Chapter XIII (1)

Thayendanegea in civil life--His activity--His efforts to accelerate the
civilization of his people--Difficulties respecting the title to his
lands--Successive Councils and Speeches--Governor Simcoe leaves the
province--Captain Claus appointed to the Indian Agency--President
Russell--Brant's Speeches asserting the absolute Independence and
Nationality of his people--Letter to Sir John Johnson--Correspondence
with Lord Dorchester--The Count de Puisy--Letter of Brant to Thomas
Morris--Sharp correspondence with Sir John Johnson--The St. Regis and
Caughnawaga Indians, and the State of New-York involved in the land
controversy--Brant's difficulties with the Caughnawagas--Letter to
Thomas Morris--Brant's visit to the Caughnawagas--Council--Satisfactory
explanations--Fresh difficulties at home--Norton's Mission to
England--Plots against the character of Brant--Alienation of some of his
friends--Conspiracy to depose him--Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother
active in the plot--Character of Red Jacket--Brant deposed by an illegal
Council--Letter to the Duke of Northumberland--A legal Council
convoked--Brant meets his accusers, and defends himself--Another
Council--Speech of Brant--Acquitted of all charges against him--Council
after the return of Norton from England--Proceedings of Red Jacket's
Council nullified--Brant re-instated--Letter to the Duke of
Northumberland--Letter of the Duke in reply--Last letter of Brant to the
Duke.

The termination of Brant's military life brought not therewith a state of inactivity. The proverbial indolence of his race in regard to all matters excepting the war-path and the chase, was not a characteristic of him. On the contrary, the history of man scarcely supplies a parallel instance of such active, unremitting, and unwearied public service, as well in the council as in the field, as was performed by this celebrated man, from the day when he first fleshed his youthful tomahawk at Lake George, until his death more than half a century afterward. The war of the American Revolution being ended, it has already been seen that he early thereafter directed his attention to the improvement of the moral and social condition of his nation. Nor did he lose sight of this object during the years of his active interposition in the complicated affairs of the western nations with the United States.

Mention has been made in a former chapter of the difficulties in which, subsequent to the Revolution, the Six Nations were involved, respecting their lands in the State of New-York, the adjustment of which repeatedly demanded the attention of Captain Brant. There were, likewise, similar difficulties to be adjusted with the purchasers of the Connecticut reservation in Ohio, respecting which formal negotiations were held. Nor did these constitute all his troubles. But a few years had elapsed after the grant of the Grand River country had been obtained, before difficulties sprang up between the Indians and the Provincial Government, in regard to the nature of the title by which the former were to hold their new possessions. The Chief and his people supposed that the territory allotted to them had been conveyed in fee by a perfect title. But in this supposition they were disappointed. There is scarcely a finer or more inviting section of country in North America than the peninsula formed by Lake Ontario on the east, Lake Erie on the south, and Lake Huron on the west--through the heart of which flows the Grand River. The Indians, therefore, had not long been in the occupancy of their new country, before the white settlers began to plant themselves down in their neighborhood. To a man of Brant's sagacity, it was at once obvious that in such an attractive region of country the approach of the white man would soon circumscribe the hunting-grounds of his people, within the narrow boundaries of their own designated territory. He also saw, and without regret, that the effect would be to drive his people from the hunter to the agricultural state; in which case, while his territory was too small for the former, it would be far larger than would be necessary for the latter condition of life. As a compensation for the loss of his game, therefore, he conceived the idea of making sales of portions of his lands, for the creation of an immediate fund for the benefit of the nation, and of leasing other portions in such manner as to ensure a perpetual revenue. There was no selfish design in this project, farther than may be found in the fact, that his own fortunes were identified with those of his people. However covetous Captain Brant may have been of honor and power, he was neither covetous nor mercenary in regard to property. In one of his speeches he declared, with all solemnity, that he had never appropriated a dollar of money, or its value in other property, belonging to his nation, to his own use. Nor had he ever charged his nation a dollar for his services, or even for his personal expenses, in all the journeys he had performed upon their business. All his personal wants, under all circumstances, had been supplied from his own private funds.

There was another consideration connected with his desire to make sales and leases of lands to white settlers. He was anxious to promote the civilization of his people; and in his first negotiations with General Haldimand, after the close of the war, he made provision for the erection of a church and school-house; and it is an interesting fact, that the first temple erected for the worship of the true God in Upper Canada, was built by the Chief of a people recently pagan; and the first bell which summoned the people to the house of prayer in that province on the Christian Sabbath, was carried thither by him. In the furtherance of his plans of civilization, the Chief knew very well that an increasing contiguous white population would be the means of introducing such of the common arts and employments of life, as would materially contribute to the comfort and happiness of his people, while at the same time their progress in civilization would be greatly accelerated.

