The Honourable _G E O R G E T H O M A S_, Esq; Governor, &c.
The Honourable the Commissioners of _Virginia_.
The Honourable the Commissioners of _Maryland_.
The Deputies of the _Six Nations_.
_Conrad Weiser_, Interpreter.
_T A C H A N O O N T I A spoke as follows_:
_Brother_ Assaragoa,
Since you have joined with the Governor of _Maryland_ and Brother _Onas_
in kindling this Fire, we gladly acknowledge the Pleasure we have in
seeing you here, and observing your good Dispositions as well to
confirm the Treaties of Friendship, as to enter into further Contracts
about Land with us; and, in Token of our Satisfaction, we present you
with this String of Wampum.
_Which was received with the usual Ceremonies_.
_Brother_ Assaragoa,
In your Speech this Morning you were pleased to say we had wrote a
Letter to _James Logan_, about seven Years ago, to demand a
Consideration for our Lands in the Possession of some of the
_Virginians_; that you held them under the Great King for upwards of One
Hundred and Sixty Years, and that we had already given up our Right; and
that therefore you had desired the Governor of _New-York_ to send his
Interpreter to us last Year to _Onandago_, which he did; and, as you
say, we in Council at _Onandago_ did declare, that we had no Demand upon
you for Lands, and that if we had any Pretensions, we should have made
them known to the Governor of _New-York_; and likewise you desire to
know if we have any Right to the _Virginia_ Lands, and that we will make
such Right appear, and tell you what Nations of _Indians_ we conquered
those Lands from.
Now we answer, We have the Right of Conquest, a Right too dearly
purchased, and which cost us too much Blood, to give up without any
Reason at all, as you say we have done at _Albany_; but we should be
obliged to you, if you would let us see the Letter, and inform us who
was the Interpreter, and whose Names are put to that Letter; for as the
whole Transaction cannot be above a Year's standing, it must be fresh in
every Body's Memory, and some of our Council would easily remember it;
but we assure you, and are well able to prove, that neither we, nor any
Part of us, have ever relinquished our Right, or ever gave such an
Answer as you say is mentioned in your Letter. Could we, so few Years
ago, make a formal Demand, by _James Logan_, and not be sensible of our
Right? And hath any thing happened since that Time to make us less
sensible? No; and as this Matter can be easily cleared up, we are
anxious it should be done; for we are positive no such thing was ever
mentioned to us at _Onandago_, nor any where else. All the World knows
we conquered the several Nations living on _Sasquahannah_,
_Cohongoronta_, and on the Back of the Great Mountains in _Virginia_;
the _Conoy-uch-such-roona_, _Coch-now-was-roonan, Tohoa-irough-roonan_,
and _Connutskin-ough-roonaw_, feel the Effects of our Conquests, being
now a Part of our Nations, and their Lands at our Disposal. We know very
well, it hath often been said by the _Virginians_, that the _Great King_
of England, and the People of that Colony, conquered the _Indians_ who
lived there, but it is not true. We will allow they have conquered the
_Sachdagughroonaw_, and drove back the _Tuscarroraws_, and that they
have, on that Account, a Right to some Part of _Virginia_; but as to
what lies beyond the Mountains, we conquered the Nations residing there,
and that Land, if the _Virginians_ ever get a good Right to it, it must
be by us; and in Testimony of the Truth of our Answer to this Part of
your Speech, we give you this String of Wampum
_Which was received with the usual Ceremony_.
_Brother_ Assaragoa,
We have given you a full Answer to the first Part of your Speech, which
we hope will be satisfactory. We are glad to hear you have brought with
you a big Chest of new Goods, and that you have the Key in your Pockets.
We do not doubt but we shall have a good Understanding in all Points,
and come to an Agreement with you.
We shall open all our Hearts to you, that you may know every thing in
them; we will hide nothing from you; and we hope, if there be any thing
still remaining in your Breast that may occasion any Dispute between us,
you will take the Opportunity to unbosom your Hearts, and lay them open
to us, that henceforth there may be no Dirt, nor any other Obstacle in
the Road between us; and in Token of our hearty Wishes to bring about so
good an Harmony, we present you with this Belt of Wampum.
_Which was received with the usual Ceremony_.
_Brother_ Assaragoa,
We must now tell you what Mountains we mean that we say are the
Boundaries between you and us. You may remember, that about twenty Years
ago you had a Treaty with us at _Albany_, when you took a Belt of
Wampum, and made a Fence with it on the Middle of the Hill, and told us,
that if any of the Warriors of the _Six Nations_ came on your Side of
the Middle of the Hill, you would hang them; and you gave us Liberty to
do the same with any of your People who should be found on our Side of
the Middle of the Hill. This is the Hill we mean; and we desire that
Treaty may be now confirmed. After we left _Albany_, we brought our Road
a great deal more to the West, that we might comply with your Proposal;
but, tho' it was of your own making, your People never observed it, but
came and lived on our Side of the Hill, which we don't blame you for, as
you live at a great Distance, near the Seas, and cannot be thought to
know what your People do in the Back-parts: And on their settling,
contrary to your own Proposal, on our new Road, it fell out that our
Warriors did some Hurt to your People's Cattle, of which a Complaint was
made, and transmitted to us by our Brother _Onas_; and we, at his
Request, altered the Road again, and brought it to the Foot of the
Great Mountain, where it now is; and it is impossible for us to remove
it any further to the West, those Parts of the Country being absolutely
impassable by either Man or Beast.
We had not been long in the Use of this new Road before your People
came, like Flocks of Birds, and sat down on both Sides of it, and yet we
never made a Complaint to you, tho' you must be sensible those Things
must have been done by your People in manifest Breach of your own
Proposal made at _Albany_; and therefore, as we are now opening our
Hearts to you, we cannot avoid complaining, and desire all these Affairs
may be settled, and that you may be stronger induced to do us Justice
for what is past, and to come to a thorough Settlement for the future,
we, in the Presence of the Governor of _Maryland_, and Brother Onas,
present you with this Belt of Wampum.
_Which was received with the usual Ceremony_.
_Then_ Tachanoontia _added_:
That he forgot to say, that the Affair of the Road must be looked upon
as a Preliminary to be settled before the Grant of Lands; and, said he,
either the _Virginia_ People must be obliged to remove more Easterly,
or, if they are permitted to stay, our Warriors, marching that Way to
the Southward, shall go Sharers with them in what they plant.
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