Meet the infamous Simon Girty. Girty with his brother James and George struck terror into the hearts of the U.S. settlers in the Ohio Valley and Kentucky from 1778 to 1815. Girty’s island in the Maumee River was the site of a City trading post and an alleged hangout. Simon was a trusted friend to the Native Americans and a valuable translator for the British but a traitor to the Americans. Born on the Pennsylvania frontier Girty was a product of frontier violence. Captured during the French and Indian War he was adopted and became a Seneca warrior. Brave in combat, skilled in wilderness warfare and gifted in languages he was a larger-than-life figure in the history of the Maumee River Valley. He also had a flair for the dramatic dressing like a pirate and exaggerating his own ferocity.
Though there are dozens of accounts of Girty stopping executions and ransoming American prisoners, frontier legend portrayed him as a blood thirsty savage. Many in the U.S. still consider him a scoundrel while in Canada he is seen as a hero. Decide for yourself. Was Simon Girty a friend or a foe?
Dave Westrick is the author of “The Battle of Fallen Timbers, A Change of Worlds.” He fell in love with Ohio history growing up on a farm in Northwest Ohio. He graduated from Ohio University with a degree in journalism. After a career in journalism and communication, he turned his attention to research, specializing in the early frontier era. He has written and lectured extensively on the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Dave serves on the boards of several history groups including the Maumee Valley Historical Society and is a former president of the Fallen Timbers Battlefield Preservation Committee. He lives with his wife Nanci in Perrysburg, Ohio.
