Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 7

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410

USA > New York > Oswego County > Landmarks of Oswego County, New York > Part 7

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In July, 1743, John Bartram, a botanist of considerable reputation, visited Oswego .. He left his house, near Philadelphia, July 3d ; ascended on horseback the valleys of the Schuylkill, Susquehanna, and Chenango and its branches, to the headwaters of Onondaga Creek ; spent two days as the guest of the nation at the Council House of the Onondagas in Onondaga Valley ; and descended through Onondaga Lake and the Seneca and Oswego Rivers to Oswego, where he arrived July 25th. The journey was through a country, then as now, of surpassing beauty and fertility ; but, except for the first two days, through an unbroken forest. He gives us a view of Oswego as it was after the building of the wall provided for by the action of the Assem- bly in May 174I and before the breaking out of King George's War in March, 1744.

He will be permitted to give his impressions and observations at Oswego in his own words :

On the point formed by the entrance of the river stands the fort or trading castle. It is a strong stone house, incompassed with a stone wall near twenty feet high, and 120 paces round, built of large squared stones. Very curious for their softness, I cut my

1 London Doc. XXV. Doc. Hist., vol. I. p. 462.

2 London Doc. XXVI. Doc. Hist., vol. I, p. 463.

BARTRAM'S DESCRIPTION OF OSWEGO.

name in them with my knife. The town consists of about seventy loghouses, of which one half are in a row near the river, the other half opposite to them. Between were two streets divided by a row of posts in the midst, where each Indian has his house to lay his goods, and where any of the traders may traffick with him. This is surely an excellent regulation for preventing the traders from imposing on the Indians, a practice they have been formerly too much guilty of, and which has frequently involved the English colonies in difficulties, and constantly tended to depreciate us in the esteem of

the natives. . The chief officer in command at the castle keeps a good look out to see when the Indians come down the lake with their peltry and furrs, and sends a canoe to meet them, which conducts them to the castle, to prevent any person inticing them to put ashore privately, treating them with spirituous liquors, and then taking that opportunity of cheating them. The officer seems very carefull, that all quarreling, and even the least mis understanding, when any happens, be quickly made up in an amicable manner, since a speedy accomodation can only prevent our country men from incuring the imputation of injustice, and the delay of it would produce the disagreeable consequences of an Indians endeavouring to right himself by force.

Oswego is an infant settlement made by the province of New York, with the noble view of gaining to the crown of Great Britain the command of the 5 lakes, and the depend- ence of the Indians in their neighbourhood, and to its subjects the benefit of the trade upon them, and of the rivers that empty themselves into them. At present the whole navigation is carried on by the Indians themselves in bark canoes, and there are perhaps many reasons for desiring it should continue so for some years at least ; but a good english- man cannot be without hopes of seeing these great lakes become one day accustomed to English navigation. It is true, the famous fall of Niagara, is an isurmountable bar to all passage by water, from the lake Ontario, into the lake Erie, in such vessels as are proper for the secure navigation of either. A vessel of considerable burthen may sail from the hither end of the Erie lake, to the bottom of the lake Michigan, and for ought we know, through all parts of the 3 middle lakes. These lakes receive the waters of many rivers, that in some places approach so near the branches of the vast river Mississippi, that a short land carriage supplies the communi- cation. And here to use the words of a most judicious writer, " He that reflects on the natural state of that continent must open to himself a field for traffick in the southern parts of N. America, and by the means of this river and the lakes, the imagination takes into view such a scene of inland navigation as cannot be paralleled in any other part of the world."

The traders from New York come hither, up the Mohawks river, which discharges itself into Hudsons river ; but generally go by land from Albany, to Schenectady about 20 miles. From the Mohawks river, the carriage is but 3 miles into the river that falls into the Oneida lake, which discharges itself by the Oneida river, into the Onondago river, and brings their goods to Oswego in the manner I have before related. The Albany traders return, after 2 or 3 months trade at Oswego-Castle.1

In a long and detailed report of the condition of the British prov-

1 Bartram's Observations (London, 1751), pp. 48-55.

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

inces with relation to the French in Canada, made by Governor Clarke in 1743,1 he said among other things :

