The American Indians / Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts

by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

Adario, a celebrated chief of the Wyandot nation, who was at the height of his usefulness and reputation, about 1690. He was able in the councils of his tribe, shrewd and wily in his plans, and firm and courageous in their execution. The Wyandots, or Hurons as they are called by the French, were then living at Michilimackinac, to which quarter they had been driven by well known events in their history. The feud between them and their kindred, the Iroquois, still raged. They remained the firm allies of the French; but they were living in a state of expatriation from their own country, and dependent on the friendship and courtesy of the Algonquins of the upper lakes, among whom they had found a refuge. Adario, at this period, found an opportunity of making himself felt, and striking a blow for the eventual return of his nation.

To understand his position, a few allusions to the history of the period are necessary.

In 1687, the English of the province of New York, resolved to avail themselves of a recent alliance between the two crowns, to attempt a participation in the fur trade of the upper lakes. They persuaded the Iroquois to set free a number of Wyandot captives to guide them through the lakes, and open an intercourse with their people. Owing to the high price and scarcity of goods, this plan was favored by Adario and his people, and also by the Ottowas and Pottowattomis, but the enterprise failed. Major McGregory, who led the party, was intercepted by a large body of French from Mackinac, the whole party captured and their goods were distributed gratuitously to the Indians. The lake Indians, who had, covertly countenanced this attempt, were thrown back entirely on the French trade, and subjected to suspicions which made them uneasy in their councils, and anxious to do away with the suspicions entertained of their fidelity by the French. To this end Adario marched a party of 100 men from Mackinac against the Iroquois. Stopping at fort Cadarackui to get some intelligence which might guide him, the commandant informed him that the governor of Canada, Denonville, was in hopes of concluding a peace with the Five Nations, and expected their ambassadors at Montreal in a few days. He therefore advised the chief to return. Did such a peace take place, Adario perceived that it would leave the Iroquois to push the war against his nation, which had already been driven from the banks of the St. Lawrence to lake Huron. He dissembled his fears, however, before the commandant, and left the fort, not for the purpose of returning home, but to waylay the Iroquois delegates, at a portage on the river where he knew they must pass. He did not wait over four or five days, when the deputies arrived, guarded by 40 young warriors, who were all surprised, and either killed or taken prisoners. His next object was to shift the blame of the act on the governor of Canada, by whom he told his prisoners, he had been informed of their intention to pass this way, and he was thus prepared to lie in wait for them. They were much surprised at this apparent act of perfidy, informing him at the same time, that they were truly and indeed on a message of peace. Adario affected to grow mad with rage against Denonville, declaring that he would some time be revenged on him for making him a tool, in committing so horrid a treachery. Then looking steadfastly on the prisoners, among whom was Dekanefora, the head chief of the Onondaga tribe, "Go," said he, "my brothers, I untie your bonds, and send you home again, although our nations be at war. The French governor has made me commit so black an action, that I shall never be easy after it, until the Five Nations have taken full revenge." The ambassadors were so well persuaded of the perfect truth of his declarations, that they replied in the most friendly terms, and said the way was opened to their concluding a peace between their respective tribes, at any time. He then dismissed his prisoners, with presents of arms, powder and ball, keeping but a single man (an adopted Shawnee) to supply the place of the only man he had lost in the engagement. By one bold effort he thus blew up the fire of discord between the French and their enemies, at the moment it was about to expire, and laid the foundation of a peace with his own nation. Adario delivered his slave to the French on reaching Mackinac, who, to keep up the old enmity between the Wyandots and the Five Nations, ordered him to be shot. On this Adario called up an Iroquois prisoner who was a witness of this scene, and who had long been detained among them, and told him to escape to his own country, and give an account of the cruelly of the French, from whom it was not in his power to save a prisoner he had himself taken.

This increased the rage of the Five Nations to such a pitch, that when Mons. Denonville sent a message to disown the act of Adario, they put no faith in it, but burned for revenge. Nor was it long before the French felt the effects of their rage. On the 26th of July, 1688, they landed with 1200 men on the upper end of the island of Montreal, and carried destruction wherever they went. Houses were burnt, plantations sacked, and men, women and children massacred. Above a thousand of the French inhabitants were killed, and twenty-six carried away prisoners, most of whom were burnt alive. In October of the same year, they renewed their incursion, sweeping over the lower part of the island as they had previously done the upper. The consequences of these inroads were most disastrous to the French, who were reduced to the lowest point of political despondency. They burnt their two vessels on Cadarackui lake, abandoned the fort, and returned to Montreal. The news spread far and wide among the Indians of the upper lakes, who, seeing the fortunes of the French on the wane, made treaties with the English, and thus opened the way for their merchandise into the lakes.—[Colden.]

Such were the consequences of a single enterprise, shrewdly planned and vigorously executed. The fame of its author spread abroad, and he was every where regarded as a man of address, courage and abilities. And it is from this time, that the ancient feud between the Wyandots and their kindred, the Five Nations, began to cool. They settled on the straits of Detroit, where they so long, and up to the close of the late war (1814,) exercised a commanding influence among the lake tribes, as keepers of the general council fire of the nations.

La Hontan, in his Travels in New France, relates some conversations with this chief, on the topic of religion, which may be regarded, almost exclusively, as fabulous.

Adates, Adaes, and Adees, forms of orthography, occurring in various writers, for the Adaize Indians, which see.

Adequatángie, a tributary of the eastern head waters of the river Susquehanna in New-York. The word is Iroquois.

Addees, the number of this tribe, residing on the waters of Red River, in Louisiana, in 1825, is stated, in an official report, from the war department of that year, at twenty-seven.

Adóles, a settlement of Indians in the province of Orinoco. They were of the Saliva nation. The settlement was destroyed by the Caribs in 1684.