Page:American Historical Review vol. 6.djvu/827

Walton : Conrad Weiser 8 1 7 the other. Then there was the rivalry of the colonies to the North and South for the Indian trade and the constant fear up to 1760 of the designs of the French. Equally intricate were Indian politics. William Penn purchased the land from the Lenape Indians on the Delaware. After his death, the Iro(iuois claimed a lordship over these Delaware Indians and demanded a repurchase of the soil from them. They in turn were divided among themselves — some being warm friends of the New York English and others inclining toward the French. They scorned the Pennsylvania Indians and rudely asserted their exclusive claims to the soil. These claims the Delawares and Shawnees admitted till, driven into opposition by the injustice of the Pennsylvania proprietors and the tyranny of the Iroquois, they threw themselves into the arms of the French. To pre- serve a balance among all these conflicting interests of red and white men required diplomacy of a skilful order. It is to unravel this diplomacy during its most complicated times from 1731 to 1758 that the book before us is written. Much of the interest of the narrative settles around the name of Conrad Weiser. This man of German stock spent fifteen years of his boyhood and early manhood among the Six Nations. He learned their languages and adopted their customs and prejudices. The Delaware In- dians charged him with being an adopted Mohawk, and this nation gave him the high praise that " He wore out his shoes in our messages and dirtied his clothes by being amongst us, so that he is as nasty as an Indian." This close identity gave him great influence and probably determined the neutrality of the Iro(]uois on several occasions when the French had them almost persuaded to lift the bloody tomahawk. The Mohawks were steady to an English alliance. The Senecas were equally inclined for a time toward the French. But Weiser kept the strong central tribe of Onondagoes faithful to neutrality, and this turned the scale. His fore- sight and tact were continually in use in extending the Pennsylvania trade in the Ohio valley and in thwarting the designs of the French. As pro- vincial interpreter for about a quarter of a century, he was a central figure in every Indian conference. He saw the need of justice and fairness, he vigorously protested against frontier rumsellers and fraudulent traders, and no dangers or difficulties from men or nature ever daunted him. But where an important end was to be gained, he was at least willing that doubtful means should be used. la an important conference at Lancaster the journalist says, " We were obliged to put about the glasses pretty briskly," while Weiser explained the terms of the treaty. Under the combined influence of spirits and logic the Indian signatures were secured. He seems to have been one of a number who agreed to keep Teedyuscung drunk a day each at Easton in 1758 till he was brought to the proper decision. These lapses he probably justified by the justice and importance of the end secured. In other directions his results were not so happy. The Delaware and Shawnee Indians were driven by the Walking Purchase of