Part 17

Wishing you the reward of the benevolent in the great day, we subscribe ourselves your obliged and sincere friends,

In presence of Asher Wright,

HENRY TWO GUNS,

WILLIAM KROUSE,

GEORGE X BUTTON,

JOHN X GREENBLANKET,

ABRAHAM X JOHN,

JAMES SPRING,

DANIEL TWO GUNS.

Notwithstanding the fact that these Indians were carried away without the knowledge or sanction of the Government, and consequently without the requisite preparation for their comfort and subsistence in the western country, yet the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as soon as he was apprised of the movements of Dr. Hogeboom, anxious to afford them all the relief in his power, promptly ordered arrangements for their reception at the place of their destination, as will be seen by the following documents in the War Department, to wit:

WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, June 10th, 1846.

SIR:--Information has been receently received at this office that A. Hogeboom had started for St. Louis with a party of New York Indians, in number about two hundred. This act of starting with a less number than two hundred and fifty, in connection with the recent action of this office, looking to a suspension of the emigration for a time, was wholly unauthorized, and of course unexpected, but as the party are without the reach of the Department, measures must be taken to subsist them. I have therefore to request that you will give directions to the Osage sub-agent to invite proposals as contemplated in my instructions to you of the 14th November, 1845, to which you are referred.

Respectfully, &c.,

W. MEDILL.

To T. W. HARVEY, Esq., Supt. Indian Affairs, St. Louis, Mo.

Notwithstanding this humane effort on the part of the Commissioner to make provision for the reception and accommodation of these emigrants, it appears that from the hardships and exposures to which they were subjected, and from the unwholesome nature of the climate one-third of them perished within six months after their arrival at their intended residence. When their distressed situation was made known to the Department, the Commissioner immediately addressed a letter to the Indian Agent at St. Louis, calling his attention to their case, from which the following is extracted:

WAR DEPARTMENT, OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS. October, 29, 1846.

SIR:--I transmit herewith a copy of a letter just received from James Cusick, one of the party of the New York Indians removed west last summer by Dr. Hogeboom, from which it appears that there has been much sickness and mortality among those Indians, and that they are in a distressed situation. Mr. Cusick's letter, supported by Capt. Burbanks, is calculated to excite much anxiety on account of these Indians. They were removed contrary to the instructions and expectations of the Department at the time, and their having gone west was not known until they were some distance on the route. There was, consequently, no opportunity for making the requisite preliminary arrangement for their comfort and welfare on their arrival west. After giving you the instructions of June 10th for their subsistance, such had to be left to the judgment and views of duty, under these circumstances, of yourself and the Osage Sub. Agent, under whose immediate supervision they came, in regard to what further required to be done for them. In my letter of the 30th ultimo your attention was especially called to their situation, and no doubt is entertained, that your answers to that communication will show you have done, or caused to be done, all that could be done, under the circumstances, for their relief. Should the amount now remitted not be sufficient to cover the expenses of what you have already done, or what it may be, in your judgment, further requisite to do for them in addition to their subsistance, for which there is a special appropriation, you will please report promptly accordingly, and the necessary funds will be furnished. Funds will also be remitted on account of their subsistance when this office is informed that they are needed.

Respectfully,

W. MEDILL.

THOMAS H. HARVEY, Esq., St. Louis, Mo.

MISSIONARY WORK.

A RECORD OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN THE TUSCARORA RESERVATION OBTAINED BY INQUIRY.

The church in the Tuscarora Reservation was organized in the year 1805, embracing six members only, under the care of the New York Missionary Society.

Rev. Elkanah Holmes, first missionary, from 1805 to 1808.

Members of the Church--Sacarissa, a Sachem, and his wife; Nicholas Cusick, an interpreter, and his wife; Apollas Jacobs and Mary Pempleton.

Rev. Mr. Gray, second missionary, from 1808 to 1813. At first the Indians converted their Council House into one for public worship, and also for school operations, and in time they built a convenient chapel, which was painted red, and was destined to share the same fate as their dwelling houses at the hands of the British Indians in the war of 1812.

It was on December 20th, 1813, when they were burned to the ground, in consequence of which the operations of the mission were suspended from 1813 to 1817, when Rev. James C. Crane took charge of the mission until the end of the year 1826.