The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada Part 13

The Pennsylvania Gazette, usually a faithful chronicler of the events of the day, preserves a discreet silence on the subject of the Paxton riots, and contains no other notice of them than the following condensed statement:-- On Sat.u.r.day last, the City was alarmed with the News of Great Numbers of armed Men, from the Frontiers, being on the several Roads, and moving towards Philadelphia. As their designs were unknown, and there were various Reports concerning them, it was thought prudent to put the City in some Posture of Defence against any Outrages that might possibly be intended. The Inhabitants being accordingly called upon by the Governor, great numbers of them entered into an a.s.sociation, and took Arms for the Support of Government, and Maintenance of good Order.

Six Companies of Foot, one of Artillery, and two Troops of Horse, were formed, and paraded, to which, it is said, some Thousands, who did not appear, were prepared to join themselves, in case any attempt should be made against the Town. The Barracks also, where the Indians are lodged, under Protection of the regular Troops, were put into a good Posture of Defence; several Works being thrown up about them, and eight Pieces of Cannon planted there.

The Insurgents, it seems, intended to rendezvous at Germantown; but the Precautions taken at the several Ferries over Schuylkill impeded their Junction; and those who a.s.sembled there, being made acquainted with the Force raised to oppose them, listened to the reasonable Discourses and Advice of some prudent Persons, who voluntarily went out to meet and admonish them; and of some Gentlemen sent by the Governor, to know the Reasons of their Insurrection; and promised to return peaceably to their Habitations, leaving only two of their Number to present a Pet.i.tion to the Governor and a.s.sembly; on which the Companies raised in Town were thanked by the Governor on Tuesday Evening, and dismissed, and the City restored to its former Quiet.

But on Wednesday Morning there was a fresh Alarm, occasioned by a false Report, that Four Hundred of the same People were on their March to Attack the Town. Immediately, on Beat of Drum, a much greater number of the Inhabitants, with the utmost Alacrity, put themselves under Arms; but as the Truth was soon known, they were again thanked by the Governor, and dismissed; the Country People being really dispersed, and gone home according to their Promise.--Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1833.

The following extract from a letter of Rev. John Ewing to Joseph Reed affords a striking example of the excitement among the Presbyterians. (See Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, I. 34.) Feb. --, 1764.

As to public affairs, our Province is greatly involved in intestine feuds, at a time, when we should rather unite, one and all, to manage the affairs of our several Governments, with prudence and discretion. A few designing men, having engrossed too much power into their hands, are pus.h.i.+ng matters beyond all bounds. There are twenty-two Quakers in our a.s.sembly, at present, who, although they won't absolutely refuse to grant money for the King's use, yet never fail to contrive matters in such a manner as to afford little or no a.s.sistance to the poor, distressed Frontiers; while our public money is lavishly squandered away in supporting a number of savages, who have been murdering and scalping us for many years past. This has so enraged some desperate young men, who had lost their nearest relations, by these very Indians, to cut off about twenty Indians that lived near Lancaster, who had, during the war, carried on a constant intercourse with our other enemies; and they came down to Germantown to inquire why Indians, known to be enemies, were supported, even in luxury, with the best that our markets afforded, at the public expense, while they were left in the utmost distress on the Frontiers, in want of the necessaries of life. Ample promises were made to them that their grievances should be redressed, upon which they immediately dispersed and went home. These persons have been unjustly represented as endeavoring to overturn Government, when nothing was more distant from their minds. However this matter may be looked upon in Britain, where you know very little of the matter, you may be a.s.sured that ninety-nine in an hundred of the Province are firmly persuaded, that they are maintaining our enemies, while our friends back are suffering the greatest extremities, neglected; and that few, but Quakers, think that the Lancaster Indians have suffered any thing but their just deserts. 'Tis not a little surprising to us here, that orders should be sent from the Crown, to apprehend and bring to justice those persons who have cut off that nest of enemies that lived near Lancaster. They never were subjects to his Majesty; were a free, independent state, retaining all the powers of a free state; sat in all our Treaties with the Indians, as one of the tribes belonging to the Six Nations, in alliance with us; they entertained the French and Indian spies--gave intelligence to them of the defenceless state of our Province--furnished them with Gazette every week, or fortnight--gave them intelligence of all the dispositions of the Province army against them--were frequently with the French and Indians at their forts and towns--supplied them with warlike stores--joined with the strange Indians in their war-dances, and in the parties that made incursions on our Frontiers--were ready to take up the hatchet against the English openly, when the French requested it--actually murdered and scalped some of the Frontier inhabitants--insolently boasted of the murders they had committed, when they saw our blood was cooled, after the last Treaty at Lancaster--confessed that they had been at war with us, and would soon be at war with us again (which accordingly happened), and even went so far as to put one of their own warriors, Jegarie, to death, because he refused to go to war with them against the English. All these things were known through the Frontier inhabitants, and are since proved upon oath. This occasioned them to be cut off by about forty or fifty persons, collected from all the Frontier counties, though they are called by the name of the little Towns.h.i.+p of Paxton, where, possibly, the smallest part of them resided. And what surprises us more than all the accounts we have from England, is, that our a.s.sembly, in a pet.i.tion they have drawn up, to the King, for a change of Government, should represent this Province in a state of uproar and riot, and when not a man in it has once resisted a single officer of the Government, nor a single act of violence committed, unless you call the Lancaster affair such, although it was no more than going to war with that tribe, as they had done before with others, without a formal proclamation of war by the Government. I have not time, as you may guess by this scrawl, to write more at this time, but only that I am yours, &c.

