USA > New York > Cattaraugus County > History of Cattaraugus County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers > Part 22
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" Brothers : We will give you these premiums for four years, if our young men stay here so long, upon these con- ditions, that the person who applies for a premium must produce a certificate from two of the chiefs, signifying the quantity of grain, cloth, etc., for what the premium is de- manded, and that it was raised or made in the manner above mentioned, and that the person has not been intoxicated with whisky, at least for the term of six months before that time. And our friends are hereby authorized and desired to pay the above premiums agreeably to what is herebefore expressed."
The Indians deliberated on these propositions, and an- swered in a speech through the interpreter : " Brothers, we have heard all you wish to do among us. You are come here to see us. You wish us well. You wish us to become as the white people. The white people are rich, and got everything; the Indians are poor, and have nothing.
" Brothers: You told us one thing ; it be good for us to build a mill; we must find four hundred dollars and you will find four hundred dollars. Brothers, we can't say but few words at this time about this mill. We will consult Capt. Chapin ;* if he thinks we will receive our money, and will be able to raise the money you propose, then we will do it.
" Brothers : We know how far you have come to see us ; it is a great way from the sea-shore, where our forefathers once lived. The white people have cheated us, and got our land from us, and now we have but little left. We will try to learn your way."
* General Israel Chapin, United States Indian Superintendent.
The Indians were then evidently in a very uneasy state of mind regarding their lands, and had begun to fear not only that they should be cheated out of the money due them for the lands which they had sold in the previous year to the Holland Company (or rather to Robert Morris for the company), but also that they might fail to have their reser- vations confirmed to them. " But just at that time a runner from the chiefs at Buffalo Creek arrived at Cornplanter's vil- lage with a message to him, desiring his attendance there as soon as convenient, for the surveyors and commissioners from Robert Morris & Co. were come to run out the land which the Indians had sold them last fall, and to run out and settle the lines of the Indian reservation. The chief expressed a great desire that we two should go with him to the council, and attend there while the business was transacting, which, upon weighing, we let him know we felt a freedom to com- ply with." Also at about the same time the boat contain- ing their goods shipped from Pittsburgh arrived, and was heartily welcomed both by the Quakers and the Indians, many of whom gathered round the shore, never having seen such a boat before. The cargo had been sixteen days on the passage from Pittsburgh to Genesangohta, the distance being computed at about two hundred and seventy miles by the course of the river. The boatmen received a gratuity of three dollars above the stipulated price, to remunerate them for the extra nine miles of transportation from Corn- planter's village up to the Friends' settlement. Then, after having safely discharged their cargo, " they respectfully bade farewell, and with cheerful countenances went merrily down the lively current, expecting in four days to arrive in Pitts- burgh."
As there was now no necessity for their longer stay, the two members of the committee made ready for departure ; and after having addressed a few more words to the Indians, advising them to discontinue the practice of compelling their women to do the heavy work of the fields while their boys and young men passed their time in indolence or sports, and warning them anew against their besetting vice of drunk- enness, they (Messrs. Sharpless and Pierce) set out at sun- rise on the 7th of June, and took their way northward towards the mouth of Buffalo Creek. They had expected to be accompanied by the chief, Cornplanter, but he, as might have been expected, disappointed them, and they were com- pelled to proceed with only a single guide, known as " In- dian John."
" When near Cattaraugus River we passed through a very rich bottom, with an uncommonly luxuriant growth of vege- tation, and about sunset arrived at the stream, which we found to be many perches out of its banks at the fording- place. Our guide made signs to us that it would run over our horses' backs, and sweep them away. We therefore concluded to pitch camp, being in an open bottom where there was a pretty good supply of grass, so that our horses would have done very well, if it had not been for gnats and mosquitoes. We struck up a fire, and under some bushes we had put up to keep off the dew, got a pretty comfort- able night's rest. We saw neither house nor cabin in this day's ride."
In the morning the Cattaraugus Creek had fallen, so that they crossed without much difficulty, and proceeding to
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Buffalo Creek, and from thence to Canandaigua, they in due time reached their homes in Philadelphia.
The three young Quakers, Swayne, Simmons, and Jack- son, who remained on the Reservation after the departure of the two senior Friends, had come among the natives for the purpose of giving them instruction in all things per- taining to civilization, but primarily as to the adoption of better methods of agriculture and living, and in this they appear to have been moderately successful from the first. In the month of January, 1799, they reported to the meet- ing in Philadelphia that several of the young Indian men had manifested some willingness to help themselves by labor, and that one had been employed by themselves for a time to work on their farm; also that a school had been kept by them for a short time, and had been attended by a few of the Indian children.
