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 Date Due 
 
 MAY o 9
 
 REV. ASHER WRIGHT.
 
 OUR LIFE AMONG THE 
 IROQUOIS INDIANS 
 
 MRS. HARRIET S. CASWELL 
 
 If I live, this accursed system of robbery and shame in our 
 treatment of the Indians shall be reformed. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 BOSTON AND CHICAGO 
 
 (Congregational Sunoag=Srf)ooI anfc 13ufalisf)tng .Society
 
 COPYRIGHT. 1802, 
 BY CONGREGATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL AND PUBLISHING SOCIETY.
 
 to 
 
 ant 
 
 ta JWentoa
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 A FEW hours' ride from the nearest railroad station in a 
 wagon not the easiest, over a road not the smoothest, 
 meeting with narrow escapes as to mud holes and deep ruts, and 
 you will find yourself upon the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. 
 You might as well be west of the Rocky Mountains for any indica- 
 tions of the pale face that you see here. Indians in the homes, on 
 the roads, working on the farms, and building houses ; Indian chil- 
 dren with ball clubs, snow snakes, and arrows ; Indian babies upon 
 the backs of their mothers ; Indian corn bread boiling in the kettles 
 under the trees ; Indians here, there, and everywhere. The straight 
 black hair and shining black eyes that mark the race everywhere 
 meet you here. You hear the curious intonations of the strange 
 language all about you, and yet you are only thirty miles south of 
 Buffalo and five hundred miles from New York City. As you ride 
 through the Reservation you note many farms of which Indian 
 owners may well be proud and others of which they should be 
 ashamed. You will see corn, wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, and other 
 products of the farm in better condition than those of the neigh- 
 boring white man; and you will see the crops of others sadly 
 choked with weeds and perishing for want of care. The owners 
 of these last expect to live next winter upon the corn and beans 
 and potatoes of their more industrious neighbors. "Would that 
 for white man and for Indian the ancient law might be enforced, 
 " If a man will not work, neither shall he eat." 
 
 A few years ago the old Mission church was rapidly falling into 
 decay. Now you hear the progressive sound of the hammer and 
 saw. This church building, which the Indians are repairing with
 
 vi LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 their own hands, was. erected thirty-five years ago through the 
 efforts of Father Gleason. Have this people been taught the trade 
 of the carpenter, the mason, the paper hanger? No. And yet 
 they can design and build a house, plaster and paint it, and when 
 out of repair make it over as good as new. This Mission church 
 is the prettiest church in this part of the country. The walls have 
 been delicately tinted and ornamented, the pulpit and seats re- 
 modeled, and this, with the painting and other repairs, has all been 
 done by Indians. The only exception is the " graining," which 
 was the work of a white man, who, having once plied his trade 
 in plain sight of those sharp eyes, will never more be needed in 
 Indian laud. 
 
 Why are Indians of all tribes natural mechanics? How is it 
 that they use all trades without instruction in any? What a 
 blessed movement in Indian affairs is this experiment in indus- 
 trial education now carried on at Hampton, Carlisle, Santee, and 
 at Lawrence, Kansas ! 
 
 You decide to spend the Sabbath. It proves to be the rededica- 
 tion of the newly repaired church. It is a highly satisfied looking 
 congregation that fills the freshly painted seats. The remodeled 
 pulpit is occupied by the missionary and his Indian interpreter. 
 Upon the same platform a fine choir of young men give us 
 musical selections accompanied by the cornet played by one of the 
 Indian brass band. The cabinet organ is admirably managed by 
 an Indian maiden. The music is soul-inspiring. The sermon upon 
 the text, " The glory of the Lord filled the temple," describes the 
 experience of the Israelites under similar circumstances. The 
 preacher believes that the time has come when this Indian church, 
 having fulfilled the conditions, may expect the glorious experience 
 of the builders of old. The sermon is well adapted to their needs 
 and very practical, especially when the hearers are exhorted not 
 to defile the house of God by the use of tobacco within its sacred 
 walls. The people bear this sharp thrust at their favorite weed 
 with their usual dignified composure.
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 Having lifted the curtain a moment to take a glance at the 
 present condition of these Indians, let us turn back to the begin- 
 ning of a life which for more than half a century is to be closely 
 interwoven with every dark thread and every bright thread of 
 their history.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 BISHOP WHIPPLE says : " The Indian is not an idolater. 
 His universe is peopled with spirits. He recognizes the 
 Great Spirit; he believes in a future life. I have never known 
 one instance where the Indian was the first to violate plighted 
 faith. Thirty years ago our Indian system was at its worst; 
 it was a blunder and a crime. It established heathen almshouses 
 to graduate savage paupers. In my boyhood a sainted mother 
 taught me to defend the weak. I believed that these wandering 
 red men were children of one God and Father and that he loved 
 them as he loved us. I vowed that, God being my helper, I would 
 never turn my back on the heathen at my door. I have tried to 
 keep this vow." 
 
 However stolid and impassive an Indian may look, do not assume 
 that he is stupid. While Bishop Whipple was visiting an Indian 
 mission, the people were holding a scalp dance quite near. The 
 bishop was indignant. He went to the head chief and said : 
 
 " Wabasha, you ask me for a missionary ; I give him to you. I 
 visit you, and the first sight is this brutal scalp dance. I knew the 
 man whom you have murdered. He had a wife and children ; his 
 wife is crying for her husband, his children are asking for their 
 father. Wabasha, the Great Spirit hears his children cry. He is 
 angry. Some day he will ask, ' Wabasha, where is your red 
 brother?'" 
 
 The old chief smiled, drew his pipe from his mouth, blew a 
 cloud of smoke upward, and said: 
 
 " White man go to war with his own brother in the same coun- 
 try; he kill more men than Wabasha can count in all his life. 
 
 ix
 
 x LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 Great Spirit smiles and says, 'He good white man; he has my 
 Book ; I love him very much ; I have good place for him by-and- 
 by.' The Indian is a wild man ; he has no Spirit-Book. He kill 
 one man; he have a scalp dance; Great Spirit is mad, and says, 
 ' Bad Indian ! I will put him in a bad place by-and-by.' Wabasha 
 don't believe it." 
 
 No, the Indian is not stupid. He is keenly observant, and quick 
 to note absurdity in an argument or inconsistency in a life. He 
 has his opinions upon the problems of the day, and when you get 
 at his thought you are startled at its relevancy. This statement 
 will, I think, be verified in these glimpses of our everyday life 
 among the Senecas, and that which the Senecas have told me 
 about the Iroquois in general. 
 
 I have been urged to publish these reminiscences as a tribute 
 to the rare ability and devotion of two missionaries, and also to 
 throw a side light upon the history and character of a fast-vanish- 
 ing race. 
 
 The Iroquois, long before the white man knew this country, 
 had established his headquarters in New York State. He called it 
 the " Long House," and Lake Erie, the " front door," was guarded 
 by the Senecas. The Iroquois represented a powerful confederacy 
 of six nations: the Senecas, Tuscaroras, Cayugas, Onondagas, 
 Oneidas, and Mohawks. This last nation guarded the "rear 
 door " of the " Long House," the Hudson River. The history of 
 this curious confederacy told by an Indian as received from his 
 ancestors will be read with peculiar interest. 
 
 If this simple story of everyday life among the once formidable 
 Iroquois open the eyes of any reader to brighter and hitherto un- 
 appreciated phases of Indian character; if it incite a throb of 
 interest in this unfortunate race; if the record of these heroic 
 lives, willingly given for their redemption, shall inspire one young 
 Christian to carry to the Indian the tidings of his divine inherit- 
 ance, these pages will have accomplished their purpose.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. THE CHILD: Adoption. The Little Eunaway. 
 
 A Child Prayer Meeting. The Sampler ... 3 
 
 II. THE MAIDEN : Boarding School. Essays. 
 Teaching School. Local Catechism. A New 
 Correspondent. The Unseen Lover ... 9 
 
 III. THE BRIDE: The Wedding Journey. Old Log 
 
 Mission House. Reception by the Indians. The 
 Gift of Tongues. Missionary Diet . . .21 
 
 IV. THE YOUNG MISSIONARY. The Horse and Saddle- 
 
 bags. "Miss Bishop! he can't mad!" Deacon 
 Fish Hook's Opinion. The Cholera. Translating 
 the Scriptures. The Mission Church. "White 
 Man's Bread." The Light of the Mission. The 
 First Letter. Experiences 27 
 
 V. THE FOSTER MOTHER : Catherine King. Martha 
 Hoyt. Asher Wright Two-Guns. Louisa Jones. 
 Henry Morrison. Phinie Sheldon . . .35 
 
 VI. VISIT TO VERMONT: The Canal Boat. Indian 
 
 Children. The Inverted Album .... 46 
 
 VII. WHITE CAPTIVES: Old White Chief. Mary 
 
 Jemison. The Old Indian Burial Ground . 51
 
 xii LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 VIII. INDIAN CHARACTERS : Young-King. Chief In- 
 fant. Fish Hook 63 
 
 IX. THE SEVEN YEARS' TROUBLE: The White Man's 
 Treaty. Removal. Touching Tribute. A Bit of 
 Yellow Paper. The Indian Revolution . . .73 
 
 X. A BOSTON GIRL AMONG THE INDIANS : " Auntie 
 Wright." Dogs and Babies at Church. Boarding 
 with an Indian Chief. Teaching School. Tests of 
 Courage. Dividing the Log. "Pray, father!" 
 The Lace Sleeves. Clean Mouths and Clear Brains. 
 
 An Indian Martyr. Adopted into the Tribe. 
 Taken Home ........ 83 
 
 XI. THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM : " Great many 
 goods." Narrow Escape. " Be very stingy of 
 me!" Our Johnny. The Little Bird. "See! 
 See ! " The Stolen Baby. The Revival. Indian 
 Child's Prayer. "I looked mad ! " Children's 
 Letters. Blue Sky. A Novel Gift . . .109 
 
 XII. BY THE WAY: The Old-fashioned Chaise. Peter 
 Twenty-Canoes. The Young Infidel. A Combina- 
 tion Picnic 135 
 
 XIII. AMONG THE PAGANS: The Wonderful Box. Story 
 of Logan. Mrs. George Washington. John 
 Hudson. John Logan. Moses Crow. Grand- 
 mother Destroytown. A Day Among the Pagans. 
 
 Mr. Porcupine. Moses Cornplanter. Mrs. Big 
 Kettle. Mrs. Black Snake. Mrs. Johnny John. 
 
 The Bottomless Buggy. Industrial Education. 
 
 The Pagan Prophet. Feasts and Dances . . 151
 
 CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XIV. THE MYSTERIOUS PAST : Origin of Good and Evil. 
 
 Before Columbus. Two Hundred Years Ago. 
 Indian Funerals. The Long House. Wampum 
 Belt. The Calumet. Who were the Kah-gwas? 
 
 The Frogs. Looking into the Future . . 229 
 
 XV. INDIAN ELOQUENCE 269 
 
 XVI. " A WEDDING LIKE WHITE PEOPLE " . . .281 
 
 XVII. EXTRACTS FROM MRS. WRIGHT'S LETTERS . 291 
 
 XVIII. LAST MESSAGES 301 
 
 XIX. TESTIMONIES 305 
 
 XX. CONCLUSION 317
 
 IF I live, this accursed system of robbery and shame in our 
 treatment of the Indians shall be reformed. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINOCMLN. 
 
 TREAT him not as an American Indian, but as an Indian 
 American. When the significance of this designation is practi- 
 cally accepted there will be a very radical revolution in Indian 
 American affairs. COMMISSIONER MORGAN.
 
 EVKRY human being born upon our continent, or who comes 
 here from any quarter of the world, whether savage or civilized, 
 can go to our courts for protection except those who belong to 
 the tribes who once owned this country. The cannibal from the 
 islands of the Pacific, the worst criminal from Europe, Asia, or 
 Africa can appeal to the law and courts for his rights of person 
 and property all, save our native Indians, who above all should 
 be protected from wrong. GOVERNOR HORATIO SEYMOUR.
 
 MRS. LAURA M. WRIGHT.
 
 OUR LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE CHILD. 
 
 IN the fine old town of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, 
 on the morning of July 10, 1809, an event of 
 considerable interest occurred in a certain family of 
 wide-awake boys and girls the grandchildren, in 
 fact, of that well-known Vermont pioneer, Willard 
 Stevens. For on this morning they welcomed into 
 their circle the latest " new baby," Laura Maria 
 Sheldon. 
 
 As the months went by this Green Mountain 
 baby grew and thrived. She became the constant 
 companion of her next older brother, Charles, until 
 the arrival of baby Henry, when she divided between 
 the two the wealth of love in her little warm heart. 
 The strong tie of affection which united these three 
 lives in childhood remained unbroken through seventy 
 years of peculiar and varied experience. 
 
 3
 
 When Laura was two years old the family moved to 
 Windsor, and five years later to Barnet. It was from 
 Laura's grandfather, the historic Willard Stevens, that 
 the early Scotch settlers bought the land which was 
 afterward incorporated into this lovely, picturesque 
 town. Here resided an older sister, who, faithful to 
 the Stevens line, had married a second cousin, bearing 
 the name of the pioneer Willard. At the request of 
 this sister, Mrs. Willard Stevens, Laura, at seven 
 years of age, became an inmate of her family, and 
 received from her the watchful care and thorough 
 training of the old-time Puritan mother. 
 
 Soon after Laura had reached her eighth birthday, 
 the bridge crossing the river which ran through the 
 village was carried away by a flood. At the head of 
 a waterfall eighty feet high a plank was thrown across 
 the stream for the use of men who were obliged to 
 go to their work on the other side. Here a party of 
 Indians encamped one day upon the opposite bank, 
 and our little Laura, filled with desire to know some- 
 thing about these curious people, and to see how 
 they lived, and to become acquainted with their 
 strange ways, gave her family a terrible fright by 
 crossing the plank, and investigating for herself a 
 new phase of life. Thus began with this child 
 an absorbing interest in the Indians, which never 
 abated.
 
 THE CHILD. 5 
 
 Laura's most intimate friend at this time was 
 Harriet Sprague Wright, now Mrs. Moore, of Barnet, 
 Vermont, to whom we are indebted for the Indian 
 incident, and who also furnishes the following : 
 
 " When I was about eight years old, and Laura ten, 
 she proposed that we girls have a prayer meeting. 
 She and Betsey Gill and I met in a ' playhouse,' 
 as we called it, and Laura took charge of the meeting. 
 She opened the exercises by prayer, and called on us 
 to follow. Betsey, who was six years old, offered a 
 prayer, but I, like a foolish ohild, only laughed, for 
 which Laura, with flashing eyes, reproved me." 
 
 One other glimpse of this child, at the age of 
 eleven years. She sits in the " family room," by 
 the capacious fireplace, and spends the long winter 
 evenings in the intricate task of manufacturing the 
 old-time " sampler." " Her eyes," says her brother 
 Henry, " were black ; so was her hair. The neigh- 
 bors called her ' handsome.' She was a good student, 
 although by nature a little stubborn, causing her 
 teacher some trouble at times, but not for long." 
 
 Let us look over the shoulder of this dark-eyed, 
 industrious maiden and see, what the small fingers 
 have wrought. The piece of canvas about the size 
 of a pocket handkerchief reveals at first sight a 
 variety of colored silks finely woven into the material. 
 She is now deftly stitching in small stars and crosses
 
 6 LIFE AMONG THE 1BOQUOIS. 
 
 by way of final adornment. A closer inspection 
 reveals the following family record : 
 
 SAMPLER, 
 
 WORKED BY LAURA M. SHELDON. AGED ELEVEN. 
 
 Solomon Sheldon, Born Feb. 25, 1763. 
 Dorothy Stevens, Born May 25, 1774. 
 Solomon Sheldon & Dorothy Stevens were married Feb. 3, 1792. 
 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 Royal was born, Nov. 17, 1792. Mary Oct. 
 1, 1794. Samuel, Nov. 7, 1796. Anna 
 Sept. 16, 1798. Sophia and Willard 
 Apr. 5, 1801. Olive, Apr. 5, 1803. Solomon 
 Aug. 11, 1805. Charles, Aug. 10, 1807. Laura 
 July 10, 1809. Lewis, Jan. 4, 1812. Henry, 
 Sept. 9, 1813. 
 
 The patience of the child artist must have been 
 sorely taxed before the last stitch was wrought into 
 this record of her family of fourteen ! 
 
 About this time Mr. and Mrs. Willard Stevens 
 moved to Newbury, taking the little sister with them. 
 The clergymen of that vicinity, Rev. Clark Perry, of
 
 THE CHILD. 7 
 
 Newbury, Rev. Silas McKeen, of Bradford, and Rev. 
 David Sutherland, of Bath, were holding " four-days 
 meetings " which exerted a marked influence on all 
 that part of the state. For the first time Laura 
 Sheldon became vitally interested in the subject of 
 religion. Mr. McKeen and Mr. Perry felt a genuine 
 interest in the quaint, conscientious child, and were 
 counted among her most helpful friends. 
 
 Again the restless spirit of the early settlers im- 
 pelled this family to another " move," and this time 
 it was a return to the old home at Barnet.
 
 n. 
 
 THE MAIDEN. 
 
 T AURA SHELDON," writes her early friend, 
 - Mrs. Moore, " was a pure-minded girl, natu- 
 rally religious and fond of books. Her life, even as a 
 child, was a busy one. She had little time for amuse- 
 ments common to most young girls. Her aim in life 
 was to be useful, and the one thing for which she 
 longed more than another was an opportunity to fit 
 herself for usefulness." 
 
 In her seventeenth year this ambition was in a 
 measure gratified. Mrs. Willard Stevens resolved to 
 give her young charge some special educational advan- 
 tages by sending her to the " Young Ladies' School," 
 at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, taught by Miss Huldah 
 Strobridge, " a gentlewoman," we are told, " who suc- 
 ceeded in making a lasting impression upon her pupils. 
 She was a cultivated lady of marked ability." Three 
 scraps of paper, yellow with age, have been preserved, 
 from which more than threescore years have failed 
 to obliterate the penciled lines carefully written in a 
 cramped hand. Every i is dotted and every t prop- 
 erly crossed exactly at right angles. These papers
 
 10 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 serve to illustrate the mental condition of our young 
 friend at this time. 
 
 AT BOARDING SCHOOL, April 25, 1826. 
 
 I am attending school this season at St. Johnsbury. My studies, 
 which are History, Philosophy, and Grammar, are very interesting 
 History in particular. It is the most pleasing study I ever 
 attended to, and it is not only pleasant but useful. It opens to the 
 mind great sources of knowledge, and describing to us what the 
 past has been, enables us to form right conjectures of the future. 
 
 The school is very small, numbering only twelve, but not less 
 pleasant on that account. I am projecting a map. I find it to be 
 very difficult, but I hope that by perseverance and industry I shall 
 be able to finish it. If we could realize the privileges we enjoy we 
 should certainly improve them to better advantage. But it is sel- 
 dom the case that we know how to prize our privileges until we 
 are deprived of them. 
 
 April 26, 1826. 
 
 I attended school to-day and reviewed my lessons through the 
 week past In History, Philosophy, and Defining. Read in the 
 Testament and attended prayers in the morning; worked on my 
 map some, and made the objects. I gave a description of Babylon 
 in the following words: "If historians deserve credit, ancient 
 Babylon was the noblest city ever built. It stood on a fertile and 
 beautiful plain, watered by the river Euphrates, which passed 
 through the midst of the city. Its walls, which were carried to the 
 astonishing height of three hundred and sixty feet, were eighty- 
 seven feet in thickness, enclosing an exact square whose sides were 
 fifteen miles each. So the city was sixty miles in circuit. There 
 were fifty streets, twenty-five running each way, on right lines 
 parallel to each other. They were two hundred feet wide. While 
 crossing each other at right angles they all terminated in a grand 
 street which lay round next the wall on every side of the city. 
 Thus the city was laid out in six hundred and seventy-six squares. 
 These squares were lined with numerous edifices besides houses. 
 The houses were generally three or four stories high, and within 
 there were delightful plantations, pleasure grounds, and gardens." 
 
 It is Saturday in the afternoon. I intend working on my map 
 and writing to sister Mary [Mrs. Willard Stevens].
 
 THE MAIDEN. 11 
 
 ON FEMALE EDUCATION. 182(5. 
 
 What can be of more importance in the present age than female 
 education? Surely nothing. During the dark ages it was shame- 
 fully neglected, and is still in many parts of the world ; but not 
 so in America. Here, females are raised to that rank in society 
 which as rational beings they ought to hold. Seminaries are estab- 
 lished in all parts of our country for their improvement, in which 
 they are taught every branch of education necessary to promote 
 their usefulness in the world. By some these advantages are duly 
 appreciated, by others they are not. 
 
 Since, then, the present generation of females have so many ad- 
 vantages, it is certainly their duty to use their endeavors in raising 
 the degraded females of Asia to the same degree of civilization and 
 respectability which they hold themselves. This can be done by 
 retrenching many superfluities and sending the value of them to 
 the missionaries who are now laboring to civilize the heathen. 
 We have heard from good authority that they are capable of the 
 intellectual as well as ourselves. A few shillings might purchase a 
 little Indian girl what there would be styled a good education. 
 
 RELIGION. 1826. 
 
 Religion, what treasures untold 
 Reside in that heavenly word 
 More precious than silver or gold 
 Or all that this earth can afford. 
 
 The religion of Jesus Christ is not a system of speculative 
 opinions. But it is a series of facts, promises, doctrines, and pre- 
 cepts, the belief and practice of which is eminently fitted to purify 
 the heart, ennoble the motives, and restore fallen man to primitive 
 dignity and beauty, and a free exercise of opinions in relation to 
 these subjects. It is one of the greatest blessings ever bestowed 
 upon a free and enlightened people. It is the declaration of an 
 ancient moral philosophy that " man is a bundle of habits," and 
 daily experience or even a slight acquaintance with human nature 
 will convince any one of the truth of this observation. 
 
 Youth is the season for the promotion of habits, and since any 
 vice deeply implanted at that period of life is seldom eradicated, it 
 seems in a peculiar manner the time when the seeds of virtue and 
 piety should be sown before the tyranny of custom gets the ascend- 
 ency over our reason, or the mind becomes vitiated by indulgence.
 
 12 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 It is said that " wisdom's ways are pleasant and all her paths are 
 peace." And so they are to those who have spent the morning 
 of their days and the freshness of their strength and spirits in 
 overcoming the difficulties and asperities of the way, which 
 serve rather to moderate than to extinguish their ambition. 
 
 A young person who boldly comes out upon the side of religion 
 and dares to be decidedly pious, not fearing the scorn and con- 
 tempt of fools, must be an object worthy of the admiration and 
 imitation of others. Such a character must be viewed by all good 
 people with approbation and delight. 
 
 Onward, onward let us pass 
 Through the path of duty; 
 Virtue is true happiness, 
 Excellence true beauty. 
 
 After one year of ' ' schooling " Laura Sheldon re- 
 turns to her sister-mother at Barnet, and begins to use 
 her superior advantages for the benefit of others. She 
 organizes a series of classes among the younger 
 children which she calls " infant schools." Her 
 friends in Barnet. and also in Newbury, twenty miles 
 south, are deeply interested in these schools and fur- 
 nish her with the means to carry them on in both 
 places during the next six years of her life. She also 
 teaches classes of older pupils, but her delight is in 
 the children. 
 
 A small homemade record is still in existence which 
 gives some idea of her methods. It gives the names 
 of an " infant school " and a list of written questions 
 and answers evidently prepared by the young teacher 
 for her youngest pupils. After twenty-five questions 
 and answers, beginning with " What is history? It is
 
 THE MAIDEN. 13 
 
 a story," and followed by minute inquiries concerning 
 the size and form of the earth, its picture, the map, 
 the cardinal points, and the dimensions of the earth's 
 surface, the children are gradually and thoroughly 
 brought down to America, and finally to the United 
 States. Then come the following questions : 
 
 What were the United States formerly? British provinces. 
 When were they declared independent? July 4, 1776. 
 How many States were united in the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence? Thirteen. 
 
 Was Vermont one of these? It was not. 
 When was Vermont admitted into the Union? March 4, 1791. 
 
 After several leading questions concerning states, 
 counties, towns, latitude, longitude, boundary lines, 
 etc., the children go on with another list of local 
 questions : 
 
 In which of the United States do you live? Vermont. 
 
 How many counties in Vermont? Thirteen. 
 
 In which do you live? Caledonia. 
 
 How many towns does it contain? Seventeen. 
 
 In what town do you live? Barnet. 
 
 What is meant by situation? The place where anything is, and 
 the circumstances of it. 
 
 How is Barnet situated? On the Connecticut River, in the 
 southwest part of Caledonia County. 
 
 How is Barnet bounded? How far is it east of Montpelier? 
 Thirty-five miles. 
 
 What is the surface of Barnet? It is a land of hills and valleys. 
 
 What is the soil? Rich and fertile. 
 
 What is the growth of timber? Heavy. 
 
 Name the principal forest trees. White pine, hemlock, beech, 
 birch, spruce, ash. and maple. 
 
 Which is the largest river in Barnet? The Passumpsic.
 
 14 LIFE AMONG THE IMOQUOIS. 
 
 Where is its source? In a pond on the easterly line of West- 
 more. 
 
 Through what towns does it pass? Newark, East Haven, 
 Burke, Lyndon, St. Johnsbury, Waterford, and Barnet. 
 
 Where is its mouth ? It falls into the Connecticut River about 
 a mile below the foot of the 15 M. f . 
 
 Here follows a list of questions about the branches, 
 brooks, and falls of the Passumpsic, dwelling particu- 
 larly on the Stevens River, its ferry, its falls, etc., 
 and also upon all the ponds of the place, after which 
 we find ourselves getting at a bit of history of thrill- 
 ing interest : 
 
 Who conducted an expedition against St. Frangois? Major 
 Rogers. 
 
 When? On October 17, '59. 
 
 Where did he encamp on his return? In Barnet. 
 
 What did he expect to meet here? A supply of provisions. 
 
 From where? Charlestown, New Hampshire. 
 
 To be ordered by whom ? General Amherst. 
 
 Was the order complied with ? It was. 
 
 Who proceeded up the river with the provisions? Samuel 
 Stevens and three others. 
 
 How did they carry them? In three canoes. 
 
 What is an island? Are there any islands in the Connecticut, 
 opposite Barnet? Several very fertile islands. 
 
 How many islands in a cluster near the mouth of the Passumpsic? 
 Twenty-one. 
 
 Which is the largest? The Round Island, which contains about 
 ninety acres. 
 
 On which did Mr. Stevens and others land with the provisions? 
 On Round Island, where they encamped for the night. 
 
 Who was near at hand? Major Rogers and one hundred and 
 fifty men. 
 
 What did Stevens' company hear in the morning? Guns ! ! 
 
 What did they do? They reloaded their provisions and hastened 
 back to Charlestown.
 
 THE MAIDEN. 15 
 
 At what time did Rogers and his men arrive at the mouth of the 
 Passumpsic? About noon. 
 What did they discover on the island ? Fire I 
 
 The questions and answers then tell the story of the 
 rafts which Rogers' company made, and upon which 
 they passed over to the island, but only to find out to 
 their surprise and mortification that no provisions had 
 been left for them. The men, already reduced to a 
 state of starvation, were so disheartened by this dis- 
 covery that thirty-six of them died before morning. 
 In order to save the survivors, an Indian was cut in 
 pieces and divided among them. Two days from this 
 time Rogers gave up the command and told his men to 
 take care of themselves. Some of them were lost in 
 the woods, but Rogers and most of his men were pre- 
 served and arrived safely at Charlestown. 
 
 The question and answer, " When was Barnet char- 
 tered? September 16, 1763," is followed by a series 
 of questions concerning the principal proprietors, the 
 early settlers, the first town clerk, the first representa- 
 tive, first male child (who, by the way, was presented 
 with one hundred acres of land by Enos Stevens, Esq.) ; 
 also about the Scotch settlers, the religious sects and 
 pastors of the various churches ; the temperance soci- 
 eties and their officers and committees ; the number 
 of villages and the ?mmber of houses and families in 
 each ; the number of horses, cows, sheep, and oxeu in
 
 16 LIFE AMONG THE IE QUO IS. 
 
 town ; the number of clocks, watches, schoolhouses, 
 dwelling houses, mills, and stores, and at how much 
 they were appraised. 
 
 This singular list of questions closes with the fol- 
 lowing, which was certainly fifty years ahead of the 
 times : 
 
 What reasons can you give for not drinking ardent spirits? 
 
 1. Because they poison the blood and destroy the organs of 
 digestion. 
 
 2. Because an enemy should be kept without the gate. 
 
 3. Because I am in health and need no medicine. 
 
 4. Because I have my senses and wish to keep them. 
 
 5. Because I have a soul to be saved or lost. 
 
 During the years 1830-32, our young and suc- 
 cessful teacher made her home in the family of Rev. 
 Clark Perry, of Newbury. Mr. Perry was fond of 
 talking of his valued friend and classmate at Dart- 
 mouth College, Rev. Asher Wright, who had graduated 
 at Andover with every prospect of a brilliant career 
 before him, and had within three weeks of graduation 
 buried himself in the wilderness of western New York 
 and Pennsylvania, that he might preach the gospel to 
 the Indians. The young girl, who had since her dar- 
 ing adventure with the Indians been an enthusiast in 
 the cause, followed with keen interest the fortunes of 
 this good man as far as they could be known through 
 his correspondence with Mr. Perry. There was joy in 
 the little parsonage when word came that their mis-
 
 THE MAIDEN. 17 
 
 sionary friend had found a companion who was willing 
 to share his life and work. The bride, Miss Martha 
 Edgerton, one of the original members of the Con- 
 gregational Church at Randolph, Vermont, was a 
 frail girl of rare spirituality and beauty. After one 
 year of hardship and exposure among the Indians, she 
 entered into rest rejoicing that she had been counted 
 worthy to give up her young life for Christ. The 
 widowed missionary wrote the sad story of his be- 
 reavement to his friend Mr. Perry, and received 
 from the Newbury parsonage many letters of hearty 
 sympathy. 
 
 And now we reach a point in the history of our 
 maiden where a decision must be made which was to 
 affect her whole future. She came home from school 
 one day to find a letter awaiting her, and a most im- 
 portant letter it was nothing less than a message 
 from the lonely missionary among the Seneca Indians, 
 Rev. Asher Wright, whom she had never seen, but in 
 whose life and works she had felt so deep an interest. 
 The blushing maiden was informed without any waste 
 of words that his friend, Mr. Perry, had recom- 
 mended her to him as the one of all others who pos- 
 sessed that Christlike spirit and amiable disposition 
 which promised him in her a suitable wife and mis- 
 sionary co-worker. He placed the matter before her
 
 18 LIFE AMONG THE ISOQU01S. 
 
 in a practical way and asked permission to correspond 
 with her, with this result in view. Fortunately her 
 answer has been preserved : 
 
 NEWBURY, December 18, 1832. 
 
 Mr. Wright, It is undoubtedly with au equal degree of embar- 
 rassment that I attempt to reply to your letter of November 27 ; 
 but believing it to be my duty, I repress for once these feelings 
 of delicacy, and, looking to Him alone for aid from whom is the 
 preparation of the heart and the answer of the tongue, I shall en- 
 deavor to return such au answer as our peculiar circumstances 
 seem to require. 
 
 I was much pleased with the freedom and plainness with which 
 you have chosen to write, and suppose no apology necessary for 
 adopting the same style myself. I think the circumstances of the 
 case ought to exempt us both from the imputation of rashness 
 in commencing such a correspondence without any personal 
 acquaintance. I am sure a Christian should at all times be willing 
 to perform whatever seems to be duty, even though it be at the 
 expense of private feelings. 
 
 To proceed then at once to the subject. As regards the mission- 
 ary enterprise I must say I have always taken a lively interest in 
 all its concerns. I have thought of devoting myself to that object 
 ever since I was a child, but as no opportunity has yet offered and 
 no special providence has yet pointed plainly the path of duty, I 
 have often almost concluded that God had nothing for me to do in 
 heathen lands and that my sphere of usefulness was evidently 
 elsewhere. I humbly hope I have long sincerely loved the cause 
 of Christ, and that I have devoted my all to his service. I trust 
 that I love the souls of the heathen, and am willing to leave the 
 friends of my youth and encounter the toils and hardships of mis- 
 sionary life, if by so doing I can be useful to them. 
 
 In the present case there is apparently an opportunity for an 
 intelligent, pious female possessing a heart devoted to the work to 
 accomplish much good ; but whether I am that female remains to 
 be decided. I believe, however, that if I commit my cause to God 
 and sincerely desire divine direction, he will order it all in infinite 
 wisdom. 
 
 As to my own happiness, I know it is nothing. I certainly
 
 THti MAIDEN. 19 
 
 ought neither to expect nor wish for more than ray Saviour seea 
 best for me to have. Nor ought I to enjoy any but that which 
 arises from loving and serving him. It should be, if it is not, 
 enough for me that he reigns and will take care to secure his own 
 glory in what manner he sees fit. Indeed, if we did but reflect 
 that our life is but a day, and that earthly joys will soon be at an 
 end, we should not allow ourselves to suffer much from anxiety 
 about our happiness at a future period which we may not live to 
 see. Why should we then distrust the power and goodness of our 
 divine Master f But let us rather pray to be prepared for adver- 
 sity and trust to him to support us through the trying hour. 
 
 In regard to deciding the question which you propose, I can 
 only say I can have no objections to commencing a correspondence 
 with the proposed end in view, and should no objections arise on 
 either side. . . . But still I am quite sure I can never fully supply 
 the place of your amiable Martha. I have heard much of her 
 ardent piety and devotion to the cause of Missions and trust I 
 may be enabled to imitate her example whatever may be the result 
 of the present deliberations. 
 
 I am at present boarding in Mr. Perry's family, teaching school. 
 I think it best to avoid our correspondence being known, as much 
 as possible, by all means, and in order to do so I propose that you 
 direct my letters to Mr. Perry for the present. I have complied 
 with your request in writing soon, because I supposed it desirable 
 for you to know the result of my decision as soon as possible. If 
 I have omitted anything which would be of importance for you to 
 know, I beg that you will make inquiries freely, and I assure you 
 they shall be answered with frankness. In the meantime, praying 
 that the Master whom you serve may be your portion while you 
 live and your reward in death, allow me to subscribe myself your 
 friend, LAURA M. SHELDON. 
 
 P. S. I acknowledge I have read this letter again and again. 
 At one time I think I have written too much ; at another, not 
 enough. I think, however, it can scarcely be made better or 
 worse, and one thing more I will mention. Provided the Board 
 should consent to your proposal, as it would be extremely incon- 
 venient for you to visit New England this winter, or for me to go 
 to New York, on account of my having engaged a school three 
 months, I will take the liberty to suggest whether it would not be 
 expedient to defer it a few months at least. I could certainly
 
 20 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 acquire a very good knowledge of the language from you, in a 
 short time, if you are a communicative teacher. I should not have 
 made the above suggestion, were it not that I probably shall not 
 have many opportunities of writing freely, and supposed it of 
 consequence that we fully understand each other's circumstances. 
 
 After one year of correspondence, Mr. Wright was 
 able to leave his Indian charge for a few weeks, and 
 undertake the long and difficult journey from Buffalo, 
 New York, to Baruet, Vermont. Through his friend 
 Mr. Perry, he was presented without delay to Miss 
 Laura Sheldon. We have no account of this interview, 
 but the result was evidently satisfactory, for they went 
 home to sister Mary, in Barnet, and on January 21, 
 1833, they were united in marriage by their mutual 
 friend, Mr. Perry, who undoubtedly beamed upon them 
 with the satisfaction of a successful matchmaker. 
 After the ceremony the happy couple were put in 
 possession of the following 
 
 CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE. 
 
 THIS is TO CERTIFY that at Barnet, Caledonia County, Vermont, 
 on Monday, the 21, day, of Jan., in the year of our Lord, 1833, 
 Rev. Asher Wright, of the Seneca Reservation, near Buffalo, Erie 
 Co., New York, and Miss Laura Maria Sheldon, of Barnet afore- 
 said were duly joined in marriage by me 
 
 CLARK PERRY, 
 Minister of the Gospel, Newbury, Vermont, 21 Jan., 1833.
 
 III. 
 
 THE BRIDE. 
 
 ON the following morning, January 22, 1833, tearful 
 farewells were spoken to the friends in Barnet 
 and to those who had come from St. Johnsbury and 
 Newbury, and the bride went out from her home with 
 him for whom she was forsaking father, mother, 
 brothers, sisters, and friends, that through him she 
 might obey the higher call to special service for her 
 heavenly Master. 
 
 And now they were fairly started on a long mid- 
 winter journey to Buffalo, New York. Fifteen days 
 and nights of travel without rest, in the old-time stage- 
 coach, with so delightful a teacher at hand, was a 
 golden opportunity, and, ignoring cold and fatigue, 
 the young wife commenced to study the Indian lan- 
 guage, making rapid progress in the use of both words 
 and sentences. 
 
 On the evening of February 5, the bridal pair 
 arrived at the door of the old Mission House. It was 
 not an attractive building even in the more pictur- 
 esque days of summer, but in the dead of winter every 
 deformity was plainly defined. The lower part was 
 
 21
 
 22 LIFE AMONG THE IKOQUOIS. 
 
 of rough-hewn logs, upon which a "frame addition" 
 of two stories had been placed. Mr. Wright had 
 formerly occupied a cabin which he built on the bank 
 of Buffalo Creek, near what is now known as "the 
 old burying ground," in Buffalo ; but he and his wife 
 were henceforth to form a part of the missionary 
 family already established in this curious old build- 
 ing, consisting of Rev. Hanover Bradley and wife 
 and a few Indian students. 
 
 The morning after their arrival many of the Indians 
 gathered to welcome the missionary bride, and were 
 astonished and delighted to be addressed in their own 
 tongue in the words and phrases learned during her 
 journey. "This gift of tongues," says one, "com- 
 bined with the rare loveliness of the bride, won at 
 once the warm affection of the Indians. Tall and 
 straight as the traditional red lord of the soil, she was 
 gentle and sympathetic to a remarkable degree, and 
 was for many years the life of the settlement." 
 
 The young wife inwardly protested against the 
 stringent rules of the mission during those first months, 
 but whatever her thought, she was never heard to 
 complain, but adapted herself to every privation, then 
 and always, with cheerful Christian submission. The 
 furniture of the house was severe in the extreme. 
 Hard wooden chairs, with not even a "rocker" to 
 vary the monotony, and beds to match. According
 
 THE BRIDE. 23 
 
 to the family rules, tea, coffee, pies, cake, sugar, and 
 asparagus were not allowed in the house. The table 
 was furnished with food of the plainest quality, bread, 
 pork, and potatoes being the prevailing diet. They 
 were allowed the luxury of custards without sugar ! 
 Those who craved a warm drink were permitted to 
 make a tea from hemlock boughs ! 
 
 Soon after the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Wright the 
 old building began to show signs of falling to the 
 ground. A plain frame house was erected, into which 
 the Mission family moved, and in a few weeks the old 
 log house lay in ruins. The frame Mission House still 
 stands in the city of Buffalo.
 
 BARK WIGWAM.
 
 THERE still live many of the descendants of the powerful Iro- 
 quois the Six Nations the great Indian Confederacy which 
 once controlled a large part of the eastern section of this immense 
 country of ours. Their hunting grounds have turned into well- 
 cultivated farms; their wigwams into comfortable houses; their 
 spears and arrows into the smoking bowl of peace; but many of 
 the people themselves who remain have lost none of the bravery, 
 firmness, and intelligence which were characteristic of the early 
 inhabitants of America. The Christian Union.
 
 IV. 
 
 THE YOUNG MISSIONARY. 
 
 MRS. WRIGHT began her work at once. She 
 soon gathered a class of Indian girls for daily 
 instruction and training in useful arts. She traveled 
 over the rough roads and through the swamps and 
 streams on horseback, with saddlebags securely fas- 
 tened to her side. In these she carried food, medi- 
 cine, etc. She not only visited the Indian homes ; 
 she looked after the distant, lonely teachers Miss 
 Asenath Bishop, Miss Rebecca Newhall, and Miss 
 Phebe Selden, who were teaching, and keeping house 
 in small log schoolhouses, miles away from the mis- 
 sion station. 
 
 Miss Bishop, who went to the Senecas in 1823, and 
 labored with untiring zeal during eighteen years, was 
 noted in the tribe for her wonderful patience under 
 manifold persecutions. To illustrate : the larger boys 
 of her school one day devised a scheme by which they 
 hoped to gain a victory over this unendurable calm. 
 Arriving at her little schoolhouse one bitter cold 
 morning, she prepared with benumbed fingers to build 
 a fire. Upon opening the door, she found the stove 
 
 27
 
 28 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 packed with snow. She stood a moment in bewildered 
 surprise, and then, realizing the situation, calmly took 
 the stove shovel and the water pail and without a word 
 or change of expression began to shovel out the snow. 
 Before she had half filled the pail she heard a rustle, 
 then a scrambling from behind the benches, and half 
 a dozen Indian boys leaped into the air, shouting, 
 "Miss Bishop! He can't mad! Miss Bishop! He 
 can't mad ! " 
 
 The shovel and pail were taken from her, the stove 
 cleaned out, and a good fire made by those young 
 rogues, who said years afterward, " We boys gloried 
 in her spunk ! " 
 
 The following characterization illustrates " Indian 
 English." Miss Bishop missed Mr. Little Johnny 
 John from church, and asked Deacon Fish Hook what 
 had become of him : 
 
 " Miss Bishop," said the deacon, using with pride 
 the English at his command, " Little Johnny John he 
 not good! Much afraid just like this: devil you 
 know him he got chain round Little Johnny John's 
 neck. Well, sometimes devil hold chain loose ; then 
 Little Johnny John think : ' I go see ; maybe Christian 
 good ; maybe I like it ; I go to meeting.' Well, devil 
 say : 4 1 watch ; I let him go little while ; I see ! ' 
 Little Johnny John he come to meeting. He think, 
 1 Pretty good ' ; so he come to meeting again. He
 
 THE YOUNG MISSIONARY. 29 
 
 like it good deal. He say, ' I will be Christian.' 
 Devil let chain out little more, little more. Little 
 Johnny John pretty good Christian. By-and-by devil 
 think : ' I don't know ; maybe guess he go too far ; 
 maybe lose him ! ' So devil he pull it chain ! 
 Pull it chain! and Little Johnny John he go back 
 
 he go back. Now Little Johnny John guess he 
 no good. Devil hold chain pretty tight now ; guess 
 Little Johnny John he can't repent now ; guess devil 
 
 he can't willing." 
 
 Deacon Fish Hook was a true prophet. Little 
 Johnny John returned to paganism. 
 
 In her visits from house to house, Mrs. Wright con- 
 stantly used the Indian phrases she had acquired, and 
 daily added others, until in an incredibly short time 
 she spoke the language fluently, and was able to ren- 
 der valuable assistance to her husband, who was also 
 a natural linguist. During his life he acquired seven 
 different languages. He not only mastered the very 
 difficult Seneca tongue, so that he could preach in it, 
 but set to work to establish a system of orthography 
 by the aid of which the Indian tongue could be reduced 
 to written characters. In this he was successful, and 
 with the help of his young wife put his system to 
 pi'actical use by translating into it a hymn book, the 
 Four Gospels, and portions of the Old Testament. 
 They likewise procured the type, and printed these
 
 30 LIFE AMONG THE 1ROQUOIS. 
 
 books themselves. They compiled a spelling book for 
 the school children, and partly completed a dictionary 
 in the Seneca tongue. Mr. Wright imparted his 
 knowledge of medicine to his wife, and they were both 
 widely sought by the sick and suffering, not only 
 among the Indians, but among the surrounding whites 
 as well. They gave medical service, without com- 
 pensation, to all who applied. 
 
 Within a few months after the arrival of these mis- 
 sionaries, the cholera broke out and wrought sad havoc 
 among the Senecas ; but through all the dreadful weeks 
 that followed, Mr. and Mrs. Wright were constantly at 
 the bedside of the sick and dying, ministering to their 
 physical and spiritual wants without thought or fear 
 for themselves. 
 
 The first church edifice among the Senecas was 
 a plain frame building painted white. Two services 
 were held there every Sabbath, and it was always cus- 
 tomary for a large part of the audience to visit the 
 Mission House at noon, and there be made happy with 
 the " white man's bread." This hospitality helped the 
 Indian to travel many miles, and to reach the church 
 before noon at least. White people sometimes passed 
 through the Reservation, and while receiving the hos- 
 pitality of the Mission House became acquainted with 
 the interesting young missionary, and soon it came to 
 pass that every one, whether Indian or pale face, loved
 
 THE YOUNG MISSIONARY. 31 
 
 her and came to her for advice and consolation. In 
 after years her influence became all-important in coun- 
 teracting the evil effects of treachery and cupidity dis- 
 played too often by the whites toward the Indians. 
 It has been said that to her personal influence, teach- 
 ing, and example was largely due the fact that so 
 many of these Indians embraced Christianity. 
 
 After fourteen months of uninterrupted companion- 
 ship with her husband, and successful work by his side 
 and under his direction, the young missionary is left 
 alone a few days and avails herself of this opportunity 
 to write her first letter as a wife. 
 
 MY ROOM, April 9, 1834. 
 
 Dear Husband, As much as I dreaded to have you leave me, I 
 have almost wished sometimes that I could have an opportunity to 
 write one letter to you, and after you went away to-day I thought 
 I would sit down and write to you. You will see that I have been 
 arranging your desk. I hope you will be pleased with it. There 
 were so many things which have no kind of relation to each other 
 that I could hardly find places for them all. I fear you may dis- 
 cover some confusion among your papers. I look the liberty of 
 reading a few of Martha's letters. I have prayed much that I 
 might be like her as far as she was like Christ. I feel sensible that 
 I am not much like her. Last night I thought I felt some as Abra- 
 ham did when a horror of great darkness fell upon him. I could 
 see no light, and it seemed as though my prayers were an empty 
 noise. I hope I feel more comfort to-day, though I scarcely re- 
 strain the tears a moment. I hope you pray for me. my husband, 
 thought I do not wish to trust at all in your prayers. I think I 
 desire to trust in God alone. 
 
 Perhaps you will think me childish to write a letter to you when 
 I expect to see you so soon ; but I thought it would be so pleasant 
 to write "dear husband" and then to subscribe myself "Your 
 affectionate wife."
 
 32 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 Twenty months of united missionary work and Mr. 
 Wright was called to the other Seneca Reservations to 
 assist the resident missionaries in a " protracted meet- 
 ing." And so one cold morning in December, accom- 
 panied by his guide and interpreter, Indian Robert, ' 
 he started on that difficult and dangerous journey of 
 thirty miles through the almost unbroken woods to 
 the Cattaraugus Reservation, and from there forty 
 miles farther on to the Allegheny Reservation. Mrs. 
 Wright, with a heart burdened with anxious fore- 
 bodings, bade him good-by and promised to keep a 
 daily record of her life and work to be sent to him by 
 the first trusty messenger traveling in the same direc- 
 tion. A few sheets of this record, giving us a glimpse 
 of her life at that time, have been preserved. 
 
 SEXECA MISSION, December, 1835. 
 
 My dear Husband, According to my promise I must com- 
 mence a letter this evening, although much fatigued, having just 
 returned from a visit to Mary King, whom I found in a most dis- 
 tressing situation. She said she had not clothes enough to keep 
 her warm, and at times was very hungry indeed. Her bed con- 
 sisted of one blanket, spread on a couple of boards. She did not 
 think she could live long, for she found it extremely difficult to get 
 into the house to-day when she went out. Peter went with us 
 as interpreter. Everything to-day has gone well, only I am lone- 
 some to-night, and can't help thinking of the Cattaraugus woods 
 and hoping that you are not in them. 
 
 Sunday evening. Assisted to-day in moving Mary King. After 
 I left her last night she coughed up a great deal of thick, bloody 
 matter, which indicates an ulcer, does it not? She i.s very com- 
 fortably situated now at Mrs. Seneca's; and I hope to visit her
 
 THE YOUNG MISSIONARY. 33 
 
 often and minister to the wants of both soul and body. As for 
 myself, I hardly know what to tell you. I still find in myself the 
 same proneness to forget the solemn things of eternity, although 
 I am surrounded with so much to remind me of them. 
 
 Monday evening. 1 have tried to do my washing to-day, and 
 have succeeded pretty well. I learn that there is trouble again 
 between Greenblanket and his wife. How sad to have such a re- 
 proach thrown upon the cause of Christ! When will Christians 
 learn to live in peace? What a question! As if Christians could 
 live in a quarrel ! Alas, that we should possess so little of the 
 spirit of our Master! 
 
 Tuesday evening. Deacon Blue Eyes came this evening, and 
 is to spend the night with us. We expect to kill hogs to-morrow. 
 Thermometer eight degrees below zero to-day. I took cold yes- 
 terday, and have a dreadful face, I assure you. Can scarcely see 
 out of my left eye. My jaw is somewhat painful and I have been 
 obliged to keep still all day. Your letter was truly welcome, and 
 the more so as it was entirely unexpected. You were in the woods 
 at the very time I feared. I should not have slept that night had 
 I known that. You must not do so again ! No, no ! You must 
 be willing to stop where darkness overtakes you, and not risk 
 your life and health by traveling in the night. I am glad you 
 have bought a cow, and I shall do my best to make a great deal 
 of butter, but you must not form too high expectations. 
 
 Monday evening. Well, my dear husband, you see I have 
 skipped a few days. My face was so painful Friday and Satur- 
 day that I dared not write lest I should communicate some of my 
 pain. Sunday forenoon a large swelling between my cheek and 
 jaw broke, and I felt almost immediate relief and have continued 
 to mend since. 
 
 Daniel Two Guns' youngest child is quite sick and they fear it 
 will die. 
 
 I send you your compass, that you may have a guide through 
 the woods. But oh, keep near to the great Guide of feeble, wan- 
 dering sinners ! There is safety only there, and peace only there. 
 Tell Indian Robert he will need a true compass to guide him 
 through the wilderness of this world, where are a thousand snares 
 into which he may fall at any moment. 
 
 I should like to join you at the missionary meeting if I could 
 consistently do so, but I do not wish to leave one duty undone for 
 tin; sake of going.
 
 34 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 This letter having been sent by a trusty messenger, 
 the faithful correspondent continues her record : 
 
 SENECA MISSION, December 30, 1835. 
 
 My dearest Husband, This evening I received your precious 
 letter and could scarcely keep from crying when I found you had 
 not heard from me. You must have met my messenger before 
 this time, however, and received at his hand the letter and other 
 things which I sent to you. 
 
