The historic Mohawk

Preface

THE aim of this little work is to treat the life story of our native Valle}' in a series of general essays depicting the peoples, the settlements, the customs, and the struggles of its early days. As little reference as possible is made to indi\'idual biography. The names of our ancestors have not been relegated to the obscurity of ancient family Bibles; nor their deeds left to be cherished by tradition alone. Our local histories have preserved them and accorded them place in settlement and in conflict, in church and in state. These same excellent works have likewise preser\'ed the life details of our citizens dowTi to the present day. Upon these grounds we would not encroach. The Historic Mohawk will not deal \^ith statistics. It would depict the "storied past" with the broad strokes of the painter rather than the finer delineation of the etcher. With the dsLvm of the nineteenth century- the story ends.

The ^Titer cannot but feel a s}Tnpathetic interest in the peoples from whom, in every line, she draws descent, the Hollander and the Palatine of early days and the New Englander who found vi Preface

a home in the Valley at the close of the Revolutionary War. She would especially acknowledge the courtesy of the State Librarian, the State Comptroller, the Oneida Historical Society, and of individual friends for the use of a number of hitherto unpublished manuscripts which are incorporated in the text.

M. R. D.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Iroquois ..... i

II. The Early Dutch and their Settlements ...... 26

Chapter I

"Ye say that all have passed away, The noble race and brave, That their light canoes have vanished

From off the crested wave; That 'mid the forests where they roamed

There rings no hunter's shout, But their name is on your waters. Ye may not wash it out. "

Lydia H. Sigourney.

THE copper-colored natives who peopled the Mohawk Valley when first our forefathers cast their longing eyes upon their future home were but a portion of the horde which overspread the continent. There are those who tell us that the "Indian" race was old when the Egyptian race was young. Philologists affirm that the aboriginal language carries in its structure the sign-manual of antiquity. We know that, centuries before Columbus, the Norsemen visited the land now called America, and that a Welsh colony still leaves its imprint upon our central plains; while there is at least possibility of the existence on the continent of a Phoenician colony. It is known that in days gone by Chinese explorers visited our shores and Chinese junks were washed upon our western strand.

The proximity of our northwestern borders to Asia; the similarity in flora and fauna in corresponding portions of the two continents; the studies of antiquarians with regard to the numerous Pacific islands, which might have served as stepping-stones from shore to shore; the solid ice once covering the northern hemisphere, which also might have afforded means of passage past mighty con\iilsions of nature, and the possibility of an intervening continent submerged ; the story of the fabled Atlantis ; the name of Adam (the red man) ; repeated discoveries verifying the extreme antiquity of the western hemisphere ; the traces of migra,- tions of certain American races and the wonderful ruins they have left in their path ; their but slightly deciphered hierogl^-phics, traditions of the Deluge and Creation cherished by various tribes; the legends of spontaneous origin from the soil, cherished by some, — by others of long journeys across "great waters," — fill our minds v^dth thirst for deeper knowledge of the fair>' tales of science.

There are those who find in the forest denizens the children of the long-lost tribes of Israel. We cannot but feel a thrill of romantic interest at the proofs adduced. Such are the breastplate and mitre of the Indian high-priest — the former of white conch shells, the latter of snowy swan's feathers; the medicine bags corresponding to the phylacteries of the sons of Israel; the red man's Feast of First Fruits, celebrated with song and dance.

The tradition of the Phoenician colony in America, the annual rekindling of the sacred fires practised by some tribes, and, in particular , certain points of physical resemblance have given color to the Egyptian theory of derivation.

The historian Bancroft rejecting with emphasis the Israelitish claim, above all, enrolls himself among the believers in the red man's kinship to the Mongolian family. The sign-manual of origin, he avers, he bears in racial characteristics and, above all, in his language, which is agglutinative in type structure. Nations may migrate — so says Mr. Bancroft — but they do not deviate from that type of their native tongue which groups them forever in their own family amid the nimiberless races of earth.

