(keys clacking) (upbeat music) - This week, 257 years ago, April 20th of 1769, one of the most powerful Indian chiefs of his day was murdered in or near the village of Cahokia.

Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe was an ally of the colonial French at a time when the French and British were vying for dominance over North America.

In 1763, Pontiac led several tribes in a siege of British forces at Fort Detroit.

The uprising spread into what would be called Pontiac's War, ending with negotiations and new British policy towards the Indigenous tribes.

By 1769, Pontiac was out of power and he had a lot of enemies.

And what happened that day here in Cahokia, well, the details are sketchy.

There were a lot of rumors and theories about the killing.

In fact, still are.

But it's likely that he was killed by a member of the rival Peoria tribe, maybe to avenge an earlier incident of some sort, some kind of payback.

Tradition says his body was then taken across the river and buried on what was then the outskirts of the young French Village of St. Louis.

And in 1900, the St. Louis chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned a marble and bronze plaque honoring Pontiac, the Great Chief of the Ottawas, because of his friendship with the French and early St. Louis settlers.

By then, it was believed his burial site lay under the Southern Hotel at the corner of 4th and Walnut.

And the DAR plaque was put on display in the hotel lobby, and it was one of the stops on a historic walking tour of downtown.

But in 1933, the Southern Hotel was torn down and the plaque lost.

Although the DAR chapter says it's still trying to find it.

There are towns in Illinois, Michigan, and Canada named for him.

And there are a lot of statues, plaques, and books telling Pontiac's complicated story.

But other times, his name has been attached to nothing more than versions of a cigar store Indian.

And of course, there was a line of Pontiac cars made by General Motors.

The car company used his image in ads, and at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, displayed a mechanical talking, breathing Pontiac, who a year later was on display in downtown St. Louis at Famous Bar.

Chief Pontiac still does have a presence here in downtown St. Louis at the Stadium East Parking Garage, where the old Southern Hotel used to be.

There's a newer plaque telling the story of the chief who was killed just across the river and very possibly buried here in 1769.

This week in St. Louis history.