\---...:^/ %-....-\c/ \-m\.' ,0- > V y-k-^^K G^ . ^'S;C o V .0 -?> 0^ •^^0^ H o. ^ .--^/jy^^* r\ ^-. '_•>•• VAX???. ^ X ^^ o *:^^<-" ^0 ";^^ ';^-^i^,. ^. -^t- ■';- ,sS "oV^ as ^ V >;>- •,fA .-V .^ ^ % 0' .^ ' ' ■• ^ .v-^. c> -^--0^ o \ '/• ^V" ^ V* BE it rcraerabered, that on the second oS}' ot September, in the thirty- scTcnth year of the Independence of the United States of America, James Eastburn, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right ■whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit-: •' Discourse delivered before the New-York Historical Societj-, at their anni- versary meeting, Cth December, 1811. By the honourable De Witt Clinton, one of the vice-presidents of the Society." In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, " An act for the encouragement of *' learning, by securing the oopies oF Maps, Charts, and Books to the authors " and proprietors of such copies> during the times therein mentioned." And also to an Act, entitled " An Act supplementary to an Act entitled an Act for " the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, " and Books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times " therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of design^ <•' ine, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." CHAULES CLINTON, Clerk of the District of A''e-ii.''¥ork. Printed by D. & G. BRUCE, Slote-lane. NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY DECEMBER 6th, 1811. Resolved, that the thanks of this Society be presented to the Honourable De JVitt Clinton for the Discourse delivered, this^day, before the Socie- ty ; and that the Reverend Doctor Miller, Doctor Hosack and Mr. Thomaa Eddy be appointed a committee to cvpress the same, and to request a. copy for publication. Extract from the minutes, JOHN PINTARD, Recording Secretary, DISCOURSE, &c. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Historical Society, A HERE is a strong propensity in the human mind to trace up our ancestry to as high and as remote a source as possible; and if our pride and our ambition cannot be gratified by a real state- ment of facts, fable is substituted for truth, and the imagination is taxed to supply the deficiency. This principle of our nature, although liable to great perversion and frequently the source of well founded ridicule, may, if rightly directed, become the parent of great actions. The origin and pro- gress of individuals, of families, and of nations, constitute Riography and History, two of the most interesting departments of human knowledge. Allied to this principle, springing from the same causes, and producing the same benign effects, is that curiosity we feel in tracing the history of the nations, which have occupied the same territory before us, although not connected with us in any other respect.* "To abstract the mind from all local emotion, says an eminent moralist, would be impossible if it were endeavoured, and it would be foolish if it were possible." The places where great events have been performed — where great virtues have been exhibited — where great crimes have been perpetrated, will always excite kindred emotions of admiration or horror: And if " that man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plains of Marathon or whose piety would not grow warmer among the * Johnson's Tour to the Hebrides. 6* ruins of Jona," we may with equal confidence as- sert, that morbid must be his sensibiHty and small must be his capacity for improvement, who does not advance in wisdom and in virtue, from con- templating the State and the History of the peo- ple, who occupied this country before the man of Europe. As it is therefore not uninteresting, and is entire- ly suitable to this occasion, I shall present a gene- neral geographical, political and historical view of the red men who inhabited this state before us ; and this Ido the more willingly, from a conviction that no part of America contained a people which will furnish more interesting information and more useful instruction — which will display the energies of the human character in a more con- spicuous mnnner, whether in light or in shade — in the exhibition of great virtues and talents, or of great vices and defects. * In 1 774 the government of Connecticut, in an official statement to the British Secretary of State, represented the original title to the lands of Con- necticut as in the Pequot Nation of Indians, who were numerous and warlike — that their great Sa- chem Sasacus had under him twenty-six Sachems, and that their territory extended from Narraganset to Hudson's River and over all Long Island. The Long Island Indians, who are represented as very savage and ferocious, were called Meilowacks or Meitowacks and the Island itself Meitowacks.f The Mohucoris, Mahatons or Manhattans occu- pied this Island and Staten Island. J The Mohe- * 7th Vol. Collection of Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 231. t Smith's History of New-York, p. 1262. I Staten Island was purchased from the Indians by Col. Lovelace, second fiovcrnor under tlie Duke of York, between the years 1667 and I f)73. — (Chalracrs's Political Annals of the Colonics, p. 509.) He refers to different manuscripts in the plantation office called Kew-York Entries, New-York Papers, ^vhich ajiptar to be Toluininou.