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THE INDIAN CHIEFS
OF PENNSYLVANIA
OR
A Story of the Part Played by the American
Indian in the History of Pennsylvania,
Based Primarily on the Pennsylvania
Archives and Colonial Records, and Built
Around the Outstanding Chiefs
C. HALE SIPE, A.B.
of the Pittsburgh and Butler Bars, Member of the History
ical Society of Pennsylvania, Historical Society of
Western Pennsylvania; Author of "Mount
Vernon and the Washington
Family", and "A History
of Butler County".
With Introduction by
DR. GEORGE P. DONEHOO :
Former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission and;
State Librarian; Collaborator of the "Handbook of American
Indians", and Author of "Pennsylvania — A History". *
THE ZIEGLER PRINTING CO., Inc.
BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA
P4SG
Cop.\
Copyrighted 1927
BY
C. Hale Sipe
Printed in the United States of America.
If not obtainable from your dealer, this book will be sent postpaid
UPON RECEIPT OF $5.00 BY THE AUTHOR, C. HALE SlPE, BUTLER, Pa.
To the Memory of his Sainted Mother,
from Whom he Inherited a Love
for the History of Pennsylvania,
this Book is Reverently
Dedicated by
The Author
INTRODUCTION
By Dr. George P. Donehoo,
Former State Librarian of Pennsylvania
The early Indian history of Pennsylvania is, in many respects,
of more interest and importance in the development of Anglo-
Saxon civilization and settlement on the continent, than that of
any other section of the United States.
The real importance of this period in the history of Pennsyl-
vania is little realized by students of history, because it has been
given but scant attention by historical writers who have dealt
with the larger field of the United States.
To a very large extent, the entire Indian "problem" of the
Colonies was worked out within the boundaries of Pennsylvania,
or by Pennsylvanians outside of these boundaries. The Indian
Councils held in New York, Maryland, Virginia, and later in Ohio,
were, to a marked degree, dominated by Pennsylvania influence.
The most influential Indian diplomats and chiefs, such as Canas-
satego, Tanacharison, Scarouady, Shikellamy and Peter Chartier,
were directly connected with the policy of the Provincial Council,
and the influence of such men as William Penn, Richard Peters,
Conrad Weiser, George Croghan in the field of Indian Affairs, was
almost unbounded. It may be safely said that the entire "Indian
problem" of the Colonies, at the most critical period in American
history, had to be solved by Pennsylvanians. With the exception
of Sir William Johnson, of New York, all of the men who were
prominent during this period were Pennsylvanians. It would be
possible to carry this influence far beyond the limits of this period
in the work and influence of such men as Daniel Boone, Sam
Huston, George R. Clark and many others.
From the outbreak of the French and Indian War, in 1755,
during the long years of Border Wars and the American Revolu-
tion, to the Treaty of Greenville, made by General Anthony
Wayne, the "Indian problem" was practically in the hands of
Pennsylvanians. The physical reason for this was because Penn-
sylvania was the Gateway to Ohio, Indiana and the West, as well
as to Kentucky and the South. The Ohio river, having its head-
waters in Pennsylvania, was the great trail to the Mississippi and
to the French possessions in Louisiana. The vast territory through
Introduction
which this great stream flowed was more easily reached from Penn-
sylvania than from any of the other Colonies, and, notwithstand-
ing the claims of New England historians, this great stream became
the highway over which the Pennsylvania influence and not that of
New England, reached to the uttermost limits of the Continent,
founding new settlements and then moulding the institutions
wherever it went.
A knowledge of this early Indian period in the history of
Pennsylvania is essential to a right understanding of the history of
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, as well as to a comprehensive
understanding of the history of the Nation. Nearly all of the early
expeditions into the Indian country beyond the Ohio, as well as
nearly all of the first companies of settlers in Ohio, Indiana and far
distant Texas, were made up of Pennsylvanians. The expeditions
of Colonel William Crawford, General Arthur St. Clair, General
George R. Clark, General Anthony Wayne and many others of
lesser fame were made up chiefly, if not entirely, of Pennsyl-
vanians.
The migration of the Lenape, or Delaware, from the Atlantic
to the Susquehanna and then to the Ohio, taking with it the warlike
and powerful Shawnee, had a far reaching influence in the develop-
ment of civilization of the Continent. These two dominant tribes
carried after them the great train of Indian traders from Pennsyl-
vania, who roamed as far northward as Detroit and as far west-
ward as the Mississippi. The presence of these traders in the
territory claimed by France was the underlying cause of the French
and Indian War, which was the first in the series of events resulting
in the birth of the United States. With all of these events which
were taking place, the migration of the Indians, the Indian trade,
the rivalry between France and Great Britain, the building of the
French forts, and then the long fight for possession of the Conti-
nent, Pennsylvania was directly related.
The period of Border Wars in Pennsylvania is one of the most
thrilling and bloody chapters in American history. Pennsylvania
suffered more than did any of the other Colonies during this long
period stretching from 1755 to 1795. The massacre at Penn's
Creek, 1755, marks its actual commencement and the Treaty at
Greenville, in 1795, marks its ending. During this period of forty
years, Pennsylvania was engaged in an unbroken war with the
Indians, and during that time the soil of the Province and then of
the State was literally drenched with blood. Years after a new
Nation had been born, and after peace had come to the settlements
Introduction
east of the Alleghenies, the settlers on the Ohio were still fighting
to hold what they possessed, and it was not until General Anthony
Wayne finally conquered the Indians, that peace came to the har-
ried frontiers of Pennsylvania.
The author of this introductory note has long been a student
of this vital and romantic period of Pennsylvania history. For
many years he has made the period of Indian occupation and the
conflict of the Indian with the white man a special field of investi-
gation. He feels that the work, so well done by Mr. Sipe, is a
most valuable contribution to the written history of this period.
When Mr. Sipe had written a part of his history of "The Indian
Chiefs of Pennsylvania", he wrote to the author of this introduc-
tion saying that if its publication in book form would in any way
interfere with anything which he had in mind, he would stop
work. The author replied to this very gracious letter, urging Mr.
Sipe to go on with his work and to publish it. After having read
the entire manuscript which Mr. Sipe has prepared with infinite
care, the writer is glad that he has such a worthy fellow-worker in
the field of Indian history of Pennsylvania. His methods have
been truly scientific and scholarly, and, as a result the book is
accurate and reveals an immense amount of careful research for all
of the material used.
The book is a real contribution to the vitally important and
thrillingly romantic period of the history of Pennsylvania.
George P. Donehoo.
Principal Sources Utilized in the
Preparation of this Work
Archives of Pennsylvania.
Colonial Records of Pennsylvania.
Egle's History of Pennsylvania.
Gordon's History of Pennsylvania.
Day's Historical Collections.
Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania.
Pennvpacker's Pennsylvania, the Key-
stone.
Loudon's Indian Narratives.
Rupp's County Histories.
Magazines of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.
Egle's Notes and Queries.
Miner's History of Wyoming.
Jenkin's Pennsylvania, Colonial and Fed-
eral.
Lossing's Field Book of the Revolution.
On the Frontier with Colonel Antes.
Meginness' Otzinachson.
Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley.
Hassler's Old Westmoreland.
Fisher's Making of Pennsylvania.
McCIure's Old Time Notes.
Parkman's Works.
Jones' Juniata Valley.
H anna's Wilderness Trail.
March's History of Pennsylvania.
Smith's History of Armstrong County.
Veech's Monongahela of Old.
Mc Knight's Pioneer History of North-
western Pennsylvania.
Conover's Journal of the Military Ex-
pedition of Major-General Sullivan
against the Six Nations of New York
in 1779.
Craig's The Olden Time.
Darlington's Fort Pitt and Letters from
the Frontier.
Darlington's Christopher Gist's Journals.
Hodge's Handbook of American Indians.
Hulhert's Historic Highways of America.
Rupp's Early History of Western Penn-
sylvania and the West.
Thvvaites' Early Western Travels.
Thwaites' Documentary History of Lord
Dunmore's War.
Walton's Conrad Weiser and the Indian
Policy of Colonial Pennsylvania.
Withers' Chronicles of Border Warfare.
Craig's History of Pittsburgh.
Cort's Henry Bouquet.
Keith's Chronicles of Pennsylvania.
Boucher's History of Westmoreland
County.
Albert's History of Westmoreland Coun-
ty.
Donehoo's Pennsylvania — A History.
DeSchweinitz's Life of David Zeisberger.
Espenshade's Pennsylvania Place Names.
Heckewelder's Works.
Mann's Life of Henry Melchior Muhlen-
berg.
Father Lambing's Works.
Butterfield's Washington-Irvine Corres-
pondence.
Washington's Journal.
Celeron's Journal.
Colden's History of the Five Nations.
Volwiler's George Croghan.
Johnson's Swedish Settlements on the
Delaware.
Laskiel's History of the Mission of the
United Brethren Among the Indians
of North America.
Patterson's History of the Backwoods.
Doddridge's Settlement and Indian Wars
of Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Godcharles' Daily Stories of Pennsyl-
vania.
Sawvel's Logan, the Mingo.
And Others.
CONTENTS
Page
Chapter I — A View of the Indian Tribes Inhabiting Penn-
sylvania 1 3
Chapter II — A View of the Indian Tribes Inhabiting Penn-
sylvania (Continued) 21
Chapter III — Mattahorn and Naaman 46
Chapter IV — Tamanend 57
Chapter V — Opessah and His Son, Loyparcowah 64
Chapter VI — Oretyagh, Ocowellos, and Captain Civility 74
Chapter VII — Sassoonan, or Allumapees 88
Chapter VIII — Kakowatcheky, Peter Chartier, Kishacoquillas
and Neucheconneh 102
Chapter IX— Shikellamy 122
Chapter X — Shikellamy (Continued) 134
Chapter XI — Shikellamy (Continued) 151
Chapter XII — Nutimus and Manawkyhickon 165
Chapter XIII — Tanacharison, the Half King 179
Chapter XIV — Tanacharison, the Half King, (Continued) 198
Chapter XV— Scarouady 213
Chapter XVI — Scarouady (Continued) 232
Chapter XVII — Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy, Paxinosa 255
Chapter XVII I— Captain Jacobs 269
Chapter XIX — Shingas, King Beaver, and Pisquetomen 287
Chapter XX — Madam Montour and her son, Andrew Mon-
* tour 310
Chapter XXI — Teedyuscung 326
Chapter XXII — Teeduscung (Continued) 34b
Chapter XXII 1 — Guyasuta 371
Chapter XXI V— Guyasuta (Continued) 392
Chapter XXV— New Comer, White Eyes, and Killbuck 409
Chapter XXVI — Captain Pipe and Glikkikan 420
Chapter XXVI I— Cornstalk 433
Chapter XXVIII— Logan, Chief of the Mingoes 437
Chapter XXIX— Bald Eagle 449
Chapter XXX— Cornplanter 458
Chapter XXXI — Indian Events in Pennsylvania During the
Revolutionary War 473
Chapter XXXII — Indian Events in Pennsylvania During the
Revolutionary War (Continued) 495
Chapter XXXI II — Last of Indian Outrages in Pennsylvania.... 524
Chapter XXXIV — Wayne's Victory and Final Peace 546
Chronological Table .551
Index 561
CHAPTER I.
A View of the Indian Tribes
Inhabiting Pennsylvania
HEN the historic curtain first rises on the region embraced
within the bounds of Pennsylvania, we find its remote
and awful solitudes inhabited by a number of Indian
tribes which it is the purpose of the first two chapters of
this book briefly to describe. Here, along the streams and in the
mountain valleys of our state, they had lived for generations lives
full of romance, of love, of rivalry, of hatred, of tragedy. They
roamed the hills and vales; they pursued the deer amid the forests;
they paddled their bark canoes along the streams; they built their
council-fires on the shore; they warred; they worshipped the
Master of Life, and from their dusky bosoms went up many* a
pure prayer to the Great Spirit. Thus, in the vast solitudes of
nature, they had lived from remote ages, never dreaming that
from afar would come a stronger race which would plant amid the
wilderness the hamlet and the town, and cause cities to rise where
the forest waved over the Red Man's home.
Go where we may, in Pennsylvania, we are put in remem-
brance of the great race that roamed the hills and vales of our
state. Their council-fires have long since gone out on the shores
of our rivers; they themselves have gone to the "Happy Hunting
Ground"; but their names will linger on the mountains and
streams of Pennsylvania to the end of time.
"Ye say they have all pass'd away,
That noble race and brave, —
That their light canoes have vanish' d
From off the crested wave;
That 'mid the forest where they roam'd
There rings no hunter's shout:
But their name is on your waters;
Ye may not wash it out.
14 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"Ye say their cone-like cabins,
That cluster 'd o'er the vale,
Have disappear 'd as ivither'd leaves
Before the autumn gale;
But their memory liveth on your hills,
Their baptism on your shore,
Your everlasting rivers speak
Their dialect of yore."
THE DELAWARES OR LENAPE
At the dawn of the historic period of Pennsylvania, we find
the basin of the Delaware River inhabited by an Indian tribe
called the Delawares, or Lenape. The English called them Dela-
wares from the fact that, upon their arrival in this region, they
found the council-fires of this tribe on the banks of the Delaware
River. The French called them Loups, "wolves", a term probably
first applied to the Mohicans, a kindred tribe, on the Hudson
River in New York. However, in their own language, they were
called Lenape, or Lenni-Lenape, meaning "real men", or "original
men".
The Lenape belonged to the great Algonquin family — by far
the greatest Indian family in North America, measured by the
extent of territory occupied. This family surrounded on all sides
the Iroquoian family, of which we shall hereafter speak, and
extended from Labrador westward through Canada to the Rocky
Mountains and southward to South Carolina. It also extended
westward through the Mississippi Valley to the Rocky Mountains.
The most important tribes of this family were the Mohican,
Massachuset, Miami, Sac and Fox, Ojibwa, Blackfoot, Illinois,
Shawnee, and Lenape; and among the great personages of the
Algonquins were King Philip, Pocahontas, Pontiac, Tecumseh, and
Tamenend, the last of whom made the historic treaty with William
Penn described in Chapter V.
Traditional History of the Lenape
The early traditional history of the Lenape is contained in
their national legend, the Walum Olum. According to this sacred
tribal history, the Lenape, in long ages past, lived in the vast
region west of the Mississippi. For some reason not known, they
left their western home, and, after many years of wandering east-
A View of the Indian Tribes 15
ward, reached the Namaesi Sipu, or Mississippi, where they fell
in with the Mengwe, or Iroquois, who had likewise emigrated from
the distant West in search of a new home, and had arrived at this
river at a point somewhat higher up. The spies sent forward by
the Lenape for the purpose of reconnoitering, had discovered, be-
fore the arrival of the main body, that the region east of the
Mississippi was inhabited by a powerful nation called the
Talligewi, or Alligewi, whose domain reached eastward to the
Allegheny Mountains, which together with the beautiful Allegheny
River, are named for this ancient race. The Alligewi had many
large towns on the rivers of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, and
had built innumerable mounds, fortifications and intrenchments,
hundreds of which still remain, and are called the works of the
"Mound Builders". Says Schoolcraft: "The banks of the Alle-
gheny were, in ancient times, occupied by an important tribe, now
unknown, who preceded the Delawares and Iroquois. They were
called Alleghans (Alligewi) by Colden." It is related that the
Alligewi were tall and stout, and that there were giants among
them.
When the Lenape arrived at the Mississippi, they sent a mes-
sage to the Alligewi requesting that they be permitted to settle
among them. This request was refused, but the Lenape obtained
permission to pass through the territory of the Alligewi and seek
a settlement farther to the eastward. They accordingly began to
cross the Mississippi; but the Alligewi, seeing that their numbers
were vastly greater than they had supposed, made a furious attack
upon those who had crossed, and threatened the whole tribe with
destruction, if they dared to persist in crossing to the eastern side
of the river.
Angered by the treachery of the Alligewi and not being pre-
pared for conflict, the Lenape consulted together as to whether
they should make a trial of strength, and were convinced that the
enemy were too powerful for them. Then the Mengwe, who had
hitherto been spectators from a distance, offered to join the Lenape,
on condition that, after conquering the Alligewi, they should be
entitled to share in the fruits of the conquest.
Having united their forces, the Lenape and the Mengwe de-
clared war against the Alligewi, and started on their onward
march eastward across the continent, gradually driving out the
Alligewi, who fled down the Mississippi Valley never to return.
This conquest lasted many years, during which the Lenape lost
great numbers of their best warriors, while the Mengwe would
16 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
always lag back in the rear leaving them to bear the brunt of
battle. At the end, the conquerors divided the possessions of the
defeated race; the Mengwe taking the country in the vicinity of
the Great Lakes and their tributary streams, and the Lenape taking
the land to the south. There has been much conjecture as to who
the ancient Alligewi were, some historians believing them to have
been the "Mound Builders," but most modern authorities believe
them to have been identical with the Cherokees.
For a long period, possibly many centuries, according to the
Walum Olum, the Mengwe and Lenape resided peacefully in this
country, and increased rapidly in population. Some of their
hunters and warriors crossed the Allegheny Mountains, and, arriv-
ing at the streams flowing eastward, followed them to the Susque-
hanna River, and this stream to the ocean. Other enterprising
pathfinders penetrated the wilderness to the Delaware River, and
exploring still eastward, arrived at the Hudson. Some of these
explorers returned to their nation and reported the discoveries they
had made, describing the country as abounding in game and the
streams as having an abundance of water-fowl and fish, with no
enemy to be dreaded.
The Lenape considered these discoveries as fortunate for them,
and believed the newly found region to be the country destined for
them by the Great Spirit as their permanent abode. Consequently
they began to migrate thither, settling on the four great rivers, — the
Susquehanna, the Potomac, the Delaware, and the Hudson. The
Walum Olum states, however, that not all of the Lenape reached
the eastern part of the United States, many of them having re-
mained behind to assist a great body of their people who had not
crossed the Mississippi, but had retreated into the interior of the
country on the other side, on being informed of the treacherous
attack of the Alligewi upon those who had attempted to cross this
stream. It is further stated that another part of the Lenape re-
mained near the eastern bank of the Mississippi.
According to this traditional history, therefore, the Lenape
nation finally became divided into three separate bodies; the part
that had not crossed the Mississippi; the part that remained near
the eastern bank of the Mississippi; and the part that settled on
the four great eastern rivers above named.
That branch of the Delawares which settled in the eastern part
of the country divided into three divisions, or clans, — the Munsee,
(later corrupted to Monsey), the Unami, and the Unalachtigo.
These were called the Wolf, the Turtle, and the Turkey clans re-
A View of the Indian Tribes 17
spectively, from their respective animal types of totems. With
these creatures which they had adopted as their symbols, they be-
lieved themselves connected by a mystic and powerful tie.
The Munsee (Wolf Clan), at the dawn of the historic period,
were living in the mountain country, from about the mouth of the
Lehigh River northward into New York and New Jersey, em-
bracing the territory between the Blue or Kittatinny Mountains
and the sources of the Susquehanna and Delaware rivers. A part
of the tribe, also, dwelt on the Susquehanna, and still another part
had a village and peach orchard near Nazareth in Northampton
County, in the triangle between the Delaware and Lehigh. How-
ever, their chief village was Minisink, in Sussex County, New
Jersey. The Munsee were the most warlike of the Delawares;
they took a prominent part in the Indian wars of Colonial Pennsyl-
vania. Being defrauded out of their lands by the notorious
"Walking Purchase" of 1737, which obliged them to move, first to
the Susquehanna and then to the Ohio, they became the bitter
enemies of the white man, and drenched the frontier settlements
with the blood of the pioneers. The Munsee have frequently
been considered a separate tribe, inasmuch as they differed greatly
from the other clans of the Lenape, and spoke a different dialect.
The Unami (Turtle Clan), "down river people", at the open-
ing of the historic period dwelt on both sides of the Delaware from
the mouth of the Lehigh to the line dividing the states of Pennsyl-
vania and Delaware. Their chief village was Shackamaxon, which
was probably the capital of the Lenape nation, and it stood on
about the site of Germantown, a suburb of Philadelphia. The
principal chief of the Unami was the "King" of the united Lenape
nation, by immemorial custom presiding at all the councils of the
tribe.
The L'nalachtigo (Turkey Clan) "people living near the sea,"
at the opening of the historic period, occupied the land on the lower
reach of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay. Their villages
were on both sides of the river; and their chief village, or capital of
the clan, was Chikoki, on the site of Burlington, New Jersey.
From these three clans, or tribes, comprising the great body of
the Delawares, have sprung many others, who, for their own
convenience, chose distant parts in which to settle. Among
these were the Mahicans, or Mohicans, who by intermarriage be-
came a detached body, and crossing the Hudson River, dwelt in
eastern New York and western Connecticut; and the Nanticokes,
who had proceeded to the South, and settled in Maryland and Vir-
ginia.
18 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
It is to be noted, too, that the Delawares, by reason of priority
of political rank and of occupying the central home territory from
which the kindred tribes had diverged, were assigned special dig-
nity and authority. It is said that forty tribes looked up to them
with respect, and that, in the great councils of the Algonquins,
they took first place as "grandfathers" of the race, while others
were called by them "children", "grandchildren", and "nephews".
It is not certain that this precedence of the Delawares had any
importance within the period of white settlement, but it no doubt
had in the far dim past. And it seems true that the Algonquin
tribes refrained from war with one another.
THE IROQUOIS FORM A GREAT CONFEDERATION
AND SUBJUGATE THE LENAPE
It will be remembered that, when the Lenape, or Delawares,
and the Mengwe, or Iroquois, divided the country of the Alligewi
between them, the Mengwe took the part in the vicinity of the
Great Lakes and their tributary streams, north of the part taken
by the Lenape. The Mengwe later proceeded farther and settled
below the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River, so that
when the Lenape had moved to the eastern part of the United
States, the Mengwe became their northern neighbors. The
Mengwe now became jealous of the growing power of the Lenape,
and finally assumed dominion over them.
To the Moravian Missionary, Rev. John Heckewelder, who
had lived among the Delawares for more than thirty years, they
related how this dominion came about. The great chiefs of the
Delawares stated to Heckewelder that the Mengwe clandestinely
sought to start quarrels between the Lenape and distant tribes,
hoping thus to break the might of the Lenape. Each nation had
a particular mark on its war clubs, different from that of any
other nation. So the Mengwe, having stolen into the Cherokee
country and secretly murdered a Cherokee and left beside the
victim a war club, such as the Lenape used, the Cherokees natur-
ally concluded that the Lenape committed the murder, and fell
suddenly upon them, and a long and bloody war ensued between
the two nations. The treachery of the Mengwe having been at
length discovered, the Lenape resolved upon the extermination of
this deceitful tribe. War was declared against the Mengwe, and
carried on with vigor, when the Mengwe, finding that they were
no match for the powerful Lenape and their kindred tribes, resolv-
A View of the Indian Tribes 19
ed upon uniting their clans into a confederacy. Up until this
time, each tribe of the Mengwe had acted independently of the
others, and they had not been inclined to come under any supreme
authority. Accordingly, about the year 1570, the Mengwe formed
the great confederacy of their five kindred tribes, the Mohawks,
the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas, known
as the Five (later Six) Nations.
Thus the Delawares claimed that the Iroquois Confederacy
was formed for the purpose of preventing the extermination of the
Mengwe by the Lenape. Other authorities say that the purpose
was to end inter-tribal feud and war among the Mengwe, them-
selves; to enable the allied tribes to make mutual offense and de-
fense, and to advance their general welfare. Thannawage, it is
claimed, was the aged Mohawk chief who first proposed the alli-
ance. Other authorities say that Dekanawida, the Iroquois
statesman, prophet and lawgiver, planned and formed the historic
confederation; and that he was assisted in this work by his disciple
and co-adjutor, Hiawatha, whose name has been immortalized by
the poet, Longfellow, in his charming poem. It is to be noted, how-
ever, that, while in "Hiawatha", Longfellow gave the English
language one of its finest poems; yet, due to his adopting the error
of Schoolcraft in applying to Hiawatha the myths and legends
relating to the Chippewa deity, Manabozho, this poem does not
contain a single fact or fiction relating to the great chieftain of the
Iroquois.
The following chiefs, also, assisted in forming the confederacy:
Toganawita, representing the Onondagas; Togahayon, represent-
ing the Cayugas; and Ganiatario and Satagaruyes, representing
the Senecas. This confederacy is known in history as the Five
Nations, until the Tuscaroras, a tribe having been expelled from
North Carolina and Virginia in 1712 or 1713, and having sought an
asylum among the Iroquois of Pennsylvania and New York, were
formally admitted to the alliance in 1722, after which time the con-
federacy is known as the Six Nations. The French gave the
Indians of the confederacy the name of Iroquois, while the Dela-
wares continued to call them Mengwe, later corrupted to Mingo.
The Mohicans and the Dutch called them Maquas, while Powhatan
called them Massawomekes.
But, to resume the story which the Delawares told Hecke-
welder. They said that, after the forming of the confederacy,
very bloody wars were carried on between the Iroquois and them-
selves in which they were generally successful, and while these wars
20 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
were in progress, the French landed in Canada and combined
against the Iroquois, inasmuch as the Five Nations were not will-
ing that these Europeans should establish themselves in that
country. At last the Mengwe, or Iroquois, seeing themselves be-
tween two fires, and not seeing any prospect of conquering the
Lenape by arms, resorted to a stratagem to secure dominion over
them.
The plan was to persuade the Lenape to abstain from the use
of arms, and to assume the station of mediators and umpires
among their warlike neighbors. In the language of the Indians,
the Lenape were to be made "women". As explaining the signifi-
cance of this expression, the Delawares said that wars among the
Indians in those days were never brought to an end, but by the
interference of the weaker sex. It was not considered becoming
for a warrior to ask for peace. He must fight to the end. "With
these dispositions, war would never have ceased among Indians,
until the extermination of one or the other party, if the tender and
compassionate sex had not come forward, and by their moving
speeches, persuaded the enraged combatants to bury their hatchets,
and make peace. On these occasions they were very eloquent . . .
They would describe the sorrows of widowed wives, and, above all,
of bereaved mothers. The pangs of child-birth, they had willingly
suffered. They had carefully reared their sons to manhood. Then
how cruel it was to see these promising youths fall victims to the
rage of war, — to see them slaughtered on the field, or burned at the
stake. The thought of such scenes made them curse their own
existence and shudder at the thought of bearing children."
Speeches like these generally had the desired effect, and the women,
by the honorable function of peace-makers, held a very dignified
position. Therefore, it would be a magnanimous and honorable
act for a powerful nation like the Lenape to assume that station
by which they would be the means of saving the Indian race from
extinction.
Such, according to Heckewelder, were the arguments used by
the artful Iroquois to ensnare the Lenape. Unfortunately the
Delawares listened to the voice of their enemies, and consented to
become the "woman nation" among the Indians. With elaborate
ceremonies, they were installed in their new function. Eloquent
speeches were made, accompanied with belts of wampum. The
place of the ceremony of "taking the hatchet out of the hand of the
Lenape" and of placing them in the situation of "the woman" was
at Nordman's Kill, about four miles south of Albany, New York.
A View of the Indian Tribes 21
The year of the alleged occurrence is unknown, but it is said to
have been somewhere between 1609 and 1620. Both the Delawares
and the Mohicans told Heckewelder that the Dutch were present
at this ceremony and had no inconsiderable part in the intrigue,
the Mohicans explaining that it was fear that caused the Dutch of
New York to conspire with the Mengwe against the Lenape. It
appears that, at the place where the Dutch were then making their
settlement, great bodies of warriors would pass and repass, inter-
rupting their undertakings; so that they thought it well to have an
alliance with the Iroquois. Furthermore, the Delawares told
Heckewelder that, when the English took New York from the
Dutch, they stepped into the same alliance with the Iroquois that
their predecessors had made.
The Iroquois denied that such an intrigue as related above
ever took place. They alleged, on the other hand, that they had
conquered the Lenape in battle and had thus compelled them to
become "women", — to submit to the greatest humiliation a spirited
and warlike nation can suffer. Many historians believe that the
Delawares imposed upon the venerable Rev. Heckewelder by in-
venting a cunning tale in explanation of the humiliation under
which they were smarting. Also, President William Henry Harri-
son, in his "Aborigines of the Ohio Valley", gives the story of the
Delawares little credence. He says that the Delawares were too
sagacious a race to fall into such a snare as they allege the Iroquois
laid for them. Rev. Heckewelder, the staunch friend of the Dela-
wares, calls attention to the fact that, while the Iroquois claim they
conquered the Delawares by force of arms and not by stratagem,
yet the Iroquois have no tradition among them of the particulars
of the conquest.
So much for the story which the Delawares told Heckewelder.
Many authorities state, however, that the time of the subjugation
of the Delawares was much later than the date given Heckewelder.
Some have stated that the Delawares were not made tributaries of
the Iroquois until after the coming of William Penn; but the cele-
brated Delaware chief, King Beaver, told Conrad Weiser at Augh-
wick on September 4, 1754, that the subjugation took place before
Penn's arrival. At the first extended conference between the Penn-
sylvania Authorities and the Indians, of which a record has been
preserved, held at Philadelphia on July 6, 1694, the Delaware
chief, Hithquoquean, or Idquoquequoan, advised the Colonial
Authorities that he and his associate chiefs had shortly before this
time received a message from the Onondagas and Senecas contain-
22 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
ing the following statement: "You Delaware Indians do nothing
but stay at home and boil your pots, and are like women; while we
Onondagas and Senecas go ahead and fight the enemy." We,
therefore, conclude that it cannot be stated with exactness, just
when the subjugation of the Delawares took place; and, inasmuch
as there is no record of any conquest after the time of Penn's
arrival, it may be that the subjugation took place through fear and
intimidation rather than by war.
Whatever may be the facts as to how the Iroquois reduced the
Delawares to a state of vassalage — whether by artifice, intimida-
tion, or warfare — the fact remains that about the year 1720, this
powerful northern confederacy assumed active dominion over
them, forbidding them to make war or sales of lands, — a condition
that existed until the time of the French and Indian War. During
the summer of 1755, the Delawares declared that they were no
longer subjects of the Six Nations, and, at Tioga, in the year 1756,
their great chieftain, Teedyuscung, extorted from the chiefs of the
Iroquois an acknowledgment of Delaware independence. How-
ever, from time to time, after 1756, the Iroquois persisted in claim-
ing the Delawares were their vassals, until shortly before the treaty
of Greenville, Darke County, Ohio, in August, 1795, when they
formally declared the Delaware nation to be no longer "women",
but MEN. This was the famous treaty between the United States
Government, represented by General Anthony Wayne, who had
defeated the western tribes at the battle of the Fallen Timbers, on
August 20 of the preceding year, and the Shawnees, Delawares,
Wyandots, Ottawas, Potawattomies, Miamis and smaller tribes,
by the terms of which treaty about two-thirds of the present state
of Ohio was ceded to the United States. As will be seen later, the
subjection of the Delawares to the Six Nations greatly complicated
negotiations on the part of the colony of Pennsylvania for the
purchase of the lands of the Delawares, inasmuch as the Iroquois'
seat of government was in the colony of New York.
WESTWARD MIGRATION OF THE DELAWARES
As early as 1724, Delawares of the Turtle and Turkey clans
began, by permission of the Six Nations, to migrate from the
region near the Forks of the Susquehanna to the valleys of the
Allegheny and Ohio, coming chiefly from the country to the east
and southeast of Shamokin (Sunbury). They proceeded up the
east side of the West Branch of the Susquehanna as far as Lock
A View of the Indian Tribes 15
Haven, where they crossed this stream, and ascended the valley of
Bald Eagle Creek to a point near where Milesburg, Center County,
now stands. From there, they went in a westerly direction along
Marsh Creek, over or near Indian Grave Hill, near Snowshoe and
Moshanon, Center County, crossing Moshanon Creek; and from
there through Morris, Graham, Bradford, and Lawrence town-
ships, Clearfield County, reaching the West Branch of the Susque-
hanna again at Chinklaclamoose, on the site of the present town of
Clearfield, Clearfield County. From this point, they ascended the
West Branch of the Susquehanna for a few miles; thence up
Anderson's Creek, crossing the divide between this stream and the
Mahoning, in Brady Township, Clearfield County; thence down
the Mahoning Valley through Punxsutawney, Jefferson County,
to a point on the Allegheny River, about ten miles below the
mouth of the Mahoning, where they built their first town in the
course of their westward migration, which they called Kittanning,
— a town famous in the Indian annals of Pennsylvania. Other
Delaware towns were soon established in the Allegheny Valley and
other places in the western part of the state to which the migration
continued until the outbreak of the French and Indian War. The
"Walking Purchase" of 1737 caused the westward migration of the
Delawares of the Wolf clan. Thus it is seen that the Delawares
retraced their steps across Pennsylvania.
DOMAIN OF THE IROQUOIS
When the historic period of Pennsylvania begins, we find the
domain of the Five Nations extending from the borders of Ver-
mont to Lake Erie, and from Lake Ontario to the headwaters of
the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Allegheny. This territory they
called their "long house". The Senecas, who lived on the head-
waters of the Allegheny, and many of whose settlements were in
Pennsylvania, guarded the western door of the house, the Mo-
hawks, the eastern, and the Cayugas, the southern, or that which
opened on the Susquehanna.
The principal village and capital of these "Romans of Ameri-
ca", as DeWitt Clinton called them, was called Onondaga, later
Onondaga Castle, and was situated from before 1654 to 1681, on
Indian Hill, in the present town of Pompey, near Onondaga Lake,
in central New York. In 1677 it contained 140 cabins. After-
ward it was removed to Butternut Creek, where the castle was
burned in 1696, in the war between the Five Nations and the
24 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
French. In 1720, it was again removed to Onondaga Creek, a few
miles south of Lake Onondaga.
The Smithsonian Institution, in its "Handbook of American
Indians", says the following of the Iroquois: "Around the Great
Council Fire of the League of the Iroquois at Onondaga, with
punctilious observance of the parliamentary proprieties recognized
in Indian diplomacyand statescraft, and with a decorum that would
add grace to many legislative assemblies of the white man, the
federal senators of the Iroquois tribes devised plans, formulated
policies, and defined principles of government and political action,
which not only strengthened their state and promoted their com-
mon welfare, but also deeply affected the contemporary history of
the whites in North America. To this body of half-clad federal
chieftains were repeatedly made overtures of peace and friend-
ship by two of the most powerful kingdoms of Europe, whose
statesmen often awaited with apprehension the decisions of this
senate of North American Savages." And Colden in his "History
of the Five Nations", says: "The Five Nations are a poor and,
generally called barbarious people; and yet a bright and noble
genius shines through these black clouds. None of the greatest
Roman heroes discovered a greater love to their country, or a
greater contempt of death, than these people called barbarians have
done, when liberty came in competition .... They carried their
arms as far southward as Carolina, to the northward of New Eng-
land, and as far west as the River Mississippi, over a vast country,
which extends twelve hundred miles in length, and about six hun-
dred miles in breadth; where they entirely destroyed many na-
tions, of whom there are now no accounts remaining among the
English."
So great was the scourge of the Iroquois that, during the
closing decades of the seventeenth century and the first two decades
of the eighteenth century, the region south of Lake Erie on both
sides of the upper Ohio and Allegheny contained practically no
Indian population; and the Iroquois looked upon this vast terri-
tory as their great hunting ground.
Speaking of the warfare of the Iroquois, DeWitt Clinton said:
"They reduced war to a science, and all their movements were
directed by system and policy. They never attacked a hostile
country until they had sent out spies to explore and designate its
vulnerable points, and when they encamped, they observed the
greatest circumspection to guard against spies. Whatever super-
iority of force they might have, they never neglected the use of
stratagem, employing all the crafty wiles of the Carthagenians."
A View of the Indian Tribes 25
The unwritten law of this great confederation had a power
unequaled by any statutes ever recorded in the statute books of the
white man. Professor W. W. Clayton, in his excellent work, "The
History of Onondaga County, New York," in which county the
central seat of the Five Nations was located, gives an instance of
the power of this unwritten law. Says Professor Clayton:
"A young man of the Cayugas came to the Onondagas and
claimed their hospitality. He lived among them two years,
attaching himself to a Mr. Webster who lived for many years
among the Onondagas and had a woman of that tribe for a wife.
He appeared contented and happy, always foremost in the chase,
most active in the dance, and loudest in the song. Mantinoah was
his name. One morning he said to his friend, '1 have a vow to per-
form. My nation and my friends know that Mantinoah will be
true. My friend, 1 wish you to go with me.' Webster consented.
After a pleasant journey of a few days, enlivened with fishing and
hunting, they came in the afternoon to a place that Mantinoah
said was near his village, and where he wished to invoke the Great
Spirit. After a repast and after a pipe had been smoked, Manti-
noah said: 'Two winters have gone since, in my village, in the
fury of anger, 1 slew my bosom friend and adopted brother. The
chief declared me guilty of my brother's blood, and I must die.
My execution was deferred for two full years, during which time
I was condemned to banishment. I vowed to return. It was
then I sought your nation (the Onondagas); it was thus I won
your friendship; the nearest in blood to him I slew, according to
our customs, is the avenger. The time expires when the sun sinks
behind the topmost boughs of the trees. I am ready. My friend,
we have had may a cheerful sport together; our joys have been
many; our griefs have been few; look not sad now. When you
return to the Onondagas, tell them that Mantinoah died like a true
brave of the Cayugas; tell them that he trembled not at the
approach of death, like the coward pale face, nor shed tears like a
woman. My friend, take my belt, my knife, my hunting pouch,
my horn, my rifle, as tokens of my friendship. Soon the avenger
will come; the Great Spirit calls; Mantinoah fears not death;
farewell. Vainly Mr. Webster urged him to escape. A short
period of silence, and a yell is heard. Mantinoah responds. The
avenger appears and takes the hand of his former friend, now his
victim. Mutual salutations follow, with expressions of regret
made by the executioner, but none by the doomed. The tomahawk
gleams in the air, not a muscle moves nor does the cheek of
26 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Mantinoah blanch; folding his arms on his breast he received the
blow. As if by magic, a host appears; the song of death is sung,
and the solemn dance or death march is performed. Webster is
invited to the village, where he is hospitably entertained, and when
ready to return, is accompanied by a party of Cayugas to his home.
Thus powerful was the unwritten law of the Iroquois."
The government of the Iroquois gave to the orator, who by his
eloquence could sway his hearers, a vast influence; and we find that
many men of note appeared among them since they came in con-
tact with the whites, who were well qualified to conduct their nego-
tiations and reflected as much renown on their nation as their
bravest warriors. DeWitt Clinton says of the speech of the great
Iroquois chief, Garangula, to the French General, De la Barre:
"I believe it impossible to find in all the affusions of English or
modern oratory a speech more appropriate or convincing. Under
the veil of respectful profession, it conveys the most biting irony,
and while it abounds with rich and splendid imagery, it contains
the most solid reasoning. I place it in the same rank with the
celebrated speech of Logan."
In concluding this sketch of the Iroquois Confederation, we
add that, for many years after the historic curtain first rises on the
domain of Pennsylvania, the Iroquois carried on a relentless war-
fare with the Catawbas of the South. The Susquehanna River
was the highway followed by their war parties on their way to and
return from the territory of the Catawbas.
CHAPTER II.
A View of the Indian Tribes
Inhabiting Pennsylvania
(Continued)
THE SUSQUEHANNAS, MINQUAS, OR
CONESTOGAS
HE Susquehannas is the general term applied to the
Indians living on both sides of the Susquehanna River
and its tributaries, in Pennsylvania, at the beginning of
the historic period. Racially and linguistically, they
were of Iroquoian stock, but were never taken into the league of
the Iroquois, except as subjects. These related tribes were known
by various names. Captain John Smith, the Virginia pioneer, who
met them while exploring Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries in
1608, called them the "Susquehannocks." The French called
them the Andastes, while the Dutch and Swedes called them
Minquas. In the latter days of their history as a tribe, they were
called the Conestogas.
To Captain John Smith belongs the distinction of being the
first white man to see the Indians of Pennsylvania, though he never
set foot on Pennsylvania soil; and the Indians, meeting him and
his companions, beheld for the first time the race that was coming
to drive them from their streams and hunting grounds. These
Indians were the Susquehannas. Smith's meeting with them came
about in the following manner:
On the 24th day of July, 1608, Smith left Jamestown, Virginia,
on a voyage of discovery. He sailed in an open barge of only
several tons burden, and had with him only twelve companions.
His party entered Chesapeake Bay and the Susquehanna River
almost to the Pennsylvania line, returning to Jamestown on the 7th
day of September. He states that, in crossing the bay, his party
encountered seven or eight canoes full of Iroquois, whom he called
Massawomeks, and that, after a parley, they presented the Vir-
ginians with venison, bears' flesh, and some bows and arrows, and
informed them that they had just been at war with the Tockwoghs,
28 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
who lived nearby. They exhibited "greene wounds", which they
explained to Smith they had received in battle with the Tockwoghs.
They left Smith's party in the evening, promising to return in the
morning, but never reappeared.
Smith then determined to visit the Tockwoghs, which he did,
finding them living near the head of the bay, on the Tockwogh or
Sassafras River, in Maryland. He says that he found the Tock-
woghs possessed of many hatchets, knives and pieces of brass,
which, they explained, they had received from the Susquehannas,
a mighty people living farther to the north on the Susquehanna
River, and mortal enemies of the Massawomeks, or Iroquois.
Smith prevailed with his interpreter to take with him another
interpreter from the Tockwoghs, to visit the towns of the Susque-
hannas, and to persuade them to pay Smith's party a visit. The
two interpreters then conveyed Smith's invitation to the Susque-
hannas, finding their chiefs in one of their principal towns, in
what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Smith's party remained with the friendly Tockwoghs on the
shores of the Sassafras for three or four days, awaiting the return
of the two messengers, whom he had sent to the Susquehannas.
At the end of that time, in response to Smith's invitation, sixty of
the Susquehannas came, and presented themselves before his party.
Smith gives the following interesting description of these Indians:
"Such great and well proportioned men are seldom seen, for
they seemed like giants to the English, yea, and to their neighbors,
yet seemed of an honest and simple disposition. They were with
much ado restrained from adoring us as gods. These are the
strangest people of all these countries, both in language and attire;
for their language it may well become their proportions, sounding
from them as a voice in the vault. Their attire is the skins of
bears and wolves; some have cossacks made of bears' heads and
skins, that a man's head goes through the skin's neck, and the ears
of the bear fastened to his shoulders, the nose and teeth hanging
down his breast, another bear's face split behind him, and at the
end of the nose hung a paw, the half sleeves coming to the elbows
were the necks of bears, and the arms through the mouth with paws
hanging at their noses. One had the head of a wolfe hanging in a
chain for a jewel, his tobacco pipe three quarters of a yard long,
prettily carved with a bird, a deer, or some such device at the great
end, sufficient to beat out one's brans; with bows, arrows, and
clubs, suitable to their greatness. Five of their chief Werowances
came aboard us and crossed the bay in the barge. The picture of
A View of the Indian Tribes 29
the greatest of them is signified in the map. The calf of whose leg
was three-quarters of a yard about, and all the rest of his limbs so
answerable to that proportion that he seemed the goodliest man we
ever beheld. His hair, the one side was long, the other shorn close
with a ridge over his crown like a cock's comb. His arrows were
five quarters long, headed with the splinters of a white christall-
like stone, in form of a heart, an inch broad, an inch and a half
or more long. These he wore in a wolf's skin at his back for his
quiver, his bow in the one hand and his club in the other, as is
described."
Smith goes on to say that these Susquehannas were scarce
known to Powhatan, the great Virginia chief, but that they were a
powerful tribe living in palisaded towns to defend them from the
Massawomeks, or Iroquois, and having six hundred warriors.
During the ceremonies connected with the visit of this band of
Susquehannas, Smith says that they first sang "a most fearful
song," and then, "with a most strange, furious action and a hellish
voice began an oration." When the oration was ended, they deco-
rated Smith with a chain of large white beads, and laid presents
of skins and arrows at his feet, meanwhile stroking their hands
about his neck. They told him about their enemies, the Iroquois,
who, they said, lived beyond the mountains far to the north and
received their hatchets and other weapons from the French in
Canada. They implored Smith to remain with them as their
protector, which, of course, he could not do. "We left them at
Tockwogh," he says, "sorrowing for our departure."
Smith's account of the large stature of the Susquehannas has
been corroborated by subsequent discoveries, when burying
grounds of this tribe, in Lancaster County, were opened and very
large human skeletons found.
The Susquehannas, in the latter part of the seventeenth cen-
tury, carried on war with the "River Indians", as the Delawares,
or Lenape then living along the Delaware River, were called. The
Susquehannas were friendly with both the Swedes and the Dutch,
and shortly after the Swedes arrived on the Delaware in 1638, they
sold part of their lands to them. The Swedes equipped these
Indians with guns, and trained their warriors in European tactics.
When the Hurons were being worsted by the Iroquois in 1647, the
Susquehannas offered the friendly Hurons military assistance,
"backed by 1300 warriors in a single palisaded town, who had been
trained by Swedish soldiers." They were also friendly with the
colony of Maryland in the early days of its history, selling part of
30 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
their lands to the Marylanders, and receiving military supplies
from them.
The French explorer, Champlain, says that, in 1615, the Car-
antouannais, as he calls the Susquehannas, had many villages on
the upper part of the Susquehanna, and that their town, Caran-
touan, alone, could muster more than eight hundred warriors. The
exact location of Carantouan has been a matter of much conjec-
ture, but the weight of authority places it on or near the top of
Spanish Hill, in Athens Township, Bradford County, Pennsyl-
vania, and within sight of the town of Waverly, New York.
Carantouan has a firm place in the history of Pennsylvania
on account of its connection with the Frenchman, Estienne Brule,
the first white man, so far as is. known, to set foot on Pennsylvania
soil, and to behold its Indians on their native heath. The student
of history will recall that, in 1615, the French explorer, Champlain,
in order to learn more about the region embraced in what is now
New York State, joined a war party of Hurons against the Iro-
quois; and, in August of that year, he and the Hurons proposed to
attack a strong town of the Onondaga tribe of the Five Nations,
located most likely near the town of Fenner, in Madison County,
not far from Lake Oneida, New York. When Champlain was at
the village of Cahiague, near the lower end of Lake Simcoe, making
preparations for his advance against the Iroquois town, he learned
from the Hurons that there was a certain nation of their allies
dwelling three days journey beyond the Onondagas, who desired to
assist the Hurons in this expedition with five hundred of their
warriors. These allies were none other than that portion of the
Susquehannas, living along the Susquehanna River, near the
boundary between the states of Pennsylvania and New York. Ac-
cordingly, Champlain sent his interpreter, Estienne Brule, with
twelve Huron companions, to visit Carantouan, the chief town of
the Susquehannas in that region, for the purpose of hastening the
coming of the five hundred warriors.
Brule and his five hundred allies from Carantouan arrived be-
fore the Onondaga fortress too late to be of any assistance to
Champlain, who had already made two attacks upon the town,
had been wounded twice by the Onondagas, and, despairing of the
arrival of the promised assistance of five hundred warriors, had
already retreated toward Canada several days before the arrival of
Brule and his Indians. Brule then returned with his five hundred
warriors to the town of Carantouan.
Brule spent the autumn and winter of 1615 and 1616 in a
A View of the Indian Tribes 31
tour of exploration into the very heart of Pennsylvania, visiting
the various clans of the Susquehannas and, some authorities say,
the Eries. He followed the Susquehanna River to its mouth, and
returned to Carantouan. This intrepid Frenchman thus gained,
by actual observation, a knowledge of a large section of the state
and of its primitive inhabitants almost one hundred years before
any other white man set foot within the same region.
Another town of the Susquehannas was the one, later called
Gahontoto, at the mouth of Wyalusing Creek, Bradford County.
The Moravian missionaries, Bishop Commerhoff and David Zeis-
berger, visited the site of this town in the summer of 1750. Says
Bishop Cammerhoff:
"On proceeding, we came to a place called Gahontoto by the
Indians. It is said to be the site of an ancient Indian city, where
a peculiar nation lived. The inhabitants were neither Delawares
nor Aquanoschioni, (Iroquois) but had a language of their own,
and were called Te-ho-ti-tach-se. We could still notice a few
traces of this place in the old ruined corn-fields near. The Five
Nations went to war against them, and finally completely extir-
pated them. The Cayugas for a time held a number captive, but
the nation and the language are now exterminated and extinct.
The Cayuga told us that these things had taken place before the
Indians had any guns, and still went to war with bows and arrows."
Another of the towns of the Susquehannas is believed to have
been at the mouth of Sugar Creek, in Bradford County, above the
present town of Towanda. Still another of their towns, this one
fortified, was near the mouth of Octorara Creek, on the east side of
the Susquehanna River, in Maryland, about ten miles south of the
line between Pennsylvania and Maryland. One of their forts was
in Manor Township, Lancaster County, near the Susquehanna
River, between Turkey Hill and Blue Rock. Another was on
Wolf Run, near Muncy, Lycoming County. The location of their
principal fort was long a matter of dispute, and, at one time,
actual warfare, between the heirs of Lord Baltimore and the heirs
of William Penn, for the reason that the southern boundary of
Penn's colony was supposed to be marked by it. The weight of
authority seems to place its location on the west side of the Susque-
hanna River, in York County, Pennsylvania, opposite Washington
Borough.
The Iroquois, the mortal enemies of the Susquehannas,
attacked them at one of their principal towns, in either York or
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1663, sending down the Sus-
32 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
quehanna River, in April of that year, an expedition of eight hun-
dred Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senacas. On their arrival, they
found the town defended on one side by the river and on the other
by tree trunks; it was flanked by two bastions, constructed after
the European method, and had also several pieces of artillery.
The Iroquois decided not to make an assault, but to attempt to
outwit the Susquehannas by a ruse. Twenty-five Iroquois were
admitted into the fort, but these were seized, placed on high scaf-
folds, and burned to death in sight of their comrades. The humili-
ated Iroquois now returned to their home in New York.
After this defeat of the Iroquois, the war was carried on by
small parties, and now and then a Susquehanna was captured and
carried to the villages of the Iroquois, and tortured to death. In
1669, the Susquehannas defeated the Cayugas, and offered peace;
but their ambassador was put to death, and the war went on. At
this time, the Susquehannas had a great chief named Hochitqgete,
or Barefoot; and the medicine men of the Iroquois assured the war-
riors of the confederacy that, if they would make another attack
on the Susquehannas, their efforts would be rewarded by the cap-
ture of Barefoot and his execution at the stake. So, in the summer
of 1672, a band of forty Cayugas descended the Susquehanna in
canoes, and twenty Senecas marched overland to attack the enemy
in the fields; but a band of sixty Susquehanna boys, none over six-
teen, routed the Senecas, killing one and capturing another. The
band of youthful warriors then pressed on against the Cayugas,
and defeated them, killing eight and wounding fifteen or sixteen
more, but losing half of their own gallant band. At this time, it
is said, the Susquehannas were so reduced by war and pestilence
that their fighting force consisted of only three hundred warriors.
