[FN-1] Conversations of the author with Thomas Morris, Esq. This gentleman, during his residence in the western part of New-York, became intimately acquainted with the Senecas and Mohawks—especially with their Chiefs—having assisted at several treaties with them. He once entertained Brant, Red Jacket, and a number of other chiefs, at his own house in Canandaigua. At dinner, Brant was very amusing; and among other stories, related the cow-killing exploits of a Seneca Chief, in such an arch manner as to direct the attention of the whole company upon Red Jacket, and yet compel Red Jacket himself to raise an affected laugh.
[FN-2] See the certificate of Israel Chapin, as to the general character of Brant, and the unfounded jealousies excited against him by his opponents, Appendix, No. XII.
The Chief himself was, of course, early apprised of what had taken place, and the manner of the conspiracy, of which he appears to have written a full account to his friend, the Duke of Northumberland. The copy of only a portion of that communication has been discovered. It is without date, but must have been written in A. D. 1805.
"Captain Brant to the Duke of Northumberland.
"May it please your Grace:
"As my nephew, Teyoninhokáráwen, has safe returned, gratitude prompts me to return you my most hearty thanks for the very kind reception and aid you gave him, and express the regret myself and the other Chiefs of the Five Nations inhabiting the Grand River feel, that after the trouble your Grace has taken in our affairs, he should have been frustrated of having them concluded to our satisfaction by the intrigues of the Agent for Indian affairs, (a Mr. Claus,) of which I shall take the liberty to give you a succinct account.
"When, in consequence of the warm support you gave my nephew, dispatches were received by the late Governor from England, in favor of the Indians, the Agent insinuated, through his instruments of intrigue, that he was about effecting something much to their detriment, should they not immediately prevent it. But finding that he could not succeed at the Grand River, a few of the common people went to Buffalo Creek, a village of the Five Nations within the American line, where they had a council, and then went to Niagara, [FN] where Mr. Claus, the Agent, dictated to them what was sent to England. . . . Several of the principal Chiefs from Buffalo, who signed, are pensioners to the Americans; one of them, Red Jacket, or the Cow-killer, the speaker, and the greatest coward of all the Five Nations, at the Connecticut (in New-England) Assembly swore, or promised, kissing the portrait of General Washington, to be true to their interests. But to make their numbers appear more respectable, all the common people signed as Chiefs, from the villages on the American side, as did the few, with three or four petty chiefs, who went from the Grand River. The poor fellows, in consequence of the promises, and having signed together with the officers, have been long expecting to receive their commissions; and even some of them have been expecting to receive tidings of them by Teyoninhokáráwen. The purport of the writing was, that the mission and proceedings of Teyoninhokáráwen should be disallowed of and disavowed; that I should be displaced from being Chief; and that a few settlers introduced by the Chiefs—."
[FN] Vide certificate of Captain Leonard, and other American officers, then stationed at Niagara.—Appendix, No. XIII.
Here the copy of this communication abruptly breaks off. But although the proceedings referred to were transmitted to England by the opponents of the Chief, and followed by consequences fatal to the mission of Norton; yet the failure, so far as the Chief himself was concerned, was as signal as the plot in all respects was indefensible and unjust. It was but a few months anterior to these proceedings, founded, in the main, upon alleged embezzlements, or mal-appropriations, of the revenue of his nation, that a General Council had been holden at Grand River, which was attended by the chiefs and warriors, the Deputy and Superintendent-General, and the principal military officers of the province, and at which the pecuniary transactions of Captain Brant had been fully investigated—found to be accurate, and approved. The proceedings at this council appear to have been dictated in the most amicable spirit; and from their complexion, nothing could have been more unlikely than the revival of charges, then so thoroughly shown to be without foundation in truth. [FN]