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J^i'storg terself, a0 seen I'n f^n oton toorksfjop."

THE LOCATION OF SUSQUEHANNOCK FORT. MINUTES OF MARCH MEETING.

VOL. XIV. NO. 3.

PRICE TWENTY-FIVE CENTS PER COPY.

LANCASTER, PA. 1910.

The Location of Susquehannock Fort 18

By D. H. Landis

Minutes of the March Meeting - - - - - -117

THE LOCATION OF SUSQUE- HANNOCK FORT,

It is no exaggeration to state that there was no point within the present bounds of Pennsylvania before Penn's arrival of equal importance to that ol Susquehannock Fort, and yet for al- most two centuries its location has been a mooted question. Among the other confusions concerning it have been that it was confused with what were more recently known as the frontier forts, forts which had been built along the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania by Europeans, the first of which were built about (1) 1723.

Susquehannock Fort was a fortified Indian village of the tribe of Indians which were in possession of a large portion of the eastern section of Pennsylvania. They were known by the English as Susquehannocks, by the Dutch and Swedes as ^Minquas, by (2) the French Canadians as An- dastas or Gandastogues. That tribe was in possession of this territory when Captain John Smith explored the Chesapeake Bay in 1606, and they remained in possession of it until 1675, when they were conquered by the Senecas, a tribe of the Iroquois or Five Nations of New York, who, after that period, claimed this terri- tory,taking the greater portion of what remained of the Susquehannocks cap- tive, and, as was the Iroquois custom,

1 — Col. Records, Vol. 3, p. 27i. 2— Md. Hist. Soc. Fund Pub. No. 15, p. 117; note 46.

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divided them among several of their towns in what is now New Yorlc State, giving them Iroquois wives and virtually making them Iroquois. Some Susquehannocks and Senecas remain- ed here, consisting of about forty ablecbodied men and some women and children. These were compelled to pay tribute to the Iroquois, and, al- though after Penn's arrival they were still known as Susquehannocks, they were afterwards knowm by Penn's subjects as Conestogas.

Captain Smith states that in 1606 the Susquehannocks had about 600 warriors, and they had fully that number up to about 1650. Smith states they have (not their town), but their towns fortified against the Mo- hawks, another tribe of the Iroquois, with whom they were then at war. This shows that they had a number of forts or fortified towns along the Susquehanna Valley during that per- iod,just as the Mohawks also had along the Mohawk valley, but soon after 1650, through the evils of rum and the ravages of war and smallpox, they became greatly reduced in numbers, and finally, as stated, were made cap- tive in 1675 by the Iroquois. In the subject of this paper it is not so im- portant where the locations of all these fortified towns or Susquehan- nock forts were, but more especially where the Susquehannock Fort was located which they occupied after the period about 1660.

Why This Fort Was Conspicuous.

Susquehannock Fort marked the eastern boundary of the territory claimed by the French, but it played its most important role when, in June, 1680, Wm. Penn petitioned to Charles II. for a grant of territory to be lo- cated "North of Maryland." On ac-

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count of the very liberal character of the Maryland charter, copies of Penn's petition were submitted to Lord Baltimore, who had started his colony in Maryland almost fifty years before. Lord Baltimore's reply was: "It is desired (3) that Mr. Penn's grant of land may be expressed to be land that shall be north of Susque- hannock Fort, for said fort is the boundary of Maryland northward." Penn then agreed, as an express con- dition of obtaining his charter, that Susquehannock Fort should mark the southern boundary of his province. However, in drafting Penn's charter, April 2, 1681, his southern boundary was expressed, "the beginning of the fortieth degree of northern latitude," which actually expresses that the end of the thirty-ninth degree is intended, which is sixty-nine miles further south than the line marked forty on the map, which is usually considered the fortieth parallel by the public. This was no doubt an error of the person who drafted Penn's charter, as that line, according to Smith's map, which was then the recognized map in England, would have located Penn's southern boundary about fifty miles south of our present Baltimore, which would have almost wiped Mary- land off the map. This was certainly not King Charles' intention, as shown by the following clause, which he placed in Lord Baltimore's charter, "and if per adventure here after it may happen that any doubts or ques- tions should arise concerning the true sense and meaning of any word, clause, or sentence contained in this, our present charter, we will charge and command that interpretation to be applied always, and in all things.

3— Md. Hist. Soc. Fund Pub. No. 30, pp. 34-35; Lane. Co. Hi.st. Soc, Vol. 2, No. 3, p. 225.

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and in all our Courts and jurisdiction whatsoever to obtain that which shall be judged to be more beneficial.profit- able and favorable to the aforesaid, now Baron of Baltimore, his heirs and assigns."

Lord Baltimore at this time knew, as I will show later, that Susquehan- nock Fort was very close to the for- tieth degree of latitude, which his charter clearly designated as his northern boundary. On account of the incorrect maps of this section then in England, Penn was not in a position to know the correct location of the fortieth parallel, but was led to believe that it was farther south than it actually was. On receiving his charter, Penn despatched his cousin, William Markham, to his province as Deputy Governor, to ad- just the boundaries of the province, but when it was found that the bound- ary between his province and Mary- land was so far south as (4) not to permit of a harbor on Chesapeake Bay, and scarcely enough of one on the Delaware, the manipulation and contest began.

This notable quarrel continued for more than eighty years, was the cause of endless troubles between in- dividuals, occupied the attention not only of the proprietors of the respect- ive provinces, but of the Lords of Trade and Plantations of the High Court of Chancery and the Privy Councils of at least three monarchs, and was finally adjusted by establish- ing the Mason and Dixon line, which is about twenty miles farther south than the line indicating the fortieth degree, which is a line passing just north of Philadelphia, and through Strasburg, Millersville and Washing-

4 — Penna. Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 3; Old Va. and Her Neighbors (Fisk), Vol. 2, p. 130.

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ton liorough, and we may add here that had this line remained Mary- land's northern boundary as King Charles had designed it in Lord Bal- timore's charter, all of Pennsylvania south of the line would to-day be Maryland.

It is not pertinent to the subject of this paper to go into the details of this boundary dispute, but as this controversy was largely responsible for the prominence of Susquehannock Fort, and also for obscuring its loca- tion, it is the location of Susquehan- nock Fort, more especially immedi- ately before and during the period of this controversy, that we wish to es- tablish.

Early References Which Aid Us in Locating the Fort.

