Simon Girty

and the McKee Boys

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    There was a group of men who figured prominently in Logan County history who were historically considered traitors or at least the bad guys.  Were these men the treacherous renegades and traitors portrayed in history or did they invite attack because they fought on the wrong side?  Recent opinion of historian and writer Philip Hoffman questions some of these assumptions.

                Simon Girty was one of the most maligned bad boys in the history of Logan County.  Girty, born in 1741 at Chamber’s Mill Pennsylvania, was captured by natives and ultimately adopted by the Western Senacas.  His linguistic skills were valued and he was groomed as an interpreter.  He was also a skilled hunter and was noted for his endurance and speed for covering rough terrain, according to Hoffman.

                In 1764 several white captives were delivered to Col. Henry Bouquet at his camp on the Tuscarawas.  Girty was among them.  When the British learned about his exceptional linguistic skills, he was soon recruited by the British Indian Department as an interpreter.  He also served as an intermediary between the Six Nations and others needing to settle disputes.  Over the years Girty distinguished himself as a frontier scout, military spy, soldier, and peace negotiator.  He had also formed a close friendship with Simon Kenton.

                Girty identified with and liked the natives, which was enough to cause speculation and mistrust among the locals and American military officials.  At the beginning of the American Revolution, Girty was an American patriot and worked to secure peace between Americans and natives, despite the British rhetoric that the Americans intended to take all land from the natives.  He also worked as a recruiter, interpreter and as a spy.

                In 1778 after a militia under the command of Gen. Edward Hand slaughtered a few innocent natives Girty defected along with Alexander McKee.  He incited the natives to attack the white settlers and the American militia.  He also re-enlisted into the British Indian Department and bean supplying the natives with weapons, ammunition and supplies.  He also traveled with the war parties to collect intelligence and to prevent unnecessary abuse to captives. 

                According to Hoffman, Girty was unfairly accused of atrocities committed by the natives even though there is no evidence that he was responsible for the cruel acts.  Girty is also credited with rescuing and delivering many men and women to safety, including Simon Kenton.  Many captives testified that he had prevented them from being put to death.

                John Knight an American captive accused Girty of not interceding on behalf of Col. William Crawford when he was captured and put to death by the Delaware in 1782.  However, other accounts state that Girty argued strongly for Crawford for Crawford’s life until he was threatened with death himself, according to Hoffman.  The stigma of Girty as a sadistic, bloodthirsty savage was forever ingrained in the minds of Americans.

                Girty was present at many battles between the whites and the natives including the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 and Ft. Henry.  The natives and the British respected him for his skills in negotiations.

                Alexander McKee was the son of Thomas McKee, a well-known western Pennsylvania trader, and a Shawnee mother.  He worked for the British Indian Department serving as an interpreter and low-level diplomatic envoy to the western nations during Pontiac’s rebellion, Bouquet’s Expedition. And Dunmore’s War.

                McKee was also a well-known fur trader in Logan County.  His trading post was located near present day Bellefontaine near McKee’s Creek.  Whites and natives alike traded at McKee’s post.  Dislike of McKee by the Americans is in part due to his decision to remain loyal to the Crown during the American Revolution.  He also had a close association with Simon Girty.  Like Girty, he supplied the natives with weapons and supplies and incited attacks on the whites and the American militia.

                McKee participated in Henry Hamilton’s expedition to Vincennes, Henry Bird’s 1780 campaign in Kentucky and the 1782 foray along the Ohio River to Bryant’s Station, according to Larry L. Nelson, author of A Man of Distinction Among Them.

                After the American Revolution, McKee was elevated to prominent positions in government in the upper and lower Canadian Region.  He was named deputy superintendent and inspector general of Indian Affairs for Upper and Lower Canada, the second highest post dealing with Indian affairs in the British North America.  He retained the position until death in1799.

                Historians may forever disagree on the guilt and significance of some of the bad boys of the 1700s and 1800s weighing perspective and loyalty against treacherous acts committed by all races.  For more information about the life of Alexander McKee, read A Man of Distinction Among Them.

~Written by Bridget Early