220 



CAUGHNAWAGA 



[b. a. e. 



30, 1872) suggested a derivation from caw- 

 cawaassough, a word in the Virginian dia- 

 lect of Algonquian, perhaps identical with 

 cockarouse. It signifies ' one who advises, 

 urges, encourages, pushes on.' Related 

 words in other Algonquian dialects are the 

 Abnaki biL-esoman, ' to encourage, incite, 

 arouse, speak to,' and the Chippewa 

 gagansoma. From caucus, which is used 

 both as a noun and a verb, are derived 

 caitcuser, caucusing, etc. (a. f. c.) 



Caughnawaga [Gd-hnd-wd^^-ge, ' at the 

 rapids ' ) . An Iroquois settlement on the 

 Sault St Louis on St Lawrence r. , Quebec. 

 When the hostility of the pagan Iroquois 

 to the missions established in their terri- 

 tory frustrated the object of the French 

 to attach the former to their interests, the 

 Jesuits determined to draw their converts 

 from the confederacy and to establish 

 them in a new mission village near the 

 French settlements on the St Lawrence, 

 in accordance with which plan these 

 Indians were finally induced to settle at 

 La Prairie, near JNIontreal, in 1668. These 

 converts were usually called "French 

 Praying Indians " or " French Mohawks ' ' 

 by the English settlers, in contradistinc- 

 tion to the Iroquois who adhered to their 

 own customs and to the English interests. 

 In 1676 they were removed from this place 

 to Sault St Louis, where Caughnawaga and 

 the Jesuit mission of St Francois du Sault 

 were founded. The village has been re- 

 moved several times within a limited 

 area. The majority of the emigrants 

 came from the Oneida and Mohawk, and 

 the Mohawk tongue, somewhat modified, 

 became the speech of the whole body of 

 this village. The Iroquois made several 

 unsuccessful efforts to induce the converts 

 to return to the confederacy, and finally 

 renounced them in 1684, from which time 

 Caughnawaga became an important aux- 

 iliary of the French in their wars with 

 the English and the Iroquois. After the 

 peace of Paris, in 1763, many of them left 

 their village on the Sault St Louis and 

 took up their residence in the valley of 

 Ohio r., principally about Sandusky and 

 Scioto rs., where they numbered 200 at 

 the outbreak of the American Revolution. 

 From their contact with the wilder tribes 

 of that region many of them relapsed into 

 paganism, although they still retained 

 their French allegiance and maintained 

 connection with their brethren on the St 

 Lawrence. About 1755 a colony from 

 Caughnawaga formed a new settlement at 

 St Regis, some distance farther up the St 

 Lawrence. As the fur traders pushed 

 their way westward from the great lakes 

 they were accompanied by Caughnawaga 

 hunters. As early as 1820 a considerable 

 number of this tribe was incorporated 

 with the Salish, while others found their 



way about the same period down to 

 the mouth of Columbia r. in Oregon, and 

 N. even as far as Peace r. in Athabasca. 

 In the W. they are commonly known as 

 Irocjuois. Some of the Indians from St 

 Regis also undertook these distant wan- 

 derings. In 1884 Caughnawaga had a 

 population of 1,485, while St Regis (in 

 Canada and New York) had about 2,075, 

 and there were besides a considerable 

 number from the 2 towns who were scat- 

 tered throughout the W. In 1902 there 

 were 2,017 on the Caughnawaga res. and 

 1,386 at St Regis, besides 1,208 on the St 

 Regis reserve, N. Y. (j. n. b. h. ) 



Cagnawagfe.— Doc. of 1095 in N. Y. Dof. Col. Hist., 

 IV, 120, 1!S54. Cagnawagees.— JolmsoH (1750), ibid., 

 VI, 592, 1S56. Cagnawauga. — Hawley(179)) in Mass. 

 Hist. SocColl., Ists., IV, 51, 1795. Cagnawaugen. — 

 Stevens (1719) in N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., V, 204, 1837. 

 Cagnawaugon, — Stevens (1719), ibid., 200. Cagne- 

 •wage.— Doe. of 1695 in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., iv, 

 120, 1854. Cagnowages. — Schuyler (1724) quoted 

 in Hist. Mag., 1st s., x, 115, 1866. Cagnuagas.— 

 Oneida letter (1776) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., viii, 

 689, 1857. Cahgnawaga.— N. H. Hist. Soc. Coll., in, 

 104, 1.S32. Cahnawaas.— Colden (1727), Five Nat., 

 55, 1747. Cahnawaga.— Hoyt, Ant. Res.,194, 1824. 

