Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 14

The British Indian Department and the Frontier in North America, 1755-1830

by Robert S. Allen

Abstract

Initially formed in 1755 during the last great war for empire between France and England in North America, the Indian Department became the keystone of British policy for the wilderness interior. With the support of the local tribes and working closely with the British army, the department provided invaluable service during the American Revolution, the struggle for the Ohio valley and the War of 1812, and thus helped to preserve British jurisdiction and political institutions over much of British North America from the continuing threat of usurpation by American republicanism.

Submitted for publication. 1973, by Robert S. Allen, National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Ottawa