The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-25

but his influence was strong in the west
and in the south. Regularly he held
councils at Mount Johnson or at John
son Hall, which were attended by chiefs
from all the tribes in the cOnfederacy
and once he held a council at which
chiefs from all the tribes east of the
Mississippi were present, except the
Creeks, CherOkees and KickapOos. Molly
Brant presided at his table just as if she
were his wife, and he was as proud OF
the eight children she bore him as he
was of the three his lawful wife gave
birth to. and his son, Sir John, was as
proud of his half-breed brothers and
sisters as he was Of his white sisters.
From the squaIor Of an Indian vii
lage to this, the finest home in Amer
lea, went Joseph Brant. At the time
Molly Brant became Sir William
housekeeper the boy was about u years
old. One of the first things Sir William
Gid for the Indian lad was to have made
for him a warriors outfit, with a small
musket, a small tOmahawk and a small
hunting knife When Sir William, al
the head of 1000 IrOquOis, took part in
the battle of Lake George in 1855, JO-
seph Brant, then IS years old, was one
of his force. From behind a tree the
little Indian boy blazed away with his
tiny mUsket at the French. and there
he got his first lesson in warfare. In
the battle Of Fort Niagara, four years
later, Braat. although only II years
old, served as lieutenant in the Cana
jOharie company of MohaWks. He was
getting on as a warrior.
Sir Williams plan for knitting closer
the bonds between the whites and the
Indians took all sorts of forms. To i'm
prove the grade of cattle in the Mohawk
valley he brought over from England
the finest of blOOded bulls. To improve
the breed OF horses he brought over
thoroughbred stations. Indians were
charged nothing for the services of the
bulls and the stations TO their cows
and mares. At Mount Johnson he held
races regularly, and the settlers and the
abOTigines for scores Of miles around
flocked to see the sport. He was a great
patron of boxing, too, and had contests
at intervals. There were shooting
matches, too, for prizes given by Sir
William, for the baronet wanted to i'm
prove the craftsmanship Of his wards.
It is a queer fact that today almost on
the same ground that Sir William john
son held his horse races, his boxing
contests and his shooting matches, $50
years ago, Senator stephen Sanford and
his son, former Representative John
Sanford, have the great Hurricane stud
farm and hold private race meetings,
to which they invite the people for many
miles around. The Sanfords are like the
feudal lords today in the. city Of AM
sterdam, just as the JOhnsOns were in
the eighteenth century times. And the
Sanfords, with a fine loyalty to the
historic character Of their farm, name
their horses for the Indians and for the
men of the pre-revolutiOnary times or
G. r-Ar- nv - Ind
The queen Of the harem in the stud
farm today is that great race mare
Molly Brant. and one Of the best rep
resentatives of the farm in active train
ing is Sir John Johnson. In the San
ford's home are the multitudes of tro-
phies won by the champions of other
campaigns - Chuctanunda, Caughna-
wanga, Mohawk, etc.
Johnson's Death.
But while Sir William johnson i'm
proved the Indians breed of live stock
and appealed to his love Of sport he did
not neglect his mental and social con-
dition. To improve the Indian youth he
selected a number of Mohawk boys and
sent them to the Mount Lebanon (COnn)
academy, which was under the direction
of Or. Eleazer Wheelock, afterward
president OL lJc1L llAlUuLlA COAAN5Ns WHICH
the academy subsequently, became. Jo-
seDb Brant was one of the boys sent
to the academy by Sir William, . and
he never selected a better pupil. The
two years that young Brant spent at
the academy were utilized by him to the
fullest degree, and when he left there
he was a pretty good English scholar.
He married the daughter Of an Oneida
chief and made his home in CanajOharie,
but gave a good deal Of his time to Sir
William and practically later on became
the baronet's secretary.
Sir William had the finest library IN
America and had a standing order with
the leading bookseller of London to for
ward everything new that was worth
reading. With the run Of the library
Brant INDUCED to the fullest his love
for reading. He read biographical and
philosophical works. history and ro-
nance. but was particularly interested
i'm the study of music and religion. He
read everything he could get relating
to music and he was a fine Biblical
scholar.
On June II, IVA, Sir William Johnson
died. His death was dramatic in the
extreme He had been addressing a
gathering of zoe Indian chiefs, who had
come to invoke his influence to prevent
the invasion of the Indian country on
the Ohio river by the Virginia and
PENNSYLVANIA frontieTsmen, and was
stricken by apoplexy. As he was car
ried into johnson hall his last words
were to Joseph Brant. They were:
Joseph. control your people-oontrol
your people! I am going away!
Brant in England.
CT vv71iar7,,e death created a Dro-
found impression upon the Indians
t,rouebout the land. The Iroquois Con-
federacv. embracing the Mohawk, SEN
eca. Cayuga, OnOndaga- Oneida and
Tuscarora nations. had been without a
supreme chief for twenty years but
accepting the baronets dying words as
a. command. Joseph Brant was chosen