From Farm House to the White House Part 20

"A large fort at the mouth of the Mississippi, with thirty-five companies of forty men each."

"How many guns does the fort mount?"

"Eight carriage guns."

"Quite a formidable affair," remarked Was.h.i.+ngton. "With courage and skill to correspond they can withstand quite a siege; and what is there at Twigtwies?"

"Several companies, and a fort mounting six guns."

"And is that all?"

"Not exactly. There is a small fort on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Obaish (Wabash), garrisoned by a few men."

The information he gathered from these men was valuable to him and the Virginia authorities.

As soon as the half-king returned, Was.h.i.+ngton called upon him with his interpreter, making known his business, and inviting him to his own tent. The chief cordially accepted the invitation, and he accompanied him on his return.

"I understand that you have visited the French commander, to whom I am going," remarked Was.h.i.+ngton, "and perhaps you can give me some information about the ways and distance."

"The nearest and levelest way," answered the half-king, "is now impa.s.sable on account of many deep and miry savannas."

"Then we must adopt the next best way," suggested Was.h.i.+ngton.

"Yes; and that is by the way of Venango, at the confluence of French Creek and the Alleghany," said Tanacharisson.

"How great is the distance?"

"You cannot get to the nearest fort in less than five or six nights'

sleep, good travelling."

"How were you received at the fort?" continued Was.h.i.+ngton, anxious to make the most of his informant.

"General Pierre Paul was alive then, and he received me sternly,"

replied the chief.

"In what way did he show his sternness?" Was.h.i.+ngton asked.

"By his abrupt inquiry, 'What did you come here about?' And he ordered me, in an insolent way, to declare my business."

"And what did you tell him?" urged Was.h.i.+ngton.

"I made this speech to him," the half-king answered with a smile; and he proceeded to rehea.r.s.e his address to the French commander. As Was.h.i.+ngton preserved the speech of Tanacharisson, together with the French general's reply, we furnish the remainder of the interview from that valuable doc.u.ment:

"Fathers, I am come to tell you your own speeches, what your own mouths have declared.

"Fathers, you, in former days, set a silver basin before us, wherein there was the leg of a beaver, and desired all the nations to come and eat of it,--to eat in peace and plenty, and not to be churlish to one another; and that if any such person should be found to be a disturber, I here lay down by the edge of the dish a rod, which you must scourge them with; and if your father should get foolish, in my old days, I desire you may use it upon me as well as others.

"Now, fathers, it is you who are the disturbers in this land, by coming and building your towns, and taking it away unknown to us, and by force.

"Fathers, we kindled a fire a long time ago at a place called Montreal, where we desired you to stay, and not to come and intrude upon our land.

I now desire you may dispatch to that place; for be it known to you, fathers, that this is our land, and not yours.

"Fathers, I desire you may hear me in civilness; if not, we must handle that rod which was laid down for the use of obstreperous. If you had come in a peaceable manner, like our brothers, the English, we would not have been against your trading with us as they do; but to come, fathers, and build houses upon our land, and to take it by force, is what we cannot submit to.

"Fathers, both you and the English are white; we live in a country between; therefore the land belongs to neither one nor the other. But the Great Being above allowed it to be a place of residence for us; So, fathers, I desire you to withdraw, as I have done our brothers, the English; for I will keep you at arm's length. I lay this down as a trial for both, to see which will have the greatest regard to it, and that side we will stand by, and make equal sharers with us. Our brothers, the English, have heard this, and I come now to tell it to you, for I am not afraid to discharge you off this land."

This, he said, was the substance of what he spoke to the general, who made this reply:

"'Now, my child, I have heard your speech; you spoke first, but it is my time to speak now. Where is my wampum that you took away with the marks of towns on it? This wampum I do not know, which you have discharged me off the land with; but you need not put yourself to the trouble of speaking, for I will not hear you. I am not afraid of flies or mosquitoes, for Indians are such as those; I tell you down that river I will go, and build upon it, according to my command. If the river was blocked up, I have forces sufficient to burst it open, and tread under my feet all that stand in opposition, together with their alliances, for my force is as the sand upon the seash.o.r.e; therefore, here is your wampum. I sling it at you. Child, you talk foolish; you say this land belongs to you, but there is not the black of my nail yours. I saw that land sooner than you did; before the Shannoahs and you were at war. Lead was the man who went down and took possession of that river. It is my land, and I will have it, let who will stand up for or say against it. I will buy and sell with the English (mockingly). If people will be ruled by me they may expect kindness, but not else.'

