USA > Pennsylvania > Crawford County > Our country and its people. A historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. > Part 8
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No further interruption was experienced until they reached the bottom of a deep dark valley on the border of a stream, marked Dunkard Creek, o11 their map, where they came upon an ancient Indian warpath winding through the dense forest. Here the representatives of the Six Nations de- clared was the limit of the ground which their commission covered, and · refused to proceed further. In the language of the field notes, "This day the Chief of the Indians, which joined us on the 16th of July, informed us that the above mentioned War Path was the extent of his commission from the Chiefs of the Six Nations, that he should go with us to the line, and that he would not proceed one step further."
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For some days previous the Indians had been giving intimations of trouble, and when arrived at the banks of the Manaungahela "twenty-six of our men left us," say the notes. "They would not pass the river for fear of the Shawnees and Delaware Indians. But we prevailed upon fifteen ax-men to proceed with us; and with them we continued the line westward." There would have been no safety to the surveyors without the Indian escort, as they would have been at the mercy of wandering bands of savages who knew not the meaning of the word compassion or mercy, but who would dash the brains out of a helpless infant and tear the scalp from the head of a trembling and defenseless female with as keen a relish as they ever sat down to a breakfast of hot turtle soup. Therefore there was no alterna- tive, and though they were now within thirty-six miles of the end of the line, and in a few days more would have reached the limit, they were forced to desist; and here on the margin of Dunkard Creek, on the line of the famous Indian war-path, in Greene County, Mason and Dixon set up their last monumental stone 233 mn. 13 ch. 68 links from the initial point of this now famous line which bears their name, and ended the survey. Returning to Philadelphia they made their final report to the commissioners of the two States, and received their final discharge on the 26th of December, 1767.
The work of these surveyors was tedious and toilsome, being conducted in the primeval forest through which a continuous vista had to be cleared as they went, and in which they were obliged to camp out in all weathers of a changeable climate. To keep on a due east and west line they were exclusively guided by the stars, and their rest had to be constantly broken by these necessary vigils.
By the terms of the agreement of 1732, and the order of the Lord High Chancellor Hardwick, every fifth mile of this line was to be marked by a stone monument engraved with arms of the Proprietaries, and the interme- diate miles by similar stones marked by a P on the side facing Pennsylvania, and an M on the side facing Maryland. These stones were some twelve inches square, and four feet long, and were cut and engraved in England ready for setting. The fixing the exact location of these stones gave no little vexation to the surveyors. This formal marking, as directed, was ob- served till the line reached Sidelong Hill; but all wheel transportation ceas- ing for lack of roads, the further marking was by the " 'visto,' eight or nine yards wide," "and marks were set up on the tops of the high hills and moun-
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tains. Their entry on the 19th of November, 1767, was: "Snow twelve or fourteen inches deep; made a pile of stones on the top of Savage Moun- tain, or the great dividing ridge of the Alleghany Mountains." Mason and Dixon were paid twenty-one shillings a day for their labor, the entire expense to Pennsylvania being £34, 200, or $171, 000.
It should here be observed that so far as Maryland was concerned the work of the survey should have ended where the western boundary of that State meets the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, though Maryland paid its share of the expense of the survey as long as Mason and Dixon were employed. Why the authorities continued the survey beyond the limits of their State is not evident, though it is probable that the western bound of the State had not yet been surveyed and determined, as it was to be depend- ent upon the most western source of the Potomac River, which had not probably been definitely ascertained, and they may have hoped that a more western spring than any then known would be found which might possibly carry them as far west as Pennsylvania. It is not clear either why the all- thorities of Pennsylvania proceeded further with the survey than the ending of Maryland; for their charter would give them to the beginning of the 40th degree for all territory beyond the limits of Maryland.
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Fac-simile of the Leaden Plates Buried by the French in the Ohio, 1749.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PLANTING OF THE LEADEN PLATES BY CELERON.
A S HAS been previously observed, it was held as a principle of the law of nations that the discovery and occupaney of the mouth of a river entitles the discoverer to all the land drained by that river, and its tributaries, even to their remotest sources. By reason of the discoveries of Marquette and La Salle, and the formal possession taken of the Mis- sissippi River by them under the French Flag, France now laid claim to all the territory drained by this river. Had this claim been enforced all that portion of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia lying to the westward of the watershed formed by the Alleghany Mountains would have been in the possession of the French, and Crawford County would have been settled by a French-speaking people, subjects of the French King.
