Treaty with the Senecas and other tribes, made at Buffalo Creek, New York, January 15,

1838.1

See treaty with Six Nations of New York of same date-New York.

Treaty with the Senecas, made at Buffalo Creek, New York, May 20, 1842.

An indenture made and concluded between Thomas Ludlow Ogden and Joseph Fellows, of Geneva, and the Seneca Nation in the presence of Samuel Hoare appointed by Massachusetts and Ambrose Spencer by the United States.

Whereas on January 15, 1838, an indenture was made with these parties whereby the Seneca Nation for $202,000 did bargain and confirm to the said Ogden and Fellows four tracts in New York then occupied by said Nation and described as the Buffalo Creek Reservation containing 49,920 acres, the Cattaragus Reservation, 21,680 acres, the Alleghaney Reservation, 30,469 acres, and the Tonawanda Reservation, 12,800 acres.

Whereas difficulties having arisen and the said indenture being still unexecuted, the parties hereby mutually agree as follows:

Ogden and Fellows agree that the Senecas may continue the occupation of the whole of the Cattaragus and Alleghaney Reservations, with the same right and title in all things as they had prior to the said indenture, saving and reserving to Ogden and Fellows the right of pre-emption and all other right and title which they have had or held in or to the said tracts of land. (Art. 1.) Senecas grant and confirm to Ogden and Fellows, their heirs and assigns, in joint tenancy the Buffalo Creek and Tonawanda Reservations. (Art. 2.) The value of the Indian title to the four tracts shall be deemed $100,000 and the improvements thereon at $102,000. Ogden and Fellows shail pay the Seneca Nation such proportion as to the value of the land in the Buffalo and Tonawanda Reservations shall bear to the value of all the lands in said tract, and the same proportion as to the value of the improvements on the two tracts as these bear to the value of the improvements on the four tracts. (Art. 3.) The amount of consideration to be paid in pursuance of the preceding article for title and improvements shall be determined as herein provided by two arbitrators, one named by the Secretary of War, the other by Ogden and Fellows. (Art. 4.) Forest or unimproved lands on said tracts to be delivered up within one month after report filed in Department of War; improved lands within two years. Amounts awarded for improvements to be paid to the United States to be distributed by them among the owners of said improvements and moneys awarded for the land to be paid by the United States to Seneca Nation annually. Indians may surrender their improved lands prior to expiration of two years. (Art. 5.) Senecas removing from the State of New York to be entitled to their portion of the fund to be paid them at their homes, and whenever the tracts of the Alleghaney and Cattaragus Reservations shall be sold, Indians removing shall have their share of the proceeds. Any Indians desiring to remove from the said reservation may be entitled to a like benefit as stipulated in articles 3 and 4. (Art. 6.) This indenture to override previous indenture relative to these lands. (Art. 7.) Expenses of treaty to be borne by Ogden and Fellows, except as may be provided by United States. (Art. 8.) Government solicited to protect remaining lands of Senecas from taxes, assessments for roads, highways, and other purposes until sold. United States agrees with the Seneca Indians first, to consent to the foregoing articles; second, any Senecas removing under treaty of January 15, 1838, to be entitled to their portion of the benefits of this treaty; third, the tenth article of the treaty of January 15, 1838, modified in conformity with provisions of the above indenture relative to receiving and paying consideration money. (Art. 9.) Proclaimed August 26, 1842.2

1 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. VII, p. 550. Ibid., p. 586.

Treaty between the Tonawanda Band of Senecas, made on the Tonawanda Reservation, Genesee County, N. Y., November 5, 1857.

Whereas by a treaty with the Six Nations, January 15, 1838, and an agreement with Ogden and Fellows May 20, 1842; and

Whereas by said treaties there were relinquished to the United States 500,000 acres of land in Wisconsin; and

Whereas the United States agrees to set apart for said Indians in the territory west of the Missouri a tract of 320 acres to each soul of said Indians; and

Whereas the United States agrees to pay $400,000 for the removal and subsistence during the first year in the said territory; and

Whereas Ogden and Fellows agree to pay certain moneys to those residing on the Tonawanda Reservation, being $15,018.36, which still remains in the Treasury of the United States; and

