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UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
HURONS,
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BULLETIN 78 PLATE II
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APITANASSES
UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
FREDERICK J.H.MERRILL Director
MAP OF THE
TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS
OF THE
ABORIGINES OF NEW YORK
ABOUT A.D. 1600
BY :
+ W.M. BEAUCHAMP, S.T. D.
1904:
Seale of Miles
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University of the State of New York
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
57th ANNUAL REPORT
ce
Soars
WOES 2
APPENDIXES 6-7
Seo MITTED TO TRE LEGISLATURE JAN. 6, 1904; BY THE
REGENTS OF Gi UNIVER STbyY
ALBANY ,
UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK=* |
fj :
1905 i Ni 5 7
\ 5\S9. 7
University of the State of New York
REGENTS 1903
With years of election
1892 WILLIAM CrosweLL Doane D.D. LL.D. Chancellor, Albany
1878 WuireLtaw Rep M.A. LL.D. Vice Chancellor New York
1877 CHauncey M. Derew LL.D. - : - - New York
1877 CHaruers E. Firce LL.B. M.A. L.H.D. - - Rochester
1881 WintiamM H. Watson M.A. M.D. LL.D. : Utica
1881 Henry E. Turner LL.D. - - - Lowville
1883 Sr Cram McKe.way M.A. L.H.D. LL.D. D.C.L. | Brooklyn
1885 Danie, Beacu Ph.D. LL.D. - : : - Watkins
1890 Pruy T. Sexton LL.D. : : - = - Palmyra
1890 T. Guitrorp Smita M.A. C.E. LL.D. - . Buffalo
1893 Lewis A. Stimson B.A. LL-D. M.D - - - New York
1895 ALBERT VANDER VEER M.A. Ph.D. M.D. : Albany
1895 CHarites R. SKinNER M.A. LL.D.
Superintendent of Public Instruction, ex officio
1897 CuHerster S. Lorp M.A. LL.D. - : - - Brooklyn
1900 Tuomas A. Henprick M.A. LL.D. - - - Rochester
1901 BenyamMIn B. OpeLti Jr LL.D. Governor, ex officio-
1901 Rosert C. Pruyn M.A. - - - - - Albany
1902 Witiiam NorrincHam M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. - Syracuse .
19038 Frank W. Hiceins Lieutenant Governor, ex officio
1903 Jouwn F. O'BRIEN Secretary of State, ex officio
1903 Cuarurs A. Garpiner LL.B. M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. New York
1903 Cuarues 8. Francis B.S. - : - - 2. Trey
One vacancy |
‘SECRETARY
Elected by Regents
1900 JAMES Russe_L Parsons gz M.A. LL.D.
STATE MUSEUM COMMITTEE 1903
Regent T. Guitrorp Samira Chairman
Regent C. S. Francis, SUPERINTENDENT OF PuBLic INSTRUCTION
DIRECTORS OF DEPARTMENTS
[888 Metvit Dewey M.A. LL.D. |
State Library and Home Education ~
1890 James RusseLt Parsons gr’ M.A. LL.D.
Administrative, College and High School Dep’ts
1890 Freperick J. H. Merriny Ph.D. State Museum
Appendix 6
Botany 7
v
Museum bulletin 75
7 Report of the State Botanist 1903
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Published monthly by the
University of the State of New York
BULLETIN 313
1904
‘New York State Museum
CHARLES H. Peck State Botanist
Bulletin 75
BOTANY 7
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903
PAGE
PU ROCUGELONIY Aerio decd Saielns 3
Plants added to the herbari-
(TEDL: year eee i ah era tae eh el u
Contributors and their con-
EAU EVOWS 4 oh fone, eco knw oan 9
Species not before reported 12
Remarks and observations.. 22
Taye Ilo) eya nb havea eS eee eee gts aay: 27
HYQ WwW bb
PAGE
F New York species of Cratae-
SUG) eats sin so acre Se areaane Ss Shoes 30
G Supplementary list of plants
of Susquehanna Valley.
FRANK E. FENNO......... 57
Explanation of plates........... 60
Plates O, 84-86........... follow 63
HOG SDR tes eaten en es eR 65
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‘University of the State of New York
New York State Museum
FrRepeRICK J. H. Merritu Director
CuHarues H. Peck State Botanist
Bulletin 75
BOTANY 7
merORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903
To the Regents of the University of the State of New York
I have the honor of submitting to you the following report of
work done in the botanical department of the State Museum
during the past year.
Specimens of plants for the herbarium have been collected in
the counties of Albany, Columbia, Essex, Hamilton, Oswego,
Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie, Warren and Washington.
Specimens that were collected in the counties of Chautauqua,
Chemung, Essex, Herkimer, Onondago, Ontario, Richmond, Sara-
toga, Schoharie, Seneca, Steuben, Suffolk, Wayne and Westchester
have been received from correspondents.
Specimens collected and contributed represent 193 species. Of
these, 46 are new to the herbarium and 18 are considered new or
undescribed species. Of the 46 species, 35 are from the collections
of the state botanist, 11 from those of correspondents. Of the
13 species, 12 belong to the collections of the botanist, one to
those of his correspondents. A list of the names of the species
added to the herbarium is marked A.
A list of the names of contributors and of the names of their
respective contributions is marked B. The number of those who
_ have contributed specimens is 41. Some of the specimens con-
tributed belong to extralimital species. Some were sent merely
for identification, but if for any reason their preservation seemed
4 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
desirable and their condition was satisfactory, they have been pre-
served and credited to the sender as a contribution. The number
of those who have sent specimens for identification is 90, the
number of identifications made is 623. :
Names of species added to our flora, with notes concerning
their habitats, localities and time of collection of the specimens,
with descriptions of new species are contained in a part of the
report marked C.
Remarks and observations on species previously reported, new
stations of rare plants, unusual habits and descriptions of new
varieties may be found in a part of the report marked D.
Specimens of many species of fleshy, corky and coriaceous fungi
are specially subject to the attacks of destructive insects. In
order to attain greater security against these attacks a series of
such specimens representing about 500 species has been placed
in small pasteboard boxes with close fitting covers. These boxes
are in different sizes that they may be suitable for the reception |
of specimens of species of different sizes. The dimensions of the
boxes vary in such a way that they present a certain degree of
uniformity when arranged in proper order on the shelves of wall
cases. They are 3x4, 4x6 or 6x8 inches in width and length and
1+ or 24 inches deep. The alphabetic arrangement of the genera
represented by their contents has been adopted to facilitate refer-
ence to them.
The: investigation of our mushroom flora has been continued,
but the crop of wild mushrooms has been unusually deficient
and the additions to the herbarium correspondingly small. Still,
a few species have been tested for their edible qualities and found -
to be worthy of addition to the list of New York edible species.
Colored figures of these have been prepared and plain descriptions
of them may be found in a part of the report marked E.
In my last report the general deficiency of the mushroom crop
and the almost total absence of the common mushroom,
Agaricus campester, were recorded and the peculiar
character of the season was assigned as the probable cause. The
season of 1903 has been similar to that of 1902 in its abundance .
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 5
A
of rain and in its prevailing low temperature. It has also been
similar, at least in the eastern part of the State, in its adverse
influence on mushroom growth. In some respects its adverse
character seems to have been intensified. Possibly the excessive
drouth in the early part of the season may to some extent be
responsible for this by preventing the development of the my-
celium of some species. In 1895 and 1896 the abundance of the
crop of the common mushroom and of the smooth mushroom was
remarkable. They had then apparently reached ‘their greatest
abundance. In the few following years they appeared in moderate
but diminishing quantity. In 1901 but few were seen in the
vicinity of Albany. In 1902 they were still less in number and
in 1903 I did not see a single specimen of the common mushroom
in the whole region about Albany. This species at least seems
to have reached its lowest point of productiveness. The proba-
bility is that there will now be a gradual return to greater crops
of this mushroom. It is very evident that much moisture,
specially if attended by prevailing low temperature, is not favor-
able to large crops of mushrooms. Probably the most favorable
seasons will be found to be those of moderate rainfall and
medium or rather high temperature, the rains being gentle and
frequent.
Specimens of about 75 species and varieties of edible mush-
rooms have been placed in trays and arranged in table cases for
permanent exhibition. Specimens of species of fungi injurious
to wood have also been placed in table cases, and also species of
parasitic fungi destructive to cultivated and useful plants.
These and samples of wood and bark affected by mycelium of
various wood-destroying fungi constitute an economic collection
of fungi which should be instructive and of popular interest.
The study of the Crataegus flora of the eastern part of the
State has been continued and considerable time devoted to it.
Specimens have been collected in the counties of Albany, Saratoga,
Warren, Essex, Washington, Rensselaer and Columbia. A few
have also been collected in the counties of Hamilton and Scho-
harie, but only a single visit was made to each of these localities,
6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
a
and therefore the specimens from them are too incomplete to be
satisfactory. These places must be again visited earlier in the
season in order to get flowering specimens. Those who have made
a special study of these trees and shrubs and have recently pub-
lished many new species have given specific value to such charac-
ters as require a very complete set of specimens to make the
identification certain and satisfactory. There are also some
characters that are not well shown by the dried specimens and
in order to make these available notes must be taken of them at
the time the specimens are collected. The number of species
recently described is so great that it seems very probable that
mere varieties and perhaps mere forms have been in some cases
described as species. But error in this direction may have a ten-
dency to stimulate closer observation on the part of others in
their efforts to recognize the fine distinctions made and may in the
end be productive of better results than error in the other direc-
tion would be. According to the present understanding of these
plants the number of species of Crataegus added to our flora is
19. They are specially noticed in a part of the report marked F.
A supplementary list of plants of the Susquehanna valley is
marked G. It is composed of the names and annotations of
species detected since the previous list was written and of species
accidentally omitted from that list. It includes about 30 species.
Respectfully submitted
CHARLES H. Preck
Albany, Dec. 2, 1908
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 i
PLANTS ADDED TO THE HERBARIUM
New to the herbarium
Asarum reflexum Bick.
Aster curvescens Burgess
Crataegus ascendens S.
brainerdi S.
conjuncta SN.
contigua S.
delucida S.
dilatata S.
dissona S.
egglestoni S.
exclusa S.
flabellata (Spach) Rydb.
gravesii S.
irrasa S.
intricata Lange
lobulata S.
praecoqua WN.
matura S.
peckii 8.
3 succulenta Lk.
Daphne mezereum L.
Entoloma griseum Pk.
Geoglossum farlowi Cke.
Haplosporella maclurae #. & B.
eS etehelehoNelio=*MoleRkeonole els.
Q
Hebeloma socialis Pk.
Hypomyces boletinus Pk.
Hydnum balsameum Pk.
Ei macrescens Banker
Inocybe castanea Pk.
ie excoriata Pk.
dis fallax Pk.
I. serotina Pk.
ie squamosodisca Pk
Isaria brachiata (Batsch) Schum.
Iva xanthiifolia (Fres.) Nutt.
Lactarius subvelutinus Pk.
Nardia obovata (Nees)
Oxalis brittonae Small
Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton
Phacelia dubia (L.) Small
Phaeopezia retiderma (Cke.) Sacc.
Podosphaera leucotricha (H. & EH.)
Salm.
Sarcoscypha rhenana Fckl.
Stereum burtianum Pk.
Tricholoma subluteum Pk.
Ulmaria rubra Hill
Not new to the herbarium
Agaricus arvensis Schaeff.
Agrostemma githago L.
Agastache scrophulariaefolia
(Willd.)
Agrostis perennans (Walt.) Tuckm.
Allium canadense. LD.
A. vineale D.
Alsine graminea (Z.) Britton
Althaea rosea Cav.
Amelanchier botryapium (ZL. f.) DC.
A, rotundifolia (Mz.)
Roem.
Antennaria parlinii Fern.
A. plantaginea R. Br.
Arcyria punicea Pers.
Aster rose. variifolius Pk.
A. undulatus DZ.
Berberis vulgaris LD.
Bidens cernua L.
Boletus americanus Pk.
B. chry. albocarneus Pk.
B. elbensis Pk.
Bs luridus Schaeff.
B. piperatus Bull.
B. rubinellus Pk.
Bromus tectorum ZL.
Cantharellus cibarius Fr.
(CE infundibuliformis
(Scop.) Fr.
C. tubaeformis F'r.
Cardamine pennsylvanica Muwhl.
Collybia acervata Fr.
C. familia Pk.
C. velutipes Curt.
8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Claudopus nidulans (Pers.) Pk. Lactarius subd. oculatus Pk.
Clavaria inaequalis Mull. L. vellereus Fr.
C. krombholzii Fr. Lenzites sepiaria Fr.
Conium maculatum LD. Lepiota amianthina Scop.
Coprinus micaceus Fr. Lychnis alba Mill.
Cornus candidissima Marsh. Lycoperdon perlatum Pers.
C. stolonifera Mz. Lycopodium clavatum LZ.
Cortinarius amarus Pk. L. obscurum L.
ee canescens Pk. Marasmius scorodonius F'r.
C. cinnabarinus Fr. Matricaria matricarioides (Less.)
C. rigidus Fr. Porter
C. uliginosus Berk. Meibomia bracteosa (Mz.) Kuntze
Craterellus clavatus (Pers.) Fr. Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam.
Crataegus champlainensis S. Moneses unifiora (L.) Gray
C. coccinea LD. Mycena galericulata (Scop.) Fr.
C. crus-galli D. Myosotis laxa Lehm.
C. * holmesiana Ashe Myrica gale L.
C. macracantha Lodd. Osmunda regalis LD.
C. modesta S. Otidea onotica (Pers.) Fckl.
C. oxyacantha LD. Pinus echinata Mill.
C. pringlei S. lea strobus LD.
C. pruinosa Wend. : Pleurotus porrigens Pers.
C. punctata Jacq. Polyporus cuticularis (Bull.) Fr.
Dalibarda repens ZL. aa picipes Fr.
Daucus carota L. Polystictus abietinus F'r.
Echium vulgare ZL. Pr hirsutus Fr.
Entoloma grayanum Pk. QP. perennis (Z.) Fr.
Euonymus obovatus Nutt. Protomyces erythronii Pk.
Fomes fomentarius (L.) Fr. Puccinia suaveolens .(Pers.) Rostr.
FR. igniarius (L.) Fr. Ribes floridum L’Her.
F. pinicola Fr. R. rubrum JL.
Galera lateritia Fr. Rubus canadensis D.
Galium mollugo Z. R. nigrobaccus Bail.
G. tinctorium LD. R. occid. pallidus Bail.
Gentiana andrewsii Griseb. Russula furcata (Pers.) Fr.
Gratiola virginiana LD. RB. dens. paxilloides Pk.
Heliopsis helianthoides (L.) B. S. P. | R. flaviceps Pk.
Helvella ambigua Karst. R. fragilis (Pers.) Fr.
Hirneola auricula-judae (L.) Berk. R. purpurina Q. & S.
Hydnum coralloides Scop. Salix discolor Muhl.
H. grav. subzonatum Pk. S. fragilis L.
Hygrophorus capreolaris Kalchb. Sanicula gregaria Bick.
HL pudorinus Fr. Scirpus atrocinctus Fern.
Hypericum arcyron L. S. atrovirens Muhl.
Hypholoma capnoides F'r. Ss. pedicellatus Fern.
H. subaquilum Bann. Septoria rhoina B. & C.
Hypocrea fungicola Karst. Sisymbrium altissimum JL.
Lactarius affinis Pk. Solidago canadensis L.
L. deliciosus Fr. Spiraea Salicifolia DL.
L. glyciosmus Fr. Stropharia depilata (Pers.) Fr.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903
Symphytum officinale L.
Taraxacum taraxacum (L.) Karst.
Thelephora palmata (Scop.) Fr.
Thymus serpyllum JL.
Tragopogon pratensis LD.
Tricholoma sejunctum Sow.
aha subacutum Pk.
T. vaccinum (Pers.) Fr.
Ustilago zeae (Beckm.) Ung.
Uvularia sessilifolia LD.
Valerianella radiata (£.) Dufour
Verbena angustifolia Ma.
Viola blanda Willd.
cucullata Aié.
labradorica Schrank
rotundifolia Ma.
selkirkii Pursh
inca one.
CONTRIBUTORS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS
Mrs E. G. Britton, New York
Anomodon attenuatus Huweben.
A. apiculatus B. & 8S.
Bryum nutans Schreb.
Buxbaumia aphylla LZ.
Cephalozia curvifolia Dumort.
Collema plicatile Ach.
Cylindrothecium seductrix Swill.
Dicranum flagellare Hedw.
Pp. ' viride Schp.
Grimmia apocarpa Hedw.
Hypnum brevirostre Hhrh.
chrysophyllum Brid.
imponens Hedw.
lindbergii Limpt.
novae-angliae S. &é LD.
proliferum L.
schreberi Willd.
Hypnum triquetrum L.
Homalia gracilis James
Leptotrichum pallidum Hampe
Leucodon brachypus Brid.
Mnium aff. ciliare C. é M.
MM. cuspidatum Hedw.
M. medium B. &é S.
Philonotis fontana Brid.
Platygyrium repens B. & SN.
Polytrichum juniperinum Willd.
Porella platyphylla Lindb.
Pylaisaea polyantha B. & 8.
120 velutina B. & SN.
Sphagnum cymbifolium Hhrh.
Trichostomum brev. holtii Dixon
Ulota crispa Brid.
Weisia viridula Brid.
Mrs H. C. Davis, Falmouth Me.
Thalesia uniflora (L.) Britton
| Lysimachia vulgaris L.
Mrs M.S. De Coster, Little Falls
Daphne mezereum L.
Mrs P. H. Dudley, New York
Carex stricta Lam. (Culms and leaves)
Mrs L. L. Goodrich, Syracuse
Phacelia dubia (L.) Smail
Miss M. Hope, Seattle Wash.
Pseudotsuga mucronata Carr. (Piece of bark)
Mrs M. A. Knickerbocker, San Francisco Cal.
Arbutus menziesii Pursh
Quercus dumosa Nutt.
Tumion californicum Greene
Umbellularia californica Nutt.
Rhamnus californica Hschs.
Miss J. A. Moses, Jamestown
Viola rotundifolia Ma.
10 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Miss E. §. Thomas, Schoharie
Craterellus clavatus (Pers.) Fr.
J. C. Arthur, Lafayette Ind.
Phragmidium speciosum F'7. Uromyces acuminatus Arth.
Puccinia amphigena Diet. Puccinia eleocharidis Arth.
Ravenelia portoricensis Arth.
H. J. Banker, California Pa.
Craterellus dubius Pk.
W. C. Barbour, Sayre Pa.
Irpex paradoxus (Schrad.) Fr.
Isaria brachiata (Baisch) Schum.
Xylaria grandis Pk.
F. J. Braendle, Washington D.C.
Corticium salicinum Fr.
Dasyscypha virginea (Batsch) Fckl.
Fuligo violacea Pers.
Amanitopsis vaginata (Bull.) Roze Flammula spumosa Fr.
Clitocybe virens (Scop.) Fr. -Lachnea hemisphaerica (Wigg.) Gill.
Collybia strictipes Pk. Pholiota lutea Pk.
C. tort. setipes Pk. Thelephora vialis Schw.
E. Bartholomew, Rockport Kan.
Tylostoma mammosum (Wich.) Fr. | Pluteus longistriatus Pk.
fk poculatum White
S. H. Burnham, Vaughbns
Paspalum muhlenbergil Nash
Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton
Xanthium commune Britton
Asarum reflexum Bick.
Aster curvescens Burgess
Oxalis brittonae Small
G. D. Cornell, Cooper’s Plains
Hydrangea arborescens LD. | Lilium superbum JZ.
J. Dearness, London Ont.
Diaporthe microstroma H#. é E. Hemitrichia vesparium (Batsch)
Dy: velata Pers. Lycogala exiguum Vorg.
Dichomera prunicola H. & D. Trichia incarnata Pers.
W. G. Farlow, Cambridge Mass.
Nardia obovata Nees
F. E. Fenno, Nichols
Carex flava L. Verbena angustifolia Ma.
Salix myrtilloides ZL. Woodwardia virginica (Z.) Sm.
A. 0. Garratt, Salt Lake City Utah
Puccinia calochorti Pk. | Puccinia plumbaria Pk.
C. Gramesly, Charleston Ill.
Agaricus abruptus Pk.
N. M. Glatfelter, St Louis Mo.
Flammula eccentrica Pk. Pholiota autumnalis Pk.
Galera capillaripes Pk. Russula luteobasis Pk.
Hypholoma ornellum Pi R: pusilla Pk. ‘
Lactarius subvelutinus Pk Tricholoma viscosum Pk.
Pholiota detersibilis Pk.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 1i
L. W. Hahn, Silver Creek
Huonymus obovatus Nutt.
Cc. C. Hanmer, East Hartford Ct.
Geoglossum farlowi Cke.
W. Herriot, Galt Ont.
Bromus cil. laeviglumis Scrib. | Panicum lanuginosum £il.
R. B. Hough, Lowville
Pinus echinata Mill.
F. G. Howland, Saratoga
Collybia velutipes Curt.
R. B. Mackintosh, Peabody Mass.
Clitocybe cerussata Fr. Tricholoma grammopodium (Bull.)
Deconica bryophila Pk. Fr.
Pleurotus petaloides (Bull.) Fr.
C. McIlvaine, Cambridge Md.
Hypomyces viridis (A. € 8S.) Karst. | Phytophthora phaseoli Thaz.
Panaeolus epimyces Pk.
W. S. Moffatt, Chicago IIl.
Clitocybe piceina Pk. | Pholiota comosa Fr.
G. E. Morris, Waltham Mass.
Boletinus grisellus Pk. Lentinus tigrinus Fr.
Boletus parasiticus Bull. Otidea onotica (Pers.) Fckl.
R. S. Phifer, Danville Va.
Boletus morgani P&. | Polyporus curtisii Berk.
iB: caespitosus Pk.
E. B. Sterling, Trenton N. J.
Geaster minimus Schw. Agaricus cothurnatus Pk.
G. pectinatus Pers. A. rutilescens Pk.
G. giovanellae Bres. A. solidipes Pk. |
Catastoma subterraneum (Pk.) Morg. | A. sphaerosporus Pk.
R. H. Stevens, Detroit Mich.
Helvella stevensii Pk.
F. C. Stewart, Geneva
Haplosporella maclurae H. & B.
D. R. Sumstine, Kittanning Pa.
Dictydiaethalium plumbeum Podosphaera oxyacanthae DC.
(Schum.) Puccinia cryptotaeniae Pk.
Lentinus ursinus Fr. Stropharia squam. aurantiaca Cke.
Merulius tremellosus Schrad. Urnula craterium (Schw.) Fr.
W. E. Warner, Washington D. C.
Amanita radicata Pk. Pluteus cervinus (Schae/ff.) Fr.
A, muse. formosa (G. ¢ R.) Polyporus cuticularis Fr.
B. C. Williams, Newark
Inocybe serotina Pk.
12 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
J. R. Cushier, New York City
Panaeolus solidipes Pk.
A. Knechtel, Albany
Picea canadensis (Mill.) B. 8S. P. (Trunk section)
L. H. Watson, Chicago Ill.
Clitocybe piceina Pk.
C
SPECIES NOT BEFORE REPORTED
Asarum reflexum Bick.
Ravines. Williams Bridge, Westchester co. May. S. H. Burn-
ham.
Aster curvescens Burgess.
Woodlawn cemetery, Westchester co. July. S. H. Burnham.
Crataegus ascendens Sarg.
Clayey soil in pastures and borders of woods. North Green-
bush and Rensselaer. May, July and September.
Crataegus brainerdi Sarg.
Rocky places in pastures. Sandlake. May and September.
Crataegus conjuncta Sarg.
Clayey and sandy soil. North Greenbush and in various places
north and northeast of Albany. May, September and October.
Crataegus contigua Sarg.
Shaly soil. Lansingburg. May and September.
Crataegus delucida Sarg.
Clayey hillsides north of Albany. May and September.
Crataegus dilatata Sarg.
Clayey soil, roadsides and pastures. Thompsons Lake, Albany
co. and Gansevoort, Saratoga co. June, July and September.
Crataegus dissona Sarg.
Clayey soil. Near Albany, Rensselaer, Lansingburg, Copake
and Thompsons Lake. May, July and September.
Crataegus egglestoni Sarg.
Rocky places. Crown Point. May, July and September.
Crataegus exclusa Sarg.
Clayey soil. Crown Point. May, July and September.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 13
Crataegus flabellata (Spach) Rydb.
Rocky places near the lake shore. Crown Point. May and Sep-
tember. This is a beautiful species well marked by its deeply
and sharply lobed shining leaves, its 20 stamens with pink
anthers and its globose fruit.
Crataegus gravesil Sarg.
Clayey soil. Albany, North Greenbush and Westport. May,
June, September and October.
Crataegus irrasa Sarg.
Clayey soil. North Greenbush. May, June and September.
Crataegus intricata Lange
Hillsides near Albany and north of Lansingburg. May, June
and September.
Crataegus lobulata Sarg.
Clayey soil. Crown Point. May and September.
Crataegus macracantha Lodd.
Clayey and sandy soil. North Greenbush, Thompsons Lake,
Fort Ann and North Elba. May, June and September. This was
formerly reported as a variety of Crataegus coccinea,
but is now considered a distinct species. The name indicates that
it has long spines, but they are not always conspicuously long. Its
stamens vary in number from 7 to 10 and its anthers are whitish
or pale yellow.
Crataegus matura Sarg.
Rocky or bushy pastures. Gansevoort, Saratoga co. and Lake
Pleasant, Hamilton co. June, August and September.
Crataegus peckii Sarg.
Shaly soil. North of Lansingburg. May and October.
| Crataegus praecoqua Sarg.
Clayey soil. Crown Point. May and September. First discov-
ered here by W. W. Eggleston.
Crataegus succulenta Link
Clayey soil. Albany, Albia, Rensselaer co. and Central Bridge,
Schoharie co. May, July and September.
- In view of the growing interest in the study of our species of
Crataegus it has been thought best to give descriptions of such
14 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
of our species as are not described in any of our manuals. These
descriptions and remarks on the genus will be found in another
part of the report. |
Daphne mezereum L.
Gravesville, Herkimer co. Mrs M. S.. DeCoster. The spurge
laurel or mezereon is an introduced shrub. It is sometimes culti-
vated but escapes from cultivation and grows wild.
Entoloma griseum n. sp.
Pileus fleshy, firm, broadly campanulate or convex, obtuse or
slightly umbonate, glabrous, often irregular, hygrophanous,
grayish brown when moist, paler when dry, flesh whitish, odor
and taste farinaceous; lamellae adnexed, emarginate, with a de-
current tooth, about 2 lines broad, pale pink; stem equal or
slightly tapering upward, silky fibrillose, pruinose or mealy at
the top, stuffed or hollow, grayish white; spores angular, nearly
as broad as long, .0003 of an inch long.
Pileus 1-3 inches broad; stem 1-2 inches long, 3-5 lines thick.
Under spruce and balsam fir trees. Lake Pleasant. August.
It is closely related to E. grayanum from which it may be
separated by its darker color, more narrow gills and different
place of growth.
Euonymus obovatus Nutt.
Woods. Silver creek, Chautauqua co. L. W. Hahn.
This decumbent or trailing shrub was reported by Dr Torrey to
belong to our flora, but he considered it a mere variety of
Euonymus americanus. It is now regarded as a dis-
tinct species differing from the strawberry bush in its smaller
flowers, obtuse and more finely crenulate leaves, earlier time of
flowering and decumbent or trailing mode of growth.
Geoglossum farlowi Cke.
Fishers island, Suffolk co. September. C. C. Hanmer. This
fungus is much like G. hirsutum in external appearance, but
its spores have but three septa.
Haplosporella maclurae E. & B.
Dead stems of wistaria. Geneva. April. F.C. Stewart.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 15
Hebeloma socialis n. sp.
Pileus fleshy but thin, convex, becoming plane or nearly so,
glabrous, slightly viscid when moist, dingy yellowish white, flesh
concolorous, taste nauseous; lamellae thin, close, slightly rounded
behind, adnexed, at first whitish, then yellowish, finally brownish
ferruginous; stem short, fibrous, floccose fibrillose, hollow with a
small cavity, white; spores brownish ferruginous, elliptic, .00025-
0008 of an inch long, .09016-.0002 broad.
Pileus 8-15 lines broad; stem 12-18 lines long, 1.5-3 lines thick.
Closely gregarious or subcespitose. Among short grass in pas-
tures and golf ground. Menands. October. Distinguished from
our other white or whitish species by its peculiar habitat and
mode of growth and by its small spores.
Hypomyces boletinus n. sp.
Perithecia minute, conic or subglobose, closely nestling in a
pallid or whitish subiculum, pale red or orange; asci slender,
linear, .001-.005 of an inch long, scarcely .0003 broad; spores sub-
fusiform, continuous, acuminate or apiculate at one end, .0008-.001
of an inch long, .00025 broad.
On some unrecognized decaying boletus, associated with
Sepedonium chrysospermum. It differs from H.
polyporinus, to which it is most closely related, in its
more highly colored perithecia and longer spores, and from
H. boleticola in the color of the subiculum.
Hydnum balsameum n. sp.
Resupinate with a very thin whitish or pallid subiculum; aculei
mere conic brown points closely scattered but not crowded, giving
to the surface a brown color.
Decorticated wood of balsam fir. North Elba. September. It
sometimes grows on the bark also.
Hydnum macrescens Banker in lit.
Resupinate, effused, the thin subiculum less than 1 mm thick,
ochraceous, subfarinaceous, specially in the thinner portions and
on the woody substratum, rimose, the margin indeterminate;
mycelium white, arachnoid, spreading in places beyond the subic-
16 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
ulum; teeth scattered, minute, .1-.25 mm long, .05-.1 mm broad,
obtuse, often forked. colored like the subiculum but paler or white
at the subciliate tips. Growing chiefly on the hymenial surface
of Stereum frustulosum but often spreading over the
substratum of decayed wood. Mt McGregor, Saratoga co. July.
The growth is most vigorous on the surface of the-Stereum,
where the subiculum becomes thickest and the teeth most numer-
ous. On the woody substratum the growth is poor, the subiculum is
thin and often the mycelium spreads naked over the surface of the
wood. This has suggested the specific name. The thinning out.of
the subiculum indicates that the fungus finds its proper nourish-
ment in the tissues of the Stereum and it is doubtful if it will be
found dissociated from that plant. It appears to be related to
H. sulphurellum Pk. but differs from it in color, in the
indeterminate margin and in the ciliate teeth.
Inocybe castanea n. sp.
PLATE 0, FIG. 1-8
Pileus conic or convex, umbonate, rimose fibrillose, the margin
incurved, dark chestnut brown; lamellae thin, narrow, close,
- adnate, whitish or pallid when young, ferruginous brown when
mature; stem equal, hollow, glabrous, slightly pruinose or mealy
at the top; paler than the pileus; often whitened at the base by
mycelioid tomentum; spores angular, nearly or quite as broad
as long, .00025-.0003 of an inch long and broad; cystidia subfusi-
form, .002-.0024 of an inch long.
Pileus 5-8 lines broad; stem 10-18 lines long, about 1 line thick.
Mossy ground under spruce and balsam fir trees. Lake Pleasant.
August.
This species is very closely related to I. umboninota from
which it may be separated by its smaller size, the chestnut tint of
the cap, its hollow stem and smaller merely angular spores.
Cystidia are more abundant. The species belongs to section
Rimosi.
Inocybe excoriata n. sp.
PLATE 0, FIG. 14-19
Pileus fleshy, broadly conic, soon broadly convex, umbonate,
fibrillose or fibrillose squamulose, somewhat silky or tomentose
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 le
on the margin, grayish brown or pale vandyke brown, the cuticular
surface often cracking and separating in places but remaining on
the disk and sometimes on the margin, flesh white; lamellae nar-
row, close, emarginate, adnexed, decurrent with a tooth, crenu-
late on the edge, white becoming brownish gray ; stem equal, solid,
silky fibrillose, white or whitish without and within; spores yel-
lowish brown (raw umber), elliptic, even, .0003-.0004 of an inch
long, .0002-.00024 broad; cystidia flask shape, .002-.0024 of an
inch long.
Pileus 1-2 inches broad; stem 1-2 inches long, 2-3 lines thick.
Among fallen leaves in woods. Lake Pleasant. August.
The surface of the pileus cracks longitudinally and therefore
the species belongs to the section Rimosi. The peeling and disap-
. pearance of parts of the cuticle suggest the specific name. A
slight whitish webby veil is present in the young plant.
Inocybe fallax n. sp.
PLATE 0, FIG. 20-24
Pileus thin, campanulate or convex, umbonate, obscurely fibril-
lose, sometimes minutely and obscurely squamulose, whitish or buff
white, somewhat shining, the margin decurved or incurved, often
splitting; lamellae thin, close, rounded behind, slightly adnexed,
pallid when young, becoming rusty brownish when old; stem
long, equal, hollow, flexuous, minutely pruinose, mealy, whitish ;
spores angular, slightly nodulose, .0003-.0004 of an inch long,
.00024-.0003 broad; cystidia .0016-.002 of an inch long, .0006-.0007
broad, oblong elliptic.
Pileus 1-2 inches broad; stem 2-3 inches long, 2-4 lines thick.
Among fallen leaves in woods. Lake Pleasant. August.
This species might easily be taken for a large form of I.
geophylla, but an examination of its spores shows it to be
distinct. Its cystidia are short and broad.
Inocybe serotina n. sp.
Pileus fleshy, firm, varying from campanulate to nearly plane,
fibrillose toward the margin, white, sometimes tinged with yellow
or brownish yellow, flesh white; lamellae close, rounded behind,
nearly free, subventricose in fully expanded specimens, whitish
18 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
becoming brownish cinnamon; stem nearly equal, bulbous or nar-
rowed at the base, long or short, solid, fibrous, white; spores
oblong, even, .0005-.0006 of an inch long, .00024-.0003 broad.
Pileus 1-2.5 inches broad; stem 1-2 inches long, 3-6 lines thick.
Sandy shores of Sodus bay and Lake Ontario. October. E. B.
Burbank. Communicated by B. C. Williams.
Related to I. sambucina from which it differs in the
fibrillose margin of the cap, in the darker color of the mature
lamellae, in the larger spores and in its habitat. From Hebe-
loma colvini, which also grows in sandy soil, it differs in
its whitish color, longer spores and solid stem. Its mycelium
binds together a mass of sand which forms a somewhat bulbous
base to the stem. Mr Burbank says that it occurred in great
abundance in October and that it is edible.
Inocybe squamosodisca n. sp.
PLATE 0, FIG. 10-13
Pileus fleshy, firm, convex, dry, fibrillose on the margin, rimose
sSquamose in the center, ochraceous buff, flesh whitish or yellowish
white; lamellae rather broad, moderately close, adnate, pale
ochraceous, becoming darker with age; stem short, firm, equal,
solid, fibrillose, colored like the pileus; spores elliptic, even,
-0003-.0004 of an inch long, .0002-.00024 broad.
Pileus 1-2 inches broad; stem about 1 inch long, 2-3 lines thick.
Gregarious. Under pine trees. Shore of Sacandaga lake. August.
The scales of the pileus are flat and spotlike and are formed by
the cracking of the cuticle. |
Isaria brachiata (Batsch) Schum.
On decaying Tremellodon gelatinosum. Van
Etten. October. W.C. Barbour.
Iva xanthiifolia (Fres.) Nutt.
Waste places in the northern part of Albany. August. Intro-
duced from the west but growing freely here.
Lactarius subvelutinus n. sp.
Pileus fleshy, firm, convex or nearly plane, subumbilicate, dry,
minutely velvety or pruinose velvety, sometimes rugose, golden
tawny, flesh white, milk white, taste mild; lamellae narrow,
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 19
close, adnate or slightly decurrent, yellowish or cream color,
becoming darker with age; stem short, equal, solid, colored like
or a little paler than the pileus; spores white, globose, nearly
smooth, .0003 of an inch broad.
Pileus 1-2 inches broad; stem .5-1 inch long, 2-4 lines thick.
Woods and open places. Meadowdale and Cemetery, Albany co.
August.
Nardia obovata Nees
Rocks. Rainbow falls near Lower Ausable lake, Essex co.
September. W. G. Farlow.
Oxalis brittonae Small
Van Cortland park, Westchester co. June. S. H. Burnham.
Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton
Sleepy Hollow near Tarrytown. October. S. H. Burnham.
This is an introduced species.
Phacelia dubia (L.) Small,
Shady places on limestone rocks near Jamesville, Onondaga co.
October. Mrs L. L. Goodrich.
In our botanies, Pennsylvania is the northeastern limit assigned
to the range of this plant. Its discovery near Jamesville by Mrs
Goodrich extends its range northward and adds a beautiful little
wild flower to our flora. Its usual flowering time is in spring,
but these specimens were found in flower the last week in October.
The plants grew in patches several feet in diameter. The species
is described in Gray’s Manual under the name Phacelia
parviflora Pursh.
Phaeopezia retiderma (Cke.) Sacc.
Ground in shaded places. Sandlake, Rensselaer co.
Podosphaera leucotricha (E. & E.) Salmon
Parasitic on living twigs of appletrees. Clyde, Wayne co. W. L.
Devereaux. ' |
This species of mildew is peculiar in its perithecia having
two sets of appendages, one apical, the other basal. It is specially
injurious to the young branches of trees in the nursery, but it
rarely attacks the twigs of old trees, though suckers from the base
or roots are said to be more liable to attack.
20 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Puccinia simillima Arthur }
Leaves and sheaths of Phragmites phragmites. Near
Savannah, Wayne co. September.
Paspalum muhlenbergii Nash
Bedford Park, Westchester co. September. S. H. Burnham.
Paspalum prostratum Nash
Sandy soil. Manor, Suffolk co. August.
Russula densifolia Secr.
Among decaying leaves in woods. Lake Pleasant. August.
This species is closely related to R. adusta from which it
may be separated by the slight reddening of the flesh where
wounded. Our specimens are a peculiar form in which many of
the lamellae are forked at the base. They also separate at the
inner extremity from the stem and pileus and curl outward reveal-
ing the hymenophore beneath. All the specimens found exhibited
this character. It indicates a feeble attachment of the hymenium
to the hymenophore and is suggestive of a relationship to the
genus Paxillus. The white spores, however, show that it is not
referable to that genus. It may be called variety paxil-
loides.
-Russula furcata (Pers.) Fr.
Ground in woods. Near Albany. July. An edible species.
Sarcoscypha rhenana F'ckl.
Capular, stipitate or subsessile, single or cespitose, often irreg-
ular, incurved on the margin when young, externally pruinose
tomentose, pale yellow; hymenium pale yellow becoming orange
tinted with age or in drying, sometimes slightly pruinose; stem
short or almost none, when well developed whitened by a short
downy tomentum; asci cylindric; spores elliptic, verrucose, .0008-
-0009 of an inch long, .0004-.0005 broad, nea containing one
or two shining nuclei.
Cups 4-8 lines broad ; stem 2-6 lines long, 2-4 ae, Decaying
leaves and other vegetable matter in woods. Lake Pleasant.
August. Its relationship is with 8S. imperialis from which
it differs in the character of its spores and in its more highly
colored hymenium.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 21
Stereum burtianum n. sp.
PLATE 0; FIG. 30-34
Pileus thin, submembranaceous, coriaceous, fibrous, subinfundi-
buliform, sometimes dimidiate, slightly uneven with radiating
fibrous ridges, pallid with a slight cervine or rufescent tint, some-
what shining, the thin margin erect, spreading or decurved,
slightly wavy or.uneven on the edge and often incised or laciniate ;
hymenium even or slightly radiately uneven, decurrent, from pale
buff to ochraceous buff; stem short, tough, solid, minutely tomen-
tose or pruinose tomentose, subcinereous; spores minute, hyaline,
even, globose or subglobose, .00012-.00016 of an inch broad.
Pileus 4-8 lines broad; stem 2-3 lines. long, about half a line
thick. Bare ground in bushy places. Shokan, Ulster co. Sep-
tember.
Sometimes the pilei of two or more plants growing close
together are confluent. When well developed the pileus has a
central stem, but sometimes one third or one half is wanting and
then the stem is lateral though the pileus is usually erect. In
such cases the pileus often appears as if perforate and the upper
part of the stem as if hollow. This very distinct species is dedi-
cated to Prof. E. A. Burt who has made a special study of the
group of fungi to which it belongs and to whom I am under obliga-
tions for aid in the identification of some of the species.
Tricholoma subluteum n. sp.
PLATE 0, FIG. 26-29
Pileus broadly. campanulate becoming convex, umbonate,
obscurely fibrillose, yellow, flesh white; lamellae close, emargin-
ate, adnexed, white; stem equal or slightly tapering upward,
solid, fibrillose, yellow, whitish at the pointed base, white within ;
spores globose, .0002-.00024 of an inch broad.
Pileus 2-4 inches broad; stem 3-4 inches long, 4-8 lines thick.
_. Under coniferous trees. Lake Pleasant. August.
This is a beautiful but apparently a very rare species. It
belongs to the second group of section Sericella. It is related to
T. chrysenterum and T. chrysenteroides, but
may be distinguished from them by its white flesh and lamellae.
22 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Ulmaria rubra Hill.
Balfour place near Aiden Lair, Essex co. July.
The queen of the prairie has been introduced into our State from
the West and is found in dooryards and flower gardens where it is
cultivated for ornament. It sometimes escapes from cultivation
or persists about the sites of old destroyed or abandoned dwell-
ings. It is described in Gray’s Manual under the name § pi-
raea lobata.
| D
REMARKS AND OBSERVATIONS
Agastache scrophulariaefolia (Willd.) Kuntze /
Roadside. Wells, Hamilton co. August. A showy form
having purplish bracts and calyx lobes. It is sparingly pubescent
and in this respect it approaches A. nepetoides, but it has
the thicker spikes and more pointed calyx lobes of A. scroph-
ulariaefolia.
Amanita muscaria formosa (G. & R.) Fr.
Several instances have been reported to me in which this variety
of the fly amanita, a poisonous species, has been eaten without
harm. In all these instances except one, the mushroom was eaten
by those who were at the time ignorant or unsuspicious of its
true relationship. In September, Mr A. P. Hitchcock of New
Lebanon reported to me a case in which a sheep ventured to try
the edible qualities of this mushroom. He says:
While I was gathering a few specimens of boletus in the pas-
tures one evening last week, my cosset buck sheep, which follows
me about like a dog, watched my proceedings with close attention
for a time. Then, having assured himself of what I was doing
he walked to a small group of the fly amanita, which grows luxuri-
antly in places in my fields, and proceeded to gobble down about
a dozen fair sized specimens, eating the caps as greedily as he
eats lump sugar from my hand. This was at least three days ago
and perhaps more. He is still with us and in no way worse for
his indulgence. Does this mean that I have mistaken some other
sort for the fly amanita or that what is food for a buck sheep may
be poison for a man? ‘The amanita in question had the orange
yellow color and the bulbous stem of A. muscaria.
In this as in all other cases of harmless eating of the fly amanita
that have been reported to me the variety formosa is indicated.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 23
The caps were either wholly or partly yellow. This is the com-
mon form in our State. It has the upper surface of the cap either
wholly pale yellow or the center only tinged with red or orange,
the margin remaining yellow. The form having the whole upper
surface of the cap uniformly bright red or orange red is very rare
with us. Yet this is the form commonly figured by European
mycologists as Amanita muscaria. The form having
the pale yellow cap was described by Gonnermann and Rabenhorst
as a distinct species but Fries reduced it to a variety. The
instances mentioned above are strong presumptive evidence of its
harmless character and may be taken as another point of differ-
ence between this plant and the poisonous fly amanita. They
strengthen the claims of those who have regarded the plant with
the yellow cap as a distinct species. Still these two mushrooms
are so closely allied in size, shape and structure that it does not
Seem prudent to regard them as distinct species and the yellowish
capped one as edible, till full trial and investigation has estab-
_ lished the fact beyond question.
Aster roscidus variifolius n. var.
Lower stem leaves ovate or oblong ovate, cordate, acuminate,
serrate, petiolate, 2-5 inches long, upper stem leaves much smaller,
oblong, entire, sessile or with a very short, widely winged petiole,
scarcely more than 1 inch long. .
Woods along the shore of Lake Ontario north of Mexico. Sep-
tember. ,
The whole plant is glandular. The three or four upper leaves are
abruptly reduced in size.
Aster undulatus L.
A small form, 1.5-2 feet tall, with leaves ovate or subrotund,
the lower petiolate, cordate and serrate with broad teeth, occurs
near Minerva. It is related to A. undulatus abrupti-
-folius, but isa much smaller plant. __
Antennaria neglecta Greene
A dwarf form having the heads densely capitate, the stems of
the pistillate plant only 2-4 inches long and of the staminate plant
2 inches or less, occurs at Minerva. It is in flower the first week
24 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM —
in May. In appearance it resembles the western A. ¢ am -
pestris Rydb.
Boletus nebulosus Pk.
In State Museum report 51, page 292 a description of this
species was published, but it was derived from mature specimens,
no examples of the young plant having at that time been seen.
Young specimens were found near Lake Pleasant in August. The
pileus in them is hemispheric, soon becoming convex and is dark
gray becoming brown with age. The tubes are at first closed and
pallid or brownish. The stem is sometimes pointed at the base
and varied above with pale streaks. ,
Cantharellus cibarius longipes n. var.
Pileus irregular, lobed or wavy on the margin, often centrally
depressed and rimose squamose; lamellae very narrow, crowded,
strongly decurrent, frequently anastomosing ; stem long, its length
equal to or exceeding the diameter of the pileus. In groves of
spruce and balsam fir. North Elba. September. .
Cortinarius amarus Pk. ;
A form of this species was found having the stem 2-3 inches long.
It grows under spruce and balsam firtrees in North Elba, and is
easily recognized by its small, irregular, yellow, viscid pileus and
its very bitter flavor. |
_Dalibarda repens L.
Fine specimens of this pretty little plant were found by the
roadside between Minerva and Aiden Lair. These have several
short peduncles bearing mature seeds and one or two long ones
now, July 24, bearing flowers. The early flowers were evidently
clistogamic and very fruitful.
Eriophorum alpinum L.
Along the roadside 2 miles south of Aiden Lair. This little
alpine cotton grass is rare in our State and it is interesting to
find it maintaining itself along the side of a much used public
highway.
Hydnum graveolens subzonatum n. var.
Pileus thin, nearly plane, slightly umbilicate, fibrously radiate
striate, zonate with narrow, slightly darker zones, fuscous or
gray ish brow n; aculei whitish.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 25
North Elba and Lake Pleasant. August and September.
This northern variety agrees with the typical form in its mode
of growth and in its odor, but differs from it in having the pileus
more or less zonate and the spines of the hymenium whiter.
Mnium affine ciliare C. M.
Catskill mountains. Mrs E.G. Britton. A fine variety readily
known by the long ciliae or hairs that adorn the margin of the
leaf.
Otidea onotica (Pers.) Fckl.
Gregarious or cespitose, growing in damp shaded places on de-
caying wood and bark. North Elba. September. The base is
sometimes whitened by mycelioid filaments. The receptacle is
rather tough, but the more tender hymenium is sometimes eaten
by insects or their larvae.
Pilosace eximia Pk.
This rare little species’ is peculiar in having reddish spores.
They are .00025 of an inch long, .00016 broad. The color of the
spores appears to vary in the different species of this genus. In
one they are described as black, in another as purplish brown. In
structure the genus agrees with Pluteus of the pink spored series.
At present it contains six species, two of which occur in Europe,
two in the West Indies, one in Africa and one in the United
States.
Puccinia suaveolens (Pers.) Rostr.
This parasitic fungus may be classed among the useful species.
It attacks the noxious Canada thistle and assists in keeping it in
check by preventing it from producing seeds. But it also attacks
another plant, Centaurea cyanus, blue bottle or bache-
lor’s button, which is often cultivated for ornament. In this case
also it prevents the development of the flowers and seeds and it
may therefore be classed as an injurious fungus, since the flower“
is the special part for which the plant is cultivated. This plant
escaped from cultivation at Menands and was erowing like a
weed in waste places. On these wild plants the fungus appeared
in its uredo stage in May. Later in the season this was followed
by the appearance of the teleutospores, the final stage, on the
26 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
same plants. The fungus on this host plant is designated form
cyani.
Senecio vulgaris L.
The common groundsel is sometimes a troublesome weed in
gardens. It begins to fiower early in the spring and in wet
seasons successive crops spring up and continue the production
of seed till cold weather stops their growth. In poor soil it will
flower when but two or three inches high, in rich soil it may grow
12 inches high and bear many branches. It grows rapidly and
requires but a few days in which to develop from seed to maturity.
The soil sometimes becomes so filled with its seeds that as fast
as one crop of the plants is destroyed another takes its place. |
Sisymbrium altissimum L.
The tall sisymbrium is an introduced plant which has proved
to be quite troublesome as a weed in some of the northwesfern
states. The past summer it appeared in the vicinity of Albany.
It was probably brought here either from the north or the west
where it has become firmly established. By destroying such
troublesome weeds when they first appear much future labor and
trouble may be saved.
Solidago canadensis glabrata Porter
Generally the early goldenrod, Solidago juncea, is the
first species to blossom in our latitude. It begins to flower in July,
The past season, which is notable for its peculiar influence on
some plants, seems to have hastened the time of flowering of some
species. On July 24, S. juncea, S. canadensis glab-
rata, 8S. arguta and S. rugosa wereall found growing
near each other at North Creek and all were nicely in flower. The
glabrate Canada goldenrod is a northern variety and perhaps in
its effort to meet the requirements of the short northern seasons
_it has acquired the habit of blooming early.
Viola cucullata Ait.
In the cold bogs and wet places of the Adirondack region where
this blue violet delights to grow, it is not unusual to find it with
flowering scapes 6-9 inches long. The flowers much surpass the
leaves, often standing twice as high. Such specimens were col-
BEPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 27
lected in North Elba. Near Meadowdale a variety occurs in
which the petals are variegated with blue and white. This variety
has been observed there for several years and appears to be con-
stant in its characters. I have also received specimens of it from
other places and it seems strange that it has not been designated
by name by some of those botanists who have made a special study
of the violets.
Viola rotundifolia Mx.
Fine specimens of the round leaved yellow violet showing the
branched peduncles of the clistogamic flowers were found by the
roadside 2 miles south of Aiden Lair in July.
Viola selkirkii Pursh.
This pretty, but with us rare, little blue violet has disappeared
from its former station in a pine grove near West Albany. It was
found last spring in a grove of arbor vitae trees near Minerva,
Essex co.
Xylaria grandis Pk.
Van Ktten, Chemung co. W. C. Barbour. The specimens on
which this species was founded were sent me by G. W. Clinton
in 1872. No other specimens of the species had been seen by me
till these came from Mr Barbour. They are smaller than the
| typical form and two of the three specimens sent have the clubs
merely mucronate rather than acuminate. The radicating base
is wanting in all the specimens, but it appears to have been broken
off in collecting. The spores are of the same character as those
of the type specimens and I have no doubt of the specific identity
of the two fungi. It must be a rare species to escape a second
discovery for 30 years.
E
EDIBLE FUNGI
Collybia acervata Fr.
TUFTED COLLYBIA
PLATE 84, FIG. 8-18 )
Pileus slightly fleshy, convex becoming expanded or nearly .
plane, glabrous, hygrophanous, pale tan color or incarnate red
and sometimes obscurely striatulate on the margin when moist,
whitish after the escape of the moisture; lamellae narrow, thin,
28 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
close, rounded behind, slightly adnexed or free, whitish; stem :
equal, hollow, glabrous, usually white tomentose at the base, red-
dish brown or purplish brown; spores white, elliptic, .00024-.0003
of an inch long, .00016 broad.
‘The tufted collybia is an inhabitant of the woods of our hilly
and mountainous districts. It grows in dense tufts on decaying
prostrate trunks of trees and among decaying leaves or on bits
of rotten wood half buried by fallen leaves. The caps are rather
thin and convex when young, but they expand with age and be
come broadly convex or nearly plane. When young and moist
they are of a pale tan color or brownish red sometimes with a
pinkish tint but as the moisture escapes they fade to a whitish
color. In the European plant they are said to be umbonate but
in the American plant the umbo is rarely present. The gills are
quite narrow and close. They are rounded at the inner extremity
and either slightly attached to the stem or quite free from it.
They are whitish or slightly tinged with pink. The stem is
rather slender, rigid but brittle, hollow and smooth except at the
base where it is usually clothed with a white tomentum. The ©
color is reddish brown or purplish brown but in the young plant
it is often whitish at the top.
The cap is commonly 1-2 inches broad; the stem 2-3 inches long,
1.5-2.5 lines thick. The plants usually grow in clusters and occur
during August and September. Though the individual plants are
small they grow in such abundance that it is not difficult to obtain
a sufficient supply for cooking. They are slightly tough but of
good flavor and harmless.
Collybia familia Pk.
FAMILY COLLYBIA
PLATE 84, FIG. 1-7
Pileus thin, fragile, hemispheric or convex, glabrous, hy-
erophanous, while moist sometimes slightly striatulate on the
margin, whitish, grayish or pale smoky brown, sometimes
brownish or more highly colored in the center; lamellae thin,
narrow, close, rounded at the inner extremity, nearly free, white;
stem slender, glabrous, hollow, white or whitish, commonly with
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 29
a white villosity at the base; spores globose, .00016-.0002 of an
inch in diameter.
The family collybia is similar to the tufted collybia in its
mode of growth. It grows in similar localities but is limited in
its habitat to decaying wood of coniferous trees. It is smaller
and less frequent in occurrence but the tufts or clusters are
generally composed of many more individual mushrooms. The
caps are thin and fragile but are usually free from insect attack.
They are whitish, grayish or brownish sometimes tinged with
yellow but they have none of the reddish hues of the tufted
collybia. In drying they are apt to become darker than when
fresh. The gills are thin, narrow, crowded, white and free from
the stem or but slightly attached to it. The stem is smooth, hol-
low and white or whitish, but like the pileus it becomes darker in
drying. Sometimes it appears to be pruinosely pubescent in the
fresh plant when viewed with a lens. A wholly white variety
very rarely occurs.
The cap is 6-12 lines broad; the stem 2-4 inches long, 1-1.5 lines
thick. The time of its appearance is during July and August.
Its edible qualities are similar to those of the tufted collybia from
which it is easily separated by its smaller size and different color.
Russula mariae Pk.
MARY’S RUSSULA
PLATE 85, FIG. 1-8
Pileus at first nearly hemispheric, soon broadly convex, nearly
‘plane or centrally depressed, pruinose and minutely pulverulent,
dark crimson or purplish, sometimes darker in the center than
on the margin, rarely striate on the margin when old, flesh white,
pinkish under the cuticle, taste mild; lamellae moderately close,
adnate, white when young, pale yellow when old; stem equal,
solid or_slightly spongy in the center, colored like or a little
paler than the pileus, usually white at the top and bottom,
rarely entirely white; spores pale yellow, globose, .0003 of an inch
broad. 3
This russula is a beautiful and easily recognizable species,
though somewhat variable in its colors. The cap is at first
30 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
nearly hemispheric, but it soon becomes convex and continues to
expand till it is nearly plane or centrally depressed. The margin
is even when young and generally remains so in maturity, but
sometimes it becomes radiately striate. The surface appears to
the naked eye to be pruinose or covered with a bloom, but under
a lens it is seen to be dusted with minute particles which, under
the action of water, are separable and give reddish stains to any
white surface against which the moistened cap may be rubbed.
This pruinosity is one of the best distinguishing features of the
species. A little boy once went with his mother to look for mush-
rooms. They came on a group of Mary’s russula and the little
boy, noticing the bloom on the caps and recognizing in it a
resemblance to the bloom of plums, cried out in childish glee
“ plummies, plummies.” He was evidently a close and thoughtful ©
observer and could distinguish at sight this russula from all
others. The flesh of the cap is white, but has a pinkish tint :
immediately beneath the cuticle which is separable on the margin
but adnate in the center of the cap. The taste is mild, but occa-
sionally a specimen may be found in which it is slightly and
tardily acrid. The color varies from deep crimson to purple.
The center is sometimes more highly colored than the margin
and in the purple specimens the margin in old plants is apt to
fade to a whitish color and to become striate. The gills are white
when young but with advancing age they become yellowish. They
are nearly all of full length and are therefore wider apart at the
margin of the cap than at the stem. A few are forked at the
base and the interspaces are veiny. The stem is generally cylin-
dric but occasionally tapering downward or pointed at the base.
It appears to the naked eye to be smooth but under a lens it is
slightly pulverulent. It is solid or slightly spongy and white
within and colored like or a little paler than the cap externally
except at the ends where it is white. Forms occasionally occur
in which the stem is entirely white.
The cap is 1-3 inches broad; the stem 1-2 inches long, 3-5 lines
thick. It grows both in woods and in open grassy places and is
found in July and August. It is not as highly flavored as some
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 om
other russulas but I have no hesitation in placing it among the
edible species.
Russula furcata (Pers.) Fr.
FORKED RUSSULA
PLATE 85, FIG. 9-14
Pileus convex becoming nearly plane, centrally depressed or
funnel form, glabrous, even on the margin which is at first
incurved, then spreading and acute, the thin adnate pellicle sub-
Separable on the margin, greenish or brownish green, flesh white,
taste mild; lamellae thickish, subdistant, often forked, with
shorter ones intermixed, adnate or slightly decurrent, white;
stem equal or nearly so, solid or spongy in the center, white;
spores white, subglobose, .00038-.00085 of an inch long, .00025-
.0003 broad.
The forked russula grows in woods and is a variable species.
Two distinct European varieties have been described but our
specimens do not fully agree with either of them nor with the
_ typical form. The cap varies in color from a pale yellowish
| green or olive green to a dark brownish green, the center often
being darker than the margin. Sometimes purplish hues are
intermingled with the green, but these are apt to disappear from
the, dried specimens. The surface is slightly viscid when moist
and sometimes it is rugosely roughened or reticulate in places.
The margin, though thin, is not striate. The flesh is white and
its taste mild. I have detected no bitter flavor to our form but
the European form is said to have it. The gills are rather thick,
moderately wide apart, persistently white and attached to the
stem by their full width. Many of them are forked, the bifur-
cations occurring most frequently near the stem and the mar-
gin. There are also short gills which do not reach the stem.
~The interspaces are marked by transverse veins or ridges, but.
I do not find this character ascribed to the European form. The
stem is nearly or quite cylindric, solid or when old somewhat
spongy in the center, smooth and white.
The cap is 2-4 inches broad; the stem 1.5-3 inches long, 5-8 lines
thick. It may be found in July. In my trial of its edible quali-
ties it seemed more tough than some other russulas, but the .
ad
32 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
flavor was satisfactory and the species is deemed worthy of a
place in our edible list even though the European plant has been
published by some writers as poisonous.
Pholiota vermifilua Pk.
WORMY PHOLIOTA
PLATE 86, Fic. 13-20
Pileus convex or nearly plane, glabrous or occasionally floccose
Squamose on the margin, sometimes areolate rimose in the center,
white, occasionally slightly tinged with yellow; lamellae close,
adnexed, white becoming ferruginous brown, generally minutely
eroded on the edge ; Stem hollow, equal, striated at the top, white,
the annulus more or less floccose on the lower surface, lacerated
or evanescent, white; spores elliptic, ferruginous brown, .0005 of
an inch long, .0005 broad.
The wormy pholiota is closely related to the early pholiota,
from which it may be separated by its larger size, thicker flesh,
stouter stem, whiter color and the tendency of its pileus to crack
into areas in the center. It is very liable to be infested by the
larvae of insects and this is suggestive of the specific name.
The cap in the young plant is very convex or hemispherie but
with advancing age it expands and becomes nearly or quite plane.
The central part of the surface often cracks into areas giving it
a scaly appearance. It also sometimes splits on the margin. It
is smooth or occasionally slightly floccose scaly on the margin
from the remains of the veil. The fiesh is white. The gills are
at first white but they become rusty brown with age. They are
closely placed, excavated at the stem end and often whitish and
minutely eroded on the edge. The stem is nearly cylindric, hollow,
smooth, white and often striated at the top. Its collar is also
white, somewhat floccose on the lower surface, often slight, lacer-
ated and disappearing in mature plants, leaving the stem without
a collar.
The cap is 2-4 inches broad; the stem 2-3 inches long, 3-5 lines
thick. The plants are usually found in rich soil in grain fields,
waste places and about manure piles and occur from June to
August. When sound and well cooked the flavor is excellent and
the mushroom is a fine addition to our table delicacies.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 33
Psilocybe foenisecii (Pers.) Fr.
HAYMAKERS PSILOCYBE. MOWERS MUSHROOM |
PLATE 86, Fic. 1-11
Pileus thin, campanulate or convex, obtuse, glabrous, hygroph-
anous, brown or reddish brown when moist, paler when dry; gills
broad, adnate, minutely crenulate on the edge, ventricose, subdis-
tant, brown; stem slender, nearly straight, hollow, rigid, fragile,
glabrous, pruinose at the top, pallid or rufescent; spores brown,
subelliptic, .0005-.0006 of an inch long, .00025-.0003 broad.
The haymakers psilocybe is a small but very regular, neat and
attractive species which gets its name from its usual place of
growth. This is in grassy places, on lawns or in meadows, where
it is often destroyed by the mower while cutting grass. Its cap
is conic or somewhat bell shaped when young, but it becomes
more convex with age. When fresh and moist it is dark brown or
reddish brown and is usually marked on the margin by darker
parallel radiating lines. By the escape of the surplus moisture
these lines disappear and the cap becomes paler, assuming a
grayish or ashy gray color. The moisture generally escapes first
from the center of the cap though the flesh is thicker there than
on the margin. This gives a somewhat variegated appearance to
the cap while the moisture is escaping, but after the evaporation
is completed the color is nearly uniform. Sometimes the center
of the cap has a reddish or tan colored hue, in which case this
color is generally retained for a time after the escape of the
moisture. The cap is generally brown in completely dried and
shriveled specimens. The gills are rather broad, not crowded,
somewhat narrowed behind and attached to the stem. They are
pale brown when young, blackish brown when old. The stem is
slender, usually long and nearly straight, hollow, easily broken
and paler than the moist cap. It is sometimes tinged with red.
The spores in our plant slightly exceed the dimensions given to
the spores of the European plant.
The cap is 6-12 lines broad; the stem 2-3 inches long, about 1
line thick. This mushroom grows gregariously in rich grassy
places, generally appearing in May and June. Sometimes it ap-
_ pears in ereat numbers and in successive crops, otherwise it would
34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
be unimportant as an edible mushroom on account of its small
size. It has been very abundant in the capitol lawn the last two
seasons. It has not a very high flavor but it is harmless and
relishable when fried in butter and may therefore be classed as an
edible species, though some authors say that there are no edible
species of Psilocybe. When uncooked its taste is strong and dis-
agreeable.
Bovista pila B. & C.
ROUND BOVISTA
PLATE 84, Fic. 14-18
Peridium globose or subglobose, 1-3 inches in diameter, the
outer coat very thin, at first smooth, white or whitish, soon break-
ing up into minute scurfy scales or becoming minutely rimose
squamulose, finally disappearing and revealing the rather firm
papery but persistent, tough, glossy brown inner coat; capil-
litium dense, persistent, brown; spores even, globose, .00016-.0002
of an inch broad.
The round bovista takes its specific name from its resemblance
to a ball. It is quite globose and about 2 inches in diameter
when well developed, but sometimes it is more or less irregular.
When young it is white or whitish externally and pure white
within. , It is edible only while in this condition. As soon as
the interior begins to change color it is no longer fit to eat and
should be discarded. As it advances in age the surface or outer
coat shrivels and breaks up into minute scales or scurf and after
a time disappears. The inner coat is then smooth and tough
like parchment. In maturity it is brown, purplish brown, seal
brown or dingy coppery brown, sometimes shining and sometimes
showing obscure patches of the exceedingly thin dried and
brownish outer coat still adhering to it. It ruptures irregularly.
The interior is then seen to be a dense towy and more or less
dusty mass similar to the interior of a fully matured puffball.
In this condition it often persists through the winter and may be
found in fairly good condition for specimens after its hibernation.
It grows either in woods, pastures or meadows and in suitable
weather may be found from July to September,
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 BY)
F
NEW YORK SPECIES OF CRATAEGUS
The number of published species of Crataegus found in the
United States and Canada has increased surprisingly within the
last five years. In the edition of Gray’s Manuwal issued in 1890,
10 species and three varieties are recognized as belonging to the
territory covered by its flora. In the Illustrated Flora of Britton
and Brown, the second volume of which contains the descrip-
tion of the species of this genus and which was issued in 1897,
15 species and three varieties are recognized, but the territory
covered is somewhat larger than that of the Manual. Britton’s
Manual issued in 1901 increases the number to 31 species and
retains but one variety. In the Silva of North America, volume 4,
published in 1892, 14 species are described, but in volume 13,
which appeared in 1902, the number of species is increased to 84
and the statement is made that this does not include some im-
perfectly known arboreous species nor the merely shrubby species.
In the Flora of the Southern States by J. K. Small, issued in 1903,
185 species are described. Varieties are not recognized. In an
article devoted to the species of Crataegus found in Rochester
and its vicinity and published in the Proceedings of the Rochester
Academy of Science, volume 4, 1903, C. S. Sargent has described
28 new species and recorded the occurrence of 138 others exclu-
sive of two introduced species which occasionally escape from
cultivation. This makes 41 species for the limited area of
Rochester and its vicinity, a number greater than that given
in Britton’s Manual for the entire area covered by it two years
ago. From these data the inference is scarcely avoidable that
many of the recently described species must resemble each other
closely and must be founded on slight variations of specific char-
acters. If this inference is well founded, the conclusion is evi-
dent that such closely allied species can not be recognized without
a thorough knowledge of their distinguishing characters and this
knowledge can scarcely be obtained without careful study and
close observation. To properly represent such species in the
36 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
herbarium, a set of good and well prepared specimens taken in
the various stages of development from flowering time till the
ripening and fall of the fruit, is required.
The genus Crataegus, as represented by our species, includes
shrubs and trees which may be roughly but easily separated from
species of other genera of the same family by the long spines or
thorns with which their trunks and branches are armed. The
common and local names applied to these plants are thorn, thorn
apple, thorn bush, thorn tree, haw and hawthorn. They are nearly
all suggested by this very prominent character of these plants.
Some species are smal] shrubs, only 2 or 3 feet high with a basal
stem diameter of scarcely 1 inch, others are trees 30 feet or more
high with a basal diameter of the trunk of 1 foot or more. There
is no well marked line of distinction between those which are
classed as trees and those which should be called shrubs. They
insensibly run together. The same species may be a shrub in one
place and a tree in another.
The branches of many species are widely spreading giving a
broad rounded head to the tree similar to that of an appletree.
Often the lower branches spread horizontally and the upper
diverge at a small angle giving a more conic outline to the top.
The punctate thorn usually has most of its branches horizontally
spreading. This gives it a broad, flattened or depressed head and
makes the species easily recognizable at a distance. The shrubby
species branch from the base and when several clumps grow near
each other they form almost impenetrable thickets. The young
shoots of the branches are at first green but with advancing age
the upper surface gradually assumes a reddish brown or other |
color which later encircles the whole shoot. During the second
or the second and third years the color becomes, in most species,
some shade of gray or ashy gray.
The spines that grow from the trunk and branches are modified
or peculiarly developed branches. They are themselves sometimes
branched and generally they agree in color with the branch to
which they are attached. They usually have a bud at one side of
the base and sometimes one on both sides. These buds develop
=-
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 ait
into a leaf, a branch or a cluster of flowers the next year. In
breaking a spine from its branch the leaf, branchlet or flower
cluster is likely to be torn away with it unless care is taken to
avoid it. The young spine is often adorned with one or more
narrow foliaceous bracts which are quickly deciduous. The spines
of the hawthorn are sometimes elongated and leaf bearing. They
then appear like a short leafy branch terminating in a sharp leaf-
less point.
The leaves are alternate and simple but generally more or less
distinctly lobed and serrated on the margin. Those of young and
vigorous shoots often differ from others on the same tree in size,
shape and lobing. The teeth of the margin are nearly always
tipped with glands which may vary in color in different species.
The teeth themselves vary according to the species. They may be
short or long, narrow or broad, blunt or sharp pointed, straight
or incurved. The surface of the leaf blades may be smooth,
pubescent or scabrous. In many species the upper surface of the
young leaves may be coated with deciduous hairs which soon dis-
appear leaving the surface of the mature leaves glabrous. The
lower surface is generally paler than the upper. In some species
the young unfolding leaves are tinged with brownish red or bronze
red but they become green with advancing age. The leaves are
normally petiolate and stipulate but the stipules soon disappear
and in some'species the petioles are short and so widely margined
by the decurrent leaf blades that the leaves appear to be sessile.
The petioles are often furnished with a few glands which may be
either sessile or stalked. They are often more highly colored
when old than when young, and are apt to be shorter on vigorous
shoots than on fruiting or lateral branches. In general outline
the leaf blades may vary in different species from oblanceolate or
spatulate to obovate, ovate, oblong ovate, elliptic, oval or orbicu-
dar. :
The buds are compact and globular with very broad blunt
scales. In some species they are covered with a varnish which
becomes sticky in warm weather. When they burst in spring the
inner scales enlarge rapidly, become elongated and assume pink
38 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
reddish or yellowish hues. They are glandular on the margin and
in some species on the surface also. These scales are generally
soon deciduous. :
The flowers in our species are, with one exception, Cratae-
gus uniflora, produced in clusters at the ends of short
leafy terminal or lateral branches. In the earliest species to
flower in our latitude they appear about the end of the first week
in May, in the latest, the first week in June, making the flowering
season about one month long. In nearly all cases the flowers open
and their petals fall before the leaves are fully developed. The
flower stems or peduncles may be long or short, simple or
branched, glabrous or hairy, according to the species. The
branching peduncles frequently support three flowers each, the
central flower opening a little earlier than the two lateral. The
calyx is superior and five lobed, the petals are five, the stamens
vary from 5 to 20 and the pistils from 1 to 5. The stamens -
are normally 5, 10, 15 or 20 in any given species, but by the sup-
pression of some or the union of two adjacent filaments such
definite numbers are not always found. Nevertheless the number
of the stamens is now utilized as a specific character. The color
of the anthers may be pale yellow or whitish, pink or rosy red,
purplish red or violaceous, and though these colors are very fleet-
ing they are recognized as having, in many cases, specific value.
The calyx lobes are generally tipped with a single gland, their
margins may be entire or furnished with sessile or stalked glands.
They are erect in bud but spreading or reflexed in anthesis and in
some species they later become again erect or incurved. In many
species they also become red on the inner basal surface as they
advance in age. They are sometimes deciduous from the ripe
fruit, specially in species belonging to the section Tomentosae.
The petals are nearly always white in our species. In one or two
they show a tendency to become rosy tinted when they begin to
wither. They are quickly deciduous. They are sometimes eroded
or wavy on the edge, and are generally furnished with a short claw
at the base.
The time of ripening of the fruit extends from the middle of
August to the middle of October. The number of fruits in any
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 39
cluster is generally less than the number of its flowers because
some flowers fail to produce fruit. The fruit may be globose, oval,
oblong, ovate or pyriform. It is not invariably of the same size
and shape on the same tree but it is now thought to furnish char-
acters of specific value. When the flower stem is short and stout
the ripe fruit is likely to be erect. If the flower stem is long and
slender the ripe fruit is likely to droop on its stem. In some
species the hairinessof the calyx tube of the flower persists and the
fruit is hairy, in others it disappears and the fruit is smooth. In
some the fruit falls when it is ripe or soon after, in others it hangs
on the branches after the leaves have fallen, persisting sometimes
till winter or in rare cases and partially till the following spring.
In most species the color of the ripe fruit is some shade of red,
either orange red, scarlet, vermilion or crimson. In some it is
yellow, greenish yellow, or these colors varied with a red cheek.
In some species the fruit has a distinct pruinosity or bloom, in
others an indistinct or scarcely noticeable bloom is present. Such
fruits have a dull or opaque color but a little rubbing of the sur-
face brings out a shining color. The cuticle in some species may
be stripped from the fully ripe fruit as from a very ripe peach or
pear. ‘The flesh or pulp in some is dry and mealy, in others juicy
and soft. It may be whitish, greenish yellow, orange or red. In
many species the fruit has an agreeable flavor and is sweet or
slightly acid and edible. In some cases it has been utilized in
making jelly. In size it varies much, being but three or four lines
in diameter in some and nearly an inch in others. In most of our
species it is from five to seven lines in diameter. The number of
nutlets of the fruit generally equals the number of styles in the
flower. In the section Tomentosae the nutlets differ from those
of the other sections in having the inner faces excavated. Thorn
bushes appear to have in some cases their “ off years ” like apple-
trees. A bush may be loaded with fruit one year and the next
have none. Sometimes the fruit fails because of late frosts. This
happened about Lake Placid the past season. A severe frost the
last week in May killed the stamens and pistils even in the
unopened flower buds, and though the petals were apparently
40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
unharmed and the flowers appeared as usual at a distance, the
essential organs having been killed, no fruit developed.
Cattle sometimes browse on the twigs of thorn bushes. In such
cases the injured branches put forth many new shoots which are
short and dense and form an almost impenetrable surface growth.
If the bush is low enough to be browsed from top to bottom it
gradually assumes a conic shape. If it is so tall that cattle can
not reach the ends of the upper branches these continue their
normal growth and the lower part of the bush assumes a conic
shape and the dense ramification. The whole bush then appears
somewhat like two cones with their vertices united, the lower
with its vertex pointing upward, the upper with its vertex point-
ing downward as in an hourglass. This behavior of thorn bushes
under the pruning given them by browsing cattle indicates their
suitability for hedges.
Herbarium specimens of species of this genus should be col-
lected at three different times. The first collection should be
made when the plant is in flower. This collection will show the
characters of the flowers, of the young shoots and of the young
and unfolding leaves. The second should be made when the leaves
have become fully developed. This will show the character of the
mature leaves and of the young fruit. The leaves at this time are
in much better condition than late in the season when the fruit
is ripe. At this time it is also well to collect specimens of the
| young vigorous shoots, since the leaves on these are often larger
and differ more or less in shape from those on older and less vigor-
ous lateral or fertile branches. The third collection should be
made when the fruit is ripe. Its object should be to get this in
as good condition as possible. Insect larvae and parasitic fungi
often injure and deform the fruit and it is well to select as far as
possible such specimens as are most free from these pests. Some-
times nearly every fruit on a shrub or tree is found to be injured
by them. In some species the fruit ripens very late. In such
cases the leaves are ready to fall or have already partly fallen
when the fruit is ripe. Specimens bearing ripe fruit should not
be severely pressed lest the fruit be crushed. It is well to dry
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 Al
some of the fruit without pressing. It is important that the
three collections be made from the same tree or shrub in order to
avoid the danger of confusing two or more closely related species.
Sometimes two or more species grow together in one clump and
in such cases special care is necessary lest the intermingled
branches lead to inextricable confusion of species. To guard
against any slip of memory it is well to mark the trunk of every
tree or shrub from which specimens are taken, giving to each a
number corresponding to a number attached to the specimens
taken from it. With a pocket knife shave the rough bark from a
small place on one side of the trunk and inscribe the number on
this smooth place. It is well in every case to select the same side
of the trunk, for example, the north side. Then no time need be
lost in looking for the mark on the other sides.
Because the branches are often coarse and crooked and armed
with stout spines, strong pressure is necessary to make good
herbarium specimens of them. A screw press is recommended for
this purpose. It is also well to loosen the spines by partly split-
ting them from the branch before putting the samples in press.
It is desirable to know the date of each collection. It should
therefore be recorded on the ticket.
PRUINOSAE
Fruit medium, red when ripe, pruinose; stamens 10-20; leaves
thick or subcoriaceous, commonly bluish green, glabrous when
mature.
The pruinosity of the unripe fruit is one of the most available
characters by which to recognize the species of this group. The
two species here described differ in the number of their stamens
and the color of their anthers.
Stamens 20, anthers pale yellow or whitish C. conjuncta
Stamens 10, anthers pale purple or pink C. dissona
Crataegus conjuncta Sarg.
Conjoined thorn
Rhodora, 5: 57
Large shrub 8-12 feet tall with widely spreading or ascending
branches; leaves ovate, broadly ovate or oval, acute or subacu-
4? NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
minate at the apex, rounded or slightly cuneate at the base, or
on vigorous young shoots larger, truncate or slightly concave
cuneate, sometimes broader than long, sharply and unequally
serrate, generally with 3-4 short, acute or sharp pointed lobes each
side, glabrous, yellowish green, 1-2 inches long and nearly as
broad at fiowering time, larger, thicker and bluish green above
when mature, pale below, petioles slender, 6-15 lines long, usually
slightly margined and bearing a few scattered glands; inflores-
cence glabrous, flowers 5-10 in a cluster, peduncles 6-10 lines
long, stamens 20, anthers pale yellow or whitish; fruit globose
or depressed globose, somewhat angular, often broader than long,
pruinose, erect or drooping, red when ripe, crowned by the in-
curved, spreading or reflexed, persistent calyx lobes, nutlets 4-5.
Clayey hillsides. Albany and North Greenbush. Flowers from
the middle to the end of May, fruit ripens from the first to the
middle of October and falls gradually, but sometimes a few fruits
hang on the branches all winter. The unfolding leaves are some-
times tinged with brownish red. On young and vigorous shoots
the basal pair of leaf lobes are sometimes larger and more widely
spreading than the others.
Crataegus dissona Sarg.
Dissonant thorn
Rhodora, 5: 60 _
Shrub 6-10 feet tall with widely spreading or nearly erect
branches; leaves ovate, broadly ovate or rhomboidal, 1-1.5 inches
long and nearly as broad at flowering time, thin and yellowish
green, acute or sharp pointed at the apex, rounded or broadly
cuneate at the base, often tinged with brownish red as they unfold,
sharply serrate, with 3-4 slight, acute or sharp pointed lobes each
side, glabrous, larger, firmer and bluish green above when mature,
paler below, those on vigorous young shoots larger and often
truncate at the base, sometimes with the basal pair of lobes en-
larged, petioles slender, 6-12 lines long, often slightly enlarged
and glandular at the top; flowers on slender glabrous peduncles,
5-8 in a cluster, stamens generally 10, sometimes 7-9, anthers pale
purple or pink; fruit globose or depressed globose, pruinose, dark
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 19038 43
red or crimson when ripe, the boat-shaped calyx lobes erect or
spreading, their tips often deciduous, nutlets 3-5.
Clayey soil. Albany, Copake, Lansingburg and Thompsons
Lake. Flowers about the middle of May, fruit ripens from the
first to the middle of October. Distinguished from the preceding
species by its fewer stamens, pink or purplish anthers and crimson
fruit. C. pruinosa differs from both in having 20 stamens
with pink anthers. It is a common species about Albany.
INTRICATAE
_ Fruit medium, yellowish green, orange red or crimson, nutlets
2-5, ridged on the back; corymbs few flowered; leaves thick, sub-
coriaceous.
Small, rather late flowering shrubs.
Leaves hairy when young i
Leaves glabrous Ch Meet Cad
1 Anthers pink or pinkish purple Cr escnke tat
1 Anthers pale yellow C. modesta
Crataegus intricata Lange
Intricate thorn
Small shrub 3-8 feet tall with few erect or spreading branches ;
leaves ovate, broadly ovate, elliptic or oblong elliptic, thin when
young, becoming thick and firm with age, acute at the apex,
broadly rounded or cuneate at the base, sharply serrate, with 3-4
acute lobes each side, the basal pair, on leaves of young vigorous
shoots, often enlarged and distinctly separated from the pair
above by deep sharp excavations, glabrous both sides, petiole
slender, 4-12 lines long, glandular, slightly margined at the apex;
flowers in clusters of 4-8, on short, mostly glabrous peduncles,
calyx lobes lanceolate, slightly laciniate serrate, stamens 5-10,
anthers pale yellow; fruit erect, subglobose or obovate, pointed
at the base, pale red or orange red, nutlets 3-4.
Hillsides and shaly knolls. Albany and Lansingburg. Flow-.
ers May 20 to June 1, fruit ripens the last week in September and
the first week in October, and soon falls. In falling it often car-
ries the peduncle with it. The spines are slender, straight or
nearly so and usually 1-1.5 inches long.
44 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Crataegus modesta Sarg.
Modest thorn
Rhodora, 3:28
Small shrub 2-5 feet tall with irregular short branches; leaves
broadly ovate, ovate or oblong ovate, acute at the apex, rounded
or cuneate at the base, on young and vigorous shoots often trun-
cate or slightly cordate, serrate, with 3-4 short, broad, acute lobes
each side, at flowering time pale green and hairy above, paler and
villose below, specially on the midrib and principal veins, when
mature thick and firm, dark green and scabrous above, much paler
below, 1.5-2 inches long, 1-1.5 broad, petioles 4-12 lines long, —
glandular, villose, margined at the apex, sometimes on vigorous.
shoots nearly to the base, often becoming red with age; flowers:
large, 3-6 in a cluster, on short, villose, mostly simple, peduncles,
calyx tube hairy, its lobes slightly hairy, laciniate serrate, reflexed
in flower, stamens 10, anthers pale yellow; fruit erect, subglobose,
short oblong or pyriform, greenish yellow, orange red or greenish
with a red cheek, hairy, nutlets 3.
Clayey and shaly soil. Albany, Rensselaer and Lansingburg.
Flowers open the last week in May or the first week in J une, fruit
ripens late in September. The spines are variable, being slender
or stout, straight or curved, and 1-1.5 inches long. On some
clumps they are very scarce. The young shoots are more or less
villose.
Crataegus peckii Sarg.
Peck’s thorn
Rhodora, 5: 63
Small shrub 2-6 feet tall, sparingly branched; leaves ovate or
broadly ovate, acute at the apex, broadly rounded or concavely
cuneate at the base, on young and vigorous shoots often truncate,
serrate, divided into 3-4 short, broad, acute or blunt lobes each side,
when young, hairy abovewith appressed whitish hairs, villose below
on the midrib and principal veins, when mature, firm, dark green
and scabrous above, much paler below, the basal pair of lobes often
much enlarged and more distinct, 1.2-2 inches long, nearly as
broad or on young vigorous shoots 2-2.5 inches long; flowers large,
3-6 in a cluster, supported on short, villose, simple peduncles,
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 45
calyx tube glabrous, its lobes glabrous, laciniate serrate above the
middle, stamens 10, anthers pink or pinkish purple, filaments
usually white; fruit erect on short slightly villose peduncles, sub-
globose or short oblong, glabrous, yellowish green when ripe, the
calyx lobes mostly deciduous, nutlets 3-4.
Shaly soil. Lansingburg. Flowers the last week in May or the
first week in June, fruit ripens early in October and soon falls.
The species is closely related to C. modesta from which it
may be separated by its mostly broader leaves, its less hairy
inflorescence, pink or pinkish purple anthers and glabrous yellow-
ish green fruit. In this as in the two preceding species the fruit
is crowned by a prominent rim which surrounds the calyx cup.
The spines are slender, straight or slightly curved and 1.2-2.5
inches long.
MOLLES
Fruit, large, bright red and shining when ripe, often hairy,
specially when young; inflorescence villose tomentose; leaves large,
broad, softly hairy when young.
The three species here recorded are trees or large shrubs with
edible fruit.
Anthers pale yellow or whitish > ecwamplainensis
Anthers pink, dark red or purple i
1 Leaves often convex, calyx lobes hairy on the
inner surface Cy, primes, Len
1 Leaves plane, calyx lobes hairy on both surfaces C. exclusa
Crataegus champlainensis Sarg.
Champlain thorn
Rhodora, 3:20. Silva N. A. 13:105, t. 669. NE CE State Wius:
doth An. Rep’t, p.944.
Tree or large shrub 10-20 feet tall with widely spreading
branches; leaves ovate or broadly ovate, 2-2.5 inches long, 1.5-2
broad at flowering time, larger when mature and on vigorous
young shoots, acute at the apex, rounded, truncate, broadly
cuneate or slightly cordate at the base, slightly and sharply lobed,
coarsely and sharply serrate, when young pubescent above with
whitish appressed hairs, pubescent beneath and villose on ‘the
46 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
midrib and principal veins, petioles villose and glandular;
corymbs commonly few flowered, peduncles and calyx covered
with long matted whitish hairs, stamens 10, anthers pale yellow
or whitish; fruit oblong obovate or subglobose, often narrowed
toward the base, bright red or scarlet, 7-8 lines long, 6-7 broad,
nutlets 3-5.
Clayey soil. Port Henry, Crown Point, Fort Ann, Albany. The
trees found in the vicinity of Albany differ from those found in
the more northern localities in having broader and more rounded
leaves, which are sometimes blunt at the apex and often have the
margin coarsely wavy, curved or arched as if there was an ex-
cessive development of the lateral tissues. The anthers are
whitish, not pale yellow as in the type, and the fruit is globose or
oval, slightly umbilicate and persistently hairy. It is the first
species to blossom about Albany, the flowers appearing from May
10-15, and the fruit ripens and falls early in September. Perhaps
these trees belong to a distinct species. The trees in the Fort Ann
locality have recently been cut down.
Crataegus pringlei Sarg.
Pringle’s thorn.
Rhodora, 3:21. Silva N: A. 1382711): t. 672. “N. ¥. Site
55th An. Rep’t, p.9-44
Tree or large shrub 12-25 feet tall with widely spreading
branches and a broad rounded head; leaves broadly ovate or oval,
{-2 inches long and nearly as broad at flowering time, acute or
bluntly pointed at the apex, subtruncate or broadly cuneate at the
base, coarsely and sharply serrate, with 3-4 short broad acute lobes
each side, pubescent above with short appressed whitish hairs,
slightly villose below on the principal veins and midrib, yellowish
ereen above, paler below, often convex by the deflection of the
margins, petioles slender, villose; corymbs few flowered, stamens
5-10, anthers pink or pinkish purple, calyx lobes hairy on the inner
surface, peduncles short, villose; fruit subglobose, oval or oblong,
sometimes slightly narrowed toward the base, generally hairy at
the ends, 6-7 lines long and nearly as broad, bright red or scarlet,
the calyx lobes spreading or erect.
-
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 AT
Clayey soil. Albany and Albia, Rensselaer co.
When in flower the colored anthers easily separate this species
from the preceding one, later it may be recognized by the con-
vexity of many of the leaves. The young unfolding leaves are
sometimes tinged with red. On vigorous young shoots the leaves
often have the basal pair of lobes somewhat enlarged and more
distinct than the others.
Crataegus exclusa Sarg.
Hacluded thorn
Rhodora, 5: 108
Shrub 8-12 feet tall, with widely spreading or ascending
branches; leaves similar to those of the preceding species but with-
out the convexity seen in them; flowers similar but the calyx and
peduncles more densely villose or tomentose, the calyx lobes more
narrow, elongated and hairy on both surfaces; fruit longer and
more narrowed toward the base.
Clayey soil. Crown Point and Fort Ann. May, September.
Formerly united with C. pringlei but separated from it
because of its more shrubby habit, more hairy inflorescence and
longer fruit.
DILATATAE
Fruit medium or large, subglobose, bright red or scarlet, nutlets
5, ridged on the back ; flowers having 20 stamens with rose colored
anthers; leaves broad, thin.
Crataegus dilatata Sarg.
Broad leaved thorn
Bot. Gare ole 9s silva oN, Al AS? 213; 0-673
Tree or large shrub 10-20 feet tall with widely spreading or
ascending branches and a broad rounded head; leaves thin, ovate
or deltoid ovate, acute at the apex, subtruncate or slightly cordate
at the base, with 4-6 short, acute or sharp pointed lobes each side,
serrate with unequal sharp pointed teeth, when young minutely
pubescent above with short, stiff, appressed, whitish hairs, gla-
brous below or with a few hairs on the midrib and in the axils
of the principal veins, 1.5-3 inches long when mature, nearly as
broad, those of vigorous voung shoots often with the basal pair
48 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
of lobes enlarged and more distinct, petioles slender, 8-18 lines
long, slightly villose in the furrow when young, distantly glandu-
lar. often reddish toward the base, becoming more red with age,
this color sometimes extending to the midrib and principal veins;
corymbs 6-10 flowered, peduncles slightly hairy or glabrous, rather
long, stamens 20, anthers rose color, calyx tube slightly hairy, its
lobes glandular serrate, hairy on the inner surface; fruit globose
or oval, 6-8 lines long, 6-7 broad, umbilicate at the base, drooping,
bright red, nutlets 4-5, flesh yellowish, well flavored, edible.
Clayey soil. Flowers the last week in May, fruit ripens in Sep- -
tember. Thompsons Lake, Albany co. and Gansevoort, Saratoga
co. In the latter locality it forms a tree 15-20 feet tall with a
trunk diameter of 4-6 inches. On some trees the fruit is globose,
on others it is oval. The leaves sometimes become convex as in
C. pringlei. The fruit stems sometimes become red in the
upper part.
LOBULATAE
Fruit medium or large, subglobose or oblong, bright red or crim-
son, nutlets 3-5, distinctly grooved on the back; inflorescence
villose or glabrous, stamens 5-15, anthers rose color.
Leaves glabrous beneath, stamens 5-8 C. holmesiana
Leaves somewhat hairy beneath, stamens 5-10 C.lob ulata
Crataegus holmesiana Ashe
Holmes thorn
Bot. Gaz. 31: 10. Silva Nu A. 15° 413) 1. sie
Tree or large shrub 12-25 feet tall with widely spreading or
ascending branches; leaves thin, ovate, 1-1.5 inches long, 9-15
lines broad at flowering time, larger and firmer when mature and
on vigorous young shoots sometimes with the basal pair of lobes
enlarged and more divergent, acute at the apex, broadly rounded
or subtruncate at the base, sharply serrate with slender pointed
teeth, with 4-5 short acute lobes each side, pubescent above when
young with minute appressed whitish hairs, glabrous and slightly
paler below, petiole slender, 6-12 lines long, glabrous or with a
few hairs and reddish glands; flowers 8-12 in a cluster, 5-8 ‘lines
broad, on slender, elabrous or slightly hairy peduncles, calyx
glabrous, often tinged with red, the lobes narrow, linear, slightly
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 49
glandular, stamens generally 5, sometimes 5-8, anthers purple;
fruit subglobose, oblong or obovate, generally narrowed toward
the base, bright red or crimson, crowned with the persistent, erect
or incurved calyx lobes, nutlets 3-5, flesh yellow.
Clayey soil. Crown Point, Fort Ann, Thompsons Lake and
Albany. It flowers from May 15-25, fruit ripens the last week in
August and the first week in September. The foliage is commonly
vellow green, but it is sometimes dark green.
Crataegus lobulata Sarg.
Lobulate thorn
Rhodora, 8:22. Silva N. A. 18: 117, t. 675
Tree 15-30 feet tall and a trunk diameter of 6-12 inches; leaves
oval, ovate or oblong ovate, at flowering time 1.5-2.5 inches long,
1-2 broad, larger when mature, pubescent with soft appressed
whitish hairs above, slightly hairy below, specially on the midrib
and principal veins, acute at the apex, rounded or broadly cuneate
at the base, sharply serrate, with 4-5 sharp pointed distinct lobes
on each side, petioles slender, loosely villose or tomentose, 1-1.5
inches long, becoming reddish or tinged with red in maturity;
flowers on slender, villose or tomentose peduncles, the calyx often
hairy below and its lobes hairy on the inner surface, stamens
usually 10, sometimes 5-10, anthers reddish purple; fruit oblong
or subglobose, crowned by the persistent erect or incurved calyx
lobes, when ripe, crimson, 6-8 lines long and nearly as broad, nut-
lets 3-5, fiesh yellow, edible.
Clayey soil. Crown Point. It blossoms from the 20th to the
end of May and ripens its fruit late in September. Its foliage is
yellowish green. It is closely related to the preceding species
from which it may be separated by its larger size, the hairiness of
the lower surface of the leaves, the more hairy inflorescence, more
numerous stamens and its later ripening fruit.
FLABELLATAE
Fruit medium, scarlet or dark red, nutlets 3-5, ridged on the
back; stamens 10-20; leaves membranaceous but firm when mature.
Anthers pink or purplish C. contigua
Anthers pale yellow or whitish Cc ir nasa
50 : NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Crataegus contigua Sarg.
Contiguous thorn
Rhodora, 5: 115
Shrub 6-10 feet tall with spreading or ascending branches ;
leaves thin, ovate, acute or acuminate at the apex, rounded or
broadly cuneate at the base, serrate, with 4-5 distinct, sharp
pointed or acuminate lobes each side, at flowering time pale green
and clothed above with short appressed whitish hairs, glabrous
below, when mature, firm, dark green above, paler below, 1.5-2.5
inches long, 1-2 broad, petioles slender, glabrous, slightly glandu-
lar, 6-12 lines long; flowers on slender glabrous peduncles, calyx
lobes abruptly narrowed from broad bases, linear, entire or with
occasional glands toward the base, stamens 20, anthers purple or
pinkish purple; fruit erect or drooping, subglobose or oblong,
scarlet, flesh yellow, nutlets 4-5.
Shaly soil near Lansingburg. Flowers open about the middle
of May, fruit ripens early in September and soon falls. In our
plants the flowers open and the fruit ripens two or three weeks.
earlier than in the type and the number of stamens ranges from
12-19. In no case have I found a flower with 20 stamens. Never-
theless these variations do not seem to be of sufficient importance
to warrant a separation of the plants. The unfolding leaves are
tinged with brownish red.
Crataegus irrasa Sarg.
Unpolished thorn
Rhodora, 5: 116
Shrub 6-12 feet tall with numerous slender spreading or ascend-
ing branches; leaves thin, ovate or oval, acute at the apex, cuneate
at the base, laciniate serrate, when young clothed above with
appressed whitish hairs, villose below on the midrib and principal
veins, when mature firm, dark green and shining above, paler or
yellowish green below, petioles 6-12 lines long, slender, slightly
margined at the apex, sparingly glandular; flowers 6-7 lines broad,
supported on villose peduncles, calyx tube densely villose, its lobes-
lanceolate, glandular serrate, villose, reflexed, appressed, stamens:
20, anthers pale yellow; fruit subglobose or oblong, dark red, nut-
lets 4-5.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 51
Clayey soil. North Greenbush. The plants which are here
referred to this species diverge so much from a rigid agreement
with the description of the species to which we have referred them
that it seems best to consider them a variety which may be called
var. divergens.
It is characterized as follows:
Leaves oval, serrate with blunt gland-tipped teeth, divided
above the middle into 4-5 short narrow strongly pointed lobes each
side, petioles villose; corymbs 5-10 flowered, stamens 10-18, anthers
whitish ; fruit globose or oval.
The young shoots are villose tomentose. The flowers open about
the middle of May and the fruit ripens the last week in August
or early in September, which is two or three weeks earlier than in
the type. Only a single clump of this shrub was found. It ap-
proaches C.densiflora in its characters but differs from it in
its more numerous stamens and in having the lower surface of the
leaves hairy on the midrib and principal veins.
TENUIFOLIAE
Fruit medium, oblong, pyriform or subglobose, crimson or scar-
let, nutlets 2-5; inflorescence glabrous or nearly so, stamens 5-20,
anthers pink, rose color or dark red; leaves membranaceous, gen-
erally pubescent on the upper surface when young, glabrous or
scabrous when mature.
The three species here recorded may be tabulated as follows:
Leaves ovate or oblong ovate C.ascendens
Leaves ovate, oval or rhomboidal 1
1 Calyx lobes hairy on the inner surface Cr ima tu ca
1 Calyx lobes glabrous on the inner surface C.delucida
Crataegus ascendens Sarg.
Ascending thorn
Rhodora, 5: 141
Shrub 6-10 feet tall with slender ascending branches bearing
short, straight or slightly curved spines rarely more than an inch
long; leaves thin, ovate or oblong ovate, at flowering time 1.5-2
inches long, 8-15 lines broad, acuminate at the apex, rounded or
cuneate at the base, finely and sharply serrate, with 4-5 acuminate
52 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
lobes each side, often tinged with brownish red as they unfold and
clothed above with minute appressed whitish hairs which soon
disappear, dark yellowish green above, paler below, larger, darker
green and glabrous when mature, petioles slender, 9-15 lines long,
dotted with a few scattered glands and slightly margined at the
apex; flowers 6-12 in a cluster, on slender rather long glabrous
peduncles, calyx lobes narrow, elongated, entire or with a few
minute glands, stamens 5-10, anthers pink or pinkish purple; fruit
subglobose obovate or oblong, dark red when ripe, drooping, the
calyx lobes subpersistent, spreading or reflexed, nutlets 3-4.
Clayey soil. North Greenbush and Rensselaer. Flowers May
12-20, fruit ripens during September. This species is very distinct
and easily recognized by its peculiar oblong ovate leaves with acu-
minate apex and on fertile branches with cuneate base, making
them pointed at eachend. On young and vigorous shoots they are
usually broadly rounded at the base, and are sometimes 3.5-4
inches long and 2-2.5 inches broad. They are generally more
elongated when growing in the borders of woods than when in.
more open exposed places. The autumn buds are clothed with a
varnish which is sticky in warm weather. Though found in sey-
eral places on the east side of the Hudson river, no example of it
has yet been-found on the west side of the river.
Crataegus matura Sarg. |
Mature thorn
Rhodora, 3: 24
Shrub 5-10 feet tall with many slender ascending or nearly erect
branches or occasionally with the lower widely spreading; leaves
broadly ovate, oval or rhomboidal, thin, acute or acuminate at
the apex, rounded or cuneate at the base, finely and sharply ser-
rate, deeply and sharply divided into 4-6 very distinct sharp
pointed or acuminate lobes on each side, yellowish green when
young and clothed with short appressed whitish hairs, darker
green and glabrous when mature, 2-2.5 inches long, 1.5-2 inches
broad, petioles slender, 6-12 lines long, slightly glandular and
sometimes wing margined at the apex; flowers 4-8 in a cluster,
on short glabrous or slightly hairy peduncles, calyx lobes elong-
ated, narrow, entire or slightly glandular, often red at the tips,
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 53
slightly hairy on the inner surface, becoming bright red at the
base, stamens usually 10, sometimes 5-9, anthers red or reddish
purple; fruit subglobose or oval, about 6 lines long, 5-6 broad,
dark red or crimson, nutlets 2-5, flesh yellow, pleasant, edible.
Clayey soil and rocky pastures. Gansevoort, Saratoga co. and
Lake Pleasant, Hamilton co. Flowers in May, ripens its fruit
the latter part of August.
The early ripening of the fruit is one of the distinguishing
characters of the species. In our specimens the fruit is scarcely
oblong as in the typical form, and the styles are 2-3, but in other
respects the agreement of the characters is good. The bright red
color of the inner bases of the calyx lobes in the Gansevoort speci-
mens contrasts beautifully with the pale green color of the imma-
ture fruit.
Crataegus delucida Sarg.
Delucid thorn
Rhodora, 5: 139
Shrub 6-10 feet tall with erect or ascending branches; leaves
thin, ovate, broadly ovate or oval, acute, sharp pointed or acumi-
nate at the apex, broadly rounded, subtruncate or rarely broadly
cuneate at the base, finely serrate, with 4-6 distinct, sharp pointed
or acuminate lobes each side, generally tinged with bronze red
when they unfold and then covered above with short appressed
whitish hairs, at flowering time yellowish green, 1-1.5 inches long,
9-18 lines broad, paler and glabrous below, larger, darker green
and glabrous above when mature, petioles slender, 6-12 lines long,
usually shorter on young and vigorous shoots with the blades
larger and broader, slightly glandular; flowers 6-12 in a cluster,
about 6 lines broad, on slender branched glabrous peduncles,
calyx lobes narrow, elongated, entire or with few minute glands,
often red at the tips, stamens usually 5-8, sometimes 10, anthers
red or reddish purple; fruit oblong, bright red or scarlet, droop-
ing, the calyx lobes spreading or reflexed, often deciduous from
the ripe fruit, nutlets 3-4, flesh yellow.
Clayey hillsides and rocky pastures. Albany and Sandlake.
Flowers about the middle of May, fruit ripens during the last half
of September or early in October.
54 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
This is one of the prevailing species on the hillsides north of
Albany. The flowers have a strong potash odor. It is closely re-
lated to C. acutiloba Sarg. with which it was formerly
united, but its flowers are smaller and its nutlets more numerous.
COCCINEAE
Fruit medium, subglobose, crimson or scarlet when ripe, nutlets
2-5, distinctly ridged on the back; leaves thin or subcoriaceous.
Anthers pale yellow or whitish C. gravesil
Anthers purple or red 1
1 Stamens 20 C. brainerdi
1 Stamens 10 C. praecoqua
1 Stamens less than 10 C. egglestoni
Crataegus gravesii Sarg.
Graves thorn
Rhodora, 5: 159
Shrub or small tree with widely spreading or ascending
branches; leaves ovate, obovate, elliptic or subrotund, thin, acute
or rounded at the apex, rounded or cuneate at the entire base, une-
qually serrate with rather broad blunt teeth, with 3-4 short, broad,
acute or rather blunt lobes each side, at flowering time
pale green, glabrous or with a few scattered hairs above, when
mature firm, glabrous, dark green and shining above, paler below,
1-2 inches long and nearly or quite as broad, petioles slender, 4-12
lines long, slightly margined at the apex, sometimes slightly
villose and glandular when young; flowers 5-12 in a cluster, on
slender, short, glabrous or slightly hairy peduncles, calyx glabrous,
its lobes narrow, elongated, minutely glandular, stamens 4-8,
occasionally 10, anthers pale yellow or whitish; fruit globose or
depressed globose, erect, pale red or orange red when ripe,
crowned by the short erect or spreading calyx lobes, nutlets 2-3.
Clayey soil. Albany, North Greenbush and Westport. Flow-
ers late in May or early in June, fruit ripens late in September.
Closely related to C. coccinea rotundifolia, from
which it may be separated by its thinner leaves, mostly fewer
stamens, paler fruit and fewer nutlets. Our examples are shrubs
more glabrous than the type. The young unfolding leaves are
sometimes tinged with brownish red.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 5D
Crataegus praecoqua Sarg.
Early thorn
Rhodora, 3:27, 5: 167
Shrub 8-10 feet tall with spreading branches; leaves ovate, oval
or rhomboidal, acute or blunt at the apex, broadly cuneate at the
base or on young vigorous shoots sometimes rounded, serrate,
slightly divided into numerous short, narrow, sharp pointed lobes
on each side, at flowering time thin, pale green and clothed above
with short appressed whitish hairs, paler below and villose along
the midrib and principal veins, when mature thick, dark green,
shining, glabrous or scabrous above, paler below, 1.5-2 inches long,
nearly or quite as broad, petioles stout, 4-6 lines long, margined
on the upper part; fiowers on villose, often branching peduncles,
calyx tube hairy, its lobes narrow,. elongated, glandular serrate,
stamens 10, anthers pink; fruit subglobose, erect or drooping,
slightly hairy, dark red.
Clayey soil. Crown Point. Flowers the latter part of May,
fruit ripens the last of August or early in September. The species
was first published under the name Crataegus praecox,
but this was afterward changed toC. praecoqua.
Crataegus egglestoni Sarg.
Eggleston’s thorn
Rhodora, 3:30
Shrub 5-10 feet tall with slender Spreading or ascending
branches; leaves oval, elliptic or suborbicular, acute or sharp
pointed at the apex, broadly rounded or cuneate at the base, ser-
rate, divided into 4-5 short inconspicuous acute. lobes on each side,
at flowering time thin, yellow green and hairy above with short
whitish appressed hairs, paler and glabrous below, when mature
thick or subcoriaceous, dark green and scabrous above, 1.5-2
inches long and nearly or quite as broad, petioles slender, 6-12
lines long, slightly margined at the apex, sparingly glandular;
flowers 6-8 lines broad, 5-10 in a cluster, on rather long, loosely
villose often branched peduncles, calyx tube glabrous or slightly
hairy, its lobes entire or minutely glandular serrate, hairy on the
inner surface, stamens 5-8, usually 5, anthers red or rose color;
fruit subglobose or oval, crimson when ripe, the mostly persistent
calyx lobes reflexed, appressed, nutlets 2-3, 3 lines long.
56 ~NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Clayey and shaly soil. Crown Point and Lansingburg. Flow-
ers May 20-30, fruit ripens in September. The shrubs in the
station near Lansingburg have recently been cut down. The
spines are slender, straight or nearly so and 1.5-2 inches long.
This species was originally placed in the section Anomalae, but
there seems to be no character by which it may be clearly sepa-
rated from the section in which it is here placed.
. Crataegus brainerdi Sarg.
Brainerds thorn
Rhodora, 3:27
Shrub 6-10 feet tall with ascending or suberect branches; leaves
at first thin, ovate or broadly ovate, acute or acuminate at the
apex, rounded or broadly cuneate at the base, or on young and
vigorous shoots often subtruncate or slightly cordate, sharply
serrate, divided into 4-5 slight, acute or sharp pointed lobes each
side, when young slightly hairy above with short appressed whit-
ish hairs, glabrous below, when mature thicker and firmer, dark
green above, paler below, 1.5-2 inches long, 1-1.5 broad, larger on
young and vigorous shoots, petioles slender, 4-12 lines long,
glabrous, with few or no glands; flowers in clusters of 6-12, 9-10
lines broad, very fragrant, supported on slender, glabrous, simple
or branched peduncles, calyx lobes linear lanceolate, entire or
slightly glandular, often tinged with red, stamens 20, anthers
bright red, filaments elongated, often becoming red or pink, very
persistent; fruit erect, subglobose or short oblong, 5-6 lines long,
4-5 broad, bright scarlet, flesh yellow, edible, nutlets 3-4.
Rocky or bushy pastures. Sandlake, Rensselaer co. Flowers
May 15-25, fruit ripens the latter part of September. The long
erect persistent reddish filaments afford an attractive and easily
recognized character. They sometimes remain plump and fresh
till the beginning of September. The blossoms have a. decided
potash odor and are very attractive to honey bees. The styles are
generally 3 but occasionally 4. The species is rare with us, but
well marked and beautiful both in flower and fruit.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 57
TOMENTOSAE
Fruit small or medium, subglobose, oval or pyriform, orange
red or scarlet, nutlets 2-5 with a cavity on each of the ventral
faces; flowers usually many in a cluster; leaves thin or coriaceous,
usually pubescent beneath.
Crataegus succulenta Link
Succulent thorn
Silva N. A. 13:139, t. 181
Shrub or bushy tree 8-15 feet tall with widely spreading or
ascending branches; leaves elliptic or subrhomboidal, acute or
sharp pointed at the apex, cuneate at the entire base, serrate, with
4-6 short, acute lobes each side above the middle, at flowering
time thin, slightly hairy above, pubescent beneath, when mature
coriaceous, dark green and glabrous above, paler below, usually
2-2.5 inches long, 1.5-2 inches broad, on young and vigorous shoots
somewhat larger and broadly or concavely cuneate or rounded at
the base, petioles stout, 4-8 lines long, margined at the apex, often
becoming red or reddish with age; flowers 7-8 lines broad, many
in a cluster, supported on long, slender villose branching
peduncles, calyx tube hairy or glabrous, its lobes laciniately
glandular serrate, elongated, soon reflexed, hairy, stamens 15-20,
anthers small, pink; fruit globose, scarlet, drooping, 4-6 lines long,
. flesh yellow, juicy, edible, nutlets 2-3, 3 lines long.
Clayey soil. Albany and Albia, Rensselaer co. Flowers from
May 15-25, fruit ripens in September and usually hangs on the
branches till late in October. Sometimes a few persist through the
winter.
G
SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF PLANTS OF THE SUSQUE-
HANNA VALLEY
BY FRANK FE. FENNO
Dryopteris goldieana (Hook.) Gray
Aspidium goldieanum Hook.
Goldie’s shield fern
Hillsides near Nichols. Infrequent. August.
58 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Panicum walteri Pursh
Panicum crus-galli var. hispidum Torr.
Cockspur grass
Common along the river. August—October.
Panicum minus (Muhl.) Nash
Wood panicum —
Dry woods and thickets near Nichols. Not common. August,
September.
Eragrostis major Host
Pungent meadow grass
Roadsides and along railways. Frequent. August, September.
Panicularia elongata (Torr.) Kuntze
Glyceria elongata Trin.
Long manna grass
In a swamp near Smithboro. Infrequent. August, September.
Eleocharis palustris (L.) R. & S.
Creeping spike rush
Low wet grounds, specially along the river. Common. August,
7 | September.
Smilax rotundifolia L.
Green brier. Catbrier
Thickets near Nichols. Rare. Stem more or less quadrangular
and high climbing. Leaves five nerved. May, June.
Lemna trisulea L.
Ivy-leaved duckweed
Ditches and sloughs. Frequent. July, August.
Corylus americana Walt.
Hazelnut
Thickets along the river. Common. Apparently not found here
on the uplands. March, April.
Corylus rostrata Ait.
Beaked hazelwut
Fence rows and thickets. Common. April.
Betula populifolia Marsh.
White birch
Plentiful along the valley road 3 miles south of Owego. May.
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 59
Betula lenta L.
Black birch
Rich woodland. Common. April, May.
Betula lutea Mx.
Yellow birch
Rich moist woodland. Common. April, May.
Alnus incana (L.) Willd.
Tag alder
Borders of streams and swamps. Common. February—April.
Alnus rugosa (Du Roi) K. Koch
A.serrulata Willd.
Smooth alder
Mutton hill pond. This is its only station. February—April.
Fagus americana Sweet
Fagus ferruginea Ait.
Beech
Scattered throughout our territory. May.
Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.
Castanea sativa var. americana -: Wats.
Chestnut
A very common tree. July.
Syndesmon thalictroides (L.) Hoffmg.
Anemonella thalictroides Spach
Rue anemone
Woods and thickets. Common. April—June.
Rubus occidentalis L.
Black raspberry
Fence rows and neglected fields. Common. May, June.
Rhus copallina L.
Mountain sumac. Dwarf sumac. Upland sumac
-Dry soil 3 miles south of Owego. Rare. June, July.
Parsonsia petiolata (L.) Rusby
Cuphea viscosissima Jacq.
Blue waxweed. Tarweed
Abundant in a neglected field near Nichols. August—October.
Fine flowering specimens were collected as late as Oct. 24. The
whole plant is very viscid pubescent.
60 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Mitchella repens L.
Partridge berry. Twin berry
Woods. Common. June.
Cephalanthus occidentalis L.
Button bush -
Swamps. Common. July, August.
Galium aparine L.
Cleavers
Damp shaded ground. Common. Summer.
Galium pilosum Ait.
Hairy bedstraw
Dry bushy places. Frequent. Summer.
Galium lanceolatum Torr.
Torrey’s wild liquorice
Dry woods. Common. Summer.
Galium circaezans Mx.
Wild liquorice
Dry woods. Common. May—July.
Galium boreale L.
Northern bedstraw
Rocky soil, specially along streams. Common. June.
Galium asprellum Mx.
Rough bedstraw
Swamps and low grounds. Common. Summer.
Galium triflorum Mx.
Sweet-scented bedstraw
Damp woodland. Common. Summer.
EXPLANATION OF PLATES
PLATE O
Inocybe castanea Pk.
CHESTNUT INOCYBE
1,2 Two immature plants
3,4 Two mature plants
5 Vertical section of the upper part of an immature plant
6 Vertical section of the upper part of a mature plant
14
15, 16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
ol
o2
oo
o4
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIS® 1903
Transverse section of a stem
A cystidium, x 400
Four spores, x 400
Inocybe squamosodisca Pk.
Scaty Diskep [nocysn
Immature plant
Mature plant showing scaly disk
Vertical section of the upper part of a mature plant
Four spores, x 400
Inocybe excoriata Pk.
EXcCoRIATED INOCYBE
Immature plant
Mature plants showing the excoriated surface of the caps
Vertical section of the upper part of an immature plant
Vertical section of the upper part of a mature plant
Four spores, x 400
Inocybe fallax Pk.
FALLACIOUS INOCYBE
Immature plant
Mature plant
Vertical section of the upper part of an immature plant
Transverse section of a stem
A cystidium, x 400
Four spores, x 400
Tricholoma subluteum Pk.
Two Cotorep TRICHOLOMA
Immature plant
Mature plant
Vertical section of the upper par of a plant
Four spores, x 400
Stereum ferhianan Pk,
Burt’s STEREUM
Small plant
Plant with lacerated margin of the pileus
Plant with incomplete pileus
Three plants with confluent pilei
Four spores, x 400
61
62
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 84
Collybia familia Pk.
F'aMILy CoLuyBia
1 Cluster of small plants
2 Cluster of large plants with the center of the cap colored
3 Single large plant
4 Single large plant with the center of the cap colored
5 Vertical section of the upper part of a large plant
6 Transverse section of a stem
7 Four spores, x 400
Collybia acervata Fr.
TUFTED COLLYBIA
8 Cluster of eight plants, four with caps moist and more
highly colored
9 Plant with pale tan colored cap
10 Plant with whitish cap
11 Vertical section of the upper part of a large plant
12 Transverse section of a stem
13 Four spores, x 400
Bovista pila B. & C.
Round Bovista
14 Immature plant
15 Mature plant ruptured at the apex
16 Vertical section of a young plant in edible condition
17 Part of a branching filament of the capillitium, x 400
18 Four spores, x 400
PLATE 85
‘Russula mariae Pk.
Mary’s RussuLA
1,2 Immature plants
3 Mature plant
4 Immature plant of darker color
5 Mature plant of darker color
6 Vertical section of the upper part of an immature plant
7 Vertical section of the upper part of a mature plant
_§ Four spores, x 400
REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903
Russula furcata (Pers.) Fr.
- ForKrEpD RuSssuLA
9 Immature plant
10 Mature plant with the cap partly expanded
11 Mature plant with the cap fully expanded
12 Vertical section of the upper part of an immature plant
18 Vertical section of the upper part of a mature plant
14 Four spores, x 400
PLATE 86
Psilocybe foenisecii (Pers.) Fr.
HAYMAKER’S PSILOCYBE
1-38 Immature plants with moist striatulate caps
4 Plant after the moisture has partly escaped from the cap
5-7 Mature plants with caps destitute of moisture
8,9 Vertical sections of the upper part of two plants
10 Transverse section of a stem
11 Four spores, x 400
Pholiota vermiflua Pk.
WormMy PHOLIOTA
12 Young plant with gills hidden by the veil
13,14 Immature plants showing the whitish gills
15 Mature plant with the cap fully expanded
16 Mature plant with the cap rimosely areolate
17 Vertical section of the upper part of an immature plant
18 Vertical section of the upper part of a mature plant
19 Transverse section of a stem
20 Four spores, x 400
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INDEX
Agaricus campester, 4-5
Agastache scrophulariaefolia, 22
Alder, smooth, 59
tag, 59
Alnus incana, 59
rugosa, 59
serrulata, 59
Alpine cotton grass, 24
Amanita, fly, 22
Amanita muscaria formosa, 22-23
Anemone, rue, 59
Anemonella thalictroides, 59
Antennaria neglecta, 23-24
Asarum reflexum, 12
Aspidium goldieanum, 57
Aster curvescens, 12
roscidus variifolius, 23
undulatus, 23
Beaked hazelnut, 58
Bedstraw, hairy, 60
northern, 60
rough, 60
sweet-scented, 60
Beech, 59
Betula lenta, 59
lutea, 59
populifolia, 58
Birch, black, 59
white, 58
yellow, 59
Boletus nebulosus, 24
Bovista, round, 34
explanation of plate, 62
. Bovista pila, 34
explanation of plate, 62
Brainerds thorn, 56
Brier, green, 58
Britton and Brown, cited, 35
Burbank, cited, 18
Burt, E. A., acknowledgments to, 21
Burt’s stereum, 61
explanation of plate, 61
Buttonbush, 60
Cantharellus cibarius longipes, 24
Castanea dentata, 59
sativa var. americana, 59
Catbrier, 58
Cephalanthus occidentalis, 60
Champlain thorn, 45-46
Chestnut, 59
Chestnut Inocybe, explanation of
plate, 60-61
Cleavers, 60
Coccineae, 54-56
Cockspur grass, 58
Collybia, family, 28-29
explanation of plate, 62
tufted, 27-28
explanation of plate, 62
Collybia acervata, 27-28
explanation of plate, 62
familia, 28-29
explanation of plate, 62
Contiguous thorn, 50
Cortinarius amarus, 24
Corylus americana, 58
rostrata, 58
Cotton grass, alpine, 24
Crataegus, New York species, 5-6,
35-57
Crataegus ascendens, 12, 51-52
brainerdi, 12, 54, 56
champlainensis, 45-46
coccinea var., 13
conjuncta, 12, 41-42
contigua, 12, 49, 50
delucida, 12, 53-54
dilatata, 12, 47-48
dissona, 12, 41, 42-43
egglestoni, 12, 54, 55-56
exclusa, 12, 45, 47
flabellata, 13
gravesii, 13, 54
holmesiana, 48-49
intricata, 13, 48
irrasa, 13, 49, 50-51
var. divergens, 51
lobulata, 18, 48, 49
66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Crataegus macracantha, 13
matura, 138, 51, 52-53
modesta, 43, 44
peckii, 13, 48, 44-45
praecoqua, 138, 54, 55
pringlei, 45, 46-47
succulenta, 13-14, 57
unifiora, 38
Creeping spike rush, 58
Cuphea viscosissima, 59
Dalibarda repens, 24
Daphne mezereum, 14
Delucid thorn, 53-54
Dilatatae, 47-48
Dissonant thorn, 42-43
Dryopteris goldieana, 57
Duckweed, ivy-leaved, 58
Dwarf sumac, 59
Edible fungi, 4, 27-34; specimens, 5
Egglestons thorn, 55-56
Eleocharis palustris, 58
Entoloma griseum, 14
Eragrostis major, 58
Eriophorum alpinum, 24
Euonymus americanus var., 14
obovatus, 14
Explanation of plates, 60-63
Fagus americana, 59
ferruginea, 59
Fenno, Frank E., Supplementary
List of Plants of the Susque-
hanna valley, 57-60
Flabellatae, 49-51
Fly amanita, 22
Forked russula, 31-32
Fries, cited, 23
Fungi, economic collection, 5
Galium aparine, 60
asprellum, 60
boreale, 60
circaezans, 60
lanceolatum, 60
pilosum, 60
triflorum, 60
Geoglossum farlowi, 14
Glyceria elongata, 58
Goldenrod, early, 26
Goldie’s shield fern, 57
Gonnermann, cited, 23
Grass, alpine cotton, 24
cockspur, 58
long manna, 58
pungent meadow, 58
Graves thorn, 54
Gray, Asa, cited, 19, 22, 35
Groundsel, common, 26
Hairy bedstraw, 60
Haplosporella maclurae, 14
Haw, 36
Hawthorn, 36
Haymakers psilocybe, 33-34
explanation of plates, 63
Hazelnut, 58
beaked, 58
Hebeloma socialis, 15
Hitchcock, A. P., cited, 22
Holmes thorn, 48-49
Hydnum balsameum, 15
graveolens subzonatum, 24-25
macrescens, 15-16
Hypomyces boletinus, 15
Inocybe, chestnut, 16
explanation of plate, 60-61
excoriated, 16
explanation of plate, 61
fallacious, 17
explanation of plate, 61
sealy disked, 18
explanation of plate, 61
Inocybe castanea, 16
explanation of plate, 60-61
excoriata, 16-17
explanation of plate, 61
fallax, 17
explanation of plate, 61
serotina, 17-18
squamosodisea, 18
explanation of plate, 61
Intricatae, 43-45
Intricate thorn, 43
Isaria brachiata, 18
Iva xanthiifolia, 18
Ivy leaved duckweed, 58
INDEX TO REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 1903 67
Lactarius subvelutinus, 18-19
Lemna trisulea, 58
Liquorice, wild, 60
Torrey’s wild, 60
Lobulatae, 48-49
Lobulate thorn, 49
Manna grass, long, 58
Mary’s russula, 29-31
explanation of plate, 62
Meadow grass, pungent, 58
Mezereon, 14
Mitchella repens, 60
Mnium affine ciliare, 25
Modest thorn, 44
Molles, 45-47
Mountain sumac, 59
Mowers mushroom, 33-34
Mushrooms, deficiency, 4-5; edible,
5
Nardia obovata, 19
Otidea onotica, 25
Oxalis brittonae, 19
Panicularia elongata, 58
Panicum, wood, 58
Panicum crus-galli var. hispidum,
58
minus, 58 ;
walteri, 58
Parsonsia petiolata, 59
Partridge berry, 60
Paspalum muhlenbergii, 20
prostratum, 20
Peck’s thorn, 44-45
Perilla frutescens, 19
Phacelia dubia, 19
: parvifiora, 19
Phaeopezia retiderma, 19
Pholiota, wormy, 32
explanation of plate, 63
Pholiota vermifiua, 32
explanation of plate, 63
Pilosace eximia, 25
Plants, contributors, list of, 3, 9-12;
species added to collection, 3, 7-
9; species not before reported, 4,
12-22
Plates, explanation of, 60-63
Podosphaera leucotricha, 19
Pringles thorn, 46-47
Pruinosae, 41-438
Psilocybe, haymakers, 33-34
explanation of plate, 63
Psilocybe foenisecii, 33-34
explanation of plate, 63
Puccinia simillima, 20
suaveolens, 25-26
‘Queen of the prairie, 22
Rabenhorst, cited, 23
Raspberry, black, 59
Rhus copallina, 59
Rimosi, 16, 17
Rubus occidentalis, 59
Rue anemone, 59
Rush, creeping spike, 58
Russula, forked, 31-32
explanation of plate, 63
Mary’s, 29-31
explanation of plate, 62
Russula densifolia, 20
var. paxilloides, 20
furcata, 20, 31-82
explanation of plate, 63
mariae, 29-31
explanation of plate, 62
Sarcoscypha rhenana, 20
Sargent, C. S., cited, 35
Senecio vulgaris, 26
Sericella, 21
Shield fern, Goldie’s, 57
Sisymbrium altissimum, 26
Small, J. K., cited, 35
Smilax rotundifolia, 58
Solidago arguta, 26
canadensis glabrata, 26
juncea, 26
rugosa, 26
Spike rush, creeping, 58
Spiraea lobata, 22
Spurge laurel, 14
Stereum burtianum, 21
explanation of plate, 61
68 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Sumac, dwarf, 59
mountain, 59
upland, 59
Susquehanna valley, supplementary
list of plants, 6, 57-60
Syndesmon thalictroides, 59
Tag alder, 59
Tarweed, 59
Tenuifoliae, 51-54
Thorn, 36
ascending, 51-52
Brainerds, 56
broad leaved, 47-48
Champlain, 45-46
conjoined, 41-42
contiguous, 50
delucid, 53-54
dissonant, 42-43
early, 55
Egglestons, 55-56
excluded, 47
Graves, 54
Holmes, 48-49
intricate, 43
lobulate, 49
mature, 52-53
modest, 44
Peck’s, 44-45
Pringles, 46-47
Thorn, succulent, 57
unpolished, 50-51
Thorn apple, 36
Thorn bush, 36
Thorn tree, 36
Tomentosae, 38, 39, 57
Torrey, cited, 14
Torrey’s wild liquorice, 60
Tricholoma, two colored, 21
explanation of plate, 61
Tricholoma subluteum, 21
explanation of plate, 61
Tufted collybia, 27-28 .
Twin berry, 60
Ulmaria rubra, 22
Upland sumac, 59
Viola cucullata, 26-27
rotundifolia, 27
selkirkii, 27
Violet, blue, 26-27
round leaved yellow, 27
Waxweed, blue, 59
Wood panicum, 58
Wormy pholiota, 32
Xylaria grandis, 27
(Pages 69-70 were bulletin cover pages)
Appendix 7
Archeology 8-9
Museum bulletins 73, 78 ee
a3 Metallic Ornaments of the New York Indians ©
Res History of the New York Iroquois ee
ee ee
i TORS
AT AT aH RT RANE
= he F
=,:?
cunt tole t asta to siteanarih sel
Published monthly by the
University of the State of New York
BULLETIN 305 DECEMBER 1903
New York State Museum
FREDERICK J. H. Merritu Director
Bulletin 73
ARCHEOLOGY 8
METALLIC ORNAMENTS
OF THE
NEW YORK INDIANS
BY
WEEE hi BE AUCEEANP. TS: i. i:
PAGE PAGE
HESwOl BULMOFILIES . 2... ss. 02 oe 2) | halle (CrosSesre.As «surements AI
HmEROULICTION : 6.0. oc. wee eee. 7 | Crosses and crucifixes of other
Native copper ornaments........ 14 AMALEHIAlS ya ewe eng enieeal oy Lamy 45
Peeeemin DEACS cc. v sn Ladies Ty PCOS face TO a abate) esi ee apes 49
Pendants or bangles’) ....7...4.. 19 | Honorary medals and gorgets... 50
Eels oi) Se enter ur een om wee ZO |paxclicious medals. Ne ens. 70
RENE ESHT OF. Sih.) s SLeh Sis a aes Zid alte ESR OO CHE SHPhY wear an tar Neperris aptly ia 74
Brass tubes in leather belts...... 2A jit CAG Datel sie wees. shi Mere rai a ola 04
BME MIEN ARCS | oe ee ek sc ees 8 2 viiscellameousine a6 seth e 95
Lead medals or ornaments ...... 2G WNC MOM Gat = cen caie eyeienaye eek HN 2 23 98
SHOES CLS OR ee eee Zon ME xplananlonson platessa. 4.la sen. -IOI
ICFs ae ae ea Beeler Abe Shi ay. oleae Mees ue Talat ots face II4
RMN eT HIM Se ss. ome Sk ie eer Bs shan] Lia GVES igs in rains seta ts hae RARE ad eke areee 115
care a Wahaia
210¥ walt lo sisi8 od3 to Wiese,
' a5 >‘ vo .
ee ; et apebing
F 5 Dn Py JOJOBHORSA
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hi Le | ?
