the Illinois Country was already occupied by settlers, most of whom who spoke Siouan languages, before the French and English arrived
Source: Library of Congress, Partie occidentale de la Nouvelle France ou du Canada (by Jacques Nicolas Bellin, 1755)
After winning the French and Indian War in 1763, the primary British base in the west was Fort Pitt. Regulars were also stationed in forts at Detroit and in what is now Indiana and Illinois. The British commander, Jeffrey Amherst, did not respect the Native Americans who surrounded those forts. Since the French were no longer competing for the affection of the various tribes and Amherst wanted to reduce the cost of maintaining the British army in the colonies, he stopped the traditional gift-giving.
The actions of the British made clear to the Native Americans that the rights of the various tribes to their land were threatened. The tribes could no longer balance the French against the British, shifting loyalties in order to maintain a balance of power and access to guns in particular. The Delaware Prophet, Neolin. popularized the idea that a return to traditional cultural practices and rejection of European culture was needed.
The Ottawa headman Pontiac built on that vision and recruited numerous separate nations to expel the British from the Ohio River Valley. He encouraged the Ojibwas, Ottowas and Potawatomis - separate Algonquian-speaking tribes living between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers who called themselves the Anishinabeg - to coordinate a rebellion against the British in 1763.
in the 1760's, Fort Pitt was the primary base of British forces on the edge of the backcountry
Source: Historic Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Sesqui-centennial chronicling a development from a frontier camp to a might city
At the start of Pontiac's Uprising/Pontiac's War in May/June 1763, all the British forts west of the Ohio River except for Niagara, Detroit, and Pitt were captured. Pontiac planned to make a surprise attack during a meeting with Henry Gladwin, the commander at Fort Detroit, but Gladwin learned of the plot and assembled many troops to attend the meeting. Pontiac then organized a siege, but the British were too well supplied.
An attempt to besiege and capture Fort Pitt was abandoned after a British victory in August, 1763 at the Battle of Bushy Run in western Pennsylvania.
Absent French resources, and without support from the Haudenosaunee, the uprising could not be sustained. The British recognized the continuing threat, so they prioritized accommodating the Native American concerns over the desires of the Virginia and Pennsylvania colonists to start settling the western lands.
King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763 in October. It attempted to sooth fears that English colonists would be swarming over Native American hunting lands and displacing tribal towns. A military expedition led by Colonel Bouquet marched west from Fort Pitt in October 1763, and his efforts resulted in the Ohio River Valley tribes asking for peace.
Pontiac and William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the northern colonies, signed the Treaty of Oswego in 1765. That led to a temporary cessation of hostilities. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris the French had ceded their legal claim to the Ohio and Illinois country. By force of arms and then negotiations with the Native American tribes, the British obtained actual control.
The influx of colonists that arrived, before and after the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, triggered discontent among multiple tribes. The Shawnee, Mongo, and Delaware were especially upset. When Jacob and Daniel Greathouse murdered the family of Chief Logan in 1774, open warfare erupted.
Virginia's royal governor, Lord Dunmore, mobilized the colony's militia and organized two columns to cross the Ohio River. What became known as Dunmore's War ended quickly with the defeat of Cornstalk's forces at the Battle of Point Pleasant, followed by the Treaty of Camp Charlotte.1
The colonists in Massachusetts and other colonies became more resistant to royal government after passage of the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765. The colonial governors responsible for Canada focused on minimizing friction with the French habitants, rather than enhancing the ability of British merchants to control the fur trade in Montreal or to ensure the political/cultural dominance of English-speaking settlers.
Requests for establishing an elected legislative assembly were rejected. Members of the assembly would have to be Protestants, eliminating representatives of the French Catholics who made up the majority of the population living in the St. Lawrence watershed. The king's appointed governors chose to keep the governing council instead, and the governors kept appointing people sympathetic to the French-speaking Catholics. In 1774, a special oath was devised to allow Catholics to serve in official roles and French civil law was re-established. Catholic worship was officially tolerated.
