Ponteach Part 1

Ponteach.

by Robert Rogers.

MAJOR ROBERT ROGERS (1727-1795)

Robert Rogers, a soldier of fortune, is the _Davy Crockett_ of Colonial times. Born at Dumbarton, New Hamps.h.i.+re, on November 17th (some authorities say 1730, another 1731, while the _Dictionary of National Biography_ says 1727), he was the son of James Rogers, a farmer living in a frontier cabin at Methuen, in upper Ma.s.sachusetts.

Robert's boyhood was spent in an atmosphere characteristic of pioneer life. He had scarcely pa.s.sed his fifteenth year (Nevins claims in 1746), when he helped withstand an attack of Indians near his home, and this may be considered his first active experience with the Red Man. From this time on, the history of the career of Robert Rogers is the history of the efforts of the Colonists against the Indians as far west as Detroit, and as far south as South Carolina. The necessity which confronted all of the Colonists made of young Rogers one of the most expert hunters of the period, and in this connection he was a.s.sociated with the famous John Stark, of Green Mountain Boys reputation. In the latter's Memoir, written by Caleb Stark, we have as graphic a pen-picture of Rogers, the hunter, at twenty-two, as we have actual likenesses of Rogers in the pictures of the time.[1]

Evidently Rogers flourished financially at this period, for we find him buying land in Ma.s.sachusetts in 1753. His activity as a soldier in the French and Indian War put him in command of a company, known as "Rogers' Rangers," and he partic.i.p.ated in the Siege of Detroit against Pontiac and the French. This experience of his must have fired Rogers with the desire, after careful consideration of the condition of the Indian, to put his special plea for the cause of the Red Man in some permanent literary form, for "Ponteach" was published in 1766, after Rogers had left America, had gone to London, and thence had taken vessel for Algiers, where he fought under Dey.

By 1761, Rogers had so far advanced in worldly standing that he could afford to turn his attention to family affairs. We find him visiting Portsmouth, New Hamps.h.i.+re, where Elizabeth, daughter of the Reverend Arthur Browne, lived. The two were married on June 30th of that year; but evidently there was about Robert Rogers something his father-in-law did not quite relish. For, in 1763, a dispute arose between the two, because of Rogers' increasing dissipation. That they did not reach, however, any immediate open rupture, may have been due very largely to the fact that Rogers was becoming quite a land-owner in New York and New Hamps.h.i.+re. It was not until March 4, 1778, after Rogers had gone through many and varied experiences, not the least of which was serving a term in the Debtors' Prison in England, that his wife was granted, by the New Hamps.h.i.+re Legislature, a decree of divorce. She thereupon married Captain John Poach.

Naturally, most of the interest attached to Rogers is historical, not literary. His career in the French and Indian War, outlined by him in his "Journal of the French and Indian War," which was published in London in 1765; his activity in the Cherokee War in South Carolina;[2]

his a.s.sociation with William Bird, when he had an opportunity of studying the methods of Indian guides; his political ambitions when he returned to England in 1765--all of these are matters for the historian, and have received adequate consideration by Francis Parkman and other writers. During these activities, Rogers was not idle with his pen. He kept his Journals, and they clearly reveal how much of a ranger he was. After the fas.h.i.+on of the times, when he returned to England, anxious to let his friends know of the conditions in America, he not only published his Journals (1769), but also a concise account of North America (1770). But there must have been something about Rogers as a soldier of fortune that was not as straight or as honest as _Davy Crockett_. We find him, for example, entrusted with the post of Governor of Mackinac, and conducting affairs so illy that he was tried for treason. He may have advanced as a soldier through the successive ranks to Major, but it would seem that the higher up he advanced in position the more unscrupulous he became.

After serving his term in the Debtors' Prison, which began on June 14, 1773, he returned to America, at the beginning of the Revolution.

Among his Colonial friends, he not only counted John Stark, the ranger, but Israel Putnam as well, both of them ardent patriots and upholders of the American cause. It would seem, in 1775, that Rogers, to all outward appearance, was himself in sympathy with America. He professed being the staunch lover of those principles which America was upholding. But General Was.h.i.+ngton soon had cause to doubt his loyalty, and he was watched. With the result that his arrest was ordered, and thereupon he confessed his adherence to the Crown. Rogers then joined the forces of General Howe, bringing with him an invaluable knowledge of the land in New York and New Jersey, and adjacent territory. He was put in command of a company, known as the "Queen's Rangers," and throughout the Revolution fought bravely on the opposing side. After returning to England, he battled for further recognition, but never received the full honours he courted. He died on May 18, 1795, in South London.

