Near here, on July 18, A.D. 1765, Colonel George Croghan, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the British government, made a preliminary treaty of peace with Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas and leader of the great Indian confederacy. By the terms of this agreement the allegiance of the Indians was transferred from the French to the English, thus securing the eastern Mississippi valley for Anglo-Saxon civilization. The intersection of the Fort Harrison (Terre Haute) Fort Clarke (Peoria) and Kaskaskia-Detroit trails was in this vicinity.