Simon Girty (1741 – February 18, 1818) was a British subject, born in what is now the United States, who served as a liaison between the British and their Native American allies during the American Revolution.

Girty and his brothers were taken prisoner by, and later adopted by, Native Americans when they were children. American frontiersmen saw Girty as a renegade and a turncoat. Other sources say, however, that Girty was always loyal to the British crown, and was simply not comfortable betraying that loyalty. Native American leader Tecumseh was a friend.

American detractors note that Girty was present during the torture and execution of Colonel William Crawford by Native American leader Captain Pipe. American accounts criticize Girty for failing to intercede to rescue Crawford. Defenders of Girty point out that the Natives were enraged by American atrocities, that Crawford's torture was in retaliation, and that Girty could not have stopped the torture without risking his own life. One independent witness is said to have claimed that Girty offered all he owned to save Crawford, arguing on his behalf until threatened with death himself. In fact, though villified by many American writers of the time, Girty is indeed credited with saving the lives of many American prisoners of the natives, often by buying their freedom at his own expense.

Simon Girty retired to his farm near Fort Malden (present-day Amherstburg, Ontario) prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812. Girty's son was killed in that conflict, reportedly while trying to rescue a wounded British officer from the battlefield. Despite popular myths to the contrary, Simon Girty had no part in that war, except as a refugee when the British retreated from Fort Malden. Nor was he killed with Tecumseh at the Battle of the Thames, as was widely reported. Over sixty years old, he was increasingly infirm and had failing eyesight. Girty returned to his farm after the war, and died completely blind in 1818.

In literature

• Simon Girty served as one of the jury members in Stephen Vincent Benet's The Devil and Daniel Webster.
• Canadian playwright Ed Butts wrote a play entitled The Fame of Simon Girty.

References

• Simon Girty, the white savage, by Thomas Boyd; New York: Minton, Balch & Company, 1928
• Simon Girty, the outlaw. An historical romance, Jones, U. J. (Uriah James), Philadelphia: G. B. Zeiber, 1846 (fiction)

External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• A short, colored biography of Girty written for children who were members of the Kit Carson Club.
• An academic thesis about mythic figures of the American frontier with an account of Girty's role in the death of Crawford.
• Portrays Simon Girty and his brothers A site presenting "Wilderness War on the Ohio", the story from the British side. Also on this site, an oil painting depicting the Girty Brothers, James, George and Simon at Wapatomika in the Ohio Country, 1782.

1741 births | 1818 deaths | British loyalists in the American Revolution | People from Essex County, Ontario | Pre-Confederation Ontario people

Simon Girty