On the 3d of the following March they wrote that, hav- ing erected for themselves a good log house, covered with shingles, the Indians had appeared very desirous of follow- ing their example, and that three old Indian men, with their assistance and instruction, had very soon learned to make shingles. In September of that year (1799) four members of the committee (one of whom was Joshua Sharpless) vis- ited the Reservation, and found that several of the natives were building good log houses, which were either roofed or intended to be roofed with shingles; also that their corn crop was much better than they had formerly raised; that several small lots of land were under good fence, and that their stock of cattle was considerably increased. But the plow had not yet been used by them, and they still clung to the hoe as the only implement of cultivation. Neither had they in any instance attempted the raising of wheat or other small grain. The committee complimented them warmly for their advancement, and for their better conduct in regard to the use of whisky; but they told them there was yet much to be done, and that, in fact, their improve- ment was yet barely commenced; and, in particular, it was enjoined on them to use the plow, and to commence the cultivation of small grains,-for, said they, "The white people keep their cattle on hay, on straw, and on corn-fod- der. Straw you cannot get until you raise wheat or other grain. The rich bottoms, if put in order, would produce a great deal of hay."
While on this visit, the committee " went from this set- tlement to the Catarogus River, where a large number of Senecas reside, who had requested a set of saw-mill irons and other aid. The chiefs being generally from home, a letter was left with a white man at Buffaloe, who has been adopted into their nation, informing them that a set of saw-mill irons would be given them when they were pre- pared to build a mill; and if they left off their very in- temperate use of strong drink, it might be some encour- agement to help them further."
To this communication (after the departure of the com- mittee) the following reply was received :
" The instructions that you gave please us very much in general ; you may rely upon it that we are going to follow your directions. We have fully determined to leave off drinking whisky; and if there come traders on, we have determined to order them off the ground.
" Friends Quakers : We hope you will keep your minds strong as you was at first, and we return you great many thanks for the kindness you have done already."
The Indian school was opened and taught for a time in the winter of 1799-1800, but was attended by only a very few children. Again, in the following fall or winter, it was opened; but meeting with little or no encouragement from Indian parents, it was definitely discontinued, though a few of the children received some little irregular instruc- tion after that time. One of the young Quaker men had left the Reservation and returned to his home in 1799, and another in 1800; but their places were supplied by two who had been laboring among the Oneidas.
In the spring of 1801 the Indians were first induced to make use of the plow in preparing their grounds for crops. They were able to use the implement with very little instruction or assistance, but they took a very cautious method of determining whether it was likely to be an ad- vantageous change for them or not. Several parts of a large field were plowed, and the intermediate spaces pre- pared by their women with the hoe, according to ancient custom, and it was all planted with corn. The parts plowed, besides the great saving of labor, produced much the heavier crop. The corn crop of this year was ten- fold greater than when the Quakers first came to the Reservation.
The first wheat was sown by the Indians in the fall of 1801, and the improvements made during this year were much greater than all those of the three years preceding. The increase of cattle and fences was very marked, and "the cabins which they used to live in were generally either gone to decay or pulled down; most of them had built good log houses with shingled roofs, and some of them with stone chimneys."
When the deputation from Philadelphia visited the Reservation in the fall of this year they found indications of uneasiness and suspicion on the part of the natives, who, it was discovered, feared that at some future time the Qua- kers might bring heavy bills against them for the services and assistance which were being rendered them, and that the last of their land might be taken from them in pay- ment of these charges. These fears were openly expressed when the committee informed them that they had brought a blacksmith from Philadelphia to teach his trade to some of their young men. They then asked to be plainly told whether land or money would not at some time be de- manded for these things which were done and being done for them.
" They wished to know very clear in writing about it, and would wait till the writing was ready ; also whether we would leave the tools for the young men who might learn the blacksmith trade when the blacksmith went home, or whether we would take them away."
To which the following answer was sent in writing :
" Brothers,-We tell you now plainly, as we told you before, that your brothers the Quakers do not want any of your money, or any of your skins, or any of your land for any thing they have done for you, and that they never will bring any charge against you for any of these things; and we give you this writing to keep forever, to make your minds
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perfectly easy in this respect. About the smith's tools we cannot say much, but think we shall leave them all with you if some of your young men will learn the trade." They afterwards said that when the Friends first came among them, and for a long time after, the white people, traders, and others continually cautioned them to " keep a good watch on the Quakers; they are a cunning and designing people, and, under the pretense of doing something for you, want to get a hold upon you, to make an advantage of you some way or other." But the uniform straightforwardness and honesty of the Quakers disarmed the suspicion in a great measure; and when the Indians received the written agreement never to demand land or money from them they professed themselves wholly satisfied, though something of the same suspicious fear did manifest itself for some years afterwards.
