USA > Pennsylvania > Early history of western Pennsylvania, and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from MDCCLIV to MDCCCXXXIII > Part 53
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In the evening the devil made a general disturbance, to hinder them in their good disposition. It was reported they saw three Catawba Indians in their town ; and they roved about all that cold night, in great fear and confusion. When I consider with what tyranny and power the prince of this world rules over this people, it breaks my heart over them ; and I wish that God would have mercy upon them, and that their redemption may draw nigh, and open their eyes, that they may see what bondage they are in, and deliver them from the evil.
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27th-We waited all the day for an answer. Beaver came and told us, " they were busy all the day long." He said, " It is a great matter, and wants much consideration. We are three tribes, which must separately agree among ourselves ; it takes time before we hear each agreement, and the particulars thereof." He desired us to read our mes- sage once more to them in private ; we told them, we were at their ser- vice at any time ; and then we explained him the whole again. There arrived a messenger from Sawkung, and informed us that four of their people were gone to our camp, to see what the English were about; and that one of them climbing upon a tree was discovered by falling down; and then our people spoke to them ; three resolved to go to the other side, and one came back and brought the news, which pleased the company. Some of the captains and counsellors were together; they said, that the French would build a strong fort, at the lower Shawanese town. I answered them, " Brethren, if you suffer the French to build a fort there, you must suffer likewise the English to come and destroy the place ; English will follow the French, and pursue them, let it cost whatever it will; and wherever the French settle, the English will follow and destroy them."
They said, "We think the same, and would endeavor to prevent it, if the English only would go back, after having drove away the French, and not settle there." I said, " I can tell you no certainty in this affair; it is best for you to go with us to the general, and speak with him. So much I know, that they only want to establish a trade with you ; and you know yourselves, that you cannot do without being supplied with such goods as you stand in need of; but, brethren, be assured you must entirely quit the French, and have no communication with them, else they will always breed disturbance and confusion amongst you, and per- suade your young people to go to war against our brethren, the English."
I spoke with them further about Venango, and said, " I believed the English would go there, if they suffered the French longer to live there. 'This speech had much influence on them, and they said, " We are con- vinced of all that you have said ; it will be so." I found them inclined to send off the French from Venango, but they wanted first to know the disposition of the English, and not to suffer the French to build any where.
28th-King Beaver arose early, before the break of day, and bid all his people a good morning, desired them to rise early and prepare vic- tuals ; for they had to answer their brethren, the English, and their uncles, and therefore, they should be in a good humour and disposition. At ten o'clock they met together ; Beaver addressed himself to his peo- ple, and said :
" Take notice all you young men and warriors to what we answer now : it is three days since we heard our brethren, the English, and our uncles ; and what we have heard of both is very good ; and we are all much pleased with what we have heard. Our uncles have made an agreement, and peace is established with our brethren, the English, and they have shook hands with them ; and we likewise agree in the peace and friendship they have established between them." Then he spoke to the French captain Canaquais, and said :
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" You may hear what I answer ; it is good news that we have heard. I have not made myself a king. My uncles have made me like a queen, that I always should mind what is good and right, and whatever I agree with, they will assist me, and help me through. Since the warriors came amongst us, I could not follow that which is good and right; which has made me heavy ; and since it is my duty to do that which is good, so I will endeavour to do and to speak what is good, and not let myself be disturbed by the warriors."
Then he spoke to the Mingoes, and said : " My uncles, hear me; It is two days since you told me, that you have made peace and friendship, and shook hands with our brethren, the English. I am really very much pleased with what you told me ; and I join with you in the same ; and, as you said, I should let the Shawanese and Delamattanoes know of the agreement you have made with our brethren, the English, I took it to heart, and shall let them know it very soon." He delivered a string.
"Look now, my uncles, and hear what your cousins say : you have spoke the day before yesterday to me. I have heard you. You told me you would set me at Kushkushking easy down. I took it to heart, and I shall do so, and be still, and lay myself easy down, and keep my match-coat close to my breast. You told me, you will let me know in the next spring, what to do. So I will be still, and wait to hear from you."-Gave him a belt.
