History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868

USA > New York > Dutchess County > History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 3

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The Minsis' territory extended originally from the head-waters of the Delaware and Susque- hanna south to the mountainous regions of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and from the Hudson west and south-west far beyond the Susquehanna. Their council fire was located at Minnisink.

These tribes, says Heckewelder, multiplied and separated into distinct branches, taking the names of "simple natural objects," or of "something striking or extraordinary," and settling in distant localities ; until, he says, nearly forty tribes honored them with the title of grandfather, " a title which," says Ruttenber, " some of them continue to apply to the present day."* "This was the case with the Mahicanni or Mahicans, in the east, a people who by intermarriage had become a detached body, mixing two languages together, and forming out of the two a dialect of their own : choosing to live by themselves, they had crossed the Hudson River, naming it Mahicannituck River after their assumed name, and spread themselves over all that country which now composes the eastern states."; This statement of Heckewelder's warrants the assump- tion that the Mahicans, who inhabited the coun- try east of the Hudson, were the progenitors of the Pequots and Mohegans, who inhabited Connecticut and the country north of it, and were believed by Dr. Trumbull to be one tribe, taking their names "from

* Indian Tribes of Hudson's River, 47.

" The Delawares call all nations, (except the Mengwa, as they, or ' Maqua,' as the Mahicanni term the Five Nations or Iroquois, and except the Wyandots or Hurons,) this side of the Mississippi, and even beyond it : all the southern nations, all the eastern, and those of the Canadas (except as above, ) ' Noochwissak,' that is, 'my grandchild- ren ;' and these all acknowledge the Delawares their 'Mochomes,' that is, 'their grandfather.' " -- Yates and Moulton's History of New York, 227.

Schoolcraft bears equally strong testimony to this fact.

t Heckewelder's Historical Account of the Indian Nations, 26, 35.

EARLIEST ACCOUNTS OF THE MAHICANS.

the place of their situation."* "The Pequot country proper," says Ruttenber, was principally within the three towns of New London, Groton and Stoning- ton ;"f and that author, as well as Gallatin # and DeForrest,§ assumes the identity as to race of the Mahicans, Pequots and Mohegans, though he as- serts a distinct tribal organization. || Elsewhere Heckewelder quotes authorities i supposing the identity of the Mahicans and Pequots .*

The Mahicans, who, says O'Callaghan, ("the Mahicanders or River Indians,") lined the Hud- son on either side to its mouth, ff had, according to Heckewelder's account, been confined to the east bank of the river at the time of Hudson's advent in 1609. Heckewelder's information " of the extent of country the Mahicanni inhabited," (the best he could obtain,) " was from an aged and intelligent man of this nation, whose grandfather had been a noted chief." He said the western boundary was the Mahicanniltuck, (the Hudson or North River ;) and that their " settlement extended on the east side of this river from Thuphane or Tup- hanne, (a Delaware word for cold stream, from which the whites have derived the name Tappan,) to the extent of tide water up this river; here was the uppermost town. From thence our towns were scattered throughout the country on the smaller rivers and creeks." "Our nearest neighbors on the east," continues the narrative, "were Wampano. These inhabited the Connecticut river ## down- wards, and had their largest town where the sea runs a great way into the land, and where the white people have since built a town, which they call New Haven. These (the Wampano) were in possession of an island, which the white people call Rhode Island. Adjoining the Wampano, east, were the Munachécanni ; next to these the Paamnakto ; then the Patuchtinnau ; then the Wawiachtenno, and the Machtitschwannau. These latter lived at or near a place on the sea, where there were a number of islands together, through which a strong current ran, wherefore they were called by this name, which signifieth the same. All these nations were with the Mahicanni like one, and assisted their grandfather, the Delawares, in carrying on the war

against the common enemy the Maqua, until the white people had come into their country. Our grandfather (the Delawares, ) owned and inhabited all the country from the extent of tide-water above Gáschtenick* to the extent of tide-water, in a river far to the south, where a place was called Pathá- mook or Pate-ham-mok.t Clean across this extent of country (viz, from Albany to the Potomac,) our grandfather had a long house, with a door at each end, one door being at Pate-ham-mok, and the oth- er at Gáschtenick ; which doors were always open to all the nations united with them. To this house the nations from ever so far off used to resort, and smoke the pipe of peace with their grandfather. The white people coming over the great water, un- fortunately landed at each end of this long house of our grandfathers, and it was not long before they began to pull the same down at both ends. Our grandfather still kept repairing the same, though obliged to make it from time to time shorter, until at length the white people, who had by this time grown very powerful, assisted the common ene- my, the Maqua, in erecting a strong house on the ruins of their grandfathers."# This accords substantially with a communication from Dr. Bar- ton, which says, "the Mahicans occupied * *

