USA > Pennsylvania > Colonial records of Pennsylvania, Vol. VIII > Part 75
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" Brother Onas :
" As I have now brought your Flesh and Blood, I would have you to take care of them, & keep them fast. I brought a Girl to Easton, and she run away ; when I came home I found her there. Bless me ! says I, there is my Wife. I was sorry that I had de- livered her, but to my surprize I found her at home. You know it is hard to part with a Wife.
" Brother :
"I have brought an English prisoner, who I love as my own Wife. I have a young Child by her. You know it is very hard for a man to part with his Wife. I have delivered her, therefore take care of her, and keep her safe, that she don't make her escape. " Brother :
"Our Grandfathers used to tell us we should keep fast hold of the Chain of Friendship, & always advised us to observe it, but now in latter days, as soon as I come across the Hatchet I got hold of it, and really I did not know what I was about, and struck it into your heads. By this Belt I take the Hatchet out of your Head; it . belongs to you and the French; you are both of one Colour. It has been the fault of the French that we struck you, and therefore we take the Hatchet our of your Head."
A Belt of 8 Rows.
" Brother Onas :
" Now that I have taken the Hatchet out of your Head, I gather your Bones, which lie scattered in so many places that I cannot name them particularly.
" Brother :
" There is a large pine Tree in the Oneida Country, which I take & pull up by the Roots, and then it makes a great hole ; when I look down the hole, I see a great river running very strong at the
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bottom. By this Belt I gather all your Bones, wherever I can find them, and bury them in that hole, and the Hatchet with them; when I put them down the Hole, they fall into that strong stream, and float down it, I know not where. I stick that pine Tree down again in the same hole, and then nobody can discover that there has been a hole ; so that neither you nor I, nor our nor your Grand- children, shall ever be able to know where your Bones are laid. This is the Custom of our Forefathers, that when any difference arose between them and their Brethren, they buried it in this manner."
A Belt.
" Brother :
"I own you are my eldest Brother. The eldest Brother should always teach the youngest Brother when they misbehave. I there- fore desire, when you see us misbehave, that you would tell us of it, and teach us better."
A Belt of 7 Rows.
" Brother Onas :
" Our late Differences have been the Cause why the Clouds have hung over our Heads and made it dark. Now by this Belt I take away all the Clouds that we may see the sky clear and the sun rise & set. We fourteen Nations now present tell you this."
A Belt of 6 Rows.
" Brother Onas :
"I don't doubt but there is some Foulness come into your heart through your Throat. My Grandfathers used to tell me, that when- ever we found our Brothers' Heart and Throat to be foul, that they had left me the best Medicines, and desired me to put it to your Mouth to drink as a Physick, & that it would cleanse their Throat & Heart, and pass quite thro' their Body down to the Ground ; and Brethren, by this String I bury it in the Ground, so that your Heart and Throat may be forever clear. We fourteen Nations tell you so."
A String.
"Brother Onas :
"I have removed all the Filthiness from your Body, & since I have cleansed it out and in, I shall go about that good work of peace. " Brother Onas :
" It was we of the Mohocks, Oneidas, Senecas, Onondago's, Ca- yugas, & Tuscaroras, that first brought about the good work of peace."
He added that the Mohawks and Oneida's were the eldest of the Six Nations, and both of a Height.
" Brother Onas :
" I will acquaint you, further, that I have more Brothers to the Westward, & that we are all Brothers down as far as the Sun-set; . my Friends are so many that I cannot tell how many they are.
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" Brother Onas :
" I will let you know that the Mohocks are the eldest, yet they are the furthest off to the Eastward. When they hear anything they pass through the Oneidas, to the Onondagoes, where the Coun- cil Fire burns ; Likewise when the Senecas hear anything, they come to the Cayugas, because they are next to the Onondago Council, so that whenever they hear anything to the East or West, it is carried to the Onondagoe Council." (Meaning that when you shall send any Messages to the Onondagoe Council, they must be sent either to the Senecas or Mohocks).
" Brother Onas :
"I will mention our old Friendship; I will make it new again ; I will brighten up our old Chain of Friendship. Our Grandfathers used to tell one another they had one heart, & here it is ; they both had hold of it. They used to tell one another they had one Head & one Heart. We fourteen Nations tell you so."