The Montreal-based fur traders were particularly interested in retaining access to the furs in the Ohio River and Mississippi River watersheds. The Proclamation of 1763 fit their economic interests. They also benefitted from the expansion of the boundaries of the Colony of Quebec in 1774 into the Ohio River watershed. The expansion blocked other colonies from authorizing western settlement, assisting in efforts to keep the peace with Native American tribes.
After settling Pontiac's Rebellion, British officials did not follow a consistent, logical approach in dealing with the Native Americans west of the Appalachians. Negotiators often incorporated their personal interests into official bargaining for land and trading deals. Arrangements that made the Iroquois happy, such as the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix and side deals negotiated at the same time, irritated the Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, Miami, and other tribes who actually lived in the fur-producing regions. Officials in London also were inconsistent, almost approving the proposed 20,000,000-acre Vandalia/Grand Ohio Company land grant.
Almost all British forts west of the settled regions of the 13 colonies were abandoned in 1772, including Fort Pitt at the Forks of the Ohio. The Regulars were no longer available to enforce treaties or the Proclamation of 1763, or to ensure fair dealing by traders with Native Americans to prevent another uprising. Retreating from the western territory allowed the British army to concentrate its forces in the east where colonists were challenging royal authority, and reduced costs while London officials struggled to repay the debt incurred during the French and Indian War.
Fort Chartres, just north of Kaskaskia, was abandoned by the British Regulars in 1772
Source: Thomas Hutchins, A topographical description of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina (1778)
When warfare broke out in Massachusetts in 1775, the French Catholica, fur-trading businessmen, and recent English-speaking immigrants in Canada could have joined the uprising. However, the cultural accommodations since 1763 caused Catholic clergy to support staying loyal to King George III. Their efforts kept the French-speaking habitants from supporting rebellious colonies that might renew official discrimination in favor of Protestant religions.
English-speaking colonists in Canada also resisted invitations by the Continental Congress to join in a revolution. The British policies had ensured access to the fur trade in western lands. The rebelling colonists further south were advocates for expanding settlement west of the Ohio River, which would damage the economy around Montreal. As a result, settlers near Montreal and Quebec did not support the invasion from New York and Maine in 1775, or support invasions into the western lands.2
Pontiac was unable to launch an attack while meeting with the commander of Fort Detroit; Henry Gladwin was aware of the plot
Source: Detroit Public Library, Conspiracy of Pontiac (mural by Gari Melchers)
After the American Revolution started, the Native Americans once again had the opportunity to negotiate and obtain guns from two rivals. The British bases such as Fort Detroit became a threat to Virginians, rather than a source of protection.
The British repeated the tactics used by the French in the French and Indian War. Delivery of guns and ammunition to Native American enabled them to attack backcountry farms and settlements, with the greatest impacts on Virginians in Kentucky County. The General Assembly had created Kentucky County in 1776, to counter efforts by Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company to split that territory off from Virginia.
The British built a new fort on the Wabash River at Vincennes in 1777, enhancing the supply route. The Virginian response to the threat to western settlement during the American Revolution matched the British response in the French and Indian War - capture the supply bases to cut off supplies to the Native Americans, as Fort Duquesne was captured in 1758.
George Rogers Clark, the ranking militia officer in Kentucky County, traveled back to Williamsburg. There he convinced Gov. Patrick Henry and other key officials that a military response was necessary. The cost was a concern to the officials in Williamsburg, but Clark managed to get two sets of orders from Governor Henry.
His public orders authorized him to defend Kentucky, but the secret orders allowed him to launch an attack west into British-held territory. Clark desired to seize Detroit 200 miles away from Fort Pitt, but he chose to start by capturing easier targets which had minimal British forces defending them.
Governor Patrick Henry provided secret orders in 1778 for George Rogers Clark to attack Kaskaskia and Vincennes
Source: Indiana Memory, Patrick Henry's secret orders to George Rogers Clark (January 2, 1778)
Clark gathered about 175 men to form the Illinois Regiment, recruiting from North Carolina to Fort Pitt. He was assured, in a private letter signed by Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and George Wythe, that his recruits would be granted a bounty of 300 acres of land in addition to standard pay.
