pp. 642, 643. In the interval between this and the preceding document,
momentous events, in which Croghan had a full share, had occurred on the
Ohio. The governor of Virginia had engaged him to act as interpreter in
Colonel Washington’s army—see “Dinwiddie Papers,” _Virginia Historical
Collections_ (Richmond, 1883-84), i, p. 187—and he had been present at
the affair of the Great Meadows. During the period between this and
Braddock’s expedition, Croghan had been busily employed in bringing
over as many Indians as possible to the English cause, and he had led
the Indian contingent to Braddock’s aid (see _post_). After the battle
of the Monongahela, Croghan returned to his home at Aughwick Creek,
caring at his own expense for the few Indians who remained firm in the
English interest, and planning to defend his settlement by a stockade
fort. A bill for his relief (he had lost all of his trading equipment)
passed the Pennsylvania Assembly. Although holding no provincial office,
his knowledge of the frontier situation was much relied on in this
extremity.—ED.
[41] This stockade fort was built on Aughwick Creek, where stands the
present town of Shirleysburg. It was known first as Fort Croghan, then
a private enterprise; but later in the same year (1755), a fort was
built on this site by order of the government and named for General
Shirley, commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America.
Governor Morris wrote, after a visit to this fort in January, 1756, that
seventy-five men were garrisoned therein (_Pennsylvania Archives_, ii,
p. 556). It was appointed as the rendezvous for Armstrong’s expedition
against Kittanning in August of this same year; but by October 15 the
site had grown so dangerous that the governor ordered it abandoned.—ED.
[42] This account of the situation on the Ohio, obtained from the
journey of a Delaware Indian, is reprinted from _Pennsylvania Colonial
Records_, vi, pp. 781, 782. Since the last letter written by Croghan, the
Assembly had passed a militia bill (November, 1755), and Franklin had
been commissioned to take charge of the erection of a series of frontier
forts. Croghan was commissioned captain, and promptly raising a company,
entered with zeal upon the work. For his instructions, see _Pennsylvania
Archives_, ii, p. 536.—ED.
[43] Robert Hunter Morris, son of Lewis Morris, prominent colonial
statesman and governor of New Jersey, was born at Morrisania, New York,
about 1700. Having been educated for the law, he became chief-justice
of New Jersey (1738), a position held until his death in 1764. The
Pennsylvania proprietors chose him as lieutenant-governor to succeed
Hamilton in 1754; during his term of office he vigorously defended the
province, but engaged in constant disputes with the Quaker party in
the Assembly. The annoyance arising from this caused him to resign in
1756.—ED.
[44] King Beaver (Tamaque) was head chief of the Delaware Indians on the
Ohio, with headquarters at the mouth of Beaver Creek. He was somewhat
half-hearted in the English service, but protested his desire to preserve
the alliance until after Braddock’s defeat, when he openly took the
hatchet against the English settlements. Post met him upon the Ohio in
1758, and secured a conditional agreement to remain neutral; but after
the English occupation of the Forks of the Ohio, he retreated to the
Muskingum, where a town was named for him. He took part in the treaties
with the English in 1760 and 1762; but was one of the ring-leaders in the
conspiracy of Pontiac (1763). After Bouquet’s advance into his territory,
he reluctantly made peace, and delivered up his English prisoners. He
died about 1770, having in his later years passed under the influence
of the Moravian missionaries, and become one of their most eminent
disciples.—ED.
[45] Fort Duquesne, built at the Forks of the Ohio in 1754, was first
commanded by Contrecœur; but in the September following the battle of
the Monongahela, Captain Dumas, who had distinguished himself at that
engagement, was made commandant. He was an officer of great ability, and
while he sent out parties against the frontier, his instructions to one
subordinate (Donville, captured in 1756) were to use measures “consistent
with honor and humanity.” Dumas was superseded in 1756 by De Ligneris,
who remained in command at Fort Duquesne until ordered to demolish the
post, and retire before Forbes’s advancing army (1758).—ED.
[46] The Caghnawagos (Caughnawagas) were the Iroquois of the mission
village of that name, about six miles above Montreal.—ED.
[47] This reference is to the massacre of the Moravian settlers at
Gnadenhütten, in November, 1755.—ED.