They Deliver a Belt of nine Rows, representing the figure of two Men in the middle, with a Heart between them, & Six Dia- monds on each side; one of the men represents the Indians, the other the English.
" Brother Onas :
"Now we have renewed our old Friendship. - I am a little afraid your Fire is almost out; it is not good ; now I will take all that bad fire away and Kindle it again, and make a good Fire of it; I will take good dry Wood, and kindle up the Fire afresh that our Grandfathers have made, & so make the smoke rise up, so very high that all nations shall see it, & thereby know that there is a Council Fire here. There was a good Fire at Easton; that was really a good Fire, for when I came to that good Easton Fire, I could have my Belly full of Victuals and plenty of Drink, but now I come here, I have little to eat; I am sure I have no other Drink than dirty water, which almost choaks me."
A Belt of 6 Rows.
"Brother Onas :
" What we have hitherto said concerning peace, has been con- cluded upon by our old Counsellors. We also desire our Chief Warriors to be strong and assist our old Counsellors, and desire if any thing should be wanting in the old Counsellors, they would assist them in it, in order that our Friendship may be lasting; for the Counsellors can do nothing unless the Warriors should give their Consent to it. We fourteen Nations tell you so."
A Belt with seven Rows, with two Diamonds in it, representing the Counsellors and Warriors united in Council together.
" Brother Onas :
" Our Friendship seems to go on very kindly. I will tell you one thing; you are always longing after my Land : from the East to the West you seem to be longing after it. Now I desire you will
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not covet it any more; you will serve me as you have done our cousins, the Delawares; you have got all their Land from them; all the Land hereabouts belonged to them once, and you have got it all. " Brother Onas :
" I desire you to go no further than Nixhisaqua (or Mohony). I desire you will settle no higher up; for if you keep pressing on me, you will push me out; for I shall have no place to live on nor hunt in, neither for me nor my Grandchildren; so I desire you will press no further. I desire another thing, that you will not take it from me by Force. If you take this Land by Force, it will never go well with either of us. You may remember that God gave us this Land, and you some other, yet I have parted with some of it to you."
A Belt of 6 Rows.
" Brother Onas :
" You have desired of me to assist you, in order to bring in your Flesh and Blood, which now you see I have done. You used to tell me if I would bring in your Flesh and Blood, or assist you therein, you would satisfy those who brought them in; these are mighty pleasing words to me, and I hope you will do so. Some of our Warriors who are here have no Guns, & if you will bestow any on them, I desire they may be good. You are daily making rifles ; I do not know what you do with them. When you gave me any Guns, you gave me Yellow stocked ones, that are worth nothing. I have asked you now four times. At Easton you only gave me Gun Locks. What, think you, could I do with them, without Stocks and Barrels? I make no Guns. After I got the Gun locks, I joined myself with Gen1. Forbes, and went to War with him, as you ordered me, against the French; and as soon as I had done it, you still only gave me Gun locks."
A Bunch of 10 Strings, mostly black.
" Brother Onas :
" Having finished what I had to say to you, I am now going to speak to my Cousins. Please to heaken to what I shall say to them."
Then directing his Discourse to the Delawares, he spoke as fol- lows :
" My Cousins :
"I could hardly get along ; I heard such frightful news, that in- deed I could not get along, if I had not had good Courage. Tee- dyuscung, before I set off from home, I heard you should say, you would poison us all, so that we should not hold this Treaty. Thinks I to myself, I will come nevertheless ; If I die, it will be well; I can die but once ; so then I came along as far as Wyoming.
" My Cousins :
"As soon as I came there, Teedyuscung began to make his com. plaints that he had no fire ; so says I, Cousin, there is certainly
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some Fire, for I made one here for the Shawanese (Cacawasheca), and I made another Fire at Shamokin, for Alammapis ; another Fire I made at Wighalousin ; another Fire I made at Diahoga. All those Fires are there yet. The Fire at Wighalousin is a good Fire, for I heard no bad Stories there ; that Fire at Shamokin is not yet out; if any body stirs it, it will soon blaze. I made the Fire at Wyoming for the Shawanese, perhaps they will not still return to that place. Then I came along as far as Harris's Ferry; there I heard another piece of bad news from Teedyuscung, who said he had got a sort of poison that will give the Indians the Bloody Flux, and as soon as they come, he would give it to them, that they might get the Flux, and die along the road as they go. But notwithstand- ing these Discouragements, I came along and got here; I now sus- pect there is a bag of poison some where about this Camp, that will give us the flux as we go home ; and I think it would be a great shame, if it should be so, because our English Brethren sent for us; and if any of us should die, it will appear to them as if they had lost so many of their own people, because it was they that sent for us.
