French, the Algonquins, despised the Five Nations, as a weak people,
occupied with business fit only for women. But on a certain occasion,
their game failed, and they employed some of the young men of the
Five Nations to assist them in hunting. These soon became expert and
capable of enduring fatigue beyond the Adirondacks themselves. The
latter consequently became jealous of them, and, fearing that they
would throw off the yoke to which they were subjected, murdered them
in cold blood. Not having any serious fears of the resentment of so
unwarlike a people, they ordered a small compensation to be paid to
the Five Nations, whom they looked upon as incapable of avenging the
atrocity which had been perpetrated. These were, however, greatly
exasperated, and resolved to be revenged. The Adirondacks, when
informed of this, deemed it a good occasion to subject them to their
sway, and accordingly attacked them. The Five Nations at first defended
themselves faintly against their fierce and warlike assailants, and
were forced to leave their own country, and fly to the shores of the
Lakes. This occurred about the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Here they applied themselves to the exercise of arms, and became daily
more and more expert in the use of them. Their sachems, to remove the
dread of the Adirondacks, entertained by their people, and to inspire
them with some degree of confidence, first led them against the
Satanas, who then occupied what are now the central parts of the State
of New York. They subdued these, and drove them out of the country, to
the banks of the Mississippi.
Having thus proved their courage, the Five Nations next successfully
withstood the whole force of the Adirondacks. They then carried the
war into the heart of their country, and forced them to leave it, and
fly towards Quebec. The Adirondacks were now joined by the French,
who had just commenced their settlements in Canada. The combatants
met at Corlaer’s Lake, since called, after the French commander, Lake
Champlain. The Five Nations had never seen fire-arms, and the French,
keeping themselves concealed till the Indians were engaged, rose
suddenly up and poured a deadly volley upon them. Panic-struck at the
fearful character and deadly effect of the attack, they fled, with
great loss, from the field.
By the influence of the French, the Hurons and other neighbouring
nations now joined in the war against the Five Nations. The
Adirondacks, thus reinforced, and having been furnished with fire-arms,
proposed utterly to destroy their enemies. But their young men, fond of
adventure, and refusing obedience to their captains, often attacked the
foe rashly; and the latter, observing this, soon began to profit by it.
They sent out small parties, who, meeting greater numbers of the enemy,
retreated, while the Adirondacks pursued with fury, and carelessly
suffered themselves to be drawn into ambuscades. Thus many of them were
cut off with little loss to the victors. In this manner the Adirondacks
were wasted away, while the practice of the Five Nations, of adopting
into their tribes the prisoners taken from the Satanas, increased their
strength and numbers.
The Five Nations appear to have delighted in stratagem, and amused
the Adirondacks, and the Hurons, their allies, by messages to the
French, pretending to wish for peace, and to have some priests come
among them. When, accordingly, some Jesuits came, they kept them as
hostages, in order to force the French to remain neutral in their wars
with the Adirondacks. They then attacked and defeated the latter within
two leagues of Quebec, and, had they known its weakness, might have
destroyed even the French colony.
The allies of the Adirondacks, now struck with terror, fled in
different directions. Soon after, the Five Nations collected 1,000 or
1,200 men, and set out to pay a visit to the governor of Canada. On
their way, they met Piskaret, captured him, and, learning from him
that the Adirondacks were divided into two bodies, they fell upon them
and cut them to pieces. When the French first settled in Canada, the
Adirondacks had 1,500 warriors within a league of Quebec, but, after
this last battle, they never possessed any consequence as a nation.
Piskaret, whom we have just mentioned, was a great warrior, and famous
for his exploits and stratagems. On one occasion, he set out for the
country of the Five Nations, about the time of the spring thaws. He
put the back part of his snow-shoes forward, and went along the ridges
and high grounds, where the snow was melted, so that he might leave
no track. Coming near a village of the Five Nations, he hid himself
till night. Then stealing into a wigwam, he murdered the whole family
while asleep, scalped them, and again hid himself. The next day, the
murderer was sought for in vain. At midnight, he came out and repeated
his bloody deed. The third night, a watch was kept. Piskaret bundled up
his scalps, and then stole on till he discovered an Indian asleep. Him
he despatched at a blow, but, being discovered, he was obliged to flee.