Then he turned himself to us, and gave us the following answers .- First to the general :
"Brother: by these strings I would desire, in a most kind and friendly manner, you would be pleased to hear me what I have to say, as you are not far off.
" Brother: now you told me you have heard of that good agreement, that has been agreed to at the treaty of Easton, and that you have put your hands to it, to strengthen it, so that it may last forever. Brother, you have told me, that after you have come to hear it, you have taken it to heart, and then you sent it to me, and let me know it. Brother, I would desire you would be pleased to hear me, and I would tell you, in a most soft, loving and friendly manner, to go back over the mountains, and to stay there ; for, if you will do that, I will use it for an argument, to argue with other nations of Indians. Now, brother, you have told me you have made a road clear, from the sun-set to our first old council fire, at Philadelphia, and therefore I should fear nothing, and come into that road. Brother, after these far Indians shall come to hear of that good and wide road, that you have laid out for us, then they will turn and look at the road, and see nothing in the way ; and that is the reason, that maketh me tell you to go back over the mountain again, and to stay there ; for then the road will be clear, and nothing in the way."
Then he addressed himself to the Governor of Pennsylvania, as follows :
" Brother : give good attention to what I am going to say; for I speak from my heart, and think nothing the less of it, though the strings be small.
" Brother : I now tell you what I have heard from you is quite agreea- ble to my mind, and I love to hear you. I tell you likewise, that all [118 ]
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the chief men of Allegheny are well pleased with what you have said to us ; and all my young men, women and children, that are able to un- derstand, are well pleased with what you have said to me.
"Brother : you tell me that all the Governors of the several provin- ces have agreed to a well established and everlasting peace with the Indians ; and you likewise tell me, that my uncles, the Six Nations, and my brethren, the Delawares, and several other tribes of Indians join with you in it, to establish it, so that it may be everlasting. You like- wise tell me, you have all agreed on a treaty of peace to last forever; and for these reasons I tell you, I am pleased with what you have told me.
"Brother : I am heartily pleased to hear that you never let slip the chain of friendship out of your hands, which our grandfathers had between them, so that they could agree as brethren and friends in any thing.
"Brother : as you have been pleased to let me know of that good and desirable agreement, that you and my uncles and brethren have agreed to, at the treaty of peace, I now tell you I hartily join and agree in it, and to it. And now I desire you to go on steadily in that great and good work you have taken in hand, and I will do as you desire me to do ; that is, to let the other tribes of Indians know it, and more espe- cially my uncles, the Six Nations, and the Shawanese, my grandchil- dren, and all other nations, setiled to the westward.
" Brother : I desire you not to be out of patience, as I have a great many friends at a great distance ; and I shall use my best endeavors to let them know it as soon as possible ; and as soon as I obtain their answer, shall let you know it."-Then he gave six strings, all white.
In the evening arrived a messenger from Sawkung, Netodwehement, and desired they should make all the haste to dispatch us, and we should come to Sawkung; for, as they did not know what become of those three that went out to our camp, they were afraid the English would keep them, till they heard what was become of us, their messengers.
29th-Before day break Beaver and Shingas came, and called us into their council. They had been all the night together. They said :- " Brethren : now is the day coming, you will set off from here. It is a good many days since we heard you, and what we have heard is very pleasing and agreeable to us. It rejoices all our hearts ; and all our young men, women and children, that are capable to understand, are really very well pleased with what they have heard. It is so agreeable to us, that we never received such good news before. We think God has made it so. He pities us, and has mercy on us. And now, brethren, you desire that I should let it be known to all other nations, and I shall let them know very soon. Therefore Shingas cannot go with you. He must go with me, to help me in this great work; and I shall send nobody, but go myself, to make it known to all nations."
