A NATIONAL PAPER, PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FEN NO, No. 69, HIGH-STREET, PHILADELPHIA.
[No. 80, of Vol. lII.]
S T A.T E PAPER
United States, January the 16th, 179*
Sir,
AS the circumstances which have engaged the United States
in the present Indian War may some of them be out of the public
recollection, and others perhaps be unknown, 't ni=»y appear ad
vifable that you prepare and publish, from authentic documents,
a ftatenient of rhofe circum(lances, as weH as of the measures which
have been taken, from rime to time, for the re-ellaljlifhinent of.
peace and friendfliip.
When the Communitvare called upon for considerable exerti
ons to relieve a part which is fuffering under the hand 'of an ene~
my, it is desirable to manifeft that due pains have been taken by
-those entrusted with the administration of th'eir affairs to avoid
the evil,
The Secretary for the
Department of War.
The Causes of the exifling Hostilities between the UNITED
STATES, and certain Tribe* of LVD lANS North-Wefl of the 0 HID,
Jlated and explainedfrom ofjicjdland authentic Documents, and pub
lijhed in obedience to the orders of the Pr esidenlp oj the Untted
States.
A RECURRENCE to the Journals of the United States in
in Congrcfs afTembled, of the early stages of the late war,
will evince the public fohcitude to preserve peace with the In
dian tribes, and to prrvent their engaging in a contest in which
thev were no wife interested.
But although partial treaties or conventions were formed with
fomeof the northern and we item tribes, in the years 1775 and
1 776 ; yet those treaties were too feeble to rc/ift the powerful im
oulfes of a contrary nature, arifingfroma combination of ciicum
ifanees at that time ; and accordingly ai! the various Indian nati
ons(the Oneida?;, Tufcaroras, and a few individuals of the Dela
wares excepted) lying on our frontiers, from Geoigia ;o Canada,
armed against us.
It is vet too recent to h3ve been forgotten, that great numbers
«f moffenfive men, women and children, fell a facrsfice to the bar
barous warfare pra&ifed by the Indians, and that many others
were dragged into a deplorable captivity.
Not withstanding that these aggrcflions were entirely unprovok
ed, yet as soon as the war ceased with Great-Britain, the Untied
States, instead of indulging any rcfentments againil the Indian
nations, fought only how to ellablifh a liberal peace with all the
tribes throughout their limits.
Early measures were accordingly taken for this purpose. A
treaty was held, and a peace concluded, in the veer 1784, with
the holt'le part of the notthern Indians, or Six Nations, at Fort-
Stanwix.
In January 1 785, another treaty was formed with part of the
weftera tribes, at Fort M'lntofh, on the Ohio ; to wit, with the
"W vandots, Deiawares, Ottawas,and Chippewas.
During the fame year, treaties were formed at Hopewell, on
the Keowee, with all the powerful tribes of the south, excepting
theCieeks; to wit, the Chcrokees, the Cho&aws, and Chicka
faws.
In January 1786, a treaty was formed with the Shawanefe, at
\he confluence of the Great Miami with the Ohio.
It was not long before certain turbulent and malignant charac
ters, residing among some of the nonhern and Weflcrn tribes,
"which had formed the treaties ot F'>rt. Stanwix and Fort M'ln
tolh, excited uneasiness and complaints againlt those treaties. In
consequence of representations upon this fubjett, 00 the sth of
October, 1787, Congress directed, " That a general treaty thould
be held with the tribes ot Indians within the limits of the United
States, inhabiting the country north-well of the Ohio and about
Ldkc Erie, as soon after the full ot April next as conveniently
iritght be,and at such place and at such paiiicular time as the
Governor of the Wettern Territory (hould appoint, for the pur
pofrs of knowing the causes oftineaiinefs among the said tiibes,
and hearing their Complaints ; of regalattng trade, and amicably
fettling all affairs concerning lar»<ls an,d boundaries between them
and the United States."