When wise men disagree, it is not for him who has scarcely skimmed the surface of the study of archaeology to decide. We can only conclude that whether the aboriginal race has received and assimilated to itself remnants of migrating nations, or whether many tribes have met and merged, approximating through climatic conditions to a certain type, there was something of admixture.

in our native population. The past of this continent contains a wonderful record of truthful romance sealed between its musty covers. May future historians yet be privileged to discover and interpret many undimmed and illuminated pages!

Whatever traditions of origin may be cherished by various tribes of North and South American aborigines, the Iroquois warrior goes straight and unblushingly to the point.

The Good Spirit, he says, made Indians of red clay and named them Ea-gwe-howe, "real people. " He afterward made white men out of sea-foam.

From the north this group of wild men claims origin. Indeed, Montreal and its vicinity bear every proof of having been that early home to which, at the close of the Revolution, they returned. The Iroquois Confederacy it was that in the days of our forefathers bore rule in Central New York, throughout the Valley of the Mohawk and beyond, even to the shores of Lake Erie. Let us go back to their own accoimt of the creation and their early history.

From an upper realm of men and women there descended into an under world of animals a woman who then rested upon the back of a turtle prepared to receive her. She there died, having given birth to two sons, one of whom became a good spirit and one an evil one. The turtle meanwhile had expanded to the dimensions of The Great Island. The good spirit created good things and good people ; the evil spirit created evil things and evil people and subverted the work of his good brother. At last the good spirit became triumphant and slew the evil one.

About 2500 years before Columbus there appeared a "big elk," an enemy to the peoples, who fled from him in terror. We may well conjecture as to whether the phrase refers to the Great Mastodon whose pre-historic bones have here and there been found, or to some mighty chieftain. In the same era the northern nations met at a council fire upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. They appointed a prince to visit the Great Emperor of the Golden City. That mighty emperor extended his boundaries and built forts almost to Lake Erie. There he was defeated and his towns and forts destroyed. Then appeared a great serpent with horns. A blazing star fell into a St. Lawrence fort, destroying many people. Sorrow followed in the wake of these evil omens. The northern people fell into war and destroyed one another and the wild animals roamed at will.

Near the Oswego Falls there was by some means concealed and preserved underground a body of people. These the Holder of the Heavens released and took under his protection and led them toward the rising sun. Reaching the banks of the Hudson he tiumed and again led them toward the north and west. From the eastern waters of the Mohawk even to the shores of Lake Erie did he locate at intervals the Five Nations in order — the

Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas. With the remainder he approached the river On-aw-we-yo-ka (Mississippi). On a grapevine a part of the people crossed, but the grapevine broke, the people were parted, and those who crossed became the enemies of those who remained.

The sixth nation he now guided southward to the mouth of the Neuse River — the Kau-ta-noh — Tuscaroras — a race always acknowledged as kinsmen by the Five Nations; and afterward, when conquered by their enemies, finding homes among the Oneidas, thus causing the appellation of "the Iroquois," the Five Nations, to be changed to that of the Six Nations.

After locating the Tuscaroras, the Holder of the Heavens returned to their brethren of the north and instituted a Confederacy. He instructed his people in their peculiar institutions of government, morals, reHgion, rituals of worship, in ties of family and kinship. He gave them com, beans, squashes, potatoes, tobacco, with directions for their cultivation. He gave them dogs for hunting game.

According to another legend, Manitta admired the beautiful country and concluded to create red men and put them in possession. He sowed five handfuls of red seed in the land of Onondaga. Little worms came out and grew into boys and girls. After nine seasons he addressed them and gave them names. He also assigned them foods according to their qualities, giving com to the Mohawks, who were bold, and nuts and fruits to the Oneidas, who were patient. The beasts and fishes and fowls belonged to all in common. They were then urged to love one another and take care of one another. They were told that when their present bodies were worn out, new ones would be produced, and were exhorted to defend their common country ; and then, wrapped in bright clouds, Manitta was borne toward the sun.

At length enemies appeared to destroy the peace of the Confederacy. Flying heads with flaming beards were finally frightened away by the sight of a woman eating acorns fresh from the fire, they supposing them to be live coals. Poisonous serpents were slain by thunderbolts. Stonish Giants, their bodies covered with scales, were enticed into a hollow by the Holder of the Heavens and there destroyed by heavy stones being rolled upon them. A great bear was at length vanquished in battle by a cat-like beast. A giant mosquito was pursued and slain by the Holder of the Heavens. From his blood sprang the smaller mosquitoes of the present day.

