One of the most numerous and powerful tribes that ever existed in the
Northern regions of our country, and now one of the most completely
annihilated. This tribe occupied a vast tract of country on the River
St. Lawrence, between its banks and Lake Champlain; and at times, by
conquest, actually over-run the whole country, from that to the shores
of Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan. But by their continual wars with
the French, English, and Indians, and dissipation and disease, they
have been almost entirely annihilated. The few remnants of them have
long since merged into other tribes, and been mostly lost sight of.[16]
Of this tribe I have painted but one, _Not-o-way_ (the thinker,
+plate+ 206). This was an excellent man, and was handsomely dressed for
his picture. I had much conversation with him, and became very much
attached to him. He seemed to be quite ignorant of the early history
of his tribe, as well as of the position and condition of its few
scattered remnants, who are yet in existence. He told me, however, that
he had always learned that the Iroquois had conquered nearly all the
world; but the Great Spirit being offended at the great slaughters by
his favourite people, resolved to punish them; and he sent a dreadful
disease amongst them, that carried the most of them off, and all the
rest that could be found, were killed by their enemies—that though he
was an Iroquois, which he was proud to acknowledge to me, as I was
to “make him live after he was dead;” he wished it to be generally
thought, that he was a Chippeway, that he might live as long as the
Great Spirit had wished it when he made him.[17]
[Illustration: 206]
[13] Since the above was written, the whole of this tribe have been
removed beyond the Missouri, having sold out their lands in the
state of Illinois to the Government.
[14] Since the above was written, the Senecas and all the other
remnants of the Six Nations residing in the state of New York,
have agreed in Treaties with the United States to remove to tracts
of country assigned them, West of the Mississippi, twelve hundred
miles from their reservations in the state of New York.
[15] This celebrated chief died several years since, in his
village near Buffalo; and since his death our famous comedian,
Mr. Placide, has erected a handsome and appropriate monument over
his grave; and I am pleased also to learn, that my friend Wm. L.
Stone, Esq., is building him a still more lasting one in history,
which he is compiling, of the life of this extraordinary man, to an
early perusal of which, I can confidently refer the world for much
curious and valuable information.
[16] The whole of the Six Nations have been by some writers
denominated Iroquois—how correct this may be, I am not quite able
to say; one thing is certain, that is, that the Iroquois tribe did
not all belong to that Confederacy, their original country was on
the shores of the St. Lawrence; and, although one branch of their
nation, the Mohawks, formed a part, and the most effective portion
of that compact, yet the other members of it spoke different
languages; and a great part of the Iroquois moved their settlements
further North and East, instead of joining in the continual wars
carried on by the Six Nations. It is of this part of the tribe that
I am speaking, when I mention them as nearly extinct: and it is
from this branch of the family that I got the portrait which I have
introduced above.
[17] Since the above Letter was written, all the tribes and
remnants of tribes mentioned in it have been removed by the
Government, to lands West of the Mississippi and Missouri, given
to them, in addition to considerable annuities, in consideration
for the immense tracts of country they have left on the frontier,
and within the States. The present positions of these tribes, and
their relative locations to the civilized frontier and the wild,
unjostled tribes, can be seen on a map in the beginning of this
Volume. There are also other tribes there laid down, who have also
been removed by Treaty stipulations, in the same way, which are
treated of in subsequent Letters. The Government, under General
Jackson, strenuously set forth and carried out, the policy of
removing all the semi-civilized and border Indians, to a country
West of the Mississippi; and although the project had many violent
opponents, yet there were very many strong reasons in favour of it,
and the thing _has been at last done_; and a few years will decide,
by the best of all arguments, whether the policy was a good one or
not. I may have occasion to say more on this subject hereafter; and
in the mean time recommend the reader to examine their relative
positions, and contemplate their prospects between their mortal
foes on the West, and their acquisitive _friends_ following them up
from the East.
LETTER—No. 48.