they were such; but they are now my children; eat their victuals out of one and the same bowl! which was saying as much as, that they, in all respects, were on an equal footing with his own children-alike dear to him." Though of small stature, the same author observes, he had a great mind. The wife of this chief died in 1762. She was of the highest rank and respectability; and the ceremonies at her funeral, and manner of decoration and interment, described here, would occupy several pages.* In the time of the French war, when the governor of Pennsylvania sent C. F. Post to the distant tribes to persuade them from aiding the French, mention is often made in the journal which he kept, of Shingis, and uniformly to his advantage. The Reverend Mr. Post performed two missions, the first at the close of 1758, and the second in 1759. Under date of 28 August, 1758, he writes, "We set out from Sawcunk in company with 20, for Kushcushkec; on the road Shingas addressed himself to me, and asked, if I did not think, that if he came to the English they would hang him, as they had offered a great reward for his head. I told him that was a great while ago, 'twas all forgotten and wiped away now." An Indian in the company, called Shamokin Daniel, who had been tampered with by the French, understanding what was said, interrupted and said, "Don't believe him, he tells nothing but idle lying stories," and asked, "Why then did the English hire 1200 Indians (meaning the Cherokees] to kill us?" Mr. Post protesting it was false, Daniel vociferated, G―d d-n you for a fool; did you not see the woman lying in the road that was killed by the Indians that the English hired?" After a few other harsh expressions, Shingis told him to be still, for he did not know what he said." Mr. Post dined with Shingis on the 29 August, at which time he observed to him, that although the English had offered a great reward for his head, yet he had never thought to revenge himself, but was always very kind to such prisoners as were brought in, and that he would do all in his power to bring about a peace, and wished he could be sure the English were in earnest for peace also. Although the name of Shingis has not generally been as conspicuous as that of Captain Jacobs, yet he is said to have been "the greatest Delaware warrior of his time," and that, "were his war exploits on record, they would form an interesting document, though a shocking one."‡ Hendrick was a gallant Mohawk chief, who took part, with many of his men, against the French, in the year 1755. The French were encouraged by the defeat of General Braddock, and were in high expectation of carrying all before them. Hendrick joined the English army at the request of General Johnson, and met the French, consisting of 2000 men, under General Dieskau at Lake George. While the English and Indians were encamped in a slight work, their scouts brought news of the approach of the French, with a great body of Indians upon their flanks. General Johnson despatched Colonel Williams of Massachusetts, with 1000 men, and Hendrick with 200 of his warriors, to give them battle; but falling in with them about four miles from camp unexpectedly, Colonels Williams and Hendrick were killed, with many other officers and privates of the detachment. The rest fled to the main body with great precipitation, infusing consternation into the whole army. The French followed closely, and poured in a tremendous fire, which did very little execution, from the precaution of the English in falling flat upon their faces. They soon recovered from their surprise, and fought with bravery, having advantage not only in numbers, but artillery, of which the French had none.] At length the brave Dieskau was wounded in the thigh, and his Indians, being terrified at the havoc made by the cannon of the English, fled to the woods, and the regulars were ordered to retreat by their general, which they did in great disorder. General Dieskau was found in the pursuit, supporting himself by the stump of a tree. Supposing plunder to be the first object of For which see Heckewelder's Hist. Ind. Nations, 264, &c. + Reprinted in "The Causes of the Alienation," &c., and Proud's Pa., vol. 2d. The English lost about 200 in this ambush. Guthrie's Universal History, x. 94. 40 HENDRICK.-KILLED IN BATTLE.-ANECDOTE. [BOOK V. his captors, as he was attempting to draw his watch to present to them, some one, supposing him to be searching for his pistol, discharged his gun into his hips. Notwithstanding he was thus twice wounded, he lived to reach England, but he died soon after. The French lost 800 men in the attack. When General Johnson was about to detach Colonel Williams, he asked Hendrick's opinion, whether the force was sufficient. To which he replied, "If they are to fight, they are too few. If they are to be killed, they are too many.” And when it was proposed to divide the detachment into three parts, Hendrick objected, and forcibly to express the impracticability of the plan, picked up three sticks, and, putting them together, said to the general, "You see now that these cannot be easily broken; but take them one by one, and you may break them at once." But from this valuable counsel very little advantage seems to have been derived. It was reported at the time, that 38 of Hendrick's men were killed, and 12 wounded. Few historians mention the loss of the Indians; probably considering them as unworthy of record! Such historians may be forgotten. At least, they cannot expect to pass under that name in another age. The Indians were greatly exasperated against the French, “by the death of the famous Hendrick," says the same writer, "a renowned Indian warrior among the Mohawks, and one of their sachems, or kings, who was slain in the battle, and whose son, upon being told that his father was killed, giving the usual Indian groan upon such occasions, and suddenly putting his hand on his left breast, swore his father was still alive in that place, and stood there in his son that it was with the utmost difficulty, General Johnson prevented the fury of their resentment taking place on the body of the French general."