WILLIAM SHIRLEY TO THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS 1

1

Gentlemen of the Council and House of Representatives: The Occasion of my speaking to you now is to acquaint You that I received a Letter from the Rt: Hble: the Lords Commrs for Trade and the Plantations, signifying to me, that His Majesty had been pleased to order a Sum of Money to be issued for Presents to the Six Nations of Indians, and to direct the Govrs: of New York to hold an Interview with them for delivering those Presents at such Place and Time as he shall appoint; and I am directed to lay this Matter before You and to recommend to You to make a proper Provision for appointing Commissioners from this Government to meet Commissioners of Virginia, Maryland, Pensylvania, New Jerseys, and New Hampshire (to the respective Govrs of which Colonies their Lordships have wrote to the same Effect) as also for making such Presents as hath been usual upon the like Occasions.

I have likewise to acquaint You that I find by a Paragraph of Their Lordships' Letter upon this Occasion to the Govr: of New York, which His Honour Lt: Govr: DeLancey Commandr in Chief of that Province, hath communicated to me, that he is therein directed to take Care that all the Provinces be (if practicable) comprized in one general Treaty to be made in His Majesty's Name, and that Mr: DeLancey hath given me Notice, that he hath appointed the said Interview to be held at the City of Albany on the 14th of June

next.

I am persuaded, Gentlemen, I need not use Arguments to convince You that it is of very great Consequence to the

1 B. M., Additional Manuscript 32735, 129. A transcript is in the Library of Congress. As will be seen from the endorsement this most forcible presentation of the position and needs of the American Colonies was forwarded to the London government on April 19, giving the ministry a clear presentation of Shirley's plans for America.

Interest of his Majesty's Colonies upon this Continent at all Times, that as many of the Tribes of Indians inhabiting it as may be (those of the Six Nations more especially) should be kept in Friendship with the English, and a Dependance. upon the Crown of Great Britain, and that as free a Commerce and Intercourse should be maintained with them as is possible; But I think it my Duty at this Time to enter into a particular Detail of these Matters.

At the Treaty of Utrecht, which is confirmed by That of Aix la Chapelle, "These were looked upon to be points of that Importance to the British Interest in North America, that Care was taken in that Treaty to have the Indians of the Six Nations acknowledged by France to be subject to the Dominion of Great Britain, and it is therein expressly stipulated that the French shall give no Hindrance or Molestation either to them, or the other Natives of America, who were Friends to the English; it is also stipulated that the Subjects of both Crowns should enjoy full Liberty of going or coming upon this Continent on Account of Trade, and that the Natives of the Countries upon it should with the same Liberty, resort as they please, to the British and French Colonies, for promoting Trade on the one Side, and the other without any Molestation or Hindrance, either on the Part of the British Subjects, or of the French.

With regard to the Indians of the Six Nations in particular, I would observe to You, that according to an Account given by them in an open Council at Turpehawkie at their Return from the Indian Treaty at Philadelphia in 1742, of the several Indian Nations which have been conquered by them and are now in their Alliance, and trade with the English (which Account seems to be the best we have of that Matter) the Warriours belonging to those Tribes may be computed to amount to 16,000 at least; and the French Indian whom I have retained in His Majesty's Service, who must be a good Judge of the Strength of the Five Nations themselves, upon being interrogated by me concerning the Number of their fighting Men, made Answer "That he did not know their Number, but well knew that they are a numerous People,

a terrible Body of Men, and able to burn all the Indians in Canada."

You must be sensible Gentlemen, what frequent Attempts the French have made from Time to Time to draw off the Six Nations from the English Interest into their own; and from the repeated Advices We have received from His Majesty's Southern Colonies on this Continent, what Efforts they have lately exerted to win over their Allies, together with the other numerous Tribes inhabiting the vast Country lying along the great Lakes and Rivers, and to the Westward of the Apalachean Mountains, (all which may be reckoned to exceed double the Number of the Indians of the Six Nations and those in their Alliance,) as also what Measures the French are taking to exclude the English from all Trade and Commerce with those Indians.

