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Iroquois
Title:
The Logans
Author:
Wait, Mary (Van Sickle)
Call
LH 974.8
number:
Ithaca, NY
Publisher:
of
DeWitt Historical
Tompkins
Collection:
County
Ithaca Tompkins County
Local History (LH)
Material type:
Book
Number
31
Assigned Branch:
Note:
of pages:
accounts
Society
of
Tompkins County, 1968.,
Ithaca
Owner:
:
and other
-
-
Public
Public
Library
Library (TCPL)
pages
The
History Center
in Tompkins
copyright, gave TCPL
County,
permission
to digitize this
October 2009.
Digitization
of
2009
this
material was made possible with a
grant
from the Park Foundation
who owns
the
book,
97^.8
Wait, Mary
The Logans,
accounts
and
other
Iroquois
.
LH
97^-8
Wait, Mary
The Logans,
accounts
and
other
Iroquois
.
DO NOT TAKE
CARDS FROM POCKET
COUNTY"
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LOGAN,
77te Minc/o
or TAL-GA-YEE-TA
C?iie/
and
Orator, by Chilberg
Contents
Acknowledgment
v
The Shikellamies
1
The Logans:
Capt. John
James
Logan, Tachnectoris
Logan, Tahgahjute
3
7
The Six Nations
19
An Episode
27
at
Cayuga
Acknowledgments
of the Cayugas in June
1967, the authors sent a copy to Mrs. Doris Sutherland to thank
her for help in furnishing old maps of the Susquehanna Valley.
At
completion of
the three-part
Her interest in Logan
erence
librarians
at
was
Story
aroused,
and as she
Pennsylvania State
is
one of
University
the
ref
whose spe
for many years has been accumulation of data on
New York State as well as on Pennsylvania, she is strategically
cial province
placed as an
adjutant,
and experienced and enthusiastic as a
researcher.
When
we wrote a short
time
ago
to
see
if
she could
find
men
Tah-ga-ju-te, or James Logan, as a messenger to the
Onondaga Council, she came across much material that we had
tion
not
of
known
of
him
when
compiling
our story.
We found this
so
profoundly interesting in view of his connection wth local his
tory that these pages resulted. Mrs. Sutherland sent xeroxed
from twelve sources, as follows :
History of the Upper Ohio Valley, R. H. Taneyhill; History
of the Juniata Valley, U. J. Jones; The Wilderness Trail,
pages
Charles A.
Harris; Indian Wars in Pennsylvania, C. Hall Sipe;
Kishacoquillas Valley, U. J. Jones; Northumberland County
Historical Society, Vol. XVII, Harry J. Swanger; Pennsylvania
Archives, Conrad Weiser's Letters; History of Dauphin Coun
ty, Israel Daniel Rupp; Memorials of the Moravian Church,
Count Zinzendorf; Daily Stories of Pennsylvania, F. A. Godcharles; Logan, Chief of the Mingoes, C. Hall Sipe; Lives of
Famous Indian Chiefs, Norman B. Wood.
From the DeWitt Historical Library we have used Early
Explorers and Travelers in Tompkins County, by W. Glenn
Norris, Tompkins County Historian, and The Story of the Cay
ugas, Vol. Ill, by William Heidt, Jr. and Mary Van Sickle Wait.
Mary Van Sickle Wait
Auburn,
N.
Y., June 30,
1968.
The Shikelkmies
Oneida chieftain, a Frenchman by birth,
in childhood and brought up among the Oneida Indi
Shikellamy
captured
ans.
He
was an
married
duced four
"Neanoma,"
a
Cayuga, in 1716,
daughter. Some
sons and one
and
they
authorities
pro
say five
daughter. The eldest, John Shikellamy, "TachnecOak,"
was born on Butternut Creek in
toris, the Spreading
New York State. The second son, Tah-gah-ju-te, also called
sons and one
Sayughtowa, "he
"
(Beetling Brow)
was born in 1725. Authorities differ as to the place of his birth,
some claiming Butternut Creek, some Cayuga Lake, others the
Cayuga village of Wasco, now Auburn, and the archaeologists
prefer
Petty,
whose eyebrows stick out
Scipioville. All
in New York State. A third son, John
was named after an Indian trader at
are
"Sogogehayta,"
Jake,"
Shemokin. A fourth son, Arahot, known as "Unhappy
was killed in the war with the Catawbas in 1744. Shikellamy's
daughter
er
was
among
"the Widow
as
the
of
Logan's five
of
their deaths is
children and
not
his
the best hunt
chieftains.
The five
"Shikellamy
at
wife all
a
always signed with
children were all
was sent
Susquehanna,
Lenni-Lenape
and
nature of
of
by
by
a
Cayuga
the Oneida
mother-right.
the Great Council
of
the Susquehanna to look
the Six Nations in the valley of the
keep watch of the tributary Shawnee and
of
Indians."
First, he dwelt
a
branch
below Milton, on the east bank
the Susquehanna. His village was known
half
mile
of
the
as
Shikellamy's Town. In 1738 he
west
Cayugas
before 1728
Onondaga to the forks
the interests
died, but the
by the author.
Cayuga by his marriage to
maiden, but in signing treaties
after
Cajadies,
disclosed
Shikellamy became
Iroquois
of
Indians."
In 1747 this son-in-law, "some of his
Tachnectoris's wife and five of his six children, three
all
children,"
known
Shemokin, thirty
of
miles
south,
moved
and
to the Indian village
lived there
until
of
his death in
1748.
Greatly
by both
revered
white settlers and
Indians, he
became very famous in the
annals of Pennsylvania history. Historians disagree as to which
of his sons succeeded him in authority, but are unanimous in
kept
good order
between them
their statements that his
dians
and
successor
had
no control over
the In
successfully held in check. A very
between Pennsylvania and Virginia gov
Shikellamy had
whom
successful arbitrator
Council, Shikellamy served Conrad
Weiser, famous Pennsylvania interpreter, as Indian guide on
ernors and
all
three
missions which
Council
at
On two
of
the
the Onondaga
three
Bartram,
to the
great
The latter two included the famous
and
missionaries
(1749).
undertook
Iroquois
Onondaga February 1737, July 1743, and May 1745.
these missions, Tachnectoris was also a member of
expedition.
John
he
Shikellamy
he
kin,
where
sion
in 1742.
naturalist
Lewis Evans, the map maker (1743) , and
from the Moravian Church at Bethlehem
and
his three
encouraged
sons were
baptized
at
Count Zinzendorf to found
Shemo
a mis
Shikellamy died at Shemokin in 1748. From that time on
his three sons, Tachnectoris, Tahgahjute and John Petty were
known
as
"The
Shikellamies,"
and played an
important
part
in
history of the Pennsylvania settlers in their contact with
the Indians, until 1756, in which year the Indians burned the
town of Shemokin before deserting it. From that time on
from which
they are spoken of collectively as "The
the
Logans,"
fact has
arisen some confusion
jute, James Logan,
and
apparently the latter
father's
between the
exploits of
Tahgah
Tachnectoris, Capt. John Logan. It
was
the vice-regency after his
but both James Logan and John Petty are
who assumed
death,
mentioned by some historians.
Capt John Logan, Tachnectoris
Tachnectoris,
on
"The
Oak,"
Spreading
was
born
Butternut Creek in New York State. Eldest
lamy,
Oneida chief,
an
during 1718
son of
Shikel
Cayuga maiden,
Cayuga by birth.
Nearioma,
and
a
cording to mother-right, he was a
His family moved about 1728 to Shikellamy's Town,
half mile below Milton, Pa., on the east bank of the
branch
of
the Susquehanna. In
and
family thirty
kin,
and
ties
was removed
miles south
lived there
Penn's Creek
moved with
to the Indian
village
one-
west
his father
of Shamo-
1756, when the seat of Indian activi
to Kittaning and Loggstown, following the
until
massacre.
From the time
Shikellamy's death in 1748, "conditions be
difficult for his sons. They were caught
of
increasingly
came
1738, he
ac
desires."
between conflicting
ship between their father
Interpreter,
vania
pressure of
Weiser had
the Mora
John
the
"When they
unscrupulous
for
counseled
race and mistreated
own
white men whom
Bartram, the naturalist;
Count Zizendorf, Zeisberger, Cammerhoff
vians
by
the fine
and
brought to them
The memory of the great friend
and Conrad Weiser, the Pennsyl
and even
look for
by
some
British
protection.
the French
and
.
