Stolen Land 29 January 1757
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The serious charges of land fraud made at the Easton Indian Conference, November 1756, made certain that its minutes would receive careful attention.
The Assembly asked for a copy, Nov. 24, 1756, and Governor Denny transmitted it a week later.
On December 14, he appointed a Council committee to investigate the charges, and on Jan. 25, 1757, surveyor Nicholas Scull (above, i, 177 n), who had been present at the Walking Purchase confirmation of 1737, stated before the Council that the walk was “fairly performed” and he knew of no charges of fraud made at that time.
Perhaps to counteract this statement, the four commissioners who had been present at the Easton conference made the report printed below, which the Assembly ordered printed along with the minutes of the conference. They were for sale in Philadelphia by March 10, 1757 ---- Founders Online notes.
March 1757 was also during the time of Lord Loudoun's conference with the Governors of the colonies to coordinate the military campaign.
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Pennsylvania Assembly Committee: Report on the Easton Conference, 29 January 1757
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Pennsylvania Assembly Committee: Report on the Easton Conference .
Printed in Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives, 1756–1757 (Philadelphia, 1757), pp. 75–6.
The serious charges of land fraud made at the Easton Indian Conference, November 1756,1 made certain that its minutes would receive careful attention. The Assembly asked for a copy, Nov. 24, 1756, and Governor Denny transmitted it a week later. On December 14, he appointed a Council committee to investigate the charges, and on Jan. 25, 1757, surveyor Nicholas Scull (above, i, 177 n), who had been present at the Walking Purchase confirmation of 1737, stated before the Council that the walk was “fairly performed” and he knew of no charges of fraud made at that time. Perhaps to counteract this statement, the four commissioners who had been present at the Easton conference made the report printed below, which the Assembly ordered printed along with the minutes of the conference. They were for sale in Philadelphia by March 10, 1757.2
January 29, 1757 We the Committee appointed to attend the Governor at the Conferences with the Indians at East
on, in November last, have perused the Copy of those Conferences, drawn up and signed by the Secretary, and laid before the House;
And as we apprehend it of Importance to the Province, that the Complaints made by the Indians, whether justly founded or not, should be fully represented, and their Sense of them understood, we think it necessary to observe to the House, that we conceive the Warmth and Earnestness with which they insisted on the Wrongs that had been done them in the Purchases of Land, are much too faintly expressed in this Account of the Conference.
That we were not present at the palliating Hearsay Accounts of the Walking Purchase, said to be given the Governor by Mr. Weiser, and Mr. Peters, on the Fourteenth of November;
tho, by the concluding Paragraphs under that Date, it may seem as if we were:3
But we well remember, that the Transaction of that Walk was at Easton universally given up as unfair, and not to be defended, even from the Accounts of some of our own People who were present at the Walking; even the Secretary, though he did say, that he believed Satisfaction was afterwards made the Indians, and that this was the only Instance in which any Foundation of Complaint had ever been given them, yet this he allowed was (in his own Words) unworthy of any Government.4
We would farther observe, that when Teedyuscung claimed the Lands, even those on which the Conferences were held, no Objection was made, that neither he, nor any with him, had any Right to them; nor did we ever understand his Reason for not accepting Satisfaction to be as represented in the second Paragraph under November 17, for that “the People to whom the Land belonged were absent;” but for that many of them were absent, and those who were absent had not impowered him to act for them in that Matter; but he would endeavour to bring them in the Spring.
The Offer of the Commissioners to furnish the Means of making the Indians immediate Satisfaction,5 not being fully related, we think it necessary to add, that the Reasons we gave the Governor for that Offer, were,
1. The Absence and great Distance of the Proprietaries, who being the sole Purchasers of Land from the Indians in this Province, ought, if the Indians were injured in such Purchases, alone to make the Satisfaction; but their Agents here had not the necessary Powers.