But he had no sooner commenced disposing of some small portions of land, than the colonial government raised objections. It was alleged that his title was imperfect--that a preemptive right to the soil had been retained by the government; and, as a consequence, that the Indians had no right to sell a rood of ground, since it was their's no longer than they themselves should occupy it. The question proved a fruitful source of disagreement between the parties, and of perpetual vexation to the old Chief until the day of his death. Council after council was holden upon the subject, and conference after conference; while quires of manuscript speeches and arguments, in Brant's own hand, yet remain to attest the sleepless vigilance with which he watched over the interests of his people, and the zeal and ability with which he asserted and vindicated their rights.

Even his friend Governor Simcoe was among the most strenuous opponents of the claim of the Indians to the fee of the soil, and in one instance attempted to curtail their grant by directing the land board to run a line due west from the head of Lake Ontario, which would have stripped the Mohawks of the fairest half of their possessions. On examining the grant from General Haldimand, however, the Governor desisted from this purpose; but still was determined that the Indians should neither lease nor sell any portion of their grant, nor make any manner of use of it, excepting such portions as they should cultivate with their own hands. By these proceedings, the situation of the Indians was rendered truly uncomfortable. Reduced to a narrow strip of land of only twelve miles in breadth, their hunting was of course seriously affected; while their skill in agriculture was so imperfect, that some other resources were indispensable to their sustenance.

In order to define more clearly and explicitly the rights of the Indians, two other deeds were successively framed and presented for their acceptance--both of which were promptly rejected, as being less favorable than their original grant. Finally, in 1795, Governor Simcoe visited Grand River with his councilors, for the purpose of ascertaining, as he said, the real wishes and condition of the Indians. A Council was holden, and the Chief delivered an elaborate speech, containing the whole history of the grant, the circumstances under which it had been made, and the difficulties they had been called to encounter. Among other objections, it seems to have been alleged by the Provincial authorities, as a pretext for dealing hardly by the Indians, that the government had been deceived in regard to the location and value of the territory. General Haldimand had supposed that the territory in question lay a long distance from Niagara, and would not be approached by a white population for an age to come. These assertions were sternly denied by Brant, who declared that the Commander-in-chief, at the time of making the grant, was thoroughly acquainted with the situation, its peculiar advantages, and its value.

This conference with Governor Simcoe resulted in nothing more than a promise that the speech of Thayendanegea should be forwarded to Lord Dorchester. Governor Simcoe left the province soon afterward, and a change was made in the administration of the Indian department, by the appointment of Captain Claus to the Indian agency at Niagara. It appears that before his departure, the Governor had confirmed such sales as had been previously made by the Indians; but difficulties arose on making the surveys, which once more placed everything afloat. The consequence was, that another hearing took place before Mr. Claus at Niagara, in October, 1796, at which, in another written speech, the Chief gave a historical argument of his case. From portions of this speech, it appears that Upper Canada had already become infested with unprincipled land-jobbers, who were the especial dislike of the Chief. "I cannot help remarking," said he, "that it appears to me that certain characters here, who stood behind the counter during the last war, and whom we knew nothing about, are now dictating to your great men concerning our lands. I should wish to know what property these officious persons left behind them in their own country, or whether, through their loyalty, they ever lost any! I doubt it much. But 'tis well known that scarcely a man amongst us but what sacrificed more or less property by leaving our homes. I again repeat, that if these officious persons have made the smallest sacrifice of property then I think they may in some measure be allowed to interfere, although it may be well known that personal interest prompts them to it, not the public good."

This speech, the Chief declared, should be his final effort to obtain justice from the "great men below"--the provincial government meaning. If not successful there, he declared his purpose of proceeding to England, and bringing his case in person before the King. But this resolution was contingent, and was not kept. On the departure of Governor Simcoe, the Executive government of the colony devolved upon the Hon. Peter Russell, President of the Executive Council of the province. For the more convenient administration of the Indian affairs of the province, Mr. Russell was clothed with all the powers upon that subject previously exercised by the General-in-chief at Quebec, acting under the advice of the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, Sir John Johnson. Captain Brant lost no time in bringing the subject of his land title before Mr. Russell, and he speedily succeeded in part. The sales already made were confirmed, and the old Chief wrote to his friend and correspondent, Thomas Morris, Esq., then a resident of Canandaigua, that their difficulties respecting lands were nearly removed, and he had reason to believe that henceforth their affairs would go on to their satisfaction. [FN] The basis of the arrangement sanctioned by the acting Governor, was, that the lands then sold, or intended to be sold, by the Indians, should be surrendered to the government, which, upon the good faith of the agreement, was to issue grants to the persons nominated as purchasers by the agent transacting the land business of the nation. Captain Brant was acting in that capacity. The lands were of course to be mortgaged as security for the payment of the principal and interest of the purchase money. It was, moreover, the duty of the Agent to appoint three trustees, to receive the payments in trust for the Indians, and to foreclose the mortgages in cases of default--the lands to revert to the Indians. Captain Brant fulfilled his part of the agreement to the letter; but the government failed altogether to comply with its own corresponding duty. Some of the purchasers had paid their interest for several years, but could not obtain their titles; others died, and the heirs were in the like predicament, and the whole business became involved more than ever in difficulty. Added to all which, as the Indians themselves improved in their agricultural labors, the system of possessing all things in common operated unequally, and interposed great embarrassments to individual industry. But so long as the government refused to the Indians the privilege of disposing of the fee of the soil, the nation could not convey any portion of its own domain to its own people. [FN-2]

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[FN-1] Letter to Thomas Morris, Esq, July 30, 1797. [Mr. Morris has furnished the author with a package of letters from Capt. Brant, written between the years 1796 and 1801, which, though chiefly upon private business, have nevertheless been found of use in the present work.]