.
by fearful
officers
Indian War
the Indian town
live
at
and
fishing locations
they
peace
During
.
hunters
of
to
the
and
was offset
land-grabbers.
were reviled
and overzealous
whom
they had
by
their
settlers
a right
to
years when storm clouds of
gathering, they continued to
Shamokin and at various hunting
were
usually along the
west
branch
of
the Sus
quehanna."
1754, Conrad Weiser wrote that he "found two
Shickalamys
living about thirty miles off on the
In September
of
the
northwest
.
branch
of
.
.
the
Susquehanna"
(five
miles apart).
The
in part, "I arrived at Shamokin the 20th of April.
Found that two of the Shikellamies being about thirty miles
letter
says
off on
the northwest branch
Machson"
Machson. ("2
name
Otzinachson
is
a
Susquehanna, commonly called 2
very interesting perversion of the
probably was Weiser's recording
the phonetic form of Zwei-nachson)
and
understanding of
In September 1754, Conrad Weiser
workmen
to Shamokin to build
"In the troubled days
had flared
of
a
wrote
his.
that he "took two
house for the
the late
of
summer of
Shikellamys."
1755,
when
the
Ohio, began rumbling eastward
over the Alleghenies, Andrew Montour, who had been with.
Braddock, and Scarouady, the Oneida chief, came to Shamokin
war,
which
upon
their
Governor
return
on
from
the
Weiser. From here
and
Governor
to
in Philadelphia
a conference
with
September 11 they sent a
advising him that the Six
on
Morris,
Nations had sent a large, black belt of wampum to the
wares and Shawnees, ordering them to 'Lay aside their
message
coats'
and speed
French. 'We
them
as
to their
shall go
they
served us.
in the
assistance
and
view
the
war
petti
against
the French Forts
Your friend
Dela-
the
and
serve
Henry Montour is
along
with our men.
"
"
'The
subscriber
dition he
can make
is gathering a Company with all the expe
to go against the French, and the people
whose names are under
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
'Skiroonata.
his
'Tohnectoris T.,
'Cannauy Sam
name are
alias
John
going
with
Sicalamy,
him.
the Captain.
'tuckaunauteneo
'John Petty Sicalamy
'Jno
in company
'James Logan Sicalamy
Davidson,
with
them
'Onnohario
"
'These are the heads of this Company.' "
From that time on Tachnectoris was commonly spoken of
as "Captain
but it was not until the three brothers left
Shamokin and started to make their separate homes in the
John,"
northern part of
Pennsylvania
in
Ohio, that they were
collectively spoken of as "The
Hence, there were two
famous Iroquois chiefs, James Logan, the Mingo, and Capt.
John Logan, the Cayuga, living their separate lives, and histo
rians of a later day confused and mingled their destinies. A
and
Logans."
fact that the
preponderance of evidence points to the
brother
was
ment of
Pennsylvania
some
the
question
official
the
contact with
older
govern
provincial
his father's death, though there is
his being appointed as vice-regent by the
of
after
Onondaga Council.
This
owning in part to the fact that in 1737, during his
Vastina,"
he suffered an injury which
courtship of the "fair
was
in the loss
His rival, the trader Jack Arm
strong, an older man, challenged Tachnectoris to a shooting
match with bow and arrow, and, while the latter was arrang
resulted
the target in
ing
of one eye.
better light, caused the deliberate injury
he hoped would remove the Indian lad as a rival for
which
a
Vastina's favor. She was, however, overcome with love and
pity for the unfortunate youth and became his wife. They
having
are spoken of as
children, five of whom succumbed,
three of James Logan's children and
six
along with Vastina and
their mother in 1747, presumably
of some
fever. But
one son
survived, Tod-kah-dohs. Alas for James Logan! For it
himself
who appointed
fall
of
We
executioner of
his famous
was
uncle
he
in the
1780.
told
by a member of the Northumberland County
Historical Society that Logan's last official act and service as
deputy for the Province of Pennsylvania of which a record was
are
made and preserved was
at
attendance at
Lancaster in August 1762.
the
of
his
government
Indians,
and
entertained."
and
"A treaty
both the Northern
hopes for
Among
peace
the
the
great conference
between
was
and
Western tribes
between them
were once more
names of
Indians
at
the
Treaty
of
Lancaster, found in the Pennsylvania Archives:
"Cayugas:
"6 Tachnectoris, Soxeghtowa, Sagogehayta.
"John Shilellimy, James Loagan, John Petty, Shikellimy's 3
Sons."
In June
of
1763 Capt. John Logan
his former home
had been
youth,
years
was now resigned
and more secure
site of
Shamokin. Finding that an English fort
on the ground so familiar to him in his
the Indians had burned
before, he
to the
at
erected
which
returned
hunting
to
grounds.
and
abandoned
retire and move
seven
to better
At this
from the
all
his life, Tachnectoris became estranged
settlers near his former home who mistrusted
period
white
of
Indians. However, he
and was approached
government,
him
who sent
a
string
friendly to the provincial
by Governor Denny in 1759,
remained
of wampum and requested
his
presence
Fort Augusta, where he extended his hand
in friendship. The Indian was requested to deliver a message
at a conference at
to the Onondaga Council
General Johnston's. He
of
this
province,"
transporting
this office,
between Fort Augusta
being built
of a road
performed
Nations'
Six
the
of
for the
goods and
sole purpose of
warriors
and
and
the
at
subject
"the frontier
aiding the Indians in
facilitating travel,
was
discussed
and
approved.
Though John Logan lived
lonely life from that time on,
building his cabins in the Juniata Valley, and later as far north
as Tyrone, he was revered by the settlers near whom he dwelt,
a
in Pennsylvania geography, his course through the state is
marked by springs and towns named after him. As early as
and
June
1743,
a year after
his
conversion
by
the Moravian
mis
Shamokin, Conrad Weiser wrote of him, "John
(son of Shikellamy) is truly a man of
Though subjected
to trials and disappointments in his long life, he did not depart
from the teachings of Christianity, although he spent his last
days in the so-called Paganism of his fathers; his supreme be
lief was that happiness would come only through doing good.
sionaries
at
God."
Swanger
wrote
in 1949 :
"Captain Logan,
few scalps on his
who never
belt,
led
an
army
of
rapine,
who
had
his gun, who
worked for peace, who forgave his enemies, and who died at
peace with all mankind, looms big in the list of distinguished
aborigines.
His faith was bigger and broader than any
.
church.
It
.
not
many
notches
on
.
consisted
in 'doing
good,'
a sublime creed
for any
man."
He died
Juniata
age of
at
the home
of a
friend
while
returning from the
Valley to the Cornplanter Reservation in 1820,
at
the
102.
Alternate
spellings
Tachnachdoarus. All
Taghneghduoras, Thachnoreahtoris,
spellings are as
found in the documents.
James Logan, T ahgahjute
Tah-gah-ju-te,
birthplace is disputed
whose
by historians,
Tachnectoris, 1725 being gen
birth. Auburn, Scipioville, Cayuga
was several years younger than
erally
accepted as
date
in New York State, claim the honor
One historian gives Shamokin, Pa., but the
Lake, Butternut Creek,
his
of
Indian
nativity.
village of
accepted site.
of
all
Wasco,
now
Auburn, is
Iroquois tradition
the
most
this. He
supports
generally
moved with
his father's family to Shikellimy's Town, half a mile below
Milton, Pa., when Shikellimy was sent by the Onondaga Coun
cil
as
tribes,
was
vice-regent
and
three
the
conquered
years old at
Delawares
right, there is no evidence that he
visited the shores of the lake of that
extraction,
was
Lenni-Lenapes.
and
this time. Though
the Cayugas dwelt. His
at
a
Cayuga
at
Montreal
by
He
mother-
any time thereafter
name on which most of
father, Shikellimy,
captured
Iroquois
Susquehanna Valley's
the
over
a child of
when
French
very young
and
brought up by the Oneida Indians. Though he became a Cay
uga at his marriage with a Cayuga maiden, and is sometimes
spoken of as a
Oneida
Cayuga chief, Shikellimy
signed
treaties
as an
chief.
