Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 6

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017

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A beautiful totem of impure gypsum comes from Fort Erie. The animal represented is probably a panther, the long tail being curved forward and the claws showing in bas relief. Large conical per- forations from the neck and the lower part of the back of the figure meet at a common apex. Possibly these openings were intended one for tobacco and the other for the introduction of a reed stem.

Pipes of clay were made in approximately the same shape as at present, but the necessary thickness of the material used gave them a clumsy appearance. Though not glazed, the clay is usually highly polished. The Indian seems to have been a very temperate smoker, for the bowls of his pipes hold scarcely more than a thimbleful. Stone pipe bowls, sometimes with a downward prolongation into which a stem was fitted, are even more rare than the clay pipes. The time- honored conception of the Indian pipe, a flattened tube of red pipe clay into which the bowl sets at an angle, like the mast of a boat, is almost never realized in the relics of this region.

A description of other relics, only occasionally found in this locality, is scarcely within the scope of this chapter, but may be found in Abbott's Primitive Industry and other similar works. Probably two or three thousand local arrow heads and as many hundred celts are pre- served in various public and private collections. A large room could be paved with the net-sinkers of Buffalo and Fort Erie, and bushels of flint chips and fragments of pottery still lie on the ground within the present city limits. A general similarity may be noticed in the relics from the various village and camp sites of southeastern Buffalo and the glossy flint of the Canada shore of Lake Erie is characteristic; in some instances an experienced collector, knowing that an arrow head is from one of two or three ancient sites, may locate it correctly. But, as a rule, no deduction can be drawn as to the age of a relic or the tribe which made it.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

In their associations with the settlers at Buffalo and its vicinity the Indians were usually peaceful. For many years they were familiar figures in the village, among them being several chiefs who occupied the highest stations in the Seneca nation. Farmer's Brother was one of these; he resided at what was called Farmer's Point, the first cabin from the village line on the reservation. Farther up and just above Seneca street was the old council house, a block building where the Indians met for their legislative proceedings. Near it lived White Seneca, and his son, Seneca White, with others of lesser note. Still farther out was the main Indian village, where the great Red Jacket resided, and which was scattered along both sides of the Aurora road, west of the later village of Ebenezer, and on the flats south of the vil- lage. Their dwelling places at that time were principally log cabins. Buffalo was their metropolis and almost every day they came in, few or many, sometimes bringing baskets of corn on their heads, or chickens and eggs, and occasionally butter; and in the winter time the men brought in great loads of game, deer and smaller animals, which were sold to the settlers at ridiculously low figures. Capt. Samuel Pratt's early store was their trade headquarters, and he was very pop- ular with them. They even gave him a title, "Negurriyu," meaning honest dealer, as remembered by members of his family. Many anec- dotes have been told of the business and other experiences of Captain Pratt and the Indians. The latter, in spite of the fact that they con- sidered the pioneer an honest man, sometimes played tricks upon him. Their furs were bought by weight in all cases, and the Indians some- times filled the beaver claws with lead, a device that would do credit to the ingenuity of a Connecticut Yankee. Negurriyu wished to avoid giving mortal offence to the dishonest Indian in such cases by making an open discovery of the fraud, so would clip off the loaded claws with a hatchet and throw them in a corner. It may be imagined that the Indian could not complain at losing the weight of the claws without exposure of his trick. On one occasion Mrs. Pratt had a kettle of meat boiling out of doors while their house was in process of erection. A disreputable Indian commonly known as Peter Gimlet, was hanging about and the savory smell stifled his meagre conscience and he snatched the largest piece of meat from the kettle, thrust it under his

' The history of the Pratt family gives his Indian name as " Hodanidaoh," meaning "merci- ful man." The name in the text above is according to the remembrance of his daughter. It is quite probable that both names were used by the Indians.