[FN-2] Memorial of John Norton to the Marquis of Caurden.

There were other difficulties in the business, which it would be tedious to enumerate, the result of all which was, that the arrangement was in fact a nullity. Not only so, but the Mohawks felt themselves to be an independent nation, and they, or perhaps more correctly speaking, their proud and indomitable Chief, could ill brook submission to such a species of guardianship. The "satisfaction" arising from the arrangement under the auspices of President Russell, was consequently of but short continuance, and the Captain was compelled to fight his land battles over again. Many were the councils and conferences which succeeded, in all of which Brant was the principal speaker and defender of the rights of his people to the fee of their lands. The design of the British government was to hold the Indians in a state of pupilage, according to the practice of the United States; and consequently to allow them merely the occupancy of lands of which the government claimed the title. But neither the Mohawks nor their indefatigable leader would listen to any such doctrine; always, on all occasions asserting their own complete and entire independence as a nation. They were an independent nation in the Valley of the Mohawk, argued the Chief in one of his speeches, [FN] and were the undisputed owners of the soil of their country. Their right in this respect had never been questioned. On the breaking out of the war, they had relinquished their country--their all--because of their friendship and loyalty to the King. "In the year 1776," said the old Chief in the speech now referred to, "Lord Dorchester, then Sir Guy Carleton, at a very numerous council, gave us every encouragement, and requested us to assist in defending their country, and to take an active part in defending his Majesty's possessions; stating, that when the happy day of peace should arrive, and should we not prove successful in the contest, that he would put us on the same footing in which we stood previous to our joining him. This flattering promise was pleasing to us, and gave us spirit to embark heartily in his Majesty's cause. We took it for granted that the word of so great a man, or any promises of a public nature, would ever be held sacred." Again, in another part of the speech, the Captain remarked:--"We were promised our lands for our services, and those lands we were to hold on the same footing with those we fled from at the commencement of the American war, when we joined, fought, and bled in your cause. Now is published a proclamation, forbidding us leasing those very lands that were positively given us in lieu of those of which we a were the sovereigns of the soil. This, brothers, is surely a contradiction that the least discerning person amongst you must perceive, and which we think wonderful. Of those lands we have forsaken, we sold, we leased, and we gave away, when and as often as we saw fit, without hindrance on the part of your government; for your government well knew we were the lawful sovereigns of the soil, and they had no right to interfere with us as independent nations." In support of this assertion, the Chief proceeded to enumerate various sales and gifts of their lands; among which he mentioned the large and celebrated tract to Sir William Johnson, commonly called the Royal Grant, and for signing the conveyance of which the Captain asserted that he received a present of fifty pounds.

* * * * *

[FN] Speech delivered at a meeting of the Chiefs and warriors at Niagara before Colonel Scheaffe, Colonel Claus, and others, in August, 1803, on the occasion of a government proclamation forbidding the sale or leasing of any of their lands by the Indians.

The history of the whole controversy was very clearly stated in the speech just cited, and the argument throughout exceedingly well put. The Captain, in some of his speeches, dwelt with emphasis upon another feature of his case, affording a farther example of the magnanimity of the Mohawks in their dealings with the government, and the want of that attribute as evidenced in the manner of their requital. The Indians never asked of the crown any compensation for the vast tracts of their hunting-grounds relinquished by adhering to the cause of the crown. In a letter written to Sir John Johnson at this stage of the controversy, the veteran Chief cut with a two-edged blade:--"You know we demand nothing new. We have made no demand for compensation for our hunting-grounds, which were very extensive, nor for our wood-lands adjoining our improvements. All we ask is a confirmation of our just right to this very land, which we receive in lieu of those for which we received no compensation. I presume few loyalists have omitted charging, and receiving pay for their woodlands, as we did; many of whom received lands who had never possessed one foot before." [FN]

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[FN] In a letter subsequently addressed to Lord Dorchester, after the relinquishment by that officer of the Canadian Government, Captain Brant estimated those hunting grounds relinquished by his tribe at more than two millions of acres.

But the prospect of obtaining justice from the Provincial Government becoming less and less favorable by the lapse of time, the Chief again directed his attention to the parent government. Availing himself of the return to Europe of the Count De Puisy, whom he describes "as a brother soldier and fellow-sufferer in the cause of loyalty," [FN-1] the Captain placed in his hands a succinct history of the troubles he was laboring to remove, with an urgent request that he would lay the same before his Majesty's ministers. By the same conveyance he likewise addressed a vigorous appeal to Lord Dorchester, then in England, enclosing to his Lordship a copy of his original promise to him (Brant) as written down in 1775, and also the subsequent confirmation of that promise by General Haldimand. [FN-2] He was, moreover, in active-correspondence upon the subject with the Duke of Northumberland, in whom the Mohawks had ever a constant friend.

