1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. We have mentioned President Ulysses S. 4 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 1: Grant's Peace policy a few times on the show. Most 5 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: recently that was in our episodes on Sarah Winnemucca. And 6 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,480 Speaker 1: we've described this as a policy of replacing the existing 7 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: Indian agent system with Christian missionaries, which was in an 8 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: effort to maintain peace between the United States and Indigenous 9 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: peoples and to reduce corruption. And that's really how Grant's 10 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 1: peace policy is usually summed up. When it's summed up 11 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: in just a couple of sentences, but it really does 12 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: not capture the whole of that policy or any of 13 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: the context around how or how much it was actually implemented. 14 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 1: And one of the people who was instrumental in both 15 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: the creation of this policy and its initial implementation was 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: Commissioner of Indian Affairs Eli S. Parker. Parker was Seneca, 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: and he was the first Indigenous person to be placed 18 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: in a cabinet level position in the United States. Also 19 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: the first Indigenous person to serve as Commissioner of Indian affairs. 20 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: His life and his legacy have some similar complexities to 21 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: what we talked about in our episode on Sarah Winnemaca, 22 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: maybe even more so, and he is who we are 23 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: going to be talking about both today and in our 24 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:43,319 Speaker 1: episode on Wednesday. Eli Samuel Parker was born sometime in 25 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty eight, as his parents were returning to the 26 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: Tonawanda Reservation from Buffalo, New York, where they had gone 27 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: to trade and buy supplies. His father, William or Jono Eistoa, 28 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: had been a war chief and was the first Seneca 29 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: to enlist with the US Army during the War of 30 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:05,559 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve. His mother, Elizabeth Johnson Parker, was a clan mother. 31 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: According to the family lore, the name Parker came from 32 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,320 Speaker 1: an English officer who had been adopted into William's family 33 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: before he was born during the Revolutionary War. This officer 34 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: had given the family his last name after the war 35 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: was over, before departing for Canada as a way of 36 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: honoring them. Ely's Seneca name was Hasanowanda, and he was 37 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: one of six children. The Seneca are one of the 38 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: nations that make up the Hoodenashane, or the people of 39 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: the Long House, also called the Iroquois Confederacy or the 40 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:44,240 Speaker 1: Six Nations. At one point, Hoddanashanee territory stretched from what's 41 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: now the Carolinas all the way up eastern North America 42 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: to what's now Canada, really into what's now Canada. By 43 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: the time the Parker children were born, though, the Hoddanashawe 44 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: had lost almost all of this territory. Of this was 45 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: through warfare with other indigenous nations, but the Hodenashani also 46 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: lost huge amounts of territory to Europeans. All but two 47 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: of the Hordenashani nations sided with Britain during the Revolutionary War, 48 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: and this split weakened their overall unity and power. The 49 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: Seneca were one of the nations that sided with Britain, 50 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: and American Major General John Sullivan carried out a scorched 51 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: earth campaign in Seneca territory in seventeen seventy seven. Some 52 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: members of nations that had sided with the British moved 53 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: to Canada after the war was over, and those who 54 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: stayed in the United States lost more and more land. 55 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: By seventeen ninety seven, the Seneca had been reduced to 56 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: twelve reservations, and by the time Hasanoanda was born, that 57 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: number was down to five. The Parker family was really 58 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: trying to live in a world that was dominated by 59 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: the United States while also preserving their own Seneca heritage 60 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: and traditions. This idea of two worlds was part of 61 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: a dream that Elizabeth had while she was pregnant with Asanowanda. 62 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: Arthur C. Parker, who was the grandson of Ely Parker's 63 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: brother Nicholson, related this story in a biography that came 64 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: out in nineteen nineteen. In Elizabeth's dream, it was snowing 65 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: and a rainbow appeared that broke in the middle, with 66 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 1: one side having letters like a sign on white men's stores. 