William Crawford

American artist Robert O. Chadeayne painted this portrait of William Crawford in the early twentieth century. Crawford, a land speculator, rose to the rank of captain in the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War. He later fought in multiple border conflicts with Indigenous people, including Pontiac’s War and Dunmore’s War. In late May of 1782, he led a campaign along the Sandusky River in what is now Ohio with the intention of destroying Indigenous towns in that region and opening the area to white settlement. In a two-day skirmish, British and Indigenous forces overwhelmed Crawford and his troops. Members of the Delaware Tribe later tortured Crawford to death, accounts of which were published in grisly detail by white settlers to stir up violence and fear against Indigenous people.