The War Chief of the Six Nations: A Chronicle of Joseph BrantWood, Louis Aubrey
History
The War Chief of the Six Nations: A Chronicle of Joseph Brant
Wood, Louis Aubrey
Brant, Joseph, 1742-1807
You will see,' answered Willet; if you execute your
purpose, you may depend upon it that you will be hanged
up immediately.'
At this the would-be criminal went off and did not trouble
the War Chief any more.
On his safe return to Canada Brant was taken ill and was
not able to attend a grand council held in the autumn at
Au Glaize, on the Great Miami. When the council met it
was agreed that hostilities should be suspended until a
fresh council should be held at Miami Rapids.
During the winter of 1792-93 Brant received a visit from
Simcoe, lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, at his home
on Grand River. This officer, who had lately been installed
at Niagara, carried a letter to the War Chief from his
old friend Lord Percy, now the Duke of Northumberland,
together with a brace of pistols that the duke had sent
to him. Simcoe was on his way to Detroit by sled, and
stopped for three days at the Mohawk village. A _feu de
joie_ was fired in his honour, flags were hoisted, and
the Indians made a display of their trophies of war.
Brant and some of the redskins accompanied the
lieutenant-governor as far as the Thames river, where
was situated the village of the Delawares. Here the War
Chief was forced to return. Soon afterwards His Excellency
again halted at Grand River on his way back. The Indians
entertained him in royal style, performing the calumet
dance, the feather dance, and several other dances of
their tribe.
In the middle of the summer of 1793 a great assembly of
Indians took place at Miami Rapids. Commissioners who
were sent to represent the United States were not allowed
to approach the place of meeting. Brant made three
speeches, urging upon the Indians the advisability of
peace. But the red men were still headstrong, and the
commissioners had to go away without having reached any
understanding with them.
The end of the struggle, however, was coming fast. In
1794 General Wayne marched to the neighbourhood of Fort
Miami with a numerous force, defeated the Indians at the
Fallen Timbers, and drove them before him in all directions.
Crestfallen and heartsore, they saw that the day of the
white man had come at last. Brant stood by as their helper
to the very end, but it availed them little. The Black
Snake, as they called General Wayne, had beaten them,
and they knew he would beat them again. The tribesmen
who had come from the far west withdrew sullenly across
the Mississippi, the other races submitted, and the Treaty
of Greenville was signed with General Wayne on August 3,
1795. The ox-cart began to rumble north of the Ohio; the
tall forests fell before the settler's axe, and the red
man lived and walked no more alone by the 'River Beautiful.'
CHAPTER XIV
THE CHURCH BELL RINGS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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