[48] This paper is reprinted from _New York Colonial Documents_, vii, pp.
267-271. It accompanied a letter from Croghan to Sir William Johnson, in
which he says, “Inclosed you have a copy of some extracts from my old
journals relating to Indian Affairs, from the time of Mr. Hamilton’s
arrival as Governour of this Province till the defeat of General
Braddock; all which you may depend upon are facts, and will appear upon
the records of Indian Affairs in ye several Governments.”
After Croghan had been commissioned captain by the Pennsylvania
authorities, “he continued in Command of one of the Companies he had
raised, and of Fort Shirley on the Western frontier about three months,
during which time he sent, by my direction, Indian Messengers to the Ohio
for Intelligence, but never procured me any that was very material, and
having a dispute with the Commissʳˢ about some accounts between them, in
which he thought himself ill-used; he resigned his commission, and about
a month ago informed me that he had not received pay upon Genˡ Braddock’s
warrant, and desired my recommendation to Genˡ Shirley, which I gave him,
and he set off directly for Albany, & I hear is now at Onondago with Sʳ
Wᵐ Johnson.”—(Letter of Governor Morris, July 5, 1756, in _Pennsylvania
Archives_, ii, pp. 689, 690.)
Sir William Johnson, having more penetration than the Pennsylvania
authorities as to the value of Croghan’s services, immediately appointed
him his deputy, in which position he continued for several years.
When he presented himself to the governor’s council in Philadelphia,
December 14, 1756, “the Council knowing Mr. Croghan’s Circumstances
was not a little surprised at the Appointment, and desired to see his
Credentials”—(_Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, vii, p. 355). In regard
to his services during this period, see _New York Colonial Documents_,
vii, pp. 136, 174, 175, 196, 211, 246, 277, 280; _Pennsylvania Colonial
Records_, vii, pp. 435, 465, 484, 506; viii, 175; _Pennsylvania
Archives_, iii, pp. 319, 544.
Sir William Johnson was born in Ireland in 1715, came to New York at an
early age, and settled as a trader in the Mohawk Valley. He was adopted
into the Iroquois nation, and acquired power in their national councils,
retaining them in the English interest during the French and Indian War.
After the battle of Lake George, Johnson was rewarded with a baronetcy,
and secured the surrender of Niagara in 1759. From that time until his
death in 1774, he was occupied with Indian negotiations, chief of which
was the treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768).—ED.
[49] Donegal was an old town on the east side of the Susquehanna,
situated between the Conewago and Chiques creeks, in the northwestern
angle of the county of Lancaster (Scull’s _Map of Pennsylvania_), where
these Indians have left their name to the Conoy, or as it is now called,
Coney Creek. _Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Historical Society_, iv, part
ii, p. 210. The Conoys were originally from Piscataway, in Maryland,
whence they moved to an island in the Potomac, and, on the invitation
of William Penn, removed to the Susquehanna—(_Pennsylvania Colonial
Records_, iv, p. 657).—E. B. O’CALLAGHAN.
[50] Christopher Gist was of English descent, and a native of Maryland.
In early life he removed to the frontiers of North Carolina, where he
became so expert in surveying and woodcraft, that he was employed for
two successive years by the Ohio Company in inspecting and surveying
the Western country. It was on his first journey (1750-51) that he
encountered Croghan, when they travelled together to Pickawillany (the
Twigtwee town), and Gist continued via the Scioto River and the Kentucky
country back to Virginia. On the second journey (1751-52), he explored
the West Virginia region. His most noted adventure was accompanying Major
George Washington in the autumn of 1753 to the French forts in Northwest
Pennsylvania. Earlier in the same year, Gist had made a settlement near
Mount Braddock, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and under the auspices of
the Ohio Company was enlisting settlers for the region. Eleven came out
in the spring of 1754, and a stockade fort was begun. This was utilized
during Washington’s campaign, but burned by the French after the defeat
at Great Meadows. Gist later petitioned the Virginia House of Burgesses
for indemnity, but his request was rejected. Both Gist and his son
served with Braddock as scouts, and after his defeat, raised a company
of militia to protect the frontiers. After serving for a time as deputy
Indian agent for the Southern Indians, he died in 1759, either in South
Carolina or Georgia. One of his sons was killed at the battle of King’s
Mountain (1780).—ED.
