USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VI > Part 3
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"I am with very great Respect and Esteem, " Sir, Your most obedient humble Servant,
" ROBERT DINWIDDIE.
"P. S .- I trouble you with a Letter to the Governor of New
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York, which I entreat may be sent him with all possible Ex- pedition.
"GOVERNOR HAMILTON."
A Letter from Governor DeLancey to Governor Hamilton. " Sir :
" Col. Johnson found out Stephen Coffen, the Englishman that deserted from the French in their Return from Ohio as they passed Oswego, and has examined him upon Oath. I enclose you a Copy of his Examination which differs widely from the account I received from Lieutenant Holland, commanding Officer at Oswego. I have sent one Copy to Governor Dinwiddie, and as the Express waits I will not detain him any longer, and therefore must beg the Favour of you to send one to Governor Sharpe.
"I am, Sir, Your most Obedient and humble Servant,
"JAMES DELANCEY.
" New York, 19th February, 1754.
" GOVERNOR HAMILTON."
Deposition of Stephen Coffen.
" Stephen Coffen of full age being duly sworn deposeth and saith : that he was taken Prisoner by the French and Indians of Canada at Menis, in the Year 1747, under the Command of Major Noble, from whence he was brought to an Indian Village called Ac- tagouche about Fifteen Leagues to the Westward of Chebucta, where he was kept three Weeks Prisoner ; from thence was carried to a French Settlement called Beaubasin, where the French had a Wooden Fort then Garrisoned with Twenty-Five Men; remained there Two Months; from thence they took him to Gaspey, a con- siderable Fishing place in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, near to the Entrance of the River; there are about Three Hundred Families settled there; they kept him there working near Four Years; then he was brought to a place called Ramouski, inhabited by about Twenty-Five French Families, from which Place he sailed two Years to and from Quebec in a Sloop carrying Beaver and Furrs, Salmon, &ca, to Quebec, and in return brought back Brandy, Dry Goods, &c .; during the Time of the Deponent's residing at Quebec he said it was commonly talked or reported that they the French intended to settle as many Families as they could to the Westward, to make up for the Loss of Two of their Towus sunk in the West Indies by an Earthquake. The Deponent further saith that the Navigation up the River Saint Lawrence is very dangerous, particu-
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larly so at the Isle aux Coudres and the Isle Orleans; the North Side of the former is the best Navigation, the South Side being very rapid and rocky, and the Channel not above Two Hundred Yards wide, about six Fathom Water, whereas in the North Channel there is Fifteen Fathom ; at the North East End of the latter begin Two Sand Banks, which extend a League down said River; the Channel is between both Banks, and pretty near the Middle of the River, from thence to the Town of Quebec good Navigation, being Fifteen Fathom all the Way. The Deponent says there is no possibility of going up said River without the Tide serves or a strong North- East Wind, especially at the Two aforementioned Islands. In September, 1752, the Deponent was in Quebec and endeavoring to agree with some Indians to convey him to his own country, New England, which the Indians acquainted the Governor of, who im- mediately ordered him to Goal, where he lay three Months. At the Time of his Releasment the French were preparing for a March to Belle Riviere, or Ohio, when he offered his Service, but was re- jected by the Governor General Le Cain. He the said General setting out for Mont Real about the Third of January, 1753, to view and forward the Forces; the Deponent applied to Major Ram- say for Liberty to go with the Army to Ohio, who told him he would ask the Lieutenant De Rouy, who agreed to it, upon which he was equipped as a Soldier and sent with a Detachment of Three Hundred Men to Montreal, under the Command or Monsieur Ba- beer, who set off immediately with said Command by Land and Ice for Lake Erie ; they in their Way stopped a couple of Days to re- fresh themselves at Cadarahqui Fort, also at Taranto on the North side of Lake Ontario, then at Niagara Fort Fifteen Days ; from thence set off by Water, being April, and arrived at Chada- koin, on Lake Erie, where they were ordered to fell Timber and prepare it for building a Fort there according to the Gov- ernor's Instructions; but Mr. Morang coming up with Five Hundred Men and Twenty Indians put a Stop to the erecting a Fort at that Place by reason of his not liking the Situa- tion, and the River of Chadakoins being too shallow to carry any Craft with Provisions, &ca, to Belle Riviere. The Deponent says there arose a warm Debate between Messieurs Babeer and Morang thereon, the first insisting on building a Fort there agreable to his Instructions, otherwise on Morang's giving him an Instrument in Writing to satisfy the Governor in that Point, which Morang did, and then ordered Monsieur Mercie, who was both Commissary and Engineer, to go along said Lake and look for a good Situation, which he found and returned in three Days, it being Fifteen Leagues to the South-West of Chadakoin; they were then all ordered to repair thither; when they arrived there were about Twenty Indians fishing in the Lake, who immediately quit it on seeing the French ; they fell to Work and built a square Fort of Chesnut Logs, squared and lapped over each other to the Height of Fifteen Feet, it is
