JOHN RICHARDSON (1796-1852) was the first man in the Canadas who attempted to live on the monetary rewards of creative writing. He wrote a considerable amount of non-fiction, some poetry, and several novels. The most famous, Wacousta; or , The Prophecy: A Tale of the Canadas, an historical romance set in the Detroit Amherstburg area, made effective use of the ‘conspiracy’ of Pontiac, the Indian uprising of 1763.