USA > Ohio > The Revolution on the Upper Ohio, 1775-1777 > Part 9
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Brothres the bigknife and Onas listen to me we
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have heard what you have said and like it well and shall Carefully Observe your Advice to us and sit Still we and all the Nations present have now fast hold of the Chain of Freindship and you may be As- sured that we will not suffer it to Slip through our hands and hope you have the same Strong hold of it A Belt
Kiashota another Cheif of the Six Nations then Spoke Brothers the bigknife and Onas listen Every thing you have said We like and return you our Sin- cere thanks Brothers Onas and the bigknife we have not much to say but what we do say I hope you will Attend to I Observe that there are some Differences between yourselves I advise you to be Strong and let no Disputes be Among you that our Council fire may be well Kindled and burn Clear so that when we are hereafter invited to it we may come with Pleasure Brothers the Bigknife and Brother Onas I advise you to what is good for yourselves I now Assure you that the six Nations have a strong hold of the Chain of Freindship and with these Belts I bind fast in freindship my Brothers the Wiandots, Delawares Shawanese and Tawaas with you Three Belts one to cach Nation :
White Eyes then Addressed the Indians as fol- lows Brothers listen to mne you heard me tell our Bretheren the English that I hoped we shou'd finish the good work we had began and as our Brothers de- sired us to remove all Obstructions out of the road that our Young Men Women and Children might Pass and repass Unmolested and that the Freindship which has been made between us in the presence of
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God Almighty may be Lasting and Strong and as we know the Bounds of the Lands Claimed by our Brothers Extends as far as the Mouth of the Chero- kee River I for my part will be Strong and Prevent my young Men from hunting thereon for I had rather they wou'd employ themselves in planting Corn in their Own feilds than that any Mischeif shou'd hap- pen by their hunting Delivers the Road and Freind- ship Belts to the Wiandots
Brothers the day before Yesterday our brothers the English Acquainted us that all the White People in this Island had now become as one Man and de- sired us to be Strong and to hold fast of the Chain of Freindship that subsists between us and them for our parts we are but poor and Ignorant and desire nothing but to Preserve the Freindship and as we have now told our Brothers the English that we have all taken fast hold of the Chain of Freindship let us be strong and on our Parts let none of us Attempt to do any thing that will weaken it in the Least our old Cheif who you now see here as well as our Other Old Cheif who we left sick in our Town desired us to go and Listen to the Speeches that shou'd be made to us and embrace every thing that was good Uncles the Six Nations as you Count yourselves strong in your Heart and as you say Command the Hearts of all other Nations of Indians I now desire you to be Strong and Acquaint them of this Freindship that has been made so that it may not be broke but Con- tinue forever A Belt to the Six Nations
Brothers listen to me while I speak to our brothers the English Brothers as we have now renewed and
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Confirmed the freindship between us if you Suspect that there is any thing in my heart but what is good and Sincere, I beg you wou'd tell me of it; as I wou'd wish that no evil thing thats done by my People shou'd be kept Secret, and that every one may know that I wou'd not desire any thing bad shou'd be Un- known and as you have Informed us that if any of your People shou'd do us any Injury you wou'd Pun- ish them I also now for my part promise that if any of my foolish Young Men shou'd do any harm to your People that we will punish them as they de- serve without delay as I wou'd wish to Comply with the dictates of the Christian Relegion and Commands of our Saviour whose hands were Nailed to the Cross and sides Peirced for our Sins as far as I am Cap- able in my Present Dark State A Belt
Dr Walker then Spoke Brothers we heartily thank you for your kind Advice and you may depend all we have said to you Proceeds from our Hearts and that we shall Punctually Comply with every part of it you Mention that there Appears to be some differ- ence Amongst us we know of none we are all Heartily engaged in the same great and good Cause and Expect you will fully discover it is so before this Business is finished
Kiashota on behalf of the Wiandots and Tawaas then Spoke Brothers the Bigknife and Onas we have heard and all the Nations here present have heard what you have said to us and we think it good we were sent here by our Cheifs to listen to what our Brothers the big knife and Onas had to say and we are well Pleased with what we have heard we shall
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return after the Treaty and inform our Cheifs of the good Speeches you have made to us
The Cornstalk then spoke as follows All my Elder Brothers the English the reason of my addressing you in this Manner is because you have Informed us that all the White People in this Island are now be- come as one Man as it is evening now and you have Desired us to Consider well of what we have to say in reply to you we will do so and return you an Ans- wer tomorrow
