BANCROFT LIBRAKf 
 
II 
 
 A SELECTION or GEORGE CROGHAN'S LETTERS AND 
 JOURNALS RELATING TO TOURS INTO THE WESTERN 
 COUNTRY NOVEMBER 16, i75o-NovEMBER, 1765.. 
 
 SOURCES: Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 496-498, 530- 
 53 6 > 539, 540, 73 J -735; vi > PP- 6 42, 643, 781, 782; vii, pp. 267-271. 
 Massachusetts Historical Collections, 4 series, ix, pp. 362-379. But- 
 ler's History of Kentucky (Cincinnati and Louisville, 1836), ap- 
 pendix, with variations from other sources. New York Colonial 
 Documents, vii, pp. 781-788. 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 Next to Sir William Johnson, George Croghan was the 
 most prominent figure among British Indian agents during 
 the period of the later French wars, and the conspiracy of 
 Pontiac. A history of his life is therefore an epitome of 
 Indian relations with the whites, especially on the borders 
 of Virginia and Pennsylvania and in the Ohio Valley. A 
 pioneer trader and traveller, and a government agent, no 
 other man of his time better knew the West and the 
 counter currents that went to make up its history. Not 
 even the indefatigable Gist, or the self-sacrificing Post, 
 travelled over so large a portion of the Western country, 
 knew better the different routes, or was more welcome 
 in the Indian villages. Among his own class he was 
 the " mere idol of the Irish traders." Sir William John- 
 son appreciated his services, made him his deputy for 
 the Ohio Indians, and entrusted him with the most deli- 
 cate and difficult negotiations, such as those at Fort Pitt 
 and Detroit in 1758-61; and those in the Illinois (1765) by 
 which Pontiac was brought to terms. 
 
 Born in Ireland and educated at Dublin, Croghan 
 emigrated to Pennsylvania at an early age and settled just 
 west of Harris's Ferry in the township of Pennsboro, then 
 on the border of Western settlement. The opportunities 
 of the Indian trade appealed to his fondness for journey- 
 ing and sense of adventure. His daring soon carried him 
 beyond the bounds of the province, and among the " far 
 Indians " of Sandusky and the Lake Erie region, where 
 he won adherents for the English among the wavering 
 
48 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 allies of the French. His abilities and his influence over 
 the Indians soon attracted the attention of the hard-headed 
 German, Conrad Weiser, who in 1747 recommended him 
 to the Council of Pennsylvania. In this manner he entered 
 the public service, and continued therein throughout the 
 active years of his life. 
 
 Croghan was first employed by the province in assist- 
 ing Weiser to convey a present to the Ohio, whither he 
 preceded him in the spring of I748. 1 The following year 
 he was sent out to report on the French expedition whose 
 passage down the Ohio had alarmed the Allegheny 
 Indians, and arrived at Logstown just after Celoron had 
 passed, thus neutralizing the latter's influence in that 
 region. 2 
 
 The jealousy of the Indians over the encroachments of 
 the settlers upon their lands west of the mountains on the 
 Juniata, and in the central valleys of Pennsylvania, 
 determined the government to expel the settlers rather 
 than risk a breach with the Indians. In this task, which 
 must have been uncongenial to him, Croghan, as justice 
 of the peace for Cumberland County, was employed during 
 the spring of i75o. 3 The autumn of the same year, 
 found him beginning one of his most extensive journeys 
 throughout the Ohio Valley, as far as the Miamis and 
 Pickawillany, where he made an advantageous treaty 
 with new envoys of the Western tribes who sought his 
 alliance. To Croghan's annoyance, the Pennsylvania 
 government in an access of caution repudiated this treaty 
 as having been unauthorized. 
 
 1 See Weiser's Journal, ante; and Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 287, 
 295- 
 
 2 Ibid., v, p. 387; Pennsylvania Archives, ii, p. 31. 
 
 3 Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 432-449. 
 
1750-1765] Croghan s Journals 49 
 
 In 1751 Croghan was again upon the Allegheny, en- 
 couraging the Indians in their English alliance, and 
 defeating Joncaire, the shrewdest of the French agents in 
 this region, by means of his own tactics. The next year, 
 he was pursuing his traffic in furs among the Shawnees, 
 but without forgetting the public interest; 4 and the fol- 
 lowing year finds him assisting the governor and Council 
 at the important negotiations at Carlisle. 5 This same 
 year (1753) Croghan removed his home some distance 
 west, and settled on Aughwick Creek upon land granted 
 him by the Province. His public services were continued 
 early in the next year by a journey with the official 
 present to the Ohio, where he arrived soon after Wash- 
 ington had passed upon the return from the famous 
 embassy to the French officers at Fort Le Bceuf . 
 
 The outbreak of the French and Indian War ruined 
 Croghan' s prosperous trading business, and brought him 
 to the verge of bankruptcy. While at the same time a 
 large number of Indian refugees, desiring to remain under 
 British protection, sought his home at Aughwick, where 
 he felt obliged to provision them, with but meagre assis- 
 tance from the Province. To add to his troubles, the Irish 
 traders, because of their Romanist proclivities, fell under 
 suspicion of acting as French spies, and Croghan was 
 unjustly eyed askance by many in authority. 8 Although 
 he was granted a captain's commission to command the 
 Indian contingent during Braddock's campaign, he re- 
 signed this office early in 1756, and retired from the 
 Pennsylvania service. 
 
 About this time he paid a visit to New York, where his 
 
 4 See Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, p. 568. 
 
 6 Ibid., p. 665. 
 
 e Pennsylvania Archives, ii, pp. 114, 689. 
 
50 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 distant relative, Sir William Johnson, appreciating his 
 abilities, chose him deputy Indian agent, and appointed 
 him to manage the Susquehanna and Allegheny tribes. 7 
 From this time forward he was engaged in important 
 dealings with the natives, swaying them to the British 
 interest, making possible the success of Forbes (1758), 
 and the victory of Prideaux and Johnson (1759). After 
 the capitulation of Montreal, he accompanied Major 
 Rogers to Detroit. All of 1761 and 1762 were occupied 
 with Indian conferences and negotiations, in the course 
 of which he again visited Detroit, meeting Sir William 
 Johnson en route. 8 
 
 Late in 1763, Croghan went to England on private 
 business, and was shipwrecked upon the coast of France; 9 
 but finally reached London, where he presented to the 
 lords of trade an important memorial on Indian affairs. 10 
 
 Upon his return to America (1765), he was at once dis- 
 patched to the Illinois. Proceeding by the Ohio River, 
 he was made prisoner near the mouth of the Wabash, 
 and carried to the Indian towns upon that river, where 
 he not only secured his own release, but conducted 
 negotiations which put an end to Pontiac's War, and 
 opened the Illinois to the British. 
 
 A second journey to the Illinois, in the following year, 
 resulted in his reaching Fort Chartres, and proceeding 
 thence to New Orleans. No journal of this voyage 
 has to our knowledge been preserved. 
 
 Croghan's part in the treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768) was 
 
 7 Pennsylvania Colonial Records, vii, p. 355; New York Colonial Documents, 
 vii, pp. 136, 174, 196, 211. 
 
 8 Stone, Life 0} Johnson, ii, app., p. 457. 
 
 8 New York Colonial Documents, vii, p. 624. 
 10 Ibid., p. 603. 
 
1750-1765] Crogharis Journals 51 
 
 rewarded by a grant of land in Cherry Valley, New 
 York. Previous to this he had purchased a tract on the 
 Allegheny about four miles above Pittsburg, where in 
 1770 he entertained Washington. At the beginning of 
 the Revolution he appears to have embarked in the 
 patriot cause, 11 but later was an object of suspicion; and 
 in 1778 was proclaimed by Pennsylvania as a public 
 enemy, his place as Indian agent being conferred upon 
 Colonel George Morgan. He continued, however, to 
 reside in Pennsylvania, and died at Passyunk in I782. 12 
 
 In our selection of material from the large amount of 
 Croghan's published work, we have chosen that which 
 exemplifies Western conditions under three aspects: 
 First, the period of English ascendency on the Ohio, 
 which is illustrated by three documents of 1750 and 1751. 
 Secondly, the period of French ascendency, hostility 
 toward the English, and war on the frontiers; for this 
 epoch we publish four documents, ranging from 1754 to 
 1757. The third period, after the downfall of Canada, 
 is concerned with the surrender of the French posts, and 
 the renewed hostility of the Indians; the two journals we 
 publish for this period present interesting material for 
 the study of Western history. Each deals with a 
 pioneer voyage, for Rogers and Croghan were the first 
 Englishmen (except wandering traders or prisoners) to 
 penetrate the Lake Erie region and reach Detroit. The 
 voyage down the Ohio (1765), with its circumstantial 
 account of the appearance of the country, and its descrip- 
 tion of Indian conditions and relations, is noteworthy. 
 
 Croghan was a voluminous writer. In addition to 
 the official reports of his journeys, he evidently had 
 
 11 Egle, Notes and Queries (Harrisburg, 1896) 3d series, ii, p. 348. 
 
 12 For his descendants see Egle, Notes and Qtieries, 3d series, ii, p. 349. 
 
52 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 the habit of noting down the events of the day in a simple, 
 straightforward manner, so that many manuscripts of 
 his were long extant, presenting often different versions 
 of the same journey. The earlier antiquaries published 
 these as chance brought them to their notice. 13 The 
 official reports themselves were preserved in the colonial 
 archives, and are published in the Pennsylvania and New 
 York collections. It is believed that this is the first attempt 
 to bring together a selection of Croghan material that in 
 any adequate manner outlines his interesting career. 
 The chronological extent of these journals (from 1750- 
 1765) makes those which follow Post's of 1758; and 
 Morris's of 1764 interludes in the events which Cro- 
 ghan describes, thus throwing additional light upon the 
 same period and the same range of territory. 
 R. G. T. 
 
 13 See Craig, The Olden Time, and the heterogeneous mass of Croghan' s 
 writings therein printed. 
 
A SELECTION OF GEORGE CROGHAN'S 
 LETTERS AND JOURNALS RELATING 
 TO TOURS INTO THE WESTERN COUN- 
 TRYNOVEMBER 16, 1750- NOVEMBER, 
 
 1765 
 
 CROGHAN TO THE GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA" 
 
 LOGSTOWN ON OHIO, 
 December [November] the i6th, i75o. 15 
 SIR: Yesterday Mr. Montour and I got to this Town, 
 where we found thirty Warriors of the Six Nations going 
 
 14 The following is reprinted from Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 
 496-498; also printed in Early History of Western Pennsylvania, app., pp. 21- 
 29. The circumstances under which it was written are as follows: In the 
 autumn of 1750, Conrad Weiser reported to the governor of Pennsylvania that 
 the French agent Joncaire was on his way to the Ohio with a present of goods, 
 and orders from the governor of Canada to drive out all the English traders. 
 Accordingly, Governor Hamilton detailed Croghan and Montour to hasten 
 thither, and by the use of a small present, and the promise fof more, to try and 
 counteract the intrigues of the French, and maintain the Indians in the English 
 interest. Upon Croghan's arrival at Logstown, he sent back this reassuring letter. 
 Proceeding westward to the Muskingum, where he had a trading house at a 
 Wyandot village, Croghan met Christopher Gist, agent for the Ohio Company, 
 and with him continued to the Scioto, thence to the Twigtwee town of Picka- 
 willany (near the present Piqua, Ohio). All the way, Croghan held confer- 
 ences with the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandots, and Twigtwees, strengthening 
 the English alliance, and promising a large present of goods to be furnished 
 next spring at Logstown. At Pickawillany, he made an unauthorized treaty 
 with two new tribes who sought the English alliance the Piankeshaws and 
 Weas (Waughwaoughtanneys, French Ouiatonons). Unfortunately no extant 
 document by Croghan adequately chronicles this journey. Our knowledge of 
 it is derived from the journal of Gist (q. v.) ; from incidental notices in the 
 Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 476, 485-488, 522-525; and from Croghan's 
 brief account, see post. ED. 
 
 15 In the original publication the month was misprinted December for 
 November. See Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, p. 498, where the governor 
 in a message to the Assembly speaks of Croghan's letter from the Ohio of the 
 sixteenth of November. Cf. also, Gist's Journal, November 25, 1750, where 
 he says that Croghan had passed through Logstown about a week before. ED. 
 
54 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 to War against the Catawba Indians; they told us that 
 they saw John Coeur about one hundred and fifty miles 
 up this River at an Indian Town, where he intends to 
 build a Fort if he can get Liberty from the Ohio Indians; 
 he has five canoes loaded with Goods, and is very gener- 
 ous in making Presents to all the Chiefs of the Indians 
 that he meets with; he has sent two Messages to this 
 Town desiring the Indians here to go and meet him and 
 clear the Road for him to come down the River, but they 
 have had so little Regard to his Message that they have 
 not thought it worth while to send him an answer as yet. 16 
 We have seen but very few of the Chiefs of the Indians 
 they being all out a hunting, but those we have seen are of 
 opinion that their Brothers the English ought to have 
 a Fort on this River to secure the Trade, for they think 
 it will be dangerous for the Traders to travel the Roads 
 for fear of being surprised by some of the French and 
 French Indians, as they expect nothing else but a War 
 with the French next Spring. At a Town about three 
 hundred miles down this River, where the Chief of the 
 Shawonese live, 17 a Party of French and French Indians 
 
 16 Philippe Thomas Joncaire (John Coeur), Sieur de Chabert, was a French 
 officer resident among the Seneca Indians, to whose tribe his mother was said 
 to belong. Born in 1707, on the death of his father (1740) he succeeded to 
 the latter's influence and authority among the Iroquois, and made constant 
 efforts to neutralize the influence of Sir William Johnson, the English agent. 
 Joncaire had a trading house at Niagara, and his profits from the portage of 
 goods at that place were great. He accompanied Celeron's expedition in 
 1749; and in 1753 met Washington at Venango. It was chiefly due to his in- 
 fluence that the Ohio Indians deserted the English at the outbreak of the French 
 and Indian war. Joncaire led the Iroquois contingent in all the campaigns on 
 the Allegheny and in Western New York; and when Prideaux and Johnson 
 advanced against Niagara, he commanded an outpost at the upper end of the 
 portage. He signed the capitulation of Fort Niagara (1759), but after that 
 nothing further is known of him. ED. 
 
 17 The town mentioned here was at the mouth of the Scioto River, and 
 was known as " the lower Shawnee town." ED. 
 
1750] Croghan's Journals 55 
 
 surprised some of the Shawonese and killed a man and 
 took a woman and two children Prisoners; the Shawonese 
 pursued them and took five French Men and some 
 Indians Prisoners; the Twightwees likewise have sent 
 word to the French that if they can find any of their Peo- 
 ple, either French or French Indians, on their hunting 
 Ground, that they will make them Prisoners, so I expect 
 nothing else but a War this Spring; the Twightwees want 
 to settle themselves some where up this River in order 
 to be nearer their Brothers the English, for they are 
 determined never to hold a Treaty of Peace with the 
 French. Mr. Montour and I intend as soon as we can 
 get the Chiefs of the Six Nations that are Settled here 
 together, to sollicit them to appoint a Piece of Ground 
 up this River to seat the Twightwees on and kindle a 
 Fire for them, and if possible to remove the Shawonese 
 up the River, which we think will be securing those 
 Nations more steady to the English Interest. I hope the 
 Present of Goods that is preparing for those Indians 
 will be at this Town some time in March next, for the 
 Indians, as they are now acquainted that there is a Present 
 coming, will be impatient to receive it, as they intend to 
 meet the French next Spring between this and Fort De 
 Troit, for they are certain the French intend an Expedi- 
 tion against them next Spring from Fort De Troit. 18 
 
 18 Detroit was considered an important station by La Salle; but no perma- 
 nent post was established there until 1701, when De la Mothe Cadillac built a 
 fort named Pontchartrain, and established the nucleus of a French colony. 
 Bands of Indians were induced to settle at the strait; and here (1712) took 
 place the battle of the Foxes with the Hurons and Ottawas. Detroit con- 
 tinued to be one of the most important French posts in the West until in 1760, 
 when it was transferred to an English detachment under command of Major 
 Rogers. See Croghan's Journal, post. 
 
 The siege of Detroit during Pontiac's War is one of the best known inci- 
 
56 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 I hear the Owendaets [Wyandots] are as steady and well 
 attached to the English Interest as ever they were, so 
 that I believe the French will make but a poor hand of 
 those Indians. Mr. Montour takes a great deal of Pains 
 to promote the English Interest amongst those Indians, 
 and has a great sway amongst all those Nations; if your 
 Honour has any Instructions to send to Mr. Montour, 
 Mr. Trent will forward it to me. 19 I will see it delivered 
 to the Indians in the best manner, that your Honour's 
 Commands may have their full Force with the Indians. 
 I am, with due respects, 
 
 Your Honour's most humble Servant, 
 
 GEO. CROGHAN. 
 The Honoble. JAMES HAMILTON, 20 Esq. 
 
 dents in its history. During the Revolution, the British officials here were 
 accused of sending scalping parties against the frontier settlements; and in 
 1779 George Rogers Clark captured at Vincennes its "hair-buying" corns 
 mandant, General Henry Hamilton. In 1780, an expedition against Detroit wa- 
 projected by Clark, but failed of organization. Throughout the Indian wars 
 of the Northwest, Detroit was regarded with suspicion by the Americans, and 
 its surrender in 1796 secured a respite for the frontier. Its capitulation to the 
 British by Hull (1812) was a blow to the American cause, which was not re- 
 paired until after Perry's victory on Lake Erie, when Proctor evacuated Detroit, 
 which was regained by an American force (September 29, 1813). Cass was 
 then made governor. As American settlement came in, the importance of 
 Detroit as a centre for the fur-trade declined, and its career as a Western com- 
 mercial city began. ED. 
 
 19 Captain William Trent was a noted Indian trader, brother-in-law and at 
 this time partner of Croghan. Although born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1715), 
 he served the colony of Virginia as Indian agent; and in 1752 its governor dis- 
 patched him to the Miamis with a present. See Journal of Captain Trent 
 (Cincinnati, 1871). The following year he was sent out by the Ohio Company 
 to begin a fortification at the Forks of the Ohio, from which in Trent's absence 
 (April, 1754), the garrison was expelled by a French force under Contrecceur. 
 Trent was with Forbes in 1758, and the following year was made deputy Indian 
 agent, assistant to Croghan, and aided at the conferences at Fort Pitt in 1760. 
 His trade was ruined by the uprising of Pontiac's forces, but he received repara- 
 tion at the treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768) by a large grant of land between the 
 Kanawha and Monongahela rivers, where he made a settlement. At the out- 
 
1750] Croghan's "Journals 57 
 
 break of the Revolution he joined the patriot cause, and was major of troops 
 raised in Western Pennsylvania. ED. 
 
 20 Governor James Hamilton was the son of a prominent Philadelphia 
 lawyer, and being himself educated for the legal profession, held several offices 
 in the colony before he was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1748. His ad- 
 ministration was a vigorous one, but owing to difficulties with the Quaker 
 party he resigned in 1754. Five years later he was reinstated in the office, and 
 served until the proprietor John Penn came over as governor (1763). His 
 death occurred at New York during the British occupation (1783). ED. 
 
PROCEEDINGS OF GEORGE CROGHAN, ESQUIRE, AND MR. 
 ANDREW MONTOUR AT OHIO, IN THE EXECUTION OF 
 THE GOVERNOR'S INSTRUCTIONS TO DELIVER THE 
 PROVINCIAL PRESENT TO THE SEVERAL TRIBES OF 
 INDIANS SETTLED THERE: 21 
 
 May the i8th, 1751. I arrived at the Log's Town on 
 Ohio with the Provincial Present from the Province of 
 Pennsylvania, where I was received by a great number 
 of the Six Nations, Delawares, and Shawonese, in a very 
 complaisant manner in their way, by firing Guns and 
 Hoisting the English Colours. As soon as I came to the 
 shore their Chiefs met me and took me by the Hand 
 bidding me welcome to their Country. 
 
 May the igth. One of the Six Nation Kings from the 
 Head of Ohio came to the Logstown to the Council, he 
 immediately came to visit me, and told me he was glad to 
 see a Messenger from his Brother Onas on the waters of 
 the Ohio. 
 
 May the 2oth. Forty Warriors of the Six Nations 
 
 a This document is reprinted from Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 
 530-536; a portion of it is also to be found in Craig, The Olden Time (Pittsburg, 
 1846), i, p. 136, and a reprint in Early History of Western Pennsylvania, app., 
 pp. 26-34. As the result of Croghan's Western journey during the winter of 
 1750-51, and the desire of Pennsylvania to maintain its trade relations with 
 the Ohio Indians, the Assembly voted 700 to be employed in presents; 
 and the governor instructed Croghan and Montour to deliver the goods. 
 See Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 487, 518, 525, and Croghan's 
 account, post. The adroitness with which Croghan outwitted the French 
 officer and interpreter Joncaire, and his influence over the chiefs on the 
 Ohio, as well as the susceptibility of the Indian nature to the influence 
 of material goods, are all exemplified in this narrative. It did not result, 
 however, as Croghan and the governor wished, in inducing the Pennsyl- 
 vania authorities to construct a fort on the Ohio. The beginnings of that 
 enterprise were left to the Virginians, but too late to secure the Forks of the 
 Ohio from being seized by the French. ED. 
 
1751] Crogharis Journals 59 
 
 came to Town from the Heads of Ohio, with Mr. loncoeur 
 and one Frenchman more in company. 
 
 May the 2ist, 1751. Mr. loncoeur, the French Inter- 
 preter, called a council with all the Indians then present 
 in the Town, and made the following Speech: 
 
 ' ' CHILDREN : I desire you may now give me an answer 
 from your hearts to the Speech Monsieur Celeron (the 
 Commander of the Party of Two Hundred Frenchmen 
 that went down the River two Years ago) made to you. 22 
 His Speech was, That their Father the Governor of 
 Canada desired his Children on Ohio to turn away the 
 English Traders from amongst them, and discharge 
 them from ever coming to trade there again, or on any 
 of the Branches, on Pain of incurring his Displeasure, and 
 to enforce that Speech he gave them a very large Belt of 
 Wampum. Immediately one of the Chiefs of the Six 
 Nations get up and made the following answer: 
 
 "FATHERS: I mean you that call yourselves our 
 Fathers, hear what I am going to say to you. You de- 
 sire we may turn our Brothers the English away, and not 
 suffer them to come and trade with us again; I now tell 
 you from our Hearts we will not, for we ourselves brought 
 them here to trade with us, and they shall live amongst 
 
 22 The commandant of this famous expedition (1749) was Pierre Joseph 
 Celeron, Sieur de Blainville, born in 1693, and having served a long apprentice- 
 ship in the posts of the upper country. He commanded an invasion of the 
 Chickasaw country (1739), and had charge of the post at Detroit in 1742-43, 
 and again in 1750-54. Fort Niagara was entrusted to him in 1744-47, whence 
 he was transferred to Crown Point, until his Ohio expedition took place. In 
 the French and Indian War he held the rank of major, and served on the staff 
 of the commander-in-chief. He died about 1777. In 1760, the Canadian 
 authorities characterized him as "poor and brave." Some question has 
 arisen, whether the leader of this expedition might not have been a younger 
 brother, Jean Baptiste. For Croghan's visit to the Ohio directly after Celeron's 
 expedition had passed, see post; also, Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, 
 p. 387, and Pennsylvania Archives, ii, p. 31. ED. 
 
60 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 us as long as there is one of us alive. You are always 
 threatning our Brothers what you will do to them, and 
 in particular to that man (pointing to me); now if you 
 have anything to say to our Brothers tell it to him if you 
 be a man, as you Frenchmen always say you are, and the 
 Head of all Nations. Our Brothers are the People we 
 will trade with, and not you. Go and tell your Governor 
 to ask the Onondago Council If I don't speak the minds 
 of all the Six Nations;" 23 and then [he] returned the Belt. 
 
 I paid Cochawitchake the old Shawonese King a visit, 
 3,5 he was rendered incapable of attending the Council 
 by his great age, and let him know that his Brother the 
 Governor of Pennsylvania was glad to hear that he was 
 still alive and retained his senses, and had ordered me to 
 cloathe him and to acquaint him that he had not forgot 
 his strict Attachment to the English Interest. I gave 
 him a Strowd Shirt, Match Coat, and a pair of Stockings, 
 for which he gave the Governor a great many thanks. 
 
 May the 22d. A number of about forty of the Six 
 Nations came up the River Ohio to Logstown to wait on 
 the Council; as soon as they came to Town they came to 
 my House, and after shaking Hands they told me they 
 were glad to see me safe arrived in their Country after my 
 long Journey. 
 
 May the 23d. Conajarca, one of the Chiefs of the 
 Six Nations, and a Party with him from the Cuscuskie, 
 came to Town to wait on the Council, and congratulated 
 me upon my safe arrival in their Country. 
 
 23 The Onondaga Council was the chief governing body of the Six Nations, 
 or Iroquois, and since this confederacy assumed supremacy over the Ohio 
 Indians, it was the chief centre of Indian diplomacy. The council house was 
 situated on the site of the present town of Onondaga, New York, and was 
 about eighty feet long, with broad seats arranged on each side. For an early 
 description see Bartram, Observations, etc. (London, 1751), pp. 40, 41. ED. 
 
1751] Crogharis Journals 61 
 
 May the 24th. Some Warriors of the Delawares came 
 to Town from the Lower Shawonese Town, and brought 
 a Scalp with them; they brought an Account that the 
 Southward Indians had come to the Lower Towns to 
 War, and had killed some of the Shawonese, Delawares, 
 and the Six Nations, so that we might not expect any 
 People from there to the Council. 
 
 May the 25th. I had a conference with Monsieur 
 loncoeur; he desired I would excuse him and not think 
 hard of him for the Speech he made to the Indians re- 
 questing them to turn the English Traders away and not 
 suffer them to trade, for it was the Governor of Canada's 
 Orders 24 to him, and he was obliged to obey them altho' 
 he was very sensible which way the Indians would re- 
 ceive them, for he was sure the French could not accom- 
 plish their designs with the Six Nations without it could 
 be done by Force, which he said he believed they would 
 find to be as difficult as the method they had just tryed, 
 and would meet with the like success. 
 