 Peter's wife sent for me yesterday. I found her in great dis- 
 tress ; respiration exceedingly difficult. She turned upon me in a 
 most beseeching manner and begged me to relieve her. I told her 
 no mortal power could relieve her much, but her bodily pains 
 would soon be over. I questioned her about her soul. She has 
 remembered all this time what you said to her when you went 
 away. I thought she seemed almost to despair of God's willing- 
 ness to save her. I tried to convince her that though she had been 
 a great sinner, Jesus was an all-sufficient Saviour. I think her 
 mind was very dark. I urged her to repent of her sin and cast 
 herself upon the mercy of her Saviour. She was too much dis- 
 tressed to think about these things, and died, a warning to all of 
 the danger of " breaking covenant with God," as she herself said. 
 
 I am now writing in our own little room again. It is the pleas- 
 antest place in the house for me, although it seems so lonely since 
 my other half has deserted it. But you know there is a secret joy 
 sometimes in indulging loneliness when it reminds us so strongly 
 of the cause of our past happiness and present sadness. 
 
 I hope, my dear, that you are making rapid progress in the 
 Indian tongue. Do not faint or be discouraged. Go forward, 
 keep looking at the crowd of precious souls going down to death, 
 and at the example and command of our divine Master, and if I 
 may say so, " have respect to the recompense of reward." These 
 considerations are enough to incite us to zeal and faithfulness.
 
 V. 
 
 THE FOSTER MOTHER. 
 
 AFTER Mr. and Mrs. Wright assumed the charge 
 of the Mission House in 1834, many white 
 people and Indians were sheltered under this hospi- 
 table roof. Having no children, their hearts and home 
 were open to the wants of many a homeless little one 
 in need of care. Concerning some of these children 
 we have no record, and but slight knowledge of 
 others ; but that future allusions to them may be 
 understood, its seems best, before proceeding further, 
 to furnish at once whatever information has been 
 obtained concerning this group of adopted ones. 
 
 Catherine King, an interesting girl of fifteen years, 
 was taken into the mission family soon after Mrs. 
 Wright's arrival, and became her special charge. 
 She gave the young girl much needed instruction, and 
 won her to the Christian religion. Catherine repaid 
 her faithful care by teaching her the Indian tongue 
 and becoming her interpreter. 
 
 Two years later Mrs. Wright adopted her own 
 
 35
 
 36 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 favorite niece, a girl of fifteen years, Martha Hoyt, 
 who for many years rendered efficient service in the 
 mission household. Miss Hoyt married Nicholson H. 
 Parker, an educated Indian, who held the office of 
 United States Interpreter for his people. Mr. Parker 
 was a member of the mission family, and rendered 
 invaluable assistance in translating the Scriptures into 
 the Indian tongue. The children of this marriage 
 were born at the Mission House, and were objects 
 of tender solicitude and loving care through the life 
 of this devoted foster mother. 
 
 One day, an Indian mother, whose soul had been 
 stirred to desire better things for her child than she 
 had known, brought her babe of six months to the 
 Mission House, and laying it in the arms of the 
 young wife said, " I give you my boy ; take him and 
 bring him up in your faith." The sacred trust was ac- 
 cepted. The Indian baby was baptized Asher Wright 
 Two Guns. He lived to be nearly three years old. 
 His brain was unnaturally active, and he seemed to 
 understand that Jesus was the friend to whom the 
 loyal love of his little heart should be given, and so 
 we find upon record these words: "We think this 
 child gave good evidence of being a Christian." 
 
 But the sad heart of the foster mother was not
 
 THE FOSTER MOTHER. 37 
 
 long left uncomforted. One day in February, 1836, 
 she was called to the bedside of an Indian mother, 
 who died in the triumphs of the Christian faith. 
 With her latest breath she commended her children 
 to the care of her covenant-keeping God, praying 
 that she might meet them all in a better world. The 
 motherless babe was taken to the Mission House to 
 receive the same tender care which had sheltered the 
 little Asher. This child. Louisa Maria Jones, was 
 the daughter of the Seneca chief, William Jones. 
 Inheriting, as they feared, the consumptive tendencies 
 of her mother, it was with the greatest difficulty that 
 she was carried through the period of early childhood. 
 It pleased God, however, to raise her up, and at the 
 age of five years her health was so confirmed that 
 hopes began to be entertained that she might see 
 many years and be prepared for usefulness among 
 her people. 
 
 When little Louisa was about six years old, the 
 occupants of the Mission House were awakened from 
 their midnight slumbers by the piteous cry of an 
 infant. It was November, and the plaintive moan 
 of the little one mingled with the howling winds 
 without. They thought that some deserted mother 
 had come to them for relief, and hastened to open 
 the door. Looking out into the darkness they saw
 
 38 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 nothing, but continued to hear the cry, although it 
 grew fainter, as though the strength of the little one 
 were failing. Further investigation revealed a small 
 bandbox upon the doorstep ! Through an opening in 
 the top of this box they saw a little hand move, and 
 when the cover was removed the blue eyes opened to 
 the light ; but the pale-face baby seemed stupefied by 
 the effects of some drug, and scarcely showed signs 
 of life for twenty-four hours. Then it awoke and 
 looked into the faces of its new friends with a bright 
 smile which won their hearts. Upon a paper found 
 among the folds of the blanket were written these 
 words : " Farewell, my little baby ! Thy mother must 
 desert thee, but may God take care of thee, and find 
 thee friends." The words were blotted by tears. 
 
 Under the tender care of its foster parents the 
 little foundling, who was called at his baptism Henry 
 Morrison, became a healthy, vigorous child, and re- 
 mained so until a few weeks before his death, which 
 occurred in nine months after his strange entrance 
 to the Mission Home. As no clew had been afforded 
 to his real parentage, the following paragraph, written 
 by Mrs. Wright, was published, that those to whom 
 he belonged might know the fate of the little outcast : 
 
 Beneath the shade of a spreading black walnut, in the gateway 
 of an ancient fort, now occupied as the burying ground at the 
 Seneca Mission Station, is a little iiiclosure which contains the
 
 THE FOSTER MOTHER. 39 
 
 dead of the mission family. In that inclosure was deposited on 
 the 22d instant the remains of a little stranger probably about 
 nine months old, whose origin is veiled in mystery. 
 
 On the morning of the fourth of last November he was found in 
 a bandbox on the doorstep of the Mission House, appearing to be 
 about four or five days old. Some time in the night the inmates 
 of an Indian house near by observed a wagon coming from the 
 direction of Buffalo with several persons in it. They stopped 
 opposite the path which leads to the Mission House. At this 
 time a child, apparently very young, was heard distinctly to cry 
 for several minutes ; then all was still for several minutes longer, 
 when the wagon moved slowly away, as if proceeding on its 
 journey away from the city. When found, the little boy was 
 sadly chilled, besides manifesting indications of having been 
 drugged, and for several days his life hung in doubt. Subse- 
 quently, however, he became very healthy and vigorous, mani- 
 festing a sprightliness and a loveliness of disposition which en- 
 deared him to all who saw him, and especially to the family whose 
 sympathies for the outcast had led them to adopt him. He died 
 on the morning of the 21st, of cholera infantum, brought on by 
 teething. 
 
 In digging a grave for this child a quantity of 
 bones were disinterred at the depth of about two 
 feet, which seemed to have belonged to a full-sized 
 man, probably deposited there when the fort was 
 occupied by soldiers perhaps in the French war, 
 or perhaps previously. A.S even conjecture itself is 
 silent among the Indians as to the origin of the 
 fortification, the bones were reinterred in the bottom 
 of the grave ; so that this little babe, one of the 
 mildest and sweetest of that tender age, now awaits 
 the resurrection morning, in the bosom, as it were, of 
 a fierce old Indian warrior, or perhaps some gruff 
 French or Highland soldier.
 
 40 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 The gateway of that fort is now the gateway of the 
 City of the Dead ; and at its very entrance lie Red 
 Jacket, Mary Jemison, the "White Woman," and her 
 granddaughter, the little children in the inclosure, 
 and underneath, in forgotten silence, the relics of 
 fierce and sanguinary battles. Could the infinitely 
 higher excitements of the scene portray it, with what 
 astonishment would that incongruous group, " un- 
 knowing and unknown," survey each other when 
 starting from their final slumber ! 
 
 But the Mission House was not wholly desolate, 
 for little Louisa was still spared to share the love 
 and care of these warm hearts. It was their constant 
 prayer that she might be converted to God in early 
 childhood, but, although apparently much interested 
 in all that was said, no special change was observed 
 in her until she was seven years old, when, on her 
 return from a communion service at the little mission 
 church, she seemed much affected and asked her 
 foster parents to pray for her. She said she wanted 
 to be a Christian, and hoped that she might be pre- 
 pared to unite in the next Communion and thus obey 
 the command of Jesus. When alone with her mother 
 she wept and said, " Do tell papa that I want to be 
 a Christian, and I want to go forward at the next 
 Communion if he thinks it would be proper." From
 
 THE FOSTER MOTHER. 41 
 
 this time a marked change was noticeable in her char- 
 acter. She was in the habit of secret prayer, and in 
 the little Mission praying circle she would often take 
 part with much earnestness. Her favorite book was 
 the " Peep of Day." She read it through again and 
 again, and never seemed weary of it. Her natural 
 disposition was peevish and irritable ; but she now 
 acquired a degree of self-control which she had never 
 before exhibited. 
 
 But the inherited seeds of disease had been doing 
 their work. She was taken very ill with inflammation 
 of the lungs, attended with severe attacks of suffoca- 
 tion. In these paroxysms she sometimes manifested 
 great impatience, but would say afterward, " I don't 
 want to do so, mamma, but I am so distressed I can't 
 help it." 
 
 It seemed best at last to tell this Indian child that 
 she might not get well. She was very quiet a few mo- 
 ments, and then said, " Mamma, please shut the door. 
 I want to pray with you alone." These were her 
 words : " O Lord, wilt thou bless me and give me 
 a new heart before I die ! " The next day she said, 
 "Mamma, I am willing to die if God sees best; 
 though I should like to live and do good among my 
 people." 
 
 She talked much about heaven, and said one day, 
 " I wish very often that God would send little Henry
 
 42 LIFE AMONG THE ISOQUOIS. 
 
 to take me up to heaven ; I want to see bow it looks 
 before I die. I want to see Jesus, too, and know bow 
 he looks." They sang to her, "Ye angels who stand 
 round the throne." "That is a very sweet hymn, 
 mamma," said she. One day she threw her arms 
 about her foster mother's neck, and exclaimed, 
 "When you used to talk with me about Jesus, and 
 when I saw you cry so, you don't know how badly 
 I felt. It seemed sometimes as though I should die ! " 
 
 "I feel now, Louisa," said her mother, "that I 
 can give you up into the Saviour's hands. I hope 
 you feel that you can give yourself up?" 
 
 " Yes ; I do," was the reply. 
 
 " Do you feel sure that Jesus will be your friend if 
 you should die, Louisa?" 
 
 " Yes ; I think so," said she. 
 
 " Why do you think so? " asked her friend, longing 
 to reach the inmost thought of this dear child. 
 
 " Because I know he loves little children who love 
 him, and I know I love him," said she, in simple faith. 
 
 " And, mamma," she continued after a short silence, 
 " I am not afraid to die, because I do trust Jesus." 
 
 The day before her death she appeared very happy, 
 and often requested her adopted mother to sing to 
 her. She read, herself, the Twenty-third Psalm and 
 said, "That is a sweet psalm." 
 
 A few hours before her death she said many times,
 
 THE FOSTEE MOTHEE. 43 
 
 " I am happy ! " Calling her mother to her she 
 whispered, " Mamma, I feel as though I could praise 
 and bless God ; perhaps even now he will let me 
 live to do good to my people." Her mother replied, 
 "Perhaps, Louisa, he will see it best to take you 
 away to-day ; do you feel as if you could praise and 
 bless him still?" 
 
 "Yes, mamma," she answered, with a sweet smile 
 upon her countenance. A little later she exclaimed, 
 " I feel happy ; it seems as though angels were all 
 around this room, and Jesus is in the midst. I do 
 not know whether I am a Christian or not, but I think 
 I do love the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not afraid to 
 die, because he is my friend. He loves little children." 
 
 She frequently expressed a sense of her sin fulness, 
 and her hope of forgiveness through Jesus alone. A 
 few moments before she breathed her last she said in 
 a faint whisper, "Mamma, bury me in the garden, 
 won't you?" 
 
 " Would you not choose, Louisa, to be buried beside 
 little Henry? " her mother asked. 
 
 "Yes, if you wish it," she replied; "or beside my 
 own mother." 
 
 Looking around upon the circle gathered about her 
 she said, " I love everybody." With perfect calmness 
 she gave each a parting kiss, and sent messages of 
 affection to her father and brother, evidently aware
 
 44 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 that she was on the threshold of eternity. Her spirit 
 went to the Saviour in whom she so sweetly trusted, 
 and her body was placed beside that of her departed 
 mother. 
 
 In 1848 Mrs. Wright adopted another niece, Phinie 
 Sheldon. This child, taken at the age of five years, 
 was reared in the Mission family, and finally entered 
 the foreign field under the American Board of Com- 
 missioners for Foreign Missions, as the wife of Rev. 
 Willis C. Dewey, Mardin, Turkey in Asia.
 
 VI. 
 
 A VISIT TO VERMONT. 
 
 1838. 
 
 AFTER nearly six years of hard work, painful 
 <*- exposure, and privations unspeakable, it was 
 decided that Mrs. Wright should be permitted to visit 
 her friends in Barnet, Vermont. It was the only time 
 during the fifty-three years of her missionary life that 
 she ever availed herself of this privilege. 
 
 She took passage upon a canal boat, accompanied 
 by her beloved little Indian Louisa, and Austria Two 
 Guns, another Indian child, who was to be received 
 into the family of Mrs. Henry Keyes, of Newbury, 
 Vermont. 
 
 (It may be well, in passing, to say that Austria 
 Two Guns was brought up in this Christian family as 
 their own, and received the usual advantages given to 
 young girls at that time. In later years she returned 
 to her people, married one of her own race, William 
 Tallchief, and established a Christian home upon the 
 Cattaraugus Reservation.) 
 
 A penciled account of this journey is one of the 
 few records left of that far-away past : 
 
 45
 
 46 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 BOAT ANN, June 6, 1838. 
 
 Started from the Seneca Mission to-day with mucli anxiety 
 and many tears, to visit my friends in Vermont. Mr. AV right 
 accompanied me to the boat and left me. It is the first time I 
 have left home and husband. Have felt a great degree of anxiety 
 since I decided to come, but have at length concluded to give up 
 all sources of solicitude into the hands of my Father in heaven, 
 believing that he knows what is best for me, and will do all that 
 is right. I do not know but I have mistaken the path of duty 
 in regard to the journey, though I think I have sought direction 
 from above. I have prayed that if I ought not to go, my way 
 may be hedged up. 
 
 June 7. Had a wearisome night. Little Louisa cried a good 
 deal. She is much better to-day, and I hope will not be sick. 
 
 We were stranded this forenoon on a rock, which hindered us 
 about three hours. I have enjoyed myself much better so far than 
 I expected. I cannot but hope that a kind Providence smiles upon 
 me, although I am an ungrateful sinner. It is astonishing that 
 such a sinner should be favored with such mercy. 
 
 June 8. To-day we passed Palmyra. Got on very well. Much 
 pleasanter than yesterday. Rested better last night. The captain 
 tells us that we shall pass the Sabbath at Syracuse. Little Louisa 
 is much happier to-day. 
 
 June 9. Thought much of my dear husband last night. Am 
 afraid he feels lonely. I still feel some misgivings about the 
 course I have pursued in taking this journey. I pray God may 
 forgive me if I have done wrong. 
 
 The Sabbath; but I should not know it by its sacred stillness. 
 We are at Syracuse, close by the wharf. Men and boys are idling 
 and laughing, and singing obscene songs all about us. I never 
 spent such a Sabbath before, and hope never to again. Attended 
 the Presbyterian church a part of the day. 
 
 Monday. Spent the day pleasantly. Made preparations to leave 
 the boat at twelve at night to take the cars at Utica. 
 
 Tuesday. Left the boat at midnight; went into a tavern, took 
 a bed, but the vermin were so numerous that it was impossible 
 to sleep. We rose at daylight and went downstairs, where we 
 found a number of people sleeping on the floor. After taking 
 some refreshment we hurried to the cars. Came from Utica to 
 Albany in a trice only six hours. I like the speed on many 
 accounts, but cannot say that I like the motion of the cars. The
 
 A VISIT TO VERMONT. 47 
 
 weather was warm and sultry and we were tired. Took the steam- 
 boat at four o'clock and went to Troy and spent the night at a 
 public house. 
 
 Wednesday. To-day we took a boat to Whitehall, arriving 
 Thursday evening. The passage was as unpleasant as anything 
 could be, almost. Spent the night at the Clinton House. Slept 
 well. Hope I felt some gratitude for preserving mercy so far. 
 
 June 20. At Whitehall we had to wait till Friday at one o'clock 
 before we could get a boat for Burlington; at which place we 
 arrived just after dark, and then waited again till Saturday noon 
 for a stage to take us to Montpelier, where we arrived late in the 
 evening and spent the Sabbath. Attended church all day and met 
 a good missionary sister from D wight, Arkansas Miss Emeline 
 Bradshaw. We wept together, and oh, how precious was the 
 short interview ! We stopped at the Temperance House and had 
 good fare, and very cheap. 
 
 The people found out that we were from the Indians (the chil- 
 dren betrayed us) and treated us on that account with great kind- 
 ness and attention. Both Congregational ministers called upon 
 us in the evening, and also the editor of The Watchman, and 
 several others. 
 
 We left Montpelier Monday morning before light and reached 
 home about three o'clock in the afternoon. Both the children have 
 enjoyed good health all the way, and have received much kind 
 treatment. 
 
 BARXET, June 21, 1838. 
 
 My dear Husband, We arrived here Monday afternoon, safe 
 and in tolerable health, though much fatigued. Through the 
 abounding mercy of our heavenly Father we have been preserved 
 from every danger by night and by day. Found all my friends well 
 except father, who is extremely feeble. His hair is white as snow. 
 His face is pale and his gait weak and tottering. We fear he will 
 not stay with us long. I have not yet ascertained his state of 
 mind, but fear that he clings to the delusive hope that God is 
 too just to condemn any one to eternal punishment. Mother also 
 has failed, although she is still quite active. They were both much 
 overcome at seeing me. Mother says, " I have found the word of 
 promise sure, that they that wait on the Lord shall not want 
 any good thing." She seems to be in a very calm, happy state 
 of mind, perfectly resigned to God's will for her.
 
 48 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 The old friends and neighbors flocked around me and seemed 
 glad to see me. I think as many as twenty persons called last 
 evening. The village is very much altered during my absence, 
 and the people more, but the rocks and hills remain unchanged. 
 
 I expect to start for Newbury next Tuesday and take Austria 
 Two Guns with me to her future home. She is a good girl and 
 very happy. The little girls here almost quarrel about which 
 shall have the first visit from her. 
 
 Little Louisa is in fine spirits. She has mother's little white 
 kitten, with which she is perfectly delighted. Mother thinks she 
 must have everything she wants. 
 
 Everybody here says I have grown old, and changed very much. 
 When I tell them that I have always been contented they do not 
 believe me. I feel very anxious to hear from you, but I try to 
 trust you and all in the hands of God, and I think I do feel some 
 sweet confidence that you are safe in his keeping. I think of you 
 every night, when I lie down to sleep, and when I awake in the 
 night, and when I awake in the morning. I pray God to make 
 your life precious in his sight. I do not forget while I am 
 reveling in the affection of my friends that my dear one is lonely. 
 Do not fail to pray that I may not always be such an ungrateful 
 creature as I have been in time past. Your absent and affectionate 
 wife, L. M. W. 
 
 During the absence of this " light of the Mission 
 Home," the lonely husband one day chanced to take 
 up her album, well filled with the old-time testimonials 
 of early friends in Barnet, Newbury, and St. Johns- 
 bury, of which a sample or two will suffice : 
 
 Laura, I know thee by thine eye, 
 And by thy manner meek and mild, 
 
 And by thy words of charity, 
 That God has made thee his own child. 
 
 ANN M. GOULD. 
 
 How honorable, safe and happy are 
 
 the servants of God! C. W.
 
 A VISIT TO VERMONT. 49 
 
 The entire hymn " There is a fountain filled with 
 blood " had been written upon one of these pages, and 
 signed by a converted Indian ; the only time in its 
 existence, probably, that this choice bit of pure old 
 gospel ever found itself amid similar environments. 
 
 The observant eyes of the printer and publisher of 
 Indian literature very soon noted a peculiarity in the 
 curious little book, which he quietly exposed in rhyme 
 upon the fly leaf : 
 
 Laura, thy friends, the writers in this book, 
 Have turned it wrong end upwards; was it haste? 
 
 Did they upon the back forget to look 
 In want of title page? or deem it taste, 
 
 Or mode refined, to change it, end for end, 
 A new-vamped, high-lived courtesy 'twixt friend and friend? 
 
 Or was it eye prophetic ; a keen glance 
 
 Far thro' the unveiled future that foretold 
 Thy destiny reversed? the which perchance 
 
 Fearing to wound thee, thus, by figures bold, 
 Instead of open speech, they here made known? 
 
 Or was it the sheer vagary of some old crone? 
 
 I thank them, Laura, whatsoe'er the intent; 
 
 (Nor less because they furnish me a theme ;) 
 The world is wrong end upwards ; strangely blent 
 
 Weal, woe; truth, fiction; ill would it beseem 
 If in friends' Memory-books no type were found 
 
 Of the queer topsy-turvy seen the world around. 
 
 " To err is human " ; this, tho ' no excuse, 
 
 Should waken charity toward those who fail; 
 Ourselves should draw from it a better use ; 
 
 Stern watchfulness 'gainst rude or sly assail 
 Of error or temptation firm in hope 
 
 That our deeds all at last may be found right end up. 
 
 GAI wi YU (Good news. Gospel).
 
 MARY JEMISON, THE CAPTIVE.
 
 52 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 Old White Chief, to whom Mr. Sheldon refers, be- 
 longed to a certain white family who left the Atlantic 
 coast many years ago to make a home in the wilder- 
 ness of the Susquehanna. Neither their name nor na- 
 tionality is known. They were attacked one day by a 
 party of Indian scouts, and the father, having offered 
 resistance, was put to death. The mother, while 
 attempting to save herself and child by flight, was 
 overtaken by her merciless pursuers and speedily 
 dispatched. The four-year-old child in her arms was 
 taken from her and borne away, and years after we 
 find Mrs. Wright, accompanied by her brother, at his 
 bedside, ministering to his necessities during his last 
 hours. He had been bedridden three years, but was 
 always patient through pain and weakness. He was 
 an aged man when the missionaries first came to the 
 tribe, but he and his son readily adopted the habits of 
 civilized life. One of his sons built the first frame 
 house on the Reservation and painted it red ; hence he 
 was called in Indian, " The-Man-with-the-Red-House." 
 
 White Chief had formerly a fine, erect form and 
 delicate features. He was very tall. He was nat- 
 urally very white, and in youth had long brown hair, 
 which, when the missionaries first saw him, was white 
 as snow. The Indians testified that his whole life had 
 been remarkably pure and upright in every respect, and 
 that he was amiable and affectionate in his disposition.
 
 WHITE CAPTIVES. 53 
 
 During these last years he was sincerely attached to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wright, and always rejoiced to see them. 
 One day White Chief asked Mr. Wright to sit by his 
 bedside and write his words, which, spoken of course 
 in the Indian tongue, were as follows : 
 
 The last I remember of my mother, she was running, carrying 
 me in her arms. Suddenly she fell to the ground ou her face, and 
 I was taken from her. Overwhelmed with fright, I knew nothing 
 more until I opened my eyes to find myself in the lap of an Indian 
 woman. Looking kindly down into my face she smiled on me, 
 and gave me some dried deer's meat and maple sugar. From that 
 hour I believe she loved me as a mother. I am sure I returned to 
 her the affection of a son. She supplied my wants as far as it was 
 in her power, and did not like to have me go out of her sight, lest 
 some evil should befall me. She made me moccasins and leg- 
 gins of deerskin, and gave me a piece of the same which she put 
 over my shoulders, bringing it down and fastening it about my 
 waist with a belt of the skin. I always had a warm place at the 
 fire, and slept in her arms. I was fed with the best food the 
 wigwam could afford. As I grew older I used to play with chil- 
 dren of my own age, and soon learned to compete with the best of 
 them in running, leaping, playing ball, and using the bow, which 
 my Indian mother put into my hands telling me she would cook 
 for me all the squirrels and birds I would shoot. I often gave her 
 much pleasure by bringing her game and demanding the fulfillment 
 of her promise. She never disappointed me. 
 
 As I grew older I sometimes excelled in the foot race, and I well 
 remember that on one occasion, when I had outstripped all the other 
 boys and received a hearty round of applause, they seemed much 
 displeased. One of them said, " I don't care, he is nothing but 
 a white boy ! " I immediately hung my head and ran from the 
 playground to my mother, and hiding my face in her lap, I cried 
 bitterly and loudly. She soothed me as well as she could, asking 
 what was the matter. After a while I was able to tell her the 
 bitter taunt I had received. She took me in her arms and said, 
 "Well, my son, it is true. You are a white boy. You can't help 
 it; but if you always do right and are smart, you will be none the
 
 54 LIFE AMONG THE IJKOQUOIS. 
 
 worse for belonging to that wicked race. Whatever you under- 
 take, do your best, and the Good Ruler will bless you. " 
 
 I had often heard the Indians speak the name of the Great Ruler 
 before, but I never thought he had anything to do with me, and 
 now a feeling of awe came over me, and I resolved that if there 
 was a great and good Being who knew me and would care for me, 
 I would be good and do all I could to please him. I was careful 
 after this not to do anything to make the other boys feel bad when 
 we were at play. I loved my mother more than ever, though I 
 could not help feeling humiliated to know that I was a pale face, 
 and must bear that reproach all my days. 
 
 The whole family by whom I was adopted treated me with 
 uniform kindness, and regarded me, as I have reason to believe, 
 with sincere affection. When they saw me excel in any boyish 
 sports they manifested great pride in me. If my companions 
 showed any disrespect or jealousy toward me they were ready to 
 take my part. When I grew older they took me with them on 
 their hunting excursions, taught me how to hunt and fish, and 
 were delighted when I showed any aptitude in these pursuits. 
 
 I was never reminded by a look or a word that I was not a son 
 and brother of the family. When I grew to manhood, I went 
 with them on the warpath against the neighboring tribes, but 
 never against the white settlers, lest by some unlucky accident I 
 might be recognized and claimed by former friends. In time I 
 married and came with the tribe who settled upon this Buffalo 
 Creek Reservation, since which time my life has been a very quiet 
 one. I had three sons who grew to be good men. 
 
 I was made a chief at an early age, and as my sons grew to man- 
 hood they also were made chiefs. The family who had loved me 
 and cared for me in my early days died, but I was still treated like 
 a near relative by the clan of my Indian mother. 
 
 After my youngest son was made chief I could see, as I thought, 
 that some of the Indians were jealous of the distinction I enjoyed 
 and it gave me uneasiness. This was the first time I ever enter- 
 tained the thought of leaving my Indian friends. I felt sure that 
 it was displeasing to the Indians to have three of my sons, as well 
 as myself, promoted to the office of chief. My wife was well 
 pleased to leave with me, and my sons said, "Father, we will go 
 wherever you will lead us. " 
 
 I then broke the subject to .some of my Indian relativas, who 
 were very much disturbed at my decision. They immediately
 
 WHITE CAPTIVES. 55 
 
 called the chiefs and warriors together and laid the plan before 
 them. They gravely deliberated upon the subject for some hours, 
 and then a large majority decided that they would not consent to 
 our leaving. They said, " Wecannotgive up our son and brother" 
 (meaning myself) "nor our nephews" (meaning my children). 
 ' They have lived on our game and grown strong and powerful 
 among us. They are good and true men. We cannot do without 
 them. We cannot give them to the pale faces. We shall grow 
 weak if they leave us. We will give them the best we have left. 
 Let them choose where they will live. No one shall disturb them. 
 We need their wisdom and their strength to help us. If they are 
 in high places, let them be there. We know they will honor us." 
 We yielded to their importunity and concluded to remain among 
 our Indian friends. I have never had any reason to regret my 
 decision. 
 
 I have never known anything about my white relatives. I do 
 not know where they lived, nor what language they spoke. My 
 life in the wigwam with my Indian friends has been sweet and 
 pleasant. At this time nearly all the generation to which I belong 
 have passed on before me to the spirit land. A great change has 
 come over the whole people. They have exchanged the tomahawk 
 and scalping knife for the rifle, which is of very little use, as game 
 has now nearly disappeared from the country. Instead of gar- 
 ments of skin we are now clothed with warm blankets and cloth. 
 Our people cultivate the land, raise corn and potatoes, and we live 
 much more regularly than when in pursuit of wild game. In my 
 opinion, notwithstanding the large territory which has been taken 
 from us by white people, by cultivating the soil which is left to us 
 we may obtain a more reliable and comfortable living than we 
 ever did by hunting. 
 
 Within a few years the missionaries have come to as and 
 brought us a knowledge of the Christian religion. When I heard 
 this good news, the white man's way to be saved, I was impressed 
 that this was the religion of my ancestors, and that by receiving it 
 I might, if not in this world, still in another, find the friends from 
 whom I had been so long separated. As I came to understand it 
 better I realized that it brought me the Saviour I needed, and I 
 gladly embraced it, with my whole family. 
 
 Not long after this visit, White Chief sent a mes- 
 senger in haste for Mr. and Mrs. Wright, who were
 
 56 LIFE AMONG THE IfiOQUOIS. 
 
 at his bedside as soon as possible. Looking at them 
 earnestly, with the tears streaming down his furrowed 
 cheeks, he said : 
 
 " One thing gives me great uneasiness. I under- 
 stand no language but the Indian. I am afraid when 
 I go into the other world that I shall not be able to 
 communicate with my own white friends, because I 
 shall not understand their language." 
 
 Mr. Wright assured him that there would be no 
 difficulty in understanding one another in heaven ; 
 there would be but one language, and that one would 
 be understood by all. He also told the dying man 
 that no distinction of race, color, or language would 
 be recognized there, because they would all be the 
 children of God. These words greatly comforted 
 him, and he passed away peacefully with a cheerful 
 hope of a blessed immortality. 
 
 In the papers left by Mrs. Wright is the following 
 account of the captive, Mary Jemison : 
 
 Soon after I came to the Seneca Mission in 1833, 1 was told that 
 Mary Jemison, " the White Woman " had recently removed 
 from the Genesee Reservation, and was now living near the 
 mission station. As I had often heard of her remarkable history, 
 I felt a desire to see her, and was planning to make her a visit, 
 when our interpreter called one day to tell us that he had seen her 
 quite recently, and that she would be glad to see a missionary. 
 She had never taken kindly to the efforts made to give her religious 
 instruction, and was in fact as strong a pagan in her feelings as any 
 of the Indians. I was therefore very glad to know that she was 
 anxious to see any of u*, and went to her the next day. I did 
 not then understand the Seneca language, and took a young Indian
 
 WHITE CAPTIVES. 57 
 
 girl with me as interpreter. I found the captive in a miserable 
 hut, where she lived with her daughter. There was a low bunk in 
 the room, made by placing a few boards on logs for supports. 
 A straw tick covered with a blanket rested upon the boards. On 
 this bed she lay asleep. She was curled up, her head drawn for- 
 ward, and did not look much larger than a child ten years old. 
 My interpreter told her daughter what had brought us to the 
 house, and she said her mother did want to see us very much, and 
 she was glad we had come. She then went to the bed and tried to 
 wake the sleeping woman. This was such a difficult matter that I 
 feared we should not be able to talk with her at all. Her daughter 
 shook her repeatedly and raised her up and called to her that 
 somebody wanted to see her, and at last succeeded in rousing her 
 so that she recognized the presence of strangers. I then went 
 forward and shook hands with her and told her that I had come to 
 see her. As soon as she understood the object of my visit, she 
 said, with sobs and tears : 
 
 "Oh, I am so glad you have come! A few nights ago I was 
 lying awake thinking of my past life, how I had been taken away 
 from my home, and how all my friends had been killed. Then I 
 thought of my mother and her last words to me. It was our sec- 
 ond night in the woods with the Indians. We had traveled all 
 day, as fast as we could get along, for the Indians seemed to be 
 afraid of pursuit and hurried us very much. When we stopped 
 we were many miles from what had been our happy home only a 
 few hours before, and we were all tired and faint for the want of 
 food. My younger brothers and sisters soon went to sleep, and 
 then my mother drew me to her side and putting her arm around 
 me said, ' My clear child, you are old enough to understand what 
 a dreadful calamity has come upon us. We may be separated 
 to-night, and God only knows whether we shall ever meet again. 
 I want you to remember what you have been taught by your 
 parents and never forget to say your prayer every night as long 
 as you live. If you are a good girl God will take care of you. 
 Perhaps we may be killed and you may be spared. I want you to 
 promise that you will remember what I have said.' I promised 
 my mother that I would do what she said; and then I was led 
 away by an Indian and I lay down on the ground and cried 
 myself to sleep. 
 
 " That was the last time I ever saw my father and mother, or 
 my little brothers and sisters. For many years I never forgot my 
 mother's words, and always repeated the prayer every day; but
 
 58 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 after I had a family and was obliged to work hard to take care of 
 my children, and had a great many troubles to think about, I began 
 to neglect my prayer, and at last I forgot part of it, and was not 
 sure that I remembered any of it right ; and finally I stopped say- 
 ing it regularly at all, although I have often thought about it. I 
 was thinking of all this the other night, and I could not sleep. 
 I thought I had done wrong to forget the promise I had made to 
 my mother. I felt so badly that I began to cry and said a great 
 many times out loud, ' O God, have mercy on me ! ' My daughter 
 thought I was cra/y and told me to stop crying and go to sleep, 
 but I could not till daylight. The next day I sent word to the 
 missionaries that I wanted to see them, and now you are come, I 
 want you to tell me what I shall say when I pray, for I don't 
 know what to say since I have forgotten the prayer my mother 
 taught me." 
 
 While she was telling me this story the tears streamed down the 
 wrinkled cheeks, as she sat on the side of her low bed bent almost 
 double. I told her she could not have said anything more appro- 
 priate than " O God, have mercy on me ! " I then repeated to 
 her the Lord's Prayer in English. She listened with a solemn, 
 tender expression on her face till near the close, when suddenly it 
 was evident a chord had been touched which vibrated with the far 
 distant past and brought back memories both sweet and painful. 
 She immediately became convulsed with weeping, and it was some 
 time before she could speak. At last she said, " That is the 
 prayer my mother taught me. and which I have forgotten so many 
 years ! " 
 
 When she had regained her composure to some extent, I read to 
 her from God's Word, and tried to explain the gospel plan of sal- 
 vation as simply as possible. I prayed with her and then bade her 
 good-by, commending her to Him who will not break the bruised 
 reed. I little thought it would be my last interview with this 
 interesting woman. 
 
 This is a remarkable instance of the permanent influence of a 
 mother's teaching. Fully three quarters of a century had passed 
 since she had made the promise to her mother, which it was not 
 strange she had not kept, and yet through memory of the broken 
 promise, conscience at last was aroused and she was led to take 
 up the long-neglected duty ; and from what we learned from her 
 daughter and others of her subsequent state of mind, we think 
 she died in the cheering faith of the gospel, and not in the dark- 
 ness of paganism.
 
 WHITE CAPTIVES. 59 
 
 Reference has already been made to the old Indian 
 burying ground, four miles from the city of Buffalo, 
 New York. A little to the north of the principal en- 
 trance is the grave of Red Jacket, so long the steady 
 friend and protector of his people against the en- 
 croachments of the whites, and still the watchful 
 sentinel, as we might imagine, solemnly guarding 
 from the desecrating touch of the pale faces this 
 little spot, where many of his chosen friends recline 
 around him. 
 
 Nearly opposite the grave of Red Jacket, on the 
 south of the entrance, stands a solitary white stone. 
 This is the grave of the " old white woman," Mary 
 Jemison. The stone is partly broken and the in- 
 scription defaced, for so strange has been the story 
 of the ancient sleeper that strangers visiting the spot, 
 and wishing to carry away some memento of the visit, 
 have dared to desecrate the grave by chipping off por- 
 tions of the marble. 
 
 It is* a little remarkable that so many of the 
 persons who figured on the stage with her, and took 
 part in the eventful scenes of which she was an eye- 
 witness, should be brought into such close proximity 
 with her in the last scene on earth in which they were 
 concerned. Here they lie, side by side. The stern 
 old warrior and his feeble victim might shake hands 
 and exchange neighborly civilities. No stone marks
 
 60 LIFE AMONG THE IE QUO IS. 
 
 the spot where these primitive nobles repose ; but in 
 old times the graves of Young-King, Little Billy, 
 Twenty-Canoes, John Snow, Captain Pollard, and 
 others were often pointed out to the eye of the curious 
 traveler. 
 
 In this historic burying ground was found upon a 
 monument the following tribute to the Indian race : 
 
 A faithful history of all the captives who have been taken by 
 the various Indian tribes, and adopted and grown up among them, 
 would form a very interesting volume ; and if such a record could 
 be placed by the side of the record of Indian wrongs faithfully 
 delineated, it may be doubted whether the comparison would not 
 be greatly in favor of the Indians, so far as humanity is concerned; 
 notwithstanding all that has been said and written of the cruelty 
 of savages. 
 
 Life in the woods of North America in those early times, under 
 the most favorable circumstances, was fraught with severe suf- 
 fering, and in a state of captivity, with the few comforts to be 
 found in an Indian wigwam, dreadful indeed must have been the 
 lot of those whom the chances of war threw into the power of an 
 exasperated foe. But this captivity was only an incident of war, 
 and no more cruel than the customs of civilized nations, who often 
 burn whole cities and destroy provisions, so as to cause the great- 
 est suffering among helpless women and children. 
 
 There were indeed instances when they deemed it necessary to 
 take summary vengeance on individuals and make them examples, 
 in order to intimidate their enemies ; but they oftener pursued the 
 more humane policy of adopting them into their families and 
 extending to them the rights and privileges they themselves 
 enjoyed. In such cases the captive was always made to feel that 
 adoption was not a mere form. Real affection, and in fact all that 
 the heart prizes and longs after in relationship, was bestowed 
 upon them. After tho ceremony was over and a name given, they 
 were taught to say, " my father," "my mother," " my brother," 
 " my sister." 
 
 It is remarkable that among those who have written on Indian 
 character, so few have understood the subject. The masses still
 
 WHITE CAPTIVES. 61 
 
 entertain extremely unjust views of these people. How often do 
 we hear it asserted of them that " they never forgive an injury" ! 
 It is uniformly believed that their hate and their love are alike 
 unending; that when in pursuit of vengeance they will stoop to 
 almost any artifice to accomplish their ends; that they are cruel, 
 and delight themselves in the sight of blood and suffering. True, 
 their intercourse with civilized men and Christian men, to our 
 shame be it spoken, has tended to bring these traits into active 
 exercise. In the early contests between the Indians and white 
 men, the latter possessed every advantage over the former for 
 offensive warfare, and this inequality drove the Indians to the 
 skillful use of what means they did possess. They were forced to 
 meet cruelty with cruelty, cunning with cunning, and perfidy 
 with perfidy, in order to compete successfully with the superior 
 abilities of their foes. 
 
 Contempt of pain and suffering among the ancient Spartans 
 was considered an evidence of true greatness of soul, and 
 instances of their unexampled endurance are applauded and ad- 
 mired. The Indians embraced similar views, and it was con- 
 sidered a special favor to giv^e a brave man an opportunity to 
 exhibit his fearlessness of torture and death. To put a speedy 
 end to his life was the refinement of cruelty, as it entirely deprived 
 him of an opportunity to earn the most valuable name a warrior 
 could acquire. 
 
 A truly brave man, they deemed, would never fear pain or death, 
 however terrible might be its form. 'T was no uncommon thing 
 for the victim at the stake to defy his tormentors to do their 
 utmost, and again to taunt them with not being acquainted with 
 means of producing the most exquisite suffering, and while endur- 
 ing the most intense agony, he would often break forth into a 
 triumphal war song and recite with the greatest coolness the won- 
 derful feats he had performed, and the numbers of their people 
 he had slain in former engagements, and then describe in tones of 
 provoking irony the cowardly conduct of their chiefs and warriors, 
 thus aiming to inflame their rage to the highest degree, regard- 
 less of consequences to himself. Sometimes his persecutors, be- 
 coming exasperated, would rush upon him and dispatch him at 
 once. The memory of such an individual was always cherished 
 with the utmost respect, and his example held up for the imitation 
 of their youth. 
 
 Educated to these views of what constituted a truly brave man,
 
 62 LIFE AMONG THE ISOQUOIS. 
 
 they scorned to complain, and often preserved the greatest self- 
 possession and coolness, when enduring the most intense mental 
 and physical suffering. Hence, to those who are but partially 
 acquainted with their character, they have the reputation of being 
 morose, stern, and cold-hearted.- This is a mistake, for under all 
 this affected frigidity of manner there runs as strong a current of 
 warm affection as ever bubbled up in the heart of a white man. 
 
 MOCCASIN.
 
 vni. 
 
 INDIAN CHARACTERS. 
 
 ONE of the most faithful friends of the mission- 
 aries in those days was Young-King, the first 
 chief among the Senecas to see the good influence of 
 education and the Christian religion upon his people. 
 His influence was very great, standing as he did so 
 high as a warrior and a chief. 
 
 Like too many, he also partook of the fire water, 
 and for many years was a victim of intemperance. In 
 a drunken brawl he lost an arm, and a finger from the 
 remaining hand. After he became a Christian not 
 one drop ever wet his lips. At one time on a journey 
 he was thrown from his wagon and badly injured. 
 When the physician came he was groaning upon the 
 floor in a neighboring hut. Upon a table stood the 
 whiskey bottle, which was an irresistible temptation to 
 the pale-face doctor. He must drink before he could 
 attend his patient. Young-King's eyes flashed as he 
 asked, " What you drink there?" 
 
 The doctor answered, "Whiskey! and it will do 
 you good ; you must take a glass." 
 
 "You drink whiskey?" said the chief; "then 
 you no bleed me ! " and though suffering intensely he 
 
 63
 
 64 LIFE AMONG THE IIIOQUOIS. 
 
 would allow nothing to be done for him by the man 
 who drank whiskey. 
 
 He was the first Indian who built a rod of fence on 
 the Reservation, and often in the cold winter days he 
 would be seen on Saturday crossing the creek in his 
 little canoe to see if the mission church were supplied 
 with fuel for the Sabbath ; and if it were not, with his 
 one hand he wielded the axe and chopped a little pile 
 which he also carried to the door to be sure that it was 
 ready for the morning service. He used to say : 
 
 "I came so late into the Vineyard; I must work 
 diligently to accomplish anything before I am called 
 away." 
 
 This man could not read, yet he seemed to under- 
 stand clearly the plan of redemption, the nature of 
 the atonement, and the intricate workings of the 
 human heart. 
 
 His fireside was characterized by old-fashioned hos- 
 pitality. There the poor were welcomed, the hungry 
 were fed, and the friendless received sympathy. 
 Wicked white men did their utmost to tempt him to 
 fall again into intemperance, but he always resisted 
 firmly, and brought no dishonor in any way upon the 
 cause of Christ. He died in 1835, and lies in the old 
 Indian burying ground, where are also many other dis- 
 tinguished men and women of the Senecas who first 
 received Christian burial.
 
 INDIAN CHARACTERS. 65 
 
 Mrs. "Wright sometimes invited the Indian mothers 
 to what we should now call a " tea meeting." They 
 were at liberty to bring their needlework, which con- 
 sisted in ornamenting their deerskin moccasins with 
 porcupine quills, or their broadcloth skirts and leggins 
 with beads, or perhaps fastening a quantity of silver 
 brooches upon their short-gowns or hats. While thus 
 occupied she read and explained gospel truths in their 
 own language, sang hymns with them, and frequently 
 encouraged them to tell her some story of old times. 
 The simple repast, which had really brought them there 
 and held them through the afternoon, was then served, 
 and they went away to think of the "good words" 
 which had been spoken to them about the " new way." 
 It was during one of these afternoon " sociables " that 
 an Indian woman gave the following reminiscence of 
 CHIEF INFANT : 
 
 He was an old man when she was a young girl. He 
 was a very strong man. She remembered hearing 
 that during an Indian council when there were many 
 white people present, some of them talked a good 
 deal, and one man in particular was very noisy and 
 quarrelsome. He was rebuked several times but still 
 persisted in disturbing the council by his noisy, drunken 
 babbling. At length Chief Infant arose and de- 
 manded of him that he keep quiet or leave the council.
 
 66 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 The cowardly fellow refused to obey and kept on 
 swearing and threatening and boasting that he was not 
 afraid of him or any one there. Chief Infant arose 
 once more, went to him, and with great dignity and 
 forbearance commanded him to go away and leave 
 them to go on with their discussions in peace. The 
 bully replied that he should not do either until he was 
 ready. Chief Infant then took hold of the man's arms 
 below the elbpws and squeezed them till the blood ran 
 through between his fingers. The man cried for mercy 
 and was released, and Chief Infant walked calmly 
 back to his seat in the council. 
 
 At the Treaty of "Big Tree," as it was called, 
 Chief Infant was present. An Englishman who was a 
 regular boxer by profession was there to see the In- 
 dians and doubtless to find a foeman worthy of his 
 steel. When his eyes fell on Chief Infant he thought 
 if he could fight and overcome such a magnificent 
 looking man, he should make himself famous. So he 
 began to feel of his opponent in rather a coaxing way 
 at first, telling him he wanted to try the strength of 
 the red man a little, that he did not wish to hurt him, 
 but would like to show him how Englishmen could 
 fight in single combat. 
 
 Chief Infant modestly declined, saying he did not 
 wish to fight. The white man persisted in urging him, 
 while the Indian still refused, saying it was a time of
 
 INDIAN CHARACTERS. 67 
 
 peace and he did not wish to see blood running that 
 day. The friends of the chief began to fear the white 
 man would think him a coward and tried to coax him 
 to try his strength, telling him that the swift move- 
 ments and cunning arts in which the boxer had been 
 educated would stand him in bad stead when matched 
 against his strength and coolness, and that they would 
 see that no undue advantage was taken of him. 
 
 The white men who stood near now began to clamor 
 for the fight, and offered money to the chief, till the 
 sum amounted to one hundred and fifty dollars. Still 
 the Indian seemed reluctant to fight until he saw that 
 his friends were really ashamed of him, because they 
 thought his conduct looked cowardly to the whites. 
 He then arose and walked coolly toward the white 
 man and thus addressed him : 
 
 " Brother, I do not wish to hurt you. We have 
 met for peaceable discussion of important matters. 
 My blood is not hot with anger. I do not hate you ; 
 but since you desire it so much, I will show you how 
 we Indians fight." 
 
 The boxer immediately commenced to jnake his 
 motions both offensive and defensive. But Chief In- 
 fant came down upon him like a flash of lightning, 
 seized him by both arms, breaking the bones of each 
 and throwing him on the ground. He left him groan- 
 ing in anguish and walked back to the council as
 
 68 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 if nothing of any consequence had happened. Such a 
 shout rent the air as was never heard before or since 
 in that valley. 
 
 Old Fish Hook, came to the Mission House one day, 
 with a sad story of his poverty, lameness, and general 
 decrepitude. He complained bitterly of the cruel 
 treatment he had received from white people, and 
 begged Mr. Wright for a ' ' paper " which should ap- 
 peal to the mercy and charity of the pale face. The 
 good missionary immediately provided the old man 
 with the following impromptu : 
 
 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. 
 
 Indian. Kind friend, this paper I present 
 
 To ask a little aid; 
 My wants, though seeming few, are great 
 
 I'm begging for my bread. 
 For time and sickness, grief and pain, 
 
 And flood and fire and frost 
 Fell sadly on my destiny, 
 
 And all my hopes are lost. 
 
 White Man. Nay, come not here ! though true thy tale, 
 
 As true perchance it is, 
 Why should I help the Indian wild, 
 
 With copper-colored phiz? 
 An idle, thriftless, heathen race! 
 
 Gk> home, and beg of them! 
 My bread I earn by daily toil, 
 
 Let Indians do the same. 
 
 Indian. But thou hast strength to toil, 
 
 While I am sickly, weak, and old; 
 Thy heart beats quick, thy blood is warm, 
 While mine is slow and cold;
 
 INDIAN CHARACTERS. 69 
 
 And thou may'st yet become like me, 
 
 Ere life's brief thread is spun; 
 It will not be a thankless plea 
 
 Mercy for mercy done. 
 
 They say God portions out the lot 
 
 Of all the sons of men; 
 Why then revile the darker hue 
 
 With which he tinged my skin? 
 Thy Maker might have shaded deep 
 
 Thy snow and lily face; 
 If white excel compassionate 
 
 The less exalted race. 
 
 They say God gave us all one blood, 
 
 That brothers we might In-; 
 That kindred love might bind us all 
 
 In one great family. 
 Oh, spurn not, then, the Indian with 
 
 His copper-colored phiz; 
 Three fourths of the whole family 
 
 Have skins as dark as his; 
 
 And thou hadst been a heathen born, 
 
 As thy forefathers were, 
 Had not thy Maker interposed 
 
 With kind paternal care. 
 Why boast o'er me, then, whom he left, 
 
 To follow on the road 
 My dark-souled ancestors supposed 
 
 The appointed way to God? 
 
 And though, like them, my dogs I burn, 
 
 Mock not with scornful eyes; 
 For mercy in the heart, thou claim'st 
 
 Thy nobler sacrifice. 
 If thine the better way, and thou 
 
 Hast hopes I ne'er may know 
 Grudge not the brief enjoyment here 
 
 Thy bounty may bestow.
 
 TO LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 Besides, they say God gives to thee 
 
 The privilege of prayer; 
 That greatest, strangest mystery 
 
 To ask and He will hear; 
 While us thou callest heathen vile 
 
 A reprobated race 
 Now might not God, if thou would'st pray, 
 
 Give us too saving grace? 
 
 If worldly good thou canst not spare, 
 
 At least withhold not this; 
 If thou art right, thou bear'st for us 
 
 The key to heavenly bliss. 
 And covetous of words of prayer 
 
 Thou wilt not, canst not be; 
 Wherever, then, thou bow'st the knee, 
 
 Oh, plead for mine and me I 
 
 Else, own thou thinkest not thy hope 
 
 To be preferred to mine; 
 And all thy claim to greater light, 
 
 Or holier love, resign. 
 For deeds of love, thy gospel saith, 
 
 Shall thy memorial be; 
 " Because thou didst it unto these, 
 
 Thou didst it unto Me." 
 