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[FN-1] In one of Captain Brant's speeches, dated October 28, 1800, this passage occurs:--"It had for some time been observed that the too large, uninhabited space between York and the head of the Lake was a great inconvenience to the communication by land, we therefore thought it a fit occasion to remove the difficulty, by presenting the Count de Puisy and his adherents a tract of land in this space--sympathizing with them as having suffered in the cause of loyalty, and being obliged to quit their native clime on that account, and seek an asylum in this uncultivated region. This was objected to," &c., &c. When the younger Brant visited London, twenty years afterward, he refers to the Count as then living in retirement in the neighborhood of that capital.

[FN-2] The copy of this letter to Lord Dorchester is not entire. Two foolscap pages have only been preserved, or rather, all but the first two pages has been lost.

These attempts to enlist the parent government in behalf of the Indian claim, were backed by the mission to England of Teyoninhokarawen, alias John Norton, who spread the case before the ministers in a strong and lucid memorial addressed to Lord Camden, then one of his Majesty's ministers. Among other considerations, it was urged by Norton, that in case their lands should be released from all incumbrances, and every tribe and family be allowed to have their just portion of land confirmed to them, the province would be strengthened by the emigration thither of the major part of the tribes of the Six Nations, who still remained in the United States. It had, doubtless, entered into the policy of Brant to bring the ancient confederacy of the Six Nations once more together, within the jurisdiction either of England or the United States. The removal of the Mohawks into Canada had not dissolved the union of those nations, although their separation, thrown, as they were, under the action of different superior laws, and obliged sometimes to hold their own councils within the boundary of one nation, and at other times within the limits of another, could not but be attended with many embarrassments. Indeed, so numerous were the difficulties they were obliged to encounter, and such was the conduct of the provincial government in regard to their lands, that the Mohawk Chief not withstanding his attachment to the crown, had at one period contemplated withdrawing from Canada with his people in disgust. That such a project was actually entertained, appears by the following letter to his friend Morris:--

"Captain Brant to Thomas Morris, Esq.
(secret and confidential.)

"_Grand River, December_ 26, 1800.

"Dear Sir,

"From our friendship, and the regard you have continually shown to Indians in general, I flatter myself you will be so good as to assist in what I am about to communicate to you.

"There are numbers of our people scattered about in the westward at Sandusky, the Miami, &c. I wish to have them collected in one place, and for that purpose intend making a purchase of the Western Indians, so that any moving from here may also find a place to go to. We are certain that the Indians there will be very happy at the proposal, and that they even would give it for nothing; but we rather wish to buy, that it may be indisputably our own. The favor I have to ask of you is, that you would please to oblige us so far as to sound some of your friends in Congress if such a thing could be confirmed by them, for if we should move there, we would desire to be under the protection of the United States. What you may say on the subject to any one, I hope you will do it in a confidential manner; you may learn the general sentiments in the way of conversation, without making known our real intentions. The reason of my being so cautious, is the great jealousy of the British.

"Dear Sir,
I am in truth,
Your sincere friend
And humb. serv't,
Jos. Brant.

"_Thomas Morris, Esq._"

Nothing farther is disclosed among the manuscripts of Brant respecting this design of removal into the United States, and the suggestion was most likely owing to a momentary feeling of despondency and vexation. But it was his fortune soon afterward to encounter an annoying circumstance from another and most unexpected quarter--his long and well-tried friend, Sir John Johnson. The circumstance referred to was the receipt of a letter from the Baronet, then at Niagara, under date of September 1st, 1801, in which, after apologizing for his long delay in answering certain letters, from an apprehension that he could not so frame his communications as to avoid hurting the old Chiefs feelings, the writer adverted to the difficulties respecting the lands. He spoke of some uneasiness prevailing at Grand River; and stated that he had given his views, as to these troubles, to Captain Claus, in writing, and advised the Chief to aid in getting up a council, and adjusting the matter upon the basis he had proposed. In regard to the claim of the Mohawks upon a portion of the Mississagua reservation, the Baronet advised the Chief to abandon it at once, admonishing him that the government was determined, under no circumstances whatsoever, to sanction that claim; but on the contrary would protect the Mississaguas in the quiet and peaceable possession of all their lands. The letter concluded as follows:--"Let me therefore once more advise you to give up all concern in their affairs, and desist from assembling the different nations in distant parts of the country, and only attend to the business of your settlement, except when called upon by government to do otherwise; as it gives opening to the world to put unfavorable constructions on your conduct, which must tend to lessen your consequence in the opinion of those at the head of affairs; and I much fear may do you serious injury. And as you can have no doubt of my friendship for you and your fine family, I earnestly request you will maturely weigh what I now recommend to you, and consider it as the result of serious reflection."