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INDIAN OCCUPATION AND ANTIQUITIES.

blanket and started for the reservation. Captain Pratt's little daughter Esther saw the theft, and hastened to the store and told her father. Pratt sent his son Asa after the thief; who brought him back. The captain opened the offender's blanket and found the meat, whereupon he administered to him a thrashing with a horsewhip, until he was glad to break away and flee to the reservation. A little later numbers of Indians began to arrive at Pratt's store and seat themselves in the street and around the building, and continued to do so until two or three hundred were gathered in a semi-circle in front of the store. They then sent for Pratt, and upon his appearance Farmer's Brother arose and related a tale told by Peter Gimlet of how he had been dis- gracefully whipped by Pratt without cause and demanding redress. In reply Captain Pratt explained the facts and called his little daughter as witness; she told her story in a manner that carried conviction to the judges. Then followed a solemn consultation among the chiefs, after which Farmer's Brother again stood up, with all the impressive- ness of his seventy years and his high standing, and delivered judg- ment. It was in effect that Peter Gimlet was a bad Indian; that he had stolen Negurriyu's meat and had been deservedly punished, and Cap- tain Pratt might punish him again; he also pronounced the sentence of banishment from that reservation of the offender. Captain Pratt then rolled out a barrel of salt from which every one of the remarkable court helped himself until it had all disappeared.

A much more startling event took place in the Pratt family on one occasion when the family dinner was interrupted by the hasty appear- ance of their boy Benjamin, closely pursued by a warrior commonly known as "The Devil's Ramrod," who was brandishing a knife and threatening to kill the lad. The boy had been teasing the Indian and it was only with difficulty that the latter could be at all quieted. At length he exclaimed, " Me no kill Hodanidaoh's boy," stuck his knife into the door post with savage emphasis and strode away. Many other Indian stories are related in the history of the Pratt family, from which these are derived.

Farmer's Brother was recognized as the principal man among the Indians, all things considered, though Red Jacket made himself the most conspicuous figure in the nation, through his aggressiveness and his antipathy towards the white people; he was also, as far as could be seen, the principal sachem, or civil chief of the Senecas, while Farmer's Brother was a war chief. From early in this century until

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

his death Red Jacket was an inveterate enemy to civilization, Chris- tianity and education. He understood the English language, but always pretended he did not and would not reply unless addressed in his own tongue. His greatest delight, apparently, was in attending councils where he could rehearse the story of the wrongs of the Indians at the hands of the white race.

Many of the white settlers attributed some kind of supremacy in the Senecas to Guienguatoh, commonly called "Young King," and some- times, "Young Smoke." He was probably the son of Sayengeraghta, or "Old King," otherwise, "Old Smoke," who was undoubtedly up to his death principal civil sachem of the Senecas.

Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother were two of fifty chiefs who visited the seat of government in Philadelphia in 1792. At that time Red Jacket claimed to be favorable to civilization, and was presented by Washing ton with a silver medal which he ever after wore on all great occasions.

In the later years of his life Red Jacket became greatly addicted to drink and his downfall soon followed. His opposition to the church and schools of the white people was bitter and determined and when about 1825 his wife joined the Christians, he abruptly abandoned her, but returned to her a little later. At about the same time twenty-five of the Seneca chiefs determined to depose him from his sachemship; they accordingly had a deposition drawn, charging him with numerous offenses extending over a long period, and signed it. Although this

number of chiefs was a minority and without power in this matter, the action deeply incensed the old sachem. In 1827, or 1828, he visited Washington where he was advised by the commissioner of Indian affairs to return and sue with his people for the burial of the hatchet. He came back, called a council, made an eloquent speech in his own defense and was restored to his former rank. That was the last effort of a great mind. From that time forward Red Jacket was a confirmed drunkard and to a certain extent an imbecile. He died January 20, 1830, and was buried according to Christian rites, towards which he exhibited less animosity in his last years.'

1 A characteristic anecdote is told of Red Jacket regarding one of his visits to the seat of gov- ernment. On his arrival General Knox, then secretary of war, presented the great chief with a full military uniform and equipments. Red Jacket requested the bearer to tell General Knox that he could not wear military clothing, being a civil sachem; if a similar present was to be made him, he would prefer a suit of civilian's clothes, but would keep the military suit until the other arrived. In due time a handsome suit of citizen's clothes reached him. This un- tutored savage took it, and remarked to the bearer that in war time the sachems went on the

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INDIAN OCCUPATION AND ANTIQUITIES.