The French had lately three and have now two sailing vessels, each of about fifty or sixty tons, on the Lake Cadaraqui : On the Northeast end whereof, near the entrance into the River of St. Lawrence, they have a small stone Fort called Frontenac, with a garrison of about thirty or thirty-five men, and on the Southwest end, near the fall of Niagara, another with the like garrison, a trading house under cover of it, and are now building there one or two more trading houses. . By means only of their Mas- tery on that Lake it is, that they have acquired, and still hold their power over all the Indian Nations, from Canada to Messasippi, except only the Indians who are n xt ad- joining to our Provinces, and have all along been dependent on them (of which the Five Nations or Cantons are the most considerable), and in all those they have of late gotten too great an influence, especially among the Five Nations. We have a trading House and a Garrison of 20 men in it at Oswego, almost opposite to Fort Frontenac, which in our present situation will inevitably fall into the hands of the French, on the first opening of War, & with it the Five Nations, the only barrier against the French to all the Provinces from this to Georgia. If Oswego be taken (as nothing can hinder it while the French are masters of the Lake) the Five Nations will, and must of course, submit to our Enemy, who will oblige them to assist in all their expeditions. . It was, I presume to think, a very great Oversight, to suffer the French to build those two Forts, & I am persuaded if it had been strongly & rightly represented by the Governors of this & the other provinces a stop would have been put to it, those Forts being built on the lands of the Five Nations (whose native and conquered countries en- compass the Lake on the shore whereon they are built) who by the 15th Article of the Treaty of Utrecht are explicitly acknowledged to be subject to the dominion of Great Britain.

Upon the declaration of war most of the people of Oswego, realizing their defenseless situation, fled. George Clinton had been made gov- ernor of New York, and he said in a communication to the Assembly of August 20, 1744:

From the Examination herewith laid before you, it must be inferred, that the Prov- ince has suffered Considerable Damage this summer, by the precipitate Retreat of our Indian Traders from Oswego, upon notice of the French War; most of them you will find, left the Place immediately upon the Alarm, sold what they could of their Goods, to those few of their Brethren that had Sense, Courage and Resolution, to stay behind, and brought the remainder back with them. . How mean an Opinion, must the Savages entertain of us, when they find our people so easily frightened, as it were with a shadow .- [Assembly Journal.

The governor feared the future loss of the Indian trade through this abandonment of Oswego, and hoped the Assembly would adopt meas-

1 Doc, Hist., vol. I, pp. 464-69.

NEUTRALITY OF THE IROQUOIS.

ures to avert such a contingency, and such "as may encourage and invite the most distant Nations to come yearly to trade at that Mart." Clinton did what he could to protect and strengthen Oswego, by send- ing thither six cannon, and calling a council of the Six Nations at Al- bany to solicit their aid in defending the post In this he was not very successful, the Indians claiming that the place was not as valuable as formerly, and evincing an inclination to remain neutral; which they did in most essential respects during this war. The reader of the records of the long period of conflict between the French and the English can- not have failed to observe the constant efforts of both powers to retain the allegiance of the Iroquois. It was clearly seen that the side which could gain the zealous and undivided aid of the Indians would ulti- would ultimately win. The Iroquois also appreciated the situation, and realized that they were in time to be the losers, whichever nation finally conquered. Inducements of every nature were tendered the Indians by both the French and the English, not the least of which was a plentiful supply of brandy, besides arms, ammunition and trinkets.1 At other times threats of future destruction were adopted to gain their allegiance or their neutrality. With these were mingled, as occasion seemed to demand, promises of peace, happiness and plenty. The old records abound in stories of these various devices to gain the powerful aid and good will of the race whose subjugation was sure to follow the domi- nance of either the French or the English.

In 1744 Lieutenant John Lindsay, founder of the settlement at Cherry Valley, was appointed commander of the Oswego post, and held the position with credit to himself, five years.

In the spring of 1745 considerable excitement was created by a let- ter written from the garrison by young Lieut. John Butler (who after- wards achieved most unenviable notoriety as a British partisan in the Revolution), stating that 1.500 men, besides Indians, were organizing in Canada to attack Oswego. Nothing further was heard of the reported movement.

