HISTORY: Chapter 2, History of Cayuga Co., NY 1879; Cayuga co., NY submitted by W. David Samuelsen *********************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ny/nyfiles.htm *********************************************************************** 1789 - History of Cayuga County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, by Elliot G. Storke, assisted by Jas. H. Smith. Pub. by D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, N.Y. 1879 CHAPTER II. NATIVE INHABITANTS, (CONTINUED.) THE IROQUOIS AND EARLY COLONISTS - FRENCH, DUTCH AND ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS - THE VARIOUS WARS BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND THE IROQUOIS FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION-FAILURE OF THE FRENCH - TRIUMPH OF THE ENGLISH. France, Holland and Great Britain supplied the first colonists of Canada and New York. The first permanent French settlement in Canada was made in. 1608, on the site of Quebec, by Governor Champlain. The Dutch built a fort on Manhattan Island in 1614, and one at Albany in 1615 ; but they had sent out ships to traffic with the natives as early as 161o. In 1664 the English supplanted the Dutch and rapidly colonized the eastern coast. These dates are important as showing the first opportunities of intercourse with the whites which the natives had enjoyed. The French maintained friendly relations with the Canadian and Western Indians for nearly one hundred and fifty years, with whom they carried on a large trade, supplying the natives with such merchandise and commodities as they needed, in return for furs and skins. But for nearly that entire period, the French were at war with the Iroquois, the Dutch or the English, always aided by their Indian allies. When the French built their fort at Quebec in 16o8, the Adirondacks - a very powerful band of Indians - had been defeated by the Iroquois after several severe contests, and were not only driven from their lands in northern New York, but were pursued into Canada and driven to the vicinity of the French settlements. Champlain supplied the Adirondacks with arms, and joined them in an expedition against the Iroquois, and here began that horrible series of barbarities which continued for more than a century and a half, from which the French in Canada and the colonists of New York suffered beyond description. The former much more than the latter, a just punishment, as the originators of the horrid work. The French justly expected to produce great terror among the Iroquois by their fire-arms, and to force them to easy terms of peace. They met and easily routed a few hundred of them on the shore of Lake Champlain, and then returned to Canada. But though greatly frightened at the noise and the destruction wrought by the French guns, the Iroquois were not induced to make ignoble terms of peace, but contented themselves for the time by hiding in the wilderness. This occurred in 1609, and was the first meeting of the Iroquois with the white men. The next invasion was in 1615, when Governor Champlain led an expedition, consisting of a few Frenchmen and four hundred Huron allies, in an attack upon an Iroquois fort, situated in the country of the Onondagas. According to Champlain's account, the village was enclosed by four rows of interlaced palisades thirty feet high. It was near a body of unfailing water, and conductors had been so arranged along the palisades as to lead the water for extinguishing fires. Inside were galleries protected by ball - proof parapets. At the first fire the Indians fled into the fort ; Champlain then constructed a movable tower ofsufficient height to overlook the palisades and moved it near to the fort, placing marksmen therein to fire over the palisades, while the men themselves were protected by the tower. Unsuccessful attempts were made to fire the palisades, but Champlain's forces, consisting mainly of undisciplined Hurons, could not be controlled and they suffered severely from the arrows of those in the fort. Champlain himself was severely wounded, and many of his allies were killed and wounded. The latter became to disorderly as to compel the abandonment of the expedition, which, after lying before the fort for six days, started on its return to Canada.(1) The Five Nations now artfully sued for peace. To this the French consented on the condition that they might send Jesuit priests among them, their object in this being to win over the Five Nations to French allegiance ; but on the arrival of the priests, the Indians held them as hostages to compel the neutrality of the French while they made war upon the Adirondacks. This they did, and severely defeated them within a few miles of Quebec. So severe were the losses of the Adirondacks, and so terrified were the Indian allies of the French, that several of the tribes fled to the remote Southwest beyond, as they believed, the reach of their terrible enemies. The Adirondacks, however, remained, and on them the Five Nations planned another raid. They gave out that they would pay the Governor of Canada a friendly visit, and set out upon it with a thousand warriors. Meeting on their way a leading chief of the Adirondacks, they completely deceived him and secured his confidence. They learned from him that his people were scattered into hunting parties, whose precise localities