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stands was Ouiatanon or the post of the Weas. It had also 
an extensive trade and was classed by Sir William Johnson 
as one of the most desirable trading posts in the West. It 
continued to be of importance, and to furnish a home for 
many habitants until the Indian wars against the United 
States brought its destruction in 1792.^ 
The third of these trading places was at Vincennes on the 
lower Wabash.^ It had been important in French political 
as well as trading plans for more than thirty years, and its 
prosperity was to continue. From time to time English trad- 
ers had invaded this country, but in 1763 French traders and 
habitants still constituted almost all the population. They 
were light-hearted and indolent, and they liked best to spend 
their time in fiddling, dancing, and drinking. Their friend- 
ship with the Indians appeared to be firm, and they main- 
tained an influence that could not be shaken. Only when 
they were won to British rule was the temper of the Indians 
considered safe. 
The currency of this country was peltry. At a time when 
gold and silver were rarely seen the supply of furs was con- 
stant and their value definitely known. Furs paid for the 
Indian trading goods that came from English merchants by 
way of Detroit, or from French adventurers by way of New 
Orleans and up the Mississippi. Here the French again had 
an advantage. Their disposition, and their generous presents, 
combined with long-established habits of the Indians them- 
selves, gave the merchants of New Orleans a large share of 
the trade.® 
To get exclusive control of this trade was a serious concern 
of British politics. The imperially-minded wished to place 
it under the supervision of royal officers, preferably the super- 
intendents of Indian affairs. Most of the traders, however, 
preferred the looser methods that had long been followed in 
* Oscar J. Craig, “Ouiatanon” in Indiana Historical Society Publications (Indianap- 
olis, 1893), II, No. 8, gives the available material on this post. Croghan’s description 
in his Journal, op. cit., 144, is interesting. 
® For Vincennes see George Croghan’s description in his Journal, op. cit., 141. See 
also Jacob P. Dunn, “Documents Relating to the French Settlements on the Wabash” 
in Indiana Historical Society Publications, II, No. 11, and “The Mission to the Ouabache” 
in ibid. (Indianapolis, 1902), IV, No, 4; Paul C. Phillips, “Vincennes in its Relation 
to French Colonial Policy” in Indiana Magazine of History, XVII, No. 4 (December, 
1921). 
•Thomas Gage to Sir William Johnson, January 25, 1767, in Edmund B. O’Callaghan 
(ed.). The Documentary History of the State of Neto York (Albany, 1850), II, 486. 
