USA > New York > Monroe County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Allegany County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming > Part 31
USA > New York > Livingston County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Yates County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Ontario County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Wyoming County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Steuben County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Genesee County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Wayne County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
USA > New York > Orleans County > History of the pioneer settlement of Phelps and Gorham's purchase, and Morris' reserve; embracing the counties of Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Yates, Steuben, most of Wayne and Allegany, and parts of Orleans, Genesee, and Wyoming. To which is added, a Supplement, or Extension of the pioneer history of Monroe county > Part 31
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The season of 1794 opened with gloomy prospects :- Negotia- tions with the western Indians had signally failed ; one army had been routed, and another defeated ; Indian murders of border settlers at the west continued ; a war with England was not improbable ;" and among the fearfully anticipated results in this region, was a renewal of the border wars, with the active participation of the legions of savage warriors at the west, added to increase its hor-
NOTE .- The following is a specimen of Mr. Winney's correspondence. Prince Ed- ward was the afterwards Duke of Kent, the father of the present Queen of England. He had then a commission in the British army :-
BUFFALO CREEK, e 23d Aug., 1792.
" I inform General Chapin that about 79 of the Canada Indians is gone to Detroit, they seem to be for Warr and a number of Indians more are expected to go up, I further inform you that the Indians of this place are to go up in the first Kings vessel tha comes down. Prince Edward is arrived at niagara should I hear anything worth while to write I shall let you know. I am your most obedient and very humble servant. C. WINNEY.
* The reader is reminded that a war between England and France had commenced England had prostrated American commerce by her arbitrary orders in council ; and impressment of American seamen, (of itself a sufficient cause of war,) was going on.
19
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rors. In the month of February, Lord Dorchester had returned from England, and meeting a deputation from the western Indians, had delivered to them an inflammatory speech, asserting among other things, that he should regard as invalid, any acquisition of the United States, of Indian lands since the peace of 1783. [Appen- dix, No. 14.] This of course included all of the Genesee country. Following up the hostile demonstration, Gov. Simcoe, early in April, with a body of troops had proceeded to the west, and erected a Fort, at the foot of the Rapids of the Miami, far within the boun- daries of the United States, as acknowleged in the treaty of 1783.
Although General Chapin, as many of the old Pioneers well re- member, endeavored to quiet alarm, and prevent the desertion of the country, he was far from feeling all the security and freedom from apprehension of danger, that he with good motives professed. All eyes were turned to him; from all the backwoods settlements, mes- sengers would go to Canandaigua, to learn from him all that was going on - to consult him as to anticipated danger ;- if he had shown misgivings, or favored alarm, a desertion of the country would have ensued, the necessity of which he was laboring to obviate. During the previous winter he had been to Philadelphia, and deliv- ered to the President a message from a council of the Six Nations, and brought back an answer. In February he had convened a coun- cil at Buffalo and delivered it. It had proved satisfactory except in one particular -- it had failed to give an explicit answer upon the
vexed question of the disputed western boundary. He however distributed presents among them - of which was a large supply of warm winter clothing - and left them with renewed professions of peaceful intentions .* In April he wrote to the Secretary of War that lie had entertained confidence that the Six Nations intended to hold a council with the U. States, in order to bring " about a general peace," but that he feared that the " inflammatory speech of Lord Dorches- ter," (which had been interpreted to the Indians at Buffalo Creek, by Col. Butler,) " with what passed between the British and Indi- ans on that occasion, had changed their intentions." "Captain Bomberry attended the council in behalf of the British government, and took pains on all occasions to inform the Indians that war between
* At this period the Senecas were almost wholly clothed and fed by him. It was the only policy which could prevent them from resorting to the king's store house at Niagara.
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their government and ours, was inevitable. When I was at Buf -. falo Creek, Gov. Simcoe had gone to Detroit. He started for that place immediately on receiving Lord Dorchester's speech to the Indians." "The expenses of the Indians increase with the im- portance they suppose their friendship to be to us ; however, you may be persuaded that I endeavor to make use of all the economy I can." The letter closes as follows : - " This part of the country, be- ing the frontier of the State of New York, is very much alarmed at the present appearance of war. Destitute of arms and ammunition, the scattered inhabitants of this remote wilderness would fall an easy prey to their savage neighbors, should they think proper to attack them."