they also ascertained. They then murdered the unsuspecting chief, and, dividing their own forces, fell upon the scattered parties of the Adirondacks, who became their easy prey. That brave and powerful nation, the only one that had hitherto successfully resisted them, were thus annihilated by the strategy of the Iroquois. In 165o the Hurons and the Utawawas who had fled, as they supposed, beyond the reach of the Five Nations, were sought out by the latter ; but, being advised that their dreaded enemy was on their trail, they made their home with the Pottawatomies. Yet, even here, they were compelled to make peace with their old conquerors. In 1665 the French colony at Quebec received a reinforcement of some fifteen hundred soldiers. The Governor, now feeling himself sufficiently strong, resolved to punish the perfidy of the Five Nations by an attack upon the Mohawks. This he attempted the ensuing Winter, but the expedition failed for want of supplies, the troops suffering greatly. The following year, 1666, the effort was renewed with all the available force of the French with the view of breaking the power of the Five Nations ; but, with their usual sagacity, the Mohawks not being strong enough to successfully contend against so powerful a force, fled to the forest on its approach, and left the enemy to exhaust himself in a contest with privation and hardship in the wilderness, which he soon did, abandoning the expedition after destroying a few hamlets. The losses suffered in this expedition so humbled the pride of the French that they negotiated a peace in 1667. Between the Dutch and English in New York and the French in Canada there was a constant rivalry for the Indian trade in furs and skins, which was very lucrative. The Dutch and English maintained a nearly unbroken friend-ship with the Five Nations, and the latter by their great prowess exercised such control over the Western Indians as greatly to interfere with the French trade with them. The frequent collisions of the colonists with each other, and with the Indians, grew out of the rivalry for this trade. In these contests for the Indian trade, the French were the most adventurous and successful, sending their traders far into the wilderness, and protecting them by forts and garrisons. But the Five Nations were a great hinderance to their success. They often interrupted supplies of ' goods and ammunition destined for their trading posts, as well as the furs and skins intheir transit to the East, and made them their own. The Senecas were the most prominent in these raids, and held the French in less respect than any other of the Five Nations. They were less controlled by the Jesuit priests, who had but little influence with them. From the English they received supplies of arms, ammunition and other goods, and their relations to the latter were intimate and friendly. In 1685 the Marquis de Norville succeeded as Governor of Canada, and, coming with strong reinforcements, he resolved to divert the Five Nations from their inroads among the river Indians by giving them employment at home; and especially to overawe and punish the Senecas. Accordingly, in 1687 he invaded them with a force of two thousand French and Indians. The Five Nations were aware of the strong force sent against them, and made every possible arrangement for defense. In the first and only encounter with the Senecas, M. de Norville's army was completely routed with severe loss, being unexpectedly attacked by the Senecas lying in ambush. The French did not risk another engagement, but contented themselves with destroying a few hamlets and corn-fields and left for home, disappointed and chagrined at their failure. On their way they built a strong fort at Niagara, garrisoned it with one hundred men and provisioned it for eight months. This fort the Five Nations closely besieged, and the garrison nearly all perished by hunger. This bold inroad into the most powerful nation of the Confederacy alarmed them, and they applied to the Governor of New York for protection, which was promised them. They were advised not to make peace with the French, and supplies of arms and ammunition were promised them. But M. de Norville called a meeting of the chiefs of the Five Nations at Montreal, with the object of arranging terms of peace, and they decided to send representatives for that purpose. Adario, chief of the Western Indians, having a distrust of the French and anxious to prevent the intended peace, ambushed the embassy and killed or made prisoners the whole body, pretending to be acting for the French Governor without a knowledge of the object of the mission; when informed of its object by his prisoners, he manifested great indignation at the treachery and dismissed them with presents. They returned, burning with indignation, completely deceived by the crafty manner of Adario. War followed. The French knew nothing of the cruel treachery of Adario, nor of the advance upon them of a strong Indian force. Twelve hundred warriors thirsting for revenge, on the 26th of July, 1688, landed stealthily on the island of Montreal and began their horrid work with nothing to impede them. They " burned, plundered, sacked and laid waste the country on all sides," slaughtered its inhabitants without mercy, to the estimated number of one thousand, and returned glutted with vengeance, with