 And what by alms or faith or prayer 
 
 Shall be for Indians done, 
 May not be long delayed the mist 
 
 Now dims their setting sun. 
 Some will be changed to white men soon 
 
 The rest will all be gone; 
 None will remain to roam and beg 
 
 In lauds once all their own.
 
 SECRETARY STANTON said to General Halleck, "If Bishop 
 Whipple comes here to tell us that our Indian system is a sink 
 of iniquity, tell him we all know it; tell him the United States 
 Government never redresses a wrong until the people demand 
 it. "When the hearts of the people are reached the Indians will 
 be saved." 
 
 A LETTER of inquiry was once sent to General Cass asking 
 whether he ever knew an instance of Indian war or massacre that 
 was not provoked by the white man's aggravation. To this letter 
 was received the following laconic reply : 
 DEAR COLONEL: 
 
 Never! NEVER! NEVER! 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 " THERE are now in the state of New York about 5,000 descend- 
 ants of the Iroquois. The red man in the Empire State owns 
 about 88,000 acres of land. This fact makes him more enemies 
 than do all other considerations. White men want this land, and 
 are determined to get it by fair means or foul. Hence they are 
 interested to defame and to exterminate the Indian, thus hoping 
 to share his goods."
 
 IX. 
 
 THE SEVEN YEARS TROUBLE. 
 
 AND now we approach the " Seven Years' 
 Trouble," which was the darkest, most dif- 
 ficult, most tempestuous, and altogether the most 
 trying period in the missionary experience of both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wright, which at its close covered more 
 than half a century. It is the same old story, and 
 the "White Man's Treaty" is at the bottom of it. 
 
 At this time (1837) the Senecas were quietly settled 
 upon their four Reservations, which they had thus far 
 held in uninterrupted possession. These were called 
 the Buffalo Creek Reservation, with which we have 
 become familiar (now a part of the city of Buffalo) ; 
 the Cattaraugus Reservation, lying upon the banks of 
 the Cattaraugus Creek, and washed on the west by the 
 waters of Lake Erie, occupying the three counties of 
 Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Erie ; the Allegheny 
 Reservation, Pennsylvania, upon which the city of 
 Salamanca is situated ; and the Tonawanda Reserva- 
 tion, near Tonawanda, New York. 
 
 When the first Mission church was organized on the 
 Buffalo Creek Reservation, the Indians began to get 
 
 73
 
 74 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 acquainted with a better class of white people than 
 they had known in the border settlers and soldiers, 
 who brought them only the vices of our race. After 
 much earnest work Christian influence began to tell 
 upon them. Many chiefs embraced Christianity, and 
 were leading their people in the same direction. The 
 missionaries were joyfully reaping the fruits of years 
 of effort, but alas ! the Ogden Land Company now 
 appeared upon the scene, and a season of fierce dis- 
 cussion and dissension began, which did not in the 
 least abate until 1844. 
 
 This company wanted the rich lands of the Senecas. 
 To achieve this end they began by gaining an influence 
 over the Indian chiefs through the magic power of 
 money. Each chief of influence soon discovered that 
 he had but to ask to receive " much gold," by means 
 of which he could supply every want, and even go 
 through all the great country which had once belonged 
 to his fathers, and see the wonderful life and power 
 of the people whom these "golden pale faces" repre- 
 sented. The next step of the company was to organ- 
 ize the "Migration Party," by means of which this 
 tribe was to be transplanted to Kansas. When these 
 plans were well matured a general council of the 
 Seneca chiefs was called to consider the question 
 of selling their lands to the Ogden Land Company. 
 Through the liberal bribery of the chiefs and the
 
 THE SEVEN YEARS' TROUBLE. 75 
 
 most outrageous frauds, a bargain was consummated in 
 January, 1838, which conveyed 114,869 acres of Indian 
 Land to the Ogden Land Company, for $202,000. The 
 treaty was signed by President Martin Van Buren. 
 
 But the faithful missionaries of these Indians were 
 not idle in their cause. Every moment which could 
 be spared from their ministrations to the people was 
 used in collecting proof that the treaty was brought 
 about through fraud and bribery. This collection of 
 proofs with " protests " and " memorials " was sent to 
 Washington, and, through the influence of the Society 
 of Friends, received attention. 
 
 In 1842 a new treaty was prepared, which was 
 signed by the chiefs, with the exception of the Tona- 
 wanda chiefs, who did not sign either treaty. By this 
 treaty, which they called the " Compromise Treaty," 
 the Senecas retained the Cattaraugus and Allegheny 
 Reservations, and relinquished the Buffalo and Ton- 
 awanda to the Ogden Company. 1 
 
 This transaction, which took from the Senecas all 
 their reservations except Cattaraugus and Allegheny, 
 was notoriously famous for the duplicity and abomi- 
 nable wickedness connected with it. Several of the 
 
 *The Tonawandas would not submit to this arrangement. They held 
 out against this treaty for sixteen years, but the courts decided against 
 them, and they would most surely have been obliged to go to Kansas, 
 had it not been for a Special Act of Congress, allowing them to sell 
 their Kansas lands to the government, and with that money huy back a 
 part of their own Reservation. This special treaty was made In 18C8.
 
 76 LIFE AMONG THE IROQU01S. 
 
 Christian chiefs were bribed by the white man's money 
 to sign the treaty. This so disgusted those who had 
 not fully decided to accept the gospel that they re- 
 turned to paganism. 
 
 " Red Jacket told us years ago," they said, " that 
 if we took the religion of the pale face, we should 
 lose our homes. His words were true." 
 
 After the treaty of 1842 had been signed by the 
 chiefs, the " Buffalo Indians," as they were called, 
 who did not go to Kansas, filled with anger toward 
 Christianity, began to move to the Cattaraugus Reser- 
 vation. Then followed four years of bitterness and 
 strife. The people who were thus thrust from their 
 homes and driven from the graves of their fathers 
 were not to be comforted or pacified. They were 
 embittered against their chiefs, and the whole race of 
 the Pale Face, including even their own missionaries. 
 But notwithstanding the unjust accusations of these 
 people, so desperately wounded, the patient, devoted 
 missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Wright, feeling the deepest 
 sympathy for their sufferings, came with them to the 
 Cattaraugus Reservation, and did much to alleviate 
 their forlorn condition. With wonderful tact and 
 marvelous judgment, seeking divine help through 
 every hour of this bitter trial, they continued to 
 minister to their charge, spiritually and physically. 
 The troubled minds were daily comforted by these
 
 THE SEVEN YEARS' TROUBLE. 77 
 
 who could not, humanly speaking, see a ray of light 
 in the future. 
 
 As soon as possible the "Buffalo Indians" held a 
 mass meeting and made a solemn resolve to have 
 nothing to do with the gospel or the Christian Indians 
 or the missionaries. 
 
 "This new religion," they said in their wrath, 
 " must be 6ad, since those who embraced it could be 
 so dishonest, so unjust, so cruel." 
 
 Those who made this resolve have passed away, but 
 their children to some extent hold the same prejudice 
 against Christianity, and it has caused marked division 
 between the two parties from that day to this. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wright, however, were always consulted with 
 as much confidence by the pagan leaders as by their 
 own Christian flock. 
 
 Nearly forty years after this stormy period, Mr. 
 Henry Silverheels, who well remembered those sad 
 days, stood over the open grave of his beloved mis- 
 sionary, Mr. Wright, and gave this simple, touching 
 testimony : 
 
 "There was a time when we had lost every foot of 
 land we had in this state. Our chiefs had yielded to 
 temptation, and been bribed by wicked men to sell 
 our homes, and it was only a question of time when 
 we should be driven away from all that was dear to
 
 78 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 us. Mr. Wright, fully understanding the situation, 
 went to a prominent member of the Ogden Land 
 Company, and induced him to use his influence with 
 the company to consent to a compromise, by which 
 the Allegheny and Cattaraugus Reservations were 
 restored to us. Thus it is that we owe our present 
 comfortable homes to Mr. Wright's love and care for 
 us. Let us remember him with gratitude and try to 
 live as he lived, for the honor of God and the good 
 of our fellow men." 
 
 On a bit of yellow paper is the following in Mrs. 
 Wright's handwriting, written during this period of 
 trial : 
 
 CATTARAUGUS RESERVATION, December 31, 1846. 
 The Lord's mercies have been infinite towards me, although I 
 have been an unworthy sinner. I desire, this last day of the year, 
 in reviewing all the past, to acknowledge the unceasing goodness 
 of God towards me, and I would ask his grace to help me to con- 
 secrate myself anew to his service. "Oh, the depths!" my soul 
 exclaims while reviewing my whole life, and oh, my ingratitude 
 and sin! O Lord, grant me help to serve thee better, to walk 
 humbly before thee, and in such a manner that I may always feel 
 the preciousness of Christ and his salvation. Leave me not to 
 myself, lest I basely and presumptuously dishonor thy name, and 
 ruin my own soul. Oh, may I lay myself at thy feet and quietly 
 await the accomplishment of all thy holy will and pleasure con- 
 cerning me, evermore. Amen. LAURA M. WRIGHT. 
 
 During the two years following the removal of the 
 Buffalo Indians to the Cattaraugus Reservation, it 
 required divine wisdom and patience and skill to
 
 THE SEVEN YEARS' TROUBLE. 79 
 
 adjust the unhappy exiles to new conditions. The 
 church work was necessarily interrupted. In 1848 the 
 Indian nation underwent a revolution, and substituted 
 a republican government for the government by chiefs. 
 At a convention held at the Cattaraugus Reservation, 
 the delegates in a very firm manner abrogated the old 
 government and proclaimed a new order of things 
 after the manner of the founders of our own gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 By this new arrangement the supreme judiciary is 
 composed of three judges designated as " peace- 
 makers." The legislative powers of the nation are 
 vested in a council of eighteen, chosen by the uni- 
 versal suffrages of the nation ; but nothing is binding 
 unless ratified by three quarters of all the voters and 
 three quarters of all the mothers in the nation. 
 
 One provision of this constitution exhibits a degree 
 of national frugality well worthy of imitation by those 
 gentlemen in our own Congress, who spend so much 
 of the "dear people's" money in talking about their 
 rights and interests. The Seneca Constitution declares 
 that the compensation of members of the council shall 
 be one dollar each, per day, while in session, but no 
 member shall receive more than twenty-six dollars during 
 any one year ! With such a provision there will be no 
 clanger of their council becoming " dilatory." 
 
 The following are the reasons given for changing
 
 80 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 their form of government and adopting a constitu- 
 tional charter : 
 
 We, the people of the Seneca nation of Indians, 
 humbly invoking the blessing of God upon our efforts 
 to improve our condition, and to secure to our nation 
 the demonstration of equitable and wholesome laws, 
 do hereby abolish and annul our form of government 
 by chiefs, because it has failed to answer the purpose 
 for which all governments should be created. 
 
 1. It affords no security in the enjoyment of 
 property. 
 
 2. It provides no laws regulating the institution of 
 marriage, but tolerates polygamy. 
 
 3. It contains no provision for the poor, but leaves 
 the destitute to perish. 
 
 4. It leaves the people depending on foreign aid for 
 the means of education. 
 
 5. It has no judiciary nor executive departments. 
 
 6. It is an irresponsible, self -created aristocracy. 
 
 7. Its officers are absolute and unlimited in signing 
 away the people's rights, but indefinite in making 
 regulations for their benefit or protection. 
 
 We cannot enumerate the evils growing out of a 
 system so defective, nor calculate its overpowering 
 weight on the progress of improvement. But to 
 remedy these defects we proclaim and establish a
 
 THE SEVEN YEARS' TROUBLE. 81 
 
 constitution, or charter, and implore the government 
 of the United States, and the state of New York, to 
 aid us in providing us with laws under which progress 
 shall be possible.
 
 INDIAN BABY FRAME. 
 
 The Indian mother has certainly invented the most convenient 
 method of carrying and lullabying her baby. All babies are 
 nearly of the same size, and nobody needs to be told how long 
 or how wide a baby frame should be made. It is a straight board, 
 sometinfes with side oieces, and always with a hoop over the head 
 from which to suspend a curtain for the 
 protection of the little eyes from the sun, 
 and to keep the child from harm should 
 the baby frame fall. The child is envel- 
 oped in a blanket and laced to the frame. 
 which is carried upon the back of the 
 mother by a strap which comes over the 
 forehead, and with much less fatigue than 
 in her arms. The baby is kept in the frame 
 most of the time through infancy, and it 
 is astonishing how contented it remains 
 in its little prison. While the mother 
 works in the field she hangs her baby 
 on a low limb of a tree where it is rocked 
 by the wind. When busy in the house 
 she suspends it on a nail, or places the 
 frame in a corner ; sometimes she hangs it where she can swing 
 it to and fro as she passes, singing as she goes the following 
 lullaby, which loses much in the translation: 
 
 Swinging, swinging, lullaby, 
 
 Sleep, my little one, sleep; 
 
 It is your mother watching by ; 
 
 Swinging, swinging, she will keep 
 
 Her little one, lullaby. 
 
 Swinging, little one, 
 
 Baby, baby, do not weep, 
 
 Sleep, sleep, little one, 
 
 And thy mother will be near, 
 
 Little baby, lullaby. 
 
 BABY FRAME.
 
 X. 
 
 A BOSTON GIRL AMONG THE INDIANS. 
 
 THE missionary work upon the Cattaraugus Res- 
 ervation was divided, Mr. and Mrs. Wright 
 having charge of the "upper mission station," and 
 Mr. Bliss and family the " lower mission station." 
 This family, with whom Mr. and Mrs. Wright worked 
 in delightful harmony several years, was succeeded 
 by the late Father Gleason, whose works still follow 
 him among the Choctaws, Mohegans, and Senecas. 
 Mr. Wright and Father Gleason were both college 
 classmates of my father, Dr. Joseph S. Clark, of 
 Boston, Massachusetts, and thus it came to pass that 
 while yet in my teens the call came to join these 
 devoted workers upon the Cattaraugus Reservation, 
 and under commission of the American Board of 
 Commissioners of Foreign Missions, to learn how 
 to be a missionary. Miss Mary Kent, of Grantville, 
 Massachusetts, was commissioned at the same time. 
 Dr. and Mrs. Treat, Dr. A. C. Thompson, and my 
 father were our companions on the journey. We can 
 reach California to-day in less time than it took us 
 then to go from Boston to this Indian Reservation on
 
 84 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 Lake Erie's shore. We arrived at the railroad station 
 nearest to the Reservation on Friday. As the lower 
 Mission House was near the church, the whole party 
 was entertained there over the Sabbath. 
 
 Father Gleason and an Indian met us at the station. 
 Mrs. Treat and myself were placed in the care of 
 Nicholson H. Parker, the United States interpreter for 
 these people, a tall, powerful Indian, who drove us 
 over the nine miles through the woods to the Mission 
 House. I remember that we were rather afraid of 
 him, although he treated us with the utmost kindness, 
 and was in his manners " every inch a gentleman." 
 
 I shall never forget the consecration meeting in 
 Father Gleason's study that evening. Dr. Treat's 
 prayer was a great comfort and inspiration to the 
 young girl and her companion, just starting out in 
 missionary life. The musical tones and rare expres- 
 sion with which Dr. Thompson repeated that entire 
 hymn, u Oh, could I speak the matchless worth ! " 
 linger with me yet. Missionaries were present at this 
 meeting from other Indian reservations, forty, fifty, 
 and even sixty miles away. They had come this dis- 
 tance in rough lumber wagons at great inconvenience, 
 to see these secretaries of the American Board and to 
 welcome the new missionaries from Boston. 
 
 During the evening I became interested in the 
 sweet, careworn face of a lady sitting a little apart
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 85 
 
 from the others. I did not know that she was 
 Mrs. Wright. With closed eyes and bowed head she 
 seemed lost to present surroundings in absorbed com- 
 munion with God. When, later in the evening, I was 
 presented to her, she took both my hands in her own, 
 looked at me earnestly for a moment, and said : 
 
 ' ' Poor child ! so young and so inexperienced ! You 
 ought to be at home with your mother. How little 
 you dream of the life which is before you ! " 
 
 I had felt greatly attracted to her during the meet- 
 ing, but these words chilled me, and I said, "Is there 
 then no work here which a young Christian can do?" 
 
 She hastened to comfort me. "If you are really 
 one of the Lord's consecrated ones, you will find work 
 enough here. And who knows? your youth and 
 inexperience may be used by God where our wisdom 
 fails." 
 
 This was my introduction to Mrs. Wright, whose 
 story we have followed as a child, maiden, and mis- 
 sionary wife through forty-four years. A friendship 
 was soon established between us which steadily gath- 
 ered strength and sweetness to the last. 
 
 The lower mission station was surrounded by a 
 magnificent grove of maple, black walnut, and pine 
 of wonderful growth. We used to call this station 
 "the bird's nest." Sunday morning we all went to 
 the Mission church, a plain wooden building seating
 
 86 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 about two hundred people. When we entered the 
 church, Father Gleason was already in the pulpit with 
 an Indian hymn book in one hand and the bell rope in 
 the other, selecting hymns for the service, ringing the 
 bell with all his might to call in the slow-moving 
 Indians, and singing at the top of his voice the old 
 hymn, 
 
 " The voice of free grace cries, 
 'Escape to the mountain.'" 
 
 This bell, by the way, was a present to the Christian In- 
 dians from Dr. Hawes' church, Hartford, Connecticut. 
 Our seats faced the two doors of entrance and we 
 had an opportunity to watch the people as they gath- 
 ered. With dignity and reverence they entered the 
 sacred house. The men took seats on one side, and 
 the dogs which had followed them in curled up under 
 their feet. The women occupied the other side of the 
 chui'ch ; many of them wore blankets and carried 
 papooses on their backs. One of these mothers thus 
 laden took a seat beside me. She gave her blanket a 
 peculiar hitch, and the baby came over her shoulder 
 into her lap. I sprang to catch the child, but found 
 my fears were groundless. Although I saw this per- 
 formance repeated hundreds of times in the seventeen 
 years that I spent with this people, no child ever met 
 with an accident, the baby seeming to understand 
 how to slide safely over the shoulder iu response
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 87 
 
 to the mother-hitch of the blanket. And so in time 
 the audience consisted of men and dogs, women and 
 babies, missionaries and teachers. 
 
 Father Gleason never acquired the Seneca language. 
 He preached and read the Scriptures through an inter- 
 preter, Mr. Henry Silverheels, a tall Indian of com- 
 manding presence, who used much more time in Indian 
 than the missionary did in the English. A sermon 
 of fifteen minutes' length in English occupied three 
 quarters of an hour in delivery. 
 
 I shall never forget the singing. The weird, plain- 
 tive Indian airs were too suggestive of the sad fate of 
 this strange race, and after the first verse of the first 
 hymn, I could control my feelings no longer, and 
 yielded to a burst of sobs. The Indians decided that 
 the young missionary from the "land of the rising 
 sun " (Boston) was homesick, and although at the 
 time there was no indication by look or manner that 
 this strange outburst had been observed by them, they 
 told me afterward that their hearts went out in great 
 sympathy to the young girl so far from her mother. 
 
 At intervals during the service, certain dogs became 
 uneasy, and wandered about, even upon the steps of 
 the pulpit. Then Father Gleason, giving Silverheels 
 a long sentence to interpret, started- after them with 
 his cane and drove them out of the house, coming 
 back to the pulpit somewhat out of breath, but in sea-
 
 88 LIFE AMONG THE HtOQUOIS. 
 
 son to proceed with the next division of his discourse. 
 The service was very long. After a while a baby 
 began to cry ; the mother made no attempt to quiet 
 the child. Another baby followed suit, and still 
 another, until several babies were crying at once. 
 Then the dogs began to howl; and with the crying 
 babies and howling dogs the good missionary was 
 obliged to terminate his sermon and let us go home. 
 
 The day after this first Sabbath, Drs. Treat and 
 Thompson, Mrs. Treat, my father, and other visitors, 
 took their departure on their way to a missionary 
 meeting farther west, and I was left alone among 
 strangers. For a little time I was overcome by this 
 thought, and the responsibility which I had taken of 
 becoming a messenger of God to this people. I 
 found a quiet corner in the Mission House and yielded 
 to my feelings. After a time the tempest was stilled, 
 and the message came to my heart, ' ' Have not I 
 commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage. 
 Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for I am with 
 thee, and will keep thee whithersoever thou goest;" 
 " I will strengthen thee." 
 
 The loving devotion of Mrs. Gleason and her 
 daughters and the overflowing spirits and good cheer 
 of Father Gleason were a great help to me in those 
 days. 
 
 The missionaries decided to place me in a settle-
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 89 
 
 ment seven miles from the Mission House, upon the 
 shore of the lake. I was placed in the family of an 
 Indian chief to board, and my kingdom was a little 
 schoolhouse in the woods. The house of the chief 
 was old and loosely built. The window of my room 
 opened upon the lake and it was not uncommon for the 
 snows of winter to drift in upon my bed and upon 
 the floor. The chief with whom I boarded was a man 
 of education and culture. He had the remarkable gift 
 of interpreting as a whole any address or sermon 
 which might be given to the people by some orator 
 or distinguished preacher visiting the Reservation who 
 could not manage the ordinary interpretation sentence 
 by sentence. He had rare power of memory, and 
 could repeat word for word any discussion or conver- 
 sation. There were certain Indian men in the family 
 whose business it was to wait upon him. He was 
 never known to black his boots or harness a horse or 
 attend to the slightest detail of the house or farm, 
 which consisted of some two hundred acres. He 
 spent his time reading, writing, visiting among white 
 people many miles away, and looking after the inter- 
 ests of his tribe. His wife, a white lady, was de- 
 votedly attached to him. Her strong affection never 
 wavered a moment from the time she married him, 
 at the age of fifteen, until the hour of his death. 
 She never regretted the step she had taken, although
 
 90 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 disowned by parents and friends for doing it. It was 
 a comfort to her, however, surrounded as she was by 
 Indians, to have the companionship of one of her own 
 race. She had a large family of children who attended 
 my school in the woods. 
 
 One other inmate of this family was the aged mother 
 of the chief, who did not speak a word of English and 
 was never reconciled to his marriage with a white 
 woman. It may be said that as to the white wife, this 
 was the skeleton in the family, and many a time the 
 missionary teacher was obliged to make peace between 
 the two. As soon as the children could lisp the word 
 " mamma" the old grandmother commenced to teach 
 them the Indian language and to use all her influence 
 to instill into their minds Indian beliefs, Indian super- 
 stitions, and the Indian religion. They were all bright 
 children and not easily influenced in these matters. 
 The daughters, as wives of white men, are now hap- 
 pily settled in life among people of their mother's race. 
 
 The first morning, when I started to go to the little 
 schoolhouse in the woods, I was appalled by the sight 
 of a herd of cattle outside the door. There were 
 horses, colts, cows, calves, pigs, and dogs. I went 
 back and said to the chief : 
 
 "I have always lived in a city, and have not been 
 accustomed to seeing animals loose in the streets. I 
 am afraid to pass them alone. Will you go with me ? "
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 91 
 
 With great courtesy he accompanied me to the 
 schoolhouse. I said : 
 
 " Will you come for me at noon and go home with 
 me?" 
 
 I shall never forget the expression of his face as he 
 turned and said to me, " You have come a long way 
 to live with us, and to teach these Indians the Jesus 
 Way. Now I want to say something to you. If you 
 are afraid of anything, you can never win these 
 Indians to the Jesus Way, for they despise a coward. 
 If you wish to have any influence over them, you must 
 be very brave." 
 
 " But," I said, " I am not brave. I am afraid of 
 spiders and mice and snakes and dogs and these 
 animals on the road. What shall I do?" and I 
 recalled with a shudder the experience of the night 
 before, when I discovered a family of mice keeping 
 house in my straw bed. 
 
 "The one thing for you to do," said he, "is to 
 hide your fear. Never show it in the presence of the 
 people. I will come for you this noon if you ask me 
 to, but knowing that you wish to win these people to 
 your religion I thought it wise to tell you this." 
 
 I said, "Do not come for me this noon. If I am 
 not brave at heart, I will, at least, be brave out- 
 wardly." He left me alone in the little schoolroom. 
 It was a sacred moment with me, for there in the
 
 92 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 solitude of those woods I asked from One who never 
 fails us, strength to do the work, give the message, 
 
 win this people, and be delivered from physical fear. 
 
 
 My little flock began to gather. I soon found that I 
 
 was to have a company of all ages, from the child 
 three years old to married men and women. With 
 my ignorance of the Indian language and their igno- 
 rance of the English the situation was peculiar. It 
 occurred to me many times during those first weeks to 
 wonder of what use my education would be to me, 
 shut up in a little schoolhouse in the woods on an 
 Indian reservation. But I soon learned that I needed 
 all the education that I had received, added to all the 
 wit, wisdom, and common sense I could command, to 
 master the situation. Books were of very little use. 
 While I taught them English they taught me Indian, 
 and I was soon able to make my own schoolbooks,' 
 which gave them the rudiments of the many things I 
 wished them to know, and prepared them for a better 
 understanding of the ordinary schoolbook when they 
 should have sufficient English at their command. 
 
 I think I have never been happier than during those 
 two years in that secluded neighborhood of Indians, 
 whom I loved, and who loved me, and where in every 
 home I was a welcome and favored guest. It was 
 their joy to help carry out my wishes in every respect 
 as far as they possibly could. Life in the woods with
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 93 
 
 these children of nature, although so different from 
 the city life to which I had been accustomed, seems 
 even now a delightful dream. 
 
 At first they tested me in different ways as to my 
 courage, knowledge, and ability. One night I sat in 
 the deserted schoolhouse writing a letter home. I 
 had heard no footstep but my attention was arrested 
 suddenly by a hissing sound. I turned and saw an 
 animal entirely new to me. The malicious expression 
 of the eyes terrified me. It was an opossum. My 
 first impulse was to leap upon the table and scream ; 
 then the thought flashed into my mind, " This is a test 
 of your courage and you are being watched " ; so I 
 turned back and went on writing ; but the letter 
 written with shaking hand gave evidence of my fear. 
 Then I heard a shout, and from under the windows of 
 the little schoolhouse three men leaped up and said, 
 " She is n't afraid ! she is n't afraid ! " and the opossum 
 was carried away. 
 
 Soon after this I was asked to go through a 
 certain lonely ravine, which some of the Indians 
 believed to be inhabited by witches ; and when I 
 expressed my willingness to pass through this place, 
 and I did it, though with much trembling, not 
 through any fear of witches, but of snakes, they 
 again pronounced me very brave. 
 
 One day while my school was in session, three men
 
 94 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 came to the door and said, "We want you to come 
 out into the woods and tell us what to do." 
 
 I immediately followed them, again trembling in- 
 wardly through fear that I should not be equal to the 
 emergency. On the way I asked, " What is it? " 
 
 "Well," said the leader, "we have been cutting 
 down a very large tree. We have cut off the branches, 
 and it belongs to two of us, and we each want an 
 equal amount of the wood to carry away ; and we want 
 to know exactly where to cut this big tree, which is 
 very large at the bottom and very small at the top, so 
 that he will have as much wood as I shall have." 
 
 As I followed these men to the woods, I ransacked 
 my brain for an illustration in mathematics which 
 might help to tell them where to strike the vital point 
 of that tree, but without avail. Even though I knew 
 by figures where the cut should be made, if they could 
 not be made to understand the figures, they would 
 never feel satisfied that it was the right place. How 
 was I to know just where to divide this tree and to 
 prove to them, in their ignorance of all mathematical 
 rules, that I was right? 
 
 And here the lesson which I was learning in all 
 these days was again emphasized. This was one of 
 the little things, the everyday items of life, in which 
 I might have wisdom from above if I would but ask ; 
 but while I lifted my heart in earnest petition for this
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 95 
 
 wisdom, not a ray of light came to me until we 
 reached the woods. Here was the long log. There 
 were a couple of Indian ponies hitched to a tree ; there 
 were ropes with which each was to drag away his 
 own section, and close by was a fallen tree. Like an 
 inspiration a plan came to me. I said : 
 
 " Cut the upper branches from that fallen tree, so 
 far (indicating the measure) ; tie a rope to the log ; 
 let your horses draw it over the fallen tree ; stop them 
 when it balances." 
 
 They obeyed directions, and when at last the long 
 pine log rested and balanced upon the fallen tree, I 
 said, " Cut it there." 
 
 They saw at once that the division must be equal if 
 the log were perfectly balanced, and a shout rent the 
 air: "This lady from the 'land of the rising sun,' 
 she knows everything." And during that one hour 
 an influence was gained over those young men which 
 under ordinary circumstances might not have been 
 gained in years. 
 
 My duties in this settlement were not confined 
 simply to teaching, but included the duties of pastor 
 and pastor's wife. I visited the sick, ministered to the 
 dying, helped the friends of the dead to prepare them 
 for burial, and occasionally conducted a burial service. 
 
 During a blessed revival of religion in my school a 
 number of the young people were converted, among*
 
 96 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 others a frail young girl who was greatly distressed 
 about her father, a backslider. I missed her from 
 school one da} 7 , went to her home, and found her very 
 ill with pneumonia. Day after day during the week I 
 was by her bedside, and I knew that she must die. 
 The one thought in her mind during all those days of 
 suffering was the spiritual condition of her father. 
 One day she said to me : 
 
 " Do you think I shall die ? " 
 
 I said, " Yes, dear ; you will soon be with Jesus." 
 The cold sweat was already on her brow. 
 
 " How soon do you think it will be? " 
 
 " Well, you may live an hour, and the time may 
 be less." 
 
 She said, " Please call my father." 
 
 He was outside the house in great sorrow, for he 
 loved this child devotedly. When he went into the 
 room she said : 
 
 " Father, I want you to take me out by the brook. 
 I want to hear it sing once more." 
 
 He took her in his arms and carried her out beside 
 the little brook running by their house. She beckoned 
 me to follow. 
 
 "Father," said she, "I am going to leave you. I 
 am going home to Jesus, and when I get there I want 
 to tell him that my father prays. I want you to pray 
 now, father."
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 97 
 
 
 *' I cannot do it, my child," said he. " I have not 
 
 prayed for years." 
 
 " Pray just once, father, so I can tell Jesus as soon 
 as I see him, ' My father prays.' " 
 
 The man could not resist the pleading of the child 
 and began to pray. His heart was melted as he 
 poured out the story of his sins before God. He 
 seemed to forget the child in his arms, but I had been 
 watching her, and while this honest prayer of peni- 
 tence was going forth from the heart of the returning 
 prodigal, her spirit winged its way to tell the glad 
 news, "My father prays!" 
 
 One day I was called to the cabin of a pagan family 
 who had utterly resisted all efforts to win them to the 
 Jesus Way. One of the daughters had been per- 
 mitted to come to the school, but seemed thus far 
 unaffected by Christian influences. I had missed her 
 from her accustomed seat, but as they lived quite a 
 distance from the schoolhouse I had not been to look 
 her up. One day the mother came to me and said : 
 
 " My daughter is dying. We have made her grave- 
 clothes. She has seen them all and is satisfied with 
 them." 
 
 It was a great comfort to the Indians in their last 
 hours to be permitted to see the clothes in which they 
 were to be buried. "But there is one thing," she
 
 98 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 continued, " which we cannot make. She wants a pair 
 of lace sleeves like those she has seen you wear." 
 
 Some flowing lace sleeves, after the fashion of the 
 day, had been embroidered for me by my mother, and 
 I had occasionally worn them, to the great delight of 
 the Indians, who are very fond of embroidery. The 
 mother said : 
 
 " We cannot make these sleeves for her. Can you 
 doit?" 
 
 I said, "Yes, I can do it; and I will do it upon 
 one condition." 
 
 "What is it?" said she eagerly. 
 
 " That I may embroider the sleeves by the side of 
 your daughter's bed, and that I may be allowed to 
 say to her just what I please." 
 
 "Do you mean," said she, "to talk to her about 
 the Jesus Way ? " 
 
 " Yes, that is what I mean. I want to prepare her 
 to meet her God." 
 
 "It cannot be," said the pagan woman; and she 
 turned away sorrowfully. 
 
 This was hard for me, but 1 believed that through 
 the pleading of the daughter I should in the end be 
 allowed to have my own way. The daughter was in 
 consumption, and would probably linger for some 
 time. I must wait. In two days the mother returned 
 and said :
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 99 
 
 " My daughter gives me no peace. She wants the 
 sleeves for her burial." 
 
 I said, " She shall have them upon my conditions." 
 
 " Is there no other way?" said she. 
 
 " No other way," I replied. 
 
 "Then it shall be as you say," said the mother. 
 
 I had already sent by mail for the necessary ma- 
 terials that I might be ready for this opportunity, and 
 at once went home with the mother. From that time I 
 spent one hour each day by the bedside of the young 
 girl, embroidering the lace, while she watched every 
 stitch taken with the keenest interest. During that 
 hour the room was filled with pagan women, also watch- 
 ing with fascinated eyes the progress of the embroi- 
 dery, and I need not add that not one moment of the 
 hour was lost in giving to this dying girl the message 
 of the gospel, while her pagan friends were obliged to 
 listen to the same truths. The result was that the dear 
 child died a triumphant death through faith in Christ, 
 and the women commenced from that time to attend 
 the Mission church and to hear the regular preaching 
 of the Word. We have reason to believe that they 
 have all joined the redeemed throng on the other side. 
 
 The young men and women in my school were 
 addicted to the free use of tobacco, to which the 
 young men added fire water. The floor often looked
 
 100 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 as though afflicted with the smallpox. The only 
 clean place in the whole room was the space about my 
 desk, which they were all careful not to pollute. As 
 soon as they could understand me, I made a rule, and 
 printed it in large letters upon the blackboard. It 
 was the first rule I had made in this school : 
 
 DO NOT SPIT UPON THE FLOOR. 
 
 "What shall we do?" said the young people. 
 "We cannot swallow this juice; it will kill us." 
 
 Tobacco is a very sacred herb with the Indians, and 
 they are so fond of it that I knew it was useless to 
 fight against the habit after the usual methods ; so 
 I said : 
 
 " I have this floor scrubbed every three days. It 
 takes a great deal of strength to do it, and it is very 
 hard for me to see it soiled so quickly, and that is why 
 I make this rule. I will tell you what you can do. 
 When you come to the door of the schoolhouse take 
 the tobacco out of your mouths and put it away some- 
 where, and during recess while you are out of the 
 room you can have it again. In this way we will keep 
 the floor of our schoolhouse white and clean." 
 
 It was very hard for them at first, but they per- 
 severed ; and finding that they sometimes forgot the 
 quid even at recess, I said :
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 101 
 
 "Would it not be a good plan to keep your mouth 
 as clean as the floor? " 
 
 One of them said, " I did not think I could get along 
 without it one hour, and now sometimes it is not in my 
 mouth during the whole day. I am willing to give it 
 up, and have a clean mouth." 
 
 Then I helped them draw up a pledge to give up 
 tobacco and fire water, which was signed by all the 
 older pupils of the school. This was the first tem- 
 perance society, and the people were greatly inter- 
 ested in it. We held temperance meetings and had 
 temperance addresses and discussions by the young 
 people both in Indian and English, in which the 
 parents took great delight. 
 
 One of these young men was induced to join a 
 company of white men to go "rafting," as they 
 called it, upon the Alleghany River. These raftsmen, 
 who were addicted to the free use of liquor, finally 
 observed that the young Indian never tasted it. They 
 asked him the reason. He said he belonged to a tem- 
 perance club and had solemnly promised never to 
 taste it again. They laughed him to scorn, and said : 
 
 "We will soon teach you, you miserable redskin, 
 how much such a promise is worth." 
 
 But in vain they tempted him. He would not yield. 
 They were furious, and resolved to conquer his will
 
 102 LIFE AMONG THE IMOQUOIS. 
 
 by heroic measures. One day they handed him a glass 
 of whiskey, but when he declined as usual they pushed 
 him into the river. He swam to the edge of the raft, 
 and taking hold of it begged them to let him come on 
 board. They said : 
 
 "Yes, if you will take the whiskey." 
 He replied, " I cannot break my promise." 
 Then they unloosed his fingers from the edge of the 
 raft, and pushed him away from it. He was getting 
 exhausted and sank ; rising to the surface again he 
 clung once more to the raft. 
 
 " Will you take the whiskey? " said the men. 
 " I cannot break my promise," said the Indian. 
 Again they loosened his hold upon the raft, and 
 again he sank, to rise no more. I do not think the 
 men intended to murder him, for they were too 
 intoxicated to realize their cruelty or to plan such a 
 crime ; but in the sight of God, that young Indian 
 was a martyr to the truth. 
 
 When the Indians wish to confer a very great honor 
 upon a missionary, they adopt him into the tribe and 
 give him an Indian name. I shall not soon forget the 
 day when this honor was conferred upon me. A mass 
 meeting was called and preparations made for a great 
 feast. There were many kettles of boiling o-nooh- 
 gwah a stew of corn, beans, potatoes, turnips, car-
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 103 
 
 rots, onions, etc., with a plentiful supply of salt pork. 
 I was placed upon a rude platform where every one of 
 those piercing black eyes could watch me. An old 
 sachem stood by my side talking in Indian, while the 
 audience responded at intervals in an exclamatory 
 affirmative. His speech, being interpreted, was as 
 follows : 
 
 "Our sister, we believe you to be our friend, and we 
 now proceed to adopt you into our nation. We shall 
 call you from this time forth Go-wah-dah-dyah-seh 
 (She pushes us ahead). 
 
 " We give you an Indian mother and father, sisters 
 and brothers. If they are sick, you must nurse them ; 
 if they are in trouble, you must comfort them ; if they 
 have good fortune, you must rejoice with them ; if they 
 are poor, you must give them money ; and they must 
 do the same by you." 
 
 These relatives were then separately brought for- 
 ward and introduced to me. I had many opportunities 
 in the months and years following to fulfill my obliga- 
 tions to them, and I am glad to testify that from them 
 I have always received the affection and kindness 
 which they give to one who really belongs to them. 
 
 After the speech I was invited to partake of the 
 feast, the o-nooh-gwah, which was served in 
 wooden bowls and eaten with large wooden spoons 
 or ladles.
 
 104 LIFE AMONG THE IJtOQUOIS. 
 
 After two years of this delightful missionary serv- 
 ice it occurred to my father and mother that they 
 ought to see where and how their young daugh- 
 ter was living ; and so they took a journey to the 
 Reservation. They came to my Indian home. I had 
 never written to them the details as to my accommo- 
 dations, simply telling them about the missionary 
 work. While the privations and inconveniences of the 
 life seemed hardly worth noticing to the enthusiastic 
 young girl, to my parents, fresh from city pi'ivi- 
 leges, they seemed unendurable. And within an hour 
 I was told to pack my trunk and go home with them. 
 My mother said : 
 
 "I shall never sleep another night, thinking of the 
 life you are living here." 
 
 In vain I remonstrated, in vain I set before her my 
 love for the people and their love for me. I was 
 taken home, and kept there until dear Mrs. Wright 
 wrote to my mother, " If you will intrust your daugh- 
 ter to my care, she shall become a member of my 
 family, and live under the shelter of the Mission 
 House." 
 
 This new arrangement took me nine miles away 
 from my first field of labor and I found myself among 
 new environments and more comfortably situated ; but 
 the attachment to my " first love " never waned.
 
 AMONG THE INDIANS. 105 
 
 The Missionary Board soon invited me to become a 
 general missionary having the whole Reservation as my 
 field. And so it came to pass that my days were spent 
 with Mrs. Wright visiting from house to house, hold- 
 ing meetings, and carrying the glad message in all 
 directions among these people. I was furnished with 
 horses, wagon, saddle, and in fact whatever was 
 needed to aid in the general missionary work ; and the 
 rest of my life on this Reservation was one of constant 
 companionship with her who gave me the devotion of 
 a mother, and to whom I returned the loyal affection 
 of a daughter. In all the happy years that followed 
 we were seldom separated, and the lessons which the 
 young girl learned from this noble, consecrated woman 
 have influenced all my later life.
 
 FIREFLY, firefly, bright little thing, 
 Light me to bed and my song I will sing, 
 Give me your light as you fly o'er my head, 
 That I may merrily go to my bed. 
 Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep, 
 That I may joyfully go to my sleep. 
 Come, little firefly come, little beast! 
 Come, and I'll make you to-morrow a feast. 
 Come, little candle that flies as I sing, 
 Bright little fairy bug night's little king 
 Come and I '11 dance as you guide me along, 
 Come, and I'll pay you, my bug, with a song. 
 Translation of a song by Indian children at play.
 
 XI. 
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 
 
 SENECA MISSION, June 10, 1854. 
 
 Dear Husband, How I wish I could see you this morning! 
 What a blessed thing is entire confidence between husband and 
 wife ! What a comfort to know that though ever so widely sepa- 
 rated, our hearts are the same, and we have no corroding fears of 
 change there ! You will think I am getting quite sentimental, and 
 perhaps it will do me good to revive some such feelings. I some- 
 times think we have too much of real life, and need a little 
 romance to quicken our sensibilities. I am thankful to subscribe 
 myself, your loving wife, LAURA M. WRIGHT. 
 
 IT pleased God to bring this devoted missionary, 
 Mrs. Wright, into deeper experiences of real life 
 and richer experiences of his grace. The summer 
 following the short absence of Mr. Wright which 
 furnished the wife another opportunity, as seen by 
 the above letter, to give him a glimpse of her loyal, 
 loving heart, was a season of extreme destitution and 
 suffering throughout the Reservation. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wright, always active in seeking out and relieving the 
 wants of the distressed, were appalled at the amount 
 of sickness prevailing about them, and at their inability 
 to extend adequate relief to the afflicted Indians, many 
 of whom were actually dying of starvation. Early 
 and late through these sad days, they labored on, 
 
 109
 
 110 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 imploring pecuniary aid from such friends as they 
 could reach. Before winter they painfully realized 
 that still greater suffering must ensue. Then they 
 sent out more earnest appeals to the far and near. 
 The cry for help reached the ears, the heart, and 
 the pocket of a member of the Society of Friends, 
 Philip Thomas, who had previously manifested a 
 generous interest in the work. 
 
 Encouraged by promises of aid from this good man, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wright received into their own family 
 ten sick and starving Indian children, thus assuming 
 in addition to their other labors a load of care equal 
 to their utmost capacity. Is it possible for those who 
 live in luxury and ease, and general unresponsibility, 
 to comprehend such a sacrifice? Thus began that 
 flourishing institution, the THOMAS ORPHAN ASYLUM, 
 for destitute Indian children, which is now so conspic- 
 uous an ornament upon the Cattaraugus Reservation. 
 This institution, an invaluable blessing to the whole 
 Six Nations of the Iroquois, stands to-day as one of 
 the many memorials of two consecrated lives. But of 
 those who take such pride in the fine buildings, fitted 
 with all modern conveniences, the cultivated acres and 
 the lovely grounds, where one hundred Indian children 
 are comfortably sheltered and trained to be self-sup- 
 porting men and women, how many look back with 
 grateful remembrance to this self-sacrificing, noble
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. Ill 
 
 man and woman, but for whose indefatigable labors, 
 wise forethought, and judicious management there would 
 be no refuge for the forsaken Indian child to-day ! 
 
 How was it done? Philip Thomas, who represents 
 that sect which has yet to make the first mistake in its 
 management and treatment of the Indian, gave a 
 generous start to this move which appealed so strongly 
 to his judgment and charity, and which was to be 
 under the guidance of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, in whose 
 wise management he had unbounded confidence. Be- 
 nevolent people in Buffalo and surrounding towns, 
 through the efforts of the missionaries, were induced to 
 follow suit. Then Mr. Wright went to Albany, and 
 enduring much hardship there, at length obtained a 
 small appropriation from the state. The next step 
 was to secure a piece of land from the council of the 
 Seneca nation, upon which a building might be erected. 
 Through the unwearied efforts of these same mission- 
 
 O 
 
 aries, from whose vocabulary the words "rest "and 
 " vacation " seem to have been wiped out, the build- 
 ing was at last erected, and great was the joy when 
 the little Indian waifs, already gathered at the Mission 
 House, were transplanted to the new asylum, only a 
 few rods away, to be cared for by a motherly matron, 
 who was to teach the girls all housewifely arts, while 
 the boys were trained upon the farm by a practical 
 Christian farmer.
 
 112 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 The building accommodated one hundred children, 
 and as the family steadily increased in numbers, a 
 neat schoolhouse was placed upon the grounds, and 
 under the care of Christian teachers these children 
 received the advantages of a district school. At the 
 age of fifteen they were placed in the families of 
 Christian people in neighboring towns, who promised 
 to care for them as for their own. In a multitude of 
 cases this promise was faithfully fulfilled. 
 
 But the rapidly increasing family demands a larger 
 appropriation, else these little waifs must return to the 
 terrible life from which they have been rescued ; and 
 again the patient missionary assumes the (to his sen- 
 sitive nature) distasteful task of appearing before the 
 legislature at Albany to solicit an increased appro- 
 priation. While on this mission his courage is 
 strengthened by daily letters from one who fully 
 appreciates the difficulties of his position. 
 
 SENECA MISSION, February 24, 1859. 
 
 My dearest Husband, You don't know how I hate to have 
 you away so long, but I feel perfectly willing you should go, if 
 anything can be done for the Asylum, for I am confident that it 
 must go down soon unless something can be done. I feel that I 
 could make almost any sacrifice to save the institution, but you 
 must not think that I am making any sacrifice. I am not. It is 
 you, and it is for your sake that I am troubled. Go in God's 
 strength, believing that he who hears the young ravens when they 
 cry will go with you and lead you in the right path and prosper 
 your way before you. The hearts of all men are in God's hand 
 and he can influence them as he shall see best. I hope and trust
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 113 
 
 you will succeed. Be bold ! Don't feel faint-hearted in this cause, 
 because you know it is one in which any one can be bold. I want 
 to say a great deal to help you, but you are well acquainted with 
 the best sources of encouragement. Your loving wife, 
 
 LAURA M. WRIGHT. 
 
 In a few weeks Mr. Wright returned with the joyful 
 intelligence that his petition had been granted, and 
 the good work for the little ones was permitted to go 
 on. A few incidents will suffice to show the need of 
 such an institution and its blessed ministry to the 
 Indian : 
 
 Upon one of her missionary tours, Mrs. Wright was 
 startled by the screams of a child which seemed to 
 come from the bank of the creek. Hastening to the 
 spot, she discovered an old Indian woman in the act 
 of drowning a little boy. She held him under the 
 water until life was nearly extinct. After rescuing 
 the child from the woman and restoring him to life, 
 Mrs. Wright asked the reason for such cruelty. 
 
 " I am his grandmother," said the old creature. 
 "His father and mother are dead, and I am tired 
 of him ! " 
 
 Mrs. Wright wrapped the child in her shawl and 
 drove to the asylum, where, after a warm bath and a 
 bowl of bread and milk, he was tucked into a comfort- 
 able bed for the first time in his desolate little life. 
 The first ^English words which he tried to say were
 
 114 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 " Great many goods ! " (good things) and with many 
 a laugh he was frequently heard shouting these words, 
 as he ran through the house or about the grounds. 
 
 An Indian mother, to whom life had brought 
 nothing but suffering and hardship, resolved that her 
 baby daughter should never travel the same hard road. 
 Wrapping the babe in a small blanket, she walked to 
 the nearest railroad, laid it upon the track, and went 
 away. The engineer of the next train saw the bundle, 
 and, stopping the train, picked it up, much surprised 
 to find it alive. The baby was passed around among 
 the passengers, until a lady, recognizing it as an 
 Indian baby, offered to take it to the Indian res- 
 ervation. She brought it to Mrs. Wright, who gladly 
 placed it among the orphaned babes in the asylum. 
 
 A wicked woman, whose child had been taken from 
 her and placed in the asylum, stole it away one night. 
 The child was wretched while traveling from place to 
 place with her mother, who compelled her to beg. 
 One night she escaped, and finding her way back to 
 the asylum implored them to take her in. "And if 
 my mother comes again, oh ! hide me, I beg you, and 
 be very stingy of me ! " 
 
 One day Mrs. Wright saw a very strange-looking 
 object before her on the road, which proved to be a
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 116 
 
 small boy, dressed in the cast-off clothing of a man. 
 Mrs. Wright spoke to him kindly and drew from him 
 the sad fact that he had no home, no friends, but was 
 kicked about from one place to another, and was suf- 
 fering from cold and hunger. His little body proved 
 the truth of his words, for it was well covered with 
 black and blue spots. She placed him in the asylum, 
 where he was clothed and fed, and slept for the first 
 time within his memory in a warm bed. His grati- 
 tude to her was pathetic. Every time she entered the 
 building he was sure to get near enough to take hold 
 of her dress reverently, and say again and again in his 
 own language, " I thank you ! I thank you ! I thank 
 you ! " 
 
 A pagan Indian and his wife lived happily together 
 in a log house on a clearing which they had made 
 in the woods. Four bright-eyed little ones were 
 given them, to whom they were tenderly attached. 
 One pleasant spring morning the mother rose early, 
 and commenced pounding corn in a large wooden 
 mortar, for the breakfast of her husband and children. 
 These mortars may still be seen standing at the doors 
 of the Indian homes. While pounding the corn, a 
 little bird, attracted probably by the broken bits of 
 corn about, hovered near her, and finally lighted upon 
 her head. This incident struck terror to her heart,
 
 116 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 for the Indians believe it to be an omen of evil. 
 After feeding the children she slung her basket upon 
 her back, holding it in place by a large strap which 
 she passed across her forehead, and started off on a 
 journey of several miles to sell some beadwork and 
 buy a few necessaries for her family. Toward night 
 she returned, and before morning another little one 
 was added to the group ; but the Indian mother was 
 very ill and knew that she must die. She said to 
 a pagan neighbor who stood by her : 
 
 " A few weeks ago Mrs. Wright was here. She 
 told me about a wonderful Being who can take away 
 our sins. I said to her that I would like him to take 
 away my sins. Do you think that will help me, now 
 that I must die?" 
 
 The sympathizing neighbor, as benighted as she, 
 could only answer, " I do not know ; I cannot tell 
 you ; " but she walked three miles to bring the lady 
 who knew about this wonderful Being who could take 
 away sin. When they arrived, the spirit of the mother 
 had returned to God. Mrs. Wright tried to comfort 
 the mourning husband, and offered to take the chil- 
 dren with her to the asylum. With wild eyes he 
 gathered them into his arms, and rudely bade her to 
 leave the cabin. With a yearning pity she obeyed, 
 but begged him to come to her when he needed a 
 friend.
 