 May the 26th. A Dunkar from the Colony of Virginia 
 came to the Log's Town and requested Liberty of the 
 Six Nation Chiefs to make [a settlement] on the River 
 Yogh-yo-gaine a branch of Ohio, to which the Indians 
 made answer that it was not in their Power to dispose of 
 Lands; that he must apply to the Council at Onondago, 
 
 24 Galissoniere, the governor of Canada, who planned Celeron's expedition 
 to the Ohio, was superseded in the autumn of 1749 by Jacques Pierre de Taffanel, 
 Marquis de la Jonquiere, who continued the policy of the former; he sent orders 
 to the commandants of the Western posts to arrest all British subjects found in 
 the Ohio Valley. La Jonquiere, who was born in 1686, had served in the 
 French navy with distinction, and after his first commission as governor of 
 New France was captured by an English vessel (1747), and kept a prisoner for 
 more than a year, so that he did not reach his post until 1749. His term of 
 service was but two years and a half, being terminated by his death in May, 
 1752. ED. 
 
62 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 and further told him that he did not take a right method, 
 for he should be first recommended by their Brother the 
 Governor of Pennsylvania, with whom all Publick Business 
 of that sort must be transacted before he need expect to 
 succeed. 25 
 
 May the 27th. Mr Montour and I had a Conference 
 with the Chiefs of the Six Nations, when it was agreed 
 upon that the following Speeches should be made to the 
 Delawares, Shawonese, Owendatts and Twightwees, 
 when the Provincial Present should be delivered them in 
 the Name of the Honourable James Hamilton, Esquire, 
 Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the 
 Province of Pennsylvania, and Counties of New Castle, 
 Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware, in Conjunction with the 
 Chiefs of the Six United Nations On Ohio: 
 
 A TREATY WITH THE INDIANS OF THE Six NATIONS, DEL- 
 AWARES, SHAWONESE, OWENDATTS AND TWIGHTWEES. 
 
 IN THE LOG'S TOWN ON OHIO, 
 Thursday the 28th May, 1751. 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 Thomas Kinton, Joseph Nelson, 
 Samuel Cuzzens, James Brown, 
 
 Jacob Pyatt, Dennis Sullavan, 
 
 > Indian Traders. 
 
 John Owens, Paul Pearce, 
 
 Thomas Ward, Caleb Lamb, 
 
 The Deputies of the Six Nations, Delawares, Shawo- 
 
 25 This Dunkar (or Dunker) was doubtless Samuel Eckerlin one of three 
 brothers who migrated from Ephrata about 1745, and ultimately settled on the 
 Monongahela about ten miles below Morgantown, West Virginia. The Dunkers 
 were a sect of German Baptists that arose in the Palatine about 1708, and mi- 
 grated to Pennsylvania in 1719. Their formal organization took place at a 
 baptism on the banks of Wissahickon Creek (near Philadelphia) in 1723. 
 There were several divisions of this sect, one of which founded the community 
 
1751] Crogharis Journals 63 
 
 nese, Owendatts, and Twightwees; Mr. Andrew Mon- 
 tour, Interpreter for the Province of Pennsylvania; 
 Toanshiscoe, Interpreter for the Six Nations. 
 
 George Croghan made the following Speech to the 
 several Nations, when they were met in Council, in the 
 Name of the Honourable James Hamilton, Esquire, 
 Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania: 
 
 11 FRIENDS AND BRETHREN: I am sent here by your 
 Brother the Governor of Pennsylvania with this Present 
 of Goods to renew the Friendship so long subsisting 
 between Us, and I present you these four strings of Wam- 
 pum to clear your Minds and open your Eyes and Ears 
 that you may see the Sun clear, and hear what your 
 Brother is going to say to you." Gave 4 Strings of 
 Wampum. 
 
 A Speech delivered the Delawares in answer to the 
 Speech they sent by Mr. Weiser three Years ago to his 
 Honour the Governor to acquaint him of the Death of 
 their Chief, King Oulamopess 26 by George Croghan: 
 
 "BRETHREN THE DELAWARES: Three years ago 
 some of the Chiefs of your Nation sent me a Message by 
 Mr. Weiser to acquaint me of the Death of your King, a 
 man well beloved by his Brethren the English. You told 
 Mr. Weiser that you intended to visit me in order to 
 consult about a new Chief, but you never did it. I have 
 ever since condoled with you for the Loss of so good a 
 Man, and considering the lamentable Condition you were 
 
 of Ephrata. Their tenets were baptism by immersion, a celibate community 
 life, and refusal to bear arms. The Eckerlin brothers sought a solitary wilder- 
 ness life, and at first were regarded with favor by the Ohio Indians. A massa- 
 cre, however, demolished their settlement in 1757. Three of the party were 
 captured, and sent as prisoners to Canada, and later to France. For details 
 see Sachse, German Sectarians of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1900), ii, pp. 
 340-359. ED. 
 
 28 For an account of this chief see Weiser's Journal, ante. ED. 
 
64 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 in for want of a Chief I present You this Belt of Wampum 
 and this Present to wipe away your Tears, and I desire 
 you may choose amongst Yourselves one of your wisest 
 Counsellors and present to your Brethren the Six Nations 
 and me for a Chief, and he so chosen by you shall be 
 looked upon by us as your King, with whom Publick 
 Business shall be transacted. Brethren, to enforce this 
 on your Minds I present you this Belt of Wampum." 
 Gave a Belt of Wampum, which was received with the 
 Yohah. 27 
 
 A Speech delivered the Shawonese from the Honour- 
 able James Hamilton, Governor of Pennsylvania, by 
 George Croghan: 
 
 "BRETHREN THE SHAWONESE: Three years ago 
 when some of your Chiefs and some Chiefs of the Six 
 Nations came down to Lancaster with our Brethren the 
 Twightwees, they informed me that your People that 
 went away with Peter Chartier was coming back, and 
 since that I hear that Part of them are returned. I am 
 glad to hear that they are coming home to you again that 
 you may become once more a People, and not as you were 
 dispersed thro' the World. I do not blame you for what 
 happened, for the wisest of People sometimes make mis- 
 takes; it was the French that the Indians call their Fathers 
 that deceived You and scattered you about the Woods 
 that they might have it in their Power to keep you poor. 
 Brethren, I assure you by this Present that I am fully 
 reconcil'd and have forgot any thing that you have done, 
 and I hope for the future there will be a more free and 
 open Correspondence between us; and now your Brethren 
 
 27 Indians receive a speech with grunts of approval, which the French 
 annalists spelled "ho-ho." Croghan is apparently giving the English render- 
 ing of this term. ED. 
 
1751] Crogharts Journals 65 
 
 the Six Nations join with me to remove any misunder- 
 standing that should have happened between us, that 
 we may henceforth spend the remainder of our days 
 together in Brotherly Love and Friendship. Now, that 
 this Speech which your Brothers the Six Nations joyn 
 with me in may have its full Force on your minds, I 
 present you this Belt of Wampum." -Gave a Belt of 
 Wampum, Which was received with the Yo-hah. 
 
 A Speech delivered the Owendatts, from the Honour- 
 able James Hamilton, Governor of Pennsylvania, by 
 George Croghan: 
 
 "BRETHREN THE OWENDATTS: I received a Message 
 by the Six Nations and another by Mr. Montour from 
 you, by both which I understand the French, whom the 
 Indians call their Father, wont let you rest in your Towns 
 in Peace, but constantly threaten to cut you off. How 
 comes this ? Are you not a free and independent People, 
 and have you not a Right to live where you please on your 
 own Land and trade with whom you please? Your 
 Brethren, the English, always considered you as a free 
 Nation, and I think the French who attempt to infringe 
 on your Liberties should be opposed by one and all the 
 Indians or any other Nations that should undertake such 
 unjust proceedings. 
 
 ' ' Brethren : I am sorry to hear of your Troubles, and 
 I hope you and your Brethren the Six Nations will let 
 the French know that you are a free People and will not 
 be imposed on by them. To assure you that I have 
 your Troubles much at heart I present you this Belt 
 and this Present of Goods to cloathe your Families." 
 Gave a Belt of Wampum, which was received with the 
 Yo-hah. 
 
 A Speech delivered the Twightwees from the Honour- 
 
66 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 able James Hamilton, Esquire, Governor Pennsylvania, 
 by George Croghan : 
 
 "BRETHREN THE TWIGHTWEES: As you are an 
 antient and renowned Nation I was well pleased when 
 you sent your Deputies now three years ago to sollicit 
 our Alliance; nor did we hesitate to grant you your 
 Request, as it came so warmly recommended to us by 
 our Brethren the Six Nations, Delawares, and Shawonese. 
 At your further Request we ordered our Traders to go 
 amongst you and supply you with Goods at as reasonable 
 rates as they could afford. We understand that in obedi- 
 ence to our Commands our Traders have given you full 
 Satisfaction to your Requests. In one your Towns about 
 three Months ago Mr. George Croghan likewise informs 
 us that some more of your Tribes earnestly requested 
 to become our Allies. He and Mr. Montour did receive 
 a writing from you Certifying such your Request, and 
 containing your Promises of Fidelity and Friendship, 
 which we have seen and approve of. Brethren: we have 
 recommended it to our Brethren the Six Nations to give 
 you their advice how you should behave in your new 
 Alliance with us, and we expect that you will follow it, 
 that the Friendship now subsisting between Us, the Six 
 Nations, Delawares, Shawonese, Owendatts, and you, 
 may become as Strong as a great Mountain which the 
 Winds constantly blow against but never overset. Breth- 
 ren, to assure you of our hearty Inclinations towards you 
 I make you this Present of Goods; and that this Speech 
 which I make you now in Conjunction with the Six 
 Nations may have its full Force on your minds, I present 
 you this Belt of Wampum." Gave a Belt, which was 
 received with the Yo-hah. 
 
 A Speech made to the Six United Nations by George 
 
1751] Croghan' s Journals 67 
 
 Croghan in behalf of the Honourable James Hamilton, 
 Esquire, Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania: 
 
 "BRETHREN THE Six NATIONS: Hear what I am 
 going to say to you. Brethren: it is a great while since 
 we, your Brothers the English, first came over the great 
 Water (meaning the Sea); as soon as our ship struck the 
 Land you the Six Nations took hold of her and tyed her 
 to the Bushes, and for fear the Bushes would not be 
 strong enough to hold her you removed the Rope and 
 tyed it about a great Tree; then fearing the winds would 
 blow the Tree down, you removed the Rope and tyed it 
 about a great Mountain in the Country (meaning the 
 Onondago Country), and since that time we have lived 
 in true Brotherly Love and Friendship together. Now, 
 Brethren, since that there are several Nations joined in 
 Friendship with you and Us, and of late our Brethren 
 the Twightwees: Now, Brethren, as you are the Head of 
 all the Nations of Indians, I warmly recommend it to 
 you to give our Brethren the Twightwees your best ad- 
 vice that they may know how to behave in their New 
 Alliance, and likewise I give our Brethren the Owendatts 
 in charge to you, that you may Strengthen them to with- 
 stand their Enemies the French, who I understand treat 
 them more like Enemies than Children tho' they call 
 themselves their Father. 
 
 "Brethren: I hope we, your Brothers the English, 
 and you the Six Nations, Delawares, Shawonese, Owen- 
 datts, and Twightwees, will continue in such Brotherly 
 Love and Friendship that it will be as strong as that 
 Mountain to which you tyed our Ship. Now, Brethren, 
 I am informed by George Croghan that the French 
 obstruct my Traders and carry away their Persons and 
 Goods, and are guilty of many outrageous Practices, 
 
68 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Whereby the Roads are rendered unsafe to travel in, 
 nor can we ask our Traders to go amongst you whilst 
 their Lives and Effects are in such great Danger. How 
 comes this to pass? Don't this proceed from the Pride 
 of Onontio, whom the Indians call their Father, because 
 they don't see his ill Designs? The strong houses you 
 gave him Leave to erect on your Lands serve (As your 
 Brethren the English always told you) to impoverish 
 You and keep your Wives and Children always naked 
 by keeping the English Traders at a Distance, the French 
 well knowing the English sell their Goods cheaper than 
 they can afford, and I can assure You Onontio will never 
 rest while an English Trader comes to Ohio; and indeed 
 if you don't open your Eyes and put a Stop to his Pro- 
 ceedings he will gain his Ends. Brethren: I hope you 
 will consider well what Onontio means or is about to do. 
 To enforce what I have been saying to you on your minds, 
 I present this Belt of Wampum." Gave a Belt. They 
 received this Belt with Yo-hah. 
 
 The Speaker of the Six Nations made the following 
 Speech to Monsieur loncoeur in open Council; he spoke 
 very quick and sharp with the Air of a Warrior: 
 
 "FATHER How comes it that you have broke the 
 General Peace ? Is it not three years since you as well as 
 our Brother the English told Us that there was a Peace 
 between the English and French, and how comes it that 
 you have taken our Brothers as your Prisoners on our 
 Lands ? Is it not our Land (Stamping on the Ground and 
 putting his Finger to John Coeur's Nose) ? What Right 
 has Onontio to our Lands ? I desire you may go home 
 directly off our Lands and tell Onontio to send us word 
 immediately what was his Reason for using our Brothers 
 so, or what he means by such Proceedings, that we may 
 
1751] Crogharis Journals 69 
 
 know what to do, for I can assure Onontio that We the 
 Six Nations will not take such Usage. You hear what 
 I say, and that is the Sentiments of all our Nations; tell 
 it to Onontio that that is what the Six Nations said to 
 you." Gave 4 Strings of black Wampum. 
 
 After which the Chief of the Indians ordered the Goods 
 to be divided, and appointed some of each Nation to 
 stand by to see it done, that those that were absent might 
 have a sufficient Share laid by for them. 
 
 After which the Chiefs made me a Speech and told me 
 it was a Custom with their Brothers whenever they went 
 to Council to have their Guns, Kettles, and Hatchets 
 mended, and desired I might order that done, for they 
 could not go home till they had that done. So Mr. Mon- 
 tour and I agreed to comply with their Request, and 
 ordered it done that they might depart well satisfied. 
 
LETTER OF CROGHAN TO THE GOVERNOR, ACCOMPANY- 
 ING THE FOREGOING TREATY 28 
 
 PENNSBORO', June loth, 1751. 
 
 MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOUR: Inclosed is a Copy of 
 the Treaty held on Ohio by your Honour's Instructions 
 on delivering your Honour's Present to the several Nations 
 of Indians Residing there. I hope your Honour on pe- 
 rusing the Proceedings of the Treaty will find that I have 
 observed your Honour's Instructions in every Speech 
 that I delivered from your Honour. I took all the 
 Pains I could to make the Present have its full Force 
 and Weight with the Indians, and I have the Pleasure of 
 assuring your Honour that the Indians were all unani- 
 mously well pleased at your Honour's Speeches, and 
 likewise acknowledged it was a great Present, and the 
 Chiefs of the Six Nations took great Pains with me in 
 dividing it amongst the other nations, that it might have 
 its full force with them, which I assure your Honour it 
 had, for every man I saw there was well satisfied with 
 his share of the Present; the Indians in general expressed 
 a high Satisfaction at having the Opportunity in the 
 Presence of loncceur of expressing their hearty Love 
 and Inclinations towards the English, and likewise to 
 assure your Honour what Contempt they had for the 
 French, which your Honour will see by the Speeches they 
 made. loncceur-Ioncceur has sent a Letter to your 
 
 28 This letter accompanied the preceding journal, and was written on 
 Croghan's return to the settlements. Pennsbcro was the district in Cumber- 
 land County west of the Susquehanna, in which Croghan's home was at this 
 time situated. ED. 
 
1751] Crogharfs 'Journals 71 
 
 Honour, which I enclose here. 29 Mr. Montour has 
 exerted himself very much on this occasion, and he is not 
 only very capable of doing the Business, but look'd on 
 amongst all the Indians as one of their Chiefs, I hope your 
 Honour will think him worth notice, and recommend it 
 to the Assembly to make him full Satisfaction for his 
 Trouble, as he has employed all his Time in the Business 
 of the Government. I hope your Honour will recom- 
 mend it to the Government of Virginia to answer the 
 Speech sent them now in answer to their own Speech 
 sent last Fall, as soon as possible. May it please your 
 Honour, I make bold to send down my Account against 
 the Province for what Wampum I delivered Mr. Mon- 
 tour to make the Speeches last Fall and this Spring, de- 
 livered by your Honour's Instructions. Mr. Montour is 
 at my House and will wait on your Honour when you 
 Please to appoint the time. I hope what has been tran- 
 sacted at this Treaty will be pleasing to your Honour, as 
 I am sure the Present had its full Force, and shall defer 
 any farther Account till you have the opportunity of 
 examining Mr. Montour. 
 
 I am your Honour's most obedient, humble Servant, 
 GEORGE CROGHAN. 
 
 29 The letter from Joncaire here referred to, is printed in French in Pennsyl- 
 vania Colonial Records, v, p. 540. It consists merely of a statement of the 
 French right to the Ohio Valley, and of the orders of the governor of Canada to 
 permit no English to trade therein. ED. 
 
CROGHAN'S JOURNAL, i754. 30 
 
 January i2th, 1754. I arrived at Turtle Creek about 
 eight miles from the Forks of Mohongialo, where I was 
 
 30 This journal is reprinted from the Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 731- 
 735 (also found in Early History of Western Pennsylvania, app., pp. 50-53), and 
 chronicles a material change of affairs on the Ohio since the last account written 
 by Croghan. Then the English interests were in the ascendency, and the French 
 were being flouted and driven from the headwaters of the Ohio. But the divi- 
 sion in English councils, the supineness of the colonial assemblies, and the active 
 preparation and determined advance of the French into the upper Ohio Valley 
 had had its effect upon the Indian tribes. Two years before, Trent had reported 
 all the Ohio tribes secure in the English interest; but the same year an expedi- 
 tion from Detroit had moved against the recalcitrant Miamis (Twigtwees)> 
 and after inflicting a severe chastisement had secured them again to the French 
 control, as Croghan herein reports. Early the following year the French 
 expedition under Marin had advanced to take forcible possession of the Ohio 
 country, and begin the chain of posts necessary to its defense. Presqu'isle 
 and Le Boeuf had been built, while a deputation under Joncaire had seized 
 the English trader's house at Venango, and placed a French flag above it. A 
 large number of the Indians, frightened at this show of force yielded to the 
 threatenings and cajoleries of the French officers. A small party, hoping to 
 obtain aid from the English colonists, had sent off a deputation in the autumn 
 of 1753 to meet the Virginia authorities at Winchester, and those of Pennsyl- 
 vania at Carlisle, at both of which conferences Croghan was in attendance- 
 The present which the Assembly of Pennsylvania had voted the preceding May 
 (Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, p. 617) was cautiously given out, most of it 
 consisting of powder and lead; it was feared with reason, that it might be used to 
 the disadvantage of the back settlements. Croghan himself, although using every 
 endeavor to fortify the Indians in the English alliance, lost heart at the dilatoriness 
 of the Pennsylvania Assembly, some of whose members even doubted whether 
 the land invaded did not rightfully belong to the French. He could wish with 
 all his "hart Some gentleman who is an Artist in Philadelphia, and whos Acount 
 wold be Depended on, whould have ye Curiosety to take a Journay in those 
 parts," in order to prove to the province (by means of a map) that the lands 
 on which the French were building lay within .their jurisdiction (Pennsyl- 
 vania Archives, ii, p. 132). Meanwhile, Washington had been sent out by Din- 
 widdie to summon the French to retire. Croghan, who reached this territory 
 soon after Washington's return, reports in the following journal the conditions 
 on the Ohio. ED. 
 
1754] Crogharfs Journals 73 
 
 informed by John Frazier, an Indian Trader, 31 that Mr. 
 Washington, who was sent by the Governor of Virginia 
 to the French Camp, was returned. Mr. Washington 
 told Mr. Frazier that he had been very well used by the 
 French General; that after he delivered his Message the 
 General told him his Orders were to take all the English 
 he found on the Ohio, which Orders he was determined 
 to obey, and further told him that the English had no 
 business to trad^ on the Ohio, for that all the Lands of 
 Ohio belonged to his Master the King of France, all 
 to Alegainay Mountain. Mr. Washington told Mr. 
 Frazier the Fort where he was is very strong, and that 
 they had Abundance of Provisions, but they would not 
 let him see their Magazine; there are about one hundred 
 Soldiers and fifty Workmen at that Fort, and as many 
 more at the Upper Fort, and about fifty Men at Weningo 
 with Jean Coeur; the Rest of their Army went home last 
 Fall, but is to return as soon as possible this Spring; 
 when they return they are to come down to Log's Town 
 in order to build a Fort somewhere thereabouts. This 
 is all I had of Mr. Washington's Journey worth relating 
 to your Honour. 32 
 
 31 A year and a half after this visit of Croghan's, Turtle Creek was the site 
 of Braddock's defeat. For a description of the battle, and the present appear- 
 ance of the site, see Thwaites, How George Rogers Clark won the Northwest 
 and other Essays in Western History (Chicago, 1903), pp. 184, 185. 
 
 John Frazier, who had his house at the mouth of Turtle Creek, was a Pennsyl- 
 vania trader, gunsmith, and interpreter, who had lived twelve years at Venango, 
 whence he was driven by the invading French expedition the summer previous. 
 He assisted Washington on his journey, and the next year (1754) was com- 
 missioned lieutenant of the militia forces under Trent's command, that were 
 to fortify the Forks of the Ohio. ED. 
 
 32 The journal of Washington on this journey was on his return printed in 
 Winchester (only two copies of which edition are known to be extant), also in 
 London (1754). Frequent reprints have been made, and the journal has been 
 edited by Sparks, Rupp, Craig, Shea, and Ford. The journal of Gist, who 
 accompanied Washington, is found in Darlington's Gist, pp. 80-87. Croghan 
 gives a concise summary of Washington's mission and its results. ED. 
 
74 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 On the thirteenth I arrived at Shanoppin's Town, 
 where Mr. Montour and Mr. Patten overtook me. 33 
 
 On the fourteenth we set off to Log's Town, where we 
 found the Indians all drunk; the first Salutation we got 
 was from one of the Shawonese who told Mr. Montour 
 and myself we were Prisoners, before we had time to 
 tell them that their Men that were in Prison at Carolina 
 were released, and that we had two of them in our Com- 
 pany. The Shawonese have been very uneasy about 
 those Men that were in Prison, and had not those Men 
 been released it might have been of very ill consequence at 
 this time; but as soon as they found their Men were 
 released they seem'd all overjoyed, and I believe will 
 prove true to their Alliance. 34 
 
 On the fifteenth Five Canoes of French came down to 
 Log's Town in Company with the Half King 35 and some 
 more of the Six Nations, in Number an Ensign, a Ser- 
 jeant, and Fifteerl Soldiers. 
 
 33 John Patten was a Pennsylvania Indian trader, who was captured in 
 the Miami towns by the order of the French governor (1750). He and two 
 companions were carried to Canada, and afterwards sent to France, being 
 imprisoned at La Rochelle, whence they appealed to the English ambassador 
 who secured their release. See New York Colonial Documents, x, p. 241. 
 Patten had at this time been sent to the Ohio with the Shawnee prisoners 
 from South Carolina. See Pennsylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 730, 731. ED. 
 
 34 Six Shawnee Indians had been arrested on suspicion of being concerned 
 in a raid, and confined in the Charleston, South Carolina, jail. On the request 
 of Governor Hamilton, two were released and sent to Philadelphia to be deliv- 
 ered to their kinsfolk. The other four made their escape. See Pennsylvania 
 Colonial Records, v, pp. 696-700. ED. 
 
 35 The Half-King was a prominent Seneca or Mingo chief, whose home was 
 at Logstown. He was faithful to the English interest, and accompanied Wash- 
 ington both on his journey of 1753 and his expedition of 1754; upon the latter, 
 he claimed to have slain Jumonville with his own hand. He was decorated by 
 the governor of Virginia in recognition of his services, and given the honorary 
 name of ' ' Dinwiddie" in which he took great pride. When the French secured 
 the Ohio region, he removed under Croghan's protection to Aughwick Creek, 
 where he died in October, 1756. ED. 
 
1754] Crogharis Journals 75 
 
 On the sixteenth in the morning Mr. Patten took a 
 Walk to where the French had pitched their Tents, and 
 on his returning back by the Officer's Tent he ordered 
 Mr. Patten to be brought in to him, on which Word came 
 to the Town that Mr. Patten was taken Prisoner. Mr. 
 Montour and myself immediately went to where the 
 French was encamped, where we found the French 
 Officer and the Half King in a high Dispute. The 
 Officer told Mr. Montour and Me that he meant no hurt 
 to Mr. Patton, but wondered he should pass backward 
 and forward without calling in. The Indians were all 
 drunk, and seemed very uneasy at the French for stop- 
 ping Mr. Patten, on which the Officer ordered his Men 
 on board their Canoes and set off to a small Town of 
 the Six Nations about two Miles below the Log's Town, 
 where he intends to stay till the Rest of their Army 
 come down. As to any particulars that pass'd between 
 the Officer and Mr. Patten I refer your Honour to Mr. 
 Patten. 
 
 By a Chickisaw Man who has lived amongst the Shawo- 
 nese since he was a Lad, and is just returned from the 
 Chickisaw Country 36 where he has been making a Visit to 
 his Friends, we hear that there is a large Body of French 
 at the Falls of Ohio, not less he says than a thousand Men ; 
 that they have abundance of Provisions and Powder and 
 Lead with them, and that they are coming up the River 
 to meet the Army from Canada coming down. He says 
 a Canoe with Ten French Men in her came up to the 
 
 38 The Chickasaws were a tribe of Southern Indians, domiciled in Western 
 Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, who were traditional allies of the English 
 and enemies of the French. After the Natchez War in Louisiana, the remnant 
 of that tribe took refuge with the Chickasaws, who inflicted a severe defeat upon 
 the French (1736), capturing and burning a Jesuit priest and several well-known 
 officers. ED. 
 
j6 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Lower Shawonese Town with him, but on some of the 
 English Traders' threatning to take them they set back 
 that night without telling their Business. 
 
 By a message sent here from Fort De Troit by the 
 Owendats to the Six Nations, Delawares, and Shawonese, 
 we hear that the Ottoways are gathering together on this 
 Side Lake Erie, several hundreds of them, in order to 
 cutt off the Shawonese at the Lower Shawonese Town. 87 
 The French and Ottoways offered the Hatchet to the 
 Owendats but they refused to assist them. 
 