Tahgahjute is
spoken of as
being lighter in
color
than the
Indians along the Juniata River when he moved there in 1765.
This along with his highly emotional nature is understood in
the light
of
his European heritage.
Historians diverge widely on the
riage. In one book it is stated that he
time
his
subject
of
Logan's
was married at
the
mar
same
to be in 1738.
That
would make Tahgahjute an unusually young bridegroom of
thirteen. It is averred that his wife was a Mohican and her
name is given as Loyola.
as
older
brother,
"Last Autumn Logan's
which
seems
wife and
three
of
his five
children
died."
So
telling
In
Bishop Cammerhoff in
his journey to Shamokin in
wrote
of
our earlier efforts
the
day-by-day
account
1748.
to delineate the
history
of
the famous
James Logan, whom Shikellimy named after his great friend,.
the secretary of the Province, "whose kindness to the children
of the forest was scarcely inferior to that of the illustrious
Governor
whom
this
served,"
he officially
we printed
presum
ably authoritative statement from the Handbook of Fort Hill
Cemetery. As it was here in Auburn that the citizens erected
by
popular subscription a monument
to be
assumed
"She
was
and wife
that the information in the book
Speaking
researched.
to Logan's memory, it is
of
carefully
Alvaretta:
the Onondaga chief,
the daughter
of
the
Logan. She is
of
was
eloquent
Ontonegea,
to have
represented
been remarkably beautiful. The legends of surviving Cayugas
say that her eyes were piercing, her face expressive, her per
son
comely,
and
her
gentle; and that, on account
English name was given her by
manners
her
beauty in childhood, an
officer in King George's service
father had taken her
on
some
death is positively known
(Auburn)
vicinity
of
her
century may be
confidently
Our query
"During
and
his
the
three
in his journal
Brother Mack,
autumn
many
of
his
elsewhere
given as
Moravian Mission
son-in-law
cause.
which
of
tragical
the
more
fate."
wives?
under
the date
we visited
his
Shik
family died,
of
Logan's
children."
wife
her
parties
that is
five children, three
and some of his
that James Logan's
the
the
middle
all
and
oldest son's wife and
children,
It is
died in 1747.
Bishop Cammerhoff was of the
Shikellimy and his children
baptized
it is unlikely that he would confuse them. Other
it might be thought that the youngest son, John Petty,
1742,
wise
with
his family. Last
reported
in
with
fairly inferred from
averred
the afternoon,
and
Fever is
about
is, Could Logan have had
Bishop Cammerhoff
of January 14, 1748:
viz.
thither
of
born in this
she was
respecting her marriage
alleged
now
tragic story
to Pennsylvania
and went
nation who removed
eighteenth
ellimy
Fort Orange, whither her
occasion of importance to his
her. That
of
an
at
Very little, however, beyond the
people.
of
so
8
the Mohican maiden, Loyola,
the five children attributed to James Logan.
the husband
was
father
of
The
refer
massacre at
include
wife, but
he had
village
John
Petty,
latter
who
other
consisted of a
there : his mother,
established
Shawnee
a
was
was
and
younger
sister, sister-in-law, two-months-old
dian tradition
turned
attribute
sister
and
the
not
thirteen from the
of
party
Indians from the community
Logan
the historians
wife
time, April 30, 1744, was a Shawnee, and
whom he was deprived by the marauders did
of
a
but the
that
at
"family"
Cemetery Handbook evidently
Yellow Creek, Ohio, in calling atten
fate,"
tion to her "tragic
to Logan
the
the Fort Hill
authors of
to the
and
of
brother,
child
of
the
his wife, and nine
he called in the In
of
whom
"Cousins."
the Ohio
across
found the
the
at
time,
and when
thirteen
wholesale slaughter of
he
re
relatives
friends, some of whom were Cayugas who had followed him
from Fort Augusta, his savage nature took control, and he did
and
stop his personal vendetta of revenge until thirteen settlers
had paid the debt to his satisfaction. He then "sat idle in his
not
tent,"
nor could
he be
he had
white men whom
No less
priest.
Loyola,
the tradition is that
and
for her beauty.
wife,
John Logan's bride
Her
was a
mother was
Mohican,
warrior, Captain Abraham. I
that the double ceremony
quote a
riage
corn
If
by
the
respective
bread for the
meat.
can
The
couple
marriage
then
no
a
of the
religious
mothers-in-law.
feast,
moved
and
the
into her
a priest or minister was used
to
the
a
noted
celebrated
logic in the
by
by
James Logan's
of
niece
Story
a
half-breed,
Quaker.
a
find
than
v/ere married
a
was
was performed
a secular rather
was
they
and a
former discourse in The
arranged
the
his friends.
considered
always
war on
authority than Conrad Weiser is quoted in the
that "the two older Shikellamies chose life partners
1738,"
Catholic
further
make
an
statement
about
to
persuaded
statement
Catholic, for to
Cayugas, "Mar
affair,
and was
The bride
made
groom supplied
mother's
the
longhouse."
perform a marriage cere
mony in this case, surely it would have been a Quaker.
Of the marriage to Alvaretta it is written that the marriage
ceremony
or near
was performed
his father
at
by Zeisberger. "Logan
Shamokin
until
the
year
resided with
1749,
when,
at
the
the
request of
promptings
an
of
latter,
early
in conformity with the
to the orphan daughter
as well as
attachment
Ontonegea, named Alvaretta, he was married to her by
Bishop Zeisberger, the pious missionary who administered the
consolations of the Gospel to his dying
of
parent."
There
to have been
this
second
union,
the two remaining children by the first marriage, his
has lost all trace. They seem to have slipped James Lo
appear
no children of
and of
tory
mind, also, for the
gan's
to Lord Dunmore
answer
the
most
close of
touching lament
when
hostilities in the
invited to the
so-called
his famous
of
peace
table
"Lord Dunmore's
at
War,"
be forgotten: "Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in
blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of
will never
cold
Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs
not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature.
.
Who is there to
A
mourn
for Logan? Not
statement was obtained
from Jesse
.
106 years,
October 9, 1815, in
Logan,
the Cornplanter
.
one."
aged
Reservation, Pa., on
which he averred: "My father was John Logan, Jr., a Cayuga,
the only surviving child of Capt. John Logan, the oldest son
of Shikellamy.
I married Susan, a Seneca maid, and we
had one child, James Logan, who died at the age of thirty. He
at
...
for my great-uncle, the immortal Cayuga orator.
I attribute my long life to my love of outdoor exercise
was named
...
fishing. In my old age I am well cared for
by my Indian friends, but regret that 'my blood flows not in
to use the language of my Great Uncle
any living
and
hunting
and
person,'
James.
.
.
.
There
Pennsylvania
brothers
honor
and
and
are
New
sisters,
attached
to
many Logans in the Reservations in
York;
some
others adopted
descended from my
the name because of the
are
it."
The Capt. John Logan, Jr., mentioned
of Jesse Logan, and the "Only surviving
Logan,"
was
his Indian
the
name
nephew of
James Logan
who sank
above as
child of
the father
Capt. John
Todkahdos,
his hatchet into the brain
to
give
of
the
famous Mingo chief, sneaking up on him from behind while
he sat wrapped in his blanket, meditating before the fire.