The Commissioners agreeable to the request of the Shawanese dispatched the following Letters by Ex- press Directed to all the Inhabitants on the Ohio and its Eastern Branches and to the Officer Commanding at the Mouth of the Great Kanhawa
FREINDS AND COUNTRYMEN-The Shawanese have Informed us in Council that some of their foolish Young People had burnt some Houses up the Kan- hawa and Committed other Irregularities without the Knowledge of the Cheif of their Nation Those of that Nation now here have sent off two of their People to their Towns to endeavour to restrain them from Crossing the Ohio and with Particular Orders not to give any disturbance or be guilty of the like Behaviour in future. they have likewise Informed us that there are a party of Different Nations gone to Observe the Settlement on Kentucke we therefore have thought it proper to Inform you of this that you may be on your gaurd and at the same time Ac- quaint the Inhabitants on the Kentucke by the first
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Opportunity we wou'd have you Avoid giving the Indians Offence and forbear hunting on the Other side of the River Ohio at the same time you are to gaurd against Mischeif from them and not tamely Submit to any Insult wantonly offered by them We have reason to beleive that on the return of their Cheifs from this place every thing will be Amicably settled in the Nation as they Intend to return from Pittsburg by Water we Charge you not to give them Offence as we are Certain that the Shawanese here are well disposed and will Preserve the Peace with the white People if Possible
we are your freinds and Countrymen
(Signed) THO' WALKER JAMES WOOD A LEWIS A STEPHEN P S. all officers and Soldiers in Actual Service on the Ohio are desired to take Notice that they are by a resolve of the Convention to receive their Instruc- tions from time to time of Captain John Nevill Com- mandant now at this place
Captain Nevills Instructions to the Officer Command- ing at Kanharva
SIR-as I make no doubt you have seen the resolves of Convention before this time wherein I am ap- pointed to the Command of the Troops on the Ohio I hereby request you to keep your Men in good Order and well disciplined you are to Support and Protect the Neighbouring Settlements (if any) keep some of your Men Constantly Scouting to Prevent surprize shou'd the Indians break out or Attempt to Annoy you on the Settlements It is Expected the Indians will
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keep their own side of the river unless it be to your Fort on Business and you are not to Suffer your Men to Hunt on their side but that ought not to prevent your Reconnoit [r]ing and geting well Acquainted with the Country you will use the Indians well give them no Offence and do not tamely Submit to any Insult designedly Offered to you by them let me know what prospect you have of geting flour to serve your Company as I am Apprehensive it may be got much cheaper from this Quarter than from your Count [r]y it will be Necessary that you let me know what Quantity you have Engaged and at what rate I am Persuaded Beef Can be got upon Better Terms from Green Brier than here shou'd any thing extra- ordinary happen in your Quarter you will be Kind Enough to loose no time in making me Acquainted with the Particulars I flatter myself I shall have the Pleasure of being better Acquainted with you for the time to come I wish you an agreeable Winter and am with respect yrs
JOHN NEVILL
At a Conferrence Continued and held with the Dif- ferent Tribes of Indians 13th October 1775 Present as before
The Cornstalk came forward and Desired his Brothers the English his Elder Brothers the Six Na- tions and Wiandots his Grandfathers the Delawares and all that were present to Listen to him Brothers the Bigknife agreeable to the Invitation which you gave all the Indians here present you see Among the 8
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rest your younger Brothers the Shawanese who as soon as they received your Message came to this Council fire which you have Kindled you told us that you had removed all evil as well from our hearts as your own so that we would be the Better Enabled to renew and Brighten the Chain of Freindship I was Exceedingly rejoiced and as I thought the Great and Good Spirit had directed you in your good Speeches I Immediately Joined heartily with you in it you likewise Informed us that you had gathered together all the Bones of our freinds who fell in the late Unhappy disputes between us that you had Buried them and Planted the Tree of Peace over them so that they might never be seen again to Create any Sorrow or Uneasiness I was very Much rejoiced to hear this as I thought the Great Spirit had directed you and that you had become wise and took pity on your young Brothers the Shawanese and all your other Brothers now present We and also our old Brothers the six Nations Wiandots Tawaas and our Grand- fathers the Delawares are very glad to hear the good things you have said and Immediately laid hold on every thing that was good Elder Brothers the six Nations and Wiandots our Young Brothers the Ta- waas and Grandfathers the Delazvares you have heard what our Elder Brothers have said to us all and were well Pleased with it you also heard how they addressed themselves to their Younger Brothers the Shawanese separately because they think there is some thing yet between us and them that is unsetled