JOHN EWING.

3. MEMORIALS OF THE PAXTON MEN. (Chap. XXV) 5. To the Honorable John Penn, Esq., Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and of the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and Suss.e.x, upon Delaware; and to the Representatives of the Freemen of the said Province, in General a.s.sembly met.

We, Matthew Smith and James Gibson, in Behalf of ourselves and his Majesty's faithful and loyal Subjects, the Inhabitants of the Frontier Counties of Lancaster, York, c.u.mberland, Berks, and Northampton, humbly beg Leave to remonstrate and lay before you the following Grievances, which we submit to your Wisdom for Redress.

First. We apprehend that, as Freemen and English Subjects, we have an indisputable t.i.tle to the same Privileges and immunities with his Majesty's other Subjects, who reside in the interior Counties of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks, and therefore ought not to be excluded from an equal Share with them in the very important Privilege of Legislation;--nevertheless, contrary to the Proprietor's Charter, and the acknowledged Principles of common Justice and Equity, our five Counties are restrained from electing more than ten Representatives, viz., four for Lancaster, two for York, two for c.u.mberland, one for Berks, and one for Northampton, while the three Counties and City of Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks elect Twenty-six. This we humbly conceive is oppressive, unequal and unjust, the Cause of many of our Grievances, and an Infringement of our natural Privileges of Freedom and Equality; wherefore we humbly pray that we may be no longer deprived of an equal Number with the three aforesaid Counties to represent us in a.s.sembly.

Secondly. We understand that a Bill is now before the House of a.s.sembly, wherein it is provided, that such Persons as shall be charged with killing any Indians in Lancaster County, shall not be tried in the County where the Fact was committed, but in the Counties of Philadelphia, Chester, or Bucks. This is manifestly to deprive British Subjects of their known Privileges, to cast an eternal Reproach upon whole Counties, as if they were unfit to serve their Country in the Quality of Jury-men, and to contradict the well known Laws of the British Nation, in a Point whereon Life, Liberty, and Security essentially depend; namely, that of being tried by their Equals, in the Neighbourhood where their own, their Accusers, and the Witnesses Character and Credit, with the Circ.u.mstances of the Fact, are best known, and instead thereof putting their Lives in the Hands of Strangers, who may as justly be suspected of Partiality to, as the Frontier Counties can be of Prejudices against, Indians; and this too, in favour of Indians only, against his Majesty's faithful and loyal Subjects: Besides, it is well known, that the Design of it is to comprehend a Fact committed before such a Law was thought of. And if such Practices were tolerated, no Man could be secure in his most invaluable Interest.--We are also informed, to our great Surprise, that this Bill has actually received the a.s.sent of a Majority of the House; which we are persuaded could not have been the Case, had our Frontier Counties been equally represented in a.s.sembly.--However, we hope that the Legislature of this Province will never enact a Law of so dangerous a Tendency, or take away from his Majesty's good Subjects a Privilege so long esteemed sacred by Englishmen.

Thirdly. During the late and present Indian War, the Frontiers of this Province have been repeatedly attacked and ravaged by skulking Parties of the Indians, who have, with the most Savage Cruelty, murdered Men, Women, and Children, without Distinction, and have reduced near a Thousand Families to the most extreme Distress.--It grieves us to the very Heart to see such of our Frontier Inhabitants as have escaped Savage Fury, with the Loss of their Parents, their Children, their Wives or Relatives, left Dest.i.tute by the Public, and exposed to the most cruel Poverty and Wretchedness, while upwards of an Hundred and Twenty of these Savages, who are, with great Reason, suspected of being guilty of these horrid Barbarities, under the Mask of Friends.h.i.+p, have procured themselves to be taken under the Protection of the Government, with a View to elude the Fury of the brave Relatives of the Murdered, and are now maintained at the public Expense.--Some of these Indians, now in the Barracks of Philadelphia, are confessedly a Part of the Wyalusing Indians, which Tribe is now at War with us; and the others are the Moravian Indians, who, living with us, under the Cloak of Friends.h.i.+p, carried on a Correspondence with our known Enemies on the Great Island.--We cannot but observe, with Sorrow and Indignation, that some Persons in this Province are at Pains to extenuate the barbarous Cruelties practised by these Savages on our murdered Brethren and Relatives, which are shocking to human Nature, and must pierce every Heart, but that of the hardened Perpetrators or their Abettors. Nor is it less distressing to hear Others pleading, that although the Wyalusing Tribe is at War with us, yet that Part of it which is under the Protection of the Government, may be friendly to the English, and innocent:--In what Nation under the Sun was it ever the Custom, that when a neighbouring Nation took up Arms, not an Individual should be touched, but only the Persons that offered Hostilities?--Who ever proclaimed War with a Part of a Nation and not with the whole?--Had these Indians disapproved of the Perfidy of their Tribe, and been willing to cultivate and preserve Friends.h.i.+p with us, why did they not give Notice of the War before it happened, as it is known to be the Result of long Deliberations, and a preconcerted Combination among them?--Why did they not leave their Tribe immediately, and come among us, before there was Ground to suspect them, or War was actually waged with their Tribe?--No, they stayed amongst them, were privy to their Murders and Ravages, until we had destroyed their provisions, and when they could no longer subsist at Home, they come not as Deserters, but as Friends, to be maintained through the Winter, that they may be able to scalp and butcher us in the Spring.