 We hear from Scarrooyady that the Twightwees that 
 went last Spring to Canada to counsel with the French 
 were returned last Fall; that they had taken hold of the 
 French Hatchet and were entirely gone back to their old 
 Towns amongst the French. 
 
 From the sixteenth to the twenty-sixth we could do 
 nothing, the Indians being constantly drunk. 
 
 On the twenty sixth the French called the Indians to 
 Council and made them a Present of Goods. On the 
 Indians Return the Half King told Mr. Montour and me 
 he would take an Opportunity to repeat over to Us what 
 the French said to them. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh We called the Indians to Coun- 
 cil, and cloathed the Two Shawonese according to the 
 Indian Custom, and delivered them up in Council with 
 your Honour's Speeches, sent by Mr. Patten, which Mr. 
 Montour adapted to Indian Forms as much as was in his 
 Power or mine. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth We called the Indians to Council 
 
 87 The Ottawas were an Algonquian tribe, domiciled in Michigan about the 
 posts of Mackinac and Detroit. Faithful to the French interests, they were 
 doubtless acting under the directions of their commandants in gathering to 
 attack the Shawnees on the Scioto. ED. 
 
1754] Crogharis Journals 77 
 
 again, and delivered them a large Belt of Black and White 
 Wampum in Your Honour's and the Governor of Vir- 
 ginia's Name, by which we desired they might open 
 their Minds to your Honour, and speak from their Hearts 
 and not from their Lips ; and that they might now inform 
 your Honour by Mr. Andrew Montour, whom You had 
 chosen to transact Business between You and your 
 Brethren at Ohio, whether that Speech which they sent 
 your Honour by Lewis Montour was agreed on in Council 
 or not, and assured them they might freely open their 
 Minds to their Brethren your Honour and the Governor 
 of Virginia, as the only Friends and Brethren they had 
 to depend on. Gave the Belt. 
 
 After delivering the Belt Mr. Montour gave them the 
 Goods left in my Care by your Honour's Commissioners 
 at Carlisle, and at the same time made a Speech to them 
 to let them know that those Goods were for the Use of 
 their Warriors and Defence of their Country. 
 
 As soon as the Goods were delivered the Half King 
 made a Speech to the Shawonese and Delawares, and 
 told them as their Brother Onas had sent them a large 
 Supply of Necessaries for the Defence of their Country, 
 that he would put it in their Care till all their Warriors 
 would have Occasion to call for it, as their Brethren the 
 English had not yet got a strong House to keep such 
 Things safe in. 
 
 The Thirty-First A Speech delivered by the Half King 
 in Answer to your Honour's Speeches on delivering the 
 Shawonese : 
 
 ' ' BROTHER ONAS : We return You our hearty Thanks 
 for the Trouble You have taken in sending for our poor 
 Relations the Shawonese, and with these four Strings 
 of Wampum we clear your Eyes and Hearts, that You 
 
78 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 may see your Brothers the Shawonese clear as You used 
 to do, and not think that any small Disturbance shall 
 obstruct the Friendship so long subsisting between You 
 and us your Brethren, the Six Nations, Delawares, and 
 Shawonese. We will make all Nations that are in Alli- 
 ance with Us acquainted with the Care You have had of 
 our People at such a great distance from both You and 
 Us. " Gave Four Strings of Wampum. 
 
 A Speech Delivered by the Half King 
 "Brethren the Governors of Pennsylvania and Vir- 
 ginia: You desire Us to open our Minds to You and to 
 speak from our Hearts, which we assure You, Brethren, we 
 do. You desire We may inform you whether that Speech 
 sent by Lewis Montour was agreed on in Council or not, 
 Which we now assure You it was in part; but that Part 
 of giving the Lands to pay the Traders' Debts We know 
 nothing of it; it must have been added by the Traders 
 that wrote the Letter; 38 but we earnestly requested by 
 that Belt, and likewise we now request that our Brother 
 the Governor of Virginia may build a Strong House at 
 the Forks of the Mohongialo, and send some of our young 
 Brethren, their Warriors, to live on it; and we expect 
 our Brother of Pennsylvania will build another House 
 somewhere on the River where he shall think proper, 
 where whatever assistance he will think proper to send 
 
 38 Lewis Montour, a brother of Andrew, had come the previous autumn to 
 the governor of Pennsylvania, with a message purporting to have been sent by 
 the Ohio Indians; they were represented as requesting help against the French, 
 and the building of forts on the river, and as offering all the lands east of the 
 river to pay the debts of the traders. As the character of those who claimed to 
 have obtained this treaty was open to suspicion, the governor had sent Croghan 
 and Andrew Montour to ascertain the truth of the matter. The unauthorized 
 insertion of so great a land grant, is a good specimen of the methods by which 
 the unprincipled traders sought to take advantage of the Indians. See Penn- 
 sylvania Colonial Records, v, pp. 691-696. ED. 
 
1754] Crogharis Journals 79 
 
 us may be kept safe for us, as our Enemies are just at 
 hand, and we do not know what Day they may come 
 upon Us. We now acquaint our Brethren that we have 
 our Hatchet in our Hands to strike the Enemy as soon as 
 our Brethren come to our assistance." 
 
 Gave a Belt and Eight Strings of Wampum. 
 
 THE HALF KING, 
 SCARROOYADY, 
 NEWCOMER, 
 COSWENTANNEA, 
 TONELAGUESONA, 
 SHINGASS, 
 
 DELAWARE GEORGE. 
 
 After the Chiefs had signed the last Speech, the Half 
 King repeated over the French Council, which was as 
 follows: 
 
 "CHILDREN: I am come here to tell you that your 
 Father is coming here to visit you and to take You under 
 his care, and I desire You may not listen to any ill News 
 You hear, for I assure you he will not hurt You; 'Tis true 
 he has something to say to your Brethren the English, 
 but do you sit still and do not mind what your Father does 
 to your Brothers, for he will not suffer the English to 
 live or tread on this River Ohio;"- -on which he made 
 them a Present of Goods. 
 
 February the First. By a Cousin of Mr. Montour's 
 that came to Log's town in company with a Frenchman 
 from Weningo by Land, we hear that the French expect 
 Four Hundred Men every Day to the Fort above Weningo, 
 and as soon as they come they are to come down the 
 River to Log's town to take possession from the English 
 till the rest of the Army comes in the Spring. 
 
 The Frenchman that came here in company with Mr. 
 
80 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Montour's Cousin, is Keeper of the King's Stores, and I 
 believe the chief of his Business is to take a view of the 
 Country and to see what Number of English there is 
 here, and to know how the Indians are affected to the 
 French. 
 
 February the Second. Just as we were leaving the 
 Log's Town, the Indians made the following Speech: 
 
 "Brethren the Governors of Pennsylvania and Vir- 
 ginia: we have opened our Hearts to You and let you 
 know our Minds; we now, by these two Strings of black 
 Wampum, desire You may directly send to our Assistance 
 that You and We may secure the Lands of Ohio, for there 
 is nobody but You our Brethren and ourselves have any 
 Right to the Lands; but if you do not send immediately 
 we shall surely be cut of[f] by our Enemy the French." 
 Gave two Strings of black Wampum. 
 
 February the Second. A Speech made by Shingass, 
 King of the Delawares. 
 
 "BROTHER ONAS: I am glad to hear all our People 
 here are of one mind; it is true I live here on the River 
 Side, which is the French Road, and I assure you by 
 these Strings of Wampum that I will neither go down or 
 up, but I will move nearer to my Brethren the English, 
 where I can keep our Women and Children safe from the 
 Enemy." 39 Gave Three Strings of Wampum. 
 
 39 Shingas, brother of King Beaver, was one of the principal leaders of the 
 Delaware Indians on the Ohio, where he had a town at the mouth of Beaver 
 Creek. Shortly after this meeting with Croghan, he deserted to the French^ 
 and his braves were a terror to the border settlers. Governor Denny of Pennsyl- 
 vania set a price of 200 upon his head. Post had a conference with Shingas 
 (1758), and persuaded him to return to the English alliance; nevertheless, at 
 the occupation of the Forks of the Ohio by the English, Shingas with his band 
 retreated to the Muskingum. The last mention of him seems to be in 1762 
 (Pennsylvania Colonial Records, viii, p. 690), and he appears to have died before 
 the conspiracy of Pontiac (1763), in which his tribe took part. ED. 
 
1754] Croghans Journals 81 
 
 The above is a true account of our Proceedings, taken 
 down by Your Honour's most obedient humble Servant. 
 
 GEORGE CROGHAN. 
 3d February, 1754. 
 
 The Honourable James Hamilton Esquire. 
 
CROGHAN TO CHARLES SWAINE AT SmppENSBURG 40 
 
 AUGHWICK, October pth, 1755. 
 
 DEAR SIR: On my return home I met with an Indian 
 from Ohio who gives me the following accounts: That 
 about 14 days ago he left Ohio, at that time there was 
 about 1 60 Men ready to set out to harrass the English 
 which probably they be those doing the Mischiefs on 
 Potomack. He says the French Fort is not very strong 
 with men at present. He likewise says that he is of 
 opinion the Indians will do no mischief on the Inhabi- 
 tants of Pennsylvania till they can draw all the Indians 
 out of the Province and off Sasquehanna, which they are 
 now industriously endeavouring to do; and he desires me 
 as soon as I see the Indians remove from Sasquehanna 
 back to Ohio to shift my quarters, for he says that the 
 French will, if possible, lay all the back frontiers in ruins 
 this Winter. 
 
 This man was sent by a few of my old Indian Friends 
 to give me this caution, that I might save my scalps, 
 which he says would be no small Prize to the French; 
 
 40 This letter is reprinted from Pennsylvania Colonial Records, vi, 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), 
 *, p. 187 and he had been present at the affair of the Great Meadows. Dur- 
 ing 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 Augh- 
 wick 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 knowl- 
 edge of the frontier situation was much relied on in this extremity. ED. 
 
1755] Croghari s ^Journals 83 
 
 and he has ordered me to keep it private so that I don't 
 intend to communicate it to any body but you. I don't 
 know whether the Governor should be made acquainted 
 with it or no; but if you judge it proper write the Gover- 
 nor the whole, but at the same time request him to keep 
 it a secret from whom he had his Information, for if it 
 should be made publick to the Interpreters or Indians it 
 may cost me and the man I had my Information from 
 our Lives; and, moreover, the best method to frustrate 
 their Designs will be for the Governor not to let the Indians 
 know that he is acquainted with their design, but to 
 conduct the affair privately, so as not to let the Indians 
 know he has any suspicion of them. Indeed it is only 
 what I thought the Indians always aimed at, and what 
 I feared they would accomplish, for I see all our great 
 Directors of Indian affairs are very short sighted, and 
 glad I am that I have no hand in Indian affairs at this criti- 
 cal time, where no fault can be thrown on my shoulders. 
 
 I am, Dear Sir, Your most humble Servant, 
 
 GEO. CROGHAN. 
 To Mr. Charles Swaine. 
 
 P. S. Sir, if you could possibly Lend me 6 guns with 
 powder, 20 of lead by the bearer, I will return them in 
 about 15 days, when I can get some from the Mouth of 
 Conegochege. I hope to have my Stockade finished by 
 the middle of next week. 41 G. C. 
 
 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, afler 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 aban- 
 doned. ED. 
 
A COUNCIL HELD AT CARLISLE, TUESDAY THE 
 JANUARY, 1756^ 
 
 Present: 
 
 The Honourable ROBERT HUNTER MORRIS," Esq., 
 Lieutenant Governor. 
 
 JAMES HAMILTON WILLIAM LOGAN, ) ^ 
 
 RICHARD PETERS, ] Esqmres ' 
 
 JOSEPH Fox, Esquire, Commissioner, 
 
 MR. CROGHAN. 
 
 Mr. Croghan having been desired by the Governor in 
 December last to do all in his Power to gain Intelligence 
 of the Motions and Designs of the Indians, and being 
 now in Town was sent for into Council, and at the In- 
 stance of the Governor gave the following Information, 
 viz: "That he sent Delaware Jo, one of our Friendly 
 Indians, to the Ohio for Intelligence, who returned to his 
 House at Aucquick the eighth Instant, and informed 
 him that he went to Kittannin, an Indian Delaware Town 
 on the Ohio about forty Miles above Fort Duquesne, the 
 
 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 1^1754; 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. 
 
1756] Grogharis Journals 85 
 
 Residence of Chingas and Captain Jacobs, where he found 
 one hundred and forty Men chiefly Delawares and Shawo- 
 nese, who had then with them above one hundred Eng- 
 lish Prisoners big and little taken from Virginia and 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 That there the Beaver, 44 Brother of Chingas, told him 
 that the Governor of Fort Duquesne 45 had often offered 
 the French Hatchet to the Shawonese and Delawares, 
 who had as often refused it, declaring they would do as 
 they should be advised by the Six Nations; but that in 
 April or May last a Party of Six Nation Warriors in 
 Company with some Caghnawagos 46 and Adirondacks 
 called at the French Fort in their going to War against the 
 Southern Indians, and on these the Governor of Fort 
 
 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. 
 
 46 Fort Duquesne, built at the Forks of the Ohio in 1754, was first com- 
 manded by Contrecceur; but in the September following the battle of the 
 Monongahela, Captain Dumas, who had distinguished himself at that engage- 
 ment, 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. 
 
86 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Duquesne prevailed to offer the French Hatchet to the 
 Delawares and Shawonese who received it from them 
 and went directly against Virginia. 
 
 That neither the Beaver nor several others of the Shawo- 
 nese and Delawares approved of this measure nor had 
 taken up the Hatchet, and the Beaver believed some of 
 those who had were sorry for what they had done, and 
 would be glad to make up Matters with the English. 
 
 That from Kittannin he went to the Log's Town, where 
 he found about one hundred Indians and thirty English 
 Prisoners taken by the Shawonese living at the Lower 
 Shawonese Town from the western Frontier of Virginia 
 and sent up to Log's Town. He was told the same thing 
 by these Shawonese that the Beaver had told him before 
 respecting their striking the English by the advise of some 
 of the Six Nations, and further he was informed that the 
 French had sollicited the Indians to sell them the English 
 Prisoners, which they had refused, declaring they would 
 not dispose of them, but keep them until they should 
 receive Advice from the Six Nations what to do with them. 
 
 That there are more or less of the Six Nations living 
 with the Shawonese and Delawares in their Towns, and 
 these always accompanied them in their Incursions upon 
 the English and took Part with them in the War. 
 
 That when at Log's Town, which is near Fort Duquesne, 
 on the opposite Side of the River, he intended to have 
 gone there to see what the French were doing in that 
 Fort, but could not cross the River for the driving of the 
 Ice; he was, however, informed the Number of the French 
 did not exceed four hundred. 
 
 That he returned to Kittannin, and there learned that 
 Ten Delawares were gone to the Sasquehannah, and as 
 he supposed to persuade those Indians to strike the Eng- 
 
1756] Croghatis Journals 87 
 
 lish who might perhaps be concerned in the Mischief 
 lately done in the County of Northampton. 47 
 
 No more than Seven Indians being as yet come to 
 Carlisle Mr. Croghan was asked the Reason of it; he said 
 that the Indians were mostly gone an hunting, but he 
 expected as many more at least would come in a day or 
 two. 
 
 Mr. Weiser was then sent for and it was taken into 
 Consideration what should be said to the Indians. 
 
 47 This reference is to the massacre of the Moravian settlers at Gnaden- 
 mitten, in November, 1755. ED. 
 
CROGHAN'S TRANSACTIONS WITH THE INDIANS PREVIOUS 
 TO HOSTILITIES ON THE OHIO 48 
 
 In November 1748 M r Hamilton arrived in Philadel- 
 phia, Governor of Pennsylvania. During the late war 
 
 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 authori- 
 ties, "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 Commiss r8 about some accounts between them, in which he thought him- 
 self ill-used; he resigned his commission, and about a month ago informed me 
 that he had not received pay upon Gen 1 Braddock's warrant, and desired my 
 recommendation to Gen 1 Shirley, which I gave him, and he set off directly 
 for Albany, & I hear is now at Onondago with S r W m Johnson." (Letter of 
 Governor Morris, July 5, 1756, in Pennsylvania Archives, ii, pp. 689, 690.) 
 
 Sir William Johnson, having more penetration than the Pennsylvania au- 
 thorities 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; Penn- 
 sylvania 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. 
 
1757] Croghan's Journals 89 
 
 all the Indian tribes living on the Ohio and the branches 
 thereof, on this side Lake Erie, were in strict friendship 
 with the English in the several Provinces, and took the 
 greatest care to preserve the friendship then subsisting 
 between them and us. At that time we carried on a 
 considerable branch of trade with those Indians for 
 skins and furrs, no less advantagious to them than to us. 
 We sold them goods on much better terms than the French, 
 which drew many Indians over the Lakes to trade with 
 us. The exports of skins and furs from this Province at 
 that time will shew the increase of our trade in them 
 articles. 
 
 In August 1749. Governor Hamilton sent me to the 
 Ohio with a message to the Indians, to notifie to them 
 the Cessation of Arms, and to enquire of the Indians the 
 reason of the march of Monsieur Celaroon with two 
 hundred French soldiers through their country (This 
 detachment under Monsieur Celaroon had passed by 
 the Logs Town before I reached it.) 
 
 After I had delivered my message to the Indians, I 
 inquired what the French Commander said to them. 
 They told me he said he was only come to visit them, 
 and see how they were cloathed, for their Father the 
 Governor of Canada was determined to take great care 
 of all his children settled on the Ohio, and desired they 
 wou'd turn away all the English traders from amongst 
 them, for their Father would not suffer them to trade 
 there any more, but would send traders of his own, who 
 would trade with them on reasonabler terms than the 
 English. 
 
 I then asked them if they really thought that was the 
 intention of the French coming at that time: They an- 
 swered, yes, they believed the French not only wanted 
 
90 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 to drive the English traders off, that they might have the 
 trade to themselves; but that they had also a further 
 intention by their burrying iron plates with inscriptions 
 on them in the mouth of every remarkable Creek, which 
 we know is to steal our country from us. But we will 
 go to the Onondago Council and consult them how we 
 may prevent them from defrauding us of our land. 
 
 At my return I acquainted the Governor what passed 
 between the Indians and me. 
 
 This year the Governor purchased a tract of land on 
 the East of Susquehannah for the Proprietaries, at which 
 time the Indians complained that the White People was 
 encroaching on their lands on the West side of Susque- 
 hannah, and desired that the Governor might turn them 
 off, as those lands were the hunting-grounds of the Susque- 
 hannah Indians. 
 
 At that time the Six Nations delivered a string of Wam- 
 pum from the Connays, desiring their Brother Onas to 
 make the Connays some satisfaction for their settlement 
 at the Connay Town in Donegal, 49 which they had lately 
 left and settled amongst the Susquehannah Indians which 
 town had been reserved for their use at that time their 
 Brother Onas had made a purchase of the land adjoining 
 to that town. 
 
 In November [1750] I went to the country of the 
 Twightwees by order of the Governor with a small 
 present to renew the chain of friendship, in company 
 
 48 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 origi- 
 nally 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. 
 
1757] Crogharfs Journals 91 
 
 with M r Montour Interpreter; on our journey we met M r 
 Gist, a messenger from the Governor of Virginia, who 
 was sent to invite the Ohio Indians to meet the Com- 
 missioners of Virginia at the Logs town in the Spring 
 following to receive a present of goods which their father 
 the King of Great Britain had sent them. 50 Whilst I 
 was at the T wight wee town delivering the present and 
 message, there came several of the Chiefs of the Wawi- 
 oughtanes and Pianguisha Nations, living on Wabash, 
 and requested to be admitted into the chain of friendship 
 between the English and the Six Nations and their allies; 
 which request I granted & exchanged deeds of friend- 
 ship with them, with a view of extending His Majesty's 
 Indian interest, and made them a small present. On 
 my return I sent a coppy of my proceedings to the Gover- 
 nor. On his laying it before the House of Assembly, it 
 was rejected and myself condemned for bad conduct in 
 
 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 con- 
 tinued 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 en- 
 listing 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. 
 
92 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 drawing an additionall expence on the Government, and 
 the Indians were neglected. 51 
 
 At the time that the Secretary, the provincial Interpre- 
 ter, with the Justice of Cumberland County and the 
 Sheriff were ordered to dispossess the people settled on 
 the unpurchased lands on the West side of Susquehannah, 
 and on their return to my house, they met a deputation 
 of the Ohio Indians, who told the Secretary that they had 
 heard of a purchase that the Governor had made on the 
 East side of Susquehannah, and said they were intitled 
 to part of the goods paid for that purchase, but had re- 
 ceived none, that they were come now to desire the 
 Governor to purchase no more lands without first ac- 
 quainting them, for that the lands belonged to them as 
 well as to the Onondago Council; on which they delivered 
 a Belt of Wampum, and desired that the Governor might 
 send that Belt to Onondago to let them know that the 
 Ohio Indians had made such a complaint. 
 
 In April 1751 the Governor sent me to Ohio with a 
 present of goods; the speeches were all wrote by the 
 Provincial Interpreter M r Wiser. In one of the speeches 
 was warmly expressed that the Gov r of Pennsylvania 
 would build a fort on the Ohio, to protect the Indians, 
 as well as the English Traders, from the insults of the 
 French. On the Governor perusing the speech he thought 
 it too strongly expressed, on which he ordered me not 
 to make it, but ordered me to sound the Chief of the 
 Indians on that head, to know whether it would be agree- 
 able to them or not. Which orders I obeyed, and did in 
 the presence of M. r Montour sound the Half King Scarioa- 
 
 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. 
 
1757] Croghans Journals 93 
 
 day and the Belt of Wampum, who all told me that the 
 building of a Trading House had been agreed on between 
 them and the Onondago Council, since the time of the 
 detachment of French, under the command of Mons r 
 Celaroon, had gone down the river Ohio, and said they 
 would send a message by me to their Brother Onas, on 
 that head. 
 
 After I had delivered the present and done the chief 
 of the business, the Indians in publick Council, by a 
 Belt of Wampum, requested that the Governor of Pennsyl- 
 vania would immediately build a strong house (or Fort) 
 at the Forks of Monongehela, where the Fort Du Quesne 
 now stands, for the protection of themselves and the 
 English Traders. 
 
 But on my return this Government rejected the pro- 
 posal I had made, and condemned me for making such 
 a report to the government, alledging it was not the inten- 
 tion of the Indians. The Provincial Interpreter, who 
 being examined by the House of Assembly, denyed that 
 he knew of any instructions I had to treat with the Indians 
 for building a Trading House, though he wrote the speech 
 himself, and further said he was sure the Six Nations 
 would never agree to have a Trading House built there, 
 and Governor Hamilton, though he by his letter of in- 
 structions ordered me to sound the Indians on that head, 
 let the House know he had given me no such instruc- 
 tions: all which instructions will appear on the Records 
 of Indian Affairs. 52 
 
 62 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. 
 
94 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 The 12 th June 1752, the Virginia Commissioners met 
 the Indians at the Logs Town and delivered the King's 
 present to them. The Indians then renewed their request 
 of having a fort built as the government of Pennsylvania 
 had taken no notice of their former request to them, and 
 they insisted strongly on the government of Virginia's 
 building one in the same place that they had requested 
 the Pennsylvanians to build one; but to no effect. 53 
 
 In the year 1753 a French army came to the heads of 
 Ohio and built fort Preskle on the Lake, and another 
 fort at the head of Venango Creek, called by the French 
 Le Buff Rivere. 54 Early in the fall the same year about 
 one hundred Indians from the Ohio came from Winches- 
 ter in Virginia, expecting to meet the Governor there who 
 did not come, but ordered Coll. Fairfax to meet them. 
 Here again they renewed their request of having a Fort 
 built, and said altho' the French had placed themselves 
 on the head of Ohio, that if their Brethren the English 
 would exert themselves and sent out a number of men, 
 that they would join them, & drive the French army 
 away or die in the attempt. 
 
 From Winchester those Indians came to Cumberland 
 County where they were met by Commissioners from 
 Governor Hamilton, and promised the same which they 
 had done in Virginia; 55 but notwithstanding the earnest 
 solicitations of those Indians, the governments neglected 
 building them a fort, or assisting them with men; believ- 
 
 63 On this conference at Logstown see Dinwiddie Papers, i, pp. 6, 7, n, 22; 
 Trent's Journals, pp. 69-81; Gist's Journals, pp. 231-234. ED. 
 
 64 For the French sources of this expedition see New York Colonial Docu- 
 ments, x, pp. 255-257; Pennsylvania Archives (26. series), vi, pp. 161-164. ED. 
 
 65 On the conferences at Winchester and Carlisle (1753), see Pennsylvania 
 Colonial Records, v, pp. 657, 665-684. ED. 
 
1 7s;] Croghans Journals 95 
 
 ing or seeming to believe that there was no French there; 
 till the Governor of Virginia sent Col. Washington to the 
 heads of Venango Creek, where he met the French 
 General at a fort he had lately built there. 
 
 In February 1754, Captain Trent was at the mouth 
 of Red Stone Creek, building a Store house for the Ohio 
 Company, in order to lodge stores to be carried from 
 there to the mouth of Monongehela, by water, where he 
 had received orders in conjunction with Cresap 56 and 
 Gist to build a fort for that Company. This Creek is 
 about 37 miles from where fort Du Quesne now stands. 
 
 About the io th of this month he received a Commission 
 from the Governor of Virginia with orders to raise a 
 Company of Militia, and that he would soon be joined by 
 Col. Washington. At this time the Indians appointed 
 to meet him at the mouth of Monongehela in order to 
 receive a present which he had brought them from Vir- 
 ginia. Between this time and that appointed to meet the 
 Indians he raised upwards of twenty men & found them 
 with arms ammunition & provisions at his own expence. 
 At this meeting the Indians insisted that he should set 
 his men at work, which he did, and finished a Store House, 
 
 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 proprie- 
 tors of the two colonies (1739), he moved westward, and became the first per- 
 manent 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 Archaeological and Historical Publi- 
 cations (Columbus, 1902), x, pp. 146-164. ED. 
 
