George Croghan

Who was George Croghan?

George Croghan was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country who late 19th-century historian William M. Darlington first recognized as the region's key figure, flying in the face of the traditional view of Croghan as a scoundrel of little historical consequence. Despite their momentous rivalry beginning in 1754 and ending with a military coup in 1777, Croghan plays no role in the latest Washington biographies, and certainly not a central one in French and Indian War books written to date, rendering them obsolete.

Ohio's recorded history begins with Croghan's actions in the mid-1740s as fur trader, Iroquois sachem, and go-between for Pennsylvania, according to Alfred A. Cave, who concludes that the treason charge that ended Croghan's career was trumped up by his enemies. Western Pennsylvania became the focal point of events in August, 1749 when Croghan purchased 200,000 acres from the Iroquois, exclusive of two square miles at the Forks of the Ohio for a British fort.