east of the Mississippi and north of Cape Hatteras, with the exception
of the regions inhabited by the _Esquimaux_, far to the north, and the
territory claimed by the _Hurons_, or _Wyandots_. This latter family,
which included the _Iroquois_, or _Six Nations_, spread themselves
over the space now occupied by New York, a part of Ohio, and the whole
of Upper Canada. The _Mobilian_, or _Florida_ nations, included the
tribes south of Cape Fear and west of the Mississippi, excepting the
_Natchez_, inhabiting the country around the modern city of that name,
and the _Uchees_, who held the country contiguous to the present town
of Augusta, in Georgia. The _Cherokees_, _Tuscaroras_, and _Catawbas_,
three considerable nations, occupied the territory of the Carolinas,
Virginia, and Tennessee. The _Sioux_, or _Dahcotahs_, dwelt along the
western borders of the Mississippi.
These families, or nations, as we have already said, were broken into
a multitude of distinct tribes, each having, for the most part, its
particular dialect, and carrying on war against every other tribe. In
some instances, several tribes were confederated together, either for
the purposes of defence or aggression. Their whole number has been
variously estimated, but it probably did not exceed 500,000 at the time
of the settlement at Jamestown, in 1607.
When our ancestors came to these shores, they found the Indians
thinly scattered over the country, though occasionally gathered in
considerable groups in the more fertile valleys, and along the banks
of rivers, lakes, and bays. They were in the rudest state of society,
without science, without arts, without any metallic instruments,
without domestic animals. They raised a little corn, which the women
cultivated with a clam-shell, or the shoulder-blade of the buffalo.
Devouring this with savage improvidence, they obtained a precarious
supply for the rest of the year by gathering nuts and roots, or by
hunting and fishing. Half clad in skins, or entirely naked, they roamed
from place to place, passing their lives, alternately, in stupid
idleness, and the fiercest excitements of war and the chase. Ignorant
of the past, and improvident of the future, most of these tribes were
sunk in the lowest depths of human degradation.
Such were the occupants of the soil, when the European settlers came
to establish themselves here. Throughout the continent, the Indians
appear to have been at first disposed to give a hospitable reception
to the strangers who visited their shores; but they were soon taught
to dread, and then to hate, a people, who shot them down, subjected
them to slavery, and robbed them of their property and lands, without
mercy or scruple. When the settlements began along our Atlantic coast,
more than a century had passed since the discovery of the continent
by Columbus, and ample time had elapsed for many of the tribes to
experience, and all to know, the oppressive and formidable character of
these European invaders.
Though the number of the Indians in this quarter was not great, yet
their skill in war, and the deep-seated jealousy and hatred of the
white race, which had grown up with them, rendered them a fearful foe
to feeble colonies, separated by a wide ocean from the protection and
succour of their native land. The contests of our forefathers with the
Indians, therefore, were full of the deepest interest to them, and
abound in incidents which cannot fail to arrest the attention of every
reader.
When the Europeans first planted themselves at Jamestown, according
to Captain Smith’s account, the country, from the sea-coast to the
mountains, was inhabited by forty-three different tribes. Thirty of
these spread over the tract of country south of the Potomac, within a
space of about 8,000 square miles. Within sixty miles of Jamestown,
it is said, there were 5,000 of these natives. There were several
confederacies among them, the chief of which were the Powhatan
confederacy, the confederacy of the Mannahoacks, and that of the
Monacans. These last two were united in a grand alliance against the
Powhatan league. Long and bloody wars were maintained between these
rival sovereignties. The Mannahoack confederacy embraced thirteen
tribes, eight of whom were under the Mannahoacks, and five under the
Monacans. Besides these, there were also the independent tribes of the
Nottoways, Meherriks, Tuteloes, and various others.
