fs were the life and soul of
enterprise and action, and that it was by their talents, bravery, and
activity, that the tribes were confederated and led against the Whites.
As soon as they were gone, there were none who could succeed them or
fill up their places, and the confederacies were immediately broken up.
But this was not the case with the celebrated five nations, or Mohawks,
who, like the Romans of former days, spread their conquests until their
name was a terror wherever it was mentioned. Philip, Pontiac and
Tecumseh were great men, but the Mohawks' confederacy was a nation of
great men. When the French settled in Canada in 1603, the Mohawks, or
Iroquois as they called them, were living near to where Montreal now
stands. They were at war with the Adirondacks, a very numerous and
powerful nation, and were beaten down towards the Lakes; but they
recovered themselves, and their opponents were in their turn beaten down
to Quebec. The war between the Adirondacks and the Iroquois is full of
the most interesting details of courage on both sides. The Iroquois
having subdued, and, indeed, exterminated the Adirondacks, turned their
arms against several other tribes, whom they vanquished; they then
attacked the Ottawas and Hurons, and drove them to the other side of the
Mississippi. The Illinois were next subdued, then the Miamies and
Shawnees were driven back for the time. Finally, they conquered the
Virginian tribes, and warred against the Cherokees, Catawbas, and other
nations of the South. Although it was impossible for them to hold the
vast extent of country which they had overrun, still it is certain that
their very name was so terrible that, from New England to the
Mississippi, every town and village would be deserted at their approach.

The chief portion of the Mohawks, under their celebrated leader Brandt,
served on the British side in the war of Independence, and at the close
of the war, they settled in lands given them by the English, on the
banks of Grand river in Canada in the year 1783. At the time they took
possession of their land, their numbers amounted to nearly 8,000; but,
as is every where the case where the Indians are settled and confined on
reserved lands, they have now decreased to about 2,500. A portion of
the tribe of Senecas, one of the Mohawk confederacy, joined the
Americans; the remnants of them are still located a few miles from
Buffalo, in the State of New York. Their chief, Red-jac