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.
Lewis Evans: An Analysis of a
General Map of the Middle
British Colonies
(Due to length divided here into two parts)
In: Gipson, Lawrence Henry, Lewis
Evans, Philadelphia: The
Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, 1939,
pp. 1 (Title), 141-176.
pp. 157, 158, 159, 160, 175, 176.
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THE Erigas , who were of the same original Stock with the Confederates themselves, and partook also of the Tuscarora Language, were seated on Ohio and its Branches, from Beaver Creek || to |
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G g; Erigas
destroyed. |
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the Mouth of the Quiaghtena River . The far greater Part have been extirpated, some incorporated into the Senecas, and the rest have retired beyond the woodless Plains over the Missisippi, and left the Confederates entire Masters of all the Country. From the Ruins of the Eriga Towns and Fortresses we suppose they were the most numerous of any in these Parts of America. |
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G s |
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THE Welinis, called by the French Ilinois, had their Seat on a fine River, which bears their Name , and thence North East by the South End of Lake Ilinois, along Mineami River to Lake Erie. They had many Years War with the Confederates, and were compelled to acknowledge their Superiority, but however without being Subjects. They are now in close Friendship; and for the Sake of their having the Advantage of Trade with the English, the Confederates allotted them the Land on Quiaghtena || and Rocky Rivers ||, which is still the Property of the Confederates; but the Land of the Welinis, |
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Welinis
conquered. || G o p q r |
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where they were formerly seated, still remains their own. As for the Land from the West End of Lake Erie to the South End of Lake Ilinois , which, in the Course of the War, the Confederates gained with the Sword, they have allotted Part to the Wiandts. |
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E o p q r s |
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THE Wiandts, or Junndats, had Tiiughsoghrntie for their Seat, but by the superior Force of the Confederates were compelled to abandon it, and at last obliged to sue for Peace, after they had many Years wandered beyond the Lakes. Upon this Account all that Peninsula between the Lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie, is become the Property of the Confederates, and the Wiandots their Subjects; and to preserve their Fidelity, and to afford them Protection, their present Seat was allotted them. The Delawares and these entered into an entire Leagues of Association in 1751. I think the Wiandts the same as the Foxes or Outagamis. Their Language discovers them of the original Stock of the Erigas and Confederates. |
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Wiandts conquered. United with the Delawares. |
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THE Outagamis and some other Nations on the further Side of the Lakes are subdued by the Confederates; but I am not enabled to relate the Particulars with any Certainty, and so cannot specify what Lands they have a Right to beyond the Western Side of Lake Michigan. And though they have often carried their Arms far beyond the Missisippi, and compelled the Nations seated there to retire further Westward, I have not been able to learn how far their Dominion extends on that Side, though they say it is considerably. |
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THE Peninsula of SKANIADARADE, which lies on the North Side of Lake Erie, has long been subjected to the superior Arms of the Confederates; its antient Inhabitants, called by the French, Hurons, from the beastly Shapes of their Heads, and nearly related to the Raarndacks, who do not trim their Hair in the sprightly Form of the other Savages, are almost extinct. But the Country all along the South Side of the Outawais River, for a considerable Extent, belongs to those Remains of Algonkins, the |
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Skaniadarde conquered. |
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Algonkins not subdued. |
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Outawais, Nipissings, &c who by the Assistance of the French have escaped the Fate of most other Nations, who have had Occasion to contend with the Confederates. |
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French Rights from Frontenac to Montreal. ||A d; A c |
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THE French being in Possession of Fort Frontenac at the Peace of Ryswick, which they attained during that War with the Confederates, gives them an undoubted Title to the Acquisition of the North West Side of St. Laurence River from thence to their Settlement at Montreal. But the Confederates still preserved their Right to the other Side, fully to Lake St. Francis ||, leaving the rest to Montreal as a Boundary. |
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Other Acquisitions of the Confederates. |
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THE Acquisitions of the Confederates were very considerable along the Banks of St. Laurence, especially on the South Side, as far as Tadousac, but as in Treaties of Peace, the bounds of Countries are not often insisted upon by the Americans, they are entirely at a Loss, what their Rights are in those Parts. |
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Vulgar Errors. |