As he was the swiftest of all the Indians, he suffered his pursuers to
approach him, and then darted away. In the evening, he hid himself and
lay down; his pursuers also stopped and went to sleep. Piskaret turned
about, knocked them on the head, scalped them, and returned home. Such
were the bloody feats which secured renown among the Indians.
The Five Nations having thus established their ascendency over the
adjacent tribes, rapidly advanced in power. Though checked by the
French, they still extended their sway in every direction, and
especially towards the south. They conquered the whole territory of the
Delawares, or Lenapes, and obliged them to put themselves under their
protection. They spread their victorious bands over all the remote
parts of Virginia, and down as far as the mouth of the Ohio, while they
subdued the nations eastward to Connecticut River. They often travelled
singly, or in small parties, three or four hundred miles, and lurked
about the villages of their enemies to shed blood, and revenge the
real or imputed wrongs of their friends. Their sway at length extended
to South Carolina on the south, and on the west to the Mississippi,
a tract of territory 1,200 miles in length, and 600 in breadth. In
1667, they formed a treaty with the governor of Maryland, which was
afterwards broken, and troubles, both with that colony and Virginia,
ensued. At last, Lord Howard, as agent of the latter, met the chiefs
of the tribes at Albany, and, after a long conference, a peace, which
was well observed on both sides, was entered into by the contracting
parties.
In 1684, the French made great efforts to detach the Five Nations
from the English. They invited them to a conference at an appointed
place. The Onondagas complied, and sent one of their sachems and thirty
warriors; the Senecas and others refused. The French commander, after
reproaching the Indians, threatened them with vengeance, if they did
not conform to his views; but the sachem replied boldly, and avowed
his determination to preserve peace, and the Frenchman went home
disappointed and enraged.
The Five Nations, soon after this, subdued the tribe of the Illinois,
who had fought against them, and then prepared to go against the
Miamis. The French determined to support their allies, and sent an
order to all the Indians around Michilimackinac to assemble at Niagara
and join them in an attack on the Senecas. The Potawatomies and others
assembled at the place of rendezvous; but here the Ottawas sought to
divert them from the enterprise, not being willing to lose a gainful
trade they now enjoyed with the English. After various preparations,
the French, with their Indian allies, marched toward the Seneca towns.
The warriors of the latter tribe were, however, on the alert. Five
hundred or more of them lay in ambush, while the French scouts passed
within pistol-shot, and, not seeing them, reported that they could not
find the enemy. The French pressed boldly forward, but, when they were
about a quarter of a league from their village, the Senecas suddenly
rose upon them with a discharge of their fire-arms, attended by the
appalling war-whoop. This threw the militia, as well as the regular
troops, into a fright, and such was the confusion, that they fired on
one another. The Senecas, perceiving their disorder, fell upon them,
till the French Indians, at last, rallied and repulsed them. This
action so dispirited the French commander, that he could not be induced
immediately to pursue his object; he halted till the next day, when he
marched forward to burn the village. But he now found that the Senecas
had already laid it in ashes and disappeared. After destroying two
other villages, and the corn he found there, he returned home to Canada.
Instigated by new causes of dissatisfaction, the Five Nations invaded
Canada with a large force, and pushed the war with such vigor as to
take Montreal and lay it in ashes. One thousand of the French are said
to have been killed, and twenty-six taken prisoners, with the loss of
only three men on the part of the Indians, who got drunk and remained
behind. Had they understood the feeble condition of the French, and
been relieved from the influence of the priests that were among them,
especially the Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cayugas, the French settlements
in Canada would probably have been totally ruined.
