , were murdered by a member of the Queen 's Rangers . Wabakinine had been a very beloved chief and seen as a firm ally of the British . His murder shocked the members of his band and other local Ojibwa bands . Charles McEwan , the killer was charged and tried , but the Indian witnesses did not attend the trial and he was subsequently acquitted for lack of evidence . <unk> , a local Indian chief , met with Augustus Jones on February 15 , 1797 and confessed to Jones that he and the local Indian bands were inclined to wage open war against the British over the event . Jones relayed this information to British administrator Peter Russell . The town of York had about 675 white settlers and 135 soldiers , a number that Russell believed might not be sufficient to address an Indian rebellion . If a winter rebellion transpired York would be cut off from large garrisons at the Bay of Quinte and the Niagara Peninsula . Russell and John Graves Simcoe both anticipated rebellion for the next year or so , but it never came . Joseph Brant , a Mohawk chief who had travelled to England cautioned the tribes against rebellion as he knew the military strength of the British was likely to render any war a losing one . Russell , however , set out to undermine alliances and friendships between the Indian bands of southern Ontario , fearing such an uprising . 