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I HAVE not Room to enlarge on these Articles, nor to give the Author ties whereon they are founded; nor likewise to enumerate the several Tribes of Nations who occupy the Country included in this Map. But however, I must not omit mentioning, that the Number of Nations is far less than is commonly imagined. The Notions that every little Society is a separate Nation; that the Chiefs of a Village is a King, or that there is any such Thing as coercive Power amongst the American Natives of these Parts, so generally maintained by the English, are without the least Foundation. All their States being Republic in the strictest Sense, and the Chiefs, as we call them, are only in Virtue of their Credit, not their Power. |
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Eastern Indians. |
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THE Indians of Rhode-Island, Connecticut and Parts adjacent, have been mostly destroyed by the English, except a Part of the Naregansets, who maintained a Neutrality during the Indian War of 1675, and some few who fled to Canada, and make a considerable Part of those called the Abnaquis, seated round Lake St. Pierre. |
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Mohiccons, or River Indians. |
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THE Mohiccons, who extended themselves along the East Side of Hudson's River, against Albany, on the first Settlement of the Dutch there in 1614, and thence to Connecticut River and Long-Island, and also along the Esopus River towards Delaware, are nearly allied to those of New-England, and still more so to the Lenne Lenoppes, whose Habitations were along Delaware, and for that Reason called by us Delawares and Minnesink Indians, have been, as well as these, subdued by the Confederates. |
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The present Indians on Susquehanna. |
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THE Sasquehannocks, after a great Defeat by the Marilanders, were easily exterminated by the Confederates. So, those Nations who are now on Susquehanna, are only such as the Confederates have allotted that River for; as the Nanticokes, from the Eastern Shore of Mariland, Tuteloes from the Meherin River in Virginia, and the Delawares, under which we include the Minnesinks, and the Mandes, or Salem Indians. |
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Ohio, a hunting Ground. |
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THE Indians on Ohio consist of the Hunters of the several Nations round, under the Protection or Subjection of the Confederates; as the Delawares, Shwanese, Windots, Welinis, and their own several Nations. The Outa- |
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wais, or Tawas, as our Traders and some of the Confederates call them, under Pretence of Lave from the Confederates to hunt on the South Side of Lake Erie, and instigated by the French, have, in 1752, fallen upon the English Tawightawi Town, where they killed Twenty-two Tawightawi Warriors and one Englishman, and carried away six English Prisoners, with all their Effects, to the French. This Insult of the French on British Rights, and other Captures made of our Allies and Traders, in those Parts, which soon followed, and no Measures taken to repel them, gave the French a reasonable |
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Pretension for establishing themselves in Junundat , Presquisle ||, Mad Creek †, Winingo , and Fort du Quesne *, as Places not worth our Regard or Attention. But it is to be hoped, that notwithstanding the Industry so lately used, not by the French alone, for the Establishment of the French Power in America, his Majesty of Great-Britain is no longer to be kept unacquainted with the Consequence of the Country between the British Settlements and Missisippi; which must one Day determine, whether the Southern Colonies shall remain the Property of the British Crown; or the Inhabitants, to prevent the entire Defection of their Slaves, which the French will encourage, as the Spaniards now do at St. Augustine, be obliged to fall under the Dominion of France. Let not the Public think this a remote Contingence: If the French settle back of us, the English must either submit to them, or have their Throats cut, and lose all their Slaves. As bad as French Government and Religion is to those who have any Remains of British Spirit, it is easy to guess what Alternative the most zealous of us would chuse. |
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I n; || E j |
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I MUST not omit giving one Caution to those in Power, in this public Manner, for I find from Experience, that few are to be benefited by private Information. Hitherto we have apprehended no greater Scheme of the French than making a Chain of Communication between Canada and the Mouth of Missisippi. As this was remote, we thought ourselves but little interested in it. Now they attempt it nigher to us, by the Way of Ohio, where they have begun an Establishment; if this succeed, it is not Ohio only must fall under their Dominion, but the Country thence Southward to the Bay of Mexico. For that Reason, it becomes the English immediately to establish Forts on the Cherokee River, and other Passes in the Way from Ohio to Moville, before the French attempt to settle there, or draw off the Cherokees, Chicasaws or Creeks from their Friendship to the English. And supposing the French should be beaten off from the Ohio, 'tis ten to one but they will turn their Forces, in Hopes of better Fortune, to the Back of Carolina. |
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We charge the Indians with Fickleness, but with greater Propriety we should charge ourselves with great Want of Sense or Experience, in supposing any Nation is to be tied to another, by any Thing than interest. The Welinis cultivated a Friendship with the English for the Sake of Trade, and got Leave of the Confederates to remove nigher them. They shewed both Affection and Resolution in the Defence of the English at the Tawghtawi Town , where they lost out of 70, not less than 22 Warriors on the Spot; And though the French afterwards offered them very advantageous Terms, they still persisted in their Affection to us; and in their War with the French, (page 160) amused with Expectation of Relief, they were basely abandoned, without Arms and without Ammunition, to the Resentment of an enraged Enemy. 'Tis a Custom, established with the English, to purchase the Friendship of wavering Nations at a great Expence, and to abandon their Friends. Hence those who know this Mixture of Weakness and Baseness that possesses us, keep Member of Council in the French Interest as well as ours, as the Confederates do, to keep us under a perpetual Contribution; while those Nations who are truly in our Interest are entirely slighted. |
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The bad Navigation of Missisippi. |
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IF we secure the Country back of Carolina in Time, we shall yet defeat the very Point that it is the French Interest to pursue, I mean a Communition between the Ohio and Moville. |
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Whatever we may surmise in Regard to the great River Missisippi being the only Channel fitted for the inland Commerce of Florida, and no other would suit the French, we shall find ourselves extremely mistaken. Even now the French scarce ever come up that River by Water, by Reason of its great and uniform Rapidity, scarce to be stemm'd in a Canoe and six Oars in Mid-channel. This obliges the French, in coming up, to take to the River Rouge, notwithstanding they are obliged to make one or two very long Portages. The Edges are less rapid in the Missisippi, but then the Enmity of the Indians on its Banks prevents their keeping so near the Shore. Therefore, to make what Use this River is capable of, the French must secure the Country of the Chickasaws and Cherokees; and then Moville, and not New Orleans, will be the Center of the French Trade of Florida; since the latter, though scarce forty Leagues up the Missisippi, by Reason of the Rapidity of the River, is not reached with Ships in less than thirty or forty Days from the Mouth; and Moville is upon Tide Water. If, in Pursuit of our present Point on Ohio, we shew any Remisness in our Attachment to the Safety of those Indians, who are our Friends, or we neglect to secure the Country back of Carolina, the Defection of the Indians there is inevitable; since the French have long known the Consequence of it, though much to their Cost. The Public may be amused with a Notion that we have Forts and Settlements there already, as represented in some Maps, published with great Authority- I can only say, That I wish either were true. Itinerant Trading is not a Settlement, in the Sense the English use the Word; nor a House built of Logs of Wood, without Order or Artillery, or Garrison, a Fort in any Sense. |
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A brief Description of the most considerable RIVERS. |
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All the Rivers and Creeks navigable in the Lower Plains. |
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THE Face of the Country, as already represented, determines the Nature of the Rivers. The Flat Country (or Lower Plains) which lies between the Falls and the Sea, is every where interwoven with the most beautiful Bays, Rivers and Creeks, navigable for all Sorts of Vessels; and is the Reason of so many fine Creeks spreading on every Side, from the Bays of Chesopeak and Delaware. For, as the Land has no Declivity, the Flux and Reflux of the Sea contributes to so wide extended Navigation. All the Creeks on Delaware, the Verges of the Sounds, which extend along the Sea-coast, and some |
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Name of WELINIS, corruptly called by the French Ilinois; frequently distinguished by us, according to the several Tribes or Nations that it consists of; as the Pincashaws, Wawightas, Piques, Tawghtawis and Minemis, are seated from this River to Sioto; and were permitted about sixteen Years ago to settle there by the express Leave of the Confederates. |
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INTO the Western End of Lake Erie falls Mineami River, a considerable Stream, navigable with Canoes to the Portages, which lead to the Quiaaghtena and Rocky River, interrupted with three considerable Rifts below the Forks; But however it is an important River, because of the Portages it furnishes South-Westward. |
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WERE there nothing at Stake between the Crowns of Britain and France, but the Lands on that Part of Ohio included in this Map, we may reckon it as great a Prize, as has ever yet been contended for, between two Nations; but if we further observe, that this is scarce a Quarter of the valuable Land, that is contained in one continued Extent, and the Influence that a State, vested with all the Wealth and Power that will naturally arise from the Culture of so great an Extent of good Land, in a happy Climate, it will make so great an Addition to that Nation which wins it, where there is no third State to hold the Ballance of Power, that the Loser must inevitably sink under his Rival. It is not as two Nations at War, contending the one for the other's Habitations; where the Conquered, on Submission, would be admitted to partake of the Privileges of the Conquerors; but for a vast Country, exceeding in Extent and good Land all the European Dominions of Britain, France and Spain, almost destitute of Inhabitants, and will as fast as the Europeans settle become more so of its former Inhabitants. It is impossible to conceive, that has his Majesty been made acquainted with its Value, the large Strides the French have been making, for several Years past, in their Incroachments on his Dominions; and the Measures still taken to keep the Colonies disunited, and of impeding the generous Attempts of his most zealous Subjects, his Majesty would have sacrificed, to the Spleen of a few bitter Spirits, the best Gem in his Crown. It is not yet too late to retrieve the whole, provided the British Plantations are not thought to be grown already too large- if such an Opinion prevails, an Opportunity now offers of soon making them less. |
