DESCRIPTION, &c. To the President and Members of the American Antiquarian Society. GENTLEMEN, Albany, 24 October, 1827. Several years ago I was informed by William Smith, Esq., author of a History of Canada, and son of the historian of the Province of New York, that it appeared, from his historical researches, that the Marquis De la Galissionière, a governor of Canada, had, at a remote period, ordered leaden plates to be buried at particular stations, asserting the exclusive right of France to all the region west of the Apalachian mountains; and that it was probable, that some of these plates might be discovered at some future time, and be a subject of speculation. Some time after this conversation, I received a letter from Caleb Atwater, Esq., the distinguished antiquary of the West, which announced the discovery of one of these plates. The letter is as follows, to wit: "Circleville, May 15th, 1821. "I now send you the account of the lead medal, found near the mouth of the Muskingum River, some years since, with a translation of the inscription, which I promised you, viz. 6 The year of our Lord, 1749, and in the reign of Louis XV., King of France, We, Celeron, commandant of a detachment ordered by the Marquis De la Galissionière, Captain-General of New France, to re-establish peace and tranquillity among certain (savage tribes) in that region. We have deposited this plate at the mouth of the river Yenangue, this 16th August, near the river Oyo (Ohio), otherwise called the Beautiful River, as a monument and memorial of the reëstablishment of our power in that territory, which we claim near that river, and near all those which empty into it; and in all that country on both sides, and in the neighbourhood of the sources of those rivers, and which we have gained to our empire by a long line of wise and prudent princes-maintained by our arms and by solemn treaties, especially by those of Ryswick, Dortrecht, and Aix-la-Chapelle. Paul Lebrosse, fecit." "Remarks. From inspection of this plate, it appears that considerable numbers of them were made at a time, probably in Canada, or perhaps in France, leaving many blanks in the inscription, to be filled up with names of commandants of detachments, who carried them along with them to be deposited near some remarkable object; that is, some cave, mound, mouth of a river, &c. Thus, in this medal, Celeron,' Rivière,' Yenangue,'' Aug. 16,' &c., fill the blanks left for them, in a manner quite rude compared with what goes before or follows after them. "Besides, the language of the inscription shows, that it was composed at a distance from the spot where the plate was left. I have underscored some of the words, to which I refer you. Paul Lebrosse' made it. Its size was about eight by ten inches square, and three-eighths of an inch in thickness. It has been considerably injured by the rude hand of violence since found, but what remains of it I have before me. As I have not been able to ascertain that the Muskingum was ever called Yenangue' by any tribe of Indians, it is supposed that some person brought it from its original place of deposit, to the spot where it was found. It is true that different tribes called the Muskingum by different names, all meaning a place of residence.' 6 Da-righ-qua' in the Wyandot, Waketomo' in the Shawanoes, and Muskingum' in the Delaware, mean the same thing, a place of residence,' or 'a river with a town. upon its banks'; alluding, naturally enough, to the celebrated remains of an ancient town at Marietta." 6 Mr. Atwater, at a subsequent period, sent me the original plate, which I now transmit to you as a proper accompaniment of this account. Recollecting my previous conversation with Mr. Smith, I wrote to him for distinct information on the subject, and he favored me with the following transcript from his History of Canada, (Vol. I. page 209.) "Galissioniere, persuaded that peace would soon be concluded, and sensible of the importance of giving certain boundaries both to Canada and Nova Scotia, detached an officer, M. de Celeron de Brienville, with three hundred men, with orders to repair to Detroit; and from thence to traverse the country as far as the Apalachian mountains; which he admitted to be the bounds of the English plantations in America, and beyond which he denied that they had any pretensions. "This officer was directed not only to use his influence, to procure a number of Indians to accompany him, but to exact a promise from them, that they would not in future admit English traders among them. This officer was furnished with leaden plates, with the arms of France engraved on them, and he was ordered to bury them at particular stations; a procès verbal was then drawn up, signed by himself and those officers that accompanied him. With this gentleman, Galissionière sent a letter to Mr. Hamilton, the governor of Pennsylvania, apprizing him of the step he had taken, and requesting that in future he would give orders to prevent his people from trading beyond the Apalachian mountains, as he had received commands from the court of France to seize the merchants, and confiscate the goods of those trading in these countries, incontestably belonging to France. De Celeron discharged his commission with punctuality, but not without exciting the apprehensions of the natives, who declared that the object of France, in taking possession of their country, was either to make them subjects, or perhaps slaves. The immense load of procès verbaux that had been drawn up, on this expedition, was handed to Galissionière and transmitted to the court of France. As a recompense for his trouble, Celeron was, two years afterwards, appointed to the command of Detroit, with the rank of major." Galissionière was appointed governor of Canada, 25th September, 1747, and the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, alluded to in the above extract, was concluded in 1748. This leaden monument must have been originally deposited at the mouth of the Venango, above Pittsburg. Its change of location to near the mouth of the Muskingum, must have been made by some person at a subsequent period, ignorant of its original design. This is among other proofs of the unwearied efforts of France, to assert and establish her claim over that vast and fertile region, which now constitutes the Western and South-western States of our confederacy. DE WITT CLINTON. |