USA > Ohio > Pioneer history : being an account of the first examinations of the Ohio valley, and the early settlement of the Northwest territory ; chiefly from original manuscripts > Part 9
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on the frontiers, from the falls of the Ohio to Fort Pitt. It is true, there were several treaties made with the different tribes, within this time, and there were short intervals of what was called peace, but there was no year in which depredations were not committed on the lives and property of the whites. 1
1775.
In the spring of this year, Fort Randolph was built by troops from Virginia, at the mouth of the Great Kenawha, under the command of Captain Arbuckle. In September . of this year, commissioners appointed by Congress met at Fort Pitt, to treat with the western Indians. Arthur St. Clair, at that time Prothonotary of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, was one of the commissioners.
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TRANSACTIONS AT PITTSBURGH .- COL. MORGAN.
CHAPTER VI.
Transactions at Pittsburgh in 1776, 1777 and 1778 during the war .- Colonel Morgan, Indian agent. - His character. - Moravian Indians friendly to Unit- ed States. - Commissioners meet to treat with the western tribes. - Difficul- ties. - Report of Mr. Wilson, the messenger sent to visit their towns. - Letter of Colonel Morgan to John Hancock, President of Congress. - Indian murder, near Washington, Pa. - Transactions at Fort Pitt. - Letter of Cap- tain Arbuckle .- Speech of Colonel Morgan to the Shawanees. - Delawares arrive at Fort Pitt .- Thirty large boats built for the transport of troops, &c .- Indian banditti .- Letter of Captain Morehead .- Indian letter. - Proceedings at Fort Pitt-Price of provisions .- Letter to the tories- Strength of the western tribes. - Fort McIntosh. - Boundary of Delawares, &c. &c .- Extracts from the Journals of Colonel George Morgan, kept at Fort Pitt, in the years 1776, 1777 and 1778.
COLONEL MORGAN Was appointed Indian agent for the mid- dle department, the head quarters of which office were at Pittsburgh, by Congress, in April, 1776. He was a man of unwearied activity, great perseverance, and familiar with the Indian manners and habits ; having for several years had charge of a trading post in the Illinois, after that coun- try was given up by the French, owned by a commercial house in Philadelphia. His frank manners, soldierly bear- ing, generosity, and, above all, his strict honesty in all his dealings with them, won their fullest confidence; and no white man was ever more highly esteemed than was Colonel Morgan, by all the savages who had any intercourse with him. He was a native of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, and, at the time of his appointment, held the post of colonel in the army of the United States. Such extracts as will throw any light on the history of that period in the west, and the condition and feelings of the Indians and frontier inhabitants towards each other, will be copied.
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POLICY TOWARD THE INDIANS.
It had early been the settled policy of Congress, and which was continued through this unnatural contest between the mother country and the colonies, to persuade the Indians to remain neutral, and not take up the hatchet on either side. It was a war in which they had no concern, and they were desired to keep quiet. The British government, however, pursued a very different course, and urged them, on all oc- casions, to side with them, and assist in subduing their rebellious children. For this purpose, they supplied them with arms and ammunition, and paid them a bounty on scalps: one of the most cruel and inhuman kinds of traffic ever entered into by a civilized people.
The main object of all the treaties with the Indians by the United States, during the war, was to keep them quiet, and persuade them not to molest the border inhabitants. For this purpose, they received many presents, at the close of these treaties, of clothing, blankets, &c., but little or no ammunition or arms.
The British, on the other hand, supplied them with all these articles, in four fold quantities, for the purpose of at- taching them to their interests ; while the Congress, from their poverty, and their absolute inability to furnish them with foreign goods in large amounts, rather sunk in the estimation of the Indians. They had the shrewdness to perceive the poverty of the United States when compared with the wealth and grandeur of their old father, the king of Great Britain ; and during the whole contest acted either openly or covertly on that side. A large portion of the Delaware Indians, in addition to all those who had been converted to Christianity by the agency of the Moravian missionaries, continued to be steadfast in their friendship to the Americans, and on all occasions these Christian Indians sent timely notice, if in their power, of the march- ing of war parties to attack the border inhabitants of Penn- sylvania and Virginia.
