USA > New York > Livingston County > Geneseo > A history of the treaty of Big Tree : and an account of the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the making of the treaty, held at Geneseo, N.Y., September the fifteenth, eighteen hundred ninety-seven > Part 8
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Immediately upon the receipt of this letter at Washington $8,000 was appropriated and the Indians once more received their money. This $8,000 was "in lieu of the dividend on the bank shares held by the President of the United States, in trust for the Seneca nation, in the bank of the United States."
There was something decidedly queer about the sale of the Allan lands. Ebenezer Allan had two half-breed daughters, Mary and Chloe, and on July 15, 1791, the Seneca sachems deeded to the girls a tract of land four miles square at what is now Mt. Morris. The deed declared that this land was to be in full of their share of all the lands belonging to the Seneca nation. This deed was executed at the treaty of New- town; it was approved by Timothy Pickering, United States commis- sioner: and it was recorded in the county clerk's office at Canandaigua. The following is an extract from the deed:
"Whereas, our said brother, Jen-uh-sheo, the father of the said
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Treaty of Big Tree
Mary and Chloe, has expressed to us a desire to have the share of the Seneca lands to which the said Mary and Chloe (whom we consider our children) are entitled to have, set off to them in severalty, that they may enjoy the same as their separate portions; now, know ye, that we, the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneca nation, in the name and by the authority of our whole nation, whom according to our ancient customs in like cases we represent, and in consideration of the rights of said Mary and Chloe, as children and members of the Seneca nation, and of our love and affection for them, do hereby set off and assign to them, the said Mary and Chloe, and to their heirs and assigns, a tract of land, on part of which the said Jen-uh-sheo, our brother, now dwells upon the waters of the Jenusheo river in the county of Ontario, in the state of New York, bounded as follows; Beginning at an elm tree standing in the forks of the Jen-uh-sheo river (the boundary between our lands and the lands we sold to Oliver Phelps and Mr. Gorham), and running from thence due south four miles, thence due west four miles, thence due north four miles, and thence due east four miles, until the line strikes the said elm tree, with the appurtenances. To have and to hold the said tract of land, with the appurtenances, to them, the said Mary Allan and Chloe Allan, and to their heirs and assigns, as tenants in common, to their use forever."
When he heard of this transaction, Secretary of War Knox became greatly excited. He thought Pickering had blundered. He called Washington's attention to the matter, and by direction of the President wrote to Governor Clinton of New York, and expressly disavowed the claim, which he supposed was implied by Pickering's action that the Indians could "alienate" their lands under the supervision of the United States and without consulting New York and Massachusetts. But it was not Pickering but the secretary himself who blundered, and his mistake was due to his ignorance of the Indian laws of descent. When Knox called Pickering to account, the latter replied as follows:
"It appeared to be understood by the Senecas that Messrs. Morris and Ogden, as the grantees of Massachusetts, had the right of pre-emp- tion of all their lands. But at the same time there existed nothing to bar a division of their whole country among themselves; and if they could divide the whole, they could certainly set off a part to two indi- viduals of their nation as their share. This was the object of their deed to Allan's children, whom they called their children, agreeably to the rule of descent among them, which is in the female line; and in this deed the land assigned is declared to be in full of those two chil- dren's share of the whole Seneca country. Here was the ground of my ratification. Now, you will be pleased to recollect that before the matter was opened in council I had repeated the law of the United States relative to Indian lands and the solemn declaration of the President last winter to the Cornplanter that they (the Indians) had the right to sell, or to refuse to sell, their lands, and that, in respect to their lands, they might depend on the protection of the United States, so that on this head they had now no cause for jealousy or discontent. This being by them well understood, I saw no way of avoiding the ratification of the assignment to their two children, without reviving, or rather exciting, their utmost jealousy, as it would have been denying the free enjoyment of their own lands by some members of the nation,
4
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Treaty of Big Tree
according to the will of the nation; and a denial, I was apprehensive, would lead them to think that the solemn assurance of the President was inade but to amuseand deceive. Here you see my great induce- ment to the ratification."
This of course was conclusive, and Secretary Knox had nothing more to say on the subject.
With the Indian deed to his daughters in his possession Ebenezer Allan went to Philadelphia and sold the land to Robert Morris for dry goodsand trinklets, and returned with these articles to what is now Mt. Morris and began to trade with the Indians.