Logan's third marriage took place after he had moved to
the valley
of
the Scioto in
Ohio,
10
and
formed
a
gathering
of
Iroquois
Cayuga tribesmen among those who had already
that river. The term Mingo means United People,
and
settled on
and was used
There
only
the Iroquois
of
Shawnees
were
tribe that the third
in that locality.
who were
among them, and it was from this
was taken. Here for the first time
also
wife
Some say he was passed over for
that office by the Cayugas because of lameness resulting from
a bullet wound in his youth. The Iroquois counted anyone
Logan
was appointed chief.
with a physical
In 1800 time
defect
was
a pariah.
running
out
for Tahgahjute. And the fine,
upstanding Indian of whom we read such favorable accounts
had become a brooding misanthrope, despondent at the turn
his life had taken, and no doubt conscience-ridden after the
weeks of his bloody revenge. He found surcease in drunken
and
ness,
dangerous
during
man.
these frequent
When he
was
orgies
returning from
Detroit in the autumn, fleeing
his followers because he had struck his
chiefs at
in
drunken
a
habits
and
brawl, his
Logan's
the
misguided
his
wife's
ever
a
who
council
of
band
of
ahead of a
to the
wife
ground
Todkahdos, a man of low
often in drunkenness, overtook
thought he
was
to be
punished
for
death. He threatened them, and Todkahdos, what
his motives may have been, killed the famous Logan with
blow from his tomahawk
There
killed
him
a
and
nephew,
companion
Indian
fearsome
a
was
a
as
he
sat
before
fire.
tradition among the Iroquois that when one
famous warrior or statesman, the power that was in
was
entered
a
the
body
and soul of
the
murderer.
case, though he may have been inspired
reward
a
of greatness
did
100
years old and was
the
grandson
of
not result.
known far
the famed
In
Todkahdos'
the prospect, the
Although he lived to be
by
and wide as
and revered
"Little
Logan,"
Shikellamy, he died
he had lived, a man of small stature and no great mentality,
the nemesis of the most renowned chief in Iroquois history.
as
only fifty-five at the time of his death. This is
half the normal span of Indian life. He had come many
Logan
about
was
from his far away birthplace in central New York to
this moment of truth "in the silent Autumn woods on the
miles
shore of
Lake
His first
Erie."
move was
to Shikellimy's Town, half
11
a mile
below
Milton, Pa. Ten years later, in 1738, Shikellamy moved his
family to the Indian town of Shamokin, now Sunbury, thirty
miles to the south. Here Logan lived until 1755 or '56, when the
Indians destroyed the village, and the Moravian mission was
abandoned. During those years, both he and his older brother,
Tachnectoris, had hunting and fishing lodges on
hanna, and these he continued to visit during
the Susque
the
proper
seasons.
In
1765, he
appears on
for five years,
hunting
white neighbors.
the Indians
For
He
River,
he
where
stayed
selling dressed deerskins to his
almost completely out of touch with
and
was
those years, a very happy time of his life.
prior he had lived in a cabin in the beautiful
during
some years
Kishacoquillas Valley
tory
the Juniata
the
until
hunting became less
satisfac
the land.
as more and more settlers occupied
In
1771, he emigrated to the Ohio, and found a place to his
liking at the mouth of Yellow Creek, thirty miles above Wheel
ing. There he was joined by his surviving relatives and some
Cayugas from Fort Augusta, and a small Indian village of log
huts was built up. "The town of Mingo Junction, twenty miles
farther down the river, perpetuates the
his memory on the strength of Logan's
how
It
and
long
or
was at
how
short a period no one
this time
from then
on
and place
having
as
his tribe
and
been there for
knows."
that Logan
known
was
name of
was appointed
"Logan,
chief,
the Great Mingo
Chief,"
his Cayuga ancestry forgotten. In fact, some of the his
torians in Pennsylvania and Ohio speak of him as a
Shawnee,
and claim
place
Shemokin
the brutal
atives."
sister,
as
his birthplace. At the Ohio
and unprovoked murder of
A two-months-old
was spared when
the daughter
of
the
his responsibility,
baby,
the
said
thirteen
to be the
mother claimed
is
said
of
child of
that the
trader, John Gibson. Gibson
and
village
took
his "rel
Logan's
child was
acknowledged
to have brought the child to
maturity.
Logan
curred,
For
was
hunting
and on
weeks
he
his
across
the Ohio when the massacre
return was plunged
prosecuted
his
into
a
fury
of
one-man war against
oc
vengeance.
the settlers
army personnel, taking small parties from his village with
him. When he had equaled by his own hand the number of
and
12
relatives and
friends
who
had been slain, his
revenge was sat
isfied.
Logan had killed thirteen men,
women and
children, and his
for thirty deaths and several prisoners.
a
30, 1774, was the date of this infamous massacre, as
Indian his
result of which the most famous piece of oratory in
party
April
tory
was responsible
the public, and disseminated far and wide in
newspapers of the day. Translated into many foreign
was given
books
and
languages,
it
Logan
gave
other of
by
immortality
and memorized
his
an
the
schoolchildren
that
cannot
be
world
equaled
over,
by
any
race.
Historians have been kind to Logan, the Great Mingo Chief,
and though the details of his last few years vary in substance,
in spirit they are the same. His fall from grace is mentioned
and
in
tion.
by the enormity of the provoca
his friendship for the whites, his fair deal
most cases condoned
Testimony
to
dressed skins, his sense of fair
play and sportsmanship, his tenderness for the children of his
white neighbors far outweigh the reports of his ferocity on the
ings
as a
trader in
venison and
battlefield. In describing his appearance, they
in their praise.
"Logan
was
tall
of stature and of great muscular
Taneyhill. "His
ment,"
writes
this
history
of
But Conrad
quent
commanded
and
visitor
his lameness,
Weiser,
at
Shemokin
No
attributed
great
at
appearance
respect."
attention
are unanimous
friend
during
of
to
attracted
once
mention
develop
is
made
in
hunting accident.
Shikellamy and a fre
a
the two troubled decades
the young Indian lad was growing to manhood,
him more than once as "Shikellamy's lame
when
refers
to
son."
C. Hall Sipe tells
William
hunter, who with
his brother was out hunting for bear. When they stopped to
drink at a spring, they saw reflected in its calm waters the
shadow of a
gave a
yell,
of one
Brown,
a
tall Indian. "I sprang to my rifle,
whether
for
peace or war
I
when
was not
the Indian
just sufficiently
my faculties to determine; but upon my seizing my
facing him, he knocked up the pan of his gun, threw
master of
rifle and
the priming, and extended his open
token of friendship. After putting down
out
met at
the spring
and shook
hands. This
13
palm
our
was
towards
guns,
me
in
we again
Logan, the best
red."
humanity I
specimen of
ever met
with,
either white
or
This testimony was given by the first actual white settler
in the Kishacoquillas Valley in Pennsylvania. Here Logan
spent five years away from friends and family, supporting him
hunting,
self with
ing
venison
and
these became
moved
the
After he
dressed
was
passionately
with
skins
his
the
more numerous and
farther
mouth of
he
of which
white
game
to the fertile Ohio
west
fond,
and
trad
neighbors.
As
less plentiful, he
Valley,
and settled at
the Beaver River.
his equanimity, following the
recovered
weeks of
his privately prosecuted warfare against white settlers as far
east as Pennsylvania and Virginia, Logan again felt a strong
pull of affection for the whites, saving by his eloquence, lives
of
prisoners
several
argued
keen to
for
were
His
eloquence was given credit
for
in the uneasy relationships of
as equal to that of Cornstalk in
this
and other crises
bravery is cited
Shawnee War, and his wisdom in
the times. His
cause was
countrymen who
they would but lose the wonderful
along the Ohio, if the Virginia settlers and
government were aroused.
the
his
of
war, saying
grounds
dispelling
Lord Dunmore's War. He
during
those
peace against
make
hunting
taken
suing for peace
when
the
lost.
A touching example of his tenderness towards children and
his friendship for the whites is given by Harry E. Swanger:
"In
a
Logan
1763,
tree to
tured
by her Indian
burned. The father, 'a Captain of
which she was
and
had just been killed in
the
by unbinding its
rescued a child
mother swooned
tied
a war with
at
Wyoming."
her
son.
The poet, Thomas
the
orphan
The
from
to be tor
the British
long,
Campbell,
chieftain undertook and accomplished
with
captors
the Hurons. When
away, praying that her
be taken to her kindred
mother
boy
Band,'
loosed,
might
magnanimous
perilous
jour
preserves the
ney
tradition in the romance, "Gertrude of Wyoming," in which
the hero, Outilissi, carries out the request:
".
the
Tradition
.
again places
July 3, 1778,
on
tribe, have
eagle
of my
With the lorn dove
.
the
eve
to clasp to his bosom
.
rushed
.
the aging Mingo chief at Wyoming
of the Wyoming massacre.
