Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Onondaga and Cayuga Sachems "Proposition or oration of the Onnondages & Cayouges Sachims made in the . . .

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC03107.01935 Author/Creator: Onondaga and Cayuga Sachems Place Written: Albany, New York Type: Manuscript document Date: 1684/08/02 Pagination: 2p. + docket 32.7 x 20.6 cm Order a Copy

. . . Town hall of Albany before the Right hon[or]able the Lord Effingham Govenor of Virginia and Coll. Thomas Dongan Gov[ernor] of New York" In their proposition, the Indians state that since the English now exceed the Indians in number, the English should protect them from French. They go on to express their sense of unity with the English, and their desire to give their land to whichever Sachim they please.

Dongan, Thomas, 1634-1715
Howard, Francis, 1643-1695

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