* the east side of the Hudson, from a site opposite to Albany down to the Tappan Sea. They were chiefly confined to the Hudson shore, or within ten or fifteen miles east of it."g "These were the people that swarmed the eastern banks of the river when Hudson sailed by their settlements, from the borders of the Manhattans to the tide-water beyond Albany. They were so much more numerous than other Indians on the same river, that they in par- ticular were subsequently denominated the River Indians."Il

Wassenar, an early Dutch writer, states that at the time of the discovery, the Mahicans held twenty-five (seventy-five English) miles on both sides of the river in the vicinity of Fort Orange, which was built on their lands ; but concludes with the statement that the Maquas (Iroquois) held the west shore. This latter statement harmonized with that of DeLaët, who wrote in 1625; and, says Ruttenber, if it is considered that Wassenar wrote " at different periods extending from 1621 to 1632,

* History of Connecticut.

t Indian Tribes of Hudson's River, 43, (note.)

Į Gallatin. 11, 34.

§ History of the Indians of Connecticut.

1 Indian Tribes of Hudson's River, +4.

I Coll. Mass. His. Soc. IX, 77. Trumbull's History of Connecticut, I, 28.

** Historical Account of the Indian Nations, 78.

tt History of New Netherland, I., 47.

## Connecticoota, meaning Long River, was the Indian name .- Judge Benson's Memoir.

* The Mahicanni name for Albany.

t The Potomac. This is a Delaware word which signifies "an arrival of persons by water."

# Heckewelder's Ms Communication to Dr. Miller, 18or. Library New York Hist. Soc. Fates and Moulton's History of New York, 227-229.

§ Ms. with New York Hist. Soc.

11 Yate's and Moulton's History of New York, 230.

HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

his account will be found entirely consistent with itself." " From information subsequently obtained, however," adds Ruttenber, "and especially that furnished by treaties and other documentary papers, it would appear that at the time of the discovery, the Mahicans held possession under sub-tribal organi- zations, of the east bank of the river from an un- defined point north of Albany to the sea, includ- ing Long Island ; and that their dominion extended east to the Connecticut, where they joined kindred tribes ; that on the west bank of the Hudson they ran down as far as Catskill, and west to Schenec- tady."* Messrs. Yates and Moulton think it "probable that they had in former times reached to the head-waters of the Hudson, until they met their rivals in the vicinity of Lacus Irocoisia, (Champlain,) or near the Green Mountains west of that lake. There is no doubt they once owned and occupied the Saratoga tract, now including a county of that name in this State."t

CHAPTER II.

THE IROQUOIS FAMILY-THE ALGONKIN FAMILY- THEIR INHERENT WEAKNESS - UNIVERSALITY OF THEIR LANGUAGE-THE DELAWARES-REL- ATIVE RANK OF THE THREE TRIBES OF THE DELAWARES-THEIR ORGANIZATION AND GOV- ERNMENT-SUCCESSION OF CHIEFTAINCIES HE- REDITARY IN THE FEMALE LINE- DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE CHIEF-INDIAN MODE OF EX- PIATING MURDER - ORGANIZATION AND GOV- ERNMENT OF THE MAHICANS-METHOD OF DE- CLARING WAR - OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE WEAPONS-PREPARATIONS FOR WAR-ENDUR- ANCE AND SUFFERINGS OF INDIAN WARRIORS- INDIAN TORTURE-INDIAN TOTEMS.

