"Fort Schuyler, Jan. 19th, 1777.
Speech of the Oneida Chiefs to Col. Elmore.
"Brother: We are sent here by the Oneida chiefs, in conjunction with the Onondagas. They arrived at our village yesterday. They gave us the melancholy news that the grand council-fire at Onondaga was extinguished. We have lost out of their town by death ninety, among whom are three principal sachems. We, the remaining part of the Onondagas, do now inform our brethren that there is no longer a council-fire at the capital of the Six Nations. However, we are determined to use our feeble endeavors to support peace through the confederate nations. But let this be kept in mind, that the council-fire is extinguished. It is of importance to our well-being that this be immediately communicated to General Schuyler, and likewise to our brothers the Mohawks. In order to effect this, we deposit this belt with Tekeyanedonhotte, Colonel Elmore, commander at Fort Schuyler, who is sent here by General Schuyler to transact all matters relative to peace. We therefore request him to forward this intelligence in the first place to General Herkimer, desiring him to communicate it to the Mohawk Castle near to him, and then to Major Fonda, requesting him to immediately communicate it to the Lower Castle of Mohawks. Let the belt then be forwarded to General Schuyler, that he may know that our council-fire is extinguished, and can no longer burn." [FN]
[FN] Transcribed by the author from the original draught, as furnished to General Herkimer by Colonel Elmore.
This singular document is worthy of preservation, not only as the authentic, but as the only account of the occurrence recorded. It contains a mystery, however, which cannot now be solved. Still, as no belligerent events are known to have been enacted in the Onondaga country during that winter, the most plausible conjecture would attribute the mortality indicated by the speech to some pestilential disorder, which might have swept over them, as with the Schoharie Canton eighteen months before.
In the County of Tryon, which now demands our chief attention, great uneasiness was again awakened among the inhabitants, toward the close of the winter, especially in the remoter settlements south of the Mohawk, by the reported gathering of the Indians at Oghkwaga. The fact that their numbers were increasing at that point having been satisfactorily ascertained, Colonel John Harper, of Harpersfield, was despatched thither by the Provincial Congress of New-York to ascertain their intentions. Taking every necessary measure of precaution to guard against surprise, and to be ready for any emergency, by having the officers of his militia regiment on the qui vive, Colonel Harper departed upon his mission, accompanied only by a single white man and one Indian. He arrived on the 27th of February, and was well received by the Indians, who manifested a perfectly friendly disposition toward himself, and also toward the settlements. So far from exhibiting any belligerent intentions, they expressed their sorrow for the troubles of the country, and declared their determination to take no part in the controversy. Satisfied as to the sincerity of their professions, although subsequent events proved that they must have been dissembling, Colonel Harper supplied the means of a festival, and presented them with an ox, which was roasted for the occasion. [FN]
[FN] Annals of Tryon County.
Colonel John Harper was one of four brothers—William, John, Alexander, and Joseph Harper, who, with eighteen others, planted themselves down upon a tract of country, in 1768, which was subsequently named Harpersfield. After his return from this mission, he was for a time in command of one of the little forts in Schoharie. On one occasion, in March or April of this year, he took a circuit alone from Schoharie through the woods to Harpersfield, and thence, when returning, struck farther to the westward, toward the head waters of the Susquehanna. While ascending a hill, he suddenly saw a company of Indians approaching. As they had discovered him, any attempt to fly would have been vain. They would have shot him down. Having a great coat over his military dress, he made no attempt to avoid a meeting, and in passing, the Colonel and the Indians exchanged salutations. In one of the Indians he recognized Peter, a Mohawk whom he had formerly seen at Oghkwaga. They did not recognize him, however; but from his manner of speech supposed him to be a loyalist, and under that impression communicated to him the fact that their destination was to cut off "the Johnstone settlement," a small Scotch Colony on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna, near Unadilla, or Anaquaqua, as that place was sometimes called. Having obtained this information, he changed his course, and hurrying back to Harpersfield, collected fifteen resolute men, with whom he gave chase to the marauders. In addition to their arms, the Colonel caused each man of his little band to provide himself with two days' provisions and a rope. In the course of the following night, in descending the valley of the Charlotte river, they descried the fire where the Indians were encamped. Halting for a while to refresh and prepare for the contest, the Colonel and his men now stole upon the foe with the utmost caution. It was almost day-light, and the Indians were in a profound slumber—their arms being stacked in the middle of their little encampment. These were carefully removed by Harper and his party, as a measure of precaution. The moment for action having arrived, singling each his man, the cords were made ready, and every Indian, ere he was well awake, found himself bound and in the grasp of a foe. The sleeping Gulliver was not more thoroughly secured by the vexatious net-work of the Lilliputians. But Peter and his companions were not secured by Lilliputian ties, and they had to deal with a different race of men. When it became light in the morning, Peter discovered his captor. "Ugh!" he exclaimed—"Colonel Harper!—Why did I not know you yesterday?" The gallant Colonel proceeded to Albany with his prisoners, and surrendered them to the commanding officer of the station. It was a bold and well-executed achievement—and all the better that it was bloodless.
Although, as we have seen. Colonel Harper had parted from the Indians at Oghkwaga upon the most amicable terms, yet indications of a different temper were soon afterward manifested by this fickle people, of which the movement of Peter, so opportunely discovered and intercepted, was the first outbreak. Thayendanegea, likewise, appeared among them in the course of the Spring, having separated from Guy Johnson, between whom and himself some difficulty had occurred. Intelligence of the chieftain's departure from Canada, and march across the country to Oghkwaga with a large body of warriors, was received by the Tryon County Committee early in May from Fort Schuyler, and communicated to the Provincial Congress by its chairman, Isaac Paris. Not a little additional uneasiness was also occasioned at the same time by the spirit discernible among the Tories. Many of those loyalists, who had taken their departure the preceding year with Sir John Johnson, had, nevertheless, left their wives and children in the remote settlements, with whom they were evidently in communication; while scouting parties, both of Tories and Indians, were hovering on the northern outskirts of the county. [FN]