USA > New York > Franklin County > Historical sketches of Franklin county and its several towns > Part 61
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The church at St. Regis stands almost within a stone's throw of both the St. Regis and the St. Lawrence, and is in Canada, about a third of a mile north of the United States boundary line. The parochial residence faces it, only a few feet distant.
The church records for the first few years were burned with the church, but from 1764 they are complete and painstaking except for the occasional periods when the mission was without a resident rector. Those kept by Father Gordon are written in Latin, and the subsequent ones in French. At least three of the rectors served twenty years or more each. Rev. Father Bourget, the present rector, who is highly esteemed, and who preaches to the Indians in their own tongue, has been in charge continuously for twenty-four years. He counts about two
580
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
thousand six hundred Indians as adherents of the Catholic faith ; declares that the Indians, both in Canada and in New York, are steadily increas- ing in numbers ; and regards their condition, both material and moral, as greatly improved during the past few years, with which view the concensus of opinion of all in the vicinity who are familiar with the situation is in agreement. While the Indians contribute something toward the support of the mission, it is principally sustained by allowances from the organization for the propagation of the faith.
As told by Father Marcoux to Dr. Franklin B. Hough in 1852, a Frenchman from Montreal in 1826 persuaded one of the Tarbells, then a St. Regis chief, to accompany him to Europe for the purpose of pro- curing an endowment for the church and presents for themselves. The king of France gave them for the church oil portraits of St. Regis and St. Francis Xavier, together with a considerable sum of money, and the pope presented them a set of books and silver plate for the service of the church, a rosary of jewels and gold valued at fourteen hundred dollars, and other articles. Upon their return to New York the scoun- drelly Frenchman disappeared with all of the gifts except the rosary and the portraits, leaving Tarbell destitute of money and dependent upon contributions by the charitable to defray his expenses to St. Regis. For nearly forty years the portraits adorned the walls of the church, but were burned in the fire which destroyed the building in 1865. What such works meant to primitive minds is indicated by a letter written in 1727 by Father au Poisson, a Jesuit missionary to the Indians of the Mississippi region : " They [the Indians] are in ecstacies when they see the picture of St. Regis in my room ; they put the hand over the mouth, which is the sign of adoration among them. Some of them pass the hand several times over the face of the saint, and then place it on their own face; this is a ceremony that they perform when they wish to show any one a mark of veneration. Then they place themselves in different parts of my room, and say: 'He is looking at me; he almost speaks ; he needs only a voice.'"
So far as I have been able to ascertain, the Indians at St. Regis took no part in the revolutionary war, though two chiefs who later became conspicuous members of the tribe had rather notable records in the struggle. Louis Cook, then a Caughnawaga, acted with the colonists, in whose army he held a lieutenant-colonel's commission ; and Thomas Williams, also a Caughnawaga, and the putative father of Eleazer, served with the British. Colonel Louis had great influence with the Indians generally, enabling him to induce many to remain neutral who other-
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581
THE SAINT REGIS INDIAN RESERVATION
wise would naturally have joined the British, and at Oneida and else- where he enlisted bands to scout and fight for the American cause. He had interviews with General Washington, Count de Rochambeau, Gen- eral Knox, General Schuyler and other men eminent in the colonial army, and appeared before a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature. to testify concerning the disposition and probable course of action of the Canadian Indians. The information that he furnished and the services that he rendered, particularly in scouting and as a bearer of dispatches, were deemed invaluable.
Thomas Williams, though it is claimed for him that personally he sympathized with the colonists, accompanied General Burgoyne on his ill-fated march to Bennington and Saratoga, and is represented by his son, Eleazer, to have refused to act as escort to Jane MeCrea when she was so foully murdered. Williams joined also in an expedition against Oswego, and was with the party that sacked Royalton, Vermont. He is said to have so conducted himself upon more than one occasion, and to have so led those under his guidance, as to have caused British plans to miscarry, and also to have always stood out against acts of savage bloodthirstiness and cruelty.