And as to the Moravian Indians, there are strong Grounds at least to suspect their Friends.h.i.+p, as it is known that they carried on a Correspondence with our Enemies on the Great Island.--We killed three Indians going from Bethlehem to the Great Island with Blankets, Ammunition, and Provisions, which is an undeniable Proof that the Moravian Indians were in Confederacy with our open Enemies. And we cannot but be filled with Indignation to hear this Action of ours painted in the most odious and detestable Colours, as if we had inhumanly murdered our Guides, who preserved us from peris.h.i.+ng in the Woods; when we only killed three of our known Enemies, who attempted to shoot us when we surprised them.--And, besides all this, we understand that one of these very Indians is proved, by the Oath of Stinton's Widow, to be the very Person that murdered her Husband.--How then comes it to pa.s.s, that he alone, of all the Moravian Indians, should join the Enemy to murder that family?--Or can it be supposed that any Enemy Indians, contrary to their known Custom of making War, should penetrate into the Heart of a settled Country, to burn, plunder, and murder the Inhabitants, and not molest any Houses in their Return, or ever be seen or heard of?--Or how can we account for it, that no Ravages have been committed in Northampton County since the Removal of the Moravian Indians, when the Great Cove has been struck since?--These Things put it beyond Doubt with us that the Indians now at Philadelphia are his Majesty's perfidious Enemies, and therefore, to protect and maintain them at the public Expence, while our suffering Brethren on the Frontiers are almost dest.i.tute of the Necessaries of Life, and are neglected by the Public, is sufficient to make us mad with Rage, and tempt us to do what nothing but the most violent Necessity can vindicate.--We humbly and earnestly pray therefore, that those Enemies of his Majesty may be removed as soon as possible out of the Province.

Fourthly. We humbly conceive that it is contrary to the Maxims of good Policy and extremely dangerous to our Frontiers, to suffer any Indians, of what Tribe soever, to live within the inhabited Parts of this Province, while we are engaged in an Indian War, as Experience has taught us that they are all perfidious, and their Claim to Freedom and Independency, puts it in their Power to act as Spies, to entertain and give Intelligence to our Enemies, and to furnish them with Provisions and warlike Stores.--To this fatal Intercourse between our pretended Friends and open Enemies, we must ascribe the greatest Part of the Ravages and Murders that have been committed in the Course of this and the last Indian War.--We therefore pray that this Grievance be taken under Consideration, and remedied.

Fifthly. We cannot help lamenting that no Provision has been hitherto made, that such of our Frontier Inhabitants as have been wounded in Defence of the Province, their Lives and Liberties may be taken Care of, and cured of their Wounds, at the public Expence.--We therefore pray that this Grievance may be redressed.

Sixthly. In the late Indian War this Province, with others of his Majesty's Colonies, gave Rewards for Indian Scalps, to encourage the seeking them in their own Country, as the most likely Means of destroying or reducing them to Reason; but no such Encouragement has been given in this War, which has damped the Spirits of many brave Men, who are willing to venture their Lives in Parties against the Enemy.--We therefore pray that public Rewards may be proposed for Indian Scalps, which may be adequate to the Dangers attending Enterprises of this Nature.

Seventhly. We daily lament that Numbers of our nearest and dearest Relatives are still in Captivity among the savage Heathen, to be trained up in all their Ignorance and Barbarity, or to be tortured to Death with all the Contrivances of Indian Cruelty, for attempting to make their Escape from Bondage. We see they pay no Regard to the many solemn Promises which they have made to restore our Friends who are in Bondage amongst them.--We therefore earnestly pray that no Trade may hereafter be permitted to be carried on with them until our Brethren and Relatives are brought Home to us.

Eighthly. We complain that a certain Society of People in this Province in the late Indian War, and at several Treaties held by the King's Representatives, openly loaded the Indians with Presents; and that F. P., a Leader of the said Society, in Defiance of all Government, not only abetted our Indian Enemies, but kept up a private Intelligence with them, and publickly received from them a Belt of Wampum, as if he had been our Governor, or authorized by the King to treat with his Enemies.--By this means the Indians have been taught to despise us as a weak and disunited People, and from this fatal Source have arose many of our Calamities under which we groan.--We humbly pray, therefore, that this Grievance may be redressed, and that no private Subject be hereafter permitted to treat with, or carry on a Correspondence with our Enemies.

Ninthly. We cannot but observe with Sorrow, that Fort Augusta, which has been very expensive to this Province, has afforded us but little a.s.sistance during this or the last War. The Men that were stationed at that Place neither helped our distressed Inhabitants to save their Crops, nor did they attack our Enemies in their Towns, or patrol on our Frontiers.--We humbly request that proper Measures may be taken to make that Garrison more serviceable to us in our Distress, if it can be done.

N. B. We are far from intending any Reflection against the Commanding Officer stationed at Augusta, as we presume his Conduct was always directed by those from whom he received his Orders.

Signed on Behalf of ourselves, and by Appointment of a great Number of the Frontier Inhabitants, MATTHEW SMITH. JAMES GIBSON.