On the 5th of May, General Chapin informed the Secretary, that the British had commenced the erection of a Fort at Sandusky. " If," says he, "it is consistent with the views of the United States, to put any part of this country in a state of defence, this part of it calls aloud for it as much as any. We are totally unprovided with arms and ammunition, and our enemy is within a few miles of us. If 12 or 1500 stand of arms could be spared from the arse- nals of the United States, to the inhabitants of this frontier, together with some ammunition, it would contribute much to their security."*
The apprehension of danger extended over all the region west of Utica. In the small settlements that had been commenced in Onondaga, it had been enhanced by an unfortunate local occurrence: Early in the spring, Sir John Johnson, through an agent, had at- tempted to take from Albany to Canada, a boat load of groceries and fruit trees. A party of men waylaid the boat at Three River Point, and plundered the entire cargo. It was a lawless attempt of individuals to take the power into their own hands, and redress na- tional wrongs ; gratify an ill feeling against Johnson, and retaliate for British offences upon the Ocean, and the annoyances of Ameri- can Lake commerce at Oswego. An invading force from Canada to land at Oswego, and march upon the settlements in Onondaga, was threatened and anticipated. Rumors came that Johnson and Brant were organizing for that purpose.
In reference to the whole complexion of things at the west, and in Canada, the legislature of New York had resolved upon erecting fortifications upon the western borders, and had appropriated
* Some arms and ammunition were shortly afterwards sent to Gen. Chapin, either by the general or state government.
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£12,000 for that purpose. The commissioners under the act, were Generals Stephen Van Rensselaer and William North, Adjt. Gen. David Van Horne and Baron Steuben, who was then a resident of Oneida county. Soon after their appointment, they had enlisted the co-operation of General Chapin, Charles Williamson and Robert Morris, as to the location of the defences. Although Baron Steuben came west, and corresponded with the last named gentle- man in reference to the matter, the author can not learn that any thing was finally consummated west of Onondaga. Before any thing could have been matured, the clouds of war had began to dis- perse. In the hour of alarm, the State commissioners came west as far as Salt Point, and ordered the erection of a block house, which was soon completed. The Baron mustered together the backwoodsmen of Onondaga, officered and inspected them; a committee of public safety was organized. Before the block house was completed and garrisoned, on several occasions, the inhabitants fled to the woods with their most valuable effects. At this time, there was an unusual number of Indians at the British posts of Os- wego and Niagara ; it was inferred that they were only waiting for Wayne's defeat at the west, as a signal for a movement in this quarter.
A new element of trouble was interposed to embarrass the rela- tions of the Six Nations with the United States. Cornplanter, with a few other chiefs, had sold to the State of Pennsylvania a district of country along on the south shore of Lake Erie, which included Presque Isle. The act was strongly remonstrated against, and Pennsylvania was early informed that it had not the sanction of competent authority, and would be regarded by the Indians as a nullity ; but at a critical period, the authorities of Pennsylvania very inddiscreetly commenced an armed occupancy and surveys. This threatened to undo all that had been done by General Chapin
NOTE. - The author of the excellent History of Onondaga, from which a portion of the account of movements in that quarter are derived, says : - " Frederick William Augustus Baron de Steuben, once an aid-de-camp to Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, Quartermaster General, Chevalier of the Order of Merit, Grand Master of the Court of Hohenzollen, Colonel in the Circle of Suabia, Knight of the Order of Fideli- ty, Commander-in-chief of the armies of the Prince of Baden, Major General of the armies of the United States, and Inspector General of the same-the fortunate soldier of fifty battles, an admirer of freedom, the friend of Washington, the man of virtue, fidelity and honor - performed his last military service in reviewing a score of unarmed, half-clad militia, and in selecting a site for a block-house for the defence of the frontier of New York, in the county of Onondaga, at Salt Point, in 1794."