In 1743 William Johnson, then a fur trader in the Mohawk valley,

1 The toleration his Majesty is pleased to entertain in favor of the distribution of Brandy to the Indians, is so much the more necessary, as that liquor is the sole allurement that could at- tract and preserve them to us, and deprive them of all inducement to go to the English .- [Ab- stract of De Beauharnois and Hocquart's dispatches, Doc. Col. Hist., vol. IX, p. 1016.

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

became interested in his business at Oswego, and so rapid was his rise in the country and his influence among the Iroquois, that in 1745 he was commissioned colonel of the New York militia, and in the next year was made superintendent of Indian affairs for the Six Nations. About the same time he was also given the contract to supply the garrison at Oswego.

While the English were making feeble attempts to strengthen Oswego so that it might withstand assault, an early attack upon it formed a conspicuous feature in the plans of the French. On the 8th of October, 1744, Beauharnois wrote his government:

I have the honor to report to you, My Lord, what I had already undertaken before the receipt of your letter ; what I propose to do next spring; and the difficulties which oppose the Chouegüén project. . On receipt of the declaration of war . the post of Chouegüen was the first object of the views I entertained against the English establishments, and I should have attempted its capture had I been able to overcome the difficulties that presented themselves.1

The obstacles referred to were, briefly, scarcity of provisions in the French colony ; the belief that the Iroquois would aid the English ; and the probable loss of their fort at Niagara if they failed to capture Oswego.

In 1747 the post of Oswego was placed in jeopardy by the various bands of the enemy who infested the lines of communication thither from the Mohawk valley, and the English governor, in co- operation with Colonel Johnson, sent to the post Lieutenant Visscher and a com- pany, with provisions, goods and ammunition. In the following year, upon Colonel Johnson declaring that he could no longer supply the post at two hundred pounds (about $500) per annum, the Assembly voted him two hundred pounds extra.

The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed October 18, 1748, ended for a time the war between France and England and restored peace, which it was fondly hoped would be permanent. With the barriers removed, Oswego and its vicinity immediately became the scene of its former business activity. The waters were again enlivened by Indian canoes and white men's bateaux; traders gathered around the post and even opened a considerable trade with their late enemies in Canada, who were blind to the illicit character of a commerce that was profitable to them.

1 Doc. Col. Hist., vol. IX, pp. 1104-5.

SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON.

But the old jealousy and rivalry, which had been the foundation of all the intercolonial warfare thus far, still remained, and a large share of it centered upon Oswego-the most important post on the frontier. The Abbe Picquet, the irrepressible founder of Ogdensburg, made a tour of Lake Ontario a little later, and declared Choueguen to be "a post the most pernicious to France that the English could erect," desired its destruction, and estimated that two batteries of three twelve pounders each could easily demolish it.

Soon after the close of the war Captain Lindsay resigned his military position, and became Indian agent and commissary, which position he held until his death in 1751. In this year the Council, between which body and the Assembly there seems to have been considerable friction, passed a bill appropriating five hundred pounds for the repair of the works at Oswego and the conduct of Indian affairs ; but the Assembly declared this action a high breach of privilege, and soon afterward adjourned. Previous to their adjournment they called upon the com- missioners of Indian affairs for an account of the duties received at Oswego. John De Peyster reported for the four years closing with September, 1750, a collection of eleven hundred and forty-five pounds. His report for 1751 was nine hundred and forty pounds. After these reports were made, Johnson wrote Governor Clinton in his usual vigorous English, that there was some "cursed villainy " about the Oswego duties, but that it would be difficult to ferret it out ; asserting that De Peyster had admitted receiving over one thousand pounds in 1749, and that the remaining one hundred and forty-five pounds (making the eleven hundred and forty-five reported) would not begin to cover the receipts for 1750. It was partly, at least, in connec- tion with his own affairs that Johnson made these statements. He was endeavoring to get a settlement of his accounts with the province, claiming a far larger sum than was allowed him, and that the duties, if honestly collected and reported, would suffice to pay his account. He claimed to have advanced for Oswego and other expenditures up to the close of 1748, 7,177 pounds, of which he had received only 2,40I pounds. These differences led to Johnson's resignation as superintendent in 1750, much to the regret of the Indians.1 Governor Clinton, with