The Declaration of the injured Frontier Inhabitants, together with a brief Sketch of Grievances the good Inhabitants of the Province labor under.

Inasmuch as the Killing those Indians at Conestogoe Manor and Lancaster has been, and may be, the Subject of much Conversation, and by invidious Representations of it, which some, we doubt not, will industriously spread, many, unacquainted with the true State of Affairs, may be led to pa.s.s a severe Censure on the Authors of those Facts, and any others of the like Nature which may hereafter happen, than we are persuaded they would, if Matters were duly understood and deliberated; we think it therefore proper thus openly to declare ourselves, and render some brief Hints of the Reasons of our Conduct, which we must, and frankly do, confess nothing but Necessity itself could induce us to, or justify us in, as it bears an Appearance of flying in the Face of Authority, and is attended with much Labour, Fatigue and Expence.

Ourselves then, to a Man, we profess to be loyal Subjects to the best of Kings, our rightful Sovereign George the Third, firmly attached to his Royal Person, Interest and Government, and of Consequence equally opposite to the Enemies of his Throne and Dignity, whether openly avowed, or more dangerously concealed under a Mask of falsely pretended Friends.h.i.+p, and chearfully willing to offer our Substance and Lives in his Cause.

These Indians, known to be firmly connected in Friends.h.i.+p with our openly avowed embittered Enemies, and some of whom have, by several Oaths, been proved to be Murderers, and who, by their better Acquaintance with the Situation and State of our Frontier, were more capable of doing us Mischief, we saw, with Indignation, cherished and caressed as dearest Friends;--But this, alas! is but a Part, a small Part, of that excessive Regard manifested to Indians, beyond his Majesty's loyal Subjects, whereof we complain, and which, together with various other Grievances, have not only inflamed with Resentment the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of a Number, and urged them to the disagreeable Evidence of it, they have been constrained to give, but have heavily displeased, by far, the greatest Part of the good Inhabitants of this Province.

Should we here reflect to former Treaties, the exorbitant Presents, and great Servility therein paid to Indians, have long been oppressive Grievances we have groaned under; and when at the last Indian Treaty held at Lancaster, not only was the Blood of our many murdered Brethren tamely covered, but our poor unhappy captivated Friends abandoned to Slavery among the Savages, by concluding a Friends.h.i.+p with the Indians, and allowing them a plenteous trade of all kinds of Commodities, without those being restored, or any properly spirited Requisition made of them:--How general Dissatisfaction those Measures gave, the Murmurs of all good people (loud as they dare to utter them) to this Day declare. And had here infatuated Steps of Conduct, and a manifest Partiality in Favour of Indians, made a final Pause, happy had it been:--We perhaps had grieved in Silence for our abandoned enslaved Brethren among the Heathen, but Matters of a later Date are still more flagrant Reasons of Complaint.--When last Summer his Majesty's Forces, under the Command of Colonel Bouquet, marched through this Province, and a Demand was made by his Excellency, General Amherst, of a.s.sistance, to escort Provisions, &c., to relieve that important Post, Fort Pitt, yet not one Man was granted, although never any Thing appeared more reasonable or necessary, as the Interest of the Province lay so much at Stake, and the Standing of the Frontier Settlements, in any Manner, evidently depended, under G.o.d, on the almost despaired of Success of his Majesty's little Army, whose Valour the whole Frontiers with Grat.i.tude acknowledge, as the happy Means of having saved from Ruin great Part of the Province:--But when a Number of Indians, falsely pretended Friends and having among them some proved on Oath to have been guilty of Murder, since this War begun; when they, together with others, known to be his Majesty's Enemies, and who had been in the Battle against Colonel Bouquet, reduced to Distress by the Destruction of their Corn at the Great Island, and up the East Branch of Susquehanna, pretend themselves Friends, and desire a Subsistence, they are openly caressed, and the Public, that could not be indulged the Liberty of contributing to his Majesty's a.s.sistance, obliged, as Tributaries to Savages, to Support these Villains, these Enemies to our King and our Country; nor only so, but the Hands that were closely shut, nor would grant his Majesty's General a single Farthing against a savage Foe, have been liberally opened, and the public Money basely prost.i.tuted, to hire, at an exorbitant Rate, a mercenary Guard to protect his Majesty's worst of Enemies, those falsely pretended Indian Friends, while, at the same Time, Hundreds of poor, distressed Families of his Majesty's Subjects, obliged to abandon their Possessions, and fly for their Lives at least, are left, except a small Relief at first, in the most distressing Circ.u.mstances to starve neglected, save what the friendly Hand of private Donations has contributed to their Support, wherein they who are most profuse towards Savages have carefully avoided having any Part.--When last Summer the Troops raised for Defence of the Province were limited to certain Bounds, nor suffered to attempt annoying our Enemies in their Habitations, and a Number of brave Volunteers, equipped at their own Expence, marched in September up the Susquehanna, met and defeated their Enemy, with the Loss of some of their Number, and having others dangerously wounded, not the least Thanks or Acknowledgment was made them from the Legislature for the confessed Service they had done, nor any the least Notice or Care taken of their Wounded; whereas, when a Seneca Indian, who, by the Information of many, as well as by his own Confession, had been, through the last War, our inveterate Enemy, had got a Cut in his Head last summer in a Quarrel he had with his own Cousin, and it was reported in Philadelphia that his Wound was dangerous, a Doctor was immediately employed, and sent to Fort Augusta to take Care of him, and cure him, if possible.--To these may be added, that though it was impossible to obtain through the Summer, or even yet, any Premium for Indian Scalps, or Encouragement to excite Volunteers to go forth against them, yet when a few of them, known to be the Fast Friends of our Enemies, and some of them Murderers themselves, when these have been struck by a distressed, bereft, injured Frontier, a liberal Reward is offered for apprehending the Perpetrators of that horrible Crime of killing his Majesty's cloaked Enemies, and their Conduct painted in the most atrocious Colors; while the horrid Ravages, cruel Murders, and most shocking Barbarities, committed by Indians on his Majesty's Subjects, are covered over, and excused, under the charitable Term of this being their Method of making War.