96 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 and a large quantity of timber hew'd, boards saw'd, and 
 shingles made. After finishing his business with the 
 Indians he stayed some time in expectation of Col. 
 Washington joining him, as several accounts came of 
 his being there in a few days. As there was no more 
 men to be had here at this time, there being no inhabi- 
 tants in this country but Indian traders who were scat- 
 tered over the country for several hundred miles, & no 
 provisions but a little Indian corn to be had, he applied 
 tp the Indians, who had given him reason to believe they 
 would join him and cut off the French on the Ohio, 
 but when he proposed it to the Half- King, he told him 
 that had the Virginians been in earnest they wou'd have 
 had their men there before that time, and desired him 
 to get the rest of his men and hurry out the provisions. 
 Agreeable to his instructions he went and recruited his 
 company, but before he could get back, it being no 
 miles from here to the nighest inhabitants, the French 
 came and drove his people off. 
 
 In June following when the Indians heard that Coll. 
 Washington with a Detachment of the Virginia troops 
 had reached the great Meadows, the Half-King and 
 Scaruady with about 50 men joined him notwithstand- 
 ing the French were in possession of this country with 
 six or seven hundred men; so great was their regard for 
 the English at that time. 
 
 After the defeat of Col. Washington, the Indians came 
 to Virginia, where they stayed some time, & then came 
 to my house in Pennsylvania and put themselves under 
 the protection of this Government. 
 
 As soon as possible they sent messengers to call down 
 the heads of the Delawares and Shawnese to a meeting 
 at my house, and at the same time they desired the Cover- 
 
1757] Crogharis journals 97 
 
 nor of this Province, or some Deputy from him, to meet 
 them there to consult what was best to be done. 
 
 The Governor sent M r Wiser the Provincial Interpre- 
 ter; the Chiefs of those Indians came down and met him 
 and offered their service, but it was not accepted by M r 
 Wiser. He in answer told them to sit still, till Governor^ 
 Morris arrived, and then he himself wou'd come and let 
 them know what was to be done. They waited there till 
 very late in the fall, but received no answer, so set off 
 for their own country. 57 
 
 This Government continued to maintain the Indians 
 that lived at my house, till the Spring, when General 
 Bradock 58 arrived; they then desired Governor Morris 
 to let me know they would not maintain them any longer; 
 at which time Governor Morris desired me to take them 
 to Fort Cumberland to meet General Bradock; which I 
 did; On my arrival at Fort Cumberland General Brad- 
 dock asked me where the rest of the Indians were. I 
 told him I did not know, I had brought but fifty men 
 which was all that was at that time under my care, and 
 which I had brought there by the directions of Governor 
 Morris. He replied that Governor Dinwiddie told me 
 [him] at Alexandria that he had sent for 400 which would 
 be here before me. I answered I knew nothing of that 
 but that Captain Montour the Virginia Interpreter was 
 in camp & could inform His Excellency. On which 
 Montour was sent for who informed the General that 
 M r Gist's son was sent off some time agoe for some 
 
 87 The official report of these affairs is in Pennsylvania Colonial Records, vi, 
 pp. 150-161, 180, 181, 186-191. ED. 
 
 68 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. 
 
98 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Cherokee Indians, but whether they would come he 
 could not tell. On which the General asked me whether 
 I could not send for some of the Delawares and Shawnese 
 to Ohio. I told him I could ; on which I sent a messenger 
 to Ohio, who returned in eight days and brought with 
 him the Chiefs of the Delawares. The General held 
 a conference the Chiefs in company with those fifty I had 
 brought with me, and made them a handsome present, & 
 behav'd to them as kindly as he possibly could, during 
 their stay, ordering me to let them want for nothing. 
 
 The Delawares promised, in Council, to meet the 
 General on the road, as he marched out with a number 
 of their warriors. But whether the former breaches of 
 faith on the side of the English prevented them, or that 
 they choose to see the event of the action between General 
 Braddock and the French, I cannot tell; but they disap- 
 pointed the General and did not meet him. 
 
 Two days after the Delaware Chiefs had left the camp 
 at Fort Cumberland, M r Gist's son returned from the 
 Southward, where he had been sent by Gov r Dinwiddie, 
 but brought no Indians with him. 
 
 Soon after, the General was preparing for the march, 
 with no more Indians than I had with me; when Coll. 
 Innis 59 told the General that the women and children of 
 the Indians that were to remain at Fort Cumberland, 
 would be very troublesome, and that the General need 
 
 69 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. 
 
1757] Crogharis Journals 99 
 
 not take above eight or nine men out with him, for if he 
 took more he would find them very troublesome on the 
 march and of no service; on which the General ordered 
 me to send back all the men, women and children, to my 
 house in Pennsylvania, except eight or ten, which I should 
 keep as scouts and to hunt; which I accordingly did. 
 
 (Indorsed: "Rec d with S r W" Johnson's letter of the 25 June, 
 I7S7-") 
 
CROGHAN'S JOURNAL, 1760-61 60 
 
 October 2i st 1760. In pursuance to my Instructions 
 I set of[f] from Fort Pitt to join Major Rogers 61 at Presqu' 
 Isle 62 in order to proceed with the Detachm* of his Majes- 
 tys Troops under his Command to take possession of 
 Fort D'Troit. 
 
 25 th . I joined Capt Campbell at Venango who was 
 
 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. 51 7-55 1, 
 656-714; Pennsylvania Archives, iii, pp. 248, 319; New York Colonial Docu- 
 ments, 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; Penn- 
 sylvania 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 journty, which we here publish, is reprinted from Massachusetts His- 
 torical Collections, 4th series, ix, pp. 362-379. Other letters of Croghan's are 
 
1760-1761] Crogharis Journals 101 
 
 on his march to Presqu' Isle with a Detachment of the 
 Royal Americans to join Major Rogers. 83 
 
 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 mes- 
 sengers 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 Hamp- 
 shire. 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. 
 
 82 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 Park- 
 man. 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 
 
IO2 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 26 th . I halted at Venango as the French Creek was 
 very high, to assist in getting the Pack Horses loaded 
 with Pitch & Blanketts for the Kings service over. 64 
 
 27 th . Left Venango. 
 
 3 o th . Got to La'Bauf. 65 
 
 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, n and 14. ED. 
 
 64 Mann's expedition (1753), that erected forts Presqu' Isle and Le Boeuf, 
 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 out- 
 post 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 Lieu- 
 tenant 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. 
 
 85 The French Fort Le Bceuf (technically, "Fort de la Riviere aux Boeufs") 
 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 con- 
 structed 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 Bceuf 
 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. 
 
1760-1761] Crogharf s Journals 103 
 
 3i st . Arrived at Presqu-Isle where I delivered Major 
 Rogers his Orders from General Monckton. 66 
 
 November 3 d . Cap* Brewer of the Rangers with a 
 Party of forty Men set of[f ] by Land with the Bullocks with 
 whom I sent fifteen Indians of different Nations, to pilot 
 them, with Orders that if they met with any of the Indians 
 of the Western Nations hunting on the Lake Side to tell 
 them to come and meet me. 67 This Evening we loaded 
 our Boats & lay on the shore that night. 
 
 4 th . We set sail at seven o'clock in the morning & 
 at three in the afternoon we got to Siney Sipey or Stoney 
 Creek about ten Leagues from Presqu' Isle where we 
 went ashore in a fine Harbour and encamped. 68 
 
 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 Revolu- 
 tionary 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 com- 
 mand. 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 
 
104 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 5 th . At seven o'Clock in the Morning we set sail, 
 about 12 we were met by about thirty Ottawas who had 
 an English Flag, they saluted us with a discharge of their 
 fire Arms, we then put ashore shook hands and smoked 
 with them out of their Council Pipe, we drank a dram 
 and then embarked, about two o'Clock arrived at Wajea 
 Sipery or Crooked Creek, went ashore in a good Harbour 
 and encamped, this day went about seven Leagues. 
 After we had encamped I called a meeting of all the Indians 
 and acquainted them of the Reduction of Montreal, 
 and agreeable to the Capitulation we were going to take 
 possession of Fort D'Troit, Misselemakinack, Fort St 
 Joseph's &c. and carry the French Garrisons away 
 Prisoners of War & Garrison the Forts with English 
 Troops, that the French Inhabitants were to remain in 
 possession of their property on their taking the Oath 
 of Fidelity to his Majesty King George, and assured them 
 by a Belt of Wampum that all Nations of Indians should 
 enjoy a free Trade with their Brethren the English and be 
 protected in peaceable possession of their hunting Country 
 as long as they adhered to his Majestys Interest. The 
 Indians in several Speeches made me, expressed their 
 satisfaction at exchanging their Fathers the French for 
 their Brethren the English who they were assured were 
 much better able to supply them with all necessaries, 
 and then begged that we might forget every thing that 
 happened since the commencement of the War, as they 
 were obliged to serve the French from whom they got all 
 their necessitys supplyed, that it was necessity and not 
 choice that made them take part with the French which 
 
 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. 
 
1760-1761] Croghan's Journals 105 
 
 they confirmed by several Belts and Strings of Wampum. 
 The principal Man of the Ottawas said on a large Belt 
 that he had not long to live & said pointing to two Men 
 " those Men I have appointed to transact the Business 
 of my Tribe, with them you confirmed the Peace last 
 year when you came up to Pittsburg, I now recommend 
 them to you, and I beg you may take notice of them and 
 pity our women and Children as they are poor and naked, 
 you are able to do it & by pitying their Necessitys you 
 will win their Hearts." The Speaker then took up the 
 Pipe of Peace belonging to the Nation and said Brother 
 to Confirm what we have said to you I give you this 
 Peace Pipe which is known to all the Nations living in 
 this Country and when they see it they will know it to be 
 the Pipe of Peace belonging to our Nation, then [he] 
 delivered the Pipe. 
 
 The principal Man then requested some Powder & 
 Lead for their young Men to stay there and hunt for the 
 support of their familys as the Chiefs had agreed to go 
 with us to D'Troit, and a little Flower which I applyed 
 to Major Rogers for who chearfully ordered it to me as I 
 informed him it was necessary & would be for the good 
 of his Majestys Indian Interest. 69 
 
 69 Rogers in his Journal places this meeting with the Ottawas on the seventh 
 instead of the fifth of November, and locates it at "Chogage" River (formerly 
 supposed to be Cuyahoga, but now thought to be Grand River). Croghan's 
 account is more detailed, and probably written at the time; while Rogers's 
 was written or revised later. "Wajea Sipery" is probably Ashtabula Creek, 
 which is sufficiently crooked in its course to make this name appropriate. 
 This is the traditional meeting for the first time, with Pontiac, the Ottawa 
 chief. Parkman's well-known account of the haughty bearing and dignified 
 demands of this great Indian contrast markedly with Croghan's simpler and 
 more literal account. In truth, it may be doubted whether this chief was 
 Pontiac at all, as he here speaks of himself as an old man. Rogers's Journal 
 makes no mention of any chief, and alludes but incidentally to meeting the 
 Ottawa band; but in his Concise Account of North America) published in 
 
1 06 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 6 th . At seven o'Clock we set sail in Company with 
 the Indians arrived at a pretty large Creek called Onchu- 
 ago or fire Creek 70 about twelve Leagues from Crooked 
 Creek, where we went ashore and incamped, a fine Har- 
 bour; here we met seven familys of Ottawa Indians 
 Hunting. 
 
 7 th . We loaded our Boats, sent of[f] the Battoes with 
 the Provisions and some Whale Boats to attend them, 
 but before they had got two Miles they were obliged 
 to return the Wind springing up so high that no Boat 
 could live on the Lake. Continued our encampment 
 here the whole day. 
 
 8 th 9 th & io th . We continued here the Wind so high 
 could not put out of the Harbour here the Indians gave 
 us great quantitys of Bears & Elks Meat, very fat. 
 
 ii th . About One o'Clock P.M. set sail, a great swell 
 in the Lake, at Eight o'Clock got into a little Cove went 
 ashore & encamped on a fine strand, about six Leagues 
 
 London (1765), when the exploits of Pontiac were causing much attention, 
 Rogers represents himself as having encountered that chief on his way to 
 Detroit, and that the latter asked him how he dared to enter that country without 
 his (Pontiac's) leave. This was probably a flight of the imagination, conse- 
 quent upon his representing the Indian chief as the hero of the tragedy in the 
 verses he was then preparing, known as Ponteach, or the Savages of America 
 (London, 1766). See Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, i, p. 165, ii, appendix 
 B. The plain, unadorned account of Croghan, and the begging attitude of 
 the Ottawa chief, are probably more in accordance with historical verity than 
 Parkman's and Rogers's more romantic accounts. ED. 
 
 70 The creek which Croghan calls "Onchuago" was Grand River, whose 
 Indian name was "Chaeaga" (Sheauga), and which is thus designated on 
 Evans's map of 1755, and Hutchins's map of 1778. Whittlesey, Early History 
 of Cleveland (Cleveland, 1867), thus identifies this stream. Baldwin, in his 
 "Early Maps of Ohio and the West" Western Reserve Historical Society 
 Tracts, No. 25, thinks it is the Conneaut Creek; but that would be too far east 
 to correspond with this description, and the present Geauga County takes its 
 title from the Indian name of Grand River. ED. 
 
1760-1761] Grogharts Journals 107 
 
 from fire Creek, where M r Braam with his party had 
 been some time encamped. 71 
 
 i2 th . At half an hour after Eight A.M. set sail, very 
 Calm, about 10 came on a great squawl, the Waves run 
 Mountains high, about half an hour after twelve we got 
 into Gichawaga Creek where is a fine Harbour, some of 
 the Battoes were forced a shore on the Strand and re- 
 ceived considerable damage, some of the flower wet and 
 the Ammunition Boat allmost staved to Pieces, here we 
 found several Indians of the Ottawa Nation hunting, 
 who received us very kindly they being old Acquaintances 
 of mine, here we overtook Cap* Brewer of the Rangers 
 with his party who set of by Land with some Cattle, this 
 day came about four Leagues. 72 
 
 13 th . We lay by to mend our Boats. 
 
 14 th . The Wind blew so hard we could not set of[f]. 
 This day we were allarmed by one of the Rangers who 
 reported he saw about Twenty French within a Mile of 
 our encampment on which I sent out a party of Indians 
 and Major Rogers a party of Rangers, both partys 
 returned without discovering any thing, but the 
 Tracts of two Indians who went out a hunting that 
 Morning. 
 
 i5 th . Fine Weather we set sail and at twelve o' Clock 
 
 71 Lieutenant Dietrich Brehm (Braam) was a German engineer who came 
 to America in 1756 with the 32nd regiment (later the 6oth or Royal Americans). 
 Little is known of his military career, save that in the line of promotion he 
 was captain in 1774, and major in 1783. ED. 
 
 72 Probably "Gichawaga" was Cuyahoga River, the site of the city of 
 Cleveland, and a well-known rendezvous of the Ottawa Indians, who had a 
 village some miles up its banks. Rogers speaks of it as Elk River, which by 
 some geographers is placed east of Cuyahoga River; but Rogers's list of dis- 
 tances, allowing for much tacking, would indicate that the expedition had by 
 this time certainly come as far beyond Grand River as Cuyahoga. ED. 
 
io8 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 came to Sinquene Thipe or Stony Creek 73 where we met 
 a Wayondott Indian named Togasoady, and his family 
 a hunting. He informed me he was fifteen days from 
 D'Troit, that before he left that the French had Accounts 
 of the reduction of Montreal & that they expected an 
 English Army from Niagara to D'Troit every day; that 
 M. Balletre, 74 would not believe that the Governor of 
 Montreal had Capitulated for D'Troit; that he had no 
 more than fifty soldiers in the Fort; that the Inhabitants 
 and Indians who were at home were very much afraid 
 of being plundered by our Soldiers, and he requested 
 that no outrage might be committed by our soldiers on 
 the Indian settlements, as the chief of the Indians were 
 out a hunting. I assured them that there should be no 
 plundering. This afternoon we came to Nechey Thepy 
 or two Creeks, 75 about Nine Leagues from Gichawga, 
 
 73 Stony Creek was the present Rocky River, about five miles west of Cleve- 
 land. Near this spot a part of Bradstreefs fleet was wrecked in 1764. See 
 Western Reserve Historical Society Tracts, No. 13. ED. 
 
 74 Marie Francois Picote, Sieur de Bellestre, was born in 1719, and when 
 about ten years of age emigrated with his father to Detroit. Entering the 
 army, he held a number of commands in Acadia (1745-46), and at the 
 Western posts, especially at St. Josephs, where he had much influence over the 
 Indians. In the Huron revolt (1748), his bravery was especially commended. 
 During the French and Indian War he led his Indian allies on various raids 
 one to Carolina in 1756, where he received a slight wound; and again in New 
 York against the German Flats (1757). Bellestre was present at Niagara 
 about the time it was attacked; but Pouchot detailed him to retire with the 
 detachments from forts Presqu' Isle and Machault to Detroit, and he was 
 commanding at this post when summoned to surrender to Major Rogers. 
 After the capitulation of Detroit, he returned to Canada, and became a partisan 
 of the British power, captured St. John, and defended Chambly against the 
 Americans in 1775-76. He was made a member of the first legislative council 
 of the province. ED. 
 
 75 The encampment for the night of November 15 seems to have been 
 made between two small creeks that flow into the lake near together, in Dover 
 Township, Cuyahoga County. ED 
 
1760-1761] Crogharis Journals 109 
 
 high banks all the way & most part of it a perpendicular 
 Rock about 60 feet high. 
 
 i6 th . a storm so that we could [not] stir. 
 
 1 7 th . The Wind continued very high, stayed here 
 this day, set of[f] the Cattle with an escort of Souldiers 
 and Indians. 
 
 1 8 th . Set Sail came to Oulame Thepy or Vermillion 
 Creek a narrow Channel about Eight foot Water a large 
 Harbour when in, about four o' Clock came to Notowacy 
 Thepy a fine Creek running through a Meadow about 
 Eighteen foot Water, this day came about seven Leagues; 76 
 here I met three Indians who informed me that the 
 Deputys I sent from Fort Pitt had passed by their hunting 
 Cabin Eight days agoe on their way to D'Troit in order 
 to deliver the Messages I sent by them to the several 
 Indian Nations. 
 
 19 th . Several Indians came down the Creek to our 
 encampment and made us a present of dryed Meat, set 
 of[f], came to the little Lake just as the Cattle set over 
 from thence, set of[f] from here came to a Creek which 
 runs through a marchy Meadow, here we encamped, 
 came this day about six Leagues. 77 
 
 20 th . Mr. Braam set of[f] to D'Troit with a Flag of 
 Truce and took with him Mr Gamblin a French Gen- 
 tleman an Inhabitant of D'Troit. 78 This day about One 
 
 76 Vermillion Creek or River retains its name. The river where the expedi- 
 tion encamped ("Notowacy Thepy") was probably that now known as the 
 Huron River, in Erie County, Ohio. Rogers' s Journal mentions these rivers 
 without giving names. ED. 
 
 77 Rogers names the lake here mentioned, as Sandusky. It is difficult to 
 tell from this description whether or not the flotilla entered the inner Sandusky 
 Bay. Probably the encampment for the nineteenth was on the site of the 
 present city of Sandusky, at Mill or Pipe Creek. ED. 
 
 78 Medard Gamelin was the son of a French surgeon ; and nephew of that 
 Sieur de la Jemerais who accompanied La Verendrye on his Western explora- 
 
1 1 o Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 o'Clock we met a Canoe of Wayandott Indians who 
 informed us that the Deputy s I sent to y e several Nations 
 living about Fort D'Troit, from Fort Pitt had got there 
 and collected the principal Men of the several Nations 
 together and delivered their Messages which were well 
 received by the Indians, and that a Deputation of the 
 Indians were appointed to come with my Deputys to 
 meet us at that place which was the Carrying place from 
 Sandusky into the Lake, we put into the Creek called 
 Crambary Creek, went a shore & encamped to wait the 
 arrival of those Deputys; we sent over the Carrying place 
 to two Indian Villages which are within two Miles of 
 each other to invite the Indians to come & meet the 
 Deputys at our Camp. 79 This day came four Leagues. 
 
 2i st . Towards Evening some of the Indians from 
 the two Villages came to our Camp; just after dark a 
 Canoe came in sight who immediately saluted us with 
 three discharges of their fire Arms, which was returned 
 from our Camp, on their arrival we found them to be 
 the Deputys sent from the Nations living about D'Troit 
 with the Deputys I had sent from Fort Pitt, as soon as 
 they landed the Deputys I had sent introduced them to 
 Maj r Rogers, Cap* Campbell and myself & said they 
 had delivered their Messages [to] the several Nations 
 
 tions, and died (1735) in the wilderness west of Lake Superior. Gamelin was 
 born two years before this event. Emigrating to Detroit, he employed himself 
 in raising and training a militia company composed of the habitants, which he 
 led to the relief of Niagara (1759). There he was captured and kept a prisoner 
 until released by the orders of General Amherst in order to accompany Rogers's 
 expedition, and pacify the settlers at Detroit. He took the oath of allegiance 
 and remained in that city after its capitulation to the British, dying there about 
 1778. ED. 
 
 79 The present Cranberry Creek is east of Sandusky. The creek which 
 Croghan mentions was some small tributary of Portage River (the Carrying- 
 place), or directly beyond it. Rogers says they went "to the mouth of a river 
 in breadth 300 feet," which is evidently Portage River. ED. 
 
1760-1761] Croghan's Journals 1 1 1 
 
 and that the Indians which came with them were come 
 to return Answers which we should hear in the Morn- 
 ing & they hoped their answers would be to our expec- 
 tations after drinking a dram round we dismissed them 
 & gave them Provisions. 
 
 22 d . About 9 o'Clock the Indians met in Council, 
 though several of their People were in Liquor, & made 
 several speeches on strings and one Belt of Wampum all 
 to the following purport. 
 
 BRETHREN: We your Brethren of the several Nations 
 living in this Country received your Messages well and 
 return you thanks for sending us word of what has hap- 
 pened and your coming to remove the French Garrison 
 out of our Country and putting one there of our Brethren 
 the English; your Conduct in sending us timely notice 
 of it is a Confirmation of your sincerity & upright inten- 
 tions towards us and we are sent here to meet you & bid 
 you welcome to our Country. 
 
 Brethren all our principal Men are met on this side 
 the French Garrison to shake hands with you in Friend- 
 ship & have determined in Council to abandon the 
 French Interest and receive our Brethren the English as 
 our true Friends & establish a lasting Peace with you & 
 we expect you will support us and supply us with a fire & 
 open Trade for the Cloathing of our Women and Chil- 
 dren. Then they delivered two strings of Wampum to 
 the Six Nations and Delawares returning them thanks for 
 sending Messages to them with the Deputys I had sent 
 & desired those strings might be delivered to them in 
 Council. Then the Speaker spoke on a Belt & said 
 Brethren the Chief of our young People are gone out a 
 hunting and our Women have put up their Effects & 
 Corn for the maintainance of their Children in the Houses 
 
1 1 2 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 about the French Fort and we know that all Warriors 
 plunder when they go on those Occasions, we desire by 
 this Belt that you will give orders that none of our Houses 
 may be plundered as we are a poor People and cannot 
 supply our Losses of that kind. Then I acquainted 
 them of the Reduction of all Canada and the terms of the 
 Capitulation & when I met their Chiefs I would tell 
 them on what terms the Peace was confirmed between 
 all Nations of Indians and us. Then Major Rogers gave 
 them a string by which he took all the Indians present by 
 the hand & lead them to D'Troit where he would have 
 a Conference with them and deliver them some speeches 
 sent by him to them from General Amherst. 80 At 10 
 o'Clock we embarked sailed about five Leagues and en- 
 camp" 1 on a Beach. 
 
 23 d . We embarked sailed about three Leagues and 
 an half to Ceeder point where is a large Bay, here was 
 a large encampment of Indians Wayondotts and Ottawas 
 who insisted on our staying there that day as it was raining 
 and a large Bay to cross which Major Rogers agreed to. 81 
 
 80 Rogers's Journal (p. 191), gives his own speech. He indicates in his 
 account that the Indians were preparing to resist the English advance; but 
 Croghan does not mention any such suspicions. 
 
 General Jeffrey Amherst was an English soldier of much distinction, who 
 after serving a campaign in Flanders and Germany, was commissioned by 
 Pitt to take charge of the military operations in America (1758). His first 
 success was the capture of Louisburg, followed by the campaign of 1759, when 
 he reduced Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and moved upon Montreal, which 
 capitulated the following year. He was immediately made governor-general 
 of the British in North America, received the thanks of Parliament, and was 
 presented with the order of the Bath. It was in obedience to his orders that 
 Rogers undertook this westward expedition. Amherst's later career was a 
 succession of honors, emoluments, and high appointments in the British army. 
 He opposed the cause of the colonies during the American Revolution. Late 
 in life he was field-marshal of the British army, dying (1797) at his estate in 
 Kent, as Baron Amherst of Montreal. ED. 
 
 81 Cedar Point is at the southeastern entrance of Maumee Bay. Rogers's 
 Journal for November 23 says that an Ottawa sachem came into their camp; 
 possibly this was Pontiac. ED. 
 
1760-1761] Croghari s Journals 113 
 
 24 th . We set of[f] at Eight o'Clock across the Bay 
 in which is an Island the day was so foggy that the Drum 
 was obliged to beat all day to keep the Boats together, this 
 day we went about Eight Leagues. Where we encamped 
 there came to us five Indian familys. 
 
 25 th . The Indians desired Major Rogers would order 
 the Boats into a Cove as it was likely to be bad Weather & 
 lay by that day & they would send some men to where 
 their Chiefs were collected to hear News which was 
 agreed to. 82 
 
 26 th . The Wind blew so hard that we could not put 
 out of the Cove, the Messengers the Indians sent returned 
 and informed us that the French were very angry with 
 the Indian Nations for meeting us and threatned to 
 burn their Towns; that the Commanding Officer would 
 not let us come to D'Troit till he received his Orders 
 from the Governor of Canada and the Capitulation to 
 which we answered the Indians that they might depend 
 on it, that if any damage was done them by the French 
 that we would see the damage repaired. 
 
 27 th . In the Morning a Cannoe with two Interpreters 
 and four French came to our Camp with Letters from 
 Monsieur Balletre. We decamped and came into the 
 mouth of the River where we met the Chief of the Wayon- 
 dotts, Ottawas & Putawatimes who bid us welcome to 
 their Country and joined us, we went up the River about 
 6 miles where we met a French Officer who hoisted a Flag 
 of Truce and beat a parley here we encamped on an 
 Island and sent for the French Officer who delivered his 
 Messages. 
 