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te
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7 ‘ : Nae
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i
(7 ce a Men ? Stet ‘ f t (ti iat
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G4) ‘ bt wha obo
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angi) Wiaeilhualge)
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K > 3) ‘ i ea et ; eee MOL: |
2TVSaMAWAO OLILTAT Se
ties
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University of the State of New York
New York State Museum
FREDERICK J. H. Merritt Director
Bulletin 73
ARCHEOLOGY 8
METALLIC ORNAMENTS
OF THE
NEW YORK INDIANS
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Abbreviations at the left are used in the bulletin in exact reference to
works in the following list:
Betts Betts, C. Wyllys. American Colonial History Illus-
trated by Contemporaneous Medals; ed. by Wil-
Itai dy Re Matvin: Noa; ON: -Y< 18907:
Bourke Bourke, John G@. The Medicine Men of the Apache.
U. S.—Ethnology, Bureau of. Rep’t for 1887-88.
Wash. 1&2.
Boyle Boyle, David. Annual Reports for 1888 and 18or.
Toronto.
Brereton Brereton, John. A Brief and True Relation of the
Discovery of the North Part of Virginia. Lond.
602, - Wass. JElist. Soc, Collections, Ser 3) ves
Bost. 1843.
Bruyas Bruyas, Jacques. Radices Verborum Iroquaeorum;
edly an Gal siteas Nema. oes:
Radical Words of the Mohawk Language. N. Y. State Mus,
16th An. Rep’t, Apx. E, 1863. Same paging.
Bryant Bryant, William C. Letter published in 18o1.
Carr Carr, Lucien. Dress and Ornaments of Certain
American Indians. American Antiquarian Soc.
Proc. Worcester Mass. 1897.
Clark Clark, J. V. H. Onondaga; or Reminiscences of
Earlier and Later Times. Syracuse 1849.
Conover Conover, George S. Articles in newspapers of
Geneva N. Y.
4
Converse
Converse. Letters
Fisher
Frey
Frey. Letters
Halsey
Harper's
Hazard
Hazard. Minutes
Heckewelder
Henry
Johnson
Jones
Ketchum
Kingman
Leroux
Loskiel
McLachlan
McLachlan, Jour.
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Converse, Harriet Maxwell. Iroquois Silver Brooches.
N. Y. State Mus. 54th An. Rep’t 1900.
Letters to Rev. Dr Beauchamp.
Fisher, J. T. American Medals of the Revolution.
Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections. Ser. 3. v. 6.
Frey, S. L. Were they Mound-builders? Ameri-
can Naturalist, Oct. 1879.
Letters to Rev. Dr Beauchamp.
Halsey, Francis Whiting. The Old New York
Frontier. N. Y. 1got.
Harper’s Magazine, y. 32. N. Y. 1866.
Hazard,Samuel. Pennsylvania Archives, 1664-1790.
Ser. 1. Phil. 1852-56.
Minutes of the Provincial Council of Penn-
sylvania, 1682-1790. Phil. 1852-60.
Lettered Colonial Records.
Heckewelder, J. G. E. History, Manners and Cus-
toms of the Indian Nations who once Inhabited
Pennsylvania. Phil. 1876. Pa. Hist. Soc Mem-
oirs. 1876. v. 12.
Henry, Alexander. Travels and Adventures in
Canada and the Indian Territories, etc.; ed. by
James Bain. Toronto Igor.
Johnson, Crisfield. Centennial History of Erie
County. Buffalo 1876.
Jones, Charles C. Silver Crosses from an Indian
Grave-mound at Coosawatee Old Town, Murray
County, Georgia. Smithsonian Rep’t 1881. p. 610.
Ketchum, William. An Authentic and Complete
History of Buffalo. Buffalo 1864.
Lettered Buffalo and the Senecas,and commonly thus known.
Kingman, Henry E. Letter to Rev. Dr Beauchamp.
Leroux, Joseph. Medaillier du Canada, or Canadian
Coin Cabinet. Montreal 1888.
Loskiel, G. H: History of the Missions of the
United Brethren among the Indians in North
America; tr. from the German by C. I. La Trobe.
Lond. 1794.
McLachlan, R. W. American Numismatical and
Archaeological Society of New York. Proc.-
N. Y. 1883.
The Canadian Antiquarian and Numis-
matic Journal, published by the Numismatic and-
Antiquarian Society of Montreal. Ser. 3. Montreal
1899. v. 2. oe
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 5
McLachlan. Letters Letters to Rev. Dr Beauchamp.
Massachusetts Massachusetts. Hist. Soc. Collections. Ser. 3.
Millard Millard, Clara. The Amateur Trader. Teddington,
Middlesex, Eng. Igo1.
Miner Miner, Charles. History of Wyoming; in a series
of letters to his son, William Penn Miner, esq.
‘ Phil. 1845.
Montanus Montanus, Arnoldus. Description of New Nether-
land. Documentary History of the State of New
York. Alb. 1851. 4:75-83. ig
Morgan Morgan, L. H. League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee or
Iroquois. Rochester 1851.
Fabrics, Inventions, Implements and Uten-
sils of the Iroquois. N. Y. State Mus. Rep’t. 1852.
Morgan. Fabrics etc.
p. 67-117.
N. H. New Hampshire Hist. Soc. Collections. Concord
1824.
O'Callaghan O'Callaghan, E. B. ed. Documentary History of
the State of New York. Alb. 1849-51.
Documents Relative to the Colonial His-
tory of the State of New York. Alb. 1853-87.
‘0’Callaghan. Lettres —-— lettres edifiantes et curieuses. Biographical
sketch of Abbé Francois Picquet, abridged from
these in the Documentary History of the State of
New York. Alb. 1849. 1 :428.
O'Callaghan. Col. Hist.
-Parker Parker, Ely 8. Remarks at the re-interment of Red
‘Jacket. Smithsonian Rep’t for 1885. Wash. 1886.
-Penhallow Penhallow, Samuel. The History of the Wars of
New England with the Eastern Indians, etc. by
Samuel Penhallow, esq. Bost. 1726. New Hamp-
shire Hist. Soc. Collections for 1824. Concord
1824.
Relation Relations des Jésuites. Quebec 1858
Schoolcraft Schoolcraft, Henry R. Notes on the Iroquois.
N. Y. 1846. |
Smith Smith, William. History of New York from the
First Discovery to the Year MDCCX XXII, etc.
Alb. 1814.
Stone Stone, William L. Life of Joseph Brant—Thayen-
danegea, © Ni Y01838:
The Life and Tim:s of Sir William Johnson,
Barty) Alb: 186s.
‘Thomas Thomas, Cyrus. Burial Mounds of the Northe n
Sections of the United States. U. S—Ethnology,
Bureau of. 5th Rept. Wash. 1887.
Stone. Johnson
6
Thomas. Explorations
Van Epps
Van Epps. Letters
Watson
Wilkinson
Wilson
Williams
Wood
Wyman
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Report on the Mound Explorations of the
Bureau of Ethnology. U. S—Ethnology, Bureau
of. 12th An. Rep’t. Wash. 1840.
Van Epps, Percy M. The Mutilation of Archaeologic
Finds. American Antiquarian, p. 110. Chicago
1894.
Letters to Rev. Dr Beauchamp.
Watson, Elkanah. Men and Times of the Revolu-
tion, etc. N. Y. 1856.
Wilkinson, J. B. Annals of Binghamton. N. Y.
1840.
Wilson, James Grant. Arent Van Curler and his
Journal of 1634-35. American Historical Ass’n.
An. Rep’t for 1895. Wash. 1896.
Williams, Roger. Key into the Language of
America; ed. by J. H. Trumbull. Narragansett
Club. Pub. 1866-74. v. 1.
Wood, William. New England Prospect. Pub-
lished in 1634. Bost. 1865. Prince Soc. Pub.
Wyman, Walter C. Account of Collection, Chicago
Evei.ing Post, Oct. 8, 1898. Letters to Rev. Dr
Beauchamp.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS
As there were national and provincial costumes in the countries
of Europe, so were there differing fashions of dress and ornaments
among the aborigines of New York and of the United States. In the
heat of summer the simplest possible costume prevailed, except on
festive occasions, and many had scant clothing in the winter season.
On the other hand, the feather or fur dresses, or those of tanned
or woven goods, have been described in picturesque terms. With-
out recounting these, it seems proper to give some idea how the
New York Indians were arrayed when the white man came, and for
some time after.
Henry Hudson said that the natives about New York bay wore
various skins, and had ornaments of copper, but later writers were
more elaborate in description. In the battle on Lake Champlain
in 1609, the French leader was told that the three Mohawks “ who
bore three lofty plumes were the Chiefs, and that there were but
these three and they were to be recognized by those plumes, which
were considerably larger than those of their companions.
They were provided with arrow-proof armor, woven of cotton
thread and wood.” Arent Van Curler mentioned similar Mohawk
armor in his journal, Dec. 23, 1634. He saw a sham fight in a
Mohawk town, nine men on one side and 11 on the other. “Some
of them wore armor and helmets that they make themselves of thin
reeds and strings so well that no arrow or axe can pass through to
wound them.” Wilson, p. 91
In the Journal of New Netherland, written from 1641 to 1646, it is
said that the Indians “ go almost naked except a lap . . . and
on the shoulders a deer-skin or mantle, a fathom square of woven
Turkey feathers or peltries sewed together, they make use now
greatly of Duffels, Cloth Blue or Red, in consequence of the fre-
quent visits of the Christians. In winter they make shoes of Deer
Skins, manufactured after their fashion.” O’Callaghan, 4:4
8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
In his Description of New Netherland (1671) Arnoldus Montanus
is quite elaborate, but had most of his account from the earlier one
of Van der Donck. He said:
The clothing of the New Netherlanders is most sumptuous.
The women ornament themselves more than the men. And
although the winters are very severe, they go naked until their
thirteenth year; the lower parts of the girls’ bodies only are covered.
All wear around the waist a girdle made of the fin of the whale or
of seawant. The men wear between the legs a lap of duffels cloth,
or leather, half an ell broad and nine quarters long; so that a square
piece behind hangs over the buttocks and in front over the belly.
The women wear a petticoat down midway the leg, very richly orna-
mented with seawant, so that the garment sometimes costs three
hundred guilders. They also wrap the naked body in a deer’s skin,
the tips of which swing with thin points. A long robe fastened on
the right shoulder with a knot, at the waist by a girdle, serves the
men and women for an upper ornament, and by night for a bed
cover. Both go, for the most part, bareheaded. The women bind
their hair behind in a plait, over which they draw a square cap
thickly interwoven with seawant. They decorate the ornaments for
the forehead with the same stuff. Around the neck and arms they
wear bracelets of seawant, and some around the waist. Shoes and
stockings were made of Elk hides before the Hollanders settled here.
Others made shoes even of straw. But since some time they prefer
Dutch shoes and stockings. O’Callaghan, 4:125
In the Remonstrance of New Netherland, 1649, we are told that,
beside a piece of duffels, deerskin or elk hide,
Some have a bearskin of which they make doublets ; others again,
coats of the skins of racoons, wild cats, wolves, dogs, fishers, squir-
rels, beavers and the like; and they even have made themselves
some of turkey’s feathers; now they make use for the most part of
duffels cloth which they obtain in trade from the Christians; they
make their stockings and shoes of deerskins or elk hides, some even
have shoes of corn husks whereof they also make sacks. . .
They twine both white and black wampum around their heads; for-
merly they were not wont to cover these, but now they are begin-
ning to wear bonnets or caps which they purchase from the Chris-
tians; they wear Wampum in the ears, around the neck and around
the waist, and thus in their way are mighty fine. They have also
long deers-hair which is dyed red, whereof they make ringlets to
encircle the head; and other fine hair of the same color, which
hangs around the neck in braids, whereof they are very vain.
O’Callaghan, 1:281
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 9
The Dutch accounts are mainly of the Algonquin tribes toward
the sea. In the interior ornaments at first differed. The Iroquois
had very few shell beads, but sometimes used perforated fresh-water
shells and beads of colored sticks. Sweet grass was tastefully woven,
and colored porcupine quills, moose and deer hair were used in
embroidery. There were a few bone ornaments, and many of per-
forated wood. Feathers were everywhere worn, and in a tasteful
way. Skins were used with or without the fur, in the latter case
being finely finished and adorned.
Father Bruyas gave the names of a few Mohawk ornaments used
in the latter part of the 17th century. Asara was a necklace or belt,
used also for ornaments put around the forehead. Garensa was a
string of glass beads. Gentare, to put red hair about the neck.
Enmitiagon, to put any ornament there. Osa was a robe, and Tstosat
tsonnito, a robe made of six beaver skins. Atouannha was a brace- —
let; for these they always wore, but it is significant that no word
is given for brooches. Onnigensa describes the hair of women hang-
ing down behind, it being the custom to braid it. Gannonsen, to
mark on the body with the point of a needle, is the only allusion to
tattooing, though this was frequently done. Gasire was a covering
with long hair, called Iroquois stuff. Garisk was a stocking, and
Garisk onwe mittens. There are also names for shoes, socks, blan-
kets, caps and suspenders.
Curler (Corlaer) recorded a few words of this nature in 1635.
Assire or Oggaha was cloth; Endathatste, a looking-glass; Tiggere-
tat, combs; Dedaiawitha, shirts; and he obtained other names for
beads, wampum, caps, stockings and shoes. They had already
European articles in constant use.
While there were early notices of copper ornaments along the
Atlantic coast, Hudson was the only one to mention them as occur-
ring within the limits of New York. Native copper implements
have often been found in the interior of the State, but early metallic
ornaments are there very rare, comprising only small beads. After
early trade or colonization commenced, all was quickly changed.
Copper and brass arrows replaced those of flint, and steel knives
those of stone. Brass kettles were lighter and stronger than those
Io NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
of stone and clay, and soon took their place. European beads came
into request, particularly the large and artistic ones of Venice, glob-
ular or elliptic. Very long glass bugle beads were also much used,
and the Jesuits brought rings and medals in abundance. Metallic
bangles long disputed the field with the teeth of the bear and the
elk, winning the day fully only when these animals vanished from
the land. With the development of the wampum trade by the
Dutch, in exchange for the prized beaver furs, shell beads and
larger ornaments abounded in every Iroquois village. When the
red pipestone came, a little over two centuries ago, the sphere of
native ornament became greatly enlarged. Till near the close of
the 17th century brass and copper delighted the Indian’s soul.
Then came silver ornaments, holding sway for nearly two centuries
more. In the last half of the 19th century these gradually gave
place to the cheap jewelry of the day, and New York Indian orna-
ments, as such, almost ceased to exist.
In the nature of things, we have but a confused idea of how an
early Indian appeared when arrayed in all his bravery. The pic-
tures which illustrate the first histories and descriptions were made
in Europe, and are the artist’s conceptions of things he never saw.
A few seem to have been made under the supervision of the respec-
tive writers, but even these are far from accurate. Champlain’s pic-
ture of the siege of the Oneida fort is a familiar instance. The
illustrations of Capt. John Smith’s various accounts have the same
character. In all there is a groundwork of truth, but in all the
details are affected by distance and the defects of memory, and still
more by the taste or imagination of the artist.
This may possibly be otherwise where verbal descriptions are
given, but allowances must be made even then. Usually men
described what they saw in a general way, but we must remember
that many described what they had not seen, using the accounts of
others. There can be no question that this was often done without
the slightest intimation that the matter was not original. Bearing
this in mind, a few word pictures of personal appearance may be
given, some of them outside this State.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS ET
In Wood’s New England Prospect we are told that “a Sagamore
with a Humberd in his eare for a pendant, a black hawk on his
occiput for his plume, Mowhackees for his gold chaine, a good store
of Wampompeage begirting his loynes, his bow in his hand, his
quiver at his back, with six naked Indian spatterlashes at his heels
for his guard, thinkes himselfe little inferior to the great Cham; he
will not stick to say he is all one with King Charles.” Wood, p. 74.
Of.the Indians in general, in 1634, he adds to this account that
“although they be thus poore, yet is there in them the sparkes of
naturall pride, which appeares in their longing desire after many
kinds of ornaments, wearing pendants in their eares, as formes of
birds, beasts and fishes carved out of bone, sheis and stone, with
long bracelets of their curious wampompeag and mowhackees,
which they put about their necks and loynes.”’ At that time the
women wore coats of turkey feathers. He said also: “In the
winter time the more aged of them weare leather drawers, in forme
like Irish trouses, fastened under their girdle with buttons.” For
more comfort, “many of them weare skinnes about them in forme
of an Irish mantle, and of these some be Beares skinnes, Mooses
skinnes, and Beaver skinnes sewed together, other skinnes, and
Rackoone skinnes; most of them in winter having his deepe furr’d
Cat skinne, like a long large muffe, which he shifts to that arme
which lieth most exposed to the winde.” Wood, p. 73
This will suffice for the clothing and general ornaments of the
New York Indians toward the ocean, who were of the same family
as those of New England, and whose apparel would be much the
same. A few words may be said of the Iroquois in the interior,
whose early opportunities of obtaining shell and metallic ornaments
were few indeed.
While most of the Huron-Iroquois went much of the time nearly
naked, they did not in the least object to fine robes and ornaments
for festive occasions. Champlain described the Huron women as
wearing a petticoat, and often heavy strings of beads. Beaver robes
were common. The Jesuits said that men and women went bare-
headed, and a headdress was used only as an ornament. Their
robes were the hides of elk, bear and other animals, and the women
12 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
painted these, drawing lines from the top about two inches apart.
They thought most of the skin of a small black animal, as large as-
a rabbit and with soft fur. About 60 of these were required for a
square robe. The tails hung down, making fringes, and the heads.
formed borders above. Relation, 1634
The ordinary shirt or tunic was made of two dressed deerskins,
quite thin, fastened on the shoulders and reaching midway on the
leg. Fringes were cut in this at the armholes and around the
bottom. Coverings for the arms were sometimes added, secured’
about by cords before and behind. Claws, hoofs and teeth were
occasional ornaments, but metallic ornaments soon replaced these.
Dyed hair was freely used, and feathers and porcupine quills were
often in request. In early warfare the head of some animal was
often placed on the warrior’s shoulder or head. Painting was.
customary both in peace and war, and tattooing was frequent. The
former still continues among the New York Iroquois.
As this paper deals mainly with the metallic ornaments used by
the Indians of New York, which are but rarely prehistoric, the
foregoing will suffice to show the general attire of these nations
at and about the advent of the white man. After that time changes-
came rapidly. Those who would follow up the subject in a broader
way can not do better than to consult the Dress and Ornaments of
Certain American Indians by Lucien Carr. This treats of the attire
of the Indians of the United States east of the Mississippi, as de-
scribed by early chroniclers. Of the changes of the last two
centuries little is said, nor of some which came 50 years earlier.
His admirable summary, with its accurate notes, is valuable and
convenient for this early view, but hardly touches the subject now
to be considered.
In a previous paper, some references have been made to the
reports of copper articles seen by early navigators. Verazzano saw
Indians wearing plates of wrought copper as he sailed along the
Atlantic coast. These they valued highly. Farther northeast, the
savages had copper ornaments in their ears. De Soto saw small
copper hatchets in Georgia, and heard of a supply of this metal
farther north. The Montreal Indians told Cartier of copper in 1535.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 13,
Gosnold met with it on the Massachusetts coast in 1602, and one
of his associates has left us quite an account. Brereton said that
the Indians “have also great store of copper, some very red, and
some of a pale color: none of them but have chains, earrings or
collars of this metal; they head some of their arrows herewith,
much like our broad arrowheads, very workmanly done. Their
chains are many hollow pieces connected together, each piece of
the bigness of one of our reeds, a finger in length, ten or twelve
of them together on a string, which they wear about their necks;
their collars they wear about their bodies like bandeliers a handful
broad, all hollow pieces like the other, but somewhat shorter, four
hundred pieces in a collar, very fine and even set together. Besides
these they have large drinking cups made like skulls, and other thin.
blades of copper very much like our boar spear blades.” Brereton,
ser. 3, 8:91
Another in the same company tells of “ tobacco pipes steeled with
copper,” and of a savage who had “ hanging about his neck a plate
of rich copper, in length a foot, in breadth half a foot for a breast-.
plate, the ears of all the rest had pendants of copper.” |
It can hardly be doubted that this was European metal, the pale
copper approaching brass or bronze, though Brereton understood.
from the signs of an Indian that they dug it on the mainland.
The same kind of arrowhead is yet found on recent Iroquois sites..
The hollow cylinders of metal had reached the Mohawk valley cer-
tainly as early as 1600. The belts with their short tubes still occur
in recent Iroquois graves, “‘ very fine and evenly set together.” All
these will be illustrated from various collections, and their identity
can be shown by comparison with the famous relics at Fall River.
The “tobacco pipes steeled with copper” present the same diff-
culty that is met with in those described by Hudson in New York
bay. If both descriptions are allowed, they must also have had the
same origin as the arrowheads and tubes. In this connection it
may be suggested, as is probably true, that Roger Williams’s famous.
statement that the Narragansetts “have an excellent Art to cast
our Pewter and Brasse into very neate and artificiall Pipes,” had
- some slight early ground. Brass and pewter pipes occur on Indians
14 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
‘sites in New York, but there is little reason to think them made by
the red man. Such pipes Williams probably saw among the Rhode
Island Indians. They could cast pewter and lead, and he too
quickly determined that all were made by them. The copper used
along the Atlantic coast at the beginning of colonization is now
generally conceded to be European, with some rude articles of native
metal here and there. The mouth of the St Lawrence was so long
haunted by European fishermen that many things may have found
their way southward along the coast through aboriginal trade, but
it is equally probable that some adventurer pushed his vessel along
the shore, without recording his trip.
The writer’s general conclusion is that native copper articles were
not in use in New York as late as the year 1600, but that European
articles of brass or copper were used along the seashore, and had
even reached the interior by that time.
One article from the Mohawk valley, not represented here, is a
stone mold for casting lead or pewter ornaments. It is a flat piece
of stone in which three circles have been neatly cut, each with
several deeper depressions, to form bosses on the rings. The
diameter is about that of a common cent, and there are sloping
grooves to carry off the superfluous metal, or to run the metal into
the mold, that being covered.
Native copper ornaments
While implements of native copper have been found in New York,
ornaments are very rare and mostly confined to beads. A very
few are undetermined, but several forms found elsewhere are unre-
ported here. On the other hand, no state has yielded more recent
metallic ornaments, and the use of some peculiar forms yet con-
tinues. There is little that is certain as to the date of these earlier
articles, but most of them may be allowed quite a respectable
antiquity. The recent ones can often be dated within a score of
years, being found on sites whose age and time of duration are
known.
The native copper beads of New York are either small spheres
or hollow cylinders, and of these the first seem most numerous.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 15,
Mr S. L. Frey gave an account of some he found in a grave near
Palatine Bridge in 1879. In this grave were stone tubes. He said:
Near the tubes, and also embedded in the hematite, I found what
had apparently been a necklace or headdress, composed of copper
and shell beads; the former were badly oxidized, and had been made
of thin sheets of copper rolled into tubes. That they had been
worn around the head or neck was evident, for one side of the skull
ane the lower jaw were stained a dark copper color. . . 'On
the same level as the last grave and about 6 feet to the west of it,
I came to another, similar in all respects, lined with flat stones
: The relics found were the remains of a necklace of shell
beads, little copper tubes and small seashells. Frey, p. 642-43
Mr Frey kindly furnished fig. 369, showing two of these beads,
adding this note:
The copper beads found in the tube graves are very small, made
of rolled metal, and so much oxidized as to make it difficult to
determine their original size. I, however, send the best sketch I
can. They appear to have been from a quarter of an inch to 14
inches long, and perhaps 4 inch in diameter.
The question of comparative antiquity is suggested by the vary-
ing character of these graves, but that most of them were of quite
an early age, no one will doubt. In form the beads are precisely
like those of historic times and made in the same way. Researches
in Ohio have demonstrated the early use of native copper beaten
into thin sheets, preparatory to use in other forms, so that this
presents no difficulty.
Fig. 239 1s a similar bead found by the writer by the Seneca river,
in 1878, in the same field where a fine native copper spear was ob-
tained. In section it is more nearly square than circular, and is
much corroded. Small ornaments of this kind would rarely be
long preserved except under favoring circumstances, and are thus
naturally rare. In graves or on village sites only would they last
long. This will account for the brief treatment native copper here
receives.
There was a later use farther west. Alexander Henry saw native
copper at the mouth of the Ontonagon river in 1765, and said that
the Indians “ were used to manufacture this metal into spoons and
16 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
‘bracelets for themselves. In the perfect state in which they found
it, it required nothing but to beat it into shape.” Henry, p. 187
Mr P. M. Van Epps described in the American Antiquarian for
1894 a cemetery north of Schenectady, in which a copper ax was
‘found. In another grave afterward, 135 copper beads were obtained.
In a letter to the writer describing these, he said:
The copper beads were quite peculiar, being quite unlike the
-commonstubular beads of the western states. These were made by
rolling together quite thick chunks or welts of the native copper,
‘till the finished bead was, in some cases, as large as a small hickory
nut. The bar or strip of copper used was, for some of the beads,
so thick that two or three turns made a large bead. Mr Clute, the
‘finder of the beads, told me that he gave two of the larger ones to
friends, mechanics in the Schenectady Locomotive Works, who
desired to pound them into finger rings, but found, to their surprise,
that not a file in the works would cut them, and that they had to
‘be annealed before they could be worked out as they wished. In
short, that they were tempered or hardened. I can not vouch for
this. At any rate, the beads are a unique lot, and it is very unfortu-
nate that the finder allowed them to be separated.
These were found about 1890. ‘The writer, himself, has seen a
bit of native copper from Brewerton which rang like steel. Fig.
236 and 237 represent two of these beads still belonging to Mr
‘Clute. Fig. 238 is a smaller one now owned by Mr Van Epps.
‘They are very well worked, and the junction outside is not at first
apparent. The surface is neatly rounded, and the ends flattened.
‘These are some of the smaller beads. The larger ones could not be
obtained.
Recent beads
The earlier brass beads show European contact preceding coloni-
zation. Fig. 245 is a fine cylindric bead of this material, well made
and over 3 inches long. This came from the early fort on Garoga
creek in Ephratah, and was found by Mr S. L. Frey. Fig. 256 is
another from the same fort, which is less than half as long. Out of
hundreds of relics found there these are all that came from the white
man’s hands. It is reasonable to suppose that the Mohawks who
used these, had them before they left Canada. This is in the Rich-
mond collection. Fig. 234 shows another in the same collection
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 17
from the early Cayadutta fort, south of Johnstown. This is nearly
‘7 inches long, straight and cylindric, and is the only European
carticle yet reported from that site. Had these forts been near the
Mohawk river, there might have been a possibility that these beads
-were lost by wayfarers. Their positions are too remote and difficult
for this; and, as their date is just before the great influx of European
-articles, they may be connected with Cartier’s visit to Montreal, or
with traders who soon followed. [After the above was in print the
writer examined a tubular bead of European copper, found on an
early village site in Jefferson county in 1903. This and a fragment
of pottery definitely placed this village in the latter part of the 16th
century. The bead retains its smooth surface and is 14 inches long. ]
A few later examples of the same class of ornaments may be
given. Fig. 243 is a fine cylindric brass bead, found by Mr Frey
-on the site of the early Mohawk town of Tionontoguen. This is 3}
inches long. From another site he has a similar larger one, 114
inches long and nearly half an inch in diameter. Fig. 244 is longer
“than the last figured, and slightly tapering, as though it might once
have been the stem of a brass pipe. It is 3% inches long, and was
‘found within the stockade in Chase’s woods, on the south line of
Pompey. Fig. 254 is an unusually slender brass bead, found at
- Indian hill in Pompey. This gives it an age of nearly 250 years.
It is about 24 inches long and is well made. Fig. 255 is from the
‘fort near Pompey Center, a little earlier than the last and a few
‘miles farther south. It is ruder than most others. Fig. 257 is from
‘the same fort, and is very neatly finished and in fine preservation.
It is less than an inch long. Fig. 249 shows four small beads of
‘polished brass, also from this site and of fine workmanship. The
‘brass is neatly cut at the edges and symmetrically rolled. Three
-of them are much smaller at the ends than in the center, differing
‘from most that the writer has seen.
While many of these beads retain their first use, no small portion
-were worked up from broken kettles, as other ornaments were. Fig.
248 is probably not of this character. It is a neat and cylindric coil
of narrow brass or copper, forming a close but elastic tube, 3%
inches long and over 3 inch in diameter. It was taken from a grave
18 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
on the edge of Canajoharie village. With it were iron tools and an
R. Tippet pipe.
Fig. 246 is in the Hildburgh collection and was obtained at a
recent Oneida site near the lake. It is a slender cylindric coil of
thin brass, 3 inches long, and retaining the cord on which it was
strung. Fig. 247 the writer picked up on a recent Cayuga site. It
is slightly curved, perhaps by use, and is smaller and ruder than
the last. Such forms have been abundant and were easily made.
Fig. 261 has a slight resemblance to the last, but is unique, so
far as known. A slender wire was doubled and neatly twisted, mak-
ing a slender link about 24 inches long. Several of these united
in a chain made a graceful necklace. This came from the Smith
farm, west of Fort Plain.
Fig. 250 to 253 are from a unique lot of slender silver beads, most
of which now belong to the writer. They vary somewhat in length
and thickness, some being no thicker than the common knitting
needle of old times. Fig. 253 is the longest and thickest of this lot,
being 24 inches long. They are plain or slightly ornamented.
These came from the Onondaga reservation. Fig. 197 is taken
from Morgan’s figure of shorter but similar beads, In the latter
figure the slender silver tubes were divided by globular glass beads,
but this practice did not prevail among the Onondagas.
Three illustrations are given of small and spherical brass or copper
beads, all of which are recent. Fig. 240 shows those which are quite
small. These came from Boughton hill in Victor, and they are of
the 17th century. They are now in the Buffalo collection, and are
but little larger than a large pin’s head. Fig. 241 shows five out
of a lot of 10 beads in the Hildburgh collection. These are much
larger, and came from Ontario county. They may be given the
same date, as silver took the place of copper and brass about the
beginning of the 18th century. Among the poorer Indians they
may have continued longer. Fig. 242 shows some beads from the
Onaghee site, on the McClure farm in Hopewell. They are a little
smaller than the last but of the same character. These also are at
Buffalo.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 19
Fig. 235 is a unique article, differing from a cylindric bead and
yet suggestive of one. It was found at Indian castle in Pompey, a
site occupied in 1677 and for some time earlier. It is a long and
slender silver tube, having rows of small perforations at one end.
This suggests its use by the medicine men in blowing the medicinal
water on the patient. It is moderately curved and is seven inches
long, but is quite likely not to have been a mere ornament. [If it
had that character, something might have been attached by using
the holes. One small elliptic lead bead came from the Onondaga
fort of 1696.
Pendants or bangles
A favorite ornament for the past three centuries is a conical roll
of sheet metal, attached to various parts of the dress. Collectively
they may form fringes, and their tinkle adds to the music of the
dance. They often have colored hair, or other adornments, drawn
in so as to form tassels. The copper has often preserved these frail
materials for over two centuries. They are usually of moderate size,
but Mr Hildburgh has one from Oneida Valley about 54 inches long.
Mr Schoolcraft figured a cluster of three from Onondaga county,
presumably from the site of 1696. He said they were “ three fourths
of an inch in length, bell-shaped, and composed of native copper,
beat very thin.” Schoolcraft, p. 143. Ata later day his judgment
would have been different. They are found on most recent Iroquois
sites, but the later Indians have used other metals. The writer
recalls none of native copper.
Fig. 262 is of brass and of unusual size. The writer found this
on Indian hill, Pompey, many years ago, and the smaller ones were
then frequent there, as well as shreds of sheet brass and copper.
Fig. 263 is a characteristic example found 2 miles west of Cana-
joharie. Fig. 260 is one of the common form from Indian hill.
Fig. 259 is one from Cayuga, retaining the ornamental hair and
part of the cord. They have been common on most recent Iroquois
sites, and are frequent in collections. Fig. 258 is a cluster of these
belonging to an Onondaga Indian, but these are now made of iron.
Lead or zinc may be used instead. One early form of bangles was
of deers hoofs, and for this sheeps hoofs may be substituted.
20 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Bells
When the French abandoned the fort at Onondaga lake in 1658,
the mission bell was carried to Indian hill, and was there used for
a long time. In early days nearly all the fragments of this were
found, and also a small bell without a clapper. Mr Clark said that
¢
the former “would have weighed probably one hundred and fifty
or two hundred pounds. The metal is very fine. . . Time and
exposure have not changed it in the least. When found, some
twenty years since, it was broken up, and the pieces found were
enough to make it nearly entire.” Clark, 2:276
Mr Clark also says that near the fort of 1696 “ numerous little
bells, such as are sometimes used by the Romish priesthood,” have
been found. He reported this from hearsay; but the only bells
familiar to the writer from Iroquois sites are those commonly called
hawk bells, like the sleigh bells of modern days, but lighter. These
are frequent, and were probably attached to the dress when dancing.
They are usually of brass, and are sometimes nearly perfect. Mr
W. L. Hildburgh has two of silver from Ontario county, the only
ones yet reported. They are as large as his brass bells, and larger
than some. Fig. 267 shows one of these. They are sometimes
quite small, as in two of his brass ones from the same county. Fig.
266 shows half of a large one from Pompey. Fig. 264 is a fine one
from the fort near Pompey Center, and this seems the oldest yet
reported. When some from that town were exhibited, a local paper
said, “ These bells belong to a period 3000 years ago.” Fig. 265
is a smaller size from Fleming, where they are often found.
The Moravian missionary, Heckewelder, spoke of this feature of
Indian dress in the 18th century. The women have “a number of
little bells and brass thimbles fixed round their ankles, which when
they walk, make a tinkling noise, which is heard at some distance;
this is intended to draw the attention of those who pass by, that
they may look at and admire them.” Heckewelder, p.. 205. At the
burial of a Delaware woman of rank, on the upper borders of moc-
casins “ were fastened a number of small round silver bells, of about
the size of a musket ball.” Heckewelder, p. 271
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 21
He elsewhere refers to the “thimbles and little brass rattles on
their ankles.” In the summer of 1901 the writer saw some of these
thimbles in Fleming, taken from a Cayuga grave. They were
simply perforated at the end for suspension, and must have admir-
ably answered Indian purposes.
Men had plainer ornaments for a similar use, but the bells and
thimbles were for the women, who were expected to be better
dressed. Sometimes bits of brass were perforated and strung on
the moccasins or other parts of attire, to produce a tinkling sound.
These might please the ear in the dance, but it hardly seems prob-
able they were intended to draw attention to the wearer at other
times. Such ornaments were not peculiar to America.
Fig. 375 shows one of two pewter hawk bells found in Pompey,
which could have produced but a dull sound. They are of:small
size and are now much flattened. The writer has seen no other
bells of this metal.
Bracelets
Bracelets of native copper occur in various parts of the country,
but there are none of which the writer feels certain in New York.
These early ornaments were simple rings, usually thick, and some-
times with the ends so firmly in contact as to show they were not
intended to be removed. Some of this kind were found in the great
Smith mound in Kanawha county, West Virginia. They were ellip-
tic and heavy, the ends abutting, and measured across 2% by 2}
inches. There were six on each wrist of a skeleton. In the same
mound was a copper quadrangular gorget with indented sides and
two perforations. The length was 34 inches by 3% wide. These
gorgets also do not occur in New York. Some have been found
in Wisconsin.
In a mound in Crawford county, Wis., was an instance of intru-
sive burial, with many recent relics. Among these were three cop-
per bracelets, 10 silver ones fluted, like those in use here, a copper
kettle, silver locket, silver earrings, six circular silver brooches, a
copper finger ring, and a double silver cross, 54 by 2% inches.
Thomas. Explorations, p. 51
22 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
In the Relation of 1658 it is noted that the Indians not only wear
bracelets on the wrist, but above the elbow and ankle, and on the
leg. These uses partially appear in the account of Capt. David's.
dress, elsewhere given. In Romney’s picture of Brant the broad
and simple silver band above the elbow is conspicuous and tasteful.
A few copper bracelets in New York are much like early forms,.
but they also suggest nose rings. Others are made of copper wire,.
neatly bent into the desired form. Last come the flat silver brace-
lets, with holes for attachment at the ends. Many of these were
made by Indian silversmiths, but the writer has seen one more
elaborate pair with the name of an Albany silversmith, and one of
the Wisconsin mound bracelets had on it the name of Montreal,
and another the letters A. B. The silver bracelets sold at an early
day by the French and English at Niagara and Oswego, are men-
tioned elsewhere. The Seminoles of Florida still wear silver wrist-
lets and headbands, and make ornaments from coins.
From the site of the Onondaga fort of 1696, Mr Clark reported
“bracelets for the wrists 3 inches broad, of brass highly wrought.”
Clark, 2:281. Silver was little in use then, but the writer has seen
no brass bracelets anywhere which would agree with this descrip-
tion. They are either quite narrow or else made of copper wire,
bent back and forth so as to form a broad surface. Even then they
have no great width. He may possibly have referred to the long
diameter, as it encircled the wrist.
Fig. 305 is a copper wire bracelet from Fleming, which is a good
example of this broad form. From its size, it must have been worn
by a young person or woman. Fig. 309 is of the same character
and from the same place. This includes a sectional view. Fig. 307
is a narrower one from Indian hill, Pompey, which is formed like
the preceding. |
Fig. 308 may be either bracelet or nose ring, but it is hardly likely
the Indians would have used copper for the latter. It is a single
length of heavy wire, neatly rounded at the ends, and came from
the last named site. Fig. 382 is of the same character and from the
same place. Fig. 310 is much like this, but the ends expand. This
is from an Oneida site at Munnsville. Fig. 306 is a fine example,
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 23
somewhat flattened in the center and pointed at the ends, looked
at horizontally, but with uniform breadth and rounded points when
viewed the other way. It is grooved within and without, describes
-a true circle, and came from Cattaraugus.
Two narrow brass bracelets have one edge serrated wholly or par-
tially. Fig. 370 is one of these from Fort Bull, near Rome N. Y.
The ends are shown within the figure. The serration is complete
an this. The other is from Geneva N.-Y., where Mr George S.
Conover had several of this kind. Fig. 371 shows this. The local-
ities place them in the middle of the 18th century.
Fig. 372 is a small, narrow bracelet of fluted silver. Fig. 373 is
of the same material, but is larger and has a series of circular fig-
ures stamped on it. Both are from Geneseo and are in the Buffalo
collection. They belong to the latter half of the 18th century.
Fig. 365 is a thin and broad bracelet of corrugated silver, obtained
by the writer on the Onondaga reservation. It is quite elastic, and
there are two holes at each end for the insertion of strings for tying
it. There are several narrower examples of this form in the State
Museum, which do not differ materially from this.
Loskiel observed that “ both men and women are fond of silver
bracelets.”
The armlet was of a similar character, and therefore requires no
illustration here. It was broader, and worn just above the elbow.
In Romney’s picture of Brant this is conspicuous and very wide.
They are not in use in New York now, but were often mentioned
by early writers. One white man who was taken prisoner and
adopted in 1763, was arrayed in Indian costume, and had both his
arms “ decorated with large bands of silver above the elbow, besides
several smaller ones on the wrists.” Henry, p. 110
_ These armlets were still in use less than 50 years ago, but not
commonly, and they have long since disappeared. The writer has
seen thicker bracelets of silver, made by an Albany silversmith, but
regrets that he has neither example nor drawing of these. Except
in material they were much like those used by our own people.
Fig. 405 to 410 are of silver bracelets in the State Museum, all
of which were collected by Mrs Converse. All are fluted, and fig.
24 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
405 has notches along one edge, and some good tracery. Fig. 410
is much like this, but the fluting and tracery are somewhat different.
The former has the central lines in scallops, but in the latter they
cross. Fig. 406 to 409 have no tracery, but are simply fluted.
According to the writer’s notes, the figures are rather deep for the
size. With the depth of little more than § of an inch, they should
be about 24 inches across, but this is of no special importance. The
form and style are well represented.
Brass tubes in leather belts
Brereton’s account (1602) of the belts and collars, used by the
New England Indians and made of hollow copper cylinders arranged
side by side has already been quoted. That these were of European
metal is now almost certain, though he thought them native. The
arrows described are like those on recent New York sites. The
copper plates, so called, are like others of brass elsewhere. The
arrangement of tubes to form an ornamental belt is one familiar in
western New York. The skeleton found at Fall River Mass. had
similar articles, one being a brass plate 13 inches long, arrows pre-
cisely like those of the Iroquois in the 17th century, and a belt of
brass tubes, each 44 inches long, which was the width of the belt.
These were not arranged on leather, as in New York, but on pieces
of sinew, being much longer than our tubes.
Capt. John G. Bourke described a similar ornament of tubes, ap-
parently not arranged as a belt:
In an ancient grave excavated not far from Salem, Massachusetts,
in 1873, were found five skeletons, one of which was supposed to be
that of the chief Nanephasemet, who was killed in 1605 or 1606.
He was the king of Namkeak. On the breast of this skeleton were
discovered several small copper tubes . . . from 4 to 8 inches in
length, and from one eighth to one fourth of an inch in diameter,
made of copper rolled up, with the edges lapped. Bourke, p. 494
In a grave in Caldwell county, N. C., were similar articles, but
they seem to have been strung as pendants for the ears. There
were five copper cylinders, 14 to 44 inches long, and from a quarter
to half an inch in diameter, strung on leather. They were made of
thin strips of metal, rolled so that the edges met in a straight joint.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 25
Besides this there was a bracelet of similar smaller tubes, alternating
with shell beads of modern form, and four iron implements. This
determines the general age of some engraved shell gorgets found
in this grave, which are more elaborate than those of New York.
Thomas, p. 337
Some copper cylinders in the Toronto collection have a general
resemblance to these recent forms, and suggest a similar use, but,
while the arrangement is parallel, about the diameter of the beads
apart, they are differently attached. Mr Boyle said:
This cut represents nine cylindrical copper beads just as they were
found in the Tremont Park mound, Tidd’s Island. They were lying
on a piece of the original hide or leather to which they had been
attached, and I was careful not to disturb them. They are made
of beaten or leaf copper rolled into their present shape. In length
they are from # of an inch to an inch, and vary from -¢ to +% of
an inch in diameter. ‘The fine thongs by which they were sewn to
the hide are still adherent to the underside. Boyle, 1888, p. 49
Some examples of leather belts, adorned with brass tubes, have
come before the writer, and, while the number of rows may vary,
the same plan was followed in all New York specimens. Parallel
and vertical cuts were made in the leather, in regular lines along
the belt, and each division was wound with a thin piece of brass,
giving a pleasing effect. Several rows of these copper or brass
tubes thus encompassed the body.
Articles of this kind would not be easily lost, or if so, easily pre-
served, and they can be expected only in the graves of those able to
afford such ornaments. Apparently they were far from common, ;
and but two have met the writer’s eye. Fig. 276 shows one of
several fragments of one of these belts, taken from a Cayuga grave
near Fleming. The brass tubes in this are of considerable size,
being both longer and wider than in the other example. In its
fragmentary condition there is no present indication of its width,
except that the broadest part of the leather may be supposed to
approach one margin. To the three remaining rows of tubes not
more than one could reasonably be added.
Fig. 277 is a broader fragment, which has more rows of smaller
tubes. ‘There are five of these, probably all those belonging to the
26 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
belt. The broad line of leather on the upper side may be considered
the margin, and the narrow fragmentary strip on the lower edge
seems to have been outside of the tube arrangement at first, as it is
now. This was found by Mr C. F. Moseley, at Honeoye Falls, and
thus was used toward the end of the 17th century. That century,
among the Iroquois, might well be termed the age of bronze.
Small images
When the red pipestone reached New York, about the end of the
17th century, it was found available for ornaments of all kinds.
Shells also were more freely used, and both aided in displacing some
metallic animal figures which had been made and used to a moder-
ate extent. Fig. 269 is one of the oldest of these, and came from
Indian hill, Pompey. It represents a flying squirrel, and is made of
pewter or lead. These figures have no provision for suspension,
and may have been used either for a toy or charm.
Fig. 268 is a small pewter human figure which lacks the arms.
It is from Indian castle, Pompey, and of about the same date as
the last. It is probable such figures were at one time abundant,
but, when finer ornaments appeared, these were melted for bullets.
These rude forms were easily designed and cast, and may be con-
sidered purely Indian work, possibly even that of children.
This can hardly be said of fig. 272, which is a rude turtle made
of iron and found on the same site as the last. The casting of iron
was beyond the Indian skill, but why a white man should have made
so rude a figure, it is not easy to say. Fig. 273 closely resembles
this in character, but the material is lead. It came from the same
site. Fig. 274 is from a site in Pompey south of the last two, and
perhaps a little later in date. It is rude and broken, and seems
made of copper, but this has not been determined.
Fig. 270 is a rude bird, made of lead or pewter. This came from
the McClure farm in Hopewell. Fig. 271 is a small animal form
of the same material, found by C. F. Moseley at Honeoye Falls.
A rude and slender quadruped of lead or pewter came from
Pompey, and was evidently cut into shape. The head is broken,
but the figure is yet 24 inches long. A well wrought horse’s leg, of
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 27
the same material, is from the same place, and is now 2% inches in
length.
A very fine human figure of iron came from the same place.
There is an expanded base instead of the lower limbs, and it is nude
except for either a serpent or a scarf passing over one shoulder and
under the other. It is but little corroded, and may be of a later date
than the site. A rude but spirited figure of an ape shows greater
marks of age. This is also of iron, and both may have been chil-
dren’s toys. The last four are now in the state collection.
Lead medals or ornaments
Of about the same age as these animal forms is a series of lead
ornaments suggestive of medals. In a sense they are rude, but
some have well formed letters or numerals stamped or engraved on
them. Fig. 230 is an elliptic medal, the loop of which has been
broken off. On the side represented is a human figure, holding by
the hands to a crossbar. On one side of the figure is a serpent
with open mouth. Unfortunately the writer did not draw or take
notes of the reverse. It was found on Darwin McClure’s farm,
Hopewell. Mr J. V. H. Clark described one like this, from the
‘
‘Onondaga fort of 1696, as “a medal of lead, oval-shaped, an inch
and a half long, with the figure of a man suspended by his out-
stretched hands, supposed to be a representation of our Saviour on
the cross, and a figure of a serpent. On the opposite side is a figure
of a man in a sitting posture, resembling the characteristic position
of the native prophets; or, as some interpret it, the devil.” Clark,
2:280
Fig. 228 is a fine lead medal belonging to C. F. Moseley, and
found by him at Honeoye Falls. On the side represented were
well formed letters in a circle. Within and without these are sev-
eral circles, and in the center are indistinct forms. Mr Moseley
thought these parts of a building, perhaps a church. The writer
could trace certainly only what seemed indistinct crosses. Of the
letters, BEN appeared very plainly. This may be part or an abbre-
viation of Benedictus. Like most of these medals, this is made of
28 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
a flat piece of lead, bent over so as to be double throughout. Com-
pare this with fig. 374. |
Fig. 229 is from Tribes Hill, in the Mohawk valley, and is in the
Richmond collection. The figures are in relief, and the edge taste-
fully wrought. The center is irregularly perforated. Fig. 231 is
from Indian hillin Pompey. It has the figures 12 above, and below
464 in early characters. On the reverse is a broad loop for attach-
- ment.
Fig. 232 is in the writer’s possession, and was found at Boughton
hill in Victor. It was formed by welding two flat pieces of lead.
These have come apart, and the side having H on it forms a flat
ring, the inner line of which crosses the H and forms a circle, out-
side of which is ornamental work. On the reverse 79 appears above
a line, and other characters below. There is a long loop for sus-
pension. Fig. 233 was furnished by Mr James Nelson, of Cold
Spring N. Y. Jt was found on an open air workshop, on the farm
of Charles De Rham, but probably had no connection with it. It
is pyriform in outline, and flat. There are inscribed characters on
both sides and ornamental work about the base. Mr Nelson wrote:
“It seems to me it might have been made from a musket ball by
one of the few Indians that lingered about the coves of the Hudson.”
There would seem to be too much metal in it for this origin, but
an ounce ball would spread over a considerable space.
Several similar medals from Pompey were placed in the writer’s
hands after the foregoing were described. All either were or had
been double, with projections behind for attachment. Two are
nearly alike, and may be compared with the one belonging to Mr
Moseley. In the best preserved of these is a castle in the center,
with several turrets. Fig. 374 is of this. The other shows three
small crosses on an elevation below and in front of this. This
centerpiece is inclosed by two circles of points, now bent out of
shape. Between these, on the left, are the letters CAM; then a
crown in the center above, and on the right of this the letters PEN.
Fig. 398 shows the other, with the central perforation, the back
having disappeared. It has the same letters in the same position, but
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 29
the crown has been obliterated. Possibly the lettering of Mr Mose-
ley’s medal may have been the same.
Another of these Onondaga medals is rude, but is perforated for
suspension. The figures 44 are in the center, with 4 on the right
of these. Below is the figure 4 with some cross lines. This medal
is not large. All these may have been articles thrown away by the
whites after using, but picked up and treasured by the Indians.
Mr Frey has a curious and early ornament of this form and
material, shown in fig. 387. It is larger than the last two, being
24 inches in diameter, but has some features in common. In the
center seems to be a shield inclosing a large fortified building,
flanked by two separate towers. There is an ornamented half circle
below these, and a large crown above. The date of 1630 is quite
plain. The supporters are rampant animals, perhaps lions, but the
heads are much worn. The one on the right shows the lion’s mane..
In the British arms this is the place for the unicorn. There is no
lettering. Like some others, it is made of two plates, one inserted
in the center of the other, and flattened to correspond with its outer
surface, leaving a projection behind by which it might be attached
to a belt or dress. It is much defaced, but the above features are
easily seen.
Gorgets
One of the earliest metallic ornaments the Iroquois obtained was
a small and perforated disk of brass, thin and saucer-shaped. It
may have been used in several ways, but was probably attached
to the clothing. The writer has found or seen a number of these.
Mr Schoolcraft gave a figure of one of these with a characteristic
description: ‘‘ This article consists of a metal, which is apparently
an alloy. It is slightly ovate, and is perforated in the rim, so as to
have been hung transversely. Its greatest diameter is 2;° inches.
There are no traces of European art about it, unless the apparent
alloy be such. Locality, valley of Genesee river.” Schoolcraft,
p. 135. Fig. 227 is from his, which is represented as being flat, but
was probably slightly convex.
The finest silver gorget that has come to the writer’s notice
belongs to Mr Wyman, and came from an Indian grave in Mich-
30 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
igan. Itisa circular disk, 64 inches in diameter, and with the usual
tracery on the surface. Two large studs attached it to the garment.
Nothing of the kind has been reported in New York, but it is likely
that some of the larger ornaments for the breast had this mode of
attachment. Silver gorgets were often mentioned in the 18th cen-
tury, but many forms once in use are now entirely forgotten.
Loskiel seems to refer to something like gorgets, where he says that
the ornaments “of the men principally consist in the painting of
themselves, their head and face principally, shaving and good clean
garments, silver arm spangles and breastplates, and a belt or two
of wampum hanging to their necks.” Loskiel, 1:203
Fig. 221 is a small brass ornament of this kind, like a shallow
‘saucer, and with two opposite perforations near the edge for attach-
ment. This was found by the writer on a fort site partly in Wal-
lace’s woods, on the north line of Fabius. This was occupied early
in the 17th century. Fig. 222 is a similar and larger one from
another fort not far away. Both are in good condition.
Fig. 220 is a half circular piece of flat and thin brass, having a
perforation near one point. Though its present form is perfect, it
was probably circular at first. This came from Pompey Center. A
longer one, with two perforations, came from another site in the
same town.
Fig. 226 shows a small and thin brass crescent with a central
perforation. It was found at Indian castle, Pompey, and suggests
an ornament mentioned by Clark from an adjoining site. He said:
“Several brass crescents have been found bearing the inscription,
‘Rot de France et Dieu.’ These were probably used for nose and
ear jewels.”” Clark, 2:262. This has no‘inscription, and may be
smaller than those mentioned.
Fig. 275 is a rectangular brass plate from the Onondaga fort of
1696. There are two perforations near the upper corners, and the
lower corners are rounded. Fig. 288 is a rude ornament of flat
brass, made at the early day when every fragment of this metal was
utilized. It is angular and oblong. One small hole has been com-
pleted and a larger one begun. The writer found this with fig.
221. Fig. 290 will illustrate how such fragments were used. It is
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS: 3r
a strip of brass with three perforations. Fig. 367 is a pentagonal
brass plate, and fig. 154 a brass circle, both perforated. These are
from Indian hill, Pompey. There are others elsewhere.
Earrings
The earliest metallic earrings in use in New York were probably
those of copper wire coiled and flattened. Fragments of these have
puzzled some antiquaries. It is possible that some perforated disks,
and: coins may have served the same purpose at an early day, but
they are more likely to have been used in some other way. Glass.
and shell beads were also utilized for earrings, and probably many
other things. In the picture of Colonel Pickering’s conference at
Buffalo, in 1793, all of the Indians wear in their ears large elliptic
disks, each containing an engraved cross. Stone, 2:342. This form
does not appear in any New York collections.
The earliest unmistakable form was of copper wire, bent at an
acute angle in the center, and having the ends bent into a flat coil.
This done, the wire was hammered down to half its first thickness.
They are often broken in the center, and then give no suggestion
of their use. In their symmetric form their purpose is evident.
They are occasional in Canada, but are probably more frequent on
Onondaga sites than elsewhere. The smallest which has met the
writer’s eye is a fragment from Ontario county, in the Hildburgh
collection. They vary much in size.
Heckewelder described another ornament for the head which he
observed at an Indian funeral. “ Her long plaited hair was con-
fined by broad bands of silver, one band joining to the other, yet
not of the same size, but tapering from the head downwards, and
running at the lower end to a point.” Heckewelder, p. 270
Loskiel said: “At feasts, their hair is frequently decorated with
silver rings, corals, or wampum, and even with silver buckles.
Some wear a bandage round their heads, ornamented with as many
silver buckles as it will hold.” Loskiel, 1:48. He adds, “ They also
decorate the lappets of their ears with pearls, rings, sparkling stones,
feathers, flowers, corals, or silver crosses.” Loskiel, 1:49
32 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
One observation on Indian headdress, by this author, is of
interest:
The Delaware women never plait their hair, but fold and tie it
round with a piece of cloth . . . The Iroquois, Shawanose,
and Huron women wear a queue, down to their hips, tied round
with a piece of cloth, and hung with red ribbands. The rich adorn
their heads with a number of silver trinkets of considerable weight.
This mode of finery is not so common among the Delawares as the
Iroquois, who by studying dress and ornament more than any other
Indian nation, are allowed to dictate the fashion to the rest.
Loskiel, 1:52
In Miss Powell’s account of an Iroquois chief in 1785, hereafter
to be quoted, she said he had “a pair of immense earrings, which
hung below his shoulders.” The picture of Joseph Brant in his
youth, by Romney, helps us to understand this, his pendants being
of the same length. Half of the earring was a chain of large silver
tings. From the base of this depended three chains of the same
kind. A system of pendants was a favorite feature of this orna-
ment, as will be seen later. Parts of these were easily detached and
lost, and when thus separated have been misunderstood. Their
Onondaga name is Ka-wahs’-hah.
Fig. 169 shows the earliest form of these ornaments known in
New York, and was found in the Onondaga fort of 1654, where
many have been obtained, both perfect and fragmentary. It is
simply a piece of copper wire symmetrically coiled in opposite direc-
tions, and forming a loop in the center. This was then hammered
down to a moderate degree. Of course there must have been some
means of attachment to the ear, unless the opening was very large.
Fig. 168 is from a neighboring site, occupied in 1677, and probably
earlier. They were extensively distributed, but their use was con-
fined to that century. They are often broken at the loop, and in
this condition have perplexed some collectors.
A large proportion of the silver earrings known are later than
colonial times, as will be seen in fig. 170, furnished by Mrs Converse,
whose fine collection is well known. This has not only the Ameri-
can eagle, but the union shield on the breast. There is provision
for a pendant in the loop at the base of the tail.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 33
Fig. 171 also suggests a recent date, having the shield, scroll,
eagle’s head and stars. ‘This also is imperfect, and came from Pom-
pey. Fig. 173 is almost perfect, and was obtained at Cattaraugus
by Dr Evarts. There is an arch above the spread-eagle, and a thistle
head forms the pendant. These are national emblems of the United
States and Scotland, but there is no reason for giving them any
significance here. All that was desired was a pretty design.
Fig. 174 again shows the American eagle in an elaborate way,
the stars appearing on the arch overhead. It is much like the last,
having a similar boss on the breast, but the pendant is lacking.
This was found long ago, at a place called the “Jumps,” in the
town of Clay, where the Onondagas annually met to renew the
marks of the extraordinary leaps of a prisoner.
Fig. 172 is an earring of curious design, obtained by the writer
on the Onondaga reservation. The elliptic center is in high relief,
and has a lower notched border on each side. It is perfect, and the
loop for attachment on the back is much like that of fig. 185, but
more slender. This kind of loop belongs to several which follow,
and is very nicely made.
Fig. 175 and 176 are much alike, differing in the number of pyri-
form pendants and the size of the rings. Fig. 176 seems perfect.
Both belong to Onondagas, and their form seems rare. Fig. 177
is from the same reservation, and seems a triangular pendant belong-
ing to a large earring.
Fig. 178 is unique. At the top is the half spherical ornament
‘seen in some others, as well as the loop behind. Below this is a
columellar appendage with three angular contractions varying the
‘outline. It belongs to an Onondaga woman. Fig. 182 has the
half spherical ornament just mentioned, with the usual loop. The
writer obtained this pair at Onondaga, as well as fig. 185, which is
‘of the same character but larger.
Fig. 179 is a very fine earring obtained by Mrs Converse. This
form is rarely perfect. There are bosses on the lower corners of
the large triangle, with a glass setting in the center. Below are
three small pendants of a frequent form. Fig. 180 was obtained
by the writer at Onondaga. The upper ornament frequently forms
34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
a complete article, with or without a glass setting. It has the loop
behind this diamond form, and a triangular pendant below. Both
these have glass. It will be observed that there are holes for attach-
ing three small pendants below. Fig. 181 has these pendants in
place at the base ofa similar large triangle, but is incomplete above.
This has a glass setting, and belongs to an Onondaga woman. Fig.
184 belongs to the same person, and is elliptic in outline, with
notched edges. It is imperfect. Fig. 189 is another of hers, also
imperfect. It is pyriform and set with glass, and in general charac-
ter is much like the upper part of fig. 183 reversed. Fig. 193 is hers
also, having a common form of small pendant attached to a thick
elliptic ornament by a small ring.
Fig. 183 is another of Mrs Converse’s fine earrings, which seems
perfect. A pyriform ornament above, with scalloped edges and
glass setting, has a triangular pendant below. The top and bottom
of the latter are embossed. F ig. 190 is also hers, and is unique in
material, being of gold. It is a plain ellipse and of small size, in-
creasing in thickness by successive stages.
Fig. 186 the writer got at Onondaga. It is triangular, with pro-
jections and bosses, and plainly incomplete. Fig. 191 he had from
the same place. It is of a diamond form, with bosses at the angles,
and is perfect. This is a frequent form, alone or in combination.
Fig. 192 is similar, but plainer and with more openwork. Several
of this frequent form he also obtained there, which were set with
glass. Fig. 188 is the triangular base of an Onondaga earring,
which has a single boss. Fig. 187 is a very pretty circular earring,
set with glass, which an Onondaga woman gave to the Onondaga
Historical Association.
One unique pair which the writer got at Onondaga is not figured
here. The design is a small padlock, with the key attached out-
side. There is little probability that this was of Indian make, but
most of the foregoing are of Indian manufacture. The article in
question is of delicate and beautiful workmanship, but not charac-
teristic, like those shown.
Fig. 200 is taken from one of L. H. Morgan’s illustrations. It is
a large silver earring, with an eagle above a large triangle. The
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 35
latter has scalloped edges, and below the base are three small
pendants. Some of the Onondagas wear a plain globular eardrop
attached to a ring.
In the Annals of Binghamton occurs the following passage regard-
ing the triangular pendants, and what is probably the shield part of
earrings, though the description is not clear. It concerned the
recent Indian occupation of Windsor N. Y.:
Deacon Stow, who grew up on these plains, mentioned two kinds
of trinkets which he had often found, himself. One of a triangular
form, about an inch from angle to angle, made of silver, and flat,
of the thickness of a 10 cent piece, with a hole near one angle; sup-
posed to have been worn for a pendant at the nose. Another, of
silver also, made of a gridiron form, and about the circumference
of a half dollar. Supposed to have been worn at the nose. Walkin-
SON, P. 143
Finger ring’s
Father Bruyas was accustomed to give his Onejda pupils in 1670,
if they could repeat on Sunday what he had taught during the week,
“pour recompense une corde de rassade, ou deux petits tuyaux de
verre ou deux bagues de leton.”” These common beads, long bugle
beads, and brass rings thus became very common, and upward of
30 rings have been taken from a single grave. The glass pipes or.
bugle beads are still found full 4 inches in length, though usually
shorter. The rings in a grave may thus testify to faithful students.
On the other hand, the missionary kept partially in view religious
instruction. Beads might gratify taste, but might serve a more use-
ful purpose if made into a rosary, with a cross or appropriate medal
at the end. The rings almost invariably bore sacred symbols, and
may have found place elsewhere than on the fingers. No Indian
need buy them if he would be studious for a week.
These early rings are mostly of a rude and cheap character, but
many are of good design and finish. Quite rarely one occurs of
gold or silver, or even with a setting of small stones. At a later
day they were almost entirely of silver, and often of a massive form.
Some of these seem to have been made by the native silversmiths.
They were found on all reservations, and the art furnished an Indian
surname which still survives.
36 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Mr Crisfield Johnson mentions that in 1796 there came to Buffalo
Asa Ransom, “a silversmith by trade, who... went to work
making silver brooches, earrings, and other things in which the soul
of the red man and the red man’s wife so greatly delighted.” This
was a profitable trade. In the Richmond collection is a box of tools
and patterns for making silver ornaments, obtained from an Indian.
Many white persons have seen the work done. Josiah Jacobs, of
the Onondaga reservation, told the writer that his uncle Ju-ne-
gant-ha “ The tribe is very large,’ made brooches out of silver coins
on a small anvil. These were hammered out, and then cut out by
patterns. Punches and chisels were used, and his greatest difficulty
was in setting colored glass in pendants and earrings. Other smiths
are known by name to the writer.
In his report in 1852 Mr Morgan says of this:
The most of the silver ornaments in later years have been made
by Indian silversmiths, one of whom may be found in nearly every
Indian village. They are either made of brass or silver, or from
silver coins pounded out, and then cut into patterns with metallic
instruments. The earrings figured in the plate were made out of
silver, by an Onondaga silversmith of Grand River, under the direc-
tion of the writer. Morgan. Fabrics etc. p. 89
In the report of 1850 he said that hatbands, arm and wrist bands,
earrings and brooches of silver, were principally of Indian manufac-
ture. For some of these bars and sheets of silver were required.
Three bronze rings were found near finger bones in a bone pit
on the Tuscarora reservation, probably a Neutral ossuary. Near
these was a recent Canadian penny, probably dropped there in ac-
cordance with a local custom. When the Tuscaroras disturb bones
or take anything from graves, they leave a small coin as an atone-
ment or fair exchange. Thomas. Explorations, p. 513
Most collections made from recent Iroquois sites have these
bronze rings, and those represented are selected from the many
which have met the writer’s eye. One of the most remarkable is
perfectly plain, and is in the Hildburgh collection. It is a simple
brass or copper cylinder, about ~ of an inch long, and was found
in Ontario county. Fig. 366 shows this fine example. Many arti-
cles which have a copper hue externally, appear yellow when cut.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 37
The Jesuit rings are usually of brass or bronze, with an elliptic
‘disk or seal, on which are many devices, sometimes almost effaced
by use. I. H. S. with a cross above was a favorite; the heart, the
letter L, the crucifixion, and sometimes a bust, appear on others.
A moderate number will be illustrated. They are not often of large
size, being given to young women and children asarule. In New
York none are as early as the middle of the 17th century, and few
are as recent as its close. They came and went with the missions.
Cayuga county has been quite rich in these rings, and a moderate
number have been figured and placed on record. Fig. 153 is one
from a site near Fleming, where many have been found. There is
a monogram in which M is the most conspicuous feature. A may
be another part, or it may be an inverted V. As the heart above
this is inverted, this may be the intention. There would thus be
V. M., for Virgin Mary. Beneath the monogram is a flagon or
pitcher. Fig. 343 is much like this, having the same monogram,
but the fleur-de-lis takes the place of the other figures, and there is
an ornamented border. It is larger than the last and came from
the same place. There were five of these in one collection.
Fig. 314 has a fine full face and an illegible inscription. It came
from the same place, with two others. Fig. 316 is also from Flem-
ing, and shows a full face, with a small cross in the drapery on one
side. Fig. 317 was found with the last, and has a bust with mitered
head. A small cross appears. Fig. 324 is from the same place,
and somewhat corroded. Though there seems to be one large cross
and three small ones, it is probable that the correct rendering would
be one large cross above I. H.S., as in other cases. The same may
be said of fig. 329, which was found with the last, but is much
smaller.
Fig. 325 is another of these Fleming rings, having I. H. S. in
plain roman letters, surmounted by a cross with expanding limbs.
‘There are three small crosses below, and an ornamental border.
Fig. 330 shows another from the same place, the design of which is
a large L, including a small heart and surmounted by a crown. This
fine ring has an ornamental border. Fig. 334 is smaller, and has
the L but not the other emblems. This is from Fleming, as well as
38 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
the next. Fig. 338 represents the crucifixion, with a bleeding heart
on each side.
The following three are from the same place. Fig. 354 has 2
crown above and a star below. The intervening figure shows
clasped hands. There were two of these, showing a neat border.
Fig. 355 has the Virgin and Child, with a cross above. Fig. 347
has a heart-shaped signet, with a neat border inclosing a large A.
No others have been observed like this.
Fig. 333 is from Scipioville, in the same county, and is much like
fig. 330. Both have the fleur-de-lis beneath the L. Fig. 352 was
picked up by the writer by a Cayuga grave, where many others had
been found. At first sight there seemed to be an unfinished L, but
a comparison with some to follow will show that it is the base on
which the large heart was often placed.
There follow several from the McClure farm in Hopewell. Fig.
319 is a small ring with a head in profile. Fig. 320 is another fine
ring, with a Maltese cross within a circle. Fig. 331 has an angular
signet, with a plain border around a large Landa small heart. Few
rings occur on this site.
Bronze rings have been abundant on some Oneida sites on Oneida
creek, but most have disappeared. Two only will be mentioned
now, both being from Munnsville. Fig. 321 has I. H. S. in plain
characters, with a cross above. Fig. 358 is a small ring, with a pair
of compasses inside of a ring.
Quite a number have been found at Brewerton, but of most of
these neither figures nor descriptions have been secured. Fig. 315
has the unusual feature of a head with the face toward the outer
edge. The work is rude for there is a great difference in these
rings in every way. Fig. 359 has a very small signet for the size of
the ring, and on this are circles and lines variously arranged. In
1900 there were taken from one grave in that place, 35 of these
bronze rings, tied together with buckskin.
Dr Hinsdale obtained some rings in Pompey. Fig. 278 is one of
these, and is a large pewter ring, with a double line of small pro-
jecting beads of the same material. Fig. 279 is a fine specimen,
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 39
with the crucifixion, and figures seated on either side. Fig. 323 is
another fine ring, with an inside circle, cross and I. H. S.
The following are also from Pompey. Fig. 327 is a large and
fine ring from a grave on the Williams farm, obtained in 1886. It
has the cross and I. H. S., but in rather unusual form. Fig. 346 has
a small head.
A number which follow are from the site of 1677, in Pompey.
Fig. 313 has a king’s bust and scepter. Itis large. Fig. 326 is also
large, and has the I. H. S. and cross. Fig. 335 has a large heart
poised on a curved base, and with a border of curving lines. Fig.
336 is a smaller variant of the last, but the ring proper is more elabo-
tate. Fig. 341 is of gold and has the Greek monogram for Christ.
This is unique. Fig. 345 has a St Andrew’s cross within a circle, and
with dots between. Fig. 348 has characters of uncertain meaning,
and the same may be said of fig. 350. Fig. 357 represents the
crucifixion. This site has yielded so many rings and crosses as to
suggest the thought that the Christian converts might have made it
their home.
Of course Indian hill, the seat of the first Onondaga mission,
would not lack articles of this kind; and a number follow from the
Onondaga fort of 1654. Fig. 318 has a full face and a large key.
Fig. 322 has the I. H. S. and cross while the ring part is quite
elaborate. Fig. 328 is small, with I. H. S. and the cross. There is
Samomier of dots or stars. Fig. 332 has a.rather'rude seal, and is
small. The large L is not well done, and there may be a rude crown
above it. There is a small heart and the ring part is elaborate. Fig.
340 has a small seal with a medium sized heart resting on the usual
base. Fig. 342 has lines of indefinite character. Some may be in-
tended for palms. Fig. 344 is a peculiar silver ring. The central
portion is a quatrefoil, intersected by a four pointed star. In the
center and at the ends of the quatrefoil are either pearls or small
lustrous stones, some remaining. It is of very unusual character.
Fig. 349 has characters suggestive of a Greek monogram. Fig. 351
also lacks definiteness, but was probably intended for a large heart
with inclosing lines. Fig. 353 has a design suggesting either a cup
or paten, perhaps with a crown above. Fig. 356 has a good figure
40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
with extended arms, and a halo above the head. If intended for the
crucifixion, the cross does not appear.
All those included in the foregoing paragraph have been recently
_gathered from this old town whence hundreds have been taken
before. Mr Clark said that De Witt Clinton had a gold finger ring |
from this place, procured at the time of his visit. |
Fig. 339 was sent to the writer by the late Rufus A. Grider, but
the design is somewhat indistinct. A medium sized heart appears
above the usual base, and there are other figures. This is from the
Mohawk valley, where the old mission sites have yielded many. The
writer regrets that he could not have given more attention to this
class of articles, in visiting several notable collections, but time
would not allow of this. Though of small size each one has minute
details which must be preserved, and much time is often required to:
make out the design on account of corrosion. A great many, quite
distinct and as full of interest, could doubtless be added to those
here portrayed.
Fig. 364 is an illustration of a novel ring. A coil of iron wire
several times encircled a finger, preserving the bone and as much
of the flesh as came in contact. This was found in Fleming. Fig.
368 is a small coil of copper wire which may have served as a ring.
This was found at Brewerton by Dr Hinsdale.
When the Iroquois made silver fashionable, bronze rings disap-
peared, and for two centuries their silver successors have fairly well
held their place. They have disappeared more by being worn out
than through a change of fashion, none having been made for many
years. Fig. 363 shows one the writer bought of an old Oneida
woman. The general form is well preserved, but, if there were
ornamental details, they have been worn away. Mrs Converse was:
fortunate in getting two fine examples here illustrated from her
drawings. Fig. 360 has two hands clasped over a heart. Fig. 361
has two hearts united. The symbolism is evident in both cases,
though the Indians possibly may have cared little for this. Fig.
362 is the largest silver ring the writer has seen, and, as it was prob-
ably worn only on great occasions, it is in fine preservation. It was
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 4!
given to Albert Cusick’s mother by her second husband Sah-go-
hone-daté-hah, “The one that spares another,” a Tuscarora chief.
When seen by the writer it had a string of 96 beads of mourning
wampum attached to it.
Among the Onondagas Ka-ne-ka-ah, “ Round thing,’ may mean
a simple ring. En-neah-hah’-sen represents one for the finger. The
former word is used for a hoop, but not for a wheel.
Fig. 383 is in Theodore Stanford’s collection in Munnsville. It
has an octagonal seal, containing a flaming heart beneath what may
be an elongated star or a radiant cross. The ordinary rings are
found on the Oneida sites about Munnsville, but most of those col-
lected have already disappeared.
The five following rings are from Pompey, dating between 1655
and 1680. Fig. 389 has no emblems, but is of bronze. It had a
setting which has been lost. Fig. 390 shows a person supporting
the dead Christ. Fig. 391 may have been intended to show the
letter L, but, while the work is sharp, the design is doubtful. Fig.
392 has stars, crossed arrows, etc. Fig. 393 has a circle, lines and
dots. Fig. 394 is in Mr Frey’s collection. There are human figures
on each side of the crucified Christ.
A plain pewter ring was found at Hoffman’s Ferry, which was a
camping place. As these were common during the past century,
the age and use are both uncertain, but, from the location, it seems ~
to have had an Indian owner. Surface finds of this kind are swbject
to doubt.
Silver crosses
The finest foliated silver cross, used by Indians, which the writer
has seen, was found on the banks of the Maumee river, Ohio, and
was exhibited at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901. This is
134 inches long and 84 inches wide. It weighs 8 ounces, and is a
Roman cross, each limb having foliated ends. One nearly as large,
and perhaps as heavy, belongs to Mr Walter C. Wyman of Chicago.
It is 124 inches long, and 8? inches wide, and is more highly orna-
mented than any of these large crosses which the writer has seen.
Three limbs have the usual foliation, but the upper one terminates
42 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
this abruptly. At the intersection are four ornamental quadrants,
forming a quatrefoil with the surface ornamentation. The base
bears longitudinally the name of the former owner, Pandikaikawa,
an Ottawa chief. Two other fine crosses are in the same collection,
but they are of a different character. An account of these was given
in the Chicago Evening Post, Oct. 8, 1898.
Two much like this, but without the central quadrants, were
figured and described by Mr Charles C. Jones in the Smithsonian
Report for 1881, p. 619. The drawings are half size, and show both
faces of each cross. In these the rings for suspension remain. One
cross is 83 inches long by 74 wide; the other is 8 inches long by 74
broad. They were taken from a erave-mould at Coosawattee Old
Town, Murray co. Ga., in 1832, and are fine examples. Mr Jones
said: “Indian relics were found associated with them. We incline
to the opinion that they may properly be referred to the expedition
of Hernando de Soto.” As will be seen, their true date is the latter
part of the 18th century, or possibly later. In New York and
Canada they were in use but a few years ago. To show how little
these were thought of as symbols, it may be said that on one of the
Georgia crosses the owner had engraved an owl and a horse’s head.
Morgan said that birds and beasts were sometimes engraved on
them, and two had the name of Montreal stamped in the center.
The writer obtained all his double crosses from one pagan family.
Fig. 198 is from Morgan’s report in 1852, and is a reduced figure
of a cross 10 inches long and 6 wide. This he had from a Cayuga
at Grand River reservation in Canada. It is of the common form.
Fig. 209 is a smaller one from the League of the Iroquois, the size
of which is conjectural, but it is apparently about 5 inches long. In
the center it approaches the character of Mr Wyman’s fine Ottawa
cross.
Fig. 205 is a reduced drawing of a fine silver cross in the Rich-
mond collection, which is 93 inches long and 74 wide. The ring
for suspension remains. Fach limb is foliated, and the name of
Montreal is stamped in the center. The writer did not learn its
history, but many seem to have been made at Montreal for general
trade purposes, and they are usually without any religious symbols
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 43
on the surface. They may be considered mere ornaments. This
also appears from Sir William Johnson’s journal of Sep. 17, 1761,
when he left some at Detroit for purposes of trade. They were to
‘be sent to Mackinac. He said: “ J counted out and delivered to Mr
Croghan some silver works, viz, 150 earbobs, 200 brooches or breast
buckles, and 90 large crosses, all of silver, to be sent to Ensign
“Gorrel.”’ Stone. Johnson, 2:464
The smaller silver crosses are usually ornamental, and have from
one to three crossbars. Those with two are most common, and
have been widely distributed. A fictitious antiquity and rarity have
been ascribed to these under the name of the patriarchal cross. All
of the writer’s examples he had of the Onondaga Indians, as stated
-before.
Mr David Boyle figured a fine double-barred silver cross from
Beausoleil island in the Georgian bay. It is like fig. 207 but larger,
being 44 inches high. Two others were with it. He said of this:
Double-barred crosses of this kind are now, it seems, unknown in
‘connection with Catholic worship, and it is somewhat singular that,
since we received these relics of the old Hurons, another one almost
identical in size and pattern should have found its way to our col-
lection from the Northwest, where it was picked up during the late
rebellion. . . Regarding the peculiar form of cross from Beau-
‘soleil island, Dean Harris of St Catharines, writes: This small,
«dual cross is permitted to be worn only by patriarchs of the Latin
‘church. It is also sometimes carried as a processional cross, and,
as Richelieu was bishop and cardinal, it is possible that he used such
‘a cross either as pectoral or processional. In all probability these
ornaments were sent out to Canada during his régime, and, receiving
the blessing of the priest among the Hurons, would have served the
double purpose of being ornamental and of being used in devotion.”
Boyle, 1891, p. 64
As Richelieu died in 1642 and the Hurons were overthrown at
the close of that decade, while this form of silver ornament did not
‘come into use among the Indians till a century later, this ingenious
conjecture fails; but the writer has shown that the double-barred
crucifix was used in New York in the 17th century. The makers of
mere ornaments since then had little care for the original use or
meaning of articles, so long as they were attractive to the eye, and
would sell.
44 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Some Indian chiefs have been represented wearing the triple cross,
but otherwise the only one reported and figured is Mr Wyman’s.
The central bar of this is longer than the others, and all the limbs
are foliated. Tasteful open work adds to the effect, but the general
character is that of similar double crosses. This form has been
called the pontifical, but is purely ornamental in design. The figure
furnished is 32 inches long by nearly 24 in the widest part. Like
his others, this is from a Michigan grave.
Mr Wyman has also a fine silver double cross, 4 inches long
and 24 broad, with a ring for suspension. The base is broad, and
the ends of the limbs foliated, the upper crossbar being shorter than
the lower. This is a common feature. Crosses of this form and size
have been found in many places, and he has several. Fig. 207 is a
smaller one of this form, from the Rose hill farm, east of Geneva,
N. Y., and is of actual size. Though made for suspension, the broad
base would allow a standing position. These are like the Canadian
crosses mentioned above.
Fig. 203 shows one of several from the Onondaga reservation,
belonging to the writer. They are smaller than the last, and of a
slightly different form. The Indian owner had over a dozen of
these, and they were common among western Indians. Fig. 201
is a cross of the same form in the collection of Mrs Converse, prob-
ably made from the same pattern, but with surface tracery. There
were earlier double crucifixes of the same general form from which
the merely ornamental cross may have been derived. There was
a small ring for suspension, now usually lacking.
Fig. 212 is an ornamental double cross with several openings.
All the limbs are foliated, and there is a ring for suspension. The
general character is that of Mr Wyman’s triple cross, but it is
smaller. ‘The writer had this from an Onondaga squaw, from whom
a friend obtained its counterpart. The form seems rare, and both
sides are ornamented.
Small silver Roman crosses seem much rarer, and none have been
reported perfectly plain. Fig. 206 is of one with scalloped edges,
from East Cayuga, a site occupied 150 years ago. Fig. 202 is of
another which the writer bought of an Onondaga Indian in Igor.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 45.
Though nearly the same in size and design, they have not the same
number of crenulations. Another was found at Portsmouth O., but
they are everywhere rare.
Crosses and crucifixes of other materials
Silver articles, as a rule, were in little use by the New York In-
dians in the 17th century, but other materials naturally overlapped
the introduction of these. Copper, brass and bronze were at first
the favorites for ornament, but pewter or lead was used, and even
iron had a place. Fig. 196 is a cross of lead from the McClure
site in Hopewell, commonly known as Onaghee. Circular projec-
tions tip the three lower limbs, and it is probable that a similar one
has been lost from the top, where the customary perforation would
have weakened it. It is a good deal battered, but there seems to
have been a human figure on its face.
Crucifixes have often been found on nearly all Iroquois sites of the
last half of the 17th century. The coming of the Jesuit missionaries
in 1654 marked a new era of this kind, though French and Huron
captives may have brought some earlier, or they may have been
among the spoils of war. Previous to that time most European
articles came from the Dutch. Mr Clark noticed the finding of “a
curious brass image” in Pompey, just before his history was pub-
lished. He also said:
A valuable cross of gold was several years ago found in the west
part of Pompey, and was sold for $30. The significant I. H. Ss. was
upon it. Numbers of crucifixes and crosses have been found. Brass
crosses are frequently found, with those letters, and the initials of
the Latin title put upon the cross at the crucifixion, I. N. R. I., and so
ene medals of the same metal: Clark,2:273
After mentioning a brass dial plate and a paint box of the same
metal, Mr Clark speaks of “another more perfect one beautifully
wrought,” as though meaning another box. His figure, however,
is of the two sides of a crucifix, with a loop at the top and a fluted
base. The obverse has Christ with extended arms, and a halo and
I. N. R. I. above the head. Under the feet are the crossbones and
skull. This side has a beaded border. (On the reverse angels crown
40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
the Virgin Mary, over whose head is the dove, and under her feet
the skull and crossbones. Clark, 2:280. This is from the fort of
1696. ,
On adjoining lands, Mr Clark said, “ brass crosses have frequently
been plowed up, and some of the most perfect and highest finished
ones have over the head of the Saviour the letters 1. N. R. 1. Most
of the crosses found in other places have the letters 1. H. Ss.” Clark,
2:281. This was more than 50 years ago, and they are occasionally
found yet, as well as on earlier sites.
A few representative early forms will be illustrated, and the reader
will readily see the difference between these, with their many sym-
bols, and the ornamental forms already described, in which these
are lacking. Most of these are either of brass or lead.
Fig. 194 is the obverse of a fine brass crucifix belonging to the
late Hon. George S. Conover of Geneva N. Y. He had several of
these. This has a beaded border. Christ has his arms extended,
a halo and I. N. R. I. are above his head, and the skull and cross-
bones beneath his feet. The reverse has the Virgin Mary with the
moon beneath her feet, and the dove descending from above. On
the arms on this side are the words rESvS MARIA. Mr Conover had
this from a burial place on the Read farm, lot 32, town of Seneca.
Mr Conover said: “As many as 50 crosses are known to have been
found in this burial ground, and probably a great many more, as in
former times, when the field was plowed, it was not an uncommon
thing to find a number of crosses and other emblems with religious
devices.” j
Fig. 217 is a fine brass crucifix from the Rose hill farm, east of
Geneva N. Y., obtained by Dr W. G. Hinsdale. The obverse has
Christ with the usual emblems, but with the head bent down. On
the reverse are the Virgin and child, with emblems near the ends of
the arms. The pointed top of this crucifix is perforated, and forms
nearly a true pitch.
Fig. 214 is a brass crucifix from Cayuga county, having a beaded
edge. The only emblems accompanying the figure of Christ are the
halo and inscription above the head. The obverse of this is not
recalled.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 47
Fig. 195 is a brass crucifix obtained by Dr Hinsdale in Pompey.
The head of Christ is bent unusually low, and the loop rises in a
triangular form from the cross. Fig. 204 is a small crucifix from
Pompey, the limbs ending in trefoils. Each of these includes a
small circle, but the general design has become obscure through use. -
Fig. 211 is a beautiful brass cross with several perforations. The
ends of all the arms are ornamented, and I. H. S. appears on the
upper arm. Dr Hinsdale met with this in Pompey. It is an un-
usual form.
Fig. 213 is from a figure furnished by Dr Hinsdale of a curious
bronze crucifix belonging to a boy in Pompey. It has two cross-
bars, and each limb is angularly expanded at the end. On the
obverse the arms of Christ are extended on the upper limbs, I. N. R. I.
appearing above his head. SALVATOR is on the lower crossbar,
and MVNDI on the lower limb. On the reverse the Virgin occupies
the center, with the sun above her head. MATER is on the lower
crossbar, and DEI on the lower limb. With this was fig. 219, a fine
but small brass crucifix with each arm terminating in trefoils, each of
which incloses a human face. Christ and the inscription J. N. R. I.
are on the obverse; the reverse has two angels crowning the Virgin
Mary, and above her head is the sun. |
Fig. 216 is from the Onondaga fort of 1696 and is much like fig.
213, having two crossbars and similar expansions at the ends of the
arms. ‘The design is somewhat obscure and no letters appear. Fig.
218 is from the same site. The figure of Christ is on the obverse
as usual. The reverse shows the descending dove, the Virgin, and
the angels on the crossbar.
Fig, 208 is a small cross from the Mohawk valley, figured by Mr
S. L. Frey. The limbs terminate in trefoils, and there is some sur-
face decoration, this being a mere ornament of comparatively recent
days. It is of silver, and the loop at the top is broken. Fig. 215
is also one of Mr Frey’s illustrations, but is an older article. Both
sides are adorned with emblems, the obverse having I. N. R. L., the
crown of thorns, nails and hammer, ladder, skull and crossbones;
while the reverse has the heart in the center, the spears beneath, and
other emblems on the limbs.
48 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Fig. 210 is a brass crucifix from Munnsville, of a larger size and
with more emblems, but with much the same arrangement. One
end of the crossbar differs from the other.
Fig. 158 shows both sides of a thin brass crucifix found by Dr
Hinsdale among the salt vats near the Ganentaha spring, the seat
of the French mission house of 1656. It is of antique appearance,
but in fine preservation, and the natural impulse is to connect it
with this mission. The French inscription strengthens this. On
comparison with recent memorials of modern religious missions, the
writer is inclined to ascribe it to our own day. The obverse has
Christ on an inscribed cross, and with the knees unusually drawn up.
Each limb of the cross terminates in a trefoil outline, and these
each include two or three small bosses on the obverse. The reverse
is quite plain, and has SOUVENIR on the short, and DE MIS-
SION on the long bar of the cross.
In the Hildburgh collection is a crucifix in which the lower limb
but slightly exceeds the other three in length, these being alike in
extent.
Mr Henry E. Kingman, of Owego, kindly sent an account of
two brass crucifixes he found at that place in 1901, none occurring
there before. One was perfect; the other broken at the base. The
robed figure mentioned is the Virgin, and the general character like
some before described. He said:
On one side is the Saviour crucified, with a skull and crossbones
at the bottom. Above Christ’s head are the letters I. H. S., but these
letters are not distinguishable on the perfect cross. On the broken
one they can readily be read. On the reverse is the Saviour in his
robes, while above his head is a crown, and above the crown a dove.
On either side of the head is a cherub. The crucifix is 1¢ inches
long from the tip of the loop to the base, and 14 inch in width. The
other crucifix is wider.
A fine but small brass crucifix is from Pompey, having an extreme
length of 14 inches. It is foliated in a peculiar way. There are
semicircular projections on each side of the limbs, but the inter-
mediate projection is long, narrow and pointed. On the obverse
is a figure of Christ with extended arms. The reverse has the Vir-
gin, the angels and the dove. Fig. 381 is of this.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 49
Mr Stanford, of Munnsville, has a cross of some size, with expand-
ing arms, suggesting the Maltese cross, but with the proportions of
the Roman. Crosses and crucifixes seem rarer on the Mohawk and
Oneida sites than farther west. Those of Onondaga have been
most prolific, but they are now everywhere rare as compared with
those found by early settlers, and are valued accordingly.
Coins
The most common coins found on Iroquois sites and used for
ornaments are the liards of the 17th century. The value is about
half that of the English farthing. They were at first a silver coin,
but in the reign of Louis 14 became restricted to copper. On the
coin the date follows the inscription, and shows several issues. In
numismatic records they are described as dated in 1656 and subse-
quently. On Indian sites they are perforated for attachment or sus-
pension, and are often too much worn to make sure of the date; but
in New York this seems always during Louis 14’s reign. Those
reported as having the date of 1650 may be safely referred to 1656, a
slight erosion affecting the date. In Cayuga county 44 were found
in a pewter mug, which had suffered only by early use. All were of
the middle of the 17th century.
The obverse has a crowned bust, with the inscription in capitals:
See ITT, Roy. de. Fr. et. de. Na.;” reverse, “ Liard de France,”
across the surface. On the lower part are three fleurs-de-lis, and
above these a letter, showing at what place they were made, for
there were several. A stood for Paris, B for Rouen, and examples
of both these are found at Indian hill, Pompey. |
In Onondaga county they seem restricted to the place first visited
by the French in 1654, and where the Onondagas remained till 1682.
There they often occur. Fig. 303 shows both sides of one found at
that place, which has two perforations. Fig. 304 is another with but
one hole. Fig. 297 is from the same site, and has R instead of Roy.
This has two perforations.
The writer has since had in his hands liards from Pompey of the
DandE issue, the former being from the Lyons mint.
50 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
A smaller coin has a head on the obverse, face to the left, with
OVR. D. C. D., with the rest indistinct. Fig. 396 is of this. On
the reverse are four fleurs-de-lis, the upper one above a castle tower..
Part of the inscription is AN. 1639. DOVR. One better preserved
is in Theodore Stanford’s collection, appearing in fig. 397. On the
obverse is the King’s head. LOVS remains on one side, and FR.
ET. NA. on the other. The reverse now barely suggests the lilies.
The date is 1640; then comes a cross, and then the letters DOVR.
DE. TOV. Both these are of copper, and they are slightly wider
than our present cent. No coins o: older date have been reported
from New York Indian sites.
Honorary medals and gorgets
Though the Indians preferred substantial presents, they were not
insensible to honorable distinctions. They thought powder and
ball a better means of defense than the king’s arms, but tokens of
personal rank they valued. So that Robert Livingston made a
shrewd suggestion on returning from Onondaga in 1700, when he:
recommended to Governor Bellomont:
That his Mats armes be sent to all the 5 Nations and put up on
each Castle, and if your Lord? thought fit, that some of their Chief
Sachems had a badge or the King’s armes cut in silver to hang about
their necks upon solemn days, I presume it would be acceptable..
O’Callaghan, 4:651
Whether this was at once done does not appear, but Queen Anne
did not forget the wise suggestion. At his first conference with the
Five Nations, in August 1710, Governor Hunter introduced a new
feature. The queen had been greatly impressed by the visit of the
New York Indians to London, and took a warm interest in her forest
allies, regarded by her as subjects. On this occasion Governor Hun-
ter said:
Her Maj'¥ has sent them as a pledge of her protection, and as a
memoriall to them of their fidelity, a medall for each Nation with
her Royall effigie on one side, & the last gain’d battle on ye other,
which as such she desires may be kept in your respective Castles
for ever, she has also sent her Picture on silver twenty to each nation
°
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS SI
to be given to y® Chief Warriors, to be worn about their necks as a
token that they shall allwaies be in a readinesse to fight under her
Banner against the common enemy. O'Callaghan. Col. Hist. 5:222
Very proud, doubtless, were these hundred warriors, but the cus-
tom begun by the English two centuries ago, and by the French
~ still earlier, has come down to our own day.
In July 1721 the governor of Pennsylvania presented the Seneca
chief Ghesont with a gold coronation medal of the king, charging
him “to deliver this piece into the hands of the first man or greatest
chief of the Five Nations, whom you call Kannygoodk, to be laid up
and kept” as a token of friendship between them. Hazard.
Minutes, 3:130
Possibly the plate mentioned in Penhallow’s /ndian IVars was
silver medals or badges. ‘The Six Nations and Scaghticoke Indians
were well received in Boston in 1723, and the lieutenant governor
“gave each of them a piece of plate, with figures engraven
thereon, as a turtle, a bear, a hatchet, a wolf, etc., which are the
escutcheons of their several tribes. And the more to oblige them
to our interest, they had a promise made of one hundred pounds a
scalp, for every Indian that they killed or took.” Penhallow, 1:10:
In the Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal for January
1899, Mr R. W. McLachlan gave an account of medals awarded to
Canadian Indians. In this are many interesting particulars, the
author being a specialist in these, and putting many early notices
in an accessible form. The following observation is of general in-
terest: |
Size was of great importance to the red man, who was no admirer
of miniature medals. Some were struck exceeding three inches in
diameter. These were for the great chiefs, for there were smaller
medals for lesser lights. . . While we may be inclined to believe
that more minor than great medals were distributed, as there
could not help but be more lesser than “ Great Chiefs,” this fact is
not borne out by the number of existing medals; the larger medals
are by far the more abundant. This may, in a measure, be accounted
for by the fact that the minor chiefs more readily parted with their
medals; and that, too, at a time when there were few collectors in
the country to secure and hand them down to posterity, while the
great chiefs’ medals passed from father to son as an insignia of
office. . . Old silversmiths relate that, as late as 60 years ago, -
52 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
—
the Indians used to bring in their medals to have them made over
into gorgets and armlets. McLachlan, 2:4
Mr McLachlan quotes the earliest mention of medals in Canada,
in 1670-71, from volume 4 of the Archives of that country:
A savage of the Sault, (Caughnawaga), named Louis Atouata,
godson of the King, who preserves as a precious thing the medal of
which his Majesty made a present to him.
A medal was struck about 1670, for the friendly Indians of Vir-
ginia, but had no relation to New York, while most French medals
came there at one time or another.
Mr McLachlan also describes a medal of 1693, in five sizes. The
obverse has “the head of Louis 14, with flowing hair, and on the
reverse those of his son the dauphin and the three sons of the latter.”
But one original is known, but restrikes have been made. This
writer also quotes an account of medals used in Canada in 1723, and
placed after death on the biers of Indian chiefs.
In another paper in the Proceedings of the American Numismatical
and Archaeological Society of New York, 1883, p. 17-20, he gave two
quotations not found in O’Callaghan’s New York colonial docu-
ments. Governor Vaudreuil wrote thus Sep. 21, 1722:
I have received the letter with which the council has honored me,
and the twelve medals bearing the portrait of the King; eight small
and four large. I have continued to be careful not to be too lavish
with this favor among the Indians, and to give them only to those
who by their services to the nation deserve them, and to those whom
I desire to bind to our interest by this mark of honor.
The reference is to an established custom. He quotes also from
Beauharnois under date of Aug. 25, 1727:
Since the death of M. de Vaudreuil, the Rev. Father Jesuits have
not asked medals for the chiefs of the settled Indians, for whom it
was customary for them to ask some. The Rev. Father de la Chasse,
to whom the Marquis de la Vaudreuil had given one, tells me it is
absolutely necessary to provide some more. I have received proof
of this. The Indians from above, when they come down to
Montreal, would not relieve me from promising them to several who
have served us well among their tribes. I pray you to enable me to
satisfy these savages, and to send me a dozen small medals and six
large ones.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 53
On the same subject Governor Beauharnois wrote again, Oct. 15,
1732, to the Count de Maurepas:
I thank you, My Lord, for the twelve medals you had the good-
ness to send me for the Indians. His Majesty may be assured that
I will make the most of them, and that I shall not distribute them
except to Chiefs, whose services and attachment to the French will
be known to me. As there are many such to whom I have promised
such a token of honor, and as the adventure of our Iroquois and
Hurons against the Foxes places me under the obligation of giving
a few to the principal Chiefs of the expedition, I beg you, My Lord,
to order that some be sent me next year, so that I may be enabled to
invest them with this mark of honor, which also renders them more
respectable among their people. O’Callaghan. Col. Hist. 9:1036
Sir William Johnson gave “three silver gorgets to three of the
principal warriors’ of the Ganuskago Indians, at Fort Johnson,
Mese20, 1750. At the same place, July 12, he “put medals round
the necks of the Shawanese and Delaware chiefs, and also to the
chief Sachem of the River Indians, accompanied with the usual ex-
hortation, also gave silver Gorgets to some of their head Warriors.”
O'Callaghan. Col. Hist. 7:160
He held a council at Onondaga lake that year. When the Onon-
daga speaker had concluded his address, July 2, “ Sir William then
rose and put a medal about the Speaker’s neck and declared him a
Sachem of that Council, charging him to be steady to his Majesty’s
interest.” O’Callaghan. Col. Hist. 7:149
To take off the medal was to renounce friendship or allegiance,
and this the French encouraged when English medals were worn.
A Seneca chief, who wore an English medal in 1775, said to
Governor Vaudreuil: “I tear off the medal of the King of England,
which hangs from my neck and trample it under foot.” O’Callaghan.
Gol Glist, 10 :378
The year before, the La Presentation Indians had sent to M.
Duquesne “the medals the English had presented to some of that
village who had furtively assisted at the Council at Orange.” O’Cal-
laghan. Col. Hist. 10:263
Two Iroquois chiefs gave up their English medals to Vaudreuil
in Aug. 1756. Of another he said: “I have appointed this Onon-
54 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
daga a chief, and have decorated him with the King’s medal, in con-
sideration of the proofs he has afforded me of his fidelity,” the Onon-
dagas being then almost equally divided. In December of that dis-
couraging year to the English, an Oneida chief gave up two English
medals to the French, saying:
Father. We can not retain two medals which we have formerly
had the folly to accept from our brethren, the English, as a mark of
distinction. We acknowledge that these medals have been the true
cause of our errors, and that they have plunged us into bad busi-
ness. We strip ourselves of them; we cast them from us, in, order
not to think any more of the English. O’Callaghan. Col. Hist-
10:513
The gorgets are not usually described, but many were given to the
Five Nations and Delawares. The following description, given to
the French in 1758, seems that of a well known medal:
The Governor of Philadelphia has held a great council with them,
at which he has distributed a great quantity of belts, calumets of
peace, and more than 40 silver gorgets. A chief of the Five Nations
has carried to the Commandant of Niagara one of those gorgets on
which was engraved a Sun, with an Indian and a Squaw feeding a
fire, and an Indian smoking a great calumet with an Englishman
under the shade of the tree of peace. O'Callaghan. Col. Hist. 10:839
An affecting incident took place soon after Sir William Johnson's
death. Some Onondagas were at Johnson Hall, Sep. 12, 1774, and
the Bunt’s eldest son produced the various marks of the baronet’s
regard.
Then (according to the old custom after such an event) he laid
them down consisting of a silver hilted sword, laced hat, medals,
flags, &c. before Col. Johnson, observing that his dear friend, being
now no more, these things must be restored to Col. Johnson for his
disposal. Then a noted Chief and particular friend of Sir Wm
Johnson’s arose, took off his medal &c. and did in like manner as
the former, as did some others. . . Then Col. Johnson put
the medals &c. about their necks and returned the several articles
they had surrendered. O’Callaghan. Col. Hist. 8:498
A similar thing occurred at the Canandaigua conference, held by
Col. Pickering in 1794. There was a condolence at the opening.
Red Jacket said they returned gifts to the donors when any one died,
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 55
and he returned to the commissioners a silver gorget which had
belonged to a dead chief, and which had been given him by the
United States.
These were not considered equal in value to medals. In 1741 the
Marquis de Beauharnois invested an Iroquois chief of the Sault with
a gorget, till he could give him a medal as a mark of rank, but all
medals had not this character.
The finest of the English silver medals which the writer has seen
belonged to Mr John Jones, of Baldwinsville N. Y. It came to him
as an heirloom, and was said to have been from the body of an
Indian chief. The history is not very clear. Though it has been
roughly handled by children, it is in good preservation, owing to
the deep border and high relief. On one side is the British coat
of arms, with the usual mottos. On the other is a fine head of
George 2, facing the left. The inscription around the border is
See). ti. DG: MAG: BRI: FRA: ET. HH: REX. F:D.
in roman capitals. As this monarch reigned from 1727 to 1760, the
medal would come between these dates, and probably during the old
French war. It is 1g inches across, and is quite heavy. Fig. 280
shows the obverse of this.
In American Colonial History illustrated by Contemporaneous
Medals, this issue is described:
Obverse: GEORGIVS II. D. G: MAG: BRI:. FRA: ET: H: REX: F, D.
Bust of the King, laureate, facing the left, without drapery. Reverse.
The Royal Arms within the Garter and with supporters, helmet,
crown and crest; upon the Garter, DIEU. ET. MON. DROIT. Silver,
cast and chased, with loop and ring. Size 30. Betts, p. 177
The medal here represented accurately corresponds with this
description, and must be considered one of this issue. American
medalists are of the opinion that these are the 30 brought to New
York by Sir Danvers Osborne in 1753, for distribution to the
Indians, reference to which is made in a following paragraph.
Everything agrees with the family tradition.
There is another familiar Indian medal of an earlier date, and
about the size of a silver dollar, which has been found in New York.
It will be observed that Indian medals not found here, or which
56 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
have no connection with New York, are not illustrated in this paper-
Several colonial and Canadian medals are thus passed over.
The medal just referred to was found when the Erie canal at
Oriskany was enlarged in 1849. Some graves were opened, contain-
ing 10 or 12 skeletons, with ornaments and medals. On one was
a head of George 1, with the title, George, king of Great Britain,
in capitals. On the reverse was an Indian behind a tree, with bow
and arrow, shooting at a deer. This part of the account is clear,
but some other statements are erroneous. Tor instance, a medal
of George I is said to have been dated in 1731. The other medals
were dated from 1731 to 1735. Some of the later Georges used the
same design. |
Besides one of these medals from the lower Mohawk valley, some-
what indefinitely reported, Mr Conover described one from the
Read farm in Seneca, which was taken from the Indian cemetery
there, and from which he deduced its age. He described it as “a
copper or brass medal of about 14 inches in diameter. On one side
of this medal was the representation of an Indian with a bow and
arrow in the act of shooting at a deer, a tree being between them,
and the rays of the rising sun being alongside of the top of the tree.
On the reverse was a medallion likeness, and around it and near
the edge of the circumference the words, George, king of Great
Britain. As the reign of George 1 was from 1714 to 1727, and
such tokens were only presented to those Indians who were of
importance among their own people,” and this could not be secured
in youth, he inferred that it must have been given to an old man
who was buried with it in the first half of that century. As the
medal might have been preserved in the family, the conclusion does
not follow as to the date of the cemetery, as Mr Conover’s farther
statement shows:
There has also been lately found what at first seemed a small lead
bullet, which had been flattened, but, upon its being cleaned from
the dirt and corrosion, it proved to be a leaden seal, such as was
used in colonial times, and which had the date of 1767 cut on its face.
In the above account Mr Conover should have said the obverse
had the head of the king, but this is a mere technicality. In the
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 57
series of newspaper articles by him, from which this is quoted, he
recorded many things worthy of preservation. A careful and judici-
ous writer, he did much excellent local work.
One of these figures of medals appears in Miner’s History of
Wyoming from an example found on the Susquehanna in 1814, and
now said to be in a collection at Carbondale Pa. Fig. 289 is from
his picture of this, but, though he said it bore the date of 1714, this
does not appear, In that year George 1 began to reign. Mr
Mclachlan writes:
In 1859 two medals were turned up among other Indian remains,
on the banks of the Ohio river. The older of these has on the
obverse the head of George 1, and the other the head of George 2.
The reverses of both have a representation of an Indian aiming at
a deer.
More of this class of medals have been found in Pennsylvania and
Virginia than elsewhere, and they are divided into these two reigns.
As all may occur in New York, a brief description of some of these
is given. They are of brass.
One like the medal described by Miner, but smaller and found in
Virginia, is now in Wilkesbarre. Another, found at Tunkhannock
Pa., has a large Indian throwing a spear at a small deer on the left.
This is quite thick. Another Virginia example has on the obverse
a laureated head of George 1 facing the left. The inscription is
Geemius—-Mae. Bri: Kra., et.. Hib., Rex:; in capitals., Reverse:
Indian at right, nearly erect, bending forward under a tree which
follows the curve of the rim, holding a bow, etc. A running deer
Mager a tree at the left. Betis, p. 82
Another Pennsylvania specimen has the king’s laureated bust to
the left, in armor. The inscription is Georgius II]. D. G: Mag. Br.
Fr. et. Hib. Rex. in capitals. Reverse: Indian at right under a tree,
shooting at a deer running away under a tree at the right. Betts,
p. 84
This should probably be the left, as in the other cases, for the
reported arrangement would not suit the requirements. In another
medal it is possible the spear described may have come from a wear-
ing away of the bow, changing the appearance. As no figures have
been given, the descriptions are followed.
58 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
In a letter to the writer Mr McLachlan says:
Another medal for the Indians is referred to in an article in the
Historical Magazine for September 1865, page 285, which states that
“Sir Danvers Osborne, after he had been appointed Governor of
New York in 1753, brought out, among other presents for the Six
Nation Indians, 30 silver medals, his majesty’s picture on one side,
and the royal arms on the other. . . These medals seem to have
disappeared, possibly a stray one may be found in some collection.”
Sir Danvers Osborne died two days after his installation in office,
and there is no reference to these medals in the succeeding Indian
councils. The Baldwinsville medal is one of those described. A
remarkably fine bronze medal found in the Onondaga valley in 1893,
between the old Indian fort andthe present reservation, has no
reference to the Indians and yet may have belonged to one of them.
It is finely executed, and was found by Mr George Slocum, in whose
hands it still remains. Fig. 311 shows the obverse and fig. 312 the
reverse.
On the obverse is a fine bust of the duke of Cumberland, with the
legend in capitals around the edge, WILL: DUKE: CUMB:
BRITISH: HERO. The other inscriptions are in capitals. Under
the bust and following the rim is a scroll inclosing the words
“ BORN 15 APR. 1721.” Next the rim, on the reverse, are the
words, “REBELION JUSTLY REWARDED;” and under a
group, in two straight lines, is the continuation “| AT CARLILE |
ANNO 1745. |” <A bareheaded officer leads forth two prisoners on
the left; one of them a Scotchman with a rope around his neck; the
mounted duke points with his sword to the right, as though order-
ing them to execution. This is not mentioned among the war
medals of the British Museum.
A very interesting series of medals was designed expressly for
Indian use, but the exact date is in question. An unused example
is figured in the Medaillier du Canada, or Canadian Coin Cabinet,
published at Montreal in 1888 by Joseph Leroux M. D. The brief
description follows: “837. Obv.: View of the City of Montreal.
MONTREAL. D. C. F. Rey.: Plain, in order to write the name of the
Indian chief to whom the medal was awarded. Size 32, rarity 8.”
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 59
This retains the ring in the loop above, but this is commonly
lacking. On the obverse the city is represented with houses,
church spires and the British flag, and has lines of defense between
it and the water. A small cartouche below incloses the letters
D.C. F,. The reverse is perfectly smooth in this case. In. others
the Indian’s name is in script above, following the rim. The name
of the nation is in capitals, in a straight line across the center.
As Mr McLachlan has given special attention to these medals,
some quotations are here made from his letters to the writer in 1891.
He differs from the latter regarding the date, connecting them with
Sir William Johnson’s western trip in 1761. He says:
He is at Oswego, ready to sail on July 21, 1761: “ Got everything
on board the vessel, then met the Onondaga chiefs. When assem-
- bled, I bid them welcome. . . Then delivered the medals sent
me by the General for those who went with us to Canada last year,
being twenty-three in number.” The taking of Montreal was
almost the only engagement in which the New England Algonquin
tribes acted with the Iroquois. Montreal was invested, at the con-
quest, by an army in which the Indians under Sir William Johnson
took a prominent part, and there is no reason why the view of
Montreal should have been used for any other occasion than the
conquest.
In regard to other points, he adds that in his opinion an actual
instead of conventional view of Montreal would have been given
when better known:
The D. C. F. is a stamp such as jewelers use to stamp their plate.
It has been stamped on after the medal was cast. That the name of
the tribe should be spelled differently from Sir William Johnson
does not matter, for the item states that they were ordered by the
General, probably Amherst. He therefore would adopt his own
spelling. Medals given after the Revolution bear the head of George
3 and the royal arms.
In a letter of June 4, 1902, Mr McLachlan maintains his position
and adds:
I have claimed that the medal was made in New York. This is
borne out by the medal described by Betts, page 227, which bears
the same maker’s mark. The medal is too crude in workmanship
to be of English manufacture. The New York Indian medal clearly
60 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
proves that the maker was not a Canadian. Hence the medal could
not have been revolutionary. As is well known in history, the
bulk of the Indians that came to Montreal were from Michigan and
other western districts, while those who were at the capitulation of
Montreal were Mohicans and Iroquois. We find none of the
Montreal medals among the tribes that were under the French influ-
ence previous to the conquest. All I have seen or heard about bear
the tribal names, Mohicans, Mohawks and Onondagas. This to me
is a most convincing argument. These three tribes would not have
been singled out to the exclusion of the great numbers of the western
tribes. Another strong proof is that we have no other medal that
could have been distributed in 1761 by Sir William Johnson, as
described in the entry in his diary. Then the inscription scratched
on my medal must be counted of some value as evidence.
All of Mr McLachlan’s arguments have been stated, and due
weight should be given to them and to the rank of their author, from
whom the writer is compelled to differ, though with some hesitation.
I do not find it proved that these medals were made in New York
and not in Montreal. Some of the best silversmiths were in the
latter place at both dates mentioned. If they were made in New
York, it must be remembered that that city was in British hands
through nearly the whole of the revolutionary war, and was in con-
stant communication with Quebec and Montreal. There are twe
medals directly relating to the conquest of Canada and the taking
of Montreal, which Johnson might have used. ‘The inscription
scratched on Mr McLachlan’s medal is clearly erroneous in date, as
will appear later. The omission of western tribes on the medals
found is no more singular than the omission of four of the Six
Nations. It is negative evidence at best. Thus, while it would be
unwise to say that the true date is not that of 1761, there is but a
presumption in favor of that date.
Some reasons against it will appear in the descriptions of these
and other medals, but others may be briefly stated here.
Conventional views of cities were then customary, as may be seen
on old powderhorns and seals; Montreal was the seat of the Indian
agency during the Revolution and the headquarters of warlike opera-
tions; the spelling of Onondagos is that of Col. Claus, the agent, and
not that of Johnson; the River Indians were constantly employed by
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 61
the British government, had villages in the Mohawk territory, and
virtually belonged to that people. In the Revolution 60 of them are
said to have fought on the English side. It is improbable that John-
son had 23 medals with names and nations inscribed, for distribution
at Oswego. They would have had a general character, whereas
these were filled out from time to time for personal services. Some,
held in reserve, were never engraved. Lastly, some of these names
correspond with those of chiefs attached to early land treaties with
the State of New York.
In 1761 Johnson also had similar medals for the Oneidas, but none
of these have been found. He was at Oneida Old Castle, July 16,
and said:
I then acquainted them that General Amherst had sent me, some
time ago, medals for such persons as went to Canada with the army
last year, which I was now ready to deliver, were the persons here
to whom they belonged. As they were not, must keep them till I
had an opportunity of delivering them myself, that no mistake might
be cominitted. Stone. Johnson, 2:432
Mr J. V. H. Clark described one several times examined by the
writer:
A silver medal was found near Eagle village, about the size of a
dollar, but a little thinner, with a ring or loop at one edge, to admit
a cord by which it might be suspended. On one side appears in
relief, a somewhat rude representation of a fortified town, with
several tall steeples rising above its buildings, and a citadel from
which the British flag is flying; a river broken by an island or two,
occupies the foreground, and above, along the upper edge of the
medal, is the name Montreal. The initials, p. c. F., probably of the
manufacturer, are stamped below. On the other side, which was
originally made blank, are engraved the words CANECYA, Onon-
dagoes. . . There is no date on this or any other of the medals.
But this must be at least older than the Revolution. Clark, 2:274
This should be Canetya in script and Onondagos in capitals. Fig.
281 shows this medal as drawn by the writer at Mr L. W. Ledyard’s,
Cazenovia N. Y. in 1882. It was in his possession for many years.
If of revolutionary date, as the writer thinks probable, the Caneiye
of the medal might correspond with the Onondaga chief Kaneyaagh,
of the treaty of 1788.
62 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Mr McLachlan kindly furnished figures of some medals. Fig.
282 shows one of these, and his description follows:
Obverse, Montreal; in the exergue, DCF stamped in a sunk
oval. A view of a walled town with a body of water in the fore-
ground, into which a small stream flows. There are five church
spires ranged along the middle of the town, and a flag displaying
St George’s cross to the right. Reverse. Plain; Onondagos is en-
graved in capitals across the field, and the name Tekahonwaghse in
script at the top. Some one has, at a later time, scratched across the
lower part with a sharp pointed instrument, in three lines, | Taken
from an Indian | cheif in the AmericAN | Wak, 1761.|
Mr Betts also illustrated and described this medal.
In the addition there is an evident error for there was no war in
that year, but, if it were 1781, it would correspond with the American
war, as the English termed that of the Revolution. Allowing this
date, Tekahonwaghse might be Takanaghkwaghsen, an Onondaga
chief who signed the treaty of 1788, or Tagonaghquaghse, appointed
chief warrior of that nation in 1770, and perhaps the chief of 1788.
Mr McLachlan had this medal from the Bushnell collection. He
added, “ I know of another in the collection of James Ollier of New
York. Iam under the impression that it is also in silver, and that it
bears the name Onondagos.” No account could be obtained of this.
Fig. 283 is a similar silver medal, bought by Mr McLachlan in
London. On the reverse this has Mohawks in the field, and Aruntes
above. It is in extra fine condition. This name does not appear
among the many on record in the French war, nor is there any
resembling it, but ‘“ The Answer of Thayendanegea a Sachem, and
of Ohrante a warrior of the Mohocks to the Right Hon Lord
George Germaine”, London, May 7, 1776, is preserved in full.
O’Callaghan. Col. Hist. 8:678
Those familiar with the great variations in spelling Indian names,
and the rank of this person, will have little doubt that Ohrante and
Aruntes are the same. It is a curious coincidence that this well pre-
served medal was obtained in London, where Ohrante spent some
months. In another place the Mohawk warrior is called Oterough-
vanento, Indians often having two names. In the writer’s exhaustive
list of Iroquois personal names this nowhere else appears, but it is
an unexpected gratification to link the three Iroquois names ob-
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 63
tained on these medals with well known persons of the revolutionary
period. ,
Concerning these two Mohawks, Guy Johnson wrote in London,
Jan. 26, 1776: “ The Indian Chief who accompanied me, with his
companion, are persons of character and influence in their country;
they can more at large speak on any matters that may be required
of them.” O’Callaghan. Col. Hist. 8:657
Fig. 284 is another medal of which Mr McLachlan says:
It is in the government collection at Ottawa, and came from the
collection of Mr I. F. Wood of New York. This is in pewter, and
has Mohicrans in the field, either misspelled in the copy or the
original. Above is Tantalkel. Judging from the medal given to
Tantalkel of the Mohicans, we infer that his services could not have
been valued so highly as those of the Onondaga warrior, for: his
reward is in the baser metal. How one of that tribe came to receive
a medal is explained when we learn that 70 River Indians accom-
panied Johnson to Montreal.
Another Mohican fared better. The Albany Argus, Sep. 27, 1875,
described a silver medal found by Mr Kelly of Ballston Spa N. Y.
The obverse was as usual. On the reverse,as reported, was Mohicans
in capitals, and Son Gose in script. Mr Joseph E. Wescot pur-
chased it of the finder, and sold it in 1902 to Mr E. Hallenbeck, 749
Liberty st., Schenectady. Through the kindness of the latter, the
writer is not only able to give an accurate figure, but to settle the
spelling of a word in doubt. It is Mohigrans, the engraver having
mistaken in his orders G for C, and R for K. It was easy to do
this. The Indian’s name is also Songose. This medal was found
on the Kelly place, near the bank of the Mourning kill and the old
Canadian trail. It is somewhat worn, but in good condition. It
is remarkable that so many have the name of this nation. Fig. 388.
In the work of C. Wyllys Betts, already mentioned, he speaks of
another Mohican silver medal, on the reverse of which was Madoghk,
with the nation’s name engraved in the usual way. He also takes
note of the doubtful spelling, now cleared up by the writer’s exam-
ination of the Hallenbeck medal. The error was made in all.
The Mohicans became so closely linked with the Mohawks as
to share their fortunes and that of the Johnson family. Some of
64 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
them are mentioned in the raids in the Mohawk valley. The medals
can hardly be referred to Burgoyne’s luckless campaign, for each
was engraved for a particular person, nor were the Onondagas yet
in the field. None known bear the Oneida name, a significant fact,
for they were on the American side. Nor were they among Butler’s
‘
presents in the winter of 1777-78, who gave “in particular 300 of
Burgoyne’s silver medals to their young warriors.” Halsey, p. 204.
They are not all of silver.
In a description of American medals of the Revolution by J. T.
Fisher of Philadelphia, Collections of the Massachusetts Historical -
Society, vol. 6 of 3d series, is one of these medals, but without place
or name of Indian, and with another misspelling: “ Medal—prob-
ably for distribution among the Indians. Obverse, A view of Mont-
real, and above it the name MONTREAL. Keverse, The name
MOHIGHANS.”
In Le Medailher du Canada is a figure of the French Oswego
medal of 1758. A better one is given by Mr Betts. As medals
were very freely distributed about that time, some of these may
have been placed in Indian hands, though of this there is no proof.
It is nearly 14 inches wide. All the letters are capitals. “Avers:
Bust to the right. LUDOVICUS XV. ORBIS IMPERATOR.
1758. Rev.: Four towers. Wesel, Oswego, Port Mahon, Expug, Sti
Davidis arce et solo aequata.” Leroux, p. 177
Leroux assigns a number to Indian use, but some are later than
the colonial period. One has George 3 and Queen Charlotte face
to face. Another may be like the fine one recently obtained from
the Ottawas by Walter C. Wyman. This has a bust of George 3
to the right, and the arms of Great Britain on the reverse. There
are several of this character to be mentioned later.
Mr McLachlan discredits Stone’s statement that the medals of
1761, “by order of Amherst, were stamped upon one side with the
baronet’s coat of arms,’ nor does there seem any direct proof of
this. He adds:
I have in my collection 10 or 12 medals relating to the Indians.
One of these represents a lion watching a wolf, with a church and
schoolhouse surrounded by trees in the background. This, to my
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 65
mind, relates to the conspiracy of Pontiac. French medals are now
very rare; only one or two are known. After the conquest the
Indians had to give them up, or exchange them for medals bearing
the bust of George 3. I think it was not customary to strike medals
specially for the occasion, but to give the Indians copies of some
popular medal of the time; later medals bearing the arms of Great
Britain, with only the name and title of the king on the obverse,
for inscription. Such are all the medals of George 3, with the single
exception of the lion and the wolf.
The one last mentioned has a fine bust of this monarch as a young
-man in armor. The inscription is simply GEORGIUS III. DEI
GRATIA. There is nothing suggestive of Indian life on the medal,
and Mr McLachlan merely gives it as his opinion that it referred to
the Pontiac war. He states, however, that this was struck as a peace
medal for a conference with the Indians at Niagara in 1764, followed
by the treaty of 1765. He adds:
One of these medals, found in the grave of Otussa (Pontiac’s son)
is now in the cabinet of the United States mint at Philadelphia. A
considerable number of these medals must have been struck, as two
reverse dies were used. The two varieties were found in 1889 buried
in one grave in Michigan. McLachlan, 2:14
The reverse of this large silver medal has no legend. A lion lies
on the turf in the foreground, a wolf drinks at a stream, a church
and house are in the background. Without an Indian symbol its
Indian use seems clear. Three others of this monarch’s reign are
ascribed to 1762 and 1764, and two of these refer to New York.
Medalists suppose them to have been struck for Canadian chiefs at
the close of the French war. They are quite as likely to have been
given to New York Indians, and there is no reference to Canada, as
on some of earlier date.
The one ascribed to 1762 has the youthful bust of George 3 in
armor, and the British arms on the reverse. One of 1764 has his
bust in armor to the right, with the inscription, GEORGIUS III.
D. G. M. BRI. FRA. ET. HIB. REX) F. D. On the reverse,
“ Happy while united,’ in capitals. In exergue, 1764. Indian
holding a pipe, seated near an officer on a roll of tobacco. Back-
ground, city and harbor of New York. Betts, p. 226
66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Another has the same obverse, and the same date and legend on
the reverse. An officer is in the foreground of the landscape, and
an Indian is seated in a rustic chair on a river bank, on the right.
On a rocky bank is a house, and there are three ships beyond.
Betts, p. 227
Some medals of George 2 are of special interest. War had not
prospered. Pennsylvania had suffered severely, but in 1757 a pre-
liminary treaty was made with the Delawares and Shawnees. The
Six Nations were balancing between the English and French, and
great efforts were put forth for their support. Soa medal was pre-
pared in 1757, appropriate to the times. On the obverse is a
laureated bust of George 2 in armor, with the inscription,
GEORGIVS. II. DEI. GRATIA. On the reverse is the legend,
in capitals, “ Let us look to the Most High, who blessed our fathers
with peace.” In exergue, 1757. ‘The field has a man seated under
a tree on the right, offering a calumet to an Indian seated on the
other side of a council fire. The sun is above the Indian on the
left. This medal occurs in silver, copper and pewter, and is sup-
posed to be the first struck in America. It was made for the
Friendly Association for regaining and preserving peace with the
Indians. Betts, p.179. This is the one mentioned in the Canadian
documents.
Two, relating to the conquest of Canada and the capture of Mont-
real, seem more likely to have been those given by Johnson to the
Indians in 1761 than those which Mr McLachlan assigns to that
period, as they were issued in time and relate to that event. One
has a laureated head of the monarch, with the inscription, GEORGE
II. KING. On the reverse is the legend, CANADA SUBDUED.
In exergue, MDCCLX.S. P. A.C. A pine tree rises in the center,
under which is a weeping woman seated on the ground. On the
left a beaver crawls up the bank. Betts, p. 192
Another, issued by the same society, has points of resemblance
and is of the same date. On the obverse is a river god reclining,
with a bow, quiver and ax below him. A beaver climbs up the
bank, and overhead is a shield with Amherst’s name. The legend
in capitals is, “The conquest of Canada completed.” The reverse
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 67
has a mourning woman seated under atree. To the left is an eagle,
and to the right an ax, etc. The legend is, “ Montreal taken
MDCCLX.” In exergue, “Soc. promoting arts and commerce.”
Leroux, p. 166. As these have Indian symbols, and one of them
Ambherst’s name and that of Montreal, they seem to suit in every
way Johnson’s lavish distribution of medals at Oswego, when sent
him by his leader. |
Red Jacket’s medal has been made the subject of controversy.
Fig. 411 is taken from an article in Harper’s Magazine, 1866, in
which its history is given. A note says:
It is said that there are in existence other medals, each purporting
to be the genuine Red Jacket medal. Possibly copies of it may
have been made when it was at one time or another in pawn in the
hands of those to whom Red Jacket had pledged it for whisky.
But none of these copies were ever owned by Red Jacket himself.
The original medal, from which our drawing was made, is, as we
write, open to public inspection at the jewelry establishment of
Messrs Browne and Spaulding, in Broadway, New York, by whom,
with the assent of the owner, it was placed at our disposal for illus-
tration. We have in our possession the most abundant proof that
it is the genuine, and only genuine, medal presented by Washington
to Red Jacket. Harper's, 32:324
It then belonged to General Ely S. Parker, a Seneca chief. In
1890 a medal was presented to the Red Jacket Club of Canandaigua,
as having belonged to that chief. Mr William C. Bryant, of Buffalo,
wrote to Hon. George S. Conover on the subject, in the following
words:
Butfalo, Feb. 3, 1S9r
FRIEND CONOVER: There is no rational ground for doubt that
the medal worn by General Parker is the one presented by President
Washington to Red Jacket. This medal was a familiar object to
all Buffalo residents while the old chief lived; and, after his death in
1830, it was well known that it descended to, or became the prop-
erty of Jemmie Johnson, Red Jacket’s nephew and the successor of
Handsome Lake, the great Iroquois prophet. Soon afterward, and
shortly before Johnson’s death, it became the property or possession
of General Parker, its present owner. In 1851 or 1852, when a boy,
I visited Jemmie Johnson at his cabin, and he exhibited the medal
to me.
It should be remembered that the Red Jacket medal is not a
unique article, but one of many which were stricken off by the
68 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
government when Red Jacket was alive, for presentation to distin-
euished chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy. There are, perhaps,
two or three specimens similar in appearance to the Red Jacket
medal still extant. Probably the one presented to the Red Jacket
Club of Canandaigua is one of this class of medals, contemporaneous
with that of Red Jacket. That it was ever worn by the old chief is
not probable. Sa-go-ye-wa-tha had only one medal, and of this he
was very fond and proud. During his career he owned several
tomahawks and gave away at least two of them, whose subsequent
history can still be traced; but he seemed to cling to this medal as
if it were a most precious heirloom or sacred amulet.
I was present at the Six Nations mourning council, when General
Parker was invested with the title of Door Keeper (Don-e-ho-ga-wa),
one of the 50 grand sachemships of the Confederacy. This was, I
think, in 1850. He then wore the Red Jacket medal, and in open
council it was exhibited to many of Red Jacket’s compeers, none of
whom doubted its authenticity.
To this Mr Conover added:
A few years since the Cayuga Indians residing in Canada em-
ployed an attorney in Buffalo to urge a claim against the State for
a portion of the annuity paid by the State to the Cayugas in the
United States, they having been deprived of the same since the War
of 1812. Among other matters put in the hands of this attorney was
a silver medal, a facsimile of which is to be found in the printed
law case. This medal is of the same size, and substantially the
same as the Parker medal, having the same inscription on one side,
viz, “ George Washington, President, 1792.” This medal is claimed
to have been presented to O-ja-geht-ti, or Fish Carrier, at that time
the head chief of the Cayuga Indians, and has been in the possession
of every successor in office, who has been uniformly styled by the
same name from that day to the time of the present Fish Carrier.
The medal presented to the Red Jacket Club at Canandaigua, I
understand, is about one third smaller in size than either of the two
above named.
Mr L. H. Morgan says of these:
The government has long been in the habit of presenting silver
medals to the chiefs of the various Indian tribes at the formation of
treaties, and on the occasion of their visits to the seat of govern-
ment. These medals are held in the highest estimation. Red
Jacket, Corn Planter, Farmer’s Brother and several other distin-
guished Seneca chiefs have received medals of this description.