To compass this, they have in manifest Violation of the aforesaid Treaties, entered the Country of these Indians upon the Back of His Majesty's Southern Colonies, and within the Limits of his Territories, with large Bodies of Troops, seized the Effects, and captivated the Persons of the English whom they have found trading there, absolutely denied their Right to Traffick with those Nations, and erected a Line of Forts upon the Lakes and Rivers from Canada to Mississippi, to cut off all Commerce and Intercourse between them; They have committed Hostilities against some of the Tribes in Friendship with the English, engaged others to take up the Hatchet against them, and threatened those with Destruction who shall interfere in their avowed Design to drive the English out of that Country.

Should the Indians of the Six Nations at this critical Conjuncture desert Our Alliance, and go over to the French, how fatal an Influence must such an Event have upon the British Interest? On the other Hand, should proper Measures be taken to attach them firmly to it, how greatly would it disappoint and check the present Scheme and Enterprizes of our dangerous Neighbours.

It is well known how wavering the Disposition of these Indians hath of late been; and how visibly they have abated

their former Enmity to the French, and we can't be at a Loss to discover the real Causes of it; Nothing could at this Time so effectually reclaim them to their old Alliance with Us, as the Measures directed by Their Lordships of the Board of Trade, one general League of Friendship, comprising all His Majesty's Colonies, to be made with them in His Majesty's Name, with Stipulations to build such Forts in their Country as they shall choose, and may be judged necessary for their Shelter and Protection against the French.

Such a Coalition of the Colonies for their Defence would be a convincing Proof to them, that they might safely depend upon His Maty for Protection, and confirm them in their ancient Alliance with the English; and how necessary such a Confederacy of the Colonies for their Safeguard is, may appear to You from the following Account given by an Indian Trader, who, for more than 20 Years had carried on a Trade among the different Nations of Indians some Hundred Miles West of Philadelphia, the Truth of which I've great Reason to depend upon, Viz: "That in Novr: 1750, he with sundry other Traders of the English, was taken Prisoner by some Frenchmen belonging to a Fort upon the River Ohio, and from thence was transported from Fort to Fort to Quebeck, by Means of which Forts and the Lakes, the French, he says have a Communication open from Quebec to Mississippi; that they have Forts there within 20 or 30 miles Distance of each other, with a Command of from 10 to 20 Men in each; in which he says they put the Squaws and Papooses of the Indians in Alliance with them for Protection, whilst the Men go out to War, and there keep them untill the Men return; and he observes, that by means of these Forts, they bid fair in a little Time to seduce the Indians in Alliance with the English, as the English do not afford the same Protection to their Women and Children, whilst the Men are gone to War, as the French do."

I would therefore earnestly recommend to You, Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, to make suitable Provision for sending Commissioners on the Part of this Government, to join in the approaching Interview at Albany

duly authorized to concert such Measures in Conjunction with the Government of New York, and Commissioners of the beforementioned Governments, as shall be judged proper to be entered into, for cementing a firm League of Friendship with the Indians of the Six Nations, and retaining them in the British Interest, and to give those Commissioners full Powers to agree with the other Governments upon the Quota of Money and Men to be furnished by the Province for this Service.

I have taken the Liberty to propose the same Thing to be done by the other Governments concerned in this Interview in my Letters to His Majesty's governors, and have Reason to hope they will promote so salutary a Measure.

Such an Union of Councils besides the happy Effect it will probably have upon the Indians of the Six Nations may lay a Foundation for a general one among all His Majesty's Colonies, for the mutual Support and Defence against the present dangerous Enterprizes of the French on every Side of them.

I have already let You know, Gentlemen, His Majesty's Orders to me and his other Governors upon this Point, signified to Us in the Earl of Holdernesse's Letter of the 28th of last August, and how necessary it is that such an Union should be immediately formed in the Common Cause, whoever takes a Survey of the whole Extent of the Invasions and Encroachments which the French are surrounding His Majesty's Territories upon this Continent with, from their Most Eastern to their Most Western Limits must soon be convinced.

Close on the Back of the Settlements of His Majesty's Southern Colonies, they are joining Canada to the Mississippi by a Line of Forts and Settlements along the great Lakes and Rivers, and cutting off all Commerce and Intercourse between the English and the numerous powerfull Tribes of Indians inhabiting that Country, whom they are attempting to engage in their Interest by all Manner of Hostilities and Artifices and at the same Time they are pushing on their Encroachments with equal Vigour quite round His Majesty's