The Six Nations were accustomed now to make temporary removals from place to place, paying visits to the Miamis, Hurons, and Wyandots. Some of them also resided on the Susquehannah, in Pennsylvania, and received instruction from Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians. To this party belonged the Cayuga chief, Shikellimus, the father of Logan, the Mingo chief, whose sorrows and whose eloquence have become so celebrated. The Mohawks accompanied Sir William Johnson in his expedition to Niagara, in 1759, and contributed to the victory gained over the French, when, after the death of General Prideaux, the command devolved on Sir William. In this battle, their afterwards celebrated chief, Brant, though but a youth, greatly distinguished himself.
The Mohawks received Protestant missionaries among them, as the Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cayugas had received the French Catholics. They had churches built, and some of their young men were sent into Connecticut, to be educated there under the care of Dr. Wheelock.
In the fierce wars which broke out at the West, of which we have elsewhere given an account, the Six Nations, in general, took no active part, though some of the Cayugas, and the warriors on the banks of the Susquehannah and Shamokin, occasionally became parties to them. Still, the feelings of the Six Nations were considerably alienated from the English, as well as those of the whole Indian race, unless we may except the Oneidas. The reason of this probably was, that the English did not take equal pains with the French to win them with presents. Sir William Johnson’s influence with them, however, was very great, and, so long as he lived, they looked up to him as their protector and father. He died just before the commencement of the American War of Independence. His sons, Sir John Johnson and Colonel Guy Johnson,--the former of whom was the Indian agent for the British government,--succeeded to his influence, and their interference was the cause of many interruptions of the peace and happiness of the settlers in New York and Pennsylvania during the great struggle for freedom. But the account of these transactions, with the further history of the Six Nations, must be reserved for another chapter.