2. For that Promises [such being proposed]6 of enquiring into Indian Complaints, and doing them Right hereafter, had been so often made in other Governments, and so little observed, we imagined they could be of no Weight, and would rather be looked upon as a Denial of Justice; and therefore, we thought it better, as their Demands are seldom very high, to make them immediate Reparation for the Injuries they supposed they had received, and we would furnish the Goods, and risk the Proprietaries repaying their Value to the Province. The Secretary then told us, that he thought our Proposal very considerate and well-judged; that he was sure the Proprietaries would think themselves obliged to us, and repay the Money with Thanks: The Offer was accordingly made, but not accepted for the Reasons abovementioned. We then waited upon the Governor in a Body, and acquainted his Honour, That as we had made the Offer in Behalf of the Province, not from an Opinion that the Province ought to be at such Expence, but from the apparent immediate Necessity of the Thing, and on Account of the Proprietaries Absence as aforesaid; so now, since the final Settlement of the Indians Claims was postponed to the Spring, and there would be sufficient Time to write to the Proprietaries, and obtain their Orders to their Agents for the Payment of such Sums as should be found necessary, we looked on ourselves and the Province as totally disengaged from that Offer, and expected that the Proprietaries would be wrote to accordingly.7
Benjamin Franklin,Joseph Fox,William Masters,John Hughes.
1. See above, pp. 12–23, on bf’s attendance at the conference, and the matters discussed at it. See especially p. 19 n, for an explanation of the alleged fraud in the Walking Purchase.
2. Above, p. 16 n; Votes, 1756–57, pp. 33, 35, 77; Pa. Col. Recs., vii, 354, 399–400; Pa. Gaz., March 10, 1757. On January 25 Denny refused a request from William Callender and Israel Pemberton, acting for the Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures, that they be permitted to search the Council Minutes for information “of the true State of the Indian Claims.” Pa. Col. Recs., vii, 394–5, 397–8. A copy of Secretary Peters’ letter, written at Denny’s order, is among the Franklin Papers, APS.
3. See above, pp. 18–19.
4. Secretary Peters later explained that this remark was “Table Talk and Loose Hear-say.” Pa. Col. Recs., viii, 251 n. bf called this defense a “Prevarication.” “Separate Notes” to Isaac Norris, Sept. 16, 1758, Lib. Cong.
5. See above, p. 22.
6. Brackets in the original.
7. In spite of the inaccuracies alleged in this report, the conference minutes seem to have been printed in the form set down by the official recorder, Secretary Peters, before Dec. 1, 1756. A fragmentary paper by Conrad Weiser suggests that he had a chance to correct them before they were put into final form by Peters. Among other things, Weiser seems to have caused some statements he probably thought the Quakers had put into a speech by Teedyuscung (above, p. 18 n) to be deleted, and he corrected some statements of his own about an Indian conference of 1743. i Pa. Arch., iii, 38–9.
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Iroquois pipe tomahawk, said to be from the Easton peace talks
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This is a photo of an artwork at the Museum of Ethnography in Sweden with the identifier:
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File:Pipe tomahawk owned by Carl Magnus Wrangel, Iriquois, said to be from the Easton peace talks in 1758 AD - Etnografiska museet - Stockholm, Sweden - DSC01211.JPG
Created: 16 September 2014
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CHRISTIE'S AUCTION
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9 October 2002 | Live auction 1139
The Forbes Collection of American Historical Documents
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INDIAN TREATY, EASTON CONFERENCE, 1758]. CROGHAN, George (d.1782), Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Document signed ("Geo. Croghan," recto and verso), also signed by CONRAD WEISER (1696-1760), "Provincial Interpreter for Pennsylvania," Henry Montour "commonly called Andrew Montour, the King's Interpreter," AND BY TWENTY-ONE CHIEFTAINS OR SACHEMS of various Eastern tribes, including Thomas King, "an Oneida Chief who spoke at this treaty in behalf of the five Younger Nations," Segosadon or Tagatshata, "a Seneca Chief or Sachem," and Tokahoya "a Cayuga Chief or Sachem" (several additional Sachems have signed additional endorsements on the verso); most of the Indian signatories have used personal marks or totems alongside small red wax seals, the Oneida Tokahoya has added a large drawing of a peace pipe surrounding his name; by this treaty, the Minisinks and Pomptons formally relinquish all claims to the lands constituting the northern portion of the province of New Jersey, in exchange for 1000 Spanish pieces of eight (£375). Signed at Easton, Pennsylvania, 23 October 