Post Revolutionary War Iroquois

Post Revolutionary War Iroquois

Union of the Western Indian Tribes contemplated—Hostile influence of the agents of Great Britain in Canada—Ambitious project of Thayendanegea or Brant—Council at Tioga Point—Indian Ceremonies—Visit of Cornplanter and others at the seat of government—Kindly feeling of Washington—Fresh occasion of trouble.

When Red Jacket, at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1784, projected the bold idea of the union of all the Indian tribes on the continent, to resist the aggressions of the whites, he may not have thought it would soon come near having a practical fulfillment. This thought grew out of the circumstances and necessities of the times, and was the natural forecast of a great mind. His words sank deep into the hearts of his people,—they were carried beyond the bounds of that council-fire,—they went gliding along with the light canoe that plied the Lakes,—and were wafted onward by the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi. Several causes contributed to give direction and force to this movement.

Prominent among them was the fact, that the treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1783, though it put an end to the war, did not secure friendly relations between the two countries. Hostile feelings had been engendered and were still cherished, particularly by those who had taken refuge in Canada, in the early part of the Revolutionary struggle. Some of them were very active in stirring up Indian hostilities among the tribes at the west.

But prominent above all others were the exertions of Thayendanegea, or Brant, the famous war-chief, from whose leadership the inhabitants of our frontier settlements had suffered so severely, during the war of the Revolution. Very soon after the treaty at Fort Stanwix in 1784, from the dissatisfaction growing out of that treaty, and other indications among the Indians, he began to entertain the ambitious project of forming a grand Indian confederacy, of which he would be chief, embracing not only the Iroquois, but all of the Indian nations of the great North-west. He had given the entire summer of 1785, to the business of visiting these nations, and holding councils among them, with a view to the furtherance of this object. [Footnote: See Stone's Life and Times of Brant, Vol. 2, p. 248.]

He visited England at the close of this year, "ostensibly for the purpose of adjusting the claims of the loyal Mohawks upon the crown, for indemnification of their losses and sacrifices in the contest, from which they had recently emerged." [Footnote: See Stone's Life and Times of Brant, Vol. 2, p. 248.]

… "Coupled with the special business of the Indian claims, was the design of sounding the British government, touching the degree of countenance or the amount of assistance which he might expect from that quarter, in the event of a general Indian war against the United States." [Footnote: Ibid.]

His arrival at Salisbury was thus noted in a letter from that place, dated December 12, 1785, and published in London. "Monday last, Colonel Joseph Brant, the celebrated King of the Mohawks, arrived in this city from America, and after dining with Colonel De Peister, at the head-quarters here, proceeded on his journey to London. This extraordinary personage is said to have presided at the late Grand Congress of Confederate chiefs, of the Indian nations in America, and to be by them appointed to the conduct and chief command in the war, which they now meditate against the United States of America. He took his departure for England immediately as that assembly broke up; and it is conjectured that his embassy to the British Court is of great importance." [Footnote: Life of Brant, Vol. 2, p. 249.]

No public, decisive answer, for obvious reasons, was given to this application for countenance and aid in the contemplated war, for this part of the errand of the Mohawk chief, was "unknown to the public at that day." [Footnote: Life of Brant, Vol. 2, p. 249.]

Captain Brant on his return to America in 1786, entered once more upon the work of combining the Indian forces, and assembled a grand confederate council, which was held at Huron village, near the mouth of Detroit River. [Footnote: It was attended by the Six Nations, the Hurons, Ottawas, Miamis, Shawanese, Chippewas, Cherokees, Delawares, Pottowattamies, and Wabash, confederates.]

An address to the Congress of the United States was agreed upon at this council, pacific in its tone, provided no encroachments were made upon their lands west of the Ohio river. This was their ultimatum previous to the war, in which they were afterwards united.

At the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States in 1783, it was stipulated that the military posts south of the great lakes should be surrendered. This surrender was refused, on the plea that the United States had not fulfilled an agreement on her part, to see the just claims, due the subjects of Great Britain, cancelled.

From certain correspondence at this time it appears that there were other reasons also, for the witholding of these forts. Their surrender was earnestly desired on the part of the United States, as it was well understood, they gave encouragement to the hostile combinations, that at this time were going on.

In a letter to Captain Brant by Sir John Johnson dated Quebec, March 22d, 1787, he says, "Do not suffer an idea to hold a place in your mind, that it will be for your interest to sit still and see the Americans attempt the posts. [Footnote: Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Mackinaw.] It is for your sakes chiefly, if not entirely, that we hold them. If you become indifferent about them, they may perhaps be given up; what security would you then have? You would be at the mercy of a people whose blood calls aloud for revenge; whereas, by supporting them, you encourage us to hold them, and encourage new settlements, already considerable, and every day increasing by numbers coming in, who find they can't live in the States. Many thousands are preparing to come in. This increase of his Majesty's subjects will serve as a protection to you, should the subjects of the States, by endeavoring to make further encroachments on you, disturb your quiet." [Footnote: Stone's Life and Times of Brant.]

Another letter soon after, by Major Mathews seems to confirm the above statements. "His Lordship [Footnote: Lord Dorchester, Governor General of Canada, formerly Sir Guy Carlton.] wishes them (the Indians), to act as is best for their interest; he cannot begin a war with the Americans, because some of their people encroach and make depredations upon parts of the Indian country; but they must see it is his Lordship's intention to defend the posts; and that while these are preserved, the Indians must find great security therefrom, and consequently the Americans greater difficulty in taking their lands; but should they once become masters of the posts, they will surround the Indians, and accomplish their purpose with little trouble." [Footnote: Life of Brant, Vol. 2, p. 271.]

Thus it is seen that those at the head of British affairs in Canada, while they studiously avoided coming into open collision with the United States, were viewing with satisfaction the gathering war-cloud, and were lending their influence to extend and intensify its threatening character.

The only course left for the United States was to prepare for the conflict; and while forces were being summoned to take the field, they were preceded by efforts of a pacific character.

A treaty was held with the Six Nations at Fort Harmar, on the Muskingum, in January, 1789, by Gen. St. Clair, in behalf of the United States, with a view to renew and confirm all the engagements, made at the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. Goods amounting to three thousand dollars were distributed among the Indians, after the satisfactory conclusion and signing of the treaty. [Footnote: Indian treaties.]

At the same time a treaty was concluded with the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottowattamie and Sac nations, and goods distributed among them amounting to six thousand dollars, for a relinquishment of their claim to western lands.

These negotiations were doubtless attended with a beneficial influence, but they could not arrest the tide of warlike feeling that had been created. Hostilities were continued throughout the long line of our frontier settlements, and two of the Senecas having been killed by some bordermen of Pennsylvania, a great excitement was awakened among them.

Our government, anxious to remove the new occasion of disaffection, immediately disavowed the act, sought to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice, and invited a friendly conference of the Iroquois at Tioga Point.

This council was convened on the sixteenth and remained in session until the twenty-third of November, 1790.

The chiefs in attendance at this council, and who took an active part in its deliberations, were Fish Carrier, Farmer's Brother, Hendrick, Little Billy and Red Jacket.

Colonel Pickering, as commissioner on the part of the United States, was present.

Red Jacket, their principal speaker, portrayed in a vivid and strong light, the sorrow they experienced, the injustice they had suffered, and the unpleasant feelings aroused among them. A large number of Indians were present, and were powerfully moved, and deeply affected by his speech.