Finally in 1675, according to the Jesuit Relation and Colden
in his "History of the Five Nations", the Susquehannas fell before
the arms of the Iroquois; but the details of the defeat are sadly
lacking. It seems that the Iroquois, about this time, had driven
them down upon the tribes of the South who were then allies of
the English, and that this involved them in war with Maryland
and Virginia. Finding themselves surrounded by enemies on all
sides, a portion of the Susquehannas left the land of their fore-
fathers and the beautiful river bearing their name, and took up
their abode in the western part of Maryland, near the Piscataways.
In the summer of 1675, a white man was murdered by some
Indians, most probably Senecas, on the Virginia side of the
Potomac; whereupon, a party of Virginia militia killed fourteen of
A View of the Indian Tribes 33
the Susquehannocks and Doeg Indians in retaliation. Shortly
afterwards several other whites were murdered on both sides of
the Potomac. The colony of Virginia then organized several com-
panies, led by Colonel John Washington, great-grandfather of
George Washington, to co-operate with a Maryland force of two
hundred and fifty troops, led by Major Thomas Truman. The
Susquehannocks claimed that they were entirely innocent of any of
these murders and sent four of their chiefs as an embassy to Major
Truman, who were knocked on the head by his soldiers. This so
enraged the Susquehannocks that a long border warfare ensued
which was kept up until they became lost to history.
Another portion of the Susquehannocks remained near their
old home at Conestoga, Lancaster County, where they were later
joined by a third portion which had been taken by the Iroquois to
the Oneida country in New York, and there retained until they lost
their language, when they were permitted to join their brethren at
Conestoga. Here William Penn and his son, William, visited the
Conestogas during his last stay in his province in 1701. Here,
also, the Conestogas lived until the descendants of this remnant of
a once powerful tribe were killed in December, 1763, by a band of
Scotch-Irish settlers from Donegal and Paxtang, — the last melan-
choly chapter in the history of the Susquehannas, or Conestogas.
Conestoga, for generations the central seat of this tribe in the lower
Susquehanna region, was about four miles southwest of Millers-
ville, Lancaster County. A monument marks the site of this his-
toric Indian town. It was erected in 1924 by the Lancaster County
Historical Society and the Pennsylvania Historical Commission.
THE SHAWNEES
The Shawnees, loo, occupied parts of Pennsylvania during
the historic period. The name means "Southerners". They were
a branch of the Algonquin family, and are believed to have lived
in the Ohio Valley in remote ages, and to have built many of the
mounds and earthworks found there. Some have attempted to
identify them with the Eries of the early Jesuits, the Massawo-
mecks of Smith, and the Andaste, but without success. The tra-
ditional history of the Lenape, the Walum Olum, connects them,
the Lenape, and Nanticokes as one people, the separation having
taken place after the Alligewi, (Cherokees) were driven from the
Ohio Valley by the Lenape and the Mengwe (Iroquois) on their
onward march eastward across the continent. Then the Shaw-
34 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
nees went south. Their real history begins in 1669-70, when they
were living in two bodies a great distance apart, — one body being
in South Carolina and the other in the Cumberland basin in Ten-
nessee. Between these two bodies were the then friendly Chero-
kees, who claimed the land vacated by the Shawnees when the
latter subsequently migrated to the North. The Shawnees living
in South Carolina were called Savannahs by the early settlers.
On account, probably, of dissatisfaction with the early settlers,
the Shawnees of South Carolina began a general movement to the
north in 1690, and continued it at intervals for thirty years. The
first reference to this tribe to be found in the Provincial records of
Pennsylvania is probably a deposition made before the Provincial
Council, December 19, 1693, by Polycarpus Rose. In this deposi-
tion there is a reference to "strange Indians" called "Shallna-
rooners". These strange Indians appear to have made a tempor-
ary stop in Chester County in migrating possibly from Maryland
to the Forks of the Delaware or to Pequea Creek. Many authori-
ties believe these "strange Indians" mentioned in the affidavit of
Polycarpus Rose to have been Shawnees. This is conjecture.
But, leaving the realm of conjecture and entering the realm
of historical truth, we find that the first Shawnees to enter Penn-
sylvania were a party who settled on the Delaware at Pechoquealin
near the Water Gap, in the summer of 1694, or shortly thereafter.
These came from the Shawnee villages on the lower Ohio. Arnold
Viele, a Dutch trader, from Albany, New York, spent the winter
of 1692-1693 with the Shawnees on the lower Ohio, returning in
the summer of 1694, and bringing with him a number of this tribe
who settled at Pechoquealin. Pechoquealin was a regional name
whose center seems to have been the mouth of Shawnee Run in
Lower Smithfield Township, Monroe County, and which included
the surrounding territory on both sides of the Delaware, above the
Delaware Water Gap. Viele was probably the first white man to
explore the region between the valleys of the Susquehanna and the
Ohio.
About four years later, or in 1697 or 1698, about seventy
families of Shawnees came from Cecil County, Maryland, and
settled on the Susquehanna River, near the Conestoga Indians, in
Lancaster County. Probably at about the same time others
migrated to the Ohio Valley. At the mouth of Pequea Creek,
Lancaster County, the seventy families come from Maryland, built
their village, also called Pequea. Their chief was Wapatha, or
Opessah. They secured permission from the Colonial Govern-
A View of the Indian Tribes 35
ment to reside near the Conestogas, and the latter became security
for their good behavior, under the authority of the Iroquois Con-
federation. By invitation of the Delawares, a party of seven hun-
dred Shawnees came soon after and settled with the Munsee Clan
on the Delaware River, the main body taking up their abode at
the mouth of the Lehigh, near Easton, while others went as far
south as the mouth of the Schuylkill. Those who had settled on
the Delaware afterwards removed to the Wyoming Valley near the
present town of Plymouth, Luzerne County, on a broad plain still
called Shawnee Flats. This band under Kakowatcheky removed
from Pechoquealin to the Wyoming Valley in 1728; and it is prob-
able that they were joined there by those who had settled at Pequea,
which was abandoned about 1730.
The Shawnees also had a village on the flats at the mouth of
Fishing Creek, near Bloomsburg, and another at Catawissa, — both
being in Columbia County. They had other villages in the eastern
part of the state on the Swatara, Paxtang, Susquehanna, and Dela-
ware. Several villages were scattered along the west side of the
Susquehanna, between the mouth of Yellow Breeches Creek and
the Conodoguinet, in Cumberland County. Another of their
villages, called Chenastry, was at the mouth of Chillisquaque
Creek on the east side of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, in
Northumberland County.
The Shawnees from Tennessee migrated to the Ohio Valley,
finally collecting along the north bank of the Ohio in Pennsylvania
as far north as the mouth of the Monongahela, about the year 1730.
Sauconk and Logstown were villages on the Ohio which they es-
tablished possibly as early as that time. The former was at the
mouth of the Beaver, and the latter on the north bank of the Ohio,
about eighteen miles below Pittsburgh.
Another clan of Shawnees, called the Sewickleys, Asswikales,
Shaweygila, and Hathawekela, came from South Carolina prior to
1730 by way of Old Town, Maryland and Bedford, Pa., and
settled in different parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Their
principal village called Sewickley Town was at the junction of
this creek and the Youghiogheny River, in Westmoreland County.
They were probably the first Shawnees to settle in Western Penn-
sylvania.
The Shawnees of the eastern part of Pennsylvania eventually
went to the Ohio and Allegheny Valleys. In the report of the
Albany congress of 1754, it is found that some of the tribe had
moved from the eastern part of the state to the Ohio about thirty
36 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
years previously; and, in 1734, another Shawnee band consisting
of about forty families and described as living on the Allegheny,
refused to return to the Susquehanna at the solicitation of the
Delawares and Iroquois. During their westward migration, they
established villages on the Juniata and Conemaugh. About the
year 1755 or 1756, practically all the Shawnees abandoned the
Susquehanna and other parts of eastern Pennsylvania, and joined
their brethren on the Ohio, where they became allies of the French
in the French and Indian War. It should be remembered that,
in the early records, the term "Ohio Valley" means both the Ohio
and Allegheny valleys. In those times, the present Allegheny
River was considered as simply a continuation of the Ohio River.
Wanderings of the Shawnees
There is something mysterious in the wanderings of the Shaw-
nees. As we have seen, their home, in remote times, was in the
Ohio Valley; then we later hear of them in the South; and still
later they came to Pennsylvania. There is good evidence, how-
ever, tending to show that that body of the Shawnees which entered
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1697 or 1698, came originally
from as far west as the region of Fort St. Louis, near the town of
Utica, LaSalle County, Illinois, leaving that place in 1683 and be-
ing accompanied in their wanderings to Maryland by Martin
Chartier, a French Canadian, who had spent some eight or nine
years among them. At any rate, this band reached Maryland
near the mouth of the Susquehanna in 1692, and such is the story
they told. They gradually moved up the Susquehanna to Lan-
caster County, as we have seen, where Chartier became a trader at
their village of Pequea, on the east side of the Susquehanna near
the mouth of Pequea Creek, and only a few miles from Conestoga,
which was on the north side of Conestoga Creek.
The Shawnees who settled at Paxtang, on or near the site of
Harrisburg, most likely came from Pequea. Before 1727, many of
this tribe from Paxtang and Pequea had settled on the west side of
the Susquehanna River at what is now New Cumberland, near the
the mouth of Yellow Breeches Creek and as far north as the mouth
of the Conodoguinet. These dwellers on the west side of the Sus-
quehanna, about the year 1727, crossed the mountains to the val-
leys of the Ohio and Allegheny. Some, however, had gone to Big
Island (Lock Haven) before going to the Ohio region.
Opessah, the chief of the Shawnees on the lower Susquehanna,
A View of the Indian Tribes 37
did not remove to the Ohio or Allegheny Valley. He remained at
Pequea until 1711, when he abandoned both his chieftainship and
his tribe, and sought a home among the Delawares of Sassoonan's
clan. It is not clear why he abandoned his people. There is a
traditionary account that he left because he became enamoured of a
Delaware squaw, who refused to leave her own people. Later, in
1722, he removed to what was called Opessah's town on the Poto-
mac, now Old Town, Maryland.
Neither the Pennsylvania Archives nor the Colonial Records
show the name of the chief of those Shawnees who settled at
Pechoquealin until 1728, when their head man was Kakowatchey.
Some of Kakowatchey's clan removed directly to the Ohio before
1732, but a majority seem to have gone only as far as the Wyom-
ing Valley in Luzerne County, where, as we have seen, they took
up their abode on the west side of the North Branch of the Susque-
hanna at a place subsequently known as Shawnee Flats, just below
the site of the present town of Plymouth. Their town at this place
was called Skehandowana (Iroquois for "Great Flats"), and it re-
mained a town of considerable importance until 1743. Some time
after April of that year, Kakowatchey himself, with a number of
his followers removed from Skehandowana and settled at Logs-
town on the Ohio.
After Kakowatchey left Wyoming, Paxinosa became chief
of the Shawnees who still remained at that place. He said that he
was born "at Ohio", and possibly he was one of the company of
Shawnees who accompanied Arnold Viele to the Pechoquealin terri-
tory.
A number of the Shawnees at Chenastry, on the West Branch
of the Susquehanna, near the mouth of Chillisquaque Creek, went
to the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny prior to the autumn of
1727 to hunt, and no doubt some of them made their permanent
homes or took up their abode in this western region, during or prior
to the summer of 1727.
But some of the Shawnees went directly from Maryland to the
Ohio and Allegheny. Two chiefs of the Potomac Shawnees,
Opaketchwa and Opakeita, by name, came from the Ohio Valley
to Philadelphia in September, 1732, after they had abandoned their
town on the north branch of the Potomac. Governor Gordon
asked them why they had gone "so far back into the woods as
Allegheny", and they replied that "formerly they had lived at
'Patawmack' [Potomac], where their king died; that, having lost
him, they knew not what to do; that they then took their wives and
children and went over the mountains (to Allegheny) to live."
38 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
THE TUSCARORAS
Another Indian tribe inhabiting portions of Pennsylvania
within the historic period was the Tuscaroras. They were of the
Iroquoian linguistic group. It will be recalled that this tribe, after
being expelled from North Carolina and Virginia, sought an
asylum with the Five Nations, and was later, in 1722, admitted
formally as an addition to the Iroquois Confederacy, making the
Six Nations. The Tuscaroras had suffered greatly in wars with
the people of North Carolina and Virginia, before they were ex-
pelled in 1712. Their women were debauched by the whites, and
both men and women were kidnapped and sold into slavery.
Some were brought as far north as Pennsylvania, and sold as
slaves. Moreover, the colonists of North Carolina, like the Puri-
tans of New England, did not recognize in the Indian any right to
the soil; and so the lands of the Tuscaroras were appropriated
without any thought of purchase. They had suffered these and
similar wrongs for many years, and, as early as 1710, sent a peti-
tion to the Government of Pennsylvania reciting their wrongs and
stating that they desired to remove to a more just and friendly
government. Governor Charles Gookin and the Provincial Coun-
cil of Pennsylvania dispatched two commissioners to meet the em-
bassy which brought the petition, at Conestoga, Lancaster County,
on June 8, 1710, where they found not only the Tuscarora embassy,
but Civility and four other Conestoga chiefs, as well as Opessah,
head chief of the Shawnees.
In the presence of these officials, the Tuscarora ambassadors
delivered their proposals, which were attested by eight belts of
wampum. This petition was a very lucid and condensed statement
of the wrongs suffered by the Tuscaroras in their southern home.
By the first belt, the aged women and mothers of the tribe besought
the friendship of the Christian people and the Indians and Gov-
ernment of Pennsylvania, so that they might bring wood and water
without danger. By the second, the children, born and unborn,
implored that they might be permitted to play without danger of
slavery. By the third, the young men sought the privilege of
leaving their towns to pursue the game in the forest for the sus-
tenance of the aged, without fear of death or slavery. By the
fourth, the old men sought the privilege of spending their declining
days in peace. By the fifth, the entire Tuscarora nation sought a
firm and lasting peace with all the blessings attached thereto. By
the sixth, the chiefs and sachems sought the establishment of last-
A View of the Indian Tribes 39
ing peace with the Government and Indians of Pennsylvania, so
that they would be relieved from "those fearful apprehensions
which they have these several years felt." By the seventh, the
Tuscaroras implored a "cessation from murdering and taking
them", so that they might not be in terror upon every rustling of
the leaves of the forest by the winds. By the eighth, the entire
Tuscarora tribe, being hitherto strangers to the colony of Pennsyl-
vania, implored that the sons of "Brother Onas" might take them
by the hand and lead them, so that they might lift up their heads
in the wilderness without fear of slavery or death.
This petition, it is seen, was couched in the metaphorical lan-
guage of the Indian; but its plain meaning proves it to be a state-
ment of a tribe at bay, who, on account of the large numbers of
their people killed, kidnapped, or sold into slavery by the settlers
of North Carolina, were endeavoring to defend their offspring,
friends, and kindred, and were seeking a more friendly dwelling
place in the North, within the domain of the just government of
Penn, the apostle.
The Provincial Council of Pennsylvania advised the Tuscar-
ora ambassadors that, before they could consent to the Tuscaroras
taking up their abode within the bounds of Penn's Province, they
should first be required to produce a certificate from the colonial
authorities of North Carolina as to their good behavior in that
colony. This, of course, the Tuscaroras were unable to do. Then,
the Conestoga chiefs, by the advice of their council, determined to
send the wampum belts, or petition, of the Tuscaroras to the Five
Nations of New York. This was done, and it was the reception of
these belts, setting forth the pitiful message of the Tuscaroras, that
moved the Five Nations to take steps to shield and protect the
Tuscaroras, and eventually receive them, in 1722, as an additional
member of the Iroquois Confederation.
In their migration northward, the Tuscaroras did not all leave
their ancient southern homes at once. Some sought an asylum
among other southern tribes, and lost their identity. However,
the major portion came north, and many of them resided for a
number of years in Pennsylvania, before going to New York, the
seat of the Five Nations. In fact, the Tuscaroras were ninety years
in making their exodus from their North Carolina home to more
friendly dwelling places in the North.
One body of the Tuscaroras, on their way north, tarried in
the Juniata Valley in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, for many
years, giving their name to the Tuscarora Mountain. There is
40 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
evidence of their having been there as late as 1755. Another
band settled about two miles west of Tamaqua, in Schuylkill
County, where they planted an orchard and lived for a number of
years. Also, in May, 1766, a band of Tuscaroras halted at the
Moravian mission at Friedensheutten, on the Susquehanna in
Wyoming County, and remained there several weeks. Some re-
mained at the mission, and these had planted their crops in 1766,
at the mouth of Tuscarora Creek, Wyoming County.
In a word, the residence places of the Tuscaroras in Pennsyl-
vania during their migration to New York, were those localities
where their name has been preserved ever since, such as: Tuscar-
ora Mountain dividing Franklin and Perry counties from Hunt-
ingdon and Juniata; Tuscarora Path Valley (now Path Valley) in
the western part of Franklin County at the eastern base of Tuscar-
ora Mountain; Tuscarora Creek running through the valley be-
tween Tuscarora and Shade mountains, which valley forms the
greater part of Juniata County; and also the stream called Tuscar-
ora Creek running down through the southeastern part of Bradford
County and joining the North Branch of the Susquehanna in the
northwestern part of Wyoming County. The Tuscarora Path
marks the route followed by the Tuscaroras during their migration
to New York and of their subsequent journeyings to and fro be-
tween New York and Pennsylvania on the north and Virginia and
North Carolina on the south.
THE CONOY, GANAWESE, OR PISCATAWAY
The Conoy, also called the Ganawese and the Piscataway,
inhabited parts of Pennsylvania during the historic period. They
were an Algonquin tribe, closely related to the Delawares, whom
they called "grandfathers", and from whose ancestral stem they no
doubt sprang. Heckewelder, an authority on the history of the
Delawares and kindred tribes, believed them to be identical with
the Kanawha, for whom the chief river of West Virginia is named;
and it seems that the names, Conoy and Ganawese, are simply
different forms of the name Kanawha, though it is difficult to ex-
plain the application of the same name to the Piscataway tribe of
Maryland, except on the theory that this tribe once lived on the
Kanawha.
As stated formerly, the Conestogas, when defeated by the
Iroquois in 1675, invaded the territory of the Piscataways in west-
ern Maryland. This, it is believed, caused the northward migra-
A View of the Indian Tribes 41
tion of the Piscataways. At any rate, they shortly thereafter re-
tired slowly up the Potomac, some entering Pennsylvania about
1698 or 1699, and the rest a few years later. The Iroquois assign-
ed them lands at Conejoholo, also called Connejaghera and Deka-
noagah, on the east side of the Susquehanna at the present town of
Washington Borough, Lancaster County. Later they removed
higher up the Susquehanna to what was called Conoy Town, at the
mouth of Conoy Creek, in Lancaster County. Still later they
gradually made their way up the Susquehanna, stopping at Harris-
burg, Shamokin (Sunbury), Catawissa, and Wyoming; and in
1765, were living in southern New York. After their arrival in
Pennsylvania, they were generally called Conoy. During their
residence in Pennsylvania, their villages, especially those on the
the lower Susquehanna, were stopping places for war parties of the
Iroquois on their way to and return from attacks upon the
Catawbas in the South; and this fact made considerable trouble for
the Colonial Authorities as well as the Conoy.
THE NANTICOKES
The Nanticokes, also, dwelt within the bounds of Pennsyl-
vania during the historic period. These were an Algonquin tribe,
formerly living on the Nanticoke River on the eastern shore of
Maryland, where Captain John Smith, in 1608, located their prin-
cipal village called Nanticoke. They were of the same parent
stem as the Delawares. The tenth verse of the fifth song of the
Walum Olum, the sacred tribaf history of the Lenape, contains the
statement that "the Nanticokes and the Shawnees went to the
Southlands." It is not clear, however, where the separation of the
Nanticokes from the Lenape took place, but Heckewelder states
that they separated from the Lenape after these had reached the
eastern part of the United States, and that the Nanticokes then
went southward in search of hunting and trapping grounds, they
being great hunters and trappers.
A short time after the settlement of Maryland, they had diffi-
culties with the settlers of that colony. They were formally de-
clared enemies in 1642, and the strife was not ended until a treaty
entered into in 1678. A renewal of hostilities was threatened in
1687, but happily prevented, and peace was once more reaffirmed.
In 1698, and from that time forward as long as they remained
within the bounds of Lord Baltimore's colony, reservations were
set aside for them. At this early day they began a gradual migra-
42 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
tion northward, though a small part remained in Maryland. The
migration to the North covered many years. On their way they
stopped for a time on the Susquehanna as guests of the Conoy;
later at the mouth of the Juniata; and still later, in 1748, the
greater part of this tribe went up the Susquehanna, halting at vari-
ous points and finally settling, during the French and Indian War,
under the protection of the Iroquois, at Chenango, Chugnut, and
Owego, on the east branch of the Susquehanna in southern New
York. For a number of years, their principal seat in Pennsylvania
was on the east bank of the Susquehanna below the mouth of the
Lackawanna, not far from Pittston, Luzerne County.
Many marvelous stories were told concerning this tribe. One
was that they were said to have been the inventors of a poisonous
substance by which they could destroy a whole settlement at once.
They were also accused of being skilled in the art of witchcraft,
and, on this account they were greatly feared by the neighboring
tribes. Heckewelder states that he knew Indians who firmly be-
lieved that the Nanticokes had men among them who, if they
wished, could destroy a whole army by merely blowing their
breath toward them.
They had the singular custom of removing the bones of their
dead from place to place during their migrations, and this they
would do even in cases where the dead had not been buried long
enough to be reduced to a skeleton. In cases where the dead had
not been buried long, they would scrape the flesh from the bones,
reinter it, and then take the skeleton with them. Heckewelder re-
lates that between the years 1750 and 1760 he saw several bands of
Nanticokes go through the Moravian town of Bethlehem, Pennsyl-
vania, on their migration northward, loaded with the bones of their
relatives and friends.
THE TUTELO
The Tutelo were a Siouan tribe, related to the Sioux, of
Dakota of the far Northwest. For some time before their entering
Pennsylvania soon after 1722, they had been living in North
Carolina and Virginia. They were first mentioned by Captain
John Smith, of Virginia, in 1609, as occupying the upper waters of
the James and Rappahannock, and were described by him as being
very barbarous. Their first seat in Pennsylvania was at Shamokin
(Sunbury) where they resided under Iroquois protection. At this
place, the Rev. David Brainerd found them in 1745. Later they
moved up the Susquehanna to Skogari. In 1771, the Tutelo were
A View of the Indian Tribes 43
settled on the east side of Cayuga inlet about three miles from the
south end of the lake of that name in New York. How this tribe
became so widely separated from the western Sioux still remains
unknown.
The Conoy, the Nanticoke, and the Tutelo were not large
tribes. In 1763, according to Sir William Johnson, the three tribes
numbered about one thousand souls.
As has been stated, the Shawnees, the Conoy, and the Nanti-
cokes, belonged to the Algonquin parent stem; the Tutelo to the
Siouan; and the Tuscarora to the Iroquoian. These three groups
were widely separated. It is thus seen that, at the time when the
English, the Germans, and the Scotch-Irish, and other European
races were coming to Pennsylvania, as widely separated races of
North American Indians were coming from the South to make
their homes in its wilderness and along its streams. Of these in-
coming tribes, the one to figure most prominently in the history
of Pennsylvania was the Shawnee. Following Braddock's defeat,
July 9th, 1755, Pennsylvania suffered the bloodiest Indian invasion
in American history, — the invasion of the Shawnees and Delawares,
brought about in part, by the fact that the Shawnees yielded to
French influence.
THE ERIES, WENRO, BLACK MINQUAAS,
AND AKANSEA
The Eries, also known as the Erieehronons, were populous
sedentary tribe of Iroquoian stock, which, in the seventeenth cen-
tury, inhabited that part of Pennsylvania extending from Lake
Erie to the Allegheny River, possibly as far south as the Ohio
River, and eastward to the lands of the Susquehannas. They
are also known as the Cat Nation, from the abundance of wild
cats and panthers in their territory. Recorded history gives only
glimpses of them; but it appears that they had many towns and
villages, and that their town, Rique, had, in 1654, between 3,000
and 4,000 combatants, exclusive of women and children.
In the Jesuit Relation of 1653, it is stated that the Eries were
forced to proceed farther inland in order to escape their enemies
dwelling west of them. Who these enemies were is not positively
known. Finally, about 1655 or 1656, they were conquered by the
Iroquois. The conquerors entered their palisaded town of Rique,
and there "wrought such carnage among the women and children
that the blood was knee-deep in places." However, this victory
44 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
at Rique was dearly bought by the Iroquois, who were compelled
to remain in the country of the Eries two months to care for the
wounded and bury the dead. The Erie power now being broken,
the people were either destroyed, dispersed, or led into captivity.
Six hundred Eries, who had surrendered at one time, were taken
to the Iroquois country and adopted. There is a tradition that,
some years after the defeat of the Eries, a band of their descend-
ants cames from the West, ascended the Allegheny River, and
attacked the Senecas, and were slain to a man.
The Wenro, a tribe of Iroquoin stock, also known as the
Ahouenrochrhonons, are mentioned in the Jesuit Relation as hav-
ing dwelt some time prior to 1639, "beyond the Erie", or Cat
Nation; and it is probable that their habitat was on the upper
territory of the Allegheny, and, part of it at least, within the
bounds of the State of Pennsylvania. This tribe, too, fell before
the arms of the Iroquois. A notation on Captain John Smith's
map of his explorations, says that they traded with the whites on
the Delaware River.
They seem to have been allied with the Black Minquaas,
which later, according to Herrmann's map of 1670, are placed in
the region west of the Allegheny Mountains, and on the Ohio, or
"Black Minquaas River". The Jesuit Relation states that both
the Wenro and the Black Minquaas traded with the people on the
upper Delaware, some going by way of the West Branch of the
Susquehanna, down to Sunbury (Shamokin), up to Wyoming, and
then across to the Delaware River, near the Water Gap; and others
reaching the Delaware by way of the Conemaugh, Juniata, and
Susquehanna. The Black Minquaas were so called because "they
carried a black badge on their breast." About all that is known
of the fate of this tribe is the legend on Herrmann's map, which
reads: "A very great river called Black Minquaas River — where
formerly those Black Minquaas came over the Susquehanna, as
far as the Delaware to trade; but the Sasquhana and the Sinnicus
Indians went over and destroyed that very great nation."
A Siouan tribe, the Akansea, in remote times, occupied the
upper Ohio Valley, according to many historians, and were driven
out by the Iroquois. This stream was called the "River of the
Akansea", because this tribe lived upon its shores. When or how
long this river valley was their habitat, is not known.
No other rivers in Pennsylvania, or on the continent, have
seen more changes in the races of Indians living in their valleys
than have the Ohio and the Allegheny, — the dwelling place of the
A View of the Indian Tribes 45
Alligewi; the Delawares, or Lenape, in the course of their migra-
tion eastward; the Akansea; the Shawnees; the Black Minquaas;
the Wenro; the Senecas; then once more the Shawnees and Dela-
wares in their march toward the setting sun before the great tide
of white immigration. What battles and conquests, all untold,
took place in the valleys of these historic streams before the white
man set foot upon their shores! Who would not seek to draw
aside the curtain, which, it seems, must forever hide this unrecord-
ed history from our view?
We have seen that the French explorer, Brule, and the Dutch
explorer, Viele, entered Pennsylvania at the very dawn of the his-
toric period. Perhaps to these should be ?dded the French ex-
plorer, LaSalle. It is a moot question, however, among his-
torians whether this gallant Frenchman ever entered the limits of
Pennsylvania, though Parkman lends the weight of his great name
to the contention that he explored the Allegheny Valley.
Having given this survey of the Indian tribes who inhabited
Pennsylvania, we shall now take up the biographies of their out-
standing chiefs.* In the course of our narrative will appear many
things that reflect no honor on the whites — the anointed children
of education and civilization. But it is our duty to record the
wrongs committed upon the untutored Red Man, as well as the
wrongs committed by him. History must not hide the truth.
Furthermore, the author has no prejudice against any of the
European races who came in contact with the Indians of Pennsyl-
vania. His ancestors came to the Province in 1693, and the blood
of nearly all these races flows in his veins — English, German, Irish,
Scotch, Scotch-Irish, and French.
* See the chapter, "The Red Neighbours" in Charles P. Keith's •"Chronicles of
Pennsylvania" for a concise and well written account of the aborigines of Pennsylvania.
CHAPTER III.
Mattahorn and Naaman
I HIS chapter is devoted to the two outstanding Delaware
chiefs before the arrival of William Penn. Playing a
part in the history of the lower Delaware, during its
occupancy by the Swedes and the Dutch, the few recorded facts
concerning these worthy representatives of the aborigines of Penn-
sylvania, are as a voice from the distant past.
MATTAHORN
Mattahorn claims our remembrance as one of the few Dela-
ware chiefs distinguishable by name before the arrival of William
Penn. We first meet him in April, 1633, when he and several
other chiefs sold the land on which Philadelphia stands to Arent
Corssen, the Dutch agent, commander of Fort Nassau, on the east
bank of the Delaware River, near Gloucester, New Jersey. At
that time the Dutch of Manhattan were endeavoring to establish
an Indian trade on the South, or Delaware River.
We next meet Mattahorn when the Swedes came to the Dela-
ware. Late in the autumn of 1637, two ships left Sweden carrying
a small band of resolute emigrants purposing to establish a
Swedish colony in the New World under the patronage of Queen
Christina, the daughter of Sweden's most famous king, Gustavus
Adolphus, the "Lion of the North". These ships, commanded by
Peter Minuit, who had been the Dutch Company's director at Man-
hattan from 1626 to 1632, arrived on the west bank of the Dela-
ware River in the middle of March, 1638. Charmed by the beauty
of the region, the Swedes gave the name of Paradisudden (Paradise
Point) to a particularly beautiful spot where they landed tem-
porarily. Passing on up the river, their ships arrived at the
Minquas Kill of the Dutch (White Clay and Christina creeks),
which enters the Delaware from the west. The ships then sailed
up the Minquas Kill some distance, and cast anchor at a place
where some Indians had pitched their wigwams.
Peter Minuit then fired a salute of two guns and went ashore
with some of his men to reconnoiter and establish connection with
the Indians. They also went some distance into the country.
Mattahorn and Naaman 47
Minuit then returned to his ship. The roar of his cannon had
the desired effect; several Indian chiefs made their appearance, and
Minuit at once arranged a conference with them for the sale of
land. The leader of these chiefs was Mattahorn. Possibly
Minuit from his acquaintance with the Dutch trade on the Dela-
ware River during his administration at Manhattan, had some pre-
vious knowledge of this chieftain. Minuit and the chiefs had no
difficulty in coming to an agreement. He explained to the Indians
that he wanted ground on which to build a "house", and other
ground on which to plant. For the former he offered a "kettle
and other articles", and for the latter, half of the tobacco raised
upon it. On the same, or following day, Mattahorn and five other
chiefs went aboard one of the ships of the Swedes and sold as much
"of the land on all parts and places of the river, up the river, and
on both sides, as Minuit requested."
The merchandise specified in the deeds being given to them,
the chiefs traced their totem marks on the documents, and Peter
Minuit, Mans Kling, and others signed their names below. The
extent of this purchase embraced the territory lying below the %
Minquas Kill to Duck Creek, a distance of forty miles and up the
river to the Schuylkill, a distance of twenty-seven miles along the
bank of the Delaware, in both cases stretching an indefinite dis-
tance to the westward. The purchase being concluded, Minuit
with his officers and soldiers went ashore. A pole was then erected
with the Coat of Arms of Sweden upon it; "and with the report of
cannon, followed by other solemn ceremonies, the land was called
New Sweden." This was the first Swedish colony in America.
Mattahorn's next appearance on the stage of history is in
1641 when a third nation, the English, becomes definitely connect-
ed with the history of the Delaware. English merchants and
planters of New Haven, finding that their colony was poorly situ-
ated for trade with the Indians, looked for other places where they
could settle and establish trading posts; and some of the principal
merchants who had sent ships to the Delaware for some years, and
had observed that this territory was sparsely settled and that the
Swedish and Dutch forts and trading stations did not control the
river, determined, in the autumn of 1640, to extend their activities
systematically to the Delaware region. Accordingly, the "Dela-
ware Company" was formed for the purpose of colonizing and
trading on the Delaware; and two agents, Lamberton and Turner,
with a number of assistants, were sent "to view and purchase part
of the Delaware", in the spring of 1641. They were instructed to
48 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
buy lands from the Indians not yet occupied by any Christian
nation. Turner and Lamberton sailed up the Delaware River in
April, 1641, held several conferences with Mattahorn on its shores,
and on April 19th, purchased from this chieftain certain lands on
the Schuylkill, possibly within the limits of Philadelphia.
Mattahorn's name appears, in 1645, in the annals of the
Swedes on the Delaware, the only year in which Indian troubles
threatened the Swedish colony. The cause of this trouble was the
fact that the Dutch at Manhattan adopted a course of "extermina-
tion" of the Indians on the lower reaches of the Hudson, and dur-
ing the years 1644 and 1645, had killed sixteen hundred of the
natives at Manhattan and in its neighborhood. They slaughtered
all ages and both sexes; and the word of these shocking and unpar-
donable cruelties spread along the Atlantic Ocean, causing the
Indians of the Delaware to feel bitter towards all newcomers, in
the spring of 1644, a Swedish woman and her husband, an English-
man, were killed not far from the site of Chester, Pennsylvania, —
the first white blood shed in Pennsylvania by the Indians. Gov-
ernor John Printz of the Swedish colony then assembled his people
for the defense of Chester; but the Indian chiefs of that region
came to him disowning the act and desiring peace. He then made
a treaty of peace with them, distributing presents and restoring
friendly relations. During this year there was a great Indian
council held, which has been described by Rev. John Campanius,
over which Mattahorn presided and in which the destruction of
the Swedes was considered. Mattahorn is said to have presented
the question for the consideration of the council; but the decision
was that the Swedes should not be molested. The warriors said
that the Swedes should be considered "good friends", and that the
Indians had "no complaint to make of them."
Once more, this time in April, 1648, we meet Mattahorn, when
he and the Delaware chief, Sinquees, declared to the Dutch at Fort
Nassau that they and others had sold to Corssen, the Dutch agent,
in 1633, "the Schuylkill and adjoining lands."
The last time we meet Mattahorn in recorded history is when
he appeared, on July 9th, 1651, before a commission presided over
by the Dutch Director-General, Peter Stuyvesant, who was then
at the mouth of the Schuylkill. Mattahorn was then questioned
as to the purchase of lands by the Swedes from him in 1638, and
made the following reply: "That when Minuit came to the
country with a ship, he lay before the Minquaas Kill, where he,
the Sachem, then had a house and lived; that Minuit then pre-
Mattahorn and Naaman 49
sented him with a kettle and other trifles, requesting of him as
much land as Minuit could set a house on, and a plantation includ-
ed between 6 trees, which he, the Sachem, sold him, and Minuit
promised him half the tobacco that would grow on the plantation,
although it was never given to him. He declared further that
neither the Swedes nor any other nation had bought the lands of
them as right owners except the patch on which Fort Christina
stood, and that all the other houses of the Swedes, built at Tinne-
congh, Hingeesingh on the Schuylkill, and at other places were set
up there against the will and consent of the Indians, and that
neither they, nor any other natives had received anything therefor."
On this day, (July 9. 1651), Mattahorn, Pemicka, Ackehon and
Sinquees conveyed to Peter Stuyvesant a certain tract named
Tamenconch, lying on the west shore of the Delaware, beginning
at the west point of the Minquas Kill, extending unto Carasse,
"and as far landward as our right extends, to-wit: to the bounds
and limits of the Minquas [Susquehanna country]."
It is thus seen that this conveyance to the Dutch included a
part, at least, of the lands which the Indians had conveyed to the
Swedes in the spring of 1638; but it must be understood that the
Indian ownership of the land was very vague and undefined. It was
seldom that definite limits were established, and often several
chiefs would lay claim to the same land, claiming jurisdiction
over any region where they had established their hunting ground
by force or otherwise. Mattahorn assured Stuyvesant that he and
his fellow sachems "were great chiefs and proprietors of the land.?,
both by ownership and consent and appointment of Minquas
[Susquehanna] and River Indians." As has already been ?een, the
term "River Indians" was applied to the Delawares on the river
of that name. This conveyance was signed by four Minquas or
Susquehanna chiefs as witnesses thereto. It would thus seem th'at
the Delawares on the lower part of the Delaware River were at
that time subject to the authority of the Susquehannas. About
twenty-five years after this conveyance was made, the Susque-
hannas were defeated by the Iroquois and the power of their nation
forever destroyed. Consequently their sovereignty over t h e
Indians on the Delaware River passed to the Five Nations.
Mattahorn being, in 1633, a chief of such importance as to sell
lands of his tribe, was no doubt an elderly man when he made his
exit from the stage of history, in 1651.
50 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
NAAMAN
Another outstanding Delaware chief, who figured in the his-
tory of the lower Delaware before the arrival of William Penn,
was Naaman, whose name is preserved in Naaman's Creek, near
the Delaware line. About all that is known of him is the fact
that he was present on June 17th, 1654, at a great council of the
Delawares at Printz Hall, at Tinicum, held for the purpose of re-
newing the ancient bond of friendship that existed between the
Delawares and the Swedes. At this council Naaman praised the
virtues of the Swedes. Campanius Holm thus describes this oc-
casion:
"The 17th June, 1654, was gathered together at Printz Hall at
Tinicum, ten of the sachemans of the Indian chiefs, and there at
that time was spoken to them in the behalf of the great Queen of
Sweedland for to renew the old league of friendship that was be-
twixt them, and that the Sweeds had bought and purchased land
of them. They complained that the Sweeds they should have
brought in with them much evil, because so many of them since
are dead and expired. Then there was given unto them consider-
able presents and parted amongst them. When they had received
■the presents they went out, and had a conference amongst them a
pretty while, and came in again, and then spoke one of the chiefs,
by name Noaman [Naaman], rebuked the rest, and that they had
spoken evil of the Sweeds and done them harm, and that they
should do so no more, for they were good people. Look, said he,
pointing upon the presents, what they have brought us, and they
desire our friendship, and then he stroked himself three times
down his arm, which was an especial token of friendship. After-
wards he thanked for the presents they had received, which he did
in all their behalfs, and said that there should hereafter be observed
and kept a more strict friendship amongst them than there hath
been hitherto. That, as they had been in Governoeur Printz his
'time, one body and one heart, (beating and knocking upon his
bieast), they should henceforward be as one head. For a token
"waving with both his hands, and made as if he would tye a
strong knot; and then he made this comparison, that as the calli-
bash is of growth round without any crack, also they from hence-
forth hereafter as one body without any separation, and if they
heard or understood that any one would do them or any of theirs
any harm, we should give them timely notice thereof, and like-
wise if they heard any mischief plotting against the Christians,
Mattahorn and Naaman 51
they would give them notice thereof, if it was at midnight. And
then answer was made unto them, that that would be a true and
lasting friendship, if every one would consent to it. Then the
great guns were fired, which pleased them exceedingly well, saying,
'Pu-hu-hu! mo ki-rick pickon.' That is, 'Hear! now believe!
The great guns are fired.' And then they were treated with wine
and brandy. Then stood up another of the Indians and spoke,
and admonished all in general that they should keep the league
and friendship with the Christians that was made, and in no man-
ner or way violate the same, and do them no manner of injury, not
to their hogs or their cattle, and if any one should be found guilty
thereof, they should be severely punished, others to an example.
They advised that we should settle some Sweeds upon Passaiunck,
where then there lived a power of Indians for to observe if they
did any mischief, they should be confirmed, the copies of the
agreements were then punctually read unto them. But the origin-
als were at Stockholm, and when their names (were read) that had
signed, they seemed when they heard it rejoiced, but when any-
one's name was read that was dead, they hung their heads down
and seemed to be sorrowful. And then there was set upon the
floor in the great hall two great kettles, and a great many other
vessels with sappan, that is, mush, made of Indian corn or Indian
wheat, as groweth there in abundance. But the sachemans they
sate by themselves, but the common sort of Indians they fed heart-
ily, and were satisfied. The above mentioned treaty and friend-
ship that then was made betwixt the Sweeds and the Indians, hath
been ever since kept and observed, and that the Sweeds have not
been by them molested."
In closing this sketch of the two outstanding Delaware chiefs
before the arrival of Penn, we call attention to the fact that one
of the most notable features in the history of the Swedes on the
Delaware, with whom both Mattahorn and Naaman came into
intimate contact, is the fact that the Swedes had no war either with
the Lenape or Delawares, or their more dangerous neighbors, the
Minquas, or Susquehannas. The Swedes even assisted the Sus-
quehannas in their struggle against the might of the Iroquois, fur-
nishing them arms for their warriors after the manner of European
soldiers. They were on especially friendly terms with the Dela-
wares, and sought to convert them to the Christian faith.
The principles upon which New Sweden was founded and its
benevolent intentions towards the Indians are thus set forth in the
letter granting the privileges to the colonists, signed by Chancellor
52 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Axel Oxenstierna of Sweden, dated January 24th, 1640, and
directed to the Commandant and inhabitants of Fort Christina, in
New Sweden :
"As regards religion, we are willing to permit that, besides
the Augsburg Confession, the exercise of the pretended reformed
religion may be established and observed in that country, in such
manner, however, that those who profess the one or the other re-
ligion live in peace, abstaining from every useless dispute, from
all scandal and all abuse. The patrons of this colony shall be
obliged to support, at all times, as many ministers and school-
masters as the number of inhabitants shall seem to require, and to
choose, moreover, for this purpose, persons who have at heart the
conversion of the pagan inhabitants to Christianity."
Carrying out these principles, we find Reverend John
Campanius, the Swedish Lutheran clergyman, who accompanied
Governor John Printz to New Sweden in 1643, active as a mission-
ary among the Delawares and translating Martin Luther's Cate-
chism into the Delaware tongue, — the first book to be translated
into the language of the North American Indians. The petition,
"Give us this day our daily bread," Campanius translated, "Give
us this day a plentiful supply of venison and corn." Reverend
Campanius was the first missionary of the Christian religion to
labor among the Indians of Pennsylvania; and the Swedish Luth-
eran church at Tinicum, which he dedicated on September 4, 1646,
and of which he was pastor, "was the first regularly dedicated
church building within the limits of Pennsylvania."
If we examine the history of New Sweden from its founding,
in 1638, to its overthrow by the Dutch, in 1655, we find many ex-
cellencies that stand out in strong contrast with the early history
of her neighboring colonies. She had an instructed citizenship.
With her, liberty of conscience was a historical fact, and not a
mockery, or a myth, as with the "Pilgrim Fathers" of New Eng-
land. She laid down the principles of liberty of conscience and
education of the people, as the foundation of her political structure,
before William Penn was born; and she steadfastly adhered to
these principles to the end of her separate and independent exist-
ence, giving them an impetus that contributed very largely to their
adoption as the most cherished and sacred principles in the struc-
ture of our American Commonwealth. These "Pilgrim Fathers",
who landed on the shores of the Delaware and made the first settle-
ments in Pennsylvania, had far more to do with molding American
history than the Pilgrims of New England. "America," says
Woodrow Wilson, "did not come out of New England."
Mattahorn and Naaman 53
Throughout New Sweden's entire history, that other out-
standing fact, which has been alluded to, appears, — the preserva-
tion of friendly relations with the Indians, in contrast with the
bloody pages in the history of other colonies. Indeed, the just and
kindly treatment of the Delawares by the Swedish colonists had
much to do in causing the friendly reception which these children
of the forest gave William Penn at a later day when, with open
heart and open hand, they welcomed him to the shores of this
Western World.
A Picture of the Delawares in the Day of
Mattahorn and Naaman
On July 28th, 1639, Adriaen van der Donck and others signed
a document describing the Delawares and their manners and cus-
toms as they were in the days of Mattahorn and Naaman and when
they first met the Europeans on the Delaware River. This descrip-
tion gives one of the most complete pictures of the Pennsylvania
Indians of this early period, and is as follows:
"The natives are generally well limbed, slender around the
waist, broad shouldered; all having black hair and brown eyes;
they are very nible and swift of pace, well adapted to travel on
foot and to carry heavy burdens; they are dirty and slovenly in
their habits; make light of all sorts of hardships, being by nature
and from youth upwards accustomed thereto. They resemble the
Brazilians in color, or are as tawny as those called Gipsies. Gen-
erally, the men have very little or no beard, some even pluck it
out; they use very few words, which they previously well consider.
Naturally they are quite modest, without guile, and inexperienced,
but in their way haughty enough, ready and quick witted to com-
prehend or learn, be it good or bad, whatever they are most inclin-
ed to. As soldiers they are far from being honorable, but perfid-
ious and accomplish all their designs by treachery; they also use
many stratagems to deceive their enemies and execute by night
almost all their plans that are in any way hazardous. The thirst
for revenge seems innate in them; they are very pertinacious in
self defence, when they cannot escape, which, under other circum-
stances, they like to do; they make little of death, when it is inevit-
able, and despise all tortures that can be inflicted on them at the
stake, exhibiting no faintheartedness, but generally singing until
they are dead.
"They also know right well how to cure wounds and hurts, or
54 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
inveterate sores and injuries, by means of herbs and roots indigen-
ous to the country, and which are known to them. The clothing
as well of men as of women consists of a piece of duffels, or of deer-
skin, leather, or elk hide around the body, to cover their nakedness.
Some have a bearskin of which they make doublets; others again,
coats of the skins of raccoons, wild cats, wolves, dogs, squirrels,
beavers and the like; and they even have made themselves some
of turkey's feathers; now they make use for the most part of duffels
cloth which they obtain in trade from the Christians; they make
their stockings and shoes of deerskins or elk hides, some even have
shoes of corn husks whereof they also make sacks. Their money
consists of white and black wampum which they themselves manu-
facture; their measure and value is the hand of fathom, and if it
be corn that is to be measured, 'tis done by the denotas which are
bags of their own making. Their ornaments consist of scoring
their bodies, or painting them of various colors, sometimes entirely
black, when they are in mourning; but mostly the face. They
twine both white and black wampum around their heads; formerly
they were not wont to cover these, but now they are beginning to
wear bonnets or caps, which they purchase from the Christians;
they wear wampum in the ears, around the neck and around the
waist, and thus in their way are mighty fine. They have also long
deers-hair which is dyed red, whereof they make ringlets to encircle
the head; and other fine hair of the same color, which hangs around
the neck in braids, whereof they are very vain. They frequently
smear their skin and hair with all sorts of grease. Almost all of
them can swim; they themselves construct the boats they use,
which are of two sorts; some of entire trees excavated with fire,
axes and adzes; the Christians call these canoes; others, again,
called also canoes, are made of bark, and in these they can move
very rapidly.
"Traces, and nothing more, of the institution of marriage can
be perceived among them. The man and woman unite together
without any special ceremony, except that the former, by agree-
ment previously made with the latter, presents her with some wam-
pum or cloth, which he frequently takes back on separating, if this
occur any ways soon. Both men and women are excessively un-
chaste and lacivious, without the least particle of shame; and that
is the reason that the men so frequently change their wives and the
women their husbands. They have, usually, but one wife; some-
times even two or three, but this mostly obtains among the chiefs.
They have also among them different ranks of people, such as
Mattahorn and Naaman 55
noble and ignoble. The men are generally lazy and will not work
until they become old and of no consideration; then they make
spoons, and wooden bowls, traps, nets, and various other such
trifles; in other respects, they do nothing but hunt, fish and go to
war.
"The women must perform the remainder of the labor, such
as planting corn, cutting and hauling fire wood, cooking, attending
to the children, and whatever else has to be done. Their dwellings
are constructed of hickory poles set in the ground and bent bow
fashion, like arches, and then covered with bark which they peel
in quantities for that purpose. Some, but principally the chiefs;
houses, have, inside, portraits and pictures somewhat rudely
carved. When fishing or hunting, they lie under the blue sky, or
little better. They do not remain long in one place, but remove
several times a year and repair, according to the season, to
wherever food appears to them, beforehand, best and easiest to be
obtained.
"They are divided into various tribes and languages. Each
tribe usually dwells together, and there is one among them who is
chief; but he does not possess much power or distinction except in
their dances and in time of war. Some have scarcely any knowl-
edge of God; others very little. Nevertheless they relate very
strange fables of the Deity. In general they have a great dread of
the Devil, who gives them wonderful trouble; some converse freely
on the subject and allow themselves to be strangely imposed upon
by him; but their devils they say, will not have anything to do
with the Dutch. Scarcely a word is heard here of any ghost or
such like. Offerings are sometimes made to them, but with little
ceremony. They believe also, in an Immortality of the soul; have
likewise, some knowledge of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, many of
which they even know how to name; they are passable judges of
the weather. There is scarcely any law or justice among them,
except sometimes in war matters, and then very little. The next
of kin is the avenger; the youngest are the most daring, who
mostly do as they like. Their weapons used to be a war club and
the bow and arrow, which they know how to use with wonderful
skill. Now, those residing near, or trading considerably with the
Christians, make use of firelocks and hatchets, which they obtain
in barter. They are excessively fond of guns; spare no expense on
them, and are so expert with them that, in this respect they excel
many Christians.
"Their fare, or food, is poor and gross, for they drink water,
56 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
having no other beverage; they eat the flesh of all sorts of game
that the country supplies, even badgers, dogs, eagles, and similar
trash, which Christians in no way regard; these they cook and use
uncleaned and undressed. Moreover, all sorts of fish likewise,
snakes, frogs, and such like, which they usually cook with the
offals and entrails. They know, also, how to preserve fish and
meat for the winter in order then to cook them with Indian meal.
They make their bread, but of very indifferent quality, of maize,
which they also cook whole, or broken in wooden mortars. The
women likewise perform this labor and make a pap or porridge,
called by some Sapsis, by others, Duundare, which is their daily
food. They mix this, also, thoroughly with little beans, of differ-
ent colors, raised by themselves; this is esteemed by them rather as
a dainty, than as a daily dish."
CHAPTER IV.