While investigating this subject, 1 found no difficulty in finding material pertaining to the subject, as might be supposed of a place of such promi- nence in the past. Hundreds of ref- erences are made to Susquehannock Fort in Colonial books and official records of Dutch, Jesuit, Swedish and English origin, in narratives and letters of Indian traders and early settlers,the evidence given by old maps, the tes- timony given at the final trial of the boundary dispute in London, and also the confusing assertions made concerning it by historians during the last century. My greatest diffi- culty was to condense the material necessary for this paper sufficiently to confine it to the space to which it is limited. In the briefest manner possible I will give the most impor- tant of these references in chronolog- ical order, with such comments as may lead to correct some misconcep- tions concerning Susquehannock Fort and its location.

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The earliest mention we have ot Susquehannoclf Fort is by Captain John Smith, who, with ten gentlemen and two mariners (5), sailed up the mouth of the Susquehanna River about two miles, in the Elb, a barge of about two tons burden, in 1606, where he met a number of Susque- hannock Indians, from whom he re- ceived the material for his map be- yond that point, and also much infor- mation concerning the Indians. He states: "They live two days' journey higher up the river." His map lo- cates their fort about seven leagues (twenty-one miles) from the head of the bay, or about the southern bound- ary of our present Martic township. He locates it on the eastern shore of the river, just above a large tributary on the western side of the river, which is probably the Conestoga lo- cated on the wrong side of the river. The fortieth parallel, or the line marked forty on all maps, which sep- arates the fortieth and forty-first par- allels, he locates eight miles from the head of the bay, instead of about thirty-two miles from the head of the bay, where it should be. As this was the recognized map of our Susquehan- na River section, in England seventy- four years afterwardai, when Penn was granted his charter, these inac- curacies caused considerable trouble.

Robert Evelyn (a brother of George Evelyn, the first commander of Kent Island) had lived with Clayborne on Kent Island for several years, where they traded extensively with the Sus- quehannock Indians. Evelyn seems to have been the first European, ot whom we have any record, who act- ually had been at Susquehannock Fort. He was Clayborne's interpre-

5 — Capt. Smith's General Hist, of Va. (Richmond reprint), Vol. 1, pp. 118-121.

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ter for this tribe, and, after Lord Baltimore's arrival, became one of the first settlers at Pascatoway, Md. In a letter written by Evelyn, In which he describes New Albion, he states: "The Susquehannocks' new town is also a rare, healthy and rich place, with a crystal, broad river, but some falls below hinder navigation." This describes our Susquehanna river section here perfectly. He also states: "The Susquehannocks are extreme fearful of a gun, naked and unarmed against our shot, swords and pikes. Sometimes sixteen Dutchmen in a boat trade without fear of them. Since my return eight- een Swedes are settled there." In this latter statement he refers to when he was one of the colony who attempted to settle along the Dela- ware after Lord Palatine had been given his grant for New Albion. As the Swedes first settled there (6) in 1627 Evelyn must nave Deen along the Delaware about 1626. From 1621 to 1632 Clayborne acquired(7) a great for- tune through his trade with the Sus- quehannocks.

In 1633 the Dutch of New Amster- dam built a fort or trading post at Beevers' Rede on the Schuylkill (8), near what is now Philadelphia. They state: "Thousands of beavers can be bought thereabout from the Minquas or southern Indians." This shows that the Susquehannocks or IMinquas were located from that point south- ward, not north of it, although at that period they must have had several towns and forts, as they then had 1,300 warriors. Soon after this per- iod the Dutch and Swedes traded firearms to the Susquehannocks, and

6 — Campanius' New Sweden, p. C5, stanza 57; Proud, Vol. 1, pp. 112-115.

7 — Old Va. and Her Neighbors, Vol. 1. p. 263.

8 — Sec. Penna. Arch., Vol. 5, p. 235.

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the Susquehannocks employed sever- al Swedish soldiers who were at Sus- quehannock Fort to teach them how to use them.

John Companius, a minister from Stockholm, Sweden, who lived with the Swedish colony along the Dela- ware from 1642 to 1648, preserved considerable information concerning the Susquehannock Indians during that period. In 1702 his grandson, Thomas Companius, also a resident of Stockholm, gathered the notes left by his grandfather, and also state- ments which his grandfather had verbally made to his father, and com- piled his book called, "A Short De- scription of the Province of New Swe- den." This book contains a sketch of a Susquehannock Fort, also gives the following concerning its location: "The Minquas lived at a distance of twelve miles from New Sweden,where they daily came to trade with us. The way to their land was very bad, being full of sharp gray stones, with hills and morasses, so that when the Swedes went to them, which happen- ed generally about twice a year, they had to walk in water up to their arm pits. They live on a high mountain, very steep and difficult to climb; there they have a fort or square building, surrounded with palisades, as shown in the accompanying cut. There they have guns and small iron cannon, with which they shoot and defend themselves and take with them when they go to war."

These twelve miles have led to con- siderable confusion, as twelve Swed- ish miles or 12x6 2-3 statute miles from Fort Christina (now Wilming- ton) would reach Harrisburg, but as the map of New Sweden accompany- ing this book was made by Linstrom, a German engineeer, who uses Ger-

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man miles, I take twelve German miles, or 12x4 2-3 statute miles from New Sweden, which just reaches Manor township. Another part o£ this description, which also has caus- ed confusion, is that describing the fort, which does not correspond with his accompanying cut, in- stead of the cut having a "fort or scpiare building," surrounded with palisades; there are twelve Indian cabins surrounded by palisades,neith- er are there any cannon in view, nor does the picture show' that it is lo- cated on a high mountain, but rather on a level plain, and, strange to say, with all that some of our more recent historians have tried hard to place the location of this fort on a high hill in keeping with Companius, nowhere in the locality where the fort must have been is there evidence of an In- dian fort site on a high hill. The fact that Thomas Companius, who never was in America, compiled this book fully fifty years after his grand- father's residence here, causing much of its material to be second or third- handed, also that this book was trans- lated several times, may account for some errors, although this rare little volume contains much very valuable information.

In 1652 the Marylanders and the Susquehannocks made a peace treaty, and the Susquehannocks, being at this period engaged in a long and deadly struggle with the Iroquois,the Marylanders decided to send Captain John Obder, with fifty soldiers, to Sus- quehannock Fort to assist them, when Lord Baltimore in giving Obder his instructions while directing him (i)) how to proceed with his expedition uses these words: "Until the return of the soldiers into this provence

9— Md. Arch., Vol. 1, p. 417.

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again." This statement clearly shows that Lord Baltimore understood that Susquehannock Fort was north of the fortieth degree, which he considered Maryland's northern boundary, and again a few years later Col. Beall re- ceived similar instructions stating he shall go up the "left bank of the Sus- quehanna River, to Susquehannock Fort:" surely when he was going northward the left bank was the west bank or York county side of the river.

