front was known in the colonies, unofficially began in 1754 with the Battle of Jumonville Glen and effectively ended in 1760 with the British capture of Montreal. French forces occupied the Ohio Country and expelled or arrested British fur traders. By the end of May, Croghan and Montour were in Winchester, Virginia, where Governor Dinwiddie commissioned them as captains under Col. George Washington. Croghan was to supply flour for the expedition and advise Washington on Indian affairs. Washington alienated his Indian allies during a crucial conference at Gist's plantation and blamed Croghan for the subsequent defeat at Fort Necessity. The Half King and Queen Aliquippa took their people to Croghan's plantation on Aughwick Creek, seeking refuge. The Half-King became fatally ill and died that October, followed by the Queen in late December. During the Braddock Expedition in 1755, Croghan, assisted by Montour, led eight Indian scouts, the same group who had been with the Half King at Jumonville Glen a year earlier. General Braddock alienated the other friendly Indians, yet Montour and the handful with Croghan attended the gravely wounded general. Teamsters Daniel Boone and Daniel Morgan fled on horseback as Croghan pressed Braddock to relinquish command and, despite the general's refusal, apparently took charge. He got Braddock off the battlefield with the help of Braddock's aide, the 23-year-old Washington. Washington's account differs and his biographer James Flexner does not mention Croghan being present. Captains Croghan and Montour were there, outranked the General's aide, and worked together to save Braddock, with Croghan the more likely leader in the emergency. It was a familiar role, one Croghan assumed on the Pennsylvania frontier a year earlier, and during the almost continuous crises in Ohio Country before and after until 1777. In 1755, friendly Indians again sought refuge at Augwick. Croghan fortified it as Fort Shirley, one of four forts he built on the frontier. In 1756, he relocated to the western edge of the New York frontier, beginning a 15-year career as Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs under Sir William Johnson. Johnson appointed him to deal with the Susquehanna and Allegheny Indians. With Montour at his side and in command of 100 Indians on an overlooking hilltop, Croghan witnessed in July 1758 General James Abercrombie's calamitous frontal assault on Fort Ticonderoga. Afterward Croghan wrote Johnson that he feared a similar "thrashing" for Gen. John Forbes advance forces nearing Fort Duquesne, unaware that