He organized his force at the Falls of the Ohio, now Louisville Kentucky. The Illinois Regiment floated downstream on the Ohio River, then marched cross-country to Kaskaskia on the Mississippi River. Clark landed on the north bank of the Ohio River at the confluence with the Tennessee River. The French had built the first European fort there in 1757. It was in the territory ceded to the British in 1763, but they lacked the soldiers needed to rebuild and staff a fort at that strategic location during the American Revolution. The site was unguarded when George Rogers Clark arrived.
The few British officials at Kaskaskia were caught by surprise and offered no resistance. The Roman Catholic vicar there championed the America cause, and the French residents welcomed Clark's force. The residents at Cahokia and Vincennes were equally supportive, and in July 1778 the British lost control of the territory south of Detroit.
George Rogers Clark obtained supplies in Virginia, then traveled to Kentucky and seized control of the future Northwest Territory in 1778-1779
Source: National Park Service, George Rogers Clark National Historic Park
In December 1778, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton brought a handful of regular British troops from the 8th Regiment of Foot, Detroit militia, and Native American from Detroit and quickly recaptured Vincennes. He chose to upgrade Fort Sackville there, rather than attack Clark at Kaskaskia. Because getting supplies to Vincennes was so difficult, Hamilton sent most of his men back to Detroit.3
Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton marched from Fort Detroit and recaptured Vincennes in December 1778
Source: National Museum of the United States Army, Revolutionary War 250: 2025 Symposium
That gave the Virginians an opportunity, though it was a very dangerous one. As George Rogers Clark later wrote to Governor Patrick Henry:4
Clark chose to make a middle-of-winter march to recapture Vincennes before Hamilton could strengthen his defenses there. The military force consisted of nearly 175 men, including French allies recruited at Kaskaskia. They marched on foot a total of 180 miles east through flooded wilderness, through swamps with water at times as high as their shoulders. A boat loaded with supplies and even cannon floated down the Mississippi River, then up the Ohio and Wabash rivers to Vincennes.
in February 1779, the Virginians marched from Kaskaskia to Vincennes through prairie and forests that were flooded by seasonal high waters
Source: Wikipedia, Illinois Campaign
the winter march from Kaskaskia to Vincennes required 17 days to cover over 150 miles
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
Clark wrote later in his memoirs:5
Kentucky County was exposed to raids by Native Americans which the British supplied from Detroit and other forts
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
Hamilton was caught by surprise and lacked adequate manpower to defend the fort. The boat arrived too late to be of value. After a brief resistance, he surrendered.
George Rogers Clark recaptured Fort Sackville at Vincennes and made Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton a prisoner in 1779
Source: National Park Service, George Rogers Clark National Historic Park
Clark had Hamilton and the British officers taken 1,200 miles east to Williamsburg. He was imprisoned as a common criminal rather than treated as an officer captured in war. Hamilton was treated harshly because Governor Thomas Jefferson and top Virginia officials thought he was responsible for Native American raids in the backcountry in which settlers were scalped. Because the British provided resources for the raiders, Hamilton was called the "Hair Buyer."