August Herrman and His Map.

What may be considered as the most reliable and positive evidence of the exact location of Susquehannock Fort is that given by a map which is one of the rarest maps in existence, the only one original copy of which is in the British Museum. The Con- gressional Library, at Washington, has a photographic copy of it, from which it was my pleasure to have a photographic copy made several years ago. This map was made by August Herman; it was completed in 1670. Susquehannock Fort is located on it in keeping with my last reference — just north of the fortieth parallel on the west side of the Susquehanna river. Of special interest is the note which Herrman makes on the map; "The present Susquehannock Indian Fort." This location, as given by his map, is on the west side of the river, opposite our present Washington Bor- ough. Herrman's map is by far the most accurate map of our Susque- hanna river section made up to that period, and the only accurate one for many years afterward. As it was a private map, it was concealed, and could not be copied as others were. The streams flowing into the Susque- hanna were so correctly placed on

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this map that one must conclude that its maker was not only there in per- son, but must have made it from care- ful surveys. It is also of special value, as the original Indian names of the streams are given. It shows that Conestoga is older than Pennsyl- vania, and most likely the Indians were named after the stream along which they located, as was usually the case, and not as is generally conceded that the stream was named after them. I will as briefly as pos- sible give a sketch of Herrman and the conditions surrounding the mak- ing of this map, which will add addi- tional interest to it.

August Herrman was born in Prague, Germany, about 1605; his parents were wealthy. The map contains a portrait(lO) of Herrman,which shows him as a fine-looking, middle-aged man of the Cavalier type of that time. He was well educated, could speak five languages, was a skillful artist, and a fine mathematician and survey- or. When a young man he made sev- eral voyages with the Dutch West India Company, and first came to Virginia, November, 1629. He again came over in 1633, on the ship on which Arent Corssen sailed, and was with him when the land was pur- chased from the Indians on which the fort and trading post was built at Beever's Rede, on the Schuylkill, as we find his name appears on this In- dian deed. We find him next in the employ of Peter Gabry & Co., an Am- sterdam firm of merchants, and ser- ved as their buyer in the West In- dies and South America. In 1643 he conducted a store or trading post for them in New Amsterdam (now New York), but soon after engaged in

10 — Deutsch-Amorlkanlsclie.s Maga- zin (Ratterman), Vol. l, p. 202 ana p. 524.

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business on his own account, deal- ing in drygoods, wines, ropes, ship utensils, hides, cotton, tobacco and anything which he could turn into an honest florin. He was a born merchant, and was the first to estab- lish the tobacco trade between Vir- ginia and Holland. He also conduct- ed a lucrative fur trade with the Susquehannock Indians. In 1647 he became one of Director Stuyvesant's Council, who were elected by the colo- nists,and was one of the most popular and influential men in New Nederland. He was far-sighted, was an excellent diplomat, and his advice was much sought after. Herrman purchased large tracts of land in New Jersey for his Government, from the In- dians, with whom he was well known and very popular. He was sent as mediator on several important bound- ary disputes, which were satisfactor- ily adjusted.

In 1659 Lord Baltimore seized the Swedish-Dutch colony on the Dela- ware and sent Col. Nathaniel Utie there with 500 soldiers to compel the colonists living on the Delaware who were south of the fortieth paral- lel to acknowledge their allegiance to Lord Baltimore. At this time Herr- man had been on a trip to the West Indies and South America, where he had purchased a valuable cargo ot salt, horses, etc. On his return Di- rector General Stuyvesant and the Supreme Council of New Nederland selected Herrman, with Resolved Wal- dron as Secretary, to confer with the Governor General and Council ot" Maryland concerning their respect- ive claims to the colony on the Dela- ware. The diplomacy which he dis- played on this mission was such that, although the matter was delayed from time to time, the Maryland authori-

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ties were about to yield to the New Nederland claims, when King Charles II. seized the entire territory of New Nederland and granted it to his brother, the Duke of York, afterward King James II. in 1674.

After Herrman and his secretary completed their mission with the Maryland authorities, Herrman went to Virginia, where he spent a few months, when he sent a letter with Secretary Waldron tcj Stuj'vesanti. The following is a portion of this let- ter: "St. Mary's, Oct. 21, 1659. We have done all that could be done at present. Before any more can be ac- complished I must make a correct map of the South (Delaware) River, Virginia, and the surroundings, and the sooner this is done the better, as the several maps which England has are unfinished and are a hindrance."

Herrman was very skillful in sketch- ing, surveying and map making. It is known that he made the rare view of New Amsterdam (now New York) printed by Nicholas Van Vischer in 1650. On Herrman's return journey from Virginia he passed through what he afterwards named Cecil county, and so much was he charmed with the beauty of the country, that, after finding that the New Nederland authorities were unwilling to bear the expense of having his map made, he wrote to Lord Baltimore, offering to make a map of Maryland for the consideration of the grant of a manor. The proposition was prompt- ly accepted. Beginning in 1660, Herr- man continued about ten years, ex- pending over £200 pounds sterling, which was then equivalent to ?10,000 at present, and a great amount of la- bor, in getting the surveys and com- pleting this map.

For this important service he re-

pKBounefaryofMary/ane/ Abrmward.

Skawaohkaha

40'

COP»-V OF

A PORTION OF AUGUST HERRMAN'S MAP. I660 TO 1670.

HERRMAN'S MAP OF THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER SECTION 1670, TO WHICH THE PRES ENT NAMES OF THE STREAMS ARE ADDED.

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ceived an estate on the Elk River, Maryland, of more than 20,000 acres (11), which still bears the name he gave it, "Bohemia Manor," where he lived the latter part of his life, and where his tomb can be seen. He be- came immensely rich, and died at a good old age in 1686. Margaret Ship- pen, wife of Benedict Arnold, count- ed among her ancestors the sturdy August Herrman.

The accompanying map is a copy of that portion of August Herrman's map of Maryland which shows our Susquehanna River section and Sus- quehannock fort, to which vt-e have added the present names of the streams.

Susquehannock Fort After 1670.

There can be no doubt that Herr- man's map gives the correct location of what was then recognized as Sus- quehannock Fort, additional proof of which will be given below. The Sus- quehannocks at this period numbered over 300, and it is not unlikely, how- ever, that some of them were located on the east side of the river also. As Herrman's map was completed in 1670, which was over ten years before the Maryand and Pennsylvania boundary dispute began, we will trace the movements of the Susquehannocks covering this period mainly through references from the Mary/land Ar- chives and Jesuit Relations. As I did not have access to these, I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness

to the valuable work on Lancaster County Indian History recently pub- lished by H. Frank Eshleman for these references.

