valley Of the Hudson, and thence, if vre, credit
their annals, to thé'sea* , The seat of their powet
and growth was, however, in the genial valley
where they had at first located. Here they lived
when thé county was discovered, and here they
continued to live and flourish until the .events
of the American revolution, and the determined
cruelty wh ich they exercised, under the authority»;,
and influence of the British crown, drove , them
out of it, and lost them the inheritance. :
It does not appear, from any thing history or
tradition tells us, or from any monumental re-
mains in the valley or its immediate vicinity;
that it had before heen occupied/hy other nations.
They do not speak ofi having driven cut
or conquered any other tribe. There are no:old
forts or èarthern walls, or other traces of military
or defensive occupancy, of which we have heard.
Their ramparts were rather .their own brawny
arms, stout bodies and brave hearts. | -From the
earliest notices of them, they were renowned for
wielding the war club and arrow with great dexterity.
They.raised corn on the rich ifitervale^
and pursued the deer, bear and elk in the subja^
cent forests. Their dominion, extended from
the head waters of the Susquehanna and Bela-
ware to Lake Champlain. They had pursued
their forays into the territorial area of New England,
as far, at least, as the 'central portions .of
the Connecticut, and had made their po wer felt,
as temporary invaders, among the small independent
tribes who lived about the rngien of tlbè
present city and harbor of New York. Wherever
they went, they carried terror. Their very name,
as -We learn fróm Colden, was a synonyme for
cruelty and dread.* No tribe, perhaps, on the
continent, produced better warriors, or have ever
moré fully realized, as a nation, the highest
measure of heroism and military glory to which
hunter nations can reach.1
’ In passing Over the country which they once
occupied, there is little to stimulate historical interest,
beyond the general idea of their power
and military renown; Their history is connected
with the rise and influence of one of our
most distinguished anti-revolutionary citizens,
Sir William Johnson. The influence he obtained
ov©ir them Was never exceeded, if equalled,
by that of any other man of European lineage.
He moulded- them to his purposes in peace and
war. They followed him in his most perilous,
expeditions, and; sustained him manfully, as
we know, in the two great contests to whose
successful issue he owed his laurels, namely,
* T h e wbrd Mohawk ftsfeljfj is not a term of M ohawk origin,
but prié imposed upon them, as is believed, b)1- the. Moheghn.
race, who inhabited the b o rders'öf the sea. Among this race
th é Dutch, and E n g lish lan d ed ; an d they:'would, naturally'
adopt th e term most in vogue for so celebrated a g ib 1?- The*
Dutch, indeed, modified it to Maaquas-:—a modification which
helps uS to d ecipher its probable origin, in manqua (by kindred
tribes^ mukwa, &cc.) a bear. By others, it' may be 'tfaced to
rtiohura, à wolf, and av>ki, a country. T h e Mohawk saöhèms,
who ipresented th e ir condolence a t Albany in 1690, on th e
tak in g o f Schenecta'dy,' said, ':V V f e are.;alkof th e race,:of the
bear, and a .bear you know nevçr .yields, .while one drop of
blood is left. W e mitst a ll be b ears.’’---CoZdea.
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