At the treaty of Big Tree four years later one of Allan's daughters appeared and denied the right of the Indians to sell the Mt. Morris tract. Thomas Morris replied that his father had already paid Allan for the land and was now paying the nation for it again. The girl denied it, and appealed to one of the commissioners, who replied that she had had bad advisers.
The first edition of Seaver's "Life of Mary Jemison," was published in 1824 by James D. Bemis of Canandaigua. This little volume is now among the scarcest of American books. It contains some statements not be found in later editions. Among them is this, from the lips of the White Woman:
"At the great treaty of Big Tree one of Allan's daughters claimed the land which he had sold to Morris. The claim was examined and decided against her in favor of Ogden, Trumbull and Rogers and others who were creditors of Robert Morris. Allan yet believed that his daughter had an indisputable right to the land in question and got me to go with Mother Farley, a half Indian woman, to assist him, by interceding with Morris for it, and to urge the propriety of her claim. We went to Thomas Morris, and having stated to him our business, he told us plainly that he had no land to give away, and that as the title was good, he never would allow Allan, nor his heirs, one foot, or words to that effect. We returned to Allan the answer we had received, and he, conceiving all further attempts to be useless, went home."
When Allan visited him in Philadelphia, Robert Morris knew per- fectly well that Allan had no right to sell the land he offered, for it was not deeded to Allan, but to Allan's daughters.
In Doty's excellent "History of Livingston County" the statement is made that Allan gave Morris a warranty deed, but this, I am con- vinced is a mistake. He had no right to give à deed : and as a matter of fact there is no deed or other document on record. If Allan execu- ted a paper of any kind, it was a contract or bill of sale of the im- provements.
I think there can be no doubt that Ebenezer Allan's daughter was deliberately defrauded at the treaty of Big Tree. The white men took advantage of the ignorance of the Indians and forced the claim through. Robert Morris was well pleased with his son's management of this affair, and promised to give him one-half of the sixteen square miles of land. He was unable to keep his promise, however. As to Eben- ezer Allan, it is fair to assume that the Bluebeard of the border knew he had done a discreditable and dishonest thing, for otherwise he would have appeared at the treaty himself and substantiated the state-
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Treaty of Big Tree
ments of his daughter instead of sending Mary Jemison to plead pri- vately with Thomas Morris.
In his account of the treaty -- the account which all our historians have adopted-Thomas Morris says as little as possible about the means he used to influence the Indians after Red Jacket had raked up the council fire. He acknowledges that he argued with the warriors and women and distributed presents to the latter, and then says :
"For some days the chief women and warriors might be seen scattered about in little knots; after which I received a message informing me that the women and warriors would meet me in council and negotiate with me."
It is a fact, however, which I am able to prove, and which is now made public for the first time, that during this interval Thomas Morris and the representatives of the Holland Land company were secretly bribing the warriors. They not only paid them money, but agreed to give them annuities so long as they lived. And it was by bribery rather than by argument, that Morris brought about the reopening of the council, and finally secured the consent of the Indians to sell. It is not surprising, therefore, that Morris tells us nothing of this in his statement ; and doubtless he was as careful to conceal the bribery from the Indians generally as he was to conceal it from the historians of Western New York. I have in my possession copies of some of the original documents, proving beyond question the truth of my state- ments. Here, for instance, is a receipt acknowledging the payment of one of the annuities :
Received of Messrs. Leroy, Bayard & McEvers and Thomas Mor- ris, Esq., by the hands of Erastus Granger, the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, being in full for my annuity for the year 1801 due me by agreement with Robert Morris at Big Tree in September, 1797.
Signed
In presence of Jasper Parrish.
his Corn x Planter. mark
It is clear from this that Cornplanter's price was $250 a year so long as he lived, in addition to the cash payment at the treaty. Alto- gether, therefore, he received about $10.000 for his share in this trans- action. Doubtless Thomas Morris felt that Cornplanter's services were worth the price, for it was Cornplanter who conducted the negotiations for the Indians after the council fire had been rekindled. Of course he was not the only one who was paid. Young King, the "bearer of the smoking brand," received an annuity of $100, or a total of $3,800. In later years. as he thought of the power he could have wielded at the treaty, it is probable that he marvelled at his own mod- eration. Little Billy was another who sold himself. His price was the same as Young King's-$100 a year-and as Little Billy lived till 1834 he received $3,700. Pollard received $50 a year, or $2,200. Even the haughty Red Jacket consented to receive money and drew $100 a year. And so we might go on, if it were necessary, with these un- pleasant details.