These friendly acts were, no doubt, promoted by the kind
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COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED.
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offices of the missionaries, Zeisberger and Hackewelder, whose names will occasionally appear in the course of these extracts. Their friendship for the United States drew upon them the ill will of all the heathen tribes, which finally led to open violence, and the Christian Indians were forcibly removed to Sandusky, where they suffered greatly from starvation. They also fell under the displeasure of the frontier inhabitants of Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, who accused them of harboring the war parties of the hostile Indians, when they returned from their murderous inroads into the settlements, and secreting for them their stolen goods. Thus placed between two fires, they finally fell a sacrifice to an exasperated party of whites, for whom they had ever professed a sincere friendship, and were destroyed at the massacre of Gnadenhutten, by the hands of those they had never injured.
Congress perceived, at an early period of the war, the importance of securing the friendship of the Indians, at least so far as to prevent their acting in concert with their enemies ; and appointed commissioners to hold treaties with them at the different agencies. For the middle department, the commissioners were Thomas Walker, John Harvey, John Montgomery, and Jasper Yates. These gentlemen met at Fort Pitt in July, but were not able to assemble the different tribes until the month of October. In the mean- time they were busily engaged in holding communications with the Indians, by means of letters, and by agents sent to Indian towns. The Ottawas and Pottewatemies, living nearer to the British posts, were greatly influenced in their councils by the agency of Governor Hamilton of Detroit. They were also powerful tribes, and their opinions and ad- vice had great weight with the Shawanees and Delawares. Owing to these conflicting views of the different nations, the commissioners found great difficulty in reconciling them, so far as to agree to meet them at Fort Pitt. At one time in September, they came to the conclusion, founded on the 7
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WILSON'S REPORT.
best testimony they could obtain, that a general Indian war was inevitable; they accordingly issued orders for the as- sembling of all the western militia, that could be spared, at Fort Pitt for its defence. During this state of suspense and agitation, William Wilson, who was sent out in June to invite the Wyandot tribe of Indians to the treaty, returned and made the following report, the 26th of September :
"Some time in June last, 1776, I was sent by Mr. George Morgan, agent for Indian affairs in the middle department, to the Shawanees to prevent their going to Detroit to a treaty, until he arrived there and spoke to them. Upon my reaching the towns, I found them ready to set off for De -. troit; but on my delivering Mr. Morgan's message, they agreed to stay until he came to their towns. When Mr. Morgan came and spoke to them, they referred him to the Wyandots to fix the time of holding the treaty, as they had great influence over the western tribes. I continued in the Shawanese town with Mr. Morgan whilst he stayed. Some time in July I left the towns in company with the Cornstalk, the Hardman, and several others, in order to go to the Wy- andot towns, with a message from Mr. Morgan inviting them to a treaty, to be held at Pittsburgh the last of August ; but Mr. Morgan directed me to settle some other time for hold- ing the treaty, if I should find it was not convenient for them to attend then.
" We proceeded to a small Shawanese town, about ten miles from the principal towns, the first day, and continued there ten days, waiting for some of the chief warriors to join us. I grew impatient and prevailed on the Cornstalk to set off with me. The Hardman, and the others, promised to follow the next day. The following morning a couple of runners were sent to us to inform us that the Hardman had heard the Shade was at Pittsburgh, on his way from Ni- agara, and that he would wait four days for him, to hear the news from the treaty held there. We then proceeded
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WILSON'S REPORT.
to Pluggystown. There were very few people in the town, and we agreed to encamp there that night. We were de- tained the next day by an Indian, who said he had some news, which he wanted to inform us of. It turned out to be nothing more than that he had understood the Shade was arrived at the Shawanese towns, and that we might ex- pect the Hardman, and others which we left behind, to overtake us in a few days.
