History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 4

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 840

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As he landed and was passing up the steep bank towards the council ground, a loud sound was heard like a rushing, mighty wind. All eyes were instant- ly turned upwards, and a dark spot was seen rapidly descending from on high among the clouds. It grew larger and larger as it neared the earth, and was descending with fearful velocity into their midst. The utmost confusion prevailed throughout the assembled multitude, and all but the venerable Hi-a-wat-ha sought safety by flight. He gravely uncovered his silvered head, and besought his daughter to await the approaching danger with be- coming resignation, at the same time reminding her of the great folly and impropriety of attempting to prevent or obstruct the designs or wishes of the Great Spirit. No sooner liad his resolution become fixed and his last words uttered, than an immense bird, with a long and pointed beak, and widespread wings, came down with a mighty swoopand crushed the beautiful girl to the earth. His darling daughter has been killed before his eyes in a marvelous man- ner, and her destroyer has perished with her. It was found on examination that the creature in its

#Schoolcrafts Notes.

+Bancroft. . History United States.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

descent had completely buried its beak and neck up to its body in the ground. It was covered with a beautiful plumage of snow white, and every warrior as he advanced plucked a plume from this singular bird with which to adorn his crown, and from this incident the braves of the Confederate Nation for- ever after made choice of the plumes of the white heron as their most appropriate military ornament while on the war path.

In despair and dejection Hi-a-wat-ha remained three days and nights prostrated on his face on the ground, and while every one participated in his afflictions, no one seemed inclined to approach or distract his entranced state, and the Indians, almost despairing of a council, were about to depart ; but a few of the leading chiefs consulted together, and resolved that nothing should be attempted without the voice of the wise man, and a suitable person was thereupon dispatched to see if he breathed. Finding that he lived Ho-see-noke was directed to arouse him by his merry heart, to whisper kind words in his ear and call him from his reveric. After much ceremony and persuasion, he recovered so far as to converse, and after several messages had passed between the assembled chiefs and himself, he arose and desired fco.l. He was afterwards con- ducted to the presence of the council, when all eyes were turned towards the only man who could with precision foretell their future destiny. Vari- ous schemes were proposed to repel the enemy. Ili-a-wat-ha listened in silence till the speeches of all were concluded. Ile then spoke. After briefly alluding to his own calamity, he referred to the threatened invasion, and proposed that they should reflect for a day on the speeches that had been made. After the expiration of the time they again met, when the wise man thus addressed them :

" Friends and Brothers : You have come many of you a great distance from your homes ; you have convened for one common purpose, to promote one common interest, and that is to provide for our common safety. To oppose these hordes of north- ern foes by tribes, singly and alone, would prove our certain destruction. We can make no progress in that way; we must unite ourselves into one common band of brothers. Our warriors united would surely repel these rude invaders and drive them from our borders. Let this be done, and we are safe.

" You, the Mohawks, sitting under the shadow of the 'Great Tree, whose roots sink deep into the earth, and whose branches spread over a vast coun- try, shall be the first nation, because you are war- like and mighty.

" Y'ou, Oneidas, a people who recline your bodies against the 'Everlasting Stene,' that cannot be moved, shall be the second nation, because you give wise counsel.

" Y'ou, Onondagas, who have your habitation at the 'Great Mountain,' and are overshadowed by its crags, shall be the third nation, because you are greatly gifted in speech and mighty in war.

" You, Cayugas, a people whose habitation is the 'Dark Forest, and whose home is everywhere, shall be the fourth nation, because of your superior cun- ning in hunting

" And you, Senecas, a people who live in the open country and possess much wisdom, shall be the fifth nation, because you understand better the art of raising corn and beans, and making cabins."

" Y'ou five great and powerful nations must unite and have but one common interest, and no foe shall be able to disturb or subdue you."

Immediately upon this was formed the celebrated league of the Five Nations. Such was the name given them by the English. The French called them the Iroquois ; the Dutch name for them was Maquas, while they called themselves Mingoes ; all meaning United People. They were known to the English as the Five Nations till the adoption of the Tuscaroras in 1712, after which they were called the Six Nations.

