The remaining, and much the greater part of the state was occupied by the Romans of this western world,* who composed a federal republic, and were denominated by the English, the Five Nations, the Six Nations, the Confederates; by the French, the Iroquois; by the Dutch, the Maquas, or Mahakuase; by the southern Indians, the Massawomacs; by themselves, the Mingos, or Mingoians, and sometimes the Aganuschion, or United People, and their confederacy they styled the Kenunctioni.t The dwelling lands of this confederacy were admirably adapted for convenience, for subsistence, and for conquest. They comprize the greatest body of the most fertile lands in North America; and they are the most elevated grounds in the United States, from whence the waters run in every direction. The Ohio, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the Hudson, and the St. Lawrence, almost all the great rivers, beside a very considerable number of secondary ones, originate here, and are discharged into the Gulph of Mexico by the Mississippi River, into the Gulph of St. Lawrence, by the St. Lawrence River, or into the Atlantic Ocean by various channels. Five great inland seas reach upward of 2,000 miles through a considerable part of this territory, and afford an almost uninterrupted navigation to that extent. By these lakes and rivers, the confederates were enabled, at all times, and in all directions, to carry war and destruction among the surrounding and the most * Volney's View of the United States, p. 470-476. Colden's Five Nations, vol. 1. p. 4, 5. + Massachusetts Historical Collections, vol. 1. p. 144, &c. Daniel Gookins. Pownall on the Colonies, vol. 1. p. 235. Smith's History of New-Jersey, p. 136. Morse's Gazetteer, title Six Nations. Jefferson's Virginia, p. 140. Smith's History of NewYork, p. 45. distant nations. And their country also abounds with other lakes, some of great size; Lake Champlain, formerly called the Sea of the Iroquois, Lake George, the Saratoga, the Oneida, the Canadesaga or Seneca, the Cayuga, the Otsego, the Skaneatelas, the Canandaigua, the Cross, the Onondaga, the Otisco, the Owasco, the Crooked, the Canesus, the Henilock, the Honeyoyo, the Chataque, the Caniaderaga, and the Canasoraga; composing in number and extent, with the five great lakes, the greatest mass of fresh water to be found in the world. In addition to the fertility of the soil, we may mention the mildness of the climate to the west of the Onondaga Hills, the salubrity and the magnificent scenery of the country. The numerous waters were stored with the salmon, the trout, the masquinonges, the white fish, the shad, the rock fish, the sturgeon, the perch, and other fish of various kinds; and the forests abounded with an incredible number and variety of game. The situation of the inhabitants was rendered very eligible from these sources of subsistence, connected with a very productive soil; for they had passed over the pastoral state, and followed agriculture as well as fishing and hunting. The selection of this country for a habitation, was the wisest expedient that could have been adopted by a military nation to satiate their thirst for glory, and to extend their conquests over the continent; and if they preferred the arts of peace, there was none better calculated for this important purpose. In a few days their forces could be seen, their power could be felt, at the mouth of the Ohio or the Missouri, on the waters of the Hudson or the St. Lawrence, or in the bays of Delaware or Chesapeake, It is not a little difficult to define the territorial limits of this extraordinary people,* for on this subject there are the most repugnant representations by the French and English writers, arising from interest, friendship, prejudice, and enmity. While the French, on the one hand, were involved in continual hostility with them, the English, on the other hand, were connected by alliance and by commerce. By the 15th article of the treaty of Utrecht, concluded in 1713, it was stipulated "that the subjects of France inhabiting Canada, and others, shall hereafter give no hindrance or molestation to the Five Nations or cantons subject to the dominion of Great Britain."+ As between France and England the confederates were, therefore, to be considered as the subjects of the latter, and of course the British dominion was co-extensive with the rightful territory of the five cantons, it then became the policy of France to diminish, and that of England to enlarge this territory. But notwithstanding the confusion which has grown out of these clashing interests and contradictory representations, it is not perhaps very far from the truth to pronounce, that the Five Nations were entitled by patrimony or conquest to all the territory in the United States and in Canada, not occupied by the Creeks, the Cherokees, and the other southern Indians, by the Sioux, the Kinisteneaux, and the Chippewas; and by the English and French, as far west as the Mississippi and lake Winnipeg, as far northwest as the waters which unite this lake and Hudson's Bay, and as far north as Hud * Rogers' Concise Account of North America, p. 6. Colden, vol. 1. p. 87. Pownall on the Colonies, vol. 1. p. 235, &c. Smith's New-York, p. 58. 179, &c. Douglass' Summary, p. 11, &c. Pownall's Geographical Description, &c. Charlevoix Histoire Generale de la Nouvelle France, &c. + Chalmers' Collection of Treaties, vol. 1. son's Bay and Labrador. The Five Nations claim, says Smith, "all the land not sold to the English from the mouth of Sorel River, on the south side of Lakes Erie and Ontario, on both sides of the Ohio, till it falls into the Mississippi; and on the north side of these lakes, that whole territory between the Outawas River and Lake Huron, and even beyond the streights between that and Lake Erie." The principal point of dispute between the English and French was, whether the dominion of the confederates extended north of the Great Lakes; but I think it is evident that it did. It is admitted by several French writers, that the Iroquois had several villages on the north side of Lake Ontario, and they are even laid down in the maps attached to Charlevoix, and it cannot be denied but that they subdued the Hurons and Algonkins, who lived on that side of the Great Lakes, and consequently were entitled to their country by the rights of conquest. Douglass estimates their territory at about twelve hundred miles in length, from north to south, and from seven to eight hundred miles in breadth. This was either hereditary or conquered. Their patrimonial, and part of their conquered country, were used for the purpose of habitation and hunting. Their hunting grounds were very extensive, including a large triangle on the southeast side of the St. Lawrence River; the country lying on the south and east sides of Lake Erie; the country between the Lakes Erie and Michigan, and the country lying on the north of Lake Erie, and northwest of Lake Ontario, and between the Lakes Ontario and Huron. All the remaining part of their territory was inhabited by the Abenaquis, Algonkins, Shawanese, Delawares, Illinois, Miamies, and other vassal nations. The acquisition of supremacy over a country of such amazing extent and fertility, inhabited by warlike and numerous nations, must have been the result of unity of design and system of action proceeding from a wise and energetic policy, continued for a long course of time. To their social combinations, military talents, and exterior arrangements, we must look for this system, if such a system is to be found. The Confederates had proceeded far beyond the first element of all associations, that of combination into families; they had their villages, their tribes, their nations, and their confederacy; but they had not advanced beyond the first stage of government. They were destitute of an executive and judiciary to execute the determinations of their councils; and their government was therefore merely advisory, and without a coercive principle. The respect which was paid to their chiefs, and the general odium that attached to disobedience, rendered the decisions of their legislatures, for a long series of time, of as much validity as if they had been enforced by an executive arm. They were originally divided into five nations, the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senekas. In 1712, the Tuscaroras, who lived on the back parts of North Carolina, and who had formed a deep and general conspiracy to exterminate the whites, were driven from their country, were adopted by the Iroquois as a sixth nation, and lived on lands between the Oneidas and Onondagas, assigned to them by the former.* The Mohawks had four towns and one small village, situated on or near the fertile banks of the river of that name. The position of the first was *Smith's New-York, p. 46. Douglass' Summary, p. 243. |