George Croghan Part 2: Indian Agent
As tensions between the British and French rose over the Ohio territory the British tasked General Braddock with capturing French controlled trading posts near the Ohio River. This resulted in an utterly shocking defeat of a regular British army at the hands of the French and their Indian allies. The French had a small force of soldiers while the bulk of the force was made up of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians led by the notorious French fur trader Charles De Langlade.
While Charles De Langlade led natives on the French side, George Croghan led Indian forces on the British side. The fact that Indians fought on both sides is revealing that this was not simply a contest between the French and British but a battle even between the tribes that inhabited the area. The British lost the battle in an overwhelming defeat, but this defeat marked a moment that many famous Americans would learn from and take into the next war, the American Revolution. Among them were: George Washington, Daniel Boone, Christopher Gist, Horatio Gates, Daniel Morgan, and George Croghan.
A decade of frontier experience and trading with the natives made Croghan the perfect agent to negotiate between the British Crown and the natives. One event included acting as an agent during the surrender of Detriot in 1760 and his most notable event was the defense of western Pennsylvania during Pontiacs rebellion shortly after the Seven-Years War.
The French, who saw the land as a business opportunity were more apt to giving up the land and surrender to the British rather than the tribes who saw the land as their home and way of life. After the war the British tried to bring their newly obtained territory under their control and considered the native tribes not as independent people but subjects of the Crown. One major change the British made was forgoing the custom of gift giving when meeting with native tribes. Gift giving for the tribes meant friendship and allies were built from this sort of custom. By giving up this practice the British insulted the tribes. Some native tribes that were sympathetic to the British complied however many others rejected the terms of peace. One such tribe was the Ottawa tribe led by one of their chiefs, Pontiac.
In response to this the tribes launched an offensive. The rebellion ranged from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania and by the end of the offensive only forts Detroit, Pitt and Niagara were under British control. The native tribes were able to defend themselves against the British forces on the battlefield but were unable to outlast the British logistical system. The rebellion fell apart when the French did not come to the aid of the tribes. As the rebellion was on its last legs, the British were in the position to negotiate and Croghan was sent in the fall of 1764. Entering Indian territory with a small party Croghan and his men were to meet with tribes and negotiate treaties that opened up the land to trading. During this trip Croghan and his men were attacked and Croghan himself wounded by the stroke of a hatchet on his head. We can see Croghan's frontier humor mixed with his Irish blood in his journal entry, "but my scull being pretty thick that the hatchet wou'd not enter. So you see that a thick scull is of service on some occasion."
The Natives captured the party of men and took him to Chief Pontiac in Lafayette, IN. There Pontiac and Croghan negotiated a peace settlement and then Croghan left for Detroit to negotiate with other tribes. Later he was sent to the Illinois country for the same purposes and in 1767 he was sent west yet again. Through a series of negotiations that lasted years due to English and tribal disputes Croghan stood at the center keeping the peace by acknowledging Indian customs and offering gifts as well as hearing complaints from the tribes. In 1772 Croghan retired from being an Indian Agent and became a land speculator in the East until the Revolution.
In 1777 Croghan aided Patrick Henry in preparing plans for the Colonies to defend the frontier but was accused of being a loyalist and brought to court. He repudiated the charge and moved near Philadelphia in 1780 where he lived in poverty until the end of his life in 1782.
According to Croghan's biographer, "His active and unceasing efforts to develop his trade probably did more than any other one factor to increase English influence in the west."
Sources and Further Reading:
(1939). George Croghan's Journal of his Trip to Detroit in 1767: With His Correspondence Relating Thereto: Now Published for the First Time from the Papers of General Thomas Gage in the William L. Clements Library. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.12946950.
Rindfleisch, Bryan. Pontiac's Rebellion. The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/pontiacs-rebellion
Volwiler, Albert Tangeman. George Croghan and the Western movement 1741-1782. 1922. Philadelphia. The Library of Congress. https://archive.org/details/georgecroghanwes00volw/page/n1/mode/2up