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to keep the Six nations quiet. He took the advantage of a visit of Capt. Williamson to the seat of government, to represent the con- sequences, and induce the President to interfere and persuade the authorities of Pennsylvania to abandon the enterprise. In a letter to the Secretary of War, dated on the 7th of June, he had fore- shadowed the difficulty that was springing up in a new quarter - " The Cornplanter, whose steadiness and fidelity has been, until lately, unshaken, has, I am apprehensive, been induced to join their interests. He has lately returned fron Niagara, loaded with presents. Shortly after his return to his home, he despatched run- ners to the different tribes of the Six Nations, requesting them to meet in a general council at his castle, to proceed from thence to Venango ; informing them that an Indian had been killed by our people, and that it would be necessary for them to inquire into the circumstances." "I am afraid that the murder of the Indian is not the real cause of calling this council. The lands at Presque Isle, were sold to the State of Pennsylvania by Cornplanter, and a small party, without the consent of the nation. No division of the money was ever made. The Cornplanter has always denied having made the sale, and they have never considered it as a valid one. The troops sent on by the State of Pennsylvania, prove to the In- dians that the property is considered by the State as belonging ot them; and the Cornplanter, in order to extricate himself from the unpleasant situation he is placed in, is perhaps desirous of inflaming the Six Nations against the United States." General Chapin sig- nified his intention of attending the council at Venango, as he had been invited, to thwart any mischief that might be engendered there. He succeeded, however, in changing the council to Buffalo Creek, to be held there on the 15th of June.
Cornplanter was present at this council, and the principal speak- er. He led off with a speech to be transmitted to the President, in which he nearly threw off all disguise, and from a conservative, be- came an ultraist. He opened smoothly and artfully, however ; ad- dressing the President through Gen. Chapin, he said : - " Brother, I have for a long time aimed at the good of both parties. I have paid you different compliments, as that of brother, and father, and now I shall call you friend. We were pleased when we heard that you was appointed to have chief command of the United States." He closed a long speech, and one of a good deal of ability, by join-
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ing the western Indians in their ultimatum, in reference to making the Ohio the boundary line; thus, in fact, nullifying his own acts. He demanded redress for two of their people killed by the whites; and even had the effrontery to complain of the cceupation of Presque Isle, adding very significantly that it might "occasion many accidents," and presented the Gen. with ten strings of black wampum. General Chapin made a judicious reply ; and in answer to a request that Cornplanter had made in behalf of the Six Nations, for him to go to Presque Isle, disclaimed any right he had to interfere with the acts of Pennsylvania ; but said he would ac- cept the invitation, and go there and give his advice.
Accompanied by William Johnson, * two Seneca chiefs and ten Indians as a guard and as oars-men, General Chapin left Buffalo Creek on the 19th of July for Presque Isle, where he arrived on the 24th. Their slow progress had been owing to head winds that frequently obliged them to camp on shore and await their subsiding. There were then no Indian or white occupants at Presque Isle. A company of troops and a corps of surveyors were stationed at Le Boeuf, on French Creek, 16 miles distant, to which place the em- bassy plodded their way through the woods on foot. A Captain Denny commanded troops at Le Boeuf, and Mr. Ellicott t was at the head of the surveyors. The arrival of the ambassador of peace and his dusky retinue, was honored by the discharge of cannon. Runners had preceded the party, and on its arrival, a considerable number of Indians were collected. General Chapin delivered to Messrs. Denny and Ellicott , a message from the chiefs he had met at Buffalo Creek, which contained a demand for the suspension of surveys and a withdrawal of the troops ; a day or two was spent in making speeches, and in friendly intercourse with the Indians. The council, or interview, terminated in a promise from General Chapin of a general treaty to settle not only that, but all existing difficul- ties, and the representatives of Pennsylvania signified a willingness to abide by the result. Before leaving Le Boeuf, General Chapin despatched a letter to the Secretary of War, in which he said, that
* Johnson was a trader and interpreter in the British interests, residing at Buffalo Creek. When the Holland Company purchased, he owned, by deed of gift from the Indians, almost the entire site of the present city of Buffalo. A compromise gave him 45 acres, now in the heart of the city, and a traet of wild land near the city. He had been a Butler Ranger. He died in 1807
t Either Joseph or Benjamin Ellicott.
