Guyasuta
Guyasuta was an important Native American leader of the Seneca people in the second half of the eighteenth century, playing a central role in the diplomacy and warfare of that era. Although he became friends with George Washington in 1753, he sided with the French against Britain during the French and Indian War and fought against the British in Pontiac's War. He later supported the British during the American Revolutionary War. In his final years, he engaged in peacemaking to end the Northwest Indian War.
Early life and family
Born in a Mingo community in upstate New York, probably on the Genesee River, he and his family migrated along the Allegheny River and after 1725 they settled in Logstown, a mostly-Iroquois village in Pennsylvania. Guyasuta was a maternal uncle to Cornplanter and Handsome Lake. He was distantly related to Governor Blacksnake and Red Jacket.Guyasuta married twice and had six sons, of whom very little is known. He is reported to have sent one of his sons to Philadelphia "to learn English, to be an interpreter." In August 1762 the boy was returned to his family.
Journey with Washington, 1753
Guyasuta first appears in colonial records when he met the 21-year-old George Washington, who had been assigned to deliver a message to the French commandant at Fort Leboeuf. In late 1753, Virginia Governor Dinwiddie appointed newly-commissioned Major Washington as a special envoy to demand that the French vacate the Ohio Country, which the British had claimed. Arriving with Christopher Gist in Logstown on November 23, Washington held council with Native American leaders, including Shingas, Scarouady, and Tanacharison. Washington explained his mission and received assurances that the Indians and the English "were brothers." Tanacharison told Washington that "he cou’d not consent to our going without a Guard, for fear some Accident shou’d befall us," and volunteered to accompany Washington, along with Kaghswaghtaniunt, Guyasuta, and Jeskakake. Their purpose was to return three belts of wampum sent by the French as a symbol of friendship. Returning the wampum was a gesture intended to show that the sachems at Logstown were allied with the English. Washington wrote in his diary that "I knew that returning of Wampum was the abolishing of Agreements; & giving this up was shaking of all Dependence upon the French." Guyasuta referred to George Washington as "Tall Hunter," and is referred to as "The Hunter," and "one of their best Hunters," in Washington's journal, Journey to the French Commandant.Washington and his men left Logstown on November 30 and reached Venango at French Creek on December 4, where they were warmly greeted by Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire, who was in command of the French troops at Venango. Joncaire provided Washington's men with wine and brandy, and when intoxicated, Washington's Native American companions, including Guyasuta, declared their loyalty to the French. It took Washington three days to persuade them to move on to Fort Le Boeuf, where they met the French commander Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. Tanacharison tried to return the wampum to Saint-Pierre, "who evaded taking it, & made many fair Promises of Love & Friendship; said he wanted to live in Peace & trade amicably with them; as a Proof of which, he wou’d send some Goods immediately down to the Logstown for them. As they prepared to leave, White Thunder was injured, and Tanacharison decided to stay with him, sending Guyasuta to accompany Washington and Gist, but as Washington's horses were slowed down by baggage, Washington and Gist left them with Guyasuta and a driver and proceeded on foot. Guyasuta returned with Tanacharison to Logstown on January 15, 1754.
French and Indian War
Battle of the Monongahela
In July 1755, as the Braddock Expedition marched towards Fort Duquesne, the French recruited Native American warriors, including Ottawas, Ojibwes, Mississaugas, and Ohio Valley Indians including Guyasuta, to assist in its defense. General Claude-Pierre Pécaudy de Contrecœur felt that the warriors would be less effective in or near the fort, and instead deployed them in the open forests south of the fort, where their rifles could hit targets at long range while the Indians fired from behind rocks and trees. The British were unable to employ traditional volley fire tactics and were routed. When Guyasuta met Washington again in Ohio in October 1770, the warrior described how he had attempted to shoot Washington twice on the field of battle, and both times something had mysteriously deflected his bullet.Delegation to Montreal
Guyasuta was recognized for his participation in the victory, and in late 1755 was selected to lead a party of twenty Senecas to visit Montreal accompanied by Philippe-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire, who served as interpreter. At the Château Vaudreuil the Indians were received in the council chamber with much ceremony by the Governor General of Canada, the Marquis de Vaudreuil. Guyasuta, chief and orator of the Senecas, addressed Vaudreuil, seeking a formal alliance with the French. The delegation remained in Montreal until the following spring.Adoption of Simon Girty
In August 1756, Guyasuta participated in the capture of Fort Granville, taking captive 22 soldiers, 3 women, and 5 or 6 children, among whom were 15-year-old Simon Girty, his three brothers, and his mother and stepfather. Simon Girty was adopted by Guyasuta and lived with him until 1764, when by arrangement with Colonel Henry Bouquet, over 200 white captives were handed over to British authorities. On November 14 1764, Guyasuta took Girty to Bouquet's camp on the Muskingum River and handed him over directly to Lieutenant Alexander McKee, assistant deputy agent for the British Indian Department. Having learned nine Native American languages during his years with the Seneca, Girty became an interpreter for the British Army and, in this role, encountered Guyasuta frequently during negotiations.Battle of Fort Duquesne
In September 1758, Guyasuta was again called to defend Fort Duquesne when the Forbes Expedition arrived. A reconnaissance force under Major James Grant had gone ahead, and Grant decided to attack the fort, thinking that the garrison would be easily overcome. Instead, in the ensuing Battle of Fort Duquesne, French marines and Native American warriors overwhelmed Grant's troops, capturing him. James Smith described the battle:Guyasuta's warriors decapitated the bodies of Grant's highlanders and impaled the heads on stakes in front of the fort.
