Newota shrugged his shoulders. “Well, there is not much we can do about it.”

“There may be,” replied Kindred.

•  •  •

Kindred decided to try to help his Indian friends. Accompanied by Newota, he traveled to a number of villages west of the Ogeechee, learned of any homesteads being established near Indian villages, and secretly reported them to British officials. He soon learned that his only reliable allies were Indian Superintendent John Stuart and his subordinates, who were determined to honor terms of the treaties, to restrain the more militant settlers, and to maintain peace. Their ultimate goal was the highest possible level of lucrative trade with the natives. From these contacts, Kindred was able to learn in advance about the extremely rare occasions when mounted dragoons went into Indian territory to remove the illegal settlers, and he shared this knowledge with Newota. Because of this assistance and his knowledge of their language, the Indians began to look to him for advice and support on almost any issue that concerned them.

•  •  •

Pressure concerning trade was also building in London. By 1772, the Indians had accumulated such a large debt that white merchants threatened to cut off all trade. Some of the Cherokee chiefs were eager to pay debts with territory, but the 1763 land agreement involved all major tribes and required that British royal governors be parties to any further land treaties.

In Georgia, there was a growing division between British officials and relatively poor and land-hungry settlers, who began to infiltrate Indian lands, particularly north of Little River and westward to the Ogeechee. When British General Thomas Gage learned that Indians had attacked some backcountry settlers, he responded, “We ought to thank them for preventing these vagabonds from wandering where they don’t belong.”

Governor Wright was in London for meetings with Parliament and vacationing on his family’s estate, but when he was informed that more than five hundred “Cracker families” had settled in Indian territory, he decided to return to Georgia. Back in Savannah, he and Indian Superintendent Stuart agreed that they would rather deal with the Indians than white trash, and would find a way to approve land grants only to “the middling sort of people, who can pay for land, and have families and a few Negroes.”

Kindred now found that British officials were much more respectful to him and seemed to appreciate the information that he gave them about white intrusions into Indian territory, but he was careful to conceal his activities from Ethan.