At length the Five Nations warred among themselves. Fiercest of all was the Onondaga warrior Atotarho, whose body was shielded by hissing serpents and whose dishes and spoons were the skulls of his enemies. Sought in council by Mohawk delegates, he became a Mohawk by adoption and renewed among the five disrupted nations the broken covenant chain. He is identical with Hiawatha (the very wise man), whose later story is thought to be a modification due to the white man's influence in introducing the story of the Christ.

According to other legends it was the Holder of the Heavens himself, the great Tarenyawagon, who, when he had located his people in their new abodes, taught them to plant and hunt, laid aside his divine nature and dwelt among them and became the beloved Hiawatha of tradition. He married an Onondaga woman and made his home on Crow Lake, once Teonto. An only daughter, tenderly cherished, became his constant companion and friend.

It was learned, on one occasion, that enemies were about to attack the Five Nations. Alarmed, they searched for Hiawatha, who was found plunged into deep gloom over some approaching evil. He yielded, however, to their entreaties and accompanied them with his well-beloved daughter to the council place. Soon after their arrival a strange whirring sound was heard and a huge bird of snowy plumage was seen approaching. The maiden was borne to the earth, crushed by the beak of the bird, which was deeply buried in the ground. The assembled warriors hastened to adorn their helmets with the dazzling plumage. Hiawatha, for several days buried in inconsolable grief, at length aroused himself to exhort the Five Nations that their indissoluble union would be the only source of protection against their enemies. He then solemnly reorganized the Confederacy, and, in his white canoe, his mission ended, was borne away into the Heavens.

When the French and Dutch palefaces first made their appearance in the present Empire State, the Iroquois Confederacy was at the summit of its power, — a beautifully modelled little republic of five states whose orators and warriors, skilled in statesmanship, have won for themselves the admiring title of the " Romans of the New World. "

"People of the Long House," these remarkable aborigines styled themselves, likening their strip of country to the longitudinal Indian wigwam with a common roof but several lodges. The Mohawks (Ga-ne-a-ga-o-no), "People Possessors of the Flint"; Oneidas (Onayotekaono) , "Granite People"; Onondagas (Onundogaono), "People on the Hills"; Cayugas (Gwe-u-gweh-o-no) , "People at the Mucky Land" ; and Senecas (Nundawaono), "Great Hill People," occupied together this stupendous habitation. On watch at the eastern door stood the Mohawk facing the sunrise ; at the western door, looking toward the setting sun, was stationed his brother Seneca; while in the central lodge was seated the Onondaga, guarding the council fire.

"People of Many Fires" is one interpretation of the name of Iroquois. Others derive the word from the verb "ierokwa, " to smoke. The French find origin for the word in the verb "hiro, "

which means "I have said." " Konoshioni '* (cabin makers) is the appellation adopted by themselves.

They had conquered their ancient enemies, the Hurons; they had w-iped out the Neutral and Tobacco nations, whose homes lay in their path. Old maps shov-ing the region between the St. La\\Tence and the Mohawk bear the pathetic record "Villages Destroyed." They had penetrated to the Mississippi and the Carolinas; New England had felt their power; Long Island lay under tribute, and the savage races trembled at the name of Konoshioni.

From Albany to Buffalo stretched the Long House of the Iroquois, but the Mohawk Valley, beginning with Rome and ending with Cohoes, afforded a dwelHng-place to two famines only of the Great Confederacy — the Oneidas and the Mohawks.

Called "Maquaas" by the Dutch, "Agniers" by the French, "Mohawks" by the Enghsh, by themselves "Caniengas, " People of the Flint, the people who gave their name to our loveh^ river lived in a region bounded on the north by the Lake of Corlaer, on the east by the Falls of Cohoes, on the south by the sources of the Susquehanna, and on the west by the country of the Oneidas. Bravest of all the brave Iroquois, theirs was the right to furnish a war-chief who should lead the Five Nations to arms. It was theirs to collect tribute of shells of wampum from the Long Island

The Iroquois ii

oftfae K_i :r ^ : r -"^^their - r-ory. These were :hf r-r". " - -i^^^.c-e ~::- :-fir palehfllof 7 I: ' f 7-1 T :;

gen:-: :: r i:?r. it was stamec :: 't ::i <rf ;.- ::: when the Britc-s il-L.ri 1 ;r.:.

