Part 7

Mr. Buchanan says: “In passing down the St. Lawrence in the summer of 1819, I stopped my batteaux at a tavern, where I proposed to remain all night. Two squaws were there with a basket of wild strawberries for sale, and I directed the mistress of the tavern to purchase some, that I might have them with cream for my supper. It was soon, however, to be perceived by the conversation in bargaining, that my landlady and the Indian women could not come to terms. There seemed to be much harshness in the manner of the former; but the replies of the latter were so meek, and their demeanour so submissive, that had I been making the bargain under the impression of my feelings, few words would have been necessary. The Christian purchaser, however, continued so extortionate in her demands, that the poor disappointed heathens turned away from her. Truly unreasonable indeed must the lady have been; for there was neither village, nor other house near likely to afford a market for the poor Indian hawkers, who it seemed had come to this very tavern with the hope of selling their fruit. Under this impression I followed the poor women, put a small sum into the hands of one of them, and hastily passed on, while they gazed at me with astonishment at so unexpected _a largess_, for so it appeared to them. On my return from a walk along the river, I was surprised to see the two squaws standing at the corner of the house patiently waiting for me; when, eyes sparkling with emotions which I could not misunderstand, but which I am incapable of portraying, they presented me with a bowl top-full of picked strawberries, which I rejected at first, being desirous of convincing them there were some, if not many, white men who felt kindly towards them. But their expression of entreaty was so vehement, their importunity so great, that I felt it necessary to their happiness to accept their present; for they had no other way of showing their gratitude. This humble offering furnished my supper, and sweet indeed would my meal have been, had not commiseration for the wrongs of these sorely abused, persecuted, forlorn, abandoned people, mingled with my enjoyment. I am so fully impressed with their undeserved misery, and with the nobleness of their character, that I should esteem the devotion of my life in their cause the most honourable way in which it could be employed; but alas, years and circumstances prevent my doing more than making this feeble effort to rouse the energies of youthful talent in their behalf; and as benevolence pervades the youthful mind more powerfully than that of the aged, I am not without a hope that thousands will yet start up to advocate the cause of the Red Indians, and prosecute measures for the amelioration of their state.

“The above instance of want of charity, nay, of common decency on the part of white people in their intercourse with the Indians, is not by any means of rare occurrence. My reader will already have seen the complaints and pathetic appeals of justice which the poor children of the wilderness are so frequently compelled, by the treachery of their civilized neighbours, to make; and I am sorry to add another specimen to the long list of these atrocious outrages, which, in large and petty aggressions, is daily swelling and becoming more and more enormous. In passing, on the very day I have just adverted to through the Thousand Islands, one of the boatmen who were rowing me, hallooed to a canoe in which some Indians were fishing, who immediately came towards us, and a barter commenced between them and the boatmen. The boatmen held up a piece of cold pork and a loaf, for which they were to receive fish. The poor young Indians, (for the eldest was not above fourteen, and there were two little girls younger) showed what fish they would give; yet warily kept at a distance, fearing what, in spite of their precaution, actually took place. The boatmen struck suddenly at the canoe with their oars, and in the confusion which this attack caused, grasped the fish; the bread and the pork they at first offered were, I need hardly say, withheld. Having achieved this noble enterprise they shouted and assailed the unresisting and defenceless children (who paddled off evidently fearful of further outrage,) with taunts and mockery. These men were Canadians; there were four of them; and I had no other means of punishing them on this occasion than by withholding the usual pecuniary fee. I was in some measure at their mercy; but though compelled to be a calm spectator of so dastardly a theft, I confess I was still more incensed at seeing how heartily some inhabitants of Canada, who were my fellow passengers, seemed to enjoy the joke. The fact is, the Indians are esteemed lawful prey. Such is the feeling of thousands of men called Christians, who boast of civilization, but who derive their subsistence by intercourse with the Indians; and however just many in the United States are, and however careful the British government is to guard the rights of the red men, yet as this guardianship is chiefly committed to those who are partakers in the spoils of the Indians, the care, instead of being wise and benign, is rather to debauch their untutored mind by the introduction of spirits among them. Every cup to them is indeed ‘unblessed, and the ingredient is a devil!’ Gradually, therefore, are they diminishing, and receding from the haunts of what we term _civilization_! That this charge does not apply to all, and rarely to the _heads_ of these departments, I rejoice to admit; but still those heads of departments are responsible for all the acts of their subordinate agents, and should exercise a vigilant superintendence, impartially punishing any, the least, infringement of their regulations. No man should be connected with the Indian department who is directly or indirectly interested in trade with the Indians.”