Washington presented a medal to Red Jacket in 1792. It is an
elliptic plate of silver, surrounded by a rim, as represented in the
METALLIC: ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 69
figure, and is about 6 inches in its greatest diameter. On each side
it is engraved with various devices. The medal is now worn by
Sose-hd-wa, (Johnson) a Seneca chief. Medals of seashell, inlaid
with silver, were also used. Morgan, p. 388
At the reinterment of Red Jacket in 1884, Gen. Parker exhibited
‘this medal. “It is of silver, oval in shape, 7 inches long by 5 inches
broad. The general had dressed it in black and white wampum;
the black indicating mourning and the white peace and gladness.”
The above long diameter includes the loop.
A copy of this medal is now in the National Museum, Washing-
ton, and data obtained thence made a difference in date and size:
The original of Red Jacket’s medal is engraved. It is oval, 53
by 4 inches. It was presented by President George Washington,
in 1795, to the Indian Red Jacket, who, with a number of chiefs of
the Six Nations, visited Philadelphia, then the seat of government,
at the invitation of the first president. Obverse: figure of Red
Jacket presenting to General Washington the pipe of peace. In the
background a man plowing and a pioneer cabin; beneath, the in-
scription “ George Washington, President, 1795.” Left field, a pine
tree. Reverse: the American eagle, with clouds and rays above and
13 stars below; in beak a scroll, with “ E Pluribus Unum.”
Mr J. V. H. Clark described a brass medal found near Indian hill,
Pompey, in 1821:
It was without date, on one side of it was a figure of Louis 14,
king of France and Navarre. On the reverse side was represented
a field, with three flowers-de-luce, supporting a royal crown, sur-
rounded by the name of Nalf Lanfar & Co. It was about the size
of a Spanish pistareen, had.been compressed between dies, characters
and letters distinct. Clark, 2:255
On a neighboring site a brass medal was found, on which was a
horseman with drawn sword. On the other was ‘‘ William, Prince
of Orange”, with a crest or coat of arms; the date was obliterated.
William, Prince of Orange flourished in 1689, and was conspicuous
in the affairs of New York for several years-previous. This medal
may have been a present by him to some distinguished chief.
Clark, 2:258
That medals and coins should be sometimes found near the old
colonial forts is to be expected, but they have seldom been reported,
and have no necessary connection with Indian life. A fine gold
7O NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
piece found near Fort Brewerton, and bearing the arms of the duke
of Brunswick, has been shown the writer. From the same place
came a copper medal, 14 inches in diameter, having an erect woman,
with shield and cornucopia on the obverse, and the legend, “ Honor
obtain’d through virtue,” on the reverse. It is some years since the
writer has seen this, but he has the impression that it was once a
familiar form, as far as the obverse is concerned.
Religious medals
A much larger class of medals was of a religious character,
usually of small size and varied forms. Mr Clark described a large
one: |
In July 1840 was found, on the farm of Mr William Campbell, by
his son, on lot number three, La Fayette, a silver medal, about the
size of a dollar, and nearly as thick. On one side is a device, sur-
mounted by an angel on the wing, stretching forward with its leit
. hand, looking down upon those below with a resolute, determined
and commanding countenance. Far in the background is a lofty
ridge of mountains. Just beneath and away in the distance, is seen
an Indian village or town, towards which the angel is steadily and
earnestly pointing. Above this overhangs a slight curtain of cloud
or smoke. Between the village and the mountain are scattering
trees, as if an opening had just been made in the forest; nearer are
seen various wild animals sporting gayly. In bolder relief are seen
Europeans, in the costume of priests and pilgrims, with staves, ex-
hibiting by their gestures and countenances, hilarity, gladness and
jcy, winding their way up the general ascent towards the mountain,
decreasing in size from the place of departure, till lost from view.
Among them are wheel carriages and domestic animals, intermixed.
On the right is a fair representation of a cottage, and a spacious
commercial warehouse, against which are leaning sheaves of grain.
The whole is surrounded by the following inscription in Dutch:
GEHE AUS DEINEM VATTER LAND, 1 b. M., XITI., V. 1, and
at the bottom across, LASST HIER DIEGVTER. On the op-
posite side there is a figure of the sun shining in meridian splendor,
casting its noontide rays over a civilized town, represented by
churches, stores, dwellings, etc., with various domestic animals, and
numerous persons engaged in husbandry and other pursuits. In
bolder relief stand Europeans in the costume of the 15th and 16th
centuries, engaged as if in animated and joyful conversation and
greetings, and by various attitudes manifesting happiness and joy.
On the right is represented a section of a church, at the door of
which stands a venerable man, with head uncovered, with his hands
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 71
extended, as if welcoming these persons to a new and happy habita~
tion. This side is surrounded by the following inscription: VND
Pe soi EIN SE BGENJOEYN, 1,b..Mos., XIL, V.2, and
across the bottom as follows: GOTT GIBT SIEWIEDER. Clark,
22274
This is a great amount of detail for one medal. The quotations
are from the German Bible, and relate to Abraham’s migration.
Clark questioned whether the medal might not be a relic of the
Zeisberger mission of 1750, but the site where it was found had then
been long abandoned, and it suggests the encouragement of emigra-
tion from the fatherland. It may be referred to the end of the 17th
century.
Mr Clark gives figures and descriptions of several small medals,
but those which follow are mostly those examined by the writer, and
are but a sample of those abundant during the Jesuit missionary
period.
Fig. 296 shows one which differs from the rest in having a German
inscription, and its age may be uncertain. It was found on an
Indian camping site near Baldwinsville in 1880, and is of brass,
elliptic and thin. On one side is a border of 15 stars, inclosing a
cross placed above the letter M. Below is a flaming heart, with
another pierced by a sword. On the obverse is the Virgin Mary,
with a halo around the head and drooping palm branches in each
hand. She seems to be treading on a serpent, but this is corroded
and may be a date. The German inscription follows the border in
a double line. It is now indistinct and the writer made it out as
meee. Gtkih PAGEN .. . NDE EMPPANGEN. RITT.
Pree NS the immer lime is De W: ZU:*D: UNSRE: ZU:
FURCHT. NEHMEN. As some letters are doubtful Mr Stewart
Culin suggested that the opening words might be Gehe fagen, and
the last but one Flucht. “The medal has disappeared, and the inscrip-
tion remains in doubt. It may be recent, as the writer has exam-
ined a smaller silver one of 1830, found at Mobile in 1868, closely
resembling this. It has but 12 stars, and the double inscription is
in English:
“© Mary, conceived without sin,
Pray for us who have recourse to you.”
72 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
This differs greatly from the German inscription above, and has
been rather common in the century just past, but there are early
examples which are similar. Mr Clark described a small brass
medal found in Pompey, and in good preservation. It had:
The figure of a Roman pontiff, in a standing position, in his hand
a crozier, surrounded with this inscription: B. virg. sin. P. origt
con., which we have ventured to write out Beata virgo sine Peccato
originalt concepta, or as we might say in English, The blessed Virgin
conceived without original sin. On the other side was a representa-
tion of a serpent, and two nearly naked figures looking intently
upon it. This one is very perfect in all its parts, and the letters as
plain as if struck but yesterday. Clark, 2:273
He described two others from a later site. One was “an octa-
gonal brass medal nearly an inch in diameter, having a figure with
the name St Agatha, and the Latin word Ora, a part of the Gregorian
chant. Also a silver medal half an inch long, with a figure inscribed
St Lucia, and the same fragment of a chant.” Clark, 2:280 .
Fig. 298 shows the first of these, and fig. 300 the second. His
figure has Ora. P. N. in the latter instance, and these letters seem to
~ have been obliterated in the other. This gives the familiar Ora pro
nobis.
Many of this class of medals have been found in Cayuga county,
but most of these have been dispersed. Mr Betts described one
from Scipioville, on the obverse of which is a female saint, facing
the right. The inscription is Santa. Rosa. de. Lima. Ord. He said
that this saint is still very popular in Canada. On the reverse is a
head of St Paul, facing the left, with arms crossed and holding a
crucifix. Betts, p82
Though these medals are usually of brass, some are of lead and
silver. Fig. 291 is of lead, and was found at Indian castle in
Pompey. It is elliptic in outline, showing a bust with uplifted hand,
and is perforated at the base. Fig. 294 is of silver and from the
same place. It is circular and suggests a coin, but the writer re-
calls none like it. A lion holding arrows is on one side, and on the
other three lines of letters and a date partially effaced. The date,
as well as the site, is of the 17th century. There is a single per-
foration.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 73
Fig. 292 is a heart-shaped medal, with an embossed heart in the
center, and a dotted border. It was found at Scipioville. Fig. 293
is from the same place, and is larger than most examples. It is
elliptic in outline, with a fine half length figure and a partially effaced
inscription relating to Francis Xavier. Fig. 301 came from the
same site and is octagonal. A fine bust, with raised hand, has an
inscription around it, of which “ Francis, Ora P.” can yet be read.
Fig. 302 is a fine example from the same place and of the same form.
A cross, with a halo of rays, is above what may be either altar or
font, on either side of which are kneeling figures. Fig. 295 is
another octagonal medal from Cayuga county, with the bust of a
man and a child. Fig. 299 shows both sides of an elliptic medal
from a small site near the entrance of Onondaga creek into the lake,
and which was much frequented about the year 1700. On both
sides are figures apparently in ecclesiastical garments, with hoods
thrown back. The inscriptions are partly effaced, but the following
Memeee teaced On one side: 5: 1O.. 7 ANNES... CAPISTR:
Sme Oiner appears 5. P. A. 5. (a chalice here in the border)
GHALIS.S. ...,ON.. There is a prominent loop above.
An elliptic silver medal, recently found in Pompey, is too much
defaced for definite description.
Two brass medals are in Mr Stanford’s collection at Munnsville.
Fig. 385 is the largest of these, and has on one side a head of Christ
with a halo. The inscription is IESVS FILIVS DEI. On the
reverse is a head of the Virgin Mary, also with a halo, and the words
MATER DEI. Fig. 384 is a smaller medal, with the Virgin and
child on the obverse. On the reverse is the sun above, and below
this a figure which may be altar, candlestick or font, being somewhat
worn. On either side is a kneeling angel.
A fine brass medal was found by the Rey. W. H. Casey at Union
Springs, in the autumn of 1902. It is in excellent preservation and
is 14 inches long, including the loop, and nearly 14 wide. On one
side is a fine head of Christ and SALVATOR MUNDI; on the
other a head of the Virgin Mary and MATER CHRISTI. It was
seen too late to illustrate here.
74 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Brooches
About the beginning of the 18th century, Iroquois taste in orna-
ment took a decided turn. Glass and porcelain beads were still in
favor, but the brass and bronze ornaments began to give place to
silver. The change came gradually, but very decidedly, and in the
end affected all Indian tribes. Loskiel said: “ The rich adorn their
heads with a number of silver trinkets of considerable weight. This
mode of finery is not so common among the Delawares as the
Iroquois, who, by studying dress and ornament more than any other
Indian nation, are allowed to dictate the fashion to the rest.”
By the middle of that century the Indians had everywhere become
critical in this matter. La Presentation (at Ogdensburg) was
settled in 1749, and reference is made to silver articles in the account
of the settlement in Lettres edifiantes et curieuses. The matter of
rival trade, as between New York and Canada, was as burning a
question then as now, and the latter had the same disadvantage of
position in winter, enhancing the price of goods. Toronto and
Niagara could have stopped, it is said, “all the savages, had the
stores been furnished with goods to their liking. There was a
wish to imitate the English in the trifles they sold the savages, such
as silver bracelets, etc. The Indians compared & weighed them,
as the storekeeper at Niagara stated, and the Choeguen (Oswego)
bracelets which were found as heavy, of a purer silver and more
elegant, did not cost them two beavers, whilst those at the King’s
posts wanted to sell them for ten beavers. Thus we were discred-
ited, and this silver ware remained a pure loss in the King’s stores.
To destroy the Trade the King’s posts ought to have been
supplied with the same goods as Choéguen and at the same price.”
O'Callaghan, p. 437
William Smith published his History of New York in 1756. He
said of the Indians, “Many of them are fond of ornaments, and
their taste is singular. JI have seen rings affixed, not-only to their
ears, but to their noses. Bracelets of silver’and brass round their
wrists, are very common.” Smith, p. 69
Heckewelder described the funeral of a woman in 1762: “ Her
garments, all new, were set off with rows of silver brooches, one row
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 75
joining another. Over the sleeves of her new ruffled shirt were
broad silver arm spangles,’ etc. A good deal of wampum and
many silver ornaments were placed elsewhere. A note says of the
brooches, “a kind of round buckle with a tongue, which the Indians
fasten to their shirts. The traders call them brooches. They are
placed in rows at the distance of about the breadth of a finger one
from the other.” Heckewelder, p. 270
In Col. Proctor’s journal of May 3, 1791, he relates his visit to the
‘Onondaga village 3 miles east of Buffalo. They had 28 cabins,
and were “well clothed, particularly the women, some of whom
were dressed so richly, with silken stroud, etc., and ornamented with
sO many silver trappings, that one suit must be of the value of at
least thirty pounds.” Penn. Archives, 4:591
Miss Powell was at Buffalo in 1785, and gave an account of Capt.
David, a clean, handsome and graceful Indian:
His hair was shaved off, except a little on the top of his head, to
which his ornaments were fastened; and his head and ears were
‘painted a glowing red. Round his head was fastened a fillet of
highly polished silver. From the left temple hung two straps of
black velvet, covered with silver beads and brooches. On the top
of his head was placed a foxtail feather, which bowed to the wind,
as did two black ones, one in each ear. A pair of immense ear-
rings, which hung below his shoulders, completed his headdress,
which I assure was not unbecoming, though I must confess, some-
what fantastical. His dress was a shirt of colored calico,—the neck
and shoulders covered so thick with silver brooches as to have the
appearance of a net; and his sleeves were much like those the ladies
wore when I left England, fastened about the arm with a broad
bracelet of highly polished silver, engraved with the arms of Eng-
land; four smaller bracelets round the wrist, of the same material;
and around his waist a large scarf of very dark colored stuff, lined
with scarlet, which hung to his feet; part of this scarf he generally
drew over his left arm, which had a very graceful effect when he
moved. And his legs were covered with blue cloth, made to fit
neatly with an ornamental garter bound below the knee. Ketchum,
2:06
These accounts fully show the abundance of silver ornaments in
that century. Elkanah Watson noticed the same thing at the treaty
of Fort Stanwix in 1788. Many of the Indian women were dressed
76 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
“in the richest silks, fine scarlet clothes, bordered with gold fringe,
a profusion of brooches, rings in their noses, their ears slit, and their
heads decorated with feathers.” These things bear out the state-
ment made by an Onondaga to the writer, that 50 years ago some
families had each a bushel of such ornaments.
In speaking of personal adornment, Loskiel said that Indian
women were well dressed:
The Delaware men pay particular attention to the dress of their
women, and on that account clothe themselves rather meanly-
There are many who would think it scandalous to appear better
clothed than their wives. Loskiel, 1:51
The women wore petticoats, reaching a little below the knee.
Some wore garments “ of printed linen or cotton of various colors,
decorated at the breast with a great number of silver buckles, which
are also worn by some as ornaments upon their petticoats. . ~
They adorn their ears, necks and breasts with corals, small crosses,.
little round escutcheons, and crescents, made either of silver or
wampom.” Loskiel, 1:52
Heckewelder speaks much to the same purpose:
The wealthy adorn themselves besides with ribands and gartering
of various colors, beads and silver brooches. These ornaments are
arranged by the women, who, as well as the men, know how toset
themselves off in style. . . The women, at the expense of their
husbands or lovers, line their petticoat and blue or scarlet cloth
blanket or covering with choice ribands of various colors, on which
they fix a number of silver brooches, or small round buckles.
Heckewelder, p. 203
Quotations regarding the lavish use of silver ornaments, specially
in the latter part of the 18th century, might be multiplied. It may
be well to add what Mr Morgan has said of this feature of Seneca
dress. The short overskirt of calico, called by them Ah-de-d-da-
we-sa, and reaching above the knee, usually had one or two rows
of brooches on each side, as the writer often has seen them. Morgan
adds:
The Indian female delights in a profusion of silver ornaments,
consisting of silver brooches of various patterns and sizes, from
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS Th
those which are 6 inches in diameter, and worth as many dollars,
down to that of the smallest size, valued at a sixpence. Silver ear-
rings and finger rings of various designs, silver bracelets, hatbands.
and crosses, are also found in their paraphernalia. These crosses,
relics of Jesuit influence, are frequently 8 inches in length, of solid
silver, and very valuable, but they are looked upon by them simply
in the light of ornament. Morgan, p. 386
The last remark should be always borne in mind. The writer has.
bought many of these ornaments of many Indians, but they were
without significance to them. If a meaning is suggested, they will
good-naturedly assent to anything; they do not think of one them-.
selves, as Mr Morgan found.
Apparently the brooch was an evolution from the gorget, for some
metallic ornaments of this kind were tied on, not buckled. Such
ornaments are rare, and may never have been common. As far as
known, they are circular, and like the brooch of that form except in:
the center. Fig. 17 is a silver one of this kind, having four inter-
lacing rings inside of the outer circle. There is no place for or sign
of a buckle, and it was probably tied or sewed to the garment, for
there is no reason to think it was suspended. This was found in
the town of DeWitt N. Y. and is in the Richmond collection. Fig.
21 is a smaller one of the same design from the Mohawk valley,.
which belongs to Mr Frey. A large and handsome one from Ohio
was shown at the Pan-American Exposition. In this a slender outer
ring inclosed an open six pointed star, bisected by an inner circle.
Fig. 160 is of copper and has no central opening. It is from the
site of 1677 in Pompey, and is unfortunately broken.
Like wampum, the silver brooches partially answered the purpose
of money. The Onondagas often placed them in pawn, but some-
times parted with them at a fixed value. Some visitors at Oquaga,.
in 1769, observed this there. ‘Some of the women wear silver
brooches, each of which passes for a shilling, and are as current
among the Indians as money. Brant’s wife had several tier of them
in her dress, to the amount perhaps of 10 or 15 pounds.” Halsey,
p. 143. That is, she wore from 200 to 300 of these; and this seems:
no rare example.
78 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The brooch proper has a central opening, across which a tongue
extends, like that of a buckle. The cloth is pinched up and passed
through this opening, the tongue penetrating it twice, when it is
drawn back, and the brooch is firmly in place. When they were
plentiful, the smaller ones were usually arranged in two lines down
the center of the overskirt in front, and across the front of the lower
edge. The larger ones were reserved for the upper part of the
dress. Sometimes small ones were arranged on ribbons. Most of
the smaller forms were very abundant. In those of similar outline
quite a variety was obtained by varying the perforations and the
surface ornamentation. The latter was mostly made with punches,
but the graver was occasionally used. Those formed of brass are
extremely rare, the writer having obtained but two among the
hundreds of silver ones which he has seen. There are early ex-
amples in graves. Of these the writer has seen several from graves
in Wisconsin. They were mostly circular, but one stellar brooch
had broad and short rays.
Preliminary to further descriptions it may be said that Mrs Harriet
Maxwell Converse furnished an illustrated paper on “ The Iroquois
Silver Brooches ” for the State Museum report for 1900. Many of
the illustrations will be recognized here, nearly half coming from
the writer's collection and the remainder, also found in the paper
mentioned, from that of Mrs Converse, there being a mutual inter-
change of figures.
Fig. 31 is a fine brass brooch which the writer obtained at Onon-
daga. It is a circular ornament of good size, with crenulated and
embossed edge. To show the rarity of this material employed in
such a use, it may be said that an Indian friend was surprised at it,
never having seen one of the kind before. The writer afterward
secured another circular brooch of brass which was plain and much
smaller.
The simplest and perhaps earliest form of the brooch seems to
have been that called the round buckle, allusions to which have
been quoted from several authors. It is frequent yet, either plain
or ornamented. With the three double-barred silver crosses, de-
scribed by Mr Boyle in Canada, was a piece of cloth decorated with
20 of these. Dr Evarts, of Silver Creek N. Y., showed the writer
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 79
35 plain rings buckled on a piece of cloth, which he had from the
neighboring Cattaraugus (Seneca) Indians. The writer has many
of various styles of finish, and might easily have had more. In the
18th century they were cheap as compared with others, and were
lavishly employed. A few are shown.
Fig. 35 is one out of a number the writer obtained at Onondaga.
Fig. 38 is out of another lot he had from the same place. These are
rounded on the face and flat on the back. It is quite a common
size. Fig. 23 is a larger size from the same place, and made in the
same way. Fig. 25 differs from these in being broader and flat.
The writer had this also from Onondaga, but it is not so common
as the last. Many of these simple forms have some surface orna-
mentation. Fig. 19 was found in the Mohawk valley, and is small,
elliptic, and has many transverse grooves. Tig. 24 has the same
style of ornament, but is larger and circular. It is also a Mohawk
example.
Fig. 85 preserves the circular form, but has broad undulations on
the surface. This and the next three the writer had from Onon-
daga. Fig. 88 differs from the last in having the indentations only
on the outer edge of the surface, and in their being separate instead
of continuous. Fig. go is a flat ring, with distinct indentations on
each edge of the surface. It is a fine and rather rare form. Fig.
QI is worked so as to show a continuous series of semicircles all
around the center of the surface. This is not a frequent style now.
Fig. 74 has nine bosses on the surface, with intervening cross lines.
The writer got this at Onondaga, and has seen none like it.
Fig. 46 was given to the Buffalo Historical Society by Mrs Van
Rensselaer, with other fine brooches. It has the ring form, but of
an angular style. At each angle is a boss, the intervening space
being narrower and with three cross grooves. Fig. 73 has a similar
character, but the curved spaces between the bosses have no grooves.
This came from the Tuscarora reservation.
Fig. 20 is the smallest of the circular brooches, which the writer
has seen, that can not be classed with the ring brooches or round
buckles. Small as it is, eight small circles adorn the surface. It
is almost flat, and came from a grave in Cayuga county.
So NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
No brooches are more effective than those having the form of a
star, and the writer has been fortunate in securing many figures and
examples of these. They are usually flat, but fig. 1 has a slightly
convex surface. This is of a large size, and has a heart-shaped
opening in the center, and 20 short embossed rays. They never
have sharp points, as these would be inconvenient. This came
from the Cattaraugus reservation. It is more highly ornamented
than most of these. Fig. 2 shows a fine star brooch, with eight
rays and an ornamented surface. This the writer had from Onon-
daga.
Fig. 3 is another Cattaraugus star brooch, with 16 short embossed
rays. It is otherwise perfectly plain. Fig. 5 is another from Cattar-
augus, with eight rays. The writer obtained three of these, and they
are the smallest of the kind he has seen. They were probably used
on ribbons. For its size this is well ornamented.
Fig. 4 is a fine, large star from Onondaga, with 12 embossed rays.
In the figure dark spaces show all the perforations except the central
one. Fig. 6 is a small star brooch from the Tuscarora reservation,
with seven rays. The surface decoration is simple.
The following five the writer obtained at Onondaga. Fig. 7 isa
star of 13 rays with a well ornamented surface. Fig. 8 has 12 rays,
and is much smaller and simpler. Fig. 9 is one of the prettiest he
has found. The edges of each of the nine embossed rays are slightly
concave, and the surface ornaments are made to correspond. Fig.
10 is the largest he has obtained or seen. It is quite thick, has 12
embossed rays, and the surface is neatly adorned. ‘The full width
is over 3} inches. This fine ornament belonged to Chief Abram
La Fort, or Te-hat-kah-tous, who died in 1848. Fig. 15 has 12
embossed rays and neat surface decorations. Fig. 49 is also from
Onondaga, and has 12 short rays. This belonged to Miss Reming-
ton, once employed in mission work there.
Fig. 11 is a small star in the writer’s collection, sent him by
Dr C. B. Tweedale, and which was found in a grave in Huron
county, Ont., Canada. It has a plain surface and eight embossed
trays. The writer has many drawings of Canadian brooches, some
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS SI
very fine, but they do not differ essentially from those of New York,
where many of them were probably made.
Fig. 12 is a small and plain star of 12 rays, which the writer had
from the Allegany reservation. Fig. 16 is a fine star from the
same reservation. It has 14 quite short embossed rays. Fig. 13 ts
a fine star with eight broad rays and bosses, belonging to the Buffalo
Historical Society. Fig. 14 is in the Richmond collection and is
quite peculiar. The central perforation is quite large, and the 12
long rays terminate in circular points, which are not embossed.
‘The surface decoration is simple. This is one of a number of Seneca
brooches in this collection.
Mrs Harriet Maxwell Converse secured a large and interesting
collection of brooches, part of which now belongs to the State. The
writer is indebted to her for figures of many of these, a number of
which will be used in this paper. Fig. 22 is a large circular brooch,
with a plain rim and an included star with embossed points. Both
the dark and light spaces in the figure show perforations. The
star has 12 rays. This fine brooch is of a rare type. The three
following are also Mrs Converse’s. Fig. 32 is large and circular.
The 16 projecting bosses have incurved edges between them, and
the slightly convex surface is finely ornamented with perforations
and tracery. The circular brooches have raised centers as a rule.
Fig. 48 is a very pretty and peculiar brooch. Included in the edge
are 16 very small bosses, with convex edges between them. The
perforations are of an unusual form, and the tracery of a rare char-
acter. Fig. 61 has a broadly undulated edge, and the border decora-
tion is not of acommon type. Mrs Converse died Nov. 18, 1903.
Fig. 18 the writer obtained at Onondaga. It has 24 projecting
bosses on the plain circular edge. There are circular, semicircular
and elliptic perforations and some tracery. About two dozen follow
which the writer had from the same place. All which succeed are
circular till otherwise distinguished. , |
Fig. 27 has a crenulated edge and three rows of nearly semi-
circular perforations. Fig. 29 has a similar border, and semicircular,
elliptic and triangular openings. Fig. 33 has the same edge, two
tows of semicircular and one of elliptic perforations. Fig. 34 is
82 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
large and fine, with a broadly crenulated’ border. Besides the large
central one, the perforations are semicircles, rectangles, hearts and
triangles. Fig. 34a is of good size, with a crenulated border, and
three rows of semicircular openings. Fig. 39 is a handsome brooch,
with 16 small bosses at the intersection of the crenulations in the
border. There are three lines of semicircular openings, and another
of quadrilateral forms. Fig. 41 has small bosses closely set around
the rim, and is of small size. All the perforations are angular, and
nearly or quite quadrilateral. Fig. 42 is much like the last but in
every way smaller. The central aperture corresponds with that, but
the four openings outside of this are semicircular.
Fig. 43 has the frequent crenulated edge, a line of semicircular,
and another of elliptic openings, but between each of the last is a
small boss, amounting to six in all. They are rarely found in this
position. Fig. 50 is a very pretty but small brooch, with crenulated
border. The perforations are elliptic and point to the center. Fig.
53 is small, and has small bosses closely set around the edge. The
perforations are elliptic and triangular, and the tracery of unusual
design. Fig. 54 is large, with broad crenulations. The openings
are two lines of semicircles and one of long triangles. Fig. 58 has
a plain edge, with bosses projecting all around it. The apertures
form a single line of semicircles. It is a simple but very handsome
ornament.
Fig. 59 is a very simple style, with crenulated edge and one row
of semicircular apertures. Fig. 60 has the same edge, with a line
of semicircular openings and another of hearts and circles. Fig. 63
is a small but showy brooch. Medium sized bosses intersect the
angles of the crenulated edge. The apertures are semicircles,
ellipses and triangles. Fig. 64 has a crenulated edge, a line of
crescents, and another of ellipses. Fig. 65 differs from the last in
tracery, and in having an inner circle of stars. Fig. 67 has a crenu-
lated border, and for apertures semicircles, ellipses and triangles.
Fig. 68 has broader crenulations than most, and two lines of semi-
circular apertures. :
Fig. 69 is very simple but effective. The crenulations are of
moderate width, but halfway to the central aperture is a line of
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 83
eight large circular openings. Fig. 77 is one of the plainest kind.
The edge is simple, and a star appears in tracery on the otherwise
plain surface. Fig. 79 is a pretty brooch with broadly undulated
edge. There are eight pyriform apertures, but the graceful tracery
gives a pleasant effect. Fig. 89 is of unusual character. Small
bosses appear at intervals around the otherwise plain edge, and
there is a circle of apertures of the indented shield form. ‘The sur-
face decorations are small circles and dots.
After the above was in print the writer obtained a fine circular
brooch 41 inches across, but not as heavy as the La Fort star. It
has 23 obtuse points, two rows of diamond perforations, a row of
shield form apertures, and delicate tracery. It came from the
Senecas. Some others have been noted but not figured here.
Besides his own circular brooches from Onondaga, selected
above, the writer has figured many in the hands of Indians there,
or in those of friends who have since parted with them. Some of
these will follow, simply credited to Onondaga. Fig. 26 is a fine
example of these. It has large bosses on the edge, with double
crenulations between them; inside of the border is a line of cordate
and triangular apertures, with openings between these and the
heart-shaped opening in the center. Fig. 28 is another large
brooch with crenulated edges and many perforations. A double
row of these, of triangular form, gives the effect of a central star.
Fig. 30 is about half the diameter of the last, and has the common
crenulated edge. The apertures are lines of crescents, circles and
triangles.
Fig. 36 is quite small, and has a crenulated edge. The only
decoration is a line of small circles on the surface. Fig. 40 has
broad crenulations. The apertures are semicircular and quadrilat-
eral. Fig. 45 has also broad crenulations. One line of ellipses is
parallel with the edge; the others point to the center. This has
less tracery than the last. Fig. 57 is a rare form. Every third
crenulation slightly projects, giving the border an angular appear-
ance, and there are six circular apertures besides the central one.
The tracery is tasteful. Fig. 76 has a crenulated border and a line
of elliptic apertures.
84 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Fig. 80 is small, but of an unusual design. The border is crenu-
lated, and within are alternate crescent and cordate apertures, four
of each, the latter pointing to the edge.
The following, in the writer’s collection, come from the Allegany
reservation. They are circular, but others from that place are of
other forms. Fig. 52 has the broad crenulations finely serrated, a
rare feature. There are lines of semicircular, pyriform and very
small circular apertures. Fig. 70 has a crenulated border, and two
lines of semicircular openings within.
Some other Allegany circular brooches follow. Fig. 51 is a
small brooch with crenulated edges. The apertures are crescent
and pyriform. Fig. 66 is a very pretty example. The crenulations
are alternately long and short, and the perforations are semicircular
and triangular. The central aperture is angular, and the tracery
adds much to the beauty of this ornament. Fig. 71 is unique.
There are eight short projecting points united by curved edges,
and two lines of diamond form apertures. Fig. 75 has a plain rim
and eight triangular openings. The effect is that of an included
star. Fig. 81 has a broadly undulating edge, and a line of elliptic
Openings pointing to the center. Fig. 84 has a finely crenulated
border and a circle of small bosses within this. All the openings,
including the central one, are quadrilateral. This is a rare feature
in a circular brooch.
The following are in the Buffalo collection. Fig. 37 has broadly
crenulated edges, with an inner line of semicircular openings.
Within this is another line of six elliptic apertures, alternating with
those which may be called cuneiform. The tracery is of small
circles and arrow points. Fig. 44 has a crenulated border and a
line of triangular openings. An inner line of crescents and delicate
tracery adds much to the effect. Fig. 47 has a crenulated edge, and
lines of crescent and elliptic openings. Fig. 58a is crenulated, and
the apertures are cordate and elliptic. It is a very pretty brooch.
The writer secured a number on the Tonawanda reservation, but
there was but little variety among them. Fig. 62 is one of these.
It has a plain rim, but the single line of semicircular openings
gives a starlike appearance to the center. Fig. 82 has very promi-
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 85
‘nent crenulations, and lines of crescent, elliptic and triangular open-
ings. There are many like this.
Three Seneca circular brooches are shown from the Richmond
collection. Fig. 56 has a close line of small bosses along the border,
and there are four long quadrilateral openings toward the central
one, which is both large and angular. Fig. 72 has a similar line
of bosses. ‘The apertures are elliptic and triangular. Fig. 78 has
a simple rim, and the only aperture is the central one. On the sur-
face are triangles and other tracery.
Fig. 199 is taken from a figure by L. H. Morgan, showing a
circular brooch of what is now a very extreme size. ‘The apertures
are a line of ellipses, one of large and one of small triangles.
Fig. 55 was not mentioned among Mrs Converse’s circular
brooches. The border is broadly crenulated, and 13 cordate aper-
tures point to the center. Surface tracery unites some of the hearts
so as to form a six pointed star. Her collection comprises some
of the rarest forms now to be obtained, and these will successively
follow, except the Masonic forms. The localities are unimportant
and will be omitted.
Fig. 92 is grotesque and involved. There are animal heads at
two opposite angles, of no very certain species. The artist may
have had some native kind in mind, but the surface decoration
might suggest the leopard and tiger. A grotesque face protrudes
beyond the point of the buckle, which probably amused the red
man greatly. Of course heraldic meanings might be attached to
every point, adding greatly to its poetic charms, but without
awakening any response in the mind of the Indian wearer. Fig. 99
shows an eagle with broadly expanded and conventional tail. One
wing is naturally raised, the other conventionally, and considerable
ornament is added. This should be dated since the rise of the
American republic. Fig. 155 has its counterpart in the Toronto
collection; and the writer is inclined to think it an extremely con-
ventionalized variant of the preceding, as may appear by reversing
it.
Mrs Converse kindly sent her own interpretation of these
brooches, which is much more tasteful and poetic than the prosaic
86 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
views of the writer, and will be gladly received by those fond of.
recondite studies. Of fig. 92 she says:
This is the most curious and ingenious form. I have never seen:
a duplicate of this brooch. It symbolizes the totems, or family
union and the man, including the story of their warrior ancestors,.
and tells the story of the union of the Wolf and Bear. The upper
figurehead represents the Bear. The lower, the Wolf, united by
a human face, signifying the head of the family. The figure of the
Wolf terminates in the war club. The Bear holds the war club,
and the pin or buckle unites the two. The Bear chief had married
the Wolf woman. Both descended from sachems or head chiefs.
Fig. 99 represents a combination of the great Eagle, guardian of
the dews and war, or sky and earth. At the spread of the tail the
small winged symbols indicate his duty in the air. The flat half
circles tell the sign of his earth or war office. The simplest brooch
is not an accident of the graver’s tool. Each stroke is a symbol in
hieroglyphs, understood by the expert sign-reader. Fig. 155 is
rare, inasmuch as the design is not common. It is the symbol of
the warrior. One end forms the tomahawk, the other a war club.
Fig. 86 may be called either pyriform or cordate, the central aper-
ture being the latter, while the opening above changes the general
design to the pyriform., There are basal projections, and those at
the top suggest the general figure of acrown. The surface is plain..
Mrs Converse considers some of the figures above the cordate
forms as owls’ heads, taking these for emblems of silence and
secrecy. This one she describes as a “heart. Owl defined by the
open mouth only. Eyes closed.” Fig. 87 she calls “very rare.
Finely engraved.” The writer has seen but one resembling this,
and that was by no means as elaborate and fine. The general form
is that of a heart with a coronet above, but with unusual surface
decoration.
Fig. 95 is another unique brooch, with several half circular pro-
jections, and a fanlike ornament above, which may be a variation
of the more common form of the ‘crown, surmounting the open
heart below. This general plan appears in very many brooches,
with endless changes. Mrs Converse thought, this “ represents the
flaring tail of a bird, yet the heart is on guard in the center. Evi-
dently a totem bird.” Fig. roo is also unique. Both heart and
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 87
‘crown are much conventionalized, and the point of the former is
‘turned to one side and projects beyond the center. ;
Fig. 136 is cordate, with the base curving to one side. The
‘crown above is hardly recognizable as such at first, and is much
‘ornamented. Mrs Converse described this as “a single heart, sur-
‘mounted by the horns of a chief, typical of the faithful love of who-
Ever presented it to the chief or sachem.”’ It is a rather frequent
‘form. Fig. 146 is a fine example of the simple heart with an elegant
‘form of the crown. Mrs Converse’s interpretation is ingenious:
“ Horned or chief’s brooch; the three branches denote three chiefs
in family succession.” The triple character of the crown appears
‘in nearly all, there being a small central projection with a broader
“one on each side. In rare instances there are more.
Fig. 148 has the heart and crown, the former turning aside and
ending in an eagle’s head. The definition of the owner is pretty:
~ The eagle defending the life or heart of its owner.” A great
‘many of the single or double heart brooches end with eagles’ heads,
and come within the era of the American republic. It would be
easy to interpret them as meaning that the crown or royal rule,
through the heart’s blood of the colonists freely shed, terminated
in the republic whose symbol is the eagle.
Some of the writer’s Onondaga brooches will follow. Fig. 94 is
fine and perhaps unique. It has the crown and heart form, with
the point turned to one side. The crown has no points, and
‘includes a cordate perforation in its center, surrounded by other
forms. Its large size allowed more surface decoration than is usual
in these. Fig. 96 may be called a double heart, surmounted by a
‘crown in which are several cordate apertures. The basal termina-
tions are two eagles’ heads. A friend had one from the Oneida
Indians precisely like this, and it is by no means arare form. Sev-
‘eral of the same class are in the writer’s collection. Fig. IoI is a
little smaller than the last, and the apertures in the crown are cres-
cents and quadrants. It is like one owned by Mrs Converse, of
which she wrote: “ Rare. A crown terminating with double eagle-
headed snake. This serpent has a power over the land and sea.
The wavy lines signifying water, the long or land line, and two
88 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
dots signify day, sun and moon, or the journey, the rest and the
start.” This does not agree with the interpretation of fig. 148.
Fig. 105 can hardly be considered Indian work, though obtained
from an Onondaga. There is the familiar heart, with some worn
ornament at the end, but the pelican above shows a white man’s
taste and thought. As far as known, it is unique. Fig. 147 is a fine
cordate brooch, with a crown resembling in a general way that in
fig. 146, but of a more elegant design. This has a little surface
decoration. Fig. 149 is cordate, with another form of crown, where
circles replace the frequent points. Fig. 151 is cordate, and has
the rounded crown with basal points. Several of these differ little
except in the apertures.
Some belonging to Onondagas follow. Fig. 83 is a large brooch
formerly worn by Aunt Susannah. It is of a kite or diamond shape,
with ornamental edges and tracery. Fig. 102 has a generally cor-
date form and a suggestion of the crown above. It is quite a de-
parture from the typical form, but the resemblance will at once be
seen, asin other cases. There are projections at the sides and base.
Fig. 103 has much the same character, but has tracery and circular
apertures. Fig. 104 is intermediate between these two.
Fig. 137 has the heart with a conventional and elaborate crown.
The base curves to one side, and an eagle’s head may have worn
away. Fig. 140 the writer had from Onondaga. In the center of
the crown and on either side are sharp projections. Mrs Converse
thought these crowns with apertures were intended for owls’ heads,
to which they bear a curious resemblance. _
Some Tuscarora forms of this class follow. Fig. 93 is of a general
diamond form, with undulating edges and four bosses in the margin.
There are several apertures and some tracery. Fig. 150 is quite
broad for its size, and is a double heart surmounted by a low crown.
The basal point curves to one side.
The following illustrations of this class are of brooches from the
Allegany reservation. Fig. 97 is a very simple cordate example,
with the base turned to one side. The metal forms a narrow band all
around the broad aperture. Fig. 141 has the frequent combination
of heart and crown, the latter having sharp projections on each side,
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 89
three circular apertures in the crown, and some surface decoration.
Usually the lower aperture has a double curve, to emphasize the
cordate form. Fig. 142 has the feature mentioned, but is otherwise
much like the last. Fig. 143 differs in having a projection in the
upper circles, thus giving each of those apertures a crescent form.
Fig. 145 has the heart with the point turned to one side, and the
highly conventionalized crown. Like fig. 137, the latter has no
central projection. The surface is covered with tracery.
Fig. 138 is in the Richmond collection, and is a rare form of the
heart and crown brooch. Both lower sides have strong cross cor-
rugations, and the crown has a finely crenulated border, as well as
the frequent three projections. In the crown are four circular
apertures.
Two are shown from the Cattaraugus reservation. Fig. 139 has
the usual combination of heart and crown, the two upper apertures
having the crescent form. Fig. 144 is one of the neatest examples
the writer has seen. The apertures are so formed as to bring out
the outlines in the most graceful way.
Fig. 98 is a remarkable Tuscarora brooch, linking this type to
the common lyre forms, not long since so abundant. It is large,
and has the usual lyre base and sides, but, instead of expanding, it
contracts at the top as in cordate forms. Fig. 125 is another small
and odd Tuscarora brooch, which is somewhat contracted at the
top, and unusually expanded at the base, where there is a short
projection on each side.
Fig. 128 is a large lyre-shaped brooch in Mrs Converse’s collec-
tion, on which she makes this note: ‘“‘ Uncommon. Found in
Canada. Two hearts surmounted by a crown, symbolizing friend-
ship.” This one is unusually large, but the general type is one of
the commonest on the New York reservations. The writer has seen
large numbers of them; and, when Major F. H. Furniss was adopted
by the Senecas in 1885, his future Seneca mother placed a long black
ribbon around his neck, on which were 34 silver brooches of what
the writer calls the lyre pattern. This had belonged to Red Jacket’s
wife, according to tradition. The necklace was considerably over
three feet long, and the brooches were about an inch long and 3 of
e
gO NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
an inch wide. The original string had been divided some years
before, and 15 of the brooches had been arranged on a ribbon in
the form of a cross. This was given to Mrs Converse, who was
adopted at the same time. The natural inference is that she re-
ferred to the size rather than form. Fig. 132 is also hers, but it is
smaller and the base is different. It will be observed that what she
considers the top of some of these the writer makes the base, thus
changing the character. |
Fig. 127 is the common size, and the writer had this from the
Allegany reservation. It differs from the next mainly in the
rounded points and small details of decoration. Fig. 129 was ob-
tained from the same source. Fig. 130 the writer got of the Onon-
dagas. It is slender for so large a size. Fig. 133, obtained with
the next at the same place, is also slender and has rounded points.
Fig. 131 is a large size, and has a remarkably angular base.
The class of brooches now to be illustrated by a few examples out
of very many, is a very curious one, and definitely proves that orna-
ment and not meaning was the great object in the manufacture and
use of all. These ornaments, now to be considered, embody the
square and compasses, with more or less accessories in the way of
decoration, and sometimes these are highly conventionalized. The
origin is plain when the resemblance is almost lost and this loss has
led to some erroneous interpretations.
A friend writes:
I fail to find in illustrations of jewelry ornamentation of either
the French, English or Dutch, designs that have been actually fol-
lowed in the hammered coin brooch of the Iroquois. In fact, I credit
him with entire originality, very curious in some cases, and again
there are suggestions of the white man’s work ingeniously inter-
graven with his own conceptions of art not so rude or savage, that
it has not developed genius and invention.
This question will not be discussed now; but it is true that the
designs of Indian brooches for the most part seem American designs.
It is very difficult—perhaps impossible—to find these designs practi-
cally anticipated in any other land. So much the writer had reason
to believe. Then came a revelation concerning these Masonic
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS Ol
‘brooches, too many for Indians to use with any reference to their
meaning. All these illustrations had been prepared, and work was
progressing on these notes, when one day came a catalogue of curios
from England, The Amateur Trader of Miss Clara Millard, Tedding-
ton, Middlesex. No. 4188 of this had an illustration which was the
‘close counterpart of fig. 110 in size, form and details. The descrip-
tion is “ XVII. CENTURY masonic emblem, in jargoons. and paste.
Exact size. £2 12s 6d.’ Was the Indian silver brooch copied from
this, or this from the brooch? The same question might be asked
of other forms. ‘The silver brooch of the Indians did not exist in
the 17th century, and the age of the above ornament may also be
doubted.
After this was in print a learned German friend pointed out to
the writer several brooches of what he said were Scandinavian and
other types in his collection, but there has been no time to study the
subject, and illustrations of this are not now recalled.
Out of a large number of these Masonic brooches, over a score
have been selected for illustration, in themselves far more in number
than all the Indian Free Masons known. Joseph Brant was a well
known member of the fraternity, and Red Jacket has been claimed.
‘There may have been a few others, but these were common orna-
‘ments. The writer has nine still in his collection, after parting with
some to his friends. He might easily at one time have trebled the
number. This abundance is proof that they had no significance to
most of their wearers.
Fig. 124 was the first of these that attracted the writer’s attention,
and it now belongs to the Masonic Veterans of Central New York.
‘The base is a half circle with ornaments, and above this the square
and compasses are plainly seen. This was long worn by Aunt
Dinah, a very old Onondaga woman. ‘Traditionally it first came
from Brant’s family to her, and was naturally supposed to be a jewel
worn by him. Now that the form is known to be so common, this
may be doubted.
Several examples follow from Mrs Converse’s fine collection.
Fig. 108 adds many things to the simpler form, which is easily de-
tected under these accumulated ornaments. Several fine bosses add
to its effect. The forms of apertures used in this appear in several
Q2 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
others. Fig. 110 is a smaller and simpler form, almost identical
with the English one mentioned except in material. Like that, it
has a curved base, and the sun and moon between this and the
square. Another interesting thing in connection with this is men-
tioned by Mrs Converse. She said: “It was given me by the
grandson of Red Jacket. It proved from that Red Jacket was a
Mason, and wore this brooch for pass. In further investigation,
while working at the Red Jacket monument at Buffalo, I heard of a
man who had sat in a lodge with the great Sa-go-ye-wat-ha.” The
brooch hardly proves this, the other evidence is hearsay, but, if Red
Jacket was a member of the craft, it would appear on some of its
records. He was too well known to be easily overlooked in such a
matter.
Fig. 113 is smaller and less elegant, but has the same features
in a more conventional way. Fig. 117 is larger and more elaborate.
Fig. 119 is one of the simplest forms, having but two apertures,
but these are large. The surface is covered with tracery. .Fig. 120
is quite conventional, but the leading features of other forms are
readily detected. Fig. 126 is simple, with but little surface decora-
tion.
Fig. 109 is a Seneca brooch, differing from some other elaborate
ones only in minor details. This has six bosses, which are smaller
than in most others. This and the next are in the Richmond collec-
tion. Fig. 114 is a large and quite frequent form with many acces-
sories. By omitting the outside loops the design would become
much like those of a simpler and more distinct character, a fact:
easily tested. Fig. 106 shows a fine example from the Tuscarora.
reservation, having 15 large and small bosses. On either side, at.
the top are angular projections, terminating in embossed ends..
These adjuncts belong to several. Fig. 111 is in the Richmond.
collection, and presents the feature mentioned in a less common
way.
Fig. 116 is in the Buffalo collection, and is one of the rarest of
these small forms, as well as one of the most beautiful. Did it
stand alone, its character might not be understood, but in a series
this is evident. The base has a border of small bosses, except
in the middle, and the lateral projecting points at the top are ter-
minated by others. The tracery adds some peculiar features to the
design.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 93
What was said of the character of the last seems partially true
of the Tuscarora brooch in fig. 122. Its Masonic character is ex-
tremely obscure taken by itself, but a comparison with others on
the same plate reveals a strong likeness to them.
Fig. 112 shows a very fine embossed brooch at Onondaga, hav-
ing projections at the base. All vary in details and somewhat in
outline. The simpler forms have a uniformly curved base; others
add various ornaments.
The remaining illustrations of this class are from the writer’s
collection. They are usually large and have been quite abundant.
. Fig. 118 is highly conventional, but otherwise quite plain. Fig.
107 is the smallest that has met the writer’s eye. It is embossed,
and has the general character of some of the larger forms, but the
base has a series of broad curves between the bosses. Both these
are from Onondaga, and all but one of those which follow. Fig.
115 is a frequent and rather plain form, with some conventional.
features. The writer obtained four of these out of a number like
them. Fig. 121 shows the original features of the class more
plainly, and is very neat in design and finish. The base is a simple
curve. Fig. 123 adds the interior bars found in several others, and
has projections at the base. Fig. 152 was obtained at Cattaraugus,
and is an elegant ornament in every way. At the top it has the
rare feature of red glass neatly set. Fig. 159 shows one belonging
to Mrs Converse, which has a glass setting near the center of the
base. It is quite conventional. The glass setting has been ob-
served in very few. So many of this class remain that the numbers.
must once have been great.
One fine and unique article, obtained by the writer from an Onon-
daga woman, is shown in fig. 223. It is a large silver pendant,
with a center of green glass of diamond form. The edges of the
pendant are parallel with this, but have broad expansions opposite
the angles of the glass, giving it the appearance of an equilateral and
massive cross.
A few examples are given of a class once very abundant, and
much used for adorning ribbons. They differ very little in outline,
but very much in details and size. The figures illustrate the largest
and smallest in the writer’s collection. They might be called either
quadrilateral or octagonal, for the broad angles form four short
*O4 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
sides having indentations. The sides proper consist of two bars,
‘concave in outline, uniting so as to form a broader, ornamented
surface at each angle. The buckle crosses from point to point.
Those represented are all from the Onondaga and Tonawanda
treservations. One unique form is not described.
Fig. 164 is the smallest the writer has seen. The angles are
ornamented with lines and small circles. Fig. 163 is the largest
in his collection, and may be as large as any. The surface orna-
ments are like the last, but the divisions of the angles are more
protuberant than usual. Fig. 161 has surface ornamentation nearly
all over. Fig. 162 is plainer. Fig. 165 and 167 have both bars
ornamented, but not the angles. They are among the handsomest
collected. Fig. 166 is much like these, but the angles are orna-
mented.
The writer has a few simple silver brooches, which are open and
almost as slender as those which are simple rings or round buckles,
‘but they are angular. Fig. 134 shows one of these which is square,
but with the angles rounded. The tongue of the buckle reaches
from one of these to that opposite. Fig. 135 is a similar one which
has the angles indented.
The Onondagas call the brooch Ah-ten-ha-né-sah, shining orna-
ment.
Headbands
The silver headband is a long strip of sheet silver, straight on
the lower edge but usually with points of some kind on the upper,
and with some pretty pattern between. The Onondagas call these
Ta-yone-non-aich-han-hust’-ah. The whole headdress, which once
often included this, was called Gos-té-weh by the Senecas. Part of
this, as given by Morgan, but without feathers, is shown in fig. 157.
Quite commonly, however, the headband encircled an ordinary hat,
and in this way the writer has seen several used by one person, one
being placed above another. Usually the wearer had but one,
which served as a foundation for other ornaments. They were
secured by strings in the holes at the ends.
They are now difficult to obtain. The writer’s inquiries on sev-
eral reservations have been unsuccessful, nor can they now be
found among the Iroquois of Canada. That the State Museum
has now several of these rare articles is due to the intelligent zeal
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 05.
of Mrs H. M. Converse, whose opportunities have been exception-
ally good, and whose own fine collection of silver ornaments is well
known.
Fig. 386 is a Seneca headband drawn by the writer, and reduced
from the actual size, like all those which follow. The six others.
illustrated are in the State Museum, and were carefully drawn there
from the objects themselves. They are faithful representations of
these. 7
Fig. 399 is 12 inches deep. The upper edge is cut into half
circles, inside of each of which is a triangular perforation. Alter-
nating with each of these, below is a line of vertical hearts, cut
through the band. Another line of narrow openings is below these.
Fluting and tracery elsewhere adorn the surface. Fig. 400 is nar-
rower, and has embossed points on the upper edge. There is a
central row of narrow elliptic openings, and some tracery. Fig.
401 has similar points above, narrow elliptic openings below these,
and a line of open hearts farther down alternately point toward.
each other. Fluting and tracery also appear. This is about 1}
inches deep.
Fig. 402 is of the same depth, and has broad crenulated lobes
above with tracery following the outline. In the center of the wide
lobes are kidney-shaped or broad cordate perforations, pointing up-
ward. Below each of these is an open diamond, cut horizontally
and with a boss at each angle. Alternate with these are open hearts.
pointing upward. Fig. 403 is a narrow and simple band, the only
decorations being fluting. Fig. 404 is 1% inches deep, and’ has.
very broad crenulated lobes above. There is a central line of alter-
nate perforated stars and diamonds, with some fluting and tracery.
The state collection of these is a very good representative one, but
among those formerly used there must have been a great variety
of detail.
Miscellaneous
Some ornaments occur which can not be classified. Fig. 156 is.
one of these, and was found on Indian hill in Pompey in the year
1901. It is of pewter and is V-shaped, with the angle rounded.
There are protruding angular points and bosses. Another of simi-
lar character has more the form of a buckle. Broken iron, brass,
and pewter buckles are sometimes found.
G6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
A handsome ornament of variously colored beads was also
plowed up on Indian hill in Pompey the same year. The beads
were kept in place by the brass wire on which they were strung.
There was a large circle of these, with several pendants of beads
attached. In 1902 the writer found there other glass beads, pre-
served on brass wire.
Fig. 224 is a large open heart of brass wire from Fort Plain. A
wire loop is soldered in the angle above. Fig. 225 is a heavy cop-
per pendant, found on the sand plains near Rome N. Y. Of this
two views are given. The disk below has a large ring in the heavy
loop above. This may have been of the 17th century, or early in
the 18th.
Of about the same date is a fine brass ornament in Mr Stanford’s
collection, 34 inches long by 14 wide. The upper half is lyre-
shaped and open; the lower open and circular, but with a projection
at the base. Both halves form one piece. In the openings hang
open, six pointed stars, nearly filling the space. Fig. 395 shows
this. It suggests an ornament from harness.
Fig. 285 is from Indian castle in Pompey, and is a flat and nar-
tow piece of brass, rounded on the upper surface and terminating
in a trefoil at the broader end. Near thaf end is an elliptic per-
foration, which may have been for attachment or suspension, but
probably the former. Fig. 380 is a broader article of the same kind,
and from the same place. The lobes of the trefoil are rounder, and
the perforation is circular, as in most other cases. Still another is
from the same place. In every case meeting the writer’s eye, the
base has been broken.
The Onondaga specimens might have been worn in the hair or
attached to the dress, being straight. Mr Stanford’s specimens, at
Munnsville, require a different view. In two of these, longer than
those from Onondaga, the base is abruptly bent upward. Each of
these is about 4} inches long. A third is of quite a different char-
acter, and not far from the same length in a direct line. Two
abrupt curves make the actual length much greater. Viewed from
the side, it suggests the curved handle of an old-fashioned door-
latch, or the handles sometimes used with shawl straps. About the
middle of this curve it is nearly ? of an inch wide. There can be
little doubt that this was an ornamental handle of some kind. The
others may have had a secondary use after being broken.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW. YORK INDIANS 97
Fig. 286 is a neat little article of brass, found a mile west of Cana-
joharie. The portion ornamented with cross lines has the outline
of a broad trowel, and there is a narrow rectangular base. There
are no present means of attachment, and it may once have been
longer, though showing no signs of breakage.
Fig. 287 is a slender and angular piece of copper, which is evi-
dently a fragment. Its general form suggests that it may have
been one of the tobacco tongs, often given to the Indians. This
came from Indian hill in Pompey. <A heavier one, of slightly differ-
ent form, is in the Stanford collection.
One odd relic from a recent Cayuga site is a silver watch seal of
considerable size. The handle is in the form of a dolphin, and the
seal has crossed arrows between the letters K. M. This might
have come among the spoils of war, by gift or purchase. With its
Indian owner it was merely a pretty ornament, easily suspended
and worn. Such an object would be attractive to any savage mind
when plunder was to be had. But nothing that an Indian might
catry off need excite surprise. When the Huron towns were
destroyed in Canada in 1649 and 1650, and two of the missionaries
were killed, the Onondagas carried off two little books belonging
to the latter, and Father Le Moyne recovered them at Onondaga
in 1654.
Though not ornaments, there are figured here several unique
recent copper relics which have been lent the writer at the last
moment. ‘They are in form like the old bone needles, flat and per-
forated, and of interest as a survival of an early form in a later
‘material, like the conical and triangular arrowheads of copper. As
nothing of the kind has ever been described before, it seemed best
‘to include them now. These are from Indian hill in Pompey, and
they have been reported from no other place. They are about as
thick as needles of bone, but rather wider than most of these. Fig.
376 is broad, and is broken at the perforation. Fig. 377 is nar-
rower and has a rounder point. It had two perforations. Fig. 378
is longer, and has a long and narrow hole. Fig. 379 is unper-
forated, and is pointed at both ends. Such needles have been used
in netting snowshoes. These have since been placed in the State
Museum. Their age is not far from 250 years, and they are all that
the writer has anywhere seen.
98 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Addenda
Since the bulletin on bone articles was prepared, a number of
interesting relics have been reported. The finest of these are in the
small collections of L. William H. Klinkhart and his friends, in
Canajoharie N. Y., and were all found in that vicinity. The writer
has examined some of them. One small and broad bone comb has.
three human heads projecting above the upper rim in a curved line.
This is about 13 inches high. Another terminates above in a long-
bodied quadruped in a standing posture. Below the opening are
two human faces. This is more than double the length of the last,
being over 3 inches high. It is from Wagner’s hollow. Another
may be a pin, or part of a comb with a single long and perfect tooth
remaining. One tooth certainly has been lost, but the fracture has
been repaired, and the part is neatly finished where it might have
widened into a comb. The top curves, and two human faces are
in the open work below the upper rim, as in the last. This fine
article is 32 inches high, and came from the Otstungo site. Its
importance is in showing the resemblance of some work on this.
early site to some of clearly historic date.
A human figure of horn has the hands under the chin, and the
head is disproportionately large. It is 2} inches high and was found
at Waener’s hollow. There are the usual awls; perforated beaver
and elk teeth, cylindric bone beads, perforated deer phalanges, some
of which are fine. The longest awl is over 8 inches in length. One
conical bone point has a lateral perforation. This article is over
3 inches long, and came from the recent site in Rice’s woods.
One fine bone harpoon has two long barbs on one side, and is
perforated. At the broad base are longitudinal grooves, like those
on a harpoon of Mr Richmond’s from the Mohawk valley, but more
and longer. Another of the same length is about half as wide at
its plain base. This has two barbs on one side, and on that edge is.
a projection in which is the perforation. These notable harpoons.
are each 62 inches long, and come from Wagner’s hollow, where
others have been found.
The occurrence of a much worked Fulgur carica on the Cayadutta
site is of interest, as marine shells are rare on early Iroquois sites in:
New York. The base, outer whorl and some projections have beem
cut away, and a long slit cut in the remainder toward the base. The
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 99
whole shell shows age. This was found by Mr Percy M.. Van Epps
of Glenville. In his collection and those of his friends, the writer
found many interesting articles, mostly of stone. As the Mohawks
had no towns in Schenectady county, pottery is rare there, as well
as recent articles.
The Bigelow collection has received a number of the curious orna-
ments made from the concave and convex ends of bones, pierced
for suspension. They are from Pompey sites of the pre-colonial
period. One retains traces of red paint. One massive and carved
bone bead is from the Christopher site. Mr Bigelow has also
recently obtained a fine tube from near Three River Point, and a
banner stone from Savannah N. Y. Both are of striped slate. A
bayonet slate weapon and a remarkable flattened bird amulet are
among his recent additions.
Mr Theodore Stanford, of Munnsville, has a fine cylindric bone
arrowhead with barbs, and also a worked bone, about half as thick
as wide. This is 3 inches long and an inch wide at the broad end,
which is notched all around. Near that end is a lateral perforation.
The general form is flat, with rounded edges.
The writer has also examined Mr R. D. Loveland’s fine collection
in Watertown N. Y., which is rich in clay pipes from neighboring
forts. A few have stems fitted to bowls which were found on the
same sites and are of the same character. ‘They are not always cer-
tainly parts of the same article, though of the same age. Some per-
fect examples are unique, as well as some imperfect. One of the
former, a small clay pipe, is like a high shoe in outline, but much
compressed. Dr A. A. Getman has a broken one of similar form.
In September 1901, the writer was present when Mr Oren Pomeroy
took out of a Jefferson county camp site a fine clay pipe bowl, hav-
ing a human face before and behind. This form is rare. On the
same visit, Dr R. W. Amidon presented him a small clay pipe bowl,
perforated for the insertion of a stem.
“In the Loveland collection one peculiar long and broad flat awl
has deep notches on each edge above the base. Another fine ex-
ample has been beautifully mottled by fire. A bone arrowhead is
one of the remarkable articles in this collection. It is angularly
shouldered but not strictly barbed, and has a long and moderately
slender perforated tang. Recently Mr Loveland obtained a pipe
I0o NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
resembling fig. 220 of the bulletin on earthenware, with several frag-
ments. Three examples of a curious canoe-shaped pipe bowl have
also been found by him. Unio shell beads are also now in his
collection.
Two articles are of high interest, though simple, and will be illus-
trated later. They are of carved wood, which fire has charred but
not destroyed. With one exception they are probably the oldest
remains of this kind in New York. |
Several interesting collections have been examined in and about
Gienville N. Y., through the kindness of Mr Percy M. Van Epps.
In one of these is a woman’s knife unfinished, of the red slate of
Washington county, showing that it was made not far away.
Several fine bird pipes of stone have been found, one of which is
in Col. Camp’s collection at Sacketts Harbor, the gem of which is
a massive and highly polished stone pipe resembling a flying squirrel.
It is 64 inches long, by 23 broad. He has also a thin and highly
polished stone tube. A beautiful shell gorget comes from Savannah
N. Y., and is nearly 4 inches across. Other interesting finds will
not be mentioned now.
At the last moment a supplementary note seems required. In Sep-
tember 1903 Mr John Mackay, of Niagara Falls, opened an ossuary of
ihe Neutral nation close by the Tuscarora reservation, of the approxi-
mate date of 1620. Iron axes and brass kettles were found in this,
shell and metallic ornaments, sword blades and pipes, with a few
glass beads. The metallic beads were made from strips cut from old
kettles and rolled into cylinders, from 2 to 11 inches in length. Of
more interest were 24 rude rings of the same material, most of them
rolled into cylinders and bent into a circular form. A flat one served
for a finger ring and still encircled the finger bone. The others were
larger, from } to 13 inches across, some overlapping and some just
meeting at the ends. A large one is 2} inches across, doubled, beaten
flat, and then brought into a circle like the rim of a hat. A strip of
metal is folded over the ends and also beaten flat.
The writer obtained one unique brooch too late to figure or describe,
to which reference has been made on page 94. It may be called of a
diamond form, each side being a narrow bar, curved over outside at
each end and forming a short hook. It measures 14 by 14 inches.
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS IOI
Peer LANA TION*OR PLATES
Page numbers refer to fuller descriptions in bulletin.
Plate 1 imae
1 Large star brooch from Cattaraugus reservation. Ex-
cept where noted, all brooches are of silver........... 80
2 Medium star brooch from Onondaga reservation........ 80
3 Medium star brooch from Cattaraugus reservation...... 80
4 Medium star brooch from Onondaga reservation....... 80
5 Very small star brooch from Cattaraugus reservation... 80
‘6 Small star brooch from Tuscarora reservation........... 80
metecuitim star from Onondaga fesetvation..2.0......... 80
8-9 Small star brooches from the same reservation........ 80
Plate 2
ae very laree star from Onondaga feservation....<........ 80
moma star trom Canadian, STAVE 2 enc i<d isis «ane cciasie's's ole « 80
feos Star from. Allegany meseryatiOnecev so iaiee dscns. SI
me) Miediam. star brooch, from, Buffalosurn. ... aps esse, ofs.o als, pene! SI
14 Large star from Tonawanda reservation. Not embossed. 81
Me smiiall stan.tronn Onondaga reservation mntyietc fies es 80
Plate 3
16 Medium star from Allegany reservation. ./-.0.....00%5. 81
17 Early form of circular brooch, town of DeWitt N. Y..... 77
18 Embossed circular brooch from Onondaga reservation.. 81
19 Small and elliptic brooch from the Mohawk valley...... 79
a0 Stoall circular brooch from Cayuga .erave......0..00..[ield. 79
21 Early form of circular brooch from the Mohawk valley.. 77
22 Large circular brooch with included star. Mrs Con-
verses’ collection erat 4). 001 GOT. POpDIS Talyodp, amc 81
23 Simple ring brooch from Onondaga reservation......... 79
24 Ornamented ring brooch from the Mohawk valley...... 79
25 Flat ring brooch from Onondaga reservation........... 79
102 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Plate 4
PAGE:
26 Embossed circular brooch with heart and star. Onon-
daga reservation: 2.45. Sst eee ook Ores so ee 83.
27 Medium circular brooch from the same place........ os
28 Large circular brooch from the same: -...9...7:. 2 83.
29 Medium circular brooch from the same.................: SI
30 Small circular brooch. Onondaga reservation.......... 83
31 Embossed brass circular brooch from the same place.... 78:
Plate 5
32 Fine and large circular brooch in the Converse collection.. 81
33 Medium circular brooch from Onondaga reservation.... 8:
34 Large circular brooch from the same place... ...+.2.. seme 81
34a Medium circular brooch from the same. .......:.:>meee 82
35 Small ring brooch from the same... ...... 25 .. 2s «eee 79
36: Small circular brooch from the same place. ...-.'.2os=em 83
37 Medium circular brooch from Allegany reservation...... 84
38 Small ring brooch from Onondaga reservation.......... 79
39 Large, embossed, circular brooch from the same........ 82:
Plate 6
40 Circular brooch. This and the next three from Onon-
daca téséervation? 2 P22 204, SOP A 6 ee eee 83:
41-42 Small circular brooches with embossed edges........ 82
43 Small circular brooch, with bosses near the center....... 82
44 Medium circular brooch from Allegany reservation...... 84.
45 Large circular brooch from Onondaga reservation....... 83.
46 Ornamented ring brooch from Buffalo................. 79:
47 Medium circular brooch from Allegany reservation...... 84
48 Embossed and unique circular brooch in Converse collec-
THOT... 0.0 erosnne cldet ah. Rgltieteeay sitter Siecnehr sl .Taekfeee 81
49 Star brooch from Onondaga reservation..............+- 80
50 Small circular brooch from the same place.............. S25
51 Small circular brooch from the Allegany reservation..... 84
52 Circular brooch with peculiar edge, from the same....... 84
53 Small circular brooch with embossed edge. Onondaga
FeServallONe vit « <sacer> eeebeemt) cet eee ae 82
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS 103
Plate 7 SyNeue
$4 Large circular brooch from Onondaga reservation....... 82
55 Medium circular brooch, of fine design. Converse col-
iS Shy fees sietink secede bs hip tapped rg ans Cra be re ee a rt at EAA 85
56 Small circular brooch with embossed border. Tona-~
nA eee eee ers oe eer ae ty OS SIP IE Pte 85
57 Unique circular brooch from Onondaga reservation..... 83
58 Circular brooch with projecting bosses, from the same.... 82
58a Circular brooch of fine design, from the same place..... 84.
mo. small cirewar brooch. fram thel'safiie 1)! W/. V200T0 A 8: 82
so, Girewlar brooch fronr the same. 02/0 eNY. 010k POI ek 82
61 Medium circular brooch in Converse collection.......... SI
62 SmalPcircular' brooch ‘from Tonawandai.i. 222... 84
63 Fine but small embossed circular brooch from Onondaga
SESE P TE EONS ee ott eae ECE en 82
Plate 8
64-65 Small circular brooches from Onondaga reservation.. 82
66 Larger circular brooch from Allegany reservation....... 84
67-69 Small circular brooches from Onondaga reservation... 82
70 Small circular brooch from Allegany reservation........ 84
mee enigue citcilar brooch from thesames! U2 p10 DYSO 4G 84
72 Circular brooch with embossed border from Tonawanda... 85
73 Ornamented ring brooch from Tuscarora reservation.... 79
74 Flat and embossed ring brooch from Onondaga reserva-
CIOS NE TOS, Cee ne aOR ee” UE RENN TRS fa TOS Be 79
75 Small circular brooch from Allegany reservation........ 84
76 Small circular brooch from Onondaga reservation....... 83
gy Plain circular, brooch from thesanie places io. ep.) ors? 83
78 Small circular brooch from Tonawanda..............+. 85
Plate 9
79-80 Small circular brooches from Onondaga reservation. .83, 84
81 Small circular brooch from Allegany reservation......... 84
=2 onal circulam brooch irom, Tonawanda jssccayhivss,arcqerans 84
83 Large quadrilateral brooch from Onondaga reservation... 88
84 Small circular embossed brooch from Allegany.......... 84
104 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PAGE.
85 Ring brooch with undulated surface. Onondaga reser-
(ELL Oe ee, Sy RE ae eet: AMR TONNN ER ESR 70
87 Unique heart and crown brooch in the same collection.... 8&6
88 Ring brooch with scalloped surface. Onondaga reserva-
89 Unique embossed circular brooch from the same place... 83.
go Flat ring brooch with scalloped edges, from the same..... 79.
g1 Ring brooch with undulated surface, from the same place. 79
g2 Unique brooch with animal heads. Converse collection.85, 86
93 Quadrilateral embossed brooch from Tuscarora reserya-
Plate 10
94 Large heart and crown brooch. Onondaga reservation... 87
95 Medium heart and crown brooch. Converse collection... 86
g6 Heart and crown brooch with eagles’ heads. Onondaga
Teséinatieny:. cesbesal) «cost -axinooed-telyesty Hae 87
97 Simple heart brooch. Allegany reservation............. 88
98 Large and unique lyre brooch. Tuscarora reservation.... 89
99 Unique and large eagle brooch in Converse collection. .... 85, 86-
100 Unique heart and crown brooch in the same collection.... 86
101 Heart and crown brooch with eagles’ heads. Onondaga
Teservation. «i. Leech acer . Ube genet See 87
102 Very simple heart and crown brooch from the same place. 8&8.
103 Conventional heart and crown brooch from the same..... 88
104 Simple heart and crown brooch from the same.......... 88.
105 Unique heart and pelican brooch from the same place.... 88.
Plate 11
106 Masonic embossed brooch. Tuscarora reservation...... g2
107 Masonic brooch of small size. Onondaga reservation.... 93
108 Masonic embossed brooch. Converse collection...... gt
109 Masonic embossed brooch. Tonawanda............... gz
110 Red Jacket’s brooch. Converse collection.............. QI, 92
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS
111 Masonic brooch not embossed. Tonawanda...........
112 Masonic embossed brooch. Onondaga reservation......
113 Masonic brooch of small size. Converse collection.....
114 Masonic brooch unembossed. Tonawanda.............
Plate 12
115 Masonic brooch, plain and conventional. Onondaga
SSC HMNCUOT wes eer a cei ete omits aie ee oe a ese a a eel eis
116 Masonic brooch, embossed and unique. Buffalo.......
mieovidsonie prooch, ° Converse’ collection: w12° 42... . 020. .
118 Masonic brooch, very conventional. Onondaga reserva-
119 Masonic brooch of simple form. Converse collection...
120 Masonic’ brooch’ from the same collection i290) 228 Jee.
121 Masonic brooch from Onondaga reservation...........
122 Masonic brooch of extreme form. ‘Tuscarora reserva-
Plate 13
124. Masonic brooch from Onondaga reservation............
125 Small and unique lyre-shaped brooch. Tuscarora reserva-
men) Wiasonic brooch. . Converse collection nod -laen “oes ueeperes
127 Common lyre-shaped brooch. Allegany reservation.....
128 Large lyre-shaped brooch. Converse collection.........
129 Common lyre-shaped brooch. Allegany reservation.....
130-1 Large lyre-shaped brooches. Onondaga reservation...
132 Large lyre-shaped brooch. Converse collection.........
133 Large lyre-shaped brooch. Onondaga reservation.......
134 Simple quadrilateral brooch from the same place........
135 Similar brooch with indented angles from the same place.
Plate 14
136 Heart and ornamented crown brooch in Converse collec-
tion. All on this plate are founded on these forms....
105
PAGE
9o
87
137 Heart and crown brooch from Onondaga reservation... .88, 89
106 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PAGE
138 Unique heart and crown brooch. Tuscarora reservation.. 89
139 Heart and crown brooch from Cattaraugus reservation... 89
140 Heart and crown brooch from Onondaga reservation..... 88
141 Heart and crown brooch from Allegany reservation...... 88
142 Brooch much like the last and from the same place...... 89
143 Another variety trom the same::.2..2.) 3). .S, >> oe 89
144 A more delicate form from Cattaraugus... ....- eee 89
145 Ornamented heart and crown brooch. Allegany reserva-
100s... . . S.C getinstiean See ne ee 89
146 Heart and unusual-form of crown. Converse collection. .87, 88
147 Similar brooch from Onondaga reservation. ............ 88
148 Crown and heart with eagle’s head. Converse collection. .87, 88
149 Heart and unusual crown. Onondaga reservation....... 88
150 Crown and double heart from the same place............ 88
151 Simple,heart,and .cfown-from.the same. . Js.0+2- sheen 88
Plate 15 has 3
152 Masonic brooch with red glass. Cattaraugus.......... 93
153 Bronze ring with monogram. Fleming................ 37
154 Perforated copper disk from Indian hill, Pompey........ 31
155 Unique and large angular brooch. Converse collection. . .85, 86
1560 Unique pewter ornament from Indian hill, Pompey... 95
157 Seneca cap and -headband? JO. 2232Vd00. . ca0ct Sie 04
158 Brass crucifix from Onondaga lake. ..............0.00- 48
159 Masonic brooch with glass setting. Converse.collection.. 93
Plate 16
160 Early and broken copper gorget from Indian castle,
POMPCY. . »}-pdpip e pH ee ea eee 77
161 Common octagonal flat brooch. Onondaga reservation... 94
162 Common octagonal brooch from the same place......... 04
163 Very large octagonal brooch from Tonawanda.......... 94
164. Very small octagonal brooch from Onondaga reservation. 94
165 Heavier octagonal brooch from Tonawanda............ 94
166 Similar ornamented octagonal brooch from same place... 94
167 Larger ornamented brooch of the same type and place.... 94
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS
168 Earring of coiled copper wire. Indian castle, Pompey’...
169 Earring of coiled copper wire. Indian hill, Pompey.....
170 Silver spread eagle from earring. Converse collection.
All earrings are of silver when not otherwise noted....
Bee wimerican shield trom eCangmes ve OmMpey...:.. 5... 08 ae
172 Thick and elliptic earring from Onondaga reservation...
173 Spread eagle and thistle from earring. Cattaraugus.....
me opread eagle from earring... Town.of Clay. no: see pnt
175 Single pyriform earring from Onondaga reservation.....
Eee, Houble pyriform earring from the same place...........
igg i rianenular pendant of eatrine from the saine...........
Plate 17
178 Unique earring from Onondaga reservation............
179 Earring with glass and pendants. Converse collection...
180 Earring with glass and pendants, from Onondaga reser-
PERI ES EAS FNS eT Malt Aaa Re, SN
181 Earring with glass and three pendants from the same
plare 4.20% PYM, TEA ON P2019 FIFE SOD QI,
182 Common half spherical earring from the same..........
183 Earring with glass and single pendant. Converse col-
JE DEO yee aie beeoctie Weta’ Papas tips i AS
184 Large elliptic part of earring from Onondaga reservation.
185 Large but common form of half spherical earring from
i CESS 0E SAD) SY Sia Eee Ue et al: Adis she
fomerait Of tiianewiatr earring trom the Same... 2... sere.
187 Circular earring with glass setting. Onondaga reserva-
188 Triangular embossed earring from the same............
189 Pyriform earring with glass from the same place........
mo Elliptic cold earring. Conyerse collection... . 22... 2.6:
191 Diamond form earring, embossed and ornamented. On-
Cia aay LESSRV AOU ears eels ar cei shea k conte llr wa Neale
192 The same form but not embossed. It is from the same
34
34
108
218
219
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Elliptic earring and pendant from the same.............
Fine brass crucifix from Ontario county. .
Brass crucifix from Pompey............
Lead cross or crucifix from Hopewell....
Plate 18
Seneca silver beads, of slender form.....
Ornamental silver cross from Canada...
Very large circular Seneca brooch.......
Seneca earring with eagle and pendants. .
Plate 19
Small double cross. Converse collection..
= © a ee e;s = ©27 42 =
Small crenulated cross from Onondaga reservation.......
Small double cross from the same place...
Small foliated brass crucifix from Pompey
*seseeeePeeewveeene
Large silver cross in Richmond collection, reduced in
Small foliated silver cross from the Mohawk valley......
Seneca foliated silver cross, with ornamented center.....
Plate 20
Both sides of brass cross with emblems.
Munnsville....
Fine brass ornamenta! cross from Pompey. Arare form.
Double ornamental silver cross irom Onondaga reserva-
Rare double brass crucifix from Pompey. .
Brass crucifix from Cayuga grave.......
Small brass cross with emblems from the Mohawk valley. .
Double brass crucifix from the fort near Jamesville......
Fine brass crucifix found near Geneva N.
Plate 21
Wi.
Brass crucifix from the fort near Jamesville.............
Small foliated brass crucifix from Pompey
47
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS
220 Perforated and flat brass, nearly half circular. Pompey
Ceptétmrres wilt oh. tustnanse laqine saiv. hep vessert
221 Perforated brass disk or gorget. Fabius.............. ?
222 Larger but like the last, and found in Pompey...........
223 Massive silver pendant with glass setting. Onondaga
ESE ied UREN ele I et lore Fu acne stash winless oa a-S\ we Sear ae 6 aye
224 Cordate ornament of brass wire from Fort Plain........
ge, tcavy copper disk and ring from Rome N. Y.........
226 Small and perforated brass crescent from Pompey.......
Plate 22
227 Large and perforated brass disk from the Genesee valley. .
228 Pewter medal from Honeoye Falls... 20.0... 0.002002 cee
mee Pewter medal fron i ribes Till... .}. pepe} sya bye ssenseyel ies speci?
230 Pewter medal from Hopewell...............-e sees eee.
231 Pewter medal from Indian hill, Pompey ..:. 65 ..)s:6008[- escse,0
meee ewtcr medal from VWactog cases « sparvet- Hos] aaperel depres ide
geo Pewter medal from Putnam county,.No Yd .[eaieekess Hens
Plate 23
234 Long and cylindric brass bead from the Cayadutta fort
MILMMLOM COUNLY Se res. Seek eee es See ee ere ek et eas
2a5) Lone and perforated silver tube from Pompey... 00...
236-38 Native copper beads found together near Schenectady.
239 Cylindric native copper bead found near the Seneca river...
240 Very small globular copper beads from Victor..........
241 Small globular copper beads from Ontario county.......
meee omatian beads: cromuilopemellls {cei aby ayes oo sec sin Sho eee teers
243 Long brass cylindric bead from the Mohawk valley......
244 Long brass cylindric bead from the south line of Pompey.
245 Long brass cylindric bead from the Garoga fort in
ae bo rare POE peat ar a eR ANT ios Abia chon Pn
246 Spirally coiled brass bead from Oneida valley...........
247 Spirally coiled brass bead from a Cayuga grave.........
248 Cylinder of coiled brass from a grave at Canajoharie.....
249 Fine cylindric brass beads from Pompey Center.........
109
PAGE
II0
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PAGE
Long and slender silver bead from Onondaga reservation. 18
Thicker and with spirai ornament. Inthe same lot... 18
Plain and slender. This and the next in the same lot.... 18
Thicker and slightly ornamentedw. 25.901 92) .01 JoRTe 18
Plate 24
Long and slender brass bead from Indian hill in Pompey. 17
Thicker and shorter bead from Pompey Center.......... 17
Shorter cylindric brass bead from the fort in Ephratah... 16
Fine cylindric brass bead from Pompey Center.......... 17
Conical zinc bangles with hair. Onondaga reservation... 19
Conical copper bangle with hair. Cayuga grave........ 19
Conical copper bangle from Indian hill, Pompey........ 19
Chain of brass wire found near Fort Plain.............. 18
Very large copper bangle from Indian hill, Pompey... 19
Copper bangle from Canajoharie................... iva Teg
Spherical brass bell from Pompey Center.............. 20
Small spherical brass bell from Fleming............... 20
Half of brass, bell from Pompeys... .- .--..----" Sane 20
Spherical silver bell from Ontario county.............. 20
Pewter human figure from Indian castle, Pompey........ 26
Pewter animal figure from Indian hill, Pompey.......... 26
Pewter bird from, Hopewell? 4). 4 <i. sep sees ae 26
Pewter animal figure from Honeoye Falls............... 26
Plate 25
Tron turtle from Indian castle in Pompey............... 26
Pewter turtle from ‘the-same place7J) >i J0'. SP 5277_ 0 26
Metallic animal figure found near Watervale, Pompey.... 26
Perforated and rectangular brass plate found near James-
ville 92. P30 PPS. OT, BASU, eG. Aas 30
Leather belt with brass tubes from Fleming............. 25
Leather belt with brass tubes from Honeoye Falls........ 25
Pewter ring from Ponrpey 2 S27t. DD20.2520. Oe ee 38
Brass ring with crucifixion. Pompey................ * .38, 39
Silver medal of George 2, from Baldwinsville.......... 55
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS ILE
Plate 26 PAGE
mise Onendacasilvertmedalsent) Mg W22e Te. ie OYSA. 61, 62
Bea Mohawk silver medali 2.219 OPRGARR YO 0.4 Spend eis 62
Bea Mohican pewter imedaby regen We nee ge 63
285 Bronze ornament from Indian castle in Pompey......... 96
286 Curious bronze ornament from Canajoharie............. 97
287 Arhele or bent brass wire from Pompey.’...... 0.66. 97
288 Perforated quadrilateral flat brass from Fabius.......... 30
Plate 27
miemrence Inetar OL Gearee Levon ee aes Sour ey SEI 57
290 Flat strip of perforated brass from Cayuga county...... 30
291 Elliptic pewter medal with bust, from Indian castle,
POmpey 3. .k tutte eee footers aes JOT ROSIE ORO). 72
292 Heart-shaped brass medal with embossed heart. Scipio-
mettle 6. ta MO. I DIES DOS. TOI TL OSG07s IG
293 Large and elliptic brass medal with half length figure.
Sarrermaces Ae, . SEI, SER, BI AB, 23008, 73,
294 Perforated silver coin, with lion on one side and letters
eustite: other eompey:. Ses P, {29 Pew ONO, . 72
295 Octagonal brass medal with man and child. Cayuga
ORME HEE Pattee a cp atete cats a taeaen aterel ate ae cee dia Sealer seat © 73
290 EMiptie’German medal from Baldwinsville. 292 2h. Bev: 71
297 Perforated copper coin from Indian its Pompeys eete..« 49
298 Octagonal brass medal of St Agatha. Pompey....... 72
299 Fine elliptic brass medal from Onondaga lake.......... 73
300 Octagonal silver medal of St Lucia, from Pompey....... 72
301 Octagonal brass medal of St Francis, from Scipioville.... 73
302 Octagonal brass medal, with cross, altar and kneeling
HAKeS hrOmiihersame Mlale.. haste. ste es we eRe os 73
nog Eerroraved copper coin’ from Pompey). . 2 ia2es de 49
Plate 28
304. Perforated copper coin from Pompey............0.s00% 49
305 Bracelet of coiled copper wire from Fleming............ 22:
T1I2 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
306 Large and grooved copper bracelet from Cattaraugus.... 22
307 Small bracelet of coiled copper wire from Pompey....... 22
308 Small copper bracelet from the same place.............. 22
309 Bracelet of coiled copper wire from Fleming............ a
310 Copper. bracelet from Munnsville....:.....24-<nciee. 22
Plate 29
311 Obverse of bronze Carlisle medal... ...:..-.-:.-. eee 58
312 Reverse of this medal. . 3G: etef% -........-....-- eee 58
313 Heavy bronze ring with bust of a king. Pompey........ 39
314 Bronze ring with full face. Fleming............ +t eee 37
315 Bronze ring with face turned to the edge. Brewerton.... 38
316 Bronze ring with full face. Fleming... . ... - .. eee 37
317 Bronze ring with mitred head. Fleming........:...... 37
318 Bronze ring with face and key. Pompey..............- 39
319 Bronze ring with head in profile. Hopewell............ 38
320 Bronze ring with Maltese cross. From the same place... 38
321 Bronze ring with I. H.S. Munnsville. All rings are of
bronze when. not noted, .oe82 hve cuesES « aad thi 38
322-23 Rings with I. H. S., from Pompey........ —_—- 39
324 Similar ring. from.Flenming : 30.0% jo. 2.0.9 S - e 37
325 Ring from the same place, with I. H. S. in Roman char-
MCLCES. pete KE Vat betes Serre? Se eee Eee 37
326 Large ring with J. H:.S., from Pompey. ..... 4-1. .s.-5e 39
327 Similar rine from. the same plare..c.. ... -~.<4¢-a he eee 39
328 Small ring from Pompey, with I. H. S.in Roman letters.. 39
329 Small ring with I. H. S., from Fleming.............. 37
330 Ring with L, heart and crown. Fleming............... 37, 38
331 Ring with L and heart, from Hopewell................. 38
332 Ring with L and heart, from Pompey................0% 39
333 Ring with L, heart and crown, from Scipioville.......... 38
334 Ring with.L, from Fleowip Of8ht... «2 0s seinen oe 37
335-37 Rings with heart and lines, from Pompey............ 39
338 Ring with crucifixion and hearts, from Fleming......... 38
METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS
Plate 30
239 Ring with heart and other symbols. Mohawk valley.....
340 Ring with heart on base. Pompey........+.-+.+++e sees
341 Gold ring with Greek monogram, from the same place. ...
342 Ring with indefinite lines. Pompey..........+-+---005-
343 Ring with monogram. Fleming............++..e eee eee
344 Silver ring with points and setting. Pothpeyis. o4al Sonne
345 Ring with St Andrew’s cross and dots, from the same.....
346 Ring with small head, from the same...............54--
347 Ring with cordate seal and large letter A. Fleming......
348 Ring with doubtful seal. Pompey.........-..-..-+505.
349 Ring with possibly Greek characters. Pompey.........
350 Ring with doubtful characters. From the same..........
351 Ring with indefinite lines. From the same............-.
352 Ring with base but lacking the heart. Cayuga...........
353 Ring with possibly cup and crown. Pompey............
ea Rane with crown and star Fleming 2). won use fae.
355 Ring with Virgin and child, from the same..............
Reo -sminas withicrucifixion. Pompeys!) 1252 acai.
358 Ring with compasses. Munnsville..........0...00.0..
Boek ime witthindernite lines. Brewertonl........000.6...
360 Silver ring with two hands. Converse collection.........
Bon Silver ring with two hearts, fromthe same. 0... 0. Se
362 Large silver ring with monogram. Tuscarora reservation.
ges) Silver wine from Onondaga reservation... ......2......
ose tron coil around finer bone.“ leming® 2 y 00.05... oe -
Plate 31
365 Broad silver bracelet from Onondaga reservation..... Pinat
Booplarce brass ting from Ontario’ county.........2.5....%
367 Pentagonal and perforated brass plate. OMmpeyen eet re
Bee ude ting of coiled copper wite, Pompey.............
369 Native copper cylindric beads. Palatine Bridge..... f
370 Narrow and serrated copper bracelet. Rome N. Y....
371 Narrow and serrated copper bracelet. Found near
GEeW EIN]... VOM Tage eter: ee 7 SUA em GRC
oD
ara NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Plate 32 PAGE
374 Pewter medal'from, Pompeys. date e+e abs eee 28
375 Pewter. bell from the sameiplaceé: . «aie 22. sneub see ee 21
376-79 Copper needles from Pompey........... +« anieeehel 97
380 Brass.ornament from. Pompey’. ....2sciueesl«: J sie eee 96.
361 Brass crucifix from the sameifowf! . . <c2<seenes «lee eee 48.
382 Copper. nose ring from Pomipey isc 2iwicue die Se 22
383 Brass.ring: from: Munnsvilles.2%xio2. woah” 32. Cie ee 41
384-85 Brass medals from the same place.............22.2- 73
386 Silver headband from Tonawanda.................... 95.
Plate 33
387 Pewter medal from the Mohawk valley................. 29:
488 Silver medal from;Ballstonw.<% ©. cens)-«))~-Aalses fee 63,
389-93. Rings from Pompey zea <j «a/c isive! tept- oom b ee 4I
304 Ring from Mehawk:valleywca jai «ns «nl ices Ste Se 4I
395 Brass ornament from Munnsville...........00..00.s008 96.
390 French. coin from -Poripey;? 1636. S=6-sinal¥. die eee 50:
397 Similar coin from Munnsville. 1640....0......03.05.- 2 ae
g98 Pewter medal from Pompey.iu:... 2:e2aqauek Spe ae 28.
Plate 34
399-401 Silver headbands in State Museum... ...........8: 95.
Plate 35
402 Headband in State Muses .. Wook mesa deernec Ee 95.
403. Plain headband in same collection............<s+s=eee 95.
404 Headband in State MuseumAt8is. .: 2... 52. 2 22 eee 95.
Plate 36
405-10 Silver bracelets in State Museum................4.. 23
Plate 37
411 Red Jacket medal ooo on cnc pens se eee 2 on > ee ee 67
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\ GEORGE WASHINGTON
) PRESIDENT
eee
IN? Do Eex
Allegany reservation, brooches
irom, Gl, 64, 80, 90,101, 102, 103,
104, 105, 100.
Amidon, R. W., clay pipe presented
to Dr Beauchamp by, 99.
Armlets, 23.
Baldwinsville, medals from, 55, 58, |
Pio, fit; medal from, near, 71.
Ballston, silver medal from, 63, I14.
Bangles, 19; explanation of plates,
BLO;
ibeauce@; IO; copper, 14; from
ossuary of Neutral nation, 100;
as Ornaments, 9; explanation of
plates, 109; recent, 16-19; silver,
18.
Beauchamp, W. M., crosses belong-
ing to, 44; collection of brooches,
83, 84, 87, 93, 100.
Beauharnois, Gov., letters from, 52-
53.
Beausoliel island, cross from, 43.
Bells, 20-21.
Belts, 24-20.
Betts, C. Wyllys, cited, 3, 55, 57, 62,
63.64, 65, 66, 72.
Bigelow collection, 99.
Bird pipes, 100.
Bone articles, 98.
Bone ornaments, 9.
Boughton hill, beads
medals from, 28.
Bourke, Jiohn 'G:, cited, 3) 24.
Boyle, David) cited, 35:25, 43:
Bracelets, 21-24; brass, 22, 23; ex-
Planation “of plates; “1T1=12;\' 113,
EPA; silver, 22, 23.
Brant, Joseph, mentioned, 23, 32.
Brass beads, 16-18.
Brass bracelets, 22, 23.
Brass brooch, 78.
Brass crosses, 45-48.
Brass gorgets, 29-31.
PROMI hes
Brass implements, 9-10.
Brass medals, 72.
Brass pipes, 13.
Brass rattles, 21.
Brass rings, 36.
Brass tubes in leather belts, 24-26.
Brereton, John, cited, 3, 13) 24.
Brewerton, native copper from, 16;
rings from, 38, 40, 112, I13.
Bronze rings, 36, 37, 4I.
Brooches, 74-94; explanation of
plates, IoI-6.
Broome county, see Windsor.
Bruyas, Jacques, cited, 3, 9; men-
tioned, 35.
Bryant, William C., cited) 3;letter
from, 67-68.
Buffalo Academy of Science col-
lection, 18, 23.
Buffalo Historical Society, brooches
pelonginig: tO, 70) OLNo4,002) "102;
brooches from, IOI, 102, 105.
Bushnell collection, 62.
Camp, Col., collection, 100.
Canada, brooches from, 8o, Iot.
Canadian Indians, medals awarded
Loy Sle
Canajoharie, cylinder of coiled
brass from, 17, 109; bangles from,
10, TLO; Ornaments from; O7, Ti;
bone articles from, 08.
Canandaigua conference, 54.
Car se uciemm, cited. 3) 12:
Cartier, mentioned, 12.
Casey, Rev. W. H., medal found by,
73:
Cattaraugus reservation, bracelets
from, 23, 112; brooches from, 8o,
89, 93, IOI, 106; earrings from,
33, 107.
Cayadutta fort, brass bead from, 17,
109; marine shell, 98.
116
Cayuga county, bangles from, 19,
110; beads from, 18, 109; strip of
perforated brass from, 30, IIT;
brooch from, 79, IoI; coins from,
AQ: brass -cructix. from: 46, Fes;
medals from, 72,573; 0123 - opna-
ments from, 97; ring from, 38,
113. See also »Basty | Cayuga;
Fleming; Scipioville; Union
Springs.
Chase’s woods, beads from, 17.
Christopher site, bone articles from,
99.
Clarke gk We (his. cited: 43520522227.
30, 40, 45, 46, 61, 69, 70, 72.
Clay, earrings from, 33, 107.
Clay pipes, 99.
Clinton, De Witt, finger ring owned
by, 40.
Clothing of New York Indians, 7-
12,-76,
Clute, beads belonging to, 16.
Coins, 49-50; explanation of plates,
III.
Cold Spring, medal from, 28, Iog.
Collars, 24.
Conover, George S., cited, 3; brace-
lets owned by, 23; crucifix belong-
ing to, 46; medals described by,
56; on Red Jacket medal, 68.
Converse, Harriet Maxwell, cited, |
4, 85-88; bracelets collected by, |
23; collection of brooches, 81, 80,
OI, 03; 101, 10a, 103, 10A,;TOS, TOO;
zeal in collecting, 95; cross be-
longing to, 44, 108; death, 81;
earrings obtained by, 32, 33, 34,
107; paper by in State Museum
report, 78; rings owned by, 40,
i ae
Copper articles of native ore not
in use in New York in 1600, I4.
Copper ax, 16.
Copper beads, see Beads.
Copper bracelets, 21-24.
Copper ornaments, 9, I2;
14-16.
Copper relics, 97.
Corlaer, see Van Corlaer.
native,
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Costumes of New York Indians,
7-12, 96,
Crosses, 45-49; explanation of
plates, 108; silver, 41-45.
Crucifixes, 45-49; explanation of
plates, 108.
Curler, see Van Corlaer.
David, Capt., account of, 75.
Deers-hair, 8, 9.
De Soto, mentioned, 12.
De Witt, brooches from, 77, 101.
Earrings, 31-35;
plates, 107-8.
East Cayuga, cross from, 44, 108.
Ephratah, beads from, 16, 109, IIo.
Erie county, see Tonawanda reser-
vation.
Evarts, Dr, earrings obtained by,
33; small brooches, 78.
Explanation of plates, IoI-14.
explanation of
Fabius, brass disk from, 30, 109;
flat brass piece from 30, ITI.
Feathers, 9, 12.
Finger rings, 35-41.
Fisher, J: T., cited, 4504
Fleming, brass bell from, 20, I10;
leather belts from, 25, I10; brace-
lets from, 22, III, 112; rings from,
37, 40, 106, 112, 113; thimisles
irom, 21;
Fort Brewerton, medal from near,
70.
Fort Bull, bracelet from, 23.
Fort Plain, chain of brass wire
from near, 18, I10; ornament
from, 96, 100.
French mission house of 1656, cross
from, 48.
Frey, S. L., beads found by, 16, 17;
brooch belonging to, 77; cited, 4,
15; collection, 41; cross figured
by, 47; medals owned by, 29.
Fulton county, brass beads from,
17, 109. See also Ephratah.
Furniss, F. H., mentioned, 80.
Garoga fort, beads from, 16, 109,
IIO.
INDEX TO METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS
Genesee valley, brass disk from, 29,
109.
Geneseo, bracelets from, 23, 113.
Geneva, bracelet from, 23, 113;
crosses from near, 44, 46, 108;
Rose hill farm, cross from, 46,
108.
Georgia, crosses from, 42.
Getman, A. A., clay pipe belonging
to, 99.
Glenville, collections, 100.
Gold cross, 45.
Gold finger ring, 40.
Gorgets, 21, 29-31, 50-70, 100, 100,
109.
Gosnold, mentioned, 13.
Grider, Rufus A., ring given by, 40.
Hallenbeck, E., mentioned, 63.
Halsey, Francis Whiting, cited, 4,
64, 77.
iazara, Samuel, cited, 4, 51.
Headbands, 94-95, 106, I14.
Headdress, 32.
Heckewelder, J. G. E., cited, 4, 20,
31, 74-75; 76.
Henry, Alexander, cited, 4, 15, 23.
Herkimer county, see Indian castle.
Hildburgh, W. L., collection, 18, 31,
36, 48; pendants owned by, 19;
bells owned by, 20.
a7
images from, 26, 110; medal from,
72, Lit; pewter medal) froms 72,
III; ornament from, 96, 111; sil-
Ver tube trom, 10, FOO!
Indian hill, bangles from, 19, 110;
beads from, 17, 110; bracelets
from, 22, 112; copper coins from,
AQ, L11; copper disk from,. 31, 106;
earrings from, 32, 107; small im-
ages from, 26, 110; medals from,
28, 109; brass medal from near,
69; copper needles from, 97, 114;
ornaments from, 07, 111; pewter
ornament from, 95, 106; brass
plates from, 31, 113; rings from,
39.
Jamesville, see Onondaga fort of
1690.
Jefferson county, beads from, 17;
clay pipe from, 99. See also Sack-
etts Harbor; Watertown.
Jesuit rings, 37.
Johnson, Crisfield, cited, 4, 36.
Johnson, Guy, quoted, 63.
Johnson, Sir William, cited; 43;
mentioned, 53, 54, 59, OI.
' Jones, Charles ©. cited, 4; crosses
described by, 42.
Jones, John, medal belonging to,
Hinsdale, W. G., rings-obtained by, |
38, 40; crosses obtained by, 46,
48; brass crucifix obtained by, 47. —
Hoffman’s Ferry, rings from, 41.
Honeoye Falls, leather belt from,
26,110; Ssinallimage irom, 26, 110; |
medal from, 27, I00.
Hopewell, McClure farm, beads
from, 18, 109; pewter bird from,
26, 110; cross from, 45, 108; medal
from, 27, 109; rings from, 38, I12.
Hudson, Henry, cited, 7, 9.
Hunter, Gov., quoted, 5o.
Images, small, 26-27; explanation of |
plates, IIo.
Indian castle, brass crescent from,
BOM hOO Cannimen Grom sen TO
SOuset = TLOMIN. 77, TOO. sSimall
55.
Kelly, medal found by, 63.
Ketchum, William, cited, 4, 75.
Kingman, Henry E., cited, 4; cruci-
fixes from, 48.
Klinkhast, 2° William El; collec-
tions, 98.
La Fayette, medal from, 7o.
La Fort, Abram, brooch belonging
to, 80.
Lead cross, 45, 108.
Lead medals or ornaments, 14, 27-
205 72)
Ledyard, L. W., medal owned by,
61.
Leroux, Joseph, cited, 4, 64, 67.
Livingston, Robert, mentioned, 50.
Livingston county, see Geneseo.
118
Loskjel,, G.. ds, etted,.4; 23,20) 81,
32, 74, 70.
Loveland, R. D., collection, 99.
Mackay, John, opened ossuary of
Neutral nation, Ioo.
McLachlan, R. W., cited, 4-5, 51-52,
57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64-65; medal
belonging to, 62, IIT.
Madison county, see Munnsville.
Masonic brooches, 90-93; explana-
tion of plates, 104-6.
Massachusetts, belts from, 24.
Massachusetts Historical Society.
Collections, 5.
Medals of lead, 27-29; honorary,
50-70; religious, 70-73; explana-
tion of plates, 109, IIO-I2, II4.
Michigan, gorgets from, 29-30;
crosses from, 44.
Millard, Clara, cited, 5, 9I.
Miner, Charles, cited, 5, 57.
Mohawk valley, beads from, 17, 109;
brooches from, 77, 79, 101; cross
from, 47, 108; pewter medal
from, 29, 114; rings from, 40, 113,
114.
Mohican silver medal, 63, 114.
Monroe county, see Honeoye Falls.
Montanus, Arnoldus, cited, 5, 8.
Montgomery county, see Canajo-
harie; Fort Plain; Otstungo site;
Rice’s woods; Tionontoguen;
Tribes Hill; Wagner’s hollow.
Montreal medals, 58-64.
Moose hair, 9.
Morgan, L. H., cited, 5, 36, 42, 68-
69, 76-77, 85; mentioned, 34.
Moseley, C. F., belts found by, 26;
small image found by, 26; medal
belonging to, 27.
Munnsville, bone articles from, 99;
bracelets from, 22, 112; coin from,
50, 114; cross from, 48, 49, 108;
medal from, 73, 114; ornaments
from, 96; brass ornament from,
96, 114; rings from, 38, 41, 112,
113, I14.
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Nelson, James, medal furnished by,
28, 109.
Neutral nation, ossuary of 1620,
I00.
New Hampshire Historical Society.
Collections, 5.
North Carolina, belts from, 24.
C’Callaghan, E. B., cited, 5, 7, 8, 50,
51, 53, 54, 62, 63, 74.
Ohio, cross from,
from); 77.
Ollier, James, medal belonging to,
62.
Onaghee site, beads from, 18.
Oneida county, see Fort Bull; Oris-
kany; Rome.
Oneida valley, beads from, 18,109;
pendants from, 19.
Onondaga county, coins from, 49.
See also Baldwinsville; Brewer-
ton; Fabius; La Fayette; Pom-
pey; Pompey Center; Watervale.
Onondaga fort of 1654, see Indian
hill.
Onondaga fort of 1696, beads from,
19; bells from, 20; bracelets from,
22; crosses from, 45, 46, 47, 108;
medal from, 27; pendants from,
19; brass plate from, 30, IIo.
Onondaga lake, brass crucifix from,
48, 106; brass medal from, 73, III.
Onondaga reservation, bangles
from, 19, I10; beads from, 18,
110; bracelet from, 23; brooches
from, 78, 79; 80, SI, 83, 87-88, 93;
Q4, I0I, 102, 103, 104, 105, mus
crosses from, 44, 108; earrings
from, 33, 34, 107; silver pendant
from, 93, 109; rings from, 40, I13.
Ontario county, beads from, 18,
109; silver bells from, 20, I10;
brass crucifix from, 46, 108; ear-
rings from, 31; rings from, 36,
113. See also Geneva; Hopewell;
Seneca; Victor.
Ontonagon river,
near, I5.
Oriskany, medals from, 56.
45; brooches
native copper
INDEX TO METALLIC ORNAMENTS OF NEW YORK INDIANS
Ornaments, names of, 9.
Osborne, - Sir Danvers, medals
brought to New York by, 55;
mentioned, 58.
Otstungo site, bone articles from,
08.
Owego, crucifixes from, 48.
Palatine Bridge, beads from, 15,
113.
Parker, Gen. Ely S., cited, 5; medal
belonging to, 67.
Pendants, Io.
Penhallow, Samuel, cited, 5, 51.
Pewter ornaments, 14.
Pewter pipes, 13.
Pickering, Col., mentioned, 54.
Pipes, brass and pewter, 13; clay,
99; stone, I00.
Pipestone, 26.
Plates, explanation of, IoI-14.
Pomeroy, Oren, clay pipe found by,
99.
Pompey, bangles from, 19, IIo;
beads from near, 17, 100, I10;
brass bell from, 20, I10; pewter
bell from, 21, 114; bone articles
from, 99; bracelets from, 22, 112;
brooches from, 77; coins from,
49, I14; copper coins from, IIT;
silver coin from, 72, III; brass
crescent from, 30, I09; crosses
from, 45, 108; brass crucifixes
from, 47, 48, 108, 114; copper disk
from, 31, 106; earrings from, 32,
33, 107; gorgets from, 77, 106, 100;
small images from, 26, I10;
medals from, 28, 72, 73, 100, IIT,
114; brass medal from near, 60;
copper needles from, 97, 114; nose
ring from, 22; 114; ornaments
iZom, ‘96, 07, ITT, Liq: pewter
Ornaments from, 95, 106; brass
plates from, 31, 113; rings from,
38, 39, 41, IIO, 112, 113, 114; silver
tube from, 19, 100.
Pompey Center, brass beads from,
17, 109, 110; bells from, 20, I10;
brass piece from, 30, 100.
119
Porcupine quills, 9, 12.
Powell, Miss, cited, 32, 75.
Proctor, Col, cited, 75.
Putnam county, see Cold Spring.
Red Jacket, mentioned, 54; medal,
G7. TIA
Relations des Jésuites, 5, 22.
Religious medals, 70-73.
Remington, Miss, brooch belonging
to, 8o.
Rice’s woods, bone article irom, 08.
Richmond collection, 16, 28, 36, 42,
77, Ol; G5. GO, O2, 10S;
Rings, 35-41; from ossuary of
Neutral nation, 100; explanation
of plates, 112-13.
Rome, bracelet from, 23, 113; cop-
per disk and ring from, 96, 109.
Sacketts Harbor, bird pipes, 100.
Saratoga county, see Ballston.
Savannah, banner stone from, 99;
shell gorget from, Ioo.
Schenectady, copper ax from near,
16; copper beads from near, 16,
109.
Schenectady county, see Hoffman’s
Ferry; Schenectady.
Schoolcraft, Henry R., cited, 5, 10,
29.
Scipioville, rings from, 38,
medals from, 72, 73, III.
Seneca, Read farm, crucifix from,
46; medal from, 56.
Seneca brooches, 81, 85, 92.
Seneca headband, 95.
Seneca river, beads from near, 15,
TOO.
Shell beads, see Beads.
Shell gorget, 100.
Shells as ornaments, 9.
Silver beads, 18.
Silver bracelets, 22, 23.
Silver crosses, 41-45.
Silver earrings, 32.
Silver gorgets, 20.
Silver headbands, 94.
Silver medals, 55, 72.
112;
120
Silver ornaments, 10, 36, 74.
Silver rings, 35, 40.
Slocum, George, medal found by,
58.
Smith, Wi!'iam, cited, 5, 74.
Stanford, Theodore, collection, 41,
49, 50, 73, 96, 97; bone articles
owned by, 99.
stone, William 'L:, cited, 5, 31, 43,
61.
Stone mold for casting lead or
pewter ornaments, 14.
Stone pipes, I00.
Stone tubes, 100.
Sweet grass, 9.
Tattooing, o, 12.
Thimbles, 21.
Thomas, Cyrus, cited, 5-6, 21, 25,
36.
Three River Point, tube from, 99.
Tioga county, see Owego.
Tionontoguen, beads from, 17, I09.
Tonawanda reservation, brooches
from, 81, 84, 92, 94, IOI, 103, 104,
105, 106; silver headband from,
95, 114.
Toronto collection, 25, 85.
Tribes Hill, medal from, 28, 1009.
Tuscarora reservation, brooches
from, 79, 80, 88, 89, 92, 93, IOI,
103, 104, 105, 106; ring from, 4o0-
4I, 113.
Tweedale, C. B., brooch found by,
80, IOT.
Union Springs, medal from, 73.
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Van Corlaer, cited, 7, 9.
Van Epps, Percy M., cited, 6, 16;
beads belonging to, 16, 109; shell
found by, 99; acknowledgments
to, I00.
Van Rensselaer, Mrs, gift to
Buffalo Historical Society, 79.
Vaudreuil, Gov., letter from, 52.
Verazzano, mentioned, 12.
Victor, beads from, 18, 109; medal
from, 28, 100.
Wagner’s hollow, bone articles
from, 98; harpoons from, 98.
Watertown, clay pipes from near,
99.
Watervale, small image from, 26,
TIO.
Watson, Elkanah, cited, 6; men-
tioned, 75-76.
Wayne county, see Savannah.
Wescot, Joseph E., mentioned, 63.
West Virginia, bracelets from, 21. -
Wilkinson, J. B., cited, 6, 35.
Williams, Roger, cited, 6, 13.
Wilson, James Grant, cited, 6, 7.
Windsor, recent Indian occupation,
35.
Wisconsin, gorgets
brooches from, 78.
Wood, I. F., collection of, 63.
Wood, William, cited, 6, 11.
Wood ornaments, 9.
Wyman, Walter C., cited, 6;
gorget owned by, 29; silver cross
belonging to, 41; crosses belong-
ing to, 44; medal belonging to, 64.
from ORFS
(Pages 121-122 were bulletin cover pages )
BULLETIN 329
Published monthly by the
University of the State of New York
FEBRUARY 1905
New York State Museum
Bulletin 78
ARCHEOLOGY 9
A HISTORY OF
THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
NOW COMMONLY CALLED THE SIX NATIONS °
BY
WELETAa Mr BEAUCHAMP S:1:D:
PAGE PAGE
INS LE cae See a area 025 | “Chapter iaectes ccna notes os see 259
[EVA EV 2.5 S23 6 eee ee a 126 Laie sae Meelis! Sees as cin, w RNAS 270
Masbate aUtNOries . se. sca wees 128 I Oe ae ORES Che ee ea 279
Mardin tem nde no. 5 <a .e <b oe ees 131 117 (Se Het eh ae ea 291
DO oh G3 IME NEY ES, SE 137 LO rae ee ane ae Set, Bee 5 302
Said ER re, En aReE 144 OR ici es eee eae oe 310
PR RAM ARIS Sin Retr eS a 154 0s Shae A AG et, oped Oates 320
eae ene Sei Se 167 Die ERA hoon: eta oe es 329
ORS PES Ee Sei ae 176 2 Dhan staid Seams rs SEES 338
Floste ea chon, Se eee Ie 186 Ee Sas a Sa Rn ae 346
RTA sdrc'd a aa Rs ae 198 DNASE Oa is oe ATR S BS 5S 358
Oe eae ale ie 2 a gE 210 1 SERRE SS OA Re Ros og RET 371
MQ Pas eel ahah ecicee ane 218 AAO, 5 eat MOURA eg a 384
Th Sil Omit ee Mn Ser en Ae 227 Menixplanatomol plates. vas .<0s.6 os 303
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University of the State of New York
New York State Museum
Bulletin 78
ARCHEOLOGY 9
A HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
NOW COMMONLY CALLED THE SIX NATIONS
NOTE
The interest displayed by the citizens of New. York in the
bulletins prepared by Dr Beauchamp on the various implements
and ornaments used by the New York Indians and his bulletin
on their tribal distribution, has led me to suggest to him the
preparation of a history of the Six Nations. This has accord-
ingly been written and is now at the service of all those inter-
ested in these early inhabitants of the State, who, while at
times they were much to be dreaded as enemies, have probably
in one way or another, greatly aided the white man in his early
attempts at settlement. Unable to assimilate civilization, they
have gradually passed away and left to their successors, pre-
dominantly Anglo-Saxon, the task of recording for posterity
- what is known of their history, distribution and customs.
FREDERICK J. H. MERRILL
126 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PREFACE
The need of a simple, systematic and yet comprehensive history
of the Six Nations, or Konosioni, has long been felt, and one
seems required for the study of New York antiquities. In the
following pages all events have been placed in due order and
taken from original sources. Secondhand errors have been
avoided or corrected when possible, and the general history has
been brought down to the present day. The results of field
exploration have been briefly stated, because treated to some
extent in previous papers. It must also be remembered that
many things are set forth in a sentence or paragraph of which
we have ample details, sufficient to fill many pages with humor-
ous, pathetic or tragic incidents. To give these would require
many volumes, and it seems better to be now content with orderly
arrangement and brief details, referring the deeper student to
original sources. It has not been thought necessary to verify
every statement or quotation from these by direct references.
Charlevoix, Champlain, the Jesuit Relations, Colden, Zeisberger
and others are sufficiently indicated, but most statements relating
to New York and Canada are from the various colonial docu-
ments of New York, published by the State; and those on Penn-
sylvania from its archives and colonial records, which are easily
found by their dates. Parkman’s graphic works are referred
to as valuable and of easy access, but his sources of original in-
formation have been used in preference.
While many events have been summarized, others of less
apparent importance have been given more fully, because they
bear on the ordinary life of the people, or the character and
appearance of notable men. How some warriors and orators
looked and acted, how some councils were conducted, may be as
interesting as to tell how many were killed and scalped in in-
glorious forest fights. In national progress the character of one
man may show that of many, and in early Iroquois history there
were men of dignity, virtue and great natural gifts.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 127
It is possible to make a map of all known Iroquois towns which
would be approximately correct, but the names of many are
unknown and the dates are conjectural. Mr L. H. Morgan issued
one of much interest, but it covers only one period, is largely tra-
ditional and has no reference to early times. On the whole, it
has been thought better to give a series of maps from Champlain
onward, replacing the obscure names of places by numeral refer-
ences to lists admitting of some explanation. The well known
Jesuit map of the Iroquois country in 1665 is omitted from these
because of its lack of details, and others for other reasons. ‘Those
given are among the best of early maps, and interesting and
peculiar features will be found in all. At the suggestion of
Dr IF. J. H. Merrill, however, a map of probable tribal distribu-
tion about 1600, has been prepared by the writer.
W. M. BEAUCHAMP
Syracuse, March 25, 1904
128 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Bartram, John. Observations on the Inhabitants, Climate, Soil, Rivers,
Productions, Animals...in his Travels from Pensilvania to Onondago,
Oswego and the Lake Ontario. Lond. 1751.
Reprinted at Geneva N. Y. 1893.
Beauchamp, W. M. Hi-a-wat-ha. Jour. Am. Folk-lore. Bost. 1891.
Permanency of Iroquois Clans and Sachemships.
Read at Ann Arbor meeting of the A. A. A. S. in 1885. Published in American mahi
Chicago 1886, and Proceedings of A. A. A. S., Cambridge 1886.
The Indian Prayer Book. Church Eclectic, p.415-22. Utica, 1881.
Quoted by James C. Pilling in Bibliography of the Iroquoian Languages, Wash. 1888.
The Iroquois Trail; or, Foot-prints of the Six Nations. Fayette-
ville N. Y. 1892.
This includes David Cusick’s history.
The New Religion of the Iroquois. Jour. Am. Folk-lore. Bost. 1897.
Bruyas, Jacques. Radices Verborum Iroquaeorum; ed. by J. G. Shea.
N. Y. 1863.
Radical Words of the Mohawk Language. N. Y. State Mus. 16th An. Rep’t, Appendix E.
Alb. 1863.
Cammerhoff, Frederick. Diary of the Journey of Br. Cammerhoff and
David Zeisberger to the 5 Nations from 3/14 May to 6/17 August, 1750.
Manuscript. Also other Moravian journals.
Campbell, William W. Annals of Tryon county. N. Y. 1831.
Carrington, Henry B. Condition of the Six Nations of New York, in
Thomas Donaldson’s report in the census of 1890. Wash. 1892.
Champlain, Samuel de. Oeuvres de Champlain, publiées sous le patron-
age de l’Université Laval, par l’Abbé C. H. Laverdiére. Quebec 1870.
Charlevoix, P. F. X. de. History and General Description of New France,
by Charlevoix; tr. and ed. by J. G. Shea. N. Y. 1900.
Journal of a Voyage...to North America; tr. from the French.
Lond. 1761.
Clark, John S. Note to Dr Hawley’s Mohawk missions in Auburn paper.
Clark, J. V. H. Onondaga; or, Reminiscences of Earlier and Later Times.
Syracuse 1849.
Colden, Cadwallader. History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada.
Lond. 1755.
Conover, George S. comp. Journals of the Military Expedition of Major
General John Sullivan against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779.
Auburn 1887. .
Also several pamphlets on local Indian history.
Coyne, James H. Exploration of the Great Lakes. 1669-70. Toronto 1903.
Galinée’s narrative and map, translated and edited by J. H. Coyne.
Cusick, David. Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations. Lewis-
ton 1826.
See also Iroquois Trail by W. M. Beauchamp.
Dawson, Sir J. W. Fossil Men and their Modern Representatives. Lond.
1883.
Quotations from Cartier.
Dean, James. Mythology of the Iroquois; or, Six Nations of Indians.
An Oneida legend in manuscript; copy in the N. Y. State Library.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS I29
De la Potherie, Bacqueville. Histoire de 1l’Amérique Septentrionale.
Paris 1722.
De Peyster, J. Watts. Orderly Book of Sir John Johnson during the
Oriskany Campaign, 1776-1777. Alb. 1882.
De Vries, David Petersen. Third Voyage of David Petersen de Vries
to North America. N. Y.-Hist: Soc. Trans. Ser. 2. v.3. N.Y. 1857.
Dunlap, William. History of the New Netherlands, Province of New
York and State of New York. N. Y. 18309.
Gallatin, Albert. Synopsis of the Indian Tribes East of the Rocky Moun-
tains. Am. Antiquarian Soc. Trans. Cambridge 1836.
Hale, Horatio. The Iroquois Book of Rites. Phil. 1883.
Halsey, Francis W. The Old New York Frontier. N. Y. 1901.
Hazard, Samuel. Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania,
1682-1790. Phil.
ed. Pennsylvania. Archives, 1664-1790. Phil. 1852-56.
Heckewelder, J. G. E. History, Manners and Customs of the Indian
Nations who once Inhabited Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Hist. Soc.
Memoirs. v.12. Phil. 1876.
Hennepin, Louis. Description de la Louisiane. Paris 1683.
Quotation made from the Catholic Church ini the Niagara Peninsula, by Dean Harris.
Toronto 1895.
Hunter, A. F. Various papers on the Huron country appended to reports
of the minister of education, Ontario, Can. Toronto.
Indian Problem. Report of Special Committee to Investigate the Indian
Problem of the State of New York. Alb. 1889.
Jesuit Relations. Relations 1611-1672. Quebec 1858.
Translations with allied documents, 1610-1791 ; afterward published by Burrows, Cleveland O.
Kalm, Peter. Travels into North America (1749); tr. by J. R. Forster.
Lond. 1772.
Ketchum, William. Buffalo and the Senecas. Buffalo 1864.
Lafitau, J. F. Moeurs des sauvages amériquains. Paris 1724.
Lahontan, A. L.de D. New Voyages to North America. Lond. 1735.
Loskiel, G. H. History of the Mission of the United Brethren among the
Indians in North America; tr. by C. I. La Trobe. Lond. 1794.
Lothrop, Samuel K. Life of Samuel Kirkland, Missionary to the In-
dians. Bost. 1864.
Marshall, O. H. Narrative of the Expedition of the Marquis de Non-
ville against the Senecas in 1687. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Collections. Ser. 2.
wee... N. Y. 1848.
Marshe, Witham. Journal of the Treaty held with the Six Nations by
the Commissioners of Maryland and Other Provinces in Lancaster in
Pennsylvania, June 1744. Mass. Hist. Soc. Collections. 1801. Ser. I.
Vv. 7.
Massachusetts. Hist. Soc. Collections, see Marshe.
Megapolensis, J. Short Sketch of the Mohawk Indians in New Nether-
land vete.. 7 IN. VY. Hist, Soc. Ser.2. v. 3.’ N. Y. 1857:
Morgan, L. H. League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee, or Iroquois. Rochester
1851.
Morse, Jedidiah. Report to the Secretary of War of the United States
on Indian Affairs. New Haven 1822.
130 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
O’Callaghan, E. B. ed. Documentary History of the State of New York.
Alb. 1849-51.
ed. Documents Relative to the Colonial History of es State of
New York. Alb. 1853-87.
Parish, Jasper, see Ketchum; Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives.
Parkman, Francis. Works. Bost. 13—.
Perrot, Nicholas, see Charlevoix.
Pouchot, M. Memoir upon the Late War in North America between the
French and English, 1755-60; tr. and ed. by Franklin B. Hough. Rox-
bury Mass. 1866. q
Proctor, Col. Thomas. Journal of 1791. Pennsylvania Archives. New
ser. v. 4. Phil. 1852-56. See Ketchum; Hazard.
a Nasi E. M. History of the Indian Tribes of ieidvayees River. Alb.
1872
Sagard, Gabriel. Le grand voyage du pays des Hurons, ete. Paris 1865.
Schoolcraft, Henry R. Notes on the Iroquois. N. Y. 1846.
Senate document 24, N. Y. 1846. .
Seaver, James E. Deh-he-wa-mis; or, A Narrative of the Life of Mary
Jemison. Batavia N. Y. 1842.
Severance, Frank H. Old Trails of the Niagara Frontier. Buffalo 1899.
Shea, John Gilmary. History of the Catholic Missions among the In-
dian Tribes of the United States. N. Y. 1881.
Smith, William. History of New York from the First Discovery to the
year MDCCXXXII. Alb. 1814.
Stone, William L. Life and Times of Red Jacket, or Sa-go-ye-wat-ha.
N. Y. 1841.
Life of Joseph Brant—Thayendanegea. N. Y. 1838.
Van der Donck, Adriaen. Description of the New Netherlands. N. Y.
Hist. Soc. Collections. Ser. 2. v. 1. N. Y. 1841.
Williams, Roger. A Key into the Language of America; ed. by J. H.
Trumbull. Narragansett Club Publications. 1866-74.
Wilson, James Grant. Arent Van Curler and his Journey of 1634-35, fed
Annual Report of Am. Hist. Soc. Wash. 1806.
Winsor, Justin. Cartier to Frontenac. Geographical Discovery in the
Interior of North America, etc. Bost. 1894.
Narrative and Critical History of America; ed. by Justin Winsor.
Bost. 1888.
Zeisberger, David. Diary of David Zeisberger, a Moravian Missionary
among the Indians of Ohio. Cin. 1885.
Manuscript journals of travels in New York 1752-66.
A HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IRO-
QUOIS, NOW COMMONLY CALLED
THE SIX NATIONS
Chapter I
Iroquois and Algonquins. Distribution. Iroquois legends. Religious
belief. Creative myths. Stories of origin and migration. Real migra-
tions. Huron-Iroquois family. Language. Opinions on this.
When Europeans first reached the interior of New York, it
was occupied by two Indian families, known as Iroquois and
Algonquin. The latter held all the Hudson river valley, the high-
lands below the Catskill mountains, and all of Long Island, being
closely related to the New England Indians. The former occu-
pied the valley of Schoharie creek, and westward to the Genesee
river, with vacant territory beyond. On their southwestern line
were the Susquehannas, or Andastes, and farther west were the
Eries and the Neutral nation, all three kindred to them. For
200 years the Iroquois were a great factor in the safety and
progress of the European settlements, and another century found
them but little diminished in numbers, while many still clung
to their early homes. A people so important, so powerful, so
permanent, deserves more than mere recognition.
The Iroquois had a strong, but in some ways very vague reli-
gious belief. Unseen deities ruled their lives through mystic
dreams, and these dreams must always be observed, however
unpleasant this might be. All things to them had a tinge of the
supernatural. Trees, rocks and animals had an inner soul. There
were viewless spirits, fairies and flying heads. Stone giants and
monstrous beasts were frequent. The great Holder of, the
Heavens was a dwarf in size; for what need had omnipotent
power of physical strength? The beasts of the forest were their
ancient kindred, necessary for food but reverently treated.
Sacrifices were few and simple. In a certain way captives might
have been offered to Aireskoi at an early day, or a white dog to
132 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
the Great Spirit at a later time, but offerings were usually sim-
pler; some tobacco burned, a pipe or beads dropped at some
sacred place, were the common gifts. Worship was by singing
or dancing; seldom with prayer.
Though the myths in which the origin of many nations is in-
volved are to be taken with reservations, they may have interest
and value. Those of the Iroquois are many and conflicting. The
creative myth, in which the woman falls from the sky, alighting
on the turtle’s back, which thenceforth supports the world, was
not peculiar to the Iroquois, being told by others with varying
details. ‘The creature which at last brings up earth from the
bottom of the sea, using it for the germ of the great island of
America, is not always the same, nor do all relate the later events
alike. When the woman’s descendants appear, there is a greater
variation still. David Cusick’s story of the two children, the
Good and Bad Mind, is well known. Mr James Dean, the inter-
preter, gave the Oneida story with other particulars. The father
of the children lived at the bottom of the sea, and lured the
Good Mind to his home, to save him from the malice of his
mother and brother, and tell him what to do. The great contest
began after this, with its peculiar weapons. When slain, the
flinty body of the Evil Mind became the great range of the Rocky
Mountains.
The Seneca chief Canassatego—not the earlier Onondaga of
that name—had another tale of man’s creation. One of their
deities raised the land of Konosioni above the waters, and sowed
five handfuls of red seed in it. From these came the Five
Nations; prosperous when following his advice, unfortunate
when disregarding it.
The story of national origin and migration is not always the ~
same. The Delaware tradition is that the Delawares and the
Five Nations came eastward together, side by side and harmoni-
ously, dispossessing those who were in the way and amicably
dividing the land. There is some ground for part of this.
David Cusick, the Tuscarora historian, had a different tale to
tell. The people were hid in a great mountain at Oswego Falls,
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS eS
and, on their release by Tarenyawagon, went down the Mohawk
and Hudson to the sea. Six families returned, five settling suc-
cessively as Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and
-Senecas, varying their language and becoming distinct nations.
The sixth passed Lake Erie, part crossing the Mississippi and
part remaining behind. The latter turned eastward, entered
North Carolina and became the Tuscaroras. In later days a
league was formed. Though some have accepted this order of
settlement, an examination of sites discredits this westward
march, the Mohawks entering New York last of all.
Nicholas Perrot, the French interpreter, an early and good
authority, said: “‘ The country of the Iroquois was formerly
Montreal and Three Rivers. . .Their removal was in con-
sequence of a quarrel unexpectedly occurring between them and
the Algonquins. . .This explains why these also claim the
island of Montreal as the land of their ancestors.”
This alludes to a well known tale, and Champlain said, still
‘
earlier, that the Iroquois left there “ more than 60 acres of de-
serted land which are like prairies.” The Iroquois whom he knew
were Mohawks, though he encountered the Oneidas.
Lafitau quoted an early tradition, mentioned by him alone:
“The Mohawk Iroquois, it is said, assert that they wandered a
long time under the conduct of a woman named Gaihonartosk ;
this woman led them about through all the north of America,
and made them pass to a place where the town of Quebec is now
situated. . . This is what the Agniers tell of their origin.”
In M. Pouchot’s Memoirs, he speaks of Sandy creek in Jeffer-
son county, N. Y.:
The River Au Sables, in Indian Etcataragarenré, is remarkable
in this, that at the head of the south branch, called Tecanonoua-
ronesi, is the place where the traditions of the Iroquois fix the
spot where they issued from the ground, or rather, according to
their ideas, where they were born.
