USA > Ohio > History of the state of Ohio > Part 31
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Capt. O'Bail, or Cornplanter, was then recognized by the commissioners as authorized to transact all business with the United States on behalf of six towns.
It was not until the 17th of October, that the assembled Indians were ready to reply. Capt. Aaron Hill first spoke. After intimating that they could not answer so fully and sat-
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TREATY OF FORT STANWIX.
isfactorily as they might do, if a copy of the commissioners' speech had been furnished to them, allusion was made to the statement, that the council fire was kindled for the purpose of settling all differences and disputes between the United States and the Indian nations, the speaker begged attention to the words of the warriors, and thus proceeded : "The words of the warriors are strong : they are persons who have so traveled through the world, and borne all the difficulties of the war, that it is in their power to make a lasting peace. You told us that it was solely on us to make peace, but we apprehend that it is mutually dependent upon both parties. I speak in the name of the Six Nations, and not only in their name, but also in the name of all the other tribes-my voice, therefore, is strong-our minds are deep, and persevering, and our wish to make peace is great. We are neither haughty, nor proud, nor is it our disposition ever, of our- selves, to commence hostilities. Our adherence to our cove- nant with the Great King, drew us into the late war, which is a great proof to the commissioners of our strict observance of our ancient covenant with the white people ; and you will find the same attachment to the covenant now to be made, as that which signalized our conduct during the late war. We are free and independent, and at present under no influence. We have hitherto been bound by the Great King, but he having broken the chain, and left us to ourselves, we are again free and independent."
Recapitulating, without dissent, the points of the commis- sioners' speech in respect to their exclusive authority to con- clude a treaty, and the terms of peace between the United States and Great Britain, the orator feelingly remarked: "You also assured us that the Great King in settling this peace with the United States, made no mention of us, but
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left us to treat for ourselves. Certainly the Great King did not look up to that Great Spirit, which he had called as a witness to that treaty, otherwise common justice would not have suffered him to be so inattentive, as to neglect those who had been so just and faithful to him; and we think that our brothers, the United States, did not think of the Great Spirit, otherwise they would have mentioned to the Great King those persons who had been so faithful to him, when they found that he had entirely neglected them."
The speaker claimed that the Indians present were ade- quate to treat of, and conclude a peace, not only on the part of the Six Nations, but also on that of the Ottawas, Chippe- was, Hurons, Potowatames, Messasagas, Miamis, Delawares, Shawanese, Cherokees, Chicasaws, Choctaws, and Creeks.
The sarcasm of the following paragraphs-at least that in respect to the cession by France-is very apparent :
"You acquainted us that the King of France had ceded to the United States all claim and title to any lands within their boundary. We have only to thank the Great Spirit for putting it into the mind of the King of France to make this cession, as it is well known that he is extremely saving of his lands, and that the United States are in great want of them.
"You informed us that it was indispensably essential to the making of peace, that all the prisoners should be deliv- ered up, and that nothing could be finally done therein, until that should be the case. We would propose to the commissioners that for this purpose they should depute per- sons of their own nation to go and collect them, lest if it should rest with us, the commissioners might apprehend that they were not all brought, and for this purpose we will give them all the assistance in our power."
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On the following day, the 18th, Cornplanter or Capt. O'Bail, resumed and closed the speech on behalf of the Six Nations.
After an unsatisfactory attempt to explain the conduct of his own tribe, the Senecas, in joining the British, after their repeated pledges to observe a neutrality, Cornplanter ap- proached the boundary question, which he treated with con- summate tact. That entire portion is here given :
"Brothers, Representatives of the Thirteen United States :
"You have allotted to me the task of drawing a line be- tween us to your satisfaction. I feel the weight of it: I feel for many of my brothers, who will be left destitute of any lands, and have therefore taken care in my deliberations to mark out that line which will give peace to both our minds.
"I hope that in our present negotiations, nothing but friendship will prevail, and I am fully sensible that you will never conduct yourselves towards us, as the King of Great Britain has in throwing us away.
