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.
_The Commissioners of_ Virginia _desired the Interpreter to let the_
Indians _know, that their Brother_ Assaragoa _was now going to give his
Reply to their Answer to his first Speech, delivered them the Day before
in the Forenoon_.
_Sachems and Warriors of the united_ Six Nations,
We are now come to answer what you said to us Yesterday, since what we
said to you before on the Part of the Great King, our Father, has not
been satisfactory. You have gone into old Times, and so must we. It is
true that the Great King holds _Virginia_ by Right of Conquest, and the
Bounds of that Conquest to the Westward is the Great Sea.
If the _Six Nations_ have made any Conquest over _Indians_ that may at
any Time have lived on the West-side of the Great Mountains of
_Virginia_, yet they never possessed any Lands there that we have ever
heard of. That Part was altogether deserted, and free for any People to
enter upon, as the People of _Virginia_ have done, by Order of the Great
King, very justly, as well by ancient Right, as by its being freed from
the Possession of any other, and from any Claim even of you the _Six
Nations_, our Brethren, until within these eight Years. The first Treaty
between the Great King, in Behalf of his Subjects of _Virginia_, and
you, that we can find, was made at _Albany_, by Colonel _Henry Coursey_,
Seventy Years since; this was a Treaty of Friendship, when the first
Covenant Chain was made, when we and you became Brethren.
The next Treaty was also at _Albany_, above Fifty-eight Years ago, by
the Lord _Howard_, Governor of _Virginia_; then you declared yourselves
Subjects to the Great King, our Father, and gave up to him all your
Lands for his Protection. This you own in a Treaty made by the Governor
of _New-York_ with you at the same Place in the Year 1687, and you
express yourself in these Words, "Brethren, you tell us the King of
_England_ is a very great King, and why should not you join with us in a
very just Cause, when the _French_ join with our Enemies in an unjust
Cause? O Brethren, we see the Reason of this; for the _French_ would
fain kill us all, and when that is done, they would carry all the Beaver
Trade to _Canada_, and the _Great King of_ England would lose the Land
likewise; and therefore, O Great Sachem, beyond the Great Lakes, awake,
and suffer not those poor _Indians_, that have given themselves and
their Lands under your Protection, to be destroyed by the _French_
without a Cause."
The last Treaty we shall speak to you about is that made at _Albany_ by
Governor _Spotswood_, which you have not recited as it is: For the white
People, your Brethren of _Virginia_, are, in no Article of that Treaty,
prohibited to pass, and settle to the Westward of the Great Mountains.
It is the _Indians_, tributary to _Virginia_, that are restrained, as
you and your tributary _Indians_ are from passing to the Eastward of the
same Mountains, or to the Southward of _Cohongorooton_, and you agree to
this Article in these Words; "That the Great River of _Potowmack_, and
the high Ridge of Mountains, which extend all along the Frontiers of
_Virginia_ to the Westward of the present Settlements of that Colony,
shall be for ever the established Boundaries between the _Indians_
subject to the Dominions of _Virginia_, and the _Indians_ belonging to
and depending on the _Five Nations_; so that neither our _Indians_ shall
on any Pretence whatsoever, pass to Northward or Westward of the said
Boundaries, without having to produce a Passport under the Hand and Seal
of the Governor or Commander in Chief of _Virginia_; nor your _Indians_
to pass to the Southward or Eastward of the said Boundaries, without a
Passport in like Manner from the Governor or Commander in Chief of
_New-York_."
And what Right can you have to Lands that you have no Right to walk
upon, but upon certain Conditions? It is true, you have not observed
this Part of the Treaty, and your Brethren of _Virginia_ have not
insisted upon it with a due Strictness, which has occasioned some
Mischief.
This Treaty has been sent to the Governor of _Virginia_ by Order of the
Great King, and is what we must rely on, and, being in Writing, is more
certain than your Memory. That is the Way the white People have of
preserving Transactions of every Kind, and transmitting them down to
their Childrens Children for ever, and all Disputes among them are
settled by this faithful kind of Evidence, and must be the Rule between
the Great King and you. This Treaty your Sachems and Warriors signed
some Years after the same Governor _Spotswood_, in the Right of the
Great King, had been, with some People of _Virginia_, in Possession of
these very Lands, which you have set up your late Claim to.
The Commissioners for _Indian_ Affairs at _Albany_ gave the Account we
mentioned to you Yesterday to the Governor of _New-York_, and he sent it
to the Governor of _Virginia_; their Names will be given you by the
Interpreter.
_Brethren_,
This Dispute is not between _Virginia_ and you; it is setting up your
Right against the Great King, under whose Grants the People you complain
of are settled. Nothing but a Command from the Great King can remove
them; they are too powerful to be removed by any Force of you, our
Brethren; and the Great King, as our common Father, will do equal
Justice to all his Children; wherefore we do believe they will be
confirmed in their Possessions.
As to the Road you mention, we intended to prevent any Occasion for it,
by making a Peace between you and the Southern _Indians_, a few Years
since, at a considerable Expence to our Great King, which you confirmed
at _Albany_. It seems, by your being at War with the _Catawbas_, that
it has not been long kept between you.
However, if you desire a Road, we will agree to one on the Terms of the
Treaty you made with Colonel _Spotswood_, and your People, behaving
themselves orderly like Friends and Brethren, shall be used in their
Passage through _Virginia_ with the same Kindness as they are when they
pass through the Lands of your Brother _Onas_. This we hope, will be
agreed to by you our Brethren, and we will abide by the Promise made to
you Yesterday.
We may proceed to settle what we are to give you for any Right you may
have, or have had to all the Lands to the Southward and Westward of the
Lands of your Brother the Governor of _Maryland_, and of your Brother
Onas; tho' we are informed that the Southern _Indians_ claim these very
Lands that you do.
We are desirous to live with you, our Brethren, according to the old
Chain of Friendship, to settle all these Matters fairly and honestly;
and, as a Pledge of our Sincerity, we give you this Belt of Wampum.
_Which was received with the usual Ceremony_.
* * * * *
In the C o u r t-H o u s e Chamber at _Lancaster_, _June_ 29, 1744,
_A. M._