“DURING colonial times the French greatly excelled the English in their ability to secure the friendship and the trade of the Indians.
“The eagerness which characterized the men of New France, as they explored the water-courses searching for new scenes and new lands, was in marked contrast with the conservative
English who clustered near the coast and despised Indian affiliations.
“The French quickly absorbed the Indians customs and language, and reveled in their metaphorical phrases.
“The typical Englishman despised these things, and consequently his intercourse with the Indians w r as unfortunate and disastrous. The French captured the friendship and the trade of the natives.
“The Germans and Dutch on the contrary were signally successful in Indian trade, not merely because they were honest, but largely because they grasped with skill the spirit of the Indian language.
In this respect none excelled Conrad Weiser,
the champion of the English among the Indians. He enlarged the trade facilities of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, while he jealously guarded the encroachments of the French.”
Weiser s skill in guiding and controlling the Indian policy of Colonial Pennsylvania, and the South, postponed the threatened rupture with the Six Nations, until the
English Colonies were prepared to cope with their French Enemies
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. INDIAN AFFAIRS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES, 1721-1730 9
CHAPTER II. THE TREATY OF 1736 . 25
CHAPTER III. THE ONONDAGO JOURNEY 33
CHAPTER IV. RELIGIOUS REVIVALS AT EPHRATA 44
CHAPTER V. THE ALIENATION OF THE DELA WARES 56
CHAPTER VI. THE VIRGINIA TROUBLES OF 1743 76
CHAPTER VII. THE LANCASTER TREATY 93
CHAPTER VIII. THE IROQUOIS STRUGGLE FOR NEUTRALITY 122
CHAPTER IX. THE FIRST WINNING OF THE WEST 152
CHAPTER X. THE OHIO MISSION 180
CHAPTER XL TURNING THE PEOPLE OFF 198
CHAPTER XII. RIVAL ENGLISH TRADERS 216
CHAPTER XIII. THE FRENCH IN THE O?no VALLEY 228
CHAPTER XIV. WHO SHALL TAKE THE INITIATIVE ? 251
CHAPTER XV. THE OHIO INDIANS Go OVER TO THE FRENCH 274
CHAPTER XVI. WEISER AND THE PENNSYLVANIA EFFORTS FOR DEFENSE 302
CHAPTER XVII. RECONCILIATION , 327
CHAPTER XVIII. PEACE 360
CHAPTER XIX. CONCLUSION 382
ILLUSTRATIONS.