For a period of about fifteen years the Iroquois tried to capture this fort.

11 — Old Va. and Her NoiRhbors (Fisk), Vol. 1. pp. 124-12S: Md. Hi.st. Fund Pub., No. 30, Part 2.

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and, after several humiliating defeats, the Senecas, a tribe of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, succeeded in defeat- ing the Susquehannocks in 1675,when about 300 Susquehannock (12) men, women and children made their es- cape to an abandoned Pascataway (13) Indian fort above the Falls of the Potomac, where they supposed they would be under the protection of the Marylanders, with whom they were at peace and whom they then con- sidered their friends. During the short period when they remained at this fort it is frequently referred to as the Susquehannocks' Fort, which also adds confusion to the location of Susquehannock Fort.

As the Marylanders knew that by now defending these few hundred Susquehannocks they would antago- nize a much more powerful foe, as the Iroquois at this time could mus- ter from 5,000 (14) to 6,000 warriors, they ungratefully deserted their for- mer friends, who had for years served as a bulwark on their northern fron- tier. Space does not permit us to re- late the inhuman and cowardly at- tack made on them by the Maryland- ers and the Virginians, in which they cruelly murdered five Susquehannock chiefs, when the terrible revenge wrought by the infuriated Susquehan- nocks resulted in Bacon's rebellion during the winter of 1675-6. This is graphically related (15) by Streeter and others. This was very short- sighted policy for Maryland, as the Susquehannocks succeeded in giving them much trouble, and peace was

12 — Jesuit Relations, Vol. 60, p. 173; Md. Hist. Soc. Fund Pub., No. 15, Note 46.

13^ — A Relation of Maryland, 1635 Map.

14 — Making of Va. and the Middle Colonies (Drake), pp. 101-102.

15 — Historical Magazine, March, 1857.

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not fully restored between them for many years.

In the spring of 1676 we find "the several troops" of Susquehannoicks who escaped Bacon's execution re- turned to(16) their old fort, which a statement made at that time locates about sixty miles north of Palmer's Island (this distance would about reach Columbia), where they surren- dered to the Senecas. According to Iroquois custom, of the prisoners taken, such as were spared were adopted, in their own towns in place of those who had fallen in battle. In general the prisoners so received would be turned over to some family who had lost one of its mem- bers (17) and given the dead one's name, as it was a point of honor not to let a great man's name die out. The women prisoners were also given Iro- quois warriors in marriage, and an adopted enemy in time become a through-going Iroquois.although he was not fully trusted until time had proved his fidelity. A portion of the con- quered was also held in the same manner on the new possessions as vassals from whom they exacted trib- ute. This was the case with the Sus- quehannocks, afterwards known as Conestogas, who remained here. In several statements made before the Maryland Council at that period, it is stated that twenty-six Susquehan- nocks remained here,where they lived with some Senecas (18), and that about 100 Susquehannocks were distributed among four Iroquois towns in New York State.

In 1674, the Duke of York re-

Iff — Md. Archives, Vol. 15, pp. 122, 134. 135; Vol. 5, p. 246.

17. — Making: of Va. and the Middle Colonies (Drake), pp. 97-99.

18— Md. Arch.. Vol. 5. pp. 243, 246.247; Vol. 17. p. 5; Vol. 15, pp. 175, 238, 240, 380. 383,

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ceived his grant of the territory ol New Amsterdam from his brother King Charles II., and Edmond Andros was made Governor General, who in 1675 purchased the territory between the Delaware and the Susquehanna from the Indians, and on hearing of the misfortune of t*he Susquehan- nocks made an effort to have them re- turn to his province. In August,1676, we find (19) them building a new fort, which, it is stated, is in the Duke of York's province, which was certainly near the fortieth parallel, and east of the Susquehanna.and it is rea- sonable to believe that this was at what is now the H. G. Witmer farm in Manor township.

In 1678-79 there were still some of the Susquehannocks and Senecas at the old Susquehannock Fort, as the Marylands commissioned Jacob Young(20) to go there in the effort to make peace with them, and no doubt they were then at the old and new forts on both sides of the river at this point. The exact period when they finally left the old fort on the west side of the river I have been un- able to ascertain, although it is un- likely that any remained there after Penn's treaty in 1682.

As above stated, it was in June, 1680, when Penn consented to the re- quest of Cecilius, Lord Baltimore, that Susquehannock Fort should mark their boundary, and it is ridiculous to believe that had there been any oth- er Susquehannock forts, either north or south of this one, at this period which Lord Baltimore would at this time suppose could confuse its loca- tion; in so important a matter it would certainly have been mentioned.

19 — Sec. Penna. Arch., Vol. 5, pp. 639,

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20— Md. Arch., Vol. 15, p. 175.

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yet how could he have designated it clearer than by the fortieth parallel, or designated the fortieth parallel better than by this fort.

The next reference which we find concerning Susquehannock fort is when Watson tells us that in 1690, Thomas Holmes (who was Penn's Surveyor General after Crispine's death in 1681), purchased a tract be- tween the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, for Wm. Penn, from the In- dians. The western boundary of this was marked by "Fort Demolish- ed"(21), which, he states, is on the Susquehanna River, about four miles above the Conestoga Creek. Penn states that a road had been surveyed and laid out very exactly between Phila- delphia and this point in 1687, where he intended to locate his city on the Susquehanna. As Jacob Taylor's map is connected with it, there is no doubt this is the same point, as Taylor marks "Fort" on his plan of Cones- toga Manor in 1717, which exactly lo- cates the Indian village or Fort site, at this period on the H. G. Witmer farm, about one mile south of Wash- ington Borough.

Hans Steelman, who was sent here by the Marylanders in 1697, states that the Susquehannocks and Sene- cas (22), who lived together at Con- estoga, numbered forty lusty young men, besides women and children. In 1729, when Governor Gordon held a treaty with them, they were about the same number.

Old Mixon's Map of 1708 locates Susquehannock Fort just north of the fortieth parallel, on the west side of the river, at the same point where Herrman's map locates it.

21 — Memoirs Penna. Hist. Soc, Part 2. p. 131; also. Lane. Co. Hist. Soc, Vol. 2, No. 8. pp. 231 and 234.

22— Md. Archives. Vol. 19. p. 519.

