THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
Croghan's Journal
(May 15, 1765 - Oct. 8, 1765)
(Due to length divided here into two parts)
Croghan, George in: Public Record
Office, Colonial Office, 323.23,
f. 145. and in Alvord & Carter,
British Series, Vol. II,
pp. 23-52.
CROGHAN'S OFFICIAL JOURNAL, May 15, 1765 - September 25, 17651
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Journal & Transactions of George Croghan Esqr Deputy Agent for Indian Affairs with the several Indian Nations on his Journey to the Ilinois as delivered by him to Sir William Johnson Baronet on his return. |
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May 15th I sett off from Fort Pitt,2 next day was Joined by the Deputies who were to Accompany me, on which I continued my Journey.3
May 19th Sent a Message to the Shawanese by Land for some of them to bring to me the French Traders, that yet remained in their Country to the Mouth of Sciota, that I might take them with me to their own Country, as they would not be4 suffered to Trade there 'till they had obtained permission from His Excellcy General Gage & Sir William Johnson.
23rd We arrived at the Mouth of Sciota where we Encamp'd.
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 yet 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 every thing in their power to convince me of their Sincerity & good disposition to preserve a Peace.
28th Set off down the River, & on the 6th June we Arrived at the Mouth of the Ouabache, where we found a Breast work put up by the Indians & saw several Tracks5 which we suspected had been made by some Indians who might be6 sent there to waylay us, on which we proceeded six miles lower down the River & Encamped.
June 7th I dispatched two Indians off to the Ilinois with a letter to Mr. Frazier,7 & another to Mr St Ange by which I Acquainted Mr Frazier of my Success in Settleing matters with the different Nations at Fort Pitt. I furnished those two Deputies with Wampum to acquaint the Nations there of wt had passed at Fort Pitt which I judged necessary in order to Facilitate the Service8 should Mr. La Gutrie be arrived there.
June 8th At day break we were Attacked by a party of 80 Warriors of the Kickapoos & Musquattamies, who killed three of the Shawanese Deputies & wounded another. two of my Men were killed, they then plundered us of every thing we had, our Indians as well as us, & then made us prisoners. After this they told us they were sorry for what happened, that they had been employed by the French their Fathers, who had told them it was Cherokees that was with me, & that there was no Peace made with the Shawanese, Delawares & Six Nations. they then sett the Indian Prisoners at liberty taking me & my party with them.
15th We arrived at Post Vincent where there is a French Village of about 80 houses & an Indian Village of the Pyankeshas. here I met several Indians whom I had been acquainted with, who spoke to the party I was with, and desired them to take great Care of me till the Chiefs of the several Nations would return from the Ilinois where they had gone in Order to meet me, and reprimanded this party for their bad Conduct.
Here I was informed by the French of the Arrival of Mr La Gutrie & Mr Sinott [sic] at the Ilinois, with an Account of the bad reception & ill treatment Mr Frazier & Mr Sinott met with on their Arrival there.
16th The Indians allowed me to write to Mr St Ange but would not suffer me to send a letter to Mr Sinnott, nor could I get any Frenchman in that town to furnish me with Pen, Ink or Paper, without the Consent of the Indians.
17th We set off & the 23d arrived at Ouiatonon, where this party had sett out from, on my Arrival at this place I met Numbers of Indians with whom I was formerly well acquainted, & who were extremely Civil to me & my party.
30th The several Chiefs belonging to those Villages at Ouiatonon arrived from the Illinois, & there were with them the Chiefs of several other Nations who came to see me, & expressed their great concern at what had happened.
July 1st A Frenchman arrived from the Ilinois with a Pipe and Speech from thence to the Kickapoos & Musquattamies, to have me (page 41) Burnt, this Speech was said to be sent from a Shawanese Indn who resides at the Ilinois, & has been during the War, & is much Attached to the French interest. As soon as this Speech was delivered 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 Pondiac at Ouiatonon in order to settle matters, to wh I consented.
From9 4th to the 8th I had Conferences with the Wawcotonans, Pyankeeshas, Kickapoos, & Musquatamies 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.
11th Mr Maisonville arrived with an Interpreter & a message to the Indians to bring me & my party to the Illinois, till then I had no answer from Mr St Ange to the Letter I wrote him of the 16th June, as I wanted to go to the Ilinois I desired the Chiefs to prepare themselves & set off with me as soon as possible.
12th I wrote to General Gate & Sir William Johnson, to Colo Campbell at Detroit, & Major Murray at Fort Pitt10 & Major [Farmer] at Mobiel [sic] or on his way to the Mississipi, & acquainted [them with] every thing that had happened since my departure from [Fort Pitt].11
July 13th The Chiefs of the Twightwees12 came to me from the Miamis and renewed their Antient Friendship with His Majesty & all His Subjects in America & Confirmed it with a Pipe.
