George Croghan, at Fort Pitt, was the Company's agent and as such was accused by Pennsylvania of favoring from ulterior motives the claims of Virginia.

Hotheads in both colonies asseverated that the Indians were secretly being stirred up in connection with the boundary disputes.

If it does not very clearly appear how an Indian rising would have settled the ownership of Fort Pitt, it is evident enough where the interests of Virginia and Pennsylvania clashed.
Virginia wanted land for settlement and speculation; Pennsylvania wanted the Indians left in possession for the benefit of the fur trade.

So far from stirring up the Indians, as his enemies declared, Croghan was as usual giving away all his substance to keep them quiet.

* Indeed, during this summer of 1774, eleven hundred Indians were encamped about Fort Pitt visiting him.
* The suspicion that Croghan and Lord Dunmore, the Governor of Virginia, were instigating the war appears to have arisen out of the conduct of Dr.John Connolly, Dunmore's agent and Croghan's nephew.
Croghan had induced the Shawanoes to bring under escort to Fort Pitt certain English traders resident in the Indian towns.