Oneidas Help Patriot Soldiers at Valley Forge Survive

Part 11 of the series Are Native Americans Relevant?

Chief Shenandoah and his band of Oneidas were instrumental in keeping the Patriot soldiers alive during the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge.   They carried several hundred bushels of corn over 200 miles to the Patriots.  An Oneida woman named Polly Cooper stayed with the troops to show them how to prepare the corn.

Polly did more than just cook corn.  According to a descendant, William Honyost Rockwell:

 "....When I was a boy, I used to hear by people talk about Polly Cooper's bravery, about how she cooked and carried water to the soldiers. Whenever she had a chance between the hours of cooking duty, Polly would roll up her sleeves and take two pails of water, one container in each hand, and go into the battlefield. She would give water to quench the dry throats of the soldiers on either side and she walked on both sides of the firing line without fear of harm...."

Native American Fighting Tactics Needed, in the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution

Part 10 of the series Are Native Americans Relevant?

The early history of the North American continent is filled with the wars of different groups of people struggling to gain control of areas to obtain access to more land and more fur.  The fur trade and the wars over it depended on Native Americans.  In order to obtain more furs each Native group had to move deeper into the continent, thus creating more warfare.  European countries made alliances with Native tribes to obtain more furs.  They also used their Native allies to persuade other Native tribes to do what they want.  Failing this, the people of the rebellious tribes were either killed or captured to be enslaved. 

The French government used Native American warriors in their territorial conquest before the British government.  The Europeans learned they needed Native scouts and guides to avoid Native traps.  After defeat of Fort Duquesne 9 Jul 1755 British realized they had to change.  British parliament authorized establishment of rangers, including Rogers’ Rangers which was active in northern New York. 

Major Robert Rogers, with Mohican warriors in the background to his right.

The American colonists realized that guerrilla style warfare was crucial to enable the thirteen colonies of 3 million people to defeat the largest and best armed empire currently in the world.  Natives stressed strategy and technique instead of technology.  The American troops used guerrilla tactics when not enough men to fight the British in the traditional European manner.  Famous guerrilla fighters of the American Revolution were Francis Marion of South Carolina and Ethan and Ira Allen and their Green Mountain Boys of Vermont.  Indeed, the Green Mountain Boys had three Mohican men in their ranks:  Henry, John and Jonathan Van Gilder.  The Mohicans, the related Wappingers and one band of Oneidas were the primary Native Americans to freely fight on the Patriot side.  

Drawing of a Mohican man in the uniform of his regiment, artist a Hessian officer.

Scalping First Encouraged by Colonial Governments

Part 8 of the series Are Native Americans Relevant?

European governments paid bounty for scalps of people from the other country’s colony.  The Dutch were the first to offer a bounty and then the practice spread.  In the early colonial era the emphasis was on taking heads. The Connecticut government offered Mohegans a bounty on every Pequot head, the Dutch for Raritan heads.  By 1675 because so many heads were turned in, governments accepted head skins, or scalps, instead.  Opposing governments ignored the difference between warriors and noncombatants in their desire to control more land, a distinction that Native Americans made, and scalps of women and children were also taken and turned in for bounty payment.   Native American nations to the west learned about scalping as the frontier moved and brought the practice along.

European Settlers Grew Wealthy From Native Crops of Corn, Cotton and Tobacco

Part 7 of the series Are Native Americans Relevant?

After the arrival of the first European settlers, the Native Americans continued to teach new European settlers about the flora and fauna, and how to farm.  The colonial economy depended on Indian crops.  The early settlers exported tobacco, cotton and corn, major crops supplemented by fur trade in the northern colonies and deerskins in the south.

Cotton is the most important and widely used vegetable fiber in the world. The majority of cottons grown are of American origin.  Europe began importing cotton in 1552, which to the creation of the first textile factories.  The U.S. supplied 7/8s of Britain’s cotton before the Civil War.  From South Carolina west to Texas plantations were created out of Indian farms to grow cotton.  Growers not lucky enough to own coastal plantations had to keep moving west because the land wore out and they didn’t fertilize it. 

 After the Civil War other uses were developed for cotton by products:  cotton oil for soap, lamp oil, cooking oil and cotton meal for fuel, fertilizer and animal feed.

Native American farmers developed a type of corn for almost every ecological niche from southern Canada to northern Chile and Argentina.  It grows in virtually every part of the world where humans can grow crops.  Corn is higher in nutrition than most other grin crops and the yield is higher.  At time of contact, corn was 30 times more productive than traditional European grains.  Settlers ate corn chowder, corn bread, corn tortillas, corn tamales, hominy, grits, fresh corn, popcorn.  They fed corn to their chickens, turkeys and pigs.  They had more meat in their diets than European contemporaries.  Corn was exported to the Caribbean to feed millions of slaves on the sugarcane plantations.

