George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the

Onondaga Council The Onondaga Council governs the Onondaga Nation, a sovereign nation, one of six nations of the Iroquois people, that lives on a portion of its ancestral territory and maintains its own distinct laws, language, customs, and culture. The "nation" i ...

, the governing body of the Iroquois, and remained so until he was banished from the frontier in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War. Emigrating from Ireland to Pennsylvania in 1741, he had become an important trader by going to the villages of Indigenous Peoples, learning their languages and customs, and working on the frontier where previously mostly French had been trading. During and after King George's War of the 1740s, he helped negotiate new treaties and alliances for the British with Native Americans. Croghan was appointed in 1756 as Deputy Indian Agent with chief responsibility for the Ohio region tribes. He assisted Sir William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern District, who was based in New York and had strong alliances with the Iroquois. Beginning in the 1740s and following this appointment, Croghan amassed hundreds of thousands of acres of land in today's western Pennsylvania and New York by official grants and from Native American purchases. Beginning in 1754, he was a rival of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

for influence in Ohio Country and remained far more powerful there for more than 20 additional years. During the American Revolutionary War in 1777, he was falsely accused of treason. He was acquitted the following year but patriot authorities did not allow him back in the Ohio territory. Ohio's recorded history begins with Croghan's actions in the mid-1740s as fur trader, Iroquois sachem, and go-between for Pennsylvania, according to historian Alfred A. Cave. Cave concludes that the treason charge that ended Croghan's career was trumped up by his enemies. Western Pennsylvania became the focal point in August 1749 when Croghan purchased 200,000 acres from the Iroquois, exclusive of two square miles at the Forks of the Ohio for a British fort. Croghan soon learned that his three deeds would be invalidated if part of Pennsylvania, sabotaged that colony's effort to erect the fort, and led the Ohio Confederation to permit Virginia's Ohio Company to build it and settle the region. Late in 1753 Virginia sent George Washington to the Ohio Country, who would eventually end Croghan's influence there. Braddock's Defeat in 1755 and French control of Ohio Country, which they called the Illinois Country, indicating the area of their greater settlement, found Croghan building forts on the Pennsylvania frontier. Following which he manned the farthest frontier post in present-day New York as Deputy Indian agent under Sir William Johnson, called the "Mohawk Baron" for his extensive landholdings and leadership with the Mohawk and other Iroquois. Croghan briefly lived until 1770 on a quarter of a million New York acres. He resigned as Indian agent in 1771 to establish Vandalia, a fourteenth British colony to include parts of present-day West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, and eastern Kentucky, but continued to serve as a borderland negotiator for Johnson, who died a British loyalist in 1774. While working to keep the Ohio Indians neutral during the Revolutionary War, Croghan served as

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

's president judge for Virginia and chairman of its Committee of Safety. General

Edward Hand Edward Hand (31 December 1744 – 3 September 1802) was an Irish soldier, physician, and politician who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of general, and later was a member of several Pennsyl ...

, the local military commander, banished Col. Croghan from the frontier in 1777 on suspicion of treason. Despite his acquittal in a November, 1778 trial, Croghan was not allowed to return to the frontier. His death in 1782, shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War, received little if any notice. Although often quoted by historians, the story of Croghan's 30 years as the pivotal figure in Ohio Country history is only found in the handful of biographies.

Early life and career

Little is known of Croghan's early life, including the names of his parents. He was born in Ireland around 1718. The best evidence for Croghan's age is found in the treasonous ''Filius Gallicae'' letters, written early in 1756 by an otherwise anonymous author. "France's friend" claimed to be nearly 38 years old, among other self-descriptions that pointed to Croghan, but a secret British investigation exposed the fraud. Croghan testified to his Irish origins in meetings in London in the 1760s. Croghan is a corruption and Anglicization of an older native Irish surname Mac Conchruacha Apparently Croghan's father died young and his widowed mother married again, to Thomas Ward. Croghan emigrated as a young man from

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

to the province of Pennsylvania in 1741. His mother and step-father, his half-brother Edward Ward, and cousin Thomas Smallman also emigrated, the men working for him in America. Among relatives remaining in Ireland were a merchant, Nicholas Croghan (likely a brother of George); an aunt, Mrs. Smallman; and George's grandfather Edmund Croghan. Within a few years Croghan became one of Pennsylvania's leading

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

rs. A key to his success was establishing

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

s in Native American villages, as the French traders did, and learning their languages and customs. At the time, the usual British practice was to set up a post at a site for their own convenience, generally at a major crossroads, and wait for Native Americans to come to them.Michael J. Mullin, "Croghan, George", '' American National Biography Online'', February 2000. Croghan learned at least two Native languages,

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

(an Algonquian language common to the Lenape of the mid-Atlantic region) and probably

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

(an

Iroquoian language The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian ...

spoken by the westernmost Seneca nation of the Iroquois), whose territory extended into what colonists called Pennsylvania. They also had hunting grounds in the Ohio Valley. These were the languages of the two major nations of Native Americans in the region. Croghan also learned Native American customs, rapidly adopting the practice of exchanging gifts when he met with the people. He established his first trading base and wintered in a mostly

village at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. (This area later developed as

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

.) During the early years, Croghan's primary business partner was

William Trent William Trent (February 13, 1715–1787) was an American fur trader and merchant based in colonial Pennsylvania. He was commissioned as a captain of the Virginia Regiment in the early stages of the French and Indian War, when he served on the we ...

, also a trader. The son of

the founder ''The Founder'' is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel. Starring Michael Keaton as businessman Ray Kroc, the film portrays the story of his creation of the McDonald's fast-food rest ...

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northern District. His second wife was a

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

woman, Catherine (''Takarihoga''), daughter of Mohawk chief Nickus Peters (Karaghaigdatie). Their daughter Catherine (''Adonwentishon'') Croghan (1759-1837) would assume her mother's hereditary role as head of the Turtle clan. She later was the third wife of

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk people, Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York (state), New York, who was closely associated with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great B ...

, the prominent Mohawk war leader who led his people during their migration and settlement in Canada on lands granted by the Crown after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Brant's sister Molly was a long-term consort of Sir William Johnson, so Croghan was doubly connected to influential British and Mohawk families in the East. Elizabeth Brant, a daughter of Joseph Brant and Catherine (''Adonwentishon'') Crogan, married William Johnson Kerr, a grandson of Sir William Johnson and Molly Brant.