but insignificant loss. In October the Five Nations repeated their visit to this ill-fated island, and ravaged, murdered and burned the lower part of it, taking many prisoners. These successes of the Five Nations were spread widely among all the Indian tribes, lessening French influence with them, and inspiring still greater dread of the Iroquois. The French colony was in great disorder, and the Western Indians were seeking to ally their interests with the English. If that should be effected, the destruction of the colony appeared inevitable. They could not endure burdens much more oppressive than those under which they now suffered. They had lost several thousand of their people by stealthy savage inroads ; no one left his home without fear of a lurking foe, while the torch was liable at any moment to be applied to his cabin, and the tomahawk to fall upon the defenseless heads of his wife and children: Crops were planted and cultivated in constant fear, and when grown were often doomed to destruction. Provisions were, therefore, in short supply, and a threatened famine was added to the other horrors of the situation. In 1689, Count Frontenac, whose management of the colony had been sagacious and much more successful than any of the other Governors, was again sent to arouse its flagging spirits. He sought to convene a council of the Five Nations and negotiate a peace with them. This they declined. He then employed force to terrify and induce them to remain neutral in the war existing between the French and English. Accordingly, he sent out three separate parties to attack the English settlements, one of which attacked and desolated the village of Schenectady. The purpose of these expeditions was to lessen the influence of the English with the Five Nations, but they failed of their object. This was in the Winter of 1689-'90. Count Frontenac still continued his efforts to bring about a peace with the Five Nations, sending ambassadors to them for that purpose; but they made them run the gauntlet and then delivered them to the English. The Iroquois kept up their raids upon the French settlements, inflicting serious injury and producing constant alarm. A combined land and naval force, under the command of Major Peter Schuyler, made attacks upon Quebec and Montreal; but they were repulsed, and the expedition proved a failure. The Indians, however, still continued their stealthy raids, which were more dreaded and really more destructive to the French interests than the more imposing efforts of their English allies. In the Summer of 1691, Major Peter Schuyler led a party of the Five Nations in a successful attack upon the French settlements, which they despoiled. The Five Nations also took possession of the passes between the French and their allies, the Western Indians, and captured the traders and others going over those routes. They also made another bold incursion into the territory about Montreal, carrying everything before them except the fortresses, to which all who could retired, and in which, while the Indians remained, they kept themselves imprisoned. On their return this expedition was pursued by a French and Indian force, and suffered a considerable loss. In June, 1692, a formal treaty of alliance and friendship, was entered into between the English and the Five Nations, meanwhile Count Frontenac was not inactive. In January, 1693, he set out with a force of seven hundred French and Indians on snow-shoes, for a Winter campaign among the Mohawks, and after suffering terrible hardships in their long march through the forests, succeeded in capturing three of their castles and about three hundred prisoners. Though pursued on their return by a party of Albany militia, they escaped without serious loss. This successful raid greatly alarmed the English settlers, and dispirited the Five Nations. They saw that surprises could be made by their enemies as well as by themselves, and the Iroquois were now more inclined to listen to the French proposals of peace, and the latter, having been the greater sufferers from the war, were quite anxious that it should cease. Through the next two years, 1693-'94, peace negotiations were carried on, to which the Cayugas, Onondagas, and Oneidas were more inclined than the Senecas and the Mohawks. The Senecas hated the French and were not so much influenced by the Jesuit priests as the Middle Nations, while the Mohawks were the immediate neighbors of the English, and much influenced by them in favor of continuing the war although they had been the greatest sufferers from it. While the question of peace was under discussion, a prominent chief who had visited Canada to confer with the praying Iroquois who resided there, and having there learned the French conditions of peace, reported them to a general convention in Albany, composed of commissioners from New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey. The French terms were found to be inadmissible. They were that the English should not trade with the Canada Indians, or the other Indian allies of the French; that the French might rebuild and garrison the fort at Cadaraqui, and their Indian allies should be included in the peace. To these terms the Five Nations would not consent ; and the negotiations failed. The Governor of Canada now proposed to force them to submission, and made arrangements