Colonel Pickering, on the other hand, gave a very clear view of the facts in the case, showing conclusively the innocence of the government in the murder committed, and after a time succeeded in allaying the excitement, drying up their tears, and wiping out the blood that had been shed.

This council was enlivened by good cheer, and the observance of ceremonies common among the Indians.

Thomas Morris, who was present, was at this time adopted into one of their tribes. His father, Robert Morris of Philadelphia, having purchased of Massachusetts, in 1790, the pre-emptive right to that part of Western New York, not sold to Phelps and Gorham, sent his son, as preparatory to the negotiations he desired to make with the Indians, and for the general management of his business connected with the undertaking, to reside in Canandaigua. While here he was diligent in cultivating an acquaintance with the principal chiefs of the Iroquois confederacy, who resided in that region. In this he was successful, and soon became a general favorite among them. He was in attendance with Colonel Pickering at Tioga Point, where the Indians determined to adopt him into the Seneca nation, and Red Jacket bestowed upon him the name himself had borne, previous to his elevation to the dignity of Sachem; O-ti-ti-ani, "Always Ready." It is beautifully described by Colonel Stone, and is given in his language.

"The occasion of which they availed themselves to perform the cermony of conferring upon young Morris his new name, was a religious observance, when the whole sixteen hundred Indians present at the treaty, united in an offering to the moon, then being at her full. It was a clear night, and the moon shone with uncommon brilliancy. The host of Indians, and their neophite, were all seated upon the ground in an extended circle, on one side of which a large fire was kept burning. The aged Cayuga chieftain, Fish Carrier, who was held in exalted veneration for his wisdom, and who had been greatly distinguished for his bravery from his youth up, officiated as the high priest of the occasion;—making a long speech to the luminary, occasionally throwing tobacco into the fire, as incense. On the conclusion of the address, the whole company prostrated themselves upon the bosom of their parent earth, and a grunting sound of approbation was uttered from mouth to mouth, around the entire circle.

"At a short distance from the fire a post had been planted in the earth, intended to represent the stake of torture, to which captives are bound for execution. After the ceremonies in favor of Madam Luna had been ended, they commenced a war-dance around the post, and the spectacle must have been as picturesque as it was animating and wild. The young braves engaged in the dance were naked, excepting a breech-cloth about their loins. They were painted frightfully, their backs being chalked white, with irregular streaks of red, denoting the streaming of blood. Frequently would they cease from dancing, while one of their number ran to the fire, snatching thence a blazing stick, placed there for that purpose, which he would thrust at the post, as though inflicting torture upon a prisoner. In the course of the dance they sung their songs, and made the forests ring with their wild screams and shouts, as they boasted of their deeds of war, and told the number of scalps they had respectively taken, or which had been taken by their nation. During the dance those engaged in it, as did others also, partook freely of unmixed rum, and by consequence of the natural excitement of the occasion, and the artificial excitement of the liquor the festival had well nigh turned out a tragedy. It happened that among the dancers was an Oneida warrior, who in striking the post, boasted of the number of scalps taken by his nation during the war of the Revolution. Now the Oneidas, it will be recollected, had sustained the cause of the colonies in that contest, while the rest of the Iroquois confederacy, had espoused that of the crown. The boasting of the Oneida warrior therefore, was like striking a spark into a keg of powder. The ire of the Senecas was kindled in an instant, and they in turn boasted of the number of scalps taken from the Oneidas in that contest. They moreover taunted the Oneidas as cowards. Quick as lightning the hands of the latter were upon their weapons, and in turn the knives and tomahawks of the Senecas began to glitter in the moon-beams, as they were hastily drawn forth. For an instant it was a scene of anxious, almost breathless suspense, a death- struggle seeming inevitable, when the storm was hushed by the interposition of Old Fish Carrier, who rushed forward, and striking the post with violence, exclaimed 'You are all a parcel of boys. When you have attained my age, and performed the warlike deeds that I have performed, you may boast of what you have done; but not till then.'

"Saying which he threw down the post, put an end to the dance, and caused the assembly to retire. This scene in its reality must have been one of absorbing and peculiar interest. An assembly of nearly two thousand inhabitants of the forest, grotesquely clad in skins and strouds, with shining ornaments of silver, and their coarse raven hair falling over their shoulders, and playing wildly in the wind as it swept past, sighing mournfully among the giant branches of the trees above, such a group gathered in a broad circle of an opening in the wilderness, the starry canopy of heaven glittering above them, the moon casting her silver mantle around their dusky forms, and a large fire blazing in the midst of them, before which they were working their spells, and performing their savage rites, must have presented a spectacle of long and vivid remembrance." [Footnote: Stone's Life and Times of Sa-go-ye-wat-ha.]

This meeting conducted with evident good feeling, served much to allay the excitement and anger of the Senecas, and other tribes there represented, but the question concerning their lands, was still agitated and created dissatisfaction.

With a view to obtain some concession in their favor, Cornplanter, Half Town and Big Tree visited Philadelphia, which was at that time the seat of the general government, very soon after the council at Tioga Point. They were especially anxious to obtain the restoration of a portion of land south of Lake Erie, and bordering upon Pennsylvania, which was occupied by Half Town and his clan. They represented it as the land on which Half Town and all his people live, with other chiefs who always have been, and still are dissatisfied with the treaty at Fort Stanwix. "They grew out of this land, and their fathers grew out of it, and they cannot be persuaded to part with it. We therefore entreat you to restore to us this little piece."

This appeal, so simple and touching, was responded to by President Washington with great kindness. He reminded them that the treaty at Fort Stanwix had been fully confirmed at Fort Harmar in 1789, that it was not within his province to annul the provisions of a treaty, especially one that had been concluded before his administration commenced, yet he assured them that Half Town and his people, should not be disturbed, in the peaceful occupancy of the land in question.

From the friendly manner in which they were received and treated by the President, and the generous gifts bestowed, they returned home feeling satisfied that the ruler of the thirteen fires would do them no injustice, and they were hence better reconciled to the people he governed. Before leaving, however, they were engaged to go in company with Colonel Proctor, of the Indian Department, on an embassy of peace to the hostile tribes at the West, which was undertaken in the following spring.

On reaching their own country it was found that another outrage had been committed by a party of border-men, upon the Senecas at Beaver Creek, in the neighborhood of Pittsburg, in which three men and one woman were killed.

Cornplanter immediately sent runners with a dispatch to the government, informing them of the event, and with the earnest inquiry, "Our father, and ruler over all mankind, speak now and tell us, did you order those men to be killed?"

The secretary of war utterly disclaimed and denounced the transaction, promised them restitution, and that the offenders should be brought to justice. These times were so fruitful in difficulties, that ere one was healed another was created; yet our government by wise and prompt measures were after this successful, in securing peace with all of the Iroquois family within its borders.

About the Loss of Iroquois Lands in New York and Canada

About the Loss of Iroquois Lands in New York and Canada

Claim of the United States to Iroquois  Indian lands—Conflicting claims of different States—Difficulty settled—Attempt to acquire the land by a lease—Purchase by Phelps and Gorham—Further purchase by Robert Morris.

At the close of the war of the Revolution, the territory ceded by Great Britain to the United States, included large tracts of country occupied by the Iroquois Indians. In ceding these lands, she ceded only the right claimed by herself, on the ground of original discovery, which was simply a priority of right to purchase of the original occupants of the soil. The Iroquois Indians were allowed to dwell upon these lands, and were considered in a certain sense the owners, but were required in case of a sale, to dispose of them to the government. [Footnote: Kent's Commentary.]