The following facts derived from Heckewelder’s historical account speak volumes. Eternal God can white men be so cruel! Can the professors of religion be so depraved!!

“In the summer of the year 1763, some friendly Indians from a distant place, came to Bethlehem to dispose of their peltry for manufactured goods and necessary implements of husbandry. Returning home well satisfied, they put up the first night at a tavern, eight miles distant.[74] The landlord not being at home, his wife took the liberty of encouraging the people who frequented her house for the sake of drinking, to abuse the Indians, adding, that she would freely give a gallon of rum to any one of them that should kill one of the black devils. Other white people from the neighbourhood came in during the night, who also drank freely, made a great deal of noise, and increased the fear of the poor Indians who, for the greatest part, understanding English, could not but suspect that something bad was intended against their persons. They were not, however, otherwise disturbed; but in the morning, when after a restless night they were preparing to set off, they found themselves robbed of some of the most valuable articles they had purchased, and on mentioning this to a man who appeared to be the bar-keeper, they were ordered to leave the house. Not being willing to lose so much property, they retired to some distance into the woods, where, some of them remaining with what was left them, the others returned to Bethlehem and lodged their complaint with a justice of the peace. The magistrate gave them a letter to the landlord pressing him without delay to restore to the Indians the goods that had been taken from them. But behold! when they delivered that letter to the people at the inn they were told in answer, ‘that if they set any value on their lives, they must make off with themselves immediately.’ They well understood that they had no other alternative, and prudently departed without having received back any of their goods. Arrived at Nescopeck on the Susquehannah, they fell in with some other Delawares, who had been treated much in the same manner, one of them having had his rifle stolen from him. Here the two parties agreed to take revenge in their own way, for those insults and robberies for which they could obtain no redress; and that they determined to do as soon as war should be again declared by their nation against the English.

“Scarcely had these Indians retired, when in another place, about fourteen miles distant from the former, one man, two women and a child, all quiet Indians, were murdered in a most wicked and barbarous manner, by drunken militia officers and their men, for the purpose of getting their horses and the goods they had just purchased.[75] One of the women, falling on her knees, begged in vain for the life of herself and her child, while the other woman seeing what was doing, made her escape to the barn, where she endeavoured to hide herself on the top of the grain. She however was discovered, and inhumanly thrown down on the thrashing floor with such force that her brains flew out.

“Here, then, were insults, robberies and murders, all committed within the short space of three months, unatoned for and unrevenged. There was no prospect of obtaining redress; the survivors were therefore obliged to seek some other means to obtain revenge. They did so; the Indians, already exasperated against the English in consequence of repeated outrages, and considering the nation as responsible for the injuries which it did neither prevent nor punish, and for which it did not even offer to make any kind of reparation, at last declared war; and then the injured parties were at liberty to redress themselves for the wrongs they had suffered. They immediately started against the objects of their hatred, and finding their way unseen and undiscovered to the inn which had been the scene of the first outrage, they attacked it at day-break, fired into it on the people within who were lying on their beds. Strange to relate! the murderers of the man, two women, and child, were among them. They were mortally wounded, and died of their wounds shortly afterwards. The Indians, after leaving this house, murdered by accident an innocent family, having mistaken the house that they meant to attack, after which they returned to their homes.

“Now a violent hue and cry was raised against the Indians; no language was too bad, no crimes too black to brand them with. No faith was to be placed in those savages; treaties with them were of no effect; they ought to be cut off from the face of the earth! Such was the language in everybody’s mouth; the newspapers were filled with accounts of the cruelties of the Indians; a variety of false reports were circulated in order to rouse the people against them; while they, the really injured party, _having no printing presses among them, could not make known the story of their grievances_.

“‘No faith can be placed in what the Indians promise at treaties; for scarcely is a treaty concluded than they are murdering us.’ Such is our complaint against these unfortunate people; but they will tell you that it is the white men in whom no faith is to be placed. They will tell you that there is not a single instance in which the whites have not violated the engagements that they have made at treaties. They say that when they had ceded lands to the white people, and boundary lines had been established, ‘firmly established,’ beyond which no whites were to settle; scarcely was the treaty signed when white intruders again were settling and hunting on their lands! It is true that when they preferred their complaints to the government, the government gave them many fair promises, and assured them that men would be sent to remove the intruders by force from the usurped lands. The men, indeed, came, but with chain and compass in their hands, taking surveys of the tracts of good land, which the intruders, from their knowledge of the country, had pointed out to them!