The Indians of St. Regis, both the British and the American factions, were supposed to remain inactive and neutral in the war of 1812, but Colonel Louis Cook and Captain Thomas Williams, who had located at St. Regis after the revolutionary war, and had become chiefs of the American tribe, were zealous partisans of the American cause, as also were William Gray and Eleazer Williams. It was Gray who guided Major Young and his command from French Mills (Fort Covington) in 1812, when a British troop at St. Regis was surprised and captured. Though the number of St. Regis followers of these four leaders to the field was inconsiderable, it is not improbable that but for them a larger number would have gone over to the British. Even as it was, a French- man named Isaac LeClare, who held a British commission as lieutenant, enlisted eighty of the St. Regis, who participated in a number of engage- ments. Twenty of them were present at the attack upon Sacket Harbor, and thirty at the attack upon Ogdensburg. Some of them were at the fight at Chrystler's Farm, near Cornwall, but were not permitted to take part in it. At about the same time that LeClare raised his com- pany a British commissioner appeared at St. Regis with presents for the Indians, and sought to persuade them to take up arms in a body. But they declined the proposition.
For a time during the war of 1812, because of the distressful condition
582
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
of these Indians, by reason of their not daring to leave the reservation to hunt, five hundred rations were issued to them daily from French Mills by the American military authorities.
One other war incident of interest, according to a tradition of the tribe, is that as Sir John Johnston was making his way down the valley of the Raquette in his flight from Central New York to Canada in 1776, the St. Regis Indians sent a body of warriors to meet him, carrying parched corn and sugar to save him and his retainers from starvation.
The number of Indians among the St. Regis who have been outstand- ing figures, towering above their fellows, are to be counted almost upon the fingers of one hand. One of the earlier Tarbells appears to have been a really great orator. He was known as "Peter the Big Speak," and was usually put forward as spokesman of the tribe in such councils as it held.
Louis Cook was born in 1740 at Saratoga, his father being a negro and the mother an Indian. He himself was decidedly African in appear- ance. Captured near Saratoga by the French and Indians in 1755, he was claimed by the latter, whom he and his mother accompanied to Caughnawaga. He became a warrior while yet a youth, fought with the French at Ticonderoga in 1756, and with the French at the defeat of Braddock, and later was again at Ticonderoga against Abercrombie. His part in the war of the revolution and in that of 1812 has already been told in these pages. Injured by a fall from his horse during a skirmish in Western New York, he died near Buffalo in 1814. His fidelity was unquestioned, and his judgment was regarded as remarkably clear and unerring in all matters that engaged his interest. He was invariably made one of the deputies to represent the tribe in its affairs with the State, with power to act for it. Thus he was a party to the treaty in 1796 by which the St. Regis reservation was established. Though unable to read or write, he spoke both the French and English languages, and of course the Indian, fluently. He is rated by historians as the ablest man ever connected with the St. Regis tribe.
William Gray was born in Washington county, of white parentage, and was a soldier in the colonial army at the age of seventeen years. He was captured by the British near Whitehall, and taken to Quebec, where he was held a prisoner until the close of the war. Then he located at Caughnawaga for a time, subsequently moving to St. Regis, where he adopted the language and customs of the tribe. He built a mill and engaged in the mercantile business at what is now the site of Hogans- burgh, but which was then known as Gray's Mills. His service to the
583
THE SAINT REGIS INDIAN RESERVATION
United States in the war of 1812 made him a marked man, so that the British planned and accomplished his capture. He was again taken to Quebec a prisoner of war, and died there in 1814. He was the tribe's chief interpreter, and participated in an important way in negotiating the treaty of 1796 with the State. By consent of the Indians themselves, the Legislature voted him individually a grant of two hundred and fifty- seven acres of land out of the reservation, a part of which grant lay on the Salmon river. Though never a chief in name, his standing and influence with the Indians was yet that of actual leadership and trusted advisor.