As each State claimed to be sovereign in every interest not ceded to the general government, each State claimed the territory covered by its original charter. These charters, owing to great ignorance of geographical limits, created claims that conflicted with each other. From this source originated difficult questions about land titles and jurisdiction, between the States of Connecticut and Pennsylvania,—Massachusetts and New York. These difficulties which existed before, the greater question of the Revolutionary war suspended for a time, but when peace was concluded, they came up again for a consideration and settlement.

The way was in a measure prepared for this, by the relinquishment to the general government, on the part of New York in 1781, and of Massachusetts in 1785, of all their right to territory west of a meridian line drawn south, from the western end of Lake Ontario.

In the adjustment of these difficulties, Connecticut relinquished her claim to a tract of land on the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, called the Gore, and acquired that part of the State of Ohio called New Connecticut, or Western Reserve. And Pennsylvania obtained a tract of land lying immediately beyond the western boundary of the State of New York, and north-east of her own, embracing the harbor of Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, familiarly known as the Triangle, thus giving her access to the waters of this Lake.

The question in controversy between the States of New York and Massachusetts was more serious, owing to the large amount of territory claimed by the latter in western New York. It was brought to an amicable settlement, by Massachusetts surrendering to New York the right of jurisdiction, over all the land west of the present eastern boundary of the State; and by New York giving to Massachusetts the pre-emptive right, or right of purchasing of the Indians, all of the lands lying west of a meridian line drawn through Seneca Lake, from a certain point on the northern boundary of Pennsylvania, reserving however, a strip of land one mile in width, along the eastern shore of the Niagara river. Thus New York, while she retained the sovereignty, lost the fee of about six millions of acres of land, in one of the finest regions of country in the new world. [Footnote: For a more full account, see "Turner's History of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase."]

While these difficulties were being adjusted, a magnificent speculation was in progress, which bid fair to meet the expectations of its earnest projectors. A company was organized, called the New York and Genesee Land Company, with a view to obtain the entire tract of Indian lands within the State. To evade the law forbidding the sale of these lands to any party not authorized by the State, it was proposed to obtain them by a lease, that should extend nine hundred and ninety-nine years. A lease extending so long, was regarded as equivalent to a sale.

With a view to further its designs another company, the Niagara Genesee Company, was also formed in Canada, of those who were most in correspondence with the Indians, and who would be influential in securing from them a decision in favor of their object.

These organizations, especially the New York Land Company, were large, and included men of wealth and prominence, both in New York and Canada. With such appliances as they were enabled to bring to bear upon the Indians, they secured, in November, 1787, a lease for nine hundred and ninety- nine years, of all the lands of the Iroquois in the State of New York, except some small reservations, and the privilege of hunting and fishing, for an annual rent of two thousand dollars, and a promised gift of twenty thousand dollars.

The formidable character of these associations created a just alarm, and measures were immediately undertaken to circumvent their influence. An act was passed by the Legislature of New York, in March, 1788, authorizing the governor to disregard all contracts made with the Indians, and not sanctioned by the State; and to cause those who had entered upon Indian lands under such contracts, to be driven off, and their houses destroyed. The sheriff of the county was directed to dispossess intruders and burn their dwellings, and a military force was called out, that strictly enforced these orders.

Thus by the energetic action of Governor Clinton of New York, the designs of these organizations were overruled.

As early as 1784, the Legislature of New York had passed an act, appointing the governor, and a Board of Commissioners, the Superintendents of Indian affairs, and as there were other Indian lands within the State, not covered by the pre-emptive right of Massachusetts, these commissioners with the governor at their head, entered upon negotiations with a view of purchasing them, and securing a title to them for the State. [Footnote: The commissioners designated were: Abraham Cuyler, Peter Schuyler and Henry Glen, who associated with them Philip Schuyler, Robert Yates, Abraham Ten Broeck, A. Yates, Jr., P. W. Yates, John J. Beekman, Mathew Vischer, and Gen. Gansevoort.]

A council of the Iroquois was appointed for this purpose, at Fort
Schuyler, on the first of September, 1788.

The Leasees disappointed and angered by the bold and decisive measures taken against them, exerted their influence to prevent the Indians from assembling. But by measures equally energetic in its favor, a representation of the different tribes was obtained, and a treaty was concluded on the 12th, in which was conveyed to the State the land of the Onondagas; some reservations excepted, in consideration of one thousand dollars, in hand paid and an annuity of five hundred dollars forever.

Then followed negotiations with the Oneidas. Speeches were interchanged, propositions made and rejected, until finally an agreement was made, and a deed of cession executed by the chiefs, conveying all their lands, excepting certain reservations, in consideration of two thousand dollars in money, two thousand dollars in clothing and other goods, one thousand dollars in provisions, five hundred dollars for the erection of a saw and grist mill on their reservation, and an annuity of six hundred dollars forever.

The commissioners next appointed a council to be held at Albany, December 15, 1788. Great difficulty was experienced in getting the Indians together, the Leasees it is said, "kept the Indians so continually intoxicated, it was impossible to do anything with them." [Footnote: Turner's History.]

It was not until the eleventh of the February following, that a sufficient number were brought together, to proceed with the negotiations; and on the twenty-fifth, the preliminaries having been settled, the Cayugas ceded to the State all of their lands, excepting a large reservation of one hundred square miles. It was in consideration of five hundred dollars in hand, sixteen hundred and twenty-eight dollars in June following, and an annuity of five hundred dollars forever.

Mr. Turner in alluding to these negotiations very properly observes, "it was only after a hard struggle of much perplexity and embarrassment, that the object was accomplished. For the honor of our country, it could be wished that all Indian negotiations and treaties, had been attended with as little wrong, had been conducted as fairly as were those under the auspices and general direction of George Clinton. No where has the veteran warrior and statesman left a better proof of his sterling integrity and ability, than is furnished by the records of these treaties. In no case did he allow the Indians to be deceived, but stated to them from time to time, with unwearied patience, the true conditions of the bargains they were consummating."

He says further, "the treaties for lands found the Six Nations in a miserable condition. They had warred on the side of a losing party; for long years the field and the chase had been neglected; they were suffering for food and raiment. Half-famished they flocked to the treaties and were fed and clothed. One item of expense charged in the accounts of the treaty at Albany in 1789, was for horses paid for, that the Indians had killed and eaten on their way down. For several years in addition to the amount of provisions distributed to them at the treaties, boatloads of corn were distributed among them by the State."

It does not appear that Red Jacket, Cornplanter, Brant, or other of the more noted chiefs among the Iroquois, were present to take a part in these negotiations. Hence exception was taken to these proceedings. When the time drew near for paying the first annuity, the Onondagas sent an agent to Governor Clinton, saying they had received four strings of wampum from the Senecas, forbidding them to go to Fort Stanwix to receive the money, and declaring also "that the governor of Quebec wanted their lands; that Sir John wanted them; Col. Butler wants the Cayugas' lands; and the commanding officer of Fort Niagara wants the Senecas' lands."

They were assured in reply that they might "make their minds easy," the governor would protect them; that the Leasees were the cause of their trouble.

The Cayugas also sent a message to the governor, saying they were "threatened with destruction, even total extermination. The voice comes from the west; its sound is terrible, our brothers the Cayugas and Onondagas are to share the same fate."