- i vol. Massachusetts Historical Society, p. C7, &c. and in Farmington, Stonington, Mohegan and some other towns in Connecticut, and are a rem- nant of the Muhhekanew Indians, formerly called the Seven Tribes on the Sea Coast. They also inhabit lands presented to them by the Oneidas. These Indians, and the Stockbridge Indians, aug- mented in a small degree by migrations from the Long-Island Indians, have formed two settle- ments, which by an accurate census taken in 1794, contained four hundred and fifty souls. But the greater part of the Indians below Albany retreated at an early period from the approach of civilized man, and became merged in the nations of the North and the West. As far back as 1687, just after the destruction of the Mohawk Castles by the French, Governor Dongan advised* the Five Nations to open a path for all the North Indians and Mohikanders, that were among the Ottawas and other Nations, and to use every endeavour to bring them home. The remaining and much the greatest part of the State was occupied by the Romans of this Western World, f who composed a federal repub- lic, and were denominated by the English, the Five Nations, the Six Nations, the Confederates — by the French, the Iroquois — by the Dutch, the Maquas or Mahakuase — by the Southern Indians, the Massawomacs — by themselves, the Mingps or Mingoians — and sometimes the Aganuschione or United People, and their confederacy they styled the Renunctioni..|; The dwelling lands of this confederacy were ad- • 1 vol. Colden's History of the Five Nations, p. 85, &c. I Volney's View of the United States, p. 470— 476.— 1 Colden's Five Na- tions, p. 4 and 5. i I Vol. Massachusetts Historical Collection, p. 144, &c. Daniel Gookins. —1 vol. Pownall on the Colonies, p. 235.— Smith's History of New-Jersey, p. ISO. — Morse's Gazetteer, Title Six Natious. — Jeff«rsou'» Virginia, p. HO — Smith's Hij4ery of New-York, v. 45. 10 mirably adapted for convenience, for subsistence and for concjuest. They comprise the greatest body of the most fertile lands in North America ; and they are the most elevated grounds in the United States from whence the waters run in every direction. The Ohio, the Delaware, the Susque- hanna, the Hudson and the St. Lawrence, almost all the ":rcat rivers, besides a verv considerable number of secondary ones originate here, and are discharged into the Gulph of Mexico by the Mis- sissipi River, into the Gulph of St. Lawrence by the St. Lawrence River, or into the Atlantic Ocean by various channels. Five great inland seas reach upwards of 2,000 miles through a con- siderable part of this territory, and afford an al- most uninterrupted navigation to that extent. By these lakes and rivers, the confederates were ena- bled at all times and in all directions to carry war and destruction among the surrounding and the most distant nations. And their country also abounds with other lakes, some of great size ; Lake Champlain, formerly called the Sea of the Iroquois, Lake George, the Saratoga, the Oneida, the (Jana- desaga or Seneca, the Cayuga, the Otsego, the Skaneatelas, the Canandaigua, the Cross, Ononda- ga, theOtisio, the Owasco, the Crooked, the Ca- nesus, the Hemlock, the Honeyoyo, the CJiataque, the Caniaderaga and the Canaforaga — composing in number and extent with the five great lakes, the greatest mass of fresh water to be found in the M'orld. In addition to the fertility of the soil, we may mention the mildness of the climate to the west of the Onondaga Hills, the salubrity and the magnificent scenery of the country. The numerous waters were stored with the salmon, the trout, the muscalunga, the M'hitefish, the shad, the rock fish, the sturgeon, perch and other fish of various kinds; niid the forests abounded with an Jl incredible number and variety oF game. The situ- ation of the inhabitants was rendered very ehgiblc from these sources of subsistence, connected with a very productive soil, for they had passed over the pastoral state, and followed agriculture as well a» fishing and hunting. The selection of this coun- try for a habitation, was the wisest expedient that could have been adopted by a military nation to satiate their thirst for glory, and to extend their conquests over the continent ; and if they prefer- red the arts of peace, there was none better calcu- lated for this important purpose. In a few days their forces could be seen, their power could be felt J at the mouth of the Ohio or the Missouri, on the waters of the Hudson or the St. Lawrence, or in the bays of Delaware or Chesapeak. It is not a little difficult to define the territorial limits of this extraordinary people,* for on this subject there are the most repugnant representa- tions by the French and English writers, arising from interest, friendship, prejudice and enmity. While the French on the one hand were involved in continual hostility with them, the English on the other hand were connected by alliance and by commerce. By the 15th article of the treaty of Utrecht concluded in 1713, it was stipulated "that the subjects of France inhabiting Canada and others, shall hereafter give no hindrance or moles- tation to the Five nations or cantons subject to the dominion of Great Britain."