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treaties of Fort McIntosh and Miami. Therefore the council of the United States appointed Governor St. Clair their Commissioner with full power, for the purpose of removing all causes of controversy relating to trade, and settling boundaries between the Indian nations in the northern department of the United States. He accordingly sent messages, inviting all the nations concerned to meet him at a council-fire he kindled at the falls of Muskingum. While he was waiting for them, some mischief happened at that place, and the fire was put out; so he kindled a fire at Fort Harmar, where near six hundred Indians of different nations attended. The Six Nations then renewed and confirmed the treaty of Fort Stanwix; and the Wyandots and Delawares renewed and confirmed the treaty of Fort McIntosh. Some Ottawas, Chippeways, Potawatamies and Sacs were also parties to the treaty of Fort Harmar." Now, brothers, these are your words, and it is necessary for us to make a short reply to them.

Brothers, a general council of all the Indian confederacy was held, as you well know, in the fall of the year 1788, at this place; and that general council was invited by your Commissioner, General St. Clair, to meet him for the purpose of holding a treaty with regard to the lands mentioned by you to have been ceded by the treaties of Fort Stanwix and Fort McIntosh.

Brothers, we are in possession of the speeches and letters which passed on that occasion between those deputed by the confederate Indians and Governor St. Clair, the Commissioner of the United States. These papers prove that your said Commissioner, in the beginning of the year 1789, after having been informed by the general council of the preceding fall, that no bargain or sale of any part of these Indians lands would be considered as valid or binding, unless agreed to by a general council, nevertheless persisted in collecting a few chiefs of two or three nations only, and with them held a treaty for the cession of an immense country, in which they were no more interested than a branch of the general confederacy, and who were in no manner authorized to make any grant or cession whatever.

Brothers, how then was it possible for you to expect to enjoy peace, and quietly hold these lands, when your Commissioner was informed, long before he held the treaty of Fort Harmar, that the consent of a general council was absolutely

necessary to convey any part of these lands to the United States? The part of these lands which the United States wish us to relinquish, and which you say are settled, have been sold by the United States since that time.

Brothers, you say "the United States wish to have confirmed all the lands ceded to them by the treaty of Fort Harmar, and also a small tract at the Rapids of the Ohio, claimed by General Clark for the use of himself and his warriors. And in consideration thereof the United States would give such a large sum in money or goods as was never given at any one time for any quantity of Indian lands since the white people first set their feet on this island. And because those lands did every year furnish you with skins and furs, with which you bought clothing and other necessaries, the United States will now furnish the constant supplies. And therefore, besides the great sum to be delivered at once, they will every year deliver you a large quantity of such goods as are best fitted to the wants of yourselves, your women and children."

Brothers, money to us is of no value, and to most of us unknown; and as no consideration whatever can induce us to sell our lands, on which we get sustenance for our women and children, we hope we may be allowed to point out a mode by which your settlers may be easily removed, and peace thereby obtained.

Brothers, we know that these settlers are poor, or they would never have ventured to live in a country which has been in continual trouble ever since they crossed the Ohio. Divide therefore this large sum of money, which you have offered to us, among these people; give to each also a proportion of what you say you would give us annually, over and above this very large sum of money; and we are persuaded they would most readily accept of it in lieu of the lands you sold to them. If you add also the great sums you must expend in raising and paying armies with a view to force us to yield you our country, you will certainly have more than sufficient for the purposes of repaying these settlers for all their labor and improvements.

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Brothers, you have talked to us about concessions. appears strange that you should expect any from us, who have only been defending our just rights against your invasions.

We want peace. Restore to us our country, and we shall be enemies no longer.

Brothers, you make one concession to us by offering to us your money, and another by having agreed to do us justice, after having long and injuriously withheld it; we mean in the acknowledgment you have now made that the king of England never did, nor ever had a right to give you our country by the treaty of peace. peace. And And you want to make this act of common justice a great part of your concession, and seem to expect that because you have at last acknowledged our independence, we should for such a favor surrender to you our country.

Brothers, you have also talked a great deal about pre-emption, and your exclusive right to purchase the Indian lands, as ceded to you by the king at the treaty of peace.

Brothers, we never made any agreement with the king, nor with any other nation, that we would give to either the exclusive right to purchase our lands; and we declare to you that we consider ourselves free to make any bargain or cession of lands whenever and to whomsoever we please. If the white people, as you say, made a treaty that none of them but the king should purchase of us, and he has given that right to the United States, it is an affair which concerns you and him, and not us. We have never parted with such

a power.

Brothers, at our general council held at the Glaise last fall, we agreed to meet Commissioners from the United States for the purpose of restoring peace, provided they consented to acknowledge and confirm our boundary line to be the Ohio; and we determined not to meet you, until you gave us satisfaction on that point. That is the reason we have never met.

We desire you to consider, brothers, that our only demand is the peaceable possession of a small part of our once great country. Look back and view the lands from whence we have been driven to this spot. We can retreat no farther, because the country behind hardly affords food for its present inhabitants ; and we have therefore resolved to leave our bones in this small space, to which we are now consigned.

Brothers, we shall be persuaded that you mean to do us justice, if you agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary line between us. If you will not consent thereto, our meeting will be altogether unnecessary. This is the great point,

which we hoped would have been explained before you left your homes; as our message last fall was principally directed to obtain that information.

Done in general council at the foot of the Miami Rapids, the 13th day of August, 1793.

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To the Chiefs and Warriors of the Indian Nations assembled at the foot of the Miami Rapids.

Brothers, we have just received your answer, dated the 13th instant, to our speech of the 31st of last month, which we delivered to your deputies at this place. You say that it was interpreted to all your nations, and we presume it was fully understood. We therein explicitly declared to you that it was now impossible to make the river Ohio the boundary between your lands and the lands of the United States. Your answer amounts to a declaration that you will agree to no other boundary than the Ohio. The negotiation is therefore at an end. We sincerely regret that peace is not the result. But knowing the upright and liberal views of the United States, which, as far as you gave us opportunity, we have explained to you, we trust that impartial judges will not attribute the continuance of the war to them.

Done at Captain Eliot's, at the mouth of Detroit River, the 16th day of August, 1793.

BENJAMIN LINCOLN,

BEVERLEY RANDOLPH,

Commissioners of the

United States.

TIMOTHY PICKERING,

As the Commissioners supposed that the Six Nations were strangers to the last speech from the council at the Rapids of Miami, they thought it their duty to write to the chiefs of those nations in the following terms, viz.

Brothers,

To the Chiefs of the Six Nations.

Two runners were sent by us this week, with a message dated the 14th of this month, to the Indian nations assembled at the Rapids of Miami. Our instructions to the runners were, to inform you that they had such a message from us; and to request you to assemble the chiefs of the other nations, and then deliver it to you all together. From the report of the runners, we are apprehensive that they mistook our orders, and that our message has not been communicated to you. (See page 157.) We therefore now send a 'copy of it. We at the same time sent a letter to Col. McKee, of which also we inclose a copy. (See page 158.)

Brothers,

Our runners returned hither this evening. But a few hours before their arrival, two Wyandot runners arrived with a written answer to our speech of the 31st of last month, (see page 143) insisting on the Ohio as the boundary between the Indian lands and those of the United States. As we have already explicitly declared that we could not make the Ohio the boundary, the business of course was at an end. However, we delivered a short speech in writing to the same runners, who set off this evening to return to the council at the Rapids. We inclose a copy of it. (See the last page.) Brothers,

Being desirious that you should be fully informed of these transactions, we have sent you copies thereof, which you may not otherwise obtain.

Brothers,

We came hither with the most sincere desire to make a

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