2006-03
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/28/2006
HARRIS, John (1726-1791) Indian trader who gained the respect of the local Pennsylvania tribes for his fair dealings. Autograph Letter Signed, "John Harris" 1p. folio, Paxton, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1757, with integral address to Major James Burd at Fort Augusta [forks of the Susquehanna, Pennsylvania] , it reads in part: "… there is actually arrived at Ft. Cumberl[an]d 126 Cutawboo [Catawba] warriors and 50 or 60 other Indians & a number more expected who seems hearty in our Cause. I expect theyl pay our Cruel Enemys in their own Coin this Summer …" About VG with archival restoration. Written within a few weeks after Harris held a conference at his trading post with delegates from the Six Nations. Unfortunately for the English and Harris the "Cruel Enemys" won another French Victory that summer. On August 8, 1757 the commander-in-chief of the French forces, Louis-Joseph de Montcalm takes Fort William Henry. The infamous massacre occurs, later dramatized in James Fennimore Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans.
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