much as in 1692 his executive authority over Pennsylvania was taken from him and given to Benjamin Fletcher, governor of New York, who was totally out of sympathy with the people of this province, but upon Penn's release in 1693 his powers were restored.

While Penn was abroad Thomas Dongan, formerly governor of New York, returned to England in 1691 and succeeded to the earldom of Limerick in 1698.

Penn's proprietorship of Pennsylvania now being confirmed by William and Mary, he sought to acquire the ownership and control of the Susquehanna river, regarding it as essential to the prosperity of his province. It had been his first thought as early as 1683, and most likely prior to that date, as his correspondence with Markham shows, and his general knowledge of the Province had determined the value of that river. Therefore in 1695 he opened negotiations with Colonel Dongan for the purchase of the interest of the Seneca Indians in the Susquehanna river and its lands, which the latter had acquired in his name in 1683. They were concluded successfully on January 12, 1696, by acquiring a lease thereof for one thousand years, in consideration of the payment of one hundred pounds and the annual rent of a "pepper corn" to be delivered on the "Feast Day of St. Michaell the Arch Angel," is demanded.

Penn remained in England until September 9, 1699, when he and his family sailed for America to make it their home; however, this was not to be, as he returned to England in 1701 for a visit, and the changed conditions prevented him from ever returning to Pennsylvania. The Province was governed through his deputies until his death in 1718, when his son and other heirs assumed control over Pennsylvania.

The following is the text of the deed of Colonel Thomas Dongan to William Penn:

This

Deed of Thos. Dongan to William Penn, indenture made the 12th day of January, Anno Dni, 1696, and in the eighth yeare of the reigne of our Sovereign, Lord William, the Third, King of Eng'd. between Thomas Dongan, late Govern'r of New York, and now of London, Esqr. of the one part, and,

William Penn,

Govern'r of the Province of Pensilvania in America, of the in consideration of the sume of one

other part;

*

hundred Pounds

William Penn

to him in hand paid by the said he hath demised and granted

to the said William Penn, All that tract of Land lyeng upon, on both sides the River commonly called or known by the name of the Susquehanna River and the Lakes adjacent, in or near the Province of Pensilvania.

beginning

at the Mountain or head of the said river, and running as fare as and into the Bay of Chessapeake, with all Isles, Islands, mines, woods which the said Thomas Dongan lately purchased of or had given him by the Sinneca Susquehannah Indians, and also all the lands whatsoever lyeing which he,

on both sides the Susquehannah river the said Thomas Dongan did, at any time purchase or which were at any time given unto (him) by the said Indians.

To have and to hold, from the date hereof, for and unto the end and term of One Thousand years, paying yearly and every year on the Feast day of St. Michaell the Arch Angel, the rent of a pepper Corn, if the same shall or lawfully (be) demanded to the intent and purpose, that by the force of these presents and of the Statute for transferring of uses, into possession, the said William Penn may be in the actuall possession of the premises, and may be thereby the better enabled to attempt and take a grant, release, for his heirs and assigns forever.

*

**

THOMAS DONGAN, (LS.)

It will be observed this document is a lease for the Susquehanna lands and the river, but on the following day Dongan conveyed all his right, title and interest therein to William Penn, in fee, for the consideration of one hundred pounds. The deed is dated January 13, 1696, and conveys "all the land and every of the Senneca Susquehannahı Indians," and will warrant and forever defend it.

There are two branches of the Susquehanna river which join at Sunbury. The northern branch extends into the state of New York. The western branch runs along Union county, and passes through Lycoming, Clinton, along Center, and through Clearfield counties into Cambria, at Cherry Tree. Its source is, of course, on the eastern slope of the Allegheny mountains, and becomes prominent near Carrolltown, then passes through Carroll township, along Barr and through Susquehanna townships into Clearfield county.

The Susquehanna is the only stream which drains the eastern slope and the territory east of the Allegheny mountains in our State, and being very crooked the distance from its source to Sunbury is about two hundred miles, fifteen of which lies in Cambria county.

The Dongan deed is not of record except as it appears in the colonial records, nor has it ever been found: however, it was confirmed in 1700 by several of the tribes, and in 1722 the Conestoga Indians, then known as the Susquehanna Indians,

confirmed the lease and sale of 1696. It was subsequently af firmed by treaty and by deeds.

Notwithstanding the confirmation and the admissions of the Five Nations, the Delaware Indians claimed they had an interest in the Susquehanna lands, and as the boundaries were

indefinite in the former deeds, the Penns arranged for another conference with these several tribes, which took place October 11th, 1736, in Philadelphia, and another treaty was made. They gave the following deed:

To All People to whom these presents may come,

*

we do and every of them doth give, grant, bargain, sell, release and confirm unto the said proprietors, John Penn and Richard Penn, their heirs and assigns, All the said River Susquehannah, with the lands lying on both sides thereof, to extend Eastward as far as the heads of the Branches or Springs which run into the said Susquehannah, and all the lands lying on the West side of the said River to the setting of the Sun, and to extend from the mouth of the said River Northward, up the same to the Hills or mountains called in the language of the said Nations, the Tyannuntasacta, or endless hills, and by the Delaware Indians, the Kekkachtananin Hills, together, also, with all the Islands in the said River.

In the conference between Governor Keith and the Conestoga Indians in 1722, the Indians claimed that forty years before that, which would be 1682, William Penn had procured some person in New York to purchase the lands on the Susquehanna river from the Five Nations, who pretended to have a right in them by having conquered the Indians formerly settled there. The Conestoga Indians said to Governor Keith "that William Penn took the parchment and laid it upon the ground, and saying to them it should be common amongst them, namely, the English and the Conestoga Indians." Keith replied: "I am very glad to find that you remember so perfectly

the wise and kind expressions of the great and good William Penn towards you; and I know that the purchase which he made of the lands on both sides of the Susquehanna is exactly true as you tell it, only I have heard further that when he was so good to tell your people, that notwithstanding that purchase the lands should still be in common between his people and them, you answered that very little land would serve you, and thereupon you fully confirmed his right, by your consent and good will, etc.'

The great object William Penn had in mind was the control of the Susquehanna river throughout his province. Therefore, on September 13th, 1700, he purchased from Widagh and Andaggy junkquagh, kings or sachems of the Susquehanna Indians, all their right in the Susquehanna river, "and all the lands situate, lying and being on both sides of the said river, and next adjoining to the same, to the utmost confines of the lands which are or formerly were the right of the people or nation called the Susquehannagh Indians, or by what name soever they were called," and therein confirmed the deed of Thomas Dongan, now the Earl of Limerick, to William Penn, dated September 13th, 1696. This deed is recorded in the Department of Internal Affairs at Harrisburg, in Book F, volume 8, at page 242.

A further purchase or confirmation of the Thomas Dongan deed was made April 22, 1701, between William Penn and several branches of the Susquehanna, Shawona, Potowmack and Conestoga Indians, for the Susquehanna river and the lands on both sides of it.

At a treaty held in Philadelphia, in July, 1727, between Governor Gordon and the deputies of the Five Nations, the latter said inasmuch as the former had at divers times sent for them they had therefore come to know his pleasure, and made an offer to sell the Susquehanna river lands. Gordon replied "that he was glad to see them, and that he takes their visit at this time very kindly, but that they were misinformed when they supposed he had sent for them; that Governor Penn had, by means of the Colonel Dongan deed, already bought of the Five Nations the lands on the Susquehanna river."

A conference between the provincial officials and the Indians at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1753, was the beginning of the Indian troubles. At that time the latter were friendly but discontented, principally on account of the sale of August 25th,