USA > Pennsylvania > Greene County > History of Greene County, Pennsylvania > Part 10
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was on him, and earnestly begged he would communicate the con- tents to them, which he had done, much to their satisfaction and the interests of the English.' The Governor concludes by saying that ' the contents of the plate may be of great importance in clearing up the encroachments which the French have made on the British empire in America.' The plate was delivered to Colonel, afterward Sir Will- iam Johnson, on the 4th of December, 1750 (49), at his residence on the Mohawk, by a Cayuga sachem."
Governor Clinton also wrote to Governor Hamilton of Pennsyl- vania, as shown by the minutes of council, as follows: «* * I send you a copy of an inscription on a leaden plate stolen from Jean Coeur, some months since, in the Senecas' country, as he was going to the river Ohio, which plainly demonstrates the French scheme by the exorbitant claims therein mentioned; also a copy of a Cayuga Sachem's speech to Colo. Johnson, with his reply." The Cayuga sachem's speech was as follows: " Brother Corlear and War-ragh-i- ya-ghey! I am sent here by the Five Nations with a piece of writing which the Senecas, our brethren, got by some artifice from Jean Coeur, earnestly beseeching you will let us know what it means, and as we put all our confidence in you, our brother, we hope you will explain it ingeniously to us." (The speaker here delivered the square leaden plate and a wampum belt, and proceeded.) "I am ordered further to acquaint you that Jean Coeur, the French interpreter, when on his journey this last summer to Ohio River, spoke thus to the Five Nations and others in our alliance: 'Children :- Your Father, having, out of a tender regard for you, considered the great difficulties yon labor under by carrying your goods, canoes, &c., over the great carrying place of Niagara, has desired me to acquaint you that, in order to ease you all of so much trouble for the future, he is resolved to build a house at the other end of said carrying place, which he will furnish with all necessaries requisite for your use.' * * He also told us that he was on his way to the Ohio River, where he intended to stay three years; * * that he was sent thither to build a honse there; also at the carrying place between said river Ohio and Lake Erie (Presque Isle and Waterford), where all the western Indians should be supplied with whatever goods they may have occasion for, and not be at the trouble and loss of time of going so far to market as usual (meaning Oswego). After this he desired to know our opinion of the affair, and begged our consent to build in said places. He gave us a large belt of wampum, thereon desiring our answer, which we told him we would take some time to consider of."
Assuring the Indian chieftains of the unalterable friendship of the English towards their people, and the enmity and duplicity of the French, of which many examples were cited, Sir William Johnson
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said: "Their seheme now laid against you and yours, at a time when they are feeding you up with fine promises of serving you several shapes, is worse than all the rest, as will appear by their own writing on this plate." Here Johnson translated the French writing on the plate, commenting as he proceeded on the force and intent of the several parts, and explaining the purpose of the French in bury- ing the plate. Proceeding he said, "This is an affair of the greatest importance to you, as nothing less than all your lands and best hunt- ing places are aimed at, with a view of secluding you entirely from us and the rest of your brethren, viz: the Philadelphians, the Vir- ginians, who can always supply you with the necessaries of life at a much lower rate than the French ever did or could, and under whose protection you are and ever will be safer, and better served in every respect, than under the French. These and a hundred other sub- stantial reasons I could give you to convince you that the French are your implacable enemies; but, as I told you before, the very in- strument you now brought me of their own writing is sufficient of itself to convince the world of their villainous designs; therefore I need not be at the trouble, so shall only desire that you and all the nations in alliance with you seriously consider your own interest and by no means submit to the impending danger which now threatens you, the only way to prevent which is to turn Jean Coeur away im- mediately from Ohio, and tell him that the French shall neither build there, nor at the carrying place of Niagara, nor have a foot of land more from you. Brethren, what I now say I expect and insist upon it being taken notice of and sent to the Indians of the Ohio, that they may immediately know the vile designs of the French."