18th I set off for the Ilinois with the Chiefs of all those Nations when by the way we met with Pondiac13 together with the Deputies of the Six Nations, Delawares & Shawanese, which accompanied Mr Frazier, & myself down the Ohio, & also Deputies with Speeches from the 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 Agreeing14 to every thing the other Nations had done, all which they15 Confirmed by Pipes, & Belts, but told me the French had informed them that the English intended to take their Country from them, & give it to the Cherokees to settle on, & that if ever they suffered the English to take possession of their Country they would make Slaves of them, that this was the reason of the Opposing the English hitherto from taking possession of Fort Chartres, & induced them to tell Mr La Gutrie & Mr Sinnott that they would not let the English come into the Country. But being informed, Since Mr Sinnott had retired by the Deputies of the Six Nations Delawares & Shawanese, and that every difference subsisting between them the English was not settled, they were willing to Comply, as the other Nations their Bretheren had done and desired that their Father the King of England might not look upon his taking Possession of the Forts which the french formerly Possest as a Title for his Subjects to possess their Country,16 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.
25th I set off for Detroit having settled every thing with these several Nations to the Westward, & was Accompanied by several Chiefs of those Nations which were going to Detroit to meet Colo Bradstreet agreeable to his Invitation to them last Winter by Mr Maisonville. As I passed by the Twightwee Villages & the Ottawawee Villages, on the Miamis River, they delivered me all the English (page 43) Prisoners they had, & I found as I passed by those Towns,17 that several of the Indians had set off for Detroit.18
August 17th I arrived at Detroit where I found several small Tribe of Ottawas, Puttewatamies & Chipwas waiting in Consequence of Colo Bradstreets Invitation to see him. Here I met Mr De Couagne 19 and Wabecomicat 20 with a Deputation of Indians from Niagara with Messages from Sir William Johnson to Pondiac & those Western Nations.
23d Colo Campbell & I had a Meeting with the Twightwees, Wawiotonans, Pyankeshas, Kickapoos and Musquattamies, when they produced the several Belts sent them by Colo Bradstreet, in consequence of which Invitation they came here.
Then21 they spoake to the Six Nations, Delwares, and Shawanese on several Belts & Pipes, beging in the most abject Manner that would forgive them for the ill Conduct of their Young Men, to take Pity on their Women & Children & grant them peace.
They then spoake to the Colo & me on several Pipes & Belts Expressing their great Satisfaction at a firm & lasting Peace being settled between their Bretheren the English, & the several Indian Nations in this Country, that they saw the heavy Clouds that Hung over their heads for some time past were now dispersed, and that the Sun shone clear & bright, and that as their Father the King of England had Conquered the French in that Country & taken into his friendship22 all the Indian Nations, they hoped for the future they would be a happy People, & that23 they should always have reason to24 call the English their Fathers, & beged we would take pity on their Women & Children, & make up the difference subsisting between them and the Shawanese, Delawares & Six Nations, and said as they were come there in consequence of Colo Bradstreet's invitation, & that he had not met them, [they hoped] their Fathers would pity their necessity & give them a (page 44) lit[tle Cloathing]25 and a little rum to drink on the road, as they26 had come a great way to see their27 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 happy People, that if they did not listen to the Councils of their Fathers, they must take the Consequences, having assured them that all Nations to the Sun riseing 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 Friendships now so happily renewed.
August 24th We had another Meeting with the several Nations, when the Wawcotonans, Twightwees, Pyankeshas, Kiakapoos and Musquatamies made several speeches to Colo Campbell & me, in presence of all the other Nations, when they promised to become28 the Children of the King of Great Brittain, & farther acknowledged that they had at Ouiatonon before they came there given up the Soverignty [sic] 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.
25th We had another meeting with the same Indians, when Colo Campbell & I made them several speeches in Answer to theirs of the 23 & 24th 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 promised to do in a most sincere manner.
26th Colo Campbell & I made those Nations some presents, when after taking leave of us, they sett off for their own Country well Satisfied.
27th We had a Meeting with Pondiac & all the Ottawa Tribes, Chipwaes & Puttewatamies with the Hurons of this place & the Chiefs (page 45) of those settled at Sandusky & the Miamis River, when we made them the following Speeches.29
Children Pondiac & all our Children the Ottawas, Puttewattamies, 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 Belts 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.
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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.
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A Belt. |
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 now see them any more.
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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.
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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, & promite the good Work of Peace.
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A Belt. |
After which Wapicomica delivered his Messages from Sir William Johnson to Pondiac & the rest of the Several Chiefs.