Tamanend
(AMANEND, (Tammany, etc.) was the head chief of the
Unami or Turtle Clan of Delawares from before 1683
until 1697 and, perhaps later. He is referred to in the
Colonial Records of Pennsylvania as "King" of the Dela-
wares. As was seen in Chapter I , the head chief of the Turtle
Clan always presided at the councils of the three clans composing
the Delaware Nation. Tamanend lived and hunted along the
Neshaminy Creek in what is now Bucks County. His name signi-
fies "the affable". The town of Tamanend, in Schuylkill County,
is named for this noted chieftain.
Tamanend is thus described by the Moravian missionary, Rev.
John Heckewelder, who, as was stated in the first chapter of this
book, was the staunch friend of the Delawares, and had lived
among them in all the intimacy of friends and companions for
more than thirty years:
"The name of Tamanend is held in the highest veneration by
all the Indians. Of all the chiefs and great men which the Lenape
nation ever had, he stands foremost on the list. But, although
many fabulous stories are circulated about him among the whites,
but little of his real history is known. The misfortunes which
have befallen some of the most beloved and esteemed personages
among the Indians since the Europeans came among them, prevent
the survivors from indulging in the pleasure of recalling to mind
the memory of their virtues. No white man who regards their
feeling, will introduce such subjects in conversation with them.
All we know, therefore, of Tamanend is that he was an ancient
Delaware chief who never had an equal. He was, in the highest
degree, endowed with wisdom, virtue, prudence, charity, affability,
meekness, hospitality; in short with every good and noble qualifi-
cation that a human being may possess. He was supposed to have
had intercourse with the great and good Spirit; for he was a
stranger to everything that is bad. The fame of this great man
extended even among the whites, who fabricated numerous legends
concerning him, which I never heard, however, from the mouth of
an Indian, and, therefore, believe to be fabulous. In the Revolu-
58 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
tionary War, his enthusiastic admirers dubbed him a saint and he
was established under the name of Saint Tammany, the Patron
Saint of America. His name was inserted in some calendars and
his festival celebrated on the first day of May in every year."
Heckewelder then describes the celebrations in honor of Saint
Tammany. They were conducted along Indian lines, and in-
cluded the smoking of the calumet and Indian dances in the open
air. "Tammany Societies" in the early part of our history as a
nation, were organized in several American cities.
William Penn Purchases Land From Tamanend
William Penn did not set foot upon the soil of his Province
until the 29th day of October, 1682; but, after maturing his plans
for the new colony during the summer of 1681, he appointed his
cousin, William Markham, to be his deputy governor. Markham
left England in the spring of 1682, and arrived at New York about
the middle of June of that year. He then proceeded to Upland, or
Chester, Pennsylvania, and, no doubt, presented his credentials to
the justices and announced to them and the settlers that once more
a change of government had been decreed.
William Penn decided to follow the advice of the Bishop of
London and the example of the Swedes, and purchase from the
Indians inhabiting his Province whatever lands, within the bounds
of the same, might from time to time, become occupied by his
colonists. The first Indian deed of record was a purchase of lands
in Bucks County, made by Deputy Governor Markham for William
Penn, dated the 15th day of July, 1682; and though Tamanend
was not of the grantors therein, we mention it in this connection on
account of its historical importance. The native grantors were
fourteen Delaware chiefs or "sachemakers", bearing the following
names: Idquahon, Ieanottowe, Idquoquequon, Sahoppe for him-
self and Okonikon, Merkekowon, Orecton for Nannacussey, Shaur-
wawghon, Swanpisse, Nahoosey, Tomakhickon, Westkekitt and
Tohawsis.
Markham paid the Indians for this purchase: 350 fathoms
of wampum, 20 fathoms of "stroudwaters", 20 white blankets, 20
guns, 20 coats, 40 shirts, 40 pairs of stockings, 40 hose, 40 axes, 2
barrels of powder, 60 fathoms of "duffields", 20 kettles, 200 bars
of lead, 200 knives, 200 small glasses, 12 pairs of shoes, 40 copper
boxes, 40 tobacco tongs, 2 small barrels of pipes; 40 pairs of scis-
sors, 40 combs, 20 pounds of red lead, 100 awls, two handfuls of
Tamanend 59
fish hooks, two handfuls of needles, 40 pounds of shot, 10 bundles
of beads, 10 small saws, 12 drawing knives, 2 ankers of tobacco,
2 ankers of rum, 2 ankers of cider, 2 ankers of beer, and 300
guilders in money,— a formidable list, indeed, and all very accept-
able to the Indians.
However, on June 23rd, 1683, William Fenn, at a meeting with
Tamanend and a number of other Delaware chiefs at Shakamaxon,
within the limits of Philadelphia, purchased four different tracts of
land from the Indians.The first deed was from Tamanend, who
made "his mark" to the same, being a snake coiled. This deed
conveyed all of Tamanend's lands "lying betwixt the Pemmapecka
[Pennypack] and Nessaminehs [Neshaminy] Creeks, and all along
Nessaminehs Creek." The consideration was "so many guns,
shoes, stockings, looking glasses, blankets, and other goods as the
said William Penn shall please to give."
On the same date, (June 23, 1683), William Penn purchased
a second tract of land from Tamanend, the deed being signed by
Tamanend and Metamequan. It conveyed all the grantors' lands
"lying betwixt and about Pemmapecka and Nessaminehs Creeks,
and all along Nessaminehs Creek." The consideration was "so
much wampum and other goods as he, the said William Penn,
shall be pleased to give unto us." However, there is a receipt
attached to this deed for the following articles: 5 pairs of stock-
ings, 20 bars of lead, 10 tobacco boxes, 6 coats, 2 guns, 8 shirts, 2
kettles, 12 awls, 5 hats, 25 pounds of powder, 1 peck of pipes, 38
yards of "duffields", 16 knives, 100 needles, 10 glasses, 5 caps, 15
combs, 5 hoes, 9 gimlets, 20 fish hooks, 10 tobacco tongs, 10 pairs
of scissors, 7 half-gills, 6 axes, 2 blankets, 4 handfuls of bells, 4
yards of "stroudswaters" and 20 handfuls of wampum.
Also, on the 5th day of July, 1697, "King Taminy [Taman-
end], and Weheeland, my Brother and Weheequeckhon alias
Andrew, who is to be king after my death, Yaqueekhon alias
Nicholas, and Quenameckquid alias Charles, my Sons", granted to
William Penn, who was then in England, all the lands "between
the Creek called Pemmapeck [Pennypack] and the Creek called
Neshaminy, in the said province extending in length from the
River Delaware so far as a horse can travel in two summer dayes,
and to carry its breadth according as the several courses of the said
two Creeks will admit, and when the said Creeks do so branch that
the main branches or bodies thereof cannot be discovered, then
the Tract of Land hereby granted, shall stretch forth upon a direct
course on each side and so carry on the full breadth to the extent
of the lensth thereof."
60 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
It is to be noted that in the list of articles which Penn gave in
exchange for the various tracts of land purchased from Tamanend
and his associate chiefs, no brandy or other strong liquor appeared.
It will be recalled that in Markham's purchase in Bucks County
on the 15th of July, 1682, he gave the contracting sachems, rum,
cider and beer as part of the purchase price. Penn, however, was
more scrupulous than his deputy governor, doubtless having real-
ized more strongly than Markham, the injury done the Indians by
liquor. Indeed, in the "Great Law" which Penn drew up shortly
after his arrival, there was a provision for punishing any person
by fine of five pounds who should "presume to sell or exchange any
rum or brandy or any strong liquors at any time to any Indian,
within this province." Later the Indians found their appetite for
strong liquor to be so strong that they agreed, if the colonists would
sell them liquor, to submit to punishment by the civil magistrates
"the same as white persons."
Penn's Treaty with Tamanend
Penn's memorable treaty with Tamanend and other Delaware
chiefs, under the great elm at Shakamaxon, within the limits of
Philadelphia, is full of romantic interest. Unarmed, clad in his
sombre Quaker garb, he addressed the Indians assembled there,
uttering the following words, which will be admired throughout the
ages: "We meet on the broad pathway of good faith and good-
will; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be
openness and love. We are the same as if one man's body was
to be divided into two parts; we are of one flesh and one blood."
The reply of Tamanend, is equally noble: "We will live in love
with William Penn and his children as long as the creeks and
rivers run, and while the sun, moon, and stars endure."
No authentic record has been preserved of the "Great Treaty",
made familiar by Benjamin West's painting and Voltaire's allusion
to it "as the only treaty never sworn to and never broken;" and
there has been a lack of agreement among historians as to the time
when it took place. Many authorities claim that the time was in
the November days, shortly after Penn arrived in his Province.
"Under the shelter of the forest," says Bancroft, "now leafless by
the frosts of autumn, Penn proclaimed to the men of the Algonquin
race, from both banks of the Delaware, from the borders of the
Schuylkill, and, it may have been, even from the Susquehanna, the
same simple message of peace and love which George Fox had pro-
Tamanend 61
fessed before Cromwell, and Mary Fisher had borne to the Grand
Turk."
Other authorities, in recent times, fix the time of the treaty
as on the 23rd day of June, 1683, when Penn, as has been seen,
purchased the four tracts of land from Tamanend and his associ-
ates; in other words, that the purchase of land and the "Great
Treaty" took place at the same time and at the same place. More-
over, a study of West's painting of the treaty scene shows the trees
to be in full foliage, thus not suggesting a late autumn or winter
day, as contended by Bancroft, but rather a day in the leafy month
of June. Even if we should not grant the purchase of the four
tracts of land from Tamanend and others on the 23rd of June,
1683, the distinction of being the "Great Treaty", it was most cer-
tainly a treaty of great importance and entitled to a prominent
place in the Indian history of Pennsylvania and the Nation.
Says Jenkins, in his "Pennsylvania, Colonial and Federal":
"In the years following 1683, far down into the next century, the
Indians preserved the tradition of an agreement of peace made with
Penn, and it was many times recalled in the meetings held with
him and his successors. Some of these allusions are very definite.
In 1715, for example, an important delegation of the Lenape
chiefs came to Philadelphia to visit the Governor. Sassoonan —
afterward called Allummapees, and for many years the principal
chief of his people — was at the head, and Opessah, a Shawnee
chief, accompanied him. There was 'great ceremony', says the
Council record, over the 'opening of the calumet'. Rattles were
shaken, and songs were chanted. Then Sassoonan spoke, offering
the calumet to Governor Gookin, who in his speech spoke of 'that
firm Peace that was settled between William Penn, the founder and
chief governor of this country, at his first coming into it', to which
Sassoonan replied that they had come 'to renew the former bond
of friendship; that William Penn had at his first coming made a
clear and open road all the way to the Indians, and they desired
the same might be kept open and that all obstructions might be re-
moved', etc. In 1720, Governor Keith, writing to the Iroquois
chiefs of New York, said: 'When Governor Penn first settled this
country he made it his first care to cultivate a strict alliance and
friendship with all the Indians, and condescended so far as to pur-
chase his lands from them.' And in March, 1722, the Colonial
Authorities, sending a message to the Senecas, said: 'William
Penn made a firm peace and league with the Indians in these parts
near forty years ago, which league has often been repeated and
62 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
never broken.' ' In fact, the "Great Treaty" was never broken
until the Penn's Creek Massacre of October 16, 1755.
Unhappily, then, historians are not able to agree in stating the
exact date of the "Great Treaty" under the historic elm on the
banks of the Delaware, — a treaty that occupies a high and glorious
place in the Indian history and traditions of Pennsylvania and the
Nation. Though the historian labors in vain to establish the date,
the fact of the treaty remains as inspiring to us of the present day
as it was to the historians, painters, and poets of the past.
On August 16th, 1683, William Penn wrote a long letter to the
Free Society of Traders, in which he describes a council that he
had with the Indians, — possibly the "Great Treaty":
"I have had occasion to be in council with them (the Indians)
upon treaties for land, and to adjust the terms of trade. Their
order is thus: The King sits in the middle of an half moon, and
hath his council, the old and wise, on each hand; behind them or
at a little distance, sit the younger fry in the same figure. . . .
When the purchase was agreed, great promises passed between us
of kindness and good neighborhood, and that the Indians and Eng-
lish must live in love as long as the sun and moon give light;
which done, another made a speech to the Indians in the name of
all the Sachamakers or Kings, first to tell them what was done;
next to charge and command them to love the Christians, and par-
ticularly live in peace with me, and the people under my Govern-
ment; that many Governors had been on the River, but that no
Governor had come himself to live and stay here before; and hav-
ing now such an one that treated them well, they should never do
him or his any wrong. At every sentence of which they shouted
and said Amen in their way."
Last Days of Tamanend
Tamanend's last appearance in recorded history was when he,
his brother and sons, conveyed the lands to William Penn on July
5th, 1697. But three years prior thereto, or on July 6th, 1694, he
appeared at a council at Philadelphia, a number of other Delaware
chiefs accompanying the venerable sachem. At this council, he
thus expressed his friendly feelings for the colonists, in a speech
addressed to Lieutenant-Governor Markham: "We and the
Christians of this river [Delaware] have always had a free road-
way to one another, and although sometimes a tree has fallen
across the road, yet we have still removed it again, and kept the
Tamanend
63
path clean; and we design to continue the old friendship that has
been between us and you."
Tamanend died before July, 1701, but the date of his death is
not known. All that is mortal of this great and good chieftain
reposes in the soil of the beautiful valley of the Neshaminy, — the
region which he and his associate chiefs conveyed to "Miquon", or
"Brother Onas", as the Indians affectionately called William Penn.
His grave is believed to be in "Tammany Burial Ground", near
Chalfonte, Bucks County.
m
I
CHAPTER V.
Opessah and His Son, Loyparcowah
OPESSAH
jS we have seen, in Chapter II, Opessah, or Wopaththa, was
the chief of the band of Shawnees, consisting of seventy
families, who came from Cecil County, Maryland, and
settled at Pequea, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,
about the year 1697 or 1698. No doubt his name was pronounced
"Opeththa", as the Shawnee language did not contain the sibilant.
William Penn's Treaty with Opessah and Other
Indians of the Susquehanna Region
William Penn returned to Pennsylvania in December, 1699,
after an absence of fifteen years; and he remained in his Province
until the autumn of 1701, when he left finally, arriving in England
about the middle of December of that year. During his second
sojourn in Pennsylvania, he made his home in his commodious
Manor House, at Pennsbury, in Falls Township, Bucks County,
about twenty miles from Philadelphia. The erection of the man-
sion had been started during his absence and was completed by
him after his return. Here he received many visits from different
Indian chiefs, a room in the mansion having been set apart for
Indian conferences.
During Penn's second sojourn in his Province, he endeavored
to obtain additional legislation placing restrictions on the inter-
course with the Indians, in order to protect them from the arts of
the whites and the ravages of the rum traffic. He also endeavored
to have the natives instructed in the doctrines of Christianity, In
order to improve the temporal condition of the natives, he held
frequent conferences at his manor house with various sachems;
and frequently visited them in their forest homes, participating in
their festivals. When they visited him at Pennsbury, it is said
that he joined with them in their sports and games, ate hominy,
venison, and roasted acorns with them, and matched them in
strength and agility. It is recorded that nineteen Indian treaties
were concluded and conferences held at Pennsbury.
Opessah and His Son, Loyparcowah 65
After the close of King William's war, the governor of New
York made a treaty of peace with the Five Nations; and at
William Penn's suggestion it was extended to the other English
colonies. On April 23rd, 1701, Penn entered into "Articles of Agree-
ment", or a treaty, at Philadelphia, with the Susquehannas, Min-
quas, or Conestogas, the Shawnees, the Ganawese, Conoys, or Pis-
cataways, the latter then dwelling on the northern bank of the
Potomac, and the Five Nations. In this treaty the Susquehannas
were represented by Connodaghtoh, their "king", and three chiefs
of the same; the Shawnees were represented by Opessah, or
Wopaththa, their "King", and two other chiefs; the Conoys, Gana-
wese, or Piscataways, were represented by four of their chiefs; and
the Five Nations were represented by Ahoakassongh, "brother to
the emperor or great king of the Onondagas."
We are now ready to state the provisions of the treaty. After
first reciting the good understanding that had prevailed between
William Penn and his lieutenants, on the one hand, and the vari-
ous Indian nations inhabiting his Province, on the other hand,
since his first arrival in Pennsylvania, and expressing that there
should be forever a firm and lasting peace between Penn and his
successors and the various Indian chiefs of his Province, the treaty
provided as follows:
First. That the said "kings and chiefs" and the various In-
dians under their authority should, at no time, hurt, injure or de-
fraud any inhabitants of the Colony of Penn; and that Penn and
his successors should not suffer any injury to be done the Indians
by any of his colonists.
Second. That the Indians should, at all times, behave them-
selves in a sober manner according to the laws of the Colony where
they lived near or among the Christian Inhabitants thereof; and
that they should have the full and free privileges and immunities
of the laws of the Colony of Penn in the same manner as the
whites, and acknowledge the authority of the crown of England in
the Province.
Third. That none of the Indians should, at any time, aid,
assist or abet any other nation, whether of Indians or others, that
would at any time not be in amity with the king of England.
Fourth. That, if at any time, the Indians should hear from
evil-minded persons or sowers of sedition any unkind reports of
the English, representing that the English had evil designs against
66 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the Indians, in such case the Indians should send notice thereof to
Penn or his successors, and not give credence to such reports until
fully satisfied concerning the truth of the same. Penn agreed that
he and his successors should at all times act in the same manner
toward the Indians.
Fifth. That the Indians should not suffer any strange nations
of Indians to settle on the farther side of the Susquehanna or about
the Potomac, except those that were already seated there, nor bring
any other Indians into any part of the Province without the per-
mission of Penn or his successors.
Sixth. Penn, for the purpose of correcting abuses that were
too frequently connected with the fur trade with the Indians,
agreed on the part of himself and his successors, that no one should
be permitted to trade with the Indians without first securing a
license under the Governor's hand and seal; and the Indians
agreed, on their part, not to permit any person whatsoever to buy
or sell, or have any trade with them, without first having a license
so to do.
Seventh. The Indians agreed not to sell or dispose of any of
their skins or furs to any person whatsoever outside of the Pro-
vince; and Penn bound himself and his successors to furnish the
Indians with all kinds of necessary goods for their use, at reason-
able rates.
Eighth. The Conoys, Ganawese, or Piscataways, should have
leave of Penn and his successors to settle on any part of the Poto-
mac River within the bounds of Penn's Province. (At this time,
the vexed question as to the boundary line between Pennsylvania
and Maryland was unsettled).
Ninth. The Susquehannas, or Conestogas, as a part of these
articles of agreement, absolutely ratified and confirmed the sale of
lands lying near and about the Susquehanna, formerly conveyed to
William Penn, by deed of Governor Dongan of New York, and
later confirmed by the deed of the Conestogas, dated the 13th day
of September, in the year 1700, to both of which conveyances ref-
erence will be made in Chapter VI. The Susquehannas also
agreed to be, at all times, ready further to confirm and make good
the said sale, according to the tenor of the same, and that they
would be answerable to Penn and his successors for the good be-
havior of the Conoys or Ganawese, and for their performing of
their several agreements which were a part of this treaty.
Opessah and His Son, Loyparcowah 67
Tenth. In the last item of the agreement, Penn promised, for
himself and his successors, that they would, at all times, show
themselves true friends and brothers to all of the Indians by assist-
ing them with the best of their "advices, directions and counsel",
and would, in all things just and reasonable, befriend them; and
the chiefs promised, for themselves and their successors, to behave
themselves according to the tenor of the agreement, and to sub-
mit to the laws of the Province in the same manner as "the Eng-
lish and other Chrstians therein do." The agreement was then
concluded by the exchange of skins and furs, on the part of the
Indians, and goods and merchandise, on the part of Penn.
At about the time of making this historic treaty of peace with
the Indians on the Susquehanna, William Penn had journied into
the interior of his Province, and conferred with the Conestogas at
Conestoga, their principal town, in Lancaster County, the Cones-
togas being responsible for the good behavior of the Shawnees in
their vicinity, as was pointed out in Chapter II. Penn wrote to
James Logan, in June, 1701, of his visit to the Conestoga region,
as follows: "We were entertained right nobly at the Indian King's
palace at Conestoga." At that time, Penn intended the founding
of a "great city" in the Conestoga region, on the Susquehanna.
At the time of this treaty, most of the Conoy were living on
the north bank of the Potomac, though some had already entered
Pennsylvania as early as 1698 or 1699, as stated in Chapter II.
Some years after the treaty, or in the summer of 1705, the Dela-
ware chief, Manangy, living on the Schuylkill, interviewed Gov-
ernor John Evans, at Philadelphia, explaining that the Conoy,
"settled in this Province near the head of the Potomac, being now
reduced by sickness to a small number, and desirous to quit their
present habitation where they settled about five years ago with the
Proprietor's consent, the Conestoga Indians then becoming guar-
antees of a treaty of friendship, made between them, and showing
a belt of wampum they had sent to the Schuylkill Indians to en-
gage their friendship and consent that they might settle amongst
them near Tulpehocken, request of the Governor that they may be
permitted to settle in the said place." The Governor then permitted
the Conoy to settle in the valley of the Tulpehocken, Manangy and
his band on the Schuylkill guaranteeing their good behavior.
Governor Evans Holds Councils with Opessah
On the sixth and seventh of June, 1706, a council was held at
Philadelphia between Governor John Evans and "the chiefs of the
Conestogas, Shawnees, and Ganawese, or Conoys", concerning pub-
68 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
lie affairs relating to these tribes. Indian Harry, of the Cones-
togas, was the interpreter. In the minutes of the council, the
Colonial Records do not specifically state that Opessah was present,
but, being the head of the Shawnees at Pequea, there is no doubt
that he attended the council. This council opened with Secretary
James Logan's account of his journey to the Conestogas and Conoy
during the preceding October and the treaty which was then held
with the Conoy at their town (Connejaghera, Conejoholo, Dekan-
oagah) near the site of Washington Borough, Lancaster County,
by the terms of which treaty, the Conoy were assured that they
would be safe in Penn's Province. The Conoy explained to James
Logan, at the time of his visit, that they had had much trouble
with the Virginians, and, considering it not safe to dwell in their
old abode on the Potomac, had come within the bounds of Penn-
sylvania, where they hoped to dwell in peace.
During this council at Philadelphia, Andaggy-Junguagh, chief
of the Conestogas, laid before Governor Evans a very large belt of
wampum, which he said was a pledge of peace formerly delivered
by the Onondagas to the Nanticokes when the Onondagas had sub-
jugated this tribe. He explained that the Nanticokes, being lately
under some apprehension of danger from the Five Nations, some
of them had, in the spring of 1706, come to the region of the Cones-
togas, and had brought this belt with them, as well as another belt,
which, the chief explained, he left at his village in Lancaster
County. He further advised the Governor that the Five Nations,
of whom the Onondagas, as has been seen, were a member, were
presently expected to send deputies to receive the tribute of the Nan-
ticokes; that he had brought this belt to Philadelphia in order that
the Colonial Authorities might be able to show it to any of the
Five Nations, who might come to Philadelphia, as evidence to
them that peace had been made. The Provincial Council, after
considering the matter, concluded to keep the belt according to the
proposal of the Conestogas; and the Conestogas promised to re-
tain the other belt at their chief town, to be shown to the Five
Nations, if any of their deputies should come to Conestoga.
The remaining time of the council was taken up by explaining
to the chiefs of these three nations the laws which had been re-
cently enacted regulating the intercourse between the Province and
these Indians. Evans explained to the chiefs that a law had re-
cently been enacted providing that no person should trade with
them but such as should first have a license from the Governor
under his hand and seal. The chiefs requested the Governor that
Opessah and His Son, Loyparcowah 69
only two traders be licensed, but Evans explained that the fewer
the number of traders the more likely it would be that the Indians
would be imposed upon. They then desired of the Governor
that he would not permit the traders to go beyond their towns and
meet the Indians returning from hunting, explaining that it had
been the traders' custom to meet the Indians returning from their
hunt, when they were loaded with furs and peltries, make them
drunk, and get all of the fruits of their hunt before they returned
to their wives and families. The Governor agreed to this proposal
and told the chiefs that their people should have no dealings with
the traders, except at their own villages, and that he would in-
struct the traders not to go any farther into the Susquehanna
region than the principal Indian towns, and to do no trading
whatever, except in those places. Liberal presents were then given
the chiefs, and the council adjourned.
At a meeting of the Provincial Council on the 31st of August,
1706, it was decided that Governor Evans should visit Conestoga
and the region round about it, for the purpose of further strength-
ening the bond of friendship between the Indians and the Colony.
The Governor accordingly journeyed to this region early in Sep-
tember, where he was well received by the Conestogas, Shawnees
and Conoys; but his visit was the cause of much scandal on ac-
count of his actions while there.
The French, as early as 1707, had their emissaries among the
Conestogas under the guise of traders, miners or colonists, in an
effort to draw them away from their allegiance to the English.
Likewise, the colony of Maryland was pushing her pioneers over
the boundary, in an effort to forestall the claims of William Penn
by actual settlement.
In the month of June, 1707, Governor Evans, accompanied
by Colonel John French, William Tonge, and several other Friends,
and four servants, made a journey among the Susquehanna In-
dians, upon receiving a message from the Conestogas that the
Nanticokes, who now had been tributaries of the Five Nations for
twenty-seven years, intended journeying to the Onondagas in New
York. He visited the following places: Pequea, Dekonoagah,
Conestoga, and Paxtang, near Harrisburg.
At Pequea, the Governor and his party were received by the
Shawnees with a discharge of firearms, and a conference was held,
on June 30th, with Opessah, in which the chief told the Governor
that he and his people were "happy to live in a country at peace,
and not as in those parts where we formerly lived, for, then, upon
70 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
returning from hunting, we found our town surprised, and our
women and children taken prisoners by our enemies." While the
Governor was at Pequea, several Shawnees from the South came
to settle there, and were permitted to do so by Opessah, with the
Governor's consent.
At Dekonoagah, the Governor was present at a meeting of the
Shawnees, Conoys, and Nanticokes from seven of the surrounding
towns. After having satisfied himself that the Nanticokes were a
well meaning people, the Governor guaranteed them the protec-
tion of the Colony of Pennsylvania.
The Governor, having received information at Pequea that a
Frenchman, named Nicole, was holding forth among the Indians
at Paxtang, about whom he had received many complaints, and
having advised the chief at Paxtang of his intention to seize this
French trader, captured Nicole, after much difficulty, and, having
mounted him on a horse with his legs tied, conveyed him through
Tulpehocken and Manatawney, to Philadelphia, and lodged him in
jail.
In Chapter II, a detailed account was given of the conference
at Conestoga, on June 8th, 1710, between the two commissioners of
Governor Evans (John French and Henry Worley) and Opessah,
Civility, and the Tuscarora commissioners, to which conference
reference is made at this point.
Opessah continued as chief of the Shawnees on the lower Sus-
quehanna, with his principal seat at Pequea, until 1711. Then he
voluntarily abandoned both his chieftainship and his tribe, and
made his home among the Delawares to the northward, whose
chief was Sassoonan, or Allummappees. Three principal chiefs of
the Conestogas appeared before Governor Charles Gookin and the
Provincial Council, at Philadelphia, on October first, 1714, and
advised them that Opessah, "the late King of their neighbors and
friends, the Shawnees," had left his people about three years pre-
viously, and, though often urged to return, refused to do so. The
Shawnees at Pequea then elected a new king, named Cakunda-
wanna, who accompanied the delegation of Conestoga chiefs and
was presented to the Council. On June 14, 1715, Opessah, with
Sassoonan, chief of the Delawares, attended the conference with
Governor Gookin, mentioned in Chapter IV.
It is probable that Opessah sought an asylum among the Dela-
wares through fear that the Five Nations or the English would
hold him responsible for the murder of Francis de la Tore and sev-
eral other white bond-servants of the trader, John Hans Steelman,
Opessah and His Son, Loyparcowah 71
by some young Shawnees, in 1710. Another account, this one
traditionary, ascribes his desertion to the fact that he fell in love
with a Delaware squaw who refused to leave her people.'
A few years later, (1722) Opessah settled at Old (Shawnee)
Town, on the Potomac, in Maryland, a town frequently called
Opessah's Town by the Marylanders, as late as 1725. It is prob-
able that he was the chief referred to by the Potomac Shawnee
chiefs from the Ohio, Opakethwa and Opakeita, when they told
Governor Gordon, upon their visit to Philadelphia, in September,
1732, that "formerly they lived at Patowmack, where their king
died; that, having lost him, they knew not what to do; that they
took their wives and children and went over the mountains, [to the
Ohio and Allegheny valleys] to live."
LOYPARCOWAH
Loyparcowah was a son of Opessah. His name appears sev-
eral places in the Colonial Records in the following form: "Loy-
parcowah, Opessah's Son." The Shawnee chief, Neucheconneh,
"Deputy King", seems to have acted as vice-regent during the
young manhood of this heir of the famous Shawnee chief, who
came with his people to Pequea, Lancaster County, in 1697, or
thereabouts.
Loyparcowah was one of the Shawnees who left the Susque-
hanna Valley and crossed the mountains to the valley of the
Allegheny. The year in which he did this is not known, but it is
likely that he was among those of his tribe who went west from
Paxtang and New Cumberland about 1727 — the first Shawnees to
follow the Delawares to the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny.
Loyparcowah Opposes Rum Traffic
Reference has been made to the fact that the Shawnees were
highly displeased on account of the constant supply of rum
brought to them by the traders in violation of the laws of the
Colony. Their wise men recognized that it was the curse of the
Red Man, causing his physical, mental, and moral deterioration.
Protests were made by the leaders of this tribe time and again to
the effect that the Colony failed to enforce the laws against the
rum traffic. In fact, one of the main reasons why the Shawnees
migrated to the western part of Pennsylvania was their desire to
escape the ruinous effects of strong liquor. But the trader with
his rum followed them into the forests of their western homes.
72 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Then the Shawnee on the Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas, and Alle-
gheny took steps, in 1738, to restrain this pernicious traffic. On
March 20th of that year, three of their chiefs in this region, name-
ly: "Loyporcowah (Opessah's Son), Newcheconneh (Deputy
King), and Coycacolenne, or Coracolenne (Chief Counsellor)",
wrote a letter to Thomas Penn and James Logan, Secretary of the
Provincial Council, in which they acknowledged the receipt of a
present from Penn and Logan of powder, lead, and tobacco, deliv-
ered to them by the trader, George Miranda; in which they say
they have a good understanding with the French, the Five Nations,
the Ottawas, and all the French Indians; that the tract of land
reserved for them by the Proprietory Government on the west side
of the Susquehanna does not suit them at present; and that they
desire to remain in the region of the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas,
make a strong town there, and keep their warriors from making
war upon other nations at a distance. They then add:
"After we heard your letter read, and all our people being
gathered together, we held a council together, to leave off drinking
for the space of four years. . . . There was not many of our
traders at home at the time of our council, but our friends, Peter
Chartier and George Miranda; but the proposal of stopping the
rum and all strong liquors was made to the rest in the winter, and
they were all willing. As soon as it was concluded of, all the rum
that was in the towns was staved and spilled, belonging both to
Indians and white people, which in quantity consisted of about
forty gallons, that was thrown in the street; and we have appointed
four men to stave all the rum or strong liquors that is brought to
the towns hereafter, either by Indians or white men, during the
four years." A pledge signed by ninety-eight Shawnees and the
two traders above named accompanied this letter, agreeing that all
rum should be destroyed, and four men appointed in every town
to see that no strong liquor should be brought into the Shawnee
towns for the term of four years.
Previous to this action on the part of Loyparcowah and other
chiefs of the Shawnees, the Delawares at Kittanning made com-
plaints concerning the rum traffic. In 1732, the trader, Edmund
Cartlidge, wrote the Governor from Kittanning that the chiefs
there made reflections on the Government for permitting such large
quantities of rum to be carried to the Allegheny and sold to the
Indians at that place, contrary to law. Also, in 1733, the Shawnee
chiefs in the Allegheny region wrote the Governor requesting that
he send them an order permitting them "to break in pieces all kegs
Opessah and His Son, Loyparcowah 73
of rum so brought yearly and monthly by some new upstart of a
trader without a license, who comes amongst us and brings noth-
ing but rum, no powder, nor lead, nor clothing, but takes away
with him those skins which the old licensed traders, who bring us
everything necessary, ought to have in return for their goods sold
us some years since." Also in 1734, the Shawnee chiefs at Alle-
gheny wrote the Governor and requested that none of the licensed
traders be allowed to bring them more than thirty gallons of rum
twice in a year, except Peter Chartier, who "trades further than ye
rest."
Loyparcowah later descended the Allegheny and Ohio, prob-
ably remaining for some time at Chartier's Old Town, on or near
the site of Tarentum, Allegheny County, and at Logstown, near
the site of Economy, in the same county. In 1752, we find him at
the Lower Shawnee Town, at mouth of the Scioto. On February
8th, of this year, he joined with three other Shawnee chiefs of the
Lower Shawnee Town, in a letter to Governor James Hamilton of
Pennsylvania, informing the Governor that "all the nations settled
on this River Ohio and on this side of the Lakes are in friendship
and live as one people; but the French trouble us much; they
threaten to cut us off, and have killed thirty of our brothers, the
Twightwees (Miamis); and we now acquaint you that we intend to
strike the French."
CHAPTER VI.
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and
Captain Civility
ORETYAGH
RETYAGH claims our remembrance as one of the chiefs
of the Conestogas to come into touch with William
Penn. He attended the council at Philadelphia, on
July 6th, 1694, mentioned at the close of Chapter IV.
This is his first appearance in recorded history.
Oretyagh Sells Susquehanna Land to William Penn
Oretyagh next appears as one of the grantors of lands on the
Susquehanna to William Penn, the history of which transaction is
as follows :
By deed, dated September 10th, 1683. the Conestoga chief,
Kekelappan, granted to Penn "that half of all my lands betwixt
Susquehanna and Delaware, which lieth on ye Susquehanna side."
In this same deed he promises to sell Penn in the following spring,
upon his return from hunting, the other half of his lands. Also,
on October 18th, 1683, the Conestoga chieftain, Machaloha, who
claimed to exercise authority over the Indians "on the Delaware
River, Chesepeake Bay and up to ye falls of ye Susquehanna
River", conveyed to Penn his right in his land.
With reference to the deeds of Kekelappan and Machaloha,
Penn seems to have thought it advisable to get the consent of the
Five Nations to his possession of the lands in the interior of the
country in the region of the Susquehanna. He had no doubt
learned of the defeat of the Susquehannas at their fort, in either
Lancaster or York County, at the hands of the Five Nations, or
Irquois, in 1675. Accordingly, he sent two agents to confer with
the Irquois chiefs in New York, in the summer of 1683, with refer-
ence to these lands; and in July of that year, he wrote acting Gov-
ernor Brockholls of New York, commending to his favor these
agents sent to treat with the Iroquois "about some Susquehanna
land on ye back of us, where I intend a colony forthwith."
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and Captain Civility 75
On August 25th, 1683, a new Governor, Thomas Dongan, reach-
ed New York, displacing Brockholls. He remained Governor of
the colony until August, 1688. Immediately upon his arrival, he
heard of the negotiations of Penn's agents; and both he and the
Albany justices feared that Penn would plant a strong settlement
on the Susquehanna, and thus get the profitable fur trade of the
Five Nations of New York. The Susquehanna River afforded a
splendid highway from the central part of the Five Nations' terri-
tory right to the settlement which Dongan feared Penn would
found on the lower part of that river. Dongan called "an extra-
ordinary meeting" of the justices on September 7th. When they
assembled, they had with them several chiefs of the Iroquois,
among them being two Cayugas and "a Susquehanna." The
justices closely questioned the chiefs concerning the "situation of
the Susquehanna River" as to its geographical and trade relations
with the settlements of the colony of New York, especially that of
Albany. The chiefs replied that it was "one day's journey" from
the Mohawk castles to the lake where the Susquehanna rises; that
it was one and one-half days' journey overland from Oneida "to
the kill which falls into the Susquehanna River", and one day
from there to the river itself; that it was but a half day's journey
overland and one day by water from Onondaga to the Susque-
hanna River; that it was but one and one-half days' journey by
land and water from Cayuga to the Susquehanna River; and that
it was three days' journey overland and two by water from the
"four castles" of the Senecas to the Susquehanna River, and then
only five days' journey by water to the Susquehanna castles. The
chiefs explained that all this journey was "very easy, they con-
veying their packs in canoes."
It was but natural that the chiefs should inquire as to the
reason for such detailed questioning. They inquired why the
justices wanted all this information and pointedly asked whether
the white men were coming to the Susquehanna. The justices
asked them in turn how that would suit them, and the chiefs
frankly replied "very well"; that it would be much easier and
nearer for trade than Albany offered, "insomuch as they must
bring everything thither on their backs." This candid statement
of the chiefs was very alarming to the justices, and they immedi-
ately wrote Dongan urging that he find "an expedient for prevent-
ing" Penn's acquisition of a Susquehanna Indian title. On Sep-
tember 18th, Dongan advised the justices that he considered it
"very convenient and necessary to putt a stopp to all proceedings
76 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
in Mr. Penn's affairs with the Indians until his bounds and limits
be adjusted"; and he instructed them "to suffer no manner of pro-
ceedings in that business" until they should receive further advice
from him.
The justices, therefore, prevailed with the chiefs to advise the
agents of Penn that they had no right to sell the Susquehanna
lands, having promised them to "Corlaer" — the generic name for
the New York governors — on some previous occasion, and to de-
cline to proceed with the negotiations. Then Dongan, in order to
get the matter in his own hands, procured from some of the
sachems a deed of the lands to himself. Then he wrote Penn, on
the 10th of October, advising him of the purchase, and again, on
the 22nd of October, saying that it had been further confirmed by
the Iroquois, but that he and Penn would not "fall out" over the
matter.
Thus the matter stood until the 13th day of January, 1696, on
which date Dongan executed a lease and release to William Penn
of "all that tract of land lying upon, on both sides, the river com-
monly called or known by the name of Susquehanna River, and
the lands adjacent, beginning at the mountains or head of the said
river, and running as far as and into the bay of Chesapeake."
The territory conveyed is further described as being the same
"which the said Thomas Dongan lately purchased of or had given
him by the Sinneca Susquehanna Indians."
This deed gave Penn whatever title to the Susquehanna
Dongan had procured in 1683 from the Iroquois as over lords of
the Susquehanna clans. But, in order to get indisputable title to
these Susquehanna lands, Penn, after he returned to his Province
early in December, 1699, from his fifteen years absence in England,
made and concluded, on the 13th day of September, 1700, a treaty
with Oretyagh, or Widaagh, and Andaggy-Junkquagh, "Kings or
Sachems of the Susquehannagh Indians, and of the river under that
name, and lands lying on both sides thereof", by the terms of
which these chiefs granted to him all the rights they possessed on
the Susquehanna, and ratified and confirmed unto him "ye bargain
and sale of ye said lands, made unto Col. Thomas Dongan, now
Earl Limerick, and formerly Governor of New York." This sale
was further confirmed in the "Articles of Agreement" which Penn
concluded with the Susquehanna or Conestoga Indians, at Phila-
delphia, on April 23, 1701, which agreement was related in Chap-
ter V.
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and Captain Civility 77
Oretyagh Bids Farewell to William Penn
Shortly before embarking for England, in the autumn of 1701,
William Penn assembled a large company of the Delawares at his
manor house at Pennsbury to review and confirm the covenants of
peace and good will, which he had formerly made with them. The
meeting was held in the great hall of the manor house. The
sachems assured him that they had never broken a covenant "made
with their hearts and not with their heads." After the business of
the conference had been transacted, Penn made them many pres-
ents of coats and other articles, and then the Indians retired into
the courtyard of the mansion to complete their ceremonies.
Likewise, Oretyagh, with a number of the sachems of the
Conestogas and Shawnees, came to Philadelphia shortly before
Penn's final departure for England, to take leave of their beloved
"Brother Onas." At this conference, which was held on October
7th, 1701, Penn informed the chiefs that it was likely the last inter-
view that he would ever have with them; that he had ever loved
and been kind to them and ever would continue so to be, not
through political designs or for a selfish interest, but out of real
affection. He desired them, in his absence to cultivate friendship
with those whom he would leave in authority, so that the bond of
friendship already formed might grow the stronger throughout the
passing years. He also informed them that the Assembly was at
that time enacting a law, according to their desire, to prevent their
being abused by the selling of rum among them, with which
Oretyagh, in the name of the rest, expressed great satisfaction, and
desired that the law might speedily and effectually be put into
execution. Oretyagh said that his people had long suffered from
the ravages of the rum traffic, and that he now hoped for redress,
believing that they would have no reason for complaint of this
matter in the future.
Penn early saw the degradation which the Indians' unquench-
able thirst for strong drink wrought among them, and he did all in
his power to remedy this matter. He said that it made his heart
sick to note the deterioration of character and the degradation
which the strong liquor and vices of the white man wrought among
the Indians during his short stay in the Province.
Finally, at this leavetaking, Penn requested the Indians that,
if any of his colonists should ever transgress the law and agree-
ment, which he and his governor had entered into with them, they
should at once inform the government of his Province, so that the
78 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
offenders might be prosecuted. This they promised to observe
faithfully, and that, if any rum were brought among them, they
would not buy it, but send the person who brought it back with it
again. Then, informing the chiefs that he had charged the mem-
bers of his Council that they should, in all respects, be kind and
just to the Indians in every manner as he had been, and making
them presents, he bade them adieu never to meet them again.
Well would it have been for the Colony of Pennsylvania, if
Penn's successors had always emulated his example in dealing
with the Indians — if his successors had been imbued with his kind-
ly spirit, and had treated the natives with justice. He died on
the 30th of July, 1718, at Ruscombe, near Tywford, in Bucking-
hamshire, England, at the age of seventy-four; and when his great
heart was cold and still in death, the Red Man of the Pennsylvania
forests lost his truest friend. During Penn's life there were no
serious troubles between his colony and the Indian, and no actual
warfare, as we shall see, for some years thereafter; but, less than
a generation after this great apostle of the rights of man was
gathered to his fathers, the Delawares, who had welcomed him so
kindly, and the Shawnees, rose in revolt, after a long series of
wrongs, and spread terror, devastation, and death throughout the
Pennsylvania settlements.
Says Dr. George P. Donehoo: "The memory of William Penn
lingered in the wigwams of the Susquehanna and the Ohio until
the last red man of this generation had passed away; and then the
tradition of him was handed down to the generations which fol-
lowed until today, when it still lingers, like a peaceful benediction,
among the Delaware and Shawnee on the sweeping plains of Okla-
homa."
Oretyagh made a later protest against the abuses of the rum
traffic by the Pennsylvania traders. In May, 1704, according to
the Colonial Records: "Oretyagh, the chief now of Conestoga,
requested him [Nicole Godin, a trader] to complain to the Gover-
nor [John Evans] of the great quantities of rum continually
brought to their town, insomuch that they (the Conestogas) are
ruined by it, having nothing left, but have laid out all, even their
clothes for rum, and may now, when threatened with war, be sur-
prised by their enemies, when besides themselves with drink, and
so utterly be destroyed." With this protest against the detestable
traffic, which, even at this early day, was bringing ruin upon the
Pennsylvania Indians, we close this sketch of Oretyagh, the friend
of William Penn.
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and Captain Civility 79
OCOWELLOS
Perhaps the first reference to the Shawnee chief, Ocowellos, is
in the account of the conference which Governor William Keith of
Pennsylvania held with the Shawnees, Conestogas, Conoy, and
other Indians at Conestoga, in July, 1717, at which time and place
he asked them to explain their connection with an attack made by
the Senecas upon the Catawbas, then under the protection of Vir-
ginia. The Shawnee chief advised the Governor that six Shaw-
nees had accompanied the war party of Senecas who made the
attack, but that these six were from a Shawnee settlement much
higher up the Susquehanna. At any rate, Ocowellos is referred to
as "King of the Upper Shawnees" in the minutes of a council held
at Philadelphia, May 20th, 1723, when an address from him to the
Provincial Council was read in which he mentioned past visits to
the Governor of Canada, and another which he then contemplated
making. Most authorities believe that his seat was then near the
mouth of Chillisquaque Creek, on the east bank of the West
Branch of the Susquehanna, in Northumberland County.
Ocowellos removed from the Susquehanna to the valley of the
Conemaugh prior to 1731, possibly several years earlier. On
October 29th, 1731, Jonas Davenport, an Indian trader, made an
affidavit for the Provincial Council, in which he said: "On Con-
numach [Conemaugh] Creek, there are three Shawnee towns; 45
families; 200 men; Chief Okowela [Ocowellos], suspected to be a
favorer of the French interest."
The three Conemaugh towns, over which Ocowellos ruled in
1731 and later, can not be definitely located. They were probably
the following: Keckenpaulin's Old Town, at the mouth of the
Loyalhanna, in Westmoreland County; Black Legs Town, at the
mouth of Black Legs Creek, in Indiana County; and Conemaugh
Old Town on the site of Johnstown, Cambria County.
From the few glimpses of Ocowellos that we get in the Colonial
Records, it is seen that he was one of the Shawnee chiefs who
early yielded to French influence.
CAPTAIN CIVILITY
Captain Civility, or Civility, was a chief of the Conestogas,
descendants of the ancient Susquehannas. As "Chief of the
Conestogas", he is mentioned in the Colonial Records from 1710 to
1736. He was present at the conference at Conestoga, June 8th,
1710, between the Pennsylvania commissioners, John French and
Henry Worley, and the deputies of the Tuscaroras, when this tribe
80 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
sought permission to settle within the bounds of Penn's Colon}', an
account of which conference was given in Chapter II.
He seems to have had varying degrees of authority. For
instance, in the minutes of the conference at Conestoga, above re-
ferred to, he is mentioned as "the Senneques' [Conestogas' | King",
and on July 23rd, 1712, as a "War Captain and Chief"; in June.
1713, he is mentioned as "the young Indian called Civility, now
one of their [the Conestogas] chiefs; in June, 1715, he and Satay-
oght, or Satayriote, are called "the chiefs of the Conestogas";
while, July 30th, 1716, Satayriote is called chief, and Civility the
"Captain", of the Conestogas. In June, 1718, he attended a con-
ference at Philadelphia, in the minutes of which he is called "the
present chief or captain of the Conestogas."
In this conference, Civility informed Governor Keith that the
Conestogas had chosen, Oneshanayan, to be their new king. He
also attended a conference at Philadelphia, in July, 1720, and soon
thereafter seems to have become the ruling chief of the Cones-
togas; though in the minutes of a conference held at Conestoga,
May 26th, 1728, between Governor Gordon and the Conestogas,
Shawnees, and Conoy, (which will be described in Chapter VIII)
he, Tawenna, Ganyataronga, and Tanniatchiaro are mentioned as
"chiefs of the Conestogoe Indians." In October, 1728, he wrote
Governor Gordon acquainting him with the fact that several of
the Delawares, Shawnees, and Conoy had come to Conestoga and
brought many skins with them as a present for the Governor;
"that they purposed to fulfill their promise of coming to Philadel-
phia this fall, but that the death of his, Civility's, child had so
much afflicted him that he could not come with them, and there-
fore they had all resolved to defer their visit until spring, at which
time they would surely come to the Governor of Philadelphia."
In 1729, he wrote Governor Gordon concerning the killing and
capture of nine Shawnees near the Potomac by the "Southern In-
dians" [Catawbas] ; and, on May 26th of that year, he was the
chief speaker of the Conestogas at a conference held at Philadel-
phia between Governor Gordon and the Conestogas, Shawnees, and
Conoy, in which he complained very bitterly of the baneful effects
of the carrying of so much rum to the Indians. The last mention
of Civility, in the Colonial Records, is in the minutes of a confer-
ence held at Philadelphia, on October 14th, 1736, between Thomas
Penn and eighteen Iroquois chiefs, whose speaker informed Penn
and the Provincial Council; "That if Civility at Connestogoe
should attempt to make a sale of any lands to us, or any of our
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and Captain Civility 81
neighbors, they must let us know that he hath no power to do so,
and if he does any thing of the kind, they, the Indians, will utterly
disown him."
Troubles Between the Northern and
the Southern Indians
But Civility claims our remembrance chiefly on account of his
conferences with the Colonial Authorities during the troubles be-
tween the Northern and the Southern Indians in the years follow-
ing the migration of the Tuscaroras from Carolina and Virginia
to the territory of the Five Nations in New York. As was pointed
out in Chapter II, they began this migration in 1712 or 1713, and
were formally admitted, in 1722, as a constituent part of the Iro-
quois Confederation. However, while the Tuscaroras were still
living in their southern home, they were the bitter enemies of the
Catawbas, and their hatred did not abate upon their removing to
New York.
Almost every summer after 1713, roving bands of the Tuscar-
oras and other members of the Five Nations, followed the moun-
tain valleys through Pennsylvania to the South, on their way to
attack the Catawbas and Cherokees; and many Conestogas joined
these war parties. Some destruction was done by these bands
within the Province of Pennsylvania, but presently the Colonial
Authorities adopted the method of having the farmers, whose crops
were injured, place their bill in the hands of the nearest justice of
the peace, who would, in turn, forward it to the Provincial Coun-
cil; and, at the next conference with the Indians, the Council
would deduct the amount of the bill from the present given to the
Indians at that conference. This method made Pennsylvania
practically free from ravages wrought by these bands. The colony
of Virginia, however, did not fare so well, and both lives and
property were destroyed by these bands of warriors from the
North.
These war parties of the Iroquois frequently made Conestoga
their stopping place on their way to and return from the territory
of the Catawbas and Cherokees, and many a captive Catawba and
Cherokee was tortured to death at Conestoga. Finally a treaty
of peace was made between the Conestogas and Catawbas, on
August 31st, 1715, but this did not put a stop to the expeditions of
the Iroquois against the Southern Indians.
In June, 1717, Governor William Keith received a message
from Civility and several other chiefs of the Conestoga region, de-
siring him to visit them without delay to consult about affairs of
82 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
great importance. The Governor, accordingly, journeyed to
Conestoga, in July, where he met the chiefs of the Conestogas,
Delavvares, Shawnees, and Conoys, and inquired of them the cause
of their alarm. He ascertained that about two months previously
a young Delaware, son of a chief, had been killed on one of the
branches of the Potomac by a party of Virginians accompanied by
some Indians. These latter were no doubt Catawbas, who, at that
time, were at peace with Virginia. At this meeting at Conestoga,
Governor Keith brought to the attention of the Indians that many
complaints had been made by the inhabitants of Virginia concern-
ing the destruction caused by the war parties of the Iroquois
against the Catawbas; and he reminded them of the fact that,
although divided into different colonies, the English were one peo-
ple; that to injure or make war upon one body of them was to
make war upon all, and that the Indians, therefore, must never
molest or trouble any of the English colonists, nor make war upon
any Indians who were in friendship with, or under the protection
of, the English.