Then we thanked them for their care, and wished him good success on his journey and undertaking ; and, as this message had such a good effect on them, we hoped it would have the same on all other nations, when they came to hear it. I hoped that all the clouds would pass away, and the cheerful light would shine over all nations ; so I wished
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them good assistance and help on their journey. Further, he said to us :-
"Now we desire you to be strong, because I shall make it my strong argument with other nations. But as we have given credit to what you have said, hoping it is true, and we agree to it, if it should prove the contrary, it would make me so ashamed that I never could lift up my head, and never undertake to speak any word more for the interest of the English."
I told them, " Brethren : you will remember that it was wrote to you by the general, that you might give credit to what we say ; so I am glad to hear of you, that you give credit ; and we assure you, that what we have told you is the truth, and you will find it so."
They said further, " Brethren : we let you know, that the French have used our people kindly, in every respect; they have used them like gentlemen, especially those that live near them. So they have treated the chiefs. Now we desire you to be strong; we wish you would take the same method, and use our people well ; for the other Indi- ans will look upon us, and we do not otherwise know how to convince them, and to bring them into the English interest, without your using such means as will convince them. For the French will still do more to keep them to their interest."
I told them, "I would take it to heart, and inform the Governor, and other gentlemen of it, and speak to them in their favor." Then they said, " It is so far well, and the road is cleared, but they thought we should send them another call, when they may come." I told them, " We did not know when they would have agreed with the other na- tions. Brother, it is you, who must give us the first notice when you can come; the sooner the better; and so soon as you send us word, we will prepare for you on the road." After this we made ready for our journey.
Ketiushund, a noted Indian, one of the chief counsellors, told us in secret, " That all the nations had jointly agreed to defend their hunting place at Allegheny, and suffer nobody to settle there; and as these In- dians are very much inclined to the English interest, so he begged us very much to tell the Governor, General, and all other people not to settle there. And if the English would draw back over the moun- tain, they would get all the other nations into their interest; but if they staid and settled there, all the nations would be against them ; and he was afraid it would be a great war, and never come to a peace again."
I promised to inform the Governor, General, and all other people of it, and repeated my former request to them, not to suffer any French to settle amongst them. After we had fetched our horses, we went from Kushkushking, and came at five o'clock to Sawkung, in company with twenty Indians. When we came about half way, we met a messenger from fort Duquesne, with a belt from Thomas King, inviting all the chiefs to Sawkung. We heard at the same time, that Mr. Croghan and Henry Montour would be there to-day. The messenger was one of those three that went to our camp, and it seemed to rejoice all the company, for some of them were much troubled in their minds, fearing that the English had kept them as prisoners, or killed them. In the evening
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we arrived at Sawkung, on the Beaver creek. We were well received. The king provided for us. After a little while we visited Mr. Croghan and his company.
30th-In the morning the Indians of the town visited us. About eleven o'clock about forty came together, when we read the message to them, Mr. Crogan, Henry Montour and Thomas King being present. They were all well pleased with the message. In the evening we came together with the chiefs, and explained the signification of the belts, which lasted till eleven o'clock at night.
December 1st-After hunting a great while for our horses, without finding them, we were obliged to give an Indian three hundred wam- pum for looking for them. We bought corn for four hundred and fifty wampum for our horses. The Indians met together to hear what Mr. Croghan had to say. Thomas King spoke by a belt, and invited them to come to the general, upon which they all resolved to go.
In the evening the captains and counsellors came together, I and Isaac Still being present, they told us that they had formerly agreed not to give any credit to any message, sent from the English by Indians ; thinking if the English would have peace with them they would come themselves ; "So soon, therefore, as you came, it was as if the weather changed, and a great cloud passed away, and we could think again on our ancient friendship with our brethren, the English. We have thought since that time more on the English than ever before, although the French have done all in their power to prejudice our young men against the English. Since you now come the second time, we think it is God's work ; he pities us that we should not all die, and if we should not accept of the peace offered to us, we think God would forsake us."
In discourse, they spoke about preaching, and said : " They wished many times to hear the word of God; but they were always afraid the English would take that opportunity to bring them into bondage." They invited me to come and live amongst them, since I had taken so much pains in bringing a peace about between them and the English. I told them : "It might be that when the peace was firmly established, I would come to proclaim the peace and love of God to them."