The Onondagas occupied the central position in the " Long House "-a term by which they denoted their possessions from the Hudson to the Lakes. They kept the sacred council fires at Onondaga, and the key of the council house, where all the chief councils of the Five Nations were held. The Mohawks held the east door and the Senecas the west door. The confederacy was governed by heredi- tary chiefs whose claims were subjected to the decis- ions of a national council. Thus the aristocratic prin- ciple was brought into subjection to the democratic. When the hereditary chief demanded office, if found unworthy, he must give place to the next in order. In council they were a pure republic, the veto of one chief being sufficient to defeat a meas- ure .* Each canton or tribe was independent ; its quota of men was freely voted in war, or refused, without complaint from other cantons. Thus was guaranteed to each tribe its independence and security, and to cach warrior his equal rights, while general power was conceded to the confederacy in all national matters. Canassatego, one of the chiefs, said to the Commissioners of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland : "Our wise forefathers established union and amity between the Five Nations. This has made us formidable. This has given us great weight and authority with our neighboring nations. We are a powerful confederacy, and by observing the same methods our forefathers have taken, you will acquire fresh strength and power ; therefore I counsel you, whatever befalls you, never fall out with one another."

* Schoolcraft.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

At the formation of the confederacy, the famous A-TO-TAR-HO presided : unequalled in war and arts, his fame had spread abroad and exalted the Onon- daga tribe to a pre eminent position. His name was " Like that of King Arthur of the Round Table, or those of the Paladins of Charlemagne, used as an exemplar of glory and honor,"* and became the title of office of the Presiding Chief. The right of the Onondagas to furnish a presiding officer for the league was conceded, and is still possessed by them. To the Mohawks was awarded the Te-ka-ra- ho-ga, or Chief War Captain. The Great Council has always consisted of six members, each nation having one except the Senecas, who were allowed two, in consideration of their great numerical strength. Its powers were merely advisory, aiming to arrive at harmonious results by interchange of opinion without formal vote. No penalties could be inflicted or power exerted beyond that of OPINION. A unanimous decision was first required : this once obtained, its authority was absolute; each tribe acting through its representative, who was first informed as to its views. These decisions were in fact clothed with all the power of the most popular expression of the whole confederacy.

" A government like this gave to the orator, who by his eloquence could sway his people, a vast influence, and we find that many men of note have appeared among them, since they came in contact with more learned races of men, who were abun- dantly qualified to conduct their negotiations, and have reflected as much renown on their nation as their bravest warriors." + De Witt Clinton says of the speech of Garangula to the French General, De la Barre : " I believe it impossible to find in all the effusions of ancient or modern oratory a speech more appropriate or convincing. Under the veil of respectful profession it conveys the most biting irony, and while it abounds with rich and splendid imagery, it contains the most solid reasoning. I place it in the same rank with the celebrated speech of Logan."

The unwritten law of this wonderful people had a power unequalled by any statutes ever recorded in books. A single instance of its power will be sufficient. It is given by Hon. George Geddes on the authority of Mr. Webster, who lived many years among the Onondagas, and had a woman of that tribe for a wife.

A young man of the Cayugas came to the Onon- dagas and claimed their hospitality. He lived among them two years, attaching himself to Webster

- -

particularly. He appeared contented and happy, " Always foremost in the chase, most active in the dance, and loudest in the song." Mantinoah was his name. One morning he said to his friend, “ I have a vow to perform. My nation and my friends know that Mantinoah will be true. My friend, I wish you to go with me." Webster consented. After a pleasant journey of a few days, enlivened with fish- ing and hunting, they came in the afternoon to a place that Mantinoah said was near his village, and where he wished to invoke the Great Spirit. After a repast, and a pipe had been smoked, Mantinoah said : " Two winters have gone since in my village, in the fury of anger, I slew my bosom friend and adopted brother. The chief declared me guilty of my brother's blood, and I must die. My execution was deferred for two full years, during which time I was condemned to banishment. I vowed to return. It was then I sought your nation ; it was thus I won your friendship. The nearest in blood to him I slew, according to our customs, is the avenger. The time expires when the sun sinks behind the topmost boughs of the trees. I am ready. My friend, we have had many a cheerful sport together ; our joys have been many ; our griefs have been few ; look not sad now. When you return to the Onon- dagas, tell them that Mantinoah died like a true brave of the Cayugas ; tell them that he trembled not at the approach of death, like the coward pale face, nor shed tears like a woman. My friend, take my belt, my knife, my hunting pouch, my horn, my rifle, as tokens of my friendship. Soon the avenger will come ; the Great Spirit calls ; Mantinoah fears not death ; farewell." Vainly Webster urged him to escape. A short period of silence, and a yell is heard. Mantinoah responds. The avenger appears and takes the hand of his former friend, now his victim. Mutual salutations follow, with expressions of regret made by the executioner, but none by the doomed. The tomahawk gleams in the air, not a muscle moves, nor does the cheek of Mantinoah blanch ; folding his arms on his breast he receives the blow. As if by magic a host appears, the song of death is sung, and the solemn dance or death march is performed. Webster is invited to the village, where he is hospitably entertained, and when ready to return is accompanied by a party of Cay- ugas to his home.