Having presented a belt of wampum, by way of emphasis, and to convinee the natives of the honesty and fidelity with which he spoke, the sachem replied: "Brother Corlear and War-ragh-i-ya-ghey, I have with great attention and surprise heard you repeat the substance of the devilish writing which I brought you, and also with pleasure noticed your just remarks thereon, which really agree with my own sentiments on it. I return you my most hearty thanks in the name of all the nations for your brotherly love and cordial advice, which I promise you sincerely, by this belt of wampum, shall be communi- cated immediately and verbatim to the Five Nations by myself, and, moreover, shall see it forwarded from the Senecas' castle with belts from each of our own nations to the Indians at Ohio, to strengthen your desire, as I am thoroughly satisfied you have our interest at heart."
Returning to Celeron and his party, whom we left upon the deep, rapid current of the Allegheny River, where they found rest at night beneath the sombre forest that skirted its bank, and floated by day leisurely upon its current, we see them passing Indian villages and
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the mouths of Oil Creek and Venango River (Les Bœufs), without making any considerable pause, though the latter point, now Frank- lin, was then a station of importance. But at the Indian God, some nine or ten miles below the latter point, they paused, and beneath the shadow of an immense boulder, on which had been cut rude figures held in superstitious awe by the natives, on the south bank, opposite a bald mountain, the second of these leaden plates were buried, ac- companied with the usual formal ceremonies which was continned at each burial. Resuming their journey they passed Chartiers Town, a Shawneese village, now deserted, and passed the mouth of the Monongahela River without pausing; but at Logstown, some twelve miles below, an Indian town, now a place of importance as the coun- cil house of the sachems of surrounding tribes, they made a landing. Here the agents of the English colonies upon the Atlantic were ac- customed to meet them and make their formal talks, smoke the pipe of peace, distribute the high piled presents, and ratify solemn treaties which were not to be broken so long as the sun and the moon go round the earth. Here, too, the traders brought their goods and bartered them for valable skins and furs, and, shame to say it, here these conscienceless traders brought kegs of fire-water, and when the poor Indians were made drunken were cheated and abused. Here Celeron buried another of his plates, and discovering a number of the English trading with the Indians his wrath was kindled. HIe expelled these intruders, as he called them, and made a speech to the assembled Indians of many tribes, telling them that all the country along the Beautiful River belonged to the French, and that they would supply the Indians with all the goods they needed. He for- bade them to trade with the English, and said he was now on his way down the river to whip the Wyandots back to their homes. The absolute manner of Celeron, more than his words, gave offense to the Indians, who had not been accustomed to be spoken to in that way.
Determined to effect the purpose of his expedition he sent from this point the following curt letter to Governor Hamilton of Penn- sylvania: "Sir: Having been sent with a detachment into these quarters by Monsieur the Marquis de la Galissioniere, commandant general of New France, to reconcile among themselves certain savage nations who are ever at variance on account of the war just termin- ated, I have been much surprised to find some traders of your gov- ernment in a country to which England never had any pretensions. It even appears that the same opinion is entertained in New Eng- land, since in many of the villages I have passed through, the English who were trading there have mostly taken flight. Those whom I first fell in with, and by whom I write you, I have treated with all mildness possible, although I would have been justified in treating them as interlopers and men without responsibility, their enterprise
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being contrary to the preliminaries of peace signed five months ago. I hope, Sir, for the future you will carefully, prohibit this trade, which is contrary to treaties, and give notice to your traders that they will expose themselves to great risks in returning to these countries, and that they must impute to themselves the misfortunes they may meet with. I know that our commandant-general would be very sorry to have recourse to violence, but he has orders not to permit foreign traders in his government."
Continuing his journey down the Ohio, Celeron and his party took formal possession of the country by burying plates at the mouth of the Muskingum River, another at the month of the Great Kan- awha, and the sixth and last at the mouth of the Great Miami. Be- lieving that he had now covered all the territory that was likely, for the present, to be claimed by the English, Celeron pansed in his course, and toilsomely ascended the Miami till he reached the port - age, where he burned his boats, and procuring ponies, crossed over to the Mammee, down which he moved to Lake Erie, by which and Ontario he returned to Fort Frontinac, arriving on the 6th of No- vember.