"Ponteach" was probably never given in Rogers's time. There is no record of its even having been considered by any of the theatrical companies. It was published in 1766, with a London imprint on the t.i.tle-page.[3] There is some slight probability that it was given an amateur production at Lake George by the summer residents there--certainly an appropriate spot to present a play by Rogers, inasmuch as the Ranger was known in that neighbourhood, and there is now familiar to all visitors a place called "Rogers's Slide," marking one of his escapades with the Indians.

In the present collection, the editor has followed the text of the 1766 edition, fully realizing the consistent changes made by Mr. Allan Nevins in his edition of the play which, with an Introduction, Biography, and invaluable historical notes, was published in 1914 by the Caxton Club of Chicago.[4]

This piece is one which is not only interesting as representative of the early type of Indian drama in America, but it is also interesting as reflective of the att.i.tude of a dramatist with a problem to propound. "Ponteach" is our first American problem play. Parkman claims that at least part of it was written by Rogers, thus throwing doubt on his entire claim to authors.h.i.+p. There is not only a dignity displayed in the drawing of the main character of the Indian, but there is a very nave attempt at subtle humour in the characters of the Englishmen. There is no distinct excellence in depicting Indian character as such, after the romantic manner of Cooper, although Rogers, with his English tradition, has been able to lend to his dialogue a certain dignity of diction which is striking, and which gives the play a decided literary value. Taken, however, as an historical doc.u.ment--and Mr. Nevins does this--one can trace in "Ponteach" the whole range of Rogers's experience as an Indian fighter. There are constant allusions in the text to matters which Mr.

Nevins has found necessary to explain in copious footnotes, and therefore to the student I would recommend this single edition of the play. "Ponteach" is published here, not from a scholarly standpoint, but simply as an example of early Indian drama.

Of these Indian dramas, there are many examples in the early history of American playwriting. Laurence Hutton has an entertaining chapter on the subject in his "Curiosities of the American Stage," in which he enumerates such t.i.tles as "Oroloosa," "Oroonoka," "Miautoumah," to say nothing of "Hiawatha." "Metamora; or, The Last of the Wampanoags" was brought to success through the powerful acting of Edwin Forrest, December 15, 1829. William Wheatley, of the Park Theatre, was likewise famed for his Indian impersonations. Among other more or less well-known plays of the species, enumerated by Wegelin, are:

F. DEFFENBACH. "Onliata; or, The Indian Heroine." Philadelphia. 1821.

JOSEPH DODDRIDGE. "Logan: The Last of the Race of Skikellemus, Chief of the Cayuga Nation." Buffalo Creek, Brooke Co., Va. 1823.

G. W. P. CUSTIS. "The Indian Prophecy." A National Drama in Two Acts, founded on a most interesting and romantic occurrence in the life of General Was.h.i.+ngton. Georgetown. 1828.

NATHANIEL DEERING. "Carraba.s.set; or, The Last of the Norridgewocks." A Tragedy in Five Acts. Portland. 1830.

W. H. C. HOSMER. "The Fall of Tec.u.mseh." Avon. 1830.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] These pictures were struck off on October 1, 1776. See Smith's "British Mezzotint Portraits."

[2] See the South Carolina _Gazette_ files for 1760, 1761.

[3] Ponteach:/or the/Savages of America,/A/Tragedy/[Major Robert Rogers.] London:/Printed for the Author; and Sold by J.

Millan,/opposite the Admiralty, Whitehall./M.DCC.LXVI./[Price 2s. 6d.]

[4] Ponteach/or the/Savages of America/A Tragedy/By Robert Rogers/With an Introduction/and a Biography of the Author/By Allan Nevins/Chicago/ The Caxton Club/1914/

[Ill.u.s.tration: PONTEACH:

OR THE

Savages of America.

A

TRAGEDY.

LONDON: Printed for the Author; and Sold by J. MILLAN, opposite the _Admiralty, Whitehall_.

M.DCC.LXVI.

[Price 2s. 6d.]

FAC-SIMILE t.i.tLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST EDITION]

DRAMATIS PERSONae

PONTEACH, Indian Emperor on the Great Lakes.

PHILIP _and_ CHEKITAN, Sons of Ponteach.

TENESCO, His chief Counsellor and Generalissimo.

ASTINACO, } THE BEAR, } Indian Kings who join with Ponteach.

THE WOLF, }

TORAX _and_ } Son and Daughter to Hendrick, Emperor MONELIA } of the Mohawks.

INDIAN Conjurer.

FRENCH Priest.

SHARP, } GRIPE, } Three English Governors.

CATCHUM, }