Early in 1802 the instructors on the Reservation reported to the committee in Philadelphia that three young Indians were working at the smith's trade, and had made consider- able improvements ; that the number of cattle had increased so that several families had each as many as six or seven head ; that " no whisky is knowingly suffered to be brought into the settlements on this river ; and if any are found out to have been overtaken with it when among the whites,* they are sharply reprimanded and exposed by the chiefs at their return, which has nearly the same effect among In- dians as committing a man to the workhouse among white people." The Quaker instructors further reported that the Indian saw-mill " at Catarogus" (meaning the Cattaraugus Reservation), to which the Friends had contributed so largely, was in operation, and that the Indians succeeded pretty well in working it; also that thirteen or fourteen new lots had been inclosed and mostly cleared, that several had sown lots of spring wheat, that eighteen thousand to twenty thousand rails had been split and put up by natives during the spring, and that " the Indians of this and the upper settlement [ten miles farther up the Allegany] have opened a very commodious road from this place for about five miles up the river. Before this was opened the way was difficult for man or beast to pass."
It had been for some time in contemplation to purchase from the Holland Company a tract of land contiguous to the Reservation, and for the resident Quakers to remove thereto, giving up the Indian lands they were then occupy- ing; and when the deputation of four members of the committee made their annual visit to the settlement, in Sep- tember, 1803, they came with authority from the meeting to make this and any other changes which they might con- sider to be advisable. The change of location to lands of their own was thought best by the committee, for the rea- son that "some of the Indians had increased their stock faster than their means of subsisting them through a long and rigorous winter. When their hay and other fodder became much reduced they applied to Friends to give them some. These requests could not be complied with, to an ex- tent proportioned to their necessity, without reducing the
Friends to a like state of want; and fearing lest in future winters a renewal of similar requests, without the means of satisfying them, might disturb that harmony which had hitherto subsisted between us and the Indians, it was be- lieved safe to embrace the opportunity which now offered of purchasing from a company of white people an adjoining tract of land, and settling our Friends thereon."
The first step taken was to obtain the consent of the In- dians to the removal ; and this being obtained, on condition that they should not remove from the immediate neighbor- hood of the Indian settlements, the committee then pro- ceeded " to view the land on a creek called Tunesassa, which falls into the Allegany River on the east side, about two miles above Genesangohta. Although it was not within the bounds offered us for sale, yet, as it belonged to the same company, no doubt was entertained but it could be procured ; the stream was found sufficient to work a mill, and it was believed a very good farm might be made there, the situ- ation for our purposes being superior to any in that neigh- borhood."
Concerning the consummation of the bargain for the Mand with the Holland Company, the record is found that " a contract was entered into for the land on Tunesassa Creek, and Friends at Genesangohta made a temporary house, and removed there before winter,"-that is, during the season of 1803. The amount of land purchased was six hundred and ninety-two acres, which (with the excep- tion of about two hundred and twenty-five acres recently sold) is still owned and occupied by the Friends, and forms what is often mentioned as the " Quaker Mission Farm," in the town of South Valley. When the Friends removed to this place from the tract on which they had previously been located in the Reservation, they left upon the latter, for the use of the Indian proprietors, all the improvements which they had made during their five years' occupancy ; and they also left for the Indians, without remuneration, all their tools and agricultural implements, except a lot which had been recently brought from Pittsburgh. Be- sides these, they gave them one set of blacksmith tools, and allowed the Indian smiths to come to the Quaker farm and make free use of the other set.
The committee at this visit were much encouraged at the progress made in many particulars; and it was espe- cially mentioned that " the road which the Indians have opened for about twenty-two miles is a great work for them; it affords a much better communication from the lower to the upper settlements by land than they used to have."
From Allegany the committee " went to Catarogus, where they were cordially received by the chiefs, and had the satisfaction of noticing very great improvements. Sev- eral of them had built and were building good houses, on a rich flat, about a mile from their old village; their crop of corn was large, and their stock of cattle increased ; and generally speaking, they had become a sober people, most of them having for a long time refrained from the use of whisky and other strong drink. In the evening, when Friends were sitting with the chief warrior, he said he wished to ask them a question, but was almost afraid. They desired him to speak, and they would give him such infor- mation as they were able. It was : Do the Quakers keep any
* The white settlement which at that time was nearest and most dangerous to these Indians was at Warrentown (now Warren), Penn- sylvania. No white settler except the Quakers had then entered the wilderness of Cattaraugus.
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slaves ? He was told they did not. He said he was very glad to hear it, for if they had kept any he could not think so well of them as he now did. That he had been at the city of Washington last winter on business of the nation, and found many white people kept blacks in slavery, and used them no better than horses."