W HEN the Europeans first had inter- course with the aborigines of North America, the latter consisted of two great families,

* Indian Tribes of Hudson's River, 34. Wassenar's Historie Van Europa, Amsterdam 1621-1632.

t History of New York, 95, 230. From the translation of the Sara- toga purchase, (among the manuscripts of the New York Hist. Soc.,) say these authors, (230, note, ) it appears that the "Mahikend" Indians were present at the court-house in Albany, July 26, 1683, at the purchase of the lands at Saratoga, and saw the Mohawks receive payment. Being required to say whether they had any claim on the lands, they then de- clared that they desisted from all right and ownership which they former- ly had thereto, deferring to the discretion of the purchasers to give them something of an acknowledgment or not, as it was their land of old, before the Mohawks conquered (or won) it. They also signed a quit- claim or memorandum, declaring in the name of the whole nation who might have any pretension to the same, that they would, so far as respects their nation, clear them from all demands. Whereupon the purchasers gave them seven duffels garments, as a memorial of the aforesaid pur- chase, two half casks of beer, and two kegs of wine. Albany Records, C. fol. 290.

who are at present known as the Iroquois* and the Algonkins.t The immediate dominion of the Iroquois proper, or Five Nations, extended from the borders of Vermont to Western New York, and from the lakes to the head-waters of the Ohio, Susquehanna and Delaware. To the north and west lay the Huron, Neutral and Erie nations, and to the south the Andastes, all kindred tribes of the Iroquois family.

The Algonkin family was much more numerous than that of the Iroquois, but lost much of its effective strength by being dispersed over a wide extent of country. This made many of its tribes an easy prey to the rapacity of the Iroquois, who, from the want of thorough concert of action among their enemies-for though cognate they were not coherent-were enabled to attack and subdue them in detail. "The primitive language which was the most widely diffused, and the most fertile in dia- lects," says Bancroft, "received from the French the name of Algonkin. It was the mother tongue of those who greeted the colonists of Raleigh at Roanoke, and of those who welcomed the pilgrims to Plymouth. It was heard from the Bay of Gaspé to the valley of the Des Moines ; from Cape Fear, and, it may be, from the Savannah, to the land of the Esquimaux ; from the Cumberland River of

* This was the French name for the five confederate nations of Indians who resided mostly within this State, and was given them, says Charle- voix, because they usually began and finished their speeches with the word hiro, which means, "I say," or " I have said," and combined as an affix with the word Koue, is an exclamation expressing joy or sorrow, accord- ing as the pronunciation is long or short. (Garneau's History of Can- ada.) By the Dutch they were called "Maquas." They denominated themselves "Mingoes," meaning United People. (Clark's Onondaga.) Their true name is " Hodenosaunee," or "People of the Long House," because the five nations were ranged in a long line through Central New York, and likened to one of their long bark houses. (Parkman's fesuits.) Loskiel says "they call themselves Aquanuschioni, that is, United People ; always to remind each other that their safety and power consists in a mutual strict adherence to their alliance." (Mission of the United Brethren, Part I., Chap. I., 2.) They also call themselves "Canossioone," or "Konossione," meaning, in the Iroquois language, "the whole house, or all the Indians together." (Colonial History, IV., 78, 296. )

'They were subsequently denominated the Six Nations on the admis- sion to their confederacy in 1713, of the remnant of the Tuscaroras, who formerly belonged to them, (Colonial History, V., 376, 387,) and who, in resisting the encroachments of the proprietaries of North Carolina, who assigned their lands to the German Palatines, were almost destroyed in their fort on the River Taw, March 26, 1713, having lost 800 iu pris- oners, who were sold as slaves to the allies of the English. The Tusca- roras were assigned lands by the Oneidas, west of and in close proximity to them, and they, like the Oneidas, remained friendly to the colonists during the Revolutionary war, while the rest of the Six Nations mostly remained the allies of the English.

t The French called them Adirondacks, or, more properly, a tribe liv- ing in Canada, bearing the family name. (Colonial History, V., 791.) In Iroquois the name signifies "tree eaters," (Colonial History, IV., 899,) and was given them in derision by the Mohawks, because, subsist- ing mostly by the chase, during the long Canadian winters when game was scarce, they were driven by hunger to subsist for many weeks together upon the buds and bark and sometimes upon the young wood of forest trees.

ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE DELAWARES.

Kentucky to the southern bank of the Missinipi. It was spoken, though not exclusively, in a territory that extended through sixty degrees of longitude and more than twenty degrees of latitude."*

