HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



15 



ever, of little consequence. I shall abandon the trade, not- 

 withstanding the fine amusement it affords." 



At his house, near Utica, the baron had little society, 

 except from the passing visit of a stranger or a friend. A 

 young man named Mulligan, whose literary powers and 

 destitute situation, when a boy, had attracted his notice, 

 resided with him, and read to him in his solitary hours. 

 His favorite aides-de-camp, Walker and North, also spent 

 much time at his house, and their affectionate attention 

 continued to cheer him till the close of life. His farm and 

 garden afforded him some pastime, but it was chiefly from 

 a well-stored library that he derived relief from the weari- 

 ness of a situation that harmonized ill with the active duties 

 of his former life. The comforts of religion and the perusal 

 of the Scriptures prepared him to meet his end with com- 

 posure and humble trust. 



Though the sedentary life he followed was unfavorable 

 to his health, no failure of mind or body was apparent till 

 November, 1794. On the 25th of that month, he returned 

 in the evening to his chamber in his usual health, but was 

 shortly after struck with paralysis, and partly deprived of 

 speech. The nearest physician was called, though the case 

 was immediately seen to be hopeless. He died on the 28th. 



Agreeably to former directions, his body was wrapped in 

 a military cloak, ornamented with the star he had always 

 worn, and interred in the neighboring forest. A few neigh- 

 bors, his servants, and the young man, his late companion, 

 followed his remains to the grave. A public highway was 

 laid out some years afterwards, which passed directly over 

 the hallowed spot. Walker caused his body to be removed 

 to a little distance, where a monument was erected and in- 

 closed with an iron paling. He also gave an adjoining lot 

 as a site for a church, on condition that its members and 

 their successors should preserve the remains from any 

 further violation. 



Col. North caused a tablet, with the following inscrip- 

 tion, to be placed in the Lutheran church in Nassau 

 Street, New York, where the baron used to worship when 

 residing in that city : 



Sacred to the Memory of 



FREDERIC WILLIAM AUGUSTUS, BAROK STEUBEN, 



A German Knight of the Order of Fidelity, 



Aide-de-Camp to Frederic the Great, King of Prussia, 



Major-General and Inspector-General 



In the Revolutionary War. 



Esteemed, respected, and supported by Washington, 



He gave Military Skill and Discipline 



To the Citizen Soldiers, who 



(Fulfilling the Decrees of Heaven) 



Achieved the Independence of the United States. 



The highly-polished Manners of the Baron were graced 



By the most noble Feelings of the Heart; 



His Hand, open as Day to melting Charity, 



Closed only in the Grasp of Death. 



This Memorial is inscribed by an American, 



Who had Honor to be his Aide-de-Camp, 



The Happiness to be his Friend. 



Ob. 1795.-;^- 



CH AFTER II. 



THE INDIANS. 



* Jared Sparks, in his biography of Steuben, decides that this date 

 is an error, and gives, as we have given it elsewhere, Nov. 28, 1794. 



League of the Iroquois — Their Extent and Power — Formation of the 

 Confederacy — Peculiarities of their Government — Tribal Relations 

 and Character. 



The Indians who inhabited this locality prior to the 

 advent of the white man were the debris of once-powerful 

 tribes, broken and scattered by long series of revolutions. 

 Like the modern remnants of some of the old wealthy and 

 powerful Eastern nations, sitting in squalid poverty amidst 

 the old scenes of luxury and magnificence, these broken 

 tribes dwelt amidst the symbols and tokens of a former 

 Indian empire, whose glory had departed and whose 

 strength had been wasted in desolating wars. 



The immediate territory of this county was included in 

 the domain of the Senecas, the most western nation of that 

 once-pow^erful Confederacy known as the •' League of the 

 Iroquois," or Five Nations. 



At one time the domain of these Confederated Nations 

 extended from the Sorrel River south, by the Great Lakes 

 to the Mississippi on the west, thence east to the Santee, 

 and coast-wise back to the Hudson. 



The territory of the Iroquois embraced more fertile land, 

 combined with a temperate and healthy climate, than any 

 other tract of equal extent on the globe. And their power 

 and dominion extended far beyond these geographical boun- 

 daries. Although they occupied, as their proper home, 

 what they metaphorically termed the " Long House," — 

 that is, the territory of New York extending from the 

 Hudson to Lake Erie, — yet they extended their power and 

 influence far beyond these limits, and held the tribes both 

 of the East and the West in subjection. 



Says Smith, in his history of New York, '' When the 

 Dutch began the settlement of this country, all the Indiana 

 on Long Island and the northern shore of the Sound, on 

 the banks of the Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, and Sus- 

 quehanna Rivers, were in subjection to the Five Nations, 

 and acknowledged it by paying them tribute.'' The French 

 historians of Canada, both ancient and modern, agree that 

 the more northern Indians were driven far back to the West 

 and Northwest by the martial prowess of the confederates. 

 '' The Ho-de-no-sau-nee occupied our precise territory, and 

 their council-fires burned continually from the Hudson to 

 the Niagara. Our old forests have rung with their war- 

 shouts, and been enlivened with their festivals of peace. 

 In their progressive course they had stretched round half 

 the republic, and rendered their names a terror nearly from 

 ocean to ocean, when the advent of the Saxon race arrested 

 their career, and prepared the way for the final extinguish- 

 ment of the fires of the Confederacy. "f 



The Five Nations have been called by some the '^ Romans 

 of the Western World." Their warriors, in the prime of 

 the Confederacy, were noted for their valor and their far- 

 extended conquests. ^^ At one period," says Schoolcraft, 

 " we hear the sound of their war-cry along the Straits of 

 St. Mary's and at the foot of Lake Superior ; at another. 



t Letters on the Iroquois, — North American Review. 