41 P° l^e econ d day of JuH, 1788, Congrsfs appropriated !< t!ie
um of twenty thoufai.d dollars, in itldition to fourteen thou
dollars before appropriated, for defraying theexpenc?s of
the treaties which have be 11 ordered, or which be or
dered to be held in the then present year with the federal Indi
an tr:bts in the Noithern Department, and for cxtinguiihiog
the Indian claims ; rhewholeot the laid twenty thouimd dol
lars, together with fix thouland dollars ot the fyid fourteen
thousand dollars, to be applied foltlv 10 the purp;»fe of cxtin
gu'fhmg Indian claims to the lands they have already ceded
to the United States, by obtaining regular conveyances for the
lame, and toi extending a purchase beyond the limits hereto-
tore fixed bv treaty ; but that no part of the said sums Ihouid
be applied tor any other purpose other than those above men
** tioned."
Accordingly new treaties were held at Fort Harmar the latter
part of the year 1788, and concluded on the ninth dav of January,
*789, with a representation of all the Six or Northern Nations, the
1 o hawks excepted—and with a representation of the following
enhes, to wit. the Wyandots, the D,' Wares, Octawas, Chvppa
aa, Pdttiwatamas, and Sacs.—By these treaties, nearly the lame
oan aries wrp recognized and eftabliflied bv a principle of bur
c ' tje, as had been stipulated bv the former treaties of Fort Stan
w.xand Fort M 4 Intofh.
j u* careful and attentive- was the Government 6f the United
fates to Settle a boundary with the Indians on the basis of fair
, too >viate the diffnisfaftiorrs which had been excited, and
equitable * 5 ' anc^s r llxcd on the principle ot
It:docs not.appear that the <ight of the Northern and Wcftern
Ia Wn u° orrnct^*^. e before mentioned treaties to the
1 ! lcre y relmquiflird to the United States, has been quefti
y an\ other tribes; nor does it appear that the ptefent wdr
T C r f,hyanvdlf P' IIC relatively to the boundaries
tiiabhfhtd by the laid treaties.
Ut .^ ie . con J TS * rv it appears, that the unnrnvok'-d
e . iami an 1 Waba h Indians upon Kentucky and other
pans ot the tronlicrc, together with their alfociates, a banduu,
G. WASHINGTON.
Wednesday, February i, 175? 2.
formed of Shawanefe, and nufcaft Cherokee*, amounting in all to
about one thousand two hundred men, arc solely ihe causes of the
war. Hencc it is proper that their condutt (h'ould be more parti
cularly adverted to
In the year j7B j, when medages were frnt to the Wyandot*
and Delaware*, inviting them to meet the Commiflioners, firit at
Cavahoga, and afterwards at Fort M'lntofh, their neighbours the
Miami Indians were also included in the fame invitation ; but they
d d not attend.
Iri the vear 1785 these invitations were repeated ; but the mefTen
gers noon th-ir arrival at vhe Miami village, had their horses itol
en, were other wife treated with insolence, and prevented fulfilling
their mijfion.
In the years 1787 and 1788, new endeavours were used to bring
those Indians to neat : were urged 10 be present at a treaty
appointed to be held at FortHarmar ; but these endeavors proved
as fruitlefs as all ihe former.
" At a council ol the tribes, convened in 1788, at the Miami
river, the Miami and Wab-ash Indians were press d to repair to
the treaty with great earnetlnefsbv the chiefs of the Wyandots and
Delawares : the Wyandot chiefs in particular presented them with
<t large belt of wampum, holding one end ot :t themselves, and
offering the other tothehoUile Indians, which wasrefufed. The
Wyandots tt»e-n laid it on the (bouldersof a principal chie'f,recom
mending to him to be at peace with the Americans ; but without
making any answer, he leaned himfelf and let it fail to the ground :
this so difpleated the Wyandots, that they immediately left the
council house."
In the mean time the frontier settlements were disquieted by
frequent depredations and murders, and (he complaints of their
inhabitants, (as -might be expected) ot tbe pacific forbearance of
the government, were loud, repraicd, and diflrelling---their calls
for protection mediant—till at length they appeared determihed
by their own efforts to endeavor to retaliate the injuries they were
continually receiving, and which had become intolerable.
In thi* (lateof things it was for the Government
to make some decifivcexertion for the peace and fecuriiy of the
frontiers.
But notwithstanding the ill fucce r s of former experiments, and
the invincible spirit ot animosity which had appeared in certain
tribes, and which was of a nature to juljtify a perfuafiou that 110
impreflion,could be made upon them by pacific expedients, it
was still deemed advifeable to make one moreeflTiy.
Accordingly in April 1790, Anthony Gamelin, an inhabitant
of Port Vinecnnes, and a man of good chara&er, was dispatched
to all the tribes and villages of the Wabafh river, and to the In
dians of the Miami village, with a meflage purporting, that the
United States w< re desirous of eft-:ibliftiin~ a general peace with
all the neighboring tribes of Indians, and of treating them in all
rcfpe&s with perkft humanity and kindnefs,and at the fame time
wani.ng them to abitain from further depredations.
