The Esopus Indian Nation’s Revolutionary War Experience

Editor's Note: This series of blog posts recounts the dramatic story of the Esopus Indian Nation’s Revolutionary War exodus. The original inhabitants of Ulster County, the Esopus Indians successfully maintained their sovereignty and traditional way of life in the face of overwhelming odds for over a century. These blog posts are summaries of a much fuller story that will be published in 2027.

Map: Sauthier, Claude Joseph (1776) "A map of the Province of New-York" Library of Congress Geography and Map Division G3800 1776 .S3 Medal: 1766 Peace Medal, American Numismatic Society Raymond.1925.929; Fuld,Tayman.HWU12; Stahl.Scully.28

Part 4. Destruction: Autumn 1778

Over the latter half of 1778, it became abundantly clear that peace in Ulster County was no longer possible. On September 6th, 1778 – the same day that Esopus Indian war captains Benjamin Shanks and John Runnupe sent their letter of grievance and threat of retaliation to the militia officers in Marbletown – Colonel Johannes Cantine received a letter from Governor Clinton, who informed him that he was “…fully convinced that we are not to have Peace on our Frontier, untill the Straggling Indians & Tories who infest it are exterminated or drove back & their Settlements destroyed. If, therefore, you can destroy the Settlement of [Onaquaga] it will in my Oppinion be a good Piece of Service.”[1] A few days later, a group of two dozen militiamen stumbled upon the Esopus warriors’ encampment on the East Branch of the Delaware near present-day Downsville.

The warriors, who knew of the militia’s approach, ambushed them; the two sides fought in a dense hemlock forest on a nearby mountainside until nightfall, when both sides retreated, leaving four or five dead on each side. The most detailed account of this battle was recorded from militia participants decades after the war ended. They assumed that their professed superior fighting prowess meant that the Esopus warriors had lost even more men but had removed the bodies from view. (This was most certainly not the case).[2] By the end of the month, Governor Clinton had planned an invasion for the other side of the Catskills, with the express aim of sending militiamen and Continental Army soldiers to destroy the villages of the Esopus Indians on the West Branch of the Delaware as well as Joseph Brant’s base at the nearby large mixed town of Onaquaga.[3]

That October, a large Rebel invasion force set out from the Schoharie Valley and headed towards the upper Susquehanna. Under Lieut. Col. William Butler (not to be confused with prominent Loyalist John Butler), this force destroyed the mixed Native towns of Onaquaga and Unadilla as well as the farms of outlying Loyalist settlers.[4] They did so with little opposition, for the warriors and Loyalist volunteers under Joseph Brant were absent, raiding Rebel farms in the Delaware Valley. Fortunately, the inhabitants of Onaquaga and Unadilla knew that the Rebel forces were coming, and most of the non-combattants were able to safely evacuate a few hours beforehand. Tragically, a number of Indian children, hiding in a cornfield, were discovered and were murdered by the Rebels with bayonets.[5] Now, nearly all the farms and settlements in the Western Catskills and upper Susquehanna – Native and European – had been destroyed.
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The close proximity of the now-destroyed Loyalist Mohican settlements at Unadilla to the Esopus Indian settlements on the West Branch of the Delaware, combined with the destruction on the East Branch, meant that the Esopus Indians were surrounded by destruction on all sides. Those Esopus families who had moved to Onaquaga for safety in the previous year were also now homeless. With the loss of their prime agricultural lands on the East Branch of the Delaware and the loss of Onaquaga as a secure base of operations, they could no longer remain on the Catskill Mountain frontier. The Esopus Indians subsequently moved their women and children further westward for safety to the towns of Otsiningo and Chughnut, where many Esopus Indians already lived (near Binghamton, NY).[6] They had been forced out of what remained of their ancestral territory.
                                                        To Be Continued…

Citations:
[1] Ibid, Vol. III: 250-251.
[2] Munsell & Co., History of Delaware County, N. Y. 135
[3] Ibid., Vol. IV. 114-115.
[4] Montgomery, Thomas Lynch, ed. Pennsylvania Archives, Fifth Series, Vol. II. Harrisburg, PA: Harisburg Publishing Company, 1906. 1026-1029
[5] Preston, Samuel. "Journey to Harmony" in Patricia H. Christian, ed., Samuel Preston, 1789-1989. Equinunk, PA: Equinunk Historical Society, 1989. 100-101.
[6] Public Papers of George Clinton, Vol IV. Albany, NY: 1900. 412-414

Author

Author Justin Wexler is an ethnoecologist who has spent the last 25 years conducting archival and ethnographic research to better understand the history, culture, and land management practices of the Native Peoples of the Hudson and Delaware Valleys. He has a BA in History and Anthropology from Marlboro College and an MA in Teaching History from Bard College. He and his wife Anna Plattner run Wild Hudson Valley, a forest farm and educational organization focused on Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountain history, ecology, wild foods, and land stewardship practices.

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