USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 45
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its vicinity, and in all directions through this country, the remains of numerous forts are to be seen ; but on the north side, that is, on the side towards the lake, not a single one has been discovered, although the whole ground has been care- fully explored. Considering the distance to be, say seventy miles in length, and eight in breadth, and that the border of the lake is the very place that would be selected for habitation, and consequently for works of defence, on account of the fa- cilities it would afford for subsistence, for safety, and all do- mestic accommodations and military purposes ; and that on the south shores of Lake Erie these ancient fortresses exist in great number, there can be no doubt that these works were erected when this ridge was the southern boundary of Lake Ontario, and, consequently, that their origin must be sought in a very remote age.
A great part of North America was then inhabited by populous nations, who had made considerable advances in civilization. These numerous works could never have been supplied with provisions without the aid of agriculture. Nor could they have been constructed without the use of iron or copper, and without a perseverance, labour, and design which demonstrate considerable progress in the arts of civil- ized life. A learned writer has said, " I perceive no reason why the Asiatic North might not be an officina virorum, as well as the European. The overteeming country to the east of the Riphæan Mountains must find it necessary to dis- charge its inhabitants. The first great wave of people was forced forward by the next to it, more tumid and more pow- erful than itself : successive and new impulses continually arriving, short rest was given to that which spread over a more eastern tract : disturbed again and again, it covered fresh regions. At length, reaching the farthest limits of the old world, it found a new one, with ample space to oc- cupy, unmolested for ages."* After the north of Asia had thus exhausted its exuberant population by such a great migration, it would require a very long period of time to produce a co-operation of causes sufficient to effect another. The first mighty stream of people that flowed into America must have remained free from external pressure for ages. Availing themselves of this period of tranquillity, they would devote themselves to the arts of peace, make rapid progress
1 Pennant's Arctic Zoology, 260.
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in civilization, and acquire an immense population. In course of time discord and war would rage among them, and compel the establishment of places of security. At last, they became alarmed by the irruption of a horde of barbarians, who rushed like an overwhelming flood from the north of Asia-
" A multitude, like which the populous North Poured from her frozen loins to pass Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous sons Came like a deluge on the South, and spread Beneath Gibraltar to the Libyan sands."*
The great law of self-preservation compelled them to stand on their defence, to resist these ruthless invaders, and to construct numerous and extensive works for protection. And for a long series of time the scale of victory was sus- pended in doubt, and they firmly withstood the torrent ; but, like the Romans in the decline of their empire, they were finally worn down and destroyed by successive inroads and renewed attacks. And the fortifications of which we have treated are the only remaining monuments of these ancient and exterminated nations. This is, perhaps, the airy nothing of imagination, and may be reckoned the extravagant dream of a visionary mind : but may we not, considering the wonder- ful events of the past and present times, and the inscruta- ble dispensations of an overruling Providence, may we not look forward into futurity, and, without departing from the rigid laws of probability, predict the occurrence of similar scenes at some remote period of time ? And, perhaps, in the decrepitude of our empire, some transcendant genius, whose powers of mind shall only be bounded by that im- penetrable circle which prescribes the limits of human na- ture, t may rally the barbarous nations of Asia under the standard of a mighty empire. Following the track of the Russian colonies and commerce towards the northwest coast, and availing himself of the navigation, arms, and military skill of civilized nations, he may, after subverting the neighbouring despotisms of the Old World, bend his course towards European America. The destinies of our country may then be decided on the waters of the Missouri or on the banks of Lake Superior. And if Asia shall then
* Milton's Paradise Lost.
+ Roscoe's Lorenzo de Medicis, 241.
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revenge upon our posterity the injuries we have inflicted upon her sons, a new, a long, and a gloomy night of Gothic darkness will set in upon mankind. And when, after the efflux of ages, the returning effulgence of intellectual light shall again gladden the nations, then the widespread ruins of our cloud-capped towers, of our solemn temples, and of our magnificent cities, will, like the works of which we have treated, become the subject of curious research and elabo- rate investigation.
