Background
White Eyes was born into the Delaware tribe that lived at what is now Coshocton, Ohio. Nothing is known about the early life of Koquethagechton.
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White Eyes
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also known as
George White Eyes, Captain Grey Eyes
Career
He became chief counselor and upon the death of Netawatwees, the chief sachem of the Delaware nation, in 1776, succeeded to the station of chief sachem. His leadership coincides with the short period of the attempt of the Delawares to befriend the whites and, by accepting certain of the white man's ways, to create a sound basis for a permanently friendly relation between the two races without the sacrifice of the integrity of either. He was cordial to the efforts of the Moravian missionaries to Christianize and civilize the Delawares but did not himself accept Christianity. He led his people to neutrality in Dunmore's War of 1774, thus incurring the hatred of his victimized neighbors, the Shawnee. In 1775, at the treaty at Fort Pitt, he ostentatiously declared the Delaware nation free of their subservience to the Iroquois and committed the future of his people to the success of the American cause. Assured by the American Indian agent, George Morgan, of trade with the Americans and of teachers of agriculture, he kept his nation neutral, while practically all the rest of the tribes were joining the British. Morgan's promises, however, were not kept by the Americans; and the nation gradually chose belligerency under the guidance of White Eyes' rivals, Captain Pipe and Bochongahelos. White Eyes was deceived in 1778 into signing a treaty of alliance with the American Confederation. He offered, however, to guide the American troops through the forests in Gen. Lachlin McIntosh's unsuccessful attempt to capture Detroit in 1778. On this expedition, in the moment of his greatest usefulness to the United States, he was murdered by American soldiers, although the authorities were successful in making his tribesmen believe he died of smallpox.
Achievements
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By 1773 he was Speaker of the Delaware Head Council and known as one of the most important councilors. White Eyes was a war chief and a tireless mediator in turbulent times, negotiating the first Indian treaties with the fledgling United States, and always working toward his ultimate goal of establishing a secure Indian territory. His murder by an American militia officer is believed to have been covered up by United States officials.
Connections
White Eyes married Rachel Doddridge. They had at least one son, named George Morgan White Eyes.