Influenced by the advice of an English officer, Colonel Dogan, in whom
they confided, the Five Nations, so far as they could, formed treaties
with the Western Indians. At this period, war between the English and
the French again broke out, and Count Frontenac, the new governor
of Canada, sent a message to the tribes by a sachem who had been a
prisoner and had been carried to France, but who had just returned with
the Count. The object of this mission was to invite the Five Nations
to a conference, for the purpose of making peace. After holding a
general council, consisting of eighty sachems, at Onondaga, on the 27th
of December, 1689, at which they requested the mayor of Albany to be
present, in order to advise them, they sent to Count Frontenac their
answer. This was quite characteristic. Its conclusion ran thus:--
“Yonondio,” (the name they always gave the French governor,) “you
desire to speak with us at Cadarackui. Don’t you know that your fire
there is extinguished? It is extinguished with blood. You must send
home the prisoners in the first place.
“We let you know that we have made peace with the Wagunhas [probably
the Ottawas]. You are not to think that we have laid down the axe
because we return no answer; we intend no such thing. Our far-fighters
shall continue the war till our countrymen return. When our brother is
returned, then we will speak to you of peace.”
The Five Nations were now engaged in frequent skirmishes with the
French, whom they annoyed greatly by their war-parties, killing some,
and carrying off others as prisoners, sometimes even from the vicinity
of Montreal. The Mohawks, however, not finding the English earnest
in furnishing them aid, as they had promised, began to incline to
make peace with the French. They accordingly despatched some of their
sachems to Count Frontenac for this purpose, and entered into a treaty
with him. The English, being made aware of this, renewed their covenant
with the other nations, and gave them presents. The Mohawks also
renewed their alliance with the English colonies, saying, “Though an
angry dog has endeavoured to bite the chain in pieces, we are resolved
to keep it firm, both in peace and in war. We now renew the old chain,
that so the tree of peace and prosperity may flourish and spread its
roots through all the country.”
During the whole of this war, the Five Nations remained faithful to the
English colonies, notwithstanding the intrigues of the French to lure
them over to their side. They contributed essentially to the protection
of our frontiers, and greatly harassed the enemy along the whole
Canadian border. The contest drew forth many acts of extraordinary
skill and bravery, on both sides, as well as others of shocking
atrocity. The French seemed often to forget their civilization in their
fury against their savage foe. At last, the treaty of Ryswick, between
England and France, which terminated the war in other quarters, brought
peace also to the Indian tribes.
During Queen Anne’s War, the Five Nations were prevailed on by the
French, as they refused their alliance, to stand neutral, for they
could not be induced to make war against the English. They were,
however, more or less engaged in incursions into Virginia, and
harassing the friendly Indians there. In 1712, they received into their
confederacy the Tuscaroras, who fled from North Carolina, as we have
related; so that, afterwards, they bore the title of the Six Nations.
The peace of Utrecht, in 1713, put an end to the hostilities between
the English and French. The Indians were now, for a number of years,
engaged in trade, both at Montreal and Albany.
In 1743, several chiefs of the Six Nations met the English
commissioners at Philadelphia. They there made a cession of their lands
on both sides of the Susquehannah, in Pennsylvania, and, in view of
the expected war with the French, renewed their bond of alliance with
them. Similar meetings and treaties occurred in 1744, between the Six
Nations and the governors of Maryland and Virginia. The Delawares were
required by the Six Nations to remove to the west side of the River
Delaware, and not to sell lands hereafter, “as they were no better
than women.” A peace was made with the Cherokees, with whom they were
at war, but not with the Catawbas, whom they threatened with their
vengeance, because they did not come and join them at the council. In
the year 1746, they met the governor of New York and renewed their
alliances; and, from time to time, they sent out parties to harass the
French, in which they were joined by the Susquehannah Indians.
