Goshen Central High School - Yearbook (Goshen, NY)

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16 THE PIONEER met in a battle where the city of Elmira now stands. The Indians were routed and fled in the direction of Fort Niagara, while the work of destroying the deserted village continued. At last the work was done and General Sullivan looked about him in triumph. The once happy and beautiful scene was gone forever and all that remained to show that man had ever lived there were the piles of blackened ashes. Such warfare may seem cruel to us but it was no more than retaliation, and it was necessary if the white man was to control the country. The two races were totally different not only in character but also in the manner of living and one country was not large enough to hold both of them. The forests were necessary to the Indian for from them he gained his pleasure and living. He was content to spend his life in fighting, hunting and other savage pleasures, and never bettered his conditions, enough at least to compare with the white man. On the other hand the white man was the forerunner of development, and as he advanced he cleared away the forests and began to cultivate the land. As the forests disappeared the redman went with them and their few descendants whom we see on the reservations today are but a sorry remnant of a once flourishing race. It seems to be a law of nature that the world shall belong to the people who make the best use of it and there can be no doubt in our minds that it was best for our country that the white man should control it. EVERETT M. VINCENT. THE GREATEST CONFEDERATION OF THE AMERICAN ABORIGINES, IROQUOIS. HEN the Caucasian race first entered the primeval forests of the Empire State they found it already populated with two great Indian families. These two Indian organizations were the Iroquois and the Algonquins. The Algonquins held all of the Hudson River valley, the highlands below the Catskill mountains, and all of Long Island, being closely related to the New England Indians. The Iroquois inhabited the central and westerly part of the State of New York, from the Adriondack mountains in the north to Katzberg in the south and westward as far as the County of Erie. The Iroquois originally consisted of only five tribes: the Mohawk, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas and the Senecas; but in 1712 the Tuscaroras were admitted to the league, which now adopted the name of “Six Nations. Of the Iroquois nations mentioned, five were already in New York when Champlain and Hudson entered it in 1609. The Mohawk had come by way of Lake Champlain from the north; the Oneidas from the same direction, apparently leaving the St. Lawrence at the Oswegatchie river and tarrying in that region for a time; the Onondagas had gradually migrated from Jefferson County to the Oswego and Seneca rivers, hastening their movements and seeking the hills farther south when the war broke out in the 16th century; the Cayugas and Senecas had come by way of Niagara river much earlier than this, moving eastward unmolested. West of the Iroquois were the Erics and Cattaraugus; to the northwest were the Neutrals, known by that name because they seldom went to war; on the remaining sides, they were surrounded by the Algonquins. The Iroquois, in some measure, owed their triumphs to the position of their country from which several great rivers and the inland oceans of the northern lakes opened ready thoroughfares to their roving warriors through all the adjacent wilderness. But the true foundation of their success was in their own inherent energies, wrought to the most effective action under a political fabric well suited for the Indian life. In their scheme of government, as in their social customs and religious observances, the Iroquois displayed in full symmetry and matured strength, the same characteristics which in other tribes are found distorted, withered, decayed to the root, or, perhaps, faintly visible in an imperfect germ. To each tribe belonged an orgnnization of its own. Each had several Sachems, who, with subordinate chiefs and principal men, regulated all its internal affairs; but when foreign powers were to be treated with, or matters involving the whole confederacy required deliberation, all the Sachems of the several tribes convened in general assembly at the great council house in the valley of the Onondagas. Here ambassadors were received, alliances were adjusted, and all subjects of general interest discussed with exemplary harmony. The order of debate was prescribed by time-honored customs; and, in the fiercest heat of controversy, the assembly maintained its iron self-control. But the main story of Iroquois polity was the system of totemship. It was this which gave the structure its elastic strength; and but for this, a mere confederacy of jealous and warlike tribes must soon have been rent asunder by shocks from without or discord from within. The whole confederacy irrespective of their separation into tribes, consisted of eight totemic clans; and the members of each clan, to whatever nation they belonged, were mutually bound to one another by those close ties of fraternity which mark this singular institution. The names of the principal clans wcrs the Bear, the Wolf, the Turtle, the Deer, the Eagle and the Herons. A peculiar but very powerful element of the legislature of the whole confederacy was formed by the matrons. They sat in the assemblies and had an absolute veto in questions of war and peace. The Indian believed in a future life, a happy hunting ground, where he would be accompanied by his dog, would need his bow and arrow and hatchet, and where his occupation would be similar to that of this life, except that all care and sorrow, and toil that wearies, would be removed. The religion of the red man was an ever present consciousness; he prayed when he sat down to meal and when he arose; he prayed when he went on

