Early Western Travels 1748-1846
Volume I
_Of this work seven hundred and fifty complete sets are printed, each
numbered and signed._
_This set is No. 666_
The Arthur H. Clark Co.
[Illustration: _Capt. “Tho.” Morris._]
Early Western Travels
1748-1846
A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best
and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive
of the Aborigines and Social and
Economic Conditions in the Middle
and Far West, during the Period
of Early American Settlement
Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by
Reuben Gold Thwaites
Editor of “The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents,” “Wisconsin
Historical Collections,” “Chronicles of Border Warfare,”
“Hennepin’s New Discovery,” etc.
Volume I
Journals of
Conrad Weiser (1748), George Croghan (1750-1765)
Christian Frederick Post (1758), and
Thomas Morris (1764)
[Illustration]
Cleveland, Ohio
The Arthur H. Clark Company
1904
COPYRIGHT 1904, BY
THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Lakeside Press
R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
CHICAGO
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I
PREFACE. _The Editor_ 11
I
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. _The Editor_ 17
JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE OHIO; August 11-October 2, 1748. _Conrad
Weiser_ 21
II
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. _The Editor_ 47
A SELECTION OF LETTERS AND JOURNALS RELATING TO TOURS INTO THE
WESTERN COUNTRY. _George Croghan_
Croghan to the Governor of Pennsylvania; November 16, 1750 53
Proceedings of Croghan and Andrew Montour at [the] Ohio; May
18-28, 1751 58
Letter of Croghan to the Governor, accompanying the treaty at
Logstown; June 10, 1751 70
Croghan’s Journal; January 12-February 3, 1754 72
Croghan to Charles Swaine, at Shippensburg; October 9, 1755 82
Council held at Carlisle; January 13, 1756 84
Croghan’s Transactions with the Indians previous to Hostilities
on the Ohio; [June, 1757] 88
Croghan’s Journal; October 21, 1760-January 7, 1761 100
Croghan’s Journal; May 15-September 26, 1765 126
List of the different Nations and Tribes of Indians in the
Northern District of North America, with the number of
their fighting men 167
Croghan to Sir William Johnson; November, 1765 170
III
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. _The Editor_ 177
TWO JOURNALS OF WESTERN TOURS. _Charles Frederick Post_
1. From Philadelphia to the Ohio, on a message from the
Government of Pennsylvania to the Delaware, Shawnese,
and Mingo Indians; July 15-September 22, 1758 185
2. On a message from the Governor of Pennsylvania to the
Indians on the Ohio, in the latter part of the same year;
October 25, 1758-January 10, 1759 234
IV
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. _The Editor_ 295
JOURNAL [OF A TOUR OF THE MAUMEE]; Detroit, September 25, 1764.
_Captain Thomas Morris_, of his Majesty’s XVII Regiment of
Infantry 301
ILLUSTRATION TO VOLUME I
PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN THOMAS MORRIS. _Photographic facsimile of steel plate
in original edition of “Miscellanies in Prose and Verse.”_
Frontispiece.
PREFACE TO VOLUME I
In planning for this series of reprints of Early Western Travels, we
were confronted by an embarrassment of riches. To reissue all of the
many excellent works of travel originally published during the formative
period of Western settlement, would obviously be impossible. A selection
had therefore to be made, both as to period and material. The century
commencing with Conrad Weiser’s notable journey to the Western Indians
in 1748, set convenient limits to the field in the matter of time. The
question of material was much more difficult.
It being unlikely that any two editors would choose the same volumes
for reprint, criticism of our list will undoubtedly be made. It should,
however, candidly be explained that the matter of selection has in each
case necessarily been affected by two important considerations—(1) the
intrinsic value of the original from the historical side, and (2) its
present rarity and market value. The Editor having selected a list of
items worthy of a new lease of life, the Publishers, from their intimate
knowledge of the commercial aspect of rare Americana, advised which
of these in their opinion were sufficiently in demand by libraries
and collectors to render the enterprise financially productive. It is
believed that this co-operative method has resulted in an interesting
collection, and given point to the descriptive sub-title: “Some of the
best and rarest contemporary volumes of travel ... in the Middle and Far
West, during the period of early American settlement.”
The first volume of our series is necessarily more varied in composition
than any of its successors, it having been deemed important to present
herein several typical early tours into the Indian country west of the
Alleghenies.
That of Conrad Weiser, occurring in August and September of 1748, was
the first official journey undertaken at the instance of the English
colonies, to the west of the mountain wall. His purpose was, to carry to
the tribesmen on the Ohio a present from the Pennsylvania and Virginia
authorities. The results were favorable to an English alliance, but they
were partially neutralized by the French expedition headed by Céloron the
following year.
The journals of George Croghan (1750-65) are an epitome of the Indian
history of the time. The first three documents deal with the period of
English progress—in 1750, Croghan was on the Ohio en route to the Shawnee
towns and Pickawillany; the next season, he outwitted Joncaire on the
Allegheny. The four succeeding documents are concerned with the period
of hostility to the English—in 1754 he was on the Ohio after Washington
had passed (December, 1753); the letter from Aughwick, in 1755, tells of
affairs after Braddock’s defeat; in 1756, we learn particulars of Indian
affairs; and in 1757 is given a résumé of past events. The last two
journals are the longest and most important—that of 1760-61 is concerned,
topographically and otherwise, with the trip to Detroit via Lake Erie,
in the company of Rogers’s Rangers, and the return by land to Pittsburg;
that of 1765, with a tour down the Ohio towards the Illinois, where the
writer is captured and carried to Ouiatanon—in due course making a peace
with Pontiac, and returning to Niagara.