 THE INDIAN .OBPHAN ASYLUM. 117 
 
 The poor man sustained the double office of nurse 
 and housekeeper until the falling of the autumn 
 leaves reminded him that through the approaching 
 winter he could not alone provide for the wants of his 
 children. Then, with quivering lips he came to the 
 Mission House and begged Mrs. Wright to take his 
 little flock. The next day the asylum team stood by 
 the door of the cabin ; Mrs. Wright found the children 
 clinging to one another, with swollen eyes, while the 
 father walked the floor with the youngest in his arms. 
 The suffering face gave evidence of the struggle 
 within. The missionary solemnly promised him that 
 his children should be most tenderly cared for, and 
 tried to lead his mind to that Saviour who loved the 
 little ones. He said not one word, but taking each 
 child separately from the house, he placed it in the 
 wagon, and when the last had been put out of his 
 arms, he begged them all to be good and obey their 
 new protectors. 
 
 These children soon became much attached to their 
 new home, and with simple faith accepted Jesus Christ 
 as their Saviour. The father frequently visited them, 
 and was by their little hands led into the Jesus Way. 
 
 One of the family in the asylum was a child de- 
 serted by pagan parents, because of troublesome ail- 
 ments. Everything possible was done to relieve the
 
 118 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 child, but in vain. She was a patient sufferer for 
 a long time. She seldom spoke to us in English, but 
 on the night of her death, arousing from a stupor in 
 which she had lain for hours, she pointed with her 
 little, emaciated finger to the wall, and with her face 
 aglow with a radiance not of earth, exclaimed : 
 
 "See! see!" 
 
 " What do you see?" was asked. 
 
 "Christ! Christ!" and immediately the spirit of 
 this lamb of the spiritual fold took its flight to the 
 arms of the heavenly Shepherd. 
 
 An Indian mother, a strong, healthy woman, who 
 planted corn, carried heavy loads besides her baby 
 upon her back, and supported a worthless husband, 
 was taken suddenly ill. Nobody knew what was the 
 matter ; she was in great pain. While her husband 
 was chafing her hands she cried out, "O Ben, Ben, 
 I am dying ! Don't let my baby starve ! " and in 
 an instant she was quite dead. The baby began to 
 scream violently. He strapped it upon his back and 
 took the little three-year-old by the hand, and was 
 about to start out to call the neighbors, the nearest 
 of whom lived a quarter of a mile away. 
 
 " No," said the little girl, pulling back, " I shall 
 stay by my mother." 
 
 The father lifted her upon the bed, and there the
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 119 
 
 child remained, keeping watch over the lifeless form 
 until he returned. 
 
 After the funeral the little girl was placed in the 
 asylum, and became a great pet there. But the 
 father would not part with the baby ! Through cold 
 and wet and wind and rain that child was always 
 strapped upon his back. Many and many a time you 
 might have seen him with his baby in the saloons in 
 some white settlement carousing with drunken com- 
 panions, or reeling home. Such exposure proved too 
 much for the little thing and it began to look very 
 thin and haggard. Its large, bright eyes shone with a 
 painful luster. 
 
 Finally, after a protracted season of intoxication, 
 Ben brought the wasted baby to the asylum. It 
 was almost starved to death ; the sight of bread and 
 milk made it nearly frantic. It had to be fed very 
 carefully at first, but soon the little life, almost ex- 
 tinct, was brought back. The tiny creature began to 
 put out its arms to every one who came near it with 
 a happy smile. 
 
 Ben managed to live without his baby a few weeks 
 and then, growing desperate, resolved to sign the 
 pledge if we would give him back his treasure. He 
 promised fair, but we did not dare to trust him until 
 he should continue in the good way a while. He 
 thought this very cruel treatment and one- night he
 
 120 LIFE AMONG THE mOQUOIS. 
 
 broke into the asylum, went softly upstairs, stole his 
 baby, and departed for the Canada woods. When 
 last heard from, Ben had reformed and was taking 
 good care of his child. 
 
 The school connected with the asylum was taught 
 by a faithful missionary teacher. There came a time 
 when, in answer to earnest prayer, the Spirit of God 
 seemed hovering over that Indian school. One morn- 
 ing the Bible lesson was upon the sufferings and death 
 of Christ. Every little form was hushed into quiet, 
 every eye was fixed in earnest inquiry upon the face 
 of the teacher as she urged them to accept this won- 
 derful Friend, who for love of them had given up 
 his life. 
 
 " Poor forsaken ones ! " thought the teacher. 
 "Was there ever a flock who needed the tender 
 care of the Shepherd more than my motherless 
 ones ? " 
 
 For they had been left friendless and homeless in 
 the wide world, to perish by the wayside, or, worse, 
 to become educated to every crime by surrounding 
 influences ; it had indeed been a blessed work to 
 gather them into this Indian Orphan Asylum, where 
 they were not only clothed and fed, but daily taught 
 the sweet truths of the gospel. 
 
 The burden of these souls, a burden which God had
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 
 
 lately rolled upon her heart with new power, was 
 becoming almost more than she could bear ; and in 
 anguish of spirit she implored the Great Physician of 
 souls to visit her Indian school. How her faith was 
 strengthened when, during the exercises of the fore- 
 noon, a girl of twelve years stood before her with a 
 glow of softened feeling upon her face ! 
 
 "Teacher," said she, "I prayed to Jesus this 
 morning." 
 
 "Did you?" 
 
 " Yes ; and Cora prayed with me." 
 
 " What did you and Cora tell Jesus?" 
 
 " We said we wanted new, clea.n hearts that would 
 love him." 
 
 " And do you love him now?" 
 
 " Yes, ma'am ; " with childlike simplicity. 
 
 As each day witnessed new temptations to sin, over- 
 come for the sake of pleasing Christ, their teacher felt 
 that the good work had indeed commenced. She en- 
 deavored to place herself more entirely under the 
 direction of the Holy Spirit, that she might wisely and 
 faithfully guide these precious souls. 
 
 As the interest deepened, the exercises of the 
 school were suspended during a part of one afternoon 
 each week to hold a " children's meeting." It was 
 thought not best to admit the younger classes to the 
 first meeting of this kind, for fear they might make
 
 122 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOI8. 
 
 some disturbance. To tell the truth, the faith of this 
 teacher was growing strong for her older pupils, but 
 she had forgotten that her Saviour said, " Suffer the 
 little ones" ; and so they were sent away. 
 
 How she was rebuked the next day as one of these 
 same " little ones" clasped her teacher's hand in both 
 her own, and, looking into her face with earnest, 
 thoughtful eyes, exclaimed in broken English, "You 
 can't willing me to pray? I too little?" 
 
 With tears of contrition she took the child upon 
 her lap, saying, " No, my child, you are not too little. 
 Jesus will hear you ; he has left some precious words 
 on purpose for you.". 
 
 From that time the teacher's faith was strong for 
 the lambs. They were no longer excluded from the 
 prayer meeting ; and soon their sweet child voices 
 were heard in petitions like these: "Dear Jesus, 
 please give me new, clean heart." And do you sup- 
 pose He who took the little ones iu his arms and 
 blessed them is deaf to such petitions as these? 
 How delightful were the da} 7 s and weeks that fol- 
 lowed ! The new love in those young hearts gave 
 an earnest thoughtfulness to faces hitherto dull aud 
 listless. And while imparting useful knowledge 
 to the mind, the constant prayer of the teacher was 
 that the wants of each soul might never be neg- 
 lected.
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 123 
 
 And now these Indian children have entered upon 
 the Christian life. Is there any change in their habits? 
 Do their lives shine ? We shall see. 
 
 Stella Tallchief had naturally a quick temper. It 
 was not an unusual thing during recitation to see her 
 book taking wings in some unaccountable direction, 
 because its owner had not thoroughly mastered her 
 lesson. 
 
 One day she came to her teacher and said, " I have 
 been giving my heart to Jesus. I want to be a Chris- 
 tian." Her teacher pointed out some failings which 
 she must overcome if she would please Christ 
 among others, her ungovernable temper. Stella ear- 
 nestly entered into the struggle against her besetting 
 sin, and by much fervent prayer she seemed to gain 
 strength each day to resist. But one day, not being 
 "on guard," she fell, and for a few moments was 
 overcome by her old enemy. After school she seemed 
 overwhelmed with a sense of her sin, and begged her 
 teacher to pray for her, which she did. Then Stella 
 fell upon her face, and, when her sobs somewhat sub- 
 sided, in a broken voice offered this prayer : 
 
 "O Jesus, I'm very wicked. Please make me 
 good. Don't make me good little while. Please make 
 me good all the time. O Jesus, my heart very bad. 
 Please give me clean heart, all washed white with
 
 124 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 Jesus' blood. Don't give me clean heart little while. 
 I want it clean all the time. O Jesus, make me love 
 thee. Please don't let me love thee little while. I 
 want to love thee all the time." 
 
 One day Eva Sundown was left alone to sweep the 
 schoolhouse. Having occasion to return, the teacher 
 found the broom lying upon the floor and Eva sob- 
 bing violently. 
 
 "Why, my dear child, what is the matter?" ex- 
 claimed the teacher anxiously. 
 
 "Oh," sobbed the child, "I don't love Jesus 
 enough ! I 'm a very wicked girl." 
 
 "What have you been doing, Eva?" asked the 
 teacher gently. 
 
 " I got mad at some girls in school to-day." 
 
 " Did you strike them?" 
 
 " Oh, no, no ! " 
 
 " Why, Eva, what did you do?" 
 
 " Hooked mad at them!" said the child with a fresh 
 burst of sobs. 
 
 "Was that all?" asked the teacher, much relieved. 
 
 "All?" cried Eva, looking straight into the teach- 
 er's eyes; "didn't you tell me that Jesus looks in 
 my heart, to see if I really love him? Well, I was 
 very mad in my heart. That 's what made me look 
 mad."
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 125 
 
 There, in the schoolhouse, the teacher knelt with 
 the penitent child, and asked Jesus to forgive the sin 
 and cleanse the little heart from everything which 
 could grieve him. A little while after, happy Eva 
 was busily plying the broom, and singing : 
 
 "Jesus loves me, this I know, 
 For the Bible tells me so." 
 
 That God's Spirit was working upon their hearts is 
 manifest from the following letters from some of these 
 Indian orphan children. 
 
 The first one was written to a brother in the 
 army : 
 
 I will write to you few lines. Dear boy, you must try to do 
 right always. You must pray to God to keep you from sin. God 
 will hear you when you pray to him with a right heart. Don't be 
 ashamed to do right. Go, doing good. God will help you if you 
 ask him. I want you to be Christian, and go to meet me in 
 heaven, when you die. Try to please him little things. Brother, 
 get ready to die, and God will take you to heaven to meet your 
 sisters and mother. And now, brother, good-by. Do all you can 
 to please Jesus. 
 
 With a heart filled with gratitude for what Jesus 
 had done for her own soul, this dear child could not 
 rest until others were enjoying the same rich blessing. 
 Her anxiety for a young friend who seemed not quite 
 decided to give up all for Christ led her to write the 
 following note one day, during school hours : 
 
 Do you think that you love Jesus? I hope you do. I think that 
 I love Jesus, but I want to love him better.
 
 126 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 Won't you be a child of God? I want you to be a good girl. 
 Maybe God will let us die to-night. Are you ready? I am ready, 
 for he has cleansed me. 
 
 Now, won't you be a Christian? I am glad if you are trying to 
 be Christ's lamb. I pray for you ; will you remember me? 
 
 Here are other notes and letters which are self- 
 explanatory : 
 
 I pray in earnest. I want to be Jesus' lamb and follow him all 
 the way to heaven. I pray very much for my brother who is not 
 a Christian. I pray that I may not sin. I don't left out any days 
 in my praying. I pray in the morning and afternoon and at night 
 every day. I love my pray meeting. It comes every week on 
 Monday. I am happy I cannot help it I sing because 1 am 
 happy. I shall meet my mother and sister in heaven. 
 
 I didn't want to love Jesus once, but my sister she ask Jesus 
 to make me want to love him and so he did. I don't want to 
 be bad now, but sometimes Satan he tempt me to do wrong 
 and sometimes I mind Satan. I feel bad then, but when I tell 
 Jesus he forgives me, and I am happy in my heart again. 
 
 I am thinking about my sins this week. They trouble me. I 
 do not sleep. To-day I thought, " Why, Jesus did forgive me 
 sure ! " I want to do right in every little thing. I shall be a very 
 wicked child if Jesus does not help me. 
 
 You said you wanted us to tell the littlest child about Jesus. I 
 have been telling little Helen Yellow Blanket. I feel so happy to 
 do something for Jesus. Is n't he good to take us just as we are! 
 I thought once I don't know enough to love Jesus. He does n't 
 care for that ! 
 
 The following is from an Indian orphan girl to the 
 missionary pastor : 
 
 My dear Mr. Curtis, I am feeling pretty bad to-night. I can 
 never be happy again until I ask your forgiveness. I did play and 
 whisper in meeting to-day. I am very sorry. I hope I shall never 
 do such a wicked thing again. Will you forgive me';' Will you
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 127 
 
 pray that I may do right? I find it hard. When I think, Now I 
 will surely do right, there are more temptations before me. I am 
 trying to-night to seek the Saviour with all my heart. Oh, I wish 
 I was as good as you ! I could be happy if I was half as good. 
 
 Mr. Curtis, if you ever see me whispering in meeting again I 
 want you to call my name right out in church. This will break 
 me of it, I am sure. Will you try and forgive me? From your 
 sorrowful little girl. 
 
 Oh, the friends of blessed memory who led these 
 pagan children to Christ ! Mr. and Mrs. Wright, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hall, Mr. and Mrs. N. H. Pierce ; and those 
 faithful missionary teachers, Misses Mary Kent, Cor- 
 nelia Eddy, Katie Dole, Clara Dole, Sylvia Joslin, 
 Mary Brown, and many others still held in grateful 
 remembrance by those who were once sheltered in 
 that happy Orphans' Home. 
 
 One day I visited the Indian Orphan School for the 
 purpose of holding a prayer meeting with the boys. 
 As we were about to open the meeting Blue Sky sud- 
 denly left his seat and, seizing his bow and arrows, 
 was leaving the room. I called, "Blue Sky, wait a 
 moment. Where are you going ? " 
 
 "Going away," he replied, with Indian brevity. 
 
 " But why do you leave the meeting?" 
 
 "Can't be Christian no more Satan he tempt 
 me too much. Give it up ! " 
 
 "O Blue Sky," I exclaimed, "come back! Go 
 into the little room, and while we pray, you think
 
 128 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 about this question, and give me the answer when I 
 come to you : Shall I give up Jesus and mind Satan? 
 or shall I give up Satan and mind Jesus ? " 
 
 The boys prayed that Blue Sky might decide for 
 Jesus. When I opened the door of the little room, 
 he exclaimed, "Me can't give up .Jesus and 
 mind Satan ! " 
 
 We sent this boy away to school, and in course of 
 time received the following letter : 
 
 Dear Friends, I like this place very well. I was homesick at 
 first, but now 1 am happy. I have company now in my room 
 another boy. I read the Bible every day, night and morning, and 
 when I get through with one chapter, then I kneel down and pray 
 to our heavenly Father who takes care of me and keeps me from 
 sin. It helps me great deal. 
 
 But when that boy came here and when we got into our room, 
 I had a great trouble in my mind. I did not know what to do. I 
 was afraid to read my Bible and pray before that boy. This 
 thought was in my mind about fifteen minutes. At last I said to 
 the boy, " Do you ever pray ? " 
 
 He said, " No ! " 
 
 I had never seen him before ; he is older than I am. When he 
 said " No I " I felt more afraid. I was a coward before God for 
 fifteen minutes. 
 
 Then God helped me. I made up my mind to keep right on just 
 as I did before that boy came. I thought, " This is my duty. I 
 must show that I am on the Lord's side, anyway ! Then it came 
 to me what we used to sing at the Orphan Asylum : 
 
 Never be afraid to speak for Jesus, 
 Think how much a word can do. 
 
 Never be afraid to own your Saviour, 
 He who loves and cares for you. 
 
 I thought about these words, and then I got the Bible off from 
 the table and read a chapter in it. I said to the boy :
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN *ASYLUM. 129 
 
 "This is my way. I shall always do so. I shall read the Book 
 and pray before we go to bed." 
 
 And so, when I got through reading, then 1 knelt down by the 
 bed and I pray to our Father. And now I and that boy read 
 the Bible every day I pray. I feel happy now ; but I came very 
 near giving up to Satan. 
 
 Wi-yu's father and mother were pagans. She never 
 heard a word about Jesus Christ until she came to 
 the asylum. We were glad to take the children of 
 pagans, even while both parents were living. One 
 day Wi-yu (pronounced We-you) walked up to me 
 and said: ' ; I want to give myself away to you." I 
 was much surprised, but looked into the little girl's 
 black eyes, and said : " Why does Wi-yu wish to give 
 herself to me? " " Because," said she simply, " 1 love 
 you." After this, they all called Wi-yu my little girl. 
 
 One day while Wi-yu sat by my side learning how 
 to hem a pocket handkerchief neatly, I asked her if 
 she loved Jesus, of whom I had been talking to her. 
 "No," she said, "I do not; but I want to. 1 want 
 to be a Christian, but I 'm too little." 
 
 " But Jesus says, ' Suffer the little children to come 
 unto me.' " 
 
 " I don't know how to go to him : I don't know 
 what to do," said she. 
 
 " Wi-yu," said I, " you must give yourself away to 
 him." She looked at me in surprise. 
 
 "How can I do that?" she exclaimed. 
 
 " How did you give yourself away to me?"
 
 130 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 "I came to you, and asked you to take me, because 
 I love you." 
 
 "Why do you love me, dear?" She hesitated a 
 moment, and then answered: "I think it must be 
 because you love me." 
 
 " Yes, Wi-yu ; that 's just the reason. Now, Jesus 
 has been loving you all this time, while you have not 
 been caring in the least for him." 
 
 She stopped sewing and sat very still a while, 
 thinking. I did not say a word, because I knew the 
 Holy Spirit was teaching her. At last she said : 
 
 " Would Jesus be willing for me to give myself 
 away to him just as I did to you ? " 
 
 " Certainly, my dear child ; that is exactly what he 
 wants you to do. He wants all of you, too. He 
 wants your little feet to run for him, your lips and 
 tongue to speak for him, and your whole heart to 
 love him." 
 
 After some more quiet thinking, Wi-yu knelt by my 
 side and said: " My dear Jesus, I give myself away 
 to you. I give you my hands, my feet, my mouth, 
 my tongue, and my heart ; I give you all of myself. 
 Please take me, dear Jesus." She arose and said : 
 
 *' Do you think he heard me?" 
 
 " I am sure of it," said I ; " and you will find his 
 answer in your little Testament." Together we found 
 these precious words in her Indian Testament : " Any
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 131 
 
 one that cometh unto me, I will not thrust aside." 
 Believing that Jesus meant just what he said, she 
 from this moment knew that she was his own dear, 
 saved child. 
 
 A few days after this, I said to her : " Wi-yu, after 
 you had given yourself to me, did you try any harder 
 to please me? '' 
 
 "Oh, yes!" said she, with a bright face, "I tried 
 to please you iu everything even in the very little 
 things." 
 
 "Are you willing to do anything that will please 
 Jesus?" 
 
 " I think I am," she answered. 
 
 "Will you tell the other girls that you are now 
 trying to live a Christian life ? " 
 
 She hung her head and blushed. " I am ashamed 
 to tell them," said she. 
 
 ' ' Were you ashamed to tell them that you had 
 given yourself to me ? " 
 
 "Oh, no, indeed!" 
 
 " And yet, my Wi-yu, you are ashamed of Jesus, 
 your most precious Friend, your wonderful Friend, 
 who loves you so much, and who saves you from 
 your sins ! O Wi-yu ! Wi-yu ! Let us ask him now to 
 forgive you and to help you please him, even in this." 
 
 We knelt, and Wi-yu said, with a voice choking 
 with sobs : " MV own dear Jesus, please forgive me
 
 132 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 for being ashamed and afraid, and help me to tell 
 them all that I have given myself away to you." 
 When we arose, she said, " 1 can tell them now ! I 
 will tell everybody." 
 
 On her way to find her schoolmates, she met a 
 minister who was visiting the Indians, and of whom 
 she was very much afraid, because he was a stranger; 
 but, mustering up all her courage, she looked up to 
 him, and said : "I have given myself away to Jesus." 
 
 He was much surprised and touched as he thought 
 of his own daughter at home, who knew so much more 
 about Jesus than this Indian girl, and who had not yet 
 begun to love him. He put his arm about our little 
 timid Wi-yu, and said some very kind and helpful 
 things to her. After this, she found it easier to tell 
 them all, and even gained courage to write to her 
 stern, pagan father, although she was quite sure he 
 would be very angry with her. Here is a copy of the 
 letter : 
 
 My dear Father, I have given myself "away to Jesus, and I 
 am not afraid nor ashamed to tell you of it. Your little Wi-yu. 
 
 Her father was alone when this message reached 
 him, and nobody knows what he thought ; but the very 
 next Sabbath he walked several miles to the Mission 
 church, and heard the missionary preach about this 
 same Jesus to whom his little daughter had given her-
 
 THE INDIAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. 133 
 
 self ; and after that he kept coming, until he too 
 became a Christian man, to the great joy of our Wi-yu. 
 Thus this Indian girl learned the most precious 
 lesson that can ever be learned : how to give herself 
 away to Jesus, how to trust him wholly, and how to 
 obey him cheerfully and lovingly, no matter what he 
 wishes her to do.
 
 XII. 
 
 BY THE WAY. 
 
 THE arrival of the mail was an event of intense 
 interest at the mission, but a letter from David 
 G. Eldridge, of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, telling us 
 that the gift of an old-fashioned chaise was on the 
 way, by canal, to the Reservation, caused great excite- 
 ment. "Is it possible," said Mrs. Wright, "that at 
 last my poor head is to be protected from sun and 
 wind and rain and snow during our long drives ! " 
 Mr. Wright dampened our ardor somewhat by a sug- 
 gestion that the new vehicle might not take kindly to 
 the mud holes of the Indian roads. 
 
 When the chaise reached Buffalo some one had to 
 go after it with a horse, as the last thirty miles of its 
 journey were to be taken by land. Several Indians 
 volunteered to do this, so curious were they to see " a 
 wagon with two wheels and a cover." 
 
 The successful candidate returned with the chaise 
 in due time, and solemnly admonished all within the 
 sound of his voice to have nothing to do with this 
 "evil invention of the white man." The mode of har- 
 nessing a horse to the chaise differing from ordinary 
 
 136
 
 136. LIFE AMONG THE IKOQUOIS. 
 
 harnessing, the bewildered charioteer found himself 
 ' ' looking into the sky " several times on the way 
 home. 
 
 When Mrs. Wright and I were about to take our 
 first chaise ride, we were particular to have the straps 
 securely adjusted, lest we too should find ourselves 
 suddenly "looking into the sky." At the start we 
 were followed by an admiring crowd, but after a while 
 in the solitude of the woods we were free to exult in 
 the happy exchange of the hard, springless seat of 
 the rickety, open wagon for the soft cushions and 
 protecting cover of our New England chaise. 
 
 Alas ! our exultation was short-lived. With the cus- 
 tomary plunge into a mud hole stretching entirely 
 across the road, Ruhama made safe passage to the 
 other side ; but the unlucky chaise remained in the 
 center of that black sea, stuck fast, its thills thrown 
 upward like imploring arms, its occupants " looking 
 into the sky ! " Ruhama stopped and, regarding us 
 a moment in dignified surprise, began to nibble the 
 surrounding bushes. After a somewhat prolonged 
 discussion of "the way out" we were forced to sub- 
 mit to the inevitable, and, descending into the black 
 sea, with some difficulty we brought the uplifted thills 
 to a horizontal position, drew out the heavy chaise, 
 attached it to the patient beast, and turned our faces 
 homeward, passing through other holes with becoming
 
 BY THE WAY. 137 
 
 caution. Arriving at the Mission House, we were glad 
 to exchange our mud-soaked garments for something 
 more respectable and comfortable. 
 
 Peter Twenty-Canoes was the great-grandson of a 
 man who owned "many canoes"; yet this descend- 
 ant was shiftless in the extreme. His love for fire 
 water was his greatest affliction. King Alcohol led 
 the man into a multitude of scrapes, and left him to 
 find his way out as best he could. 
 
 One day, being overcome by an unusual spasm of 
 industry, Mr. Twenty-Canoes borrowed a scythe, and 
 resolved to work out a while. Alas ! he could n't 
 begin without his dram, which resulted in a fall upon 
 the scythe, cutting opeu one side of his face, and en- 
 tirely taking off his nose ! It was a blessed accident 
 to him, however, for it led to his reformation. 
 
 The ingenuity of our Indian was now taxed to its 
 utmost to supply the very important feature which he 
 had lost. While visiting at the Mission House one 
 day, he observed some adhesive plaster with which 
 Mrs. Wright was dressing a wound. 
 
 "That's the thing for me!" said Mr. Twenty- 
 Canoes, with considerable energy. We gave him a 
 small piece, which he immediately formed into a re- 
 spectable nose, and fastened upon his face. The 
 man was jubilant, and no longer walked among his
 
 138 LIFE AMONG THE IKOQUOIS. 
 
 fellow creatures noseless. This manufactured article 
 was at times in quite a dilapidated condition, but on 
 gala days it was fresh and new. Mr. Twenty-Canoes 
 was fond of variety ; consequently, no two noses were 
 of the same shape and size, which gave a refreshing 
 diversity to the expression of his countenance. 
 
 This Indian was fond of exhibiting his little stock 
 of English upon every available occasion. He scented 
 a polysyllable a long way off, and brought it to bear 
 upon his conversation in a way quite remarkable. 
 He wrote me a note one day, in which he endeavored 
 to express his appreciation of my worth to his peo- 
 ple : 
 
 Miss C. : Respected Sir, I ask to know how long commence 
 school again on our district. I ought not to been so negligence 
 with my boy, and I had been recommend it, that you are mostly 
 confidence missionary as than any others among Indians, that is 
 to your capacity to instruct the Indians in the way to the morality, 
 life, and perseverance for human intelligence. I know you will 
 not afail and omission too much inform me the set time to com- 
 mence school on our neighborhood. 
 
 Your respectable friend, 
 
 T w ENTY-CANOES. 
 
 Mr. Twenty-Canoes kindly volunteered at one time 
 to write a " begging paper " for an old woman to take 
 to white people, and thereby obtain the necessaries of 
 life. As the poor creature made her first effort with 
 the missionaries, 1 had an opportunity to copy the 
 manuscript verbatim.
 
 BY THE WAT. 139 
 
 BEGGING PAPER. 
 
 To all whom it may concern the bearer of Sally Silverheels 
 which she is very old of age unable her to care of herself had no 
 family to see her supported whosoever to do this thing to rendered 
 unto or attribute towards the needy and indeficient the god will 
 bless you for your great bounty of charity such thing as provision 
 and she will be very thankfully to you give to her that article 
 little money or clothing or anything. TWENTY-CANOES. 
 
 Twenty-Canoes was once asked to assist in drawing 
 up a Temperance Constitution. Of the ten articles, I 
 have space for only three : 
 
 1. This society shall always be open in prayer by some benevo- 
 lent religious person. 
 
 2. If any member shall become intoxication, and accident occur, 
 or death attack him in spirit condition, the society shall not be 
 responsible for such person. 
 
 3. "We shall assistance the sick, and furnish Doctor, and in case 
 any member become mortality, furnish all necessary purposes for 
 the funeral. 
 
 I had a Bible class of thirty young men. One of 
 these had received a good education, and possessed 
 an unusual degree of mental culture. He went into 
 business in Buffalo and fell into bad company. From 
 Buffalo he went to Chicago, only to pursue the same 
 downward course. All this while the prayers of his 
 mother and the missionaries followed him until the 
 Lord directed his steps home to the Reservation for a 
 vacation. He was very hard and even bitter toward 
 all Christians. He was impelled to come into the old 
 Bible class every Sabbath, where he would combat
 
 140 LIFE AMONG THE 1EOQUOIS. 
 
 every religious truth uttered, in order to destroy its 
 force upon the minds of others. He spoke freely of 
 his own disbelief in the Bible and everything of the 
 kind, quoting from infidel authors. A position was 
 offered him in New York. He came to the Mission 
 House and told me this. 
 
 " It will be your ruin," said 1. 
 
 " Why ? " he asked indignantly. 
 
 " My boy, you are like a poor boat out on the rest- 
 less ocean with no compass or rudder. You will be 
 drifted about just as your master, the devil, shall 
 choose." 
 
 He started to his feet, his eyes flashing. " You 
 want me to be a Christian," said he. "How can I 
 be a Christian when I believe nothing of your re- 
 ligion? I will not deceive you. I have not a par- 
 ticle of feeling. I could die calmly this moment. It 
 would be mockery to accept a Saviour of whom I 
 feel no need in whom I do not believe even intel- 
 lectually." 
 
 My heart went out in great pity as I looked at him, 
 but it was time for our weekly missionary meeting, 
 held in the Mission Home. Mrs. Wright was calling 
 me even then. As I turned to leave him I said : 
 
 " You are going away. I shall not have another 
 opportunity to ask a favor of you. Grant me this 
 one to-night. Go into the prayer meeting with me/'
 
 BY THE WAY. 141 
 
 He laughed and exclaimed, "What a ridiculous 
 idea ! " 
 
 " Never mind," said I ; "go with me to-night." 
 
 " Well, just to please you, I will do it," said he. 
 
 Great was the surprise of the missionary band to 
 see the young infidel in that sacred spot. He took a 
 chair, tipped it back against the wall, and prepared to 
 be an amused spectator. I was so overwhelmed with 
 the sense of his condition that I knelt immediately 
 and prayed for a young friend who boasted of his 
 want of feeling, and I entreated the Lord to strike 
 conviction to that heart even then. Others followed 
 in the same strain until the poor young man could 
 hold up his head no -longer, but buried his face in 
 his hands. 
 
 As soon as the meeting was over he vanished. I saw 
 no more of him for several days, and supposed he had 
 gone to New York. One afternoon he appeared at the 
 Mission House and said, "I want to see you alone." 
 
 His face was haggard, his eyes wild, as though 
 sleep had been a stranger to them. He walked back 
 and forth a few times, trying to control his voice, 
 and finally said : 
 
 "I have had no peace in my mind since the night 
 of the prayer meeting ; no peace night or day. I 
 cannot sleep. Tell me how you found the Saviour, 
 for I must find him or lose mv reason."
 
 142 LIFE AMONG THE JSOQUOIS. 
 
 Oh. the mighty power of the Holy Spirit to con- 
 vict a stony heart ! I pointed him to Jesus as well as 
 I could. 
 
 " Oh, yes," he said, as I told the story of my own 
 conversion ; " it was easy for yon to come to Jesus ; 
 but you never knew sin as I have." 
 
 Bat, my boy, he saves the chief of sinners." I 
 then read the passage proving that although his sins 
 were as scarlet they could be white like snow. 
 
 - But you don't know," said he. " to what depths 
 of sin I went in Buffalo and Chicago. I drank and I 
 gambled. Oh, I have been a terrible sinner ! " 
 
 " Yet there is mercy for you." I said, as I con- 
 tinued giving him messages from God's own Word, 
 knowing well that this was too solemn an occasion to 
 use words of my own. At last he knelt with me and 
 surrendered all to Christ. * My heart, my hands, my 
 feet, my all, just as I am," he cried, and found peace 
 in believing. Great joy came to him then. Hie great 
 love of Christ seemed wonderful to him. 
 
 * Why have I waited so long," he exclaimed. * k so 
 long, and wasted all these years, when they might have 
 been given to Jesus ? " He was only twenty-one years 
 of age. 
 
 That night when he went home MB mother had 
 retired and was asleep. He burst into her room and 
 roused her with these words :
 
 BY THE WAT. 143 
 
 " O mother, mother, I have found the Saviour ! " 
 
 What sweeter sound could have greeted the ears of 
 the praying mother? He knelt by her bed, she threw 
 her arms about him, and together they talked and 
 prayed until the day dawned. When he told me of 
 this afterward he said : 
 
 " I saw a look in my dear mother's tired eyes the 
 next morning that I never saw there before." 
 
 The next Monday evening he attended our prayer 
 meeting at the Mission, and here in broken accents 
 confessed that conviction entered his soul even while 
 we were in prayer. 
 
 It occurred to the missionaries that it might promote 
 good fellowship between the Indian and white man to 
 hold a social picnic together. Invitations were sent 
 to prominent people in Buffalo and other cities to 
 become the guests of the Indians upon this occasion. 
 The president of the day was Henry Two-Guns, a 
 stepson of Red Jacket ; the vice-president, Dr. Peter 
 Wilson ; the marshal, Nicholson H. Parker, brother of 
 General Ely Parker. The brass bands were entirely 
 composed of Indians. 
 
 Nathaniel Thayer Strong, known to the Indians 
 as "Chief Honondeuh," was elected orator. As he 
 had a fine command of English he was asked to speak 
 in that language. Words are inadequate to describe
 
 144 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 the condition of mind with which we listened to the 
 following outburst addressed to our guests : 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen : In some respects the pres- 
 ent occasion is extraordinary. Never before did the 
 white man with his women and children meet the red 
 man with his women and children in a social picnic. 
 It is an occasion to make our hearts glad, and I 
 would like for a moment to present the past condition 
 and relationships of the two nations in contrast with 
 the present. 
 
 As we all know, the red men were, the first occupants 
 of this soil. In 1647 the Confederacy of the Six 
 Nations of the Long House was able to raise thirty 
 thousand warriors. War and the sports of the chase 
 were the pursuits of the red man. Their clothing 
 was made of the skins of the animals they killed in 
 the chase ; their food was the flesh of wild animals ; 
 the corn and beans and squashes were raised by the 
 women, and the labor of the lodge was all performed 
 by them. The possessions of the Iroquois had ex- 
 tended far to the south and west, and their name was 
 a terror among all the surrounding nations. They 
 roamed from river to river and from valley to plain 
 in pursuit of the buffalo, the bear, and the elk ; they 
 darted across our lakes and rivers in their light canoes 
 to find the beaver and the otter and to take their furs.
 
 BY THE WAT. 145 
 
 At appointed seasons they returned to the council 
 fires of the Six Nations for the transaction of public 
 business, and to keep the annual feasts. More than 
 a hundred years afterward (in 1776) we find them 
 greatly reduced in numbers, only about twelve thou- 
 sand, though their customs are the same. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, let us look at the white man 
 in the same periods. In 1647 they had only three 
 hundred all told who were capable of bearing arms. 
 They had a system of government and written laws. 
 Their religion was founded upon the Bible ; they 
 knew the value and use of money ; they knew that 
 land was better than money, and they made every 
 effort to obtain it. The white man bought it of his 
 red brother and paid him little or nothing. He 
 bought our furs too at his own price. 
 
 In 1776 the white man numbers two hundred thou- 
 sand. Forests have fallen before the woodsmen ; the 
 game has retreated until both have nearly disappeared. 
 The land of the red man became cultivated. The 
 white man built cities, towns, villages ; he built 
 churches, colleges, academies, and common schools. 
 
 You have made canals and railroads, and your 
 electric telegraph sends the news with the speed of 
 thought. This is wonderful. The red man cannot 
 comprehend it. Your commerce extends over the 
 world. Your ships are on every sea ; your steamers
 
 146 LIFE AMONG THE IROqUOIS. 
 
 are on every river. In two hundred years your 
 population has increased from six thousand to three 
 millions. 
 
 Allow me to ask what price did the red man receive 
 for all this broad domain? Allow me to read you a 
 public document : 
 
 ' ' By these presents we do for ourselves and our 
 successors, ratify, confirm, grant, and submit unto 
 our most sovereign lord, King George, by the grace 
 of God King of Great Britain, defender of the faith, 
 all the land lying between " here follows a description 
 of the premises, including lakes, rivers, etc., of our 
 land never paying a cent for it ! 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, you see from this that your 
 forefathers wronged the red man, and took advantage 
 of his ignorance. The red man has a long history 
 of wrongs and grievances ; though unrecorded by the 
 hand of man they are written in the great Book of 
 Remembrance kept by the Great Spirit, and he will 
 inquire into this at your hands by-and-by, and he 
 will do justice to his red children. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, I appeal to you whether we 
 are not entitled to your sympathy, whether we have 
 not claims upon your assistance, while we try to raise 
 ourselves from the condition in which ignorance and 
 prejudice have sunk our nation. The red man is 
 aware of his condition he feels it deeply he feels
 
 BY THE WAY. 147 
 
 an alien from the Commonwealth. There are no 
 monuments to commemorate the deeds of our fore- 
 fathers, but there are the mighty rivers and the 
 eternal hills which we have named. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, the Six Nations of the Iro- 
 quois are now represented before you. The president 
 of the day is a Seneca, the vice-president on his right 
 is a Cayuga, and on the left you see an Ouondaga. 
 In this audience are representatives of the Mohawk 
 and the Oneida. One of your own poets has said 
 that music hath charms to soothe the savage breast. 
 Here is a band of musicians delighting us with their 
 sweet strains, composed entirely of the descendants 
 of Senecas and Tuscaroras ; and I doubt not they 
 have gratified even civilized ears. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, you perceive we are changed. 
 We have schools and books and churches, and are 
 fast adopting the customs of white men. For these 
 improvements we are indebted to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wright and other missionaries of the American 
 Board. Great is our debt of gratitude to these per- 
 severing and devoted men and women. If you will 
 but extend to us the right hand of fellowship, we 
 shall abundantly reward your efforts, and you will 
 at least see among us a state of cultivation and 
 refinement. The missionaries have not made a great 
 noise by blowing of the trumpet, but quietly and
 
 148 LIFE AMONG THE IKOQUOIS. 
 
 peaceably they have gone about among us doing 
 good, and may they live to see fulfilled their most 
 cherished hopes, and answered their fervent prayers ! 
 
 SENECA INDIAN NAMES. v 
 
 HALFTOWN. TWENTY-CANOES. SILVERHEELS. 
 
 WHEELBARROW. CORNPLANTER. LONGFINGER. 
 
 BLUE SKY. BLACK SNAKE. SUNDOWN. 
 
 DESTROYTOWN. TALLCHIEF. BIG KETTLE. 
 
 RED JACKET. PORCUPINE. CORNFIELD. 
 
 GREYBEARD. YELLOW BLANKET. GREEN BLANKET. 
 
 STEEP ROCK. FISH HOOK. DEER FOOT. 
 
 CASTILE SOAP. BIG TREE. GHASTLY DARKNESS.
 
 IT must be acknowleged that much of the romance of the ancient 
 Indian character has passed away. The wigwam of so much his- 
 toric interest has vanished, and the Indian has become reconciled 
 to a sheltering roof. They used to say : 
 
 " It is a shame to cover the top of our wigwam so that the Good 
 Ruler cannot look down upon his children in their home life." 
 
 For the same reason the top of the head was never covered. 
 " It is a shame," said they, " to conceal the thoughts passing 
 through the brain from the Good Ruler who is our Great Father." 
 
 The time-renowned skins and fur are replaced by broadcloth and 
 calico. Venison is supplanted by beef and pork. Formerly a hoe 
 in the hand of an Indian brave was a terrible disgrace; now a hoe 
 in the hand of an Indian woman is quite unfashionable.
 
 xni. 
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 
 
 far we have followed Mrs. Wright in her 
 -- everyday life among the Christian Indians. 
 Not all, however, who belonged to the " Christian 
 party " were believers in Christ. Many who called 
 themselves Christians had simply ceased to believe in 
 paganism through having lost faith in Handsome 
 Lake, the pagan prophet. 
 
 About one third of this Indian nation, how- 
 ever, still held to the old pagan belief. These 
 lived in settlements by themselves apart from the 
 missionaries and Christian Indians, and faithfully 
 observed the old rites, including all the feasts and 
 dances. Many of these rites are observed there to 
 this day. The dance house was located at New- 
 town, the stronghold of paganism. The people of 
 this settlement were so prejudiced against Chris- 
 tianity that they resisted every effort to win them to 
 the Jesus Way. The pagan leaders declared that 
 the Name should never be spoken there. Two 
 men were required to locate their cabins on each 
 side of the entrance to this settlement, and turn 
 
 151
 
 152 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 back any one who came to bring the white man's 
 religion. 
 
 Mrs. Wright's heart yearned with unspeakable 
 anxiety over these souls who thus condemned them- 
 selves to the darkness of ignorance and pagan super- 
 stition. They must be reached. But how? Many 
 plans were discussed, and much earnest prayer offered 
 that a way might be opened and it was opened, 
 quite unexpectedly, and not in the least according to 
 our planning. 
 
 While on a trip home to Boston I attended the 
 Sunday-school in West Newton, then under the care of 
 Mr. B. F. Whittemore. The children had decided to 
 purchase a new organ, and were about to consign a 
 small melodeon to the cellar of the church. I asked 
 for it to use among the Indians. The request was 
 cheerfully granted, and soon after I returned to the 
 Reservation with my prize. 
 
 One Sabbath afternoon Mrs. Wright and I started 
 with the old Mission horse and wagon for .Newtown, 
 the stronghold of paganism. In the back of the 
 wagon was the little melodeon given by the Sunday- 
 school children. We drove three miles and ascended 
 the long steep hill to the pagan settlement. The men 
 at the top came out and said : 
 
 " You cannot come here. We do not wish to hear 
 anything about your Jesus Way."
 
 THE MEDICINE DANCE.
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 153 
 
 As we turned to go down the hill, the men noticed 
 the box in the back of our wagon and their curiosity 
 was excited. This was what we had anticipated, for 
 although he holds himself under such perfect con- 
 trol, the Indian has as much curiosity as the white 
 man. 
 
 " What is in that box?" said one of them. 
 
 " That is a most wonderful box," I replied. " You 
 never saw so wonderful a box." 
 
 " Open it," said he, " and let us look into it." 
 
 I said, " I will if you will let us pass by and go to 
 the dance house." 
 
 " We cannot let you do that," said he with a dark 
 look. 
 
 " Then we must go home," I said. 
 
 " But you will open the box first." 
 
 " No," said I, " I cannot open the box here. I will 
 open the box only at the dance house." 
 
 " Wait ! " he said, and ran to the dance house and 
 consulted the pagan leaders. 
 
 " They have," said he, " in their wagon a wonder- 
 ful box which they will not open unless permitted to 
 pass in and come to the dance house." 
 
 After long consultation the pagan chiefs decided to 
 let us come, that the wonderful box might be opened 
 before all the people there assembled. And so the 
 offering of the Sunday-school children opened the way
 
 154 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 for us to reach these pagans. We immediately took 
 the instrument from the wagon and set it up on the 
 ground. I had brought a stool with me and sat down 
 and began to play. They had never heard such sounds 
 before. Indians are naturally fond of music and they 
 were captivated by the sweet tones of this little instru- 
 ment. Mrs. Wright and I, hoping by means of the 
 musical missionary to reach them, had prepared some 
 Indian hymns which contained the simple truths of 
 the gospel. We sang one of these hymns. They 
 listened in breathless silence, and shouted, "The 
 wonderful box speaks ! It speaks ! Let it speak 
 again!" We sang another hymn. They cried, "Ah- 
 soh! ah-soh!" (Another! another!) After a while 
 we closed the melodeon, put it into the wagon, 
 and started for home. They followed us in crowds, 
 crying, 
 
 " Will you come again, and bring the wonderful 
 box, and sing to us?" 
 
 We said, " Yes ; we will come next Sunday." 
 What were these pagans doing when we passed the 
 guard and came to the dance house ? Perhaps I 
 should say here that the pagan dance house is a 
 building about forty feet long by thirty feet wide. 
 There is an immense fireplace at each end. Seats 
 are arranged around the sides, one tier above an- 
 other. The house will accommodate about four
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 155 
 
 hundred people. The only furniture upon the floor of 
 the house is a long low bench. When about to have 
 a dance the people arrange themselves upon these 
 tiers of seats. When the house is full a man comes 
 
 in with an Indian drum, seats himself upon the low 
 
 
 bench in the center of the hall, and begins to beat 
 
 the drum. Soon another man comes in, with a turtle- 
 shell rattle. The turtle is a sacred animal with these 
 Indians, and always used in their religious festivities. 
 The animal is killed, the legs cut off, the inside re- 
 moved, and the shell filled with pebbles ; the neck is 
 drawn out and tightly wound with catgut, furnishing 
 the handle of the instrument. While the first man 
 beats the drum, the second man shakes the turtle-shell 
 rattle, and a third man joins them with a squash 
 rattle. Three men now take their places beside these, 
 who commence to sing the weird Indian songs. This 
 Indian orchestra now being complete, the Indian 
 maidens come from the sides and form a line around 
 them and commence to dance to the measured and 
 monotonous beat of the Indian drum, the shaking of 
 the rattles, and the sudden shrieks of the singers. It 
 is difficult to describe the step of this dance. They 
 do not lift their feet from the floor, but shove them 
 with a certain peculiar movement in perfect time to 
 the music. When this circle is complete the mothers 
 descend from the seats at the side and form a second
 
 156 LIFE AMONG THE ItiOQUOIS. 
 
 ring, dancing around the first with the same peculiar 
 movement. When that line is complete the fathers 
 form a third circle with the same movement. The 
 fourth circle is now formed by the young warriors, 
 who, with wild shrieks, and tomahawks blandished in 
 the air, leap around the other three circles. At this 
 time it becomes very exciting and those who are left 
 upon the benches shout with delight. The performers 
 are dressed in gala attire, plentifully ornamented with 
 beads, brooches, and feathers. The young warriors 
 have painted their faces. The scene is exciting and 
 frightful to a stranger. Outside upon the ground 
 there are various games in progress, and here and 
 there the Indian kettle in which their favorite soup 
 is being prepared for the feast hangs over the 
 fire. 
 
 The next Sabbath we went again to this pagan 
 settlement, and received a warm welcome, with eager 
 requests to open the wonderful box and sing. This 
 we did for several Sabbaths, always singing the 
 simple truths of the gospel. Had we spoken one 
 word about the "Jesus Way," we should have been 
 obliged to leave at once. But we were only too 
 glad to be permitted to sing the glad tidings to this 
 people. 
 
 The Missionary Board had built a schoolhouse near 
 this settlement with the hope that the people would
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 157 
 
 allow their children to go to school, but so far its very 
 existence had been ignored. 
 
 One Sabbath, after singing several hymns, we said : 
 " Next time we shall go to the schoolhouse over there 
 in the woods." 
 
 They were very indignant, and with angry faces 
 declared that we must not go, because they could not 
 follow us there. 
 
 We said, " We shall go there next Sabbath with the 
 wonderful box, and you can do as you please about 
 following us." 
 
 So on the next Sabbath, when they ran to greet us 
 as we ascended the hill, we kept on our way toward 
 the schoolhouse. They shouted to us to stop there by 
 the dance house, but we shook our heads and passed 
 on. This was more than they could bear, and they 
 followed us in crowds to the schoolhouse, packed it 
 full, and stood upon the outside peering in at the low 
 windows. Again we sang the hymns. Mrs. Wright 
 said : 
 
 " It is now time to hold meetings with these people, 
 and I will open this one with prayer." 
 
 I said, " You do not know what will happen if you 
 do this." 
 
 She answered quietly, " God will take care of us." 
 
 She knelt in prayer. When these people saw that 
 woman on her knees, there was a strange hush for a
 
 158 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 moment, and then in a body they started for the door ; 
 those who could not get out by the door quickly leaped 
 through the windows, and when she arose from her 
 knees we were alone. There was no one to be seen 
 in any direction. I put my fingers upon the keys of 
 the little instrument, and as soon as the sounds floated 
 out upon the air they rushed in, and again filled the 
 house. It was a moving audience that we had for 
 several Sabbaths. If we did anything but sing they 
 left us, but the wonderful little box could always 
 bring them back again. 
 
 At last one Sabbath Mrs. Wright said, " Would you 
 like to hear the story of how this earth was made ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " they shouted. 
 
 Then she told them the story as given in Genesis. 
 She spoke of the earth as being round. Mr. Corn- 
 planter arose, and said in Indian : 
 
 "Stop! You have made a great mistake. This 
 earth is flat and rests upon the back of the great 
 sacred Turtle. How could he hold it if it was round? 
 It would certainly roll off. I should suppose," he 
 continued, " that one need only look from these 
 windows to know that this earth is flat." 
 
 She did not contradict him but went on with the 
 story. She spoke of the great and good God as 
 creating all things. Mr. Longfinger arose and said : 
 
 "Stop! stop!"
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 159 
 
 " What is it, brother? " said she. 
 
 " You have insulted Ha-wen-ni-yu, the Good Ruler." 
 
 " How have I insulted him?" asked she calmly. 
 
 "You say he made all things. He never made 
 anything evil that would hurt his children. He never 
 made bad people, or the cruel animals that would 
 destroy us, or the poisonous herbs that would kill us. 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu made only good people, the beautiful 
 trees and flowers, and the herbs that we use when we 
 are sick, and the animals that are useful to us." 
 
 "Well, Longfinger," said Mrs. Wright, "who did 
 make all these things that we do not like ? " 
 
 "The Evil-Minded, his brother, made them," said 
 the man. 
 
 The next Sunday, when we came to the school- 
 house, after the usual songs the people asked for 
 another story. Mrs. Wright resolved then and there 
 to tell them the story of Christ. But knowing the 
 consequences if they realized this, she used no names 
 at the beginning. She told the story of a beautiful 
 babe, who was born in an Oriental country. She 
 described the surroundings. She told them about the 
 wicked king, the shepherds, the wise men, and the 
 wonderful star. She told them about the childhood 
 of Christ ; his three years of loving service for the 
 people ; how he healed the sick, made the blind to see, 
 the lame to walk, the deaf to bear, and at last she told
 
 160 LIFE AMONG THE IltOQUOIS. 
 
 of his cruel death and that he was the Son of God. 
 They listened intently. After she sat down old Sil- 
 verheels arose and said : 
 
 " That is a story of great interest, but it is a shame 
 that the white man should have murdered a son of the 
 Good Ruler, Ha-wen-ni-yu. It is a dreadful thing. 
 I am glad that we Indians had nothing to do with it. 
 It is none of our affair. We would not have killed 
 him ; we would have treated him well. The white 
 men who killed the son of Ha-weu-ni-yu ought to be 
 terribly punished. The Great Ruler will punish them. 
 He will be revenged on them. You must make amends 
 for this great crime yourselves." 
 
 Then she told them that this was the Christ of 
 the Indians too, of whom we had sung to them these 
 many Sabbaths. The leaders were very angry, and 
 said : 
 
 " You shall never come here again." 
 
