Coming of the Mohawks National Historic Event
Deseronto, Ontario
View of HSMBC plaque
© Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada, 1989
Address :
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Indian Reserve, Deseronto, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1929-05-17
Other Name(s):
-
Coming of the Mohawks
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Mohawks loyal to the Crown left New York state in 1777, settled in Quinte area
Plaque(s)
Approved Inscription:
Leaving their lands in northern New York in 1777, a band of loyal Mohawks joined the British at Montréal. Despite their service during the next four years, the Mohawk interests were ignored in the peace negotiations that followed the American Revolutionary War. Unable to return to the Mohawk Valley, they reminded British authorities that they had been promised compensation and were granted land on the Bay of Quinte. One of Joseph Brant's lieutenants, John Deserontyon, and 100 of his followers settled the tract in 1784. The descendants of these Mohawk Loyalists still inhabit a section of the original land grant.
Existing plaque: 1929 3/4 mi. west of Deseronto Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Indian Reserve, Ontario
Commemorating the arrival here on 22nd May, 1784, under the leadership of Chiefs John Deserontyou, Aaron Hill, and Isaac Hill, of a band of loyal Mohawks, one of the Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, expelled from their homes in the Mohawk Valley, for their fidelity to the unity of the Empire.