A

T R E A T Y,

Held at the

Town of LANCASTER,

In Pennsylvania,

By the Honourable the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province,

And the Honourable the Commissioners of the Provinces

Of

VIRGINIA and MARYLAND

With the I N D I A N S of the S I X N A T I O N S, in JUNE, 1744.

* * *

The focus of this treaty is a land dispute between Virginia, Maryland, and the Iroquois League. Pennsylvania arranged the treaty council in an attempt to play the role of honest broker. Virginia and Maryland agreed to attend because the Iroquois threatened to forcibly extract payment from frontier settlements, which they claimed had encroached upon their lands. This threat was relayed through Pennsylvania.

The treaty includes a number of important elements for the upcoming November treaty council in Easton, Pennsylvania. Early in these deliberations, the conflict between pen and ink work (i.e. written treaties) and Indian concepts of oral tradition emerge. When the whites appear to be getting the upper hand with their references to earlier treaties, Canassatego retaliates with his version of history, which he frames with two abiding claims to the land in question that he insists supercede the authority of colonial paper: we are from here; you are not. We conquered them; you did not.

Despite the forceful counterclaims of Virginia, both it and Maryland eventually agree to provide the Iroquois with a considerable amount of gifts. In return, Iroquois representatives put their marks on two official deeds (one for each colony), which verify the extinguishing of their ownership claims to the land desired (and partially settled) by Virginia and Maryland. While Maryland’s claims remained rather circumscribed after this treaty, Virginia interpreted its claim through the language of its colonial charter, which gave it title to a huge slab of North America that stretched all the way across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Importantly, this claim included the Ohio River valley. This would, over the next decade bring Britain, France, and the Delaware into conflict.

For clarity, I have parsed this treaty into four parts. This structure does not follow the exact chronology of the treaty, but it does clarify some of the issues and much of the procedure. In Part I the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania opens treaty proceedings. Part II concerns the land dispute between Maryland and the Iroquois. The Maryland representatives present a large collection of previous treaties and appear incredulous that the Iroquois are laying claims over land they implicitly and explicitly accepted as part of Maryland in past treaty councils. Part III concerns similar disputes between the Iroquois and Virginia. Compared to Maryland, the Virginians are quite combative. They also cite a number of previous treaties, but they also invoke the sovereign authority of the English monarch, which yields a brusque response from Gacharadodow who firmly rejects this authority. Finally, in Part IV the Governor of Pennsylvania acknowledges the resolution to these disputes and introduces some additional topics like war between the Iroquois and the Catawba, the possibility of a replacement for Conrad Weiser, and a general brightening of the covenant chain. Famously, during this portion of the treaty Canassatego advised the colonies to unite with one another in the manner of the Iroquois League.

* * *

PART I. OPENING

In the COURT-HOUSE in the Town of Lancaster, on Friday, the Twenty Second of June, 1744,

P R E S E N T,

The Honourable GEORGE THOMAS, Esq., Lieut. Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the Counties of Newcastle, Kent and Sussex, on Delaware.

The Honourable Thomas Lee, Esq;

Colonel William Beverly,

Commissioners of Virginia.

The Hon^ble Edmund Jennings, Esq;

Philip Thomas, Esq;

Colonel Robert King,

Colonel Thomas Colville,

Commissioners of Maryland.

The Deputies of the Onandagoes, Senecas, Cayogoes, Oneidas and Tuscaroraes.[1]

Conrad Weiser, Interpreter.

THE Governor and the Commissioners took some of the Indian Chiefs by the Hand, and, after they had seated themselves, the Governor bid them welcome into the government; and there being Wine and Punch prepared for them, the Governor and several Commissioners drank Health to the Six Nations; and Canassatego, Tachanoontia, and some other Chiefs, returned the Compliments, drinking the Healths of Onas, Assaragoa, and the Governor of Maryland.[2]

AFTER they were all served with Wine, Punch, Pipes and Tobacco, the Governor told the Indians, that as it was customary, and indeed necessary, they should have some Time to rest after so long a Journey, and as he thought three Days would be no more than sufficient for that Purpose, he proposed to speak to them on Monday next; after which, the honourable Commissioners would take their own Time to deliver what they had to say.