67 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: In the words of this biography, a dream interpreter told Elizabeth, quote, 68 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: a son will be born to you who will be 69 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: distinguished among his nation as a peacemaker. He will become 70 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: a white man as well as an Indian. He will 71 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: be a wise white man, but will never desert his 72 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: Indian people nor lay down his horns. As a great chief, 73 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: his name will reach from the east to the west, 74 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: the north to the south, as great among his Indian 75 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: family and palefaces. His son will rise on Indian land 76 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: and set on white man's land, yet the ancient land 77 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: of his ancestors will fold him in death. So while 78 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,119 Speaker 1: Hassanawanda and his siblings were raised as Seneca, they also 79 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: went to English schools. It's not completely clear when Hassanawanda 80 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: started using the name Ely, but he was named for 81 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: the Reverend ely Stone, the clergyman who ran the Baptist 82 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 1: mission school next to the Tonawanda reservation. When ely was 83 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 1: about ten, the Tonawanda Band of Seneca were stripped of 84 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: their reservation land for context. In seventeen ninety seven, the 85 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: Seneca Nation and the United States had signed the Treaty 86 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: of Big Tree. Under the terms of this treaty, the 87 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: Seneca had agreed to relinquish almost all of their land 88 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: in New York, while retaining twelve tracts of land as reservations. 89 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: Under this treaty, the Tonawanda Reservation measured about seventy square 90 00:05:55,640 --> 00:06:00,040 Speaker 1: miles or about forty four thousand, eight hundred acres. In 91 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: the early nineteenth century, the US government was trying to 92 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: move indigenous peoples from the eastern part of the country 93 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: to land west to the Mississippi River, something that was 94 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: legally codified under the Indian Removal Act of eighteen thirty. 95 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: In conjunction with this federal effort, land companies were trying 96 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: to acquire Indigenous land. This included the Ogden Land Company, 97 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: which lobbied heavily for access to Haddenishani Land in New York. 98 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: The Ogden Land Company acquired much of the remaining Seneca 99 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: land under a series of treaties known as the Treaties 100 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: of Buffalo Creek. Construction on the Erie Canal also began 101 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventeen, and the canal ran directly through Seneca territory, 102 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: as did the Genesee Valley Canal that was built about 103 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: two decades later. Two of these treaties, signed in eighteen 104 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: twenty six and eighteen thirty eight, were never ratified by Congress, 105 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: and while they were being negotiated, the Ogden Land Company 106 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: used bribery, intimidation, and threats to try to get their way. 107 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: The eighteen twenty six treaty allowed the Ogden Land Company 108 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,239 Speaker 1: to purchase six of the remaining Seneca reservations and also 109 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: reduced the Tonawanda Reservation to about twelve thousand acres, and 110 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: under the eighteen thirty eight treaty, the Seneca would relinquish 111 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: all the rest of their land in New York and 112 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: move west to Kansas within five years. Under this treaty, 113 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: the United States would pay four hundred thousand dollars for 114 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: the cost of that relocation, and Thomas Ludlow Ogden and 115 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: Joseph Fellows would have the rights to sell all that land. 116 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: In addition to the various efforts at coercion, manipulation, and 117 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: deception that the Land Company and its agents had carried out, 118 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: many Seneca considered these treaties to be completely invalid. They 119 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: argued that the people who had signed them did not 120 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: represent all of them, and that most of the nation 121 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: did not agree with the treaty's terms. The Tonawanda Seneca 122 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: in particular, did not feel that they were party to 123 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: the treaty at all, as the Tonawanda chiefs had not 124 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: signed it. Of course, this was part of a whole 125 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: pattern of similar treaty processes in which the indigenous people 126 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: were at best at a huge disadvantage up So, the 127 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: Seneca fought back using a whole array of strategies. They 128 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: sent delegations to the New York Capitol in Albany and 129 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: to the US capital in Washington, d C. As well 130 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: as a delegation to Canada. There were letters and petitions 131 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: and court cases and public meetings, advertisements, and local publications 132 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: really on and on. The Seneca rallied support from their 133 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:47,319 Speaker 1: non indigenous neighbors, including Quakers, who had opposed these treaties. 