Conotocarious

Conotocarious is the last fact in the list facts about the Native Americans in the American Revolution. George Washington was given the nickname Conotocarious, demonstrating the communication and memory of the many eastern Native American tribes. When George Washington made his initial contact with Native Americans in 1753, he was given the name, which means "town destroyer," that had been given to his ancestor in the 17th century. Washington carried the moniker with him throughout the American Revolution and into his administration.

George Washington offered his services to the Governor of Virginia as an ambassador to deliver a message to the French commander Jacques Le Gardeur in the fall of 1753 as French forces pushed into the Ohio Valley to construct a number of forts. On October 31, 1753, Washington was given his commission, and he immediately left. Washington had a small group with him. Because of the elder Washington's reputation, when the Native Americans met his great-grandson in 1753, they referred to him as Conotocarious. Later, Washington noted that this name had been "remembered by them ever since in all their transactions during the late War, having been entered in their Manner and communicated to other Nations of Indians." In a letter he sent to translator and negotiator Andrew Montour in October 1755, Washington referred to himself as "Conotocaurious" and expressed his wish for the Oneida to relocate along the Potomac.