White Eyes (c.1730–November 1778), was a leader of the Delaware (Lenape) people in the Ohio Country during the era of the American Revolution. Sometimes known as George White Eyes, his given name was something like Koquethagechton, which was rendered in many spelling variations. 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. Events Pope Clement XII elected September 17 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed III (1703-1730) to Mahmud I (1730-1754) Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia) became czarina Births May 13 - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Lenape or Lenni-Lenape (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans) were, in the 1600s, loosely organized bands of Native American people practicing small-scale agriculture to augment a largely mobile hunter-gatherer society in the region around the Delaware River, the lower Hudson River, and western Long Island Sound. ... The Ohio Country, showing the present-day U.S. state boundaries The Ohio Country (sometimes called the Ohio Territory) 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... Before the Revolution: The 13 colonies are in red, the pink area was claimed by Great Britain after the French and Indian War, and the orange region was claimed by Spain. ... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen North American colonies. ...

Before the Revolution

Nothing is known about White Eyes's early life. He first enters the historical record near the end of the French and Indian War as a messenger during treaty negotiations. By 1766, he was apparently a tavern keeper and trader in a Delaware 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, though he could not read or write, and probably did not speak English—at least not well. The French and Indian War is the American name for the decisive nine-year conflict (1754-1763) in North America between Great Britain and France, which was one of the theatres of the Seven Years War. ... 1766 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Beaver River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 21 mi (34 km) long, in western Pennsylvania in the United States. ... Carl D. Perkins Bridge in Portsmouth, Ohio with Ohio River and Scioto River tributary on right. ... State nickname: The Keystone State Other U.S. States Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Governor Ed Rendell (D) Official languages None Area 119,283 km² (33rd)  - Land 116,074 km²  - Water 3,208 km² (2. ...

After the French and Indian War, white colonists began settling near the Delaware villages around Fort Pitt in western Pennsylvania, and so the Delawares removed to the Muskingum River valley in present-day eastern Ohio. By this time, many Delawares had converted to Christianity and were living in villages run by Moravian missionaries. The missionary towns also moved to the Muskingum, so that the Delaware people, both Christian and non-Christian, could stay together. Though not a Christian himself, White Eyes made certain that the Christian Delawares remained members of the Delaware nation. Fort Pitt refers to two forts: Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania, and Fort Pitt, Kent. ... State nickname: The Keystone State Other U.S. States Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Governor Ed Rendell (D) Official languages None Area 119,283 km² (33rd)  - Land 116,074 km²  - Water 3,208 km² (2. ... The Muskingum River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 111 mi (179 km) long, in eastern Ohio in the United States. ... State nickname: The Buckeye State Other U.S. States Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Governor Bob Taft (R) Official languages None Area 116,096 km² (34th)  - Land 106,154 km²  - Water 10,044 km² (8. ... Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... A Moravian is a Protestant belonging to a religious movement that originated in Moravia, Czech Republic. ...

White Eyes established his own town, White Eyes's Town, near the Delaware capital of Coshocton. In 1774, White Eyes was named principal chief of the nation by the Delaware Grand Council. Coshocton is a city located in Coshocton County, Ohio. ... 1774 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

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 Shawnee Indians and Virginia. White Eyes served as a peace emissary between the two armies, helping to arrange the treaty that ended the war. Dunmores War (or Lord Dunmores War) was the result of several collisions that took place in the spring of 1774, on the Ohio River above the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, between Native American peoples (particularly Shawnee, Miami, and Wyandot) and parties of Anglo-American settlers who... The Shawnee are a people native to North America, and are therefore considered to be Native Americans. ... State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner (D) Official languages English Area 110,862 km² (35th)  - Land 102,642 km²  - Water 8,220 km² (7. ...

Revolution and death

When the American Revolutionary War erupted soon after Dunmore's War had ended, White Eyes was in the midst of negotiating a royal grant with Lord Dunmore that was intended to secure the Delaware territory in the Ohio Country. Dunmore was forced out of Virginia by American revolutionaries, and so White Eyes had to begin anew with the Americans. In April of 1776, he addressed the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on behalf of the Delawares, and eventually negotiated an alliance with the United States in 1778 at Fort Pitt. This treaty called for the establishment of a Delaware Indian state, with representation in the American Congress, provided that the Congress approved. As it turned out, White Eyes would be dead before the matter proceeded further, and the possibility of a Delaware Indian state died with him. Lord Dunmore John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730–February 25, 1809) was the British governor of the Province of New York from 1770 to 1771 and the Virginia Colony, from September 25, 1771 until just before the American Revolutionary War began in June 1775. ... This article is about the year 1776. ... The Continental Congress was the federal legislature of the Thirteen Colonies and later of the United States from 1774 to 1789, a period that included the American Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation. ... Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

An article of the treaty called for Delawares 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). Accordingly, in early November of 1778, White Eyes joined an American expedition as a guide and negotiator. Soon after, the Americans reported to the shocked Delawares of Coshocton that White Eyes had contracted smallpox and died during the expedition. After the death of White Eyes, the Delaware alliance with the Americans eventually collapsed. This article refers to the largest city of Michigan. ...

Years later, George Morgan, Congressional agent and close associate of White Eyes, revealed in a letter to Congress that White Eyes had been "treacherously put to death" by American militiamen, and his murder had been covered up in order to prevent the Delawares from immediately abandoning the United States. 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 had placed himself in harm's way during Dunmore's War to prevent bloodshed; a similar effort during the Revolution may have cost him his life.

White Eyes was married; his wife was reportedly murdered by white men in 1788. White Eyes's son, George Morgan White Eyes (1770?–1798) was educated at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University) at the expense of the American government. [1] 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1770 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... For other Princetons, see Princeton. ...

See also

• Gnadenhutten massacre
• Frontier warfare during the American Revolution

The Gnadenhütten massacre (8 March 1782) was a mass murder of nearly 100 Native Americans (mostly women and children) by American militiamen during the American Revolutionary War. ... // Background Among the Acts of Parliament denounced by the Patriots as Intolerable Acts were the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade Anglo-American settlement west of the Appalachians; and the Quebec Act of 1774, which made provision for the extension of Québecs borders to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. ...

References

• Booth, Russell H. The Tuscarawas Valley in Indian Days: 1750-1797. Cambridge, Ohio, 1994.

• Calloway, Colin G. "White Eyes" in American National Biograpy. Oxford University Press, 1999.

• -----. The American Revolution in Indian Country. Cambridge University Press, 1995.

• Dowd, Gregory Evans. A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745-1815. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1992.

• 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
• Another site with the 1778 treaty
• Biographical entry at Ohio History Central
• Short entry about the historical marker in Ohio commemorating White Eyes