Subsequently to this, the Six Nations, and especially the Mohawks,
were brought peculiarly under the influence of an English officer,
afterwards celebrated in history as Sir William Johnson. Hendrick,
the renowned king of the Mohawks, and his warriors, accompanied their
patron in his various military excursions against the French, which
terminated in the surrender of Canada to the English. The chief himself
sealed his fidelity with his blood, having fallen at the battle of Lake
George. Many instances of his sagacity are related. A council of war
having been called, on a certain occasion, and the proposition made to
send out a detachment to meet the enemy, Hendrick, being consulted,
said, “If they are to fight, they are too few; if they are to be
killed, too many.” Another proposition being made to send out three
parties, the old chief took three sticks and said, “Put these together,
and you cannot break them; one by one, you can do it easily.” His
sagacity was admitted, his advice followed, and the victory was won.
It appears that this famous chief received the title of King; the
occasion is said to have been as follows. The Mohawks and the River
Indians, called Mohegans, had a contest which should have the honor of
naming their king. Both nations gathered in their strength, and met
at a place called Woton Island, in the Hudson River, to decide the
question. A pitched battle was fought, which lasted through the day.
Towards night, the Mohawks, fearing that the Mohegans were likely to
gain the victory, suddenly took to flight, and gained another island.
In the evening, they kindled a great number of fires, and spread their
blankets on some bushes, as though they had encamped beneath them. The
Mohegans, pursuing, landed on the island in the night, and, imagining
the Mohawks to be asleep, crept up as silently as possible, and poured
a heavy fire on the spot; they then rushed forward with their knives
and tomahawks, raising their yells, and cutting and slashing in every
direction. At this moment, the Mohawks, who lay flat on the ground,
rose from their ambush at a little distance, and poured in a murderous
fire on their foes, whom they could distinguish by the light of the
fires. Most of them were killed, or borne down and taken prisoners. A
treaty was then made, by which the Mohawks were to appoint the king,
and the Mohegans were to hold them in reverence, and call them “Uncle.”
Hendrick was the monarch first named by the Mohawks. He lived to a
great age, and was killed, as has been related, at the battle of Lake
George.
The Six Nations were accustomed now to make temporary removals from
place to place, paying visits to the Miamis, Hurons, and Wyandots.
Some of them also resided on the Susquehannah, in Pennsylvania,
and received instruction from Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians.
To this party belonged the Cayuga chief, Shikellimus, the father of
Logan, the Mingo chief, whose sorrows and whose eloquence have become
so celebrated. The Mohawks accompanied Sir William Johnson in his
expedition to Niagara, in 1759, and contributed to the victory gained
over the French, when, after the death of General Prideaux, the command
devolved on Sir William. In this battle, their afterwards celebrated
chief, Brant, though but a youth, greatly distinguished himself.
The Mohawks received Protestant missionaries among them, as the
Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cayugas had received the French Catholics.
They had churches built, and some of their young men were sent into
Connecticut, to be educated there under the care of Dr. Wheelock.
In the fierce wars which broke out at the West, of which we have
elsewhere given an account, the Six Nations, in general, took no active
part, though some of the Cayugas, and the warriors on the banks of
the Susquehannah and Shamokin, occasionally became parties to them.
Still, the feelings of the Six Nations were considerably alienated
from the English, as well as those of the whole Indian race, unless
we may except the Oneidas. The reason of this probably was, that the
English did not take equal pains with the French to win them with
presents. Sir William Johnson’s influence with them, however, was
very great, and, so long as he lived, they looked up to him as their
protector and father. He died just before the commencement of the
American War of Independence. His sons, Sir John Johnson and Colonel
Guy Johnson,--the former of whom was the Indian agent for the British
government,--succeeded to his influence, and their interference was the
cause of many interruptions of the peace and happiness of the settlers
in New York and Pennsylvania during the great struggle for freedom. But
the account of these transactions, with the further history of the Six
Nations, must be reserved for another chapter.
[Illustration]
THE SIX NATIONS.
