THE GEOEGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 185 



cured from them. The Government had always dealt honorably with the Indians, 

 and the speaker expressed a hope that this policy wonld always be pursued in the 

 future. For years the white men and the Indians had dwelt in harmony, side by side, 

 without murmurings, much less revolt, on the part of the latter, which he hoped would 

 continue in the future. 



Senator Plumb, of Canada, was next introduced. He began his eloquent and in- 

 teresting address by stating that he felt highly honored and pleased by the invita- 

 tion to attend the exhibition, and take part in the celebration with those whom the 

 Government were bound to protect and cherish in every way in their power. He then 

 referred to the formation of the league of the " Long House," by which the several 

 tribes composing the Six Nations were bound together and became an invincible power 

 upon the continent. The immense territories acquired by them, and the many nations 

 which they conquered, with no other weapons but those formed 6f shell and stone, 

 were recounted by Mr. Plumb in graphic language. In the middle of the seventeenth 

 century the Six Nations had reached the summit of their power. The Dutch settlers 

 had entered into friendly relations with them, and this was continued by the English. 

 With them the Mohawks formed a covenant chain, which had never been broken, 

 but remained untarnished still. The Six Nations were the highest type of Indians 

 ever known upon the continent, and the speaker hoped that their nationality would 

 never be merged into that of the whites. The hatchet was buried, and he hoped that 

 they would be as successful in peace as they had been in war. It was with great 

 sorrow that they abandoned their beautiful lands in the center of New York, but they 

 remained true to the cause of Britain's King and sacrificed all to keep their promise 

 as expressed by the covenant chain formed in previous years. The gratitude of the 

 King to them for their aid was shown by the liberal grant of land which had been 

 made to them. After having passed through a period of war and semi-civilization, 

 they were rapidly reaching a complete civilization, as evinced by their schools and 

 agricultural exhibition, which latter would compare favorably with many of the local 

 fairs held by their white brethren. Education was now the first necessity, and every 

 one should take advantage of the school privileges held out to him. A great improve- 

 ment had been made, but there was still room for more, and the speaker hoped that 

 they would continue until they had reached a complete civilization. 



HON. HORATIO SEYMOUR'S NOTES ON THE IROQUOIS INDIANS, 1884. 



Hon. Horatio Seymour, of Utica, N. T., August 9, 1884, in answer to 

 Hon. James Sheldon, of Buffalo, requesting his presence, wrote of the 

 Iroquois as follows : 



I am gratified by your invitation to visit Buffalo to take part in the historical cele- 

 bration in October, but I dare not accept it. 



I am glad it is to be held, for it will excite an interest in events which have been 

 neglected in the past. I may be able to contribute in some degree to its success by 

 sending to your society a book, published by Hugh Gaines in 1757, in relation to the 

 controversy between Great Britain and France, with regard to their claims in North 

 America. Incidentally, it throws light upon the influence and power of the Six 

 Nations. I think the book is rare, as I know but another copy, which is in the State 

 library, at Albany. 



I will also send to you a map made by the British ordnance department about 1720, 

 which, among other things, lays down or defines the bounds of the conquests of the 

 Iroquois. The southern line runs through the center of the colony of North Carolina, 

 westward to the Mississippi River ; 'thence, along that river and the course of the 

 Illinois, to the southern end of Lake Michigan ; thence, through the center of that lake, 

 to a point in Canada north of the great lakes ; thence eastward to the Atlantic. The 

 book and this map show that the claim of the English to the territory west of Rome, 