This missive kindled the indignation of Brant, and elicited some spirited letters in reply. Its burden was the existence of difficulties among the Indians themselves, arising, as the Baronet had left the Chief to infer, from their distrust of the proceedings of Brant himself. The council, which the Superintendent-General had directed his Deputy, Captain Claus, to convoke, had been held, but does not seem to have been attended by any other results than an entire exoneration, by the sachems, of their principal Chief from all censure. [FN] The Captain, however, was not satisfied with allowing the matter to rest there; and he wrote the Baronet, in a tone of decision, demanding specific charges, if any could be produced against him, accompanied by the names of his accusers. He likewise severely upbraided the officers of the government for their conduct toward him, charging the fact upon them, explicitly, of having not only sanctioned the great Indian Confederacy of which there has been occasion so frequently to speak, but of having caused the formation of that confederacy under their own immediate auspices. This letter, as a historical document, bearing upon other relations than those appertaining to the writer, as an individual, deserves preservation, and is accordingly transcribed:--

* * * * *

[FN] See Appendix, No. X.

"Captain Brant to Sir John Johnson, Bar't.

"_Grand River, November,_ 1801.

"Dear Sir,

"When I answered your favor of the first of September last, I promised to let you hear farther from me after the meeting should have taken place, which you then said Captain Claus was to hold for the purpose of satisfying the discontented, &c.

"He did not, however, do any thing in the business, as I expected, from your letter, he would have done; but the Chiefs, on being made acquainted with the contents of it, became uneasy, and called a scrutiny to find who it was among the Indians on this river that had expressed dissatisfaction at my conduct respecting the public lands. The dissatisfied party was found to be only a few of the lower Mohawks, mostly women, and no real chief among them. Afterwards, the Chiefs unanimously expressed their general approbation of my conduct as their agent in land matters, in a speech to Captain Claus. They at the same time hinted at the almost impossibility of things being done in such a manner as to please every particular individual, which was also the case in the discharge of his own duty as Superintendent; but assured him that they, the Chiefs, who had constituted me their agent in land affairs, were perfectly satisfied. Since that I hear no more of the discontented; all seem quiet. Then I was prepared to give a full explanation of all my transactions, and also put them in mind of the trouble and expense I had been at on their business; but this conduct of the Chiefs prevented me, thinking if I yet persevered it would be wantonly ripping up old grievances, &c.

"I hope you will do me the favor to let me know who informed you that there prevailed such an universal discontent among the Grand River Indians at my transactions, as you said was the case; and you will infinitely oblige me by making me acquainted with the author of this rumor, which has not a little hurt my feelings; and it would also give satisfaction to the greater part of the Chiefs here.

"Respecting your advice not to have more councils of other nations, &c, the Chiefs, both here and at Buffalo, cannot comprehend the meaning of it; and I have been particularly requested, by two messengers from the latter, to remain unshaken in my public capacity, and attend to their common interests as usual; I therefore hope you will do me the kindness to acquaint me with the reason why I should desist from attending any councils of the nations of the General Confederacy which we formed under the auspices of Great Britain; and if our friendly intercourse with each other is supposed to be detrimental to the interests of government, and in what measure; for, since the year 1760, I perfectly remember what has passed at most councils, and I never recollect an instance of government interfering to prevent our mutual correspondence, but, on the contrary, they have rather encouraged our uniting. Should it therefore be the case, that what formerly gave satisfaction, has now quite a different, effect, it will be very difficult for me to act so as not to get censured, without I am well acquainted with the change of politics. Also, the serious consequences you mention, that the not complying with your advice may be of to me, I would be glad to know what it is. I hope that laws and customs are not so far changed, as that punishment is first to be inflicted, and the trial brought on afterwards, and you should give me no plainer hint of it than that. In short, your advice seems no other than a threat in disguise. Still, my dear friend, don't think that I suspect you to be the author of it; but rather that you have softened the original so as to save my feelings.

"During the war, although _I bore the commission of a captain,_ I never received commands as such, but acted as War Chief, which I believe was of more utility than if I had been in the other capacity--generally having more men under my command than is customary for one of that rank. Since the peace, I have attended to our affairs as a sachem. I never supposed it to be wrong my so doing; if it is so, I could wish to have written instructions how I am to conduct myself, so as to prevent the serious consequences spoken of, by which, probably, may be meant the taking from me my half-pay or pension. I hope to have the pleasure to hear from you as soon as possible, at the same time I remain

"Dear Sir,
Your very humble
And obed't servant,
Jos. Brant

"_Sir John Johnson, Bar't._"

Norton had been furnished by Brant with letters to his friends in England, and among them to the Duke of Northumberland, who interested himself warmly in behalf of the object of his mission. Such, moreover, were the zeal and ability with which he discharged the duties of his errand, that for a time there was a prospect of his mission being crowned with entire success. The decision of the ministers was favorable to the Indians, and letters to that effect were dispatched to the Provincial government. These, however, were met by an unexpected movement at home, which palsied the exertions of the agent, and caused his return with hopes at least deferred, if not blighted. The cause of this untoward change in the course of the parent government will be developed in a few succeeding pages.