134 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: From the beginning, the Seneca personally confronted land surveyors and 135 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: other officials and forced them off of the land that 136 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: they had come to survey or inspect, and this went 137 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: on four years. An eighteen forty seven annual report of 138 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: the US Commissioner of Indian Affairs described the Tanawanda Seneca 139 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: as putting all of their time and energy into two things, 140 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: providing for their families and quote the adoption of means 141 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 1: to preserve their homes and lands, and to annul or 142 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: defeat the contract or treaty. Ely would become a part 143 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: of this himself, but when the eighteen thirty eight treaty 144 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: was signed, he was only about ten years old. Soon after, 145 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: he went to the Six Nations Reserve in Canada. In 146 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:39,000 Speaker 1: Arthur C. Parker's account, he ran away, but with his 147 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: father's permission and accompanied by one of his father's friends. 148 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: Other accounts make it seem more like his parents decided 149 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: to send him to Canada because Handenashawnee traditions were stronger 150 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,679 Speaker 1: there and they wanted him to spend more time in 151 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: that world while he still could. While living at the 152 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: Six Nations Reserve along the Grand River in Ontario, Canada, 153 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: Eli Parker got a job caring for horses for the 154 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: army and sometimes driving those horses from one military post 155 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: to another, and he had a formative experience while he 156 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: was doing this. On one of these journeys, the army 157 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 1: officers that he was with were making fun of him 158 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: for not speaking English very well. This is something he 159 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: described as both rude and as good natured jesting, not 160 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: done out of malice, but in the words of Arthur C. 161 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: Parker quote, these jests and sharp thrusts they gave him 162 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: were of highest importance in determining his character and did 163 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: much to arouse his ambition. In the long lonesome ride, 164 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,439 Speaker 1: he did a great deal of thinking. He tells us 165 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: that he resolved not only to continue his education, but 166 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,240 Speaker 1: to become a master of the English tongue. More than this, 167 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,680 Speaker 1: he resolved to know that language so well that he 168 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: could talk as brilliantly as any Englishman could. According to 169 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: Parker's account, once Elee had delivered the horses, he walked 170 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: from Hamilton, Ontario, back to Buffalo, New York. It's roughly 171 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: seventy miles, and then he walked from there back to 172 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: his family. We'll have more after a sponsor break. When 173 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,760 Speaker 1: Eli Parker arrived back in New York, the Seneca were 174 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 1: still fighting to get their land back. In eighteen forty two, 175 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,440 Speaker 1: a new Buffalo Creek treaty, this one ratified by the 176 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: Senate and proclaimed by the President, restored the Seneca nations Allegheny, Cattaraugus, 177 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: and Oil Springs reservations, but not the Tonawanda reservation. The 178 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 1: Seneca could stay in New York only if they moved 179 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,320 Speaker 1: to one of those reservations that had been restored under 180 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: this treaty, but many of the Tonawanda Seneca did not 181 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: want to. They wanted to stay where they were, and 182 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:04,679 Speaker 1: they still believed the treaty that had stripped them of 183 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: that reservation land was fraudulent. Also in eighteen forty two, 184 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: Ealy started studying at Yates Academy, about twenty miles away 185 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: from where he was living. This was an advanced coeducational school, 186 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: and he was the only Indigenous student there. An account 187 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: written by one of his schoolmates much later on suggests 188 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,559 Speaker 1: that most of the student body were somewhere between curious 189 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: about and fascinated by him, but they also saw him 190 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: as an exception to other Indigenous people, who they regarded 191 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: as indolent and lazy. Parker wrote of it quotes here, 192 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: I progressed irregularly but well in all my studies, and 193 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: having no Indian companionship, by advanced perceptibly and rapidly in 194 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: the use of the English language. The school was eminently respectable, 195 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: and the association there was therefore good. It was non 196 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: sectarian and permits freedom of religious thought and action. It 197 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: was a mixed school, and the association of the sexes 198 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: had a refining, elevating tendency. I can recall my stay 199 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: here as among the happiest days of my youthful existence. 