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about one hundred and twenty square-a Log House in each Square -a Gate to the Southward and another to the Northward, not one Port Hole cut in any Part of it when finished-they called it Fort Le Presque Isle. The Indians who came from Canada with them returned very much out of Temper, owing as it was said among the Army to Morang's dogged Behaviour and ill Usage of them (but they the Indians said at Oswego it was owing to the French's misleading them by telling them Falshoods, which they said they had now found out) and left them. As soon as the Fort was finished they marched Southward, cutting a Waggon Road through a fine level Country twenty-one Miles to the River aux Bœufs (leaving Captain Derponteney with an hundred Men to gar- rison the Fort La Briske Isle) ; they fell to Work cutting Timber, Boards, &ca., for another Fort, while Mr. Morang ordered Monsieur Bite with Fifty Men to a Place called by the Indians Ganagarah- hare, or the Banks of Belle Reviere, where the River aux Bœufs empties into it ; in the meantime Morang had Ninety large Boats or Battoes made to carry down the Baggage and Provisions, &ca-, to said Place. Monsieur Bite on coming to said Indian Place was asked what he wanted or intended. He, upon answering it was their Father the Governor of Canada's Intention to build a Trading House for their and all their Brethren's Conveniency, was told by the Indians that the Lands were their's, and that they would not have them build upon it. The said Monsieur Bite returning, met two Englishmen, Traders, with their Horses and Goods, whom they Bound and brought Prisoners to Morang, who ordered them to Canada in Irons. The said Bite reported to Morang the Situation was good, but the Water in the River aux Bœuf too low at that time to carry down any Craft with Provisions, &ca; a few Days after the deponent says that about one hundred Indians called by the French the Loos, came to the Fort La Riviere aux Bœuff to see what the French were doing; that Monsieur Morang treated them very kindly, and then asked them to carry down some Stores, &'", to the Belle Riviere on Horseback for Payment, which he immediately advanced them on their undertaking to do it. They set off with full Loads, but never delivered them to the French, which incensed them very much, being not only a Loss but a great Disappointment. Morang, a man of a very peevish, choler- ick Disposition, meeting with those and other Crosses, and finding the Season of the Year too far advanced to build the Third Fort, called all his Officers together and told them that as he had engaged and firmly promised the Governor to finish the Three Forts that Season, and not being able to fulfil the same was both Afraid and Ashamed to return to Canada, being sensible he had now forfeited the Governor's Favour for ever ; wherefore rather than live in Dis- . grace le begged they would take him (as he then sat in a Carriage made for him, being very Sick some time) and seat him in the middle of the Fort and then set Fire to it and let him perish in the
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Flames, which was rejected by the Officers, who (the Deponent says) had not the least regard for him, as he had behaved very ill to them all in general. The Deponent further Saith that about eight Days before he left the Fort La Briske Isle, Chevalier Le Crake arrived Express from Canada in a Birch Canoe worked by Ten Men, with Orders (as the Deponent afterwards heard) from the Governor Le Cain to Morang to make all the Preparation possible against the Spring of the Year to build them Two Forts at Chadokoin, one of them by Lake Erie the other at the End of the Carrying Place at Lake Chadokoin, which Carrying Place is Fifteen Miles from one Lake to the Other. The said Chevalier brought for Monsieur Mo- rang a Cross of Saint Louis which the Rest of the Officers would not allow him to take until the Governor was acquainted of his Con- duct and Behaviour. The Chevalier returned immediately to Canada. After which, the Deponent saith, when the Fort La Riviere aux Bœufs was finished (which is built of Wood Stockadoed Triangu- larwise, and has Two Log Houses in the inside), Monsieur Morang ordered all the Party to return to Canada for the Winter Season except Three Hundred Men which he kept to Garrison