Indian forts are frequent there, and it seems an early home of
the Onondagas. On their migration farther south that people
had a similar tale of their first fort at Oswego Falls. There they
134 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
seem to have first settled in that region, as it were coming out of
the ground, for others of their people followed. This tradition
is probable and well sustained. They say they came from the
north, along the St Lawrence, whence straggling bands followed
their pioneers. In process of time, urged by the war, others came,
all then seeking the highlands, and were called Onondagas from
their home on the hills where they found a safe refuge. Their
further tradition is of the same gradual occupation, the Bear
and Wolf tribes originating near Oswego Falls, the Beaver and
Heron or Snipe on the shore of Lake Ontario, the Eel and Turtle
on Seneca river, and the Deer and Hawk on the Onondaga hills.
An Onondaga chief once testified that they came to. Onondaga
by way of Oriskany, and some may have done so.
Both Clark and Schoolcraft mention a tradition that the
Oneidas originated with some Onondagas, who left their homes
and settled at the mouth of Oneida creek, removing thence to the
vicinity of Munnsville, and thence to Oneida Castle. The objec-
tions are that they are closely allied to the Mohawks in every
way, and that their homes at the lake and Oneida Castle were
settled in the middle of the 18th century, and not before the
league was formed.
Except the simple one of David Cusick there is no tradition of
Cayuga origin, but they probably entered New York from the
west, with or preceding the Senecas.
The general Seneca tradition is well known, relating that that
nation had its first seat on a large hill at the head of Canandaigua
lake. No remains of importance are known there, and the serpent
story is supposed to belong to Bare hill on the eastern shore,
where was an early fort. Briefly the tale is of a curious snake,
caught and brought home by a boy, which developed an enormous
appetite and grew to a great size. Lying outside the gate, he
devoured the inmates as they came forth, till only a boy and
girl were left. The boy destroyed the monster with a charmed
arrow and recovered many of his friends, but all sought a new
home. One explanation of this favorite Iroquois tale is that
the fort was besieged by a powerful foe, or that something near
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 135
by produced a pestilence. The story seems to belong to but
one of the two great bands of the Senecas. The spot had its
common name from being bare of trees when first known to the
whites.
Aside from Cusick’s legend all that we know of the Tuscaroras
falls within historic times.
-Of the Iroquois nations mentioned, five were already in New
York when Champlain and Hudson entered it in 1609. The
Mohawks had come by way of Lake Champlain from the north;
the Oneidas from the same direction, apparently leaving the St
Lawrence at Oswegatchie river and tarrying in that region for a
time; the Onondagas had gradually migrated from Jefferson
county to the Oswego and Seneca rivers, hastening their move-
ments and seeking the hills farther south when the great war
broke out late in the 16th century; the Cayugas and Senecas
had come by way of Niagara river much earlier than this, moving
eastward unmolested. Thus are differences of dialects recon-
ciled with other facts.
Something may be said of the family elsewhere as well as here.
The Five Nations were known to Champlain as the Iroquois
and Entouhonorons, and to the Dutch as Maquas and Senecas;
both indicating the Mohawks by the first name and classing four
others under the second. Their territory included Schoharie val-
ley on the east, not reaching the Hudson. Westward their villages
then almost reached Genesee river, and they probably had towns
farther west before the Huron war. West of them was the
Neutral nation, occupying both sides of Niagara river and the
north side of Lake Erie, permitting the passage of Huron and
Iroquois warriors, but forbidding violence in this. North of these
were the Hurons or Wyandots, the good Iroquois of Champlain,
and sometimes the Ochateguins, from one of their chiefs. They
termed the Neutrals Attiwandaronks, Those of a Language a
little different, and had the same name in turn. North of these
were the Tionontaties, People beyond the Mountains, so called
from the hills between them and the Hurons, but better known
as the Petun or Tobacco nation, from raising and trading with
136 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
that herb. More rarely they were at one time called the Nez
Percés, or Indians with Little Holes through their Noses; a
name better applied to Indians west of them.
South of Lake Erie were the Eries, another large branch of the
family, and all along the Susquehanna, from the New York line
to the sea, including part of Delaware, was still another branch,
the Minquas of the Dutch, the Andastes of the French. All these
spoke dialects of the Iroquois tongue, and may have radiated in
their later migrations from some spot near the east end of Lake
Erie. As yet separated by hostile tribes from the New York Iro-
quois were two southern branches, the Tuscaroras and Cherokees,
the former one day to become the sixth nation, and the latter to
be a stubborn foe of the confederacy. }
In Canada, New England and southern New York were the
Algonquin tribes, and others of these were encountered when the
Hurons, Eries and Neutrals were out of the way.
From the Algonquins all were distinguished by language and
partially by habits of life. The Algonquins used labials freely ;
the Huron-Iroquois not at all, and their language has been much
discussed. Father Brébeuf said, in 1636: “The variety of com-
pounds is very great; it is the key to the secret of their language.
They have as many genders as ourselves; as many numbers as
the Greeks.” Prof. Max Muller wrote: “To my mind the struc-
ture of such a language as the Mohawk is quite sufficient evidence
that those who worked out such a work of art were powerful
reasoners and accurate classifiers.”
Mr Horatio Hale, the eminent Canadian philologist, said:
A complete grammar of this speech, as full and minute as the
best Sanscrit or Greek grammars, would probably equal and per-
haps surpass those grammars in extent. The unconscious forces
of memory and of discrimination required to maintain this com-
plicated machine, and to preserve it constantly exact and in
good working order, must be prodigious.
Mr Hale also said:
Philologists are well aware that there is nothing in the lan-
guage of the American Indians to favor the conjecture (for it is
nothing else) which derives the race from eastern Asia. But in
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 137
western Europe one community is known to exist, speaking a
language which in its general structure manifests a near likeness
to the Indian tongue. Alone of all the races of the old continent
the Basques or Euskarians of northern Spain and southwestern
France have a speech of that highly complex and polysynthetic
character which distinguishes the American languages.
This was but a likeness, but it led Mr Hale to say of western
Europe: “The derivation of the American population from this
source presents no serious improbability whatever.” He after-
ward showed how the many Indian dialects might have origi-
nated about the Columbia river.
According to one writer 12 letters will answer for all Iroquois
sounds, though this requires the hardening of some. In this
scheme we have a, e, f, h, i, k, n, 0, r, s, t, w. The English mis-
sionaries used 16 for the Mohawk tongue: a, d, e, g, h, i, j, k, n, 0,
fot, 0, W, y. “Lis much used Dy the Oneidas, and R ‘by the
Mohawks, D and T, G and K, are interchangeable. Dual and
plural numbers have proper prefixes in most cases. Local rela-
tions are shown by affixed particles. Adjectives may follow sub-
stantives, but more commonly coalesce. Pronouns exceed those
in European languages, and verbs have three modes. The fre-
quent differences in personal nouns are often due to the dropping
of a pronoun or particle, or its addition.
Chapter 2
Surrounding nations. Food, houses, forts and weapons. Weaving and
dress. Sepulture. Wampum. Stories andsongs. Etiquette. Adoption.
Orators and diplomats. Intoning and pantomime.
_ Brief notices may here be given of some other nations with
whom the Iroquois came in contact at various times, but some
are sufficiently noticed elsewhere. Thus it may be enough to say
of the Hurons, called Quatoghies and Agaritkas by the Iroquois,
that they and the Petuns were the Wyandots of later days,
Wendat being the collective name given in 1630.
Algonquin was contracted from Algomequin, a people living
on the Ottawa river and noted in their day. In 1736 but 20 of
their men lived at Montreal, and a French writer said: “ This
138 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
is all that remains of a nation the most warlike, most polished
and the most attached to the French.” Their name has become
the generic title of a great linguistic family. They were the
Adirondacks of Colden.
The Montagnais, or Montagnards, have simply a French name,
referring to their homes in the mountains below Quebec.
The Abénaquiois, or Abenaki, were the Kennebecs or Eastern
Indians of the English, called Owenagungas by the Iroquois.
The Sokoquois, or Sokokis, were the Saco Indians belonging to
the Abenakis. They and the Mahicans are now the St Francis
Indians of Canada.
The Loups, or Wolves, comprised the Biciiet a: Indians,
who came from New England in 1672, the Mahicans, who for-
merly owned Albany, and those sometimes called Mahikanders
or River Indians. The Iroquois called these Agotsagenens. The
Mohicans of New England were their kindred. The Wappingers
were Algonquins of the lower Hudson, and the Montauks were
Algonquins of Long Island. The Delawares, or Lenni-lenape,
were also their kindred and divided into three families, of which
the Munseys are best known. Their early homes were on the
Delaware. There were many minor divisions, but the Minquas
or Mengwe must not be classed with these as Ruttenber has done.
The Ottawas were the Utawawas and Dowaganhaes, or Far
Indians, embracing several nations. Among these were the
Necariages or Ennikaragi. The Kiskakons made another, north
of Lake Huron.
The Illinois were on the Illinois river, and were known as
Chictaghicks or Kichtages; also Geghtigeghroones. Several dis-
tinct tribes were included under this name. East of them the
Miamis, Oumiamis or Weas, were called Twightwees by the
Iroquois. The migratory Shawnees, or Shaounons, were also
Satanas. The first name relates to their southern origin.
The Ojibwas, or Chippewas, were called Ostiagaghroones by
the Iroquois. The Saulteurs of the Sault Ste Marie were part
of these, known as Estiaghicks. The Mississagas belonged to
them, but came east from Lake Huron.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 139
The Maskoutins, or Assistaeronons, were the Fire Nation,
more properly that of the prairies, and were also called Odislas-
tagheks. They lived in Michigan, and 1000 Maskoutins and
Outagamis were reported as massacred near Detroit in 1712.
They were foes of the Neutral nation, suffering much from them.
The Nipissings, or Nipissiriniens, had this Algonquin name from
nippi, water, and were called Squekaneronons by the Iroquois,
from Lake Skekouen. The Sacs and Foxes, of the Algonquin
family, at first lived north of Lake Ontario, but went west. The
Iroquois called the latter Quaksies.
The Catawbas were termed Flatheads, and some give the same
name to the Choctaws, Cherokees and others. The Saponies
and Toteros or Tuteloes were branches of the Catawbas, who
removed to New York.
The Nanticokes may have been the Tockwoghs of Virginia.
They were called Unechtgo, Tawachguano, and by the Iroquois
Skaniadarighroonas, afterward going west. Some consider the
Conoys a part of these. After a brief residence in Pennsylvania
both lived for many years in New York, on the Chenango river.
The Cherokees were the Oyadagaono, called also T’kwentah-
euhnane, People of a Beautiful Red Color.
The early writers classified our northern aborigines as nomadic
and sedentary, the latter having towns continuously inhabited
and fields steadily cultivated. These remained for several years
in a place, removing when fuel and fields were exhausted.
Agriculture was rude, and the staples were the three supporters
of life, corn, beans and squashes, with tobacco, added as a solace
in rest or an aid in council. Squashes were dried for winter use,
and corn and beans were kept in chests in houses, or in deep pits
in the ground. The Iroquois found fish abundant in the waters
and game in the forest, but could only dry or smoke these for
preservation, not knowing the use of salt. Fruits were dried and
nuts gathered, the latter furnishing an agreeable oil.
When known to the whites, the Iroquois had almost abandoned
the use of earthworks, preferring instead their strong palisades.
Their houses were long, narrow, and of bark, nor did they adopt
I40 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
the log house for more than a century. The fires were placed
at intervals in the long aisle, with couches or floors on either side,
these huts often being of great length and holding many families.
Their weapons were simple at first. An ungrooved stone ax,
a long bow and arrows, defensive armor including a shield at
times, a club with bone or stone inserted at the head, a knife of
stone or bone and afterward of steel, furnished all that was
needed in war. Nets and bone harpoons were used in fishing,
and more rarely lines with bone hooks. Weirs and hurdles were.
also employed, but in shallow waters spearing was the favorite
mode. Arrows were tipped with bone, horn, or stone, and the
use of metal changed the material but not the form. Blowguns
were largely used.
Baskets and mats were woven in an artistic manner, and weav-
ing embraced other simple articles. Thread and cords were made
of Indian hemp and the inner bark of the elm, sinews also being
used for many things. Baskets, bark vessels and carved wooden
bowls were found in every house, and every Iroquois had his
capacious and often handsome wooden spoon. At the period of
European contact pottery had gone beyond simple lining, pinch-
ing and dotting, and many clay vessels were ornamented with
the human face or figure. According to the maker’s taste or skill,
such vessels were rude or elegant. This is true of the early pipes,
in which the Iroquois chiefly used fine clay. They were often
simple and of a curved trumpet form, but as frequently the bowl
had some tasteful figure, facing the smoker. Sometimes the pipe
was ornamented throughout.
The true Iroquois canoe was of elm bark, quite clumsy in com-
parison with the graceful birch bark of the northern Algonquins
and Hurons. On the Mohawk river dugouts were sometimes
used. Snowshoes aided winter travel, and the back frame was in
favor for carrying some burdens. ‘The sled was rarely used.
Dress was scanty in summer, but ample in winter, and had the
usual ornaments of feathers, beads or embroidery. Perforated
or grooved teeth were much used, and the introduction of bronze
and silver, with the white man’s blanket, greatly changed primi-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS IAI
tive apparel. The neat and handsome moccasin long survived
and beaded work is still used. At one time elaborate bone combs
were much employed, and early writers mention stockings and
mittens.
In the household the large wooden pestle and mortar are still
found, being preferred in mealing corn, for very good reasons.
Basket sieves, stirring sticks and other things are still used, but
the wooden spoon has had its day.
Two early games were those of lacrosse and the dish or bowl,
,the latter now called the peach-stone game. Both these are wide-
spread and of high antiquity. The latter is for great occasions,
but has a modification for domestic use, which may be quite as
old. The snow snake is of uncertain age, having no mention in
early writings, as several minor games have not. The musical
instruments were and are the flute, kettledrum and various kinds
of rattles.
Sepulture was rarely on the surface, the body being usually
bound in a crouching posture and placed upright in a pit, but
ways of burial varied greatly and sometimes curiously. Some
memorial often marked the spot. Pits were also dug to hold
grain, and many open ones may yet be seen. They are some-
times mistaken for graves. Bone pits were rare, though much
used by the Neutrals and Hurons.
During the historic period wampum came into use in many
ways, but was hardly known in the interior before. Wooden
masks have an age of over two centuries and are still made.
Worship has varied greatly, and consists mainly of singing and
dancing. The great Iroquois feast was that once termed a turn-
ing of the head, when dreams were related and the wildest follies
committed. This at last became the white dog feast, now almost
obsolete. There are many minor feasts, mostly of thanksgiving.
Belonging to these are many dances, original and adopted, of
which Morgan has given a long list, enumerating 32, with
descriptions of many.
As with all unlettered nations, the story-teller was a man of
importance, giving pleasure in many an idle hour. His tales of
I42 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
travel were not always believed, but were heard with wonder.
Any one could relate his own deeds; he kept in memory those of
the past. Count Zinzendorf said: “ These Indians perpetuate the
memory of their heroes in heroic poems, which are so accurately
handed down orally that it is impossible for any one to boast
of feats which he has not performed.” Above all, the marvelous
story-teller dwelt on the relations of man to the lower creation,
originating or keeping in mind those pathetic or comic tales
wherein men, birds and beasts meet as friends or foes; often as
kindred. David Cusick recorded briefly some of the more gro;
tesque of these, telling of flying heads, stone giants, vampires,
monstrous beasts, serpents and witches, but gave only a hint of
the Indian tales told by the winter’s fire. Welcome was the
story-teller everywhere, nor was his fee of tobacco ever grudged.
There was a higher purpose when the wampum was produced
and its meaning revealed. That told of history, established cere-
monies, moral laws. Songs were to be learned that religious
rites might be duly observed; other songs preserving the names,
deeds and virtues of their ancestors, exactly learned for condoling
the dead or raising new chiefs; points of etiquette to be observed,
for they were a punctilious people, having precise rules for every
public act; how to speak and how to dance, with many a regu-
lation for private life. They often looked on their white friends
as unpolished people, pitying them for their lack of good man-
ners. Sometimes they even showed them the better way.
The Algonquins were less sedentary than the Iroquois, and
cultivated the soil much less. Some have made the Iroquois
long house and the Algonquin circular hut marks of distinction,
but these are far from invariable. The Iroquois have been con-
sidered the higher intellectually and the more eloquent, but this
was partly the result of their frequent regular or special councils
as a great power. Indeed they adopted captives or allies so
largely that but few of pure Iroquois blood may have lived in
historic times. The training alone continued, and this developed
a high type of aboriginal life. They were accustomed to plan,
fight and rule. In later days their vantage ground between the
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS , 143
French and English made them able diplomats, and they used
their power well.
Their eloquence has been celebrated and has not lost its power
yet. Competent persons have testified that it lost rather than
gained by interpretation. olden says, in his History of the
Five Nations:
The speakers whom I have heard had all a great fluency of
words and much more grace in their manner than any man could
expect among a people entirely ignorant of the liberal arts and
sciences. . . I have heard an old Indian sachem speak with
much vivacity and elocution, so that the speaker pleased and
moved his audience with the manner of delivering his discourse,
which, however, as it afterwards came from the interpreter, dis-
appointed us in our expectations. After the speaker had em-
ployed a considerable time in haranguing with much elocution,
the interpreter often explained the whole by one single sentence.
I believe the speaker, in that time, embellished and advanced his
figures, that they might have their full force on their imagination,
while the interpreter contented himself with the sense, in as few
words as it could be expressed.
Of this Mr Parish, the interpreter, once said it was altogether
impossible for him to impart to the translations anything like the
force and beauty of the originals. He also stated that on great
occasions, the Indian orators, Red Jacket and Farmer’s Brother
in particular, not only studied their speeches, and conned them
well, but would send to him for rehearsals, in order that they
might be assured that he understood them fully, and could trans-
late them with accuracy.
Examples will appear incidentally, but a quotation may be
added from a French writer, who heard Dekanissora in 1694:
These are the words of Teganissorens, which he enunciated
with as perfect a grace as is vouchsafed to an unpolished and
uncivilized people. He went through his speech with freedom
and collectedness, and concluded with a certain modesty and so
great a show of respect and submission to the Count as to be
remarked.
Originally Iroquois speeches combined plain speech, intoning
and pantomime. An account of Kiotsaeton’s address and pres-
ents appears in the Relation of 1645. “After a few words he began
144 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
to sing, and his comrades responded. He promenaded in that
great place as in a theater. He made a thousand gestures, he
looked at the sky, he faced the sun, he rubbed his hands.” ‘The
presents were made and explained in a soberer tone, and a few
concluding words followed. ‘“ His manner and words were much
praised. Heintoned some songs between his presents, he danced
for rejoicing; in short he showed himself a very good actor.”
Intoning was often used to show that a message or meaning
was quoted. When Cammerhoff and Zeisberger were at the
Onondaga council in 1750, a chief had a message to deliver from
the Nanticokes: “To our astonishment an old Oneida began to
sing the message which he had for the council in a very high
tenor voice. He continued for more than half an hour.” ‘The
Moravians explained their belt and string to Canassatego, and
he spoke for them in the council. ‘ He at once showed them the
Fathom of Wampum and belt, and intoned in the usual Indian
fashion the significance of each.”
Besides pantomime and songs there were early customs in
speaking which have ceased. When Le Moyne was at Onondaga
in 1054, he said: ‘I was the full space of two hours making all
my harangue in the tone of a captain, promenading after their
custom, like an actor on a stage.”
Chapter 3
Clans and their divisions. Totemic bond. Line of descent. Migrations.
Date of League. Cartier’s visit. Mohawks leave Canada. Traces of
them there. Iroquois war. Algonquins at Montreal. First Mohawk
towns in New York. Age of Huron nations.
The three great and probably original clans found in each
Iroquois nation are the Bear, Wolf and Turtle, and without these
no council was valid. The Mohawks and Oneidas had only
these, but the others had supplementary clans, varying in names
and number. L. H. Morgan gave five of these to the Senecas:
the Beaver, Deer, Snipe, Heron and Hawk. ‘To the Cayugas he
assigned the Snipe, Eel, Beaver, Deer and Hawk, but the Onon-
dagas say that all Eels belong to them. To the Onondagas he
~~
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 145
gave the Snipe, Beaver, Ball, Deer and Eel, leaving out the Hawk
clan. Both he and Horatio Hale mention the Ball clan, which is
really a subdivision of the Turtle, commonly known as the Small
Turtle. To the Tuscaroras he gave in full the Bear, Great and
Little Turtle, Gray and Yellow Wolf, Eel, Beaver and Snipe.
There are Onondaga Eels on that reservation, which may account
for a supposed Tuscarora clan. He allowed them no Hawk clan,
and assigned the Heron only to the Senecas. J. V. H. Clark’s
Onondaga enumeration is the Bear, Wolf, Turtle, Eel, Deer,
Beaver, Eagle and Heron, substituting the latter for the Snipe,
which is an Onondaga clan, and the Eagle for the Hawk, which
seems proper. The writer belongs to the Eel clan.
In 1666 there was a different enumeration and naming by a
French writer. Nine Iroquois clans were named in two divisions,
the first being called Guey-niotiteshesgue, meaning four tribes.
These were the Turtle, or Atiniathin; the Wolf, called Enan-
thayonni or Cahenhisenhonon; the Bear, or Atinionguin; and the
Beaver. The second division was Ouiche-niotiteshesgué, or five
tribes. Of these the Deer was Canendeshé; the Potato, Schones-
chioronon; the Great Plover, Otinanchahé; the Little Plover,
Asco or Nicohes; and the Eagle, Canonchahonronon. A French-
man, adopted as a Seneca, gave another account in 1736, naming
10 clans, but omitting the Wolf and Heron. They were the
Bear, Turtle, Plover, Eel, Deer, Beaver, Potato, Falcon, Lark
and Partridge. Variations are frequent.
The Onondaga clans are now the Turtle, ot Ho-te-nealh-te;
Wolf, or Ho-te-kwa-ho; Bear, or Ho-te-ska-wak; Beaver, or Ho-
te-hu-ne-wha-keh-ha-no, People of the Creek; Snipe, or Ho-te-ne-
see-yuh, People of the Sand; Eel, or Ho-te-teu-ha-kah, People
of the Rushes; Deer, or Da-hah-de-ge-nine, People of Hoofs;
and Hawk, or Ho-te-swe-gi-yu. They are the Boards, alluding
to the large sticks in hawks’ or eagles’ nests.
No one marries in his own clan, and not long since there were
clan burials. When traveling, they are supposed to be enter-
tained by those of their own clan. How five of the clans fared
in visiting the Oneidas and Mohawks has not been explained.
146 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
In old times the totems appeared on every house, but the
Mohawks at first had a village for each clan. This soon ceased.
When a clan seemed dying out, it might be replenished from
others. At one time the Mohawks preserved the Oneida nation
in this way, supplying husbands for the women.
The principal chiefs were unequally distributed among the
clans, and some had none at all. This has been thought proof
that these originated after the formation of the league. In later
days there have been changes, and offices are not now always in
the clans to which they first belonged. |
David Cusick, a native Tuscarora, said that “ each nation con-
tains sets of generations or tribes, viz: Otter, Bear, Wolf, Beaver,
Turtle. Each tribe has two chiefs to settle disputes.” School-
craft found Eels resident among the Tuscaroras, but, in the face
of all history, said it was not an Iroquois clan totem. Charlevoix
spoke of the division of the Iroquois Turtle clan nearly two cen-
turies ago: “The family of the Tortoise is split into two branches,
called the Great and Little Tortoise. The chief of each family
bears its name, and in all public deeds he is called by no other.”
The latter branch is the Ball clan of some writers, a name derived
from a Hiawatha legend.
Those who have treated of the Iroquois system’as a carefully
arranged and artificial plan, rather than a natural growth, have
had much to say on the wisdom of the totemic bond, supposing
that its great advantages had been foreseen. All members of a
clan were considered near relatives; the three principal clans
belonged to all the nations, and their supposed family relationship
and actual friendship seemed to bind all together. The rule
against marrying in the same clan made another link. There
was no household which did not belong to two or more clans.
If a man might not have a place in the Grand Council by reason
of his clan, his son possibly might, for father and child were
never of the same. The children followed the mother’s side in
nation and tribe, thus enhancing her dignity. In many such
ways the clan strengthened the league. A wise plan would have
required each one of these everywhere, but they came in a simple
HISTORY OF THE NEW. YORK) TROQUOIS 147
and natural way. Mr Hale took the same view, considering that
the three western nations adopted more captives or allies than
the Oneidas and Mohawks, and thus had more clans.
The examination of early New York sites has thrown much
light on the time and manner of the Iroquois advent in New
York, heretofore based on doubtful grounds, though historic proof
seemed ample.. No precise date can be given to the coming of
the Cayugas and Senecas, but no great age can be allowed either
of these. The case of the Onondagas is much clearer. The
former seem to have come directly from the west, and the latter
from the north, tarrying for awhile at the east end of Lake
Ontario. Early in the 16th century they had some settlements
in the north part of Onondaga county and south part of Oswego,
but did not reach the hills whence they had their name till late
in that century. Before its close they may have had one or two
towns there. One occupied about 1600, or a little later, is closely
connected by its relics with those having European articles.
Possibly one early Oneida fort may be dated before 1580, but
the one which had the earliest of those Oneida stones which
gave name to the nation must have been later, and to this suc-
ceeded the fort attacked by Champlain in 1615, also having its
great boulder. The Oneidas remained among the higher hills
till some time in the 18th century, when they sought the lower
land. Their earlier homes seem to have been on either side of
the St Lawrence, in the vicinity of the Oswegatchie river. From
these two nations we might find an approximate date for the
league, but Mohawk history, traditions and remains furnish much
plainer evidence.
Indian tradition is no sure guide, for, even when striking events
are kept in mind, dates are almost certain to be confused. So
those who depend on popular tales vary over a century in the
date of the league. Mr Hale disregarded David Cusick’s esti-
mates of time, but followed his scheme of settlement and division
of dialects, concluding that Mr Morgan was right in dating the
league about 1459. These eminent writers knew little prac-
tically of early Iroquois towns, and these silent witnesses did not
148 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
affect their conclusions. Nor did plain history. Little was said
of what Champlain, Charlevoix, Perrot, the Jesuits and others
wrote, nor were Albert Gallatin’s sober conclusions mentioned.
Tradition and the varying accounts of Indian chiefs were trusted
by both. Some Indians mentioned by Hale now deduct a cen-
tury and a half, carrying the date of the league to near 1600.
From similar Oneida statements, the Rev. Samuel Kirkland made
this 1608. Heckewelder quoted from a manuscript volume of
Pyrlaeus, the Moravian missionary, an account of the formation
of the league which he had from a Mohawk chief: “ The alliance
or confederacy of the Five Nations was established, as near as
can be conjectured, one age (or the length of a man’s life) before
the white people (the Dutch) came into the country.” The.
words in parentheses are Heckewelder’s, and the question may
well be raised whether he was right. Shakspere gives seven ages
to one man’s life. Did the age of Pyrlaeus mean one man’s life,
or the generation of about 30 years? What coming of the whites
was meant? Was it that of Hudson, whom they may not have
seen? or that of Champlain, whom they had reason to remember?
or that of the Dutch, to trade or settle? The initial date is
slightly confused. Some have assumed this as 1609, deducted
70 years for a man’s life, and dated the confederacy in 1539, which
is much too early. If a generation of 30 years be allowed, we
would have 1579, which approximates the true date of the
Mohawk exodus.
But if we are to quote Pyrlaeus at all, let us hear more, a thing
seldom done. After noting the rank of the Mohawks and Onei-
das, he proceeds to say: ‘“ The Senecas, who were the last who
at that time had consented to the alliance, were called the young-
est son; but the Tuscaroras, who joined the confederacy prob-
ably a hundred years afterwards, assumed that name, and the
Senecas ranked before them, as being the next youngest son, or
as we would say, the youngest son but one.” Now the Tusca-
roras were admitted about 1714, making the Seneca alliance about
1614 and harmonizing with Champlain’s distinction of the Sen-
ecas from the Iroquois. Their union seems earlier than the date
which Pyrlaeus here gives.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS I49
All traditions of the original league say that the Senecas were
the last to join, and their own date may be cited from Schoolcraft :
“There is a tradition among portions of the Senecas, that the
present confederation took place four years before Hudson sailed
up the river bearing his name. This gives A. D. 1605.” Then
Schoolcraft learned that Ephraim Webster was told by the Onon-
dagas that the true date was “ about the length of one man’s life
before the white men appeared.” What white men this inland
nation meant may be a question. On the date J. V. H. Clark
cited the same person: “ Webster, the Onondaga interpreter, and
good authority, states it at about two generations before the
white people came to trade with the Indians.”
In 1875 some Onondaga chiefs told Mr Hale that “it was their
belief that the confederacy was formed about six generations
before the white people came to these parts.” He allowed 25
_ years to a generation or 150 years for all. Deduct these from
1609 and there remains Morgan’s date of 1459. The same Onon-
dagas afterward testified in court that the date was about 1600.
It is evident that such statements are not reliable. What does
history, what does the Iroquois country itself say?
In 1535 Jacques Cartier ascended the St Lawrence to Quebec
and Montreal, finding Iroquois spoken more or less all the way,
and preserving many words and names. At Montreal he visited
‘and described the Iroquois town of Hochelaga. They long
remembered that visit and seem to have mentioned it in a council
at Albany, June 2, 1691, though they may have referred to
Captain Jacobs, who reached Albany in 1623, or perhaps con-
fused both with Hudson’s coming.
We have been informed by our Forefathers that in former
times a Ship arrived here in this Country which was matter of
great admiration to us, especially our desire was to know what
was within her Belly. In that Ship were Christians, amongst
the rest one Jaques with whom we made a Covenant of friend-
ship, which covenant hath since been tied together with a chaine
and always ever since kept inviolable by the Brethren and us.
A probable reference to Cartier’s visit by the Mohawks is found
on the map of 1616, and is thus translated: “ But as far as one can
150 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
understand from what the Maquas say and show, the lrench
came with sloops as high up as to their country to trade with
them.” As this note is placed near the site of Albany on the
map, it has been understood to refer to the Hudson river instead
of the St Lawrence, though the latter was Iroquois territory
and the former was not. ‘Though there were Iroquois all along
the St Lawrence when Cartier ascended it, Champlain found
only Algonquins when he went up that great stream in 1603.
Where had the ancient inhabitants gone?
The story has been told by De la Potherie, Charlevoix, Colden
and others, and has much to confirm it incidentally. Charlevoix
said it was the most credible story of the origin of the Iroquois
war that he could find, and thought this was of somewhat recent
date when Champlain came. The Iroquois and Adirondacks
lived peaceably together on the river; the former cultivating
their fields as Cartier describes, and the latter employing their
time in hunting, each supplying the needs of the other. On one
occasion, when the Iroquois wished to try hunting, the Algon-
quins consented, willing to show their superior skill. Six of
each went along, but the Algonquins left the Iroquois in the
camp, taking the hunt to themselves but taking nothing else.
Three days passed and they killed nothing. Then the Iroquois
went out secretly with great success. Night came on, and their
jealous companions killed them all while asleep. When this was
at last discovered, they scornfully refused redress to their injured
friends. Powerless to do anything then, the Iroquois “ bound
themselves by oath to perish to a man, or to have their revenge.”
They left their country, learned war prudently and successfully,
and in due time, said Charlevoix, “they poured all at once upon
the Algonquins, and commenced that war of which we saw only
the conclusion, and which set all Canada on fire. . . Those
who suffered most were the Hurons, who engaged in this war as
allies, auxiliaries, or neighbors to the Algonquins, or because they
lay in the way of both.”
Colden said they went to New York, easily drove off the
Satanas, or Shawnees, practised stratagems because of their
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS I51
weakness, and then turned their arms against the Adirondacks
or Algonquins with success. Charlevoix adds that, while the
Algonquins took no precautions against surprise, “the Iroquois
alone use more circumspection in war, and there is no doubt that
it is one of the principal causes of the superiority which they have
acquired over the enemies who have never yielded to them in
valor, and might easily have crushed them by numbers.” That
this war was recent when Champlain came is evident. Though
this had caused them to abandon the islands of Lake Champlain,
the Indians with the great explorer in 1609 told him that the Ver-
mont shore belonged to the Iroquois, and that there were beau-
tiful valleys and fertile cornfields there. Even in 1636 a mission-—
ary on the St Lawrence said: “‘ The savages have shown me some
places where the Iroquois formerly cultivated the land.” He
advised them to use these, so that they could not have greatly
changed.
There is a reference to the beginning of this war in Champlain’s
account of the proposed peace between the Iroquois and Algon-
quins in 1622. The Indians said “they were tired and weary of
wars which they had had for more than fifty years; and that
their fathers had never wished to enter into treaty, on account of
the desire for vengeance which they wished to obtain for the
murder of their friends, who had been killed; but, having con-
sidered the good which might result, they resolved, as has been
said to make peace.”
This would place the beginning of the Iroquois war about 1570.
In the Relation of 1660 there is a sketch of the varying fortunes
of the Mohawks since 1600 and before. “Toward the end of the.
last century the Agnieronnons had been brought so low by the
Algonquins that there appeared almost no more of them upon
the earth. Ina few years they overcame their foes and reduced
them to the same state. Then the Andastes harassed them, and
they were in great fear. The Dutch came and gave them guns;
they were again victors and never lost their advantage. All that
the French could learn of their military history went not far
back in the 16th century.”
152 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The early writers treat their recent residence on the St Law-
rence as a well known fact, but some mention Algonquins who
were present at the founding of Montreal in 1642. One said his
erandfather lived there, and added: “ Phe Hurons, who were then
our enemies, chased our ancestors from this country; some
retired toward the land of the Abnaquiois, the others to the land
of the Iroquois, and one part turned to the Hurons themselves,
uniting with them, and behold the land was made almost a
desert.” This either combines the expulsion of the Iroquois
with that of the Algonquins, or makes it precede this, and agrees
with the Huron account that they received another nation about
1590, making due allowance for Indian dates. Indeed those
Algonquins who went to the Iroquois may have inflamed them
against the great body of the Hurons, and thus led to war.
These early references to the exodus of the Mohawks from
Canada have recently had the aid of archeology, and one ques-
tion now is, what evidences of early Iroquois occupation does
the lower Mohawk valley present? There are camps and graves,
and some insignificant hamlets belonging to prehistoric times
and of brief occupancy. But three prehistoric forts are known, in
two of which one or two ornaments of European make have been
found. Both of these forts are north of the river, and both are
distinctly related to the succeeding historic towns. The third is
a few miles south of the Mohawk, and was at first said to yield
European articles, but later explorers have found none. Its
relics have not such distinct relations to succeeding town sites,
but its Iroquois character is clear. These are all the town sites
known to belong to the New York Mohawks of precolonial times.
It is possible one or two more may be found.
It is well known that the Mohawks once had three tribal
towns, one for each of their three clans, differing in this from
the other Iroquois, but this feature did not last long. It is also
well known that early Iroquois towns changed their sites every
IO or I5 years on an average. Making the removal of these three
occur in 1600, and allowing them a period of 20 years, their set-
tlement would have been about 1580. Another 20 years or less
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 153
would have brought succeeding towns well into the Dutch period,
and would account for the abundant European ornaments. ‘The
earlier ones may have come from the French in Canada. Their
vessels haunted the lower St Lawrence, trading with the natives,
who carried their wares far inland. There is full proof of this.
Some time should be allowed for the Mohawks’ exodus; but
from Champlain’s account their war with the remaining Canadian
Indians should be dated about 1570, and the Algonquin expulsion
from Montreal varied little. The grandsire of one of the Algon-
quins of 1642 had lived there, and 70 years is ample time to allow
for this. The dates may then be 1560 for the withdrawal of the
Mohawks, a little later for the occupancy of their valley, and
some interval may have elapsed before forming the league. It is
customary to date the statement of Pyrlaeus from Hudson’s
voyage, but that explorer probably saw no Mohawks and it
seems more reasonable to count from active trade with the
Dutch, or the founding of Fort Orange. The true date of the
confederacy seems to lie between the years 1570 and 1600.
One more statement may help us. Bearing in mind the num-
bers of the Iroquois and their frequent removals, any experienced
person can see that their coming into New York can not be placed
very far back, for the number and character of the sites will not
allow this. A brief period covers the longest occupation of any
early site, but some forts were inhabited but a few weeks. A
good observer can sometimes closely determine the time. His-
tory aids us a little here. The Iroquois and Hurons were closely
related, the Mohawks being a recent offshoot of the latter. In
the Relation of 1639 it is said of the Hurons:
The general or common name of these nations, according to
the language of the country, is Ouendat; the individual names
are Attignaouantan, Attigneenongnahac, Arendahronons, and
Tohontaenrat. The first two are the two most considerable, as
having received and adopted the others into their country. The
one within fifty years in this, and the other within thirty. The
first two speak with assurance of the dwelling of their ancestors,
and of the different situations of their villages for more than two
hundred years, for, as it may be observed in preceding Relations,
they are obliged to change their place at least every ten years.
154 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Here it appears that two of the Huron nations came into their
land rather early in the 15th century, according to themselves,
but probably later; that they received another nation about 1590,
or after the Mohawk exodus; and that the fourth nation joined
them about 1610.
Chapter 4
Origin of league. Probable date. Allotment of sachems. Hiawatha.
Names of sachems and their meaning. Other chiefs. Name and terri-
tory of each nation. Council names. Brotherhoods. Name of league.
Iroquois and Algonquin name. Place of formative council. Influence
of women.
Of the formation of the Iroquois league Pyrlaeus received an
account in 1743, which differs only in brevity from all later ones.
It was proposed by Thannawage, an aged Mohawk, and Togana-
wita appeared for the Mohawks, Otatschechta for the Oneidas,
Tatoyarho for the Onondagas, Togarhayon for the Cayugas, and
Ganiatario and Satagarnyes for the Senecas. These names are
in the Mohawk dialect and were to be preserved by successive
chiefs. This has been done with the exception of the first, who
has no nominal successor. He considered himself the founder
of the league, and no one could follow him in this. In the con-
doling song his name appears with the five other founders, but
is not in the list of the 50 principal chiefs. |
Mr Hale said, adhering to an early date, “If the League was
formed, as seems probable, about the year 1450, the speeches and
hymn, in their present form, may reasonably be referred to the
early part of the next century.” The song treats all the 50 orig-
inal chiefs as dead, and laments the good old times.
There is no real discrepancy in referring the suggestion of the
league to a Mohawk chief. Hi-a-wat-ha was an Onondaga,
afterward adopted by the Mohawks, and his name, variously
translated, is second in the list of their 9 principal chiefs, entitled
to sit in the Grand Council. The Oneidas had 9 of these, the
Onondagas 14, the Cayugas 10, and the Senecas 8, or 50 in all.
When one of these dies, another is raised in his place and takes
his name. The Senecas may always have formed two bands,
accounting for two leading chiefs. In the Grand Council they
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 155
have the fewest of all, the attendance at first being determined by
distance and interest, and the Senecas being the last to favor the
league. In representation this made no difference, each nation
having but one vote, and its chiefs agreeing what that should be.
Though there were these principal chiefs succeeding to the old
titles, it is historically true that there were often more, increasing
or diminishing as might be expedient. There are many cases
where more than the regular number are mentioned, and prin-
cipal chiefs were deposed or restored when desired. War chiefs
were often leaders in war and assistants to the principal chiefs
in peace, as they are now. There are impressive ceremonies for
the raising of each, and they are usually nominated by the women,
who have great power, but do not speak in council. Another
class is of the pinetree chiefs, having their roots in the sky and
their power from their goodness, but rules varied much.
The Hi-a-wat-ha legends are many and different. He was the
reputed founder of the league in the way of suggestion and work,
and the inventor of wampum with some, this being new to the
Iroquois at the beginning of the 17th century. In most tales he
travels through the nations, explaining his views and giving the
national and council names by which they have since been known.
Though slightly known before, Mr J. V. H. Clark first gave wide
circulation to the story in its most fanciful and popular form, too
well known to require repetition in detail. He had this from
Onondaga chiefs. ‘Ta-oun-ya-wat-ha comes to earth and delivers
it from many evils, becomes a man indeed as Hiawatha, con-
venes a council, forms the league, and ascends to heaven again
in his white canoe. Mr Clark said that Hiawatha’s often quoted
speech was a pure invention of his own. In all these tales the
council ground is at Onondaga lake, though the Onondagas then
lived a score of miles away. Schoolcraft had the story from
Clark, and at last it took a western form.
The earliest of these tales was published by William Dunlap
in 1839,-in his History of the New Netherlands. He had it from
the Onondaga interpreter, Ephraim Webster, and, not remem-
bering the chief’s name, he called him Oweneko. He was an
156 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
unselfish man, while the principal Onondaga chief was ambitious.
By proposing to make him head of all, he at last secured his aid
and the league was formed. It is curious that David Cusick
said nothing of Hiawatha, while he described fully the appearance
of Atotarho, nor does the latter come into Clark’s tale of
Hiawatha.
Of the plainer and more reasonable accounts the best is that
of Horatio Hale, who grew eloquent over the story of this Indian
sage. That his enthusiasm carried him too far, few will ques-
tion, but no one will deny that he had a good subject for this.
Hiawatha came of a race which was a match for European diplo-
macy and which produced many high-minded, heroic and chival-
rous men. |
Briefly the story runs like this. Hiawatha, He who seeks his
Lost Mind which he knows where to find, (the Onondaga inter-
pretation) was an Onondaga who wished the kindred nations of
New York to abolish war among themselves. The Onondaga
chief, Tadodaho, opposed this, being a grim and ferocious war-
rior, jealous of his own power. Ata national council he defeated
the project. A second followed with the same result, and at the
third one Hiawatha was alone. Then he went to the Mohawks
with many adventures on the way. In his camp, near the
Mohawk town, some young men found him stringing a kind of
wampum, made of quills, the use of which he explained. Then
he and the great chief Dekanawidah met. The Mohawk chief
approved the plan of union, and the Mohawks ratified it in coun- —
cil. The Oneida chief, Otatshehteh, was consulted, but deferred
the question for a time. On his approval another council was
held at Onondaga with the old result. Then the Cayugas were
approached and gave a quick consent. Another council met at
Onondaga and a new proposal was made. Tadodaho was to be
the head of the confederacy, and the Onondagas were to keep
the great council fire. This made both desirous to extend the
league. The Senecas were consulted, and the office of military
commanders was offered to two of their great chiefs, Ganyadariyo
and Shadekaronyes. On their acceptance the final steps were
taken at Onondaga lake.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 157
David Cusick, however, said: “‘ The Bear tribes nominate the
Chief Warrior of the nation. The laws of the confederation pro-
vides the Onondagas to furnish a King, and the Mouhawks a
great war chief of the Five Nations.” In his own peculiar way he
described the first ruler:
About this time the Five Families become independent nations,
and they formed a council fire in each nation, etc. Unfortunately
a war broke out among the Five Nations: during the unhappy
differences the Atotarho was the most hostile chief, resided at the
fort Onondaga; his head and body was ornamented with black
snakes; his dishes and spoons were made of skulls of the enemy ;
after a while he requested the people to change his dress, the
people immediately drove away the snakes.
His name of Vatotarho or Vadodaho, The Entangled, alludes to
this mythic feature. The principal Onondaga chief, however,
was often called by the council name of the nation, and sometimes
by what may be another official title. Cusick enumerated 13
successive Atotarhos down to the time of the discovery, and
there have been several since. An attempt has been made to fix
the date of the league from this, but the results are not reliable.
The names of the 50 principal chiefs follow, as given in the
Onondaga dialect. They vary in the Seneca and Mohawk, in the
latter of which they are commonly sung at condolences. ‘The
Mohawk chiefs are nine: Te-kie-ho-ke”, Two Voices; Hi-e-
wat-ha, One who seeks his Lost Mind which he knows where
to find; Shat-e-kie-wat-he, Two Stories in One, i. e. the same
story from two persons; Sah-e-ho’-na, He is a Tree with Large
Branches; Te-yon-ha’-kwen, That which we live on; O-weh-
he-go-na, Large Flower; Te-hah-nah-gai-eh-ne, Two Horns
lying down; Has-tah-wen-sent-hah, Holding the Rattles; Sau-
te-gai-e-wat-ha, Plenty of Laree Limbs on a Uree.
The Oneida chiefs are also nine, as follows: O-tat-sheh-te or
Tat-sheh-te, Bearing a Quiver; Ga-no-gwen-u-ton, Setting up
Ears of Corn in a Row; Ty-o-ha-gwen-te, Open Voice; Sho-
non-ses, His Long House; To-na-oh-ge-na, Two Branches of
Water ; Hat-ya-ton-nent-ha, He swallows his Own Body from
158 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
the Foot; Te-ha-tah-on-ten-yonk, Two Hanging Ears; Ha-nea-
tok-hae-yea, Throat lying down; Ho-was-ha-tah-koo, They dis-
inter Him. e
The Onondagas have 14 chiefs in the grand council: Tah-too-
ta-hoo, Entangled; Ho-ne-sa-ha’, perhaps The Best Soil upper-
most; Te-hat-kah-tous, Looking all over; O-ya-ta-je-wak, Bit-
ter in the Throat; Ah-we-ke-yat, End of the Water; Te-hah-
yut-kwa-ye, Red on the Wing; Ho-no-we-eh-to, He has disap-
peared; Ga-wen-ne-sen-ton, Her Voice scattered; Ha-he-ho,
Spilling now and then; Ho-neo-nea-ne’, Something was made
for Him, or was Laid down before Him; Sha-de-gwa-se, He is
bruised; Sah-ko-ke-he, He may see Them; Hoo-sah-ha-hon,
Wearing a Weapon in his Belt; Ska-nah-wah-ti, Over the Water.
The Cayugas had Io chiefs: Te-ka-ha-hoonk, He looks both
Ways; Ta-ge-non-tah-we-yu, Coming on its Knees; Ka-ta-
kwa-je, It was bruised; So-yone-wes, He has a Long Wampum
Belt; Ha-ta-as-yon-e, He puts One on Another; To-wen-yon-go,
It touches #he Sky; Jote-to-wa-ko, Cold on Both Sides; Ta-hah-
wet-ho, Mossy Place; Too-tah-he-ho, Crowding Himself; Des-
kah-he, Resting on It. | tia
There are eight Seneca chiefs: Kan-ya-tai-yo, Beautiful Lake;
Sat-ta-kaa-yes, Skies of Equal Length; Sa-tea’-na-wat, He holds
on to It; Sa-ken-jo-nah, Large Forehead; Ga-noon-gay-e,
Threatened; Nis-hi-nea-nent-hah, The Day fell down; Kah-
none-ge-eh-tah-we, They burned their Hair; Ta-ho-ne-ho-gah-
wen, Open Door.
The Tuscaroras have nine principal chiefs, who are: Ta-ha-
en-te-yah-wak-hon, Encircling and holding up a Tree, which
is also the council name; Sa-kwi-sa or Se-qua-ri-se-ra; Tah-ka-
yen-ten-ah; Ta-wah-a-kate; Kah-en-yah-che-go-nah ; Ta-ka-hen-.
was-hen; Ho-tach-ha-ta:; Na-wah-tah-toke, Two Moccasins
Standing together; Sah-go-hone-date-hah, The One that spares
Another. One or two of these may be doubtful, but none rank in
the council as high as the others.
Besides the chiefs there was the distinguished rank of Agoian-
ders, a kind of nobility made up of men and women, often referred
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 159
to in early writings. These persons had special duties and privi-
leges, and one dance was called after them. The false faces and
medicine societies do not correspond to them, though these have
peculiar functions and honors.
Two of their national names were foreign to their language
and came from their enemies. Mohawk is not an Iroquois word,
nor could’a Mohawk once pronounce it. For some time the
Algonquin family lay between the Dutch and that nation, and
both they and the English accepted the names known to those
living near them. The Dutch called them Maquas or Bears,
that clan being prominent. Hence Father Bruyas wrote: “ Gan-
niagwari, A she bear; This is the name of the Mohawks.” ‘Their
accepted name, however, was Canienga, At the Flint, or People
of the Flint; commonly given as Annies or Agniers by the
French. This was connected with the idea of striking fire with
a steel, and the steel became their national symbol. As this was
an early name they may have learned to use the steel from
Cartier or others in Canada, long before the rest had any contact
with Europeans, and Sir William Johnson derived their name
from the steel itself. Bruyas gave kannia for gunflint, which is
near the French form of the national name. As for our horn-
stone, usually termed flint, it was as abundant in all the other
Iroquois territory as among the Mohawks. ‘The use of this with
the steel made a distinction.
The Dutch divided the Iroquois into Maquas and Senecas,
Champlain into Iroquois and Entouhonorons, and later French
writers into lower and upper Iroquois. They had everywhere a
terrible reputation, which others should have shared. Roger
Williams said: “ The Maguauogs, or Men-eaters, that live three
or four hundred miles west from us, make a delicious monstrous
dish of the heads and brains of their enemies.” Their common
name of Mohawk came from another given by their enemies,
Mohowaug, They eat Living Creatures.
Besides the national title each nation had a council name by
which it was addressed in public conferences. David Cusick
gave this for the Mohawks as Te-haw-re-ho-geh, A Speech
160 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Divided. There are other interpretations, all referring to a
division, mostly of words. Albert Cusick thought the best ren-
dering, A Heart divided into Two Hearts, equivalent to our
E pluribus unum, and perhaps referring to their peculiar union.
The national boundary east was the top of the hills east of Scho-
harie creek; on the west it is said to have been at Little Falls.
Northward they claimed to the rock Rogeo on Lake Champlain.
Thence to the St Lawrence they asserted a joint ownership with
their near relatives, the Oneidas. Their villages continually
varied in number, changing from one side of the river to the other.
The Oneidas were closely akin to the Mohawks, and their
language is much the same. Both used the letter L freely, that
being of rare occurrence in the other nations, and their use as
interpreters, with the Mohawks, has left a distinct impress on the
Indian terminology of New York. Their early seat was prob-
ably in the St Lawrence valley, with forts north and south of
Ogdensburg. They seem to have shared in the Mohawk exodus,
and to have sought secluded and strong situations, as both Mo-
hawks and Onondagas did. All three were for a time more
exposed to hostile incursions than the Cayugas and Senecas, for
the Neutral nation lay between the latter and the Hurons, and the
Algonquins were far away. For this reason the early Oneidas
never dwelt in the lowlands about Oneida lake and farther east,
and no traces of them are found there. They sought the hills.
One early village east of Chittenango creek and Cazenovia lake
seems theirs, but the earliest identified with their name was a
mile southeast of Perryville, at a remarkable stone now destroyed,
but long venerated by the Indians. It was a dark crystalline
rock, quite erect and reaching about 7 feet above ground. Their
name refers to this, being People of the Stone, or more exactly
the Upright Stone. In 1615 they were at Nichols’ pond in Fenner,
a few miles away. That village also included a large boulder,
and similar representative stones were selected as their villages
moved northward. The Rev. Samuel Kirkland, an excellent
authority, mentioned one in Westmoreland. The Oneida stone
of 1796 was a somewhat cylindric boulder, weighing over 100
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 101
pounds. Another is in Forest Hill cemetery, Utica N. Y. Aug
was often added to Oneida to signify locality, or ronon for people.
Their council name is Ne-haw-re-tah-go-wah, or Big Tree, refer-
ring to Hiawatha’s finding them by a large tree which they had
just cut down. |
The French usually termed their town Onneiout, and their
name was first mentioned and castle described from within by
Arent Van Curler in 1634. He thought them a part of the Sen-
ecas. The next year they appeared in the list of Iroquois nations
in the Jesuit Relation. The Delawares termed the Mohawks
Sankhicani, or Fire-striking People, a translation of their own
name. The Oneidas were W’Tassone, Stone Pipe-makers, from
their excellence in this art.
Ononta, said an early French writer, means a hill or moun-
tain. The present terminal in Onondaga is locative, and the
word ronon was for a time added to signify people. Their Dela-
ware name also referred to their situation. For a century they
were on the hills near Limestone creek, in various places, leaving
that valley in 1681, and making their home on Butternut creek
for about 40 years more. Their removal to Onondaga creek is
not so exactly known, but was not far from 1720. In that valley
they have moved several times. The French found them on
Indian hill, Pompey, in 1654, and first mentioned them in 1635.
Van Curler came in contact with them early that year. The
league was formed by Onondaga lake, and the Grand Council
met in their town. Their council name is Seuh-no-keh-te, Bear-
ing the Names, and sometimes the principal chief and town were
called by this. As with all Indian names it is variously spelled.
The gradual increase in power or security is well illustrated by
the nation’s progressive removals from secluded to exposed
situations. Champlain noticed this practice in speaking of the
Hurons and Senecas in 1616: “Sometimes they change their
Village of ten, of twenty, or thirty years, and transport it from
one, two, or three leagues from the preceding place, unless they
are constrained by their enemies to dislodge and to go far away,
as the Antouhonorons had done from some 40 to 50 leagues.”
162 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The Seneca territory had included both sides of the Genesee
valley, but, when the Huron war broke out, they withdrew their
towns to the east side. Most writers make the duration of a
town from Io to 15 years. With the use of steel axes in getting
fuel the time increased greatly. °
The French at first called the Cayugas Onioenronons, and their
principal town and country Onioen. Afterward they termed
them Goyoguins, sometimes omitting the first letter. The
Moravians called them Gajukas, equivalent to our Cayugas.
Though the whole of Cayuga lake belonged to them, they lived
mostly at the lower end and on the river below. In early days
they were east of the lake, but afterward had several villages on
the western shore, and others later on the Susquehanna and its
branches.
David Cusick’s name is much like the later French form, and
he defines Go-yo-goh as Mountain rising from the Water. L. H.
Morgan gave it as Gwe-u-gweh, At the Mucky Land; and
Albert Cusick, in accord with interpretations elsewhere, as
Kwe-u-kwe, Where they drew their Boats ashore. In every
case there may be a reference to the high and firm land, above
the marshes. Their council name is Soh-ne-na-we-too-na, Great
Pipe, and this is their symbol. The Delawares called them after
the lake. [
That Champlain, when he came from the Huron. country. in
1615, meant the lake of the Senecas by that of the Entouhonorons,
or Lake Ontario, seems very plain. Between Entouhonorons
and Sonnontouehronons there is less difference than often occurs
in early writers. Champlain had‘ noted that this people had
drawn in their frontier towns, something needful to the Senecas
alone. The question is rather whether he included some other
Iroquois nations with them, as the Dutch did. This seems the
case, and his words imply a loose confederation, such as might
be expected at first. In describing his map he tells of the fort
of 1615, where he “went to war against the Antouhonorons,”
elsewhere mentioned as an Iroquois fort. In another place he
said this:
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 163
The Antouhonorons are 15 villages, built in strong positions ;
enemies of all others except the Neutral nation; their country
is fine and in a good climate near the River St Lawrence, the
passage of which they block to all other nations. . . The
Yroquois and the Antouhonorons make war together against all
the other nations except the Neutral nation. Carantouanis is a
nation to the south of the Antouhonorons: . . . from whom
they are only three days distant.
Here are several particulars. The Antouhonorons were dis-
tinct from but allied with the Iroquois. ‘They were south of
Lake Ontario, but commanded the St Lawrence. They were at
peace with the Neutrals. The Carantouanis lay three days south
of them, and these have been placed near Waverly N. Y., and
were also but three days from the fort in Madison county. The
inference is that Champlain meant the Mohawks when he com-
monly spoke of the Iroquois, and sometimes included the other
four nations as the Antouhonorons.
The French called the Seneca country Sonnontouan, and the
Seneca people Sonnontouehronons or Tsonnontouans, which is
very near the name of the Onondagas in meaning, implying
dwellers on or among the great hills. Their common name is
Algonquin, received by the Dutch from the Indians near the
coast. Hon. George S. Conover derived it from the common
word sinm, to eat, in allusion to cannibal tastes, or their being
devourers of men in a more warlike sense. Horatio Hale, on
the authority of Mr E. G. Squier, gave Sinako as the Delaware
name for stone snakes, or as applied to the Senecas for mountain
snakes. This word does not appear in Zeisberger’s Delaware
vocabulary; and Mr Hale spoke doubtfully of it. In fact,
Heckewelder gave the Delaware name of the Senecas as
Maechachtinni, Mountaineers, and he is good authority. Their
council name is Ho-neen-ho-hone-tah in Onondaga, Possessing
a Door. David Cusick gave it as Te-how-nea-nyo-hent, with
the same meaning.
The Tuscaroras were added in 1714, their name signifying the
Shirt-wearing People, and the confederacy has since commonly ©
been termed the Six Nations. Their position is not equal to the
164 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
others, but more like that of our territories. Except by courtesy
they have no votes, nor had they any title to the lands on which
they lived till they secured their present reservation. Their
council name is Tu-hah-te-ehn-yah-wah-kou, Those who em-
brace the Great Tree; perhaps because the Oneidas received
them. The Indian idea is that the Five Nations are the house,
the Tuscaroras like a woodhouse, built outside but attached.
In describing their symbols in 1736, the Onondaga device was
a cabin on top of a hill, the Mohawk a flint and steel, the Oneida
a stone in the fork of a tree, the Cayuga a great pipe, and the
Seneca a mountain. Charlevoix made a curious but not surpris-
ing mistake in these signatures as made in 1700. Indian draw-
ing is not yet artistic, and he said, “ The savages signed, each
one putting the mark of his nation at the foot of the treaty. The
Onondagas and Tsonnontouans traced a spider, the Goyogouins
a calumet, etc.” The former were hills.
The relationship of the nations has sometimes changed, but at
present the Mohawks, Onondagas and Senecas are the elder
brothers; the Oneidas, Cayugas and Tuscaroras the younger.
Pyrlaeus said that at first the Mohawks were the elder brother,
the Oneidas eldest son, and the Senecas youngest son. Then the
Tuscaroras became youngest son. The Mohawks were always
considered the oldest brother, and the present arrangement is at
least 150 years old. When chiefs die or are to be raised in either
of these, the opposite brotherhood takes charge of all the cere-
monies and installs the new chiefs. In Canada now, where every
nation and chief corresponds to those in New York, there is a
difference in voting. The older and younger brothers separately
determine what their vote shall be, and, if they disagree, the
Onondagas, as fire-keepers, have the casting vote. In this case
the Onondagas sit in the center of the council house, and the
representatives of the two brotherhoods are on opposite sides.
Each announces its vote, and the fire-keepers do the same. The
latter are supposed to kindle and cover the fire. There is a
similar division of clans for games and feasts.
The names by which the league was called are less than some
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 165
have thought. The Algonquins of New Jersey and Pennsyl-
vania termed the Andastes, or Susquehannas, Minquas. ‘These
were both the kindred and enemies of the Five Nations; and,
after the Iroquois had subjugated them, the whole family was
termed Mingo in Pennsylvania, as speaking the same language.
Thus Logan the Cayuga is often called a Mingo. There were
other foreign names of less note.
Their own name came from comparing their league to one of
their long houses, having a door at each end and separate fires
for each family through the length of the house. This title has
been variously spelled and translated. The Moravians called
them Aquanoschioni, prefixing a syllable, and rendering it
Covenant or United People. Hale gave the Mohawk name as
Rotinonsionni, They of the Extended House. Morgan gave the
Seneca as Ho-de-no-sau-nee, People of the Long House. Bruyas
interpreted Hotinnonsionni as.Cabin-makers. The Onondaga
name is Kan-no-se-o’-ne, A Long House made of Several Houses
put together. David Cusick simply made the name Goo-nea-
seah-ne mean Long House. The Rev. Mr Dellius, in 1694,
thought Honontonchionni equivalent to “ Konossioni, which is
the whole howse, or all the Indians together.” The Relation of
1654 said that the Iroquois call themselves “ Hotinnonchiendi,
that is to say, the finished cabin, as if they were only one family.”
Charlevoix’s fanciful account of the origin of the word, Iro-
quois, has been generally accepted till quite recently. He said,
“The name of Iroquois is purely French, and has been formed
from the term hiro, ‘I have spoken,’ a word by which these
Indians close all their speeches, and kowe’, which when long
drawn out, is a cry of sorrow, and when briefly uttered, is an
exclamation of joy.”
The truth is that this was an early Algonquin name for this
people, which Champlain had from the Indians on the lower St
Lawrence in 1603, six years before he met the Iroquois on Lake
Champlain, and when he could have known nothing of their
speech. He seems to have found this in constant use east of
that place, and before he encountered any people speaking the
166 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Huron tongue. This fact invalidates Mr Hale’s idea that it was
of Huron origin, deriving it primarily from garokwa, a pipe, and
thence from the indeterminate verb ierokwa, they who smoke.
As all Indians smoked, this has no force. He hazarded another
supposition, that, as Maquas were sometimes termed Bears, for
which the Mohawk name was Ohkwari, and the Cayuga Jakwai
(Yekwat in Schoolcraft), the term Iroquois might have come from
this. Mr Brant-sero would derive it from the Mohawk J-th rongwe,
I am the Real Man; Mr David Boyle from karakwa, the sun.
All these conjectures are plausible, but we must remember that
the name was Algonquin, and that the termination was in com-
mon use by that family at that time, as applied to nations and
tribes, having the force of the Iroquois ronon or people. One has
but to remember the Abenaquois, Soriquois, Almouchiquois,
Charioquois or Hurons, and many others, to see what the ter-
minal means. |
Recognizing its Algonquin origin, Mr J. N. B. Hewitt says it
“suggests the Algonquin words irin, true or real; ako, snake;
with the French termination ois, the word becomes Jrinakois.”
This is much better, if not quite satisfactory, but quois is still
the terminal of many tribal names. It may have come from ahkt,
a place. Iroquet, a chief whose people were called after him,
was also an Algonquin. The latest Algonquin dictionaries of
the eastern nations do not contain Mr Hewitt’s words. The
nearest approach to ako is achgook.
Generally the site of the formative council has been placed on
the northeastern shore of Onondaga lake, a very suitable spot,
but some later Onondagas have assigned it to the center of Syra-
cuse, equally unsuitable in early days. Some wampum belts
have been made coeval with the league, a date much too early.
Hiawatha’s white canoe is prominent in the story, bringing him
to his first labors and bearing him aloft when all was done. The
latter suggests Christian teaching but was not foreign to abo-
riginal thought. Historically, as he left the lake for the Mohawk
country, his white birch canoe may have been a strong contrast
to the dark elm bark canoes of the rest.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 167
One or two things more may be added about the league. At
first it seems a loose alliance, holding periodical councils to pre-
vent internal hostilities, but gradually becoming stronger and
with more definite laws. In 1655 the Mohawks and Senecas were
almost at war, and the former took defensive measures. Each
nation made war or peace for itself, but, while this continued
through all their history, they were most of the time a united
people. Aggressive wars were popular, and all might heartily
engage in these. When they were invaded, each nation took care
of itself, sometimes.proposing aid but giving none.
One feature should not be overlooked, the rank and great influ-
ence of women, of which many examples could be given. Some
New York treaties bear their names. The children followed the
mother’s clan and nation, and the chief women had the power of
naming principal chiefs for their clan or family. Speeches are
made in the council for them but not by them, and Red Jacket
was long their speaker. Peace or war, matters of general wel-
fare, have often rested on their decision. ‘Tilling the soil, they
sometimes claimed its ownership. The most curious testimony
to the estimation of women is the old Huron and Iroquois rule,
that for a woman’s life the atonement should be double that of
a man.
Chapter 5
Weakness of early Iroquois. Good Iroquois or Hurons. First battle with
Champlain. Preparations for this and location. Battle of 1610. Invasion
of Iroquois in 1615. Route of Champlain. Siege of Oneida fort. Brulé’s
adventures. Coming of the Dutch and their maps. Supposed treaty at
Tawasentha. Insufficient evidence. Efforts for peace between Algon-
quins and Iroquois. Dutch attack Mohawks. Fort Orange built. Re-
newed war between Iroquois and Canadian Indians. Mahicans sell
their lands.
With all their bravery and wisdom, the Iroquois seem to have
been barely holding their own when first known as residents in
New York. Champlain came to Tadoussac in 1603, before he
had seen them, and found the Indians, “ rejoicing for the victory
obtained by them over the Irocois, of whom they had killed some
hundred, whose heads (scalps) they had cut off, which they had
168 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
with them for their ceremony.” <A thousand Etchemins, Algou-
mequins and Montagnez had defeated 100 Iroquois at the mouth —
of the river called from them, and flowing from Lake Cham-
plain. They had to do this by surprise, for the Iroquois were
more numerous than all three nations, controlling all the St
Lawrence above Three Rivers. He got an account of the
Mohawk country at this time, two rivers leading to it. The same
year the Iroquois were again beaten in a small fight, though the
odds were in their favor. While on the New England coast in
1605, Champlain saw a river which he thought went “toward
the Hiroquois, a nation who have open war with the Montagnars,
who are in the great river St Lawrence.” They were not men-.
tioned again till 1609.
It does not appear that Hudson encountered any Iroquois in —
his voyage of that year. Assertions of this have no sound basis,
the Mohawks living many miles from the river and their ene-
mies everywhere holding its banks. Champlain had a different
fortune while exploring the land. In doing this, he met with the
Hurons, whom he at first called Ochateguins from one of their
chiefs, but learned that these were “ good Yroquois. The other
Yroquois, their enemies, are more to the south.” These he soon
sought. , '
He left the Chambly rapids on the River of the Iroquois, July
2, 1609, with 20 canoes and 60 Indians, called Montagnars from _
the mountains near Quebec. Two Frenchmen were with him.
In Lake Champlain he came to four large islands, inhabited
before the war. The eastern shore had then belonged to the
Iroquois, but they now lived farther south, beyond Lake George,
and the route was clearly described to him. July 29 they encoun-
tered 200 Iroquois, but the brief battle took place next day. It
differed much from our ideas of Indian warfare. Some days
before the chiefs of his party assigned each man his place and
part by carefully arranging as many sticks, and there was a drill
on this. The Iroquois had stone axes and some of iron, obtained
in war or trade. Amicable arrangements were made for the
morrow’s combat by the opposing chiefs. Next day the Mo-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 169
hawks advanced in good order, led by three chiefs, distinguished
by their larger plumes. On landing, the Montagnars ran toward
the enemy, but opened their ranks to let Champlain take the lead.
The Mohawks halted at this new sight, and his first shot killed
two chiefs and wounded a third, though clad in arrow-proof
armor. ‘This decided the contest, but many others were killed
and some taken prisoners.
This meeting has been assigned to both Ticonderoga and
Crown Point. For the former it may be said that they returned
three hours after the fight, and yet Champlain saw Ticonderoga
falls. For the latter, that the Iroquois came down the lake to
the large point where they stopped, whence we might at first,
but not conclusively, infer they were north of the portage. He
added, “ The place where this battle was fought is in 43 degrees
some minutes latitude, and I named it Lake Champlain.” Crown
Point is very near the 44th parallel. In this case it is probable
the Mohawks embarked at the head of Lake Champlain.
In 1610 he had another encounter with the Iroquois. Some
Algoumequins and Montagnais had attacked a temporary fort
in which 100 of their enemies had taken refuge, and were repulsed
with the loss of some of their best men. Even the French were
not at first successful, terrible as firearms were then to the Iro-
quois. Reinforcements came; Champlain had a tree felled across
the barricade, and the place was carried by assault, few of the
defenders escaping.
For some time there were but brief references to the Iroquois,
and then Champlain took part in what was intended for a crush-
ing, but was an unsuccessful blow. In 1615 he visited the
Hurons, sometimes called the good Iroquois from their friend-
ship for the Algonquins and the French, the latter known to them
as the Agnonha or iron men. He commenced his journey July 9,
with Etienne Brulé, the interpreter, a French servant and some
Indians, ascending the Ottawa, part of which he had already
traversed. Reaching the Georgian bay, he followed its shores
to the Huron towns toward Lake Simcoe. The Recollect Father,
Le Caron already had a mission there, and eight of his French-
170 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
men joined Champlain. Brulé was sent with some Hurons to
notify a tribe of the Andastes, living on the Chemung river
where it crosses the New York line, who wished to join in the
attack with 500 men. To do this, he had to take a long and cir-
cuitous route, and did not arrive in time.
The Hurons, with Champlain and his nine men, crossed the
country to the River Trent, where they found fields abandoned
because of the war. Near the eastern end of Lake Ontario they
crossed by one of two possible routes. The place where they
left the lake is affected by this, but will not be discussed now.
That the route crossed the outlet of Oneida lake is certain, and
repeated examinations strengthen the claim that it then turned
southeast, terminating at Nichols’ pond in the town of Fenner.
This is in the Oneida territory, and the local and archeologic
features are satisfactory. On the site is a boulder 15 feet long,
which may have been the Oneida stone of that day, giving it the
name of the village of the stone, or rather continuing it from the
town last occupied.
The stockade was made of four rows of palisades, crossing at
the top and affording broad though rude battlements, reached
by simple ladders. It extended some distance into the very shal-
low pond, thus securing a supply of water which could not be
cut off and which readily extinguished every fire. The bark
gutters for domestic use became a means of saving the town
from the enemy. Here Champlain encamped Oct. Io, remaining
till the 16th. The Iroquois still feared firearms, but less than
at first, and, as they retreated, told the French “ not to meddle in
their fights.” Champlain made a movable tower, and 200 men
placed it near the wall. The Arquebuses drove the Iroquois
from the gallery, but the untrained Indians took no advantage
of this, and all efforts to burn the town failed. Champlain was
wounded and the Hurons discouraged. Nothing was accom-
plished, but they agreed to wait four days for their allies. Some
skirmishes followed, the French saving the Hurons in each.. The
500 men not coming at the time agreed, they made litters for the
wounded and decamped. Champlain was carried on one ofthese
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 171
for several days in great discomfort, but the boats were reached
in safety.
Two days later Brulé and his Indians came and did nothing.
The Iroquois were encouraged, having beaten the white men; the
Oneidas were not destroyed, nor the confederacy severed in
twain. The forest fight had far-reaching consequences, though
it may be doubted whether the Iroquois had a lasting resentment
against the French because of this. Champlain went back to
the Huron country, where he spent the winter. ‘The next spring
he could get no guides, as the Hurons wished to retain him for
another expedition, but at last he got away. Brulé spent the
winter at Carantouan or Big Tree, and explored the Susque-
hanna to the sea. He did not return to the French till 1618, and
then had a curious tale to tell. Trying to cross the country of
the Iroquois, he fell into their hands, and escaped death by his
boldness, tact and good luck. He visited Lake Superior and the
copper mines during this period, and at a later day was killed in
a Huron town.
Meanwhile the Dutch were trading on the Hudson, as far as
the head of navigation, and two maps have been published
assigned to 1614 and 1616, containing a good deal relating to
the interior west of that river. One of these is partly repro-
duced, and is on a smaller scale than the older one. ‘The latter
has the Maquaas on the north side of the Mohawk river, and on
the south side the Canoomakers, probably an Indian and not.
European word. South of a large lake are the Senecas, and on
what may be the Chemung at Carantouan are the Gachoos. The
Capitanasses and Minquaas are farther down the Susquehanna,
the latter people extending far eastward. Between these, but
farther west, are the Iottecas. This is the map of 1614, and the
maker of it said:
Of what Kleynties and his Comrade have Communicated to me
respecting the locality of the Rivers, and the position of the
Tribes which they found in their Expedition from the Maquaas
into the interior and along the New River downwards to the
Ogehage, (that is to say, the Enemies of the aforesaid northern
tribes,) I can not at present find any thing at hand, except two
172 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
rough drafts of Maps relating thereto, partly drawn with accur-
acy. And in deliberately considering how I can best reconcile
this one with the rough drafts Communicated, I find that the
places of the tribes of the Sennecas, Gachoos, Capitanasses, and
Jottecas, ought to be marked down considerably further west
into the Country.
The map of 1616 is on a smaller scale and embraces part of
Canada. While retaining the main features of the other, the
lettering is by a different hand and there are slight changes in
the spelling. Lake Champlain is far to the east and is labeled
“Hef Meer Vand Irocoisen.” Its eastern shore is called Irocoisia,
a sufficient refutation of the story of Charlevoix. East of this is
the country of the Almouchicoisen in New England, showing
again an early use of this terminal by the Algonquins. The note
on French sloops and the Mohawks is on this map.
A petition, to which this chart was annexed, was read to the
officials of the States General Aug. 18, 1616, asking that they
would “ be pleased to hear the aforesaid Cornelis Hendrickxzen’s
Report, and to examine the aforesaid Map and Discovery.” The
discovery was of a bay and three rivers southwest of the mouth
of the Hudson. One item is of interest: “He also traded for,
and bought from the inhabitants, the Minquaees, three persons,
being people belonging to-this Company; which three persons
were employed in the service of the Mohawks and Machicans;
giving for them kettles, beads and merchandize.”
Champlain said the people of Carantouan took these three men
in war in 1614. They could safely trade on the Hudson with the
Mahicans, but, to trade with the Mohawks, an inland journey
must be made. On one of these trading trips they were made
prisoners. Champlain said their captors returned them without
harm, thinking they were French. “Otherwise these three pris-
oners would not have been suffered to get off so cheaply.”
Through the Hurons the Susquehanna Indians had a good
opinion of the French. All were foes of the Iroquois.
Connected with this early trade is the story of a Dutch aah
Iroquois treaty at Tawasentha, or Normans kill, below Albany,
credited by many on very small proof. This was in the Mahican
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 173
territory, two days’ journey from the Mohawk frontier. Between
these there was almost constant warfare. When Van Curler
visited the Mohawks in 1642, there was no formal treaty with
them, and the first one was made in 1645. This was often
_ referred to in later days. As the fort was an early trading post,
there may have been a council with the Mahicans, the owners
of the land.
In connection with French and English claims this story had
importance, and evidence was framed to fit the case. Of this
kind was that of Catelyn Trico, a Frenchwoman who testified in
1656 to this effect, that she went to Albany, then called Fort
Orange, in 1623, and stayed there three years, living in New York
and on Long Island always afterward. ‘That she was 83 years
old, and that during her stay at Albany “ye Mahikanders or
River Indians; ye Maquase: Oneydes: Onnondagages, Cay-
ouges. & Sinnekes, wt ye Mahawawa or Ottawawaes Indians
came & made Covenants of friendship wt ye s¢ Arien Jorise there
Commander,” with other remarkable incidents distinctly remem-
bered 62 years later. At that time there was no way for the
Ottawas to reach Albany; and, when they came in the 18th cen-
tury, they said they had never been there before. Most of the
Five Nations were not recognized by the Dutch by these names
till 1662, nor were they in common use till the second English
occupation, but the venerable Mrs Trico remembered just what
Governor Dongan wished.
Pyrlaeus made a note more to the point regarding the place,
when he wrote in 1743:
According to my informant, Sganarady, a creditable aged
Indian, his grandfather had been one of the deputies sent for the
purpose of entering into a covenant with the whole Europeans;
they met at a place called Nordman’s Kill, about four miles below
where Albany was built, where the covenant of friendship was
first established, and the Mohawks were the active body in .
effecting this work.
If this Indian were then 70 years old and his father 30 at his
birth—certainly a fair allowance—his grandfather, might have
174 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
attended the first historic council with the Mohawks in 1645, and
have been then 40 years old. It seems needless to take 30 years
from this date and make the grandsire a boy.
The Algonquins and Iroquois had been at war over 50 years
when they began to talk of peace in 1622. June 2 two Iroquois
came to Three Rivers to confer about this and were well received,
after which they returned home with four deputies and many
presents. Six weeks later the deputies came back, having been -
heartily welcomed by the Mohawks. Unfortunately a trouble-
some fellow, who went with them, treacherously killed an Iro-
quois on the way, and it was feared the war would be renewed.
The Iroquois were considerate, thinking it a piece of personal |
malice, sent six more deputies and concluded peace in the spring
of 1624.
Le Clercq said that early in 1622, 30 Iroquois canoes passed
Three Rivers and attacked the Recollect convent near Quebec,
but he often erred, though positive in this statement. Neither
Champlain nor Sagard mentions it, nor does it harmonize with
other events. ,
Meanwhile the Dutch were busy. In the spring of 1623 a
“ship sailed up to the Maykans,’—not to the Mohawks. The
distance was estimated at about 132 English miles, and the
colony built Fort Orange on Castle island. “ Right opposite is
the fort of the Maykans, which they built against their enemies,
the Maquaees, a powerful people.” These were then at war, and
in 1626 the former asked help of the Dutch, who were willing.
Commander Krieckebeck and six others marched with them
toward the Mohawk country. A league from the fort they met
the Mohawks, armed with bows and arrows, and were defeated,
the Dutch commander and three of his men being killed. The
Mohawks cooked and ate one and burned the rest, reserving an
arm and leg as trophies for those at home. Peter Barentsen,
their favorite trader, visited them a few days later, for they could
not come to the river to trade. They said “they had never
injured the whites, and asked the reason why the latter had med-
dled with them. Had it been otherwise, they would not have
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 175
-acted as they had.” It is evident there was then no treaty of
friendship.
De Laet makes the statement that a fort was built at Albany
io ror “and «coustantly occupied till 1677." “Also that Henry
Christians first commanded, and in his absence James Elkens,
who received authority from the States General in 1614. ‘This
seems well attested. Elkens traded near Fort Orange in 1633,
and testified that he had lived four years with the Indians. He
was then 42 years old, which would have made him 23 in 1614.
Another witness said that, if they could have stayed there another
month, the Mohawks would have brought them 4000 beaver skins,
and the Mahicans 300 more. Only through such trade could
they get wampum and other supplies.
The report of the fight between the Mohawks and Dutch
reached Canada in a few days, and some Canadian visitors, the
next winter, were solicited by the Mahicans to break the peace
already made and take sides with them. Some favored and some
opposed this, but the war feeling was so strong that some Iro-
quois deputies were badly treated. Another violent act occurred.
In 1627 a Frenchman went on a peace embassy to the Mohawks,
with some Canadian Indians. Some Senecas came who had
recently suffered from the Algonquins, and in their rage they at
once killed all the ambassadors before the Mohawks could pre-
vent it. The Algonquins retaliated by torturing an Iroquois
hostage, and war followed. It is probable these Senecas were of
nations east of those to whom the name was afterward restricted.
The temporary subjection of Canada to the English came in
1629, but in the privations which preceded this Champlain seri-
ously thought of seizing one of the Iroquois towns, with 50 or 60
Frenchmen, “ passing there the rest of the summer, autumn and
winter, rather than to die of hunger one after another in the
plantation.”
Soon after most of the Mahicans left the Hudson because of
the war, but still retained their territorial rights, as was then the
- custom. It was a favorable time to buy Indian lands, and Kiliaen
Van Rensselaer embraced the opportunity in 1630, acquiring most
176 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
of the Mahican lands near Rensselaerwyck and west of the river
to the Mohawk border, and on the east side to the same extent.
No Mohawk names are on his deeds. Some land was added on
the east in 1637, and his tract was 24 miles long and 48 wide.
With no Mahicans now intervening, the Dutch had closer rela-
tions with the Mohawks. A few Mahicans lingered in their old
homes and those who had removed were sometimes hostile, but
at a later day many returned to New York and the old foes
became allies and friends.
Chapter 6
French visit Hurons and Neutrals. Daillon in New York. Increase of
Iroquois trade and strength. War with Canadian Indians. Van Curler’s
journey to Oneida. Each of the Five Nations first mentioned by name.
Fear of Mohawks in New England. Canoe fight. Huron war continues.
A Neutral tribe joins the Hurons. Eries described. Iroquois retaliate
on French. Montreal founded. Onontio. French forts built. Jogues
taken. Mohawk sacrifice.
Meanwhile the French power was developing in Canada,
opposed to the Dutch in religion, nationality and trade, and this
soon greatly affected the Iroquois nations. Of their kindred
north of Lake Erie brief mention has already been made. All
were populous and powerful, but less warlike than others. Their
towns were well defended, but not so well as those of the Iro-
quois. During war they abandoned many of their frontier towns,
and thus the Petuns and Hurons, once having towns farther
east, were now thickly grouped between Lake Simcoe and the
Georgian bay. The researches of Mr A. F. Hunter and others
in locating and describing the ossuaries and town sites of these
nations, have greatly enlarged our knowledge of their strength
and age, and have shown the way in which they drew back into
their historic abodes. The Neutrals seemed to have little to
dread, and yet at last withdrew their outlying villages in New
York, confining themselves to their territory between Niagara
and Detroit.
These populous nations quickly attracted the attention of both
missionaries and traders. Father Joseph le Caron went to the
Hurons in 1615, with 12 French traders. Champlain found him
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS AZ
there, and he remained during his Iroquois expedition. The fol-
lowing winter he visited the Petuns, or Tionontaties. He was a
Recollect and returned to Quebec with Champlain in 1616.
Father William Poulain, another Recollect, was a prisoner to
the Iroquois for a short time in 1621, but was exchanged. He
took the opportunity of teaching some Iroquois prisoners, taken
by his friends, hoping some day to visit them, and made a brief
visit to the Hurons in 1622. In 1623 Father Nicholas Viel and
Le Caron, with Brother Gabriel Sagard, were there for a few
months, Viel remaining for nearly two Wears; wen da.Roche
Daillon, another Recollect, was there in 1626, going thence to the
Neutral nation, of whom he gave many particulars. He was
the companion of Father Jean de Brébeuf and of Father Anne
de Nouvee, the Jesuits, when they went to the Hurons that year.
In 1628 Brébeuf was there alone, and was ordered to Quebec in
1629. The English occupation hindered missionary work, but
linguistic studies were maintained. Brébeuf, Daniel and Davost
went to the Hurons in 1634. After this we have those graphic
and thrilling relations of missionary experience among savages,
which have stirred the hearts of men ever since and have yielded
such treasures to the student of aboriginal life. Without fol-
lowing this work in detail among a people lying outside our
borders, it seems proper to give this brief introduction to what
at last became an important factor in New York history.
Daillon went to the Neutrals in October 1626, and may have
visited New York. He was at a village called Ounontisaston,
when “ten men of the last village, called Ouaroronon, one day’s
journey from the Iroquois, their relatives and friends,” called
and invited him there. They went off, but returned and plun-
dered him. This seems to refer to the Ouenrohronon, A Separate
People, rather than town, who afterward fled to the Hurons.
With the expulsion of the Mahicans and the sale of their lands
the Iroquois trade had a new impetus. The Dutch had learned
to make wampum by improved methods, having used it from the
first, and the Iroquois bought large quantities. They sold guns
at a great profit, for the Mohawks were greedy of these and
178 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
soon became excellent marksmen. This became the real foun-
dation of their great power, though they were good warriors
before.
A Dutch document of 1646 says of this new feature that “ they
have now achieved many profitable forays where before they had
but little advantage; this caused them also to be respected by
the surrounding Indians even as far as the Sea coast, who must
generally pay them tribute, whereas, on the contrary, they were
formerly obliged to contribute to these.”
The war with the Canadian Indians still continued. When
some missionaries were making their first ascent of the St Law-
rence in 1632, they found as low down as Tadoussac a party
which had returned with nine Iroquois prisoners, and their tor-
tures were graphically described. One strong and courageous
chief sang during his tortures at Quebec. ‘“‘ When they came to
tell him he must die, he said, as if very glad, ‘ Well, I am satis-
fied. I have taken many Montagnards; my friends will take
more of them, and will well avenge my death.’”’
Though the French had killed many Iroquois, they first retal-
iated in 1633, when they killed two Frenchmen and wounded
four more. In the same year 30 or 40 Iroquois boarded a French
shallop, but withdrew when aid came. |
The next year the Senecas defeated the Hurons in the spring,
and the latter promptly made peace with them and hoped to do
so with the other four nations. Negotiations were in progress
the following year, but an account in 1636 shows the independent
character of the several nations. A young Seneca did not favor
this peace, and married among the Onondagas that he might have
liberty to continue in the field. He was taken prisoner with seven
others, while fishing in Lake Ontario, and the story of his death
is of the most tragic character, bringing out some curious fea-
tures of aboriginal life. After his first torture he was treated
most tenderly, was handsomely dressed and presided at his.own
farewell feast, before the final and terrible scene. The Iroquois
sometimes treated their own captives much like this, but usually
subjected them to every indignity from the outset.
‘ HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 179
It was in December 1634 that Arent Van Curler made a trip
from Fort Orange to Oneida, passing through all the Mohawk
towns, then on the south side of the river. There were four
castles and some villages, the first of which he reached on the
morning of the third day. These were Onekagoncka, Canowa-
rode, Senatsycrosy, Netdashet, Canagere, Sohanidisse, Osguage,
Cawaoge, and Tenotoge. His itinerary is of interest, and it is
the earliest we have of that part of New York. He left the
Mohawk at the last castle, taking the usual direct trail over the
hills to Oneida, then on the upper waters of Oneida creek. It
will be remembered that most trails are not very old, changing
as the towns changed place. At Oneida he considered himself
in the Seneca country, but met a deputation of Onondagas there,
being the first mention of these two nations by name. In an
Oneida speech or song which he recorded, the names of all the
upper Iroquois may be seen. He returned the same way in
January 1635.
In the Relation of 1635 the sedentary nations are named, and
it is added, “ The Hurons are the friends of all these peoples,
except the Sonontoerrhonons, Onontaerrhonons, Ouioenrhonons,
Onoiochrhonons, and Agnierrhonons, all of whom we compre-
hend under the name of Iroquois.” ‘The third of these were the
Cayugas, whose early name is elsewhere properly Oniouenh-
ronons. In a list of 1639 the Konkhandeenhronon erroneously
come between the Onondagas and Cayugas. ‘This list of sed-
entary nations is larger than the first and some are of another
family.
In 1635 the Hurons kept some Iroquois prisoners to treat for
peace, but there came a report that the Little Nation of the Algon-
quins had been defeated by the Iroquois, who took some pris-
@ueqs. ».lhis destroyed: plans for, peace... Lhe, next..year the
Little Nation burned some Iroquois prisoners, and asked the
Hurons to join them in the war. An Algonquin war party also
returned to Tadoussac, Aug. 10, with 28 prisoners and scalps,
including men, women and children, and efforts for peace were
fruitless.
180 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
At this time Breébeuf estimated the Hurons at 20 villages and
30,000 people. His means of judging were good. Champlain
reported 18 villages and 10,000 adults, about the same population,
though they had suffered greatly by war.
Meanwhile the Iroquois were making their power felt, buying
guns and becoming excellent marksmen. A little later the Mo-
hawks had 400 men carrying guns, which few of their enemies
could procure. The cry that Mohawks were near always created
a panic among New England Indians, and they were equally
dreaded by others. Colden said, much later:
I have been told by Old Men in New England, who remem-
bred the Time when the Mohawks made War on their Indians,
that as soon as a single Mohawk was discovered in the Country,
their Indians raised a Cry from Hill to Hill, A Mohawk! A
Mohawk! upon which they all fled like Sheep before Wolves
without attempting to make the least Resistance, whatever the
Odds were on their Side.
When the Pequot chief Sassacus fled in 1637, he sought refuge
in their country, but was surprised and slain by one of their bands.
One of the charges against Miantonimo, in 1643, was that he had
hired the Mohawks to fight against the New England colonists,
and that they were within a day’s journey, awaiting his people.
This was unfounded. They often fought against the Indians of
New England, but seldom molested the colonists. They also made
inroads on the wampum-makers, as some Indians of the sea-
shore were often called, and these became tributary. It should
be remembered that all this was after the coming of the whites.
Their great power was within historic times.
The Iroquois canoes were of elm bark, and of clumsier con-
struction than the Canadian birch canoes, being easily known at
a distance. When abandoned they were sometimes useful to
others, and thus a young Indian gave the French a great alarm
in 1637. It is noticeable how generally successful the Canadian
Indians were in canoe fights, perhaps a result of better boats and
greater nautical skill. In this year, in such a contest between
the Iroquois and the nation of Iroquet, 13 of the former were cap-
tured. On the other hand 500 Iroquois held Lake St Peter and
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK [IROQUOIS 181
captured 30 Hurons. A band of 150 Iroquois was also near the
French settlements, making their presence known. “This they
knew from the little sticks attached to a tree, to show who they
were and how many.”
The older Hurons now wished peace, but some young warriors
began war against the Senecas. It meant ruin, but it was resolved
to support them. It was then that the Ouenrohronons, a border
tribe of the Neutrals, sought refuge with the Hurons and were
hospitably received. They seem to have lived in New York and
suffered much in their removal, the French estimating their jour-
ney at 240 miles.
In 1639, a party led by Oronkouaia, an Oneida chief, was
defeated by the Hurons, who killed nearly a score. The leader
was tortured fearfully, and his hand was thrown into the house
of the Jesuits, with insolent words, they having baptized him.
This war involved the Algonquins, who feared the presence of
the Iroquois everywhere and gave the French a_ thousand
alarms.
In 1640 Brébeuf and Chaumonot visited the Neutral country
but not New York, their outposts being mostly withdrawn.
Their strength was then estimated at 12,000 people in 4o villages.
Parkman thought that “they, and not the Eries, were the Kah-
kwahs of Seneca tradition.” The Hurons would allow neither
these nor the Petuns to pass their country to trade with the
French, and the Neutrals were too poor boatmen to brave the
waves of Lake Ontario.
Mr O. H. Marshall also thought the Kahkwahs and Neutrals
the same. On Coronelli’s map of 1688 a village was placed near
the site of Buffalo called Kakouagoga, A Nation destroyed, and
Eighteen Mile creek is called by the Senecas Gah-gwah-geh,
Residence of the Kahkwahs. This was probably the southern
boundary of the Neutrals, and Gallatin gives kahquahgoh as the
Seneca word for south, so that the name might refer to the
nation, or position, or both. The Senecas told Schoolcraft that
they destroyed the Kahkwahs at this creek in 1755, and he
thought 100 years should be deducted from this. He also gave
182 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Governor Blacksnake’s well known story. The Kahkwahs chal-
lenged the Senecas to athletic contests, and were beaten with
sanguinary results. Mortified and angry, they went home and
were soon on the warpath. Learning their purpose, the Senecas
went forth to meet them, and after a long and hard battle were
victorious.
David Cusick gave the common Iroquois belief when he said:
“About this time the Kanneastokaroneah or Erians sprung from
the Senecas, and became numerous and powerful nation, occupy-
ing the country lying between the Genesee and Niagara rivers.”
This name is quite different from Kahkwah; but, while Erie
means a cat, kahkwah is an eye swelled like a cat’s. Another
identification has been suggested by the traditional overthrow of
the Squawkie Indians. David Cusick also gave the primitive
name of Lake Erie as Kau-ha-gwa-rah-ka, correctly interpreted
as a cap, and this by contraction resembles the word in question.
However this may be, it seems reasonable to make Eighteen
Mile creek the boundary betweén the Eries and Neutrals. In the
Relation of 1641 we are told that of the Neutral towns “ there are
three or four on the eastern side [of Niagara river], extending
from east to west toward the Eries or Cat Nation.” These may
have remained awhile longer. |
In 1640 the Iroquois were enraged by a French collision, and
proclaimed that the Hurons and French should be treated alike.
The Mohawks captured two Frenchmen and took them home in
triumph, as living evidences that they could cope with the
whites. Some of the upper Iroquois delivered them that they
might become messengers of peace, and came to Three Rivers
with the captives, June 15, 1641, with 20 well armed canoes.
They wished peace with the French, but plundered four Algon-
quin canoes in their sight, having determined to exterminate the
Algonquins and Montagnais. They also proposed a French
settlement in the Mohawk country, but negotiations failed, and
they at once became hostile, so sudden were their changes. One
party destroyed five Huron canoes a little farther west, killing
or capturing those on board. So great was their rage, so per-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 183
severing their hostility, that they sought out and destroyed an
Algonquin camp in a remote northern wilderness, in the depth
of winter, treating their prisoners with horrible cruelty. A Huron
village was also destroyed that year.
The site of Montreal was selected in 1641, near the spot
where Hochelaga had stood a century before. The Relation of
1646 says: “ This island is in some fashion the frontier of the
Annierronnons Iroquois.” Governor Montmagny and Sieur Mai-
son-neuve went there May 17, 1642, to take possession of the
island and commence the first buildings with solemn religious
services and a feast. “Two Indians present stood on the moun-
tain top, as before mentioned, where their ancestors had lived.
The grandsire of one had cultivated the land on which they stood.
They said: “The Hurons, who were then our neighbors, chased
our ancestors from this country; some retired toward the land
of the Abnaquiois, the others to the land of the Iroquois, and one
part turned to the Hurons themselves, united with them, and
behold the island was rendered almost a desert.” ‘This has been
variously explained. Mr Shea proposed interchanging Hurons
and Iroquois, making the latter the aggressors, but this is no real
improvement. It is rather probable that, after the withdrawal
of the Iroquois to New York, the Hurons did attack the Algon-
quins who had dwelt by them, and who remained behind. Tra-
ditionally the Hurons did receive a new nation about that time,
and the Iroquois always welcomed accessions to their numbers.
Among these Algonquins who went to their land, may have been
many old friends.
It was in 1641 that Governor Montmagny was called from his
name, Onontio, or Great Mountain, afterward the title of Can-
adian governors. In 1642 he commenced forts on the Sorel, or
River of the Iroquois, to check their war parties, which seemed
everywhere and were well supplied with guns by the Dutch.
Charlevoix said that Montmagny complained of this to the Dutch
governor, who replied in a courteous but vague way. In this
year Father Isaac Jogues was taken by the Mohawks, with two
French companions, while on the St Lawrence with a party of
184 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM fe ;
Hurons, traveling in 12 canoes. The French might have escaped,
but Jogues would not leave his Huron friends, nor would his
French comrades desert him, In hastening to his aid William
Couture killed a great Indian chief. They were carried
to the Mohawk towns, suffering greatly there and on the
way. 3
The same year 11 Huron canoes were coming down to Three
Rivers with furs, when they were attacked by the Iroquois on
the Ottawa river, 150 miles above Montreal. While building
their new fort on the River of the Iroquois, the French were sud-
denly assailed by 300 of that people, and were in great danger of
being cut to pieces. Recovering from their surprise, they
repulsed the attack, but the enemy retreated in good order.
While the Mohawks held the St Lawrence and waylaid parties
on the Ottawa, other bands were active in the Huron country
all the time, but with some reverses. The bold Huron chief,
Ahatsisteari, not only overcame a party larger than his own, but
afterward attacked and destroyed a fleet of great Iroquois canoes
by his own skill and daring. Some he overturned, killing or
capturing their crews in the water.
That year Van Curler again visited some of the Mohawk towns,
where he saw Jogues and his two companions. His account of
their fears differs from that of the Relations. He wrote also as
though there were then no treaty between the Iroquois and
Dutch, though good friends. He said, “I brought presents
there and asked that we should live as good neighbors, and that
they should do no harm to either the colonists or their
cattle,’
René Goupil was killed soon after among the Mohawks and
the other captives suffered much. Jogues escaped in 1643 by
the aid of the Dutch, and went to Europe for a while. That
spring the Mohawks went to collect tribute toward the seashore
and took him along to show him to some of these people. This
may help to explain a statement in early Dutch writers, regarding
a visit to New Amsterdam or vicinity that year, of 80 Mahicans
from near Fort Orange, armed with guns, who came to levy
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 185
tribute on the Indians along the lower Hudson. The Mahicans
had left Albany before this and all the circumstances show a
mistake in the name. The Indians left their homes for fear of
these Mohawks, for such they clearly were, sought refuge with
the Dutch and were massacred by them. The Mohawks were
not responsible for this. Ruttenber thought these visitors
were Mahicans, all agreeing in the name, but the Dutch
did not see them, and the mere name was liable to be mis-
taken.
One account by Jogues is of the Mohawk sacrifice to
Aireskoi, where a woman was burned, or rather roasted and
eaten. In his amiable desire to exalt the Iroquois character,
Mr Hale said that “the Iroquois never burnt women at the
stake,’ but sex made no difference in this, as many incidents
show.
Several early writers describe this particular Mohawk offering,
almost in the words of Jogues, but without reference to him.
Mourning their remissness in not eating some captives in honor
of Aireskoi, they had substituted bears at their feast, promising
to do better in the future, and women were their next prisoners.
One was selected as a victim:
When this woman was tortured, at every burn, which they
caused by applying lighted torches to her body, an old man, in
a loud voice, exclaimed, ‘‘ Demon Aireskoi! we offer thee this
victim, whom we burn for thee, that thou mayest be filled with
her flesh, and render us ever anew victorious over our enemies.”
Her body was cut up, sent to the various villages and de-
voured.. +
The Relation of 1643 divides the Iroquois into Senecas and
Mohawks, and says they were once inferior to the Hurons, but
now surpassed them in numbers and strength, the Mohawks
alone having 300 guns, well used by them. The Iroquois cap-
tured 23 Hurons and 13 canoes that year near Montreal and
attacked the French. Eight Algonquins were taken near Three
Rivers and a war party was defeated with much loss. In this
party was Pieskaret, a brave and high-minded Algonquin chief,
of whom many stories are told. mg
186 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Chapter 7
Change in Iroquois warfare. Dread of their coming. Ten parties. Bres-
sani captured. Iroquois tortures. Pieskaret’s success. Prospects of
peace. Kiotsaeton. Oneidas adopt Mohawks. Iroquois success. Dutch
treaty of 1645. French and Mohawk treaty of 1646. Embassy and
death of Jogues. Pieskaret killed. His exploits. French ask aid of
Massachusetts. Capture of Annenraes by Hurons and his escape. Peace
negotiations with Onondagas. Skandawati’s death. Eries. Huron
towns destroyed. Death of missionaries. Huron towns abandoned and
one adopted by Senecas. Overthrow of Petuns and death of Garnier.
Neutrals destroyed. Huron treachery. Iroquois extend their conquests.
The Iroquois now changed the conduct of the war. Instead
of sending a few large parties at certain periods, they kept small
parties coming and going all the time, so that there was never any
safety above Three Rivers. One of these bands brought a letter
from Jogues, but it was fired on and they were much enraged at
him. The St Lawrence and Ottawa were both closed by 10
Iroquois bands in the spring of 1644, and one of these captured
Father Bressani, who was afterward ransomed by the Dutch.
The Hurons were faring badly. One of their frontier towns
had been destroyed in the fall of 1642, and a party of 100, return-
ing from Montreal, lost all their goods and 20 men in a fight
on the way. On the other hand, the Hurons took three of their
enemies in 1644, but the Algonquins abandoned both their homes
and hunting grounds. The fear of the Iroquois was everywhere,
so swift were their movements. They came like foxes, attacked
like lions, and fled like birds. About this time Father Vimont
said: “I would as soon be besieged by hobgoblins as by the Iro-
quois. The one is scarcely more visible than the other. When
they are afar off, one believes that they are at our doors; when
they throw themselves upon their prey, one imagines that they
are in their own land.”
Two of the Iroquois parties mentioned went to the Sault Chau-_
diére, a place noted for Iroquois ambuscades and Huron defeats.
At this spot the Indians used to collect offerings in a chaudieére,
or kettle, casting it and its contents into the water to procure a
safe journey. The third went to the foot of the Long Sault of ©
the Ottawa, and the fourth lay in wait above Montreal. The
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 187
fifth band of 80 warriors lay hidden on the island of Montreal
for three days, and this was attacked by the French. The latter
were repulsed with the loss of five men, two of whom were tor-
tured and burned. The sixth band of 40 men went toward the
River of the Prairies, capturing a party of Algonquins, most of
whom were burned in the Iroquois villages. The seventh took
Father Bressani and some Hurons. In this band were some
naturalized Hurons and Algonquins. The eighth met this one
as itreturned. The ninth party was on the River of the Iroquois,
and the tenth went against the Hurons. Other small parties
were out and the ground was well covered.
Bressani’s captors sailed two days homeward, when they met
a party who maltreated the prisoners. They sailed two days
more, traversed the woods for six days, embarked on Lake Cham-
plain and followed it for eight days in a leisurely way. Four
days later they came to a fishery on the Hudson, where 4oo Iro-
quois were encamped. They stopped there nearly a month, and
there Bressani ran the gauntlet and was placed on the usual high
scaffold, where he had to dance and was frequently burned. This
scaffold torture may have been peculiar to the Iroquois, for on
this platform they used a slow fire, torches, hot irons, and various
means of torture, prolonging the pain as much as they could.
He afterward suffered much in two Mohawk villages, but his life
was spared and he was given to a woman whose grandfather the
Hurons had killed. She thought him of little use, and sent him
to the Dutch to see what they would give for him. The good
Father did not tell how low was his price, but the Dutch gave
more than had been expected and clothed. him well.
? It has been mentioned that three Iroquois prisoners were taken
in 1644. The Algonquins readily gave theirs to the French, but
the Hurons determined to take their two home, promising not
to burn them, as there were hopes of peace. That summer the
Iroquois destroyed a party of 100 Algonquins.
Pieskaret made one of his successful expeditions in 1645. With
six Algonquins he killed 11 Iroquois, brought in two prisoners
and returned in triumph. At the end of his speech he said: “I
188 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
saw, I killed, I took captive, I brought home; behold them pres-
ent. I enter into your thoughts; they are good.” Such a sen-
tentious speech would have been famous in Greece or Rome.
He gave the prisoners to the governor, and the Iroquois were
surprised at being delivered from death.
These were retained at Three Rivers, and Tokhrahenehiaron,
who had been held as a prisoner through the winter, was sent to
the Mohawks to see.if they wished peace. July 5, 1645, three
Mohawk chiefs came to Three Rivers with William Couture,
who had been captured with Jogues and who now served as inter-
preter. The principal chief was Kiotsaeton, who brought 17
wampum belts. A peace council was held July 12, and this has
been minutely described. Peace was agreed on, and the deputies
went home. Other deputies were sent to Canada with 18 belts,
and another council was held, Sep. 17 to 20. Peace was con-
cluded, the Iroquois saying that the dead should not be now
avenged, for “a living man is worth much more than many dead.”
In this lively account one speech in the first council may be
noted. Kiotsaeton wished the French to eat with the Mohawks
in their own land, telling of its many good things and adding,
“Leave these stinking pigs which run around your habitations,
which eat nothing but what is filthy, and come and eat of good
victuals with us.”
In the second council there was a curious reference to the
Oneidas, who were bitter enemies of the Hurons:
A village named Ononjote’, incensed to the last degree against
the Hurons, because these people in a combat killed almost all
the men of this village, which was constrained to send to ask
the Iroquois, named Agnerronons, with whom they had made
peace, for some men to be married to the girls and women who
had remained without husbands, in order that the nation should
not perish. This is why the Iroquois name this village their child.
A striking scene ended this important council:
This discourse finished, the Iroquois set himself to sing and
dance, he took a Frenchman on one side, an Algonquin and
Huron on the other, and holding them embraced with his arms,
they danced in cadence, and sang with a strong voice a song of
peace.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 189
The truce was kept by the Mohawks, who hunted freely with
the Algonquins the following winter, to the astonishment of
many. ‘Those who know the antipathies of these nations and
their frightful inclinations for revenge, think that they see so
many miracles when they see a friendly feeling between an
Algonquin and an Iroquois.” It did not affect the other four
nations. Two bands of Hurons fell into their hands while going
to trade with the French, and in 1645 they captured three other
fleets. Early in the spring of that year an Iroquois party
approached a Huron village and captured a troop of women
going out to their morning work. So quickly were they placed
in their canoes that 200 armed Hurons were unable to rescue
them.
Toward the end of that summer some Huron and Iroquois
watriors met in the forest, the former at first having the advan-
tage. A parley followed, and, when the fight was resumed, the
Hurons were beaten. <A notable incident happened at a large
Huron town soon after. An attack was feared and the people
were prepared, young men being placed in the sentry boxes on-
the wall. They sang war songs loudly most of the night, but at
last fell asleep. Some Iroquois warriors had crept to the base
of the wall, and, when all was still, one climbed to the tower,
split the head of one sentinel and threw the other down, where
his comrades scalped him, making off so quickly that nothing
could be done. Then Hurons went to the largest Seneca town,
pierced one of the great cabins, choosing, killing and scalping
each his man, and escaping from hundreds in swift pursuit.
There were other later encounters; but the Mohawks warned
all that there was peace with them alone, and in presence of
their ambassadors several Algonquin tribes made peace with the
Dutch at New Amsterdam, Aug. 30, 1645. Wan der Donck thus
mentioned their first treaty with the Dutch that year:
In the year 1645, we were employed with the officers and rulers
of the colony of Rensselaerwyck in negotiating a treaty of peace
with the Maquas, who then were and still are the strongest and
fiercest Indians of the country; whereat the Director General
William Kieft, on the one part, and the chiefs of the Indian
190 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM “a
nations of the neighboring country, on the other part, attended.
To proceed with the treaty, the citizens of Rensselaerwyck pro-
cured a certain Indian, named Agheroense, to attend and serve
as interpreter, who was well known to the Christians, having
been much among them.
Kiotsaeton and six other Mohawk deputies came to Montreal,
Feb. 22, 1646, and a council followed at Three Rivers May 7.
Bourdon and Jogues went to the Mohawks with presents and
an escort May 16. “They arrived on the eve of S. Sacrement
at the end of a lake which is joined to the great lake of Cham-
plain. The Indian name is Andiatarocte’, which is to say, There
where the lake is shut in. The Father named it the lake of
S. Sacrement.” Six leagues from this lake they crossed the Hud-
son, there called Oiogue’, At the River, and soon came to a fishing
place named Ossarague’, going thence to Fort Orange. The first
Mohawk village was reached June 7, and was then called Oneu-
gioure’, formerly Osserion. Like most Indian towns it had other
names.
There Jogues met some Onondagas, whose towns he never
reached. He made them a present, asking that the French might
visit their land. The Mohawks remonstrated. They were the
door of the confederacy and the council fire should be approached
through them. He held to his point, that the French might go
to Onondaga in any one of three ways, and gained no Mohawk
favor by this.
The French stayed but two days, but Jogues left a small trunk
behind him, hoping to return. This caused new suspicions, as
they feared it might hurt them. The Mohawks hastened their
departure, as the other nations had parties out against the
Hurons and they might be molested.
Sep. 24, 1646, Father Jogues left Three Rivers to go to the
Mohawks for the last time, as he himself thought. A young
Frenchman accompanied him, but they were at once seized,
stripped and threatened when they arrived at the Mohawk town,
Oct. 17, being told they would be killed next day but not burned.
The Wolf and Turtle clans tried to save them, but the Bears
had decreed their death. On the evening of the 18th Jogues was
HISTORY) OF) EE NEW! YORK TROQOUOIS IOI
called to supper, and, as he entered the lodge of the Bears, a man
behind the door killed him with an ax. Thus died Ondessonk,
whose virtues and sufferings have called forth the admiration of
all. His head was cut off and placed on the wall, and his com-
panion shared the same fate next morning, their bodies being
cast into the river. A fine shrine, near Auriesville, now marks
the supposed site of the death of the founder of the Mission of
the Martyrs. Following this came a more determined war
against the French.
Simon Pieskaret was one of the first victims, being treacher-
ously slain in the spring of 1647, before he knew that peace was
at an end. He was the noblest and most renowned Algonquin
warrior of that day. Colden called him an Adirondack, and told
some stories of his deeds. He went with four others, in one
canoe, against the Iroquois. Each man had three muskets, loaded
with two bullets connected by a small chain. In Sorel river they
met five Iroquois canoes, each with 10 men. The Adirondacks
pretended despair till they were quite near, when they all fired
repeatedly on the Iroquois canoes, sinking every one, knocking
the swimming Iroquois on the head or taking them prisoners.
This seems an exaggeration of his exploit of 1645. At another
time he went to an Iroquois village, killing some one three nights
following. When pursued, he kept just ahead of his foes, turning
and scalping them all while asleep at night.
While returning in 1646 from a foray 17 Oneidas encountered
a canoe with 30 Huron warriors, and all disembarked. ‘The
sticks were placed as usual to mark each man’s post and the war
whoop was given. Both parties thought the other superior in
force and both took flight, the sticks remaining when the war-
riors were gone. An escaping prisoner told the Hurons of their
mistake and some pursued the Oneidas, taking one prisoner.
Fort Richelieu was burned this year, and there were many
hostile acts in 1647. Some French shallops were attacked, and
the Iroquois were everywhere, but the Mohawks again talked of
peace. This hardly interrupted hostilities, and an encounter took
place between the Hurons and Iroquois, near Three Rivers, in
IQ2 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
which the latter were defeated with much loss. As a result, the
French rejoiced to see 60 Huron canoes in the river, laden with
furs, though the Iroquois were troublesome. About this time the
trench asked Massachusetts to aid them against the Mohawks.
Early in 1647 an Onondaga band, on the Huron frontier, was
pursued with serious loss. One of the captives threw himself into
a great kettle of boiling water to escape the tortures reserved for
some. Annenraes, a noted chief, was spared, but toward spring
he was again in danger and was aided to escape by the Huron.
chiefs. On the southern shore of Lake Ontario he found 300
Onondagas making canoes, in which to cross to avenge his death.
There were already 800 Cayugas and Senecas on the road to aid
them. The Onondagas gave up their warlike plans and returned
home, sending a peace embassy from their towns to the Hurons.
The Senecas continued their march and destroyed a town of the
Aondironnons, a Neutral village nearest of all to the Hurons.
The Neutrals did not resent this act, for which the Senecas had
some excuse. The independent character of each of the Five
Nations appears again. The Onondagas treated of peace; the
Mohawks and Senecas kept the field.
In the spring of 1647 the Hurons sent deputies to the Andastes
dwelling on the lower Susquehanna and Delaware, in response
to an offer of aid made by them. They were in despair and asked
these kinsmen to hear “the voice of their dying father land.”
They were several weeks on their way, arriving early in June
with their pathetic tale:
The speech that Charles Ondaaiondiont made at his arrival
was not long. He told them that he came from the land of the
Souls, where war and the terrors of the enemy had laid every-
thing waste, where the fields were covered only with blood,
where the cabins were filled only with corpses, and that there
remained to them no life except what was needed to come to tell
their friends that they might have pity on a land that was draw-
ing to its end.
The Onondaga proposals gave the Hurons some hope, but the
deputies from that nation found a people divided in opinion.
‘Several councils were held before they agreed to send ambassa-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 193
dors, the first Hurons to go there in that way. ‘These left home
Aug. I, 1647, and were in Onondaga 20 days later, where they
were warmly received and feasted for a month. A second Onon-
daga embassy returned with them, headed by Skandawati, a
noted chief, 60 years old. Two others were with him and he
brought back 15 Huron captives. ‘They were 30 days on the
way, reaching the Hurons Oct. 23. At this time the Onon-
dagas and Cayugas favored peace; the Senecas and Mohawks
opposed it.
In January 1748 a new Huron embassy was sent with one of
the Onondagas, two remaining as hostages. This was attacked
by the Mohawks and some Hurons were killed. Early in April
Skandawati disappeared and was found dead by his own hand,
lying on the bed of cedar boughs which he had prepared. His
companion said:
I knew that he would do a thing like this; that which hath
cast him into this desperation is the shame which he had in seeing
that the Sonnontoueronnons and Annieronnons come here to
massacre you, even over your frontiers; for though they are your
enemies they are our allies, and they ought to have shown us
this respect, that having come here on an embassy, they should
defer any evil stroke till after our return.
In one of their attacks near St Ignace, the Mohawks killed or
captured 40 Hurons, and the Senecas over 30 in another place.
Some Huron towns were abandoned. In a hunting party
attacked by the Senecas was one of the Onondaga hostages.
They forced him to be present when they took another party,
giving him one of the prisoners. He demanded to be sent back
to the Hurons, being an ambassador, saying that he would “ die
with them sooner than to appear to have acted as their enemy.”
He was allowed to return with his captive.
In the Relation of 1648 is the first circumstantial mention of
the Eries. In the list of sedentary nations in 1635 they appear 7
as the Rhiierrhonons, and in that of 1639 as the Eriehronon.
From that of 1648 we may infer that they were at a considerable
‘distance from the Iroquois, and probably in the central and
194 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
southern parts of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. To
their towns we may assign the Massawomekes, so much dreaded
in early days in Virginia. In speaking of Lake Erie the Relation
adds:
This lake, named Erie’, was formerly inhabited on its southern-
coasts by certain peoples whom we call the nation of the Cat;
who have been obliged to withdraw inland, in order to get away
from their enemies, who are more toward the west. These
people of the Cat have a number of fixed villages, for they culti-
vate the ground, and are of the same language as our Hurons.
The Andastes went to Onondaga to plead for the Hurons; but
all negotiations failed, and their downfall came rapidly on, all
the Iroquois. suddenly turning against them and no one taking
their part. In July 1648, Teanaustaye’, or St Joseph, was attacked
and taken, with another frontier village included in the same
mission. ‘The principal town had 400 families, but the men were
mostly away at the time. There were many Christians there, —
and, while these were assembled for worship, there was a sudden
alarm and universal terror. Some ran to fight and others to fly.
Father Antoine Daniel stood where the peril was greatest, encour-
aging the Hurons and baptizing many. The assault became
more furious and resistance was vain. He went to his church
with his flock, going forth alone to meet the enemy when they
came on with savage yells. His boldness checked them but for
a moment. He was quickly slain and the place destroyed, 700
being killed or captured, mostly women and children. A larger
number were saved by flying to the strong house of the Jesuits.
A terrible blow came the following spring. Unknown to the
Hurons, about 1000 Iroquois had left home in the autumn of
1648, leisurely hunting through the winter as they approached
the Huron towns. All the nations were represented in this
army and most had firearms. The night before Mar. 16 they
came quietly to the walls of Taenhatentaron, or St Ignace, where
they found a strong stockade and a deep ditch. A careful recon-
naissance showed one place weaker than the rest, and they broke
through this so secretly and quickly that they were masters of
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 195
the town before the people awoke. There was some resistance,
to of the Iroquois being slain, but out of 400 inhabitants only
three escaped.
This was at daybreak. At sunrise the Iroquois attacked the
mission of St Louis, a fortified town a league away. Most of
the people had fled, but 80 warriors bravely defended the place,
killing 30 of their foes. Axes were plied against the stockade,
a breach was made, the Iroquois rushed in and the defenders
were slain. Having burned the town, the Iroquois returned to
St Ignace and refreshed themselves. Then they reconnoitered
the fortified French mission house, intending an attack with 200
men, but were deterred by its strength. A party of 300 Hurons
intercepted them on the morning of the 17th, but the vanguard
quickly fled. The main body stood firm and captured 30 Iro-
quois, but were beaten in turn. The furious combat lasted into
the night. On the 19th the enemy had disappeared, but terror
and desolation remained. .
Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant were taken in St Louis, stripped
naked and carried to St Ignace, where they suffered terribly.
Brébeuf had red hot axes hung about him, some telling him that
they did this out of kindness, for the greater his sufferings here
the greater would be his glory hereafter, and indeed his fortitude
made a lasting impression on foes and friends. Hot water was
poured on both in derision of baptism. This torture Brébeuf
endured for three hours and -Lalemant for double that time.
Some Hurons were bound and burned in the houses, the whole
town being destroyed.
Hope was lost and famine followed. The Hurons abandoned
five strong towns. One town, that of Scanonaenrat, surrendeged
and removed to the Senecas, where it long had a separate exist-
ence. Many families went to the neighboring nations, as the
Petuns, Neutrals and Eries, only to have the same experience
again. Some sought the islands and woods, multitudes perishing
in the wilderness. Part determined to take refuge with the
French at Quebec. The missionaries burned their house, fol-
lowed those who went to the islands and the Petuns, and the land
190 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
was abandoned. There the Iroquois had full and unresisted
range, and the bravest were unnerved.
The Petun or Tobacco nation, otherwise known as Tionontaties
or Mountaineers, was the next to suffer. In November 1649 the
Petuns learned with joy that 300 Iroquois were in Canada, unde-
cided what place to attack. Those of the town called St Jean by
the French, Etharita by the Petuns, waited for them several days
and then, fearing they might escape, sallied forth to find them,
considering them already vanquished. This was Dec. 5.
The enemy took another road, making some prisoners, from
whom they learned that the town was destitute of men. They
hastened their march and were before the place Dec. 7, at 3 p. m.
It was an easy prey, but the Iroquois, fearing the return of the
watriors, with great cruelties killed all who could not march
quickly. Father Charles Garnier was alone in this mission and
went at once to his chapel, where he was killed at his post, but
without torture. The Iroquois had no time for that. Two days
after the Petun warriors returned. Their homes were desolate,
their people dead or in captivity. Their horror was too deep for
cries or words. For half a day they sat silent on the ground,
without raising their eyes, without moving and seeming hardly
to breathe, like statues of stone.
The western war diminished but did not remove hostilities on
the St Lawrence. The Mohawks attacked the French in 1650,
near Three Rivers, fighting in the marsh and flying in their
canoes. When their enemies were scattered, they turned against
them. They were led by a half-breed, well known as the Dutch
Bastard. In the Mohawk country a party of Hurons and Algon-
quins was betrayed to the Mohawks that year and was destroyed.
till most of the Mohawks were aiding the upper Iroquois that
year, having their promise to fight against the Andastes as soon
as the western warfare was over. This had a new object for a
while. In 1650 war began against the Neutrals, whose frontier
towns were quickly taken, one in the autumn of 1650, the other
the following spring. One was garrisoned by 1600 men. The car-
nage was fearful and the number of prisoners immense, the young
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 197
women being reserved to populate the Iroquois towns. The
Neutral nation was ruined, terror was everywhere, even the dis-
tant towns were abandoned, and multitudes perished in the
woods. In this terrible scene the Iroquois lost all fear, and were
everywhere present to increase its horrors. Hurons, Neutrals
and Tionontaties fell on every hand, the sight of one Iroquois
putting a host to flight. The Montagnards and the Algonquins
of the Ottawa river were swept away, and trade was ruined.
The names of some Neutral towns appear in earlier Relations.
A note in Charlevoix’s New France [1: 271] says that in 1650 the
Neutrals, under Tahontaenrat, routed 600 Iroquois, and killed
200. The Relations say nothing of this, and the name is that of a
Huron tribe. The same note says that in 1651 the Iroquois
attacked the Neutrals and took Te Otondiatin. Their success
seems to have been uniform.
The only reverse the Iroquois had at this time in this western
warfare was not in the open field but through Huron treachery.
This was long remembered and fully punished. The Hurons had
a fort on an island, and the Iroquois built one on the mainland
opposite. By deceptive acts and false proposals of peace, 30 of
the bravest Iroquois were decoyed into the Huron fort and slain.
The survivors went away for aid and most of the Hurons fled,
those who did not being soon destroyed. When one reads the
history of those three years, one can appreciate the feelings of
the missionaries when they said they would do all they could,
“in spite of all the rage of hell, and the cruelties of the Iroquois,
who are worse than the demons of hell.”
Three powerful nations being now out of the way, the Iroquois
soon came in contact with others north and west. Idle stories of
earlier treaties with the Ottawas and Ojibwas scarcely deserve
mention, though some have given credence to them. If they
have any foundation, the date must be later than the Huron con-
quest, the immediate effects of which were great. Among others
the Attikamegues, or White Fish nation of the northwest, was
thrice invaded, and the women and children carried off “to the
land of fires and flames.”’
198 NEW YORK STATE- MUSEUM
Chapter 8
French and Boston people. Mohawk chief burned at Three Rivers. Pon-
cet taken and released. Onondaga negotiations. Garakontie’, Le Moyne
visits Onondaga and the salt springs. Iroquois slaves. Death of An--
nenraes and the Erie war. Le Moyne visits the Mohawks. Chaumonot
and Dablon visit Onondaga and build chapel. Jealousy between Mo-
hawks and Onondagas. Dablon returns. Journey of French colony.
Fort built on Onondaga lake. Land grant. Site of the mission. Gar-
reau killed. Missions in four Iroquois nations. Withdrawal of colony.
The Mohawks did not all go to the western wars. In 1650
they asked leave of the Dutch to cross their lands in going against
the eastern Indians, feeling bound to do this by the treaty made
five years before. This was not yet old enough for full confi-
dence, and, when the Tappan Indians came to Fort Orange that
year, saying that the Mohawks were about to attack the Dutch,
some alarm was felt. Labatie, who commanded there, was asked
to go to them with a new embassy but refused, yet deputies were
sent and distributed presents to the amount of 600 guilders.
In 1651 the Council at Quebec proposed an offensive and
defensive alliance against the Iroquois to the people of Boston, |
as they were troublesome to both. In their proposal the French
said they were “ barbarous Heathens, who have neither God, nor
Faith, nor Justice in all their proceedings.”
The Hurons, settled near Quebec, became presumptuous at this
time and raised a war party against the Mohawks which they
thought invincible. Some Algonquins and others joined them,
but they were defeated with much loss. There are several base-
less stories, ascribed to this period, of conflicts and treaties.
Father Jacques Buteux was killed by the Iroquois May Io,
1652, while on his way to the White Fish nation. War continued,
generally with advantage to the Iroquois. When they defeated
the Huron party mentioned, they took Toratati, the chief, and
burned him alive. One doubtful act increased the enmity to the
French. A hostile Mohawk party on the St Lawrence began to
make proposals of peace. These were distrusted, and one of
their canoes was seized, with three men. One was their leader, —
Aontarisati, a great favorite in his own land, and the Mohawks
were much enraged) when he was burned at Three Rivers after
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK JROQUOIS 199
being baptized. To avenge his death, a Mohawk party came
near that place the following winter, but the French strength-
ened their works and doubled the guard. The enemy withdrew,
but a small party returned in the spring, making ambushes and
doing much damage. Father Poncet was taken prisoner Aug.
20, 1653, with another Frenchman who was burned. Poncet was
soon released, because of new proposals for peace. While in the
Mohawk country he was adopted by a widow, and said:
So soon as I entered her cabin she began to sing the song of
the dead, in which she was joined by her two daughters. I was
standing near the fire during these mournful dirges; they made
me sit upon a sort of table slightly raised, and then I understood
I was in the place of the dead, for whom these women renewed
the last mourning, to bring the deceased to life again in my per-
son, according to their custom.
Unexpected events had happened and his release came quickly.
He said:
I was only a month in the land of the Iroquois. I came in the
fourth of September; I went out the third of October. And in
this brief time I had intercourse with the Hollanders; I had seen
Fort Orange; I had passed three times through the four villages
of the Iroquois Agniers; the remainder of the time of my cap-
tivity was occupied in my going and my return. I was taken by
the River of the Iroquois and Lake Champlain, and consequently
there were but two days of the journey by land. And I was
brought back by another route, so that I have passed over the
two routes which their armies and their warriors take when they
come in search of us.
Montreal suffered much from the [roquois, but Maison-neuve
brought too settlers from France, and conditions improved. One
event became historic, the beginning of a new era. In the midst
of alarms, 60 Onondagas came to Montreal June 26, 1653, to
propose peace, saying that the Cayugas and Oneidas favored
their coming. They warned the French also that 600 Mohawks
were in the field, intending to fall on Three Rivers. The Onon-
dagas had a good reception, going also to Quebec, and sent a
second deputation there in September.
One Mohawk party was defeated by the Hurons on the island
of Montreal, the captain and four principal men being made pris-
200 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
oners, and there were other fierce encounters. The Mohawks at
Three Rivers, finding unexpected resistance, sent in a white flag
with proposals of peace, a favorite scheme. When told of Father |
Poncet’s captivity, they at once sent orders for his release. Mean-
time, the Hurons and their prisoners fell into their hands, but
were well treated, and all went on to Quebec, accompanied by
the Onondaga deputies. Andioura, the Mohawk chief, was
speaker at Quebec, showing the presents and asking that a French
settlement should be made in the Iroquois country. The Iro-
quois went home to ratify the peace in their own land. All this
was done in September, but the Onondagas promised to come
again before spring.
- The Mohawks desired by this treaty to secure the Hurons at
Quebec for themselves and the Onondagas did the same. A
council was held with the latter Feb. 5, 1654, affirming the peace,
but the desire of both for the Hurons again clouded the prospect.
The Hurons feared these nations most and their mutual jealousy.
They thought the Onondagas had not forgotten the death of 34
men, treacherously killed in the island fort, and that the Mohawks
hoped to avenge Aontarisati, whom they had burned. This
business was deferred. While this was going on, the Oneidas
seized a Frenchman and took him to their country, but he was
soon released at Garakontie’’s desire, who pledged his life for
him. Some Tionontaties and Ottawas had taken 13 Senecas and
others, while on their way to Montreal, but gave their captives
into the hands of Sagochiendaguete’, the principal man of the
Onondagas. This was Garakontie’, often called by the Onon-
daga council name in virtue of his office.
Father Simon Le Moyne went to Onondaga on this important
business, leaving Montreal July 17, 1654, accompanied by a young
Frenchman called Jean Baptiste. Soon after the Mohawks came
down and objected to his mission, there being a strong jealousy
between the two nations. The Mohawks said they were the
eastern door and all outside business should be done through
them. It was dangerous for the French to come through the
central chimney, for they might fall into the great council fire.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 201
On this they were promised a visit from Le Moyne if they could
overtake him, but they failed in this.
The journal is of great interest, describing the upper St Law-
rence for the first time. Like some later writers, he included
the Thousand Islands in Lake Ontario. At the mouth of Sal-
mon river he found a village of captive Hurons, among them many |
pre irtends: They “belonged ‘to: the ‘Onondagas. Thence “he
crossed the country to the foot of Oneida lake, where was an
Onondaga fishing village. Small hamlets lay beyond. From
the lake his course was due south to Onondaga, then a large town
on Indian hill, 2 miles south of Manlius village. There he had a
grand reception and was lodged in Garakontie”’s house. He was
used to Indian ways and was a general favorite. His knowledge
of the Huron tongue was useful here, for it was much like the
Mohawk. At first called Ouane by the Hurons, he had suc-
ceeded to Jogues’s name of Ondessonk.