At this conference, Keith stressed the fact that recently a
band of Senecas had attacked some Catawbas near Fort Christian,
in the colony of Virginia, killing six and capturing a woman; and
he called upon the Indians of the Conestoga region to explain
their connection with this insult to Virginia. The Shawnee chief
told the Governor that six young men of this tribe had accom-
panied the party of Senecas who made the attack upon the Cataw-
bas, but explained that none of the six were present at the time and
place of this conference, "their settlements being much higher up
the Susquehanna River." The chief further stated that the six
Shawnees declared, upon their return, that they had nothing to do
with the attack upon the Catawbas.
Governor Keith closed the conference with the following stipu-
lations, quoted from the minutes of the conference:
"1st. That he expected their strict observance of all former
contracts of friendship made between them and the Government of
Pennsylvania.
"2dly. That they must never molest or disturb any of the
English Governments, nor make war upon any Indians whatsoever
who are in friendship with and under the protection of the Eng-
lish.
"3dly. That, in all cases of suspicion or danger, they must
advise and consult with this Government before they undertook or
determined anv thins.
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and Captain Civility 83
"4thly. That, if through accident any mischief of any sort
should happen to be done by the Indians to the English, or by the
English to them, then both parties should meet with hearty inten-
tion of good will to obtain an acknowledgment of the mistake, as
well as to give or receive reasonable satisfaction.
"5thly. That, upon these terms and conditions, the Governor
did, in the name of their great and good friend, William Penn,
take them and their people under the same protection, and in the
same friendship with this Government, as William Penn himself
had formerly done, or could do now if he was here present.
"And the Governor hereupon did promise, on his part, to
encourage them in peace, and to nourish and support them like a
true friend and brother.
"To all which the several chiefs and their great men presently
assented, it being agreed, that, in testimony thereof, they should
rise up and take the Governor by the hand, which accordingly they
did with all possible marks of friendship in their countenance and
behaviour."
But the trouble between them did not end with the foregoing
conference at Conestoga. In 1719, great difficulties arose con-
cerning the hunting grounds of the Northern and the Southern
Indians. The Iroquois sent out many war parties, which stopped
at Conestoga on their way south, and were joined by many of the
Conestogas. These raids into the Shenandoah Valley brought
many white settlers of Virginia and the Carolinas into hostility to
the Iroquois; for these Colonies were then on friendly terms with
the Catawbas and Cherokees, against whom the raids were direct-
ed. In fact, a general uprising of the settlers of Virginia and the
Carolinas was imminent. The Iroquois conducted their warfare
on the Southern Indians with great brutality, torturing many cap-
tives to death at Conestoga and villages on the Susquehanna.
On receiving a letter from Civility and other chiefs at Cones-
toga advising that some of their Indians had been killed by the
Southern Indians, Governor Keith sent Colonel John French to
Conestoga, where a council was held on June 28th, 1719, with
Civility and Queen Canatowa of the Conestogas, "Wightomina,
King of the Delawares, Sevana, King of the Shawnees", who suc-
ceeded Opessah at Pequea, and "Winninchack, King of the Cana-
wages" [Conoys]. In the name of Governor Keith, Colonel
French made the following demands of Civility and the other
chiefs: That they should not receive the war parties of the
Tuscaroras, or any other tribes of the Five Nations, if coming to
84 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
their towns on their way to or return from the South; and that
they would have to answer to the Colonial Authorities, if any
prisoner were tortured by them. It appeared, however, that the
warriors of the Five Nations, on their way southward, practically
forced the young men of the Conestogas, Shawnees, and Conoy to
accompany them. As the conquerors of these tribes, the Iroquois
demanded their allegiance and help. The chiefs promised faith-
fully to obey the commands of Governor Keith, but the war went
on.
James Logan, Secretary of the Provincial Council, on June 27,
1720, held a conference at Conestoga with Civility and chiefs of
the Shawnees, Delawares, and Conoy, in an attempt to persuade
these Indians from making raids into Virginia. Not long before,
ten Iroquois and two Shawnees had been killed by the Southern
Indians about one hundred and sixty miles from Conestoga. At
this conference, Logan learned that the Pequea Shawnees could
not be restrained from assisting the Iroquois, inasmuch as since the
departure of Opessah, no one could control them. True, the
Conestogas were answerable for the behavior of these Shawnees,
but Civility advised Logan that he "had only the name without
any authority, and could do nothing." Moreover, it was difficult
for Logan to impress upon the minds of these Indians the fact that
the English of Virginia and Maryland were not at war with the
English of Pennsylvania. They could not see why the Indians in
friendship with Pennsylvania should not go to war against the
Virginians, just as the Iroquois went to war against the Indians of
Virginia and the Carolinas.
At the close of the conference, Captain Civility told Logan
privately that the Five Nations, especially the Cayugas, were much
dissatisfied because of the large settlements the English were mak-
ing on the Susquehanna, and that the Iroquois claimed a property
right in those lands. As to the Iroquois' claim to a property right
in the Susquehanna lands, Logan told Civility that the Indians
well knew that the Iroquois had long before conveyed those lands
to the Governor of New York, and that William Penn had
purchased this right, as was pointed out in Chapter VI. Civility
acknowledged this fact.
Realizing the awful consequences of a general war between the
Iroquois and their allies, on the one side, and the Southern Indians
on the other, involving the settlers of the South, Governor Keith,
in the spring of 1721, visited Governor Spotswood of Virginia with
whom he framed an agreement, by the terms of which the tribu-
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and Captain Civility 85
tary Indians of Virginia would not, in the future, pass the Potomac
nor "the high ridge of mountains extending along the back of
Virginia; provided that the Indians to the northward of the Poto-
mac and to the westward of those mountains" would observe the
same limits.
Governor Keith, accompanied by seventy armed horsemen,
visited Conestoga on July 5th, 1721, where he conferred, at
Civility's lodge, not only with the Conestogas but also with four
deputies of the Five Nations, who had recently arrived there, tell-
ing the spokesman of the Five Nations, Ghesoant, that, "whereas
the English from a very small beginning had now become a great
people in the Western World, far exceeding the number of all the
Indians, which increase was the fruit of peace among themselves,
the Indians continued to make war upon one another and were de-
stroying one another, as if it was their purpose that none of them
should be left alive." He called attention to the suffering that
their wars caused to the women and children at home, and, in vari-
ous ways, tried to mollify their warlike passions, but stated that,
if they were determined to continue warfare, they must, in journey-
ing to and from the South, take another path lying farther to the
west, and not pass through the settled parts of the Province. The
result of the conference was the ratifying by the Conestogas and
Five Nations of the agreement arranged by Governor Keith and
Governor Spotswood as to the limits of the hunting grounds of the
Virginia and the Pennsylvania Indians. Keith closed the confer-
ence by giving Ghesoant a gold coronation medal of George, the
First, which he asked him to take as a token of friendship to the
greatest chief of the Five Nations, Kannygoodk. Thus, happily,
the immediate danger of a general Indian uprising was averted.
This was the most important Indian treaty ever held at
Conestoga. Later, troubles came on apace between the Iroquois
and the Southern Indians, but the Iroquois abandoned the Susque-
hanna route to the South, taking the Warrior's Path, which crossed
the Potomac at Old Town (Opessah's Town), and, still later, when
white settlers occupied the valley along Warrior Ridge, a trail
farther westward, crossing the counties of Westmoreland and Fay-
ette.
While there was now a lull in the trouble between the North-
ern and the Southern Indians, the fears of the Province were fur-
ther awakened by a quarrel between two brothers, John and
Edmund Cartilidge, and a Seneca Indian, near Conestoga, in
which the latter was cruelly murdered early in 1721. The Colon-
86 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
ial Authorities well knew the Indians' love for revenge, and they
apprehended severe retaliation. A rigid inquiry was made into
the matter, and an inquest was ordered to be held on the body,
though the same had been buried for more than two months. The
Cartilidge brothers were seized and put in jail in Philadelphia,
awaiting trial under the laws of the Colony. Messengers were
sent by the Colonial Authorities to the Five Nations, advising
them that the Provincial Council deplored the incident, and, in
order to prevent a repetition of such unfortunate occurrences, had
prohibited the sale of rum and other strong drink to the Indians
by re-enacting the former law on this matter, with additional pen-
alties.
Treaty at Albany
In this sketch of Civility, we call attention to the Albany
Treaty of 1722, definitely ending, for a time, the troubles between
the Iroquois and the Catawbas, in which troubles he had a promi-
nent part. The Iroquois, in the summer of 1722, invited Governor
Keith to meet them with the Governors of Virginia, New York,
and New England, in a great council at Albany, New York, in
which all matters between the Indians and these colonies could be
taken up. In extending the investigation, they explained that
their king was an old man, and could not make a journey to Phila-
delphia. The council was accordingly held at Albany, on the
10th day of September, 1722, in which the Five Nations acknowl-
edged that Penn's Governors had always observed the treaties
that Penn had entered into with the Indians, surrendered all claim
to their lands on the Susquehanna concerning which the Cayugas
had made claim, and with great magnanimity pardoned the offense
of the Cartilidge brothers in having murdered the Seneca Indian.
Governor Keith had explained to them that the brothers were now
out on bail awaiting trial. The reply of the great "king" of the
Five Nations, pardoning the Cartilidge brothers, shows the better
qualities of the Indians' nature. It is thus recorded in Volume
III of the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania: "The great King of
the Five Nations is sorry for the death of the Indian that was
killed, for he was of his own flesh and blood; he believes the
Governor [Keith] is also sorry; but, now that it is done, there is
no help for it, and he desires that Cartilidge may not be put to
death, nor that the Governor should be angry and spare him for
some time, and put him to death afterwards; one life is enough to
be lost; there should not two die."
Oretyagh, Ocowellos and Captain Civility 87
At this treaty, Governor Spotswood, or Virginia, secured the
assent of the Tuscaroras and other members of the Five Nations
to a proposed boundary within the limits of which the Indians of
Virginia should be safe, as follows: That the various tribes tribu-
tary to the colony of Virginia should not, without having a pass-
port from the Governor, on any pretense whatsoever, cross to the
northern side of the Potomac or to the west side of the Allegheny
Mountains; in case they should do so without such passport, it
should be lawful for the Indians to the northward to put such
Southern Indians to death. Also that the Five Nations and the
Shawnees, should not, without having a passport, cross to the
southern side of the Potomac River or to the eastward of the Alle-
gheny Mountains; that, in case any of these Northern Indians
should pass beyond these boundaries, they should be put to death
or sold into slavery.
At the close of the treaty, "the speaker of the Five Nations
holding up the Coronet, they [the Iroquois] gave six shouts, five
for the Five Nations, and one for a Castle of the Tuscaroras, lately
seated between Oneyde [Oneida] and Onondage [Onondaga]",
indicating that the Tuscaroras were, at that time, an integral part
of the Confederation of the Iroquois, thus making the Six Nations.
First Reference to the Ohio and Allegheny
In closing this sketch of Civility, we call attention to the fact
that he attended a council held in Philadelphia on July 3rd to 5th,
1727, at which the Indians requested that "none of the traders be
allowed to carry any rum to the remoter parts where James LeTorte
trades, (that is Allegheny on the branches of the Ohio)." This is
the first mention in the Colonial Records of Pennsylvania of the
region on the Ohio and Allegheny, and shows that, at this early
date, the Indian traders from Conestoga had established trading
posts in the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny. In the minutes of
this conference, also, we find reference to "a fort" (no doubt trading
house) which the French had already built in the valley of the
Allegheny. He also attended the conference held at Conestoga
May 26th, 1728, between Governor Gordon and the chiefs of the
Conestogas, Shawnees, Conoy, and Delawares, with reference to
the Indian troubles of that year, as related in the chapter on Kako-
watcheky (Chapter VIII).
CHAPTER VII.
Sassoonan or Allumapees
The Line of Succession From Tamanend
ASSOONAN, or Allumapees, was head chief of the Turtle
Clan of Delawares from a date prior to June 14th, 1715,
until his death in the autumn of 1747. By some very
high authorities, it is claimed that he was a son of the
great Tamanend and, as a little boy, was with his father at the
"Great Treaty". These authorities make Sassoonan identical with
"Weheequeckhon, alias Andrew", who as stated in Chapter IV,
joined with his father, Tamanend, his two brothers, and his uncle,
in conveying to William Penn, on the fifth day of July, 1697, cer-
tain lands between the Pennypack and Neshaminy creeks, and
whom Tamanend describes in the deed, as, "my son who is to be
king after my death."
As stated in Chapter IV, Tamanend died probably before
1701 ; for, at council held at Philadelphia on July 26th of that year,
his name is not mentioned in the list of Delaware chiefs at that
time. Who succeeded Tamanend in the kingship of the Turtle
Clan of Delawares is not known, though some authorities think
that Owechela was his successor, and identify him with Weheelan,
Tamanend's brother, one of the grantors in the deed of July 5th,
1697, suggesting that he may have acted as vice-regent during the
minority of Weheequeckhon, alias Andrew. Plausibility is given
to the claim that Owechela succeeded Tamanend by the fact that
a chief named Owhala, or Ochale, (a name very similar to Owe-
chela, if he was not actually this same chief) is called "King of the
Delawares" in the Maryland Council Records of 1698 and 1700.
Says Charles A. Hanna:
"Whether or not Owechela was the ruling chief of the Dela-
wares from 1701 to 1709, the name of a new chief appears on the
records of the latter year. This was Skalitchy, who with Owe-
chela, Passakassy, and Sassoonan, attended the conference at Phila-
delphia in July, 1709."
The conference to which Mr. Hanna refers was held on the
26th of July, and, in the minutes thereof, Sassoonan's place of resi-
dence is set forth as being "at Peshtang [Paxtang] above Cones-
Sassoonan or Allumapees 89
toga." But Skalitchy also attended a conference between the
Indians and Governor Charles Gookin and the Provincial Council,
held on May 19th, 1712, at the house of Edward Farmar, at White
Marsh, in what is now Montgomery County, in which he took the
most prominent part. Sassoonan, too, was present at the confer-
ence.
We pause in the narration of the successors to Tamanend's
kingship to call attention to the fact that the conference at the
house of Edward Farmar deserves our attention on account of the
light it throws on the subjugation of the Delawares by the Five
Nations. Governor Gookin and the Provincial Council had been
summoned to Farmar's house to meet Skalitchy, Sassoonan and
twelve other Delaware chiefs, who desired to confer with the Gov-
ernor and Council before setting out on a journey to the Five
Nations. At the conference, Skalitchy addressed the Governor as
follows: "Many years ago, being made tributaries to the
Mingoes, or Five Nations, and being now about to visit them, they
[the Delaware chiefs] thought fit first to wait on the Governor and
Council; to lay before them the collection they had made of their
tribute to offer; and to have a conference with the Governor upon
it."
They then spread out on the floor thirty-two belts of wampum
having figures and designs wrought therein by their women, and a
long pipe having a stone head and a cane shaft with feathers
attached and arranged to resemble wings. They called this pipe
the Calumet, and said that it had been given to them by the Five
Nations at the time of their subjugation, to be kept and shown to
other nations, among whom they might go, as a token of their sub-
jection to the Iroquois. One of the wampum belts, they said, "was
sent by one, who at the time of their agreement or submission, was
an infant and orphan, the son of a considerable man amongst
them." Skalitchy explained that twenty-four of these wampum
belts were sent by women, because "the paying of tribute becomes
none but women and children." Hanna suggests that the receipt
by the Council of the Five Nations of so many tribute wampum
belts from the women of the Delawares at this time and, no doubt,
at times earlier and later, probably "did much to confirm the tra-
dition among the Five Nations that the Delaware Indians were but
a nation of women."
Skalitchy's name does not appear again in the Colonial Records
until the conference held at Philadelphia on June 14th, 1715, which
was the conference with Governor Gookin and the Provincial
90 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Council mentioned in Chapter IV, in the minutes of which Sas-
soonan is reported as saying, among other things, "that their
[the Delawares'] late king, Skalitchy, desired of them that they
would take care to keep a perfect peace with ye English." Sas-
soonan was the head of the Delaware delegation at this conference,
and his statement, just quoted, fixes the date af Skalitchy's death
and Sassoonan's succession to the kingship of the Delawares as
between the conference of May 19th, 1712, and the conference of
June 14th, 1715.
As we have seen, there had been many conferences between the
Colonial Authorities, on the one hand, and the Delawares, Shaw-
nees, Conestogas, and Conoy on the other, during the intervening
years; but the conference of June 14th, 1715, is entitled to more
than passing notice, for the reason that Sassoonan referred particu-
larly to the "Great Treaty", which Penn made with the Delawares
in the early days of the history of the Province. The conference
was simply for the purpose of renewing the ancient bond of
friendship. In the minutes of this conference, we read the follow-
ing:
"Then Sassoonan rose and spoke to the Governor and said
that the calumet, the bond of peace, which they had carried to all
the nations round, they had now brought hither; that it was a sure
bond and seal of peace amongst them and between them and us,
and desired, by holding up their hands, that the God of Heaven
might be witness to it, and that there might be a firm peace be-
tween them and us forever That they desired the peace
that had been made should be so firm, that they and we should
join hand in hand so firmly that nothing, even the greatest tree,
should be able to divide them asunder."
The minutes of this council contain the statement that, "We
[the Governor and Council] doubted not but they [the Indians]
think themselves and their children, from generation to genera-
tion, obliged to keep inviolably those firm treaties of peace which
had been made."
Sassoonan's Deed of Release
In the autumn of 1718, Sassoonan and several other chiefs of
the Delawares came to Philadelphia, claiming that they had not
been paid for their lands. Then, James Logan, secretary of the
Provincial Council, produced to them, in the presence of the Coun-
cil, a number of deeds, and convinced Sassoonan and his brother
Sassoonan or Allumapees 91
chiefs that they were mistaken in their contention. Accordingly,
Sassoonan and six other chiefs executed a release on the 17th day
of September, 1718, by the terms of which they acknowledged that
their ancestors had conveyed to William Penn, in fee, all the land
and had been paid for the same. By the same instrument these
Indians released all the land "between the Delaware and the Sus-
quehanna from Duck Creek [in Delaware] to the mountains [the
South Mountain] on this side of Lechay [by the Lehigh River]."
At the time of executing this deed of release, Sassoonan was
still living at Paxtang, and adjacent parts; but it is probable that
shortly thereafter he took up his abode at Shamokin (Sunbury),
which became his home for the remainder of his life. The Dela-
wares, who, as pointed out in Chapter I, migrated from the vicinity
of Shamokin to the Allegheny in 1724, were of Sassoonan's clan.
Sassoonan Clears Members of Turtle Clan From
Blame for Murder of Thomas Wright
At a meeting of the Provincial Council, on September 27th,
1727, Secretary James Logan, advised the Council that, on the day
before, he received a letter from John Wright, justice of the peace,
giving an account of the murder of one, Thomas Wright, who was
killed, on the eleventh day of that month, by some Indians at
Snaketown, forty miles above Conestoga, possibly above the
mouth of Swatara Creek, in Dauphin County. Enclosed with the
letter were the depositions of John Wilkins, Esther Burt, and Mary
Wright, and the inquisition held on the dead body.
The affair took place at the trading house of John Burt, an
Indian trader at Snaketown. The unfortunate Thomas Wright
and some Indians were drinking with Burt near the house, when a
dispute arose between one of the Indians and Wright; whereupon,
Burt urged Wright to knock the Indian down. Wright then laid
hold of the Indian, and Burt struck him (the Indian) several blows
with his fist. Wright and Burt then retired into the trading
house, and the Indians followed. Wright endeavored to pacify
them, but Burt called for his gun, and continued to provoke them
more and more in a way too revolting and disgusting to be told in
the language of decency. Wright fled to the hen-house to hide
himself, whither the Indians pursued him, and the next morning
he was found there dead. The inquisition on his body set forth
that he came to his death by several blows on his head, neck, and
temples.
92 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
The Colonial Authorities were much disturbed by this, the
first murder of a white man by the Indians after William
Penn first arrived in his Province, forty-five years before. They
were of the opinion that John Burt was to blame for the unhappy
incident, on account of his provoking the Indians to such a high
degree. The record of the incident, as set forth in Volume III
of the Colonial Records, states that although Burt was a licensed
trader, yet "it was scarce possible to find a man in the whole Gov-
ernment more unfit for it." A warrant was issued for his arrest,
but he escaped, and was next heard of at the Forks of the Ohio.
The Indians were Delawares of the Munsee or Wolf Clan as
was ascertained in June, 1728, when Sassoonan, his nephew,
Opekasset, and a number of other chiefs, including the great Shikel-
lamy, the vice-gerent of the Six Nations, who had recently been
sent to Shamokin (Sunbury) by the Six Nations to rule over the
Shawnees and Delawares on the Susquehanna, met Governor
Patrick Gordon at Philadelphia, where a great council was held on
the 4th and 5th of that month. Sassoonan being asked by Gov-
ernor Gordon about the death of Thomas Wright, replied: "That
it [the murder] was not done by any of their people; that it was
done by some of the Menysinck [Minisink] Indians; that the
Menysincks live at the Forks of the Susquehannah, above Meehay-
omy [Wyoming], and that their king's name is Kindassowa."
The "Forks of the Sasquehannah" may refer to the forks of the
Tioga, or Chemung, and the Susquehanna near Athens, Bradford
County; or it may refer to the junction of the Lackawanna and
the Susquehanna in Luzerne County. At any rate, wherever the
Indians lived that killed Thomas Wright, they never were brought
to account.
Sassoonan and the Tulpyhocken Lands
At this same conference, (June 4th and 5th, 1728,) Sassoonan
complained that the Palatines (immigrants from Germany) were
settling on the lands in the valley of the Tulpyhocken, in Berks
and Lebanon counties, which, as he claimed, had not been pur-
chased from the Indians. These particular Palatines had first
settled in the Schoharie Valley in New York, where they endured
much suffering. When Governor William Keith, of Pennsylvania,
attended the Albany conference in September, 1727, the hardships
of these Palatines were related to him; whereupon his interest and
sympathy were aroused, and he offered them a home in Pennsyl-
vania. Then, in the autumn of 1727, about fifty families of these
Sassoonan or Allumapees 93
Germans, under the leadership of the father of the famous Conrad
Weiser, the Indian interpreter of the Colony of Pennsylvania, cut
a road from the Schoharie Valley through the wilderness to the
headwaters of the Susquehanna. They then descended this river
to the mouth of Swatara Creek, in Dauphin County. Ascending
this stream and crossing the divide between the Susquehanna and
the Schuylkill, they entered the fertile and charming valley of the
Tulpyhocken. They had scarcely erected their rude cabins and
commenced to plant their little patches of corn in the clearings in
the wilderness, when the Indians of the neighborhood informed
them that this land had never been purchased by the Pennsyl-
vania Government. The Indians were much surprised that these
settlers should be permitted to take up their abode on unpurchased
land. "Surely," said they, "if Brother Onos were living, such
things would never happen."
At this conference, Sassoonan said that he could not have be-
lieved that these lands were settled upon, if he had not gone there
and seen the settlements with his own eyes. In the minutes of the
conference, we read: "He (Sassoonan) said he was grown old
and was troubled to see the Christians settle on lands that the
Indians had never been paid for; they had settled on his lands for
which he had never received anything. That he is now an old
man, and must soon die; that his children may wonder to see all
their father's lands gone from them without his receiving anything
for them; that the Christians now make their settlements very
near them (the Indians); and they shall have no place of their
own left to live on; that this may occasion a difference between
their children and us, and he would willingly prevent any mis-
understanding that may happen."
Governor Gordon suggested to Sassoonan that possibly the
lands in dispute had been included in some of the other pur-
chases; but Sassoonan and his brother chiefs replied that no lands
had ever been sold northwest of the Blue Ridge, then called the
Lehigh Hills. This conference did not succeed in settling the
matter of these settlements in the Tulpyhocken Valley. The
matter dragged along until 1732, when Sassoonan, Elalapis,
Ohopamen, Pesqueetamen, Mayemoe, Partridge, and Tepakoasset,
on behalf of themselves and all other Indians having a right in the
lands, in consideration of 20 brass kettles, 20 fine guns, 50 toma-
hawks, 60 pairs of scissors, 24 looking glasses, 20 gallons of rum,
and various other articles so acceptable to the Indians, conveyed
unto John Penn, Thomas Penn, and Richard Penn, proprietors of
94 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the Province, all those lands "situate, lying and being on the River
Schuylkill and the branches thereof, between the mountains called
Lechaig (Lehigh) to the south, and the hills or mountains, called
Keekachtanemin, on the north, and between the branches of the
Delaware River on the east, and the waters falling into the Sus-
quehanna River on the west," — a grant which embraced the valley
of the Tulpyhocken.
Sassoonan attended another conference at Philadelphia in the
year 1728. This was a conference with Governor Gordon and the
Provincial Council, on October 10th of that year, in which the old
chief expressed his pleasure on the settlement of the troubles in
that year with Kakowatcheky's Clan of Shawnees at Pechoquealin,
an account of which is given in Chapter VIII. In the minutes of
the conference of October 10th, are found these sentiments of Sas-
soonan: "He tells the Governor that he hopes all the differences
between them and us will be buried deep and covered from sight;
that, when our and their children, in after times, observe the great
friendship that has been between us, it may rejoice and gladden
their hearts. And he now hopes .... that their children may
afterwards say: 'This is the place where our fathers and our
brethren (meaning the Christians) ended and composed all their
differences.' "
A Threatened Uprising
Sassoonan's name appears another time in the Colonial
Records for the year 1728. In April of that year, James LeTort,
a trader, who was then living in the Indian town of Chenastry,
located on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, at the mouth of
Chillisquaque Creek, not far above the present town of Sunbury,
informed Governor Gordon that he had intended, in the autumn
of 1727, taking a journey as far as the Miami Indians, who were
then living on the Wabash River, to trade with them; but, on con-
sulting with Madam Montour, then living at Chenastry, but who
had lived among the Miamis and had a sister married to one of
that nation, and also with Manawkyhickon, a celebrated chief of
the Munsee Clan of Delawares in the region of Chenastry, he
learned from these persons that the Delawares who were hunting
on the Allegheny and Ohio, had been called home. Upon further
inquiry he learned that Manawkyhickon was a near relative of
Wequela, who had been hanged in New Jersey in 1727, and that
Manawkyhickon, resenting the death of his relative had "sent a
black belt to the Five Nations, and that the Five Nations sent the
Sassoonan or Allumapees 95
same to the Miamis with a message desiring to know if they would
lift up their axes and join with them against the Christians; to
which they agreed." LeTort advised that he inquired of Sas-
soonan whether he knew anything concerning the matters which
had been brought to LeTort's attention by Madam Montour, and
found Sassoonan entirely ignorant of them. The information
which LeTort brought to the Colonial Authorities caused consid-
erable uneasiness, and the Council ordered that presents be sent
to Sassoonan, Madam Montour, and Manawkyhickon, and that
messages be sent to them desiring them to report any new develop-
ments in regard to this rumor, which proved to be unfounded.
Governor Gordon Writes Sassoonan as to
Robbing of Traders
Anthony Sadowsky, John Maddox, and John Fisher, traders
on the Allegheny, made a complaint to Governor Gordon, on
August 8th, 1730, stating that, in June, 1729, they had been robbed
of one hundred pounds worth of goods, by the Indians on the
Allegheny; and they asked that a demand for satisfaction be sent
through "Allumappees [Sassoonan] at Shackachtan [Shamokin,
now Sunbury] and Great Hill, at Allegheny." The Governor then
wrote a letter concerning the matter to Sassoonan and Opekasset,
at Shamokin, and Mechouquatchough, or Great Hill, at Kittan-
ning. However, Maddox stated two years later that he was still
without satisfaction for his stolen goods.
Sassoonan Kills Shackatawlin
At a meeting of the Provincial Council held in August, 1731,
the frequent complaints made by the Indians on account of the
large quantities of rum being carried to them by the traders, were
taken up. The Council's attention was called to the fact that the
pernicious liquor traffic had recently caused a very unhappy inci-
dent in the family of Sassoonan. In a fit of drunkenness, he had
killed his nephew, (some authorities say his cousin) Shackatawlin,
at their dwelling place at Shamokin, now Sunbury. Sassoonan's
grief over the unhappy incident was »o great that it almost cost
him his life.
Asked at this conference whether he desired an entire stop put
to the sending of rum to the Indians, Sassoonan replied, on August
13th, as follows:
"That the Indians do not desire that rum should be entirely
96 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
stopped and that none at all should be brought to them; they
would have some but not much, and desire none may be brought
but by sober good men, who will take a dram with them to refresh
them and not so much as to hurt them. The Governor knows
there are ill people amongst the Christians as well as amongst
them; that what mischief is done he believes is mostly owing to
rum, and it should be prevented.
"He desires that no Christian should carry any rum to Sha-
mokin where he lives, to sell; when they want any, they will send
for it themselves; they would not be wholly deprived of it, but
they would not have it brought by the Christians.
"He desires four men may be allowed to carry some rum to
Allegheny, to refresh the Indians when they return from hunting,
and that none else be permitted to carry any. They also desire
that some rum may be lodged at Tulpyhockin and Pextan, to be
sold to them, that their women may not have too long a way to
fetch it."
Sassoonan Requests Shawnees to Return
to the Susquehanna Valley
Reference has been made in former chapters to the fact that
the Shawnees began a migration from the Susquehanna Valley to
the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny as early as 1727. A few
years later, the Colonial Authorities of Pennsylvania took measures
to induce the Allegheny Shawnees to return to a point nearer the
Pennsylvania settlements, fearing that they would be drawn into
an allegiance with the French, who, at that time, had their emis-
saries in the Allegheny Valley. These efforts on the part of Penn-
sylvania will be more fully discussed in the chapters on Shikel-
lamy. But in order to show the part Sassoonan took in the efforts
to induce the Shawnees to return, we point out that, at a confer-
ence held at Philadelphia, on October 15th, 1734, the Senaca chief,
Hetaquantagechty, who accompanied Shikellamy and Conrad
Weiser to this meeting, advised Governor Gordon and the Pro-
vincial Council : "That he has understood that when the Shaw-
nees were desired to leave Allegheny, they sent a belt of wampum
to the Delaware Indians, with a message intimating to them that,
as they, the Shawnees, were to seek out a new country for them-
selves, they should be glad to have the Delawares with them. That
Sassoonan, the Delaware chief, had forbid any of his people to go
with the Shawnees, and had desired that these last mentioned
Indians should rather return to Susquehannah." Hetaquan-
Sassoonan or Allumapees 97
tagechty said that he was afraid that, if the Shawnees went to the
"French Country", the Delawares would follow them. Later de-
velopments proved the correctness of the Seneca chief's opinion.
A Friendly Visit
Sassoonan appeared at Philadelphia at a conference held with
the Provincial Council on August 20th, 1736. Several other
Delaware chiefs, a Cayuga chief and a Tuscarora chief, accom-
panied him. Sassoonan stated that "they were not come on any
particular business, or to treat of anything of importance, but only
to pay a friendly visit to their brethren, whose welfare they think
themselves obliged to inquire after, as they and the Indians are
one people. That when they came from home, they expected to
have seen here their good friends, the Proprietor, the Governor,
and the Council all together, but when they had come so far on
their journey as George Boone's, they learned that one of their
good friends, the Governor [Governor Patrick Gordon, who died
in August, 1736,] was dead; this news made them sorrowful, but
they are comforted in meeting their other friends, who, they hope,
will still continue in their regards towards the Indians and their
care and concern for preserving the same friendship that has
hitherto subsisted between us and them."
Sassoonan was then asked whether or not the deputies of the
Six Nations were on their way to Philadelphia to attend the treaty
of September, 1736, an account of which treaty will be given in the
chapter on Shikellamy (Chapter X). Sassoonan answered that
"he knew nothing particularly of them, that he has been in expec-
tation of seeing them for each of these three years past, but he
understands they have been detained by nations that come to treat
with them." These deputies finally arrived at Philadelphia on
August 27th, 1736.
Nearing End of Old Regime
After William Penn returned to England, it was the custom
for the old men of the Delawares to visit Philadelphia each autumn
to "brighten the chain of friendship" by presenting the Governor
and Provincial Council with skins and furs, and receiving presents
in return. On such a mission Sassoonan, "with divers of their
ancient men", conferred with Governor George Thomas and the
Provincial Council, on October 3rd, 1738. Governor Thomas had
arrived in the Province only a few months before. In the minutes
98 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
of this conference, we find that Sassoonan said: "That, when he
was at home at his own house, he heard his brother, the Governor,
was arrived in this country, and thereupon he resolved to come to
Philadelphia to visit him, and now he was glad to see him; that
his brother, the Proprietor, told him he should come once a year to
visit him." And, further, we read: "Then laying down four
strings more of wampum, he [Sassoonan] said that there had al-
ways subsisted a perfect friendship and good understanding be-
tween the Indians and this Government, and it is his desire and
hope that it will ever continue, and grow stronger and stronger,
and that it will never be in the power of any to interrupt or break
it Then presenting three small bundles of deer skins in the
hair, he said he had brought a few skins to the Governor; they
were but a trifle and of little value, but he had no more, and de-
sired the Governor's acceptance of them to make him gloves."
Still further we read in the minutes of this conference: "It is
considered that the Old man (Sassoonan) being now become very
weak, and the other Old people with him, as well as himself, poor
and necessitous, the value of thirty pounds should be returned to
them in Goods proper for them, which it was agreed should con-
sist of Six Strowd Matchcoats, Twelve Dussells, Twelve Blankets,
six hatts, Four shirts, Fifty Pounds of Powder and as much lead,
a Dozen of knives, a Gross of Pipes with Tobacco, and also that
they should be supplied with some necessary Provisions for their
Journey home."
J. S. Walton, in his "Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of
Colonial Pennsylvania", gives the following comment on this visit
of the aged Sassoonan : "This was almost the last of the old
regime in Indian affairs. A younger set of men were coming into
power among the Delawares, and they were susceptible to the influ-
ence of the Shawnees."
Final Conferences of Sassoonan
On August 1st to 6th, 1740, Conrad Weiser served as inter-
preter at a conference held in the Friends' Meeting House, Phila-
delphia, between Governor Thomas and a party of eastern and
western Delawares and a group of Iroquois. At this conference,
Sassoonan represented the Delawares and Shikellamy the Iro-
quois. The Delawares from the Allegheny, under Captain Hill
from Kittanning and Shannopin from Shannopin's Town, (on the
east bank of the Allegheny within the present limits of Pittsburgh)
Sassoonan or Allumapees 99
fresh from French overtures, complained that the traders were
charging them too much for goods, and that the whites were killing
and driving away their game. "Your young men," said they,
"have killed so many deer, beavers, bears, and game of all sorts
that we can hardly find any for ourselves." They also desired that
their guns and axes should be mended free. They were given
presents to the value of one hundred fifty pounds, a more valuable
gift than usually besowed upon the Delawares, and it is very likely
that the giving of it aroused jealousy among the eastern Delawares.
They were told that the Colony could not fix the price of traders'
goods. As for the killing of game by the whites, they were told
that this was done by unlicensed traders, and that, if the Indians
would not patronize such, it would prevent their coming among
the Indians and killing their game.
At this conference, Captain Hill and Shannopin told the
Governor that about six years prior to that time, two children of
the Delawares were taken prisoner and carried away by the
Catawbas, and that they were advised that these children were
still living among the Catawbas. These chiefs then asked the
Governor to make inquiry of the Governor of Virginia concerning
the captives; whereupon Governor Thomas promised to write the
Governor of Virginia in the matter.
Sassoonan also attended the great conference or treaty with
the Six Nations, at Philadelphia, in July, 1742, though he took
little part in the proceedings. This treaty will be described in the
Chapter on Shikellamy (Chapter X).
On February 4th, 1743, Sassoonan attended an important con-
ference at Shamokin between Conrad Weiser and Shikellamy, as
well as other chiefs of the Six Nations, Delawares, and Shawnees.
Fresh troubles had recently broken out between the Catawbas and
other Indians of Virginia, on the one hand, and the Iroquois and
their tributary tribes on the other, which threatened the peace, not
only of Pennsylvania and Virginia, but of all the English Colonies.
The Iroquois were determined to chastize the Catawbas for recent
injuries, and it was feared that they would involve Pennsylvania
by demanding that the Colony should furnish provisions for their
warriors passing through the Colony on their way to the country
of the Catawbas.
Upon hearing of the fresh trouble between the Northern and
the Southern Indians, Weiser was sent by Governor Thomas to
meet the chiefs at Shamokin. It is not too much to say that the
fate of the future nation was at stake when Weiser started for this
100 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
conference. The Governor, upon receiving his report, sent him
again to Shamokin, where, on April 9th, he held another confer-
ence with Shikeallamy, Sassoonan, and others, relative to the same
matters taken up in the conference of February 4th At the con-
ference of April 9th, Sassoonan sent a message to Governor
Thomas upholding him in his efforts to make peace between the
Northern and the Southern Indians. He (Sassoonan) said that, as
he "lives in the midway between the one and the other, and as both
pass through the place of his residence, a state of war would be
very disagreeable to him."
When the Governor and the Provincial Council received
Weiser's report of his conference on a second trip to Shamokin,
they resolved that he should at once go to the great council of the
Six Nations at Onondaga, to deliver a generous present sent by
Virginia, and arrange for the time and place of making a treaty.
Weiser, then, in July, 1743, went to Onondaga accompanied by
Shikellamy, and delivered the present of Virginia. After several
days of ceremony and speech making, Weiser arranged for a treaty
to take place at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the following year be-
tween the Six Nations, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
Weiser thus prevented a war between Virginia and the Six Na-
tions, which would eventually have involved the other colonies.
Last Days of Sassoonan
Sassoonan was now nearing the end of his earthly career. He
was visited at his home at Shamokin (Sunbury) by the Moravian
Bishop Spangenberg, in May, 1745, as the Bishop and Conrad
Weiser were on their way to the Great Council of the Six Nations,
at Onondaga. Of this visit, Bishop Spangenberg wrote: "We
also visited Allumapees, the hereditary king of the [Delaware]
Indians. His sister's sons are either dead or worthless; hence it is
not known on whom the kingdom will descend. He is very old,
almost blind, and very poor; but withal has still power over and is
beloved by his people; and he is a friend of the English." The
sister's sons to whom Bishop Spangenberg refers were possibly
Nettawatwees, or New Comer, who, among others, joined with
Sassoonan, in 1718, in the deed of release to William Penn, and
Kelappana, both of whom removed to Ohio, and were living at
New Comer's Town at the time of the expedition of Colonel
Bouquet, in 1764.
Sassoonan or Allumapees 101
Again, on June 20th, 1747, Conrad Weiser wrote from his
home near Womelsdorf, Berks County:
"Olumpies [Sassoonan] would have resigned his crown before
now; but as he had the keeping of the public treasure (that is to
say, the Council Bag), consisting of belts of wampum, for which
he buys liquor, and has been drunk for these two or three years,
almost constantly, and it is thought he won't die as long as there
is a single wampum left in the bag, Sapapitten is the most fittest
person to be his successor." Rum, the curse of the Red Man, was
wearing the old chief's life away. About two months later,
Weiser again wrote: "I understand Olumpies is dead, but 1 can
not say I am sure of it." Finally, on October 15th, Weiser wrote:
"Olumpies is dead. Lapaghpitton is allowed to be the fittest to
succeed him, but he declines."
Thus, at Shamokin, on the banks of the beautiful Susque-
hanna, in the autumnal days of 1747, this aged chief, who had
done so much to preserve the friendship that William Penn estab-
lished with the Indians, yielded up his soul to the Great Spirit.
Great changes in the relations between the Delawares and the
Colony had taken place during the span of his life, and still greater
changes were destined to come. In life's morning and noontide,
he beheld the Delawares contented and happy in the bond of effec-
tion between them and "Onas"; yet, before the night had come, his
dim eyes saw on the horizon the gathering clouds of the storm
that, in the autumn of 1755, broke with fury upon the land of his
birth.
We close this sketch of Sassoonan with the statement that,
upon his death most of the Delawares moved to the Allegheny and
the Ohio, living at Kittanning, Logstown, Sauconk, and Kuskus-
kies. As we have already seen, the town of Kittanning had been
established by the Delawares possibly as early as 1724; and Logs-
town and Sauconk by the Shawnees possibly as early as 1730, the
latter town being at the mouth of the Beaver. Kuskuskies, or
Kuskuskie, was a regional name for a territory whose center was
at or near the present site of New Castle, Lawrence County. Some
authorities claim that the region extended westward into Butler
county. This was a very important Indian settlement consisting
of three or four towns of the Mingoes, or Iroquois, located along
the Beaver, Mahoning, and Shenango Rivers, and Neshannock and
Slippery Rock Creeks, and established some time prior to 1742.
CHAPTER VIII.
Kakowatcheky, Peter Chartier
Kishacoquillas and Neucheconneh
KAKOWATCHEKY
AKOWATCHEKY, chief of the Shawnees at Pechoquealin,
near the Delaware Water Gap, is believed to have been
the leader of the band of this tribe that accompanied
Arnold Viele to Pechoquealin from the Shawnee villages
on the lower Ohio, in 1794. At any rate, he was chief of the Pecho-
quealin as early as 1709; for, in the minutes of a meeting of the
Provincial Council of New Jersey, on May 30th of this year, he is
referred to as one of the sachems of the Shawhena (Shawnee) In-
dians then with the Maninsincks (Munsee, or Wolf Clan of Dela-
wares) .
Kakowatcheky's name does not appear in the Colonial Records
of Pennsylvania until 1728, in connection with the following In-
dian troubles:
On May 6, 1728, Governor Gordon advised the Provincial
Council that he had recently received a letter from John Wright,
a trader, at Conestoga, stating that two Conestogas had been mur-
dered by several of the Shawnees in that neighborhood, and that
the Conestogas seemed to be preparing to declare war on the Shaw-
nees, in retaliation. The Governor also advised the Council, at
this time, that he had received a petition signed by a great number
of the settlers in the back parts of Lancaster County, setting forth
that they were under great apprehension of being attacked by the
Indians, and that many families had left their homes through fear
of an Indian uprising. Wright further informed the Governor, in
his letter, that the Shawnees had brought the Shawnee murderers
as far as Peter Charter's house, at which place the party engaged
in much drinking, and, through the connivance of Chartier, the
two Shawnee murderers escaped. It is not surprising that Chartier
let the murderers escape, as he himself was a half blood Shawnee.
He was at that time trading at Pequea Creek. His action so
incensed the Conestogas that they threatened to destroy all the
Shawnees in that region.
Almost at the same time that the murder of the Conestogas
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 103
occurred, the settlers along the valley of the Schuylkill became
much alarmed for their safety from another quarter. Kako-
watcheky, who was the head of the Shawnees living at Pecho-
quealin, in what is now lower Smithfield Township, Monroe
County, claimed that he had learned that the Flatheads, or
Catawbas, from North Carolina, had entered Pennsylvania with
the intention of striking the Indians along the Susquehanna; and
he, accordingly, led eleven warriors to ascertain the truth of this
rumor, who, when they came into the neighborhood of the Durham
Iron Works, near Manatawny, in the northern part of Bucks
County, their provisions failed, and they forced the settlers to give
them food and drink. The settlers did not know these Indians,
and believing the chief of the band to be a Spanish Indian, they
were in great terror; families fled from their plantations and wo-
men and children suffered greatly from exposure, as the weather
was raw and cold. There seems to be little doubt that
Kakowatcheky was leading this band to Paxtang to assist the
Shawnees of that place, who had been threatened by the Cones-
togas on account of the above mentioned murder of the two Cones-
togas.
A band of about twenty settlers took up arms and approached
the invaders, sending two of their number to treat with the chief,
who, instead of receiving them civilly, brandished his sword, and
commanded his men to fire, which they did, and wounded two of
the settlers. The settlers thereupon returned the fire, upon which
the chief fell, but afterwards got up and ran into the woods, leaving
his gun behind him. The identity of this Indian band was not
known until May 20th, when two traders from Pechoquealin, John
Smith and Nicholas Schonhoven, came to Governor Gordon and
delivered to him a message from Kakowatcheky, explaining the
unfortunate affair, sending his regrets, and asking the Governor
for the return of the gun which he dropped when wounded. The
Governor, then, accompanied by many citizens of Philadelphia,
went to the troubled district, and personally pleaded with those
settlers who had left their plantations to return. He found them
so excited that they seemed ready to kill Indians of both sexes, but
finally succeeded in pacifying them.
The Governor was about ready to return home when he
received the melancholy news from Samuel Nut that an Indian
man and two women were cruelly murdered, on May 20th, at
Cucussea, then in Chester County, by John and Walter Winters,
without any provocation whatever, and two Indian girls
104 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
badly wounded; upon which a hue was immediately issued in an
effort to apprehend the murderers. It appeared from investiga-
tion that, on the day of this murder, an Indian man, two women,
and two girls, appeared at John Roberts' house, and that their
neighbors noticing this, rallied to their defense, shot the man and
one of the women, beat out the brains of the other woman, and
wounded the girls, their excuse being that the Indian had put an
arrow into his bow, and that they, having heard reports that some
settlers had been killed by Indians, believed that the settlers might
lawfully kill any Indian they could find.
The murderers were apprehended and placed in jail at Chester,
for trial. A message was then sent to Sassoonan, Opekasset, and
Manawkyhickon, acquainting them with the unhappy affair and
requesting them to come to Conestoga, where a treaty would be
held with Chief Civility and the other Indians at that place. The
Provincial Council being apprehensive that this barbarous murder
would stir up the Indians to take revenge on the settlers, a com-
mission was appointed to get the inhabitants together and put them
in a state to defend themselves. This commission consisted of
John Pawling, Marcus Hulings, and Mordecai Lincoln, an ancestor
of Abraham Lincoln, whose home was about ten miles south of the
present town of Reading. Having sent Kakowatcheky the gun
he had dropped, as well as the tomahawks dropped by his eleven
warriors when they fled from the band of twenty settlers, as related
above, together with a request that he warn the Indians under his
authority to be more careful in the future, the Governor, accom-
panied by thirty residents of Philadelphia, met the Indians at a
council at Conestoga on the 26th of May, where he conferred with
Civility and other Conestoga, Shawnee, Conoy, and Delaware
chiefs, made them many presents, and promised to punish the two
murderers, if found guilty. John and Walter Winters were sub-
sequently tried, found guilty, and hanged for the murder of the
Indian man and two women.
Kakowatcheky Leaves Pechoquealin
As said in Chapter II, some of Kakowatcheky's clan left
Pechoquealin before 1732, and went to the valley of the Ohio.
Kakowatcheky himself, with the majority of his clan left Pecho-
quealin in the latter part of 1728, and went to the Wyoming
Valley, settling on the Susquehanna, just below the town of Ply-
mouth, Luzerne Countv. Here he was living in 1732, when some
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 105
chiefs of the Six Nations on their way to attend a conference at
Philadelphia, in August of that year, told him "that he should not
look to Ohio, but turn his face to us." Evidently at that time, he
contemplated joining his brethren on the Ohio and Allegheny.
Kakowatcheky at Treaty of 1739
The Colonial Authorities of Pennsylvania, realizing that the
Shawnees were rapidly being won over by the French, induced
Kakowatcheky, of Wyoming, Kishacoquillas of the Juniata, and
Neucheconneh and Tamenebuck, of the Allegheny, and other Shaw-
nee chiefs, whose settlements were scattered from Wyoming and
Great Island (Lock Haven) to the Allegheny, to come to a confer-
ence, or treaty, at Philadelphia on July 27th to August 1st, 1739.
At this conference the Conestoga and Shawnee agreement with
William Penn, dated April 23rd, 1701, was brought to the atten-
tion of the chiefs; and they were told that the Colonial Authorities
thought it proper to remind them of this solemn engagement which
their ancestors had entered into with Penn, inasmuch as the said
Authorities knew that the emissaries of the French were endeavor-
ing to prevail upon the Shawnees to renounce their agreement with
the Colony. In other words, the Governor and Provincial Council
put the plain question of the Shawnees' loyalty to past agreements
with Pennsylvania. The chiefs desired that their reply be post-
poned until the following day, explaining that "it was their custom
to speak or transact business of importance only whilst the sun was
rising, and not when it was declining." "In the morning, they
showed that all past agreements had been kept by them quite as
faithfully as by the white men. And since Pennsylvania had,
about a year previously, promised to issue an order forbidding the
sale of any more rum among them, they had sent one of their
young men to the French, as an agent to induce them 'for all time,
to put a stop to the sale of rum, brandy, and wine'." The result
of the conference was that the Shawnees, with the full under-
standing that the rum traffic was to be stopped, promised not to
join any other nation, and confirmed the old Conestoga and
Shawnee agreement or treaty of April 23rd, 1701.
At this treaty, the Shawnee chief, Neucheconneh, repudiated
the letter of March 20, 1738, which he, Loyparcowah, and Coy-
cacolenne had sent the Governor advising him, among other things,
that the Shawnees on the Kiskiminetas, Allegheny and Ohio had
"a good understanding with the French." No doubt it was on
106 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
account of this particular statement that Neucheconneh now
repudiated the letter. He explained that it was written by "two
white men", evidently the half-breed, Peter Chartier, and George
Miranda, when all "were merry over a cup of good liquor."
Kakowatcheky Removes to the Ohio
Kakowatcheky did not obey the command that the represen-
tatives of the Six Nations gave him in August, 1732, "that he
should not look to Ohio." He, with most of his clan, removed
from Wyoming, in 1743, to Logstown, on the right bank of the
Ohio, about eighteen miles below Pittsburgh. Possibly he founded
Logstown, though some authorities claim, as pointed out in Chap-
ter II, that this town was founded by Shawnees from Tennessee,
possibly as early as 1730. Here he was living in the summer of
1744, when many Shawnees, under Peter Chartier, deserted to the
French, which desertion will be described later in this chapter.
However, Kakowatcheky remained true to the English, and was
commended by the Colonial Authorities. On April 20th, 1747, he
joined with Scarouady, Neucheconneh, Tanacharison and others,
in writing a letter from "Aleggainey" to the Governor of Pennsyl-
vania, in behalf of the Twightwees or Miamis of the Ohio Valley.
