forefathers were strong and powerful. This is known to us, and it is
grateful to our hearts to hear the history of the Six Nations described
to us to-day. It is gratifying to us to hear the words we have heard this
day, so true and plain, delivered by our brother, from Philadelphia,
who so well depicted the life and character of CORNPLANTER. And here at
his grave, where his bones are buried, it is our duty to remember his
instructions to his people, to work, and also, to plant our land; and
now it is our duty to prosecute that work as his children. Brothers! We
have been told that the Indians are like the leaves which fall at this
season of the year. The leaves do fall, but we live in hope that the next
summer will bring them forth again. My wish is, that what remains of the
Six Nations, and their children's children, should continue to live on
the lands which they now own by means of reservations secured to them by
the States of New York and Pennsylvania. I am not willing to see the day
when these hills will no longer look down upon the cabins of our people.
I hope they will live here, and on the New York reservations, neighbors
of our friends, the white people, until we and they are called away unto
the place of everlasting rest; where there is but one people, one mind
and one tongue. I hope our children, to the remotest generations, will
come here and look at this monument to old CORNPLANTER, and read what is
inscribed upon it; and my desire is that the Indians of the Seneca nation
should continue to live here, not only as long as this handsome monument
stands, but as long as these hills and valleys remain, and the waters of
the Allegheny mingle with the Ohio and Mississippi. And now, on behalf of
my nation, I return thanks to the State of Pennsylvania, and to our white
brethren present, for what has been so well done this day; and say to all
farewell.
NOTE BY J. R. SNOWDEN.
The following is a brief statement of the present location and population
of the Six Nations of Indians:
SENECAS.
1. Senecas on the Allegheny river, in Pennsylvania,
fifteen miles above Warren, at CORNPLANTER'S
town, (Jennesadaga.)
Population 80
Acres of land owned 300
2. Senecas on the Allegheny reservation, in New York,
a few miles above the Pennsylvania line.
Population about 900
Acres of land 26,600
3. Senecas on Cattaraugus reservation, in Erie and
Cattaraugus counties, New York.
Population about 1,700
Acres of land under cultivation 5,000
4. Senecas at Tonnawandas, in New York.
Population about 700
Acres of land 7,000
ONEIDAS.
1. Oneidas, in Oneida and Madison counties N. York.
Population about 250
Acres of land 400
2. The largest remnant of this tribe, (Oneidas,)
reside in Brown county, Wisconsin.
Population about 800
They possess a large body of land.
ONONDAGOS.
The residence of this tribe is about six miles
south of the city of Syracuse, in the State
of New York.
Population about 350
Acres of land owned 7,600
TUSCARORAS.
Their residence is about seven miles north-east
of Niagara Falls.
Population about 350
Acres of laud held by them 6,250
RECAPITULATION OF POPULATION.
Senecas 3,380
Oneidas 1,050
Onondagos 350
Tuscaroras 350
-----
Total 5,130
The present condition of these remnants of the Six Nations is quite
respectable. In most of the reservations they have schools and places
of public worship. Many of them belong to the Methodist and Baptist
churches. The Chief of the Six Nations, STEPHEN S. SMITH, who made a
speech at the inauguration of the CORNPLANTER monument, is a minister
in the Baptist church. He is a man of intelligence and respectability,
I here insert a letter I have recently received from him, which will
doubtless be interesting to our readers.
"AKRON, N Y., _July 10, 1867_.
"DEAR SIR:--I am very desirous of obtaining a copy of the history of the
life of CORNPLANTER. If you have a copy of the history that you spoke at
the raising of the monument on the CORNPLANTER reservation last October,
and will send it to me for the use and benefit of our young men, you will
confer a favor upon me and them that I shall be most grateful to re-pay,
when an opportunity is presented. And if you have a copy of the minutes
of the addresses delivered that day, and taken by yourself, I should be
most happy to receive a copy of the same also.
"If your noble State saw fit to appropriate money to fence the grave of
the deceased CORNPLANTER, I shall be most happy to meet you there and
assist you in surrounding the last resting place of our departed brother,
with the respectful barricade furnished by a grateful people.