! As between France and England the confederates were, there- fore, to be considered as the subjects of the latter, and of course the British dominion was co-exten- sive with the rightful territory of the five cantons, * Rogers's conciseaccountof North America, page 5 — 1 Coldeii, 37 — 1 Pow- nail on the Colonies, '235, &c. — Smith's New-York, 58 — 179, &c. — Douglass'e Summary 11, &c. — Pownall's Geographical description, &c.— Gliarlevoix Hii- toire Generale de la Nouvelle France, &c. f Cliahner's f 'ollftstiau of Treaties, toI i, pace IS?. 12 it then became the policy of France to diminish, and that of England to enlarge this territory. But notwithstanding the confusion which has grown out of these clashing interests and contradictory representations, it is not perhaps very far from the truth, to pronounce that the Five nations were en- titled by patrimony or conquest to all the territory in the United States and in Canada, not occupied by the Creeks, the Cherrokees and the other south- ern Indians, by the Sioux, the Ministeneaux and the Chippewas — -and by the English and French, as far west as the Mississipi and Lake Winnipeg, as far north-Avest as the waters which unite this lake and Hudson's Bay, and as far north as Hud- son's Bay and Labrador. The Five nations claim, says Smith, " all the land not sold to the English from the mouth of Sorel River, on the south side of Lakes Erie and Ontario, on both sides of the Ohio, till it falls into the Mississipi ; and on the north side of these lakes, that whole territory be- tween the Outawas River and Lake Huron, and even beyond the streights between that and Lake Eric." The principal point of dispute between the English and French was, whether the dominion of the confederates extended north of the Great Lakes ; but I think it is evident that it did. It is admitted by several French writers, that the Iro- quois had several villages on the North side of Lake Ontario, and they are even laid down in the maps attached to Charlevoix, and it cannot be de- nied but that they subdued the Ilurons and AN gonkins, who lived on that side of the Great Lakes, and consequently were entitled to their country by the rights of conquest. The true ori- ginal name of the Great River, now called St. Law- rence, M'as the river of the Iroquois, thereby indi- cating, that they occupied a considerable portion at least of its banks. Douglass estimates their 13 territory as about 1200 miles in length from north to south, and from 7 to 800 miles in breadth. This was either hereditary or conquered. Their patri- monial, and part of their conquered country, were used for the purposes of habitation and hunting. Their hunting grounds were very extensive, in- cluding a large triangle on the south-east side of the St. Lawrence River — the country lying on the south and east sides of Lake Erie — the country between the Lakes Erie and Michigan, and the country lying on the north of Lake Erie and north- west of Lake Ontario, and between the Lakes On- tario and Huron. All the remaining part of their territory was inhabited by the Abenaquis, Algon- kins, Shawanese, Delawares, Illinois, Miamiesand other vassal nations. The acquisition of supremacy over a country of such amazing extent and fertility, inhabited by warlike and numerous nations, must have been the result of unity of design and system of action, proceeding from a wise and energetic policy, con- tinued for a long course of time. To their social combinations, military talents, and exterior ar- rangements, we must look for this system, if such a system is to be found. The Confederates had proceeded far beyond the first element of all associations, that of combina- tion into families — they had their villages, their tribes, their nations and their confederacy; but they had not advanced beyond the first stage of government. They were destitute of an executive and judiciary to execute the determinations of their councils — and their government was therefore merely advisory and without a coercive principle. The respect which was paid to their chiefs, and the general odium that attached to disobedience, ren- dered the decisions of their legislatures, for a long series of time, of as much validity, as if they had been enforced by an executive arm. Tliey were originally divided into five nations,' tlie I\Iohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas and the Senekas. In 1712, the Tuscaroras, •\vlio lived on the back parts of North Carolina and who had formed a deep and general conspiracy to exterminate the whites, were driven from their country, were adopted by the Iroquois as a sixth nation, and lived on lands between the Oneidas and Onondagas, assigned to them by the former.