to attack the Mohawks in force. But his plans being reported by an escaped prisoner, and learning the preparations made to repel him, he abandoned the purpose. In 1695 he sent a party to repair the fort at Cadaraqui which was important to the French trade with the Western Indians, as a place for supplies and deposit for the men in the trade to and from the West and of security in time of war with the Five Nations. The fort was repaired and garrisoned and named Frontenac, in honor of the Governor. He now began preparations on a large scale to effect the subjugation of the Five Nations. He collected all his regular troops, the whole body of the militia of the colony, and all the Western Indians whom he could muster ; prepared cannon and mortars, and every destructive military device known to the times, and began his march on thefourth of July, 1696. Their destination was the Onondaga Nation, which they finally reached; but the Onondagas, informed by an escaped Seneca prisoner of the host of the enemy and of the destructive engines they used, burned their castle and bark cabins and fled with their families to the forest, leaving only their fields of corn for the French to ravage. The Onondagas are said not to have lost a single man by this, the most formidable expedition which the French had ever brought against the Five Nations. It was a signal failure. It was, however, a great drain upon the feeble resources of the colony. In it had embarked the great body of the agriculturists, and at a season of the year when their labors were required to cultivate and secure their crops. A famine was the result, producing great suffering, aggravated by repeated inroads of small bodies of the Iroquois who carried away many captives and much property, keeping the settle-'ments in constant alarm. The French, at the same time made similar attacks upon the English in the vicinity of Albany and, as most of the men engaged in these predatory raids on both sides, were Indians, the horror and terror which they produced can be easier imagined than described. The Western Indians, hitherto in close alliance with the French, and from whom the main part of their trade had come, now concluded a peace with the Five Nations, desiring to avail themselves of the benefits of a trade with the English, from whom they believed they could procure goods on better terms than from the French. The Cayugas in September, 1697, made application to the English at Albany for ammunition, in order to defend themselves from the French. By the treaty of Ryswick, signed September l0th, 1697, peace was established between the English and French, but a question subsequently arose as to the Five Nations. The French were not willing to include them in the settlement, but the English so strongly insisted upon it, that the point was finally conceded, and a general peace for the time prevailed, both between the French and English, and also between the other Indians and the Five Nations. Still the old rivalries and jealousies between the French and English continued. The former, through the great influence of the Jesuit priests that resided with the Five Nations, had an advantage which the English did not possess. The priests induced very large numbers - of the Iroquois to locate in Canada, where they were clothed and maintained by the French, instructed in the Roman Catholic faith, and taught to regard the English as enemies and the French as their best friends. So large had been the flow of the Iroquois into Canada, that Robert Livingston, the English Secretary of Indian Affairs, in 1700 reported that " more than two-thirds of them had removed." This alarmed the English, as they saw the domestic treatment of the Indians by the French was not only rapidly alienating them from the English, but secured them as residents of their country and in every way allying them to their interests. The most active steps were, there-fore, taken to counteract French influence and to win back the Five Nations to their former allegiance to the English crown. For this purpose repeated councils were held with them, their wants and grievances fully ascertained, and immediate steps taken to supply and redress them. The fullest assurances were given the Indians at these councils that the King would protect them ; that the English had always been their friends, while the French had constantly sought to destroy them ; that the Jesuit priests had filled their ears with false stories only to cheat them; that the English would build them forts for their protection and supply them with arms and am-munition, and that they would supply them with clothing and necessary utensils, and send and maintain protestant priests among them for their instruction. The result of the several councils held with the English, was. a pacification of the Indians. In a council of the Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Senecas and Mohawks, held August 11th, 1700, they declared through their chief speakers, that "they would discredit the idle tales of the French, continue firm to the crown of England, if it will protect them from its enemies, and were thankful for the promise of protestant ministers," and that, though the French had promised them Jesuit priests, they were determined to "stick to the religion of the King." Earl Belmont responded, " we have a law for seizing and