John Stuart, who supervised British Indian policy in the South from
1761 until his death in 1779, consistently affirmed that trade was the
basis of white-Indian relations. In a 1764 report to the Board of Trade,
he eloquently stated:

The Original great rye between the Indians and Europeans was Mu-
tual conveniency. This alone could at first have induced the Indians to
receive white people differing so much from themselves into their
country. Before they were acquainted with Europeans they supplyed
their few wants with great labor for want of Instruments. Love of case
is natural & they envied the facility with which they saw Europeans
Satisfy much greater wants. An ax, a knife, a Gun, were then deemed
inestimable acquisitions, and they could not too much caress or ad-
mire people, who contributed to their case & happiness by Furnishing
them with such instruments. ¹

Stuart was correct. The exchange of native produce for European man-
ufactures was the fulcrum on which Indian relations turned. Trade and
alliance went hand in hand, and the Muscogulges were never able to escape
the diplomatic implications of their economic ties. Native customs and atti-
tudes toward both trade goods and trading partners worked to shape the
commercial relations they established with outsiders, and Europeans were
forced to respect--and often adopt--the diplomatic customs and domestic
traditions of their Indian trade partners. More than other European in-
truders, the British were able to successfully meet Creek needs on Creek
terms.

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