Thomas Williams, a chief of the Caughnawagas from 1777 until he removed to St. Regis, and then a chief there, is credited with having possessed unusual intelligence and superior judgment. He was the grandson of Eunice Williams, and the father of Eleazer. For his service in negotiating the treaty of 1796, and because his course in the war of 1812 had cost him the forfeiture of property that he had owned in Canada, he was apportioned fifty dollars a year out of the State's annuity to the tribe.
A sketch of Eleazer Williams, the greatest Indian orator of his time, and a notable character from whatever angle viewed, forms a separate chapter of this book, but it may here be added that "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country," the application of which in this instance is that on the occasion of a visit to St. Regis recently I asked every Indian that I met in going from Hogansburgh to the church, and also in returning, where Williams's grave was (he is buried near Hogans- burgh), and not one seemed even to have ever heard the name!
A publication issued by the Secretary of State places the number of the St. Regis Indians in 1810 at one thousand and forty, which must have included the Canadians, for a special enumeration of the tribe in New York in 1819 listed only four hundred. The next enumeration that I have been able to find, made by Captain James B. Spencer of Fort Covington in 1835, tallies to a man with that of 1819. But between these years epidemics had decimated the tribe, and offset the natural increase. Thus in 1829 small pox swept off considerable numbers, and in 1832 Asiatic cholera caused seventy-eight deaths in eleven days, and typhus or ship fever added fifty-six more. Besides, tuberculosis has always been a scourge to these Indians, fostered by their habits of life, the character of their dwellings, and unsanitary surroundings generally. But in 1855 they had nevertheless increased to four hundred and thir- teen, notwithstanding another small pox and cholera epidemic had raged
584
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
in 1849 and typhus throughout the summer of 1850. Since 1855 no enumeration except that in 1915 has shown a decrease in their numbers. While in some periods the gain was only slight, it was considerable in others. The figures are :
1855
1865
1875
1892
1905
1910
1915
413
426
737
1195
1206
1249
1086
I venture the confident judgment that the total for 1915 is grossly incorrect, and in support of that view submit the following: The parish records of the St. Regis mission, very carefully kept, show for every year since 1910 an excess of baptisms over deaths - such excess having been in one year about thirty-five per cent., and in another eighty per cent. Besides, every man of intelligence at Hogansburgh who is at all conversant with Indian conditions feels that he knows, though of course unable to adduce positive proof, that the tribe is increasing in numbers, and, while not attempting to fix exact figures, the State education department is unqualifiedly of the opinion, based upon its school returns, that the enumeration data are erroneous. But absolutely convincing and indisputable are the records of the attorney who disburses the State annuity, which is always a fixed amount, with the per capita allowance necessarily varying as the number of beneficiaries fluctuates. Such dis- bursement is made in accordance with a list of those entitled to partici- pate, which is prepared by the clerk of the tribe, and then revised and verified by the attorney. The amount paid to each Indian in each of the years from 1911 to 1915 has been :
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
$1.48
$1.45
$1.43
$1.40
$1.35
The whole number who had been paid up to August 16, 1915, was 1,532, and eight then remained to draw their allotments, so that, accord- ing to the Indian attorney, the actual population was then 1,540, or 454 more than the enumeration gives .* There isn't a shadow of doubt that the attorney's figures are at least substantially correct; and the failure of the enumerator to find an equal number is believed to be explicable upon the probability that heads of families reported to him only those who were actually at home at the time of his visit, and omitted to include
* It is to be noted that there is a discrepancy of $51.34 between the actual distribution to the Indians and the full amount of the annuity, which arises from the fact that the sum stated was paid for printing ballots and for other expenses incurred by the tribe as a whole.
585
THE SAINT REGIS INDIAN RESERVATION
those who were absent temporarily, working in the hay fields in other towns, or employed elsewhere in other occupations. Yet further, the results which the writer asserts are wholly consistent with the American census records from 1865, while the enumeration is not only in conflict with these, but is impeached also by Canadian enumerations, which estab- lish a continuous growth in numbers of the same family living just over the boundary. But waiving for the moment the question of inaccuracy, the enumeration nevertheless shows an increase of 660 in half a century, or about 155 per cent., while upon the figures of the attorney the gain in the same period was 1,114, or over 260 per cent. The increase in the white population of the county in the same period was only about 60 per cent.