As the only means by which the Indians could grind their little crops of wheat was by the use of pestle and mortar,-the distance to the nearest mill being about fifty miles,-which was also a matter of great inconvenience to the Quakers as well as to the Indians, the meeting at Phila- delphia decided to erect not only a saw-mill but also a grist- mill on the farm at Tunesassa, and both these were com- menced on in the summer of 1804; the blacksmith, who had become a great favorite with the Indians, offering to remain among them through this season (though he had not intended to do so) to make the iron work for the mills, and to instruct the Indian blacksmiths more perfectly in the business. In the early part of this year, nearly all the Indians removed from Cornplanter's village and tract below the State line, and settled higher up the river, many of them in the neighborhood of Tunesassa; no doubt fully appreciating the advantages of a location in the immediate neighborhood of the Friends, who had proved themselves friends indeed to the red race.
On the 7th of November, 1804, the saw-mill was re- ported as being in operation and promising well, and the grist-mill as lacking only a few weeks' work of completion. As late as the 15th of March, 1805, however, they were again reported as being neither of them wholly finished, though both were doing business. The Indians had then had considerable grinding done, and appeared greatly pleased to see the grain reduced to meal so much more rapidly than by pounding in their wooden mortars. An Indian man, of more than average ingenuity and quickness, having had a grist of wheat of his own raising ground and bolted, said, with animation, " I think this will make Indians see day- light." Both sawing and grinding were done for the In- dians without charge.
The Friends residing at the farm at this time were Joel Swayne, Jacob Taylor, Jonathan Thomas, and John Pen- nock. The dwelling-house, which was completed on the farm at about the same time, was a good, substantial struc- ture, built of logs hewed on two sides, ceiled inside with boards, and filled in and plastered between the timbers on the outside. The handles and latches throughout the building were made of wood; all which served to show the natives that they had the means at command for promoting their own comfort. A blacksmith-shop was also put up on the premises.
The story of the progress made by the Friends in their civilizing mission being an exceedingly interesting one in every part, and especially so during these earliest years of their labor, has been given here (with perhaps unnecessary minuteness of detail) from the time when the lonely in- structors first entered the wilderness until we now find them established in their comfortable dwelling, upon the property purchased and owned by the society.
Having now, by patient and persevering labor, accom- plished something towards the improvement of aboriginal
agriculture (though their efforts for the education of native children had thus far failed of success), the Friends gave attention to the promotion of order, cleanliness, and civil- ization in the household economy of the Indians. For. this, the presence, instruction, and example of skilled women were necessary ; and such were soon found, who, influenced by Christian benevolence, were willing to sacri- fice the comforts and associations of home to live among the native women as instructors in the various arts and methods of civilized domestic life. Several women of the Society of Friends have come to the Allegany Reservation, for the purpose mentioned, at various times, covering a period of more than half a century; but the first of these were Elizabeth and Hannah Clendenon, the wife and daughter. of Robert Clendenon, who, not long after the completion of the dwelling on the mission farm, came with the husband and father and took up their residence there, for the pur- pose (as expressed in a letter of introduction which they brought from the yearly meeting, " to the chiefs and others of the Seneca nation") " of promoting your welfare by in- structing you in the useful arts of civilized life." The benefit of their teaching and example soon became apparent. A number of spinning-wheels were procured, and the In- dian women taught to spin. A few of them were also taught to weave; and many yards of cloth were manufac- tured to the satisfaction of the natives, as well as those who were engaged in instructing them. The Clendenon family remained here for many years.
Some efforts were made to promote the school education. of children ; but little was effected in that respect, the natives being much prejudiced against their children re- ceiving literary instruction, owing in great measure to the bad conduct, on his return home, of a son of one of the principal chiefs, who had been educated to some extent among the whites at Philadelphia. But, after the lapse of several years, some of the more progressive Indians ex- pressed a desire to have their children educated; and accordingly Joseph Elkinton, then twenty-one years of age, " having felt his mind drawn to that particular service," came to the Tunesassa farm, in 1816, and soon after his arrival opened a school upon the Reservation. The number of scholars fluctuated from two or three to twenty. At some seasons the school was attended diligently by the children, apparently to the satisfaction of the parents and scholars. But the force of superstition and ignorance was such that if an old Indian " prophet," then living on the Reservation, told that he had a dream in which he saw the school children crying over their books, and that it was not pleasing to the Great Spirit for Indians to learn lessons, it had a most powerful effect against the school and the teacher. But the school continued, with very moderate success, until 1820, when Mr. Elkinton adjourned it for the summer, for the purpose of visiting his friends in Phila- delphia. During his absence a bitter opposition was raised, and the school-house given to an Indian, who occupied it as a dwelling, so that when the teacher returned in the autumn he found it impracticable to reopen the school.
At the head of the opposition (or Pagan party, as it became known) was Cornplanter, who had formerly been much in favor of Indian education, and who first requested
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