NOTE A .- Wars of the Six Nations and the Southern Indians, 9.c.
Respecting the wars of the Six Nations " against the Ca- tawbas, Cherokees, and almost all the southern Indians," to which allusion is made in the Historical Discourse of Mr. Clinton, there are some passages in the narrative of the White Woman which are strongly illustrative of the san- guinary character of the conflicts. Speaking of her last husband, HIOKATOO, a chief of the Senecas, who died beside Genesee River in 1811, at the age of 103 years, she says-
" In the year 1731, he was appointed a runner to assist in collecting an army to go against the Cotawpes, Cherokees, and other southern Indians. A large army was collected, and after a long and fatiguing march, met its enemies in what was then called the ' low, dark and bloody lands,' near the mouth of Red River, in what is now called the State of Ken- tucky. (Those powerful armies, remarks the biographer of the White Woman, met near the place that is now called Clarksville, which is situated at the fork where Red River joins the Cumberland, a few miles above the line between Kentucky and Tennessee.) The Cotawpes and their asso- ciates had by some means been apprized of their approach, and lay in ambush to take them at once, when they should come within their reach, and destroy their whole army. The northern Indians, with their usual sagacity, discovered the situation of their enemies, rushed upon the ambuscade, and massacred 1200 on the spot. The battle continued for two days and two nights with the utmost severity, in which the northern Indians were victorious, and so far suc- ceeded in destroying the Cotawpes, that they at that time
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ceased to be a nation. The victors suffered an immense loss in killed, but gained the hunting-ground, which was their grand object, though the Cherokees would not give it up in a treaty, nor consent to make peace. Bows and ar- rows at that time were in general use, though a few guns were employed."
The biographer of the White Woman " acknowledges himself unacquainted, from Indian history, with a nation of this name (the Cotawpes) ; but, as so many years have elapsed since the date of this occurrence (1731), it is highly probable that such a nation did exist, and that it was abso- lutely exterminated at that eventful period."
The worthy biographer will see that a change in the spelling of a single name-Catawbas instead of Cotawpes- renders the testimony of his ancient heroine accordant with that of Mr. Clinton respecting the wars between the Six Na- tions and the southern Indians.
" Since the commencement of the revolutionary war," adds the White Woman, " Hiokatoo has been in seventeen campaigns, four of which were in the Cherokee war. He was so great an enemy to the Cherokees, and so fully deter- mined upon their subjugation, that on his march to their country he raised his own army for those four campaigns, and commanded it, and also superintended its subsistence. In one of those campaigns, which continued two whole years without intermission, he attacked his enemies on the Mobile, drove them to the country of the Creek nation, where he continued to harass them, till, being tired of war, he returned to his family. He brought home a great num- ber of scalps which he had taken from the enemy, and ever seemed to possess an unconquerable wish that the Cherokees might be wholly destroyed."
NOTE B .- Ravages of Disease among the Indian Tribes.
In illustration of this point -- in reference to the combined influences of rum and disease upon the aborigines-some recent events may be mentioned here. A letter recently published from Mr. Catlin, the celebrated painter of the In- dian tribes, contains this horrid relation concerning the smallpox : "Only one year and a half ago I was at Prairie
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du Chien, on the Upper Mississippi, where I beheld its frightful effects among the Winnebagoes and Sioux. Every other man among them was slain by it : and Owa-be-shaw, the greatest man of the Sioux, with half of his band, died under the corners of fences, in little groups, to which kindred ties held them in ghastly death, with their bodies swollen and covered with pustules-their eyes blinded-and hide- ously howling their death-song in utter despair-affection- ately clinging to each other's necks with one hand, and grasping bottles of whiskey in the other."
Several other tribes have since been awfully scourged by the pestilence ; and the opinion was expressed in one of Mr. Catlin's late lectures, that the havoc would continue its rav- ages to the Rocky Mountains or the shores of the Pacific- almost exterminating many of the most powerful tribes. These facts furnish a fearful corroboration of the remarks of Mr. Clinton on the ravages of pestilence among the Red Men.
