Hist. of N. Y., Vol. I., p. 99.) from De la Barre, governor Dongan, of New York, that these savages had plundered seven canoes, and detained 14 French traders; to which the principal Seneca sachem returned a spirited reply, and Dongan requested the French to keep to their own side of the lake.* This provoked an insolent letter from the French governor, in which, he said: --

* * * “I sent Sieur Bourbon to you to advise you of the vengeance I was about to wreak, for the insult inflicted on the Christian name by the Senacas and Cayugas, and you answer me about the possessions of lands of which neither you nor I are judges, but our two Kings who have sent us, and of which there is no question at present, having no thought of conquering countries, but of making the Christian name and the French people to be respected, and in which I will spill the last drop of my blood. I have great esteem for your person, and considerable desire to preserve the honor of his Brittanick Majesty’s good graces, as well as those of my Lord the Duke of York; and I even believe that they will greatly appreciate my chastisement of those who insult you and capture you every day, as they have done this winter in Merilande. But if I was so unfortunate as that you desire to protect robbers, assassins, and traitors, I could not distinguish their protector from themselves. I pray you, then, to attach faith to the credit which I give Sieur de Salvaye to explain everything to you; and, if the Senecas and Cayugas wish your services as their intercessor to take security from them, not in the Indian, but in the European fashion, without which and the honor of hearing from you, I shall attack them towards the 20th of the month f August, New Stile.” (Ibid., p. 100)

A plan of operations had been previously arranged under the direction of the home government, and a negotiation with the governor of New York could have no other object than to keep inactive the English forces by professions of amity, and a declaration that they were only at war with traitors and robbers, common enemies of mankind. Preliminaries being settled De la Barre, in June, 1684, sent five or six picked soldiers, and as many mechanics, to Fort Frontenac, to repair that post, and on the 9th of July left Quebec, in three divisions, at the head of 300 militia, which was increased to 550 at Montreal. The regulars and Indian allies made the entire army about 2,000 men, a very powerful army for that time. From the difficulty of procuring boats and provisions, the obstruction of the rapids, and the prevalence of southwest winds the army was delayed till past the middle of August, in arriving at Frontenac. Meanwhile, through the influence of Lamberville, a Jesuit, at Onondaga, that village had become anxious that the difficulties might be settled by mediation, a course to which De la Barre was the more inclined from the shortness of provisions with which he was threatened. He had crossed with his army to La Famine, a point favorable for hunting and fishing, 24 leagues from Onondaga, to await the result of negotiations. Here, exposed to the sultry heats of August, and scantily supplied with provisions, most of his men were attacked with intermittent fevers, which assumed a malignant typoe, and destroyed numbers, while it incapacitated the remainder from hostile operations. Being thus situated he hastily dispatached a Christian savage to La Moine, at Onondaga, to have him hasten the departure of those whom the Iroquois had agreed to send to treat with the French governor. This was done with promptness, and on the 3d of September nine deputies from Onondaga, three from Oneida, and two from Cayuga arrived from La Moine, and were courteously received by the governor, who deferred the business of the embassy till the morrow. The Senecas, against whom the vengeance of the French was to have been directed, did not condescend to send representatives to the treaty, and returned an insolent answer to the invitation. They had been privately assured of assistance from Dongan, the English governor, in case they were attacked. The inclination for peace, which the Onondagas, Oneidas, and Cayugas evinced, may be ascribed to the ascendency which the Jesuits residing among them had acquired. Upon the convening of the council De la Barre with his officers formed a semi-circle on one side, while Garangula, the Onondaga orator, with the warriors that accompanied him, completed the circle on the other. The French governor made an address to the Indians, in which he accused the several tribes of the Five Nations, and especially the Senecas, who had no representatives in the council, of interfering with the trade with the Illinois and Umamies, and other Indian nations, with whom the French were on friendly terms, and demanded satisfaction and a discontinuance of hostilities, and warned them that the consequences of a refusal to comply with his demand would be a declaration of war. Garangula, in replying to this, assured the governor that the Five Nations feared not the result of a war with the French, and declared that they had plundered none of the French but those that carried guns, powder, and balls to their enemies, the Twightwies and Chictagicks. He also assured De la Barre that he understood the object of his journey to the Iroquois country “was to knock them on the head, if sickness had not weakened the arms of the French.” On the 6th of September De La Barre hastily took his departure, having had all the sick embarked the day before (so as not to be seen by the Indians), to the number of 150 canoes and 12 flat bateaux, and on the evening of the same day arrived at Fort Frontenac, where he found that 110 of the number left there had departed, sick, for Montreal, whither the governor followed the next day.

The Marquis de Demonville succeeded De la Barre the next year, and brought from France forces thought sufficient for the reduction of the Senecas, which was undertaken two years after, with a large force, (from Doc. Hist. of N. Y., Vol. I., p. 193) but without success, further than ravaging their country with fire, and destroying a few aged and defenseless men and women. On July 26, 1688, the Iroquois, to the number of 1,200 invaded the island of Montreal without notice, and destroyed more than 1,000 French, besides carrying away great numbers of prisoners for torture. In these and other expeditions this territory must have been the scene of many events of tragic interest, but the history of the details has not come down to us.

During the French and English war, which in 1760 resulted in the complete subjection of the former, the frontier again became alive with military operations, and the principal route between Canada and the Mohawk settlements passed through this county. On Six Town Point, in the town of Henderson, a small stockade was erected during this period. Between the bastions, at each angle, the sides were but 48 feet, and the whole affair was of slight and transient character. In a work entitled Memoires sur le Canada there is mentioned the occupation of a post at the mouth of Sandy Creek, of which no trace remains. The most interesting relic of the olden time within the county are the ruins of Fort Carleton, on Carleton Island, which is described in connection with the sketch of Cape Vincent, p. 311.