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THE PIONEER 15 hawk. The Iroquois also agreed to this proposal but with darkened countenances. The first pair of wrestlers struggled furiously and when the Iroquois finally succeeded in throwing his opponent to the ground, he refused to kill him. At once the maddened chief of the Eries hurled his tomahawk through the air with unerring aim and scattered the brains of his defeated kinsman. After this scene was twice repeated, the Iroquois in each case refusing to kill his opponent, the visitors withdrew from the field and returned home. War was immediately declared by the Eries and the five nations prepared for the defence. The two armies are said to have met between the Genesee River and Lake Cayuga and the battle raged all day and far into the night, with terrible fury on both sides. At last victory began to swing to the side of the Iroquois, but the brave Eries preferring death to defeat refused to fly and the awful carnage went on. Insane with the delirium of victory the conquerers pressed on to the chief town of the Eries. They scaled the walls and fell upon the defenders killing them without mercy, and when they finally ceased it was because they were alone, the Eries had been wiped out of existence. Such was also the fate of the Hurons, the Wyan-dots and the “ Neutral Nation. To the south the Delawares, Lenapes and other Alogonquin tribes were overcome one after the other, and toward the north the Ottowas and Canadians were continually harassed by these invaders. So the confederacy extended its conquests to the north, south, east and west, until at the time with which we are chiefly concerned the opening of the war of the Revolution, the Iroquoian confederacy was a recognized power and an ally of the greatest importance to either party in the coming struggle. A history of the ' five nations especially in connection with the revolution would not be complete without mentioning the name of a man who will always be associated with the name Iroquois. I refer to Sir William Johnson. He came to this country a poor lad and established himself in a trading post near the point where the Mohawk river enters the Hudson. Here by honest dealing and by always giving the Indian a little the best of the bargain, as the Indian thought, he gained a profitable fur trade with them, and what was far more important, the lasting friendship of these redmen. An Iroquois was always sure of a good meal and a warm place to sleep in the mansion of this friend of theirs and it is not strange that his word, which was faithfully kept when given, soon became as law to those simple minded children of the forest. Presently the first murmurs of the coming revolution were heard in the air and one of the questions of the greatest importance to both parties was which side the Iroquois would take in the coming struggle. The Mohawk and Champlain valleys offered splendid openings to the British for the invasion of the colonies and these openings would be impassable if blocked by a nation of treacherous redmen. As well as this, the addition of the warriors to the British fighting force would be a very appreciable gain in strength, for, while the British were attacking the colonies from the sea the Indians would harass them on the frontier, and so the colonies between two fires would fall. The Americans on the other hand, only asked the Indians to remain neutral and this the greater part of them finally agreed to do. As the struggle went on, the Indians aroused by the fighting and being continually exhorted to join with the English by Sir William Johnson, began to waver in their determination to remain neutral. Small pariies began to slip away secretly to join with the English and soon the greater part of the Mohawk nation was fighting in the British army. Now one of the greatest leaders in the history of the five nations appeared and his influence soon became noticeable in the attitude of the Indians. Joseph Brant, the son of Indian parents, had received most of his education among English people and the combination of his Indian characteristics; cunning, cruelty and reckless daring with the knowledge of fighting received from his English friends made him an especially dangerous leader of the redmen. Although he spoke English fluently, possessed many characteristics of the white man, and even professed to be a Christian, there was never a crueler, more blood-thirsty wretch at the head of a band of Indians bent on murder and destruction. Soon reports began to come in of insolated cabins being attacked, the inmates killed or what was far worse being carried of? to undergo torment at the hands of the savages, and of other outrages committed by the Indians. During the darkest days of the revolution when the American cause seemed most hopeless, came the news of the destruction of Wyoming, Cherry Valley and many other small towns and villages. Even we know something of these terrible days for the battle of Minisink was fought not very far from our homes against part of these very Indians. The patience of the colonists soon came to an end and in 1779 they determined to make a final attempt to put a stop to these outrages. Gen. Sullivan was sent into the country of the five nations at the head of an army to conquer and drive out the savages. As the army advanced no show of resistance was met and the vengeance of the soldiers instead of being wreaked on the Indians themselves was turned upon their homes and fields. The trail of the army could easily be followed for under its hand the country changed as if by magic to one terrible color— black. The homes, forts, crops; everything was destroyed by the merciless invaders and it is said that even the fruit trees were hewn down by the soldiers who had not forgotten the destruction of their own homes a short time before. The Indians could only look upon this work of devastation in helpless rage and their vengeance was taken in unnameable tortures committed upon unfortunate stragglers whom they captured. At last the leaders of the Indians decided to make a last stand and the two armies