both Forts and prepare Materials against the Spring for the building other Forts. He also sent Jean Cœur, an Officer and Interpreter, to stay the Winter among the Indians on Ohio, in order to prevail with them not only to allow the Building Forts on their Lands, but also to perswade them if possible to join the French Interest against the English. The Deponent further saith that on the twenty eighth of October last he set off for Canada under the Command of Captain De- man, who had the Command of twenty two Battoes with twenty Men in each Battoe, the Remainder being Seven Hundred and Sixty Men fol- lowed in a few Days, the thirtieth arrived at Chadakoin, where they stayed four Days, during which Time Monsieur Peon with Two Hundred Men cut a Waggon Road over the Carrying Place from Lake Erie to Lake Chadakoin, being fifteen Miles, viewed the Situ- ation, which proved to their liking, so set off November the Third for Niagara where We arrived the Sixth. It is a very poor rotten old Wooden Fort with Twenty-Five Men in it, they talked of re- building it next Summer. We left Fifty Men there to build Bat- toes for the Army against the Spring, also a Store House for Pro- visions, Stores &ºa., staid here two Days, then set off for Canada .- All Hands being fatigued with rowing all night, ordered to put ashore to Breakfast within a Mile of Oswego Garrison. At which Time the Deponent saith that He with a Frenchman slipped off and got to the Fort, where they were both concealed until the Army passed ; from thence he came here. The Deponent further saith that besides the Three Hundred Men with which he went up first under the Command of Monsieur Babeer, and the Five Hundred Men Morang brought up afterwards, there came at different Times . with Stores, &ca., Seven Hundred more, which made in all Fifteen Hundred Hen, Three Hundred of which remained to Garrison the
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Two Forts, Fifty at Niagara, the Rest all returned to Canada, and talked of going up again this Winter so as to be there the be- gining of April. They had Two Six Pounders and Seven Four Pounders which they intended to have planted in the Fort at Gan- agarahhare, which was to have been called the Governor's Fort, but as that was not built they left the Guns in the Fort La Riviere aux Bœufs, where Morang commands; further the Deponent saith not.
his " STEPHEN & COFFEN, mark
"Sworn before me this 10th Day of January, 1754.
WM. JOHNSON,
" New York, 26th February, 1754, A true Copy examined by GEO. BANYOR, D. Cl. Con."
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Another Letter from Governor De Lancey to Governor Hamilton. " New York, 1st April, 1754.
" Sir :
"I am to acknowledge Three of your Letters of the 18th, the 25th, and 27th Instant : the two latter requiring no particular answer I apply myself to the first, in which you desire my Opinion of the Sentiments of the Members of our Assembly on the Ohio affair. I have no opportunity of conversing with any but those of this City ; and altho' I shall press the Matter earnestly upon them, Yet I be- lieve from what I can learn, as I am commanded to send two of the Independant Companies to Virginia the Assembly will hardly be brought further than to give a Supply for their Transportation and Provisions for some time, the Reasons they will urge for this will be that the Fort at Oswego wants Repairs and I am under a Necessity of pressing upon them the providing for a double Garrison there- as the French in their Way to the Ohio pass by that Place they might surprise it if not well garrisoned; and I cannot doubt but if the French are attacked and driven from Ohio they will endeavour to take Revenge on Oswego should they find it weak and unpro- vided. There is another Thing I shall think it necessary to recom- mend to them, and that is to build a Fort or Forts to the Northward of Albany to guard that Frontier against the Incursions of the French or their Indians, and also some Fort in the Indian Country, to encourage them into a Dependance or at least a greater Confidence than they now seem to place in Us; and in the latter I would flatter myself that the neighbouring Governments will join in the Expence of the Measure, seeming to me to be of common Concern and gene- ral Utility to all these Colonies; for I am persuaded if the Six Na- tions are once convinced that they can and will be protected by these
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Colonies, they will be ready to join Us; their Backwardness pro- ceeding rather from their Fear of the active Spirit of the French than front any Good Will they bear them; and if the Indians are secured, and any Difference should arise between them and the French, they will gladly make a Peace and cultivate it with all the Southern Indians in alliance with his Majestie's Subjects on this Continent. As these Things will inevitably occasion a great Expence, I doubt whether the Assembly will go further than I hinted above.
