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Six general jeffrey amherst and colonel henry bouquet In May 1763 a bizarre chain of events began, concerning one William McKee, a partner of Barnard Gratz, who had contracted with the Franks firm to deliver a boatload of their tobacco and other products somewhere in North Carolina. Gratz and McKee chartered the sloop Ranger for the purpose , and McKee had sailed off and disappeared. Franks and Mathias Bush gave Michael Gratz power of attorney authorizing him to find McKee and bring back the goods or the payments for them. A little more than a month later Franks informed Michael that McKee had contacted Barnard from Norfolk, Virginia. McKee had become ill and pulled into port but had never communicated with the Philadelphians. Franks was seriously concerned about losing the cargo and the money it represented, and he urged Michael to “secure us.” He also apologized in advance if his suspicions about McKee proved to be unfounded. Almost as an afterthought, he added, “The Indians have begun a war near the Forts; killed and taken several people and traders , and Levy is a prisoner.” Little did he realize that this was to become a momentous episode in his life. A month later he was notified by Michael Gratz that McKee had died from his illness and that Michael had personally arranged for his burial and the return of the sloop.1 Although William Johnson and his deputy George Croghan were authorized to issue Indian trade licenses, the rules for conducting trade were established by the commander in chief, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, and were posted as direct orders from the military. Amherst, born in 1717, had entered the army as a young man and served with distinction at the battles of Dettingen in 1743, Fontenoy in 1745, Lauffeldt in 1747, and Hastenbeck in 1757. When Lord Loudoun was recalled to England, Amherst was assigned in 1758 to command the expedition against Louisburg and succeeded in conquering all of Canada, General Amherst and Colonel Bouquet 57 with significant help from General James Wolfe at Quebec. He was named governor general of Canada and received promotions over the years to the position of major general. He was then appointed commander in chief of all British forces in America and in 1761 was elevated to lieutenant general.2 Back home in England, major changes were afoot. The government was eager to enter a period of moderation in spending after years of an expensive war with France. Canada was completely conquered; George II had died and had been replaced by George III; and Lord Bute became prime minister, replacing the ailing William Pitt. Amherst was directed to curtail expenditures. He relished the assignment, having disliked the practice of giving presents to the Indians, which he likened to bribery.3 Johnson and his “family,” on the contrary, considered the gift giving good sense. “A keg of rum, a few thousand rations, or presents valued at £100, were to Johnson and Croghan a small matter when it meant saving of the profits of the Indian trade or the prevention of all the costs and woes entailed by an Indian war,” writes Croghan’s biographer.4 Bouquet received orders from Amherst that very few gifts were to be given to the Indians from now on. Bouquet obediently issued written orders about how to deal with visiting Indians, including what they could be given in the way of supplies and the extent of physical welcome they were to be accorded.5 In April 1763 a contingent from the Six Iroquois Nations stopped at Fort Pitt on their way home and asked for gunpowder, lead, and vermilion. Bouquet was constrained from complying, and he explained that he was under orders, which aroused the Iroquois. They expressed their annoyance at the change in British policy now that the war was over; what had happened to all the promises made to them in return for their help in the war? They needed twenty days’ travel to get home and could not do so without hunting along the way, or they would starve. Reluctant to disobey Amherst’s directive, Bouquet persuaded Croghan to give them the required supplies. Croghan, under the same limitations as Bouquet, did so out of his own stores. The chasm between Amherst and Johnson’s group grew progressively wider, in parallel with increasing pressure from the Indians for benefits they considered due them for their war efforts. Amherst considered the Indians, even when allies of the British, savages. He wrote...

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