CHAPTER VI. 



1684. 



LA BARRE AND THE IROQUOIS. 



Dongan. — New York and its Indian Neighbors. — The Rival 

 Governors. — Dongan and the Iroquois. — Mission to Onon- 

 daga. — An Iroquois Politician. — Warnings of Lamberville. 



— Iroquois Boldness. — La Barre takes the Field. — His 

 Motives. — The March. — Pestilence. — Council at La Famine. 



— The Iroquois defiant. — Humiliation of La Barre. —The 

 Indian Allies. — Their Rage and Disappointment. — Recall 

 of La Barre. 



The Dutch colony of New Netherland had now 

 become the English colony of New York. Its 

 proprietor, the Duke of York, afterwards James II. 

 of England, had appointed Colonel Thomas Dongan 

 its governor. He was a Catholic Irish gentleman 

 of high rank, nephew of the famous Earl of Tyr- 

 connel, and presumptive heir to the earldom of 

 Limerick. He had served in France, was familiar 

 with its language, and partial to its king and its 

 nobility ; but he nevertheless gave himself with 

 vigor to the duties of his new trust. 



The Dutch and English colonists aimed at a 

 share in the western fur trade, hitherto a monopoly 

 of Canada ; and it is said that Dutch traders had 

 already ventured among the tribes of the Great 

 Lakes, boldly poaching on the French preserves. 



