OUR INDIAN WARDS.

CHAPTER I.

THE RECEPTION OF THE EARLY EXPLORERS BY THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. -THE CONDUCT OF THE FORMER TOWARD THE LATTER-GRANTS BY EUROPEAN POWERS TO THEIR SUBJECTS. THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.THE DESTRUCTION OF THE PEquods, etc.

THE early explorers that visited the "New World" were met by the native inhabitants in the most friendly manner. The utmost confidence was reposed in the strangers, and such. rude hospitalities as the natives possessed were freely extended to them. All early annals are agreed on this fact. The kindness and confidence of the natives was not reciprocated. The adventurers, whether Spanish, French, Dutch, or English, did not, in their intercourse with the Indians, so conduct themselves as to confirm the good will bestowed upon them. They were from the very beginning distrustful, exacting, and overbearing, and there was scarcely a vessel that left on its return trip that did not carry off some of the natives, who were frequently forcibly seized for that purpose.

The voyagers, whether among the natives on our shores, or on their vessels homeward bound, frequently acted like demisavages toward such Indians as were in their power, and very early the practice of kidnaping them to sell them into slavery was commenced. Some pretended that they only seized and carried off the natives as trophies of the voyage, or to serve as guides for future expeditions, and while this may be true in exceptional cases, the chief purpose was to traffic in them as chattels. Others were ready on the slightest provocation, or even without provocation, to take the lives of the Indians whenever opportunity offered.

Such conduct was well calculated to and did destroy the confidence of the Indians, and distrust, and finally hatred, took its place, and they were ready to avenge the wrongs suffered

by their kindred whenever opportunity offered, and upon such of the white race as fell in their way. Their mode of retaliation was of course barbarous, such as all savage people practice. It must not, however, be forgotten that they were not the aggressors, and that their provocation was great.

roots.

The native population was sparse, and the country, vast in extent, was in a state of nature, if we except the very slight modification made by the rude dwellings in the Indian villages and the fields and gardens adjacent. These villages were generally surrounded by palisades of logs and brushwood. In addition to the product of the chase, the food of the Indian was fish, maize, pumpkins, beans, wild rice, and Their arms were the bow and arrow, the war club and spear. Their implements of husbandry were of the rudest kind. Each village had its chiefs, and frequently a number of villages in the same locality formed a sort of confederacy, with superior chiefs exercising authority over the whole. The inhabitants of the villages were, in their intercourse, sociable and friendly. Disputes were rare. Their chief subjects of conversation were tribal affairs, and hunting and fishing. No one thought of interrupting his neighbor when speaking. All were glad to receive visitors. No profane language was used. Indeed, the Indians had no words applicable to profanity. When a stranger took refuge among them, it was regarded a sacred duty to extend hospitality to such an one, and to refuse succor or relief was a grave offense. In war, their conduct toward their enemies was barbarons. Their wardrobe was scanty, and made of the skins of animals.

Such, in brief, was the condition of the Indian population near the Atlantic coast at the time of the discovery of North America. As from time to time the Indians became accustomed to the ways and manners of the Europeans, they admitted the superiority of the latter in the arts, but expressed contempt for them because they submitted to laborious employments. They thought their advantages in hunting and fishing gave them precedence over the Europeans, and that in their moral conduct they were superior to the refinements which the latter brought with them. They were quite loathe to exchange their modes of living for such as were introduced

by the new comers, and maintained that it was not in accordance with the design of the Great Spirit that they should do so.

The reports which the explorers carried home in relation to the value of the newly discovered lands, in time had its effect upon the different European powers, and they set about to possess them. Each endeavored to excel in founding colonies in the "New World." It was at that time held by the Christian states of Europe that newly discovered countries belonged to the discoverer, and that while exceptions might be made in favor of the native inhabitants who were Christians, such natives as were not Christians were regarded as proper subjects, not only for conquest, but for plunder. The commission granted by the English king to Cabot, was somewhat similar to that previously granted to Columbus by Ferdinand and Isabella, except that in the latter case Spain bore the expense of the outfit and voyage, while England left Cabot to provide the means himself. Cabot's commission authorized him, or either of his sons, their heirs or deputies, to sail with a fleet in search of islands, or regions inhabited by infidels, and hitherto unknown to Christendom, to take possession of the same in the name of the king of England, "and as his vassals to conquer, possess, and occupy the same, enjoying for themselves, their heirs and assigns forever, the sole right of trading thither, paying to the king in lieu of customs and imposts a fifth of all net profits." It would be interesting to incorporate the various patents granted by European monarchs to the differents explorers who came out to possess the "New World," as well as the proceedings which took place at the ostentatious dedication of each particular tract of country, together with the conduct of the colonists toward the natives who happened to reside in regions where the first settlements were made. A single example in each case will have to suffice. Sparks has given from the "ProcesVerbal" in the French archives, the procedure of La Salle on the banks of the Mississippi, near its mouth, in appropriating a vast country and vesting the title in the same to France. After preparing a column and affixing to the same a cross and the arms of France, with an appropriate inscription, the