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We may reckon the Representation of the Extent and Power of the Plantations being great, and that such Power may be dangerous to their Mother Country, amongst the greatest of vulgar Errors. Any Person, who knows the Nature of the Soil, and the Extent of our Settlements, will confess, that all the Land, worth the Culture, from New Hampshire to Carolina, and extended as far back as there are Planters settled within three or four Miles of one another, though including thire(?) Colonies, is not equal in Quantity to Half the arable Land in England. All the Whites in the Remainder of the British Colonies on the Continent, scarce amount to 120000 Souls. How different this from the Conceits of those who would represent some single Colonies as equal to all England. The Massachusets, though made such a Bugbear, as if its Inhabitants were so rich and numerous, as that they might (page 176) one Day be able to dispute Dominion with England, is not as large as Yorkshire, or has Half so much arable Land. |
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The Plantations less considerable than commonly supposed. Massachusets not so large as Yorkshire. |
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The Interest and Disposition of the Colonies to be attached to England. |
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Supposing the Colonies were grown rich and powerful, what Inducement have they to throw off their independency? National Ties of Blood and Friendship; mutual Dependencies for Support and Assistance, in their civil and military Interests, with England; each Colony having a particular Form of Government of its own, and the Jealousy of either's having the Superiority over the rest, are unsurmountable Obstacles to their ever uniting, to the Prejudice of England, upon any ambitious Views of their own. But, that repeated and continue ill Usage, Infringements of their dear-bought Privileges, sacrificing them to the Ambition and Intrigues of domestic and foreign Enemies, may not provoke them to do their utmost, for their own Preservation, I would not pretend to say; as weak as they are. But while they are treated as Members of one Body, and allowed their natural Rights, it would be the Height of Madness for them to propose and Independency, were they ever so strong. |
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A strong Colony of the Enemy near, dangerous. |
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If they had any ambitious Views, a strong Colony, of a natural Enemy to England, on their Borders, would be the only Article that would render any Attempt of Independency truly dangerous; and for that Reason it become those who would regard the future Interest of Britain and its Colonies, to suppress the Growth of the French Power, and not the English, in America. |
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An advantageous Colony may be made on Ohio. A proper Place for Raw Silk. Its natural Advantages. |
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IF his Majesty would be pleased to appoint a Colony to be made in Ohio, with a separate Governor, and an equitable Form of Government, a full Liberty of Conscience, and the same secured by Charter; not all that the French could project would give it any Impediment after a few Years. The Importance of such a Colony to Britain would be vastly great, since the Climate, and its Remoteness from the Sea, would turn it immediately to Raising Raw Silk, an Article of vast Expence to our Nation, and that we are at continual Difficulties and Disappointments in procuring. The Charge of Carriage of this Article from the remotest Parts to the Sea, is too inconsiderable to affect its Value. Ohio is naturally furnished with Salt, Coal, Limestone, Grindstone, Millstone, Clay for Glass-houses and Pottery, which are of vast Advantage to an Inland Country, and well deserving the Notice I take of them in the Map. |
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The Land should not be engrossed. |
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In settling a Colony there, let Care be taken against the scandalous Engrossing the Land by private Persons or public Companies- and for that Purpose, let any Piece of Land left unimproved three Years, after surveying, and containing more than 500 Acres to a Family, be free for any Person to settle on; and the first Owner be obliged to go further for Land, when disposed to settle- And that all Lands appropriated and lying unimproved or unsettled be liable to threefold Taxes, compared with the adjacent improved Lands of like Goodness; for supposing one Part be allotted for its true Value, the remaining two Thirds will be far short, at a Mean, from making up the Deficiency of the Excise, Duties, Watching, civil and military Services of those who truly settle and improve. |
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THE END. |
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