"I am sorry, that it is necessary, in speaking of our honored brother,
JOHN LUKE, who was with us at the monument meeting last October, that he
will be with us no more at our meetings this side of the setting sun. He
took his departure for the great spiritual hunting ground last April.
"Yours truly,
"STEPHEN S. SMITH,
"_Chief of Six Nations_.
"TO JAMES ROSS SNOWDEN, Philadelphia."
An appropriation having been made for that object, by the Legislature at
its last session, a substantial and appropriate fence was placed around
the grave and monument of CORNPLANTER on the 20th of September, 1867.
It consists of marble posts with carved caps; iron rails with chains and
tassels, and presents a very handsome appearance.
In honor of the completion of the monument, and to express their
thanks to the Great Spirit, and their gratitude to the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania and her agents, the Senecas had a "green corn feast," on the
23d, 24th and 25th of September. It was a great occasion, and was largely
attended. Their ceremonies had relation not only to the completion of
the monument, but to express their thanks to the Great Spirit for the
abundant crops which have this year rewarded their agricultural labors.
The erection of the CORNPLANTER monument, and the proceedings relating
to it, have had an excellent and benign influence upon these Indians. A
friend writes to me: "The natives are greatly pleased with all that has
been done; they have better crops than usual, and act more civilized.
These proceedings have increased their self-respect, and made an enduring
mark upon their grateful hearts."
APPENDIX.
JOINT RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CORNPLANTER MONUMENT.
The Joint Resolution of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, authorizing the
erection of the monument to CORNPLANTER, is in the following words:
WHEREAS, SOLOMON O'BAIL, a grandson of CORNPLANTER, an Indian,
who rendered eminent services to the State and Nation, during the
Revolutionary war and the early history of Pennsylvania, and MARK PIERCE,
his interpreter, have just had a hearing before the Senate:
AND WHEREAS, A recognition of the eminent services of CORNPLANTER, is due
from the government of Pennsylvania; therefore.
_Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in General Assembly met_, That the State
Treasurer shall pay to SOLOMON O'BAIL, the sum of five hundred dollars
out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, and the
further sum of five hundred dollars to SAMUEL P. JOHNSON, to be expended
in erecting and enclosing a suitable monument in memory of CORNPLANTER.
(Signed)
JAMES E. KELLEY,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
DAVID FLEMING,
_Speaker of the Senate_.
APPROVED--The twenty-fifth day of January, Anno Domini
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
A. G. CURTIN.
SPEECH OF CORNPLANTER,
TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, AT PHILADELPHIA, IN THE YEAR 1790.
Father! The voice of the Seneca nation speaks to you, the great
councillor, in whose heart the wise men of all the Thirteen Fires have
placed their wisdom. It may be very small in your ears, and we therefore
entreat you to hearken with attention, for we are about to speak of
things which are to us very great. When your army entered the country
of the Six Nations, we called you the Town Destroyer; and to this day,
when that name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and
our children cling to the necks of their mothers. Our councillors and
warriors are men, and cannot be afraid; but their hearts are grieved with
the fears of our women and children, and desire it may be buried so deep
as to be heard no more. When you gave us peace, we called you father,
because you promised to secure us in the possession of our lands. Do
this, and so long as the lands shall remain, that beloved name shall live
in the heart of every Seneca.
Father! We mean to open our hearts before you, and we earnestly desire
that you will let us clearly understand what you resolve to do. When our
Chiefs returned from the treaty at Fort Stanwix, and laid before our
council what had been done there, our nation was surprised to hear how
great a country you had compelled them to give up to you without your
paying, to us, anything for it. Every one said that your hearts were yet
swelled with resentment against us for what had happened during the war,
but that one day you would re-consider it with more kindness. We asked
each other, "What have we done to deserve such severe chastisement?"
Father! When you kindled your Thirteen Fires separately, the wise men
assembled at them told us that you were all brothers, the children of
one great father, who regarded, also, the red people as his children.
They called us brothers, and invited us to his protection; they told us
that he resided beyond the great water where the sun first rises; that
he was a King, whose power no people could resist, and that his goodness
was as bright as that sun. What they said went to our hearts, we accepted
the invitation, and promised to obey him. What the Seneca nation promise
they faithfully perform, and when you refused obedience to that King, he
commanded us to assist his beloved men in making you sober. In obeying
him, we did no more than yourselves had led us to promise. The men that
claimed this promise told us you were children and had no guns; that when
they had shaken you, you would submit. We hearkened to them, and were
deceived, until your army approached our towns. We were deceived; but
your people, in teaching us to confide in that King, helped to deceive
us, and we now appeal to your heart--is the blame all ours?
Father! When we saw that we were deceived, and heard the invitation which
you gave us to draw near to the fire which you had kindled, and talk with
you concerning peace, we made haste towards it. You then told us that we
were in your hand, and that by closing it you could crush us to nothing,
and you demanded from us a great country as the price of that peace which
you had offered us--as if our want of strength had destroyed our rights.
Our Chiefs had felt your power, and were unable to contend against you,
and they, therefore, gave up that country. What they agreed to has bound
our nation, but your anger against us must by this time be cooled, and
although our strength has not increased, nor your power become less,
we ask you to consider calmly, were the terms dictated to us by your
commissioners reasonable and just?
Father! Your commissioners, when they drew the line which separated the
land then given up to you, from that which you agreed should remain to
be ours, did most solemnly promise that we should be secured in the
peaceable possession of the lands which we inhabited east and north of
that line. Does this promise bind you?
Hear now, we beseech you, what has happened concerning that land. On the
day in which we finished the treaty at Fort Stanwix, commissioners from
Pennsylvania told our Chiefs that they had come there to purchase all the
lands belonging to us within the lines of their State, and they told us
that their line would strike the river Susquehanna, below Tioga Branch.
They then left us to consider of the bargain till next day. On the next
day, we let them know that we were unwilling to sell all the lands within
their State, and proposed to let them have part of it, which we pointed
out to them in their map. They told us that they must have the whole;
that it was already ceded to them by the great King, at the time of
making peace with you, and was _their own_; but they said that they would
not take advantage of that, and were willing to pay us for it--after the
manner of their ancestors. Our Chiefs were unable to contend at that
time, and, therefore, they sold the lands up to the line which was then
shown to them as the line of that State. What the commissioners had
said about the land having been ceded to them at the peace, our Chiefs
considered as intended only to lessen the price, and they passed it
by with very little notice; but since that we have heard so much from
others, about the right to our lands, which the King gave when you made
peace with him, that it is our earnest desire that you will tell us what
it means.
Father! Our nation empowered JOHN LIVINGSTON to let out part of our
lands on rent, to be paid to us. He told us that he was sent by Congress
to do this for us, and we fear he has deceived us in the writing he
has obtained from us. For since the time of our giving that power, a
man of the name of PHELPS has come among us, and claimed our whole
country, northward of the line of Pennsylvania, under purchase from that
LIVINGSTON, to whom he said he had paid twenty thousand dollars for it.
He said, also, that he had bought, likewise, from the Council of the
Thirteen Fires, and paid them twenty thousand dollars more for the same.
And he said, also, that it did not belong to us, for the great King had
ceded the whole of it when you made peace with him. Thus he claimed the
whole country north of Pennsylvania, and west of the lands belonging to
the Cayugas. He demanded it; he insisted on his demand, and declared that
he would have it _all_. It was impossible for us to grant him this, and
we immediately refused it. After some days, he proposed to run a line at
a small distance east-ward of our western boundary, which we refused to
agree to. He then threatened us with immediate war if we did not comply.
Upon this threat, our Chiefs held a council, and they agreed that
no event of war could be worse than to be driven, with our wives
and children, from the only country which we had any right to, and,
therefore, weak as our nation was, they determined to take the chance of
war, rather than submit to such unjust demands, which seemed to have no
bounds. STREET, the great trader to Niagara, was then with us, having
come at the request of PHELPS, and as he always professed to be our great
friend, we consulted him upon this subject. He also told us that our
lands had been ceded by the King, and that we must give them up.
