USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 10
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pied by the whites beyond that line, and if the report be true he desired to know who among the Indians had consented to the ap- propriation ; that he was apprehensive some error must have been committed in marking this line, as he could find no one who was present at the running of it or who could give him any definite account of it; that he was afraid the surveyers had lost themselves in the woods, that they had run a crooked line, and lience the squabbling about it; and finally, he understood St. Jago was accused of forming his settlement on the Georgia side of the line, and that he had been notified to remove. This he regarded as a great hardship, as St. Jago was one of the principal men in the Creek nation, and the Indians had acted with great liberality in ceding their lands to the whites. He asked definite informa- tion on this subject.
Governor Wright's response was couched in the following language : -
" Friend and Brother Emisteseegoe.
" Your observation on the omnipotence of the Great Governor and Master of Breath is very just, for let men propose to them- selves what they will, yet 't is subject to the overruling power of Providence, and without the Almighty's permission cannot be perfected. It is also very true that this Country, these very lands that we are now upon, were inhabited by the Red people and did belong to them before the English discovered them and landed here. That this event of the White people coming here may also be considered as owing to the good Providence of God, for the Red people being unacquainted with and unskilled in arts and sciences, were under great difficulties in clothing themselves and had no ornaments for their women or themselves, or any arms to kill deer, or to go to war against their enemies, or to de- fend themselves with, but only bows and arrows. But since the White people came amongst them they have been well clothed and gratified with a number of ornaments for their bodies and otherwise, and also taught the use of guns, powder, and ball, and have been plentifully supplied with them, which has enabled them to kill greater quantities of deer and to go to war with more success, and therefore the White peoples' coming to this country has always been considered by the Red people as a for- tunate event.
" That 'tis very true that when they became a little ac- quainted together they agreed to live as brothers upon one land and to sit at one fire: and treaties were accordingly made be-
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tween them, and the land on the sea coast for a certain dis- tance back was given by the Indians to the White people to live and plant upon. That the road between the White people and the Red was opened and agreed upon by them for the mutual advantage and convenience of both in order to carry on their trade and friendly intercourse, and that it always has been and still is the wish and desire, and for the benefit of both, that this road should continue and be kept perfectly clean, white, and unstained, and I hope, as you do, that it will always remain so, and that if, by accident, any little matter should happen that may carry an appearance of obstructing or staining that road, it will prove no more than what the blowing of the wind will re- more: and that all our treaties, as well those made by our fore- fathers as ourselves, will be duly regarded and observed on both
" It will bo eight years next month since I came Governor of tbh Province, during which time I have constantly and to the stammt of my power observed all the treaties and agreements that were made before I came, and all treaties, agreements or promises that I have at any time made with any of the Red l'rople since I came, and this I am very certain all your people that know me, or that are acquainted with our transactions, will say and allow.
" It's possible that some straggling vagrants or vagabonds may haro broke through treaties and orders, or may hereafter do so, but such things, if done, have been, and if hereafter done, will bo unknown to me : and it is next to impossible to come at or punish such wandering people who, the moment they commit such an injury or offence, fly away to another Province : but you may be assured that I and the beloved men now present, and all the good people of this Province are friends to the Red people. And I have received orders from the Great King to live in peace and friendship with you and to treat you as his children : and as such I now look upon you and receive you : and the length of the Journey you have taken to come and see me is a strong circumstance and sign of your friendly disposition and good will to the White people, and as such we all look upon it and will endeavour, if possible, to strengthen the link, vine, or chain of friendship that holds us together.
" I have heard of the friendly visit you paid to the Governor of West Florida and of the cession of lands you made to the great King in that part of the Country, and which gave me great satis-
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faction. As all the White people, live where they will, as you justly observe, are one and the same people, they are all the great King's children, and are in some measure interested in the welfare of one another : and I doubt not but the Governor of West Florida will duly observe the limits and boundary settled and agreed upon with you.
" I do not know that I have ever transacted any matters of real business with any Indians but such as were fully and properly authorized by the Head Men in general, well knowing that it would answer no good end or purpose : and that a few people un- authorized could have no right or pretence to negotiate or settle any matters of consequence between the White and Red people: and that consequently instead of proving of any benefit or ad- vantage, it would be attended with difficulties and inconven- iencies.
" With respect to the Superintendent's conversation with you relative to your disputes or war with the Chickasaws and Chac- taws, it is a matter that he did not consult me upon : but what- ever my Friends may look upon as for their advantage and hap- piness, will always give me pleasure. And with respect to the Superintendent's ordering Cattle to be drove to Pensacola, I know nothing of it, nor can I positively say what was his reason for desiring that no other Cattle might be allowed to be drove through your Country to Pensacola till his were first carried thither : unless, as he knew that there was a great scarcity of cattle there, he thought if private persons who might drive cattle there for mere luere should get there first, they would impose upon the people, take advantage of their necessity, and make them pay an extravagant price for them. Whereas, if his cattle got there first, he and his friends would be supplied at a moder- ate price, and not be obliged to purchase at an extravagant rate from those who might carry cattle there in the way of trade.