Thus powerful was the unwritten law of the Iroquois.

It is not easy for us to understand this people, for we know but little of their peculiar springs of action. They had their religion, which the white people who came amongst them called their supersti-

* Schoolcraft.

+ Hon. George Geddes.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tion. If superstition it be, it was nevertheless the principle that governed them. AAnd did we but understand their ideas fully, we should know by what standard to judge them. Whoever has learned much of their history, knows that, in their savage state, woman, made prisoner, was never indelicately approached by him, who, without pity, would bram her infant child. He tortured and killed his prison- ers, if he did not adopt them into his family, but he never enslaved or outraged women What other nation can say this with truth ? .

Mr. Schoolcraft says that, to understand the government of the Iroquois and learn how it acquired its power and fame, it is necessary to examine their law of descent. Each canton was divided into distinct clans, each of which was distin- guished by the name and device of some quadruped, bird, or other object in the animal kingdom. The clans, or onginal families, were eight, distinguished respectively by the totems of the wolf, the bear, the turtle, the deer, the beaver, the falcon, the crane and the plover. The law of marriage required them to marry into families or clans whose totem was different from their own. A wolt or turtle male could not marry a wolf or turtle female. This interdict of consanguinity, preserved the purity of the blood, while it enlarged and strengthened the tie of relationship between the clans Owing to the limitation of descent to the line of the female, a chieftam's son could not succeed him in office, but in case of his death he would be succeeded by his brother, or failing this, by the son of his sister, or by some direct or remote descendant of the maternal hne. The man who, by inheritance, was entitled to the office of chieftainship, was obliged, on arriving at the proper age, to submit his right to a council of the whole canton. Incapacity was always and without exception recognized as a valid objection to approval.

Each canton had its eight principal chiefs and various assistant chiefs, who were civil officers. The war chiefs derived their consequence from their success in war ; they rose up as the exigencies of the nation demanded, and sustained themselves by their capacity. All males were bound to render military services. Disgrace was the penalty of failure. Thus the ranks were always full, and all war parties consisted of volunteers. Each warrior supphed and carried his own arms and provisions. The enlistment consisted in simply joining the war dance The government was in fact a pure de- ' mocracy controlled by its martial spirit.

The Iroquois have been charged with making

their women beasts of burden, while they lived lives of indolence. The division of labor between the sexes, it is true, differed widely from ours. To the warrior was assigned the duty of hunting food and protecting their hunting grounds from the inroads of the enemy. ilis life was daily in his hands, and such were the hazards he encountered that there always were more women than men in the tribes. The men spent long dreary seasons in hunting and taking furs, which, when brought home, became the property of their wives, who sold them to the traders, and with the avails made such pro- vision for the rest of the family as they could, the men standing silently by and not uttering a word. The old men, women and boys cultivated the little patch of corn and gathered the fuel. Both in the social and national systems, the women had great power and influence. The matrons sat in council, and had a right to propose a cessation of arms. There was a male functionary, an acknowledged orator, whose duty it was to speak for the women.