The Indians in some of the villages on the lower part of the
Wabafh, appeared to Mien to him, others manifeflcd a different
disposition, otheis confrlTed their inability to reft rain their young
warriors, arid all referred the meiTenger to the Indians at rhc
M 1 ami village. At that village some appeared well aifpofed, but
rhe chiefs of the Sha wanefe returnee the mefTagcs and belts, in
forming the raeflfenger however, that they would, alter confuta
tion, within thirty nights, fend an answer to Pail-Vincennes—
The promised answer was never received. While the mefiiVnger
was at the Miami village, two negroes were brought in from our
settlements, prisoners ; and upon his return to L'Anguille, a
chief informed him that a party of seventy warriors, from the
more diflant Indians, had airived, and were gone againlt the set
tlements.
In three days after his departure from the Miami village, a pri
soner was there burnt to death. Similar cruelties were cxerciied
at the Ouittanon towns, about the fame time ; and in the course
of the three months immediately alter the last .mentioned invita
tion, upwards of one hundred persons were killed, wounded,
and taken pri Toilers upon the Ohio, and in thediftnft of Ken
tucky.
It is to he remarked, that previous to the last invitation, the
people ot Kentucky who, in confi-quence of their injuries, were
meditating a blow against the hostile Indians fas before intimated)
were restrained by the Prcfident of the United States, from cr-of
imp the Ohio, until the effe6t of the friendly overture intended
to be inade should be known.
It is also to be observed, that the Wyandots and Delawares,
after having frequently and fruitlessly endeavored to influence the
Miami and Wabash Indians to peace; upon mature convic
tion finally declared that force only could etfe'ft the object.
As an evidence that the cond u£l of the hostile Indians has been
occaTioiv d by 01 her motives than a claim relatively to bounda
ries— it is 'o be observed, that their depredations have been prin
cipally upou the diftriffc of Kentucky, and the counties of Virgi
nia, lying along the fouih fide of the Ohio, a country to whicti
they have no claim.
It appears by evident, that from the year 1783.
until the inor.'h of October, 1790, the time the United SVaicS
commenced oftenfive operations against the said Indians, that on
the Onio, and the frontieis on the foutb (Id' thereof, they killed,
wounded and took prisoners, about one thousand five hundred
men, women and children; besides carrying off upv- aids of two
thousand horses, and other property to the amount of fifty thou
fend dollars.
The particulars of the barbarities exercised upon many of their
pri Toners, of different ages and sexes, although supported by in
disputable evidence, are v of too (hoCkiiYg a nuture to be presented
to the public. It is futficient upon this head to observe, that the
tomahawk and Icalping-knife have been the ihildeft instrument*
of death. That in some cases torture by fire, and other execra
ble means have been used.
But the outrages which were committed upon the frontier in
habitants were not the only injuries that were fufbined : repeated
attacks upon detachments of the troops of the United States were,
at different times, made. The following from its peculiar enor
mity deserves recital. —In April, 1790, Major Doughty was or
dered to the friendly C'mckafaws on public bulinefs. He per
formed this duty in a boat, having with him Eniigri Sedam, and
a party of fifteen men. White attending the Teneflee river, he
was met by a party of forty Indians in four canoes, confiding
principally of the aforefaid banditti of Shawanef*, and outcaik
Cherokees. They aoptoached under a white flag, the well known
emblem of peace. They came on board the Major's boat, re
ceived his presents, continued with him nearly one hour, and
then departed in the moll friendly manner. But, they had scarce-
Iv cleared his oars, before they poured in a fire upon his crew,
which was returned as soon as oircu«ullances wuuld permit, and
317
$&tso
[Whole No. 288.]
a unequal combat was sustained for feveial hours, when
they abandoned their defton, but not until they had killed and
wounded eleven out of fifteen of the boat's crew. This perfidi
ous condufl, in any age, would have demanded exemplary pun*
illiment. 1 v
All overtures of peace failing, and the depredations still con
tinuing, an attempt at coercion became indifpenfible. Accord,
ingly the expedition under Brigadier General Harrnar, in the
month of October, 1.790, was dircfted. The event is known.
After this expedition theGovernpr of the Western Territory,
in order that nothing might be omitted, to effect a peace without
further conflitf, did, on his arrival at Fort Harmar, in December,
179?, lend through the Wyandots and Delaware* conciliatory
met! ages to the Miami's, but still without etfed.
The Cornplanter, a war chief ot the Senekas and other Indians
of the fame tribe, being in Philadelphia in the monih of Febru
ry, 179: , were engaged to undertake to impress the hostile In
dians with the conferences of their persisting in hoftiluies, and
alio of the justice and moderation of the United States.