He was living at Logstown in the summer of 1748, when he,
Neucheconneh, Tanacharison, Scarouady, and several other chiefs
met in council and sent a message through the Delawares and Six
Nations to the Colony of Pennsylvania, apologizing for the deser-
tion of Peter Chartier and his band. Here, also, this aged sachem
was met by George Croghan when the latter held a council with
the Indians of Logstown on April 28th, 1748. Croghan had been
sent by the Colony of Pennsylvania to advise the Ohio and Alle-
gheny Indians that Conrad Weiser would come later in that year
to make a treaty with them in behalf of the Colony, and to dis-
tribute generous presents. Weiser arrived at Logstown in Sep-
tember of that year as the head of what is generally called the first
embassy ever sent by the Colony of Pennsylvania to the Indians
of the Ohio and Allegheny, although it would be more nearly
correct to say that Croghan's mission in the preceding April was
the first. Weiser met Kakowatcheky at his conference in Septem-
ber, and his journal, under date of September 10th, contains the
following reference to the sachem:
"This day I made a present to the old Shawnee chief,
Kakowatcheky, of a strand, a blanket, a match-coat, a shirt, a pair
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawn ees 107
of stockings, and a large twist of tobacco, and told him that the
President and Council of Philadelphia remembered their love to
him as to their old and true friend, and would clothe his body once
more, and wished he might wear them out, so as to give them an
opportunity to clothe him again. There was a great many Indians
present, two of which were the Big Hominy and the Pride, those
that went off with Chartier, but protested his proceedings against
our traders. Kakowatcheky returned thanks, and some of the Six
Nations did the same, and expressed their satisfaction to see a true
man taken notice of, although he was now grown childish."
Kakowatcheky took no other part in Weiser's conferences at
Logstown than that just mentioned. In passing, we call attention
to the fact that this embassy to the Shawnees, Senecas, and other
Indians on the Ohio was eminently successful. It left Pennsyl-
vania in possession of the Indian trade from Logstown to the
Mississippi and from the Ohio to the Great Lakes. Moreover, its
success was most gratifying to all the frontier settlers. Not only
Pennsylvania, but Maryland and Virginia were active in following
up the advantage thus gained. A number of Maryland and Vir-
ginia traders pushed into the Ohio region, and presently the Ohio
Land Company, formed by leading men of Virginia and Maryland,
among whom were George Washington's half-brothers, Lawrence
and Augustine, sought to secure the Forks of the Ohio.
Last Days of Kakowatcheky
Once more, at Logstown on the Ohio, we meet this venerable
chieftain, who, no doubt, was born in the valley of the beautiful
river where he now is spending his latter years. On May 18th, 1751,
George Croghan, the "King of the Traders", and Andrew Montour,
visited Logstown bringing the Colony's present to the Ohio Indians,
which they had promised on their former visit to this town in
November, 1750. Croghan and Montour were welcomed by a
great number of Delawares and Shawnees "in a very complacent
manner in their way, by firing guns and hoisting the English
colors." Among the sachems who welcomed them were the Seneca
chief, Canayachrera, or Broken Kettle, who came to Logstown
with a delegation from the Kuskuskies region, whose center was on
or near the site of New Castle, Lawrence County.
On May 21st, Croghan visited the aged Kakowatcheky, writ-
ing in his journal under this date:
"I paid Kakowatcheky, the old Shawnee King, a visit, as he
was rendered incapable of attending the Council by his great age,
108 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
and let him know that his brother, the Governor of Pennsylvania,
was glad to hear that he was still alive and retained his senses, and
had ordered me to clothe him and to acquaint him that he had not
forgot his strict attachment to the English interest. I gave him a
strowd shirt, a match-coat, and a pair of stockings, for which he
gave the Governor a great many thanks."
At this time, the English and the French were each doing
everything possible to win the friendship and allegiance of the
Indians of the Ohio and Allegheny. Each claimed the territory
drained by these streams, the French basing their claim on the dis-
coveries and explorations of La Salle and the heroic Jesuit mission-
aries, — true Knights of the Cross, to whom anyone who correctly
writes the early history of the region between the Allegheny Moun-
tains and the Mississippi must needs pay a high tribute of esteem.
And at this conference at Logstown, Croghan met Joncaire, the
French Indian agent, but succeeded in outwitting him in diplo-
macy, and the chiefs ordered the French from their lands, and re-
asserted their friendship for the English — a friendship which was
broken four years later. The speaker of the Six Nations thus
addressed Joncaire:
"How comes it that you have broken the general peace? Is
it not three years since you, as well as our brother, the English,
told us that there was a peace between the English and French,
and how comes it that you have taken our brothers as your pris-
oners on our lands? Is it not our land (stamping on the ground,
and putting his finger to Joncaire's nose) ? What right has
Onontio (the Governor of Canada) to our lands? I desire that
you may go home directly off our lands, and tell Onontio to send
us word immediately what was his reason for using our brothers
so, or what he means by such proceedings that we may know what
to do, for I can assure Onontio that we, the Six Nations, will not
take such usage. You hear what I say, and that is the sentiments
of all our Six Nations; tell it to Onontio that that is what the Six
Nations said to you Our brothers [the English] are the
people we will trade with and not you."
While there is no doubt about the loyalty of the Ohio Indians
to the Pennsylvania Government at the time of Croghan's visit to
Logstown (May, 1751) ; yet it is fair to assume that he exaggerated
his translation of the speech which the Iroquois chief delivered to
Joncaire, in that he alleged that the speaker told Joncaire that the
Council of the Six Nations had determined to trade only with the
English. The Onondaga Council had made no such decision.
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 109
For years it had endeavored to play an even game with the French
and the English, preferring to be courted by both France and Eng-
land.
While at Logstown, on the occasion just described, Croghan
learned from Tanacharison and Scarouady that the Great Council
of the Six Nations had agreed, since Celeron's expedition down the
Allegheny and Ohio in the summer of 1749, that the English be
permitted to build a trading house at the Forks of the Ohio; and,
in open Council with Croghan, the chiefs at Logstown "requested
that the Governor of Pennsylvania would immediately build a
strong house [fort] for the protection of themselves and
the English traders", where Pittsburgh now stands.
In June, 1752, Virginia and the Ohio Land Company made a
treaty at Logstown with the Delawares, Shawnees, and Senecas of
the Ohio Valley, by the terms of which Virginia secured permission
to erect a few forts and make a few settlements west of the Alle-
gheny Mountains. Colonel James Patton, one of the Virginia
Commissioners at this treaty, makes the following reference to
Kakowatcheky in his journal, under date of June 1 1th:
"The Commissioners, addressing themselves to the Shawnees,
acquainted them that they understood that their chief, Kako-
watcheky, who had been a good friend to the English, was lying
bed-rid, and that, to show the regard they had for his past services,
they took this opportunity to acknowledge it by presenting him
with a suit of Indian clothing."
The year of Kakowatcheky's death is not known, but it was
probably in 1755, as that is the last year in which his name appears
in the Colonial Records. If he was the chief who led the Shawnees
from the lower Ohio Valley to Pechoquealin, in 1694, his chief-
tainship must have extended over a period of sixty years.
PETER CHARTIER
Peter Chartier was the only son of Martin Chartier, who
accompanied the Shawnees, under Opessah, to Pequea, Lancaster
County, in 1697 or 1698, and his mother was a Shawnee squaw.
The father was a Frenchman, who had lived among this band of
Shawnees for many years prior to their entering Pennsylvania, and
accompanied them in their wanderings. He set up a trading house
at Pequea a few years after the Shawnees took up their abode there.
At least, he traded at Pequea as early as 1707. Some years later,
he removed his trading post to Dekanoagah, which we have seen
110 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
was located on or near the present site of Washington Borough,
Lancaster County. Here he died in 1718.
Peter Chartier is said to have followed his father's example
by marrying a Shawnee squaw. In 1718, he secured a warrant for
three hundred acres of land "where his father is settled, on Sus-
quehanna river." For some years he traded with the Shawnees
who had left Pequea and settled near the site of Washington
Borough and at Paxtang. Later he traded with those members of
this tribe who had settled on the west side of the Susquehanna, at
the mouth of Shawnee (now Yellow Breeches) Creek, on the site of
the present town of New Cumberland, Cumberland County. We
have already seen how he, in 1728, aided in the escape of the Shaw-
nees who had murdered the two Conestogas. Still later, he is said
to have removed to the valley of the Conococheague. About 1730,
he commenced trading with the Shawnees on the Conemaugh, and
Kiskiminetas, and a little later, on the Allegheny.
Manor of Conodoguinet
On November 19th, 1731, Peter Chartier was informed by
John Wright, Tobias Hendricks, and Samuel Blunston of the sur-
vey of the tract called the "Manor of Conodoguinet", a tract of
land on the west side of the Susquehanna between Conodoguinet
and Yellow Breeches creeks, set aside for the Shawnees, in an
effort to induce those of that tribe who had gone to the Ohio and
Allegheny, to return to the Susquehanna. Chartier conveyed this
information to the Shawnees on the Ohio and Allegheny, but they
refused to return.
Neucheconneh's Letter
Chartier was a witness to a letter which Neucheconneh and
several other Shawnee chiefs on the Allegheny wrote Governor
Gordon, in June, 1732, in response to a message which the Gover-
nor sent them in December of the preceding year. In their letter
they explained why the Shawnees had removed from the Susque-
hanna. Said they:
"About nine years ago, the Five Nations told us at Shallys-
chohking, [Chillisquaque, a Shawnee town at the mouth of the
creek of the same name in Northumberland County] we did not
do well to settle there; for there was a great noise in the Great
House [at Onondaga], and that in three years' time all should
know what they [the Five Nations] had to say as far as there was
any settlements or the sun set.
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 1 1 1
"About ye expiration of three years aforesaid, the Five Na-
tions came and said, 'Our land is going to be taken from us.
Come, brothers, assist us. Let us fall upon and fight with the
English.' We answered them, 'No; we came here for peace* and
have leave to settle here; and we are in league with them, and can-
not break it.'
"About a year after, they, ye Five Nations, told the Delawares
and us, 'Since you have not hearkened to us nor regarded what
we have said, now we will put petticoats on you, and look upon
you as women for the future, and not as men. Therefore, you
Shawanese, look back toward Ohio, the place from whence you
came; and return thitherward; for now we shall take pity on the
English, and let them have all this land.'
"And further said, 'Now, since you are become women, I'll
take Peahohquelloman [Pechoquealin], and put it on Meheahom-
ing [Wyoming] ; and I'll take Meheahoming and put it on Ohioh;
and Ohioh I'll put on Woabach; [Wabash] and that shall be the
warriors' road for the future.
"One reason of our leaving our former settlements and coming
here is, several negro slaves used to run away and come amongst
us; and we thought ye English would blame us for it.
"The Delaware Indians some time ago bid us depart, for they
was dry, and wanted to drink ye land away. Whereupon, we told
them, 'Since some of you are gone to Ohioh, we will go there also.
We hope you will not drink that away, too."
At about the time of the above letter, the Shawnees in the
Allegheny had received a report from John Kelly, a trader, that the
Six Nations were ready to destroy them and drive out the French,
if the English Governor would say the word. This report greatly
agitated the Western Shawnees, and they would have declared
war on the English traders at once, if Peter Chartier and some
French agents had not persuaded them that the information was
false.
Chartier Acts as Interpreter
On September 30th and October 5th, 1732, Opakethwa and
Opakeita, two Shawnee chiefs from the Allegheny attended a con-
ference at Philadelphia, with Thomas Penn, Governor Gordon and
the Provincial Council, Peter Chartier, Edmund Cartilidge and
John Wray being the interpreters. This is the conference, refer-
red to in Chapter V, in which they explained that they had form-
erly lived on the Potomac, but their "king" having died, they
112 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
knew not what to do, and "went over the mountains [meaning to
the Allegheny] to live." The Proprietor urged them to return to
lands which the Colony had set apart for them on the west side of
the Susquehanna near Paxtang (Harrisburg), and they replied
"that their young men had gone over the mountains to hunt where
they might have more game, that when that was over they would
return and see the land." They were also told that the traders
might cease carrying goods as far as the Allegheny, and that the
French could not supply them with as valuable goods, or at as
cheap a price as the English traders could; "to which they answer-
ed that they were sensible of this, but they had horses of their
own, and could bring their skins to the trader, or to this town
(Philadelphia), if there were occasion." It was clear that the
Shawnees who had gone to the Allegheny had no intention of re-
turning nearer the English settlements.
With Chartier and the two chiefs, was Quassenung, son of the
old Shawnee King, Kakowatcheky. On October 7th, Quassenung
was taken ill with small-pox, and was nursed by Opakethwa,
speaker for the Shawnees at the conference. In the minutes of the
conference, we read: "Quassenung recovered from the small-pox,
but Opakethwa, who tended him, was taken most violently with the
same distemper, and dying on the 26th, was next day handsomely
buried. Quassenung was seized with violent pains, and languished
until the sixteenth of January. He then died, and was likewise the
next day buried in a handsome manner."
Chartier's principal seat on the Allegheny was a town which
he, and, no doubt, the Shawnee chief, Neucheconneh, founded about
1734, called Chartier's Town, or Chartier's Old Town, also Neuch-
econneh's Town, and located near the site of Tarentum, Allegheny
County. Here he lived until his desertion to the French, in 1744.
Other Shawnee villages west of the Alleghenies, at this time, be-
sides those on the Juniata, Conemaugh, Kiskiminetas, and Alle-
gheny, were Logstown and Sauconk on the Ohio, the latter being at
the mouth of the Beaver; Asswikales, or "Sewickley Town", on the
Youghiogheny, at the mouth of Big Sewickley Creek, in Westmore-
land County; and "James Le Tort's Town", where Shelocta. Indi-
ana County, now stands, the present town of Shelocta bearing the
name of a Shawnee chief. The Shawnees at Asswikales are des-
cribed in a letter of James Le Tort to Governor Gordon, October
29, 1731, as "about fifty families laterly from South Carolina to
Potowmack, and from thence thither."
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 1 13
Murder of Sagohandechty
The Asswikales Shawnees, also called the Hathawekela, before
coming to Pennsylvania, were known to the early settlers of South
Carolina, as the Savannas. On September 10th, 1735, Hetquan-
tagechty, a Seneca chief, and Shikellamy, the vice-gerent of the
Six Nations, attended a meeting of the Provincial Council at Phila-
delphia, and gave the Council a report concerning the mission
which the Six Nations had sent to the Ohio and Allegheny in a vain
attempt to have the Shawnees of that place return to the Susque-
hanna. At this conference Hetaquantagechty informed the Council
that a great chief of the Iroquois, named Sagohandechty, who lived
on the Allegheny, probably at Kittanning, went with the other
chiefs of the Six Nations in 1734 to prevail upon the Shawnees to
return. Sagohandechty pressed the Shawnees so closely to return
that they took a great dislike to him, and some months after the
other chiefs had returned, the Shawnees cruelly murdered him.
Hetquantagetchty said that this murder had been committed by
the Asswikales, who then fled southward, and as he supposed had
returned "to the place from whence they first came, which is below
Carolina." Hetaquantagechty described them as "one tribe of
those Shawnees who had never behaved themselves as they ought."
The Asswikales were probably the first Shawnees to settle in
Western Pennsylvania within historic times, coming by way of
Old Town, Maryland, to Bedford, and then westward. Sewickley
Creek, in Westmoreland County, Sewickley Town, at the mouth of
that creek, and another placed called Sewickley Old Town, which
some authorities locate on the Allegheny River some miles below
Chartier's Old Town, were named for them.
Peter Chartier Deserts to the French
At a meeting of the Provincial Council held April 25, 1745,
Governor Thomas laid before the Council a deposition made by
James Cunningham, a servant of Peter Chartier, to the effect that
Chartier had accepted a military commission under the French,
and was going to Canada. Later, at a meeting of the Pennsyl-
vania Assembly, held July 23, 1745, a petition from James Dinnen
(Dunning) and Peter Tostee, two Indian traders from the Alle-
gheny Valley, was presented and read, setting forth that, as
Dunning and Tostee were returning up the Allegheny River, in
canoes, on the 18th of April, 1745, from a trading trip, with a
considerable quantity of furs and skins, "Peter Chartier, late an
114 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Indian trader, with about 400 Shawne Indians, armed with guns,
pistols, and cutlasses, suddenly took them prisoners, having, as he
said, a captain's commission from the King of France; and plund-
ered them of all their effects, to the value of sixteen hundred
pounds; by which they are become entirely ruined, and utterly
uncapable to pay their debts, or carry on any further trade."
The actual date of Charter's desertion is unknown, but it was
likely some time during the summer of 1744.
Chartier and Chief Neucheconneh headed this band of Shaw-
nees. They had fled from Chartier's Old Town, and started down
the Allegheny and Ohio, when they met and robbed Dunning and
Tostee. At Logstown, they made an unsuccessful attempt to have
Kakowatcheky join them. They proceeded on down the Ohio to
the mouth of the Scioto, at which place another Shawnee settle-
ment had been made possibly a decade before, and known for many
years afterwards as the Lower Shawnee Town. From the Lower
Shawnee Town, Chartier and his Shawnees proceeded southward
along the Catawba Trail, and established a town about twelve
miles east of the site of the present town of Winchester, Kentucky.
Their object was to be nearer the French settlements on the Mis-
sissippi.
Shortly after Chartier led his Shawnees from the Allegheny,
there were many rumors that the Shawnees intended making raids
upon the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. At
a meeting of the Provincial Council at Philadelphia on December
17th, 1745, Governor Thomas laid before the board a letter he had
just received from the Governor of New York advising him that
Major Swartwoutz, a dweller in the Minisink region, had recently
written the Governor that he (Swartwoutz) had received intelli-
gence from two Indians at different times within a month to the
effect that "the French and French Indians living at a town or fort
on a branch of the River Mississippi have made a large house full
of snow shoes, in order so soon as the snow shall fall, to attack
Albany, Sopus, and the back parts of Jersey and Pennsylvania."
Governor Thomas said that, although he was not apt to give credit
to rumors of this kind, since they were often found false, yet, con-
sidering the fact that the French had recently plundered the in-
habitants near Saratoga, New York, carrying off seventy as
prisoners and burning their houses, barns and mills, and consider-
ing the further fact that Peter Chartier was now with the French,
it was not improbable that something would be attempted upon
the inhabitants of the back parts of Pennsylvania likewise. Hence
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 115
the Governor dispatched a messenger with circular letters to the
officers of the militia in Lancaster County, directing them to be on
their guard and to make the best preparations they could for de-
fense, at the same time cautioning them not to "do any injury to
the Indians in amity with us, or to molest them in their hunting."
He likewise sent directions to Conrad Weiser "to employ some of
the Delaware Indians at Shamokin (Sunbury) as scouts to watch
the enemy's motions, and to engage the whole body of Indians
there to harrass them in their march, in case they should attempt
anything against us, and afterwards to join our remote inhabitants
for their mutual defense." However, Chartier and his Shawnees
did no mischief in Pennsylvania, except the plundering of the
traders, Dunning and Tostee.
Chartier's Shawnees Ask to Be Forgiven
Some time after the desertion of Peter Chartier, a number of
his Shawnees returned, among whom were Neucheconneh and his
band. In 1747, the Onondaga Council placed the Oneida chief,
Scarouady, in charge of Shawnee affairs, with his central seat at
Logstown. Shortly thereafter, Neucheconneh, with Kakowatcheky,
at that time king of the Shawnees at Logstown, who had withstood
the solicitations of Chartier, and whom the reader has followed in
his migration from the eastern part of Pennsylvania to the Ohio
Valley, applied submissively to Scarouady then living on the Ohio,
to intercede for them with the Colonial Authorities of Pennsyl-
vania. At a meeting on July 21st, 1748, at Lancaster, Pennsyl-
vania, with the commissioners appointed by the Colony to hold a
conference with the Six Nations, Twightwees, and other Indians,
Conrad Weiser, having received the following apology of the
Shawnees from Scarouady, who was too badly injured from a fall
to attend the conference, delivered it to the commissioners, as
follows:
"We, the Shawnees, have been misled, and have carried on a
private correspondence with the French without letting you [the
Delawares and Six Nations] or our brethren, the English, know of
it. We traveled secretly through the bushes to Canada, and the
French promised us great things, but we find ourselves deceived.
We are sorry we had anything to do with them. We now find that
we could not see, although the sun did shine. We earnestly desire
that you would intercede with our brethren, the English, for us
who are left at Ohio, that we may be permitted to be restored to
116 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the chain of friendship, and be looked upon as heretofore the same
flesh with them." Scarouady reported to Weiser that the forego-
ing apology had first been addressed to the Six Nations and Dela-
wares dwelling on the Ohio and Allegheny, by Neucheconneh,
Kakowatcheky, Sonatziowannah, and Sequeheton, after these
Shawnee chieftains had met in council.
Conrad Weiser was consulted as to the sincerity of the apology
of the Shawnees. It does not appear what Weiser said on this
occasion, but it is well known that he was always outspoken in his
contempt for the Shawnees, and doubtless his influence shaped the
course of the commissioners at Lancaster, who severely reprimand-
ed the Shawnees for their conduct. Addressing the Six Nations,
from the Ohio, the commissioners said through Weiser, the inter-
preter:
"Your intercession for the Shawnees puts us under difficulties.
It is at least two years since the Governor of Pennsylvania wrote
Kakowatcheky a letter, wherein he condescended out of regard to
him and a few other Shawnees who preserved their fidelity, to
offer those who broke the chain, a pardon, on their submission, on
their return to the towns they had deserted, and on their coming
down to Philadelphia to evidence in person the sincerity of their
repentence. They should have immediately complied with, and
they would have readily been admitted into favor, but as they did
not, what can be said of them? .... Take this string of wampum
and therewith chastize Neucheconneh and his party in such terms
as will be a proper severity with them Then tell the de-
linquent Shawnees that we will forget what is past, and expect a
more punctual regard to their engagements hereafter. Tis but
justice to distinguish the good from the bad; Kakowatcheky and
his friends, who had virtue enough to resist the many fine promises
made by the emissaries of the French, will ever be remembered
with gratitude, and challenge our best services."
Then Taming Buck (Tamenebuck), one of the Shawnee chiefs,
who had been in Chartier's band, and later returned, replied to the
above reprimand as follows: "We, the Shawnees, sensible of our
ungrateful returns for the many favors we have been all along
receiving from our brethren, the English, ever since we first made
the chain of friendship, came along the road with our eyes looking
down to the earth, and have not taken them from thence until this
morning, when you were pleased to chasitze us and then pardon us.
We have been a foolish people, and acted wrong, though the sun
shone bright, and showed us very clearly what was our duty. We
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 1 17
are sorry for what we have done, and promise better behavior for
the future. We produce to you a certificate of the renewal of our
friendship in the year 1739, by the Proprietor and Governor. Be
pleased to sign it afresh, that it may appear to the world we are
now admitted into your friendship, and all former crimes are
buried and entirely forgot."
The request of Taming Buck was rejected. The commission-
ers refused to sign the certificate, and the Shawnees were told that
it was enough for them to know that they were forgiven on condi-
tion of future good behavior, and that when that condition was
performed, it would be time enough for them to apply for such
testimonials. It is not known whether Weiser advised this course
or not, but it is certain that he could have prevented it, and induced
the Colonial Authorities to make a valuable peace with the Shaw-
nees now when they were so submissive and humble. Other tribes
received presents at this Lancaster conference, but the Shawnees
only had their guns mended. They went away in disgrace, brood-
ing over such treatment.
Peter Chartier figured no more in Pennsylvania history after
he deserted to the French in 1744. Two creeks in Pennsylvania bear
his name — Chartier's Run, in Westmoreland County, emptying
into the Allegheny not far from Chartier's Old Town (Tarentum),
and Chartier's Creek, in Washington and Allegheny counties,
emptying into the Ohio at McKees Rocks, once known as Char-
tiers, from the fact that he had a trading post near this place.
KISHACOQUILLAS
Kishacoquillas was one of the Shawnee chiefs who never
waivered in friendship for the English. The first glimpse we get
of him in the Colonial Records is in the year 1731, when he was
living with his clan of twenty families at Ohesson, — later called
Kishacoquillas' Town, located at the mouth of Kishacoquillas
Creek, named for him, on the Juniata River, near Lewistown,
Mifflin County. With Kakowatcheky, Neucheconneh, and Tam-
ing Buck, and other Shawnee chiefs, he attended the conference
held at Philadelphia on July 27th to August 1st, 1739, which has
been mentioned earlier in this chapter.
Kishacoquillas was well advanced in years when the first
settlers entered the valley of the beautiful mountain stream bearing
his name. With one of these, Arthur Buchanan, he was on especi-
ally friendly terms, and had his wigwam near Buchanan's cabin.
118 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Some of Kishacoquillas' followers are said to have warned
Buchanan and his sons of the expected attack on Fort Granville,
near Lewistown, July 30th, 1756, enabling them and their families
to escape to Carlisle.
He died in the summer of 1754. His sons notified Governor
Morris of his death through John Shikellamy, son of the great vice-
gerent of the Six Nations. As Kishacoquillas had always been a
good friend of the Colony and well respected, the Governor sent
a present to his sons, and a letter of condolence in which he said:
"I heartily condole with you on the loss of your aged father,
and mingle my tears with yours, which, however. I would now
have you wipe away with the handkerchiefs herewith sent. As a
testimony of the love that the Proprietaries and this Government
retain for the family of Kishacoquillas, you will be pleased to
accept of the present which is delivered to John Shikellamy for
your use. May the Great Spirit confer on you health and every
other blessing. Continue your affection for the English and the
good people of this Province, and you will always find them grate-
ful."
NEUCHECONNEH
As pointed out in Chapter V, the Shawnee chief, Neuchecon-
neh, very probably acted as vice-regent during the youth of
Loyparcowah, the son of Opessah. As stated, also, in Chapter V,
Neucheconneh joined with Loyparcowah and Coycacolenne, on
March 20th, 1738, in sending a letter from the Allegheny to
Thomas Penn and Secretary James Logan, advising of their desire
to remain on the Allegheny, and of the steps they had taken
against the rum traffic. He was no doubt then residing at
Neucheconneh's Town, or Chartier's Old Town, on the Allegheny,
near Tarentum, which, as we have seen, in the present chapter, he
and Peter Chartier founded in 1734. In the present chapter, we
have also seen that Neucheconneh joined with several other Shaw-
nee chiefs on the Allegheny, in June, 1732, in a letter to Governor
Gordon, explaining why the Shawnees had removed from the Sus-
quehanna; that he, with Kakowatcheky, Kishacoquillas, and
Tamenebuck, attended the conference at Philadelphia, on July
27th to August 1st, 1739, where he repudiated the letter of March
20th, 1738; that, in 1744, he, with Peter Chartier, left Chartier's Old
Town, and deserted to the French; that he afterwards returned to
Logstown; and that, in 1748, he asked the Colony that he be for-
given for his having, for a time, deserted to the French.
On May 1st, 1734, Neucheconneh and several other Shawnee
chiefs dictated a letter to Governor Gordon and the Provincial
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 1 19
Council, regarding the character of the traders who came among
them at Allegheny. This letter, which was probably written
by Jonah Davenport, and which was witnessed by James Le Tort,
Larey Lowrey, and Peter Chartier, was as follows :
"Edward Kenny, Jacob Pyatt, Timy. Fitzpatrick, Wm. Dew-
lap, and Jno. Kelly of Donegal, come trading with us without
license; which is a hindrance to ye licensed Traders.
"Charles Poke and Thos. Hill are very pernicious; for they
have abused us; and we gave them a fathom of white wampum,
desiring them by that token to acquaint you how they had served
us.
"And at a drinking bout, Henry Bayley, Oliver Wallis, and
Jno. Young, took one of our old men, and after having tied him,
abused him very much. Jas. Denning was among them, and
abused us likewise. Such people, we think, are not proper to deal
with us.
"Jno. Kelly of Paxtang has made a great disturbance by rais-
ing false reports among us; and Timy. Fitzpatrick, Thos. Moren,
and Jno. Palmer quarrel often with us; therefore, we desire those
four men may be kept particularly from us.
"Jonas Davenport, Laz. Lowrey, Jas. Le Tort, Fras. Stevens,
Jas. Patterson, Ed. Cartilidge, we desire, may have license to come
and trade with us; as also, Peter Cheartier, who we reckon one of
us; and he is welcome to come as long as he pleases.
"Likewise, we beg at our Council, that no Trader above men-
tioned may be allowed to bring more than thirty gallons of rum,
twice in a year, and no more; for by that means, we shall be
capable of paying our debts and making our creditors easy; which
we cannot do otherwise. And that every Trader may be obliged
to bring his rum in ye cabin where he lives, directly, and not to
hide any in ye woods; but for P. Cheartier to bring what quantity
he pleases; for he trades further yn. ye rest. And that every
Trader bring his license with him.
"And for our parts, if we see any other Traders than those we
desire amongst us, we will stave their cags, [kegs] and seize their
goods, likewise.
"We also beg, every Trader may be obliged to bring good
powder.
"And, if we are indebted to any of those we desire may not be
admitted to trade with us, if they will come without goods or rum,
if we have it by us, we will pay them their due.
"We also hope no hired man will have liberty to bring any rum
with him."
120 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Other letters and messages of Neucheconneh were:
(1) A letter from the Allegheny to Secretary James Logan,
dated April 9th, 1738, advising that three Indians "of the nation
called Maychepese, living near the French", had passed through
the Shawnee Town (Chartier's Old Town) having three scalps of
white persons killed by them in Virginia. Says Neucheconneh:
"We thought it proper to acquaint you by the first opportunity who
they were that killed our brothers .... to prevent any suspicion;
when inquiry is made, it will prevent enmity between us and our
brothers." He signed this letter, as "King" of the Allegheny
Shawnees.
(2) On April 9th, 1743, at a council at Shamokin (Sunbury),
a message sent by him from the Allegheny, was delivered to Conrad
Weiser for transmission to Governor Thomas, as follows:
"Brother, the Governor of Pennsylvania:
"I live upon this River of Ohio [Allegheny] harmless like a
child. 1 can do nothing. I am but weak, and I don't so much as
intend mischief. I have nothing to say, and do; therefore, send
these strings of wampum to Kakowatcheky, the chief man again.
He will answer your message, as he is the older and greater man."
In explanation of this message, we state that, early in 1743, it
was feared that the Shawnees on the Allegheny might attack the
English traders. Conrad Weiser was accordingly sent to
Shamokin, where, on February 4th, he held a council with Shikel-
lamy, Sassoonan and other chiefs of the Delawares, Shawnees, and
Six Nations, which conference was mentioned in Chapter VII, and
gave the Shawnee chief, Big Hominy, some belts of wampum to
"send to the Great Island [Lock Haven], and Allegheny, in favor
of the traders." Weiser returned to Shamokin on April 9th, when
Neucheconneh's answer was received, as above set forth. Kako-
watcheky was then at Wyoming, but, as is seen in the present
chapter, he removed from that place to Logstown that same year,
1743.
(3) On April 20th, 1747, he joined with Kakowatcheky,
Tanacharison, Scarouady, Tamenebuck, and several others, in a
letter to Governor Thomas, requesting friendly relations on the
part of the Colony with the Miamis, with whom the Shawnees had
entered into a treaty.
There are two other letters which Neucheconneh had a part
in sending. The one is a letter from the "Chiefs of the Shawnees
at Allegheny" which James Logan laid before the Provincial
Kakowatcheky, Chartier, and Other Shawnees 121
Council on August 10th, 1737, which was, in substance, that they
were strongly solicited by the French, who were supplying them
with some powder and lead to fight the Southern Indians; that
they (the Allegheny Shawnees) were so far away that they could
go no farther without falling into the hands of their enemies or
going over to the French; and that, if they should return to the
Susquehanna, as the Colony had often insisted, they must starve,
as there was little game there. The letter ended with a request
that the Colony furnish them with arms and ammunition to de-
fend themselves against their enemies The other is a message
from "Nuckegunnah, King of the Shawnees living at Allegheny",
dated August 4th, 1738, and sent to the Governor of Virginia, ad-
vising that, the Catawbas had made an attack upon them, killing
several and taking others prisoners; and that this attack had
happened after the Shawnees had refrained from sending war
parties against the Catawbas upon learning that the Governor of
Virginia was endeavoring to make peace between the Catawbas
and the Northern Indians.
Another reference to this famous chief, who ended his days in
the valley of the Ohio, is when Captain William Trent and
Andrew Montour found him near the mouth of the Miami, on
August 4th, 1752. Trent and Andrew Montour had attended the
Virginia treaty at Logstown in June, and from there had gone
down the Ohio past the Lower Shawnee Town with a present for
the Miamis. His last appearance in history is when he attended
the Carlisle treaty of October, 1753.
In closing this chapter, we call attention to the fact that
Chartier's Town, founded by Peter Chartier and Neucheconneh,
and the scene of their principal activities until they led the Shaw-
nees from that place down the Ohio to the French, in 1744, figured
little in the Indian history of Pennsylvania after that event.
When Celeron came down the Allegheny and Ohio in the summer
of 1749, burying leaden plates at the mouths of the tributary
streams, proclaiming that the region drained by the "Beautiful
River" belonged to France, his detachment stopped at Chartier's
Town, on August 6th, where he found six English traders, with
fifty horses and one hundred and fifty bales of furs, who were re-
turning from there to Philadelphia. He ordered them to with-
draw from this territory claimed then by France, and sent with
them a letter to the Governor of Pennsylvania warning him to for-
bid the traders of the Colony to come into the valleys of the Ohio
and Allegheny.
CHAPTER IX.
Shikellamy
|HIKELLAMY (Shikellimmy, Shikillimus, Swateny, etc.),
who has been mentioned several times thus far, holds a
high place in the Indian annals of Pennsylvania. His
name literally means, "He causes it to be light, or day-
light"; or "He enlightens us." Hence he has frequently been call-
ed "Our Enlightener." He was an Oneida chieftain, though he
claimed he was born a Cayuga and was adopted by the Oneidas.
It has also been said that he was a Frenchman, born in Montreal
and taken captive, when a child two years old by the Oneidas, by
whom he was reared.
Shikellamy was the great exponent of the policy of the Six
Nations, and was sent by the Great Council at Onondaga to the
Forks of the Susquehanna, then called Shamokin, (Sunbury, Penn-
sylvania), in 1727 or 1728, to conserve the interests of the Six
Nations in the Susquehanna Valley, and to keep a watchful eye
on the tributary Shawnees, Delawares, and other Indians in that
region. The exact date of his coming to the Forks of the Susque-
hanna as the over-lord of the Shawnees, Delawares, and others is
not known, but it is clear it was prior to June, 1728; for in that
month, he, Sassoonan, and several other chiefs of the Delawares
and Shawnees attended a conference with Governor Gordon and
the Provincial Council at Philadelphia, with reference to the
troubles between the Shawnees of Pechoquealin and the settlers, as
related in Chapter VIII.
The first definite reference in the Colonial Records to Shikel-
lamy 's vice-gerency is in the minutes of a meeting of the Provincial
Council held on September 1, 1728. This conference after discus-
sing the endeavors of Manawkyhickon to set the Miamis and the
Five Nations at variance with the English, as related in Chapter
VII, was informed by Governor Gordon that two Indian traders
from the region of Pechoquealin had advised him that the Shaw-
nees of that place during the month of August had received a
message from the Susquehanna, which caused them to remove to
the Wyoming Valley, leaving their corn standing — the removal of
Kakowatcheky's Clan as related in Chapter VIII. The Council
then decided to send a message to Kakowatcheky asking why he
Shikellamy 123
had left Pechoquealin and "to acquaint Shikellima [Shikellamy]
that, as he is appointed, as it is said, by the Five Nations to preside
over the Shawnees, it is expected that he will give a good account
of them."
The importance of Shikellamy's office as the over-lord or vice-
gerent of the Six Nations over the Indians of the Susquehanna is
seen from the fact that, after the Iroquois subjugated the Susque-
hannas, or Conestogas, in 1675 or 1676, they assigned the valley
of this river as a hunting ground for the Shawnees, Delawares,
Conoy, Nanticokes, Tutelo, and Conestogas. Moreover, Shikel-
lamy's coming to the Forks of the Susquehanna, probably marks
the date of the complete subjugation of the Delawares by the
Iroquois.
Shikellamy was a man of dignity, sobriety, and prudence, and
a great friend of the whites, especially the Moravian Missionaries,
by whom he was converted to Christianity near the close of his life.
He was not baptized by the Moravians, because he had been bap-
tized many years before by a Jesuit priest in Canada. In the
execution of his trust, he conducted many important conferences
and treaties between the Government of Pennsylvania and the
Council of the Six Nations. In 1745, he was promoted to the full
vice-gerency of all the tributary tribes in the Susquehanna region.
Shamokin
Before proceeding further, attention is called to the fact that
the term "Shamokin" was a regional name applied to the territory
at and around the Forks of the Susquehanna with its center at the
present town of Sunbury, Northumberland County, where the
town of "Shamokin" was located on the level ground south of the
mouth of the North Branch of the Susquehanna. The term
"Shamokin" is Delaware and probably another form of the word
"Shackamaxon". The Iroquois name "Chenasky", or "Chenas-
try" (now generally called Otzinachse, or Otzinachson) was given
at least to the northern part of the Shamokin region.
The town of Shamokin (Sunbury) and the surrounding coun-
try were strategically located. It was in this region that the
Catawba War Trail leading from the central seat of the Six
Nations, through the valleys of Lycoming Creek and the West
Branch, intersected with the trail leading from Wyoming to the
Allegheny Valley; and it was no doubt the strategic location of
the Shamokin region that caused Shikellamy to select it as his seat,
124 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
when he was sent by the Great Council of the Six Nations as vice-
gerent over he Indians of the Susquehanna Valley. In fact, from
1728 and possibly prior thereto, until 1737 or 1738, he resided at
the intersection of the Catawba and Wyoming trails, in a village
called Shikellamy's Town located on the West Branch of the Sus-
quehanna, in Northumberland County, opposite the mouth of
Sinking Run, or Shikellamy's Run, about half a mile below the
present town of Milton. Here Conrad Weiser found him, as will
presently be seen, when going to Onondaga in 1737. About 1738,
Shikellamy removed to Shamokin proper, the Shamokin of Penn-
sylvania history (Sunbury), where he resided until his death.
Here, also, it will be recalled, resided the great sachem of the
Turkey Clan of Delawares, Sassoonan, from about the latter part
of 1718 until his death in 1747.
Shikellamy Delivers Ultimatum on the Rum Traffic
While Shikellamy on October 10th, 1728, attended the con-
ference with Governor Gordon and the Provincial Council, men-
tioned in Chapter VII, which resulted in a settlement of the
troubles in that year with Kakowatcheky's Clan of Shawnees at
Pechoquealin, his first great act after coming into the vice-gerency
of the Iroquois over the Indians of the Susquehanna, was to deliver
an ultimatum to the Colonial Authorities of Pennsylvania, in 1731,
to the effect that, unless the liquor trade should be better regulated
with regard to its sale to the Indians under his jurisdiction, friend-
ly relations between the Colony of Pennsylvania and the powerful
Six Nations would cease.
Shikellamy Sent to Onondaga to Arrange a Treaty
As has been seen in former chapters, the abuses of the liquor
traffic among the Shawnees were among the causes which forced a
large number of this tribe to migrate from the Susquehanna to the
Ohio and Allegheny valleys several years prior to 1730, when
French emissaries seized upon this opportunity to alienate the
Shawneees from the English interest. Therefore, Governor Gor-
don at a council held at Philadelphia on August 16th, 1731, decided
to adopt the suggestion of Secretary James Logan that a treaty be
arranged with the Six Nations "to renew and maintain the same
good-will and friendship for the Five Nations which the Honorable
William Penn always expressed to them in his lifetime", and to
prevail upon the Six Nations to assist in holding the Shawnees in
Shikellamy 125
their allegiance to the English. Accordingly, at this same con-
ference, it was decided to send Shikellamy, "a trusty, good man
and a great lover of the English" to Onondaga, the capital of the
Six Nations, to invite them to send deputies to Philadelphia to
arrange a treaty.
In keeping with Pennsylvania's efforts to retain the friendship
of the Shawnees on the Allegheny, Governor Gordon sent them a
message in December, 1731, reminding them of the benefits they
had received from William Penn and his successors, while they
lived in the eastern part of the Province, to which message
Neucheconneh and other Shawnee chiefs on the Allegheny, replied
in their letter to the Governor, of June, 1732, giving the reasons
why they had removed from the Susquehanna, which letter was
quoted in Chapter VIII.
Shikellamy returned to Philadelphia from his journey to
Onondaga, on December 10th, 1731, accompanied by a Cayuga
chief named Cehachquely, and Conrad Weiser and John Scull as
interpreters. He reported that the Six Nations were very much
pleased to hear from the Governor of Pennsylvania, but that, as
winter was now coming on and their chiefs were too old to make
such a fatiguing journey in the winter time, they would come to
Philadelphia in the spring to meet the Governor.
Conrad Weiser
On his way to meet the Governor at this time, Shikellamy
stopped at the home of Conrad Weiser, near Womelsdorf, in the
present county of Berks, took him along to Philadelphia and intro-
duced him to Governor Gordon as "an adopted son of the Mohawk
Nation"; and as this conference (December 10, 1731,) is Weiser's
first connection with the Indian affairs of Pennsylvania, it will be
well to pause long enough, at this point, to give a short sketch of
the history of this noted man of the frontier, who later had so
much to do with bringing about the ascendency of the Anglo-
Saxon in the Western World.
This sturdy German was born at Afsteadt, in Herrenberg,
near Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1696. At the age of thirteen, he
accompanied his father to America, and, for several years, assisted
him in making tar and raising hemp on Livingston Manor, New
York. The Weiser family spent the winter of 1713 and 1714 with
several of the Iroquois at Schenectady, New York, where Conrad
doubtless secured his first lessons in the Iroquois tongue. In the
126 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
spring of 1714, he accompanied his father to the Schoharie Valley,
where they endured much hardship in company with the other
Palatines in that valley. When he was seventeen years old, young
Weiser went to live with Quagnant, a prominent Iroquois chief,
who, taking a great fancy to Conrad, requested the father that the
young man might dwell with him for a time. He remained with
the Iroquois chief for eight months, learning the Iroquois lan-
guage and customs thoroughly, and was adopted by them.
In 1729, Conrad Weiser and his young wife followed the elder
Weiser into the Tulpyhocken Valley, Pennsylvania, where, as has
been related, a number of Palatines from the Schoharie Valley had
settled, under the leadership of Conrad Weiser, Sr. The young
couple built their home about one mile east of Womelsdorf, Berks
County, where Weiser continued to reside until a few years before
his death, when he removed to Reading. It is said that while on
a hunting trip he met the great Iroquois chief, Shikellamy, the vice-
gerent of the Six Nations, who was well pleased with Weiser on
account of his being able to speak the Iroquois tongue, and they
became fast friends.
While visiting his old home near Womelsdorf, he died July
13, 1760, much lamented by the Colony of Pennsylvania as well as
by the Indians. Said a great Iroquois chieftain, commenting on
the death of Weiser: "We are at a loss, and sit in darkness."
If all white men had been as just to the Indians as was this
sturdy German, the history of the advance of civilization in
America undoubtedly would not contain so many bloody chapters.
Conrad Weiser's home is still standing, and in the orchard above
the house, rests all that is mortal of this distinguished frontiers-
man; while beside him are the graves of several Indian chiefs.
Having loved him in life, they wished to repose beside him in
death. A beautiful monument has been erected to his memory in
Womelsdorf, having thereon the words which George Washington
uttered concerning him, while standing at his grave, in 1793:
"Posterity Will Not Forget His Services."
Conrad Weiser was the progenitor of one of the most noted
families of Pennsylvania. His daughter, Anna, became the wife
of Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, founder of the Lutheran Church
in America, was the mother of Frederick A. Muhlenberg and
General John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg. Frederick A. Muhlen-
berg became a distinguished Lutheran clergyman and later was
elected to the Legislature of Pennsylvania. He was also chosen
President of the Pennsylvania Convention, in 1787, which ratified
Shikellamy 127
the Constitution of the United States. From 1789 to 1797, he
served in the Congress of the United States, and was speaker of the
First and Third Congresses.
John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg also became a distinguished
Lutheran clergyman, and, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary
War, was pastor of the German Lutheran congregation at Wood-
stock, Virginia. While serving this parish, he became well known to
George Washington, and was selected to command the Eighth Vir-
ginia Regiment. His farewell sermon, preached to his congregation
in January, 1776, is memorable in the annals of America. On the
appointed day, an immense congregation greeted him. Clad in his
clerical gown, he preached a burning sermon on the duty of the
hour, at the close of which he made the statement: "There is a
time to pray and a time to fight; now is the time to fight." The
benediction pronounced amidst a deathlike silence, he threw aside
his gown, revealing himself clad in the full uniform of a Conti-
nental officer, and ordered the drums to beat for recruits. With
the noble men who there gathered around him by the hundreds, he
started on his undying career as a soldier.
He endured the rigors of the terrible winter at Valley Forge,
and fought valiantly at Germantown, Monmouth, and Stony Point.
He was the leader of the American final assault at Yorktown, when
the American arms finally triumphed.
He was promoted to Major General, and, after the close of
the Revolution, removed from Virginia to Pennsylvania, where he
was elected a member of the Supreme Executive Council of the
state. He was a member of the First, Third, and Sixth Congresses,
and was elected United States Senator in 1801, but resigned this
post to receive the appointment by President Jefferson as Super-
visor of Internal Revenue for Pennsylvania. At the time of his
death in July, 1802, he was collector of the port of Philadelphia.
His statue is placed in the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington,
with that of Robert Fulton, the two representing the State of Penn-
sylvania. This statue shows him throwing aside his clerical robe
and revealing the uniform of a Continental officer.
The Treaty of 1732
The Six Nations, no doubt mistrusting the motives of the
English, failed to send deputies to Philadelphia in the spring of
1732, as they had promised Shikellamy. In the meantime, traders
in the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny reported that the French
128 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
were rapidly gaining the friendship of the Shawnees in the Ohio
Valley; that these Indians complained bitterly about the great
quantities of rum brought to them by the English traders; and
that they would have declared war against the English, on this
account, save for the influence of Peter Chartier. The Shawnees
said, furthermore, that it had been only five years since the Six
Nations themselves had endeavored to persuade the Ohio Indians
to declare war on the English. In view of these facts, there was
much anxiety on the part of the Provincial Council of Pennsyl-
vania, over the failure of the deputies of the Six Nations to make
their appearance in Philadelphia in the spring of 1732.
Finally, on August 18th, 1732, the deputies of the Six
Nations arrived, consisting of a number of Oneida, Cayuga, and
Onondaga chiefs, among whom was the celebrated Shikellamy.
A few days' time being given the chiefs in which to refresh them-
selves after their long and toilsome journey, the famous treaty of
August 23rd to September 2nd, 1732, was entered into between the
Six Nations and the Colony of Pennsylvania.
We have stated that Secretary James Logan suggested this
treaty; but Logan's knowledge of the influence and importance of
the Six Nations and their power over the Shawnees, Delawares and
other tributary tribes, was gotten from Conrad Weiser. Not until
the coming of Weiser did the Colony fully realize the importance of
this powerful confederation.
The deputies of the Six Nations, who arrived in Philadelphia
some days before the opening of the conference, as we have seen,
were chiefs of only the Oneida, Cayuga, and Onondaga tribes; but
they claimed that they were authorized to speak for the other
members of the Iroquois Confederation. In the early stages of
the conference, complaints were made, possibly by members of the
Assembly, against the private nature of the council; and Conrad
Weiser, the interpreter, was selected to interview the Iroquois
deputies to learn their pleasure in the matter. The chiefs replied
that they were content to continue in secret session, but were willing
to deal in a more public manner, if such was desired. Thomas
Penn, son of the founder of the Colony, having lately arrived in
Philadelphia, spoke for the Province. He called the attention of
the chiefs to the policy which his father had pursued in dealing
with the Indians, and assured them that he came to the Province
with a desire and design to follow in the footsteps of his parent.
He then asked the Iroquois deputies how their Confederation
stood toward the French, their former enemies. He inquired how
Shikellamy 129
the French behaved toward the Six Nations, and how all the
other nations of Indians to the northward or the westward were
affected toward the Iroquois.
The Iroquois deputies replied through their speaker, Heta-
quantagechty, that they had no great faith in the governor of
Canada, or the French, who had deceived them. "The Six
Nations", said they, "are not afraid of the French. They are
always willing to go and hear what they have to propose. Peace
had been made with the French. A tree had been planted big
enough to shelter them both. Under this tree, a hole had been dug,
and the hatchets had been buried therein. Nevertheless, the chiefs
of the Six Nations thought that the French charged too much for
their goods, and, for this reason, they recommended their people
to trade with the English, who would sell cheaper than the French."
The deputies confided to the Governor that, when representatives
of the Six Nations were at Montreal, in 1727, the governor of
Canada told them that he intended to make war upon Corlear (the
term applied to the governors of New York), and that he desired
the Six Nations to remain neutral. On this occasion, one of the
chiefs answered, saying: "Onontejo [the Indian name for the
governor of Canada], you are very proud. You are not wise to
make war with Corlear, and to propose neutrality to us. Corlear
is our brother; he came to us when he was very little and a child.
We suckled him at our breasts; we have nursed him and taken
care of him till he is grown up to be a man. He is our brother
and of the same blood. He and we have but one ear to hear with,
one eye to see with, and one mouth to speak with. We will not
forsake him nor see any man make war upon him without assist-
ing. We shall join him, and, if we fight with you, we may have
our own father, Onontejo, to bury in the ground. We would not
have you force us to this, but be wise and live in peace."
The Iroquois deputies were told, through Conrad Weiser, that
the Shawnees who were settled to the southward, being made un-
easy by their neighbors, had come up to Conestoga about thirty-
five years before, and desired leave of the Conestoga Indians
located at that place, to settle in the neighborhood; that the
Conestogas applied to the Government of Pennsylvania that the
Shawnees might be permitted to settle there, and that they would
become answerable for their good behavior; that William Penn,
shortly after the arrival of the Shawnees, agreed to their settle-
ment, and the Shawnees thereupon came under the protection of
the Pennsylvania Colony; that, from that time, greater numbers
130 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
of the Shawnee Indians followed, settling upon the Susquehanna
and the Delaware. The deputies were further told that the
Colony of Pennsylvania had held several treaties with the Shaw-
nees, treating them from their first coming as "our own Indians",
but that some of their young men, four or five years previously,
being afraid of the Six Nations, had removed to the Allegheny
Valley, and put themselves under the protection of the French, who
had received them as children ; that the Colony had sent a message
asking them to return, and to encourage them, had laid out a large
tract of land on the west side of the Susquehanna near Paxtang,
and desired, by all means, that they would return to that place.