He reached Onondaga Aug. 5, entering the town singing the
ambassador’s song and receiving addresses of welcome. He was
delighted to meet old Huron friends and, when the council met,
Aug. 10, he presented his 19 belts, speaking for two hours in a
chief’s tone and manner. In his speech he bewailed the death of
- Annenraes, taken and killed by the Eries. This Onondaga chief
was once a prisoner to the Hurons.
On the way and in the town Le Moyne had baptized several
children. His first adult baptism there was of a captive Neutral
girl. Colden said that the Iroquois had no slaves, but they are
often mentioned in the Relations and their treatment described.
They were absolutely at the will of their masters. Just before
_ Le Moyne left he had a convert of importance, baptizing Ochiona-
gueras by the name of Jean Baptiste. He was the leader of the
army against the Eries and the first Onondaga adult baptized.
Le Moyne began his return Aug. 15, with the usual parting
ceremonies. The village was nearly 15 miles from the salt
springs, which were reached next day. At that time the Indians
did not use salt and they thought the springs were inhabited by
some demon. Le Moyne boiled the water and made salt, carry-
202 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
ing some to Quebec. Through an error in quotation a knowledge
of this by the French has been placed 10 years earlier. The |
Kirkpatrick fountain, near the spot, will commemorate this event.
Le Moyne was now on new waters and his passage down the
Oswego river the earliest recorded by a white man, Champlain
not having reached that stream, and Le Moyne not having landed
at Oswego, as many have supposed. Lake Ontario was now
called the Lake of the Iroquois, and the missionary followed its
shore to Salmon river, arriving there Aug. 23. He said: “ We
arrive at the place which they destine for our house, and a French
settlement. There are charming prairies, good fishing, an access
for all nations.”
From his journal the rest of the way seems uneventful, but
Charlevoix said he suppressed one important particular, lest it
should lead to trouble. He said that Le Moyne had with him two
Onondagas, some Hurons and Algonquins, who were surrounded
by Mohawk canoes, when near Montreal, and fred on. The Hu-
rons, Algonquins and one Onondaga, were killed and Le Moyne
made a prisoner. The surviving Onondaga was told he might
go home, but he refused to abandon his charge and threatened
the Mohawks with the wrath of the upper Iroquois. They
relented, and the Onondaga took Le Moyne to Montreal. Mother
Mary of the Incarnation said the Mohawks threw the blame on
the Dutch Bastard. The story is in every way improbable, the
Onondagas would not have passed over such an affront lightly,
nor would Le Moyne have visited the Mohawks the following
year.
One interesting feature of this visit to Onondaga was the
recovery of Brébeuf’s New Testament and Garnier’s book of
devotions, showing that the Onondagas were active in the Huron
tragedy. They also had Huron, Neutral and Petun captives.
The Erie war increased the demand for arms and ammunition;
and, lest the Iroquois should get these of the English, the Dutch
ordered Rutger Johnson to furnish them sparingly and secretly.
The Eries were called Rique’ by the Iroquois and Eriee’ by the
Hurons, not as pronounced by us. Their exact location is uncer-
tain; but, as the Onondagas carried their canoes to their towns,
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 203
which were inland, they may have ascended Cattaraugus creek
or gone to the head waters of the Alleghany, perhaps both. The
story of the war and its causes is interesting. The Eries had sent
30 men to the Senecas to treat of peace, and, while they were
there, a Seneca was elsewhere killed by an Erie. The Senecas fell
on the ambassadors, of whom but five escaped. War ensuing, the
Onondaga chief, Annenraes, was taken before he knew of the
outbreak; but he proved as persuasive as of old and was given
to the sister of one of the dead ambassadors, with the hope that
he might preserve peace. She was not then at home, but they
doubted not her acceptance, clothed him handsomely and feasted
him well. When she returned, she refused all offers, though
this might ruin her country. He must die, and they had to yield.
They took him from the feast, stripped him of his robes and
kindled the fire. “He cried out before dying that they were
going to burn a nation in his person, and that they would cruelly
avenge his death.” An Iroquois army quickly took the field and
made his words good.
There is a fanciful Seneca tradition of this war which has been
credited by many, but which has no likeness to the contempo-
raneous account, and the latter has some difficulties. According
to this the Eries abandoned most of their towns, but at last made
a stand in a strong fort and were summoned to surrender. They
refused, and a terrible assault began, which was long unsuccess-
ful. The palisades were high and well defended. The Iroquois
took their canoes and bore them before them, using them first as
shields and then as ladders. The fort was carried with the loss
of many of the assailants, but with terrible carnage to the inmates.
After this, 300 rallied and planned a surprise, which was badly
conducted. At the first Iroquois yell they lost heart and fled.
The invaders suffered much, but except as captives the Eries
appeared no more. One campaign destroyed them.
The Iroquois invaders are said to have been 1800 men, but
it is safe to reduce this estimate, and, as the Eries fought bravely
on the defensive in a strong fort, their numbers could hardly have
been large, and archeologic evidence rather favors this. This
204 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
accords with the fact that before this they left the shore of Lake
Erie to seek homes less exposed to their foes. On the other hand,
their warlike character made them dreaded by the Iroquois, who
were inclined to the French by this fear. Few or many, they
were brave. As the birthplace of a captive to the Oneidas, the
name of Gentaieton, the chief Erie town, alone has come down
to us.
In 1655 Le Moyne went to the Mohawks and was well received.
Both Seneca and Onondaga ambassadors were in Canada that
year, which resulted in the journey of Fathers Joseph Chaumonot
and Claude Dablon to Onondaga, where a firm alliance was made
and a place selected for a colony, this being changed from Salmon
river to Onondaga lake.
The two missionaries were received with the usual stately
Iroquois ceremonies for ambassadors, and they have left graphic
accounts of these. As in many other cases, Garakontie’, the head
chief and always their host, was called by the Onondaga council
name. Nov. 7, 1655, “It was told the Father in this assembly,
first that [S] Agochiendaguete’, who is as the great king of all
the country, and Onnontio were equally firm and constant in their
decisions.” The French superior of missions was called Achi-
endase’ by the Iroquois, and all the missionaries had Indian
names, which were given to others when they died. Curiously
enough, Mr J. G. Shea thought Garakontie’ was not a principal
chief and that he was a nephew of Sagochiendaguete’. This
came from a confusion of names.
Nov. 18 a chapel was built, of which Dablon said, “ For mar-
bles and precious stones we had but bark; but the way to heaven
is as open through a roof of bark as through fretted ceilings of
silver and gold.” The mission was named St John Baptist.
The speeches and songs in the council at this time were fully
recorded by Dablon, Garakontie’ intoning most of the latter. It
was a beautiful land which the French were to inhabit. The
news of their coming was good and their speech heavenly. Very
welcome were these brethren of the delightful voice. Farewell
to war and all its horrors. Both parties had been mad, but were
now brothers. The great peace was made, everything was beau-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 205
tiful, and henceforth there would be mutual support. It was a
time of rejoicing.
About this time the Dutch had Indian troubles, there being an
outbreak near Manhattan, and in October the Dutch at Fort
Orange thought it prudent to renew their Mohawk alliance. In
November 100 Mohawks came there to say that they were about
to attack the Hurons and asked the Dutch to be neutral.
The Mohawks and Onondagas were often in antagonism. In
1656 a Mohawk chief desired the French “to close the door of
his houses and his forts to the Onnontagueronnon, who wishes
to be my foe, and who broods over thoughts of war against me.”
A little earlier the Mohawks had killed a Seneca ambassador
near Montreal, jealous of his mission to the French. This
nearly caused a war between the two nations, going so far that
the Mohawks unsuccessfully applied to the Dutch for mediation
and aid. This matter was afterward settled at Onondaga, though
the two nations “ were at the point of entering into war.” Their
alliance was not old enough to make them thoroughly one. In
1653 an Onondaga chief had told the French “that it was very
necessary to distinguish between nation and nation; that the
Onnontaeronnons were not unfaithful like the Anniehronnon
?)
Iroquois,’ with like complimentary speeches.
Chaumonot and Dablon have left notes of their winter at
Onondaga, but found the people impatient of French delays.
For three years they had talked of founding a colony, but nothing
had been done. If they did not act at once, the plan would be
abandoned and war might follow. On this Dablon returned to
Montreal early in March 1656, crossing Oneida lake on the ice
and reaching Montreal after a fearful journey. The emergency
was seen, his mission was successful, and the French colony left
Quebec, May 17, 1756, escorted by some Onondagas, Senecas and
Hurons. There were four Jesuit fathers and two brothers in the
party, and between 50 and 60 colonists and soldiers. Soon after
starting, they were assailed by a party of Mohawks, who mal-
treated some of the Onondagas, but made excuses, fearing war
with that people.
206 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
At Montreal they embarked in 20 canoes, leaving there June
8. <A large flag of white taffeta, with the name of Jesus, floated
over one of these. Some Mohawks were encountered, whom the
Onondagas, their kindred, reviled and plundered. Hunger
pressed the party sorely, July 3, but they hoped for relief at
Otiatonnehengue’, the fishing village at the mouth of Salmon
river. No one was there, the fishing season being over, and
from their distress the place was long known as La Famine.
Charlevoix connected this name with De la Barre’s camp there,
but it appeared before that time.
Out of 14 Indians but five remained with them, and the party
struggled on, contending with the waves of the lake and the
rapids of Oswego river, hungry and faint all the way. At
Oswego Falls there came welcome relief. Salmon filled the
river and the Onondagas sent them food. Brimming kettles were
set over the fires. They reveled in their abundant supplies and
‘
rejoiced, for “one fair day effaces the memory of ten which are
bad.” Pleasantly they ascended the broad and beautiful stream,
entering Onondaga lake, July 11, firing their five small cannon and
advancing in ranks of four canoes. They were joyfully received
by the assembled multitudes, and the fortified mission of St Mary
of Gannentaa was soon built on the eastern shore of the lake.
The colonists of New York and Canada differed in the appro-
priation of land. The former purchased land at a nominal price,
the latter took what they wanted. In the allied documents of
Burrows’s edition of the Jesuit Relations is a translation of a
deed given by Governor Lauson to the Jesuits at this time. There
was granted and given to them:
Ten leagues of space in every direction—that is to say, ten
leagues front and ten leagues depth,—and where they shall
choose to establish themselves in the country of the Upper Irocois
called Onondageoronons, be it in or near the village of Onnon-
dagé, or at Gannentaé, or as is said, in that place where they
shall judge most convenient to them, the said space and extent
of ten leagues square is to be possessed by the said reverend
Jesuit fathers, their successors and assigns, in freehold forever.
The Onondaga town lay within this space, and its people
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 207
probably never knew of the existence of a grant so absolute,
and to which their consent had never been asked. The grand
seneschal of New France was enjoined to put the Jesuits in pos-
‘
session. The governor had also “caused a fort to be erected on
Lake Gonontaa, and granted to sundry private persons some Iro-
quois lands, for which deeds have been executed.” This was
dated at Quebec, Ap. 12, 1756, five weeks before the colony left.
The French ideas were much like those of Governor Winthrop
of Massachusetts: “If we leave them sufficient for their use,
we may lawfully take the rest, there being more than enough
for them and us.”
The mission buildings were erected on the east shore of Onon-
daga lake, south of the present village of Liverpool, the site
being described as at a distance from any salt springs. A work
supposed to mark the spot was probably that made by Frontenac
40 years later, and does not agree in outline with what we know
of the mission which probably stood there. Regarding that, too,
the Relations definitely speak of but one house, possibly a term
for the whole stockade, including several houses, the circum-
stances seeming to require this in order to build and remove
several large boats unseen, with their lading. On the other hand,
Charlevoix distinctly speaks of the Jesuits’ own house as the
largest of all. In De Nonville’s memoir of 1688 it is also said
that the colonists cleared and planted fields, and also “ built
many large houses.” For lodging over 60 men it could hardly
have been otherwise.
More specifically, the mission seems to have been on lot 106,
Salina, near the large spring where Frontenac’s fort was in 1696
and which he left to camp for a night at the salt springs, all the
early ones known being south of the marsh. A passage in the
Relation of 1656 has been misapplied. In this we are told:
“The fountain of which one makes vei'y good salt, intersects
a beautiful prairie, surrounded by a grove of high forest trees.
At 80 or 100 paces from this salt spring is seen another of fresh
water, and these two opposites take birth from the bosom of the
same hill.”
208 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The last was not.the so called Jesuit spring, but one formerly
in the first ward of Syracuse. The Relation says there was no
salt spring near the mission. When rattlesnakes were described,
the writer said: “I know not if the serpents are attracted by
the salt; but I well know that the place where we have set up
our dwelling, surrounded by beautiful springs of fresh water, is
not infested by them, though it is on the shores of the same lake.”
A redoubt was soon made for the soldiers, and around it “the
fountains of fresh water were in abundance.” De Nonville said
that the 60 French included 12 soldiers under Dupuis, and that
they left four bronze cannon. There were more of both.
The trouble between the Mohawks and Senecas was settled by
arbitration at Onondaga in 1656, this being an early Iroquois
principle. “ This grand council was held on the 24th of July,
when all the nations referred to Achiendase’ (who was our father
superior) the cause of the Mohawks and Senecas, which was very
soon ended.” The former did not even then feel quite safe from
their allies, for next year they asked the Dutch for a refuge for
their families if attacked by the Senecas, and horses to draw pali-
sades to repair their forts.
Father Garreau was killed by the Mohawks in Canada in 1656
and in that year they paraded before Quebec, making some Can-
adian Indian prisoners dance. Meanwhile, the strife for the
Hurons went on. The Mohawks carried off some near Quebec,
killing many but granting peace to the rest on condition that
they would soon go to the Mohawk country. When they came
for them, the Hurons still hesitated. The nation of the Cord
refused to go, but the Bears went. Those of the Rock would go
to Onondaga, but some were massacred on the road.
Meanwhile, Chaumonot had visited the Senecas and Oneidas,
and missions were established among all the nations except the
Mohawks. Father Menard had a mission among the Cayugas,
and on the shore of their lake David Le Moine died. He was
a donné, or one specially devoted to religious work. At Onon-
‘daga lake there was much sickness and two deaths occurred.
The Onondagas came to comfort the French, relieving the sick
and covering the graves of the dead with speeches and presents. —
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 209
The Mohawks now plotted their ruin. The Onondagas, at first
enthusiastic over their new friends, became lukewarm and then
secretly hostile, though the French afterward had no doubt of
their sincerity at first. The destruction of the colony was deter-
mined, but was delayed by two causes. Garakontie’ favored the
French and postponed their surprise under various pretexts,
probably even giving them warning. Besides this, a large num-
ber of Iroquois were under restraint at Montreal, and the blow
could not be struck till these were safe. With hints of the plot,
the French made shrewd preparations. It was winter, and all
the missionaries were called in. Some colonists and soldiers had
returned to Canada. The rest were employed in making boats in
the garret of a large house. Charlevoix varies much from the
Relation in minor details. The colony had four Algonquin and
four Iroquois canoes and built two bateaux, each large enough
for 15 men. In'this little fleet 53 persons were to embark.
In due time a feast was proclaimed, which may have been held
outside of the mission, in the cabins east of the house, where
some had been made, the town being nearly 15 miles away. Ii
held within, great precautions must have been taken. During
the noise of the feast, the boats were carried out of the back door
of the stockade, launched and loaded. The guests were dis-
missed, and, when all were asleep, the fort was evacuated, on the
night of Mar. 20, 1658. A fearful journey it was through the
freezing lake, down the river, over the portage at the falls and
through Lake Ontario. At its foot they cut their way through
the ice. In running the rapids three men were drowned, but the
rest reached Montreal, Ap. 3, where the ice had just gone out.
All through it was a marvelous deliverance, and their disap-
pearance greatly astonished the Onondagas, who waited till the
next night for them to come forth, wondering at their long
silence. At Montreal they were hailed as men from the dead.
In that year the Mohawks sent a large party to join the upper
Iroquois against the Ottawas, who had killed 30 of their men the
year before. Their leader was Tecarihoguen, head chief of the
Mohawks. At this time the upper lakes were lined with Algon-
210 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
quins and other refugees from the Iroquois, some Hurons having
retired beyond Lake Superior.
Chapter g
Iroquois war renewed, and their strength. Huron and French defeat on
Ottawa river. Sad condition of Canada. Proposals of peace. Le Moyne
goes to Onondaga. His reception. Rank of Garakontie’. Hotreouate’.
War with Minquas or Andastes. Iroquois and eastern Indians. New
Esopus war. Onondaga embassy to Canada attacked, with consequent
war. First treaty between Five Nations and English. De Tracy builds
forts and invades Mohawks twice.
War now raged everywhere, with varying fortunes, but with
much distress to the French, many of whom were made pris-
oners, but were often well cared for by Garakontie’. Governor
d’Argenson landed at Quebec July 11, 1658, and the next day
there was a massacre of Algonquins close to that place. The
Iroquois were quickly pursued, but escaped. Some Mohawks
tried to surprise Three Rivers, and afterward 10 of them entered
the town for a peace talk and were seized. Their leader was
Atogotiaekotian, or the Great Spoon, who came to Quebec to
treat of peace in 1645. They were released after scaring them.
The Iroquois now carried their arms far and wide and in 1659
began to approach Hudson bay.
That year the Mohawks put the Esopus people.on their guard
and were successful in arranging a truce between the Indians and
the Dutch. They again wanted help in repairing their castles and
held a council with the Dutch, in which reference was made to
the first treaty between them 16 years before, probably meaning
that of 1645. Aid was supplied.
Of the many small encounters in the Canadian war little need
be said, but there is a curious estimate of Iroquois strength in the
Relation of 1660, which is worthy of note as a contrast to the
numbers constantly reported in the field. Of the Mohawks there
were not more than 500 warriors, of Oneidas less than 100, of
Onondagas and Cayugas about 300 each, and of Senecas not
more than 1000. Of these the conquered Hurons, Tionontaties,
Neutrals, Eries, Fire Nation and others made the largest and best
part. Yet they were a terrible scourge to Canada.
HISTORY OF THE "NEW YORK IROQUOIS 211
Late in the winter of 1660 a band of 4o chosen Hurons left
Quebec on a war party with 18 Frenchmen. Some Algonquins
joined them at Three Rivers and they took post below the Sault
de Chaudiére on the Ottawa, to wait for Iroquois hunters, who
usually passed there in single file. Some of these saw them and
_ gathered the rest, who were soon arrayed as warriors. Solemnly
and openly 200 Onondagas came down the sault in their canoes,
ready for the fight. Their astonished foes took refuge in an old
fort, making a vigorous defense. Then the Mohawks came and
aided in the siege, which lasted for 10 days. Water could be had
only at the peril of life, and part of the Indians deserted to their
foes. ‘The French fired on a flag of truce, and the Iroquois were
infuriated. Guarded by wooden shields, they rushed at the pali-
sades to cut them down. The French grenades were exhausted,
and they used disabled gun barrels. At last they tried to throw
a barrel of powder over the wall, hoping it might explode in the
midst of their foes. Unfortunately it caught in a bough, fell back,
exploded within, and the fight was soon over. Not so the cruel-
ties of the conquerors. This disaster was deeply felt by both
Hurons and French, who also heard that all the Iroquois would
make war on them the coming year. Quebec was blockaded by
700 Iroquois, victors in this fight. In this gloom the only ray of
light was that a Cayuga party came to Montreal and said they
wished to be neutral.
In 1660 the Mohawks invited the Indians living near New
Amsterdam to live with them and made a southern journey to
reconcile the Minquas and Senecas. They were present at the
treaty with the Esopus Indians and gave bail for their good
behavior. The Senecas also came to Fort Orange, and the Dutch
hoped they would be at peace with the Minquas, here called
Maquas by clerical error. It was at the conference at Esopus
that a Minqua chief sharply reproved tie: Indiansrthere 42; Ye
cause us and the Mohawks great losses. This is not your land.
It is our land. Therefore repeat not this but throw down the
hatchet.”
The next year the Iroquois waged a worse war in Canada,
212 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
extending all the way from Tadoussac to Montreal. At the latter
place 160 Iroquois appeared at the end of winter and continued
their attacks all through the summer of 1661. To the French at
Three Rivers “it was evil upon evil, and sorrow upon sorrow.”
To this were added the terrors of the comet and earthquake.
On the Ottawa river and Lake Huron not an Indian could be
found, so great was the fear of the Iroquois. At Quebec the
brave M. de Lauson was killed, and in words of that date, “the
Iroquois burned, killed and carried off with impunity.”
It was a gloomy time; but, in the midst of these trials, two
Iroquois canoes came to Montreal in July 1661, bearing a white
flag and peace proposals from the Onondagas and Cayugas.
Saonchiogwa, a Cayuga chief and friend of the French, was the
speaker. He brought back four prisoners from Onondaga, as
pledges of their sincerity and would restore others. The release
of eight Cayugas was desired. The mission house yet stood at
Lake Gannentaa, the fields there were cultivated and ready for
the return of the French. Garakontie’ had cared for the prisoners.
Then he spoke very gravely.
It is necessary, said he, that a Black Robe should come with
me; without this there is no peace, and the lives of twenty French
captives at Onondaga are attached to this voyage. While saying
this he produced the leaf of I know not what Book, on the mar-
gin of which the twenty Frenchmen had written their names.
As a result, Father Le Moyne went on a peace embassy to the
Iroquois for the fifth time, regarding “the day of his departure
as one of the happiest days of his life.” A glorious mission
indeed; for peace and deliverance were to be the results. He
wrote from the chapel at Onondaga, Aug. 25, 1661, rejoicing that
his confidence had not been misplaced. Garakontie’ had met him
two leagues from the town, an unusual honor, and his reception
was like a triumph, the grandest that Iroquois etiquette could
devise. Personally popular with all, he entered fully into the
spirit of the occasion, sustaining his part with great applause.
The enthusiastic Onondagas lined his path for two leagues,
running on and taking new stations when he had passed, that
they might see and greet him again. He said:
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 213
I walked gravely between two rows of people, who give me a
thousand benedictions, and who load me with all kinds of fruits,
with pumpkins, with mulberries, with breads, with strawberries
and others. I kept making my cry of Ambassador while walk-
ing, and seeing myself near the town, which was scarcely visible
to me, the stakes, the cabins and the trees were so covered with
people. I stopped before taking the first step in entering the town.
He found that the captives had been treated with much kind-
ness, and that Garakontie’ had secured them every religious privi-
lege possible. A bell called them to public worship, which was
led by one of their best men. Lay baptism was practised and
much religious instruction given. Le Moyne spent nearly a
year there and elsewhere, returning Aug. 31, 1662, with the
remaining captives, and there was great joy in Montreal.
Mr Shea said that Garakontie’, Sun that Advances, ‘ was
apparently an orator, not a sachem, and not a war chief. He is
not mentioned in connection with the settlement of St Mary of
Ganentaha by any of the writers of that time, and it is abso-
lutely contrary to all authority to make him the projector of
that movement.” One little circumstance should have shown
this eminent writer the error into which he was led by the use of
Garakontie’’s official title for his personal name. When Le
Moyne drew near Onondaga in 1654, he said he dined with “ the
nephew of the first captain of the country, who is to lodge me in
his cabin.” In 1661 he said, “ We met a captain named Gara-
contie’, who is the one with whom our fathers and I have taken
lodging every time we have come into this country.” In 1670
he was distinctly called Sagochiendagete’, and in 1654 it was
Sagochiendagehte’, an Onondaga chief, who remained as a hos-
tage at Montreal. In 1657 it was “ Sagochiendagesite’ who has
the power and royal authority over all the nation of Onontaghe,
though he has not the name of it.” In an address toward the
close of his life, the chief spoke of his authority, and of the use
he had always made of it for the public good. A letter from
Onondaga in 1671 speaks of him as “the most considerable, and
the chief of all the Iroquois nations.”
Another possible error of Mr Shea’s may be noted here, as it
214 J NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
is connected with this time. On his way to Onondaga Father
Le Moyne met a war party going against the French, led by
Hotreouate’, better known as Garangula to the readers of Colden. |
He desired revenge for his imprisonment at Montreal. Soon after
a deputation of Onondagas and Senecas, going to Montreal, met
this party returning with scalps. They had killed an ecclesiastic,
named M. le Maitre, and the leader wore his black robe. The
deputies hesitated about proceeding after this act, but Gara-
kontie’ went on and was well received. The Relation of 1661-dis-
tinctly says that the priest was killed by this Onondaga chief.
Mr Shea said, giving no reason, “ The actual murderer of Le
Maitre, Hoandoran, became a Christian, and died at the Sulpitian
mission at Montreal.”
The ambassadors turned back an Oneida war party, and for
a time the Iroquois turned their arms against the northern, south-
ern and western nations. In this year Schenectady was bought
from the Mohawks.
The English now aided the Minquas, according to report
placing 50 men in their fort, but the Senecas killed many. In the
northwest 80 Iroquois attacked 30 Attikamegues and some
French, all of whom died fighting. In 1662 the Mohawks and
Oneidas sent a party against the Ottawas, which was defeated by
the Sauteurs, being surprised in the midst of a revel, and this
was long remembered, traditionally giving name to Point Iro-
quois near Sault Ste Marie. On the island of Montreal some Iro-
quois killed two prominent men. A party which went against
the Andastes or Minquas met with disaster, the Black Minquas
having come to aid their friends. They were so named from their
black badges.
The English now complained that the Mohawks attacked the
Penobscot Indians and that 260 had built a strong fort there,
where they stayed for two weeks. Some English cattle were
killed, and the English came to Fort Orange about this. The
Mohawks were willing to give a wampum atonement, but would
not give up their captives and threatened to ravage Connecticut
if the English were not satisfied. Governor Stuyvesant, whom
HISTORY OF THE NEW. YORK IROQUOIS 215
they called Wooden Leg, went to Fort Orange about this, pro-
cured an accommodation and ransomed some captives. They
were Kennebecs.
Governor d’Avaugour had come to Canada in 1661, and in 1662
he said “it was politic to exaggerate more than ever the cruelties
of the Iroquois, in order the better to conceal the designs that
might be adopted in this country; fearing lest English ignorance
and Dutch weakness might be alarmed, and have their jealousy
excited ””
The governor of French Acadia desired a permanent peace
between the Mohawks and northern Indians. The Mohawks
replied that they had best be left alone. The Mahicans had fled
from Albany and elsewhere, and left their corn lands. As the
Dutch did not like them to pass Fort Orange, the Mohawks now
went to the eastern wars by way of Cohoes as a rule, but a party
of Mohawks, Onondagas and Senecas passed through the Dutch
town in December against the eastern Indians, by whom they
were defeated.
In 1663 the Algonquins killed Garistarsia and 10 of his men.
There was a desperate. struggle between Garistarsia, or the
Sword, and Gahronho, a stalwart Algonquin chief. They
grappled, and, just as the Mohawk was about dealing a death
blow, a lucky chance changed the result for the Algonquin, and
the Mohawk was slain.
That year there were new hostilities at Esopus, and the aid of
the Mohawks was sought in recovering prisoners. The Iroquois
sent a large force against the Minquas, which had poor success.
According to one account the army descended a great river and
thought they would find the foe an easy prey; but the fort was
defended on one side by the river and on the others by strong
palisades, with bastions and cannon. The Iroquois then pro-
posed sending 25 men into the fort to treat for peace and buy
provisions for their return. YThey were admitted, seized and
burned alive on scaffolds in the sight of their helpless friends.
The Andastes told the Iroquois this was but a prelude to what
they would do when they invaded their country. The Iroquois
216 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
desired vengeance, but the smallpox had weakened their towns
and for a while they could do nothing. This is the French story.
Those near by made light of the affair. About this time there
were prospects of peace between the French and Iroquois, but
the Hurons reported French preparations to destroy them, and
this broke off negotiations.
In the spring of 1664 Garakontie’ prepared another peace |
embassy. Even the Mohawks wished peace, having on hand a
Mahican war; while the Andastes kept the upper Iroquois busy.
Among the Onondagas Garakontie’ was the prime mover, but
the Oneidas took no action at all.. The chief set out with 30
ambassadors and 100 great belts. These fell into an Algonquin
ambuscade, and all hopes of peace were destroyed, the Iroquois
resolving on vengeance. Yet a Cayuga embassy came to Quebec
Sep. 18, speaking for all but the Oneidas. War continued.
That year Mohawk ambassadors were killed by the Abena-
quiois, or Kennebecs, and the Mahicans attacked the Mohawks,
killing Dutch cattle at Greenbush and ravaging the east side of
Hudson river. The Senecas threatened to attack the Muinisinks,
whom the Minquas would defend.
The first treaty between the Iroquois and English in New York
was made at Albany, Sep. 24, 1664, and was signed by four
Mohawk chiefs and four nominal Senecas, two of whom were
Onondagas and Cayugas. The English were not to aid the New
England Indians, who had murdered a Mohawk chief, but peace
was to be made with the River Indians. Colden said:
In 1664, New York being taken by the English, they immedi-
ately entered into a Friendship with the Five Nations which has
continued without the least Breach to this Day; and History, I
believe, can not give an Instance of the most Christian and most
Catholick Kings observing a Treaty so strictly, and for so long
a Time as these Barbarians, as they are called, have done.
M. de Tracy came to Canada in 1665, and at once built three
forts on the River of the Iroquois. The king of France resolved
“to carry war even to their firesides, in order totally to exter- -
minate them,” if they did not submit, though the English occu-
pation of New York had changed the situation. The regiment
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 217
of Carignan-Salieres came from Hungary, with laurels won from
the Turks, and was now to oppose the Iroquois. Part was to
protect the harvesters and the rest built the forts. The Iroquois
were at first alarmed, but soon recovered and used other roads.
An embassy led by Garakontie’ came to Canada in October and
another in December. At the latter all but the Mohawks made
a treaty of peace, signed by the Bear, Wolf and Turtle clans.
They desired priests and settlers, and mourned Father Le Moyne,
who died Nov. 24.
Governor de Courcelle went against the Mohawks Jan. 9, 1666,
with 500 men, arriving in their country, Feb. 9, much exhausted.
He learned that most of the Mohawks and Oneidas had gone to
war with the Wampum-makers, leaving only old people and chil-
dren at home, and even these he was in no condition to attack,
but lost some men in a Mohawk ambuscade. He got provisions of
the Dutch and at once returned, losing more men on the way.
The Iroquois were alarmed, not having thought invasion possible,
and in May the Senecas came and made peace, being soon fol-
lowed by the rest. There were hostilities after this, and Captain
de Sorel went with 300 men against the Mohawks, but met their
ambassadors coming to make amends. The trouble was this.
Some Oneida deputies went to Canada in June 1666, returning
with Father Beschefer and two Frenchmen, to induce the Mo-
hawks and Oneidas to send deputies to a general council. Hardly
had they gone before news came that the Mohawks had killed
some French hunters and made others prisoners, Captain de
Traversy and Sieur de Chasy being killed. The French were at
once recalled and the Oneidas seized.
Charlevoix adds that De Sorel, on his way to the Mohawk
towns, met a party led by the Dutch Bastard, but of inferior
force. The latter pretended he was on a peace embassy and was
taken to De Tracy and well received. Agariata, another Mo-
hawk chief, came afterward and said he was a deputy. At De
Tracy’s table
The conversation turning on the death of M. de Chasy, the
Mohawk chief, raising his arm, exclaimed: “ This is the arm that
tomahawked that young officer.” The indignation of all present
218 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
may be imagined. The Viceroy told the insolent savage that he
would never kill another, and had him strangled on the spot by
the executioner, in the presence of the Flemish Bastard, whom
he retained as a prisoner.
Colden related this differently, saying that, after peace was
made, some Mohawks killed these Frenchmen; and
The Five Nations, to shew their publick Displeasure at this
Breach of Peace, sent Agariata, the Captain of the Company that
did the Mischief, with forty others, to beg Pardon; but Monsieur
Coursel was resolved to make an example of Agariata, and
ordered him to be hanged in sight of his Company; and the
French think that this Severity was a great Means of preserving
the Peace till the Year 1683.
Most of the others were sent home. De Tracy made another
expedition that year, with 1300 men, rendezvousing at Fort St
Anne in Lake Champlain, where De Courcelle preceded him with
400 men. They carried two cannon. Mohawk scouts gave the
alarm and every town was abandoned. The last town was well
provisioned and strong enough for defense. This fort was “a
triple palisade, surrounding their stronghold, twenty feet in
height and flanked by four bastions.” Besides food, it had
“abundant supplies of water in bark tanks.” Oct. 17, 1666, the
troops “being drawn up in battle array before the Fort of Anda-
raque,” their commander “ took possession of said Fort and of all
the lands in the neighborhood as far and in as great a quantity
as they may extend, and of the other four forts which have been
conquered from the Iroquois.” On this act was based part of
the French claims to land in New York.
Chapter 10
Peace made and missions resumed. Van Curler drowned. Mahicans
attack Gandaouagué. Battle at Kinquarioones. Agreskoué renounced.
Iroquois mission towns in Canada. Senecas and Ottawas at war. Bap-
tism of Iroquois chiefs. Courcelle visits Lake Ontario. Peace between
Mohawks and Mahicans. Count Frontenac visits Lake Ontario and
builds Fort Frontenac. La Salle. King Philip’s war. Death of Gara-
kontie’. Hennepin among the Iroquois. Governor Andros visits the
Mohawks. Kryn removes to Canada. Greenhalgh’s journey. Cayuga
villages in Canada. Dekanissora. War with Illinois. Onondagas
remove town. Iroquois adopt captives. Peace between Five Nations
and Maryland.
These harsh measures produced a general peace, and the
French missions were resumed in 1667. Fathers Jacques Fremin
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 219
and Jean Pierron went to the Mohawks that year; Father Jacques
Bruyas accompanied them and proceeded to Oneida. Father
Julien Garnier soon joined him, but went on to Onondaga, where
Father Pierre Milet came to him the next year. At the same
time Father Etienne Carheil resumed the work among the Cay-
ugas on Cayuga lake. These had now some villages north of
Lake Ontario, which were safe from the Andastes. The enmity
between them and that people was great, and that year four
Andastes women were burned at Oneida alone.
Arent Van Curler (Corlaer) was drowned in 1667, while on
his way to Canada. This occurred in Corlaer’s bay, Lake Cham-
plain, now called the Bay of Perou. There was a great rock
there, beneath which the Indians thought one of their divinities
dwelt, and they made offerings in passing. He ridiculed this,
and the Indians thought his death a retribution for his sarcasm.
He was a great favorite with the Mohawks, and they called the
governors of New York after him.
In 1668 the Wappingers joined the Mohawks against the Mahi-
cans, 300 of whom attacked the Mohawk town of Gandaouague’
Aug. 18, 1669, but were repulsed with loss. This was the eastern
castle, on the north side of the river. The invaders were led by
Chickataubutt, who was killed in the attack. They were pur-
sued and another battle took place next day, at a place mentioned
in a grant of July 3, 1672, as “KINAQUARIONES, Where
the Last Battel was between the Mohoakx and the North [nwver|
Indians.” Of this Gen. J. S. Clark said:
Kinaquariones is the steep rocky hill on the north side of the
Mohawk river just above Hoffman’s Ferry, nine English (equal
to three Dutch) miles west of Schenectady. It was the western
bounds of the original Schenectady patent, and now forms the
southeast corner of the county of Montgomery. The ancient
aboriginal name is still preserved in the contracted form of
Towereoune. The palisaded castle Gandaouague’, at the date of
this assault, was on the north side of the Mohawk, on the west
bank of Cayadutta creek, on a high plateau known locally as the
Sand Flats. . . This village was for a time the residence of
Tegakwita, the Iroquois saint, and of the great Kryn, one of the
most valiant among the many famous Mohawk warriors.
220 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
In their turn the Mohawks became the invaders, but were
unsuccessful, though aided by other Iroquois. On account of”
their present loss, a condolence was held with them, which has
been confused with the Dead Feast of the Hurons, to which it
bore no likeness. Father Pierron was present and interrupted the
ceremony, which he did not understand. The result was that
he induced the Mohawks to renounce the worship of Agreskoue’.
A similar renunciation of the old worship was soon made at
Onondaga, but was never very thorough. From that time till
the preaching of the new religion about 1800, the religious belief
of the Iroquois was of a very hazy kind. Through all their
earlier history their faith in dreams was unlimited.
The mission of St Francis Xavier a la Prairie de la Magdeliene
was founded near Montreal in 1669, as a refuge for the Christian
Iroquois desirous of escaping the temptations of their old homes.
This was done by Catharine Gandiaktena, born in the Erie town
of Gentaieton, but carried to Oneida and married there. She
went to La Prairie with 12 others, and this led to the removal
of many Christian Iroquois to Canada. Other Canadian mission
towns followed, attracting people from their old homes and seri-
ously diminishing their strength. The chiefs were alarmed and
indignant. The Jesuits boasted that they had thus secured 200
brave Iroquois soldiers for the French, and still had eight chapels
in New York in 1674. To conduct these properly, they arranged
a uniform scheme of missions in 1669.
Fremin and Garnier went to Onondaga Aug. 26, 1669, and that
day La Salle landed at Irondequoit bay, led there by Seneca
reports of a great river flowing southward from them. Dollier
and Gallinée went to the mission with him, remaining quite a
time, and visited and described the burning spring as well as the
town. In September they stopped a while at the Iroquois village
of Tinawatawa, near the extreme western end of Lake Ontario.
That year Indian murders led to a close union between all the
River Indians and the Iroquois. .
In 1670 the Senecas captured 100 women and children near the .
Ottawas, and exposed Iroquois cabins were attacked in turn. |
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 221
This roused the Senecas, who resented a proposed French arbi-
tration; but Garakontie’ prevailed and peace was restored. That
eminent chief was baptized and confirmed by Bishop de Petrée
in the cathedral at Quebec that year. Governor de Courcelle was
his godfather, and Mlle Boutrouee, daughter of the intendant, his
godmother. After being conducted to the chateau, “at his first
entrance he saw himself saluted by a discharge of all the cannon
of the fort, and of all the musketry of the soldiers who were
ranged to receive him.” A banquet and speeches followed.
Saonchiogwa was baptized soon after, being a Cayuga chief,
friendly to the French from the first. He restored some of the
Ottawa prisoners. Father Carheil was now in charge of the
Cayuga mission and composed hymns and devotions in that lan-
guage. When the town was in danger of assault by the Andastes,
he won the hearts of all by taking his turn as sentinel. At this
time there were Huron catechists among the Senecas, and a
Seneca dictionary was in progress.
Governor de Courcelle took prompt action on the murder of
Indians in 1670, calling a council at Montreal and punishing the
offenders before the Indians. ‘This prevented trouble. -He for-
bade war between the Ottawas and Iroquois, which the Senecas
resented. That year he ascended the river to Lake Ontario,
alarming the Iroquois much by this simple act. At that time
the Iroquois had to go north of that lake for beaver and carried
it all to the Dutch.
In 1672 peace was formally made at Albany between the Mo-
hawks and Mahicans. The Onondagas had been quite successful
against the Andastes; but this year some young warriors of that
nation totally defeated Seneca and Cayuga parties on Cayuga
lake. © In spite of their bravery, the great contest was now
unequal and the downfall of the Andastes soon followed.
Count Frontenac went up the St Lawrence to Lake Ontario
in July 1673, holding a council with the Iroquois near the site
of Kingston July 13, and founding Fort Frontenac, called Cada-
raqui by the Onondagas and English. Garakontie’ spoke, being
classed among the 60 influential sachems present. The next
222 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
year Frontenac informed Colbert “that, if the principal chiefs
had not been gained by his flatteries and presents, not a single
Frenchman would have been left in Canada.” He certainly did
everything possible on this occasion, paying special attention to
the women and children.
In connection with this trip La Salle was several times at
Onondaga that year, and Father Lamberville wrote of meeting
him at the foot of Oneida lake Sep. 9, 1673. He there heard
that the Dutch again held New York. Some Mohawk chiefs
visited Governor Colve at Fort Wilhelm Hendrick May 19, 1674,
who were from Kaghenewage’ and Kanagaro. They had made
a new treaty with the Dutch the year before. |
King Philip’s war was now raging; and he is doubtfully said
to have visited the Mohawks in 1675,.but without securing their
aid. He is also said to have murdered some of their stragglers,
hoping it would be laid to the English; but the trick was dis-
covered, and the Mohawks became his worst foes. It is only
certain that in February 1676, a party of 300 Mohawks did go
from Albany and defeated Philip not far away. When attacked
by the English near Deerfield Mass., his followers fled, crying,
“ Mohawks! Mohawks!” so great was their fear of them.
Garakontie’ died at Onondaga soon after Christmas 1675, having
been head chief of the Onondagas and Iroquois for many years.
He left this message: ‘‘ Write to the Governor that he loses the
best servant he has in the cantons of the Iroquois.” Father
Lamberville wrote a pathetic account of his death and burial,
making his coffin and performing the funeral rites himself. A
large cross marked his grave in the present town of Pompey.
For more than a score of years he had been known as the friend
and father of the French, both in peace and war. His brother
took his name but not his office, serving the French in a quieter
way and dying in 1702. The two have been confused.
Father Hennepin came to Canada in 1675 and at once took up
mission work, being part of the time at the Cayuga villages north
of Lake Ontario. Fond of adventure, after a while he wanted to
know more of the Iroquois, and said:
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 223
I accordingly went among them with one of our soldiers from
said fort, [Frontenac] making a journey of about seventy leagues,
and both having large snowshoes on our feet, on account of the
snow, which is abundant in that country during winter. I had
some little knowledge of the Iroquois language. We then passed
on to the Honnchiouts Iroquois, and the Honnontagez, who
received us very well. This nation is the most warlike of all
the Iroquois. At last we arrived at the Gannickez Agniez. This
is one of Five Iroquois Nations, situated a good day’s journey
from the neighborhood of New Netherland. We remained some
time among this last named nation, and were lodged with a Jesuit
Father, born in Lyons, in order to transcribe a little Iroquois
dictionary.
In August 1675, Gov. Edmund Andros went to the warlike
Indians nearly 100 miles beyond Albany and allies of the English.
This trip was really to the farthest Mohawk town. The next
year Andros said that King Philip’s war might have been pre-
vented had not the Boston people scorned his advice. He would
have engaged the Mohawks and others to fall on Philip. As it
was, he kept them from helping him.
In 1675, also, the Senecas wished to exterminate the Susque-
hannas, or Andastes, but the Mohawks said they were their
brothers and children and might live with them. At this time
powder and lead were sold only to the Iroquois. ‘There was a
story that they killed Canonicus, the Narragansett chief.
There came a difficulty between the Iroquois and Maryland,
which Andros aided in settling. That province complained of
Seneca depredations; but Andros thought both Mohawks and
Senecas were good friends of the English. At the time the treaty
of 1677 was made, some Oneidas, Onondagas and Senecas had
gone south and killed some Susquehannas, taking prisoners, not
knowing of the peace. Part of these were restored, but there
were many such troubles from time to time. "Two commission-
ers were sent to Albany about this and reproved the Onondagas
and Oneidas, but thought two nations not to blame. The Cay-
ugas made trouble, and Colden thought the French priests the
cause, |
The Mohawks met with a serious loss in the spring of 1676.
224 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The wife of Kryn, often called the Great Mohawk, became a
Christian, and he was indignant. While hunting, he came to
La Prairie, and its peace and order impressed him much. He
became an inquirer and convert, and at last brought a band of
his people there in 1674; reaching there with another party on
Easter Sunday 1676. The next year he was followed by Catha-
rine Tegahkwita, the Iroquois saint, who died there in 1680, and
who is still in high repute for her virtues and austerity of life.
In reporting his action on the treaty of 1677, Andros wrote:
The latter end of August the Governor having sent two Chris-
tians to the farthest nations of Indyans, and Orders to meett Coll.
Coursey, sent as Embassadour from Maryland to treat with said
Indyans; the Governor went also to Albany to receive any
addresses, or whatt they might have to say to him. Coll.
Coursey hadd answers to his satisfaction.
_ This was the famous journey of Wentworth Greenhalgh “ from
Albany to ye Indians, westward;. begun May 2oth, 1677, and
ended July ye 14 following.” Its object does not appear in the
journal, nor is the name of his companion mentioned. They
went on horseback. The Mohawks then had four fortified towns
and one small village. The towns were Cahaniaga, Canagora,
Canajorha and Tionondague. In these were about 300 warriors,
occupying 100 houses. |
The Oneidas had a town 20 (2 7) miles from Oneida creek. In
this fort were 100 houses and 200 warriors. The Onondagas had
one large unwalled town of 140 houses and a village of 24 cabins
2 miles away. The warriors numbered 350. Three unwalled
Cayuga towns had 100 houses and 300 warriors. The Senecas
had four unwalled towns, with 324 houses and 1000 warriors.
The towns were Canagora, Tiotohatton, Canoenada and Keinthe;
but other writers give different names.
About this time came changes in the Iroquois missions in
Canada. The Cayuga villages near the Bay of Quinté had most
of their mission work transferred to the island of Montreal in
1676. Some Iroquois came from New York and some from
Caughnawaga, forming the Mission of the Mountain the same
year, and some Senecas arrived later. ‘That year La Prairie
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK [IROQUOIS 7 225
was abandoned, and a new village grew up, ever since called
Caughnawaga by the Indians and English. The French knew
it as St Francois Xavier du Sault. One of the converts at La
Prairie was an Oneida chief, called Ogeratarihen or Garon-
hiague’, who had witnessed Brébeuf’s death. There were many
Oneidas in the newer mission, which had several chiefs, dividing
the civil and religious affairs.
In 1677 a party of 80 Mohawks robbed some Mahicans in New
England, and others routed some of Uncas’s men. They were
ordered not to send parties against eastern Indians, but did
not comply.
Dekanissora, the great Onondaga orator, began to be promi-
nent in 1678, at that time taking his grandfather’s name of
Niregouentaron, though hardly known by this. He was speaker
at Montreal in 1682 and spoke last at Albany in 1724. His
appearance and abilities have been often eulogized. Colden
said of him:
He was grown old when I saw him, and heard him speak; he
had a great Fluency in speaking, and a graceful Elocution, that
would have pleased in any part of the World. His Person was
tall and well made, and his Features, to my thinking, resembled
much the Busts of Cicero.
Though long faithful to the English, for some reason Governor
Burnet thought him in the French interest later in life. He
ceased to be speaker and died in Canada.
In 1678 the adventurous La Salle occupied Niagara, and
launched the Griffon in the spring of 1679 for the navigation of
Lake Erie. It was soon wrecked.
Beside complaints about the Senecas in Maryland, the New
Englanders complained of the Mohawks in 1678, and hoped
Andros might persuade them to send back their Indian captives.
About the southern troubles, “ ye oneides deemed ye first nation
of sineques,” were at first insolent, but at last they and the Onon-
dagas promised to send no more parties.
The Mohawks were quiet in 1680, but the Onondagas and
Senecas continued to send bands against the Illinois in spite
of French remonstrances. They had burned one of their towns
226 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
and taken over 600 prisoners, mostly women and children. De
Tonty was wounded and a Recollect friar killed. The Miamis
feared the Iroquois so much that they got the Illinois to seek
an accommodation. The Iroquois justified the war against the
latter. It began 20 years before, and the vanquished Illinois left
the country. Then the Iroquois carried on the war against the
Andastes vigorously and subdued them. Meantime the Illinois
returned and killed 40 Iroquois as they went to hunt beaver in the
abandoned country. War followed, and La Salle unwisely
increased the difficulty. The Illinois again fled, and the Iro-
quois pursued them to the Mississippi, killing and capturing
hundreds. They were busy elsewhere. In 1680 the Massa-
chusetts commissioners said the Mohawks had killed or captured
60 of their friendly Indians in three years.
Till 1681 Onondaga had been at various places near Lime-
stone creek, but in that year it was removed to a new site west
of this, on Butternut creek. Though such removals were fre-
quent, Father Lamberville’s account of this one is unique. He
said:
On my arrival I found the Iroquois of this village occupied in
transporting their corn, their effects and their cabins to a place
2 leagues distant from their former residence, where they had
dwelt for 19 years. They make this change in order to have there
their firewood in convenient proximity, and to secure fields more
fertile than those that were abandoned. This is not done without
difficulty; for, inasmuch as carts are not used here, and the
country is very hilly, the labor of the men and women, who carry
their goods on their backs, is consequently harder and of longer
duration. To supply the lack of horses the inhabitants of these
forests render reciprocal aid to one another, so that a single fam-
ily will hire sometimes 80 or 100 persons; and these are in turn
obliged to render the same service to those who may require it
from them, or they are freed from the obligation by giving food
to those whom they have employed.
In September 1681 some Kiskakons captured a Seneca, who
was killed by Illinois visitors in their village near Michilimacki-
nac. This alarmed the Ottawas, who feared utter destruction
and appealed to the French. The western Indians came to Mon-
treal on this business in 1682, and the Iroquois were invited there.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 227
Dekanissora said they were going to fight the Illinois but not the
others, and Frontenac asked for a general council the next year.
He did not favor holding this at La Famine. At a conference
between him, the Kiskakons, Hurons and others, the Kiskakons
were not disposed to cover the grave of Annenhac, the Seneca
chief, which was necessary to insure peace.
In September 1682 Dekanissora wished Frontenac to meet the
Iroquois at Ochoueguen (Oswego), the first mention of that
place by name, though the river was thus known earlier. This
was refused. Farther west the Iroquois plundered some French
canoes. Father Lamberville wrote from Onondaga Sep. 22 that
Dekanissora “loves the French; but neither he nor any other of
the Upper Iroquois fears them in the least, and they are all ready
to pounce upon Canada on the first provocation.” ‘They were
gaining men. “ They have reinforced themselves during this and
the preceding year by more than Nine hundred warriors.” La
Salle now abandoned Fort Frontenac, but it was soon occupied
again.
That year a peace treaty was made at Albany between the Iro-
quois and Maryland. The commissioner said the leader of the
depredating party was certainly an Onondaga. The Onondagas
replied that both leaders were killed, but made satisfaction.
Chapter 11
De la Barre at La Famine. Onondaga speaker there. Governor Dongan
and Susquehanna lands. Iroquois captives for French galleys. Influ-
ence of Iroquois. Lamberville. English traders go west. De Non-
ville’s treachery. Destruction of Seneca towns. Post at Niagara.
Illinois subdued. Plan for destroying Iroquois. Hotreouate’ and
Adario. Embassy surprised. Bloody war. Capture of Milet. Iroquois
depredations. Return of Frontenac. Schenectady destroyed. English
at the Onondaga council. Blacksmiths.
Count Frontenac was replaced by Governor de la Barre in
1682, and the latter was instructed to invade the Iroquois country
if advisable, and prevent their attacking the Illinois and others.
Hence came his disastrous attempt two years later. In May
1683 it was reported that 500 Iroquois had gone west to attack
the Ottawas and seize Michilimackinac. They were to be joined
by 300 others, but found the post too strong. That year the
228 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Senecas reinforced themselves with 150 prisoners and hoped for
more by a war in Virginia. Though all looked warlike, an Iro-
quois delegation of 43 chiefs came to Montreal in August, when
the Senecas said the Illinois must die, and De la Barre was silent.
The missionaries began to leave the New York towns. Fremin,
Pierron and Garnier retired in 1683; Carheil was driven from
Cayuga in 1684; Milet leit Oneida the same year; and Jean de
Lamberville alone remained at Onondaga, doing good work for
the French, for his influence was great.
War with the Senecas seemed imminent in 1684. De la Barre
seized a Seneca deputy and his attendants, and made great prepa-
rations for subduing that nation, they having captured French
trading boats. Garakontie’ 2 spoke at Onondaga, turning the
musket against the Shawnees, but the French might protect the
Miamis if they would. Hotreouate’, otherwise La Grande Gueule,
or Grangula, favored the French, who made him many presents.
The great Cayuga chief, Oreaouhe’, was going to Montreal to talk
matters over.
De la Barre took nearly 900 men up the river, most of them
going as far as La Famine, and there and at Fort Frontenac
many became sick. A few Onondagas came to meet him; and
there occurred his famous conference with Hotreouate’, called
Grangula by La Hontan and Garangula by Colden, both corrup-
tions of his French name of La Grande Gueule, or Big Mouth.
This may have come from his oratory or his love of good living.
Jean de Lamberville said he had “ the strongest head and loudest
voice among the Iroquois.” M. de Meulles called him a “ syco-
phant who seeks merely a good dinner,” but added that he
“fooled the General in a most shameful manner.” La Hontan,
who was present and whose account agrees with all the circum-
stances, gives us a favorable impression. De la Barre was at
one end of the hollow square, the chief and his followers at the
other, the French opening the council with a speech. La Hon-
tan said:
While Mr de la Barre’s interpreter pronounced this harangue,
the Grangula did nothing, but looked upon the end of his pipe.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 229
After the speech was finished, he rose, and having took five or
six turns in the ring that the French and the savages made, he
returned to his place, and standing upright, spoke after the fol-
lowing manner to the General, who sat in his chair of state.
Then followed that strain of dignified sarcasm which has never
been surpassed. He knew the condition of the French, and it
was idle to say so many soldiers were on an errand of peace.
Sickness had fortunately saved their lives. The sun had not dried
up the swamps which made the Iroquois towns inaccessible to
the French. “ Our Children and old Men had carried their Bows
and Arrows into the Heart of your Camp, if our Warriors had
not disarmed them and kept them back.” ‘They had plundered
the French who carried warlike munitions to their foes. It was
a proper act of self-defense, but “ Our Warriors have not Beavers
enough to pay for all these Arms that they have taken, and our
old Men are not afraid of the War.” They would trade with
whom they chose. “We are born free, we neither depend on
Onnondio or Corlaer. We may go where we please, and carry
with us whom we please, and buy and sell what we caarar it
your Allies be your Slaves, use them as such.”
De la Barre was enraged but powerless; and Colden said that
this great expedition “ended in a Scold between the French
General and an old Indian.” The Illinois were abandoned to
their fate, and the French army ingloriously returned.
Governor Dongan was already in New York and had some-
thing to say on these affairs, though not always wisely; and
Arnold Viele, his deputy at Onondaga, offended the chiefs by his
words. He put the king’s arms on all the Iroquois castles and
the French said he promised them aid. Governor Dongan did
another effective but doubtful thing, persuading the Onondagas
and Cayugas to place their Susquehanna lands under the king’s
protection, lest Penn’s agents should secure them. They said
that by conquest these lands belonged to them alone and they
fastened them to New York. Acting ostensibly for the public
good and against Penn, he yet wrote to him Oct. 22, 1683:
All business here goes on to great Satisfaction; the Sesque-
hannok River is given me by the Indians by a second gift, about
230 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
which you and I shall not fall out; I desire we may Joyne heart-
ily together to advance the Interest of my Master and your good
Friend; I expect to hear from you, how you would have me
proceed.
Jan. 13, 1696, for £100 he granted the Indian lands on the Sus-
guehanna to William Penn, “ which the said Thos. Dongan lately
purchased of, or had given to him by the Sennica Susquehanah
Indians.”
One feature of De la Barre’s mission should not be overlooked,
as it was acted on later. In writing to him about the proposed
war in 1684, Louis 14 said:
As it tends to the good of my servants to diminish, as much as
possible the numbers of the Iroquois, and moreover, as these
savages, who are very strong and robust, will serve usefully in
my galleys, I will that you do everything in your power to make
a great number of them prisoners of war, and have them em-
barked by every opportunity that will offer, in order that they
be conveyed to France.
Throughout this affair the Senecas had been defiant and all
the Iroquois had carried their points. The result was that, after
De la Barre’s return, 40 Onondagas went at once against the
Illinois. They had told him that “the entire Iroquois nation
reserved to itself the power of waging war against the Illinois,
as long as a single one of them should remain on earth.” De la
Barre had already complained of the attack on Fort St Louis in
Illinois in the spring and oi the plundering of French canoes,
but without avail.
King Louis was displeased at De la Barre’s abandonment of
the Illinois and sent De Nonville to take his place in 1685. He
was to aid the Illinois and humble the Iroquois. A new trouble
came. For purposes of trade both the English and Iroquois
were desirous of an alliance with the Ottawas. A French soldier
saw II English trading canoes going west, guided by French
deserters. They reached the Ottawas that year for the first time,
- crossing Lake Erie to do so. Desertions of French soldiers were
frequent, and about that time the Onondagas sent back five who
had come there from Fort Frontenac.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 231
At Albany Aug. 2, 1684, the Onondagas and Cayugas made
proposals to Governor Howard of Virginia and Governor Dongan.
They called. the former by a name derived from his own, Asha-
regowa, or Big Knife. As provinces, Virginia was Aragiske, and
Maryland, Jaquokranaegare. To the Duke of York they gave
sovereignty over their Susquehanna lands above Washinta or the
falls: They said:
Wee have putt all our land and our selfs under the Protection of
the great Duke of York, the brother of your great Sachim; We
‘have given the Susquehanne River which we wonn with the
sword to this Government and desire that it may be a branch of
that great tree that grows here.
In 1686 the Iroquois were still seeking the Ottawa alliance as
agents for English traders. Governor Dongan had a sense of
Iroquois importance:
The five Indian Nations are the most warlike people in
America, & a bulwark between us & the French & all other
Indians. . . All the Indians in these parts of America are
Tributareys to them.
Colden said of the tribute paid them:
Two old Men commonly go about every Year or two, to receive
this Tribute; and I have often had Opportunity to observe what
Anxiety the poor Indians were under, while these two old Men
remained in that Part of the Country where I was. An old
Mohawk Sachem, in a poor Blanket and a dirty Shirt, may be
seen issuing his Orders with as arbitrary an Authority, as a
Roman Dictator.
Regarding the proposed intercourse with the Ottawas, Charle-
voix said: “ Nothing was fraught with greater danger than this
opening of trade between New York and the nations whom we
had till now regarded as our most faithful allies.’ Father Lam-
berville had been away from Onondaga for a short time, and De
Nonville sent him back with presents. It was high time, for
Governor Dongan’s men had been busy and the Onondagas were
suspicious and angry. Charlevoix said:
His presence in a moment changed the face of affairs. He
spoke to the chiefs with that frankness and that insinuating man-
ner that had won him the esteem and affection of that nation;
he dispelled almost all the suspicions that had been instilled into
them.
232 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
In that year 20 English trading canoes passed Oswego Falls,
going west, and 200 Senecas went against the Miamis. There
was a good deal of spicy correspondence between Dongan and
De Nonville. In 1686 the latter wrote: “Think you, Sir, that
Religion will make any progress whilst your Merchants will
supply, as they do, Eau de Vie in abundance?” To which Dongan
replied: “Certainly our Rum doth as little hurt as your Brandy,
and in the opinion of Christians is much more wholesome.” So
both gave the Indians all they wanted. ?
All this time De Nonville regarded war as certain and prepared
for it more prudently than honorably. The details of his treach-
ery are somewhat confused, but that they were disreputable,
there is no question. He employed Father Jean de Lamberville
to draw the Iroquois chiefs to Fort Frontenac, intending to hold
them prisoners, as he did, but said, “the poor Father, however,
knows nothing of our designs,” and left him to his fate. The
Onondagas were more merciful. Knowing that he was incapable
of such treachery, the chiefs and old men came quietly to him,
told him of the situation and their opinion, and sent him away,
safely guarded, to the French, fearing the violence of the young
men. Charlevoix ascribed this considerate act to Garakontie’ 2.
The Iroquois chiefs visited the Cayuga towns west of Fort
Frontenac before coming there, and 60 men were seized and
imprisoned at the fort. According to La Hontan, they were ill
treated and had much sympathy from the French. De Nonville
sent 13 of them to France as galley slaves, following the advice
given to De la Barre; but King Louis returned them, sending
Count Frontenac as governor, and the latter may have showed
him that the act was impolitic. Oreaoue’ and another Cayuga
chief were captured on the St Lawrence before this, but the
former came back with Frontenac and became so attached to
him that he took the French side in council and field.
De Nonville followed the southern shore of Lake Ontario
unopposed, his large army being in boats. Among others, he
had roo Iroquois of the Sault and of the Mountain with him.
Garonhiague’ led the former, and Tegaretwan the latter, both
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 233
being killed in this campaign. Kryn, the Great Mohawk, was
with them. Most of these Iroquois would not fight against their
eastern kindred, but had no scruples about the distant Senecas.
De Nonville landed at Irondequoit bay and finished a large
fort there, July 12, 1687, leaving a guard of 440 men. On the
13th the army marched toward the Seneca towns, with an Ottawa
reinforcement. ‘Two defiles were safely passed, but in the third,
near the present village of Victor, part of the army was sur-
prised by 800 Senecas. Both sides had considerable loss, but
the Senecas left the field and abandoned their towns. The Can-
adian Iroquois fought well in this engagement, but the western
Indians not only showed cowardice but feasted on their dead
enemies.
Next day a large village was entered, most of which had been
burned, and others in the same condition were visited afterward.
Formal possession was taken of four towns and one small fort.
These were Totiakton, Gannagaro, Gannondata, and Gannon-
garae, with the small fort. Mr O. H. Marshall published maps
of the march, and the town sites are well identified. De Nonville
took possession of the villages and also
All the lands in their vicinity as many and how far soever
they may extend, conquered in His Majesty’s name, and to that
end has planted in all the said Villages and Forts His said
Majesty’s Arms, and has caused to be proclaimed in loud voice,
Vive le Roi.
A vast quantity of grain was destroyed, with many hogs. On
the return the stockade was burned, and the army went on to
Niagara. There a fort was built, garrisoned by 100 men, which
was abandoned the next year. The army returned by the north
shore of the lake, usually thought safest, but the south shore
had been followed in going, as all the Iroquois villages were
thus threatened.
These things alarmed the Iroquois, and the Onondagas wanted
cannon for their fort; but the English thought these useless,
and they were not furnished. In November the English king
formally received the Iroquois as his subjects, and hostilities
against them were forbidden. They probably thought this a
234 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
mere alliance and treated it as such. At the same time the
return of the Indians in France was demanded.
Hostilities had gone on in the west, where the Iroquois had
subdued the Illinois aiter a six years war. They now turned
against the Twightwees, or Miamis, who interfered with their
beaver hunting. In 1687 the English gave them a barrel of
powder to aid them in this war.
In 1688 the Iroquois attacked the Mission of the Mountain,
killing Haratsion, its chief. Then the French Iroquois began to
waver and surrendered their prisoners, 50 of their own men also
returning to the New York towns. Kryn stood fast and was able
to turn back a Mohawk war party which he met. At this time
the Mohawks advised Dongan to build two forts, one at Cayon-
hage, at the mouth of Salmon river, and the other at Onjadarakte,
now Ticonderoga, both customary landing places.
A shrewd plan was proposed in Canada for destroying the
Iroquois. A party should go against the Mohawks by way of
Lake Champlain, while another went by way of Cayonhage or
La Famine, thence to Oneida river, where Tethiroguen would be
destroyed, and Touenho a little farther south. Onondaga was
next to be taken, where the French would winter, and proceed
to destroy Cayuga in the spring and return. The party on the
Mohawk would also destroy the Oneidas. The plan ignored
English interference and was not tried.
In 1688 a convoy of canoes was surprised near Fort Frontenac
by 25 or 30 Iroquois, and 17 canoes were destroyed. In June
of that year the great Onondaga chief Hotreouate’, or La Grande
Gueule, visited Montreal, making several speeches and a decla-
ration of neutrality, but obliged the French to give up their allies
to their fate. At that time Charlevoix called him by another
name. He said:
When they arrived near Cataracouy, Haaskouan, one of the
deputies, called in French Ja Grande Gueule, advanced from the
party, entered the fort, and asked the commandant for one of
his officers to accompany him to Montreal.
The request was granted, but the officer was surprised to find
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 235
himself in the midst of 500 Onondagas. Just afterward he gave
the French another great fright by way of a joke. At Lake St
Francis they met another party, and then the deputies went on
alone. Charlevoix said that Haaskouan was speaker and a
Seneca, but that Hotreouate’, the Onondaga, was meant is very
clear. His address alarmed the French, and he gave them four
days to answer. He was expected again at Montreal, but had
not come Oct. 10, nor did he again appear. He may have been
in the peace embassy attacked by the Huron chief, the Rat, other-
wise known as Adario or Kondiaronk, to whom De Nonville had
promised that the war should go on till the Iroquois were
destroyed. While on the warpath, he heard that Onondaga
deputies were on their way to conclude peace. He at once
waylaid them at La Famine, killed one, seized the rest and then
pretended that he did this by advice of the French. They readily
believed this of De Nonville. All were set free with apologies,
but one whom he reserved for adoption. This one he gave to
the French at Michilimackinac, and they shot him, as he
intended.
The Iroquois were roused to fury, and the bloody war of 1689
followed. There would now be no peace till their friends were
sent back from the galleys. Fort Frontenac was invested by goo
Iroquois, but they failed to take it. Father Milet was captured
there and carried to Oneida, where he was afterward adopted and
became a principal chief. He was long a subject of controversy
with the English, who wished to hold him. The simple song
which his captors made him sing on the road has a pathetic tone:
“Ongtenda kehasakehoua! I have been taken by my children!”
One of his names at this time was Genherontatie’, The Dying
One who marches. |
From Fort Frontenac the Iroquois went to Montreal, killing
or capturing 300 or 400 there. In one of these raids 200 French
were killed in an hour, and in August 1500 Iroquois came and did
all the damage they pleased, landing at Lachine in a storm, and
burning and killing for two days without opposition. In Novem-
ber 150 returned to the island of Montreal, killing many and
236 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
taking a small fort. A party of 22 Iroquois was destroyed, but
one escaping. It must be remembered that the fears of the
French exaggerated their numbers, but all were in the utmost
terror when Frontenac came back from France in October 1689.
The old man had not lost all his youthful energy, and the French
took courage. He brought back. the Indian prisoners, and this
and the smallpox restrained the Iroquois incursions. The cap-
ture of Schenectady followed; and in this expedition the French
lost 21 men. JKryn commanded 80 French Iroquois in this. He
was killed in June 1690, his party being mistaken for enemies
by some of the Abenaquiois. It had been hoped that he would
draw all the Mohawks to Canada.
This year the Albany people sent six men, with three teams of
horses, to aid the Mohawks in rebuilding one of their castles a
mile farther up the river.
Colden said that the Leisler troubles and the change of goy-
ernment caused remarks among the Iroquois. The Mohawks
said:
We hear that a Dutch Prince reigns now in England, why do
you suffer the English Soldiers to remain in the Fort? put all the
English out of the Town. When the Dutch held this Country
long ago, we lay in their Houses; but the English have always
made us lie without Doors.
Colden and Smith both described a council at Onondaga almost
unnoticed in other colonial records. There had been a previous
one at Albany, September 1689, in which the Five Nations con-
ferred with delegates from New England, who wished their aid
against some eastern Indians. They replied, “We can not
declare War against the Eastern Indians, for they have done us
no Harm.” At this time they told the English that 140 Iroquois
were scouting along Canada, and nothing would escape their
notice. Dec. 27, 1689, messengers came to say that three of the
released prisoners were at Onondaga, with proposals from Can-
ada, and they wished the mayor of Albany, Peter Schuyler and
others, to come there to a council. The magistrates sent a Mo-
hawk, chief, the interpreter and another person, but, unwisely,
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 237
“no Person of Note, that had any Influence on the Indians,
went.”
This council met at Onondaga, Jan. 22, 1690, with 80 sachems
present, Sadekanaghtie’ presiding. Frontenac notified them of
his return with 13 Indians who had been carried to France.
Adarahta, chief sachem of the French Iroquois, spoke on three
belts, and others followed. The Seneca chief, Cannehoot, gave
an account of negotiations with western Indians, who gave “a
fea Marble Sun as large as a; Plate,” and “a larre Pipe of red
Marble.”
After the Seneca Speaker had done, the Wagunha Presents
were hung up in the House, in the Sight of the whole Assembly,
and afterwards distributed among the several Nations, and their
Acceptance was a Ratification of the Treaty. <A large Belt was
given also to the Albany Messengers as their Share. The Belt
of Wampum sent from Albany was in like Manner hanged up,
and afterwards divided. New-England, which the Indians call
Kinshon, (that is a Fish) sent likewise the Model of a Fish, as a
token of their adhering to the general Covenant. This Fish
was handed round among the Sachems, and then laid aside to
be put up.
They rejected the French alliance, but would not give up Milet
to the English. “The Indians were resolved to keep all the
Means of making Peace in their own Hands,” and Milet had a
choice of masters.
About this time mention was made of the settlement of some
Mahicans at Schaghticoke, nearly 20 years earlier; according to
Colden in 1672. Now, too, it became customary to send _ black-
smiths to the Iroquois towns, and references to this are frequent.
This led to amusing disputes, for it was a matter of political
importance whether these smiths were French or English.
Chapter 12
Failure of expedition against Canada. Agents at Onondaga. Proposed
English missionaries. Iroquois losses. Oreaoue’ and Black Kettle.
Mohawk towns captured. Governor Fletcher. Council at Albany.
Dekanissora in Canada. Fort Frontenac restored. Colonial congress
at Albany. Delawares and Iroquois. Western Indians hostile. War
with the French. Invasion of Onondaga. Old Indian tortured. Fron-
tenac’s conduct. Some Oneidas remove to Canada.
Tn 16go0 the English made a serious attempt on Canada by way
of the St Lawrence and Lake Champlain, both expeditions failing.
238 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
At Lake George the Iroquois made elm bark canoes, in which the
English were afraid to embark, and, when smallpox broke out,
the expedition was abandoned. In November a commission was
given to “Aernout Cornelisse Viele, resident agent among the
Indians at their court of Onondaga; Gerrit Luycasse to act as
agent till Viele arrives.” Chevalier d’Eau had been sent there in
June with four Frenchmen and four Indians, to draw the Iro-
quois to the French interest, and the English asked to have them
sent to Albany. On this
The 5 Nacons being met by their chieftnes together at Onon-
dague aforesaid, (which is their Court) Seized them and bound
them instantly, despoyling them of all their Money, Presents, &
what they had, presenting them to the Sinneks, Coiegues,
Oneydes, and Macquaes, each one of the French men to be treated
in their Barbarous manner.
D’Eau was given to the English. From New York he was
taken to Boston and allowed to escape. In Canada fighting went
on in the island of Montreal, and the French said “there was
no security anywhere.” Famine naturally followed.
The New York Indian agents saw advantages gained by the
French missionaries, which were not of a religious nature, and
wished to send
Some young divines to undertake to instruct the Indians
especially ye Maquase in the true Protestant Religion since divers
had an inclination to itt One being by the great pains and indus-
try of Our Minister Dom: Dellius brought soe far yt he made
his publick confession in the Church at Albany to every body’s
admiration and was baptized accordingly.
Governor Sloughter had a conference with the Five Nations at
Albany in 1691. They satd: “ We did formerly desire, that we
might have a Smith at Onnondaga, whereupon a young Man that
was a Smith by Trade, was sent us, and we gave him 20 Beaver
for his encouragement to stay, but is gone away; again we
request that we may have a Smith there.”
The Mohawks resented English inactivity and before the con-
ference sent messengers to Canada. A Mohawk brought news
from Canada that there was “a designe to goe out and fight
against Onnondage and 30 praying Indians were ready to goe out
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 239
the next day to annoy the Onnondages.” Frontenac had said to
the Indians that he would gather a large force against the Iro-
quois, “and fall upon them vizt first on the Sennekaes and then
on the Cayouges, Onnondages, and Oneydoes and passe by the
Maquaes and soe come down and fall on the Christians at
Albany.” Governor Sloughter said, if Albany “be lost our
Indians are lost, and if the French get them they certainly get
all America.” .
An expedition against Canada, in which the Iroquois were to
aid, was arranged. The third Mohawk castle, mourning the
death of its chief sachem, Tahaiodoris, forgot its quota of men,
but would send’ 74. The first two castles were ready. Major
Schuyler headed this party of 300 Mohawks and 150 English,
having moderate success. When he attacked a party on, his
retreat, the Schaghticoke Indians did not behave well, but “the
Mohawks, upon no Occasion, yielded an Inch of Ground, till
the English first gave Way.”
That year the principal captains of the Mohawks and Oneidas
were all killed. For a winter march the Senecas were making
snowshoes between Onondaga and the St Lawrence in Decem-
ber. Others went down the river in November, 800 landing on
the island of Montreal and burning many houses. Fort Fron-
tenac had gone to decay, the villages were defenseless, the French
melted leaden gutters and weights for bullets, and the Iroquois
made obstinate attacks. Quite a battle occurred with the Onei-
das near Montreal, in which Oreaoue’, the Cayuga chief, took
part on the French side. The Oneidas were surprised in a house,
which was set on fire, and most of them perished. Three prison-
ers were burned by French farmers who had lost relatives. Hos-
tilities were incessant. The Mohawks carried off some Caughna-
wagas and attacked the village of the Mountain, killing Tondi-
haron, the chief, and capturing 35 women and children. That
year the Iroquois cast the French war: belt on the ground.
While the Mohawks were successful, the western Indians
harassed the Senecas.
Oreaoue’ was now zealous for the French, making prisoners
240- NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
of his own friends, and Frontenac did not hesitate to have these
tortured. All wanted the Cayuga chief as a leader, and he was
constantly on the warpath. On the St Lawrence 38 Frenchmen
surprised an Iroquois party, some of whom escaped, returning
with aid and killing half the French. The following winter 4o
Mohawks attacked Fort Vercheres, carrying off 20 people. They
were pursued, and most of the captives were recovered. Mlle
de Vercheres successfully defended the fort, as her mother had
done two years before. :
There were Canadian successes. In February 1092, a party
of 120 French and 205 Indians attacked 50 Iroquois at TYoniata,
killing 24 and taking 16. In May a French and Indian party
was defeated at the Long Sault of the Ottawa with much loss;
but the victors were beaten in turn, and the captives recovered.
Two large Iroquois parties in October did nothing. In Novem-
ber 400 Iroquois came down the St Lawrence, appearing in sight
of Montreal, while 400 came by way of Lake Champlain. They
did but little damage. M. Beaucour marched 300 men to attack
the Iroquois near Niagara, 80 of whom fought him, losing most
of their number.
Kanadgegai, or Black Kettle, a noted Onondaga chief, headed
the party at the Long Sault, and made another dash July 15,
taking some prisoners. ‘There was fighting on the Ottawa, and
the Iroquois alone kept Canada in constant alarm. Charlevoix
said that Black Kettle overran the country “as a Torrent does
the Low-lands, when it overflows its banks, and there is no
withstanding it. The Soldiers had Orders to stand upon the
defensive within their Forts.” This year his wife was killed
while trying to escape from a mission town in Canada. In this
warfare the Mohawks had lost 90 men in two years, leaving
them but 130, and the French Iroquois 60 men in 7 years.
In June 1692 the Iroquois renewed the covenant with the Eng-
lish, now under Captain Ingoldsby, desiring that the important
blacksmith’s anvil might be retained at Onondaga and a smith
live there. The Indians did most of the fighting; and, when
Ingoldsby reproved them for their carelessness, they replied:
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 241
“Tet us not reproach one another, such Words do not savour
well among Friends.” Of one present they said:
We return you Thanks for the Powder and Lead given us;
but what shall we do without Guns, shall we throw them at the
Enemy? We doubt they will not hurt them so. Before this we
always had Guns given us. It is no Wonder the Governor of
Canada gains upon us, for he supplies his Indians with Guns as
well as Powder; he supplies them plentifully with every Thing
that can hurt us.
In January 1693 a party of 625 men left Montreal to attack the
Mohawks, effecting a complete surprise and bringing away 200
prisoners, most of whom escaped on the return march. Nearly
a score of Mohawks were killed in this inroad. Vhe French
party passed Schenectady Feb. 8, and the alarm was given there,
but no word was sent to the Mohawks. ‘lwo of their forts were
quickly taken. In the third and largest a war party prepared to
go out next day, and in the noise of the war dance the French
surprised them and killed many. The invaders became per-
fectly destitute and would have been destroyed had the pursuit
continued. In this retreat there was some fighting, both parties
making rude forts in the woods, and both suffering for lack of
food. Colden said: “The French designed to have put them all
to the Sword, but their own Indians would not suffer it, and gave
Quarter. They took three hundred Prisoners, of whom one
hundred were fighting Men.” Major Schuyler went to the aid
of the indignant Mohawks, and most of the prisoners were recov-
ered. Colden said:
The Indians eat the Bodies of the French that they found.
Coll. Schuyler (as he told me himself) going among the Indians
at that Time, was invited to eat Broth with them, which some
of them had already boiled, which he did, till they, putting the
Ladle into the Kettle to take out more, brought out a French
Man’s Hand, which put an end to his Appetite.
He elsewhere speaks of the indifference as to food:
A Mohawk Sachem told me with a Kind of Pride, that a Man
eats every Thing without Distinction, Bears, Cats, Dogs, Snakes,
Frogs, &c., intimating, that it is Womanish to have any Delicacy
in the Choice of Food.
242 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
That year the Oneidas sent Tareha to Canada with peace belts,
to arrange an exchange of prisoners. At the end of Lake St
Louis were 800 Iroquois, but they did no harm. It was about
this time that St Michel escaped from Onondaga, where prepa-
rations to burn him were being made. He said that but few
desired peace, and that the English had built a strong fort there,
which had eight bastions and three rows of pickets.
Though the Oneidas generally favored the French, it was noted
this year that Odongaowa, the long (great) Oneida, the par-
ticular friend of Father Milet, was now on the English side.
That year many were killed near the Onondaga and Mohawk
castles, and the enemy even tied a bunch of reeds to the door of
a Mohawk fort. In May the Virginia and Maryland Indians
asked Governor Fletcher “to persuade the Senecas from doing
them any harm in their hunting,’ as they had done.
Governor Fletcher had a conference with the Five Nations at
Albany in July 1693. They called him Cayenquirago, or Great
Swift Arrow, in allusion to his name and the speed with which
he came to their aid. At this time he made them quite a present.
Colden remarked on this:
The King usually sends them a considerable Present with every
new Governor of New York, which is not always applied as it is
‘designed. If this Present had been made sooner, it had been of
much more Use to the English, as well as to the Five Nations.
Dirck Wessel attended a council at Onondaga in August and
tried to get possession of Father Milet, but failed. Aquadaronde,
chief sachem of Onondaga, was sick, but was brought into the
council by four men. This title seems equivalent to that of Ato-
tarho, his successor having the same, as well as the council name
of the Onondagas. E
In February 1694 a council was held in the street and city
hall at Albany. The Onondaga chief could not be present, being
sick, which Colden thought a convenient excuse. He was almost ~
helpless the preceding summer, and, when this Albany council
was proposed, “the Onnondages replyed, no, let us send for
Quider hither with the Maquaes, since Kagueendaronda is not
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 243
fit to travail.” There was no important business beyond a rela-
tion of what the Oneidas had done. News came that the Shaw-
nees and others were coming for a treaty, but they did not appear.
Dekanissora was speaker at this time and for many years after.
Two Onondagas went to Montreal to see if Iroquois deputies
would be well received, but these did not follow at once. The
two were Torskin, nephew of Hotreouate’, and a son of Garioye’,
an Iroquois of the Sault. Dekanissora and two chiefs of each
nation came to Quebec in May and were well received. They
proposed peace. Frontenac had publicly kicked away the Iro-
quois belts before, but was more gracious in private and after-
ward. The Onondaga speaker was a favorite, and his speech
was recorded, with the summing up already given. They
returned home in June but were recalled.
All were every Day, while they staid in the Place, entertained
at the Governor’s Table, or at the Tables of the most consider-
able Officers. Decanesora on his Side made a good Appearance,
being cloathed in Scarlet, trim’d with Gold, and witha laced Bever
Hat on his Head, which had been given him by Colonel Fletcher.
Colden notes also that he spoke to the Praying Indians of
Canada, called Jernaistes: “First to those of Cahnawaga,
(chiefly Mohawks) . . . then to the other castle called
Canassadaga, (chiefly Onondagas).”
Fort Frontenac was now restored, though the place was
unhealthy, 87 out of 100 men having died there in a year. In
October Father Milet was released, but some Oneida deputies
who followed were not well received. Oreaoue’ brought some
friendly Cayuga and Seneca chiefs there and did wonders for
the French, both in peace and war. |
All these things alarmed the English. Governor Fletcher
wrote to the other colonies, telling them there was no safety
but in united effort and calling a council at Albany in August,
in which Colden says New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and
Massachusetts were represented. According to him, Dekanissora
sang a song of peace at the opening, and Rode the Mohawk and
Sadakanahtie the Onondaga spoke.
244 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
In 1694 the Delawares definitely appear in Iroquois history,
having long been subject to them in a quiet way. The time
came afterward when they did not like this, and said they were
deceived by the Iroquois when persuaded to become women and
thus peacemakers. Heckewelder says of this office: “It must
be understood that among these nations wars are never brought
to an end but by the interference of the weaker sex. Themele
tells the story invented by them, on which Albert Gallatin
remarked: “ The tale suggested by the vanity of the Delawares,
and in which the venerable Heckewelder placed implicit faith,
that this treaty was a voluntary act on the part of the Delawares,
is too incredible to require a serious discussion.” Heckewelder
gives the speech and acts supposed to have been used in making
the Delawares women, which may be compared with the historic
ceremony of restoring their rights. The speech had three parts: |
The first was, that they declared the Delaware nation to be
the woman in the following words: “ We dress you in a woman's
long habit, reaching down to your feet, and adorn you with ear-
rings’; meaning that they should no more take up arms. The
second point was thus expressed: “ We hang a calabash filled
with oil and medicine upon your arm. With'the oil you shall
cleanse the ears of the other nations, that they may attend to
good and not to bad words, and with the medicine you shall
heal those who are walking in foolish ways, that they may return
to their senses and incline their hearts to peace.” The third
point, by which the Delawares were exhorted to make agriculture
their future employ and means of subsistence, was thus worded:
“We deliver into your hands a plant of Indian corn and a hoe.”
Each of these points was confirmed by delivering a belt of wam-
pum, and these belts have been carefully laid up, and their mean-
ing frequently repeated. The Iroquois, on the contrary, assert
that they conquered the Delawares, and that the: latter were
forced to adopt the defenceless state and appellation of a woman
to avoid total ruin.
What the Delawares’ earlier statement really was appears in —
a conference held with them in Philadelphia July 6, 1694. A
belt was produced by them, sent, they said
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 245
By the Onondages & Senekaes, who say, you delaware Indians
doe nothing but stay att home & boill yor potts, and are like
women, while wee Onondages & Senekaes goe abroad & fight
agt the enemie. The Senekaes wold have us delaware Indians
to be ptners wt you to fight agt ye french, But we have always
been a peaceable people, & resolving to live so, & being but week
and verie few in number, can not assist you; & having resolved
among ourselves not to goe, doe intend to send back this their
belt of Wampum.
In 1695, as he had said before, Louis 14 did not think it proper
to continue the reward of to silver e’cus (each 60 sous) for
every Iroquois killed, nor the 20 e’ cus for every male Iroquois
prisoner. It cost too much.
A messenger informed the French that the only Dutchman
then at Onondaga was Peter Schuyler’s brother. War parties
went out against the English from Canada, and the Iroquois
had a party watching the Grand river for western Indians.
Against the Miamis 200 Senecas and Cayugas were gone, and
100 against the Andastes, as reported; probably some other
southern Indians. They threatened to devour the Miamis, that
they might unite the whole.earth, but the lake tribes they would
Per siike, The French persuaded all but the Hurons to’ make
war on them, though they did not wish to do this. A Sioux
chief afterward laid 22 arrows on a beaver robe before Fron-
tenac, weeping and naming a village for each which asked his
protection.
The Outagamis had spared some Iroquois prisoners, the bet-
ter-to negotiate. Fearing the Sioux would seize their village,
they left it to settle by the Wabash river, where they could unite
with the Iroquois and English. Others would join them.
Some Hurons, led by a chief called the Baron and with the con-
sent of the nations about Michilimackinac, went to the Senecas
with 14 peace belts, but most western nations joined Frontenac.
Peace negotiations had continued till April, when a cruel war
recommenced with much loss to the French. An Iroquois party
was defeated on Lake Champlain with mutual loss. Word came
that the Hurons, Ottawas, Foxes and Maskoutins proposed
240 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
joining the Iroquois, and it seemed necessary to strike that
people. Frontenac held a council with the Ottawas July 18,
and others followed. They had made peace with the Iroquois,
but they were induced to break this, and they treacherously
attacked and defeated one of their parties. Some of the pris-
oners were Hurons, but the French no longer feared peace
between the Iroquois and Ottawas. Some of the latter were
recalled by Frontenac to roast and eat an Iroquois prisoner,
but he died before they could torture him, so they cut off his
head for a feast and departed.
Speaking of some depredations below Montreal this year, it
was said, “These blows were struck by some Mohawks and
Oneidas, as we discover by their tomahawks, which they left
sticking in the ground, according to their custom.” There are
many references to this.
In Aquendara’s speech at Onondaga in 1695, he commented
severely on European pretensions, and said:
We, warriors, are the first and the ancient people, and the
greatest of you all. These parts and countries were all inhabited
and trod upon by us, the warriors, before any Christian. (Then
stamping hard with his foot on the ground, he said) We shall |
not suffer Cadaracqui to be inhabited again.
All that summer 700 men were repairing that fort, preparing
for the coming year. In 1696 a plan to attack the Mohawks was
given up, the snow being very deep in the woods and 7 feet of
snow everywhere between Montreal and the fort, a thing never
before known. This only retarded hostilities. The great war
kettle was set over by Frontenac, humanity was to be laid aside,
and the Onondagas to be first subdued as most mutinous of all.
Just before this, the Iroquois had sent deputies to conclude
peace with the five Mackinaw nations, and one present brought
back was “a calumet of red stone, of extraordinary size and
beauty.” The Iroquois had hunted on good terms with the
Hurons the whole winter, but were attacked by French Indians.
The western nations refused to join the expedition against
Onondaga.
In June, 10 Ottawas were prowling near that place, but made
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 247
no prisoners. Some Iroquois were taken in Canada, and of these
four Onondagas were burned when the army reached Montreal.
The force consisted of 1600 French and 460 Indians, occupying
- 400 boats, the Indians being mostly with the vanguard, which
changed every day. Frontenac was carried across the portage
at Oswego Falls in his canoe, and from the lake to Onondaga in
eeeuwair jx horse had been brought, for; M..de, Calliéres. on
account of his lameness, and the artillery consisted of two small
cannon and two light mortars.
From Lake Ontario the army followed the east bank of the
Oswego river, crossing the Oneida river Aug. 1, and landing on
the east side of Onondaga lake the same day. This was between
Liverpool and Syracuse on the old mission ground, where a fort
was built, the lines of which could be seen a century later. On
that day bundles containing 1434 rushes were found at the foot
of a tree, to show the force arrayed against them. The fort was
finished Aug. 3, and the army crossed the marsh and eneamped
at the salt springs on the north limits of Syracuse, in readiness
for the next day’s march.
“The town was g miles away, on the east side of Butternut
creek, and there was probably a good trail, but the road had
‘some great difficulties. Though the army started at sunrise,
it was sunset when it reached Onondaga, and the town was in
ashes. An old squaw was knocked on the head and an old man
tortured, whose fortitude elicited the admiration of the French.
It is fair to say that Father Lamberville’s account differs widely
from the official statement and that of Charlevoix. The priest
saw the death of this man, whom he had baptized when last
there, and whom he described as a benevolent and devout old
man, who had been kind to the French. His Canadian relatives
asked a speedy death for him, but the French insisted on a
slow fire. |
The official account is different. The Indians were excited:
It was not deemed prudent to dissuade them from the desire
they felt to burn him. He had, no doubt, prepared himself
during his long life to die with firmness, however cruel the tor-
248 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
tures he should have to endure. Not the slightest murmur
escaped his lips; on the contrary, he exhorted those who tor-
mented him to remember his death, in order that they may dis-
play similar courage when those of his nation should avenge his
murder on them. And when a Savage, weary of his harangues,
gave him some cuts of a knife: “I thank thee,” he said, “but
thou oughtest rather complete my death by fire. Learn French
dogs! [how to suffer] and ye Savages, their Allies, who are dogs
of dogs, remember what you have to do when you will occupy
a position similar to mine.”
De Vaudreuil made a quick march from Onondaga to Oneida,
destroying it on the 7th and bringing as prisoners the men who
welcomed him there. An Oneida was burned after the return
to Montreal, and an Onondaga killed himself there in prison.
On its way to Onondaga the army left Lachine July 4, and
began its return Aug. 9, being at Fort Frontenac Aug. 15. The
French lost their time and harvests; the Onondagas their bark
cabins and crops, but the English made good part of this loss.
Charlevoix gave a graphic account of Frontenac’s conduct at
Onondaga at this time, representing him as a jealous, peevish
and wilful old man. At first he proposed going to Cayuga,
destroying the towns and building French forts. All approved
and some volunteered to remain. Before’ night he resolved to
go home, in spite of all remonstrances. ‘To these he replied:
“They want to obscure my glory, and it is time that I should
take a little repose.” Charlevoix said “that no one of the pro-
jects which he formed for completely humbling them succeeded.”
All went on as before.
The Mohawks now brought peace belts to Canada. Two
French parties were unfortunate, but an Iroquois canoe party
was defeated on Lake Erie. There was a two hours’ fight, and
55 Iroquois were killed. This broke up some western treaties. ©
To show how far the Iroquois now strayed from home, it may
be said that two Mohawks were this year sent back from Eng-
land, who had been taken at the surrender of Fort York at
Hudson bay.
In February 1697 33 Oneidas went to live at Caughnawaga.
Others wished to go and asked land for a Canadian settlement ~
TIISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 249
where the name of Oneida might be preserved, but the Onon-
dagas and Mohawks prevented this.. Though the French wished
peace with them, the Onondagas resolved that none of their peo-
ple should live in Canada. One of their chiefs was captured at the
gate of Schenectady, and a proposed council between them, the
Oneidas and French was defeated by the young men, who wished
to avenge the death of a chief. In November an Onondaga peace
embassy went to Canada, but brought no prisoners and had a
cool reception. It did not speak for the Mohawks, and [ronte-
nac proposed sending an expedition against them, but heavy
snows prevented this.
There were various encounters during the year, in which four
western nations said they had killed 100 Senecas. A French
party was destroyed near Albany by the Mohawks and Mahicans,
and the Iroquois were everywhere in the field. The French
heard that the Baron had gone to live near Albany, with 30
Huron families. He went to Quebec, but sent his son with 19
belts, to make peace with the Senecas. This was done in spite
of the French, who gave as a reason that the English sold them
goods cheaper than they could. Trade affected Indian policy.
Chapter 13
Peace declared. Black Kettle killed. Oreaoue’ dies. English protection
of Iroquois. French and English agents at Onondaga. Frontenac
dies. Western Indians hostile. Proposed Onondaga fort. Colonel
Romer’s journey. Money for fort. Jroquois make peace with Canada.
Prisoners exchanged. Jesuits return to Iroquois. Council at Mon-
treal. Beaver land deed. Penn’s letter. French influence at Onon-
daga. Nanticoke tribute. Montour family. Iroquois join English.
Peace had been declared, and early in 1698 Black Kettle and
his party were hunting near Fort Frontenac, having made peace
with the French. There were over 30 Onondagas in the band,
and their young men intended going against the Ottawas, who
had killed 100 Iroquois in the past year. Frontenac did not like
this and gave orders that some chiefs should be quietly secured.
They were surprised by 34 Algonquins, who killed 20, including
Black Kettle and four chiefs, and took eight prisoners. The
scalps and prisoners were taken to Montreal. The Onondagas
250 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
complained, and Frontenac flung their belt from him, speaking
of the chief’s death as a trifling affair. He would give them
something worth crying about. In private he talked better, but
this interrupted negotiations. The Iroquois said that 94 of their
people had been killed or captured since peace was declared, and
it was worse than open war. An arrangement was made and
prisoners were exchanged. Of the death of Black Kettle, Col-
den said:
After he was mortally wounded, he cried out: “ Must I, who
have made the whole Earth tremble before me, now die by the
Hands of Children?” for he despised the Adirondacks.
Soon after Black Kettle’s death Oreaoue’ died at Quebec, and
was buried with ecclesiastic and military honors, “a worthy
Frenchman and good Christian.”” A good story is told of his
religious fervor. Greatly affected by the crucifixion of Christ,
he said, had he been there, he would have avenged his death
and brought away the scalps of his enemies.
Governor Bellomont now notified Frontenac that he bake sent
troops to Albany to protect the Iroquois, and that Lieutenant
Governor Nanfan would go farther with them if need required.
Dellius and Schuyler were sent to Canada to arrange an exchange
of prisoners, but the Iroquois preferred doing this in their own
way. Ii subjects, they were not submissive ones, and Bello-
mont found them quite sullen, but succeeded in conciliating them.
There was continual controversy on English and French rela-
tions to the Iroquois. In 1698 a New York merchant testified
that he had lived in Albany since 1639, and that the Five Nations
had almost every year since renewed the covenant with New
York. Colonel Bayard understood that the Dutch settled at
Albany in 1621; “and ever since that first settlement the Iro-
quaes or five Canton Indian Nations, have always kept up a good
peace and correspondence with the Governt of this Province.”
For 60 years past they had renewed this almost every year.
History was uncertain even then.
In 1698 some Mohawks went to visit their relatives at the
Sault, remaining some time and being well entertained. Charle-
yoix said:
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 251
It was something flattering for these Indians to see themselves
thus sought by two powers, either of which could have destroyed
them in less than one campaign, and whose mutual jealousies
they had contrived to work upon so skilfully as to inspire fear,
and in some sort respect from both.
Both French and English now found it necessary to have
agents at Onondaga, and Bellomont urged the building of forts
in the Iroquois country, the need of which he saw. Count
Frontenac planned a second invasion of Onondaga, but gave it
up and died late in 1608.
Dekanissora’s proposal to treat directly with the French on
the exchange of prisoners greatly alarmed the English, who
described him as “a brave fighting fellow, that has done the
French much mischief, and they have mightily endeavored to
debauch him from us, but in vain.” The Canadian Iroquois
now took part, sending two belts to the four nations to tell them
it was the last time they were bid to come to Canada to treat,
and they were worse than beasts. The Onondagas, as the prin-
cipal sufferers, with the Oneidas and Cayugas, thought best to
send three messengers, and Bellomont tried to stop these till
Schuyler could see them. Col. Peter Schuyler, Dirck Wessel
and Hendrick Hansen formed the embassy; and it was resolved
that Johannes Glen jr and John Baptist Van Epps, the inter-
preter, should reside at Onondaga for a time. The latter two
went at once.
The Iroquois embassy reached Onondaga Mar. 21, 1699, on
their return from Canada, bringing five belts and an offer to
exchange prisoners. On this a council was called at Onondaga,
to meet in 25 days. In such calls tally-sticks are attached to the
wampum, a notch being removed every day.
Capt. John Schuyler, Capt. John Bleecker, John Baptist Van
Epps and Arnout Cornelisse Viele set out for Onondaga Ap.
21, 1699, reaching there Ap. 28, and the latter two remaining for
some time. At the council the young Indians kicked the French
belts to a sachem, and the council accepted the English proposals
and would come to Albany. The French had released all the
Onondagas.
252 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
A council met in Albany June 13, and the Onondagas proposed
the building of a fort in their country and the sending of a min-
ister there. The Dowaganhaes killed some Senecas near their
castle, and incursions of French Indians were frequent. The
French should prevent these in a time of peace. One important
act of this year was the restoration to the Mohawks of land
fraudulently obtained from them by Dellius.
In 1700 there was an alarm that the Indians intended a general
massacre in the English colonies. Bellomont did not like the
provisioning of Fort Frontenac by the Onondagas and distrusted
the request of Father Bruyas to go among them and the Mo-
hawks. He favored a good sod fort at Onondaga, with a garri-
son of 100 men. It would cost from £1000 to £1200. The Five
Nations should have presents costing £800. He used to laugh
at the colonists for allowing 300 or 400 Indians to cut off four
or five times their number, but he was wiser now, knowing how
they fought. Yet their own losses were heavy. Before the war
the Mohawks had 270 men, and now 110. The Oneidas were
reduced from 180 to 70, the Onondagas from 500 to 250, the
Cayugas from 300 to 200, the Senecas from 1300 to 600. Some
of these figures may be doubted.
Robert Livingston was at Onondaga in April 1700, and this
was still east of Butternut creek. It was no place for a fort,
being 16 miles from water unless they went to Kaneenda on Onon-
daga lake. The town itself must soon be moved. The Onon-
dagas were uneasy and dejected about the French; and two
thirds of the Mohawks were in Canada, kindly cared for by
them. The English ambassadors arrived at Kachnawaacharege,
an Onondaga fishing place on Chittenango creek, Ap. 23, 1700.
Thence they went to Onondaga and were heartily welcomed,
having a satisfactory council.
Stories of poisoning were prevalent at this time and Aqueen-
dero, the Onondaga head chief, went to live on Schuyler’s
estate on this account, nor did he long survive. His son had
died by poison.
M. de Maricourt, Father Bruyas and eight more Frenchmen
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 253
came to Onondaga July 24. The first two spoke Iroquois as
fluently as French. Among the warlike Onondagas there were
as many French partizans as English, and there were slight hopes
of retaining them. They needed English ministers, but they
said, now they had their prisoners back, they would go to Canada
no more.
At this time five Dowaganhaes, or Ottawas, came to Onondaga
to make peace for three strong nations. The French had
incited them to hostilities, but they had settled at Tchojachiage,
on the north shore of Lake Ontario near the Senecas, and desired
peace. With the Iroquois and English they wished “to Doil in
one kettle, eat out of one dish, and with one spoon, and so be
one.” The other Dowaganhaes had again killed many Iroquois
at French instigation. They would not take the hatchet out of
their heads till they submitted to the French and had killed 4o
Senecas that spring. The French governor offered to take the
hatchet from the Far Indians if the Iroquois would send one
from each nation to treat with him.
At this time the Mohawks told the eastern Indians that, if they
lived not peaceably with the English, they would come and cut
them off, and they submitted.
Governor Bellomont conferred in Albany Aug. 20, 1700, with
50 Iroquois sachems, not allotted as in the condoling lists. There
were II of each nation except the Oneida, and this had six. They
were glad to be promised ministers. The French clothed all
whom they baptized, but probably the English would not do
that. The Mohawks had persuaded Brandt and three others who
were going to Canada, to remain and be Protestants. The Pray-
ing Iroquois of Canada now numbered 350 men, and their wish
to be Christians took them there.
Colonel Schuyler and all the Albany people opposed the Onon-
daga fort, as they wished trade at Albany. The beaver trade
had sunk to nothing there, and the Iroquois hunts led to con-
stant wars.
Colonel Romer was in the Onondaga country in October 1700,
and has left us a curious map of his travels and the country.
254 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
His party came to Onondaga Sep. 26, by the old trail over the
hills, and on horseback, and visited Onondaga lake and Seneca
river. Three River Point did not suit him for a fort, a sound
conclusion. On a high bank on Chittenango creek he found a
good site, and this was used at a later day. His reception at
Onondaga was not cordial; for the Albany people had made
ready for his coming. In preparation for the fort, £500 were
sent from England, as much more raised in New York, arms
and tools were provided, but the fort was not built.
The coming of Maricourt, Bruyas and Joncaire was occa-
sioned by the Iroquois embassy to Canada early in the year.
They then condoled Frontenac’s death and asked that Lamber-
ville and Bruyas might return to them. Peace was arranged
and a treaty signed at Montreal Sep. 8. There was a prelim-
inary conference at Montreal July 18 with the Onondagas and
Senecas, and on Sep. 3 the 19 Iroquois deputies brought back 13
French prisoners. At Onondaga Bruyas had profited by the
tone of Bellomont’s message, and Joncaire went to the Senecas,
who liberated all their prisoners. Some would not return and
but 10 came back.
~ The Iroquois had hardly returned from this peace conference
before word came that the Ottawas had attacked their hunters,
killing some and capturing others. At this council the Iroquois
were so well received that the Hurons said “that fear made the
French show more respect to their enemies than love did to their
friends.” There was reason for this, and Bellomont said:
I pretend to be able to demonstrate that if the Five Nations
should at any time in conjunction with the Eastern Indians, and
those that live within these plantations, revolt from the English
to the French, they would in a short time drive us out of this
Continent.
Their mode of warfare made them powerful, but he had trials
in meeting them. Of a council in Albany he said:
It was the greatest fatigue I ever underwent in my whole life.
I was shut up in a close chamber with 50 Sachems, who besides
the stink of bears’ grease, with which they plentifully dawb’d
themselves, were either smoaking tobacco or drinking drams
of rum,
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 255
Bellomont complained that Schuyler made himself popular
by entertaining Aquendeeo (Atotarho?) alias Sadeganaktie,
speaker of the Five Nations, and 25 others, for two months at
the king’s expense. In the notice of the chief’s death that winter,
he is called by the full Onondaga council name of Sakoghsinna-
kichte, equivalent to Sadeganaghtie, and his successor immedi-
ately took both his names, but is best known by the latter.
June 19, 1701, Maricourt came again to Kaneenda, the landing
place at Onondaga lake and 8 miles from the town, to which he
was escorted under the French flag. Bleecker and Schuyler
were already there, but would have nothing to do with the
French. Maricourt carried things with a high hand, and Dekan-
issora went to Kaneenda to arrange matters with him. Onon-
daga deputies had reached. Montreal Mar. 2 with complaints
against the western Indians, and Maricourt returned with them.
He was surprised to find Englishmen there. Dekanissora allowed
all the captives at Onondaga to return, but some had married
there and would not go. It was the same elsewhere, but Joncaire
brought some from the Cayugas and Senecas, being now resident
agent with the latter. The Oneidas would give up no prisoners,
but five at last went from Onondaga. Dekanissora said the
French had 50 or 60 prisoners from the Iroquois last fall and
they had none in return. He favored having a minister from
and trade with those who would do the best by them. The
¢
Onondagas already had a reputation as “men of business.”
After Bruyas brought back the French prisoners in 1700,
Fathers Jacques de Lamberville, Julien Garnier and Le Vaillant
were sent to the Onondagas and Senecas. Fathers d’Heu and
De Mareuil followed, remaining till 1709, the former being resi-
dent there last of all. ?
A council was held at Montreal Aug. 4, 1701, at which all of
the western nations were represented, with the Iroquois and
French. In this the Iroquois promised neutrality between the
French and English. Prisoners were restored, and a general
peace was signed with great ceremonies, in a place specially
prepared.
250 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Governor Bellomont had died, and Lieutenant Governor Nan-
fan held a conference with the Five Nations at Albany July 10,
1701, when the first beaver land trust deed was given. This
comprised the land north and northwest of Lake Ontario and
Lake Erie, the latter being often called Sweege, the equivalent
of Oswego. Both shores of this were included, and Nanfan
described the tract as 800 miles long and 400 broad. It was
designed to prevent French claims and was signed by 20 chiefs
from all the nations. He told them they should not have allowed
a French fort at Detroit. Most of this creat tract was in Canada,
and they said they had taken it from the Agaritkas or Hurons,
60 years before. There was a later trust deed of lands south of
the lakes.
At a council in Philadelphia, Ap. 23, 1701, Ahookassongh was
present and was called “the brother of the great Emperor of
the Onondagas.” William Penn had addressed a letter from
London June 25, 1682, “To the Emperor of Canada,”
the same ruler. He said:
The Great God that made thee and me, and all the world,
Incline our hearts to love, peace and Justice, that we may live
friendly together, as becomes the workmanship of the great God.
The King of England, who is a Great Prince, hath for Divers
Reasons Granted to me a large Country in America, which, how-
ever, I am willing to Injoy upon friendly terms with thee. And
this I will say, that the people who comes with me are a just,
plain, and honest people, that neither make war upon others nor
fear war from others, because they will be just. I have sett up a
Society of Traders in my Province, to traffick with thee and thy
people for your Commodities, that you may be furnished with
that which is good at reasonable rates. And this Society hath
ordered their President to treat with thee about a future Trade,
and have joined with me to send their Messenger to thee, with
certain Presents’ from us, to testify our Willingness to have a
fair Correspondence with thee: And what this Agent shall do in
our names we will agree unto. I hope thou wilt kindly Receive
him, and Comply with his desires on our behalf, both with respect
to Land and Trade. The Great God be with thee. Amen.
The coming of several French priests has been mentioned. The
intending
Onondagas were about equally divided on this, but Lamberville
had a house and chapel there in 1702. Maricourt installed him
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 257
in these, and mass and a Te Deum were sung in the chapel
before he left there that year. Lamberville was well received by
all the Onondagas except Dekanissora’s family, and of them
there are conflicting accounts. Joncaire was adopted by the
Senecas. That year also Garakontie’ 2 died, ceasing only with
his last breath his kindness to the French. His nephew took
his place as French correspondent at Onondaga. Charlevoix
said that the old chief “found more than once the means of
defeating the intrigues of the English, and to him we were fre-
quently indebted for safety in the most serious difficulties.”
Lord Cornbury feared the loss of three of the Five Nations;
and it was quite generally recognized that English missionaries
among them had become a political necessity. In a council in
1702 the Iroquois chiefs sang a mournful song on the death of
King William.
In 1704 the Iroquois again had trouble with the western
Indians. The Ottawas had carried off 30 Senecas near Fort
Frontenac and had treacherously attacked them elsewhere, being
determined on war. By good fortune the commander at Detroit
was able to restore the prisoners the Ottawas had made. M. de
Maricourt had died, and his brother, Baron de Longueuil, suc-
ceeded him at Onondaga. Peter Schuyler sent belts to the Can-
adian Iroquois; but the French got hold of them and had them
returned by the Onondagas without answer. That year some
Iroquois chiefs were at a council in Pennsylvania, and questions
of land and southern warfare brought them there with increasing
frequency.
In 1706 Vaudreuil sent Joncaire to Michilimackinac to main-
tain the peace between the Ottawas and Iroquois, the safety of
Canada depending on peace with the latter. The Ottawas prom-
ised to make reparation, and, though slow about it, at last did so.
An Indian showed a fine belt of 21 rows at Philadelphia in
1706, “which Belt, he said, was a pledge of peace formerly
delvd. by the Onondagoe Indians, one of the 5 Nations to the
Nantikokes, when they made the said Nantikokes tributaries.”
The Iroquois would soon receive this tribute, which had then
258 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
been paid for 26 years, or since 1680. The next year they took
20 belts and some strings to Onondaga.
The French again proposed to secure Niagara through Jon-
caire’s influence with the Senecas. Of him it was said later,
“ He is daring, liberal, speaks the language in great perfection,
hesitates not even whenever it is necessary to decide.”
In spite of the French, the Indians would carry iurs to the
English, and their own men would desert. An Onondaga had
killed a deserter in 1708 and claimed that the French said such
men were already dead. They had to yield. That year an
Englishman was for some months among the Onondagas, Cay-
ugas and Senecas. When he proposed a fort at Gaskonchiague’, or
Oswego Falls, and another at the head of Lake Thiroguen, or Oneida
lake, they refused the first and referred the other to the Oneidas.
Father d’ Heu also wrote, May 24, 1708, that two Onondagas
had gone to the Gannaouans in Virginia, who had an ambuscade
near Onondaga the year before. They carried several belts.
The Onondagas were troubled over the pretended settlement of
the Ottawas at Fort Frontenac and Niagara, and the French
posts at Niagara and La Galette. In case of war all this would be
to their disadvantage.
The English blacksmith had returned to Onondaga, but the
French party concealed the anvil in the priest’s house, eventually
giving it up. They wanted a French smith, which he thought
“would be very important for the good of religion and the
French colony.”
De Tonty was reported to have retained Indian presents while
refusing their requests. This was contrary to their custom and
displeased them. There were hints, also, that Joncaire made
money by the use of his office and public presents. That year
the Indian Montour family first came to notice. The father was
a Frenchman who had a son and two daughters by an Indian
wife, and they became prominent. In 1708 the son brought 12
of the Far Indians to trade at Albany; they had come 800 miles.
There may have been several families of this name. Joncaire
killed the original Montour in 1721 by Vaudreuil’s order.
=v. at
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 259
The New England people thought the Five Nations should
help them against the French Indians; and, when two Mohawk
spies returned from Canada in 1709, the governor advised them
to go by the St Lawrence, as war parties were on Lake Cham-
plain, and they might be killed. A large party had gone against
New England; and Governor Vaudreuil had heard the hatchet
was placed in the hands of the Five Nations, but he would let
the English strike first. Then he could easily take Albany at
any time.
Joncaire could not be everywhere; and, while he was with
the Senecas, Abraham Schuyler sang the war song at Onon-
daga, giving the hatchet to the Indians. He induced Father
Lamberville to go to Montreal to report, and then persuaded
Father de Mareuil that his life was in danger and took him to
Albany. Some Onondagas then pillaged and burned his house
and chapel. Joncaire heard of this and thought it best to keep
away, returning to his Seneca friends, where Father d’Heu
then was. |
Peter Schuyler had persuaded all but the Senecas to side with
the English; but the Mohawks and Onondagas sent word to
Canada that they did not really wish war, and 40 Senecas were
well received at Montreal by Governor Vaudreuil.
Chapter 14
Tributary nations. Conestoga council. Indian chiefs in England. Inter-
est in them. French fort at Onondaga. Iroquois at Albany. Mohawk
fort and chapel. Delaware tribute. Peace of Utrecht. Tuscaroras
adopted. French post at Irondequoit. Catawbas. Peace with the
French. French post at Niagara. Hendrick restored. Governor Bur-
net. Pennsylvania lands. Boundary between Six Nations and Virginia
Indians. English post at Irondequoit. Colonial conference at Albany.
Far Indians at Albany. Conference with Massachusetts.
In 1709 the chiefs of the Mingoes, Ganawese and Delawares on
the Susquehanna purposed going to Onondaga with their tribute,
but the governor of Pennsylvania thought it a bad time, as he
wished to employ the Five Nations against Canada. Many were
already engaged by the English. These chiefs “ had prepared for
their journey Twenty four Belts of Wampum to be presented to
260 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
them as their Tribute.” That year the governors of New York and
“contract with the five nations to make
with all speed as many Canoes as may be wanted” for an expe-
Pennsylvania were to
dition against Canada, and to engage as many warriors as
possible. E
An important council was attended by the governor of Penn-
sylvania in 1709, at Conestoga, some Seneca and Tuscarora
chiefs being present. The Tuscaroras presented eight belts
“as an Introduction, & in order to break off hostilities till next
Spring, for then their Kings will come & sue for the peace they
so much Desire.” They were told they could come and would
be protected if they lived peaceably. The Senecas thanked the
white people for coming and said the belts would be sent to the
Five Nations.
English forts were planned at Lake George and Crown Point,
and some were built on Wood creek, at one of which 1600 men
were assembled. Many bateaux and 100 birch canoes were
provided, but on a French advance all were destroyed. During
these fruitless efforts New York employed 600 Indians and
maintained 1000 of their wives and children at Albany.
‘Colonel Schuyler had found England indifferent to the Indians, |
and now took some River Indians and Mohawks there to rouse
some interest. It was a successful move. They had many and
great attentions and were received at court, returning home in
1710. With them Queen Anne sent medals for all the Five
Nations and promised better things.
De la Chauvignerie was sent to Onondaga in 1710 and was
well received. July 17, De Longueuil and Joncaire made pro-
posals there to the Onondagas and Oneidas, threatening to
destroy them if they sided with the English. This led the for-
mer to ask an English fort in their land and that strong drink
might be forbidden in their castles. It was destroying them.
An unimportant council was held at Albany; but Governor
Hunter before this had arrested the Iroquois hatchet against the
Flatheads, and the suspected Senecas had renewed the cove-
nant, into which the Dowaganhaes, or Ottawas, had also entered.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 261
De Longueuil, Joncaire and others were at Onondaga in April
1711, to build a trading house, bringing with them £600 in pres-
ents, mostly ammunition. Colonel Schuyler was sent there at
once with six men. The Onondagas had given the French a
lot in the midst of their castle, and’they began work April 19.
Schuyler reached there May 17; but De Longueuil had stopped
work and gone to Kaneenda, at the lake. A council was held at
once, and the Onondagas said the Minquas or Conestogas
reported that the French and English had agreed to destroy
them and take their land. ‘The French said they would not but
the English would, and advised them to be neutral and send
messengers to Canada. Schuyler denied the story and gave
them the British arms to set up, sending these also to the Cay-
ugas and Senecas.
De Longueuil had 24 Frenchmen, with their officers, and had
left the unfinished blockhouse in charge of a chief who was sent
for. It was 24% feet long by 18 feet wide, covered with boards
and nailed. The Indians said Schuyler might leave or destroy
the house, but they would first send word to the French at
Kaneenda. He destroyed this and some lumber sawed for a
chapel, which ended the trouble at this time.
In August some Hurons came to the Cayugas to know who .
had killed their men. The Senecas said they had not, but the
others justified the killing, on which the Hurons said they would
fight. On the 24th 500 Iroquois came to Albany and reported
more coming. Marching down the hill, they were saluted with
five guns as they passed the fort. The French paid them similar
honors. In the council each nation sat by itself, and all agreed
to help the colonists, being ready to join the troops who had
already marched. Ammunition was freely supplied. Out of
682 Indians going to war 26 were Shawnees.
Dekanissora was speaker, and they wished the Praying Indians
might be neutral. They would treat prisoners as Christians did
and asked instructions. Lieutenant Governor Nanfan gave each
nation pictures of the four Indians who had been in England.
Queen Anne had ordered forts to be built and missionaries sent,
262 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
and had furnished silver communion sets for the Indians, one
being now in Canada and the other in Albany. Contracts were
made for building forts and chapels in the Mohawk and Onon-
daga country, to be finished in 1713. The fort at Onondaga was
to be near the town and water, but it was not built, nor was their
chapel, so that the articles intended for it always remained at Albany.
The Indians wished that the war kettle might continue to boil,
i. e. the war continue. Dekanissora said they did not fight like
the whites. “When we have war against any nation, Wee
endeavor to destroy them utterly.” The queen’s arms in their
castles would not defend them, they wanted powder and ball.
Two Onondagas visited Canada; and Governor Vaudreuil sent
word by them that he must now make prisoners. The Canadian
Indians took the French hatchet gladly, and the western tribes
with some hesitation. .
The Delawares carried 32 belts to Onondaga as their tribute
‘
in 1712, and had with them a large calumet, given them “ upon
making their submissions to the Five Nations, who had subdued
them and obliged them to be their tributaries.”” They said some
of them were infants when this occurred, so that it could hardly
have been earlier than 1650. After a kind reception some Sen-
ecas returned with them, bringing belts to the governor of Penn-
sylvania and asking friendship and open trade. At this time
the Conestogas were .at war with the Tuscaroras and other
southern Indians, having taken the English side.
The Senecas were under French influence. As they went to
Montreal that year, the Onondagas stopped them, inviting them -
to a general Iroquois council at Fort Frontenac. This proposal
troubled the French; for it was not usual to treat there. Jon-
caire was at Onondaga; but Vaudreuil sent Longueuil and Chau-
vignerie there, as Peter Schuyler had been there twice and had
brought Madame Montour and her husband, to remove jeal-
ousies created by the French. Before the Montours arrived in
August, some of the Indians had gone to Albany, and in spite
of the rest the Senecas would go to Montreal. The other four
nations continued their meetings at Onondaga and had made
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 263
part of their war canoes.. Indians from Virginia had been there ;
but Joncaire thought Schuyler would keep the Iroquois from
western warfare, as this disturbed his fur trade.
The Senecas came to Montreal and said Dekanissora was sing-
ing the war song. Four of their nations would fight, but they
wished no western war, as they always suffered most. Several
reports came to Montreal in September, that the council still
continued, and there would be war without Seneca aid. French ~
messengers went to Michilimackinac and to the Illinois and
Miamis to warn them of probable danger.
On the other hand, Governor Hunter said the Iroquois were
quiet again, though it was reported that they aided the Tusca-
roras. A good fort and chapel had been built for the Mohawks,
where he had a missionary and 20 officers and men and he hoped
much from this prudent measure.
The peace of Utrecht came in 1713 and the hatchet was taken
from the Indians. Messrs Hansen, Bleecker and Clausen were
sent to Onondaga in September, meeting Dekanissora on the
way, who returned with them. Half a mile from Onondaga 150
Indians met and welcomed them, and on the 20th the sachems
held a council, “and spoke with three strings of wampum in
their loftiest style.”
Four southern Indians came with belts, and the English were
asked to mediate between those of Carolina and the Tuscaroras.
The latter went out from the Onondagas and settled southward.
They had been at war, were dispersed, had left their castles,
and asked that they might not be hunted down. In a sudden
outbreak in September 1711, they had killed 130 persons in one
day, but lost many of their own people the same year. The
southern Indians sided with the colonists, the strong Tuscarora
fort of Naharuke was taken Mar. 26, 1713, and 800 prisoners
were sold as slaves. On this they made peace, most of them
going to New York. Their plea was heeded, and after the
council the English mounted their horses, the Indians cheering
as they left. The Onondaga fort was to be built as soon as
possible.
264 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
A council was held with the Iroquois at Albany Sep. 20, 1714.
They had heard the southern colonies-intended cutting them
off, which they would not believe were powder cheaper, but on
this they had recalled a war party of 40 Senecas and 100 Onon-
dagas. The governor denied the report, but would try to have
powder cheaper, giving them handsome presents and beer to
drink the queen’s health. Dekanissora promised to send expresses
to all the nations to tell them there was no truth in the report. They
said the warriors were young men, and it would depend on them
whether they buried the hatchet against the Flatheads. They had
no good clothes to wear to church, and deferred the missionary ques-
tion till goods were cheaper and they could go well dressed. The
Senecas wished a smith at a hamlet between them and the Cayugas.
The Tuscaroras now lived among them, though a few remained
south, and Governor Hunter was to look on them as their chil-
dren, who would live peaceably between Onondaga and Oneida.
A tract had been assigned them in what is now Madison county.
In 1715 the French were still intriguing, and there were idle
stories of an intended French fort at Onondaga. These troubled
those in power only as it might affect trade, for the traders
then cared more for private profit than the public good. Govy-
ernor Hunter tried to have the Five Nations go against those
Indians in Carolina who had attacked the English there, and ©
said the friendly Indians on the Susquehanna had brought home
30 prisoners. He was not aware that the war was over.
At a council in Albany Aug. 27, 1715, Dekanissora returned
the unfortunate hatchet given him against Canada, and they
must never give so poor a one again. If used, it must be new
steeled. They would close the southern warpath, though war-
riors were still out. Their story about southern troubles dif-
fered from that of the English, who had the Flatheads or Cataw-
bas help them there against the Tuscaroras. The Catawbas
were faithless and ought to be conquered themselves. They
lamented the death of Queen Anne, and afterward sent mes-
sengers south.
De Longueuil was at Onondaga in 1716 and thought a fort
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 265
necessary at Niagara. Preliminary to this, a French trading
house was built that year at Irondequoit, but the goods came
from Albany by way of Montreal. Two wooden houses were
also built at Albany for the use of the Indians. ‘They were 100
yards behind the fort and each was 15 by 70 feet.
The Five Nations called the Catawbas Toderichroone, and
said they were treacherous, for, after concluding peace in 1714,
they immediately murdered some Iroquois, and war continued.
In 1717 a party of 400 or 500 young Iroquois went as far as the
Susquehanna on their way to Virginia. They were persuaded
to turn westward, but soon resumed their course and attacked
140 Catawbas. The governor at last got Connaughtoora to hold
a council at Williamsburg. He refused to make peace with the
Catawbas on any terms, but would not harm the Christianna
Indians. This war continued till part of the Catawbas were
adopted.
Governor Vaudreuil held a council with the Senecas Oct. 24,
1717, having sent Joncaire to the Iroquois country in December
1716. They had attacked the Illinois and made some prisoners.
Another band went toward the Mississippi but soon returned,
having lost their captain and others by smallpox. The Senecas
thought the war should be stopped. Some were suspicious of
Joncaire, yet, when deputies came from all in September, the
Onondaga speaker, after having bewailed the French king’s
death, asked Longueuil and his son, Joncaire and Chauvignerie
to come to their villages freely, they having adopted the last two.
They feared not to displease the English.
In 1718 the Iroquois were at peace with the French but at
war with the Flatheads, and thought the English supplied them
with arms. Governor Vaudreuil said he was not surprised. At
that time the Senecas had a village at Niagara, earning a good
deal as carriers at the portage. A fine cart road there was used
several times a year. |
When Dekanissora was at Albany July 6, 1719, he said the
French were building a fort at Niagara, where they would keep
horses and carts, but did it without leave. The house was 30
266 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
by 40 feet. The Senecas at first objected, but at last allowed it.
They did not claim full jurisdiction at Niagara, as it was not
theirs originally and was conquered by all. He would not take
a belt to Onondaga, being in Albany only as a private person.
At this time the French tried to have Madame Montour settle |
in Canada.
In May 1720 Myndert Schuyler and Robert Livingston jr
went to the Senecas to desire them to bury the hatchet against
all Indians allied to the English and to remonstrate against the
Niagara fort. The Senecas said they would await the Far
Indians who were said to be coming against them, and would
send sachems with Lawrence Claese to forbid the fort at Niagara.
The three Frenchmen there said they had leave from the young
Seneca warriors and would not destroy the house without orders
from Canada. The chiefs knew of no such leave. On his return
Claese met a French smith, sent to Niagara to work for the Senecas
gratis. Claese called the Seneca sachems together again and
repeated his words before Joncaire, who made a retort.
Messengers came to Albany in August from all but the Sen-
ecas. Joncaire had been among them to keep them at home,
telling them that, if the English destroyed this house, it would
cost blood, and they believed him. ‘The other nations thought
ita damage. Dekanissora jr, a Cayuga chief, thought the Eng-
lish ells should be longer and their pounds heavier. If well
provisioned for their home journey, the Christians’ cattle would
not suffer, but hunger was a sharp sword.
Hendrick, the Mohawk, having been suspended as a sachem
four years before, was restored. He said the Indians could not
live peaceably in their castles as long as rum was so plenty.
He and Brandt had been to England some years before, as
Mohawk kings. .
Governor Burnet thought the Indian trade could be preserved
by repairing the forts, building others at Niagara and Onondaga,
and forbidding the carrying of Indian goods to Canada. The
French claimed that the English had proposed settling at Niagara
and taking horses there. This led to the French post, and Jon-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 267
caire was sent as best qualified to prevent the building of the
English house. The Indians, however, still traded at Albany,
not finding good clothes at Niagara. In the early part of Gov-
ernor Hunter’s administration, the Palatines had come to New
York; and he closed his term with a warning. If war should
come with the Five Nations, “the best part of the province will
certainly be ruined.”
The Mission of the Mountain had been for nearly 20 years at
the Sault au Recollect, near Montreal, but in 1720 it was removed
to the Lake of the Two Mountains, at the end of the island.
The Indians of this and Caughnawaga were hostile to New Eng-
land, and there are yet descendants of their English prisoners
there and at St Regis. Some went west, and a new Caughna-
waga arose on the Muskingum.
By conquest much of Pennsylvania belonged to the Iroquois,
and this claim they had before asserted, while assenting to some
early acts. In 1720 the Six Nations, as they were now often
called, were dissatisfied with the increasing settlements on the
Susquehanna, to which the Cayugas made special claim. About
1700 Governor Penn had bought some of these lands of the
Conestogas, and the Five Nations afterward assented to this.
Another amicable settlement came later, but other claims led to
many councils and much intercourse between Philadelphia and
Onondaga. The usual route was by the Susquehanna.
In 1721 it was stated that De Longueuil had been adopted by
the Onondagas, his family being also of that nation. Joncaire
was an adopted Seneca, and so both were commonly in the Iro-
quois towns. Governor Burnet heard that the Senecas were
erowing cold toward them. That year Joncaire, Longueuil and
Chauvignerie went to the Senecas, thanking them for their good
will and asking them to go to Onondaga and call a council, to
refuse the English passage if they came to destroy the fort. The
Senecas were divided on this, the fort not being on their original
land-e? June 20, john’ Durant; a French chaplain, ‘met Jencaire
at Oswego, returning from Onondaga. He said he had beaten
the bush and De Longueuil would take the birds. Next day
268 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Durant met the latter and Chauvignerie above Oswego Falls,
and he said four nations had given him good words. These falls
had the same Indian name as those on the Genesee river, and this
has caused some confusion of places.
Governor Burnet held a council with the Six Nations, Sep. 7,
1721. The Virginia Indians had proposed that the Potomac river
and the high mountains westward should be the dividing line for
their hunting parties, neither passing beyond without permission.
The Iroquois agreed to this boundary. The governor had been
told that, since the Virginia belt came, some of the Iroquois had
gone with French Indians against those of Virginia, a frequent
practice. }
This month, also, Peter Schuyler jr was sent to the Seneca
country with a party of young men, who were willing to stay
and trade there for a year. Their house was at Irondequoit,
and they were not to trade with the Indians farther east but
with any of those west. They were also to encourage the French
coureurs de bois to bring their furs to the English, they being
willing if protected.
Another council was held at Albany Aug. 27, 1722. The Iro-
quois had done as they agreed last year, sending messengers to
the Far Indians to come and trade. Blew Bek, chief sachem of
the Senecas, had been to Canada with others and was coming to
Albany to tell what the French said. Three companies of their
people had gone against the Flatheads. The governor of Vir-
ginia was present and promised that the 10 nations of Virginia
should not pass the line, and the Iroquois promised the same for
themselves, the Tuscaroras and for four nations on the Sus-
quehanna. He gave them a golden horseshoe as a passport.
when they wished to send to him.
Governor Keith, of Pennsylvania, also conferred with them,
and they called him Onas, meaning a pen. Two chiefs of each
of the Five Nations and two of the Tuscaroras had a special
conference with him Sep. 14. They freely surrendered to him
the lands about Conestoga and renewed former treaties. He told
the other governors that the Conestogas spoke the same language
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 269
as the Five Nations and paid them tribute. After this they no
longer had their old names of Andastes or Minquas.