 The young people, who had been growing more 
 and more attached to us, said, "They shall come 
 here again. We want to hear more about this Jesus 
 Way." 
 
 The leaders said, " If they come here again, we will 
 throw them from the top of the cliff upon the rocks in 
 the river below." 
 
 The young people said, "You shall not harm them, 
 for we will protect them."
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 161 
 
 This discussion grew more and more exciting, re- 
 sulting in long speeches on both sides, which kept 
 us in that house until two o'clock in the morning. 
 Neither of us said one word through the whole of it. 
 I sat at the melodeon and Mrs. Wright by my side. 
 Although we realized our danger, we were enabled 
 to maintain a calm exterior. 
 
 When at last the meeting broke up the young men 
 went out with us, and stood about our wagon until 
 we were ready to start. We began to dread the 
 long, dark, dangerous way home through the woods, 
 through mud holes, over broken bridges, through 
 streams which we had to ford. We need not have 
 trembled, for the angel of the Lord was even then 
 encamped round about us to protect us from evil. 
 Twelve of these young Indian pagans had secured 
 pitch-pine torches and were making preparations to go 
 with us. 
 
 A picture for an artist ! Two lone women, the old 
 Mission horses and wagon, the dense forest on either 
 side, the young Indians in a variety of indescribable 
 costumes, with their long hair streaming in the wind, 
 running before, behind, and on either side, holding 
 high the torches and singing the Christian songs 
 taught them by us. They placed themselves about 
 us as we started and followed us all the way home, 
 giving us their protection and the light of the torches.
 
 162 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 From that time until there was no more danger this 
 bodyguard with their pine torches always ran beside 
 us on our way home, when we had held an evening 
 meeting in the pagan settlement. 
 
 At Christmas time we had the audacity and faith to 
 ask for the use of the pagan dance house in which 
 to hold a Christmas festival. This produced the 
 most profound excitement. The leaders declared that 
 those sacred walls should never be so disgraced. The 
 young men said we should be admitted. The old men 
 would not give up the key to the house. The young 
 men took it by force, and, following our directions, 
 secured two large hemlock trees and placed them in 
 each end of the house, and invited us to fill them and 
 defended us while doing it. 
 
 Boston friends sent me at that time two hundred 
 dollars in money, and several boxes of valuable arti- 
 cles for this occasion. Every pagan of the settle- 
 ment was remembered with some useful present. 
 With a part of the money we bought provisions and 
 gave them a great dinner. We noticed that as soon 
 as the doors of the dance house were thrown open to 
 the people, the angry leaders were ready to enter with 
 the rest and to accept the valuable gifts which we had 
 prepared for them. There was only one moment of 
 friction during the day, and that was when a young 
 clergyman whom we had invited to come insisted
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 163 
 
 upon offering prayer. We knew well how hard it 
 would be for these pagan leaders to endure this, and 
 so we interfered and begged the good man to allow us 
 to sing a prayer, which was perfectly satisfactory to 
 all parties. 
 
 Of course the little melodeon, which had been the 
 means of opening the door to this great opportunity, 
 was placed in the center of the hall, and by the grate- 
 ful young people, who loved it as a human being, 
 was gorgeously decorated with hemlock boughs and 
 a profusion of red berries. 
 
 This festival gave us great power in that com- 
 munity, and although the leaders declined to enter 
 the Jesus Way, their bitter opposition to us was much 
 modified. 
 
 Through the blessed offering of the Sunday-school 
 children, the little melodeon, we were able to enter 
 another pagan neighborhood called, because of a di- 
 lapidated plank road, the Plank Road neighborhood. 
 Here we ventured to take possession of an empty log 
 house, where we invited the people to meet us every 
 Thursday evening and hear about the " Shining Jesus 
 Way." Of course they came at first simply to see 
 the wonderful box and to hear the music ; but we 
 asked that through this means they might receive 
 lisrht.
 
 164 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 One Thursday evening the weather was intensely 
 cold and the snow so deep that our courage nearly 
 failed us ; but the thought of those poor, benighted 
 ones impelled us to go forward in the work ; and so the 
 two steady missionary horses, Roxana and Ruhama, 
 named for two of Mrs. Stowe's characters who went 
 about doing good, were attached to the sleigh and 
 brought to the door. The missionary sleigh was 
 simply a long box upon runners. This box was well 
 filled with straw, upon which we sat, because less ex- 
 posed to the cold than upon boards laid across the 
 top. The melodeou was first placed carefully in the 
 sleigh ; then came our missionary bag, our companion 
 on all excursions. This bag contained straps, bits 
 of rope, twine, hammer and nails, a gimlet, a buggy 
 wrench, bread, chalk, medicine, a teaspoon, Indian 
 hymn books and Indian Testaments, matches and 
 candles, lint and linen bandages, adhesive plaster, 
 bright picture papers, a tin horn, cookies and sugar- 
 plums to keep the babies quiet while we talked with 
 the mothers. This seems a strange medley, but in 
 many places, far from human habitations, our bag 
 was invaluable. 
 
 Upon this particular Thursday evening, being fully 
 equipped as I have described, we started for our log 
 house in the woods. It was a terrible night for the 
 horses on account of the icy roads. We were really
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 165 
 
 suffering from the cold when we drove up to the 
 house. 
 
 " No light!" said I. 
 
 "Perhaps," said Mrs. "Wright, " Castile has no oil. 
 I have brought a small can with me and we will fill 
 the lamp." 
 
 Castile Soap was the name of the Indian who pre- 
 tended to take care of our house and have it lighted 
 and warm for us every Thursday. I use the word 
 pretended significantly for, alas ! Castile had failed us 
 this time, as many a time before. After securing our 
 horses we were obliged to climb a rail fence and jump 
 into the snow upon the other side, which was not 
 pleasant. We reached the door, shivering uncomfort- 
 ably ; it was fastened. Our missionary bag yielded a 
 key. Once within the house you might suppose our 
 troubles at an end. Far from it. There was not a 
 dry chip upon the premises with which to kindle a fire. 
 Outside under the snow we found a few sticks of 
 green wood. These we placed in the stove and by 
 pouring oil over them succeeded in forcing a blaze 
 an example not to be followed under ordinary circum- 
 stances. Having no bell, we resorted, as usual, to 
 our powerful tin horn, which made the woods resound 
 with its shrill note, and from various directions our 
 pagan friends assembled. To our great surprise Logan 
 came with them. Now Logan was a powerful chief
 
 166 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 among the pagans, and had been decidedly opposed 
 to us. The fierce scowl and flash of his eye boded 
 no good. Mrs. Wright and I inwardly asked for 
 heavenly guidance and proceeded with the meeting. 
 We sang and prayed and talked. Finally Chief 
 Logan arose. I wish I could describe this man, but 
 such a face as his beggars description. You might 
 imagine him, scalping knife in hand, looking upon 
 his victim as he looked upon us that night. 
 
 " You white women ! " said he, " you who come 
 here and disturb us in the religion of our fathers, I 
 wish you would let us alone." This was said with 
 great emphasis. " I suppose you are good enough in 
 your way. You visit the sick and you take care of 
 the poor. All that is well enough. But you break up 
 our dances. I wish you would let us alone ! We like 
 your singing, but we don't want your meetings. We 
 do not like your praying and talking. Now I am 
 resolved what to do. You want these children to go 
 to school. If you do not stop your meetings, these 
 children shall never go to school. Now, there is a 
 bargain. Stop your meetings, and we will let these 
 children go to school ; go on with your meetings and 
 these children will never know anything and you will 
 be to blame." 
 
 This logic caused a smile to quiver upon my lips, 
 but, noting an additional touch of fierceness in his
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 167 
 
 manner, and a quick flash of the eye, I subsided 
 into an attitude of grave attention. 
 
 " Now," continued Logan, " I have resolved that if 
 you keep on coming here with your meetings " (always 
 alluding to our meetings as to some commodity taken 
 with us or left, at pleasure), " I will turn your horses* 
 heads home the very next time you come to the top of 
 that hill out there. I shall do it! " (Great emphasis.) 
 Do you hear?" he shouted. 
 
 " Yes, brother/' we said calmly. We sang a hymn 
 as though nothing had happened, appointed another 
 meeting there, and passed out without a word. 
 
 The next Thursday evening, as we were slowly 
 climbing that same steep hill, whom should we find 
 standing at the top but Logan. 
 
 " Where are you going? " said he. 
 
 "To hold our usual meeting, Logan." 
 
 He took our horses by the bridles ; we were quite 
 helpless as to human aid, but we had learned that we 
 could depend upon the Master whom we served for 
 protection. The face of our deluded opponent was 
 very dark, and he seemed possessed by a demon. 
 The road where he stopped us was very narrow. Had 
 he attempted to turn us there the consequences would 
 have been serious. Suddenly Logan let go the 
 bridles, and plunging down the embankment at our 
 side, disappeared. Why had he left us? Was it to
 
 168 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 bring others to assist him in his wicked designs? 
 "O ye of little faith, wherefore will ye doubt?" 
 We held the meeting with nothing to molest us. Late 
 in the evening we drove home, passing the place of 
 our encounter with some dread lest evil awaited us 
 there, for we were alone, two defenseless women. 
 We sang hymns of praise on our way, and late at night 
 arrived safe at home. But we never knew why there 
 came such a sudden change into the mind of our enemy 
 at that moment. Again we said, as we had said many 
 a time before, "The angel of the Lord encampeth 
 round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." 
 Chief Logan had a cousin bearing the illustrious 
 name of George Washington. This man quarreled 
 with his wife about some trifle, and without further 
 ceremony drove her from the home where for so many 
 years she had boiled his corn and cooked his venison. 
 An angry pagan prides himself upon a stony heart. 
 Appeals fail to move him. She went forth sadly and 
 feebly. She did not know that she was looking upon 
 her home for the last time. She did not know that 
 through this great sorrow the Saviour whom she had 
 rejected so many years was bringing her to himself. 
 She went to the house of Logan, and with a great 
 pain in her heart longed for death. Little did this 
 stricken woman expect to meet her Lord in the house 
 of this gospel hater.
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 169 
 
 One day, not long after our unpleasant encounter 
 with Logan in the woods, we heard a feeble knock at 
 the Mission door. Upon opening, these words greeted 
 us in a trembling voice : 
 
 " Pity me ! Do not thrust me aside. Let me lean 
 upon you for I am in trouble." 
 
 The face of the young girl was very sad as she 
 stood at the Mission door. She was the only daughter 
 of George Washington, who had driven his sick wife 
 from her home. The trembling voice and haggard 
 face of the girl contrasted strangely with her pic- 
 turesque dancing costume, heavily ornamented with 
 silver brooches and beads. The poor child had been 
 dancing at a feast all night. 
 
 " I am afraid," she said, " that my mother is 
 dying. My father will not see her. She wants you." 
 
 The sick woman was miles away, the roads in a 
 wretched condition, but as soon as possible we were 
 at her side. 
 
 " My mind is in great agony," said the poor 
 creature with difficulty. "Can you help me? I have 
 always been a pagan, but sometimes I have secretly 
 attended your meetings. I have heard you sing and 
 pray and tell about that wonderful Being who came to 
 take away sin. The last time I was there you taught 
 us how to say these words in our own language, 
 ''Christ died for all.' 'The blood of Jesus Christ
 
 170 LIFE AMONG THE 1BOQUOIS. 
 
 deanseth us from all sin.' 'God so loved the world 
 that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
 lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life.' 
 
 " Now in my trouble," she continued, " these words 
 are ever before me, but I am afraid of God. I want 
 to hide. I am in danger. My mind is very dark. 
 Will you tell me more?" 
 
 We told her the story of Jesus in her own lan- 
 guage, as to a little child. When we finished there 
 was a new light in those troubled eyes and she 
 said : 
 
 ' ' I believe ; I need him ; I take him ! I need 
 him more than any other sinner in the whole world." 
 
 She closed her eyes and seemed to be taking into her 
 soul the message of forgiveness and release from the 
 burden of sin. There was silence in the little room 
 as we lifted our hearts to God that this benighted 
 mind might at the eleventh hour receive the illumi- 
 nation of the Holy Spirit. At last she opened her 
 eyes, from which shone a new light, the light of 
 peace. 
 
 "I shall die soon," she said. "I beseech you, 
 promise me that you will take my body away from this 
 place, and give it a Christian burial. I do not wish 
 any pagan ceremonies over me." She asked us to 
 sing a hymn, which translated reads thus :
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 171 
 
 Jesus, I come to thee, pity me! pity me I 
 
 I am a poor sinner, oh, pity me! 
 
 As thou art merciful, 
 
 Thrust not aside my soul ; 
 
 Pity me, for I am a poor sinner. 
 
 Only thy precious blood 
 
 Is able to give me relief. 
 
 According to thy mercy, 
 
 According to thy lovingkindness 
 
 Wash me in thy blood. 
 
 I am a poor sinner, 
 
 But thou art able to save me. 
 
 About half an hour after we left the house Logan 
 came in. He was told of our visit, of the singing, 
 talking, and praying. He was told of Mrs. Washing- 
 ton's request as to a Christian burial. The man was 
 furious. He cursed us again and again. He walked 
 back and forth, threatening vengeance. He called 
 upon the Evil-Minded to bring upon our heads 
 every curse that the "House of Torment" could 
 furnish. 
 
 " What ! " said he, " praying in my house? These 
 walls have never known a stain like that before." He 
 cursed his pretty wife, who shrank from him in fear. 
 He cursed even the sick woman. 
 
 "If it had not been for you," he said, " this would 
 not have happened. A Christian burial indeed ! You 
 will be buried as I say. If they lay a finger on your 
 dead body, they will arouse an Indian tempest such as 
 they never dreamed of."
 
 172 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 The sick one was too much terrified to speak. A 
 pagan woman came to the bedside. 
 
 " What are you thinking of?" said she. "Don't 
 you know your father and your mother and all your 
 forefathers had a pagan burial? Are you so heartless 
 as to disgrace their dust in this way? Don't you 
 want to go to the ' Happy Home beyond the Setting 
 Sun,' where they are? Oh, how lonesome you will be 
 among the white folks, and your own relations away 
 off where you cannot reach them ! " 
 
 The dancing girl threw herself beside her mother 
 and begged her not to leave her all alone in this world 
 and the next too. The persecuted one tried to speak, 
 but in the exhaustion caused by these trying scenes 
 she could only murmur the words of the hymn, 
 " Jesus, I come to thee, pity me ! " 
 
 The next morning we went again to the house of 
 Logan, quite unconscious of the storm we had caused 
 the day before. A' frightened look upon the face 
 of the young wife enlightened us. Chief Logan was 
 there, but simply ignored our presence. His wife 
 dared not ask us to sit down. We quietly ministered 
 to the wants of the sick one. She whispered : 
 
 "Be cautious; the man who hates you and your 
 religion is here." 
 
 Logan was suddenly called from the room. Then 
 the women told us all.
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 173 
 
 " Will Jesus indeed receive my soul if I am 
 buried with pagan ceremonies?" asked the dying 
 woman. 
 
 ' ' Do you cast yourself entirely upon him ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " she exclaimed. " I believe I do." 
 
 "Then he accepts you. He knows your desire; 
 you may tell him all about it. You may talk with 
 him all the time in your mind and he hears you. 
 These pagans refuse to answer your prayer about 
 your body. Jesus hears and answers your prayer 
 about your soul, and that is safe." 
 
 She was quite satisfied. Again we sang and prayed 
 with her and repeated the sweet promises of Jesus. 
 We told her about heaven, expecting every moment to 
 be confronted by Logan ; but the Lord in mercy held 
 him back that this trembling disciple might be com- 
 forted. And very soon her spirit took its flight to 
 that land where there shall be no more night, for the 
 glory of God and of the Lamb is the light thereof. 
 We were powerless to carry out her wishes, and she 
 received a pagan burial. 
 
 Several months later some mysterious impulse 
 moved Chief Logan to appear at the Mission break- 
 fast table one morning and utter these words : 
 
 " I have got through fighting you. You may go on 
 with your meetings if you will. I shall never oppose 
 you again."
 
 174 LIFE AMONG THE IJtOQUOIS. 
 
 Overcome by surprise we hardly answered him ; but 
 he kept his word. He did not attend the meetings 
 himself, but he permitted others to do so without 
 persecution. 
 
 One lovely spring morning a messenger came for us 
 to go as quickly as possible to Logan. He was near 
 death and greatly desired to see us. Although we 
 went with all possible haste, death entered this dwell- 
 ing before us. Those who were with him told us that 
 he watched for us with great anxiety to the last. He 
 wanted to hear more of the " Shining Jesus Way." 
 The words of Christ which he heard during that one 
 evening when he came to silence us had followed him 
 from that day until the day of his death. 
 
 John Hudson, a leader among the pagans, was 
 awakened to search after the real truth. He was a 
 man of great natural ability ; like Paul he was very 
 zealous in preaching and teaching his false doctrine. 
 He was one of our bitter opposers, but at one time 
 was induced to listen to us as we talked most 
 earnestly to him of Christ, his life, his sufferings, 
 his death on the cross. With great emphasis he 
 replied : 
 
 " I do believe in Ha-wen-ni-yu the Great Ruler; 
 I pray to him every day ; but it has never been 
 revealed to me that Ha-wen-ni-yu has a son, and I
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 175 
 
 can never, never pray to him or believe in him whom 
 you call his Son, Jesus Christ." 
 
 But the Spirit of God was at work upon this man's 
 heart, and gradually light broke in upon his darkened 
 mind. Finally he came into one of our meetings 
 among the pagans and told his feelings ; but that 
 which we longed to hear most from his lips, his faith 
 in Christ as his Saviour, we heard not. "With a proud, 
 defiant manner he stood there and declared that he 
 was ready now to defend the Christian party and 
 embrace the Christian religion. 
 
 Nothing is impossible with God, and at last in 
 answer to much earnest prayer among the missionaries 
 and Indian brethren of the church, the truth in all its 
 radiance shone clearly into the benighted mind of 
 John Hudson, and he came forth trusting only and 
 trusting wholly in Christ's righteousness for his sal- 
 vation. He came daily to the Mission House for 
 conversation upon the new religion, and many a night 
 was spent by Mr. and Mrs. Wright in earnest con- 
 versation with this man upon the subject now so dear 
 to his heart. He would sit with the Indian Testament 
 in his hand asking questions until two and three and 
 sometimes four o'clock in the morning. 
 
 o 
 
 His wife continued in strong opposition to the 
 Christian religion. After having remained a whole 
 \voek with us in the beginning of his new life, he
 
 176 LIFE AMONG THE IliOQUOIS. 
 
 started for his home several miles away. He was 
 somewhat troubled with forebodings as to what kind 
 of a reception he should meet from his family, 
 with whom his path in life for the future must lie 
 in a separate direction unless they should follow 
 him. 
 
 While walking through the woods it occurred to 
 John that he would tell his new friend, Jesus, of his 
 difficulties, and ask for strength to endure the trial 
 before him. With the simplicity of a little child 
 pleading with an earthly parent, he knelt down and 
 asked that his family might receive him kindly and 
 that there might be no collision between them on 
 account of the great change in him, but that they 
 might be induced also to enter the Shining Jesus 
 Way. 
 
 Strengthened and refreshed, he went home. His 
 wife and family received him in a very different spirit 
 from what he had anticipated. He told them the 
 history of the change in his views and feelings, and to 
 his grateful surprise met with no opposition. But the 
 faith of John Hudson was soon to be sorely tested. 
 The other pagan leaders, his friends, used every 
 argument to draw him back to his former faith, but 
 he remained firm, and in reply to all their entreaties 
 that he would not leave his children, the pagans, he 
 said :
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 177 
 
 " If you are my children, you must follow your 
 father." 
 
 This exasperated them, and they withdrew from 
 him in indignation, and began to devise ways and 
 means to torture their former beloved father. The 
 first step was to erect a new dance house directly in 
 his neighborhood. John expressed his feelings upon 
 this matter to his family, and earnestly entreated them 
 to have nothing to do with this dance house ; but there 
 is a custom among the Indians that the uncles and 
 aunts shall have as much authority over the children 
 as the fathers and mothers. John Hudson had one 
 son who was his pride and delight, whom he was 
 gradually winning to look upon his new faith with 
 favor. The son listened to the counsels of his father, 
 and determined to abide by them and give up the 
 pagan dances. During the absence of his father from 
 home at one time, his aunt used all the inducements 
 in her power to bring the young man back to the 
 dances. He yielded to her authority, and by her 
 command assisted in the work of the house with his 
 father's oxen. While drawing a very heavy stick of 
 timber one of the oxen fell down and died instantly. 
 When the father came home and learned that his son 
 had been won back to the dances, and that one of his 
 valuable oxen had died in the work of building the 
 dance house, he was not in "an enviable frame of
 
 178 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 mind. He had not yet commenced his spring work. 
 How was he to prepare the ground for his crops? 
 His Indian temper was well roused, and he was de- 
 termined to give vent to his feelings as soon as he 
 could reach these relatives. 
 
 But suddenly this thought came into his mind : " Is 
 not this a temptation of the Evil One that he may stir 
 me up and get the victory over me if he can ? " 
 
 He went into the deep woods and prayed that God 
 would strengthen him to endure this trial in a Chris- 
 tian spirit and enable him to trust Him for his daily 
 bread. He also prayed that this new dance house in 
 his neighborhood might never be completed. There, 
 in the depths of the forest, upon his knees, this con- 
 verted pagan made a resolution that no word or look 
 should escape him when he met the people who had 
 brought this trouble upon him, which should indicate 
 that he had cherished any unpleasant feelings about 
 his misfortune. 
 
 God heard John Hudson's prayer. That dance 
 house was never completed. The timbers yet lie upon 
 the ground, gradually becoming a part of the sur- 
 rounding soil. 
 
 One day we met John Logan ] on the hill at the 
 pagan settlement. He said in English : ' ' You know 
 my wife blind. I leave her. Last night had a dream. 
 
 'Not Chief Logan.
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 179 
 
 Dreamed a man came to my house took my wife 
 away ; felt anxious followed on to see her fate ; 
 took her long distance could not find her some- 
 time. After a while I found her ; she was hid in a 
 cave very little sun, very little light could not 
 see sun could not see moon nor stars ; she sat 
 there lonely. Others sat there too very sad, very 
 gloomy. Man came to my wife and said 'Where's 
 your husband?' She said, 'Don't know gone 
 away left me because I'm blind.' I felt very bad 
 to find her in such a place. I waked up. I think 
 about my dream : no sun that means evil ; afraid 
 I have done wrong afraid great trouble coming to 
 me and to my wife afraid I ought to take your 
 religion and go back to my wife." 
 
 We asked him to come to the Mission House and 
 talk with us about the new religion. The next day he 
 came, and asked permission to put to us a few ques- 
 tions for instruction. These were given in his own 
 language : 
 
 1. When we die do our souls lie in the ground all 
 the time until our bodies are raised up? 2. What 
 tribe does God belong to? 3. What language does 
 God speak? 4. What road shall we take to go to 
 heaven ? 
 
 At last he was persuaded to stop asking questions, 
 and give himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. We urged
 
 180 LIFE AMOXG THE HtOQUOIS. 
 
 him to come to one of our meetings among the 
 pagans, to commit himself there, and show which side 
 he was on. When the opportunity was given him he 
 sprang to his feet and owned that he had been too 
 proud to accept Christ or to pray to him. 
 
 "Now," said he in his own language, 4k I am going 
 to pray before you all." His embarrassment was so 
 great that when he knelt he seemed to fall upon the 
 floor all in a heap. He cried out : 
 
 " O God. you know what a poor sinful creature I 
 am. I don't know how to pray. Nobody ever heard 
 me pray, but I 'm going to try now, and I hope you 
 will teach me how, so it will please you to hear and 
 answer me. O God ! forgive my sins and help me 
 now truly to believe on Jesus Christ." 
 
 In the course of the meeting he arose again and 
 said, " Now you shall hear my voice. You all know I 
 am a great sinner. God knows it. Bat I have deter- 
 mined to repent. A little while ago I did not know 
 anything about the gospel, but the more I heard the 
 more I believed there was something in it that we 
 have not got, that we pagans did not know anything 
 about ; and now at this time I want you to hear me say 
 I do believe this gospel, I believe that Jesus Christ 
 is the Saviour of sinners. I have repented of my sins 
 and now I want to give them up. I here resolve I 
 will never drink another drop of whiskey in all my
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 181 
 
 life ; I repent of that. I repent too of mj disobe- 
 dience to my mother ; I will never disobey her again. 
 When she reproves me I will never answer back. I 
 want to become like Christ. I haf e been in the habit 
 of going to the dances every Sabbath day. I never 
 got any good there but a great deal of harm. When I 
 come to these meetings I hear something that makes 
 me better." 
 
 A woman arose : " I have never been to one of 
 your meetings before. My child has been in yoor 
 Sunday-school. He said to me, * Mother, why don't 
 you go to the meeting? I wish you would go, mother.' 
 I said, ' My child, I am a pagan.' ' But, mother,' 
 said he, ' will you go once to please me?' When my 
 child said that it went like a knife to my heart; it 
 made me weep and tremble. I could not get over it. 
 Something kept saying to me, ' You must go ! you 
 must go ! ' I resolved to come and tell yoa my feel- 
 ings, and confess my sins, and ask you to lead me 
 into the Shining Jesus Way." 
 
 A LITERAL TRANSLATION OF A SENTBCA CSDIA3T HTJGf . 
 
 Ye people! Ye miaenbk oaes! 
 
 Receive 
 The mercy of Jean*. 
 
 Come! Receive it! 
 Why will you die? 
 
 Life is free to you, 
 Receive it! receive it!
 
 182 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOI8. 
 
 A long time ago he has waited for you, 
 
 Come ! Receive 
 That which is so much to be coveted, 
 
 Which he brings you, 
 Come! Receive it! 
 
 He is ready to heal you 
 Of the sin that is killing you. 
 
 Receive him! 
 Come! Receive him! 
 
 In our missionary rounds one day, Mrs. "Wright and 
 I found one of the most extreme cases of suffering I 
 ever witnessed among the Indians. We entered a log 
 house about ten feet square. The one room of the 
 house contained three beds and the family, of about a 
 dozen people, none of whom were especially neat in 
 their habits. When we entered they were holding a 
 consultation upon some matter which perplexed them. 
 Our eyes followed dark glances directed to a certain 
 corner of the room, and rested upon a helpless man 
 lying upon the straw. I can never forget the look 
 of wistful entreaty with which he regarded us. This 
 man was unable to move a hand or an arm or to sit 
 up a moment. He had lain in the corner of this 
 wretched log hut for three months, not even a blanket 
 between that bruised and aching body and the little 
 straw upon the floor. One hand was decaying and 
 dropping off ; mortification had reached the second 
 joint of one of the fingers. The least jar of the arm 
 was painful to him. The hand and arm were so
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 183 
 
 swollen that you could hardly have told what they 
 were, and as black as the stove. The other hand and 
 arm, in sympathy with this one, were paralyzed. Upon 
 questioning him he told us that when he was taken 
 sick he had a wife, who had forsaken him ; all his 
 friends had forsaken him. They were afraid of his 
 disease. He was famishing for want of food. Three 
 months before his friends brought him to this hut, laid 
 him in the corner on the floor, and left him. Ever 
 since, these people had been trying to get rid of him. 
 Sometimes, when he begged hard enough, they put a 
 piece of bread in his mouth, and sometimes when he 
 wept and prayed they gave him a little water. They 
 were now consulting together because one had pro- 
 posed to put him out in the woods and let him die 
 there. 
 
 " I have begged these people," said he, "to go to 
 the missionaries and tell them my condition ; but we 
 are pagans and they would not go to you. All these 
 days I have lain here and listened for your footsteps, 
 and hoped that you would come to this house. 
 This morning I said, I shall be dead when they come 
 here. This afternoon they are resolving to put me 
 in the woods." 
 
 We promised these cruel people that if they would 
 let him remain there until we could find a place we 
 would move bin} away and take care of him- This
 
 184 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 was easier said than done. We were several miles 
 from home, but we canvassed that neighborhood until 
 dark trying to rent a shanty where we could lay our 
 patient. They said : 
 
 "He is poison; we dare not let him in." These 
 choice shanties which we could not rent for love nor 
 money were simply rough boards or logs carelessly put 
 together. Finally one man relented, and for a liberal 
 consideration consented to let us have a shed attached 
 to his house ; but it was too late to move the poor man 
 that night. 
 
 The next morning the old Mission horse started for 
 the pagan settlement with a mixed load ; a mattress, 
 bedquilts, sheets and pillowcases, a cook stove, a 
 bag of meal, some pork, a bag of potatoes, a tin dish 
 or two, some boards to nail over the top of the shed 
 to keep the patient from being deluged with rain. 
 While looking up bedding Mrs. Wright's face wore 
 rather a perplexed expression for one moment. 
 
 " How can I spare these bedclothes ! " she ex- 
 claimed. " I never was so short of bedding since 
 I came to the Mission. I actually cannot supply the 
 beds for my family comfortably now." 
 
 " Never mind, auntie dear ! The Lord will provide." 
 
 "Of course he will !" she exclaimed. "Why did 
 I doubt for a moment ? " 
 
 It was not strange that she should feel perplexed,
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 185 
 
 for this was not the first time, nor the second, nor 
 even the third, within two weeks, that we had been 
 obliged to share the clothing upon our beds with the 
 suffering. 
 
 Oh, what a happy, expressive face, what shining, 
 grateful eyes, greeted us from the miserable corner as 
 we told the poor man we had come to take him away ! 
 It was Sabbath morning, but this was surely Sabbath 
 day work. There were several men standing about 
 watching us curiously ; we asked them to make a litter 
 and carry him to the shed which we had prepared for 
 him. They said : 
 
 " We cannot touch him ; we cannot carry him. We 
 shall be poisoned." 
 
 My soul was so filled with indignation at that 
 moment that I felt like shaking the dust from my feet 
 and leaving them forever. Here was a dilemma. We 
 began to think that we should have to carry the man 
 ourselves, when oh, what joy! we saw a wagon 
 passing by containing four of our dear Indian breth- 
 ren of the church. How good their faces looked to us 
 at that moment ! How quickly they understood our 
 trouble ! How promptly they leaped from the wagon, 
 prepared the litter, and under our instructions drew a 
 blanket gently under the afflicted one and lifted him 
 slowly and carefully upon the mattress, which was 
 arranged upon the litter, and gently carried him to the
 
 186 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 shed which we had hired ! With all their care the 
 poor creature groaned with pain at every step. Was 
 it possible that these dear Christian brethren had only 
 a few years before been sunk in the same darkness, 
 superstition, and hardness of heart in which we found 
 these cruel pagans ? 
 
 A week later and our patient lying in a shed, seven 
 feet by nine, upon a bedstead covered by a com- 
 fortable mattress, was much better and very happy. 
 His hand was properly dressed, his system strength- 
 ened by nourishing food, and his sister had consented 
 to become his nurse. This kind of treatment he had 
 never received from his pagan friends. It won him 
 to believe that there must be something in the blessed 
 religion of Jesus, and he delighted to have one of us 
 sit in a chair by the bed and tell him of this won- 
 derful Friend, and sing our hymns, and always offer a 
 prayer by his bedside. 
 
 When we attempted to set up our stove in this little 
 shed we discovered that there was no chimney ; so 
 we made a hole in the side of the house and put the 
 pipe through. It rained, and the rain came pouring 
 through the roof. We induced a man to lay sfabs 
 upon the roof. The wind blew through cracks in the 
 sides of the room, upon which we tacked pieces of 
 old oilcloth. Upon the side opposite the bed I saw 
 a long shelf covered with straw,
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 187 
 
 " This," thought I, " will make a nice place for the 
 dishes and medicines." I commenced pulling down 
 the straw, but my hand was arrested by three indig- 
 nant, motherly hens, each of which anticipated a fine 
 brood of chickens very soon. 
 
 " Let them stay," said the sick man ; " they will be 
 company for me." 
 
 Well, we took care of Moses Crow in that shed one 
 month. That is to say, we went to see him every 
 day, carrying nourishing food to eat, and washing and 
 dressing that terrible hand. This superstitious, igno- 
 rant pagan entered the " Shining Jesus "Way," and 
 found the great love broad enough and deep enough 
 even for him. Almost the first words we heard 
 every day were, " Tell me more about my won- 
 derful Friend." At last the owner of the shed 
 declined to let us have it any longer, and we were 
 obliged to look up another house two miles away, 
 where he was moved with less agony than at the 
 first. 
 
 One day Moses said to me, " My friend, do you 
 think I could learn to read?" 
 
 " I think you could," I said. 
 
 " But how? I have no hands with which to hold 
 the book." 
 
 " I will make a book," said J, " that you can read 
 without hands."
 
 188 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 During that week I printed the English alphabet in 
 large letters upon a big sheet of paper which we used 
 in publishing the Bible and hymn books. This was 
 tacked on the side of the room at the foot of his bed. 
 One chart succeeded another as Moses advanced in 
 the art of learning to read both in English and in his 
 own language. I used to wish that the boys and girls 
 who did not care for school, or books, could see the 
 wistful eagerness with which this poor creature studied 
 his lesson each day. What would he not have given 
 for one small privilege of the schoolboy ! 
 
 One day Moses Crow asked us to invite some of 
 the Indian brethren of the church to his bedside. He 
 had something to tell them. When we were gathered 
 there he said : 
 
 " Brothers, I want to tell you that I believe in Jesus 
 Christ as my Saviour." 
 
 How this public confession touched our hearts ! 
 One brother said : 
 
 " Moses, do you give up paganism?" 
 
 " Wholly," said he. 
 
 " How did you come to give it up ? " 
 
 "Well," said Moses, "this was it. These kind 
 friends who have taken care of me told me of Jesus 
 and their religion. As I lay here all alone so many 
 hours I began to compare it with my pagan religion. 
 I remembered how cruel my pagan friends had treated
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 189 
 
 me in my great trouble. I thought, What could have 
 made these strangers take me in my trouble from that 
 dreadful place, and make me comfortable and take 
 care of me? I said it must be their religion. I said, 
 I want a religion that will make anybody do such a 
 thing as this. They told me many stories about their 
 wonderful friend, Jesus, and what he did and what he 
 said. Then I got to thinking about him, and I kept 
 growing more and more interested. One day I said 
 to myself, ' I will think about my pagan religion to- 
 day, and compare it with this.' It had vanished 
 away ! I could not find it anywhere. This blessed 
 gospel of Jesus had taken its place and filled all my 
 soul." 
 
 " Moses," said another brother, " what will you do 
 with all your past wicked life and the many sins you 
 have committed?" 
 
 " I have left all that with Jesus," said he. 
 
 We gave Moses a little prayer in Indian, which 
 he repeated a great many times every day. "O 
 Christ Jesus, help me to believe in thee every 
 day as my Saviour from sin ! " We wanted Moses 
 to realize that it was not enough to believe that 
 Jesus saved him once a long time ago from sin, 
 or that he was going to save him by-and-by ; we 
 wanted him to believe that he was saved from sin 
 then, every moment, every day, so that he might
 
 190 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 know that peace of God which passeth all under- 
 standing. 
 
 One morning I read to Moses from an Indian 
 Testament the story of the wheat and tares. " I was 
 one of those tares," exclaimed he. " The devil had 
 me. But I belong to Jesus now ; the devil had me 
 long enough, long enough." 
 
 " But, Moses, when you walk about among people 
 again, will you not be tempted to go back to your 
 pagan dances?" 
 
 " No, no ! " said he with great emphasis. " I want 
 to go to meeting ; I want to spend my time with 
 Christian people." 
 
 Captain Richard Matthews, of Boston, became in- 
 terested in the story of this man, and sent him a suit 
 of clothes. In response Moses dictated to him the 
 following letter : 
 
 My dear Friend and Brother, I am very glad to write a few 
 words to such a kind man as you are. I have been in great 
 affliction, greatly pressed down with sickness and distress ; but the 
 Lord has raised me up through the kindness of Christian people, 
 who pitied me in my forlorn condition, taking me into their 
 keeping and nursing me back into life and strength, so that now 
 I walk about on the earth once more. Such treatment as this I 
 have never received from anybody before in my life, and I am 
 grateful to them and to God who made them what they are. 
 
 This wonderful kindness which I received from those who 
 pitied me and lifted me out of my wretchedness caused me to seek 
 after the reason for their actions, and when I found it was Jesus, 
 I wanted Jesus too. So I have repented of my sins, and I have 
 been baptized. Once I was full of the devil, now I am clothed
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 191 
 
 and in my right mind. God used this Christian kindness to cause 
 my mind to take a great leap from paganism to Christ. When 
 you think of me I want you to think of my mind as growing 
 stronger all the time. 
 
 My brother, I feel very grateful to you for the kindness you 
 have shown me. It is strange, it is wonderful, it is something 
 I cannot understand, that you, so far away, should care for my 
 poor body. I can never forget it. I cannot work yet, but I 
 can walk about, and these warm clothes will keep me comfort- 
 able this winter. The boots will protect my feet from the snows, 
 the coat and the vest and the pants will shield me from the 
 chilling winds. Poor Moses Crow, the Indian, can do nothing 
 for you, but his wonderful Friend, Jesus Christ, can, and I 
 shall ask him to bless you always. I think I shall never 
 meet you on this earth, but I know I shall see your face in 
 heaven. 
 
 My brother, I want you to think of me as one whom Jesus has 
 saved, and helped to stand up firmly on the Lord's side. I have 
 given myself to Christ wholly, not for a little time, but for ever. 
 I am satisfied; I am glad and happy all the time. 
 
 "Will you ask those kind ladies who meet at your house to sew 
 and make me some underclothing to wear, to pray for me that I 
 may never fall back into sin and forget what Jesus has done for 
 me? Will you thank them for their kindness to me? 
 
 I love to think of you all, and of the bright place where you 
 live, all lighted up with the gospel. This has been a very dark 
 place, but the light is coming here too. I think about you sailing 
 on the great ocean. That is something I have never seen. Your 
 Indian friend. MOSES CROW. 
 
 The illustrious ancestor of Grandmother Destroy- 
 town is known to history as one who, with a fierce 
 band of warriors, wiped out a small town of pale 
 faces, including men, women, and children, destroy- 
 ing every house with fire. Grandmother Destroy town 
 lived in the woods in an Indian cabin quite a distance 
 from neighbors. She hated the missionaries and their
 
 192 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 religion most cordially, and declared that no mission- 
 ary should ever enter her house. 
 
 I was passing this little cabin one day on horse- 
 back. I saw the poor deluded woman near the 
 house, gathering sticks. My heart went out to her 
 with a great longing that her old age should be illu- 
 mined by the light of the gospel. The door of the 
 cabin stood wide open. For the sake of giving her 
 the blessed message I resolved to disregard her 
 wishes and enter the house. 
 
 Great was the astonishment of the old woman, who 
 had not seen me, when she came to her door to dis- 
 cover a hated white woman, who was also a hated 
 missionary, sitting in her house. I presently gave 
 her the Indian salutation, "I hope it is well with 
 thee, grandmother?" to which she did not respond. 
 
 With a malignant scowl, which has been pictured 
 upon my memory ever since, she passed me, went to 
 the corner of her shanty, took a pail, and went out 
 to the spring. Soon she returned with a pail of water 
 and poured it into a tub. Utterly ignoring me she 
 passed back and forth from the spring to the tub 
 until it was filled with water. I thought, " When the 
 tub is full she will sit down to rest and I will talk 
 with her " ; but when the tub was full she dipped the 
 pail into it, and suddenly threw a pail of water into 
 the middle of the room, and seizing a broom began
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 193 
 
 to scrub her floor. Pailful after pailful was thrown, 
 and in every case aimed at me, until my clothing and 
 feet were drenched with water. Thinking I would 
 not irritate the woman if I kept perfectly quiet, and 
 that she would soon be reconciled to my presence, I 
 did not speak a word. When I could not run the 
 risk of sitting there longer, I said : 
 
 " Well, Grandmother Destroytown, I came here 
 with the hope of making you very happy. I have a 
 message for you ; it is a message of good news from 
 heaven, and I greatly long to give it to you, for it 
 would brighten all your last days. When you look 
 back over your life } r ou remember some things that 
 you wish you could forget. There are stains of sin 
 on your soul. I came to tell you about One who 
 could wash away all those black stains and make 
 your soul white and clean before God. This wonder- 
 ful Being that I came to tell you about loves you more 
 than I can possibly tell you, although you have never 
 cared for him, and feel so bitter in your heart toward 
 his messengers ; but should the time ever come when 
 you want to hear about this wonderful Friend of 
 yours, you may come to me at the Mission House. 
 I shall never come to you again." 
 
 While I stood giving this message I was receiving, 
 as fast as she could throw it at me, the water from 
 her pail. Then I went out and mounted my horse,
 
 194 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 who must have been somewhat surprised at my drip- 
 ping condition, and imagined that he had forgotten 
 some recently forded stream. 
 
 Some months before this episode we had taken into 
 the Mission family two deserted grandchildren of 
 Mrs. Destroytown, who had been converted to the 
 Christian religion, and were children of great promise. 
 
 One day a messenger from Grandmother Destroy- 
 town demanded that we lend these two little girls to 
 her for two days. The first impulse was to deny 
 her request, for, as one of us remarked, "In two 
 days she will undo our work of months." Another 
 said : 
 
 " These children are in the fold. "Will not Christ 
 guard his lambs, and perhaps through them reach the 
 heart of the old pagan woman ? " 
 
 We decided to send them with united prayer that 
 they might now be messengers of the gospel. 
 
 Grandmother Destroytown had prepared an Indian 
 dinner for her guests, and welcomed them with great 
 delight. Could these be the miserable, half-starved 
 creatures that she had cast out and left to perish in 
 the woods nearly a year before ? She looked at their 
 bright faces, plump cheeks, shining eyes, smoothly 
 brushed hair, clean clothes, in astonishment, and was 
 very proud of them. As she was about helping them 
 to the dinner, one of the little girls said :
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 195 
 
 " Stop, grandmother ! Wait ! " 
 
 The child knew that a blessing should be asked as 
 at the Mission table, but having had no experience in 
 this exercise was at a loss how to begin. Suddenly 
 she remembered her little evening prayer. She closed 
 her eyes, and folding her little brown hands, said : 
 
 " Now I lay me down to sleep, 
 I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 
 If I should die before I wake, 
 I pray the Lord my soul to take, , 
 
 And this I ask for Jesus' sake." 
 
 A novel blessing for a noonday meal ; but the little 
 one had done the best she could, and who shall say 
 that her effort was not accepted? As the old woman 
 understood not one word of English, the only impres- 
 sion left upon her mind was the child talking to 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu. During the remainder of the day the 
 little girls played happily together, and the grand- 
 mother greatly enjoyed their childish chat. At night 
 she was preparing to put them to bed upon a couch 
 of skins in the corner when one of them said : 
 
 " Stop, grandmother ! Wait ! " 
 
 They knelt together, and in concert repeated the 
 Lord's Prayer, then clambered upon the couch, and 
 with wide-open eyes watched their grandmother as 
 she moved back and forth about the little cabin, ready 
 for any conversation which she might care to hold 
 with them. She sat down by the open fire and said :
 
 196 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 "Why do you talk so much to Ha-wen-ni-yu ? 
 What are you saying to him ? " 
 
 "Why, grandmother," said the younger, "we 
 belong to Jesus now ; we have given ourselves 
 away to him. We are doing everything we can 
 to please him, and we love him very much and we 
 love to talk to him. He is our wonderful Friend, 
 and he loves us more than anybody else in the 
 world does. We always talk to him before we eat 
 and before we sleep. We try to please him when we 
 study, when we wash the dishes, and when we 
 sweep the floor, and we try to please him when we 
 play." 
 
 She listened attentively, and muttered, " I suppose 
 that is the reason I have not seen you scratch or bite 
 or strike each other to-day." 
 
 The children prattled on to her of their great, 
 loving Friend, and at last said, "Grandmother, will 
 you let us sing you a little hymn?" 
 
 She consented and they sang to her in her own lan- 
 guage the little hymn which we had prepared for the 
 pagans : 
 
 Jesus, I come to thee, pity me! pity me! 
 
 I am a poor sinner, oh, pity me! 
 
 As thou art merciful, 
 
 Thrust not aside my soul, 
 
 Pity me, for I am a poor sinner. 
 
 Only thy precious blood
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 197 
 
 Is able to give me relief. 
 
 According to thy mercy, 
 
 According to thy lovingkindness, 
 
 Wash me in thy blood. 
 
 I am a poor sinner, 
 
 But thou art able to save me. 
 
 When the children finished the song the old grand- 
 mother seemed to have forgotten them entirely as 
 she sat with a far-away look upon her face, gazing 
 into the fire. They soon fell asleep, but she sat there 
 through the long hours of the night, reviewing all her 
 past life in its darkness and ignorance and sin. Here 
 she was, a lonely old woman on the verge of the 
 grave. Had her life been all a mistake? Had she 
 been in error? Were Handsome Lake's teachings 
 a delusion, and might she claim this wonderful 
 Friend of the white man and be cleansed from all 
 sin? She recalled a little verse that one of the 
 children had repeated some time during the clay : 
 " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth me from 
 all sin " ; and the other one had said that if one 
 came to him he should not be thrust aside. The Holy 
 Spirit was doing his work of illumination in that 
 benighted mind. 
 
 The next morning the children came triumphantly 
 into the Mission, leading between them old Grand- 
 mother Destroytown. As I met them she said : 
 
 " I remembered vour words to me that I was to
 
 198 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 come to you if I wanted to hear more about the won- 
 derful Friend. Tell me more now." 
 
 Grandmother Destroytown became a consistent 
 member of the Mission church, and at last died in 
 the triumph of the Christian faith. 
 
 The experience of one day among these pagans will 
 tell the story of many days during the following 
 weeks and months. 
 
 Mrs. Wright and I began this day with a meeting 
 among the Plank Road pagans. Mr. Porcupine was 
 very angry with us the week before because we "in- 
 terfered with the dances." He sat outside in the 
 wind, saying hard things about us, and took a bad 
 cold. To-day he came into the house and said these 
 words: "I have been very angry with you, but my 
 mind has been greatly troubled since you were here 
 last. I am an old man of eighty years. It is time 
 for me to try to understand the new religion. Tell me 
 how one so old can come into the Jesus Way." He 
 listened with great attention while the simple plan 
 of salvation was made known to him. 
 
 We called upon Moses Cornplanter. His young 
 wife, a daughter of Corustalk, was pretty and inter- 
 esting. She looked at us wistfully as though troubled 
 with questionings; Was she reaching out after light?
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 199 
 
 She gave us cordial welcome and said, " I have at- 
 tended your Plank Road meeting twice. It is the 
 first time I have heard of the Jesus Way. I want 
 to know the truth. Have I been taught an error ? " 
 
 Mrs. "Wright explained the "new religion" to her 
 very clearly and read the words of Christ from 
 the Indian Testament. We sang gospel hymns 
 and prayed with her. 
 
 Mr. Cornplanter was not pleased and had left the 
 house. She thanked us for our words and said, " My 
 husband is a pagan, but he is not a bad man he is 
 not cross he does not drink ; but you know the 
 woman must not go ahead. Will you win him so that 
 I may come into the Jesus Way ? I will gladly follow 
 him." 
 
 Our next call was at Silversmith's, to see poor little 
 Jack Pigeon. He was lying upon a board covered 
 with a bit of soiled blanket. A ragged piece of cot- 
 ton cloth was thrown over him. Somebody had 
 placed a spray of green leaves in a crack of the log 
 near his board. He directed our attention to this 
 as something very pleasant. A half-starved young 
 robin, a pet, was hopping about on the rough floor. 
 After ministering to the poor boy, we went out and 
 dug worms for the robin. An old woman covered 
 with rags and dirt watched us with interest and
 
 200 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 expressed surprise that we cared to handle the ugly 
 worms ! 
 
 On our way back through the woods we heard groans 
 from the vicinity of Porcupine's cabin. While climb- 
 ing a fence he had fallen and was badly bruised. 
 With the remedies in our missionary bag we were 
 able to bind up his wounds. After making him as 
 comfortable as possible in his poor cabin, we looked 
 up Mother Big -Tree and coaxed her to act as nurse 
 for a time. The promise of a bright red handker- 
 chief, when Porcupine should become convalescent, 
 reconciled Mrs. Big-Tree to this rather uninviting 
 position. 
 
 On this day Mrs. Big Kettle, who seemed inclined 
 to favor the gospel, had invited us to hold a meeting 
 at her house. Brother Daniel Two-Guns, a member 
 of the mission church, promised to meet us there and 
 give us his assistance. After a drive of five miles we 
 reached the Big Kettle cabin, to find it empty. A 
 neighbor told us that Big Kettle, who was a pagan, 
 was angry, and had taken his wife and the little Big 
 Kettles away. She further made known the fact that 
 he threatened to leave his wife if we held a meeting 
 in his house. Brother Two-Guns had been there, and 
 was now trying to find an open door for us in this
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 201 
 
 neighborhood. We stepped into Mrs. Blacksnake's 
 cabin to await the return of our Christian brother. 
 As soon as we sat down, the woman, with dark looks, 
 began to wash her floor. She ' ' swashed " the water 
 with such vigor that we were well drenched. We went 
 outside and sat upon a log and sang plaintively, 
 "Where, oh, where is our good old Daniel?" 
 
 At last his tall figure emerged from the forest. 
 Without a word he sat down beside us. When ready 
 to report he said that there was no door open to us in 
 this neighborhood, but suggested that we remain upon 
 the log a while and pray and sing there. We were 
 too much chilled with the long waiting in our damp 
 condition, thanks to the Blacksnake deluge, to accept 
 his proposition, and were making arrangements to go 
 home, when Mrs. Johnny John, who was passing, said, 
 " You may have a meeting in my house." 
 
 We promptly accepted this unexpected invitation, 
 and followed the woman a half mile over an indescrib- 
 able trail, making familiar acquaintance with treach- 
 erous holes and stumps. Her house of one room, 
 sixteen feet by seventeen, accommodated three beds, 
 a large stove, red-hot at this time, a table, and 
 a bench. We blew our tin horn and thirty-two 
 people responded to the call and were packed into 
 this small room. A garment, or section of a 
 garment, was tucked into every air hole by which
 
 202 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 broken windows and loose cracks might have been a 
 merciful relief. 
 
 We endured this sense of suffocation and physical 
 discomfort until half-past ten. Each one had some- 
 thing to say for or against the new religion, and it 
 would have been a breach of Indian etiquette, not 
 easily forgiven, to have closed the meeting earlier. 
 Mrs. Wright and I were asked to sing sixteen times. 
 It required more will power each time to open our 
 mouths in that polluted atmosphere. 
 