 82 From the distances given in Rogers' s Journal it would appear that 
 the expedition encamped the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth in the entrance 
 of Swan Creek, Monroe County, Michigan, a short distance north of Stony 
 Point. ED. 
 
1 1 4 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 28 th . Capt. Campbell was sent of[f] with a Flag of 
 Truce to give M. Balletre his orders to give up the Place 
 soon after we set of[f] up the River and encamped at an 
 Indian Village, at Night Capt. Campbell joined us and 
 informed us that Monsieur Balletre behaved very politely 
 on seeing M. Vaudreuils 83 Orders & desired we would 
 proceed the next day and take possession of the Fort & 
 Country. 
 
 29 th . We set of[f] and arrived about twelve o' Clock 
 at the place where we landed and sent and relieved the 
 Garrison. 
 
 30 th . Part of the Militia lay down their Arms and 
 took the Oath of Fidelity. * 
 
 December i st . The rest of the Militia layed down 
 their Arms and took the Oath of Fidelity. 
 
 2 d . Lieu* Holms was sent of[f] with M. Balletre and 
 the French Garrison with whom I sent 15 English Prison- 
 ers which I got from the Indians. 
 
 3 d . In the Morning the principal Indians of 3 different 
 Nations came to my Lodgings & made the following 
 Speech on a Belt of Wampum. 
 
 BRETHREN: You have now taken possession of this 
 Country, While the French lived here they kept a smith 
 to mend our Guns and Hatchets and a Doctor to attend 
 
 83 Pierre Fran$ois Rigault, Chevalier de Cavagnal, Marquis de Vaudreuil, 
 was Canadian born, and entered the military service at an early age. In 1728 
 he was in the present Wisconsin on an expedition against the Fox Indians; 
 some years later, he was governor at Trois Rivieres, and in 1743 was sent to 
 command in Louisiana, where he remained nine years, until appointed governor 
 of New France, just before the outbreak of the French and Indian War. As 
 the last French governor of Canada, his term of service was embittered by 
 quarrels with the French generals, and disasters to French arms. After his 
 capitulation at Montreal; he went to France, only to be arrested, thrown into 
 the Bastile, and tried for malfeasance in office. He succeeded in securing an 
 acquittal (1763); but, broken by disappointments and enmities, died the follow- 
 ing year. ED. 
 
1760-1761] Croghan's Journals 1 1 5 
 
 our People when sick, we expect you will do the same 
 and as no doubt you have something to say to us from 
 the English General and Sir William Johnson we would 
 be glad [to know] how soon you would go on business as 
 this is our hunting season. 
 
 Fort D'Troit December 4 th 1760. We met the Wayon- 
 dotts, Putawatimes and Ottawas 84 in the Council House, 
 with several of the principal Men of the Ohio Indians 
 who accompanied his Majestys Forces there when the 
 following speeches were made to them. 
 
 BRETHREN CHIEFS & WARRIORS OF THE SEVERAL 
 NATIONS NOW PRESENT: You have been made acquaint- 
 ed with the success of his Majestys Arms under the Com- 
 mand of his Excellency General Amherst and the Reduc- 
 tion of all Canada & now you are Eye Witnesses to the 
 surrender of this place agreeable to the Capitulation as I 
 sent you word before the arrival of his Majestys Troops; 
 you see now your Fathers are become British Subjects, 
 you are therefore desired to look on them as such & not 
 to think them a separate People; and as long as you ad- 
 here to his Majestys ^Interest and behave yoursel[ves] 
 well to all his subjects as faithfull allies, you may depend 
 on having a free open Trade with your Brethren the 
 English & be protected by his Majesty King George now 
 your Father & my Master. A Belt. 
 
 BRETHREN : At a Conference held with several Chiefs & 
 Deputys of your several Nations at Pittsburg this Slim- 
 mer, you told me that all our Prisoners which have been 
 taken since the War, yet remaining in your possession 
 
 84 The Potawotami Indians are an Algonquian tribe, being fir* encountered 
 by French explorers on the borders of Green Bay; but later, they had villages 
 at Detroit, St. Josephs River (southeast Michigan), and Milwaukee. They 
 were devoted to the French interests, and easily attracted to the vicinity of 
 the French posts. For the Wyandots (Hurons) and Ottawas, see ante. ED. 
 
1 1 6 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 were then set at Liberty to return home if they pleased, 
 now I have received by Major Rogers the Commanding 
 Officer here, General Amherst and Sir William Johnson's 
 Orders to demand due performance of your promise & 
 desire that you may forthwith deliver them up as that is 
 the only way you can convince us of your sincerity and 
 future intentions of living in Friendship with all his 
 Majestys Subjects in the several British Colonies in 
 America. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: On Condition of your performance of 
 what has been said to you I by this Belt renew and 
 brighten the Ancient Chain of Friendship between his 
 Majestys Subjects, the Six United Nations and our 
 Brethren of the several Western Nations to the Sun set- 
 ting and wish it may continue as long as the Sun and 
 Moon give light. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: As my orders are to return to Pittsburg 
 I now recommend Capt. Campbel to you as he is appointed 
 by his Majestys Commander in Chief to be Governour 
 of this place, with him you must transact the publick 
 business and you may depend he will do you all the ser- 
 vice in his power and see that justice is done you in 
 Trade. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN CHIEFS AND WARRIORS: As the Ancient 
 Friendship that long subsisted between our Ancestors 
 is now renewed I was[h] the Blood of[f] the Earth, that 
 has been shed since the present War, that you may smell 
 the sweet scent of the Springing Herbs & bury the War 
 Hatchet in the Bottomless Pitt. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: I know your Warriors have all a martial 
 spirit & must be employed at War & if they want diver- 
 sion after the fatigue of hunting there is your natural 
 Enemies the Cherookees with whom you have been long 
 
1760-1761] Croghan's Journals 117 
 
 at War, there your Warriors will find diversion & there 
 they may go, they have no other place to go, as all Nations 
 else are become the subjects of Great Britain. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: As I command this Garrison for his 
 Majesty King George I must acquaint you that all the 
 Settlers living in this Country are my Master's subjects 
 therefore I take this opportunity to desire you our Brethren 
 of the several Nations not to take any of their Effects from 
 them by force, nor kill or steal any of their Cattle, as I 
 shall look on any insult of that kind as if 'done to me, as 
 they are under my protection. I desire you will encourage 
 your young Men to hunt and bring their Meat to me for 
 which they shall be paid in Powder and Lead. A belt. 
 
 Major Rogers acquainted the Indians that he was going 
 to Misselemaknach to relieve that Garrison and desired 
 some of their young Men to go with him, whom he would 
 pay for their Services and that he was sending an Officer 
 to S** Josephs and the Waweoughtannes 85 to relieve their 
 Post & bring of[f] the French Garrisons & desired they 
 
 85 The French fort of St. Josephs was established early in the eighteenth 
 century, on the right bank of the river of that name, about a mile from the 
 present city of Niles, Michigan. Its commandant was the "farmer" of the 
 post that is, he was entitled to what profits he could win from the Indian 
 trade, and paid his own expenses. After the British took possession of this 
 fort, it was garrisoned by a small detachment of the Royal Americans. When 
 Pontiac's War broke out, but fourteen soldiers were at the place, with Ensign 
 Schlosser in command. The fort was captured and eleven of the garrison 
 killed, the rest being carried prisoners to Detroit. During the Revolution, 
 Fort St. Josephs was three times taken from the British twice by parties 
 from the Illinois led by French traders (in 1777, and again in 1778); and in 
 1781, a Spanish expedition set out from St. Louis to capture the stronghold, 
 and take possession of this region for Spain. See Mason, Chapters from 
 Illinois History (Chicago, 1901). The United States failed to garrison St. 
 Josephs when the British forts were surrendered in 1796, and built instead 
 (1804) Fort Dearborn at Chicago. 
 
 Ouiatonon (Waweoughtannes) was situated at the head of navigation on 
 the Wabash River, not far from the present city of Lafayette, Indiana. The 
 French founded this post about 1719, among a tribe of the same name (called 
 
1 1 8 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 would send some of their young Men with him who 
 should likewise be paid for their services. A belt. 
 
 Then we acquainted them by a string that as they had 
 requested a Smith to mend their Guns as usual & the 
 Doctor to attend their sick that it was granted till the 
 Generals pleasure was known. A string. 
 
 December the 4 th . A Principal Man of the Wayon- 
 dotts spoke and said Brethren we have heard and con- 
 sidered what you said to us yesterday and are met this 
 day to return you an answer agreeable to our promise. 
 
 The Wayondott Speaker addressed his speech to 
 Major Rogers, Capt Campbel and myself. 
 
 BRETHREN: We have heard what you said to us 
 yesterday, we are like a lost People, as we have lost many 
 of our principal Men, & we hope you will excuse us if 
 we should make any Mistakes, but we assure you our 
 Hearts are good towards our Brethren the English when 
 your General and Sir William Johnson took all Canada 
 they ordered you to send us Word, we received your 
 Messages & we see, by your removing the French in the 
 manner you have from here, that what you said to us by 
 your Messengers is true. Brethren be it so, and continue 
 as you have begun for the good of us all. All the Indians 
 in this Country are Allies to each other and as one People, 
 what you have said to us is very agreeable & we hope 
 you will continue to strengthen the Ancient Chain of 
 Friendship. A belt. 
 
 Weas by the English); and kept an officer stationed there until its surrender 
 to the English party sent out by Rogers (1761). The small garrison under 
 command of Lieutenant Jenkins was captured at the outbreak of Pontiac's 
 conspiracy; but through the intervention of French traders their lives were 
 spared, while the fort was destroyed by burning, and never rebuilt. See Craig, 
 "Ouiatonon," Indiana Historical Society Collections (Indianapolis, 1886), 
 v, ii. See also Croghan's description when he passed here five years later, 
 post. ED. 
 
1760-1761] Crogharfs Journals 119 
 
 You desired us yesterday to perform our promise & 
 deliver up your Prisoners, it is very true we did promise 
 to deliver them up, and have since delivered up many, 
 what would you have us do there is very few here at 
 present they are all yours & you shall have them as soon 
 as possible tho' we do not choose to force them that have 
 a mind to live with us. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: Yesterday you renewed and brightened 
 the Ancient Chain of Friendship between our Ancestors 
 the Six Nations & you. Brethren I am glad to hear that 
 you our Brethren the English and the Six Nations have 
 renewed and strengthened the Ancient Chain of Friend- 
 ship subsisting between us, & we assure you that if ever 
 it be broke it will be on your side, and it is in your power 
 as you are an able People to preserve it, for while this 
 Friendship is preserved we shall be a strong Body of 
 People, and do not let a small matter make a difference 
 between us. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: Yesterday you desired us to be strong 
 and preserve the Chain of Friendship free from rust, 
 Brethren look on this Friendship Belt where we have the 
 Six Nations and you by the hand ; this Belt was delivered 
 us by our Brethren the English & Six Nations when first 
 you came over the great Water, that we might go & 
 pass to Trade where we pleased & you likewise with us, 
 this Belt we preserve that our Children unborn may 
 know. 
 
 BRETHREN: We heard what you said yesterday it 
 was all good but we expected two things more, first that 
 you would have put it out of the power of the Evil Spirit 
 to hurt the Chain of Friendship, and secondly that you 
 would have settled the prices of goods that we might 
 have them cheaper from you than we had from the 
 
1 20 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 French as you have often told us. Brethren you have 
 renewed the Old Friendship yesterday, the Ancient 
 Chain is now become bright, it is new to our young Men, 
 and Brethren we now take a faster hold of it than ever 
 we had & hope it may be preserved free from rust to our 
 posterity. A belt [of] 9 rows. 
 
 BRETHREN: This Belt is from our Warriors in behalf 
 of our Women & Children and they desire of us to request 
 of you to be strong & see that they have goods cheap 
 from your Traders & not be oppressed as they have been 
 by the French. 86 A belt [of] 7 rows. 
 
 BRETHREN: Shewing two Medals those we had from 
 you as a token that we might remember our Friendship 
 whenever we should meet in the Woods and smoke under 
 the Tree of Peace, we preserved your token and hope 
 you remember your promise, it was then said that this 
 Country was given by God to the Indians & that you 
 would preserve it for our joint use where we first met 
 under a shade as there were no Houses in those times. 
 
 The same speaker addressing himself to the six Na- 
 tions. 
 
 BRETHREN: I am very glad to hear what our Brethren 
 the English have said to us, and I now send this string by 
 you, and take the Chiefs of the six Nations by the hand 
 to come here to Council next spring. 
 
 Brother addressing himself to me 
 
 You have been employed by the King and Sir William 
 Johnson amongst many Nations of Indians in settling 
 this Peace, now you are sent here where our Council fire is, 
 
 88 The speculation and corruption of the French officers at the Western 
 posts, was notorious. Bellestre was not free from suspicions of taking advan- 
 tage of his official position to exploit the Indian trade. See Farmer, History 
 of Detroit and Michigan (Detroit, 1884), p. 766. ED. 
 
1760-1761] Croghans Journals 121 
 
 the Smoke of which ascends to the Skies you are going 
 away and all Nations to the Sun sitting are to meet here 
 to see their Brethren the English in possession of this 
 place and we desire that you may stay here till that Coun- 
 cil, that you may take your Master Word of what is to 
 be transacted here. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: By this String we request you will con- 
 sider it will be difficult for us to understand each other. 
 It would be agreeable to us if you would continue our old 
 Interpreter as he understands our Language well. A 
 string. 
 
 December the 5 th the Principal Man of the Putawatimes 
 spoke 
 
 BRETHREN: Yesterday our Uncles of the Six Nations 
 spoke to you for us all; do not be surprised at it, they have 
 more understanding in Council affairs than us, we have 
 employed them to speak for us all, and Confirm what 
 they have said by this Belt. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: Be strong and bring large quantitys of 
 goods to supply us & we will bring all our Furs to this 
 place. We are glad you acquainted us that the Inhabi- 
 tants of French here are become English subjects, we shall 
 look on them as such for the future and treat them as our 
 Brethren. A belt. 
 
 BRETHREN: Our Uncles gave us this String of Wam- 
 pum and desired us to be strong and hunt for you, we 
 should be glad [if] you would fix the price to be given 
 for a Deer of Meat, then insisted strongly that the six 
 Nation Deputys should press their Chiefs to attend the 
 General meeting to be held here in the spring by a Belt. 
 
 The principal Man of the Ottawas got up and made 
 two speeches to the same purport as above. 
 
 Then I made them the following speech. 
 
122 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 BRETHREN: I return you thanks for the several affec- 
 tionate speeches you made us yesterday. To day it is 
 agreed that he [the interpreter] be continued till General 
 Amherst and Sir William Johnson's pleasure be known; 
 you likewise desired I might stay here till your General 
 Meeting in the Spring, I am not my own Master so 
 you must excuse me till I receive further Orders. A belt. 
 
 Then the Present of Goods was delivered to each 
 Nation in his Majesty s Name, for which they returned 
 their hearty thanks. 
 
 Then Major Rogers spoke to them. 
 
 BRETHREN: I return you thanks for your readiness in 
 joining his Majestys Troops under my Command, on my 
 way here, as I soon set out to execute my orders and 
 relieve the Garrison of Misselemakinach I take this 
 opportunity of taking my leave of you, and you may be 
 assured I will acquaint General Amherst and Sir William 
 Johnson of the kind reception I have met with amongst 
 your Nations and recommend your services. A belt. 
 
 Then the Council fire was covered up & the Confer- 
 ence ended. 
 
 7 th . M r Butler of the Rangers set of[f] with an officer & 
 party to relieve the Garrison at the Milineys 87 [Miamis] 
 
 87 The French fort among the Miamis (English, Twigtwees) was situated 
 on the Maumee River, near the present site of Fort Wayne. The date of its 
 founding is in doubt; but the elder Vincennes was there in 1704, and soon 
 after this frequent mention is made of its commandants. During the revolt 
 of the French Indians (1748), the fort was partially burned. When Celoron 
 passed, the succeeding year, he described it as in a bad condition, and located 
 on an unhealthful site. About this time, the Miamis removed to the Great 
 Miami River, and permitted the English to build a fortified trading house at 
 Pickawillany. But an expedition sent out from Detroit chastised these recalci- 
 trants, and brought them back to their former abode, about Fort Miami 
 which latter is described (1757) as protected with palisades, on the right bank 
 of the river. The garrison of the Rangers sent out by Rogers from Detroit 
 to secure this post, was later replaced by a small detachment of the Royal 
 
1760-1761] Crogharf s Journals 123 
 
 with whom I sent an Interpreter and gave him Wampum 
 and such other things as was necessary for his Journey 
 and Instructions in what manner to speak to the Indians 
 in those parts. 
 
 The 8 th . Major Rogers set of[f] for Misselemachinack 
 with whom I sent Cap 4 Montour and four Indians who 
 were well acquainted with the Country and the Indian 
 Nations that Inhabit it. 88 
 
 The 9 th & io th . Capt Campble assembled all the In- 
 habitants and read the Act of Parliament to them & 
 setled matters with them to his satisfaction, they agree- 
 ing to y e billiting of Troops and furnishing fire Wood & 
 Provisions for the Garrison, and indeed every thing in 
 their power for his Majestys service. 
 
 The n th . In the Evening Capt. Campble finished his 
 Letters when I set off leaving him what Wampum, Silver 
 Truck & Goods I had for the Indian service. 
 
 The i6 th . We came to the little Lake called Sandusky 
 which we found froze over so as not to be passable for 
 some days. 
 
 The 22 d . We crossed the little Lake on the Ice which 
 is about 6 Miles over to an Indian Village where we 
 found our Horses which we sent from D'Troit, there 
 
 Americans, under command of Lieutenant Robert Holmes, who notified Glad- 
 win of Pontiac's conspiracy, but nevertheless himself fell a victim thereto. 
 See Morris's Journal, post. The fort destroyed at this time was not rebuilt. 
 Croghan (1765) speaks of it as ruinous. In the Indian wars of the Northwest, 
 Wayne, perceiving its strategic importance, built at this site the fort named in 
 his honor (1794), whence arose the present city. ED. 
 
 88 The expedition of Major Rogers to relieve the French at Mackinac, 
 failed because of the lateness of the season, and the consequent ice in Lake 
 Huron. Rogers returned to Detroit December 21, and two days later left for 
 Pittsburg, where he arrived January 23, 1761, after a land march of just 
 one month. The fort at Mackinac was delivered over to an English detach- 
 ment under command of Captain Balfour of the Royal Americans, September 
 28, 1761. ED. 
 
1 24 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 were but five Indians at home all the rest being gone a 
 hunting. 
 
 23 d . We came to Chenunda an Indian Village 6 miles 
 from Sandusky. 89 
 
 24 th . We stayed to hunt up some Horses. 
 
 25 th . We came to the Principal Mans hunting Cabin 
 about 1 6 miles from Chenunda level Road and clear 
 Woods, several Savannahs. 
 
 26 th . We came to Mohicken Village, this day, we 
 crossed several small Creeks all branches of Muskingum, 
 level Road, pretty clear Woods about 30 Miles, the Indians 
 were all out a hunting except one family. 
 
 27 th . We halted, it rained all day. 
 
 28 th . We set of[f], it snowed all day & come to 
 another branch of Muskingum about 9 Miles good 
 Road where we stayed the 2Q th for a Cannoe to put us 
 over, the Creek being very high. 
 
 30 th . We set of[f] and came to another branch of 
 Muskingum about n Miles and the 3i st we fell a Tree 
 over the Creek and carry ed over our Baggage and en- 
 camped about one Mile up a Run. 
 
 January the i st . We travelled about 16 Miles clear 
 woods & level Road to a place called the Sugar Cabins. 
 
 2 d . We came about 12 Miles to the Beavers Town 
 clear Woods and good Road. 
 
 3 d . Crossed Muskingum Creek and encamped in a 
 fine bottom on this side the Creek. 
 
 4 th . Set of[f] and travelled about 20 Miles up a branch 
 of Muskingum good Road. 
 
 89 The place here mentioned was a Wyandot town shown on Hutchins's 
 map (1778). Probably this was the village of the chief Nicholas, founded in 
 1747 during his revolt from the French. See Weiser*s Journal, ante. ED. 
 
1760-1761] Croghan's yournals 125 
 
 5 th . Travelled about 18 Miles and crossed a branch 
 of little Beaver Creek clear Woods & good Road. 
 
 6 th . Travelled about Eighteen Miles and crossed two 
 Branches of little Beaver Creek good Road & Clear 
 Woods. 
 
 7 th . Crossed the mouth of big Beaver Creek at an 
 Indian Village and came to Pittsburg about 25 Miles 
 good Road & Clear Woods. 90 
 
 90 Croghan returned to Pittsburg by the "great trail," a famous Indian 
 thoroughfare leading from the Forks of the Ohio to Detroit. For a description 
 of this route, see Hulbert, Indian Thoroughfares (Cleveland, 1902), p. 107; 
 and in more detail his article in Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society 
 Publications (Columbus, 1899), viii, p. 276. 
 
 Mohican John's village was on White Woman's Creek, near the site of 
 Reedsburg, Ohio. Beaver's Town was at the junction of the Tuscarawas and 
 the Big Sandy, the antecedent of the present Bolivar; for the town at the mouth 
 of Big Beaver Creek, see Weiser's Journal, ante. ED. 
 
CROGHAN'S JOURNAL, 1765" 
 
 May 1 5th, 1765. I set off from fort Pitt with two 
 batteaux, and encamped at C harder' s Island, in the Ohio, 
 three miles below Fort Pitt. 92 
 
 1 6th. Being joined by the deputies of the Senecas, 
 Shawnesse, and Delawares, that were to accompany me, 
 
 91 The manuscript of the journal that we here reprint came into the posses- 
 sion of George William Featherstonhaugh, a noted English geologist who came 
 to the United States in the early nineteenth century and edited a geological 
 magazine in Philadelphia. He first published the document therein (The 
 Monthly Journal of American Geology), in the number for December, 1831. 
 It appeared again in a pamphlet, published at Burlington, N. J. (no date) ; and 
 Mann Butler thought it of sufficient consequence to be introduced into the 
 appendix to his History of Kentucky (Cincinnati and Louisville, and ed., 1836). 
 Another version of this journey (which we may call the official version), also 
 written by Croghan, was sent by Sir William Johnson to the lords of trade, and 
 is published in New York Colonial Documents, vii, pp. 779-788. Hildreth pub- 
 lished a variant of the second (official) version "from an original MS. among 
 Colonel Morgan's papers," in his Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley (Cincinnati, 
 1848). The two versions supplement each other. The first was evidently written 
 for some persons interested in lands in the Western country their fertility, 
 products, and general aspects; therefore Croghan herein confines himself to 
 general topographical description, and omits his journey towards the Illinois, 
 his meeting with Pontiac, and all Indian negotiations. The official report, 
 on the other hand, abbreviates greatly the account of the journey and the 
 appearance of the country, and concerns itself with Indian affairs and historical 
 events. We have in the present publication combined the two journals, indi- 
 cating in foot-notes the important variations; but the bulk of the narrative is 
 a reprint of the Featherstonhaugh-Butler version. 
 
 With regard to the circumstances under which the official journal was 
 transcribed, Johnson makes the following explanation in his letter to the board 
 of trade (New York Colonial Documents, vii, p. 775) : "I have selected the prin- 
 cipal parts [of this journal] which I now inclose to your Lordships, the whole of 
 his Journal is long and not yet collected because after he was made Prisoner, & 
 lost his Baggage &ca. he was necessitated to write it on Scraps of Paper procured 
 with difficulty at Post Vincent, and that in a disguised Character to prevent 
 its being understood by the French in case through any disaster he might be 
 again plundered." 
 
 The importance of this journal for the study of Western history has fre- 
 quently been noted. Parkman used it extensively in his Conspiracy of Pontiac. 
 
1765] Croghan' s Journals 127 
 
 we set off at seven o'clock in the morning, and at ten 
 o'clock arrived at the Logs Town, an old settlement of 
 the Shawnesse, about seventeen miles from Fort Pitt, 
 where we put ashore, and viewed the remains of that 
 village, which was situated on a high bank, on the south 
 side of the Ohio river, a fine fertile country round it. At 
 ii o'clock we re-embarked and proceeded down the Ohio 
 to the mouth of Big Beaver Creek, about ten miles below 
 the Logs Town: this creek empties itself between two 
 fine rich bottoms, a mile wide on each side from the banks 
 of the river to the highlands. About a mile below the 
 mouth of Beaver Creek we passed an old settlement of the 
 Dela wares, where the French, in 1756, built a town for 
 that nation. On the north side of the river some of the 
 stone chimneys are yet remaining; here the highlands 
 come close to the banks and continue so for about five 
 miles. After which we passed several spacious bottoms 
 on each side of the river, and came to Little Beaver 
 Creek, about fifteen miles below Big Beaver Creek. A 
 number of small rivulets fall into the river on each side. 
 From thence we sailed to Yellow Creek, 93 being about 
 
 Winsor in his Critical and Narrative History of America, v, p. 704, note, first 
 pointed out in some detail the differences between the two versions. He errs, 
 however, in confusing the letters Croghan wrote from Vincennes and Ouiatonon. 
 Many secondary authorities also wrongly aver that Croghan on this journey 
 went as far as Fort Chartres. ED. 
 
 92 Croghan arrived at Fort Pitt, February 28, 1765, and from then until his 
 departure was constantly occupied with Indian transactions in preparation for 
 his journey. See Pennsylvania Colonial Records, ix, pp. 250-264; also Withers's 
 Early History of Western Pennsylvania, app., pp. 166-179. Er> - 
 
 93 Little Beaver Creek (near the western border of Pennsylvania) and Yellow 
 Creek (in Ohio) were much frequented by Indians. On the former, Half King 
 had a hunting cabin. Logan, the noted Mingo chief, lived at the mouth of 
 the latter. Opposite, upon the Virginia shore, occurred the massacre of Logan's 
 family (April 30, 1774), which was one of the opening events of Lord Dun- 
 inore's War. See Withers's Chronicles of Border Warfare (Thwaites's ed., 
 Cincinnati, 1895), p. 150, notes. ED. 
 