King George's War, 1744–1748

Britain's blockade of French ports made the few French trade goods reaching Ohio Country prohibitively expensive; this resulted in a bonanza for the Pennsylvania British traders that alarmed the French. They knew that Native American trade and diplomacy were closely linked, and Croghan's activities from his base on the Cuyahoga River threatened French influence among the regional natives. As Croghan expanded his trading network westward toward

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, then held by the French, they encouraged French-allied Native Americans to attack him. The British trader quickly took advantage of wartime conditions, establishing new posts at the

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language Wyandot (sometimes spelled Wandat) is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot or Wya ...

village of Sandusky and the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

village of Pickawillany, tribes that had previously traded with the French. His partnership with Trent was temporarily suspended when the latter joined the military to serve in King George's War (1744–48). The two men bought property on Conedogwinet Creek in present-day Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Croghan developed a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

there which served as his home and base of operations from about 1745 until 1751. In April 1745 the Seneca protected Croghan from capture, but elsewhere French-allied Natives robbed a canoe-load of Croghan's furs. Croghan was adopted by the Seneca and in 1746, according to his testimony before the Lords of Trade in 1764, was one of their hereditary sachems among the 50 chiefs comprising the Six Nations' Onondaga Council. Already on it was William Johnson, the future British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northern District, Croghan's superior. Their principal French competitor for influence among the Native Americans in the Ohio region was

Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire (), also known as Nitachinon by the Iroquois, was a French army officer and interpreter in New France who established Fort Machault in the 18th century. During his career, he largely served as a diplomat with t ...

, son of the French fur trader

Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire (1670June 29, 1739), also known as Sononchiez by the Iroquois, was a French army officer and interpreter for New France who worked with the Iroquois tribes during the French and Indian Wars in the early 18th centu ...

(1670–1740),Wainwright, 13 another Seneca appointee to the Onondaga Council two decades earlier. That these men were members of the tribes they represented cannot be overemphasized in understanding their roles in American history. Early in 1747, Seneca and

warriors murdered five French traders at the Wyandot village of Sandusky. This was the start of a regional Indian revolt against the French fomented by Croghan. The Wyandot chief

Nicholas Orontony Nicholas Orontony (c. 1695–1750) was an 18th-century Wyandot leader who, in the years before the French and Indian War, tried to escape the domination of New France over Native people in the Detroit region by resettling in the Ohio country an ...

led it at first. He was followed by

Memeskia Memeskia (in Miami-Illinois: Meemeehšihkia - ′Dragonfly′, c. 1695 – June 21, 1752), known as "Old Briton" by the British and as "La Demoiselle" by the French, was an eighteenth-century Piankashaw chieftain who fought against the French in 174 ...

(or "Old Briton" as Croghan named him), known by the French as ''La Demoiselle'', who was a Piankeshaw Miami chief. Unsuccessful in driving out the French, the participating bands became more closely aligned with the British. Reports claimed that Croghan had encouraged the uprising so that the Natives would trade with him and not the French. Old Briton relocated to

Pickawillany "ash people" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_map1 = OHMap-doton-Piqua.png , mapsize1 = 22 ...

on the

Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accesse ...

, where Croghan built a stockade and trading post. Aided by local Iroquois chiefs

Tanacharison Tanacharison (; c. 1700 – 4 October 1754), also called Tanaghrisson (), was a Native American leader who played a pivotal role in the beginning of the French and Indian War. He was known to European-Americans as the Half-King, a title also ...

(Half King) and

Scarouady Scarouady (also spelled Scarowady, Scarrouady, Scaroyady, Scarujade, Scaiohady, Skaronyade, Scaronage, Scruniyatha, Seruniyattha, or Skaruntia) was an Oneida tribe, Oneida leader at Logstown. He was sometimes referred to as Monacatuatha (also rend ...

sent to oversee the Mingo and dependent Ohio Country nations, Croghan organized the Ohio Confederation of the region's tribes in 1748; they lit a "council fire on the Ohio River, independent of the Six Nations." Greenwood believes this was Croghan's initiative, as shown by earlier and subsequent events. At the same time Croghan brought the Miami into an alliance with Great Britain, formalized in a July, 1748 treaty at

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population amon ...

Andrew Montour Andrew Montour ( – 1772), also known as Sattelihu, Eghnisara,Hagedorn, 57 and Henry,Montour was also called Henry, possibly due to the similarity of sound with the French ''"Andre".'' was an important mixed interpreter and negotiator in t ...

, a conference interpreter, became Croghan's closest associate until his death in 1772. The other interpreter,

Conrad Weiser Conrad Weiser (November 2, 1696 – July 13, 1760), born Johann Conrad Weiser, Jr., was a Pennsylvania Dutch (German) pioneer who served as an interpreter and diplomat between the Pennsylvania Colony and Native American nations. Primarily a f ...

, had been appointed as British Indian agent for Pennsylvania. Weiser held a conference in August 1748 at Logstown, on the Ohio River near its confluence in today's western Pennsylvania, to inform the recently allied tribes of the Ohio Confederation gathered at their capital that Britain had signed a peace treaty with France ending the war. As a result, the English had no more war supplies for them and he distributed gifts instead. Pennsylvania approved Weiser's recommendation that the colony appoint Croghan as its negotiator with the Ohio Country Indians. His success in that role should surprise no one. The French attacked pro-British tribes left hanging by the peace without arms and ammunition to defend themselves.

Celeron de Bienville Celeron is Intel's brand name for low-end IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor models targeted at low-cost personal computers. Celeron processors are compatible with IA-32 software. They typically offer less performance per clock speed ...

led a 1749 expedition to claim the Ohio Valley for France and drive out the English traders; Governor

James Hamilton (Pennsylvania) James Hamilton (1710 – 14 August 1783), son of the well-known American lawyer Andrew Hamilton, was a prominent lawyer and governmental figure in colonial Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. He served as Deputy Governor of the Province from 1748 ...