" That evening we were alarmed by an Indian, who came in with the alarm halloo, from the Shawanese towns. The Cornstalk went to him immediately, to hear the news. He soon returned and informed me that the white people over the big river had fired on a party of Shawanees and Cher- okees; that one of the party had got into the towns, who said that one of the Shawanees was certainly killed, and he did not know but more of them were, for there were a great many guns fired at them. I told the Cornstalk that I imagined the white people had sufficient reasons, or they would not have fired on them. He said he was of the same opinion ; and on hearing the news, he told the Mingoes it was they who had killed his young men, and not the white people ; that the mischief was done in consequence of the prisoners they took from Kentucky.
"Some time afterward the Mingoes assembled together at a house belonging to a French Smith, and began to council. The Frenchman overheard them, and told me that they had determined to take Joseph Nicholson and myself prisoners to Detroit the next day ; that perhaps they might attempt to amuse us by speaking in a friendly manner, but he ad- vised us to pay no regard to them, but to make our escape that night. Some time after night, the Mingoes came to where we were encamped, and said they wanted to speak to us. They produced a string, and spoke to the following effect : They desired the Shawanees and Delawares not to be displeased at their laying hold of their two white brothers and detaining them for two days; that they had sent
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messengers to the Wyandot chiefs, and that within that time, they and all the neighboring chiefs were expected to as- semble there, and that all the speeches were to be told over. I told them, that as they desired me to continue with them for two days I would do so; on which they went off, seem- ingly satisfied.
"I advised with the Cornstalk, and Delawares, what was the most prudent step for me to take, and what they thought of the before mentioned speech. The Cornstalk said they only wanted to deceive me; and he and the Delawares recommended to us to make our escape that night, and en- deavor to get to Coochocking, a Delaware town. We did so, after engaging a Delaware man to go to the Shawanese towns to hear the news which the before mentioned person . brought, and to discover the temper they were in. I thought it expedient to continue at Coochocking, until the return of the messenger I had sent to the Shawanees. He returned in four days, and informed that the party of Shawanees and Cherokees, before mentioned, had killed two men and taken a woman prisoner on the Kentucky ; that the white people pursued them, came up with them the next day, and killed two of the Shawanees and rescued the prisoner; that the Cherokees had sent a tomahawk belt, with two scalps tied to it, to the Shawanees, informing them that they had struck the white people; and it was his opinion that the Shawa- nees would join, provided the other nations did. He further said that the Hardman intended to proceed to the Wyandots with the messages from Mr. Morgan, and would meet me at Sandusky.
"I thought it advisable to engage some of the Delaware chiefs to go with me to the Wyandot towns. I therefore assembled the Delawares, and desired they would appoint some persons for that purpose. They pitched upon Cap- tain Killbuck and two young men to accompany me. After I had made the necessary preparations for my journey, king Newcomer spoke to me and said, he thought it was danger-
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ous for me to pursue my intended journey, as it was prob- able the Mingoes might way-lay the road and kill me ; that he would send a message of his own to the Wyandots, with Mr. Morgan's, and advised me to continue at Coochocking, and let Captain Killbuck proceed with the messages, and to send Joseph Nicholson to Mr. Morgan to inform him what I had done. I took his advice. Killbuck returned in cleven ยท days, with the messages sent by him, and a message from the Wyandots to me, signifying that those who lived on this side of the lake were not able to give an answer with- out consulting their chiefs on the other side; that I must come with my message myself; that I need not apprehend any danger from them ; that if my heart was good towards them, I would come ; if it was not, I would stay away.
" On receiving this message, I determined to go, and Kill- buck and two young men were again appointed to accom- pany me. We traveled about ten miles from Coochock- ing, when Killbuck was taken sick, which obliged us to re- turn. I then applied to Captain White Eyes to go with me, who very readily consented. At Winganous town, about six miles from Coochocking, I met with John Mon- tour, whom I employed to go with me, and a Wyandot man, who told me that he imagined that Cornstalk and other Shawanees, and the Wyandot chiefs, had left San- dusky, and that he would pilot me a nearer way, to where the chiefs were. Nothing material happened until we ar- rived at a Wyandot village, opposite to Detroit, where the chiefs were assembled. They received me in a very kind and friendly manner, and thanked me for coming among them in consequence of their invitation. They said they had heard many bad reports from the Big Knife; but my coming among them was a convincing proof that they were false. One of the Wyandots refused to shake hands with me. On the others asking the reason, he said he would not do it, for he did not love the Big Knife. I asked them if all the chiefs were then present, and if they chose to hear
-
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WILSON'S REPORT.
