USA > New York > Steuben County > A history of Steuben County, New York, and its people, Vol. I > Part 10
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Other and further treaties were had with the Indians. Early in the spring of 1788 another council of the Six Nations was con- templated by the New York commissioners. In answer to a message from them requesting the Indians to fix upon a time, some of the chiefs answered in writing that it must be after "the corn is hoed." Massachusetts, not having then parted with her preemption right west of Seneca lake, Governor Clinton wrote to Governor Hancock to secure the co-operation of Massachusetts in counteracting the designs of the lessees. The general court declared the lease "null and void," but Governor Hancock, in his reply, stated that Massachusetts, on account of the embarrassed condition of the commonwealth, was about to comply with the proposals of some of her citizens for the purchase of the preemption right.
THE FORT SCHUYLER TREATY.
The first day of September was fixed for the time for the treaty, and Fort Schuyler* was designated as the place. Active prepara-
*Fort Schuyler and Fort Stanwix have been so frequently mentioned as the places where important Indian councils were held and treaties made, in these pages, that the apparent confusion should be removed. Fort Stanwix was within the limits of the present city of Rome, Oneida county, New York. Fort Stanwix was built in the summer of 1758. It was heavily armed with the best guns for its defense, and provided with commodious quarters for the officers and men of its garrison, and with ample storehouses. It was begun by Brigadier General John Stanwix of the Royal British Army, July
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tions were made for it through the summer, under the general super- vision of John Taylor, the superintendent of Indian affairs, with the zealous co-operation of Governor. Clinton. In all the vil- lages of the Six Nations the lessees had their agents and run- ners, or Indian traders, in their interest. Even the Rev. Mr. Kirk- land had been deceived or corrupted by them, and had played a part inconsistent with his profession and his obligations to Massa- chusetts. It was reported to Governor Clinton that, in preaching to the Indians, he had advised them to lease to the New York and Canada companies, as their territory was so wide he could not make his voice heard to its full extent. At the treaty in Kanadesaga, when the long lease was procured, he had acted differently for the lessees. To counteract these strong influences, agents and runners were put in requisition by the New York commissioners, and during the summer the poor Indians had but little peace. Preparations for the embassy to the Indian country, at New York and Albany, were formidable ones. A sloop came up from New York with Indian goods, stores for the expedition, marquees and tents, specie for pur- chase money, members of the board of commissioners and their asso- ciates who resided in New York, and many curious spectators, among whom were Count Monsbiers, the then French minister, and his sister. The board of commissioners and their retinne started from Albany on the twenty-third day of August, the goods and baggage going up the Mohawk in bateaux, which had been built for the purpose.
They arrived at Fort Stanwix on the twenty-eighth and a wild and romantic scene was soon presented. The veteran soldier, George Clinton, pitched his marquee and was as much the general as if he had headed a military instead of a civil expedition. Among his asso- ciates in the commission and his companions were many who had been conspicuous with him in the Revolution, and were the leading men in ten of the young states. They were surrounded by the camp fires of the numerous representatives of the Six Nations, amount- ing to thousands, who had been attracted to the spot, some by the interest they felt in the negotiations, but by far the larger part by the hopes and promises of feasts and carousals. Indian traders from all localities in New York and Canada, with their showy goods, ornaments and trinkets and "fire water," were on the ground, ready to dispose of either, when the Indians were paid their money, and equally ready to espouse the cause of the lessees. Some of the prom- inent lessees from Albany, Hudson and Canada had preceded the governor and were in the crowd, secretly and insidiously endeavoring to thwart the object of the council. Irritated by all he had heard of the machinations of the lessees, and learning that one of their
23. 1758, upon the advice of Sir William Johnson. It was a square work. with bastions at the corners: of earth and timber, surrounded by a deep ditch. It stood a few rods south of the present city park. . General Stanwix was lost at sea in 1765. After the close of the French war, in 1763, it was allowed to fall into ruin. In 1776, Colonel Dayton was sent by the Con- tinental authorities to rebuild this fort, which he did, and named it Fort Schuyler. The place has been since referred to or known in historical accounts as Fort Stanwix and Fort Schuyler, both designations meaning the same place.
