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Colonial and State Records of North Carolina
Letter from Thomas Pollock to [Robert Hunter]
Pollock, Thomas, 1654-1722
March 06, 1713
Volume 02, Pages 23-25

[From Pollock's Letter Book.]


North Carolina March 6th 171⅔.

May it please your Excellency.

This accompanies a letter from me and the Council; for having seen a letter from you to governor Hyde date May 12th 1712, wherein you intimate that if their be occasion of the interposition of the five Nations as towards making peace with the Tuscarora Indians, that there will be occasion of money sent from this government to make presents to the Indians and to bear the charges of the person or persons the Indians will want to accompany them to Carolina; to which I doubt not governor Hyde hath fully answered, laying down the poverty and inability of the country to raise any considerable sum, our own divisions and this Indian war having much impoverished the country; and also to fly to the Indians and hire them to be mediators of a peace, unless extreame necessity

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forces, would be derogatory to Her Majesty's honor, and might encourage the five nations to set Indians against Her Majesty's subjects, for their own advantage. Howsoever, if extremity reduces us to such a necessity, which I pray God may not be, we must fly to your Excellency.

also I understand, by a letter from Mr Secretary Clarke to our late Governor Hyde, dated the 21st of August last, that Col Schuyler should report from the five nations, that some of their Indians, who were a hunting toward Carolina, were taken and some hanged, which is certainly a false report, our people having never taken, killed, or hanged any of the five nations that ever I heard of. And to convince them of contrary, Col. James Moore, in his coming here from South Carolina, met with a party of Tuscaroras Indians killed 8 of them, and took one prisoner who was one of the five nations; which as soon as I understand, I purchased the said Indian, named Anethae, and having no other way to send him to his own country but by this vessel, would entreat the favor of your Excellency to get him conveyed safe to his own Country, that they may see an know the falsity of these reports.

As to the making clear to the five nations that the Tuscaroras were the first causes of the war, I doubt not but Governor Hyde hath given you a full account of their taking Baron Graffenried a swiss nobleman, who came here to settle a colony of switzers and Palatines; and one Mr Lawson, our General Surveyor Lawson, they killed after a barbarous manner, and in five or six days after massacred and took about 130 or 140 of our people, and all without any cause that we know of, or any complaint made unto the government and after they had made a sort of sham peace with Col Barnwell, they in a very few days boke it, and have continued hostilities ever since, until the latter end of November last; at which time some of the great men from six of their Fort came in, with whom we came to some preliminary articles of agreement, amongst which one was, that they would cut off all the Core and Coteching Indians and all others that had any hand in the massacre of the English, betwixt then and the first of January then next ensuing; and if they could not accomplish it by that time, they oblidged themselves to bring in six hostages from each of the aforesaid Forts. Presently after this agreement we heard of Col Moore and the South Carolina forces arrival at the Neuse River, and had him in amongst us and kept him and his forces, being upward of nine hundred men, from the beginning of December until the Twentieth of January to see if the Tuscaroras would keep their agreement, which they did not. So Col Moore, with the South Carolina forces and some of our went out against them, and lie now against one of

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their strongest Forts. wherein, (by what Intelligence we can have) there is not less than three or four hundred men. If your Excellency had the oppertunity of sending the cowhorn mortar that Governor Craven writ for they would now have been of great use.

While I was writing this, one Tom Blount, the chief man of one of the Tuscaroroe Forts which is next to us, who hath pretended all along that he was not concerned with the other Tuscaroroes against the English, and with whom we have had no hostility all this time, came in to me with letters from your Commissioners for Indian affairs from albany (a copy whereof have herewith sent your Excellency) which, he says, four of his Indians brought him from thence. Notwithstanding which letter I have lately had information that several of the Five Nations are now among the Tuscaroroes; which wants yet confirmation I hope your Excellency will take what care you can to hinder the five Nations from joining or assisting our Enemies with armes or ammunition.

The honor of your Excellency's answer by the first oppertunity here, or by the way of the Governor of Verginia, will highly oblidge

Your Excellency's &c

Sent out by Mr Sears, Merchant, of a New York sloop here, who carried likewise the Seneca Indian.