Note 21 — II A Selection of George Croghan’s Letters and Journals Relating to Tours into the Western Country—November 16, 1750-November, 1765.

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 Pennsylvania 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.