In this treaty the Iroquois addressed “Brother Assarigoe, the
name of the governors of Virginia, which signifies a Simeter or
Cutlas which was given to the Lord Howard, anno 1684, from
the dutch word Hower, a Cutlas.” Hence and from their cavalry
the Virginians were termed Long Knives. The Potomac was
called Kahongoronton by the Iroquois, and the Roanoke the
Ikonentcheneke. ‘The five nations controlled by the Iroquois on
the Susquehanna were the Tuscaroras, Conestogas, Shawnees,
Oquagas, who were partly Mohawks, and the Ostanghaes, who
were Delawares. Some southern Indians afterward came to
New York.
This Albany council was the first in which the Tuscaroras
shared as part of the Iroquois league; and at the end, “the
speaker of the Five Nations, holding up the coronet, they gave
six shouts, five for the Five Nations, and one for a castle of
Tuscaroras, lately seated between Oneida and Onondaga.”
The Conestogas said the Five Nations, as a body, had no title
to the Susquehanna lands, and that four of them claimed none,
but that the Cayugas made a continual claim, and the matter
should be settled. Some Cayugas went to Pennsylvania in 1723
to hold a council on this matter, but this had usually been done
by the Onondagas, “ their best gentlemen.” The Five Nations
had placed the Shawnees on the Susquehanna, and now told them
they did not well to settle at Shallyschoking.
Some chiefs of the Six Nations and Schaghticokes went to
Boston in 1723, and were well received. A piece of engraved
plate was given each one, and £100 were promised for scalps.
Aug. 29 a conference was held at Albany with 80 Far Indians
called Nicariages, who came there to open trade. They spoke
by their chief Sakena and desired to be the seventh nation of the
Iroquois, but this never took effect. They gave a calumet, which
“is esteemed very valuable, and is the greatest token of peace
and friendship.” Some more came in 1724, whom the French
tried to turn aside on Lake Ontario, but they said they were free
and would go where they pleased.
270 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The Canada Indians promised not to war on Massachusetts, |
and the Five Nations threatened to compel the eastern Indians
to be quiet. The English captured 40 Abenaquis and placed
them among the Iroquois, and the latter sent two of them, under
guard, to treat for peace. The Abenaquis were away, and the
messengers left suitable tokens, but there were misunderstandings
and hostilities increased. Father Rasle was soon after killed,
and the Iroquois promised not to make war on the Abenaquis,
who greatly feared them. Governor Vaudreuil then sent Jon-
caire to winter among the Senecas and proposed sending De
Longueuil to Onondaga. He now forbade the connection of
trading posts with missions.
The Six Nations tried to make peace between the Canadian
Indians and New England, but the former refused. On this ques-
tion they conferred with the governor of Massachusetts at Albany
in September 1724. At the same time they held a council with
Governor Burnet. He had kept a smith and some young men in
the Seneca country for two years and heard they had a good
house. He found others willing to live among the Onondagas,
and would build a house at the mouth of their river. This led to
a fuller examination of Wood creek and the Oneida carrying
place.
Chapter 15
Fort at Oswego. Trust deed of residence land. Shikellimy viceroy in
Pennsylvania. French at Onondaga. French fort at Crown Point.
Pennsylvania and the Six Nations. Their council. Weiser and Shikel-
limy. Council at Stenton. Iroquois claims. Their numbers. Albany
council. French claims in New York. War against Southern Indians.
Joncaires. Blacksmiths.
_ The lucid papers of Cadwallader Colden, in 1724, helped the
founding of Oswego, a situation which Governor Burnet pre-
ferred to Oneida lake. Dekanissora was still speaker and was
to advise with Burnet on all matters of importance.
In 1725 the Iroquois of the Sault and of the Two Mountains
sent word to the Six Nations that, if they allowed an English
fort at Oswego, they would make war on them, but thought bet-
ter of this. The English started their expedition in March, but
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 271
the post had not been established May 9, the Senecas opposing it.
De Longueuil expected a conference at the Bay of the Cayugas.
He met 100 Englishmen at Oswego Falls, who made him show
his pass, on which he told the Iroquois chiefs they were no
longer masters of their own country. The Five Nations awaited
him at Onondaga, consenting to the erection of a stone house at
Niagara and the building of two barks on Lake Ontario. He
met more than 100 canoes going to the English to trade and heard
that they had posts on the Wabash. The Onondagas told him
they had agreed to the English going to Gaskonchiague’, or
Oswego Falls, 6 leagues from the lake. Some rules were made
about trading there, but these were soon transferred to Oswego.
Governor Burnet held another conference with the Six Nations
at Albany Sep. 7, 1726. They said the Senecas last year sent
them a belt, that, if De Longueuil wished to make a settlement
at Niagara, Oswego, or elsewhere on their lands, it should be
refused. De Longueuil said that his bark house was decayed
and made so many fair speeches that the Onondagas gave their
consent, but had repented, blaming no one but themselves. The
land belonged to the Senecas. One nation often acted in the
name of the rest, but its action was void unless the others con-
sented. The Six Nations had notified the French that they must
not build at Niagara. They now came howling to Governor
Burnet because of their encroachments.
Sep. 14 the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas confirmed the
Beaver Land deed, and also signed another trust deed of their
residence lands on the south side of Lakes Erie and Ontario, 60
miles inland. The Mohawks and Oneidas having no land on
these, their signatures were not required. The tract began at
“a Creek called Canahogue on the Lake Osweego, (Erie) all
along the said lake and all along’the narrow passage from the
said Lake to the Falls of Oniagara Call’d Cahaquaraghe and all
along the River of Oniagara and all along the Lake Cadarack-
quis (Ontario) to the Creek Called Sodoms belonging to the
Senekes and from Sodoms to the hill Called Tegerhunkserode
272 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Belonging to the Cayouges, and irom Tegerhunckseroda to the
Creek Called Cayhunghage (Salmon river) Belonging to the
Onnondages.”
Sadegeenaghtie, who signed the first deed, signed this also.
Governor Burnet got £300 from New York for building a fort
at Oswego and commenced it in the spring of 1727. Being
advised that the French might interfere, he sent 60 soldiers, there
being already 200 traders there, besides workmen. The perma- .
nent garrison would be an officer and 20 men. The stone walls
were 4 feet thick, and it was finished in August. The French
sent a summons to have it destroyed and abandoned within 15
days, but the matter was referred to the two crowns. The regu-
lations there about Indian trade were good and strict.
In 1726 the Iroquois made some trouble in the south, and the
next year there was a conference at Philadelphia, attended mostly
by Cayugas, who talked of their Susquehanna lands and offered
to sell. The Shawnees and Delawares were told that the Five
Nations would put petticoats on them and look on them as
women. They had been so called years before, but in a less
decided way.
In 1728 the Oneida chief Ungquaterughiathe, or Swatana,
better known by his Delaware name of Shikellimy, was sent to
Pennsylvania to reside there as a kind of viceroy over all the
Indians on the Susquehanna in that province. He was the father
of the celebrated Logan; but having married a Cayuga, his
children were all of that nation. In virtue of his office he repre-
sented the Iroquois in a Pennsylvania council in 1728, but took
no part. The celebrated Madame Montour was an interpreter
at that time, being then the wife, but soon the widow of Robert
Hunter, or Carundowana, another Oneida chief. Her first hus-
band was a Seneca named Roland Montour. She was then called
“a French woman, who had lived long among these People,”
and was always represented as of unmixed blood. That year she
told an alarming story, which came from her sister, married and
living among the Miamis, that the Five Nations had asked the
Miamis to take the hatchet against the English.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 273
Governor Montgomerie succeeded Governor Burnet Ap. 15,
1728, and had a conference with the Iroquois on the rum ques-
tion. It might be sold but not brought to their towns.
That year Chauvignerie went on an embassy to Onondaga,
then in Onondaga valley. The sachems met him on the lake
three leagues from Oswego, and told him he must fire the first
salute and lower his flag when he passed the fort. He refused
and asked whose land it was. The Onondagas said it belonged
to them. He landed, pitched his tent, but refused to enter the
fort or to strike his flag, which he kept up night and day while
he stayed. No salutes were exchanged, and he would not allow
an Onondaga to carry the British flag over his canoe. Half a
league from Onondaga the chiefs met him, and he marched in
under the French flag, placing it over Ononwaragon’s cabin. He
employed chiefs to bewail that chief’s death, that of his nephew
and of the Onondagas generally.
To counteract the effect of the Oswego post, the French voy-
ageurs were ordered to take the north shore of the lake, and it was
desirable to have a post at the Bay of the Cayugas, 8 or g leagues
west of Oswego.
In 1728 the Council at Philadelphia thought “that as the Five
Nations have an absolute Authority over all our Indians, and
may command them as they please, it is of great importance to
Remove any Impressions that have been made upon them to the
prejudice of the English, and that by all means ’tis necessary
they should be spoken with.”
It was noted that Shikellimy had been noid by the Five
Nations to reside among the Shawnees. At a conference in
Philadelphia Oct. 10, the old Delaware chief, Sassoonan, said:
The Five Nations had often told them that they were as
Women only, & desired them to plant Corn & mind their own
private Business, for that they would take Care of what related
to Peace & War, & that therefore they have ever had good &
peaceable Thoughts towards us.
In 1730 Joncaire told the Senecas that he had been expelled
from the French service and asked leave to build a trading house
of his own at Irondequoit bay. Instructions against this were
274 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
sent to Messrs Wendell, Hartsen and others, then in the Seneca
country. At the same time the Fox Indians sent two red stone
axes to the young Senecas, which Joncaire forwarded to Canada,
Saying they were a request that the Foxes might live with them.
In the spring of the same year Jacob Brower, a trader, was
murdered at Oswego Falls. The Indians made satisfaction and
testified that he was duly interred.
In the fall Governor de Beauharnois, hearing that the English
were going to Lake Champlain to trade, sent men to drive them
off, but they found no one there. In 1731 he proposed building
a fort at Crown Point, where the English built and abandoned
one in.1709. The English had already placed farmers among
the Mohawks and Oneidas, and had a good road from the Mo-
hawk river to Oneida lake. It was thought there would soon be
a town at Oswego.
Fort St Frederick was built at Crown Point. Joncaire was
employed among the Senecas, but was sent to the Shawnees on
the Ohio. About this time Iroquois parties were out against
the Foxes in Wisconsin. |
Iroquois relations with Pennsylvania increased in importance,
and in August Governor Keith said there was an opportunity
“of sending a Message to the Six (formerly called the Five)
Nations by Shekellamy, who is willing to undertake it, & is a
truly good Man & a great Lover of the English.” A present
and an invitation to visit Philadelphia were sent. In December
he returned from the Senecas, to whom a covenant belt was
delivered at a council. Conrad Weiser was now official inter-
preter for the province, and gave warning that there would be
trouble with the Six Nations if the liquor trade were not better
regulated. He had been adopted by the Mohawks and spoke
their language.
The Seneca, Oneida and Cayuga chiefs came to Philadelphia
in August 1732, and ordered the Shawnees to return east, having
absolute power over them. They were coming too much under
French influence and refused to obey, killing some Iroquois.
The offenders fled, and the Iroquois were afterward pacified with
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 275
presents. They had allowed the Shawnees to come to Pennsyl-
vania about 1691. The Six Nations had just made an alliance
with the Miamis and three other western nations, and had also
forbidden a French trading house on the Ohio. Joncaire was
again sent to the Senecas, and French medals would be given to
the chiefs. That year Conrad Weiser and Shikellimy were
appointed agents between the Six Nations and Pennsylvania.
In 1733 David A. Schuyler was appointed commissioner at
Oswego, as understanding Indian trade and language, and Philip
Schuyler was sent to the Senecas, with £410 in presents, to secure
their friendship. In September there was a conference between
Governor Cosby and the Six Nations. A Cayuga chief had been
killed at Oswego Falls. By the white man’s law the murderer
should die, but among Indians the offense might be reconciled
and forgiven, which they prayed might be done. The Far
Indians were treacherous and had killed some Oneidas while
feasting them, just after a treaty of peace. The Shawnees still
favored the French in spite of Iroquois advice. For the better
security of the Mohawks, the flats at Fort Hunter were conveyed —
to the king, Nov. 4. |
June 18, Shikellimy came to Philadelphia to tell some bad
news, and mentioned Margaret, a daughter of Madame Montour.
He brought complaints and was sent to investigate reports.
In the informal conference at Philadelphia, in September 1734,
there were 13 Oneidas present and seven Onondagas. Carundo-
wana, husband of Madame Montour, had been killed by the
Catawbas. A little later, Hetequantagechty thought a false story
was “owing to a certain Woman, whose old Age protects her
from being punished for such Falsehoods; that in the meantime
they must resent it and hope to get rid of her.” The Shawnees
had said they would go still farther away, and some of the Iro-
quois chiefs had gone to speak with them. Five Onondagas were
at a conference in Philadelphia that year. In October Governor
de Beauharnois had messages from the Onondagas to clear up
some matters. 7 |
Several Iroquois chiefs went to the Shawnees in 1735, to per-
270 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
suade them to return to Pertnsylvania. Their speaker was Sago-
handechty, a Seneca chief of high reputation, who spoke in a
way resented by the Shawnees, and he was killed by them after
the other deputies had returned.
A council with the Six Nations, held at Stenton near Phila-
delphia in 1736, was largely attended, because at this time the
Onondaga council had resolved to settle the Susquehanna land
question. On account of smallpox in Philadelphia, the confer-
ence was held at the governor’s house at Stenton. There were
100 Iroquois present, 18 being chiefs. Pennsylvania had pur-
chased lands of the Delawares; but Governor Dongan had a
deed of trust from the Iroquois, whose claims were allowed, and
they were paid accordingly. When the leading chiefs were gone,
some drunken chiefs deeded the lands on the Delaware to the
whites. Presents to the Iroquois were increased and those to
the Delawares diminished, which the latter did not like. Weiser
and Shikellimy were now agents for both Iroquois and whites:
Whose Bodies, the Indians said were to be equally divided
between them & us, we are to have one-half & they the other;
that they had found Conrad faithfull and honest; that he is a
true good Man, & had spoke their Words & our Words, and not
his own; and the Indians having presented him with a drest
Skin to make him Shoes, and two deer Skins to keep him warm,
they said as they had thus taken Care of our friend, they must
recommend theirs (Shekallamy) to our notice.
The Iroquois now claimed lands in Virginia and Maryland,
and Pennsylvania supported them. The Shawnees were dis-
satisfied with the land sales of this year, turned to the French,
and refused to come back to the Susquehanna, where they had
asked permission to live 45 years before.
The fur trade at Niagara and Frontenac had greatly dimin-
ished because the French were not allowed to sell brandy. Some
voyageurs were seized and fined by them that year for taking
furs toward Oswego for better prices. They did as they pleased.
An interesting report was made in 1736 on the New York and
Canadian Iroquois, as well as other nations. It is attributed to
Joncaire, but more reasonably to Chauvignerie, and its moderate
'
:
ee ee eee
ee
—_—-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 277
estimates are in marked contrast with the larger ones of others.
At Montreal he distinguished between the Iroquois and others
there. Of the former there were 366 warriors, and at Toniata
there were 10 more. In New York the Onondagas had 200 war-
riors, the Mohawks 80, the Oneidas 100, the Cayugas 120, the
Senecas 350, and the Tuscaroras 250. There were a few Iro-
| quois at Niagara, and he did not report those in Pennsylvania
and Ohio.
There was continual trouble between the Iroquois and the
southern and western Indians, and Weiser and Shikellimy were
sent to Onondaga about this in February 1737, arriving there in
April. Weiser nearly perished on the way. The governor of Vir-
ginia wanted the Iroquois chiefs to come to Williamsburg and
there treat of peace with the Catawbas and Cherokees, but they
refused, yet agreed to a year’s truce. Weiser returned in the
spring. Parties were out, ignorant of the truce, and the Iro-
quois killed three Catawba hunters and some horses. Since
April eight others had been killed, and the Catawbas said these
ought to be avenged before peace was made. The Cherokees
had met an Iroquois party and sent peace deputies. The Iro-
quois were advised to make peace with both.
Lieutenant Governor Clarke had a conference at Albany with
the Six Nations in June 1737. After condoling some deaths,
according to custom, they said Clarke spoke roughly to them
and they would answer in the same way. He had reproved
them for letting the French come to Irondequoit; how came they
at Crown Point, which was English land? The English had
heard that the Senecas and Cayugas had sold their Susquehanna
lands, on which the Shawnees lived, and they might go to De-
troit, which the English did not like. They replied that they
had sold but a small piece, a great way from the Shawnees. The
trouble was between them and Pennsylvania, but they would
try to prevent their removal.
On the general question of Susquehanna lands, Canassatego
had once said that the Susquehannas had a right to sell their
lands till they were conquered in 1677. Their title then ceased.
278 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
At this council the chiefs said the New York colony was like a
great ship moored to an elmtree. Because the tree was perish-
able, the anchor was carried behind the great hill at Onondaga,
where they would always care for it. This figure was often
used. They refused to sell land south of Lake Ontario, for,
wherever the whites settled, the deer and beaver disappeared.
Irondequoit was in the Seneca country, and they could not sell
other men’s lands.
In 1738 Clarke had prevented the establishment of a French
post, and had sent an interpreter, a smith and three others to
live with the Senecas. In the south the Iroquois had attacked
the Catawbas east of the mountains. :
In 1739 Indians brought word that 30 boats, with 120 French-
men, were going from Crown Point to Wood creek to form a
settlement there. They now claimed all land to the sources of
streams tributary to the St Lawrence, but would give a deed of
gift to the Mohawks of the land from Crown Point to the portage
as a hunting ground. The claim was that of conquest.
In July a party of French and Indians went to attack the
Cherokees and others in Carolina and Georgia. The Iroquois
chiefs were unable to keep some young Mohawks from joining
them, and others favored these parties. The French Indians
often passed through New York on these southern forays, mark-
ing their camps with pictures and crosses. The Iroquois said
they would not make peace with the Catawbas and Cherokees
till they asked for it.
Lieutenant Governor Clarke held a council with the Six Nations
Aug. 16, 1740, smallpox having prevented the annual council
the year before. He admitted all nations under English pro-
tection into the covenant chain, both southward and westward
as far as the Mississippi, and had heard of an Onondaga embassy
to the French the last summer. They said they had been there
for the advantage of all. The belt given to bind them to the
southern Indians was accepted and would be kept at Onon-
daga. The hatchet against Spain was refused, as they were not a
people to cross the sea, and the Flatheads must ask for peace.
Se <_< Tee
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 279
They also addressed the French in September, saying they
did not know why their people were then at Albany. They
mourned Joncaire’s death, replanting the tree of peace and asking
the return of his son. The older Joncaire told Charlevoix of the
oil springs in 1721, and both of his sons became influential with
the Indians. They also wanted the blacksmith back again, hav-
ing retained the whole forge for him. Laforge was invited and
permitted to spend a year with his friends at Onondaga. ‘That
year the famous Abbé Francois Picquet built a strong fort at
the Mission of the Two Mountains.
The Senecas sent a message in August 1741 to Governor de
Beauharnois, whom they called Skenon, or Peace, saying they
were famished, but wanted the blacksmith back, should any of
them remain alive. Laforge, the blacksmith, could not come till
the next year. His wife was reared among the Onondagas, and
they wanted her there. In fact, the French smith left the Sen-
ecas because they gave all their work to the English smith, and
he feared dying of hunger, not earning enough to buy an ear of
corn. The New York Iroquois wished simply to trade at the
best markets and that no coercion should be used either at
Niagara or Oswego. At this time Beauharnois raised or installed
some Canadian Iroquois chiefs.
Chapter 16
Land bought at Irondequoit. Six Nations. Catawbas and Cherokees at
peace. Canassatego and the Delawares. Zinzendorf. Bartram’s jour-
ney. Lancaster council. Black Prince. Name for Maryland. Cataw-
bas. Moravians at Onondaga. Six Nations dissatisfied. Scalp bounties.
Colonel Johnson. Oquaga Indians. Mlississagas. Young Indians
desire war. Johnson at Onondaga. Treaties at Lancaster and Logstown.
Notwithstanding French opposition, Clarke got a deed of the
land at Irondequoit from the Seneca chiefs by means of those
sent as usual to live in their country. They were ordered to go
around the land with the chiefs and mark the trees, that it might
be known what was English land, the tract being 30 miles square.
The deed was signed by three Seneca sachems, the consideration
being £100 and “sundry good causes.”
280 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
He persuaded the Assembly to fortify Oswego and to give £100
to feed the Indians, who were in great want from the length
and severity of the winter. He also effected a treaty of peace
between the Six Nations and the Caughnawagas, or Praying
Indians, at Montreal.
The Cherokees and Catawbas of Carolina gladly accepted the
peace offered by the Six Nations. The former sent them some
beads, a pipe, an eagle’s tail, and a white flag they had taken
from the French. The Catawbas sent a belt of wampum and
calumet, with some tobacco, as tokens of acceptance. The Iro-
quois belt would be kept in one of the Cherokee towns. The
Creeks also desired a treaty of peace. Some Cayugas came to
Philadelphia about payment for lands, but no council was held,
as no others came. |
Clarke held a council with the Six Nations in June 1742. He
was sorry they had forgotten their old way of living in castles,
but some had promised to rebuild them and be no longer scat-
tered. A Cherokee deputy had been to the Senecas, and the way
was now clear. The nations to be included in the southern cove-
nant were the Catawbas, Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws and
Choctaws. He did not think a settlement at Irondequoit expedi-
ent yet, as people feared a French war.
The Onondagas and Senecas went to see Governor de Beau-
harnois in July 1742, and Onowaragon, a great Onondaga sachem,
spoke. The Senecas also asked that Laforge’s son might be their
smith and forbidden to be rude. Privately they said the Onon-
dagas, on their way home, took down the French flag when they
came near Oswego and raised the English. The Senecas had
minds of their own, carrying the French flag in spite of the Eng-
lish, but used it so much that it was worn out, and they wanted
another.
Beauharnois said that young Joncaire might still live with the
Senecas and young Laforge might be their smith. They had
done well with the flag and he would have reproved the Onon-
dagas had he known this sooner.
‘ = “
eae eS ae Ue eS ee ee ee ee eee ee |. rr
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 281
The Senecas still sent parties against the Catawbas or Flat-
heads. The Shawnees proposed moving to the prairie of the
Maskoutins, but this was the wish of the French, and the Iro-
quois must not be displeased. An exaggerated account of a
collision between the latter and the Virginians reached Beau-
harnois, and he tried to cause a rupture by means of this. The
Onondagas did not respond or accept his presents, and his
attempt failed. In this skirmish some were killed, and there
were long deliberations on it.
There was a great council in Philadelphia that year; and,
while the Iroquois were hospitably received, the Delawares were
notified that they might attend, but at their own expense. The
Onondaga Canassatego was speaker and spoke thus of Weiser, or
Tarachawagon:
When we adopted him we divided him into two equal Parts;
one we kept for ourselves, and one we left for You. He has had
a great Deal of Trouble with Us, wore out his Shoes in our Mes-
sages, and dirty’d his Clothes by living amongst Us, so that he
is as nasty as an Indian.
They gave him a present with which to buy new clothes and
asked the governor to be equally generous. The Senecas did not
come to this council because of the famine among them. One
man, it was said, had killed and eaten his own children. They
thought the goods received for the lands insufficient. Canas-
satego said:
We therefore desire, if you have the Keys of the Proprietor’s
Chest, you will open it, and take out a little more for us. We
know our Lands are now become more valuable; the white
People think we don’t know their Value, but we are sensible
that Land is Everlasting, and the few Goods we receive for it
are soon Worn out and Gone.
The chief had examined the Delaware deeds, given 50 years
before, and said the Delawares ought to be taken by the head
and shaken severely. Onas was right, and he said to them:
“ How came you to take upon you to sell land at all? We con-
quer’d You, we made Women of you, you know you are Women,
and can no more sell Land than Women.” After other reproofs
282 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
he passed sentence. They might live either at Shamokin or
Wyoming, “and then we shall have you more under our Eye,
and shall see how You behave. Don’t deliberate, but remove
away, and take this Belt of Wampum.’ He summed up as fol-
lows and dismissed them:
This String of Wampum serves to forbid You, Your Children
and Grand Children, to the latest Posterity, from ever meddling
in Land Affairs, neither you nor any who shall descend from You,
are ever hereafter to presume to sell any Land, for which Purpose
you are to Preserve this string in Memory of what your Uncles
have this Day given You in Charge. We have some other Busi-
ness to transact with our Brethren, and therefore depart the Coun-
cil and consider what has been said to you.
The Delawares left the council as ordered, and it soon con-
cluded. Weiser conducted the large Iroquois delegation to his
house in Tulpehocken, where Count Zinzendorf had an inter-
esting meeting with the chiefs. He was much impressed by
them and received a string of wampum inviting him to Onondaga.
There was a good deal of negotiation about the encounter in
Virginia, but at last all was ready for a final settlement. Shi- ~
kellimy and Saghsidowa were sent to Onondaga in April 1743
and were told that a way there had been cleared for the former
and Weiser. One of those killed was a cousin of Shikellimy and
he was condoled. The Six Nations sent a message about the
Juniata lands, but none to the governor of Virginia, because he
had not washed off the blood and taken the hatchet out of their
head. If he would do this, they would talk to him. He readily
consented if Weiser would do what was necessary. The deputies
set out in company with John Bartram, the naturalist, and Lewis
Evans, the geographer, reaching Onondaga July 21, Both Bar-
tram and Weiser wrote full accounts, according to their per-
sonal tastes, and Evans made a map of the route. The trip was
highly satisfactory, and arrangements were made for another
council at Lancaster Pa. ‘Tochanuntie, or the Black Prince;
and Canassatego were prominent in these affairs.
That year it was reported from Detroit that 600 Senecas, Onon-
dagas and other Iroquois had settled at the mouth of White
river and were friendly to the French.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 283
War was declared in 1744, and Virginia and Maryland were
therefore very conciliatory, so that the Lancaster council was a
great occasion. Witham Marshe gave a full and picturesque
account. ‘The Iroquois party numbered 252, Canassatego march-
ing at the head.
They placed their cabins according to the rank each nation
of them holds in their grand council. The Onondagoes nation
was placed on the right hand and upper end, then the others
according to their several dignities.
Madame Montour was there, and Marshe gave good descrip-
tions of Canassatego and the Black Prince:
Canassatego was a tall, well-made man; had a very full chest,
and brawny limbs. He had a manly countenance, mixt with a
good-natured smile. He was about 60 years of age; very active,
strong, and had a surprising liveliness in his speech, which I
observed in the discourse between him, Mr Weiser and some of
the sachems. Tachanuntie, another sachem, a chief of the same
nation, was a tall, thin man; old, and not so well featured as
Canassatego. I believe he may be near the same age with him.
He is one of the greatest warriors that ever the Five Nations
produced, and has been a great war-captain for many years past.
He is also called the Black Prince.
By invitation of the Maryland commissioner, 24 chiefs dined
with the principal white men present, occupying two tables out
of five. “ They fed lustily, drank heartily, and were very greasy
before they finished their dinner, for, by the bye, they made no
use of their forks.”
The Cayuga chief, Gachradodon, gave a new name to Mary-
land, which was Tocaryhogon, Occupying the Middle or Honor-
able Place. He was praised by the governor, who said he would
have made a good figure in the forum of ancient Rome, and a
commissioner declared he never had seen so just an action in the
great orators he had heard. Notwithstanding the good cheer,
when it came to signing the treaty, they “were obliged to put
’
about the glass pretty briskly,” nor did all sign at once. Their
right to the Virginia lands being challenged, Tochanuntie
answered:
We have the Right of Conquest—a Right too dearly Purchas’d,
and which cost us too much Blood to give up without any Reason
284 | NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
at all. . . All the World Knows we conquered the Several
Nations living on Sasquehannah, Cohongoronton and on the
Back of the Great Mountains in Virginia. The: Conoy-uch-such-
roona, Coch-nan-was-roona, Tokoa-irough-roona, and Con-nut-
skirrough-roonaw, feel the effects of Our Conquests, being now
a Part of our Nations, and their Lands at-our Disposal.
Neither Maryland nor Virginia admitted their rights, but both
satisfied them, and presents and deeds were exchanged. The
shrewd Iroquois went home feeling their power. There were
strong French and English parties among them; and, if they
could remain neutral, both French and English would pay well
for it. A projected treaty with the Catawbas was placed in
Weiser’s hands, and it was recommended that he should go to
Onondaga. |
In 1744 Governor de Beauharnois heard that the English were
about to settle on Wood creek, and that they had sent an alarm
to the Iroquois. Four villages of the Canadian Mahicans, or
Loups, had gone to the Senecas, and Joncaire would report what
it meant. He was called Nitachinon, and much was expected
from his influence. The Iroquois warned him to pass Oswego
only at night, for the English had orders to take him, dead or
alive. ;
Governor Clinton had an Indian council, June 18, 1744. War
had been declared, and troops and cannon sent to Oswego. The
Iroquois would be ready, but would not strike the first blow or
seize the French among them. They thought this wrong.
Jan. 2, 1745, Weiser’s son said he had been to Virginia and
met some Iroquois coming from the Catawba war. “One of
Shickelmy’s Sons, to wit, Unhappy Jake, had been killed by the
Catawbas, with five more of the Six Nations.” The chief was
condoled, and Weiser was willing to go to Onondaga about this,
but doubted Catawba sincerity. He said:
The Catawbaws are known to be a very Broud people, and
have at several treatys they had with the Cherokees used high
Expressions, and thought themself stout warriors for having
deceived Garontowano (the Captain of the Company that was
so treacherously killed) ... . If that one article is true with
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 285
them, that they will own they treacherously murdered Garonto-
wano and some of his men, a peace no doubt will be made
between these poor wretches.
A peculiar party went to Onondaga in May 1745. On behalf
of Pennsylvania went Conrad Weiser, Andrew Montour the half-
breed, and Shikellimy and his son. Three Moravians also went:
Spangenberg, Zeisberger and Schebosch. These desired to
arrange for settling some Indians on the Susquehanna. They
were on horseback, and the route was essentially that of Bar-
tram in 1743; up the Susquehanna to Owego, and then across
Tioga, Tompkins and Cortland counties to Onondaga, leaving
Weiser’s May 19 and reaching Onondaga June 6. The Six
Nations were invited to a council at Williamsburg Va., but said
it was too far. They would go to Philadelphia about the
Catawba peace. Both embassies were successful, but in neither
account is there any allusion to the business of the other. From
this first Moravian visit came others, but no direct missionary
work was done. The sole efforts were preparatory, in learning
the language and gaining the confidence of the Iroquois. Nota
sermon was preached, not a public service held.
Early in 1745 the French made the Six Nations believe that
the English meant to destroy them, and the Mohawks and
Senecas combined, but were undeceived before the English quite
lost their friendship. Indian enthusiasm waned. Governor
Clinton held a council Oct. 5, and found that Joncaire had started
the evil reports. Hendrick made a tiresome speech and there
were land troubles again. Governor Clinton asked them to take
up arms for the English, by a large belt, and they said they would
if the French did not make satisfaction in two months.
The Indians were tempted by an offer of £10 for male scalps,
but did not give way, and.the historian, William Smith, said of
the Albany council:
Although this conference was held in a style of dignity and
solemnity which has seldom if ever before been witnessed;
although men of the first talents and respectability, from four
different colonies, had united their influence and exerted their
286 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
eloquence in persuading these savages to take part in the war, yet
the characteristic cunning of that people was proof against all
these arts. |
Three white men wintered at Onondaga about this time, and
a fatal epidemic troubled the Senecas. The Abbé Picquet and
his warriors were at the attack on Fort Saratoga, which was ©
destroyed in November.
Governor de Beauharnois held a council with the Iroquois in
July and was told that they carried the French flag past
Oswego on their return and would remain neutral. It was hard
for all to do this, with their opportunities, for the regular offer
was £10 for scalps of males over 16 years old, £5 for those under
that, and double these rates for prisoners. So some went to war,
and the Mississagas joined the Six Nations in this.
During the war, in 1746, the French Indians often came near
and even into Albany. Pennsylvania and Connecticut refused
to help procure Iroquois aid. All was gloomy, but a new light
appeared. William Johnson had been made colonel of the Mo-
hawks and made himself felt. Colden said of him:
Mr William Johnson was indefatigable among the Mohawks;
he dressed himself after the Indian Manner, and made frequent
Dances, according to their Custom when they excite to War,
and used all the Means he could think of, at a considerable
Expence. . . in order to engage them heartily in the War
against Canada.
Some of the chiefs would not join, as the war was not in their
interests, and the other nations agreed with them. The young
Mohawks favored war. Governor Clinton called a council in
August, and the difference of opinion was curiously marked.
Colden said:
These Disputes, however, continued so far, that the Mohawks,
and the other Five Nations, could not go in Company to Albany;
the Mohawks marched on one side of the River, while the other
Nations went on the other side. [There are two Roads from the -
Mohawks Castle to Schenectada, one on each side of the Mohawk
River.] When the Indians came near the Town of Albany, on
the 8th of August, Mr Johnson put himself at the Head of the
Mohawks, dressed and painted after the Manner of an Indian
War-Captain; and the Indians who followed him, were likewise
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 287
dressed and painted, as is usual with them when they set out in
War. ‘The Indians saluted the Governor as they passed the Fort,
by a running fire; which his Excellency ordered to be answered
by a Discharge of some Cannon from the Fort.
Through Johnson’s influence the Mississagas and Six Nations
threw down the war belt and declared war against the French
at this council, in which Massachusetts united with New York.
Colden presided. The official interpreter was ill, and it was
thought best to have a chief give the address to the Indians.
In the choice a modern division appears:
At first a Mohawk Sachem was pitched upon; but the Sachems
themselves told us, That for some time past a kind of Party-
Division among the Six Nations had subsisted: That the Mo-
hawks, Onondages, and Senekas form’d one Party; and the
Maeyaoes, luscaroras, and Cayugas, the other: That, as the
Mohawks might be suspected to be more partial to the English,
it would be of more Use to employ one of the other Party; and
an Oneydo Sachem was proposed for that Purpose.
Colden, who made the above note, saw the war dance at this
time, and thus described it:
They were painted as when they go to War. The Dance is a
slow and solemn Motion, accompanied with a pathetick Song.
The Indians in their Turns perform this singly, but it is not easy
to describe the Particularities of it.
Sep. 26 the Oquaga Indians marched in in single file, firing as
they passed the fort and receiving a salute from the cannon.
‘They said they would go to the war, but were late in getting the
summons. It was reported that Weiser would bring some from
the Susquehanna, but no others came. At this time the Missis-
sagas were called a seventh nation, living north of Lake Erie,
but nothing came. of this.
Smallpox was quite fatal, and this stopped some of Johnson’s
parties:
While he was pressing them to this Purpose, one of the
Sachems who had promised to head a Party from the Canajohary
Castle, said, You seem to think that we are Brutes, that we have
no Sense of the Loss of our dearest Relations, and some of them
the bravest Men we had in our Nation: You must allow us Time
to bewail our Misfortune.
288 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Many of the Canadian Iroquois went against the English, and
the governor held a council with 34 New York Iroquois June
30, 1746.
In 1747 an Indian party under Walter Butler, killed some
French near Crown Point, but had time to take only six of their
scalps. Other parties, in Canada and elsewhere, brought in
scalps and prisoners. The Six Nations promised Johnson to
get out all the men they could against the French. Besides two
bands containing 119 men, he had seven other parties out. He
desired a law against selling liquor to the Mohawks, and spoke
of two “grand villains’ who were nuisances in this way.
Governor Clinton talked with some Mohawks in July. They
had been scouting and wished their brethren fortified at Cana-
joharie. He gave Johnson orders for this. The latter had a
talk with some Oquaga Indians and hoped to stop the war with
the Flatheads. The Tionontaties and Ottawas were ready to
fight against the French, and the Six Nations thought they
could destroy Canada alone if Crown Point were out of the way.
He could get nothing to Oswego by the river, as scalping had
commenced there. If he had supplies, he could bring 1000 Indians
into the field in six weeks. The great Cayuga chief, Ottrawana,
had informed him by private belts that the western Indians
wished to destroy Niagara, and they asked leave of the Six
Nations. He sent Lieutenant Visgher to Oswego with goods,
but it was dangerous work, a strong guard being needed. Some
Senecas and Flatheads were coming with a very large belt, which
must mean a great deal of news. Aug. 19 he heard that 500 of
the French had advanced from Crown Point to Lake George,
where they encamped on an island and sent‘out parties. He
proposed going against them with 300 Indians and as many
more colonists. Others joined him on the way, but no state-
ment was made of the result. He wanted plenty of money to
pay for scalps, as ready pay was expected. He had also secured
the friendship of a principal Seneca chief and gained that nation
for the English.
De Chauvignerie was sent to Onondaga from Quebec to con-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 289
dole those who had died from smallpox. He wished to make
peace and gave a belt 6 inches broad and 7 feet long. They told
him they had taken up the English hatchet against the French,
and he went off. There was an invasion of the island of Mon-
treal in June, by a canoe party of English, Mohawks and Sen-
ecas. Hendrick, here called Theianoguen, or White Head, led
the party, of whom 16 were captured. It was reassuring to the
French to know that the Indians of the Sault went against the
enemy. The Mohawks killed many of the French, and opinions
were divided on the neutrality of the rest. July 23 a party of 61
Iroquois deputies came to Quebec and were there till Sep. 24.
They were kindly received, but did nothing. Some Senecas
expected did not come.
Shikellimy reported a council at Onondaga that year, whence
messengers were to be sent to Albany and Canada. Weiser
met Ir Onondagas in Pennsylvania, returning from the Catawba
war. There had been 14 Cayugas with them, of whom five were
killed. Weiser found Shikellimy and his family sick and some
had died. He gave them medicine with good results, but the
chief was in a pitiable state, and Weiser asked aid for him because
of past services. This was given and he recovered.
Some Iroquois warriors came to Philadelphia from Ohio.
The old chiefs wanted peace and the young men war. They
needed arms for this and wondered that the English showed so
little energy.
At last the Young Indians, the Warriors & Captains consulted
together & resolved to take up the English Hatchet against the
will of the old People, and to lay their old People aside as of no
use but in time of Peace. ;
In March 1748 some Mohawks were killed near Johnson’s
house, and they were angry, saying that the English got them
into a war and then did not help them, Shirley’s expedition
being given up.
Governor Clinton had a conference with the Iroquois and their
allies in July. He wished them to keep their young men from
the Catawba war. Colonel Johnson had been to Onondaga, and |
290 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
an exchange of prisoners was to be made, as promised. The |
Indians said they would no longer suffer Joncaire or other
Frenchmen to live in their country. Waiting for a war call,
and so not hunting, they were impoverished and ought to have
relief. Johnson had a trying conference with them at his house
in August. He had agreed with a smith to go to the Senecas
for six months for £70, but there was no bellows there worth a
pin. He thought he could get another smith for the same and
had sent six months’ provision to Onondaga, there being no
food there.
His journey to Onondaga in April and May, he said was “ the
most troublesome, fatiguing journey” he ever took, but the ‘kind
manner in which the Six Nations received him made amends for all.
They were out of humor at the poor results of the war and needed
corn, pork and other things. The giving up of the Canadian expe-
dition seemed to him ruinous and disgusted the Indians. The Sen-
ecas had already expelled Joncaire. The Todirighroones, or Sapo-
nies, a tribe of the Catawbas, were now allies of the Six Nations
and attended some councils. ‘The Scaniadarighroones, or Nanti-
cokes, did the same. They had no vote, but could prefer requests
by virtue of their adoption.
The Mohawks made no Canadian incursions that year, but
Governor de la Galissoniére had a council with the Six Nations
Nov. 2, 1748, Cachointioni, (Kaghswuhtioni) the Onondaga chief,
being present. He was then a French partizan, but afterward
became a warm friend of Johnson. They signed a declaration
that they were not subject to Great Britain.
The Cayugas refused to aid the English unless they would
fight like men, which they had not yet done, but word came
from Ohio that George Croghan was informed “by the Indians
that there were 730 Men of us of the Six Nations settled here on
Ohio & able to go to War, exclusive of other Nations which will
make up as many more.”
A treaty was held at Lancaster July 19, 1748, at which Scar-
rooyady was speaker. At the request of the Six Nations, the
Miamis were received as friends by the English. Weiser was
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 291
soon after sent to Logstown to confer with the Indians there,
and was shown the numbers of warriors near the Ohio by bun-
dles of sticks. There were 74 Mohawks, 15 Oneidas, 35 Onon-
dagas, 20 Cayugas, and 163 Senecas among these; not half of
what had been previously reported. He held several councils
with the Iroquois and others there, but Johnson questioned the
character and importance of these.
Chapter 17
Abbé Picquet’s mission. Shikellimy dies. Nanticokes and Shawnees on the
Susquehanna. De Celoron on the Ohio. French activity. Iroquois emi-
grants. Johnson buys Onondaga lake and shores. Kalm. Death of Canas-
satego. Cammerhoff visits the Six Nations. Peace with the Catawbas.
Johnson resigns office. French troops on the Ohio. Iroquois claims. War
with Cherokees. Tuscarora towns. Johnson at Onondaga. Tanacharisson,
the Half King. Moravians in New York. Colonial congress at Albany.
Mutual complaints. Land treaty with Pennsylvania. Fraudulent purchase
of Wyoming. Scarrooyady, the new Half King.
In 1748 the Abbé Picquet went to select a spot for a new
settlement and Indian mission on the St Lawrence, choosing the
mouth of the Oswegatchie river for its military importance. He
went there in May 1749, building a storehouse and fort, armed
with five small cannon. It was attacked and burned by the Mo-
hawks Oct. 26. This was on the site of Ogdensburg, and its
growth was remarkable. It is stated that there were six families
Eaege im 1740, 87 in 1750, and 306 in 1751.. Mr Shea said they
were mostly Onondagas and Cayugas, and Picquet’s biographer
says “he reckoned as many as three thousand in his colony,”
which of course no one believes. The same writer also says
that these were of the most influential Iroquois families, the
Five Nations having 25,000 people.
While such statements are extravagant, there can be no ques-
tion that the post was a thorn in the side of New York. In the
same extravagant way this French writer goes on to say:
The war parties which departed and returned continually, filled
the Mission with so many prisoners that their numbers fre-
quently surpassed that of the warriors, rendering it necessary to
empty the villages and send them to Headquarters. In fine a
number of other expeditions of which M. Picquet was the prin-
cipal author have procured the promotion of several officers.
292 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
His eulogist ends the list of expeditions in which the warlike
priest was engaged by saying: “M. du Quesne said that the
Abbé Picquet was worth more than ten regiments.”
Shikellimy died in the winter of 1748-49, and his eldest son
for a time took his place. Some Seneca and Onondaga chiefs
came to Philadelphia July 1, 1749, expecting to meet others on
the road who had not yet arrived. They complained of squat-
ters on Pennsylvania lands, and were told they had been forcibly
removed. When they left, they were to tell the coming deputies
to return, but these arrived Aug. 16, with 280 in the party. They
proposed sales of land and had placed the Nanticokes at the
mouth of the Juniata, where others from Maryland would join
them. The land offered was bought after several conferences
and the deed duly signed. The Nanticokes and Shawnees were
willing to go to Schahandoana or Wyoming, and had sent two
belts to the Six Nations to confirm this.
The French wished to secure the Ohio, and De Celoron went
there, took possession and expelled the English traders. He was
at the Chautauqua portage July 16, 1749, his trip causing much
excitement. Soon after the Shawnees met the Six Nations at
Philadelphia, greeted them heartily, and said they were coming
to live nearer: Peace had been declared, but the French tried
to have the Iroquois attack the Ottawas after this. They at
first refused to return Indian prisoners, but yielded at last.
Governor Clinton for a time had all the French prisoners in
his hands, and kept the Iroquois from sending deputies to Can-
ada. Before this they had made peace and exchanged prison-
ers separately. It was necessary to send Arent Stephens to
Oswego to talk with the western Indians there, lest they should
think themselves despised. He went first to the Six Nations,
announced peace and condoled the death of two sachems. The
French used to do this and raise up others, but Johnson said he
would stop that. He also instructed the Mohawks to leave the
exchange to the governor, thus upsetting French schemes.
About that time 147 canoes brought 1177 western Indians to
Oswego, and its growing trade alarmed the French.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 293
In January 1750 the French sent several belts to the Iroquois
and were very active among the Indians. At this time English
traders held Indian children as pledges or pawns; but Governor
Clinton had them sent back. In February Johnson sent a belt
through the Six Nations to tell them that the French were mus-
tering men, and they had better keep their warriors at home,
lest surprise should be attempted. The Shawnees were now
moving nearer the Iroquois and brought about two bushels of
wampum, which was lodged with Johnson to be divided among
the Six Nations. It was a greater quantity than he had ever seen.
English traders were scattered all over the western country
at this time, to the great injury of the French trade. Governor
de la Jonquiére thought he would be justified in seizing their
goods. He said -the English sent messages to the Indians to
take the tomahawk against the French, and with these sent “ belts
of wampum, painted red, the calumet, English flags, &c.’”’ Jon-
caire went to the Ohio to bring the Indians there to the French
interests. If this could be done, they might at least destroy the
Six Nations. Father Picquet was trying to have them settle at
his mission. In May the Cayugas told the French they would
be neutral, but they could not control their emigrants.
Governor Glen, of South Carolina, complained that the Sen-
ecas, there called Nottawagees, also the Five Nations, Delawares
and others were likely to destroy the Catawbas, a brave and
friendly people. Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, stated
that many of the Iroquois had settled on branches of the Missis-
Sippi and were more numerous there than in New York. The
French and the Council at Onondaga were both alarmed at this.
He, himself, was concerned that the Council at Onondaga could
not retain their people. He heard that these Iroquois emigrants,
with the Shawnees, Delawares, Owendats, or Hurons, and
Twightwees, or Miamis, made a body of 1500 or 2000 men.
The Miamis and Hurons sent a message to the Six Nations
and others living on the Ohio, that they gave up the French and
desired alliance with them. They had a favorable answer, which
included their fathers, the Grand Council at Onondaga. Jon-
294 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
caire had spoken to the Six Nations on his way to the Ohio, and
a Cayuga sachem came to Johnson to report his words. He
brought a lead plate by which Joncaire took possession of
various points. Several such plates were buried in suitable places.
Johnson said that smiths must be sent to the Six Nations,
but no liquor: “It is actually the ruin of them.” The French
were again seeking permission to build a fort at Onondaga, but
Johnson defeated this by purchasing land there soon after. The
smiths ought to have about £20 for presents to the Indians of the
castles where they went. They often had more. Kalm, the
botanist, was at Niagara that year, and said the French were so
anxious for trade that they supplied the Indians all the brandy
and rum they wanted, which the priests had always before
prevented. Strong drink brought the Indians there.
Weiser came to Onondaga in 1750 in the interests of Virginia,
but could effect nothing. The French party had the upper hand;
and he thought that nation lost to the English. The Onondagas
notified him of Canassatego’s death before he got there, and
allowed him to condole his death at once and hold a council, as
he had come so far. This was without precedent. One house
still remained east of the creek. Weiser said:
Our Friend Canassatego was buried to day before 1 came to
Onondago, and Solconwanaghly, our other good friend, died some
time before. He that is on the head of affairs now is a proffessed
Roman Catholick, and altogether devoted to the French. The
French Priests have made a hundred Converts of the Onon-
dagers, that is to say Men, Women and Children, dressed in
Silver and Gold, and I believe that the English Interest among
the Six Nations can be of no consideration any more. The
Indians speak with contempt of the New Yorkers and Albany
People, and much the same of the rest of the English Colonies.
In this year occurred the notable visit to the Six Nations of
the Moravians Cammerhoff and Zeisberger. Some years before
the Moravians planned Indian missions in New York, and a
successful one was founded in Dutchess county. This was
stopped by the authorities, owing to a violent prejudice against
the United Brethren. Their attention had also been drawn to
the Iroquois, and John Christopher Pyrlaeus and his wife went
—————————————<—_
Ss ———
a -
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 295
to the Mohawk village of Canajoharie to study the language
there, arriving July 17, 1743. Their stay was short, but he
returned with Anton Seyffert and tried to reach Onondaga. The
Oneidas would not let them pass. Zeisberger and Post tried the
same route in 1745 with less success, but the former reached
Onondaga the same year with Spangenberg. When the Iroquois
were in Philadelphia in 1749, the Moravians consulted some of
them, and Cammerhoff and Zeisberger went to Onondaga by way
of Cayuga, seeing some Cayuga towns otherwise unmentioned.
From that lake the trail passed the foot of Owasco and Skane-
ateles lakes, reaching Onondaga over the hills. The notes on
towns and trails are of interest. At Onondaga they were heartily
welcomed by Canassatego, before whose house floated a large
English flag. They also visited the Seneca towns at much per-
sonal discomfort and peril. Their request that two Moravians
should live at Onondaga and learn the language was at last
eranted, and they returned home. A few weeks after Canas-
satego died, nor did Cammerhoff long survive.
Though some of the Catawbas were at peace with the Six
Nations, the war still went on and was a constant anuoyance to
settlers. In 1751 peace was formally made at Albany. The
¢
Catawbas “came down from their quarters, singing, with their
colors pointed to the ground, and having lit their pipes, the king
and one more, put them into the mouths of the chief sachems, of
the Six Nations, who smoked out of them.” They also gave a
belt having all their towns on it, to show that all wished peace.
Next day “the chief sachem of the Senecas lit a pipe, and put it
into the mouths of each of the Catawbas, who smoked out of it
and then he returned it among the Six Nations.” They would
complete the peace when prisoners were exchanged, but it
amounted to little.
That year the Six Nations forbade the French making forts on
their lands. In their alliance they had now nine castles of Far
Indians, or Mississagas, who were Ojibwas or Chippewas. These
were settled at Caniahaga and sided with Great Britain.
296 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Colonel Johnson became discouraged at the lack of means and
energy, offered his resignation, and sent a belt to all the nations
that he was no longer their agent. At the council in July they
asked that he might be reinstated. Receiving no definite answer,
the Mohawks repeated the request the next year. He was quite
a trader, and the Albany people were jealous, for it was said that
they had then “ no other view in life than that of making money.”
All this time Johnson was active among the Indians, and in
1706 told of a curious transaction of this year. The French were
again scheming for a fort at Onondaga, and he interfered for
the public good. Holding a conference with the Onondagas, he
asked them to grant him Onondaga lake, with the land for 2 miles
around, and he would make them a handsome present. They
signed a deed and he paid them £350 before witnesses. The
Assembly refused to reimburse him, but granted him the tract,
and he took no farther steps. He bequeathed this to his son,
but it was a dead loss.
Both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania tried to have the Mo-
hawks settle on their frontier as a means of defense. “The
Bunt” came to Oswego in 1751, bringing an account of the
French forts farther west. A large French force had gone to
Niagara, and another had crossed from Lake Erie to the Ohio,
by way of Chautauqua, meaning to drive the English from that
river. He was an influential Onondaga, a great friend of John-
son, and did much for the English.
George Croghan and Andrew Montour held several confer-
ences at Logstown, early in 1751, with chiefs of the Six Nations
living on the Ohio, on French aggressions there. A Dunkard
tried to buy land on a branch of the Ohio, but “the Indians made
answer that it was not in their Power to dispose of Lands; that
he must apply to the Council at Onondago.” ‘Weiser was sent
there in June, but met the Indians at Albany, delivered his mes- .
sage and returned.
Governor de la Jonquiére held a council with some Onondagas
July 11, 1751. They claimed the Ohio lands by conquest, and
he said no settlements should be made without their consent.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK 1ROQUOIS 297
This was thought a mistake, as La Salle discovered the river
when no Iroquois were there, but only Shawnees, who were
friends of the French. The Iroquois claim was from the Erie
conquest. The Cherokees had killed 18 Iroquois, and Jonquiére
wished the latter to make war on them, thinking this would
help the French. He died May 17, 1752, and was succeeded by
De Longueuil.
War parties went against the Cherokees in 1752. In that year
three Moravians visited Onondaga, and there were French tra-
ders there from time to time. J. Martin Mack, Gottfried Rundt,
and David Zeisberger left Bethlehem for that place, via New
York, July 26, reaching there Aug. 20. Mack soon returned,
leaving the others to study the language, and from them we have
a list of the Tuscarora towns. These were Canaseraga, Gana-
tisgoa afterward contracted to S’ganatees, Tiachsochratota, and
Tiochrungwe. Johnson came there that year, but only as a
trader, buying ginseng largely. They returned Nov. 25. Many
Indians were employed in digging ginseng and the visiting
Moravians got part of their supplies in this way.
In April 1753, runners came to Johnson from Onondaga to
say that French and Indians were assembling at Oswegatchie,
equipped for war. They would send word whether they were
coming against them or the Ohio Indians. Soon after a French
army passed Oswego on the way to the Ohio, to make good their
claims there, even by force. On account of these grasping claims,
many Indians left Oswegatchie.
Andrew Montour went to Onondaga that year to invite the
Iroquois to a council at Winchester Va., but they declined going.
Conrad Weiser also came to the Mohawks by way of New York,
intending to go to Onondaga, and said the Six Nations were
afraid of the French. Johnson showed him his commission as
Indian superintendent and treated him kindly, saying he might
go on, but seeming not to wish this. Governor Clinton was
pleased that he went no farther. When Montour was at Onon-
daga in February, he “said he saw plainly the Indians were
frighted, and that there was a Strong Party for the French
298 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
among the Indians, and the Senecas particularly were in their
Interest.” He was there again in August with messages from
Virginia and Pennsylvania. 5
Gov. Danvers Osborne dying suddenly, Gov. James De-
lancey succeeded him and Colonel Johnson was sent to Onon-
daga to bury the hatchet, which had not been formally done
and the Iroquois were sensitive on these points. Governor
Delancey said: |
I thought it would be for His Majesty’s Service that once in
some years a person with a publick character and some small
present should be sent up to Onondago which is the place of the
General meeting of the five Nations.
Johnson entered Onondaga Castle Sep. 8, 1753, being met by
the sachems a mile from the town. Kaghswughtioni, or Red
Head, made a speech, to which Johnson replied, condoling the
deaths of three noted sachems. It was a saying among them that,
when the fire went out at Onondaga, they would no longer be a
people. It now burned low, and he came to rekindle it. They
thanked him for speaking in their manner. He found some
Frenchmen there and came by the lake himself. In May he had
referred to a council held at Onondaga a year earlier, in which
the Six Nations resolved not to go to Virginia, but were willing
to treat with that colony at Albany. He did not understand
what was meant by a conference at Logstown. Not an Iro-
quois had gone there, and, if wampum was left, it must have been
with the Shawnees. Mere messages were valueless, “ unless
attended or confirmed by a string or belt of wampum, which they
look upon as we our letters, or rather bonds.”
In December Arent Stephens took a message to both castles
of the Mohawks, and the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, with which
they were well pleased. A trusty Onondaga bore it to the others.
The French attempts on the Ohio failed that year, but would
be resumed the next, and the Iroquois could not resist. It was
said that Picquet at first wished to have his fort on Onondaga
lake. The previous year the French had sent Caughnawagas
among the Six Nations to promote war against the southern
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 299
Indians, with whom both had enmity beyond the memory of man.
They also let loose the Ottawas on the Mississagas, driving them
farther east.
In Ohio the Half King, Tanacharisson, had warned the French
to leave the lands of the Six Nations. Scarrooyady said they
sent them three warnings according to their custom. ‘The third
time they said:
I tell you in plain Words You must go off this land. You say
You have a strong Body, a strong Neck, and a strong Voice, .
that when You speak all the Indians must hear You. It is true
You are a strong Body and ours is but weak, yet We are not
afraid of You. We forbid you to come any farther; turn back
to the Place from whence You came.
Scarrooyady gave his reason for the three messages:
Because, said he, the great Being who lives above, has ordered
Us to send Three Messages of Peace before we make War; And
as the Half King had before this Time delivered the third and
last Message, We had nothing now to do but to strike the French.
A letter had come telling of the Half King’s action:
The Half King went to the French Fort to know what was
the Reason of their coming to settle the Lands on Ohio. The
Commander told him the Land was their’s and discharged him
and told him he was an Old Woman and all his Nation was in
their Favour only him, and if he would not go home he would
put him in Irons. He came home and told the English to go off
the Place for fear they should be hurt, with Tears in his Eyes.
Two Moravians came to Onondaga in 1753, leaving Bethlehem
Ap. 23 and reaching Onondaga June 8. They were Henry Frey
and David Zeisberger, and their journey is chiefly remarkable
for the ascent of the Tioughnioga river. They lost some time
trying to penetrate the wilderness from Owego by land, and some
with the Nanticokes, who were removing to New York. They
fell in with their fleet of canoes as they were going up the river
to settle at Otsiningo, (Chenango) a little north of Binghamton.
Their return by the same route began Oct. 13 and ended Nov. 10,
but they visited friends on the way. These Moravian journals
have many interesting facts not otherwise preserved.
David Zeisberger and Charles Frederick made a later visit,
300 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
leaving Bethlehem June 9, 1754, going by Oneida lake and reach-
ing Onondaga July 21, and arriving home June 4, 1755. They
stayed till May 18,1755. This was the last and longest Moravian
residence there. They founded no mission, all of their work being
of a preparatory kind.
The western Indians grew restive. George Croghan wrote to
Governor Hamilton, May 14, 1754, “ye Government may have
what opinion they will of ye Ohio Indians, and think they are
oblig? to Do what ye Onondago Counsel will bid them, Butt I
ashure y' honour they will actt for themselves att this time,
without consulting ye Onondago Councel.”
That year the Mohawks said they had lost some influence
in council from being thought Johnson’s advisers. The Onon-
dagas were exhorted to live in one castle, as of old. Most of
those who had gone to Oswegatchie were Onondagas and Cay-
ugas, and some said half the Onondagas were there, and that the
Senecas were wavering. It was time that the English should
awake to their danger.
A congress of seven colonies opened in Albany June 19, 1754.
These were New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Con-
necticut, Rhode Island, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Virginia
and Carolina desired to be considered present. The plan was
to have a colonial union established by act of Parliament. There
was also an Indian conference. The Oswego traders, 47 in
number, complained that the Indians at the Mohawk and Cana-
joharie castles forcibly took what rum they wanted, and the
Oneidas did the same at the carrying place, beside charging
exorbitantly for carriage. Hendrick complained of land frauds
and of the inefficiency of the English. The Mohawks would
have taken Crown Point had they been allowed.
The governor of New York said that Johnson was still their
friend; but, as he “for some reasons declined the management
of Indian affairs, it was thought proper to re-kindle the fire here,
by appointing Commiss's whom I shall direct to receive and
consult with you, upon all business that may concern our mutual
interests.” This would be tried a year longer. The Indians
a ee ee ee
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 301
were not enthusiastic. Though notice had been given of a large
present, not more than 150 men of all nations attended. They
wanted rum kept out of their castles, and it was thought fines
and imprisonment might be the penalty for unlawful sales.
Johnson said the French should be kept out of Onondaga river
by. a stricter watch at Oswego, and that Englishmen should
be placed in every nation, with forts, missionaries and smiths
among the Onondagas and Senecas. Educated young men
should go, who might become interpreters, teachers and cate-
chists. Governor Delancey said the commander of a fort at
Onondaga might be made a sachem and have a voice in Indian
councils. The French increased their influence by such adop-
tions.
Conrad Weiser was at this council, and the land treaty with
Pennsylvania was adjusted. Hendrick said the Six Nations
reserved the Wyoming and Shamokin lands as hunting grounds,
and Taghneghtoris, or John Shikellimy, was appointed to take
care of them. After the council Colonel Lydius made a fraudu-
lent purchase of these lands for a Connecticut company, and
this made later trouble.
Tanacharisson, the Half King, died this year. John Harris
wrote from his ferry, (now Harrisburg) Oct. 29, 1754:
On the first of this Instant Monacatootha and Several Others,
the Chiefs of the Six Nations, came to my house and brought the
half King and his Family along with them, who were in General
in a very low Condition, particularly himself, who died in a few
days, after which I asked Monacatootha and others where they
chused to bury him and in what Manner, or if they wanted any
thing Necessary for his funeral; their Answer was that they
looked on him to be like one of our Selves, and as he died among
us we might bury him as we thought proper; that if he was
buried well it would be very good, which I did much to their
Satisfaction. :
In November the Indians resolved to send Scarrooyady, alias
Monacatootha, and two other chiefs to Onondaga, to report
affairs and ask advice. Governor Morris was informed, and
in December 1754
His Honour informed the Council that Scarrooyady an Oneido
302 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Indian, who succeeds Tanachrisson or the Half King in the
Direction of Indian Aughwick was come to Town along with
Two other Indians in their Way to Onondago.
A conference followed, and Governor Morris sent a belt to
Onondaga about the Connecticut land sale. He also wrote to
Governor Fitch of that colony, and Hendrick promised to undo
the mischief.
M. Duquesne held a council with part of the Six Nations at
Quebec in October 1754. The Senecas did not come. The
Onondagas came but took no part. A secret conference followed
with the Oneidas, Cayugas and Tuscaroras, who favored the
French. They then invited the others and reproved them. Some
Oswegatchie Indians, who had been to Albany, gave up their
English medals to the French. The deputies also decided that
Albany and Oswego should not be molested. A council that
winter, at Onondaga, would decide on the French proposals.
Chapter 18
Wyoming deed to be destroyed. Johnson’s speech. Council fire now at Mt.
Johnson. Storehouses at Oneida Portage. Battle of Lake George. Death of
Hendrick. Braddock’s defeat. Delawares and Shawnees claim to be men.
Ticonderoga built. Forts among the Six Nations. Fort Bull destroyed. War
declared on the Delawares, who are reproved by the Six Nations. Johnson’s
condolence of an Onondaga sachem. Council at Onondaga lake. Road to
Oswego made. Indians take the hatchet. Oswego destroyed. Easton
council. Teedyuscung. Oneidas give up medals, scalps and belts.
Hendrick and some Mohawks were in Philadelphia Jan. 15,
1755, and said that the Connecticut deed should be destroyed,
but he could not do it. It must be done at Onondaga. He
advised a meeting of two chiefs from each nation to settle the
matter: “ But then as it is a War Time, We advise that this be
done as soon as possible, for We who are here to-day may not
be here to-morrow.” He was killed that year.
Scarrooyady made a report Mar. 31. The Mohawks advised
him to go to Onondaga, “ but hearing on all hands that the Onon-
dagers were not well affected to the English,” he stopped at
Oneida, where French influence was strong. The Oneidas said
this was wise, and added: ‘“‘ Nobody cared now to do Business
’
ee a ee ee
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 303
at Onondago. All Persons who were in the English Interest
and had Business to do with the Six Nations of late came round
about Onondago and passed by the Town.”
Till 1755 a large French trade was carried on at Albany by
the Caughnawagas, the Indians preferring English strouds to
French goods. In June Johnson had a warrant from General
Braddock as sole superintendent of the Six Nations, their allies
and dependents. June 21 we have “Hon. Wm. Johnson’s first
public speech to the Indians” as superintendent, translated into
Mohawk by Daniel Clause and delivered for Johnson by Red
Head, the Onondaga speaker.. He removed the council fire from
Albany to Mount Johnson, afid his familiar emblem of a bundle
of sticks was applauded. There were 1106 Indians present, and
more men than he had ever seen at a council. The Elder
Brothers made Red Head speaker, and an Indian reported that
the Oswegatchie settlement had been broken up for want of pro-
visions and Fort Frontenac strengthened. The Mississagas
came and made alliance, and Arent Stephens danced the- war-
é
dance, to “ which the sachems bore the usual chorus.”
Johnson tried to keep rum from the Indians at this time, with
but partial success, and raised some sachems. The Onondagas
asked for a fort, as they would fight the French. He told the
Oneidas that General Shirley would have to build a maguzine at
each end of the portage and hoped they would not hinder it.
They replied that work begun had been stopped by them, as they
had received no message. Now it should go on. They com-
plained of Germans on their lands who were there by permission,
not ownership, and who made trouble.
In September Johnson had 250 men with him at Lake George
and more were coming. He was building a fort there, had made
a good wagon road to Albany, and cleared ground to encamp
5000 men, whom he expected to arrive soon. He hoped to pass
the lake, take post at Ticonderoga, and then attack Crown Point.
The French advanced, fighting followed Sep. 8, in which Colonel
Williams and King Hendrick fell on the English side, and Baron
Dieskau was taken on the French. Hendrick fell under his
304 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
horse, being an old and heavy man, and was bayoneted. The
Iroquois, losing 30 men and being discouraged by this and the
numbers of the French, at once returned home.
General Johnson was knighted for his good conduct; and
General Shirley wished him to call a council at Onondaga, and
also privately to engage some Iroquois to go against the French
and Indians on the Ohio. They could join a party already in
Pennsylvania and get the Susquehanna Indians to go too. John-
son did not approve of his having other Indian agents and wished
a fixed sum for himself and the secretary, Mr Wraxall. When
the Indians came to him, they had to be maintained, and a jour-
ney to Onondaga or Oswego was expensive. Shirley proved a
poor manager, but Massachusetts appropriated funds to secure
Iroquois aid, and the garrison at Oswego was reinforced by four
companies. Desertions were frequent there.
The Six Nations had little to do with Braddock’s affairs, though
Scarrooyady and a few others were with him at his defeat July 9.
They- were displeased because he did not consult them.
Most of the Ohio Indians were dissatisfied with the Albany
purchase of Susquehanna lands, and this led to hostilities with
the Delawares and Shawnees. The year before they had asked
that they might no longer be clad like women, but fight like men
for themselves. A change had come over them, and, being |
encouraged by the French, they now fought without leave. The
French policy had hitherto been to weaken the Indians. This
having been sufficiently done, they were now to be protected, but
they were not always reliable. At the battle of Lake George the
Canadian Iroquois refused to attack the English camp, and helped
defeat the French by later inaction. M. de Vaudreuil had a con-
ference at Montreal with the Senecas Oct. 1, 1755, who came to
bring Joncaire home. Some other Iroquois came later, and he
thought all were in the French interest except the Onondagas
and Mohawks. That year the French occupied Ticonderoga.
In 1756 the Earl of Loudon became commander in chief, and
was empowered to furnish Johnson all he required for forts or
smiths among the Indians. Johnson’s general plans were
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HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 305
approved; and he had a council with the Six Nations, who were
firm in the British alliance and pleased with the proposed council
at Oswego. All but the Cayugas desired forts in their country,
and every Indian castle ought to have a minister. He wished
two persons of unblemished character as chaplains for the pro-
posed garrisons at Onondaga and Oneida, and as missionaries
to the Indians. Something should be done for the Rev. Mr
Ogilvie, who was doing excellent work among the Mohawks.
The conference mentioned seems the one held in June 1756
at Onondaga, but which was deferred at the request of the Mo-
hawks, several minor councils taking place meantime. At one
in February Johnson condoled the deaths of Hendrick and others,
and gave six French prisoners to replace them. Some remote
Senecas were present at this time, who had never been at John-
son’s before and had come from Ganuskago, where Dansville
now stands. He was sorry they still had trouble in the south.
At this time Sir William gave “the largest pipe in America,
made on purpose,” to be hung up in the council house at Onon-
daga, and smoked at important councils. The presents amounted
to £1085, and the French were still more liberal.
Late in March 1756 Lieutenant de Lery, with some French-
men and Canadian Iroquois, passed Oswegatchie, came to the
Oneida portage and destroyed Fort Bull. Five English forts
were abandoned next year and replaced by another there. Some
Onondagas condoled Johnson on this first loss in April. They
desired an early council in their town; and, as it would be large
and they had few provisions, they wished he would send some
for their guests. Workmen were ready to build their forts, and
orders were given for the Oneida fort on Ap. 21; for the Onon-
daga Ap. 30. Horses were employed in the work. Each was a
square stockade with two blockhouses at opposite angles, and
several such forts were built that year, traces of some still
remaining.
In May Johnson was formally invited to the council held at
Onondaga ‘in June. He said there were many deserters from
Oswego among the Indians, who made trouble by their false-
306 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
hoods. Great numbers of these were among the Delawares and
Susquehanna Indians. He conferred with some Oneida and
Seneca chiefs; also with two Seneca women. They said it was
common to take women into their councils, specially among the
Senecas. There were frequent instances of this among the other
Iroquois. At this time the Mohawks did not wish him to go to
the Onondaga council, and he yielded so far as to send messen-
gers there first. On their return the Mohawks advised him to
go, but with a guard, as French parties made the road danger-
ous, and he would be a valued prize.
In Pennsylvania Braddock’s defeat had turned the scale with
the dissatisfied Delawares, and they became hostile, siding with
the French. On this, Pennsylvania declared war in the winter
of 1755-56. Scarrooyady, the new Half King, favored this and
thought the Six Nations would approve. Johnson disliked both
the declaration and the large scalp bounty. It was a bad move
just before a general council, alarmed the Iroquois and might
keep the southern Indians away. Many conferences followed
in Pennsylvania, the Iroquois there adhering to the colony, while
the Delawares said they were “determined to fight the English
as long as there is a Man left.” The Six Nations ordered them
to stop, but they were defiant at first, and then word was sent that
they would obey. A council was held at Otsiningo, to which 300
Delaware warriors came, agreeing to lay down the hatchet at
the wish of the Six Nations. They were still told they were
women and severely reproved, but more latitude was allowed them.
Johnson arrived at Oneida June 13, conferring with some
Indians there. He was shown a French belt, inviting the Onon-
daga, Cayuga, Oneida and Tuscarora chiefs to a treaty at Mon-
treal June 15. His visit now was as a mourner, as the condoling
council must precede business, his warm friend, the Onondaga
speaker, having died. The account is of interest:
Sir William and the sachems of every nation, prepared the
several speeches of condolence to be made at Onondaga upon the
death of Kaghswoughtioony, alias Red Head, chief sachem of
said nation, and chose the proper belts for the ceremony.
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HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 307
. June 18 two Cayugas met Sir William “at the place where the
Onondagas formerly lived,” about 5 miles from their habitation
at that time. This was south of Jamesville, and they were now
on the west side of Onondaga creek. He was to send word
when he would enter the town, that the Cayugas, representing
the Younger Brothers, might meet him and join in his condolence
of the great Onondaga chief. Three Cayugas met him a mile
from the castle, halting two hours to settle all forms according
to ancient custom. Then Johnson marched on at the head of the
chiefs, part of whom sang the condoling song, containing the
names, laws and customs of their renowned ancestors, and asking
happiness for the departed.
When they came in sight of the castle, they found the head
chiefs and warriors seated “in a half moon across the road, in
profound silence.” In the hour’s halt there, the condoling song
was again sung, hands were shaken and the visitors welcomed.
Then Sir William led the warriors, the sachems in the rear sing-
ing the same song. All in the town fired their guns as a salute,
and this was returned by his party. He was then taken to an
arbor by Red Head’s house, where he was addressed by the chiefs.
Next day the grand ceremony was performed with 11 belts and
three strings, followed by an enemy’s scalp to replace the dead,
and a glass of rum to wash away grief. This ended the cere-
mony, which did not include the raising of a new chief.
_ June 20 Johnson encamped by the lake, 5 miles from the castle,
to be near his boats, provisions and presents. A long council
followed. An Oswegatchie Indian said the French meant to
build a fort at Oswego Falls and another at the west end of
Oneida lake. Another party would ravage German Flats and a
fourth attack Johnson’s house, kill or take him, and ravage the
lower Mohawk. The Indians rejected a French belt and cast it
on the ground. Messengers from the Susquehanna said the
Nanticoke king at Otsiningo was dead. Delawares, Shawnees
and others came June 27, and the new Half King was present.
June 28 the war song was sung, and Johnson promised them
a roasted ox at the war dance next day. July 1 they gave him
308 _ NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
leave to open a road to Oswego. The Oneidas and Tuscaroras.
would help make it from German Flats to Canaseraga, and the
Onondagas thence to Oswego. He might build a fort at Oswego
Falls, to be destroyed when the war was over. He gave the
Indians kettles to feast on their enemies’ flesh, which is noted
as figurative; eating meat out of the kettles at a war feast being
called eating a Frenchman’s flesh, as drinking is then termed
drinking an enemy’s blood.
He placed a medal on the Onondaga speaker’s neck. A treaty
was made with the Delawares and Shawnees, and the former were
fixed at Tioga by the Six Nations, where some Iroquois then
lived. The Iroquois feared the French because of their many
Indian allies. On reaching home he had another conference with
the Delawares and Shawnees. With the consent of the Six
Nations, he declared the former no longer women but men, but ©
they were not formally made so for many years later. He sent
out many parties, and the Indians were pleased with their new
forts.
Various collisions preceded the fall of Oswego, the most impor-
tant being Bradstreet’s successful fight at Oswego Falls, of
which the French and English gave very different accounts.
While returning from Oswego with 300 boatmen and their boats,
he was attacked from the east side of the river at Battle island,
July 3, 1756. Landing on the small island there with six men,
he held it till reinforced, repulsing three assaults. Thence the
contest followed the west bank to the falls, lasting three hours.
Oswego was invested by Montcalm Aug. 11, and surrendered
Aug. 14, Col. Mercer having been killed. With its siege the
Six Nations had nothing to do, but the French had many say-
ages with them, whose mere yells did as much toward the sur-
render as the guns of the French. ‘Their Indians, they said,
“perpetrated a multitude of horrors, and assassinated more than
Too persons included in the capitulation, without our being able
to prevent them, or having the right to remonstrate.”
The dilatory—to use no stronger word—General Webb got
only to the Oneida portage. Learning there the loss of Oswego,
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 309
he destroyed all the forts at the carrying-place and marched back,
disgusting his Indian allies, who said it looked like giving up,
so needless was this. The Onondagas proved their character
as “men of business” by securing some of the provisions left
at Oswego, and heard that 100 of the English were massacred
there by drunken Indians. Johnson sent out many parties that
year, and reported various conferences of moderate importance.
In the Easton council in Pennsylvania, July 28, 1756, the
Delaware chief, Teedyuscung, said he had been made king over
five united nations, and represented the Iroquois also. The
latter afterward denied this emphatically. Major Parsons thus
described him: “He is a lusty raw bon’d Man, haughty, and
very desirous of Respect and Commendation; he can drink three
Quarts or a Gallon of Rum a day, without being Drunk.”
The Cherokees and other southern nations joined the English,
and both the Iroquois and Delawares said they would never fight
on the same side with them. Another council followed at Easton
m October, and peace was made. During these troubles Shi-
kellimy’s three sons found refuge with the Delawares.
In July 1756 some Cayugas and Senecas were at Niagara and
said they would remain neutral, but part went against the Eng-
lish at Oswego and elsewhere. Chauvignerie formed a band of
29 Cayugas, Onondagas and Senecas against the English on the
Ohio, and the latter were afterward publicly thanked for killing
many English there. These Indians may have been emigrants.
The Onondagas and Oneidas sent 80 deputies to Montreal in
July, and they were kept till after the surrender of Oswego in
August. Governor de Vaudreuil said that Johnson would thus
be deprived of expected aid. The news was announced to them
Aug. 20, when there were 150 Iroquois there, and they naturally
and rather warmly congratulated the victors.
Some Onondagas and Cayugas came to Montreal late in
November 1756 and had an audience on the 30th. They noticed
that some usual ceremonies were omitted, for, when the Five
Nations came, it was customary to send an interpreter with
wampum to meet them and to salute them with five guns. Others
310 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
came later, and about 100 were at the council which opened
Dec. 13, continuing till the 30th. No Mohawks were present,
but all there were friendly to the French, the Oneidas particu-
larly so. The latter gave up their English medals, and left 17
deputies to spend the winter there. It was a great expense
holding such a council, but unavoidable. The meeting was thus
summed up:
Such has been this famous embassy of the Five Nations, the
most important that has occurred for a long time, and which
ought to be regarded as indeed important under existing circum-
stances. . . The neutrality of those Nations is one of the
greatest advantages we could obtain over the English.
The French desired more than neutrality, which the Cayugas
are said to have long maintained. A shrewd move was made:
The Oneidas presented the Cayugas a Belt from which an
English scalp was suspended. This proceeding had been the
thought of an Iroquois, a shrewd politician to get an English
scalp introduced into the cabin of the Cayugas, where, as yet,
there have not been any.
The Indians desired to look into French customs of a social
nature, in which they might share. It is said: “ The Ambassa-
dors asked to remain until the morrow, New Year’s day, because
they had been told that on that day the Pale faces kissed each
other and that liquor was furnished.”
Among other curious notes of this council is the following:
In regard to the Belts presented by the latter, each of them
furnished in turn and contributed equally to that expense, and
as the Indians are very particular in exhibiting the share they
possess in these presents, at the end of each speech, the orator
is careful, when handing the Belt, to cry out the name of the
Canton, or Nation, which has furnished it.
Chapter 19
Council at Onondaga. Six Nations neutral, but Mississagas hostile to them.
Peace with the Cherokees. Easton council. Teedyuscung. German Flats
destroyed. Abercrombie defeated. Land dispute settled at Easton. Teed-
yuscung reproved. Council at Canajoharie. Iroquois take the war belts.
Canadian Indians abandon the French. Forts built. Niagara taken. Assen-
sing council. Montreal taken. Iroquois present. Religion and education.
Prisoners released. Plans for schools. Murders at Kanestio.
A council was held at Onondaga in the spring of 1757, and
the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas resolved to be neutral.
‘
EEE LL a a
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 311
The Oneidas and Tuscaroras did not declare themselves, but
were much affected by the destruction of the forts at the portage.
Half the Oneidas favored the French.
June 10 some Senecas and Onondagas came to Fort Johnson,
followed by Cayugas and Mohawks. The Senecas showed a
great belt of invitation, 30 rows wide, which they would send to
other nations, and also a French war belt. Another was sent to
the Delawares and referred to them. They told the Delawares
they had buried the hatchet deep. The Six Nations had not
used the ax given them against the French last winter, but at
their council at Onondaga had resolved to hold fast the English
covenant chain. They were so weak that their aid ought not to
be expected. Johnson was surprised that they were now hostile
to the Mississagas. The Onondaga speaker retorted the charge
of indifference on the English as in De Nonville’s, Frontenac’s
and other invasions. They heard that the Mississagas threatened
revenge on them for some killed at Oswego, but the Onondagas
would not commence war. Many belts had arrived at Onon-
daga, and there would be a general council in July. The Oqua-
gas, mostly Iroquois, were on the English side.
Three Cherokee chiefs came to Fort Johnson July 31, and had
a conference with Johnson and some Senecas, Cayugas and
Oneidas. They were condoled as usual and replied:
Perhaps you will expect a formal answer upon this ceremony
of condolence. Brethren, we are warriors, and do not understand
these matters, and hope you will excuse us. All we can Say is,
that we are glad to shake you by the hand, and by this string
of wampum remove all trouble and disquiet from your breast.
They would direct their arms against the French fort on the
Ohio, and in them they might see all the Cherokee nation. In
September a Seneca chief, named the Belt, thanked Johnson for
the Cherokees, and another Seneca chief spoke for them. They .
had begun with a small hatchet, but hoped soon to have a larger.
An Oneida chief spoke for the Six Nations. They would invite
Cherokee deputies to Fort Johnson, and their young men should
be warned not to go on the warpath toward their country.
312 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Sep. 19 their message was formally delivered to the four Cher-
okees, who were seated in four chairs. Johnson lighted the calu-
met, took a whiff or two and passed it to the Cherokees, who did
the same. ‘The gentlemen present smoked and then the Iroquois
who were there. The tobacco from whence it was filled was
then put in a bag to be carried home by the Cherokees with the
calumet. The Belt, a Seneca chief, then delivered the message
of the Six Nations, with a very large white belt furnished by
Johnson. Seneca George would return with them as far as
Philadelphia and farther if his shoes held out.
Not being relieved by General Webb, Fort William Henry
surrendered Aug. 29, after a six days’ siege, and the Indians
robbed and stripped many after the capitulation, even killing
some. Montcalm had 363 Canadian Iroquois with him at this
time, and this loss cooled the zeal of the Six Nations for the
English. Though neutrality was promised, some Senecas and
Cayugas shared in hostilities in Pennsylvania, and Governor de
Vaudreuil reported that he had 20 parties of Senecas and Cay-
ugas in the field against the Catawbas and English. There were
always some whom the chiefs could not control.
A Mohawk chief, who went with George Croghan to Penn-
sylvania in June, brightened the friendly chain between the Cher-
okees and Six Nations in the presence of Col. George Washing-
ton. Both would hold to the English, and three Cherokees were
deputed to go to the Six Nations. On their way they stopped
at Easton, where there was a council with the Delawares and
Senecas, and were told that the grand council, which sat for two
months at Onondaga, had broken up, having determined to hold
to the English. The Delawares and Shawnees in Ohio had
trouble with the French and were also likely to take the same side.
The Easton council was held in July and August. In the latter
month Teedyuscung concluded a peace on behalf of 10 nations,
He said he was formerly represented as a woman by his uncles,
the Six Nations, but they gave him a good pipe and good tobacco,
and he gave these to the English. In response, Governor Morris
gave him a very large belt with significant letters and figures.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 313
The treaty required the approval of the Six Nations. At the end
of the council there was a grand dinner for all present, peace was
formally proclaimed and interpreted to the Indians, and salutes
were fired. There were bonfires and dances, with supplementary
conferences. Teedyuscung said:
I was styled by my uncles the Six Nations, a woman, in former
years, and had no hatchet in my hand, but a pestle or homminy
pounder. As I had no tomahawk, and my uncles were always
styled men, and had tomahawks in their hands, they gave me a
tomahawk, and appointed and authorized me to make peace
with a tomahawk in my hand, I take that tomahawk, and turn
the edge of it against your enemies the French.
A curious effect of scalp bounties, even on women, is seen in
the petition of Margery Mitchell, Oct. 26, 1757:
I was some time ago in Philada., in Expectation of recg a
reward from the Com’ for an Indian Scalp, but was quite dis-
appointed; it ill suited me at the time to take so fatiguing &
expensive a Journey, one might think Common humanity would
induce the Gentlemen to allow me some small matter on that
occasion.
German Flats was destroyed in November 1757. The people
had been warned by the Oneidas, but felt secure. It was attacked
by 300 French and Indians under M. de Belletre. A few Onon-
dagas joined him at Famine river, and he sent a message to
Oneida Castle by four influential Indians, six Oneidas joining
him. The Palatine settlement was protected by five small forts,
all of which were destroyed. None of the French were killed,
but 40 colonists perished, 150 were made prisoners and 60 houses
were burned. In another fort were 350 men, not a mile away.
The Oneidas and Tuscaroras were asked why they had not
given the alarm; on which they showed that they had done so,
but their advice was not heeded. The Germans said the same.
It was the castle at Oneida lake and not the upper one to which
the French sent word. The latter was not to be told.
In the spring of 1758 the French commander at Fort Duquesne
made unfriendly comments on the Six Nations and sent Wyandot
spies to Onondaga, who told their errand and wished a trading
post might be built there, The Seneca chief, John Hudson, or
314 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Eyendeegen, was present at a council with the Munseys in Phila-
delphia Aug. 4. He said they could not hold treaties, being
women, and conducted the business for them.
July 7, 1758, Abercrombie was defeated at Ticonderoga with
heavy loss. The Iroquois despised him from the first and few
Indians shared in the fight on either side. Some success the
English now had. In August Colonel Bradstreet took Fort Fron-
tenac, and Oswego was reoccupied. In November Fort Du-
quesne was evacuated on the approach of General Forbes. The
Indians of Canada were displeased with Montcalm’s treatment of
them at Ticonderoga, and the Six Nations took note of this.
The fourth Easton council met Oct. 8, 1758, and the Iroquois,
Minisinks and Delawares came. The assembly was large and
the ancient rites scrupulously observed. Three old land disputes
were to be settled; the Iroquois sale of 1754, the Walking Pur-
chase, and the claims of the Minisinks in New Jersey. The last
was speedily adjusted, and the lands west of the mountains were
deeded back to the Iroquois. On the Walking Purchase, Teedy-
uscung’s official character came in question, and his pride had a
blow in a private council. A Mohawk chief said: “Who made
Teedyuscung the chief of the nations? If he be such a great man
we desire to know who made him so.” A Seneca chief said:
“We do not know who made Teedyuscung this great man over
Ten Nations, and I want to know who made him so.” An Onon-
daga chief added, “I never heard before now that Teedyuscung
was such a great man, and much less can I tell who made him
so. No such thing was ever said in our towns.” An Oneida
spoke for the Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Nanticokes and Conoys: “I
now tell you none of us know who has made Teedyuscung such
a great man. Perhaps the French have, or perhaps you have, or
some among you, as you have different governments and are
different people. We for our part entirely disown that he has
any authority over us, and we desire to know from whence he
- derives his authority.”
In that chief’s presence, next day, the governors of Pennsyl-
vania and New Jersey explained that he only claimed to be king
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 315
over five Delaware nations and was but the messenger of the
Six Nations, of whom he always spoke as his uncles and super-
iors. The storm was averted, but the offense was not forgotten.
He had also proposed a sale of lands about Shamokin, Wyoming
etc. ‘The Iroquois chiefs replied: “ We have no power to convey
Lands to any one, but will take your Request to the great Coun-
cil Fire for their Sentiments, as we never convey or sell Lands
before it be agreed in the great Council of the United Nations.”
It is readily seen that this was but a convenient excuse.
In April 1759 Johnson held a council at the Canajoharie castle,
stopping at Brant’s house, where the Bunt, other Onondaga and
some Cayuga chiefs waited on him, some Cayugas, Senecas, Nan-
ticokes and Shawnees coming later. While they were waiting
for the Oneidas, Tuscaroras and Geneseo Senecas, their arms
were repaired, and he sent food to some on the way.
When the council opened, Sir William, with the Mohawks,
Onondagas and Senecas, condoled the death of some of their
people since leaving home, and the usual general condolence fol-
lowed. He spoke of a murder by a Cayuga, and an Oneida chief
gave five white prisoners to him. Tuscarora spies told what they
had seen in Canada, where some Oswegatchie Indians wished to
return to Onondaga. Some western Indians had sent a belt to
the Six Nations, as they desired to pass through their country
to talk with Johnson. A sachem of each of the Six Nations
would come with them that year, and the Geneseo chiefs waited
to conduct them.
Governor de Vaudreuil had told the Oneidas that the English,
having built a fort at their portage, were about to erect one at
each end of Oneida lake and another at the falls of the Onon-
daga (Oswego) river. However he got his news, this proved
correct. Though these would be strong, he said, the one at
Oswego would be stronger; and the English would then destroy
the Five Nations. He gave them a large hatchet belt of 6000
beads. The Nanticokes had also been sent for to Onondaga,
receiving a sharp French hatchet with a similar message, but they
returned this by advice of the Oneidas,
316 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
All agreed to go against the French as an atonement for the
murder. This would be an effective plaster for the wound. The
Onondagas then made a feast of a roasted ox, presented by John-
son, and the war dance was shared by some of every nation.
From the Susquehanna 50 more Indians arrived. He told them
that at the Easton treaty the Pennsylvania people gave up all
the land claimed on the Ohio, which had been sold them in 1754.
The deed of surrender would be kept in the council house at
Onondaga.
After telling them of General Amherst’s appointment, Sir Wil-
liam threw the war belt, which was taken up by a Mohawk, who
danced with it, followed by others. A few warriors had gone
with Johnson before; all would go now. Two oxen were boiled
in five large kettles and laid out in large pieces in Indian style,
the chiefs and warriors being seated in two lines opposite the
fires in the center.
The Old Belt, a great Seneca chief, said that the Geneseo
Indians heartily joined the English, and that 26 of their warriors
would follow Johnson to war before they went home. They
now gave up Fort Niagara to be destroyed. He then began the
war dance, which was kept up all night by others. Three chiefs
of each nation came to Johnson to ask him to send an army at )
once against Niagara. ‘The sooner the thing is done the bet-
ter,” they said, and gave a belt with the figure of Niagara at one
end and his name at the other.
The Oswegatchies sent him a message, thanking him and say-
ing they would keep out of the way of the English and not join
the French. They wished to return to their native land, and
their priest sent a message of peace, having no interest in the war.
His town was but a religious school. The Caughnawagas and
others would act no more with the French. Johnson was pleased
and promised to equip the Indians and provide for their families.
That year the Royal Blockhouse was built at the head of
Oneida lake and Fort Brewerton at the foot. A fort was also
built at Oswego Falls on the east side. Johnson and Prideaux
soon left for Niagara, embarking on Oneida lake June 21, passing
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 317
Fort Brewerton June 23 and encamping at Three River Point.
They were at Oswego Falls June 24 to 27, and left Oswego July
_1. The French tried to surprise Oswego after they left, but were
repulsed. The English had 3100 troops and Indians, who landed
at Niagara July 8. General Prideaux was killed on the 2oth and
Johnson took command. ‘The fort surrendered July 25, and the
army returned to Oswego. About one third were Indians. About
the same time General Amherst took Ticonderoga and soon after
Crown Point; while Quebec surrendered Sep. 18.
Some unimportant conferences were held at Pittsburg that year,
in which Iroquois chiefs took part. There was also “a great
Meeting of Indians at Assensing, on the Cayuga Branch of the
Sasquehannah,” in the interests of peace. This was a Munsey
town in New York, recently settled there. This council was
“preparatory to a General Council, which the Western Indians
proposed to hold in the month of April over the Ohio.”
In the summer of 1760 Amherst collected his forces at Oswego
and descended to Montreal, which soon surrendered. ‘The only
Opposition was at Fort Levis, a little below the present city of
Ogdensburg, occupied by a small force under M. de Pouchot.
He was called Sategariouaen, In the Midst of Good Affairs. The
Indians left Oswegatchie the year before, settling on the Isle
Picquet. Many now went to Montreal and elsewhere, and the
rest refused to aid the French. ‘There were places of interest in
the vicinity. Pointe aux Iroquoise, locally called Point Rocka-
way, was a place where that people always stopped in going up
or down. Toniata, the place of the eel fishery, now Grenadier
island, was a noted resort from the earliest times. St Regis, on
the St Lawrence and intersected by the boundary line, was a
mission settlement and is still a reservation. It is worthy of note
that in this last engagement of this great war, two vessels engaged
were called after Iroquois nations. One was the Onondaga,
called the Seneca by Pouchot, and the Mohawk, called Oneida
by him.
A list has been given of 1330 Indians who promised to go with
Johnson at this time. Among these were 284 Cayugas, 57 Tusca-
318 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
roras, 158 Mohawks, 203 Onondagas, 60 Oneidas, 126 Senecas,
and 15 Oswegatchies. But 706 actually embarked.
In 1760 Archbishop Secker spoke of the Rev. Henry Barclay
as the son of a missionary to the Indians of New York, saying
that he was appointed by the S. P. G. a Mohawk catechist in
1735, ordained a priest in 1737 and settled as missionary there,
learning the Mohawk tongue and preaching to them successfully.
He was said to have formed a congregation of 500, with 61 wor-
thy communicants, continuing there till 1745, when the attacks
of the French Indians obliged him to leave. “
Peace having come, the Honorable Scotch Commissioners, in
and near Boston, in 1761 conceived the idea of educating Indian
youths from a distance. They sent an Indian, David Fowler,
who was going on a mission to the Oneidas, to select some, and
he brought three young Mohawks, one of whom was Joseph
Brant. In November Samuel Kirkland, afterward the noted
missionary, visited Johnson, who approved his plan of learning
the Mohawk language.
There was a council at Easton Aug. 3, 1761, with Onondagas,
Oneidas, Cayugas and their allies, Seneca George of Otsiningo
being the principal speaker. Conrad Weiser was dead, and they
chose his son Samuel as his successor. A Conoy chief, called
Last Night, said:
I would acquaint You that the Chief of the Mohickons & Opies
have settled with the Six Nations at a place called Chenango,
where you may always find them if you should have occasion to
speak to them.
In 1762 there were meetings about surrendering prisoners.
Some of the Iroquois had been hostile to the English in the Dela-
ware war, but at last a full treaty of peace was made. There
was a conference at Philadelphia Mar. 30, with 21 Cayugas, who
reported a council held at Onondaga about these prisoners, but
the Senecas were dilatory. A general council met at Lancaster
in August, and 17 English prisoners were returned. There would
have been more, but some had been claimed and given up on the
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 319
road. A few, like Mary Jemison and others, would not return.
Some cases were hard. The noted Oneida chief, Thomas Wing,
said:
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 delivered her, but to my surprize | found
her at home. You know it is hard to part with a Wife. I have
brought you 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.
At this council the Six Nations said they had permitted a fort
at Shamokin, which was to be destroyed in due time, and they
now wished it removed. It was on their warpath and might make
trouble between them and the soldiers.
That year Edward Johnson, schoolmaster at the Tuscarora
castle, made complaints. It was hard teaching such scholars.
The Rev. Mr Wheelock wrote that a legacy of £750 from Sir
Peter Warren had been appropriated by the General Assembly
of Massachusetts for the support and education of six youths of
the Six Nations, as he had desired. He had the youths and was
teaching them, but the commissioners thought this was not the
best way. They thought it better to have English schools among
them, and he wanted Johnson’s opinion. He replied that Whee-
lock’s plan was best, as the others would find if they tried theirs.
In October of that year Johnson wrote to the Rev. Mr Barclay
about a new edition of the Mohawk prayer book, sending the old
one with some additional translations.
Guy Johnson had a conference at Onondaga in December about
the murder of two Englishmen by two Indians in the Seneca
country. Nov. 30, he came to the upper Oneida Castle and the
next day to Canowaroghere, (present Oneida Castle), a new vil-
lage of the Oneidas. Dec. 2 he was at the Tuscarora village of
Canaseraga, Dec. 4 he arrived at Onondaga and was welcomed
by Otschiniata, or the Bunt. He was told that Kanisteo was a
village of lawless stragglers, but the Indians would send there
for the murderers.
320 _ NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Chapter 20
Connecticut people at Wyoming. Indians wish forts destroyed. Western
scalp belt. Pontiac’s war. Forts taken. Hostile Senecas. Indian complaints.
Soldiers destroyed near Niagara. Iroquois land claims. Mohawk prayer
book. Report on Indians. Six Nations join English against Ottawas.
Indians on the Susquehanna. Conestogas killed. Towns burned on the
Chemung. Peace with the Senecas. Niagara council.. Education. Kirkland.
Council with Delawares. English occupy Illinois. Pontiac at Oswego.
In May 1763 four Iroquois deputies came to Johnson’s house,
having a message and several belts for the governor of Connec-
ticut, desiring him to stop his people from settling on the Sus-
quehanna. There had been trouble there before. They wanted
some Mohawks to go with them and a deputy from Sir William
to care for them on the road and prevent imposition. Lieutenant
Johnson and an interpreter were sent.
May 21 there arrived 139 sachems and warriors, and the desired
council was opened with the usual ceremonies and belts. On the
26th 45 Geneseos came; and then the Onondaga speaker spoke
for all, repeating the old agreements and relating later history.
_ Now that the French were dead, the building of more forts made
them uneasy. They feared that western traders might have
trouble and advised that trade should be limited to Oswego,
Niagara and Detroit. The Senecas had been persuaded to
arrange about the murder. The Senecas then spoke, saying they
would not rest till they brought a plaster for that wound.
After the council an Indian came to say that the French had
ascended the Mississippi and invested some English forts west-
ward. A large belt, with English scalps, had been sent by them
to the Six Nations, asking their aid, which was refused. The :
Indians were positive, but Johnson thought it an old belt, sending
to Onondaga and elsewhere to learn more. In June the Onon-
dagas sent wampum to the Indians on the Susquehanna, saying:
This String of Wampum comes to let you know that the French
that was killed is come alive again, and that there is seven of
your out Posts taken and all the People killed by the French,
and a number of wild Indians that have tails like Bears.
An express arrived in June to report the investment of Detroit
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 321
for 36 days, by from 500 to 1600 Ottawas, Ojibwas and Dela-
wares. They feared the advancing power of the English; but
Johnson thought he had removed all difficulties at his Detroit
conference in 1761. Dissatisfaction increased because presents
were not continued to western Indians. The Mississagas and
Ojibwas now blockaded Detroit and totally defeated 100 men
sent to its relief. The Six Nations said they rejected this wes-
tern alliance, but he feared the Senecas might fall away. The
Mohawks had not been well used, yet were doing much for the
English. Though few, they were still considered the head of the
Six Nations by the rest. The Onondagas also showed a strong
attachment. He ordered an interpreter to stay at Oswego to
save trouble with Indians there.
The western Indians captured a fort at Venango Pa., and a
blockhouse at Presque Isle. The post at Leboeuff was aban-
doned. Onondaga messengers said that Venango was treach-
erously taken by some Geneseo Indians living near by. At a
meeting at Onondaga the Senecas spoke with three belts, saying
they had loosed their warriors against the English and wished
fiesfest to do the same. This was rejected by all; and the
Onondagas sent a large belt to the Senecas, desiring them to
stop at once. All but the Senecas agreed to attend a council
at German Flats. This was afterward changed to Johnson Hall
on account of Johnson’s indisposition. |
Since the conquest of Canada the western nations and Iro-
quois had warred with the Cherokees, and parties often passed
through the western parts of the colonies, keeping up a warlike
spirit. The Geneseo Senecas, the hostile party, now sent bands
to Irondequoit and Sodus to waylay passing boats. Johnson
advised an expedition against the Ohio Indians, the Senecas,
Delawares and Shawnees, the real authors of the present trouble.
There was an engagement in August near Fort Pitt, between
Colonel Bouquet and a large Indian force, the latter being
defeated. The three murderers, authors of the trouble, were |
reported killed. That the Indians had serious grounds for com-
plaint is not doubted, but some were due to themselves and of.
322 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
small weight. Some complained that Johnson gave them too
little powder. He said:
The Indians are remarkably the very worst managers of pow-
der on every occasion, and whilst they have any ammunition
are continually discharging their pieces at every little object,
be their necessities ever so great. Every hunter consumes about
8 lbs. of powder, and 20 lbs. of lead at his two hunting seasons
in the year, and without that quantity a good hunter seldom
chooses to go out.
The council met Sep. 14, with 326 Iroquois present, and that
day 246 more came from the Susquehanna as low as Owego, to
say they would remain friends. Some Senecas also came from
the friendly towns east of Geneseo. They wished to be recon-
ciled to the English, not having struck the Virginia people. It
was more likely the Shawnees. Messengers had not returned
from the two towns near the Genesee river. The Caughnawagas
sent a belt to the Senecas, saying that, if they forgot the old
covenant, they and the Canada Indians would quarrel with them.
The friendly Ottawas near Michilimackinac restored some Eng-
lish prisoners.
Teyawarunte, the Onondaga speaker, took the large covenant
belt of 1754, repeated the old engagements made thereon, and on
behalf of 18 nations brightened and renewed them. After the
Canadian conquest Johnson had buried the hatchet under a large
pine tree, in a stream of water, that it might no more be found.
He now gave them a good English ax to cut off all bad links
from the covenant chain.
Sep. 25 he had an express, reporting the tragedy at the Devil’s
Hole, Niagara, where the Senecas destroyed one party and
defeated two companies sent to its relief. ‘The surprise was com-
plete, five officers and 60 privates being killed. Many were
thrown over the precipice.
In October Johnson thus set forth the Iroquois land claims to
the Lords of Trade:
As Original proprietors, this Confederacy claim the Country of
their residence, south of Lake Ontario to the great Ridge of the
Blew Mountains, with all the Western part of the province of
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 323
New York towards Hudsons River, west of the Caats Kill, thence
to Lake-Champlain, and from Reghioghne a Rock at the East |
side of said lake to Oswegatche or La Gattell on the River St.
Lawrence (having long since ceded their claims North of said
line in favour of the Canada Indians as Hunting ground) thence
up the River St. Lawrence and along the South side of Lake
Ontario to Niagara.
Tn right of conquest they claim all the Country (comprehending
the Ohio) along the great Ridge of Blew Mountains at the back
of Virginia, thence to the head of Kentucke River, and down the
same to the Ohio above the Rifts, thence Northerly to the South
end of Lake Michigan, thence along the Eastern shore of said
lake to Missilimackinac, then easterly across the North end of
Lake Huron to the great Ottawa River (including the Chippawae
or Mississagey Country) and down the said River to the Island
of Montreal. . . their.claim,to the Ohio, and thence to the
Lakes, is not in the least disputed by the Shawanese, Delawares,
ettc., who never transacted any Sales of Land or other matters
without their consent, and who sent Deputys to the grand Coun-
cil at Onondaga on all important occasions.
Johnson thought the northern Indians “the most formidable
of any uncivilized body of people in the world.” The Ottawa
confederacy and the Six Nations looked on the northern parts
of North America as their sole property, but the latter had suf-
fered from land frauds. The corporation of Albany long before,
by intoxicating the Indians, unfairly got a deed of the Mohawk
flats at Fort Hunter; and he mentioned other cases likely to
make trouble. The great Iroquois grievance was the chain of
small forts, made in 1759 and reaching Lake Ontario. These
were Fort Schuyler on the Mohawk, the Royal Blockhouse at
the east end of Oneida lake, Fort Brewerton and a fort at Oswego
Falls. They wished these abandoned according to promise.
Good interpreters were needed to prevent misunderstandings.
Missionaries ought to live among them; for, by their holding
double cures, the Indians had very few services, with very poor
interpreters. Many Mohawks had become quite proficient, read-
ing the liturgy and preaching among themselves. To promote
this, he had ordered a new edition of the Mohawk prayer book.
The first, founded on the translation of the Rev. Mr Freeman,
had been printed in New York in 1715; and the printers now
324 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
found trouble from the unusual number of some letters. A still
earlier Mohawk book of 16 pages was printed in Boston in 1707.
In education, the Rev. Mr Wheelock reported that Joseph Brant
and the other Indian boys were doing well. He then had 23
Indians in his school.
Toward the close of this year Johnson made a tabular state-
ment of these confederacies, with the names, numbers and situa-
tion of the nations. Of the Six Nations, the Mohawks, Onon-
dagas and Senecas were considered the elder branches, the three
others being the younger. The Mohawks had 160 men and two
villages on their river, with some emigrants at Schoharie. The
Oneidas had two villages; one 25 miles from Fort Stanwix, and
the other 12 miles west of (?) Oneida lake, with emigrants in
several places toward the Susquehanna. They had 250 men.
The Tuscaroras had 140 men, with one village 6 miles from the
first Oneidas, and several about the Susquehanna. The Onon-
dagas had 150 men; one large village being 6 miles from Onon-
daga lake, with a smaller one at some distance. The Cayugas
had 200 men, a large village near Cayuga lake, and several
thence to the Susquehanna. The Senecas were 1050 men, with
several villages, beginning about 50 (?) miles from Cayuga and
from thence to Chenussio. The largest was about 70 miles from
Niagara, with others thence to the Ohio. Two eastern villages,
Kanadasero and Kanaderagey, adhered to the English; the others
were in the western confederacy. The Oswegatchies were 80
men, chiefly Onondagas, living at La Galette on the St Law-
rence. The Nanticokes and others were southern Indians,
removed to the Susquehanna and subject to the Six Nations.
In Canada the Mohawk Caughnawagas were 300 men and
attached to the English. Others were mentioned. Many of the
Iroquois had no fixed residence, and their numbers could not be
computed. |
In December the Six Nations were in their best mood and
ready to join the English against the Ottawa confederacy, partly
because the Indians about Detroit had asked for peace and
obtained a truce till spring. Lieutenant Governor Colden thought
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 325
it would still be wise to punish the troublesome Senecas. They
had sent deputies to Johnson with offers of peace, laying the
blame on the Delawares and Shawnees. If matters could be
arranged, they were ready to join the English and help subdue
the authors of the war. The other nations seconded their request,
and Johnson favored pacific measures.
He advised that each confederacy should separately guaran-
tee free passage to the English; that the Senecas should give
up the Niagara portage; that the French should be sent away
from Michilimackinac, Miami etc., and that the Jesuit missions
should be abolished for political reasons. He had given the war
belt to the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, who heartily received it,
and he hoped much from this.
At this time the towns on the Susquehanna had quite a mixed
population. Thus in September 1763 a Nanticoke chief brought
messages to Philadelphia from “ The Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Dela-
wares, and Munseys, living at Onohoquagey; Nanticokes, Con-
oys, Onondagoes, & Mohickons at Chenango; Cayuga & Mun-
sies at Chokenote.”
Dec. 14 six Conestogas were killed and scalped in Pennsylvania
by a mob of white men, and a larger mob broke into a workhouse
and killed 14 more Dec. 27. On this, the Pennsylvania Council
sent 140 Conestogas to New York for safety, but the authorities
there refused to receive them and sent them back.
Hosfilities continued. In February 1764 Johnson sent several
Iroquois parties, numbering about 200, to the forks and branches
of the Susquehanna against the enemy. The frst patty sar
prised a band of Delawares Feb. 27, at the main branch of the
river, who were going against the English. The whole band was
taken, and among the 41 prisoners was their chief, Captain Bull,
a son of Teedyuscung and an active foe.
Pontiac was still disposed to be hostile at Detroit. Gen.
Thomas Gage spoke of him as “a person of extra abilities.” He
kept two secretaries; one to read letters, and the other to write
answers, each being ignorant of what the other did.
Out of the 41 Delaware prisoners, 14 were sent to New York.
326 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The rest were distributed among the friendly Indians to replace
deceased relatives. Another small party had equal success, and
the alarmed Senecas sent deputies to Johnson, concluding peace
with him Ap. 3. They were to deliver up all prisoners, desert-
ers, Frenchmen and negroes among them, and the Indians of
Canisteo who murdered the traders in 1762. They also ceded the
whole carrying place at Niagara to the English, a tract 14 miles
long by 4 wide, and the English were to have free passage ~
through the Seneca country.
Ap. I, 1764, Captain Montour led 140 Iroquois from Oquaga
and found Kanhaughton abandoned. It was the nearest hostile
town and had 36 good houses of squared logs, with stone chim-
neys. They burned this and went up the Cayuga branch,
destroying another town of 30 good houses, with four villages.
Then they went to Canisteo, where hostilities commenced. It
was the largest Delaware town, and they burned 60 good houses,
a vast amount of corn, agricultural implements and saddles.
Horses and cattle were many but in poor condition. The Dela-
wares fled to the Shawnees and were pursued.
In August Johnson held a council with the western Indians at
Niagara, nearly all being represented, with 1700 warriors out of
2060 present. Peace was formally made with the hostile Senecas
and with the Hurons of Detroit. Pontiac sent to ask peace. The
rest said they were friends already.
Indian education made some progress. The schoolmaster at
Canajoharie said the Indians would have their children taught
but not chastised by him. The Rev. Mr Wheelock sent David
Fowler to settle and teach at Oneida in 1765. The same year the
Rey. Samuel Kirkland made a trip to the Seneca town of Kana-
desaga at Seneca lake. On the way he stopped at Onondaga,
where he had a reception, his guide explaining his mission to
Otschiniata, or the Bunt, of whom Kirkland said:
The venerable old chief replied, and spoke like a Demosthenes,
for more than half an hour. He then took me by the hand, and
embraced me, kissed one cheek and then the other. I supposed
I must return the compliment; I accordingly kissed his red
|
|
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS a27
cheeks, not disgusted at all with the remains of the paint and
grease with which they had lately been besmeared. He gave
me many blessings while he held me by the hand.
Kirkland had a formal reception by the Senecas and was
adopted by the head chief. While among them, he visited
Niagara. In some places they treated him “with no more
respect than they would shew to a dog.”
Johnson had a council with goo Delawares, Iroquois etc. in
April 1765. The Delawares leveled the graves of the English
slain, gathering up the scattered bones, burying them under a
large pine tree and covering them with a great rock. Johnson
replied to them May 2. They had gone through the ceremony
of condolence and taken the ax out of the head of the English,
but they were women, and he never before knew that women car-
ried an ax; their business being to pound corn. He talked
severely to them, but afterward made an amicable arrangement ;
then for the first time he took them by the hand, and the Six
Nations also shook hands with them. At this time partial
arrangements were made for a definite boundary line.
Pontiac was still busy; but Johnson thought an interview
would set matters right and held a council in July with the Ohio
Indians, who signed a peace treaty... The Shawnees also gave up
four prisoners who had been adopted into families, a thing very
unusual, and would do so with the rest. That summer Col.
George Croghan set out for the Illinois. As he was descending
the Ohio June 8, some Kickapoos and Maskoutins captured his
party, taking him to a village on the Wabash, where he was
released with apologies and escorted thence to the Illinois. Near
there he met Pontiac, who agreed to yield the French posts,
reserving the land, and to go with him to Detroit, where Croghan
held a council with the western Indians and dissolved their
league with the French. Pontiac and the other chiefs agreed to
visit Johnson the following year. In these councils all things
were confirmed by pipes and belts. That year Illinois was in
the possession of the English, and they had a garrison in Fort
Chartres.
328 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Some lawless people again made trouble in 1766 by settling
on land beyond Fort Pitt and killing Indians there. In July
Johnson had a council at Oswego with Pontiac and chiefs of the
Ottawas, Pottawattomies, Hurons and Ojibwas, which he opened
with the usual ceremonies, and then caused Pontiac’s pipe to be
lighted and passed to all present by the interpreter. The Iro-
quois, who were present, seem to have used the calumet less for-
mally than the southern and western Indians.
On the third day Otschiniata came with some Onondaga war-
riors, desiring a hearing. They had come back with a Cherokee
scalp and gave it to Sir William to be disposed of after they had
painted the scalp belt attached to it. He gave them pipes,
tobacco and liquor, and they crossed the river and danced all
night. The council was held in a bower prepared for the pur-
pose. Teyawarunte, the Onondaga speaker, stood up in the full
council afterward and replaced Ganughsadega, former speaker of
the Onondagas, in Johnson’s name, as he had long ago given a
large black belt of wampum for this purpose. The scalp was
taken by Karaghiagigo, an Onondaga friend of Sir William.
Pontiac said that all the belts that went northward went by his
village and came from the Senecas. It would take long to gather
them, and they were more than a man could carry. Only one
bad belt had come from him, and he now recalled this from the
Six Nations, begging them to return it. “ The Onondaga speaker
lighted a calumet of peace, which Sir William left in their hands
many years ago for that purpose, and handed it about to the
Western Indians.” He then addressed them on a bunch of wam-
pum, exhorting all to peace. The report that some Onondagas
had been killed by the English near Fort Pitt was false, for they
were now present. He asked that a Frenchman, now trading
there for ginseng, might be allowed to live among the Onondagas
and Oneidas, or on Oneida lake. The Onondagas liked no
troublesome belts, and none such should come to their town or
council; they therefore left the withdrawal of Pontiac’s belt to
the Senecas, Cayugas and Oneidas. That chief promised con-
tinued friendship and peace.
a eS eee eee eee —
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 320
After his return west, Pontiac received French and Spanish
belts to engage him against the English, but told the Indians he
would stand fast to his agreement with Johnson.
Chapter 21
More Tuscaroras come north. Royal grant. Boundary. Traders. Instruc-
tion. Dissatisfaction. Johnson in the Onondaga country. Murders of
Indians. Peace between Cherokees and Six Nations. Land grants settled.
Boundary treaty at Fort Stanwix. Johnson in the Iroquois country.
Council at Shamokin. Seneca George. Council at German Flats. Dearth.
Reproof of western Indians. Scioto council.
Some Tuscarora chiefs went to North Carolina in the spring
of 1766, with an interpreter, and brought thence 160 of their
people. Some came the following winter and were alarmed at
the deep snow. They brought certificates of good behavior from
the magistrates of all the districts through which they passed,
but their lives were in danger from lawless people, so that they
had to be protected. The worst place was Paxton Pa., where
they were robbed of several horses, and they complained to John-
son. Some stopped for a time at Shamokin and Wyalusing on
the Susquehanna. ‘That year Zeisberger made his last visits
to Onondaga and Cayuga, obtaining a grant of land for the
Moravian Indians at and above Wyalusing.
At this time Johnson applied for the tract afterward called the
Royal Grant, north of the Mohawk and near Canajoharie. He
said he had obtained but a small amount of Indian land and had
paid full value for all. This would seem to dispose of his “ dream-
ing”? with Hendrick, even if this were not in itself improbable,
Hendrick having no personal power to give or sell land. That
belonged to the Council or individual owners, usually requiring
the assent of the three clans. There is, however, a legal refer-
ence to the “ dreamland ” purchase, as it was sometimes called.
In May 1767 Johnson had a council with the Six Nations at
German Flats, at the request of Pennsylvania and Maryland, to
get their consent to running the division line of these colonies
over the Allegheny mountains. He effected this. The Iroquois
also agreed to make peace with the Cherokees when their deputies
arrived. He wrote of several matters at this time. Traders with
330 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
the Indians should be under stricter regulations. _ He had always
relied on a few approved chiefs of the several nations, whom he
had known for 20 years and who had never deceived him. These
were now alarmed at the state of his health and they were also
growing old. Some of these nations were increasing, having
been long at peace, and they were warriors, too, whereas the Eng-
lish were traders. Many of these traders pushed into the heart
of the country, and this might lead to trouble. They wanted
traders, but honest ones, and these they could not always have.
There was dissatisfaction among them; and, unless he could do
them justice, evil might follow. The death of the principal
Seneca chief, who was attached to the English, might remove a
bar to “the discontent amongst these jealous and troublesome
people.” To ascertain the exact condition of affairs, he would
at once visit the Onondaga country, under pretense of a tour
for health.
The best channel for religious instruction to the Indians, he
thought, was through the Six Nations, but practically there was
no missionary in these. The one at Albany preached to the Mo-
hawks occasionally; but, if some had not been able to read the
books given them by Johnson, in their language, they would have
been almost strangers to Christianity. The New England Society
had sent some young persons, some of them in orders, to Oneida
and Onoghquaga and one to the Senecas, but these had little suc-
cess. Distinctions in religion perplexed the Indians. They liked
pomp and ceremony in worship, and mistakes had been made in
trying to abolish at once innocent dances, rejoicings at weddings,
etc. Both discretion and ability were necessary for successful
missionary work among them.
Johnson returned from Onondaga in October. Things did not
look favorable there. At a council the Indians brought up their
many grievances, and the French were busy among them. The
Onondagas did not wish to be hostile, but would not answer for
any one, injured as they were. Bad belts and messages were
daily sent among them. The Senecas and Mississagas quarreled
at the Niagara portage, and Norman Mac Clod, commissary of
———— ee SE SE ee
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 331
Indian affairs, who was there, sent to Castesh, (Guastarax) chief
of the Senecas, to inform him of this. He came and desired
liquor-selling stopped for the time being, which was done. He
said the Senecas would hold to the English, but there were bad
belts everywhere, and he could not answer for all. His party
then went off and became drunk, returning in a few days.
Aug. 24 Mac Clod was informed of bad belts passing and sent
to two Seneca chiefs to know about them. ‘They said the belts
had not stopped at their village, but had gone to the Oneidas
and might return. There were two, but they seemed harmless.
They had been seen at Totieronno at the head of Cayuga lake.
The old women of the Senecas had stopped their young men
from going to war. Castesh was an old rogue and had the bad
belt when he was at the Niagara council. It was very large.
Before he returned in October Johnson spent three weeks at
Oneida lake. There he met the Indians at Tuscarora creek, who
“were greatly affected at the death of a remarkable chief of the
Onondagas,” and he “was obliged to perform all the ceremony
on that occasion.”
The Cherokee deputies arrived at the end of 1767 and met
760 Iroquois at Johnson Hall Mar. 3, 1768. All the latter were
very discontented and had nearly turned back on account of some
cruel murders in Pennsylvania. A white man there had six
Indians in his house, who became drunk and troublesome, and he
killed them all. The next day he and his servant went to a cabin
14 miles away, killed four more and burned them and the house.
Being arrested, he was set free from jail by the riotous inhabi-
tants. The Assembly voted money to appease the Indians, but
Johnson at first had small hopes of doing this.
The Cherokees went through the usual condolence and buried
the hatchet, but did not. take it out of the heads of the English.
Johnson reproved them for this, and they apologized and repaired
the omission next day. Mar. 5 the Six Nations were long in
ce
assembling; and because of this the Cherokees refused “to
open their embassy from a superstitious notion that, as it was
noon, the day was too far advanced for a work of peace, according
332 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
to the opinion of the southern nations.” The Iroquois had many
similar ideas of a suitable time, but agreed to meet earlier next
day.
The Cherokees were introduced by Johnson next morning, and
Oucanastota, a great Cherokee chief who had been in England,
“stood up, ranged all his belts, calumets of peace, etc., in order,”
and then spoke. He had come from Chotté, at the forks of the
Tellico and Little Tennessee rivers, “where the Wise House,
the House of Peace is erected.” It was long since the sachem
of Chotté made peace with the Onondagas, and he was now dead,
but they remembered the talk yet. Oucanastota made eloquent
addresses on 11 belts and three strings. One for Sir William had
a calumet and eagle’s tail attached. ;
Next day the council met outdoors, that all the warriors might
hear the reply to the Cherokees, who were addressed as younger
brothers. The Six Nations had come to meet them, after the
manner of their “ ancestors, whose kettle was always ready, with
their packs and seven men allotted to each canoe, and with a good
stick in their hands, ready to chastise evil doers.” The speech
continued:
As we are your Elder Brothers, and consequently have more
understanding than you, we must tell you that you have not
done thereon as you ought. You have not cleared the road of
rubbish according to the form you ought to have observed,
neither have you taken the hatchet out of our heads. We now
take it, and put it on one side.
Mar. 8, the Six Nations and the Caughnawagas being desirous
to condole the Mohawks on the death of a chief before other
business,
Conoghquieson of Oneida, on behalf of the three younger
Branches of the Confederacy, namely, the Oneidas, Tuscaroras
and Cayugas, went through the whole ceremony of condolance
with the Elder Branches, namely the Mohawks, Onondagas and
Cenecas, which done, the latter, by the Speaker of Onondaga, in
a set speech, gave them thanks for their Condolence, and for their
adherence to the Customs of their forefathers.
A peace was concluded and signed between the Cherokees and
Six Nations, and satisfaction was made for the Pennsylvania —
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 333
murders. A small hatchet still out against the Cherokees would
be called back. Etiquette ruled on this occasion, and Tagawarra,
a chief warrior of the Oneidas, rose to correct some errors of the
sachems: Some bones of the Iroquois and the Cherokees might
lie along the road both were now to travel. He said: “We
therefore now collect the bones of both people, and after the
manner of our ancestors, we inter them in a deep pit, so that the
water shall carry them away, forever from our sight.”
Johnson took a severe cold while attending this open air council
and went to the seashore for his health Ap. 24, leaving Guy
Johnson in charge of affairs. The necessary belts were sent for
the boundary conference, but it could not be held before Sep-
tember. Indian affairs westward looked bad, and bad belts had
come to the Six Nations. In August, however, Governor Moore
was able to settle the 60 years dispute about the Kayaderosseras
patent; the patentees releasing part of the land claimed to the
Indians, and the Indians giving up the surveyed portions on the
receipt of $5000. In an earlier visit to the Mohawk country,
Governor Moore examined the carrying place at Little Falls,
surveying that ground with a view to making a canal there and
avoiding a portage. ‘This he would recommend to the Assembly.
The carrying places afforded a considerable revenue to Indians
disposed to work. |
In September Johnson went to Fort Stanwix for the boundary
conference. The Indians came in slowly; but by Oct. 1 there
were 805 there. Those of most consequence had not come, a
Seneca chief having died suddenly, whom it was necessary to
condole in that country. This delay occasioned great expense,
as by Oct. 14 there were 930 Indians present, each of whom ate
more than two ordinary white men, and did not like to be stinted
at councils. Worse than this, there were private belts passing
among them and all sorts of stories. Those who had been most
desirous of a boundary line now cared least for it. The French
and Spaniards had given a formal invitation to a general Indian
council at the Mississippi, and this might make trouble.
334 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Johnson opened the council at Fort Stanwix Oct. 24, nearly
3000 Indians being present. He settled the boundary question,
conceding the Six Nations’ right to the land south to the Chero-
kee river, and they ceded this to the king. The Cherokees never
claimed west of the Great mountains or north of that river;
but the Six Nations always maintained their claim. The line
followed the Ohio river up to Kittanning, above Pittsburg; thence
east to the west branch of the Susquehanna and along this to
Tiadaghton creek; thence northeast along Burnett’s hills to
Awandoe creek, and down this to the Susquehanna. It followed
that river to Owego, and then ran due east to the Delaware,
ascending that stream to a point due south of Tianderra or Una-
dilla creek, and thence to that stream. The line ran nearly north
from that point to Canada creek, an affluent of Wood creek. The
country north and east still belonged to the Oneidas and Mo-
hawks and might be bought at any time. The presents cost
£10,460, 7s, 3d.
At this time the lines between the Mohawks and Stockbridges
were mutually adjusted, and the latter went home before the
council opened. The Mohawks were styled the true old heads
of the confederacy, and signed the deed first of all. The sig-
natures and devices are each six in number. Tyorhansere alias
Abraham made a steel for the Mohawks, Canaghquieson a tree
for the Oneidas, Sequarusera a cross for the Tuscaroras, Otsin-
oghiyata alias Bunt a hill for the Onondagas, Tegaaia a pipe for
the Cayugas, and Guastrax a high hill for the Senecas.
At the opening of the council Johnson performed the usual
ceremonies. ‘“ The nations gave the Yo-hah at the proper places,
and the ceremony of condolence” ended. Besides New York,
there were present representatives of Pennsylvania, New Jersey
and Virginia. Governor Franklin, of New Jersey received the
name of Sagorighweyoghsta, Great Doer of Justice, because he
had caused some murderers of Indians to be executed.
Johnson gave the covenant chain belt, with human figures at
each end. The Rev. Mr Wheelock obstructed but did not pre-
vent the cession of New York lands. Johnson offered to have
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 335
Fort Ontario, at Oswego, evacuated or put on the same footing
with Fort Stanwix. The Indians answered that it might stay
and the others also, so long as they were civilly treated at them.
The next year he went to Onondaga, arriving there July 1o,
1769. The chiefs of that nation and neighboring villages were
in great need of corn from a failure of their crops. Before the
public council he held several private conferences with chiefs in
their hunting cabins. Returning late one night, his canoe upset,
and in ascending the bank he hurt his wounded leg. When a
little easier, he held a council. Then he went to Cayuga and met
500 Indians, and thence to the Senecas, where he met 2000 more.
While he was there, word came that some Cherokees were on
their way to Onondaga to attend a general council in September.
These chiefs afterward spoke with 20 belts, desiring to renew
and strengthen their alliance. During his stay with the Senecas
Indians came from several nations with belts of union etc. At
this time Johnson reported 2000 warriors among the Six Nations.
His edition of the Mohawk prayer book was finished that year,
400 copies being printed, and few surviving the war.
There was a council at Shamokin Pa. that year, which illus-
trated in several ways the effect of religious teaching on the Six
Nations, desultory as it had been:
Sunday, August 20, 1769.—The Indians having understood that
Doctor Smith was to have Divine Service to White People assem-
bled at the Fort, Seneca George sent Notice that his People wor-
shipped the same God with the English, and would attend Divine
Service, which they did accordingly, with great Decency, and
Isaac Still interpreted the Conclusion of the Discourse, which was
particularly addressed to them.
The chief’s son had been shot in July by a nephew of Conrad
Weiser, and Frederick Weiser spoke of this in the council.
Seneca George was much affected when the matter was brought
ipeawd- sam, lie was allihe Child 1 had. and now lan old,
the loss of him hath almost entirely cut away my Heart, but I
am yet pleased my Brother Weiser, the Son of my old Friend,
has taken this Method to dry my Tears.
336 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
He made a most affecting speech expressing his forgiveness,
ending by saying to all present, while extending his arms:
“Nor have I any ill-will to any of you, my Brethren the Eng-
lish.” That manly Spirit of Forgiveness and Reconciliation
which Seneca George showed on this Occasion, by his Looks,
Gesture, and whole Action, made some of those at the Table cry
out as he ran up, holding out his hand to them, “ This is Noble,”
for here his Speech stood in need of no Interpretation.
Joseph Chew wrote to Johnson about missionary work and
settlements among the Six Nations, and said:
Numbers of the Saints have applied to me. I informed them
that I heard the Seneca and Onondaga sachems say none of
them should come amongst them, until the Oneidas grew better
and reformed their manners.
In July 1770 Johnson had a great Indian. congress at German
Flats. It was a time of very great scarcity, caterpillars having
devoured the crops, while in the Indian country many fields were
entirely ruined. There were other adverse circumstances, for
farther south the whites still wantonly killed Indians and made
trouble in many ways. Some Algonquins came to this congress
and told him that seven canoes of Ojibwas were at Oswego, on
their way.
The Bunt and the Onondaga speaker waited on Sir William
and told him that Diaquanda, their head warrior, had refused to
attend to business and had encamped with another nation. As
he was the particular friend of Johnson, the latter soon persuaded
him to do better. During the treaty 2320 Indians were present,
and it was difficult to feed all these in a time of dearth. The
Cherokees sent seven deputies, desiring peace, and Johnson urged
this, but most of the Iroquois wished for war. Yet they con-
sented to make no war on the southern Indians unless they were
troublesome. The Mohawks said they were now Christians and
had a church, but were neglected, having no minister. All the
nations said Yo-hah to the covenant chain, and the council broke
up pleasantly, several private conferences following. That year
the Rev. John Stuart took charge of the Mohawk mission and
was thorough and successful, living on the spot.
we. a! ae
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 337
During the council the Six Nations presented the address they
would send to the Piankashaws, Kickapoos and other western
Indians. Their messengers would inform them of the peace
between the Iroquois and the Cherokees, and of the good under-
standing with the English. The Iroquois were surprised at their
conduct to them and to the English traders going to the Illinois.
They were out of their senses, and the Six Nations took them by
the head, shaking them so as to restore their wits and taking the
hatchet from their hands because they did mischief. If they
proved obstinate, there would be war, and with war, ruin.