In the evening arrived a message with a string of wampum to a noted Indian, Ketiuscund, to come to Venango, to meet the Unami Chief, Quitahicung there; he said that a French Mohock had killed a Delaware Indian ; and when he was asked why he did it, he said the French bid him do it.
2d-Early before we set out, I gave three hundred wampums to the Cayugas to buy some corn for their horses ; they agreed that I should go before to the General to acquaint him of their coming. The Beaver creek being very high, it was almost two o'clock in the afternoon before we came over the creek ; this land seems to be very rich. I, with my companion, Ketiuscund's son, came to Logstown situated on a hill. On the east end is a great piece of low land, where the old Logstown used to stand. In the new Logstown the French have built about thirty houses for the Indians. They have a large corn field on the south side where the corn stands ungathered. Then we went farther through a large tract of fine land, along the river side. We came within eight
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miles of Pittsburg, where we lodged, on a hill in the open air. It was a cold night, and I had forgot my blanket, being packed upon Mr. Hays' horse. Between Sawkung and Pittsburg, all the Shawanese towns are empty of people.
3d-We started early and came to the river by Pittsburg : we called that they should come over and fetch us ; but their boats having gone adrift, they made a raft of black oak pallisadoes, which sunk as soon ass it came into the water. We were very hungry, and staid on that Isl-' and, where I had kept council with the Indians in the month of August last; for all I had nothing to live on, I thought myself a great deal! better off now, than at that time, having now liberty to walk upon the Island according to pleasure, and it seemed as if the dark clouds weree dispersed.
While I waited here, I saw the General march off from Pittsburg,; which made me sorry that I could not have the pleasure of speaking !! with him. Towards evening our whole party arrived : upon which they fired from the fort with twelve great guns ; and our Indians saluted again three times round with their small arms. By accident some of the Indians found a raft hid in the bushes, and Mr. Hays, coming last, went over first with two Indians. They sent us but a small allowance, so that it would not serve each round. I tied my belt a little closer, being very hungry, and nothing to eat .* It snowed, and we were obliged to sleep without any shelter. In the evening they threw light balls from the Fort; at which the Indians started, thinking they would fire at them ; but seeing it was not aimed at them, they rejoiced to seee them fly so high.
4th-We got up early and cleared a place from the snow, cut some fire wood and hallooed till we were tired. Towards noon Mr. Hays camee with a raft and the Indian chiefs went over : he informed me of Colonel! Bouquet's displeasure with the Indians' answer to the General, and hiss desire that they should alter their mind, in insisting upon the General'ss going back ; but the Indians had no inclination to alter their mind. In the afternoon some provision was sent over, but a small allowance. When I came over to the Fort, the council with the Indians was almost at an end. I had a discourse with Col. Bouquet about the affairs, dispo- sition and resolution of the Indians.
I drew provision for our journey to Fort Ligonier, and baked bread for our whole company : towards noon the Indians met together in a conference. First, King Beaver addressed himself to the Mohocks, desir- ing them to give their brethren an answer about settling at Pittsburg. The Mohocks said : "They lived at such a distance that they could not defend the English there, if any accident should befal them ; but you, cousins, who live close here, must think what to do." Then Beaver said by a string :
* As it often happens to the Indians, on their long marches, in war, and ! sometimes in their hunting expeditions, to be without victuals for several ! days, occasioned by bad weather and other accidents, they have this custom in ! such cases; which Post probably learned of them, viz: girding their bellies tight when they have nothing to put in them; and they say it prevents the pain of hunger.
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" What this messenger has brought is very agreeable to us; and as our uncles have made peace with you, the English, and many other nations, so we likewise join and accept of the peace offered to us ; and we have already answered by your messenger, what we have to say to the General, that he should go back over the mountains; we have nothing to say to the contrary."