" Now, Teedyuscung, I must teach you better; I will correct you; You must not talk of such a thing, for if any of us die, it will be said Teedyuscung was the cause of it, so you should not say such things. By this Belt, I make a Fire for Teedyuscung at Wy- oming ; I tell him to sit there by the Fire side, and watch that Fire; but I don't give it to him, for our English Brethren cast an Eye upon that Land; Therefore, I say to Teedyuscung, watch that Fire, & if any White people come there, tell them to go away, for that Land belongs to your Uncles, the Six Nations. The Six Na- tions wants to keep up that Fire, that they may hear from their Brethren, the English, and others."
The Belt was given to Tipiscohan.
Then turning to the Governor, he said :
" Brother :
" This is all I have to say at present; but I have more in my heart, which I cannot speak now, having staid so long that I am quite fatigued."
The Governor then aquainted Thomas King, that he had been attentive to all he said, and that he thanked him for it, and when he had considered of it, would, at a proper time, return him an answer ; but told him, that he had not yet delivered him the pris- oners, and as this was an improper place, he desired a few Indians would take them to the Court House, where he would receive them.
The Conference then broke up, & the Governor, his Council and the Commissioners, went with some Indian Chiefs to the Court House, to receive the prisoners ; where being come, the Governor acquainted Thomas King that he was now ready to receive the prisoners from him, and that they need not be under any Appre-
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hensions of being used ill, for that he would be kind to them & treat them like Children, & restore them to their parents and Rela- tions.
Then they delivered to the Governor the prisoners, as follows :
Elizabeth Williams a young Woman, delivered by Mussause, a Munsey Indian; Henry Williams, about Eighteen Years of age, Brother to 'Elizth. Williams, delivered by Conyhochevatoquin, a Munsey ; Peggy Dougherty delivered by Eckgoheson a Munsey ; Mary Tild and her Child, taken near Samvel Depuies, by Echgoh- son; Abigal Evan & her Child, taken at Stony Creek, in Virginia, by Cowachsora, a Seneca.
A Boy by Meightong, a Munsey ; a little Girl by Eckgohoson, a Munsey ; a little Boy by Nessewauck, a Munsey; a Boy of about fourteen Years, by Eckgohoson, a Munsey ; a Boy of twelve Years, by Cowockslaira, a Seneca ; a little Boy of Seven Years, by Corocksaara, a Seneca ; a little Girl of Six Years, by Contaronque, a Seneca. These Children's names unknown, as they cannot speak English, or give any account from whence they were taken.
John Brightwell of Lower Marlborough, near Patuxent, in Maryland, a Deserter from the 1st Battalion of Royal Americans.
Lancaster, August 22nd, 1762.
At a Conference at John Hambright's, (where the Governor de- livered to the Delaware Indians the presents made to them, by him- self and the province).
PRESENT :
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor, &ca.
William Logan, Esqr., Member of the Council.
Joseph Fox, James Webb, Esqrs., Members of the Assembly.
Israel Pemberton, Jeremiah Warder, Isaac Greenleaf, Benjamin Hooton.
Beaver and Teedyuscung, Chiefs of the Delaware Nation at Alle- .gheny and Wyoming.
Joseph Compass alias Catepackeaman, Joseph Peepy, Tayshicco- men, Taqualaw, Counsellors to the Chiefs.
The Governor opened the Conference, & spoke to the Indians as follows, vizt.
" Brother Beaver :
" I told you a few days since of the Disputes that had happened between your Brothers, the Proprietaries, and Teeduscung, about Land; & that I had their orders, as soon as the dispute should be ended, and the Proprietarie's Characters cleared, to make the Dela- ware Indians a present of considerable value, as a mark of their Affection to their old Friends. To which present from the Proprie-
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taries, the good people of this province have been pleased to make an addition of equal value."