, sent Croghan to Logstown to investigate. Days before Celeron reached Logstown, its chiefs sold Croghan in the area, excluding at the

Forks of the Ohio Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. Built on land acqui ...

reserved for construction of a British fort.(A map accompanying the text for the first Pennsylvania Croghan historical marker may be found on the Critical Comments page of the ohiocountry.us website). Biographer Wainwright said gaining this huge amount of land was "a momentous event in his roghan'slife," a gross understatement of its impact on history, namely the otherwise unlikely penetration of Virginia into Ohio Country. Virginia's Ohio Company, which acted on behalf of the Commonwealth, sent agents Col.

Thomas Cresap Colonel Thomas Cresap (17021790) was an English-born settler and trader in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Cresap served Lord Baltimore as an agent in the Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary dispute that became known as Cresap's War. Lat ...

and Hugh Parker into the region, who made overtures to the Miami at Pickawillany. In a November,1749 letter to Pennsylvania's governor, Croghan offered to oppose them. Not long thereafter he learned that his in Indian grants were against Pennsylvania statutes, as the colony tried to protect the natives, but were permitted in Virginia. By 1750 he and Montour were aiding the Virginia Commonwealth, guiding its scout

Christopher Gist Christopher Gist (1706–1759) was an explorer, surveyor, and frontiersman active in Colonial America. He was one of the first white explorers of the Ohio Country (the present-day states of Ohio, eastern Indiana, western Pennsylvania, and nort ...

on a tour of Ohio Indian villages. Croghan had already informed Pennsylvania Governor Hamilton that the Ohio Confederation wanted a British fort at the Forks of the Ohio. During a Logstown conference at the end of May 1751, he formally recorded the request and sent Andrew Montour to the

Pennsylvania Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

to confirm it. Montour, however, denied that the Indians wanted a fort, claiming that it was all Croghan's idea. The colony's plans for a fort evaporated as Pennsylvania "defaulted its leadership in the West to Virginia's Ohio Company." Croghan protested and among other things had Montour retract his testimony before the Pennsylvania Assembly, but no one believed it. Evidence of the underhanded charade is found in the Native American conference held in June 1752 at Logstown (the Treaty of Logstown), with Croghan serving on the Indian Council and Andrew Montour acting as translator. The Ohio Confederation gave Virginia's Ohio Company permission to build a fort and settle one hundred families on in today's Western Pennsylvania. Immediately after the conference, a French force led by Charles Langlade made a

Raid on Pickawillany "ash people" , settlement_type = Historic Native American village , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_alt = , image_map1 = OHMap-doton-Piqua.png , mapsize1 = 22 ...

, killing a few British traders and 13 Miami, including Old Briton. Early in the spring of 1753, Canada's Governor Duquesne "opened his campaign to drive the English out of the Ohio Valley." That October during a conference held at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, ''Scarouady'' officially appointed Croghan as the representative of the Ohio Confederation in communications to and from Pennsylvania, and authorized him to receive its gifts for the tribes. His biographer Wainwright says this suggests that he organized his own appointment. When the year ended with 21-year-old

making his diplomatic journey to the French at

Fort Le Boeuf Fort Le Bœuf (often referred to as Fort de la Rivière au Bœuf) was a fort established by the French during 1753 on a fork of French Creek (in the drainage area of the River Ohio), in present-day Waterford, in northwest Pennsylvania. The fort ...

, Croghan, about 35, had been operating in Ohio Country for twelve years, and was the leading figure among its British traders, Native American tribes and bands, and colonial agents. Soon after Washington returned from delivering Virginia Governor Dinwiddie's summons to the French, Croghan was in Ohio Country gathering intelligence for Pennsylvania, helping to build the Ohio Company stockade commanded by

, and supplying the Indians with food, rum, and weapons. When the French reached the Forks of the Ohio early that spring, Croghan's half-brother Ensign Edward Ward was in charge of the garrison and forced to surrender.

Seven Years' War

The

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

(1756-1763) in North America, or French and Indian War as this front was known in the colonies, unofficially began in 1754 with the

Battle of Jumonville Glen The Battle of Jumonville Glen, also known as the Jumonville affair, was the opening battle of the French and Indian War, fought on May 28, 1754, near present-day Hopwood and Uniontown in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. A company of provincial ...

and effectively ended in 1760 with the British capture of Montreal. French forces occupied the Ohio Country and expelled or arrested British fur traders. By the end of May, Croghan and Montour were in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

, where Governor Dinwiddie commissioned them as captains under Col. George Washington. Croghan was to supply flour for the expedition and advise Washington on Indian affairs. Washington alienated his Indian allies during a crucial conference at Gist's plantation and blamed Croghan for the subsequent defeat at

Fort Necessity Fort Necessity National Battlefield is a National Battlefield in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, which preserves the site of the Battle of Fort Necessity. The battle, which took place on July 3, 1754, was an early battle of the ...

. The Half King and

Queen Aliquippa Queen Alliquippa or Queen Aliquippa (died December 23, 1754) was a leader of the Seneca tribe of American Indians in the United States, American Indians during the early part of the 18th century. Biography Little is known about Queen Aliquippa's e ...

took their people to Croghan's plantation on

Aughwick Creek Aughwick Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Juniata River in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ' ...

, seeking refuge. The Half-King became fatally ill and died that October, followed by the Queen in late December. During the Braddock Expedition in 1755, Croghan, assisted by Montour, led eight Indian scouts, the same group who had been with the Half King at Jumonville Glen a year earlier. General Braddock alienated the other friendly Indians, yet Montour and the handful with Croghan attended the gravely wounded general. Teamsters

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

and Daniel Morgan fled on horseback as Croghan pressed Braddock to relinquish command and, despite the general's refusal, apparently took charge. He got Braddock off the battlefield with the help of Braddock's aide, the 23-year-old Washington. Washington's account differs and his biographer James Flexner does not mention Croghan being present. Captains Croghan and Montour were there, outranked the General's aide, and worked together to save Braddock, with Croghan the more likely leader in the emergency. It was a familiar role, one Croghan assumed on the Pennsylvania frontier a year earlier, and during the almost continuous crises in Ohio Country before and after until 1777. In 1755, friendly Indians again sought refuge at Augwick. Croghan fortified it as

Fort Shirley Fort Shirley was a fort erected by the Province of Pennsylvania during the French and Indian War. History Before the construction of Fort Shirley, a small trading post built by George Croghan was located at the site.Waddell and Bomberger, p. 88 ...

