Join us on April 7th, 011 at 7:30 p.m. for our second annual fundraiser. This year we kick off the new season with An Evening in Pickawillany featuing a Chautauqua Style History Alive! Presentation by William F Hunt Jr. as Sattelihu, Captain Andrew Montour.
In the early years of the 18th century, France and England began a series of savage and bloody French and Indian Wars to wrestle control of the North American continent. As both powers jockeyed for position again in the 1740’s, the focal point shifted towards the vast, fertile Ohio country. This untamed wilderness, rich in natural resources, and especially large populations of fur bearing animals, loomed west of the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains. Few Englishman had journeyed into this paradise. As French interests ebbed southward towards the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, the colonies of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, became increasingly alarmed at this French expansion onto their western borders. Wedged in between these two European powers, were the various native woodland tribes of Iroquoian and Algonquin stock. One of the most dominant was the powerful Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Also present were mixed groups of Algonquin speaking Shawnees and Delawares. By 1754, war again began to boil over on to the Ohio. French and English envoys courted alliances with the Ohio Indians. The French were masters of Indian diplomacy. For the English, only a few men could counter the French.
Fortunately for the English, a man of mixed Franco-Iroquoian heritage emerged on the scene. Andrew Montour (Sattelihu), the eldest son of a French-Canadian mother, and an Oneida war chief, was born in an obscure Seneca village, and raised as an Iroquois. A gifted linguist, Montour could speak fluently at least 10 Indian languages, as well as French and English, and was a master of complex Indian diplomacy. A skilled warrior, guide and hunter, he knew the Ohio country better than most Anglo men. As early as the 1740’s Andrew Montour conducted diplomatic missions on the Ohio on behalf of Virginia and Pennsylvania. He accompanied a various number of English diplomats and traders into hostile and unknown Ohio villages, and served as a trusted interpreter at many important Indian councils. Montour, an enigma even in his own time, also understood the European cultures. A frequent guest to the royal governors of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, Andrew Montour often appeared dressed in an odd assortment of Euro-native attire. Well respected among the Ohio tribes and beloved by the Ohio Iroquois, the French quickly feared Montour as a threat to French supremacy.
Throughout the French and Indian War and later during Pontiac’s War in 1763, Montour continued to serve English interest through diplomacy and warfare. In the words of Conrad Weiser, a Pennsylvania trader, and a diplomat of Indian Affairs, gave Andrew Montour the highest accolades of being, “Knowing, Faithful, and Prudent”.
William Hunt brings to life once again the exploits of Andrew Montour and his contributions to the English cause during this bloody and turbulent period in Colonial American history. By so doing, Mr. Hunt pays tribute to his own mixed-blood native heritage. Mr. Hunt, the former Director of the Historical Craik-Patton House in Charleston, WV, is a devoted historian of the 18th Century Colonial Frontier, and is also a historical interpreter of the same period. He has been fascinated by Andrew Montour for many years and has extensively researched to bring him into a first person, historical perspective. William has traveled to many historical locations related with Andrew Montour as he is continually researching and studying the 1700’s.
The Piqua Friends Council & the Piqua Public Library present a virtuoso performance by this veteran historic interpreter at the Fort Piqua Plaza, on the Square, William McKinley Ballroom, 308 N. Main St. Piqua OH. Also on display that evening w...ill be never before seen objects unearthed on the Pickawillany site.
Tickets are $30 for the general public and $25 for members. Call 1.800.752.2619 or email ahite@ohiohistory.org for more information.