" Brothers Teedyuscung and Beaver :
" As that dispute is now happily settled, I do (in consequence of the Proprietaries orders, and upon what was agreed upon at Easton upon that Subject, between me and your Friends, the people of this pro- vince), make you a present of the Goods and Money now lying be- fore you, to be equally divided between you, as a proof of the re- gard, both of the proprietaries & people, for their old Friends, the Delaware Nation." " Brother Beaver :
"As this is the first time we have seen you & our Friends from the Westward, since the late Disturbances, and as some of them have been at Expence in collecting and bringing down our Flesh and Blood, which they have now delivered to us, I, and your Friends of this province, have thought fit to make you this further present, to testify the pleasure we have in seeing you after so long an ab- sence, & our Thankfulness for your having restored the Prisoners. As you know better than we, in what manner to divide the present now made you, we desire you will do it amongst those who come with you, in the most just and equitable manner, paying a particu- lar regard to those who have now or at any other Time, been at Trouble and Expence in collecting & restoring our Flesh and Blood." " Brother Teedyuscung :
"We have had frequent opportunities of Shaking you by the hands since the War, & you, upon many occasions, received the strongest proofs of our Reconciliation & Friendship for you. Never- theless, as we see that a greater number than common of our Friends are come down with you, in order to enable you to show your kind- ness to them, we think fit to make you this additional present.
" And now, Brothers, I heartily wish the peace & Friendship which have been renewed betwixt us at this Treaty, may continue and grow stronger as long as the Sun shall Shine or the Rivers run, to which you may be assured, we, on our parts, shall contribute to the utmost of our power, as we doubt not you will also on yours."
After the Governor had finished his Speeches to Beaver and Tee- dyuscung, the latter rose up and addressed himself to Beaver, de- sired him to take notice that he now delivered up all his Right and Claim to the land on the river Delaware, that have been in dispute between him and the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania ; and that he now, as he (Beaver) saw, received this Money and Goods from his Brethren, the English. He further desired Beaver to acquaint all the Indians at Allegheny, that the Delaware Nation have now no Right or Claim to any of the Lands on the Waters of the river Delaware, that have been in dispute.
Then turning to the Governor, said to him :
"Now, Brother Governor, our Children and Grandchildren shall never be able to say hereafter that they have any right or claim to the Lands that have been in dispute upon that River."
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The Governor, directing his discourse to Beaver & Teedyuscung, told them that as they had now received a considerable sum of Mo- ney, he cautioned them against giving too much of it to their Young Men, who, instead of laying it out in things necessary and useful, might be tempted to debauch themselves with strong Liquors, which might occasion them to quarrel & do mischief, not only to one an- other, but also to their Brethren, the English, which might endan- ger the Chain of Friendship betwixt them and us, and would be a very ungrateful Return of all the Kindness we had shewn them.
To which they both answered,
That they were obliged to the Governor for his advice, in which they thought he had their good at heart, and promised to follow it, and heartily thanked him for it.
The Governor then delivered to Beaver and Tecdyuscung respect- ively, Two Hundred Pounds, in milled Dollars, and the value of Four Hundred pounds in Goods, to be equally divided between them. He further presented to Beaver, & those who came with him from the Ohio, the value of Four Hundred Pounds in goods, and the value of Two hundred pounds in goods to Teedyuscung, and his Friends & people; and after taking them both by the hands, he departed, and the Conference ended.
At a Conference with the Northern Indians, held at Lancaster, on Monday the 23rd of August, 1762.
PRESENT :
The Honourable JAMES HAMILTON, Esquire, &c1., &cª", as before.
Thomas King stood up, and addressing himself to the Governor, spoke as follows, vizt .:
" Brother Onas :
" It is about three Years ago that you asked me whether I was willing you should build a Fort at Shamokin ; you said you wanted to build a Fort there to stand against the French, & to defend the Inhabitants ; that our Great King had commanded you to build Forts. You said you would keep a Fort there as long as the War continued, but that you did not want any of our Land there. " Brother Onas :
" You likewise asked me to let you build a Fort there, to defend my Land, & to defend yourself; you told me that you did not de- sire any greater quantity of my Land than what the Fort took up; I granted you liberty to build a Fort, because you told me it was the Great King George desired you might build one on my Land, & I endeavoured to assist you. You also told me, as soon as ever the Peace was concluded, you would go away, or that at any time when I should tell you to go away, you would go away, and that I might do what I would with the Fort.