1758 (additional signatures and endorsements on verso dated 28 October 1758). Large folio (29½ x 27½ in.), ON FINE PARCHMENT, top edge neatly cut in a scalloped pattern, very minor discoloration at center fold, otherwise in excellent condition. Incorporating a carefully drawn map of New Jersey (5½ in. in height), in ink and red-brown watercolor, on which are labelled "The Tract released by the Minisinks" (comprising most of the northern third of the state), and "The Tract released by the Delawares" (comprising the southern two-thirds of the state), with major landmarks including Cape May, Sandy Hook, Paoqualin Mountain and Alamalunk Falls identified. AN IMPORTANT INDIAN TREATY FROM THE FAMOUS EASTON CONFERENCE, 1758, BY WHICH THE NATIVE TRIBES RELINQUISH ALL CLAIM TO THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS IN THE ROYAL COLONY OF NEW JERSEY An exceptionally attractive document, recording a highly important treaty signed at the great Easton, Pennsylvania Conference of October 1758. This very significant convocation, organized by Croghan, Deputy Superintendant of Indian Affairs, was attended by some 507 Indian Chiefs and elders representing some 15 different woodland tribes. Several treaties were signed at this legendary Conference, including an agreement under which the colony of Pennsylvania returned to the Native American tribes certain lands ceded to them at a previous Conference. At this conference, French influence over the western tribes was significantly weakened, and "at Easton Indian attention was finally gripped by England's promise, approved and confirmed by the English ministry, that the territory west of the [Allegheny] mountains would be thereafter...reserved for Indian use and occupancy and that any former land claims held by any American province were by the same token annulled" (D. Van Every, Forth to the Wilderness: The First American Frontier, 1754-1774,, p. 95) Easton, at the forks of the Delaware River, had become a preferred site for treaty conferences between agents and officials of the British crown, officials of the middle colonies and Chieftains representing the Eastern woodland tribes (similarly, conferences with the more northerly tribes were usually held at Albany or Johnson Hall on the Mohawk River). In August, in response to increasing depredations against New Jersey settlers, particularly in the sparsely settled northwestern portion of the colony, Lt. Governor Francis Bernard addressed a formal message to the Minisink Tribe, and to Teedyuscung, a Delaware Sachem who had assumed a prominent role in recent negotiations with the colonists. In his letter, Bernard deplored "invasions lately made, on the inhabitants of this colony, and much bloodshed by Indians, suppos'd to be those of the Minisink or Pompton, who have resided within this colony" and authorized Teedyuscung to ask the Minisink and Pompton "to desist from hostilities" and to attend the Easton Conference, where "they shall be received in a most friendly manner, and every endeavor shall be used to establish and confirm a friendship between the subjects of our Great King George...and them..." (De Puy 43). Teedyuscung successfully induced representatives of the two tribes to attend the Easton conference at which the present treaty was arranged. The full proceedings of this historic conference were published the same year by Franklin in Philadelphia and by James Parker at Woodbridge, New Jersey (see Evans 8157 & 8377; H.F. Du Puy, Bibliography of the English Colonial Treaties, pp.44 & 45; Siebert Sale 531 & 532). Franklin's edition lists the tribes in attendance: Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, Tuscaroras, Tuteloes, Nanticokes and Conoys, Chugnuts, Delawares, Unamies, Mohicans, and "Minisinks and Wapingers or Pumptons." The Minisink (Minsi or Munsee) and Pompton were powerful sub-tribes of the Delaware or Lenni-Lenape who had been the original owners of the entire territory of present-day New Jersey; the Minisink and Pomptons controlled the section of New Jersey extending from the Raritan River north, as shown on the map. George Croghan, principal organizer of the Easton Conference, is a frontier figure of considerable interest. Born in Ireland, he became the best-known trader on the Pennsylvania frontier, spoke several Indian tongues, and, accepted as a trusted friend of the Indians, he had been made an honorary member of the Supreme Council of the Onandagas in 1746. As a part of England's new effort to combat the pervasive French influence over the Ohio Valley tribes, Croghan had held conferences the previous year in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York. From January to June 1758 he commanded Iroquois detachments guarding the troubled New York borders, then was in charge of Iroquois warriors attached to Abercrombie's Ticonderoga campaign and then joined British General Forbes to aid in preparations for the campaign against Fort Duquesne (Fort Pitt). But "his indispensable service to Forbes was his