Miamies in the West,' and penetrated to the domains of the Catawbas and Cherokees in the South. They subjugated the Eries in 1655, and after a contest of twenty years, brought the Andastes into vassalage. They conquered the Miamies and Ottawas in 1657, and made incursions as far as the Roanoke and Cape Fear Rivers to the land of their kindred in dialect, the Tuscaroras, in 1701. Thirty years afterward, having been joined by the Tuscaroras, and the name of the confederacy changed to that of the SIX NATIONS, they made war upon the Cherokees and Catawbas.' They were led on by Hi-o-ka-too, a Seneca chief. The Catawbas were almost annihilated by them, after a battle of two days. So determined were the FIVE NATIONS to subdue the southern tribes, that when, in 1744, they ceded a part of their lands to Virginia, they reserved a perpetual privilege of a war-path through the territory.

In the year 1712, the Tuscaroras having been signally defeated by the Carolinians, came northward, and in 1714 joined the FIVE NATIONS. From that time the confederacy was known as the SIX NATIONS. They were generally the sure friends of the English and inveterate foes of the French.

9

They were all friends of the British during the Revolution, except a part of the Oneidas, among whom the influence of the Rev. Samuel Kirkland was

10

1 Page 17.

2 Page 26.

7 Page 17.

3 Page 27.
8 Page 168.

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6 Page 168. 10 Samuel Kirkland was one of the most laborious and self-sacrificing of the earlier missionaries, who labored among the tribes of the SIX NATIONS. He was born at Norwich, Connecticut, in December, 1741. He was educated at Dr. Wheelock's school, at Lebanon, where he prepared for that missionary work in which he labored forty years. His efforts were put forth chiefly among

very powerful, in favor of the Republicans. The Mohawks were the most active enemies of the Americans; and they were obliged to leave the State and take refuge in Canada at the close of the Revolution. The others were allowed to remain, and now [1856] mere fragments of that great confederation exist, and, in habits and character, they are radically changed. The confederacy was forever extinguished by the sale of the residue of the Seneca lands in 1838. In 1715, the confederacy numbered more than forty thousand souls; now [1856] they are probably less than four thousand, most of whom are upon lands beyond the Mississippi.'1

CHAPTER IV.

THE CATAWBAS.

In that beautiful, hilly region, between the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers, on each side of the boundary line between North and South Carolina, dwelt the CATAWBA nation. They were south-westward of the Tuscaroras, and were generally on good terms with them. They were brave, but not warlike, and their conflicts were usually in defense of their own territory. They expelled the fugitive Shawnees in 1672,' but were overmatched and desolated by the warriors of the FIVE NATIONS3 in 1701. They assisted the white people of South Carolina against the Tuscaroras and their confederates in 1712;* but when, three years afterward, the southern tribes, from the Neuse region to that of the St. Mary's, in Florida, and westward to the Alabama, seven thousand

1

the Oneidas; and, during the Revolution, he was active in restraining them from an alliance with the rest of the confederacy against the Patriots. He was exceedingly useful in treaty-making; for he had the entire confidence of the Indians. He died at Paris, in Oneida county, in February, 1808, in the 67th year of his age. See Lossing's "Eminent Americans" for a more elaborate sketch. The chief men of the FIVE NATIONS, known to the white people, are Garangula, who was distinguished toward the close of the seventeenth century for his wisdom and sagacity in council, and was of the Onondaga tribe. Logan, whose celebrated reply to a white messenger has been preserved by Mr. Jefferson, was of the Cayuga tribe. To the messenger he said: "I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat; if ever he came cold and naked and he clothed him not." Then speaking of the cruelty of the white people, who, in cold blood had murdered his family, he said: "They have murdered all the relations of Logan-not even sparing my women and children. This called on me for revenge; I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one!" Joseph Brant (Thayendanega), was the most celebrated of the Mohawk tribe; and Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha), was a very renowned Seneca, greatly distinguished for his eloquence. Cornplanter, who lived till past a century in age, was also a distinguished Seneca chief. Red Jacket was very intemperate toward the latter part of his life. On one occasion a lady inquired after his children. He had lost fourteen by consumption. Bowing his head, he said: "Red Jacket was once a great man, and in favor with the Great Spirit. He was a lofty pine among the smaller trees of the forest. But after years of glory, he degraded himself by drinking the fire-water of the white The Great Spirit has looked upon him in anger, and His lightning has stripped the pine of its branches!" 2 Page 19. 3 Page 23. 4 Page 168.

man.

strong, confederated in an attempt to exterminate the Carolinians,' the Catawbas were among them.

2

3

They were again the active allies of the Carolinians in 1760, when the Cherokees made war upon them, and they remained true friends of the white people afterward. They joined the Americans during the Revolution, and have ever since experienced the fostering care of the State, in some degree. Their chief village was upon the Catawba River, near the mouth of the Fishing Creek, in Yorkville district, South Carolina; and there the remnant of the nation, numbering less than a hundred souls, are now [1856] living upon a reservation, a few miles square. Their ancient language is almost extinct.

CHAPTER V.

THE CHEROKEE S.