securing all Jesuit priests, and I would gladly put the law in operation against these disturbers of mankind." The Indians promised to seize, and bring thembefore him, and not allow them in their country. A fort was to be built for them at Onondaga, and, in case of war, one hundred English soldiers to be placed therein with the necessary arms including cannon. While the fort was building, Earl Belmont " gave the sachems two hundred bags of balls of one hundred pounds each, two hundred fusees, two hundred pounds of lead, two thousand flints, one hundred hatchets, two hundred knives, two hundred shirts, forty kegs of rum of two gallons each, sixty-three hats, three barrels of pipes, with tobacco, etc." As showing the effect of religious instruction upon some of the Indians at this early day, we quote the following answer of one of their principal chiefs, Sadekanaghtie, to the proposition to furnish them with protestant ministers: "God bath been pleased to create us, and the sun bath shined long upon us. We have lived many years in peace and union together and we hope, by your instructions, to be taught to be good Christians and to die in the Christian faith. Let us, therefore, go band in hand and support each other. We were here before you, and were a strong and numerous people, when you were but young and striplings. Yet we were kind and cherished you, and, therefore, when we pro-pose anything to you, if you cannot agree to it let us take counsel together that matters may be carried on smoothly, and that what we say may not be taken amiss. When we are to be instructed in the protestant religion, pray let not such severity be used as the Jesuits do in Canada, who whip their proselytes with an iron chain, cut off the warriors hair, put them in prison, and when they commit any heinous sin, the priest takes his opportunity when they are asleep and beats them severely. Now, as a token of our willingness to be instructed in the protestant religion, we give nine beaver-skins." The peace and good-will established by these various acts of kindness toward the Five Nations bound them permanently to the English ; but lest the Jesuit priests should again seduce them from their allegiance, a stringent law was passed in 1700 by the Colonial Assembly of New York, by which the penalty of hanging was imposed upon every Jesuit priest that came voluntarily into the province. The English were most assiduous in their efforts to keep bright the chain of friendship with their Indian allies, for on that depended the success of their trade with them, and the security of their frontier settlements. They distributed liberal presents to their chiefs, five of whom were taken to England to give them an idea of the splendor and power of the government that protected them. By the treaty of Utrecht, concluded March 31st, 1713, the French relinquished all claims to the country of the Five Nations, which thereafter became an appendage of the English crown. There being now no war-paths in the North or West for the Five Nations to traverse, they turned their attention to the Southern Indians who had been engaged in hostilities against the white settlements in that locality ; they chastised their old enemies, the Flatheads, living in Carolina, and returned with many scalps and prisoners. While on this expedition, 1713, they adopted the Tuscaroras as their Sixth Nation. That nation had been one of the most powerful of the Southern Indians ; but had been severely beaten in a terrible war just before the arrival of the Iroquois, in which they had lost one thousand warriors. The Iroquois took them under their protection and finally located them among the Senecas, in the now County of Niagara, where a remnant of them still remains. From 1744 to 1748 the French and English were again at war, which was concluded by the treaty of Aix La Chapelle, April 30th, 1748. This contest had been for the possession of the Mississippi Valley, which the English claimed as an extension of their coast discoveries and settlements, and the French by right of occupancy, as their forts extended from Canada to Louisiana, and formed a "bow of which the English colonies were the string." At this time the English colonists numbered over one million, while the French had only about sixty thousand. But this war had settled nothing, the question was still undecided. In 1755 the contest was renewed and what was called the "old French war" began, which was continued for eight years and was concluded by the treaty of Paris in 1763. In this war the Canadian and Western Indians adhered to the French, and the Six Nations to the English. The French were vanquished and the sovereignty of the country conceded to England. The differences hitherto existing between France and England and their colonies were now finally settled ; but the English colonists and the parent country were soon to engage in a war of equal duration with the " French war," and attended with greater sufferings and sacrifices. The Iroquois that had so long and so faithfully adhered to the colonists and the King in all their contests with the French, were now to be divided, the larger part siding with the King against their white neighbors. One thousand eight hundred of their warriors engaged during the war of the revolution in the British service, while but two hundred and twenty adhered to the