At the present site of Utica, a stockaded work was built in 1758, by Colonel Peter Schuyler, an uncle of General Philip Schuyler, and called Fort Schuyler. It was an unimportant work and soon fell into decay. It was not the place where the several councils were held and treatles made, referred to herein, Later. by an order of Gen. Philip Schuyler, the original name of Fort Stanwix was restored,
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principals, John Livingston, of Livingston Manor, was present, with the concurrence of his associates, Governor Clinton "took the respon- sibility, as did Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, more than a quar- ter of a century after, and Benjamin F. Butler at the same city eighty years later on, and ordered him to leave in 'three hours' and retire to the distance of forty miles from Fort Schuyler.
"After this Governor Clinton organized a species of court or in- quest and, summoning Indians, Indian traders and runners in the interest of both the state and of the lessees, took affidavits of all that had transpired in procuring the long lease. It exposed a con- nected scheme of bribery, threats, intimidation and deception prac- ticed upon the Indians. . Finding that the Senecas were holding back from the treaty, and that many of the head men of the Cayugas and Onondagas were absent, and learning that there was a counter-gath- ering at Kanadesaga, messengers were sent there, who found Dr. Benton surrounded by Indians and his agents, dealing out liquor and goods and delivering speeches, in which he assured the Indians that if they went to Fort Schuyler, the Governor of New York would either cheat them out of their lands or, failing in that, would fall upon them with an armed force. Many of the Indians were un- deceived and finally induced to go to Fort Schuyler, when they had recovered from the state of beastly intoxication in which they had been kept by Dr. Benton and other agents of the lessees. Such had been the excesses into which they had been betrayed, to keep them away from the treaty, that many of them, when becoming sober, were sick and unable to reach Fort Schuyler, and a Cayuga chief, Spruce Carrier, died on the road. When they were encamped at Scawyance, twelve miles east of Seneca lake, on the eastern trail, Debartzch, a French trader at Cashong, in the interest of the lessees, went there, and by intimidation, and the use of rum and promises of presents, induced them to turn back.
"It was not until the eighth of September that the different nations were so far represented as to warrant proceeding to the business of the council. Governor Clinton addressed the Onondagas, informing thein minutely of the positions in which the Six Na- tions stood in reference to their lands; that they were theirs to dis- pose of when they pleased, but that to protect them from frauds, the state had reserved to itself the right to purchase whenever they were disposed to sell. He told them the acts of the lessees were the acts of 'disobedient children' of the state, and that they were a 'cheat,' at the same time informing them that the commissioners of the state, he and his associates, were there prepared to purchase. He cautioned them to keep sober during the council. Black Cap, in behalf of the Onondagas, replied, assuring the governor that the Onondagas disapproved of the proceedings with the lessees and had made up their minds to sell to the state, but wanted a little further time to talk among themselves. On the twelfth of September the treaty was concluded and the deed of cession of the Onondagas, some reservations excepted, was executed; the consideration was one thou- sand dollars in hand and an annuity of five hundred dollars forever. After the treaty was concluded, additional presents of goods and provisions were made and distributed and congratulatory speeches interchanged. 'As the business on which we had met,' said the governor, 'is now happily accomplished, we shall cover up the coun-
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cil fire at this time and take a drink, and devote the remainder of the day to decent mirth.' "
At the negotiations which followed next day with the Oneidas, Governor Clinton made an opening speech similar to the one he had delivered to the Onondagas. This was replied to by Beech Tree, who said the speech of the governor would be replied to after the people had consulted together. The next day, just as the council had assembled, word came of the death of a young warrior, who had been drowned in Wood creek while in a state of intoxication. The Indians refused to proceed with the council till they had first at- tended to the funeral, after which the council was resumed. Domi- nie Peter, or Good Peter, replied to the speech of the governor. He reminded him of a remark made by him at Fort Herkimer in 1785- in substance, that he should not ask them for any more land. The chief recapitulated in a long speech, with surprising accuracy, every point in the governor's speech and observed if anything had been omitted it was because he had not "the advantage of the use of let- ters." He then made an apology that he was fatigued and wished to sit down and rest, and that in the meantime, according to ancient custom, another speaker would arise and raise the spirit of their de- ceased sachem, the Grasshopper. But before he sat down he in- formed the governor that the man bearing the name Oe-dat-segh-ta was the first name known in their national council, and had long been published throughout the confederacy; that his friend, the Grasshopper, was the counselor for the tribe, to whom that name belonged, and therefore they replaced the Grasshopper with this lad, "whom you are to call Kan-y-a-da-i-go (presenting the young lad to the governor and commissioners), and that until he arrives at an age to qualify him to transact business personally in council, their friend, Hans Jurio, is to bear the name of O-jis-tal-a-be, which is the same as Grasshopper, and to be counselor for this young man and his clan until that period."
