[85] Ibid. Sterling asserts that although Croghan claimed to have made a peace with all the Illinois chiefs, he is assured that not one was present at the peace conference in Ouiatanon, and that his own sudden appearance at the village was the real cause of his success. Sir William Johnson, in a letter to Croghan, Feb. 21, 1766, (Johnson MSS, Vol. XII, No. 60.) casts doubt upon the representation of Sterling. He says that it is easy to account for his motives, and that he has written Gen. Gage fully upon the subject. The letter referred to has probably been destroyed; at any rate it is not in any of the large collections. [86] Sterling to Gage, Oct. 18, 1765, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. Ind., Vol. 122. Eidington to ——, Oct. 17, 1765, Catham Papers, Vol. 97, Pub. Rec. Office. Gage to Johnson, Dec. 30, 1765, MS letter in Pa. Hist. Soc. Lib. Gage to Barrington, Jan. 8, 1766, Pub. Rec. Office, A. & W. Ind., Vol. 122. Gage to Conway, Jan. 16, 1766, Ibid. Johnson to Lords of Trade, Jan. 31, 1766, _N. Y. Col. Docs._., X, 1161 ff. Capt. Sterling relates in his letter to Gage that he had considerable difficulty in persuading St. Ange to surrender his ammunition and artillery stores. The latter claimed he had positive orders to surrender only the fort and a few pieces of artillery. As to the time of Sterling's arrival, Parkman, II, 314, says he arrived in the early part of winter, while Nicollet, in his sketch of St. Louis, states that the fort was reached in mid-summer. From the above references, there can be no doubt as to the exact date. [87] Text of the Proclamation in _Can. Arch. Report_, 1906, pp 119-123. For discussion as to the origin of the various clauses, see Alvord, _Genesis of the Proclamation of 1763_, in _Mich. Pion. & Hist. Coll._ [88] Egremont to Lords of Trade, July 14, 1763. _Can. Arch. Report_, 1906, p 108. [89] Egremont to Lords of Trade, Aug. 5, 1763, C. A. Rep., 1906, pp 110-111. [90] "We would humbly propose, that a Commission under the Great Seal, for the Government of this Country, should be given to the Commander-in-chief of Your Majesty's Troops for the time being adapted to the Protection of the Indians and the Fur Trade of Your Majesty's subjects." Ibid., p 111. [91] They could not have been ignorant of the existence of such colonies in the ceded territory, for Sir William Johnson, who was familiar with western conditions, was in constant correspondence with the ministry, and such works as the _Histoire de Louisiana_ by Du Pratz, published in 1758, were doubtless familiar to English statesmen. [92] See post Ch. V. [93] Dartmouth to Cramahé, Can. Arch. Ser. Q., Vol. IX, p 157. [94] See post Ch. V.