We have in a preceding chapter followed the Delawares, the principal branch of the Algonkin family, in their migrations from the west to the east, and fixed the location of the Mahicans, a branch of the Delawares, at the period of Euro- pean settlement, on the east side of the Hudson. The Delawares, as we have seen, were divided into three tribes, of whom, says Loskiel, "the Unami are considered as the head of the nation, the Wunalachtikos are next in rank, and then follow the Monsys."t Each tribe was but a union of families,¿ and each had a chief, who, says Los- kiel, was nothing more than the most respected among his equals in rank. Each chief, he adds, had his counselors, who were " either experienced warriors, or aged and respectable fathers of fami- lies." These constituted the council, " appointed to watch over the welfare of the tribe." In mat- ters regarding the whole nation they sent repre- sentatives to attend a general council. It was imperative that the chief be a member of the tribe in which he presided. He was not chosen by his own tribe, but by the chiefs of the two other tribes, who, with their counselors and whole tribes, moved in procession with singing towards the place appointed for the election to take place, entering the council house at the east end. The succession depended on birth, and was inherited through the female line. The child belonged to the clan of the mother, not that of the father, from whom it could not inherit anything. All rank, titles and possessions passed through the female. The son of a chief could never be a chief by hereditary title, though he might become one through personal merit ; but a grandson, great- grandson or nephew might succeed him.

" This system of clanship with the rule of descent inseparable from it, was," says Park- man, "of very wide prevalence. Indeed, it is more than probable that close observation would have detected it in every tribe east of the Missis- sippi; while there is positive evidence of its ex- istence in by far the greater number." The Chip- pewas, however, furnished an exception to this rule. With them, says Loskiel, the son of a chief had a legal right to succeed his father.

This rule, though binding, was, very elastic, and capable of stretching to the farthest limits of the tribe. Invariably with the Delawares the chief was succeeded by a near relative, well acquainted with the affairs of the State, but he must always be acceptable to the whole nation.

The new chief was inducted into office by a formal council of the chiefs of the nation, who en- joined on him his duties regarding the preserva- tion or re-establishment of peace, and admonished him not to meddle with the affairs of war, but to keep his people from it, continually to attend to the welfare of his nation, and willingly hear their remonstrances if he should commit a fault. He was required, with the advice of his counselors, to keep good order amongst his tribe, and to decide all quarrels and disputes; but he could neither command, compel nor punish, as in that case he would have been forsaken by the whole tribe. Every word savoring of command was immediately rejected with contempt by the Indian, who was always jealous of his liberty. He was compelled to keep up his reputation and enforce his authority by a prudent, courteous and winning behavior. He held his office by reason of merit and the esteem in which he was held by the people, and forfeited that distinction when this esteem was lost. A respect for native superiority and a willingness to yield to it were always conspicuous. As he was not vested with the power to punish, neither was it his prerogative to pardon. The punishment of murder and other atrocious crimes was relegated to the injured family.

It was the duty of the chief to entertain stran- gers to visit the tribe on business, also ambassadors from other nations; but if their number was too great they were put into a separate house, and their wants supplied at the public expense. That he might be able to dispense this hospitality with- out impoverishment, the men of his tribe furnished him with game, and the women assisted his wife in her plantations. When he designed visiting another chief he sent him a piece of tobacco, with this message: "Smoke of this tobacco and look towards my dwelling, then thou shalt see me com- ing towards thee on such a day."

The chief received no compensation for his ser- vices. Honor and esteem were his chief rewards ; shame and being despised his punishment. The principal men were generally poorer than the common people; for they affected to give away and distribute all the presents and plunder they I got by treaty or in war. Thus while the system

* History of the United States, II., 394-395.

t History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America, Part I., Chap. I., p. 2.

# Bancroft's History of the United States, II., 427.

HISTORY OF DUCHESS COUNTY.

held out ample incentives to valorous achievement, there was nothing to tempt the covetous and sordid .*

" A captain," says Loskiel, from whose interest- ing account these facts are mostly derived, "is the chief's right hand. He must undertake everything committed to him by the chief, even at the hazard of his life, for his duty as captain requires this of him. But if he is either wounded or killed by the enemy, the whole nation joins in revenging his death." The office of captain is neither elective nor hereditary, but is bestowed as a recognition of ability in war.

"The principal duty of the first chief of the Delawares," says the same author, "is to maintain the peace and covenants made between them and the rest of the Indian nations and Europeans. He therefore carries on a kind of correspondence with them, with a view to be always acquainted with their disposition towards his people. He also sends embassies, but generally with the advice and consent of the two other chiefs. If the Europeans or Indians send a disagreeable message, the chief's answer has always a double meaning. It would be deemed very rude to inquire an explanation, and against the law of the State to give one." For small mistakes he was admonished by his people ; but for any misdemeanor jeopardizing the com- monwealth he was reprimanded by the two other chiefs, and for continued delinquency he was for- saken and his power at an end.