Tobacco is a Native American plant that grows in almost as many diverse environments as corn.  It was grown throughout Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina.  The demand increased through 1600s.  It was the milder tobacco from the Caribbean that was most popular.  The local tobacco was too strong.  

Early tobacco growers began with agricultural procedures learned from the Natives.  The prosperity of early Virginia came from the sale of tobacco.  Without such a prosperous crop, Virginia wouldn’t have fared well.  By 1616 Virginia merchants exported over a ton of tobacco to England.  By 1689 they exported over 7000 tons.  By 1775 tobacco was 1/6 of all exports in all 13 colonies.  

Tobacco was also grown in the Connecticut River Valley.  It was a high quality used for snuff and cigar wrappers.

The plantation system was developed for tobacco.  It also created a new social form in the South that strongly influenced American history.

Native-Based Fur Trade Enables Growth of American Economy

Part  of the series Are Native Americans Relevant?

 

The fur trade was one of the major reasons why the North American continent was settled by Europeans.  The most sought after fur was beaver.  Beaver hats were very important in Europe before the use of umbrellas.  Europeans wanted fur for clothing in cold stone or brick houses.  Europeans were growing wealthy and wanted to buy the furs that were available from the continent.   

The fur trade began with the first explorers and was one of the major economic forces until the mid 1800s.  It was dependent upon Native American hunters and trappers.  The fur trade began with the first explorers and was one of the major economic forces until the mid 1800s.  The English, French, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and Russians were all after furs.  Furs were 1/3 to ½ of all exports from New York and Pennsylvania between 1700 and 1750.  The fur trade was why Albany, New York, and Springfield, Massachusetts, were settled.  The fur trade was why English wrested control of New Amsterdam from the Dutch, because the English only had possession of land around Hudson’s Bay in the far north.  In the Southeast deerskins were important.  Plastic and rubber later were used in place of deerskin.

Native women were especially valuable in the fur trade. Some were captured in raids and passed around tribes, often speaking several languages and knowing many travel routes.  They became wives to French and Scottish traders.  In addition to skinning and preparing game and furs, the women had the foraging skills to live off the land when game was scarce.  They also knew how to use traditional herbs.  They knew how to make and repair birch bark canoes and how to track.  Many trappers and traders were dependent upon their women for success.

Furs formed the early wealth of North American.  They financed major cities and the expansion of westward settlement.  Some American cities began as forts or trading posts.  Astute businessmen such as John Jacob Astor, who started the American Fur Company, accumulated capital reserves allowing them to finance further development, trade and industrialization, including canals and railways allowing Europeans to move west to take over more of the continent.  The wealth was carried forward by investment in banks and insurance companies that still exist.

Winchell Connection to Margaret Suckley

The movie "Hyde Park on Hudson" reminded me there is a personal Winchell connection to Margaret Suckley.

My Aunt Kate Winchell Mowris took care of Ms. Suckley during the last months of her life at Wilderstein.  I just received this confirmation from the Wilderstein Historic Site:

"Kate Mowris, with excellent recommendations, was hired a few months before Miss Suckley died to come in once a day and cook lunch for her. Kate would clean and straighten the kitchen, cook and spend time with Daisy. Miss Suckley had begun to fail in the spring; it began with either a stroke or heart attack which made it difficult to understand her speech. She spent a couple of days in the hospital. She wanted to go home but was persuaded that this stay was only temporary and that she would be released soon which did happen. Meanwhile, Kate and her daughter [Genie Mowris Oles] had put together a team of caretakers who made Daisy comfortable in her library. I believe she was cared for this way for about two months. Kate and company would make sure she was drinking water and eating every day which was Dr. McKibbin's stipulation if she was to remain at home. Kate Mowris and her team made Miss Suckley comfortable and  allowed her to remain at home which was so important to her. Wint Aldrich, her very caring cousin who helped establish Wilderstein Preservation, introduced Kate after the funeral as we gathered on the verandah at Wilderstein. When Winty talked about the wonderful care Daisy had received from this woman and her team of caregivers she was given a round of applause which caused her some embarrassment but she did understand that we were all sincerely grateful to her.

Margaret L. Suckley died June 29, 1991."

My aunt Katherine Winchell Mowris is the woman on the left.  My aunt Amy Shook Winchell is the woman on the right.  They both worked in health care. 

Aunt Kate's daughter Genie Mowris Oles is the woman on the left.  On the right is her daughter Bonnie Oles and the boy is her brother Clayton. 

These photos were taken at my high school graduation party at my Great-Aunt Gwen Winchell's in Lenox Dale, Massachusetts.