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Mull's Map of North America of 1720 also locates Susquehannock Fort at the same place, and in a note states that it is eighty miles west of Phila- delphia, also designating it as mark- ing the boundary of the territory claimed by the French, as copied from a French map published in Paris in 1718. While it seems by these two maps that the old fort site on the west side of the river was still recog- nized as Susquehannock Fort, we know that the remnant of Susquehan- nocks and Senecag now called Cones- togas had long since been living on the Eastern shore. In addition to the map Mull also gives a view of Susquehannock Fort, which was no doubt taken from a sketch made a number of years previous, or from a description given by some one who had been at Susquehannock Fort some years before, as in 1820 this fort was in ruins, and the Indians were located across the river at Conestoga, probably thirty years before. It gives a splendid view of the river and the topography of the country, just as it is seen looking southeast from this point in York county to-day. The tree on the right resembles a tropical tree, but it is evidently intended for the large-leaved pawpaw so common there. This is another evidence that the artist was not on the spot, but sketched from a description gjven by some one who was.

The accompanying cut of Susque- hannock Fort is similar to the one on Mull's map, and was taken from "Ar- noldus Monitanus' Discription of New Nederland, 1671," for which we are indebted to Mr. C. E. Steigerwalt, who is in possession of this rare volume.

In Taylor's first map of Conestoga

23 — ^Third Penna. Arch., Vol. 4; Map No. 11-1. Col. Records, Vol. 3, p. 48.

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Manor, made in 1717, he marks what was then already an old fort site(23), on what is now H. G. Witmer's farm, which may have been one of several forts which the Susquehannocks oc- cupied many years before. Watson calls it Fort Demolished. The exact date when they left it and moved to the Indian town of Conestoga 1 have been unable to ascertain, but it must have been before this period, as Taylor also prominently marks "The Indian Town of Conestoga," and very likely they changed their location some years before. As early as 1697 Hans Steelman refers to the Susque- hannocks and Senecas living at "Car- ristauga" (Conestoga), but whether they then lived at what is now the Witmer farm, or at the Indian town of Conestoga is uncertain.

We need not discuss the period from 1720 to 1730, as we know from the minutes of councils held by Gov- ernors Keith and Gordon that the Conestogas were located at the In- dian town of Conestoga.

We now reach the period 1732-1736, when the location of Susquehannock Fort becomes a very important fac- tor in the final litigation in the Court of Chancery in London, in which many thousand square miles of territory were involved. As al- ready stated, in June, 1869, when Wm. Penn petitioned for his charter, he consented to Lord Baltimore's re- quest that Maryland's northern boundary should be marked(24) by Susquehannock Fort, which was lo- cated at the fortieth parallel, and a few years later, when Penn found that Smith's map was incorrect, this trouble began. But after fifty years of changes of administration-, dis-

24 — Md. Hist. Soc. Fund Pub., No. 30, pp. 34-35.

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putes and delays, during which the disputed territory was scarcely more than explored, and during which per- iod numerous other troubles con- stantly confronted the proprietors of both provinces, the location of this fort became a disputed question. But now that the value of the territory was becoming recognized, and a fa- vorable opportunity is afforded, the Pennsylvanians spare no effort in con- cealing the true relation of Susque- haunock Fort, at the fortieth parallel, and succeed in proving that it is lo- cated twenty miles further south, at the mouth of the Octoraro. In this struggle to end the controversy tw'o of the greatest assistants the Pennsylvan- ians had were the favoritism of the royalty or either the indifference or the inefficiency of the Maryland offi- cials. As it was largely the success of the Pennsylvanians in this effort that has made the location of Sus- quehannock Fort a mooted question for almost two centuries, it will be of interest to briefly give the prin- cipal statements of the testimony given by the most important (25) wit- nesses concerning this feature of the case.

Hans Steelman, an Indian trader, aged eighty-five, stated that he was well acquainted along the Susque- hanna River, and that he knows the difference between an Indian town and an Indian fort, that an Indian town consists of a number of Indian houses or cabins set near together, and an Indian fort is such a town sur- rounded with a breastwork of poles or stakes of wood set up and a bank of earth thrown against them. He re- membered seeing an Indian town ana also an abandoned Indian fort about forty or fifty years ago (1685) at the

25 — Soc. Penna. Arch.. Vol. 7, pp. 336- 337; Vol. 16, pp. 5-^Z to 525, 729 to 772.

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mouth of the Octoraro Creek, on the point of land on the upper side of the creek, the fort being about one-half mile from the creek and the town three-fourths of a mile further away. Jacob Young, an old Indian trader, had told him a battle had been fought by the Indians at that fort, and some bones could be seen strewn around; he knew of no fort further up the river.

While there is no doubt that there had been an Indian fort at that point many years before, when the Susque- hannocks had several forts, in view of the fact that in 1697— thirty-five years before — this same Hans Steel- man made a statement before the Maryland Council, as given above,that he was at Conestoga, stating that "the Susquehannocks and Senecas living there number about forty," it appears somewhat strange that he knew of no fort further up the river than the mouth of the Octoraro, at this trial.

Mrs. Elizabeth Murphee and hei sister, Mrs. Margaret Allen, both sta- ted that about thirty or forty years ago (1700) they lived with their fath- er, Jonas Areskine, an Indian trader, who had received permission from the Indians to have his trading post at the abandoned Indian fort at the mouth of the Octoraro Creek, and when he plowed the ground for corn he turned up great numbers of human bones, stone arrow points, and stone hatchets, and their father told them there was a great battle fought there. They both had frequently seen Indian forts and Indian towns, and stated that the difference between an Indian fort and an Indian town was that the fort is enclosed by wood, by some called palisades, and the towns are a number of cabins, around which they plant their corn. It should be noted

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that no trader articles were plowed up, only implements of stone.

James Hendricks, who was seventy- three years old, stated that he traded with the Indians along the Susque- hanna about forty years ago, that he lived along the Delaware and went westward in search of mines, and at the mouth of the Octoraro saw the remains of an Indian fort. He bor- rowed an Indian canoe and crossed the river, but did not believe there was a fort further up on the west- ern side; he also stated he didn't believe there were any Eng- lish as far up as Conestoga be- fore 1682. More recently he had also seen the ruins of another such forti- fied town on the east side of the Sus- quehanna River, opposite the place where Thomas Cresap lately dwelt. He also states that the Indians who formerly occupied this last-named fort have moved from thence further down to Conestoga; that the land on both sides the river there did not belong to the Susquehannocks, but to another tribe, the Conejoculas.

Mr. Hendricks was the Pennsylvan- lans' strongest witness, and, while his testimony is truthful concerning the Conestogas having moved from the old fort, which was located on the H. G. Witmer farm, south of Wash- ington Borough, to the Indian town of Conestoga, he was certainly mis- informed concerning the ownership of the land, as we have abundant evi- dence that the land on both sides of the river at this point was in posses- sion of the Susquehannock Indians and their conquerors, the Iroquois, for more than a century.