"The governments of the aborigines," says Ban- croft, " scarcely differed from each other," except as accident gave a predominance to one or the other of the elements entering into them. "Each village governed itself as if independent, and each after the same analogies, without variety. If the observer had regard to the sachems, (whom Los- kiel calls chiefs,) the government seemed mon- archial, but, as of measures that concerned all they could not conclude aught unto which the people were averse and every man of due age was admitted to council, it might also be described as a democracy. In council, the people were guided by the eloquent, carried away by the brave; and this influence, which was recognized and regular in its action, appeared to constitute an oligarchy. ;

Such substantially was the organization and gov- ernment of the Mahican and other branches of the Delaware nation, neither of whom had a written constitution. The Mahicans had a chief sachem,

who was chosen by the nation, with the title to the office hereditary in the lineage of his wife. He remained at all times with, and consulted the welfare of his tribe, and concluded all of the treaties in their behalf. He had charge of the mnoti, or peace bag, which contained the strings and belts of wampum, which were the tokens of amity between his and other tribes and nations. He was assisted by counselors called chiefs, and by three others, who were respectively denominated hero, owl, and runner. Both the hero and owl were offices of merit ; the former was bestowed on those only distinguished by prowess and prudence in war ; and the recipient of the latter must be a good speaker, with a retentive memory. The heroes were charged with the execution of war when that was decided on in council ; the owl sat beside his sachem and with a loud voice proclaimed his orders to the people; he also rose at day-light, aroused the people, and summoned them to their daily duties. The office of the runner was to carry messages and convene councils .*

The chief or sachem could not declare war with- out the consent of the captains, and when war was determined on the care of the tribe or nation passed for the time being from the former to the latter, who relinquished it to the civil authorities again when peace was proposed. The Delawares, like the Iroquois, but unlike some other nations, did not declare war by a formal message ; but sent out a small party, who killed and scalped the first man they met belonging to the nation they intended to engage, then cleaved the scull with a hatchet, which was left in it, or laid a war-club, painted red, upon the body of the victim.

But little preparation for war was needed. The primitive offensive weapons were bows, arrows and clubs. The latter were made of the hardest wood, not quite the length of a man's arm, and very heavy, with a large round knob at one end. Their weapon of defense was a shield made of the tough hide of a buffalo, on the concave side of which they received the arrows and darts of the enemy. These, however, were laid entirely aside by the Delawares and Iroquois, even while the bow, arrows and club were in vogue : and fire-arms were substituted for the latter weapons on the advent of the Europeans. But previous to the substitution of guns they sup- plemented the knobs of their clubs with nails and pieces of iron. To the arrows of the Indians who greeted Hudson in 1609, points, consisting of sharp stones, were fastened with pitch. Their sole pro-

* Stockbridge, Past and Present.

* Colden's Five Indian Nations. O'Callaghan's New Netherland, 1, 56.

t History of the United States, 11., 428.

METHODS WHILE ENGAGED IN WARFARE-TORTURES-TOTEMS.

vision on such occasions consisted of pounded corn and maple sugar. The night previous to their de- parture was spent in alimentary debauchery and dancing. A feast of dog's flesh was always provided on such occasions .* They were always followed to their first night's encampment, (which was usu- ally but two or three miles from the village,) by the women, who took with them their old clothes and brought back the finery in which they marched from the castle.

They often made long and tedious marches to the lands of their enemies ; and as their provisions soon gave out, it became necessary to spend some days in hunting. They dispersed through the woods for that purpose ; but returned to the place of rendezvous exactly at the time appointed. No one had precedence during the march, not even the captain. Their provisions were divided in equal shares, however small the portion allotted to each. The Indian warriors possessed astonishing patience and perseverance, encountered incredible dangers, and lived upon the most scanty fare ; for as soon as they entered the enemy's country they could hunt no longer, and though they had always sufficient provisions for some days, being frequently under the necessity of hiding for several weeks in the woods before venturing an attack, they suf- fered incredibly from hunger and other inconven- iences. The utmost care was exercised to prevent premature discovery and elude pursuit. They al- ways recorded these exploits by the aid of mne- monic symbols, rudely sketched on the smooth side of a piece of bark, peeled for that purpose from a tree-usually an oak, as being most durable.

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History of Duchess county, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: Smith, James H. (James Hadden); Cale, Hume H; Roscoe, William E
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 868