These tribes, especially the Powhatan confederacy, were not disposed
to allow the English to settle down among them unmolested. Though at
times preserving a show of peace, feelings of hostility rankled in
their hearts, and the colonists were obliged to be always on their
guard. Nor can we blame the Indians that they felt inimical to the
settlers. Hitherto, they had remained sole lords and proprietors of the
vast territory over which they roamed, undisturbed except by the wars
which they carried on with each other. To break in upon this supremacy,
and to appropriate their lands, the white man came and planted himself
down, not only assuming a superiority of intelligence and power, but of
right. The means of communication with distant tribes were evidently
greater than has sometimes been imagined, and doubtless the story of
Cortés, De Soto, and other invaders, had reached the ears of these
savages. We shall not be surprised, therefore, to find that Powhatan,
the chief of the tribe of that name, soon began to grow hostile to his
new neighbours at Jamestown, after their settlement in 1607. The enemy
he had to oppose, however, was the undaunted and chivalrous Captain
Smith, whose earlier history seems almost like a romance, appropriately
followed out by the strange incidents of his residence in the
colony.[7]
The Indians, in the course of numerous attacks and skirmishes, learned
to regard Smith as a foe by no means to be despised; and when, in one
of his expeditions, he was taken captive, their joy knew no bounds.
After being led from one chief to another, Captain Smith was finally
presented to Powhatan himself. Opechancanough, who was his successor,
seems to have cherished strong feelings of dislike to Smith, and had
Powhatan felt disposed to spare him, he would have found himself
opposed by his chief warriors. Finally, when he had been seen by all
the Indians, and experiments had been tried on his courage, it was
determined, in a council of chiefs, that he should have his brains
beaten out with a club.
The appointed day arrived. Powhatan and his warriors were present,
exulting in the scene. The captive was brought forth; two large stones
were placed in a suitable position, and he was laid upon them. At this
moment, the compassionate Pocahontas, the darling daughter of Powhatan,
sprang forward, and, clasping Smith in her arms, shielded his head with
her person, and declared that he should not be killed, unless she,
too, fell beneath the same blow. So strange an event appears to have
made a deep impression on the father. His daughter persisting in her
determination to die with the captive, the chief yielded, Smith was
saved, and sent home to Jamestown. This striking event took place in
1607.
Still, Powhatan, for a considerable time, remained the foe of the
whites, and at various times designed evil against the colony; but
his schemes were frustrated by the vigilance of Smith, aided by the
cautions of Pocahontas, who proved herself, on many occasions, his
friend. The heroic girl herself was afterwards taken prisoner, and
during her residence at Jamestown was married to Mr. Rolfe, a gentleman
of great respectability. Powhatan was then induced to relinquish his
hostility, and become the friend of the whites. His daughter and her
husband went to England, where she was admitted to see the queen, but
she died as she was about to return.
Opechancanough, the successor of Powhatan, was said to be originally
from the south, and some have conjectured that he was of Mexican
descent, as his appearance is described to have differed from that of
the other Indians of the Powhatan confederacy. He was a man of more
than ordinary abilities, and burned with a desire to rid his country
of those whom he viewed as invaders of her soil. In 1622, he concerted
a plan for a general massacre, hoping even to effect the entire
extermination of the colony. The plot was deeply laid, and planned with
great skill. All the members of the confederacy had their several parts
assigned them. At the time the plot was formed, many of the Indians
mingled with the whites for the purpose of ascertaining the avenues by
which to gain access to the town, and the means of striking the blow
with most effect.
On the appointed day, the 22d of March, about noon, while the people
were at work, and mostly unarmed, the Indians rushed upon them, and at
once massacred three hundred and forty-seven men, women, and children.
So well devised was the plan, that, but for its being betrayed, the
whole colony, including Jamestown, must have been cut off at a blow. A
Christian Indian, who had been solicited by his brother to kill a Mr.
Pace, with whom he then lived, informed him of the plot, and, though
not in season to save hundreds from falling victims to the savage
enemy, yet intelligence was sent to Jamestown, and the people, in many
instances, were seasonably put upon their guard. The Indians, finding
they were betrayed, did not attempt an attack upon the town, but
plundered and burned the undefended houses, the mills and iron works,
and whatever else came in their way.
