He knew that according to the legend the league had been formed by Hiawatha, an Onondaga.

He was opposed in this plan by Tododaho, then head chief of the Onondagas, but he went to the Mohawks and gained the support of their great chief, Dekanawidah.

With his aid the league was formed, and the solemn agreement, never broken, was made at the Onondaga Lake.

Now they were a perfect little state, with fifty chiefs, or, including the head chiefs, fifty-six.
Some of these details Henry was to learn later.

He was also to learn many of the words that the chiefs said through a source of which he little dreamed at the present.