The journals of Christian Frederick Post and Thomas Morris are
interludes, as to time, in the Croghan diaries. Post’s two journals cover
the months of July to September, 1758, and October, 1758 to January,
1759. He was at first sent out, by the northern trail, in midsummer,
as an official messenger to the hostiles, among whom he succeeded
in securing a kind of neutrality—a venturesome expedition into the
neighborhood of Fort Duquesne, whose French commandant offered a price
upon his head. The second journey, in the autumn, was undertaken to carry
the news of the treaty of Easton (October, 1758), and pave the way for
General Forbes’s advance. In the course of his journey he proceeded to
the Indian towns on the Ohio and its northern tributaries, and returned
to the settlements with Forbes’s army.
Captain Morris accompanied Bradstreet (1764) on the latter’s expedition
towards Detroit. Being dispatched from Cedar Point on a mission to the
French in the Illinois, Morris was arrested and maltreated at the Ottawa
village at Maumee Rapids. He saw Pontiac, went to Fort Miami, narrowly
escaped being burned at the stake, and finally made his escape through
the woods to Detroit. His journal presents a thrilling episode in Western
history.
It is our purpose, in these reprints, accurately to republish the
original volumes, with all of their illustrations and other features.
While seeking to reproduce the old text as closely as practicable,
with its typographic and orthographic peculiarities, it has been
found advisable here and there to make a few minor changes; these
consist almost wholly of palpable blemishes, the result of negligent
proof-reading—such as turned letters, transposed letters, slipped
letters, and mis-spacings. Such corrections will be made without specific
mention; in some instances, however, the original error has for a reason
been retained, and in juxtaposition the correction given within brackets.
We indicate, throughout, the pagination of the old edition which we are
reprinting, by inclosing within brackets the number of each page at its
beginning, _e. g._ [24]; in the few instances where pages were, as the
fruit of carelessness in make-up, misnumbered in the original, we have
given the incorrect as well as the correct figure, _e. g._ [25, _i. e._
125]. In two or three instances, where matter foreign to our purpose was
introduced in the volume as originally published—such as the journal of a
voyage not within our field, or an appendix of irrelevant or unimportant
matter—we have taken the liberty of eliminating this; in such cases,
however, especial attention will be called to the omission.
An analytical index to the series will appear in the concluding volume.
In the preparation of notes for the present volume, the Editor has been
assisted by Louise Phelps Kellogg, Ph.D., of the Division of Maps and
Manuscripts in the Wisconsin State Historical Library. He has also been
favored with valuable information on various points, from Colonel Reuben
T. Durrett of Louisville, Mr. Frank H. Severance of Buffalo, the Western
Reserve Historical Society at Cleveland, and Dr. Ernest C. Richardson and
Dr. John Rogers Williams of Princeton University.
R. G. T.
MADISON, WIS., January, 1904.
I
CONRAD WEISER’S JOURNAL OF A TOUR TO THE OHIO
AUGUST 11-OCTOBER 2, 1748
SOURCE: _Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, v, pp. 348-358; with variations
from _Pennsylvania Historical Collections_, i, pp. 23-33.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
Conrad Weiser, one of the most prominent agents in the management of
Indian affairs during the later French wars, was a native of Würtemberg,
being born November 2, 1696. When Conrad was but fourteen years old, his
father, John Conrad Weiser, led a party of Palatines to America where
they lived four years on the Livingston manor in New York, and in 1714
removed to Schoharie. There young Weiser came in close contact with the
Mohawk Indians, was adopted into their tribe, and living among them for
some years became master of their language.
In 1729, he and his family, consisting of a wife and five young children,
removed to Berks (then Lancaster) County, Pennsylvania, where a number of
Weiser’s countrymen had preceded them. The new homestead was a mile east
of the present town of Womelsdorf, and became the centre of an extended
hospitality both for Pennsylvania Germans and visiting Indians. When
Reading was laid out (1748), Weiser was one of the commissioners for that
purpose, building therein a house and store that are still standing.
His first employment as an interpreter was in 1731, when forty shillings
were allotted him for his services. From this time forward he was
official interpreter for Pennsylvania, and for thirty years was employed
in every important Indian transaction. The Pennsylvania Council testified
in 1736 “that they had found Conrad faithfull and honest, that he is a
true good Man & had Spoke their words [the Indians’] & our Words, and
not his own.”[1] Again in 1743, the governor of Virginia requested the
province of Pennsylvania to send their “honest interpreter,” Conrad
Weiser, to adjust a difficulty with the Iroquois Indians; whereupon he
proceeded to Onondaga with a present of £100 on the part of Virginia, and
made peace for the English colonists.[2] The following year, Weiser was
chief interpreter at the important treaty of Lancaster; and throughout
King George’s War was occupied with negotiations with the Six Nations,
detaching them from the French influence, and keeping the Pennsylvania
Delawares quiet “upon their mats.”
After the journey to the Ohio, described in the following diary,
Weiser’s Indian transactions were largely confined to the province
of Pennsylvania; Montour and Croghan taking over the business with
the Ohio Indians until the outbreak of the French and Indian War.
Weiser now assumed duties in a military capacity. He raised a company
of soldiers for the Canadian expedition (1755), and later was made
lieutenant-colonel, with the care of the frontier forts under his charge.
At the same time the New York authorities besought his influence with the
Mohawks and Western Iroquois; and he assisted in arranging the treaty at
Easton, which prepared the way for the success of Forbes’s expedition
(1758).