The next autumn, the Virginians, in their turn, attacked the Indians,
burned several of their towns, and took many thousand bushels of corn,
which they found stored up for the winter. The consequence of this
was, that the Indians were greatly distressed, and suffered much for
want of food and the necessaries of life. The succeeding July, the war
was carried on with still more vigor; four or five separate parties
were appointed to attack the Indians at different points, and many
were slain, among whom were some of their kings and war-captains.
These disasters at once disheartened and weakened them. Still, they
continued to seize upon every advantage that offered, and, in 1630,
Opechancanough, observing that the colony was in a state of disunion
and anarchy, formed a plan for another surprise and massacre.
The experience they had so dearly bought should have made the colonists
vigilant, and put them upon their guard at all times. But they seem,
at this period, to have relapsed into a state of fatal confidence
or indifference. The Indians fell upon the settlers, principally on
the south side of James River, and at the head of York River, and so
carefully had they concealed their design, so well was it arranged, and
so resolutely executed, that they cut off five hundred of the colonists
at a blow. This was a dreadful event to the infant settlement, and
seems, at first, to have almost entirely disheartened the survivors.
A long and bloody war followed, with various results, till, finally,
the Indians being defeated, and tired of the strife, a peace was once
more made, which continued unbroken for many years. The death of
Opechancanough, the master spirit of the savages, and the implacable
foe of the colony, doubtless contributed to this end. Every contest
also taught the Indians the power of European discipline, and they at
last learned that the field of battle was the grave of their warriors,
and that even a successful war always resulted in a diminution of their
strength.
No very striking event succeeded, in the history of the Virginia
colony, till the year 1675, when the Indians again began to rob and
murder the colonists. Intestine divisions raged, and they seemed, in
their broils, to forget that an enemy lurked around them, who might
take fatal advantage of their unguarded and feeble condition. Although
the Indians dared not appear, as they had formerly done, in the very
heart of the settlements,--for these had increased, and the tribes
had been driven back into the interior,--yet they attacked those who
dwelt on the frontiers, wasted their fields, burned their houses, and
committed other ravages. The colonists were in no condition to avenge
themselves of these outrages. Had the Indians, indeed, known the full
extent of their weakness, they might have been emboldened to still more
daring invasions; but, being successfully attacked by the whites, after
a brief conflict, they were glad to accept of peace. The ascendency of
the English being once established, the tribes gradually wasted away,
and it would now be difficult to find a remnant of the once powerful
people by which the eastern portion of Virginia was formerly inhabited.
The tract of country first called Virginia embraced more than is now
comprised in the limits of the State; and as a part of North Carolina
was included in its boundaries, it may be proper, in this connection,
to notice the history of the Indians who occupied this region.
North Carolina was first discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh, in 1584.
In the account given by him, it seems the Indian name of this region
was Wingandacoa, the king being called Wingina. His chief town was
six days’ journey from Wococon. His brother, Ganganameo, resided at
a village on the Roanoke. The third day after the English arrived,
some natives appeared, and one of them went on board of the ships. The
English gave him a shirt, some wine, and plenty to eat. He paddled
away, and, having laden his boat with fish, returned, and divided
them into two parts, meaning one portion for one ship, and the rest
for the other. The next day Ganganameo came to see them, with fifty
men, spread out his mat on the point, without any apparent fear, and,
sitting down, made signs to the English to sit down with him. He then
stroked his head and breast, and theirs also in a gentler manner, thus
signifying, that, henceforth, their heads and hearts should be one.
He made a long speech, and they presented him with some toys, which
greatly pleased him. They then opened a trade, and he gave them twenty
deer-skins for a pewter basin; a sample of the dealings between the
English and natives. The chief made a hole through the basin, and hung
it about his neck for a breastplate. He also gave fifty more skins for
a copper kettle.