The complaint was, they had sold their lands without consulting the western tribes.

The decided position of the Executive in giving them assurance of protection, was the means of dissipating their alarm.

Historical evidence renders it apparent, that at this early period, the design was entertained by those in Canada, whose control over the Indians was well nigh supreme, to gain through them possession of Western New York, and without compromising the government of Great Britain, sever it from the United States, connect it with the territory of the North-west, and hold it by Indian possession, in a sort of quasi allegiance, to the crown of England.

Their design with respect to Western New York was defeated by the energetic measures of its chief executive, but further on we will see they did not relinquish the idea of holding from the United States, the territory of the North-west.

Next in the race of competition for the broad and fertile lands of the Genesee, appear the names of Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham. They were the acknowledged representatives of a considerable body of men, who were ambitious of securing an interest in what was regarded as the most desirable region in this country.

From the advent of Gen. Sullivan's army into the Indian country in 1779, their route being through the very finest portion of Western New York, and at a season of the year when vegetation was in its highest perfection; the beauty and fertility of these lands became the theme of praise, on the part of every soldier that beheld them. Their fame was thus carried to almost every village and hamlet in Pennsylvania and New England. Hence great eagerness was manifested in regard to the title, and settlement of these lands.

The company of which Messrs. Phelps and Gorham were the leading spirits, having purchased the pre-emptive right of Massachusetts, in the spring of 1788, Mr. Phelps went on to the ground, and was successful in convening a council of the Indians for the sale of their lands, at Buffalo creek, during the month of July of the same year. [Footnote: His success in obtaining this council, and securing a sale, was owing in a large degree, to his policy in paying court to the powerful faction of the Leasees residing in Canada, and giving them an interest in the purchase.]

The Indians at this treaty strenuously resisted the sale of any of their land west of the Genesee river; yet with a view of furnishing "a piece of ground for a mill yard" at the Genesee Falls, were finally persuaded to give their assent to a boundary line, that included a tract twelve miles square, west of that river. The eastern boundary of the lands sold, was the Massachusetts pre-emptive line; the western, was a line "beginning in the northern line of Pennsylvania, due south of the corner or point of land made by the confluence of the Genesee river, and the Canaseraga creek, thence north on said meridian line to the corner or point, at the confluence aforesaid; thence northwardly along the waters of the Genesee river, to a point two miles north of Canawangus village, thence running due west 12 miles; thence running northwardly so as to be twelve miles distant from the western bounds of said river, to the shores of Lake Ontario." The lands thus ceded, are what has been called "The Phelps and Gorham Purchase." It contained by estimation two million and six hundred thousand acres, for which they agreed to pay the Indians five thousand dollars, and an annuity of five hundred dollars forever.

Robert Morris, the distinguished financier of the Revolution, afterward became owner of the greater part of this purchase, as well as of the pre- emptive right of Massachusetts to the remaining part of Western New York. Through his agent in London, Wm. Temple Franklin, grandson of Doctor Franklin, these lands were again sold to an association of gentlemen, consisting of Sir William Pultney, John Hornby, and Patrick Colquhoun, and the farther settlement of this region, auspiciously commenced under its original proprietors, was conducted principally under their administration.

An intelligent and enterprising young Scotchman, Charles Williamson, who had previously devoted his time while detained as a prisoner in this country, during the war of the Revolution, to investigations respecting its geographical resources and limits, and who from his disposition and business capacity, was well qualified for the station, was appointed their agent, and emigrating hither with his family, and two other young Scotchmen as his assistants, John Johnstone, and Charles Cameron, he became identified with the early history and progress of the extensive and important part of the Indian territory, that as we have seen, had just been opened, and was inviting a new race, to take possession of its virgin soil.

About How the Indian Chief Red Jacket Got His Name

How Chief Red Jacket Got His Name

The name Red Jacket, so familiar to the whites, was acquired during the war of the Revolution. He was distinguished at this time as well as afterward, for his fleetness on foot, his intelligence and activity. Having attracted the attention of a British officer by the vivacity of his manners, and the speedy execution of those errands with which he was intrusted, he received either in token of admiration, or for services rendered, or both, a beautifully ornamented jacket of a scarlet color.

This he took pride in wearing, and when worn out, he was presented with another, and continued to wear this peculiar dress until it became a mark of distinction, and gave him the name by which he was afterward best known. At a treaty held at Canandaigua in 1794, Captain Parrish, who was for many years agent of the United States for the Indians, presented him with another red jacket to perpetuate a name of which he was particularly fond. [Footnote: McKenney's Indian Biography Politely favored by Alfred B. Street, Esq., and assistant Mr. J. H. Hickox, of the State Library, Albany, N. Y.]

His original name was Oti-ti-ani, always ready. Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, the title conferred upon him at his election to the dignity of Sachem, has been rendered, "The keeper awake, he keeps them awake, and the author, or cause of a wakeful spirit." [Footnote: This latter translation was given to the author by the late Wm. Jones, a half-blood, son-in-law of Red Jacket and a chief of some note. This interpretation was given to some gentlemen from Buffalo who proposed to erect a monument at Red Jacket's grave. It was given in a full council of the chiefs of his tribe.]

The name is connected with a curious superstition among his people, and will best be understood, by an acquaintance with the circumstances under which it is used.

If during the still hours of night, an Indian's mind is taken up with thoughts that cause sleep to pass from him, preventing every effort of Morpheus to lock him in fond embrace, he ascribes it to a spirit, which he calls Sa-go-ye-wat-ha.

The impressions made are regarded as ominous of some important event, joyful or otherwise, according to the feelings awakened. If his thoughts are of a pleasing nature, he is led to anticipate the occurrence of some joyful event. If they are of a melancholy turn, he regards it as foreboding evil.

He may be led to dwell with interest on some absent friend; that friend he will expect to see the next day, or soon after. Yet should his thoughts be troubled or anxious, he would expect to hear soon of that friend's death, or that something evil had befallen him. [Footnote: Conversation with Wm. Jones, Seneca chief.]

Such was the spirit they called Sa-go-ye-wat-ha. He could arrest the current of their thought, bring before them visions of delight, or send upon them melancholy reflections, and fill their minds with anxiety and gloom.

This title conferred on Red Jacket, while it indicated the cause of his elevation, presented the highest compliment that could be paid to his powers of oratory. By the magic spell of his words, he could control their minds, make their hearts beat quick with emotions of joy, or send over them at will the deep pulsations of grief.

The incident referred to as giving rise to the name, Red Jacket, introduces him in connection with the war of the Revolution. As his conduct during this period has been the subject of frequent remark, severely criticised by some, and not very favorably viewed by others, justice to the orator's memory requires a brief statement of his reasons for the course he pursued.

While thoughts of this contest were pending, the colonists took measures to secure the favorable disposition of the Iroquois, and these efforts at the time were successful.

The general government advised them to remain neutral, during the anticipated conflict. This course met the approval of their most considerate sachems. For though inured to war, and apt to enter with avidity into the excitement of a conflict, their forces had been reduced by recent encounters with the Indians at the west, and south, and also with the French; and the few intervening years of peace served to convince them of its value, and caused them to receive with favor this proposition from our government.

Abouth the Hochelagans and the Mohawks,; A Link in Iroquois History

HOCHELAGANS AND MOHAWKS

A LINK IN IROQUOIS HISTORY

By W. D. LIGHTHALL, M.A., F.R.S.L.