On the breaking out of the War of Independence, the Six Nations were
in alliance with the British government, and under the influence of
Sir John and Colonel Guy Johnson. As before intimated, they were led
to take part in the hostilities against the colonies. The Indians were
now living on the extended tract of country up the Mohawk valley,
and reaching beyond the small lakes in the western part of the State
of New York. The Mohawks had their principal seat in the vicinity
of Johnstown; that of the Oneidas was near Lake Oneida, and called
Oneida Castle; the Onondagas dwelt in the country around the lake
which bears their name. Onondaga Castle, as it was called, was the
centre of the confederacy, and here was the grand council-house where
the council-fire was kept perpetually burning. The Cayugas were still
further west, near Lake Cayuga, and the Senecas beyond them.
These nations had villages of well constructed huts, fine orchards,
and fruitful fields. Through the influence of the English, they had
considerably advanced in civilization, and had gathered round them many
comforts. The colonists felt a deep interest as to the part which
these nations were to take in the opening contest; and negotiations
were early entered into with them, to secure, if not their alliance
and friendship, at least their neutrality. This was, undoubtedly,
the wisest position for the Six Nations to take, and the Oneidas,
influenced by the persuasions of their good missionary, Kirkland,
agreed to adopt it. The other nations, no doubt, might have been
induced to do the same, had it not been for the great weight of Sir
John Johnson’s influence with them, enforced by the presents received
from the British governor of Canada, while the colonists were poor,
and unable to win them, by the same means, to their cause. The early
successes of the Americans, however, kept them quiet for a time, as
they were afraid to venture on open hostilities. The Mohawks met in
council, in 1775, at Guy Park, the seat of Colonel Guy Johnson, near
the Mohawk. Their principal speaker there was Little Abraham, the
brother of Hendrick. Delegates, also, from Albany and Tryon counties
attended. These expressed their desire to maintain friendship with
the inhabitants; but still the influence of Colonel Johnson operated
unfavorably for the interest of the colonies.
The Oneidas and Tuscaroras, likewise, met at German Flats, with a
committee from the two counties, and the pledge of neutrality was
there given. Colonel Johnson convened another council soon after,
composed chiefly of the Cayugas and Senecas, the most numerous of the
Six Nations. At this meeting, the minds of the Indians were seriously
alienated from the Americans; still, they continued to receive
the various commissioners sent them by Congress, and professed a
determination to preserve a neutrality in the opening war. The Mohawk
leader, at this period, was Thayandaneca, or Joseph Brant,[9] so famous
in the history of the time. His first active participation in the
contest was in 1776, on the St. Lawrence, at the battle of the Cedars,
ten miles above Montreal. He appeared there, it is said, at the head
of 600 Indians, principally the Caughnawagas, and other tribes not
including the Six Nations. The fact was scarcely known at that time by
the Americans, who yet hoped to be able to preserve themselves from the
open attacks of so formidable a foe.
The division of opinion and feeling among the tribes, on the subject of
the part to be taken in the war, was the cause of the dissolution, in
1777, of the confederacy of the Six Nations, which had so long existed,
and which had contributed so much to their strength and civilization.
The announcement of the rupture was made in a characteristic manner.
Addressing Colonel Elmore, the officer in command at Fort Stanwix, the
Oneida chiefs said, “Brother, we are sent here by the Oneida chiefs in
conjunction with the Onondagas. They arrived at our village yesterday.
They have brought us the melancholy news that the grand council-fire
at Onondaga is extinguished. We have lost out of their town ninety,
among whom are three principal sachems. We, the remaining part of
the Onondagas, do now inform our brethren that there is no longer a
council-fire at the capital of the Six Nations.” They then requested
that this intelligence should be forwarded to various American
officers, and also to the Mohawks.
We cannot but feel a melancholy regret at thus witnessing the
dissolution of this ancient confederation, which had so long bound them
together like brethren, and under the influence of which they had made
a more rapid advance in improvement than any of the contemporaneous
nations of their race. Henceforth they appear as separate tribes, and
often in arms against each other. From this point may be dated their
degeneracy, which has at last left them but the recollection of their
former greatness, while they are scattered far from their ancient seats
of power and the graves of their sires.