BDLL. 30] 



TEDYUSKUNG 



715 



who cures wounda, bruises, etc' — Hew- 

 itt). One of the most famous and crafty 

 of the Delaware chiefs during the period of 

 discussion of the Indian claims following 

 the sale of the lands along the Delaware 

 and Susquehanna to the Proprietors of 

 Pennsylvania by the Iroquois. He was 

 born at Trenton, N. J., about 1705, and 

 died Apr. 16, 1763. Nothing is known 

 of his life before the time he first appears 

 as a historic character, prior to which he 

 was known as "Honest John." When 

 about 50 years of age he was chosen as 

 the chief of the Delawares on the Susque- 

 hanna, and from that time until his 

 death he was one of the chief figures in 

 the problem' which the authorities of 

 Pennsylvania were trying to solve. He 

 occupied a peculiar position. Sir William 

 Johnson, of New York, was a zealous 

 friend of the Iroquois; Conrad Weiser 

 and George Croghan, of Pennsylvania, 

 were also strongly prejudiced against the 

 Delawares and Shawnee. The question 

 wliich the government of the province 

 of Pennsylvania had to answer was, How 

 to keep peace with the Iroquois and at 

 the same time prevent the Delawares and 

 the Shawnee, who were becoming more 

 independent of the Iroquois, from going 

 over to the Frericli. The Delawares 

 were beginning to feel that they had been 

 unjustly deprived of their lands by the 

 Pennsylvania authorities aided by the 

 Iroquois. They had been driven from 

 the Delaware to the Susquehanna, and 

 many of them had been forced from that 

 later refuge to the Ohio; and now that 

 France and England had commenced to 

 struggle for the possession of that region 

 they felt that they were being driven 

 from their last resort. They were revolt- 

 ing not only against the English but also 

 against their masters, the Iroquois. At 

 this critical time, when the border settle- 

 ments in western Pennsylvania were 

 being ravaged by hostile bands of Dela- 

 wares and Shawnee, and when the Eng- 

 lish were making preparations for an 

 expedition for the purpose of taking Ft 

 Duquesne, Tedyuskung took his stand as 

 a friend of the English and as a patriot 

 of the Delawares and the Shawnee. The 

 mission of Christian F Post to the Ohio 

 Indians, at Kuskuski, and its success, and 

 the termination of French rule on the 

 Ohio, were in large jneasure due to the 

 influence and the efforts of this Delaware 

 chief. 



Conrad Weiser had told the story of 

 the western Indians at the council at 

 Albany (1754) in order that the Iroquois 

 might know the real situation. The 

 chiefs of the Six Nations realized that 

 something must be done concerning their 

 complaints about the squatters on the 

 Juniata (Col. Eec. Pa., vi, 84, 1851). 



At this conference Weiser found that 

 several agents from Connecticut were 

 present, who were seeking to bargain 

 with the Mohawk for land in the Wyo- 

 ming valley. Before the conference was 

 over these agents went away with deeds 

 for the eastern part of the Wyoming 

 valley and the East branch of the Sus- 

 quehanna. The Indians went home to 

 the Ohio to find out that the West branch 

 had been sold to Pennsylvania. These 

 facts, and the defeat of Washington at 

 Ft Necessity, followed by Braddock's 

 defeat, led to three years of bloodshed 

 and vengeance. The sale of their lands 

 at Albany, the traffic in rum along the 

 Ohio, and the total neglect by the prov- 

 ince of Pennsylvania, caused a complete 

 alienation of these western Indians. 

 Then began the various attempts to win 

 them back, which caused almost endless 

 discussion between the governor, the 

 assembly, and the Proprietors (Col. Rec. 

 Pa., VI, 683; vii, 85, et seq., 1851). The 

 passing of the Scalp Act and the declara- 

 tion of war against the Delawares caused 

 this tribe to rise in rebellion against the 

 province, and also against longer wearing 

 the hated title of "women" (ibid., vii, 

 522, 1851). Such was the situation when 

 the council was called at Easton, July, 

 1756, at which Tedyuskung appeared as 

 the champion of the Delawares. The 

 governor of Pennsylvania opened the 

 council with a speech in which he wel- 

 comed the chief. Tedyuskung in his 

 reply said : ' ' The Delawares are no longer 

 the slaves of the Six Nations. I, Tedyus- 

 kung, have been appointed king over the 

 Five United Nations. What I do here 

 will be approved by all. This is a good 

 day. I wish the same good that possessed 

 the good old man William Penn, who 

 was the friend of the Indian, may inspire 

 the people of the province at this time" 

 (ibid., 213). A grand reception and feast 

 were given to the Indians present, and 

 "the king and Newcastle" were sent to 

 give the "big peace halloo" to the In- 

 dians and invite them to a large confer- 

 ence, which would be held later. Ted- 

 yuskung left Easton, but remained at Ft 

 Allen, where his drunken sprees and the 

 actions of Lieut. Miller endangered the 

 whole outcome of the peace negotiations. 

 (For the letters from Ft Allen concerning 

 Tedyuskung and the investigation of 

 affairs by Weiser, see Frontier Forts of 

 Pa., I, 202, 1896, and Archives of Pa., 2d 

 s., II, 745,1853.) 



It was at this time that Tedyuskung 

 was blamed for having dealings with 

 the French. There is no evidence that 

 such was the case. While he was linger- 

 ing at Ft Allen the governor of Penn- 

 sylvania sent Newcastle to New York to 

 find out from the Iroquois if they had 