The Iroquois answered that they never had intended to harm
the Shawnees, and that, as they were coming on their way to
Philadelphia, they had spoken with Kakowatcheky, their (the Shaw-
nees') old chief, then at Wyoming, and told him that he should
not "look to Ohio, but turn his face to us." They had met Sas-
soonan, too, the old chief of the Delawares, then at Shamokin, and
told him that the Delawares, too, should not settle in the Ohio and
Allegheny valleys, upon which Sassoonan had sent messengers to
the Delawares lately gone to the Ohio and Allegheny valleys, re-
quiring them to return. It will be remembered that, in the times
of which we are writing, and for a long period thereafter, the Alle-
gheny River was considered simply as a continuation of the Ohio,
and was generally called the Ohio.
The deputies were then told that, as they were the chiefs of
all the northern Indians in the Province, and the Shawnees had
been under their protection, they should oblige them to return
nearer the Pennsylvania settlements; whereupon the chiefs asked
if the Six Nations should do this themselves, or join with the
Authorities of Pennsylvania. They were told that it was the de-
sire of the Pennsylvania Colony that the Six Nations should join
with the Colonial Authorities in efforts to have the Shawnees re-
turn.
The representatives of the Six Nations told the Governor that
they believed that they could bring the Shawnees back, if Pennsyl-
vania would prohibit her traders from going to the Allegheny
Valley, explaining that, as long as the Shawnees were supplied at
that place with such goods as they needed, they would be more
unwilling to remove. It was finally agreed that Pennsylvania
would remove such traders, and that the Six Nations would see
that the French traders in the Ohio region were also removed.
The main purpose of this treaty was to secure the aid of the
Shikellamy 131
Six Nations in efforts to bring the Shawnees from the Allegheny
Valley; but it contained other provisions, notably the one obligat-
ing the Six Nations to "forbid all their warriors, who are often too
unruly, to come amongst or near the English settlements, and
especially that they never, on any account, rob, hurt, or molest
any English subjects whatsoever, either to the Southward or else-
where."
The Iroquois delegation having requested that, in their future
dealings with Pennsylvania, Conrad Weiser should continue to be
the interpreter, this request was granted, and the conference came
to an end by the giving of many presents to the deputies, among
which were six japanned and gilt guns, which were to be delivered
one to each chief of the Six Nations. These guns were the gift of
Thomas Penn, which he had brought with him from England for
this purpose.
Shikellamy at Conference June, 1733
Shikellamy's next appearance before the Provincial Council
was at a conference held at Philadelphia with Governor Gordon
on June 18, 1733. Three matters were taken up at this conference.
The first was a report which Shikellamy gave the Governor of the
news of a plot on the part of the whites to take up arms against
the Indians. Shikellamy said that he had received this news from
"an Indian who lives in his neighborhood, named Katarioniecha
(Peter Quebec), who is married to one Margaret, a daughter of
Mrs. Montour." The second was a complaint on the part of
Shikellamy that "since the Indian traders were prohibited to bring
rum among the Indians, Cheaver, beyond all others, has brought in
very large quantities, and gives out that he will not regard the
orders of the Government on this head; that his behavior is such
as gives just apprehension some mischiefs may happen if he is not
called away from these parts; that formerly an order was given to
the Indians to stave rum brought among them, but Cheaver
threatens any Indians that shall offer to touch his; that it is to be
feared he may either kill an Indian or some Indian him; that
Cheaver intends this summer to go to Allegheny, contrary to what
was agreed upon between this Government and the Six Nations
last fall [at the treaty of 1732]." The third was a letter which
Sassoonan had sent to John Harris asking him to desist from mak-
ing a plantation at the mouth of the Juniata where Harris had
built a house and cleared some fields.
132 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Shikellamy Tells of Efforts of Six Nations to
Have Shawnees Return to the Susquehanna
The Six Nations were faithful to their promise, in the treaty
of 1732, to induce the Shawnees in the Allegheny Valley to take up
their adobe in the valley of the Susquehanna; and they used every
means short of war in efforts to accomplish this result. On Sep-
tember 10th, 1735, Shikellamy and Hetaquantagechty, with three
other Iroquois chiefs, reported at a meeting of the Provincial
Council, that, in accordance with the treaty of 1732, the Six
Nations had sent some of their chief men to the valley of the
Allegheny, who met the Shawnees and urged them to return to the
valley of the Susquehanna, assuring them that the Six Nations
would protect them, but that the Shawnees had utterly refused to
leave their western home, which, they said, was more commodious
than was their home on the Susquehanna. This was the same con-
ference referred to in Chapter VIII, in which Shikellamy and
Hetaquantagechty advised the Governor of the murder of Sagohan-
dechty by the Asswikales clan of Shawnees.
But before giving the Provincial Council this definite inform-
ation as to the refusal of the Shawnees to return, Shikellamy had
made two other visits to Philadelphia after the treaty of 1732, as
follows:
On August 15th, 1733, Shikellamy and Hetaquantagechty, a
Seneca chief, coming to Philadelphia, as messengers from the Six
Nations, accompanied by Conrad Weiser from the latter's home
in the Tulpehocken Valley, and advised the Provincial Council
that, owing to a pestilence among the Six Nations, they could not
send a delegation to consult with the Governor this year concern-
ing the matters mentioned in the treaty of August, 1732. Heta-
quantagechty stated that, before he left home, a great meeting of
the Iroquois chiefs was appointed at Onondaga.
Also, on October 15th, 1734, Hetaquantagechty, accompanied
by Shikellamy and Conrad Weiser, appeared before the Provincial
Council at Philadelphia, and advised that the Six Nations, being
delayed in waiting for a message from the Conoys at Conoy Town,
near the mouth of the creek of the same name in Lancaster County,
advising them that they had been wrongly accused of having killed
two people in Virginia, could not send a deputation to Philadelphia
this year to confer with the Governor and Council concerning the
carrying out of the promises the Iroquois had made in the treaty
of 1732. He stated, however, that the Six Nations had sent mes-
Shikellamy 133
sengers to the Shawnees on the Allegheny, desiring them to return
to the Susquehanna, who answered that they would remove farther
north and nearer the French; whereupon some chiefs of the Six
Nations went to confer with the Shawnees; and that he did not
know what happened at their meetings with them
What happened was the refusal of the western Shawnees to
comply with the demand of the Iroquois that they return to the
Susquehanna, and the murder of Sagahandechty by the Asswikales
band of Shawnees, as was related in Chapter VI 11. These facts
were brought to the attention of the Provincial Council by Shikel-
lamy and Hetaquandechty at the conference of September 10th,
1735. The Six Nations, said Shikellamy, greatly resented this
barbarous and inhuman act, and thought it ought not to pass un-
revenged, but they were willing to receive the advice of the Pro-
vincial Council on the matter. Shikellamy also suggested that, as
that particular clan of Shawnees had fled southward, it would
perhaps be well to write the Governor of Virginia, acquainting him
with what they had already done and what mischief they might
still do.
John and Thomas Penn replied, urging them to keep the peace
at all hazards. They said they had learned that this particular
band of Shawnees had entered the Allegheny Valley only a few
years before they so cruelly murdered the Iroquois chieftain,
coming from the South, and were practically strangers. The
Penns, dissuading, further argued that since the murderers fled to
the South, no one knowing exactly where, it would be better to let
the matter drop. They said that the traders need not be with-
drawn from the Allegheny. Then the)' presented the chief "six
handkerchiefs to wipe and dry away [the] tears."
5«V
CHAPTER X.
Shikellamy
(Continued)
THE TREATY OF 1736
T the instigation of Shikellamy and Conrad Weiser, the
Colonial Authorities of Pennsylvania were very anxious
to have the treaty of August, 1732, confirmed by depu-
ties representing all the members of the Iroquois Confed-
eration, and Conrad Weiser was directed to employ his influence
with Shikellamy to the end that these two mediators between the
Colony of Pennsylvania and Great Council of the Six Nations might
bring about a conference that would represent every member of
that great Confederation. The summers came and went, and still
the promised visit of the Iroquois was deferred. Finally, at a
conference of Delaware and Conestoga chiefs, among whom were
Sassoonan, representing the Delawares, and Civility, representing
the Conestogas, held at Philadelphia on August 20, 1736, an appeal
was made to them to explain why the Iroquois did not send depu-
ties to Philadelphia, as they had promised. Sassoonan said that
he knew nothing particularly of the Iroquois; that he had been in
expectation to see them for three years past, but understood that
they had been detained by nations that came to treat with them.
He further stated that he expected that they would be on hand the
next spring. The Provincial Council made a very liberal present
to the Delawares and Conestogas on the occasion of this confer-
ence, accompanying it with the special request that they make an
effort to ascertain from the Six Nations why they had not sent
their deputies as they promised the preceding year, or at least to
send a message stating the reasons for their delay.
This present to the Delawares had the desired effect, and in
less than six weeks thereafter, Conrad Weiser sent word to the Pro-
vincial Council from his home near Womelsdorf, in the Tulpe-
hocken Valley, that he had received intelligence that one hundred
chiefs, representing all members of the Iroquois Confederation, had
arrived at Shamokin (Sunbury) on their way to Philadelphia.
On the 27th of September, Weiser arrived at Philadelphia, accom-
panied by this delegation of one hundred Iroquois. At this time,
smallpox was raging in Philadelphia, on account of which Weiser
Shikellamy 135
took the Indians to James Logan's mansion at Stenton, a few miles
from the city (now in the Twenty-second Ward, Philadelphia),
and invited the provincial officers and proprietors out to meet
them. The Indians were greatly pleased with Weiser's care for
their health, and the esteem in which they held him increased by
this act of solicitation on his part. The Iroquois had told the
Colonial Authorities at the treaty of 1732 that Weiser and Shikel-
lamy were the proper persons "to go between the Six Nations and
this government." They said that their bodies were to be equally
divided between "the Sons of Onas and the Red Men, half to the
Indian and half to the white man." Weiser, said they, was faith-
ful, honest, good, and true; that he had spoken their words for
them, and not his own.
The Iroquois delegation, by far the largest that ever appeared
at Philadelphia. at a treaty, was entertained for three nights at
Stenton. The sessions of the different conferences connected
with the making of this treaty lasted until the 25th of October.
They were held in the great meeting house at Fifth and Arch
Streets. The Iroquois deputies reported that, following the sug-
gestion of the Provincial Council at the treaty of 1732, they had
strengthened their confederation by entering into firm leagues of
friendship and alliance with other nations around them, to-wit:
Onichkaryagoes, Sissaghees, Troumurtihagas, Attawantenies,
Twechtwese, and Oachtaumghs. All these tribes, said the depu-
ties, had promised to acknowledge the Iroquois as their elder
brother and to act in concert with them.
The Iroquois deputies made the request that the Pennsylvania
traders be removed from the Ohio and Allegheny country, but the
Provincial Council politely refused this request, arguing that its
Indians there could not live without being supplied with goods, and
that, if the Pennsylvania traders did not supply them with goods,
others from Maryland and Virginia would. The Iroquois also
asked that no strong drink be sold at Allegheny by the traders.
This petition was evaded. James Logan, President of the Council,
upon which the administration of the government devolved since
the death of Governor Gordon, on August 5th, 1736, rebuked the
Indians for not controlling their appetite for rum. "All of us
here," said he, "and all you see of any credit in this place, can
every day have as much rum of their own to drink as they please,
and yet scarce one of us will take a dram, at least not one man will,
on any account, be drunk, no, not if he were hired to it with great
sums of money."
136 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
But the most important part of this treaty was the execution
and delivery of two deeds by the Iroquois to the Proprietaries of
the Province of Pennsylvania — a momentous transaction brought
about by that astute Iroquois statesman, Shikellamy, assisted by
Conrad Weiser.
Deed of Susquehanna Lands
The first was a deed to all the lands on both sides of the Sus-
quehanna, extending as far east as the heads of the streams run-
ning into the Susquehanna, as far west "as the setting of the sun"
(afterwards interpreted by the Indians to mean as far as the crest
of the Allegheny Mountains), as far south as the mouth of the
Susquehanna, and as far north as the Blue, Kittatiny, or Endless
Mountains. As related in Chapter VI, William Penn, in order to
get undisputed title to the lands he had purchased from the Sus-
quehanna or Conestoga Indians, thought it advisable to get the
consent of the (then) Five Nations; and, on January 1 3th, 1696, he
purchased these same Susquehanna lands from Governor Thomas
Dongan of New York, who had gotten his title from the Iroquois.
Penn, thus recognized a feudal lordship of the Susquehanna lands
in the Iroquois; and his deed to the same from Dongan was "con-
firmed" by the treaty with the Susquehannas, or Conestogas, at
Philadelphia, on April 23, 1701. The Six Nations, however, con-
tended that they had deeded the Susquehanna lands to Dongan
simply in trust and did not release any control over or rights in the
same. At the time of this treaty of 1736, the Colonial Authorities
of Pennsylvania were impressed by Conrad Weiser with the power
and influence of the Six Nations, and, accordingly, did not dispute
with their deputies when they claimed indemnity for all the Susque-
hanna lands south and east of the Blue Mountains.
The consideration of the deed for these lands, dated October
11th, 1736, was 500 pounds of powder, 600 pounds of lead, 45
guns, 100 blankets, 200 yards of cloth, 100 shirts, 40 hats, 40 pairs
of shoes and buckles, 40 pairs of stockings, 100 hatchets, 500
knives, 100 hoes, 100 tobacco tongs, 100 scissors, 500 awls, 120
combs, 2000 needles, 1000 flints, 20 looking glasses, 2 pounds of
vermillion, 100 tin pots, 25 gallons of rum, 200 pounds of tobacco,
1000 pipes, and 24 dozens of garters. That part of these goods
which represented the consideration for the lands on the east side
of the Susquehanna, was delivered, but that which represented the
consideration for the lands on the west side of the river, was, at
the Indians' desire, retained, and was finally delivered in 1742.
Shikellamy 137
Deed of Delaware Lands
On October 25th, just two weeks after the signing of the deed
of the Susquehanna lands, when most of the influential deputies of
the Iroquois had left Philadelphia, and after those who remained
had been drinking heavily, another deed was drawn up embracing
all the Six Nations' claim to lands within Pennsylvania "beginning
eastward on the River Delaware, as far northward as the ridge or
chain of Endless Mountains as they cross ye country of Pennsyl-
vania, from eastward to the West." This deed established a pre-
cedent for an Iroquois claim to all the lands owned by the Dela-
ware Indians, and was the cause, as we shall see, of greatly em-
bittering the Delawares.
Effects of Sale of Delaware Lands By Iroquois
It is clear that, while William Penn recognized the claim of
the Six Nations to the lands of the Susquehannas or Conestogas,
yet he never recognized any claim on the part of the Six Nations
to the lands of the Delawares; and, prior to this treaty of 1736, it
cannot be found that the Iroquois themselves ever made any claim
to the lands of the Delawares, although of course, they had exer-
cised an overlordship over them, "declaring them women and for-
bidding them to make war." It is very probable that, at the time
of making the Iroquois deed for the Delaware lands, no one real-
ized what the outcome of such a deed would be. It was an indirect
way of denying to the Delaware Indians all title to their lands.
The Iroquois had promised that in the future they would never
sell any land within the limits of Pennsylvania to anyone except
Penn's heirs, and, probably, the chief purpose in securing this
deed was to place this promise of the Six Nations permanently in
writing.
Shikellamy and Weiser .Cause Change in the
Indian Policy of Colonial Pennsylvania
This action in purchasing the Delaware lands from the Iro-
quois marked a great change in the Indian policy of Pennsylvania
— a change brought about by Shikellamy and Conrad Weiser.
Weiser interpreted the deed to the Iroquois, and they were evi-
dently aware that they had gained a most important point; that,
henceforth, the Colony of Pennsylvania would be a sponsor for
their claims on the Delaware River; and that all the ancient dis-
138 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
putes with the Delawares in this matter were settled. Furthermore,
by this action, the Colony of Pennsylvania had taken sides in the
age-long quarrel between the Iroquois on the one hand and the
Delawares on the other. William Penn had refused to take sides in
any Indian differences, but his sons were more bent on personal
profit than on public justice and public security.
From the date of this purchase, it was no longer possible for
the Colony of Pennsylvania to treat the Delawares as formerly.
The Six Nations had been recognized as the favorite people and the
Delawares, the affectionate friends of William Penn, as under-
lings. The Delawares had already been offended through the long
delay in purchasing from them the Tulpehocken lands, which had
been settled many years before the Colony got an Indian title for
the same. Now, in purchasing their lands from the Iroquois, the
Colony started that long series of events with the Delawares, which
resulted in the bloodiest invasion in colonial history — an invasion
which drenched Pennsylvania in blood from 1755 to 1764; but at
the same time, while thus bringing upon herself a Delaware and
Shawnee war, she escaped a Six Nation war, which no doubt would
have been much more serious in its consequences.
Sale of Susquehanna Lands Involves
Maryland and Virginia
"Since Pennsylvania had paid the Six Nations for their Sus-
quehanna claims south of the Blue Mountains, the shrewd Iroquois
became aware that neither Maryland nor Virginia had ever paid
them for lands to the southward which lay within the western
borders of those States. They stated that their claims to this
region were based upon the conquests of their fathers. They now
insisted that Pennsylvania should assist them in securing this land
from Virginia and Maryland. The Governor, who was evidently
following the advice of Conrad Weiser, put the Indians off until
he could secure better information about these claims." (J. S.
Walton's "Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial Penn-
sylvania").
This matter dragged along until the Lancaster treaty of 1744,
when Maryland and Virginia formally purchased the Iroquois
lands in their dominions.
Shikellamy 139
Sale of Susquehanna Lands Offends Shawnees
"The growing discontent among the Shawnese seized upon the
recent Iroquois land sale as another source of their dissatisfaction.
When these Shawanese heard of the treaty of 1736, one hundred
and thirty of their leaders sent a belt to the French, saying, 'Our
land has been sold from under our feet; may we come and live
with you?' The French not only readily consented, but offered to
come and meet them with provisions. This information came
from the Mohawks, who received no share from the recent Iroquois
land sale. In the treaty of 1736, the Six Nations had promised to
send all the Shawnees back from the Ohio, and compel them to live
on the Susquehanna lands, where forty-five years before they had
asked permission to live. The Iroquois found this a difficult thing
to do, especially since the Mohawks received nothing from the late
treaty. The Shawanese, moreover, were learning valuable lessons
in diplomacy from the Iroquois and the French. In August, 1737,
a message and a belt came to Philadelphia from the Shawanese on
the Ohio, saying that the French had always been their friends,
that each year they gave them powder, lead and tobacco, that these
presents enabled them to hold their own against their Indian ene-
mies in the South. Now if they should go back to their Susque-
hanna lands, as the leading men in Pennsylvania, and the Iroquois
chiefs desired, they must starve, and lay themselves open to their
enemies. With genuine shrewdness the Shawnees declared that
they had no desire to join the French, and if the Pennsylvania
authorities would send them a present as compensation for the land
they had lost, they could keep back their enemies, and avoid falling
into the hands of the French.
"The Pennsylvania Council, after 1736, always consulted
Conrad Weiser on all Indian affairs. Weiser had little or no re-
spect for a Shawnees Indian. The Council, while it realized that
the Shawnees had no legal claims on the Susquehanna land, from
a white man's standpoint in reference to land tenure, inclined to
take Weiser's advice, and believed that it would be establishing a
dangerous precedent to recognize Shawnees claims when they were
but sojourners in the country. The Indians had a quite different
conception of land tenure, and the Shawnees held that occupancy
did, in time, become possession. Therefore, when they received a
present of ten pounds from the Province, and an invitation to a
treaty, they swallowed their chagrin, and found solace in the sym-
pathy of the French. This paltry present was the beginning of a
series of misunderstandings with these tribes which finally led to
140 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
their total alienation from the English cause." — (J. S. Walton's
"Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of Colonial Pennsylvania").
The two deeds gotten from the Iroquois at the treaty of 1732
embraced the counties of York, Adams, and Cumberland, that
part of Franklin, Dauphin, and Lebanon southeast of the Blue or
Kittatiny Mountains, and that part of Berks, Lehigh, and North-
ampton not already possessed.
Shikellamy and Weiser's Terrible Journey to Onondaga
in Effort on Part of Virginia to Make Peace Between
the Iroquois and the Catawbas
Shortly after the treaty of 1736, Virginia's difficulties with the
Iroquois, on account of the damage done by their war parties
against the Catawbas and other southern tribes, became so acute
that Governor Gooch of Virginia decided that the only solution of
the problem was to arrange a peace between the Six Nations and
the Catawbas and their allied tribes. Gooch succeeded, in the
autumn of 1736, in securing the consent of one of the southern
tribes to make peace, and, finally, later in the winter, the entire
Southern Confederacy of Indians agreed to send deputies the next
spring to Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, to meet similar
deputies from the Iroquois. Governor Gooch then decided to
secure an armistice between the two great confederations and. to
persuade the Iroquois to send deputies to Williamsburg. In his
effort to accomplish these things, he appealed to the Colonial
Authorities of Pennsylvania, as a result of which, Conrad Weiser
was selected to proceed to the Great Council of the Six Nations at
Onuaga, New York, to arrange an armistice and, if possible, to
secure the promise of the Six Nations to send their deputies to Vir-
ginia.
It was now mid-winter (1737). and the snow lay several feet
deep on the mountains of Pennsylvania and New York; yet it was
very important that Weiser should arrive at the Great Council of
the Six Nations before the opening of spring, as, at that time, war
parties of Iroquois would already be on their way to Virginia.
He started on his journey on the 27th of February, 1737, accom-
panied by a white man, named Stoffel Stump. They rode on
horseback to Shikellamy 's Town, where they found the Indians on
the verge of starvation, and were unable to get the horses across
the Susquehanna. Finally, after a day's delay an Indian succeed-
ed in taking Weiser and Stump over the river in a canoe. At
Shikellamy's Town, Weiser and Stump were joined by Shikellamy
Shikellamy 141
and two other Indians, who acted as guides; and they set forth, on
foot, on their journey through the trackless and snow clad forest to
Onondaga. They followed the north bank of the West Branch of
the Susquehanna, called "Otzinachson" by the Indians, and pro-
ceeded to the mouth of Loyalsock Creek, in Lycoming County,
where they found Madam Montour at her village called Oston-
wacken, near the mouth of the Loyalsock, and near the present
site of Montoursville. Weiser and his companions were almost
starved. At first Madam Montour told Weiser that she had no
food; but, when the Indians had withdrawn from her cabin, she
raised a board from the floor and fed him bountifully from a sup-
ply which she had concealed.
Bidding Madam Montour good-bye, the little party of four
left the West Branch of the Susquehanna, and followed what the
Indians called the "Lost, or Bewildered Stream." This was a dis-
mal region. Said Weiser: "The woods was so thick that for a
mile at a time we could not find a place the size of a hand where
the sunshine would penetrate, even on the clearest day." In one
valley, probably Loyalsock Creek, they encountered such storms
that the Indians believed that an evil spirit, called Otkon, ruled
in that place. They were now traveling northward through
Lycoming and Sullivan counties.
On March 25th Shikellamy almost met his death on this ter-
rible journey. Weiser describes the incident as follows:
"After we had gone one hundred and fifty miles on our
journey, we came to a narrow valley, about half a mile broad, and
thirty miles long, both sides of which were encompassed by high
mountains, on which the snow lay about three feet deep; in it ran
a stream of water also three feet deep. The stream was so crooked
that it kept a continual winding from one side of the valley to the
other. In order to avoid wading so often through the water, we
endeavored to pass along the slope of the mountain — the snow
now being three feet deep, and so hard frozen on the top that we
walked upon it, but were obliged to make holes into the snow
with our hatchets, that we would not slide down the mountain,
and thus we crept on. It happened that the old Indian's
[Shikellamy's] foot slipped, and the root of the tree by which he
held breaking, he slid down the mountain, as from the roof of a
house; but happily he was stopped in his fall, by the string which
fastened his pack, hitching on the stump of a small tree. The two
Indians could not go to his aid, but our Dutch fellow traveler did;
yet not without visible danger of life. I also could not put a foot
forward, till I was helped; after this we took the first opportunity
142 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
to descend into the valley, which was not till after we had labored
hard for half an hour with hands and feet. Having observed a
tree lying directly off from where the Indian fell, when we; were got
into the valley again, went back about one hundred paces, where we
saw that, if the Indian had slipped four or five paces farther, he
would have fallen over a rock one hundred feet perpendicular,
upon craggy pieces of rocks below. The Indian was astonished,
and turned quite pale; then with outstretched arms, and great
earnestness, he spoke these words: 'I thank the Great Lord and
Governor of this World, in that He had mercy upon me, and has
been willing that I should live longer.' "
On the 28th of March, their food supply became exhausted,
but they hoped to reach the North Branch of the Susquehanna be-
fore night, expecting to find there an abundant supply of pro-
visions. Near the middle of the forenoon, they came to Sugar
Creek, Bradford County, and were detained a considerable time in
an effort to cross the same. Finally, reaching the North Branch
of the Susquehanna, several miles above the site of Towanda,
Bradford County, instead of finding an abundant food supply as
they had hoped, they found the Indians at that place on the verge
of starvation. All the able bodied men were searching for game,
and the old men, squaws, and children had been living for weeks
upon maple juice and sugar. The only food offered Weiser's
party at this place was a weak soup made of corn meal and ashes,
but Weiser was unable to partake of any of it, giving his portion
"to the bony little children who crowded around with tears on their
stolid faces." However, later in the evening he succeeded in buy-
ing about a pound of corn bread.
Weiser had been at this place about twelve years before, and,
at that time, found an abundance of game. He asked the old men
why game had become so scarce; whereupon, they replied that the
Great Spirit had resolved to destroy all the Indians. One old,
gray-haired chief told Weiser that he recently had a vision of the
Great Spirit of whom he inquired why game was so scarce, and
received the following reply: "Your inquiry after the cause why
game has become so scarce, I will tell you. You kill it for the
sake of the skins, which you give for strong liquor and drown
your senses, and kill one another, and carry on dreadful de-
bauchery. Therefore, I have driven the wild animals out of the
country, for they are mine. If you will do good, and cease from
your sins, I will bring them back; if not, I will destroy you from
off the earth."
Proceeding on their way, Weiser's party, on the 8th of April,
Shikellamy 143
reached the "Great Water Shed", dividing the basin of the Sus-
quehanna from that of the Hudson on the east, the Mississippi on
the west, and the St. Lawrence on the north. The forest seemed
endless, and a fresh snow of about twenty inches had recently
fallen. They were still three days' journey from Onondaga. At
this time, the spirit of the resolute Weiser was almost broken.
"I went to one side," said he, "and sat down under a tree, Intend-
ing to give up the ghost there, to attain which end, I hoped the
cold of the night then approaching would assist me. My com-
panions soon missed me, and the Indians came back and found me
sitting there. I would not go any further, but said to them in one
word: 'Here I will die;' they were silent a while; at last the old
man [Shikellamy] began: 'My dear companion, take courage;
thou hast until now encouraged us; wilt thou now give up entirely?
Just think that the bad days are better than the good ones, and
when we suffer much, we do not sin, and sin is driven out of us by
suffering. But the good days cause men to sin, and God cannot
be merciful; but on the other hand, when it goes badly with us,
God takes pity on us.' I was, therefore, ashamed and stood up
and journeyed on as well as I could."
They crossed the "Water Shed" the following day, and on the
next, having traveled forty miles, they reached the Onondaga
Council. Weiser gives no report of the conference and negotia-
tions which he there had with the Six Nations. He gives only the
results. The Six Nations consented to an armistice, but refused
to send deputies to Williamsburg, claiming that it was too far to
travel. They suggested that, if the Southern Indians wished to
meet the Iroquois, they should come to Albany.
It is thus seen that Weiser failed to accomplish everything
desired, but the armistice which he secured saved Virginia from an
Iroquois invasion that spring. Upon making a report to the Pro-
vincial Council, the Governor immediately advised the Governor of
Virginia of the results of Weiser's mission; whereupon, Governor
Gooch at once sent deputies to the Cherokees and Catawbas.
However, while these deputies were in session, a band of Iroquois
warriors, possibly in ignorance of the decision of the Onondaga
Council, attacked a hunting party of Cherokees, killing three of
them; and this deed so angered the Southern Indians that they
declared all further peace negotiations to be at an end. Once
more Virginia appealed to theColonial Authorities of Pennsylvania,
and the matter was turned over to Weiser to secure a lasting peace,
if possible, between the Six Nations and the Southern Indians.
This question did not come up again for several years, and history
144 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
is silent as to whether Conrad Weiser, in the interim, did anything
or not.
The next mention of Shikellamy, in the Colonial Records, is
his presence at the conference with Thomas Penn, Governor
Thomas, and the Provincial Council, August 1st to 6th, 1740, being
accompanied by Sassoonan from Shamokin, Captain Hill from
Kittanning, and Shannopin from Shannopin's Town, which con-
ference was described in Chapter VII, and needs no further refer-
ence at this point.
The Treaty of 1742
Shikellamy attended the conference or treaty held in Philadel-
phia in July, 1742, called for the purpose of paying the Six Nations
for that part of the land purchased from them in the treaty of
1736 which lay west of the Susquehanna River. It will be recalled
that, at the time of the Treaty of 1736, the Six Nations accepted
pay for that portion of their lands lying east of the Susquehanna,
and desired that the purchase price of that part lying west of the
Susquehanna should be paid at a future date. The deputies of the
Six Nations were expected to arrive in Philadelphia in May, 1742,
but it was not until June 30th that the deputies, representing all
tribes of the Confederation, except the Senecas and the Mohawks,
arrived at Philadelphia, empowered to receive the pay for the lands
west of the Susquehanna. The Senecas were not present at this
treaty, because of a great famine among them; nor were the
Mohawks, because they were not considered to have any claims
upon the Susquehanna lands. The sessions of the treaty began on
July 2nd. The three remaining nations of the Iroquois confeder-
acy, early in the conference, received the goods in payment of that
part of the Susquehanna lands lying west of the Susquehanna
River, comprising the counties of York, Cumberland, Adams, and
most of Franklin.
Soon after the goods in payment of the Susquehanna lands
were divided, the Iroquois deputies expressed their dissatisfaction
with the amount, although admitting that it was as agreed upon.
They said they felt sure that, if the sons of William Penn, who
were then in England, were present, they would agree to giving a
large amount out of pity for the Indians on account of their pov-
erty and wretchedness. Through their chief speaker, Canassatego,
an Onondago chieftain, they begged Governor Thomas, inasmuch
as he had the keys to the Proprietors' chest, to open the same and
take out a little more for them. Governor Thomas replied that
the Proprietors had gone to England and taken the keys with
Shikellamy 145
them; whereupon, the Indians, as an additional reason for their
request, called attention to the increasing value of the lands sold,
and also to the fact that the whites were daily settling on Indian
lands that had not been sold. They called attention to the fact
that, at the last treaty with the Colony, the Iroquois had com-
plained about the whites settling on unsold lands, and that the
Governor, at that time, agreed to remedy this wrong.
Said Canassatego: "Land is everlasting, and the few things
we receive for it are soon worn out and gone; for the future, we
will sell no lands but when Brother Onas [meaning the sons of
William PennJ is in the country, and we will know beforehand the
quality of goods we are to receive. Besides, we are not well used
with respect to the lands still unsold by us. Your people daily
settle on these lands and spoil our hunting. We must insist on
your removing them, as you know they have no right to the north-
ward of the Kittochtinny Hills [Kittatinny, or Blue Mountains].
In particular, we renew our complaints against some people who are
settled at Juniata, a branch of the Susquehanna, and all along the
banks of that river as far as Mahaniay, and desire that they be
forthwith made to go off the land, for they do great damage to our
cousins, the Delawares."
Canassatego further called attention to the fact that Mary-
land and Virginia had not paid the Iroquois for lands within their
bounds upon which the whites were settling, and that, at the
treaty of 1736, the Governor of Pennsylvania had promised to use
his influence with Maryland and Virginia in their behalf in regard
to this matter. "This affair," said Canassatego, "was recommend-
ed to you by our chiefs at our last treaty and you then, at our
earnest desire, promised to write a letter to that person who has
authority over those people, and to procure us an answer. As we
have never heard from you on this head, we want to know what
you have done in it. If you have not done anything, we now re-
new our request, and desire you will inform the person wnosa
people are seated on our lands that that country [western Mary-
land and Virginia] belongs to us by right of conquest, we having
bought it with our blood, and taken it from our enemies in fair
war." Canassatego threatened that, if Maryland and Virginia did
not pay for these lands, the Iroquois would enforce payment in
their own way.
Governor Thomas replied that he had ordered the magis-
trates of Lancaster County to drive off the squatters from the Juni-
ata lands, and was not aware that any had stayed. The Indians
interrupted, and said that the persons who had been sent to remove
146 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the squatters, did not do their duty; that, instead of removing
them from the Juniata lands, they were in league with the squat-
ters, and had made large surveys for themselves. The earnest
arguments of Canassatego had the desired effect. The Provincial
Council decided to add to the value of the goods a present of three
hundred pounds.
The Governor advised Canassatego that, shortly after the
treaty of 1736, James Logan, President of the Council, had written
the Governor of Maryland about the lands, but received no reply.
Now the Governor promised to intercede with Maryland and Vir-
ginia, and, if possible, to secure payment for the lands of the
Iroquois upon which the whites of those colonies were settling. He
also renewed his promise to remove the squatters from the Juniata
Valley.
At this treaty of July, 1742, Canassatego, the principal
speaker of the Iroquois deputation, ordered the Delawares of the
Munsee Clan to remove from the territory of the "Walking Pur-
chase" of 1737. This will be discussed in the chapter on the Mun-
see Delaware chief, Nutimus (Chapter XII).
More Troubles Between the Iroquois and Virginia
Hardly had the Iroquois deputies to the treaty of 1742 re-
turned home when a war party of Iroquois started southward,
afterwards claiming to have gone against their old enemies, the
Catawbas. Coming down the Susquehanna River in canoes to
John Harris' Ferry, the first important white settlement on their
route, they secured from a magistrate of Lancaster County a pass
for their safe passage through the inhabited parts of Pennsylvania.
With this pass, they proceeded across the country in a southwestern
direction toward the Shenandoah Valley, traveling without molest-
ing anyone until they reached Virginia, where they had a severe
engagement with a party of settlers, and several lives were lost on
each side. They then retreated hastily to New York.
The first word that the Colonial Authorities of Pennsylvania
had of this fresh trouble between the Iroquois and the Colony of
Virginia was received on January 24th, 1743, from Thomas McKee,
a trader then living on the Susquehanna at Big Island, (Lock
Haven). McKee made a deposition on January 24th, stating as fol-
lows: "Being concerned in the Indian trade, he has a store settled
at an Indian town on the South Branch Sasquehanna River, near
an Island called the Big Island, inhabited by the Shawna
[ Shawnee 1 Indians; and that on the 12th or 13th of this instant.
Shikellamy 147
January, about seven o'clock in the morning, the Indians of the
Town came to this Deponent's store, and told him they had heard
the Dead Halloa, and were much surprised at it. And soon after,
the same halloa, as from the Big Island, was repeated in the hear-
ing of this Deponent. Whereupon, he, with a servant of his, took
a canoe and went over to the Island, and in his passage, heard the
Indians belonging to the Town call over to those on the Island, and
ask them what was the matter. To which they answered, that the
white men had killed some of their men. And on this Deponent
coming to them on the Island, he saluted them according to tht.
usual way, saying, 'How do you do, my friends?' At which the>
shook their heads, and made no answer; but went over to the Shaw-
nas' town. And this Deponent further saith, that there were ten in
number of those Indians, and that they belonged to the Five Na-
tions; and on their coming to town, immediately a council was
called; and this Deponent attended at the Council House, and was
admitted."
At this council, the leader of the band of the Iroquois who
had made the expedition to Virginia informed the Shawnees of the
misfortune that had befallen his band. The leader's speech was
delivered in the Iroquois language, and interpreted to McKee in
Shawnee. Whereupon, McKee addressed the council, and remind-
ed them that none of the disorders of which the Indians complained
had happened in Pennsylvania. One of the Shawnees made the
remark that the white people were all of one color and, in case of
war, would stand together. Another Shawnee asked the warriors
if they had met any of McKee's men, who had been sent to the
Juniata on a trading expedition. "They could not have met therp."
said a third warrior, "for if they had, they would have cut them
off."
McKee adds in hi-o affidavit: "On hearing these discourses, he
[McKeej lose up, and called out an old Shawna, with whom he
was best acquainted, and took him to his store; made him a pres-
ent of two or three twists of tobacco, and desired him to press to
the Indians in Council their treaty of peace with Pennsylvania, and
the ill consequences of breaking it in cutting him off, as he appre-
hended he had great reason to fear they intended. That some
short time after, the same Indian called this Deponent from his
store, and told him that he had offered in Council what he had re-
quested, and it was approved, though it seemed disagreeable to
some of the Shawnees. And in a short time after, this Deponent
[McKee] was informed by a white woman, who had been taken
148 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
prisoner by the Indians in their Carolina wars, that it was left to
the Shawnees to deal with him as they pleased; and that they were
gone to hold a council concerning him at some distance from the
town; and that if he did not make his escape, he would certainly
be cut off. Upon which last information, together with some ob-
servations he had made of their behavior, he thought it not safe to
trust his life in their hands, and notwithstanding a considerable
quantity of goods which he had carried up there to trade, he deter-
mined to withdraw, and leave his effects among them; and
accordingly communicated his designs to his man; and they came
off privately, traveling by night and day through the uninhabited
parts of the country, till they apprehended themselves to be out of
danger, being out three days and three nights."
Shikellamy and Weiser Go to Onondaga to
Arrange for Treaty
The foregoing matters caused the Provincial Council to send
Conrad Weiser to Shamokin, where on February 4th and April
9th, 1743, he held the conferences with Shikellamy, Sassoonan, and
Great Hominy, chief of the Shawnees, mentioned in Chapter VII.
At the first of these conferences, Weiser, learning that Shikellamy's
cousin had been killed in the recent skirmish in Virginia, pre-
sented the old chief with "two Strowds" to wpie away his tears.
He also sent a present to Kakowatcheky, then head of the Shawnees
at Wyoming, with a message asking him, "as he lived about half
way between Philadelphia and the Six Nations, to take care of the
chain of friendship betwixt the Six Nations and Pennsylvania."
A grand-son of Shikellamy, who was present it the skirmish, gave
Weiser a full account of the expedition, and of the fight, in which
it appeared that the whites were the aggressors. At this confer-
ence, Shikellamy ordered the Shawnees to return the goods they
had stolen from the trader, Thomas McKee.
Weiser returned to Philadelphia, and made a report of his
conference with Shikellamy, but, before he returned, Governor
Thomas had received a letter from Governor Gooch of Virginia,
offering to accept the mediation of Governor Thomas in the matter.
Weiser was then sent again to Shamokin, where he met Shikellamy
in council on April 9th, and told him of the desire of the Governor
of Virginia to come to an agreement with the Iroquois in this
matter.
At this council, (April 9th), Weiser learned that the Indians
who had been sent to Onondaga as deputies on behalf of the Vir-
Shikellamy 149
ginia affair had returned, among whom were Shikellamy's son and
Sachsidowa, a Tuscarora chief. They brought word that the
Iroquois were willing to meet the Governor of Virginia at a coun-
cil at the mouth of the Conodoguinet, opposite Harrisburg, the
next spring, and, in the meantime, had ordered their warriors not
to make expeditions into Virginia. Shikellamy told Weiser that
the Six Nations could not meet Virginia in Council "with a hatchet
stuck in their head; the Governor of Virginia must wash off the
blood first, and take the hatchet out of their head, and dress the
wound, (according to the custom that he who struck first must do
it), and the Council of the Six Nations will speak to him and be
reconciled to him, and bury that affair in the ground that it never
may be seen nor heard of any more so long as the world stands."
"But if the Virginians would not come to do that," said Shikel-
lamy, "he [Shikellamy] believed there would be war." Shikel-
lamy further told Weiser that, if war with Virginia should come,
the Six Nations would not disturb the people of Pennsylvania, but
their warriors would go directly to Virginia from Big Island
(Lock Haven).
Shikellamy, Sachsidowa, several other chiefs, and Conrad
Weiser brought this information to Philadelphia, laying it before
the Provincial Council on April 22nd and 23rd. They also
brought with them the message of Sassoonan commending Gover-
nor Thomas in his efforts as mediator, mentioned in Chapter VII.
The Indian delegation was entertained free, and the Governor
gave to Shikellamy a present of ten pounds; to Shikellamy's two
sons, six pounds; and to Sachsidowa, five pounds.
When Virginia received the report, she lost no time in coming
to terms, and a present of one hundred pounds' value was placed
by her in the hands of Governor Thomas for the Iroquois. Gov-
ernor Gooch of Virginia writing Governor Thomas, in May, said:
"We request that you will be pleased to send your honest Inter-
preter [Weiser] once more to the Indian chiefs, and if possible,
prevail with them to accept through your hands a present of one
hundred pounds sterling value, in such goods as you may think
proper, as a token of our sincere disposition to preserve peace and
friendship with them, and as an earnest that we will not fail to
send commissions next spring, at a time and place that shall be
agreed upon, to treat with them." Thus did Virginia prepare to
"take the hatchet out of the head" of the Iroquois, put there by her
settlers in the unfortunate skirmish, and to "wash away the blood,
and dress the wound."
The Provincial Council then sent Weiser and Shikellamy to
150 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the Great Council of the Iroquois at Onondaga to arrange for the
time and place of meeting, and to deliver Virginia's present. They
arrived at Onondaga late in July where Taconte, the "Black
Prince" of the Onondagas expressed great satisfaction at Weiser's
arrival. Said he: "You never come without good news from our
brethren in Philadelphia." "I smiled," says Weiser, "and told
him it was enough to kill a man to come such a long and bad road
over hills, rocks, old trees, and rivers, and to fight through a cloud
of vermin, and all kinds of poisoned worms and creeping things,
besides being loaded with a disagreeable message, at which they
laughed." The Great Council of the Six Nations, after several days
of oratory and imposing ceremonies, accepted the offer of Governor
Thomas of Pennsylvania and Governor Gooch of Virginia for a
confernce or treay at Harris Ferry (Harrisburg) the next spring.
Later, on account of the inconvenience of meeting at Harrisburg,
it was decided to hold the treaty at Lancaster, a small town then
sixteen years old.
At Onondaga, the Iroquois chief, Zillawallie, gave the cause of
the war between the Six Nations and the Catawbas. Addressing
Weiser, he said; "We are engaged in a great war with the
Catawbas, which will last to the end of the world; for they molest
us, and speak contemptuously of us, which our warriors will not
bear, and they will soon go to war against them again. It will be
in vain for us to dissuade them from it."
On this mission to Onondaga, Conrad Weiser prevented a war
between Virginia and the Six Nations — a war which would eventu-
ally have involved the other colonies.
Before describing the Lancaster Treaty, we call attention to
the fact that, scarcely had the treaty of 1742 been concluded, when
the Colonial Authorities of Pennsylvania were asked by the Gov-
ernor of Maryland for advice and assistance in that Colony's
trouble with the Six Nations. It appeared that, in the early part
of the summer of 1742, some Nanticokes in Maryland were impris-
oned, and that their friends, the Shawnees and Senecas. threatened
to make trouble unless they were released. Governor Thomas of
Pennsylvania engaged Conrad Weiser to accompany the Maryland
messenger to the region of the Six Nations, as interpreter, for the
purpose of inviting the Six Nations to a treaty to be held at Harris'
Ferry (Harrisburg) in the spring of 1743. It does not appear that
the Iroquois did any more than simply deliberate on this matter;
but Maryland's advances at least had the virtue of opening nego-
tiations at the Great Council of the Six Nations on the part of that
Colonv.
CHAPTER XL
Shikellamy
(Continued)
THE LANCASTER TREATY OF 1744
N FRIDAY, June 22nd, 1744, the long expected delegation
of the Six Nations arrived at Lancaster for the purpose
of entering into a treaty with Pennsylvania, Maryland,
and Virginia. The delegation consisted of two hundred
and forty-two, and was headed by Canassatego. There were many
squaws and children mounted on horseback. Arriving in front of
the Court House, the leaders of the delegation saluted the commis-
sioners from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, with a song.
This was an invitation to the whites to renew former treaties and
to make good the one now proposed.
Maryland Purchases Land from Iroquois
When the Maryland commissioners came to the Lancaster
treaty, they had no intention whatever of recognizing any Iroquois
claims to lands within the bounds of their province, basing their
position upon the following facts: (1) Maryland had bought
from the Minquas, or Susquehannas, in 1652, all their claims on
both sides of the Chesapeake Bay as far north as the mouth of the
Susquehanna River. (2) The Minquas, aided by troops from
Maryland, had, in 1663, defeated eight hundred Senecas and
Cayugas from the Iroquois Confederation.
But the Iroquois never abandoned their war on the Minquas
until they overwhelmingly defeated this tribe in 1675, when they
were reduced by famine and Maryland had withdrawn her alliance.
Now, in view of their conquest of the Minquas, the Six Nations
claimed a right to the Susquehanna lands to the head of Chesa-
peake Bay.
The Maryland commissioners receded from their position.
The release for the Maryland lands was signed, on Monday, July
2nd, at George Sanderson's Inn, instead of at the Court House.
Conrad Weiser signed in behalf of the absent member of the Iro-
quois Confederation, (Mohawk), both with his Indian name of
Tarach-a-wa-gon, and that of Weiser. By his dexterous man-
152 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
agement, the lands released were so described as not to give Mary-
land a title to lands claimed by Pennsylvania, the boundary dis-
pute between Maryland and Pennsylvania being at the time still
pending. The release was for all "lands lying two miles above the
uppermost forks of Patowmack or Cohongoruton River, near
which Thomas Cresap has his hunting or trading cabin, [at Old
Town fourteen miles east of Cumberland, Maryland,] by a line
north to the bounds of Pennsylvania. But, in case such limits
shall not include every settlement or inhabitant of Maryland, then
such other lines and courses from the said two miles above the
forks to the outermost inhabitants or settlements, as shall include
every settlement and inhabitant in Maryland, and from thence by
a north line to the bounds of Pennsylvania, shall be the limits.
And, further, if any people already have or shall settle beyond the
lands now described and bounded, they shall enjoy the same free
from any disturbance of us in any manner whatsoever, and we do
and shall accept these people for our Brethren, and as such will
always treat them." Thus was the purchase happily effected.
However, Shikellamy refused to sign the deed of the Maryland
lands, being determined not to recognize that Maryland had any
land claims north of the disputed boundary line between herself
and Pennsylvania.
Virginia Purchases Land from Iroquois
The Virginia commissioners had their negotiations with the
Iroquois deputies in progress at the same time as Maryland. They
found the Iroquois very determined not to yield any part of their
claim to the Virginia lands. Said Tachanoontia, an Onondaga
chieftain: "We have the right of conquest — a right too dearly
purchased, and which cost us too much blood to give up without
any reason at all." Finally, after much oratory, the Six Nations
released all their land claims in Virginia for a consideration of two
hundred pounds in goods and two hundred pounds in gold, with a
written promise to be given additional remuneration as the settle-
ments increased to the westward; and the Virginia commissioners
guaranteed the Indians an open road to the Catawba country,
promising that the people of Virginia would do their part if the
Iroquois would perform theirs. The Iroquois understood this to
mean that the Virginians would feed their war parties, if they (the
Iroquois) would not shoot the farmers' cattle, chickens, etc., when
passing to and from the Catawba country.
Shikellamy 153
"When the treaty was over, the Indians believed that they
had established land claims in Virginia, that the open road was
guaranteed, that their warrors were to be fed while passing through
the state, and that they had sold land only to the head-waters of
the streams feeding the Ohio River. The Virginians, on the other
hand, believed that they had extinguished all Iroquois land claims
forever within the charter limits of their colony." The western
bounds of the Virginia purchase were set forth as "the setting
sun", leading Virginia to believe that the purchase included the
Ohio Valley, but the Iroquois afterwards explained that by "the
setting sun" was meant the crest of the Allegheny Mountains. It
was after the treaty that large tracts of land were granted the Ohio
Company; and it was not until the year 1768 that the Six Nations,
by the treaty of Fort Stanwix, New York, relinquished all their
rights to the region on the east and south side of the Ohio, from the
Cherokee River, in Tennessee, to Kittanning, Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania, the Peacemaker
In the Lancaster Treaty, Pennsylvania was the mediator and
peacemaker, inducing Maryland and Virginia to lay aside their
opposition to Iroquois land claims, and settle in such a manner as
to secure the friendship of the Six Nations. Thus the French were
thwarted, and the English frontier from New England to the
Carolinas was protected. Pennsylvania also confirmed her former
treaties with the Iroquois.
But while Pennsylvania was acting as peacemaker, she had
trouble of her own to adjust with the Iroquois deputies. On April
9th, 1744, John (Jack) Armstrong, a trader on his way to the Alle-
gheny, and his two servants, James Smith and Woodward Arnold,
were murdered at Jacks Narrows (named for "Jack" Armstrong),
on the Juniata, in Huntingdon County, by a Delaware Indian nam-
ed Musemeelin. It appeared that Musemeelin owed Armstrong
some skins, and Armstrong seized a horse and rifle belonging to the
Indian in lieu of the skins. Later Musemeelin met Armstrong
near the Juniata and paid him all his indebtedness except twenty
shillings, and demanded his horse, but Armstrong refused to give
the animal up until the entire debt was paid. Shortly after this,
Armstrong and his servants passed the cabin of Musemeelin on
their way to the Allegheny, and Musemeelin's wife demanded the
horse, but by this time Armstrong had sold it to James Berry.
Musemeelin was away on a hunting trip at the time his wife made
154 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the demand on Armstrong, and, when he returned, she told him
about it. This angered him and he determined on revenge.
Taking two young Indians with him, Musemeelin went to the camp
of Armstrong, shot Smith who was there alone and Arnold whom
they found returning to camp, and, meeting Armstrong, who was
sitting on an old log, he demanded his horse. Armstrong replied:
"He will come by and by." "I want him now", said Musemeelin.
"You shall have him. Come to the fire and let us smoke and talk
together," said Armstrong. As they proceeded, Musemeelin shot
and tomahawked him.
The matter was placed by Governor Thomas in the hands of
Shikellamy at Shamokin, who caused the murderers to be appre-
hended, and, after a hearing, ordered two of them to be sent to the
Lancaster jail to await trial. Conrad Weiser was the bearer of the
Governor's message to Shikellamy and Sassoonan. While Shikel-
lamy's sons were conveying the prisoners to Lancaster, the friends
of Musemeelin, who was related to some important Delaware
chiefs, induced Shikellamy 's sons to allow Musemeelin to escape.
