William Henry Puthuff (1768 or 1769 — July 17, 1824), also spelled Puthoff, was an American soldier, businessman, and politician who served in the War of 1812 and occupied a number of government positions in the Territory of Michigan.
In his role as Indian agent at Michilimackinac, he engaged in a multi-year conflict with John Jacob Astor and his American Fur Company.
[2] He was serving as the clerk of the Ohio Supreme Court when, at the outbreak of the War of 1812, he enlisted as a volunteer in General William Hull's army at the age of 43.
[5] Lewis Cass, by then governor of the Territory of Michigan, proposed to Alexander J. Dallas, the acting secretary of war, that a new Indian Agency be opened at Michilimackinac.
Cass recommended Puthuff for the post, noting his meritorious service during the war and expressing sympathy for the fact that he could not return to his previous job.
A law passed April 29, 1816, then denied licenses to any foreigners operating in the area without the express permission of the president of the United States.
Puthuff resumed confiscating furs after a letter from the War Department delegated the president's licensing power to Cass and the Indian agents themselves,[8] this time despite the trappers' protests that they couldn't possibly have known of the new law since they were in the wilderness when it was passed.
[10] Crooks and Astor's opinion of Puthuff declined further in 1817 when Puthuff first declined to prosecute rival traders who were openly flouting the ban on bringing liquor into the area and then approved a rival British trader's license despite his clearly fraudulent scheme to comply with new rules from Cass that licenses should be given to anyone doing business with American companies.
Cass protested, but Puthuff was offered only the choice to stay until his replacement arrived or leave immediately for Washington to find a new post.