NOTICES OF INDIAN WARFARE.
Indian Accounts of the Alliance between the British and the Six Nations during the Revolutionary War.
As a matter of curiosity, we have collected the remarks of some prominent personages among the Six Nations ex- planatory of the feelings by which those tribes were influ- enced to lift the hatchet against the Americans during the revolutionary war. Who can peruse the statement without responding to the language by which CHATHAM " damned to everlasting fame" the pale-faced miscreants who thus, with rum and clothing, bribed the savages to violate their faith, and wage murderous warfare upon the struggling colonists ? The White Woman, the intelligent wife of Hiokatoo, a chief of the Senecas, said :
" After the conclusion of the French war [or, rather, after the termination of the difficulties consequent on the connexion of the Senecas with the conspiracy of Pontiac], our tribe had nothing to trouble them till the commencement of the revo- lution. For twelve or thirteen years the implements of war were not known nor the warwhoop heard, save on days of
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festivity ; when the achievements of former times were com- memorated in a kind of mimic warfare, in which the chiefs and warriors displayed their prowess and illustrated their former adroitness by laying the ambuscade, surprising their enemies, and performing many accurate manœuvres with the tomahawk and scalping-knife ; thereby preserving and hand- ing to their children the theory of Indian warfare. During that period they also pertinaciously observed the religious rites of their progenitors, by attending with the most scrupu- lous exactness and a great degree of enthusiasm to the sac- rifices at different times to appease the anger of the Evil Deity, or to excite the commiseration and friendship of the Great Good Spirit, whom they adored with reverence as the Author, Governor, Supporter, and Disposer of every good thing of which they participated. They also practised in various athletic games, such as running, wrestling, leaping, and playing ball, with a view that their bodies might be more supple, or, rather, that they might not become enervated, and that they might be enabled to make a proper selection of chiefs for the councils of the nation and leaders for war. No people can live more happy than the Indians did in times of peace, before the introduction of spirituous liquors among them. 'Their lives were a continual round of pleasures. Their wants were few, and easily satisfied ; and their cares were only for to-day; the bounds of their calculations for future comforts scarcely extending to the incalculable un- certainties of to-morrow. If ever peace dwelt with men, it was in former times, in the recesses from war, among those who are now termed barbarians. The moral char- acter of the Indians was (if I may be allowed the expres- sion) uncontaminated. Their fidelity was perfect, and be- came proverbial ; they were strictly honest ; they despised deception and falsehood ; and chastity was held in high veneration- a violation of it was considered sacrilege. They were temperate in their desires, moderate in their passions, and candid and honourable in the expression of their senti- ments on every subject of importance.
" 'Thus, at peace among themselves and with the neigh- bouring whites, though there were none at that time very near, our Indians lived quietly and peaceably at home till a little before the breaking out of the revolutionary war, when they were sent for, together with the chiefs and members of the Six Nations generally, by the people of the States, to go
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to German Flats, and there hold a general council, in order that the people of the States miglit ascertain, in good season, whom they should esteem and treat as enemies and whom as friends in the great war which was then upon the point of breaking out between them and the King of England.
" Our Indians obeyed the call, and the council was holden, at which the Pipe of Peace was smoked and a treaty made, in which the Six Nations solemnly agreed that, if a war should eventually break out, they would not take up arms on either side ; but that they would observe a strict neutral- ity. With that the people of the States were satisfied, as they did not ask their assistance, and did not wish it. The Indians returned to their homes, well pleased that they could live on neutral ground, surrounded with the din of war without being engaged in it."
The treaty here referred to was made by General Schuy- ler with the Indian Council assembled at German Flats on the 14th of June, 1776, pursuant to an act of Congress of the 6th May, providing " that treaties should be held with the Indians in the different departments as soon as practica- ble," &c.
