36 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



they can induce the Cayugas and Senecas to attend the 

 council. The Rev. Mr. Kirldand gave in writing an ac- 

 count of his mission. He stated that on arriving at Kana- 

 desaga, he ascertained that, to keep the Cajugas back frona 

 the council at Fort Schuyler, two of the principal lessees 

 and their agents had " kept them in a continued state of 

 intoxication for three weeks ; that Dr. B. and Col. M. had 

 between twenty and thirty riflemen in arms for twenty-four 

 hours ; and gave out severe threats against Peter Ryckman 

 and Col. Reed, for being enemies to their party and friends 

 to the government, in persuading the Indians to attend the 

 treaty at Fort Schuyler." Mr. Kirkland stated that he 

 had been as far as Niagara and had seen Col. Butler ; that 

 at the Seneca village of Buffalo Creek, he had seen Shen- 

 dy ough-gwat-te, the second man of influence among the 

 Senecas, and Farmer's Brother, alias Ogh-ne-wi-ge-was ; and 

 that they had become disposed to treat with the State. 

 Before the board adjourned, it was agreed to address a 

 letter to Reed and Ryckman, asking them to name a day 

 on which they could procure the attendance of the Cayu- 

 gas and Senecas at Albany. Reed and Ryckman, on the 

 reception of the letter, dispatched James Manning Reed 

 with an answer, saying that they would be at Albany with 

 the Indians on the 23d of January, and adding that the 

 lessees kept the Indians " so continually intoxicated with 

 liquor that it was almost impossible to do anything with 

 them." It was not until the 11th of February that Ryck- 

 man was enabled to collect a sufficient number of Indians 

 and reach Albany. Several days were spent in preliminary 

 proceedings and in waiting for delegations that were on the 

 way. On the 14th, James Bryan and Benjamin Birdsall, 

 two of the lessees, appeared before the commissioners and 

 delivered up the " long leases" that had occasioned so much 

 trouble. On the 19th the council was opened with the 

 Cayugas. There were many Senecas, Onondagas, and 

 Oneidas present. Good Peter, on behalf of the Cayugas, 

 made a speech. He said his brothers, the Cayugas and 

 Senecas, had "requested him to be their mouth." As 

 upon another occasion, his speech abounded in some of the 

 finest imagery to be found in any preserved specimen of 

 Indian eloquence. In allusion to the conduct of the lessees, 

 and the long series of precedent difficulties with the whites, 

 he observed : '^ Let us notwithstanding possess our minds in 

 peace. We can see but a small depth into the heart of man ; 

 we can only discover what comes from his tongue." 



Speaking of the relations that used to exist between his 

 people and the old colony of New York, he said : " They 

 used to kindle a council-fire, the smoke of which reached 

 the heavens, and around which they sat and talked of 

 peace." He said, in reference to the blessings of peace 

 and the settled state of things that was promised by fixing 

 the Indians upon the Reservations under the protection of 

 the State, " Our little ones can now go with leisure to 

 look for fish in the streams, and our warriors to hunt for 

 wild beasts in the woods." Present -at the council was a 

 considerable number of their women, whom Good Peter 

 called " governesses," and gave the reasons why they were 

 there. " The rights of women" found in him an able ad- 

 vocate. " Our ancestors considered it a great transgression 

 to reject the counsel of the women, particularly the gov- 



ernesses ; they considered them the mistresses of the soil. 

 They sai(J, Who brings us forth ? Who cultivates our lands? 

 Who kindles our fires, and boils our pots, but the women? 

 Our women say let not the tradition of the fathers with re- 

 spect to women be disregarded ; let them not be despised ; 

 God is their maker." 



Several other speeches intervening, the Governor answered 

 the speech of Good Peter. He reviewed the bargain the 

 Indians had made with the lessees, and told them that if 

 carried out it would be their ruin ; explained the laws of 

 the State and their tendency to protect them in the enjoy- 

 ment of a sufficient quantity of land for their use, and to 

 guard them against peculation and fraud. In replying to 

 that part of Good Peter's speech in reference to the women 

 and their rights, the venerable Governor was in a vein of 

 gallantry, eloquently conceding the immunities which belong- 

 to the " mothers of mankind." He told them they should 

 have reservations " large enough, however prolific they might 

 be, even if they should increase their nation to their ancient 

 state and numbers." He apologized to the dusky sister- 

 hood by saying that he was '' advanced in years and unac- 

 customed to address their sex in public." Other speeches 

 and negotiations followed, till February 25, when all the 

 preliminaries having been settled, the Cayugas ceded to the 

 State all of their lands, excepting a large Reservation of one 

 hundred square miles. The consideration was five hundred 

 dollars in hand, sixteen hundred and twenty-eight dollars in 

 June following, and an annuity of five hundred dollars forever. 



In a congratulatory address, after the treaty was con- 

 cluded, Governor Clinton recapitulated all of its terms, and 

 observed : " Brothers and sisters ! when you reflect that 

 you had parted with the whole of your country (in allusion 

 to the long lease) without reserving a spot to lie down on, 

 or kindle a fire on, and that you had disposed of your lands 

 to people whom you had no means to compel to pay what 

 they had promised, you will be persuaded that your brothers 

 and sisters whom you have left at home, and your and their 

 children will have reason to rejoice at the covenant you 

 have now made, which not only saves you from impending 

 ruin, but restores you to peace and security." 



The three treaties that had been thus concluded had 

 made the State the owners of the soil of the Military Tract, 

 or the principal amount of territory now included in the 

 counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tompkins, Cort- 

 land, and parts of Oswego and Wayne. Other cessions fol- 

 lowed until the large reservations were either ceded entirely 

 away or reduced to their present narrow limits. The deed 

 of cession of the Cayugas stipulated that the State should 

 convey to their " adopted child, Peter Ryckman, whom 

 they desire shall reside near them and assist them," a tract 

 on the west side of Seneca Lake, which should contain six- 

 teen thousand acres, the location being designated. Soon 

 after the treaty of Albany, the superintendency of Indian 

 affairs devolved upon John Taylor, as agent for the board 

 of commissioners. Although the treaty had seemed satis- 

 factory, a pretty strong faction of all three of the nations 

 treated with had kept back, and became instruments for 

 the use of designing whites. Neither Brant, Red Jacket, 

 Farmer's Brother, nor indeed many of the influential chiefs, 

 had attended the treaties. 



