Great Leader: John Deseronto of the Mohawk

Joseph Brant wasn't the only well-known Mohawk leader of his time.  He had to share that honor with another warrior, John Deseronto (c 1740-1811).  Deseronto, which he used as a last name, sometimes spelled Deserontyon, is likely the English corruption of his Native name Odeserundiye.

John Deseronto was born in the Mohawk Valley.  Like many of his tribe, he had attended school and received a White education, learning English and becoming familiar with European-American customs.  He was active in the French and Indian War and Pontiac's Rebellion, leading Mohawk warriors on behalf of the British.  Like the Brants, whom he would have known well, he was an ally of Sir William Johnson, whom we've discussed in a prior post.  When the American Revolution started, Deseronto was an established Mohawk leader, living near present-day Fort Hunter, he had a house and a prosperous farm.  He chose to side again with the British and the Loyalist Johnson family.  When Guy Johnson, one of Sir William's sons, left for Canada, Deseronto accompanied him and offered his services to the British.  Later, he would help Sir John Johnson, William's successor as British Indian Agent, to escape from New York to Montreal.

Like many famous leaders of this period, he was present at the Battle of Oriskany.  in the windup to the battle, July, 1777, he attacked a Patriot work detail as it was cutting wood near Fort Stanwix.  From information collected from prisoners, he passed on the information that the Fort was not strongly garrisoned.  After the Battle, British General Barry St. Leger hurriedly retreated and left behind in his tent a table set for dinner.  Deseronto sat down and helped himself.  A Patriot scout came upon him and shot him with a buck and ball load in the left chest and arm.  He would recover, but nearly lost his arm.  Discerning that the British might not be able to keep New York intact, he returned to Fort Hunter, and began to prepare his people for a mass departure to Canada.  Their departure was hastened by hearing of the destruction of Canajoharie (Upper Castle), by Patriot forces.  With over 150 people looking to him and his warriors for protection, Deseronto hurried to the safety of the British lines, having to fight through a Continental regiment to get there.  During that skirmish, he was wounded again.  They settled near Montreal to wait out the War.

He recovered and served under Sir John Johnson and other Loyalist commanders, raiding again and again in the Mohawk Valley to drive the Patriot settlers away, but with little success.  After the War, he and Brant along with other Mohawk and Iroquois leaders met with Frederick Haldimand, Governor of Canada, to discuss the loss of their land in New York.  Haldimand suggested that the Mohawk settle near the Bay of Quinte.  Deseronto agreed and Haldimand purchasd this land, granting it to the Mohawk.  Deseronto and his followers, mostly from the Lower Castle area around Fort Hunter, settled in.  Brant had his eye on the Grand River, which reminded him of the Mohawk River they had lost.  Haldimand eventually purchased and granted that land, which became the Grand River Reserve.  Although there may have been some friction between the two men, Deseronto's grant on the Bay of Quinte became the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.  Tyendinaga was a variant spelling of Brant's name, Theyandenagea.   In 1797, Deseronto and Brant went to New York to meet with state leaders about ceding the Mohawk rights to their traditional homeland in return for money.  The Treaty was never ratified, partly because the federal government had disallowed states to make individual treaties with Natives.  The Mohawk were never compensation for this land. 

Deseronto became a successful farmer and trader.  He either owned or had interest in a trading post at Fort Detroit, in what is now Michigan.  There he would develop a friendship with John Norton, a young mixed-race Cherokee who eventually moved into Brant's orbit, though Norton and Deseronto remained on good terms.  Deseronto died on his farm in 1811.  The town of Deseronto, Ontario, developed on land personally granted to him and bequeathed at his death to his grandson, is named for John Deseronto.