I 28 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 fifteen miles from the last mentioned creek: here and 
 there the hills come close to the banks of the river on each 
 side, but where there are bottoms, they are very large, 
 and well watered; numbers of small rivulets running 
 through them, falling into the Ohio on both sides. We 
 encamped on the river bank, and found a great part of the 
 trees in the bottom are covered with grape vines. This 
 day we passed by eleven islands, one of which being about 
 seven miles long. For the most part of the way we made 
 this day, the banks of the river are high and steep. The 
 course of the Ohio from Fort Pitt to the mouth of Beaver 
 Creek inclines to the north-west; from thence to the two 
 creeks partly due west. 
 
 1 7th. At 6 o'clock in the morning we embarked: and 
 were delighted with the prospect of a fine open country 
 on each side of the river as we passed down. We came 
 to a place called the Two Creeks, about fifteen miles from 
 Yellow Creek, where we put to shore; here the Senecas 
 have a village on a high bank, on the north side of the 
 river; the chief of this village offered me his service to go 
 with me to the Illinois, which I could not refuse for fear 
 of giving him offence, although I had a sufficient number 
 of deputies with me already. 94 From thence we pro- 
 ceeded down the river, passed many large, rich, and fine 
 bottoms; the highlands being at a considerable distance 
 
 94 The village here described was Mingo Town on Mingo bottom, situated 
 at the present Mingo Junction, Ohio. It is not to be confused with the Mingo 
 bottom opposite the mouth of Yellow Creek. The former town was prominent 
 as a rendezvous for border war-parties in the Revolutionary period. From this 
 point, started the rabble that massacred the Moravian Indians in 1782. Colonel 
 Crawford set out from here, in May of the same year, on his ill-fated expedition 
 against the Sandusky Indians. See Withers's Chronicles, chap. 13. 
 
 Possibly the chief who joined Croghan at this point was Logan, since 
 the former had known him in his earlier home on the Susquehanna, near 
 Sunbury. ED. 
 
1765] Croghari s Journals 129 
 
 from the river banks, till we came to the Buffalo Creek, 
 being about ten miles below the Seneca village; and from 
 Buffalo Creek, we proceeded down the river to Fat Meat 
 Creek, about thirty miles. 95 The face of the country 
 appears much like what we met with before ; large, rich, and 
 well watered bottoms, then succeeded by the hills pinch- 
 ing close on the river; these bottoms, on the north side, 
 appear rather low, and consequently subject to inunda- 
 tions, in the spring of the year, when there never fail to be 
 high freshes in the Ohio, owing to the melting of the snows. 
 This day we passed by ten fine islands, though the greatest 
 part of them are small. They lay much higher out of 
 the water than the main land, and of course less subject 
 to be flooded by the freshes. At night we encamped near 
 an Indian village. The general course of the river from the 
 Two Creeks to Fat Meat Creek inclines to the southwest. 
 1 8th. At 6 o'clock, A.M. we set off in our batteaux; 
 the country on both sides of the river appears delightful; 
 the hills are several miles from the river banks, and con- 
 sequently the bottoms large; the soil, timber, and banks 
 of the river, much like those we have before described; 
 about fifty miles below Fat Meat Creek, we enter the 
 long reach, where the river runs a straight course for 
 twenty miles, and makes a delightful prospect; the banks 
 continue high; the country on both sides, level, rich, and 
 well watered. At the lower end of the reach we en- 
 camped. 96 This day we passed nine islands, some of 
 which are large, and lie high out of the water. 
 
 95 Buffalo Creek is in Brooke County, West Virginia, with the town of Wells- 
 burg located at its mouth. The first settlers arrived about 1769. Fat Meat 
 Creek is not identified; from the distances given, it might be Big Grave Creek, 
 in Marshall County, West Virginia, or Pipe Creek, nearly opposite, in Belmont 
 County, Ohio. ED. 
 
 98 The "Long Reach" lies between Fishing Creek and the Muskingum, 
 sixteen and a half miles in a nearly straight line to the southwest. ED. 
 
130 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 igth. We decamped at six in the morning, and sailed 
 to a place called the Three Islands, being about fifteen 
 miles from our last encampment; here the highlands come 
 close to the river banks, and the bottoms for the most 
 part till we come to the Muskingum (or Elk) 97 river 
 are but narrow: this river empties itself into the Ohio 
 about fifteen miles below the Three Islands; the banks of 
 the river continue steep, and the country is level, for 
 several miles back from the river. The course of the 
 river from Fat Meat Creek to Elk River, is about south- 
 west and by south. We proceeded down the river about 
 fifteen miles, to the mouth of Little Conhawa River, with 
 little or no alteration in the face of the country; here we 
 encamped in a fine rich bottom, after having passed 
 fourteen islands, some of them large, and mostly lying 
 high out of the water. 98 Here buffaloes, bears, turkeys, 
 with all other kinds of wild game are extremely plenty. 
 
 87 The French called the Muskingum Yanangue-kouan the river of the 
 Tobacco (Petun-Huron) Indians. Celoron (1749) left at the mouth of this 
 river, one of his plates, which was found in 1798, and is now in possession of 
 the American Antiquarian Society, at Worcester, Massachusetts. Croghan 
 had frequently been on the Muskingum, where as early as 1750, he had a trad- 
 ing house. The inhabitants at that time appear to have been Wyandots; but 
 after the French and Indian War the Delawares retreated thither, and built 
 their towns on the upper Muskingum. Later, the Moravian missionaries 
 removed their converts thither, and erected upon the banks of this river their 
 towns, Salem, Schonbrunn, and Gnadenhutten. In 1785, Fort Harmar was 
 placed at its mouth; and thither, three years later, came the famous colony of 
 New England Revolutionary soldiers, under the leadership of Rufus Putnam, 
 which founded Marietta. ED. 
 
 98 The Little Kanawha was the terminus of the exploring expedition of 
 George Rogers Clark and Jones in 1772. They reported unfavorably in regard 
 to the lands; but settlers soon began to occupy them, and they were a part of 
 the grant given to Trent, Croghan, and others at the treaty of Fort Stanwix 
 (1768) as a reparation for their losses in the previous wars. About the time 
 of Croghan's visit, Captain Bull, a well-known Delaware Indian of New York, 
 removed to the Little Kanawha, and in 1772 his village, Bulltown, was the 
 scene of a revolting massacre of friendly Indians by brutal white borderers. ED . 
 
1765] Croghan's Journals 131 
 
 A good hunter, without much fatigue to himself, could 
 here supply daily one hundred men with meat. The 
 course of the Ohio, from Elk River to Little Conhawa, is 
 about south. 
 
 2oth. At six in the morning we embarked in our 
 boats, and proceeded down to the mouth of Hochocken 
 or Bottle River," where we were obliged to encamp, 
 having a strong head wind against us. We made but 
 twenty miles this day, and passed by five very fine islands, 
 the country the whole way being rich and level, with high 
 and steep banks to the rivers. From here I despatched 
 an Indian to the Plains of Scioto, with a letter to the 
 French traders from the Illinois residing there, amongst 
 the Shawnesse, requiring them to come and join me at the 
 mouth of Scioto, in order to proceed with me to their 
 own country, and take the oaths of allegiance to his 
 Britannic Majesty, as they were now become his sub- 
 jects, and had no right to trade there without license. 
 At the same time I sent messages to the Shawnesse Indians 
 to oblige the French to come to me in case of refusal. 
 
 2 1 st. We embarked at half past 8 o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, and sailed to a place called the Big Bend, about 
 thirty-five miles below Bottle River. The course of the 
 Ohio, from Little Conhawa River to Big Bend, is about 
 south-west by south. The country hereabouts abounds 
 
 99 Hockhocking is the local Indian name for a bottle-shaped gourd, to 
 which they likened the course of this river. Its chief historical event is con- 
 nected with Lord Dunmore's War. Nine years after this voyage of Croghan, 
 Dunmore descended the Ohio with his flotilla, and disembarking at the river 
 with his army of regulars and frontiersmen Clark, Cresap, Kenton, and 
 Girty among the number marched overland to the Scioto, leaving Fort 
 Gower here to guard his rear. Signs of the earthwork of this fortification are 
 still visible. At this place, on the return journey, the Virginia officers of the 
 army drew up resolutions of sympathy with the Continental Congress then in 
 session at Philadelphia. ED. 
 
132 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 with buffalo, bears, deer, and all sorts of wild game, in such 
 plenty, that we killed out of our boats as much as we 
 wanted. We proceeded down the river to the Buffalo 
 Bottom, about ten miles from the beginning of the Big 
 Bend, where we encamped. The country on both sides 
 of the river, much the same as we passed the day before. 
 This day we passed nine islands, all lying high out of the 
 water. 
 
 22d. At half an hour past 5 o'clock', set off and sailed 
 to a place, called Alum Hill, so called from the great 
 quantity of that mineral found there by the Indians; this 
 place lies about ten miles from Buffalo Bottom; 100 thence 
 we sailed to the mouth of Great Conhawa River, 101 
 being ten miles from the Alum Hill. The course of the 
 river, from the Great Bend to this place, is mostly west; 
 from hence we proceeded down to Little Guyondott 
 River, where we encamped, about thirty miles from Great 
 Conhawa; the country still fine and level; the bank of the 
 river high, with abundance of creeks and rivulets falling 
 into it. This day we passed six fine islands. In the 
 evening one of our Indians discovered three Cherokees 
 near our encampment, which obliged our Indians to keep 
 
 100 The "Big Bend" of the river is that now known as Pomeroy's Bend, 
 from the Ohio town at its upper point. Alum Hill was probably West Colum- 
 bia, Mason County, West Virginia. See Lewis, History of West Virginia 
 (Philadelphia, 1889), p. 109. ED. 
 
 101 The Kanawha takes its name from a tribe of Indians who formerly lived 
 in its valley, but they were destroyed by the Iroquois in the early eighteenth 
 century. Ce*loron called it the Chinondaista, and at its mouth buried a plate 
 which is now in the museum of the Virginia Historical Society, at Richmond. 
 Gist surveyed here for the Ohio Company in 1752; later, Washington owned 
 ten thousand acres in the vicinity, and visited the spot in 1774. That same year, 
 the battle of Point Pleasant was fought at the mouth of the Kanawha by Colonel 
 Andrew Lewis's division of Lord Dunmore's army; and the succeeding year, 
 Fort Randolph was built to protect the frontiers. Daniel Boone retired hither 
 from Kentucky, and lived in this neighborhood four years (1791-95), before 
 migrating to Missouri. ED. 
 
1765] Crogharis Journals 133 
 
 out a good guard the first part of the night. Our party 
 being pretty strong, I imagine the Cherokees were afraid to 
 attack us, and so ran off. 
 
 23d. Decamped about five in the morning, and 
 arrived at Big Guyondott, twenty miles from our last 
 encampment: the country as of yesterday; from hence we 
 proceeded down to Sandy River being twenty miles 
 further; thence to the mouth of Scioto, about forty miles 
 from the last mentioned river. The general course of 
 the river from Great Conhawa to this place inclines to 
 the south-west. The soil rich, the country level, and 
 the banks of the river high. The soil on the banks of 
 Scioto, for a vast distance up the country, is prodigious 
 rich, the bottoms very wide, and in the spring of the year, 
 many of them are flooded, so that the river appears to 
 be two or three miles wide. Bears, deer, turkeys, and 
 most sorts of wild game, are very plenty on the banks of 
 this river. On the Ohio, just below the mouth of Scioto, 
 on a high bank, near forty feet, formerly stood the Shaw- 
 nesse town, called the Lower Town, which was all car- 
 ried away, except three or four houses, by a great flood 
 in the Scioto. I was in the town at the time, though the 
 banks of the Ohio were so high, the water was nine feet 
 on the top, which obliged the whole town to take to their 
 canoes, and move with their effects to the hills. The 
 Shawnesse afterwards built their town on the opposite 
 side of the river, which, during the French war, they 
 abandoned, for fear of the Virginians, and removed to the 
 plains on Scioto. The Ohio is about one hundred yards 
 wider here than at Fort Pitt, which is but a small augumen- 
 tation, considering the great number of rivers and creeks, 
 that fall into it during the course of four hundred and 
 twenty miles; and as it deepens but very little, I imagine 
 
134 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 the water sinks, though there is no visible appearance of 
 it. In general all the lands on the Scioto River, as well as 
 the bottoms on Ohio, are too rich for any thing but hemp, 
 flax, or Indian corn. 102 
 
 24th, 25th, and 26th. Stayed at the mouth of Scioto, 
 waiting for the Shawnesse , and French traders, who 
 arrived here on the evening of the 26th, in consequence 
 of the message I sent them from Hochocken, or Bottle 
 Creek. 103 
 
 27th. The Indians requested me to stay this day, 
 which I could not refuse. 
 
 28th. We set off: passing down the Ohio, the country 
 on both sides the river level; the banks continue high. 
 This day we came sixty miles; passed no islands. The 
 river being wider and deeper, we drove all night. 
 
 2gth. We came to the little Miame River, having pro- 
 ceeded sixty miles last night. 
 
 102 The word Scioto probably signified ' ' deer, ' ' although it is said by David 
 Jones to mean "hairy" river, from the multitude of deer's hairs which floated 
 down the stream. The valley of the Scioto is famous in Western annals. Dur- 
 ing the second half of the eighteenth century it was the chief seat of the Shawnees 
 whose lower, or ' ' Shannoah,' ' town has been frequently mentioned in the Indian 
 transactions which we have printed. The Shawnees, on their withdrawal 
 up the valley, built the Chillicothe towns, where Pontiac's conspiracy was largely 
 fomented. These were the starting point of many raids against the Kentucky 
 and West Virginia settlements. From these villages Mrs. Ingles and Mrs. 
 Dennis made their celebrated escapes in 1755 and 1763 respectively. During 
 all the long series of wars closing with Wayne's victory in 1794, the intractable 
 Shawnees were among the most dreaded of the Indian enemy. ED. 
 
 103 The result of this message in regard to the French traders, is thus given 
 in the official version of the journal: 
 
 <{ 26th. Several of the Shawanese came there & brought with them 7 
 French Traders which they delivered to me, those being all that resided in 
 their Villages, & told me there was just six more living with the Delawares, 
 that on their return to their Towns they would go to the Delawares & get them 
 to send those French Traders home, & told me they were determined to do 
 everything in their power to convince me of their sincerity & good disposition 
 to preserve a peace.' ' ED. 
 
1765] Croghan' s Journals 135 
 
 3oth. We passed the Great Miame River, about 
 thirty miles from the little river of that name, and in the 
 evening arrived at the place where the Elephants' bones are 
 found, where we encamped, intending to take a view of 
 the place next morning. This day we came about 
 seventy miles. The country on both sides level, and rich 
 bottoms well watered. 
 
 3 1 st. Early in the morning we went to the great Lick, 
 where those bones are only found, about four miles from the 
 river, on the south-east side. In our way we passed 
 through a fine timbered clear wood', we came into a large road 
 which the Buffaloes have beaten, spacious enough for two 
 waggons to go abreast, and leading straight into the Lick. 
 It appears that there are vast quantities of these bones lying 
 five or six feet under ground, which we discovered in the 
 bank, at the edge of the Lick. We found here two tusks 
 above six feet long; we carried one, with some other bones, 
 to our boats, and set off. 104 This day we proceeded down 
 the river about eighty miles, through a country much the 
 same as already described, since we passed the Scioto. 
 In this day's journey we passed the mouth of the River 
 Kentucky, or Holsten's River. 105 
 
 104 Big Bone Lick, in Boone County, Kentucky, was visited by the French 
 in the early eighteenth century. It was a landmark for early Kentucky hunters, 
 who describe it in terms similar to those used by Croghan. At the beginning 
 of the nineteenth century, scientists took much interest in the remains of the 
 mammoth (or mastodon) the "elephant's bones" described by Croghan. 
 Thomas Jefferson and several members of the American Philosophical Soci- 
 ety, at Philadelphia, attempted to secure a complete skeleton of this extinct 
 giant; and a number of fossils from the lick were also sent to Europe. Dr. 
 Goforth of Cincinnati undertook an exploration to the lick at his own expense 
 (1803), but was later robbed of the result. The store of huge bones is not yet 
 entirely exhausted, specimens being yet occasionally excavated the present 
 writer having examined some there in 1894. ED. 
 
 106 It is a curious mistake on Croghan's part to designate the Kentucky 
 as the Holston River. The latter is a branch of the Tennessee, flowing through 
 
136 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 June ist. We arrived within a mile of the Falls of 
 Ohio, where we encamped, after coming about fifty 
 miles this day. 
 
 2d. Early in the morning we embarked, and passed 
 the Falls. The river being very low we were obliged to 
 lighten our boats, and pass on the north side of a little 
 island, which lays in the middle of the river. In general, 
 what is called the Fall here, is no more than rapids; and 
 in the least fresh, a batteau of any size may come and go 
 on each side without any risk. 106 This day we proceeded 
 sixty miles, in the course of which we passed Pidgeon 
 River. The country pretty high on each side of the River 
 Ohio. 
 
 3d. In the forepart of this day's course, we passed 
 high lands; about mid-day we came to a fine, flat, and 
 level country, called by the Indians the Low Lands; no 
 hills to be seen. We came about eighty miles this day, 
 and encamped. 
 
 4th. We came to a place called the Five Islands; these 
 islands are very long, and succeed one another in a chain; 
 the country still flat and level, the soil exceedingly rich, 
 and well watered. The highlands are at least fifty miles 
 
 the mountains of Tennessee, North Caiolina, and Virginia. Its valley was 
 early settled by Croghan's friends, Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania. It is 
 probable that, as the Kentucky's waters come from that direction, he had a 
 confused idea of the topography. ED. 
 
 108 One of the earliest descriptions of the Falls of the Ohio. Gist was 
 ordered to explore as far as there in 1750, but did not reach the goal. Findlay 
 was there in 1753. Gordon gives an account similar to Croghan's in 1766. 
 Ensign Butricke made more of an adventure in passing these falls see His- 
 torical Magazine, viii, p. 259. An attempt at a settlement was made by John 
 Connolly (1773); but the beginnings of the present city of Louisville are due 
 to the pioneers who accompanied George Rogers Clark thither in 1778, and 
 made their first home on Corn Island. For the early history of Louisville, 
 see Durrett, Centenary of Louisville, Filson Club Publications, No. 8 (Louis- 
 ville, 1893). ED. 
 
1765] Croghan' s Journals 137 
 
 from the banks of the Ohio. In this day's course we 
 passed about ninety miles, the current being very strong. 
 
 5th. Having passed the Five Islands, we came to a 
 place called the Owl River. Came about forty miles this 
 day. The country the same as yesterday. 
 
 6th. We arrived at the mouth of the Ouabache, 107 
 where we found a breast-work erected, supposed to be 
 done by the Indians. The mouth of this river is about 
 two hundred yards wide, and in its course runs through 
 one of the finest countries in the world, the lands being 
 exceedingly rich, and well watered; here hemp might be 
 raised in immense quantities. All the bottoms, and 
 almost the whole country abounds with great plenty of 
 the white and red mulberry tree. These trees are to be 
 found in great plenty, in all places between the mouth of 
 Scioto and the Ouabache: the soil of the latter affords 
 this tree in plenty as far as Ouicatonon, and some few 
 on the Miame River. Several large fine islands lie in the 
 Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Ouabache, the banks of 
 which are high, and consequently free from inundations; 
 hence we proceeded down the river about six miles to 
 encamp, as I judged some Indians were sent to way-lay 
 us, and came to a place called the Old Shawnesse Village, 
 
 107 Colonel Reuben T. Durrett, of Louisville, thinks Croghan "must have 
 meant Salt River when he spoke of passing Pigeon River during his first day's 
 journey after leaving the Falls of the Ohio." The Owl River he identifies with 
 Highland Creek in Kentucky, between the mouths of the Green and Wabash 
 rivers. 
 
 The Wabash River was early considered by the French as one of the 
 most important highways between Canada and Louisiana. Marquette desig- 
 nates it on his map as the Ouabouskiguo, which later Frenchmen corrupted 
 into Ouabache. The name was also applied to that portion of the Ohio below 
 the mouth of the Wabash; but James Logan in 1718 noted the distinction. 
 See Winsor, Mississippi Basin, p. 17. Croghan was probably the first Eng- 
 lishman who had penetrated thus far into the former French territory, except 
 Fraser, who had preceded him to the Illinois. ED. 
 
138 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 some of that nation having formerly lived there. 108 In 
 this day's proceedings we came about seventy-six miles. 
 The general course of the river, from Scioto to this place, 
 is south-west. 
 
 7th. We stayed here and despatched two Indians to 
 the Illinois by land, with letters to Lord Frazer, an Eng- 
 lish officer, who had been sent there from Fort Pitt, and 
 Monsieur St. Ange, 109 the French commanding officer at 
 Fort Chartres, and some speeches to the Indians there, 
 letting them know of my arrival here; that peace was made 
 between us and the Six Nations, Delawares, and Shaw- 
 nesse, and of my having a number of deputies of those 
 nations along with me, to conclude matters with them 
 also on my arrival there. This day one of my men went 
 into the woods and lost himself. 110 
 
 8th. At day-break we were attacked by a party of 
 Indians, consisting of eighty warriors of the Kiccapoos 
 
 108 The Shawnees had formerly dwelt west and south of their habitations 
 on the Scioto. The Cumberland River was known on early maps as the 
 "Shawana River;" and in 1718, they were located in the direction of Carolina. 
 Their migration east and north took place about 1730. The present Illinois 
 town at this site, is still called Shawneetown. ED. 
 
 109 Being able to speak French, Lieutenant Alexander Fraser of the 78th 
 infantry had been detailed to accompany Croghan. He went in advance of 
 the latter, and reached the Illinois, where he found himself in such danger that 
 he escaped to Mobile in disguise. See Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, ii, pp. 
 276, 284-286. 
 
 Captain Louis St. Ange de Bellerive, was the son of a French officer who 
 came to Louisiana early in the eighteenth century, and commanded in the 
 Illinois country in 1722 and again in 1733. St. Ange had himself seen much 
 pioneer service, having been placed in charge of a fort on the Missouri (1736), 
 and having succeeded Vincennes at the post bearing the latter's name. St. 
 Ange remained at Vincennes until summoned by De Villiers, commandant at 
 Fort Chartres, to supersede him there, and spare him the mortification of a 
 surrender to the English. After yielding Fort Chartres to Captain Sterling 
 (October, 1765), St. Ange retired to St. Louis, where he acted as commandant 
 (after 1766, in the Spanish service) until his death in 1774. ED. 
 
 110 This man was in reality captured. See Parkman, Conspiracy oj Pon- 
 tiac, ii, p. 289, note. ED. 
 
1765] Crogharis journals 139 
 
 and Musquattimes, 111 who killed two of my men and three 
 Indians, wounded myself and all the rest of my party, 
 except two white men and one Indian ; then made myself 
 and all the white men prisoners, plundering us of every 
 thing we had. A deputy of the Shawnesse who was shot 
 through the thigh, having concealed himself in the woods 
 for a few minutes after he was wounded not knowing 
 but they were Southern Indians, who are always at war 
 with the northward Indians after discovering what 
 nation they were, came up to them and made a very bold 
 speech, telling them that the whole northward Indians 
 would join in taking revenge for the insult and murder 
 of their people; this alarmed those savages very much, 
 who began excusing themselves, saying their fathers, the 
 French, had spirited them up, telling them that the Indians 
 were coming with a body of southern Indians to take 
 their country from them, and enslave them; that it was 
 this that induced them to commit this outrage. After 
 dividing the plunder, (they left great part of the heaviest 
 effects behind, not being able to carry them,) they set off 
 with us to their village at Ouattonon, in a great hurry, 
 being in dread of pursuit from a large party of Indians 
 they suspected were coming after me. Our course was 
 through a thick woody country, crossing a great many 
 swamps, morasses, and beaver ponds. We traveled this 
 day about forty-two miles. 
 
 111 The Kickapoos and Mascoutins were allied Algonquian tribes who were 
 first encountered in Wisconsin; but being of roving habits they ranged all the 
 prairie lands between the Wisconsin and Wabash rivers. In 1712, they were 
 about the Maumee and at Detroit. Charlevoix describes them (1721) as living 
 near Chicago. Being concerned in the Fox wars, they fled across the Missis- 
 sippi; and again, about the middle of the eighteenth century, were with the 
 Miamis on the Wabash, where they had a town near Fort Ouiatonon. They 
 were always somewhat intractable and difficult to restrain. The remnant of 
 these tribes live on reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma. ED. 
 
140 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 gth. An hour before day we set out on our march; 
 passed through thick woods, some highlands, and small 
 savannahs, badly watered. Traveled this day about 
 thirty miles. 
 
 loth. We set out very early in the morning, and 
 marched through a high country, extremely well timbered, 
 for three hours; then came to a branch of the Ouabache,^ 
 which we crossed. 112 The remainder of this day we 
 traveled through fine rich bottoms, overgrown with reeds, 
 which make the best pasture in the world, the young 
 reeds being preferable to sheaf oats. Here is great 
 plenty of wild game of all kinds. Came this day about 
 twenty-eight, or thirty miles. 
 
 nth. At day-break we set off, making our way 
 through a thin woodland, interspersed with savannahs. I 
 suffered extremely by reason of the excessive heat of the 
 weather, and scarcity of water; the little springs and runs 
 being dried up. Traveled this day about thirty miles. 
 
 1 2th. We passed through some large savannahs, and 
 clear woods; in the afternoon we came to the Ouabache; 
 then marched along it through a prodigious rich bottom, 
 overgrown with reeds and wild hemp; all this bottom is 
 well watered, and an exceeding fine hunting ground. 
 Came this day about thirty miles. 
 
 1 3th. About an hour before day we set out; traveled 
 through such bottoms as of yesterday, and through some 
 large meadows, where no trees, for several miles together, 
 are to be seen. Buffaloes, deer, and bears are here in 
 great plenty. We traveled about twenty-six miles this 
 day. 
 
 112 This branch of the Wabash is now called the Little Wabash River. The 
 party must have taken a very circuitous route, else Croghan greatly overesti- 
 mates the distances. Vincennes is about seventy-five miles from the point 
 where they were made prisoners. ED. 
 
1765] Croghan's Journals 141 
 
 1 4th. The country we traveled through this day, 
 appears the same as described yesterday, excepting this 
 afternoon's journey through woodland, to cut off a bend 
 of the river. Came about twenty-seven miles this day. 
 