200 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: His study of English at Yates Academy allowed Parker to 201 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,640 Speaker 1: become an active part in the negotiations on behalf of 202 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 1: the Tonawanda Seneca. This started when he was only about 203 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 1: fourteen years old, and his brother Nicholson was part of 204 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: it as well. Eley initially worked as an interpreter and 205 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:37,199 Speaker 1: carried messages among the delegates. He also met and started 206 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: working with ethnographers Henry Rose Schoolcraft and Lewis Henry Morgan. 207 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: Schoolcraft was also a geographer, and the US government had 208 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: commissioned him to study the Seneca on the government's behalf. 209 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,559 Speaker 1: In addition to providing Schoolcraft with information about the Seneca, 210 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: Parker also used him as a source, basically getting him 211 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: to confirm details that would help the Seneca build their 212 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: legal case against the Treaties of Buffalo Creek. For example, 213 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,439 Speaker 1: he asked questions like whether the Seneca had any concept 214 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: of majority and minority prior to contact with Europeans, or 215 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 1: whether they had made decisions only through unanimity. Schoolcraft's answer 216 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: with this was unanimity, meaning that from a Seneca perspective, 217 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: a treaty that was not unanimously supported would not be 218 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: considered valid. Parker met Lewis Henry Morgan at a bookstore 219 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 1: in Albany in eighteen forty four, and for the next 220 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: six years, Parker was a major source for Morgan's anthropological research. 221 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: This relationship and this work could really be an entire 222 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: episode of its own. Morgan had a fascination with the 223 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: Hadena Shawnee that went beyond simple academic interest. He also 224 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: wanted to be adopted into the Seneca, which eventually happened 225 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty seven, in part because of his work 226 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: against the Buffalo Creek Treaties. A couple of years before 227 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: beating Eli Parker, Lewis Henry Morgan had also founded a 228 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:14,479 Speaker 1: secret fraternal society called the Order of the Gordian Knot, 229 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: later renamed the Grand Order of the Iroquois. This orders 230 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: initiation ceremonies appropriated indigenous cultures, including costumes and songs, and 231 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: symbolically taking the names of past Haddenishani chiefs. Morgan eventually 232 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: inducted Parker into this Order, and Parker later revised those 233 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: initiation ceremonies. They were already full of very heavy handed 234 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: stereotypes of Indigenous peoples, and Parker made them even more 235 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 1: over the top. Parker's thought process on this revision is 236 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 1: not really documented anywhere, but one of the sources I 237 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: used in this episode describes the resulting ceremonies as almost 238 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:04,320 Speaker 1: a satire. On the surface, Parker was an actively willing 239 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: participant in Morgan's anthropological research, not only explaining various aspects 240 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: of the history and culture of his people, but also 241 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: supplying Morgan with clothing, objects, artwork, and other items. Parker 242 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: also translated speeches by Handenishani orators into English. He also 243 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: did a lot of additional work on his own, creating 244 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: documentation that Morgan didn't request or use. It's possible, based 245 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: on all this that Parker was thinking about writing a 246 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 1: book himself someday. But at the same time, there were 247 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: some fundamental differences in how these two men saw the Hodenashani. 248 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: Morgan's general perspective was that everyone was similar and cultures 249 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: were all connected. But from Parker's point of view, there 250 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: were aspects of Hoddanashani and European or American culture that 251 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: were just fundamentally dissimilar. So Morgan had a lot of 252 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:04,360 Speaker 1: power when it came to Parker's opportunities in his future. 253 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: Like in eighteen forty five, Parker enrolled at Cayuga Academy, 254 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: which was an elite school that was also Morgan's alma mater. 