Whatever may have been the means used by those interested in the fee
simple of these lands to obtain the assent of Indians, it appears from
the disinterested and important testimony of the commissioner appointed
by the State of Massachusetts that the agent of the Government acted
throughout with the utmost fairness, and General Dearborn declares
himself to be perfectly satisfied that were it not for the unremitted
and disingenuous exertions of a certain number of white men who are
actuated by their private interests, to induce the chiefs not to assent
to the treaty, it would immediately have been approved by an immense
majority--an opinion which he reiterated at Cattaraugus. Statements were
presented to the Secretary of War at Cattaraugus to show that a vast
majority of the New York Indians were adverse to the treaty, but no
reasonable doubt exists that the same influence which obtained this
expression of opinion would, if exerted with equal zeal on the other
side, have produced a directly opposite effect and shown a large
majority in favor of emigration.
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