USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. V > Part 63
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" ALEXANDER McGINTY, "JABEZ EVANS, "JACOB EVANS, " DAVID HENDRICKS, "WILLIAM POWEL, "THOMAS HYD.
"To Mr. ROBERT SANDERS in Albany.
"P. S .- We understand a little by the Indians that they are a little afraid of having offended you, the Gentlemen of Albany; and we imagine if you would send Word to them by some of them- selves to send us there to Albany, that they would be apt to do it if they durst for the Governor. Be so good as to write two Lines to me by some of the Indians, to let me know that you received my Letter.
" I remain Your humble Servant, "ALEXANDER McGINTY."
The Council thinking the Case of these poor men deserved Com-
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passion and Relief, the Governor wrote the following Answer to Mr. Sanders :
" PHILADELPHIA, July 28th, 1753. " Sir :
"I have received the Favour of your Letter of the twenty-first of June last relating to the poor unfortunate Men, Alexander Mc- Ginty and others (who have been wrongfully taken and detained Prisoners in Canada), and am much obliged to you for your Care in transmitting the Account to me.
" As I am very desirous of obtaining the Release of these poor People, I have directed Mr. Weiser, our Province Interpreter, to wait on you as he passes through Albany, and to concert with you the proper Means of effecting it; and shall esteem myself obliged to comply with any Agreement He shall enter into with you or others upon that Head. I shall also take it as an additional Favour if You will be pleased to give him your Advice and Assistance upon the occasion, and am, Sir,
" Your most obedient Servant, "JAMES HAMILTON.
" ROBERT SANDERS, Esquire."
A Letter from the Governor of the sixth of May to Governor Dinwiddie, and his Answer of the twenty-first, and the Governor's Second Letter to him, were laid before the Board, read, approved, and ordered to be entered :
"PHILADELPHIA, 6th May, 1753. " Sir :
" Happening to be from home when your Letter of the third of October came to hand, I could not return you an Answer by the Surveyor General, as I certainly should have done had I had the Pleasure of seeing him. I concur with you in Opinion that the Indian Traders are a very licentious People, and may have been guilty of many bad Practices; nor is it to be much wondered at since, Altho' we have Laws in this Government directing them to give Bond with Security for their good Behaviour, yet they con- stantly neglect to do it; nor can the Grand Juries in those remote Counties be prevailed on to find Bills of Indictment against them, tho' the Facts be ever so clearly proved. As soon as I received your Letter I forthwith applied myself to enquire after the Persons concerned in the Facts mentioned in the affidavits therein enclosed, but was informed they were gone to Allegheny, particularly Taffe and Callendar, and I believe they are not yet returned ; but as they may be soon expected I have sent Copies of the Affidavits to the Prothonotary of Cumberland County, where they reside, with Di- rections to take their Examinations and send them to me, and they
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shall be transmitted to you by the first Conveyance after I shall have received them ; and I heartily offer you my Assistance to bring them and all others, such Evil Doers, to Justice.
"Immediately on Receit of the enclosed Letter from Governor Clinton, on the Instant I dispatched Two Messengers to Ohio to make known to our Traders and Indian Allies the Intelligence therein contained ; One of them goes the Lower Way through your Government, the Other by way of Juniata, by which Means the account will be the sooner and more generally spread, and I am in hopes they may arrive time enough to give the Traders an Oppor- tunity of securing their Persons and Effects.
" I presume you must have received from Capt Trent an account that Hostilities have been already begun by some Parties of the Ottawa Indians at Allegheny, and that some of our Traders have been taken and murdered and others plundered of their Goods, and that a large Body of French and their Indians was expected at Ohio, with intent, as it is said, to take Possession of the Country and effect the total Expulsion of the English; In which Case the Indians in Our Alliance will no longer be able to maintain their In- dependancy, but all must fall into the Hands of the French; nor can the Governments of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, ex- pect long to preserve Peace in the Parts bordering on these Indian Countries. A Most unhappy Situation this Both for our Indian Allies and his Majestie's Subjects, and a Proceeding in direct Viola- tion of Treaties subsisting between the Crowns of England and France, by which a mutual Right to a free and open Trade is firmly and clearly stipulated.