Farmer's Brother, which name he received from the lips of Washing- ton, also known by the Indian name Honayewus, was a strong, stalwart warrior, the beau ideal of an Iroquois chief and warrior. He was, more- over, an eloquent orator, second only to Red Jacket in all the Six Nations, and in every way eminent and influential in his own nation. During his long life he had passed through many bloody scenes, among them the massacre at Devil's Hole, noticed in a later chapter. In his later years he was the friend of peace, a foe to intemperance and a conserv- ator of good order and civilization.

Capt. John O'Bail, or Abeel, more widely known as Cornplanter, was another famous Indian of those times. He resided on the Allegany Reservation, where a band of Senecas looked up to him as leader. He was half white by blood, but wholly Indian in nature, and during the early wars was one of the bravest and most successful chiefs of the Senecas. At the time of the great council on Buffalo Creek, in 1788, Cornplanter was somewhat under a cloud with his people, on account of having assented to the treaty of Fort Stanwix.

The names of the Seneca chiefs and sachems who were conspicuous in some direction need not be further followed here; they are found in numerous accessible volumes, wherein the prowess, the power and in- fluence, and the high intelligence of the Seneca nation are fully set forth.

war path with the other warriors and he would keep the military suit for such an event. And he thus kept both .- Stone's Life of Red Jacket.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

CHAPTER III.1

1534-1697.

Struggle of Three European Powers for Conquest of the Western Continent- Accidental Discoveries-Cartier's Explorations-Basis of the French Claim-Cham- plain and His Encounter with the Iroquois-The English Claim-The Plymouth Company-Henry Hudson's Discoveries-Basis of Dutch Claims-Richness of the Fur Trade-Coming of the Jesuits-French Colonization-Dutch Aggressiveness in Fur Trade-A New Era for the French-La Salle and His Success-Building of Fort Frontenac-La Salle's Patent-His Arrival at Niagara-Building of the Griffin -Death of La Salle-French War with the Iroquois-Niagara Abandoned-Treaty of Ryswick.

In the never ceasing development of an all-wise Creator's dispensa- tions, the conquest of this western world, the wresting of its vast terri- tory from its native possessors, became an object of persistent and heroic effort by three separate European powers-England, France and Holland-whose rulers engaged in war, and two of them in pro- longed periods of bloodshed and devastation for the achievement of their purposes on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. With the armies of the French, religious zeal, as exhibited by the remarkable followers of Loyola, known as Jesuits, went hand in hand in efforts for the exten- sion of their king's domain and the filling of his treasury, as well as for carrying the white banner of the gospel among the heathen. To those indefatigable and unselfish devotees we are indebted for the first visit of white men to the immediate region of which this work treats.

1 It may. perhaps, be proper to state for the information of the superficial reader, if, perchance, this work shall fall into the hands of such an one, that it is only after due consideration that we devote this and the three succeeding chapters so largely to an account of the protracted struggle for supremacy on this continent between the French and English. Many of the events narrated transpired at considerable distances from the bounds of Erie county as they now exist and may at first glance appear to such a reader to be remote from the subject of this work, as indicated by its title; but the fact should not be overlooked that during that period of strife the Niagara and northern frontier, including territory along both sides of Lakes Erie, Ontario and Champlain, and the rivers connecting them, was of the very highest military and commercial importance to the contending parties. A careful examination of the situation as it then existed makes it plain that each of the events referred to above was vitally connected with the conflict that ended in English dominion on this side of those waterways, and that the causes and motives that pre- cipitated the struggle, as well as the outcome of it, have all exerted a powerful influence in shaping the progress and destiny of our county and its people.

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FROM 1534 TO 1697.