* The Mohawks had four towns and one small vil- lage, situated on and near the fertile banks of the river of that name. The position of the first was at the confluence of the Schoharie Creek and Mo- hawk River, and the others were farther to the west. This nation from their propinquity to the settlements of the whites, from their martial re- nown and military spirit have, like Holland, fre- quently given their name to the whole confederac}', which is often denominated the Mohawks in the annals of those days ; and it may be found em- ployed in the pages of a celebrated periodical writer of Great Britain, for the purpose of the most exquisite humour.'}" This nation was al- ways held in the greatest veneration by its asso- ciates. At the important treaty of -1768 at Fort Stanwix, by Sir William Johnson, they were de- clared by the other nations " the true old heads of the confederacy. "J The Oneidas had their prin- cipal seat on the south of the Oneida Lake, the Onondagas near the Onondaga, and the Cayugas near the Cayuga Lake. The principal village of the Senecas was near the Genesee River, about * Sinitli't New-York, 46 — Douglass's Summary, 243. t Spectator. i The proctedingsof this treaty were never published. I have seen l^»m io inaniucripi in the possession of the late Vice Prcbidcut Cliiitoa, 15 SO miles from Irondequoit Bay. Each nation was divided into three tribes : the tortoise, the bear and the wolf: and each village was like the cities of the United Netherlands a distinct republic, and its concerns were managed by its particular chiefs.* Their exterior relations, general inte- rests ami national affairs, were conducted and su- perintended by a great Council, assembled annu- ally in Onondaga, the central canton, composed of the chiefs of each republic ; and eighty Sachems were frequently convened at this national Assem- bly. It took cognizance of the great questions of war and peace — of the affairs of the tributary nations, and of their negotiations with the French and English colonies. All their proceedings were conducted with great deliberation, and were dis- tinguished for order, decorum and solemnity. In eloquence, in dignity, and in all the characteristics of personal policy, they surpassed an assembly of feudal barons, and were perhaps not far inferior to the great Amphyctionic Council of Greece. Dr. Robertson, who has evinced, in almost every in- stance, a strong propensity to degrade America be- low its just rank in the scale of creation, was com- pelled to qualify the generality of his censures in relation to its political institutions, by saying, *' If we except the celebrated league which united the Five Nations in Canada into a federal repub- lic, we can discern few such traces of political wisdom among the rude American tribes,as discover any great degree of foresight or extent of intel- lectual abilities."! A distinguished feature in the character of the confederates, was an exalted spirit of liberty, which revolted with equal indignation at domestic or fo- reign control, " We are born free, (said Garan- gula in his admirable speech to the Governor Gene- • See Cbarlevoi?, Coldeu, &c. f 1 Rob«rfson's Araewosj p. 435. 16 ral of Canada) we neither depend on Ononthio, or Coilcar,"* on France, or on England. Baron La- hontan, who openly avowed his utter detestation and abhorrence of them, is candid enough to ac- knowledge that, "they laugh at the menaces of kings and governors, for they have no idea of de- pcndance — nay, the very word is to them insup- portable. They look upon themselves as sove- reigns, accountable to none but God alone, whom they call the Great Spirit." They admitted of no hereditary distinctions. The office of Sachem was the reward of personal merit — of great wisdom or commanding eloquence — of distinguished services in the cabinet or in the field. It was conferred by silent and general con«ent, as the spontaneous tri- bute due to eminent worth — and it could only be maintained by the steady and faithful cultivation of the virtues and accomplishments which procur- ed it. No personal slavery was permitted if their captives were either killed or adopted as a portion of the nation. The children of the chiefs were en- couraged to emulate the virtues of their sires, and were frequently elevated to the dignities occupied by their progenitors. From this source has arisen an important error with respect to the establishment of privileged orders among the confederates. There is a striking similitude between the Ro- mans and the confederates, not only in their mar- tial .spirit and rage for conquest, but in their treat- ment of the conquered. Like the llomans, they not only adopted individuals, but incorporated the remnant of their