"The half-king told me he had inquired of the general after two Englishmen who were made prisoners, and received this answer:

"'Child, you think it a very great hards.h.i.+p that I made prisoners of those two people at Venango. Don't you concern yourself with it; we took and carried them to Canada, to get intelligence of what the English were doing in Virginia.'

"He informed me that they had built two forts; one on Lake Erie, and another on French Creek, near a small lake, about fifteen miles asunder, and a large wagon-road between. They are both built after the same model, but different in size, that on the lake the largest. He gave me a plan of them of his own drawing."

The Indians inquired very particularly after their brothers in Carolina jail.

They also asked what sort of a boy it was who was taken from the South Branch, for they were told by some Indians that a party of "French Indians had carried a white boy by Kuskheskia Town, towards the lakes."

The Indian Council which Was.h.i.+ngton convened, a.s.sembled at nine o'clock, on the twenty-sixth day of November, and he made the following speech to the rude children of the forest:

"Brothers, I have called you together in council, by order of your brother, the governor of Virginia, to acquaint you that I am sent with all possible despatch to visit and deliver a letter to the French commandant of very great importance to your brothers, the English, and I dare say to you, their friends and allies.

"I was desired, brothers, by your brother, the governor, to call upon you, the sachems of the nations, to inform you of it, and to ask your advice and a.s.sistance to proceed the nearest and best road to the French. You see, brothers, I have gotten thus far on my journey.

"His Honor likewise desired me to apply to you for some of your young men to conduct and provide provisions for us on our way, and be a safe-guard against those French Indians who have taken up the hatchet against us. I have spoken thus particularly to you, brothers, because his Honor, our governor, treats you as good friends and allies, and holds you in great esteem. To confirm what I have said, I give you this string of wampum."

The sachems listened to this speech with profound attention, noting every word; and when Major Was.h.i.+ngton concluded, they conferred together for some time, when Tanacharisson arose, and replied:

"Now, my brother, in regard to what my brother, the governor, had desired of me, I return you this answer:

"I rely upon you as a brother ought to do, as you say we are brothers and one people. We shall put heart in hand, and speak to our fathers, the French, concerning the speech they made to me; and you may depend that we will endeavor to be your guard.

"Brother, as you have asked my advice, I hope you will be ruled by it, and stay until I can provide a company to go with you. The French speech belt is not here; I have to go for it to my hunting cabin. Likewise, the people whom I have ordered in are not yet come, and cannot until the third night from this; until which time, brother, I must beg you to stay. I intend to send the guard of Rincoes, Shannoahs, and Delawares, that our brothers may see the love and loyalty we bear them."

Was.h.i.+ngton replied to the half-king:

"Brother, your offer is a very generous one, for which I heartily thank you; but my orders are to make all possible despatch, so that I am obliged to leave, much against my inclination. My business requires the greatest expedition, and will not admit of so much delay."

"We are sorry for this decision, brother," continued Tanacharisson; "but we shall not permit you to go without a guard, lest some accident befall you, and, in consequence, reflection be cast upon us. Besides, this is a matter of no small moment, and must not be entered into without due consideration; for I intend to deliver up the French speech belt, and make the Shannoahs and Delawares do the same."

Accordingly the half-king gave orders to the King s.h.i.+ngiss, who was present, to attend on Wednesday night with the wampum, and two men of their nation to be in readiness to set out with Was.h.i.+ngton and his party in the morning. But Was.h.i.+ngton did not leave as he designed, because he found that the sachems would be greatly offended if he did. His journal says: "I found it was impossible to go off without offending them in the most egregious manner."

The entry in his journal for the next day, Nov. 27, is:

"Runners were despatched very early for the Shannoah chiefs. The half-king himself set out to fetch the French speech belt from his hunting cabin."

On the following evening, Nov. 28, Tanacharisson returned with the French speech belt, and came to Was.h.i.+ngton's tent in company with Monacatoocha and two other sachems.