Simon Girty, Frontier Bad Man? - Richard Taylor

Simon Girty, Frontier Bad Man? - Richard Taylor

Vilified as “The White Savage,” “The Great Renegade," and betrayer of his race, Simon Girty (1741-1818), living with the Senecasndian at first as a captive, learned several Indian languages and served as a scout and interpreter for the Continental army before defecting to the British and Indians during the American Revolution. Denigrated as the torturer of Colonel William Crawford who was captured and burned at the stake, Girty was also instrumental in saving the lives of dozens of frontier captives, including Simon Kenton who was his lifelong friend. Regarded as a hero in Canada where he raised a family during the Indian wars that culminated with the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, Girty is a complex anti-hero whose closeness to Native Americans in their efforts to stymy Western expansion stamped him as a dark counterpart to the iconic Daniel Boone.

Richard Taylor, who grew up in Louisville, is the author of a dozen or so books, including poetry, two novels, and several books relating to Kentucky history, including Elkhorn: Evolution of a Kentucky Landmark. A former Kentucky poet laureate, he is Kenan Visiting writer at Transylvania University where he teaches English and Creative Writing. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and a law degree from the University of Louisville, making his home on a small farm near Frankfort where he is a co-owner of Poor Richard's Books. He is currently working on a book about his family's role in the American Revolution.