vanquished enemies into their na- tion, by which they continually recruited their population, exhausted by endless and wasting wars, • See this spcecli in Appendix No I. Taken fiom "New Voyages to North Ameiii'R, \>y Ijiuuii l.nhoutan, Lord Lieutenant ofthe French colonies at INacentla, iu Nrwfouiivho am the IMingoian, am by this belt to inform you that the jMunscys are women and cannot hold trea- ties for themselves — therefore i am sent to inform you, tliat the invitation yon gave tlie Munseys is agreeable tons, the Six Nations." At a treaty held at Lancaster in 1742, by the government of Pennsylvania with the Iroquois, the governor complained of the Delawares, who refus- ed to remove Irom some lands which they had sold on the River Uelaware.f On th^s occasion agre:it chief called Canuassatcegoo, after severely repri- manding them, and ordering them to depart from the land immediately to Wyoming or bhamokin, concluded in the following manner. " After our just reproof and absolute order to depart from the land, you are now to take notice of what we have further to say to you. This string of wampum serves to forbid you, your children ancLgrand chil- dren, to the latest posterity, from ever metldling in land afiairs — neither you, nor any who shall des- cend from you, aie ever hereafter to sell any land. For this purpose you are to preserve this string, in memory of what your uncles have this day giVen you in charge. \sq have some other business to trans.ict with our brethren, and therefore depart the • Rmitli'g Nc\v.Jerscy, diC, &c. t 1 Colden, 31. i9 council, and consider wliat has been said to you." The confedi rates had captured a great part of the Shavanese Nation who lived on the Wabash, but afterwards by the mediation of Mr. Penn, at the first settlement of Pennsylvania, gave them liberty to settle in the Western parts of that province ; but obliged them, as a badge of their cowardice, to wear female attire for a long time : and some na- tions, as low down as 1769, were not permitted to appear ornamented with paint* at any general meeting or congress, where the confederates at- tended, that being an express article in their capi- tulations.! This humiliation of the tributary nations was, however, tempered with a paternal re- gard for their interests in all negotiations with the •whites ; and care was taken that no trespasses should be committed on their rights, and that they should be justly dealt with in all their concerns. War was the favourite pursuit of this martial people, and military glory their ruling passion. Agriculture, and the laborious drudgery of domes- tic life were left to the women. The education of the savage was solely directed to hunting and war. From his early infancy, he was taught to bend the bow, to point the arrow, to hurl the tomahawk, and to wield the club. He was instructed to pur- sue the footsteps of his enemies through the path- less and unexplored forest — to mark the most dis- tant indications of danger — to trace his way by the appearances of the trees, and by the stars of heaven, and to endure fatigue, and cold, and fa- mine, and every privation. He commenced his career of blood by hunting the wild beasts of the woods, and after learning the dexterous use of the • Rogers's concise account, &c. -209, ike. t This is the Shawanese nation of Indians, who, under the auspiaes of their prophet, have lately had an engagement wiilt the army unUer the oommantl of governor Harrison. 20 weapons of destruction, he lifted his sanguinary arm against his fellow creatures. The profession of a warrior was considered the most illustrious pursuit ; their youth looked foru'ard to the time, when they could march against an enemy, Mith all the avidity of an epicure for the sumptuous dain- ties of a Heliogabalus. And this martial ardor was continually thwarting the pacihc counsels of the elders, and enthralling them in perpetual and de- vastating wars. With savages in general, this fe^ rocious propensity was impelled by ii blind fury, and was but little regulated by the dictates of skill and judgment : on the contrary, with the Iroquois, war was an art. All their military movements were governed by system and policy. They never attacked a hostile country, until they had sent out spies to explore and to designate its vulnerable points, and whenever they encamped, they observ- ed the greatest circumspection to guard against surprise; whereas the other savages only sent out scouts to reconnoitre; but they never went far from the camp, and if they returned without per- ceiving any signs of an enemy, the whole band went (juietly to sleep, and Mere often the victims of their rash conlidence. * Whatever superiority of force the Iroquois might have, they never neglected the use of stra- tagems—they employed all the crafty wiles of the Carthaginians. I'he cunning of the fox, the fe- rocity of the tiger, and the power of the lion, were united m their couduct. They preferred to van- quish their enemy by taking him oft' his guard-^ by involving him in an ambuscade — by falling up- on him in the hour of sleep: but when emergen- cies rendered it necessary for them to face him in the open field of battle, they exhibited a courage • 1 CoIdcD, no — Heriot, 15. 