" I am glad your Assembly are willing to bear the Expence of sending Commissioners to Albany ; if any of your Friends should come on that Service, I shall be desirous of shewing them all the Civility I can beside what is due to their Character.
" As to the three Heads on which You desire Information-the Value of the Present from his Majesty, whether any presents are expected from the other Governments, and what is proposed to be transacted at this Treaty. The Present sent by his Majesty from the Board of Ordinance consists of 400 Fire Arms, only Part come, some large Bars of Lead for Ball, 30 Barrels of Powder, and 10,000 Flints ; and from the late Sir Danvers Osborn's Agent Mr. Milli- quet, about ££300 Sterling. The Assembly of this Province have voted £800 Currency, part of which I am told will be expended in maintaining the Indians at Albany, and in their Return.
"Mr. Shirley acquaints me he shall send Commissioners, but with what Present I know not, nor can I say any Thing with Cer- tainty as to the other Governments. As his Majesty has been graciously pleased to order the Indians a Present, and has directed the several Governments to send Commissioners at this Interview, the Indians upon seeing them there will expect a Present from each Province, and I think it cannot fail of having a considerable Influence on their Minds when they perceive the Governments are acting in Concert, and are told that in so doing they obey the great King their Father on the other side of the Lake, which may make them expect the Continuance of such an Union of Counsels, and em- bolden them to act with Vigour in the British Interest against the French.
" As to what is proposed to be transacted at the Interview for the general Benefit of the Colonies, You will perceive by the en- closed * Extract of a Letter from the Lords of Trade that their Lordships expect a Treaty to be made in his Majestie's Name be- tween the Indians and all the Provinces. To which I shall add, the uniting all the Indians if possible that are in alliance with us into one firm and lasting peace, and to this Purpose to lay before them their Folly in waging War against each other when they are Child- ren of the same Father and are all Brethren to the English ; to
* Entered in Minute of the 13th Feby., 1754.
.
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represent the Artifice of the French in persuading them into so absurd a measure, to alarm them at the French building Forts on the Lands conquered by and belonging to them on the Lake Erie and Ohio River, and thereby excluding them from a free and open Communication with the far Indians and those in Alliance with us; and principally to concert measures for building Forts in such parts of the Indian Country for their Protection as may encourage them to declare openly and cordially for us by seeing their Wives and Children will be secured and a retreat afforded for themselves when overpowered and pursued by the Enemy. If something of this Kind be done-some reasonable and equal Plan concerted of Ex- pence and Operations, I am persuaded the Indians would readily join Us in dislodging the French from this Side of the Lakes, but till some such measures be taken I cannot have a great Dependance on their acting with any Vigour; we must shew them the way and shew them too that there may be safety for them in adhering wholly to the British Interest. This I wish to see done, and that I had Grounds to hope for it, but as I am not Sanguine enough to hope it as Things now are, yet from a full and free enquiry at the Treaty into the State of the Colonies, something may be struck out of general Utility necessary to be laid before his Majesty (of whose assistance we can have no Room to doubt) that may contribute to the Safety and Prosperity of the Colonies, and which from his Ma- jestie's Influence and our awakening to a Sense of our Danger from the French Encroachments, may produce Events beyond our present Expectations. I am persuaded with You that the barely making Presents to the Indians may keep them our Friends, the advantage they have in the Trade with Us above what they reap from that with the French is also an Inducement; But I must agree with you till We remove their Fears by shewing them Safety, or at least that We will run equal Risques with them, nothing vigorous can be reasonably expected from them for I am sensible some of them look with great Regret at the large Strides the French are making towards them and us.
" In the Letter from the Lords of Trade, from when the enclosed Extract is taken, their Lordships say that as a great deal depends upon the Interpreters we desire You will be particularly careful to appoint such as are well acquainted with the Indian Language, and Men of Ability and Integrity. Where I shall find an able Inter- preter in this Country I know not, nor have been able to learn; the one we have is very unequal to the Service. I must, therefore, beg the Favour of You to let Mr. Weiser accompany your Commissioners to Albany, that We may have his Assistance, or else We shall be at some Difficulty to understand the Indians or they us.
" I hope You will be able to apprehend my Thoughts tho' thrown together without Order and in this confused Mauner, my having so many Letters to answer by this Post not giving me Leasure to
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digest them in any Method. If having a great Regard for your Abilities and Integrity could be an Excuse for this hasty Writing no one is better entitled to it than,
" Sir, Your most obedient and most humble Servant,
" JAMES DE LANCEY."
