656 



SUSQUEHANNA 



[b. a. e. 



with the Susquehanna, the Capitannasses 

 are placed, with seven designs denoting 

 towns arranged some distance apart along 

 the course of the river; s. and slightly far- 

 ther w. into the interior the "lottecas" 

 (Jottecas) are placed, with five designs rep- 

 resenting towns set close together; and 

 much farther down, on the w. side, a 

 short distance below the confluence of 

 a branch on the e. side, probably Cones- 

 toga or., the "Mincquaas" are placed, 

 with four palisaded towns, three of which 

 are marked with two towns and one with 

 four. The naoie "Mincquaas" occurs 

 on the E. side of the Susquehanna a short 

 distance above the branch last men- 

 tioned, but without any designs denotive 

 of lodges or towns. The four palisaded 

 towns were probably not far from the 

 present Conewango r. and falls of the 

 Susquehanna. This disposition of the 

 tribes on the Susquehanna shows that 

 the name "Mincquaas" was originally 

 applied specifically to the people who 

 dwelt in the same general position as 

 those whom Smith called "Sasquesa- 

 hanoughs." The Mohawk (Maquaas), 

 with five closely set designs of lodges, 

 are placed on the n. side of what purports 

 to be an affluent of L. Ontario, in a rela- 

 tively correct geographical position; on 

 the opposite side of the river occurs the 

 name "Canoomakers," which is appar- 

 ently mis written for Caughnawaga. This 

 map exhibits a noteworthy knowledge of 

 the interior of the region now comprised 

 in New York and Pennsylvania, and of the 

 names and position of the several Indian 

 tribes inhabiting it. This name later 

 came to include many tribes and rem- 

 nants of tribes which dwelt of their own 

 accord or were forced to dwell in the 

 valley of Susquehanna r. , but the period 

 must be known before it is possible to 

 state the names of the tribes inhabiting 

 that stream. For during the middle 

 decades of the 16th century all the tribes 

 dwelling along this r. at the time of its 

 discovery were destroyed as political en- 

 tities and removed by the Iroquois. 



In 16-17, learning that the Hurons were 

 being worsted by the Iroquois, the Susque- 

 hanna or Conestoga offered them diplo- 

 matic and military assistance, backed by 

 a force of 1,300 warriors in a single pali- 

 saded town, who had been trained by 

 three Swedish soldiers in the use of guns 

 arid in European tactics (Bozman, Hist. 

 Md., II, 273, 1837; Proud, Hist. Pa., i, 

 111, 1897). This proffered aid was ac- 

 cepted by the hard-pressed Hurons, who 

 sent at once an emljassy to the Susque- 

 hanna or Conestoga capital. The Susque- 

 hanna lost no time in sending ambassa- 

 dors, with suitable wampum belts and 

 presents, to the Iroquois federal council 

 at Onondaga, for the purpose of ending 



the war and establishing peace between 

 the Hurons and the Iroquois; but the Iro- 

 quois refused the mediation and the war 

 continued. On the other hand, the Hu- 

 rons, sunk in a hopeless lethargy, did not 

 actively seek to avail themselves of the 

 Susquehanna aid, and so in less than 18 

 months they were entirely defeated and 

 dispersed by the Iroquois. 



From about 1630 to 1644 the Susque- 

 hanna waged a relentless war southward 

 from their homes against the Yaomacos, 

 the Piscataway, and the Patuxent (Boz- 

 man, op. cit., II, 161, 1837), and they cre- 

 ated so much trouble for the colonists that 

 Gov. Calvert, in 1642, by proclamation, 

 declared them public enemies. Holm 

 (Descr. New Sweden, Mem. Hist. Soc. 

 Pa., Ill, 157, 1834), says that the Minquea 

 or Minckus live on a "high mountain, 

 very steep and difficult to climb; there 

 they have a fort or square building, sur- 

 rounded with palisades, in which they 

 reside. . . . There they have guns, and 

 small cannon, with which they shoot and 

 defend themselves, and take them when 

 they go to war." He says that this place 

 was situated 12 Swedish or 54 English 

 m. from the Swedish settlements, and 

 that they had forced the surrounding 

 tribes to be subject and tributary to them, 

 "so that they dare not stir, much less go 

 to war against them." 



In 1652, having maintained for a num- 

 ber of years friendly intercourse with 

 their European neighbors, the Susque- 

 hanna, in the presence of a Swedish com- 

 missioner, through their chiefs, Sawa- 

 hegeh, Auroghteregh, Scarhuhadigh, 

 Rutchogah, and Nathheldaneh, ceded to 

 Maryland all their territory from the 

 Patuxent r. to Palmer's id., and from 

 Choptank r. to the n. e. branch, n. of 

 Elkr. 



Early in Apr. 1663, the Onondaga, 

 Cayuga, and Seneca, in pressing more 

 vigorously the war which had been wag- 

 ing for a number of years, dispatched an 

 expedition of 800 men against Susque- 

 hanna itself (properly called Andasto6, 

 by the Jesuit Relations). The narrative 

 is indefinite as to the situation of the 

 objective point of the expedition. Erro- 

 neously adopting the geography of the 

 "Carte Figurative," it states that this 

 Iroquois army embarked on L. Ontario, 

 and near one of its extremities came to a 

 large river leading without rapids or falls 

 to the very gates of Susquehanna (Andas- 

 togue). On arriving there, after a voyage 

 of more than 100 leagues on the river, 

 they found the town defended on one 

 side by the stream and on the others by 

 trunks of large trees; it was flanked by 

 two bastions constructed in accordance 

 with European methods, and was also 

 furnished with some pieces of artillery. 



