lands, assisted by Mr. STREET, of Niagara, and they have not complied
with their agreement.
It appears, upon inquiry of the Governor of New York, that JOHN
LIVINGSTON is not legally authorized to treat with you, and that every
thing he did with you has been declared null and void, so that you may
rest easy on that account.
But it does not appear from any proofs yet in the possession of
government, that OLIVER PHELPS has defrauded you.
If, however, you should have any just cause of complaint against him, and
can make satisfactory proof hereof, the Federal Courts will be open to
you for redress, as to all other persons.
But your great object seems to be the security of your remaining lands,
and I have, therefore, upon this point, meant to be sufficiently strong
and clear.
That in future you cannot be defrauded of your lands.--That you possess
the right to sell, and the right of refusing to sell your lands.
That, therefore, the sale of your lands, in future, will depend entirely
upon yourselves.
But that when you may find it for your interest to sell any parts of your
lands, the United States must be present by their agent, and will be your
security, that you shall not be defrauded in the bargain you may make.
It will, however, be important that before you make any farther sales of
your land, that you should determine among yourselves who are the persons
among you that shall give such conveyances thereof as shall be binding
upon your nation, and forever preclude all disputes relative to the
validity of the sale.
That, besides the before-mentioned security for your land, you will
perceive by the law of Congress for regulating trade and intercourse with
the Indian tribes--the fatherly care the United States intend to take of
the Indians. For the particular meaning of this law I refer you to the
explanations given thereof by Colonel PICKERING, at Tioga, which, with
the law, are herewith delivered to you.
You have said in your Speech, "That the game is going away from among
you, and that you thought it the design of the Great Spirit that you till
the ground;--but before you speak upon this subject, you want to know
whether the United States means to leave you any land to till?"
You now know that the lands secured to you by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix,
excepting such parts as you may since have fairly sold, are yours, and
that only your own acts can convey them away. Speak, therefore, your
wishes on the subject of tilling the ground. The United States will be
happy to afford you every assistance in the only business which will add
to your numbers and happiness.
The murders which have been committed upon some of your people by the bad
white men, I sincerely lament and reprobate, and I earnestly hope that
the real murderers will be secured, and punished as they deserve. This
business has been sufficiently explained to you here, by the Governor of
Pennsylvania, and by Colonel PICKERING, on behalf of the United States,
at Tioga.
The Senekas may be assured, that the rewards offered for apprehending the
murderers will be continued until they are secured for trial, and that
when they shall be apprehended, that they will be tried and punished as
if they had killed white men.
Having answered the most material parts of your Speech, I shall inform
you, that some bad Indians, and the outcast of several tribes who reside
at the Miamee Village, have long continued their murders and depredations
upon the frontiers lying along the Ohio. That they have not only refused
to listen to my voice inviting them to peace, but that upon receiving
it they renewed their incursions and murders with greater violence than
ever. I have, therefore, been obliged to strike those bad people, in
order to make them sensible of their madness. I sincerely hope they will
hearken to reason, and not require to be further chastised. The United
States desire to be the friends of the Indians, upon terms of justice and
humanity.--But they will not suffer the depredations of the bad Indians
to go unpunished.
My desire is that you would caution all the Senekas and Six Nations, to
prevent their rash young men from joining the Miamee Indians.--For the
United States cannot distinguish the tribes to which bad Indians belong,
and every tribe must take care of their own people.
The merits of THE CORNPLANTER, and his friendship for the United States,
are well known to me, and shall not be forgotten, and as a mark of the
esteem of the United States, I have directed the Secretary of War to make
him a present of two hundred and fifty dollars, either in money or goods,
as THE CORNPLANTER shall Like best--and he may depend upon the future
continued kindness of the United States;--and I have also directed the
Secretary of War to make suitable presents to the other Chiefs present
in Philadelphia;--and also, that some further tokens of friendship to be
forwarded to the other Chiefs, now in their nation.
Remember my words, Senekas--continue to be strong in your friendship for
the United States, as the only rational ground of your future happiness,
and you may rely upon their kindness and protection.
An agent shall soon be appointed to reside in some place convenient to
the Senekas and Six Nations. He will represent the United States. Apply
to him on all occasions.
If any man brings you evil reports of the intentions of the United
States, mark that man as your enemy, for he will mean to deceive you and
lead you into trouble. The United States will be true and faithful to
their engagements.
Given under my Hand and the Seal of the United States, at Philadelphia,
this twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand
seven hundred and ninety, and in the fifteenth year of the Sovereignty
and Independence of the United States.
GO. WASHINGTON
BY THE PRESIDENT:
TH. JEFFERSON.
SPEECH OF CORNPLANTER,
IN REPLY TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S ADDRESS.