"Brothers, Commissioners of the Thirteen United States, now hearken:
" When we shall have drawn the line between us, what- ever shall remain within the boundary allotted to us, shall be our own-it shall continue forever, as the sun which rolls over from day to day.
" Brothers, Commissioners of the Thirteen United States:
" Let us go on with this business of peace with tenderness and caution, as it is of the utmost importance, and should what I now say not meet with a kind reception into your breasts, it will greatly distress me, for I who stand before you am a warrior, and should it not meet your approbation, inform me whilst I am here:
" Brothers, I have several times repeated the words to
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proceed tenderly in this business, for I regard future gener- ations, and to them I attend while engaged in making peace with you.
"Our fires will be a considerable distance from each other, when I come to describe the boundary between us. This will tend to our mutual peace.
"I think, brothers, that we warriors must have a large country to range in, as indeed our subsistence must depend on our having much hunting ground, and as it will also bring in money to you, will tend to our mutual advantage.
"Now, brothers, I am about to draw the line-this we Senecas do of ourselves, as the land belongs solely to us. Let it begin at Tioga, and run thence by a straight line inclining a little to the North to Ohigee, and when it strikes the River Ohio, let it go down its stream to the old boundary on the Cherokee River. As to the territory westward of that, you must talk respecting it with the Western Nations, towards the setting of the sun-they must consult of what part they will cede to the United States.
" Brothers, should you approve of this boundary, you will direct your people not to trespass upon our territory, or pass over the line, and should any of our nation attempt to pass over, or intrude upon your lands-let us know it-we will take care to reprimand them, and prevent it.
"Brothers, by this belt you now see my mind. If what I have mentioned be approved of by you, lay it along the Tioga, as I have said-if not, I again request you to inform me."
On the 20th of October, the commissioners replied to Hill and Cornplanter. No part of this speech is omitted :
" SACHEMS AND WARRIORS : - We are now going to reply to the answer you made to our speech-therefore open your ears and hear.
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" You informed us that your words were not the words of the Six Nations only, but that you were empowered to speak for all the western nations of Indians. This surprises us. We summoned the Six Nations only to this treaty -- that nations not called should send their voices hither, is extraor- dinary. But you have not shown us any authority, either in writing or by belts, for your speaking in their names. With- out such authority, your words will pass away like the winds of yesterday that are heard no more.
" You have complained that we refused you a copy of our speech, which might lead you into errors. When we refused it we gave our reason, which was this, that having explained our minds publicly and clearly to you all, and given belts and strings to remind you of every proposition, we did not choose you to be deceived, and our meaning to be misrepresented by the few persons among you who understand English, and might have explained our speech, if we had given a copy of it, as they pleased. We knew there were such persons among you who wished to deceive you, and under the direc- tion of those who led you into the war against us, were planning to mislead you again for their own purposes. We did not wish to put you into the power of such persons, but to clear your eyes and understandings. We explained, at your desire, over and over again, our speech to you, and the strings and belts which accompanied every part of it.
" You next excused your having taken up arms against us, by alleging you were drawn into it by your ancient covenant with the king of England.
" Where was your sense of covenants, when, after solemnly covenanting with us in 1775, and again as solemnly in 1776, receiving our presents to cover you, to comfort and to strengthen you-immediately you took up the hatchet against 19
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us and struck us with all your might? Could you have so soon forgotten your recent engagements with us, and yet be influenced by those long past with the king of England ?
"We asked you-we exhorted you for your own sakes, to remain neuter, though as living on the same ground with us, we had a right to expect your assistance against all invaders. You twice solemnly covenanted not to join in the war against us-and without the smallest provocation on our part, you violated your covenants and spilt our blood.
" We should not have called to mind this conduct, had you not attempted to justify it. You must not deceive your- selves, nor hope to deceive us. To justify errors may lead to a recommission of them, and it will be more safe and honorable to repent of, than to palliate, a conduct which, though mischievous to us, has been fatal to you, and has left you at our mercy.