Weiser was the most influential German of his section, possibly of all
Pennsylvania; but his religious affiliations and enmities interfered
with his political ambitions. Originally a Lutheran, in 1735 he became
concerned with the movement of the Seventh Day Baptists, which led to
the establishment of the community at Ephrata, where he was known as
Brother Enoch, and consecrated to the priesthood. These sectaries charged
that the bribe of official position tempted him to forsake his vows;
certain it is that in 1741 he was appointed justice of the peace for
Berks County, and left Ephrata, later (1743) sending a letter requesting
his former brethren to consider him a “stranger.” The opposition of this
sect of Germans, the indifference of the Moravians, and the alienation
of his earlier Lutheran friends, lost him his coveted election for the
assembly; and he afterwards withdrew from politics to remain the trusted
adviser of the government upon Indian and local affairs. His sincerity,
honesty, and trustworthiness made him greatly respected throughout the
entire province, and his death, July 13, 1760, was considered a public
calamity.
The journey undertaken to the Ohio, which the accompanying journal
chronicles, was the first official embassy to the Indians who lived
beyond the Alleghenies, and was undertaken for the following reasons.
The efforts of the English traders to push their connections among
the “far Indians” had been increasingly successful, during the decade
1738-48, and the resulting rivalry with the French had reached an
intense stage. The firm hold of the latter on the Indian nations of
the “upper country” had been shaken by a long series of wars with the
Foxes and Chickasaws, accompanied by humiliating defeats. In 1747, the
most faithful of the French Indians—those domiciled at Mackinac and
Detroit—had risen in revolt; and George Croghan sent word to the council
at Philadelphia that some nations along the shore of Lake Erie desired
the English alliance, having as an earnest thereof sent a belt of wampum
and a French scalp.[3] The Pennsylvania authorities voted them a present
of £200, to be sent out by Croghan. About the same time, a deputation
of ten Indians from the Ohio arriving in Philadelphia, the council
considered this “an extraordinary event in the English favor,” and not
only secured a grant of £1,000 from the assembly, but applied to the
governors of the Southern provinces to aid in this work; in accordance
with which request, Virginia replied with an appropriation of £200.[4]
Croghan set off in the spring of 1748, and informed the Allegheny Indians
that Weiser, the official interpreter, would be among them during the
summer. Meanwhile, the latter was detained by a treaty with the Twigtwee
(Miami) Indians, who had come unexpectedly offering to the English the
alliance of that powerful nation;[5] so that it was not until August that
he was able to start on his mission to the Ohio.
In addition to the delivery of the present, he was also instructed to
secure satisfaction for the attack of some Northern Indians upon the
Carolina settlements; wherein one Captain Haig, with several others,
had been carried off prisoners—supposedly by some Ohio Indians.[6] The
success of this mission was most gratifying to the English and the
frontier settlers. The Virginia authorities were more active than those
of Pennsylvania in following up the advantage thus gained; and under the
leadership of the Ohio Company sought to secure the Forks of the Ohio,
with the ensuing consequences of the French and Indian War.
R. G. T.
THE JOURNAL OF CONRAD WEISER, ESQR., INDIAN INTERPRETER, TO THE OHIO[7]
Augˢᵗ 11th. Set out from my House & came to James Galbreath[8] that day,
30 Miles.
12th. Came to George Croghans,[9] 15 Miles.
13th. To Robert Dunnings, 20 Miles.
14th. To the Tuscarroro Path, 30 Miles.
15th and 16th. Lay by on Account of the Men coming back Sick, & some
other Affairs hindering us.
17th. Crossed the Tuscarroro Hill & came to the Sleeping Place called the
Black Log, 20 Miles.
18th. Had a great rain in the afternoon; came within two Miles of the
Standing Stone, 24 Miles.
19th. We travelled but 12 Miles;[10] were obliged to dry our Things in
the afternoon.
20th. Came to Franks Town, but saw no Houses or Cabins; here we overtook
the Goods,[11] because four of George Croghan’s Hands fell sick, 26 Miles.
21st. Lay by, it raining all Day.
22d. Crossed Alleghany Hill & came to the Clear Fields, 16 Miles.[12]
23d. Came to the Shawonese[13] Cabbins, 34 Miles.
24th. Found a dead Man on the Road who had killed himself by Drinking
too much Whisky; the Place being very stony we cou’d not dig a Grave;
He smelling very strong we covered him with Stones & Wood & went on our
Journey; came to the 10 Mile Lick, 32 Miles.
25th. Crossed Kiskeminetoes Creek & came to Ohio that Day, 26 Miles.[14]
26th. Hired a Cannoe; paid 1,000 Black Wampum for the loan of it to Logs
Town. Our Horses being all tyred, we went by Water & came that Night to a
Delaware Town; the Indians used us very kindly.[15]
27th. Sett off again in the morning early; Rainy Wheather. We dined in a
Seneka Town, where an old Seneka Woman Reigns with great Authority;[16]
we dined at her House, & they all used us very well; at this & the
last-mentioned Delaware Town they received us by firing a great many
Guns; especially at this last Place. We saluted the Town by firing off 4
pair of pistols; arrived that Evening at Logs Town, & Saluted the Town
as before; the Indians returned about One hundred Guns;[17] Great Joy
appear’d in their Countenances. From the Place where we took Water, _i.
e._ from the old Shawones Town, commonly called Chartier’s Town,[18] to
this Place is about 60 Miles by Water & but 35 or 40 by Land.
