Smith's Canadian gazetteer - ElectricCanadian.com

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country inaccessible to the French, or that the inundations of the lakes had shnt
us up in our castles ; but now you are undeceived, for I and my warriors have
corae to assure you that the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas and
Mohawks are yet alive." After ascribing the pacific overtures of the general
to the impotence of the French, and repelling the chai'ges brought against his
counti'vnien, he thus concludes: " i\Iy voice is the voice of all the Five Nations;
hear what they say ; open yoiu" ears to what they speak. The Senecas,
Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas and IMohawks, say, that when they buried the
hatchet at Cataracnay, in the presence of your predecessor, in the very centre of
the fort, and planted the tree of peace in the same place, it was then agreed that
the foi"t should be used as a place of rendezvous for merchants, and not as a
refuge for soldiers. Hear. Onnuntio, you ought to take care, that so great a
number of soldiers as appear now, do not choke the tree of peace, planted in so
small a fort, and hinder it from shading both jour country and ours with its
branches. I do assure you that our warriors shall dance to the Calumet of
peace under its leaves, and that we will never dig up the axe to cut it down,
until the Onnuntio or the Corlar shall either jointly or separately tndeavour to
invade the country M'hich the Great Spirit has given to our luicestors. This
belt confirms my words, and this other the authority which the Five Nations
have given me."
In 168.5, according to a return made by order of the Government, the inhabitants
of Canada amounted to 17,000, three thousand of whom were supposed
to be capable of bearing arms.
In 1687 M. Denonville, who had succeeded De la Barre, took the field at the
head of 1500 French and 500 Indians, in order to attack and destroy the Senecas,
who had' refused to attend at the late treaty, and were known to be firmly
attached to the English. He commenced his march from Cataracjui in June ;
and the scouts of the French army advanced as far as the corn of the Indian
settlements, without seeing a single Indian, although they passed within pistol
shot of 500 Senecas, who laid on tlieir faces, and suffered them to pass and repass
without attacking them. At length, when the invading army had approached
within a quarter of a league of the chief village of the Senecas, they raised the
war shout, accompanied with a discharge of fire arms from all sides. This surprise
threw the French into confusion, and the Senecas fell upon them wiih
great fury; but the French Indians being rallied, repulsed them in the end. In
this action about a hundred French, ten French Indians, and eighty Senecas
were killed. The next day Denonville continued his march, with the intention
of burning the village, but he found it already in ashes ; the Senecas had burnt
it and fled. Two old men only were found in the village, who were cut into
pieces and boiled to make soup for the French allies. Before Denonville returned
into Canada he built a fort with four bastions at Niagara, in which he
left a garrison; but it was soon afterwards abandoned.
In 1689 Denonville was recalled, and Count Frontenac came over as goverm^r
of Canada. On the 2(Jth of July in this year a body of 1200 Indians of the Five
Nations invaded the Island of Montreal, burnt all the plantations, and made a
horrible massacre of men. women and children, throwing the whole French
colony into the utmost consternation; insomuch that Valrennes, the counnandant
at Cataraqui, was ordered by Denonville to abandon that place. In this attack
1000 French are said to have been slain, and twenty-six carried off and burnt
alive.
In the following year an attack was made on Quebec by an English fleet,
under the command of Sir W. Fliipps, which proved unsuccessful. Between
this time and the year 1098, when the Count Frontenac died, the war between
the French and Indians still continued, with varying fortunis, neither
party gaining any very signal advantage over the other; and on the ari-lval of
M. de Calliers in irO'J, wlio succeeded (\)nnt Frontenac as Governor of Canada,
he terminated the disputes with the Indians by agreeing to an exchange of piisoners;
which treaty of peace took place at Onondaga.