King Hagler
Hagler's anglicized name is possibly a nickname derived from his tendency to bargain or "haggle" over political decisions, although there is no conclusive evidence to support this.
[7][8][9] Hagler became Eractasswa (Chief) after the death of King Yanabe Yalangway, who was murdered by a group of Iroquois warriors in October 1750.
[4] Tribal politics were in chaos at the time, as fifteen of the most prominent Catawba leaders had attended a conference in Charles Town in the fall of 1749 and had all died of infectious diseases acquired from European settlers.
[7] In spite of the danger, Hagler traveled to Charleston in late 1750 to receive a military commission as Chief of the Catawbas from Governor James Glen, a form of colonial recognition of tribal leaders.
The execution was carried out by the perpetrator's cousin in the presence of colonial witnesses, "the White people, in Order to shew our Willingness to punish such offenders.
"[16] In response to Hagler's complaints, regulations adopted at the Augusta Conference of 1767 attempted to limit the amount of alcohol brought into Native American communities: "Any Trader who by himself, substitute, or servant, shall carry more than fifteen Gallons of Rum, at any one time, into any nation of Indians...shall forfeit his bond and license.
In return, Hagler requested that North Carolina Governor Arthur Dobbs supply gifts and ammunition and construct a fort to protect the Catawba while their warriors were away fighting for the British.
In April 1759, King Hagler and a delegation of Catawba Indians traveled to Charleston to ask Governor Lyttleton to construct a fort.
In early 1761, during the Anglo-Cherokee War, Catawba warriors joined British regulars and South Carolina provincials in fighting against the Cherokees, who were eventually forced into a peace accord.
In the fall of 1758, twenty-five Catawba warriors returning from General John Forbes' campaign against the French, brought smallpox to South Carolina.
[7] European settlers began encroaching on the Catawbas' traditional lands, now sparsely populated, leading Hagler to negotiate the Pine Tree Hill Treaty in 1760, with Edmond Atkin, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern District at Camden, South Carolina (then known as Pine Tree Hill).
On July 5, 1762, Governor Arthur Dobbs wrote: "Their number of Warriors have been reduced in a few years, by Haglar's Confession, from 300 to 50 and all their males do not exceed 100, old and young included, so they are now scarce a nation but a small village.
He was "elected" by a vote at a special congress in Augusta, Georgia in November, 1763, but later "fell out of favor with the South Carolina government.
By birth and upbringing he fit a traditional mold; through experience he had learned at once the futility of challenging colonial society openly and the means of manipulating that society covertly...At a critical time in the life of the Nation Hagler was instrumental in maintaining intercultural peace and internal unity, charting a course through the troubled waters of depopulation, dependence, and despair on which so many other Indian nations foundered.
