DEED EXECUTED AT FORT STANWIX NOV. 5. 1768. ESTABLISHING A BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN THE WHITES AND INDIANS, OF THE NORTHERN COLONIES. [ Lond. Doc. XLI. ] To all to whom, These presents shall come or may concern. We the Sachems & Chiefs of the Six Confederate Nations, & of the Shawaneese, Delawares, Mingoes of Ohio & other Dependant Tribes on behalf of ourselves & of the rest of our Several Nations the Chiefs & Warriors of whom are now here convened, by Sir William Johnson Baronet His Majesty's Superintendent of our affairs send Greeting. Whereas His Majesty was graciously pleased to propose to us in the year one thousand seven hundred & sixty five that a Boundary Line should be fixed between the English and Us to ascertain & establish our Limitts and prevent those intrusions & encroachments of which we had so long and loudly complained & to put a stop to the many fraudulent advantages which had been so often taken of us in Land affairs, which Boundary appearing to us a wise and good measure we did then agree to a part of a line & promised to settle the whole finally when so ever Sir William Johnson should be fully empowered to treat with us for that purpose. And Whereas his said Majesty has at length given Sir William Johnson orders to compleat th said Boundary Line between the Provinces and Indians in conformity to which orders Sir William Johnson has convened the Chiefs and Warriors of our respective Nations who are the true & absolute Proprietors of the Lands in question and who are here now to a very considerable Number. And Whereas many uneasynesses & doubts have arisen amongst us which have given rise to an apprehension that the Line may not be strictly observed on the part of the English in which case matters may be worse than before which apprehension together with the dependant state of some of our Tribes & other circumstances which retarded the Settlement & became the subject of some Debate Sir William Johnson has at length so far satisfied us upon, as to induce us to come to an agreement concerning the Line which is now brought to a conclusion the whole being fully explained to us in a large Assembly of our People before Sir William Johnson and in the presence of His Excellency the Governor of New Jersey the Commissioners from the Provinces of Virginia and Pensilvania & sundry other Gentlemen by which Line so agreed upon, a considerable Tract of Country along several Provinces is by us ceded to His said Majesty which we are induced to & do hereby ratify and confirm to His said Majesty from the expectation and confidence we place in His royal Goodness that he will graciously comply with our humble requests as the same are expressed in the speech of the several Nations addressed to His Majesty through Sir William Johnson on Tuesday the first of the Present Month of November wherein we have declared our expectation of the continuance of His Majesty's favour & our desire that our ancient Engagements be observed & our affairs attended to by the officer who has the management thereof enabling him to discharge all these matters properly for our Interest. That the Lands occupied by the Mohocks around their villages as well as by any other Nation affected by this our cession may effectually remain to them & to their Posterity & that any engagements regarding property which they may now be under may be prosecuted & our present Grants deemed Valid on our parts with the several other humble requests contained in our said speech And Whereas at the settling of the said Line it appeared that the Line described by His Majesty's order was not extended to the Northward of Oswegy or to the Southward of Great Kanhawa river We have agreed to & continued the Line to the Northward on a supposition that it was omitted by reason of our not having come to any determination concerning its course at the Congress held in one thousand seven hundred & sixty five and in as much as the Line to the Northward became the most necessary of any for preventing encroachments at our very Towns & Residences We have given the line more favorably to Pensylvania for the reasons & considerations mentioned in the Treaty, we have likewise continued it South to Cherokee River because the same is & we do declare it to be our true Bounds with the Southern Indians & that we have an undoubted right to the Country as far South as that River which makes the cession to His Majesty much more advantageous than that proposed. Now therefore Know Ye that we the Sachems & Chiefs aforementioned Native Indians or Proprietors of the Lands herein after described for & in behalf of ourselves & the whole of our Confederacy for the considerations hereinbefore mentioned and also for and in consideration of a valuable Present of the several Articles in use amongst Indians which together with a large sum of money amount in the whole to the sum of Ten thousand four Hundred and sixty pounds seven shillings & three pence sterling to Us now delivered & paid by Sir William Johnson Baronet His Majesty's sole agent and superintendent of Indian affairs for the Northern department of America in the name and on behalf of our Sovereign Lord George the third by the Grace of God of Great Britain France & Ireland King Defender of the Faith the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge. We the said Indians HAVE for us and our Heirs & Successors granted bargained sold released & confirmed & by these presents Do grant bargain sell release and confirm unto our said Sovereign Lord King George the Third ALL that Tract of Land situate in North America at the Back of the British Settlements bounded by a Line which we have now agreed upon & do hereby establish as the Boundary between us & the British Colonies in America beginning at the mouth of Cherokee or Hogohege River where it emptys into the River Ohio & running from thence upwards along the South side of said River to Kittanning which is above Fort Pitt from thence by a direct Line to the nearest Fork of the west branch of Susquehanna thence through the Allegany Mountains along the south side of the said West Branch until it comes opposite to the mouth of a creek called Tiadaghton thence across the West Branch along the South Side of that Creek & along the North Side of Burnetts Hills to a Creek called Awandae thence down the same to the East Branch of Sasquehanna & across the same and up the East side of that River to Oswegy from thence East to Delawar River and up that River to opposite where Tianaderha falls into Sasquehanna thence to Tianaderha & up the West side of the West Branch to the head thereof & thence by a direct Line to Canada Creek where it emptys into the Wood Creek at the West of the Carrying Place beyond Fort Stanwix & extending Eastward from every part of the said Line as far as the Lands formerly purchased so as to comprehend the whole of the Lands between the said Line & the purchased Lands or settlements, except what is within the Province of Pennsylvania, together with all the Hereditaments and appurtenances to the same belonging or appertaining in the fullest and most ample manner and all the Estate Right Title Interest Property Possession Benefit claim and Demand either in Law or Equity of each and every of us of in or to the same or any part thereof To HAVE AND TO HOLD the whole Lands and Premises hereby granted bargained sold released and confirmed as aforesaid with the Hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging under the Reservations made in the Treaty unto our said Sovereign Lord King George the Third his Heirs & Successors to and for his and their own proper use & behoof for ever. IN WITNESS whereof We the Chiefs of the Confederacy have hereunto set our marks and Seals at Fort Stanwix the fifth day of November one thousand seven hundred and sixty eight in the ninth year of His Majesty's Reign. Tyorhansere als Abraham By the Mohawks. [LS] [L S] Sealed and delivered and the consideration paid in the presence of Wm FRANKLIN Governor of New Jersey FRE. SMYTH Chief Justice of New Jersey JAMES TILGHMANS of Pensylvania The above Deed was executed in my presence at Fort Stanwix the day and year above Written W. JOHNSON. |