" About a year passed off," says the White Woman, " and we, as usual for some years before, were enjoying ourselves in the employments of peaceable times, when a messenger arrived from the British commissioners, requesting all the Indians of our tribe to attend a general council which was soon to be held at Oswego. The council convened; and being opened, the British commissioners informed the chiefs that the object of calling a council of the Six Nations was to engage their assistance in subduing the rebels, the people of the States, who had risen up against the good king their master, and were about to rob him of a great part of his possessions and wealth. The commissioners added that they would amply reward the Indians for all their services.
" 'The chiefs then arose and informed the commissioners of the nature and extent of the treaty which they had entered into with the people of the States the year before, and that they should not violate it by taking up the hatchet against them. The commissioners continued their entreaties without success till they addressed their avarice and appetites. They told our people that the people of the States were few in number and easily subdued ; and that, on account of their disobedience to the king, they justly merited all the punish-
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ment that it was possible for white men and Indians to inflict upon them. They added that the king was rich and pow- erful, both in money and subjects ; that his rum was as plenty as the water in Lake Ontario; that his men were as numerous as the sands upon the lake shore ; and that the Indians, if they would assist in the war and persevere in their friendship to the king till it was closed, should never want for money or goods. Upon this the chiefs concluded a treaty with the British commissioners, in which they agreed to take up arms against the rebels, and continue in the service of his majesty till they were subdued, in consid- eration of certain conditions which were stipulated in the treaty to be performed by the British government and its agents.
"As soon as the treaty was finished, the commissioners made a present to each Indian of a suit of clothes, a brass kettle, a gun, a tomahawk, a scalping-knife, a quantity of powder and lead, and a piece of gold ; promising likewise a bounty on every scalp that should be brought in. Thus richly clad and equipped, they returned home, after an ab- sence of about two weeks, full of the fire of war and anxious to encounter their enemies. Many of the kettles which the Indians received at that time were in use on the Genesee Flats" at the time when the remnants of the Senecas were abandoning our riverside for the west, from 1825 to 1835.
The council at which the British succeeded in cansing the Six Nations to arm against the colonists was held at Fort Oswego in July, 1777-Sir John Johnson and Colonel Walter Butler were the British officers who officiated on the occasion. The force of regulars, Indians, and tories then and there congregated was indicated by the proclamation of General Herkimer calling on all patriots between sixteen and sixty years to rally for defence against " the enemy of about 2000 strong, Christians and savages, who had arrived at Oswego to invade our frontier," &c.
A few days before the issuing of this proclamation, an in- terview occurred between General Herkimer and the chief- tain Brant, which may be noticed as illustrative of the causes that produced the alliance between the British and savages at Oswego. The Annalist of Tryon county observes-
" In June, 1777, Brant went up to Unadilla with a party of seventy or eighty Indians, and sent for the officers of the militia company and the Rev. Mr. Johnstone. Brant in-
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formed them that ' the Indians were in want of provisions ; that, if they could not get them by consent, they must by force ; that their agreement with the king was very strong, and that they were not such villains as to break their cove- nant with him ; that they were natural warriors, and could not bear to be threatened by Gen. Schuyler ; that they were informed that the Mohawks were confined (that is probably the few that remained behind, the great body of the tribe having removed to Canada, &c.), and had not liberty to pass and repass as formerly ; that they were determined to be free, as they were a free people, and desired to have their friends removed from the Mohawk River; lest, if the Western Indians should come down, their friends might suf- fer with the rest, as they would pay no respect to persons.' The inhabitants let Brant have provisions : after staying two days, the Indians returned, taking with them cattle, sheep, &c. The inhabitants friendly to the country imme- diately removed their families and effects to places of greater security.
" Information having been given, Gen. Herkimer in July marched to Unadilla with 380 militia. He was met here by Brant at the head of 130 warriors. Brant complained of the same grievances as above set forth. To the question whether he would remain in peace if these things were rec- tified, he replied-' The Indians were in concert with the king, as their fathers and grandfathers had been; that the king's belts were lodged with them, and they could not fal- sify their pledge ; that Gen. Herkimer and the rest had join- ed the Boston people against their king; that the Boston people were resolute, but the king would humble them ; that Mr. Schuyler, or general, or what you please to call him, was very smart on the Indians at the treaty at German Flats, but was not, at the same time, able to afford them the smallest article of clothing ; that the Indians had formerly made war on the white people all united ; and now they were divided, the Indians were not frightened.'