my message at that time. They said they were all present, and were willing to hear me immediately. I first spoke to them on a string, telling them that in consequence of the message sent to me from Sandusky, I had visited them ; that I put myself under their protection, and that they should determine how long I should continue among them. I then produced the belt and speech, sent me by Mr. Mor- gan. The purport of it was to ask their assistance in bright- ening and strengthening the chain of friendship with all the western tribes of Indians, and inviting them to a treaty to be held at Pittsburgh, in twenty-five days from that time, which was the 2d of September.
" Captain White Eyes then spoke to them and said, that as the path to their towns appeared to be somewhat dim, he had accompanied me, that I might not lose myself. He assured them that the Big Knife desired nothing more than to live in peace and friendship with all the Indians. They answered that they were convinced the Indians desired to be in friendship with the white people, and as far as their influence extended, they would endeavor to promote the good work of peace. They then withdrew to consider of my speech. After some time, they returned and told me they were glad their brother, the Big Knife, thought so much of them as to ask their assistance in brightening the chain of friendship. They assured mc they would use all their influence with the other tribes to preserve peace; and de- sired that I would remain with them two days, to hear them explain my speech to the other nations who were assembled at Detroit.
" Next morning they sent to the governor of Detroit, in- forming him that I was in their town, and if he desired to speak to me in a friendly manner, he might have an oppor- tunity of doing so. They made me acquainted with this message. On the return of their messenger they delivered back the belt they received from me, and said they thought it best I should deliver it in public council at Detroit; to
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WILSON'S REPORT.
which I agreed. I imagine they were directed by the gov- ernor to return the belt. Captain White Eyes, John Mon- tour, myself, and the Wyandot chiefs, went to the council house at Detroit, together. After the Indians and the gov- ernor met, one of the Wyandot chiefs got up and informed the other nations, that they had met with one of their brothers, the Big Knife, which might delay the business they were upon. Then addressing himself to the governor, he said, he thought that he, as their father, was the proper per- son to inquire of me the business I came upon.
"The governor then asked from whence I came, and what business I was upon. I told him I came from Pittsburgh with a message from Mr. Morgan, agent for the colonies, to the Wyandots; and told him of the message I had re- ceived from the Wyandots from Sandusky, and that, in con- sequence of that message, I had come to the Wyandot village. He then asked if I had my message in writing. I told him I had. He desired to see it, and I delivered it to him. After perusing the speech, he addressed himself to the Indians, and said that after the message was explained to them they should consider of a proper answer to make to it; and that he would join them in their answer. The speech was then interpreted to the Indians present, and I delivered the belt to a Wyandot chief. He gave it to the governor, telling him that he was their father, and knew best what to do with it.
"The governor then spoke to the Indians as follows : " Children-I am your father, and you are my children. I have always your good at heart. I am sent here to repre- sent the great king over the waters, and to take care of you. Those people, from whom you received this message, are enemies and traitors to my king; and before I would take one of them by the hand, I would suffer my right hand to be cut off. When the great king is pleased to make peace with his rebellious children in this big island, I will then give
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my assistance in making peace between them and the In- dians, and not before."
"With that, he tore the speech and cut the belt to pieces, and contemptuously strewed it about the council house. He then told the Indians it was not customary with the English to detain or injure a public messenger, and that, therefore, I must be suffered to return unmolested; at which the Indians seemed to be greatly pleased. He then asked me if I had any thing more to say to the Indians; that if I had, to speak out. I told him I had nothing further to say to them. He then ordered me to leave the place imme- diately, and said he would order us ten days' provisions each to take us home. I told him I came in a canoe belonging to a Wyandot man, and could not go until he was ready. He said he would furnish me with a canoe. I then told him that my blankets and shirts were at the Wyandot village, and that I must go over for them. He said he would fur- nish me with blankets and shirts likewise. However, at last, he suffered me to go to the village.
