‘‘Sometimes bad people take the liberty of stragling into your Country’’ The Struggle to Control Mobility during Pontiac’s War

This essay examines the extent to which struggles among Natives and colonizers to control mobility both influenced and were influenced by Pontiac’s War. It argues that mobility was a fiercely contested issue of empire in areas falling within the overlapping spheres of influence of distinct Indian, colonial, and imperial powers. It also contends that Pontiac’s War marked a pivotal moment in a longer history of conflicts over mobility on the North American continent: events before, during, and after the war significantly altered the ways different groups attempted to regulate the movement of people, goods, and information across physical spaces.