Ask the average citizen walking down a street in the city of Butler a very simple question: What do you know about the person for whom our city and county were named?

Richard Butler was many things in his lifetime. Both a friend and foe to numerous native tribes, a successful businessman and politician, and a celebrated leader of men in war and peace. Today he is largely unknown, except for the many things that bear his name, including three counties in separate states, along with several cities and countless streets across the tri-state region and beyond.

Like countless other great Americans, the story of Richard Butler begins in a foreign country. Thomas and Eleanor Butler left Ireland soon after their first son Richard was born in 1748. Making a home in Lancaster, Pa., Thomas found work as a gunsmith. In 1860, the family moved to Carlisle, where the Butler gun shop still stands today.

During the Native American uprising known as Pontiac’s Rebellion, sixteen-year-old Richard Butler served as an ensign with Henry Bouquet’s expedition. At Bushy Run near Ligonier, Westmoreland County, this army defeated a native force and ended the uprising.

In the following years, Richard and his brother William took advantage of the disruption of the Indian fur trade in Western Pennsylvania and became very successful. In 1774, Richard Butler was named Indian Agent for all the tribes in the vast area surrounding Pittsburgh.

When a serious dispute arose with neighboring Virginia for control of this Ohio Country (the colonies had overlapping charters), the Butler brothers remained loyal to Pennsylvania during “Dunmore’s War” and persuaded many of their Indian customers to do likewise.

As a new and greater conflict began with Great Britain, the newly formed Continental Congress moved to gain control of the western territories. Three departments were created, and Richard Butler was named as Indian Agent for the middle territory headquartered at Pittsburgh. Despite overwhelming odds against him, Butler was able to convince the native tribes to remain neutral. This remarkable truce lasted for more than three years.

Serving as Indian Agent caused Butler to forfeit his position as Captain in the 2nd Pennsylvania militia, so Congress promised Butler a position in the Continental Army. In July 1775, he was elected major of the 8th Pennsylvania Regulars. Thus began a remarkable military career.

As one historian describes it, “His military record, thenceforward, reads like the annals of a hero of romantic fiction. He was in the thick of nearly every important engagement and was mentioned with distinction in the dispatches of the generals to the commander in chief and in his reports to Congress.”

Butler’s first action was a brutal winter march across the mountains to join Washington’s army in New Jersey. As a tribute to his skill, he was chosen as second in command to Col. Daniel Morgan in the legendary Morgan’s Rifles, a company of marksmen hand-picked from the entire Continental Army.

Butler would thereafter appear in nearly every important battle and serve under every important commander in the American Revolution. In 1777, Morgan’s Rifles were sent to assist Gen. Horatio Gates at the battle of Saratoga, where Butler led the advance of the right wing of the army commanded by Benedict Arnold. Butler was present at the surrender of General Burgoyne, which forever changed the perception of American soldiers. The British commander described Morgan’s troops as “the finest marksmen in the world.” In no small part that was due to Butler’s “skill in training, and example in leading them to victory” as one historian put it.

As commander of the 9th Pennsylvania, Butler was in the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, when Washington’s army was lucky to survive. He led the left wing of Gen. Anthony Wayne’s’ Light Infantry Brigade at Stony Point in July 1779. In January 1780, a revolt among the troops of the Pennsylvania Line threatened to destroy the army. Two colonels, Richard Butler and Walter Stewart, were able to quell the mutiny and restore order because they were the only officers the troops trusted to improve their miserable conditions.

During the critical Virginia campaign, Richard Butler commanded one of three regiments of Wayne’s army that joined forces with the French army under the Marquis de Lafayette. Stewart and Butler were the first American officers to greet the French near Williamsburg, Va. The next battle became the turning point of the war when Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender after a successful siege of his army at Yorktown, Virginia. At the victory dinner, George Washington proposed a toast to “The Butlers and their five sons.”

After the final peace was achieved in 1783, Richard Butler retired with the rank of Brigadier General. As a high-ranking officer, he received land grants of six hundred acres from Congress and one thousand acres from the State in the area north of Pittsburgh known as The Depreciation Lands. He married Maria Smith and started a family.