colonists. The Cayugas, Onondagas and Senecas were of the former, and were often on the war-path rendering the crown very import-ant services. Their atrocities at Wyoming and along the frontiers of New York aroused Congress to earnest efforts to so effectually cripple them as to prevent the recurrence of similar outrages. Accordingly in the Summer of 1779, a formidable expedition, under the command of Generals Sullivan and Clinton, was dispatched into the territory of these nations with instructions "to cut off their settlements, destroy their crops, and inflict upon them every other injury which time and circumstances would permit." This order of the commander-in-chief was most successfully executed. A force of five thousand men well armed, including artillery, and every way pre-pared for the work in hand, invaded the territories of the Cayugas, Senecas and Onondagas, defeated the combined forces of the British and Iroquois, driving them from a strongly intrenched position about one mile from Newtown, now Elmira, creating the wildest panic among them. The following extracts from the journal of an officer that accompanied Sullivan's expedition will show some of the more interesting incidents of the campaign: "AUGUST 31st, 1779. Decamped at eight o'clock, marched over mountainous ground until we arrived at the forks of Newtown ; there entered on a low bottom ; crossed the Cayuga branch and encamped on a pine plain. * Here we left the Tioga branch to our left. * * "SEPTEMBER 2d. Came up with the army at the town (Catharine's Town) and encamped. "SEPTEMBER 3d. Destroyed it together with the corn, beans, etc., and decamped at eight o'clock in the morning ; after marching three miles fell in on the east side of Seneca Lake. * * At two o'clock passed Apple-tree Town, situated on the bank of the lake. This day marched eleven miles over high, though level, ground. (2) " SEPTEMBER 4th.-Marched twelve miles, and encamped in the woods beside the lake. This day and yesterday passed several corn fields and scattering houses, which we destroyed as we passed along. " SEPTEMBER 5th.-Decamped in the morning, and about twelve o'clock arrived at Kandaia, a fine town, lying about one-half mile from the lake; here we found a great plenty of apple trees ; it evidently appears to be an old inhabited town; their houses were large and elegant, some beautifully painted ; their tombs likewise, especially their chief warriors, are beautifully painted boxes, which they build over the grave, of planks hewn out of timber. " SEPTEMBER 7th.-* Arrived at sundown at the north-west corner of the lake where we destroyed a town and some corn and proceeded to Kanadaseago, the capital of the Senecas . This town lies on a level spot of ground about one mile and a half north of the lake and consists of about sixty houses and great plenty of apple and peach trees. " SEPTEMBER 8th. - The army employed this day in destroying the corn, beans, etc., at this place, of which there was a great quantity. The rifle-men were detached this morning to Kashanguash, about eight miles south. " SEPTEMBER l0th. - About two o'clock fell in with a small lake at the outlet of which lies the town of Canandaigua, consisting of upwards of twenty houses, which we set fire to and decamped. This town, from the appearance of the buildings, seemed to have been inhabited by white people ; some of the houses have very neat chimneys, which the Indians have not, but build a fire in the center around which they gather. " SEPTEMBER 11th.- Reached Hanneyaye. This town lies at the head of a small lake in a rich valley, consisting of thirteen or fourteen good houses and neatly built. Here, likewise, we found a great quantity of corn, beans, etc. " SEPTEMBER 13th. Marched to the town where we were employed in destroying the corn, etc., until noon ; from this place Lieutenant Boyd of the rifle corps was detached with fifteen or twenty men to reconnoiter the next town seven miles distant. Killed and scalped two Indians in the town. On his return found his retreat cut off and surrounded by five or six hundred savages; defended himself until his men were all cut off but himself and one man, when he surrendered; whom we afterward found in Chennessee Castle tortured in a most cruel manner." The horrid death of this young and gallant officer is thus related by Colonel Stone in his life of Brant : "From the battle-field, Brant conducted Lieut. Boyd and his fellow captive to Little Beard's town, where they found Col. Butler with a detachment of (British') rangers. While under the supervision of Brant, the Lieutenant was well treated and safe from danger ; but the chief being called away in the discharge of his multifarious duties Boyd was left with Butler, who soon after began to examine him, by questions as to the situation, numbers and intention of General Sullivan and his troops. He, of course, declined answering all improper questions ; whereat Butler threatened that if he did not give him full and explicit information he would deliver him up to the tender mercies of the Indians. Relying confidently upon the assurances of the generous Mohawk chieftain, Boyd still refused, and Butler, fulfilling his bloody threat, delivered him over to Little Beard and his clan, the most ferocious of the Seneca tribe. The gallant fellow was immediately put to death by torture, and in