Governor William Tryon and Indians?
Does anyone know of a scholar or scholars who may be researching the relations of Governor William Tryon with Indians either while he was governor of North Carolina from 1764-1771 or of New York from 1771-1777? Both official and personal connections with Indian groups or individuals.
Larry E. Tise
2 Replies
Post ReplyHi Larry,
The goldmine will be Colonial Office record group CO5 (North America) from the British National Archives. Working with those docs at the National Archives in Kew, outside of London, would tell you a huge amount. Here's the structure of that record group:
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/r/C4196
Adams Matthews has recently digitized these materials, in their e-resource Colonial America:
https://www.colonialamerica.amdigital.co.uk/
It's an incredible resource. If getting to London isn't in the cards, you might reach out to Adams Matthews about a trial. Or, even better, take a trip to the nearest university that subscribes and bring a USB stick so you can download all the images you want (not possible with a trial).
Short of these collections, some of what you're looking for will be reprinted in Davies, Kenneth Gordon, ed. Documents of the American Revolution, 1770-1783 (Colonial Office Series). Dublin: Irish University Press, 1972.
Good luck,
-Brian DeLay
Good morning,
I was pleased to see this post as I just published an article that may be of interest. "Facing East from Tryon Mountain: New Vantages on the 'Great Wolf,' Rogues, and Regulators" can be found in the latest issue of the North Carolina Historical Review. The article is about the Regulator movement in NC, but deals heavily with Tryon during his time as Governor of NC. I suggest why Cherokee headmen gave Tryon the notorious title of "Great Wolf" and investigate how Tryon's relations with Native allies impacted the growth and aftermath of the Regulator movement. My research deals mostly with Ostenaco and Sallowie, the Young Warrior of Estatoe, as they led the Cherokee delegation at the watershed 1767 boundary negotiations (when Tryon Mountain was named to mark the boundary). To a lesser extent, the article involves Tuscaroras, Catawbas, Shawnees, Creeks, and others. I will second Dr. DeLay's source suggestions, especially CO5. I also made use of Colonial Records of NC (digitized on DocSouth), William Powell's two volumes on Tryon's papers, Records of the Moravians in NC, as well as scattered material in the State Archives of NC and in various newspaper databases. I would be glad to answer any questions.
Kind regards,
Stuart