Schoolcraft describes the social character of the Indian thus : " In the lodge he is a mild, considerate man, of the non-interfering and non-scolding species. Hle may, indeed, be looked upon rather as the guest of his wife, than what he is most unjustly repre- sented to be, her tyrant, and he is often only known as the lord of the lodge by the attention and respect she shows to him. He is a man of few words. If her temper is ruffled, he smiles, If he is displeased he walks away. It is a province in which his actions acknowledge her right to rule, and it is one in which his pride and manliness have exalted him above the folly of altercation." The wife owned all the property : arms only belonged to the husband. The family were hers, and when war or the chase had made the father a victim, she, who had always been at its head, kept it unbroken. With the Iroquois war was the business of life, and the pursuit of an enemy on the war path, or hunting the wild beasts of the forests, were the only employments that men could engage in without subjecting themselves to the loss of rank, and the liability of being called women.

The central tribe was the seat of government, and here all the general councils were held and the policy of the nation settled. The first we know of this people, they here swayed the sceptre of an empire twelve hundred miles long and eight hundred wide. The means of free and rapid transportation of armies was to these savages the same advantage that it is to the most artificial state of society. Around the shores of Onondaga Lake the councils deliberated, and when once the plan of the cam-

· Hun Ge rge Geddes

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

paign was arranged, the canoes were afloat, and soon far down the St. Lawrence, the Adirondack heard the war whoop of the " Men of the moun- tains."* Or on the banks of Georgian Bay the trembling Huron felt the weight of their power. Or launching their barks on the waters of the Susquehanna, soon on the shores of Chesapeake Bay they dictated terms to their enemies. Fort Hill, in South Carolina, afterwards the residence of John C. Calhoun, was one of their stations, from which they waged inveterate war upon the Catawbas and Cherokees. The Iroquois nation could bring to battle more than two thousand war- riors of their own blood, besides levies of the tribes they had subjected. Their policy in regard to con- quered enemies was like that of ancient Rome : they were converted into allies rather than slaves, and having been fairly conquered in war, after a brave resistance, they were counted as younger brothers, worthy to fight by the side of their conquerors and share their glory.+

" They reduced war to a science, and all their movements were directed by system and policy. They never attacked a hostile country till they had sent out spies to explore and designate its vulnerable points, and when they encamped they observed the greatest circumspection to guard against surprise. Whatever superiority of force they might have, they never neglected the use of stratagem, employing all the crafty wiles of the Carthagenians. To pro- duce death by the most protracted suffering, was sanctioned among them by general immemorial usage." ¿

The Europeans, instead of teaching mercy to these men, encouraged and fostered the worst points in their characters, and by every temptation they were led to become even more cruel, as they became demoralized and vicious by intercourse with the more learned but less principled " pale face." Massa- chusetts first gave twelve, then forty, and finally one hundred pounds for a scalp. The Colonial Legislature of New York, in 1745, passed an act for giving a reward for scalps ; in 1746, a governor of the Colony, not only paid for two scalps of French- men in money and fine clothes, but thanked the three Indians that brought them to Albany, and promised " Always to remember this act of friend- ship." American scalps were received and paid for in English money by the officer in command at Malden, in the war of 1812.

CHAPTER V.

THE ONONDAGA INDIANS AND THE FRENCH-CHAM- PLAIN'S INVASION-JESUIT MISSIONS AMONG THE ONONDAGAS-WAR BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH-COUNT FRONTENAC'S INVASION OF ONONDAGA-THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS BEFORE ONONDAGA CASTLE.

A T the commencement of French settlements in Canada, a conflict arose between the French and the Five Nations which lasted one hundred and fifty years. This conflict was wantonly provoked by Champlain, the Governor of New France, who espoused the cause of the Adirondack Indians against the Iroquois who had driven them from their former homes in Northern New York. When Champlain built his fort at Quebec in 1608, he found the Adi- rondacks occupying that vicinity, whither they had fled for safety from their fierce and powerful con- querors, the Five Nations. Champlain had shown the Adirondacks the magical effects of his French guns, and had led them to believe that with such new and destructive weapons a few Frenchmen and Indian allies could make an easy conquest of their old enemies. Accordingly, in 1609, he joined the Adirondacks with his Frenchmen to invade the country of the Iroquois, and on the lake which bears his name, met two hundred of these Indians. Both parties went on shore for battle, and then, for the first time, the Iroquois saw the flash and heard the report of fire arms. Defeat followed, and won- dering and dismayed at the murderous effects of the strange weapon, they retreated to their fastnesses in the wilderness.