, one of four forts he built on the frontier. In 1756, he relocated to the western edge of the New York frontier, beginning a 15-year career as Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs under Sir William Johnson. Johnson appointed him to deal with the Susquehanna and Allegheny Indians. With Montour at his side and in command of 100 Indians on an overlooking hilltop, Croghan witnessed in July 1758 General James Abercrombie's calamitous frontal assault on

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York, in the United States. It was constructed by Canadian-born French milit ...

. Afterward Croghan wrote Johnson that he feared a similar "thrashing" for Gen. John Forbes advance forces nearing Fort Duquesne, unaware that Major James Grant had been defeated five days earlier. Claiming to be one himself, Croghan used his influence on the Indians at Easton, Pennsylvania, where the treaty that stripped the French of their local allies was negotiated, assuring Forbes' success. He then joined Forbes on November 20 with fifteen Indian scouts in his usual role at the head of the military column, likely the first to see that the French had burned Fort Duquesne to prevent it being used by the British. Forbes assigned Croghan and Montour to bring in the regional Delaware warriors for a peace treaty with the British. Still under Col. Henry Bouquet's command early in 1759, Croghan gathered intelligence about the French force at Venango, "700 troops and about 950 Indians." About to overwhelm Pittsburgh in July, these French forces were ordered to relieve Fort Niagara, where they were ambushed and defeated by Sir William Johnson. The following year Croghan took part in the

Montreal Campaign The Montreal Campaign, also known as the Fall of Montreal, was a British three-pronged offensive against Montreal which took place from July 2 to 8 September 1760 during the French and Indian War as part of the global Seven Years' War. The campai ...

which resulted with the French capitulation to the British. Soon after Croghan accompanied Major Rogers on an expedition to

which was also captured. During 1761 and 1762, Croghan negotiated preliminary treaties with thirteen western tribes on behalf of the British Crown, gaining their acceptance of its assumption of rule in areas ceded by the French. These treaties were formalized in the September 1761 conference at Detroit, which was presided over by Sir William Johnson. Croghan countered Seneca efforts to enlist the western Indians in an anti-British alliance; as he had in 1748, he organized the western groups into a confederacy independent of the Six Nations. General

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army. Amherst is credited as the architect of Britain's successful campaign ...

did not understand Native American culture, calling the practice of gift giving foolish, akin to bribery. He considered the cost of maintaining peace with the Indians exorbitant, and cut Indian Department expenses to the bone. By stopping gift giving, he insulted the Native Americans. (Croghan covered some expenses and wrote that he served "the King for nothing"). Amherst also severely limited the gunpowder and lead available to the Indians, thinking it would forestall future uprisings. But the friendly Native Americans needed these supplies to hunt and acquire game for survival, as well as to trade the skins and furs for necessities. Amherst ignored Croghan's intelligence that as a result, an Indian war was imminent. The French had released all claims and trade relations to the British in the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

for all lands from the Allegheny to the Ohio River and Mississippi, most of which had already been sparsely settled by the British. After having achieved relatively amicable relations with the French, who had learned about their culture and with whom they had relations for a long time, they resented the patronizing and insulting treatment by Amherst and his officers. They complained he treated them like slaves and dogs. They joined

Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...

to expel the British from their territory.

Pontiac's War

When Indian attacks engulfed Ohio Country in 1763, Croghan was in Philadelphia advising Governor Hamilton on Indian affairs and selling real estate. He galloped to Lancaster where word reached him that his business partner Col. Clapham had been killed in the region's initial attack, their Sewickley Creek trading post burned along with Croghan Hall near Pittsburgh, and that Fort Pitt was under siege. General Amherst in New York ordered Croghan to Fort Pitt to investigate the causes of the uprising and Col. Bouquet to relieve it with a few hundred men. Croghan provided Bouquet with the latest intelligence from Carlisle. At Shippensburg he helped calm fearful residents by recruiting and arming 25 men to garrison abandoned Fort Lyttleton. He also hired locals to carry ammunition and supplies from Fort Loudon to Bedford. He reached Bedford on June 12 and, believing further travel west too dangerous, he fed starving families and bolstered the garrison of seven soldiers under Captain Lewis Ourry. A few weeks later Indians attacked fifteen men mowing Croghan's fields within a mile of the fort, scalping two. Croghan refused Bouquet's order to march with his column when it left Bedford on July 27. Instead on August 2 he set out for Philadelphia to pursue private interests. Denied leave by General Amherst to travel to London, Croghan resigned as Deputy Indian agent, angering Amherst. The general sailed to London on his own business. Croghan, accompanied by two officers recently besieged in Ft. Detroit and recalled to testify about the Indian uprising, set sail on the ''Britannia.'' The ship wrecked off the Normandy coast in January 1764. He survived, visiting Normandy historical sites on his journey to Le Havre, where he crossed the Channel to London. In this period, Philadelphia was invaded by 250

Paxton Boys The Paxton Boys were Pennsylvania's most aggressive colonists according to historian Kevin Kenny. While not many specifics are known about the individuals in the group their overall profile is clear. Paxton Boys Lived in hill country northwest of ...

, frontiersmen bent on killing hundreds of friendly Indians who had taken refuge in the city. Fifty Paxton Boys had recently murdered 22 Conestoga Indians (

Susquehannock The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...

), a Christian band. The Paxton Boys were seeking further vengeance for Pontiac's War and earlier Indian raids, but were halted by city officials, including

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

. Croghan later wrote a "Narrative of the Late Massacres." The vigilante

Black Boys The Black Boys, also known as the Brave Fellows and the Loyal Volunteers, were members of a white settler movement in the Conococheague Valley of colonial Pennsylvania sometimes known as the Black Boys Rebellion. The Black Boys, named because the ...

also operated in Pennsylvania, creating a challenge for Croghan after his return. While in London, Croghan was described as "the personification of wealth and power." The Lords of Trade declined Croghan's request to transfer his Indian grant of from the Ohio to the Mohawk River valley, refused to compensate traders for war losses, or to permit an Illinois colony. But the Lords agreed to free the Indian Department from military control and to consider moving the

Proclamation Line of 1763 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The Procla ...

