had been specially despatched to the. conference
for the purpose of obtaining this fact, lather,
then, in subsequent eÉhhafes-of 175^ 0,-and
»•6V the population had been underrated, or
there had, on the assumption of the truth of the
above enumeration, which is moderate, been a
decline U the poulatibn of 3,000 souls in a period
of eighty-seven years. That there wasf a
constant tendency to decline, and that the cantons
were aware of this, and made, efforts o
t ó p it up, by the policy of their conquests, is
apparent, and has before been indicated- *
During the American revolution, which broke
out but eleven years after the. expedition and
estimate of Boquet, when he had put the Iroquois
at 1,550 fighting men, it is estimated that
the British government had in their interest an
service 1,580 warriors of this confederacy. The
highest number noticed of the friendly Oneidas
and a few others, who sided with us iii that contest
is 230 warriors, raising the number of arme
men engaged in the war j to 1,810, and the gross
population in 1776 to 9,050 souls. This estimate,
which appears to have been carefully Made, from
authentic documents, is the utmost That could
well be claimed. It was made at the era when
danger prompted the pen of either party m the
war to exhibit the military strength of this confederacy,
in its utmost power; and we may rest
here, as a safe point of comparison, Or, at least,
we cannot admit a higher population.
By the census returns herewith submitted,, the ■
a^-egate population of the three full, and four
fragnientary canton», namely, the Oneidas and
CayUgas* &c., still residing within the state, are
denoted to bë as -follows, namely:
^.CSeóecfas,'. 'A i t / .......................... . .2,441
.?*n.HQ&otodiag'as,....................................„....... , » 398>
........<............................-V £8,1
’Onèidag^.......... ..............f ............ .. 210
’ ' Cav ugas. . , . Vy. , , . -f.............................. 123
......................... 20
St. ’RegnVC aftïèri,x (bxoktsiv^ 'of the num- '
f^bbrpyer-the Canadian boundary),. , . . 260
By a statement submitted to Congress,/on the
3d of December,: 1844-,* the number of Oneidas
-settled in Wisconsin, is put' at 728; the number
of SeneCas, who bave removed from Ohio into
the Indian territory west p f the Mississippi, at
and the number of mixed Senecas and
Shawnees, at the same general location, at 211.
Deducting one-half of the latter, for Shawnees,
and there is to fee added-to the preceding census;
in order to show the natural increase of the Iroquois,
953 souls. The number of the St. Regis
tribe, who are based, as a tribe, on the Praying
Indians of Golden, a band of Catholic Mohawks
originally located at Caughnawaga, is shewn by
the census of 1845- to be 260. There are, at
the. village of Complanter, within the bounds
of Pennsylvania, as numbered by me, in that
year,; 51 Senecas. Supposing that the Mohawks
and Cayugas who fled to Canada at and
. the revolutionary war, and who are now
H o . £ 8th- Cong., 2d Session-.