The French and Indian War was over, but some of the braves still resented the encroachment of the "dawn landers." So in May of 1763 an Ottawa chief named Pontiac gathered a confederation of tribes, including Senecas and Abenakis, and conspired to capture all English forts from the Pennsylvania frontier to Lake Superior. Treachery would be the main weapon of Pontiac's War.

Whit Martin learns, through a chance encounter with an Indian runner, that some sort of attack is in the making. He cannot guess the details, and furthermore cannot convince the British military officials of the danger. Before he succeeds in bringing a warning to Colonel Bouquet or Captain Ecuyer, Whit is captured by a small party of Abenakis.

Through bravery and stamina, he survives the gantlet with sore but not severe injuries. He is then adopted as a son by the Abenaki chief, Natawam, but incurs the bitter enmity of Bent Knife. As an adopted Abenaki, Whit learns of the treacherous approach through which the Indians seize twelve of the eighteen forts in the region west of the Alleghenies. When the opportunity comes for Whit to escape, he finds he is not only on a mission to warn Fort Pitt, but is at the same time on a unique mission for his adopted father, Natawam.

The climax comes after a long harrowing run through the woods, pursued by a party of Senecas led by his bitter enemy, Bent Knife.

Time of the Tomahawk is an exciting and historically accurate novel of the conflict known in history as "Pontiac's Conspiracy." It is a tale that forecasts the final defeat of the Indians in the Ohio Valley, and the eventual birth of an American spirit more enduring than the spirit of European garrison soldiers and colonial settlers.

From the dust jacket