21 and contempt of death, which have never been surpassed. Although we have no reason to believe that they were, generally speaking, Anthropophagi, yet we have no doubt, but that they sometimes eat the bo- dies of their enemies killed in battle, more indeed for the purpose of exciting their ferocious fury than for gratifying their appetite — like all other savage nations, they delighted in cruelty. To in- flict the most exquisite torture upon their captive, to produce his death by the most severe and pro- tracted suiferings, was sanctioned by general and immemorial usage. Herodotus informs us, that the Scythians (who were, in all probability, the ances- tors of the greater part of our red men,) drank the blood of their enemies, and suspended their sca'ps from the bridle of their hoi'ses, for a napkin and a trophy — that they used their sculls for drinking vessels, and their skins as a covering to their hor- ses.* In the war between the Carthaginians and their mercenaries, Gisco, a Carthaginian general, and seven hundred prisoners, according to Poiybi- us, were scalped alive; and m return, Sj-eudius, a general of the mercenaries, was crucified, and the prisoners taken in the war thrown alive to the ele- phants, f From these celebrated nations we may derive the practice of scalping, so abhorrent to hu- manity — and it is not improbable, considering the maritime skill and distant voyages of the Phoeni- cians and Carthaginians, that America derives part of its population from that source by water, as it undoubtedly has from the North-east parts of Asia by land, v/ith the exception of a narrow strait. But the Five Nations, notwithstanding their horrible cruelty, are in one respect entitled to siu- * Belve's Herodotus, 2 vol. page 419 t Polybius, b. 1. ckap. 6, gular commendation for the exercise of humanity t those enemies they spared in battle they made free; whereas, with all other barbarous nations, slavery was the commutation of death. But it becomes not us, if wc value the characters of our forefath- ers — it becomes not the civilized nations of Europe who have had American possessions, to inveigh against the merciless conduct of the savage. His appetite for blood was sharpened and whetted by European instigation, and his cupidity was enlist- ed on the side of cruelty by every temptation. In the wars between France and England and their colonics, their Indian allies were entitled to a pre- mium for every scalp of an enemy. In the war preceding 170 J, the government of Massachusetts gave Xl2 for every Indian scalp — in that year the premium was raised to ^40, but in 17221 it was augmented to ^100.* An act was passed on the S.jth lebruary, 1745, by our colonial legislature, entitled ' An act for giving a reward for such scalps and prisoners as shall be taken by the inha- bitants of (or Indians in alliance with) this co- lony, and to prevent the inhabitants of the city and county of Albany from selling rum to the In- dians."! — In 174(), the scalps of two Frenchmen were presented to one of our colonial governors at Albany, by three of the confederate Indians; and his excellency, after gratifying them with money and fine clothes, assured them how well he took this special mark of their tidclity, and that he would always remember this act of friendship/f The employment of savages, and putting into their hands the scalping knife during our revolu- tionary war, were openly justilied in the House of • Douglass' Summary, p. 199, 58G. 2 Holmes' American Anuals, 11«. j- 1st vol. Joiinials of (Colonial Asiembly, p. 95. i 'J Colli en, I'JO. £3 Lords, by lord Suffolk, the British Secretary of State, who vindicated its policy and necessity, and declared " that the measure was also allowable on principle, for that it was perfectly justifiable to use all the means that God and nature had put in-* to their hands."* The eloquent rebuke of lord Chatham has perpetuated the sentiment, and con- signed it's author to immortal infamy. It were to be wished for the honour of human nature, that an impenetrable veil could be drawn over these liorrid scenes, but alas ! They are committed to the imperishable pages of history, and they are already recorded with the conflagrations of Smithtield, the massacres of St. Bartholemew, and the canni- bal barbarities of the French Revolution. The conquests and military achievements of the Iroquois were commensurate with their martial ar- dor, their thirst for glory, their great courage,. their invincible perseverance, and their political talents. Their militar;y excursions were extended as far North as Hudson's Bay. The Mississipi did not form their Western limits : their power was felt in the most Southern and Eastern extremities of the United States. Their wars have been sup- posed, by one writer, to have been carried near to the Isthmus of Darien.f And Cotton Mather, id his Magnalia, which was probably written in IGQS, describes them as terrible cannibals to the West- ward, who have destroyed no less than two nations of other Savages. J The ostensible causes of war among the Indians, were like many of those among civilized nations; controversies about limits, violations of the rights of embassy, individual or national wrongs : — And the real and latent reasons were generally the «ame — the enlargement of territory, the extension * Belsfaaia f J^'osers's America, 20a. ^ ^.728. 