Although the war with the Indians was terminated, there were perplexing questions to settle between the United States and the Six Nations, in which also, the States of Pennsylvania and New York were concerned. These were principally questions of boundaries, and also in reference to the grant of Presque Isle and the adjacent country. A Council was held at Buffalo creek, on the 18th of June, 1794, in reference to these difficulties. In this Council, Cornplanter took a conspicuous part; his speech on the occasion is fully reported in the proceedings. I make room for a single observation—addressing the commissioner as the representative of the President, he said: "Brother! You know our demands; we ask but for a small piece of land, and we trust, as you are a great man, you can easily grant our request." It is unnecessary, on this occasion, to give the details of this Council, nor of the Great Council which was soon after held at Canandaigua, namely, in October and November, 1794, at which Cornplanter, with other Chiefs, represented the Six Nations. Colonel Pickering was again the commissioner on the part of the United States. The Friends of Pennsylvania and New Jersey had also agents present, and exerted a highly beneficial influence.
Mr. Stone, to whose interesting work I am much indebted, speaking of this treaty, says: "This was the last general Council held by the United States with the Iroquois Confederacy, and a vast amount of important business was transacted thereat. Several perplexing questions of contested boundaries were settled, and the relations between the United States and the Confederacy were adjusted upon a basis that has not been since disturbed." Cornplanter arrived at this Council on the second day after the day assigned for the meeting. He came with four hundred of the Allegheny portion of the Senecas. There were sixteen hundred Indians collected on this interesting occasion. It appears that Cornplanter was subjected to some suspicions by his Indian associates, because of his frequent interviews with Colonel Pickering. He was reminded by one of the Chiefs, that he was but a War Chief, and was exceeding the bounds of his proper department, by partaking too largely in the conduct of civil affairs. Colonel Pickering interposed, and stated that the private interviews he had with Cornplanter were at his special request. This explanation was, for a time, satisfactory. Further evidences of the distinction between the War Chiefs and Sachems were exhibited on this occasion. Red Jacket speaks of Cornplanter and Captain Brant, (the latter was not present,) as only War Chiefs, and the proceedings show that which does not appear in other transactions, namely: that there was a marked distinction between the Chiefs and the Sachems, the former having the direction of affairs belonging to war, and the latter having control of the civil government, under certain restrictions dependent upon popular opinion; and it appeared that they regarded the military power as entirely subordinate to the civil authorities. This single fact shows that the untutored Ho-de-no-sau-nee (United People,) had made no inconsiderable advance in the science of free government.
Subsequent transactions between the whites and the Indians, related to the sale of the lands of the latter. Their power as a nation was gone. Henceforth, if they were called together as a nation, or as separate tribes, it was only through the agency of individuals or companies, who desired to obtain grants of their lands. A treaty of this character was held at Big Tree, in 1797, (the site of the present town of Genessee New York,) in reference to a claim of Robert Morris, of Pennsylvania, the assignee of the State of Massachusetts, of an alleged pre-emption right to a portion of the territory of the Seneca tribe.
Without entering into the details of this treaty, or others of a similar character, I refer to it because it developed one of the principles of government of the Confederacy, heretofore but little known or noticed. An appeal was taken by the women, from the opinion and decision of the Sachems. Cornplanter being the principal War Chief, presented the appeal, whereupon the Council was re-opened, and the proceedings were recognized by the Sachems, Farmer's Brother being their speaker, as being in accordance with their laws and customs. The re-consideration resulted in a change in the treaty beneficial to the Indians.
Cornplanter, at the head of his nation, as its principal War Chief, had resisted the encroachment of the whites to the extent of his abilities. But as we have shown, when the fortune of war, under the superior power of the Thirteen Fires, rendered further resistance impossible, he had, as a wise statesman, made the best terms of peace he could procure. After the Revolutionary war, he desired to maintain friendly relations with the United States; and to accomplish this object, he was ready, when urgent necessity required it, to part with considerable portions of the Indian territory. His course of conduct, in these transactions, was severely criticised by rival Chiefs, and under their influence, his popularity, with the main portion of his tribe, and with the other members of the Six Nations, was seriously reduced, if not entirely destroyed.
It was during the period of his decline in power and authority, that it is said he endeavored to regain his influence by inducing his half-brother, Ga-ne-o-di-yo, (otherwise called "Handsome Lake,") who was a Seneca Sachem, to assume the character of a prophet. It does not appear by any satisfactory evidence, that Cornplanter had any agency whatever in respect to the alleged revelations made by his singular and talented relative. In the account which Ga-ne-o-di-yo gives of the trance which led to his revelations, after stating that he had been ill for a long time, he says: "I resigned myself to the will of the Great Spirit, and nightly returned my thanks to Him, as my eyes were gladdened at evening, by the sight of the stars of Heaven. I viewed the ornamented Heavens at evening, through the opening in the roof of my lodge, with grateful feelings to my Creator. I had no assurance that the next evening I could contemplate His works; for this reason my acknowledgments to Him were more frequent and sincere. When night was gone, and the sun again shed his light upon the earth, I saw and acknowledged, in the return of day, His continued goodness to me and to all mankind. At length I began to have an inward conviction, that my end was near. I resolved once more to exchange friendly words with my people, and I sent my daughter to summon my brothers, Gy-ant-wa-chia, (Cornplanter,) and Ta-wan-nears, (Black-snake,) to come to my cabin." The daughter hastened to deliver the message, but before she returned with Ta-wan-nears, (Cornplanter was not at hand,) the Sachem had fallen into a state of insensibility, and lay for many hours in that condition; after his recovery, he announced to his tribe what he regarded as a revelation of the Great Spirit to the Indians,[U]
[U] Morgan's League of the Iroquois. A most interesting work, dedicated to Colonel Parker, a Seneca Indian, now an officer of the United States army, attached to the staff of General Grant. Chapter 3d of this book is devoted to the pretended revelation of Ga-ne-o-di-yo, and the doctrines of the religion he inculcated.
As Cornplanter was the half-brother of the prophet, he was supposed to be in some way connected with these revelations, more especially, as the prophet strongly inculcated the principles of temperance, to which the Chief had been, for many years, a devoted advocate. Red Jacket, and others, used these transactions to the disadvantage of Cornplanter, and from thenceforth he ceased to take any part in the affairs of the Six Nations, and but little in that of the Seneca tribe generally, but devoted himself chiefly to his own clan of that tribe. This clan, or part of his tribe, had for many years been under his official and personal direction. Reference, before this period, is often made to the ABeel Senecas, and in a map published in 1792, by Reading Howell, a considerable portion of the country on the upper waters of the Conewango, and near Chatauque lake, is designated thus: "O'Beals—Cayentona."[V]
[V] This map is in the possession of the Pennsylvania Historical Society; it was recently presented by Samuel Agnew, Esq.
In 1797, Cornplanter again visited Philadelphia, the seat of government of the United States. His principal object appears to have been to pay his respects to President Washington, and take an official leave of him on his retirement from the public service. His address to Washington, on this occasion, is marked with his usual good sense and eloquence. This address was fortunately preserved among the papers of Thomas Morris, son of Robert Morris.[W]