This interesting letter was addressed "To the good people between here (Fort Franklin) and Philadelphia." It was of great service to Cornplanter on his journey; and when he arrived in Philadelphia, he placed it in the hands of Governor Mifflin. The paper is among the archives of Pennsylvania, and is endorsed "1790, recommendary letter from I. Jeffers, ensign of the 1st Pennsylvania regiment, commanding Fort Franklin, on French creek, in favor of Cyentwokee, or Cornplanter."[Q]
[Q] Pennsylvania Archives, 1790, p. 86.
It appears that from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, Cornplanter and his party were accompanied by Mr. Joseph Nicholson, the interpreter. Dr. John Wilkins, Sr., writes from Shippensburg, to Gov. Mifflin, under date October 14, 1790, as follows: "I have just met at this place, Cornplanter, and the other Indian Chiefs, invited by Council. The reasons they assign for being detained, are such as I hope will induce Council to exert themselves in doing every thing in their power to give them satisfaction. Cornplanter says when he was preparing to come down, agreeably to the invitation from Council, his nation was excited to great tumult, by the killing the two Chiefs, on Pine creek, and he was obliged to stay to pacify them. The Shawanese Indians, who are the most troublesome, sent a message to the Seneca nation, telling them, that unless they declared war against the white people, they should be cut off. This message had to be taken into consideration by a general Council of the Nation, and this required time. The subject of this visit of the Chiefs of the Seneca nation is of great consequence to the people of the western country. The conductor and interpreter, Mr. Joseph Nicholson, has brought them thus far at his own expense, but his money being exhausted, I have advanced him a sum sufficient to pay his expenses to the city. I need not give you a character of the Cornplanter; his friendship for the people of Pennsylvania, his pacific temper and integrity are sufficiently known."[R]
[R] Pennsylvania Archives, 1790, p. 321.
He traveled to Philadelphia, then the seat of government of the United States, accompanied by his steadfast friends and Chiefs of his nation, Half Town and Big Tree. On the arrival of the Chiefs at Philadelphia, they had an official audience with the President, on which occasion Cornplanter made an eloquent and dignified address, and which called forth an appropriate reply from Washington. To Washington he said, referring to General Sullivan's destruction of the Seneca towns: "We called you the 'town destroyer,' but when you gave us peace, we called you father, because you promised to secure us in the possession of our lands. Do this, and so long as the lands shall remain, that beloved name shall live in the heart of every Seneca." He then gives a terse and clear statement of the means taken to induce the Six Nations to make such extensive grants of their lands—grants, he adds, "made at a time when you told us that we were in your hand, and that by closing it, you could crush us to nothing; and you demanded from us a great country as the price of that peace which you had offered us; as if our want of strength had destroyed our rights." Referring to his own conduct and its effect upon his tribe, he uses the following eloquent and patriotic words: "Father, we will not conceal from you, that the Great God, and not man, has preserved The Cornplanter from the hands of his nation. For they continually ask, where is the land which our children, and their children after them, are to lie down upon? You told us, say they, that the line drawn from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario, would mark it forever on the east, and the line running from Buffalo creek to Pennsylvania, would mark it on the west, and we see that it is not so. You, first one and then another, comes and takes it away by order of that people, which you tell us promised to secure it to us. He is silent—for he has nothing to answer. When the sun goes down, he opens his heart before God; and earlier than the sun appears upon the hills, he gives thanks for his protection during the night; for he feels, that among men become desperate by their danger—it is God only that can preserve him. He loves peace and all that he has had in store, he has given to those who have been robbed by your people, lest they should plunder the innocent to re-pay themselves. The whole season which others have employed in providing for their families, he has spent in his endeavors to preserve peace. At this moment his wife and children are lying upon the ground, and in want of food. His heart is in pain for them, but he perceives that the Great Spirit will try his firmness in doing what is right."
Washington made an appropriate reply to this address, which he caused to be engrossed, and was signed by himself and by Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, and presented to Cornplanter. The Chief valued this document among his highest treasures. A lithographic copy of it has been prepared for this occasion, and I will annex to this address, a copy of it and of the speeches of Cornplanter made on that occasion. A single remark made by Washington, I here introduce. "The merits of Cornplanter, and his friendship for the United States, are well known to me, and shall not be forgotten."
When Cornplanter arrived in Philadelphia, Washington was absent at his seat in Virginia. In his absence, the Chief was cordially received by the President and members of the Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania. In the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, the following minutes appear:
"Philadelphia, Saturday, October 23, 1790.
"Presents—His Excellency Thomas Mifflin, Esq., President. Samuel Miles, Richard Willing, Zebulon Potts, Amos Gregg and Lord Butler, Esquires. Cornplanter and five other Indian Chiefs were introduced to Council. The President informed them, that the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania was happy to see them, and ready to hear what they had to say. The Chief then made a short address, and asked for further time to conclude what to say, which was granted."
Subsequently the Chief made a more extended speech, to which Governor Mifflin made an appropriate reply. Vol. XVI, p. 496.