Desiring
once more
14
the
boy
whose
life he had
before, Logan made the long trip from the
of
Sandusky Valley in Ohio. Learning of the intentions
fifteen
saved
upper
years
the Wyoming settlement, he is said to
his friends among the white men, and saved some
the Indians to
have
warned
attack
lives among them.
C. Hall Sipe mentions three
Logan
other white men whom
being burnt at the stake:
autumn of 1778, he saved the life
from
saved
Simon Kenton,
the scout and companion of Daniel Boone, who had been
caught stealing horses of the Indians and was condemned to
die at the stake. Kenton was lodged with Logan for safekeeping
"In the
until
the torture
should commence.
Logan
of
addressed
him
and
said:
"
'Be
strong.
Sandusky
speak
for
and
am a great chief.
burning
you
there. I
sent
two
runners
the Indians in check,
holding
They
you
to
send messengers
to
talk
will
of
taking
you.'
"He then
ton
I
to
and
Sandusky, in the meantime
with great difficulty got Ken
released."
On July 15, 1775, he was instrumental in saving the life of
Captain Wood. He was living then at Pluggy's Town, eighteen
miles north of
These
Columbus.
instances,
occurring
all show
that the Logan
for the
whites
Friend
of
that
the White
Heckwelder
says
of
after
wrath
had
spent
itself,
held the
same esteem
him the soubriquet,
"Logan, the
his later
earned
his
years
Man."
that
during 1779
Logan
adopted a white
into his family as his sister to take the place of the
who was killed at Yellow Creek five years before. Dur
woman
sister
ing the remaining year he lived among the Mingoes
Sandusky River, spending much of his time, however,
from
and
place
to
place.
joined the force
went over
and
Martin's
stations.
As Bird
was
side
which
settle
convey
Detroit, Logan became very friendly with
them, especially John Duncan, to whom he said: 'I
prisoners
some of
of
the
roving
to the British
volunteers, regulars and Indians
Bird led to Kentucky and destroyed the
Capt. Henry
ments at Ruddell's
ing the
"In 1780 he
on
to
know that I have two souls, one good, the other bad. When
the good has the ascendancy, I am kind and humane. When
15
the bad
soul
but blood
This
rules, I
raises
claims
the
again
lament to Lord
ing
is
quotation
denied the
son, the
with
in the fact that
that Logan
spoke
Dunmore,
to
as
niece,
conference,
at which all
spreading elm,
Logan
other chiefs
still
refused,
sat and
talked
two-
Logan's
Logan to the
involved in the
and
took
distance from his home. There
some
they
the
and
that Col. John Gib
not
was
it,
of
accused
was
said
high-sound
with
deny his parentage of
sent by Dunmore to urge
did
were present.
his friend
it
and embellished
It is
than
more
very little English. It
interpreted his famous
who
Thomas Jefferson
man who
hostilities
remarkable
charge emphatically.
months-old
peace
"
question
phraseology.
delight in nothing
savage and
perfectly
and
historian
one
am
carnage.'
a walk
under a
Logan disclosed his
and
for absenting himself from the conference.
In the solitude they shared, the Indian spoke
rea
sons
emotion
that the tears
coursed
down his
cheeks.
with
such
His language
it
was Gibson's task to put the
Delawares,
lament into English before presenting it to Lord Dunmore. Did
Gibson think to aid his friend in moderating the harsh recital
was
of
that
the
the Indian
son
in 1781
and
It
wrongs?
or
'82,
when
seems
oratory
of which
he
far
his Notes
to the temptation to
yielded
of
of
was
clothe
the
more
that Jeffer
likely
on
Virginia
the
noble
were
published,
lament in the type
acknowledged master.
The phrase, For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace,
has been singled out as a most unlikely phrase for an Indian to
use
in
a moment of
Logan
In the first place,
nation. At the time the
emotional stress.
country, just a
written, there was no certainty
never
speech was
had
deep
a
Jefferson denied authorship
continues two hundred years
of
any
later, but
done nothing to impair the force
of its form.
We have
puted
mentioned earlier
birthplace
a monument
made
of
mourn
wreaths
its
that the
the famous Cayuga
stone.
Logan?"
and
of
to Logan in the form
native
for
of
part of
On it is
Many
garlands
at
argument
message or
citizens of
Indian,
the
have
beauty
Auburn,
in 1856
re
erected
fifty-foot-high obelisk,
inscribed, "Who is there to
base,
16
it, the
Though
such questionings
of a
schoolchildren
its
of peace.
and
leave their
older
small
sentimentalists
for
pause
them to
moment, lost in thought,
a
when
visit graves of relatives and
Memorial
Day
calls
friends. The Handbook
of Fort Hill Cemetery explains: "In view of the facts concern
ing the nativity, paternity, education, conjugal relations, moral
character, and celebrity of Logan, it has seemed proper that
these grounds should exhibit some tribute of respect to his
The
memory.
the
ancestors
Though
of
any
names
the
a
their incense to
has been
site of an appropriate
has been
erected
in Pennsylvania to
their memory is kept
Shikellamies,
and
valleys
where
hunted. In
is
his
monument."
springs, towns
of
and of
the fortification
center of
no monument
the
Alleghans,
earthen altar whence ascended
the Great Spirit in the
set apart as
the
sacrificial mound of
by
alive
the
they lived and
Circleville, there
Ohio, however, six miles south of
monument to Logan, the Mingo Chief, in Logan Elm Park.
Near the
magnificent
tree
whose
branches
sheltered
Logan
Colonel Gibson in
1774, while the famous Indian dictated
his message to Lord Dunmore, stands a granite stone of con
siderable height. A bronze plaque shows the tree, while the
and
speech
"I
is
recorded
to any
appeal
cabin
hungry,
he
or naked and
"During
and
the
in full
on
the
white man
he
gave
clothed
course of
below:
to say if he
him
him
granite
not
ever entered
meat; if he
Logan's
ever came cold
not.
the last
long
and
bloody
war, Logan
idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my
love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they
remained
I had
passed, and said: 'Logan is the friend of the white
even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one
men.'
even
though to have lived
with
you, but for the injuries
of one
Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unpro
voked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even
man.
Colonel
my
women and children.
the
veins of
I have
living
any
sought
it;
There
runs not a
This
creature.
I have killed
many.
drop
of
called on me
my blood in
for
revenge.
I have
glutted my venge
I
rejoice
at
ance. For my country
the beams of Peace. But do
thought
that
mine is the joy of fear. Logan never
not harbor a
felt fear. He
there to
We
will not
mourn
close
this
turn
on
his heel to
for Logan? Not
sketch of
one.'
save
the immortal Logan
17
his life. Who is
"
with
the follow-
ing lines
for the
composed
monument
to his
occasion
of
the
dedicating
memory:
memory here
do this tablet rear;
Logan, to thy
White
men
On its front
In
our
thy name,
live thy fame.
we grave
hearts
shall
While Niagara's thunders roar,
Or Erie's surges lash the shore;
While
And
So
onward
broad Ohio
glides
her Indian tides,
their memory who did give
seaward roll
long
These floods their sounding names
While time in kindness buries
The gory axe and warrior's bow,
O Justice, faithful to thy trust,
Record the
virtues of
the just.
18
shall
live.
of
the
The Six Nations
Excerpts from letters from Conrad Weiser to Thomas Lee of
Virginia, September 1744.
between the two the religion,
social customs, and polity of the Six Nations was the principal
theme. Thomas Lee asked the questions and Conrad Weiser
"In the early
them
answered
experience.