" I know nothing of Mr. Galphin's driving any cattle through your country to West Florida : but presume the Governor of that Province might be in want of cattle and purchase them from Mr. Galphin in this Province, but to be delivered at Pensacola : or Mr. Galphin, who is a general trader, might send them there in the way of trade, and expecting to get a good price for them as they have not as yet got many stocks of cattle in that coun- try.
"I very well remember the Congress at Angusta in November 1763, at which I presided, and had the pleasure of seeing you :
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and I cannot forget the several matters that were settled and agreed upon at that Congress, because the whole was then re- duced to writing and signed by all the Governors and the Super- intendent, and also by the Head Men of the Indians then pres- ent, and which I have now here in print: and by which it was agreed that, to prevent mistakes, doubts, and disputes for the future, the boundary between the English settlements and the lands and hunting grounds of the Indians should be known and settled by a line extending up Savannah river to Little river and back to the fork of Little river, and from the fork of Little river to the end of the south branch of Briar Creek, and down that branch to the Lower Creek path, and along the Lower Creek path to the main stream of Ogechee river, and down the main stream of that river just below the path leading from Mount Pleasant, and from thence in a straight line cross to Sancta Sevilla on the Alatamaha river, and from thence to the South- wand as far as Georgia extends or may be extended : to remain to te regulated agreeable to former treaties. And his Majesty basing ance settled the boundary between this Province and Ead Florida to be the river St. Mary, at a Congress held at Miculata in the Province of East Florida by Governor Grant and the Superintendent with a number of Indians on the 18th of No- vember 1765, all the Head Men then present empowered Cap- tain Alleck to settle a new lower line cross from Ogeechee to the Alatamaha, and from thence to St. Mary's. And accordingly Captain Alleck came here and, in January 1766, the line was settled and agreed as follows vizt : that for the future the boun- dary line between the English settlements in this Province and the hunting grounds of the Creek Indians shall be known and settled by a line from that part of Great Ogeechee river where the Lower Trading path leading from Mount Pleasant on Savan- nah river to the Lower Creek Nation crosses the said river Ogee- chee in a straight line cross the country to that part of the river Alatamaha opposite to Penholloway or Turkey Creek, and that a line shall be continued from the said Creek cross the country to the river St. Mary, on a south-west course, which it is sup- posed will extend as far up the said river as the tide flows or swells. And I sent up a copy of this Agreement by Captain Al- leck that he might shew it to the Head Men, and I received an answer that it was right : and this I look upon, and shall strictly observe and regard as the boundary line between us. And I want no more lands of the Indians, but am very well satisfied
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with what we have, and I don't believe that there is a single settlement or hut above this line.
" It has frequently been reported by Indians that the White people had settled over the line, but on my sending to examine, I was always informed by the people I sent that it was not true. However, in order to prevent mistakes, and that every body both White and Red might know where the line is, where there is no river or natural landmark, I sent a talk about a year and a half ago desiring that the Red people would send down such persons as they thought proper to see the trees marked. And accord- ingly the beginning of June last the Coweta Lieutenant, Sele- chee, the Blue Salt, and some others were sent down to see it done. And Mr. Galphin and Mr. Barnard with a surveyor and some other white people went up Little river, and as I have since been informed, both by them and the above Indians who all came down to me, they did mark the line cross from Little river to Great Ogeechee to the satisfaction of both the White people and the Indians that were present, and it has also been marked from the Lower Trading Path aforesaid to Ogeechee cross to Coono- chee river where, some mistake happening, they stopped and pro- ceeded no further but went home : upon which I sent up a talk and have received an answer that they will send down some of their principal Head Men the latter end of this month to see it finished : and I have since proposed to them by another talk that it should be entirely finished cross from Coonochee to the river St Mary which is the boundary between this Province and East Florida : and have sent them a sketch of the line as I understand it is to be marked, that they may know everything clearly before they come down.
" And there being two very large Goose Ponds above the place where by the treaty the line should run, and as those ponds on account of the grass and water will be very useful to the White people for their Cattle, therefore I have proposed and submitted to the Indians whether, on account of the Cattle always getting water in the Goose Ponds they will agree to vary the line a lit- tle, as marked upon the paper sent them, and now shewn to you, so as just to take in those ponds. And the trifle of land that will be taken in by the proposed alteration is not fit to plant or worth one shilling but on account of the grass and water as I have mentioned, it being all low, good-for-nothing pine barren.