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" although the minds of the Six Nations are much disturbed at the injuries they say they have sustained, they are still opposed to war, and wish, if possible, to live in peace with the United States. They are much opposed to the establishing of a garrison at this place, as they say it will involve them in a war with the hostile Indians. * They are likewise much displeased with the having those lands surveyed, as they say they have not been legally pur- chased." In this letter, General Chapin earnestly recommended a general treaty, as the only means which could keep the Six Nations aloof from the dangerous confederacy at the west.
To the letter of General Chapin, the Secretary answered on the 25th of July, saying : - " Your ideas of a conference are adopted. It will be held at Canandaigua on the 8th of September. Colonel Pickering will be the commissioner, to be assisted by you in all re- spects. Notify the Six Nations that their father, the President of the United States, is deeply concerned to hear of any dissatisfac- tion existing in their minds against the United States, and there- fore invites them to a conference, for the purpose of removing all causes of misunderstanding, and establishing a permanent peace and friendship between the United States and the Six Nations."
No time was lost by General Chapin in disseminating the invi- tation among the Indians ; holding "talks" and councils with them, personally, in their villages. A crisis was at hand; Gen. Wayne was marching into the Indian country ; legions of the western and southern Indians were assembling to give him battle ; unless the Six Nations were diverted, there was strong probability that they would be with them ; and if Gen. Wayne was defeated, there was the additional fearful probability that an attempt of the confederates would follow, to address the alleged wrongs of the Six Nations, by bringing the war to this region. Runners, or messengers, were despatched to the seat of government ; frequent communications passed betwen Generals Knox and Chapin, and frequent speeches came from the President, through General Knox, to the Six Nations. On the 30th of July, General Chapin reported progress, and inform- ed General Knox that the complexion of things at the west looked discouraging ; that although he entertained hopes of a general at-
* Oblige them to join the hostile Indians, it is presumed, is the meaning intended to be conveyed.
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tendance at the treaty, he had to stem a strong tide of opposition, principally instigated by the British. "Captain O. Bail does not feel satisfied respecting his villanous conduct in making sale of the lands at Presque Isle, which gives general dissatisfaction to the Six Nations, as they were not informed of his proceedings. The In- dians' enmity to him, induces him to be more attached to the British, as they tolerate every kind of such conduct to disturb the Indians and bring about their own purposes." In this letter, the General mentions that the warriors on the Allegany had been per- suaded that Wayne would march in this direction, and had re- moved their old men, women, and children, to a new location on he Cattaraugus Creek, with the ultimate intention, as he thought, of crossing the Lake to Canada.
In the fore part of September, General Chapin employed William Ewing, whom the reader will find alluded to in connection with reminiscences of Pioneer settlement on the Genesee river, to repair to Buffalo creek and Canada, use his influence in getting the Indi- ans in that quarter to attend the treaty, and watch and counteract as far as possible, British interference. A letter from Mr. Ewing to General Chapin after his return, contains so much of the cotem- porary history of that period, that the author has inserted it entire in the Appendix, No. 15.
The most ample provisions were made for the treaty ; while the Secretary of War would caution against the unnecessary expendi- ture of public money, he transmitted funds liberally, and ample stores of Indian goods, liquors, tobacco, &c., were purchased in New York, sent up the Hudson, and started upon the long and tedious water transit, while at Canandaigua, the local superintendent, laid in provisions and prepared to fulfil a promise to the Indians, that he would "hang on big kettles." Col. Pickering wrote to General Chapin to have quarters provided for him where he could entertain friends ; that he ha.l sent on liquors, provisions, tea and coffee, for a private establishment.
The Indians gathered tardily. Col. Pickering anticipating this, did not arrive until after the 20th of September. In a letter to the Secretary, dated on the 17th, Gen. Chapin mentions a rumor, that Wayne had defeated the Indians. In reference to the treaty he says : - "Since the Indians were first invited to it, the British have endeavored if possible to prevent their attendance, and have used
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every endeavor to persuade them to join the hostile Indians, till at last they found the Indians would not generally join in the war, the Governor told them in the council at Fort Erie, that they might attend the treaty, and if anything was given them by the Ameri- cans, to take it." " The Indians will generally attend the treaty in my opinion, or especially those of the best part of them ; such as are generally in council, and the best friends to the United States."