In the early settlement of the North American Continent by Europeans, the French showed the greater spirit and enterprise, the propagators of the Catholic religion manifesting a zeal rarely equaled in any land. In 1688 France commenced a wasting war against England, its allies, which was finally concluded by the treaty of Ryswick, by which France was confirmed in possession of Hudson Bay, Canada, and the valley of the Mississippi; but it was provided that neither party should interfere with the Indian allies of the other. Both parties laid claim to the Six Nations as allies. Jesttit priests were active in endeavoring to win these Indians over to the French which induced the New York Legislature, in 1700, to pass an act "to hang every popish priest that should come voluntarily into the province." In 1698, through the offices of Count Pontchartrain, D'Iberville was appointed Governor, and his brother, De Bienville, intendant of Louisiana, and were sent with a colony direct to the mouth of the Mississippi to make a settle- ment there.
Peace between France and England was of short duration, and in 1701 war broke out again between them, which was waged along the border in
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America with sanguinary ferocity and cruelty. It was concluded by the peace of Utrecht in 1713. by which England obtained control of the fish- eries. Hudson Bay. and its borders, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, or .Acadie, and it was expressly stipulated that "France should not molest the Five Nations, subject to the dominion of Great Britain. whose posses- sions embraced the whole of New York and Pennsylvania, though the French did not allow them that much territory. But the valley of the Mis- sissippi still remained to the French. the English Ambassadors not being alive to the importance of this magnificent stretch of country. William Penn had advised that the St. Lawrence River should be made the boundary line on the north! and that the English claim should include the great valley of the continent. It "will make a glorious country." said Penn. This advice was given by Penn when he had the ear of the English Monarch. and when he was much relied upon for private counsel. The failure to fix definitely the bounds caused another half century of bitter contention and loody strife. in which the ignorant savages were used as agents by either party. In 1748 a four years' war was concluded between the old enemies. French and English. by the peace of Aix-la-chapelle, by which England was confirmed in ler possessions in North America. But the boun laries were stil indefinite.
France claimed the Mississippi Valley in its entirety : that is. all the land drained by the tributaries of the great river. The British crown claimed the territory on the upper Ohio on the ground of a treaty executed at Lancaster. Pa., in 1744. at which the share paid by Virginia was £220 in goods, and that paid by Maryland £200 in gold. On this purchase the claim of the Iroquois as allies, and the claim of the settlements on the At- lantic coast of territory westward from ocean to ocean, rested the right of tlie English in this imperial valley. The fact is. however, that the party which could show most strength in men and money was destined to hol 1 it. By the middle of the eighteenth century the English, in respect to force. had greatly the advantage. As early as 1688 a census of French North America showed a population of 11.249. while the English population at this time was estimated at a quarter of a million. During the next half cen- tury both nationalities increased rapidly. but the English much the more rapidly.
Previous to the execution of the treaty of Aix-la-chapelle adventurous
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traders from Pennsylvania had explored the passes of the Alleghany Moun- tains and pushed out to the borders of the Monongahela and the Ohio. By the good offices of the colonial Governors of New York and Pennsylvania, the Six Nations had been kept in firm alliance with the English. The French had sought to win them over to their power, and had distributed many showy presents. Thinking that the simple natives would never know the difference, the French had made a large gift of bright looking hatchets, but which, instead of being made of fine steel, were only soft iron. The Indians soon discovered the difference, and were more incensed than ever against the French. Lest the latter, who were active and vigilant. might gain an ad- vantage on the Ohio. Conrad Weiser was sent to Logstown, a few miles below Pittsburg. on the Ohio, in 1748. with valuable and useful presents to win the favor of the natives. It was seen, however, that the valuable trade with the Indians at this time was in the hands "of unprincipled men. half- civilized, half-savage, who, through the Iroquois, had from the earliest pe- riod penetrated to the lakes of Canada and competed everywhere with the French for skins and furs." More with the purpose of controlling and legiti- mizing this trade than of effecting permanent settlements. it was proposed in the Virginia colony to form a great company which should hold the lands on the Ohio, build forts for trading posts, import English goods and estab- lish regular traffic with the Indians. Accordingly. Thomas Lee. President of the Council of Virginia, and twelve other Virginians, among whom was John Hanbury, a wealthy London merchant, formed in 1749 what was known as the "Ohio Company." and applied to the English government for a grant of land for this purpose. The request was favorably received, and the Legislature of Virginia was authorized to grant to the petitioners a half million acres within the bounds of that colony, "west of the Alleghenies. between the Monongahela and Kanawha Rivers; though part of the land might be taken up north of the Ohio should it be deemed expedient." As it will be seen this act of the Virginia Legislature gave away this vast body of land, the most of which was within the State of Pennsylvania, and was the beginning of bitter contention between the two colonies for many years.