24 of dominion, the gratification of cupidity, and the acquisition of glory. According to a late travel- ler, a war has existed for two centuries between the Sioux and the Chippewas.* For an infrac- tion of the rights of the calumet, the confederates carried on a war of thirty years against the Choc- taws, t For a violation of the game laws of the hunting nations, in not leaving a certain number of male and female beavers in each pond, they subdu- ed and nearly destroyed the Illinois;.!; and they ap- peared to have accurate notions of the rights of belligerents over contraband articles ; for they con-? sidered all military implements carried to an enemy as liable to seizure ; but they went farther, and conceiving this conducta just ground of war, treat- ed the persons supplying their enemies, as enemies, and devoted them to death But the commerce in furs and peltries, produced by their intercourse with the Europeans, introduced a prolific source of con- tention among them, and operated like opening the box of Pandora. Those articles were eagerly sought after by the whites, and the red men were equally desirous of possessing iron, arms, useful tools, cloths, and the other accommodations of ci- vilized life. Before the arrival of the Europeans, furs were only esteemed for their use as clothing; but when the demand increased, and an exchange of valuable articles took place, it became extreme- ly important to occupy the most productive hunt- ing grounds, and to monopolize the best and the most furs. And it was sometimes the policy of the French to divert tlie attacks of the Iroquois from the nations with whom they traded, by insti- gating them to hostilitifs against the Southern Indians friendly to the English colonies; and at " Pike's Expedition to tlie Sources of the Mississipi, &c. 64- t Smith's New-York, -j-i. ♦ S<:e Gcraupjla's Specil* in App«ndix, No. I. 25 other times they excited wars between their north- ern allies and the Iroquois, in order to prevent the former from trading with the Enghsh, which they preferred, because they could get their goods cheap- er. On the other hand, the EngHsh entangled the confederates in all their hostilities with the French and their Indian allies. The commerce in furs and pehries was deemed so valuable, that no exertion or expense was spared in order to effect a monopoly. The goods of the English were so eagerly sought after by the Indians, and so much preferred to those of the French, that the latter were compelled to procure them from the colony of New- York ; from whence they were conveyed to Montreal, and dis- tributed among the savages. It was then evident, that the English had it in their power, not only to undersell the French but, by a total interdiction of those supplies, to expel them from the trade. The enlightened policy of Gov. Burnet dictated the most energetic step, and a colonial law was passed for the purpose.* He also established trading houses, and erected a fort at Oswego, at the entrance of Onon- daga river into Lake Ontario. This position was judiciously selected, not only on account of its water communication with a great part of the Iroquois territory, but for the facility with which articles could be transported to and from Schenectady ; there being but three portages in the whole route, two of which were very short. It had another decided ad- vantage. The Indian navigation of the lakes being in canoes, is necessarily along the coast. The south- ern side of Lake Ontario affording a much more secure route than the northern, all the Indians who came from the great lakes, would on their way to Canada, have to pass close by the Enghsh establish- • 1 Colden's Five Nstions, tS— Smith's New-York, 224, Ssc— Herriot's ♦'anada, 174. D £6 ment, wliere they could be supplied at a cheaper rate, and at a less distance. Oswego then became one great emporium of the fur trade; and its ruins now proLlaim the vestiges of its former prosperity. The Irench perceived all the consequences of those measures, and they immediately rebu'lt the fort at Niagara, in order that they might have a commer- cial establishment, two hundred miles nearer to the western Indians than that at Oswego Having pre- viously occupied the m"uth of Lake Ontario by Fort I'rontenac, the fort at Niagara now gave them a decided advantage in point ot position. The act passed by Gov Burnet's recommendation was, un- der the intlnence of a pernicious policy, repealed by the British king. The Iroquois had adopted a de- termined resolution to exterminate the trench. *' Above these thirty years," says La Hontan, " their antient counsellors liave still remonstrated to the warriors of the Five nations, that it was expedient to cut off all the savage nations of Canada, n\ order to ruin the commerce of the French, and after that to dislodge them from the continent. With this view they have carried the war above four or five hundred leagues off their country, after the de- stroying of several different nations."