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Description and Holding Information
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1757-04/05, Minutes of meetings between G. Croghan and the Six Nations (MS)
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Wrapper: [badly damaged] Conference between George Croghan, Esq., and Indians of the Six Nations in the County of Lancaster and treaty between
William Denny, Esq. and those Indians at Lancaster in the month of April and May 1757. Header: At a meeting of the Six Nations and their allies and George
Croghan, Esq., deputy agent to the Honourable Sir William Johnson, Baronet, His Majesty's sole agent and Superintendant of the affairs of the Six
Nations, their allies, and dependants and by his special order at John Harris the first day of April 1757.
April 1 Present: Croghan and five other
Englishmen, an interpreter, and representatives from nine tribes, all accompanied by women and children. Croghan provided a condolence ceremony for
the recently deceased and welcomed the Indians in the name of the Governor. He said the meeting was to settle any lingering differences between the
Delaware, Shawnee, and the English.
April 2 Another condolence ceremony. Scarrooyady spoke for the Indians and said they did not want to go to
Philadelphia for the meeting because of rampant sickness there, but they were willing to go to Lancaster.
April 7 Everyone was relocated to
Lancaster.
April 10 Fifty Delaware and Shawnee were at Fort Allen, awaiting Chief Teedyusiung.
April 20 Teedyusiung claimed to be delayed by a provision
shortage, so the Governor sent provisions.
April 23 and 26 Some Indians asked to leave to fight in the war. The others asked when the meeting would begin,
but Croghan did not know--everything hinged on the appearance of Teedyusiung. The Indians were restless because they were missing their planting
time.
May second week Teedyusiung and other Delawares claimed the invitation belts of wampum were wrong, so they hadn't started.
May 9 The Governor
arrived in Lancaster
May 12 The meeting began without Teedyusiung. The Governor, local people, interpreters, and representatives from eight tribes
were present. [Note that nearly every page from here on was damaged to a greater or lesser degree] The Governor gave a history of the recent unhappy
times and asked if the Indians had any suggestions. In the afternoon, the Indians gave a history of their attempts to manage the Delaware and Shawnee.
They said all messages about the Delaware should go through the Seneca, which was news to the English.
May 16th Many more people present, but
Teedyusiung still had not come. The Governor asked those present to tell that chief what had transpired at the Council.
May 17 The Governor read out
the proposed treaty [text not present]. He asked again for information about the Delawares' complaint about land sales. He wanted to move
forward.
May 18 Word had come of deaths on the frontier, so the day was spent on condolence ceremonies.
May 19 The Indians pointed out that even though land
might be fairly sold, it was then turned into farms, etc., and the forests the Indians needed to make their living disappeared. The French had taken
advantage of the discontent. It would be a good idea to return some of the Senecas' land to them. They wanted to know why the English weren't more
aggressively fighting the French. It seemed that expecting Teedyusiung to return the prisoners was not working--the English should turn to the Senecas
for that service..
May 20 The Governor thanked those present for their candor. He said his government would help any Indians who wanted to settle
around Shamokin.
May 21 The usual present was delivered.
May 22 The Governor asked the Indians to look at the draft of the message for Teedyusiung
politely chiding him for not coming to the meeting he had asked for. The Delaware were welcome to come anytime or to ask Sir Johnson to handle their
complaint. The Governor announced there were people who would take the Indians safely through the settlements as they started for home. Even the
Indians knew the meeting had been unnecessarily prolonged by Teedyusiung's failure to come. (Digitized from a microfilm copy held at the Pennsylvania
State Historical Society)
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Title:
[Minutes of meetings between George Croghan and the Six Nations].
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OCLC Number:
1440000577
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Available Volumes
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| Name | Fiche Count | Online | Paper Backup |
| Vol. 1 | | Yes | No |
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