CANASSATEGO answered the Governor: We thank you for giving us Time to rest; we are come to you, and shall leave it entirely to you to appoint the Time when we shall meet you again. We likewise leave it to the Governor of Maryland, by whose Invitation we came here, to appoint a Time when he will please to mention the Reason of his inviting us. As to our Brother Assaragoa, we have at this present Time nothing to say to him; not but we have a great deal to say to Assaragoa, which must be said at one Time or another; but not being satisfied whether he or we should begin first, we shall leave it wholly to our Brother Onas to adjust this between us, and to say which shall begin first.

In the COURT-HOUSE at Lancaster, June 25, 1744. A. M.

The GOVERNOR spoke as follows:

Honourable Gentlemen, Commissioners for the Governments of Virginia and Maryland, and Brethren, Sachims, or Chiefs of the Indians of the Six Nations:

Friends and Brethren, Sachims, or Chiefs of the Indians of the Six Nations:

THESE, your Brethren of Virginia and Maryland, are come to enlarge the Fire, which was almost gone out, and to make it burn clearer; to brighten the Chain which had contracted some Rust, and to renew their Friendship with you; which it is their Desire may last so long as the Sun, the Moon and the Stars, shall give Light. Their Powers are derived from the Great King of ENGLAND, your Father; and whatever Conclusions they shall come to with you, will be as firm and binding as if the Governors of these Provinces were themselves here. I am your Brother, and, which is more, I am your true Friend. As you know, from Experience, that I am so, I will now give you a few Words of Advice. Receive these your Brethren with open Arms; unite yourselves to them in the Covenant Chain, and be you with them as one Body, and one Soul. I make no doubt but the Governor of Canada has been taking Pains to widen the Breach between these your Brethren of Virginia and you; but as you cannot have forgot the Hatred the French have always borne to your Nations, and how kindly, on the contrary, you have been treated, and how faithfully you have been protected by the Great King of ENGLAND and his Subjects, you will not be at a Loss to see into the Designs of that Governor. He wants to divide you from us, in order he more easily to destroy you, which he will most certainly do, if you suffer yourselves to be deluded by him.

To enforce what had been said, the GOVERNOR laid down a Belt of Wampum; upon which the Indians gave the Yo-hah.

In the COURT-HOUSE at Lancaster, June 25, 1744. P. M.

Cannassatego’s Answer to the Governor’s Speech delivered in the Morning.

Brother Onas,

YOU spoke in the Presence of Assaragoa and the Governor of Maryland to us, advising us to receive them as our Brethren, and to unite with them in the Covenant Chain as one Body, and one Soul. We have always considered them as our Brethren, and, as such, shall be willing to brighten the Chain of Friendship with them; but since there are some Disputes between us respecting the Lands possessed by them, which formerly belonged to us, we, according to our Custom, propose to have those Differences first adjusted, and then we shall proceed to confirm the Friendship subsisting between us, which will meet with no Obstruction after these Matters are settled.

Here they presented the GOVERNOR with a Belt of Wampum, in return for the Belt given them in the Morning by the GOVERNOR; and the Interpreter was ordered to return the Yo-hah.

Then the GOVENOR, in Reply, spoke as follows:

I receive your Belt with great Kindness and Affection; and as to what relates to the Governments of Virginia and Maryland, the honourable Commissioners, now present, are ready to treat with you. I shall only add, that the Goods for the Hundred Pounds Sterling, put into my Hands by the Governor of Virginia, as a Token of his good Dispositions to preserve Friendship with you, are now in Town, and ready to be delivered, in consequence of what was told you by Conrad Weiser when he was last at Onandago.

PART II. MARYLAND

The Commissioners of Maryland ordered the Interpreter to acquaint the Indians that the Governor of Maryland was going to speak to them, and then spoke as follows:

Friends and Brethren of the united Six Nations,

WE, who are deputed from the Government of Maryland by a Commission under the Great Seal of that Province, now in our Hands (and which will be interpreted to you) bid you welcome; and in Token that we are very glad to see you here as Brethren, we give you this String of Wampum.

Upon which the Indians gave the Yo-hah.

WHEN the Governor of Maryland received the first Notice, about seven Years ago, of your Claim to some Lands in that Province, he thought our good Friends and Brethren of the Six Nations had little Reason to complain of any Injury from Maryland, and that they would be so well convinced thereof, on farther Deliberation, as he should hear no more of it; but you spoke of that Matter again to the Governor of Pennsylvania, about two Years since, as if you designed to terrify us.