+ As soon as the battle was over, the Indians dispersed themselves in various directions, with the trophies of victory; some to their homes, to condole with the friends of the slain, and some to the English, to carry the welcome news of victory. The different runners brought into Albany above 80 scalps within a very short time after the fight. And thus we are furnished with an early record of the wretched custom which appears to have been fostered, and actually encouraged by all who have employed the Indians as auxiliaries in war. Indeed to employ them, was to employ their practices—they were inseparable. To talk, as some have done, of employing them, and preventing their barbarous customs with the unfortunate captives, all experience shows, is but to talk one thing and mean another. Soon after Sir William Johnson entered upon his duties as superintendent of Indian affairs in North America, he received from England some richly embroidered suits of clothes. Hendrick was present when they were received, and could not help expressing a great desire for a share in them. He went away very thoughtful, but returned not long after, and called upon Sir William, and told him he had dreamed a dream. Sir William very concernedly desired to know what it was. Hendrick as readily told him he had dreamed that Sir William Johnson had presented him with one of his new suits of uniform. Sir William could not refuse it, and one of the elegant suits was forthwith presented to Hendrick, who went away to show his present to his countrymen, and left Sir William to tell the joke to his friends. Some time after, the general met Hendrick, and told him he had dreamed a dream. Whether the sachem mistrusted that he was now to be taken in his own net, or not, is not certain: but he seriously desired to know what it was, as Sir William had done before. The general said he dreamed that Hendrick had presented him with a certain tract of land, which he described, (consisting of about 500 acres of the most valuable land in the valley of the Mohawk River.) Hendrick_answered, "It is yours;" but, shaking his head, said, “Sir William Johnson, I will never dream with you again." John Konkapot, a Stockbridge Indian, was grandson to Hendrick, and he informs us that his grandfather was son of the Wolf, a Mohegan chief, and that his mother was a Mohawk.§ Reverend Gideon Hawley, in a letter to Governor Hutchinson (1770) about the Marshpee Indians, has this passage: * Gent, Magazine for 1755. Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. + Ibid. Ibid. "Among Johnson's Mohawks, Abraham and Hendrick were the oldest of their tribe, when they died, and neither of them was 70, at their deaths. I saw a sister of theirs in 1765, who appeared to be several years above 70. At Stockbridge, Captain Kunkapot was for many years the oldest man in his tribe."* We have now come to one of the most noted chiefs in Indian story. Logan was called a Mingo † chief, whose father, Shikellimus, was chief of the Cayugas, whom he succeeded. Shikellimus was attached in a remarkable degree to the benevolent James Logan, from which circumstance, it is probable, his son bore his name. The name is still perpetuated among the Indians. For magnanimity in war, and greatness of soul in peace, few, if any, in any nation, ever surpassed Logan. He took no part in the French wars which ended in 1760, except that of a peacemaker; was always acknowledged the friend of the white people, until the year 1774, when his brother and several others of his family were murdered, the particulars of which follow. In the spring of 1774, some Indians robbed the people upon the Ohio River, who were in that country exploring the lands, and preparing for settlements. These land-jobbers were alarmed at this hostile carriage of the Indians, as they considered it, and collected themselves at a place called Wheeling Creek, the site on which Wheeling is now built, and, learning that there were two Indians on the river a little above, one Captain Michael Cresap, belonging to the exploring party, proposed to fall upon and kill them. His advice, although opposed at first, was followed, and a party led by Cresap proceeded and killed the two Indians. The same day, it being reported that some Indians were discovered below Wheeling upon the river, Cresap and his party immediately marched to the place, and at first appeared to show themselves friendly, and suffered the Indians to pass by them unmolested, to encamp still lower down, at the mouth of Grave Creek. Cresap soon followed, attacked and killed several of them, having one of his own men wounded by the fire of the Indians. Here some of the family of Logan were slain. The circumstance of the affair was exceeding aggravating, inasmuch as the whites pretended no provocation. Soon after this, some other monsters in human shape, at whose head were Daniel Greathouse and one Tomlinson, committed a horrid murder upon a company of Indians about thirty miles above Wheeling. Greathouse resided at the same place, but on the opposite side of the river from the Indian encampment. A party of thirty-two men were collected for this object, who secreted themselves, while Greathouse, under a pretence of friendship, crossed the river and visited them, to ascertain their strength; on counting them, he found they were too numerous for his force in an open attack. These Indians, having heard of the late murder of their relations, had determined to be avenged of the whites, and Greathouse did not know the danger he was in, until a squaw advised him of it, in a friendly caution, "to go home." The sad requital this poor woman met with will presently appear. This abominable fellow invited the Indians to come over the river and drink rum with him; this being a part of his plot to separate them, that they might be the easier destroyed. The opportunity soon offered; a number being collected at a tavern in the white settlement, and considerably intoxicated, were fallen upon, and all murdered, except a little girl. Among the murdered was a brother of Logan, and his sister, whose delicate situation greatly aggravated the horrid crime. The remaining Indians, upon the other side of the river, on hearing the firing, set off two canoes with armed warriors, who, as they approached the shore, were fired upon by the whites, who lay concealed, awaiting their approach. Nothing prevented their taking deadly aim, and many were killed and wounded, and the rest were obliged to return. This affair took place May 24th, 1774.§ These were the events that led to a horrid Indian *Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. 3. i. 151. Mengwe, Maquas, Maqua, or Iroquos all mean the same. "In the month of April, 1774, a rumor was circulated, that the Indians had stolen several horses from some land-jobbers on the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers; no evidences of the fact having been adduced, lead to the conclusion that the report was false." Doddridge's Notes. 225-6. Facts published in Jefferson's Notes. |