For Sale by
J. Hope & Sons, Ottawa; The Copp-Clark Co., Toronto
Bernard Quaritch, London, England

1899

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II. Hochelagans and Mohawks; A Link in Iroquois History.

By W. D. Lighthall, M.A., F.R.S.L.

(Presented by John Reade and read May 26, 1899.)

The exact origin and first history of the race whose energy so stunted the growth of early Canada and made the cause of France in America impossible, have long been wrapped in mystery. In the days of the first white settlements the Iroquois are found leagued as the Five Nations in their familiar territory from the Mohawk River westward. Whence they came thither has always been a disputed question. The early Jesuits agreed that they were an off-shoot of the Huron race whose strongholds were thickly sown on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, but the Jesuits were not clear as to their course of migration from that region, it being merely remarked that they had once possessed some settlements on the St. Lawrence below Montreal, with the apparent inference that they had arrived at these by way of Lake Champlain. Later writers have drawn the same inference from the mention made to Cartier by the Hochelagans of certain enemies from the south whose name and direction had a likeness to later Iroquois conditions. Charlevoix was persuaded by persons who he considered had sufficiently studied the subject that their seats before they left for the country of the Five Nations were about Montreal. The late Horatio Hale  put the more recently current and widely accepted form of this view as follows: "The clear and positive traditions of all the surviving tribes, Hurons, Iroquois and Tuscaroras, point to the Lower St. Lawrence as the earliest known abode of their stock. Here the first explorer, Cartier, found Indians of this stock at Hochelaga and Stadacona, now the sites of Montreal and Quebec. Centuries before his time, according to the native tradition, the ancestors of the Huron-Iroquois family had dwelt in this locality, or still further east and nearer to the river's mouth. As the numbers increased, dissensions arose. The hive swarmed and band after band moved off to the west and south."

"Their first station on the south side of the lakes was at the mouth of the Oswego River. Advancing to the southeast, the emigrants struck the River Hudson" and thence the ocean. Most of them returned to the Mohawk River, where the Huron speech was altered to Mohawk. In Iroquois tradition and in the constitution of their League the Canienga (Mohawk) nation ranks as 'eldest brother' of the family. A comparison of the dialects proves this tradition to be well founded. The Canienga language approaches nearest to the Huron, and is undoubtedly the source from which all the other Iroquois dialects are derived. Cusick states positively that the other families, as he styles them, of the Iroquois household, leaving the Mohawks in their original abode, proceeded step by step to the westward. The Oneidas halted at their creek, the Onondagas at their mountain, the Cayugas at their lake and the Senecas or Sonontowans, the great hill people, at a lofty eminence which rises south of the Canandaigua Lake." Hale appeals also to the Wyandot tradition recorded by Peter Dooyentate Clark, that the Huron originally lived about Montreal near the "Senecas," until war broke out and drove them westward. He sets the formation of the League of the Long House as far back as the fourteenth century.

All these authors, it will be seen, together with every historian who has referred to the League,—treat of the Five Nations as always having been one people. A very different view, based principally on archæology, has however been recently accepted by at least several of the leading authorities on the subject,—the view that the Iroquois League was acompound of two distinct peoples, the Mohawks, in the east, including the Oneidas; and the Senecas, in the west, including the Onondagas and Cayugas. Rev. W.M. Beauchamp, of Baldwinsville, the most thorough living student of the matter, first suggested a late date for the coming of the Mohawks and formation of the League. He had noticed that the three Seneca dialects differed very greatly from the two Mohawk, and that while the local relics of the former showed they had been long settled in their country, those of the latter evidenced a very recent occupation. He had several battles with Hale on the subject, the latter arguing chiefly from tradition and change of language. "The probability," writes Mr. Beauchamp—privately to the writer—"is that a division took place at Lake Erie, or perhaps further west; some passed on the north side and became the Neutrals and Hurons; the vanguard becoming the Mohawks or Hochelagans, afterwards Mohawks and Oneidas. Part went far south, as the Tuscaroras and Cherokees, and a more northern branch, the Andastes; part followed the south shore and became the Eries, Senecas and Cayugas; part went to the east of Lake Ontario, removing and becoming the Onondagas, when the Huron war began."

It is noticeable that the earliest accounts of the Five Nations speak of them as of two kinds—Mohawks and "Sinnekes," or as termed by the French the Inferior and Superior Iroquois. For example Antony Van Corlear's Journal, edited by Gen. James Grant Wilson, also certain of the New York documents. The most thorough local student of early Mohawk town-sites, Mr. S.L. Frey, of Palatine Bridge, N.Y., supports Mr. Beauchamp in his view of the late coming of the Mohawks into the Mohawk River Valley, where they have always been settled in historic times. According to him, although these people changed their sites every 25 or 30 years from failure of the wood supply and other causes, only four prehistoric sites have been discovered in that district, all the others containing relics of European origin. Mr. Beauchamp believes even this number too large. Both put forward the idea that the Mohawks were the ancient race of Hochelaga, whose town on the island of Montreal was visited by Jacques Cartier in 1535, and had disappeared completely in 1608 when Champlain founded Quebec. "What had become of these people?" writes Mr. Frey, in his pamphlet "The Mohawks." "An overwhelming force of wandering Algonquins had destroyed their towns. To what new land had they gone? I think we shall find them seated in the impregnable strongholds among the hills and in the dense forests of the Mohawk Valley."

It is my privilege to take up their theory from the Montreal end and in the light of the local archæology of this place and of early French historical lore, to supply links which seem to throw considerable light on the problem.

The description given by Cartier of the picturesque palisaded town of Hochelaga, situated near the foot of Mount Royal, surrounded by cornfields, has frequently been quoted. But other points of Cartier's narrative, concerning the numbers and relations of the population, have scarcely been studied. Let us examine this phase of it. During his first voyage in 1534, in the neighbourhood of Gaspé, he met on the water the first people speaking the tongue of this race, a temporary fishing community of over 200 souls, men, women and children, in some 40 canoes, under which they slept, having evidently no village there, but belonging, as afterwards is stated, to Stadacona. He seized and carried to France two of them, who, when he returned next year, called the place where they had been taken Honguédo, and said that the north shore, above Anticosti Island, was the commencement of inhabited country which led to Canada (the Quebec region), Hochelaga, (Montreal) and the country of Saguenay, far to the west "whence came the red copper" (of which axes have since been found in the débris of Hochelaga, and which, in fact, came from Lake Superior), and that no man they ever heard of had ever been to the end of the great river of fresh water above. Here we have the first indication of the racial situation of the Hochelagans. At the mouth of the Saguenay River—so called because it was one of the routes to the Sagnenay of the Algonquins, west of the Upper Ottawa—he found four fishing canoes from Canada. Plenty of fishing was prosecuted from this point upwards. In "the Province of Canada," he proceeds, "there are several peoples in unwalled villages." At the Isle of Orleans, just below Quebec, the principal peace chief, or, Agouhanna of "Canada," Donnaconna, came to them with 12 canoes from the town (ville) of Stadacona, or Stadaconé, which was surrounded by tilled land on the heights. Twenty-five canoes from Stadacona afterwards visited them; and later Donnaconna brought on board "10 or 12 other of the greatest chiefs" with more than 500 persons, men, women and children, some doubtless from the neighbouring settlements. If the same 200 persons as in the previous year were absent fishing at Gaspé, and others in other spots, these figures argue a considerable population.

