352 MYTHS OB" THE CHEROKEE ' [eth.ann.19 



Whatever the cause, the war was taken up liy all the tribes of the 

 league. 



Froui the Iroquois country to the Cherok(>e frontier was considered 

 a five days' journey for ii rapidly traveling war party. As the distance 

 was too great for lai'ge expeditions, the war consisted chiefly of a series 

 of individual exploits, a single Cherokee often going hundreds of miles 

 to strike a blow, which was sure to l)e promptly retaliated bj^ the war- 

 riors from the north, the great ol)ject of every Iroquois boy being to 

 go against the Cherokee as soon as he was old enough to take the war 

 path. Captives were made on both sides, and probably in about equal 

 numbers, the two parties being too evenly matched for either to gain 

 any permanent advantage, and a compromise was finally made by which 

 the Tennessee river came to ))e regarded as the ))oundary ))etween their 

 rival claims, all south of that stream being claimed by the Cherokee, 

 and being acknowledged by the Iroquois, as the limit of their own con- 

 quests in that direction. This Indian l)oundar3' was recognized ))y the 

 British government up to the time of the Revolution. 



Morgan states that a curious agreement was once made between the 

 two tribes, by which this liver was also made the limit of pursuit. If 

 a returning war party of the Cherokee could recross the Tennessee 

 before they were overtaken by the pursuing Iroquois they were as safe 

 from attack as though entrenched l)ehind a stockade. The pursuers, 

 if they chose, might still invade the territory of the enemy, but they 

 passed bj' the camp of the retreating- Cherokee without ofl'ering to 

 attack them. A similar agreement existed for a time between the 

 Seneca and the Erie. 



The Bufi'alo dance of the Iroquois is traditionally said to have had 

 its origin in an expedition against the Cherokee. When the war- 

 riors on their way to the south reached the Kentuckj^ salt lick they 

 found thei'e a herd of bufl'alo, and heard them, for the first tiuie, 

 "singing their favorite songs," i. e., bellowing and snorting. From 

 the bellowing and the movements of the animals were derived the 

 music and action of the dance. 



According to Cherokee tradition, as given by the chief Stand Watie, 

 the war was final Iv brought to an end by the Iroquois, who sent a dele- 

 gation to the Cherokee to propose a general alliance of the southern 

 and western tribes. The Cherokee accepted the proposition, and in 

 turn sent out invitations to the other tribes, all of which entered into 

 the peace excepting the Osage, of whom it was therefore said thatthej' 

 should be henceforth like a wild fruit on the prairie, at which every 

 bird should pick, and so the Osage have remained ever a predatory 

 tribe without friends or allies. This may be the same treaty described 

 in the story of "The Seneca Peacemakers." A formal and final peace 

 between the two tribes was arranged through the efl:'orts of the British 

 agent, Sir William Johnson, in 1768. 