[51] For a copy of this treaty see _Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, v,
pp. 522-525. In regard to the rejection thereof, note that the governor
in the speech made to the Twigtwees says it is approved. See _ante_.—ED.
[52] The records appear to bear out Croghan’s contention that he was
given instructions to discuss the erection of a fort. See _Pennsylvania
Colonial Records_, v, pp. 522, 529. Historians admit that this neglect of
the Indians’ request was attended with evil consequences to the English
colonies, and Pennsylvania in particular. Consult _Pennsylvania Colonial
Records_, v, pp. 537, 547, for the Indian demand and the Assembly’s
refusal.—ED.
[53] On this conference at Logstown see _Dinwiddie Papers_, i, pp. 6, 7,
11, 22; Trent’s _Journals_, pp. 69-81; Gist’s _Journals_, pp. 231-234.—ED.
[54] For the French sources of this expedition see _New York Colonial
Documents_, x, pp. 255-257; _Pennsylvania Archives_ (2d series), vi, pp.
161-164.—ED.
[55] On the conferences at Winchester and Carlisle (1753), see
_Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, v, pp. 657, 665-684.—ED.
[56] Colonel Thomas Cresap was a Yorkshireman who came to Maryland at
an early age. Having settled within the territory in dispute between
Maryland and Pennsylvania, he became an aggressive leader of the
forces of the former and was arrested by the Pennsylvania sheriff of
Lancaster, where he spent several months in jail. Being released by an
agreement between the proprietors of the two colonies (1739), he moved
westward, and became the first permanent settler of Maryland beyond
the mountains, taking up land at a deserted Shawnee village now called
Oldtown. An active member of the Ohio Company, he was assisted by the
Indian Nemacolin in blazing the first path west to the Ohio (1752). After
the defeat on the Monongahela, Cresap moved back to the settlements
on Conococheague Creek; but on the return of peace sought his former
location, where he became a noted surveyor and frontiersman. His son
Michael was likewise a well-known borderer and Indian fighter. For a
complete biographical account, see Ohio Archæological and Historical
_Publications_ (Columbus, 1902), x, pp. 146-164.—ED.
[57] The official report of these affairs is in _Pennsylvania Colonial
Records_, vi, pp. 150-161, 180, 181, 186-191.—ED.
[58] On Croghan’s relations to Braddock’s expedition, see _Pennsylvania
Colonial Records_, vi, pp. 372, 381, 398; _New York Colonial Documents_,
vi, p. 973.—ED.
[59] Colonel James Innes was an elderly Scotch officer, who had served
under the king’s commission in the West Indies, and had settled in North
Carolina. He commanded the contingent from that colony that came to the
assistance of Virginia in 1754. On the death of Colonel Joshua Fry,
Dinwiddie appointed Innes, who was his personal friend, to the position
of commander-in-chief of the colonial army, of which Washington was
acting commandant. Innes got no further than Fort Cumberland, where he
remained as commander of the fort, alternately appealing to his former
royal commission, and to his colonial authorization, for authority to
maintain his rank.—ED.
[60] The years between the last document (1757) and the commencement of
this journey (October 21, 1760) had been eventful ones for the future
of American history. The French and Indian War, which until the close
of 1757 had resulted only in a series of disasters to the English, was
pursued with greater vigor when a change of administration sent able
officers and leaders to America. The evacuation of Fort Duquesne (1758),
the capture of Niagara and Quebec (1759), and the final capitulation of
all Canada at Montreal (1760) gave the mastery of the continent to the
English, and opened the portals of the West. Croghan was occupied during
these momentous years with Indian negotiations of great importance. As
deputy of Sir William Johnson, he endeavored to hold the Six Nations
firm in their alliance, to pacify the frontier tribes, and finally to
announce to the expectant savages the English victory, and their transfer
to British authority. In 1757, he was employed in making peace with the
Susquehanna Indians (_Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, vii, pp. 517-551,
656-714; _Pennsylvania Archives_, iii, pp. 248, 319; _New York Colonial
Documents_, vii, pp. 321-324); and made a journey to Fort Loudoun, in
Tennessee to sound the disposition of the Cherokees—(_Pennsylvania
Colonial Records_ vii, pp. 600, 630). His influence was relied upon
to pave the way for Forbes’s army (1758), and he was present at the
important treaty at Easton, in October of this year—(_Pennsylvania
Archives_, iii, p. 429; _Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, viii, pp.