Father:--Your speech, written on the great paper, is to us like the first
light of the morning to a sick man, whose pulse beats too strongly in
his temples and prevents him from sleep. He sees it and rejoices, but
is not cured. You say that you have spoken plainly on the great point.
That you will protect us in the lands secured to us at Fort Stanwix, and
that we have the right to _sell_, or to _refuse_ to sell it. This is
very good. But our nation complain that you compelled us at that treaty
to give up too much of our lands. We confess that our nation is bound by
what was there done; and acknowledging your power, we have now appealed
to yourselves against that treaty, as made while you were too angry at
us, and therefore unreasonable and unjust. To this you have given us no
answer.
Father! That treaty was not made with a single State--it was with the
Thirteen States. We never would have given all that land to one State.
We know it was before you had the great authority, and as you have more
wisdom than the commissioners who forced us into that treaty, we expect
that you have also more regard to justice, and will now, at our request,
re-consider that treaty, and restore to us a part of that land.
Father! The land which lies between the line running south from Lake
Erie to the boundary of Pennsylvania, as mentioned at the treaty at Fort
Stanwix, and the eastern boundary of the land which you sold, and the
Senecas confirmed to Pennsylvania, is the land in which Half Town and all
his people live, with other Chiefs who always have been and still are
dissatisfied with the treaty at Fort Stanwix. They grew out of this land,
and their fathers grew out of it, and they cannot be persuaded to part
with it. We, therefore, entreat you to restore to us this little piece.
Father! Look at the land which we gave to you at that treaty, and then
turn your eyes upon what we now ask you to restore to us, and you will
see that what we ask you to return _is a very little piece_. By giving
it back again you will satisfy the whole of our nation. The Chiefs who
signed that treaty will be in safety, and peace between your children and
our children will continue so long as your land shall join ours. Every
man of our nation will then turn their eyes away from all the other lands
which we then gave up to you, and forget that our fathers ever said that
they belonged, to them.
Father! We see that you ought to have the path at the carrying-place
from Lake Erie to Niagara, as it was marked down at Fort Stanwix, and we
are all willing, that it should remain to be yours. And if you desire to
reserve a passage through; the Conewango, and through the Chatauque lake,
and land for a path from that lake to Lake Erie, take it where you best
like. Our nation will rejoice to see it an open path for you and your
children while the land and water remain. But let us also pass along the
same way and continue to take the fish of those waters in common with you.
Father! You say that you will appoint an agent to take care of us. Let
him come and take care of our trade; but we desire he may not have any
thing to do with our lands; for the agents which have come among us, and
pretended to take care of us, have always deceived us whenever we sold
lands; both when the King, of England and the States have bargained with
us. They have by this means occasioned many wars, and we are, therefore,
unwilling to trust them again.
Father! When we return home we will call a Great Council, and consider
well how lands may be hereafter sold by our nation. And when we have
agreed upon it, we will send you notice of it. But we desire that you
will not depend on your agent for information concerning land; for after
the abuses, which we have suffered by such men, we will not trust them
with any thing which relates to land.
Father! There are men that go from town to town and beget children, and
leave them to perish, or, except better men take care of them, to grow
up without instruction. Our nation has looked round for a father, but
they found none that would own them for children, until you now tell us
that your courts are open to us as to your own people. The joy which
we feel at this great news so mixes with the sorrows that are past,
that we cannot express our gladness, nor conceal the remembrance of our
afflictions. We will speak of them at another time.
Father! We are ashamed that we have listened to the lies of LIVINGSTON,
or been influenced by the threats of war by PHELPS, and would hide
that whole transaction from the world, and from ourselves, by quietly
receiving what PHELPS; promised to give us for the lands they cheated
us of. But as PHELPS will not pay us even according to that fraudulent
bargain, we will lay the whole proceedings before your court. When the
evidence which we can produce is heard, we think it will appear that the
whole bargain was founded on lies which he placed one upon another; that
the goods that he charges to us as part payment were plundered from us;
that if PHELPS was not directly concerned in the theft, he knew of it at
the time and concealed it from us, and that the persons that we confided
in were bribed by him to deceive us in the bargain, and if these facts
appear, that your court will not say that such bargains are just, but
will set the whole aside.
Father! We apprehend that our evidence might be called for as PHELPS was
here, and knew what we have said concerning him; and as EBENEZER ALLEN
knew something of the matter, we desired him to continue here. NICHOLSON,
the interpreter, is very sick, and we request that ALLEN may remain a few
days longer, as he speaks our language.
Father! The blood which was spilled near Pine creek is covered, and we
shall never look where it lies. We know that Pennsylvania will satisfy us
for that which we spoke of to them before we spoke to you. The chain of
Friendship will now, we hope, be made strong as you desire it to be. We
will hold it last, and our end of it shall never rust in our hands.