"Our Assembly being to sit on the twenty-first of this Month will give me an opportunity of communicating this Intelligence to them, and of expressing my own Sentiments of the Necessity of giving our Allies some immediate Assistance, and I doubt not but you will think something of the same kind ought to be done on the Part of your Colony ; in the mean time I think it Necessary as soon as we are able to establish clear Facts with regard to these Proceed- ings, that the same being duly proved and authenticated should be transmitted to his Majestie's Ministers, in order to enable them to form a true Judgment of the Conduct of the French, and of its Consequences to the Independancy of the Six Nations, to the Right of a free and open Trade, and to the safety of the Lives and Proper- ties of his Majestie's Subjects residing in North America.
" I should be well pleased to know whether it be intended by Your Colony to erect any kind of Fort on the Lands granted to the Ohio Company, and my Reason for desiring this Information is that I have received Directions from the Proprietors of Pennsylvania to enter into any reasonable measures to assist You in any Design of that Sort, only taking Your Acknowledgement that this Settlement shall not prejudice their Right to that Country, and further that I
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may assure the Settlers they shall enjoy the. Lands they bona fide settle on the common Quit Rent, and in all Things to endeavour to maintain a friendly and open Correspondence with you, as being a Gentlemen they have a great Regard for; And I the more readily obey their Commands in these several Particulars as they are per- fectly agreeable to my own Sentiments and inclinations. I am,
"Sir, Your very humble Servant,
" JAMES HAMILTON.
" Governor DINWIDDIE."
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"WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia, May 21st, 1753.
" Sir :
" Yours of the sixth Currant I duly received, and have no doubt but you will do all in your Power in bringing to Justice any Per- sons guilty of such vile actions as those I formerly sent you affida- vits of. The Indian Traders in general appear to me to be a set of abandoned Wretches ; the many Complaints I have had from our own People and the Six Nations confirm me in this Opinion, and I wish they were properly regulated, prevented carrying the Quantities of Spirits among them, and that the Laws were properly put in Execution by obliging each Trader to give in proper Security for their behaviour.
" I thank you for the Copy of Mr. Johnson's Letter to Governor Clinton and of his Letter to you, the Contents thereof is confirmed by Mr. Montour who came here from the Six Nations; they are under great Fears and Apprehensions of the French Designs to settle the Ohio. I have sometime ago heard of their Robberies and Mur- ders, and if they are allowed a peaceable Settlement on the Ohio I think the Consequences will be attended with the Ruin of our Trade · with the Indians, and also in Time will be Destruction to all our Settlements on the Continent. The Indians of the Six Nations, &ca., last year at Log's Town gave up these Lands to this Colony, with Liberty of settling a fixed Trade to supply them with neces- saries and Leave to build Two Forts. I have wrote home on that Head, but as yet have no answer.
"What Pretensions of Right the French have I know not, but that of their Numbers they will make good a Settlement and build Forts in Violation of the Treaties subsisting between us and France. I call'd the Council to consult on this present Emergency, and we thought it proper to send an Express to South Carolina to the Gov- ernor, to endeavour to make Peace between the Creeks and Chero- kees, and I shall send a Messenger to the Catawbas, Cherokees, and other Indian Nations in Friendship with us, to put them on their Guard. And we further think it would be absolutely necessary for
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all the Colonies to join together in raising a proper Force to prevent the French settling on the Lands of the Ohio; in such case we shall be ready with our Quota, and I doubt not the Indians in Amity with us will readily join, but this cannot be done immediately.
" Pray let me know your opinion thereon, and how your People would relish such a Proposal. Do you think it proper that the Gov- ernor of New York should send to the Governor of Canada to know his Reasons, in the Time of Confirmed Peace with the French, of his sending an Army into the English Government to take the Lands granted to us by the Indians, and his People robbing and murdering the English Subjects ? The Emperor of the Cherokees, his Empress, Son, and some of his Generals, were here last Fall, they were properly entertained and dismissed with considerable Pre- sents. I have now an Account that some of the Mohocks, commonly called the Praying Indians, in the Interest of the French, met with him on his Return to his Country, scalped the Emperor, carried the Empress, Son, and Attendants Prisoners to Canada. Such cruelties are intolerable, and surely cannot meet with the Approbation of the Governor of Canada.
