1^ 
 
 -r-'l 
 
 C6 9-^0.031 
 
 ? 
 
 39t 
 
 
 1 ,\:'>>'^'" 
 /'■/•""'r 
 
 E.^ 
 
 x^ 
 
 ^--^,: '^l 
 
 ,>■■ 'V 
 
 .*^f 
 
 ;\ 
 
 LETTER FROM BENJAMIN HAV/KINS 
 
 h^- 
 
 
 
 :^, :.V''< 
 
 
 
 . '■■' ^ 
 
 
 " 
 
 '> 
 
 
 ~^ 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 , , "% 
 
 
 
 '% 
 
 ^: 
 
 ..y^-" ' 
 
J 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 Cd970.03 
 H39L 
 
^ ... 170. 
 
 =av 
 
 No. L 
 
 OF 
 
 D O C U M E N T S 
 
 AccornpuJiying the President's Commu?ucatio7is 
 to Congress^ the 8lb day of December^ ISOL 
 
 Letter from the Principal Agent for 
 Indian affairs. South of the Ohio. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2011 witii funding from 
 
 University of Nortii Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/letterfromprinciOOhawk 
 
COPY OF A LETTER 
 
 FROM 
 
 1^ E N J A M I N HA JFK INS, 
 
 y/ SKETCH of the present state of the objects un- 
 der the charge of the principal agent for Indi- 
 an affairs^ south of the Ohio. 
 
 THE NATIONAL COUNCIL. 
 
 THE Indians of the Creek agency have been 
 prevailed on by the agent, to conform in a consi- 
 derable degree to his ideas on this subject. Once 
 a year, and generally in the month of iVJay, the 
 towns are invited by the agent to send a deputation 
 to meet on a given day, to compose a National 
 Council. To this council the asrent inakes a re- 
 
 o 
 
 port of the state af the nation; suggests his ideas 
 of what is proper for them to do, arid applies f^r 
 compensation and so.tiidaction, for on'ences com- 
 mitted in violation of their treaty stipulations v, ilh 
 us. 
 
 The number of deputies Avho attend cannot lii- 
 therto be restrained to a given number, but they 
 seldom exceed 5 or 6 fi'om a town : at iirst it re- 
 quired a continued attention co the Ciiiefs, to make 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 them comprehend the iitUitr oi such a plai?, and 
 the necessity of c-arrying its decisions into effect. 
 
 Heretofore, every tov^n, tribe or family, provided 
 its own rej^ulations, and those of a srenero.l tcnden- 
 C}^ were left to the manageir-ent of piiblic agents, 
 who used temporary expedients only, among the 
 most pov/erful and persuasive of which were the 
 pressure of fear from without, and presents. 
 
 The council appoint a speaker, vvho remains in 
 office without limitation as to time : all propositi- 
 ons are debated until they are agreed to, or post- 
 poned; the agreement is called the will of the na- 
 tion, and is expressed by the speaker publicly to 
 all the Chiefs, and to the ap;ent for Indian affairs, 
 ■who records such parts as interest any of their 
 neighbors, red or \Ahite. 
 
 The council, Mdien convened, sit night and day; 
 the public buildings is the place of lodging as well 
 as business, and they debate ns much in the night 
 as in the day ; they lie dov/n when they are sleepy, 
 when hungry they eat, and when any thing im- 
 portant is under debate they attend to it. 
 
 The agent furnishes beef, corn, beans and salt, 
 and the town, where the council meet, furnishes 
 butchers, cooks and v.aitcrs. The cxpence of a 
 meeting is somxething less than 400 dollars. I 
 doubt not, in a few years, it will be a useful in- 
 strument to approximate them to a more civilized 
 state, and give the United States a more command- 
 ing influence over them. One of the interpreters, 
 and assistants to tlse agent, a half breed, and chief 
 of the land, remains constanth'" in the council, du- 
 ring their sitting ; and the agent lias a right to en- 
 ter and speak when he pleases. 
 
 RAISING OP STOCK. 
 This is m-ore relished bv the Creeks, than anv 
 part of the plan devised for tlieh' clvilvzation. They 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 are now eagerly acquiring cattle by every means in 
 their power. Tlie country is a Hue range for them, 
 summer and winter; every town has some, ac- 
 quired mostly during the revolution v;ar i:;e- 
 tween the United States and Great Britain, by t -12 
 traders, tories, here a banditti of plunderers, or by 
 the war parties of Indians. 
 
