THE OHIO VALLEY-GREAT LAKES ETHNOHISTORY
ARCHIVES: THE MIAMI COLLECTION
It is noted that the following work from the Miami Archives should be read and
considered within the historical context in which it was composed and printed.
The opinions expressed and the language used do not reflect the opinions or
standards of the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, but are, rather,
indicative of thought in that historical moment during which the document was
published.
Celoron to Vaudreuil
(April 23, 1751)
Celoron in: Huntington Library
Manuscript, Loudon
Collection 280 and in Illinois Historical
Collections, French Series,
Vol. III, pp. 244-252.
I sent off on April 20 the letter that you wrote M. le Marquis de la Jonquiere, which was forwarded to me by M. Benoist. I entrusted it to M. de Beaujeu, whom I am sending to Montreal with five English traders whom I had arrested at Sandusky at the end of November.
As I doubted if this step would be to the liking of the Huron, I gave M. de Beaujeu 150 French that he might be prepared to lay (page 246) down the law to the tribes who might wish to offer opposition to the arrest of the English. I added twenty Ottawa in order to let them see that the tribes of Detroit were disposed to do as I saw fit. This precaution was not useless. The Huron, even those who seemed most attached to us, were much displeased at the arrest of the English and made all possible efforts to secure their release, which I sharply refused. The good bargains which the Indians have of the English are very seductive.
I have omitted nothing, Monsieur, to engage the rebel Huron who have retired to Conchake, and the Miami of the Great Miami River to return to their village, employing the method of gentleness which M. the general prescribed me. To succeed in it I have induced the tribes of Detroit and of St. Joseph River to enter into negotiations. Thirty chiefs of Detroit have been to Great Miami River to assure La Demoiselle and his whole band that their Father Onontio would pardon their past faults if they wold return to their duty and settle down in their villages. It (page 247) seemed that these two tribes were disposed to accede to what was required of them; and at that time they assured all the deputies as well as us by belts, that they would all return to their villages. Those of Great Miami River, as proof of their fidelity in keeping their word, sent four chiefs to M. de Villiers, who commands at Miamis, to assure him that they would settle down near him and that for the future they would have nothing to do with the English. Finally, Monsieur, it seemed to us as to all the tribes that had joined us to negotiate this affair that the whole matter was going to take on a new aspect, and that everything was on the point of settlement.
It was all a remarkable piece of knavery on the part of these rebels. M. de Villiers by the end of March seeing no appearance of the return of these Indians, went to see them along with Ottawa and Potawatomi chiefs to call on them to fulfil the promises which they had made in the previous fall. These accursed tribes, corrupted by the English, and by the tribes who inhabit the Ohio River, replied to him with an insolence which M. (page 248) the general will be unable to bear when he learns of it from the accounts which I have the honor to send him. They said that they had no other father than the English, and that the Frenchman was a knave and a traitor with whom they wished to have no more to do, and that all he had to do was to withdraw at once. They knew we wished to destroy them, but they had allies who would support them and make them strong. The English, the Iroquois, the Shawnee, Delaware, Wea, Piankashaw, Illinois, and Missouri would join them, and it would be seen who was joking. I sent all these fine sayings to M. the general and let him see the necessity of falling on the villages of the Ohio and Great Miami rivers, and even on those of the Wabash, if the tribes declare against us. I made him feel that the least delay in chastising these rebels with vigor would be very prejudicial to the colony, and that it is very important to halt the progress of the English if he wishes to preserved the communication of Canada with the Mississippi. I propose to him to send twelve hundred French with (page 249) a party of domiciled Indians by way of the Chautauqua portage, and to send by Detroit six hundred French and about one hundred Indians to be joined by those in this post. These two parties united would form a corps of almost twenty-five hundred man and would carry terror everywhere. Our Indians would not hesitate to join us when they saw superior forces. I gave him all the information I had gathered in my expedition to the Ohio River, the location of the villages, and the measures to be taken to approach them so that no one may take flight. And if my advice were followed, no quarter would be given anyone, above all the English, Shawnee, and Delaware who are the source of all our troubles. The Iroquois of the Five Nations also cross us, but it is dangerous to have them for enemies.
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