, which was intended to prevent westward settlement by British colonists and keep peace with Native Americans, from the Appalachian Mountains to the Ohio River. As the months waiting on the Lords dragged by, a planned trip to Ireland to claim the estate of his grandfather, Edmund Croghan, was put aside, significant for showing that Croghan's extreme ethnic pride and possible homesickness were now secondary to his life in America. Upon Croghan's return, Sir William Johnson ordered him to accompany Col. Bouquet's expedition against the Ohio tribes, but furnishing newly purchased Monckton Hall near Philadelphia was a higher priority. He assigned the negotiations to his assistant,

Alexander McKee Alexander McKee ( – 15 January 1799) was an American-born military officer and colonial official in the British Indian Department during the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War. He achieved the ...

. Col. Bouquet, traveling east after his victorious 1764 Ohio campaign, was outraged to learn in a letter from Croghan to McKee that the Indian Department was now independent of local military control. Further incensed when the report was confirmed, Bouquet called Croghan "illiterate, imprudent r "impudent," sources vary and ill bred" in a letter to British

General Thomas Gage General (United Kingdom), General Thomas Gage (10 March 1718/192 April 1787) was a British Army general officer and Colonialism, colonial official best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as British Comman ...

complaining of the agent. Although Bouquet soon recanted, saying that Croghan was the best person to pacify

Illinois Country The Illinois Country (french: Pays des Illinois ; , i.e. the Illinois people)—sometimes referred to as Upper Louisiana (french: Haute-Louisiane ; es, Alta Luisiana)—was a vast region of New France claimed in the 1600s in what is n ...

, his ill-considered and untrue characterization of Croghan has endured. From 1764 onward, despite continual provocations, the tribes were kept at peace on the frontier, largely due to the herculean efforts of Croghan. The exceptions were isolated incidents and Dunmore's War in 1774 on the Shawnee, when the former Indian agent worked to keep the Delaware and other Indian nations neutral. Seen as a 1765 prelude to the Revolutionary War, Croghan's first shipment of Indian presents and trade goods to Pittsburgh provoked armed rebellion by frontiersmen led by James Smith. Played by John Wayne in Hollywood's 1939 version of the incident, Allegheny Uprising, Smith's hatred of Indians was long standing. At nineteen, as a captive in Fort Duquesne, Smith was traumatized by the screams of Braddock's captured soldiers being slowly tortured to death by Indian allies of the French. There were two justifications for leading the

in the attack on the British convoy, burning most of Croghan's gifts, and threatening his life if he ever returned to Cumberland County. Pennsylvania had proscribed trade with the Ohio Indians before a peace was established under a new treaty and as a Crown Indian agent, Croghan was prohibited from engaging in Indian trade. Without the trade and gifts, no peace treaty was possible and Croghan was quick to point out the threat to British rule. Despite Black Boy opposition, Croghan accumulated enough goods to open trade with the Ohio Indians in Pittsburgh; he set off for

. His party was attacked near the mouth of the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

by eighty Kickapoo and

Mascouten The Mascouten (also ''Mascoutin'', ''Mathkoutench'', ''Muscoden,'' or ''Musketoon'') were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans located in the Midwest. They are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River, adjacent to ...

warriors. Two of Croghan's men and three Indians were killed, Croghan tomahawked, the camp plundered and the survivors marched to

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attached ...

and eventually

Ouiatenon Ouiatenon ( mia, waayaahtanonki) was a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans. The name ''Ouiatenon'', also variously given as ''Ouiatanon'', ''Oujatanon'', ''Ouiatano'' or other similar forms, is a French rendering of ...

. In a conference on July 13, Croghan reconciled the

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Piankashaw, Miami, Ouiatenon, Mascouten, and Kickapoo Indians to British rule, a peace confirmed shortly afterward in a grand council that included

Chief Pontiac Pontiac or Obwaandi'eyaag (c. 1714/20 – April 20, 1769) was an Odawa war chief known for his role in the war named for him, from 1763 to 1766 leading Native Americans in an armed struggle against the British in the Great Lakes region due ...

. The principals journeyed to Detroit, where Croghan conducted an even larger conference that brought the Potawatomi,

Ojibway The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

, Wyandot, and

Wea The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami. Today, the descendants of the ...

tribes into the British economic orbit, with Pontiac "playing an important part in the proceedings." At the time, Croghan was celebrated as a national hero for negotiating with Pontiac and ending the Indian war. Croghan led a group of speculators, including

and his son

William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial G ...

, in pursuing land in the Ohio Country, the Illinois Country, and New York. On September 6, 1765, Croghan was awarded a grant of . By Spring 1766 Croghan resumed his mission to the Illinois tribes on the Mississippi. Seventeen bateaux left Pittsburgh on June 18, one carrying Croghan and his party, another carrying Captain Harry Gordon and Ensign Thomas Hutchins on a river mapping expedition, two carrying provisions for

Fort Chartres Fort de Chartres was a French fortification first built in 1720 on the east bank of the Mississippi River in present-day Illinois. It was used as the administrative center for the province, which was part of New France. Due generally to river floo ...

, and thirteen carrying Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan trade goods. They traveled north from the Ohio River on the Mississippi to reach the former colonial French settlement of Fort Chartres. During his August conferences there, Croghan successfully negotiated with 22 tribes, soon augmented by three Indian nations under French influence.Volwiler, 197 Weak from

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

, Croghan accompanied Gordon and Hutchins to New Orleans. From there he sailed for New York with stops at Mobile, Pensacola, Havana, and Charleston.

Later life

His ship reached New York on January 10, 1767, and two days later Croghan joined Samuel Wharton in urging Gen.

Gage Gage may refer to: Measurement * Gage is a variant spelling of the word ''gauge'' *Stream gauge, aka Stream gage, a site along a stream where flow measurements are made People * Gage (surname) *Gage Golightly (born 1993), American actress Plac ...

to establish an Illinois colony. When Gage refused, Croghan publicly resigned as Deputy Indian agent. Laid low by illness, he spent February recuperating at Monckton Hall near Philadelphia. In March he went to New York to visit with Sir William Johnson, who convinced him to withdraw his resignation. Sent to Fort Pitt in May, Croghan defused an Indian war over squatters and illegal trade. Governor John Penn detained Croghan in Philadelphia on his return east, with questions about the Indians to accompany the survey of borders between the colonies by

Mason and Dixon ''Mason & Dixon'' is a postmodernist novel by American author Thomas Pynchon, published in 1997. It presents a fictionalized account of the collaboration between Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in their astronomical and surveying exploits in th ...