The governor disclaimed any desire on the part of the state to purchase their lands, but strenuously urged upon them that the state would not tolerate the purchase or leasing by individuals. He told them when they chose to sell the state would buy more for their good than anything else, as the state then had more land than it could occupy with people.
Good Peter, following, said that the governor's speech was ex- cellent and to their minds. "We comprehend every word of your speech," he continued. "It is true, indeed, for we see you pos- sessed of an extensive territory and but here and there a smoke. But," said he further, "we, too, have disorderly people in our nation. You have a keg here, and they have their eyes upon it, and nothing can divert them from the pursuit of it. And if one dies, there is another who will not be deterred by it, but will continue to seek after it. It is just so with your people. As long as one spot of our ex- cellent land remains, they will covet it, and will never rest till they possess it." He said it would take him a long time to tell the governor "all his thoughts and contemplations." His mind, he said, was "perplexed and paincd-it labors hard." In a short digression he spoke of the Tree of Peace, and expressed his fears that "by and by some twig of this beautiful tree will be broken off. The wind seems always to blow and shake this beloved tree." Before sitting
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down, Good Peter observed that they had all agreed to place the business of the council, on their part, in the hands of Colonel Louis and Peter Oslequette, who would be "their mouth and their ears." There was also appointed, as their advisors, a committee of principal chiefs.
THE ALBANY INDIAN COUNCIL.
The next meeting of the commissioners was convened at Albany, December 15, 1788. Governor Clinton read a letter from Peter Ryckman and Seth Reed, who then resided at Kanadesaga, now Geneva-Reed at the Old Castle and Ryckman upon the lake shore. It had been forwarded by Mr. Lee and Mr. Noble, who had been at that place the preceding sunimer. The writers of this letter to the governor said: "The bearers of this letter will detail all that has transpired in this locality," and add that, "if required, they can induce the Cayugas and Senecas to attend the council." The Rev. Mr. Kirkland gave in writing an account of his mission. He stated that on arriving at Kanadesaga he ascertained that, to keep the Cayugas back from Fort Schuyler and the council there, two of the principal lessees and their agents had kept them in a continual state of intoxication for three weeks; that Dr. B. and Colonel M. had be- tween twenty and thirty riflemen in arms for twenty-four hours, and gave out severe threats against Peter Ryckman and Colonel Reed for being enemies to their party and friends of the government, in per- suading the Indians to attend the treaty at Fort Schuyler. Mr. Kirk- land stated that he had been as far as Niagara and had seen Colonel Butler, that at the Seneca village of Buffalo Creek he had seen Shendy-ough-gwat-to, the second man of influence among the Senecas, and Farmer's brother, and that they had become disposed to treat with the state.
Before the board adjourned it was agreed to address a letter to Ryckman and Reed, asking them to name a day on which they could procure the attendance of the Cayugas and Senecas at Albany. Ryckman and Reed, on the reception of the letter, despatched a mes- senger with an answer, saying they would be at Albany with the Indians on the twenty-third of January, and adding that the lessecs kept the Indians "so continually intoxicated with liquor that it was almost impossible to do anything with them." It was not until the eleventh of February that Ryckman was enabled to collect a suffi- cient number of Indians and reach Albany. Several days were spent in preliminary proceedings and waiting for delegations that were on the way. On the fourteenth, James Bryan and Benjamin Birdsall, two of the lessees, appeared before the commissioners and delivered up the "long leases" that had occasioned so much trouble.
