Historical Facts

Gen. Nicholas Herkimer invites Chief Joseph Brant to meet at the cross roads village of Unadilla, presumably trying to resolve land issues. Brant does not consider Herkimer qualified to negotiate. Raids and counter raids continue. Joseph Brant ranked among Britain's best commanders during the American War for Independence. He was an educated Christian and Freemason who studied directly with Eleazer Wheelock at Moor's Indian Charity School, the parent institution of Dartmouth College. His older sister Mary was founding father Sir William Johnson's common-law wife and played a significant role in colonial and revolutionary Indian affairs. At the close of the war, the Brants and their Iroquois followers left the United States for Canada, where they found land and safety with their British allies.