Cornplanter

Common card · No. 357763

John Abeel III (c. 1752–February 18, 1836) known as Gayë́twageh in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplanter, was a Seneca war leader and diplomat. As a war leader, Cornplanter fought in the American Revolutionary War on the side of the British. After the war Cornplanter led negotiations with the United States and was a signatory of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784), the Treaty of Canandaigua (1794), and other treaties. He helped ensure Seneca neutrality during the Northwest Indian War. In the postwar years, Cornplanter endeavoured to learn more about European-American culture and invited Quakers to establish schools in Seneca territory. After the War of 1812 he became disillusioned by his people's poor reaction to European-American society. He had the schools closed and embraced his half-brother Handsome Lake's movement to return to traditional Seneca ways and religion. The United States government granted him about 1500 acres of former Seneca territory in Pennsylvania...

Read on Wikipedia · Image F. Bartoli, Public domain