whole party under arms chanted the Te Deum, the Exaudiat, the Domine Salvum fac Regum, and then, after a salute of fire-arms and cries of Vive le Roi, the column was erected by M. de La Salle, who, standing near it, said:

"In the name of the most high, mighty, invincible, and victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by the grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, fourteenth of that name, I, in virtue of the commission of his majesty, which I hold in my hand, and which may be seen by all whom it may concern, have taken, and do now take, in the name of his majesty, and of his successors to the crown, possession of this country of Louisiana, the seas, harbors, ports, bays, adjacent straits, and all the nations, peoples, provinces, cities, towns, villages, mines, minerals, fisheries, streams, and rivers comprised in the extent of said Louisiana, from the mouth of the great river St. Louis, on the eastern side, otherwise called Ohio, Allighan, Scipo, or Chickagua, and this with the consent of the Chavarons, Chickasaws, and other people dwelling therein, with whom we have made alliance; also along the river Colbert, or Mississippi, and rivers which discharge themselves therein, from its source beyond the country of the Kiows, or Nadouessious, and this with the consent of the Montantees, Illinois, Mesigameas, Natchez, Koroas, which are the most considerable nations dwelling therein, with whom, also, we have made alliance, either by ourselves or others in our behalf, as far as its mouth at the sea, or Gulf of Mexico, about the twenty-seventh degree of the elevation of the north pole, and also to the mouth of the river Palms; upon the assurance which we have received from all these nations, that we are the first Europeans that have descended or ascended the said river Colbert, hereby protesting against all those who may in future undertake to invade any or all of these countries, peoples, or lands above described, to the prejudice of the right of his majesty, acquired by the consent of the nations herein named. Of which, and all that can be needed, I hereby take to witness those who hear me, and demand an act of the notary, as required by law."

To which the whole assembly responded with shouts of Vice le Roi and with salutes of fire-arms. Moreover the said Sieur

de La Salle caused to be buried at the foot of the tree, to which the cross was attached, a leaden plate, on one side of which was engraved the arms of France, with a Latin inscription. La Salle then remarked that his majesty, as the eldest son of the church, would not annex any country to his crown without making it his chief care to establish the Christian religion therein, and its symbol must now be planted, which was accordingly done at once by erecting a cross, before which the Vesilla and Domine Salvum fac Regum were sung, to all which his associates, thirteen in number, attached the certificate "required by law," one of them acting as notary. And thus the foundation of the claim of France to the Mississippi valley was laid "fairly," according to the usages of European powers. Sparks observes that "there is an obscurity in this enunciation of places and Indian nations, which may be ascribed to an ignorance of the geography of the country, but it seems to be the design of Sieur de La Salle to take possession of the whole country watered by the Mississippi, from its mouth to its source, and by the streams flowing into it on both sides." As a matter of course, conflicts grew out of these appropriations of the territory of the "New World," some of which were only settled by the force of arms, and all of which resulted disastrously to the Indians.

Anterior to the grant by France to La Salle, James I. of England granted a charter by which the American coast between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude was set apart to be colonized by two rival companies-one composed chiefly of adventurers from London; the other from those residing in the west of England, known as the Plymouth and Bristol company. James' motive, as alleged in the charter, was the advancement of the divine glory, "by bringing the Indians and savage residents of those parts to human civility and a settled and quiet government." These companies were known as the London and Plymouth companies. The first was designated as the first Virginia colony, and permitted to occupy and plant anywhere between the thirty-fourth and forty-second degrees of north latitude. The Plymouth was designated as the second Virginia colony, and might occupy and plant anywhere between the thirty-eighth and forty-fifth