 Cattle, till lately, wei'C not licld in much c^:;-:ia. 
 tion; but since the failure of supplies n^oiii hunt- 
 ing, they are resorted to as the substiiue, and tear 
 a pretty good price; cowes and calves are raied at 
 10 dollars, and steers, for beef, by age, u: Si dol- 
 lars and 50 cents per year. The country Is tine 
 for hogs ; but the want of fences, scarcity of crrn, 
 from the present state of agriculture, and iiiUUen- 
 tion of the Indians, both of Vvhich is necessary to 
 keep them from runninir wild, and beii;f< too much 
 infested Avith wolves, tygers and wild cats, i?, for 
 the present a bar to their increase. Horses are in 
 general use, but small, liable within a fev.- yeai's to 
 a distemper called here the jellow ^vater. The a- 
 gent has the last Avinter introduced seme sheep; 
 they are in the care of an assistant and interpreter, a 
 half breed, and promise to do well. There is ano- 
 ther f.ock, the property of Mr. Barnard, an assist- 
 ant and interpreter among the lower Creeks, of 
 several )'-ears standinp;, vvhich increase fast and 
 liaA'e line wool. Re has goats also, which do well. 
 Stock of all kinds require salt, except where they 
 have moss or cypress ponds, or are within sixty 
 miles of the sea coast. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 The improvements in this are slovrly progres- 
 sive. The agent Iras prevailed on several of the 
 towns, who had exhausted the lands in their neioh- 
 bornood by culture, to settle out in villages ; this 
 .practice is increasing, and ail ci* them fence their 
 
C 6 ) 
 
 fields. There has been a demand this season for 
 ploughs, and 70 have been issued out of those sent 
 by the Secretaiy of War; and 50 of them are in 
 use by Indians. 
 
 There is a nursery of peach trees in the Lower 
 Creeks, and one has been lately established amonj^ 
 the Upper Creeks, and the Indians begin to accept 
 of, and to plant them. Nearly 5000 have been 
 raised and distributed since the arrival of the agent. 
 
 The nurseries are increased, and will be kept up 
 to the demand ; they are hitherto raised by the agent 
 and his assistants, wilhout any expence to the 
 agency. Cotton is raised in several places, -but 
 in small qu^rntities, by Indians ; it does well 
 thi^oughout the agency. The green seed is in ge- 
 neral use, and v.eil suited to the ruorthern half of 
 the agency ; and the sea-island cotton, from two 
 successive experim.ents, promises to do well on 
 the southern half; some cotton has been sent to 
 market. Flax docs well ; the next season will be 
 cultivated in several places : There is much rich 
 s%vamp land fine for it, and sufficiently dry in the sea- ' 
 son for its gTowth. Wheat, barley, rye and oats, 
 have been introduced and fairly tried ; the three 
 first do vrel], but the snrincrs bein2: eenerailv drv, 
 oats have failed. The earl}' v. hite and brovvn wheat 
 is ripe by the middle of May. Apple trees, grape- 
 vines, rasberries, and the roots, herbs and vegeta- 
 bles, usually cultivated in good gardens, have 
 lately been introduced, and they all thrive well. 
 
 ?/[ ANUF A C TURE 3 . 
 
 7,"'hc present spring the agent has delivered to 
 Indian women, 100 pair cotton cards, and 80 spin- 
 ning Vvheels ; there is eight looms in the nation, 
 four of them wrought by Indian or half breed 
 ivomen, and the remainder by white women. 
 There is a Vvoman emnloved as an assistant, to 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 teach the Indiim women to spin and weave ; and 
 the agent bus appohited, as a temporary assistant, 
 a young Englishman, from a manufactory in Stock- 
 port, in England, ^^'ho can make looms and spin- 
 ning wheels, and every thing appertaining to them, 
 and he understands Vv-eaving. He vrill, in a few 
 days, have a ninth loom set up at the residence 
 of the agent. The women have this spring adopt- 
 ed this part of the plan Vv ilh spirit, and have pro- 
 mised to follow the directions of the agent with 
 exactitude. Three Indian women, of one family, 
 ^\■\\Q have been spinning for two years only, have 
 clothed themsehes well, and ha^e acquired some 
 hogs and cattle, are proud of the exertions they 
 have made, and are, by their conduct, a stimulus 
 to their country-women. One of the looms and 
 two of the spinning wheels in use were made by 
 an Indian chief, for his own family. 
 