No
correspondence
with generous
man was
better
takings from his
qualified
Six Nations. He had known them
and wrote not
time,
from
no man was
having
lived
better
able
intimately from boyhood,
from
observation.
to interpret them
At the
son with
the whites,
dramatic
sympathy.
because,
and so gave
of
his
them always in
readers
whites.
not
compari
the touchstone
"To Weiser, who was rebellious against the
hypocrisies of the social system to which he was
Indians
same
them uninterruptedly, he never lost his per
'redskins'
were not mere
to him. He felt their
humanity. But he thought
common
than he to discuss the
with
They
spective.
hearsay but
own store of
of
complacent
bound,
the
to be in many ways better men than the
Especially among the Six Nations at Onondaga he had
seemed
found the
simple virtues
that the Christian
world appeared
to
barbarous age. But there was
another side to the picture, and Weiser was too honest to
overlook it. He was no sentimentalist writing advance notices
for Rousseau. He did not idealize his brown brethren. He saw
have thrown away
their faults
and
His description
as relics of a
talked
of
But though he is
about
Indian
them,
sometimes
to their faces.
is, therefore, dispassionate.
honest, he is never dry or disquisitional. In
customs
follow, he is writing about people, not ethnol
discussing institutions he never steps far beyond
the letters that
ogy;
his
while
own
observations
these people,
having
and experience.
shared
He is 'at
home'
in their amusements, their
19
with
coun-
cil
business,
"The
family
their
their
and
griefs,
correspondence opens with
pride."
national
letter from Colonel Lee
a
the Virginia Road.
about
The letter Weiser
known
what
he
sent
wrote.
in
He
hand, but it is
his first letter to Lee, and a
is
response
used
not at
to satisfy the inquiries of others, notably
Edmund Jennings and Christopher Saur. The letter to Saur
second
was
that
followed,
circulated and
widely
transcripts, in the
early
has been
printed
preserved
pages
of
for
us
Saur's
in
several
newspaper
also, in part, in a pamphlet published by
Benjamin Franklin. It is from the Saur letter that we take
and
and
almanac,
may be safely
what
regarded as
the
gist of
Weiser's reply to
Thomas Lee.
Of
what
is generally
called a
religion, viz., a
person
openly
contracting or uniting himself to God, and acting according
to his prescribed laws and commands, either through fear or
no outward form; therefore
love, they have certainly
they have neither preacher nor meeting, no Formal Doctrine,
no Formal Prayers; but when the occasion offers we see that
some confess and worship the Creator of All Things; they have
...
quantity of superstitions; if some of them are argued
with, and such truths presented which they cannot deny, they
apparently acknowledge and do not contradict them; but per
a
usually
haps
of
a
few
them
and scorn
questions, for
their dreams,
spirits
etc.,
they will make
them. And they sometimes
minutes afterwards
they have
a
laughing-stock
ask
many silly fancies
about spirits, about
their sorceries; they believe that there are
in everything, in stones, rivers, trees, mountains, roads,
and
with which
their
old men can
talk;
sometimes
to these spirits, to incline them to protect
them good luck in hunting and in battle.
offerings
give
A
very foolish
certain
with a
Indian
they make
them, and
long journey through the bush
German and one evening, as a very heavy rain was
on, they were building a hut; the Indian wanted to
was on a
coming
drive stakes into the ground; but as the ground was
stony,
and the stakes would not go in, he began to speak
to the spirits
in the stones, telling them they must give
way so that he
could
drive the
stakes
into the
ground or
to yield; presently he entreated
20
them,
he
would
saying,
force them
"My Friend!
I
and
my
let
me
or
I
companion want
drive these
dig
will
fire."
harshly,
as
if he
beating, for
am
poor
Indians
were
other
Grandfathers,
spirits, and
Then we
striving
or
fighting
means,
that
see
you
have it
much easier
them
friends,
and mingle
if
we
We
Europeans;
have learned from
and we
call
with some
on one side.
iron instruments like
we
then
and
said, "You
giving way
which
now
every
him; but he
at
stones are
cannot use
have
we
the
hard,
worked
The German laughed
one.
but
you out of
And thereupon he
speaking
I
stakes
to stay here tonight, and you must
into the ground; so give way a little,
the ground and throw you into the
our
talk to the
threats therewith.
succeed."
There is very little to say
their
about
government or manner
governing and justice, excepting what pertains to their
transactions and demeanour with other nations, for in that
of
respect
sends
take
they
Deputies to the
a year
to
great
confer with each
Council
other;
decision in the Council,
looked to and kept inviolably.
to
ine into it,
at
they
the
nation of
Onontago
are
have
and
a
When any
of death, the
Each
great pains.
very
six
tribes
once or
slow
twice
in coming
good rules which are
has done anything that is considered worthy
most eminent men of the nation meet and exam
one
whether
the
charge
is true
or
false; for
no one
anything among them except
If it is found to be true, the friends
or accused of
charged with
murder or robbery.
is
of
of
the guilty person try to appease the injured party with gifts,
and then they are present at the tribunal. When the crime is
too great,
thief, that
counsel
own
seldom
The
with
is,
tribe to kill
tell him the sentence,
ily to
very
his
the guilty person is a notorious murderer or
has been guilty several times before, then they
and
any
criminal
him
one
is
the
by
him, his tribe
and
then his
advise
his
nearest
own
friend,
fam
and
else, kills him.
made
one
drunk,
who
is
and perhaps a quarrel
appointed
to do
it,
is begun
who
then
his offence, and at the same time informs
him of the cause of his death. And in the ensuing quarrel he
is killed, and the rum bears the blame, so that the avenger
of blood has no power over the doer of the deed.
charges
him
with
Concerning
their
Warriors,
we
21
cannot
say
with
certainty
concerning their number
for they are very much
the
and
number
scattered
of
the
about
their warriors,
streams
which
flow into the Mississippi, and around the lakes or seas of
Canada, and among the French.
The Maquaische are considered to have about 100 warriors
at home; the Oneider perhaps as many, the Tuscarora have
150, the Onontager not many over 200, the Cayucker
about 500, the Siniker about 700 at home or not far from home.
The Six Nations live about 400 miles from Lancaster; if
about
we could go
but
there in
we cannot
line it
a straight
travel
there
directly
would
be
much
on account of
nearer;
lofty
moun
Concerning their allies and friends, we have heard
from a trustworthy Indian, who has traveled a great deal,
tains.
that
of
1.
them there are
as
follows :
The
Ziz-a-gech-roonu, who live in three
the eastern side of Lake Huron, have warriors
2.
the
The Unich-Kalliagon have
west
side
of
Lake Erie,
of about
2,400.
3,000. These live
warriors
and
great cities on
to the
onward
strait
on
of
Huron's Lake.
3.
The
Runada-Wadeeny
the
are
bors. Their warriors are about 400.
4.
The Oyjachdanich-Roonu live
have
about
5.
next
near
mentioned
neigh
the Black River
and
1,000.
The
Towichtowich-Roonu, on Thunackgi River, 300.
The Gechtagech-Roonu, on the great River Mississippi,
6.
500.
7.
The
Ofkuniagis,
on
an
arm
of
the
Ohio, towards
the
west, 1,000.
8.
and
The Karbaguch-Roonu (in
are to the north of Huron's
German, wild people) dwell
Lake; they do not sow, but
journey from one place to another; their number is uncertain.
It is said they are more numerous than all the rest in alliance
with
the Iroquois.
9.
The
Schawanos, on the River Ohio, have of warriors 200.
10. The Dellewar, in Pennsylvania and Ohio, 200.
11. The Mohicander, which are scattered
along the Mohawk
River and in New England, not fewer than 300.
Thus in
The
all such as
art of war
bear
they
arms
in
understand
22
war
there
are
9,300.
extremely well, particularly
in the wilderness, for it is their occupation from their youth
up. Indeed they seek no other honor or happiness than to be
The
good warriors.
make
their
battle
when
trol
do everything in their
parents
to
power
brave heroes; they frequently send them into
they are only 12 to 15 years old, but under the con
sons
They are light on their feet, can endure
hunger three or four days; indeed, if it is necessary even long
er; and at the same time march every day thirty, forty, to fifty
of good officers.
English
miles and attack
cruel and
daring
A European
tise
as
and
in
they
are a
crafty,
to
stand well with
them
must prac
all cases.
that
when
and
lie in the
grows
as a man's
shade
been the best
the
and most
where
and
leaves the
there
body it
the
day,
and
are
a
fat
huckleber
strawberries are
the
ours.
most
no one grows old.
heroic
takes
are quantities of
better than
much
whole
him. There
soul
luxuriantly. There
fist,
their taste is
ens wait upon
the
happy land,
a
everthing
large
large,
can
war
following virtues: 1. Speak the truth;
best that he has; 3. Show himself not a coward,
They believe
long journey to
ries as
In
people.
who wishes
courageous
game,
enemy.
the three
well
2. Give the
but
their
warriors
equally
There a man
beautiful
Those
maid
who
have
here, there have the
pre-eminence, and rule over the good women. No bad people
come to this place, but if a common man got there, he must be
for many a year.
I have been at their burials; there we see everything that the
dead man owned brought to the burying place; and as soon as
the
servant of
the
others
he is buried, everything is put in the box with the dead; but
they always give him bows and arrows, hatchets, kettles, and
for shoes, so that he is provided for in the long
journey until he reaches the pleasant land of souls, where they
hope to meet with their fathers and grandfathers, and other
a
dressed
good
skin
friends in
When
a
blissful life.
a chaste wife
has lost her
husband,
she
is
not married
have passed, and then she
must be urged to it by her friends. During this time she should
rather lose her life than do anything dishonorable. And
so,
again until a winter and summer
too,
honorable man; they mourn a long time, and
to the grave almost every morning; afterward every
with an
go
23
at
first
month,
and make
their lamentations very mournfully
to inspire
one with
and
sorrowfully
pity; they allow no grass to grow on the
the ground daily with their hands, so that it
grave, but scrape
looks as if it had been
made yesterday.
mourning is over, the friends come and
bring gifts to wipe away the tears from the sorrowing eyes. In
the meantime the deceased has arrived in the land of the souls,
When the time
and
the friends
the dead
he
feast. No
one
dares
mention
the
name of
he is buried; if anyone does it ignorantly,
misdeed; but if some one does it in defiance, they
it
often avenge
creeds,
give a
person after
commits a
the
If, by
of
or
appointed
with
death to
cool
their anger,
an assent
word religion people mean
other
of
observance
a
set
etc.
of
religious
baptism,
prayers, singing, preaching,
to
certain
duties,
as
or even
etc.,
heathenish worship, then it may be said the Five Nations nor
their neighbors have no religion. But if by religion we mean an
the
attraction of
from
to
soul
whom proceeds
knowledge
of
then these
Him,
dom)
calling
As for betrothal
people must
find
we
in God alone;
a vocal
in,
and
amongst
and even
upon
and
hunger after, the
be allowed to have
them
and respect
though the
parents
sometimes, (though but
marriage
among the
parents
have for
the
arranged
bride,
sel
each
as a rule
is
other; but
advised the
accept or not as
they
The young man or his parents give presents to the
the value depending either on what they can give or on
what she
is
worth :
has nothing to do
Indian corn bread,
her father takes
except now and
or
down beside him for
say a
of
Indians, that
by the parents
match and
young people, the latter are left free to
please.
traces
Him.
their
have
sometimes
some
according to ancient custom is a contract made
of two young people. What brings them together
the love
God,
soul with
them, notwithstanding their
deportment. For
confidence
the
or an union of
a confidence
some religion amongst
savage
God,
word
they did
to
not
him,
carry
a
load
charge of
then
the
presents.
bring her fiance
of wood
to his home
She
some
and sit
hour, or longer; she does not
her; both look very serious and if
maybe an
nor
he to
behave so, it
would
be frowned
on as a
breach
of
wedlock.
There is
no
wedding ceremony
24
except a
banquet
which
their
friends
of
the parties
live
them. When the wedding is over, each
back to his own house, and they do not first
celebrate with
goes
the wedding feast is over,
the presents that had been given for her; if,
together; however,
the bride
claims
however,
she
him
takes
likes
or
as soon as
take back the
established custom and
now and
then that
time
until such
as
her
old
marry if
is
highly
has only to say
Their
sire
it; if
live
with each
"I
either
the
and
other,
the
woman
simply
away and leave
And that is the end of the
never engage
is
A
man seldom
each of
or
the
If
them
as
no
to live together for life.
has
than
more
both
parties
longer
de
content
to
says, "All
other
They
such a
say
no one can
say how
but if he has two,
cabin till he visits one
one wife:
in her
must remain
she
man,
marriage.
be foolish: for certainly
will be as one.
a couple
another
then the
promise would
long
to
old enough
says:
will go
They
to
long
as
only
you,"
right!"
is
once she
have him.
binding
man or
the fact that her
proud of
more attracted
she will not
marriages are
protector or guard
her ready for
agreement no discredit
an
But
esteemed.
finds herself
she
fellow bespeaks a
many gifts of deer
mother pronounces
marriage; and they consider such
to the girl; on the contrary she is
maidenhood
to him herself.
presents
some
receive
follow the
must
she
beautiful young girl and brings her parents
skins, etc., looks after her and becomes her
ian
to
and refuses
then
better,
another man
It happens
to him
an aversion
own
other.
they have
them: but
children and
when once
are
divorced, the
they have three
or
keeps
woman
four children, they
seldom separate.
When the
hunt,
and
man
his
wife
going, she does
to look
after
cabin and
takes
is
distant
journey,
with child or
not get
him,
a
is
otherwise prevented
angry if he takes
and when
he to his. The
he
comes
women
friendly with one another.
Chastity is a virtue with
do
or goes off on a
long
from
another woman
back,
she returns
not quarrel about
along
to her
it but
are
"
reputation
(as indeed there
the name)
she
is
respected
them:
when a virgin
has
such a
are
many among them who deserve
by
everyone; the bravest warriors
25
TOMPKINS COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
ITHACA,
N. Y.
and
the best hunters
they
go out
her in
seek
their faces
cover
marriage.
with a
When
veil, and
such women
to no
speak
man
the way except their husband, father, or brother; it is a
crime for them to speak to anyone else. And it is the same
with a man who meets a woman. No one among them would
on
accost a
lewd fellows,
except
woman,
there are
of whom
some
among them though they are not nearly so common among
them as among the Christians.
If a woman desires a man in marriage, she goes into his
cabin and lies down at his feet. When he asks her what she
to marry him. If he likes her, no
further ceremony is necessary. In the morning at sunrise she
goes home and bakes a basketful of Indian cornbread. If, how
she says she wants
wants,
her friends either, she fetches a load
of wood to the bridegroom's house, as a service to the good
woman of the house : then a feast is held by the bridegroom's
ever,
has
she
no
corn,
nor
friends.
But if
described
as
to her
kindly
night,
If
she
is
she
touched,
of
the
and
he does
and
lets her
a
modest
it
and
children
would
be
die they
receive
If
or
of
a
up
they
young
must
man
is
her, he
to marry
if
again : or
persuasion of
will
not
of a man
speaks
she stays over
friendly
allow
his
words.
herself to be
part
to think
all reputation.
property from their parents; when
leave their property to others. It gen
their
any
lose
the feet
no
makes a present out of
grown
home
at
a great crime on
would
inherit
remains with
seldom
go
woman, she
her; he
old people
erally
not want
does it only to try the
molesting
The
has thus laid herself
a woman
friends;
it
at
his
the
oldest man of
pleasure:
the
it though they desire
take care of themselves.
a good
hunter, he is in
family
children
it;
of
the
very
if they are
want; his
no
wife
her mother, or his mother, if he is not married, is master
his deerskins : but he is well clothed, and everything neces
sary is
given
to him that he may live like
a
gentleman
of
his kind.
*
The
above
*
*
information is found in Conrad
of Colonist and Mohawk,
Published in 1945.
pages
198 to
26
Weiser,
Friend
205, by Paul A. Wallace.
An Episode
Ephriam Webster
agent and
he held
land,
Cayuga
at
many years the Indian
interpreter for the Onondagas. For several years
was
a great
the Indians three hundred
by lease from
the title
for
of which was afterwards confirmed
his heirs by the State Legislature.
Soon after Webster had located himself
acres
to him
Onondaga
at
of
and
about
young brave of the Cayuga Nation one morning pre
sented himself to the chiefs and Webster while sitting at the
door of the Council House. The young man said: "I have come
1788,
a
to dwell among you and your people, if you will permit. I have
left forever the home of my father and the hearth of my
mother. I seek a home with you; my name is Mantinoah. Deny
not."
me
The
Ka-whick-de-ta, answered him: "Man
tinoah, you are welcome here; sit you down with us. Be our
son, we will be your father; you can hunt and fish with our
young
most aged
men
nation; you
Near two
and
the
and
shall
chief,
tread the
be honored
was
his
the
and
of
our
song.