 1 5th. We set out very early, and about one o'clock 
 came to the Ouabache, within six or seven miles of Port 
 Vincent. 113 On my arrival there, I found a village of 
 about eighty or ninety French families settled on the east 
 side of this river, being one of the finest situations that can 
 be found. The country is level and clear, and the soil 
 very rich, producing wheat and tobacco. I think the 
 latter preferable to that of Maryland or Virginia. The 
 French inhabitants hereabouts, are an idle, lazy people, a 
 parcel of renegadoes from Canada, and are much worse 
 than the Indians. They took a secret pleasure at our 
 misfortunes, and the moment we arrived, they came to 
 the Indians, exchanging trifles for their valuable plunder. 
 As the savages took from me a considerable quantity of 
 
 113 The date of the founding of Vincennes (Post or Port Vincent) has been 
 varyingly assigned from 1702 to 1735; but Dunn, in his Indiana (Boston and 
 New York, 1888), p. 54, shows quite conclusively that Francois Margane, 
 Sieur de Vincennes, went thither at the request of Governor Perier of Louisiana 
 in 1727, and founded a fort to counteract the designs of the English against the 
 French trade. The French colony was not begun until 1735, and the next year 
 the commandant Vincennes was captured and burnt by the Chickasaws, while 
 engaged in an expedition against their country. Louis St. Ange succeeded to 
 the position of commandant at Vincennes, which he continued to hold until 
 1764, when summoned to the Illinois. He left two soldiers in charge at Vin- 
 cennes, of whom and their companions Croghan gives this unfavorable account. 
 No English officer appeared to take command at Vincennes until 1777; mean- 
 while General Gage had endeavored to expel the French inhabitants therefrom 
 (1772-73). It is not surprising, therefore, that they received the Americans under 
 George Rogers Clark (1778), with cordiality; or that after Hamilton's re-cap- 
 ture of the place, they were unwilling to aid the English in maintaining the post 
 against Clark's surprise (February, 1779), which resulted in the capture of 
 Hamilton and all the British garrison. After this event, Vincennes became 
 part of the Illinois government, until the organization of a Northwest Territory 
 in 1787. ED. 
 
142 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 gold and silver in specie, the French traders extorted ten 
 half Johannes 114 from them for one pound of vermilion. 
 Here is likewise an Indian village of the Pyankeshaws, 115 
 who were much displeased with the party that took me, 
 telling them that "our and your chiefs are gone to make 
 peace, and you have begun a war, for which our women 
 and children will have reason to cry." From this post 
 the Indians permitted me to write to the commander, at 
 Fort Chartres, but would not suffer me to write to any 
 body else, (this I apprehend was a precaution of the 
 French, lest their villany should be perceived too soon,) 
 although the Indians had given me permission to write 
 to Sir William Johnson and Fort Pitt on our march, 
 before we arrived at this place. But immediately after 
 our arrival they had a private council with the French, in 
 which the Indians urged, (as they afterwards informed me,) 
 that as the French had engaged them in so bad an affair, 
 which was likely to bring a war on their nation, they now 
 expected a proof of their promise and assistance. Then 
 delivered the French a scalp and part of the plunder, and 
 wanted to deliver some presents to the Pyankeshaws, but 
 they refused to accept of any, and declared they would not 
 be concerned in the affair. This last information I got 
 from the Pyankeshaws, as I had been well acquainted 
 with them several years before this time. 
 
 Port Vincent is a place of great consequence for trade, 
 being a fine hunting country all along the Ouabache, and 
 too far for the Indians, which reside hereabouts, to go 
 
 114 A johannies was a Portuguese coin current in America about this time, 
 worth nearly nine dollars. The Indians, therefore, paid over forty dollars for 
 their pound of vermillion. ED. 
 
 115 The Piankeshaws were a tribe of the Miamis, who had been settled near 
 Vincennes as long as they had been known to the whites. ED. 
 
1765] Croghan's Journals 143 
 
 either to the Illinois, or elsewhere, to fetch their necessa- 
 ries. 
 
 1 6th. We were obliged to stay here to get some little 
 apparel made up for us, and to buy some horses for our 
 journey to Ouicatonon, promising payment at Detroit, 
 for we could not procure horses from the French for hire; 
 though we were greatly fatigued, and our spirits much 
 exhausted in our late march, they would lend us no assis- 
 tance. 
 
 i yth. At mid-day we set out; traveling the first five 
 miles through a fine thick wood. We traveled eighteen 
 miles this day, and encamped in a large, beautiful, well 
 watered meadow. 
 
 1 8th and ipth. We traveled through a prodigious 
 large meadow, called the Pyankeshaw's Hunting Ground: 
 here is no wood to be seen, and the country appears like 
 an ocean: the ground is exceedingly rich, and partly 
 overgrown with wild hemp; the land well watered, and 
 full of buffalo, deer, bears, and all kinds of wild game. 
 
 2oth and 2ist. We passed through some very large 
 meadows, part of which belong to the Pyankeshaws on 
 Vermilion River; the country and soil much the same as 
 that we traveled over for these three days past, wild hemp 
 grows here in abundance; the game very plenty: at any 
 time, in half an hour we could kill as much as we wanted. 
 
 22nd. We passed through part of the same meadow 
 as mentioned yesterday; then came to a high woodland, 
 and arrived at Vermilion River, so called from a fine red 
 earth found here by the Indians, with which they paint 
 themselves. About half a mile from the place where we 
 crossed this river, there is a village of Pyankeshaws, dis- 
 tinguished by the addition of the name of the river. We 
 then traveled about three hours, through a clear high 
 
144 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 woody country, but a deep and rich soil; then came to a 
 meadow, where we encamped. 
 
 23d. Early in the morning we set out through a fine 
 meadow, then some clear woods; in the afternoon came 
 into a very large bottom on the Ouabache, within six 
 miles of Ouicatanon; here I met several chiefs of the 
 Kickapoos and Musquattimes, who spoke to their young 
 men who had taken us, and reprimanded them severely 
 for what they had done to me, after which they returned 
 with us to their village, and delivered us all to their chiefs. 
 
 The distance from port Vincent to Ouicatanon is two 
 hundred and ten miles. This place is situated on the 
 Ouabache. About fourteen French families are living 
 in the fort, which stands on the north side of the river. 
 The Kickapoos and the Musquattimes, whose warriors 
 had taken us, live nigh the fort, on the same side of the 
 river, where they have two villages; and the Ouicatanons 
 have a village on the south side of the river. At our 
 arrival at this post, several of the Wawcottonans, (or 
 Ouicatonans) with whom I had been formerly acquainted, 
 came to visit me, and seemed greatly concerned at what 
 had happened. They went immediately to the Kicka- 
 poos and Musquattimes, and charged them to take the 
 greatest care of us, till their chiefs should arrive from the 
 Illinois, where they were gone to meet me some time ago, 
 and who were entirely ignorant of this affair, and said the 
 French had spirited up this party to go and strike us. 
 
 The French have a great influence over these Indians, 
 and never fail in telling them many lies to the prejudice 
 of his majesty's interest, by making the English nation 
 odious and hateful to them. I had the greatest difficul- 
 ties in removing these prejudices. As these Indians are a 
 weak, foolish, and credulous people, they are easily im- 
 
1765] Croghan's Journals 145 
 
 posed on by a designing people, who have led them 
 hitherto as they pleased. The French told them that 
 as the southern Indians had for two years past made war 
 on them, it must have been at the instigation of the Eng- 
 lish, who are a bad people. However I have been fortu- 
 nate enough to remove their prejudice, and, in a great 
 measure, their suspicions against the English. The coun- 
 try hereabouts is exceedingly pleasant, being open and 
 clear for many miles; the soil very rich and well watered; 
 all plants have a quick vegetation, and the climate very 
 temperate through the winter. This post has always been 
 a very considerable trading place. The great plenty of 
 furs taken in this country, induced the French to estab- 
 lish this post, which was the first on the Ouabache, and by 
 a very advantageous trade they have been richly recom- 
 pensed for their labor. 
 
 On the south side of the Ouabache runs a big bank, in 
 which are several fine coal mines, and behind this bank, 
 is a very large meadow, clear for several miles. It is 
 surprising what false information we have had respecting 
 this country: some mention these spacious and beautiful 
 meadows as large and barren savannahs. I apprehend 
 it has been the artifice of the French to keep us ignorant 
 of the country. These meadows bear fine wild grass, 
 and wild hemp ten or twelve feet high, which, if properly 
 manufactured, would prove as good, and answer all the 
 purposes of the hemp we cultivate. 116 
 
 July I st A Frenchman arrived from the Illinois with 
 a Pipe and Speech from thence to the Kickapoos & 
 
 116 The entries from July i to 18, inclusive, are here inserted from the second 
 (or official) version in the New York Colonial Documents, vii, pp. 781, 782; 
 hiatuses therein, are supplied from the Hildreth version. See note 91, ante, 
 p. 126. ED. 
 
1 46 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Musquattamies, to have me Burnt, this Speech was said 
 to be sent from a Shawanese Ind n who resides at the 
 Ilinois, & has been during the War, & is much attached 
 to the French interest. As soon as this Speech was de- 
 livered to the Indians by the French, the Indians informed 
 me of it in Council, & expressed their great concern for 
 what had already happened, & told me they then sett me 
 
 & my people at liberty, & assured me they despised the 
 message sent them, and would return the Pipe & Belt to 
 their Fathers the French, and enquire into the reason of 
 such a message being sent them by one of his messengers, 
 
 & desired me to stay with them 'till the Deputies of the 
 Six Nations, Shawanese & Delawares arrived with Pon- 
 diac at Ouiatonon in order to settle matters, to w h I 
 consented. 
 
 From 4 th to the 8 th I had several Conferences with 
 the Wawiotonans, Pyankeeshas, Kickapoos & Musqua- 
 tamies in which Conferences I was lucky enough to 
 reconcile those Nations to his Majesties Interest & obtain 
 their Consent and Approbation to take Possession of any 
 Posts in their country which the French formerly possessed 
 & an offer of their service should any Nation oppose our 
 taking possession of it, all which they confirmed by four 
 large Pipes. 
 
 n th M r Maisonville 117 arrived with an Interpreter & 
 
 117 Francois Rivard dit Maisonville was a member of one of the first families 
 to settle Detroit. He entered the British service at Fort Pitt as an interpreter, 
 accompanying Lieutenant Fraser to the Illinois in that capacity. In 1774, 
 Maisonville was Indian agent on the Wabash with a salary of 100 a, year. 
 When George Rogers Clark invaded the Illinois country (1778), Maisonville 
 carried the first intelligence of this incursion to Detroit. The next year General 
 Hamilton employed him on his advance against Vincennes; but on Clark's 
 approach he was captured, while on a scouting party, and cruelly treated by 
 some of the American partisans. He made one of the party sent to Virginia 
 as captives, and the following year committed suicide in prison. ED. 
 
1765] Croghart s "Journals 147 
 
 a message to the Indians to bring me & my party to the 
 Ilinois, till then I had no answer from M r St. Ange to 
 the letter I wrote him of the i6 th June, as I wanted to go 
 to the Ilinois, I desired the Chiefs to prepare themselves & 
 set off with me as soon as possible. 
 
 12 th I wrote to General Gage 118 & Sir William John- 
 son, to Col Campbell at Detroit, & Major Murray at 
 Fort Pitt & Major Firmer at Mobiel or on his way to 
 the Mississipi, 119 & acquainted [them with] every thing 
 that had happened since my departure from Ft. Pitt. 
 
 July 13 th The Chiefs of the Twightwees came to me 
 from the Miamis and renewed their Antient Friendship 
 with His Majesty & all his Subjects in America & con- 
 firmed it with a Pipe. 
 
 1 8 th I set off for the Ilinois with the Chiefs of all 
 those Nations when by the way we met with Pondiac 
 together with the Deputies of the Six Nations, Delawares 
 & Shawanese, which accompanied M r Frazier & myself 
 down the Ohio & also Deputies with speeches from the 
 
 118 General Thomas Gage was at this time British commander-in-chief in 
 America, with headquarters at New York. Having come to America with 
 Braddock, he served on this continent for twenty years, in numerous important 
 offices. After the surrender of Montreal he was made governor of that city 
 and province, until in 1763 he superseded Amherst as commander-in-chief, in 
 which capacity he served until the outbreak of the Revolution. His part in 
 the initial battles of that conflict about Boston, where he commanded, is a 
 matter of general history. After his recall to England his subsequent career 
 was uneventful. He died as Viscount Gage in 1787. ED. 
 
 119 Major William Murray of the 42nd infantry succeeded Colonel Henry 
 Bouquet as commandant at Fort Pitt, in the spring of 1765. 
 
 Major Robert Farmer was sent to receive the surrender of Mobile in 1763. 
 For a description by Aubry, the retiring French governor of Louisiana, of 
 Farmer's character and manner, see Claiborne, History of Mississippi (Jack- 
 son, 1880), p. 104. Late in this year that Croghan wrote (1765), Farmer 
 ascended the Mississippi with a detachment of the 34th infantry, and took over 
 the command of the Illinois from Major Sterling, being in turn relieved (1767) 
 by Colonel Edward Cole. Farmer died or retired from the army in 1768. ED. 
 
148 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 four Nations living in the Ilinois Country to me & the 
 Six Nations, Delawares & Shawanese, on which we 
 returned to Ouiatonon and there held another conference, 
 in which I settled all matters with the Ilinois Indians 
 Pondiac & they agreeing to every thing the other Nations 
 had done, all which they confirmed by Pipes & Belts, 
 but told me the French had informed them that the Eng- 
 lish intended to take their Country from them, & give 
 it to the Cherokees to settle on, & that if ever they suf- 
 fered the English to take possession of their Country 
 they would make slaves of them, that this was the reason 
 of then* Opposing the Englifh hitherto from taking pos- 
 session of Fort Chartres & induced them to tell Mr. La 
 Gutrie & M r Sinnott 120 that they would not let the Eng- 
 lish come into their Country. But being informed since 
 M r Sinnott had retired by the Deputies of the Six Na- 
 tions, Delawares & Shawanese, that every difference 
 subsisting between them & the English was now set- 
 tled, they were willing to comply as the other Nations 
 their Brethren had done and desired that their Father the 
 King of England might not look upon his taking posses- 
 sion of the Forts which the French had formerly possest 
 as a title for his subjects to possess their Country, as they 
 never had sold any part of it to the French, & that I 
 might rest satisfied that whenever the English came to 
 take possession they would receive them with open arms. 
 July 2$th. We set out from this place (after set- 
 
 120 La Guthrie was the interpreter sent with Lieutenant Fraser. Sinnott 
 was a deputy-agent sent out by Stuart, agent for the Southern department to 
 attempt conciliation in the Illinois. His stores had been plundered, and he 
 himself having escaped with difficulty from Fort Chartres, sought refuge at 
 New Orleans. See New York Colonial Documents, vii, pp. 765, 776. ED. 
 
 121 We here again resume the first (Featherstonhaugh-Butler) version of the 
 journal, which continues through August 17. ED. 
 
1765] Crogharfs Journals 149 
 
 tling all matters happily with the natives) for the Miames, 
 and traveled the whole way through a fine rich bottom, 
 overgrown with wild hemp, alongside the Ouabache, till 
 we came to Eel River, where we arrived the 27th. About 
 six miles up this river is a small village of the Twightwee, 
 situated on a very delightful spot of ground on the bank 
 of the river. The Eel River heads near St. Joseph's, and 
 runs nearly parallel to the Miames, and at some few miles 
 distance from it, through a fine, pleasant country, and 
 after a course of about one hundred and eighty miles 
 empties itself into the Ouabache. 
 
 28th, 29th, 3oth and 3ist. We traveled still along side 
 the Eel River, passing through fine clear woods, and some 
 good meadows, though not so large as those we passed 
 some days before. The country is more overgrown with 
 woods, the soil is sufficiently rich, and well watered with 
 springs. 
 
 August ist. We arrived at the carrying place between 
 the River Miames and the Ouabache, which is about nine 
 miles long in dry seasons, but not above half that length 
 in freshes. The head of the Ouabache is about forty 
 miles from this place, and after a course of about seven 
 hundred and sixty miles from the head spring, through 
 one of the finest countries in the world, it empties itself 
 into the Ohio. The navigation from hence to Ouicatanon, 
 is very difficult in low water, on account of many rapids 
 and rifts; but in freshes, which generally happen in the 
 spring and fall, batteaux or canoes will pass, without 
 difficulty, from here to Ouicatanon in three days, which 
 is about two hundred and forty miles, and by land about 
 two hundred and ten miles. From Ouicatanon to Port 
 Vincent, and thence to the Ohio, batteaux and canoes may 
 go at any season of the year. Throughout the whole 
 
150 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 course of the Ouabache the banks are pretty high, and in 
 the river are a great many islands. Many shrubs and 
 trees are found here unknown to us. 
 
 Within a mile of the Twightwee village, I was met by 
 the chiefs of that nation, who received us very kindly. 
 The most part of these Indians knew me, and conducted 
 me to their village, where they immediately hoisted an 
 English flag that I had formerly given them at Fort Pitt. 
 The next day they held a council, after which they gave 
 me up all the English prisoners they had, then made 
 several speeches, in all which they expressed the great 
 pleasure it gave them, to see the unhappy differences 
 which embroiled the several nations in a war with their 
 brethren, the English, were now so near a happy con- 
 clusion, and that peace was established in their country. 
 
 The Twightwee village is situated on both sides of a 
 river, called St. Joseph's. This river, where it falls into 
 the Miame river, about a quarter of a mile from this 
 place, is one hundred yards wide, on the east side of which 
 stands a stockade fort, somewhat ruinous. 
 
 The Indian village consists of about forty or fifty 
 cabins, besides nine or ten French houses, a runaway 
 colony from Detroit, during the late Indian war; they 
 were concerned in it, and being afraid of punishment, 
 came to this post, where ever since they have spirited 
 up the Indians against the English. All the French 
 residing here are a lazy, indolent people, fond of breeding 
 mischief, and spiriting up the Indians against the Eng- 
 lish, and should by no means be suffered to remain here. 
 The country is pleasant, the soil rich and well watered. 
 After several conferences with these Indians, and their 
 delivering me up all the English prisoners they had, 
 [blank space in MS.] 
 
1765] Croghan's Journals 151 
 
 On the 6th of August we set out for Detroit, down the 
 Miames river in a canoe. This river heads about ten 
 miles from hence. The river is not navigable till you 
 come where the river St. Joseph joins it, and makes a 
 considerably large stream. Nevertheless we found a 
 great deal of difficulty in getting our canoe over shoals, 
 as the waters at this season were very low. The banks 
 of the river are high, and the country overgrown with 
 lofty timber of various kinds; the land is level, and the 
 woods clear. About ninety miles from the Miames or 
 Twightwee, we came to where a large river, that heads 
 in a large lick, falls into the Miame river; this they call 
 the Forks. 122 The Ottawas claim this country, and hunt 
 here, where game is very plenty. From hence we pro- 
 ceeded to the Ottawa village. This nation formerly lived 
 at Detroit, but is now settled here, on account of the 
 richness of the country, where game is always to be found 
 in plenty. Here we were obliged to get out of our canoes, 
 and drag them eighteen miles, on account of the rifts 
 which interrupt the navigation. 123 At the end of these 
 rifts, we came to a village of the Wyondotts, who received 
 us very kindly and from thence we proceeded to the 
 mouth of the river, where it falls into Lake Erie. From 
 the Miames to the lake is computed one hundred and 
 eighty miles, and from the entrance of the river into the 
 lake to Detroit, is sixty miles; that is, forty-two miles up 
 
 122 This is the Auglaize River. On the site called the Forks, Wayne built 
 Fort Defiance during his campaign against the Indians (1794). ED. 
 
 123 The rapids of the Maumee were famous in the later Indian wars. There, 
 in 1794, the British built Fort Miami, almost within the reach of whose guns 
 Wayne fought the battle of Fallen Timbers. Fort Meigs Was the American 
 stockade built here during the War of 1812-15; and this vicinity was the scene 
 of operations during all the Western campaigns ending with Perry's victory on 
 Lake Erie, and the re-taking of Detroit. ED. 
 
152 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 the lake, and eighteen miles up the Detroit river to the 
 garrison of that name. The land on the lake side is low 
 and flat. We passed several large rivers and bays, and 
 on the 1 6th of August, in the afternoon, we arrived at 
 Detroit river. The country here is much higher than 
 on the lake side; the river is about nine hundred yards 
 wide, and the current runs very strong. There are several 
 fine and large islands in this river, one of which is nine 
 miles long; its banks high, and the soil very good. 
 
 1 7th. In the morning we arrived at the fort, which 
 is a large stockade, inclosing about eighty houses, it 
 stands close on the north side of the river, on a high bank, 
 commands a very pleasant prospect for nine miles above, 
 and nine miles below the fort; the country is thick settled 
 with French, their plantations are generally laid out about 
 three or four acres in breadth on the river, and eighty 
 acres in depth; the soil is good, producing plenty of 
 grain. All the people here are generally poor wretches, 
 and consist of three or four hundred French families, a 
 lazy, idle people, depending chiefly on the savages for 
 their subsistence; though the land, with little labor, pro- 
 duces plenty of grain, they scarcely raise as much as will 
 supply their wants, in imitation of the Indians, whose 
 manners and customs they have entirely adopted, and 
 cannot subsist without them. The men, women, and 
 children speak the Indian tongue perfectly well. In the 
 last Indian war the most part of the French were con- 
 cerned in it, (although the whole settlement had taken 
 the oath of allegiance to his Britannic Majesty) they 
 have, therefore, great reason to be thankful to the Eng- 
 lish clemency in not bringing them to deserved punish- 
 ment. Before the late Indian war there resided three 
 nations of Indians at this place: the Putawatimes, whose 
 
1765] Crogharis Journals 153 
 
 village was on the west side of the river, about one mile 
 below the fort; the Ottawas, on the east side, about three 
 miles above the Fort; and the Wyondotts, whose village 
 lies on the east side, about two miles below the fort. 
 The former two nations have removed to a considerable 
 distance, and the latter still remain where they were, and 
 are remarkable for their good sense and hospitality. 
 They have a particular attachment to the Roman Catholic 
 religion, the French, by their priests, having taken uncom- 
 mon pains to instruct them. 
 
 During my stay here, I held frequent conferences with 
 the different nations of Indians assembled at this place, 
 with whom I settled matters to their general satisfaction. 
 
 August i7 th124 I arrived at Detroit where I found 
 several small Tribes of Ottawas, Puttewatamies & 
 Chipwas waiting in Consequence of Col Bradstreets 
 Invitation to see him. 125 Here I met M r DeCouagne and 
 
 124 All that follows, until the conclusion of the Indian speeches, is inserted 
 from the second (official) version of the journals, found in the New York Colo- 
 nial Documents) vii, pp. 781-787. ED. 
 
 125 Although English born, Colonel John Bradstreet lived all his mature life 
 in America, and distinguished himself for his military services in the later 
 French wars. He was in the campaign against Louisburg (1745), and was 
 promoted for gallantry, and given the governorship of St. John's, Newfound- 
 land. The outbreak of the French and Indian War found him at Oswego, 
 where with great bravery he drove the French back from an attack on a convoy 
 (1756). On the organization of the Royal Americans, Bradstreet became 
 lieutenant-colonel, and served with Abercrombie at Ticonderoga (1758). His 
 most renowned exploit was the capture, the same year, of Fort Frontenac, 
 which severed the connection between Canada and its Western dependencies. 
 After the close of the war, Bradstreet received a colonelcy. When the news 
 of Pontiac's uprising reached the East, he was detailed to make an expedition 
 into the Indian territory by way of Lake Erie. His confidence in Indian prom- 
 ises proved too great; he made peace with the very tribes who went murdering 
 and scalping along the frontiers as soon as his army had passed. Bradstreet 
 was made a major-general in 1772; but two years later, died in the city of New 
 York. The Indians whom Croghan found at Detroit were small bands from 
 the north and west, who had not received Bradstreet' s message, in time to 
 attend before that officer's departure from Detroit. ED. 
 
154 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Wabecomicat with a Deputation of Indians from Niagara, 
 with Messages from Sir William Johnson to Pondiac & 
 those Western Nations. 126 
 
 23 d Colo Campbell 127 & I had a Meeting with the 
 Twightwees, Wawiotonans, Pyankeshas, Kickapoos and 
 Musquattamies, when they produced the several Belts 
 sent them by Col Bradstreet, in consequence of which 
 Invitation they came here. 
 
 Then they spoake to the Six Nations Delawares & 
 Shawanese on several Belts & Pipes, beging in the most 
 abject manner that they would forgive them for the ill 
 conduct of their Young Men, to take Pity on their Women 
 & Children & grant y m peace. 
 
 They then spoake to the Col & me on several Pipes & 
 Belts Expressing their great satisfaction at a firm and last- 
 ing Peace settled between their Bretheren the English, & 
 the several Indian Nations in this Country, that they saw 
 the heavy Clouds that hung over then* heads for some 
 time past were now dispersed, and that the Sun shone 
 clear & bright, & that as their Father the King of Eng- 
 land had conquered the French in that [this] Country & 
 taken into his Friendship all the Indian Nations, they 
 hoped for the future they would be a happy people, & 
 that they should always have reason to call the English 
 their Fathers & beged we would* take pity on their 
 
 m In the Hildreth version these names are spelled "Duquanee" and "Wao- 
 becomica." The former was a Detroit habitant Dequindre, who had brought 
 messages from the Illinois to Pontiac during the siege of Detroit. Waobecomica 
 was a Missassaga chief, well-affected toward the English, whom Johnson had 
 sent in the spring of 1765 with messages to Pontiac. See New York Colonial 
 Documents, vii, p. 747. ED. 
 
 m This was Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Campbell, formerly commander 
 of the 95th regiment, who succeeded Major Gladwin in command of Detroit 
 (1764). He is not to be confused with Captain Donald Campbell, the earlier 
 commandant, who was killed by the Indians during Pontiac's conspiracy. ED. 
 