255 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: Parker's education there was paid for by a federal Civilization grant, 256 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 1: which was part of a federal program to pay for 257 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: Indigenous students educations as a way to encourage them to 258 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: assimilate with white culture, but it's likely that Morgan had 259 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: a hand in Parker getting into that school. Unlike his 260 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: time at Yates Academy, which seems to have been pretty 261 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: happy overall, Parker faced a lot of racism and abuse 262 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:44,199 Speaker 1: at Cayuga. He wrote in one letter quote, once or 263 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: twice I have been severely abused, but I returned blow 264 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,879 Speaker 1: for blow with savage ferocity. Whether I gained the upper 265 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,919 Speaker 1: hand of my antagonist, I leave the public to decide 266 00:17:55,480 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: for mind you, these quarrels were public bad business, but 267 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: it could not be helped. While studying there, he also 268 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: felt like it was up to him to disprove all 269 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:10,640 Speaker 1: of the prevailing stereotypes of Indigenous people as drunken and lazy, 270 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: so he was driven to learn for its own sake 271 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: and also to try to prove his worth. At the 272 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: same time, he seems to have been a little bit sneaky, 273 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 1: or at least willing to take some maybe less than 274 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: ethical steps to keep up his academic performance. His brother, Nicholson, 275 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: was also studying at another school, and the two of 276 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: them would trade their essays after they had been created. 277 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: So they not only were using one another's work, but 278 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: they were also turning in versions of that work that 279 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 1: had already been corrected by a teacher. And Arthur C. 280 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: Parker's words quote, this was at least brotherly reciprocity, even 281 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 1: if it had some suspicion of a lack of ethics. 282 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: It was a secret between the brothers that a biographer 283 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 1: has unearthed for the critic, which may not be quiet fair, 284 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:05,160 Speaker 1: but sinless heroes would be mummies, things that neither Nick 285 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: nor Ely would exactly care to be. They were boys 286 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: and very much alive. By this point. Parker had been 287 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: involved in the Seneca's efforts to overturn the Buffalo Creek 288 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,159 Speaker 1: Treaties for years, and in eighteen forty six, at the 289 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 1: age of eighteen, he led a delegation to Washington, d c. 290 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: To petition James K. Polk to support a repeal of it. 291 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: Polk referred the matter to the Senate, and while the 292 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: other chiefs eventually returned to New York, Parker stayed behind 293 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: to try to talk to the President again and to 294 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: lobby Congress. Polk agreed that the federal government would put 295 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 1: off removing the remaining Seneca while they pursued their case 296 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: through both Congress and the courts. And after that Parker 297 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: returned home. But there were some Seneca who had already 298 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: gone to Kansas, and after getting home, Parker learned that 299 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: more than a third of them had died. So he 300 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: returned to Washington, d c. To try to lobby the 301 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: Senate to take action. Specifically, he was lobbying for the 302 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: Tanawanda Band of the Seneca to be exempt from the 303 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: Buffalo Creek Treaty of eighteen forty two, but the Committee 304 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: on Indian Affairs reported that doing that would undermine all 305 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: of federal Indian policy, and that was ultimately voted down. 306 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: We will talk about where Elee Parker went from here 307 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: after we have another sponsor break. In eighteen forty seven, 308 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 1: Eli Parker joined the Batavia Masonic Lodge, which was the 309 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: first of a series of Masonic lodges that he would 310 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: be a member of over the course of his life. 311 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: He was described as a very dedicated Mason. Considering all 312 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: the time that he had spent working on things like 313 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:02,959 Speaker 1: treaty negotiations and advocate with Congress. It's probably not surprising 314 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:06,120 Speaker 1: that after getting back from Washington, d c. He started 315 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,920 Speaker 1: on the path of becoming a lawyer. At this point, 316 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: people became lawyers by either going to law school or 317 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: through apprenticeships, and Parker got an apprenticeship at the law 318 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: offices of Angel and Rice in Ellicottville, New York. But 319 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: once he was ready to take the bar exam, he 320 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: was denied because under New York law, only natural born 321 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: and naturalized citizens could do so. Indigenous people were not 322 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: considered citizens of the United States. They were considered to 323 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: be wards of the government. So he changed courses and 324 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: decided to become an engineer. With Lewis Henry Morgan's help, 325 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 1: he enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. 