Henry Knox to Tobias Lear, 11 February 1793
Henry Knox to Tobias Lear
[Philadelphia] Monday 11 Feby 1793
Dear Sir
Colonel Louis of the Cagnahwagnas has come to town, he says with some information from Canada, which he is to let me know today.1 Shall I ask him to dine with the senecas, at the Presidents to day?2 Yours
H. Knox
I have just recd yours, and the speech shall be submitted.3
ALS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW.
1. For the information provided by Louis Cook, see Knox to Lear, 14 Feb., n.1. While in Philadelphia, Cook also solicited payment for his past work on behalf of the United States (Knox to GW, 19 Feb. 1793).
2. GW’s dinner guests on this date included Knox, Cook, Arthur St. Clair, Rufus Putnam, Timothy Pickering, Stockbridge chief Hendrick Aupaumut, and representatives of the Iroquois who promised that their chiefs would attend the planned treaty at Lower Sandusky, where American officials hoped they would help mediate a peace between the United States and Indians in the Northwest Territory ( 49–50). Cook and Pickering decided to meet again in order to discuss Indian relations at length (Knox to Lear, 14 Feb. 1793, n.1).
3. Lear’s letter to Knox has not been identified. Knox is probably referring to recent speeches by the Wabash and Illinois Indians (see Speeches of the Wabash and Illinois Indians, 1–4 Feb. 1793; ibid., 40–43). According to GW’s executive journal, the original minutes of these speeches were sent to Knox on Friday, 8 Feb., for deposit in the War Department’s archives. On that same date GW also requested a copy for his own use (ibid., 45).