1765] Croghan's Journals 155 
 
 Women & Children, & make up the difference subsist- 
 ing between them and the Shawanese, Delawares & Six 
 Nations, and said as they were come here in consequence of 
 Col Bradstreet's Invitation, & that he had not met them 
 they hoped their Fathers would pity their necessity & 
 give them a little clothing, and a little rum to drink on the 
 road, as they had come a great way to see their Fathers. 
 Then the Wyondats spoake to the Shawanese, & all the 
 Western Nations on severall Belts & strings, by which 
 they exhorted the several Nations to behave themselves 
 well to their Fathers the English, who had now taken 
 them under their Protection, that if they did, they would 
 be a happy People, that if they did not listen to the Coun- 
 cils of their Fathers, they must take the Consequences, 
 having assured them that all Nations to the Sun rising 
 had taken fast hold of their Fathers the English by the 
 hand, & would follow their Advice, & do every thing they 
 desired them, & never would let slip the Chain of Friend- 
 ship now so happily renewed. 
 
 August 24 th We had another Meeting with the 
 Several Nations, when the Wawiotonans, Twightwees, 
 Pyankeshas, Kickapoos & Musquatamies made several 
 speeches to Col Campbell & me, in presence of all the 
 other Nations, when they promised to become the Chil- 
 dren of the King of Great Britain & farther acknowledged 
 that they had at Ouiatonon before they came there [here] 
 given up the Soverignty of their Country to me for His 
 Majesty, & promised to support his subjects in taking 
 possession of all the Posts given up by the French their 
 former Fathers, to the English, now their present Fathers, 
 all which they confirmed with a Belt. 
 
 25 th We had another meeting with the same Indians, 
 when Col Campbell & I made them several speeches in 
 
156 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 answer to theirs of the 23 & 24 th then delivered them a 
 Road Belt in the name of Sir William Johnson Baronet, 
 to open a Road from the rising to the setting of the Sun 
 which we charged them to keep open through their 
 Country & cautioned them to stop their Ears against the 
 Storys or idle reports of evil minded People & continue 
 to promote the good Works of Peace, all which they prom- 
 ised to do in a most sincere manner. 
 
 26 th Col Campbell & I made those Nations some 
 presents, when after taking leave of us, they sett off for 
 their own Country well satisfied. 
 
 27 th We had a Meeting with Pondiac & all the 
 Ottawa Tribes, Chipwaes & Puttewatamies w th the 
 Hurons of this Place & the chiefs of those settled at 
 Sandusky & the Miamis River, when we made them the 
 following Speeches. 
 
 CHILDREN PONDIAC & ALL OUR CHILDREN THE OTTA- 
 WAS, PUTTEWATAMIES, CHIPWAYS & WYONDATTS: We 
 are very glad to see so many of our Children here present 
 at your Antient Council Fire, which has been neglected 
 for some time past, since those high winds has arose & 
 raised some heavy clouds over your Country, I now by 
 this Belt dress up your Antient Fire & throw some dry 
 wood upon it, that the blaze may ascend to the Clouds so 
 that all Nations may see it, & know that you live in 
 Peace & Tranquility with your Fathers the English. A 
 Belt. 
 
 By this Belt I disperse all the black clouds from over 
 your heads, that the Sun may shine clear on your Women 
 and Children, that those unborn may enjoy the blessings 
 of this General Peace, now so happily settled between 
 your Fathers the English & you & all your younger 
 Bretheren to the Sun setting. A Belt. 
 
1765] Crogharis Journals 157 
 
 Children: By this Belt I gather up all the Bones of 
 your deceased friends, & bury them deep in the ground, 
 that the herbs & sweet flowers of the earth may grow 
 over them, that we may not see them any more. A Belt. 
 
 Children: with this Belt I take the Hatchet out of 
 your Hands & I pluck up a large tree & bury it deep, so 
 that it may never be found any more, & I plant the tree 
 of Peace, where all our children may sit under & smoak 
 in Peace with their Fathers. A Belt. 
 
 Children: We have made a Road from the Sun rising 
 to the Sun setting, I desire that you will preserve that 
 Road good and pleasant to Travel upon, that we may all 
 share the blessings of this happy Union. I am sorry to 
 see our Children dispersed thro' the Woods, I therefore 
 desire you will return to your Antient Settlements & take 
 care of your Council Fire which I have now dressed up, & 
 promote the good work of Peace. A Belt. 
 
 After which Wapicomica delivered his Messages from 
 Sir William Johnson to Pondiac & the rest of the several 
 Chiefs. 
 
 Aug. 28 th We had a Meeting with Pondiac & the sev- 
 eral Nations when Pondiac made the following Speeches. 
 
 FATHER: We have all smoaked out of the Pipe of 
 Peace its your Childrens Pipe & as the War is all over, & 
 the Great Spirit and Giver of Light who has made the 
 Earth & every thing therein, has brought us all together 
 this day for our mutual good to promote the good Works 
 of Peace, I declare to all Nations that I had settled my 
 Peace with you before I came here, & now deliver my 
 Pipe to be sent to Sir William Johnson that he may know 
 I have made Peace, & taken the King of England for my 
 Father, in presence of all the Nations now assembled, & 
 whenever any of those Nations go to visit him, they may 
 
158 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 smoak out of it with him in Peace. Fathers we are 
 oblidged to you for lighting up our old Council Fire for 
 us, & desiring us to return to it, but we are now settled 
 on the Miamis River, not far from hence, whenever you 
 want us you will find us there ready to wait on you, the 
 reason I choose to stay where we are now settled, is, 
 that we love liquor, and did we live here as formerly, our 
 People would be always drunk, which might occasion 
 some quarrels between the Soldiers & them, this Father 
 is all the reason I have for not returning to our old Settle- 
 ments, & that we live so nigh this place, that when we 
 want to drink, we can easily come for it. Gave a large 
 Pipe with a Belt of Wampum tied to it. 
 
 FATHER: Be strong and take pity on us your Children 
 as our former Father did, 'tis just the Hunting Season of 
 our children, our Fathers the French formerly used to 
 credit his Children for powder & lead to hunt with, I 
 request in behalf of all the Nations present that you will 
 speak to the Traders now here to do the same, my Father, 
 once more I request you will take pity on us & tell your 
 Traders to give your Children credit for a little powder & 
 lead, as the support of our Family's depend upon it, we 
 have told you where we live, that whenever you want us & 
 let us know it, we will come directly to you. A Belt. 
 
 FATHER: You stoped up the Rum Barrel when we 
 came here, 'till the Business of this Meeting 128 was over, 
 
 128 There were present at this treaty about thirty chiefs and five hundred 
 warriors. A list of the tribes is given, and the names of the chiefs. This was 
 the last public transaction in which Pondiac was engaged with the English. 
 The year following, in a council with the Indians on the Illinois, this noted 
 chief was stabbed to the heart, by an Indian who had long followed him for that 
 purpose. HILDRETH. 
 
 Comment by Ed. Hildreth is mistaken in calling this the last public tran- 
 saction of Pontiac. He was at Oswego and treated with Johnson in the spring 
 of 1766. See New York Colonial Documents, vii, pp. 854-867. 
 
1765] Grogharis Journals 159 
 
 as it is now finished, we request you may open the barrel 
 that your Children may drink & be merry. 
 
 August 29 th A Deputation of several Nations sett 
 out from Detroit for the Ilinois Country with several 
 Messages from me & the Wyondats, Six Nations, Dela- 
 wares, Shawanese & other Nations, in answer to theirs 
 delivered me at Ouiatonon. 
 
 3o th The Chiefs of the several Nations who are set- 
 tled on the Ouabache returned to Detroit from the River 
 Roche, where they had been encamped, & informed 
 Col Campbell & me, they were now going off for their 
 own Country, & that nothing gave them greater pleasure, 
 than to see that all the Western Nations & Tribes had 
 agreed to a general Peace, & that they should be glad [to 
 know] how soon their Fathers the English, would take 
 possession of the Posts in their Country, formerly pos- 
 sessed by their late Fathers the French, to open a 
 Trade for them, & if this could not be done this Fall, 
 they desired that some Traders might be sent to their 
 Villages to supply them for the Winter, or else they 
 would be oblidged to go to the Ilinois and apply to their 
 old Fathers the French for such necessarys as they might 
 want. 
 
 They then spoke on a Belt & said Fathers, every thing 
 is now settled, & we have agreed to your taking possession 
 of the posts in our Country, we have been informed, 
 that the English where ever they settle, make the Coun- 
 try their own, & you tell us that when you conquered the 
 French they gave you this Country. That no difference 
 may happen hereafter, we tell you now the French never 
 conquered us neither did they purchase a foot of our 
 Country, nor have they a right to give it to you, we gave 
 them liberty to settle for which they always rewarded us, 
 
160 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 & treated us with great Civility while they had it in their 
 power, but as they are become now your people, if you 
 expect to keep these Posts, we will expect to have proper 
 returns from you. A Belt. 
 
 Sept br 2 d The chiefs of the Wyondatts or Huron, came 
 to me & said they had spoke last Summer to Sir Will m 
 Johnson at Niagara about the lands, on which the French 
 had settled near Detroit belonging to them, & desired 
 I would mention again to him. they never had sold it 
 to the French, & expected their new Fathers the English 
 would do them justice, as the French were become one 
 People with us. A Belt. 
 
 4 th Pondiac with several chiefs of the Ottawas, 
 Chippawaes & Potowatamies likewise complained that 
 the French had settled part of their country, which they 
 never had sold to them, & hoped their Fathers the 
 English would take it into Consideration, & see that a 
 proper satisfaction was made to them. That their 
 Country was very large, & they were willing to give up 
 such part of it, as was necessary for their Fathers the 
 English, to carry on Trade at, provided they were paid 
 for it, & a sufficient part of the Country left them to hunt 
 on. A Belt. 
 
 6 th The Sagina Indians came here, 129 & made a 
 speech on a Belt of Wampum expressing their satisfac- 
 tion on hearing that a general Peace was made with all 
 the Western Nations & with Pondiac, they desired a 
 little Powder, Lead & a few knives to enable them to 
 
 129 The Saginaw Indians were a notoriously turbulent band of Chippewas, 
 who had a village on Saginaw Bay. They had assisted in the siege of Detroit; 
 and going to Mackinac to secure recruits to continue their resistance, they 
 attempted to kill the trader Alexander Henry. See Bain (ed.), Henry's Travels 
 and Adventures (Boston, 1901), pp. 148-152, an admirably- edited work, con- 
 taining much valuable information. ED. 
 
1765] Croghans Journals 161 
 
 hunt on their way home, & a little rum to drink their new 
 Fathers health. A Belt. 
 
 9 th Altewaky and Chamindiway Chiefs of a Band 
 of Ottawas from Sandusky with 20 Men came here and 
 informed me that their late conduct had been peaceable, 
 that on hearing there was a great Meeting of all Nations 
 at this place, they came to hear what would be done, & 
 on their way here they had been informed that a General 
 Peace was settled with all Nations to the Sun setting, & 
 they now came to assure us of their attachment to the 
 English Interest, & beged for some Powder, Lead, 
 some Blankets and a little rum to help them to return to 
 their town. A String. 
 
 Septbr n th Col Campbell & I gave the above par- 
 ties some presents & a little rum & sent them away well 
 satisfied. 
 
 12 th The Grand Sautois 130 came with his band and 
 spoke as follows. 
 
 FATHER: You sent me a Belt from the Miamis, & 
 as soon as I received it, I set off to meet you here, on my 
 way I heard what had past between you & the several 
 Tribes that met you here, you have had pity on them, & 
 I beg in behalf of myself & the people of Chicago that 
 you will have pity on us also, 'tis true we have been 
 Fools, & have listened to evil reports, & the whistling 
 of bad birds, we red people, are a very jealous and foolish 
 people, & Father amongst you White People, there are 
 bad people also, that tell us lyes & deceive us, which has 
 
 130 According to Parkman, Le Grand Sauteur was Pontiac's chief coadjutor 
 among the northern Indians in his attack on the English. His Indian name 
 was Minavavana, and he was considered the author of the plot against Mackinac. 
 This has been since attributed to Match-e-ke-wis, a younger Indian; but Le 
 Grand Sauteur remained an inveterate enemy of the English, and was at length 
 stabbed by an English trader. See Henry, Travels, pp. 42-47. ED. 
 
1 62 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 been the occasion of what has past, I need not say much 
 on this head, I am now convinced, that I have been 
 wrong for some years past, but there are people who 
 have behaved worse than I & my people, they were par- 
 doned last year at this place, I hope we may meet with 
 the same, that our Women & Children may enjoy the 
 blessings of peace as the rest of our Bretheren the red 
 people, & you shall be convinced by our future conduct 
 that we will behave as well as any Tribe of Ind s in this 
 Country. A Belt. 
 
 He then said that the St. Joseph Indians would have 
 come along with him, but the English Prisoner which 
 their Fathers want from them, was some distance off a 
 hunting, & as soon as they could get him in, they would 
 deliver him up and desire forgiveness. 
 
 14 th I had a private meeting with the grand Sautois 
 when he told me he was well disposed for peace last Fall, 
 but was then sent for to the Ilinois, where he met with 
 Pondiac, & that then their Fathers the French told 
 them, if they would be strong to keep the English out of 
 possession of that Country but this Summer, That the 
 King of France would send over an Army next Spring, to 
 assist his Children the Indians, and that the King of 
 Spain would likewise send troops to help them to keep 
 the English out of their Country, that the English were a 
 bad people, & had a design to cut off all the Indian 
 Nations in this Country, & to bring the Southern Indians 
 to live & settle there, this account made all the Indians 
 very uneasy in their minds, & after holding a Council 
 amongst themselves, they all determined to oppose the 
 English, & not to suffer them to take Possession of the 
 Ilinois, that for his part he behaved as ill as the rest to 
 the English Officers that came there in the Spring, but 
 
1765] Crogharis ^Journals 163 
 
 since he had been better informed of the goodness of the 
 English, & convinced the French had told lyes for the 
 love of their Beaver, he was now determined with all his 
 people to become faithfull to their new Fathers the Eng- 
 lish, & pay no regard to any stories the French should 
 tell him for the future. 
 
 Sep r 15 th Col Campbell & I had a meeting with 
 the Grand Sautois, at which we informed him of every 
 thing that had past with the several Nations & Tribes & 
 told him that we accepted him and his people in Friend- 
 ship, & would forgive them as we had the rest of the 
 Tribes, & forget what was past provided their future 
 conduct should convince us of their sincerity, after which 
 we gave them some presents, for which he returned 
 thanks & departed very well satisfied. 
 
 19 th I received a letter by express from Col Reed 
 acquainting me of Capt Sterlings setting out from Fort 
 Pitt, with 100 men of the 42 d Reg 4 to take possession of 
 Fort Chartres in the Ilinois Country 
 
 20 th I sent of[f] Huron Andrew Express to Cap* 
 Sterling 131 at the Ilinois, & with messages to the several 
 
 131 Sir Thomas Stirling, Bart., obtained his company in July, 1757, in the 
 426!, or Royal Highland, regiment, which accompanied Abercromby in 1758, 
 and Amherst in 1759 in their respective expeditions on Lakes George and 
 Champlain; was afterwards detailed to assist at the siege of Niagara, and 
 accompanied Amherst from Oswego to Montreal in 1760. Knox. Captain 
 Stirling was appointed a Major in 1770, and Lieutenant-colonel of the 4ad in 
 September, 1771. He was in command of his regiment in the engagement on 
 Staten Island, and in the battle of Brooklyn Heights, in 1776; was afterwards 
 at the storming of Fort Washington and accompanied the expedition against 
 Philadelphia. He became Colonel in the army in 1779, and was Brigadier, 
 under Sir Henry Clinton, in the expedition against Charleston, S. C., in 1780. 
 Beatson. He succeeded Lieutenant-general Frazer as Colonel of the 7ist High- 
 landers, in February, 1782, and in November following, became Major-general. 
 He went on the retired list in 1783, when his regiment was disbanded. In 1796 
 he was appointed Lieutenant-general; was created a Baronet some time after, 
 and became a General in the army on the first of January, 1801. He died in 
 1808. Army Lists. E. B. O'CALLAGHAN. 
 
164 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 Nations in that Country & those on the Ouabache, to 
 acquaint them of Cap* Starling's departure from Fort 
 Pitt for the Ilinois Country. 
 
 25 th The Chiefs of the S* Joseph Indians arrived 
 and addressed themselves to Col Campbell & me as 
 follows, 
 
 FATHERS: We are come here to see you, altho' we 
 are not acquainted with you, we had a Father formerly, 
 with whom we were very well acquainted, & never dif- 
 fered with him, you have conquered him some time ago, & 
 when you came here first notwithstanding your hands 
 were all bloody, you took hold of us by the hands, & 
 used us well, & we thought we should be happy with our 
 Fathers, but soon an unlucky difference happened, which 
 threw us all in confusion, where this arose we don't 
 know but we assure you, we were the last that entered 
 into this Quarrel, the Ind s from this place solicited us 
 often to join them, but we would not listen to them, at 
 last they got the better of our foolish young Warriors, 
 but we never agreed to it, we knew it would answer no 
 end, & often told our Warriors they were fools, if they 
 succeeded in killing the few English in this Country, they 
 could not kill them all because we knew you to be a great 
 People. 
 
 Fathers: you have after all that has happened, re- 
 ceived all the several Tribes in this Country for your 
 Children, we from St. Joseph's seem to be the last of 
 your Children that come to you, we are no more than 
 Wild Creatures to you Fathers in understanding therefore 
 we request you'l forgive the past follies of our young 
 people & receive us for your Children since you have 
 thrown down our former Father on his back, we have been 
 wandering in the dark like blind people, now you have dis- 
 
1765] Grogharis Journals 165 
 
 persed all this darkness which hung over the heads of the 
 several Tribes, & have accepted them for your Children, 
 we hope you will let us partake with them of the light, 
 that our Women & Children may enjoy Peace, & we 
 beg you'l forget all that is past, by this belt we remove all 
 evil thoughts from your hearts. A Belt. 
 
 Fathers, When we formerly came to visit our late 
 Fathers the French they always sent us home joyfull, & 
 we hope you will have pity on our Women & Young Men 
 who are in great Want of necessarys, & not let us return 
 home to our Villages ashamed. 
 
 Col Campbell & I made them the following answer. 
 
 CHILDREN: I have heard with attention what you 
 have said, & am glad to hear that you have delivered up 
 the Prisoners at Michillimakinac, agreeable to my desire, 
 as the other Prisoner who I always thought belonged to 
 your Nation does not, but the man who has him resides 
 now in your Country, I must desire you'l do every thing 
 in your Power to get him brought to me, nothing will give 
 me greater pleasure than to promote the good Works of 
 Peace, & make my Children the Indians happy as long 
 as their own Conduct shall deserve it. I did not know 
 what to think of your conduct for some time past, but to 
 convince you of my sincere desire to promote Peace, I 
 receive you as Children as I have done the other Nations, & 
 hope your future Conduct may be such, as will convince 
 me of your sincerity. A Belt. 
 
 Children: Sometimes bad people take the liberty of 
 stragling into your Country, I desire if you meet any such 
 people to bring them immediately here, likewise I desire 
 that none of your Young Men may steal any Horses cut 
 of this settlement as they have done formerly, we shall 
 see always strict justice done to you, & expect the same 
 
1 66 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 from you, on that your own happiness depends, & as 
 long as you continue to merit our friendship by good 
 actions in promoting Peace & Tranquility between your 
 Young People & His Majesties Subjects, you may expect 
 to be received here with open arms, & to convince you 
 further of my sincerity, I give you some cloaths, powder, 
 lead, verniillion & 2 cags of rum for your young People, 
 that you may return home without shame as you desired. 
 
 Children, I take this oppertunity to tell you that your 
 Fathers the English are gone down the Ohio from Fort 
 Pitt to take possession the Ilinois, & desire you may 
 acquaint all your people of it on your return home, & like- 
 wise desire you will stop your Ears against the Whistling 
 of bad birds,- & mind nothing else but your Hunting to 
 support your', Familys, that your Women & Children 
 may enjoy the Blessing of Peace. A Belt. 
 
 September 26th. 132 Set out from Detroit for Niagara; 
 passed Lake Erie along the north shore in a birch canoe, 
 and arrived the 8th of October at Niagara. The naviga- 
 tion of the lake is dangerous for batteaux or canoes, by 
 reason the lake is very shallow for a considerable dis- 
 tance from the shore. The bank, for several miles, high 
 and steep, and affords a harbor for a single batteau. The 
 lands in general, between Detroit and Niagara, are high, 
 and the soil good, with several fine rivers falling into the 
 lake. The distance from Detroit to Niagara is com- 
 puted three hundred miles. 
 
 132 The entry for September 26, and the list of tribes following, are taken 
 from the Featherstonhaugh-Butler edition of the journal. ED. 
 
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CROGHAN TO SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 133 
 
 SIR: In the scituation I was in at Ouiatonon, with 
 great numbers of Indians about me, & no Necessaries 
 such as Paper & Ink, I had it not in my power to take 
 down all the speeches made by the Indian Nations, nor 
 what I said to them, in so particular a manner as I could 
 wish, but hope the heads of it as I have taken down will 
 meet with your approbation. 
 
 In the Course of this Tour through the Ind n Countrys 
 I made it my study to converse in private with Pondiac, & 
 several of the Chiefs of the different Nations, as often as 
 oppertunity served, in order to find out the sentiments 
 they have of the French & English, Pondiac is a shrewd 
 sensible Indian of few words, & commands more respect 
 amongst those Nations, than any Indian I ever saw could 
 do amongst his own Tribe. He and all his principal men 
 of those Nations seem at present to be convinced that the 
 French had a view of interest in stirring up the late dif- 
 ferance between his Majesties Subjects & them & call it a 
 Bever War, for neither Pondiac nor any of the Indians 
 which I met with, ever pretended to deny but the French 
 were at the bottom of the whole, & constantly supplyed 
 them with every necessary they wanted, as far as in their 
 power, every where through that Country & notwith- 
 standing they are at present convinced, that it was for 
 their own Interest, yet it has not changed the Indians 
 affections to them, they have been bred up together like 
 Children in that Country, & the French have always 
 
 133 This letter is reprinted from New York Colonial Documents, vii, pp. 787, 
 788. It was evidently written after Croghan's return from the West, and 
 accompanied the official version of his journal, which Johnson sent to England 
 November 16, 1765. See New York Colonial Documents, vii, p. 775. ED. 
 
1765] Croghans Journals 171 
 
 adopted the Indians customs & manners, treated them 
 civily & supplyed their wants generously, by which means 
 they gained the hearts of the Indians & commanded 
 their services, & enjoyed the benefit of a very large Furr 
 Trade, as they well knew if they had not taken this meas- 
 ure they could not enjoy any of those Advantages. The 
 French have in a manner taught the Indians in that 
 Country to hate the English, by representing them in the 
 worst light they could on all occasion, in particular they 
 have made the Indians there believe lately, that the Eng- 
 lish would take their Country from them & bring the 
 Cherokees there to settle & to enslave them, which report 
 they easily gave credit to, as the Southern Ind s had 
 lately commenced war against them. I had great dif- 
 ficulty in removeing this suspicion and convincing them of 
 the falsity of this report, which I flatter myself I have 
 done in a great measure, yet it will require some time, a 
 very even Conduct in those that are to reside in their 
 Country, before we can expect to rival the French in their 
 affection, all Indians are jealous & from their high 
 notion of liberty hate power, those Nations are jealous 
 and prejudiced against us, so that the greatest care will 
 be necessary to convince them of our honest Intention by 
 our Actions. The French sold them goods much dearer 
 than the English Traders do at present, in that point we 
 have the advantage of the French, but they made that 
 up in large presents to them for their services, which they 
 wanted to support their Interest in the Country, & tho' 
 we want none of their services, yet they will expect fa- 
 vours, & if refused look on it in a bad light, & very likely 
 think it done to distress them for some particular Advan- 
 tages we want to gain over them, they are by no means 
 so sensible a People as the Six Nations or other Tribes 
 
172 Early Western Travels [Vol. i 
 
 this way, & the French have learned them for their own 
 advantage a bad custom, for by all I could learn, they 
 seldom made them any general presents, but as it were fed 
 them with Necessaries just as they wanted them Tribe 
 by Tribe, & never sent them away empty, which will 
 make it difficult & troublesome to the Gentlemen that 
 are to command in their Country for some time, to please 
 them & preserve Peace, as they are a rash inconsiderate 
 People and don't look on themselves under any obliga- 
 tions to us, but rather think we are obliged to them for 
 letting us reside in their Country. As far as I can judge 
 of their Sentiments by the several Conversations I have had 
 with them, they will expect some satisfaction made them 
 by Us, for any Posts that should be established in their 
 Country for Trade. But you will be informed better by 
 themselves next Spring, as Pondiac & some Chiefs of 
 every Nation in that Country intend to pay you a visit. 
 The several Nations on the Ouiabache, & towards the 
 Ilinois, St. Josephs, Chicago, Labaye, Sagina & other 
 places have applyed for Traders to be sent to their set- 
 tlements, but as it is not in the power of any Officer to 
 permit Traders to go from Detroit or Michillimackinac, 
 either English or French, I am of opinion the Ind s will 
 be supplyed this year chiefly from the Ilinois, which is 
 all French property & if Trading Posts are not estab- 
 lished at proper Places in that Country soon the French 
 will carry the best part of the Trade over the Missisipi 
 which they are determined to do if they can, for I have 
 been well informed that the French are preparing to 
 build a strong trading Fort on the other side Missisipi, 
 about <5o miles above Fort Char Ins, 134 and have this 
 
 134 Fort Chartres was originally built as a stockade post in 1720; but in 1756 
 was rebuilt in stone, and became the most important French fortification in the 
 
1765] Crogharfs "Journals 173 
 
 Summer in a private manner transported 26 pieces of 
 small canon up the River for that purpose. 
 
 G. CROGHAN. 
 November, 1765. 
 
 West. It was an irregular quadrangle, with houses, magazines, barracks, etc., 
 defended with cannon. See Pittman, Settlements on the Mississippi (London, 
 1770), pp. 45, 46. After its surrender by the French, the English garrisoned the 
 stronghold until 1772, when the river's erosion made it untenable. For the 
 present state of the ruins, see Mason, Chapters from Illinois History, pp. 241-249. 
 The French trading post sixty miles above Fort Chartres, on the western 
 bank of the river, was the beginning of the present city of St. Louis, which was 
 founded in April, 1764, by Pierre Laclede. Upon the surrender of the Illinois 
 to the English, St. Ange, with the garrison and many French families, removed 
 to this new post, in the expectation of living under French authority. To their 
 chagrin the place was surrendered to the Spanish the following year. ED. 
 
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