On this day 250 years ago at St. Augustine in the Colony of East Florida, Patrick Tonyn, the newly-appointed British Governor of East Florida, met with a party of over 100 Creeks led by the Oconee King, Long Warrior and Ahaya the Cowkeeper. Governor Tonyn chastised the Creeks for attacks on British settlers but assured them of King George III’s friendship and support for the Creeks if they remained at peace with Britain. The Cowkeeper turned out to be Tonyn’s and Britain’s most loyal ally, and most of the Creeks would remain allied with Britain throughout the War.

Source: Cashin, Edward J., William Bartram and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier at 83-84. Cashin’s book is an excellent source for Revolutionary War events in Georgia and South Carolina during the years 1774 through 1776 through the interesting lens of the famous botanist’s travels during that period through those states as well as North Carolina and the future States of Florida,Tennessee, and Alabama.