* Charle- voix was impressed with the same opinion. " The Iroquois," says he, " are desirous of exercising a species of domination over the whole of this great continent, and to render themselves the sole mas ers of its commerce. "I Finding the auxiliary efforts of the English rendered abortive, their rage and fury increasetl, and the terror of their arms was ex- tended accordingly. At a subsequent periods they aj)peared to enteruiin different, and more enhghteu- cd views on this subject. They duly appreciated • Vol. i, !>:<(,'{: 'J70. t CliuilcToix's Uiiiioire Gcncrale do la NouTcUe France, 1 vol. b. lI-«» 97 the policy of averting the total destruction of either European power; and several instances could be pointed out, by which it could be demonstrated that the balance of power, formerly the subject of so much speculation amoug the statesmen of Eu- rope, was thoroughly understood by the confeder- ates in their negotiations and intercourse witli the French and English colonies. To describe the military enterprises of this people, would be to delmeate the progress of a tor- nado or an earthquake.* " Wide-wasting death up to the ribs i» blood with giant-stroke widow'd the natioas."j" Destruction followed their footsteps, and whole nations subdued, exterminated, rendered tributary, expelled from their country, or mersed in their conquerors, declare the superiority and the terror of their arms. When Champlain arrived in Cana- da in I60.S, he found them at war with the Hurons and Algonkins. He took part and headed three expeditions against them, in two of which he was successful, but in the last he was repulsed. This unjust, and impolitic interference, laid the foundation of continual wars between the French and the confederates. The Dutch, on the cont a- ry, entered into an alliance with them on their first settlement of the country, which continued wih- out interruption; and on the surrender of New- York to the English in l6(54, Carteret, one of the commissioners, was sent to subdue the Dutch at Fort Orange, now Albany ; which having effected, he had a conference with the confederates, and en- tered into a league of friendship; which continued without violation on either part J • For the military exploits of the Iroquois, generally speaking, se^ Dc La Potheire, La Hontan, Charlevoix, Golden, Smith, and Herriot. t Cumberland's battle of Hastings. t 1 Golden, p. 34— Smith's New-York, p. 5— .'51—2 Douglass s Snramaiy, p. 24». ^8 Tlie conquests of the Iroquois, previous to the discovery of America, are only known to us through the imperfect channels of traditi n — but it is well authenticated, that since that memorable era, they exterminated the nation of the Eries or Erigas, on the south side of Lake Erie, which has given a name to that lake: They nearly extirpated the Andastez and the Chouanons; they conquered the Hurons and drove them and their allies, the Otta- was, among the Sioux, on the head waters of the Mississipi, "where they separated themselves into bands, and proclaimed wherever they went, the terror of the Iroquois."* They also subdued the Illinois, the Miamies, the Algonkins, the Uela- wares, the Shawanese, and several tribes of the Abenaquis. After the Iroquois had. defeated the Hurrms, in a dreadful battle fought near Quebec, the Neperceneans, who lived upon the St. Law- rence, fled to Hudson's Bay to avoid their fury. In 1649 they destroyed two Huron villages and disj^ersed the nation; and afterwards they destroy- ed another village ot six hundred families. Two villages presented themselves to the confederates and lived with them *' The dread of the Iro- quois,'' says the historian, '' had such an effect up- on all the other nations, that the borders of the River Ontaonis, which were long thickly peopled, became almost deserted, without its ever being known what became of the greater part of the in- habitants.'! '1 he Illinois fled to the westward, af- ter being attacked by the confederates, and did not return until a general peace; and \\ere permitted in 1760, by the confederates, to settle in the country between the Wabash and the Scioto rivers.J The • Ilen-iot, imge T7. t Hcniot, page 70. * Pownall's Topngraphical flescription of sucb partsof North America as are" d.scnLjed la Evaufc's nuip 1776, p. 42. S9 banks of Lake Superior were lined with Algonkina,- who sought an asylum from the Five nations : they also h;ir