It appears that in the course of the controversy violent disagreements had arisen between Captain Brant and the Deputy Superintendent, which were ultimately embittered by mutual allegations of pecuniary delinquency. A charge of this description had been made against Brant, a few years before, in connexion with a negotiation between the government of the State of New-York and the Caughnawaga and St. Regis Indians, calling themselves the Seven Nations of Canada. These nations, as the reader has been informed in a former part of the present work, were clans of the Mohawks, who had long before separated from the principal nation, and settled upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. In the year 1792, they sent a deputation to the government of the State of New-York, claiming a tract of land covering a large portion of the northern part of the state; all, indeed, lying between Lake Champlain on the East, and the head waters of the Mohawk on the West, bounded north by the St. Lawrence, and south by a line to be drawn from a point between Fort Edward and Lake George to the junction of Canada Creek with the Mohawk River, in the neighborhood of the Little Falls. This extensive claim was resisted by the state upon several grounds. One of these was, that the Indian title had been extinguished to a portion of the territory in question by the French; another, that several patents from the English crown had extinguished their title to other portions of it; added to all which, it was held by the state that the Caughnawagas had never any just title to the land, inasmuch as it originally belonged to the Six Nations, of whom the claimants formed but a small number. As proof of this position, it was contended by the state that the Six Nations had themselves sold this same territory, together with a large additional tract, extending from the Mohawk River to the Pennsylvania line, to Colonel John Livingston. This sale to Colonel Livingston was first made by forty-five chiefs of the Six Nations in 1787, and was confirmed in the following year, by a second deed, signed by sixty-five of their chiefs, and witnessed by Colonel John Butler and Joseph Brant. The purchase by Colonel Livingston being unconstitutional, was annulled; but the fact that such a sale had been made by the Six Nations at large, was adduced against the claim of the Caughnawagas, by way of showing that it was unfounded. Still as the St. Regis and Caughnawaga Indians persisted in their claim, a commission, consisting of Egbert Benson, Richard Varick, and James Watson, was appointed to treat with their Chiefs upon the subject; and it was not until the Summer of the year 1796 that an arrangement was effected, by virtue of which the Seven Nations relinquished their claim, with the exception of the St. Regis reservation, for a small sum in hand paid, and a yet smaller perpetual annuity.

It was as a witness only to the deed of sale to Colonel Livingston, that the name of Captain Brant came to be involved in this controversy. The Commissioners maintained to the last that the Six Nations had sold the lands, and that their great chief, Brant, was a witness to the sale. In reply to which, the Caughnawagas insisted that the Six Nations had no more right to sell the lands they claimed than they had to dispose of the city of New-York. [FN-1] The Caughnawaga Chiefs, probably, did not exactly understand the case of the sale to Colonel Livingston, which was set aside as being contrary to the fundamental law of the state, nor the position in which the name of Joseph Brant stood upon the deed. On the contrary, they seem to have been impressed with an idea that Brant and the Mohawks had been selling _their_ lands _to the state._ The consequence was a controversy between the Caughnawagas and the Mohawks, which gave the old Chief an infinite deal of trouble--even after the affair between the former and the State of New York had been amicably closed. The charges of the Caughnawagas amounted to this--that Brant and the Mohawks had sold their lands to the state, and pocketed the avails. Brant repelled the charge with indignation. In regard to the deed of sale to which he was a witness, he affirmed that not a foot of the territory claimed by the Caughnawagas was embraced within it, but that the sale was of a portion only of lands belonging to the Senecas. He demanded of the Caughnawagas their authority for the charge against himself and the Grand River Indians. They replied, that their information was derived from the representations of the officers of the State of New-York at Albany. Brant opened a correspondence with George Clinton [FN-2] and Governor Jay upon the subject, the negotiations having commenced under the administration of the former and been concluded under the latter. But not satisfied with anything resulting from the correspondence, he caused a deputation of his tribe to repair to Albany, [FN-3] at the head of which was his adopted nephew, John Norton, to meet a similar deputation from the Caughnawagas, face to face, and to require his accusers connected with the government of the State of New-York, either to substantiate their charges or acquit him in the presence of both delegations. The papers of Captain Brant are pretty full in regard to this controversy, which seems to have affected him with the keenest sensibility. The result of this double mission to Albany, however, does not exactly appear, save that the Chief was not well satisfied with it. At least thus much is evident from the tone of the annexed letter to his friend, Thomas Morris, who was a member of the Legislature of New-York at that time, and to whom he had given his deputies, letters of introduction:--

* * * * *

[FN-1] Talk of the Seven Nations, delivered to the Commissioners at Albany, May, 1796.

[FN-2] See Appendix, No. XI.