These metal plates, planted with so much formality, regarded as symbols of French power, which they were to defend with force of arms, remained for a long time where they were originally planted with the exception of the first, which, as we have seen, was immedi- ately disinterred and sent to Sir William Johnson. That buried at the mouth of the Muskingum was washed out by the changing of the banks in the flood-tides, and was discovered in 1798 by some boys who were bathing at low water in the summer time, and having no idea of its use, or the purport of the characters cut on its surface, they eut off a portion of it and run it into bullets. The remaining por- tion was sent to Governor De Witt Clinton, of New York, and is still preserved at Boston, Mass. That which was buried at the mouth of the Kanawha was found in 1846 by a son of J. W. Beale, of Point Pleasant, Virginia. In playing along the river bank he saw the edge of it protruding from the sand a little below the surface, where it had been carried by the current. It was dug out and has been preserved in its original form.
As may be well imagined the intelligence of this expedition of Celeron in considerable force down the Ohio, with the design of taking formal possession of the territory which the river drained was viewed with concern by the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, and especially by those in England interested in the colony of Virginia. They saw that if this claim was maintained by the French their ter- ritories would be vastly curtailed, and the claims of the Massachusetts and Virginia colonies from ocean to ocean would become abortive. The then proprietary of Pennsylvania wrote to Governor Hamilton
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in these terms, as preserved in the Colonial Records: "The account you give of a party of French having come to Allegheny and laid claim to that country, and the tribes of Indians with whom we have lately entered into treaty, a good deal alarms me; and I hear the party has returned to Canada, threatening to return with a great force next year. I have communicated the French commandant's letter and paper, with an account of the affair to the Duke of Bed- ford and Lord Halifax, and I think something should be done im- mediately, if it can be by consent of the Indians, to take possession. This, I think, you should advise with the Council and Assembly about, as it is of great import to the trade of the Province to have a settlement there, and a house a little more secure than an Indian cabin. I make no doubt the Indians would consent to such'a settle- inent; and if there is stone and lime in the neighborhood, I think a house of thick walls of stone, with small bastions, might be built at no very great expense, as it is little matter how rough it is inside; or a wall of that sort perhaps fifty feet square, with a small log house in the middle of it, might perhaps do better. The command of this might be given to the principal Indian trader, and he be obliged to keep four or six men at it, who might serve him in it, and the house be a magazine for goods. If something of this sort can be done, we shall be willing to be at the expense of four hundred pounds currency for the building of it, and of one hundred pounds a year for keeping some men with a few arms and some powder; this, with what the assembly might be induced to give, will in some measure protect the trade, and be a mark of possession. However few the men are, they should wear an uniform dress, that though very small it may look fort like."
This recommendation looked to the building of a Fort on the Ohio, as was afterwards done at Fort Pitt, and was a wise provision, if the encroachments of the French were to be met by force. Gov- ernor Hamilton was a wise and politic man, and instead of moving officially in the matter he held several conferences with the Speaker and members of the House with a view to carrying into effect the proposal of the Proprietaries. But the ruling sentiment of the As- sembly was averse to assuming a warlike or force attitude, the Quaker element in the council and the provident members opposed to the spending of public money, being in the ascendant. As may be seen by the above communication, the Proprietaries had no religious scru- ples against warlike preparations, the sons of Penn having forsaken the religion of their father, John Penn, the grandson, and subse- quently Governor, showing a vigorous war spirit against the Indians, and even going so far as to offer, without scruple, graduated bounties for their capture, scalping, or death.
Accordingly, Governor Hamilton gave instructions to the State
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agents, George Croghan and Andrew Montour, who had been sent out to distribute presents to the Indians, and who made Logstown their headquarters, to ascertain the temper of the natives towards the building of such a fort as the letter of the Proprietary suggested. In compliance with this instruction, Crogan dispatched a letter dated on the 16th of December, 1750, couched in these words: "Sir,- Yesterday Mr. Montour and I got to this town, where we found thirty warriors of the Six Nations going to war against the Catawba Indians. They told us that they saw John Coeur about one hundred and fifty miles up the river at an Indian town, where he intends to build a fort if he can get liberty from the Ohio Indians. He has five canoes loaded with goods, and is very generous in making presents to all the chief's of the Indians he meets with. Ile has sent two messengers to this town, desiring the Indians here to go and meet him, and clear the road for him, [that is, secure the consent of the Indians to his coming], to come down the river; but they have so little respect for his message that they have not thought it worth while to send him an answer as yet."