“What was then to be done, when those intruders would not go off from the land, but, on the contrary increased in numbers! ‘Oh!’ said these people, (and I have myself frequently heard this language in the Western country,) ‘a new treaty will soon give us all this land; nothing is now wanting but a pretence to pick a quarrel with them!’ Well, but in what manner is this quarrel to be brought about? A David Owen, a Walker, and many others, might, if they were alive, easily answer this question. A precedent however, may be found, on perusing Mr. Jefferson’s appendix to his notes on Virginia. On all occasions, when the object is to murder Indians, strong liquor is the main article required; for when you have them dead drunk, you may do to them as you please, without running the risk of losing your life. And should you find that the laws of your country may reach you where you are, you have only to escape or conceal yourself for a while until the storm has blown over! I well recollect the time when thieves and murderers of Indians fled from impending punishment across the Susquehannah, where they considered themselves safe; on which account this river had the name given to it of ‘_the rogues’ river_.’ I have heard other rivers called by similar names.

“In the year 1742, the Rev. Mr. Whitefield offered the Nazareth Manor, (as it was then called) for sale to the United Brethren. He had already begun to build upon it a spacious stone house, intended as a school-house for the education of Indian children. The Indians, in the meanwhile, loudly exclaimed against the white people for settling in this part of the country, which had not been legally purchased of them, but, as they said, had been obtained by fraud.[76] The Brethren declined purchasing any lands on which the Indian title had not been properly extinguished, wishing to live in peace with all the Indians around them. Count Zinzendorff happened at that time to arrive in the country; he found that the agents of the proprietors would not pay to the Indians the price which they asked for that tract of land; he paid them out of his private purse, the whole of the demand which they made in the height of their ill temper; and moreover, gave them permission to abide on the land, at their village, (where, by the by, they had a fine large peach orchard,) as long as they should think proper. But among those white men, who afterwards came and settled in the neighbourhood of their tract, there were some who were enemies to the Indians; and a young Irishman, without any cause or provocation, murdered their good and highly respected chief, _Tademi_, a man of such an easy and friendly address, that he could not but be loved by all who knew him. This, together with the threats of other persons ill disposed towards them, was the cause of their leaving the settlement on this manor, and removing to places of greater safety.

“It is true, that when flagrant cases of this description occurred, the government, before the revolution, issued proclamations offering rewards for apprehending the offenders; and in later times, since the country has become more thickly settled, those who had been guilty of such offences, were brought before the tribunals to take their trials. But these formalities have proved of little avail. In the first case, the criminals were seldom, if ever, apprehended; in the second, no jury could be found to convict them; for it was no uncommon saying among many of the men of whom juries in the frontier counties were commonly composed, that no man should be put to death for killing an Indian; for it was the same thing as killing a wild beast!

“In the course of the revolutionary war, in which (as in all civil commotions) brother was seen fighting against brother, and friend against friend; a party of Indian warriors, with whom one of those white men, who under colour of attachment to their king, indulged in every sort of crimes, was giving out against the settlers on the Ohio, to kill and destroy as they had been ordered. The chief of the expedition had given strict orders not to molest any of the white men who lived with their friends the Christian Indians; yet as they passed near a settlement of these converts, the white man, unmindful of the orders he had received, attempted to shoot two of the missionaries who were planting potatoes in their field, and though the captain warned him to desist, he still obstinately persisted in his attempt. The chief, in anger, immediately took his gun from him, and kept him under guard until they had reached a considerable distance from the place. I have received this account from the chief himself, who on his return sent word to the missionaries that they would do well not to go far from home as they were in too great danger from the _white people_.

“Another white man of the same description, whom I well knew, related, with a kind of barbarous exultation, on his return to Detroit from a war excursion with the Indians, in which he had been engaged, that the party with which he was, having taken a woman prisoner who had a sucking babe at her breast, he tried to persuade the Indians to kill the child, lest its cries should discover the place where they were; the Indians were unwilling to commit the deed, on which the white man at once jumped up, tore the child from its mother’s arms, and taking it by the legs dashed its head against the tree, so that the brains flew out all around! The monster in relating this story said: ‘the little dog all the time was making _wee_!’ He added, that if he were sure that his old father, who some time before had died in Old Virginia, would, if he had lived longer, have turned rebel, he would go all the way into Virginia, raise the body, and take off his scalp!