 At last we started for home. While fording the 
 creek the bottom of our wagon fell into the water and 
 floated down stream. '"We ought," said Mrs. Wright, 
 " to be thankful that the wheels are left, for they will 
 take us home." We had never before appreciated the 
 value of the dashboard, upon which our feet were 
 elevated until we gladly dismounted at the Mission 
 home. 
 
 Four miles from the Mission House, in the woods of 
 the pagan settlement, stood a small frame house, where 
 lived Miss Sylvia P. Joslin, a missionary teacher. 
 There were no flights of stairs in this house of two 
 rooms. On one side of the partition Miss Joslin in- 
 structed all who could be induced to come to her 
 school. On the other side she cooked and ate and 
 slept and read, and prayed for the people for whom
 
 AMONG. THE PAGANS. 203 
 
 she had isolated herself from her world. She had 
 absolutely no companionship but that of these pagans 
 whom she was trying to win for Christ. She worked 
 against terrible ignorance and prejudice, but not with- 
 out results. They did not drive her away and the 
 children became interested in the school. 
 
 It was a blessed custom at the Mission House to 
 send occasionally for these lonely workers at the out- 
 stations, and give them the comfort of a day or two 
 of Christian companionship. It becomes my turn to go 
 for our dear, brave Miss Joslin, and Ruhama stands 
 at the door waiting for me. She is attached to a 
 rickety wagon. An old hen is tied under the seat to 
 be left with a sick man on the way. She is making 
 vigorous efforts to extricate herself and is quite likely 
 to succeed during the miles of travel before her. In 
 front is a basket containing an old cat and kittens for 
 Miss Joslin, the unhappy family being kept in place 
 by a well-ventilated bit of carpet. There are sundry 
 packages to be transferred from the mission larder 
 to that of Miss Joslin beans, pickles, a section of 
 pork, a few vegetables, etc. There is also a bottle 
 of milk and a few flowers from the mission garden. 
 These for a sick woman on the way. Ruhama and 
 I are off. 
 
 How many times I have heard Mrs. Wright say,
 
 204 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 " The greatest need of these Indians is to be set at 
 work. We have preached to them faithfully, we have 
 sent away many young men and women to be trained 
 intellectually, we have looked carefully after their 
 souls ; but with all the training of heart and head, 
 that training of the hand by which the daily bread 
 must be provided has been neglected. The best way 
 to help anybody, white man or Indian, is to teach 
 him how to help himself. These Indian men should 
 be Christian carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, and 
 these Indian women should be Christian housekeep- 
 ers, needlewomen, laundresses. These boys and girls 
 should learn how to be Christian workers skilled in all 
 the trades." 
 
 After many exhortations to the missionaries and 
 Missionary Board in this matter, Mrs. Wright re- 
 solved to make the experiment herself, of industrial 
 work among the pagan women, who with their hus- 
 bands were far behind the Christians in every respect, 
 being deplorably poor and improvident. One day, 
 with the aid of a good dinner, she brought a com- 
 pany of these women together, and providing them 
 with cotton cloth, flannel, and calico, she gave them 
 their first lessons in cutting and making clothing for 
 themselves and their families. While busily at work 
 with their needles she gave them first the Word of 
 God ; then needful lessons in the matter of house-
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 205 
 
 keeping, bringing up children, etc. This was the 
 beginning of weekly meetings of this character. 
 There was usually an opposition gathering outside, 
 who amused themselves in holding up to ridicule those 
 within. As the number of workers increased they 
 were much cramped for room. 
 
 At this time Hon. E. P. Smith, of Washington, 
 Commissioner of Indian Affairs, visited the Reserva- 
 tion. He became interested in this effort of Mrs. 
 Wright, and said : 
 
 "You must have more room. If you will secure 
 a piece of land, you shall have a house for your indus- 
 trial class." 
 
 This greatly alarmed the pagan leaders, who 
 shrewdly said, " This sewing is* a ruse to break 
 down our religion. If this house goes up, our reli- 
 gion will go down. We will not give a foot of land 
 in this settlement to set that house on." 
 
 They warned Mrs. Wright threateningly to stop the 
 work. After a year of waiting, one brave man, a 
 pagan, came boldly forward and gave the land for 
 the house, which, strange to say, was built without 
 further molestation. Besides the industrial class it 
 has been used for Sunday-schools, temperance meet- 
 ings, and Christmas festivals. 
 
 Mrs. Wright's next step in the plan for the women 
 was to teach them to make garments for sale, and
 
 206 LIFE AMONG THE IHOQUOIS. 
 
 with the money thus obtained buy more material ; but 
 the prices paid for the garments were so low that this 
 did not prove a financial success. The women, how- 
 ever, had become thoroughly interested and imbued 
 with the healthful fascination of earning something, 
 and were clamorous for more work. 
 
 At this crisis Mrs. Wright was able to secure em- 
 ployment from the Indian Department at "Washington, 
 consisting of coats of duck, and red flannel shirts 
 for the western tribes. The government promised 
 to purchase these if she would make them, but 
 could not advance the necessary funds for ma- 
 terial. In her anxiety to secure work for the 
 women she accepted the offer, borrowing the money 
 to purchase material for six hundred and fifty 
 garments. 
 
 Such was the desire to do this work that many 
 women came miles to get it, some of these poor crea- 
 tures wading a stream in midwinter rather than lose 
 the opportunity. Several women took machines and 
 learned how to use them, hoping to be able to pay 
 for them in work. This was a welcome season to the 
 women, but a season of great anxiety to their mis- 
 sionary who had incurred a debt of eight hundred 
 dollars. This, however, she was able to pay when, 
 after many weeks, the government paid her for the 
 garments.
 
 CORN PLANTER.
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 207 
 
 This matter of gospel industrial education is the 
 one step by which as a nation we may right a great 
 wrong in the black records of our dealings with the 
 Indian race. 
 
 Allusion has been made to the pagan prophet. His 
 name was Handsome Lake, and he was a half-brother 
 of the famous warrior Cornplauter. Through his con- 
 stant companions, Blue-Eyes, Big-Tree, and two or 
 three others, the following particulars are well known 
 concerning this curious Indian prophet. He was born 
 in 1735, and had been a very dissipated man. One 
 day, after a long illness, he lay upon his bed of skins 
 very near death. His daughter, who was ministering 
 to him, had stepped to the door to welcome some 
 friends, when she heard a groan and sprang back in 
 season to see her father fall upon the floor. With 
 help she placed him upon the bed. 
 
 He opened his eyes and exclaimed, " I heard a 
 voice. It said, ' Come out here.' I started to go and 
 I saw three persons close by the door. They were 
 shining ones. No man ever looked as they did. 
 They were covered with a glory. Their faces were 
 painted a little as we paint our faces. They said, 
 ' The Good Ruler has sent us to you ; we have come 
 to call you; there were four of us when we started, 
 but one has gone back to the Happy Home beyond
 
 208 LIFE AMONG THE IKOQUOI8. 
 
 the Setting Sun, where we live. It was important 
 that he be present at a great dance there to-day. 
 You will see him by-and-by. You expect to die 
 soon. You have begged Ha-wen-ni-yu to spare your 
 life. You have promised that if he does this you 
 will repent of your bad life, and hereafter live a 
 new life. Ha-wen-ni-yu hears your prayers and your 
 promise. At noon to-morrow you shall be perfectly 
 restored. At that hour throw away your medicine.' 
 '"The Bright One handed me a strawberry vine 
 covered with the fruit, and said, ' Eat it and be well.' 
 Let Dry Mush and his wife take you into the woods 
 and kindle a fire and care for you ; but let no other 
 person be near, or see you for three days. Then call 
 the people together, and we will come to you with the 
 message of Ha-wen-ni-yu for the people.' " 
 
 Handsome Lake obeyed these orders, and in three 
 days called the people together and gave the heavenly 
 message as he declared it was given to him by the 
 Bright Ones at his side, who were visible to him 
 alone. 
 
 "The Good Ruler," said he,- " is displeased with 
 you. You do many things of which he disapproves. 
 He will now, through these Bright Ones who are with 
 me, and for whom I interpret, make known to you his 
 will. You have four great sins of which you must 
 repent :
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 209 
 
 "1. You drink too much fire water. You may 
 drink one cup of fire water in the morning, one at 
 noon, one at night. This is all. 
 
 "2. You sin in permitting witches among your peo- 
 ple. Ha-wen-ni-yu is displeased at this. You must 
 repent. 
 
 "3. You break up your families too easily. Ha- 
 wen-ni-yu wishes you to live with your families and 
 take care of them. Death only must separate you. 
 If you leave your families and get other families 
 three times, you will not be admitted to the Happy 
 Home hereafter. 
 
 "4. You sing tunes from other nations at your 
 dances. These are poison. You may dance again 
 and have the kettles boiled, but repent of this." 
 
 The Bright One then made a personal remark to 
 Handsome Lake, but we are not told that he made it 
 known to the assembled multitude. It was this : 
 "There are some things which you yourself must re- 
 pent of if you are to be a prophet to this people. 
 You must not sing at the dances for the dead. It is 
 not right." 
 
 " And now," continued the Bright One, "you may 
 tell the people what will please Ha-wen-ni-yu. 
 
 "1. You must give of your abundance to those who 
 lack substance. 
 
 "2. You who have no children must take an orphan
 
 210 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 child, and give it the same care and love you would 
 your own. 
 
 "3. If you tie up the strings of the clothes of an 
 orphan child, Ha-wen-ni-yu will notice it and reward 
 you. 
 
 "4. If a stranger comes to your people, welcome 
 him to your home, be hospitable to him, speak kind 
 words to him, and always mention the Good Ruler, 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu." 
 
 Then the Bright One spoke to Handsome Lake, and 
 said : 
 
 " What do you see ? " 
 
 He said, " I see a man bringing a load of meat, and 
 he gives some of it to every person he meets." 
 
 Then said the Bright One, " Learn the lesson. 
 This man is blessed ; this is pleasing to the Good 
 Ruler ; he loves those who are bountiful, but he 
 is displeased with the covetous man. When that 
 man dies he cannot get away. His covetousness 
 sticks to him and is heavy upon him and holds 
 him down, so that he cannot rise toward the Happy 
 Home. 
 
 " Those who have charge of the amusements here 
 will be taken out of the hands of death, and will lead 
 .the amusements in the Happy Home. 
 
 "Those who dance here will also dance in the 
 Happy Home ; but those who neglect tLie dances here
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 211 
 
 will not be happy there, for they will not be permitted 
 to dance there. 
 
 "Again, you say, 'Oh! the whiskey is not bad. 
 It touches our food. It is made of our corn.' Go to 
 the council house. Put half the people on one side, 
 and give them whiskey. Put half the people on the 
 other side, and give them bread. You will notice the 
 difference. Those who drink will fight. Those who 
 eat the corn bread will go peaceably away." 
 
 After this great meeting, in which Handsome Lake 
 assured the people that the Bright Ones, or angels, 
 had given him all these words, he published to all the 
 people that he was inspired ; that the Good Ruler had 
 given him supernatural gifts, and that he was to give 
 them a new revelation. 
 
 He claimed to have been taken in a vision to the 
 Happy Home beyond the Setting Sun. It was filled 
 with Indians. The white people were all shut out. 
 George Washington was permitted to look into this 
 paradise from afar, because he had been kind to the 
 Indians. 
 
 He claimed also to have visited the House of Tor- 
 ment. There he saw a drunken Indian. The Evil- 
 Minded was pouring a cup of boiling lead down his 
 throat ; the flame burst from his mouth, as he 
 screamed with agony. There were a great many 
 kettles of boiling lead, into which people were
 
 212 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 plunged, who kept moving up and down with the 
 boiling liquid. There were many who were being 
 tormented by a red-hot iron. 
 
 "When a man died, if he had obeyed the prophet, 
 he would go directly to the Happy Home by a narrow 
 path. If he had not obeyed him, he had to take a 
 long, crooked road, which led him through the various 
 punishments of the House of Torment. He saw an 
 Indian there who had been in the habit of beating his 
 wife. He was obliged to beat a red-hot statue, and 
 the sparks continually flew out and burned him. 
 
 Those who had sold fire water to the Indians had 
 the flesh eaten from their arms. Those who sold land 
 to white people would be forever employed in remov- 
 ing mountains of sand, grain by grain. 
 
 Lazy women would be employed in pulling up weeds 
 in a large field of corn, which would immediately grow 
 again. 
 
 There was an appropriate punishment also for those 
 who were unkind to the aged or children. 
 
 The new prophet went from house to house, from 
 village to village, telling of his visions and revela- 
 tions, and the Indians believed in him. 
 
 One day, as Handsome Lake stood before a great 
 assembly of people, he saw David Half town passing 
 by. He said, "There goes a perfect man. He 
 pleases Ha-wen-ni-yu in all the dances and amuse-
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 213 
 
 ments. He will have a high place in the other 
 world." 
 
 Just then the Bright Ones said to him, "Look into 
 the other world ; what do you see ? " 
 
 "I see Red Jacket." 
 
 "What is he doing?" 
 
 " He is wheeling a load of dirt back and forth." 
 
 "Well," said the angels, "so will it be with him 
 forever, because he sold the lands of his people." 
 
 When the Quakers came to the Reservation and 
 wished to teach the children, the people asked Hand- 
 some Lake what they should do. After a vision he 
 told them that the Good Ruler was willing that the 
 Quakers should do as they pleased, because they had 
 always befriended the Indians ; and so the Quakers 
 were among the first to start schools among them. 
 
 One day the angels took Handsome Lake to see 
 what befell those who did not obey his teachings. He 
 saw a rope and fetters, and a prison with stone walls. 
 "These things," said the angels, "are for those who 
 do not listen to your preaching." 
 
 Cornplanter, a chief of great power among the 
 Senecas, had two children who were taken ill. Not- 
 withstanding all the boasted power of the prophet 
 Handsome Lake, both children died. Cornplanter was 
 furious, and said, " How is this? If you were a true 
 prophet, you could have saved my children. I will have
 
 214 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 nothing more to do with you ! " and he drove him and 
 his followers away from that settlement. From this 
 time the power of the pagan prophet began to wane. 
 
 The climax came when he told the people that there 
 was a monstrous serpent a foot underground, on the 
 road to Buffalo. It would be a dreadful thing if this 
 awful serpent should come above ground and devour 
 them all. But by his powers he could hold him in 
 check. Some of the people said, "We will take our 
 shovels and dig for this monster and kill it ! " but he 
 solemnly warned them that the most disastrous conse- 
 quences would attend any such excavation. 
 
 Old Sun Fish stood up before the prophet and said, 
 " I believe you are lying to us. I will take my snow 
 shovel and dig him out if he is there." 
 
 After this test they applied other tests to his state- 
 ments, and many left him. Yet there were others 
 who followed him to the end ; and there are even now 
 those who believe in the divine mission of Handsome 
 Lake, and who earnestly exhort the pagans to heed 
 his instructions. 
 
 Old Silverheels. a pagan, appeared at the Mission 
 House one day and said, " A messenger tells me that 
 the lady from the land of the rising sun [Boston] 
 likes to listen to the story of our race. Would she 
 like to hear about our feasts ? "
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 215 
 
 Of course she would ! But she was not to be grati- 
 fied until the body of Silverheels should be nourished 
 by the white man's bread and his spirit comforted by 
 his favorite tobacco. When these important prelimi- 
 naries had been suitably adjusted he was ready to 
 begin. His statements were as follows : 
 
 " My people have six festivals, in which we thank 
 the Good Ruler, Ha-wen-ni-yu, for the maple tree 
 which gives us its sweet water and our sugar ; for the 
 wonderful strawberry and for the green corn. At 
 the New Year's feast we thank him for all his gifts. 
 We have also the big feather and medicine feasts. 
 Certain people are elected as ' keepers of the faith,' 
 and they always get up the feast. We always dance 
 at our feasts, because it is pleasing to Ha-wen-ni-yu. 
 We used to have thirty-two dances, and we believe 
 that we shall dance in the Happy Home beyond the 
 Setting Sun, and have strawberries to eat every day, 
 and so we thank Ha-wen-ni-yu for the strawberries." 
 
 The strawberry feast in old times consisted entirely 
 of the wild fruit eaten with maple sugar in bark 
 trays. Before partaking, the leader returned thanks 
 for the people to Ha-wen-ni-yu, and also to the earth, 
 water, air, and fire, for the special blessings given by 
 each. 
 
 " At the green corn festival we thanked Ha-wen- 
 ni-yu for the corn, beans, and squashes. But the
 
 216 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 New Year's festival was our great festival and is 
 so to this day. 
 
 At the maple festival, in old times, the leader made 
 this speech : 
 
 Friends: The Sun, the ruler of the day, is high in his path, 
 and we must hasten to our duty. We are here to observe an 
 ancient custom handed down by our forefathers, and given to 
 them by the Good Ruler, Ha-wen-ni-yu. He requires us to give 
 thanks for the blessings we receive. We will be faithful to this 
 command. 
 
 Friends: The maple is yielding its sweet waters. We join in 
 thanksgiving to the maple, and also to Ha-wen-ni-yu, who made 
 this tree for the good of the red man. 
 
 The services of the day were closed with the 
 " great feather dance." 
 
 "When we addressed the Good Ruler directly we 
 threw tobacco on the fire that our words might ascend 
 to him on the incense. We never used incense at any 
 other time. The leader would say : 
 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu, listen now to our words. The smoke of our 
 offering arises. Listen to our words as they arise to thee in smoke. 
 We thank thee for the sweet water of the maple. We thank thce 
 for the return of the planting season. Let our corn and beans and 
 squashes grow. Ha-wen-ni-yu I continue to listen, for the smoke 
 yet arises [throwing on tobacco]. Preserve us from pestilential 
 diseases. Preserve our old men, and protect our young. Ha-won- 
 ni-yu! thou dost love thy people and hate their enemies. Thou 
 hast given us the panther's heart, the eagle's eye, the moose's foot, 
 and the cunning of the fox ; but to our enemies thou hast given 
 the eye of the owl in daylight, the foot of the turtle, the heart of 
 woman, and the stupid brain of the bear in winter.
 
 And whene'er some lucky maiden 
 Found a red ear in the husking, 
 "Nushka! you shall have a sweetheart."
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 217 
 
 At a time of drought they called a council, and 
 prayed to Heno, the Thunderer, for rain : 
 
 " Heno, our grandfather, hear us ! Listen to our 
 words. We feel grieved, our minds are troubled. 
 Come and give us rain, that the earth may not 
 dry up, and refuse to support the life of thy grand- 
 children." 
 
 " Silverheels," said I, "why didn't they call on 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu for rain?" 
 
 " Because the heart of Heno, the Great Thunderer, 
 would be more easily touched by the pitiful cry of his 
 suffering grandchildren than by an order from the 
 Great Ruler." 
 
 When the Indian told us that the green corn feast 
 consisted of succotash, a soup of corn and beans 
 boiled together, our pride in this purely Yankee dish 
 received a shock. It is centuries old and we received 
 it from the Indian ! Mr. Silverheels begged for a 
 short recess that he might indulge in that custom of 
 the white man known as "a smoke," and thus gain 
 inspiration to tell us of the most wonderful feast and 
 dance of all : 
 
 THE NEW TEAK'S FEAST AND THE WHITE DOG DANCE. 
 
 After the " smoke " the old man stretched himself 
 upon the bearskin in front of the fireplace, and fell 
 asleep. Not being possessed of that troublesome
 
 218 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 reminder, a watch, and unburdened in mind as to 
 "appointments" or "business engagements," he 
 slumbered on, knowing from past experience of 
 missionary hospitality that he was welcome to the 
 bearskin and the floor for the night, should he 
 choose to occupy it. The fact that the members of 
 the family, passing back and forth upon household 
 errands, were obliged to step over his prostrate form 
 did not in the least disturb his repose. 
 
 "All things come to him who waits," and at last 
 the Indian veteran pronounced himself ready to speak 
 of the exciting scenes of the " white dog dance." 
 
 " This festival," said he, " in old times lasted nine 
 days. The week before, two grotesque-looking per- 
 sons called at every house with a message. They were 
 dressed in bearskins fastened about their heads with 
 wreaths of corn husks, and falling loosely over the 
 body or girdled about the loins. Their arms and 
 wrists were ornamented with wreaths of husks, and in 
 their hands they held corn poundei's. Upon entering 
 a house they knocked upon the floor to commaud 
 silence, and then said these words : 
 
 "'Listen! listen! listen! The ceremonies which 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu commands are about to commence. Pre- 
 pare your houses. Clear away the rubbish. Drive 
 out all evil animals. Should your friend be taken sick 
 and die, we command you not to mourn nor allow
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 219 
 
 your friends to mourn. Lay the body aside. When 
 the ceremonies are over we will mourn with you.' 
 
 ' ' After a song of thanksgiving the messengers 
 departed, to repeat this ceremony in every house." 
 
 " Did they actually obey the command to lay aside 
 a dead body nine days for this feast ? " 
 
 " Yes. If any one died during the festival, the 
 body was put away and no evidence of sorrow was 
 visible until afterward, and then the funeral rites 
 were performed as though he had just died. 
 
 " On the first day of the feast, a white dog 'with- 
 out spot or blemish' was chosen and strangled, that 
 no blood should be shed or bones broken. The body 
 was painted with spots of red and decorated with 
 feathers. Around the feet were wound strings of 
 wampum and beads. The dog was then fastened to 
 the top of a pole, about twenty feet from the ground, 
 where he remained until the fifth day. Then they 
 built an altar of wood, upon which the body of the 
 dog was laid and burned. As they did this the great 
 thanksgiving address was made, and tobacco was con- 
 stantly thrown upon the fire that the prayer might 
 ascend in the clouds of smoke : 
 
 " ' Hail ! Ha-wen-ni-yu ! hail ! Listen with an open 
 ear to the words of thy people.' (Throwing on more 
 tobacco.) ' Continue to listen. Give us zeal and 
 fidelity to celebrate the sacred ceremonies which thou
 
 220 LIFE AMONG THE IKOQUOIS. 
 
 hast given to us. We thank thee that we still live. 
 We thank our Mother Earth which sustains us. We 
 thank the Rivers for the fish. We thank the Herbs 
 and Plants of the earth. We thank the Bushes and 
 Trees for Fruit. We thank the Winds which have 
 banished disease. We thank our Grandfather Heno 
 for the rain. We thank the Moon and Stars which 
 give us light when the Sun has gone to rest. We 
 thank the Sun for the warmth and light by day. 
 Keep us from evil ways that the Sun may never hide 
 his face from us for shame and leave us in darkness. 
 We thank thee, O mighty Ha-wen-ni-yu, our Creator 
 and our Good Ruler. Thou canst do no evil. Every- 
 thing that thou doest is for our happiness.' 
 
 "During this feast there were social hours, and 
 times for games. On one day all the people went 
 into each other's houses, each one carrying a wooden 
 shovel, with which the ashes upon the hearth were 
 stirred and scattered, while invoking a blessing upon 
 the household. 
 
 " They were allowed to enter the houses and secure 
 something for a feast without detection. If detected, 
 they must give up the article and try again. Another 
 amusement at this time was guessing dreams. They 
 had a great variety of games during the week. 
 
 "The war dance, which was a part of this festival, 
 is something which I cannot make you see. I have
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 221 
 
 no words. They acted war. The war song was sung 
 which aroused all the fire of the young warriors and 
 then the arrows flew thick and fast, the tomahawk was 
 lifted, the dead and dying were upon the battlefield, 
 the scalps were taken ; and then you could hear the 
 shout of victory and the dirge for the slain. It was 
 all done by various devices of paint, false scalps, etc., 
 but it appeared very real and was terribly exciting. 
 
 "You cannot understand," said the old man with 
 kindling face, " what a joyful time it was. Nobody 
 knew any trouble during those nine days." 
 
 " Silverheels," said I, "do tell us about the Medi- 
 cine Feast." 
 
 " Listen ! ** said the old man. " There is a wonder- 
 ful medicine used by the Iroquois Indians, which they 
 believe will restore a man even though shot through 
 the body, if he can have it in season. They tell us 
 that this medicine is composed of a little of the flesh 
 and blood and fiber of every animal and every herb 
 on this continent. It is prepared by special medicine 
 men, and I will tell you its origin. 
 
 " Many, many years ago, a Seneca was killed by 
 some of the southern Indians while upon the war- 
 path. He was shot with an arrow through the body, 
 and left in the woods near the trail. He had been a 
 great hunter, but it was his habit to take only the skin 
 of the animal, leaving the flesh for the wolves and
 
 222 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 wild bears to eat. As he lay dead upon the ground 
 there came along a wolf who looked upon the dead 
 man with sorrow, and set up a wail which called all 
 the wild animals about him. He then addressed 
 them : - 
 
 " ' Can we not in our united wisdom bring this dead 
 man to life, who has been our best friend by always 
 killing the larger animals and leaving their flesh for 
 us to eat?' 
 
 " The eagle, vulture, bear, and all flesh-eating ani- 
 mals said, ' We will try.' 
 
 " So they set themselves to work to prepare a 
 medicine. Each one was to furnish the most potent 
 remedy with which he was acquainted. An acorn cup 
 contained the whole when it was finished. This they 
 poured down the throat of the dead man. Then they 
 sang to him, each one with his peculiar note, while the 
 birds fanned him with their wings. All night long 
 they surrounded him, making the best efforts they 
 could to restore him. In the morning they discovered 
 some warmth about the heart and the question was 
 raised, 'Who will go after the scalp which the enemy 
 has taken from him ? ' 
 
 " After much discussion the chicken hawk offered 
 to reclaim it. He flew with great speed, soon arriving 
 at the enemy's camping ground. He saw the scalp 
 of his friend stretched on a hoop with many others,
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 223 
 
 suspended on a pole and painted red. The whole 
 settlement were dancing about it and rejoicing over 
 their victory. He seized it with his beak, flew back, 
 and found the man sitting up and almost well. They 
 soaked the scalp until it was soft and then fitted it 
 upon his head. They then taught this man how to 
 make the wonderful medicine which had restored him 
 to life, and which they named Ga-ni-gah-ah (a little 
 liquid). And this is the origin of our famous medi- 
 cine which will restore the dead to life if taken in 
 season. 
 
 " In our day this medicine is made into a very fine 
 powder. Then some one takes a cup and goes to the 
 brook, fills it, dipping toward the way the water runs, 
 and sets it near the fire. A prayer is offered while 
 tobacco is thrown upon the fire, so that the words may 
 ascend with the smoke. The medicine is placed upon 
 a piece of skin near the cup, then taken up with a 
 wooden spoon and dusted upon the water in three 
 places in spots in the form of a triangle. If the 
 medicine spreads itself over the surface of the water 
 and wheels about, it is'a sign that the invalid will be 
 healed. If it sinks directly, there is no hope the 
 sick person will die, and the whole is thrown away." 
 " But what about the medicine feast?" 
 " The white woman pushes me," said Silverheels, 
 somewhat annoyed. " I am preparing her mind to
 
 224 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 understand the feast. The medicine feast is held at 
 the hunting time. As soon as it is dark on the night 
 of the feast, all those who are permitted to attend shut 
 themselves in one room without light or fire. The 
 embers are covered, the medicine is placed near them, 
 and the tobacco by its side. Then they begin to sing 
 something which proclaims that the crow and other 
 animals whose brains form the medicine are coming to 
 the feast. At the end of the song, the ' caw ' of the 
 crow, the howl of the wolf, etc., are imitated. Three 
 times in the course of the night prayer is offered, while 
 throwing tobacco upon the smothered flames. They 
 pray that the medicine may heal the sick and wounded. 
 Through the night the door has been locked, and no 
 one has been allowed to enter or leave the house, or to 
 sleep, as this would spoil the medicine. 
 
 " Just before dawn the leader takes a deer's head, 
 and biting off a piece, passes the head to another, who 
 does the same, until all have tasted. A little later the 
 leader takes a duck's bill, and, dipping it full of the 
 medicine, gives it to each one present, who puts it in 
 a bit of skin, and wrapping it in several coverings 
 keeps it carefully until the next feast. The skin of 
 the panther is preferred. Those who take part in 
 these ceremonies are medicine men. These medicine 
 men add pulverized roots of corn and squashes and 
 bean vines to the original powder.
 
 AMONG THE PAGANS. 225 
 
 " Perhaps you have been told," said old Silverheels, 
 " that the Indian knows more about the healing herbs 
 than any other race ? " 
 
 " How can it be?" I asked skeptically. 
 
 " I will tell you," said the Indian, " as my grand- 
 father told me. An Indian hunter went forth to hunt. 
 Suddenly he heard a strain of beautiful music. He 
 listened, but could not tell whence it came. He knew 
 it was not from any human voice. When he thought 
 he was approaching the sound it ceased. 
 
 " Then came Ha-wen-ni-yu to him in a dream and 
 said, ' Wash yourself until you are purified ; then go 
 forth and you will again hear the music.' 
 
 " So he purified himself, and went into the thickest 
 woods, and soon his ear caught the sweet strains, and 
 as he drew near they became more beautiful. Then 
 he saw that the wonderful music came from a plant 
 with a tall green stem and tapering leaves. He cut 
 the stalk, but it immediately healed and became as 
 before. He cut it again, and again it healed. Then 
 he knew it would heal diseases. He took it home, 
 dried it by the fire, and pulverized it. When applied 
 to a dangerous wound it no sooner touched the flesh 
 than it was made whole. Thus Ha-wen-ni-yu taught 
 the Indian the nature of medicinal plants, and from 
 that time has directed him where they are to be 
 found."
 
 '2'2 6 LOT AMONG THE IBOQVOIS. 
 
 4 " Minnie Myrtle *' was our guest at the Mission 
 House many weeks, while she studied these ludiaus 
 and at the same time wrote 4 * The Iroquois," from 
 materials which we secured for her. She says : 
 
 When we read that the Indian ornamented himself 
 with the husks of his favorite maize and went from 
 house to house with a basket to gather offerings from 
 the people, we call it heathenish and barbarous, while 
 the story of Ceres, the goddess of corn, whose head 
 was surrounded with sheaves and who holds in her 
 hand a hoe and basket, is picturesque and beautiful ! 
 
 " We listen to the Indian story of the woman in the 
 moon, who is constantly employed in weaving a net, 
 which a cat ravels whenever she sleeps, and that the 
 world is to come to an end when the net is finished : 
 and we say Ridiculous I * But the story of Penelope 
 weaving her purple web by day to be raveled by 
 night, during the prolonged absence of her husband, 
 Ulysses, is a conception worthy of being expanded 
 into a poem of a thousand lines and translated into 
 all languages!"
 
 WHEN the white people asked the Iroquoi* for bad eaoogh to 
 stretch themselves upon, they romtuftd to give them tint modi; 
 but discovering after a time that the strip wa* a mile long they 
 remonstrated, saying, " Why ! do you not know tint we, the 
 Iroquois, are so powerful that if an enemy attempts to 
 pOMeesion of our territory, we need not to raise our whole 
 against him 5- One finger would destroy him 1 "
 
 Such ;is these the shapes they painted 
 Oil the birch bark and the deerskin. 
 
 Longfellow's Hiawatha.
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 
 
 ON long winter evenings Mrs. Wright and I 
 sometimes joined a group of Indians gathered 
 about the open fire while the oldest warrior related the 
 historic legends of their race, as handed down through 
 the centuries from fathers and fathers' fathers, and, 
 strange to say, with very slight variation. Will the 
 reader join the group this evening and listen to old 
 "Squire Johnson," who is approaching his hundredth 
 year, with eye and ear and memory unimpaired. I do 
 not know the origin of his English name, but it was 
 probably given him by some friendly white man. He 
 is a member of the Mission church a consistent and 
 devoted Christian. He lives alone in a small cabin 
 on the shore of Lake Erie. At dawn every Sabbath 
 morning he may be seen starting for the Mission 
 church, seven miles away, to which he regularly walks, 
 through cold, heat, rain, or snow, for the all-day serv- 
 ice, returning to his lonely cabin at night to praise 
 God for the privilege. 
 
 This evening he will take us back to the creation, 
 as the story has been handed down to him by his
 
 230 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 ancestors, and bring us gradually down to the present 
 age.' He speaks no English, and the story loses much 
 of its vividness in the translation. Will he be able 
 to throw any light upon the mysterious origin of this 
 strange race? 
 
 "I will tell you first," he remarks serenely, "the 
 origin of good and evil. 
 
 " At one time there was no earth, and all this world 
 was one immense lake, in which great multitudes of 
 water animals amused themselves after their own 
 fashion of diving and playing in the water. It is 
 well known that at that time these animals had the 
 gift of language. 
 
 "One day a duck, who was possessed of uncom- 
 mon intelligence, cried out, ' Some strange being is 
 coming down to us from the sky ! ' A council of 
 waterfowls was called at once to decide what should 
 be done to prepare for this being who might not be 
 fitted for life in the water. One duck said, ' I will 
 dive, and find out if there is any bottom to our lake, 
 which may be brought up for this purpose.' After 
 some time she came to the surface, shot into the 
 air, and fell back lifeless. The struggle had been too 
 great for her strength. Several others made the same 
 attempt with similar results. At last a muskrat said, 
 ' I will try.' He came to the surface dead, but with 
 a little earth in his claw. This encouraged others to
 
 THE MYSTEBIOUS PAST. 231 
 
 renewed effort, and many were successful in bringing 
 up small quantities of earth. At the suggestion of 
 their chief, this soil was placed upon the back of a 
 turtle, who expressed his willingness to become the 
 foundation of an island. Although small at first, the 
 turtle grew, and finally became the foundation of the 
 great continent of North America. 
 
 "The mysterious object in the sky was coming 
 more clearly into view, and at length the waterfowls, 
 flying upward to meet it, found it to be a woman. 
 They received her upon their outspread wings and 
 landed her safely upon the earth. She began at once 
 to explore her new island, and noticed that it took 
 a longer time every day to walk around it. By this 
 she knew it was growing in size. In course of time, 
 the woman from the sky gave birth to twin boys, one 
 of whom, the principle of good, was named Ha-wen- 
 ni-yu, the Good Ruler ; the other, the principle of 
 evil, was named the Evil-Minded. 
 
 " Immediately after the birth of these boys the 
 mother died. Ha-wen-ni-yu, the Good Ruler, said, 
 ' I will take my mother's face and make a sun ; her 
 shining eyes shall give light to the whole earth. Of 
 her body I will make the moon.' Thus was the light 
 of day and night established. From that part of the 
 earth where the beautiful mother died there gi'ew corn, 
 beans, and squashes, the favorite vegetables of the 
 Indians.
 
 232 LIFE AMONG THE IliOQUOIS. 
 
 "Thus far, there had been no plant or tree on the 
 earth. ' Let the grass grow ! ' said Ha-wen-ni-yu, 
 and at once the earth was made beautiful with the 
 green grass. He then made the red willow grow on 
 the wet lands and other trees and bushes for the dry 
 land. He soon covered the island with beautiful 
 flowers and herbs and trees and grains and vegeta- 
 bles, and many useful animals. It gave him great 
 joy to do this. He also placed on the island many 
 good people whom he loved. 
 
 " When the evil-minded brother saw how powerful 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu was in producing beautiful and useful 
 things, he was filled with envy, and began to thwart 
 him in the good work by trying to spoil everything he 
 had made. He even desired to kill him, but did not 
 know how. One day he asked : 
 
 " ' What would be fatal to you ? ' 
 
 " Ha-wen-ni-yu replied : ' Perhaps the cat-tail flags, 
 whose leaves are so sharp; would kill me if I were 
 pierced by them.' 
 
 " So the Evil-Minded took a bundle of the long 
 leaves and thrust at him, but they only bent double. 
 They would not harm him. 
 
 " ' What do you fear most of all things?' 
 
 " ' The deer's horn,' answered Ha-wen-ni-yu ; ' it is 
 so hard and sharp.' 
 
 "Then the Evil-Minded found a cast-off deer's horn
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 233 
 
 and tried to thrust at him, and chased him a long way 
 in the woods. 
 
 "At last Ha-wen-ni-yu rebuked him sharply, and 
 said, ' You must stop this bad work. You must no 
 longer spoil the good things I have made. Look at 
 this crab apple ! Taste of its juice ! Look at these 
 poisonous plants, these hideous reptiles, and these 
 cruel animals which you have made. If you do not 
 stop, I must punish you, for I have the power. I shall 
 not destroy you ; but I shall shut you up in darkness 
 beneath the earth, with the hedgehog and other ani- 
 mals who shun the light.' 
 
 "The Evil-Minded replied, 1 1 have as much power 
 as you, and can make as beautiful and useful things 
 if I wish.' 
 
 " ' Try and see,' said Ha-wen-ni-yu ; ' make a 
 useful dish.' 
 
 "The Evil-Minded went to work and made a very 
 good-looking dish ; but when water was put into it, it 
 fell to pieces. It was useless. 
 
 " Then Ha-wen-ni-yu took of the sand and clay and 
 formed a dish. He dipped water in it and set it down. 
 The dish was whole and useful. 
 
 "One day Ha-wen-ni-yu was walking about his 
 island, and he met some giants clothed in stone. 
 They were the first people that lived here, even before 
 the great lake was here. We do not know how they
 
 234 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 came, nor when. One day, Ha-wen-ni-yu met a 
 strange man walking about by himself. Ha-wen-ni-yu 
 spoke to him pleasantly, and asked him who he 
 was. ' I am He-no, the Thundei'er,' said he, ' and I 
 should like to be employed by you in some great 
 work.' 
 
 " ' What can you do? ' asked Ha-wen-ni-yu. 
 
 " ' I can wash the whole island,' said he. 
 
 " * Very well,' said the Good Ruler ; ' that would 
 indeed be a good work, and I will employ you to do it 
 for me. You may wash the island as often as you 
 like.' And this was the origin of rain. 
 
 " One day Ha-wen-ni-yu saw a man sitting all alone 
 as in a prison. His face was very old and wrinkled. 
 He had a tangle of discordant sounds all about him. 
 
 " 'Who are you?' said the Good Ruler. 
 
 '"I am Ga-oh, the spirit of the winds,' said he, 
 ' and I want permission to do what I will on your 
 island.' 
 
 "Ha-wen-ni-yu gave him permission under his con- 
 trol, and now when he is restless you hear the rushing 
 noise of the mighty wind, in the forest and on the 
 sea. On his motions depend the rolling of the bil- 
 lows and the fury of the tempest. He can even put 
 the whirlwind in motion, and he can stop it. When 
 he is quiet there is only a gentle motion, a soft, fan- 
 ning breeze. Ga-oh does not always have his own
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 235 
 
 way, but is subject to the Good Ruler, Ha-wen-ni-yu, 
 and obeys his will. 
 
 ' ' There are other spirits who are very beautiful 
 the spirits of the corn, beans, and squashes. The 
 guardian spirit of the born is dressed in the long, 
 tapering corn leaves, ornamented with the silken corn 
 tassels, which are also arranged about her head in 
 wreaths. The guardian spirit of the bean has her 
 garments of its leaves, woven together by the delicate 
 tendrils. She has upon her head a crown of the rich 
 pods and blossoms. The guardian spirit of the squash 
 is also clothed with the productions of the vine under 
 its care. These three beautiful spirits are never sepa- 
 rated, and for this reason the Indian plants the corn 
 and beans and squashes in one hill. All summer 
 long the three spirits flit about among the plants, 
 taking care of them. But the Evil-Minded has spread 
 over these vegetables his blight, and they are not as 
 easy to cultivate as in the past. If you stand near 
 the cornfields at night, you will hear the sweet spirit 
 of the corn, in her compassion for the red man, 
 bewailing her blighted fruitfulness. 
 
 "We Indians have always believed that each one 
 has a protecting spirit appointed by the Good Euler 
 to take care of him ; and this is also true of everything 
 that is beautiful to the eye or good for food. There 
 is the protecting spirit of fire, of water, of medicine ;
 
 236 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 of every healing herb and fruit-bearing tree ; there 
 is the spirit of the oak, the hemlock, the hickory, the 
 maple ; the spirit of the blackberry, the blueberry, the 
 whortleberry, the raspberry ; the spirit of spearmint, 
 peppermint, and tobacco ; tljere is a protecting spirit 
 at every fountain and by every running stream ; by 
 every mountain and river and lake." 
 
 The following lines from one of our own poets have 
 reference to this habit of personifying nature, by 
 these simple children of the forest : 
 
 TO THE SPIRIT OF THE RIVER. 
 
 Gwe-u-gwe the lovely! Gwe-u-gwe the bright! 
 
 Our bosoms rejojce in thy beautiful sight; 
 
 Thou art lovely when morning breaks forth from the sky, 
 
 Thou art lovely when noon hurls his darts from on high, 
 
 Thou art lovely when sunset paints brightly thy brow, 
 
 And in moonlight and starlight still lovely art thou. 
 
 Gwe-u-gwe, Gwe-u-gwe, how sad would we be, 
 Were the gloom of our forests not brightened by thee! 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu would seem from his sons turned away. 
 Gwe-u-gwe, Gwe-u-gwe, then list to our lay. 
 
 Having completed the story of the creation, and 
 settled the problems of good and evil, thunder and 
 rain, corn, beans, and squashes, and all the good and 
 useful as well as the bad and worthless, our Indian 
 patriarch places another heavy section of a log on 
 the fire, which has been producing marvelous pictures 
 during the strange recital. This fireplace, occupying,
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 237 
 
 as it does, one entire side of the humble cabin, would 
 strike envy to the heart of the white man. A fresh 
 cut from his beloved tobacco, and the old warrior 
 proceeds to tell of that far-away period before 
 Columbus ever dreamed of America : 
 
 " At that time," said he, " our race were wandering 
 about in small bands like wild animals. They had no 
 knowledge of the true God, although they did believe 
 that there was one powerful being who ruled over all, 
 and whom they called Ha-wen-ni-yu, the Good Ruler. 
 They acknowledged him as the author of all the good 
 things that, came to them. They had no mode of 
 worshiping him except to thank him for these good 
 things. They had no knowledge of his real character 
 or of his will. They were guided by their dreams in 
 everything. 
 
 " My people then clothed themselves with the skins 
 of wild animals. They kindled their fires by the 
 friction of a pointed stick upon a dry piece of wood, 
 twirling it between their hands after the manner of 
 a drill. They cooked their meat in a bark kettle, 
 which they made by using a flint axe or chisel to 
 separate the bark from an elm tree. They tied the 
 large pieces of bark together at the ends with strips 
 of the inner bark, making a dish large enough to hold 
 the meat, with water enough to boil it. This bark
 
 238 LIFE AMONG THE JSOQUOIS. 
 
 kettle was suspended between two sticks over the fire, 
 and by the time the kettle was burned through the 
 meat was cooked. 
 
 " The dishes and spoons were also made of bark. 
 The wigwams were made of old bark, one end of 
 which was set up against a fallen tree. The other 
 end was propped up by hickory sticks. They used 
 hickory for their bows and arrows, the latter being 
 pointed with flint. With this weapon they killed 
 gamp The beds were skins of the deer and other 
 animals, laid upon the ground or upon piles of hem- 
 lock twigs. When so inclined, the community started 
 off in the morning, and at sunset encamped as de- 
 scribed, the women making a fire for the comfort of 
 the little children. If the hunting was worth the 
 while, they remained a few days, and even a few 
 weeks. If it suited their fancy, they moved every 
 day. 
 
 " In those days the Indian women had to provide 
 all the wood, fetch the water, keep the fires, and do 
 all the work, the men never laboring at all. The wig- 
 wams were all huddled together in the encampment. 
 The women had to go a long way into the woods to 
 bring the fuel in bundles upon their backs. Some- 
 times the snow was three feet deep. Then they used 
 snowshoes. These women took turns in providing 
 fuel for the whole settlement, two or three working at '
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 239 
 
 it all day, only resting at noon to cook and eat. The 
 men were usually lounging upon their couches of skins 
 or playing upon the Indian flute. After a while they 
 would get up, take their guns, and go out for game, 
 killing a deer or perhaps a bear, thus providing meat 
 for the household or the whole settlement. This was 
 their only business. By degrees in later days the men 
 began to help get in the wood, but their piles of wood 
 would often run out, and a man would wait until it 
 was all gone before he would bestir himself to get 
 more. The houses even later were made of bark. In 
 my younger days I remember only two log houses. 
 
 "A matter of vital interest to my people in those 
 days was the physical training of their children. 
 Boys who were smart and brave naturally were 
 trained to be swift runners. The training began at 
 the age of ten. The point selected for the race was 
 one mile away. A company of little fellows were 
 stripped of their clothing and when fairly started were 
 pursued by an old man with a whip made of the tail 
 of the fisher (a fish). If he succeeded in catching 
 a boy, he plied him vigorously with the whip. The 
 boys ran and dodged, he following and striking right 
 and left until they were home again. If a boy suc- 
 ceeded in keeping entirely out of reach of the whip, 
 he was elected the boy chief. 
 
 " The Indian boys were also trained to bear hunger
 
 240 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 and fatigue. When a little fellow reached the age of 
 six years, he was awakened by this message : ' Up ! 
 Go shooting birds ! Don't come back till sunset ! ' 
 
 " They trained me in that way ! " said the old man, 
 his rugged features lighted by a smile. " I remember 
 well the morning I was six years old and aroused from 
 a sound sleep by that message. I was sent out in 
 the early morning without a mouthful of food, to 
 shoot birds with my little bow and arrow. When I 
 returned at sunset they gave me a piece of cold boiled 
 corn bread and a little hominy, not enough, however, 
 to satisfy the cravings of hunger. For days and 
 weeks I was not permitted to taste of anything warm. 
 I was thus being trained to endure the fatigue and 
 hunger incident to our long excursions for hunting, 
 or war with distant tribes. In winter they cut a hole 
 in the ice, and in the early morning forced us to 
 plunge in and dive and swim, that we might learn 
 not to fear the cold." 
 
 This reminiscence of his childhood brought back 
 other scenes, I suppose, for the old man sat gazing 
 with a far-away look into the fire, quite oblivious of 
 our presence. At last we gently interrupted his 
 reverie by a question : 
 
 " Before the white man found your country, what 
 did the wandering companies do with their dead ? " 
 
 The Indian started as though suddenly awakened
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 241 
 
 from sleep, and with a gratified expression at our 
 unabated interest, said, "Let me tell you first of a 
 wonderful thing that happened two hundred years ago. 
 
 " At that time the Kah-gwas lived on the eastern 
 shore of Lake Erie along the Niagara River. In 
 history they are called the ' neutral nation.' The 
 Iroquois then occupied the whole length of the state 
 of New York from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. 
 Two Seneca chiefs resolved to go to the Kah-gwa 
 villages to see how strong they were. They found 
 the warriors away on the warpatli and no one at 
 home but the women and children. This made them 
 suspicious that the Kah-gwas proposed to make war 
 upon them. They returned immediately to their own 
 tribe and raised the cry, ' Go weh ! Go weh ! ' to 
 let the people know that the enemy was approaching. 
 A large council was immediately called to adopt meas- 
 ures for self-defense. The principal chief proposed 
 that they should go out a distance from home to 
 meet the enemy. He said : 
 
 "'We do not want so many dead bodies to lie 
 about here near our villages. It would make a bad 
 odor.' 
 
 " The warriors assembled at Geneva, leaving their 
 women and children there, and sent out spies in every 
 direction to watch the progress of the enemy. They 
 discovered that there were twenty-eight tribes coming
 
 242 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOI8. 
 
 against them, a great multitude from the west and 
 the south ; they were coming even from the Rockies. 
 The Iroquois warriors encamped on a hill on the 
 Genesee River. The Kah-gwas and their allies came 
 near and halted. The Senecas sent out demanding 
 a parley, the result of which was that four sachems 
 of the Senecas and four of equal rank from the enemy 
 were to meet halfway up the hill. It was the cus- 
 tom to smoke the long pipe together on such occa- 
 sions. Four were seated on the west side of the fire 
 and four on the east side, and smoked a long time 
 in dignified silence. At length the principal Seneca 
 sachem demanded of the other party : 
 
 " * What is your business here in such great num- 
 bers?' 
 
 " They answered, ' We have come to extinguish the 
 Iroquois.' 
 
 "The Seneca replied, 'You had better not try it. 
 You will fail and a great many people will be killed 
 for nothing.' 
 
 "The Kah-gwas answered, ' We are determined to 
 destroy you.' 
 
 "This was repeated three times. As they con- 
 tinued resolute and determined to fight, one of the 
 Senecas arose and deliberately killed three of the 
 other party. He then said to the remaining one : 
 
 " 4 Go and tell your people what you have seen.
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 243 
 
 Tell them to go home while they may safely, and do 
 not trouble us to fight you.' 
 
 " As soon as the Kah-gwa came to his friends an 
 immense multitude rushed on in great fury, but the 
 Iroquois met them and stood the shock like men and 
 soon forced them to retreat. The Senecas then called 
 upon the Burnt Knives [young men], of whom there 
 was a large number hidden in the bushes, to engage 
 in the fight. They came down the hill with great 
 speed, armed with heavy clubs, and fought with such 
 desperation that the enemy soon fled to the river, and 
 many attempting to cross were drowned, while others 
 were knocked on the head in the water. Very few of 
 the enemy escaped the rage and fury of the Iroquois. 
 The women and children and old men heard of the 
 defeat of their tribes and rent the air with a howl of 
 despair and grief. They had brought large piles of 
 moccasins to put upon the feet of the captives they 
 had expected to take, and in rage they now threw 
 them away. The Senecas took a large number of the 
 different tribes captive, and said to them : 
 
 " ' We will now do to you as you do to your cap- 
 tives.' So they took the Kah-gwa chief who bad 
 headed the expedition, stripped him, bound him to 
 a tree, smeared his body with deer's grease, made a 
 great fire, and burned him up. Then they took 
 a Chippewa chief and proceeded to treat him in the
 
 244 LIFE AMONG THE IROQU02S. 
 
 same manner. But when he said, ' I was forced into 
 this fight through fear of death,' they released him 
 and said to the remainder, ' Now you may all go 
 home, but do not try to conquer the Iroquois again.' " 
 
 And now the old face is all aglow with pride in the 
 glory of the past ; but in our impatience he is soon 
 recalled to the humiliating present as we insist upon 
 the story of the dead. 
 
 "My people," he continued, "always buried their 
 dead in the ground. The body was wrapped in skins, 
 with a piece of bark laid above and beneath. Before 
 burial the body of the dead was laid upon a piece 
 of bark elevated a little from the ground. He was 
 dressed in the best he had. The feet were incased 
 in moccasins. Some chief of his clan was appointed 
 to tell of his bravery in war, his skill in hunting, his 
 loyalty to his clan and tribe. He publicly mourned 
 the great loss to the tribe. 
 
