Susquehannock

The Susquehannock, also known as the Conestoga, Minquas, and Andaste, were an Iroquoian people who lived in the lower Susquehanna River watershed in what is now Pennsylvania. Their name means “people of the muddy river.”

The Susquehannock were first described by John Smith, who explored the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Bay in 1608. The Susquehannocks were active in the fur trade and established close trading relationships with Virginia, New Sweden, and New Netherland.

By the 1670s, their population had declined sharply as a result of disease and war. The Susquehannock abandoned their town on the Susquehanna River and moved south into Maryland. In the late 1680s, a group of Susquehannock and Seneca established a settlement on the Conestoga River in present-day Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

While there are many Indigenous people alive today of Susquehannock ancestry, including citizens of the Seneca–Cayuga Nation in Oklahoma and the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Ontario, the Susquehannock as a distinct cultural group are considered to have disappeared.

Language

The Susquehannock spoke an Iroquoian language. Not much of this language has been saved. Most of what we know comes from a list of about 100 words written by a Swedish missionary named Johannes Campanius in the 1640s. This shows that the Susquehannock language was closely related to the languages of groups like the Onondaga. The language is no longer spoken today.

Names

When European settlers came to the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America, they used names that coastal Algonquian-speaking peoples had for tribes living farther inland. These names were changed to fit European languages and spelling.

• The Wendat, an Iroquoian-speaking people, called them Andastoerrhonon, meaning "people of the blackened ridge pole." The French called them Andaste, and later Gandastogues.
• The Lenape, an Algonquian-speaking group, called them Menkwe. From this, Dutch and Swedish settlers used the name Minqua.
• Algonquian speakers in coastal Virginia and Maryland called them Sasquesahanough, meaning "people of the muddy river." English settlers in Maryland and Virginia called them the Susquehannock.
• In the 1700s, British settlers in Pennsylvania used the name Conestoga, after a settlement on the Conestoga River around 1690. The name might come from the Mohawk word tekanastoge, meaning "place of the upright pole."

History

Protohistory

In the late 1400s and early 1500s, the Susquehannock lived in small villages along the North Branch of the Susquehanna River in what is now Bradford County, Pennsylvania, and Tioga County, New York. They were part of the Northern Iroquoian people and developed their own distinct culture and language by 1500.

Around the mid-1500s, they began moving toward the Chesapeake Bay. This move may have been due to conflicts with other groups, changes in the climate, or a desire for better trade opportunities. They joined with the Shenks Ferry people in the lower Susquehanna River valley and built a fortified village in today’s Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This village, found through archaeology, had at least 26 large houses. It was later abandoned around 1600 because of overcrowding and lack of resources. They then built an even larger fortified town near present-day Washington Boro, which could hold around 1,700 people.

Smaller Susquehannock sites have also been found in the upper Potomac River valley in Maryland and West Virginia from about 1590 to 1610. Evidence also shows they had a fortified settlement 30 miles upstream from Washington Boro in Cumberland County between 1610 and 1620.

European contact

The Susquehannock first met Europeans in 1608 when English explorer John Smith visited them at the mouth of the Susquehanna River. Smith described them as strong warriors who could field nearly 600 men and were protected by wooden walls around their towns.

In the 1620s, the Susquehannock became active in the fur trade. Their location along the Susquehanna River allowed them to trade with English settlers on the Chesapeake, as well as Dutch and Swedish traders on Delaware Bay. They traded furs, mostly beaver, for items like cloth, glass beads, metal pots, and tools. By the 1630s, they also began to receive muskets.

In 1626, some Susquehannock traveled to New Amsterdam to trade with the Dutch. Because of attacks by the Susquehannock, the Lenape people on the Delaware River could not supply furs, so the Dutch set up Fort Nassau on the Delaware River in 1627.

To reach Dutch traders, the Susquehannock had to travel through Lenape lands. By 1638, after conflicts, the Lenape and Susquehannock made peace, allowing the Susquehannock access to trading posts on the Delaware.