Brothers the Bigknife yesterday you desired us to deliver up all your flesh and Blood your Negroes your
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horses and every thing also that belonged to you and that the Hostages that where [were] with you last Winter must remain with you or others in their stead untill We Performed every thing you Asked of us this is a hard task you have set us and may create some Uneasiness among us
Brothers the Bigknife I now Inform you that we Cannot Comply with your request in sending our Hos- tages back with you they have been with you since the last fall and some others of my young Men I sent to Visit their Bretheren and conduct them to this place the reason of my telling you that We Cannot comply with your request is that we have at three different times delivered up to you your flesh and blood and as you say there are still some remaining among us I begg that you wou'd send Twenty of your People with us we will conduct them safe to our Towns and if they find any of your flesh and Blood let them bring them away they will then have an Opportunity of seeing your horses or any thing else that belongs to you if they find any they may take them I have already inform'd you that I was all last Winter Collecting and delivering up your Horses
as you seem to think that we are the only People who have stolen your horses I now inform you that there are above Twenty of your Horses Among the Tawittawas my Grandfathers the Delawares some of your foolish Young Men who joined our foolish men last summer particularly the Pheasant carried of [f] Eight of our Brothers Horses you know best whether they have ever been returned there is a Woman of my Nation Anipassicowa who has some of your Ne-
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groes as she belongs to my Tribe I will speak to her and doubt not she will listen to me but as her Children are Sprung from my Grandfathers the Dela- wares there may perhaps some difficulty arise from that It is true there are two Negro Children which were begotten by my People and we are not the only People who have intermixed with Negroes we are not Willing to give up the Children there is another old Negro Woman which you may Get if you will bring her home upon your backs for she is not able to walk As we have clear'd the road between us We desire you as before to send Twenty of your young Men with us to the Mouth of Hockocking and a few of them may go with us to the Town and they will then have an Opportunity of seeing and hearing what We say to your Relations
At a Conference Continued and held with the In- dians at Pittsburg the 14th of October 1775 Present the same as Yesterday The following Speech was delivered to the diferent Nations of Indians Present by Doctor Walker
Brothers the Six Nations Wyandots Delawares Shawanese and Ottawas We have in a former Speech told you that we were sent by our great Council in Virginia to deliver to you your Hostages and to re- ceive of you Our flesh and Blood and all our Negroes and Horses that yet remain amongst you agreeable to your Stipulations with Lord Dunmore We are sorry you are come Unprepared to fulfill your part of that Solemn Contract and that our Brothers the Sha-
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wanese seems to be avorse to give us the reasonable Security we required for the delivery of our property yet in their hands this seems to be the only Obstruc- tion in our Way to compleat the very Great and de- sirable work now on hand we are not come un- prepared to give Our brothers the Strongest proofs of the great desire we have of living in Amity with them and We hope you will not stand out so far as to deprive us of the happiness We promis'd ourselves in giving you this Testimony of our Generosity and freindship for We can by no Means give the pres- ent put into our hands for you but to such as fulfill their Engagements or at least comply with them as far as may be in their Power we are far from desir- ing impossibilities of you and we hope that you will yet exert yourselves and gather together all of our peoples property you can find and deliver them up rather than say "We permit you to search for them" how should we know where to find them you took them from us and from your hands we Expect to receive them
Brothers the Shawanese you told us on Wednes- day the 12th of this Instant that three of your foolish young men had been at the Kanhawa and burned some old Useless Houses but that the Fort was not hurt we now have proof that part of the Fort is burn'd and all the Houses in it destroyed Except the Loggs of the Store and that five Indians were seen going from the fort to a house near it who on seeing our People run of [f] their blankets were found about a Quarter of a Mile from the place where the Indians
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were seen from that Circumstance it Appears they intended Mischeif