"I agree with you as soon as we can have the Facts properly cleared up, that immediate Notice should be sent home to the Minis- try; yet an application to the Governor of Canada previous thereto I think absolutely necessary, if you think proper to write Governor Clinton thereon. There is a misfortune attending our Trade with the Indians which I have observed ever since Arrival, that the Traders from each Colony are jealous of one another, and seem en- tirely bent on the Support of their respective Colonie's Trade, with invidious Reflections against others, and that to the Indians, with- out considering themselves subjects to one and the same Prince; this, I conceive, has been of very great Prejudice to the British In- terest with the different Nations of Indians, and wish some Method may be found out to restrain these People, and to keep the Trade in a more uniform and regular Manner.
"I have often mentioned to the Ohio Company Your Proprie- tors Inclinations to support their Settling the Lands granted them by his Majesty, for which they seemed to be very well pleased, and I shall be extremely glad to keep up an open and free Correspon- dence with you. I shall long to hear the Result of your Assem- bly on the present Situation of Affairs, and tho' many of your People from Religious Principles are peaceably enclined, yet they will not silently submit to the views they may have of their Pos- terity being under a French Arbitrary Government; and as the greatest number of your People are Germans, no doubt on this oc- casion they will with chearfulness exert themselves in defence of their Settlements, &ca.
"I am extremely hurried and the Messenger waits for this Let-
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ter, wherefore I hope you will 'excuse any Blunders may be in it ; and believe me to be with all imaginable Regard and Esteem,
" Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
" ROBT. DINWIDDIE.
" The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire."
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" PHILADELPHIA, 2d August, 1753. " Sir :
"Ever since I received your Letter of the twenty-first of May in answer to mine of the Sixth of that Month, I have waited with Impatience for some Satisfactory account of Indian Affairs, but have not been able to obtain any.
"But as it may be presumed that the Indians at Ohio, though dissolute and irregular, will not act but by Directions from Onon- dago, I have sent Mr. Weiser thither to learn how far that Council have been made acquainted with or given Countenance to the Pro- ceedings of the French, and what Directions they have thereupon given to their People at Ohio, and, also, what Assistances they expect from the English on this occasion ; for until these Things be fully known it is impossible for me to judge what to do. Mr. Weiser will have a fair opportunity of coming to the bottom of Matters with the Six Nations, as I expect he will reach Onondago at the time those Indians are assembled to treat with Col. Johnson in be- half of the Governor of New York. On his Return I shall take a Pleasure in imparting his News to you, and in giving you my Sen- timents thereon ; for I repeat my assurances to you that I entertain no Jealousies with respect to Virginia, but heartily wish to promote · your Success by any means in my Power.
The Governors of New York have heretofore attempted to bring all the Colonies to act in a conjunct Body in Indian Affairs, but without Success; owing, I presume to their mutual and injudicious Jealousies of Each Other. Nor is this in my opinion likely ever to be effected unless the Ministry at home can fall on some expedient to compel it.
"The Principles, either real or pretended, of the Assembly of this Province will not permit them to act on such a joint Scheme as you mention, nor to do any thing of a Warlike Nature. Some- time ago I moved to them at the Instance of our Proprietaries the building a Strong Trading House somewhere near Ohio, and used all the Arguments in my Power to perswade them to it, but in vain ; tho' the Proprietaries offered Four Hundred Pounds towards the Expence, and an Allowance of one Hundred Pounds per Annum towards the charge of Supporting it. Now, indeed, on my laying before them the several Accounts of the French Designs they have
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voted Eight Hundred Pounds to be disposed of as I shall think proper ; but I cannot allow myself to dispose of it till some appli- cation be first made by the Indians for Assistance, and till I am well assured of their real Friendship and hearty Good Will to the Eng- lish.
" The common Interest does not only suffer for want of such Union, but also, as you justly observe, from the want of proper Regulations of the Indian Trade-a Matter worthy of the closest attention and speediest Reformation, and what has been pressingly recommended by me, tho' without Effect, to our Assembly.
" Whilst the Traders are Men of dissolute Lives, without Pru- dence or abilities, and whilst the Indians are perpetually kept under the Influence of strong Liquor, who of either sort can be trusted ? And whilst the old way of doing Business by Deputations of Indians waiting on the several Governments in Places assigned for that Purpose is neglected and disregarded by the Indians (owing perhaps to the officiousness or self Interest of Traders thrusting themselves into the Carriage of Messages), what Intelligence can be depended on ? How can the Behaviour or real Disposition of the Indians be known ? or how can Presents be distributed so as to answer any publick Purpose ?