On the nineteenth the council was opened with the Cayugas. There were many Senecas, Onondagas and Oneidas present. Good Peter, on behalf of the Cayugas, made a speech. He said his broth- ers, the Cayugas and Senecas, had "requested him to be their mouth." As upon another occasion, his speech abounded in some of the finest imagery to be found in any preserved outburst of Indian eloquence. In allusion to the conduct of the lessees, and the long series of precedent difficulties with the whites, he said: "Let us, notwith- standing, possess our minds in peace. We can see but a small depth into the hearts of man. We can only discover what comes from the tongue." Alluding to the relations that used to exist between his
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people and the old colony of New York, he said: "They used to kindle a eouneil fire, the smoke of which reached the heavens, and around which they sat and talked of peace." In reference to the blessings of peace, he said relating to the state of things that was promised by fixing the Indians upon reservations under the protee- tion of the state: "Our little ones can go now with leisure to look for fish in the streams, and our warriors to hunt for wild beasts in the woods."
FIRST ADVOCATE FOR AMERICAN WOMEN.
Present at the couneil was a goodly number of their women, whom Good Peter called "governesses," and gave the reasons why they were there. The rights of women found in him an able advo- eate. Let the modern Amazons and suffragettes heed and consider the fervid declarations of principles of this first American advocate of their rights. Said this original and first American advocate of equality of the sexes: "Our ancestors considered it a great erime and transgression to reject the counsels of the women, particularly the 'governesses' of the family. They considered them the mis- tresses of the soil. Who brings us forth? Who rears and gives sus- tenance to our warriors? Who cultivates our lands? Who kindles our fires and boils our pots but the women? Our women say, 'Let not the tradition of the fathers with respect to women be disre- garded. Let them not be rejected and despised.' God is their maker." In replying to that part of Good Peter's speech in refer- enee to the women and their rights, the governor, in a vein of gal- lantry, eloquently conceded the immunities and rights which belong to the "mothers of mankind." He told them they should have reser- vations "large enough, however prolific they might be, even if they should increase their nation to their ancient state and numbers." He apologized to the dusky sisterhood by saying he was "advanced in years and unaccustomed to address their sex in public." The governor was then fifty years old. Good Peter should be preserved in bronze as the first American, in the hearts of his country-women.
Other speeches and negotiations followed until February 25, 1789, when, the first preliminaries having been settled, the Cayugas ceded to the state all of their lands, excepting a large reservation of one hundred square miles. The consideration was five hundred dol- lars in hand, one thousand six hundred and twenty-eight dollars in June following, and an annuity of five hundred dollars forever. Aft- er the treaty was concluded and adopted, Governor Clinton, in a con- gratulatory address. recapitulating all of its terms and advantages, said: "Brothers and sisters! When you refleet that you had parted with the whole of your country (alluding to the long lease), without reserving a spot to lie down on, or kindle a fire on, and that you had disposed of your lands to people whom you had no means to compel to pay what they had promised, you will be persuaded that your brothers and sisters whom yon have left at home, and your and their children, will have reason to rejoice at the covenant you have now made, which not only saves you from impending ruin, but re- stores you to peace and security."
The treaties that had been coneluded and adopted had made the state the owner of the soil of the Military Tracts, or the principal amount of territory now included in the counties of Onondaga,
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Cayuga, Seneca, Tompkin, Cortland and parts of Oswego and Wayne. Other cessions followed until the large reservations were either ceded entirely or reduced to their present narrow limits. The cession of the Cayugas stipulated that the state should convey to their adopted child, Peter Ryckman, whom they desire shall reside near them and assist them, a tract on the west side of Seneca lake, which should contain sixteen thousand acres, the location being designated. Soon after the treaty of Albany the superintenden- cy of Indian affairs devolved upon John Taylor, as agent for the board of commissioners. Although the treaty had seemed satisfae- tory, a strong faction of all the nations treated with had kept back, and became instruments for the use of designing white men. Neither Brant, Red Jacket, Farmer's Brother, nor, indeed, many of the influ- ential chiefs, had attended the treaties.