" While I was in the council house, the governor spoke on a tomahawk belt to the Wyandots; but as he delivered the speech in French, to the interpreter, I did not know what he said upon it. The Wyandot chief delivered the belt to the Cornstalk. The governor asked him if he knew what that belt meant. The Cornstalk answered, he did not. He said he would tell him in a few words. He then in- formed him that that belt was put into the hands of the Wyandots last March, desiring them to request the nations who lived next the river, from Presque Isle downwards, to be watchful; and if they discovered any army attempting to cross the river to let him know it; but that it now had a greater meaning; and referred him to the Wyandots for an explanation of it; and told the interpreter to tell the Corn- stalk to show that belt to the Cherokees, for they had joined the English in the general cause. He then asked the
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nations present if any of them had any thing to say at that time.
"The Mingoes then produced a black belt, telling the other nations that, the spring before last, they received that belt of Guy Johnson, informing them that he was going over the big water; that they must hold themselves in readiness against his return, and, until then, to sit still and listen to no one. They said they thought he was approaching near them, for they perceived the waters to shake. They then produced a white belt, which was sent by the Mingoes at Niagara, with the Shade, (a Shawanee,) to the Shawanese towns, telling them they intended to have sent a messenger with it to them; but as they had met with one of their brothers at Niagara, they thought proper to send it by him. They told them they had their words among them, (mean- ing the tomahawk,) and desired them to take them up and send them among all their friends. These speeches were explained to me by John Montour.
"The governor then spoke to the Indians, and said he was extremely pleased with the belts produced by the Mingoes.
" While we were in the council, the governor told me he had inquired no news of me, nor did he want to hear any. For your part, says he to Montour, I knew your father well. He was a good man. I don't know how you came to join with those people. If you should come this way again, (though not upon the same errand,) I will give you some- thing. He told White Eyes he knew his character well, and so did all the nations present. He ordered him to leave Detroit before the sun-set, as he regarded his head ; that he would lose the last drop of his blood, before he would suffer any one nation to come there and destroy the union, which was brought about by so many nations.
" White Eyes made no reply at that time, but after we had left the place, he said the governor was a fool; that he did not know what he scolded him for; that he had never done
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him any injury, nor any other white man, since he had made peace with them, nor never would unless they injured him ; that if he had a mind to join the Buckskins, he would soon make him tremble for his head; and if he joined either side, it would be the Buckskins.
" After we left the council house, the governor came up to me and said he would be glad, if I would inform the peo- ple on my return of what I had seen; that all the Indians I saw there at the treaty were of the same way of think- ing; and that he would be glad if the people would consider the dreadful consequences of going to war with so terrible an enemy, and accept the king's pardon while it could be obtained. He then informed me that an army of twenty thousand men were landed in Canada, and had driven the rebels entirely out of that government, and were pursuing them to the southward; that twenty thousand more were landed at New York, and the same number to the south- ward, with the completest train of artillery that ever came out of Europe on any occasion ; and that the king must be sure of success, or he would not have sent so large an army against the Americans. He then ordered William Tucker, one of his interpreters, with whom I had a small acquain- tance, to go with me and get provisions for me.
" On our way I asked Tucker his opinion of the disposi- tions of the Indians at Detroit, and if he thought they would strike soon. He hesitated for some time, but at last told me, that without matters took a very sudden turn, it was his opinion they would.
"On receiving my provision, I left Detroit, in company with the Hardman and others, on our way to the Wyandot village. I told the Hardman that Governor Hamilton had informed me that all the Indians who were at Detroit were of the same way of thinking, and that I expected they would all strike the white people very soon. He said he did not doubt but the governor wished them to be of the same way of thinking, but it was not in his power to make
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them so, unless they chose it; that for his part he came there in search of good, and he should not put evil in his heart; and desired me to tell all his white brothers, that his heart was good towards them.
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