Below Stadacona, were four "peoples and settlements": Ajoasté, Starnatam, Tailla (on a mountain) and Satadin or Stadin. Above Stadacona were Tekenouday (on a mountain) and Hochelay (Achelacy or Hagouchouda) which was in open country. Further up were Hochelaga and some settlements on the island of Montreal, and various other places unobserved by Cartier, belonging to the same race; who according to a later statement of the remnant of them, confirmed by archæology, had several "towns" on the island of Montreal and inhabited "all the hills to the south and east." The hills to be seen from Mount Royal to the south are the northern slopes of the Adirondacks; while to the east are the lone volcanic eminences in the plain, Montarville, Beloeil, Rougemont, Johnson, Yamaska, Shefford, Orford and the Green Mountains. All these hills deserve search for Huron-Iroquois town-sites. The general sense of this paragraph includes an implication also of settlements towards and on Lake Champlain, that is to say, when taken in connection with the landscape. (My own dwelling overlooks this landscape.) At the same time let me say that perhaps due inquiries might locate some of the sites of Ajoaste and the other villages in the Quebec district. In Cartier's third voyage he refers obscurely, in treating of Montreal, to "the said town of Tutonaguy." This word, with French pronunciation, appears to be the same as that still given by Mohawks to the Island,—Tiotiaké, meaning "deep water beside shallow," that is to say, "below the Rapid." In the so-called Cabot map of 1544 the name Hochelaga is replaced by "Tutonaer," apparently from some map of Cartier's. It may be a reproduction of some lost map of his. Lewis H. Morgan gives "Tiotiake" as "Do-de-a-ga." Another place named by Cartier is Maisouna, to which the chief of Hochelay had been gone two days when the explorer made his settlement a visit. On a map of Ortelius of 1556 quoted by Parkman this name appears to be given as Muscova, a district placed on the right bank of the Richelieu River and opposite Hochelay, but possibly this is a pure guess, though it is a likely one. It may perhaps be conjectured that Stadacona, Tailla and Tekenouday, being on heights, were the oldest strongholds in their region.

All the country was covered with forests "except around the peoples, who cut it down to make their settlement and tillage." At Stadacona he was shown five scalps of a race calledToudamans from the south, with whom they were constantly at war, and who had killed about 200 of their people at Massacre Island, Bic, in a cave, while they were on the way to Honguédo to fish. All these names must of course be given the old French pronunciation.

Proceeding up the river near Hochelaga he found "a great number of dwellings along the shore" inhabited by fisherfolk, as was the custom of the Huron-Iroquois in the summer season. The village called Hochelay was situated about forty-five miles above Stadacona, at the Richelieu rapid, between which and Hochelaga, a distance of about 135 miles, he mentions no village. This absence of settlements I attribute to the fact that the intermediate Three Rivers region was an ancient special appurtenance of the Algonquins, with whom the Hochelagans were to all appearance then on terms of friendly sufferance and trade, if not alliance. In later days the same region was uninhabited, on account of Iroquois incursions by the River Richelieu and Lake Champlain. In the islands at the head of Lake St. Peter, Cartier met five hunters who directed him to Hochelaga. "More than a thousand" persons, he says, received them with joy at Hochelaga. This expression of number however is not very definite. It is frequently used by Dante to signify a multitude in the Divina Comédia. The town of Hochelaga consisted of "about fifty houses, in length about fifty paces each at most, and twelve or fifteen paces wide," made of bark on sapling frames in the manner of the Iroquois long houses. The round "fifties" are obviously approximate. The plan of the town given in Ramusio shows some forty-five fires, each serving some five families, but the interior division differs so greatly from that of early Huron and Iroquois houses, and from his phrase "fifty by twelve or fifteen," that it appears to be the result of inaccurate drawing. There is therefore considerable room for difference as to the population of the town, ranging from say 1,200 to 2,000 souls, the verbal description which is much the more authoritative, inclining in favour of the latter. Any estimate of the total population of the Hochelagan race on the river, must be a guess. If, however, those on the island of Montreal be set at 2,000, and the "more than 500" of Stadacona be considered as a fair average for the principal town and 300 (which also was the average estimated by Père Lalemant for the Neutral nation) as an average for the eight or so villages of the Quebec district, (the absentees, such as the 200 at Gaspé from Stadacona being perhaps offset by contingents from the places close to Stadacona) we have some 4,900 accounted for. Those on all the hills to the south and east of Mount Royal would add anywhere from say 3,000 to an indefinitely greater number more. Perhaps 5,000, however, should not be exceeded as the limit for these hills and Lake Champlain. We arrive therefore at a guess of from 7,900 to 9,900 as the total. As the lower figures seem conservative, compared with the early average of Huron and Iroquois villages, the guess may perhaps be raised a little to say from 10,000 to 11,000. "This people confines itself to tillage and fishing, for they do not leave their country and are not migratory like those of Canada and Saguenay, although the said Canadians are subject to them, with eight or nine other peoples who are on the said river." Nevertheless the site of Hochelaga, unearthed in 1860, shows them to have been traders to some extent with the west, evidently through the Ottawa Algonquins. What Cartier did during his brief visit to the town itself is well known. The main point for us is that three men led him to the top of Mount Royal and showed him the country. They told him of the Ottawa River and of three great rapids in the St. Lawrence, after passing which, "one could sail more than three moons along the said river," doubtless meaning along the Great Lakes. Silver and brass they identified as coming from that region, and "there were Agojudas, or wicked people, armed even to the fingers," of whom they showed "the make of their armor, which is of cords and wood laced and woven together; giving to understand that the said Agojudas are continually at war with one and other." This testimony clearly describes the armour of the early Hurons and Iroquois  as found by Champlain, and seems to relate to war between the Hurons and Senecas at that period and to an aversion to them by the people of the town of Hochelaga themselves; who were, however, living in security from them at the time, apparently cut off from regular communication with them by Algonquin peoples, particularly those of the Ottawa, who controlled Huron communication with the lower St. Lawrence in the same way in Champlain's days.

On returning to Stadacona, Cartier, by talking with Donnaconna, learnt what showed this land of Saguenay so much talked of by these people, to be undoubtedly the Huron country. "The straight and good and safest road to it is by the Fleuve (St. Lawrence), to above Hochelaga and by the river which descends from the said Saguenay and enters the said Fleuve (as we had seen); and thence it takes a month to reach." This is simply the Ottawa route to Lake Huron used by the Jesuits in the next century. What they had seen was the Ottawa River entering the St. Lawrence—from the top of Mount Royal, whence it is visible to-day. The name Saguenay may possibly be Saginaw,—the old Saguenam, the "very deep bay on the west shore of Lake Huron," of Charlevoix, (Book XI.) though it is not necessarily Saginaw Bay itself, as such names shift. "And they gave to understand that in that country the people are clothed with clothes like us, and there are many peoples in towns and good persons and that they have a great quantity of gold and of red copper. And they told us that all the land from the said first river to Hochelagea and Saguenay is an island surrounded by streams and the said great river (St. Lawrence); and that after passing Saguenay, said river (Ottawa) enters two or three great lakes of water, very large; after which a fresh water sea is reached, whereof there is no mention of having seen the end, as they have heard from those of the Saguenay; for they told us they had never been there themselves." Yet later, in chapter XIX., it is stated that old Donnaconna assured them he had been in the land of the Saguenay, where he related several impossible marvels, such as people of only one leg. It is to be noted that "the peoples in towns," who are apparently Huron-Iroquois, are here referred to as "good people," while the Hochelagans speak of them as "wicked." This is explicable enough as a difference of view on distant races with whom they had no contact. It seems to imply that the "Canada" people were not in such close communication with the town of Hochelaga as to have the same opinions and perhaps the Canada view of the Hurons as good persons was the original view of the early settlers, while the Hochelagans may have had unpleasant later experiences or echo those of the Ottawa Algonquins. But furthermore they told him of the Richelieu River where apparently it took a month to go with their canoes from Sainte Croix (Stadacona) to a country "where there are never ice nor snow; but where there are constant wars one against another, and there are oranges, almonds, nuts, plums, and other kinds of fruit in great abundance, and oil is made from trees, very good for the cure of diseases; there the inhabitants are clothed and accoutred in skins like themselves." This land Cartier considered to be Florida,—but the point for our present purpose is the frequenting of the Richelieu, Lake Champlain and lands far south of them by the Hochelagans at that period. At the beginning of the seventeenth century Capt. John Smith met the canoes of an Iroquois people on the upper part of Chesapeake Bay.