Some days after this interview, Ganganameo came again with his wife and
children. They were of a low stature, but quite handsome. His wife wore
a coat and short apron of leather, and a band of white coral about her
forehead, with ear-rings of pearls as large as peas, and hanging down
to her waist. He was himself dressed in the same manner, except that
his hair was long on one side, and cut short on the other. The English,
in return, went to see him; but, as the chief was absent, his wife ran
to meet them, and, as they approached the shore, ordered her people to
take them on their backs to the land. The season being rainy, she had
their boat drawn up on the bank. Her visiters were then taken into her
house, where she washed their clothes and feet. After they had warmed
and dried themselves by a fire, she took them into another room, where
a dinner was prepared, consisting of various dishes,--boiled venison,
roots, melons, and other fruits. When they returned to their boats,
she gave them mats to shield them from the rain. Well might these
voyagers say, as they did, “A more kind and loving people cannot be.”
Notwithstanding this favorable view, it appears, that, subsequently,
the North Carolina Indians were more or less enlisted in the various
enterprises of the natives against the colony of Virginia, of which
an account has already been given, and, to some extent, shared the
fortunes of their countrymen. In 1712, a part of them, the Corees,
Tuscaroras, and others, formed a league for the purpose of expelling
the colonists, who had now encroached upon their territories. Their
plan was arranged with great secrecy and cunning. To secure their own
families, they surrounded their principal town with a breastwork.
Here the warriors of the different tribes met, to the number of
twelve hundred bowmen. The plan was matured, and the time fixed for
the massacre. When the fatal night came, small parties went out by
different roads, and, under the mask of friendship, were admitted to
the houses of the colonists. Rising at a preconcerted signal, they
slaughtered men, women, and children, without distinction. To prevent
discovery or alarm, they ran as speedily as possible from house to
house, hastening the bloody work.
In the vicinity of Roanoke, they thus butchered one hundred and
thirty-seven persons in a single night. A few escaped and gave the
alarm, by which means the settlements were preserved from extinction.
Nearly one thousand troops were immediately raised in South Carolina,
by whom the Indians were pursued. On coming up with them, a severe
battle was fought, in which three hundred Indians were slain, and one
hundred taken prisoners. It was supposed that nearly one thousand
of the Indians were finally killed, wounded, and captured. After
this event, the remnant of the Tuscaroras fled to the Five Nations,
with whom they became incorporated. From this period, the northern
confederacy assumed the title of the Six Nations.
In Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and the part of New York below
the Highlands, there were likewise numerous tribes of Indians. It is
said that there were not less than thirty kings within these limits,
and the whole number of Indians is computed by Dr. Trumbull to have
been about 10,000, and the warriors 2,000. The principal tribes were
the Manhattans and the Delawares, or, as they are often termed, the
Lenni Lenape. The peaceful policy of William Penn prevented any Indian
wars in the early settlement of Pennsylvania, though another cause
doubtless contributed to this result. The Five Nations had subdued the
Lenni Lenape, obliged them to put themselves under their protection,
deprived them of the power of making war, and confined them to the
raising of corn, hunting, and fishing. To use the Indian phrase, they
had been thus reduced to the state of women. The interior portion of
Virginia had also been subjected to the same sway.
Many of the Indians of whom we are now speaking were greatly benefited
by the missionary labors of David Brainerd, who instructed them in
Christianity. Numbers became professors of religion, and were bright
examples of the power of the gospel even over the savage heart. The
Moravians, also, at a still later date, were not less successful,
and the account of their residence among the Indians, as related by
Heckewelder and others, deserves a careful perusal. The history of
these Indians, however, is similar to that of the tribes in other
quarters, when brought in contact with the whites. They wasted away in
the competition with a master race, and not a vestige of them is left
upon their original domains.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTE:
[7] For the details of Smith’s life, see “Curiosities of Human Nature,”
and “Lives of Celebrated American Indians,” article “Pocahontas.”
