HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK IROQUOIS 29I 



soon after sent to Logstown to confer with the Indians there, 

 and was shown the numbers of warriors near the Ohio by bun- 

 dles of sticks. There were 74 Mohawks, 15 Oneidas, 35 Onon- 

 dagas, 20 Cayugas, and 163 Senecas among these; not half of 

 what had been previously reported. He held several councils 

 with the Iroquois and others there, but Johnson questioned the 

 character and importance of these. 



Chapter 17 



Abbe Picquet's mission. Shikellimy dies. Nanticokes and Shawnees on the 

 Susquehanna. De Celoron on the Ohio. French activity. Iroquois emi- 

 grants. Johnson buys Onondaga lake and shores. Kalm. Death of Canas- 

 satego. Cammerhoff visits the Six Nations. Peace v^ith the Catawbas. 

 Johnson resigns office. French troops on the Ohio. Iroquois claims. War 

 with Cherokees. Tuscarora towns. Johnson at Onondaga. Tanacharisson, 

 the Half King. Moravians in New York. Colonial congress at Albany. 

 Mutual complaints. Land treaty with Pennsylvania. Fraudulent purchase 

 of Wyoming. Scarrooyady, the new Half King. 



In 1748 the Abbe Picquet went to select a spot for a new 

 settlement and Indian mission on the St Lawrence, choosing the 

 mouth of the Oswegatchie river for its military importance. He 

 went there in May 1749, building a storehouse and fort, armed 

 with five small cannon. It was attacked and burned by the Mo- 

 hawks Oct. 26. This was on the site of Ogdensburg, and its 

 growth was remarkable. It is stated that there were six families 

 there in 1749, 87 in 1750, and 396 in 1751. Mr Shea said they 

 were mostly Onondagas and Cayugas, and Picquet's biographer 

 says *' he reckoned as many as three thousand in his colony," 

 which of course no one believes. The same writer also says 

 that these were of the most influential Iroquois families, the 

 Five Nations having 25,000 people. 



While such statements are extravagant, there can be no ques- 

 tion that the post was a thorn in the side of New York. In the 

 same extravagant way this French writer goes on to say: 



The war parties which departed and returned continually, filled 

 the Mission with so many prisoners that their numbers fre- 

 quently surpassed that of the warriors, rendering it necessary to 

 empty the villages and send them to Headquarters. In fine a 

 number of other expeditions of which M. Picquet was the prin- 

 cipal author have procured the promotion of several officers. 