IT was very inconsiderately said by you, that you would do yourselves Justice, by going to take Payment yourselves: Such an Attempt would have entirely dissolved the Chain of Friendship subsisting, not only between us, but perhaps the other English and you.

WE assure you, our People, who are numerous, courageous, and have Arms ready in their Hands, will not suffer themselves to be hurt in their Lives and Estates.

BUT, however, the old and wise People of Maryland immediately met in Council, and upon considering very coolly your rash Expressions, agreed to invite their Brethren, the Six Nations, to this Place, that they might learn of them what Right they have to the Land in Maryland, and, if they had any, to make them some reasonable Compensation for it; therefore the Governor of Maryland has sent us to meet and treat with you about this Affair, and the brightening and strengthening the Chain which hath long subsisted between us. And as an Earnest of our Sincerity and Good-will towards you, we present you with this Belt of Wampum.

On which the Indians gave the Yo-hah.

OUR Great King of ENGLAND, and his Subjects, have always possessed the Province of Maryland free and undisturbed from any Claim of the Six Nations for above one hundred Years past, and your not saying any thing to us before, convinces us you thought you had no Pretence to any Lands in Maryland; nor can we yet find out to what Lands, or under what Title, you make your Claim: For the Sasquahannah Indians, by a Treaty above ninety Years since (which is on the Table, and will be interpreted to you) give, and yield to the English Nation, their Heirs and Assigns for ever, the greatest Part (if not all) of the Lands we possess, from Patuxent River, on the Western, as well as the Choptank River, on the Eastern Side of the Great Bay of Cheassapeak. And, near Sixty Years ago, you acknowledged to the Governor of New-York at Albany, “That you had given your Lands, and “submitted yourselves to the King of England.”

WE are that Great King’s Subjects, and we possess and enjoy the Province of Maryland by virtue of his Right and Sovereignty thereto; why, then, will you stir up any Quarrel between you and ourselves, who are as one Man, under the Protection of that Great King?

WE need not put you in mind of the Treaty (which we suppose you have had from your Fathers) made with the Province of Maryland near Seventy Years ago, and renewed and confirmed twice since that time.

BY these Treaties we became Brethren; we have always lived as such, and hope always to continue so.

WE have this further to say, that altho’ we are not satisfied of the Justice of your Claim to any Lands in Maryland, yet we are desirous of showing our Brotherly Kindness and Affection, and to prevent (by any reasonable Way) every Misunderstanding between the Province of Maryland and you our Brethren of the Six Nations.

FOR this Purpose we have brought hither a Quantity of Goods for our Brethren the Six Nations, and which will be delivered you as soon as we shall have received your Answer, and made so bright and large a Fire as may burn pure and clear whilst the Sun and Moon shall shine.

WE have now freely and openly laid our Bosoms bare to you; and that you may be the better confirmed of the Truth of our Hearts, we give you this Belt of Wampum.

Which was received with the Yo-hah.

After a little Time Canassatego spoke as follows:

Brother, the Governor of Maryland,

WE have heard what you have said to us; and, as you have gone back to old Times, we cannot give you an Answer now, but shall take what you have said into Consideration, and return you our Answer some Time to Morrow. He then sat down, and after some Time he spoke again.

In the COURT-HOUSE at Lancaster, June 26, 1744. P. M.

CANASSATEGO spoke as follows:

