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1750, Journal of C. Weiser in his journey to Onontago on behalf of Virginia (MS)
Header: A journal of the proceedings of Conrad Weiser in his journey to Onontago with a message from the Honourable Thomas Lee, President of
Virginia, to the Indians there. In August 1750, it took Weiser eleven hard days to get to Albany; then he started out to the Six Nations. As he talked to
various native groups along the way, they all complained that the English paid no attention to them. He spent time with the Mohawks and visited with
Col. Johnson, who was trying to set up a peace conference with the Catawbas and the Six Nations. He met the Oneidas in Council and sent messengers to
the Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas. The messengers returned and said an important chief had died, so the Council was off. Overnight, that decision
was changed, so Weiser rode hard to get to the site, learning as he rode that the atmosphere might not be friendly. Many Onondagas had converted to
Catholicism and had moved to land on the south side of the St. Lawrence River, but some had come back. A French trader had passed through the area
with orders to clear the English traders from the Ohio River. The Council got underway on September 13th. When it was Weiser's turn, he told them the
Governor of Virginia wanted them to come to Fredericksburg for a peace conference. The Council said it would answer tomorrow, so Weiser left. The
Oneida brought the Council's answer: there had been such high death rates on similar trips that the Six Nations wanted him to come to Albany instead.
Weiser said he did not think that would happen, but he would take their message to the Governor. He also said the Governor might decide to give the
King's gifts to the Ohio Natives, to which the Six Nations took great exception, because they thought they had hegemony over those people. Weiser left
on September 18th and arrived home on October 1st. In a postscript, he told the Onondagas that the illegal settlers had been removed from land still
owned by the Six Nations. The Onondagas emphasized that the Ohio natives had no right to sell any land to the English. SECOND version: Journal of
the proceedings of Conrad Weiser in his journey to Onondaga with a message from the President of Virginia. The penmanship in this copy is even more
difficult to read, with some illegible pages. The text is the same as version one, with the over-riding complaint about English management. The
postscript in this version told about the French priest and had a long discussion about the Christian religion as viewed by the Native Americans. Two
notes at the end were extremely difficult to make out, but one said something about Weiser despairing of making any land deals with the Six Nations.
(Digitized from a microfilm copy held at the Pennsylvania State Historical Society)
Title:   A journal of the proceedings of Conrad Weiser in his journey to Onontago, with a message from the Honourable Thomas Lee Esquire, President of Virginia, to the Indians there.
OCLC Number:   1433157448
Available Volumes
NameFiche CountOnlinePaper Backup
Version 1YesNo
Version 2YesNo