Sins of the Founding Father: George Washington, the Indigenous Tribes, and the Decisions that Shaped America’s Future

Introduction

This story, about a little-known battle between American soldiers and Indigenous tribes in the early days of George Washington’s presidency, grew out of research for my forthcoming book on the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, to be published by Random House in 2023, and could be considered a prequel to that work. By a strange turn of modern political and social events, this story, set almost 250 years ago, has surprising relevance today. Its themes—racism, executive privilege, congressional oversight, the limits of the Constitution—were as prevalent in the nation’s infancy as they are now. Indeed, the past is prologue.

Many primary sources inform Sins of the Founding Father. The Papers of George Washington, an ongoing project initiated by the University of Virginia with the Library of Congress, is a staggeringly complete set of edited and footnoted letters, journals, and other Washington papers compiled in dozens of volumes. It is easily accessible to the public through the library’s Founders Online project at founders.archives.gov/about/Washington. This is where I found Washington’s account of his canoe trip down the Ohio River on his 1770 land-speculation venture.

Journals that give firsthand survivor accounts of the 1791 battle at the heart of this story include The Diary of Colonel Winthrop Sargent, The Military Journal of Major Denny, The Memoirs of Benjamin Van Cleve, and General Arthur St. Clair’s many writings in later life, attempting to explain his actions and devastating defeat during the battle. The analysis of Indigenous warfare techniques, as described by a former white captive, was found in An Account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and Travels of Col. James Smith: During His Captivity with the Indians in the Years 1755-1759.

The major events that took place on the western frontier of the United States in the 1790s have received comparatively little attention from historians. One who has focused on this era from both a U.S. and Indigenous point of view is Colin Calloway, professor of history and Native American studies at Dartmouth College. Calloway’s The Indian World of George Washington and The Victory with No Name: The Native American Defeat of the First American Army give comprehensive and detailed accounts of the events leading up to November 4, 1791, and George Washington’s interest in western lands and his stance toward Indigenous tribes.

For specific details of the battle, including timelines and diagrams of the movement of Indigenous warriors and U.S. troops, I turned to John F. Winkler’s Wabash 1791: St. Clair’s Defeat. A fascinating and detailed source for this period of American history is Benson J. Lossing’s Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812, first published in 1850. Lossing visited the site of St. Clair’s defeat and interviewed survivors and others with firsthand knowledge.

Many biographies of George Washington were helpful, including the massive, seven-volume George Washington: A Biography, by Douglas Southall Freeman, published in 1948; Ron Chernow’s 2010 biography, Washington: A Life; and Joseph Ellis’s His Excellency: George Washington. I found the detailed account of Washington erupting to his secretary, Tobias Lear, upon hearing of the rout of St. Clair’s forces in Washington in Domestic Life, by Richard Rush.

Various practices currently exist to identify the original inhabitants of the North American continent. In this story, individuals are generally identified by their Native nations. Where this is not possible, I’ve used the terms Indigenous, Native, or Native American. In cases of historical reference, the generic terms Indian and tribe are sometimes used. Also, selections from contemporaneous works have been presented as written, with grammatical and spelling irregularities left intact.

This story also owes much to Amy Ragsdale. My dear spouse of thirty-five years, she has supported me in every possible way over a long writing career—emotionally, editorially, and sometimes financially. For this work, she has gone far beyond and, in the face of a tight deadline, played a major and highly skilled role in researching, writing, and conceptualizing the story. And so to Amy first, my gratitude, my deepest acknowledgment, and my love.

I would like to extend a special thank-you to Kim Vigue, executive director of the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, in Evanston, Illinois, and an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation and a descendant of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin. Amid her many responsibilities at the museum, Kim found time to read this work and give her comments from an Indigenous perspective. I am honored that she was willing to take on this task. Her advice made it a stronger, more authoritative piece.

Robert T. Tim Coulter—executive director of the Indian Law Resource Center, in Helena, Montana; a member of the Potawatomi Nation; and longtime advocate for Indigenous land rights throughout the Americas—brought his many insights to bear on this project as well. Mark Trahant, editor-at-large for Indian Country Today and a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Nation, offered his invaluable perspective on Native nations and their long view of history. Matthew C. Waxman, a professor of law at Columbia University who specializes in Constitutional issues, war powers, and national security, highlighted ambiguous parts of the U.S. Constitution that are still debated today. Many, many thanks to these experts for their time and interest in this project.

IT WAS STILL PITCH-DARK at 4 a.m. on November 4, 1791, when General Arthur St. Clair ordered his men to turn out from the tents they’d erected on top of a low, wooded bluff in what the U.S. had designated as the Northwest Territory. They had laid on arms all night—slept with muskets close at hand—due to the threat of attack. After giving the usual morning order to parade, St. Clair dismissed the troops early to begin raising a fort where the bluff overlooked a small river called the Wabash. Through either a stroke of luck or