It will be observed from this note, that the French recognized the Indian friendship as an important factor in holding the country, and that they were willing to spend money freely in furnishing presents in order to buy it over to their cause. Their agent, Jean Coeur, was skilled in all the arts of Indian diplomacy, and had lived much among them; but he was not successful in his first essays with these Ohio Indians. On the 20th of May, 1751, Croghan records in his journal. " Forty warriors of the Six Nations came to Logstown, from the head of the Ohio, with M. Jean Coeur, and one Frenchman more in company." On the following day he records that Jean Coeur made a talk to the Indians, telling them that Onontio, Gov- ernor of New France, directed that they send away the English and deal wholly with the French. The words of Jean Coeur failed of their effect upon the natives; for their chieftain made answer that he would not send the English away, but would trade with them as long as he lived, and that " if he had anything to say, and was the man he pretended to be, he should say it to that man," pointing to Croghan.
On the 25tli of May, Croghan again records: " I had a conference with Monsieur Jean Coeur; he desired I would excuse him, and not think hard of him for the speeches he made to the Indians, request- ing them to turn the English traders away, and not to suffer them to trade; for it was the Governors of Canada who ordered him, and he was obliged to obey them, though he was very sensible which way the Indians would receive them, for he was sure the French would not accomplish their design with the Six Nations, without it could be done by force, which he said he believed they would find to be as 6
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difficult as the method they had just tried, and would ineet with the like want of success."
It will be seen from the temper of this conversation that Jean Coeur was convinced that the Indians were not in a temper to be won over by fair words or showy French presents; but that force would be necessary, and in that they would fail. But he had been sent on this mission by his government, and it was necessary for him to carry out his instructions. Accordingly, having exhausted his diplo- macy with the Indians, he sent the following missive to Governor Hamilton, and returned to Canada: "Sir,-Monsieur the Marquis de la Galissoniere, Governor of the whole of New France, having honored me with his orders to watch that the English make no treaty in the country of the Ohio, I have directed the traders of your Government to withdraw. You cannot be ignorant, sir, that all the lands of this region have always belonged to the King of France, and that the English have no right to come here to trade. My su- perior has commanded me to apprise you of what I have done, in order that you may not affect ignorance of the reasons of it; and he has given me this order, with so much the greater reason because it is now two years since Monsieur Celeron, by order of the Marquis of Galissoniere, then Commandant-general, warned many English who were trading with the Indians along the Ohio against so doing, and they promised him not to return to trade on the lands, as Mon- sieur Celeron wrote yon."
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CHAPTER VIII.
ACTIVITY OF THE "OHIO COMPANY" -- EXPLORATIONS OF GIST -- PREP- ARATIONS OF THE FRENCH TO OCCUPY -- ARMS SENT TO INDIANS - HALF KING WARNS THE FRENCH -INSOLENT REPLY --- EARL HOLDERNESS WARNS GOVERNORS OF THE COLONIES --- WAR VESSEL SENT TO VIRGINIA-WASHINGTON COMMISSIONED TO VISIT FRENCH COMMANDER-PERILOUS JOURNEY-SELECTS SITE OF FORT PITT -PROVISIONS SENT FROM NEW ORLEANS --- WHERE DOES THE INDIAN'S LAND LIE?" -JEAN COEUR AT FRANKLIN -- RECEIVED AT LEBOEUF BY LEGARDEUR ST. PIERRE -- ANSWER POLITENESS OF THE GENERAL -- REFERS TO THE MARQUIS DU QUESNE- RETURN OF WASHINGTON -- TREACHEROUS INDIAN FIRES AT ILIM SUF- FERING FROM THE COLD -MAKES HIS REPORT TO GOVERNOR DINWIDDIE-JOURNAL WIDELY CIRCULATED-THE INTENTION OF THE FRENCH TO HOLD THE OHIO VALLEY BY FORCE CLEARLY MANIFEST.