August 28th We had a Meeting with Pondiac & the several 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 Sprit 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, and 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 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, & did we live here as formerly,30 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 Settlements, & that31 we live so nigh this place, that when we want to drink, we can easily come for it.
Give 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 our32 Children, our Fathers the French, formerly used to Credit his Children for Powder & Lead, as the Support of our Familys 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.
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A Belt. |
Father You stoped up the Rum Barrel when we came here, 'till the Business of this Meeting was over, as it is now finished we request you may open the Barrel that your Children may drink and be merry.33
August 29th A Deputation of several Nations sett out from Detroit for the Ilinois Country, with several Messages from me &34 the Wyondats, Six Nations, Delawares, Shawnese & other Nations, in Answer to their delivered me at Ouiatonon.
30th The Chiefs of the several Nations who are settled on the Ouabache returned to Detroit from the River Roche, where they had been Encamped, & informed Colo 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 how soon their Fathers the English, would take possession of the Posts in their Country, formerly possessed by35 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 Posts36
in our Country. we have been informed, that the English where ever they settle,
make the Country 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 they37
purchase a foot of our Country, nor have [they a right]38
to give it to you, we gave them liberty to settle for
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1 (2, p. 38) This has been called the "official journal," because it contains an account of Croghan's dealings with the Indians and is the one that was sent to the ministry. Besides the copy from which the above is transcribed, there is one in P.R.O., C.O., 5.66, f. 173, which was originally sent by Croghan to Benjamin Franklin in a letter which is printed later (post, )60). The endorsements on that copy are in the handwriting of Franklin. The official journal has been printed several times. It first appeared in Hildreth's Pioneer History (68-85), the copy being made from a transcript found among George Morgan's papers. It is printed also in New York Colonial Documents (7:779-788) from the same copy as the one we have used above. Thwaites prints a combination of the two journals in his Early Western Travels (1:126-173), copying this journal from the New York Colonial Documents.We have supplied the omissions in the board of trade copy from the Franklin copy.
2 (1, p. 39) This copy has been compared with that in Hildreth, Pioneer History, 68-085, which was transcribed from a copy once in the possession of George Morgan, friend and fellow speculator of Croghan, and the variants of importance are in the notes. Under May 15, the Hildreth copy has after "Fort Pitt": "and encamped at Schertree's Island."
3 (2, p. 39) May 16th. Being joined by the several deputies that were to accompany me, we set off at seven o'clock in the morning.
4 (3, p. 39)"were not"
5 (4, p. 39) "trails"
6 (5, p. 39) "have been"
7 (6, p. 39) "Fraser"
8 (7, p. 39) "good of the service"
9 (1, p. 41) "On the 4th , 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th June"
10 (2, p. 41) The letter to Major Murray is printed post, 58. The other letters have not been found.
11 (3, p. 41) The manuscript is somewhat mutilated and the omissions here have been supplied from the Franklin copy (P.R.O., CO., 5.66). The Hildreth copy was perfect in this place, but the name "Farmer" is spelt "Firmer." "at Mobiel" is omitted.
12 (4, p. 41) "Tawightwis"
13 (1, p. 42) The phrase "by the way" is omitted.
14 (2, p. 42) "agreed"
15 (3, p. 42) "all which they" omitted
16 (5, p. 42) "to give his subjects a title to their country."
17 (1, p. 43) "villages"
18 (2, p. 43) Adds "to meet Colonel Bradstreet"
19 (3, p. 43) "Dequanee"
20 (4, p. 43) "Waobecomica"
21 (5, p. 43) No paragraph
22 (6, p. 43) "protection"
23 (7, p. 43) Inserts "for the time to come" after "that"
24 (8, p. 43) Omits "have reason to."
25 (1, p. 44) Omissions supplied from Franklin's copy.
26 (2, p. 44) "we have"
27 (3, p. 44) "our"
28 (4, p. 44) "acknowledged themselves to be"
29 (1, p. 45) Hildreth's copy passes over the speeches on the twenty-seventh inserting the following paragraph: "The speeches are brief, and late chiefly to their keeping the peace in sincerity and good faith. On the following day, or the 28th August, they had another meeting with the Indians, when Pondiac made the following speech, which is worth preserving, as coming from so celebrated a man." Then follows Pontiac's speech, post, 46.
30 (1, p. 46) "and to be so near this as we formerly lived"
31 (2, p. 46) "where"
32 (3, p. 46) "your"
33 (1, p. 47) Hildreth's copy inserts the following paragraph: "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.
34 (2, p. 47) "to"
35 (3, p. 47) "which had formerly been in possession"
36 (4, p. 47) "of the posts" omitted.
37 (5, p. 47) "Conquered us neither did they" omitted
38 (6, p. 47) Supplied from the Franklin copy.
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