Simon Girty (1741-1818)
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Born near Harrisburg, Girty crossed cultural boundaries between native and white societies. He was captured and adopted by Seneca Indians in 1756. Upon his release, he settled here with his family. He worked as an interpreter for the British and Americans at Fort Pitt. In 1778, he defected to the British; serving as an advisor, he accompanied Indians in raids on frontier settlements. He remains controversial and is buried in Canada.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Born near Harrisburg, Simon Girty was captured and adopted by the Seneca as a teenager in 1756, and he came to move fluidly between Native and colonial worlds. He worked as an interpreter at Fort Pitt before defecting to the British in 1778, after which he advised and accompanied Native war parties in raids on frontier settlements during the Revolution. Reviled by many American settlers, he remains a deeply contested figure and is buried in Canada.
Why it matters
Girty embodies the tangled, violent borderland of the Revolutionary-era Ohio Valley, where loyalty, culture, and empire collided and the lines between settler and Native worlds blurred.
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