Brother, the Governor of Maryland,

WHEN you mentioned the Affair of the Land Yesterday, you went back to old Times, and told us, you had been in Possession of the Province of Maryland above One Hundred Years; but what is One Hundred Years in Comparison of the Length of Time since our Claim began? since we came out of this Ground? For we must tell you, that long before One Hundred Years our Ancestors came out of this very Ground, and their Children have remained here ever since. You came out of the Ground in a Country that lies beyond the Seas, there you may have a just Claim, but there you must allow us to be your elder Brethren, and the Lands to belong to us long before you knew any thing of them. It is true, that above One Hundred Years ago the Dutch came here in a Ship, and brought with them several Goods; such as Awls, Knives, Hatchets, Guns, and many other Particulars, which they gave us; and when they had taught us how to use their Things, and we saw what sort of People they were, we were so well pleased with them, that we tied their Ship to the Bushes on the Shore; and afterwards, liking them still better the longer they staid with us, and thinking the Bushes too slender, we removed the Rope, and tied it to the Trees; and as the Trees were liable to be blown down by high Winds, or to decay of themselves, we, from the Affection we bore them, again removed the Rope, and tied it to a strong and big Rock and not content with this, for its further Security we removed the Rope to the big Mountain[3] and there we tied it very fast, and rowll’d Wampum about it; and, to make it still more secure, we stood upon the Wampum, and sat down upon it, to defend it, and to prevent any Hurt coming to it, and did our best Endeavours that it might remain uninjured for ever. During all this Time the New-comers, the Dutch, acknowledged our Right to the Lands, and solicited us, from Time to Time, to grant them Parts of our Country, and to enter into League and Covenant with us, and to become one People with us.

AFTER this the English came into the Country, and, as we were told, became one People with the Dutch. About two Years after the Arrival of the English, and English Governor came to Albany, and finding what great Friendship subsisted between us and the Dutch, he approved it mightily, and desired to make as strong a League, and to be upon as good Terms with us as the Dutch were, with whom he was united, and to become one People with us: And by his further Care in looking into what had passed between us, he found that the Rope which tied the Ship to the great Mountain was only fastened with Wampum, which was liable to break and rot, and to perish in a Course of Years; he therefore told us, he would give us a Silver Chain, which would be much stronger, and would last for ever. This we accepted, and fastened the Ship with it, and it has lasted ever since. Indeed we have had some small Differences with the English, and, during these Misunderstanding, some of their young Men would, by way of Reproach, be every now and then telling us, that we should have perished if they had not come into the Country and furnished us with Strowds and Hatchets, and Guns, and other Things necessary for the Support of Life; but we always gave them to understand that they were mistaken, that we lived before they came amongst us, and as well, or better, if we may believe what our Forefather have told us. We had then Room enough, and Plenty of Deer, which was easily caught; and tho’ we had not Knives, Hatchets, or Guns, such as we have now, yet we had Knives of Stone, and Hatchets of Stone, and Bows and Arrows, and those served our Uses as well then as the English ones do now. We are now straitened, and sometimes in want of Deer, and liable to many other Inconveniencies since the English came among us, and particularly from that Pen-and-Ink work that is going on at the Table (pointing to the Secretary) and we will give you an Instance of this. Our Brother Onas, a great while ago, came to Albany to buy the Sasquahannah Lands of us, but our Brother, the Governor of New-York, who, as we suppose, had not a good Understanding with our Brother Onas, advised us not to sell him any Land, for he would make an ill Use of it; and, pretending to be our good Friend, he advised us, in order to prevent Onas’s, or any other Person’s imposing upon us, and that we might always have our Land when we should want it, to put it into his Hands; and told us, he would keep it for our Use, and never open his Hands, but keep them close shut, and not part with any of it, but at our Request. Accordingly we trusted him, and put our Land into his Hands, and charged him to keep it safe for our Use; but, some Time after, he went to England, and carried our Land with him, and there sold it to our Brother Onas for a large Sum of Money; and when, at the Instance of our Brother Onas, we were minded to sell him some Lands, he told us, we had sold the Sasquahannah Lands already to the Governor of New-York, and that he had bought them from him in England; tho’, when he came to understand how the Governor of New-York had deceived us, he very generously paid us for our Lands over again.

THO’ we mention this Instance of an Imposition put upon us by the governor of New-York, yet we must do the English the Justice to say, we have had their hearty Assistances in our Wars with the French, who were no sooner arrived amongst us than they began to render us uneasy, and to provoke us to War, and we have had several Wars with them; during all which we constantly received Assistance form the English, and, by their Means, we have always been able to keep up our Heads against their Attacks.

WE now come nearer home. We have had your Deeds interpreted to us, and we acknowledge them to be good and valid, and that the Conestogoe or Sasquahannah Indians had a Right to sell those Lands to you, for they were then theirs; but since that Time we have conquered them, and their Country now belongs to us, and the Lands we demanded Satisfaction for are no Part of the Lands comprised in those Deeds; they are the Cohongorontas[4]Lands; those, we are sure, you have not possessed One Hundred Years, no, nor above Ten Years, and we made our Demands so soon as we knew your People were settled in those Parts. These have never been sold, but remain still to be disposed of; and we are well pleased to hear you are provided with Goods, and do assure you of our Willingness to treat with you for those unpurchased Lands; in Confirmation whereof, we present you with this Belt of Wampum.