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"Brother Onas :
"Now, all the different Tribes of us present, desire that you will call your Soldiers away from Shamokin, for we have concluded a. Peace, and are as one Brother, having one Head and one Heart.
" If you take away your Soldiers, we desire you would keep your Trading House there, and have some honest Man in it, because our Cousins follow their hunting there, and will want a Trade. This is the way for us to live peaceably together.
" Brother Onas :
" I must tell you again these Soldiers must go away from Sha- mokin Fort ; I desire it, and let there only be Traders living there , you know who are the honest people; we desire that only honest people may live there, and that you will not be too hard with us, when they may buy our Skins and Furrs, and such things as we may have to sell. This will be the way for us to live peaceably together ; but for you to keep Soldiers there, is not the way to live peaceable. Your Soldiers are very often unruly, and our Warriors are unruly, and when such get together they do not agree, for as you have now made peace with all our Nations, there is no occasion for Soldiers to live there any longer.
" Brother Onas :
" We the Six Nations have all consulted, and concluded on this matter, of your removing the Soldiers from Shamokin, for you know we go to War with the Southern Indians, the Cherokees; we have been at War with them ever since we were created, and the place where the Shamokin Fort stands is right in our Warriors' path, & you know that Warriors are always an unruly people. For this reason we desire you to take away your Soldiers, and place some honest man there, that he may supply our Warriors with Am- munition, & any other necessaries that they may want, when they go to War against the Cherokees. We must press you to take away your Soldiers from Shamokin, as our Warriors are unruly. You have planted Corn there, and if our Warriors come there, they may cut some of your Corn Stalks, & then you will be angry. The Fort you have there does not now do any good, for you have many other Forts all around you ; this one, therefore, can be of no use to you, it stands as it were at your own Doors."
A Belt of twelve Rows.
Note .- He said he had forgot a word in this Belt, which was to tell the Governor that he might chuse and appoint such men as pleased to Trade, and also a Blacksmith and Gunsmith, to mend their Guns & Hatchets, or do anything they may want.
He then added :
" We desire that the present Storekeepers at Shamokin may be removed, & honest Men placed there in their Room; for our Hunters, who have been down there, complain that when Indians come there and want provisions and Goods, they find the Store VOL. VIII .- 48.
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sometimes shut up, and they cannot be supplied with what they want.
" Brother Onas :
" For my part I think John Harris is the most suitable Man to keep Store, for he lives right in the Road where our Warriors pass, & he is very well known by us all in our Nation, as his Father was before him ; we all know him. If you chuse John Harris, we de- sire you will order him to keep provisions and Cloaths, to give to our people, who sometimes come there naked, and likewise Ammu- nition for our Warriors, for that is their path. We desire you may have no trading Houses higher up the Susquehanna than Shamokin; let the Indians come there or to John Harris's; if they want to Trade, let them come down to these Trading Houses. We also de- sire you will send your Messages to Jnº Harris's, so that we may hear from one another, because where he lives the roads seems to divide, & spread, and it goes to many places; And we further de- sire you will give him a Commission for these things in Writing.
Thomas King being asked if they meant that Jnº. Harris was to be furnished with Goods to sell or to give to the Indians? He an- swered, that they desired there might be a Trading House there, & that this was what they requested, and desiring to be excused if they forgot any part of their Speeches, as they were very long."
He proceeded :
" Brother Onas :
"I have now mentioned two Houses for you to keep Store Houses at, Shamokin, & John Harris's ; but perhaps they will sell at different prices, and if we have a mind to have Goods cheapest, we may go to John Harris's; We, therefore, desire you will let us know what prices you set upon your Goods."
A Belt of Ten Rows.
" Brother Onas :
"I will also acquaint you of another proper Trading place, and who we think will be a suitable man to keep that Store House, and that is George Croghan, who is very well known by all our Nations and several others; We desire you will appoint him to keep Store at Bedford, because that is also in our Warrior's path ; We desire likewise that there may be a Black Smith and Gun Smith, because my Cousins will be there a hunting, & will want their things mended ; This will be known every where throughout all our Nations; for as the peace is made, our young Men will set themselves to hunt, and bring Skins there, & will have nothing else to do but hunt."
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