In pursuance of this Procter, on the fourteenth of
March, was feat to the Cornplanter to hasten his departure, and
to accompany him to the Miami village — .\nd messages were sent
to the Indians declaratory of the pacific sentiments of the United
Siates towards them. But both Col. Proper and the Cornplanter,
although zealouily desirous of executing their mifliori, cncouu
tered difficulties of a particular nature, which weie insurmounta
ble, and prevented the execution of their orders.
General St. Clair, in the month o! April, Cent medals
from Fort Harmar 10 the Dela wares, expressive of the pacific dt
figns of the United States, to all tbe Indian tribes/
A treaty was held at the Painttd-Poil by Col. Pickering, in
Jane, 1791, with a part of the Six Nations, at which the humane
• intentions of the General Government towards them particularly,
and the Indian tribes generally, were fulta explaihed.
Captain Hendricks, a refpedable Indian refidmg with tbe
Oneidas, appearing zealously dilpofed to attempt convincing the
hoftil Indians ot th■ ir milfaken conduit, was accordingly sent
for that purpose, but was fruftiated by unforefecn obstacles, in
his laudable attempt's.
Ihe different measures which have been recited must evince,
that notwuhftanding the highly culpable condutt of the Indians
in question, the government of the United States, uninfluenced by
relentment, or any fa lie principles which might arise from a con
sciousness of superiority, adopted eveiv proper expedieni to ter
minate the Indian hMtiluies, without having tecourfe to the last
extremity ; and, after being compelled to reUrt to it, has still
kept steadily in view the rc-eftablilhment of peace as its primaiv
and sole object.
Were it neceffaty to add proofs of the pacific and humane dis
positions of Ihe General Government towards the Indian tribes,
the treaties with the Creeks, and with the Cherokees, be
cued as demonflrative of its moderation and liberality.
The present partial Indian wai is a remnant of the late general
war, continued by a numb r of ftparate banditti, who, by the
inct'fTant pra£lice of fifteen years; seem to have formed inveterate
and incurable habits of enmity against the frontier inhabitants of
the United States.
To obtain protection against laWlefj violence, was a main ob
jefil for which the present government was iiiftunted. It ii, ii»-
a main objefi ot all governments. A frontier citizen pof
feflcsas strong clairmui prote&ion as any other citizen. The
frorticrsare the vulnerable parts 6f every Crtuirtry ; and the obli
gation of the government of the United States, to afford thd- it
quifite prote&ion, cannot be lels sacred in reference to tlic in
habitantsof their Wellern, than to those of ffieif Atlantic "Frpn
tier. T.
It will appear from a candid review of this filbjeft, .that the
General Government could 110 longer abstain from attempting to
pumlh the hostile Indians.
Theill fucceis ol the attempts for this purpose, is entirely un
connected with the justice or policy of the hieafure. A penfe
verance in exertions to make the refraSory Indians at laftleftflbfe,
that they cannot continue their enormous outrages with impunity,
-appears to be as in the existing poflure of things,
it will be advifeabie, whenever they shall manifeit symptoms
more amicable difpofitidn, to convince them, by decilive g>roofs,
that nothing is so much desired by the United States as to life at
liberty to treat thein with kindness and beneficence. f-
War Department, Jan. 26, 1792
FROM THE QUEBEC HERALD,
0,0 E B EC, November aB.
Extrafl from the Chief Juflice's charge 10 the Grand
Jury, 2Jth Nov. 1791. SeJJions of Oyer and Ter
miner at Quckec.
1 REMARK it with pleasure, that for two
years palt, there has been a great redutfiion of
the lift ef criminal prosecutions in all parts of
the province. If Grand Juries have not been in
fault, we may presume that the virtue of our fel
low citizens is on the increase. It adds to the
confolaiion, that it does no: seem to be imputa
ble merely to terror, the government of the coun
try for the last five years, having mingled mercy
and judgment very frequently ; but with so sa
gacious a discernment, that the great clemency
dispensed, may perhaps be reckoned among the
causes of these restraints upon vice.
Happier still, if the reformation of our coun
try, shall keep pace with the blelfings recently
poured out upon ir, by the benignity of our So
vereign, and the liberality of his Parliament.
What their number and extent, the molt fer
tile and hell informed mind, can neither enume
rate nor ascertain, faffice it to remark, that the
political frame erecfied for your prosperity, be
ing 011 the model, as nearly as our condition will
permit, of that conltitntion which has made En
gland t4re admiration of the world, it niuft be
H. KNOX,
Secretary oj War.