Previous to the treaty, or Wayne's victory, a little light had broke in to the darkness that pervaded. The prospect of a general war with England was lessened. Gen. Knox wrote to Gen. Chapin in June, that the "British conduct in the West Indies," and Lord Dorchester's speech had "rendered it pretty conclusive that last au- tumn the ministry of Great Britain entertained the idea of making war upon us. It is however, now pretty certain that they have altered or suspended that intention. This conclusion is drawn from the orders of the Sth of January, and the general opinion enter- tained in Great Britain." Favorable as were these indications, they had no immediate effect upon British agents in this quarter.
It was not until near the middle of October, that a sufficient num- ber of Indians were collected at Canandaigua, to warrant the com- mencement of business. About that period General Chapin wrote to the Secretary, that he should " endeavor to make use of the shortest ceremony in procuring supplies, but the number of Indians is greater than I expected, and the expenses also." It is apparent from the cotemporary records, that the Six Nations, a large propor- tion of them at least, hung back from this treaty, even until they began to hear of Wayne's victory, from such of their number as had been in the fight, as allies of the confederates ; and in fact they did not assemble at Canandaigua, in any considerable numbers, un- til Wayne's success was fully confirmed, and they were clearly con- vinced that the fortunes of war had turned decidedly against those with whom they would have been fully allied, if Wayne had met with no better success than had his predecessors, Harmar and St. Clair.
The general proceedings, and favorable termination of Picker- ing's treaty of 1794, at Canandaigua, are already incorporated in history. Wayne's victory, and the success of the treaty, which was in a great measure consequent upon it, were the commence- ment of events that finally gave a feeling of security to this region,
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and enabled settlements and improvements to go on, unannoyed by the alarms and prospects of war and invasion. There was a lin- gering state of uncertainty after the two fortunate events; for months rumors came, that the western confederates were again making a stand, and refusing any compromise ; indications in Can- ada, and at the British posts at the west, favored the conclusion of British alliance with them; but the news at last came, that the far western nations were retiring across the Mississippi, discomfited, and chagrined with an alledged breach of faith on the part of the British, in not coming to the rescue when they were hotly pressed by Wayne - in shutting the gates of their fortress against them, when his iron hail was strewing the ground with their warriors; * and finally, that the nations more immediately interested in the con- test, had signified their willingness to do what was soon after con- summated at the treaty of Grenville. Jay's treaty followed, Oswego and Niagara were surrendered, and years of peace and security followed, and continued until the war of 1812.
The Hon. Thomas Morris, it will have been seen, was a citizen of Canandaigua. He was present at the treaty. He thus speaks of it in his manuscript reminiseences : - " For some months prior to the treaty at Canandaigua, the Indians would come among us painted for war; their deportment was fierce and arrogant ; such as to create the belief that they would not be unwilling to take up the hatchet against us. From certain expressions attributed to Gov. Simcoe, in connection with his conduct at Sodus Bay, it was believed that the British had taught the Indians to expect that Gen. Wayne would be defeated, in which event they might easily have persuaded the Six Nations, to make common cause with the hostile Indians, and our settlements would have been depopulated. Such were the apprehensions entertained at the time of an Indian war on our borders, that in several instances, farmers were panic struck, and with the dread of the scalping knife before them, had pulled up stakes, and with their families, were on their way to the East. Ar- rived at Canandaigua, they found that I was painting my house, and making improvements about it ; believing that I possessed better information on the subject than they did, their fears became quieted,
* Mr. Morris says that the hostile Indians at the west, sent runners to the Canandai- gua treaty with a full account of their disaster, which closed by saying : - "And our brethren, the British, looked on, and gave us not the least assistance."
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and they retraced their steps back to their habitations. After the defeat of the hostile Indians, those of the Six Nations became com- pletely cowed ; and, from that time all apprehensions of a war with them vanished.
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