INTHE goodly lands along the " Beautiful River," and its many tribu- taries, seemed now more attractive than ever, and the next few years succeeding the planting of plates by Celeron, witnessed a vigorous and sanguinary struggle for their occupancy. And now commences the active operations of the Ohio Company, chartered by the Vir- ginia Legislature by authority of the English government, previously detailed, for the settlement and permanent occupancy of this coveted country. How Virginia could lay claim to this section, so clearly embraced in the charter of Penn, is difficult to comprehend; but the grounds of the claim will be stated in a succeeding chapter.
Boldly assuming the right, the company sent out from Virginia, in 1750, as its agent, Christopher Gist, with instructions to explore the territory, and sound the temper of the Indians towards its set- tlement by the whites. During this and the following year, he traversed the country on either bank of the Ohio, as far down as the present site of the city of Louisville, going even further than Celeron had done with his pewter plates, and making a far more extensive and thorough exploration of the country. In 1752 he was present at Logstown as commissioner with Colonel Fry in concluding the treaty with the chiefs of the Six Nations, which secured rights of settlement in this country. The French were ever watchful, and the provisions of this treaty were not unknown to them as well as the explorations of Gist.
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The evidences of activity on the part of the French to seize and hold this country by force were not wanting. Early in May an ex- pedition was sent ont from Canada, prepared to assert their claims. The commanding officer at Oswego, sent the following intelligence to Col. Johnson, dated May 15, 1753: " Yesterday passed by here thirty odd French canoes, part of an army going to Belle Riviere, to make good their claim there. The army is reported to consist of six thousand French." On the 21st of May, as shown by the Colonial Records, " the Governor laid before the board several letters from Governor Clinton, inclosing accounts from Col. Johnson, and from the commanding officer at Oswego, that a large armament of French and Indians, had passed by that Fort, destinated as was suspected for Ohio, in order to take possession of that country, and to build forts on that river; whereupon he had dispatched messengers to the governors of Maryland and Virginia, and likewise Mr. West was sent to Susquehanna, there to procure and send away two messengers, one by Potowmack, and the other by Juniata, to give the Indians notice of this and put them on their guard."
The forces of the French who were thus reported as on their way to the Ohio, though greatly exaggerated, were of considerable strength, learned by other sources to consist of "exactly twenty-four hundred men and eight pieces of brass cannon." This force com- pleted and manned the forts at Presquils, Le Boeuf and Venango, and were preparing to descend the river in force in the following spring. On hearing of these aggressive movements of the French, the Virginia authorities became much alarmed and sent to the Indians on the Ohio, who were known to be unwavering in their friendship for the English, " one hundred small arms, powder, shot, and some clothing," to be distributed by their agents Gist, Montour and Trent. The rumors of fort building by the French, and of their threatening to come as an army with banners, greatly agitated the minds of the simple natives. Their chief, the old Half King, Tanacharison, who represented the Iroquois here, set out to meet the French at Venango and Le Boeuf, to remonstrate with them and to warn them away. But he was received with no consideration, "and was discharged home, and told that he was an old woman, and that all his nation was in their favor only him, and if he would not go home, he would be put in irons." So strongly had the imperious manner of the com- mandant worked upon the old chief, that upon his return he begged with tears in his eyes that the English would go off "for fear they should be hurt." To subsequent messages from the Half King. the commandant returned this message: " But this I will tell you, I am commanded to build four strong houses, viz: at Weningo, Monon- galio Forks, Logs Town and Beaver Creek, and this I will do."
The Half King still persisting in his demands to leave the coun-
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try, the commandant became offensive and scurrilous. " Now, my child, I have heard your speech; you spoke first, and it is my time to speak now. This wampum I do not know, which you have dis- charged me off the land with; but you need not put yourself to the trouble of speaking, for I will not hear you. I am not afraid of flies or mosquitoes, for Indians are such as those; I tell you that down the river I will go, and build upon it, according to my com- mand. If the river was blocked up, I have forces sufficient to burst it open, and tread under my feet all that stand in opposition; for my force is as the sand upon the sea shore; therefore here is your wam- pum; I sling it at you. Child you talk foolish; you say this land belongs to you, but there is not the black of my nail yours. I saw the land sooner than you did. It is my land, and I will have it, let who will stand up for, or say against it."
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