 "Then," said he, dropping into the present tense, 
 " relatives approach the body, addressing the departed 
 with significant gestures. They thank and praise him 
 for his kindness and virtues. They deplore his loss, 
 while they know he has gone to the Happy Home 
 beyond the Setting Sun. They charge him with mes- 
 sages, to the friends who have preceded him to the
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 245 
 
 Happy Home. After this the whole circle bursts out 
 in a heart-rending wail, which continues a long time 
 and then gradually dies away. The body is then 
 carried to the dwelling place of each relative in turn, 
 where the same ceremony is repeated. Then the 
 upper piece of bark is. laid over the body and it is 
 placed in the ground, lying upon the back with 
 the feet toward the west. In the grave are placed 
 articles of ornament, clothing, cooking utensils, 
 and food, also pipes, bows and arrows, and stone 
 knives. 
 
 "After the burial a company of ten hired mourn- 
 ers come to the wigwam of the departed and have a 
 season of wailing with the family. Then the wailers 
 go to the grave, build a fire at the head, and spend 
 the night watching the grave. Early in the morning 
 they return to the house of the dead and commence 
 wailing there, in which they are joined by the 
 family. The family feed these wailing women and 
 treat them with great attention. They rest and sleep 
 during the day, and at night return to the grave to 
 watch and wail again. This ceremony continues ten 
 days. 
 
 " During these ten days the family and relatives 
 take off all ornaments and clothe themselves in the 
 poorest garments they can find, even to rags. If a 
 garment looks worse on the wrong side, it is worn
 
 246 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 wrong side out. Even the silver brooches necessary 
 to fasten the clothes are put on wrong side out. The 
 faces are not washed nor the hair combed. The more 
 filthy and disgusting they appear the more sincere the 
 grief. A more abject-looking object than the mother 
 and wife of a dead man during these ten days can 
 hardly be imagined. 
 
 " At the end of the days of mourning comes the 
 funeral feast, in which all the clan participate. It 
 consists of the very best provisions that can be ob- 
 tained. The possessions of the dead man are now 
 distributed among his relatives, and each one of the 
 hired mourners receives a present. 
 
 " At this feast a portion of each kind of food is set 
 apart in a secret place for the use of the departed, 
 who during these ten days has been constantly with 
 them taking note of every expression of grief. At 
 the close of the day of the feast he takes his final 
 departure to the Happy Home beyond the Setting Sun. 
 
 "It was often the case, months and years after, 
 that some friend was notified by a dream that the 
 departed wished to have assurance that he was not 
 forgotten. Then the friends held another feast, at 
 which they recounted his virtues and reviewed their 
 memories of him. At this feast the wailing and dis- 
 figurement of the person were omitted and each was 
 obliged to furnish a share of the provisions."
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 247 
 
 Squire Johnson was tired and expressed a wish 
 to be left to the solitude of his cabin, but in answer 
 to our inquiry, "What is the distinction between the 
 clan and the tribe which you have made this evening ? " 
 he reluctantly granted us an extension of hospitalities. 
 
 " Each tribe of the Iroquois," said he, "is divided 
 into eight clans, known as the Wolf, Bear, Beaver, 
 Turtle, Deer, Snipe, Heron, and Hawk." 
 
 "But what tribes do you include in the Iroquois?" 
 
 " Your mind is very dark," said the old man, "if 
 you do not know about the five tribes of the powerful 
 Iroquois : the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayu- 
 gas, and my own tribe, the Senecas the wonderful 
 people of the Long House." 
 
 "The Long House!" I exclaimed; "you surely 
 cannot mean that all these tribes live in one house ? " 
 
 The usual attitude of dignified repose, character- 
 istic of the race, gave place to a burst of laughter. 
 
 "The Good Ruler," said he, "has given us the 
 night for sleep, and I will tell you about the Long 
 House another evening." 
 
 We were forced at last to yield to the inevitable and 
 wait until the " protecting spirit" of the Indian legend 
 should see fit to move our friend to fresh revelations. 
 
 After many days a messenger brought the good 
 tidings that Squire Johnson would graciously enlighten
 
 248 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 our ignorance concerning the Long House. A ride of 
 nine miles over the snow, and we were again seated 
 before a roaring fire in Squire Johnson's cabin, ready 
 for further revelations. 
 
 "The Long House extended," said the old man, 
 " from the Hudson River to Lake Erie ; and from the 
 river St. Lawrence to the Susquehanna. It was oc- 
 cupied by the five tribes which I mentioned to you. 
 A few years before the white man whom you call 
 Columbus came here, these five tribes formed them- 
 selves into a league for protection against the Indian 
 tribes of the west and east and south. We were 
 as one family sheltered by one roof. Each of the 
 five tribes was divided into the eight clans, of which 
 I told you. 
 
 " The Onondagas lived in the center of the Long 
 House, on the north shore of Onoudaga Lake, and 
 kept the council fire always burning. This means 
 that we acted together. The Mohawks lived at the 
 eastern door, on the banks of the Hudson, to keep 
 watch toward the rising sun. The Senecas had 
 charge of the western door, which was the most im- 
 portant door, because the tribes toward the setting 
 sun were fierce and warlike. The Oneidas and Cayu- 
 gas dwelt at equal distances east and west of the 
 Onondagas. This tribe, being in the center, kept the 
 council brand and the wampum. They also kept
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 249 
 
 the records by the wampum belt. There were fifty 
 sachemships all the sachems having equal authority 
 and ruling together over the whole. After this league 
 was formed there was a great improvement in our 
 habits. We did not wander away as before, and we 
 raised great quantities of corn and beans and squashes." 
 
 This reminded us of a very old diary of a French- 
 man, DeNonville, which we had noticed one day 
 among other musty books in the Mission garret, and 
 we afterward looked up any allusions which he made 
 to this curious confederation of the people whom the 
 French had named " Iroquois." This diary was 
 dated 1607, and confirmed the story of the old man. 
 DeNonville, who was sent by the French with a com- 
 pany to fight these Indians, says he found large 
 villages. In four of these villages he destroyed 
 1,200,000 bushels of corn, besides great quantities 
 of beans and squashes. He says they had a large 
 fort fifteen miles from the present town of Rochester, 
 of five hundred paces in circumference, built on a 
 high place. These powerful Iroquois, or "United 
 People," were a terror to other tribes. 
 
 " By far Mississippi, the Illini shrank 
 When the trail of the TURTLE was seen on the bank. 
 On the hills of New England, the Pequod turned pale, 
 When the howl of the WOLF swelled at night on the gale; 
 And the Cherokee shook in liis jjreen, smiling bowers, 
 When the foot of the BEAK stamped his carpet of flowers I"
 
 250 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 "The Tuscaroras," continued old Johnson, "who 
 had once been with us, living near Niagara Falls, had 
 been driven away ; but after the league was formed 
 (1715) they came back and were admitted. From 
 that time it has been known as the * League of the 
 Six Nations.'" 
 
 The poet tells us : 
 
 "Naught in the woods their might could oppose, 
 Naught could withstand their confederate blows. 
 Banded in strength and united in soul, 
 They moved in their course with the cataract's roll." 
 
 "The Oneidas," said the Indian, "used to meet 
 about a great stone. It was very large. There was 
 no stone like it within one hundred miles. You may 
 see the Oneida stone if you wish to in the graveyard 
 at Utica." 
 
 " Were the Six Tribes ever called together?" 
 
 " Always," said he, " when there were important 
 matters to be settled. It was done by ' runners.' 
 They were as fleet of foot as the deer. Their trails 
 connected village and village, clan and clan, tribe and 
 tribe and even reached to the Mississippi and Gulf 
 of Mexico; and they also reached to the Atlantic 
 Ocean and the northern lakes." 
 
 "Johnson," said I, "do you think the trails of 
 those tribes are our great streets and railroads now ? " 
 
 "I know they are," said he ; " the trail was a foot-
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 251 
 
 path at first, just wide enough for one person, but 
 they were used by so many people that they were 
 worn several inches deep." 
 
 "My brother!" I exclaimed, in a burst of enthu- 
 siasm, "it is true indeed, as has been said : ' Not by 
 our great thoroughfares alone will your race be re- 
 membered. Your expressive and beautiful names are 
 upon evei'y hillside, in every valley ; in the foaming 
 cataract and upon our beautiful lakes.' 
 
 'Your name is in our waters, 
 We may not wash it out.' " 
 
 Not understanding one word of this outburst the 
 Indian received it without demonstration, and silently 
 awaited the next question. 
 
 "About the 'runners,' Johnson; did one runner 
 notify all the tribes?" 
 
 "No," said he. "If anything happened in either 
 tribe that required the advice of the assembled 
 sachems and people, a runner was sent to the tribe 
 nearest, and that one sent a messenger to the next, 
 and so on until all the six tribes had been notified. 
 Do you understand?" he asked. " Suppose the Sen- 
 ecas wished the council called. The sachems of the 
 Senecas had to meet first and decide whether the 
 matter was of sufficient importance. If it was, then 
 they sent, a runner with a wamnnm belt to the Cayu-
 
 252 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 gas. The Cayugas sent the wampum belt to the 
 Onondagas, these to the Oneidas, and the Oneidas 
 to the Mohawks. Then the sachems and chiefs and 
 warriors, with the women and children, gathered about 
 the council fire, coming from the farthest points of 
 the Long House, heeding no toil or danger in their 
 zeal for the common welfare." 
 
 " Of what was the wampum belt made?" 
 
 "Of small shells strung upon strings of deerskin. 
 The belt was made of several strings woven together ; 
 some were black, emblem of war ; some white, em- 
 blem of peace. They treasured up speeches and 
 events by the belt. ' This belt preserves my words ' 
 was a common expression. The orator associated 
 each part of the speech with a portion of the string. 
 No notice was taken of any messenger or of his mes- 
 sage unless he could produce the wampum belt." 
 
 " One more question to-day, Johnson ; what is the 
 4 calumet of peace ' that we read about? " 
 
 " That was a very sacred symbol," said the old 
 man, "among my people. It was a pipe made of 
 red stone finely polished. The quill was two feet 
 and a half long, made of a strong reed. The red 
 calumets were often trimmed with white, yellow, and 
 green feathers." 
 
 This calumet we found out later was a flag of truce
 
 THE MYSTEEIOUS PAST. 253 
 
 among Indian tribes, and a violation of it as disgrace- 
 . f ul as an . insult to the white flag among civilized 
 peoples. 
 
 " Whilst high he lifted in his hand 
 The sign of peace, the calumet; 
 So sacred to the Indian soul, 
 With its stem of reed and its dark red bowl 
 Flaunting with feathers, white, yellow, and green." 
 
 The old warrior was in a good mood this evening, 
 and volunteered an extra crumb of information. 
 
 " You may remember I told you that each tribe had 
 eight clans : the Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, Deer, 
 Snipe, Heron, and Hawk. It is the same with us 
 now ; and no son or daughter of any clan is allowed 
 to marry a person of his clan in any tribe. A Deer 
 of the Senecas may marry a Turtle of his own or 
 any other tribe. But a Wolf may not marry a Wolf 
 or a Bear a Bear. The children belong to the clan 
 of the mother. If she is a Deer, then all her children 
 are Deer. They not only call her mother, but they 
 call all her sisters mother, and they call all her sisters' 
 children brothers and sisters. This is the reason they 
 do not marry in their own clan. The children belong 
 to the tribe of the mother as do the children's children 
 to the latest generation. If a Cayuga mother marries 
 a Seneca father, the children are Cayugas. If the 
 marriage prove unhappy, the parties are allowed to
 
 254 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 separate, and each is at liberty to marry again. But 
 the mother has the sole right to the disposal of the 
 children." 
 
 This talk 'about marriage reminded us of the In- 
 dian's reply to the white man who criticized the mat- 
 rimonial methods of that race: "You marry squaw; 
 she know you always keep her, so she scold, scold, 
 scold, and not cook your venison. I marry squaw, 
 and she know I not keep her if she not good. So 
 she not scold, but cook my venison, and always pleas- 
 ant ; we live long together." 
 
 The offices of sachems, chiefs, etc., were inherited in 
 the line of the mothers. It would seem that women 
 were treated with respect in those days. The emblem 
 of power was a deer's antlers, and if the women disap- 
 proved of the acts of a sachem, they had the power to 
 remove his horns and restore him to private life. 
 
 It is not recorded that the women ever abused their 
 privileges. They never meddled with that which did 
 not belong to them. They never manifested a desire 
 to become warriors or sachems. They planted corn, 
 dressed deerskins, worked wampum belts, wrought 
 porcupine embroidery for centuries without a mur- 
 mur ! These Indians say to-day : 
 
 " The Long House belonged to the warriors who 
 defended it and to the women who tilled it, and if 
 it had not been for the fire water which degraded the
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 255 
 
 men and left them to be easily bribed to make treaties 
 contrary to the rules of the people and the judgment 
 of their best men and all their women, the glory of 
 the Iroquois would not have faded away." 
 
 During our ride home that night we resolved to ask 
 Mr. Parker, the United States Interpreter, this ques- 
 tion : ' ' Who were the Kah-gwas ? " for the old Indian 
 had mentioned a tribe of whom not even Mrs. "Wright 
 had heard before. We give his reply for the benefit 
 of any curious reader : 
 
 "The Kah-gwas," said Mr. Parker, "were a tribe 
 of Indians who emigrated from the south and west 
 untold years ago and settled near the foot of Lake 
 Erie. We find traces of their mounds and fortifica- 
 tions near the shore of the lake. They grew in 
 strength and became very numerous. Then they be- 
 came proud and challenged the Senecas to a national 
 wrestling match. 
 
 "The Senecas accepted the challenge and with 
 twelve picked athletes met the Kah-gwas on their 
 own grounds. The condition of the match was that 
 whoever was vanquished should be immediately dis- 
 patched by the victor. The Kah-gwas were defeated. 
 The tribe was indignant and decided to exterminate 
 the Senecas. A large company of Kah-gwa women, 
 laden with immense packs of moccasins with which
 
 256 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 to shoe the captives who were to be so easily taken, 
 joined the expedition against the Senecas. 
 
 " But the Senecas, ever on the alert, discovered the 
 plan of their enemies and prepared to meet them. 
 Not believing it the best policy to await the attack, 
 they marched to meet the foe. The young braves 
 were put in the advance and the middle-aged men in 
 the rear. The tribes met in Livingston Count} 7 , upon 
 a stream near Honeoye Lake, and there the fiercest 
 battle ever fought by Indians took place. The foes 
 for four successive days swayed back and forth over 
 the stream until it literally flowed with blood. 
 
 " The Kah-gwas, finding themselves nearly exter- 
 minated, retreated to their homes ; from thence to 
 the Alleghany River, down that stream to near Pitts- 
 burgh, where they encamped for the night. A few 
 of the Seneca braves followed their trail until they 
 discovered their enemies. Being very few in number, 
 the Senecas resorted to strategy to deceive the foe. 
 They floated down, passed the encampment, until out 
 of sight, then landed their canoes, transported them 
 across the point of land above the camp, and floated 
 down again. They went through this operation again 
 and again until midnight, and then encamped for the 
 night. The trick had its effect. Before daylight the 
 Kah-gwas fled to parts unknown and no vestige of 
 them has been seen to this day."
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 257 
 
 It was an evening in spring. Our story-teller, 
 Johnson, was visiting us at the Mission. "The 
 sound of the frog which we hear to-night," said the 
 old man, "reminds me of a strange thing that hap- 
 pened long ago : 
 
 " In one of the raids of the Senecas upon the Cher- 
 okees a brave Seneca warrior was taken prisoner. It 
 was the custom of the southern Indians to put their 
 prisoners to death by burning ; not so with the Iroquois. 
 Well, these Cherokees had a long account to settle with 
 this prisoner, for he had slain many of their people. 
 They at last determined that he should be burned. 
 They had a place prepared for such purpose. In the 
 midst was an elevation so that all the people could see 
 where the prisoner was bound to the post. The time 
 was fixed and a great multitude assembled. The Sen- 
 eca warrior was bound firmly to a post and the fagots 
 piled up around him. The fire was kindled into a blaze, 
 the flames circled around him and burned him about 
 the mouth and chest and legs and feet; but just 
 then there was a terrible clap of thunder, the rain 
 poured down, the people fled to their wigwams, the 
 fire was extinguished, and the darkness of the shower 
 was followed by the darkness of the night. They 
 supposed he was so firmly bound that escape was 
 impossible and did not take the trouble to look after 
 him.
 
 258 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 " Pretty soon the prisoner began to feel green frogs 
 crawling and squirming upon his burned feet and 
 ankles and creeping up so as to cover the burned 
 places all over his body. This relieved him so much 
 that he could move a little and was soon able to release 
 his feet. The next effort was to slip the bands from 
 his hands. But when released he found he could not 
 walk ; so he crept away into the woods and finding a 
 hollow log crawled in and concealed himself. At dawn 
 of day the Cherokees missed him and sent scouts in 
 every direction to hunt him up. They surrounded his 
 log without discovering him. 
 
 " The green frogs followed him into the log ; all day 
 long they were busy relieving his burns. At night 
 he crawled out and, not yet being able to walk, crept 
 again as far as he could to another hollow log. Here 
 again the frogs came to his relief and so nearly cured 
 him that the next night he was able to walk and soon 
 found himself beyond reach of his pursuers. But he 
 did not leave his reptile friends without expressing 
 to them his thanks. The frogs said, ' We are only 
 repaying your kindness to us, for whenever you no- 
 ticed that a snake had caught us by the legs and heard 
 our squeal for help, you always killed the snake and 
 let us go free. And it is in gratitude for this that 
 we have followed you and given you the healing power 
 of our bodies.' "
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 259 
 
 "And now," continued the old man, "you shall 
 hear how there came to be peace between the Iroquois 
 and their enemies, the Cherokees. I have the story 
 from one who was present at the council fire : 
 
 " Upon a certain occasion a large number of Iroquois 
 warriors started on a long journey for the Cherokee 
 country. On the way they sang the night and morn- 
 ing war songs to secure success to the expedition. 
 The night song was sung in the place of encampment ; 
 the morning song was sung by the leader of the march 
 as they started again upon the journey. They had 
 other songs which were used upon their arrival at 
 their destination. When they arrived at the enemy's 
 country, knowing that the Cherokees were always on 
 the lookout, they stopped upon a distant high hill 
 overlooking one of the villages of the plain. At 
 night they came cautiously down and surprised the vil- 
 lage, killing all the inhabitants and burning the houses. 
 
 " During the night the Cherokees of another settle- 
 ment heard the cry of alarm ' Go weh ! go weh ! ' l 
 bat when they came to the thick bushes it stopped. 
 They could see nothing, but they sent two men to lie 
 in wait and discover what it meant. By-and-by these 
 men heard the cry again ' Go weh ! go weh ! ' As 
 
 1 Go weh is an exclamation signifying that some great calamity haa- 
 befallen a war party, or some distinguished sachem has fallen. It is 
 said that this exclamation has such a charm that it can be heard for 
 miles before the runner or messenger has reached a settlement. This 
 word is used only on such occasions as the above. jV. B. Parker.
 
 260 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 they came near they saw a hedgehog approaching who 
 stopped and stood upon his hind feet and cried out, 
 ' Go weh ! go weh ! ' They killed the hedgehog and 
 went back to tell their people. 
 
 "The Cherokees were alarmed and sent at once to 
 see what had befallen the neighboring village. They 
 found it burned and the people slain. Not one had 
 escaped to tell the story. They looked for traces of 
 the enemy, and discovered five paths all converging 
 on the hill and a wigwam marked with black paint. 
 Then they said, ' It is our old enemy, the Iroquois.' 
 
 "They sent messengers to notify their people of 
 what had happened and called a general council. The 
 chiefs came together and the question was laid before 
 them : ' What shall we do ? At this rate our enemy 
 will soon exterminate us.' One chief said, ' I can 
 see but one course for us, and that is to make peace 
 with the Iroquois.' The others answered, ' We will 
 do it.' 
 
 " Accordingly they sent four men to the Iroquois 
 telling them of their proposition of peace and asked 
 to have it done at the Cherokee council. The Iroquois 
 consented and decided that a large company should 
 go armed for any emergency or treachery on the part 
 of the Cherokees. And so a large band of the Iro- 
 quois arrived at the Cherokee country fully armed, 
 arrayed in all their gorgeous costume of feathers,
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 261 
 
 beads, paint, etc., in order that their large numbers 
 and imposing appearance might lead the Cherokees to 
 suppose that they were not obliged to make peace, but 
 simply consented to their request as an act of conde- 
 scension. On taking their seats in council and receiv- 
 ing the pipe of peace the Cherokee chief said to them : 
 
 " ' It is our wish to make peace if possible. We 
 are exceedingly anxious that this war should cease.' 
 
 " A distinguished Seneca sachem replied, 'We are 
 willing on our part, only we wish all grievances to be 
 buried, and buried so deep that not one shall ever 
 come above ground again ; but if from any cause diffi- 
 culties should arise and trouble show itself again, we 
 will do then as we have done now ; we will bury it so 
 deep that it can never even sprout again, and I for my 
 part promise, and I will keep it, that when our troubles 
 are buried and we are at peace again I will not heed 
 any proposals from other nations to break our peace 
 with you. If one from another tribe shall come and 
 entice me to join with him in war upon you, I will not 
 be tempted by him. I will maintain our covenant 
 with you.' 
 
 " The Cherokee chief replied : ' I will do so too. If 
 any of the neighboring nations shall say to me, ' Come, 
 let us exterminate the Iroquois ! ' I will refuse. I will 
 only look to and strictly observe the covenant which 
 we are now making.'
 
 262 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 "After full discussion both parties declared them- 
 selves satisfied and proceeded to shake hands in rati- 
 fication of friendship. The Cherokees took hold with 
 the right hand of the hand of the Iroquois and each 
 reaching forward the left hand grasped the shoulder 
 of the other, thus pledging permanent fidelity to the 
 compact. This was their custom, and this mode of 
 shaking hands made the promise securely binding. 
 The Senecas said : 
 
 ' ' ' Henceforth we will be brethren as if of one 
 blood.' 
 
 " The Cherokee added, ' If one of your people shall 
 come here and wish to be at home with us, and desire 
 to marry among us and become a Cherokee, he may do 
 so. Now this agreement is enforced this day.' 
 
 " When all parties were satisfied the Cherokee chief 
 said, ' It is finished ; and now let us have sport together. 
 We have a swift runner who beats all the rest of our 
 people. Let us have a foot race.' The race was 
 about twenty rods. A Seneca volunteered to run 
 with the Cherokee and defeated him. This is the 
 last important war of the Iroquois with the western 
 Indians." 
 
 The next morning Johnson gave us a reminiscence 
 of his boyhood. " When I was a boy ten years old, 
 I lived with my grandfather. A chief of the Cayugas
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 263 
 
 came to visit him. One day I was sitting on a log 
 where this chief had called a council. I heard him 
 say these words : 
 
 " ' I have called you together to take into consider- 
 ation the condition of our people. "We are losing all 
 our Indian traits and privileges and we cannot per- 
 petuate them, and we can do nothing to prevent this 
 change. The whites will overpower us. We sided 
 with the British against these whites and the British 
 are overcome, and the whites will drive us before them 
 if we continue our Indian mode of living. We can- 
 not go west ; the Indians there will consider us in- 
 truders and will drive us back. What shall we do? 
 My judgment is that we must stay where we are and 
 adapt ourselves to the coming changes. We must 
 adopt the white man's life. We must give up our old 
 ways. We must drop our pagan feasts and dances. 
 We must learn to work like the white man, and get 
 our living from the soil. We must wear clothes like 
 a white man. We must have our children educated. 
 We must adopt the religion of the white man. There 
 is nothing left for us to do. There is no other help 
 remaining. We shall soon lose everything peculiar to 
 the Indian. We cannot live unless we endure these 
 changes and become like the white man.' 
 
 "The chief was silent. My grandfather then 
 spoke :
 
 264 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 " ' I will add to these words. What has been said 
 is true, but we do not yet see this change. My grand- 
 son, who sits there on the log, will perhaps live to see 
 it accomplished, but we old men are yet free and will 
 probably die as we are. Still it is coming to our 
 children, and we cannot prevent it. We have lost our 
 power. We must let these old things all go which we 
 have prized so highly : our painted faces, our tufts of 
 feathers, our ornaments in the laps of our ears, our 
 dances and ceremonies must all disappear. But these 
 things must go because they are not of the Good 
 Ruler. They are the contrivance of man, who pre- 
 tended that the Good Ruler ordained them. This is 
 not so. If it were, these things could not be destroyed 
 by man. It is the human works that perish. No 
 man can destroy what the Good Ruler ordains. Our 
 Indian customs, rights, and ceremonies perish because 
 he did not appoint them. They are mortal the work 
 of man. The Good Ruler could have kept the whites 
 from crossing the ocean if it had been his will, and 
 would have done so to preserve us and our customs if 
 they had been ordained by him. But he chose to 
 bring the white man here and to let us fall and perish 
 before him because our way was not his way. And 
 thus it is true that our fate is inevitable. We cannot 
 prevent it. Before the white man came here, while 
 we were yet alone in this country, we had nothing with
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS PAST. 265 
 
 which to help ourselves. We made no progress. We 
 made no improvement in our condition. They came 
 here, and brought the flint and steel for striking fire. 
 It was a good thing. They brought knives and axes ; 
 we liked them ; and we liked their guns ; and we 
 have been glad to use all their improvements. They 
 brought money here, and we have been glad to get it. 
 We have begun, through their help, to make progress, 
 but they are all about us and we cannot stand up 
 against them. We must adopt these other things 
 which they bring, some of which we shall also find 
 good for us. Their books and learning are good. 
 Their laws are good for us as well as for them. Per- 
 haps we shall like their religion. It will be better for 
 us to embrace it. It will not avail us to resist and 
 provoke them. If we are good, they will treat us 
 kindly and we can remain where we are. Brothers, let 
 us beware of one thing the white man has brought 
 here. Let us beware of his strong drink. We have 
 seen how that often causes death. If we use it, it 
 will certainly destroy us. Let us be good and peace- 
 able, and adopt all the good ways of the white man 
 and avoid his evil ways. Thus only will it be well 
 with us.' 
 
 "Another chief arose, and said: 'My brother's 
 words are true. He has spoken like a prophet. His 
 words will come to pass. This boy on the log will
 
 266 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOIS. 
 
 live to see it. The things which the white man brings 
 to us are as good for us as for him. It will be for our 
 advantage to make use of them. Let us adopt the 
 religion and customs of the white man that we may 
 be preserved when no power is left us for maintaining 
 the old ways of our forefathers.' 
 
 " I often wonder," said Johnson, " at the foresight 
 and wisdom of these old men and at the exact ful- 
 fillment of their predictions. They spoke from the 
 heart and the people felt that their words were true." 
 
 WAMPUM BELT.
 
 SHOULD the Indian be entirely banished from this land the 
 memory of him cannot die. 
 
 Their names are on our waters, 
 We cannot wash them out. 
 
 The dialects of the Six Nations of the Iroquois resemble each 
 other, although there are differences which mark them as distinct. 
 The Mohawk and Oneida strongly resemble each other, as do the 
 Seneca and Cayuga. The Onondaga is considered by the Iroquois 
 as the most finished and majestic, while to our ears it is the most 
 harsh and the Oneida the most musical. In Mohawk the sound of 
 I is prominent and in Tuscarora the sound of r. The Senecas and 
 Cayugas can talk all day without shutting their lips, and there are 
 no oaths in their language. Metaphors are in constant use in the 
 speeches and conversation of the Indian. When the weather is 
 very cold he says, " It is a nose-cutting morning ! " of an emaciated 
 person, " He has dried bones " ; a steamboat is " the ship impelled 
 by fire"; a horse is "a log carrier"; a cow is "a cud chewer." 
 In old times they kept warm by covering themselves with boughs 
 of hemlock, and now if an Indian is about to repair his cabin he 
 says, ' I will surround it with hemlock boughs," meaning, " I will 
 make it warm and comfortable." When a chief has made a speech 
 he finishes with saying, " The doors are now open, you can pro- 
 ceed." The Iroquois call themselves " the older people," and the 
 white man " our younger brother."
 
 THE Seneca sachems used to plead with the governors of colonies 
 to prevent the sale of fire water to the Indians. This was their 
 plea : " It destroys our old and young. We have great fear of it. 
 Our hearts tremble, our minds are deeply concerned. We entreat 
 you, forbid the sale of this poison to our people I "
 
 RED JACKET.
 
 XV. 
 
 INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 
 
 TT may be of interest at this point to give a few 
 * specimens of the old-time Iroquois eloquence, as 
 compared with Iroquois eloquence to-day. 
 
 In 1805 a missionary came to the Iroquois and 
 asked permission to teach them his religion. A coun- 
 cil was called to decide whether he should be received. 
 He was invited to state his plan and to explain his 
 religion. Red Jacket made the following reply : 
 
 " Friend and Brother : It was the will of the Good 
 Ruler that we should meet together this day. He has 
 taken his garment from before the sun and caused it 
 to shine with brightness upon us. For this we thank 
 him. 
 
 "Brother: This council fire was kindled for you. 
 We have listened in silence to what you have said. 
 You ask us to speak our minds freely. We stand 
 ready before you to speak what we think. We speak 
 as one man. 
 
 "Brother: Listen to our words. There was a 
 time when our forefathers owned this land. Their 
 seats extended from the rising to the setting sun.
 
 270 LIFE AMONG THE IBOQUOI8. 
 
 Ha-wen-ni-yu made this land for the use of the 
 Indian. He created the buffalo, the deer, and other 
 animals for our food ; he made for us the bear and 
 the beaver ; their skins served us for clothing. He 
 caused the earth to produce corn for our bread. All 
 this he did for his red children because he loved 
 them. But an evil day came upon us ; your fore- 
 fathers crossed the great water and landed here. 
 Their numbers were small. They found in us friends, 
 not enemies. They told us they had fled from their 
 own country because of wicked men, and had come 
 here to enjoy their religion. They asked us for a 
 small seat. We took pity on them granted their re- 
 quest ; they sat down among us. We gave them corn 
 and meat. In return they gave us poison [rum] ! 
 "Brother: The white people had now found our 
 country. Tidings were carried back and more white 
 people came, yet we did not fear them. They called 
 us brothers, and we believed them to be friends. 
 At length their numbers had greatly increased ; they 
 wanted more land ; they wanted our whole country. 
 Our eyes were opened and our minds became uneasy. 
 Wars took place. The white people hired the Indians 
 to fight against each other, and many of our people 
 were thus destroyed. The white people brought to us 
 the fire water. It was strong and powerful, and has 
 slain thousands.
 
 INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 271 
 
 " Brother : Our seats here were once large and 
 yours were small. You are now a great people, and 
 we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets. 
 You have got our country, but you are not satisfied. 
 You now wish to force your religion upon us. 
 
 "Brother: Continue to listen. You are here to 
 instruct us how to worship the Good Ruler according 
 to his mind. You say you are right and we are lost. 
 How do we know that your words are true ? You say 
 your religion is written in a Book. If the Book was 
 intended for us too, why did not Ha-wen-ni-yu give 
 the book to our forefathers? We know only what 
 you tell us about this Book. How shall we know 
 when to believe you who have so often deceived us? 
 
 "Brother: You say there is only one way to wor- 
 ship the Good Ruler ; then why do the white people 
 differ so much about this way? As the Book was sent 
 to you and you can all read it, why do you not all 
 agree? 
 
 "Brother: We do not understand these things. 
 You tell us that your religion was given to your fore- 
 fathers, and has been handed down from father to 
 son. Our religion was given to our forefathers and 
 has been handed down from father to son. It teaches 
 us to be thankful for what we receive ; to love each 
 other and to be united. We have nevr quarreled 
 about our religion.
 
 272 LIFE AMONG THE 1ROQUOIS. 
 
 ' ' Brother : You tell us that you have been preach- 
 ing to white people in this land. We will wait a 
 while and see what your religion does for them. If 
 it makes them honest, if they tell the truth, and no 
 longer cheat the Indian, we will consider again these 
 words that you have said. 
 
 ' ' Brother : Now we will part ; we take you by the 
 hand and hope the Good Ruler will protect you on 
 your journey and return you safe to your friends." 
 
 From the same remarkable orator is the following : 
 " We first knew you, a little feeble plant, which 
 wanted a little of our earth on which to grow. We 
 gave it to you, and when we could have trod you 
 under our feet we watered and protected you. Now 
 you have grown to be a mighty tree, whose top reaches 
 the clouds, whose branches overspread the whole land ; 
 while we who were once the tall pine of the forest 
 have become the little feeble plant, needing your pro- 
 tection. When you first came here you clung around 
 our knee and called us father. We took you by the 
 hand and called you brother. You have grown so 
 great that we can no longer reach up to your hand, 
 but we now cling around your knee and beg to be 
 called your children." 
 
 A lady, who knew that Red Jacket had lost several
 
 INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 273 
 
 children, asked if he had any living. He fixed his 
 eyes upon her with a mournful expression and re- 
 plied : 
 
 " Red Jacket was once a great man and in favor 
 with Ha-wen-ni-yu. He was a lofty pine among the 
 small trees of the forest ; but after years of glory he 
 degraded himself by drinking the fire water of the 
 white man. Ha-wen-ni-yu has looked upon him in 
 anger, and his lightning has stripped the lofty pine of 
 all its branches." 
 
 Red Jacket gave these last instructions to his 
 daughter : 
 
 " When I am dead it will be noised abroad through 
 all the world, ' Red Jacket, the Indian orator, is 
 dead ! ' White men will come and ask you for my 
 body. Do not let them take me. Put upon me my 
 simplest dress ; put on my leggins and my moccasins, 
 and hang the cross which I have worn so long around 
 my neck and let it lie upon my bosom. 1 Then bury 
 me among my people. The missionary who has come 
 here says the dead will rise ; perhaps they will ; if 
 they do, I wish to rise with my Indian friends. I do 
 not wish to rise among pale faces. I wish to be sur- 
 rounded by red men." 
 
 After these words Red Jacket laid himself upon his 
 
 1 This large cross, which he always wore, was a very rich one of 
 stones set in gold. No one knew by whom it was given to him.
 
 274 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 couch and never rose again. He lived several days 
 but was most of the time in a stupor. Occasionally 
 he would unconsciously utter, "I do not hate the 
 missionary ; he thinks I hate him, but I do not. I 
 would not hurt him although he accused me of being 
 a snake and trying to bite somebody. This was true, 
 but now I wish to repent of it." 
 
 Chief Logan was another noted Indian orator. 
 
 In 1774 a deputation was sent from the govern- 
 ment to treat with the sachems and chiefs of the 
 Iroquois, and to endeavor to appease their revenge 
 upon their oppressors, the white people. Chief Lo- 
 gan was a long time in yielding. He would not talk 
 with the white men of peace. At last he said : 
 
 " There is no hope for the Indian but to flee before 
 the white man who oppresses him ; but I will never be 
 his friend." 
 
 General Gleason followed Logan into the depths of 
 the forest, and there, seated upon a fallen tree, with 
 the aid of Cornstalk, a venerable chief, he was at 
 last induced to sign the treaty, which all the other 
 sachems had signed. But before he did it he uttered 
 the following heart-rending story of his wrongs and 
 the wrongs of his people. It was like wringing out 
 his heart's blood to see them thus wasting away, and 
 while he said these words the tears ran down his fur-
 
 INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 275 
 
 rowed cheeks and he seemed to be a victim of in- 
 tense suffering : 
 
 " I appeal to any white man to say if he ever 
 entered Logan's cabin hungry and he gave him no 
 meat ; if he ever came to him cold and naked, and he 
 gave him no clothes. During that long and bloody 
 war, Logan remained in his cabin urging his people to 
 peace. Such was my love for the white man that my 
 people pointed as they passed, and said in scorn, 
 ' Logan is the friend of the white man.' 
 
 "Last spring, Colonel Cresap, in cold blood un- 
 provoked murdered all the relatives of Logan. He 
 did not even spare my women and my children. 
 There runs not one drop of my blood in any living 
 creature. This called on me for revenge. I have 
 sought it ; I have killed many white men. I have fully 
 glutted my vengeance for my race ; I rejoice at the 
 beams of peace, but do not harbor a thought that 
 mine is the joy of fear. Logan never knew fear. 
 He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who 
 is there left on this earth to mourn for Logan ? Not 
 one ! " 
 
 This man wandered about for many years from set- 
 tlement to settlement, restless, moody, and unhappy, 
 and finally laid himself down in the woods to die of a 
 broken heart. Very truly Jefferson remarks, " There 
 were none left to mourn for Logan, but his talents and
 
 276 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 his misfortunes have attached to him the respect and 
 commiseration of the world." 
 
 These extracts are taken from addresses given in 
 English by educated Indians, who during my mission- 
 ary life were still living among their people. The 
 following was made before the Historical Society of 
 New York by Peter Wilson, a Cayuga. The Cayugas, 
 who had been driven from the " Long House" (New 
 York State) and sent beyond the Mississippi River, 
 were reduced to such extreme suffering that many of 
 them died in less than a year. Peter Wilson obtained 
 ten thousand dollars for the purpose of bringing back 
 the remainder, five hundred of which was given by 
 a Quaker in Baltimore. 
 
 " The honorable gentleman has told you that the 
 Iroquois have no monuments. Do you not know that 
 the Empire State, as you love to call it, was once laced 
 by our trails from Albany to Buffalo trails worn 
 so deep by the foot of the Iroquois that they have 
 become your own roads of travel? Your roads bind 
 one part of the Long House to the other. The Empire 
 State, then, is our monument, and we wish its soil to 
 rest above our bones when we shall be no more. We 
 shall not occupy much room in living ; we shall occupy 
 less when we are gone ; a single tree of the thousands 
 which sheltered our fathers one old elm under which 
 the representatives of the tribes were wont to meet
 
 INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 277 
 
 will cover us all. But we would have our bodies 
 twined in death among its roots on the very soil where 
 it grew. Perhaps it will last the longer from being 
 thus fertilized. 
 
 " Have we, the first holders of this prosperous 
 region, no longer a share in your history ? Glad were 
 your forefathers to sit down upon the threshold of the 
 Long House ; rich did they then hold themselves in 
 getting the mere sweepings from its doors. Had our 
 forefathers spurned you from this end of our house 
 when the French were thundering at the opposite end 
 to get a passage through to drive you into the sea, 
 whatever has been the fate of other Indians, the 
 Iroquois might still have been a nation; I I in- 
 stead of pleading here for the privilege of lingering 
 within your borders, I I even I might have 
 had a country ! " 
 
 M. B. Pierce, a chief of the Senecas, gave utter- 
 ance to the following : 
 
 " It has been said, and frequently repeated, that 
 it is the doom of the Indian to disappear to van- 
 ish like the morning dew, before the advance of 
 civilization. 
 
 " But why are we thus doomed? Why must we be 
 crushed by the arm of civilization? Why must the 
 requiem of our race be chanted by the waves of the
 
 278 LIFE AMONG THE ISOQUOIS. 
 
 Pacific, which is destined at last to engulf us ? Say, 
 you, into whose lap fortune has poured her brimful 
 horn so that you enjoy the highest and best of spiritual 
 and temporal blessings, should some superior race, to 
 whom you open the hospitality of your dwellings, 
 claim the right to your possessions the right to hunt 
 you like wild beasts from your long-anticipated doom, 
 how ready would you be to be taught of them ? How 
 cordially would you open your minds to the conviction 
 that they would not deceive you further and still more 
 fatally, in their proffers of pretended kindness? How 
 much friendship for them and esteem for their man- 
 ners and customs would you feel? Would not the 
 milk of human kindness in your breast be turned to 
 the gall of hatred toward them ? I believe that every 
 person who hears me to-day wonders that the hatred 
 of the Indian has not burned with tenfold fury against 
 the white man, rather than that they have not laid 
 aside their own habits and religion to adopt those 
 of this civilized nation. Blot out these terrible 
 pages of your nation's history in connection with our 
 people before you rise up to call the Indian treacher- 
 ous or cruel. 
 
 "Tell me whether 
 
 The poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
 Sees God in clouds and hears him in the wind, 
 
 is not capable by cultivation of rationally compre-
 
 INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 279 
 
 bending the true God, whose pavilion is the clouds, 
 and who yet giveth grace to the humble? 
 
 " I ask, then, in behalf of the New York Indians, 
 that our white brethren will not urge us to do that 
 which justice, humanity, religion, not only do not 
 require, but condemn. Let us live where our fathers 
 lived, that we who are converted heathen may be made 
 meet for that inheritance which our Father hath prom- 
 ised to give his Son, our Saviour ; so that the deserts 
 and waste places may be made to blossom like the 
 rose, and the inhabitants thereof utter forth the high 
 praises of our God. 
 
 " Let me tell you our condition when the pale faces 
 landed on the eastern shores of this great island. 
 Our government then, many centuries ago, was 
 remarkable for its wisdom, and adapted to the condi- 
 tion of our nation. It was a republican and powerful 
 democratic government, in which the will of the peo- 
 ple ruled. No policy or enterprise was ever carried 
 out by the council of the Grand Sachems of the Con- 
 federacy of the Long House without the sanction and 
 ratification of the people, and it was necessary that it 
 should receive the consent of every one of the Six 
 Tribes. The consent of the warriors alone was not 
 deemed sufficient, but the women, the mothers of the 
 nation, were also consulted. By this means the path 
 of the wise sachems was made clear ; their hands
 
 280 LIFE AMONG THE IliOQUOIS. 
 
 were strong, their determinations resolute, knowing 
 that they had the unanimous support of their great 
 constituency. Hence the confederacy of the Iroquois 
 became great and strong, prosperous and happy ; by 
 their wisdom they became statesmen, warriors, diplo- 
 mats ; by their valor and skill in the warpath they 
 became formidable ; they conquered and subdued 
 many tribes, and extended their territory. 
 
 " Our territory, which once required the fleetest run- 
 ners to traverse, is now spanned by the human voice. 
 Our possessions are so reduced that now when we put 
 the seed of the melon into the earth it sprouts, and its 
 tender vine trails along the ground until it trespasses 
 upon the lands of the pale face."
 
 Thus the birch cnnoe was buikled 
 In the valley, by the river, 
 In the bosom of the forest. 
 
 Longfellow's Hioicatlia.
 
 XVI. 
 
 *'A WEDDING LIKE WHITE PEOPLE." 
 
 QjEVENTEEN happy years of missionary life with 
 r ' Mrs. Wright among these Indians and the call 
 came to return to the New England home and friends, 
 and enter a new life as the wife of a business man, 
 Lemuel E. Caswell, of Boston. "When the plans were 
 nearly matured they were made known to the unsus- 
 pecting Indians. 
 
 "This cannot be!" they said. "Your father, the 
 man with two pairs of eyes" (he wore spectacles), 
 " brought you here when you were a young girl. He 
 gave you to us. We have adopted you into our tribe 
 you belong to our Deer clan. You belong to us 
 and you have not asked our consent ! " 
 
 After considerable discussion the announcement 
 was made that they would feel satisfied if the wed- 
 ding ceremony might be performed on the Reservation, 
 exactly as it would be in Boston, that they might see 
 " a real wedding." Consent was given to this, pro- 
 vided the bridegroom elect did not object. Contrary 
 to expectation, the bridegroom was greatly taken with 
 the novel plan, and promised to come to the Indians, 
 
 881
 
 282 LIFE AMONG THE IfiOQUOIS. 
 
 and bring with him a company of friends. This 
 company included the late Lawson Valentine, pub- 
 lisher of The Christian Union, and his wife ; the late 
 B. F. Whittemore and wife, of Boston ; Dr. J. B. 
 Clark, of Boston, with other relatives and friends. 
 The party came within nine miles of the Reservation 
 by rail, and at two o'clock in the morning were met 
 by Indians who had volunteered their teams and serv- 
 ices to bring them into Indian land. The procession 
 made its way through dense woods, over indescribable 
 roads, in darkness which could be felt ; but, although 
 some of the ladies were a little " nervous," they bore 
 this bit of pioneering with commendable fortitude. 
 The city pale faces were entertained at the Mission 
 House and Orphan Asylum, and heroically adapted 
 themselves to the accommodations at hand. On the 
 day following their arrival they were taken by their 
 Indian charioteers to the various out-stations, to the 
 pagan dance house and its surrounding cabins, and 
 to the well-tilled farms and comfortable houses of 
 the Christian Indians. A pagan chief offered Mr. 
 Valentine two cows, three pigs, twelve strings of 
 corn, and a cabin, if he would remain. A similar 
 offer was made to Mr. Caswell. 
 
 On the Sabbath, the party attended the Mission 
 church in the forenoon and visited the out-stations 
 among the pagans in the afternoon.
 
 "^1 WEDDING LIKE WHITE PEOPLE." 1 283 
 
 Mr. Caswell had secured a hack from a town thirty 
 miles away for the comfort of the guests who were 
 unable to endure the rough wagons. This hack, 
 including team and driver, became the center of 
 attraction upon the Reservation. 
 
 The wedding ceremony was to take place on Mon- 
 day evening. The Indian committee of arrangements 
 consisted of a Bible class of thirty young men, who 
 from boyhood had known no teacher but the one now 
 leaving them forever. These young men spent the 
 day decorating the walls of the Mission church with 
 boughs of the hemlock and clusters of red berries. 
 The effect was very artistic and the guests watched 
 these children of nature during the process with keen 
 interest. On the platform below the pulpit, they 
 erected a bower of the same green, brightened by 
 the red, over which they placed the words woven from 
 the delicate sprays of the hemlock : 
 
 "The Lord bless thee and keep thee; 
 The Lord cause his face to shine upon thee, 
 And give thee peace." 
 
 The marriage ceremony was to be solemnized under 
 this bower. During a sudden shower in the afternoon 
 one young Indian said to another in English: "The 
 sky weeps for the red man, because he loses a friend." 
 The anticipated hour arrives at last, and from all 
 parts of the Reservation the Indians make their way
 
 284 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 to the Mission church. The haughty pagan for once 
 humbles his pride and enters the Christian church. A 
 promise had been given that upon this occasion the 
 wishes of the Indians should be consulted, when prac- 
 ticable, and the first request comes from the mothers : 
 "May we take our babies to the wedding?" This 
 privilege was promptly granted. 
 
 When the bride and groom reach the church, in the 
 famous hack, the Indian committee are at hand to 
 escort them to the steps. They have taken up the 
 carpet from the church aisle and spread it upon the 
 ground for the use of the missionary bride. Who told 
 them to do this? No one. The committee divide 
 into two sections, one half preceding the bridal pair, 
 the other half following, until they are escorted to the 
 bower which has been prepared for them. 
 
 Dr. Clark, brother of the bride, steps forward at 
 once, and with his usual brevity upon such occa- 
 sions, pronounces the words which make the couple 
 husband and wife. Thus joined they are about to 
 leave the church when a sensation is noticeable in 
 the audience. 
 
 Is this all? Have we worked weeks to make suit- 
 able costumes and walked miles this very day to see 
 only this? Brevity is odious to the Indian. 
 
 " We do not understand!" they say. "Let us 
 have it in Indian ! " Then the venerable missionary,
 
 "A WEDDING LIKE WHITE PEOPLE." 285 
 
 Rev. Asher "Wright, steps forward and repeats the 
 ceremony in their own language, taking three times 
 the amount of time. This is satisfactory so far. 
 But wait. Mr. Two-Guns is slowly walking up the 
 aisle, followed by Mrs. Two-Guns and the baby the 
 latter resplendent in a bright yellow calico dress. 
 There is absolute silence until he says, " We wish our 
 child baptized by the brother, and named for the 
 husband, of our departing friend." And then Dr. 
 Clark performs the rite of baptism, and the infant 
 receives his name Lemuel Caswell Two-Guns. 
 
 " And now," said one, " as we have had a promise 
 that our wishes are to be gratified on this occasion, 
 we ask that. the bridal pair may stand where they are 
 under the bower until we shake hands with them.' 1 
 
 All the people in the church, in the most perfect 
 order now pass up one aisle and down the other, 
 stopping to shake hands and give us a word of 
 greeting. When the first mother appears in the pro- 
 cession, the black-eyed, plump-cheeked baby proves 
 too great a temptation to a baby-lover, and Mr. Cas- 
 well stoops and kisses the child. After this every 
 baby in the house is presented with the emphatic 
 word " Gwah ! " (here !) 
 
 The bridal pair, with their guests, and two hundred 
 special friends among the Indians, now adjourned to 
 the Indian Orphan Asylum two and a half miles away,
 
 286 LIFE AMOXG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 mod passed a few hoars very pleasantly while an 
 Indian program was carried oat for the entertainment 
 of those from abroad. 
 
 A voice was heard saying these words : ' ' Alas I 
 alas! onr sister! "What shall we do for oar sister? 
 We adopted her into our tribe, we made her as one 
 with ourselves. She has broken the law, she has 
 married out of her tribe. She cannot join as in the 
 Happy Home beyond the Setting San ! Alas ! alas ! 
 oar sister! What shall we do for oar sister?" 
 
 Second voice : " Let me speak ; I will tell you 
 what we will do for onr sister. We will adopt the 
 man she has chosen into our tribe. Thus we will save 
 our sister. Then she may join us in the Happy Home 
 beyond the Setting San." 
 
 Two lines of men were then formed. A sachem 
 took Mr. Caswell by the arm and led him up and 
 down, between the lines, while the men clapped their 
 hands and shouted, " Yip ! yip ! yip I " and sang the 
 war song. He was then named Sa-go-ye-ih after Red 
 Jacket. 
 
 Dr. Peter Wilson, a tall, powerful-looking Indian, 
 a Cayuga, now stood before the newly wedded couple 
 and addressed them as follows : 
 
 "Once upon a time there was in New York City 
 a poor boy who had no home, no friends. He slept 
 upon doorsteps or in boxes at night and begged by
 
 "A WEDDING LIKE WHITE PEOPLE." 287 
 
 day. A kind lady saw him one day and invited him 
 to enter her Sunday-school class at the Mission. He 
 accepted the invitation and a new world was opened 
 to him. He was very 'grateful. He wanted to give 
 the lady something all his own ; but he had nothing. 
 
 " One day a boy gave him half his * chew of gum.' 
 After chewing it a while the little waif suddenly 
 thought of the lady. 4 There ! ' he exclaimed, * at 
 last I have something all my own to give her ! ' And 
 on the next Sabbath the presentation was made. 
 
 " Now," continued Peter Wilson, suddenly placing 
 a book of Indian photographs in the hand of the 
 bride, " this book which we give you is worth no 
 more to you than the chew of gum was to the lady, 
 but it is all we have. We have done our best." 
 