It was about this period, in March, 1748, that a boy of sixteen years set out from the abodes of civilization with his theodolite to survey wild lands in the mountains and valleys of the Virginia colony. In a letter to one of his young friends he says: "I have not slept above three or four nights
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in a bed, but after walking a good deal all day I have lain down before the fire upon a little straw, or fodder, or a bear skin, which ever was to be had, with man, wife and children, like dogs and cats; and happy is he who gets the berth nearest the fire." The youth thuis early inured to hardship and toil was none other than George Washington, destined to great labors for his country, and a life of patriotism and unbending devotion scarcely matched in the annals of mankind.
A condition of the grant of the "Ohio Company" was that two hundred thousand acres should be located at once. This was to be held ten years free of rent, provided the company would put there one hundred families within seven years, and build a fort sufficient to protect the settlement. This the company prepared to do, and sent a ship to London for a cargo of goods suited to the Indian trade. Upon the death of Thomas Lee, the President of the Ohio Company, which soon took place. Lawrence Washington, a brother of George, was given the "chief management" of the company, a man of enlightened views and generous spirit.
But the organization of this company, and the preparations to take pos- session of the Ohio country, did not escape the vigilant eye of the French, and if they woukl hold the territory claimed by them they must move at once, or the enterprising English would be there, and would have such a foothold as would render it impossible to rout them.
Accordingly, early in 1749. the Marquis de la Galisonniere. Governor- General of Canada, dispatched Celeron de Bienville with a party of some two hundred French and fifty Indians to take formal possession of the Ohio country, the Allegheny River being designated by the French by that name. Father Bonnecamps acted as chaplain. mathematician and historian of the party. The expedition started on the 15th of June, 1749, from La Chine, on the St. Lawrence. Passing up the river through the network of islands and along the shore of Ontario to Niagara Falls, they commenced the labor of debarking and transporting their entire outfit around the cata- ract. In this work they were engaged for nearly a week; by the 13th of July they were again afloat: but now on the waters of Lake Erie. At a point nearest to Chautauqua Lake they landed and commenced transport- ing their boats and stores overland a distance of eight miles, and over a water shed more than eight hundred feet above the waters of Lake Erie. The party was accompanied by the two sons of Joncaire (Jean Cœur) who
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had lived with the Indians in this locality, and knew every path and water course. To them Celeron looked for guidance in this novel voyage over- land. When surveyors had marked the track, pioneers cut and cleared a road, over which the whole was transported to the shores of Chautauqua. where they again embarked, and passing down the Conewango Creek, the outlet of the lake, made their way to the confluence with the Allegheny River, near the town of Warren. Here they paused to commence the work of possessing the country.
It may be proper to observe in this connection that this experience in reaching Chautauqua Lake, with all their impedimenta, over the high ridge was so toilsome that in future expeditions they abandoned this route and went by the way of Presque Isle (Erie) and Waterford, where they struck French Creek, or the Venango River, down which they floated to the Alle- gheny, at Franklin. In the deposition of one Stephen Coffin before Colonel Johnson of New York, he says: "From Niagara Fort we set off by water. being April, and arrived at Chadakoin (Chautauqua) on Lake Erie, "where they were ordered to fell timber and prepare it for building a fort there, ac- cording to the Governor's instructions; but M. Moraug, coming up with five hundred men and twenty Indians, put a stop to erecting a fort at that place, by reason of his not liking the situation, and the river Chadakoins being too shallow to carry any craft with provisions to Belle Riviere. The deponent says there arose a warm debate between Messieurs Babeer and Moraug thereon, the first insisting on building the fort there agreeable to his instructions, otherwise on Moraug's giving him an instrument in writing to satisfy the Governor on that point, which Morang did, and then Mon- sieur Mercie, who was both commissary and engineer, to go along said lake and look for a good situation, which he found in three days. They were then all ordered thither; they fell to work, and built a square fort of chest- nut logs and called it Fort le Presque Isle. As soon as the fort was finished they marched southward, cutting a wagon road through a fine level country twenty-one miles [15] to the river aux Bœufs [Water- ford]. Thus, though the distance to Chautauqua Lake was not so great as to Waterford, the road to the latter was "through a fine level country," and not over a rugged ridge, as at the former. Thus it was settled that the great traveled route to Fort du Quesne should be by Presque Isle and Ve- nango River, rather than by Chautauqua and the Conewango.
