At a Congress with the several Nations on Friday the 28th day of October 1768
PRESENT— as before
The Indians continued in private Council till 4 P.M. when they sent to let Sir William know, that they would be glad to speak with him: being all seated the Speaker addressed Sir William
Brother
We have been for some time deliberating on what you said concerning a Line between the English and us, & we are sensible it would be for our mutual advantage if it were not transgressed, but dayly experience teaches us that we cannot have any great dependance on the white People, and that they will forget their agreements for the sake of our Lands—However you have said so much to us upon it that we are willing to beleive more favorably in this case.
Brother
You remember when we spoke last concerning this Boundary, that we did not agree about the way it should run from Oswegy—This is a point that must now be settled for to what purpose could it be to draw a Line between us & the country of Virginia & Pensylvania whilst the way to our Towns lay open We would therefore know what you intend to propose as a Boundary to the Northward that we take it into consideration and we shall be glad that you explain it fully to us, that no mistake may be made on either side.
To which Sir William answered,
Brothers
I have attended to what you say and do admit that it is reasonable the Line should be closed, & I persuade myself that His Maty will approve of it All these things I had in consideration before, & I recommended the Line to you generally at first according to your own practice as an Introduction to the rest and in order to render the whole clear & plain to you, I have prepared a Map on which the Country is drawn large & plain which will enable us both to judge better of these matters. I would therefore recommend it to you to send the cheifs of each Nation to my Quarters where I shall lay the Map before them & confer with them upon it
The speaker then thanked Sir William for what he had said which they all greatly approved of, in consequence of which the Cheifs of each Nation came soon after to his Quarters when Sir William laid a Map on the Table & after explaining to them the nature of his orders & the desires of the Government he spoke as follows
Brothers
Here is the Map of which I spoke to you, where all that Country which is the subject of our meeting is faithfully laid down. The Line here described between the Kanhawa River & Oswegy was what we spoke about—The King has not fixed upon any particular place to continue it to It therefore remains for me to obtain a continuation of that Line which will be secure to you and advantageous to us on which subject we now meet—I have likewise to observe to you that the piece of Land in the Forks of the Susquehanna is very much desired by the Commissioners from Pensylvania and would be more advantageous to them than to you, besides as It is or will be soon partly surrounded by Settlements it will be a very difficult matter to get any people to go far to the Northward, & leave such Land as it were behind them—I would therefore propose, the Bounds from Fort Pitt be continued up to the Ohio to Moghulbughilum Creek, Thence up that Creek & along the eight mile Carrying Place to the West Branch of Susquehanna thence along that River to the Allegany Ridge. Thence along that Ridge of Mountains to the Cayuga Branch & down the same to the Great East Branch of Susquehanna, from thence up that East Branch to Oswegy, from whence it can be run Eastward to the Delaware River, which is very near it at that Place and for that part of this additional Cession which will fall to Mr Penn, you will receive a large & handsome consideration over an besides His Matys Royal Bounty And as to the continuation of that Line from the Delaware so as to close it, I must desire to hear what yourselves think & I expect that your Resolutions will be advantageous to us, & that you will make proper allowance for the increase of our People whereby you will recommend yourselves to the King, and become so pleasing to his subjects that it will greatly contribute to the due observance of the Boundary Line.
To which the Speaker made the following answer
Brother
We have hearkened to all that you have said and we thank you for your advice which we beleive is well intended—But this is a great Cession of Land which will require much thought and attention and therefore we shall defer the consideration of it till tomorrow
Brother
Before we answer you about the continuation of the Line we must say something to you concerning the extent of it to the Southward which we find is no further than Kanhawa River. Now Brother, you, who know all our affairs, must be sensible that our Rights go much farther to the Southward and that we have a very good & clear Title to the Lands as far as the Cherokee River which we can not allow to be right of any other Indians without doing wrong to our Posterity and acting unworthy to those Warriors who fought & conquered it. We therefore expect this our Right will be considered.
Brother
We are now to speak about continuing the Line as you said from Delaware so as to close it, and you recommend it to us to give you plenty for the people
We were formerly generous & gave the white people in many places Lands when they were too poor to buy them. We have often had bad Returns. Nevertheless we would still act generously and mean to do as much as we can without ruining our Children
Brother.
You know that the country from Oswegy quite to Oswego is full of our Towns & Vilages and that it is very clear to us so that we cannot be expected to part with what lies at our Doors, besides your people are come already too close to us. We therefore think that the Line should run up the Delaware to the Swamp & from that run across to the Governors (Cosbys Land) and then go away to Lake George which we can not but think a fair offer
To which Sir Wm answered
Brothers
We have heard what you said and shall answer it. In the first place I acknowledge to have heard of your claim to the Southward before this time The King does not deny your claims He is not thoroughly acquainted with the exact extent of them and finding that they may be liable to some dispute with the Southern Indians, he being an enemy to strife directed the Line to be run in the manner the though least liable to it. But of this I shall take further notice to you having now to speak to you in answer to the course you have proposed for continuing the Line from Delaware
Brothers
I know very well how you are situated and it is not His Majestys inclination to disturb you therein, at the same time you should consider what is reasonable on your parts and that the Lands are even patented further than you propose the Line, and that the more people are confined the more readily will the transgress the bounds so that I must desire you to think the better of it and speak more favorably at our next meeting, till when I shall propose nothing further, as I could not consistently propose any other Line than such as would bring us to or near Lake Ontario.
They then withdrew taking with them a Map to consider the affair in private.
At night Sir William had a private conference with the Cheifs of the most Influence with whom he made use of every argument to bring matters to an agreeable issue