The Indian Council met this Evening to shake Hands with me & to shew
their Satisfaction at my safe arrival; I desired of them to send a Couple
of Canoes to fetch down the Goods from Chartier’s old Town, where we had
been oblig’d to leave them on account of our Horses being all tyred. I
gave them a String of Wampum to enforce my Request.[19]
28th. Lay still.
29th. The Indians sett off in three Canoes to fetch the Goods. I expected
the Goods wou’d be all at Chartier’s old Town by the time the Canoes
wou’d get there, as we met about twenty Horses of George Croghan’s at the
Shawonese Cabbins in order to fetch the Goods that were then lying at
Franks Town.
This Day news came to Town that the Six Nations were on the point of
declaring War against the French, for reason the French had Imprison’d
some of the Indian Deputies. A Council was held & all the Indians
acquainted with the News, and it was said the Indian Messenger was by the
way to give all the Indians Notice to make ready to fight the French.[20]
This Day my Companions went to Coscosky, a large Indian Town about 30
Miles off.[21]
30th. I went to Beaver Creek, an Indian Town about 8 Miles off, chiefly
Delawares, the rest Mohocks, to have some Belts of Wampum made.[22]
This afternoon Rainy Wheather set in which lasted above a Week. Andrew
Montour[23] came back from Coscosky with a Message from the Indians there
to desire of me that the ensuing Council might be held at their Town. We
both lodged at this Town at George Croghan’s Trading House.
31st. Sent Andrew Montour back to Coscosky with a String of Wampum to
let the Indians there know that it was an act of their own that the
ensuing Council must be held at Logs Town, they had order’d it do last
Spring when George Croghan was up, & at the last Treaty in Lancaster the
Shawonese & Twightwees[24] have been told so, & they stayed accordingly
for that purpose, & both would be offended if the Council was to be held
at Coscosky, besides my instructions binds me to Logs Town, & could not
go further without giving offence.
Septʳ. 1. The Indians in Logs Town having heard of the Message from
Coscosky sent for me to know what I was resolv’d to do, and told me that
the Indians at Coscosky were no more Chiefs than themselves, & that last
Spring they had nothing to eat, & expecting that they shou’d have nothing
to eat at our arrival, order’d that the Council should be held here; now
their Corn is ripe, they want to remove the Council, but they ought to
stand by their word; we have kept the Twightwees here & our Brethren the
Shawonese from below on that account, as I told them the Message that I
had sent by Andrew Montour; they were content.
2d. Rain continued; the Indians brought in a good deal of Venison.
3d. Set up the Union Flagg on a long Pole. Treated all the Company with a
Dram of Rum; The King’s Health was drank by Indians & white men. Towards
Night a great many Indians arrived to attend the Council. There was great
firing on both sides; the Strangers first Saluted the Town at a quarter
of a Mile distance, and at their Entry the Town’s People return’d the
fire, also the English Traders, of whom there were above twenty. At
Night, being very sick of the Cholick, I got bled.
4th. Was oblig’d to keep my bed all Day, being very weak.
5th. I found myself better. Scaiohady[25] came to see me; had some
discourse with him about the ensuing Council.
6th. Had a Council with the Wondats, otherways called Ionontady Hagas,
they made a fine Speech to me to make me welcome, & appeared in the
whole very friendly.[26] Rainy Wheather continued.
7th. Being inform’d that the Wondats had a mind to go back again to the
French, & had endeavour’d to take the Delawares with them to recommend
them to the French, I sent Andrew Montour to Beaver Creek with a string
of Wampum to inform himself of the Truth of the matter; they sent a
String in answer to let me know they had no correspondence that way with
the Wondats, and that the aforesaid Report was false.
8th. Had a Council with the Chiefs of the Wondats; enquired their number,
& what occasion’d them to come away from the French, What Correspondence
they had with the Six Nations, & whether or no they had ever had any
Correspondence with the Government of New York; they inform’d me their
coming away from the French was because of the hard Usage they received
from them; That they wou’d always get their Young Men to go to War
against their Enemies, and wou’d use them as their own People, that is
like Slaves, & their Goods were so dear that they, the Indians, cou’d not
buy them; that there was one hundred fighting Men that came over to join
the English, seventy were left behind at another Town a good distance
off, & they hoped they wou’d follow them; that they had a very good
Correspondence with the Six Nations many Years, & were one People with
them, that they cou’d wish the Six Nations wou’d act more brisker against
the French; That above fifty Years ago they made a Treaty of Friendship
with the Governor of New York at Albany, & shewed me a large Belt of
Wampum they received there from the said Governor as from the King of
Great Britain; the Belt was 25 Grains wide & 265 long, very Curiously
wrought, there were seven Images of Men holding one another by the Hand,
the 1st signifying the Governor of New York (or rather, as they said, the
King of Great Britain), the 2d the Mohawks, the 3d the Oneidos, the 4th
the Cajugas, the 5th the Onondagers, the 6th the Senekas, the 7th the
Owandaets [Wyandots], the two Rows of black Wampum under their feet thro’
the whole length of the Belt to signify the Road from Albany thro’ the 5
Nations to the Owendaets; That 6 Years ago, they had sent Deputies with
the same Belt to Albany to renew the Friendship.
I treated them with a quart of Whiskey & a Roll of Tobacco; they
expressed their good Wishes to King George & all his People, & were
mightily pleas’d that I look’d upon them as Brethren of the English.
This Day I desir’d the Deputies of all the Nations of Indians settled on
the Waters of Ohio to give me a List of their fighting Men, which they
promis’d to do. A great many of the Indians went away this Day because
the Goods did not come, & the People in the Town cou’d not find Provision
enough, the number was so great.
