HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



31 



lature passed an act making the governor and board of 

 commissioners superintendents of Indian aifairs. Gov. 

 George Clinton was ex officio president of the board, than 

 whom no man was ever more efficient and patriotic or a 

 greater benefactor to the State. The commissioners ap- 

 pointed were Abraham Cuyler, Peter Schuyler, and Henry 

 Glen, who, by authority of the act, associated with them- 

 selves Philip Schuyler, Robert Yates, Abraham Ten Broeck, 

 Abraham Yates, Jr., John J. Beekman, P. W. Yates, 

 Matthew Vischer, and Gen. Gansevoort. Gov. Clinton, 

 at the head of the board, assumed the laboring oar of nego- 

 tiation. The services of a long roll of those who had been 

 Indian traders or captives were enlisted, — Rev. Samuel 

 Kirkland, the missionary, Peter Ryckman, Jacob Reed, 

 James Deane, Maj. Fonda, Col. Wemplo, Col. Van Dyke, 

 and others. Peter Ryckman was sent to the various Indian 

 villages, from Oneida Castle to Niagara, to consult with the 

 leading sachems and chiefs, and prepare the Indians to 

 attend the council which was contingently appointed to be 

 held at a certain time at Fort Schuyler. 



All this preparation seems to have been made without 

 the knowledge that the general government was at the same 

 time contemplating a treaty with the Indians. But such 

 was the fact. Congress had already determined upon a 

 general treaty, not only with the Six Nations, but with all 

 the tribes bordering upon the settlements in New York, 

 Pennsylvania, and Ohio, and had appointed as its commis- 

 sioners Oliver Woolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur Lee. 

 This brought the general government and State authorities 

 into conflict ; a correspondence ensued on the question of 

 jurisdiction and the respective rights of each to form treaties 

 with the Indians, the State maintaining its right to treat 

 with all Indians within its jurisdiction. The New York 

 board, however, finding the Indians averse to treating with 

 the State, but generally disposed to meet the " Thirteen 

 Fires'' and hold a "treaty of peace" jointly with their 

 people of the Western nations, waived the point for the 

 time being, allowing the United States commissioners to 

 hold the first council of importance. 



Meantime, the New York Board did not relax their exer- 

 tions. Most of the spring and summer of 178-1 were spent 

 in endeavors to convene a council of the Six Nations. On 

 the 1st of September deputies from the Onondagas, Cayu- 

 gas, and Senecas met at Fort Schuyler. The Oneidas and 

 Tuscaroras held back, but a deputation from them was 

 brought in by runners on the third day. A very interest- 

 ing summary of the proceedings and results of this and other 

 subsequent councils is given by Mr. Turner, in his history 

 of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, which we cannot do 

 better than to quote here. Its important bearing on our 

 local history will be our apology for its length. Mr. Turner 

 says: 



" The deputies of these two nations [Oneidas and Tus- 

 caroras] were first addressed by Gov. Clinton. He assured 

 them of a disposition to be at peace ; disclaimed any inten- 

 tion to deprive them of their lauds ; proposed a settlement 

 of boundaries ; and warned them against disposing of their 

 lands to other than commissioners regularly appointed by 

 the State of New York, who would treat w^ith them for 

 lands when they were disposed to sell them. In reply to 



this speech a delegate of the two nations expressed their 

 gratification that the war had ended, and that they could 

 now meet and ' smoke the pipe of peace.' ' You have come 

 up,' said he, ' what has been an untrodden path to you for 

 many years ; and this path which you have seen as you have 

 come along, has been strewed with blood. We, therefore, 

 in our turn, console your losses and sorrows daring these 

 troublesome times. We rejoice that you have opened the 

 path of peace to this country.' He thanked the commis- 

 sioners for their advice to the Oneidas and Tuscaroras, not 

 to listen to individuals who proposed the purchase of their 

 lands. 



" At this stage of the council the Cayuga and Tuscarora 

 chiefs exhibited a letter from the commissioners of Con- 

 gress. The letter was read. It informed the Indians that 

 they, the commissioners, were appointed by Congress ' to 

 settle a general peace with all the Indian nations from the 

 Ohio to the Great Lakes' — that the Governor of New York 

 had no authority from Congress ; but as he had invited the 

 Indians to assemble at Fort Stanwix on the 20th of Sep- 

 tember, the commissioners, to save the trouble of two coun- 

 cils, would alter the determination of holding the council at 

 Niagara, and meet them at Fort Stanwix on the day named. 

 " Gov. Clinton next addressed the ' sachems and warriors 

 of the Mohawks, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas.' He 

 assured them that what was a colony had become a State ; 

 that he and his friends had met them to open the path of 

 peace, to establish that friendly relation that existed between 

 the Indians and their white neighbors previous to the war. 

 Some passages of the Governor's speech were as truly elo- 

 quent as anything that will be found among our State 

 records. He said : ' The council fires which were lighted 

 both at Albany and Onondaga by our ancestors and those 

 of the Six Nations, which burned so bright, and shone with 

 so friendly a light over our common country, have un- 

 happily almost been extinguished by the late war with 

 Great Britain. I now gather together at this place the 

 remaining brands, add fresh fuel, and with the true spirit 

 of reconciliation and returning friendship, rekindle the fire, 

 in hopes that no future events may ever arise to extinguish 

 it ; but that you and we, and the offspring of us both, may 

 enjoy its benign influence as long as the sun shall shine or 

 waters flow.' In reference to the letter of the commis- 

 sioners of Congress, he assured them that their business was 

 with Indians residing out of any State ; but that New York 

 had a right to deal with those residing within her boundaries. 

 " The answer to the Governor's speech was made by 

 Brant. He said that ' it meets with our dispositions and 

 feelings, and feelings of our minds.' In reference to the 

 respective claims of Congress and New York, he thought it 

 strange that ' there should be two bodies to manage the same 

 business.' Several speeches followed, Brant and Corn- 

 planter being the spokesmen of the Indians. The utmost 

 harmony prevailed ; the Indian orators treating all subjects 

 adroitly, manifesting a disposition to make a treaty, but 

 evidently intending to stave off" any direct action until they 

 met in council the United States Commissioners. To a 

 proposition from Gov. Clinton that the State of New York 

 would look for a cession of lands to help indemnify them 

 for the expenses and sacrifices of the war, they replied, ad- 