 The cliicfs, who were apprehensive at first that 
 if their women could clothe and find themselves by 
 their own exertions, would become independent 
 of the degraded state of connection between them, 
 have had proofs that the link is more firm, in pro- 
 portion as the women are more useful, and occu- 
 pied in domestic concerns. 
 
 Oil of hickory nut and acorns was in use, in 
 small quantities, among the Indians, as an article 
 of food. In the vear 1797 the aeent, fmdine:thc^t 
 the hickory trees v ere mixed through the waving 
 land, and abounded on the flats, made an effort to 
 encourage this manufacture : he offered three- 
 fourths of a dollar a quart for the oil ihaX should 
 be made that year of hickory nut, and could pro- 
 cure a few bottles only. In 1798 he received 8 gal- 
 lons; in 1799 he purchased 30 gallons, and the fast 
 winter he fixed the price at 1 dollar per gallon, and 
 the manufacture has been increased to 300 gallons, 
 actually delivered for market. Some has been 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 sent to Mobile, and sold at two dollars, and a trader 
 is now descending the Alabama, en his way to 
 New-Orieans, with a p^ss from the agent, with 
 240 galions of the Oil. - . 
 , I'he process of making this cii is simple, and 
 susceptible of improvement. The nuts are dried 
 and pounded, then- the shells sifted out, the re- 
 mains kneaded up, .then put into boiling ^valer, 
 stirred up -for-: a while, ..set by from fire ; the oil 
 rises to tlie -top", -" is' brushed off with feathers , and 
 then bolletU The blaek jack' acorn is the best of 
 the .acorn oil, and in m.ore estimation among the 
 Indians, thaji the hickory nut oil. Coai'se earthen 
 po'-s and pans, garters ornamented with beads, 
 bas-kefs,^- sifters, -and fanners ingeniously made of 
 split cane, and; m-ocasins, closes the list of their 
 manufactures. 
 
 Precautions prCi^entatl'oe of the com77iissio7i of 
 crimes'in aid of the ex^ertious of the old Chiefs. 
 
 In the fall season, jevery ..hunting party, in going 
 out, re}X)rt themselves tp^ the.. he ad men of the 
 town, and one of them is appointed the chief, to 
 be answerable for the conduct of his companions. 
 In all practicable cases the cliief applies to the 
 agent, states the intention of his party, and re- 
 ceives a certificate of tite-fact,-nTcommendim>; him 
 to the .-friendly attention of such white people as 
 he may micet ; and on the return of tlie party in 
 the spring a report is made'to the agent by ail these 
 chiefs, in person, by some, of; their companions, 
 or by somexf th#ir tcrwn*s .people, stating where 
 they. Imve been,; Tvhat they have seen, and wha.t 
 they have done; ^"Thrs is a very importint regu- 
 lation ; it Ecives the ao^enta correct viev/ of occur- 
 rentes t.hroijgh.outtlie_ extended range of the. hun- 
 ters, arid enables -.him,' with iiiGonceivable Fpeed, 
 to prevent or .correct.crimes or abuses, ^ In furthcT 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 aid, the sale of horses has an additional correc- 
 tive to the special licence to buy. All Indians 
 having horses to sell are now bound to report 
 them to the agent, and receive from him a certifi- 
 cate, describing the horse, naming the owner, and 
 that the property is good. So far this regulation 
 seems infallible on the Indian side, and would be 
 so, but on the white side the practice does not 
 correspond with the law. The people on the fron- 
 tiers purchase horses from Indians, without 
 special licence, and without asking anything about 
 the true owner. Horses found on the Indian 
 lands, near the plantations of their owners, are 
 frequently taken up by the Indians, carried across 
 the river, and sold for a small part of their va- 
 lue only, and the Indians fi-equently report those 
 sales to the agent, describing the horse, where 
 taken up, and vvhere sold; and this has, in several 
 instances, enabled the agent to give information 
 which has directed the true ov/ner to the discovery 
 of his horse. As no aid has hitherto been fur-> 
 nished by my fellow citizens on the Ncrth-Eastem 
 frontier to correct this abuse, no prosecutions have 
 taken place, for the want of that proof which 
 they could give. 
 