Neither Mr. Croghan nor Andrew Montour would tell Colonel Bou- quet the Indians' answer. Then Mr. Croghan, Colonel Armstrong and Colonel Bouquet went into the tent by themselves, and I went upon my business. What they have further agreed I do not know; but when they had done, I called King Beaver, Shingas, and Kedeuscund, and said :
"Brethren : If you have any alteration to make in the answer to the General, concerning leaving this place, you will be pleased to let me know." They said they would alter nothing: "We have told them three times to leave the place and go back; but they insist upon staying here ; if, therefore, they will be destroyed by the French and Indians, we cannot help them."
Colonel Bouquet set out for Loyalhannon : The Indians got some liquor between ten and eleven o'clock. One Mohock died; the others fired guns three times over him ; at the last firing one had accidentally loaded his gun with a double charge: this gun burst to pieces and broke his hand clean off ; he also got a hard knock on his breast; and in the morning at nine o'clock he died, and they buried them in that place, both in one hole.
6th-It was a cold morning ; we swam our horses over the river, the ice running violently. Mr. Croghan told me that the Indians had spoke upon the same string that I had, to Col. Bouquet, and altered their mind ; and had agreed and desired that 200 men should stay at the fort. I refused to make any alteration in the answer to the general, till I myself lid hear it of the Indians ; at which Mr. Croghan grew very angry. I told him I had already spoke with the Indians ; he said it was a d-d ie ; and desired Mr. Hays to enquire of the Indians, and take down in writing what they said. Accordingly he called them, and asked them, f they had altered their speech, or spoke to Col. Bouquet on that string hey gave me. Shingas and the other counsellor said they had spoken read hothing to Col. Bouquet on the string they gave me, but what was agreed n a sir- arg. , not you, aver between the Indians at Kushkushking. They said, Mr. Croghan and Henry Montour had not spoke and acted honestly and uprightly ; they id us not alter the least, and said : " We have told them three times to go back, but they will not go, insisting upon staying here. Now you vill let the governor, general, and all people know, that our desire is, hat they should go back, till the other nations have joined in the peace, nd then they may come and build a trading house."
They then repeated what they had said the 5th instant. Then we bok leave of them, and promised to inform the general, governor, and all ther gentle people of their disposition; and so we set out from Pitts- urg, and came within fifteen miles of the breast-work, where we ncamped. It snowed, and we made a little cabin of hides.
7th-Our horses were fainting, having little or no food. We came [123 ]
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that day about twenty miles, to another breast-work, where the whole army had encamped on a hill ; the water being far to fetch.
8th-Between Pittsburg and fort Ligonier the country is hilly, with rich bottoms, well timbered, but scantily watered. We arrived at fort Ligonier in the afternoon about four o'clock, where we found the general very sick ; and therefore could have no opportunity to speak with him.
9th-We waited to see the general ; they told us he would march the next day, and we should go with him. Captain Sinclair wrote us a return for provisions for four days.
10th-The general was still sick, so that he could not go on the journey.
11th-We longed very much to go farther; and therefore, spoke to Major Halket, and desired him to enquire of the general, if he intended to speak with us, or, if we might go, as we were in a poor condition, for want of linen, and other necessaries. He desired us to bring the Indians' answer, and our journal to the general. Mr. Hays read his journal to Major Halket and Gov. Glen. They took memorandums, and went to the general.
12th-They told us we should stay till the general went.
14th-The general intended to go, but his horses could not be found. They thought the Indians had carried them off. They hunted all day for the horses, but could not find them. I spoke to Col, Bouquet about our allowance being so small, that we could hardly subsist; and that we were without money, and desired him to let us have some money, that we might buy necessaries. Provisions, and every thing is exceeding dear. One pound of bread cost a shilling, one pound of sugar four shillings, a quart of rum seven shillings and sixpence, and so in propor- tion. Col. Bouquet laid our matters before the general ; who let me call, and excused himself, that his distemper had hindered him from speaking with me; and promised to help me in every thing I should want, and ordered him to give me some money. He said farther, that I often should call, and when he was alone he would speak with me.
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