326 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: He then went to Rochester to work on the expansion 327 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: of the Erie Canal. He continued to work as an 328 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 1: engineer for the next several years. In eighteen fifty one, 329 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: Henry Lewis Morgan published his book League of the Hodena 330 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:10,400 Speaker 1: Shawnee Iroquois. He dedicated it to Eli Parker, writing quote, 331 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: this work, the materials of which are the fruit of 332 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:18,400 Speaker 1: our joint researches, is inscribed an acknowledgment of the obligations 333 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,399 Speaker 1: and in testimony of the friendship of the author. This 334 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: was one of the first, if not the first, systematic 335 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: descriptions of a tribal culture in North America, and it 336 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: did give a whole lot of credit to Parker, although 337 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: it was of course presented through Morgan's lens. The publication 338 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: of this book is seen as a really foundational moment 339 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: in the development of anthropology as a field in the 340 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: United States. That fall, Parker was named one of the 341 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:53,200 Speaker 1: fifty Chiefs of the Six Nations, also called Royner, meaning 342 00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: caretakers of the piece. A lot of sources used in 343 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: this episode, including the work of Arthur C. Parker, translate 344 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: this title as sechem, which is an Algonquian word, and 345 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: these chiefs are chosen by the clan mothers. Parker was 346 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 1: given the title Dona Hogawa or Doorkeeper, along with a 347 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,679 Speaker 1: silver peace medal that George Washington had given to his 348 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: ancestor red Jacket, as a symbol of peace between the 349 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: Six Nations and the United States, and he often wore 350 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:27,800 Speaker 1: this medal at ceremonial events. The Tanawanda band of the 351 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:31,560 Speaker 1: Seneca were still fighting against the terms of the earlier 352 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,880 Speaker 1: treaties of Buffalo Creek, and that fight had now been 353 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,640 Speaker 1: going on for two decades. They had filed four different 354 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,800 Speaker 1: suits against the Ogden Land Company with the help of 355 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 1: attorney John H. Martindale, who would later go on to 356 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: be the New York State Attorney General. Two of these 357 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,880 Speaker 1: suits did not go in the Seneca's favor, but two 358 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:57,000 Speaker 1: of them did. One of the successful suits was against 359 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:00,440 Speaker 1: Joseph Fellows, who had a deed for Tonawan to Seneca 360 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 1: land that came through the terms of the treaty. John 361 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: Blacksmith had been living on that land and had built 362 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: a sawmill, a dam, and other structures on it. Fellows 363 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: had forced Blacksmith off the land at gunpoint, and Blacksmith 364 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,959 Speaker 1: filed suit for trespass, assault and battery under an eighteen 365 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: twenty one New York trespassing law. This went all the 366 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: way to the U. S. Supreme Court. This eighteen fifty 367 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: seven Supreme Court ruling was not about whether the treaties 368 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 1: of Buffalo Creek were valid, but whether Fellows had the 369 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: right to remove Blacksmith from the land he had purportedly acquired. 370 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,679 Speaker 1: And the words of the Supreme Court ruling quote the 371 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: removal of tribes of Indians is to be made by 372 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:48,679 Speaker 1: the authority and under the care of the government, and 373 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:53,240 Speaker 1: a forcible removal, if made at all, must be made 374 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:58,440 Speaker 1: under the direction of the United States. So Fellows, according 375 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: to this ruling, did not have the right to forcibly 376 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 1: remove Blacksmith, who was Seneca, from that land. The Ogden 377 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,200 Speaker 1: Land Company did not have the right to do that either, 378 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,920 Speaker 1: only the federal government did. The other case was decided 379 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,960 Speaker 1: in New York a year later. John H. Martindale represented 380 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: the Seneca in this suit as well, and this one 381 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: was more broad. It was filed against Asa Cutler, John Underhill, 382 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: and Arsa Underhill, who claimed to hold title to Seneca 383 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: land under the terms of the Treaty. Upon hearing the evidence, 384 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,680 Speaker 1: the New York Supreme Court ruled that quote, the Seneca 385 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: Nation had not duly granted and conveyed the reserve in 386 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: question to Ogden and Fellows. When the New York Court 387 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,679 Speaker 1: of Appeals upheld this decision, it referred back to the 388 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: Supreme Court's verdict in Fellows versus Blacksmith. Neither of these 389 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: cases overturned the Treaty, though they were really about at 390 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: their hearts whether that eighteen twenty one trespassing law that 391 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: under penned both of these cases was constitutional or not. 392 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:08,080 Speaker 1: Addressing the terms of the actual treaty itself required going 393 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: through Congress, and Parker took another delegation to Washington, d c. 394 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: And played a major role in developing their strategy. When 395 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: they did. The advocacy on the part of the Seneca 396 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: and their allies ultimately led to a fourth Treaty of 397 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,679 Speaker 1: Buffalo Creek between the Tonawanda Band of the Seneca and 398 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,760 Speaker 1: the United States. By this point, and connected to all 399 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,199 Speaker 1: of this, the Tonawanda Seneca had split off from the 400 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 1: other Seneca bands living in New York. The new treaty 401 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: was signed at the Meetinghouse on the Tonawanda Reservation, with 402 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:46,000 Speaker 1: Charles E. Mix of the Bureau of Indian Affairs signing 403 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,680 Speaker 1: on behalf of the United States, and five men, one 404 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: of them Elee S. Parker, signing on behalf of the Seneca. 405 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: Under this treaty, the Tonawanda Seneca relinquished any claims they 406 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 1: had to land west of the Mississippi River that had 407 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: been set aside for them in the earlier Treaties of 408 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: Buffalo Creek, as well as any claims to any money 409 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: that had been set aside to pay for their removal 410 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,360 Speaker 1: to go there, the United States would pay the tribe 411 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty six thousand dollars in consideration of 412 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 1: all those things that they were relinquishing any claims to, 413 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: and the Tonawanda Seneca could use that money to buy 414 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: back their land in New York. Ogden and fellows would 415 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: still have the rights to sell the land that the 416 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:38,920 Speaker 1: Tonawanda Seneca did not repurchase. There were some additional terms 417 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: as well, but essentially the Tonawanda Seneca were able to 418 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: reclaim about seven thousand acres of reservation land. This treaty 419 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: was signed on November fifth, eighteen fifty seven, and it 420 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 1: was later ratified by the Senate and proclaimed by President 421 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,720 Speaker 1: James Buchanan. So this meant that there were now two 422 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:02,359 Speaker 1: federally recognized Seneca tribes in western New York, the Tonawanda 423 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: Seneca and the Seneca Nation, whose Allegheny and Cattaraugus reservations 424 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 1: had been restored under the Treaty of Buffalo Creek of 425 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: eighteen forty two. A third federally recognized Seneca nation, the 426 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: Seneca Cayuga Nation, is in Oklahoma. There's a whole additional 427 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: history involving the Oil Springs reservation that we mentioned earlier, 428 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:26,199 Speaker 1: I feel like is separate from this whole episode. But 429 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,480 Speaker 1: this also meant that the Ogden Land Company and its 430 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: agents didn't really face any kind of consequences for their 431 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 1: actions leading up to the earlier treaties of Buffalo Creek, 432 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: or their actions after those treaties had been signed and other. 433 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: Writing later on, Arthur C. Parker described the twenty dollars 434 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: an acre that the Seneca paid for their land as 435 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: blood money that rewarded the Ogden Land Company for its 436 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: terrible behavior. The Tanawanda Seneca had also spent more than 437 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: five thousand dollars, which that's five thousand dollars in the 438 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: mid nineteenth century on this two decade fight to get 439 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: their reservation land back. Although ELI Parker was a big 440 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 1: part of this, afterward he became progressively less connected to 441 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:15,800 Speaker 1: the Tonawanda Seneca. He was appointed to oversee the construction 442 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,360 Speaker 1: of a Federal Customs house in Galena, Illinois, and he 443 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 1: moved there the same year this treaty was signed. He 444 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,640 Speaker 1: wrote about feeling conflicted when visiting the reservation because he 445 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: loved his family, but he also wanted to be back 446 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,840 Speaker 1: in Illinois with his friends. One of his friends that 447 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 1: he met in Galina was Ulysses s Grant and we 448 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: will be talking about that next time. In the meantime, 449 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: I've got some listener mail fabulous. This is from Layla 450 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 1: and it goes back to our episode on Mammoth Cave 451 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:54,520 