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Nohte in -- r language. j.i t : r , 7 _ flowing^ an I 5:: ^: "

people - - -'--

first t;^ 15 :

was U2CZ. Tie 7r__

(Kaw-nah-taw-te-ruh). The next location was in the town of Stockbridge, Madison County, at Ca-nagh-ta-ragh-ga-ragh. About 1550 they removed to Oneida Castle — Ca-no-na-lo-a (Enemy's Head on a Pole). Here they were settled in 1609 and here they were still in 1677 when the traveller, Greenhalgh, says of them that the "Onyades have but one town, doubly stockaded, of about one hundred houses. "

" 0-ne-yu-ta-aug " — this is the way the Oneidas pronounced the name of the Oneida Stone, a granite boulder which rested always near them in all their joumeyings and which they appeared to adore. The "aug" was pronounced smoothly as a breath and seems to give the whole word a more definite meaning. 0-nia-ta-aug signified "People of the Stone."

Before white man had set foot in the Maquas or Mohawk country there existed there four Indian castles, called prehistoric, all situated upon tributaries of the Maquas River. On the sites of these prehistoric castles, around the roots of trees since gro^m, can be found necklaces, arrow-heads, fragments of Indian pottery, and rude instruments of bone and shell and stone for cutting, piercing, and digging. The old castles were built in inaccessible forests, on lofty sites above ravines, and well palisaded with trunks of many trees. These fortifications, constructed often of thousands of trees, were the result of much labor with most primitive weapons. On a .platform on top from to c

■j c which the siege could be resisted, were piled quantities of stones and stored great tanks of water, the latter in defence against the besieger's most formidable weapon, — fire.

The earliest castles known by the white people were three, all south of the river, named for their respective clans — the Turtle, the Bear, and the Wolf — and situated at Auriesville, Fultonville, and Spraker's Basin. In the year 1666 all were destroyed by the French. An interesting table of Indian castles as they were in days of earlier white settlements has been prepared by Mr. S. L. Frey.

After the destruction of these villages in 1666, they were moved to the north side of the river, and all were situated between Fonda and Little Falls.

About 1690 the final remove was probably made to the south side of the river, the villages now being located at Fort Hunter, Fort Plain, and Indian Castle. In the later years of the red man's Ufe in the Mohawk Valley the castles were but two — the upper, or Canajoharie Castle at Danube, and the lower castle (Ti-non-de-ro-ga), at the junction of Schoharie creek with the Mohawk River.

The findings of all these castles differ from those of the prehistoric ones in that they are mixed somewhat with the white man's wares, — rings, arm-bands, Jesuit crosses, iron axes, coins, and modem machine-made wampum.

Before the middle of the seventeenth century, the Jesuit missionary, Jogues, had visited the Mohawk capital and suffered martyrdom with his comrades, — and still others, though more distant, had been captured at the Huron mission and slain by Mohawk braves. Among these were Jogues, Daniel, Broebeuf, Lalemant, Garnier, Garreau. Others met with horrible tortures.

Nevertheless, the Jesuits persevered. Father Lemoyne visiting the Five Nations several times previous to 1658. On September 14, 1667, Fathers Bruyas, Pierron, and Fremin arrived at the capital, Tionnontogen, to renew the Mohawk mission. They fastened a belt of wampum on a pole, affirming that Onontio would so hang the first person to break the new covenant.

St. Mary's Chapel was that year erected. At that mission Fremin, who best understood the tongue, gained some influence and saved some captives from death. Nevertheless, the missionaries were often insulted.

The same year the Jesuit mission of St. Francis Xavier was established at Oneida, and there Father Bruyas met with some measure of success. In October, 1668, Pierron was for a time the only missionary among the Mohawks, but was soon joined by Boniface, under whose guidance the Indians built the Chapel of St. Peter's, near the present Fonda.