A man of Butler’s talent and drive did not remain idle for long. He was selected by Congress to serve as one of the Commissioners for negotiating final treaties with Native American tribes.

The Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784 settled the western boundary of the Six Nations in New York, but many other tribes refused to recognize this agreement. The Treaty of Fort McIntosh in 1785 settled the quarrels in the Ohio Valley and gave Pennsylvania the shape it has to this day. Later that year, the Shawnee were forced to give up much of their land at Fort Finney.

The American Commissioners were very aggressive in all these talks, and often threatened to use force. The Richard Butler who had been a friend and business partner was now seen as an enemy who wanted nothing more than to steal native land. In the end, all the native tribes were confined to the northwest corner of Ohio, but this insult would not be forgotten. Butler was soon chosen to serve as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern District.

Butler entered the world of politics in a place no longer on the frontier. He was elected Lieutenant of the County of Allegheny in 1788, and served until he was appointed as a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1790 he was chosen State Senator for the district that included Westmoreland and Allegheny counties.

The final chapter in the remarkable life of Richard Butler was written in 1791 when his old commander, now President George Washington, called upon Butler to serve his nation one more time. The Native Americans had joined together in a new confederation to drive the white invaders from their lands. All the treaties Butler had signed with the Indians were being trampled by settlers who had no interest in lines drawn on paper and promises made to the tribes.

The government was desperate for money from both the sale of land and the taxes that would come from the new settlements. The Indians were standing in the way and had to be removed. What followed was, and remains today, the worst defeat in the history of the United States Army.

Richard Butler was given the rank of major general and made second in command of the army organized by Gen. Arthur St. Clair for an expedition against the western Indians; and he commanded the right wing of the army in the disastrous battle fought on Nov. 4, 1791.

The army that was formed from regular troops, militia, and temporary levies, would eventually number about 2,000 soldiers. Every account describes this army as hastily assembled, poorly trained, ill-equipped, and undisciplined. There was too little food, ammunition, cannons, or horses. Several weeks of slow marching, desertion, and skirmishes brought the final roll call to 920 on the morning of the battle. Meanwhile, the Indian forces were growing stronger every day, and eventually numbered over 1,200 by early November.

On the evening of Nov. 3, a camp was set up on both sides of the Wabash River. St. Clair and Butler had disagreed from the beginning about how to run this campaign, and the disorganized command would prove fatal. No defensive works were constructed, and no scouts were sent out even though Indians had been seen nearby.

During the night, the Indians quietly took positions that formed a crescent shape on each side of the American army, keeping tribal groups together to maintain better communication. At dawn they struck the militia first and drove them across the river into the main camp. Within 30 minutes the entire American force was encircled, and chaos ensued.

"It was on this occasion that the intrepid Butler closed his military career,“ Alexander Garden wrote in ”Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War.“ ”While enabled to keep the field, his exertions were truly heroic. He repeatedly led his men to the charge and drove the enemy before him; but being compelled to retire to his tent, from the number and severity of his wounds, he was receiving aid when a ferocious warrior, rushing into his presence, gave him a mortal blow with his tomahawk.“

Just moments before this final scene, his brother Edward had found Richard Butler and another brother, Thomas, unable to walk. Edward could carry only one, and Richard ordered him to take Thomas.

In the days that followed the scope of the disaster became clear. Of the 52 officers engaged, 39 were killed and 7 wounded. The casualty rate of the soldiers was 97 percent, with 632 killed and 264 wounded. Only 24 men escaped unscathed. It took nearly three years before Anthony Wayne could rebuild the army and crush the last Indian resistance in the Northwest.

In 2017, the Butler County Historical Society prepared a description for the Richard Butler Walldog Mural located beside the courthouse. The conclusion serves as a fitting epitaph for this forgotten hero:

“Gen. Butler never lived in the county, but probably had some associations with the county’s residents during his lifetime. Despite this, Gen. Butler’s long and distinguished career in the military, business, and political sphere make him an honorable choice to be the inspiration behind the name of the city, township, and county of Butler.”

Steve Cicero, a former history teacher with the Butler Area School District, gives presentations on history as The History Hobo and can be reached at thehistoryhobo@gmail.com.