Brothers we have before told you all that we had no intention of incroaching on your Lands which are the real Sentiments of our hearts but if you will Con- tinte to do us Mischeif you must not Expect to be treated with such Lenity as you were in the Year 1764 by Colo Boquet and by Lord Dunmore last fall but on the Contrary if you Oblige us to march an Army into any of your Countrys to do ourselves Jus- tice the fault will be your Own and you may Judge the Consequence and you may rely upon it that the Interposition of any other Nation will be ineffectual to restrain us from taking Ample Satisfaction for any Injury that you may do us
Brothers of the different Nations here present we have now delivered you the real Sentiments of our hearts and recommend it to you to Consider it with Attention we have been long here and have never Observed you Consult Mutually together we now hope that you will and that you determine within your- selves to think of nothing else till you return us an Answer which we shall be ready to receive and hope it will be soon A String to Each Nation
Kayashuta then Spoke as follows Brothers the Bignknife & Onas I and all present have heard what you have said there is one thing you have demanded of our Younger Brothers the Shawanese which at this time is a little difficult for them to perform that is that they shou'd deliver up all your flesh and blood and Negroes and everything else that they have taken from you According to their Promise made last fall
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however as I represent the Six Nations and am the oldest and have greater Authority than any here I will endeavour to have it done and for that purpose will send two of my Men and my Nephews the Delawares will send two to their Towns to see that it is done the Wiandotts and Ottawas will likewise Assist their Brothers the Shawanese in Complying with your re- quest, as we all think you demand nothing more of them than what you've a right to ask of them What I have said now are the real Sentiments of my heart and I mean to perform what I have now promised to Morrow Morning we will all Consult together and some time in the day will give you a final Answer
Doctor Walker then Replyed Brothers the Six Nations you have spoke like honest Men and we have not the least doubt but you will perform what you have promised
At a Conference Continued and held with the In- dians at Pittsburg October 16th 1775 Present the same as before
Kayashuda on behalf of all the Nations Present spoke as follows Brothers the Bigknife and Onas two days ago We heard the demand you made of the Shawanese requiring them to deliver up all your flesh and Blood your Negroes, Horses and all that they had belonging to you According to their promise made last fall to Lord Dunmore We that are here present will aid and assist our Young Brothers to fulfill their en- gagements with you therefore I shall send off two of my Men with two of the Delawares and Shawanese
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to morrow to collect what white Prisoners are Among us as well as the Negroes and Horses that are yet among us belonging to you and will deliver them to you if there should be any defeciency we will hope you will pity us as we shall do every thing in our Power to Comply with our promise Brothers you require of the Shawanese to leave Hostages with you untill they comply with their Engagements made last fall We think you are rather too strict with them, we hope you will not insist upon it but be satisfied with the Promises we have all made you that the Shawanese shall comply with your demands as far as lies in their Power and We desire that your Brothers the Big knife and Onas will send two of your Men (who are Acquainted with our Language and Customs) with those whom we send that they may be Eye Witness's of our endeavours to comply with our promise Brothers as the Winter is com- ing on we hope you will give the Young Men we send to the Towns some Cloaths to keep them warm and some Amunition to supply them with Provisions on the Road Three Strings
White Eyes on behalf of the Delawares then ad- dressed himself to the Commissioners and Six Na- tions and English and Said Relations I am Quite tired in my heart in Considering how we shou'd Com- pleat the good Work we are about you have heard what our Bretheren the English have said to us for some days past they have demanded their flesh and Blood Negroes and horses and as yet we have noth- ing to Establish a freindship that our Childeren might reap the Advantage of it
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My Uncles the Six Nations I told you before and now tell you that my heart is small and I think of nothing but what is good and as you sayed your hearts were Strong and that you had the hearts of other Nations in your hands I desired you to Ad- vise the other Nations to be Strong and perform what our bretheren the English demanded of them I for my part do not love to speak lies my young Men may go to the Towns but I am sure they will bring nothing back with them as I have not heard my Grand Children the Shawanese promise their bretheren to deliver up what belonged to them and it is more than a Year since the Shawanese have re- fused to listen to us It is not hard what our Broth- ers demand of them their Flesh and Blood their Ne- groes and their Horses belong to them they Prom- ised Lord Dunmore to deliver them up and therefore ought to perform it A String