The other Indian was locked in jail.
At the Lancaster treaty, Governor Thomas demanded of the
Iroquois that they command their subjects, the Delawares, to sur-
render Musemeelin to the Provincial Authorities, and the Indians
were invited to Lancaster to witness the trial. The Iroquois
deputies replied that the Provincial Authorities should not be too
much concerned; that three Indians had been killed at different
times on the Ohio by the whites, and the Iroquois had never men-
tioned anything concerning them to the Colony. However, they
stated that they had severely reproved the Delawares, and would
see that the goods which the murderers had stolen from Armstrong
be restored to his relatives, and Musemeelin be returned for trial,
but not as a prisoner. Later, on August 21st, 1744, Shikellamy
brought the two prisoners to the Provincial Authorities at Philadel-
phia. Musemeelin was not convicted. He returned to his wig-
wam.
Importance of the Lancaster Treaty
No Delawares, the friends of William Penn, were present at
the Lancaster Treaty, the Iroquois having forbidden them to
attend.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the Lancaster
Treaty — in many respects the most important Indian Council ever
held in Pennsylvania up to this time. War between England and
Shikellamy 155
France, King George's War, was then raging. At the opening of
this conflict, the question uppermost in the minds, not only of the
Governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, but of all the
colonies, was, "What will be the attitude of the powerful Six
Nations?" The successful settling of the disputed land claims of
the Iroquois in Maryland and Virginia, by this treaty, through the
mediation of Pennsylvania, with Weiser as mentor, had much to
do with making possible the success of Weiser's future negotiations
with the Onondaga Council, negotiations that resulted in the neu-
trality of the Iroquois during King George's War. Had not the
Iroquois deputies, at the Treaty of Lancaster, promised to inform
the Governor of Pennsylvania as to the movements of the French?
Had this great Confederation sided with the French, the English
colonies would have been swept into the sea.
Disquieting Reports
The Six Nations faithfully kept their promise, made to Penn-
sylvania at the treaty of Lancaster, to advise the Colony of the
movements of the French. In September following the treaty,
Conrad Weiser had gone to Shamokin, with eight young Germans,
and built Shikellamy a house "49>^ feet long, \iy 2 feet wide, and
covered with shingles." While engaged in this work, he received
some disquieting news from the aged sachem. Weiser wrote
Secretary James Logan, concerning it, on September 29th, 1744, as
follows: "Shikellamy informed me that the Governor of Canada
hath sent an embassy to Onondaga, to lament over the death of
Tocanuwarogon, a chief of the Onondagas, who died last spring
(in whose house I used to lodge), and to let the Council of the Six
Nations know that the French had made war against the English,
whom they would soon beat, and as they, the Six Nations, loved
their brethren, the English, their father, Onontio, [the generic name
for the Governors of Canada] desired them to take no offense nor
be on either side concerned, but stand neutral, and they should be
supplied by the French with powder, lead, and other commodities,
at their several trading houses, as usual, as cheap as before, and as
the English had run away from Oswego, cowards as they were,
Onontio would take the house [fort] of Oswego to himself, as his
people are the oldest settlers in the Northern countrys, and would
supply his children, all the Indians, with all sorts of goods very
cheap."
Shikellamy further told Weiser that the Council of the Six
156 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Nations had resolved to notify the Governor of Canada that they
did not approve of his "intention to take the House at Oswego to
himself, which could not be done without bloodshed." They in-
sinuated that the French were cowardly to attack the English "in
their backs." Said Shikellamy: "They [the Six Nations] would
therefore advise him [the Governor of Canada] to act more hon-
orably, as becometh a warrior, and go around by sea, and face the
English."
The Catawbas Willing to Make Peace
In the latter part of 1744, the news of Peter Chartier's deser-
tion reached the Colonial Authorities of Pennsylvania and Vir-
ginia, and it was believed that the Catawbas were the instigators
of Chartier's action. Fearing that, not only the Catawbas, but the
whole Muskokee Confederation would join the French, Virginia
and Carolina renewed their efforts to bring about a peace between
the Catawbas and Iroquois; and Governor Gooch of Virginia wrote
Governor Thomas of Pennsylvania in November of that year ad-
vising that the Catawbas were willing to make peace, and request-
ing that Conrad Weiser get in touch with the Six Nations in the
matter.
Shikellamy and Weiser Once More Journey
to Onondaga
Governor Thomas made the recommendation to the Assembly
that Conrad Weiser should be sent to the Great Council of the Six
Nations at Onondaga to ascertain if it were possible to bring about
peace between the Catawbas and Iroquois. To make a journey at
this time when King George's War was raging and French intrigue
working among the Indians, was fraught with much danger; be-
sides, it looked as if the attempt to work out a peace would not be
successful, inasmuch as the Six Nations declared at the Lancaster
treaty of 1744 that the war between them and the Catawbas must
go on "to the end of the world." Conrad Weiser was the one white
man in the colonies courageous enough to undertake the journey.
Weiser realized that Shikellamy was the key to the door of the
Six Nations. Late in 1744, Weiser had sent his son, Sammy, to
Virginia to collect a debt for him. While in Virginia, Sammy
Weiser met a band of Iroquois returning from an expedition
against the Catawbas, who told him that "Unhappy Jake", one of
Shikellamy 's sons, had been killed in a fight with the Catawbas.
Weiser feared that this unhappy incident would so harden the
Shikellamy 157
heart of Shikellamy that it would be useless to attempt to work out
a peace between the Iroquois and the Catawbas. He then sug-
gested to the Colonial Authorities, in a letter written on January
2nd, 1745, that it would be the part of policy to give old Shikel-
lamy a present "to wipe away his tears", explaining that "it is
customary with the Indians that, let what will happen, the chiefs
or people in trust with them, don't stir to do any service or business
to the public when they are in mourning, till they have in a manner
a new commission as before said in being fetched out of mourning
and invested with new courage and dispositions."
Weiser accordingly set out for Shamokin taking with him a
present for Shikellamy purchased by the Colony, consisting of
three match-coats and half a dozen silk handkerchiefs. Realizing
the importance of Shikellamy's position Weiser had always made it
a point to pay the old chief every attention. Three years before
this time he had recommended the Moravian missionaries to build
a free blacksmith shop at Shamokin, and we have already seen
how he built a house for Shikellamy in the latter's declining years.
Finally, on the 19th of May, 1745, Weiser in company with
Shikellamy, Shikellamy's son, Andrew Montour (son of Madam
Montour), Bishop Spangenberg, of the Moravian Church, and two
other Moravian missionaries, set out from Shamokin for Onon-
daga, at which place they arrived on the 6th day of June. At
Tioga, a messenger had been sent ahead to apprise the Iroquois of
their coming.
Representatives of all the members of the Iroquois Confedera-
tion, except the Mohawks, assembled in great numbers to hear what
Weiser and Shikellamy had to say. There was a great stir among
the Six Nations inasmuch as they were arranging to meet at Oswego
and go to Canada to hold a treaty with the French Governor.
Indeed, they would have started a day before Weiser's arrival, if
his messenger had not appeared. Weiser asked the Great Council
of the Iroquois whether they believed that their going to Canada
to meet the French Governor would comport with the promises
which they had made at the Lancaster treaty the year before. The
sachems replied that they knew perfectly well what they were do-
ing. Said they: "The French Governor of Canada will try to
gain upon us The French are known to be a crafty people.
but it will be in vain for him, as we have already agreed what to
say to him and will not go from it." Weiser and Shikellamy then
delivered the message of the Catawbas suggesting Williamsburg,
Virginia, as the place of meeting of the deputies from the opposing
158 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
tribes. Weiser made the best apology he could for the past con-
duct of the Catawbas, and urged the Iroquois to send deputies for
the sake of the Governors of Virginia and Pennsylvania, if for no
other reason. After a few minutes delay the Black Prince of the
Onondagas, the speaker of the Iroquois, replied that no council fire
had ever been kindled at Williamsburg, but that the Iroquois
would be willing to send deputies to Philadelphia. However, the
Black Prince further advised that the deputies could not be sent
that summer, but that they would be sent during the summer of
1746.
At this point we call attention to the fact that, at the Albany
Treaty, held in October, 1745, between the Six Nations and New
York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, the matter
of the Catawba war again came up, but was not pressed. On that
occasion, Canassatego explained to Thomas Laurence, John Kinsey,
and Isaac Norris, the Commissioners from Pennsylvania, that the
chiefs of the Six Nations were not able to restrain their young
warriors from making raids into the Catawba country until peace
was declared. The Great Council of the Six Nations had all it
could do, at that time, to preserve neutrality in the struggle be-
tween the French and English, known as King George's War.
Shikellamy and Weiser found the Great Council at Onondaga
very much incensed at the conduct of Peter Chartier, in deserting
to the French and leading a band of Shawnees down the Ohio.
They asked why Pennsylvania did not declare war against him at
once.
When the Council was over, the Black Prince invited Shikel-
lamy and Weiser's party and all the chiefs of the Onondagas to a
great dinner. All the company went directly to the house of the
Black Prince and partook of hominy, dried venison, and fish,
after which they were "served with a dram round." While they
were feasting, Weiser ascertained that many of the Iroquois were
in favor of a war with the Shawnees and peace with the Catawbas.
He also learned, in a confidential conversation with one of the old
sachems, that the Six Nations believed it to be to their best interests
to maintain strict neutrality in the war beween the English and the
French. This chief said that the Iroquois would not join with
either nation unless compelled to it for their own preservation;
that, hitherto, from their situation and alliance, they had been
courted by both the French and the English, but should either
party prevail so far as to drive the other out of the country, the
Iroquois would not be considered by the victorious nation.
Shikellamy 159
Presents would no longer be made to them, and, in the end, they
would be obliged to submit to such laws as the conquerors should
think fit to impose on them.
At this point, we call attention to the fact that, while there was
a strong English party among the Mohawks, and a strong French
party among the Senecas, the great Confederation of the Iroquois
remained neutral throughout King George's War. Had the Con-
federation sided with the French in this conflict, there is little
doubt that the career of the Anglo-Saxon on the North American
Continent would have been put to an end. There is little doubt,
also, that, if Shikellamy and Conrad Weiser had not brought the
Iroquois Confederation into such friendly relations with the Eng-
lish in bringing about the treaties of 1732, 1736, 1742, and 1744,
the Iroquois would have taken the part of the French in King
George's War.
The reason why Bishop Spangenberg and the other Moravian
missionaries accompanied Shikellamy and Weiser on this journey,
was that the Moravians at that time had a project on foot to trans-
fer their mission at Shekomeko, New York, to the Wyoming Val-
ley, on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania;
and this necessitated negotiations with the Great Council at
Onondaga to whose dependencies Wyoming belonged. Count
Zinzindorf had held a conference with the great Iroquois chieftain,
Canassatego, at Weiser's home near Womelsdorf, in August, 1742,
when the Iroquois deputies were returning from the treaty of 1742,
at which conference the Moravians were given permission by the
Iroquois to establish their missions in Pennsylvania. Now the
Onondaga Council replied to the request of Bishop Spangenberg
that they were glad to renew their contract with Count Zinzindorf
and the Moravians, and they gave their consent to the proposed
Moravian settlement at Wyoming.
The Moravians founded the town of Bethlehem in December,
1741, which has ever since been the central seat of the Moravian
Church in America. Later, they established a mission at Frieden-
sheutten, near Bethlehem, another called Friedensheutten, (Tents
of peace), the Indian town of Wyalusing, Bradford County,
another at Gnadenhuetten (Tents of grace), near Weissport, in
Carbon County, another at Shamokin, the great Indian capital,
and another at Wyoming, Luzerne County. They also established
missions in the western part of the state. These were at and in
the vicinity of the Munsee Delaware town of Goschgoschunk, near
Tionesta, Forest County, and Friedenstadt (City of peace) on the
Beaver, in Lawrence County. In 1772, the Moravian missionaries.
160 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
John Etwein and John Roth, conducted the congregation from
Wyalusing to Friedenstadt on the Beaver. The efforts of the
Moravian Church to convert the Delawares and other Indians of
Pennsylvania to the Christian faith is one of the most delightful
chapters in the history of the Commonwealth.
Incidents of Shikellamy's Journey Home
De Schweinitz, in his "Life of David Zeisberger", relates the
following incidents of Shikellamy's journey home:
"After a stay of twelve days, the visitors began their home-
ward journey. At the first village they separated. Conrad Weiser
and Andrew Montour took a circuitous trail; Spangenberg, Zeis-
berger, Shebosh, and Shikellamy and his son followed that which
had brought them to Onondaga. The experiences of this latter
party were even more trying than when they had come that way
the first time. Not only had they to contend with the same hor-
rors of the swamps, but a succession of rainstorms occurred that
made traveling almost unendurable; and, the greatest calamity of
all, their provisions failed. They braved these hardships for
eight days until they reached Ostonwacken almost exhausted,
hearts full of hope. A bitter disappointment awaited them. There
was not a morsel of food to be had in the village, and not even a
fire burning in a single lodge. Riding on in garments wringing-
wet and barely alleviating the worst pangs of hunger with a few
fishes which they had got in the Susquehanna, they lay down on
the bank of the river at noon of the 7th of July utterly overcome.
They could go no farther. It was an hour to try their souls. A
handful of rice constituted the remnant of their provisions. Faint
and silent, the Bishop and his young companions waited to see
what God would do; while Shikellamy and his son, with the
stoicism of their race, resigned themselves to their fate. Presently
an aged Indian emerged from the forest, sat down among them,
opened his package, and gave them a smoked turkey. While they
proceeded, he joined their party, camped with them at night, and
produced several pieces of delicious venison. They could not but
recognize in this meeting a direct interposition of their Heavenly
Father. The next day they reached Shamokin, where a trader
supplied their wants.
"On their way to this town they came upon a rattlesnake nest,
amid the hills of the Susquehanna. At first but a few of the
reptiles were visible, basking in the sun. No sooner, however, did
they kill these than the whole neighborhood seemed to be alive
Shikellamy 161
with them, and a rattling began which was frightful. Snakes
crawled out of holes, from crevices in the rocks, and between loose
stones, or darted from thickets, and lifted up their heads above
patches of fern, until there was a multitude in motion. They com-
pletely surrounded the travelers, who hastened from the spot. It
was a place where the reptiles had gathered in autumn and lain
torpid, coiled together in heaps during the winter. From
Shamokin, Spangenberg and his associates hastened to Bethlehem."
Shikellamy Opposes Weiser's Ohio Journey
While Shikellamy conferred with Weiser at Chamber's Mill,
near Harrisburg, in the summer of 1747, concerning the dishon-
esty of a number of the traders, his next important action was to
oppose Conrad Weiser's journey to the Ohio, in the summer of
1748, as the agent of the Colony of Pennsylvania in making a
treaty at Logstown with the Ohio tribes. Shikellamy insisted that
no present should be sent by the Colony to the Western Indians,
inasmuch as they had not actually gone to war against the French,
and could not do so without the permission of the Six Nations,
their overlords. When Weiser asked the old chief to accompany
him to the Ohio, Shikellamy stated that Weiser's attendance as
interpreter would be necessary at the Great Council of the Six
Nations in the spring of 1748, for the purpose of deciding upon a
successor to Sassoonan. Shikellamy's opposition, while unsuccess-
ful, postponed Weiser's journey for a time.
Last Days of Shikellamy
In the summer of 1747, Shikellamy's health began to fail. In
July of that year, Weiser, in a report to the Provincial Council of
a journey to Shamokin, says:
"I was surprised to see Shikellamy in such a miserable condi-
tion as ever my eyes beheld; he was hardly able to stretch forth his
hand to bid me welcome; in the same condition was his wife, his
three sons not quite so bad but very poorly, also one of his daugh-
ters and two or three of his grandchildren all had the fever; there
was three buried out of the family a few days before Next
morning I administered the medicine to Shikellamy and one of his
sons, under the direction of Dr. Grome, which had a very good
effect on both. Next morning I gave the same medicine to two
more (who would not venture at first) ; it had the same effect, and
162 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the four persons thought themselves as good as recovered, but
above all Shikellamy was able to walk about with me with a stick
in his hand before I left Shamokin. He, (Shikellamy), is ex-
tremely poor; in his sickness the horses have eaten all his corn; his
clothes he gave to the Indian doctor to cure him and his family,
but all in vain; he has nobody to hunt for him, and I cannot see
how the poor old man can live. He has been a true servant to the
Government and may perhaps still be, if he lives to be well again.
As the winter is coming on again, I think it would not be amiss to
send him a few blankets or match-coats and a little powder and
lead. If the Government would be pleased to do it, and you could
send it up soon, I would send my sons with it to Shamokin before
the cold weather comes." The Council then resolved that a
present of goods to the value of sixteen pounds be made to Shikel-
lamy, and that it be sent to Weiser at his home near Womelsdorf
with a request to dispatch it immediately by one of his sons to the
aged sachem.
Death of Shikellamy
On the 6th day of December, of the eventful year of 1748,
occurred the death of Shikellamy, the most picturesque and historic
Indian character who ever lived in Pennsylvania. As we have
seen, his residence was at Sunbury, and Conrad Weiser, in the
later years of the old chief's life, had built him a substantial house
which rested upon pillars for safety, and in which he always shut
himself up when any drunken frolic was going on in the village.
He had been taken ill in Philadelphia, but so far recovered that he
had visited his old friend, Conrad Weiser, at his home near
Womelsdorf, in April, 1748, and was able to complete his journey
to Shamokin. Upon his return to Shamokin, he was again taken
ill, and in June the Provincial Council was advised that he he was
so ill that he might lose his eyesight; but he recovered sufficiently
to make a trip to Bethlehem early in December. On his return
from that place, he became so ill that he reached home only by the
assistance of the Moravian missionary. Bishop Zeisberger. His
daughter and the good bishop were with him during his last illness
and last hours. Bishop Zeisberger and Henry Frye made the old
chief a coffin, and the Indians painted the body in their gayest
colors, bedecked it with his choicest ornaments, and placed with it
the old chief's weapons according to the Indian custom. Then,
after Christian burial services conducted by Bishop Zeisberger,
Shikellamy 163
Shikellamy was buried in the Indian burying ground of his people
in the present town of Sunbury.
The Moravian missionary, Watteville, visited Shamokin in
October, 1748, where he was warmly welcomed by Shikellamy.
We quote the following from De Schweinitz's "Life of David Zeis-
berger", giving an account of Watteville's visit and the last days
of Shikellamy:
"Watteville's visit made a deep impression upon this sachem.
Zeisberger had sent him a costly gift (a silver knife, fork and
spoon, together with an ivory drinking cup, heavily mounted with
silver), and an affectionate message entreating him to remember
the Gospel, which he heard from his lips, and to turn to Christ.
Watteville urged the subject with all the glowing warmth of his
own love, Zeisberger interpreting his words into the Mohawk lan-
guage. The heart of the old chief was touched; and several weeks
after the departure of the party, he [Shikellamy] arrived at Bethle-
hem, in order to hear more of Christ. He was daily instructed in
the plan of salvation, until he experienced the power of divine
grace and could make a profession of personal faith. He had
been baptized by a Jesuit father in Canada many years before this.
Laying aside a manitou, last relic of his idolatry, he took his way
rejoicing to his forest home. At Tulpehocken, however, he fell ill,
and had barely strength to reach Shamokin. There he stretched
himself on his mat, and never rose again. Zeisberger, who had re-
turned to his post while Watteville and Cammerhoff had gone to
Bethlehem, faithfully ministered to his body and soul. He died on
the 6th of December, conscious to the last, but unable to speak, a
bright smile illuminating his countenance."
Shikellamy left to mourn him his three sons and a daughter.
We have already seen how another son, Unhappy Jake, was killed
in the war with the Catawbas. The three sons who survived were:
(1) Taghneghdoarus, also known as John Shikellamy, who suc-
ceeded his honored and distinguished father in authority, but never
gained the confidence with which the father was held by both the
Indians and the whites; (2) Taghahjute, or Sayughdowa, better
known in history as Logan, Chief of the Mingoes, having been
given the name of James Logan by Shikellamy, in honor of the dis-
tinguished secretary of the Provincial Council; (3) John Petty.
His daughter was the widow of Cajadies, known as the "best hunter
among all the Indians", who died in November, 1747. After the
death of Shikellamy, Shamokin (Sunbury) rapidly declined as a
164 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
center of Indian affairs, as his son who succeeded him was not able
to restrain the Indians under his authority.
Among the tributes which have been paid to this great chief-
tain are the following: "He was a trustly, good man, and a great
lover of the English", said Governor Hamilton, of the Colony of
Pennsylvania. Said Count Zinzindorf, Moravian missionary,
who, like all the prominent leaders of the Moravian Church, had
been kindly received by Shikellamy: "He was truly an excellent
and good man, possessed of many noble qualities of mind, that
would do honor to many white men, laying claims to refinement
and intelligence. He was possessed of great dignity, sobriety and
prudence, and was particularly noted for his extreme kindness to
the inhabitants with whom he came in contact." Also, the Mora-
vian historian, Loskiel, says of him: "Being the first magistrate,
and the head chief of all the Iroquois Indians living on the banks
of the Susquehanna, as far as Onondaga, he thought it incumbent
upon himself to be very circumspect in his dealings with the white
people. He assisted the Missionaries in building, and defended
them against the insults of the drunken Indians; being himself
never addicted to drinking, because, as he expressed it, he never
wished to become a fool."
The dust of this astute Iroquois statesman reposes at Sunbury
on the banks of his long loved Susquehanna; and, as one stands
near his grave and looks at the high and rocky river hill on the
opposite side of the river, he beholds a strange arrangement of the
rocks on the mountainside, resembling the countenance of an
Indian warrior, and known locally as "Shikellamy 's Profile."
Thus, his face carved by nature's hand in the imperishable rock,
gazes on the region where "Our Enlightener" had his home for so
many years.
CHAPTER XII.
Nutimus and Manawkyhickon
NUTIMUS
UTIMUS was a chief of the Munsee Clan of Delawares
residing near the Forks of the Delaware. He has a firm
place in the Indian history of Pennsylvania on account
of his connection with the "Walking Purchase" of 1737,
which we shall now describe.
The Walking Purchase
While the Six Nations at the treaty held at Philadelphia in
October, 1736, described in Chapter X, went on record in declaring
that the Delaware nation had no lands to sell, yet the Colonial
Authorities of Pennsylvania depended for quiet enjoyment upon
the old deeds from the Delawares to William Penn and his heirs,
mentioned in an earlier chapter. In 1734, Thomas Penn, son of
the founder of the Colony, claimed to have found a copy of a cer-
tain deed from the Delaware chiefs, Mayhkeerickkishsho, Taugh-
houghsey, and Sayhoppy, to his father, dated August 30, 1686,
calling for a dimension "as far as a man can go in a day and a
half", and thence to the Delaware River and down the courses of
the same. The original of this deed, Thomas Penn claimed, had
been lost for many years. The alleged description set forth in the
original deed was as follows:
"All those lands lying and being in the province of Pennsyl-
vania, beginning upon a line formerly laid out from a corner
spruce tree, by the river Delaware, and from thence running along
the ledge or the foot of the mountains west northwest (west south-
west) to a corner white oak marked with the letter P. standing by
the Indian path that leadeth to an Indian town called Playwiskey,
and from thence extending westward to Neshaminy creek, from
which said line, the said tract or tracts thereby granted doth extend
itself back into the woods, as far as a man can go in one day and a
half, and bounded on the westerly side with the creek called
Neshaminy, or the most westerly branch thereof, and from thence
by a line to the utmost extent of said creek one day and a half's
166 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
journey to the aforesaid river Delaware, and thence down the
several courses of the said river to the first mentioned spruce tree."
The dimension set forth in the foregoing alleged deed was
never "walked" in the lifetime of William Penn. Thomas Penn
and the other Colonial Authorities were anxious that the lands
described in the alleged deed should be measured without further
delay. Some of the Delawares did not wish the line measured,
but, on August 25, 1737, the more influential chiefs of the Munsee
Clan, among whom were "King Nutimus" and Manawkyhickon,
entered into a treaty with Thomas Penn by the terms of which they
agreed that the land should be measured by a walk according to
the provisions of the deed. This agreement of August 25th was
virtually a deed of release of the lands claimed to have been
granted by the deed of August 30, 1686. We shall now see how
well Thomas Penn and his associates were prepared for the "walk"
and how it was accomplished:
The 19th day of September, 1737, was the day appointed for
the "walk." It was agreed that the starting point should be a
chestnut tree standing a little above the present site of Wrights-
town, Bucks County. Timothy Smith, the sheriff of Bucks Coun-
ty, and Benjamin Eastburn, the surveyor-general, supervised the
so-called walk. The persons employed by the Colonial Authori-
ties to perform the walk, after the Proprietaries had advertised for
the most expert walkers in the Province, were athletes famous for
their^ abilities as fast walkers; and, as an inducement for their
making this walk a supreme test of their abilities, a compensation
of five pounds in money and 500 acres of land was offered the one
who could go the longest distance in the allotted time. Their
names were Edward Marshall, a native of Bucks County, a noted
chain carrier, hunter and backwoodsman; James Yates, a native of
the same county, a tall and agile man, with much speed of foot;
and Solomon Jennings, also a man of remarkable physique. These
men had been hunted out by the Proprietaries' agents as the fastest
backwoodsmen in the Province, and as a preliminary measure,
they had been taken over the ground before, spending some nine
days, during which their route was marked off by blazing the trees
and clearing away the brush.
At sunrise on the day appointed, these three athletes, accom-
panied by a number of Indians and some white persons, some of
whom carried refreshments for them, started from the chestnut tree
above Wrightstown ; and, at first, they walked moderately, but be-
fore long they set such a pace that the Indians frequently called
Nutimus and Manawkyhickon 167
upon them to walk and not run. The remonstrance of the Indians
producing no effect, most of them left in anger and disgust, assert-
ing that they were basely cheated. By previous arrangement, a
number of white people were collected about twenty miles from the
starting point, to see the "walkers" pass. Yates was much in the
lead, and was accompanied by several persons on horseback; next
came Jennings, but out of sight; and lastly, Marshall, proceeding
in an apparently careless manner, eating a biscuit and swinging a
hatchet from hand to hand, evidently to balance the motion of his
body. The above mentioned body of whites bet strongly in favor
of Yates. Jennings and two of the Indians who accompanied him
were exhausted before the end of the first day, and were unable to
keep up with the other two. Jennings never thereafter recovered
his health. However, Yates and Marshall kept on, and, at sunset,
had arrived at the north side of the Blue Mountains.
At sunrise of the next day, Yates and Marshall started again,
but, when crossing a stream at the foot of the mountain, Yates fell
into the water, and Marshall turned back and supported him until
some of the attendants came up, and then continued on his way
alone. Yates was stricken with blindness and lived only three
days. At noon Marshall threw himself full length upon the
ground and grasped a sapling which stood on a spur of the Second
or Broad Mountain, near Mauch Chunk, Carbon County, which
was then declared to mark the distance that a man could travel on
foot in a day and a half — estimated to be about sixty-five miles
from the starting point. Thus,, one man out of three covered this
distance, and lived.
An Eye-Witness Describes the "Walk"
The following account of the walk is given by an eye-witness,
Thomas Furniss:
"At the time of the walk I was a dweller at Newtown, and a
near neighbor to James Yeates. My situation gave him an easy
opportunity of acquainting me with the time of setting out, as it
did me of hearing the different sentiments of the neighborhood con-
cerning the walk; some alleging it was to be made by the river,
others that it was to be gone upon a straight line from somewhere
in Wrightstown, opposite to a spruce-tree on the river's bank, said
to be a boundary to a former purchase.
"When the walkers started I was a little behind, but was in-
formed they proceeded from a chestnut tree near the turning out
168 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
of the road from Durham road to John Chapman's; and, being on
horseback, overtook them before they reached Buckingham, and
kept company for some distance beyond the Blue Mountains,
though not quite to the end of the journey. Two Indians attended,
whom I considered as deputies appointed by the Delaware Nation,
to see the walk honestly performed. One of them repeatedly ex-
pressed his dissatisfaction therewith. The first day of the walk,
before we reached Durham Cr., where we dined in the meadows of
one Wilson, an Indian trader, the Indian said the walk was to have
been made up the river, and complaining of the unfitness of his
shoe-packs for traveling, said he expected Thomas Penn would
have made him a present of some shoes. After this, some of us
that had horses, walked, and let the Indians ride by turns; yet in
the afternoon of the same day, and some hours before sunset, the
Indians left us, having often called to Marshall that afternoon, and
forbid him to run. At parting they appeared dissatisfied, and said
they would go no further with us; for as they saw the walkers
would pass all the good land, they did not care how far or where
we went to. It was said we traveled twelve hours the first day,
and it being in the latter end of Sept., or beginning of Oct., to
complete the time were obliged to walk in the twilight. Timothy
Smith, then sheriff of Bucks, held his watch for some minutes be-
fore we stopped, and the walkers having a piece of rising ground to
ascend, he called out to them, telling the minutes behind, and bid
them pull up, which the)' did so briskly, that immediately upon his
saying the time was out, Marshall clasped his arms about a sapling
to support himself. Thereupon, the sheriff asking him what was
the matter, he said he was almost gone, and that, if he had pro-
ceeded a few poles further, he must have fallen. We lodged in the
woods that night, and heard the shouting of the Indians at a
cantico, which they were said to hold that evening, in a town hard
by.
"Next morning the Indians were sent to, to know if they would
accompany us any further; but they declined it, although I believe
some of them came to us before we started, and drank a dram in
the company, and then straggled off about their hunting, or some
other amusement. In our return we came through this Indian
town or plantation, Timothy Smith and myself riding forty yards,
more or less, before the company; and as we approached within
about 150 paces of the town, the woods being open, we saw an
Indian take a gun in his hand, and advancing towards us some
distance, placed himself behind a log that laid by our way.
Nutimus and Manawkyhickon 169
Timothy observing his motions, and being somewhat surprised, as
I apprehended, looked at me, and asked what I thought that Indian
meant. I said I hoped no harm, and that I thought it best to keep
on; which the Indian seeing, he arose and walked before us to the
settlement. I think Smith was surprised, as I well remember I
was, through a consciousness that the Indians were dissatisfied with
the walk — a thing the whole company seemed to be sensible of,
and upon the way, in our return home, frequently expressed them-
selves to that purpose. And indeed, the unfairness practiced in
the walk, both in regard to the way where, and the manner how it
was performed, and the dissatisfaction of the Indians concerning
it, were the common subjects of conversation in our neighborhood,
for some considerable time after it was done. When the walk was
performed, I was a young man in the prime of life. The novelty
of the thing inclined me to be a spectator, and as I had been
brought up most of my time in Burlington, the whole transaction
to me was a series of occurrences almost entirely new; and which,
therefore, 1 apprehend, made the more strong and lasting impres-
sion on my memory."
Course of the Line From the End of the "Walk"
to the Delaware
In the agreement with Thomas Penn to have the bounds of
the alleged deed made by a walk, the Delawares believed that as
far as a man could go in a day and a half would not extend beyond
the Lehigh Hills, or about thirty miles from the place of beginning;
but the crafty and unprincipled Colonial Authorities had laid their
plans to extend the walk to such a point as to include the land in
the Forks of the Delaware and also farther up that river, it being
their desire to obtain, if possible, the possession of that desirable
tract of land along the Delaware River above the Blue Mountains,
called the "Minisink Lands." Having, as we have seen, reached a
point more than thirty miles farther to the northwestward than
the Delawares had anticipated, the Colonial Authorities now pro-
ceeded to draw a line from the end of the walk to the Delaware
River. The alleged deed did not describe the course that the line
should take from the end of the walk to the river; but any fair-
minded person would assume that it should follow the shortest
distance between these two places. However, the agent of the
Proprietaries, instead of running the line by the nearest course to
the Delaware, ran it northeastward across the country so as to
170 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
strike the river near the mouth of the Lackawaxen, which flows
into the Delaware River in the northern part of Pike County.
The extent of this line was sixty-six miles. The territory as thus
measured was in the shape of a great triangle whose base was the
Delaware River and whose apex was the end of the walk, and
included the northern part of Bucks, almost all of Northampton,
and a portion of Pike, Carbon, and Monroe counties. This
fraudulent measurement thus took in all the Minisink Lands and
many thousand acres more than if the line had been run by the
nearest course from the end of the walk to the Delaware.
King Nutimus and His Clan Refuse to Remove
From Lands of the Walking Purchase
When the settlers began to move upon the lands covered by
the Walking Purchase of 1737, which they did soon after the
"walk" was made, King Nutimus and several of the other Delaware
chiefs who had signed the treaty or deed of release of 1737, were
not willing to quit the lands or to permit the new settlers to remain
in quiet possession. Indeed, they remonstrated freely and declared
their intention to remain in possession, even if they should have to
use force of arms.
In the spring of 1741, a message was sent by the Colonial
Authorities to the Six Nations, requesting them to come down and
force the Delawares of the Munsee Clan to quit these lands. The
Six Nations complied and sent their deputies to Philadelphia,
where this and other matters were taken up in the treaty of July,
1742, which treaty was discussed in Chapter X. At this treaty,
Governor Thomas called the attention of Canassatego, the speaker
of the Iroquois delegation, to the fact that a number of the Dela-
ware Indians, residing on the Minisink lands above the mouth of
the Lehigh River, had refused to surrender peaceful possession of
the territory secured to the Colony by the Walking Purchase.
However, the Governor did not tell Canassatego that, when John
and Thomas Penn were persuading the Delawares to confirm the
deeds covered by the Walking Purchase, they had promised these
Indians that the said papers "would not cause the removal of any
Indians then living on the Minisink Lands." These Delawares had
requested that they be permitted to remain on their settlements,
though within the bounds of the Walking Purchase, without being
molested, and their request was granted. Later, on August 24,
1737, just the day before the Delaware chiefs signed the deed, or
NUTIMUS AND MANAWKYHICKON 171
treaty, confirming the alleged deed of August 30, 1786, the assur-
ances given the Delawares by John and Thomas Penn were re-
peated and confirmed at a meeting of the Provincial Council at
Philadelphia.
Canassatego, unaware of the assurances given the Delawares,
replied as follows:
"You informed us of the misbehavior of our cousins, the
Delawares, with respect to their continuing to claim and refusing
to remove from some land on the River Delaware, notwithstanding
their ancestors had sold it by deed under their hands and seals to
the Proprietors for a valuable consideration, upwards of fifty years
ago, and notwithstanding that they themselves had about five
years ago, after a long and full examination, ratified that deed of
their ancestors, and given a fresh one under their hands and seals;
and then you requested us to remove them, enforcing your request
with a string of wampum. Afterwards you laid on the table, by
Conrad Weiser, our own letters, some of our cousins' letters, and
the several writings to prove the charge against our cousins, with a
draught of the land in dispute. We now tell you that we have
perused all these several papers. We see with our own eyes that
they [the Delawares] have been a very unruly people,, and are
altogether in the wrong in their dealings with you. We have con-
cluded to remove them, and oblige them to go over the River
Delaware, and to quit all claim to any lands on this side for the
future, since they have received pay for them, and it has gone
through their guts long ago. To confirm to you that we will see
your request executed, we lay down this string of wampum in re-
turn for yours."
Canassatego Commands Delawares to Remove
From Bounds of Walking Purchase
Attending the treaty were some Delawares from the Sunbury
region, headed by Sassoonan, and a delegation from the Forks of
the Delaware, headed by Nutimus. As soon as Canassatego finish-
ed the foregoing speech, taking a belt of wampum in his hand, he
turned to the Delawares, and delivered the following humiliating
address:
"COUSINS: — Let this belt of wampum serve to chastise you;
you ought to be taken by the hair of the head and shaked severely
till you recover your senses and become sober; you don't know what
ground you are standing on, or what you are doing. Our Brother
172 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Onas' case is very just and plain, and his intentions to preserve
friendship; on the other hand your cause is bad; your head far
from being upright, you are maliciously bent to break the chain of
friendship with our Brother Onas. We have seen with our eyes a
deed signed by nine of your ancestors above fifty years ago for
this very land, and a release signed not many years since by some
of yourselves and chiefs now living to the number of fifteen or up-
wards.
"But how came you to take upon you to sell land at all? We
conquered you ; we made women of you ; you know you are women,
and can no more sell land than women. Nor is it fit that you should
have the power of selling land, since you would abuse it. This
land that you claim is gone through your guts. You have been
furnished with clothes and meat and drink by the goods paid you
for it, and now you want it again like children, as you are. But
what makes you sell land in the dark? Did you ever tell us that
you had sold this land? Did we ever receive any part, even the
value of a pipe shank for it?
"You have told us a blind story that you sent a messenger to
inform us of the sale, but he never came amongst us, nor we never
heard anything about it. This is acting in the dark, and very
different from the conduct which our Six Nations observe in their
sales of land. On such occasions, they give public notice and in-
vite all the Indians of their united nations, but we find that you
are none of our blood. You act a dishonest part, not only in this,
but in other matters. Your ears are ever open to slanderous re-
ports about our brethren And for all these reasons we
charge you to remove instantly; we don't give you liberty to think
about it. You are women; take the advice of a wise man, and
remove immediately. You may return to the other side of the
Delaware, where you came from, but we don't know whether, con-
sidering how you have demeaned yourselves, you will be permitted
to live there, or whether you have not swallowed that land down
your throats, as well as the land on this side. We, therefore, assign
you two places to go, — either to Wyoming or Shamokin. You may
go to either of these places, and then we shall have you more under
our eye, and shall see how you behave. Don't deliberate, but re-
move away, and take this belt of wampum."
Canassatego spoke with the air of a conqueror and one having
authority; and both the manner of the delivery of his speech and
the manner in which it was received by the trembling Delawares,
would indicate that the Six Nations must have been right in their
Nutimus and Manawkyhickon 173
contention that they gained the ascendency over the Delawares, not
by artifice, as the Delawares told Heckewelder, but by force of
arms, some authorities asserting that, when the Iroquois conquered
the Susquehannas in 1675, this conquest carried with it the sub-
jugation of the Delawares, inasmuch as the Susquehannas were
overlords of the Delawares. "When this terrible sentence was
ended", says Watson, "it is said that the unfeeling political philo-
sopher [Canassatego] walked forward, and, taking strong hold of
the long hair of King Nutimus, of the Delawares, led him to the
door and forcibly sent him out of the room, and stood there while
all the trembling inferiors followed him. He then walked back to
his place like another Cato, and calmly proceeded to another sub-
ject as if nothing happened. The poor fellows [Nutimus and his
company], in great and silent grief, went directly home, collected
their families and goods, and, burning their cabins to signify they
were never to return, marched reluctantly to their new homes."
The Delawares Remove From Bounds
of Walking Purchase
Shortly after the treaty of 1742, the Delawares of the Munsee
Clan left the bounds of the "Walking Purchase" and the beautiful
river bearing their name, and began their march toward the setting
sun. The greater part of them, under Nutimus settled on the site
of Wilkes-Barre, opposite Wyoming Town, and at "Niskebeckon",
on the left bank of the North Branch of the Susquehanna, not far
from the mouth of Nescopeck Creek, in Luzerne County. The
town which they established near the mouth of Nescopeck Creek
was called "Nutimy's Town." Others went to the region around
Sunbury; and others took up their abode on the Juniata, near
Lewistown, Mifflin County. Later all went to the valleys of the
Ohio and Allegheny with their wrongs rankling in their bosoms.
The Walking Purchase was the subject of much discussion
between the Quaker and Proprietary parties as being one of the
chief causes of the alienation of the Delawares and of their taking
up arms against the Colony during the French and Indian War,
until the charge of "fraud" was withdrawn and the Delawares were
reconciled through the influence of the Moravian Missionary,
Christian Frederick Post, at the treaty at Easton, in the summer
of 1758, described in Chapter XXII. Says Dr. George P. Done-
hoo, in his recent great work, "Pennsylvania — A History": "It
matters little whether the Delaware were influenced by the Quakers
174 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
to complain of the 'fraud', or whether they themselves felt that
they had been cheated, the fact still remains that the 'Walking
Purchase' directly and indirectly, led to the gravest of conse-
quences, so far as the warlike Munsee Clan of the Delaware was
concerned."
The Sad Case of Captain John and Titami
In connection with the removal of the Delawares from the
territory within the bounds of the Walking Purchase, is the case
of Captain John and Titami, two worthy old Delaware chiefs who
had always been warm friends of the white man. In November,
1742, they petitioned Governor Thomas, setting forth that they
had embraced Christianity, and desired to live where they were,
near the English. The Governor sent for them, and they appeared
before the Provincial Council. Captain John did not own any
ground, but advised the Governor that, if permitted to live among
the English, he would buy some. Titami owned three hundred
acres of land, granted him by the Proprietors; and he said he
simply wanted to spend his few remaining years on his own planta-
tion in peace with everybody. The Governor ordered that Canas-
satego's speech be read to these old men, refused their petition, and
told them they would have to secure the consent of the Six Nations.
To compel these aged chiefs to ask permission of the Iroquois was
too much for Delaware pride. They sadly left their homes, and
went farther into the forests. Their white friends never knew why
the old men left their former homes. They were never heard of
again by the whites.
Indian Hannah
In this connection, we state that a small number of the Dela-
wares remained within the borders of Bucks County until the out-
break of the Revolution. In 1775, Isaac Still, a prominent Dela-
ware, collected forty of his tribe and led them to the Wabash, as
he said, "far away from war and rum." Also, at the outbreak of
the Revolution a family of four Delawares dwelt in wigwams in
Marlborough Township, Chester County. Later, three of these
died, and the remaining one, known as Indian Hannah, took up
her abode near the Brandywine. In the summer time, she traveled
through the countryside, selling willow baskets of her own make,
and visiting persons who would receive her kindly. When old age
came upon her, she removed from her wigwam and dwelt among
friendlv families. Though she had been associated with the whites
Nutimus and Manawkyhickon 175
for many years, yet she retained her Indian character to the last.
She had a proud, haughty spirit, and did not condescend to associ-
ate with the lower order of whites. Her kindred dead, and all the
companions of her race gone, she was desolate and often spoke of
the wrongs and misfortunes of the Indian race. She died in 1803
at the great age of almost one hundred years.
Nutimus Joins in Sale of Lands Between
Susquehanna and Delaware
On July 1, 1749, a number of Seneca, Onondaga, Tutelo, Nan-
ticoke, and Conoy chiefs came to Philadelphia to interview Gover-
nor Hamilton, with reference to the settlements which the white
people were making "on the other side of the Blue Mountains."
This delegation had gone first to Wyoming, the place appointed
for the gathering of the deputies of the various tribes, had waited
there a month for the other deputies, and then decided to go on to
Philadelphia. Governor Hamilton advised the chiefs that the
Province had been doing everything in its power to prevent per-
sons from settling on lands not purchased from the Indians. Im-
mediately after the conference the Governor issued a proclamation,
which was distributed throughout the Province, and posted upon
trees in the Juniata and Path valleys, and other places where
settlers had built their homes beyond the Blue Mountains, ordering
all such settlers to remove from these lands by the 1st of November.
The delegation of chiefs had left Philadelphia but a short time
when Governor Hamilton received word from Conrad Weiser that
the other Indian deputies, who had failed to join the previous dele-
gation at Wyoming, were at Shamokin (Sunbury) on their way to
Philadelphia. The Governor then sent word to Weiser, urging him
to divert this new delegation from coming to the city. Weiser did
all in his power to carry out the Governor's orders, but the Indians
soon let him see that they were determined to go on to Philadelphia,
at which place they arrived on the 16th of August, numbering two
hundred and eighty, and led by Canassatego, the speaker at the
former treaties at Lancaster and Philadelphia.
Canassatego was the speaker of the Indian delegation at the
conferences which were then held with the Governor and Provincial
Council. When advised of the efforts that Pennsylvania had made
to prevent her people from settling on unpurchased land, Canas-
satego excused the Government for this, saying: "White people
are no more obedient to you than our young Indians are to us."
176 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
He thus also excused the war parties of young Iroquois who went
against the Catawbas. Canassatego further offered to remedv the
situation by saying that the Iroquois were "willing to give up the
Land on the East side of Sasquehannah from the Blue Hills, or
Chambers' Mill to where Thomas McGee [McKee], the Indian
trader, lives, and leave it to you to assign the worth of them."
This great Iroquois statesman complained especially of the settle-
ments on the branches of the Juniata, saying that these were the
hunting grounds of the Nanticokes and other Indians under the
jurisdiction of the Iroquois. He told the Governor that, when the
Nanticokes had trouble with Maryland, where they formerly lived,
they had been removed by the Six Nations and placed at the mouth
of the Juniata, and that there were three settlements of the tribe
still remaining in Maryland. These latter, he explained, wished
to join their relatives in Pennsylvania, but that Maryland would
not permit them to do so, "where they make slaves of them and
sell their Children for Money." He then asked the Governor to
intercede with the Governor of Maryland to the end that the
Nanticokes in Maryland might be permitted to join their brethren
on the Juniata. Explaining why the proposed treaty with the
Catawbas had not taken place, Canassatego said that King
George's War breaking out had prevented them from getting to-
gether, "and now we say we neither offer nor reject Peace." He
also let it be known that he did not believe that the Catawbas were
sincere in their offers of peace.
Governor Hamilton then took up with Canassatego the pro-
posed sale of lands, and, after much discussion, the Six Nations'
deputies sold to the Colony of Pennsylvania a vast tract of land
between the Susquehanna and the Delaware, including all or parts
of the present counties of Dauphin, Northumberland, Lebanon,
Schuylkill, Columbia, Carbon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne.
This is known in Pennsylvania history as the "Purchase of 1749",
the deed having been signed on the 22nd of August of that year.
Nutimus joined in the deed as chief of the Delawares at Nutimus'
Town, at the mouth of Nescopeck Creek, Luzerne County. Also,
Paxinosa, then residing at Wyoming, and the leading chief of the
Shawnees of Eastern Pennsylvania, joined in this deed.
Last Days of Nutimus
Nutimus attended the great Easton conference of July, 1757,
an account of which is given in Chapter XXII. Soon thereafter,
he disappears from history.
Nutimus and Manawkyhickon 177
MANAWKYHICKON
Manawkyhickon was a chief of the Munsee or Wolf Clan of
Delawares. We have seen, in the present Chapter, that "he joined
with Nutimus in the agreement and deed of release of August 25,
1737. We met him also in Chapter VII, in connection with the
threatened uprising of the Five Nations and the Miamis, in 1727
and 1728, where he, resenting the hanging of his near relative,
Wequeala, was alleged to have "sent a black belt to the Five Na-
tions", who, in turn, sent it to the Miamis, with the request that the
latter join them in attacking the English, "to which they agreed."
This relative, Wequeala, who was hanged at Perth Amboy, New
Jersey, June 30th, 1727, for the murder of Captain John Leonard
of that town, is believed by some authorities to have been
Owechela, or Weheelan, Tamanend's brother, who, as stated in
Chapter IV, joined with Tamanend and others in the deed of July
5th, 1697, and, as stated in Chapter VII, probably acted as vice-
regent during the minority of Tamanend's son, Weheequeckhon,
alias Andrew. This is speculation, however.
We also met Manawkyhickon, in Chapter VIII, in connection
with the fight between the settlers and Kakowatcheky's band of
Shawnees from Pechoquealin and the murder of the Indian man
and two women at Cucussea, in Chester County. At a meeting of
the Provincial Council, on June 3rd, 1728, in reference to the above
mentioned troubles, Governor Gordon informed the Council that
he had received a message from Manawkyhickon to the effect:
"That he believed the Governor knew nothing of the fight between
the Shawnees and white people, and desires that the back inhabi-
tants may be cautioned not to be so ready to attack the Indians as
they were at that time; that he very well remembers the League
between William Penn and the Indians, and hopes that the Gover-
nor may be careful thereof."
At that time, Manawkyhickon was living at "Catawasse", a
town of the Conoy and Delaware Indians at the mouth of Cata-
wissa Creek, on the North Branch of the Susquehanna, on or near
the site of the present town of Catawissa, Columbia County; and
at Chenastry, at the mouth of Chillisquaque Creek, on the West
Branch of the Susquehanna, in Northumberland County. But for
some years prior to this time, the habitat of himself and his band
of Munsees was Muncy Creek and the Muncy Hills in the southern
part of Lycoming County.
At a conference held at Philadelphia on August 6th, 1740, be-
178
The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
tween the Colonial Authorities, Sassoonan, Shikellamy and other
chiefs, Manawkyhickon was referred to as "the King of the Mini-
sincks." This conference took up the matter of the grievous
wounding of a white man, Henry Webb, on the Minisink lands, by
a Mohican tributary to the Six Nations, named Awamameak,
whom the Mohicans refused to surrender when the Governor of
Pennsylvania demanded the person of the offender. Manawky-
hickon, as "King of the Minisincks" wrote the "King" of the
Mohicans, who lived near Esopus, New York, to deliver the
offender up. Webb recovered from his injury, and the matter of
delivering the offending Mohican was dropped.
When Manawkyhickon died is not known, but in 1756 many
of the Delawares of the Munsee Clan who had formerly been under
him were living at Tioga (now Athens, Bradford County, Penn-
sylvania), and chose the great Teedyuscung as their "king". An
account of Teedyuscung will be found in Chapters XXI and XXII.
CHAPTER XIII
Tanacharison, the Half King
ANACHARISON (Scruniyatha, Seruniyattha, Tanngris-
hon) was an Oneida chief, sent by the Great Council of
the Six Nations, about 1747, as vice-gerent of the Iro-
quois over the Delawares, Mohicans, and others in the
Ohio Valley. He was born about 1700. His residence was at or in
the vicinity of Logstown, according to most authorities, though
others say it was at Sauconk, at the mouth of the Beaver River,
about fifteen miles below Logstown. The first mention of Tana-
charison in recorded history is when he, Neucheconneh, Kako-
watcheky, Scarouady, and others wrote a letter from "Aleggainey",
on April 20th, 1747, to the Governor of Pennsylvania, on behalf of
the Twightwees, or Miamis of the Ohio Valley. He was called the
Half King, because, like Shikellamy, he was simply the represen-
tative of the Iroquois Confederation.
Tanacharison was living at Logstown when Conrad Weiser
came to that place in September, 1748, and entered into a treaty
with the various tribes in that region, on the part of the Colony
of Pennsylvania, as mentioned in Chapter VIII. He promised
Weiser that he would keep Pennsylvania posted as to the move-
ments of the French in the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny.
"Let us", said he, "keep up true correspondence, and always hear
of one another." His protestation of friendship for the English
was sincere. He remained faithful to the English interest to the
end of his life.