" After Brant had declared his determination to espouse the cause of the king, Col. Cox said, if such was his resolu- tion, the matter was ended. Brant turned and spoke to his warriors, who shouted and ran to their camp, about a mile distant, when, seizing their arms, they fired a number of guns, and raised the Indian warwhoop. They returned im- mediately, when Gen. Herkimer, addressing Brant, told him
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he had not come to fight. Brant motioned to his followers to remain in their places ; then, assuming a threatening at- titude, he said, if their purpose was war, he was ready for them. He then proposed that Mr. Stewart, the missionary among the Mohawks (who was supposed friendly to the English), and the wife of Col. Butler, should be permitted to pass from the lower to the upper Mohawk Castle.
" Gen. Herkimer assented, but demanded that the tories and deserters should be given up to him. This was refused by Brant, who, after some farther remarks, added, that he would go to Oswego, and hold a treaty with Col. Butler [the result of which treaty is already stated]. This singu- lar conference between Brant and Herkimer was singularly terminated. It was early in July, and the sun shone forth without a cloud to obscure it ; and, as its rays gilded the tops of the forest trees, or were reflected from the waters of the Susquehannah, imparted a rich tint to the wild scenery with which they were surrounded. The echo of the war- whoop had scarcely died away before the heavens became black, and a violent storm of hail and rain obliged each party to withdraw and seek the nearest shelter. Men less superstitious than many of the unlettered yeomen who, leaning upon their arms, were witnesses of the events of this day, could not have failed in after times to look back upon them, if not as an omen, at least as an emblem, of those dreadful massacres with which these Indians and their associates afterward visited the inhabitants of this unfortu- nate frontier.
" Gen. Herkimer appears to have been unwilling to urge matters to extremes, though he had sufficient power to have defeated that body of Indians. He no doubt entertained hopes that some amicable arrangements would eventually be made with them.
" 'This is believed to have been the last conference held with any of the Six Nations, except the Oneidas, in which an effort was made to prevent the Indians engaging in the war. In the remarks of Brant will be found what was no doubt one of the principal reasons of the Indians joining the English, and which liberal gifts on our part might prob- ably have prevented. As before remarked, they had been accustomed to receive most of their clothing and other ne- cessaries from the English agents and superintendent. And now, when they received from the Americans little save
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professions of friendship, they were led to conclude that they were either poor or penurious, and therefore formed an alli- ance coupled with more immediate and substantial benefits. Col. Guy Johnson is said to have addressed the Indians at one of their councils as follows : 'Are they (the Americans) able to give you anything more than a piece of bread and a glass of rum ? Are you willing to go with them, and suf- fer them to make horses and oxen of you ; to put you into wheelbarrows, and to bring you all into slavery ?'"
The causes which led the Indians to espouse the British interest in the revolutionary war were incidentally noticed by Cornplanter (alias Abeel) in a communication to the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1822. This chief and Red Jacket were rivals; and the first was as friendly to the whites as the latter was hostile when forming the treaty of peace at Fort Stanwix in 1784. Cornplanter was rewarded for his friendship by a grant of land along the Allegany River-in writing from which place he says, among other particulars of his life-
" I will tell you now, brothers, who are in session in the Legislature of Pennsylvania, that the Great Spirit has made known to me that I have been wicked ; and the cause thereof was the revolutionary war in America. The cause of In- dians having been led into sin at that time was, that many of them were in the practice of drinking and getting intoxi- cated. Great Britain requested us to join in the conflict against the Americans, and promised the Indians money and liquor. I myself was opposed to joining in the conflict, as I had nothing to do with the difficulty that existed between the two parties."
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