THE INDIANS' PERPLEXITY.
The Indians, in all these treaties, were imposed upon and cheated by. many outsiders, many of whom were foreigners, who in- truded into these several councils as friends and advisers. Conspic- uous among these was Peter Otsiquette, also known as Dominie Peter and Good Peter, who was a Frenchman (Peter Penet). He came to the United States shortly after the commencement of the Revolu- tion and pretended to represent dealers in France in munitions of war and arms. Successfully for himself, he deceived General Washington, Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, and the Continen- tal congress. Afterwards he posed as the friend and adviser of the Oneida nation of Indians; was adopted into the nation and made a chief. He prepared a plan of government for the Oneidas which is still in existenee. For his service, the Oneidas reserved for him, in their treaty of 1788, a tract of land ten miles square to be selected from their land whenever he might eleet, for which the state should give him a grant or patent, which was done in 1789. Penet was lost at sea ten years later, having never married, and leaving no heirs. Subsequent land pirates elaimed the traet without success, and it was finally sold for taxes. This is not really germane to Steuben county, but fairly illustrates the methods of dealing with the Indians.
The Senecas had been urged to attend these councils, and at considerable trouble, and more expense, alleged delegations had at- tended in their name. This was done wholly for the influence it might exert upen the proceedings and actions of the nations inter- ested. Their lands lying west of Seneca lake and claimed by Mas- sachusetts were not a proper subject of negotiation by the state of New York, as they were yet in their possession. They were constant- ly being stirred up by the lessees, and by British agents, to hinder the consummation by the state in the acquirement of lands of the other nations. Threats were made for the purpose of hindering the survey and sale by the state of these lands acquired by the state. A council of the Senecas was convened mainly by British efforts at Fort Niagara. Colonel Butler, who was principally active, said the Onondagas should be deterred from receiving their annuities, for the reason that the governor of Quebec wanted these lands; that the commander at Fort Niagara wanted the land of the Cayugas ; that either would pay more for their lands than the governor of Vol. I-5
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New York had promised. Butler denounced the Oneidas as a poor despicable set of Indians, who had sold their country to the gover- nor of New York, and had dealt treacherously with their old friends. Mr. Turner, in his "History of the Purchase of Phelps and Gor- ham," truthfully remarks: "The part the Senecas were induced to take in promoting these embarrassments was glaringly incon- sistent. They had sold part of their lands to Mr. Phelps the fall before, without consulting the other nations, to say nothing of their having consented to the 'lease,' which was a far worse bargain, than those made by the state. But the main promoters of the troubles were the lessees and the British agents, the latter of whom were soured by the results of the Revolution and were yet looking for- ward to British repossession of all western and part of middle New York. In all this matter the conduct of Brant did not correspond with his general reputation for fairness and honesty. He helped to fan the flames of discontent, while, at the same time, he was, almost upon his own responsibility, trying to sell the state the rem- nants of the Mohawk lands. Interfering between the state and the Indians, he got some dissatisfied chiefs to join him in an insolent letter to the governor, which was replied to, with a good deal of severity of language.
"The whole history of the early Indian treaties in this state is a complex one. There was a disjointed state of things existing among our own people. The treaties began without any clear and definite understanding of what were the respective rights of the state and general government. The Indians, after they had heard of one big fire being lighted for all the thirteen states, could not understand why they should be invited to attend so many little fires or councils. The almost interminable mischief, the lessees' move- ment, was thrust in to add to the embarrassment. The elose of the Revolution had left them with distraeted council. Cut up into factions themselves, no wonder when they were pulled and hauled about from one treaty to another-beset by state commissioners, lessee companies, speculators and their 'old friends at Niagara'- they should on several occasions have complained that their 'heads were confused.'
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