A Letter from Governor Shirley to Governor Hamilton. " BOSTON, MARCH 4th, 1754.
" Sir :
"I am favoured with your Honour's Letter of the twenty-sixth of December, and am much, obliged to You for the Expressions of your Esteem of me, which are the more agreeable to me as they come from a Gentleman for whom with the greatest Truth I can say I have an equal Regard.
"I thank You for your Account of the Encroachments of the French upon the River Ohio, which are confirmed to me in a Letter by the last Post from Governor. Dinwiddie, who I doubt not hath informed your Honour as he hath done me of the Answer he hath received from Mr. Legardeur Destlierre, the French Commanding Officer, dated at his Fort upon the River au Bœuf, declaring his Orders and Resolution to maintain the Forts already erected upon the River Ohio and Others which he is directed to build there, and denying the Right of the English to trade upon those Waters; and I entirely agree in Sentiments with your Honour concerning the fatal Consequences which those Proceedings of the French, if they are not dislodged, must bring upon his Majestie's Southern Colonies on this Continent in Time of War.
" Your Honour is pleased in your Letter to desire me to give You my Sentiments upon the Extents of his Majestie's Dominions in North America, apprehending that I was employed by my late Commission at Paris in the Settlement of these Limits between the Two Crowns; but that Part of the Negotiation which I was directed by his Majestie's Ministers to enter into during my Residence in France was confined with respect to the English Territories on this Continent to the antient Limits of Acadia or Nova Scotia, and the Eastern Bounds of New England. However, Sir, I shall freely declare to You my Opinion upon the Point in Question so far as I have enquired into and considered of it.
"It appears to me that the several Patents granted by King James the First to the Two Councils established at Plymouth and London for planting Colonies upon this Continent are the only Rule for the English Governors to judge of the Limits of the Colo- nies under their respective Governments by in all Disputes with the French Governors concerning the Extent of his Majestie's Terri-
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tories upon this Continent, except in Cases where the original Limits declared in those Letters Patent may be altered by Treaty or other Agreement between the Two Crowns; now those Patents extend the English Territories lying within the 32d and 48th Degrees of Northerly Latitude quite across this Continent, vizt- from the Atlantick Ocean to the South Sea; and I can't find that those Eastern and Western Limits have been abridged by any Treaty. Accadia or Nova Scotia hath indeed passed, by several Treaties between the Two Crowns at different Times, to and from the Eng- lish and French; but all that the Treaty of Utrecht, which is the only one that makes the least Mention of the Limits between the English and French upon this Continent, expresseth concerning that Matter is contained in the 15th Article, 'by which the Indians of the Five Nations are declared to be subjects to the Dominion of Great Britain ; and it is stipulated that the English and French shall on both sides have and enjoy full Liberty of going and coming (viz, upon any Part of the Continent) on account of Trade; also . that all the Indian Nations of the Country, whether in Subjection to the English or French, or Friends to either, shall have the same Liberty to resort as they please to the French and British Colonies for promoting Trade on the one side and the other ; but that it was to be exactly and distinctly settled by Commissaries which of the Indians are and which ought to be accounted the Subjects and Friends of Britain and France.'
" This hath not yet been done, but it is most evident the erecting of Forts by the French upon the Lakes and Rivers behind the English Colonies in order to exclude them from trading there with the Indians, and the taking away the Effects of our Traders and making them Prisoners ; all which Monsieur Legardeur Destlierre hath done, and declares in his answer to Governor Dinwiddie that he had Orders from Monsieur Duquesne, the French Governor General of New France and the Louisianna, so to do, is doubtless an Infraction of the Treaty of Utrecht and a Violation of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, at the time of making which it was stipulated that neither Crown should make any new Settlement in any Part of the Continent which is controverted between them until the same shall be settled by Commissaries, so that if there was Room to entertain any Doubt whether the Branches of the Ohio upon which the French are erecting Forts for these declared Purposes were within the Limits of his Majestie's Dominions, which I can't think there is, Yet it seems clear that his Governors in North America have good Right, and are bound in Duty to his Service and Faithfulness to the Trust reposed in them for promoting the Safety and Welfare of his People under their Government, to use their utmost Endea- vours to remove them.
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