We may now draw some conclusions. Originally the population of the St. Lawrence valley seems to have been occupied by Algonquins, as these people surrounded it on all sides. A question I would like to see investigated is whether any of these built villages and grew corn here, as did some of the Algonquins of the New England coast and those of Allumette Island on the Ottawa. This might explain some of the deserted Indian clearings which the early Jesuits noted along the shore of the river, and of which Champlain, in 1611, used one of about 60 acres at Place Royale, Montreal. Cartier, it is seen, expressly explains some of them to be Huron-Iroquois clearings cultivated under his own observation. The known Algonquins of the immediate region were all nomadic.

In 1534 we have, from below Stadacona (Quebec) to above Hochelaga (Montreal), and down the Richelieu River to Lake Champlain, the valley in possession of a Huron-Iroquois race, dominated by Hochelaga, a town of say 2,000 souls, judging from the Huron average and from Cartier's details. The descendants of the Hochelagans in 1642 pointed out the spots where there were "several towns" on the island. Mr. Beauchamp holds, with Parkman, Dawson and other writers, that "those who pointed out spots in 1642 were of anAlgonquin tribe, not descendants of the Mohawk Hochelagans, but locally their successors." But I cannot accept this Algonquin theory, as their connection with the Hochelagans is too explicit and I shall give other reasons further on. The savages, it is true, called the island by an Algonquin name; "the island where there was a city or village,"[6] the Algonquin phrase for which was Minitik-Outen-Entagougiban, but these later terms have small bearing. The site of one of the towns on the island is conjectured, from the finding of relics, to have been at Longue Pointe, nine miles below Hochelaga; a village appears from Cartier's account of his third voyage to have existed about the Lachine Rapids; and another was some miles below, probably at Point St. Charles or the Little River at Verdun. Fourteen skeletons, buried after the Mohawk fashion, have been discovered on the upper slope of Westmount, the southern ridge of Mount Royal, about a mile from Hochelaga and not far from an old Indian well, indicating possibly the proximity of another pre-historic town-site of the race, and at any rate a burying ground. The identification and excavations were made by the writer. If, however, the southern enemies, called Toudamans, five of whose scalps were shown Cartier at Stadacona, were, as one conjecture has it, Tonontouans or Senecas, the Iroquois identity theory must be varied, but it is much more likely the Toudamans were the Etchemins. At any rate it seems clear that the Hochelagan race came down the St. Lawrence as a spur (probably an adventurous fishing party) from the great Huron-Iroquois centre about Lake Huron; for that their advent had been recent appears from the fewness of sites discovered, from the smallness of the population, considering the richness of the country, and especially from the fact that the Huron, and the Seneca, and their own tongues were still mutually comprehensible, notwithstanding the rapid changes of Indian dialects. Everything considered, their coming might perhaps be placed about 1450, which could give time for the settlements on Lake Champlain, unearthed by Dr. D.S. Kellogg and others and rendered probable by their pottery and other evidence as being Huron-Iroquois.Cartier, as we have seen, described the Hochelagan towns along the river.

SHALLOW GRAVE IN PREHISTORIC BURYING GROUND AT WESTMOUNT ON MOUNT ROYAL SHOWING ATTITUDE OF SEPULTURE.

The likeness of the names Tekenouday and Ajoasté to that of the Huron town Tekenonkiaye, and the Andastean Andoasté, shows how close was the relationship. Nevertheless the Hochelagans were quite cut off from the Hurons, whose country as we have found, some of them point to and describe to Cartier as inhabited by evil men. As the Stadacona people, more distant, independently refer to them as good, no war could have been then proceeding with them.

In 1540 when Roberval came—and down to 1543—the conditions were still unchanged. What of the events between this date and the coming of Champlain in 1605? This period can be filled up to some extent.

About 1560 the Hurons came down, conquered the Hochelagans and their subject peoples and destroyed Hochelaga. I reach this date as follows: In 1646 (Relation of 1646, p. 34) Père Lalemant reports that "under the Algonquin name" the French included "a diversity of small peoples," one of which was named the Onontchataronons or "the tribe of Iroquet," "whose ancestors formerly inhabited the island of Montreal," and one of their old men "aged say eighty years" said "my mother told me that in her youth the Hurons drove us from this island." (1646, p. 40.) This makes it clear that the inroad was Huron. Note that this man of eighty years does not mention having himself lived on the island; and also the addition "in her youth." This fact brings us back to before 1566. But in 1642, another "old man" states that his "grandfathers" had lived there. Note that he does not say his parents nor himself. These two statements, I think, reasoning from the average ages of old men, carry us back to about 1550-60. Champlain, in 1622, notes a remark of two Iroquois that the war with the Hurons was then "more than fifty years" old. The Huron inroad could not likely have occurred for several years after 1542, for so serious an incursion would have taken some years to grow to such a point out of profound peace. 1550 would therefore appear a little early. The facts demonstrate incidentally a period of prosperity and dominance on the part of the Hurons themselves, for instead of a mere incursion, it exhibits, even if made by invitation of the Algonquins, a permanent breaking through of the barriers between the Huron country and the Montreal neighbourhood, and a continuance of their power long enough and sufficiently to press forward against the enemy even into Lake Champlain. It also shows that the Superior Iroquois were not then strong enough to confine them. Before the League, the latter were only weak single tribes. When Dutch firearms were added to the advantage of the league, the Hurons finally fell from their power, which was therefore apparently at its height about 1560.

Charlevoix, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, end of Bk. V., after describing the first mass at Ville Marie, in 1642, says: "The evening of the same day M. de Maisonneuve desired to visit the Mountain which gave the island its name, and two old Indians who accompanied him thither, having led him to the top, told him they were of the tribe who had formerly inhabited this country." "We were," they added, "very numerous and all the hills (collines) which you see to the south and east, were peopled. The Hurons drove thence our ancestors, of whom a part took refuge among the Abénakis, others withdrew into the Iroquois cantons, a few remained with our conquerors." They promised Maisonneuve to do all they could to bring back their people, "but apparently could not succeed in reassembling the fragments of this dispersed tribe, which doubtless is that of the Iroquois of which I have spoken in my Journal."