In the autumn of 1770 a great Indian congress met at Scioto
in Ohio, intended for a stricter union among the Indians. It
ended in general resolutions for peace among all, introductory to
a firm alliance between the northern and southern nations for
some purpose not made known. Johnson opposed this council
but could not prevent it. His deputies from the council at
German Flats met the Indians from Scioto at Fort Pitt in Decem-
ber, and summoned them to reassemble at Scioto, when they
would communicate the resolutions agreed to at German Flats
and on which they had over 100 belts. He had great confi-
dence in several of these deputies and hoped to defeat anything
dangerous.
In July 1771 he held a council with 350 of the Six Nations, on
a report that they were stirring up the Shawnees, Delawares and
others to war on the English. They denied it, but he gave his
authority, and this brought explanations. Then he thought there
was reason to distrust only the Senecas on the Ohio and at Gene-
seo. The Indians themselves examined those present from the
farthest castle, who said that any remaining evil must have come
from Guastarax, chief of the Senecas, who was now under ground
but had been a bad and troublesome man. In the late Indian
_war he secretly sent a belt hatchet to the Shawnees and others,
that he would remove the door of the Six Nations from his vil-
lage of Geneseo to Scioto plains, and he wished them to help him
fight his way there. The Senecas then disavowed his acts. As
his cunning was now well known, they thought it likely he had
338 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
sent belts to the Ohio, an instance having just come to light.
Some of these belts might still remain, though most were dis-
regarded. If any secret hatchet remained still with the Ohio
Indians, they desired to take it away and bury it forever.
Chapter 22
Indian customs and language. Mohawk missions and books. Shawnees at
Scioto. Death of Thomas King. Second Scioto council. Bad belts. Three
notices before war. Trouble with pioneers. Guy Johnson to be Sir
William’s successor. Council at Johnson’s. Logan’s family killed. Seneca
prisoners released. Death of Sir William. Condolence. Council with Guy
Johnson. Bunt’s successor. Kayashuta. Union belt. Iroquois emigrants.
Religious troubles.
In that year Johnson gave Arthur Lee an interesting account
of the customs and language of the Indians. The nearer tribes
had lost many of their old customs, blending some English with
others, so that it was difficult to trace them back or account for
them. Some farther off had been affected by intercourse with
traders, but retained many customs whose origin was forgotten.
The most remote had most of their primitive usages, but could
give only fabulous accounts of them. These also confounded
ideas and ceremonies introduced by the Jesuits with their own
ancient rites.
The Mohawks were still considered the head of the Six Nations,
though greatly reduced. At present they had more to do with
the English than with their own brethren. They were members
of the Church of England, most of them read and some could
write very well. Sometimes they made a cross in signing a
deed; but, if it were of importance, they made a steel, used in
striking fire from a flint. This symbol of their nation they called
Canniah, and themselves Canniungaes.
The Oneidas came next, also much reduced. Attempts had
been made to civilize and convert them, but most were in a
primitive state, with ancient customs much decayed. One of
their symbols was a tree expressing stability, but their true
emblem was a stone, called Onoya, whence they called themselves
Onoyuts. The Onondagas, 40 miles farther, well versed in
ancient customs, called themselves People of the Great Mountain.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 339
The Cayugas, 40 miles beyond, had a pipe for their symbol.
The Senecas were the farthest and most numerous of the Iro-
quois, with several towns and symbols, of which little could be
understood.
The sachem’s authority was greatest in the most distant
nations. Nearer by he had but little. Sachems were usually
chosen in public assemblies, but some had office by inheritance.
The chief sachem was often called king.
The Indians north of the St Lawrence, west of the Great lakes,
on the New England coast and in Ohio, spoke a language radi-
cally the same and could communicate; while the Six Nations
in their midst could not convey a single idea to them, or speak
a word of their language correctly. They had no letters, but
used hieroglyphics, of which he gave instances. Red was a sign
of war; castles were square white figures; alliances were shown
by human figures holding a belt; a hatchet meant war; and
their totems showed their names or clans.
The Rev. Charles Inglis had visited Johnson in 1770, and in
1771 wrote a memorial to the British prime minister on con-
verting and civilizing the Indians, to which Guy Johnson added
a map of their country, having many interesting features. The
memorial embodied much of Johnson’s own experience and
ideas. Inglis had this “copied out fair in a good hand, and in
a quarto size; and having a marble cover, with Col. Johnson’s
accurate map prefixed, it made a handsome looking pamphlet.”
Meanwhile the Rev. Mr Stuart was preaching acceptably to
the English, Dutch and Mohawks, and acquiring the Mohawk
language. The following winter he visited Joseph Brant at
Canajoharie, who afterward lived with him and aided in new
translations and revisions. When they had finished the Gospel
of St Mark, part of the Acts, a short history of the Bible, an
explanation of the catechism, and some additions to the Mohawk
prayer book, Stuart had orders to have them printed in New York
at tielexpense of the S; Pi G)) ihe: Revolution “prevented this;
but he took the manuscripts to Canada and gave them to Col.
Daniel Claus, who afterward took them to England. Part of
340 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
these became the prayer book of 1787, which also included the
Gospel of St Mark.
Two of the Iroquois deputies to the Scioto council died on their
way home, and they were the principal ones. The others showed
Sir William a number of belts and calumets and told him all
they could. They had talked first with the Shawnees at Fort
Pitt, and they said the Wawiaghtanons would soon send deputies
to the Six Nations and Johnson. At the council they blamed the
Shawnees for going so far down the Ohio and confederating with
unfriendly Indians. All the belts sent were faithfully rendered.
Nickaroondase was the principal survivor of those who went to |
Scioto that year.
The Shawnees replied-to this reproof that the Six Nations had
long seemed to neglect them, and to forget their promise of land
between the Ohio and the lakes. So they started to seek their
fortunes in their canoes, but were stopped by the Iroquois at
Scioto, shaken by the head and fixed there, with a charge to live »
at peace with the English. Soon after they were surprised at
seeing the Six Nations in arms and coasting along the lake with
the English. When the war was over the ill treatment of the
Iroquois increased, and they sent belts to strengthen the union,
but supposed they had not reached them. They showed emble-
matic belts, representing them and the Illinois, with 10 con-
federate nations between them. They were answered by a true
statement of the case and were told to come to Onondaga. On
this they excused their acts and promised that they and their
allies would be peaceable.
Sep. 24, 1771; some Cayugas and Tuscaroras were in Phila-
delphia, their speaker being Cheahogah, a Cayuga chief. Cawan-
daghsaw brought a letter from Charleston S. C., dated Sep. 6,
saying that Da-ya-gough-de-re-sesh, or Thomas King, had died
there of fever the day before. ‘The Indian had 20 belts and many
strings given to King by southern Indians.
In April 1772 Johnson had notice of another general meghiniia
at Scioto to impart the sentiments of the Six Nations to those
not at the last council. He took care that delegates from the
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS “34
north were reliable men. The Shawnees, he said, had no title
to the north side of the Ohio where they lived, “having been
often moved from place to place by the Six Nations.” When
this council met the Piankashaws, Kickapoos and Wabash
Indians did not attend because the Six Nations had killed some
of their people the year before. The absentees were reproved,
and messages were sent them. The bad belts sent by Guastarax,
the Seneca chief, were called for, but had been stopped by the
Cherokees. Other bad belts were produced, one of them being
a French belt, among the largest Johnson had ever seen.
Those present promised to come to Onondaga and bring all
the belts, but were not there at the appointed time. Johnson
proposed they should bring the Ohio Senecas nearer home.
There were difficulties. Traders needed regulating, and fron-
tiersmen were lawless and troublesome. A secret alliance was
in progress in the southwest, and with a view to this some Shaw-
nees and Delawares proposed sending a deputation to England,
to say that the Six Nations were unfriendly to them and ask to
be freed from their rule.
The latter sent to require their emigrants to live nearer home
and then called a council at Onondaga, which was held the next
winter, where they convinced the Senecas of their misconduct.
It was of the utmost importance to have the friendship of the
Iroquois in case of war, for they could be the best of friends
or most dangerous of enemies. This was particularly so with
the Senecas, whose belts had done harm.
In 1773 the Six Nations said they had summoned the Pian-
kashaws and other troublesome western nations to the great
fireplace at Onondaga: “We have already called upon them
twice, and agreeably to our ancient customs shall do so the third
time, before we strike.” They objected to being called to account
for the death of every lawless trader. The French were more
reasonable,
Johnson again complained of the pioneers, who generally had
a prejudice against all Indians, and the Indians were disposed to
retaliate. So some of the upper Sene@as had killed four French-
342 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
men on Lake Ontario, making light of it till told they were
British subjects. Then they came to Johnson, proposing to cover
their graves, but he insisted they should give up the murderers,
which they promised to do. The notorious George Klock had
long been hiding from officers of the law and had lately a great
quarrel with the Canajoharie chiefs. Then he got three young
Mohawks to go with him to a seaport, on their way to England.
In April 1774 Sir William nominated Col. Guy Johnson, his
son-in-law, as his successor at his death, agreeably to the wish
of the Six Nations. The same month he had a council with
260 Iroquois, who delivered up two Senecas concerned in the
murder of the four Frenchmen, though this was opposed to their
ancient customs. As this was the first instance of the kind, he
thought it would be good policy to discharge the offenders soon.
It was at this time that Governor Tryon reckoned the Six
Nations as 10,000 souls and 2000 warriors.
In June 1774 occurred the murder of Logan’s family, popularly
ascribed to Colonel Cresap at the time. Three of Shikellimy’s
sons survived him, all being Cayugas, because their mother was
of that nation, though their father was an Oneida chief. The
eldest was Taghneghtoris, or John Shikellimy, who succeeded
his father for a time. The second was Soyeghtowa, or James
Logan, the unfortunate chief whose eloquent speech Thomas
Jefferson so highly praised. The youngest was Sagogehyata,
or John Petty, having the same Indian name as Red Jacket, a
favorite one with the Cayugas. The murdered people having
many relatives in New York, a strong feeling was aroused,
though the war was confined to Virginia, Logan himself refrain-
ing from harming his early Pennsylvania friends.
The Six Nations asked Johnson to release the two young Sen-
ecas, which he hoped to do, and which the king soon commanded. ~
One died before release and was condoled July 9, a council having
assembled at Johnson Hall that month. Sir William held several
conferences at this time; and the Indians promised for them-
selves and their head wonfen, who had much influence with the
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 343
young men, to keep them quiet. They acceded to the request of
the Montauks and would settle them at Canowaroghere, now
Oneida Castle. They received them as children and hoped they
would prove worthy.
The Cayugas wished no more rum sold in their country.
Traders might pass through but must not stop. Sir William
addressed the council on the Shawnees and the Cresap and Logan
trouble. He was very weak at this time and the fatigue was too
much. Two hours after the conference, on the 11th, he died,
and he was placed in the family vault at Johnstown July 13, 1774.
So sudden a loss at so critical a time had a startling effect, and
the Indians were at once in great doubt and confusion. Swift
runners were given belts and sent to all the nations to announce
his death; but Col. Guy Johnson was equal to the occasion, and
order was quickly restored. All the Indians remained to attend
his funeral, with the 2000 people from the country around. Next
day the customary ceremony of condolence was performed, and
the council soon broke up.
The Shawnees and their confederates sent to the western
Indians to join them against the Virginians, but some refused.
They applied to the Six Nations at Onondaga, but Guy Johnson
had messengers there before them, and the Shawnees were told
not to expect aid, but the Iroquois would soon hold a council
and take peace measures which all would regard.
In September 235 Iroquois chiefs and warriors had a confer-
ence with Guy Johnson, and among these were their best men.
They went through formal condolences, the Bunt being very elo-
quent. Teyawarunte, the Onondaga speaker, with three strings
covered the grave, wiped away tears, removed grief, cleared the
sky, etc. The Bunt’s oldest son produced the several marks of
Johnson’s regard for him, and according to old custom laid them
down before Colonel Johnson, who restored them. Others did
the same. ~ They renewed the old covenant chain of 21 rows,
and gave Guy Johnson a new name, Uraghquadirha, Rays of
the Sun enlightening the Earth, Goragh was often added to
344 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
this in speeches, meaning great. Joseph Chew, secretary of
Indian affairs, had the name of Decariaderoga, Junction of Two
Lakes of Different Qualities.
They were trying to recall their people and prevent war, but
few had come back. They had also found a large black belt
with two axes on it, given to an Oneida by the French at the
close of the late war. When the French raised themselves, the
belt would shake, and the Oneida must be ready to strike for
them. He had kept this secret till his death, and now his wiie
wished to take the belt apart for the sake of the wampum. John-
son readily bought the belt.
The Onondagas, considering the great age of the Bunt, Sir
William Johnson’s friend, had nominated “ Onagogare who is
to succeed the Bunt at Chenughivata.” This seems meant for
alias Chenughivata, one form of the name of Otschiniata.
There were other changes. Deputies had come to Onondaga
from 18 western nations to say they would abide by the decisions
of the council there. When the Shawnees came there in August,
they demanded aid in full form. They would not accept a belt
of peace but demanded a hatchet to strike the English, “ which
so enraged King Bunt that he threw their belt back with great
resentment.”
Kayashuta, a Seneca chief in Ohio, had been very useful in
peace measures, and carried a call for a council at Onondaga in
November. It opened Nov. 5 with a full attendance, and the
Shawnee affair was at once taken up, each nation declaring its
opinion and agreeing to maintain peace. The whole message to
the Shawnees was vigorous, as an extract will show:
We have been twice here to advise you to peace, but you have
not attended, and in compliance with our ancient customs, we are
come the third time to tell you, you must be at peace, this is
the third time, & the last that you shall hear from us if you
do not hearken to us. . . Leave the business of War, repent
and mind peace alone and then you will be preserved. Quarrel-
some people are dangerous, we advise you for your good, for we
pity you. . . Mind our words, they are strong, they are words
of the Six Nations, who are the heads of the Confederacy; all
the Northern nations have left their Belts in our hands and
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 345
refered themselves intirely to our Government and determination,
they have joined their words to us, who are the head of the
whole, and you now see them all in us here present.
The Six Nations were indeed alarmed at the invasion of the
Shawnees’ country by Virginia; and, though the Shawnees
handled their foes severely, a real defeat and this stern answer
left them no hope. Happily for all, the war was soon over and
was forgotten in the stirring events which followed.
The great union belt, given them before the last war, and
which had always lain at the Onondaga council fire, was now
placed at the western door of the league, among the Senecas.
Another belt, now given by Colonel Johnson, they would place
carefully among their great belts at Onondaga, often looking at_
it that they might forget no part.
In January 1775 the Iroquois chiefs came to Colonel Johnson
on important business. The Shawnees had sent a message tell-
ing of their treaty with Virginia, and a statement that that prov-
ince intended to quarrel with the Six Nations, on which they
were invited to a council on the Ohio in the spring. The Onet-
das also said that the Rev. Mr Kirkland reported that the king
would allow no more goods to be sent to the colonies or Indians,
and powder would soon be very high. They did not like this,
as things were already dear. The Indians would decline the
invitation to this council, but would call the Shawnees to one in
New York.
Just as the conference closed some Shawnees came with a
second message that seven Senecas were condemned to death
at Fort Pitt, having lived with the Shawnees and taken their
part. The Iroquois blamed their conduct, but asked Johnson’s
interposition. He said they were held only as hostages till their
Scioto friends should lay down their arms. They had been so
long estranged that the Six Nations need not interest themselves,
but consider them as wrongdoers. The Seneca chief, Kaya-
shuta, had applied to the governor of Virginia in their behalf,
as they were connections of some principal chiefs. Two were
released and the irons taken from the rest.
346 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
There were some religious troubles. The Oneidas com-
plained of the Congregational minister’s refusal to baptize their
children, and the Oquagas had a similiar complaint. Their
minister excused his conduct and said most of the chiefs and all
the Tuscaroras wished him to remain. Colonel Johnson did not
want to interfere in religious matters, but said Old Isaac might
read the service, as he did it well, till they had another minister.
The Tuscaroras ought not to dictate, as they were newcomers.
Chapter 23
Protestant missions. Churchof England. Congregationalist. Schools. Fail-
ures in education. Iroquois loyal tothe king. Asked to act for him. Colonel
Johnson leaves home for Montreal. Council at Oswego. Americans confer
with Six Nations. Fire-keepers chosen. Brantin England. Indians divided.
Sir John Johnson leaves home. Iroquois at Philadelphia. Indian aid. Re-
turn of Brant. Efforts to take him. His personal appearance. Brant’s
movements. Herkimer’s interview. Indians hostile. St Leger’s expedition.
Presents. Fort Stanwix besieged. Battle of Oriskany. St Leger’s retreat.
Reported burning of Indian towns. The Susquehanna deserted.
Before entering on the troubles of the Revolution, a brief
sketch may be given of the early Protestant missions among
the Iroquois. }
Dominie Megapolensis began his work at Albany about 1642,
serving six years irregularly, preaching in the neighborhood and
making some converts. The Indians were pleased to hear he
intended going into “their own country and castles (about three
days’ journey farther inland) when acquainted with their lan-
guage.” He befriended Jogues.
Governor Dongar wished English priests among the Iroquois.
Dominie Dellius was among the Mohawks before 1691, bap-
tizing many. The Rev. Bernardus Freeman, of Schenectady,
reported 35 Mohawk Christians in 1701, and translated into Mo-
hawk the Athanasian creed, the Ten Commandments and part
of the prayer book, these being published in New York in 1715.
The Church of England now tried to do something and a
clergyman was proposed for each of the Six Nations, with two
lay helpers for each one, but this was not fully carried out.
The Rev. Mr Smith and the Rey. Thoroughgood Moor were sent
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 347
from England, the latter remaining for three years. The Rev.
Thomas Barclay succeeded him, remaining from 1708 to 1712,
and was followed by the Rev. William Andrews, staying three
years more. He reported over 60 regular attendants and 38
communicants. He had a church and school at Fort Hunter,
and went also to Oneida, far to the west. The work was dis-
couraging, and, when he left it in 1718, he said: “ Heathen they
are, and heathen they will still be.”
In 1731 the Rev. John Miln, of Albany, was to visit the Mo-
hawks quarterly, staying five days each time. By him the Rev.
Henry Barclay was appointed catechist at Fort Hunter, who
reported 58 communicants in 1741. Two years later there were
few unbaptized. In 1750 the Rev. John Ogilvie went periodically
to the Mohawks from Albany, “amid great discouragements and
in the very outskirts of civilization.” The Rev. John Jacob Oel
was his assistant, laboring at Canajoharie and among the Onei-
das and Tuscaroras. The Rev. Henry Munro also did some work
among the Mohawks previous to 1770, when the Rev. John Stuart
became a resident missionary, giving all his time to the work,
which was interrupted by the war. Before it was over he went
to Canada.
The Rev. John Sergeant, a Congregationalist, had founded an
Indian mission at Stockbridge Mass., in 1736, visiting the Sus-
quehanna in 1744. The Rev. David Brainerd came to the same
valley for a short time, and it has been thought that he visited
Oquaga in 1745. The Rev. Elihu Spencer went there in 1748,
remaining till the next spring and translating the Lord’s Prayer.
Two of his converts were Peter Agwrondougwas, or Good Peter,
and Isaac Dakayenensese. The former was an eloquent Oneida
chief, and both sometimes conducted public services.
There were 55 students in Timothy Woodbridge’s Indian
school at Stockbridge in 1753, some being from Oquaga. That
year Gideon Hawley and Woodbridge went to that place, visiting
Johnson on the way. Woodbridge did not remain long and
Hawley returned in 1756, on account of the war, a fort being built
there that year. After his departure Good Peter carried on mis-
348 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
sion work alone, preaching at Oquaga and elsewhere. The Rev.
Eli Forbes went there in 1762, with the Rev. Asaph Rice. They
returned in 1763. In that year Samuel Ashpo spent six weeks
at Otsiningo. 3
In 1761 the Rev. Samson Occum went from the school at
Lebanon to Oneida, and Samuel Kirkland visited the Mohawk
valley, being then quite young. His later work in New York
began in 1764, when he leit Joseph Woolley as teacher at Oquaga
in November and then went to the Senecas, remaining there till
1766. Among the Oneidas and Mohawks 127 were then attend-
ing school. After leaving the Senecas, Kirkland for a time
alternated between Oquaga and the Mohawk valley. At a later
day his public services were of inestimable value. i
The Rev. Messrs C. J. Smith and Theophilus Chamberlain
were at Oquaga in the fall of 1764, and in 1769 that place had
been served for three years by the Rev. Eleazar Moseley, fol-
lowed by the Rev. Peter and Henry Avery. Aaron Crosby was
there in 1771, and in 1774 had trouble with the Indians from his
refusal to use the liturgy or to baptize some children.
While others testified to a great advance, as there certainly
had been, the scholarly Dr Wheelock was greatly disappointed
in the results of the education of Indians. After telling all he |
had taught them, he said: “Some who on account of their parts
and learning bid the fairest for usefulness, are sunk down as low,
savage and brutish in manner of living as they were before any
endeavours were used to raise them up.”
Space will not permit enlarging on the frequent failures in
Indian education, caused by following theories and disregarding ©
the advice of practical men, acquainted with the situation. At
this time the action of the Oquagas indicates part of the advance
already made:
They would in order to restore peace in their town, enter into
a general resolution to abide by the Liturgy printed in the Indian
language; that they had reason to believe the Missionary would
conform to it, in which case they would let him stay, otherwise
they would use the Liturgy themselves till a proper person
could be provided.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 349
The chiefs now agreed to send through their nations to tell
them to look to the king as their true protector and shun all evil
advice. They chose a Mohawk and an Oneida, who would ask
the Bunt at Onondaga to send two of his family with them.
Colonel Johnson approved, and sent a “belt with a particular
message from himself to the Onondaga fire-place.”
He had a council with some Cayuga chiefs and other Iroquois
Feb. 28. The opening was:simple. “The Cayuga chief began
with the usual salutation of the warriors, who being, as he
observed, a plain people, would use but few words.” He related
the resolution passed at Onondaga and the refusal of the Cayugas
to take the western ax. They feared seven Cayugas had joined
the Shawnees, but they did not, and brought three white strings
from “the great plains” to remind the Iroquois that they had
not attended to messages thence. Four short strings of black
wampum came also “from another warrior from Canundageh,
on this side of the great plains, on behalf of three nations,”
exhorting them to mind their true interests. This was not the
Canandaigua of New York, but one in Ohio, the emigrating Iro-
| quois carrying local names with them. The Hurons and their
eight confederate nations sent peace strings, and were invited to
the next Iroquois council.
Just after they left, 32 Indians came from Otsiningo or Che-
‘
nango, and elsewhere. They were “chiefs of the two tribes at
Chenango, the Chughnuts, Owego, and Tioga, being five several
nations.’ They gave congratulations, but complained of the
boundary. ‘Producing a map, Johnson showed how the mistake
came. It affected four villages, but would be considered, and all
would be satisfied. It was a time of good promises. In July
King George ordered Colonel Johnson, in consequence of the
rebellion, “to lose no time in taking such steps as may induce
the Six Nations to take up the hatchet against His Majesty’s
rebellious subjects in America.”
May 14 Colonel Johnson heard that the Americans were com-
ing to arrest him and fortified himself. He said his Indian
expresses were stopped, messages altered and provisions detained,
350 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
so he resolved to move westward, starting in June with 250
Mohawks and armed white men. At Fort Stanwix he had a
conference with 260 Oneidas and Oquagas, whom he had to
leave, the whole country being in arms behind him. He sent
to Niagara and Oswegatchie for supplies, and held another coun-
cil at Ontario, or Oswego, of which Stone made two places by
mistaking the names. At that place he had 1458 Indians and
about 100 white men. With some difficulty he secured the aid
of the former, and left Oswego for Montreal July 11, reaching
there July 17 with 220 Indians. Joseph Brant was then his
secretary.
There was a council at Montreal July 26, with 1664 Canadian
Indians, who promised aid and were placed in different camps.
Little was done, and on Aug. 12 some of the Six Nations and St
Regis Indians “returned with their War Belt to Onondaga, after
assuring Col. Johnson they would be ready to return whenever
there was a prospect of vigorous measures.” Desultory hos-
tilities followed, and a message came from “the Six Nations
that the rebells had employ’d Agents to negociate a treaty with
the Caughnawagas.”
The commissioners of the 12 united colonies had a brief
conference with the chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations at
German Flats, Aug. 15,1775. Two commissioners came, inviting
them to meet the other three at Albany, to rekindle the fire their
ancestors had placed there. As some were not present, they
were to invite them, and also the Caughnawagas and the seven
towns on the St Lawrence. This belt was declined,‘and seems
the one now belonging to the Douw family at Poughkeepsie.
After the business was opened, an Oneida answered: “ The
day is far spent, and we defer a reply till to-morrow, as we are
weary from having sat long in council. We think it time for a
little drink, and you must remember that the Twelve United
Colonies are a great body.”
The next day they accepted the invitation for themselves, but
it would take a year to invite their distant allies. They would
do the business and then inform them, It was not best to send
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 351
to the Caughnawagas, as a man there would prevent it, but the
Six Nations knew their minds and those of the seven tribes. The
commissioners asked the Indians for neutrality but not for aid.
The appointed Albany council came off Aug. 23 and was the
last one held there, but effected little. Colonel Barlow said that
about 500 Indians came. They were “very likely, spry, lusty
fellows, drest very nice for Indians. The larger part of them had
on ruffeled shirts, Indian stockings and shoes, and blankets richly
trimmed with silver and wampum.” On the day of the council
he said they made “a very beautiful show, being the likeliest
brightest Indians I ever saw.”
They were received by the commissioners, the Albany com-
mittee and others, and compliments were exchanged. In reply
to an invitation Kanaghqueesa said they would cheerfully take
a drink and smoke a pipe with the gentlemen. A business meeting
was appointed for Aug. 25, at the Dutch church. The Indians pro-
posed to be neutral, stay at home in peace and smoke their pipes.
When the commissioners addressed them, they had the great pipe
lighted and sent around. They then made a long speech which
they wished might remain at Onondaga, and gave them a calumet
to be kept at the same place. This would be done. The Indians
said it was customary, when a council fire was kindled, or a tree
of peace planted, to appoint some one to watch them, who should
have a wing to keep the hearth clean. The Americans should
appoint one as they had done, and Philip Schuyler and Volkert
Douw were chosen.
In November 1775 Brant and other chiefs went to England
with Colonel Johnson, and Mar. 14 and May 7, 1776, Brant made
speeches on land troubles before Lord Germaine. He returned
in May, reaching Staten Island in July. Oteroughyanento also
spoke before Lord Germaine. They said, “ We are tired out in
making complaints and getting no redress.” This was promised
when the troubles were over.
In the attack on St Johns, some New York Mohawks fought
against the Americans, while the Caughnawagas helped them in
Canada for a while. The River Indians, or Stockbridges, were
352 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
friendly, the Oneidas and Mohawks of the lower castle neutral,
but other Mohawks congregated at Oquaga in a half hostile way.
In February 1776 Governor Tryon wrote that the Indians north-
ward and westward, as far as Detroit, were in the king’s interest
and had chosen Peter Johnson as chief. He was the son of Sir —
William Johnson by Molly Brant, his Indian wife; and captured ©
Ethan Allen near Montreal. Through his sister Molly, Joseph
Brant had much influence. Those who mentioned her incident-
ally spoke of her as a kind and pleasant woman.
Sir John Johnson, hearing he was to be arrested though on
parole, left his home in May 1776, with three Indian guides, 130
Scotch and 120 other inhabitants, going to Canada by way of
Oswegatchie. He had fortified his house, and false information
had been lodged against him. On the first movement occasioned
by this, it was thought necessary to send a body of troops, and
a message was sent to the lower Mohawk castle. Little Abra-
ham and other chiefs met Schuyler at Schenectady and said:
‘“ We intended to have gone down to Albany in order to speak
to you; but thank God that He has given us an opportunity to
meet you here, as we have some matters to communicate to you.”
They were sure the information was false, and warned Schuy-
ler against anything that might cause trouble. He then pro-
posed to have Sir John meet him, and this pleased them. They
met and Sir John gave his parole, but later suspicions and orders
caused his flight. After that, he was an active partizan.
Brant soon became the principal Iroquois leader. Mr W. L.
Stone discussed his birth and hereditary chieftainship, but not
in a satisfactory way. King Hendrick, he said, was succeeded
by Little Abraham, and he by Brant. He also said that, while
no book mentions Brant’s presence at the battle of the Cedars in
- May 1776, he had positive evidence of his being there. Brant
sailed from England that month, reaching New York in July.
The Mohawks were probably alone in that battle, as four nations
had then a peace embassy in Philadelphia, where the Onondaga
speaker gave the name of Karandouan, or Great Tree, to John
Hancock. But, while Congress advised neutrality, it really
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 353
wished Indian aid, and in May resolved that Washington might
employ 2000 Indians in Canada and elsewhere, with rewards of
$100 for each officer and $30 for each private captured. It favored
employing the Six Nations “on the best terms that could be
procured,’ and furnished 12 blank commissions for as many
Indian officers. Washington wished General Schuyler to employ
them, but he was averse to it.
In November 1776 Col. Guy Johnson wrote that he had “ lately
dispatched in disguise one of my officers with Joseph, the Indian
chief, to get across the country to the Six Nations,” and hoped
they would do this undiscovered, so as to prepare “the Indians
to co-operate with our military movements.” Brant reached
Oquaga and raised the British flag. On this alarm the Campbell
house was fortified at Cherry Valley, where a company of rangers
had been sent in the summer. Cherry Valley had asked aid a
year earlier, when many Mohawks went to Oquaga, “as the
inhabitants of the Old England District and Unadilla are daily
flying into our settlement, so that we shall immediately in all
appearances have an open, defenceless, and unguarded frontier.”
Efforts were made to have the Indians bring in salt from Onon-
daga in 1777, as the need was great. Mr Stone quoted a speech
of the Oneida chiefs at Fort Stanwix, Jan. 19, to the effect that
news had come that the grand council fire at Onondaga was
extinguished. Death had taken go out of that town, among
whom were three principal chiefs. This was the customary way
_ of announcing notable deaths, but it was a mystery to Mr Stone.
In February 1777, just after he had conditional permission to
return to Canajoharie, which he did not do, the New York pro-
vincial council thought it “necessary to provide means for appre-
hending Joseph Brant.” ‘This was modified to negotiations
between him and Col. John Harper, who reached Oquaga Feb.
27, with two men. He had soldiers on the Mohawk ready to
aid him if required, and met the Indians in a friendly way, pro-
vided a feast, wore the Indian dress and made a speech. They
said they were still neutral, and he thought they meant to be. A
little later he heard that Brant intended to settle at Onondaga.
354 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Messrs Halsey and Ketchum both quote a description of Brant
in 1782 from Capt. Jeremiah Snyder:
He was a likely fellow, of a fierce aspect—tall and rather spare
—well spoken, and apparently about thirty years of age. He
wore moccasins, elegantly trimmed with beads, leggings and
breech-cloth of superfine blue, short green coat, with two silver
epaulets, and a small laced round hat. By his side hung an
elegant silver mounted cutlass, and his blanket of blue cloth,
purposely dropped in the chair on which he sat, to display his
epaulets, was gorgeously decorated with a border of red.
Some time after Harper met a party at Schenevus creek, and
learned that they meant to destroy the Johnston settlement.
With 17 men he surprised the party at night, securing all
unharmed. Over 700 Indians were now at Oquaga under Brant,
and in May he went up the river with nearly 80 warriors. At
Unadilla he made the settlers supply him with provisions and
took some cattle. Those not loyalists soon removed. He burned
some deserted houses, and other places were abandoned, but the
Tories sought Unadilla as a refuge and base of operations.
The people of Harpersfield asked aid; and Gen. Nicholas Her-
kimer went to Unadilla to confer with Brant, reaching there late
in June. The conference was unsatisfactory and just escaped
violence. Herkimer returned to Cherry Valley June 28, and the
next day Brant put Unadilla in the hands of the Tories, remain-
ing near by himself, and committing depredations. He soon
after went to Oswego with 300 Indians, where many were
already, to meet the English in council there. Colonel Johnson
had already reported that the Six Nations had called in all their
people to make a diversion on the frontier of New York, and had
made successful attacks on the border from Fort Stanwix to
Ohio. ,
In June he had a letter from the Iroquois chiefs, written for
them by Brant. They had met in May, as directed, and were
all ready but the Oneidas. All “ would act as one man.” ‘They
had cut off a sergeant and 12 men at Fort Stanwix, had sent
parties to Pennsylvania, and had defeated a party with 50 head
of cattle for the American garrisons on the Mohawk. ‘The 700
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 355
Indians assembled near Oswego would soon strike a blow.
Colonel Claus had been appointed commander of the Indians in
Canada, and St Leger was on his way to Oswego, where the Six
Nations would join him. In July he said the Indians had made
some successful attacks and were ready to join either St Leger
or Burgoyne.
St Leger was joined by Sir John Johnson at Buck island and
by 150 Mississagas and Iroquois on the way. ‘The Indians
Colonel Claus knew best were with Burgoyne. When St Leger
reached Oswego, matters were not in a satisfactory condition,
and great promises had to be made. Mary Jemison said every
warrior received a suit of clothes, brass kettle, tomahawk, gun,
powder and money, and a bounty for scalps was offered. ‘Thus
richly furnished, she said, the Senecas became “full of the fire
of war, and anxious to- encounter their enemies.” ‘They were
told they might smoke their pipes and see these whipped, but
instead “they were obliged to fight for their lives, and in the
battle were completely beaten.”
Claus met Brant at Oswego, his 300 Indians coming next day.
They had been out two months and were destitute, Butler hav-
ing given him too little ammunition. When Herkimer visited
him with 300 men, with 500 more near by, he caused him to
retire by a firm front, though having but 200 men and 20 pounds
of powder. Such was his story.
St Leger intended leaving the lake at Salmon river, but came
to Oswego, passing through Oneida lake afterward, Three Rivers
being the Indian rendezvous and place of equipment. ‘The army
left Oswego July 26, part reaching Fort Stanwix Aug. 2, where
the siege began next day. St Leger brought no heavy guns,
intending a surprise, but, instead of 60 men in a stockade, his
scouts found 600 repairing the old fort, who knew his strength
and plans. He had time to get more artillery but would not do
it, and the garrison feared no assault.
The first definite intelligence of his advance was brought by
Thomas Spencer, a half-breed Oneida chief. He had been con-
cealed at a council at Cassasseny (St Regis), where Colonel Claus
356 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
spoke, begging the Indians to join. He reported 700 Indians
and 400 regular troops at Oswego, with 600 Tories on an island
above Oswegatchie, and advised prompt action. Herkimer called
out the militia, reinforced Fort Stanwix, and commenced repairs.
The Oneidas were excited, fearing harm from the other Indians.
July 29, Thomas Spencer wrote to the Americans: “ To-morrow
we are going to the Three Rivers to the treaty. We expect to
meet the warriors there, and when we come and declare we are
for peace, we expect to be used with indifference and sent away.”
St Leger’s force moved in boats and has been estimated at
1700; but J. W. de Peyster reasonably made it some hundreds
less. Lieutenant Bird’s party went ahead, reaching Three Rivers
July 28, where 16 Senecas and over 70 Mississagas joined him,
others following later. He was at the east end of Oneida lake
July 30, and Brant and his men were sent to his aid. Molly
Brant gave notice of the advance of Herkimer, whose men met
at Fort Dayton, leaving there Aug. 4, and encamping near Oris-
kany on the 5th. Thence an express went forward to arrange
signals and a sortie. Herkimer waited for the signal; his officers
were impatient and charged him with cowardice. Stung by this,
he gave the fatal order to advance, and fell into an ambuscade 2
miles west of Oriskany, a spot now marked by a stately monu-
ment. Spencer had warned him that this might happen, but
the surprise was complete. The bloody battle was briefly inter-
rupted by a storm. It was a terrible struggle in every way.
Brother fought with brother, neighbor against neighbor, hand
to hand and relentless, neither victorious. The Americans lost
200 killed, besides the wounded. The Indians alone had tIoo
killed, of whom 36 were Senecas. When the Indian survivors
reached home, the dead were mourned by “the most doleful
yells, shrieks and howlings, and by inimitable gesticulations.”
Terrible as was this blow to both, neither party as yet gave
up. The Americans knew the lightness of the English guns and
refused to surrender; St Leger dared not risk an assault. The
siege dragged on, and Johnson wished to go down the Mohawk
with some force, assured that many would join him there, but
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 357
St Leger would not consent. The Indians began to drop off,
and the chiefs advised a return to Oswego for heavier guns for
a renewal of the siege. In the sally from the fort Aug. 6, their
camp had been plundered, and, having gone into battle almost
naked, at night they had nothing to cover them, nor could the
British then repair their loss. The Americans were not without
anxiety, and Colonel Willett and another officer went for aid
Aug. 10. General Arnold rapidly advanced, and the siege was
abandoned Aug. 22, the retreat quickly becoming a flight, the
Indians themselves adding to the fears of the troops.
Colonel Claus had a small opinion of St Leger and complained
of the trouble about Indian supplies he had then and afterward.
He stayed some time in Oswego and sent thence three good
officers to live with the Cayugas and Senecas. He thought but
for his presence at Oswego and Brant’s management, the Iro- .
quois would have taken no part at this time. They said they
were called to a council and not to war. Brant was constantly
busy with the Six Nations and he thought they would take the
field. He afterward complained of Carleton’s conduct to him and —
the Mohawk refugees in Canada. Carleton proposed giving
their care to one of Major Campbell’s deputies, who was one of
those whose harsh treatment drove the Indians from Burgoyne’s
army, thus emboldening the Americans. June 24 the New York
Assembly made a congratulatory address to some Seneca chiefs
who were returning from Washington’s headquarters, and who
soon became openly hostile.
Some doubtful stories were current. Colonel Johnson heard
that, after the battle of Bennington, the Americans burned the
Mohawk villages, and he hoped to profit by their resentment.
It was also said that, after the battle of Oriskany, the Six Nations
burned an Oneida village, destroyed the crops, and killed and
carried away their cattle. It was added that the Oneidas avenged
themselves on Brant’s family and sister at Canajoharie, robbing
and driving them away. They then went to the lower Mohawk
castle and did the same with those whose men were in the king’s
service. The simple truth seems to be that Molly Brant now
358 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
took refuge at Onondaga or among the Senecas, where she was
influential. Colonel Claus heard that the Six Nations decreed
her satisfaction by ordering hostilities on those Oneidas who had
driven her away.
Bands from Oquaga now invaded the Delaware and Scho-
harie settlements, and the Schoharie people complained of neg-
lect. The Susquehanna was deserted, except that Harpersfield
was a Tory rendezvous and Unadilla full of the worst people
of the frontier. The year ended with an eloquent appeal made
by Congress to the Six Nations, exhorting them to peace and re-
minding them of the consequences of war. It had no effect, for
no presents appealed to those disposed to be hostile.
Chapter 24
Council at Johnstown. Schoharie valley invaded. Wyoming massacre. Sen-
ecas in Philadelphia. Queen Esther’s town destroyed. Brant’s depreda-
tions. Iroquois towns burned on the Unadilla and Susquehanna. Cherry
Valley destroyed. Onondaga towns burned. Indians burn towns-.in New
York. Sullivan’s and Brodhead’s campaigns against the Cayugas and Sen-
ecas. Raid in Mohawk valley. Oneidas and Tuscaroras join the English.
Schoharie valley ravaged. Wawarsing burned. Walter N. Butler defeated
and killed. Expedition against Oswego. Number of Indians in the Eng-
lish service.
Another council met at Johnstown Mar. 9, 1778, with 700
Indians present. Few Cayugas and no Senecas were there.
The latter wanted revénge and were surprised they were called
at all. All but the Oneidas and Tuscaroras were accused of
treachery, and these warned the Americans not to trust the Onon-
dagas, but said they would aid them, themselves. An Onon-
daga chiei truly said the sachems were all for peace, but, like
the whites, could not always restrain the young men. La
Fayette was there, and procured forts for Schoharie and Cherry
Valley. The Iroquois gave him the name of Kayewla at this
time. |
In March 1778 Colonel Johnson explained some matters to
Lord Germaine. The cruelty of the Indians was misrepresented,
and the colonists tried to secure their aid in 1775. The toma-
hawk, so often talked of, was seldom used except for smoking or
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 359
cutting wood, and they were rarely guilty of any cruelty but
scalping the dead. The king instructed Braddock to employ
them, and the colonists had a price for scalps at various times.
Barent Frey and Brant attacked Cobleskill in May, doing much
damage, and there was a sharp conflict on the upper branch of
that stream July 2, between the Indians and Americans, in which
the latter were defeated. In the summer 300 Indians and Tories
invaded the Schoharie valley and desolated it, but cavalry from
Albany put them to flight. A mistake of Brant’s saved Cherry
Valley for a time, but he destroyed Springfield June 18, and then
some small places near Otsego lake. The country was in con-
tinual alarm, and in July the Delaware country was raided as
low as Minisink.
In the summer occurred the bloody tragedy of Wyoming,
celebrated in history and song. That fair valley belonged to the
Iroquois by right of conquest, and they knew it as the Great Plain.
Its sale and the land disputes between Pennsylvania and Con-
necticut have been mentioned. Troubles increased when the
war began, and the banishment of many loyalists augmented
previous animosity. In April and May these joined in the Indian
depredations. A greater stroke was planned. In June Colonel
Butler left Niagara with 300 loyalists and 500 Indians, his force
swelling on the way till he is said to have had 700 Indians with
him when he left Tioga, mostly Senecas led by noted chiefs.
This army fell on Wyoming July 3, defeating the rash sally from
the fort, desolating the valley and killing about 300 people. The
horrible stories of Catharine and Esther Montour were doubted
by Stone, nor is his account of the two families correct. From
the former Catharine’s Town, N. Y., had its name, and Colonel
Campbell mentioned her and not Esther at Wyoming. The Penn-
sylvania tradition alone preserves the latter name. She is said
to have been the daughter of French Margaret, and wife of Echo-
gohund, king of the Munsey Indians, succeeding to his authority
on his death and living at Seshequin. A captive, Mrs Whittaker,
often saw her there, and described her as a woman of fine appear-
_ance and pleasant manners. This was earlier in the war, but the
360 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
acts ascribed to her are not in harmony with her character. The
next year’s attack on Wyoming by a large force was repulsed,
but Brant shared in neither of these.
A Seneca delegation was in Philadelphia at the time of the
Wyoming invasion, but is said to have left without notice and
refused to return. This would not be inferred from a letter of
James Deane to Philip Schuyler, dated at Fort Stanwix, Oct.
10, 4778:
As the Seneca Chief, called the Great Tree, who was the sum-
mer past with General Washington, returned thro’ Oneida, he
gave our Friends there the most solemn assurances that upon his
Arrival in his own Country, he would exert his utmost Influence
to dispose his tribe to peace and Friendship with the United
States, and that should his Attempts prove unsuccessful, he would
immediately leave his Nation and join the Oneidas with his
Friends & Adherents.
Hearing nothing for a long time, the Oneidas sent to know
the result. Hehad tried hard but been unsuccessful. His people
became excited over rumors of invasion and flew to arms. Then
he sided with them. A small band of Onondagas had joined
the hostile warriors, and all would meet on the Chemung. When —
it was found that the Senecas took part at Wyoming, an army
was sent against the hostile Indians. It marched toward the
Sandusky towns, but stopped at Tuscarawa and built Fort Lau-
rens. Col. Thomas Hartley reported operations on the northern
line of Pennsylvania in September, having reached Tioga Sep.
26, with 200 men:
We burnt Town, Hester’s Palace or Town, & all the settle-
ments on this side. . . Mr Carberry with the Horse only,
was close on Butler, he was in possession of the Town of Shaw-
nee, 3 Miles up the Cayuga Branch, but as we did not advance,
he returned. . . Had we had 500 Regular Troops, and 150
Light Troops, with one or two Pieces of Artillery, we probably
might have destroyed Chemung, which is now the recepticle of
all villainous Indians & Tories from the different Tribes and
states.
Brant destroyed Andrus-town, southeast of German Flats, July
18, and was followed as far as Little Lakes, where a Tory settle-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 361
ment was burned. July 24 a regiment of regulars reached
Cherry Valley, and some successful parties were sent out. At
German Flats Brant had been expected all summer and was dis-
covered in September. The alarm was given, and the people
took refuge in Forts Dayton and Herkimer, but all outside was
destroyed. He was followed to the Unadilla by 300 militia,
but without success.
Sep. 25 a band of 100 Oneidas and Tuscaroras came to Fort
Stanwix, saying they had taken the hatchet, burned Unadilla,
(one of the upper villages) and Butternuts, bringing five pris-
oners from each place. They now took prisoners and not scalps.
Col. William Butler was sent to Schoharie in August, with a
regular regiment and four companies of riflemen. In October
he destroyed Unadilla, Oquaga, Conihunto, etc. The Oquaga
Indians had gone on a raid to the Delaware river.
A little before the destruction of Cherry Valley, Mary Degon-
wadonti, or Molly Brant, wrote to Captain John, or Chief Dese-
tonto, from some Iroquois town, apparently a Seneca one:
"bout 500"leit* here Oct: 23rd, for Karightongegh [Cherry
Valley]. They said that Karightongegh shall be destroyed.
Sakayengwaraghdon [Old Smoke, the principal Seneca chief] is
their leader.” |
Walter Butler had escaped from Albany and was burning for
revenge. The Senecas and others were in arms, and the Indians
were to meet at Tioga to invade either Pennsylvania or New
Jersey. He got command of part of his father’s rangers, with
permission to use Brant’s Indians, 500 of whom joined his band
of 200 men. Cherry Valley was attacked Nov. 11, 1778. Colonel
Alden was killed outside the fort, which was bravely defended,
but the place was destroyed, 32 of the people and 16 soldiers
being killed and many made prisoners. Colonel Klock was to
come with 200 men to protect the place, but arrived a day too
late and was much blamed. The Indians withdrew Nov. 13.
Most of the women and children were soon released, but Mrs
Campbell was taken to the Seneca castle of Kanadesaga, near
Geneva, where she was adopted and kindly treated. She was
362 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
aiterwards exchanged, the aged chief, Guyanguahta, being instru- -
mental in this. The Indians celebrated their victory in that
town. After a council, the warriors danced and sang around a
fire, each being painted black and white, parading the prisoners
and giving the scalp yell. The feast ended with the killing,
roasting and eating of a white dog.
Some personal feelings influenced this attack. A month after-
ward four chiefs said to Colonel Cantine: “‘ Your rebels came to
Oghwaga when we Indians were gone, and you burned our
houses, which made us and our brothers, the Seneca Indians,
angry, so that we destroyed men, women, and children at Cherry
Valley.”
In January 1779 Colonel Van Dyck, at Fort Stanwix, had word
from the Oneidas that Brant meant to strike a blow before
spring. They had word from him and the Quinquoga (Cayuga)
Indians to join him. They considered their answer Jan. 16, and
would adhere to the Americans. Some principal Onondaga
chiefs, then on their way to Fort Stanwix, were invited to their
council and approved of their answer. The Onondagas had
been asked by the western nations to extinguish the council fire,
but would not do so, hoping for reconciliation yet. They prom-
ised to insist that all in their nation should declare for one side
or the other when they got home. In this the Oneidas fully
trusted and were in high spirits.
Two Oneidas returned from Niagara Feb. 26, with reports of
Brant’s intentions. The Delawares and Shawnees were to strike
the Virginia frontier, and he was to lead the main expedition to
the Mohawk, while another was to go to Schoharie by Unadilla.
The 14 Onondaga chiefs, who went to Niagara to bring their
people back, had not been allowed to return. Brant did not come.
For some reason the Onondagas were thought treacherous,
and a secret expedition was planned against a people nominally
at peace. A party of 558 men was sent in 30 boats, apparently
to Oswego, really to Onondaga. They leit Fort Stanwix Ap.
17, landing at Fort Brewerton at 3 p. m. Ap. 20. That night
they camped without fires. Next morning they marched early,
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 363
fording an arm of Onondaga lake, both wide and deep. An
Indian was captured at Onondaga creek, and the surprise of the
three towns was complete, 12 Indians being killed, 32 captured
‘and much plunder taken. By Ap. 24 all were in Fort Stanwix
again, with much spoil and little glory.
The Oneidas at once sent to know the reason of these harsh
measures, and the Onondagas made a manly statement of their
hard case and severe usage. ‘Their chiefs had probably done the
best they could. Colonel Van Schaick said he had followed
orders, and added that “the Onondagas have been great mur-
derers; we have found the scalps of our brethren at their castle.”
At~a later day their treatment has seemed unwise and unjust.
It turned most of them into open toes, though Maj. Jeremiah
Fogg said the following September that some Onondagas were
still friendly. In fact, Iroquois history is full of a forgiving
spirit, usually preferring atonement to revenge, but, when chosen,
revenge was terrible.
About this time attacks were made at Stone Arabia, Fort
Plain and Schoharie, with slight damage. In April 40 Indians
ateaeked and» burned ,Lackawaxen, in, the Delaware valley.
Whatever the Onondagas may have done before, most of them
were now hostile, and 300 attacked Cobleskill and drew some
troops into an ambush, where 22 were killed. Brant destroyed
Minisink, July 20, carrying off much spoil. Being hotly and
rashly pursued, his enemies were defeated with heavy loss.
Thence he made a brief raid on the Mohawk, before going to
Tioga. Indian hostilities were incessant farther south.
General Haldimand had a conference at Quebec Aug. 20, with
Teyohagweanda, a principal Onondaga chief, and three Cayugas.
They asked why Oswego was not occupied, as they had long
Se washed nile explamedssaddina that) they meed not tear thie
Americans would attack their country. They only cared to
secure their frontiers, but he would advise the seven nations of
Canada to join the Six Nations against them.
‘Fhere was reason for their fears, for Sullivan was even then
on his desolating march. General Clinton received his orders
364 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
June 2, arriving at Canajoharie June 16, where were 1500 men.
Thence 220 boats were taken to Otsego lake, the water of which
was raised by adam. This being opened, the fleet went swiftly
down the swollen stream. The sudden and mysterious flood
alarmed the Indians much. The itinerary is briefly this: left
Otsego lake Aug. 9; destroyed Aleout, a Scotch settlement, Aug.
12, and passed Unadilla, burned in 1778. Aug. 13, passed Coni-
hunto or Gunnygunter, 14 miles below Unadilla and burned in
1778. Aug. 14, reached Onoquaga, where Butler burned 60 good
houses, church and fort in 1778. Aug. 17, burned houses at the
Tuscarora village 3 miles below, the Tuscarora town of Shawhi-
angto a mile farther, and Ingaren, another Tuscarora village near
Great Bend. Aug. 18, Otsiningo was found already burned, but
some houses were set on fire below the Chenango river. Other
houses were burned next day, and a detachment from Sullivan
was met at Union, which had burned a village there and at
Choconut. In the evening Owego was burned. Aug. 22 Clinton
joined Sullivan at Tioga, a place burned in 1778. Old Chemung
had been long abandoned, and New Chemung was burned
Aug. 13, while Sullivan waited for Clinton.
The march was resumed Aug. 26, and Old Chemung reached
next day. Another village was destroyed on the 28th, and the
enemy was found well fortified at Newtown, below Elmira. The
battle was well contested next day, but the Americans routed their
foes by a flank movement, afterward destroying the town and
erowing corn. The British reported their force as 550 Indians
and 250 troops, and said Colonel Butler was surrounded and
nearly taken. Brant was one of the leaders, and a letter of his
just before is of interest. It was dated at Chemung, Aug. 19:
I am deeply afflicted. John Tayojaronsere, my trusty chief,
is dead. He died eight days after he was wounded. Five met
the same fate. I am very much troubled by the event, because
he was of so much assistance to me. I destroyed Onawatoge a
few days afterward. We were overtaken and I was wounded in
the foot with buck shot, but it is of small consequence. I am
almost well. We are in daily expectation of a battle which we
think will be a severe one. We expect to number about 700
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 365
men. . .. Then we shall begin to know what is to become of
the People of the Long House. Our minds have not changed.
We are determined to fight the Bostonians.
Aug. 31 the army was put in light marching order and Middle-
town, Kannawaloholla and scattered houses were burned, as well
as a village at Big Flats. Sep. 1, Catharine’s Town, or Sheo-
quaga, was reached 3 miles from Seneca lake, and it was
destroyed Sep. 3. Another small place was burned next day and
Kendaia on the 6th. The latter had 20 houses and some curious
tombs. The day before a Cayuga hamlet was burned.
Sep. 7, the Seneca castle of Kanadesaga was reached, 142 miles
northwest of Seneca lake. It had 60 good houses and an old
stockade. Next day 20 houses were burned at Kashong or Goth-
sinquean, a few miles south, and Skoiyase, or Long Falls, was also
destroyed, where Waterloo now stands. This had 18 houses.
Sep. Io about 30 fine houses were burned at Canandaigua. Next
day Anyayea, or Honeoye, was reached and its 10 houses spared
for present use. The name meant Finger Lying, an Indian hav-
ing lost a finger there.
Sep. 13 they reached Adjuste, or Kanaghsaws, now Conesus,
the home of Big Tree. Its 25 houses were burned and eight more
at Little Castle. At night the army reached Gaghsegwarohare
with 22 houses. That day Lieutenant Boyd was captured, with
another man, 13 of his party being found dead, with Han Yost,
his Oneida guide. The brother of the latter, after his capture,
told him he was worthy of death, but he left it to Little Beard
to slay him. Boyd and his companion were terribly tortured in
the Seneca capital.
Chenussio, or Geneseo, was reached Sep. 14. It was west of
the river and had 128 fine houses, all of which were destroyed,
with about 15,000 bushels of corn. The remains of Boyd and
Parker were found there and buried with military honors.
Thence the return march began. Honeoye was destroyed, and
at Kanadesaga parties were detached, one for Albany and two
against the Cayuga towns. Colonel Butler retired to Kana-
waugus, which was not taken.
366 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Sep. 21 Lieut. Col. Henry Dearborn marched to the west side
of Cayuga lake, destroying a hamlet of three houses, but leaving |
another of 15 houses, which was out of the way. One of 10
houses was burned near the lake, and Skannayutenate and another
hamlet near the present Canoga. A new town of nine houses
was burned farther south. Sep. 22 they came to Swahyawanah,
a village burned before, and destroyed three remaining houses.
Scattered houses were burned and crops destroyed from day to
day. Sep. 24 a dozen houses were burned at the head of Cayuga
lake, and 25 houses were destroyed at Coreorgonel or Dehoris-
kanadia, 3 miles south. Sep. 26 Dearborn joined the army at
Kannawaloholla.
Sep. 20 Lieut. Col. William Butler set out with 500 men, com-
pleting the destruction of Skoiyase next day. Near the outlet of
Cayuga lake he burned Choharo or Thiohero, reaching the vil-
lage of Gewauga at night, near Union Springs. Sep. 22 Cayuga
Castle was destroyed, with 15 houses of squared logs, Upper
Cayuga, with 14 large houses, and East Cayuga, with 13 houses,
the destruction of houses and crops lasting till the next afternoon.
Sep. 23, Chonodote, or Peach Town, on the site of Aurora, was
reached at night, and its I4 large houses, crops and peachtrees
were destroyed next day. Sep. 28 the army was joined. It should
be remembered that Iroquois houses held several families.
The main body had returned to Kannawaloholla, now Elmira,
killing a number of horses on the way, whence we have the name
of Horseheads. Resting at Fort Reed awhile, successful parties
were sent up the Chemung and Tioga. Sep. 30 the army reached
Fort Sullivan at Tioga, having burned 4o villages and destroyed
200,000 bushels of corn, besides fruit trees. While there, Oct. 2,
an entertainment was concluded with an Indian dance. Next
day, said Lieut. Col. Adam Hubley,
The young Sachem, with several Oneida Indians, relatives and
friends of the unfortunate Indian Hanjost, who bravely fell with
the party under command of the much lamented Lieut. Boyd on
the 13th ult., who faithfully acted as guide to the army, left us
this day, well pleased, (after bestowing some presents on them,)
for their native place, the Oneida country.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 367
Colonel Gansevoort was sent to Fort Stanwix with 100 men.
Under orders, he went thence to the lower Mohawk castle and
made all prisoners there. These “Indians lived much better
than most of the Mohawk River farmers.” General Schuyler
remonstrated, because of their peaceable disposition and the
pledged public faith, They were soon released. This party
camped at Skoiyase the first night, and the next at Owasco lake,
passing Skaneateles lake and reaching the deserted Onondaga
village the following evening. The next camp was 6 miles east
of Canaseraga, and Fort Stanwix was reached Sep. 24.
Aug. 11 Colonel Brodhead left Pittsburg against the Senecas
and Mingoes on the Allegheny river. A skirmish took place ~
before he reached Cannowago, which had been long deserted.
Other Indian towns were abandoned as he advanced and were
burned. The upper Seneca town Yoghroonwago was destroyed
with others. In this march of 400 miles not a man was lost, and
135 large cabins were burned, each holding several families.
There were indications that all these Senecas were preparing to
remove. The Iroquois were in great distress through the winter,
many dying from pestilence. Other nations were awed and
began to treat for peace.
Except in the loss of life, for Sullivan’s morning and evening
guns kept the Indians at a safe distance, these expeditions differed
in no respect from the Indian raids on the frontier, and gave to
Washington and his successors the name of Ha-no-da-ga’-nears,
Destroyer of Towns, one name of some French governors. Corn-
planter spoke of this in his pathetic speech to Washington in
1790:
When your army entered the country of the Six Nations we
called you the Town Destroyer; and to this day, when that name
is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and our
children cling close to the necks of their mothers. Our coun-
cilors and warriors are men, and can mot be airaid ; but, their
hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children,
and desire that it may be buried so deep as to be heard no more.
When you gave us peace, we called you father, because you
368 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
promised to secure us in the possession of our lands. Do this,
and so long as the lands shall remain, that beloved name will
live in the heart of every Seneca.
Oct. 10 Col. Guy and Sir John Johnson left Sodus bay for
Oswego with a considerable force, accompanied by Brant and
his Indians. The Canadian Indians refused to go against the
Oneidas or Fort Stanwix, and all went into winter quarters,
Colonel Johnson returning to Niagara, where 2628 Indians
remained in October, and about 1000 white refugees. There
were 5036 there Sep. 21, to be fed, but parties went out on raids.
Johnson said these Indians “ will no longer wear tinsel lace, and
are become good judges of gold and silver.”
A party attacked German Flats in February 1780, and in March
another did some damage at Palatine. In April Brant surprised
and burned Harpersfield, but treated the prisoners well. Colonel
Harper gave him false information about Schoharie, which
deterred him from raiding that region, but part of his men entered
Ulster county, taking some prisoners, who afterward killed their
captors and escaped. |
In May Sir John Johnson entered the Mohawk valley with 500
men, few of whom were Indians, coming by way of Lake Cham-
plain and reaching Johnstown May 21. There his force divided,
one party going to Tribes Hill and Cayadutta creek, doing much
damage. Butler and Brant were also busy on the south side of
the river. In June all the Canaseraga Tuscaroras went over to
the enemy, and “two families of the Oneidas, with all the Onon-
dagas who had joined us since the capture of their village.”
Other Oneidas followed, but most remained. Col. Guy Johnson
said that 500 Oneidas came that year, ready to fight the Ameri-
cans. “The last party that arrived delivered up to the Superin-
tendent a commission which, he says, ‘the Rebels had issued
with a view to form the Oneidas into a corps. . . they also
delivered up to me the Rebel flag.’ ” °
Schonendoh and Peter were then prisoners at Niagara, but a
family who returned in December said that Brant, Schonendoh
and Peter persuaded them to go. This would seem to be Sken-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 369
andoah, who Abraham Denne told Schoolcraft “ was a tory in the
war, notwithstanding his high name.” In 1777 he was one of
four mentioned who refused to go to Niagara and has been con-
sidered an American partizan. The testimony to this seems com-
plete and unanswerable. The Oneidas, being threatened, now
asked a refuge for their families among the whites, and they were
placed near Schenectady till the end of the war.
In July Brant, with 600 Indians and 200 white men, cut off
communication between Fort Stanwix and German Flats, cap-
turing 53 men. That month Colonel Johnson reported that 330
Oneidas had joined him, 100 being men, and 70 had been con-
tinually with his war parties. He was told that those with the
Americans would soon follow. In June the Indians had killed
or captured 156 persons and destroyed much property, and all
had “been effected without acts of cruelty.” The Six Nations
numbered 1600 men, exclusive of those southward. Of these,
1200 were warriors, and 836 were then in service. The next year
he said they had distinguished themselves more than usual, and
there were generally 500 in the field.
Aug. 2 Brant attacked Canajoharie with 450 Indians, burning
most of the houses, killing 14 persons, and taking 50 prisoners
there, as well as several hundred head of cattle. The militia were
up the river, guarding boats. In all he killed 24 and took 73
persons. That month General Schuyler sent five Caughnawagas
and 13 Oneidas and Tuscaroras to visit the French in Rhode
Island. They were well received and were given French medals.
Sir John Johnson invaded Schoharie valley in September. He
and Brant were joined at Unadilla by Cornplanter and the Sen-
ecas, the united force being about 1500 men. They attacked the
Middleburg fort, but failed to take it. Going thence, they ravaged
the Schoharie valley and both sides of the Mohawk. At Stone
Arabia Colonel Brown was kiiled with 40 Americans. General
Van Rensselaer pursued, attacked and defeated Sir John at
Klock’s Field, but he escaped in the night. One incident of his
retreat was the capture of Captain Vrooman’s party at the
old stockade at Canaseraga, now Chittenango creek. They had
370 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
destroyed some of his boats there, near what was known as the
turtle tree.
Brant’s Indians were about German Flats in January 1781,
and all through the spring it was the same, there being depreda-
tions at Minisink, Currietown, Cherry Valley and elsewhere. In
that year Col. Marinus Willett took command and changed the
situation. Brant had intended to attack the Oneidas in their
new quarters in March, but did not do so. On the contrary, in
July Colonel Willett attacked and defeated an Indian force under
Quackack, killing 40. In August there was an Indian raid in
Ulster county, and Wawarsing was burned. Cobleskill was also
attacked, but in October Willett drove the enemy from the valley.
Brant and Major Ross did some damage south of the Mohawk
that month, and Majors Ross and Butler came to Johnstown
Oct. 24, by way of Oswego and Oneida lake. Colonel Willett
reached Fort Hunter the next morning, going in pursuit as soon
as he could cross the river. A battle followed, continuing till
dark, with varying fortune, when Butler retreated. Willett was
joined by 60 Oneidas and started up West Canada creek in hot
pursuit. A running fight followed, and Walter Butler was killed
by an Oneida, his forces were defeated and many prisoners were
made. Some escaped into the wilderness, destitute of provisions.
A party sent to Oneida lake to destroy Butler’s boats, failed of
doing this, but they were not wanted. |
The British at Detroit were not favorable to the neighboring
Moravian Indian towns, and in 1781 applied to the Six Nations
at Niagara for their removal. They sent word to the Ottawas
and Ojibwas: “ We make you a present of the Christian Indians
to make soup of;” but neither they nor the Wyandots would
interfere. Not long after many of them were treacherously
destroyed.
In 1782 a party of 35 Indians took some prisoners at Palatine,
carrying them to Canada, but they were soon released, war being
practically ended on the Mohawk river.
In February 1783 Colonel Willett made an attempt to capture
Oswego, sending a party from Canajoharie in sleighs. They
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS © B74
crossed Oneida lake on the ice, but the Indian guides lost their
way and the attempt failed.
Captain Dalton made an estimate in August of that year of the
number of Indians employed on the British side in the war. Of
the New York Iroquois there were 300 Mohawks, 150 Oneidas,
200 Tuscaroras, 200 Onondagas, 230 Cayugas and 400 Senecas,
or 1480 in all. While some of these estimates are high, that of
the Senecas is too low.
Chapter 25
Peace proclaimed. Mohawks remain in Canada. Treaty of Fort Stanwix.
Pennsylvania commissioners. Brant in England. Frontier posts retained.
Western councils. Brant and Delawares. Seneca chiefs in Philadelphia.
Colonel Proctor in the Seneca towns. Pickering’s council. St Clair’s de-
feat. Iroquois chiefs at Philadelphia. Council at Au Glaize. Council at
Buffalo creek. Governor Simcoe. Wayne’s victory. Indians make peace.
Land treaty with the United States. Later treaties with New York com-
panies or persons. Delaware Indians made men. Ganeodiyo, the peace
prophet. Temperance reform and organizations. Red Jacket. Farmer’s
Brother. Six Nations declare war against Great Britain. Council at Onon-
daga. Captain Pollard leader at Chippewa.
Peace was proclaimed in 1783, but Great Britain made no terms
for her Indian allies, nor were they secured in their lands included
in the boundaries of the United States. The Mohawks had been
promised better treatment. They remained awhile on the Ameri-
can side at Niagara, and the Senecas offered them land in the
Genesee valley, but they did not wish to remain in New York.
Governor Haldimand agreed to purchase and convey to them a
tacu.om the Bay of Quinte, Selected by Brant. oUhe’Senecas
wanted them nearer, and Haldimand was asked to secure them a
tract of 1200 square miles, extending 6 miles on each side of
Grand river. This was promised and the grant was formally
made in 1784. Brant and some Mohawks moved there; and,
though much has been sold, portions of all the Six Nations still
live there under their old laws and with a full corps of chiefs.
A disposition was shown at the end of the war to expel the
New York Iroquois; but Washington and Schuyler at once
opposed this, and their desire for a more liberal policy happily
prevailed. The treaty of Fort Stanwix was held in 1784, all the
372 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Six Nations being represented and the Seneca Abeals or Corn-
planter’s party. The brief treaty, as signed, has alone been pre-
served. The hatchet was buried by all. The Oneidas and Tus-
caroras were secured in the possession of their lands, the former
making large claims. The Six Nations unwillingly gave up most
of the territory not occupied by them. It was gained and lost
by the sword. |
Cornplanter brought about this treaty, with which the Indians
were dissatisfied, and Red Jacket took advantage of this to
increase his own popularity. Brant was also displeased and gave
up a proposed visit to England to attend to the matter, not liking
the detention of a Mohawk chief sent by him. The American
commissioners were Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler and Arthur
Lee. Some Pennsylvania commissioners were also at this
treaty, on state affairs, and found the usual delays. At last four
of the Iroquois nations began the council; but “the Business,
in our Opinion, would not have commenced so soon had it not
been at the instance of the Marquis De la Fayette, who wished
to address the Indians, and was under the necessity of departing
this day or to-morrow.” He was very plain spoken. “ Their
Answer was pertinent, and breathed the spirit of peace. The
Mohawks, in particular, declared their repentance for the Errors
which they had committed.” These commissioners were suc-
cessful in their business, and at successive treaties all the
Indian lands in Pennsylvania were purchased except Cornplant-
er’s reservation.
Brant soon after visited the western Indians, probably with a
view to a confederacy, and then went to England in 1785. The
London papers said he had presided at a great council of many
nations, and had been appointed to conduct a proposed war ~
against the United States. He secured payment of Mohawk
claims from the British government the next year, and edited a
superb edition of the Mohawk prayer book. Another had been
issued in Canada during the war.
The British still retained the frontier posts and encouraged the
hostility of the Indians. In December 1786 a great Indian coun-
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 373
cil was held on Detroit river, at which the western Indians and
Six Nations were represented. An address sent to Congress may
have been written by Brant, encouraged by Sir John Johnson.
At the head of this were the signatures of the Six Nations. The
British now strengthened the forts, and the Indians became more
hostile to the Americans. |
In January 1788 the Hurons sent the Six Nations word that
they had no answer from the United States, and wished them to
attend the next general council, as promised. This met in
October, when Brant’s views were more pacific, as the Mohawks
alone might adhere to the British side. In July he had also made
a bargain with the “ Lessee Company,” leasing lands in western
New York, and prospective profit cooled his military ardor.
This long lease was afterward abrogated by New York as illegal.
In January 1789 General St Clair made separate treaties with
some of the western Indians, which destroyed the plan of a great
confederacy.. One took in all the Iroquois but the Mohawks,
and another, six other nations. In his journal of Feb. 4, 17809,
David Zeisberger said:
Brant had for some years secretly labored to extirpate the
Delawares, and on this account had urged the Chippewas, Tawas,
etc., to begin war with them. This plan, secretly formed, became
manifest last summer, and at the same time found its end, for
it came to nought. He then worked for this, that the nations
should begin war afresh with the States, with the hope that in
this the Delawares would be extirpated.
He also opposed the Moravian Indians, saying, “it were better
they were blotted from the surface of the earth; they caused only
unrest among the other Indians.” Afterward he favored them.
In 1790 the Senecas aided the western tribes who defeated
General Harmar, but these were personal acts.
The Seneca chiefs, Cornplanter, Half Town and Great Tree,
were with Washington in Philadelphia in December 1790, stay-
ine several weeks. Great Tree may have remembered their
unceremonious departure in 1778, when they said at this time:
Father: No Seneca ever goes from the fire of his friend, until
he has said to him, “I am going.” We therefore tell you that
we are now Setting out for our own country.
374 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM .
Father: We thank you from our hearts that we now know
that there is a country we may call our own, and on which we
may lay down in peace. We see that there will be peace between
your children and our children, and our hearts are very glad.
Two years later Great Tree died in Philadelphia. Col. Thomas
Proctor was at Buffalo Ap. 27 to May 23, 1791, but with little
success. His journal is full of interesting details and he visited
several Indian towns. Beside those at Buffalo creek, he men-
tioned Squawkie Hill, Nondas, Canaseder, Ohhishew or Dune-
wangua, T’enachshagouchtongu or Burnt House, Cayantha or
Cornfields, Venango, Cattaragus, Carrahadeer, Hiskhue and
Coneyat. These Seneca towns are as spelled by him. About
Buffalo were more than 170 well built cabins, and the Onondagas
had a village there. The Indians there were under British con-
trol, well clothed and fed. The chiefs refused to send deputies
with him to the Miamis, but the women interfered, Red Jacket
speaking for them, and delegates were appointed. The refusal
of a vessel by the British forced Proctor to abandon the trip, and
he found that Young King and Farmer’s Brother were both on
the British side, as most of the Indians were.
Col. Timothy Pickering held a successful council at Elmira
N. Y., in June 1791. It was appointed for Painted Post, where
an earlier council had been held, but Newtown, now Elmira, was
more accessible for boats. There were 200 Onondaga and Oneida
warriors present, with 682 Senecas, and it was agreed to send
chiefs to Philadelphia the next year.
St Clair’s defeat happened that year, and Stone supposed that
Brant was there with 150 Mohawks. It is not improbable, for he
was at a western war council that year and spoke in behalf of the
Moravian Indians: “ Why should we wish to compel them to go
to war? . . . Let them be, and disturb them not.” »~Dhis
victory greatly elated the young Indian warriors, and Zeisberger
wrote, Sep. 28: “ Warriors came here, going to the war. We
heard that all Cornplanter’s young people had left him and gone
to the Miami to take part in the war.’”’ He was but a war chief.
In this year we have again a glimpse of the female part of the
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 375
Montour family, but without a hint of the traditional Queen
Esther. The male members often appear. Zeisberger wrote at
the Moravian towns Jan. 4, 1791:
A Mohawk Indian woman, Mary Montour, sister of Cathrine,
and of the former Andrew Montour, who came here not long
ago, upon her request and desire, got leave to be a dweller here.
She knows how to speak many languages, for example, Mohawk,
her mother tongue, Wyandot, Ottawa, Chippewa, Shawano, Dela-
ware, English and French. Her sister, Cathrine, and several of
her friends, live not far from Niagara over the lake, and we have
already many times heard that she would like to be here, for .
John Cook, her son, is here.
The Rev. Samuel Kirkland was sent to the Genesee country to
conduct 50 chiefs to Philadelphia, which they reached Mar. 13,
1792. The large silver medals given them that year are well
known, and the meeting was mutually satisfactory. Brant was
not there till after the council, arriving June 20. He refused some
fine offers, but undertook a peace embassy to the Miami coun-
try. Being sick, he sent the messages by his son, intending to
follow soon. As he passed through the Moravian towns, Sep.
29, he said, “if he came to the Miami and found the Indians
disinclined for peace, he should straightway turn back home.”
When he returned in November, he said nothing was concluded,
but there would be a council at Sandusky in the spring.
Cornplanter and 48 other Iroquois also attended this council
at Au Glaize on the Miami, and there were 30 Iroquois chiefs
from Canada. The peace embassy was not well received by
the western Indians, but harmony was restored, and it was agreed
to meet the United States in council at the rapids of the Miami
the next spring. They would be peaceable till then if the troops
were withdrawn from the western side of the Ohio, but did send
out 300 warriors. On the return of the New York chiefs, a grand
council of the Six Nations was held at Buffalo, the acts of the
western council were related, and a speech was sent to the
president.
Hostilities were frequent along the frontier through the win-
ter, and the western Indians held a preliminary council in Feb-
376 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
ruary 1793, sending a very explicit message to the Six Nations,
to be forwarded to President Washington. They insisted on the
Ohio as a boundary, and would hold another private council
before the public meeting. When the latter took place, the
Indians were divided, most wishing peace. The minority got in
a deceptive message, and the others determined that those who
wished war might fight it out alone. Peace measures failing,
the United States commissioners at once returned without reach-
ing the council. |
On this occasion some Onondaga friends of Zeisberger told
him that “they no longer live in Onondaga, where there are now
only twelve or thirteen families, but over the lake at Buffalo
creek.” They said they had been betrayed at this council.
Brant was there with many Mohawks. In fact the commission-
ers never were at the council, the British officers at Detroit refus-
ing to let them go till they were sent for, but otherwise treating
them courteously. They left Philadelphia Feb. 27, 1793, were
detained at Niagara for several weeks, where a conference was
held, and the Indians sent their reply Aug. 13, without per-
mitting them to appear. All present signed the reply except the
Six Nations, but the Senecas of the Glaize signed with the totem
of the Turtle. Brant was surprised to find the British opposing
articles of peace.
On the return of the chiefs a council was held at the Onon-
daga village on Buffalo creek, Oct. 8, to which both English and
Americans were invited. Clear Sky, an Onondaga chief, opened
the council, and all the belts were produced and speeches
‘rehearsed. On the next day Brant was present and spoke, say-
ing that land claims “ always have been, and still continue to be,
the cause of war.” He made a proposition which he thought
might secure peace, and it was “the general wish of the Six
Nations that General Chapin, himself, will proceed with the
speech to Congress.” This he did, and another council was pro-
posed at Venango in the spring. This was reported at a council
held at Buffalo creek Feb. 7, 1794, but was not acceptable, as a
direct answer on the boundary line was desired.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 377
Governor Simcoe kept hostile feelings alive, and in April 1794
he went from Detroit to the foot of the Maumee rapids and began
building a fort on American territory. The western Indians
said he supplied them with all things red, and would aid them
with 1500 men. A Spanish agent also came to stir them up and
offer aid. ‘The Americans prepared for war, and some things
happened to alienate the Six Nations from them. Cornplanter
and others had sold Presque Isle to Pennsylvania, and it prepared
to take possession contrary to their wish, as they claimed that
the sale was irregular. General Gibson wrote to Governor Mif-
flin June 11, 1794, “ From every account, I have every reason to
b)
believe the Six Nations mean to be hostile.”’ Cornplanter thought
war certain, and bragged of what he would do against the Ameri-
cans, but Washington wished to avoid trouble and proposed a
council. June 27 General Wilkins said of the Six Nations:
Our peace or war with them depends on our being in peace or
war with the English. The Senecas, who are the best disposed
of any of the Six Nation tribes, say that the English have bought
over all the other tribes, but that they are determined to be
neutral; but if there is an English war, their neutrality is not
to be depended on.
Wayne’s victory turned the scale, and Washington’s prudent
measures averted local trouble. In Wayne the Indians found a
sleepless foe, wise and watchful. Their attempt to capture one
of his trains, June 30, was defeated, and he marched on. July
20, 1794, he completely routed them at Maumee rapids, pursuing
the enemy and destroying everything of theirs under the walls
of the British fort. It was at this time that the Indians revived
the name of Long Knives for the Americans. In contemporane-
ous accounts these rapids are always called those of the Miami.
Brant was not there, but he and many Mohawks went west-
ward in September. He then “said he went to the war unwill-
ingly, but he was compelled, and must go, for war was contrived
merely for this, to exterminate the Indians.” Some Senecas and
Onondagas were there. Oheknugh, an Onondaga chief, was
slain, but Oundiaga and some of his warriors escaped.
378 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Peace was not made at once, Brant and Governor Simcoe
opposing it, but the Indians at last grew weary and made peace
with Wayne on his own terms. In 1795 the difficulties between
the United States and Great Britain were settled, and the latter
no longer aided the Indians.
About the end of the century, before and after, there were
many Iroquois land sales in New York, all described in The
Indian Problem of 1889. That of 1784 was a treaty with the
United States, in which a boundary line was drawn:
From the mouth of a creek about four miles east of Niagara,
called Oyonwayea, or Johnston’s landing place, upon the lake
named by the Indians Oswego, and by us Ontario; from thence
southerly in a direction always four miles east of the carrying
path between Lakes Erie and Ontario, to the mouth of Teho-
seroron, or Buffalo creek, on Lake Erie; thence south to the
north boundary of the State of Pennsylvania; thence west to
the end of the said north boundary; thence south along the west
boundary of the said State to the river Ohio; the said line from
the mouth of the Oyonwayea to the Ohio shall be the western
boundary of the lands of the Six Nations.
This outside territory had been gained by conquest and was
practically lost by war. The lands west of this line were sur-
rendered to the United States and those east and north were
reserved for the Six Nations, except 6 miles square about the
fort at Oswego. ‘This was reaffirmed at the treaty of Fort Har-
mar, June 5, 1789, but the Mohawks were left out and the Onei-
das and Tuscaroras were confirmed in their land titles. Crim-
inal offenses would be punished by state law, but much was left
to the Indians themselves. In Judge Marshall’s words they were
interior dependent nations.
The treaty of Jan. 21, 1795, acknowledged the Oneida, Onon-
daga, and Cayuga reservations and specified the Seneca boun-
daries, besides securing a right of passage. A special treaty was
made at the same time with the Oneida, Tuscarora and Stock-
bridge Indians, recompensing them for losses in the war, pro-
viding mills, and “$1000, to be applied in building a convenient
church at Oneida, in the place of the one which was burnt by the
enemy in the late war.”
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 379
The Seneca treaties with New York, the United States, and
private companies are too numerous to describe and are compli-
cated by the Ogden claims. The Oneidas’ sales have also been
many, disposing of all their land except that of a few private
persons. ‘They now have a large tract in Wisconsin, where
most of them reside.
The first land sale by the Onondagas was Sep. 12, 1788, and
took most of their land, but reserved a mile around Onondaga
lake for common use by them and the whites, with quite a tract
_ farther south. In 1793 they sold a tract east of Onondaga creek
and gave the State the right to lay out roads across their lands.
In 1795 they sold the Salt Springs reservation and some land west
of the creek. There were smaller sales in 1817 and 1822.
The Cayugas sold most of their land in 1789, but reserved a
large tract on both sides of their lake at the north end and still
farther north. In 1795 they sold all but a tract of 2 miles square
and two others each a mile square. One of the latter, at Cayuga,
was given to the Fish Carrier, one of their chiefs, and the others
were sold in 1807, so that they have now no reservation.
The Mohawks in Canada released all claims to New York
lands in 1798, and the St Regis Indians made land sales in 1795,
1813, 1824, 1825 and 1845.
The Iroquois on the Grand river in Canada did not altogether
escape land troubles, and Brant even proposed to remove to the
United States. Some Iroquois from New York claimed that the
Grand river lands belonged to them as well as the Mohawks.
_A council at Buffalo, under Red Jacket and Farmer’s Brother,
deposed Brant, but he was restored. According to Stone, the
council was illegal, the council fire having been regularly
removed from Buffalo to the Onondaga village on Grand river.
It is certain, however, that legal councils were held at Buffalo,
where the official Onondaga wampum keeper long resided. The
wampum ‘was restored to old Onondaga in 1847, but since 1812
there have been two confederacies of the Six Nations, respec-
| tively in Canada and New York, and exactly corresponding.
Brant went to the western treaty with the United States in
380 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
June 1795. At this time took place the curious ceremony which
made the Delawares men and warriors, and of which Zeisberger
gave this account:
They had, among other ceremonies, shorn an Indian’s head,
leaving only a little hair at the top, adorned him with white
feathers, as the warriors are accustomed to do, and painted him.
They left him no clothing except a breech-clout, and put a war-
beetle into his hands, and then presented him to the Delawares
with these words: “Cousin, beforetimes we put on thee only a
woman’s garment; hung on thy side a calabash, with oil to
anoint thy head, put into thy hand a grubbing axe and a pestle,
to plant corn and to grind it, together with other house-gear,
and told thee to support thyself by agriculture, together with thy
children, and to trouble thyself about nothing else. Now we cut
in two the band wherewith thy garment is bound, throw it among
these thick dark bushes, whence no man must bring it again, or
he must die. Thou art no longer in thy proper form, but thy
form is like this Indian’s, whom we now present to thee, that
thou mayest see who thou now art, and instead of a grubbing axe
and corn-pestle we put into thy hand a war-beetle, and feathers
upon thy head. Thou goest about now like a man.” Thus they
made the Delaware nation not only into men, but into warriors.
A party of Mohawks went through the Moravian towns Aug.
28, 1796, and Zeisberger said: “They are earnestly working to
kindle war again, saying quite openly that there should be a new
war with the States, and they seek to arouse the Canada Indians.”
The mission of Ganeodiyo, or Handsome Lake, the prophet of
the new religion, has been placed both in 1790 and in 1800, with
probabilities in favor of the later date. It seems to have been
unknown when the Iroquois chiefs visited President Washington
in 1792, and part of the revelation assumes that he was dead.
Handsome Lake’s name first appears on a treaty in 1794, but
without special notice, and it may be assumed that he was then
in no way distinguished from other chiefs. The revelation is
said to have been made in the interest of his half-brother, Corn-
planter, but there is no proof of this. It taught rewards and
punishments based on sound morality, and strongly opposed
drunkenness and the sale of lands. It was largely accepted by
four of the Six Nations of New York and effected a considerable
reformation. The prophet died at Onondaga in 1815 and was
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 381
buried there. Some Quakers were at Onondaga in 1809 and their
words satisfactorily settle the time and effects of the prophet’s
mission: “We were informed, not only by themselves but the
interpreter, that they had totally refrained from the use of ardent
spirits for about nine years, and that none of the natives will
Pouch tt.” .
He visited the President of the United States in March 1802,
with some Onondaga and Seneca chiefs, and received a letter
from the secretary of war, from which it may be gathered that
his mission was then recent. ‘There is mention of the revelation
and of the four angels who made it, which was good news because
of its objects:
Brothers—The President is pleased with seeing you all in good
health, after so long a journey, and he rejoices in his heart, that
one of your own people has been employed to make you sober,
good and happy; and that he is so well disposed to give you
good advice, and to set before you so good examples.
Brothers—If all the red people follow the advice of your
friend and teacher, the Handsome Lake, and in future will be
sober, honest, industrious and good, there can be no doubt but
the Great Spirit will take care of you and make you happy.
From time to time the Six Nations had made efforts to repress
drunkenness, asking for stringent measures against rum selling
one year and for their repeal the next. They sadly knew the full
extent of the evil, but their good resolutions were not proof
against it. In this respect there was now a great reformation,
which yet was not thorough. There came later efforts. In 1830
the Rev. James Cusick, a Tuscarora, founded a temperance soci-
-ety of more than 100 members, and in 1845 another of 50 mem-
bers. In 1845 the Rev. Asher Bliss said of the Cattaraugus reser-
vation: “Temperance societies have been patronized by nearly
all the chiefs and leading men on the reservation. Pledges have
been circulated, and received the signatures of a large majority
of the population, on the Washingtonian plan.” _
As often as with us these efforts have been kept up since, there
being sometimes three or four temperance organizations on one
reservation. The Good Templars have had one great advantage
382 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
in bringing the Indians into contact with a good class of white
people, and being influenced by them. Among themselves, a
Six Nations Temperance League both in Canada and New York,
holds a great annual meeting, bringing representatives of all
together in various places, with excellent results.
In the settlement of western New York some Seneca chiefs
became prominent, two of these being Honayewus, or Farmer’s
Brother, and Red Jacket, or Sagoyewatha. The latter was noted
as an orator, and Colonel Stone quoted Thomas Morris’s descrip-
tion as follows:
When I first knew Red Jacket he was in his prime, being
probably about 36 years of age. He was decidedly the most
eloquent man amongst the Six Nations. His stature was rather
above than below the middle size. He was well made. His
eyes were fine, and expressive of the intellect of which he pos-
sessed an uncommon portion. His address, particularly when
he spoke in council, was very fine, and almost majestic. He was
decidedly the most graceful public speaker I ever heard. He was
fluent, without being rapid. You could always tell when he
meant to speak, from the pains he would take before he arose,
to arrange the silver ornaments on his arms, and the graceful
fold he would give to his blanket.
Farmer’s Brother may have been born about 1730 and died in
1814. Though he spoke often, he, preferred being a warrior to
shining as an orator. Stone said of him:
Beyond all doubt he was one of the noblest of his race,—in
both intellect and eloquence fully equal to Red Jacket, and infi-
nitely above him in courage and all the moral qualities of the
man. . .~ He lived and died a sober man. He was remarkably
well formed, and erect in his carriage, and trod the earth with a
firm step to the last.
The Seneca chiefs had tried to restrain the western Indians,
but, at the battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. 7, 1811, it is said that many
young Senecas were engaged. Troubles with England came to
a head in the War of 1812; and Hon. Erastus Granger held a
council at Buffalo July 6, repeating Washington’s advice to the
Indians, “ That you take no part in the quarrels of the white
people.” Red Jacket regretted that those in Canada had taken
up arms, and another peace messenger was sent to the Mohawks
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 383
without effect. Not long after, it was reported that the British
had seized Grand Island. This was thought a cause for war,
and this declaration was made:
We, the chiefs and councilors of the Six Nations of Indians,
residing in the State of New-York, do hereby proclaim to all the
war-chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations, that war is declared
on our part against the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.
Therefore, we hereby command and advise all the war-chiefs and
warriors of the Six Nations to call forth immediately the war-
riors under them, and put them in motion to protect their
rights and liberties, which our brethren, the Americans, are
now defending.
A council at old Onondaga followed, Sep. 28, 1812, and an
address was sent to the president, saying:
Brother,—The undersigned, chiefs of the Oneida, Onondaga,
Stockbridge and Tuscarora tribes of Indians, as far west as Tona-
wanda, regularly deputed by our respective tribes, have this day
lighted up a council fire at Onondaga, the ancient council ground
of the Six Confederated Nations.
They had been advised to be neutral and were surprised at the
declaration of the Buffalo council, but added: “ We are few in
number, and can do but little, but our hearts are good, and we
are willing to do what we can.” They took no part till the next
year, when 400 Senecas under Young Cornplanter aided in the
deense’ of Buttalo: ~ In a later engagement, July 17, the Six
Nations gave efficient aid. General Boyd said at this time:
“The bravery and humanity of the Indians were equally con-
spicuous.” They also took part in the battle of Chippewa, July
Proven leduby Captain, Pollard, a) Seneca chies. Stone said
that Kawaskant, or Steel Trap, an old Onondaga warrior, had
expected this honor, but was not even named in the council.
He went home at once, saying, “ They think me too old, and
that I am good for nothing.’ Clark also said that Hoahoaqua,
ot, Lay Hort, an Onondaga chief who was killed in this battle,
was chosen leader, but this was an error.
384 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Chapter 26
Morse’s Indian report. Census made at various PS Ogden Land Co.
Reservations. General Carrington’s statements. Little violence. Citizen-
ship. Title to lands. Schools. Union soldiers. Present government.
Immorality. Progress.
The Rev. Jedidiah Morse made a report in 1822, on the Indians
of the United States. In 1796 he found “the whole population
of the Six Nations, including their adopted children, was 3748.”
In 1818 Jasper Parish said officially, “ The population of the Six
Nations of Indians is 4575.” The Oneidas were then 1031, exclu-
sive of the Stockbridges; and at old Onondaga were 299 Onon-
dagas. Morse found but 272 of the latter there in 1821. Includ-
ing the Brothertown and Stockbridge Indians at Oneida, the Six
Nations of New York then numbered 4884. After that, most of
the Oneidas went to Wisconsin.
In 1792 their missionary, Rev. Samuel Kirkland, said the
Oneidas had several villages from 10 to 15 miles from Oneida
lake, and numbered 630. There were 280 Stockbridge Indians
6 miles south of the largest Oneida village, who came from
Massachusetts. The Oneidas had also given lands to 250
Brothertown Indians in 1786, which were 20 miles south of
Oneida lake. Their village was 8 miles south of the Stock-
bridges, and they had come from Long Island sound.
Mention has been made of some of the loose estimates of num-
bers from time to time. In the New York census of 1845 an
effort was made to get more reliable data of all kinds, and Henry
R. Schoolcraft was employed to do this. He found here 20 Mo-
hawks, 210 Oneidas, 368 Onondagas, 123 Cayugas, 2441 Senecas,
281 Tuscaroras, and 360 St Regis Indians. Other Iroquois in
the United States were 722 Oneidas in Wisconsin, 125 Senecas
west of the Mississippi, and 211 mixed Senecas and Shawnees,
of whom half might be Senecas. There were also 51 Cornplanter
Senecas in Pennsylvania, named from that chief. He estimated
the Canadian Iroquois at 2000, and the whole number then living
at 6942, but did not take in some Canadian villages; and the mere
estimates are too low.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 385
The United States census of 1890 was naturally more accurate,
returning fully 7387 Iroquois in the United States and 8483 in
Canada, with a total of 15,870. The estimate of the greatest
earlier population was 13,000 in 1682. This census also gave
5239 as the Iroquois population of New York, to which may be
added 98 on the adjoining Cornplanter reservation in Pennsyl-
vania. Including this in the New York census, there were in
the State 481 Onondagas, 212 Oneidas, 18 Mohawks, 183 Cay-
ugas, 2767 Senecas and 408 Tuscaroras. On the New York side
of St Regis were 1129 Indians. This left over 2000 Iroquois in
other parts of the United States. The reported increase on the
New York reservations in 45 years was 1753. Reckoning by
these alone, there were in 1890, 494 Onondaga, 561 Tonawanda,
880 Allegany, 1582 Cattaraugus, 459 Tuscarora and 1157 St
Regis Indians. As many more of the latter were on the Canada
side.
In 1819 the Ogden Land Company held a treaty at Buffalo,
desiring to secure all the Seneca reservations or have them con-
centrate on one. Agents of the United States and Massachu-
setts also attended, but the treaty was not successful, and there
was now a marked religious division in the Seneca nation. Suc-
cessive councils were held till 1826, when the Ogden Company
had more success, securing several small reservations in the
Genesee valley and parts of others.
In 1838 all the Seneca lands in New York were conveyed to
the company, and this treaty was approved by the United States
Senate, March 1840, and afterward proclaimed by the president.
All this involved the arrangements about western lands and a
long litigation, recently decided in favor of the Indians. The
Senecas opposed the ratification on the ground of fraud, and it
was agreed that improper means had been used, the case creating
great interest and sympathy for the Indians. The Quakers took
up their plea and a compromise treaty was made in 1842, legal
resort proving useless. A full account of all is contained in the
report on The Indian Problem, made to the Legislature of New
York in 1889, the compromise being this:
386 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
The Ogden Company released and handed back to the Senecas
the whole of the Allegany reservation and the Cattaraugus reser-
vation, and the Senecas gave up the whole of the Buffalo creek _
and the Tonawanda reservations, the Ogden Company retaining
the preemptive right in the two reservations surrendered to the
Indians.
The Tonawandas were not satisfied with this, and forcibly
held possession till 1857, when a new treaty was made, and most
of the reservation was bought and restored to the Indians in
1863. At one time their friends thought all would have to leave
the State. The matter rests thus. The Indians hold their lands
with no intention of selling them, but no one can buy the Seneca
lands except the Ogden Company.
Out of various treaties and transfers grew the claim of the
Six Nations to Kansas lands, deeded to them but opened and
sold to settlers in 1860. In 1880 active measures were taken to
recover the price of 1,824,000 acres, and in 1900 the Indians
gained their case and an award of $1,998,744. Payment of this
three years later, was delayed by questions on distribution, raised
by the Indians themselves, some who had left New York claim-
ing a share.
In 1890 there were 106 Oneidas living in Oneida and Madison
counties, but they had no reservation. The Onondaga reserva-
tion, about 5 miles south of the center of Syracuse, is a rectangle,
4 miles long by a little over 2.3 wide, containing about 6100 acres.
Tonawanda reservation originally had 71 square miles, and has
now but 6549.73 acres. It is irregular in form and in the counties
of Niagara, Genesee and Erie. Like the four following, it is a
Seneca reserve. Allegany reservation, in Cattaraugus county, is
irregular in form, from being on both sides of Allegheny river. It
is nearly 35 miles long, following that stream, and contains 30,469
acres. Oil Spring reservation, in the same county, is a mile
square. Cornplanter reservation, in Pennsylvania, is half a mile
wide and 2 miles long. Cattaraugus reservation is in Cattaraugus,
Chautauqua and Erie counties, on both sides of Cattaraugus creek.
It is 9.5 miles long, east and west, and about 3 miles wide in the
center. It is irregular in form and contains 21,680 acres.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 387
The Tuscarora reservation in Niagara county came to the Tus-
carora people by donation and purchase. It is irregular in form
and includes 6249 acres. The St Regis reservation lies south of
the boundary line, in St Lawrence and Franklin counties and on
the St Lawrence, Raquette and St Regis rivers. It is irregular
in form, about 7.3 miles long on the south line, and about 3 miles
wide; area about 14,640 acres. The Canadian half is about equal
in size and population.
In the census report for 1890 are those of the special agent,
Gen. Henry B. Carrington, and of Mr T. W. Jackson, United
States agent for the Six Nations, employed as enumerator. This
and the Indian Problem are among the most valuable works on
the Iroquois lately prepared, though having many of the com-
mon historic errors. The other matter is good and carefully
prepared. The following statements are summarized from those
made by General Carrington.
He found that many late reports “were evidently manufac-
tured and given out by interested parties when legislation to
affect these Indians was pending.” On none of the reserva-
tions were intoxicating liquors sold, nor were there “ houses for
immoral purposes nor gambling dens. . .. The Six Nations
are in most danger from without.” They have generally asked
to be let alone. He adds:
They have been in a great measure let alone by the authorities,
and the result is that they are self-sustaining and much further
advanced in civilization than any other reservation Indians in
the United ‘States, and as much so as an average number of white
people in many localities. . . Envious Caucasians, hungering
for the Indians’ landed possessions in New York State, as else-
where, have been active and earnest in efforts to absorb their
substance. They have been kept from doing so thus far through
the efforts of earnest and active fair-minded people, who have
prevented their spoliation.
Crimes were few, stealing and quarreling rare.
The total local offenses during the year was 16 in an Indian
population of 5133. . . No communities elsewhere, white or
otherwise, are known where person and property are more safe,
or where male and female can walk unattended at night with
388 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
greater security. Pauperism is unusual and the tramp almost
unknown. . . The special agent calls attention to the gradual
elimination of diseases resulting from white association in early
times. This has reduced mortality and increased longevity.
The growth of self-reliance is especially noticeable. . . 2884
speak the English language, and 1985 do not. The total acreage
of the reservations of the Six Nations is 82,327.73, with an Indian
and adopted population of 5203, or 16.78 acres for each person.
The law recognizes each nation “as much sovereignties, by
treaty and obligation, as are the several states of the United
States.” The following words of General Carrington will con-
vey nothing new to real students of the situation, but they may
be of use to those who are confident they can dispose of every
difficulty by a single act:
If the Iroquois, native or foreign born, want to become citizens
of the United States, they must renounce allegiance to their own
people, but, if those of the Six Nations in New York become such
citizens, they can not carry their real property interest with
them. . . This, in fact, is at present a practical inhibition in
their way to citizenship. The several reservations belong to
them (St Regis differs somewhat from the rest), and neither the
State of New York nor the United States can legally break them
up without the Indians’ consent, or through conditions analogous
to those of war. . . The title to these reservations is in the
nation, and the members are therefore at common law “ tenants—
in common.” Each owns his undivided share absolutely, inde-
pendently of the United States or the State of New York. The
individuals, however, only hold a fee equivalent to the ownership
of the land they improve, with power to sell or devise among their
own people, but not to strangers. It is a good title. The nation
_ itself can not disturb it. . . The conclusion is irresistible that
the Six Nations are nations by treaty and law, and have long
since been recognized as such by the United States and the State
of New York, and an enlightened public will surely hesitate
before proceeding to divest these people of long established rights
without their consent.
The United States employs an agent, messenger, physician
and interpreter. The agent receives and distributes money and
goods annually to all but the St Regis Indians. The New York
State agent acts for the Onondagas, and the attorney for those
at St Regis.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 389
No allotment can be made of the Six Nations lands, nor can an
assignment in severalty of them be had on the basis of a common
and general division or absolute removal, as is usual with ordi-
nary reservation Indians. The present occupancy or recorded
titles would prevent this, and the courts would undoubtedly pro-
tect them. While land tenure among the Six Nations is, as a
rule, secure in the families enjoying it, the evidence of title for
many years largely depended upon visible possession and im-
provement rather than upon the record evidence common to white
people. Verbal wills recited at the dead feasts, in the presence
of witnesses to the devise, were usually regarded as sacred, and
a sale, with delivery of possession, was respected when no writ-
ten conveyance was executed. Of late years written wills have
become common. . . The clerk of the Seneca nation keeps a
record of grants made by the council, Generally, the clerk,
whether of chiefs, as with the Onondagas and Tuscaroras, or of
trustees, as with the St Regis, has the custody of the records of
official proceedings respecting grants or sales of lands. . . An
applicant for land, after petition, secures a vote of council or of
chiefs of a tribe or nation, as the case may be, with the descrip-
tion of the land asked for, and a copy of that vote is the basis of
a permanent title to himself, his heirs and assignees. . . The
infrequency of transfer out of a family and the publicity of the
act when such a transfer is made have been esteemed sufficiently
protective. . . As with white people, there are and will be Six
Nations Indians landowners and Six Nations Indians landless.
In 1890 there were 27 schools on the New York reservations,
besides the Thomas Asylum, and the number of teachers has
been since increased. Irregular habits and a feeling that school
education was of little use have interfered with study, but, as
the benefits are realized, there are better results and attendance.
Reading, writing and arithmetic are seen to be useful, and a
common education is desired. General Carrington well said:
No people are quicker to catch opportunities for easy gain. A
system of rewards, stimulative of effort in the education of their
children, if well advised and fostered, would be worth its,cost
and accomplish lasting good.
The early French missionaries understood this. In 1669 Father
Bruyas found his Oneida pupils daily increasing, but he had
been shrewd in his management, and said: ‘“ Whoever knows
how to repeat on Sunday all that is said during the week, has
a string of glass beads, or two little glass cylinders, or two rings
of brass.” ;
390 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
After the colonial period, there were new efforts in the way
of Indian education, often of a mere personal character and with-
out permanence. State aid was first given not very long ago,
and for a time was of a very cheap kind. It has not been all
that is needed yet; but those who have known the New York
reservations for 60 years are well aware of the great advance made.
As nearly as could be learned in 1890, the Six Nations fur-
nished for the Civil War 162 soldiers and sailors; the Onondagas
16, the Senecas 113, the Tuscaroras 10, and the St Regis 23.
These were not in one organization, but enlisted in various regi-
ments. One noted Seneca chief, Donehogawa, or Ely S. Parker,
served on General Grant’s staff and was a man of good education.
The Onondagas have 27 chiefs, the ruling ones chosen by the
women of the clan represented. These usually hold office till
death or deposition, and boys may be chosen, but can not vote
on financial affairs. There are now a president, secretary,
treasurer and other officers.- The Tonawanda Senecas have 34
chiefs, chosen by the women of the vacant clans, but the chiefs
in office may demand a reconsideration. The people vote for
executive officers. The Allegany and Cattaraugus Senecas are
legally incorporated as “ The Seneca Nation,” with a constitu-
tion, a council of 16 members, half elected every year, and a
president. Expenditures of over $500 require a popular vote.
The Tuscaroras have their ancient chiefs, chosen by the
women. The St Regis Indians were one of the Seven Nations
of Canada, always with a peculiar government, and now having
trustees annually elected.
Inquiry was diligently made respecting the number of recog-
nized immoral characters living on the respective reservations.
These inquiries were made with the population list in mind, and
always of different persons. ‘There was an almost invariable
concurrence of testimony, specifying how many and who openly
violated the laws of chastity. The largest estimate for any reser-
vation was less than 20; at some reservations not even six could
be named. . . The people of the Six Nations, with all their
unhappy surroundings and poverty, in this matter have suffered
opprobium beyond their true desert in the judgment of Christian
America.
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 391
There is no occasion to precipitate the technical, very vague,
and very unsubstantial condition of citizenship upon the people
of the Six Nations. It would only facilitate, while they are poor,
the transfer of their lands to hungry white men without benefit
to their people at large. . . The Six Nations will make better
citizens by a still longer struggle among themselves, if supported
generously and charitably by those who are their true friends.
General Carrington gives sound reasons why citizenship and
partition should not be enforced or hastened, and it may be added
that some of the most advanced and intelligent Iroquois hold
the same opinions. They can not see what they would gain by
citizenship, and they realize the dangers and difficulties of par-
tition. One great difficulty comes in the line of descent. Mr
Jackson differed from General Carrington on the main question,
but admitted the difficulties. He said:
In my opinion, the proper way to civilize the Indians of New
York is to secure a division of their lands in severalty, and place
them in full citizenship; but there are many questions and diff-
culties to be overcome before this can be done without injury to
the rights of the Indians.
In the judgment of some who know the New York Iroquois
best, they have made a remarkable advance in the last half cen-
tury; and the future is full of hope for them if guidance and
aid are not replaced by unwise coercion. Many live well and
are highly esteemed. ‘They are in demand in various industries,
and some judicious business training would increase the demand.
The growing contact with intelligent and reputable white people
is One important factor; the recognized advantages of essential
branches of education in business are telling favorably on the
question of schools. Old feasts and customs have lost their
hold, and dances which were once religious are now but frolics.
Church membership compares fairly with that of white com-
munities. The census of 1890 reported 12 church buildings, 18
ministers, and 1074 communicants in New York. In temper-
ance organizations they surpass their white neighbors.
In the history now given this gradual change and progress
may be seen. Many savage features had disappeared before
1800; and the Indians who had fought New York men a little
392 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
before, then aided the pioneers in subduing the wilderness, wel-
coming them with open hands. But to understand the change
more fully, one should go into some of the better Iroquois homes
of today, and contrast them with anything—the very best—
found on an Indian reservation 60 years ago. Much is yet desir-
able; but there is constant progress. Some object to the change
who have a taste for the novel and picturesque; some because
the change is less rapid than they wish. Let both rest assured
that the progress is natural and healthy, and is resulting in good.
With more time and better influences a higher good will come.
One pleasant feature is the revival of interest in all pertaining
to the Indian race, practical or curious. That we should wish
tc know the meanings or history of the local names we use seems
a matter of course, but there is a constant call for Indian names
for places, houses, boats and clubs, because of their beauty and
sonorous sound. The desire to know more of aboriginal life
daily increases, and new works on the subject or reprints of old
cnes constantly appear. The fact that old customs and articles
are vanishing has led to personal study of those which remain,
as well as the preservation of much which is curious or valuable.
It would be well were there more visible memorials of historic
Indian sites, but monuments are not forgotten. Jogues and the
Mission of the Martyrs are recalled by the shrine at Auriesville.
The Brant monument at Brantford in Canada, tells of a notable
man and a powerful confederacy; the Red Jacket memorial at
Canoga marks the birthplace of a great orator, and his monu-
ment at Buffalo points out his tomb; the Kirkpatrick memorials
at Syracuse recall the friends and guides of Le Moyne; and the
Logan monument, within the earthwork at Auburn, bears that
chief’s pathetic words: “ Who is there to mourn for Logan?”
Other memorials there will be, but the historic, legendary or
descriptive names he has left to meadow, river, lake and moun-
tain, will still be the red man’s greatest and most enduring monu-
ment, heard from infant lips and cherished in old age. As Schiller
wrote: “ O’er dust triumphant lives the Name.” Nations die, but
that endures. r
Dh ih
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EXPLANATION OF PLATES
394 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE I
Part of Champlain’s map of 1632
1 Saults in various parts, all under one number
2 La Nation des Puans, afterward called Winnebagoes
3 Isle ou il y a vne mine de cuiure. This copper mine was reported by Brule
on his return from the Huron country.
4 Grand lac, Lake Michigan
5 Les gens de feu, Assistagueronons, afterward Maskoutins
6 Mer douce, Lake Huron
7 Lieu ou les sauuages font secherie de framboise et bits tous les ans
8 Lac de Bisserenis, called by him very handsome
9g Bisserenis
10 Chasse des caribous Algommequins
11 Huron country, where there are a number of tribes and 17 villages inclosed
with triple palisades of wood, with galleries all around in form of parapet
12 Gens de Petun is a tribe that cultivates that plant [tobacco] in which
they drive a considerable trade with the other nations. Afterward
called Tionontaties.
13 Cheveux relevez are savages who do not wear a breech cloth, and go quite
naked except in winter. Algonquins so called from their erect hair.
14 The Neutral Nation is a tribe which maintains itself against all others and
has no war except against the Assistaque-ronons
15 Lac St Louis, now Lake Ontario
16 The Antouhonorons are 15 villages built in strong positions, enemies
of all others except the Neutral nation. The Yroquois and the
Antouhonorons make war together.
17 Village inclosed by four palisades, where Sieur ee went to war
against the Antouhonorons, where he took several Indian prisoners.
In the narrative it is an Iroquois fort. The dotted line shows his route.
18 Hirocois, his usual spelling for Iroquois; sometimes Yroquois.
19 Carantouanis is a nation to the south of the Antouhonorons. . . where
they are strongly lodged, and are friends with all the other nations
except the Antouhonorons, from whom they are only three days distant.
They were near the Susquehanna, and probably near Waverly N. Y.
20 Petitte nation des Algommequins, or Algonquins
21 River of the Algommequins, now Ottawa river
22 Quebec
23 Lac de Champlain
24 The Place in Lake Champlain, where the Yroquois were defeated by said
Sieur Champlain. This was in 1609.
25 Little Lake by which we go to the Yroquois after passing that of Champlain
26 Abenaquis
27 Lac de Quinebequi
State Museum
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Vrom map of Champlain, 1632
396
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 2
Part of Sanson’s map of 1656
1 Lac Supérieur
2 Lac de Puans
3 Oukouarararonons.
nation.
4 Assistaeronons, ou Nation du
Feu
5 Ariatoeronon
6 Couaeronon
7 Lac des Eaux de Mer
8 Aictaeronon
9 Squenquioronon
10 Astakouankaeronons
11 Skiaeronon
12 Cheveux relevés
13 Aouechissaronon
14 Elsouataironon
15 L. Nipissiriniens
16 Eachiciouachoronon
17 Nipissiriniens
18 Aossondi
19 Enchek
20 Karegnondi. Now Lake Huron
21 S. Simon, S. Jude
22 N. du Petun, ou Sanhionontatehe-
ronons
23S. Pierre: 'S. Pol
24 S. Francois
25 N. D. des Anges
26 N. Neutre or Attiouandarons
27 S. Michel
28 S. Joseph
29 Alexis
30 Hurons
31 Oentaron L.
32 Sarontouaneronon
33 Chonchradeen
34 Algonquins
35 Quionontateronon ou Petite Na-
tion de l’Isle ou Ehouqueronon
36 Otchiahen
37 Tonthataronon
38 Sault de S. Louys
39 Mont Real
40 R. des Prairies
Ronon means
41 Aentondae
42 Errahonanoate
43 Agoyaheno
44 Tarantou
45 Chiaentonan
46 Chaouaeronon
47 R. de Mons
48 L. S. Pierre F
49 les Trois Riviéres
50 L. S. Joseph
51 Sillery
52 Quebec
53 I. d’Orleans
54 L. Erie, ou Du Chat
55 Eriechronons ou N. du Chat
56 Ongiara Sault
57 Ontario, ou Lac de St Louys
58 Sonontouaerronons
59 Sovouaronon. Possibly Cayugas
60 Onneichronons
61 Onontagueronons
62 Anneronons
63 Iroquois
64 N. Sueden
65 Isle Capagiatehissins
66 Naroua Lac
67 Richelieu
68 L. Champlain
69 Andiataroque L.
George
70 Oiogue R., Mohawk river
71 R. du Nort, Hudson river
72 Nouvelle Amsterdam
73 Nouveau Pays Bas, or New Neth-
erland
74 Longe Eyland
75 N. Hollande
76 Socoquiois
77 N. Pleymouth
78 Nouvelle Angleterre
79 Ouabouquiquois
80 Abnaquiois
81 Quinibequi R.
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398
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 3
Part of Creuxius’s map of 1660
1 Nipisirini. Most of his names
are Latinized
2 Nipisirius Lacus
3 Nationes Algonquinae
4 Insula Algonquinorum
5 Hurons
6 Pagus Contehani-Kingius
7 Pagus Echiojus
8 P. Ethaowatius
g P. Ondicius
o Fl. S. Laurens
1 Insula ta Saronita.
niata
12 P. Otatacte
13 P. Ondatoius
14 Oionenii. Early name of Cay-
ugas
15 P. Ondiasacus
16 Sonnonteronii, or Senecas. Iro-
quois names and cantons are
both given
17 Lacus Iroquiorum. Onondaga lake
18 Oigoenronii. Oneidas
19 Onontaeronii. Onondagas
20 Pagus Oionenius. Cayuga
21 Lacus Oiggoenronius, Oneida lake,
but nearer the latter Cayuga
name
22 Agnieronii. Mohawks. The river
is called Fl. Agnieus, and some
southern and eastern streams
have names.
23 Lacus Arokoueus
24 I. Montis Regalis. Montreal
25 Insula ferinae absidant
Probably To-
Creuxius’s chart of the Huron
1 Insula Gahoedoe
2 P. Etondatratius
3 Iondaken
4 Ouenrio
5 Karenhassa
6 Insula Ordiatara and Ascension
7 S. Charles
8 Schion de Liaria
26 Natio Algonquinorum minor
27 Lac Ogus
28 Abnaquioii
29 Soquoquioli
30 Natio Luporii
31 Agnieus pagus
32 Andastoeii, seu Natio perticarum
33 Pasitigsecii
34 Saltus Astiaius
35 L. Champlain
36 L. Ontario
37 Natio Surrectorum Capillarum
38 Mare Dulce seu Lacus Huronum
39 S. Simoni et Judo. Missions
40 P. Ethanaaenius
ai S. Petri.et'S. Pash
42 P. S. Kenchioetontens
43 P. Assistoius. Nation of
44 P. Ondatonius
45 P. Teoronius
46 Lacus Aquarum Marinarum
47 P. Onnonderetius
48 Natio Felium. Eries
49 S. Francisci
so N. D. Ange. In Neutral country
51 S. Michelis
52 S. Josephi
53 S. Alexis
54 Gens Neutral
55 P. Annachiaius
56 P. Otontaronius
57 Ongiara Cattaracta
58 P. Ondieronii
59 Lacus Erius seu Felis
Fire
country, with the same map
9 Arenta. S. Magdalene
16 Lacus Contarea
11 S. Xavier
12 Concepcion
13 S. Maria
14 Raoaa
15 S. Louis
16 S. Dionysius
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17 Caldaria
18 S. Michel
19 S. John
20 S. Joachim
21 Arethsi
22 S. Ignatius
23 Gaion Reate
HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
24 S. Elizabeth
25 S. John Baptist
26 P. Ethaouatius
27 Anatari
28 L. Anaouites
29 Lacus Ouentarenius
399
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 4
Coronelli’s map of 1688
1 Lac Huron ou Mer Douce des
Hurons ‘
2 Ekaenton Isle
3 Michilimackinac
4 R. Francois
5 Missisagha
6 Lac Nipissing or Skekoven
7 Sorciers
8 Allumettes. Isle du Borgne
9 Sault des Calumets
10 Ottawa or Huron river
tt Beaver hunting grounds of Loups
and Iroquois
12 River flowing from L. Taronto
into L. Huron
13 Road by which the Iroquois go to
the Ottawas
14,15 Cayuga villages of Teyoyagon,
Ganatchekiagon, Ganeraské
and Kentsio
16 L. and R. de Tanouate Kenté
17 Tontiarenhé
18 Ohaté
19 Onondkouy
20 Sault des Chats
21 Petite Nation
22 Long Sault (of the Ottawa.)
23 Otondiata
24 Baye de Sikonam
25 Tsiketo or L. Chaudiére, now L.
St Clair
26 Very beautiful river. The Iro-
quois have destroyed most of
the inhabitants
27 Shawnees
28 Outlet of L. Huron
29 Atiragenrega, nation détruite
30 Antouaronons, nation détruite
31 Niagagarega, nation détruite
32 Lac Teiocharontiong dit com-
munement Lac Erie. Called Te-
charonkion in 1670
33 L. Erie. It is said here that this
is not Lake Erie, commonly so
called, but “ Erie est une partie
de la Baye de Chesapeack dans
la Virginie, ou les Eriechro-
nons ont toujours démeuré.”
34 Ohio river, called so because of
its beauty or size
35 Lac Oniasont, now Chautauqua
lake
36 Les Oniasont-Keronons
37 Lac Ontario ou de Frontenac
38 Marshes and fishing ponds along
the lake shores
39 Ka Kouagoga, nation détruite
40 Senecas
41 Negateca fontaine
42 Cayugas
43 The largest vessels are able to
navigate from here to the end
of L. Frontenac
44 Cahihonoitiaghé, place where
most of the Loups and Iro-
quois land to go in the beaver
trade to New York, by road
marked by double rows of
marks
45 Corlar, or Schenectady
46 Albany, formerly Fort Orange
47 North river
48 L. Champlain
49 Lac du St Sacrement
50 R. Richelieu
51 Sorel R.
52 Savages called Mahingans or So-
coquis
State Museum
Plate 4
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402
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 5
Part of Colonel Romer’s map of 1700
He went only to the Oswego river, and west of that his map is fanciful.
1 Onondages R., now Oneida
2 Cananda river, now Seneca
3 Cajouge river, now Seneca
4 Cananda lake, now Onondaga. Ka-
neenda usually
5 Salt pan, the salt springs
6 Onondages. Onondaga, then on
east side of Butternut creek
7 Kechiciahte, now Butternut creek
8 Quiehook, now Chittenango creek
9 Sachnawarage, selected for fort.
Variously spelled ‘
10 Onydes lake
11 Wood kill
12 Great Carrying Place.
out of place
Curiously
13 Carrying Place, now Rome N. Y.
14 Beaver Kill, now Oneida creek
15 Onyedes. Old Oneida in Oneida
county
16 The old trail which he followed.
Smaller trails are shown.
17 Maquas river
18 Third Maquas Castle, called Da-
ganahoge
19 Second Maquas Castle. The first
he placed on the north side of
the Mohawk, opposite Schoharie
creek. The Oswego river he
called by its present name.
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404
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 6
Charlevoix’s map of 1745
1 Fort Niagara e
2 Le Grand Marais
3 Petite Riv. aux Boeufs
4 R. aux Boeufs
5 R. S. Aubin
6 R. Noire
7 R. Gaskonchiagon, i. e. River of
the falls, Genesee river
8 R. des Sonnontouans, i. e. River
of the Senecas, which is prop-
erly the Seneca river of that
day. The river on the map has
mo existence.
9 Ganientaragouat, ou R. des Sables.
Irondequoit bay
10 Baye des Goyogouins, or Cayu-
gas. Sodus bay
11 Lac des Latrons. Little Sodus
bay
12 Riviére inconnue aux Geog-
raphes qui est remplie de
Saults et de Cascades. Upper
part of Genesee river
13 Tsonnontouans, or Senecas
14 Fontaine Brulante, the noted
burning spring
15 Lac Thiohero, Cayuga lake
16 Goyogouen, or Cayuga
17 Lac Asco, now Owasco
18 Lac Scaniatores, now Skaneateles
19 Onontatacet, a Cayuga village on
Seneca river
20 L. Tiocton, now Cross lake
21 Lac Ganentaha, now Onondaga
lake
22 Onontagues, or Onondagas
23 Techirogen, Indian name of
Brewerton, from the lake
24 Lac Techirogen, Oneida lake
25 Onnejioust, Oneida
26 R. des Onontagues, Oswego river
27 Fort de Choueguen, Oswego
28 R. de La Grosse Ecorce, Salmon
creek or Little Salmon river
29 La Petite Famine, Grindstone creek
30 La Grande Famine, Salmon river
31 R. de la P&anche, Little Sandy
creek
32 R. des Sables, Sandy creek .
33 R. de lAssomption, Stony brook
34 Baye de Niaoure, Chaumont bay
35 Pt. de la Traverse
36 I. aux Galots
37 Same
38 I. au Renard
39 I. aux Chevreuils
40 I. Tonti
41 Kente, now Quinté
42 Gannejouts
43 Fort Frontenac, often called
Cataraqui
44 Baye de Cataracouy
45 R. Ouagaron. He placed the Iro-
quois villages of Tejaiagon,
Gandatsiagon, Ganaraske, Tan-
naoute, Kenté and Gannejouts
on the north side of Lake
Ontario.
Plate 6
State Museum
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406
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 7
M. de Pouchot’s map of 1758
1 R. Chenonda, now Chippewa river
2 Fort Niagara
3 Niagara portage
4 Kanoagoa, Seneca village
5 Schatacoin R., outlet of Chautau-
qua lake
6 R. a la terre puante, Cattaraugus
creek, meaning the same
7 R. Kaeouagegein, Eighteen Mile
creek, or Creek of the Kahk-
wahs
8 R. au boiblanc, from its Indian
name of Basswood creek, Buf-
falo creek
9 Grende R. au beufs
10 R. Gascon chagon. Genesee river,
Indian name for the falls
II Baye et F. des Sable. Now Iron-
dequoit bay
12 Baye de goyogoins, Bay of the
Cayugas. Sodus bay
13 Les Boucauts, Little Sodus bay
14 Kanvagen, Seneca village
15 Connectxio, Geneseo
16 Kanonskegon, Seneca village
17 Oneotade. Probably the village
farther west
18 Kanestio, now Canisteo
19 Kaygen
20 Kayjen. Delaware villages
21 Knacto
22 Theaggen or Tioga
23 R. de Kanestio
24 East branch of the Susquehanna
25 Runonvea, village near Chemung
river
26 Anjagen, Seneca village
27 Kanentagon; perhaps for Canan-
daigua
28 Kanentage, Canandaigua, but at
the wrong end of the lake
29 Kaensatague, eastern Seneca castle
30 Kendae, village on the east side of
Seneca lake
31 Oeyendehit, a name placed between
Seneca and Cayuga lakes
32 V. Goyogoin. ‘Cayuga
33 R. des 5 Nations. Now Seneca
river -
34 V. Onontague
35 V. Onoyote
36 Chouegen or Oswego
37 R. de Chouegen
38 R. au Chicots, or Wood creek
39 F. Stenix, Fort Stanwix
40 R. a M. le Contte
41 Bay de Niaoure, Chaumont bay
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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 8
Part of Col. Guy Johnson’s map of 1771
1 Fort Niagara
2 Great Falls
3 Fort Sclosser
4,5 Small villages
6 Johnson’s Harbor
7 Tiyanagarunte creek
8 Prideauk bay
9 Little Seneca Rr.
river
10 Falls very high
tr Adiarundaquat, now Irondequoit
bay
12 Aserotus. “Aserotus harbour is
capable of receiving Vessels of
Burden.” Now Sodus bay
13 Little Sodus
14 Fort Ontario
15 Indian path to the lake
16 Canawagus, now Avon
17 Chenussio, now Geneseo
18 Anarara, now Honeoye
19 Ganuskago, now Dansville
20 Onondarka
21 Karaghiyadirha, now Caneadea
22 Gistaguat |
23 Tioniongarunte
24 Ohio or Allegany River as it is
called above Fort Pitt
25 Kanestio, with mixed population
26 Sinsink, a Munsey town
27 Canadaragey, now Canandaigua
28 Canadasegy, near Geneva
29 Unnamed, but is Kashong
30 Seneca Lake
31 Unnamed, but is Kendaia
32 Cayuga. There were several vil-
lages.
33 Cayuga L.
34 Toderighrono, an adopted people
now Genesee
35 Tiaoga, a Delaware town
36 Sheshecunnunk
37 Wialoosin
38 Owegy, now Owego
39 Chughnutt, now Choconut
40 Otsiningo, now Chenango. Mostly
Nanticokes |
41 Onoghquagy, now Oquaga.
Oneidas and Tuscaroras
42 East branch of the Susquehanna
43 Great Seneca, now Seneca river
44 Glass L., now Cross lake
45 Salt L., now Onondaga lake
46 Onondaga
47 Onondaga Rr., now Oswego river
48 3 Rivers, junction of Seneca, Onei-
da and Oswego rivers
49 Fort Brewerton
50 Oneida Lake
51 This Country belongs to the Onei-
das.
52 Fish Cr.
53 Wood Cr.
54 Fort Stanwix
55 Ganaghsaraga, a Tuscarora Town.
“The Tuscaroras who form the
sixth Nation are omitted, being
a southern People that live on
lands allotted them between
Oneida & Onondaga.”
56 Oneida. This is Old Oneida, near
Oriskany creek.
57 Tienaderha River, now Unadilla
58 “The Villages on the East Branch
of Susquehannah are chiefly
occupied by Oneidas and Tus-
caroras.”
59 “The Boundary Settled with the
Indians in 1768.”
60 Orisca, now Oriskany creek
“The Mohocks are not mentioned as they reside within the limits of
N. York at Fort Hunter & Conajoharie.”
North of the towns along the
Mohawk river, it is said, “ The Boundary of New York not being closed
this part of the Country still belongs to the Mohocks.”
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410 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 9
Condensed from Morgan’s “Map of Ho-de-no-sau-nee-ga, or
the Territories of the People of the Long House.” 1851
This gives names of places mostly as known to the Senecas. The location
of Indian towns is hardly satisfactory. Many of colonial days are omitted,
while a few are retained, and it is hard to say precisely what period it repre-
sents. So valuable a contribution to New York ethnology should have recog-
nition in any history of the Six Nations; and, while much will be omitted,
some additional information will be supplied.
1 Lake Erie. Do’-sho-weh Te-car-ne-o-di, the first word being the name
of Buffalo, and the latter standing for lake. It had many names.
2 Lake Ontario. Ne-ah’-ga Te-car-ne-o-di, or Lake at Niagara
3 Grand river, Canada. Swa’-geh, Flowing out, once applied to Lake
Erie
4 Burlington bay. De-o-na’-sa-de-o, Where the Sand forms a Bar
5 Toronto. De’on-do, Log Floating on the Water
6 Kingston. Ga-dai-o’-que, Fort in the Water
7 Wolfe island. De-a’-wone-da-ga-han’-da
8 St Lawrence river. Ga-na-wa’-ga, The Rapid River
9 Dunkirk. Ga-na’-da-wa-o, Running through the Hemlocks
to Cattaraugus creek and Indian village. Ga’-da-des-ga-o, Fetid Banks
11 Chautauqua lake. Cha-da’-queh, Place where One was lost. Several
interpretations
12 Conewango river. Ga’-no-wun-go, In the Rapids
13 Indian village on the Allegany river. De-o’-na-ga-no, Cold Spring
14 Indian village on the Allegany river. Jo’-ne-a-dih, Beyond the Great
Bend
15 Oil spring Indian village, Te-car-nohs, Dropping Oil
16 Canisteo. Te-car’-nase-te-o, Board on the Water
17 Allegany river. O-hee-yo, Beautiful River
18 Buffalo. Do’-sho-weh, Splitting the Fork. Most others render it Place
of Basswoods.
19 Near Buffalo were Red Jacket’s village, Te-kise’-da-ne-yout, Place of
the Bell, and Ga-sko’-sa-da, Village at the Falls. The Onondaga
village is unnoted.
zo Carrying place village. Gwa’-u-gweh, Place of taking out Boats
21 Niagara river. Ne-ah’-ga, A Neck
22 Ne-ah’-ga. Indian village of the 18th century at the mouth of Niagara
river
23 Tuscarora village. Ga’-a-no-geh, On the Mountain
24 Oak Orchard creek. Da-ge-a’-no-ga-unt, Two Sticks coming together
25 Tonawanda Indian village. Ta’-na-wun-da, Swift Water
26 Bend Indian village on the Allegany river. Da’-u-de-hok-to, At the
Bend
27 Genesee river. Gen-nis’-he-yo, Beautiful Valley
28 Caneadea. Ga-o’-ya-de-o, Where the Heavens lean on the Earth, In-
dian village
29 Indian village of O-wa-is’-ki, Under the Banks
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HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS All
30 Indian village of Gardow. Ga-da’-o, Bank in Front
31 Several villages were clustered here. O-ha-di, Crowding the Bank, was a
Tuscarora village; Squakie Hill, or Da-yo’-it-ga-o, Where the River
Comes out of the Hills, was a Seneca town, as were the following.
Ga-neh’-da-on-tweh, Where Hemlock was Spilled, was on the site of
Moscow. Little Beard’s town was De-o-nun’-da-ga-a, Where the
Hill is Near. Big Tree village was Ga-un-do’-wa-na, Big Tree.
So-no’-jo-wau-ga, or Big Kettle, was at Mount Morris.
