to the soil after the Senecas should decide to leave
it, and that the obvious interests of these persons produced an undue
influence on this feature in the result. It is averred that the
Tonewonda band of the Senecas, who hold a separate and valuable
reservation on the banks of the Tonewonda River, opposed the proposition
altogether, and refused to place their signatures to the instrument.

It was supposed that small Indian communities, living on limited
reservations, surrounded entirely on all sides by white settlements,
could not sustain themselves, but must be inevitably swept away. But the
result, in the case of the Senecas and other remnants of the ancient
Iroquois, does not sustain this theory. It is true that numbers have
yielded to dissipation, idleness, and vice, and thus perished; but the
very pressure upon the mass of the tribes, and the danger of their
speedy destruction without resorting to agriculture, appear to have
brought out latent powers in the race which were not believed to exist.
They have taken manfully hold of the plough, cultivated crops of wheat
and corn, and raised horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs. They have adopted
the style of houses, fences, implements, carriages, dress, and, to some
extent, the language, manners, and modes of transacting business, of
their neighbors. And, perceiving their ability to sustain themselves by
cultivation and the arts, now turn round and solicit the protecting arms
of the State and General Government to permit them to develop their
industrial capacities. Too late, almost, they have been convinced of the
erroneous policy of their ancestors, &c. Every right-thinking man must
approve this.

_May 12th_. Prof. Orren Root, of Syracuse Academy, New York, appeals to
me to contribute towards the formation of a mineralogical cabinet at
that institution.

_30th_. The new farming station and mission for the Chippewas of Grand
Traverse Bay is successfully established. The Rev. Mr. Dougherty reports
that a school for Indian children has been well attended since November.
A blacksmith's shop is in successful operation. The U.S. Farmer reports
that he has just completed ploughing the Indian fields. He has put in
several acres of oats, and the corn is about six inches above the
ground. The Indians generally are making large fields, and have planted
more corn than usual, and manifest a disposition to become industrious,
and to avail themselves of the double advantage that is fu