| Wyandots, | A Bear. | Senecas of the Glaize, | A Turtle. |
| Seven Nations of Canada | A Turtle. | Pottawattamies, | A Fish. |
| Delawares, | A Turtle. | Connoys, | A Turkey. |
| Shawanese, | Munsees, | ||
| Miamis, | A Turtle. | Nantikokes, | A Turtle. |
| Ottawas, | A Fish. | Mohegans | {A Turtle. {A Turkey. |
| Chippeways, | A Crane. |
Nothing could be more explicit than this ultimatum of the Indians. Their sine qua non was the Ohio for the boundary. To this proposition the Commissioners could never assent, and they accordingly wrote to the chiefs and warriors of the council at the Rapids, that "the negotiation was at an end." So imperfect are the records of Indian history, preserved, as they are, for the most part, only in the tablets of the brain, the memory being aided by belts and other emblems—that it is a difficult matter to determine the precise merits of the controversy sought to be terminated at this council. Being the weaker party, belonging to a doomed race, the law of the strongest was of course left to decide it in the end, and the Indians were driven beyond the Mississippi. But an impartial survey of the case, at the distance of only forty years, presents strong reasons for believing that the Indians were the party aggrieved. Certainly, it would form an exception in the history of their dealings with the white man, if they were not; while it is very evident that they themselves solemnly believed they were the injured party. And, thus believing, nothing could have been more patriotic than the attitude assumed in their address, or more noble than the declarations and sentiments it contained.
[CHAPTER XII.]
Suspected duplicity of the British authorities—Conduct of Simon Girty—Disclosures upon the subject by Captain Brant—Council at Buffalo, and Indian report of the doings of the Great Congress—Speech of Captain Brant respecting the Miami council—Mission of General Chapin to Philadelphia, with the speech—Answer unsatisfactory to the Indians—Red Jacket—Indian council—Speech of Captain Brant in reply to the answer of the United States—Troubles thickening between the United States and Great Britain—Inflammatory speech of Lord Dorchester—Question of its authenticity settled—Conduct of Governor Simcoe—Indignation of President Washington—His letter to Mr. Jay—Speech of Captain Brant against holding a council at Venango—The design frustrated—Affairs farther in the West—Singular message from the distant Indians under the Spanish and French influence—Their speech—Operations of General Wayne—Encroachments of Pennsylvania upon the Indian lands—Indian council upon the subject—Address to General Washington—Important letter of Brant to Colonel Smith—Pennsylvania relinquishes Presque Isle—Defeat of Major McMarion near Fort Recovery—Indians repulsed in their attack upon the fort—Letter to Brant giving an account of the battle—Advance of Wayne to the Au Glaize and Miamis of the Lakes—Little Turtle apprised of his movements and strength by a deserter—The Chief determines to give battle—Wayne makes one more effort for peace—Failure of the attempt—Advance of Wayne to the Rapids—Position of the Indians—Battle and defeat of the Indians—Little Turtle opposed to the hazard of a battle—Opposed by Blue-Jacket and overruled—Tart correspondence between Wayne and Major Campbell—Destruction of Indian property by fire, and burning of Colonel McKee's establishment—Disappointment of the Indians that Major Campbell did not assist them—Letter of Governor Simcoe to Brant—Aggression at Sodus Bay—Simcoe and Brant repair to the West—Interfere to prevent a peace—Indian council—The hostiles negotiate with Wayne—Simcoe's address to the Wyandots—Division in their counsels—Brant retires displeased—Letter of apology from the Chiefs—The distant Indians become weary of the war.
The return of the Commissioners to the eastern extremity of Lake Erie was immediate; from whence both the government of the United States and General Wayne were apprised of the failure of the negotiation, for which such long and anxious preparation had been made. It has been charged that, notwithstanding the apparent friendship of Governor Simcoe and his little court at Niagara, and their seeming desire of peace, this unpropitious result was measurably, if not entirely, produced by the influence of the British officers in attendance upon the Indian councils—Colonel McKee, Captain Elliot, and the notorious Simon Girty. The Rev. Mr. Heckewelder, at the request of General Knox, accompanied the Commissioners, and was present at the delivery of the last message from the council, refusing an interview, which, as delivered, both in matter and manner was exceedingly insolent. Elliot and Girty were both present when this message was delivered, the latter of whom supported his insolence by a quill, or long feather run through the cartilage of his nose cross-wise. He was the interpreter of the message; and Mr. Heckewelder states that he officiously added a sentence not transmitted from the council. Two Delaware chiefs, visiting the Commissioners from the council, while at Detroit River, on being questioned by Mr. Heckewelder why the Commissioners were not allowed to proceed to their quarters at the Rapids, replied:—"All we can say is, that we wish for peace; but we cannot speak farther, our mouths being stopped up when we left the council!" In other words, they had been forbidden to disclose any of its secrets.[FN]
[FN] Heckewelder's Narrative of the Moravian Missions.
These circumstances, from the pen of such a witness, furnish strong presumptive testimony of duplicity on the part of the Canadian administration. But there is yet other evidence of the fact, so strong as to be indisputable. It is that of Captain Brant himself, who, of all others, participated most largely in the deliberations of those councils. In one of the speeches delivered by him in the course of his land difficulties with the Canadian government, some time subsequent to the war, the following passage occurs:—"For several years" (after the peace of 1783,) "we were engaged in getting a confederacy formed, [FN-1] and the unanimity occasioned by these endeavors among our western brethren, enabled them to defeat two American armies. The war continued without our brothers, the English, giving any assistance, excepting a little ammunition; and they seeming to desire that a peace might be concluded, we tried to bring it about at a time that the United States desired it very much, so that they sent Commissioners from among their first people, to endeavor to make peace with the hostile Indians. We assembled also for that purpose at the Miami River in the Summer of 1793, intending to act as mediators in bringing about an honorable peace; and if that could not be obtained, we resolved to join with our western brethren in trying the fortune of war. But to our surprise, when on the point of entering upon a treaty with the Commissioners, we found that it was opposed by those acting under the British government, and hopes of farther assistance were given to our western brethren, to encourage them to insist on the Ohio as a boundary between them and the United States." [FN-2]
[FN-1] In another portion of the same speech, Captain Brant stated that General Haldimand exhorted them to the formation of that union with the different nations.