Astonished at what we heard from every quarter, with hearts aching with
compassion for our women and children, we were thus compelled to give
up all our country north of the line of Pennsylvania, and east of the
Genesee river, up to the fork, and east of a south line drawn from that
fork to the Pennsylvania line.
For this land, PHELPS agreed to pay us ten thousand dollars in hand, and
one thousand forever. He paid us two thousand dollars, and five hundred
dollars in hand, part of the ten thousand, and he sent for us to come
last spring and receive our money, but instead of paying us the remainder
of the ten thousand, and the one thousand dollars due for the first
year, he offered us no more than five hundred dollars, and insisted that
he agreed with us for that sum, to be paid yearly. We debated with him
for six days, during which time he persisted in refusing to pay us our
just demand, and he insisted that we should receive the five hundred
dollars; and STREET, from Niagara, also insisted on our receiving the
money as it was offered to us. The last reason he assigned for continuing
to refuse paying was, _that the King had ceded all the lands to the
Thirteen Fires_, and that he had bought them from you, and _paid you for
them_.
We could bear this confusion no longer; and determined to press through
every difficulty, and lift up our voice that you might hear us, and
to claim that security in the possession of our lands, which your
commissioners promised us. And we now entreat you to inquire into our
complaints, and redress our wrongs.
Father! Our writings were lodged in the hands of STREET, of Niagara, as
we supposed him to be our friend; but when we saw PHELPS consulting with
STREET, on every occasion, we doubted of his honesty towards us, and we
have since heard that he was to receive, for his endeavors to deceive us,
a piece of land ten miles in width, west of the Genesee river, and near
forty miles in length, extending to Lake Ontario; and the lines of this
tract have been run accordingly, although no part of it is within the
bounds which limits his purchase. No doubt he meant to deceive us.
Father! You have said that we are in your hand, and that by closing it
you could crush us to nothing. Are you determined to crush us? If you
are, tell us so; that those of our nation who have become your children,
and have determined to die so, may know what to do.
In this case, one Chief has said he would ask you to put him out of pain.
Another, who will not think of dying by the hand of his father or his
brother, has said he will retire to the Chatauque, eat of the fatal root,
and sleep with his fathers in peace.
Before you determine on a measure so unjust, look up to God, who has made
_us_ as well as _you_. We hope he will not permit you to destroy the
whole of our nations.
Father! Hear our case; many nations inhabited this country, but they
had no wisdom, and therefore they warred together. The Six Nations were
powerful, and compelled them to peace; the lands, for a great extent,
were given up to them, but the nations which were not destroyed, all
continued on those lands, and claimed the protection of the Six Nations,
as the brothers of their fathers. They were men, and when at peace, had a
right to live on the earth. The French came among us and built Niagara;
they became our fathers, and took care of us. Sir WILLIAM JOHNSON came
and took that Fort from the French; he became our father, and promised
to take care of us, and did so, until you were too strong for his King.
To him we gave four miles around Niagara, as a place of trade. We have
already said how we came to join against you; we saw that we were wrong;
we wished for peace; you demanded a great country to be given up to you;
it was surrendered to you, as the price of peace, and we ought to have
peace, and possession of the little land which you then left us.
Father! When that great country was given up, there were but few Chiefs
present, and they were compelled to give it up, and it is not the Six
Nations, only, that reproach these Chiefs with having given up that
county, the Chippewas, and all the nations who lived on those lands
westward, call to us, and ask us "Brothers of our fathers, where is the
place you have reserved for us to lie down upon?"
Father! You have compelled us to do that which has made us ashamed. We
have nothing to answer to the children of the brothers of our fathers.
When, last spring, they called upon us to go to war to secure them a bed
to lie upon, the Senecas entreated them to be quiet, till we had spoken
to you. But on our way down, we heard that your army had gone toward the
country which those nations inhabit, and if they meet together, the best
blood on both sides will stain the ground.
Father! We will not conceal from you that the Great God and not man has
preserved THE CORNPLANTER from the hands of his own nation. For they ask
continually "where is the land which our children, and their children
after them, are to lie down upon." You to us say, that the line drawn
from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario would mark it forever on the east, and
the line running from Buffalo creek to Pennsylvania would mark It on the
west, and we see that it is not so. For first one, and then another,
comes and takes it away by order of that people which you tell us
promises to secure it to us. He is silent, for he has nothing to answer.
When the sun goes down, he opens his heart before God, and earlier than
that sun appears upon the hills he gives thanks for his protection during
the night; for he feels that among men, become desperate by their danger,
it is God only that can preserve him. He loves peace, and all that he had
in store he has given to those who have been robbed by your people lest
they should plunder the innocent to re-pay themselves. The whole season
which others have employed in providing for their families, he has spent
in his endeavors to preserve peace; at this moment his wife and children
are lying on the ground, and in want of food; his heart is in pain for
them, but he perceives that the Great God will try his firmness in doing
what is right.
Father! The game which the Great Spirit sent into our country for us to
eat is going from among us. We thought that he intended we should till
the ground with the plough, as the white people do, and we talked to one
another about it. But before we speak to you concerning this, we must
know from you, whether you mean to leave us and our children any land to
till. Speak plainly to us concerning this great business.
All the lands we have been speaking of belonged to the Six Nations, and
no part of it ever belonged to the King of England, and he could not give
it to you.
The land we live on, our fathers received from God, and they transmitted
it to us for our children, and we cannot part with it.
Father! We told you that we would open our hearts to you. Hear us once
more.
At Fort Stanwix, we agreed to deliver up those of our people who should
do you any wrong, that you might try them, and punish them according to
your law. We delivered up two men accordingly, but instead of trying them
according to your laws, the lowest of your people took them from your
magistrate and put them immediately to death. It is just to punish murder
with death; but the Senecas will not deliver up their people to men who
disregard the treaties of their own nation.
Father! Innocent men of our nation are killed one after another, and our
best families; but none of your people who have committed the murders
have been punished.
We recollect that you did not promise to punish those who killed our
people, and we now ask, was it intended that your people should kill the
Senecas, and not only remain unpunished by you, but be protected by you
against the revenge of the next of kin?
Father! These are to us very great things. We know that you are very
strong, and we have heard that you are wise, and we wait to hear your
answer to what we said, that we may know that you are just.
ADDRESS
OF
PRESIDENT WASHINGTON TO CORNPLANTER, DEC. 29, 1790.
_The reply of the President of the United States, to the Speech of_
THE CORNPLANTER, HALF-TOWN _and_ GREAT TREE, _Chiefs
and Counsellors of the Seneka Nations of Indians_.
I, the President of the United States, by my own mouth, and by a written
Speech, signed by own hand and sealed with the seal of the United States,
speak to the Seneka nation, and desire their attention, and that they
would keep this Speech in remembrance of the friendship of the United
States.
I have received your Speech with satisfaction, as a proof of your
confidence in the justice of the United States--and I have attentively
examined the several objects which you have laid before me, whether
delivered by your Chiefs at Tioga Point, in the last month, to Colonel
PICKERING, or laid before me, in the present month, by THE CORNPLANTER,
and the other Seneka Chiefs, now in Philadelphia.
In the first place, I observe to you, and I request it may sink deep in
your minds, that it is my desire, and the desire of the United States,
that all the miseries of the late war should be forgotten and buried
forever. That in future the United States and the Six Nations should
be truly brothers, promoting each other's prosperity by acts of mutual
friendship and justice.
I am not uninformed that the Six Nations have been led into some
difficulties with respect to the sale of their lands since the peace. But
I must inform you that these evils arose before the present government
of the United States was established, when the separate States and
individuals under their authority, undertook to treat with the Indian
tribes respecting the sale of their lands.
But the case is now entirely altered--the general government only has
the power to treat with the Indian nations, and any treaty formed and
held without its authority, will not be binding.
Here then is the security for the remainder of your lands.--No State, nor
person, can purchase your lands, unless at some public treaty held under
the authority of the United States. The general government will never
consent to your being defrauded. But it will protect you in all your
rights.
Hear well and let it be heard by every person in your nation, that the
President of the United States declares, that the general government
considers itself bound to protect you in all the lands secured you by
the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the twenty-second of October, one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-four, excepting such parts as you may since have
fairly sold to persons properly authorized to purchase of you.