Trading with English settlers grew after merchant William Claiborne began trading with them around 1630. Claiborne set up a settlement on Kent Island in 1631 and later a post on Palmer’s Island near the Susquehanna River.

Relations with the English worsened after the Province of Maryland was founded in 1634. Maryland allied with the Piscataway, who were often attacked by the Susquehannock. Claiborne’s trading partnership with the Susquehannock ended when Maryland took control of Kent Island in 1637 after Claiborne returned to England.

The Susquehannock then traded with the new colony of New Sweden on Delaware Bay. Swedish settlers built Fort Christina in 1638, giving them an edge in trading with the Susquehannock.

After a raid on a Jesuit mission in 1641, Maryland’s leader called the Susquehannock enemies. Several attempts were made to attack them, but it wasn’t until 1643 that a failed attack was launched. The Susquehannock fought back hard, causing many losses and capturing two cannons. Fifteen prisoners were taken and treated harshly.

Alliance with Maryland, 1651–1674

Raids on Maryland and the Piscataway continued until 1652. That winter, the Susquehannock were attacked by the Mohawk but defended themselves. This led to a peace agreement with Maryland, where the Susquehannock gave up claims to land around the Chesapeake Bay and resumed trading with the English.

In 1660, the Susquehannock helped end a conflict between the Esopus and the Dutch.

An attack on the Piscataway by the Oneida in 1660 led Maryland to form an alliance with the Susquehannock. Maryland promised military help and sent 50 men to support the Susquehannock. They received muskets, lead, and powder from both Maryland and New Netherland. Even after a smallpox outbreak in 1661, the Susquehannock successfully defended their village against a large attack in 1663 and defeated another raiding party in 1666.

The Susquehannock moved their village to the west side of the Susquehanna River around 1665. Their new town appeared on a 1670 map by Augustin Herrman of Virginia and Maryland. Reports from 1671 said the Susquehannock had 300 warriors and defeated a raiding party from the Seneca and Cayuga.

Diaspora

By the 1670s, diseases and long years of war with the Haudenosaunee had weakened the Susquehannock. In 1675, they left their village on the Susquehanna River and moved south into Maryland.

Two reasons are suggested for this move. Most historians think the Haudenosaunee defeated the Susquehannock around 1674. Historian Francis Jennings argued that Maryland pressured the Susquehannock to move. He believed the Haudenosaunee couldn’t attack in 1674 because of a lack of supplies from France.

Although Maryland’s leader wanted the Susquehannock to settle on the Potomac River, they chose a site on Piscataway Creek and built a fortified town. In July 1675, Virginians chasing raiders mistakenly killed several Susquehannock. More raids in Virginia and Maryland were blamed on them. In September 1675, a large force from Virginia and Maryland attacked the Susquehannock. After a six-week siege, the Susquehannock escaped at night, killing some of their attackers.

Most Susquehannock fled across the Potomac into Virginia and joined the Occaneechi people near the Roanoke River. In early 1676, the Susquehannock raided settlements along the Rappahannock River and James River. In response, a militia leader named Nathaniel Bacon attacked them with help from the Occaneechi. After capturing prisoners, Bacon attacked and killed many Occaneechi people.

The surviving Susquehannock moved further downriver and may have joined the Meherrin people.

Others fled to hunting camps on the North Branch of the Potomac or stayed with the Lenape. Some returned to the lower Susquehannock River valley in 1676 and rebuilt a fortified village.

In March 1677, Susquehannock staying with the Lenape were allowed to join the Haudenosaunee. While 26 families stayed with the Lenape, others joined the Cayuga, Oneida, and Onondaga. By around 1680, the remaining people also joined the Haudenosaunee.

Conestoga Town

In the late 1680s, some Susquehannock and Seneca people founded a village near the Conestoga River in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, becoming known as the Conestoga. They were later joined by Oneida and Cayuga families. In 1700, William Penn visited them and obtained a deed for their land in the Susquehanna River watershed. In return, a piece of land in Manor Township was set aside for them, confirmed by treaty in 1701.