Battle of Loyalhanna
In October 1758, Guyasuta led a force of warriors in the Battle of Loyalhanna, together with 450 French troops under the command of Charles Philippe Aubry and 150 Lenape led by Keekyuscung, but the British, under the command of Colonel James Burd, repulsed the attack.Peace conference at Fort Pitt, 1759
In July 1759, Guyasuta, two other chiefs and sixteen warriors of the Six Nations, along with a number of Lenape, Shawnee and Wyandot leaders, attended a conference at Pittsburgh with George Croghan, William Trent, Colonel Hugh Mercer, and the officers of Fort Pitt. At this conference the terms of the 1758 Treaty of Easton were reaffirmed, and the tribal leaders promised to hand over captives taken during the French and Indian War. Guyasuta became close friends with George Croghan at this conference, a relationship which they maintained for many years. Croghan once referred to Guyasuta as "a Sencable good Tempered Indian."Pontiac's War
Guyasuta was a major player in Pontiac's Rebellion—indeed, some historians once referred to that war as the Pontiac–Guyasuta War. As early as 1761 he and Seneca war chief Tahaiadoris were circulating a large red wampum belt, known as the war hatchet, among the Native American communities near Detroit. According to Sir William Johnson's deputy, George Croghan, the purpose was to bring on a general uprising, which appeared imminent. Croghan learned that Guyasuta and Tahaiadoris were planning to incite the tribes around Detroit, the Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Wyandot, to surprise the garrison there and take over the fort, giving their warriors access to abundant stores of guns and ammunition. Next, the nations in the Ohio River Valley, the Delaware, Shawnee, and Twightwee, would attack the smaller forts around Fort Pitt. The Mingo and other Iroquois allies would attack and capture the French-built forts of Presque Isle, Fort Le Boeuf, and Fort Venango. Finally, the Iroquois Six Nations Confederacy would cut communications between Fort Niagara, Oswego, and the Mohawk Valley. With these communication and supply routes secured, the major military posts at Niagara and Fort Pitt could be starved into surrender, as the Native Americans were not inclined to try to take these forts by force, being unaccustomed to siege warfare.This scheme assumed that the French would support the uprising with weaponry and hopefully troops. Guyasuta and Tahaiadoris also suggested forming an alliance with the Cherokee, who were traditional enemies of the Iroquois. Guyasuta's interpreter revealed the plot to the commander at Fort Detroit, and an Odawa chief confirmed the allegation, identifying Guysuta as the "bad bird among us." Guyasuta confessed his involvement in the scheme to Croghan several years later.
Guyasuta and Tahaiadoris visited several of the Ohio Valley tribes and sent wampum war belts to tribes in the Illinois country, trying to convene a war conference in Sandusky, but many tribal leaders were skeptical of their plan. Native American communities were still recovering from the French and Indian War and were not ready to make enemies of the British and their powerful armies. Even Jeffery Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army, dismissed the scheme, doubting that the tribes could coordinate such a massive and complex operation. But Amherst then began implementing policies that increased tension among Native Americans. He demanded that captives be returned and that Native Americans accused of committing crimes against white settlers be tried and punished according to British law. He also severely restricted the quantity and types of goods to be sold or given to the Indians, particularly firearms and alcohol. Amherst was opposed to the practice of gift-giving, a traditional part of Native American alliances, as he felt this supported a "culture of dependency." This created a wave of anger and resentment that Pontiac exploited in 1763, after it was announced that France had signed a peace treaty with Britain and the Pays d'en Haut would come under British control, contrary to previous British promises to leave the region.
Although the Seneca remained neutral during the war, Guyasuta and other Seneca warriors took part in the capture of Fort Venango, gaining entrance to the fort by pretending to be unarmed and friendly. A few days later, Guyasuta and his warriors joined in the assault on Fort Presque Isle and then participated in the siege of Fort Pitt. When Colonel Henry Bouquet arrived with a relief column, Guyasuta joined Delaware and Shawnee warriors in trying to prevent it from reaching the fort. They were defeated at the Battle of Bushy Run. Guyasuta signed a preliminary peace agreement on August 12 1764, and participated in the handover of captives, including his own adopted son, Simon Girty.