White Eyes
Encyclopedia
White Eyes, named Koquethagechton (c. 1730–November 1778), was a leader of the Lenape
(Delaware) people in the Ohio Country
during the era of the American Revolution
. Sometimes known as George White Eyes, his given name in Lenape was rendered in many spelling variations in colonial records. White Eyes was a tireless mediator in turbulent times, negotiating the first Indian treaties with the fledgling United States
, always working towards his ultimate of goal of establishing a secure Indian territory. His death under mysterious circumstances during the American Revolutionary War
may have been an act of murder covered up by United States officials.
}, as a messenger during treaty negotiations. By 1766, he was apparently a tavern keeper and trader
in a Lenape town on the Beaver River
, a tributary of the Ohio River
in present-day western Pennsylvania
. This occupation suggests he may have been well suited for interaction between Indians and whites, although he could not read or write, and probably did not speak English—at least not well.
in western Pennsylvania
, the Native Americans moved further west to the Muskingum River
valley in present-day eastern Ohio
. By this time, many Lenape had converted to Christianity
under the influence of Moravian missionaries and lived in villages led by them. The missionary towns also moved to the Muskingum, so that the Lenape, both Christian and non-Christian, could stay together. Though not a Christian, White Eyes ensured that the Christian Lenape remained members of the larger community.
In the early 1770s, Lenape attacked the Philip Doddridge family farm, along the shores of Chartier's Creek near Statler's Fort (Washington County, Pennsylvania), killing some members of the nine-person extended family and capturing others. They carried away three young daughters and a son, and the grandmother. The five-year-old girl Rachel Doddridge was known to have been adopted into the tribe. As a young woman, she married White Eyes, who had become chief. Her cousin Philip Doddridge reported seeing her as an adult at a trading post, but, thoroughly assimilated, she was not interested in a reunion with her British relatives.
White Eyes established his own town, known as White Eyes's Town, near the Lenape capital of Coshocton, Ohio
. In 1774, the Lenape Grand Council, an association of chiefs, named White Eyes as principal chief of the nation.
In the early 1770s, violence on the frontier between whites and Indians threatened to escalate into open warfare. White Eyes unsuccessfully attempted to prevent what would become Lord Dunmore's War in 1774, fought primarily between the Shawnee
and Virginia
colonists. He served as a peace emissary between the two armies, and helped negotiate a treaty to end the war.
When the American Revolutionary War
began soon after the end of Dunmore's War, White Eyes was negotiating a royal grant with Lord Dunmore
that was intended to secure the Lenape territory in the Ohio Country. After the American revolutionaries forced Dunmore out of Virginia, White Eyes had to begin anew with the Americans. In April 1776, he addressed the Continental Congress
in Philadelphia on behalf of the Lenape and two years later completed an alliance with the United States by a treaty signed in 1778 at Fort Pitt. It called for the establishment of a Lenape state, with representation in the American Congress, provided that the Congress approved. White Eyes died before the treaty was submitted to Congress, and the matter was dropped.
The treaty provided for the Lenape to serve as guides for the Americans when they moved through the Ohio Country to strike at their British and Indian enemies to the north, in and around Detroit. In early November 1778, White Eyes joined an American expedition under General Lachlan McIntosh
as a guide and negotiator. Soon after, the Americans reported that White Eyes had contracted smallpox
and died during the expedition. After his death, the Lenape alliance with the Americans eventually collapsed.
Years later, George Morgan
, a US Indian agent
, trader and close associate of White Eyes, who had helped negotiate with Native Americans in the Fort Pitt area, wrote a letter to Congress claiming that the chief had been "treacherously put to death" by American militia
in Michigan. He further wrote that the murder of White Eyes had been covered up to prevent the Lenape from abandoning the revolutionaries. No other details of what happened have survived; historians generally accept Morgan's claim that White Eyes had been murdered, though the reasons remain obscure.
White Eyes' British-Lenape wife Rachel Doddridge was reportedly murdered by white men in 1788. Their mixed-race son George Morgan White Eyes (1770?–1798) was cared for by the family friend George Morgan. Later he was educated at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University
), where his tuition was paid by the Continental Congress
. He graduated in 1789.
Lenape
The Lenape are an Algonquian group of Native Americans of the Northeastern Woodlands. They are also called Delaware Indians. As a result of the American Revolutionary War and later Indian removals from the eastern United States, today the main groups live in Canada, where they are enrolled in the...
(Delaware) people in the Ohio Country
Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...
during the era of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. Sometimes known as George White Eyes, his given name in Lenape was rendered in many spelling variations in colonial records. White Eyes was a tireless mediator in turbulent times, negotiating the first Indian treaties with the fledgling United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, always working towards his ultimate of goal of establishing a secure Indian territory. His death under mysterious circumstances during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
may have been an act of murder covered up by United States officials.
Early life and education
Nothing is known about the early life of Koquethagechton. Likely born in present-day Pennsylvania, he was first noted in the English colonial record near the end of the Seven Years War (French and Indian WarFrench and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
}, as a messenger during treaty negotiations. By 1766, he was apparently a tavern keeper and trader
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
in a Lenape town on the Beaver River
Beaver River (Pennsylvania)
The Beaver River is a tributary of the Ohio River in Western Pennsylvania in the United States with a length of approximately 21 mi . It flows through a historically important coal-producing region north of Pittsburgh...
, a tributary of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
in present-day western Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. This occupation suggests he may have been well suited for interaction between Indians and whites, although he could not read or write, and probably did not speak English—at least not well.