For decades, Conestoga Town was an important trading place and meeting point for talks between Pennsylvania and Indigenous groups. However, its importance faded as trade and settlement moved westward. The population declined due to people leaving, and the remaining Conestoga grew poorer and relied on help from the Pennsylvania government. By the 1740s, Seneca became the main language, with only a few Conestoga still speaking their old language.

The Conestoga stayed neutral during the Seven Years' War and Pontiac's War. They made brooms and baskets, fished, and tended their gardens. By 1763, only seven men, five women, and eight children lived in Conestoga Town.

In December 1763, a group known as the Paxton Boys, upset by raids during Pontiac's War, attacked Conestoga Town thinking the people there were helping the raiders. They killed the six Conestoga they found and burned the village. Fourteen Conestoga who were away were given shelter in the Lancaster workhouse, but two weeks later the Paxton Boys broke in and killed the remaining Conestoga, including women and children.

Two survivors, a couple named Michael and Mary, escaped because they were living on a farm near Manheim. Their burial place is recorded.

In 1768, Pennsylvania’s leader paid the Haudenosaunee for the land where Conestoga Town once stood. In 1775, relatives of a Conestoga leader received more payment.

19th century

In 1845, six Conestoga descendants living among the Oneida in New York asked Peter Doxtater to seek compensation for land that belonged to their ancestors in Lancaster County. Doxtater later handed the efforts to an attorney named Christian Shenk.

A property record from 1869 shows Doxtater left 200 acres in Lancaster County to Huldah Hall, a teacher among the Oneida. Hall supported the Conestoga descendants and may have been involved in a 1872 request from the United States Congress. This request, introduced by a New York representative, would have recognized the remaining “Conestoga Indians” and returned their land. The request did not pass.

20th century

In 1941, a bill was introduced in the Pennsylvania legislature to create a reservation for the Susquehannock in Dauphin County. This was requested by someone called “Chief Fireway,” who claimed to be the last chief of 85–100 Susquehannock in Pennsylvania. The bill would have allowed tribal members to lease land cheaply and build a community. The bill passed but was rejected by the governor. Advisors told him the last Susquehannock had died in the 1763 attacks.

21st century

The Conestoga-Susquehannock Tribe, a group in Pennsylvania that says it is a tribe, allows membership to those who can show they are descended from known Susquehannock people or the land claimants from 1845, such as descendants of Skenandoa, a Oneida leader during the Revolutionary War. This group is not recognized by the federal government or the state.

People with Susquehannock ancestors “may be included among today’s Seneca–Cayuga Nation” and other recognized Haudenosaunee nations in Canada and the United States.

Culture

Little is known about the Susquehannock because they lived far from European settlers. We believe their way of life was similar to other groups of Northern Iroquoian people. They lived in villages with strong walls made of wooden posts, surrounded by fields where they grew food.

The Susquehannock built big homes called longhouses, where many families lived together. These homes could be up to 80 feet long and held about 60 people. They grew maize, beans, and squash, which they called the Three Sisters. These crops were planted together in a special way to help them grow better. They also ate deer, fish, turkey, and other local plants and animals.

Women made pots from clay for cooking, and these pots changed styles over time. Men hunted, traded, and built special structures to catch fish. They used paths to travel and canoes to cross the river. When people died, they were buried outside the village walls with items like beads, pipes, and pots. Tobacco was important to them and often placed with the dead in graves.

Legacy

Many places are named after the Susquehannock people. These include:

• Susquehannock State Park in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
• Susquehannock High School in York County, Pennsylvania
• Susquehannock State Forest in Potter County, Pennsylvania
• The Susquehannock Camps in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

A book called Jacob My Friend: His 17th Century Account of the Susquehannock Indians by Barry Kent tells the story of a Dutch fur-trader who married a Susquehannock woman. There is also a project called Ghost River that learns more about a sad event from 1763 and shares stories about the Susquehannock people.