" And with respect to your apprehension of some error in the upper line cross from Little river to Ogecheo, as you cannot find
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any body who can give you a tolerable account of fit, and there- fore suppose they had lost themselves in the woods or else they would have run a straight course, and not have traversed as you suppose they did, I will give you the fullest satisfaction and ex- planation about it that it is in my power to do, and shall ac- quaint you with the whole matter as far as I know. On my being informed that the Indians would be down by the begin- ning of June to see the line marked, I wrote to Mr. Galphin, whom I knew the Indians were well acquainted with, and who was their friend, and also to Mr. Barnard of Augusta, whom many of you likewise know, and desired them, when the Indians should come, to meet them and see that they were well taken care of, and then to join them and Mr. Mackintosh, the Superintendent's deputy, and proceed to the fork of Little river and mark the line crina from thence to Ogechee river agreeable to the treaty of Augusta, and gave them particular instructions to be careful not to have any difference or dispute with the Indians, and that if the he could not be run exactly agreeable to the words of the trvaly, then to get it done as nearly to it as they could. And those gentlemen, after the business was over and finished, wrote me that the Indians had entertained a different notion or idea of the fork of Little river from what we did : for they supposed the fork to be at a place called Upton's Creek, but on the matter be- ing talked over amongst them and explained, they were satisfied of the mistake, and that Upton's Creek was not the fork, and therefore proceeded further up the river, but at length stopt at a Creek called Williams's Creek, about six miles below the real fork, and insisted on the line beginning there and being marked cross from that place to Ogechee river which, to avoid disputes, they agreed to according to my directions. That they proceeded up that creek as the line for about six or seven miles till they came to an old hunting path, and then, at the request of the In- dians, they marked the line along that hunting path till they came to the main branch of Upton's Creek, and then followed Upton's Creek as the line till they came near to the end of the south branch of Briar Creek, and then turned down that branch of Briar ('reek till they came to the Lower Creek path, and then followed that path to the main stream of Ogeechee exactly agree- able to the treaty of Augusta. So that the whole appears to me to be agreeable to that treaty except our beginning to mark the line from Little river six or seven miles below or short of the real fork of Little river: and which is rather against us than in
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favor of us, as I shall shew by the surveyor's draught of the lines. And I do not know of any Indian or Indians that have taken upon them to give up any lands to the White people other than agreeable to the treaty, nor would I accept of any but from the nation, and this you may clearly see by my applying to the na- tion to consent to take in that trifling piece of good-for-nothing pine-barren, the Goose Ponds. And you must now see that agreeable to the treaty it was impossible to run a straight line from the fork of Little river to Ogechee; for, by the express words of that treaty, it appears that there were to be several bends and turnings in it as thereby described : and you now see by the plot, and as the line is now marked, there are natural land marks of creeks and paths the whole way. And all of it from Upton's Creek to the Great Ogechee river is expressly agreeable to the treaty. But that part of the line from Little river to Upton's Creek could not be exactly agreeable to the treaty because the Indians insisted on beginning six or seven miles below and before they came to the real fork, and which is a circumstance rather in favor of the Indians than the White people as you see by the plot. But, however, I am perfectly sat- isfied with the line as it is marked. I want no more, and shall do everything in my power that it may be observed, agreeable to your own expression, as a great stone wall : and that not a tree shall be cut down above or beyond it.
" And with respect to what you mention about St. Jago's set- tlement, you are greatly mistaken in your idea of the geography of that part of this Province, for his settlement is almost in the middle of our settlements and a great many miles within or below the line from Ogechee as settled and agreed by the treaty of Augusta. And St. Jago knows very well that about two months ago, on his telling me that somebody claimed the land he is settled upon, I gave him a paper signifying that he had my leave to live there, and was to remain there undisturbed. How- ever, I shall inquire whether that land is within any of the White people's grants, and if I find it to be so, I will take care that it shall be secured to St. Jago."