The early European discoveries on this continent were in large meas- ure accidental; that is, they were incidental to a search for a short route to the Indies. The beauty, vastness, and richness of the new region soon dwarfed the main purpose and the conquest and develop- ment of the country became an object of the greatest importance. The French claim was based primarily upon the discoveries of Cartier and his successors. Under the king's commission he sailed in 1534 from St. Malo, discovered and named the St. Lawrence, raised his sovereign's standard of shield and cross on the site of Montreal, and took posses- sion of the country of New France. He made a second voyage in the next year, and in 1540 Francis de la Roque, Seigneur de Roberval, came over with powers second only to those of his sovereign and made some effort toward permanent settlement. While little was accom- plished in this direction during a number of succeeding years, the am- bition and cupidity of the French ruler were stimulated by extravagant reports of the grandeur and value of the new country, and numerous adventurers turned their gaze westward. In 1603 a company of busi- ness men was formed at Rouen and received authority to form colonies on . the St. Lawrence. One of these was Samuel de Champlain, a capable and intrepid navigator, under whose direction an expedition was fitted out and brought over in the year just named. He ascended the river to the site of Quebec, where he determined to erect a fort. The prospective profits of the fur trade were already overshadowing other considerations. Champlain evidently misunderstood the Indian situa- tion, or he would not have formed an alliance with the Hurons and Algonquins against the Iroquois. It is believed that he hoped to thus make permanent conquest over the latter and unite all the other Indian nations in support of France. For the attainment of this purpose he joined an expedition of the Hurons against the Iroquois in the year 1609.1

Leaving Quebec on July 2, the party ascended the Sorel River to the Chambly Rapids, whence the vessel returned, leaving only three white men (Champlain and two others) with the invading Indians. Pursuing their way southward, they paddled their canoes up the lake which now bears Champlain's name to a point near the site of Ticon-

1 The genius of Champlain, whose comprehensive mind planned enduring establishments of French commerce, and a career of discovery that should carry the lilies of the Bourbons to the extremity of North America, could devise no method of building up the dominion of France in Canada, but by an alliance with the Hurons, or of continuing that alliance by the establishment of missions .- Bancroft.

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

deroga, where they met a body of the Iroquois and a battle ensued. The story of that almost insignificant conflict-the first pitched battle fought on this continent-given in minute details in Champlain's jour- nal, reads like a romance. It was from every point of view a memorable event; moreover, it was unjustifiable, except upon the sole ground of greed for conquest. There and then a Frenchman killed his first Indian with gunpowder, a weapon of destruction that very soon found its way into the grasp of those astounded Iroquois, to be turned by them with vengeance against the colonists of New France. Six years later Cham- plain planned and executed a much more pretentious expedition into the heart of the country of the Iroquois, the stronghold of the Onon- dagas, for details of which the reader must be referred to his journal.'

Meanwhile other European sovereigns turned longing attention to this western promised land. In April, 1606, King James of England granted a patent to a number of his subjects for a vast and indefinite territory on this side of the Atlantic lying between the 34th and the 45th degrees of north latitude and stretching away westward into a wholly unknown region. Under this grant the Plymouth Company was formed and given control of the northern part of the territory. Attempts were made, of a more or less abortive character, to found permanent settlements, but it was not until the arrival of the Pilgrims on the rugged shores of Massachusetts Bay in 1620, that the English obtained a firm foothold in the new world.

In September, 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman then employed by the Dutch East India Company, sailed across the Atlantic and up the beautiful river that received his name, to the site of Albany, a point only a comparatively short distance south of the spot where Champlain almost simultaneously began his unjustifiable slaughter of Mohawks in the interest of a rival nation. Although Hudson, in com- mon with other explorers, met with a friendly reception from the na- tives, his men wantonly abused their confidence before the close of his brief stay and killed nine of them, while Hudson and his crew escaped uninjured from the arrows of the astonished Indians. Hudson's explo- ration laid the foundation for the Dutch claim. Other voyagers soon came over from Holland, seeking primarily the profitable fur traffic with the natives; the great West India Company was organized, per-

! Doc. Hist. of the State of N. Y., Vol. III, pp. 2-17. The late O. H. Marshall, of Buffalo, in 1849, translated Champlain's journal of this expedition from the original French, for the New York Historical Society; see Proceedings, p. 100, etc.