 Cahnuaga, — Barton, New Views, xl, 1798. Cakna- 

 wage.— Lydius (1750) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., vi, 

 569, 1.S55. Canawahrunas, — French trader (1764) 

 fiuoted by Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, iii, 553, 1853. 

 Caughnawaga.— Johnson Hall conf. (1763) in N.Y'. 

 Doc. Col. Hist.. VII, 553, 1856. Caughnawageys,— 

 Doc. of 1763, ibid., 544. Caughnawanga.^^Lloyd 

 in.lour. Anthrop. Inst. G. B., iv, 44, 1875. Caugh- 

 newaga.— Schuvler (1689) quoted by Drake, Bk. 

 Inds., I, 32, 1848. Caughnewago.— Smith (1799) 

 quoted by Drake, Trag. Wild., 186, 1841. Cay- 

 nawagas.— Knox (1792) In Am. St. Pap., iv, 235, 

 1832. Cochenawagoes. — Keane in Stanford, Com- 

 pend., 509, ls7s. Cochnawagah.— Stoddert (1750) 

 in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., vi, 582, 1855. Cochne- 

 wagos. — Bouquet (1764) quoted by Kauffman, 

 W. Penn., app., 156, 1851. Cochnewakee, — Bar- 

 ton, New Views, 8, app., 1798. Cochnowagoes. — 

 Vater, Mith., pt. 3, sec. 3, 319, 1816. Cocknawa- 

 gas. — Lindesay (1749) in N. Y'. Doc. Col. Hist., vi, 

 538, 18.55. Cocknawagees, — Johnson (1749), ibid., 

 .525. Cocknewagos.— Clarke (1741), ibid., 207. 

 Coehnawaghas, — Doc. of 1747, ibid., 620. Coghnawa- 

 gees. — Johnson (1747), ibid., 3.59. Coghnawages. — 

 Johnson (1755), Ibid., 940. Coghnawagoes, — 

 Johnson (1747), ibid., 362. Coghnawayees. — John- 

 son (1747), ihid., 3.59. Coghnewagoes. — Croghan 

 (1705) quoted in Am. Jour. Geol., 272, 1831. Cog- 

 nahwaghah.— Doc. of 1798 in Williams, Vt., II, 288, 

 1S09. Cognawagees. — Johnson (1747) inN. Y. Doc. 

 Col. Hist., VI, 3.59, 1855. Cognawago.— Peter.s (1760) 

 in Ma.ss. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th s., ix, 270, 1871. Cohna- 

 waga.— Washington (1796) in Am. St. Pap., IV, 585, 

 1832. Cohnawagey.— Johnson (1763) in N. Y. Doc. 

 Col. Hist., VII. .542, 18,56. Cohnawahgans,— Car- 

 ver, Trav., 173, 1778. Cohnewago. — Eastburn (1758) 

 quoted bv Drake, Trag. Wild., 272. 1841. Cohune- 

 •wagus.— imlay, W. Ter., 291, 1797. Cohunnaw- 

 goes. — Macauiey, N. Y., ll, 187, 1829. Cohunne- 

 gagoes.— Thompson quoted by Jefferson, Notes, 

 282, 1825. Cohunnewagoes. — Bouquet (1764) 

 quoted, ibid., 141. Conawaghrunas. — French 

 trader quoted by Smith, Bouquet'.s Exped., 69, 

 1766. Conaway Crunas. — Buchanan, N. Am. Inds., 

 156, 1824. Conwahago. — Mercer (1759) quoted by 

 Kauffman, W. Penn., 129, 1851. Coughnawagas. — 

 Goldthwait (1766) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., Ists., 

 X, 121, 1809. Cunniwagoes, — Croghan (1757) in 

 N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., vii, 285, 1856. French Mo- 

 hawks.— Penhallow (1726) in N. H. Hist. Soc. 

 Coll., I, 57, 1824. Iroquois du Sault,— Bacqueville 

 de la Potherie, in, 07, 1753. Iroquois of the Sault. — 

 La Barre (1684) in N. Y. Doc. Col. Hist., ix, 

 241, 18.55. Jernaistes.— Doc. of 1694, ibid., iv, 92, 

 1854. Kachanuage.— Schuyler (1700), ibid., 747. 