 The Indian choir, which had been singing in eastern 
 cities for the benefit of the Orphan Asylum, now gave 
 some of their songs in Indian and English, and after 
 a bountiful supply of wedding cake i4 all the way from 
 Boston " the wedding feast broke up at midnight. 
 
 The next morning, the friend who had been with 
 them so many years bade them good-by with sorrow 
 that the happy life with them had closed, her grief 
 being mingled with joy in the prospect of the glad life 
 opening before her. 
 
 During these days of sore trial to Mrs. Wright she 
 smiled bravely through her tears and said, "It is
 
 288 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 all right. These seventeen years of close companion- 
 ship have been very precious, and I must not rebel. 
 God will surely raise me up another helper, another 
 companion." 
 
 But her heavenly Father was leading her in ways 
 she could not understand, yet evermore leading her, in 
 the days and weeks and months of loneliness on that 
 Reservation, to draw nearer to him as her only refuge 
 and help and comfort. One by one the workers with 
 whom she had been associated left her. They were a 
 noble, consecrated band. The memory of their spirit- 
 ual companionship was very precious to her. She 
 loved to recall the words and ways of their little ones ; 
 she loved to repeat the list of names so dear to her : 
 Rev. Messrs. Thayer, Bliss, Gleason, Hall, Curtis, 
 Ford, and the honored teachers who had so faithfully 
 cooperated with them ; and in addition to those 
 already mentioned in these pages, she ever held in 
 loving remembrance Mary Jane Thayer, Caroline 
 Fox, Martha Stevens, Jane Shearer, Mary Gleason, 
 Laura Raymond, Eleanor Jones, and other valued 
 helpers. Then the companion of her youth and old 
 age, and by whose side she had labored for these 
 Indians fifty years, was laid to rest in the Indian 
 graveyard, and she was left to carry the burden alone. 
 Her faith was tested as by fire ; trial succeeded trial ; 
 but in childlike submission she said, "It is the Lord.
 
 "4 WEDDING LIKE WRITE PEOPLE." 289 
 
 Let him do what seemeth unto him good." Her 
 favorite lines at this time were : 
 
 " When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, 
 My grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply 
 The flame shall not hurt thee I only design 
 Thy dross to consume thy gold to refine." 
 
 And indeed the gold of her character was refined 
 until it reflected the face of the Master. 
 
 At last Rev. M. F. Trippe and his lovely wife were 
 appointed by the Presbyterian Board l to this mission, 
 for which she was deeply grateful. They were a com- 
 fort and inspiration ; but all too soon they were with- 
 drawn and she pursued her journey alone, as to any 
 helpful companionship, giving every hour of her life 
 to these Indians, until, on the morning of January 21, 
 1886, God suddenly called her home. 
 
 1 This Indian Mission had already been transferred from the Amer- 
 ican Board to the Presbyterian Board of Missions, who still have It In 
 charge. 
 
 BARK CANOE.
 
 XVII. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM MRS. WRIGHT'S LETTERS, 1870-1886. 
 
 TO MRS. LEROY OATMAN, Buffalo, Mary Shanks came 
 to-day to tell me that she had no stove. I gave her two 
 dollars, and must try to get an old stove for her somewhere. 
 That family is suffering. Mary was ever so thankful for the sewing 
 machine, and you are the good angel who got it for her, because 
 you put me on the track. How thankful I am for all the kindness 
 shown me by you and your husband! May God reward you! 
 And he will, because you give the cup of cold water in Christ's 
 name and for his sake, even though I am such a poor unworthy 
 creature, not fit to be called his disciple; but I do long to know 
 the things which are freely given to us of God. I have an inde- 
 finable yearning for something to which I have not yet attained. 
 
 We have little fruit, for which I greatly long at times, but we 
 do have tomatoes, and how thankful we ought to be for them ! 
 
 I intended to go to Buffalo next week, but alas ! I have had a 
 blow on the temple from my horse's head, while I was arranging 
 his bridle. It did not hurt me much, but blackened my eye so that 
 I am a fright! The pony did not do it in malice, only in restless- 
 ness. How I want to see you! I feel the gnawings of hunger 
 for companionship congenial to my soul. There is a good reason 
 why I am hindered from going to you now. God knows, and it 
 is all right. 
 
 "We arc having sonic hopeful signs of revival interest at one of 
 my out-stations, and I am experiencing some agonizing desires for 
 a blessing in my own soul, and upon this people. I am studying 
 the promises. I am more and more convinced that the promises 
 are for us, only we don't appropriate them by faith. 
 
 (1) " Thy faith hath saved thee." (2) " O thou of little faith, 
 wherefore didst thou doubt?" (3) "O woman, great is thy 
 faith." (4) " He could not do many mighty works there because 
 
 291
 
 292 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 of their unbelief." Setting these opposite each other, what do you 
 understand by them? I am sure it is the lack of taking hold of 
 the promises which makes us unprofitable and fruitless. Is it not 
 so? We need the illuminating power of the Spirit to help u.s to 
 grasp them. We need the intercession of the Spirit. We need 
 the sanctifying power of the Spirit. God helps us to come humbly 
 on account of our sins to the throne of grace, but boldly on 
 account of God's infinite condescension and great love for this 
 lost world. 
 
 I send you a package of mosses and leaves, which will serve to 
 remind you of the autumn of my life; but I still find in my heart 
 a loving, tender regard for friends long endeared. I am very 
 busy crowded with work of every kind and pressed on every 
 hand. Oh, how we need more laborers here! 
 
 That dear lady is in all respects a jewel of the first water, but 
 the setting is wrong. We may make mistakes sometimes, but God 
 knows just how to deal with us. I often say, What a pity he or 
 she should have taken this or that step ! but how do I know but 
 God permitted it for good, and perhaps took that course to save: 1 
 Oh, the depths, both of the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of 
 God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past 
 finding out! But how safe to trust all our interests entirely in 
 his hands ! How restful ! God help us always to look to him 
 in faith and hope and love, knowing that he is able to do ex- 
 ceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Let us 
 shout, "Begone, unbelief!" and go on our way rejoicing in God 
 always, trusting implicitly in his wisdom, faithfulness, power, 
 and love. 
 
 We are passing through some trials. The enemy roars upon us 
 sometimes. It seems as though he would swallow us up. Oh, for 
 overcoming faith! Sometimes I cry out many times in a day, 
 "OLord, have mercy upon us! Undertake for us!" Will you 
 pray that my faith in God may be unwavering, and that we mis- 
 sionaries may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; 
 that, notwithstanding our mistakes, we may not be left to be 
 devoured of the adversary? 
 
 An Indian mother called to-day to tell me of the illness of her 
 anly daughter. She said: "I do not think she will ever be any
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 293 
 
 better, for she is in a decline ; but I am so thankful that she has 
 come to me, and that I can make her comfortable in her last days. 
 When she left me many years since, she was a member of the 
 church, and I thought a true Christian but she has been living 
 since at the door of hell. I have prayed all these years that she 
 might be brought back from her wanderings, for she had lost all 
 her religion. There were no good influences around her. Now 
 she has come home to me to die. Will you pray for her that 
 before she leaves me I may know that she has asked and received 
 forgiveness?" I gave such counsel and comfort as I could under 
 the circumstances, and left such medicines as were needed for her 
 temporary relief. 
 
 A few days later the mother came again to the Mission House 
 and said, "I have been watching and praying very earnestly for 
 a change in my daughter's mind. A few nights ago, after I had 
 retired and all was still, I lay awake praying for her all by myself, 
 when I thought I heard her speak. I rose immediately and went 
 to her bedside and said : 
 
 " ' Do you want anything? ' ' Oh, no ! ' said she ; ' I was praying 
 here all by myself ; I did not know that I spoke.' 
 
 "Oh, how thankful I was to hear her say that! My tears 
 streamed down my cheeks and when I could speak I said : 
 
 "'Daughter, I thank God for this answer to my prayer. I too 
 was praying in my bed and pleading with God that you might 
 return to him, and that I might hear your voice in prayer once 
 more. And now I will kneel down here by your bed and we will 
 pray together.' And so we did. and from that time my daughter 
 has been clear and happy in her mind." 
 
 This state of mind continued till her death. Christian friends 
 visited her from time to time and found her in a humble, peni- 
 tent, and believing state of mind. After all was over the mother 
 came again to see me and said : 
 
 " I never can be thankful enough that our daughter was brought 
 back to Christ before she died. While she lived in that dreadful 
 place it seemed to me she could not repent; the temptations were 
 so thick around her, and I used to lie awake nights, praying, pray- 
 ing for her. It was God's hand that brought her home to die. 
 ' His will be done.' " 
 
 To a Former Associate, Spiritual darkness thickens all 
 around us. Watchman, what of the night? The door is open,
 
 294 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 but the people are stupid, sleepy, dead, like dry bones in the val- 
 ley. They need the breath of the Spirit to blow upon them; they 
 need to awake to their condition. God help us ! 
 
 I am making a special effort for the women and children among 
 the pagans at Newtown. I have invited the mothers to come 
 together and make garments for their children. I am satisfied 
 that this is a good thing to do, and I am able thus to reach both 
 mothers and children. Samuel Morris, a good Quaker of Phila- 
 delphia, has sent me one hundred dollars for this work ; and this 
 with the money from Boston will help me through. 1 
 
 Humanly speaking, there never was a time on this Reservation 
 when things looked so dark. May God have mercy upon us ! is 
 my prayer. Once in a while I meet some old woman who really 
 sheds tears over the spiritual desolation here, and this encourages 
 me. You cannot know how utterly alone I feel here now. There 
 is no one left who can fully and intelligently sympathize with me. 
 Sometimes the loneliness oppresses me so that I am in danger of 
 breaking down. I cannot speak to any one of my fears aud my 
 discouragements. I have no one to whom I can communicate 
 my anxieties. I am sorry I have been tempted to send you such 
 a piteous wail. 
 
 I have received some wonderful intimations that God favors the 
 effort I am making to raise funds for my gospel industrial work. 
 A Quaker lady in New York City promised me two hundred 
 and fifty dollars for this work. Last week she wrote that she 
 could send me only twenty-five dollars of the money promised. 
 I was stunned, and lay on my face before God in great distress 
 and darkness of mind. Saturday evening I received another letter, 
 in which she told me she felt impelled to send the two hundred 
 and fifty dollars in addition to the twenty-live. I was rebuked 
 for my unbelief, and with a thankful heart went on rejoicing. 
 
 I am so thankful for the help that comes to me from Boston ! 
 I could not live without it. The drought has been a terrible 
 thing, and the crop of corn and potatoes almost useless. Strong 
 drink is doing a dreadful work all over the Reservation. It was 
 never so bad before, and you know that in itself means poverty 
 and suffering and every evil to which flesh is heir. Mr. Trippe, 
 our new missionary, is working bravely and his sweet little wife 
 is helping with all her might. 
 
 1 An appropriation from the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- 
 pel among the Indians.
 
 EXTRACTS FJBOM LETTEE8. 295 
 
 You will be surprised to hear from me in Buffalo. I came here 
 a week ago to-day to solicit money from the good people of this 
 city to help repair our Indian church. It is in a deplorable state. 
 You know it was always shaky. The plastering was loosened all 
 around and it leaked, and the chimneys were very bad. The 
 Indians are very enthusiastic about repairing it. A large company 
 of men have been at work drawing lumber and shingling, and 
 doing something for two weeks. The men have raised one hun- 
 dred dollars in cash ; the women seventy dollars ; and the Council 
 has given one hundred dollars. Now I am trying to get Christian 
 people here to help. I have received thus far eighty dollars, but, 
 oh, it is such hard work ! I have called on ladies here who have 
 hundreds and thousands of dollars at their command, who are sur- 
 rounded with every luxury, who tell me they cannot afford to give 
 anything. Some frankly say, " I have na interest in this matter." 
 If I did not feel it to be my duty to raise the money, I would never 
 go through this torture. If I did not feel that the Indians have 
 really done all they can, I would not ask a white man for one cent. 
 I have received encouraging words from Rev. Mr. Lowell and 
 Rev. Mr. Hubbell, which have greatly strengthened me. 
 
 I am struggling to-day and every day to find access to God, by 
 prayer. I am not satisfied with my piety. There must be more 
 for us to know. We certainly have not yet come to the perfect 
 stature of Christian life. I have not. How can I be willing to 
 live out the remainder of my life, poor and worthless as all has 
 been, without a deeper experience of the power and love and 
 faithfulness of God? I want to know the things that are freely 
 given to us of God. Even these longings are rilled, I fear, with 
 doubt and unbelief, unrecouciliation and ignorance, and even rebel- 
 lion. I long to get into the light of faith and perfect trust. Oh, 
 such burdens as I feel with regard to this people and the people 
 of the neighboring white communities !~ So much ignorance and 
 apathy on a subject which should lie so near the heart of every 
 disciple! Oh, for a revival of religion among the white people 
 who surround this Reservation of Indians ! 
 
 I want you to pray that I may be baptized with the Spirit of 
 God, whom Christ said should come and lead his people into the 
 truth. I am sure this is what I need, and what all Christians 
 need at the present day. T long for a mighty effusion of this
 
 296 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 divine life in my own soul to fit me for divine service. Would 
 that I might be permitted to do some good before I die ! 
 
 It seems to me I never saw the vanity of living to make money 
 as I see it now, except as it can be used to forward the interests of 
 Christ's kingdom. What poor trash it is ! How it leads men to 
 death, present and eternal ! Will you pray that 1 may be enabled 
 to do some good to certain people on this Reservation who are led 
 captive by Satan at his will ? There are those here who have not 
 relapsed into outrageous sin; but any sin unrepented of does so 
 sear the conscience and harden the heart! Very few bear us on 
 their hearts to the mercy-seat now, and the number grows less 
 every year, because our old friends are dying off. Do you realize 
 that I am on the last half of my semi-centennial year of service 
 among these Indians? Poor service! Next January I shall have 
 been with them fifty years. 
 
 My heart is full of sad thoughts about the state of affairs here. 
 The corn is cut off this year, as you know, but you cannot imag- 
 ine how the whole people feel it. especially the poor. Last week 
 seventy persons came to us for meal or flour; that which we have 
 is almost gone. There are so many suffering ones about us that I 
 cannot enjoy eating my food. Sometimes more than thirty people 
 in one day come to tell us the story of their wants and to get me 
 to beg for them. There has been an article in the papers telling 
 the need of help, and asking the benevolent to send contributions. 
 This distress will be likely to increase until spring opens. 
 
 I have passed through the horrors of cholera and smallpox and 
 malignant typhoid fever, with these Indians, when a hundred died 
 within a year, but I never saw anything like this. It takes all my 
 vitality to see and talk with the multitude of people who come 
 here with their pitiful stories, and not be able to help them. 
 
 Do you know we are entirely destitute of fruit this year? No 
 apples, peaches, or grapes. I am nearly starved for fruit. I do 
 not have tea or coffee, and do not eat much meat, so I am some- 
 what " hard up " to get anything that relishes ; but the Lord is 
 good to me, and I have great reason to be thankful. My greatest 
 anxiety is to see this people converted. Must I die and leave them 
 in rebellion against God? How can I bear the thought? 
 
 I cannot tell you much that is encouraging about our spiritual 
 interests. The people have not raised the amount that was asked
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 297 
 
 of them, and so Mr. Trippe has been withdrawn from this station 
 and placed in charge of all the other Reservations. So we have 
 preaching only once a month. The people are very much discour- 
 aged. They thought they did all they could. The crops were poor 
 last year, the roads almost impassable all winter, so that they 
 could do nothing in the woods. You know thc'rc are only a few 
 who can do very much. The rich members of the church have 
 died. There are only two left, and they are old men, who live a 
 long distance from the church. Last year nobody was able to lay 
 up any corn or potatoes. You know the Indians cannot be driven ; 
 they will follow if they can be made to believe that you really love 
 them. They will not bear scolding. 
 
 I confess that I am constantly praying that the Lord will bring 
 you back here just for a few \veeks. It has seemed to me lately as 
 though you might walk in any minute. Perhaps it is because we 
 have been cleaning house, and fixing up, and arranging the many 
 things which you have sent us to make the Mission House more 
 attractive. More and more I feel what a blessing it would be to 
 these people if you could come here just a little while. May God 
 in his great mercy grant us this, the desire of our hearts I He has 
 done great things for us, whereof we are glad, but giving does 
 not impoverish him. He is able to do exceeding abundantly more 
 than we can ask or even think. How little we know of the things 
 which are freely given to us of God! and therefore we arc lean 
 and unprofitable in our service. How we toil and strive in vain, 
 when we might live in the sunlight of God's love! 
 
 I am conscious of making a daily struggle towards the posses- 
 sion of simple, trusting faith in God's Word. This is not unat- 
 tainable but I am so earthly, so human, so slow of heart to 
 believe that God is willing to do such good things for us, that 
 nothing .shall be impossible to us. How wonderful is God's for- 
 bearance to us ! 
 
 I cannot help clinging to the hope that the way will be open for 
 you to come to us. I cannot bear to think that this blessing will 
 not come to this people. Will not your husband for Christ's sake, 
 for the sake of this people, spare you to us a little while? 
 
 Her request is granted, and her friend, to whose 
 husband the following letter of grateful appreciation
 
 298 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 was addressed, was permitted to spend one month at 
 the Mission. 
 
 To the Husband of her Former Associate, I feel constrained 
 this afternoon to write to you. My heart is so full I must speak. I 
 want you to know that I shall feel grateful to you as long as I live, 
 and I think I may say through all eternity, for letting your dear 
 wife come to see us. I cannot tell you how I have longed to see 
 her these years, and how I have choked down the dreadful feeling 
 of disappointment as each summer has passed away and I have 
 failed to see her. I had come to think that it would never be on 
 this side the pearly gates, and have often found myself anticipat- 
 ing the meeting on the other side. 1 have felt lately that her com- 
 ing was a delusive dream, something which it must be wrong to 
 hope for, something not to be thought of. 
 
 When she really did come I could hardly believe the evidence of 
 my senses for some days; but now I know that her visit is a 
 reality. I have tested her living presence and enjoyed it to the 
 full. Now I count the days and the hours of her stay, and I bless 
 you every time I do so. It is so kind of you to let her stay here a 
 whole month ! You can never know what her presence is to this 
 people, and to me; I shall go in the strength of this meat many 
 days, if my life is spared. 
 
 There has never been a time since she left us when she could 
 have done .so much for us. Every circumstance has been ordered 
 by the loving Father's hand. She has been constantly at work. 
 but I do not think she has suffered from it. I have watched her 
 with the deepest anxiety, but all mountains have been leveled 
 before her, and the rough places have been made smooth, and no 
 accident has cast a gloom over our rides day and evening, upon 
 the wretched roads and broken bridges and through the swollen 
 streams of this Reservation. We have gone out and come in as 
 we used to do in the blessed years of the past. 
 
 She has sung and played on our old broken-down melodeon to 
 the exquisite satisfaction of our Hemlocks, Big Kettles, Corn- 
 planters, Yellow Blankets, Green Blankets, Halftowns. and Sil- 
 verheels. I only wish you could have seen the smiling faces, and 
 the brown hands stretched out in happy greeting as they came 
 around her at the close of every meeting. You see they did not 
 expect her really to come any more than I did.
 
 EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 299 
 
 Well, I cannot express what I feel, and so I stop here, as I hear 
 her voice calling from below, "Auntie Wright, there is a man here 
 who wants some medicine." So farewell, dear brother; God bless 
 you in soul and body for time and for eternity. Your ever grate- 
 ful friend, LAUBA M. WKIGHT.
 
 xvin. 
 
 LAST MESSAGES. 
 
 CATTARAUGUS RESERVATION, January 14, 1886. 
 FROM F. E. Parker : - 
 
 Auntie Wright is very, very ill with pneumonia. The doctor 
 thinks she will not get well. Will you pray for her that she may 
 be spared to us a little longer, that her prayers may yet be answered 
 for our people? 
 
 From Mrs. Trippe : 
 
 I have been sitting with Auntie Wright for a time and she has 
 requested me to write to you. She is no better, but the doctor 
 says if she lives twenty-four hours she may possibly recover. Her 
 brother Henry came yesterday. She was so glad to see him. She 
 threw her arms around his neck and drew him close to her pillow, 
 and whispered, " Glory to God ! " Her voice is strong at times. 
 The doctor does n't wish her to talk or sit up, even in bed, but she 
 has a strong will and is very restless. Your letter is most fitting to 
 be the last to her if she must go. Your words of encouragement 
 concerning the results which must follow her earnest, constant 
 prayer were a great inspiration to her. I trust you will not be 
 overcome in view of the possible loss of this dear one to whom 
 your own life has been so closely attached. Let us think only of 
 her joy, her blessed entrance into the Beyond, her release from all 
 the trials and anxieties of life ; for as you well know she bears the 
 burden of every one. 
 
 From her niece, Miss Ella Sheldon : 
 
 The dear sick one is sleeping now, but may arouse at any minute. 
 Her mind is very active. She knows every one who speaks to her. 
 
 301
 
 302 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 It does not seem possible for her to recover. The doctor gives us 
 no hope. Dear friend, what shall we do without her? 
 
 When your letter to young Parker came, cousin Helen Mixer 
 sat down very close to Auntie "Wright and said, " Auntie, here is 
 a message for you. Shall I read it to you? Can you hear me?" 
 " Yes," said she. And then cousin Helen read it very slowly and 
 distinctly, just as you would have liked her to read it. Then for a 
 full minute, it might have been a longer time, Auntie Wright kept 
 perfectly quiet. It was so long that we feared she had not heard 
 or comprehended, when she exclaimed, " No one knows no one 
 knows but God what a comfort these words are to me." 
 
 From her brother, Mr. Henry Sheldon : 
 
 January 21, 1886. 
 
 We have been up through the night with the sick one. She is 
 now unconscious, except when aroused to take medicine or milk. 
 It is hard to say it, but we have given up all hope, although we are 
 doing all we can to save this precious life. What will become of 
 this people when she leaves them, God only knows ! 
 
 Later. I have the sad news to impart to you that Mrs. Wright 
 breathed her last at one o'clock P.M. to-day. In the house and all 
 about it are groups of bereaved Indians in tears. The funeral 
 services will be held at the house and at the Mission church a half 
 hour later. Of her it is surely recorded above, " She hath done 
 what she could." 
 
 Thus did Mr. and Mrs. Wright give their lives to 
 these Indians, not by a tragic death, but by long 
 years of unremitting ministry, the outline of which is 
 summed up in the following page. The power of this 
 influence in the spiritual, kingdom is known to Him 
 only for whom they "counted not their lives as dear 
 unto themselves that they might accomplish the min- 
 istry which they received from the Lord Jesus to 
 testify the gospel of the grace of God " to the people.
 
 LAST MESSAGES. 303 
 
 Rev. Asher Wright was born in Hanover, New 
 Hampshire, in 1803. He made a profession of reli- 
 gion at sixteen and from the very first cherished the 
 idea of becoming a missionary. He graduated from 
 Andover Seminary in 1831, and went to the Seneca 
 Indians under commission of the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He remained 
 with these Indians fifty-seven years, dying in 1875, 
 aged seventy-three. 
 
 Mrs. Wright was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, 
 in 1809. She labored among these Indians fifty-three 
 years, surviving her husband eleven years. She died 
 January 21, 1886, on the anniversary of her wedding 
 day, aged seventy-seven. 
 
 These two missionaries translated the Four Gospels 
 and several other portions of Scripture into the Sen- 
 eca language. In the same language they published 
 two editions of hymns, many of them of their own 
 composition. They also prepared a vocabulary of the 
 Seneca language and published many Indian leaflets. 
 
 Through the efforts of Rev. M. F. Trippe a mon- 
 ument has been placed in the Mission graveyard at 
 the spot where lie the remains of these lamented and 
 honored missionaries.
 
 XIX. 
 
 TESTIMONY AT A MEMORIAL SERVICE ON BEHALF OP 
 MR. AND MRS. WRIGHT. 
 
 THE testimony of Henry Silverheels : 
 
 I will say a few words. Our sister, Mrs. Wright, 
 who is through with her work, was a believer. She 
 believed God when he said "Go preach my gospel." 
 We all witness that she did that here. She has 
 labored faithfully among our people ; every day we 
 have seen her doing good. She has instructed all 
 old men and women, young men and maidens, and 
 even the little ones ; she has cared for their souls 
 and for their bodies. We have seen her in church 
 every Sabbath, and she has spoken to us all some 
 word, or gently whispered about Jesus Christ. 
 
 What shall we do now ? We shall never more hear 
 her voice. Shall we believe her words or not? Shall 
 we take her advice ? Shall we repent of our sins and 
 believe the gospel? She has gone to the world of 
 happiness. Many things troubled her here, but now 
 she is free, in that world of joy. I cannot mourn 
 over her death because she is so happy now in heaven 
 praising God. I urge you, my people, to be faithful 
 
 305
 
 306 LIFE AMONG THE IKOQUOIS. 
 
 unto death, and you shall meet her in heaven, and 
 with her be forever happy. 
 
 Her husband, Mr. Wright, gave the best strength 
 of his early manhood to us, and he continued to work 
 for us until the very last. He was always kind and 
 patient with us. He never talked hard when we did 
 not do right ; he never scolded us ; he was like a 
 good, wise father to us all. He would take as much 
 pains to speak to a poor man, or a very wicked man, 
 as he would to a good man, or a rich man. He loved 
 us all, and he tried to do us all good. We all be- 
 lieved and knew that he was our friend. Sometimes 
 we quarreled about our political affairs and there were 
 very hard words between us. Mr. Wright always 
 acted as a peacemaker. Sometimes we found fault 
 with him and blamed him, but he never said anything 
 back to us, or reproached us. He was like Christ. 
 He always returned good for evil. 
 
 From Daniel Two-Guns : 
 
 This brother expressed his gratitude that the Great 
 Father had fulfilled his promise to send messengers, 
 bringing the "good tidings" in which all mankind 
 are participants. He spoke with a full heart of Mr. 
 Wright, whom he mentioned by his Indian name, 
 "Gai-wi-yu," meaning "Good News." 
 
 " Good News," said he, " was a good doctor as
 
 TESTIMONIES. 307 
 
 well as a Christian worker. He was ready at all 
 hours to respond to any calls made upon him, and his 
 health at last broke down under the hardships of his 
 self-imposed task. He was one of the truest friends 
 the Indian ever had ; he could speak our language 
 as well as a native, and frequently delighted us with 
 a sermon in our own tongue." 
 
 F. E. Parker, a Seneca, whose mother, a niece 
 of Mrs. Wright, married N. H. Parker, the United 
 States Indian Interpreter, spoke with much feeling 
 of the devotion of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, with whom 
 he had resided for several years. "I have often 
 seen them," said he, " in the early morning, while 
 all the household were asleep, kneeling in supplication 
 for the people they loved. -Their hearts and hands 
 were always open for the benefit of our nation. 
 When cholera and smallpox half ravaged our Reser- 
 vation, when no one would go near those who 
 were sick, Mr. and Mrs. Wright went to their homes 
 and ministered to them. They were truly angels of 
 mercy." 
 
 From Major Cole, an evangelist, of Michigan : 
 
 I once visited the Seneca Indians on the Cattaraugus Reservation. 
 I found there an aged sister, Mrs. "Wright, who had been laboring 
 among them for many years. All the missionaries who had been 
 associated with her were dead, or removed to other fields. As soon
 
 308 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 as she found I had come to preach the gospel to these Indians, she 
 praised the Lord, saying he had answered her prayers. 
 
 " I have prayed," she exclaimed, " that the Lord would send 
 somebody to preach to these people among whom I have worked 
 as well as I could, and for whom I have prayed constantly that 
 they might be saved." 
 
 I said, " How long have you been working here, sister?" 
 
 " More than fifty years," she replied. She was full of faith that 
 the Lord would send a blessing upon this beloved people. 
 
 Well, we went to the little chapel among the pagans, and she 
 said: 
 
 "I will call them to the meeting." She took hold of the bell 
 rope, and with all her strength began to ring the bell. I went up 
 to her and said : 
 
 " Let me do that." 
 
 She said, " No, you pray. You must save all your strength for 
 the people. Pray hard that the Lord will give you souls to-day." 
 
 "We waited five minutes, but no one came; still she kept ringing 
 the bell. Ten minutes passed, yet we were alone. Finally, I began 
 to think we should not have an audience, and that we might as 
 well go back to the Mission. 
 
 " Brother Cole," said she, " I have waited nearly fifty years. 
 You won't leave them, will you, until you have preached to 
 them?" 
 
 I was reproved, and said, " I will not leave this place until I have 
 seen some of these Indians saved." 
 
 She continued to ring the bell, but no one came. 
 
 She said: " Brother Cole, you stay here and pray. Pray hard. 
 I will go to every house and bring them in." 
 
 So she ran down a little footpath through the woods, and soon 
 a tall Indian came stalking in and took his seat, while she started 
 off down another trail, and presently came back with three more. 
 She kept on until we had quite an audience, and were able to begin 
 the meeting. She interpreted my English into Indian, and such a 
 meeting as we had that afternoon in that little house ! God met us 
 there, and thirteen precious souls were saved at that time. This 
 fruit was the result of her faithful seed-sowing. 
 
 From Rev. M. F. Trippe : 
 
 Mrs. Wright literally bore these people upon her heart. She
 
 TESTIMONIES. 309 
 
 knew them all. No one will ever live who will know them so well. 
 Every child born since the year 1833 has been tenderly watched 
 by her from infancy to old age or death. She knew their sorrows, 
 successes, hopes, disappointments, failures; their mental, moral, 
 and physical characteristics. Every case of soul-wrecking came as 
 a personal calamity upon her grieving heart. She keenly felt all 
 the bitter curses heaped upon this race by her own. She recog- 
 nized one thing as essential to the safety and salvation of the peo- 
 ple, and that was their full and hearty acceptance of Christianity. 
 For this end she labored, prayed, and wept. Side by side, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wright toiled, and their holy purpose was to save this people 
 for Christ and heaven. 
 
 I wonder if you realize that the intense, persistent, unfailing 
 purpose of this woman was to save your race. Your coming doom 
 as a race and as individuals, if you did not accept Christ, drove 
 sleep from her eyes. She would weep and pray the night through. 
 I cannot tell you how greatly she loved you, how she robbed her- 
 self of ordinary comforts to keep you from suffering. Her nature 
 was love. I never knew her to hold resentment for any wrong 
 inflicted upon herself. She never bore ill-will when ill-treated, yet 
 she never forgot a wrong committed against a poor Indian. She 
 was always watchful of your interests, always on the alert to defeat 
 the wicked schemes of unworthy persons who would make you 
 their prey. Denied children of her own, she adopted you all. 
 Never was a more fitting word spoken than the remark made 
 by one of your prominent men on the day of her death : " The 
 Indians are all orphans now." 
 
 The death of Mrs. Wright is a loss irreparable to the people to 
 whom she has given all the strength, freshness, and wisdom of a 
 long life. There is no one able to fill her place. As a dear friend 
 said of her, " It is only her body that failed. Her spirit was fresh, 
 young, and helpful to all who came within the sphere of her 
 influence." 
 
 One can hardly realize the extent of the sacrifice to persons of 
 the intelligence, gifts, and education of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, to 
 isolate themselves from the stimulus of an active and intelligent 
 community, and conform their lives to the lives of a less-favored 
 people. Mr. Wright was an accomplished Oriental scholar, and 
 a master of seven languages. It will be long ere the Indian race 
 finds other teachers and pastors so superior and so devoted.
 
 310 LIFE AMONG THE IB QUO IS. 
 
 From Hon. William P. Letch worth, of Buffalo: 
 
 In the summer of 1854 unusual destitution and suffering pre- 
 vailed among these Indians. Mr. and Mrs. Wright, who were so 
 active in seeking out and relieving the wants of the distressed, 
 were appalled at the amount of sickness and privation around 
 them, and almost disheartened over their inability to extend any- 
 thing like adequate relief to the afflicted and dying Indians about 
 them. Early and late through these sad days these good people 
 labored on through the summer, imploring aid from such friends 
 as they could reach; but with tne approach of winter they saw 
 that still greater suffering must ensue. Then more earnest appeals 
 went out both far and near. One of these reached Philip Thomas, 
 a Friend, of Baltimore, who had previously shown a deep interest 
 in their work. Encouraged by promises of liberal aid from him, 
 they redoubled their exertions. 
 
 At this time Mr. and Mrs. Wright brought into their family 
 ten sick and starving Indian children, thus assuming in addi- 
 tion to their labors a load of care equal to their utmost capacity. 
 Dwellers in princely mansions, lovers of fashion, luxury, and ease, 
 what think you of this sacrifice? 
 
 This was the nucleus and real beginning of the Thomas Indian 
 Orphan Asylum. By the aid of Philip Thomas and a small state 
 appropriation, and the council of the Seneca nation, which gave 
 the land for the home, and benevolent people, the Thomas Indian 
 Orphan Asylum was permanently established. 
 
 In 1875, by the enforcement of a recent amendment to the Consti- 
 tution, all state aid was cut off. This would have resulted in clos- 
 ing the asylum had not Mr. Wright and Dr. Pettit, of Fredonia, 
 another warm friend of the Indian, and president of the board of 
 trustees, gone to Albany and laid the situation before the legis- 
 lature. 
 
 Their petition was at first denied, to the great dejection and 
 sorrow of poor Mr. Wright. Eventually, however, his earnest- 
 ness and persistency prevailed. A plan was devised whereby the 
 state took the asylum property and assumed control of the insti- 
 tution, supplying all the means for its support, and Mr. Wright 
 returned home in buoyant spirits. This was his last opportunity 
 to present the claims of the Indian children to the legislature, 
 Though in feeble health, nothing could deter him from making 
 this journey, and he never recovered from the fatigue and expo- 
 sure consequent upon it.
 
 TESTIMONIES. 311 
 
 From Secretary Bamuna, of the Buffalo Historical 
 Society : 
 
 I spent three summer days at the Indian Mission House. I left 
 the train at the nearest point to the Cattaraugus Reservation and 
 took a wagon to the Mission House. In this neighborhood the 
 Indians have embraced Christianity. They are intelligent, and 
 somewhat educated; their houses are neat, their farms and gar- 
 dens well tilled. 
 
 Mrs. Wright took me to the settlement of the pagans. These 
 people have refused to embrace Christianity, and a large portion 
 of them are most pitiably drunken, debased, utterly shiftless and 
 worthless. They have no good farms, no gardens, and are misera- 
 ble objects of charity. The influence of the selfish white man 
 and his fire water could not be more terribly or more truthfully 
 depicted. The contrast between these two settlements could not 
 be more marked. 
 
 I found Mrs. Wright a very pleasant woman, and I formed a 
 most favorable opinion of her character as well as of her influence 
 for good among the people about her. She was constantly being 
 consulted by them on all sorts of subjects, and always entered 
 fully into everything that concerned them. A young girl cane 
 into the room having on shoes with the toes worn out. She 
 showed her bare toes to Mrs. Wright, who at once gave her some 
 money to buy another pair. I learned that she always gave in this 
 way all the money she could possibly spare from her salary. She 
 was entirely devoted to this people, and ready to make any sacrifice 
 for them. Hers was not a labor of duty alone, but one of love. 
 
 From Miss Ella Sheldon (a niece), Canton, Penn- 
 sylvania : 
 
 What a great, loving heart she had! How sure we were of 
 her sympathy in every particular with all our little plans! We 
 ought to rejoice that she is at last at rest. She was almost broken- 
 hearted over that people. When she died what a load must have 
 fallen from her heart ! She always cared for others before herself. 
 The day she was taken sick she went out to the barn and nailed a 
 board over a hole in the wall so the wind wouldn't blow in on
 
 312 L^FE AMONG THE IROQU01S. 
 
 poor Nellie, the missionary horse. In her last hours she said, 
 '' God is so good to me, and I do praise his name ! " Sleeping or 
 waking, her lips were constantly moving. When we bent over 
 her to listen it was always a word of grace or a breath of prayer 
 which came to our ears. Was it not beautiful that she could go 
 home on the anniversary of her wedding day? 
 
 From Mrs. Leroy Oatman, Buffalo, New York : 
 
 I once passed through some silver-refining works, and when 
 a piece of silver came from the furnace after its very last refin- 
 ing, it was perfectly free from all dross. The character of Mrs. 
 Wright seemed to me to have passed this, its last needed refining 
 fire. I could not see why or how she needed the last terrible pro- 
 cess, but since she has gone it has been made plain to me. She 
 needed to be made more .perfectly like her Pattern. How she 
 did try to imitate him! Her every breath seemed to be in har- 
 mony with God's way and God's will. I think I never knew any 
 one so afraid that justice would not be done to everything. Her 
 face was once badly bruised by her pony, but she " did n't believe 
 he meant to hurt her." She never meant to think evil of any one. 
 She was precious, pure metal. 
 
 From Miss Sylvia P. Joslin, a missionary teacher : 
 
 My most frequent memory of Mrs. Wright is the expression 
 of her face in my schoolroom at Newtown, when pagan women 
 came in to have a little talk with her before the exercises began. 
 Although I could not understand the language, I knew by the 
 patient, sad look upon her face how sorry she felt for the poor 
 benighted soul who was vigorously blowing her up, as she so 
 frequently allowed them to do. 
 
 I would exclaim, u Oh! the miserable ingrates! " but she, dear, 
 patient, forgiving soul, as she listened, was praying for wisdom to 
 reply to these unreasonable charges, and reports of scandal. How 
 gently and wisely she would hold up better things to them ! How 
 patiently she would explain these petty matters which had so 
 enraged their small souls! 
 
 Do you remember her faithful and delicate ministrations to the 
 sick? How often she gave them the necessary medicines with her
 
 TESTIMONIES. 313 
 
 own hand through fear of some mistake ! And when there was 
 no longer an appropriation granted her for medicine for these 
 people, she furnished it just the same from her own small salary. 
 She would go to Buffalo and buy medicine and groceries and flan- 
 nel, etc., for these people, and for herself one pair of cheap, con- 
 gress cloth boots. Her own needs were forgotten in the sore need 
 of these suffering people. 
 
 I have often slept in the same room with her. Her first 
 waking thought was a prayer. Every morning I would see that 
 dear hand placed over the eyes while her lips moved in prayer. 
 During my last years with her it seemed as if every breath was a 
 prayer, when she was not talking to some one. 
 
 From Rev. W. C. Dewey, a nephew of Mr. Wright, 
 now a missionary in Mardin, Turkey in Asia : 
 
 My earliest remembrances of Auntie Wright are as she appeared 
 on one of her visits with Uncle Wright to the west about thirty 
 years or more ago. At that time I stood quite in awe of her, she 
 seemed so stately and almost austere. It seems to me now, as my 
 memory runs back, that she had changed but very little in all 
 these subsequent years. And yet I remember that even then her 
 innate kindness was as active as ever. I have somewhere among 
 my papers now, I presume, a little hymn which she wrote for me, 
 and another for my younger sister, Mary. This was all, except 
 occasional references in letters and in the family talk, till that 
 winter twenty-one years ago, when we two young "Suckers" 
 from Illinois dropped in at the Mission House one evening. 
 
 I was not altogether unappreciative at the time of her kindness 
 to me that year on the Reservation ; but it has grown on me more 
 and more as the years have gone by. Ah, how many pictures rise 
 as memory casts her glance backward over the intervening years! 
 Perhaps my own missionary experience helps me to a fuller 
 understanding of what she really was and did in that household 
 and among the people. How dependent our dear uncle was upon 
 her! 
 
 I fear I used sometimes to try her patience sadly, as when one 
 time in my simplicity I filled that big box stove in the sitting room 
 with green beech wood! I believe she never actually reproved me 
 but once, and that was, 1 need not say, most richly deserved. It
 
 314 HFE AMOXG THE BtOQCOIS. 
 
 soon after a visit of the Quakers. We were all in the 
 sitting room one Turing and had been speaking of them, when 
 I made some Bght remark about " the Spirit moving them." It 
 was intended on my part to be simply humorous, and without 
 the smallest thought of disrespect; but I remember as well as 
 though it had been only yesterday her look and manner as she 
 said. - Don't. WflBs; I cant endure to hear such good people ridi- 
 culed.** It was a most salutary lesson to me, putting the subject 
 before me in an entirely new fight. 
 
 Too remember our trips to Newtown. when we sometimes had 
 to build oar own bridges across the creeks. But I cannot begin 
 to speak of her constant, unwearying, far-reaching labors of love 
 for that people. 
 
 She was ever * as one that served." Well did we choose for 
 the motto on the stone bet fall: "They pleased not themselves." 
 When the stone came, and die noted the inscription, she turned 
 and spoke reproachfully: "Why, Willis! why did you put it 
 
 It was the next time I was there, three years later, in 1868. 
 I went on and took charge of the Indian Orphan Asylum 
 my summer vacation, that I began to have a little truer 
 -_-"--::- : _- .- - ._ - -- in. 1 1 - '.:.:-.- In] 4 :::' 
 
 time that she was not pleased with my course in regard to some 
 f the boys. So I was deeply touched when she spoke to me one 
 evening just before I was going away. She was in the yard at the 
 west end of the bouse taking in clothes from the line ; I had hap- 
 ;.. ------ - ': - ' - 
 
 recall now jst nhnl she said, bat she spoke in a way that made 
 me feel, as I never had felt before, that she appreciated the difficul- 
 ties under which I had been laboring and looked upon the work 
 there in no critical, fault-finding spirit. 
 
 When next I saw her was the summer of 1875. which I spent 
 there just after Uncle Wright's death ; and then I came to know 
 her sttQ better, especially after Phinfe [a niece of Mrs. Wrightj 
 and I began to draw together I do not befiere there was ever 
 the fnt seatsh Bought in her heart in regard to that matter. As 
 I hare tame to understand once how much this young girl was 
 to her, it would have seemed the most natural thing in the world 
 if she had dbcuuiaged anything a* Kkely to take her away. 
 jlhannt her frst words to me on the subject, when she found that 
 the attachment was mutual, were the expression of thanksgiving,
 
 TESTIMONIES. 31-J 
 
 and as the tears sprang to her eyes, she said she wa* sore nothing 
 in the world would hare given 00 great gratification to Uncle 
 Wright had he been living. I was much impressed while among 
 the Senecas last fall, to note the ripening mellowing of her 
 character the growing in grace. 
 
 THE BKLOVKD JO6SIOXAKY PHYSICIAST. 
 
 He was humble, kind, forgiving, meek ; 
 
 Easy to be entreated, gracious, mild : 
 
 And with all patience and affection taught, 
 
 Rebuked, persuaded, solaced, counseled, warned, 
 
 In fervent style and manner. All 
 
 Saw in his face contentment, in his life 
 
 The path to glory and perpetual joy. 
 
 Mr. Wright was a man of rare tact and ability, aad had acquired 
 an extraordinary influence with the tribe. Ret. Dr. 
 
 Although by his talents he might have filled the pulpit of any 
 of the leading churches, he reacted all such temptation* to labor 
 for the Indian. He had selected a task more difficult than that 
 of going among the heathen of distant tends; bat from that tack 
 he never shrank, be never turned back. 5or did be ever regret 
 that be had made this his life work. By the remarkable gentle- 
 ness that characterized his nature he was often selected to play 
 the pot of peacemaker when troubles arose aawag tl 
 well as among the Christians. Rev. Dr. Chester, Bvfdo. 
 
 The literary work of both Mr. and Mrs. Wright, the 
 Indian Orphan Asylum, tbe cultivated fields of the Beau fa- 
 tion. and tbe prosperity of tbe Scaeaas constitute fhiii endur- 
 ing monument; bat tbe crowning exeefleaee ia the character of 
 both was their bumble piety aad i naiii 1 1 sfiin to the 
 Colonel J. B. Plumb, We*&dd, Xete York. 
 
 Mr. Wright was energetic, yet quiet; genial 
 careful in giving his opinion, and by 
 great influence with the Indians, wi 
 counselor and friend. His knowledge of 
 tically useful to his Indian friends hi aging them to adopt gri-
 
 316 LIFE AMONG THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 cultural pursuits and to form habits of industry. Hon. W. P. 
 Letchworth. 
 
 The whole story of his life may be summed up in the single 
 statement: he was Christlike. He had a kind word for every- 
 body, and rarely closed a conversation without a word for God. 
 
 Rev. William Hall. 
 
 It was his nature to avoid, rather than to seek, conspicuous 
 position. He had that happy balance of faculties, that round- 
 about common sense, that quick discernment of the best menus to 
 gain the best ends, which we call wisdom. His strong native en- 
 dowments were subjected to a broad, generous, and continuous 
 culture. He excelled as a naturalist, a linguist, a medical practi- 
 tioner, as well as a theologian and preacher; and yet he could 
 tell the story of the cross so simply and effectively as to meet the 
 wants of those who were entirely unskilled in human learning. 
 
 Rev. Chalon Burgess, D.D. 
 
 Mr. Wright loved study, but would instantly and cheerfully 
 drop any interesting line of research with books or chemicals to 
 listen to a tale of distress and to relieve suffering. Among his 
 papers was found a scrap yellow with age, the ink faded, upon 
 which was written in his own hand: ''Resolved, to let no day 
 pass without speaking with some one on the matter of his soul's 
 salvation." Rev. Willis C. Dewey, Mardin, Turkey in Asia.
 
 XX. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 r I iHE foregoing pages present the Reservation life 
 -*- of the Iroquois in his Long House, under the 
 influence of over a half century of Christlike patience 
 and self-sacrificing effort on his behalf. I cannot 
 close this record without adding my tribute to those 
 already given ; for to Mrs. Wright I owe a debt of 
 gratitude which can be redeemed only by passing on 
 the story of her saintly life for the inspiration of 
 other Christian workers. 
 
 During the many years that I was a member of 
 Mrs. Wright's family, I was impressed by her untiring 
 devotion to the interests, temporal and spiritual, of 
 the Indians. She had acquired a perfect command of 
 the language, and the people, old and young, felt free 
 to come to her with their joys and sorrows and per- 
 plexities of every description. She never turned one 
 away without a word of sympathy or advice. Mate- 
 rial assistance was also given when needed. If any 
 poor wretch was too repulsive to gain the hospitality 
 of the Indian fireside, she was sure to find some snug 
 corner at the Mission House, where, provided with 
 
 317
 
 318 LIFE AMONG THE IMOQUOIS. 
 
 a blanket, he might be sheltered from the cold. But 
 with all the comfort and relief she was sure to give 
 a word of gospel truth, praying always that the con- 
 stant seed-sowing might in time bring forth fruit. 
 While her ears were open to their varied experiences, 
 her hands were often busy at the same time preparing 
 and distributing medicine for the sick. If the need 
 were urgent, she never hesitated to give her personal 
 ministrations in the most wretched of homes, where 
 lives were saved and suffering lessened by her medical 
 skill and careful nursing. 
 
 With the care of a large house, and constant inter- 
 ruptions from the lame, maimed, halt, and blind, and 
 in fact all who could find any excuse to throng her, 
 Mrs. Wright found time to assist her husband in 
 translating the Scriptures into the Indian language. 
 She it was who furnished translations of some of our 
 choicest hymns for the Indian hymnal. 
 
 Although a center of sunshine and good cheer for 
 missionaries and people, she impressed all who lived 
 with her as spending much time in prayerful interces- 
 sion for the people to whom she had given her life. 
 Often when she thought herself alone I have heard her 
 pleading with God that this and that sin might not be 
 laid to their charge. Many a time I have heard her in 
 the quiet night hours wrestling with God in agonized 
 prayer for the salvation of these beloved Indians.
 
 CO NCL USIOtf. 319 
 
 Mrs. Wright had a habit of using odd moments for 
 intellectual culture. In this way she kept abreast with 
 the times. Her mind was unusually active, her intel- 
 lect keen and clear to the last ; her views of the vital 
 questions of the day were expressed with rare in- 
 sight and intelligence. Public men from Washington, 
 Albany, and New York City, who came to the Reserva- 
 tion upon official matters, considered it a privilege to 
 secure an hour's uninterrupted conversation with this 
 woman. They were never able to solve the mystery 
 of her intelligent comprehension of the outside world, 
 of which she had only occasional glimpses. 
 
 When Mrs. Wright took the ten sick and half- 
 starved children into her family in 1855, and resolved 
 to found an Indian Orphan Asylum, the plan met with 
 very little encouragement from her friends ; but in 
 this, as in all other efforts, she never permitted herself 
 to be discouraged by difficulties. Obstacles aroused 
 a more fixed determination to press on. The Indian 
 Orphan Asylum, with its cultivated acres and fine 
 buildings, an ornament and a blessing to the whole 
 Reservation, stands to-day as a memorial of two con- 
 secrated lives. Because of the prayers and patient 
 persistence of Mr. and Mrs. Wright, hundreds of 
 Indian children have been sheltered, trained in useful 
 habits, and brought into the fold of Christ. 
 
 Before the popular wave of "industrial education"
 
 320 LIFE AMONG THE IEOQUOIS. 
 
 had begun to sweep over our land, Mrs. "Wright had 
 already inaugurated this movement among the Seneca 
 Indians ; in connection with religious instruction, she 
 commenced the experiment among the Indian women, 
 who still clung to the pagan faith of their fathers. 
 She gathered them about her and won their confidence 
 by furnishing material which they were allowed to cut 
 and make into garments for themselves and their chil- 
 dren under instruction. While pleasantly occupied 
 with their work she read and explained the Scriptures 
 in their own language. She next procured govern- 
 ment contracts to make garments for the western 
 tribes. For this work, carried on under the same 
 gospel influences, the Indian women received some 
 compensation. 
 
 In her old age she matured her last grand plan for 
 the benefit of these people, for whom she had lived 
 and toiled and prayed, over fifty years. The new 
 plan was a " Gospel Industrial Institute," to include 
 a high school, where the young people might complete 
 their education at home. This plan included classes 
 for boys in the various trades, and instruction for 
 young girls in useful and domestic occupations. 
 These classes were to be placed under the care of 
 competent and Christian teachers, working in full har- 
 mony with the missionaries. The institute was to 
 include accommodations for the Young Men's and
 
 CONCLUSION. 321 
 
 Young Women's Christian Associations, with a read- 
 ing room and a well-selected library for the use of all 
 Indians who could read English. She hoped by these 
 means not only to save the young people, but to ele- 
 vate them to a higher standard of living and to pre- 
 pare them for citizenship in the near future. It was 
 in the midst of this supreme effort that she heard the 
 summons bidding her rest from her earthly labors and 
 enter into the joy of her Lord. 
 
 Is it not evident to every thoughtful friend of the 
 Indian that such a plan of GOSPEL INDUSTRIAL EDUCA- 
 TION, thoroughly carried into effect on every Reserva- 
 tion in our land, would solve the Indian problem which 
 confronts this nation to-day?
 
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