 TRADE, 
 
 Since tha death of Mr. Price, pro agent of war, 
 there has been no licence renewed, as from my 
 instructions, the agent of war in Georgia was to 
 grant them. Ail the licences granted by IVIr, 
 Price have long since expired, and this has been 
 thrice repeated by me to the Secretary of War, 
 without receiving any directions. As soon as the 
 licences expired, the agent passed a general regu- 
 lation for the traders to continue their trade not- 
 withstanding until further advised by him. 
 
 As the factor of the United States at Fort WiU 
 B 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 liinson Was not authorised to trade in cattle and 
 hogs, the agent has given permits to people, re- 
 commended to him to be of e;ood character, to 
 trade for cattle and hogs only, and these permits 
 are limited to the annual season for beef and pork. 
 This regulation- was deemed indispensable, as the 
 want of dealers in cattle and hogs, and of course, 
 a market for them, deranged our plan of civiliza- 
 tion in one of the most important parts of it. 
 
 PUBLIC ESTABLISHMlLNTS. 
 
 There are two, one among .the Lower, and the 
 other am.ong the Upper, Creeks. The two black- 
 smiths, promised under the 8th article of the treaty 
 of Colerain, reside at them.. The smiths are in- 
 structed to mend only, and not make any thing 
 but by order of the agent. In the spring they are 
 restricted to implements of husbandry, and at 
 other seasons they attend equally to any work 
 brought them. White people pay for their work, 
 and this constitutes a small fund for coal, wood, 
 and small Eirticles v/anted in the shops, and is re- 
 served for that purpose. The smiths receive each 
 26 dollars per month, and the value of one ration 
 a day, at the contract price on the frontiers, and 
 the strikers 10 dollars per month, and the value 
 of a ration per day, paid quarterly. 
 
 The manner of administering Justice. 
 
 When the National Council are convened, all 
 the v.-hite people are ordered to attend on a given 
 day ; three of the most respectable are appointed 
 by the agent to hear and decide on all cases be- 
 tween white people, with the right of appeal to 
 him. In all cases between a white man and an 
 Indian, the agent hears and decides himself. The 
 judgments have hitherto been carried into effect 
 wilhout doing more than giving them to the par- 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 ties, and n-ithout costs. But to render this mode 
 complete, there must be an officer appointed to 
 carry the judgments into effect ; and provision 
 must be made to punish thefts, &c. all of which 
 shoidd proceed from the legislative provision of 
 our government. 
 
 Expenditures on the Creek Agency. 
 
 The pay of the agent is fixed by the Secretary 
 of War, and a sum limited for the assistants, 
 "vvhich is assigned to them by the agent. The li- 
 mitation has in no instance been exceeded. Quar- 
 terly an estimate is m.ade, specifying the precise 
 objects of expenditure ; the contingencies certi- 
 fied by a gentleman who pays them on the order 
 of the agent, and duplicates of the whole signed 
 by the agent ; one of which is sent on to the Se- 
 cretary of War, on whom a bill is dra\A n as here- 
 tofore advised, at ten davs sig-ht, in favor of the 
 United States factor for the amount. 
 
 In som.e cases, and not unfrequcnt, the princi- 
 pal part of contingencies is paid by the agent out 
 ■of the stipend allowed by the United States, to 
 the Creeks ; such as the keeping of warriors a- 
 mong the Sjimiinolies, to watch their movements ; 
 the apprehending and punishing horse thicA-es, and 
 in some instances the premium of 2 dollars and 50 
 cents, allowed for all horses deli^ ercd to the aw'ent, 
 where it is ascertained that they were stolen by 
 Indians (except the thief informs against himself) 
 12 dollars ar^d 50 cents allowed for the delivery 
 of runavvay negroes, where it has been ascertain- 
 ed that they haA e been induced to do so by Indi- 
 ums, and the sendiijg runners to the neighboring 
 Indians, on affairs relating solely to Indians. 
 
 (Signed) BENJAMIN HAWKINS. 
 
 fTc be ccntinued.J 
 

 /?^-*. / V*-;-.t »..**-- 
 
 C< 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N^C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032203455 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
 Form No. A -368 
 
t \- 
 
 y? 
 
 ■J 
 
 
 
 .• r-^ 
 
 V 
 
 .' V"- 
 
 y^^^'-^^A