At about 1770, a little settlement of Catholic Christian Indians was started on the banks of the

St. Lawrence by a small body of Oneidas and Mohawks, and named La Prairie. To this village, from time to time, came accessions of Praying Indians from the banks of the Mohawk. Among these converts were Kryn, the "Great Mohawk," a prominent chief, and Kateri Tekakwitha, the famous "Lily of the Mohawks."

Boniface was succeeded in 1675 by de Lamberville. From 1642 to 1684 has been called the golden age of the Catholic faith among the Iroquois. The termination of the missions in New York was brought about largely by the agency of Governor Dongan, himself a Catholic, who believed the influence of the Jesuits detrimental to the interests of Britain. In the year 1784, De Lamberville, the last Jesuit Mohawk missionary, took his departure for Canada.

The Iroquois built his house by thrusting into the ground a few crotched stakes and covering them with bark. In this long house were lodged several families having right of way in a common central passage. Four families, two on each side, had share in one fire, the smoke of which escaped through an aperture at the top. Did another family claim dwelling in this abode, it was enlarged by an extension at one end. These long and narrow dwellings, twelve or fifteen feet in width, were often one hundred feet or more in length, thus accommodating perhaps twenty families in five sections. At either end a strip of bearskin or of bark suspended from the top answered for a door. The pot was always boiling and each helped himself as he pleased. No one in an Indian village was allowed to go hungry as long as there was plenty for each. In rude comfort the occupants squatted or lay, each on the mat of rushes assigned him as his own, his feet toward the fire.

Adorned with the plumage and beaks of birds and the claws of beasts, their images tattooed upon his skin, his body in winter time protected by the wild creatures' skins and furs, the stately red man went about his tasks in the wild freedom of savage toil. Delicate was his skill in bone-carving, a lost art when once the European became established upon the soil. Fine was his workmanship in by-gone days in arrow-heads of flint and stone and in the construction of pottery and pipes. He shaped for use, too, his own rude and effective tools, the tomahawk and the mortar; he fashioned the birch-bark canoe which shot so picturesquely along the waters of the Mohawk and the Hudson, the Great Lakes and the mighty rivers of the West, and the snowshoe was his invention.

He caught the abundant fresh-water fish in his naked hand or speared it by torchlight at night; he traversed the forests for game. Unlearned in books, the wild man was versed in Nature's lore. The bending twig, the swaying grain, the distant scream, the gentle breeze told eloquent stories to each alert and well-trained sense. The unerring arrow sought its mark; the hunter bore to his lodge his burden of fresh-slain meat, or directed his docile squaw to fetch it from the forest paths.

A great kettle was kept boiling throughout the winter. One warrior after another threw his contribution into it. This meant that when next the war-cry sounded he would be one of the party. The war-dance took place in February. Decorated with brightest plumage and dazzling war-paint and adorned with the head of the bear, the turtle, or the wolf, the warrior, with savage glee, trod on such occasions the wild measures, amid excited chantings and the beating of the Indian drum. He yelled at the side of an imaginary fire, he flung his tomahawk at the war-post. "Wah-hu! Ho-ha!" was the refrain, in which he joined. Well might the matrons crouch in admiring horror and the Indian lads open wider their wondering eyes. The warrior was accustomed also to recount his own brave deeds and those of his fathers, and to point with pride to the scalps dangling at his belt. His comrades grunted approval.

Any young brave who had secured a following might be a chief.

When the appointed time had arrived, the departing warriors, each provided with a store of commeal and a little maple sugar, marched in silence for a few miles. Then, making a halt and selecting a large oak, they stripped from it the bark and left it as a means of information concerning the details of their expedition. A pictured canoe denoted a journey, the number of men therein symbolized the number of warriors, the figure of some animal, the tribe they would attack. Heralds preceded them on their return, whose manner as well as speech signified the measure of success or defeat. Meanwhile their silent squaws, who had accompanied them thus far on their journey, now returned, bearing v\-ith them the warriors' finery, which they had discarded for humbler garb.