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FROM 1534 TO 1697.

manent colonization was effected, fortified posts were established on Manhattan Island and near the site of Albany, and in 1623 a Dutch governor came over to administer affairs.

During many early years it was the richness and profits of the fur trade that appealed to European rulers and their subjects more forci- bly, perhaps, than the mere conquest and acquisition of territory ; and throughout the whole long struggle that finally closed in English tri- umph, the enormous gains made in that traffic on the one hand, and fear of losing such a source of revenue on the other, led to the organi- zation and equipment of armies, commanded the study and intrigue of diplomats, inspired officers and soldiers with martial enthusiasm and called across the ocean from older lands a host of ambitious seekers for wealth. In the latter respect it was the era of diamond discovery in South Africa, of the gold discovery in California, in an earlier and far different guise.1

The French were not successful in their efforts to colonize their new country, and their failure in this respect would have been still more pronounced had it not been for the tireless, sleepless labor of the Jes- uits. The vanguard of this striking order arrived in Canada in 1625," and joined their countrymen on the St. Lawrence. That stream, Lake Ontario, and Lake Erie offered an open waterway to the westward and those religious enthusiasts were prompt to make use of its compara- tively easy passage into the distant Indian region where they were to suffer innumerable hardships in their hopeless attempt to teach the Indians religion and civilization, and incidentally to advance the inter- ests of their sovereign in more earthly paths. The Neuter Nation was visited by Father De la Roche Daillon as early as 1626, who passed the winter among them. Others followed him westward and they soon had stations as far west as Lake Huron. One of these was St. Marie, where Fathers Brébeuf and Chaumonot labored and whence

1 The great magnitude and value of the fur trade is demonstrated by the fact that the gross value of the skins exported from New Amsterdam from 1624 to 1632 inclusive was 454,127 guilders, or about $189,219. The number of beaver skins constituting this export gradually increased from 4,000 to more than 13,500, and other rich furs in proportion. This, it should be noted, was the re- sult of the Dutch trade alone.

2 A number of members of the Franciscan friars came over with Champlain in 1615, but they were ere long supplanted by the more powerful order.

3 For fifteen years Brebeuf (one of the very earliest comers) carried on his missionary labors among the Hurons, scourging his flesh twice a day with thongs ; wearing an iron girdle armed at all points with sharp projections, and over this a bristly hair shirt, which continually "mortified the flesh ; " fasted frequently and long ; kept his pious vigils long into the night, and by peniten-

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

they set out in November, 1640, to visit the Neuter Nation. Their expedition is described in the Jesuit Relations (1641) from which we take the following:

Jean Brebeuf and Joseph Marie Chaumonot, two fathers of our company which have charge of the mission of the Neutre Nation, set out on the 2d day of Novem- ber, A. D., 1640, to visit that people. . . Although many of our French traders have visited that people for purposes of trade, we have no knowledge of any who have been there to preach the gospel, except Father De la Roche Daillon, a Recollect, who passed the winter there in the year 1626.

After minutely describing the route followed by his brethren the writer fixes the place of residence of that nation "at the foot of the lake of the Erigh or Cat Nation," and speaks of most of the Indian villages being "on the west side of the river."

While the "Relations " do not speak in definite terms of those early Fathers having crossed the Niagara River, it is possible that they did so, and quite probable that they visited the vicinity of Buffalo Creek. These questions can never be more definitely answered.

The events of the succeeding forty years bore only indirect relation to the settlement of Western New York. The wars of the Indian na- tions in which the Kahquahs were destroyed (1650) and the Eries ex- terminated (about 1653)' postponed but could not permanently avert the coming of the white man, whose only formidable enemy was the Iroquois. From the time of their victory over the Kahquahs and the Eries, the Five Nations were the lordly rulers of a vast domain, the boundaries of which they rapidly extended. On every hand they sub- jugated their native enemies and when the white man came they in- spired his dread as an antagonist and his respect as an ally.

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Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Erie County, New York (Volume 1), Part 6

Author: Truman C. White Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1017

Author: Truman C. White
Publication date: 1898
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1017