[FN-3] Brant had previously, in 1797, visited Albany on the same business, accompanied by Corn-planter and two or three other sachems. Arriving at Canajoharie in the evening, Brant called with his party upon Major Hendrick Frey, who had served in the cause of the crown during the war of the Revolution, but returned to his native county after the close of the contest. The meeting of Brant with Frey was like that of two brothers. The party adjourned to a tavern, where they had a merry time of it during the live-long night Many of their adventures during the war were recounted, among which was a duel that had been fought by Frey, to whom Brant acted as second. In the course of those relations, Corn-planter acknowledged that he shot the girl who was gathering berries in the neighborhood of Fort Stanwix, as related by Colonel Willett and cited in the first volume of the present work. Corn-planter said he was lurking about the fort in order to seize a prisoner; but failing in that object, fired upon the girl. The landlord of the inn, named Rolfe, had resided near Fort Stanwix at the time, and could hardly be restrained from doing violence upon Corn-planter on hearing the relation.--[_Conversations of the author with Dr. Jonathan Eights of Albany, who, being at the time a resident with Major Frey, was one of the party._]

"Captain Brant to Thomas Morris, Esq.

"_Grand River, April_ 4, 1799.

"Dear Sir,

"It is now some time since the return of Mr. Norton and the Cayuga Chiefs from Albany; they have acquainted me with their treatment there, and that of the business they went on; and particularly of your friendship and assistance to them while there; for which I could not omit taking the earliest opportunity of testifying to you my most hearty thanks for the friendship you showed them, and hope you will not find us unmindful of the favor.

"At the same time I cannot avoid expressing my surprise to you at the conduct of your government respecting the affair of the Caughnawagas. In the first place, it appears their Commissioners treated the business so mysteriously as to make these people believe we had sold their lands; first having defrauded us by having all that country included in the confirmation of Mr. Livingston's deed to Mr. Oliver Phelps, to which the Senecas signed their names, only supposing that they sold part of their own country, and to which I signed as a witness. This was made use of to convince the Caughnawagas they had no right to the country they inhabit; and I learn that it was not till after much argument that your Government owned that they never paid any money to me or the Five Nations on account of these lands, and that they never looked on any Indians to have a right to them, either Caughnawagas or Five Nations. Had they only said this at first, when they treated with the Caughnawagas, and not brought our name in question, they would have saved us immense trouble. And now I cannot imagine what good reasons they could have to refuse our Deputies to certify in writing that they never paid us any money on account of these lands claimed by the Caughnawagas, which it is certain they never did. It still appears they wish to make the affair mysterious, and evade, as much as they can, the thoroughly clearing up of the business, so as to keep the Caughnawagas from making farther claims on them; for it now appears pretty clear to us that they have wronged these people. However, their conduct comports a good deal with the uncivilized character of Judge Benson, who, I find, was one of the Commissioners; and how the Governor left the business mostly to him, who I know would skin a flint if it was possible, should it belong to the Indians." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Judge Benson was only one of the Commissioners; but it is probably true that the business was confided entirely to him. In the original account of the treaty with the Caughnawagas, of May, 1796, containing the speeches written out in full on both sides, found by the author among Brant's papers, Judge Benson's signature stands alone at the close of the whole.

"I intend, for my own satisfaction, to have the whole affair, from the beginning to ending, published in the newspapers.

"Dr. Sir,
I am your most humble and
Obd't. Serv't
Jos. Brant.

"_Thomas Morris, Esq'r._"

In July of the same year, Brant proceeded to the Caughnawaga country in person, accompanied by a body of Chiefs of several of the tribes, for the purpose of a thorough investigation in General Council. Such a council was convened; and the difficulties, from the reports of the speeches preserved in writing by Captain Brant, were fully discussed--and that, too, in the most amicable manner. From several intimations in these speeches, it appears that the whole difficulty had been caused "by chattering birds," and by the machinations against Captain Brant, of the old Oneida Sachem, Colonel Louis. The Council-fire was Kindled on the 8th of July. On the 9th Captain Brant was satisfied by the explanations given, and remarked "that he had pulled up a pine, and planted down beneath it the small bird that tells stories;" on the 10th, the Caughnawaga Chief replied--"Brother, we return you thanks; we also join with you to put the chattering-bird under ground from where the pine was taken up, there being a swift stream into which it will fall beneath, that will take it to the Big Sea, from whence it never can return."

The result of the Council seems to have been satisfactory on all hands. Indeed, as Brant himself wrote to a correspondent "in the States," [FN] a short time afterward, he was rather surprised that he had so little to encounter at their meeting:--"We expected they would have had a great deal to say to us; but instead of that, they said they had never accused us of themselves--that it was only from what the people of New-York said that they had inquired about the matter; and that now they hoped we would be so good as to agree to bury the whole affair under ground." To Sir John Johnson he subsequently wrote in the following terms:--"Without doubt, long before this you have received an authentic account of our business with the Caughnawagas, which has convinced you and the world of our innocence. You know that I was supposed to be a leader in that business, and how often I have been falsely accused. But upon investigation my rectitude has ever been sufficiently proved. This groundless accusation of theirs created a great expense to government as well as us, and I should expect that, after being convinced of their error, some acknowledgment should be made for the great trouble they have put us to."

* * * * *

[FN] The name of this correspondent it not given in the original draught of the letter preserved among Brant's papers.