This was the first interview of the Iroquois with white men, and their first knowledge of them was obtained by meeting them as enemies on a field of battle.

Emboldened by his first success, Champlain with his Frenchmen and four hundred Huron allies, renewed his attack upon the Iroquois in 1615. This time he invaded the country of the Onondagas. On the 9th of October, 1615, a fishing party of Onondagas on their way to Oneida Lake were sur- prised and captured. These invaders had made their way up the St. Lawrence to the lower end of Lake Ontario, where, hiding their canoes, they struck across the wilderness on foot. They took captive "Three men, four women, three boys and a girl." They then marched forward, and says Cham- plain, in his account : " On the 10th of October, at three o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived before the fort of the enemy. When I approached with my little detachment, we showed them what they had

* Meaning of the word " Onondaga."

+ Hon. George Geddes.

¿ De Witt Clinton.

HISTORY OF ONONDAGA COUNTY, NEW YORK.

never before seen or heard. As soon as they saw us and heard the balls whistling about their ears, they retired quietly within their fort, carrying with them their killed and wounded. We also fell back upon the main body, having five or six wounded, one of whom died." After a six day siege, Cham- plain, in the midst of his French and Indians, was wounded in two places by Onondaga arrows, and ingloriously retreated, being carried in a " basket of wicker work, so doubled up and fastened with cords that he was unable to move" A lon, and dreary winter was passed by Champlain among the Hurons before he was able to get back to Quebec.

The location of the fort which Champlain attacked has been a matter of controversy for many years. Says Gen John S. Clark, the antiquarian :

" When investigators are ready to abandon theories in conflict with the record, rather than to abandon facts conflicting with their theories, they will experi- ence no difficulty whatever in finding an Indian town site, answering in every essential particular the description an l illustrations of Champlain.

" C'ertain facts must sooner or later be accepted as conclusive, in narrowing the limits in which we should seek for the exact location : one is, that the east branch of the Limestone is the dividing line absolutely between the historic and pre-historic town sites of the Onondagas : and that Champlain's narrative contains internal evidence in statements of fact, unquestionable, that the fort was within a few miles, at least, and south of Oneida Lake. Champlain, beyond any question, passed through Onondaga county, and attacked the stronghold of the Onondagas, but the location of this stronghold is not so easily found.

" I had the honor of reading a paper on this sub- ject before the Buffalo Historical Society, and the New York Historical Society, carly in the present year, in which I ventured to put myself on record on this question of route, and objective point, and designated a well-known Indian town site in the northeast corner of the town of Fenner, in Madison county, on the farm of Rufus II. Nichols, on what is known as the mile-strip, about three miles east of Perryville, as the home of the Onondagas at that period, and as being the identical position of the fort attacked by Champlain."

General Clark has examined this locality and made a drawing of it, corresponding in all essential particulars with the drawing and description given by Champlam. The situation is a peculiar one, the fort in the form of a hexagon, being in the angle of a stream which forms both the inlet and outlet of a pond in front of the fort, and which, in connection with the streams, surrounded it on all sides, enabling the Indians to put out the fires by which Champlain tried to destroy their work.

These attacks of Champlain upon the Iroquois provoked a war which ended only with the ex-

tinction of French dominion in North America. Truces were made, but they were only of short duration. The Iroquois armed with powder and ball by the Dutch and English, were seen on every battle field thenceforth, until on the Plains of Abra- ham, Onondaga chieftains shed the blood of the French as freely as did Wolfe, while vengeance was glutted. Says Bancroft : "Thrice did Champlain invade their country, until he was driven with dis- grace from the wilderness. The Five Nations in return attempted the destruction of New France. Though repulsed, they continued to defy the pro- vince and its allies, and under the eyes of its governor openly intercepted convoys destined for Quebec. The French authority was not confirmed by the founding of a feeble outpost at Montreal, and Fort Richelieu at the mouth of the Sorrel River scarcely protected its immediate environs. The Iroquois warrors scoured every wilderness to lay it still more waste Depopulating the whole country on the Ontario, they attained an acknowl- edged superiority over New France. The colony was in perpetual danger, and Quebec itself was besieged."

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History of Onondaga County, New York, Part 4

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 840

Author: Clayton, W.W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 840