Father! We told you what advice we gave the people you are now at war
with, and we now tell you, that they have promised to come again to our
towns next spring. We shall not wait for their coming, but will set out
very early and show to them what you have done _for_ us, which must
convince them that you will do for them every thing which they ought to
ask. We think they will hear and follow our advice.
Father! You give us leave to speak our minds concerning the tilling of
the ground. We ask you to teach us to plough, and to grind corn; to
assist us in building saw mills, and to supply us with broad axes, saws,
augers, and other tools, so as that we make our houses more comfortable
and more durable; that you will send smiths among us, and above all, that
you will teach our children to read and write, and our women to spin and
to weave. The manner of your doing these things for us we leave to you,
who understand them; but we assure you we will follow your advice as far
as we are able.
SPEECH
OF
CORNPLANTER, HALF TOWN, AND BIG TREE, SENECA CHIEFS,
ON TAKING LEAVE OF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON.
Father! No Seneca ever goes from the fire of his friend until he has said
to him, "I am going." We, therefore, tell you, that we are now setting
out for our own country.
Father! We thank you from our hearts, that we now know there is a country
we may call our own, and on which we may lay down in peace. We see that
there will be peace between your children and our children, and our
hearts are very glad. We will persuade the Wyandotts, and other western
nations, to open their eyes and look towards the bed which you have made
for us, and to ask of you a bed for themselves and their children, that
will not slide from under them. We thank you for your presents to us,
and rely on your promise to instruct us in raising corn, as the white
people do; the sooner you do this the better for us. And we thank you for
the care you have taken to prevent bad men from coming to trade among
us. If any come without your license we will turn them back; and we hope
our nation will determine to spill all the rum which shall hereafter be
brought to our towns.
Father! We are glad to hear that you determine to appoint an agent that
will do us justice in taking care that bad men do not come to trade
among us; but we earnestly entreat you that you will let us have an
interpreter, in whom we can confide, to reside at Pittsburg. To that
place our people, and other nations, will long continue to resort. There
we must send what news we hear, when we go among the western nations,
which we are determined shall be early in the spring. We know JOSEPH
NICHOLSON, and he speaks our language so that we clearly understand what
you say to us, and we rely on what he says. If we were able to pay him
for his services we would do it, but when we meant to pay him, by giving
him land, it has not been confirmed to him; and he will not serve us any
longer, unless you will pay him. Let him stand between us we entreat you.
Father! You have not asked any security for peace on our part, but we
have agreed to send you nine Seneca boys to be under your care for
education. Tell us at what time you will receive them, and they shall
be sent at the time you shall appoint. This will assure you that we are
indeed at peace with you, and determined to continue so. If you can teach
them to become wise and good men, we will take care that our nation shall
be willing to receive instruction from them.
SPEECH OF CORNPLANTER,
TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 28, 1797.
Father! I thank the Great Spirit for protecting us through the various
paths which we have trod since I was last at this place. As I am told
you are about to retire from public business, I have come to pay my last
address to you as the Great Chief of the Fifteen Fires, and am happy to
find that I have arrived here in time to address you once more as father,
and to advise with you on the business of our nation. You have always
told us that the land which we live upon is our own and that we may make
such use of it as we think most conducive to our own comfort, and the
happiness of posterity.
Father! I wish, whilst I am able to do business, to provide for the
rising generation. Our forefathers thought that their posterity would
pursue their tracks, and support themselves by their hunts, as they did
in the extensive forests given them by the Great Spirit, and by them
transmitted to us. But the great revolution among the white people in
this country has extended its influence to the people of my color. Turn
our faces which way we will, we find the white people cultivating the
ground which our forefathers hunted over, and the forests which furnished
them with plenty, now afford but a scanty subsistence for us, and our
young men are not safe in pursuing it. If a few years have made such a
change, what will be the situation of our children when those calamities
increase?
Father! To those points I wish to draw your attention, and once more to
have your candid and friendly advice on what will be the best for the
present race, and how we can best provide for posterity. Your people have
a different mode of living from ours; they have trades and they have
education, which enables them to take different pursuits, by which means
they maintain themselves, provide for their children and help each other.
Father! I am also told that your people have a strong place for their
money, where it is not only safe, but that it produces them each and
every year an increase without lessening the stock. If we should dispose
of part of our country and put our money with your's in that strong
place, will it be safe? Will it yield to our children the same advantages
after our heads are laid down as it will at present produce to us? Will
it be out of the reach of our foolish young men, so that they cannot
drink it up to the prejudice of our children?
Father! You know that some of our people are fond of strong drink, and I
am sorry to observe that your people are too apt to lay that temptation
before them.
Father! The last time I was here I mentioned to you that my mind was
uneasy in regard to Mr. OLIVER PHELPS'S purchase, to which you desired me
to make my mind easy, and said that you would inquire into the business.