Maryland witnesses made an ex- ceedingly weak defense. Several had heard that there was an Indian fort farther up the river, but all was hear-

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say evidence, some third and fourtti hand, and neither did they have any idea where the fort was. All of the defense's witnesses seemed certain, however, that the fort was farther up the river than the mouth of Octoraro Creek. One witness had heard that the Minques or Susquehannock fort, M^hich was attacked by Col. Ninian Bell, was located on the west side of the river on the property then owned by William Cannon at Conejocula.

Samuel Preston, aged seventy-five, was their best witness, although his testimony was about third-hand hear- say evidence. He stated that, accord- ing to a description given by G-arland, an Indian trader, Susquehannock Fort stood on the west side of the river, a little farther up than Cre- sap's Port, in a field where an apple tree stood, about a mile from the river. This is the location- also given by Herrman's map.

During October, 1731, the Cones- toga Indians still claimed the fruit of some apple trees, near the site(26) where Susquehannock Fort had been, on the west side of the river. They claimed that Wm. Penn had promis- ed them an unmolested right there, and they sent complaint to Governor Gordon that Cresap, who had recently located near there, molested their women while gathering their apples. That section was then known as Canejohela. The Location of Susquehannock Fort

as Shown by Our Indian Curios.

With the aid of the above material, it is not difficult to find the locality in which Susquehannock Fort, or the several Susquehannock forts, were lo- cated at the various periods referred to. But, to get the exact locations, 1 resort to a somewhat different line

26 — First Penna. Arch., Vol. 1, p. 295.

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of investigation, that of a study of the Indian curios which we find here, and the places where we find them.

The Susquehannoclcs knew nothing of accumulating property. William Penn thus describes them: "But for liberality(27) they <^xcel. nothing is too good for their friends, give them a fine gun, coat or other thing, it may pass twenty hands before it sticks, the most merry creatures that live, feast and dance perpetually, they never have much nor want much, wealth circulates like blood." From many authorities which we could cite we know that the Indians buried their dead within (28) their stockaded villages or forts, and we also know that with their dead they also interred their possessions, such as ornaments, im- plements and weapons, and, with the most pi'ominent ones, usually a bowl (29) of food; these they considered necessary to accompany the departed to their happy hunting grounds be- yond. These habits account for the Indian curios which our collectors de- light to find, and by them it is easy to locate the Indian village and fort sites of the past; not only that, but by them w-e can to some extent deter- mine the period when these village sites were inhabited. First, we will briefly give early statements, which show what articles the Susquehan- nocks received, when, and from whom they received them.

Captain Smith states in 1606 the Susquehannocks(30) already had iron hatchets and knives, which, Drake

27 — Proud's Hist. Penna., Vol. 1, p. 2.t4.

28— Mfl. Hist. Soc. Fund Pub., No. 15. pp. 74. 75, 79.

29 — Hazard's Reg., Vol. 7, p. 295; Vol. 8, p. 48.

30 — Capt. Smith's General Hist, of Va. (Richmond reprint), Vol. 1. pp. 82- 182.

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says,must have reached them through the French Canadian traders. Smith gave them brass bells, and states that after showing the Indians what truck he had ; one taking the most liking to a pewter dish which he had, made a hole in it and hung it about his neck for a breast plate, for which the Indian gave him twenty deer skins worth twenty crowns, and for a cop- per kettle Smith received skins worth fifty crowns.

The Jesuit fathers state that (31) the Dutch traded firearms to the Sus- quehannocks as early as 1623.

About 1633 the Swedes, in their trade with the Susquehannocks, gave them flintlock guns, powder, leajfl^

(32) copper kettles, iron tomahawks, and hoes, red beads, brass bells, Jews' harps, knives, thimbles, lookimg- glasses, blankets, etc.

Father White, who lived with Lord Baltimore's colony at St. Mary's in 1634, states that he and his party

(33) gave the Susquehannocks little bells, fish hooks, needles, etc., to con- ciliate their affections.

In 1660, Alsop states, the English gave them truck, such as guns, powder, lead, beads, looking glasses, knives,

(34) blankets, clay pipes, etc.

In 1685, at Penn's treaty at Phila- delphia, they were given 200 fathoms of wampum, 100 strings of beads, also kettles(35), guns, powder, lead, iron axes and hoes, clay tobacco pipes, vermilion, Jews' harps, hawks-bells, knives, blankets, clothing, etc.

It will be noted that during this

31 — Jesuit Relations, "Vol. 45, pp.203- 20.5.

32 — Campanius' Hist, of New Sweden (Duponceau Trans.), p. 157.

33 — Md. Hist. Soc. Fund Pub., No. 7, p. 83.

34— Md. Hist. Soc. Fund Pub., No. 15, p. 80.

35 — First Penna. Arch., Vol. 1, p. 95.

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period of three-quarters of a century the Susquehannocks received practi- cally the same class of articles from the French, Dutch, Swedish and Eng- lish, and I will show that many of these articles have been found in In- dian graves at our Indian village sites here, some of the guns and clay pipes being types of the middle of the seventeenth century. And as these village sites, here given, are the only sites within the limits of our county where any considerable amount of this class of articles is found, it is reasonable to believe that the Sus- quehannocivs' towns and forts were located here during that period.

Gov. Evans, during his visit in 1707, also gave them a quantity of beads, but at the Gookin, Keith and Gordon treaties they received only ammuni- tion, food and clothing, such as stroud cofcits, duffels, shirts, sihoes, stfock- ings, blankets, hats, bonnets, bread, biscuits and rum; they had then al ready adopted European habits to some extent. We can see the evi- dence of this at their last location at the Indian town of Conestoga, where they lived from 1716 until they were murdered in 1763, yet all the relic hunters can find there are broken pieces of clay pipes, buttons, or sucti articles as one could find near Euro- pean homes of that period.