" Again, you are mistaken in supposing that having been excluded from the treaty between the United States and the king of Great Britain, you are become a free and indepen- dent nation, and may make what terms you please. It is not so. You are a subdued people ; you have been overcome in a war which you entered into with us, not only without provocation, but in violation of most sacred obligations. The Great Spirit, who is at the same time the judge and avenger of perfidy, has given us victory over all our enemies. We are at peace with all but you ; you now stand out alone against our whole force.
" When we offer you peace on moderate terms, we do it in magnanimity and mercy. If you do not accept it now, you are not to expect a repetition of such offers. Consider well, therefore, your situation and ours. Do not suffer yourselves to be again deceived so as to raise our arm against you. You
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feel the sad effects of having refused this counsel before- beware how you do it again.
" Compassionating your situation, we endeavored to make the terms on which you were to be admitted into the peace and protection of the United States, appear to spring from your own contrition for what you had done, rather than from a necessity imposed by us. We therefore proposed to you to deliver up the prisoners, and to propose a boundary line, such as it became the United States to agree to.
" On neither of these points have you given us the smallest satisfaction. You propose we should deputise people of our nation to go and collect the prisoners. This you know from experience is impracticable ; that it would only provoke insults, and perhaps the murder of such deputation, by the persons who hold our fellow citizens in bondage. You only can collect them ; you only ought to collect them ; you must collect and deliver them up. Our words are strong, and we mean you should feel them. With regard to the boundary line you have proposed, the lands to the northwest of it have almost all been sold already to Onas, and all the land south- east of it, to the Cherokee River, was sold by you in the year 1768, at this place, and is all granted and settled by the white people.
" We shall now, therefore, declare to you the condition on which alone you can be received into the peace and protec- tion of the United States. The conditions are these :
" The United States of America will give peace to the Senecas, Mohawks, Onondagas and Cayugas, and receive them into their protection upon the following conditions :
" ARTICLE 1. Six hostages shall be immediately delivered to the commissioners by the said nations, to remain in the possession of the United States till all the prisoners, white
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and black, which were taken by the said Senecas, Mohawks, Onondagas and Cayugas, or by any of them, in the late war, from among the citizens of the United States, shall be de- livered up.
" ARTICLE 2. The Oneida and Tuscarora nations shall be secured in the possession of the lands on which they are settled.
" ARTICLE 3. A line shall be drawn, beginning at the mouth of a creek about four miles east of Niagara, called Oyonwayea, or Johnston's Landing Place, upon the lake named by the Indians Oswego, and by us Ontario ; from thence southerly, in a direction always four miles east of the carrying path, between lakes Erie and Ontario, to the mouth of the Tehoseroron, or Buffalo creek, on Lake Erie, thence south to the north boundary of the State of Pennsylvania ; thence west to the end of the said north boundary ; thence south along the west boundary of the said State to the river Ohio; the said line from the mouth of the Oyonwayea to the Ohio shall be the western boundary of the lands of the Six Nations, so that the Six Nations shall and do yield to the United States, all claims to the country west of the said boundary, and then they shall be secured in the peaceful possession of the lands they inhabit east and north of the same, reserving only six miles square round the fort of Os- wego, to the United States, for the support of the same.
" ARTICLE 4. The commissioners of the United States, in consideration of the present circumstances of the Six Nations, and in execution of the humane and liberal views of the United States, upon the signing of the above articles, will order goods to be delivered to the said Six Nations for their use and comfort.
" We shall make a few remarks on these articles, though the moderation and equity of them are manifest :
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"1st. It is more than six months since you were informed by General Schuyler, in the name of Congress, that you must deliver up all the prisoners before peace could be granted to you. Our message gave you the same information, yet you have not delivered them up.
" As the delivery of them is indispensable, so you have rendered hostages necessary by your delay.
" 2d. It does not become the United States to forget those nations who preserved their faith to them, and adhered to their cause-those, therefore, must be secured in the full and free enjoyment of those possessions.
"3d. The line proposed leaves as extensive a country to the remaining four nations as they can in reason desire, and more than, from their conduct in the war, they could expect.
"The king of Great Britain ceded to the United States the whole; by the right of conquest they might claim the whole. Yet they have taken but a small part compared with their numbers and their wants. Their warriors must be provided for. Compensations must be made for the blood and treasures which they have expended in the war. The great increase of their people renders more lands essential to their subsistence. It is therefore necessary that such a boundary line should be settled as will make effectual provi- sions for these demands and prevent any future cause of dif- ference and dispute.
