One of the earliest written references to the Seven Nations was made in the mid-18th century. In 1755, Seven Nations fighters and their French allies had prepared an ambush for the British army on the portage between Lake George and the Hudson River. One of the Mohawk from Kahnawake saw that Mohawk were marching with the British. He told them to identify themselves; they replied, they were "Mohawks and Five Nations" (the traditional name for the Iroquois Confederacy). Questioned in turn, the Mohawk with the French said, "e are the 7 confederate Indian Nations of Canada." This exchange was recorded in a memoranda book by Daniel Claus, who was working as an Indian Agent for William Johnson.