THE SOUTHERN INDIANS.
The Southern Indians, in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, were
composed of many different tribes. Of these, the most distinguished
were the Catawbas, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks. In
1671, the Cherokees in South Carolina were estimated at 6,000 bowmen.
It is thought that the Corees, Stonoes, Westoes, Savannas, Yamassees,
Catawbas, and Congarees could not have been less numerous, and that,
in this colony alone, there were as many as 35 or 36,000 Indians,
including 12,000 warriors. The Creeks numbered about 25,000. The
Chickasaws, Alabamas, and Natchez were computed at 10,476 fighting
men, and the whole population at 31,128 souls. The Natchez were once a
great nation, and were able, at one time, to raise not less than 4,000
warriors.
These Indians, as well as the others, viewed with jealousy the
settlements of the whites, and were, from time to time, more or less
engaged in attacks upon the colonists, whom they greatly annoyed in
their infant state. They also carried on war with the Five Nations, and
many remarkable feats of their valor are related. One of these deserves
to be mentioned. A party of Senecas, in an excursion far south, near
the territories of the Catawbas, discovered a young hunter in a light
summer dress. They intercepted him, and he ran towards a hollow for the
purpose of concealing himself. He was swift of foot, and so skilful in
archery, that he shot down seven of his pursuers before they were able
to capture him. They then took him to their own country, and there he
was condemned, in a council of warriors, to die by torture.
On being led out to the stake where he was to be burned alive, he
suddenly collected his strength, dashed down his nearest enemies,
sprang to the waters of a neighbouring stream, plunged in, and swam
underneath, rising only at intervals to take breath, till he reached
the shore. The Senecas followed him through the water, and fired their
guns, but they were at such a distance they could not reach him. He
stopped for a moment or two, contemptuously set them at defiance, and
then fled into the forest. Closely pursued, he ran on till midnight,
and then lay by among the bushes, hiding himself under some logs.
Five of his enemies came near, and, kindling their fire, lay down
to sleep. He watched them earnestly, till they were all in a sound
slumber. He then silently crawled to the place, seized a tomahawk, and,
by a sudden attack, killed them, and scalped them. He then clothed
himself in the dress of one of them, took their guns, ammunition, and
provisions, and pursued his way. Still he was not satisfied with his
revenge, but went directly to the spot where he had killed the seven
Senecas, dug up the bodies from their graves, scalped them, burned
them to ashes, and went home in triumph. Another party of the Senecas
afterwards came up, but finding the five warriors whom he had killed
and scalped, they gave up the pursuit. A war-council was called, and it
was determined, that a man who could do such things must be a wizard,
whom it was vain to pursue or oppose.
In 1715, there was a general conspiracy and rising of the Southern
Indians, especially those in South Carolina. The league comprised the
Yamassees, a powerful tribe, the Creeks, Cherokees, Appalachians,
Catawbas, Congarees, and all the Indians from Florida to Cape
Fear River. The object of this extensive conspiracy was the total
destruction of the Carolinians. The 15th of April was the day fixed
upon for its execution. The whole plot was managed with such secrecy
and under such a guise of friendship, that the English had not the
least suspicion of treachery. Even traders among them slept the very
night before with the king and his war-captains, in the chief town of
the Yamassees.
All was peace and silence until the morning. They then burst forth,
fell on the traders, and killed them all at a single volley, except
one man and a boy. The nation immediately rose in arms, and proclaimed
their designs of vengeance. The chiefs stimulated the young warriors,
who caught their spirit, and poured forth like a torrent on the
unsuspecting settlers. In a few hours they massacred a hundred men
in the town of Pocataligo and the neighbouring plantations. The man
and boy, who were not killed at the first fire, made their escape
to Port Royal, and the inhabitants generally fled on board a ship
for Charleston. Some other families, who were unable to escape, were
murdered.