Of all the Indian tribes, the CHEROKEES, who dwelt westward and adjoining the Tuscaroras1 and Catawbas,5 among the high hills and fertile valleys, have ever been the most susceptible to the influences of civilization. They have been properly called the mountaineers of the South. Their beautiful land extended from the Carolina Broad River on the east, to the Alabama on the west, including the whole of the upper portion of Georgia from the head waters of the Alatamaha, to those of the Tennessee. It is one of the most delightful regions of the United States.

6

These mountaineers were the determined foes of the Shawnees, and after many conflicts, they finally drove them from the country south of the Ohio River. They joined with the Catawbas and the white people against the Tuscaroras in 1712,' but were members of the great confederation against the Carolinians in 1715, which we shall consider hereafter.

8

The FIVE NATIONS and the Cherokees had bloody contests for a long time. A reconciliation was finally effected by the English about the year 1750, and the Cherokees became the allies of the peace-makers, against the French. They assisted in the capture of Fort Du Quesne in 1758,9 but their irregularities, on their return along the border settlements of Virginia, gave the white people an apparent excuse for killing two or three warriors. Hatred was engendered, and the Cherokees soon afterward retaliated by spreading destruction

1 Page 170.

2 Page 204.

3 In 1822, a Catawba warrior made an eloquent appeal to the legislature of South Carolina for aid. "I pursued the deer for subsistence," he said, "but the deer are disappearing, and I must starve. God ordained me for the forests, and my ambition is the shade. But the strength of my arm decays, and my feet fail me in the chase. The hand that fought for your liberties is now open to you for relief" A pension was granted.

6 Page 19.

9 Page 186.

along the frontiers.' Hostilities continued a greater portion of three years, when peace was established in 1761, and no more trouble ensued.

2

During the Revolution the Cherokees adhered to the British; and for eight years afterward they continued to annoy the people of the upper country of the Carolinas. They were reconciled by treaty in 1791. They were friends of the United States in 1812, and assisted in the subjugation of the Creeks. Civilization was rapidly elevating them from the condition of roving savages, to agriculturists and artisans, when their removal west of the Mississippi was required. They had established schools, a printing press, and other means for improvement and culture, when they were obliged to leave their farms and the graves of their fathers, for a new home in the wilderness.3 They are now in a fertile country, watered by the Arkansas and its tributaries, and are in a prosperous condition. They now [1856] number about fourteen thousand souls.+

CHAPTER VI.

THE UCHEES.

In the pleasant country extending from the Savannah River, at Augusta. westward to Milledgeville, and along the banks of the Oconee and the head waters of the Ogeechee and Chattahooche, the Europeans found a remnant of the once powerful nation of the UCHEES. Their language was exceedingly harsh, and totally unlike that of any other people on the continent. They claimed to be descendants of the most ancient inhabitants of the country, and took great pride in the fact; and they had no tradition of their ever occupying any other territory than the domain on which they were found. They, too, have been driven beyond the Mississippi by the pressure of civilization, and have become partially absorbed by the Creeks, with whom less than a thousand souls yet [1856] remain. They are, in fact, an extinct nation, and their language is almost forgotten.

1 Page 204.

2 Page 428.

3 A native Cherokee, named by the white people, George Guess (Sequoyah), who was ignorant of every language but his own, seeing books in the missionary schools, and being told that the characters represented the words of the spoken English language, conceived the idea of forming a written language for his people. He first made a separate character for each word, but this made the whole matter too voluminous, and he formed a syllabic alphabet of eighty-five characters. It was soon ascertained that this was sufficient, even for the copious language of the Cherokees, and this syllabic alphabet was soon adopted, in the preparation of books for the missionary schools. In 1826, a newspaper, called the Cherokee Phoenix, printed in the new characters, was established. Many of the native Cherokees are now well educated, but the great body of the natives are in ig

norance.

4 Note 4, page 32.

CHAPTER VII.

THE NATCHEZ.

Or this once considerable nation, who inhabited the borders of the Mississippi, where a modern city now perpetuates their name, very little is known. When first discovered by the French, they occupied a territory about as large as that inhabited by the Uchees. It extended north-easterly from the Mississippi along the valley of the Pearl River, to the upper waters of the Chickasahaw. For a long time they were supposed to belong to the nation of Mobilian tribes, by whom they were surrounded, but their language proved them to be a distinct people. They were sun-worshippers; and from this circumstance, some had supposed that they had once been in intimate communication with the adorers of the great luminary in Central and South America. In many things they were much superior to their neighbors, and displayed signs of the refinement of a former more civilized condition. They became jealous of the French on their first appearance upon the Mississippi, and finally they conspired, with others, to drive the intruders from the country. The French fell upon, and almost annihilated the nation, in 1730. They never recovered from the shock, and after maintaining a feeble nationality for almost a century, they have become merged into the Creek confederacy. They now [1856] number less than three hundred souls, and their language, in its purity, is unknown.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE MOBILIAN TRIBES.

LIKE the Algonquins and Iroquois nations, the MOBILIAN was composed of a great number of tribes, speaking different dialects of the same language. Their territory was next in extent to that of the Algonquins.' It stretched along the Gulf of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, more than six hundred miles; up the Mississippi as far as the mouth of the Ohio; and along the Atlantic to Cape Fear. It comprised a greater portion of the present State of Georgia, the whole of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi, and parts of South Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The nation was divided into three grand confederacies of tribes, namely, Muscogees or Creeks Choctaws, and Chick