We have quite a number of Indian village sites throughout our county, which, by the abundance of such indestructible articles as stone im- plements, weapons, ornaments, pipes, pottery, and beads of stone and bone, can easily be located. But after care- fully studying my own collection, and also collections of our most success- ful Indian curio collectors, and the lo- calities in which they were found, among which are the collections of

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Zahm, Dr. Haldeman, Hiller, Dr. Stubbs, Matherson, Steigerwalt and Dr. Witmer and others, I find that the section along the Susquehanna River extending

from Safe Harbor to Bainbridge, and one site on the York county side ot the river just opposite Washington Borough, and also several of the larger islands thereabouts, are of pe- culiar interest in this respect, as the Indian graves of that section contain articles which the above early records tell us the Susquehannoclvs received at peace treaties and as truck from traders in ex- change for their valuable peltry. These consist of small copper kettles, brass bells, bronze whistles, iron hatchets, knives, hoes and guns, clay pipes, thimbles, scissors, Jews' harps, buttons, lead bullets, castiron cannon balls, etc., and a great variety of glass beads, among these pottery and im- plements and ornaments of stone of Indian make are also found. If we had no other records, this alone would be ample proof that the locality was the location of Susquehannock towns during the early trader period.

In 1722 we find a statement made in the Colonial records that the Indian towns are located on the opposite (36) side of the river from Springetts- bury Manor. This corresponds to the section which I have just referred to, as Springettsbury Manor was on the York county side of the river, ex- tending from the mouth of the Cones- toga creek northwards fifteen miles. In this section, designated ahove, be- tween Safe Harbor and Bainbridge, we find four Indian village sites con- spicuouslyf marked by the large quantities of "trader truck" found there in the past, and no doubt much

36 — Colonial Records, Vol. 3, p. 183.

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more si ill remains underground.

One of these Indian town sites is located about two miles south of Bain- bridge, known as Locust Grove. On both sides of the canal basin, where many graves have been found, con- taining copper kettles, glass beads, iron hatchets, wampum, thimbles (which were perforated and used as beads), earthen bowls, stone imple- ments, etc. Dr. Haldeman' states that this was where the Conoys lived.

A Fort Located One Mile South of Chartier's Trading Post.

Another interesting village site is on the property of John Stehman, at Washington Borough. Just east of his dwelling several Indian graves were found within the last several years containing a flintlock gun, iron hatch ets, some vermillion. glass beads wampum,etc. About 300 yards south east of Mt. Stehman's dwelling bush' eis of mussel shells were found; this was unquestionably an Indian mint where an Indian family engaged in the manufacture of wampum. Two boulders along a former Indian trail have deeply-grooved (37) direction- marks, which po(int towards tjhese sites; there is a fine spring there, w'hich added to its attractions as a village site. Proud says: "Certain poor Indian families supported them- selves by making wampum for the traders. The white was made from the inside of conque shells, but the black or purple wampum, which was double the value of white, was work- ed out of the inside of mussel shells; these were worked into beads, which were strung on strings of leather. Pastorious says six white or three black beads were worth one farthing.

37 — Report Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-S9. p. 109.

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and that the Indians would accept no other money except their own wam- pum. Wampum was also made into belts, which were used at peace trea- ties as a pledge or seal to each treaty. As the Indians have no writ- ten language the keeper of this belt was trained to remember every stip- ulation of the treaty and transmit it to his successor. Without a belt, a treaty counted for naught. These wampum beads should not be con- fused with the glass beads which we find, as those were used principally as ornaments in strings about the necks or arms, or, as William Penn calls them, Indian jewels.

On Taylor's map of Conestoga Manor of 1717, the site, which is now the Stehman property, is the location of Martin Chartier's trading post. The Shawanees and Gawanese (38) Indi- ans were also located there at this period. Martin Chartier and several other Franch traders arrived in this section about 1687. Chartier located his trading post at the Shawanese In- dian town near the head of the Pe- quea (39) Creek.and married a Shaw- anese woman. Governor Evansi re- mained with him from Saturday even- ing, June 28, to Monday morning, June 30, on his visit here in 1707. Al- though Chartier was a Frenchman, he was loyal to the English, as was shown by the assistance which he gave Governor Evans at this time in the capture of the French trader, Nicola. Soon after this period Char- tier and the Shawnese located on this tract along the Susquehanna, where Chartier died in 1718. Martin Char- tier must have been a man of consid- erable prominence, as James Logan

38 — Col. Records. Vol. 3. p. 45.

39 — Sec. Penna. Arch., Vol. 19, p. 625.

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attended (40) his funeral. His son, Peter Chartier, came into possession of this property after his father's death.

Among the Indian graves which have been found on this property by Mr. Stehman one was a most unusual one, which was uncovered in 1873, while digging a cabbage trench about twenty feet east of Mr. Stehman's dwelling. Besides portions of a skel- eton, it contained an iron helmet (41), a cutlass, an iron hatchet and hoe, several 2i/4-inich cannon balls, and a bowl. I doubt if another such grave could be found anywhere. As we know that Europeans do not bury their guns, nor did the Indians wear iron helmets, one can come to only one conclusion concerning this grave, and that is, that this was a European, buried with Indian rites. As Martin Chartier was an Indian by marriage, this was probably his grave. The finding of these cannon balls reminds one of the reference which is made by Companius and also by the Jesuit that "the Susquehannocks used a can- non with which to defend their fort, and which they took with them when in battle." Several very old cannon balls of 51/4, 41/2, 3%, 214 and IV2 inches diameter have been plowed up on several farms a few miles west of this point, but whether they were used by the Indians as ammunition or as game balls is uncertain.

About one mile down the river from Chartier's trading post Taylor's map marks a fort on where now the H. G. Witmer property is located, which is especially noted for the quantity and variety of Indian trader articles found there, especially glass beads, also copper kettles, brass

40 — Ellis and Evans' Hist. Lane. Co., P 15.

41— Egles' Hist. Penna.. pp. 818-819.

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bells, buttons, clay pipes, Jews' harps, scissors, thimbles, rings, whistles, etc. Watson calls this site "Fort De- molished." We have no absolute proof showing how long this fort was occu- pied by the Indians, but we know that this was the home of the Sus- quehannocks and Senecas before they moved to the Indian town of Cones- toga, and it is almost certain that it is the new fort which they were build- ing in August, 1776, after their defeat by the Senecas and after Edmond Andros had purchased this territory east of the Susquehanna from them for the Duke of York, and courted their friendship.

Location of the Susquehannock Fort. The fourth site which I refer to as being conspicuous for the abundance of traders' articles found there is just opposite Washington Borough, in York county, at the point designated as Susquehannock Fort by Herman's map in 1670, also by Old Mixen and Mull's maps. This site is a few hun- dred yards north of where Cresap had his fort, where he defended Mary- land's northern boundary from 1731 to 1735, when the Pennsylvanians im- prisoned him in Philadelphia, which he declared was the fairest town in Maryland. It is on the line we are accustomed to seeing on all maps as the fortieth parallel, but which is really the dividing line between the fortieth and fortyrfirst parallels of North Latitude. This site is at pres- ent on the properties of Mr. John Haines and Mr. Samuel R. Kocher. Copper kettles, a very old flintlock gun barrel, iron tomahawks, and a variety of glass beads have been plowed up there, accompanied by In- dian pottery, stone arrow points, tomahawks and other Indian articles. When plowing the horses sometimes

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step Into deep holes, and there is no doubt that if carefully pursued many more graves containing these articles would be found. The flintlock gun which was found here is of exactly the same type as one which was found in an Indian grave on the oppo- site side of the river on the Stehman property.