, to settle the borders of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia (now West Virginia). He said of Croghan: "It would be very difficult to manage this business without his assistance." The Indians halted the survey before it was completed, in what was a vain attempt by Croghan to protect his 1749 grant by the Seneca for 200,000 acres from being included in Pennsylvania. A hard year for Croghan's Indian diplomacy followed: the Black Boys' pledged in March to kill Croghan on his way to an Indian conference in Pittsburgh, and hostile

Lord Hillsborough Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, (30 May 1718 – 7 October 1793), known as The 2nd Viscount Hillsborough from 1742 to 1751 and as The 1st Earl of Hillsborough from 1751 to 1789, was a British politician of the Georgian era. Best known ...

was appointed in London to the government portfolio for American affairs. Croghan established a quiet retreat at his large parcel of land at Lake Otsego. Its outlet is the headwater of the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

. He built a six-chimney "hutt" and had Croghan Forest's surveyed in September 1768 prior to final discussions by Sir Johnson with the Six Nations of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. As noted above, before completion of the Fort Stanwix Treaty in November 1768, the Six Nations sold Croghan in New York bordering Lake Otsego, plus numerous tracts for his friends. At the large conference, attended by more than 3100 Iroquois, the Six Nations demanded (on his part) that the Crown recognize these and other pre-treaty sales. They also asked that a grant by them of on the Ohio to Trent and his associates be made part of the treaty. Third, they wanted to ensure that should Pennsylvania seize the which the Indians had granted to Croghan at the Forks of the Ohio, they requested that the Crown grant Croghan as much land elsewhere. Sir William Johnson was censured by the Crown for aiding Croghan's private land dealings, and the government refused to ratify these private requests. Facing bankruptcy, Croghan "drew bills payable on Samuel Wharton in London" for thousands of pounds in order to patent his New York land. Crippled with gout and hounded by creditors, Croghan sought refuge in Croghan Forest, which totaled more than . Its remote setting did not protect him when the Wharton bills were returned for nonpayment in February 1770. Croghan Hall gave the ailing Croghan a refuge from lawsuits and debtors' prison, but he could do little more than watch as settlers poured into the Ohio Country on land he considered to be his. Pennsylvania appointed officials for newly established Bedford County in 1771. Among those buying land from Croghan's 1749 Indian grant was

through his agent William Crawford. 3 "I am likely to sell another tract to Coll. Washington and his friends," Croghan wrote to Joseph Wharton, Jr. and to Michael Gratz, "I have sold a parcel of lands to Coll Washington," 4 but there were no further sales to him beyond in today's

Perryopolis, Pennsylvania Perryopolis is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The borough is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 1,705 at the 2020 census. History George Washington purchased here when land first became available. He visite ...

. Crawford surveyed land near Chartiers Creek for Washington that Croghan claimed when his survey of an Indian deed fell far short of the called for and he had it redone. More than twenty years later, in 1784, Washington won a court case against Chartiers Creek families who had bought their land from Croghan. Washington's document was dated July 5, 1775, two years after his land dispute with Croghan began. 5It was made out by

Lord Dunmore Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. History The title was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, second son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. He was made Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin and Tillimet (or Tullimet) and V ...

aboard a British warship on the James River, signed a few days after Washington had assumed command of the Continental army besieging Boston. 6 Croghan's luck appeared to change when the Crown agreed to a new inland colony, Vandalia, appointing him as Indian agent and its largest land owner. Crown agents were restricted from forming such ventures, however, so Croghan resigned from the Indian Department on November 2, 1771. Alexander McKee took his place as deputy agent, with Croghan "on call when Indian affairs were critical."Wainwright, 282 He took his cousin Thomas Smallman into a fur trading partnership and Croghan "made a major effort to liquidate his debts." Although failing to sell any of his New York acres, Barnard and Michael Gratz remained Croghan's agents, creditors, primary suppliers and friends. He felt great sorrow at the loss of his friend Andrew Montour, murdered in January 1772. The British abandoned Fort Pitt that fall, and Croghan had McKee tell the Indians that it was done to please them. 1772 ended with "the news that the Privy Council had overruled Lord Hillsborough and approved Vandalia." A year passed with Vandalia still in limbo. Croghan borrowed money and pawned his plate (silver), spending £1,365 for provisions and gifts for 400 Indians who attended his November conference regarding the proposed colony. "Convinced that the powerful Vandalia project had fallen through, Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, decided to make good his colony's western claims. Presumably, when Dunmore visited Pittsburgh in the summer of 1773, he met Croghan, for he agreed to recognize the validity of Croghan's Indian grant." Dunmore appointed an associate and nephew of Croghan as his western agent. Dr. John Connolly, fully supported by Croghan, "claimed Pittsburgh for Virginia in January, 1774, and called up the militia. The first men to appear at the parade ground for the initial muster came from Croghan Hall." Virginia's claim was opposed by Pennsylvania's General Arthur St. Clair, the colony's chief official west of the Alleghenies.

Dunmore's War

Dunmore's War Lord Dunmore's War—or Dunmore's War—was a 1774 conflict between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. The Governor of Virginia during the conflict was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore—Lord Dunmore. H ...

broke out in the Pennsylvania area in the spring of 1774, when frontiersmen led by

Michael Cresap Captain Michael Cresap (April 17, 1742 – October 18, 1775) was a noted frontiersman born in Maryland, in what is now the United States. Biography Cresap was the son of the pioneer Colonel Thomas Cresap (17021790). He spent part of his adult yea ...

killed two Shawnee warriors, and

Daniel Greathouse Daniel Greathouse (17521775) was a settler in colonial Virginia. His role in the Yellow Creek massacre in 1774 was instrumental in starting Lord Dunmore's War. Biography Greathouse was born in Frederick County, Maryland, one of 11 children of ...

led other pioneers to kill the family of Logan, old Shikallamy's son. Croghan kept the Seneca and Delaware neutral, but his cooperation with St. Clair in defending the frontier prompted Connolly to accuse him of deserting Virginia. Shawnee chief

Cornstalk Cornstalk (c. 1720? – November 10, 1777) was a Shawnee leader in the Ohio Country in the 1760s and 1770s. His name in the Shawnee language was Hokoleskwa. Little is known about his early life. He may have been born in the Province of Pennsylv ...