the execution there was a refinement of cruelty of which it is not known that a parallel instance occurred during the whole war. Having been denuded, Boyd was tied to a sapling, where the Indians first practiced upon the steadiness of his nerves by hurling their tomahawks apparently at his head, but so as to strike the trunk of the sapling as near to his head as possible without hitting it, groups of Indians in the meantime brandishing their knives and dancing around him with the most frantic demonstrations of joy. His nails were pulled out, his nose cut off and one of his eyes plucked out. His tongue was also cut out and he was stabbed in various places. After amusing themselves sufficiently in this way, a small incision was made in his abdomen and the end of one of his intestines taken out and fastened to the tree. The victim was then unbound and driven around the tree by brute force until his intestines had all been literally drawn from his body and wound around the tree. His sufferings were then terminated by striking his head from his body." " SEPTEMBER 14th.- * After fording the river, raised a considerable hill timbered chiefly with white oak and entered on another flat on which stands the capital of the Chennessee, consisting of upward of one hundred and twenty houses, and vast quantities of corn, beans, pumpkins, potatoes, etc. " SEPTEMBER 15th.-This morning the whole army paraded at six o'clock to destroy the corn, etc., which could only be done by gathering the corn in the houses and setting fire to them. " SEPTEMBER 16th.-This morning after destroying the corn, etc., on the south-east corner of the flats, recrossed the branch of the Chennessee River on logs. SEPTEMBER 20th.-* This morning I detached Colonel Zebulon Butler, of Wyoming, with the rifle corps and five hundred men to Cayuga Lake to destroy the settlements there. " SEPTEMBER 21st.-This morning detached Lieutenant-Colonel Dearborn, with two hundred men, to destroy the corn and settlements along the south side of Cayuga Lake. " SEPTEMBER 28th.-Colonel Butler with his detachment arrived, having destroyed a vast quantity of corn, beans, apple-trees, etc., on the east side of Cayuga Lake, and burnt three towns, among which was the capital of the Cayuga tribe. This day Colonels Cortland and Dayton were sent with large detachments to destroy corn." This was the most terrible blow the Iroquois had ever received, and from which they never recovered. The whole country of the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas was overrun, their towns, orchards and crops destroyed, and them-selves compelled to . seek refuge for support among other nations, as their own supplies were destroyed. They fled in large numbers to Niagara and were supported by the English, and few only of the whole number ever returned to their lands. The great severity with which they were treated may be criticised ; but the cruelties which they had inflicted upon the settlers at Wyoming, Cherry Valley and elsewhere, were the most horrid and wanton, and so long as they had the power their repetition was feared. The Indians scattered over their wooded country could not be taken, and the only way, therefore, by which they could be conquered was the one resorted to - the destruction of their means of living. When we read the story of Indian barbarities practiced upon the scores of thousands of New England and Eastern New York settlers, and the dread and fear in which they lived for a generation, and compare it with the quiet and peace that attended the early settlement of Central and Western New York, from which this campaign drove the red man, we can then see its beneficent results and the far-seeing wisdom that planned and executed it. The modern descendants of the ancient Iroquois are now largely located at Forestville, Wisconsin. They are said to number six thousand at that point, of whom the Cayugas form the larger part. Two thousand of their number can read and write, and they have twenty-nine day and two manual-labor schools. They support themselves by cultivating the soil, and displaytheir superiority over the other tribes in the arts of civilization in as marked a degree as they did in their old prowess in savage warfare. They are not dying out. Their numbers rather increase than diminish. The number on this reservation, and the descendants of the Six Nations in Canada, are believed to nearly equal the census of the Confederacy before its power was broken by the whites. (1) The precise location of this fort has been for some time in controversy. It had been considered as located upon the shore of Onondaga Lake, yet General John S. Clark, of Auburn, N. Y., who has carefully examined the question, says: "That the east branch of the Limestone is the dividing line absolutely between the historic and pre-historic town sites of the Onondagas ; and that Champlain's narrative contains internal evidence, in statements of fact, unquestionably, that the fort was within a few miles at least, and south of Oneida Lake." General Clark designates " a well-known town site in Madison County on the farm of Rufus H. Nichols, on what is known as the Mile Strip, about three miles east of Perryville, as the home of the Onondagas at that period, and as being the identical position of the fort attacked by Champlain." (2) Washington's letter to Governor Clinton.