The New York Genesee Land Company, led by John Livingston, was one of the competitors to acquire title to these lands. He gathered several of the chiefs together at Geneva. To circumvent New York state law that only permitted the state to buy land from the natives, he negotiated a lease for a term of 999 years for all the Iroquois lands of Western New York. This included a down payment of $20,000 and an annual payment of $200 to their heirs. But when New York state learned of his agreement, it advised all parties including the natives that the lease had no standing in either Massachusetts or New York. Phelps eliminated many of his competitors by persuading them to join his syndicate. Phelps and Gorham retained 82 shares for themselves, sold 15 shares to the Niagara Genesee Land Company, and divided another 23 shares among 21 persons. The Oneida were split by internal divisions over whether they should give up their title.
Missionary influence Phelps was aided by
Samuel Kirkland, a Presbyterian minister and
missionary among the Oneida. Kirkland had been appointed by the state of Massachusetts to oversee the transaction. Kirkland had previously taken part in six prior illegal land treaties made by individual states with the Indians, in violation of federal authority over Indian affairs. Only the US government had the authority to make treaties with the Native American nations. Kirkland encouraged the Oneida and other Iroquois to sell their land to the whites in part because he was convinced that they "would never become farmers unless forced to by the loss of land for hunting." Phelps and Gorham wanted to buy , but the Iroquois refused to sell it all.
Mill Yard Tract Phelps suggested that the Iroquois could use a grist mill to grind their maize which would relieve the women of the grinding work. The Indians asked how much land was needed for a grist mill, and Phelps suggested a huge section of land, , west of the
Genesee River. west of the Genesee River, much larger than actually required, extending west from the river , running south from
Lake Ontario approximately , and totaling about . The section stretches from near the present-day town of
Avon north to the community of
Charlotte at
Lake Ontario and encompasses
Rochester. The Iroquois agreed. After acquiring the parcel, Phelps and Gorham gave at the high falls of the Genesee River to
Ebenezer "Indian" Allen, on the condition that he build the grist mill and sawmill. The grist mill was distant from potential customers—only about 25 families lived on the west bank at the time—and there were no roads going to it from the few nearby farms on the west bank of the river. It never prospered. Allen's tract became the nucleus of modern
Rochester, New York. The section of land on the west bank of the Genesee River became known as the Mill Yard Tract.
Purchase agreement In return for title to , Phelps and his company paid the Indians $5,000 cash and promised an annual annuity of $500 to their heirs forever. The agreement included approximately the eastern third of the territory ceded to Massachusetts by the Treaty of Hartford, from the
Genesee River in the west to the
Preemption Line in the east, which was the boundary that had been set between the lands awarded to Massachusetts and those awarded to New York State by the Treaty of Hartford. Boundaries established by Phelps' agreement were reaffirmed between the United States and the
Six Nations by Article 3 of the
Treaty of Canandaigua in 1794. The scrip's low value substantially reduced Massachusetts' proceeds from the sale.
Area boundaries . After the Revolutionary War ended, the Iroquois chiefs had been assured by the US government in the 1784
Fort Stanwix treaty that their lands would remain theirs unless the Indians made new cessions—as a result of regular councils duly convened and conducted according to tribal custom. Maxwell and his assistants started a preliminary survey on June 13, 1788, from the 82-mile stone on the Pennsylvania Line. The trial survey reached Seneca Lake. The actual survey was started on July 25, 1788, and when the surveyors reached the area of Kandesaga, the line was fixed west of Seneca Lake and Kandesaga, which survived as a key town in the region. Oliver Phelps was extremely upset when he learned that the survey did not include Seneca Lake or the Indian village. He wrote a letter to Col. William Walker, the local agent responsible for the survey, and requested that they survey be redone in that area. For unknown reasons, it was not completed. and another in
Canandaigua. During the next two years, they sold at a higher price to a number of buyers. People arrived from New England, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and from across the Atlantic, from England and Scotland. Settlers also included veterans who had fought under General Sullivan. There was considerable land hunger among people in New England, who had been crowded for some time. == Financial difficulties ==