Nimwha a Chief of the Shawanese then Spoke Brothers the Six Nations and Wiandots and Grand- fathers the Delawares listen while I speak to my brothers the big knife Brothers the big knife last fall when Lord Dunmore came near to our Towns and we were concluding a Peace he demanded all your Flesh and Blood Negroes Horses and every other thing belonging to you which were with us when you first made your Appearance at this Council fire we heard the Good things you had to say to us and you demanded your People Negroes and Horses from us. I now promise that we will deliver them up to you as we are desirous that we and our Chil- deren after us may live in Freindship. Uncles the
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Six Nations and Grandfathers the Delawares as we are all going for the People and property of our Brothers the English that are Among us there cannot be the Least doubt but we shall Accomplish it now you have heard what we promised Brothers the Big knife as we have now Complied with your request in Promising to deliver up your People and property I beg that you and our Brothers from Philadelphia may think of nothing else for the future but how to Preserve the Friendship between us
Doctor Walker then replied Brothers of the dif- ferent Nations as there seems to be a great differ- ence in Opinion Among you at Present we desire you to Consider well of it to night and become Unani- mous in what was proposed by the Six Nations other- wise we shall Insist on Hostages being delivered to Us for the Performance of your Engagement with Lord Dunmore at Camp Charlotte last fall
At a Conference Continued and held with the In- dians at Pittsburg October 17th 1775 Present as be- fore
Kiashota a Six Nation Cheif addressed the Com- missioners as follows Brothers the Bigknife likewise Brothers Onas listen to what I am going to say also my Indian Brothers Listen to me you know you de- sired the Shawanese to deliver up your flesh and Blood Negroes and Horses you know the Answer we gave you yesterday that we wou'd assist our Younger Brothers the Shawanese and use our En- deavours that they shou'd Comply with your Demand
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as the Six Nations are the head of all the other Tribes here present I tell you I will be Strong and use my best Endeavours that the Shawanese shall perform the same I say it shall be done and my People will take Care that the Shawanese shall Com- ply with it all that are come here to this Council fire came to Perform this Good Work and we hope the same will be Settled to our Mutual Satisfaction as I told you yesterday we wou'd send two Men from Each Nation to bring up your flesh and Blood Ne- groes and Horses we request you wou'd Nominate two of your young Men to go down to the Towns to see this Promise performed I speak for all the Nations here present A String
Nimwha in behalf of the Shawanese then Spoke Brothers all here present Listen to me. you have heard what Passed at this Council between us and our Brothers of Virginia Brothers the Bigknife I now Inform you what was demanded of us shall be delivered up I now desire that our Hearts may be at Ease and I hope that the Great Spirit will take Pity on us so that we will be able to Conclude a Peace and that our Childrens Children may reap the Blessings and advantage of it as you were sent by the Cheifs of your People and we by our Kings to this Council to renew and Strengthen the Freind- ship subsisting between us :let us now be Strong and Accomplish this good work so that every Morn- ing in future when! we rise we may think of Nothing but what is good
Captain White Eyes A Cheif of the Delawares Ad- dressed the Indians as follows. My Indian Brothers
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listen to me I am very much, rejoiced to hear your Promises that you will deliver up the Flesh and Blood Negroes , and Horses which your Brothers the Bigknife demanded of you and which has Occasioned this Long Journey to them formerly I was , Con- cerned in the War against my Bretheren the English but when the Great Spirit took Pity on us and Peace was Restored and they demanded their flesh and Blood of us we then sent our Wise People to Lan- caster where they Cleared the Council House and de- livered up their Flesh and Blood and every thing was Settled Shortly after other Mischeif Happened Ow- ing to the Advice of Bad People but when we met Colonel Boquet at Coshocting and he Demanded his flesh and Blood we then delivered up some [to] him and sent Killbuck to Sr William Johnston to finish the Peace there are four of your flesh and Blood still remaining with us some of whom run away and came back One Negro which I now promise to de- liver at this place in a few days I now tell you my Uncles the Six Nations that I will bring them myself and not give any Trouble to you and as some of my foolish Young Men who Joined in the Unhappy dis- putes last Year and who brought of [f] some of their Brothers Horses I know but of three which I will likewise deliver up and the Owners shall have them to ride home in a few days as we have now Finished and promised to deliver up what you demanded I now Inform for the future if any Mischeif shou'd happen I will not Join in it but will Immediately withdraw myself and think of nothing but what is good there are two Negro Women and two Children
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