An interesting and unpublished anecdote regarding these annuities is furnished by William C. Bryant, Esq., the scholarly Indianologist of
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Treaty of Big Tree
Buffalo. It seems that the annuities were not always paid exactly on time, and the Indians were often worried. Millard Fillmore, subse- quently president of the United States, said to Mr. Bryant :
"I don't remember seeing Cornplanter but on one occasion. He came to my office on Court street, soon after my return from Wash- ington, after congress had adjourned. He was a bowed, wrinkled and decrepit old man. He was attended by two or three younger Indians. He produced a capacious bag, similar in size to an ordinary mail bag, and took out a venerable treaty, which he explained to me. He said that soon after the treaty, was made the annuity was promptly paid- first it came when the tender blades of the corn broke from the mould ; then it came when the stalks were as high as a child's knee; next it lingered till the grain was full and filled with milk, and now the stalks are dry and rustling and the Indians are very hungry for their money."
Robert Morris himself expected that the Indians would have to be bribed and indeed authorized this procedure. In his letter of instructions he said : "Annuities of $20 to $60 may be given to influen- tial chiefs to the extent of $250 or $300 per annum." And again, "Some dollars may be promised before the treaty and paid when finished, to the amount of $500 or $600, or if necessary $1,000 to the chiefs."
It is to be regretted that the warriors betrayed their people for money, but they were importuned unceasingly by the avaricious, cunning, and unscrupulous whites. All sorts of plausible arguments and entreaties were made, and under the spells of the tempters the red men fell. The Indians were wrong, unquestionably ; but how can we censure them severely? Is there no bribery now-a-days? Do our representatives, in our boasted nineteenth-century civilization, never betray their constituents? Are not charges of corruption pending even now against men who hold high offices of trust and power? Let us, therefore, pass by, with what charity we may, the fault committed by the untutored children of the forest, and condemn those who tempted them.
On the part of Robert Morris and Thomas Morris, his son, the transaction was shameful. They, at least, could measure the breadth and depth of the iniquity, and the fact that they accomplished by the corrupt use of money what they could not accomplish by fair and honorable dealings must not only be admitted, but recorded to their great discredit.
Though most of the Indians who gathered at Big Tree had partic- ipated in the inevitable horrors of border warfare we must judge them with charity. Let us not fall into the error so common among the historians of America, of unduly praising the conduct of the whites and unduly exaggerating the evil passions of the Indians. We must bear in mind that the whites, as well as the Indians, used the scalping knife and applied the torch, and that both committed exces- ses that both lived to regret. Many of the Indians who negotiated with Morris were men of high character. They had been brave in war, and they were eloquent and wise in council. They were imbued with feelings of lofty patriotism, and they loved their homes and their
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Treaty of Big Tree
families. The greeting of the patient wife at the end of a long and dangerous journey was returned with tenderness and love, and the laughter of the romping children was music in the warrior's ear. It was the Great Spirit who gave to these forest heroes the beans and the corn, the gentle rains of spring, the smiling sun of summer and the golden days of harvest ; and in their leafy chapels the Indians offered up their prayers and thanked him for his goodness.
"Ye say they all have passed away, That noble race and brave, That their light canoes have vanish'd From off the crested wave ; That 'mid the forest where they roam'd There rings no hunter's shout ; But their name is on your waters, Ye may not wash it out.
"Ye say their cone-like cabins, That cluster'd o'er the vale, Have fled away like wither'd leaves Before the autumn's gale ; But their memory liveth on your hills Their baptism on your shore ; Your everlasting rivers speak Their dialect of yore."
OF
LAKE
ONTARIO
PART
₹16
10
16
16
-
" Johnston's Landing 15 13
15
15
13
15
13
Now Ark .Fort GeorgeS
Niagara
25M. Mond 2
11
14
14
14
14
14
14
Queens Town
Whirlpool
of
13
13
13
13
13
13
13
A. Burr, 100,000 Acres
Le Roy Bayard & McEvers
86,175 Acres
Falls, 150 Feet Kings Store House
Chipeway River
Grand
Tanaawanta
12
12
12
12
12
Peters Great Spring Tavern " Sonth Boundary of Phulp' Gorham's PurchaseCWest from Gene Coswago Town " .2-Conewago
Scale of Miles. 0 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 16 18 20,22.24
Min
Black Rock
Fort Erie .