management of the great Easton conference in October..." (Van Avery, p.95). The great Easton Conference opened on October 11 and reached a climax on October 20. "From the beginning," a recent commentator observes, "the gathering had been a large and confused one, fraught with tension and conflict." The number of tribes in attendance was exceptional, featuring powerful delegations of the western Delawares, a large group of eastern Delawares under Teeduscung and an enormous contingent of Iroquois: "Each of the Six Nations had sent official representatives, and the Onondaga Council had encouraged many of the small nations that lived under its protection--Nanticokes, Tuteloes, Chugnuts, Minisinks, Mahicans, and Wappingers--to send observers..." The Onandaga, "had sent no fewer than three powerful chiefs--the great Oneida orator Thomas King, the Seneca Sachem Tagshata and the Mohawk chief Nichas...(F. Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, pp.275-276). The conference was formally concluded on October 25 and 26, with feasting and the presentation of symbolic gifts. "It had been the most important Indian conference in Pennsylvania's history, and its significance was by no means limited to the restoration of peace with the Ohio tribes..." The peace established here facilitated Forbes's later success in driving the French from Fort Dusuqesne, which was a major turning point in the Seven Years' War. On the political and military background, see Anderson, Chapter 28; on Croghan and his unique contribution see Van Avery, pp.58-112. Provenance: After the deed was recorded by provincial secretaries in Perth Amboy and Burlington (as attested by signed endorsements on the verso), this copy of the deed would have been returned to the signers, perhaps Croghan, perhaps the Minisink tribes -- Philip D. Sang (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 26 April 1978, lot 127).
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[INDIAN TREATY, EASTON CONFERENCE, 1758]. CROGHAN, George (d.1782), Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Document signed ("Geo. Croghan," recto and verso), also signed by CONRAD WEISER (1696-1760), "Provincial Interpreter for Pennsylvania," Henry Montour "commonly called Andrew Montour, the King's Interpreter," AND BY TWENTY-ONE CHIEFTAINS OR SACHEMS of various Eastern tribes, including Thomas King, "an Oneida Chief who spoke at this treaty in behalf of the five Younger Nations," Segosadon or Tagatshata, "a Seneca Chief or Sachem," and Tokahoya "a Cayuga Chief or Sachem" (several additional Sachems have signed additional endorsements on the verso); most of the Indian signatories have used personal marks or totems alongside small red wax seals, the Oneida Tokahoya has added a large drawing of a peace pipe surrounding his name; by this treaty, the Minisinks and Pomptons formally relinquish all claims to the lands constituting the northern portion of the province of New Jersey, in exchange for 1000 Spanish pieces of eight (£375). Signed at Easton, Pennsylvania, 23 October 1758 (additional signatures and endorsements on verso dated 28 October 1758). Large folio (29½ x 27½ in.), ON FINE PARCHMENT, top edge neatly cut in a scalloped pattern, very minor discoloration at center fold, otherwise in excellent condition. Incorporating a carefully drawn map of New Jersey (5½ in. in height), in ink and red-brown watercolor, on which are labelled "The Tract released by the Minisinks" (comprising most of the northern third of the state), and "The Tract released by the Delawares" (comprising the southern two-thirds of the state), with major landmarks including Cape May, Sandy Hook, Paoqualin Mountain and Alamalunk Falls identified. AN IMPORTANT INDIAN TREATY FROM THE FAMOUS EASTON CONFERENCE, 1758, BY WHICH THE NATIVE TRIBES RELINQUISH ALL CLAIM TO THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS IN THE ROYAL COLONY OF NEW JERSEY An exceptionally attractive document, recording a highly important treaty signed at the great Easton, Pennsylvania Conference of October 1758. This very significant convocation, organized by Croghan, Deputy Superintendant of Indian Affairs, was attended by some 507 Indian Chiefs and elders representing some 15 different woodland tribes. Several treaties were signed at this legendary Conference, including an agreement under which the colony of Pennsylvania returned to the Native American tribes certain lands ceded to them at a previous Conference. At this conference, French influence over the western tribes was significantly weakened, and "at Easton Indian attention was finally gripped by England's promise, approved and confirmed by the English ministry, that the territory west of the [Allegheny] mountains would be thereafter...reserved for Indian use and occupancy and that any former land claims held by any American province were by the same token annulled" (D. Van Every, Forth to the Wilderness: The First American Frontier, 1754-1774,, p. 95) Easton, at the forks of the Delaware