Whereas said treaties remain unexecuted as to the Tonawanda Reservation; and Whereas the Tonawanda baud number six hundred and fifty souls, the Senecas relinquish to the United States all claims to lands west of the State of Missouri and right to be removed thither and supported, and all other claims against the United States under the treaties of 1838 and 1842, except such moneys as they may be entitled to under said treaties payable by Ogden and Fellows. (Art. 1.) The United States to invest $256,000 for Tonawanda Indians. (Art. 2.) The Senecas to purchase of Ogden and Fellows the entire Tonawanda Reservation, or such portion as they may be willing to sell on an average of $20 per acre. Rate exceeding $20 may be paid provided the contract be approved by the President. United States to pay for the same out of the sum set apart in article 2. Land so purchased to be held in trust in Secretary of Interior until the State of New York shall designate an officer to have charge of the same. (Art. 3.) If the Senecas should not purchase the whole reservation, the unimproved lands not purchased within thirty days to be relinquished to Ogden and Fellows. (Art. 4.) Tonawandas to appoint one or more attorneys to transact the purchase who shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. (Art. 5.) That portion of the $256,000 remaining after the purchase of land, shall be invested by the Secretary of Interior in stocks of the United States or some of the States. Increase from such to be paid to the Tonawandas in the same manner as their annuities. (Art. 6.) The $15,018.36 improvement money, to be proportioned by an agent appointed by the Senecas and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. (Art. 7.) Amended November 5, 1857; proclaimed March 31, 1859.1

Treaty with the Senecas, Mixed Senecas, Shawnees, Quapaws, Confederated Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas and Piankeshaws, Ottawas of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Bœuf, and certain Wyandottes, made at Washington, February 23, 1867.2

See Kaskaskia treaty, same date-Indian Territory.

1 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XI, p. 735. 2 Ibid., Vol. XV, p. 513.

CHAPTER XVIII.

INDIAN TRIBES OF NEW YORK.

[The following monograph on the New York Indians was prepared by the late Dr. Franklin B. Hough, of Lowville, N. Y. His work upon the census of New York State afforded him unusual opportunities to note the condition of these tribes and their relations to the civil authorities.]

The condition of the Indian tribes of New York will be better understood if we first notice their number and condition near the end of the colonial period, from which we may judge of the progress they have since made in civilization.

The several minor tribes that dwelt upon Long Island and along the Hudson bad mostly parted with their lands before the Revolution, with the exception of a few near the eastern end of Long Island. They had been gathered with other remnants of the native race from New Jersey and southern New England into a band known as "Brothertown Indians," which we shall hereafter notice.

The country along the Mohawk, and westward to Lake Erie and beyond, was held by the Six Nations' of the Iroquois, who spoke a language radically the same, and who had been united for a long period for their common welfare. The council fire of this league was at Onondaga. Through the influence of Catholic missionaries a part of the Mohawk tribe had been induced to remove, about a hundred years before our Revolution, and settle near Montreal in Canada, under the protection of the French. They, with other domiciliated Indians from other tribes of the North, became known as the "Seven Nations of Canada,” and their descendants still dwell at Caughnawaga and Oka [Lake of Two Mountains] in Canada, and on both sides of the national boundary at St. Regis.

In 1779 and the following years, a part of the Onondagas removed to the mouth of the Oswegatchie and formed an agricultural settlement, under the Abbe Picquet, at a mission and fortified post known as La Presentation, now the city of Ogdensburg. These people remained in this vicinity until about 1806, when, having no recognized title to their lands, they dispersed among other tribes.

In their primitive state these native tribes had few wants beyond those of subsistence, which was derived from the cultivation of small

Originally the Five Nations, but increased about 1712 by the immigration of the Tuscaroras from North Carolina, who were received as the guests of the Oneidas, and settled near that tribe.

patches of land in favored localities, where corn and a few vegetables were raised by woman's labor, The rest was derived from hunting in the forest and fishing in the waters along which they dwelt. Their ambition was limited to the conquest of rival nations, and they had no thought of accumulation beyond the wants of the immediate future. Upon being brought in contact with Europeans they learned the use of fire-arms and of a few of the manufactured articles of civilized life. These they could purchase in exchange for furs, and this demand led to the rapid exhaustion of the supplies near them, and compelled them every year to make longer journeys, and to encounter greater fatigues. Being made thus dependent upon a race superior in the arts for the implements and articles that had become necessary for their existence, they had for a long period the choice between the English and French trade. But this rivalry between the English and French colonies often involved the two parties in hostile invasion, in which the Indians, from their foudness for war, became ready allies, and from their natural cruelty and frequent opportunities for its exercise, they became experts in torture and equally the terror of the frontier settlements of both of the rival nationalities.