Which was received with the usual Ceremonies.

CANASSATEGO added, that as the three Governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, had divided the Lands among them, they could not, for this Reason, tell how much each had got, nor were they concerned about it, so that they were paid by all the Governors for the several Parts each possessed, and this they left to their Honour and Justice.

In the COURT-HOUSE at Lancaster, June 28, 1744. P. M.

The Commissioners [of Maryland] desired the Interpreter to tell the Indians they were going to speak to them. Mr. Weiser acquainted them herewith. After which the said Commissioners spoke as follows:

Our good Friends and Brethren, the Six united Nations,

WE have considered what you said concerning your Title to some Lands now in our Province, and also of the Place where they lie. Altho’ we cannot admit your Right, yet we are so resolved to live in Brotherly Love and Affection with the Six Nations, that upon your giving us a Release in Writing of all your Claim to any Lands in Maryland, we shall make you a Compensation to the Value of Three Hundred Pounds Currency, for the Payment of Part whereof we have brought some goods, and shall make up the rest in what Manner you think fit.

AS we intend to say something to you about our Chain of Friendship after this Affair of the Land is settled, we desire you will now examine the Goods, and make an End of this Matter.

WE will not omit acquainting our good Friends the Six Nations, that notwithstanding we are likely to come to an Agreement about your Claim of Lands, yet your Brethren of Maryland look on you to be as one Soul and one Body with themselves; and as a broad Road will be made between us, we shall always be desirous of keeping it clear, that we may, from Time to Time, take care that the Links of our Friendship be not rusted. In Testimony that our Words and our Hearts agree, we give you this Belt of Wampum.

On presenting of which the Indians gave the usual Cry of Approbation.

MR. Weiser acquainted the Indians, they might now look over the several Goods placed on a Table in the Chamber for that Purpose; and the honourable Commissioners bid him tell them, if they disliked any of the Goods, or, if they were damaged, the Commissioners would put a less Price on such as were either disliked or damnified.

THE Indians having viewed and examined the Goods, and seeming dissatisfied at the Price and Worth of them, required Time to go down into the Court-House, in order for a Consultation to be had by the Chiefs of them concerning the said Goods, and likewise that the Interpreter might retire with them, which he did. Accordingly they went down into the Court-House, and soon after returned again into the Chamber.

MR. Weiser sat down among the Indians, and discoursed them about the Goods, and in some short Time after they chose the following from among the others, and the Price agreed to be given for them by the Six Nations was, viz.

	L.	s.	d.
Four Pieces of Strowds, at 7 L.	28	00	00
Two Pieces Ditto, 5 L.	10	00	00
Two Hundred Shirts,	63	12	00
Three Pieces Half-Thicks	11	00	00
Three Pieces Duffle Blankets, at 7 L.	21	00	00
One Piece Ditto,	6	10	00
Forty Seven Guns, at 1 L. 6 s.	61	2	00
One Pound Vermillion,	00	18	00
One Thousand Flints,	00	18	00
Four Dozen Jews Harps,	00	14	00
One Dozen Boxes,	00	1	00
One Hundred Two Quarters Bar-Lead,	3	00	00
Two Quarters Shot,	1	00	00
Two Half Barrels of Gun-Powder,	13	00	00
L.	220	15	00

Pennsylvania Currency.

WHEN the Indians had agreed to take these Goods at the Rates above specified, they informed the Interpreter, that they would give an Answer to the Speech made to them this Morning by the honourable the Commissioners of Maryland, but did not express the Time when such Answer should be made. At 12 o’Clock the Commissioners departed the Chamber.

In the COURT-HOUSE at Lancaster, June 29, 1744. A. M.

… Canassatego spoke as follows, looking on a Deal-board, where were some black Lines, describing the Courses of Potowmack and Sasquahanna:

Brethren,

YESTERDAY you spoke to us concerning the Lands on this Side Potowmack River, and as we have deliberately considered what you said to us on that Matter, we are now very ready to settle the Bounds of such Lands, and release our Right and Claim thereto.