“Father,” said he, “we will not
conceal from you that the great God and not man, has
preserved Cornplanter, from the hands of his own nation.
For they ask continually—where is the land
which our children, and their children after them
are to lie down upon? When the Sun goes down he
opens his heart before God, and earlier than the sun
appears upon the hills, he gives thanks for his protection
during the night; for he feels that among men become
desperate by their danger, it is God only that can
preserve him.”
Claim of the United States to Indian lands—Conflicting
claims of different States—Difficulty settled—Attempt
to acquire the land by a lease—Purchase
by Phelps and Gorham—Further purchase by
Robert Morris.
At the close of the war of the Revolution, the territory
ceded by Great Britain to the United States, included
large tracts of country occupied by the Indians.
In ceding these lands, she ceded only the right claimed
by herself, on the ground of original discovery, which
was simply a priority of right to purchase of the
original occupants of the soil. The Indians were
allowed to dwell upon these lands, and were considered
in a certain sense the owners, but were required in
case of a sale, to dispose of them to the government.
[Footnote: Kent’s Commentary.]
As each State claimed to be sovereign in every interest
not ceded to the general government, each State claimed
the territory covered by its original charter.
These charters, owing to great ignorance of geographical
limits, created claims that conflicted with each other.
From this source originated difficult questions about
land titles and jurisdiction, between the States of
Connecticut and Pennsylvania,—Massachusetts
and New York. These difficulties which existed
before, the greater question of the Revolutionary
war suspended for a time, but when peace was concluded,
they came up again for a consideration and settlement.
The way was in a measure prepared for this, by the
relinquishment to the general government, on the part
of New York in 1781, and of Massachusetts in 1785,
of all their right to territory west of a meridian
line drawn south, from the western end of Lake Ontario.
In the adjustment of these difficulties, Connecticut
relinquished her claim to a tract of land on the Susquehanna
in Pennsylvania, called the Gore, and acquired that
part of the State of Ohio called New Connecticut,
or Western Reserve. And Pennsylvania obtained
a tract of land lying immediately beyond the western
boundary of the State of New York, and north-east
of her own, embracing the harbor of Presque Isle, on
Lake Erie, familiarly known as the Triangle, thus
giving her access to the waters of this Lake.