Did the trip end in \'ictory, the captives were met near the castle by the women and children arranged in two rows and armed with rods. There the prisoners "ran the gauntlet," dodging the blows as best they might. They were afterward put to death vrith horrible tortures amid the exultant grunts of their captors. Did a victim bear his sufferings bravely, admiration was rife. It might be some dark-eyed matron, moved by pity or admiration, or stirred by heart hunger at some recent loss, would speak for his life while there was yet time, and adopt him in place of husband or son. Or, if spared for some days from the torture, he might be exchanged for another prisoner.

Was peace to be sought "^^th the enemy, messengers approached him \s-ith the calumet, the Pipe of Peace. Through the long reed, tastefully decorated -u^ith plumage, the reconciled warriors puffed in turn the smoke, which ascended in fluffy clouds from the soft red marble bowl. Around the council fire they sat and, at each dramatic pause on the part of the speaker, there passed from one contracting party to the other the binding belt of wampum. Eloquent in the simple poetry of nature were the ancient forests when the red men held their "pow-wows" beneath the grand old boughs! ">

Deep in the ground the offending tomahawk was laid to rest and the earth above it rendered hard by the tramping of many feet. The forest children were not without their recreations, whether in fierce or merry mood. At the most formal of these the red man was clothed in his full uniform. His regalia have been described as strikingly like those of the Scotch Highlander — his head covering, a turban, a chaplet of feathers or a single quill; his tunic of skins, consisting of pieces for the front and back, neatly joined with thongs; a beaded shoulder sash; a leather belt for arms, knife, and dangling scalps; breech -cloth and kilt of deerskin; high leggings supported by belt and overlapping the moccasins below — all this paraphernalia richly embroidered, it may be, with porcupine quills and an ornamental blanket loosely wTapped over all, lending grace to the warrior's sinewy form; this was the state dress of the red man at his ceremonial feasts.

The Festival of the White Dog was celebrated with horrid rites. It was their New Year's feast and, beginning in early February, was seven days in length. In time this seems to have merged into the Dream Feast which in early days was distinct.

The Dream Feast, in March, was a riot of fantasies. The warriors dreamed and the medicine man interpreted, going out at midnight to gather weird creatures to help him with his charms. All dreamed, and all dreams must be fulfilled. All feigned to be mad and did mad deeds.

Then there were the Maple Feast, when sap began to flow, the Planting Festival, the Strawberry Feast, the Feast of the Green-Corn Moon, and the Harvest Festival.

Once in ten years came the solemn Feast of the Dead, when the bodies of those who had died during the last decade were brought together from their temporary graves. Reverently the bones were scraped and laid together in one huge pit, warmly and richly lined with furs.

Hampers of food were then placed upon this common grave to provide for the journey of the now departing souls which had hitherto lingered about the bodies of the dead.

The Bear, the Wolf, and the Turtle — into these three clans were all the nations divided and with their respective totems were they all adorned. No man might marry into his own clan, and right of descent was held through the female Hne. In honor of the origin of all mankind when the mother of creation descended into the lower world and was received upon the back of a turtle, the Turtle Clan was accorded highest honor.

The red man had virtues and faults not uncharacteristic of his savage state. He was cruel to his foes ; he was brave, generous, hospitable. The balance of testimony is in favor of his loyalty and gratitude.

The dark-eyed maiden destined one day to become his bride was neatly attired, in a short tunic, or overdress, and a short petticoat wrought with porcupine quills. This embroidery was probably her own work, done with her own bone needle and deer-sinew thread. Her pretty moccasins and leggings came up to meet the skirt and her hair was oiled and hung unconfined or loosely braided down her back. Perhaps, by way of adornment, an eagle's feather was fastened lightly into her raven locks, or perhaps a riband of eelskin was added dyed with sturgeon paste. She wore a blanket over all. Thus adorned she went with her jug to draw water from the Indian well and there she met her pretty squaw comrades.

It may be that her maternal relatives have consulted with those of some young brave and have arranged an advantageous alliance for her. It was customary for her promised husband to come one night to the lodge of the fair one and seat himself beside his bride, who was adorned for the occasion in her best. He previously sent valuable presents of furs and bearskins to the lodge. She now presented him with a cup of sangamon and the twain through this simple ceremony became one, albeit bound by a tie most easily dissolved.