" I could, therefore, wish it was recommended to the Indians at Ohio to observe a greater Regularity in their publick Transactions, and not to send Messages by private Hands but to send them by Two or Three or more, as the Case may require, of their own Body, with whom the several Governments may confer, and learn the true State of their Affairs.
" I wish your advices may induce the Ministry to take into Con- sideration the Pretensions of the French to the Lands on the Ohio and its Branches, as well as to an exclusive Right of trade in all the Countreys to which the French King lays Claim. All that I know of those Pretensions is from a Letter of Monsieur Lajonquiere, Governor of Canada, to Governor Clinton on the following occasion :
" Mr. Clinton having received Information in 1751 of the French building a Fort near the Falls of Niagara, and of their having taken Prisoners some of the Inhabitants of Pennsylvania who were trading with the Twightwees on the Miamis River, as they inno- cently thought they might in a time of confirmed Peace, sent a Gentleman of New York with a Letter of Complaint to Monsieur Lajonquiere, the French Governor, and in Return received an Answer from him justifying both the one and the other; of these Letters Mr. Clinton was kind enough to send me Copies, and as from these you may be able to form some Judgment of the French Pretensions, and likewise clearly see that it will answer no Purpose to write again to the Governor' of Canada, I have enclosed you Copies of them.
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" It may not be amiss further to acquaint you that Governor Clinton sent Copies of these Letters to the Secretaries of State, together with an account of some Leaden Plates taken by the Indians from the French who accompanied Monsieur Celoron in 1749, whereon were engraven Inscriptions containing pompous Claims in the Name of the French King to the Lands bordering on the Ohio. Several of these Plates were buried near the Banks of that River at proper distances by Celoron, who marched from its Heads to the mouth of Ouaback, as well for that purpose as to warn off the English, calling them Traitors and threatning to kill them if he should thereafter find them in those Parts. And the said Celoron likewise wrote me Two Letters, wherein he avows these Proceedings, and acquaints me that he acted by the Command of Monsieur De la Galissoniere, then Governor-in-Chief of Canada; Copies of which Letters I sent to the Proprietaries to be laid before the Ministry, but have never heard that much notice was taken of them.
" I heartily wish you Success in your endeavours to make Peace among the Southern Indians, tho' I fear the Northern Indians will not follow their Example ; for at all the Albany Treaties as well as those held here, this has been constantly and earnestly recom- mended to them, and though they are reduced almost every year to the last extremity for want of Provisions owing to the Absences and Deaths of their young Men, yet they cannot be prevailed upon to give over these Rambles; whether it be owing to their insuperable Thirst for this sort of Military Glory, or to the Artful Insinuations of the French, with a view that they may all be destroyed in time, I know not.
" I have received repeated Accounts that the French have built a Fort at Boccalunce, a place near the head of Ohio, and about one hundred and Twenty miles from Log's Town, and expect to hear of their march to that Town, but with what Views or with what num- bers I cannot learn for certain.
" At the Instance of Andrew Montour, who left this Place a few days since, I send you the enclosod Pacquet with three Belts of Wampum, by the Post; and at the Request of Mr. Weiser, who will be glad to serve your Government upon any occasion, I am to desire you will please to send me a Copy of the Indian Deed ex- ecuted at Lancaster, or an Extract of the descriptive Part of it, with the marks and Names of all the signers, that he may know and be enabled in case of need from that Conveyance to set the Indians Right, in case they should have forgot or mistaken the Bounds of their own Deed.
" I am, Sir, Your most obedient and most Humble Servant, " JAMES HAMILTON.
" GOVERNOR DINWIDDIE."
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Thomas Burny was dispatched Express from Ohio to the Gover- nor of Virginia, with a letter from the Half King, which Mr. Ship- pen copied as Burny rode thro' this Province in his way to Williamsburg, and sent it to the Governor and it was read as follows:
"Our Good Brother the Governor of Virginia-
" We send you this by our Brother, Mr. Thomas Burny, to ac- quaint you the we your Brethren, together with the Head Men of the Six Nations, the Twightwees, Shawonese, and Delawares, were coming down to pay you a visit, but were prevented by the Arrival here of four Men, Two Mingoes and Two Delawares, who informed Us that there were Three Hundred French Men and Ten Conne- waugeroonas within Two Days' Journey of this Place, and we do not know how soon they may come upon Us ; therefore our Request to you is, that you would send out a number of your People, our Brethren, to meet us at the Forks of Mohongialo, and see what is the Reason of their coming, for we do not want the French to come amongst Us at all, but very much want our good Brothers the English to be with us, to whom our Hearts are good and shall ever continue to be so.
