316 APPENDIX A. 



In right of conquest, they claim all the country (comprehending the 

 Ohio) along the great Ptidge of Blue Mountains at the back of Virginia, 

 thence to the head of Kentucky River, and down the same to the Ohio 

 above the Rifts, thence Northerly to the South end of Lake Michigan, 

 then along the Eastern shore of said lake to Michillimackinac, thence 

 Easterly across the North end of Lake Huron to the great Ottawa River, 

 (including the Chippewa or Mississagey County,) and down the said 

 River to the Island of Montreal. However, these more distant claims 

 being possessed by many i)ovverful nations, the Inhabitants have long 

 begun to render themselves independent, by the assistance of the Frencli, 

 and the great decrease of the Six Nations ; but their claim to the Ohio, 

 and thence to tlie Lakes, is not in the least disputed by the Shawanese, 

 Delawares, &c., who never transacted any sales of land or other matters 

 without tlieir consent, and who sent Deputies to the grand Council at 

 Onondaga on all impoitant occasions. 



2. French and English Policy towards the Iroquois. — Meas- 

 ures OF Sir William Johnson. (Vol. I. pp. 88-93.) 



Extract from a Letter — Sir W. Jolmson to the Board of Trade, 

 May 24, 1765: — 



The Indians of the Six Nations, after the arrival of the English, hav- 

 ing conceived a desire for many articles they introduced among them, 

 and thereby finding them of use to their necessities, or rather superflui- 

 ties, cultivated an acquaintance with them, and lived in tolerable 

 friendship with their Province for some time, to which they were rather 

 inclined, for they were strangers to bribery, and at enmity with the 

 French, who had espoused the cause of their enemies, supplied tliem 

 with arms, and openly acted against them. This enmity increased in 

 proportion as the desire of the French for subduing those people, who 

 were a bar to their first projected schemes. However, we find the In- 

 dians, as far back as the very confused manuscript records in my posses- 

 sion, repeatedly upbraiding this province for their negligence, their avarice, 

 and their want of assisting them at a time wlien it was certainly in their 

 power to destroy the infant colony of Canada, although supported bv many 

 nations ; and this is likewise confessed by the writings of the managers 

 of these times. The French, after repeated losses discovering that the 

 Six Nations were not to be subdued, but that they could without much 

 difficulty effect their purpose (which I have good authority to show were 

 .... standing) by favors and kindness, on a sudden, changed their con- 

 duct in the reign of Queen Anne, having first brought over many of their 

 people to settle in Canada ; and ever since, by the most endearing kind- 

 nesses, and by a vast profusion of favors, have secured them to their 

 interest ; and, whilst they aggravated our frauds and designs, they cov- 

 ered those committed by themselves under a load of gifts, which oblit- 