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Celeron and his party had not left the shores of Chautauqua, where he had encamped, probably in the neighborhood of Lakewood, before he dis- covered that his movements were being watched by the natives. Parties were sent out by Celeron to intercept the dusky warriors, but were unstic- cessful. Having reached the Allegheny River at or near Warren, as we have seen, Celeron, with religious ceremony, took possession of the river country and buried a leaden plate on the south bank of the Allegheny River, opposite a little island at the mouth of the Conewango, in token of French possession. Upon the plate was the following inscription in French; we give the English translation: "In the year 1749, of the reign of Louis XIV., King of France, We Celeron, commander of a detachment sent by Monsieur the Marquis de la Galissonière, Governor-General of New France, to re-establish tranquillity in some Indian villages of these cantons, have buried this plate of lead at the confluence of the Ohio with Chautauqua the 29th day of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise Belle Rivière, as a inonument of the renewal of the possession we have taken of the said river Ohio, and of all those which empty into it, and of all the lands on both sides as far as the sources of the said river, as enjoyed, or ought to have been enjoyed, by the King of France preceding, and as they have there maintained themselves, by arms and treaties, especially those of Rys- wick, Utrecht and Aix la Chapelle."
All the men and officers were drawn up in military order when the plate was buried, and Celeron proclaimed in a strong tone, "Vive le Roi!" and declared that possession was now taken of the country in behalf of the French. A plate with the lilies of France inscribed thereon was nailed to a tree near by. All of this officious ceremony did not escape the keen eyes of the ever vigilant and superstitious natives, and scarcely were Celeron and his party well out of sight in their course down the Allegheny before the leaden missive with the mysterious characters engraved thereon was pulled from its place of concealment, and fast runners were on their way to the home of the Iroquois chiefs, who immediately dispatched one of their number to take it to Sir William Johnson, at Albany. Mr. O. H. Marshall, in his admirable historical address on this subject, says: "The first of the leaden plates was brought to the attention of the public by Governor George Clin- ton to the lords of trade in London, dated New York, Dec. 19th, 1750, in which he states that he would send to their lordships in two or three
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weeks a plate of lead full of writing, which some of the upper nations of Indians stole from Jean Cœur, the French interpreter at Niagara, on his way to the river Ohio, which river and all the lands thereabouts, the French claim, as will appear by said writing. He further states that the lead plates gave the Indians so much uneasiness that they immediately dispatched some of the Cayuga chiefs to him with it, saying their only reliance was on him, and earnestly begged he would communicate the contents 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 plates 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 William Johnson, on the 4th of December. 175C [49], at his residence on the Mohawk by a Cayuga sachem.
Governor Clinton also wrote to Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania: "I send you a copy of an inscription on a leaden plate stolen from Jean Cœur some months since, in the Seneca's country, as he was going to the Ohio River, which plainly demonstrates the French scheme by the exorbitant claims therein mentioned; also a copy of a Cayuga Sachem's speech to Colonel Johnson, with his reply." The 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 Cœur, 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 to us ingeniously." (The speaker here delivered the square leaden plate and a wampum belt, and proceeded): "I ami ordered further to acquaint you that Jean Cœur, 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 ten- der regard for you, considered the great difficulties you labor under by carrying your goods, canoes, etc., 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 house there; also at the carrying place between said river Ohio and
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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 Eng- lish towards their people, and the enmity and duplicity of the French, of which many examples were cited, Sir William Johnson said: "Their scheme 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 burying the plate. Proceeding. he said: "This is an affair of the greatest importance to you, as nothing less than all your lands and best hunting places are aimed at, with a view of secluding you entirely from us and the rest of your brethren, viz: the Philadelphians, the Virginians, 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 substantial reasons I could give you to convince you that the French are your implacable enemies; but as I told you before, the very instrument 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 to 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 stibmit to the impending danger which now threatens you, the only way to prevent which is to turn Jean Cœur away immediately 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 it being taken notice of and sent to the Indians on the Ohio, that they may know immediately of the vile designs of the French."
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