175-223; Stone, _Life of Sir William Johnson_, ii, p. 389). Croghan also
accompanied Forbes’s expedition, and assisted in pacifying the Allegheny
Indians. The journal in _Pennsylvania Archives_, iii, pp. 560-563,
designated as _Journal of Frederick Post from Pittsburgh, 1758_, is
really Croghan’s journal, as a comparison with Post’s journal for these
dates will reveal. Early in the next year we find Croghan at Fort Pitt,
holding constant conferences with Western Indians (_Pennsylvania Colonial
Records_, viii, pp. 387-391; _Pennsylvania Archives_, iii, pp. 671, 744),
where he remained until ordered to join the expedition sent out under
Major Rogers to secure possession of Detroit and other Western posts,
included in the capitulation at Montreal. The diary of this journey,
which we here publish, is reprinted from _Massachusetts Historical
Collections_, 4th series, ix, pp. 362-379. Other letters of Croghan’s
are found in the same volume, pp. 246-253, 260, 266, 283-289. These all
relate to Indian affairs, and the information being brought in by his
scouts and messengers of conditions in the country lying westward—of the
agitation, alarm, and confusion among the Indian hostiles, who were eager
to give in their allegiance to their conquering English “brothers.” This
journal of the voyage to Detroit admirably supplements that of Major
Robert Rogers, commandant of the party which Croghan accompanied, whose
account has been the standard authority. It was published in Dublin,
1770, and several reprints have been issued, the best of which is that
edited by Hough, _Rogers’s Journals_, 1755-1760 (Albany, 1883).—ED.
[61] Major Robert Rogers, the noted partisan leader, was born in New
Hampshire. On the outbreak of the French and Indian War he raised a
company of scouts known as “Rogers’s Rangers,” who did great service
on the New York frontier. After receiving the surrender of Detroit and
attempting in vain to reach Mackinac, he was again sent to Detroit to
relieve the garrison in Pontiac’s War, after which he proceeded against
the Cherokees in the South. About this time he was retired on half pay,
and visited England, where he published his journals, and a _Concise
Account of North America_. In 1766, he was assigned to the command of the
important post of Mackinac, and there schemed to betray the fort to the
Spaniards. The plot having been discovered, he was tried in Montreal,
but secured an acquittal, when he visited England a second time, only to
be thrown into prison for debt. During the Revolution he led a body of
Loyalists, and having been banished from New Hampshire retired to England
(1780), where he died about 1800.—ED.
[62] Fort Presqu’ Isle was built by the French expedition under Marin
in the spring of 1753, on the site of the present city of Erie,
Pennsylvania. It was a post of much importance in maintaining the
communication between Niagara, Detroit, and the Forks of the Ohio. After
the fall of Fort Duquesne at the latter site (1758), a large garrison was
collected at Fort Presqu’ Isle, and a movement to re-possess the Ohio
country was being organized, when the capture of Niagara (1759) threw the
project into confusion. Johnson sent out a party to relieve the French
officer at this place, and a detachment of the Royal Americans commanded
by Colonel Henry Bouquet advanced from Fort Pitt and took possession
of the stronghold. The fort was captured by Indians during Pontiac’s
conspiracy (June 17, 1763), as graphically related by Parkman. After
this uprising, a British detachment controlled the place until the final
surrender of the posts to the United States in 1796. Within the same
year, General Anthony Wayne, returning from his fruitful campaign against
the Indians, died in the old blockhouse of the fort. Some remains of the
works are still to be seen at Erie.—ED.
[63] Captain Donald Campbell was a Scotch officer who came to America
with the 62nd regiment in 1756, and was made captain of the Royal
Americans in 1759. After accompanying this expedition to Detroit
(1760), he was left in command of that post (see letter from Campbell,
_Massachusetts Historical Collections_, 4th series, ix, p. 382), and when
superseded by Major Gladwin remained as lieutenant-commander. Leaving
the fort on an embassy, during the Pontiac uprising (1763), he was
treacherously seized, made captive, and cruelly murdered by the Indian
hostiles. See Parkman, _Conspiracy of Pontiac_ (Boston, 1851), chaps. 11
and 14.—ED.