"4th. It ought to be felt by you as a signal proof of the magnanimity of the United States, that though the present dis- tresses of most of the Six Nations have been incurred by their own fault in fighting against them, yet they have determined to minister such relief to them as is at present in their power.
" These are the terms on which you may obtain perpetual peace with the United States, and enjoy their protection.
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" You must be sensible that these are blessings which can- not be purchased at too high a price. Be wise, and answer us accordingly."
The speech of Captain Aaron Hill, on the 21st, presents no new points, and is tame and unimpressive. The written proofs or belts of their right to speak in the name of the western tribes, he said, had been left at the council fire which was burning among the Shawanese, on the river Miami. There is a tradition that young Red Jacket boldly opposed the burial of the hatchet, and spoke with vehement eloquence against the treaty. When the Marquis De Lafayette revisited the United States, in 1824-5, he met Red Jacket at Buffalo, and the General was reminded, by the venerable chief, of the circumstance of their former meeting at Fort Stanwix. This is the earliest allusion to the Seneca orator, afterwards so widely renowned.
But the experienced and sagacious Cornplanter saw that total banishment, perhaps a bloody extirpation, was the only alternative, and his influence in favor of the treaty prevailed. The motto of the commissioners was Voe Victis-woe to the vanquished !
The official publication of the treaty at Fort Stanwix is identical with the proposition dictated by the commissioners. The sword of victory was in the American scale, and it was signed without the addition or diminution of a syllable. Its future consequences will appear in the sequel.
TREATY AT FORT MCINTOSH IN 1785.
The treaty with the New York Indians having extinguished their western claims, measures were promptly taken to pre- scribe terms and boundaries to the Ohio tribes. On the 21st of January, George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Arthur
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TREATY OF FORT M'INTOSH.
Lee met a body of Indians at Fort McIntosh, who asserted themselves to be representatives of the Wyandots, Delawares, Chippewas and Ottawas. We present this document with its signatures and attestation :
" The Commissioners Plenipotentiary of the United States in Congress assembled, give peace to the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottowa nations of Indians, on the following conditions :
ARTICLE 1. Three chiefs, one from among the Wyandot, and two from among the Delaware nations, shall be delivered up to the Commissioners of the United States, to be by them retained till all the prisoners, white and black, taken by the said nations, or any of them, shall be restored.
ARTICLE 2. The said Indian nations do acknowledge themselves and all their tribes to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other sovereign whatever.
ARTICLE 3. The boundary line between the United States and Wyandot and Delaware nations, shall begin at the mouth of the River Cayahoga, and run thence up the said river to the portage between that and the Tuscarawas branch of Meskingum ; then down the said branch to the forks at the crossing place above Fort Lawrence [Laurens] ; then west- erly to the portage of the Big Miami, which runs into the Ohio, at the mouth of which branch the fort stood which was taken by the French in one thousand seven hundred and fifty- two ; then along the said portage to the Great Miami or Ome River, and down the southeast side of the same to its mouth ; thence along the south shore of Lake Erie, to the mouth of Cayahoga, where it began.
ARTICLE 4. The United States allot all the lands con- tained within the said lines, to the Wyandot and Delaware nations, to live and to hunt on, and to such of the Ottowa
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nation as now live thereon : saving and reserving for the establishment of trading posts, six miles square at the mouth of Miami or Ome River, and the same at the portage on that branch of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, and the same on the Lake of Sanduske where the fort formerly stood, and also two miles square on each side of the lower rapids of Sanduske River, which posts, and the lands annexed to them, shall be to the use, and under the Government of the United States.
ARTICLE 5. If any citizen of the United States, or other person not being an Indian, shall attempt to settle on any of the lands allotted to the Wyandot and Delaware nations in this treaty, except on the lands reserved to the United States in the preceding article, such person shall forfeit the protec- tion of the United States, and the Indians may punish him as they please.
