The claim of a treaty between the Iroquois and the Dutch in 1613 is unjustified ("Honoring a neglected pact," July 27).
Professor Jon Parmenter is wrong. There did not have to be a treaty with the Iroquois by 1614 in order to build Fort Nassau on the Hudson River, because that was Mahican territory and the Iroquois had no claims there.
Not only was there no treaty with the Iroquois at this time, but the Dutch military at Fort Orange in 1626 joined the Mahicans in an offensive against the nearest Iroquois — the Mohawks.
That ended badly, the commander and several soldiers were killed.
Negotiations were opened thereafter, not with the entire Confederacy but with the Mohawk nation alone, which led to a treaty of friendship.
In 1634-35, three employees of the West India Co. ventured into Mohawk and Oneida territory, but there is no evidence of contact with leaders of the three western members of the Confederacy at either Onondaga or Albany until much later.
Onondaga spokesman Jake Edwards wants there to have been a treaty in 1613, and he wants it to have said something about respecting nature, But that is wishful thinking.
The best we can hope for is that the people who floated down the Hudson River as part of the Two Row Wampum flotilla had a good time, and this fairy tale is tucked away for a good long while.
Peter R. Christoph
Editor
New York Historical
Manuscripts Project
Selkirk