On my return I met Mr. PHELPS at Canandaigua, where he promised to give
me a piece of land and to build me a house, and give me some cattle. With
this I was satisfied, till I saw him again sometime after, when he, to my
surprise, had almost forgotten it; but when I put him in mind of it, he
gave me a horse and ten cattle, but refused the house and land because
land had raised so much in value.
Father! To one thing more I wish your attention. When I was returning
home the last time I was here, I was plundered by some of your unruly
people of several things, amongst which was a paper, given me by General
PARSONS, entitling me to one mile square of land at Muskingum, which I
have never been able to recover, and without your friendly assistance
must lose the land.[AD]
[AD] This is the land granted by the Ohio company referred to in Colonel
SNOWDEN'S Historical Sketch. It thus appears that CORNPLANTER'S title
papers for this land were stolen from him.
Father! I congratulate you on your intended repose from the fatigues and
anxiety of mind which are constant attendants on high public stations,
and hope that the same good Spirit which has so long guided your steps as
a father to a great nation, will still continue to protect you, and make
your private reflections as pleasant to yourself as your public measures
have been useful to your people.
SPEECH OF CORNPLANTER,
TO THE GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA, FEBRUARY, 1822.
I feel it my duty to send a speech to the Governor of Pennsylvania at
this time, and inform him of the place where I was from, which was at
Connewaugus, on the Genessee river.
When I was a child I played with the butterfly, the grasshopper and the
frogs; and as I grew up, I began to pay some attention, and play with
the Indian boys in the neighborhood, and they took notice of my skin
being of a different color from theirs, and spoke about it. I inquired
of my mother the cause, and she told me that my father was a residenter
in Albany. I still eat my victuals out of a bark dish. I grew up to be
a young man, and married me a wife, and I had no kettle nor gun. I then
knew where my father lived, and went to see him, and found he was a white
man, and spoke the English language. He gave me victuals while I was at
his house, but when I started home, he gave me no provision to eat on the
way. He gave me neither kettle nor gun, neither did he tell me that the
United States were about to rebel against the government of England.
I will tell you, brothers, who are in session of the Legislature of
Pennsylvania, that the Great Spirit has made known to me, that I have
been wicked; and the cause thereof has been the Revolutionary war in
America. The cause of the Indians being led into sin at that time,
was that many of them were in the practice of drinking and getting
intoxicated. Great Britain requested us to join with them in the conflict
against the Americans, and promised the Indians land and liquor. I myself
was opposed to joining in the conflict, as I had nothing to do with the
difficulty that existed between the two parties. I have now informed you
how it happened that the Indians took a part in the Revolution, and will
relate to you some circumstances that occurred after the close of the war.
General PUTNAM, who was then at Philadelphia, told me there was to be a
Council at Fort Stanwix; and the Indians requested me to attend on behalf
of the Six Nations, which I did, and there met with three commissioners
who had been appointed to hold the Council. They told me that they would
inform me of the cause of the Revolution, which I requested them to do
minutely. They then said that it originated on account of the heavy
taxes, that had been imposed upon them by the British government, which
had been for fifty years increasing upon them; that the Americans had
grown weary thereof, and refused to pay, which affronted the King. There
had likewise a difficulty taken place about some tea, which they wished
me not to use, as it had been one of the causes that many people had lost
their lives. And the British government now being affronted, the war
commenced, and the cannons began to roar in our country.
General PUTNAM then told me at the Council at Fort Stanwix, that by the
late war, the Americans had gained two objects: they had established
themselves an independent nation, and had obtained some land to live
upon, _the division line of which from Great Britain run through the
Lakes_. I then spoke, and said I wanted some land for the Indians to live
on, and General PUTNAM said that it should be granted, and I should have
land in the State of New York for the Indians. He then encouraged me to
use my endeavors to pacify the Indians generally, and as he considered
it an arduous task, wished to know what pay I would require. I replied,
that I would use my endeavors to do as he requested with the Indians, and
for pay therefore, _I would take land_. _I told him not to pay me money
or dry-goods, but land._ And having attended thereto, I received the
tract of land on which I now live, which was presented to me by Governor
MIFFLIN. I told General PUTNAM that I wished the Indians to have the
exclusive privilege of the deer and wild game, to which he assented. I
also wished the Indians to have the privilege of hunting in the woods and
making fires, which he likewise assented to.
The treaty that was made at the aforementioned Council, has been broken
by some of the white people, which I now intend acquainting the Governor
with. Some white people are not willing that the Indians should hunt any
more, whilst others are satisfied therewith; and those white people who
reside near our reservation, tell us that the woods are theirs, and they
have obtained them from the government. The treaty has also been broken,
by the white people using their endeavors to destroy all wolves, which
was not spoken about in the Council at Fort Stanwix, by General PUTNAM,
but has originated lately.