 |  | |
 |
|  |
 |  | |
| | |
|
| |
| | |
|
|
By Frank R. Stockton
Originally published in 1896
A POINT in the history of New Jersey, more important
in a moral point of view than that of
its European ownership, was that of the purchase of
the lands from the first and true owners, the Indians.
As has been said, Berkeley and Carteret issued an
injunction that the settlers should purchase their land
from the tribes which had lived upon them. This
system was subsequently carried out until every foot
of the land of the whole State was bought and paid
for, – the first transactions of the kind, having taken
place several years before Penn's treaty with the
Indians in Pennsylvania.
Up to the time when the country finally passed
into the hands of the English, the Indians had resisted
the attempts of the whites to settle among them;
but now, finding that they were to be fairly dealt
with, a better feeling arose, and the red men were
content to dwell with the whites as friends and neighbors.
Of course, all the settlers did not promptly pay
for their lands, and there were some minor disputes
from this cause; but in general the whites regularly
purchased the land upon which they intended to make
their homes, and in time all were obliged to do so.
As may be supposed, very large prices were not paid
for these lands; but the transactions were strictly
honorable, because the parties on each side gave what
they had, and all were satisfied with what they got.
The payments for land frequently consisted partly
of ready-made coats, kettles, and in some cases of jew's-harps. Tracts of land large enough for a town were
sometimes sold for a barrel of cider. Now, this might
appear rather a hard bargain for the Indians; but it
must be considered that they had more land than they
wanted, and no ready-made coats, or kettles, or jew's-harps, or cider.
But it was not to be expected that the Indians
would always be satisfied with their treatment; and
in fact they had a good many grievances. As has been said, a settler sometimes established himself on
a good piece of land without consulting the Indians
of the neighborhood, or offering them payment, and
in such cases there would be remonstrances from the
red men. Then, again, the whites could not always
understand the nature of Indian bargains. A man
would buy a piece of land, and think that he owned
not only the ground, but all that grew upon it, all
that flew in the air above it, and everything that
swam in its waters ; and when the Indians, after
having received payment for the farm, came there
to hunt and fish, and strip the bark off the trees,
the purchaser was apt to object.
A notable difficulty of this kind occurred on Sandy
Hook, where a man named Hartshorne had bought a
tract of land from the Indians, and afterwards found,
that, according to their ideas, he had no exclusive
right to the fish, game, and timber of his new purchase;
and he was especially made to understand
that he had not bought the wild plums. This matter
of the ownership of the plums afterwards became a
source of considerable trouble, and was settled by
Hartshorne paying to the chief of the neighboring
tribe the sum of thirteen shillings, by which he acquired
the entire right to the plums and all the other
things on his land.
The Indians had also a grievance of a different
kind. There was a conference held in Burlington,
between the Indians and the whites, in 1678, which
was convened on account of a complaint by the Indians
that the English, in selling them some ready-made coats, had also sold them the smallpox. The
temper of the Indians may be shown by one of their
speeches on this occasion. A leading chief declared:
"We are willing to have a broad path for you and
us to walk in ; and if an Indian is asleep in this
path, the Englishman shall pass by him and do him
no harm ; and if an Englishman is asleep in the
path, the Indian shall pass him by and say, 'He is
an Englishman; he is asleep; let him alone; he
loves to sleep !' It shall be a plain path. There
must not be in this path a stump to hurt our feet.
And as for the smallpox, it was once in my grandfather's
time, and it could not he the English that
could send it to us then, there being no English in
the country. And it was once in my father's time,
they could not send it to us then, neither. And now it
is in my time, I do not believe that they have sent it
to us now. I do believe it is the man above who has
sent it to us." Soon after this, the two parties exchanged
presents, and went away satisfied.
For many years after this, there seem to have
been few or no troubles between the Indians and the
settlers of New Jersey. But matters changed about
the middle of the next century; and when the Indian
wars began in Pennsylvania, the red men of New
Jersey showed symptoms of hostility to the whites.
Matters grew worse and worse; and the Indians began
to murder families, burn buildings, and carry
away prisoners.
This state of affairs grew so alarming that the Legislature
took the matter in hand. They appointed commissioners to examine into the treatment of the Indians,
and see if there were any good cause for their sudden
enmity; and, after a conference with some of the
chiefs, a bill was passed by the Legislature to put an
end to a good many of the impositions of which the
Indians complained. Among these was a habit of the
whites of giving the Indians spirits, and then making
bargains with them when they were not at all in a
condition to do business of that kind. The Indians
also complained of the practice of trapping deer, thus
decreasing the game in the forests, and the occupation
of land, without payment, by the settlers who were
continually coming into the country.
Another bill was passed appropriating £1600 to
buy from the Indians the entire right to all the lands
which they yet held in New Jersey. But as there was
no desire to banish the Indians from their native land,
one half of this sum was reserved as payment for a
large tract of land, or reservation, which should be
their home, and on which no white man would have
any right to settle, whether he was willing to buy the
land or not. When this had been done, it was necessary
to submit the matter to the Indians; and a council
was called at Burlington, at which were present
the governor of the Province, and. some of the most
prominent Indian chiefs.
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
| Next |
| Main Menu |
|
|
UrbanTimes.com |