Migration and career
After the war, when European white colonists began settling near the Lenape villages around Fort PittFort Pitt (Pennsylvania)
Fort Pitt was a fort built at the location of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.-French and Indian War:The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War , next to the site of former Fort Duquesne, at the confluence the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River...
in western Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, the Native Americans moved further west to the Muskingum River
Muskingum River
The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 miles long, in southeastern Ohio in the United States. An important commercial route in the 19th century, it flows generally southward through the eastern hill country of Ohio...
valley in present-day eastern Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. By this time, many Lenape had converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
under the influence of Moravian missionaries and lived in villages led by them. The missionary towns also moved to the Muskingum, so that the Lenape, both Christian and non-Christian, could stay together. Though not a Christian, White Eyes ensured that the Christian Lenape remained members of the larger community.
In the early 1770s, Lenape attacked the Philip Doddridge family farm, along the shores of Chartier's Creek near Statler's Fort (Washington County, Pennsylvania), killing some members of the nine-person extended family and capturing others. They carried away three young daughters and a son, and the grandmother. The five-year-old girl Rachel Doddridge was known to have been adopted into the tribe. As a young woman, she married White Eyes, who had become chief. Her cousin Philip Doddridge reported seeing her as an adult at a trading post, but, thoroughly assimilated, she was not interested in a reunion with her British relatives.
White Eyes established his own town, known as White Eyes's Town, near the Lenape capital of Coshocton, Ohio
Coshocton, Ohio
Coshocton is a city in and the county seat of Coshocton County, Ohio, United States. The population of the city was 11,682 at the 2000 census. The Walhonding River and the Tuscarawas River meet in Coshocton to form the Muskingum River....
. In 1774, the Lenape Grand Council, an association of chiefs, named White Eyes as principal chief of the nation.
In the early 1770s, violence on the frontier between whites and Indians threatened to escalate into open warfare. White Eyes unsuccessfully attempted to prevent what would become Lord Dunmore's War in 1774, fought primarily between the Shawnee
Shawnee
The Shawnee, Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are an Algonquian-speaking people native to North America. Historically they inhabited the areas of Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Western Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
colonists. He served as a peace emissary between the two armies, and helped negotiate a treaty to end the war.
Revolution and death
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
began soon after the end of Dunmore's War, White Eyes was negotiating a royal grant with Lord Dunmore
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore was a British peer and colonial governor. He was the son of William Murray, 3rd Earl of Dunmore, and his wife Catherine . He is best remembered as the last royal governor of the Colony of Virginia.John was the eldest son of William and Catherine Murray, and nephew...
that was intended to secure the Lenape territory in the Ohio Country. After the American revolutionaries forced Dunmore out of Virginia, White Eyes had to begin anew with the Americans. In April 1776, he addressed the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
in Philadelphia on behalf of the Lenape and two years later completed an alliance with the United States by a treaty signed in 1778 at Fort Pitt. It called for the establishment of a Lenape state, with representation in the American Congress, provided that the Congress approved. White Eyes died before the treaty was submitted to Congress, and the matter was dropped.
The treaty provided for the Lenape to serve as guides for the Americans when they moved through the Ohio Country to strike at their British and Indian enemies to the north, in and around Detroit. In early November 1778, White Eyes joined an American expedition under General Lachlan McIntosh
Lachlan McIntosh
Lachlan McIntosh was a British-born American military and political leader during the American Revolution and the early United States. In a 1777 duel, he shot dead Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.-Arrival in Georgia:Lachlan McIntosh was born near Raits, Badenoch,...
as a guide and negotiator. Soon after, the Americans reported that White Eyes had contracted smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
and died during the expedition. After his death, the Lenape alliance with the Americans eventually collapsed.
Years later, George Morgan
George Morgan (merchant)
George Morgan was a merchant, land speculator, and United States Indian agent during the American Revolutionary War, when he was given the rank of colonel. He negotiated with Lenape and other Native American tribes in western Pennsylvania to gain their support for the Americans during the war...
, a US Indian agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
, trader and close associate of White Eyes, who had helped negotiate with Native Americans in the Fort Pitt area, wrote a letter to Congress claiming that the chief had been "treacherously put to death" by American militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
in Michigan. He further wrote that the murder of White Eyes had been covered up to prevent the Lenape from abandoning the revolutionaries. No other details of what happened have survived; historians generally accept Morgan's claim that White Eyes had been murdered, though the reasons remain obscure.
White Eyes' British-Lenape wife Rachel Doddridge was reportedly murdered by white men in 1788. Their mixed-race son George Morgan White Eyes (1770?–1798) was cared for by the family friend George Morgan. Later he was educated at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
), where his tuition was paid by the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
. He graduated in 1789.
Further reading
- Barrett, Carole, Harvey Markowitz, and R. Kent Rasmussen, eds. American Indian Biographies, Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2005.
- Booth, Russell H. The Tuscarawas Valley in Indian Days: 1750-1797. Cambridge, Ohio, 1994.
- Calloway, -----. The American Revolution in Indian Country. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
- Doddridge, Joseph. Notes and the Settlement and the Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1763-1783, inclusive, together with a review of the State of Society and Manners of the First Settlers of the Western Country, reprint, General Books LLC, 2010.
- Dowd, Gregory Evans. A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745-1815. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1992.
- Hurt, R. Douglas. The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720-1830, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1996.
- Weslager, C. A. The Delaware Indians, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1972.
- White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815, New York, 1991.
External links
- Text of the 1778 treaty
- "White Eyes", Ohio History Central
- Historical marker: White Eyes, Ohio Channel