The following is the number of every Nation, given to me by their
several Deputies in Council, in so many Sticks tied up in a Bundle:
The Senacas 163, Shawonese 162, Owendaets 100, Tisagechroanu 40; Mohawks
74; Mohickons 15; Onondagers 35; Cajukas 20; Oneidos 15; Delawares 165;
in all 789.[27]
9th. I had a Council with the Senakas, & gave them a large String of
Wampum, black & White, to acquaint them I had it in Charge from the
President & Council in Philadelphia to enquire who it was that lately
took the People Prisoners in Carolina, one thereof being a Great man,
& that by what discovery I had already made I found it was some of the
Senekas did it; I therefore desir’d them to give me their Reasons for
doing so, & as they had struck their Hatchet into their Brethren’s Body
they cou’d not expect that I could deliver my Message with a good heart
before they gave me Satisfaction in that Respect, for they must consider
the English, tho’ living in several Provinces, are all one People, &
doing Mischeif to one is doing to the other; let me have a plain & direct
answer.
10th. A great many of the Indians got drunk; one Henry Noland had brought
near 30 Gallons of Whiskey to the Town. This Day I made a Present to
the old Shawonese Chief Cackawatcheky, of a Stroud, a Blanket, a Match
Coat,[28] a Shirt, a Pair of Stockings, & a large twist of Tobacco, &
told him that the President & Council of Philadelphia remember’d their
love to him as to their old & true Friend, & wou’d Cloath his Body once
more, & wished he might weare them out so as to give them an opportunity
to cloath him again. There was a great many Indians present, two of which
were the big Hominy & the Pride, those that went off with Chartier, but
protested against his proceedings against our Traders. Catchawatcheky
return’d thanks, & some of the Six Nations did the same, & express’d
their Satisfaction to see a true man taken Notice of, altho’ he was now
grown Childish.
11th. George Croghan & myself staved an 8 Gallon Cag of Liquor belonging
to the aforesaid Henry Norland, who could not be prevail’d on to hide it
in the Woods, but would sell it & get drunk himselfe.
I desir’d some of the Indians in Council to send some of their Young Men
to meet our People with the Goods, and not to come back before they heard
of or saw them. I begun to be afraid they had fallen into the Hands of
the Enemy; so did the Indians.
Ten Warriors came to Town by Water from Niagara; We suspected them very
much, & fear’d that some of their Parties went to meet our People by
hearing of them.[29]
12th. Two Indians and a white man[30] went out to meet our People, & had
Orders not to come back before they saw them, or go to Franks Town, where
we left the Goods. The same Day the Indians made answer to my Request
concerning the Prisoners taken in Carolina: Thanayieson, a Speaker of
the Senekas, spoke to the following purpose in the presence of all the
Deputies of the other Nations (We were out of Doors): “Brethren, You
came a great way to visit us, & many sorts of Evils might have befallen
You by the way which might have been hurtful to your Eyes & your inward
parts, for the Woods are full of Evil Spirits. We give You this String
of Wampum to clear up your Eyes & Minds & to remove all bitterness of
your Spirit, that you may hear us speak in good Chear.” Then the Speaker
took his Belt in his Hand & said: “Brethren, when we and you first saw
one another at your first arrival at Albany we shook Hands together and
became Brethren & we tyed your Ship to the Bushes, and after we had more
acquaintance with you we lov’d you more and more, & perceiving that a
Bush wou’d not hold your Vessel we then tyed her to a large Tree & ever
after good Friendship continued between us; afterwards you, our Brethren,
told us that a Tree might happen to fall down and the Rope rot wherewith
the Ship was tyed. You then proposed to make a Silver Chain & tye your
Ship to the great Mountains in the five Nations’ Country, & that Chain
was called the Chain of Friendship; we were all tyed by our Arms together
with it, & we the Indians of the five Nations heartily agreed to it, &
ever since a very good Correspondence have been kept between us; but we
are very sorry that at your coming here we are oblig’d to talk of the
Accident that lately befell you in Carolina, where some of our Warriors,
by the Instigation of the Evil Spirit, struck their Hatchet into our own
Body like, for our Brethren the English & we are of one Body, & what
was done we utterly abhor as a thing done by the Evil Spirit himself; we
never expected any of our People wou’d ever do so to our Brethren. We
therefore remove our Hatchet which, by the influence of the Evil Spirit,
was struck into your Body, and we desire that our Brethren the Govʳ. of
New York & Onas[31] may use their utmost endeavours that the thing may be
buried in the bottomless Pit, that it may never be seen again—that the
Chain of Friendship which is of so long standing may be preserv’d bright
& unhurt.” Gave a Belt. The Speaker then took up a String of Wampum,
mostly black, and said: “Brethren, as we have removed our Hatchet out
of your Body, or properly speaking, out of our own, We now desire that
the Air may be clear’d up again & the wound given may be healed, & every
thing put in good understanding, as it was before, and we desire you will
assist us to make up everything with the Govʳ. of Carolina; the Man that
has been brought as a Prisoner we now deliver to You, he is yours” (lay’d
down the String, and took the Prisoner by the Hand and delivered him to
me).[32] By way of discourse, the Speaker said, “the Six Nation Warriors
often meet Englishmen trading to the Catawbas, & often found that the
Englishmen betrayed them to their Enemy, & some of the English Traders
had been spoke to by the Indian Speaker last Year in the Cherrykees[33]
Country & were told not to do so; that the Speaker & many others of the
Six Nations had been afraid a long time that such a thing wou’d be done
by some of their Warriors at one time or other.”