But to recount the many repeated Grievances whereof we might justly complain, and Instances of a most violent Attachment to Indians, were tedious beyond the Patience of a Job to endure; nor can better be expected; nor need we be surprised at Indians Insolence and Villainy, when it is considered, and which can be proved from the public Records of a certain County, that some Time before Conrad Weiser died, some Indians belonging to the Great Island or Wyalousing, a.s.sured him that Israel Pemberton, (an ancient Leader of that Faction which, for so long a Time, have found Means to enslave the Province to Indians,) together with others of the Friends, had given them a Rod to scourge the white People that were settled on the purchased Lands; for that Onas had cheated them out of a great Deal of Land, or had not given near sufficient Price for what he had bought; and that the Traders ought also to be scourged, for that they defrauded the Indians, by selling Goods to them at too dear a Rate; and that this Relation is Matter of Fact, can easily be proved in the County of Berks.--Such is our unhappy Situation, under the Villainy, Infatuation and Influence of a certain Faction, that have got the political Reins in their Hands, and tamely tyrannize over the other good Subjects of the Province!--And can it be thought strange, that a Scene of such Treatment as this, and the now adding, in this critical Juncture, to all our former Distresses, that disagreeable Burden of supporting, in the very Heart of the Province, at so great an Expence, between One and Two hundred Indians, to the great Disquietude of the Majority of the good Inhabitants of this Province, should awaken the Resentment of a People grossly abused, unrighteously burdened, and made Dupes and Slaves to Indians?--And must not all well-disposed People entertain a charitable Sentiment of those who, at their own great Expence and Trouble, have attempted, or shall attempt, rescuing a laboring Land from a Weight so oppressive, unreasonable, and unjust?--It is this we design, it is this we are resolved to prosecute, though it is with great Reluctance we are obliged to adopt a Measure not so agreeable as could be desired, and to which Extremity alone compels.--G.o.d save the King.

Appendix F.

CAMPAIGN OF 1764.

1. BOUQUET'S EXPEDITION.

Letter--General Gage to Lord Halifax, December 13, 1764. (Chap. XXVII.) The Perfidy of the Shawanese and Delawares, and their having broken the ties, which even the Savage Nations hold sacred amongst each other, required vigorous measures to reduce them. We had experienced their treachery so often, that I determined to make no peace with them, but in the Heart of their Country, and upon such terms as should make it as secure as it was possible. This conduct has produced all the good effects which could be wished or expected from it. Those Indians have been humbled and reduced to accept of Peace upon the terms prescribed to them, in such a manner as will give reputation to His Majesty's Arms amongst the several Nations. The Regular and Provincial Troops under Colonel Bouquet, having been joined by a good body of Volunteers from Virginia, and others from Maryland and Pennsylvania, marched from Fort Pitt the Beginning of October, and got to Tuscaroras about the fifteenth. The March of the Troops into their Country threw the Savages into the greatest Consternation, as they had hoped their Woods would protect them, and had boasted of the Security of their Situation from our Attacks. The Indians hovered round the Troops during their March, but despairing of success in an Action, had recourse to Negotiations. They were told that they might have Peace, but every Prisoner in their possession must first be delivered up. They brought in near twenty, and promised to deliver the Rest; but as their promises were not regarded, they engaged to deliver the whole on the 1st of November, at the Forks of the Muskingham, about one hundred and fifty miles from Fort Pitt, the Centre of the Delaware Towns, and near to the most considerable settlement of the Shawanese. Colonel Bouquet kept them in sight, and moved his Camp to that Place. He soon obliged the Delawares and some broken tribes of Mohikons, Wiandots, and Mingoes, to bring in all their Prisoners, even to the Children born of White Women, and to tie those who were grown as Savage as themselves and unwilling to leave them, and bring them bound to the Camp. They were then told that they must appoint deputies to go to Sir William Johnson to receive such terms as should be imposed upon them, which the Nations should agree to ratify; and, for the security of their performance of this, and that no farther Hostilities should be committed, a number of their Chiefs must remain in our hands. The above Nations subscribed to these terms; but the Shawanese were more obstinate, and were particularly averse to the giving of Hostages. But finding their obstinacy had no effect, and would only tend to their destruction, the Troops having penetrated into the Heart of their Country, they at length became sensible that there was no safety but in Submission, and were obliged to stoop to the same Conditions as the other nations. They immediately gave up forty Prisoners, and promised the Rest should be sent to Fort Pitt in the Spring. This last not being admitted, the immediate Rest.i.tution of all the Prisoners being the sine qua non of peace, it was agreed, that parties should be sent from the Army into their towns, to collect the Prisoners, and conduct them to Fort Pitt. They delivered six of their princ.i.p.al Chiefs as hostages into our Hands, and appointed their deputies to go to Sir William Johnson, in the same manner as the Rest. The Number of Prisoners already delivered exceeds two hundred, and it was expected that our Parties would bring in near one hundred more from the Shawanese Towns. These Conditions seem sufficient Proofs of the Sincerity and Humiliation of those Nations, and in justice to Colonel Bouquet, I must testify the Obligations I have to him, and that nothing but the firm and steady conduct, which he observed in all his Transactions with those treacherous savages, would ever have brought them to a serious Peace.