Ilis excellency having concluded, and Emistescegoe being ad- vised, through Mr. McGillivray, that if he desired to add any- thing to what he had already said the governor and council were prepared to lend a willing ear, that Indian chief replied : he-was greatly disappointed in not meeting Mr. Stewart and Mr. Mack- intosh here, as he had expected ; that he had conferred on sev-
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eral occasions with the superintendent and his deputy ; that the Creek nation always treated with great respect all talks which his excellency sent up, but in his judgment there was not like regard paid by the whites to the suggestions and complaints of the Indians; that there appeared to be something avanting on the part of the white people; that this was the great town of the province, and he was come hither to be resolved of several things concerning which he was in doubt; that notwithstanding the re- spect entertained by the Indians for the talks and letters of the governor and superintendent, the white people trading among them were the first to ridicule and disregard the regulations pro- mulgated for their observance ; that although it was ordered and settled, and the traders were instructed that no raw skins should be received from the Indians, that injunction was violated day by day, and this in the teeth of remonstrances made to the deputy superintendent ; that although the importation of spirituous liq- Hora within the limits of the Indian nation was limited to a joifiel unmber of kegs, the restriction was not adhered to, but the amount brought in was constantly increased ; that there were too many traders among the Indians, and that they had intro- duced more goods than they could possibly purchase and pay for; that great mischief ensued, the Indians being often persuaded to sell their horses for strong drink, and to barter their skins for rum when they should have been exchanged for clothing ; that Indians were frequently employed as factors by the traders, - a hurtful and improper measure because they were unacquainted with English laws and were not liable to their penalties ; that complaint had been lodged with the superintendent who prom- ised to redress their wrongs, but, instead of these mischiefs, abuses, and inconveniences being abated, the evils complained of remained as flagrant as ever ; that in order to prevent discovery the Indians employed as factors by the traders were instructed to respond, when interrogated with regard to the goods in their possession, that they belonged to them and that they had pur- chased them for themselves; that at the Congress Sempiaffe complained of certain traders who went about in the woods clan- destinely trafficking with the Indians for raw skins, and injuring the trade of the licensed dealers ; he desired that the grievance should be suppressed, and stated, for his part, if he met with any of these lawless traders in future he would regard them as French und Spaniards, and treat them accordingly ; that it was also mentioned at the Congress that the path from the Indian nation
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to the white towns should always be kept straight and open ; that their fathers traveled from thence to Charlestown, although they sometimes left their bodies on the road; that at no time had there been such-ill will between the Indians and the white people as had arisen since the Virginians came into the province ; that they were continually robbing the Indians of their horses and in- juring them in many ways; that he desired to be accepted by his excellency as a friend who had journeyed from afar to shake hands with him ; and that, while among the Indians there was but little distinction in outward apparel, Governor Wright might rest assured that the Tiger Family, of which he was a member, was of royal descent.
The council having reassembled on the 6th, his excellency, in the presence of James Habersham, Noble Jones, Francis Har- ris, Jonathan Bryan, Grey Elliott, James Read, and John Gra- ham, members of council, delivered the following concluding talk which he had intermediately prepared : -
" I am sorry that Mr. Stewart and Mr. Mackintosh could not be here according to your desire, but not receiving your message till yesterday seven-night, and then from the time you mentioned you should be here I expected you every day, it was impossible to have Mr. Stewart here in time, especially as he is very infirm and lame with the gout, and cannot travel with expedition, so that it would possibly have been three weeks before he would have received my message and have come here, even if he had been able or could have come at all which was very doubtful. And as to Mr. Mackintosh he also lives at a considerable dis- tance, and it is a very difficult and bad way to his plantation : no roads are yet made in that part of the country, and the swamps are now full of water and almost impassable : and I thought there was the less occasion for his being present as he is not going any more into your country as Mr. Stewart's deputy.
" I very well know that you have paid due regard to several talks that I have sent up to you, and doubt not but you will con- tinue to do so, as I shall always regard yours : and am very sorry you should find anything is wanting on the part of the White people that go into your country to trade with you, and that those people should be the first who despise and disobey the necessary orders and good regulations that are attempted to be established amongst and between them and the Indians, but we have bad people amongst us as well as you have.
"I know very well that it is a part of my orders and instruc-
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CONCLUDING SPEECHI OF GOVERNOR WRIGIIT.
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tions to the Indian traders, as well as the Superintendent's, that they shall not take any raw skins, and that they shall not carry any rum into the nation, except about fifteen gallons once in three months for building of houses and other necessary purposes, also that no Indians or half-breeds should be employed as factors or to trade for any of the traders : and I am perfectly well satis- fied of the truth of all the grievances and inconveniences you mention and complain of. And you may be assured that I will, to the utmost of my power, prevent these abuses for the future, and punish those that are guilty of them. But although we have many laws and all the white people are subject and liable to be punished by them, yet I must explain to you the difficulty I shall be under in so doing : for it is one part of our law that no man can be punished until he is found guilty of the crime or offence, that he is accused of, by a jury of twelve men, and that jury must have proof that the man is guilty before they can find him so: and this makes it very difficult for us to punish offenders, who live at so great a distance as your towns are from this, for want of proof. And many who could give evidence against others will not do it because they are guilty of the same crime themselves, and are afraid that those persons may inform against them. And another difficulty is that I cannot punish men who have not their license from me but from the Governor of Caro- lina, or either of the Floridas, and therefore I should be glad to have the names of the men who have misbehaved in the manner you mention that I may know whether they belong to this Prov- ince, or are licensed by me, or not, and also to be informed of the names of any of the traders who know or can prove those matters against any others. And you may depend upon it I will do everything in my power to punish them and prevent those abuses for the future, for I am as much against them as you can possibly be, but you see it is difficult for me to do that which I should be very glad to do.
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