REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I917 173 



participation in the wars of defense not only of their country but 

 ours, we may well offer our gratitude. But after our huzzas have 

 ended let us soberly remember that that nation endures that is able 

 to resist force by force, and that no soft-spoken diplomacy on the 

 part of the Oneidas would have saved their town and stockade. 



Even the disorganized Hurons might have turned the tide of 

 history and changed the entire complexion of subsequent events. 

 Hurons might have occupied this region and invited their Algonquin 

 allies to dwell with them; the banner of France might have waved 

 from a citadel in central New York. But because the Oneidas resisted 

 successfully, the Iroquois took on new courage, and history tells us 

 of Champlain's death in the forest, of the annihilation of the Huron 

 nation, of the downfall of France in the New World. In all these 

 momentous events the fight at Nichols pond had a primary influence. 

 It is well that we pause to remember this critical small event in the 

 formative period of our country. 