I must flatter myself, that the Country is restored to its former Tranquillity, and that a general, and, it is hoped, lasting Peace is concluded with all the Indian Nations who have taken up Arms against his Majesty.

I remain, etc., THOMAS GAGE.

IN a.s.sEMBLY, January 15, 1765, A. M.

To the Honourable Henry Bouquet, Esq., Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Forces in the Southern Department of America.

The Address of the Representatives of the Freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania, in General a.s.sembly met SIR: The Representatives of the Freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania, in General a.s.sembly met, being informed that you intend shortly to embark for England, and moved with a due Sense of the important Services you have rendered to his Majesty, his Northern Colonies in general, and to this Province in particular, during our late Wars with the French, and barbarous Indians, in the remarkable Victory over the savage Enemy, united to oppose you, near Bushy Run, in August, 1763, when on your March for the Relief of Pittsburg, owing, under G.o.d, to your Intrepidity and superior Skill in Command, together with the Bravery of your Officers and little Army; as also in your late March to the Country of the savage Nations, with the Troops under your Direction; thereby striking Terror through the numerous Indian Tribes around you; laying a Foundation for a lasting as well as honorable Peace, and rescuing, from savage Captivity, upwards of Two Hundred of our Christian Brethren, Prisoners among them. These eminent Services, and your constant Attention to the Civil Rights of his Majesty's Subjects in this Province, demand, Sir, the grateful Tribute of Thanks from all good Men; and therefore we, the Representatives of the Freemen of Pennsylvania, unanimously for ourselves, and in Behalf of all the People of this Province, do return you our most sincere and hearty Thanks for these your great Services, wis.h.i.+ng you a safe and pleasant Voyage to England, with a kind and gracious Reception from his Majesty.

Signed, by Order of the House, JOSEPH FOX, Speaker.

2. CONDITION AND TEMPER OF THE WESTERN INDIANS.

Extract from a letter of Sir William Johnson to the Board of Trade, 1764, December 26:-- Your Lords.h.i.+ps will please to observe that for many months before the march of Colonel Bradstreet's army, several of the Western Nations had expressed a desire for peace, and had ceased to commit hostilities, that even Pontiac inclined that way, but did not choose to venture his person by coming into any of the posts. This was the state of affairs when I treated with the Indians at Niagara, in which number were fifteen hundred of the Western Nations, a number infinitely more considerable than those who were twice treated with at Detroit, many of whom are the same people, particularly the Hurons and Chippewas. In the mean time it now appears, from the very best authorities, and can be proved by the oath of several respectable persons, prisoners at the Illinois and amongst the Indians, as also from the accounts of the Indians themselves, that not only many French traders, but also French officers came amongst the Indians, as they said, fully authorized to a.s.sure them that the French King was determined to support them to the utmost, and not only invited them to the Illinois, where they were plentifully supplied with ammunition and other necessaries, but also sent several canoes at different times up the Illinois river, to the Miamis, and others, as well as up the Ohio to the Shawanese and Delawares, as by Major Smallman's account, and several others, (then prisoners), transmitted me by Colonel Bouquet, and one of my officers who accompanied him, will appear. That in an especial manner the French promoted the interest of Pontiac, whose influence is now become so considerable, as General Gage observes in a late letter to me, that it extends even to the Mouth of the Mississippi, and has been the princ.i.p.al occasion of our not as yet gaining the Illinois, which the French as well as Indians are interested in preventing. This Pontiac is not included in the late Treaty at Detroit, and is at the head of a great number of Indians privately supported by the French, an officer of whom was about three months ago at the Miamis Castle, at the Scioto Plains, Muskingum, and several other places. The Western Indians, who it seems ridicule the whole expedition, will be influenced to such a pitch, by the interested French on the one side, and the influence of Pontiac on the other, that we have great reason to apprehend a renewal of hostilities, or at least that they and the Twightees (Miamis) will strenuously oppose our possessing the Illinois, which can never be accomplished without their consent. And indeed it is not to be wondered that they should be concerned at our occupying that country, when we consider that the French (be their motive what it will) loaded them with favors, and continue to do so, accompanied with all outward marks of esteem, and an address peculiarly adapted to their manners, which infallibly gains upon all Indians, who judge by extremes only, and with all their acquaintance with us upon the frontiers, have never found any thing like it, but on the contrary, harsh treatment, angry words, and in short any thing which can be thought of to inspire them with a dislike to our manners and a jealousy of our views. I have seen so much of these matters, and I am so well convinced of the utter aversion that our people have for them in general, and of the imprudence with which they constantly express it, that I absolutely despair of our seeing tranquillity established, until your Lords.h.i.+ps' plan is fully settled, so as I may have proper persons to reside at the Posts, whose business it shall be to remove their prejudices, and whose interest it becomes to obtain their esteem and friends.h.i.+p.