13th. Had a Council with the Senekas and Onontagers about the Wandots,
to receive them into our Union. I gave a large Belt of Wampum and the
Indians gave two, & everything was agreed upon about what sho’d be said
to the Wandots. The same Evening a full Council was appointed & met
accordingly, & a Speech was made to the Wandots by Asserhartur, a Seneka,
as follows:
“Brethren, the Ionontady Hagas:[34] last Spring you sent this Belt of
Wampum to Us (having the Belt then in his hand) to desire us and our
Brethren, the Shawonese & our Cousins the Delawares, to come & meet you
in your retreat from the French, & we accordingly came to your Assistance
& brought you here & received you as our own flesh. We desire you will
think you now join us, & our Brethren, the English, & you are become
one People with us”—then he lay’d that Belt by & gave them a very large
String of Wampum.
The Speaker took up the Belt I gave & said: “Brethren: the English, our
Brothers, bid you welcome & are glad you escaped out Captivity like: You
have been kept as Slaves by Onontio,[35] notwithstanding he call’d You
all along his Children, but now You have broke the Rope wherewith you
have been tyed & become Freemen, & we, the united Six Nations, receive
you to our Council Fire, & make you Members thereof, and we will secure
your dwelling Place to You against all manner of danger.”—Gave the Belt.
“Brethren: We the Six United Nations & all our Indian Allies, with our
Brethren the English, look upon you as our Children, tho’ you are our
Brethren; we desire you will give no ear to the Evil Spirit that spreads
lyes & wickedness, let your mind by easy & clear, & be of the same mind
with us whatever you may hear, nothing shall befall you but what of
necessity must befall us at the same time.
“Brethren: We are extremely pleased to see you here, as it happened just
at the same time when our Brother Onas is with us. We jointly, by this
Belt of Wampum, embrace you about your middle, & desire you to be strong
in your minds & hearts, let nothing alter your minds, but live & dye with
us.” Gave a Belt—the Council broke up.
14th. A full Council was Summon’d & every thing repeated by me to all
the Indians of what pass’d in Lancaster at the last Treaty with the
Twightwees.
The News was confirm’d by a Belt of Wampum from the Six Nations, that
the French had imprisoned some of the Six Nations Deputies, & 30 of the
Wandots, including Women & Children.
The Indians that were sent to meet our People with the Goods came back &
did not see any thing of them, but they had been no further than the old
Shawonese Town.
15th. I let the Indians know that I wou’d deliver my Message to morrow, &
the Goods I had, & that they must send Deputies with me on my returning
homewards, & wherever we shou’d meet the rest of the Goods I wou’d send
them to them if they were not taken by the Enemy, to which they agreed.
The same Day the Delawares made a Speech to me & presented a Beaver Coat
& a String of Wampum, & said, “Brother: we let the President & Council
of Phila. know that after the Death of our Chief Man, Olomipies, our
Grand Children the Shawnese[36] came to our own Town to condole with us
over the loss of our good King, your Brother, & they wiped off our Tears
& comforted our minds, & as the Delawares are the same People with the
Pennsylvanians, & born in one & the same Country, we give some of the
Present our Grand Children gave us to the President & Council of Philda.
because the Death of their good Friend & Brother must have affected them
as well as us.”—Gave the Beaver Coat & a String of Wampum.
The same Day the Wandots sent for me & Andrew & presented us with 7
Beaver Skins about 10 lbs. weight, & said they gave us that to buy some
refreshments for us after our arrival in Pennsylvania, wished we might
get home safe, & lifted up their Hands & said they wou’d pray God to
protect us & guide us the way home. I desir’d to know their names; they
behav’d like People of good Sense & Sincerity; the most of them were grey
headed; their Names are as follows: Totornihiades, Taganayesy, Sonachqua,
Wanduny, Taruchiorus, their Speaker. The Chiefs of the Delawares that
made the above Speech are Shawanasson & Achamanatainu.[37]
16th. I made answer to the Delawares & said, “Brethren the Delawares:
It is true what you said that the People of Pennsylvania are your
Brethren & Countrymen; we are very well pleas’d of what your Children
the Shawonese did to you; this is the first time we had publick Notice
given us of the Death of our good Friend & Brother Olomipies. I take this
opportunity to remove the remainder of your Troubles from your Hearts to
enable you to attend in Council at the ensuing Treaty, & I assure you
that the President & Council of Pennsylvania condoles with You over the
loss of your King our good Friend and Brother.”—Gave them 5 Strouds.
The two aforesaid Chiefs gave a String of Wampum & desir’d me to let
their Brethren, the President & Council, know they intended a Journey
next Spring to Philadelphia to consult with their Brethren over some
Affairs of Moment; since they are now like Orphan Children, they hoped
their Brethren wou’d let them have their good Advice and Assistance, as
the People of Pennsylvania & the Delawares were like one Family.
The same Day the rest of the Goods arriv’d the Men said they had nine
Days’ Rain & the Creeks arose, & that they had been oblig’d to send a
sick Man back from Franks Town to the Inhabitants with another to attend
him.
The neighboring Indians being sent for again, the Council was appointed
to meet to-morrow. It rain’d again.
17th. It rained very hard, but in the Afternoon it held up for about 3
hours; the Deputies of the several Nations met in Council & I delivered
them what I had to say from the President & Council of Pennsylvania by
Andrew Montour.