[64] Marin’s expedition (1753), that erected forts Presqu’ Isle and Le
Bœuf, intended to plant a fort at Venango, at the junction of French
Creek with the Allegheny; the first detachment sent out for that purpose
was, however, repulsed by the Indians. When Washington visited the place
(December, 1753), he found the French flag flying over the house of an
English trader, Frazier, who had been driven from the spot. The following
year, the French built an outpost on this site, and named it Fort
Machault. When Post passed by here in 1758, he found it garrisoned by
but six men and a single officer; see _post_. The French abandoned Fort
Machault in 1759, and early the following spring the English built Fort
Venango, about forty rods nearer the mouth of the creek. At the outbreak
of Pontiac’s War, the latter fort was commanded by Lieutenant Gordon, and
he with all the garrison were captured, tortured, and murdered by Indian
foes. No fort was rebuilt at this place until late in the Revolution,
when Fort Franklin was erected for the protection of the border, being
garrisoned from 1788-96. The present town of Franklin was laid out around
the post in 1795.—ED.
[65] The French Fort Le Bœuf (technically, “Fort de la Rivière aux
Bœufs”) was built by Marin (1753) on a creek of the same name, at the
site of the present town of Waterford, the terminus of the road which
Marin caused to be constructed south from Presqu’ Isle. This was the
destination of Washington’s expedition in 1753, and here he met the
French commandant, Legardeur de St. Pierre. The fort at this place
was farmed out to a French officer, who superintended the portage of
provisions from Lake Erie to the Ohio. Post found it garrisoned by about
thirty soldiers in 1758; see _post_. The following year, after the French
had abandoned it, a detachment of the Royal Americans went forward from
Fort Pitt to occupy this stronghold; and three years later Ensign Price
was beleaguered therein by the Indians, and barely escaped with his
life after a brave but futile defense. The Indians destroyed Fort Le
Bœuf by fire, and it was never rebuilt. In 1794, another fort with the
same name was erected near the old site, and garrisoned until after the
War of 1812-15. Subsequently the structure was used as a hotel, until
accidentally burned in 1868.—ED.
[66] General Robert Monckton, a son of the Viscount of Galway, began his
military career by service in Flanders (1742). He came to America about
1750, and was stationed at Halifax, being appointed governor of Nova
Scotia (1754-56). After being transferred to the Royal Americans (1757),
he was at the siege of Louisburg in 1758, and the following year was
made second in command for the capture of Quebec. Promoted for gallant
services, he was placed in control of the Western department, and had
headquarters at Fort Pitt, where Rogers had been detailed to seek him
for orders with reference to the latter’s Western expedition. General
Monckton was military governor of New York City, 1761-63. During that
time he made an expedition to the West Indies, and captured Martinique.
Returning to England he was made governor of Berwick (1766), and later
of Portsmouth, which he represented in Parliament. He refused to take a
commission to serve against the Americans in the Revolutionary War.—ED.
[67] Captain David Brewer joined Rogers’s Rangers as ensign in 1756, and
three years later was promoted for gallant services on Lake Champlain.
He appears to have been one of the most trusted officers of this
company. Rogers left him to bring up the troops to Presqu’ Isle, while
he hastened on to Fort Pitt, at the beginning of the expedition; after
the capitulation of Detroit, he sent the larger portion of the Rangers
back to Niagara under Brewer’s command. See Rogers’s _Journal_, pp. 152,
198.—ED.
[68] The topography of this voyage is a disputed question. Croghan is the
only contemporary authority who gives details. Siney Sipey is probably
the present Conneaut Creek, about twenty miles from Presqu’ Isle. Rogers
says “by night we had advanced twenty miles.” “Sinissippi” is frequently
used for Stoney or Rock Creek; the present Rock River, Illinois, claims
that for its Indian title. In 1761, Sir William Johnson describes this
place (without naming it) as follows: “Encamped in a very good creek and
safe harbor. The creek about fifty yards wide, and pretty deep; two very
steep hills at the entrance thereof, and the water of it of a very brown
color.”—ED.