[FN] Sparks's Life and Cor. of Washington, vol. iii. Appendix.
"To The Rev. Samuel Kirkland.
"Concord, April 4th, 1775.
"Sir,
"The Provincial Congress have thought it necessary to address the sachem of the Mohawk tribe, with the rest of the Six Nations, upon the subject of the controversy between Great Britain and the American Colonies. We are induced to take this measure, as we have been informed that those who are inimical to us in Canada have been tampering with those nations, and endeavouring to attach them to the interest of those who are attempting to deprive us of our inestimable rights and privileges, and to subjugate the Colonies to arbitrary power. From a confidence in your attachment to the cause of liberty and your country, we now transmit to you the enclosed address, and desire you will deliver it to the sachem of the Mohawk tribe, to be communicated to the rest of the Six Nations; and that you will use your influence with them to join with us in the defence of our rights; but if you cannot prevail with them to take an active part in this glorious cause, that you will at least engage them to stand neuter, and not by any means to aid and assist our enemies; and as we are at a loss for the name of the sachem of the Mohawk tribe, we have left it to you to direct the address to him, in such way as you may think proper."
There were at that time dwelling at Stockbridge, in the western part of Massachusetts, a remnant of the Mohickanders, or "River Indians" as they were usually called during the greater portion of the last century, but latterly Stockbridge Indians, from their locality. These Indians were the remains of the Muhhekaneew [FN-1] of the Hudson river, at the time of the discovery. They came originally, according to their own traditions, from the far West—even beyond the great lakes. That such was their original location is supported by the fact, that their language was radically different from that of the Narragansetts and New England Indians generally, and also from the language of the Five Nations. Its affinities were allied to the Shawanese and Chippewa, affording farther evidence that they had emigrated from the West, crossing the country of the Delawares, and establishing themselves on the banks of the Hudson, or Mohickannittuck as the North River was called. They were a powerful tribe at the time of the discovery, numbering a thousand warriors, and inhabiting the country between the Upper Delaware and the Hudson, together with portions of territory now included in Massachusetts and Vermont. They dwelt mostly in little towns and villages, their chief seat being the site of the present city of Albany—called by them Pempo-towwuthut-Muhhecanneuw, or the Fire-place of the Nation. Becoming feeble and dispersed as the white population increased around and among them—although their numbers had been partially recruited by refugees from the Narragansetts and Pequods, on the conquest of those nations—the Muhhekaneew were collected together at Stockbridge, in 1736, under the care of the Rev. John Sergeant, who, and his son after him, were long the spiritual guides of the tribe. They were ever faithful to the English, having been actively employed by General Shirley to range the country between Lake George and Montreal, during the French war ending in the conquest of Canada. [FN-2]
[FN-1] This is the orthography of Dr. Edwards, who was long a missionary among them at Stockbridge. Heckewelder says their proper name was Mahicanni. It is one of the most difficult things in the world to arrive at any thing like system or certainty in regard to Indian names of persons, places, or things. For instance, the author has papers before him at the time of writing, in which the River Indians are called Moheagans, Mourigans, or Mahingans, (French,) Mahickanders, (Dutch,) Mohiccons, (English,) Mohuccans, Mahickinders, Schaticooks, Wabingas, Muhheakunnuks, and the Moheakounucks; indeed, it has been the practice of writers of different, and of even the same nations, to spell more by the ear than by rule, until our Indian names have been involved in almost inextricable confusion.
[FN-2] Brown, in his pamphlet History of Schoharie, gives a singular tradition in regard to the kings of the Mohawks, of which I have found no other mention. Mohawks and River Indians were once bitter enemies, the former becoming the scourge and terror of the latter. Brown states that the last battle between the Mohegan's and Mohawks took place on Wanton Island, in the Hudson River, not far from Catskill. The question between them was, which should have the honour of naming their king, or which should have the preference in the kingly honours. Both nation collected their utmost strength upon that island, for the purpose of a final decision and fought a pitched battle, which continued during the whole day. Toward night the Mohawks, finding that the Mohegans were likely to prove an overmatch for them, deemed it necessary to resort to stratagem, for which purpose they suddenly took to flight, and gained another island in the evening. They here kindled a great number of fires, and spread their blankets on some bushes, gathered and disposed around them for that purpose, as though they themselves had encamped by their fires as usual. The Mohegans following on, landed upon the island in the depth of night, and were completely taken in by the deception. Supposing that the Mohawks were sleeping soundly beneath their blankets, after their fatigue the Mohegans crept up with the greatest silence, and pouring a heavy fire upon the blankets, rushed upon them with knives and tomahawks in hand, making the air to ring with their yells as they fell to cutting and slashing the blankets and bushes instead of Indians beneath them. Just at the moment of their greatest confusion and exultation the Mohawks, who had been lying in ambush flat upon the ground at a little distance, poured a murderous fire upon their foes, whose figures were rendered distinctly visible by the light of their fires, and rushing impetuously upon them, killed the greater part and made prisoners of the residue. A treaty was then concluded, by which the Mohawks were to have the king, and the Mohegans were to hold them in reverence and call them "Uncle." Hendrick was the king first named such by the Mohawks, after this decisive victory, "who lived to a great age," says Brown, "and was killed at the battle of Lake George under Sir William Johnson."—Author.
The relations of the Stockbridge Indians with the Oneidas had become intimate, and it is very possible that the negotiations had even then commenced between the two tribes, which a few years afterward resulted in the removal of the Stockbridge Indians to the Oneida. Be that, however, as it may, when the troubles began to thicken, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts sent a message to the Stockbridge Indians, apprising them of the gathering tempest, and expressing a desire to cultivate a good understanding between them. The Indians, in return, dispatched Captain Solomon Ahhaunnauwaumut, their chief sachem, to the Congress, to make a reply, and on the 11th of April he delivered the following speech: