Description at the time of the surrender to the English in 1765: "Four toises [25.6 feet] in front, with its gate in cut stone, furnished with two doors, one of sheet iron and the other of wood, furnished with their iron-work; five toises and a half [35.2 feet] wide, six toises [38.4 feet] long; one building, two toises [12.8 feet] high; one window above, in cut stone, furnished with its shutters in wood, and one of iron" (N. Y. Col. Doc., x. 1164).
On the 23d he arrived at the mouth of the Scioto, where the Shawanese delivered to him seven French traders. On the 6th of June he came to the mouth of the Wabash, where there were indications of the presence of hostile Indians. He dropped down the Ohio six miles further and encamped. On the morning of the 8th his party was fired into by eighty Kickapoos and Mascoutins, and two white men and three of the Shawanese deputies were killed. Croghan himself, and all the rest of the party except two white men and one Indian, were wounded. They were robbed of their outfit, and carried as prisoners to Vincennes.[1460] Here Croghan found Indian acquaintances and friends who treated him and his party with kindness, and rebuked their assailants.[1461] At Post Ouatanon[1462] Croghan found more of his Indian acquaintances; and his captivity being ended, he resumed his official character of ambassador, received deputations from the neighboring tribes, held councils, heard and made speeches, and smoked the pipe of peace. He here received a message from St. Ange, requesting him to visit Fort Chartres, and arrange matters there, which had become exceedingly annoying. He started for the Illinois country on the 18th of July, accompanied by the chiefs of the neighboring tribes. He soon met Pontiac and the deputies from the Illinois tribes on their way to visit him. Both parties returned to the fort and held a council. Pontiac and the Illinois tribes agreed to make peace with the English, as the other nations had done.[1463]
The object of his visit being accomplished, Croghan turned his face homeward, and reached Detroit on the 17th of August. Here he called the Ottawas and the other neighboring tribes into a council, which continued for several days. The Indians acknowledged that they now saw that the French were indeed conquered; that henceforth they would listen no more to the whistling of evil birds, but would lay down the hatchet, and sit quiet on their mats. Pontiac was present, and said: "Father, I declare to all nations that I had made my peace with you before I came here; and I now deliver my pipe to Sir William Johnson, that he may know that I have made peace, and taken the King of England to be my father in the presence of all the nations now assembled."[1464]
From Detroit, Croghan communicated to the commander at Fort Pitt tidings of the complete success of his Western mission; and a company of the 42d regiment of Highlanders, the veterans of Quebec, Ticonderoga, and Bushy Run, under the command of Captain Thomas Stirling, was dispatched in boats for Fort Chartres. Captain Stirling arrived early in October,[1465] and on the 10th relieved St. Ange from his embarrassing command.[1466] These were the first English troops who ever set foot in the Illinois country.[1467]
Croghan left Detroit on the 26th of November, visited Fort Niagara, and arrived at Fort Stanwix, October 21, where he prepared his report to Sir William Johnson, which Sir William transmitted to the Lords of Trade, November 16, 1765.[1468]
For the next decade, the discreet management of the native tribes by Sir William Johnson secured the Western settlements from Indian depredations. During this period there was a constant emigration from Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania into the country between the mountains and the Ohio River, and explorations were begun in Kentucky. The treaty of Fort Stanwix, made with the Six Nations and their dependants in the autumn of 1768, transferred to the British crown the Indian title to what is now the State of Kentucky east of the Tennessee (then Cherokee) River, and a large part of Western Virginia. To the province of Pennsylvania it ceded an extensive tract on its western borders, and defined the boundaries between the English settlements and the Indian territory.[1469] In making this important treaty, Sir William was acting under instructions from the crown, and was furnished with a map[1470] indicating the boundaries desired, for which concessions the crown would give money and presents. He summoned the deputies of the Six Nations and their dependent tribes to meet him in council at Fort Stanwix (now Rome, N. Y.), on the 20th of September, 1768. By the 22d, 2,200 Indians had arrived,[1471] and when the council opened on the 24th, 3,102[1472] deputies were present. For seven weeks Sir William fed[1473] and hospitably entertained this immense concourse of savages, conducting their deliberations, making speeches in their own languages, humoring and repressing their wayward dispositions, and bringing them reluctantly to accept his terms.[1474]
DANIEL BOONE.