The two Hendricks

by Eric Hinderaker

"In September 1755, the most famous Indian in the world - a Mohawk leader known in English as King Hendrick - died in the Battle of Lake George. He was fighting the French in defense of British claims to North America, and his death marked the end of an era in Anglo-Iroquois relations. He was not the first Mohawk of that name to attract international attention. Half a century earlier, another Hendrick worked with powerful leaders in the frontier town of Albany. He cemented his transatlantic fame when he traveled to London as one of the "four Indian kings."" "Until recently the two Hendricks were thought to be the same person. Eric Hinderaker sets the record straight, reconstructing the lives of these two men in a compelling narrative that reveals the complexities of the Anglo-Iroquois alliance, a cornerstone of Britain's imperial vision. The two Hendricks became famous because, as Mohawks, they were members of the Iroquois confederacy, and colonial leaders believed the Iroquois held th