But the Caughnawaga difficulties were no sooner at an end, than it was his lot to encounter others yet more nearly touching his pecuniary integrity, which annoyed him not a little. There were active spirits about him, official and unofficial, who, for reasons of their own, looked with no favorable eye upon the mission of Teyoninhokarawen. So strongly indeed were these men opposed to the claims of the Indians, that they were led to the adoption of very unjustifiable means, not only to circumvent the negotiations of Norton, but to prostrate the power and influence of the old Chief himself. To this end, domestic dissensions were fomented, even among his own kindred, the Mohawks. The Chief was again accused of peculations; and although the grant of the Grand River territory had been notoriously made for the exclusive benefit of the Mohawk nation, yet the Senecas, and others of the Iroquois Nations, not residing in Canada, were stirred up to claim a voice in the disposition of those lands, and in the domestic relations of that nation, by virtue of their confederate league, which had never before been construed as clothing them with any such rights or powers. In furtherance of the design of prostrating Brant and thwarting the efforts of Norton in England, a Council of the Six Nations was held at Buffalo Creek, under the direction of the Seneca Chiefs, Red Jacket and the Farmer's Brother; at which all the proceedings of Brant and Norton were formally disavowed, and Brant himself deposed from the chieftainship of the Confederacy, at the head of which he had stood for more than a quarter of a century. His associate Mohawk Sachems were likewise removed, and others, taken, as Jeroboam selected his priests, from the lowest of the people, appointed in their stead. None of the Mohawk Chiefs were present at this Council, but only a few of the discontents, and of the more worthless members of the nation, who had been wrought upon by the white opponents of the principal Chief. The whole movement was illegal, according to the ancient usages of the Confederacy, in other respects. The Council was not convened at the National Council-fire, which had years before been regularly removed from Buffalo Creek to the Onondaga Village on the Grand River. Nor, aside from the fact that the Senecas, and others residing within the United States, had no right to a voice in regard to the domestic affairs or the lands of the Mohawks, was the General Confederacy properly or legally represented. Red Jacket, however, was both a ready and a willing instrument in the hands of Brant's opponents. In all the councils in which it had been the fortune of the two Chiefs to meet for the transaction of business, there had been little of cordiality between them, and much less of friendship. _Yau-go-ya-wat-haw,_ or Red Jacket, was not a chief by birth, but had made himself such by his cunning. He was artful, eloquent, and ambitious. Aspiring to the rank of a chief, he availed himself of the superstitious dispositions of his people to attain his object. His first essay was, to dream that he was, or should be, a Chief, and that the Great Spirit was angry because his nation did not advance him to that dignity. These dreams, with the necessary variations, were repeated, until, fortunately for him, the small-pox broke out among the Senecas. He then proclaimed the loathsome infliction as a judgment of the Great Spirit, because of the ingratitude of the nation to him. The consequence, ultimately, was, that by administering flattery to some, and working upon the superstitious fears of others, he reached the goal of his ambition. Brant, however, had always, on all suitable occasions, pronounced him a coward--the greatest coward of his race. He used to say that Red Jacket was always valiant for fight with his tongue; but that, although by his eloquence he persuaded many warriors to fight, he was ever careful not to get into personal danger himself. He also asserted as a fact, that having sent others upon the war-path, he would turn to, and steal and kill their cows for his own use. [FN-1] Smarting under the contemptuous treatment of the Mohawk Chief, therefore, the eloquent demagogue of the Senecas was not backward in compassing, as he hoped, the overthrow of his enemy, if not his rival. Hence, for years antecedent to the council called clandestinely for the deposition of Brant, Red Jacket had labored, with all art and diligence, to create jealousies and distrust against him. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Conversations of the author with Thomas Morris, Esq. This gentleman, during his residence in the western part of New-York, became intimately acquainted with the Senecas and Mohawks--especially with their Chiefs--having assisted at several treaties with them. He once entertained Brant, Red Jacket, and a number of other chiefs, at his own house in Canandaigua. At dinner, Brant was very amusing; and among other stories, related the cow-killing exploits of a Seneca Chief, in such an arch manner as to direct the attention of the whole company upon Red Jacket, and yet compel Red Jacket himself to raise an affected laugh.

[FN-2] See the certificate of Israel Chapin, as to the general character of Brant, and the unfounded jealousies excited against him by his opponents, Appendix, No. XII.

The Chief himself was, of course, early apprised of what had taken place, and the manner of the conspiracy, of which he appears to have written a full account to his friend, the Duke of Northumberland. The copy of only a portion of that communication has been discovered. It is without date, but must have been written in A. D. 1805.

"Captain Brant to the Duke of Northumberland.

"May it please your Grace:

"As my nephew, Teyoninhokarawen, has safe returned, gratitude prompts me to return you my most hearty thanks for the very kind reception and aid you gave him, and express the regret myself and the other Chiefs of the Five Nations inhabiting the Grand River feel, that after the trouble your Grace has taken in our affairs, he should have been frustrated of having them concluded to our satisfaction by the intrigues of the Agent for Indian affairs, (a Mr. Claus,) of which I shall take the liberty to give you a succinct account.