" From your Loving Brothers The Half King, "MONAKATOOTAH.
"THOMAS BURNY.
" Logstown, June 22d, 1753."
Then the Governor informed the Council that besides these Let- ters and Intelligences Mr. Peters had sent him an Account from Carlisle, where he was doing some business for the Proprietaries, that he had seen Andrew Montour after his Return from Onondago, who told him that the Six Nations (as well as he, Mr. Montour, cou'd learn from the Indians, tho' there were but few at home whilst he was at Odondago) were against both English and French building Forts and setling Lands at Ohio, and desired they might both quit that Country, and only send a few Traders with Goods sufficient to supply the wants of their Hunters; that they did not like the Vir- ginians and Pennsylvanians making Treaties with these Indians, whom they called Hunters, and young and giddy Men and Child- ren ; that they were their Fathers, and if the English wanted any thing from these childish People they must first speak to their Fathers. Mr. Montour said further, that he was going a Second Time to Onondago on Behalf of the Government of Virginia, and desired to know if any thing was to be carried from the Governor of Pennsylvania. Mr. Peters, thinking this a favourable Oppor- tunity, desired him to deliver the following Message to the Council : Brethren of the Six Nations-" The French have invaded your Lands on the Ohio and are building Forts there. The Indians of
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your Nations settled there, with the Delawares and Shawonese, Twightwees and Owendats, are terrified and desire our assistance, which we are willing to afford them but want first to know in what Manner You will desire We shall give them Assistance, and what You wou'd chuse We should do to prevent the Country and Them from falling into the Hands of the French. Brethren, We desire You will speak plainly and fully on this Head, not knowing what to do till we hear from You."
The Governor said Mr. Peters further told him he could not de- pend on any Accounts from Ohio, as there were none but Indian Traders to apply to for Information, who were too partial, ignorant, and too much concerned for their own Interest, to give true or in- telligent Accounts. That he believed the Traders discouraged the Indians from coming to Philadelphia, else they would have come, being often invited.
The Governor added, that he thought the Message sent by Mr. Peters of too much Importance to be committed to Mr. Montour only; and, therefore, not knowing what was best to be done, he had sent for Mr. Weiser, and after conferring with him had sent him Express to Onondago with the following Instructions, Viz. :
" To enquire among the Six Nations whether the Report that We had from Ohio, to wit, that the French were building Forts there, was true, and whether They the French had Leave from the Six Nations ?
"Whether the Six Nations are in Fear of being hurt by the French if they don't comply with their desires ?
"Whether it be true that the Six Nations in earnest require that the English Traders shall be removed from Ohio ?
" And upon the whole, how they the Six Nations stand at pre- sent as to the chain of Friendship between them and the English ?
" And to Assure Them that the Government of Pennsylvania will do all that can be in reason expected as to furnish Cloathing, and so forth, if the French should attack them the Six Nations.
"Whether, in Case the Proceedings of the French be disagree- able to the Six Nations, They intend to oppose them, and in what Manner? And whether they expect any Assistance from this Government, and of what Sort ?"
Two Days after Mr. Weiser was gone Mr. Montour came to Town from Onondago, and delivered to the Governor the fol- lowing Answer to the Message delivered to him at Carlisle by Mr. Peters :
" A Message delivered the Thirty-First Day of July, 1753, to the
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Governor of Pennsylvania by Andrew Montour from the Indians at Onondago :
" PRESENT :
"Cashwahutyonah, of Onondago.
" Saghwareesa, of the same.
" Cayangwarego, of the same.
"Tahtahqueesa, Oneido.
" Saghwareesa, Tuscorara.
""" Brother Onas :
"'Andrew Montour delivered Us a Message purporting that you would glad to know what kind of Assistance we desired you should give to our Indians at Ohio, in case they should be attacked by the French. Hear our answer, which is the same that we have given to Assaraqoah :
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