32 Ga-no’-wau-ges, Fetid Waters, Indian village near Avon Springs
33 Former Indian village at Dansville. Ga-nus’-ga-go, Among the Milkweed
34 Village near Livonia. De-o’-de-sote, The Spring. A little northeast
was the village of Ska-hase’-ga-o, Once a Long Creek, near Lima.
35 Early village of Da-yo’-de-hok-to, A Bended Creek, on Honeoye creek
36 Early village at Victor. Ga-o’-sa-ga-o, In the Basswood Country
37 Village at Canandaigua. Ga’-nun-da-gwa, Place chosen for a Settlement
38 Supposed village near Naples. Nun’-da-wa-o, Great Hill
39 Village at Kashong, west of Seneca lake, Gar-naw-quash
40 Village near Geneva. Ga-nun’-da-sa-ga, New Settlement village.
Others unnoticed.
41 Tioga Point. Ta-yo’-ga, At the Forks, a village of Delawares
42 Elmira. Skwe’-do-a, Great Plain. Many villages in this region
43 Owego. Ah-wa’-ga, Where the Valley widens, abandoned village.
Morgan hardly notes those on the Susquehanna.
44 Village near Ithaca. Ne-o’-dak-he-at, At the End of the Lake
45 Village at Canoga. Ga-no’-geh, Oil on the Water
46 Waterloo. Skoi’-yase, Place of Whortleberries; usually interpreted
Long Falls
47 Village at Union Springs. Ge-wa’-ga, Promontory Running out
48 Two others south of this: Gwa-u-gweh, At the Mucky Land, and
Ga-ya’-ga-an’-ha, Inclined downward. There were others.
49 Oswego or Swa-geh river, Flowing out
50 Four Onondaga villages are given and are not well located. Gis-twe-
ah’-na, Little Man, at Onondaga Valley; Onondaga Castle, Ka-na-ta-
go’-wa, Big Village, at the council house; Nun-ta-sa’-sis, Going
Partly round a Hill, are three of these.
51 Tu-e-a-das’-so, Hemlock Knots in the Water, was farther east.
52 Ga-no’-a-lo’-hale, Head on a Pole, now Oneida Castle
53 Ga-na’-doque, Empty Village, an abandoned village near the last
54 A Stockbridge Indian village called Ah-gote’-sa-ga-nage. Old Oneida
and the Tuscarora towns are not mentioned.
55 Ta-ga’-soke, Forked like a Spear, Indian village on Fish creek
56 A village on the site of Camden was Ho-sta-yun’-twa.
57 The portage at Rome was called Da-ya’-hoo-wa’-quat, Carrying Place;
and this name was given to the Mohawk river above Herkimer.
58 West Canada creek. Te-ah-o’-ge, At the Forks, applied to the Mohawk
59 Village in Danube. Ga-ne’-ga-ha’-ga, Possessor of the Flint. Really
the later Canajoharie.
60 Fonda. Indian village of Ga-na-wa’-da, On the Rapids
61 Fort Hunter. Indian village of Te-ah’-ton-ta-lo-ga, Two Streams
meeting
412 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
62 Middle Mohawk castle at Fort Plain. Can-a-jo-hi/-e, Washing the
Basin
63 Johnstown. Ko-la-ne’-ka, Indian Superintendent
64 Schenectady. O-no-a-la-gone’-na, In the Head
65 Albany. Ska’-neh-ta’-de, Beyond the Openings
66 Village north of Binghamton. O-che-nang’, Bull Thistles.
67 Susquehanna river. Ga’-wa-no-wa’-na-neh, Great Island River
68 Delaware river. Ska-hun-do’-wa, In the Plains
69 Ticonderoga. Je-hone-ta-lo’-ga, Noisy
70 Lake Champlain or O-ne-a-da’-lote
71 Little Salmon creek. Ga-nun-ta-sko’-na, Large Bark
72 Salmon river. Ga-hen-wa’-ga, A Creek
73 Sandy creek. Te-ka’-da-o-ga’-he, Sloping Banks
74 Black river. Ka-hu-ah’-go, Great or Wide River. This is erroneously
printed Ka-me-par-go in Squier’s Antiquities of New York.
75 Indian river. O-je’-quack, Nut River
76 Oswegatchie, or O’-swa-gatch river
77 St Regis. Ah-qua-sos’-ne, Partridges drumming
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414 7 | NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 10
Part of the Dutch figurative chart annexed to the memorial of A
1616, which was made from the map of 1614, and accurately copied f
Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New
volume 1. They are the earliest maps we have of the interior of |
and are remarkable for giving the two divisions of the Five Nati
made by the Dutch; those of the Maquas or Mohawks and the
The maps are based on the reports of some Dutchmen, carried as
into the interior and afterward ransomed a ‘3 ‘
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416 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 11
Champlain’s sketch of the battle near Ticonderoga, July 30, 1609. The
letters refer to his key. The view places the Iroquois-north of his party,
and has but a moderate value, though something may be learned from it.
One Iroquois shield appears, but no other defensive armor. Most draw
the bow with the right hand, but some with the left. The canoes are by
no means typical and the less said about perspective the better. The picture
appeared in the edition of 1613 with this key. A (wanting), the fort;
B, enemy; C, oak bark canoes of the enemy, holding I0, 15 or 18 men
each; D, two chiefs who were killed; E, an enemy wounded by Champlain’s
musket; F (wanting), Champlain; G (wanting), two musketeers; H, canoes
of the allies, Montagnais, Ochastaiguins and Algonquins, who are above;
I (also on the), birch bark canoes of the allies; K (wanting), woods.
Plate 11
State Museum
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418 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 12
Champlain’s attack on an Iroquois fort, October 1615. The fort extended
into the shallow pond where canoes could not be used. The spot was satis-
fatorily identified by Gen. John S. Clark of Auburn, many years ago, and
is in the Oneida territory about 3 miles east of Perryville. It was probably
soon abandoned for a stronger position nor does it seem to have been long
occupied, but a number of open caches may be seen on the higher lands not
far off. A careful plan of the place may be seen in the bulletin on the
Aboriginal Occupation of New York. In the picture much must be allowed
for the fancy of the artist. :
State Museum Plate 12
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The Onondaga Fort
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420 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 13
Lahontan’s view of De la Barre’s council at La Famine (Salmon River
N. Y.) September 1684. An Onondaga chief is speaking, who is the famous
orator usually called Garangula. The spot is at the mouth of Salmon river
in Oswego county, on the north side, and represents fairly well the con-
ditions of the picture. The place received its name in 1656 from the famished
condition of the French colonists when they reached it. It had been intended
for their habitation but the plan was changed. As a landing place on Lake
Ontario it had long been a notable place of resort, and was the terminus
of the beaver land trust deed. A fine picture of this council adorns the
Flower Memorial Library building in Watertown, in which Lahontan’s plan
is followed in a general way. This was the Great La Famine river. A
smaller stream farther west had the prefix of little.
State Museum Plate 13
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422 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
*
PLATE 14
Communion plate presented by Queen Ann in 1712, “to her Indian Chappel
of the Onondawgus,”’ now in St Peter’s Church, Albany N. Y. One of the
cups was not in the set at first, but. was supplied to conform to American
usage. There was a supply of linen with this and the Mohawk set. The
latter was long used in New York, but was taken to Canada at the close
of the colonial period and divided between the two Mohawk settlements. Two
pieces went to the Bay of Quinte and three to the Mohawks at Grand River.
The inscription on the one retained at Albany reads: “The Gift of Her
Majesty, Ann, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland,
and of their plantations in North America, Queen, to Her Indian Chappel
of the Onondawgus.” Each piece has centrally the British arms without
supporters, with A on one side and R on the other. Each of the Onondaga
flagons is 12%4 inches, and the cup is 4% inches across the top. THe style
is massive and simple. No date appears, but they were probably furnished
not later than 1712.
Plate 14
State Museum
TBH
+)
, “to her Indian Chappel of the Onondawgus
Z,
iM wha 170
rt
presented by Queen A
(ommunion plate
e
‘
Melinias ni dishitvongiogie
v
OF ie) ca Lit fn
A
tray
jes
Oye Re Shy
a. N 4 a pey oo
.
424 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 15
Sir William Johnson, sole Indian superintendent in colonial times. Died
in 1774. He was born in Ireland in 171§, and came to America in 1738 to
manage his uncle’s estate, soon becoming prominent in Indian affairs. In
1755 he was made a baronet for his services at Lake George. His published
manuscript are voluminous, but a large collection in the New York State
Library have not yet been published and are now being indexed. The plate
is the best portrait accessible, but the Documentary History of the State
of New York, 2:545, contains a good one published in 1756. An American
soldier writing at Johnson Hall in 1776, said: “I had a view of Sir William
Johnson’s picture, which was curiously surrounded with all kinds of beads
of Wampum, Indian curiosities, and trappings of Indian finery, which he had
received in his treaties with the different Indian nations.”
Plate 15
State Museum
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= 0x
Pasi
Ant,
420 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 16
George Romney’s picture of Joseph Brant, painted in England in 1776, for
the Earl of Warwick. In that year other pictures were made. Ten years
later his picture was painted in England for the Duke of Northumberland,
and in 1805 one of the best was made by Mr Ezra Ames of Albany, and
copied by Catlin for Stone’s Life of Brant. It is the frontispiece of the
second volume. There is a fine statue of the Mohawk chief in Brantford,
Canada. Of his portraits Romney’s is the finest known.
State Museum Plate 16
Joseph Brant
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al
>.»
428 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
PLATE 17
Monument to Red Jacket in Buffalo N. Y., unveiled June 22, 1891. Five
Seneca chiefs were reinterred with him in 1884 and part of the headstones
appear. Nine other Senecas were placed with them, but the names of these
were unknown. There were imposing ceremonies under the auspices of the
Buffalo Historical Society. In 1891 the monument was completed and un-
veiled on Forest Lawn, the Hon. David F. Day, making the oration. Red
Jacket died in 1830, and was supposed to be 78 years old. His earlier and
later names appear on the pedestal.
State Museum Plate 17
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INDEX
The superior figures tell’ the exact place on the page in ninths; e. g. 138°
means page 138 beginning in the third ninth of the page, i. e. about one third
of the way down.
Abenaki, see Abénaquiois.
Abénaquiois, other names, 138°; kill
Mohawk ambassadors, 216”.
Abenaquis, 40 captured, 270’.
Abercrombie, defeated, 314°.
Achiendase’, 204.
Adarahta, 237°.
Adario, stratagem, 235°.
Adirondacks, another name for Al-
gonquins, 138’; war with Iroquois,
150°.
Adjuste, burned, 365”.
Agariata, killed, 217°-18".
Agaritkas, 137°, 256°.
Agents, 388”.
Agnieronnons, I51°, 179°.
Agniers, 159°.
Agoianders, 158’.
Agosagenens, 138%.
Agreskoue’, worship renounced, 220°.
Agriculture of aborigines, 139’, 150°.
Agwrondougwas, Peter, mentioned,
347".
Ahatsisteari, 184°.
Ahookassongh, at council, 256°.
Aireskoi, sacrifices to, 131°, 185°.
Albany, fort built at, 175°; first treaty
between Iroquois and English, 216°;
peace at, 221°; aids Mohawks in
rebuilding castle, 236°; councils at,
236", 238°, 242°, 242°, 252", 253°, 254°, |
256', 260°, 264", 264", 268°, 269°, 260°,
277°, 285°, 300°, 350°; importance of
holding, 239°; colonial congresses
at, 243°, 300°; opposes Onondaga
fort, 253°; Indian families employed
‘at, 260°; Iroquois reception at,
261"; lodging houses at, 2657; mes-
sengers to, 266°; French trade,
303°.
Alden, Colonel, killed, 361°.
Aleout destroyed, 364’.
Algonquins, territory of, 131*, 136%,
138°; language, 136°; name and
character, 137°; compared with
Iroquois, 142’; treachery, 150°; war
with Iroquois, 150°, 175’; length of
war with Iroquois, 174’; proposed
peace with Iroquois, 151°; at found-
ing of Montreal, 152*; expulsion
from Canada, 152’, 153°; peace con- -
cluded with Iroquois, 1747, 188’;
alarmed, 181°; story of Huron at-
tack, 183*; attacked by Iroquois,
185°; fly, 186°; hunt with Mo-
hawks, 189'; treaty with Dutch,
189°; betrayed to Mohawks, 196°;
of Ottawa river swept away, 197°;
defeated, 198‘; massacre of, 210’;
kill Garistarsia, 215°; surprise On- .
ondagas, 249°.
Allegany reservation, 386°; number
of Indians on, 385%.
Amherst, General, appointment, 316°.
Andastes, territory, 131°, 136°; harass
Iroquois, 151°; called Minquas,
165°; Hurons send deputies to,
192°; message, 192’; could not help
Hurons, 194°; peace with, 211°;
party sent against, 214’; hostilities,
215°; women burned at Oneida,
219°; downfall, 221°, 226’; Mohawks
preserve, 223°; war with Iroquois,
245°. See also Conestogas; Min-
quas; Susquehannas.
Andioura, speaker at Quebec, 200%.
Andrews, Rev. William, mentioned, -
347°.
Andros, Gov. Edmund, visits Mo-
hawks, 223*; aids in settling diffi-
culty between Iroquois and Mary-
land, 2237.
4
430
Andrus-town destroyed, 360°.
Animals, stories of man’s relations
_ to, 142°.
Annenraes, escape, 192°; spared,
192°; death of, 201°, 203.
Annierronnons Iroquois, 183°.
Annies, 159°. ;
Antouhonorons, 1637, 163°.
Aontarisati, burned, 198”.
Aquadaronde, sick, 242".
Aquanoschioni, 165*.
Aquendero, speech at Onondaga,
246°, son poisoned, 252°; enter-
tained by Schuyler, 255°.
Argenson, Gov. d’, landed at Quebec,
210°.
Arms and ammunition, demand for,
202°.
Ashpo, Samuel, mentioned, 348°.
Assensing, council at, 317*.
Assistaeronons, 139°.
Atogoiiaekoiian, 210°.
Atotarho?, 1577, 255.
Attikamegues, attacked by Iroquois,
pit
Attiwandaronks, 135°.
Auglaize, council at, 375’.
Auriesville, shrine, 191°.
Aurora, see Chonodote.
Avaugour, Governor d’, quoted, 215.
’
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Bateaux for English, 260°.
Bayard, Colonel, on relations of Iro-
quois to New York, 250°
Beauchamp, W. M., cited, 128°.
Beaucour, attack on Iroquois, 240°.
Beauharnois, Governor de, proposes
building fort at Crown Point,
274°; receives messages from On-
ondagas, 275°; Indian name, 279°;
raises Indian chiefs, 279°; council
with Iroquois, 280°, 286.
Beaver land trust deed, 256°, 271".
Beaver trade at Albany, 253°.
Belletre, M. de, attack on German
Flats, 313°.
Bellomont, Governor, sends troops to
Albany, 250°; opinion of Iroquois,
252°; council at Albany, 253°;
quoted, 254°; complains of Schuy-
ler, 255°; death, 250°.
Belt, Old, mentioned, 311°, 312, 310°;
death, 330°.
Beschefer, Father, mentioned, 217°.
Big Flats burned, 365°.
Black Kettle, killed, 249°.
| Black Prince, see Tochanuntie.
_ Blacksmiths, sent to Iroquois towns,
Avery, Rev. Henry, mentioned, 342. |
Avery, Rev. Peter, mentioned, 348°.
Baptisms, at Onondaga, 201".
Baptiste, Jean, mission to Onondaga,
200°.
Baptiste, Jean, baptism, 201°.
Barclay, Rev. Henry, mission, 318;
appointed catechist, 347. _
Barclay, Rev. Thomas,
347°.
mentioned,
237°, 204, 304°; desired by Onon-
dagas, 238°; at Onondaga, 240%,
258°, 279°; desired by Senecas,
264*; in Seneca country, 266°, 270°,
280°, 290°.
_ Blacksnake, Governor, story, 182°.
Bleecker, Capt. John, sent to Onon-
daga, 251°, 255°, 263°.
Blew Bek, at Canada, 268.
Bliss, Rev. Asher, on temperance
societies, 381°. -
Bone pits, 141°.
_ Boundary, partial arrangements for,
Barentsen, Peter, visit to Mohawks, |
174°.
Barlow, Colonel, on council at Al-
bany, 351°.
Baron, a Huron chief, 245°; settles
near Albany, 249°.
Barre, Governor de_ la,
Count Frontenac, 227°; letter of
Louis 14 to, 230°.
replaces —
Bartram, John, cited, 128'; naturalist, |
282".
327°; conference at Fort Stanwix,
333°; question settled, 334°; sig-
natures to the deed, 334°; colonial
representatives present, 334°; new,
378.
Bounty on scalps, 245°, 285°, 288",
306", 313°.
Bouquet, Colonel, defeats Indians,
gar".
Bourdon, ambassador to Mohawks,
190°.
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
Boutrotiee, Mlle, godmother to
Garakontie’, 221”.
Bowl, game of, 141°.
Boyd, Lieutenant, captured, 365°; tor- |
tured, 365’.
Boyd, General, on bravery and hu-
manity of Indians, 383’.
Boyle, David, theory of origin of
name Iroquois, 166°.
Braddock, Iroquois at defeat of, 304°.
Bradstreet, battle at Oswego Falls,
308°.
Brainerd, Rev.
347".
Brant, Joseph, education, 318°, 324°;
interpreter of Rev. Mr Stuart, 330°;
secretary to Guy Johnson, 350°; in
Boeland, 9351", 372°; principal
Iroquois leader, 352°; not at Battle
of the Cedars, 352°; returns from
England, 352°; crosses the country,
353°; efforts to take him, 353°; per-
sonal appearance, 354; at Una-
dilla, 354°; at Oswego, 355°, 368°;
attacks Cobleskill, 359°; depreda-
tions, near German Flats, 360°,
369°, 370°; plans, 362’; letter writ-
ten before battle of Newtown, 364°;
burns Harpersfield, 368*; attacks
Canajoharie, 360°; invades Scho-
harie valley, 369°; damage south of
the Mohawk, 370‘; in Canada, 371°;
visits western Indians, 372°; ad-
dress, to Congress, 373°; and the
Delawares, 373°; opposes Moravian
Indians, 373’; at Genesee country,
375°; at Onondaga, 376*; at council
at Onondaga village, 376°; deposed
and restored, 370°.
Brant, Molly, mentioned, 3527; takes
refuge at Onondaga, 357°-58'; let-
ter, 361°.
Brant- sero, theory of origin of word
Iroquois, 166°.
Brébeuf, Father Jean de, on Iroquois
language, 136°; visits Hurons, 177%,
David, mentioned,
177°; estimate of Hurons, 180';
visits Neutrals, 181°; tortured,
195°.
431
| Brébeuf’s New Testament, recovery
of, 202°.
| Bressani, Father, captured, 186°, 187’;
ransomed by Dutch, 186°; tortured,
187°.
British, see English.
Brodhead, Colonel, expedition, 367%.
Brothertown Indians, 384*; number,
384".
Brower, Jacob, killed at Oswego
Falls, 274’.
Brown, Colonel, killed, 360”.
Brulé, Etienne, journey with Cham-
plain, 169°; sent to Andastes, 170’;
adventures, 171’.
Bruyas, Jacques, cited, 128°; on name
of Mohawks, 159°; on name of
Iroquois league, 165*; at Oneida,
219°; at. } Onondaga. 2527-53";
Iroquois ask for return of, 254°;
on rewards, 380”.
Buftalo; councils at, 375°, 370°; 362 ;
defense of, 383’.
Buffalo Creek, village at, 374°.
Bull, Captain, prisoner, 325°.
Bunt, The, account of French forts,
296°; reception to Kirkland,
326°-27'; at Iroquois council, 343°;
retires from office, 344%.
Birial, 147.
Burnet, Governor, plan to preserve
Indian trade, 266°; council with
Iroquois, 268, 270°, 271°; builds
fort at Oswego, 272”.
Buteux, Father Jacques, killed, 198’.
Butler, Richard, mentioned, 372°.
Butler, Walter, fights against French,
288; depredations, 359°, 361°; de-
feated and killed, 370%.
Butler, Col. William,
265,
Butler, Lieut. Col. William, towns de-
stroyed by, 366%.
Butternuts burned, 361°.
expedition,
Cachointioni, Onondaga chief, 290’.
Cadaraqui, founded, 221°.
Cahaniaga, 224°.
Calliéres, M. de, invades Onondaga,
2G
432
Calumet, 246°, 262°, 269°, 280°, 312°.
Cammerhoff, Frederick, cited, 128*;
at Onondaga council, 144°; at
Onondaga, 294°; death, 295°.
Campbell, Mrs, adopted by Senecas,
301°.
Campbell, William W., cited, 128%.
Canada, Iroquois traces in, 133*, 149°;
exodus of Mohawks from, 152‘;
temporary subjection to English,
175°; ravages in, in I66I, 211°-12';
missions in, 220°, 224°, 267°; pro-
posed plan to destroy Iroquois,
234°; failure of English expedi-
tion against, 237°; expedition
against, 230°; overrun by Iroquois,
240°; Onondaga peace embassy,
249°; beaver land trust deed in,
256°; Iroquois embassy to, 268°;
land troubles, 370% See _ also
French.
Canadian Indians, wat with, 178°;
successful in canoe fights, 180°; de-
feat on the Ottawa, 211°; go to
war, 262*; desert French, 316°.
See also French Iroquois.
Canadian Praying Indians, 243°, 253°
See also Caughnawagas.
Canagora, 224°, 224°.
Canajoharie, fortified, 288*; attacked
by Brant, 369°; council at, 315°.
Canajorha, 224°.
Canandaigua, partly burned, 365°.
Canaseraga, 297%.
Canassatego, tale of man’s creation,
132"; speaks for Moravians in coun-
cil, 144*; on Susquehanna lands,
277°; speaker at Philadelphia, 281°;
on value of lands, 281°; prominent
in councils, 282°; described, 283°;
death, 294°, 295°.
Caniahaga, Far Indians settle at,
205°.
Canienga, 159%.
Canisteo, burned, 326°.
Cannehoot, 2377.
Cannibalism,
233°; of Mohawks, 159°, 241”.
Canoenada, 224°.
of western Indians, |
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
| Canoes, of elm bark, 140°; as ladders,
203°; for English, 260°; and canoe
fights, 180°.
Canonicus, killed, 223°.
Canoomakers, 171".
Capitanasses, I71°.
Captives, adopted, 142°; treatment of,
178°, 213°, 232°, 230°, 246°, 247°-48",
261°; returned, 254°, 255°, 318, 320°;
exchange of, 292".
Carantouanis, 163°.
Carheil, Father Etienne, resumed
work among Cayugas, 219°; in
charge of Cayuga mission, 22I*;
driven from Cayuga, 228%.
Carleton, conduct, 357°.
Carolina Indians, 263°.
Carrington, Henry B., cited, 128°;
report on Iroquois, 385°, 387°-91’.
Cartier, Jacques, finds Iroquois in
Canada, 149°.
Carundowana, killed, 275’.
Castesh, Seneca chief, 331°.
Catawbas, termed Flatheads, 139°;
branches, 139°; war with Iroquois,
265°, 284°; part adopted, 265*; killed
by Iroquois, 277°; attacked by
Iroquois, 278°; peace with Iroquois,
280", 280°, 295°; war with Senecas,
281°, 293°; projected treaty, 284°;
character, 284°-85'; fight against
Senecas and Cayugas, 312°.
Catharine’s Town destroyed, 365°.
Cattaraugus reservation, 386°; num-
ber of Indians on, 385%.
Caughnawaga, 225°.
Caughnawagas, carried off, 239°;
treaty with Iroquois, 280°; sent to
Iroquois, 298°; French trade, 303°;
would desert French, 316°; num-
ber, 324°; in Canada, 351°. See also
Canadian Praying Indians.
Cayonhage, fort at, 234°.
Cayuga Castle destroyed, 366°.
Cayugas, origin, 133°, 134% 135'3
clans, 144°; manner of advent, 147°;
sachems, 154°, 158‘; early name,
162°, 179°; territory, 162°; meaning
of name, 162*; council name, 162°;
symbols, 162’, 164°, 339°; younger
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
brother, 164°; mission among, 208°;
peace proposals, 212*;
bers, 210°, 224", 2777, 2917, 324°, 384°,
385°; towns, 224";
lands, 229°, 267°, 272*; proposals to
Governor Howard of Virginia and
Governor Dongan, 231°; war with
Miamis, 245°; send messenger to |
French, 251°; losses, 252°; re-
turned prisoners, 255°; council
at Pennsylvania, 269°; offer to sell
lands, 272*; order Shawnees to re-
turn east, 274°; chief killed at
Oswego Falls, 275*; refuse to aid
English, 290°; neutral, 293°, 310°;
at Oswegatchie, 300°; at Quebec,
302*; at Niagara, 300°; come to
Montreal, 300°; come to Fort
Johnson, 311°; conference with
Cherokee chiefs, 311°; fight against
Catawbas and English, 312°; coun-
cil at Easton, 318°; councils with
Johnson, 335°, 349; towns burned,
365°; number employed by English,
371°; reservation acknowledged,
378°; land sales, 370°.
Cedars, battle of, 352°.
Chamberlain, Theophilus, mentioned,
348%. 5
Champlain, Samuel de, cited, 128°,
maa 151, 167, 180'; .mentioned,
135°; finds only Algonquins on St
Lawrence in 1603, 150°; on re-
movals of Hurons and Senecas,
161°; on Entouhonorons, 162’; use
of name Iroquois, 165°; expedition
of 1609, 168°; first battle with Mo-
hawks, 168-697; battle of 670,
169°; visits Hurons, 169’; invasion
of 1615, 160°; route, 170°; siege,
170°; retreat, 170°-71°; among the
lasons > 171s!) plan -sstows seize
Iroquois town, 175°; Champlain’s
map of 1632, explanation of, 394°.
Chapel built, 204’.
Chapin, General, mentioned, 376°. .
Chaplains for garrisons at Onon-
daga and Oneida, 305°.
villages |
north of Lake Ontario, 219°; num- |
Susquehanna |
|
|
433
Charlevoix, P. F. X. de, cited, 128°;
on Iroquois Turtle clan, 146°; on
origin of Iroquois war, I50°; on
superiority of Iroquois in war,
I51'; on symbols, 164°; on Iroquois
mame, 1605’ +) on’ “complaints of
Montmagny, 183°; on Neutrals,
197°; story of Le Moyne, 202*; on
La Famine, 206°; on Jesuits’ house
on Onondaga lake, 207°; on pun-
ishment for murder of Frenchmen,
217°; on proposed intercourse with
Oittawas, 231";ron La Grande
Gueule, 234°; on Iroquois in
Canadas. '240';> ‘on’ “character ‘of
Frontenac, 248°; on failure of
Frontenac’s plans, 248‘; on Mo-
hawks flattered by French and
English, 250°-51°; on Garakontie’,
PA fae
Charlevoix’s map of 1745, explana-
tion of, 404°.
Chasy, Sieur de, killed, 217°.
Chaumonot, Father Joseph, visits
Neutrals, 181°; journey to Onon-
daga, 204°; winter at Onondaga,
205°; visits Senecas and Oneidas,
208".
Chauvignerie, at Onondaga, 262°,
288°; goes to Senecas, 267°; at
Onondaga and Oswego, 273°; re-
port on New York and Canadian
Iroquois, 276°; forms a _ band
against English, 309°.
Cheahogah, 340°.
Chemung, towns burned on, 326°.
Chemung burned, 364’.
Chenango, Indians from, 349°.
Cherokees, 136%, 139°; other names,
139°; peace with Iroquois, 280’,
220, 312.) 3329 peace deputies,
277°, 336°; war with French. In-
dians, 278°; kill Iroquois, 297”; war
parties against, 297°; joined the
English, 309*; chiefs, council with
Johnsen, 311" ;4 at johnsont) Hall;
Bait.
Cherry valley, Campbell house forti-
fied aty i353 ;, ““adestroyed: "360 ;
depredations at, 370°.
434
Chew, Joseph, on missionary work,
336°; Indian name, 344°.
Chickasaws, covenant with Iroquois,
280°.
Chickataubutt, killed, 219°.
Chictaghicks, 138°.
Chiefs, see Sachems.
Chippewa, battle of, 383°.
Chippewas, other names, 138. See
also Far Indians.
Choctaws, termed Flatheads, 130°;
covenant with Iroquois, 280°.
Choharo, burned, 366°.
Chonodote, destroyed, 366°.
Christians, Henry, commandant of
fort at Albany, 175°.
Churches, 391°.
Citizenship, 388°, 301°.
Claese, Lawrence, mentioned, 266%.
Clans, Iroquois, 134°, 144°-47*.
Clark, J. V. H., cited, 128°; on origin
of Oneidas, 134°; on Onondaga
clans, 145°; on date of Iroquois
league, 149°; Hiawatha legend,
155°; on La Fort being chosen
leader, 383°.
Clark, John S., cited, 128°, 210%.
Clarke, Lieutenant Governor, con-
ference at Albany, 277°; prevents
establishment of French post, 278°;
council with Iroquois, 278", 280%.
Claus, Colonel, appointed commander
of Indians in Canada, 355°; opinion
of St Leger, 357%.
Clause, Daniel, translates Johnson’s
speech, 303°.
Clausen, sent to Onondaga, 263°.
Clear Sky, mentioned, 376’.
Clinton, Governor, councils, 284°,
288*, 280°; asks Indians to fight,
285’.
Clinton, General, route of, 363°-64°.
Cobleskill, attack on, 359°, 370°.
Colden, Cadwallader, cited, 128’, 138°;
on eloquence of Iroquois, 143°; on
origin of Iroquois war, 150°; on
success of Iroquois in war, 150°;
on fear of Mohawks, 180°; on
slaves, 201°; on treaty between
Iroquois and English, 216’; on
punishment for murder of French-
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
men, 218°; on Dekanissora, 225°,
243°; on De la Barre’s expedition,
229°; on collection of tribute, 231°;
on council at Onondaga, 236°; on
settlement at Schaghticoke, 237’;
on Mohawks attacked by French,
241°; on cannibalism of Mohawks,
241°; on presents to Indians, 242°;
on council at Albany, 243°; on
death of Black Kettle, 250°; papers
helped founding of Oswego, 270°;
account of Sir William Johnson,
286°; on disputes between Mohawks
and the other Five Nations, 286°-
877; at Iroquois council, 287°; on
war dance of Iroquois, 287°; plans,
324°-25".
Colonial unity, need of, 243°.
Colonies, Iroquois names, 269’.
Comet, terrors of, 212”.
Communion sets for Indians, 262’.
Conestoga, council, 260°; lands sur-
rendered, 268”.
Conestogas, at war with Tuscaroras,
262°; sell land, 267°; old names,
269'; controlled by Iroquois, 269°;
killed, 325°.
Conesus, burned, 365°.
Congress, wishes: Indian aid, 352°-
53'; address sent to, 373°."
Congress of seven colonies in Al-
bany, 300°.
Connaughtoora, council at Williams-
burg, 265%.
Connecticut, represented at council at
Albany, 243°; Iroquois deputies to,
320°; land sale, 302°; land deed,
302".
Conover, George S., cited, 128°; on
derivation of name Seneca, 163°.
Conoys, 130°.
Coreorgonel, 366°.
Corlaer, see Van Curler.
Cornplanter, speech, 367°-68'; joins
Sir John Johnson in Schoharie
valley, 360°; brought about treaty
of 1784, 372°; in Philadelphia, 373°;
attends council at Auglaize, 375';
sells land, 377°; thought war
certain, 377*.
7
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 43
Cornplanter reservation, 386°.
Cornplanter Senecas, in Pennsyl-
vania, number, 384’.
Coronelli’s map of 1688, 181"; ex-
planation of, 400".
Cosby, Governor, conference with Six
Nations, 275%.
Council, see Grand Council.
Council fire removed, 303°.
Council name of each nation, 159”;
of Oneidas, 161°; of Onondagas,
161'; of Cayugas, 162°; of Senecas,
163°; of Tuscaroras, 164’.
Councils with Iroquois, see Iroquois,
councils with.
Courcelle, Governor de, goes against
Mohawks, 217°; expedition to Fort |
St Anne, 218*; godfather to Gara-
kontie’, 221°; action on murder of
Indians in 1670, 221°; ascends the |
river to Lake Ontario, 221°; forbids
war between Senecas and Ottawas,
22K.
Coursey, Colonel, ambassador from
Maryland to Indians, 224".
Couture, William, killed an Indian
chief, 1847; mentioned, 188’.
Coyne, James H., cited, 128°.
Creative myths, 132°.
Creeks, covenant with Iroquois, 280°.
Cresap, Colonel, murder of Logan’s
family, 342°.
Creaxius’s chart of .the» Huron
country, with the same map, ex-
planation of, 308°-990°. .
Creuxius’s map of 1660, explanation
of, 398".
Crimes, few, 387°.
Croghan, George, council at Logs-
town, 296’; on western Indians,
300°; goes to Pennsylvania, 312°;
meets Pontiac, 327°.
Crosby, Aaron, mentioned, 348’.
Crown Point, English fort planned
at, 260°; Fort St Frederick at, 274°;
fight near, 288°.
Currietown, depredations at, 370°.
Cusick, Albert, on council name of
Mohawks, 160°; on meaning of
name Cayugas, 162°. |
on}
Cusick, David, cited, 128°; creative
myth, (132°; stoty® ‘of “mational
origin, 1I32°-33°; on _ story-telling,
142°; on tribes, 146°; chronology,
147°; says nothing of Hiawatha,
156°; on first ruler, 1577; enu-
merated 13 successive Atotarhos,
157*; on council name of the Mo-
hawks, 159°; on meaning of name
Cayugas, 162*; on council name of
Senecas, 163°; on name of Iro-
quois, 165°; on Erie origin, 182’;
on primitive name of Lake Erie,
182%,
Cusick, Rev. James, founded a tem-
perance society, 381".
Customs, changing, 338%.
Dablon, Father Claude, journey to
Onondaga, 204°; on building of
chapel, 204'; winter at Onondaga,
205°; return to Montreal, 205".
Daillon, De la Roche, visits Neutrals,
We S07
Dakayenensese,
347°.
Dalton, Captain, mentioned, 371°.
Dances, I41°.
Daniel, Antoine,
177°; killed, 194°.
Davost, visit to Hurons, 177”.
Dawson, Sir J. W., cited, 128”.
Dayagoughderesesh, 340°.
Dean, James, cited, 128’; story of
origin, 132°; letter, 360°.
Dearborn, Lieut. Col. Henry, houses
destroyed by, 366°.
De Celoron, goes to Ohio, 292”.
Dehoriskanadia, 366°.
Dekanawidah, 156’.
Dekanissora, eloquence, 143’, 225°;
described, 225*; speaker, 225*, 243”,
261°; intends to fight the Illinois,
227°; at Quebec, 243°; at council at
Albany, 243°; proposes exchange of
prisoners, 251°; goes to Kaneenda,
255°; allows captives to return,
255°; on Indian method of fighting,
262°; singing war song, 263°; re-
turns to Onondaga, 263°; returns
English hatchet, 264’.
Isaac, mentioned,
visit to Hurons,
430
De la Barre, at La Famine, 228;
displaced, 230".
De la Chauvignerie, at Onondaga,
260".
De Laet, tales of fort at Albany, 175’.
Delancey, Gov. James, succeeds Os-
borne, 298°; says commander of
fort at Onondaga might be made a
sachem, 301°.
De la Potherie, Bacqueville, cited,
129°, 150°.
Delaware, lands on sold, 276%.
Delaware country raided, 359°.
Delaware name of Senecas, 163°.
Delawares, tradition of national
origin, 132°; early homes, 138°;
character, 244°; conference in
Philadelphia, 244°; tributary to
Iroquois, 259°, 262°; controlled by
Iroquois, 269*, 273°; called women,
272°, 300'; lands purchased from,
276°; reproved by Iroquois for sell-
ing lands, 281°-82*; hostile to Iro-
quois, 304°; deserters among, 300°;
side with French, 306°; war with
Pennsylvania, 306*; reproved, 306’;
at Onondaga lake council, 307°;
treaty with Iroquois, 308°; con-
ference with Johnson, 308*, 327°;
declared men, 308‘, 380°; in Ohio
trouble with French, 312°; council
at .Hasten,.. 314.3. .soquois. .2o
azainst,~..32532,,. PLiISQHeES, .. 325 3
towns in New York destroyed,
326°; fly to Shawnees, 326°; Brant
opposes, 373°.
Dellius, Dominie, on name of Iro-
quois, 165°; sent to Canada, 250°;
grant vacated, 252°; among the
Mohawks, 346°.
De Longueuil, proposals to Onon-
dagas and Oneidas, 260°; at Onon-
daga, 261’, 264°; leaves Onondaga,
261°; adopted by Onondagas, 267’;
succeeds De la Jonquiére, 297’.
De Nonville, on French colony at
Onondaga lake, 207°, 208°; displaces
De la Barre, 230°; letters to Don-
gan, 232°; treachery, 232°; sends
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
prisoners to France, 2327; invasion,
232°; lands at Irondequoit bay,
233°; takes possession of Seneca
villages, 233°.
De Peyster, J. Watts, cited, 129%.
Deserters, 258°; from Oswego, 305°.
De Tonty, wounded, 226; retained
Indian presents, 258".
Detroit, investment of, 320°-217.
Detroit river, council held on, 373’.
De Vaudreuil, destroys Oneida, 248°.
De Vries, David Petersen, cited, 120°.
Diaquanda, 336°.
Dieskau, Baron, captured, 303”.
Diplomacy, 143°.
Dish, game of, 141°.
Dissatisfaction among Indians, 330°.
Dollier with La Salle, 220°
Donehogawa mentioned, 390°.
Dongan, Governor, mentioned, 229’;
action on Susquehanna lands, 220°;
on importance of Iroquois, 231°;
letters to De Nonville, 232*; on
liquors among Indians, 2327; pay-
ment for land grant, 276°.
Douw, Volkert, chosen firekeeper,
7
Bat".
Dowaganhaes, other names, 138°; kill
Senecas, 252°; covenant with
English, 260°. ‘See also Ottawas.
Dress, 140°.
Dugouts, 140°.
Dunlap, William, cited,
awatha legend, 155°.
Du Quesne, on Abbé Picquet, 292°;
council with Iroquois, 302°.
Dutch, trade with Iroquois, 171°, 177°;
maps of 1614 and 1616, 171°; cap-
tives released, 172°; treaty at
Tawasentha, 172°; attack Mohawks,
174°; defeated by Mohawks, 174°;
massacre of Indians by, 185; treaty
with Mohawks and Algonquins,
189°; give presents to Mohawks,
198‘; Indian troubles, 205°; Mo-
hawk alliance, 2057, 210°, 222*;
treatment of Indians, 236°; rela-
tions to Iroquois, 250°.
Dutch Bastard, party led by, 1096,
217°.
129°; Hi-
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
Earthenware, 140°.
Earthquake, terrors of, 212”.
East Cayuga destroyed, 366°.
Eastern Indians, 138°.
Easton councils, 309°, 312’, 314*, 318°.
Eau, Chevalier d’, seized, 238°; escape,
238%.
Education of Indians, 318%, 319°, 323°,
326’, 347°-48°, 380°; disappointing
results, 348’.
Eighteen Mile creek, Indian name,
181°; boundary between Eries and
Neutrals, 182”.
Elkins, James, trader, 175°.
Elmira, council at, 374°.
Eloquence of Iroquois, 143’.
England, Indians taken to, 260°.
English, take Canada, 175°; aid Min-
quas, 214°; treaties with Iroquois,
216°, 240°, 250°; desirous of alliance
with Ottawas, 230°; treatment of
Indians, 236°; attempt on Canada in
1690, 237°; agents at Onondaga,
238", 251°, 263°; missions proposed,
238°; missionaries to Iroquois
necessary, 257‘; expedition against
French, 239°; build Onondaga fort,
242”; protection for Iroquois, 250°;
relations to Iroquois, 250°; Iroquois
canoes for, 260°; council with Iro-
@uois,. 260°,..270°; embassy. to
Senecas, 266°; post at Irondequoit,
268*; at Oswego Falls, 271; oppose
French trading house, 273°-74';
protection extended, 278°; ani-
mosity toward, 285°; give scalp
bounty, 285°; invade Montreal,
289°; traders, 293°; to live among
Iroquois, 301°; fight against Senecas
and Cayugas, 312°; occupy Illinois,
327°; Indians employed by, 3717;
care of Indians near Buffalo, 374*;
difficulties settled, 378°; Iroquois
declare war against, 383°.
English forts, proposed, 234‘, 315°;
at Lake George and Crown Point,
260°; five abandoned, 305°; Iro-
quois wish certain abandoned, 323’.
English language spoken by Iroquois,
3887.
437
English scalp in cabin of Cayugas,
310°.
Ennikaragi, 138’.
Entouhonorons, 135°, 159‘, 162”.
Eriehronon, 193’.
Eries, territory, 131°, 130°; name and
territory 182’; origin, 182°; and
Neutrals, boundary between, 182°;
account OL 103; “wat, 202° "203" ;
exact location, 202°; chief town,
204°,
Esopus, new hostilities at, 215’.
Esopus Indians, treaty, 211°.
Esther, Queen, 359°, 360’, 375°.
Estiaghicks, 138’.
Etiquette, 142°.
European ornaments, 152°.
European trade, early, 153°.
Evans, Lewis, geographer, 282’.
Explanation of maps, 393-428.
Eyendeegen, present at council with
Munseys, 314’.
Famine among Senecas, 281°.
Far Indians, other names, 138°; at
Albany, 258°, 269°; invited to trade,
268°; treachery, 275*; castles, 295°.
See also Mississagas; Ojibwas.
Farmer’s Brother, mentioned, 370°;
eloquence, 143°; description, 382°.
Feasting on enemies’ flesh, 308”.
Feasts, Iroquois, 141°.
Fire Nation, 139°.
Fire keepers chosen, 351°.
Flatheads, nations termed, 139°; at
war with Iroquois, 265°; war with
Senecas, 268’, 281°; send wampum
to English, 288".
Fletcher, Governor, Indian
5,242 ~ calls; council, 243°.
Food of aborigines, 139‘; Mohawk
ideas of, 241°.
Forbes, Rev. Eli, mentioned, 348".
Fort Brewerton built, 316°.
Fort Bull, destroyed, 305°.
Fort Duquesne, French commander’s
comments on Six Nations, 313°;
evacuated, 314°.
name,
438
Fort Frontenac, founded, 221°;
abandoned, 227°; conference of De
la Barre with Hotreouate’, 228°; 60
men seized and imprisoned, 232°;
convoy of canoes surprised near,
234°; invested by 900 Iroquois, 235°;
decayed, 239°; restored, 243’, 246°;
provisioning of, 252°; Ottawas at,
258°; strengthened, 303°; taken,
314.
Fort Harmar, treaty of, 378°.
Fort Hunter flats conveyed to the
king, 275°.
Fort Johnson, council at, 311°, 311°.
Fort Levis, opposes English, 317°.
Fort Orange, built, 174°; fur trade,
175°; conference at, 205°.
Fort Richelieu, burned, 191°.
Fort St Frederick at Crown Point,
274°.
Fort Saratoga, destroyed, 286”.
Fort Stanwix, boundary conference
at, 333°; conference at, 350°; in-
vested, 355°; treaty of, 371°.
Fort Sullivan, 366°.
Fort Vercheres, attacked, 240°.
Fort William Henry surrendered, 312”.
Forts, 139°, 304°, 305°; built by De
Tracy; “216: “Hnetish: * 2344" 200,
305°, 315’, 323°; contracts for build-
ing, 262'; French, forbidden by
Iroquois, 295°; French, Indians fear
building of, 320°; destroyed by
Webb, 300°. See also under names |
of places.
Fowler, David,
Oneida, 326°.
Fox Indians, territory, 139°; propose
sent to
teach at |
joining Iroquois, 245°; wish to live i
with Senecas, 274°; at war with |
Iroquois, 274°.
Franklin, Governor, Indian name,
334°.
Frederick, Charles, goes to Onondaga, |
299".
Freeman, Rev. Bernardus, work of,
346°.
Fremin, Father Jacques, goes to the
Mohawks, 218°-19'; goes to Onon-
daga, 220’; retired, 228”.
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
French, power developing in Canada,
176°; Iroquois retaliate on, 178°;
attacked by Mohawks, 182’, 106’;
attacked by Iroquois, 185°, 211°,
214°; war with Iroquois, 191°, 210°,
235°, 245°, 283°, 2877; ask Massa-
chusetts for help,- 1927; asks alli-
ance of Boston against Iroquois,
198’; grant of Onondaga lands,
206'; deaths, 208°; plots against,
209°; prisoners restored to, 212*;
treaty with Iroquois, 2177, 218’,
254°; hunters killed by Mohawks,
217'; claims to Iroquois lands, 218,
278*; claims to Ohio lands, 297’,
297°; arbitration rejected, 221°; in-
vasion of Iroquois country under
De la Barre, 227°; desertions of sol-
diers, 230°; under De Nonville, at-
tack on Senecas, 233°; plan for
destroying Iroquois, 234°; alliance,
refused, 237°; expedition against,
239°; weakness of, 239°; attack
Iroquois at Toniata, 240°; attack
Mohawks, 241°; scalp bounty with-
drawn, 245°; number invading
Onondaga, 247°; defeat Iroquois,
248'; killed by western Indians,
249°; relations to Iroquois, 250’;
agents at Onondaga, 251°, 252°-53,,
260’, 261°; prisoners brought back
by Iroquois deputies, 254°; post at
Irondequoit, 265°; at Oswego Falls,
267°; among Iroquois, 270°; en-
croachments on Iroquois, 271°; pro-
pose to destroy fort at Oswego,
272°; voyageurs avoid Oswego,
273°; post at bay of Cayugas, 273°;
establishment of post prevented,
278°; Onondaga embassy to, 278°;
council with Iroquois, 286°;
Iroquois divided on war with, 286';
Walter Butler fights against, 288°;
advance from Crown Point to Lake
George, 288°; not allowed to live
in Iroquois country, 290°; on the
Ohio, 292°; activity, 293°; influence
in Onondaga, 294°, 297°; Tanacha-
risson sends warnings to, 200°;
occupy Ticonderoga, 304°; destroy
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
Fort Bull, 305°; deserted by Cana-
dian Indians, 316°; plans, 307’;
make Indians hostile, 320°. See
also Canada.
French belt, 344°.
French colony, at Onondaga lake,
204; embarks from Quebec, 205°;
assailed by Mohawks, 205°; hunger
at La Famine, 206°; relief at
Oswego Falls, 206*; reception at
Onondaga lake, 206°; preparations
for flight, 209°; escape from de-
struction, 209°; arrival at Montreal,
8
200°.
French flag, 280°.
French fort attacked by Iroquois,
184°; at Onondaga, attempt to
build, 261°; at Niagara 265°; for-
bidden by Iroquois, 295°; Indians
fear building of, 320”.
French Indians, attack Iroquois, 246°;
war with Cherokees, 278°; inva-
sions near Albany, 286*.- See also |
Canadian Indians.
French Iroquois, surrender prisoners, |
234°; losses, 240°; embassy to, 251°;
fight against English, 288'; refused
to attack English at battle of Lake |
George, 304°; with Montcalm, 312';
number, 384°. See also Canadian
Indians.
French settlement proposed by Mo-
hawks, 182°; place for, 202°.
French trade, controlled by Hurons,
181"; plan to preserve, 266°; at
Niagara and Frontenac, 276°; at
Albany, 3037.
Frey, Barent, 350°.
Frey, Henry, comes to Onondaga,
290".
Frontenac, Count, at Lake Ontario,
221°; council with Iroquois, 221°;
flattery, 222*; council with Kiska-
kons, Hurons and others, 227°;
replaced by Governor de la Barre,
227°; becomes governor, 232"; re-
turn from France, 236°, 2377; treat-
ment of captives, 240°; plan to at- |
tack. Albany, 239°; council with
Ottawas, 246°; his force, 247'; in-
439
vades Onondaga, 247°; route, 247°;
rushes showing force arrayed
against, 247°; camp, 247°; charac-
ter, 248°; troubles with Onondagas,
249°7,, 250;; .death, 251°; fur trade;
276°,
Frontier posts, retained by British,
372"
Frontier troubles, 341”.
Hun trade... 192°, + 258° 5. at
Orange, 175°; Niagara
Frontenac, 276°.
Fort
at and
Gachoos, 171".
Gachradodon, speech, 283°.
Gage, Gen. Thomas, opinion of Pon-
Hac. sen.
Gaghsegwarohare, 365°.
Gahronho, 215°.
Gajukas, 162°.
Gallatin, ,.Albert,, cited, 12074.4,0n
Seneca word for south, 181°; dis-
agrees with Heckewelder, 244°.
Gallinée with La Salle, 220°.
Games, 141°.
Ganatisgoa, 297%.
Ganawese, tribute to Onondagas, 259’.
Gandaouague’, attack on, 219°; pali-
saded castle, 219°.
Gandiaktena, Catharine, 220°.
Ganeodiyo, mission of, 380°.
Gannagaro, 233°.
Gannondata, 233°.
Gannongarae, 233°.
Gansevoort, Colonel,
Stanwix, 367%.
Ganuskago, Senecas from, 305%.
Ganyadariyo, 156’.
Garakontie’, 200", 204°; frees French
prisoner, 200°; favors French, 209°;
French cared for: by, 210°; kind-
ness to captives, 213°; rank and
name, 213°; prepares another peace
embassy, 216°; baptized and con-
firmed, 221°; speaks before Count
Erontenac 221° > ‘character 222° >
death, 222°.
Garakontie’ 2, speaks at Onondaga,
228'; saves life of Jean de Lam-
_ berville, 232°; death, 257°.
sent to Fort
440 NEW
Garangula, see Hotreouate’.
Garioye’", son of sent to Montreal,
243.
Garistarsia, killed, 215°.
Garnier, Father Charles, killed, 196+.
Garnier, Father Julien, goes to
Onondaga, 219°, 220°; retired, 228";
sent to Onondagas and Senecas,
a.
Garnier’s book of devotions, recov-
ery of, 202°.
Garonhiague’, Oneida chief, 2257; |
killed, 232°.
Garreau, Father, killed, 208%.
Gaskonchiague’, fort proposed at, 258°
Geghtigeghroones, 138°.
Geneseo, destroyed, 365°.
Geneseo Indians, at conference, 320°;
hostile, 321°.
Genherontatie’, 235°.
Gentaieton, chief Erie town, 204%.
George, (Seneca), speaker at Easton,
318°; speech, 335°, 336°.
George, King, asks Iroquois aid, 340°.
German Flats, council at, 321°, 329°,
336°, 350°; destroyed, 313°, 361°;
attacked, 368*
Gestures, 144°.
Gibson, General, quoted, 377*.
Ginseng, 297°, 328°.
Glen, Governor,
Senecas, 293°.
Glen, Johannes, jr, to reside at Onon-
daga, 251°.
Gooneaseahne, 165°.
Gothsinquean, burned, 365°.
Goupil, René,- killed by Mohawks,
184°.
Government, present, 390°.
Goyogoh, 162*.
Goyoguins, 162°; symbols, 164°.
Grain pits, 141°.
Grand Council, representation in,
146 ; vote by nations, 154°-55*.
Granger, Erastus, council at Buffalo,
382".
Grangula, see Hotreouate’.
Great Tree, friendly, 360°; in Phila-
delphia, 373°; speech, 373°-74';
death, 374°. ;
complains of
YORK STATE MUSEUM
' Greenhalgh, Wentworth, journey of
Grenadier island, 317°.
Griffon, launched by La Salle, 2257.
Grinding meal, 141.
Guastarax, Seneca chief, 331°; death,
337°; bad belts sent by, 341.
Guns, use of, 151°: bought by
Iroquois, 177’.
Gweugweh, 162°.
_ Haaskouan, 234°, 2357
Haldimand, General, and Iroquois,
| 363".
Hale, Horatio, cited, 120°; on
Troquois language, 136; on
Troquois 145, 147; chro
ry
nology, 147°; on date of Iroquois
league, 149%, 154°: Hiawatha
legend, 156°; on derivation of
name Seneca, 163°; on Mohawk
name of Iroquois, 165°; theory of
origin of word Iroquois. 166;
says Iroquois never burnt women,
185*.
Half King, see Tanacharisson.
_ Half Town in Philadelphia, 373°.
_ Hanjost, death, 3657,
Halsey, Francis W., cited, 129°, 354°.
Hamilton, Governor. on Iroquois on
branches of the Mississippi, 293".
| Hancock, John, Indian name, 352”.
Handsome Lake, mission of, 380°
366".
Hansen, Hendrick, ambassador to
French, 251°: sent to Onondaga,
263°.
_ Haratsion, killed, 234°.
Harmar, General, defeat, 373°.
Harper, Col. John, mentioned, 353°
Harpersfield, full of refugees, 358°;
burned, 368%
Harris, John, on death of Tana-
charisson, 301°.
Hartley, Col. Thomas, operations,
360".
Hawley, Gideon, mentioned, 347’.
Hazard, Samuel, cited, 129°.
Heckewelder, J. G. E., cited, 120°;
chronology, 148; on Delaware
name of Senecas, 163°; on peace-
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
makers among the Indians, 244°;
on character of the Delawares,
4
244"
Hendrick, King, restored to office,
266"; speech, 285’; invades Mon-
treal, 289°; complains of land
frauds, 300°; at Philadelphia, 302';
killed, 302°, 303°; no power to give
or sell land, 320°.
Hennepin, Father Louis, cited, 1209‘;
among the Iroquois, 222°; dic-
tionary, 223°; visits Father Bruyas,
aon".
Herkimer, Gen. Nicholas, interviews
Brant, 354°; advance of, 356°.
Heu, Father d’, sent to Onondagas
and Senecas, 255°; on Onondagas
in Virginia, 258°; with Senecas,
250°.
Hewitt, J. N. B., theory of origin of
name Iroquois, 166°.
Hiawatha, suggested formation of
league, 154°; adopted by Mohawks,
154°; legends, 155°-56°; white
canoe, 166°.
Hieroglyphics, 330%.
Hoahoaqua, mentioned, 383°.
Hochelaga, Cartier’s visit to, 140°;
Montreal built on site of, 183°.
Hodenosaunee, 165%.
Honayewus, description of, 382”.
Honeoye destroyed, 365°.
Honontonchionni, 165°.
Horseheads, 366".
Hotinnonchiendi, 165°.
Hotinnonsionni, 165°.
Hotreouate’, leads war party, 214°;
favors French, 228*; conference
with De la Barre, 228°; speech,
228°-29°; name confused, 234;
visits Montreal, 234"; speeches,
234"-35°; acts and disappearance,
2a".
Household arts, 140%.
Household utensils, 141°.
Houses, 139°, 142”.
Howard, Governor,
2am.
Hubley, Lieut. Col. Adam, cited, 366°.
Indian name,
441
Hudson, Henry, mentioned, 135°; met
no Iroquois, 168%.
Hudson, John, present at council
with Munseys, 313°-14’.
Hunter, Governor, stops war be-
tween Iroquois and Flatheads,
260°; reports Iroquois quiet, 263°.
Hunter, A. F., cited, 129°; researches,
170°.
Hunter, Robert, Oneida chief, 272°.
Huron-Iroquois, see Iroquois.
Hurons, territory, 135°; Indian name,
137°; expulsion of Iroquois from
Canada, S152 -iisteric “dates,
153'-54°; common names, 153°; re-
movals from exposed to secluded
situations, 161°; good Iroquois,
168°; visited by Champlain, 169‘;
join Champlain in attack on
Iroquois, 169°; withdraw frontier
towns, 176°; visit of missionaries
to, 176°; defeated by Senecas, 178°;
torture an Iroquois, 178°; friends
of sedentary nations, 179°; Iro-
quois prisoners, 179°; population,
180'; captured by Iroquois, 181’;
desire peace, 1817; war against
Senecas, 1817; defeat Oneidas,
181*; control: French trade, 181°;
attacked by Iroquois, 182°; attack
Algonquins, 183°; defeated on the
Ottawa, 1847; attack Iroquois, 184°;
victorious in canoe fights, 184°;
captured by Iroquois, 185°; mis-
fortunes, 186°; peace concluded
with Iroquois, 188°; upper Iroquois
continue war against, 1890’; women
carried off, 189°; defeated, 180°;
sentinel killed on watchtower,
189°; reprisals, 189°; encounter
with Oneidas, 91"; defeat
Troquois, 191°; attack Onondagas,
192”; send deputies to Andastes for
aid, 192°; ambassadors sent to
Onondagas, 193°; embassy attacked
by Mohawks, 193*; attacked by
Senecas, 193°; towns abandoned,
193°; Andastes could not help,
194°; town of St Joseph destroyed,
194*; attacked at St Ignace, 194°;
442 NEW
attacked at St Louis, 195’; aban-
don five towns, 195°; flight of, 195°;
betrayed to Mohawks, 106°;
treachery, 197°; near Quebec, 198°;
war against Mohawks, 198°; de-
feated, 198°; defeat Mohawks, 199°;
treaty with Mohawks, 200*; some
go to Onondaga, 208‘; attack
Iroquois on the Ottawa, 211°; coun-
cil with Kiskakons, 227°; war with
Iroquois, 235°; would not fight
Iroquois, 245°; seek peace, 245°;
propose joining Iroquois, 245°;
settlement near Albany, 249°; on
French treatment of Iroquois, 254’;
Iroquois name, 256°; desire war,
261°; message to Iroquois on the
Ohio, 293°; peace with, 326°; ask
Troquois to attend general council,
373°.
Illinois, occupied by English, 327°.
Illinois Indians, names and location,
138’; attacked by Senecas, 225°;
vanquished, 226°; renewed attacks,
226°, 226°-27'; Senecas’ warlike atti-
tude toward, 228°; abandoned to
their fate, 229°; attacked by Onon-
dagas, 230°; subdued, 234°; French
messengers to, 263°; attacked by
Iroquois, 265°.
Immorality, 390°.
Indian children,
203:
Indian Problem, 129°, 387%.
Inglis, Rev. Charles, memorial of,
339°.
Ingoldsby, Capt., reproves Indians,
240°; command of English forces,
240°.
Interpreters, 388°.
Intoning, 144°, 204°.
Iottecas, 171°.
Irocoisia, 172°.
Irondequoit, French post at, 265';
English post at, 268°.
Irondequoit bay, De Nonville lands
at, 232°
Irondequoit land deed, 279°.
Troquet, contest with Iroquois
held as_ pledges,
, 180°;
YORK STATE MUSEUM
Iroquois, territory, 131*, 135°; legends, |
131°-35°; religious belief, 131",
220°; creative myths, 1327; story of
national origin and _ migration,
132"-35'; traces in Canada, 133°;
how known to Champlain and the
Dutch, 135°; position of kindred
nations, 135"; language, 136°; man-
ner of advent in New York, 147°;
residence on St Lawrence, 140°,
152°; war, origin, 150°; in Vermont,
I5I°; proposed peace with Algon-
quins, 151°; date of beginning of
war, 151°; use of guns, 151°; expul-
sion from Canada, 152°, 153°; date
of coming into New York, 153°;
how divided by Dutch and Cham-
plain, 159°; two brotherhoods of
nations, 164°; an Algonquin word,
165°; origin of word, 165'-66'; early
defeats, 167°; not encountered by
Hudson, 168*; treaty with Dutch at
Tawasentha, 172°; length of war
with Algonquins, 174°; peace with
Algonquins, 174°; new war, 175';
trade with Dutch, 177°; buy guns
and wampum, 177°; foundation of
power, 178; tributary nations,
178°; tortured, 178*; retaliate on
French, 178°; treatment of captives,
178°; names of, by Jesuits, 179°;
upper, names of, I79°; prisoners,
179°; excellent marksmen, 180°;
canoes and canoe fights, 180°; con-
test with Iroquet, 180°; capture
Hurons, 181°; attacks on French,
182°, 184°, 185°; attacks on Hurons,
182°, 186°; attacked by MHurons,
184°; now stronger than Hurons,
185°; capture Hurons, 185°; change
conduct of war, 186°; fear of, 186°,
197’; distribution of parties, 186°;
three taken prisoners by Hurons,
187°; prisoners sent home, 187°;
peace with Hurons, 188°; upper, —
continue Huron war, 189°; de-
feated by Hurons, 191°; war par-
ties, 192‘; attack on St Joseph,
194; attack on St Ignace, 194°;
attack on St Louis, 195°; attack
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
Petuns, 196'; attack Neutrals, 196°;
reverse through Huron treachery,
197°; proposed alliance
198°; slaves, 201°; war with Eries,
203'; jealousies, 205°; war with
Ottawas, 209-10’; massacre of Al-
gonquins, 210°; visit remote
' regions, 210°; Christian, removal to
Canada, 220°; numbers and vil-
fees, 210, 224", 277', 324, 335,
342°, 360°, 384°, 385°; attacked by
Hurons on the Ottawa, 211°; rav-
ages in Canada in 1661, 211°-12';
peace proposals, 212°; attack Atti-
kamegues, 214°; defeated by Min-
quas, 215’; first treaty with Eng-
lish, 216°; peace with French, 217’,
218°, 254*; towns depopulated, 220°;
council with Count Frontenac,
221°; difficulty with Maryland,
223°; gain warriors, 227°; treaty of
peace with Maryland, 227°; attack
on Ottawas, 227°; for galley slaves,
230°, 232"; desire alliance with
Ottawas, 230°; importance, 231%,
254’; received as_ subjects of
English king, 233°; subdue Illi-
neis, 234°; .attack Miamis, 234°;
attack Mission of the Moun-
tain, 234°; French plan for de-
Stnoyine,.234°;. war of .1689, 235°;
losses, 230°; cast French war belt
on the ground, 239°; attacked by
French at Toniata, 240°; sarcasm,
241°; war with southern and west-
ern Indians, 245*; defeated on
Lake Champlain, 245°; war with
French, 245°, 287°; peace with five
Mackinaw nations, 246°; attacked
by French Indians, 246°; defeated
on Lake Erie, 248°; English and
French relations to, 250’; treaties
with English, 250°; embassy to
Canada, 254°; deputies bring back
French prisoners, 254°; treatment
by French, Brus: promise
neutrality, 255°; peace with
Ottawas, 257°; join English, 259°;
canoes for English, 260'; employed
by New York, 260°; council with
against, |
443
English, 260°; war with Flatheads,
260°; reception at Albany, 261°;
wish war to continue, 262°; war
with Catawbas, 265°, 278°, 284'; at-
tack Illinois, 265°; at war with
Flatheads, 265°; join French In-
dians, 268°; embassy to Canada,
268°; trade with Far Indians, 268°;
treaty with Gov. Keith, 269°; at
Boston, 269'; council with Gover-
nor Burnet, 270°; war with Foxes,
274°; relations with Pennsylvania,
274°; alliance with Miamis, 275°;
claim lands in Virginia and Mary-
land, 276'; trouble with southern
and western Indians, 277°; kill
Catawbas, 277°; conference with
Lieutenant Governor Clarke, 277°,
278", 280°; treaty with Caughna-
wagas, 280°; peace with Cherokees,
280°; peace with Catawbas, 280’,
295°; fight with Virginians, 281°;
conquests, 283°-847; power, 284°,
323°; embassy to Philadelphia,
285*; council with French, 286°;
divided on war with French, 286’;
party division among, 287*; council
of 1746, 288'; council at Quebec,
289°; warriors come to Philadel-
phia, 289°; conference with Gover-
nor Clinton, 289°; conference with
Johnson, 290°; council with Gover-
nor de la Galissoniére, 290°;
on branches of the Mississippi,
293"; emigrants, 293°, 300°; on the
Ohio, 203°; blacksmiths among,
294"; claims to Ohio lands, 297’;
killed by Cherokees, 297°; loss at
Lake George, 304’; neutrality, 310°,
310°; hostile to Mississagas, 311°;
side with English, 316°; take war
belt..316>:, Jandinclaims, 322°-23°;
join English against Pontiac, 324°;
go against Delawares, 325’; west-
ern alliances, 340°; friendship im-
portant, 341°; loyal to king, 340°;
visit French in Rhode Island, 360’;
number employed by English, 3717;
New York, desire to expel, 371°;
two confederacies, 379°; declare
444
war against English, 383’; reports
on, 3847, 385', 387°-91°; self-sus-
taining, 387’; crimes, 387°; speak |
English language, 388°. See also
French Iroquois.
Iroquois clans, 1347, 144°-47°.
Iroquois league, date of, 147°-48';
true date, 153°; successive mem-
bers, 148’; founders, 154°; site of
formative Eis.) 166":
names of, 164°-65'; their own title,
165°; simple at first, 167°; inde-
pendent action of nations, 167°.
council,
Jackson, T. W., report on Iroquois,
387°; on citizenship, 391°.
Jacobs, Captain, mentioned, 149’.
Jemison, Mary, prisoner, 319°; ac-
count of St Leger’s Oswego
council, 355°.
Jernaistes, 243°.
Jesuit chapel at Onondaga, 256°.
Jesuit Relations, cited, 120°, 143°,
1517, (153%) 265 1 a7G3 182") 183; 165,
193°, 194’, 207°, 208", 210°, 214°.
Jesuits, visit Neutrals, 181°; flee with
Hurons, 105°; leave Iroquois, 259°.
Jogues, Isaac, taken by Mohawks,
183°; seen among Mohawks, 184°;
escapes, 184°; account of Mohawk
sacrifice, 185°; letter from, 186°;
ambassador to Mohawks, 190°;
meets Onondagas, 190°; comes
back as a missionary, 190°; death,
190°.
Johnson, Edward, complaints, 319%.
Johnson, Col. Guy, conference at
Onondaga, 319°; map of 1771, 339°;
map of 1771, explanation of, 408°;
to be Sir William’s successor,
342°; council with Iroquois, 342",
343°, 345°; Indian names, 343°; con-
ference with Cayugas, 349°; goes to
Canada, 349°; explanations, 358°;
leaves for Oswego, 368°; says
Oneidas are ready to fight Ameri-
cans, 368°; Indians employed by,
369°.
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Johnson, Sir John, flees, 352°; leaves.
for Oswego, 368’; raids, 368°; in-
vades Schoharie valley, 369°; de-
feated, 360°.
Johnson, Peter,
Indians, 352”.
Johnson, Rutger, to furnish arms and
ammunition, 202°,
Johnson, Sir William, Colden’s ac-~
count of, 286°; influence among
Iroquois, 286°; at Onondaga, 290°,
297°, 208", 305°, 330°, 335°; says
liquor must not be given Indians,
294°; offers resignation, 296°; buys
Onondaga lake and shores, 206°;
says English should live among
Iroquois, 3017; superintendent of
Iroquois, 303°; speech to Indians,
303°; raised sachems, 303°; at Lake
George, 303°; knighted, 3047; Iro-
quois councils, 290°, 304°-5*, 337%,
342°; condoles deaths of Hendrick
and others, 305°; gives pipe to
Indians, 305°; condolence of Onon-
daga sachem, 306°-7°; at Onondaga
lake, 3077; conference with Dela-
wares and Shawnees, 308*; council
at Canajoharie ‘castle, 315°; leaves
for Niagara, 316°; in command at
Niagara, 317°; on use of powder by
Indians, 322*; on Iroquois land
claims, 322°-23°; on Iroquois num-
bers and villages, 3247; council at
Niagara, 326°; council with Dela-
wares and Iroquois, 327°; council
with Pontiac, 328'; applies for
Royal grant, 329°; council at Ger-
man Flats, 329°; meets Indians at
Tuscarora creek, 331°; illness, 333°;
at Fort Stanwix, 333’; accident,
335°; council with Cayugas and
Senecas, 335°; congress at German
Flats, 336°; account of Indians,
338; last council, 343°; death and
burial, 343°.
Johnson Hall, council at,
Cherokee deputies at, 331°.
Johnstown, council at, 358°.
chief of western
gan;
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
Joncaire, mentioned, 254°; with
Senecas, 254°, 255°, 250°, 267°, 270’,
274°, 275°; brings back captives,
255°; adopted by Senecas, 257°, 267';
at Michilimackinac, 257°; character,
258; hints of dishonesty, 258°;
killed the original Montour, 258’;
proposals to Onondagas and
Oneidas, 260°; at Onondaga, 261’,
262°; sent to Iroquois country,
265°; asks for trading house, 273°;
tells of oil springs, 279°; death
mourned, 270.
Joncaire, jr, with Senecas, 280°;
Indian name, 284°; starts evil re-
ports, 285’; expelled by Senecas,
290°; goes to the Ohio, 293°; takes
possession of Ohio lands, 294".
Jonquiére, Governor de la, on
English traders, 293°; council with
Onondagas, 296°; death, 297’.
Kaghswughtioni, Onondaga
290'; speech, 298*; death, 306°.
Kahkwahs, 181°; same as Neutrals,
181°; destroyed by Senecas, 181°-82”.
- Kakouagoga, 181°
Kalm, Peter, 129°, 294°.
Kanadgegai, exploits, 240°.
Kanaghqueesa, 351°.
Kanaghsaws, burned, 365°.
Kanisteo, murders at, 310°.
Kannawaloholla burned, 365°.
Kanneastokaroneah, or Erians, 182°.
Kannoseone, 165°.
chief,
Kansas lands, claim of the Six
Nations to, 386°.
Karaghiagigo, 328°
Kashong, burned, 365°.
Kawaskant, mentioned, 383°.
Kayaderosseras patent, dispute
settled, 333%.
Kayashuta, Seneca chief, 344°
Keinthe, 224°.
Keith, Governor, Indian name, 268’;
conference, 268°; treaties, 268°,
260”.
Kendaia burned, 365°.
Kennebecs, 138°. See also Abéna-
quiois.
445
Ketchum, William, cited, 129°, 354’.
Kichtages, 138°.
_ Kinaquariones, battle at, 219".
King, Thomas, quoted, 319°; death,
340°.
King Philip's war raging, 2227.
Kiotsaeton, address, 143°; brings Mo-
hawk offers of peace, 188°; wishes
French to eat with Mohawks, 188°;
visit to Montreal, 190°.
Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, chronology,
148°; on stone in Westmoreland,
160°; visits Johnson, 318°; recep-
tion at Onondaga, 326°; adopted by
Senecas, 327°; report to Indians,
345°; mentioned; 348°; sent to
Genesee country, 375‘; report on
Iroquois, 384°.
Kiskakons, 138’; capture a Seneca,
226°; council with Hurons, 227”.
Klock, Colonel, dilatory, 361°.
Klock, George, mentioned, 342”.
Kondiaronk, 235°.
Konkhandeenhronon, 179".
Konossioni, 165°.
Krieckebeck, Commander,
by Mohawks, 174".
Kryn, removes to Canada, 224”; fights
Senecas, 233°; turns back a Mo-
hawk war party, 234°; killed, 236°.
Kweukwe, 162°.
defeated
Labatie asked to go on new embassy,
198".
Lackawaxen, burned, 363°.
Lacrosse, 141°.
La Famine, 206°.
La Fayette, Marquis de, at Johns-
town council, 358°; Indian name,
358°; addresses Indians, 372°.
Lafitau, J. F., cited, 129°; on origin
of Iroquois, 133°.
Laforge, at Onondaga, 279°; left
Senecas, 279*; son, 280"; son, black-
smith among Senecas, 280”.
La Fort, mentioned, 383°. _
La Galette, French posts, 258°.
La Grande Gueule, see Hotreouate’.
Lahontan, Avs, Exide: Ds Seiteds 1208,
228° 232"
446
Lake Champlain, Iroquois defeated
on, 245°.
Lake Erie, primitive name, 182%.
Lake George, names of, 190°; English
fort planned at, 260*; battle of,
303°.
Lake Ontario, 162’.
Lalemant, Gabriel, tortured, 195°.
-Lamberville, Father Jacques de, sent
to Onondagas, 255".
Lamberville, Father Jean de, meets
La Salle, 222°; on death of Gara-
kontie’, 222°; on removal of Onon-
daga to new site, 226°; says Iro-
quois do not fear French, 227°;
remains at Ondndaga, 228°; on La
Grande Gueule, 228’; sent back by
De Nonville with presents, 231°;
influence on Onondagas, 231°; em-
ployed to draw Iroquois chiefs to
Fort Frontenac, 232*; saved by
Onondaga chiefs, 232*; account of
torture of Onondaga, 247‘; Iro-
quois ask for return of, 254*; at
Onondaga, 256°; goes to Montreal,
250°.
Lancaster, councils at, 282°, 283°, 318°;
treaty, 290°.
Lands, appropriation of, by colonists,
206'; beaver land trust deed, 256°;
value, 281‘; Delaware deeds, 281°;
treaty with Pennsylvania, 301*; dis-
putes settled, 314*, 333°; claims of
Pennsylvania people, 316°; claims,
322°-23°; frauds, 323°; troubles,
Brant’s speeches on, 351°; sales,
378", 379°, 385°; tenure, 388°, 389°;
allotments, 389°.
Language, of Iroquois, 136°; of other
Indians, 339°.
La Prairie, abandoned, 224°-25'.
La Salle, among Senecas, 220‘; at
Onondaga, 222°; launches’ the
Griffon, 225'; abandons’ Fort
Frontenac, 227°.
Last Night, quoted, 318°.
Lauson, Governor, deed given to
Jesuits by, 206°.
Lauson, M. de, killed, 212°.
Leboeuff, post abandoned, 321%.
a SSS SSS stresses
| Leisler
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Le Caron, Father Joseph, visits
Hurons and Petuns, 176°-777; visit
to Hurons, 177°.
Le Clercq, cited, 174%.
Lee, Arthur, mentioned, 372%.
troubles, caused remarks
among Iroquois, 236°.
Le Maitre, killed, 214”.
Le Moine, David, death, 208°.
LeMoyne, Father Simon, _ visits
Onondaga, 144°, 200°; route and
reception, 201°; return, 201°; visits
Mohawks, 204°; peace embassy to
Iroquois, 212‘; reception at Onon-
daga, 212°; death, 217°.
Lenni-lenape, 138.
Lery, Lieutenant de, destroyed Fort
Bull, 305°.
“Lessee Company,” 373%.
Le Vaillant, Father, sent to Senecas,
255°.
Liquor among Indians, 2327, 260°,
266°, 273°, 274°, 276°, 288°, 204°, 301’,
303°, 331’, 343°, 381°.
Little Abraham, quoted, 352”.
Little Castle, burned, 365°.
Little Falls, proposed canal at, 333°.
Livingston, Robert, at Onondaga, 252°.
Livingston, Robert, jr, goes to
Senecas, 266°.
Logan, the Cayuga, 165°.
Logan, James, mentioned, 342°.
Logan family murdered, 342°.
Logstown, councils at, 291’, 296’.
Long Falls, burned, 365°.
Long Knives, name of Americans,
8
377 -
Long Sault of the Ottawa, French
and Indian party defeated at, 240°.
Longueuil, baron de, succeeds
Maricourt, 257°; at Onondaga,
262°; goes to Senecas, 267%.
Loskiel, G. H., cited, 129°.
Lothrop, Samuel K, cited, 129°.
Loudon, earl of, commander in chief,
304”.
Louis 14, quoted, 230°.
Loups, 138°.
Luycasse, Gerrit, agent, 238°.
Lydius, Colonel, mentioned, 301°.
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
MacClod, Norman, commissary of
Indian affairs, 330°-31'.
Mack, J. Martin, goes to Onondaga,
207°.
Mackinaw
— Troquois, 246°.
Maechachtinni, 163°.
Maguauogs, 150’.
Mahicans, St Francis Indians of
Canada, 138°; formerly owned AIl-
bany, 138°; trade with, 172‘; fort,
174°; urged to attack Mohawks,
175°; sell land to Dutch, 175°; visit
to New Amsterdam, 184°; flee
from Albany, 215*; attack Mo-
hawks, 216°; attack Gandaouague’,
219°; war with Mohawks, 219°;
peace with Mohawks, 221‘; robbed
by Mohawks, 225°; settlement at
Schaghticoke, 237’; French, party
destroyed by, 249*; Canadian,
settle among Senecas, 284°.
Mahikanders, 138°.
Maison-neuve, Sieur, at founding of
Montreal, 183°.
Maps, 126°-27°; explanation of, 393-
428; of Dutch 1614 and 1616, 171°;
published by O. H. Marshall, 233°;
of Romer, 253°; of Evans, 282°; of
Guy Johnson, 330°.
Maquas, Dutch name for Mohawks,
135", 150°, 159, 171’.
Mareuil, Father de, sent to Onon-
dagas and Senecas, 255°; at Albany,
4
nations, peace with
259.
Maricourt, M. de, ‘at Onondaga,
252°-53', 255°; mentioned, 254°;
death, 257°.
Marshall, O. H., cited, 129‘; thought
Kahkwahs and Neutrals the same,
181"; maps published by, 233°.
Marshe, Witham, cited, 129°; account |
of Lancaster council, 283”.
Maryland, troubles
223'; treaty of peace with Iroquois, |
227°; Indian name, 2317, 283"; lands
claimed by Iroquois, 276’; settles _
claims, 284”; and Pennsylvania,
division line, 329°.
with Iroquois, |
447
Maskoutins, other names, 139°; pro-
pose joining Iroquois, 245°-46'.
Masks, 141’.
Massachusetts, represented at council
at Albany, 243”.
Massachusetts Historical Society Col-
lections, see Marshe.
Massawomekes, 194".
Medals, presented to Iroquois, 308°;
given up by Oneidas, 310°; given
to chiefs at Philadelphia, 375%.
Megapolensis, Dominie, cited, 129°;
work, 346°.
Menard, Father,
Cayugas, 208°.
Mercer, Colonel, killed, 308°.
Messengers, 388’.
Meulles, M. de, quoted, 228’,
Miami, council at Auglaize, 375’.
Miamis, other names, 138°; Senecas
go against, 232°; war with Iroquois,
234°, 245°; French messengers sent
to, 263°; asked to attack English,
272°; alliance with Iroquois, 275°:
friends of English, 290°; message
to Iroquois on the Ohio, 293°; dele-
gates to, 374°.
Miantonimo, charges against, 180°.
Michilimackinac, attack on, 227°;
French messengers to, 263°.
Muidletown burned, 365°.
Milet, Father Pierre, at Onondaga,
219°; leaves Oneida, 228’; captured,
235°; song, 235’; not surrendered,
237°; released, 243’. ;
Miln, Rev. John, mentioned, 347°.
Mingoes, 165°; tribute to Onondagas,
259°.
Minisink, destroyed, 363’; depreda-
tions at, 370°.
Minisinks, council
314°.
Minquas, territory, 136°, 171°; must
not be classed with Delawares,
138°; how called by Algonquins,
165°; peace with Senecas, 211°;
aided by English, 214°; party sent
against, 214"; defeat Iroquois, 215".
See also Andastes ; Conestogas.
mission among
with Iroquois,
448
Mission of the Mountain, 267°; at-
tacked, 234°.
Mission of the Two Mountains, fort
at, 279°.
Missionaries, visit to Hurons and
Neutrals, 176°; experiences among
savages, 177°; to Iroquois neces-
sary, (287°) --at « QOnesdasa” and
Oneida, 305°.
Missions, buildings, on Onondaga
lake, 207*; established, 208°;
French, resumed in 1667, 218°-19°; |
in Canada, 220°, 224°, 267°; aban- |
doned, 228°;
238°; among Onondagas and
Senecas, 255°; at Onondaga, 256°;
English proposed, |
connection with trading posts for- |
bidden, 270°; Moravian, 204°; |
protestant, 346°-47°.
Mississagas, 138; join the Six
Nations, 286*; declare war, 287°;
called a seventh nation, 287°; war
with Ottawas, 299°; alliance, 303°;
hostile, 311°. See also Far Indians.
Mississippi, Iroquois on branches of,
293’.
Mohawk, an Algonquin word, 159°.
Mohawk flats, deed of, 323°.
Mohawk prayer book, new edition,
319", 323°, 3353 of 1787, 339°-40';
Canadian edition, 372°; edited by
Brant, 372.
Mohawk valley, evidences of early
Iroquois occupation, 152°; John-
son’s raids, 368°.
Mohawks, origin, 133°, 135°; lan-
guage, 136°; clans, 144°; advent of,
147°‘; reference to Cartier’s visit,
149°-50°; varying fortunes, I51°;
exodus from Canada, 152%, 153°;
earliest forts, 152°; first towns in
New York, 152°; chiefs, 154°, 157°;
other names, 150°; symbols, 150°,
164°, 338°; cannibalism, 159°, 241°; |
council
boundary,
name, 159°; national
160°; Delaware
name, ©
161°; elder brother, 164°; remote |
from Hudson river,
with Champlain, 168°’-69"; supposed
early treaty with, 173°; first treaty
168°; battle |
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
in 1645, 174°; defeat Dutch, 174°;
peace embassy to, 175°; towns,
names of, 179°; dreaded by other
Indians, 180°; attacks on French;
182", 196°; collect tribute, 184°;
sacrifice to Aireskoi, 185°; stronger
than Hurons, 185°; peace concluded
with Hurons, 188°; resuscitate
Oneida, 188‘; hunt with Algon-
quins, 189°; visit of deputies to
Montreal, 190°; attack on Huron
embassy, 193*; aid upper Iroquois,
196°; go against eastern Indians,
198°; Huron war against, 198°;
chief burned at Three Rivers, 198’;
enmity toward French, 199°; de-
feated by Hurons, 199°; join in
peace proposals, 200'; treaty with
Hurons, 200°; jealous of Onon-
dagas, 200°; alliance with Dutch,
205°;, antagonism to Onondagas,
205°; almost at war with Senecas,
205*; assail French colony, 205°;
trouble with Senecas settled by ar-
bitration, 208°; carry off Hurons,
208’; plot ruin of French, 200’;
war with Ottawas, 209°-I0'; num-
bers, 210°, 277°, 201°, 384’, 385°;
invite Indians living near New
Amsterdam to live with them, 211';
present at treaty with Esopus
Indians, 211‘; send party against
Ottawas, 214°; attack Penobscot
Indians, 214°;-and eastern Indians,
215*; attacked by Mahicans, 216°;
ambassadors killed by Abénaquiois,
216°; invasion by Governor de Cour-
celle, ‘217°; kill French hunters,
217'; towns destroyed, 218*; war
with Mahicans, 219°; condolence,
220'; induced to renounce worship
of Agreskoue’ 220°; peace with
Mahicans, 221°; treaty with Dutch,
222°; defeat King Philip, 222°; pre-
serve Andastes, 223°; four forti-
fied towns in “%677, 224°; rob
Mahicans, 225°; complained of by
New Englanders, 225°; quiet in
1680, 225°; complained of by
Massachusetts commissioners, 226‘;
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
resent English inactivity, 238°;
go with Schuyler, 239°; captains
killed, 239°; carry off Caugh-
mamacas,» 230 >. | attack
Vercheres, 240°; losses, 240°, 252°;
attacked by French, 241°; ideas of
food, 241°; bring peace belts to
Canada, 248°; sent back from Eng-
land, 248°; French party destroyed
by, 249°; flattered by English and
French, 250°; restoration of land
meso. ie Canada. 262", 371°:
threaten eastern Indians, 253°; did
not wish war, 259°; taken to Eng-
land, 260°; fort and chapel built
for, 263*; Johnson’s influence with,
286°; favor war, 286’, 380°; small-
pox among, 287°; invade Montreal,
289°; some killed near Johnson’s
house, 289; . burn... fort. .on
Oswegatchie river, 291°; ask to
have Johnson reinstated, 296°;
asked to settle on frontier, 296°;
lost influence in council, 300*; at
Philadelphia, 302'; come to Fort
Johnson, 311°; villages, 324°; were
Christians and educated, 338°;
number employed by English, 371°;
land sales, 379°.
Mohicans, 138%.
Monacatootha buries Tanacharisson,
B01".
Montagnais, 138°.
Montagnards, 138°; swept away, 197”.
Montauks, 138°; settle at Oneida,
343°.
Montcalm, at Oswego, 308°; at Fort
William Henry, 312%.
Montgomerie, Governor,
Governor Burnet, 273’.
Montmagny, Gov., at founding of
Montreal, 183°; called Onontio, 183°.
Montour, Captain, destroys Dela-
Ware towns, 326°.
Montour, Madame, brought to Onon-
daga, 262°; French try to have
settle in Canada, 266°; interpreter,
272°; daughter Margaret, 275°; hus-
band killed, 275’; at Lancaster
council, 283°.
succeeded
Rost |
449
Montour, Andrew, goes to Onon-
daga, 285°, 207‘; council at Logs-
town, 296".
Montour, Catharine, mentioned, 359’,
375
Montour, Esther,
360", 375°. |
Montour, Margaret, 275°.
Montour, Mary, 375°.
Montour family, 258°, 375°.
Montreal, Algonquins present at
founding of, 152’; site selected in
TO4TA +2183 3, « pxeinioncedy 190° 5
Iroquois attacks on, 235°; fighting
at, 236.3. tamiine, 230 ; .treaty:, be-
tween French and Iroquois, 254°;
council at, 255°,.:203, 300’, 350 ;
conference between De Vaudreuil
and Senecas, 304°; deputies to,
309"; surrender, 317’.
Montreal expedition,
Indians on, 317°-18".
Montreal Island invaded, 280”.
Moor, Rev. Thoroughgood, men-
tioned, 346°.
Moravian Indian towns, British at
Detroit not favorable to, 370’.
Moravian Indians, opposed by Brant,
373'; Brant speaks in behalf of, 374°.
Moravians, at Onondaga, 2857, 294°,
297°, 299'-300°; work among Iro-
quois, 285°; in Dutchess county,
204°.
Morgan, L. H., cited, 129°; on Iro-
quois clans, 144°; on meaning of
name Cayuga, 162°; on Seneca
name of Iroquois, 165%.
Morgan’s map of Hodenosauneega,
explanation of, 410°-12°.
Morris, Governor, sends belt to On-
ondaga, 302°; presents Teedyus-
cung with belt, 312”.
Morris, Thomas, description of Red
Jacket, 382°.
Morse, Rev. Jedidiah, cited,
report on Iroquois, 384”, 384°.
Moseley, Rev. Eleazar, mentioned,
348°.
Mount Johnson, council fire removed
to, 303%.
mentioned, 350",
number of
1209:
450
Mountain, village of, attacked, 230°.
Mountaineers, 163°.
Muller, Max., on Mohawk language,
130°.
Munro, Rev. Henry, mentioned, 347’.
Munseys, 138°; council with, 314°.
Musical instruments, 141*.
Myths of Iroquois, 132°.
Naharuke, fort of, 263°.
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Niregouentaron, 225%.
- Nomadic nations, 139°.
Normanskill, treaty at, 172”.
Northern Indians, power of, 323°.
Nouveé, Father Anne de, visit to
Hurons, 177.
Numbering by sticks, 181°.
O’Callaghan, E. B., cited, 130°
Nanfan, Lieutenant Governor, men- |
tioned, 250°; conference with the |
Five Nations, 256°; gifts to Indians,
261°.
Nanticokes, other names and terri-
tory, 130°; tributaries to Iroquois,
257°, 324°; adopted by Iroquois,
290°; go to Wyoming, 292*; go to
Otsiningo, 299°; king dead, 307°.
National devices, 164°.
Necariages, 138".
Neutrality, efforts for, 382”.
Neutrals, territory, 131°, 135°; with-
draw frontier towns, 176°; towns,
177°, 182°, 197°; visits of Brébeui
and Chaumonot to, 181°; strength,
18i°; poor boatmen, 181°; same as
Kahkwahs, 181°; southern bound-
ary, 181°; and Eries, boundary be-
tween, 182°; village destroyed,
192°; destroyed, 196°-97°.
New Jersey, represented at council at
Albany, 243°.
New York, represented at council at
Albany, 243°.
Newtown, burned, 364% See also
Elmira.
Nez Percés, 136.
Niagara, French forts at, 233°, 264°- |
65', 265°, 271°; Ottawas at, 258°;
French posts, 258°; Seneca village
at, 265°; English forts at, 266°,
271°; fur trade, 276°; siege of, 317°;
soldiers destroyed near, 322°; carry- |
ing place at ceded to English, 326; |
councils at, 326°, 376°; number of |
Indians at, 368°.
Nicariages at Albany, 260°.
Nipissings, 130°.
Nipissiriniens, 139°.
Occum, Rev. Samson, mentioned,
348°.
Ochateguins, 135°, 168°.
Ochionagueras, 201°.
Ochoueguen, 227°.
Odislastagheks, 139°.
Odongaowa, on the English side,
242%.
Oel, Rev. John Jacob, mentioned,
347°.
Offerings, 132".
Ogden Land Co., 385°.
Ogdensburg, fort on site of, 291°
Ogeratarihen, 225.
Ogilvie, Rev. John, missionary
among Mohawks, 305°, 347*
Oheknugh, slain, 377’.
Ohio, warnings to French in, 290°.
Ohio Indians, peace treaty, 327*.
Ohio lands, Indian claims, 296°-07-.
Ohio river, French on, 292°; Iro-
quois on, 293°; Indians murdered
on, 328°
Oil Spring reservation, 386°.
Oil springs, 270°.
Ojibwas, other names, 138°. See also
Far Indians. F
Old Belt, see Belt.
Onagogare, to succeed the Bunt,
4
344".
Oneida, destroyed, 248*; Scarrooyady
at, 302°; fort, 305.
Oneida lake, fort proposed at, 258°;
forts on, 315°.
Oneida portage, storehouses at, 303".
Oneida stone of 1796, 160°.
Oneidas, origin, 133°, 134%, 135°
clans, 144°; advent of, 147°; chiefs,
154°, 157°-58'; related to Mohawks,
160°; home before migration, 160‘;
early seat, 160°; language, 160°;
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS A5I
council name, 161°; Delaware
name, 161*; symbols, 164°, 338°;
younger brother, 164°; strong fort,
170°; defeated by Hurons, 181*; in-
censed against Hurons, 188’; en-
counter with Hurons, 191"; seize a
Frenchman, 200°; numbers, 210°,
ear 277°,' 201, ° 384", 384",0°384",
385°; send party against Ottawas,
214°; deputies sent to Canada in
June 1666, 217°; town near Oneida
creek, 224°; captains killed, 230°;
battle with, 239°; send Tareha to
Canada, 242’; burned, 248°; emi-
erants to Canada, 248°; send
messenger to French, 251°; losses,
252°; would not return prisoners,
255°; French agents sent to, 260°;
order Shawnees to. return east,
274°; at Quebec, 302*; send deputies
to Montreal, 309‘; friendly to
French, 310°; give up medals,
scalps and belts, 310°; half favor
French, 311°; conference with
Cherokee chiefs, 311°; council with,
318°; villages, 324*; in a primitive
state, 338°; opposed to war, 354°;
burn Iroquois towns, 361°; go over
to English, 368'; go to white set-
tlements, 369°; number employed
by English, 371°; secured in pos-
session of lands, 372", 378"; reser-
_ vation acknowledged, 378°; special
treaty avith, 378°; tract in Wis-
consin, 370°; go to Wisconsin,
384°; in Wisconsin, number, 384°;
in Oneida and Madison counties,
386°.
Onioen, 162°.
-Onioenronons, early name of Cay-
ugas, 162°.
Oniouenhronons, 170°.
Onjadarakte, fort at, 234%.
Onoiochrhonons, 170°.
Onondaga, French embassy to, 2043;
comucils’ at; 208", 236", 2377)" 242",
251252. 202°, 202° 280+) 305°, 305°,
310°, 319°, 330°, 344", 376"; removed
to new site, 226*; English agents
at, 238°, 251°; blacksmith at, 238°,
240°; English fort at, 2427; western
nations refuse to join expedition
dagwainst, ' 246°; ° invaded, 2477:
burned, 247°; French agents at,
251°; English fort proposed, 252’,
Bao ineyn. 262° 1/263") 266°, (3057s
French embassy at, 253°; fort
opposed by Albany people, 253°;
Jesuit chapel at, 256°; French fort
proposed, 2617, 264°, 20947, 206°;
English embassy at, 263°; embassy
to, 285°; Moravians at, 294°, 2090’;
French party at, 297°; salt from,
353°; few Indians at, 376°; declara-
tion of war at, 383%.
Onondaga country, Romer’s map,
9
253°.
Onondaga lake, league formed at,
166'; French colony at, 204*; re-
ception of French colony at, 206°;
mission buildings on, 206°, 207%;
Johnson buys, 2096*; council at,
7
307 .
Onondaga lands, French grant of,
206’; sales, 379°.
Onondaga name of Iroquois, 165°.
Onondaga _ reservation, 386°; ack-
nowledged, 378°.
Onondagas, origin, 133°, 135°; early
home, 133°, 161°; clans, 1347, 144°-
45°, 145°; advent of, 147°; on date
of Iroquois league, 149*; chiefs,
154°, 158, 390°; meaning of name,
161*; council name, 161°; change in
location, 161°; symbols, 164°, 164‘;
elder brother, 164°; fire keepers,
have casting vote, 164°; attacked
by Hurons, 192’; embassy to
Hurons, 193°; ambassador’s action,
193’; peace embassy to Montreal,
199°; jealous of Mohawks, 205°;
plot against French, 209°; num-
bersy 210", 224", 277 201, 324° 384
2047 9385, 385°; “attacked by
Hurons on the Ottawa, 211°; peace
proposal, 212*; peace embassy at-
tacked, 216°; one large unwalled
town, 224°; attack the Illinois,
225°, 230°; Susquehanna lands,
229°; proposals to Governor
452
Howard of Virginia and Governor
Dongan, 231°; deputies to Canada,
243°; burned at Montreal, 247’;
tortured, 247’; stop
249°; peace embassy to Canada,
249°; surprised by Algonquins,
249°; chiefs killed, 249°; send mes-
senger to French, 251°;
252°; French partizans
emigration,
losses, |
among, |
253°; conference with, 254%, 318°; |
return prisoners, 255°; reputation |
as “men of business,” 255’; mis-
sionaries sent to, 255°; in Virginia,
258'; did not wish war, 259°;
French agents sent to, 260°; con-
sent to French fort at Niagara, |
271°; at conference in Philadel-
_ phia, 275°; embassy to French,
278°; go to see Governor de Beau-
harnois, 280°;
289°; poverty, 290°; chiefs at Phila-
delphia, 292°; French influence,
294°; claim Ohio lands, 296°; at
Oswegatchie, 300°; at Quebec, 302°;
send deputies to Montreal, 309°;
conference at .Montreal, 300°;
neutral, 310°, 362°; come to Fort
Johnson, 311°; villages, 324°;
name they call themselves, 338’;
death of chiefs, 353°; some hostile,
360° ;
towns destroyed, 363°; number em-
ployed by English, 371°.
Onontaerrhonons, 179°.
Ononwaragon, death condoled, 273%.
Onowaragon, speaks at conference, |
280".
Oquagas, controlled by Iroquois,
smallpox among, ~
269°; will go to war, 287°; on |
English side, 311°; liturgy used by, |
348°; mentioned, 353%, 361%.
Oratory, 143°.
Oreaoue’, going to Montreal, 228°;
captured, 232°; sides with French,
239", 239°, 243°; religious fervor,
250°; death, 250°.
Oriskany, battle of, 356°.
Ornaments, 140°; of European make,
1527.
Oronkouaia, 181°.
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Osborne, Gov. Danvers, death, 298”.
Ostanghaes, controlled by Iroquois,
269%.
Qstiagaghroones, 138”.
Oswegatchie, French troops go to,
297°; settlement broken up, 303°.
Oswegatchie Indians, 300‘; give up
English medals to French, 302*;
wish to return to Onondaga, 315°;
numbers and villages, 324".
Oswegatchie river, fort, 291°.
Oswego, first mention, 227°; found-
ing of, 270°; fort built at, 272’,
280°; trade, 292°, 300°; deserters
from, 305°; road to, 308’; surrender
of, 308; massacre at, 308; re-
occupied, 314°; councils at, 328’,
350°, 354°; St Leger’s council, 355°;
attempt to capture, 370°.
Oswego Falls, first fort of Onon-
dagas at, 133°; fort proposed at,
258°, 308'; Englishmen at, 271°;
battle at, 308°; fort built at, 316°.
Oswego river, first European de-
scent, 2027; fort on, 315°.
Otatshehteh, 156’.
Oteroughyanento, speaks, 351°.
Otschiniata, 328°, 344°. See also
Bunt.
_ Otsiningo, council with Delawares,
detained at Niagara, 362°; |
306°; Indians from, 340°.
Ottawa river, closed by Iroquois
bands, 186*; Hurons and French
attacked by Onondagas,.211°; de-
serted, 212°.
Ottawas, other names, 138°; take 13
Senecas, 200°; war with Mohawks,
209"-10'; Mohawks and Oneidas
sent party against, 214°; captured
by Senecas, 220°; reprisals, 220°; .
attempted attack on, 227°; alliance
with desired, 230°; trade, 230°, 231°,
231°; propose joining Iroquois,
245°; break peace, 246°; still hostile,
254°; treachery, 257°; peace with
Iroquois, 257°; at Fort Frontenac
and Niagara, 258°; covenant with
English, 260°; ready to fight
against French, 288°; war with
Mississagas, 299°; ambassadors at
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
Onondaga, 253°; “attitude toward
Iroquois and English, 253*; Iro-
quois join English against, 324°.
Ottrawana, mentioned, 288°.
Ouaroronon, 177%.
Oucanastota, 332”.
Ouenrohronons, go to Hurons, 181°. |
Oitioenrhonons, 170°.
Oumiamis, 138°.
Oundiaga, escaped, 377’.
Ounontisaston, 177’.
Outagamis, 139°; unite with Iroquois
and English, 245".
Owego burned, 364°.
Owenagungas, 138’.
Oyadagaono, 130°.
Palatine, damage at, 368°; prisoners
taken at, 370°.
Palatines, come to New York, 267’.
Parish, Jasper, interpreter, 143°; re-
port on Iroquois, 384°.
Parker, Ely S., mentioned, 390°.
Parkman, Francis, cited, 130°, 181°.
Parsons, Major, describes Teedyus-
cung, 300°.
Peace dance, 188’.
Peach-stone game, 141°.
Peach Town, destroyed, 366°.
Penn, William, Susquehanna lands
granted to, 230°; letter, 256°; buys
land of Conestogas, 267°.
Pennsylvania, council at Conestoga,
260°; Indian lands, 267*, 276°; com-
plaints of squatters, 292°; land
treaty, 301°; relations with Iro-
quois, 274°; declares war on Dela-
wares, 306°; conferences with
Iroquois, 306°; Easton council,
309°; and Maryland, division line,
329°; Indians murdered in, 331°;
commissioners, 372%.
Pennsylvania Indians tribute to On-
ondagas, 259°; ruled by Iroquois,
par ee
Penobscot Indians, attacked by Mo-
hawks, 214°.
Perrot, Nicholas, story of national
origin, 133°.
Peter, mentioned, 368”.
|
453
Petrée, Bishop de, Gara-
kontie’, 221°.
Petty, John, mentioned, 342’.
Petuns, 135°, 137°; withdraw frontier
towns, 176°; visit of missionaries
to, 177'; not allowed to trade with
French, 181’; attacked by Iroquois,
baptizes
196'; destroyed, 196°; grief of,
196°. See also Tionontaties.
Philadelphia, councils, 244°, 256%,
257', 272", 274", 275', 275, 270, 281",
318°; Iroquois embassy to, 285%,
352°; Senecas in, 360°, 373; Iro-
quois chiefs at, 375°.
Physicians, 388".
Pickering, Col. Timothy, council at
Elmira, 374°.
Picquet, Abbé Francois, builds strong
fort, 279°: at) Fort ,Saratoga; 286°;
mission, 291°; eulogy, 292°; men-
tioned, 293°.
Pierron, Father Jean, with Mo-
hawks, 219', 220°; retired, 228°.
Pieskaret, Simon, defeated, 185°;
successful expedition in 1645, 187°;
exploits and death, 191°.
Pinetree chiefs, 155%.
Pioneers, trouble with, 341°.
Pipestone from western
227°
Pipestone calumet, 246°.
Pittsburg, conferences at, 317°.
Point Rockaway, 317".
Pointe aux Iroquoise, 317’.
Poisoning, stories of, 252°.
Pollard, Capt., Seneca chief, 383°.
Poncet, Father, taken prisoner, 1997;
adopted, 199°; released, 199%.
Pontiac, hostilities, 320°, 325°; Iro-
quois join English against, 324°;
met by George Croghan, 327°;
council with Johnson, 328°; goes
home, 320°.
Post, mentioned, 2957.
Potomac, Indian name, 269°.
Pottery, 140°.
Pouchot, M., cited, 130°; on origin of
Iroquois, 133’; commands Fort
Levis, 317°.
Indians,
454
Pouchot’s map of 1758, explanation
of, 406°.
Poulain, Father William, prisoner to
Iroquois, 177°; visit to Hurons,
tFF
Powder and lead, sold only to the
Iroquois, 223°; use by Indians,
322".
Praying Indians, Canadian, 243°,
253. See also Caughnawagas.
Presque Isle, blockhouse taken, 321°;
sold to Pennsylvania, 377°.
Prideaux, General, leaves for Ni-
agara, 316°; killed, 317°.
Prisoners, see Captives.
Proctor, Col. Thomas, cited, 130°;
journal, 374°.
Progress of Indians, 391°-92*.
Protestant missions, 346°-47°.
Pyrlaeus, John Christopher, chron-
ology, 148°; account of formation
of Iroquois league, 154°; on rela-
tionship of nations, 164°; on treaty
between Dutch and Iroquois, 173°;
among the Mohawks, 294°-95°.
Quackack, 370°.
Quaksies, 139°.
Quatoghies, 137°.
Quebec, councils at, 200°, 280%, 302°;
massacre of Algonquins, 210‘;
blockaded by 700 Iroquois, 211°;
surrender, 317°.
Rasle, Father, killed, 270°.
Rat, the, 235°.
Red Head, speech, 298*; Onondaga
speaker, 303°, 303*; death, 306°.
Red Jacket, eloquence of, 143°;
speaker, 167°; mentioned, 379°; de-
scription of, 382°.
Religion, new, prophet of, 380°.
Religious belief of Iroquois, 131",
220°.
Religious instruction, 330°, 335’.
See also Missions.
Religious troubles, 346’.
Reservations, present, 386°.
Residence land deed, 271".
Rhiierrhonons, 193°.
]
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Rice, Rev. Asaph, mentioned, 348%.
River Indians, other names, 138°;
taken to England, 260°; friendly,
gaat
Road from Mohawk river to Oneida
lake, 274%.
Roanoke, Indian name, 269°.
Rode the Mohawk, at council at Al-
bany, 243°.
Romer, Colonel, at Onondaga, 253°.
Romer’s map of 1700, explanation
of, 402".
Ross, Major, damage south of the
Mohawk, 370%.
Rotinonsionni, 165°.
Royal Blockhouse, built, 316°.
Royal Grant, 329°.
Rundt, Gottfried, goes
daea; 207":
Ruttenber, E. M., cited, 130°, 138°.
to Onon-
Sachems, of league, 154°; allotment
of, 154°; names and meanings,
157°; raising, 164", 292°, 303°; how
chosen, 164’, 339°; go to Shawnees,
275°; Canadian, raised) ates
dinner for, by invitation of Mary-
land commissioner, 283°; authority,
339°; chief sachem called king,
339°; at Philadélphia, 375%.
Saco Indians, 138%.
Sacrifices, 131°.
Sacs, 130°.
Sadekanaghtié, presides at Onon-
daga council, 2377; at Albany
council, 243°; death, 255'; signs
land deed, 272’.
Sagard, Gabriel, cited, 130°; visit to
Hurons, 177°.
Saghsidowa, sent to Onondaga, 282°.
Sagochiendaguete’, 200", 213".
Sagogehyata, 342".
Sagohandechty killed by Shawnees,
276°.
Sagoyewatha, description of, 382°.
St Clair, Gen., treaties, 373°;
feat, 374".
St Francis Indians, 138°.
St Francis Xavier a la Prairie de la
Magdeliene, mission of, 220%.
de-
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
St Francois Xavier du Sault, 225°.
St Ignace, destroyed, 194”.
St Johns, attack on, 351°.
St Joseph, attacked and taken, 1094".
St Lawrence, Iroquois residence on,
149, 152°; ancient inhabitants,
150°; closed by Iroquois bands,
186'; hostilities on, 196°; upper,
described for first time, 201°.
St Leger, on his way to Oswego,
355°; march, 355°; retreat, 357°.
St Louis, destroyed, 195°.
St Mary of Ganentaa, mission of,
200".
St Michel, escaped, 242”.
St Regis, 317°.
St Regis Indians, land sales, 379°;
number, 384°, 385°, 385°; one of the
Seven Nations of Canada, 390".
St Regis reservation, 317°, 387’.
Sakena, speaks at conference at Al-
bany, 260°.
Salt springs, 201°.
Sandy creek, early home of Onon-
dagas, 133°.
Sankhicani, 161°.
Sanson’s map of 1656, explanation
of, 390°.
Saonchiogwa,
baptized, 221°.
Saponies, branch of Catawbas, 130°;
adopted by Iroquois, 290°.
Saratoga, see Fort Saratoga.
Sassacus, killed, 180’.
Sassoonan, Delaware chief, 273°.
Satanas, 138°, 150°.
Sategariouaen, commands Fort Levis,
Bilge
Sault Chaudiére, 186°.
Sauteurs, 138°; defeat Mohawks and
Oneidas, 214°.
Scalp belt, western, 320°.
Scalp: bounty, 245°, «285°, 2887,,- 300°,
313.
Scaniadarighroones, adopted by Iro-
quois, 290°.
Scanonaenrat, surrendered, 195°.
4
Cayuga) chief, - 212°;
Scarrooyady, speaker at Lancaster, |
290°; warnings to French in Ohio, |
299°; becomes Half King, 301°-2’;
455
report, 302°; with Braddock, 304°;
favors 306°; at Onondaga
lake council, 307°.
Schaghticoke, settlement at, 237’.
Schaghticoke Indians, 138; go with
Schuyler, 239°; at Boston, 2609".
Schebosch, goes to Onondaga, 285”.
Schenectady, bought from the Mo-
hawks, 214°; capture of, 236°.
Schoharie valley, invaded, 359°, 360°.
Schonendoh, mentioned, 368°.
Schoolcraft, Henry R., cited, 130°;
on origin of Oneidas, 134*; finds
Eels among Tuscaroras, 146*; on
date of Iroquois league, 149°; on
date of destruction of Kahkwahs,
181°; report on Iroquois, 384.
Schools, see Education.
Schuyler, Abraham, at Onondaga,
3
259°.
Schuyler, David A., commissioner at
Oswego, 275°.
Schuyler, Capt. John, sent to Onon-
daga, 251°.
Schuyler, Myndert, goes to Senecas,
266°.
Schuyler, Peter, heads expedition
against French, 239*; goes to aid
of Mohawks, 241°; on cannabilism
of Mohawks, 241°; brother, 245°;
sent to Canada, 250°; ambassador
to French, 251°; opposes Onondaga
fort, 253°; entertains Sadeganak-
tie, 255°; at Onondaga, 255%, 261’;
sends belts to Canadian Iroquois,
257°; takes Indians to England,
260°; destroys French fort, 261°.
Schuyler, Peter, jr, sent to Seneca
country, 268%.
war,
Schuyler, Philip, sent to Senecas,
Paya
Schuyler, Gen. Philip, chosen fire
keeper, 351; mentioned, 352°; averse
to employing Indian aid, 3537;
letter to, 360°.
Scioto, councils at, 337°, 340°, 340°
Seaver, James E., cited, 130%.
Sedentary nations, 139°, 170°.
Seneca name of Iroquois, 165%.
-Senecas,
456
origin, 133°,
serpent story, 134°; Iroquois known
to Dutch as Maquas_and, 135°,
159’; clans, 144°; manner of advent,
147°; last to join alliance, 148";
date of joining league, 149°;
chiefs, 154°, 158, 390°; removals
from exposed to secluded situa-
tions, 161°; lake of, 162°; nations
first called, 162°; numbers, 163’,
210°, 224", 277 291", 324", 384",
280°: >terrmtory, “63, 16s, 277".
common name Algonquin, 163°;
Delaware name, 163°; council
name, 163°; symbols, 164°; elder
brother, 164°; kill ambassadors
sent to Mohawks, 175°; defeat
Hurons, 178°; war with Hurons,
1817, 193°; destroy Kahkwahs,
181°-82?; destroy Neutral village,
192°; war with Eries, 2037; tradi-
134 G35; |
tion. of Erie war, 203°; almost at |
war with Mohawks, 205*; trouble
with Mohawks settled by arbitra-
tion, 208°; come to Fort Orange,
211°; capture Ottawas, 220°;
dictionary, 221°; wish to exter-
minate Susquehannas, 223°; towns,
224°, 324°; continue to send bands
against the Illinois, 225°; one
killed by Illinois visitors, 226°; go
against the Miamis, 232°; attacked
by French, 233°; towns abandoned,
233°; towns taken possession of by
De Nonville, 233°; making snow-
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
embassy to, 266°; chief sachem,
268°; blacksmith among, 270°, 290°;
order Shawnees to return east, ~
274°; chief killed by Shawnees,
275°-76°; go to’ see Governor de
Beauharnois, 280°; war with Cataw-
bas, 281’, 293°, 312°; famine among,
281°; epidemic among, 286°; send
wampum to English, 288"; friend-
ship for English, 288°; invade
Montreal, 289°; expel Joncaire,
290°; chiefs at Philadelphia, 2927,
373°; from Ganuskago, 305%;
women at councils, 306°; at Ni-
agara, 300°; neutral, 310°, 377°;
come to Fort Johnson, 3117; con-
ference with Cherokee chiefs, 311°;
fight against Catawbas and
English, 312°; hostile, 321°; kill
English soldiers, 322°; peace with,
326°, 326°; council with Johnson,
335°; most numerous of Iroquois,
339°; two released, 342°; union belt
placed with, 345°; seven condemned
to death, 345°; in Philadelphia,
360°; towns burned, 365°; join Sir
John Johnson in Schoharie valley,
369°; number employed by English,
371°; towns visited by Colonel
Proctor, 374*;' boundaries settled,
378°; treaties, 379°; at battle of
Tippecanoe, 382°; aid in defense of
Buffalo, 383’; west of the Mis-
Sissippi, number, 384°; religious
division, 385°; land sales, 385".
Sepulture, 141°.
Sergeant, Rev. John, mentioned, 347°.
Severance, Frank H., cited, 130°
Seyffert, Anton, mentioned, 295%.
S’ganatees, 297%.
Shadekaronyes, 156°.
Shamokin (Pa.), fort at) Qi
council at, 335°.
Shamokin lands, 301°.
Shaounons, 138°.
shoes, 239°; harassed by western
Indians, 239°; war with Miamis,
245°; killed by western Indians,
249°; killed by Dowaganhaes, 252’;
losses, 252°; conference with, 254°;
Joncaire goes to, 254°; return
prisoners, 255°; missionaries sent
to, 255°; side with French, 259°;
chiefs at Conestoga council, 260°;
covenant with English, 260°; return
with Delawares, 262°; under | Shawnees, other names, 138°; driven
French influence, 2627; council at off, 150°; at war, 261°, 343°; con-
Montreal, 263°; council with trolled by Iroquois, 269°; rebuked
Governor Vaudreuil, 265°, 304°; vil- by Iroquois, 269’, 340°; called
lage at Niagara, 265°; English women, 272°; ordered to return
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
east, 274°; favor the French, 275°;
kill a Seneca chief, 275°-76°; dis-
satisfied with land sales, 276°;
lands, 277°; proposed removal,
281'; go to Wyoming, 292*; at
Philadelphia, 292°; bring wampum
to Iroquois, 293°; hostile to I[ro-
quois, 304°; at Onondaga lake
council, 307°; treaty with Iroquois,
308°; conference with Johnson,
308*; in Ohio, trouble with French,
312°; owned no land, 341°; at On-
ondaga, 344°; proposals refused,
344°; message to, 344°; at peace,
345°; number, 384°.
Shea, John Gilmary, cited, 130°, 183°;
possible error in use of Garakon-
tie’’s name, 213°; on murderer of
Le Maitre, 214°.
Sheoquaga, destroyed, 365°.
Shikellimy, viceroy over Susque-
hanna Indians, 272°; resides among
Shawnees, 273°; sent to Senecas,
274°; agent between the Six
Nations and Pennsylvania, 275°;
comes to Philadelphia, 275°;
agent for Iroquois and _ whites,
276°; at Onondaga, 277°, 282°, 285°;
son killed by Catawbas, 284°;
sick, 289°; death, 2927; sons with
the Delawares, 309°; three sons
survived him, 342°.
Shikellimy, John, mentioned, 301°, 342°.
Shirley, General, plans, 304’.
Simcoe, Governor, kept hostile feel-
ings alive, 377°.
Sioux chief, mentioned, 245°.
Skandawati, suicide, 193%.
Skaniadarighroonas, 130°.
Skannayutenate, 3667.
Skenandoah, mentioned, 368°.
Skoiyase, destroyed, 365°, 366*.
Slaves, held by Iroquois, 2017.
Sleds, 140°.
Sloughter, Governor, conference with
Five Nations, 238’; on importance
of holding Albany, 239.
Smallpox, in Philadelphia,
among Mohawks, 287°;
Onondagas, 280°.
BIO:
among
457
Smith, Rev. Mr, mentioned, 346°.
Smith, Rev. C. J., mentioned, 348*.
Smith, William, cited, 130°; de-
scribed council at Onondaga, 236';
on Albany council, 285°.
Snow snake, 141%.
Snowshoes, 140°.
Snyder, Capt. Jeremiah, cited, 354’.
Sokokis, 138°.
Sokoquois, 138°.
Soldiers, Union, 390°.
Songs, 142”.
Sonnontouan, 163°.
Sonnontouehronons, 162", 163°.
Sonontoerrhonons, 179°.
Sorel, Capt. de, attacks Mohawks,
aT7”.
Sorel, forts on, 183°.
Southern Indians, war with, 278°;
covenant with, 280°.
Sovereignties, Indian nations recog-
nized as, 388°.
Soyeghtowa, 342°
Spangenberg, goes to Onondaga,
285°; mentioned, 2957.
Spencer, Rev. Elihu, mentioned, 347’.
Springfield, destroyed, 359°.
Squawkie Indians, traditional over-
throw, 182%.
Squekaneronons, 139°.
Squier, E. G., on derivation of name
Seneca, 163”.
Steel Trap, 383°.
Stenton, council at, 276°.
Stephens, Arent, sent to Oswego,
292°; sent to Iroquois, 208°;
danced the war dance, 303°.
Stockbridge Indians, friendly, 351°;
special treaty with, 378’; number,
384".
Stone, William L., cited, 130°; on
Brant, 352’; on Red Jacket, 382°;
on Farmer’s Brother, 382°; on
Steel Trap, 383°.
Stone Arabia, massacre at, 360°.
Story-teller, 141°.
Stuart, Rev. John, in charge of Mo-
hawk mission, 336°, 347°; transla-
tions and revisions, 339°; Joseph
Brant his interpreter, 330°.
458
Stuyvesant, Governor, ransomed
Kennebec Indians, 214°-15*
Sullivan, General, expedition, 363°.
Susquehanna, deserted, 358.
Susquehanna lands, Gov.~ Dongan’s
action, 229; above Washinta,
sovereignty over, 231°; claims to,
269°; Canassatego on, 277°.
Susquehanna river; mixed population |
in towns on, 325°; Iroquois towns
on, burned, 361°.
Susquehannas, 131°, 165°, 171°,
controlled by Iroquois, 269°; de-
serters among, 300. See also An-
Castes.
Swahyawanah, 366.
Swatana, viceroy over Susquehanna
Indians, 272°
Sweege, 25°.
Symbols, 164°.
Syracuse, Fronienac’s army camp at,
247 -
Tadodaho, 156°.
Taenhatentaron, destroyed, 194°.
Tagawarra, 333-
Taghneghtoris, 301°, 342°.
Tahaiodoris, death, 239°.
Tahontaenrat, 197.
Tanacharisson, the
Hali King,
warnings to French in Ohio, 299°; !
death, 301°
Tarachawagon, 281%.
Tareha, sent to Canada, 242°.
Tatotarho, 157*.
Tawachguano, 139°.
Tawasentha, treaty at, 172°.
Tayojaronsere, John, death, 364°.
Tchojachiage, 253°.
Teanaustaye’,
194°.
Tecarihoguen, 209°.
Teedyuscung, appearance, 309°; con-
cludes peace treaty, 312-137; re-
proved, 314°.
Tegahkwita, Catharine,
saint, 224°.
Teganissorens, 143°.
Tegaretwan, killed, 232°.
Troquois
attacked and taken,
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
Temperance societies, 381".
Teyawarunte, 322°, 328°, 343°
Teyohagweanda, 363°.
Theianoguen, invades Montreal, 289°
Thiohero, burned, 366.
Three Rivers, council at, 190°; en-
counter between Hurons and Iro-
quois,
French near, 196".
Tiachsochratota, 297*.
_ Ticonderoga, fort at, 234*; occupied
263°; |
by French, 309°.
Tinawatawa, 220°.
Tinondague, 224°.
Tiochrungwe, 297~.
Tionontaties, territory, 135°; visit =
missionaries to, 177; attacked by
Iroquois, 196; take 13 Semecas,
200°; ready to fight French, 283.
See also Petuns.
Tiotohatton, 224°.
Tioughnioga river, ascent of, 299°
T’kwentaheuhane, 139°.
Tobacco nation, 135. See also
Petuns.
Tochanuntie, mentioned, 282°; de-
scribed, 283°; speech, 283°.
Tockwoghs, 139%.
Toderichroone, 265°.
Todirighroones, : adopted by Iro-
quois, 290°.
Tokhrahenehiaron, _ sent
hawks, 183°.
Tomahawks, use of, 246%
Tonawanda reservation, 386".
Tonawandas, number, 385°; land
sale resisted, 38&.
Tondiharon, killed, 239°.
Toniata, Iroquois attacked by French
to Mo
at, 240°; number of warriors at,
277'; a noted resort, 317’.
Toratati, burned alive, 198.
Torskin, goes to Montreal, 243°.
Tortures, 187*, 195".
Totemic bond, 146.
Totems, on houses, 146.
Toteros, 139%.
Totiakton, 233°.
Totieronno, 331".
191°; Mohawks attack
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS
Towns, brief duration, 152°; reported
burning, 357°.
Tracy, M. de, builds forts, 216°; re-
ceives Dutch Bastard, 217°; makes |
expedition to Fort St.
another
Anne, 218°.
Trade, of Iroquois with Dutch, 177°; |
S20: 3.) |
also |
limitations,
See
English, 293°;
regulations, 320°-30°.
French trade.
Traversy, Captain de, killed, 217’.
Treaty, between Iroquois and Dutch
at Tawasentha, 172°; with Dutch,
210°; between Esopus Indians: and
Iroquois, 211°; between Iroquois
and English, 216°, 240°, 250°; be-
tween Dutch and Mohawks,
222; between Iroquois and
Maryland, 227°; between French
and Iroquois, 254*; between I[ro-
quois and Governor Keith, 269°;
between Caughnawagas and Iro-
quois, 280°; between Iroquois and
Catawbas, 284°, 295°; at Lancaster,
290°; in regard to Pennsylvania
lands, 301*; with Delawares and
Shawnees, 308°; of Fort Stanwix,
1784, 371°; settlement of boundary
line, 378°; of Fort Harmar, 378°;
of 1795, 378°, 379°.
Tributary nations, 231%.
’ Trico, Catelyn, evidence in connec-
tion with French and English
claims, 173°.
Tryon, Governor, on number of Iro-
quois, 342%.
Tsonnontouans, 163°, 164%.
Tuscarora creek, Johnson
indians ‘at; 331°.
Tuscarora reservation, 387'.
Mtisearoras’ 135, 136°; origin,’ 1337;
clans, 145°; date of joining con-
federacy, 148°; chiefs, 158", 390°;
adoption, 163°, 264*; name and
meaning, 163°; position in league,
163°-64; council name, 1647;
younger brother, 164°; present at
Conestoga council, 260°; at war
with Conestogas, 262°; settled
meets
459
southward, 263’; war with colon-
ists, 263; controlled by Iroquois,
269°; at Albany council, 260‘;
miMIner,, 2777, e044, 355°, 305 ;
towns, 297*, 324*; at Quebec, 302‘;
more come north, 329°; molested
in Pennsylvania, 329°; burn Iro-
quois towns, 361°; towns burned,
304°; go over to enemy, 368’;
number employed by English, 371’;
secured in possession of lands,
372°, 378; special treaty with,
378).
Tuteloes, 130%.
Twightwees, other names, 138°; war
with Iroquois, 234’.
Unadilla, full of
burned, 361°.
Unechtgo, 139”.
Ungquaterughiathe, 272°.
Union soldiers, 390°.
Upper Cayuga destroyed, 366°.
Utawawas, 138°.
Utrecht, peace of, 263°.
refugees, 358°;
Van Curler, Arent, comes in contact
with Onondagas, 161°; mentioned,
173°; sees Jogues among Mo-
hawks, 184°; on Oneidas, 161°;
trip to Oneida, 179°; drowned,
210%.
Van der Donck, Adriaen, cited, 130°,
189-90".
Van Epps, John Baptist, interpre-
ter, 251°; sent to Onondaga, 251°. -
Van Rensselaer, General, defeats
Sir John Johnson, 369”.
Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, Indian
lands bought by, 175°.
Vaudreuil, Governor de, council
wilt °“Seneeas, 250, 205°, 304°;
sends Joncaire to Iroquois country,
265°; report on Indian allies, 312°.
Venango (Pa.), fort captured at,
4
Vercheres, Mlle de, defends fort,
3
Vermont, Iroquois in, 151°.
460
Vessels called after Iroquois nations,
317°.
Viel, Father
Hurons, 177°.
Viele, Aernout Cornelisse, commis-
sion given to, 238°; sent to Onon-
daga, 251°; offends Onondagas,
220".
Vimont, Father, quoted, 186’.
Virginia, Indian name, 231°, 269°;
boundary in, 268°; lands, 276’, 284’;
Nicholas,
settles claims, 284°; fight with
Iroquois, 281”.
Virginia Indians, Senecas against,
268".
Visgher, Lieutenant, sent to Oswego,
288".
Vrooman, Captain, captured, 360°.
Wampum, use, 141°; meaning, 142*;
inventor, I55°; making, 177°; re-
stored to old Onondaga in 1847,
379°.
Wappingers, 138°; join Mohawks
‘against Mahicans, 219°.
War chiefs, 155°.
War dance of Iroquois, 287°.
Warwarsing, burned, 370°.
Washington, George,
312".
Wayne's victory, 377°.
Weapons, 140°.
Weas, 138°.
Weaving, 140°.
Webb, General, at Oneida portage,
308°.
Webster, Ephraim, cited,
Hiawatha legend, 155°.
Weiser, Conrad, official interpreter,
274°; adopted by Mohawks, 274°;
agent between the Six Nations
and Pennsylvania, 275°; agent for
Iroquois and whites, 276°; at On-
ondara,.. 2777,.) 282°,,...205, aor:
Indian account of, 281*; Iroquois
delegation at home of, 282‘; on
character of Catawbas, 284°-85°;
aids Shikellimy, 289*; sent to Logs-
town, 290°, 296°; councils with Iro-
mentioned,
149°;
visit to
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
quois, 291°; on French influence in
Onondaga, 204°; comes to the Mo-
hawks, 297°; at Albany council,
301*; death, 318°.
Weiser, Frederick, on death of
chief’s son, 335°
Weiser, Samuel, succeeds Conrad
Weiser, 318°.
Wessel, Dirck, at Onondaga, 242";
ambassador to French, 251°.
Western Indians, hostile, 245°;
trouble with, 257°, 277°; at Oswego,
292°
326°, 373, 375°; reproved, 337’;
summoned to Onondaga, 341°;
loyal, 352".
Wheelock, Rev. Eleazer, on Indian
education, 319°, 348°; Indian school,
324°.
White river, Iroquois settlement at,
282°.
Wilkins, General, quoted, 377°.
Willett, Col. Marinus, in command,
370; attacked and defeated an
Indian force, 370°; defeats Butler,
370°; attempt on Oswego, 370°.
Williams, Colonel, killed, 303°.
Williams, Roger, cited, 130°; on
reputed cannibalism of Mohawks,
150°.
Williamsburg, council at, 265%.
Wills, 380°.
Wilson, James Grant, cited, 130°.
Winsor, Justin, cited, 130°.
Winthrop, Governor, quoted, 207°.
Wolcott, Oliver, mentioned, 372°.
Wolves, 138%.
Women, influence of, 167*; children
follow mother’s clan, 167*; name
chiefs, 167*; speakers for, 167*;
owners of soil, 167°; double atone-
ment for their lives, 167°; peace-
makers, 244‘; at councils, 306°.
Wood creek, English forts, 260°.
Woodbridge, Timothy, mentioned,
347".
Woolley, Joseph, mentioned, 348°.
Worship, 141".
Wraxall, secretary to Johnson, 304".
; restive, 300°; councils with,
Fn. es _
INDEX TO HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 4061
W’Tassone, 161°. Zeisberger, David, cited, 130°, 374°;
Wyandots, 135°, 137°. mentioned, 144°; goes to Onon-
Wyoming, fraudulent purchase, 301°; daga, 2857, 204%, 2957, 207°, 200’,
land deed to be destroyed, 302’; 299°, 329°; on Brant and the Dela-
Connecticut people at, 320°; mas- wares, 373°; on Montour family,
sacre of, 350°. 375'; account of Delawares being
made warriors, 380°; on Mohawks
Yoghroonwago, destroyed, 367’. wishing war again, 380°
York, duke of, sovereignty over Zinzendorf, Count, quoted, 142;
Susquehanna lands, 231°. meeting with Iroquois chiefs, 282%.
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