“Brethren, you that live on Ohio: I am sent to You by the President &
Council of Pennsylvania, & I am now going to Speak to You on their behalf
I desire You will take Notice & hear what I shall say.”—Gave a String of
Wampum.
“Brethren: Some of You have been in Philadelphia last Fall & acquainted
us that You had taken up the English Hatchet, and that You had already
made use of it against the French, & that the French had very hard
heads, & your Country afforded nothing but Sticks & Hickerys which was
not sufficient to break them. You desir’d your Brethren wou’d assist
You with some Weapons sufficient to do it. Your Brethren the Presidᵗ.
& Council promis’d you then to send something to You next Spring by
Tharachiawagon,[38] but as some other Affairs prevented his Journey to
Ohio, you receiv’d a Supply by George Croghan sent you by your said
Brethren; but before George Croghan came back from Ohio News came from
over the Great Lake that the King of Great Britain & the French King
had agreed upon a Cessation of Arms for Six Months & that a Peace was
very likely to follow. Your Brethren, the President & Council, were
then in a manner at a loss what to do. It did not become them to act
contrary to the command of the King, and it was out of their Power to
encourage you in the War against the French; but as your Brethren never
miss’d fulfilling their Promises, they have upon second Consideration
thought proper to turn the intended Supply into a Civil & Brotherly
Present, and have accordingly sent me with it, and here are the Goods
before your Eyes, which I have, by your Brethren’s Order, divided into
5 Shares & layd in 5 different heaps, one heap whereof your Brother
Assaraquoa sent to You to remember his Friendship and Unity with You;
& as you are all of the same Nations with whom we the English have
been in League of Friendship, nothing need be said more than this, that
the President & Council & Assaraquoa[39] have sent You this Present to
serve to strengthen the Chain of Friendship between us the English & the
several Nations of Indians to which You belong. A French Peace is a very
uncertain One, they keep it no longer than their Interest permits, then
they break it without provocation given them. The French King’s People
have been almost starv’d in old France for want of Provision, which made
them wish & seek for Peace; but our wise People are of opinion that after
their Bellies are full they will quarrel again & raise a War. All nations
in Europe know that their Friendship is mix’d with Poison, & many that
trusted too much on their Friendship have been ruin’d.
“I now conclude & say, that we the English are your true Brethren at all
Events, In token whereof receive this Present.” The Goods being then
uncover’d I proceeded. “Brethren: You have of late settled the River of
Ohio for the sake of Hunting, & our Traders followed you for the sake
of Hunting also. You have invited them yourselves. Your Brethren, the
President & Council, desire You will look upon them as your Brethren
& see that they have justice done. Some of your Young Men have robbed
our Traders, but you will be so honest as to compel them to make
Satisfaction. You are now become a People of Note, & are grown very
numerous of late Years, & there is no doubt some wise Men among you, it
therefore becomes you to Act the part of wise men, & for the future be
more regular than You have been for some Years past, when only a few
Young Hunters lived here.”—Gave a Belt.
“Brethren: You have of late made frequent Complaints against the Traders
bringing so much Rum to your Towns, & desir’d it might be stop’t; & your
Brethren the President & Council made an Act accordingly & put a stop
to it, & no Trader was to bring any Rum or strong Liquor to your Towns.
I have the Act here with me & shall explain it to You before I leave
you;[40] But it seems it is out of your Brethren’s Power to stop it
entirely. You send down your own Skins by the Traders to buy Rum for you.
You go yourselves & fetch Horse loads of strong Liquor. But the other Day
an Indian came to this Town out of Maryland with 3 Horse loads of Liquor,
so that it appears you love it so well that you cannot be without it.
You know very well that the Country near the endless Mountain affords
strong Liquor, & the moment the Traders buy it they are gone out of the
Inhabitants & are travelling to this Place without being discover’d;
besides this, you never agree about it—one will have it, the other won’t
(tho’ very few), a third says we will have it cheaper; this last we
believe is spoken from your Hearts (here they Laughed). Your Brethren,
therefore, have order’d that every cask of Whiskey shall be sold to You
for 5 Bucks in your Town, & if a Trader offers to sell Whiskey to You and
will not let you have it at that Price, you may take it from him & drink
it for nothing.”—Gave a Belt.
“Brethren: Here is one of the Traders who you know to be a very sober &
honest Man; he has been robbed of the value of 300 Bucks, & you all know
by whom; let, therefore, Satisfaction be made to the Trader.”—Gave a
String of Wampum.
“Brethren, I have no more to say.”
I delivered the Goods to them, having first divided them into 5 Shares—a
Share to the Senekas, another to the Cajukas, Oneidos, the Onontagers,
& Mohawks, another to the Delawares, another to the Owendaets,
Tisagechroanu, & Mohickons, and the other to the Shawonese.
The Indians signified great Satisfaction & were well pleased with the
Cessation of Arms. The Rainy Wheather hasted them away with the Goods
into the Houses.
18th. The Speech was delivered to the Delawares in their own Language,
& also to the Shawonese in their’s, by Andrew Montour, in the presence
of the Gentlemen that accompanied me.[41] I acquainted the Indians I was
determined to leave them to-morrow & return homewards.
19th. Scaiohady, Tannghrishon, Oniadagarehra, with a few more, came to my
lodging & spoke as follows:
“Brother Onas, We desire you will hear what we are going to say to You in
behalf of all the Indians on Ohio; their Deputies have sent us to You. We
have heard what you have said to us, & we return you many thanks for your
kindness in informing us of what pass’d between the King of Great Britain
& the French King, and in particular we return you many thanks for the
large Presents; the same we do to our Brother Assaraquoa, who joined our
Brother Onas in making us a Present. Our Brethren have indeed tied our
Hearts to their’s. We at present can but return thanks with an empty hand
till another opportunity serves to do it sufficiently. We must call a
great Council & do every thing regular; in the mean time look upon us as
your true Brothers.