Webster
formed. When Webster
companion.
a
bond
climbed
When Mantinoah
moon, Webster whispered
Mantinoah
said
to his
your peaseful
sun; I have a
vow
that Mantinoah
to
will
the
visions at
the
firmest friend
hill, Mantinoah
watched
the first glimmering of the rising
last parting gleam as it sank below the
departed from both their
of
friendship in his
caught
leave
the braves
Mantinoah apparently was contented
foremost on the chase, most active in
Between Mantinoah
was
as you
with
deserve."
years passed.
happy, and always
dance, and loudest in
ship
warpath
sun
the midnight
ear.
together,
western
same
Their
eyes
and
horizon
its
and
time.
morning, "I must soon
valley forever. I go towards the setting
companion one
My nation and my friends know
My friend, I desire you to go with
perform.
be true.
me."
27
Webster consented, and preparations were made for the
journey. As they left the Onondaga valley together, Mantinoah
looked upon it for the last time. Then, after a walk of three or
during which they took their journey leisurely, hunt
fishing by the way, they arrived at the eminence near
four days
ing
and
Mantinoah 's
"Here,"
village.
said
Mantinoah, "let
the Great Spirit to
through the
scenes of
together."
friendship
bread, the
Here,"
this day.
here for the last time
and
strength
us
grant
rest.
us
pipe was passed
a
triumphantly
he, "we
will
eat,
pipe of peace and
broiled
to the
one
here invoke
us
pass
said
of
repast
from
to
the
will smoke
After
Let
venison
other
in
and
regular
succession.
"Now,"
have
years
a
said
burst
more
than two
in my native village, near to us, in
my bosom friend and chosen compan
I
slew
my nation declared me guilty of my friend's
declared I must suffer death. It was then I sought
chiefs of
and
your nation.
"The
friend, "a little
elapsed since
of passion
ion. The
blood
Mantinoah to his
It
was
nearest of
was
to become my
full
years
during
then I
won your
friendship.
kin to him I slew, according to
My
executioner.
which
time I
our
deferred two
execution was
was condemned
custom,
to banishment
from my nation. I vowed to return. The term of two full years
expires this day when the setting sun sinks behind the topmost
branches
of yonder
tree. Beneath the broad branches
venerable oak where we now
rock against which
I
now
stand,
lean, I
the foot
at
this
of
stand prepared
to
of
this
ancient
meet
my
doom.
have had many a cheerful sport together.
Our joys have not been circumscribed; our griefs have been
"My friend,
few; look
piness.
we
now, but let new joys arouse you to a hap
return to the Onondagas bear witness that
not so sad
When
you
Mantinoah died like
bled
not at
the
tears like
shed
shall
will
true brave
approach of
this
belt,
rifle; accept them
need them no longer;
and
not
the
Cayugas;
death, like the
my
that he trem
coward
to die.
knife,
my
paleface,
hunting
as mementoes of our
a
few
be here. The Great Spirit
fears
of
nor
a woman.
"My friend, take
horn
a
Farewell."
28
moments and
calls.
I
pouch, my
friendship. I
the
am ready.
avenger
Mantinoah
Webster firmly remonstrated
vain he urges him to escape the
A
Indian
single
his determination. In
consequences.
A
short silence
is heard in the distance. Mantinoah
ensues when a yell
sponds.
against
approaches and
take Mantinoah
by
re
the
hand. He, too, had been an early friend, but the laws of the
savage cannot be broken. After mutual salutations and expres
kindness, the avenger addressed him.
"Mantinoah, you have slain my brother; our laws
sions of
declare
his avenger and your executioner. Your time has come;
Death is at hand, prepare to meet him. Be steadfast, be firm;
me
and
may the Great Spirit
you."
sustain
Upon this, Mantinoah gracefully elevated his manly form,
carefully bared his bosom, calmly laid his arms across his
Not
ready.
a muscle
heard. He
not a word was
moved,
stood
ready for the voluntary sacrifice, immovable and adamant.
Accompanied by a deafening yell, the bright tomahawk of the
in the
avenger glittered
deep into
blood
the brain
the
of
Mantinoah,
of
fading light,
and
The thirsty
victim.
he
its keen
and
sank without a
edge sank
drank the
earth
groan,
a
lifeless
corpse, before his friend.
Instantly,
mournful
if
as
by
death
of
song
savage murmured
surveyed
silently
singly, the
re-echoed
imagined that
of
through the
the
Then in
scene.
to this
Webser
trees,
thrilling
this
on
of
entertained
nevertheless
ster
ity,
much
a
safety
few
days,
conducted
the
and
pairs,
and
and
event retired.
may be more easily
him the
most solemn
protection, very hospitably
ready to return, a
him to his home.
foregoing
may
witness
seem
often
old acquaintances and
bear
gave
and when
true. The facts have
who will yet
been
first
like
fiction, it is
by Web
related
settlers
in the
vicin
to its authenticity.
is singularly illustrative
indicates in an elevated manner the
This
and
perfect
him for
to many
groups
possibly be described. Immediately after the
which we have spoken, the Indians most cordi
Cayugas
party
However
still.
occasion
ally invited Webster to their village,
assurances
They
and all was
can
event of
of
appeared, the
through the forest, the
of savages
moved
witnesses
The feelings
tragic
host
in melancholy solemnity around the
the departed. The low, gutteral moan peculiar to the
dance for the dead
corpse of
a
magic,
anecdote
29
Indian
character
virtues of
fortitude,
of
fidelity, gratitude and honor, as once understood
ated by the Indians, comments Judge Clark in his
at
narrative, Judge Clark
Onondaga, as follows:
In
another
It
sometimes
the
time
one
throwing
come
most
they
a
alarming demonstrations toward taking it. At
tied him to a tree, and amused themselves by
tomahawk
to his head
sile would graze
half
a
recounts a similar episode
happened that the Indians, either from fancied
wrongs, went so far as to threaten Webster's life and
or real
made
and appreci
"Onondaga."
hour
an
and
the tree, to see how near they could
not hit it. Sometimes the whistling mis
at
during
which
a circumstance
muscle,
kept up for
Webster neither flinched
his hair. The
sport was
greatly
admired
by
usually have a contemptible notion of the
tude. After they became tired of the sport,
than
more
nor moved
the Indians
white man's
who
forti
they liberated him
with shouts of exultation.
In the early part of the intercourse of Webster with the
Onondagas, he had occasion to go on business for the natives
to Canada. On his
return
he
Onondagas below Oswego to
Onondaga. While
on
the
young brave of the
him through the woods to
employed a
pilot
route
he
observed
that the Indian felt
gloomy as if something weighed heavy on his mind. In
he tried to rouse him from this cold and frigid humor,
sad and
vain
but
all of
Webster's faculties
of
cheering
and amusement were
gravity or sadness on the
the Indian. At length Webster accosted him with a tone
exhausted without a relaxation of
part of
of
anxiety,
inquiring
what could
answered, "Me going to
Webster, thinking it
from further
due time
time
ance,
matter.
Upon
only
a whim of
he
the
Indian,
refrained
They trudged along silently and in
the castle. They had arrived but a short
Indians
of
the Cayuga
and without one word or
nation made
their
the least ceremony,
up to the Onondaga, and with an axe
moment, the blow was followed by another
walked
cleft
a
of
the young
which
conversation.
approached
when six
be the
die."
appear
one of
his
them
skull.
the party,
In
and
man was no more.
if nothing had happened. The Onon
dagas lamented their brother, and there were injured ones
The Cayugas
retired as
ready to avenge his death. It
seems
30
there had been for
long
a
family feud between a portion of the Onondagas and some
Cayugas, and this was continued by a succession of murders
for
several years.
had been
engaged
This young man,
in the murder of
so unceremoniously
slain,
Cayuga, and these Cay
glimpse of him, and he had
a
ugas, on the watch, had caught a
seen the track of the Cayugas across his path, which produced
the sadness upon his countenance. But to retrace his steps
would
his
have betrayed cowardice,
own
free,
a
uncontaminated state
31
feeling
which an
knows nothing
Indian in
of.