HOLLAND PURCHASE

Years after the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign, the Seneca sold their remaining Western lands to the land-speculating Robert Morris, former “financier of the American Revolution”. By 1797, Morris was badly in debt and facing debtor’s prison. He had already bought, then sold off the “preemption rights” to these lands to the Holland Land Company, a Dutch syndicate. To get paid by the Dutch, Morris had to first purchase the lands from the Seneca and thereby extinguish their titles. This was achieved via The Big Tree Treaty of 1797 on the Genesee River.