A proof that this people of Iroquet were not originally Algonquins is that by their own testimony they had cultivated the ground, one of them actually took up a handful of the soil and called attention to its goodness; and they also directly connected themselves in a positive manner with the Hochelagans by the dates and circumstances indicated in their remarks as above interpreted. The use of the term "Algonquin" concerning them is very ambiguous and as they were merged among Algonquin tribes they were no doubt accustomed to use that language. Their Huron-Iroquois name, the fact that they were put forward to interpret to the Iroquois in Champlain's first excursion; and that a portion of them had joined the Iroquois, another portion the Hurons, and the rest remained a little band by themselves, seem to add convincingly to the proof that they were not true Algonquins. Their two names "Onontchataronons" and "Iroquet" are Iroquois. The ending "Onons" (Onwe) means "men" and is not properly part of the name. Charlevoix thought them Hurons, from their name. They were a very small band and, while mentioned several times in the Jesuit Relations, had disappeared by the end of the seventeenth century from active history. It was doubtless impossible for a remnant so placed to maintain themselves against the great Iroquois war parties.

A minor question to suggest itself is whether there is any connection between the names "Iroquet" and "Iroquois". Were they originally forms of the same word? Or were they two related names of divisions of a people? Certainly two closely related peoples have these closely similar names. They were as clearly used as names of distinct tribes however, in the seventeenth century. The derivation of "Iroquois" given by Charlevoix from "hiro"—"I have spoken" does not seem at all likely; but the analogy of the first syllables of the names Er-ié, Hur-ons, Hir-oquois, Ir-oquet and Cherokee may have something in it.

The Iroquets or Hochelagans attributed their great disaster,—the destruction of their towns and dispossession of their island,—to the Hurons, but Charlevoix  records an Algonquin victory over them which seems to have preceded, and contributed to, that event, though the lateness of Charlevoix renders the story not so reliable in detail as the personal recollections of the Iroquets above given: His story given "on the authority of those most versed in the old history of the country", proceeds as follows: "Some Algonquins were at war with the Onontcharonnons better known under the name of Tribe of Iroquet, and whose former residence was, it is said, in the Island of Montreal. The name they bear proclaims, they were of Huron speech; nevertheless it is claimed that it was the Hurons who drove them from their ancient country, and who in part destroyed them. However that may be, they were at the time I speak of, at war with the Algonquins, who, to finish this war at one stroke, thought of a stratagem, which succeeded". This stratagem was an ambush placed on both sides of the River Bécancour near Three Rivers, with some pretended fishermen out in canoes as decoys. The Iroquets attacked and pursued the fishermen, but in the moment of victory, a hail of arrows issued from the bushes along both shores. Their canoes being pierced, and the majority wounded, they all perished. "The tribe of Iroquet never recovered from this disaster; and none to day remain. The quantity of corpses in the water and on the banks of the river so infected it, that it retains the name of Rivière Puante"; (Stinking River).

Charlevoix[ gives, as well supported, the story of the origin of the war between the Iroquois and Algonquins. "The Iroquois had made with them a sort of alliance very useful to both." They gave grain for game and armed aid, and thus both lived long on good terms. At last a disagreement rose in a joint party of 12 young hunters, on account of the Iroquois succeeding while the Algonquins failed in the chase. The Algonquins, therefore, maliciously tomahawked the Iroquois in their sleep. Thence arose the war.

In 1608, according to Ferland[ based evidently upon the statement of Champlain, the remnant of the Hochelagans left in Canada occupied the triangle above Montreal now bounded by Vandreuil, Kingston and Ottawa. This perhaps indicates it as the upper part of their former territory. Sanson's map places them at about the same part of the Ottawa in the middle of the seventeenth century and identifies them with La Petite Nation, giving them as "Onontcharonons ou La Petite Nation". That remnant accompanied Champlain against the Iroquois, being of course under the influence of their masters the Hurons and Algonquins. Doubtless their blood is presently represented among the Huron and Algonquin mission Indians of Oka, Lorette, Petite Nation, etc., and perhaps among those of Caughnawaga and to some extent, greater or less, among the Six Nations proper.

From the foregoing outline of their history, it does not appear as if the Hochelagans were exactly the Mohawks proper. It seems more likely that by 1560, settlements, at first mere fishing-parties, then fishing-villages, and later more developed strongholds with agriculture, had already been made on Lake Champlain by independent offshoots of the Hochelagan communities, of perhaps some generations standing, and not unlikely by arrangement with the Algonquins of the Lake similar to the understanding on the river St. Lawrence, as peace and travel appear to have existed there. The bonds of confederacy between village and village were always shifting and loose among these races until the Great League. To their Lake Champlain cousins the Hochelagans would naturally fly for refuge in the day of defeat, for there was no other direction suitable for their retreat. The Hurons and Algonquins carried on the war against the fused peoples, down into Lake Champlain. When, after more than fifty years of the struggle, Champlain goes down to that Lake in 1609, he finds there the clearings from which they have been driven, and marks their cabins on his map of the southeast shore. This testimony is confirmed by that of archæology showing their movement at the same period into the Mohawk Valley. Doubtless their grandchildren among the Iroquois, like their grandchildren among the Algonquins, remembered perfectly well the fact of their Huron and Algonquin wrongs, and led many a war party back to scenes known to them through tradition, and which it was their ambition to recover. It seems then to be the fact that the Mohawks proper, or some of their villages, while perhaps not exactly Hochelagans, were part of the kindred peoples recently sprung from and dominated by them and were driven out at the same time. The two peoples—Mohawks and Iroquets—had no great time before, if not at the time of Cartier's arrival—been one race living together in the St. Lawrence valley: In the territory just west of the Mohawk valley, they found the "Senecas" as the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas together were at first called, and soon, through the genius of the Mohawk Hiawatha, they formed with them the famous League, in the face of the common enemy. By that time the Oneidas had become separated from the Mohawks. These indications place the date of the League very near 1600. The studies of Dr. Kellogg of Plattsburgh on the New York side of Lake Champlain and of others on the Vermont shore, who have discovered several Mohawk sites on that side of the lake may be expected to supply a link of much interest on the whole question, from the comparison of pottery and pipes. On the whole the Hochelagan facts throw much light both forward on the history of the Iroquois and backwards on that of the Huron stock. Interpreted as above, they afford a meagre but connected story through a period hitherto lost in darkness, and perhaps a ray by which further links may still be discovered through continued archæological investigation.

NOTE. Like the numbers of the Hochelagan race, the question how long they had been in the St. Lawrence valley must be problematical. Sir William Dawson describes the site of Hochelaga as indicating a residence of several generations. Their own statements regarding the Huron country—that they "had never been there", and that they gathered their knowledge of it from the Ottawa Algonquins, permits some deductions. If the Hochelagans—including their old men—had never been westward among their kindred, it is plain that the migration must have taken place more than the period of an old man's life previous—that is to say more than say eighty years. If to this we add that the old men appear not even to have derived such knowledge as they possessed from their parents but from strangers, then the average full life of aged parents should be added, or say sixty years more, making a total of at least one hundred and forty years since the immigration. Something might, it is true, be allowed for a sojourn at intermediate points: and the scantiness of the remarks is also to be remembered. But there remains to account for the considerable population which had grown up in the land from apparently one centre. If the original intruders were four hundred, for example, then in doubling every twenty years, they would number 12,800 in a century. But this rate is higher than their state of "Middle-Barbarism" is likely to have permitted and a hundred and fifty years would seem to be as fast as they could be expected to attain the population they possessed in Cartier's time.