Buffalo 10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
Creek
9
9
9
9
9
Ogden, 56,000 Acres
of Geneseo and Canausheragos
Meridian drawn from the Confluence
ART
22 Mil- Creek
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
Devil Creek
1
A
4
4
4
4
4
4
1
4
-
A. Hamilton, 100,000 Acres
S. Sterrett, 150,000 Acres
Ca zenove Esq. 13.000 A.
Brant
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1
No. 1 4
No. 1 3
No. 1
No. 1
JR.Inge \ 13 Range
12 Range
11 Range
10 Range
9 Range
8 Rango Range
6 Range
5 Range
Range
Range
2 Range
1 Range
J.Sterrett,
23,000
Acres
e
19 480 Chains 450 Chaine 480 Chains 480 Chains 480 Chains 480 Chains 480 Chains 290 Ch. 450 Chains 180 Chains 320 Ch.320 Ch. 480 Chains 480 Chains 480 Chains 480 Chains'
North
Boundary
o f
Pennsylvania
Geneseo. RE
[ Berry's Ferry
ERIE
Rougquargig Creek
ce
CC
8
D
7
7
7
-1
7
Cottringer,
50,000 Acres
51,000 Acres
6
6
6
G
6
G
6
6
G
6
Wilhelmo & Jan Willink
Of French Creek
Chautaughque Lake
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
es
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Wilhelm & Jan Willink 2 200,000 Acres 2
Theu.
en Straw
7; Gneida Castle Old Tuscarora ? Town Bigtree Town and Landing's ds"Major Wordworth Little Beard ?. Creek & Townk Williamsburg
LAKE
Katarnuyu,
OF
Connendazagre Creek
Creek
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
Watson Cragie & Co., 100,000 Acres
anding
French Landing
Stalmany Croak
Syelmau's Store House
straights
12
Island
Creek 12
Wilhelint & JJan Willink : 1, 000 Acres
Cragie,
33,750 Acres
Chautaughyur Creek
3
7
1
Tannamanta
ingnrn Fort 11
MAP OF HOLLAND LAND COMPANY'S PRELIMINARY SURVEY 1797
THE TEXT OF THE TREATY
C ONTRACT entered into under the sanction of the United States of America, between Robert Morris and the Seneka nation of In- dians.
This indenture, made the fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, between the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the Seneka nation of Indians, of the first part, and Robert Morris, of the city of Philadelphia, esquire, of the second part.
Whereas, the commonwealth of Massachusetts have granted, bar- gained, and sold unto the said Robert Morris, his heirs and assigns forever, the pre-emptive right, and all other the right, title, and inter- est, which the said commonwealth had to all that tract of land here- inafter particularly mentioned, being part of a tract of land lying within the state of New York, the right of pre-emption of the soil whereof, from the native Indians, was ceded and granted by the said state of New York, to the said commonwealth; and whereas, at a treaty held under the authority of the United States, with the said Seneka nation of Indians, at Genesee, in the county of Ontario, and state of New York, on the day of the date of these presents, and on sundry days immediately prior thereto, by the Hon. Jeremiah Wads- worth, esquire, a commissioner appointed by the President of the United States to hold the same, in pursuance of the constitution, and of the act of the congress of the United States, in such case made and provided, it was agreed in the presence and with the approbation of the said commissioner, by the sachems, chiefs and warriors of the said nation of Indians, for themselves and in behalf of their nation, to sell to the said Robert Morris, and to his heirs and assigns forever, all their right to all that tract of land above recited, and hereinafter par- ticularly specified, for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, to be by the said Robert Morris vested in the stock of the Bank of the Uni- ted States and held in the name of the President of the United States, for the use and behoof of the said nation of Indians, the said agreement and sale being also made in the presence and with the approbation of the honorable Willard Shepard, esquire, the superintendent appointed for such purpose, in pursuance of a resolve of the general court of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, passed the eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one ; now this indenture witnesseth, that the said parties of the first part, for and in consideration of the premises above recited, and for divers other good and valuable considerations them thereunto moving, have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, released, enfeoffed and confirmed ; and by the presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, release, enfeoff, and confirm, unto the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, forever, all that certain tract of land, except as hereinafter excepted, lying within the county of Ontario, and State of New York, being part of a tract of land, the right of pre-emption whereof was ceded by the state of New York to the commonwealth of Massachusetts, by deed of cession executed at Hartford, on the sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, being all such part thereof as is not included in the Indian purchase made
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Treaty of Big Tree
by Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, and bounded as follows, to wit : easterly, by the land confirmed to Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham by the legislature of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, by an act passed the twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight; southerly, by the north boundary line of the state of Pennsylvania ; westerly by a tract of land, part of the land ceded by the state of Massachusetts to the United States, and by them sold to Pennsylvania, being a right angled triangle, whose hypothenuse is in or along the shore of lake Erie ; partly by lake Erie, from the northern point of that triangle to- the southern bounds of a tract of land one mile in width, lying on and along the east side of the strait of Niagara, and partly by the said tract to lake Ontario ; and on the north by the boundary line between the United States and the King of Great Britain ; excepting neverthe- less, and always reserving out of this grant and conveyance, all such pieces or parcels of the aforesaid tract, and such privileges thereunto belonging, as are next hereinafter particularly mentioned, which said pieces or parcels of land so excepted, are, by the parties to these pres- ents, clearly and fully understood to remain the property of the said parties of the first part, in as full and ample manner as if these pres- ents had not been executed : that is to say, excepting and reserving to them, the said parties of the first part, and their nation, one piece or parcel of the aforesaid tract, at Canawagus, of two square miles, to be laid out in such manner as to include the village, extending in breadth one mile along the river ; one other piece or parcel at Big Tree of two square miles, to be laid out in such manner as to include the village, extending in breadth along the river one mile ; one other piece- or parcel of two square miles at Little Beard's town, extending one mile along the river, to be laid off in such manner as to include the village : one other tract of two square miles at Squawky Hill, to be laid off as follows, to wit: one square mile to be laid off along the - river, in such manner as to include the village, the other directly west thereof and continuous thereto ; one other piece or parcel at Gardeau, beginning at the mouth of Steep Hill creek, thence due east, until it strikes the old path, thence south until a due west line will intersect with certain steep rocks on the west side of the Genesee river, then extending due west, due north, and due east, until it strikes the first mentioned bound, enclosing as much land on the west side as on the east side of the river. One other piece or parcel at Kaounadeau, ex- tending in length eight miles along the river and two miles in breadth. One other piece or parcel at Cataraugos, beginning at the mouth of the Eighteen mile or Koghquaugu creek, thence a line or lines to be drawn parallel to lake Erie, at the distance of one mile from the lake, to the mouth of Cataraugos creek, thence a line or lines extending twelve miles up the north side of said creek at the distance of one mile therefrom, thence a direct line to the said creek, thence down the said creek to lake Erie, thence along the lake to the first mentioned creek, and thence to the place of beginning. Also, one other piece at Catarau- gos, beginning at the shore of lake Erie, on the south side of Cataraugos creek, at the distance of one mile from the mouth thereof, thence running one mile from the lake, thence on a line parallel thereto to a point within one mile from the Connondauweyea creek, thence up the-
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Treaty of Big Tree
said creek one mile, on a line parallel thereto, thence on a direct line to the said creek thence down the same to lake Erie, thence along the lake to the place of beginning. Also one other piece or parcel of forty-two square miles at or near the Allegenny river. Also, two hundred square miles, to be laid off partly at the Buffalo and partly at the Tannawanta creeks. Also excepting and reserving to them, the said parties of the first part and their heirs, the privilege of fishing and hunting on the said tract of land hereby intended to be conveyed. And it is hereby under- stood by and between the parties to these presents, that all such pieces or parcels of land as are hereby reserved, and are not particularly described as to the manner in which the same are to be laid off, shall be laid off in such manner as shall be determined by the sachems and chiefs residing at or near the respective villages where such reserva- tions are made, a particular note whereof to be endorsed on the back of this deed, and recorded therewith, together with all and singular the rights, privileges, hereditaments, and appurtenances thereunto belonging, or in anywise appertaining. And all the estate, right, title, and interest, whatsoever of them the said parties of the first part and their nation, of, in, and to the said tract of land above described, except as is above excepted, to have and to hold all and singular the said granted premises, with the appurtenances, to the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns, to his and their proper use, benefit, and behoof forever.
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