Some believe there were actually two separate Butler’s Barracks built during the American Revolutionary War, one being at the site of the “new” barracks erected after the war. However, to date there is no firm evidence to substantiate such a theory. As we will see in a subsequent chapter, all the surviving buildings at the new site are post-War of 1812.
Chapter 7
The British Indian Department and the Covenant Chain of Friendship
Originally, the Board of Trade and Plantations in London was responsible for promoting profitable trade and maintaining the loyalty of the indigenous people of North America to the royal cause. Partly in response to the alarming French incursions into the Ohio Valley on the eve of the Seven Years’ War, a more focused and influential British Indian Department received royal approval in 1756. This was a civil agency within the British government representing the Crown in its dealings with the Native peoples of North America. Superintendents of Indian Affairs were appointed for the Northern and Southern areas of the continent east of the Mississippi River.
Sir William Johnson, artist unknown, miniature watercolour on ivory. As northern superintendant of Indian Affairs, Johnson (1715–1774) worked tirelessly to shine brightly the covenant chain of friendship between the British government and His Majesty’s Native Allies. Library and Archives Canada, C-083497.
The first Northern Superintendent of Indian Affairs was the charismatic Sir William Johnson, whose prime responsibility was to maintain the “covenant chain of friendship,” which was a symbol of the friendship and mutual understanding that existed between the British government and His Majesty’s Indian Allies. The Dutch and Mohawks were the first to refer to this covenant metaphorically as a steel chain of friendship that required constant polishing to keep it shining brightly. After the British replaced the Dutch in the Hudson Valley of New York, they assumed the Covenant but now referred to the silver chain of friendship, as silver was more valuable and could be polished more brightly. Through skillful negotiations and calculated interpersonal relationships with Natives and non-Natives alike, Sir William and his family would have a long-lasting influence on Native affairs in British North America and, in particular, Upper Canada.
In the summer of 1764, just after Pontiac’s nearly successful Indian Uprising, Sir William summoned all the First Nations to a Grand Council at Fort Niagara to burnish once again the chain of friendship. On at least one occasion he symbolically crossed over to the west side of the Niagara River to confer with Natives encamped there on the plain opposite the fort.[1]
During and after the American Revolutionary War, the British Indian Department at Niagara was based in “The Bottoms.” This was a collection of ramshackle buildings physically and symbolically outside the bastions of Fort Niagara on the edge of the Niagara River. During the war, the quasi-military Indian Department was permitted by the British Army to grant commissions within the Department.[2] These officers, who often led Native warriors in action, were on the same footing as those fighting in other provincial corps.[3] Most of the men in the Department, known generally as rangers or foresters, eventually became Butler’s Rangers after Butler received his “Beating order” in September 1777. With the disbanding of the Rangers in 1784, Lieutenant Colonel John Butler served ably as Deputy Agent for Indian Affairs at Niagara.
In his “Instructions for the good Government of the Branch of the Indian Department,”[4] Sir John Johnson (who inherited his father’s baronetcy and eventually assumed the position of superintendant), encouraged the Deputy Agent of Indian Affairs at Detroit, Alexander McKee,
to employ your utmost endeavours to promote His Majesty’s Indian Interest in general, by keeping up a friendly intercourse and Communication between all the Indian Nations assuring them of the King’s paternal care and regard as long as they continue to merit them by acting as good and obedient children ought to do … As these people consider themselves free and independent, and are in fact unaquainted with controul [sic] and subordination, they are alone to be govern by address and persuasion, and they require the utmost attention to ceremonies and external appearances, with an uncommon share of patience, good temper and forbearance.
No doubt a similar document was sent to John Butler at Niagara.
In anticipation that Fort Niagara would eventually be surrendered to the Americans, the British Indian Department maintained its presence at “The Bottoms,” but became increasingly more active on the Canadian side of the river. It was imperative that the covenant chain be maintained with the newly arrived peoples of the loyal Six Nations, who would soon take up their tract of land on the Grand River. A traveller to Niagara in 1785 noted that there was a barracks “for the savages” on the west side of the river.[5] Three years later another visitor reported four hundred to five hundred Natives were often encamped near the Rangers’ barracks.[6] Soon, the Department received permission to convert one of the old empty Rangers’ barracks into a blacksmith shop.[7] Nearby, silversmith John Bachus set up shop.[8] Presumably he was producing Indian trade silver for the Department. With the American occupation of Fort Niagara and the Bottoms in 1796 in compliance with Jay’s Treaty, the British Indian Department had to establish quickly a permanent and consolidated presence near but not within the newly built Fort George on the west side of the Niagara River.
The erection of a substantial Council House would signify the British government’s firm commitment to maintaining the strong chain of friendship with the Native peoples. In 1797, the Indian Department purchased Administrator Peter Russell’s leased property, which included his “Commodious Dwelling” and fifty acres in the midst of the Military Reserve. The comfortable Georgian home was used for offices, meeting rooms, and accommodation for the officials and officers of the Indian Department. Across the creek that ran through the property, the Indian Council House was built at seventy-two feet long, twenty-six feet wide, and twenty feet high. Quarters for the store keeper, three interpreters, and a blacksmith were apparently erected nearby.[9] Because of its size, the Council House appears to have been used for other purposes as well. In 1807 Lieutenant Governor Sir Francis Gore held a grand ball and supper in Niagara for which the Indian Council House was fitted up along with a temporary thirty-foot-long shed to accommodate all the guests for supper.[10]
Indian trade silver, photo by Sergio Martin. The indigenous peoples of North America wore shiny shells fashioned into various designs as a form of self-adornment and to reflect away evil spirits. With the arrival of the Europeans brightly polished silver became highly coveted. Pictured in the centre is a large silver brooch or ear wheel, marked by early silversmith John Kinzie. The three “double heart” brooches above, in the Luckenbooth style, were favoured by the Iroquois. The brooches in the Masonic pattern below were also popular among the Iroquois.
Courtesy of the author.
Hundreds, and at times thousands, of Natives encamped on the grounds surrounding the Council House and Officers’ Quarters,[11] usually in late summer or fall. Weather permitting, the officials would confer outside in view and within hearing range of all — the principals retreating inside only in inclement weather.
As Sir John intimated, the Natives were sticklers for tradition and deeply resented and resisted any attempt by government officials to speed up the deliberations. Alan Taylor, in his book The Divided Ground, describes the strict protocol of Indian councils:
Upon arriving at the council fire, the visitors entered in ceremonial procession. In welcome, the host conducted the “At the Wood’s Edge” ritual, ushering them out of the chaotic world of the forest and into the ordered stability of the council ground. In patient succession, the host cleared eyes, ears, and throats