Clark lacked the resources to attack Detroit, and the British ended up occupying the fort there until 1796.6
George Rogers Clark and the Illinois Regiment recaptured Vincennes in 1779
Source: Library of Virginia - UnCommonwealth blog, Records Of The Revolution: John Todd And The George Rogers Clark Illinois Expedition
in 1778 the Continental Congress approved its first treaty with Native Americans, to authorize sending troops/supplies through Delaware territory to attack Fort Detroit
Source: Library of Congress, A new map of the western parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina (Thomas Hutchins, 1778)
The Virginia General Assembly asserted its claim to the captured territory by creating Illinois County in 1780. In 1781, it authorized the officers in the Illinois Regiment to identify a 150,000-acre parcel north of the Ohio River where land grants would be awarded for service in that regiment. General Clark was given over 8,000 acres, officers all received over 2,000 acres each, and privates were granted just 108 acres each. Clark's Grant of 150,000 acres, including 1,000 acres designated for creating the town of Clarksville, ended up being within the state of Indiana.7
the General Assembly created Illinois County in December, 1778, after George Rogers Clark captured Vincennes and brought Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton to Williamsburg as a captive
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
During the 1783 peace negotiations that ended the American Revolution, American control of the territory was acknowledged. The Northwest Territory was ceded to the United States of America in the Treaty of Paris. The western boundary was drawn from Lake of the Woods:8
The successful military campaign led by George Rogers Clark was the key to the new United States acquiring the Northwest Territory. The British had acquired the land in 1763 by conquest, and ceded control in 1783 by acknowledging conquest by Virginia troops. One of the members of the American Revolution 250 Commission preparing to commemorate the semiquincentennial of the event said:9
However, the British refused to evacuate forts, citing that the Americans were violating the treaty by refusing to allow British lenders to collect on debts owed by Americans. British forces left the fort at Detroit only in 1796, after the British and their Native American allies were defeated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, many tribal leaders signed the Treaty of Greeneville in 1795, and the US Senate ratified the Jay Treaty in 1796.10
A statue honoring George Rogers Clark as "Conqueror of the Northwest" was installed on the grounds of the University of Virginia in 1921, enhancing a small park created two decades earlier to replace a coal bin and blacksmith shop. The sculptor placed Clark on horseback in a dominant position, towering over four submissive Native Americans. It was erected as one of four monuments funded by Paul Goodloe McIntire. The others honored Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee.
As described in the nomination form to place the George Rogers Clark monument on the National Register of Historic Places:11
There were proposals in the late 1980's to move the statue, since it had been designed to be viewed head-on but ended up being placed parallel to the main roadway. The expected $250,000 cost for aesthetic reasons was judged to be too expensive at that time.
Circumstances changed after the election of Donald Trump in 2016 led to discussions on systemic racism and symbols of white supremacy. In 2017, City Council decided to move the statue of Robert E. Lee. That decision was followed by a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in which a protester and two police officers died. That which drew nationwide attention, including controversial remarks by President Trump, and the Charlottesville City Council quickly decided to move the Stonewall Jackson statue as well.
In 2019, the city also determined that the statue of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark represented Sacagawea in an inappropriate subservient position, rather than acknowledging her significant contribution during the 1803-1805 journey to the Pacific Ocean. The Monacan Indian Nation supported moving that statue away from its prominent location in front of the Federal courthouse.
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the University of Virginia decided to move the George Rogers Clark statue. With greater sensitivity to the perspective in Native Americans, the Board of Visitors could accept the estimated $400,000 cost to reduce the visibility of the statue's portrayal of Native Americans in a subordinate status.12
The University of Virginia's "Conqueror of the Northwest" statue was taken down in July, 2021 and placed in storage. The university acted one day after the city of Charlottesville was finally moving its statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson from city parks, after a long legal battle. The moving company offered to move the city's statue of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Sacagawea at no extra cost, and in a quick vote the City Council took advantage of that opportunity.
A co-founder of the Native American and Indigenous Studies program at the University of Virginia and leader of the George Rogers Clark Statue Disposition Committee described the removal as "bittersweet." While the stature represented to him the removal of indigenous nations from their homelands, it was also the only public, large-scale depiction of Native Americans on the "grounds" of the University of Virginia. Without the statue as a focal point for demonstrations, discussions about Native Americans could fade away:13
Source: American Revolution Institute, The American Revolution in the Old Northwest | Larry Nelson
key officials in Williamsburg provided assurance to George Rogers Clark that he could offer a 300-acre land incentive to recruit troops to attack western British forts
Source: HathiTrust, Conquest of the country northwest of the river Ohio, 1778-1783; and life of Gen. George Rogers Clark (by William Hayden English, 1896)
in 1783, the western boundary of the new United States of America extended to the Mississippi River ("whose source is unknown")
Source: National Archives, Map of the United States of America Laid Down from the Best Authorities Agreeable to the Peace of 1783