River, had become a preferred site for treaty conferences between agents and officials of the British crown, officials of the middle colonies and Chieftains representing the Eastern woodland tribes (similarly, conferences with the more northerly tribes were usually held at Albany or Johnson Hall on the Mohawk River). In August, in response to increasing depredations against New Jersey settlers, particularly in the sparsely settled northwestern portion of the colony, Lt. Governor Francis Bernard addressed a formal message to the Minisink Tribe, and to Teedyuscung, a Delaware Sachem who had assumed a prominent role in recent negotiations with the colonists. In his letter, Bernard deplored "invasions lately made, on the inhabitants of this colony, and much bloodshed by Indians, suppos'd to be those of the Minisink or Pompton, who have resided within this colony" and authorized Teedyuscung to ask the Minisink and Pompton "to desist from hostilities" and to attend the Easton Conference, where "they shall be received in a most friendly manner, and every endeavor shall be used to establish and confirm a friendship between the subjects of our Great King George...and them..." (De Puy 43). Teedyuscung successfully induced representatives of the two tribes to attend the Easton conference at which the present treaty was arranged. The full proceedings of this historic conference were published the same year by Franklin in Philadelphia and by James Parker at Woodbridge, New Jersey (see Evans 8157 & 8377; H.F. Du Puy, Bibliography of the English Colonial Treaties, pp.44 & 45; Siebert Sale 531 & 532). Franklin's edition lists the tribes in attendance: Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, Tuscaroras, Tuteloes, Nanticokes and Conoys, Chugnuts, Delawares, Unamies, Mohicans, and "Minisinks and Wapingers or Pumptons." The Minisink (Minsi or Munsee) and Pompton were powerful sub-tribes of the Delaware or Lenni-Lenape who had been the original owners of the entire territory of present-day New Jersey; the Minisink and Pomptons controlled the section of New Jersey extending from the Raritan River north, as shown on the map. George Croghan, principal organizer of the Easton Conference, is a frontier figure of considerable interest. Born in Ireland, he became the best-known trader on the Pennsylvania frontier, spoke several Indian tongues, and, accepted as a trusted friend of the Indians, he had been made an honorary member of the Supreme Council of the Onandagas in 1746. As a part of England's new effort to combat the pervasive French influence over the Ohio Valley tribes, Croghan had held conferences the previous year in Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York. From January to June 1758 he commanded Iroquois detachments guarding the troubled New York borders, then was in charge of Iroquois warriors attached to Abercrombie's Ticonderoga campaign and then joined British General Forbes to aid in preparations for the campaign against Fort Duquesne (Fort Pitt). But "his indispensable service to Forbes was his management of the great Easton conference in October..." (Van Avery, p.95). The great Easton Conference opened on October 11 and reached a climax on October 20. "From the beginning," a recent commentator observes, "the gathering had been a large and confused one, fraught with tension and conflict." The number of tribes in attendance was exceptional, featuring powerful delegations of the western Delawares, a large group of eastern Delawares under Teeduscung and an enormous contingent of Iroquois: "Each of the Six Nations had sent official representatives, and the Onondaga Council had encouraged many of the small nations that lived under its protection--Nanticokes, Tuteloes, Chugnuts, Minisinks, Mahicans, and Wappingers--to send observers..." The Onandaga, "had sent no fewer than three powerful chiefs--the great Oneida orator Thomas King, the Seneca Sachem Tagshata and the Mohawk chief Nichas...(F. Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, pp.275-276). The conference was formally concluded on October 25 and 26, with feasting and the presentation of symbolic gifts. "It had been the most important Indian conference in Pennsylvania's history, and its significance was by no means limited to the restoration of peace with the Ohio tribes..." The peace established here facilitated Forbes's later success in driving the French from Fort Dusuqesne, which was a major turning point in the Seven Years' War. On the political and military background, see Anderson, Chapter 28; on Croghan and his unique contribution see Van Avery, pp.58-112. Provenance: After the deed was recorded by provincial secretaries in Perth Amboy and Burlington (as attested by signed endorsements on the verso), this copy of the deed would have been returned to the signers, perhaps Croghan, perhaps the Minisink tribes -- Philip D. Sang (sale, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 26 April 1978, lot 127).
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