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THE PIONEER 17 the chase and when waging war upon his fellow men. His religion, however, was grossly corrupted with superstitions. He believed that spirits dwelled in animals, in trees, and in everything about him. His imagination peopled the air and the water and the forests with living, invisible creatures, and often filled him with superstitous dread. He worshipped the Great Spirit; he worshiped the sun and the stars, the rivers and the mountains, but he did not bow down to that which he had made with his own hands. In one respect the religion of the Iroquois differed from that of almost all other people. He did not look upon himself as a sinner in the sight of the Great Being. His tribe may have offended as a whole, but he did not feel a personal responsibility, nor did he believe that his future happiness depended in any way upon his actions in life. He followed the dictates of his own conscience with the utmost exactness; and while his conscience, which was based on tribal custom and not upon religion, bade him to be honest and kind in his dealings with his own people, it permitted him to steal from his enemy, to destroy his property, and to torture him to death. The dwellings and works of defense of the Iroquois were far from contemptible, either in their dimensions or in their structure. Along the banks of the Mohawk, among the hills and hollows of the Onondaga, in the forests of Oneida and Cayuga, on the romatic shores of Seneca Lake, and the rich borders of the Genesee, surrounded by waving maize fields, and encircled from afar by the green margin of the forest, stood the ancient strongholds of the confederacy. The clustering dwellings were encompassed by triple rows of palisades, pierced with loopholes; furnished with platforms within, for the convenience of the defenders; with magazines of stones, to hurl upon the heads of the enemy; and, with water conductors to extinguish any fire which might be kindled without. The area which these defenses enclosed was often several acres in extent, and the dwellings, ranged in order within, were sometimes more than a hundred feet in length. Posts, firmly driven into the ground, with an intervening frame-work of poles, formed the basis of the structure; and its sides and arched roof were closely covered with layers of elm bark. Each of the larger dwellings contained several distinct families, whose separate fires were built along the central space, while compartments on each side, like the stalls of a stable, afforded so me degree of privacy. Here rude couches were prepared, and bear and deer skins spread; while above, the ripened ears of maize, suspended in rows, formed a golden tapestry. In the long evenings of midwinter, when in the wilderness without the trees cracked with biting cold, and the forest paths were clogged with snow, then around the lodge-fires of the Iroquois, warriors, squaws, and restless, naked children were clustered in social groups, each dark face brightening in the fickle firelight, while, with jest and laugh, the pipe passed round from hand to hand. The chase, the warpath, the dance, the festival, the game of hazard, the race of political ambition, all had their votaries. When the assembled Sachems had resolved on war against some foreign tribe, and when, from their great council-house of bark, in the valley of the Onondaga, their messengers had gone forth to invite the warriors to arms, then from east to west, through the farthest bounds of the confederacy, a thousand warlike hosts caught up the summons with glad alacrity. With fasting and praying, and consulting dreams and omens; with invoking the war god, and dancing the frantic war-dance, the warriors sought to insure the triumph of their arms; and, these strange rites concluded, they began their stealthy progress, full of confidence, through the devious pathways of the forest. For days and weeks, in anxious expectation, the villagers await the result, and now, as evening closes, a shrill, wild cry, pealing from afar, over the darkening forest, proclaims the return of the victorious warriors. The village is alive with sudden commotion; and snatching sticks and stones, knives and hatchets, men, women and children, yelling like fiends let loose, swarm out of the narrow portal, to visit upon the miserable captives a foretaste of the deadlier torments in store for them. And now, the black arches of the forest glow with the fires of death; and with brandished torch and firebrand the frenzied multitude close around their victim. The pen shrinks to write, the heart sickens to conceive the fierceness of his agony, yet still, amid the din of his tormentors, rises the captive’s clear voice of scorn and defiance. The work is done, the blackened trunk is flung to the dogs, and with clamorous shouts and hootings, the murderers seek to drive away the spirit of their victim. The Iroquois reckoned these barbarities among their most exquisite enjoyments, and yet they had other sources of pleasure, which made up in frequency and in innocence all that they lacked in intensity. Each passing season had its feasts and dances, often'mingling religion with social pastimes. Foremost in war, foremost in eloquence, foremost in their savage arts of policy, stood the fierce people called by themselves the Hodeuosaunee, and by the French the Iroquois. They extended their conquests and their depredations from Quebec to the Carolinas; and from the western prairies to the forests of Maine; on the south, they forced trouble from the subjugated Delewares, and pierced the mountain forests of the Cherokees with incessant forays. On the north, they uprooted the ancient settlements of the Wyandots. On the west, they exterminated the Eries and the Andastes, and spread havoc and dismay among the tribes of the Illinois; and on the east, the Indians of New England fled at the first peal of the Mohawk war-cry. Nor was it the Indian race alone who quailed before their ferocious valor. All Canada shook with the desolating fury of their onset, the people fled to the forts for refuge; the blood-besmeared conquerors roamed like wolves among the burning settlements, and the youthful colony trembled on the brink of ruin.