The importance of speedily possessing the Illinois, and thereby securing a considerable branch of trade, as well as cutting off the channel by which our enemies have been and will always be supplied, is a matter I have very much at heart, and what I think may be effected this winter by land by Mr. Croghan, in case matters can be so far settled with the Twightees, Shawanoes, and Pontiac, as to engage the latter, with some chiefs of the before-mentioned nations, to accompany him with a garrison. The expense attending this will be large, but the end to be obtained is too considerable to be neglected. I have accordingly recommended it to the consideration of General Gage, and shall, on the arrival of the Shawanoes, Delawares, &c., here, do all in my power to pave the way for effecting it. I shall also make such a peace with them, as will be most for the credit and advantage of the crown, and the security of the trade and frontiers, and tie them down to such conditions as Indians will most probably observe.

NOTE.

Of the accompanying maps, the first two were constructed for the ill.u.s.tration of this work. The others are fac-similes from the surveys of the engineer Thomas Hutchins. The original of the larger of these fac-similes is prefixed to the Account of Bouquet's Expedition. That of the smaller will be found in Hutchins's Topographical Description of Virginia, etc. Both of these works are rare.

Index.

A.

Abbadie. See D'Abbadie.

Abenakis, some of them present at the battle of the Monongahela, 88, 114.

Abercrombie, General James, has a force of 50,000 men, 96; fails in his attack on Ticonderoga, 98, 99.

Acadia ceded to the English crown, 79; disputes respecting its boundaries, ib.; reduced by Col. Monkton, 92; the inhabitants transported, ib.

Albany, meeting of colonial delegates there, 83; a rendezvous for Indian traders, 117.

Algonquin family of Indians, found over a vast extent of territory, 35; their inferiority to the Iroquois, 40; points of distinction, ib.; their legends, 40; and religious belief, 41; Algonquin life, 38, 39.

Allegory uttered by Pontiac, 153-155.

Ambuscade at the Devil's Hole, 330; a convoy lost there, 330; another ambuscade, 331.

Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, afterwards Lord Amherst, takes Louisburg, 98; also Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 100; captures Montreal, 110; sends a force to take possession of the western posts, 126; his contempt and careless treatment of the Indians, 138 note, 147; his letter to Major Gladwyn, 182 note; his uncomfortable position, 297; his inadequate comprehension of the Indian war, 298; takes measures to reinforce the frontier garrisons, 299, 300; hears of the murders near Detroit, 301; determines on "quick retaliation," 301; wishes to hear of no prisoners, 302; his bl.u.s.tering arrogance, 303 note; proposes to infect the Indians with small-pox, 304; his anger at the feeble conduct of the Pennsylvania a.s.sembly, 344; resigns his office as commander-in-chief, 346; his ignorance of Indian affairs, 388.

Andastes, swept away before the Iroquois, 32; a remnant of them at Conestoga, 359 note.

Armstrong, Colonel, his expedition against the Indians on the upper Susquehanna, 346.

Atotarho, name of the presiding sachem of the Iroquois: strange legend concerning the first of the name, 23, 24.

B.

Baby, a Canadian near Detroit, supplies food to the garrison, 186; scene between him and Pontiac, 193; befriends the garrison, 214.

Ball-play, Indian, described, 250; a prelude to the ma.s.sacre at Michillimackinac, 250.

Barbarity, Indian, shocking instances of, 28, 61, 175, 176, 180 note, 201 note, 221, 252, 262, 290 note, 336, 337.

Bartram, John, the botanist, quoted, 26, 27 note.

Beaujeu, a French captain, leads a sortie of French and Indians against Braddock's army, 88; wounded in the fray, 90.

Bedford, Fort, repels an Indian attack, 283; crowded with fugitives, 306; reinforced, 317.

Beletre, captain, commandant at Detroit, 128; surrenders to Major Rogers, 129.

Bird, Dr. Robert M., his story of "Nick of the Woods," 358.

Blacksnake, a Seneca warrior, 331 note.

Blane, Lieutenant Archibald, commands at Fort Ligonier, 306; successfully defends the fort against an attack of the Indians, 308, 309; vents his complaints of the service, 389.

b.l.o.o.d.y Bridge fight, 229 et seq.; great loss of the English, 234.

Boscawen, Admiral Edward, captures a French squadron previous to a declaration of war, 84; and thus begins the war of 1755, 85; the act condemned by English writers, 85 note.

