Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/575

DESCRIPTION, &c. To the President and Members of the American Antiquarian Society. Albany, 24 October, 1827. Gentlemen, Several years ago I was informed by William Smith, Esq., author of a History of Canada, and son of the historian of the Province of New York, that it appeared, from his historical researches, that the Marquis De la Galissioniere, a governor of Canada, had, at a remote period, ordered leaden plates to be buried at particular stations, asserting the exclusive right of France to all the region west of the Apalachian mountains; and that it was probable, that some of these plates might be dis- covered at some future time, and be a subject of speculation. Some time after this conversation, I received a letter from Caleb Atwater, Esq., the distinguished antiquary of the West, which announced the discovery of one of these plates. The letter is as follows, to wit : " Circleville, May 15th, 1821. " I now send you the account of the lead medal, found near the mouth of the Muskingum River, some years since, with a translation of the inscription, which I promised you, viz. — 1 The year of our Lord, 1749, and in the reign of Louis XV., King of France, We, Celeron, commandant of a detachment ordered by the Marquis De la Galissioniere, Captain-General of New France, to re-establish peace and tranquillity among cer- tain (savage tribes) in that region. We have deposited this plate at the mouth of the river Yenangue, this 16th August, near the river Oyo (Ohio), otherwise called the Beautiful River, as a monument and memorial of the reestablishment of our power in that territory, which we claim near that river, and near all those which empty into it; and in all that country on both sides, and in the neighbourhood of the sources of those rivers, and which we have gained to our empire by a long line