That this site was the locattionof Sus- quehannock Fort as recognized by the Indians and Europeans of 1680, when Wm. Penn consented to Lord Balti- more's request that it should mark their boundary, there can be no room for doubt whatever.

Summary.

Briefly summing up the facts given above, we find that Susquehannock Fort was a fort or fortified village of the Susquehannock Indians. That from our first knowledge of this tribe in 1606 to about 1660, when they were a powerful tribe, they had several such fortified towns along the Sus- quehanna valley, the territory which was their possession, but after hav- ing become greatly reduced by their deadly war with the Iroquois, the evils of rum and the ravages ot smallpox, they were greatly reduced in number, and after 1660, or about that period, they had only one forti- fied town, or fort, which was located on the west, or York county side, of the Susquehanna river, just opposite Washington Borough, on the Hains and Kocher properties, a few hun- dred yards north of where Cresap afterwards had his fort, being the place designated by Herman, which he states on his map was the location of "the present Susquehannock Indian Fort"— 1660 to 1680. Surely had there been more than one recognized Susquehannock fort at the time when

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Lord Baltimore designated It as marking his northern boundary, in a matter of such importance it would certainly have been referred to. Neither is there any evidence to-day, nor had there been two centuries ago, that the recognized Susquehannock Fort was located at the Octorara Creek, as it can be seen by the evi- dence given by Mrs. Murphee and Mirs. Allen that about 1700 their fath- er plowed up only implements of stone, which shows that that fort site was not inhabited since the trader period, or glass beads and articles of iron and copper would also have been found there.

In 1675 the Senecas, a tribe of the Iroquois, defeated the Susquehan- nocks at their fort across the river from Washington Borough, when about 300 of them, men, women and children, escaped and took refuge in an abandoned Pascatoway Indian fort on the Potomac, and, after several months of trouble with the Mary- landers and Virginians, which ended in Bacon's rebellion, the "several troops" which remained, numbering about 150, returned to the fort, where they had been defeated, and surren- dered to their conquerors, the Sene- cas, a troop of which then occupied it. About 100 of them the Senecas took captive to their towns in New York State and a remnant of Senecas and Susquehannas remained here, when, at the solicitation of Edmond Andros, at least a number of them located in the Duke of York's province on the east side of the river, where they were building a fort in August, 1676, on what is now the H. G. Wit- mer property, yet in 1682 we find some of them still remained at the old site on the west side of the river. In 1697, Hans Steelman states, the Sus-

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quehannocks and Senecas at Cones- toga numbered about forty lusty young men, besides women and chil- dren, and about this same number were located at the Indian town of Conestoga thirty years afterward, where they lived until they were massacred in 1763.

By this we believe it can be seen clearly that the recognized Susquehan- nock Fort designated by Lord Balti- more in 1690 was located as desig- nated by Herman's map, near the fortieth parallel, on what is now the Hains and Kocher properties in York county, just across the river from Washington Borough.

Minutes of the fflarcli Meeting.

Lancaster, Pa., March 4, 1910.

The regular monthly meeting of the Lancaster County Historical Society was held' this evening in the new quarters in the Smith Library build- ing. President Steinman presided.

One new member was proposed, I'rank S. Groff, Esq., and his election was deferred one month.

Librarian Steigerwalt presented his report, as follows:

Annual Report of the Smithsoniani Institute for 1908, from United States; Constitution and Register of Member- ship of the Society of the War of 1812; German- American Annals, from German-American Historical Society, A Carpenter Family of Lancaster, from the author, A. Y. Casanova; Pennsylvania-German for March,1910; late catalogues and pamphlets from S. M. S'aner; library bulletins and pamphlets; Scott's Commentaries, from L. A. Gilgore; Centennial His- tory of the Farmers' Trust Company, from the Trust Company.

The Committee on Permanent Home reported progress.

President Steinman announced the following as the members of th© com- mittee which will take up the question of the 200th anniversary of the first settlement in Lancaster county: F. R. Diffenderffer, chairman; Hon. W. U. Hensel, Hon. C. I. Landis, D. F. Magee, Esq., William Riddle, Mrs. Mary N. Robinson, A. K. Hostet- ter, John A. Coyle, Esq., H. Frank Eshleman, Esq., L. B. Herr, A. F. Hos- tetter, Esq., Miss Alice Nevin, H. L. Raub and Miss Martha B. Clark.

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Secretary Hollinger, of the Execu- tive Committee, submitted a report of tae last meeting, which is herewith attached :

"At a meeting of the newly-elected Executive Committee, an organization was effected by the election of Mr. A. K. Hostetter as chairman and Mr. C. B. Hollinger as secretary. On motion, the paper prepared by D. H. Landis, on "Susquehanna Forts," was accepted and ordered to be read before the Society.

"A motion was passed that the paper read by Mr. W. U. Hensel before the Shippen School for Girls on the old Shippen house be published in the So- ciety's pamphlets, and that arrange- ments be made to secure the cut used in The New Era.

"Action was then taken on the pub- lication of the report of the commit- tee on the first settlement in Lan- caster county, and it was deemed ad- visable to have 400 copies of the pamphlet, with maps, printed.

"The committee decided that here- after all the pamphlets shall have the price, twenty-five cents, printed on the cover."

The paper of the evening was pre- pared by D. H. Landis, of Windom, his subject being "Location of the Susquehannock Fort." This was one ot the most important of the Indian forts along the Susquehanna river, and it has been a much-mooted question among historians as to its exact loca- tion. Mr. Landis has made an ex- haustive study of the subject, and he clearly proved in his excellent essay that the fort was located on the west bank of the Susquehanna river, in York county, and opposite Washing- ton Borough, on the Lancaster coun- ty side. The paper was illustrated with maps to substantiate his claim,

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and Mr. Landis also had on display- many interesting Indian curios found along the Susquehanna, The paper was made the more entertain- ing by the delightful style in which it was read by Mrs. Landis.

On motion, a vote of thanks was tendered Mr. Landis for his admirable article and to Mrs. Landis for the ex- cellent style in which the paper was read.

Adjourned.

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