Bouquet, Colonel Henry, his history, 297; his letter to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, 295; an excellent officer, 298; his correspondence with Amherst and others about the war, 299 et seq.; his "truculent letter" to Amherst about extirpating the Indians, 302; hears of the destruction of the frontier garrisons, 302; he will try to send the small-pox among the Indians, and proposes to hunt them with English dogs, 304; is displeased with the surrender of Presqu' Isle, 308; complains of the negligence of the people of Pennsylvania, 310; his campaign against the Indians, 315 et seq.; difficulties and dangers of the march, 317; attacked by the Indians at Bushy Run, 319; his masterly stratagem, 322; and complete success, 323. See Appendix D. Arrives at Fort Pitt, 325; his dissatisfaction with the service, 390; severely blames the government of Pennsylvania, 422; sets out from Carlisle on an expedition against the Delawares and Shawanoes, 424; is displeased with Colonel Bradstreet, 424; arrives at Fort Pitt, 426; sends a message to the Delawares, 426; good effect of the message, 427; difficulties of the march through the woods, 427; the troops cross the Muskingum, 428; their number and fine appearance, 430; the commander holds a council with the Delawares, 430; his speech to them, 432-434; effect of the speech, 434; his decisive tone, 434; the Indians submit and give up their captives, 435, 436; number of the captives, 437; meeting of friends long separated, 441-443; some touching incidents, 443; the troops, having accomplished their work, return home, 448; Bouquet made a brigadier general, 449; his death, 450. See Appendix F.

Braddock, General Edward, sails in command of a military force for Virginia, 84; his character, 86; his duel with Gumley, 86 note; his march through the wilderness, 87; difficulties of the advance, ib.; the ambuscade, 89; the battle, 90; the utter defeat, 91; Braddock's insane behavior, 92; his death, ib.; the terrible carnage, ib.; the disgraceful rout, ib.; the unhappy results, 92, 93.

Bradstreet, Colonel John, captures Fort Frontenac, 78, 391; his expedition against the north-western Indians, 392 et seq.; the troops leave Niagara and embark on Lake Erie, 399, 400; he is shamefully duped by wily Indian foes, 401; he is reprimanded by General Gage, 402 note; arrives at Sandusky, 403; his imbecility, 403; reaches Detroit, 404; returns to Sandusky, 413.

Brebeuf, Jean de, a Jesuit missionary, his appalling fate, 51.

Bushy Run, severe battle there with the Indians, 319 et seq.; the enemy repulsed, 323; and totally routed, 323; the losses on both sides, 324. See Appendix D.

C.

Cadillac, La Motte, founds Detroit, 159.

Cahokia on the Illinois, a French settlement, 57, 120, 459; described, 499; Pontiac killed there, 499, 500.

Calhoun, a trader, betrayed by the Indians, but escapes, 280, 281.

Campbell, Lieutenant George, killed with all his command at Niagara, 332 note.

Campbell, Captain, commands at Detroit, 137; discovers an Indian plot, 137, 138; second in command, 174; treacherously detained in captivity by Pontiac, 179, 180; exposed by Indians to the fire of English guns, 195; cruelly murdered by the Indians, 221, 222.

Canada, a child of the church, 49; settled under religious impulses, 50; characteristics of the population, 47, 160; the fur-trade, 48; the true interest of the colony neglected, ib.; Jesuit missionaries in, 50; want of energy in the common people, 53, 57; advantages for intercourse with the Indian tribes, 59; the colony suffers from the hostility of the Iroquois, 61; Canada an object of the bitterest hatred to the English colonies, and why, 79; surrendered to the English arms, 109; Canadians excite the Indians to attack the English, 134, 135, 240.

Canadians compared with the people of New England, 47-49; their false representations of the English colonists, 141; their character, 160; unfriendly to the English after the conquest, 134, 135, 240.

Cannibalism of the Indians, 262.

Captives taken in war by the Indians, their treatment, 28, 61, 180 note, 445-448, 466 note; sometimes they prefer to remain with the Indians, 446.

Carlisle, Pa., a frontier town in 1760, 279; panic among the inhabitants, 311; deplorable scenes there, 312; many leave the place for Lancaster and Philadelphia, 313; it becomes the outer settlement, 336 note.

Carver, Capt. Jonathan, the traveller, 166; his account of the conspiracy of Pontiac, 166 note, 167; other statements made by him, 236, 237 note; his description of Minavavana, the Ojibwa chief, 264, 265 note; his account of the death of Pontiac, 500 note.

Cayugas, one of the Five Nations, 20. See Iroquois.

Champlain, Samuel de, attacks the Iroquois, 60; the baleful consequences, ib..

Cherokees attacked by the Iroquois, 74; remain quiet during the Pontiac war, 356.

Chippewa Indians. See Ojibwa nation.

Chouteau, Pierre, one of the first settlers of St. Louis, 463; surprising changes witnessed by him, ib.; the author visits him, ib. note; remembers seeing Pontiac, 463 note, 498.

Christie, Ensign, defends the fort at Presqu' Isle, 209-211; surrenders, 212; escapes and arrives at Detroit, 213; a further account of the matter, 288 note.

Church, Roman Catholic, its zeal for the conversion of the Indians, 46.

Clapham, Colonel, murdered by the Indians, 280 note.

Colden, Governor of New York, refuses to have the Moravian Indian converts brought within his province, 375.

Colonies of France and England, their distinctive traits, 46, 59.

Compton, Henry, bishop of London, advises William Penn to buy land of the Indians, 69.

Conestoga, a settlement of friendly Indians, 359; their manner of life, 360; suspected of hostile practices, ib.; a ma.s.sacre there, 361. See Appendix E.

Conner, Henry, Indian interpreter, his statement respecting Pontiac's birth, 139 note; his account of the disclosure of the plans of Pontiac, 164-166.

Conference of Indians with Sir William Johnson at Niagara, 395; they ask forgiveness, 398.