Speaker 1: and the Cave Wars. So Leyla said, hello again, Holly 452 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,840 Speaker 1: and Tracy. I'm playing a bit of catch up on 453 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: some recent episodes and I perked right up when I 454 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: saw the Kentucky Cave Wars episode. Mammoth Cave holds a 455 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: special place in my heart as I got engaged in 456 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 1: the cave on a tour. My husband and I are 457 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: trying to visit all the US National parks currently at 458 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: eighteen so plenty to go, and we did Mammoth Cave 459 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: as an extended weekend in twenty seventeen. We did a 460 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: lantern lit tour as part of our trip, which stopped 461 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: in a section where the park rangers told us a 462 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: story of how gentlemen would take rocks and throw them 463 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: at the ceiling to make stars for their loves. The 464 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: ceilings of the caves are covered in soot from all 465 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: the lanterns and torches used to explore before the ccc 466 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,920 Speaker 1: ran electricity through portions of the cave. The underlying rock 467 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: is white, so when a stone hit the ceiling, it 468 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: would dislodge some soot, leaving a white spot or a 469 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: star for the couple. It was quite romantic. As we 470 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: left this area, my husband then boyfriend said the park 471 00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: ranger needed us to stay behind so he could perform 472 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: so safety checks. Little did I know this was a ruse, 473 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: and he proposed to me there. So we always tell 474 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 1: people we found a diamond in Mammoth Cave. I wrote 475 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 1: a few years ago with pet pictures, but realized I 476 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: forgot to add names, so here are a few updated 477 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: photos with descriptions. We have a black dog named Maya, 478 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 1: who is a Great Dane German Shepherd mix, a total 479 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: couch potato, but the sweetest girl. A Golden Retriever named 480 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: Boone who was the best cuddler and frisbee catcher. When 481 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: Laila wrote last, Boone was a puppy playing in the snow. 482 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: There's a tabby cat named Peanut who continually proves he 483 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:38,480 Speaker 1: is smarter than us. That is plotting to take over 484 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: the world. The last is Snickers, our calico girl we 485 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: rescued from under our grill. She enjoys helping fold laundry 486 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: and check on vegetables in the garden. I also included 487 00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:52,480 Speaker 1: our picture in the cave after we got engaged. I 488 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: cannot recommend Mammoth Cave enough to visit. It's an excellent 489 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,040 Speaker 1: mixture of nature and history and it's very accessible. Thank 490 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 1: you both for all you have been listening since twenty sixteen. 491 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,680 Speaker 1: Earned my symhc PhD, and you two are the soundtrack 492 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: of my commute. I missed you in Indianapolis, but I'm 493 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,960 Speaker 1: looking forward to the next live show. All the best, Layla. 494 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: So yes, we do have some very sweet pet pictures 495 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: that were previously described. What we have not said in 496 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: the description of the previously described pictures as that's tabbycat. 497 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 1: Peanut has a little blip going on, this little tongue 498 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: sticking out on what looks like one of those window 499 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: mounted cat perches. And oh, how sweet. I love how 500 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:43,719 Speaker 1: sweet this picture is from Mammoth Cave. There standing in 501 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: Mammoth Cave, you cannot really see what is around them 502 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: because they are holding up a lantern. So the lantern 503 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:53,120 Speaker 1: is providing all of the light for the picture. But 504 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,720 Speaker 1: that's all very sweet. Thank you so much, Layla. Thank 505 00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: you to everyone who writes to us. I think it's 506 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: been a while since we've said it. We do read 507 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,520 Speaker 1: every single email we get, and we love getting all 508 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: of these emails. We are not able to individually answer 509 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: all of them, so please do not let that discourage 510 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: you from writing if you're thinking about writing. We love 511 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 1: to read all of these wonderful stories that our listeners 512 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: send to us. If you would like to send us 513 00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: an email, we're at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com 514 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio 515 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: app and wherever else you like to get podcasts. Stuff 516 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 1: you missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 517 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 518 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.