“Brother: You said the other Day in Council if any thing befell us from
the French we must let you know of it. We will let you know if we hear
any thing from the French, be it against us or yourself. You will have
Peace, but it’s most certain that the Six Nations & their Allies are
upon the point of declaring War against the French. Let us keep up true
Corrispondence & always hear of one another.”—They gave a Belt.
Scaiohady & the half King, with two others, had inform’d me that they
often must send Messengers to Indian Towns & Nations, & had nothing in
their Council Bag, as they were new beginners, either to recompense a
Messenger or to get Wampum to do the business, & begged I wou’d assist
them with something. I had saved a Piece of Strowd, an half Barrell
of Pow[d]er, 100 pounds of Lead, 10 Shirts, 6 Knives, & 1 Pound of
Vermillion, & gave it to them for the aforesaid use; they return’d many
thanks and were mightily pleased.[42]
The same Day I set out for Pennsylvania in Rainy Weather, and arrived at
George Croghan’s on the 28th Instant.[43]
CONRAD WEISER.
PENNSBURY, Sepᵗ. 29th, 1748.
FOOTNOTES
[1] _Pennsylvania Colonial Records_ (Harrisburg, 1851), iv, p. 88.
[2] _Ibid._, pp. 660-669, for journal of this tour.
[3] _Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, v, p. 72.
[4] _Ibid._, pp. 121, 140, 145-152, 189, 190, 257.
[5] _Ibid._, pp. 286-290, 307-319.
[6] _Ibid._, pp. 290-293, 304.
[7] There appear to have been two copies of this journal prepared, one as
the official report to the president and council of Pennsylvania, which
was published in the _Pennsylvania Colonial Records_, v, pp. 348-358. A
reprint from the same manuscript appeared in _Early History of Western
Pennsylvania_ (Pittsburg and Harrisburg, 1846), appendix, pp. 13-23. The
other copy seems to have been preserved among the family papers; and was
edited and published by a descendant of Weiser—Heister M. Muhlenberg,
M.D., of Reading, Pennsylvania—in Pennsylvania Historical Society
_Collections_ (Philadelphia, 1851), i, pp. 23-33. We have followed
the official copy, indicating by footnotes variations in the other
account.—ED.
[8] Weiser’s house was about one mile east of Womelsdorf, now in Berks
County, Pennsylvania. James Galbreath was a prominent Indian trader, one
of those licensed by the government of Pennsylvania.—ED.
[9] Croghan lived at this time just west of Harrisburg in Pennsboro
Township, Cumberland County.—ED.
[10] There were three great Indian paths from east to west through
Western Pennsylvania. The southern led from Fort Cumberland on the
Potomac, westward through the valleys of Youghiogheny and Monongahela,
to the Forks of the Ohio, and was the route taken by Washington in 1753,
later by Braddock’s expedition, and was substantially the line of the
great Cumberland National Road of the early nineteenth century.
The central trail, passing through Carlisle, Shippensburg, and Bedford,
over Laurel Mountain, through Fort Ligonier, over Chestnut Ridge, to
Shannopin’s Town at the Forks of the Ohio, was the most direct, and
became the basis of General Forbes’s road, and later of the Pennsylvania
wagon road to the Ohio. Gist took this trail in 1750.—See Hulbert, _Old
Glade Road_ (Cleveland, 1903).
The northern, or Kittanning trail, was the oldest, and that most used by
Indian traders. It is this route that Weiser followed. From Croghan’s,
he passed over into the valley of Sherman’s Creek (in Perry County),
crossed the Tuscarora Mountains at what was later known as Sterritt’s
Gap, and reached the Black Log sleeping place near Shade Valley in the
southeastern part of Huntingdon County. This was a digression to the
south, for in an extract from his journal in _Pennsylvania Archives_,
ii, p. 13, Weiser says: “The Black Log is 8 or 10 miles South East of
the Three Springs and Frank’s Town lies to yᵉ North, so that there must
be a deduction of at least twenty miles.” From here, following the
valley of Aughwick Creek, he crossed the Juniata River, and approached
the “Standing Stone.” This was a prominent landmark of the region, and
stood on the right bank of a creek of the same name, near the present
town of Huntingdon. It was about 14 feet high, and six inches square, and
served as a kind of Indian guidepost for that region. From this point,
the trail followed the Juniata Valley, coinciding for a short distance
with the line of the Pennsylvania Central Railway, but turning off on the
Frankstown branch of the Juniata at the present town of Petersburg.
There was also a fourth trail, still farther north, by way of Sunbury and
the west branch of the Susquehanna to Venango. This was Post’s route in
1758.—ED.
[11] Frankstown was an important Indian village in the county of Blair,
near Hollidaysburg. The present town of this name lies on the north side
of the river, whereas the Indian town appears to have been on the south
bank. Remains of the native village were in existence in the early part
of the nineteenth century. The Indian name was “Assunepachla,” the title
“Frankstown” being given in honor of Stephen Franks, a German trader who
lived at this place.—See Jones, _History of Juniata Valley_ (Harrisburg,
1889, 2nd ed.), pp. 298-303. The cause of its desertion when Weiser
passed, is not known. The other edition of the journal says, “Here we
overtook one half the goods,” which seems more correct in view of the
succeeding account.—ED.