, not wanting war, had three chiefs escort the traders from his villages to Croghan Hall. Connolly ordered 40 militiamen to capture or kill the Indians and they succeeded in shooting one of the Shawnee chiefs after they had escaped across the Allegheny. St. Clair, echoing other Pennsylvanians, said that Croghan was "indefatigable in endeavoring to make up the breeches." That August deputies of the Six Nation brought the news of Sir William Johnson's death. He had died in July, the day before a sheriff's sale put over of Croghan's New York land on the auction block. Bids totaled £4,840 despite the pall Johnson's death cast over the proceedings. Many of the bids were never paid and the sheriff absconded with most of the money collected, leaving only £900 for Croghan. He raised $6,000 in Virginia to buy directly from the Iroquois on the eastern bank of the Allegheny River. Samuel Wharton sent encouraging news about Vandalia, including the arrival of a large shipment of goods for gifts to the Indians and land payments, temporarily stored at Georgetown because of Dunmore's War. Governor Dunmore reached Pittsburgh in September, pausing in his campaign against the Shawnee to grill Croghan concerning "Connolly's accusations about inciting the Shawnees to attack Virginia and siding with Pennsylvania against Virginia. Croghan easily disproved the charges and was reinstated in Dunmore's good graces." After bringing his war to a successful close that fall, Dunmore left 75 militia under Connolly to garrison Fort Pitt, renamed Fort Dunmore. The Virginia governor also adjourned the Augusta county court from Staunton to Pittsburgh, where he appointed Croghan to serve as president judge.

American Revolution

Croghan chaired Pittsburgh's

committee of correspondence The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

, formed in May 1775 after the battles of Lexington and Concord. The next month, Croghan was hosting a conference with Indians to ratify the

Treaty of Camp Charlotte Lord Dunmore's War—or Dunmore's War—was a 1774 conflict between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo American Indian nations. The Governor of Virginia during the conflict was John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore—Lord Dunmore. H ...

when Connolly was arrested by Pennsylvanians and imprisoned at

Hannastown Hannastown is an unincorporated community and important historical and archaeological site located in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Although the village is not tracked by the Census Bureau, it has been assigned the ZIP ...

. Croghan and his committee secured Connolly’s release and Connolly subsequently left the frontier to join Lord Dunmore aboard a British man-of-war. On July 10, 1775, Croghan purchased from the Six Nations between the Allegheny and Beaver rivers. Two days later, Congress established an Indian Department and appointed trader Richard Butler as its Pittsburgh agent. When Butler retired in April 1776, Croghan lobbied for his position. But, George Morgan was chosen as Indian agent and, still resentful for the failed Illinois trading venture a decade earlier, "had absolutely no use for Croghan." During the summer of 1777, Croghan visited

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula ...

, at the expense of the Gratz brothers to obtain a clear title to land he had sold them. After conferring with Governor

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

about frontier defenses, he returned to Pittsburgh with dispatches for General

, who greeted him with suspicion. What was believed to be a Loyalist conspiracy had been uncovered. Colonel George Morgan, the Indian agent, Alexander McKee; Simon Girty, and others were under arrest. General Hand examined Thomas Smallman's papers and although there was nothing to indicate Croghan was disloyal, Hand ordered him to Philadelphia. Two weeks after he reached the city, it was captured by the British. Croghan, too ill with gout to escape, was hauled before

General Howe William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe, KB PC (10 August 172912 July 1814) was a British Army officer who rose to become Commander-in-Chief of British land forces in the Colonies during the American War of Independence. Howe was one of three brot ...

and castigated for chairing Pittsburgh's Committee of Safety and keeping the Lake Indians neutral. Ordered to take lodgings in town, where he was kept under constant supervision by two British officers, Croghan learned that Monckton Hall was burnt after the battle of Germantown, "another severe financial blow." When the British evacuated Philadelphia in June 1778, they left Croghan behind on parole. Returning Pennsylvania officials accused him of collaborating with the enemy, but Croghan was acquitted in a November 12, 1778, trial.Wainwright, 302-303 General Hand refused to let him return to Croghan Hall in western Pennsylvania, and Croghan spent the next two winters in

. In an effort to pay off debts, Croghan mortgaged Croghan Hall to Joseph Simon. He deeded of his Indian grant to the Gratzes, who paid his bills and financed another trip to Williamsburg to seek to have his Indian titles recognized by the state of Virginia, without success. Bedridden with gout upon his return, Croghan wrote few letters to family and friends. In May 1780, he moved to Philadelphia, where he learned his western properties were within the boundaries of the new state of Pennsylvania. Croghan died at his home in Passyunk Township, on August 31, 1782. By then he was such an obscure figure that his death was not reported in newspapers. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. The marker on his grave was deteriorated by the elements, and the location was unmarked for many years.

Croghan's estate

George Croghan historical marker in Cooperstown NY 2014

While the total value of his personal estate was valued at only £50 13s.6d, his extensive land holdings were "conservatively estimated at £140,000." Except for some specific bequests, his June 12, 1782, will left his entire estate to his daughter Susannah. Susannah Croghan Prevost died in 1790, survived by six of her twelve children. For decades, they pursued their claims to Croghan's often clouded deeds in numerous lawsuits. "For some years, the hopeless involvements of his estate kept courtrooms abuzz, and, when that ceased and his contemporaries died off, the man's name and fame faded away into the obscurity from which he had emerged." Since the late 20th century, historians have re-evaluated Croghan's role and begun to assert his importance in the Ohio Country. He was a flamboyant character like William Johnson, brash and grasping, but also with a talent for diplomacy and relations with the Native Americans. History continues to be made by Croghan descendants. To this day the female line of Croghan's Mohawk daughter Catherine are inheritors of her position and power in the Turtle Clan. "Catharine Adonwentishon was head of the Turtle clan, the first in rank in the Mohawk Nation. Her birthright was to name the Tekarihoga, the principal sachem of the Mohawk nation." 0 Speculation in western New York lands and clouded titles resulted in many unscrupulous transactions. In 1786

