Simon Girty
Encyclopedia
Simon Girty was an American colonial
of Scots-Irish
ancestry who served as a liaison between the British
and their Native American
allies
during the American Revolution
. He was portrayed as a villain in many early history texts of the United States
.
Born in Pennsylvania
, Girty and his brothers were taken prisoners when still children by the Senecas
and adopted by them. It would be seven years before Girty returned to his family, during which time he had come to prefer the Native American way of life. During the American Revolution
, he first sided with the colonial revolutionaries, but later served with the Loyalists
and thus was viewed by American frontiersmen as a renegade and turncoat
.
On October 1, 1779, Girty and Alexander McKee
with the aid of a large force of Native Americans attacked and killed American forces returning from a trip to New Orleans. The ambush occurred near Dayton, Kentucky
, opposite Cincinnati. Only a handful of the Americans survived, among them Colonel John Campbell
and Captain Robert Benham
.
Girty was present during the torture and execution of Continental Army
Colonel William Crawford
by Native American leader Captain Pipe
. Two witnesses of this torture and execution survived and were later interviewed regarding these events. One suggested that Girty was a pitiless instigator. The other claimed that Girty pleaded with the Native Americans on Crawford's behalf until threatened with death himself. The former account was popularized and served to vilify Girty during and after his lifetime.
Girty is also credited with saving the lives of many American prisoners of the natives, often by buying their freedom at his own expense.
After the end of the war, Simon Girty settled in Canada
. He retired to his farm near Fort Malden
(present-day Amherstburg, Ontario
) prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812
. Girty's son was killed in that conflict, reportedly while trying to rescue a wounded British officer from the battlefield. Despite popular myths to the contrary, Simon Girty had no part in that war, except as a refugee when the British retreated from Fort Malden. Nor was he killed with Tecumseh
at the Battle of the Thames
, as was widely reported. Over sixty years old, he was increasingly infirm with arthritis and had failing eyesight. Girty returned to his farm after the war and died completely blind in 1818 in Canada.
Thirteen Colonies
The Thirteen Colonies were English and later British colonies established on the Atlantic coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. They declared their independence in the American Revolution and formed the United States of America...
of Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...
ancestry who served as a liaison between the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and their Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
during 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...
. He was portrayed as a villain in many early history texts of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Born in 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...
, Girty and his brothers were taken prisoners when still children by the Senecas
Seneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
and adopted by them. It would be seven years before Girty returned to his family, during which time he had come to prefer the Native American way of life. During 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...
, he first sided with the colonial revolutionaries, but later served with the Loyalists
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
and thus was viewed by American frontiersmen as a renegade and turncoat
Turncoat
A turncoat is a person who shifts allegiance from one loyalty or ideal to another, betraying or deserting an original cause by switching to the opposing side or party...
.
On October 1, 1779, Girty and Alexander McKee
Alexander McKee
Colonel Alexander McKee was an agent in the British Indian Department during the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War....
with the aid of a large force of Native Americans attacked and killed American forces returning from a trip to New Orleans. The ambush occurred near Dayton, Kentucky
Dayton, Kentucky
Dayton is a city in Campbell County, Kentucky, United States, along a bend of the Ohio River. The population was 5,966 at the 2000 census. It is less than from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.-Geography:Dayton is located at ....
, opposite Cincinnati. Only a handful of the Americans survived, among them Colonel John Campbell
John Campbell
- British political figures :* John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun , Lord Chancellor of Scotland, President of the Privy Council* John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll , Scottish soldier, Lord Steward, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey...
and Captain Robert Benham
Captain Robert Benham
Captain Robert Benham , was a frontier pioneer, served in local government and was a member of the first elected legislature for the State in Ohio, 1799 & 1800....
.
Girty was present during the torture and execution of Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
Colonel William Crawford
William Crawford (soldier)
William Crawford was an American soldier and surveyor who worked as a western land agent for George Washington. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War...
by Native American leader Captain Pipe
Captain Pipe
Captain Pipe , called Konieschquanoheel and also known as Hopocan, was an 18th-century chief of the Algonquian-speaking Lenape and a member of the Wolf Clan...
. Two witnesses of this torture and execution survived and were later interviewed regarding these events. One suggested that Girty was a pitiless instigator. The other claimed that Girty pleaded with the Native Americans on Crawford's behalf until threatened with death himself. The former account was popularized and served to vilify Girty during and after his lifetime.
Girty is also credited with saving the lives of many American prisoners of the natives, often by buying their freedom at his own expense.
After the end of the war, Simon Girty settled in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He retired to his farm near Fort Malden
Fort Malden
Fort Malden is a fort that stands on the remains of Fort Amherstburg in Amherstburg, Ontario. The original fort was abandoned by the British/Canadians in 1813 when Southwest Ontario fell into American hands. The Americans began building a smaller replacement fort on the same site, but this was...
(present-day Amherstburg, Ontario
Amherstburg, Ontario
Amherstburg is a Canadian town near the mouth of the Detroit River in Essex County, Ontario. It is approximately south of the U.S...
) prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Girty's son was killed in that conflict, reportedly while trying to rescue a wounded British officer from the battlefield. Despite popular myths to the contrary, Simon Girty had no part in that war, except as a refugee when the British retreated from Fort Malden. Nor was he killed with Tecumseh
Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...
at the Battle of the Thames
Battle of the Thames
The Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was a decisive American victory in the War of 1812. It took place on October 5, 1813, near present-day Chatham, Ontario in Upper Canada...
, as was widely reported. Over sixty years old, he was increasingly infirm with arthritis and had failing eyesight. Girty returned to his farm after the war and died completely blind in 1818 in Canada.
In literature
- Simon Girty along with his sisters, are vilified with hints of compassion for white men in Zane GreyZane GreyZane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure novels and stories that presented an idealized image of the Old West. Riders of the Purple Sage was his bestselling book. In addition to the success of his printed works, they later had second lives and continuing influence...
's frontier trilogy series, Betty ZaneBetty ZaneElizabeth "Betty" Zane McLaughlin Clark was a heroine of the Revolutionary War on the American frontier. She was the daughter of William Andrew Zane and Nancy Ann Zane, and the sister of Ebenezer Zane, Silas Zane, Jonathan Zane, Isaac Zane and Andrew Zane...
, Spirit of the BorderSpirit of the BorderSpirit of the Border is a historical novel published in 1906 by Zane Grey. The novel is based on events occurring in the Ohio River Valley in the late 18th century. It features the exploits of Lew Wetzel, a historical personage who had dedicated his life to the destruction of Native Americans and...
and The Last Trail.
- Simon Girty served as one of the jury members in Stephen Vincent BenetStephen Vincent BenétStephen Vincent Benét was an American author, poet, short story writer, and novelist. Benét is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, John Brown's Body , for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, and for two short stories, "The Devil and Daniel Webster" and "By...
's short story "The Devil and Daniel WebsterThe Devil and Daniel Webster"The Devil and Daniel Webster" is a short story by Stephen Vincent Benét. This retelling of the classic German Faust tale is based on the short story "The Devil and Tom Walker", written by Washington Irving...
" and in the 1941 movie of the same title. In that story, he is described as "the renegade, who saw white men burned at the stake and whooped with the Indians to see them burn". Benet uses Girty's popular image for the story's dramatic purposes; all members of the jury are called by SatanSatanSatan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
and are supposed to be the worst villains in American history.
- Hugh Henry BrackenridgeHugh Henry BrackenridgeHugh Henry Brackenridge was an American writer, lawyer, judge, and justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.A frontier citizen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, he founded both the Pittsburgh Academy, now the University of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Gazette, still operating today as the...
took and edited the detailed recollections of one of the survivors of Crawford's execution, which were published under the title Dr. Knight's Narrative, and had a considerable impact on the reputation of Simon Girty as a renegade. The most detailed research into this publication to date clearly calls into question the motives of Brackenridge in his published account. See the article by Parker B. Brown entitled The Historical Accuracy of the Captivity Narrative of Doctor John Knight, which appeared on pages 53–67 of The Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, vol. 70, no. 1 (January 1987). (ref. Allan W. Eckert, That Dark and Bloody River).
- Simon Girty is featured in Julius de Gruyter's novel Drum Beats on the Sandusky, which is a fictional account of one of Crawford's young volunteer soldier's reprieve from Indian capture and subsequent adventures while under Girty's custody. "Against this colorful and historically accurate background, de Gruyter has fashioned a gripping novel of Indian fighting, ambush, miraculous escape and pursuit." (Published 1969, Carlton Press, Inc, New York, N.Y.)
- The American novelist, Joseph Altsheler, makes Simon Girty a turncoat and villain in several of his "Young Trailer Series" of eight juvenile fiction fiction books from 1907-1911.
- Canadian playwrightPlaywrightA playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
Ed Butts wrote a play entitled The Fame of Simon Girty. - Simon Girty, the outlaw. An historical romance, Jones, U. J. (Uriah James), Philadelphia: G. B. Zeiber, 1846 (fiction)
- Girty. Historical fiction in prose and poetry, by Richard Taylor. Wind Publications
- Girty appears as a character in the fictional novel The Dakota Cipher by William Dietrich.
- Girty appears as an ambiguous renegade character in Hugo PrattHugo PrattHugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...
's graphic novel Fort WheelingFort WheelingFort Wheeling, or simply Wheeling, is the title of a comics series set in colonial North America, by Italian comics creator Hugo Pratt.-Publication history:Wheeling first appeared in the Argentine comics magazine Misterix in 1962...
(Buenos Ayres, 1962). In his drawings, Pratt gave Girty his own features. - Girty makes also an appearance in Deerfoot novels by Edward S. Ellis.
External links
- A short biography of Girty by Dan Beard from Boy Pioneers (1909), a handbook written for boys who were members of the Sons of Daniel BooneSons of Daniel BooneThe Sons of Daniel Boone was a youth program developed by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905 based on the American Frontiersman. When Dan Beard joined the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 as one of their National Scout Commissioners, he merged his group into the fledgling BSA.Boys were organized into "Forts"...
. Girty, is as "a cruel, unprincipled man, a traitor to his country, a renegade and leader among our Indian foes, a coarse, low type of a Benedict ArnoldBenedict ArnoldBenedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
—the most hated man on the border." - William Clark and the Notorious Simon Girty (accessed Aug 2010). Frances Hunter's American Heroes Blog