[1] He was commissioned as a captain of the Virginia Regiment in the early stages of the French and Indian War, when he served on the western frontier with the young Lt.
Trent led an advance group who built forts and improved roads for troop access and defense of the western territory.
Trent had gone into fur trading by 1740, aided by capital from his father, a wealthy shipping merchant of Philadelphia, who was the founder of Trenton, New Jersey.
The younger Trent took on George Croghan, an Irish immigrant, as his partner, as he was effective in developing trading networks with Native Americans.
From then through the 1780s, he was a key figure in encouraging westward expansion by Anglo-American settlers past the Appalachian barrier, as he wanted to sell his land in parcels for development.
[4] Trent senior founded Trenton, New Jersey by buying a large tract of land in 1714 below the falls of the Delaware River and developing his country house there.
The young Trent grew up with his father's wealth, gained from trading and shipping in furs, dry goods and slaves, with merchants and interests in the North American and Caribbean colonies, and England.
[8] Much of the upper Ohio Valley had been conquered by the Iroquois nations, based in New York and northern Pennsylvania, and they kept it open by right of conquest as their hunting ground.
Less than a year later April 7, 1747, while stationed at Fort Saratoga in New York, Captain Trent and his company were ambushed by two hundred French and Indian soldiers under the command of M. de St. Luc.
Just a couple of years later, in June of 1749, Governor Hamilton declared Trent to be a justice of the court and he was tasked with keeping the peace in Cumberland county.
[9] Just before the French and Indian War broke out, Captain Trent along with George Croghan and several other distinguished military men were present for the treaty signing at Winchester, Virginia, in September of 1753.
In addition to the goods being delivered, it was also settled that Andrew Montour and George Croghan would travel to South Carolina and advocate for the release of warriors of the Shawonese Nation.
Trent and his men had not completed Fort Prince George when a large French military expedition of 600 soldiers, led by Sieur de Contrecoeur, surrounded the English colonists.
Their strategy was to build a wagon road to Redstone Creek, the nearest point of descent for larger traffic to the Monongahela River.
Captain Trent was sent ahead with an advance party and supplies carried by pack animals, while Lt. Col. Washington oversaw the main column improving the road through the Cumberland Narrows Pass over the divide.
Their mission was to construct a road to Redstone Creek in present day Brownsville, Pennsylvania and await sizable reinforcements.
The full passage from the journal is: "The Turtles Heart a principal Warrior of the Delawares and Mamaltee a Chief came within a small distance of the Fort Mr. McKee went out to them and they made a Speech letting us know that all our [posts] as Ligonier was destroyed, that great numbers of Indians [were coming and] that out of regard to us, they had prevailed on Six Nations [not to] attack us but give us time to go down the Country and they desired we would set of immediately.
[20] During this time, Trent's longtime friend and previous business partner, George Croghan, decided to embark on a journey to London and present the Indian Company's case.
That summer of 1783, Trent and fellow business partner, Samuel Wharton found that forgotten bonds and mortgages were soon to be overdue.
[21] Trent's death resulted in his heirs and fellow Indian Company members continuing to fight for reparations under the new Constitution of the United States.