William Cooper William Cooper may refer to: Business *William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers * William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman *William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator * Will ...

and his partner Andrew Craig "by questionable methods . . . purchased the Otsego lands 0,000 of Croghan's acresfor only £2,700." Cooper laid out the town of Cooperstown, New York, and built his mansion, Otsego Hall, on the former site of Croghan's residence. William Franklin and the Prevost heirs watched bitterly as the property increased in value twentyfold. "Andrew Prevost, Jr., wrote Franklin on December 12, 1812: 'We have lost an immense property from the infamous advantage taken by Cooper and others without your knowledge by a forced Sale under your Title.'"Volwiler, 331 William Cooper's son, the author

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

, presented his family's side of the dispute in his ''Chronicles of Cooperstown'' (1838).

Pronunciation of name

There has been disagreement as to how to pronounce Croghan's name. The governor of Canada, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, in a letter to the Minister of France on August 8, 1756, referred to “George Craon’s fort”, which appears to be a phonetic spelling. Although biographer Robert. G. Crist concludes that, given the Gaelic origins of the surname, the pronunciation was “Crone," his evidence is less than conclusive: a financial account that one of Croghan's clerks labeled as "Crohan and Trent;" and "a Frenchman who recorded his name as "Croan," apparently the way it sounded. Descendants have used the hard "g" pronunciation favored by Croghan scholar Margaret Pearson Bothwell, but Crist dismisses them and "the practice in Ireland today," where the name is pronounced "CROG-han." "CRO-ghan" seems to be the standard English pronunciation. Crist cites Nicholas B. Wainwright's "Crowan" as an intermediate step between "something like 'Crohan,' and in further simplification, 'Crone.'" A study of Crogan's dialect by Michael Montgomery, a linguist specializing in Irish, written more than thirty years after Crist, does not find the name pronunciation dispute worth mentioning.

Legacy and honors

* In 2008, the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. A non-prof ...

added a new marker to Croghan's grave. * In 2012 a historical marker commemorating Croghan was dedicated at the veteran's memorial near Rostraver Township's borough building in

Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Westmoreland County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 364,663. The county seat is Greensburg. Formed from, successively, Lancaster, Northumberland, and later Bedford co ...

.James Greenwood, ''Ohio Country'' website, "Critical Comments" section
/ref> * In 2020, a historical marker, commemorating Croghan was placed at the site of his original trading post, in Mechanicsburg (Cumberland County), Pennsylvania.

References

Sources

* Anderson, Fred. ''The Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Face of Empire in British America, 1754-1766'', New York: Knopf, 2000. * Aquila, Richard. ''The Iroquois Restoration: Iroquois Diplomacy on the Colonial Frontier, 1701-1754'', Lincoln, NE: U. of Nebraska Press, 1997. * Bothwell, Margaret Pearson. "The Astonishing Croghans," ''Western Pennsylvania History Magazine,'' 48(2), April 1965: 119–144. * Campbell, William J. "An Adverse Patron: Land, Trade, and George Croghan," ''Pennsylvania History,'' 76(2), 2009: 117–140.
Campbell, William J. ''Speculators in Empire: Iroquoia and the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix''
University of Oklahoma Press, 2012
Cave, Alfred A. "George Croghan and the Emergence of British Influence on the Ohio Frontier"
in ''Builders of Ohio, a Biographical History.'' edited by Warren R. Van Tine and Michael Dale Pierce; Athens, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2002. * Crist, Robert Grant. ''George Croghan of Pennsboro.'' Harrisburg, PA: Dauphin Deposit Trust Co., 1965. * Flexner, James Thomas. ''George Washington; The Forge of Experience, 1732-1775''. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1965. * Frederic, Harold & William C. Frederick III. ''The Westsylvania Pioneers, 1774-1776,'' Butler, PA: H.R. Frederic, 2001. * Greenwood, Jim. "George Croghan; A Reappraisal." Washington, PA: Monongahela Press, 2009. ohiocountry.us. * Hanna, Charles A. "George Croghan: The King of the Traders," ''The Wilderness Trail,'' Vol. Two, originally published in 1911. Lewisburg, PA: Wennawoods, 1995. * Merrell, James H. ''Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier.'' New York: Norton, 1999. . * Montgomery, Michael. "A Tale of Two Georges," in ''Focus on Ireland,'' Jeffrey Kallen, ed. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamin Pub. Co., 1997. * Silver, Peter. ''Our Savage Neighbors, How Indian War Transformed Early America.''New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. * Sivertsen, Barbara. "Turtles, Wolves, and Bears - a Mohawk Family History," Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2006. * Stevens, Sylvester and Donald Kent, eds. ''Wilderness Chronicles of Northwestern Pennsylvania.'' Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Historical Commission, 1941. * Taylor, Alan. ''The Divided Ground: Indians, Settlers, and the Northern Borderland of the American Revolution'', New York:

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, 2006. * Volwiler, Albert T. ''George Croghan and the Westward Movement, 1741–1782''. Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1926. * Wainwright, Nicholas B. ''George Croghan: Wilderness Diplomat.'' Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1959.

External links

Full text of "A selection of George Croghan's letters and journals relating to tours into the western country--November 16, 1750-November, 1765 .."
Bancroft Library, Internet Archive

''The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association'' ow ''New York History'' Vol. IV, No. 1 (January, 1923), pp. 21–40, on-line text, hosted by James Fenimore Cooper Society, 2002, Oneonta University.
Jim Greenwood, "George Croghan: A Reappraisal"
''Ohio Country'' website, 2009 (54 pages)
"George Croghan"
Find-a-Grave
Guide to the Reuben T. Durrett Collection of William and George Croghan Papers circa 1823-1890
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croghan, George 1710s births 1782 deaths British Indian Department Colonial American Indian agents Colonial American merchants People from County Dublin Kingdom of Ireland emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War People of Pennsylvania of Pontiac's War People of the Province of New York People of colonial Pennsylvania People from Otsego County, New York Irish colonial officials