[78] Gage to Conway, Sept. 23, 1765, Ban. Coll., Eng. & Am., 1764-1765. Johnson to Wallace, Sept. 18, 1765, Johnson MSS, Vol. XI, No. 56. Johnson to Lords of Trade, Sept. 28, 1765, N. Y. Col. Docs., VII, 766.
[79] Gage to Conway, Sept. 23, 1765, Ban. Coll., Eng. & Am., 1764-1765.
[80] Ibid.
[81] Stirling to Gage, Oct. 18, 1765, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. Ind. Vol. 122.
[82] Sterling to Gage, Oct. 18, 1765, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. Ind. Vol. 122.
[83] Ibid.
[84] Ibid.
[85] Ibid. Sterling asserts that although Croghan claimed to have made a peace with all the Illinois chiefs, he is assured that not one was present at the peace conference in Ouiatanon, and that his own sudden appearance at the village was the real cause of his success. Sir William Johnson, in a letter to Croghan, Feb. 21, 1766, (Johnson MSS, Vol. XII, No. 60.) casts doubt upon the representation of Sterling. He says that it is easy to account for his motives, and that he has written Gen. Gage fully upon the subject. The letter referred to has probably been destroyed; at any rate it is not in any of the large collections.
[86] Sterling to Gage, Oct. 18, 1765, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. Ind., Vol. 122. Eidington to ——, Oct. 17, 1765, Catham Papers, Vol. 97, Pub. Rec. Office. Gage to Johnson, Dec. 30, 1765, MS letter in Pa. Hist. Soc. Lib. Gage to Barrington, Jan. 8, 1766, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. Ind., Vol. 122. Gage to Conway, Jan. 16, 1766, Ibid. Johnson to Lords of Trade, Jan. 31, 1766, N. Y. Col. Docs.., X, 1161 ff. Capt. Sterling relates in his letter to Gage that he had considerable difficulty in persuading St. Ange to surrender his ammunition and artillery stores. The latter claimed he had positive orders to surrender only the fort and a few pieces of artillery.
As to the time of Sterling's arrival, Parkman, II, 314, says he arrived in the early part of winter, while Nicollet, in his sketch of St. Louis, states that the fort was reached in mid-summer. From the above references, there can be no doubt as to the exact date.