“Let us now contrast with this the conduct of the Indians. Carver tells us in his travels with what moderation, humanity, and delicacy they treat female prisoners, and particularly pregnant women.[77] I refer the reader to the following fact, as an instance of their conduct in such cases. If his admiration is excited by the behaviour of the Indians, I doubt not that his indignation will be raised in an equal degree by that of a white man who unfortunately acts a part in the story.

“A party of Delawares, in one of their excursions, during the revolutionary war, took a white female prisoner. The Indian Chief, after a march of several days, observed that she was ailing, and was soon convinced (for she was far advanced in her pregnancy) that the time of her delivery was near. He immediately made a halt on the banks of a stream, where, _at a proper distance from the encampment_, he built for her a close hut of peeled barks, gathered dry grass and fern to make her a bed, and placed a blanket at the opening of the dwelling as a substitute for a door. He then kindled a fire, placed a pile of wood near it to feed it occasionally, and placed a kettle of water at hand where she might easily use it. He then took her into her little infirmary, gave her Indian medicines, with directions how to use them, and told her to rest easy, and she might be sure that nothing should disturb her. Having done this, he returned to his men, forbade them from making any noise, or disturbing the sick woman in any manner, and told them that he himself should guard her during the night. He did so; and the whole night kept watch before her door, walking backward and forward, to be ready at her call at any moment, in case of extreme necessity. The night passed quietly; but in the morning, as he was walking by on the bank of the stream, seeing him through the crevices she called to him and presented her babe. The good chief, with tears in his eyes, rejoiced at her safe delivery; he told her not to be uneasy, that he should lay by for a few days, and would soon bring her some nourishing food, and some medicines to take. Then going to his encampment he ordered all his men to go out a hunting, and remained himself to guard the camp.”

After citing this account a modern writer observes: “forgive me, reader, if, for a moment, I disturb the order of my extract. There is nothing that I know within the whole scope of anecdotal history more affecting than the present narration. How exalted was the humanity of this Indian Chief! how refined his delicacy! how watchful and tender his care! The pathos, though deep, is sweet; and Mr. Heckewelder has communicated the story in a style of feeling and simplicity worthy of it. He has made us witnesses of the transaction. We see through the darkness of the night, the swarthy warrior walking anxiously backward and forward before the hut of bark—the ‘little infirmary’ of the labouring woman. The morning comes; and in the pale dawn, behold! the poor creature, pointing, in a state of utter exhaustion to her babe, delivered in the wilderness—in night and solitude! Yet was she not entirely without support; for, over and above the secret aid which came to her pangs from high, see! she meets with sympathy in a wild man, a stranger, a warrior, who melts into tears at the sight! My heart, too, swells as I read. Bear with me——we will resume our extract.”

“Now for the reverse of the picture. Among the men whom this chief had under his command, was one of those white vagabonds whom I have before described. The captain was much afraid of him, knowing him to be a bad man; and as he had expressed a great desire to go a hunting with the rest, he believed him gone, and entertained no fears for the woman’s safety. But it was not long before he was undeceived. While he was gone to a small distance to dig roots for his poor patient, he heard her cries, and running with speed to her hut, he was informed by her that the white man had threatened to take away her life if she did not immediately throw her child into the river. The captain, enraged at the cruelty of this man, and the liberty he had taken with his prisoners, hailed him as he was running off, and told him, ‘that the moment he should miss the child, the tomahawk should be in his head.’ After a few days this humane chief placed the woman carefully on a horse, and they went together to the place of their destination, the mother and the child doing well. I have heard him relate this story, to which he added, that whenever he should go on an excursion, he never would suffer a white man to be of his party.

“Yet I must acknowledge that I have known an Indian Chief who had been guilty of the crime of killing the child of a female prisoner. His name was Glikhican. In the year 1770, he joined the congregation of the Christian Indians; the details of his conversion are related at large by Loskiel, in his ‘History of the Missions’.[78] Before that time he had been conspicuous as a warrior and a counsellor, and in oratory it is said he never was surpassed. This man having joined the French in the year 1754 or 1755, in their war against the English, and being at that time out with a party of Frenchmen, took, among other prisoners, a young woman, named Rachel Abbott, from the Conegocheague settlement, who had at her breast a sucking babe. The incessant cries of the child, the hurry to get off, but above all, the persuasions of his _white_ companions, induced him much against his inclination to kill the innocent creature; while the mother in an agony of grief, and her face suffused with tears, begged that its life might be spared. The woman, however, was brought safe to the Ohio, where she was kindly treated and adopted, and some years afterwards was married to a Delaware Chief of respectability, by whom she had several children, who are now living with the Christian Indians in Upper Canada.