In the spring of 1728, however, war now seemed possible, if not imminent. Gordon hoped to maintain Pennsylvania’s tradition of peace, but he had to prepare for the potential for war as well. Before he left for Philadelphia, he used his powers as the captain-general to create a “commission” that would “gather the inhabitants together and put them in a posture of defence” after the murders in case of retaliation. By creating an official authority to oversee militias and defenses, Gordon hoped to take the power away from unofficial and unregulated volunteer militias that could inadvertently start war—that indeed may have just thrown the colony headlong into its first war—and place official authority in the hands of commissioners he knew and trusted.28
“A Strong League and Chain of Friendship”
Gordon returned to Philadelphia on May 15. Upon his return, he decided to make clear the colony’s position toward its Indian neighbors and allies. Gordon had seen firsthand the virulence of anti-Indian feelings, and he used the power of proclamation to counter such sentiments and enforce Pennsylvania policy. In a series of decrees that were posted throughout communities and read to and by settlers, he reiterated Pennsylvania’s policy of peace with Natives with whom the colony had “a firm alliance and sincere friendship.” Gordon identified specific Indian groups as allies and explained Pennsylvania’s policy of friendship toward them. Settlers were told to treat “the Delawares, Conestogoes, Ganawese, Shawanese, Mingoes or those of the Five Nations, or any other coming and demeaning themselves peaceably amongst us … with the same civil regard they would an English subject.”29
Proclamations would only go so far. Gordon also had to demonstrate Pennsylvania’s intentions to Indians and colonists. He began preparing a grand treaty ceremony—perhaps the largest the colony had held—on the banks of the Susquehanna. He wanted to meet with the Indians who seemed poised for war and to reaffirm Pennsylvania’s peaceful intentions, and he wanted to calm settlers whose nerves were on edge.30
At that point, the Assembly got involved for the first time. They agreed that war was a real possibility and that a treaty was the most likely way to avoid it. After some minor squabbling, they gave Gordon £100 for diplomatic gifts. At that time, £100 was not a paltry sum: with this money the government was able to buy twenty-five coats, twenty blankets, twenty duffels, twenty-five shirts, one hundred pounds of gunpowder, two hundred pounds of lead, five hundred flints, fifty knives, and foodstuffs. Moreover, the materials the government intended to give the Indians—ammunition and arms—signaled the government’s view that these Indians were not threats. This singular act was the only role the Assembly played in the entire affair, evidence of both the small part this institution played in problems dealing with expansion and the prominent role proprietary institutions played in the lives of colonists and Indians alike.31
On May 26, the treaty ceremony began. The official records state that fifteen Indian delegates sat around the treaty fire with many more watching. Representatives came from the Conestogas, Delawares, Ganaweses (also Conoys or Piscataways), and Shawnees. The Indians and Pennsylvanians had three interpreters each because of the many different languages spoken. In addition to the large Indian presence, over two hundred settlers, many of whom feared war with these Indian groups, came to witness the treaty. The large attendance reflected the stakes.32
All eyes were on Gordon. Recent events were surely on his mind as he spoke, and Gordon’s intended audience was as much the multitude of colonists around him as the Indians before him. He began his opening speech by evoking the memory of William Penn as a way to rekindle a common bond. Penn, he recounted, had entered into “a strong league and chain of friendship” that had made the two groups “as one people,” a common phrase used in these treaties to denote a close alliance. Gordon, as the governor appointed by Penn’s heirs, stood before the Indians at the treaty “in their stead.” His charge, he told his counterparts, was “to love all the Indians as their brethren.”33
He then outlined the principles and protocols that held this alliance together. He recited nine rules, each representing a link in the chain of friendship. Indians and Pennsylvanians were to keep all paths clear and open between Indian territories and Pennsylvania, a literal and metaphoric statement that meant both groups should travel and trade freely and keep clear communication. Another stated that Pennsylvanians and Indians were to welcome one another into their homes and treat them “as their friends,” not enemies. Finally, he addressed the dangers rumors posed to this peace. Neither Indians nor colonists should believe rumors, he said. When stories of strife between the two sides spread, he advised that both colonists and Indians should seek out leaders for the truth before acting rashly. Then he apologized for the violence. “There are wicked people in all nations,” Gordon said, and he promised to try and execute the Winters for violating the foundation of trust that cemented this alliance.34
The Indians reacted with enthusiasm. Tawenna, a Conestoga delegated to respond to Gordon’s speech, said that they “greatly rejoyced [in] their hearts that they have had no such speech made to them since the time that the great William Penn was amongst them, all was good and nothing was amiss.” Tawenna spoke from experience. He had heard William Penn speak at the 1701 treaty where the Conestoga formalized their alliance with Penn by giving Pennsylvania sole rights to lands on the banks of the Susquehanna in exchange for Pennsylvania’s promise to preserve a small plot for the Conestoga and to provide the Conestoga with protection from both European and rival Indian nations. Tawenna’s reference to Penn living among them also suggests that he was present when Penn made his celebratory visit to their town.35
Since the time of this earlier treaty, Tawenna had seen the colony grow. He had seen the effects of colonists pushing further west and had witnessed the violence between Indians and colonists engendered by this expansion. But he was hopeful that the foundation of peace laid by that earlier treaty was still firm. The two groups were, he said, evoking Penn’s principles, truly “one people … one body and one heart.” He then told Gordon not to “grieve too much” over the Winters’ murder of the Delaware because they recognized it as “rash inconsiderate actions” of individuals behaving independent of the colony. Tawenna then addressed the murder of Thomas Wright, the colonist killed by Indians in a drunken melee the previous fall and an issue Gordon had raised in the course of his speech to show that both sides were not without guilt. Tawenna explained that the guilty Indians belonged to “the Menysincks [Delawares], who are of another nation, and therefore they can say nothing to it.” In so doing, Tawenna laid out the expectations Indians had for dealing with such intercultural violence. Indian groups expected to be treated as distinct groups, not an amalgamated whole. Gordon recognized this distinction in his response, noting “that since the Indian, who killed the Englishman … is not of their nation, he would demand Justice from that Nation to which he belonged.”36
The discussion of Wright and the Winters exposed the unclear and yet pragmatic legal status of Indians in Pennsylvania. On a practical level, Indians’ legal status was never entirely coherent nor was it ever explicitly explained. Indians and colonial officials had come to a mutual understanding through ad hoc mediations and diplomacy. What was clear was that Indians as individuals within Pennsylvania had some legal rights, but Indians were not entitled to the same legal system as colonists because they were not British subjects and there was no naturalization path for them (nor, of course, did they seek such a path). As Gordon noted in his reply to Tawenna, the government recognized that individual Indians belonged to specific groups—in Gordon’s word, “nations”—and that while these groups might be held liable for the actions of their members, they should not be expected to police other Indian “nations.” Individual Indians were thus clearly not members of the colony, but they were affiliated with it. Indeed, keeping Indians separate from the colony was important for Pennsylvania’s expansionist aims. By recognizing Indian groups as separate polities that collectively owned the land, the proprietors could legally secure their title in the eyes of the British Empire.
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