1 We embrace this Opportunity of laying this Belt before all our Brethren here present, and desire them that Collo. Johnson may be reinstated and have the management of Indian Affairs,

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

whom he was a favorite, promptly appointed him a member of the Executive Council, and in 1755, at Alexandria, Va., after the breaking out of war, he was made "sole superintendent of the Six Nations," and created a major-general. No English subject could ever boast the influence over the Indians that was acquired by Johnson, which he always used for the good of the English cause. He was a clear- headed business man, and while he always kept his own interests in view in financial matters, there is little or no evidence that he ever was dishonest. He was, moreover, the one prominent Englishman who, during the period under consideration, seemed to fully appreciate the importance of Oswego both as a trading post and a military station,

Some of the items of expense in Johnson's accounts will be of in- terest here, as follows :

December 1, 1746. For supplying the double Garrison of regular troops, at Oswego with prov's from 23d June 1746 to 23 Dec. 1746. £228.

June 19, 1747. For supplying the troops at Oswego from Ist Nov. 1746 to Ist May 1747. £228.

August 8, 1749. For Extraordinary charges in supplying garrison, on rect. £200.

1750. For Express to Oswego to withdraw the Militia in 1748, £4. & money ad- vanced for a Birch Canoe £4. £8.

There are many other similar entries.

After Johnson's resignation he continued his various business inter- ests, and learning that the Jesuits were contemplating the establishment of one of their missionary stations on Oneida Lake, he met the chiefs of the Onondagas and Oneidas and purchased of them for £350 a tract of land two miles wide clear around the lake. While this Indian title was not, of course, very valuable in itself, and was offered by John- son to the province for just what he paid, the government, in 1752, confirmed the grant, thus making Sir William Johnson the first legal landholder in Oswego county.1 If this title remained in him until his death, it must have descended to Sir John Johnson, and been confis- cated with the rest of his property when he joined the British during the Revolution.

for we all lived happy whilst they were under his management, for we love him and he us, and he has alwas been our good and trusty Friend .- [From a speech of a Mohawk Sachem at a meet . ing in Albany in 1754.

1 Stone's Life of Sir William Johnson.

EXTENSION OF FRENCH DOMINION.

In these years of peace the English pushed their trade operations farther and more extensively among the Indians, the profits of which, with other causes, drew to the colonies a rapidly increasing population. At the same time, while French immigration was less rapid, their energy in efforts to extend their domain, and in preparations for a conflict which they doubtless believed was not distant, were remarkable.

In 1752 the New York Assembly made provision for rebuilding and repairing the works at Oswego, which were said to be in a ruinous con- dition. This action was timely, for rumors and apprehensions of approaching difficulty with the French began to prevail. In May, 1752, Captain Stoddard and Lieutenant Holland, stationed at Oswego, wrote Governor Clinton that thirty French canoes and 500 Indians, under M. Marin, had passed that post on their way to Ohio, and that they had rumors of a still larger force going in that direction. It should be re- membered that after all the previous war and the several treaties of peace, no definite boundaries had yet been agreed upon between the two countries-a condition that sooner or later must inevitably have caused trouble.

CHAPTER VI.

Extension of French Dominion in America -- Irrepressible Causes of Conflict -- Begin- ning of Hostilities in 1754-Braddock's Campaign and Defeat-English Operations at Oswego-Consternation of the French-Building of a Fleet at Oswego-Col. Mercer and the New Oswego Forts-Description of the Works-Abandonment of Campaign against Niagara-Council at Albany-Shirley's Advice -- Capture of Fort Bull -- French Activity under Montcalm -- Operations of De Villiers against Oswego -- The Mohawk Valley-Attack on Oswego -- Arrival of Bradstreet at Oswego -- The Fight at Battle Island -- Activity of Montcalm -- Capture of Oswego by the French -- A National Mis- fortune -- Campaign of 1757-Wm. Pitt and the Colonies-Energetic Operations of the English-Capture of Fort Frontenac-Campaign of 1759 -- Capture of Quebec.

While outward peace reigned, the old inward conflict never ceased. From the date of the capture of Louisburg in 1745, the French had ex- tended and strengthened their dominion, and the treaty of 1748 found them with a population of about 100,000, and with a line of posts from

LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY.

Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico. They soon became aggressive. Personal trade interests were constantly clashing, while the stake as a whole was a magnificent one. The causes of trouble extended down- ward, from the desire to rule the whole country, to the minutest details of business. Soon after the close of the war the French authori- ties fixed the prices that should be paid for beaver skins ; these prices were exceeded by the English, with the natural result of diverting the trade southward. In an abstract of dispatches from Canada, under date of April 30, 1749, is the following language :

That although they followed the orders that had been given respecting the fixing the price of the Beaver, it had been well if the rate had not been diminished; that a much greater quantity of the article will hereafter go to the English inasmuch as our Indians carried it thither even during the war and when it was four livres.

That they had just ascertained, from a sure source, that the English pay four livres and four sous for it at Choueguen, and more than we for all the other peltries, whereby we are deprived of them.1

Uncertainty as to the action of the Indians also continued an un- ceasing cause of anxiety and jealousy ; and in this connection Oswego was, as ever before, a most important factor. In his Memoirs on the French Colonies in North America, M. de la Galissonniere wrote, under date of December, 1750 :

As long as the English will possess Choueguen there will be a perpetual distrust of Indians the most loyal to the French, etc.2

Hostilities began in 1754 on the southern and western frontiers, though no declaration of war had issued. It was clear that the French determined to hold military possession of the Ohio River region, and when the English attempted to build a fort at the forks of that river, the French seized the place and finished the works-Fort Duquesne. In February, 1755, the French minister wrote that His Majesty, " although resolved to confine himself to the defense of his right and possessions, he cannot flatter himself, especially after what has occurred last year in the direction of the River Ohio, that he will not be obliged to make use of the forces he is sending to Canada." In March, 1755, Baron de Dieskau, a brave soldier, came over with a commission as major general to command of the troops in Canada.

1 Doc. Col. Hist., vol. X, p. 200.

2 Doc. Col. Hist., vol. X, [. 229.

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1755.

The New York Assembly had already, in 1754, voted about $1,300 for the repair of the Oswego forts, and to increase the garrison. In February, 1755, Acting-Governor De Lancey informed the Assembly that the post was in great danger from lack of provisions. Col. William Johnson was still unable to get a settlement of his accounts, and refused to furnish more supplies until he was paid. This difficulty was soon removed.

In February, 1755, Gen. Edward Braddock arrived in Virginia, com- missioned commander-in-chief of all the British forces in North America. Next in command under him was Gov. William Shirley, of Massachusetts, a man of genius an energy. Braddock called a council at Alexandria, composed chiefly of the provisional governors, to determine upon a plan of operations against the French. The council met April 14, 1755. Gov- ernor Shirley saw, and advocated, the advantage of a general movement by way of Oswego for the capture of Fort Niagara ; and the building of a navy on. Lake Ontario, which would be sufficient to both move the troops and hold supremacy of that important body of water, thus cutting the French domain in two and leaving their western forts to fall an easy prey. Braddock took a different view of the situation, and de- cided to march directly against Fort Duquesne ; while Colonel Johnson, now made a major-general and superintendent of Indian affairs by Braddock, was ordered to make an expedition against Crown Point. Governor Shirley was given charge of the operations against Niagara.

Braddock began his march on the 10th of June, 1755, and on the 9th of July met with crushing defeat, to which his own stubbornness and his neglect of advice from Washington largely contributed.

The expedition against Crown Point was also, to some extent, a failure. Dieskau met Johnson September 8, at the head of Lake George, and a desperate engagement took place. Johnson was wounded early in the battle, which was afterwards, under the leadership of Gen- eral Lyman, who succeeded to the command, turned from probable defeat into partial victory. After several hours' fighting, during which Dieskau was wounded, the French withdrew and hurried back to Crown Point. The French loss was estimated at 1,000 men ; the English at 300. Johnson did not pursue the enemy, who entrenched at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, but built a strong work which was named Fort

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Landmarks of Oswego County, New York, Part 7

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason Number of Pages: 1410

Author: Churchill, John Charles, 1821-1905; Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925; Child, W. Stanley
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason
Number of Pages: 1410