The St. Regis tribe used to be divided into clans, known as the Wolf, the Big Turtle, the Bear, the Plover and the Little Turtle. The division related anciently to war parties, and membership in a clan was hereditary, descending from mother to son. But such distinctions dis- appeared many years ago, and, even if still known among the Indians themselves, now possess no significance. Indeed, it is rather note- worthy that these Indians, unlike most other bands in the State, have preserved none of the barbaric customs of their ancestors, nor do they observe any of the old pagan feasts and ceremonies. Their only religious festivals are those of the Roman Catholic Church, especially of Corpus Christi, the celebration of which, with its grand procession, formerly attracted considerable numbers of spectators from various parts of the county. It is still observed regularly, and with great enthusiasm.
The St. Regis Indians of New York elect annually in June one chief and one sub-chief, whose terms of office are three years each. Formerly these elections were conducted by those entitled to participate arranging themselves in groups to express their choice, which, of course, gave no secrecy to the procedure, so that the truculent and dominating braves often intimidated the more timid, and simply swept the elections by aggressive force. But now the voting is by secret ballot, the arrange- ment of which is identical with that of the blanket ballot used by the white electors of the State until discarded for the modified form of the Massachusetts ballot four years ago. At the election in 1915 there were four parties represented on the ballot, designated as the Iroquois, the Mohawk, the Redman and the Indian, and using respectively as emblems a horse, a cow, an eagle and an anchor, with a blank column for writing in the names of independent candidates. More privileged than the white voters of the State now are, an Indian may vote an entire ticket by mark-
586
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
ing only a single cross in his party circle. This system corrects the abuses incident to the old practice.
Theoretically the chiefs thus elected possess complete authority, but if their commands are not voluntarily respected, or the allotments of the lands made by them are not accepted by the parties interested, they have no real power for enforcement of their decrees. As a matter of fact, however, it is understood that the members of the tribe generally defer to the chiefs, and acquiesce more or less good naturedly in their decisions, though so far as possession and occupancy of lands is concerned, the old practice of control by the chiefs now obtains only in a slight degree, for the Indians generally continue permanently in such holdings as they may have acquired unless they themselves bargain them away. Indi- vidual control in this regard has come to be recognized, and conveyances of possessory rights by one Indian to another, but not to any one not a member of the band, are now made by written instrument very much as the whites convey by actual deed. This practice the court of appeals has recently sustained as valid and binding.
All opinion based upon intelligent observation and study of the con- dition of the St. Regis Indians is that it has improved remarkably in every respect in recent years. Reports of legislative committees for investigation of the Indian problem (one of which had Hon. James S. Whipple as its chairman, and the other Hon. Charles R. Matthews, of Bombay) not only declared such improvement to be unmistakable, but also maintained that in morals and in their approach to the better prac- tices of civilization, as well as in the more general use of the English lan- guage, this tribe stands easily first among all of the Indians of the State. Though among the whites at Hogansburgh the impression prevails that the Canadian St. Regis are better off in this world's goods, more indus- trious, more intelligent and more moral than those of New York, Rev. Father Bourget, the mission priest at St. Regis and thus in close touch with both branches of the family; Mr. Francis E. Taillon, the accomp- lished Canadian Indian agent at St. Regis ; and Mr. Maurice W. Lantry, until recently the New York attorney, who has lived on the border of the reservation all of his life, and has had business and other dealings with the Indians for a long period, are agreed that the two bands, sprung from the same root, are in a practical equality at all points. No three men that I know are better qualified to give a correct judgment in this matter, and, being in concurrence, their view is entitled to be regarded as conclusive.