ARTICLE 6. The Indians who sign this treaty, as well in behalf of all their tribes as of themselves, do acknowledge the lands east, south and west of the lines described in the third article, so far as the said Indians formerly claimed the same, to belong to the United States ; and none of their tribes shall presume to settle upon the same or any part of it.
ARTICLE 7. The post of Detroit, with a district begin- ning at the mouth of the River Rosine, on the west end of Lake Erie, and running west six miles up the southern bank of the said river, thence northerly and always six miles west of the strait, till it strikes the Lake St. Clair, shall be also reserved to the sole use of the United States.
ARTICLE 8. In the same manner, the post of Michilli- machinac with its dependencies and twelve miles square about the same, shall be reserved to the use of the United States.
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TREATY OF FORT M'INTOSH.
ARTICLE 9. If any Indian or Indians shall commit a robbery or murder on any citizen of the United States, the tribe to which such offenders may belong, shall be bound to deliver them up at the nearest post, to be punished according to the ordinances of the United States.
ARTICLE 10. The commissioners of the United States, in pursuance of the humane and liberal views of Congress, upon this treaty's being signed, will direct goods to be dis- tributed among the different tribes for their use and comfort.
SEPARATE ARTICLE .- It is agreed that the Delaware chiefs, Kelelarrand, or lieutenant-colonel Henry [alias Kill- buck,] Hengue Pushees or the Big Cat, Wicocalind or Cap- tain White Eyes, who took up the hatchet for the United States and their families, shall be received into the Dela- ware Nation, in the same situation and rank as before the war, and enjoy their due portion of the lands given to the Wyandot and Delaware Nations in this treaty, as fully as if they had not taken part with America, or as any other per- son or persons in the said nations :
GEO. CLARK,
TALAPOXIE,
RICHARD BUTLER,
WINGENUM,
ARTHUR LEE,
PACKELANT,
DAUNGHIQUAT,
GINGEWANNO,
ABRAHAM KUHN,
WAANOOS,
OTTAWERRERI,
KONALAWASSEE,
HOBOCAN, WALENDIGITUN,
SHAWNAQUM, QUECOOKIA.
WITNESS .- Samuel J. Atlee, Francis Johnston, Commis sioners of Pennsylvania ; Alexander Campbell; Joseph Har mar, Colonel Commandant; Alexander Lowrey; Joseph Nicholas, interpreter : J. Bradford; George Slaughter; Van Swearingen; John Boggs; G. Evans; D. Luckett."10
10) U. S. Statutes at Large, vol. vii., p. 16.
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HISTORY OF OHIO.
Of the Indian names signed to this treaty, Daunnghquat was the Wyandot chief who negotiated with Col. Brodhead at Fort Pitt in 1779; Abraham Kuhn was a Wyandot from Lower Sandusky, mentioned by Heckewelder as engaged in the removal of the Moravians in 1781, from the Muskingum to the Sandusky: "Hobocan" was the Indian name of Cap- tain Pipe : Talapoxie we suppose to be the friendly Delaware chief called Tetepachksi by Heckewelder; Wingenum was also a Delaware ; and Packelant may have been the same as the Packgantschihilas of Heckewelder's Narrative, or our favorite Bockengehelas. The other names are not recogniza- ble-probably Chippewas and Ottawas.
TREATY OF FORT FINNEY IN 1786.
In pursuance of a resolution of Congress, March 18th, 1785, preparations had been made to hold a treaty with the Wabash Indians at Fort Vincent, (now Vincennes) on the 20th of June, 1785, but these tribes were impracticable, and by a resolution of the 29th of June, the place was changed to the mouth of the Great Miami, and the time post- poned until January, 1786. The conference was finally held at Fort Finney-a post established for the occasion on the left bank of the Great Miami at its junction with the Ohio-by George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Samuel H. Parsons, Commissioners of the United States, and the Shawanese Indians.
The journal of General Butler, while engaged upon the mission, has recently been published,11 and a summary of its contents will best reflect the posture of affairs, and the aspect of the frontier, as well as the dispositions of the savages, at that period. Its author, originally a trader of Pittsburgh,
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