As to the number of Indians within the limits of New York in early times, we have few data beyond estimates. In 1698 Governor Bellamont stated that the Five Nations and river Indians had been reduced by war in nine years from 2,800 to 1,320 fighting men. In 1763 Sir William Johnson estimated the whole number within the colony of New York as 2,300 men, or about 10,000 in all,1 and a careful writer places the total number in the days of their greatest prosperity, and before white men had gone among them (about 1650), as not far from 25,000.2 In 1774 it was estimated that there were among the nations of New York about 2,000 fighting men, of whom nearly half were Senecas.3

As to their condition, there can scarcely arise a doubt but that they had suffered more from the vices than they had gained from the arts and civilization of the white race. The warlike habits so much encouraged by both French and English had made their warriors cunning in the art of killing, and so ferocious that they did not scruple to taste of human flesh in the exultation of victory."4

These were distributed as follows: Mohawks, 160; Oneidas, 250; Senecas, 1,050 ; Onondagas, 150; Cayugas, 200; Oswegatchies, 80; Tuscaroras, 140, and emigrants from the southward on the Susquehanna, 200. Of the latter some may have lived in Pennsylvania.

Hon. Lewis H. Morgan, in his League of the Iroquois. The estimate he makes of the different tribes is: Senecas, 10,000; Cayugas, 3,000; Onondagas, 4,000; Oneidas, 3,000, and Mohawks, 5,000, at the meridian of their strength. A century later these people had wasted to less than half these numbers, the Mohawks suffering the most from their nearer contact with the vices of the whites.

3 This estimate assigned to the River Indians 300; Mohawks, 406; Oneidas, 500; and to all the other nations of New York about 800 men.

'The cannibal habits of the native tribes of the North, when pressed with hunger, or in moments of triumph, are mentioned by M. Pouchot, a French officer in the war

We ought not to leave the colonial period without, however, noticing the fact that missionary effort had been expended with interesting results among the scattered remnants of the river tribes and among the Mohawks and Oneidas, but the influences of religion had scarcely begun to be felt beyond the immediate circle of the missions, and every effort in this direction was suspended during the war.

The Revolution. Early cessions of land.-The Six Nations (except the Oneidas and a few persons of other tribes) became active partisans of Great Britain in the Revolution, and in 1779 an army under General Sullivan laid waste the country of the Cayugas and Senecas in western New York, in retaliation for injuries done by hostile parties in the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania and New York. The invading army found cultivated fields, a considerable amount of grain, orchards of fruit trees, and comfortable homes, all of which were effectually destroyed. The Indians fled to the protection of the British garrison at Niagara, and those who returned after the war began to renew their improvements in extreme poverty. No provision was made in their behalf in the treaty of peace in 1783, and they were left to make such terms as they could with their late enemies, who became the acknowledged masters of the country as the result of the war.

The native Indian had no idea of individual right to the soil which he regarded as the common property of the tribe, to use as he found vacant and suited to his wants. The tribal possession was held with jealous care, and intrusion upon their hunting grounds by other tribes. was promptly resented and often made a cause of war. The Dutch, and afterwards the English, professed to respect this right of soil, and generally acquired the Indian title by purchase before grants for settlement were made by the Government. These treaties for purchase were made in the presence of the Governors or of agents duly appointed, and were witnessed and confirmed under forms of justice, which sometimes in fact were but agencies of fraud.

of 1756-60, whose memoirs of personal observation were published in 1781. After noticing the custom of torturing prisoners, he says: "Chez les autres nations les prisonniers sont plus à plaindre, parce qu'ils sont regardés comme leurs chiens; elles les tuent sans conséquence dans leurs momens d'ivresse, et en tems de disette on ne se fait pas plus de scrupule de les manger qu'une bête." [With other nations the prisoners have more to complain of, because they are treated as their dogs, and they kill them without consequences in their drunken moments, and in times of scarcity, when they have no more scruple at eating them than they would a beast.] Again, in speaking of their treatment of prisoners, when they had lost a considerable number of their own people in an attack, he says: "C'est alors que pour satisfaire leurs mánes, ils mangent un prisonnier en cérémonie. On doit cependant assurer qu'ils ne goûtent de viande humaine qu'avec répugnance. On a vu plus d'une fois des jeunes gens la vomir; c'est uniquement par bravade et pour s'endurcir le cœur qu'ils se repaissent quelquefois d'une semblable nourriture.” [It is then, when to appease the departed spirits, they eat a prisoner for ceremony. We ought, however, to feel assured, that they only taste human flesh with repugnance. We have seen young people vomit more than once, and it is only by hardening the heart, that they are sometimes able to take such a diet.]-Mémoires sur la Dernière Guerre, etc., III, 357–359.