The weakness of the Indian in respect to intemperance is proverbial, but though the use of liquor at St. Regis has been, and is yet, all too
587
THE SAINT REGIS INDIAN RESERVATION
common, and has been productive of poverty, crime and a train of other evils, conditions in this regard are markedly better than of old. The laws of both New York and Canada against the sale or gift of intoxicants to Indians are stringent, and, while still not infrequently transgressed, are more carefully observed at present than was formerly the case. If only the State would assign a State constable to duty on the reservation, still further betterment would almost surely follow. But even as it is, the Indians are modifying their bibulous habits, drunken carousals and disturbances are diminishing, and a gratifying percentage of the band are actually teetotalers.
As early as 1846 the State recognized the importance of educating these Indians, and in that year appropriated money for the erection of a school house and for the employment of a teacher. That policy has been continued ever since, until now there are eight schools on the reser- vation, employing as many teachers, at an annual expense to the State of something like four thousand dollars. But the attendance is only fitful, and the application of the pupils less earnest than could be wished. Provision for making the compulsory attendance law more effectual is greatly desired by the education department at Albany, but is believed to be possible only through the appointment of a State truant officer, who could also be a State constable and peace officer. The importance of legislative authorization to that end can not be too strongly empha- sized. There should not be omission in this connection to credit the school at Hogansburgh, conducted by the Sisters of Mercy and main- tained from the Drexel fund, as told in the sketch of Bombay, with doing a grand work in instructing fifty Indian girls in the courses of study usually pursued in our common schools, and also in domestic science. The degree of improvement in home conditions of the Indians attributable to this school I believe to be great.
Perhaps the most striking contrast between present Indian practices and inclination and the old is seen in his growing disposition to work, in his increasing appreciation of more comfortable and more respectable belongings and surroundings, in his greater consideration for the women, and in an ever developing pride to be thought, and actually to be, a real cog in the wheel of the world - all of which is evidenced in a better per- sonal appearance, in improved dwellings and other buildings, in cleaner yards, and generally in more seemly behavior. The Indian is naturally childlike, easily interested and spurred to energetie and enthusiastic effort, but tiring quickly in any enterprise, and woefully lacking in persevering industry. It was thus not uncommon in earlier years for them to work diligently in the spring in planting and sowing, and then utterly neglect
588
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY
their fields throughout the summer, and sometimes even for the harvest. But to-day there are farmers on the reservation who attend to business as closely and as intelligently as their white neighbors, and whose imple- ments are modern and well cared for. Much of their stock also is excel- lent. Besides farming, some have acquired trades, and are really efficient workers at carpentry and in other mechanical occupations. Others make it a practice to go out among the white farmers of the locality to work in the fields during the summer, and in winter to find employment in the lumber camps. Still others busy themselves at home in manufactur- ing lacrosse sticks, pick and axe handles, snowshoes, etc. In the months of May and June they fish with seines and gill-nets at the mouths of the St. Regis and the Raquette, often making good money. The sturgeon, pike and other hard fish are shipped to New York, and the soft and coarser ones eaten at home or sold locally. Two or three years ago a sturgeon brought twenty cents a pound, and the females a dollar and a half a pound additional for the eggs, which are made into caviare, so that sometimes a single large fish fetched fifty dollars or more. The women engage in bead work, making baskets and moccasins, in sewing and in care of the home. They are immeasurably better treated and more respected by the men than in the old days, when it was deemed degrading for a male Indian to do any labor, and the squaw had to be the drudge. It is credibly stated that there is hardly a house on the reservation that does not have its sewing machine, and usually some member of the family is busy with it, making clothes for herself or the children, or sewing for hire for others.
In 1895 the United States court of claims rendered a judgment in favor of the Indians of New York for $1,967,056 on account of lands west of the Mississippi that had once been set apart for this State's tribes, but which, not having been occupied by them, were sold. The money (locally called "Kansas money ") was paid in 1905 and 1906, a total of $179.33 to every Indian man, woman and child, so that some families received two thousand dollars or more each. The St. Regis Indians generally made excellent use of the sums that they received, expending it mainly in building better houses and outbuildings, in improv- ing such as were worth fixing over, and in purchasing farm implements, cattle and horses. Some was spent also for apparel, and it is not the least of the changes in the Indian here that he now dresses far better than formerly.
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