No doubt he met George Croghan when the latter was at Logs-
town in April, 1748, to tell the Indians of the Ohio that Conrad
Weiser was coming with the Pennsylvania present. It is likely,
too, that he was at Logstown when Celeron stopped there on his
way down the Allegheny and Ohio in the summer of 1749. At
least, he was there when George Croghan arrived at that place a
few days after Celeron's departure and succeeded in counteracting
the influence of this French emissary. At this time, he and
Scarouady deeded Croghan a large tract of land at the Forks of
the Ohio. No doubt he again met George Croghan when the latter
was at Logstown, in November, 1750, with Andrew Montour, in
180 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
an effort to counteract the intrigues of the French. Once more, in
May, 1751, he met Croghan and Montour when they visited this
important Indian town, bringing the present from the Colony of
Pennsylvania, which they had promised on their visit in the pre-
ceding November. It may be that Tanacharison met Christopher
Gist, the agent of the Ohio Company, when the latter was at Logs-
town on November 25th and 26th, 1750, though Gist says in his
journal that the Indians were nearly all out hunting at that time.
Tanacharison at Virginia Treaty at Logstown
As we have seen, Pennsylvania was following up the advant-
ages gained by Croghan's and Weiser's embassy to Logstown in
1748. In the meantime the Colony of Virginia had not relin-
quished its claim to the Ohio Valley. In June, 1752, the com-
missioners of Virginia, Joshua Fry, L. Lomax, and James Patton,
held a treaty with the Delawares, Shawnees, and Mingoes of the
Ohio Valley, at Logstown. Christopher Gist, the agent of the
Ohio Company, George Groghan, and Andrew Montour were pres-
ent, the latter acting as interpreter. The Great Council of the Six
Nations declined to send deputies to attend the treaty. Said they:
"It is not our custom to meet to treat of affairs in the woods and
weeds. If the Governor of Virginia wants to speak with us, and
deliver us a present from our father [the king], we will meet him
at Albany, where we expect the Governor of New York will be
present."
The object of the treaty was to obtain from the Indians a con-
firmation of the Lancaster Treaty of 1744, by the terms of which
Virginia claimed that the Iroquois had ceded their right to all lands
in the Colony of Virginia. The task of the Virginia commission-
ers was not an easy one for the reason that the Pennsylvania
traders had prejudiced the Indians against Virginia. However,
the commissioners secured permission to erect two forts and to
make some settlements. Tanacharison, who was present and took a
prominent part in the negotiations, advised that his brothers of
Virginia should build "a strong house" at the mouth of the Monon-
gahela to resist the designs of the French. As related in Chapter
VIII, a similar request had been made to the Governor of Pennsyl-
vania by the chiefs at Logstown when George Crogan was at that
place in May, 1751.
The Virginians laid claim to all the lands of the Ohio Valley by
virtue of the purchase made at the treaty of Lancaster, in 1744, in
Tanacharison, the Half King 181
which the western limit of the Iroquois sale was set forth as the
"setting sun". Conrad Weiser had advised the Governor of Penn-
sylvania that the Six Nations never contemplated such sale, ex-
plaining that by the "setting sun" was meant the crest of the Alle-
gheny Mountains, the divide between streams flowing to the Atlantic
Ocean on the East and the Mississippi River on the West. At this
Logstown treaty one of the Iroquois chiefs told the Virginia com-
missioners that they were mistaken in their claims. The chiefs
agreed with the commissioners not to molest any settlements that
might be made on the southeast side of the Ohio. At the treaty,
two old chiefs, through an interpreter, said to Mr. Gist: "The
French claim all on one side of the river [the Ohio], and the Eng-
lish all on the other side. Where does the Indian land lie?" This
question Gist found hard to answer.
Tanacharison Appoints Shingas Chief of the Delawares
During the proceedings of the Virginia treaty Tanacharison, as
representative of the Six Nations, bestowed the sachemship of the
Delawares upon Shingas, an account of whom is given in Chapter
XIX. The Journal of the Commissioners' proceedings makes note
of this fact, under date of June 1 1th, as follows:
"Afterwards the Half King [Tanacharison] spoke to the
Delawares: 'Nephews, you received a speech last year from your
brother, the Governor of Pennsylvania and from us, desiring you
to choose one of your wisest Councillors, and present him to us for
a King. As you have not done' it, we let you know it is our right
to give you a King, whom you must look upon as your chief, and
with whom all public business must be transacted between you and
your brethren, the English.' On which the Half King placed a
laced hat on the head of the Beaver, who stood proxy for his
brother, Shingas, and presented him with a rich jacket and a suit
of English clothes, which had been delivered to the Half King by
the Commissioners for that purpose."
Murder of Old Britain
At this time the great chief of the Miamis, or Twightwees, was
a sachem whom the French called La Demoiselle (the Young
Lady), for what reason it is difficult to conjecture, and whom the
English called Old Britain, on account of his steadfast friendship
for them. His village stood near the confluence of Loramie Creek
182 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
with the Miami. When Celeron made his expedition down the
Ohio in 1749, he endeavored to draw Old Britain into a French
alliance, but without success. Three years later, when Celeron
was commander of the French fort of Detroit, the Governor of
Canada resolved that the British power in the valley of the Miami
should be overthrown. Accordingly, on June 21, 1752, over two
hundred Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, under the leadership of a
French officer, named Charles Langlade, who had married an
Indian squaw, attacked Old Britain's town when nearly all the
warriors were absent on a hunting expedition. Those who re-
mained were taken by surprise. Before Old Britain and the five
English traders who were with him in the village, could get safely
within the fort, the enemy were in their midst. One of the traders
was stabbed and his heart eaten by his savage captors, as they said,
"to increase their courage." Thirteen of Old Britain's warriors
were killed and scalped, and he was killed, boiled, and eaten.
The Miamis sent a message to the Governor of Pennsylvania
discribing this tragic affair, which was laid before the Governor
and Provincial Council later in the summer. Said the message:
"We still hold our integrity with our brothers, the English, and
are willing to die for them, and will never give up this treatment,
although we saw our great Piankashaw King, which commonly
was called Old Britain by us, taken, killed, and eaten within a
hundred yards of the fort before our faces. We now look upon
ourselves as lost people, fearing that our brothers will leave us;
but before we will be subject to the French, or call them our fath-
ers, we will perish here." Later, as we shall see, the Governor
made a present of condolence to the Miamis on account of this un-
happy event.
Tanacharison and Croghan Hold Conference
In May, 1753, Sir William Johnson of New York, sent Gover-
nor Hamilton of Pennsylvania the intelligence that a large French
expedition was headed for the Ohio for the purpose of erecting forts
and expelling the English. Hamilton at once sent messengers to
the governors of Maryland and Virginia and the traders on the
Ohio, advising them of the message he had received from Johnson.
Before this message was received, George Croghan's cousin and
partner, William Trent, had written Governor Hamilton that the
French attacks on traders near Lake Erie and along the great
Miami had caused Croghan to return to his trading house on the
Tanacharison, the Half King 183
Allegheny near the mouth of Pine Creek, about six miles above the
mouth of the Monongahela, with some Indians and white refugees
with him.
On May 7, 1753, while these refugees were gathered at Crog-
han's Pine Creek storehouse, a message was received from the
Pennsylvania trader, John Frazer, sent down from Venango,
(Franklin) stating that the French were coming with eight brass
cannon, ammunition and stores. Croghan and his associates were
thrown into consternation. On the following day, two Iroquois
runners from the Great Council House at Onondaga brought simi-
lar news; and on May 12th, Governor Hamilton's warning to the
Allegheny and Ohio traders arrived. The entire party looked to
Croghan as leader. A conference was at once held at Pine Creek
with Tanacharison and Scarouady. After much deliberation these
sachems decided "that they would receive the French as friends, or
as enemies, depending upon their attitude, but that the English
would be safe as long as they themselves were safe. Croghan's
partners, Teafee and Calendar, with the two messengers that had
been sent out by Hamilton returned to Philadelphia on May 30th
to report in person." Governor Hamilton at once laid these re-
ports before the Assembly which, on May 31st, made an appropria-
tion of two hundred pounds for condolence presents to the
Twightwees, and six hundred pounds for the "Necessities of Life"
(guns and ammunition), for the other tribes on the Ohio.
Tanacharison Appeals to Virginia
For more than three months, Governor Hamilton held this
money, and then apologized to the Pennsylvania Assembly for
not having sent a portion of it as a present to the Miamis, explain-
ing that there was danger of the present being stolen by the French
while being transported to the Ohio Valley. In the meantime, on
June 23rd, Tanacharison and Scarouady wrote Governor Din-
widdie of Virginia, from Logstown stating:
"We send you this by our brother, Mr. Thomas Burney [a
blacksmith living at Logstown] to acquaint you that we, your
brethren, together with the head men of the Six Nations, the
Twightwees [Miamis], Shawnees, and Delawares, were coming
down to pay you a visit, but were prevented by the arrival here of
four men, two Mingoes and two Delawares, who informed us that
there were three hundred Frenchmen and ten Connewangeroonas
within two days journey of this place, and we do not know how
184 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
soon they may come upon us. Therefore, our request is, that you
would send out a number of your people, our brethren, to meet us
at the Forks of Mohongiale [the Monongahela], and see what is
the reason of their coming."
It is thus seen that since no reply came from the Colonial
Authorities at Philadelphia, the Ohio Indians turned to Virginia,
which colony had promised them arms and ammunition. They
then sent a delegation of about one hundred deputies to Win-
chester, Virginia, in September, 1753, to arrange for aid and sup-
plies at a treaty then and there held between Virginia, in the inter-
est of the Ohio Company, and the Six Nations and their tributary
tribes in the Ohio Valley, — the Delawares, Shawnees, Twightwees,
or Miamis, and Wyandots. Tanacharison and Scarouady headed
this delegation. Early in 1753, Andrew Montour, at the instance
of Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia, had visited the Great Council
at Onondaga, to invite the Six Nations to hold this treaty, and he
(Montour) was the interpreter at the treaty. George Croghan
was present to aid William Fairfax, the commissioner of Virginia.
At the Winchester treaty Tanacharison and Scarouady withdrew
the consent that they had given at the Virginia treaty at Logs-
town in the summer of 1742, to any settlements west of the Alle-
gheny Mountains, but they decided that a "strong house" might be
built in the vicinity of Logstown in which to store goods. Vir-
ginia, on the other hand, promised to supply the Indians with
ammunition to defend themselves against the French.
Indian Conference at Carlisle
While attending the Winchester treaty, the Indians heard of
the appropriation which had been voted by the Pennsylvania
Assembly; and thereupon, although no invitation had been re-
ceived by them, they sent a portion of their deputies to Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, to ascertain whether the report were true. This
delegation consisted of a number of the important chiefs of the Six
Nations, Delawares, Shawnees, Twightwees, or Miamis, and the
Owendats, or Wyandots. Governor Hamilton sent Conrad
Weiser, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris, and Benjamin Franklin to
Carlisle to meet these deputies, October 1st to 4th, 1753. George
Croghan was present to give advice. These commissioners had
gone to Carlisle without presents, and they had Conrad Weiser
interview one of the chiefs to ascertain if it were not possible to
go through the forms of condolence on the promise to pay when
Author's note on second paragraph, page 184
Scarouady led the Indian delegation to Winchester, Tanacharison being
then on journey to forbid French advance. These chiefs had recently con-
ferred with Capt Trent, at Logstown, relative to French encroachments.
\n^0 rintP 174? ,<; tvnnerrnnical error.
Tanacharison, the Half King 185
the goods should arrive later. The chief replied that his people
could and would not do any public business while the blood of their
tribe remained upon their garments, and that "nothing would
wash it unless the presents intended to cover the graves of the de-
parted were actually spread upon the ground before them."
Tanacharison Forbids French to Advance
While the commissioners and Indians were awaiting for the
goods to arrive, Conrad Weiser learned from Scarouady that, when
the Ohio Indians received the messages in May, 1753, advising
them of the threatened French invasion, they at once sent a warn-
ing to the French, who were then at Niagara, forbidding them to
proceed further toward the Ohio Valley. This notice not deter-
ring the French, the Indians then held a conference at Logstown,
and sent a second notice to the French when they were approach-
ing the headwaters of French Creek, as follows:
"Your children on Ohio are alarmed to hear of your coming
so far this way. We at first heard that you came to destroy us.
Our women left off planting, and our warriors prepared for war.
We have since heard that you came to visit us as friends without
design to hurt us, but then we wondered you came with so strong
a body. If you have had any cause of complaint, you might have
spoken to Onas or Corlear [meaning the Governors of Pennsyl-
vania and New York], and not come to disturb us here. We have
a Fire at Logstown, where are the Delawares and Shawnees and
Brother Onas; you might have sent deputies there and said openely
what you came about, if you had thought amiss of the English be-
ing there, and we invite you to do it now before you proceed any
further."
The French replied to this notice, stating that they would not
come to the council fire at Logstown; that they meant no harm to
the Indians; that they were sent by command of the king of
France, and that they were under orders to build four forts, — one
at Venango, one at the Forks of the Ohio, one at Logstown, and
another on Beaver Creek. The Ohio Indians then held another
conference, and sent a third notice to the French, as follows: "We
forbid you to come any farther. Turn back to the place from
whence you came."
Tanacharison was the bearer of this third notice to the French,
and very likely, of the other two. Before the conference at Carlisle
ended, it was learned that Tanacharison had just returned to
186 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Logstown from delivering the third notice; that he had been re-
ceived in a very contemptuous manner by the French; and that,
upon his return, had shed tears, and actually warned the English
traders not to pass the Ohio.
Tanacharison's notice given the French was equivalent to a
declaration of war. Conrad Weiser was consulted as to what was
best to be done, and he urged that the entire appropriation which
the Pennsylvania Assembly had made on May 31st be expended at
once. Said he: "Only by a generous donation could we expect
to hold the friendship of those Indians."
The goods were then brought, the forms of condolence proper-
ly observed, and then the conference was resumed. After express-
ing their thanks for the goods and their deep affection for the
English, the Indians called attention to the fact that Virginia de-
sired leave to build a fort on the Ohio, which, coming to the ears
of the Governor of Canada, was, as the Indians supposed, the
cause why the French were determined to invade the Ohio country.
The Indians then requested that no Pennsylvania and Virginia
settlements be made at present west of the Allegheny Mountains,
and that all trade in the Ohio Valley be confined to three posts, —
Logstown, the mouth of the Monongahela, and the mouth of the
Kanawha; that the prices be reasonable; and that future confer-
ences be held at Croghan's house at Aughwick. In order to keep
trade and friendship open with Pennsylvania, the Indians urged
that George Croghan and someone else to be chosen by the Gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania, be stationed at George Croghan's trading
house at Aughwick, or Aughwick Old Town, now the site of
Shirleysburg, Huntington County, to whom goods and supplies for
the Western Indians could be sent, and who should guide and con-
trol Indian affairs. Croghan had recently settled at Aughwick
when he was forced by impending bankruptcy to leave the Cum-
berland Valley.
At the close of the Carlisle treaty, Tanacharison returned to
the Ohio, and, on October 27th, joined with Scarouady in writing
the Governors of Pennsylvania and Virginia urging that they join
with the Indians of the Ohio and Allegheny in an effort to prevent
the occupation of the valleys of these streams by the French. This
letter was written from Shanoppin's Town.
Tanacharison, the Half King 187
Tanacharison Accompanies Washington on
Mission to the French
On October 31st, 1753, Major George Washington, then a
youth of twenty-one years, was commissioned by Governor Robert
Dinwiddie of Virginia, to deliver the Governor's message to St.
Pierre, commandant of the French forts on the headwaters of the
Allegheny River, in Northwestern Pennsylvania, protesting against
the encroachments of the French on territory claimed by the Eng-
lish. On the same day that Washington received his commission he
set forth from Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, on his jour-
ney of more than five hundred miles through the wilderness. The
next day, he arrived at Fredericksburg, where he engaged Jacob
VanBraam, a Dutchman, who had been his old fencing master, to
act as French interpreter. He and VanBraam then proceeded to
Alexandria, where they procured supplies. From there they went
to Winchester, where they got baggage, horses, etc.
Leaving Winchester, they traveled to Will's Creek (Cumber-
land, Maryland), where they arrived on November 14th. Here
Washington hired Christopher Gist, as Washington expressed it "to
pilot us out", and also procured the services of four others, namely:
Barnaby Curran and John McGuire, Indian traders; and Henry
Stewart and William Jenkins, servants.
Leaving Will's Creek on November 15th, the party proceeded
over the Nemacolin Indian Trail to Turtle Creek, near Braddock,
Pennsylvania, where they met John Frazer, the English trader,
who, as has already been seen, was driven away from Venango by
the French. At Frazer's, they sent their baggage down the Mon-
ongahela by canoes to the Forks of the Ohio, while Washington
and Gist rode to Shannopin's Town on the east bank of the Alle-
gheny a few miles above the mouth of the Monongahela. From
there, they proceeded to the mouth of the Monongahela where
they met their baggage. They then called on the Delaware chief,
King Shingas, at his town on the north and south banks of the
Ohio about two miles below the mouth of the Monongahela. The
principal part of this village was on the south bank of the Ohio
near the mouth of Chartier's Creek and the present town of Mc-
Kees Rocks; and Washington mentions in his journal that the
Ohio Company intended to build a fort at that place. Shingas
accompanied Washington's party to Logstown, where they arrived
on the evening of November 24th.
Upon his arrival at Logstown, Washington learned that
188 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Tanacharison was absent at his hunting cabin on the Beaver, some
fifteen miles distant. He therefore called upon Monacatootha, or
Scarouady, and informed him by John Davidson, his Indian inter-
preter, that he was sent as a messenger to the French general, and
was ordered to call upon all the sachems of the Six Nations to
acquaint them with it. Monacatootha sent a messenger to Tana-
charison early on the morning of the 25th.
Washington's Journal, under date of November 25th, de-
scribes his meeting with Tanacharison at Logstown:
"About three o'clock this evening the Half King [Tanachari-
son] came to town. I went up and invited him with Davidson,
privately, to my tent; and desired him to relate some of the par-
ticulars of his journey to the French commandant, and of his re-
ception there; also, to give me an account of the ways and distance.
He told me that the nearest and levelest way was now impassable,
by reason of many large miry savannas; that we must be obliged
to go by Venango, and should not get to the near fort in less than
five or six nights sleep, good traveling. When he went to the fort,
he said, he was received in a very stern manner by the late com-
mander, who asked him very abruptly, what he had come about,
and to declare his business." Tanacharison then said that he de-
livered to the French commander the third notice to advance no
further, as related earlier in this chapter, and that the commander
disregarded it.
Washington's Journal further says, under date of November
25th:
"The Half King told me he had inquired of the general after
two Englishmen, who were made prisoners, and received this
answer:
" 'Child, you think it a very great hardship that I made
prisoners of those two people at Venango. Don't you concern
yourself with it; we took and carried them to Canada, to get intelli-
gence of what the English were doing in Virginia.'
"He informed me that they had built two forts, one on Lake
Erie, and another on French Creek, near a small lake, about fifteen
miles asunder, [apart] and a large wagon road between. They
are both built after the same model, but different in size; that on
the lake the largest. He gave me a plan of them of his own
drawing."
Under date of November 26th, Washington's Journal says:
"We met in councl at the long house about nine o'clock, where
I spoke to them as follows:
Tanacharison, the Half King 189
" 'Brothers, I have called you together in council, by order of
your brother the governor of Virginia to acquaint you that 1 am
sent with all possible despatch, to visit and deliver a letter to the
French commandant of very great importance to your brothers,
the English; and I dare say to you, their friends and allies.
" 'I was desired, brothers, by your brother, the governor, to call
upon you, the sachems of the nations, to inform you of it, and to
ask your advice and assistance to proceed the nearest and best
road to the French. You see, brothers, I have gotten thus far on
my journey.
" 'His honour likewise desired me to apply to you for some of
your young men to conduct and provide provisions for us on our
way; and be a safeguard against those French Indians who have
taken up the hatchet against us. I have spoken thus particularly
to you, brothers, because his honour our governor treats you as
good friends and allies, and holds you in great esteem. To con-
firm what I have said, I give you this string of wampum.'
"After they had considered for some time on the above dis-
course, the Half King got up and spoke:
" 'Now, my brother, in regard to what my brother, the gover-
nor, had desired of me, I return you this answer:
" 'I rely upon you as a brother ought to do; as you say we
are brothers, and one people. We shall put heart in hand and
speak to our fathers, the French, concerning the speech they made
to me; and you may depend that we will endeavor to be your
guard.
" 'Brother, as you have asked my advice, 1 hope you will be
ruled by it, and stay until I can provide a company to go with you.
The French speech belt is not here; I have it to go for to my
hunting cabin. Likewise, the people whom I have ordered in are
not yet come, and can not until the third night from this; until
which time, brother, I must beg you to stay.
" 'I intend to send the guard of Mingos, Shannoahs, [Shaw-
nees], and Delawares, that our brothers may see the love and loy-
alty we bear them.'
"As I had orders to make all possible despatch, and waiting
here was very contrary to my inclination, 1 thanked him in the
most suitable manner I could; and told him [Tanacharison] that
my business required the greatest expedition, and would not admit
of that delay. He was not well pleased that I should offer to go
before the time he had appointed, and told me that he could not
consent to our going without a guard, for fear some accident should
190 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
befall us and draw a reflection upon him. '3esides,' said he, 'this is
a matter of no small moment, and must not be entered into with-
out due consideration; for I intend to deliver up the French speech
belt, and make the Shannoahs and Delawares do the same.' And
accordingly he gave orders to King Shingiss, who was present, to
attend on Wednesday night with the wampum; and two men of
their nation to be in readiness to set out with us next morning.
As I found it was impossible to get off without affronting them in
the most egregious manner, I consented to stay."
Washington's Journal continues:
"November 27th. Runners were despatched very early for
the Shannoah [Shawnee] chiefs. The Half King set out himself
to fetch the French speech belt from his hunting cabin.
"Nov. 28th. He returned this evening, and came with
Monakatoocha and two other sachems to my tent; and begged as
they had complied with his honour the governor's request, in pro-
viding men, &c to know on what business we were going to the
French. This was a question I had all along expected and had
provided as satisfactory answers to as I could; which allayed their
curiosity a little.
"Nov. 29th. The Half King and Monakatoocha came very
early and begged me to stay one day more; for notwithstanding
they had used all the diligence in their power, the Shannoah chiefs
had not brought the wampum they ordered, but would certainly
be in tonight; if not, they would delay me no longer, but would
send it after us as soon as they arrived. When I found them so
pressing in their request, and knew that returning of wampum was
the abolishing of agreements, and giving this up was shaking off all
dependence upon the French, I consented to stay, as I believed an
offence, offered at this crisis, might be attended with greater ill
consequence than another day's delay. They also informed me
that Shingas could not get in his men; and was prevented from
coming himself by his wife's sickness; (I believe, by fear of the
French) but that the wampum of that nation was lodged with
Kustalogo, one of their chiefs, at Venango.
"In the evening, late, they came again, and acquainted me that
the Shannoahs were not yet arrived, but that it should not retard
the prosecution of our journey. He delivered in my hearing the
speech that was to be made to the French by Jeskakake, one of
their old chiefs, which was giving up the belt the late commandant
had asked for and repeating nearly the same speech he himself had
done before.
Tanacharison, the Half King 191
"He also delivered a string of wampum to this chief, which
was sent by King Shingiss, to be given to Kustalogo. with orders
to repair to the French, and deliver up the wampum.
"He likewise gave a very large string of black and white wam-
pum, which was to be sent up immediately to the Six Nations, if
the French refused to quit the land at this warning; which was the
third and last time, and was the right of this Jeskakake to deliver.
"Nov. 30th. Last night, the great men assembled at their
council house, to consult further about this journey, and who were
to go; the result of which was, that only three of their chiefs, with
one of their best hunters, should be our convoy. The reason they
gave for not sending more, after what had been proposed at coun-
cil the 26th, was, that a greater number might give the French sus-
picions of some bad design, and cause them to be treated rudely;
but I rather think they could not get their hunters in.
"We set out about nine o'clock with the Half King, Jeskakake,
White Thunder, and the Hunter [Guyasuta] ; and traveled on the
road to Venango, where we arrived the fourth of December, without
anything remarkable happening but a continued series of bad
weather.
"This is an old Indian town, situated at the mouth of French
Creek, on Ohio [Allegheny], and lies near north about sixty
miles from the Loggstown, but more than seventy the way we were
obliged to go."
At Venango, Washington learned that he would have to pro-
ceed to Le Boeuf (Waterford, Erie County) to deliver his message.
His Journal continues:
"Dec. 5th. Rained excessively all day, which prevented our
traveling. Captain Joncaire [the French commandant at Venan-
go], sent for the Half King, as he had just heard that he came with
me. He affected to be much concerned that I did not make free
to bring them in before. I excused it in the best manner of which
I was capable, and told him I did not think their company agree-
able, as I had heard him say a good deal in dispraise of Indians in
general; but another motive prevented me from bringing them into
his company; I knew that he was an interpreter, and a person of
very great influence among the Indians, and had lately used all
possible means to draw them over to his interest; therefore, I was
desirous of giving him no opportunity that could be avoided.
"When they came in, there was great pleasure expressed at
seeing them. He wondered how they could be so near without
coming to visit him. made several trifling presents, and applied
192 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
liquor so fast that they were soon rendered incapable of the busi-
ness they came about, notwithstanding the caution which was
given.
"Dec. 6th. The Half King came to my tent, quite sober, and
insisted very much that I should stay and hear what he had to
say to the French. I fain would have prevented him from speak-
ing anything until he came to the commandant, but could not
prevail. He told me that at this place a council fire was kindled,
where all their business with these people was to be transacted, and
that the management of the Indian affairs was left solely to Mon-
sieur Joncaire. As I was desirous of knowing the issue of this, I
agreed to stay; but sent our horses a little way up French Creek,
to raft over and encamp; which 1 knew would make it near night.
"About ten o'clock, they met in council. The King [Tana-
charison] spoke much the same as he had before done to the gen-
eral, and offered the French speech belt which had before been de-
manded, with the marks of four towns on it, which Monsieur Jon-
caire refused to receive, but desired him to carry it to the fort
[Fort Le Boeuf, now Waterford, Erie County,] to the commander.
"Dec. 7th. Monsieur LaForce, Commissary of the French
stores, and three other soldiers, came over to accompany us up.
We found it extremely difficult to get the Indians off today, as
every stratagem had been used to prevent their going up with me.
I had last night left John Davidson (the Indian interpreter) whom
I brought with me from town, and strictly charged him not to be
out of their company, as 1 could not get them over to my tent; for
they had some business with Kustologa, chiefly to know why he
did not deliver up the French speech belt which he had in keep-
ing; but I was obliged to send Mr. Gist over today to fetch them,
which he did with great persuasion.
"At twelve o'clock, we set out for the fort [ Le Boeuf], and
were prevented from arriving there until the eleventh day by ex-
cessive rains, snows, and bad traveling through many mires and
swamps ; these we were obliged to pass to avoid crossing the creek,
which was impossible, either by fording or rafting, the water was
so high and rapid.
"We passed over much good land since we left Venango, and
through several extensive and very rich meadows, one of which, 1
believe, was nearly four miles in length, and considerably wide in
some places.
Dec. 12th. 1 prepared early to wait upon the commander, and
was received, and conducted to him by the second officer in com-
Tanacharison, the Half King 193
mand. I acquainted him with my business and offered my com-
mission and letter; both of which he desired me to keep until the
arrival of Monsieur Reparti, captain at the next fort, who was sent
for and expected every hour.
"This commander is a knight of the military order of St.
Louis, and named Legardeur de St. Pierre. He is an elderly
gentleman, and has much the air of a soldier. He was sent over to
take the command, immediately upon the death of the late general,
and arrived here about seven days before me.
"At two o'clock, the gentleman who was sent for arrived,
when I offered the letter, &c. again, which they received, and ad-
journed into a private apartment for the captain to translate, who
understood a little English. After he had done it, the commander
desired I would walk in and bring my interpreter to peruse and
correct it; which I did.
"Dec. 14th. As the snow increased very fast, and our horses
daily became weaker, 1 sent them off unloaded, under the care of
Barnaby Currin and two others, to make all convenient despatch
to Venango, and there to wait our arrival, if there was a prospect
of the river's freezing; if not, then to continue down to Shanapin's
town, at the Forks of Ohio, and there to wait until we came to
cross the Allegheny; intending myself to go down by water, as I
had the offer of a canoe or two. This evening, I received an
answer to his honour the governor's letter, from the commandant.
"Dec. 15th. The commandant ordered a plentiful store of
liquor, provisions, &c. to be put on board our canoes, and appeared
to be extremely complaisant, though he was exerting every artifice
which he could invent to set our Indians at variance with us, to
prevent their going until after our departure; presents, rewards,
and everything which could be suggested by him or his officers. 1
can not say that ever in my life 1 suffered so much anxiety as I
did in this affair. I saw that every stratagem, which the most
fruitful brain could invent, was practised to win the Half King to
their interest; and that leaving him there was giving them the
opportunity they aimed at. I went to the Half King and pressed
him in the strongest terms to go; he told me that the commandant
would not discharge him until the morning. I then went to the
commandant, and desired him to do their business, and complained
of ill treatment; for keeping them, as they were part of my com-
pany, was detaining me. This he promised not to do, but to for-
ward my journey as much as he could. He protested he did not
keep them, but was ignorant of the cause of their stay; though I
soon found it out. He had promised them a present of guns, &c.
194 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
if they would wait until the morning. As I was very much pressed
by the Indians to wait this day for them, 1 consented, on a promise
that nothing should hinder them in the morning.
"16th. The French were not slack in their inventions to keep
the Indians this day, also. But as they were obliged, according to
promise, to give the present, they then endeavored to try the
power of liquor, which I doubt not would have prevailed at any
other time than this; but I urged and insisted with the King
[Tanacharison] so closely upon his word, that he refrained, and
set off with us as he had engaged.
"We had a tedious and very fatiguing passage down the creek.
Several times we had like to have been staved against rocks; and
many times were obliged all hands to get out and remain in the
water half an hour or more, getting over the shoals. At one place,
the ice had lodged, and made it impassable by water; we were,
therefore, obliged to carry our canoe across the neck of land, a
quarter of a mile over. We did not reach Venango until the 22d,
where we met with our horses.
"Dec. 23d. When I got things ready to set off, I sent for the
Half King, to know whether he intended to go with us, or by water.
He told me that White Thunder had hurt himself much, and was
sick, and unable to walk; therefore he was obliged to carry him
down in a canoe. As 1 found he intended to stay here a day or
two, and knew that Monsieur Joncaire would employ every scheme
to set him against the English, as he had before done, 1 told him I
hoped he would guard against his flattery, and let no fine speeches
influence him in their favour. He desired 1 might not be concern-
ed, for he knew the French too well for any thing to engage him in
their favour; and that though he could not go down with us he
yet would endeavour to meet at the Forks with Joseph Campbell,
to deliver a speech for me to carry to his honour, the governor.
He told me he would order the Young Hunter to attend us, and get
provisions, &c. if wanted.
"Our horses were now so weak and feeble, and the baggage so
heavy, (as we were obliged to provide all the necessaries which the
journey would require) that we doubted much their performing it.
Therefore, myself and others, except the drivers, who were obliged
to ride, gave up our horses for packs, to assist along with the bag-
gage. 1 put myself in an Indian walking dress, and continued
with them three days, until I found there was no probability of
their getting home in any reasonable time. The horses became less
able to travel every day; the cold increased very fast; and the
roads were becoming much worse by a deep snow, continually
Tanacharison, the Half King 195
freezing; therefore, as I was uneasy to get back, to make report of
my proceedings to his honour, the governor, I determined to prose-
cute my journey, the nearest way through the woods, on foot.
"Accordingly, I left Mr. Vanbraam in charge of our baggage,
with money and directions to provide necessaries from place to
place for themselves and horses, and to make the most convenient
despatch in traveling.
"I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes, and tied
myself up in a match coat. Then with gun in hand, and pack on
my back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with
Mr. Gist, fitted in the same manner, on Wednesday, the 26th."
History does not say how Tanacharison and the other mem-
bers of the party whom Washington and Gist left behind when
they set out on foot, reached Logstown. Nor shall we follow
Washington further on his return trip. Every school child is
familiar with the fact that he was shot at by a hostile Indian
near Murdering Town, not far from Evans City, Butler County,
on the afternoon of December 27th, as he and Gist were on their
way back to Virginia, and that he was almost drowned in the icy
waters of the Allegheny within the present limits of Pittsburgh.
A Personal Statement
At this point, the author asks that the reader indulge him in
making the statement that he traces his love for the history of
Pennsylvania to the story of the attack on Washington by the
hostile Indian on that December evening of 1753, told him under
the following circumstances: On the farm on which he was reared
in Armstrong County, the ancestral home of his paternal fore-
bearers since 1795, is a high hill, commanding a majestic sweep
of the horizon in all directions. To the eastward, the blue outline
of the Chestnut Ridge can be seen, on a clear day, almost fifty
miles away, while to the westward, are the undulating hills of
Butler County. One of his earliest recollections is that of his
accompanying his revered mother to this hilltop on summer even-
ings and, with her, watching the sun set in floods of gorgeous and
golden beauty behind the western hills. On those occasions she
told him that the western region, where the sun was setting, was
Butler County, and that it was in this county where George
Washington was shot at by a hostile Indian in the dead of winter
and in the depth of the forest. The author shall always cherish
the recollection of those summer evenings, when, as a child in
company with his mother in the grace and beauty of her young
196 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
womanhood, he watched those golden sunsets bathe the Butler
County hills in glory, and in his fancy, pictured the region of the
sunset as an enchanted land, inhabited by the ghosts and shadows
of the past and hallowed by the footsteps of Washington.
Nemacolin
We have stated earlier in this chapter that Washington and
Gist followed the Nemacolin Indian Trail from Cumberland,
Maryland, to the Forks of the Ohio. This trail was named for the
Delaware chief, Nemacolin, who in 1752, was employed, with
others, by Colonel Thomas Cresap and Christopher Gist, acting
for the Ohio Company, in blazing the most direct route between
Cumberland and the mouth of Redstone Creek (Brownsville, Fay-
ette County), on the Monongahela River. This trail followed the
route of Christopher Gist's second journey from Cumberland to
the Forks of the Ohio, in November, 1751. It was much shorter
than the path which the Virginia traders had used from a date as
early as 1740, in traveling from the Potomac to the Ohio. It was
the same course followed by Washington's army on its unsuccess-
ful march against Fort Duquesne in the summer of 1754, described
in Chapter XIV, and also, in part, the same followed by Brad-
dock's army in the summer of 1755.
Nemacolin's residence at the time of blazing this trail was at
the mouth of Dunlap's Creek, also, in early times, called Nema-
colin's Creek, in Fayette County. How long Nemacolin resided at
this place is unknown. In 1785, General Richard Butler, in com-
pany with Colonel James Monroe, (afterwards President Monroe),
made an expedition down the Ohio to treat with the Miamis. In
General Butler's journal of this expedition, he speaks of an island
called Nemacolin's, between the mouths of the Little Kanawha and
Hocking, no doubt a subsequent dwelling place of Nemacolin.
Nemacolin was the son of the Delaware chief, Checochinican,
or Specokkenecan, who dwelt on Brandywine Creek about 1716,
and removed to the Susquehanna before June 16, 1718, as on that
date he accompanied Captain Civility and other chiefs of the
Conestogas, Shawnees, and Delawares of the Susquehanna, to
Philadelphia, and complained to Governor Keith "that they have
reason to think the authority of this Government is not duly ob-
served, for that notwithstanding all our former agreements that
rum should not be brought amongst them, it is still carried in great
quantities." Checochinican added "that the young men about
Tanacharison, the Half King 197
Paxtan [Paxtang] had been lately so generally debauched with
rum carried amongst them by strangers, that they now want all
manner of clothing and necessaries to go a hunting; wherefore,
they wish it would be so ordered that no rum should be brought
amongst them by any except the traders who furnish them with all
other necessaries."
In the Pennsylvania Archives, (Vol. I, page 239), is a letter
from Checochinican to Governor Patrick Gordon, dated June 24,
1729, in which he says that, when the Indians sold their lands on
the Brandywine to William Penn, they reserved a part on the head
of the creek, by a written instrument which later was lost.
Checochinican complains that settlers are crowding the Indians
out, and hopes that the Governor "will be pleased to take care and
protect us. "This is his last appearance in history.
Another Delaware chief living in Southwestern Pennsylvania
at the time of the blazing of Nemacolin's Trail, was Catfish. He
had his cabin where Washington, the county seat of Washington
County, now stands.
Tanacharison Asks Pennsylvania to Build
Fort on the Ohio
In January, 1754, Gorge Croghan and Andrew Montour were
sent to Logstown by Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania, to as-
certain from Tanacharison and Scarouady a full account of the
activities of the French in the valleys of the Allegheny and Ohio,
the attitude of the Western Indians, and what assistance in the
way of arms and ammunition Virginia had given these Indians.
Croghan and Montour found some French soldiers at Logstown
and most of the Indians drunk. John Patten, a trader, who ac-
companied Croghan and Montour, was captured by the French, but
Tanacharson caused his release. The Pennsylvania emissaries re-
mained at Logstown until February 2nd. They found the Indians
determined to resist the French. A few days before they left,
Tanacharison, Scarouady, and Shingas addressed a speech to
Governor Hamilton in which they said: "We now request that
our brother, the Governor of Virginia, may build a strong house at
the Forks of the Mohongialo [Monongahela], and send some of
our young brethren, the warriors, to live in it. And we expect our
brother of Pennsylvania will build another house somewhere on
the river, where he shall think proper, where whatever assistance he
will think proper to send us may be kept for us, as our enemies are
just at hand, and we do not know what day they may come upon
us."
CHAPTER XIV.
Tanacharison, the Half King
(Continued)
Tanacharison Sees French Commit First
Overt Act of War
ARLY in 1754, Virginia decided to fortify the Forks of the
Ohio (Pittsburgh). She sent Captain William Trent to
this place with a company of men to erect a fort. Trent
arrived on February 17, 1754, and immediately began the
erection of a fort, called Fort Trent.
After the work was well started, Captain Trent returned to
Will's Creek (Cumberland, Maryland), to secure supplies, leaving
a young commissioned officer, an ensign, named Edward Ward,
who was a half-brother of George Croghan, in command. The
Indian trader, John Frazer, was among Ward's forces, having the
commission of lieutenant. The French were promptly warned of
the arrival of Trent's forces, and with the opening of spring, mar-
shalled their forces to the number of about one thousand, including
French-Canadians and Indians of various tribes, with eighteen
pieces of cannon, in all a flotilla of about sixty battaux and three
hundred canoes, and descended the Allegheny from LeBoueff and
Venango. The French forces arrived at the Forks of the Ohio on
the evening of the 17th of April, under command of Captain Con-
trecoeur. Planting his artillery, Contrecoeur sent Chevalier Le
Mercier, Captain of the Artillery of Canada, with a summons to
Ensign Ward, demanding immediate surrender. This was the first
overt act of war on the part of the French, in the conflict known as
the French and Indian War.
Ward thus found himself surrounded by a force of one thous-
and French and Indians with the fort still uncompleted.
The Half King, Tanacharison, was present, and advised En-
sign Ward to reply to the demand of Contrecoeur that he was not
an officer of rank to answer the demand, and to request a delay
until he could send for his superior in command. Contrecoeur,
however, refused to parley; whereupon, Ward, having less than
forty men, and, therefore, being utterly unable to resist the oppos-
ing force, prudently surrendered the half-finished stockade without
further hesitation.
Tanacharison, the Half King 199
Contrecoeur, upon the surrender of Ward, treated him with the
utmost politeness, invited him to sup with him, and wished him a
pleasant journey back to Virginia. The French commander per-
mitted him to withdraw his men, and take his tools with him; and
on the next morning, he started on his return to Virginia going up
the Monongahela to the mouth of Redstone Creek (Brownsville,
Fayette County), where the Ohio Company had a stockade, erected
by Trent on his way to the Ohio Valley. George Croghan, about
the time Trent began erecting the fort at the Forks of the Ohio, had
contracted with the Ohio Company to furnish provisions for
Trent's forces, valued at five hundred pounds, from the back parts
of Pennsylvania; and half of these were on their way to the Ohio
when Contrecoeur captured the fort.
The French then took possession of the half-finished fort,
completed it early in June, and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor
of Marquis DuQuesne, then the Governor General of Canada.
Tanacharison with Washington in Virginia's
Campaign of 1754
While Captain Trent was pushing on toward the Forks of the
Ohio in the early part of 1754, Colonel Joshua Fry, with George
Washington second in command, was raising additional troops in
Virginia to garrison the fort Trent was to build. Soon Washing-
ton, under the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, hastened to Will's
Creek (Cumberland, Maryland), to push forward the preparations
to reinforce the fort at the Forks of the Ohio, when the news of its
capture was brought to him in the latter part of April, 1754. A
council of war was then called in which it was agreed that it would
be impossible to march to the French fort without reinforcements,
but that an advance should be made to the mouth of Redstone
Creek, where a fortification should be made and reinforcements
awaited.
Washington was not yet joined by Colonel Fry, and had only
one hundred fifty men under his command. On the 25th of April,
he sent a detachment of sixty men to open the road, which detach-
ment was joined by the main body on May 1st. By the 9th of
May, he reached a place called the Little Meadows. Learning
from Indian scouts, which had been sent him by his ally, Tana-
charison, that the French were rapidly marching toward him,
Washington hastened to take a position in a place called the Great
Meadows along the national pike, in Fayette County. "I hurried
200 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
to this place," says Washington, "as a convenient spot. We have,
with nature's assistance, made a good entrenchment, and by clear-
ing the bushes out of these meadows, prepared a charming field for
an encounter."
Christopher Gist visited Washington's camp at the Great
Meadows early in the morning of May 27th, coming from his plan-
tation at Mount Braddock, thirteen miles distant, and reporting
that on May 26th, M. La Force, with fifty soldiers had been at his
plantation the day before, and that on his way to Washington's
camp, he had seen the tracks of the same party only five miles from
the encampment at the Great Meadows. Tanacharison, with a
number of his warriors was but six miles from the Great Meadows,
and a little after eight o'clock on the night of the same day, May
27th, he sent Washington intelligence that he had seen the tracks
of Frenchmen, and had traced them to an obscure retreat. Wash-
ington feared that this might be a stratagem of the French for
attacking his camp, and so, placing his ammunition in a place of
safety and leaving a strong guard to protect it, he set out before
ten o'clock with forty men, and reached Tanacharison's camp a
little before sunrise, marching through a heavy rain, a night of in-
tense darkness and the obstacles offered by an almost impenetrable
forest. In a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, he says: "We were
frequently tumbled over one another, and often so lost that fifteen
or twenty minutes' search would not find the path again."
Tanacharison Helps Washington Fight First
Battle of His Career
At early dawn (May 28th), Washington held a council with
Tanacharison at the latter's camp, which was near a spring, now
known as Washington's Spring, about two miles north of the Sum-
mit on the old national pike, near Uniontown; and it was agreed at
this council to unite in an attack upon the French. Washington's
forces to be on the right and Tanacharison's warriors on the left.
The French were soon traced to an almost inaccessible rocky glen
in the Allegheny Mountains, about three miles north of the Sum-
mit. The forces of Washington and Tanacharison advanced until
they came so near as to be discovered by the French, who instantly
ran to their arms. The firing continued on both sides for about
fifteen minutes, when the French were defeated with the loss of
their whole party, ten of whom, including their commander, M.
de Jumonville, were killed, one wounded, and twenty-one taken
Tanacharison, the Half King 201
prisoners. Of the prisoners, the two most important were an officer
named Drouillon, and the redoubtable LaForce. The prisoners
were marched to the Great Meadows, and from there sent over the
mountains to Virginia. Of Washington's party, only one was
killed, and two or three were wounded. Tanacharison's warriors
sustained no loss, as the fire of the French was aimed exclusively at
Washington and his soldiers. It is said that Washington fired the
first shot in this skirmish, the opening conflict of the French and
Indian War. Jumonville was buried where he fell, and a tablet
marks the spot where his remains lie. The scene of this encounter,
the first battle of Washington's illustrious career, is almost as wild
and primitive as it was on that fateful morning of the 28th day of
May, 1754.
At a council held at Philadelphia on December 19th, 1754, be-
tween Governor Morris of Pennsylvania, and Scarouady, Jagrea, a
Mohawk, and Aroas, a Seneca, the said Scarouady gave the follow-
ing account of events leading up to the fight with Jumonville and
the part that the Indian allies took in the same:
"This belt [holding up a belt of wampum] was sent by the
Governor of Virginia and delivered by Captain Trent. You see in
it the representation of an hatchet. It was an invitation to us to
join with and assist our brethren to repel the French from the
Ohio. At the time it was given, there were but four or five of us,
and we were all that knew any thing about the matter; when we
got it, we put it into a private pocket on the inside of our garment.
It lay next to our breasts.
"As we were on the road going to Council with our brethren, a
company of French, in number thirty-one, overtook us and desired
us to go and council with them; and when we refused, they pulled
us by the arm and almost stripped the chain of covenant from off
it, but still I would suffer none to go with them. We thought to
have got before them, but they passed us; and when we saw they
endeavored to break the chain of friendship, I pulled this belt out
of my pocket and looked at it and saw there this hatchet, and then
went and told Colonel Washington of these thirty-one French Men,
and we and a few of our brothers fought with them. Ten were
killed, and twenty-one were taken alive whom we delivered to
Colonel Washington, telling him that we had blooded the edge of
his hatchet a little."
John Davidson, the Indian trader, acted as interpreter, at the
above council. He was in the action, and gave Governor Morris
the following account of it:
202 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"There were but eight Indians, who did most of the execution
that was done. Colonel Washington and the Half King [Tana-
charison] differed much in judgment, and on the Colonel's refusing
to take his advice, the English and Indians separated. After which
the Indians discovered the French in an hollow and hid themselves,
lying on their bellies behind a hill; afterwards they discovered
Colonel Washington on the opposite side of the hollow in the gray
of the morning, and when the English fired, which they did in great
confusion, the Indians came out of their cover and closed with the
French and killed them with their tomahawks, on which the French
surrendered."
In writing to his brother, John Augustine, Washington, refer-
ring to the engagement with Jumonville, said:
"I have heard the bullets whistle, and believe me, there is
something charming in the sound."
This remark was reported later to George the Second, King of
England, who commented: "He would not say so if he had been
used to hearing many."
Washington Gives Tanacharison an English Name
Two days after the death of Jumonville, Colonel Fry died at
the camp at Will's Creek on his way to join the army, and the
chief command now devolved upon Colonel Washington. Wash-
ington immediately commenced enlarging the intrenchment at the
Great Meadows, and erecting palisades, anticipating an attack from
the French. The palisaded fort at the Great Meadows having been
completed, Washington's forces were augmented to three hundred
by the arrival from Will's Creek of the forces which had been
under Colonel Fry. With these was the surgeon of the regiment,
Dr. James Craik, a Scotchman by birth, who was destined to be a
faithful friend of Washington's throughout the remainder of his
life, and was present at his bedside, when he closed his eyes in
death within the hallowed walls of his beloved Mount Vernon.
On the 9th of June, Washington's early instructor, Adjutant
Muse, accompanied by Andrew Montour, now Provincial Captain,
arrived at the Great Meadows. Adjutant, now Major Muse,
brought with him a belt of wampum, and a speech from Governor
Dinwiddie to Tanacharison, with medals and presents for the
Indians under his command. Says Washington Irving in his
classic "Life of Washington": "They were distributed with that
«rand ceremonial so dear to the Red Man. The chiefs assembled,
Tanacharison, the Half King 203
painted and decorated in all their savage finery. Washington
wore a medal sent to him by the Governor for such occasions. The
wampum and speech having been delivered, he advanced, and, with
all due solemnity, decorated the chiefs and the warriors with the
medals, which they were to wear in remembrance of their father,
the King of England." Among the warriors thus decorated, was
Canachquasy, the son of old Queen Alliquippa, who, with her son,
had arrived at the Great Meadows on June 1st. Upon his decora-
tion Canachquasy was given the English name of Lord Fairfax.
Tanacharison was given the English name of Dinwiddie on this
occasion, and returned the compliment by giving Washington the
Indian name of Connotaucarius.
On the 10th day of June, Washington wrote Governor Dinwid-
die from the camp at the Great Meadows, concerning the decora-
tion of Canachquasy, as follows:
"Queen Alliquippa desired that her son, who was really a great
warrior, might be taken into Council, as she was declining and unfit
for business; and that he should have an English name given him.
I therefore called the Indians together by the advice of the Half-
King, presented one of the medals, and desired him to wear it in
remembrance of his great father, the King of England; and called
him by the name of Colonel Fairfax, which he was told signified
'the First in Council.' This gave him great pleasure."
At the end of the ceremonies of giving English names to
Tanacharison and Canachquasy, Washington read the morning
service. Dr. James Craik, who was present, said, in a letter home,
that the Indians "believed he was making magic."
Washington Advances to Gist's Plantation
On the 10th of June, there was great agitation in the camp
over the report that a party of ninety Frenchmen were approach-
ing, which report was later found to be incorrect. On the same
day, Captain Mackay of the Royal Army, in command of an inde-
pendent company of one hundred riflemen from South Carolina,
arrived at the Great Meadows, increasing Washington's forces to
about four hundred men. Leaving one company under Captain
Mackay to guard the fort, Washington pushed on over the Laurel
Hill as far as Christopher Gist's plantation at Mount Braddock,
near Connellsville, Fayette County. So difficult was the passage
over Laurel Hill that it took approximately two weeks for Wash-
ington's forces to reach Gist's plantation from Great Meadows, a
204 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
distance of thirteen miles. Washington's Indian allies refused to
accompany him as far as Gist's plantation, and returned to the
Great Meadows. The trouble was that Washington and Tana-
charison could not agree as to the method of conducting the cam-
paign. On the 27th of June, Washington had sent a party of sev-
enty men under Captain Lewis to clear a road from Gist's planta-
tion to the mouth of the Redstone (Brownsville), and another
party under Captain Poison was, on the same day, sent ahead to
reconnoiter.
While these movements of Washington's forces were taking
place, a force of five hundred French and some Indians, afterwards
augmented to about four hundred, left Fort Duquesne on the 28th
of June to attack Washington, the French being commanded by M.
DeYilliers, a half brother of Jumonville, who it is said, sought the
command from Contrecoeur as a special favor that he might avenge
his half-brother's "assassination". This force went up the Monon-
gahela in large canoes, and on the 30th of June, reached the mouth
of Redstone, and encamped on the rising ground about half a mile
from the stockade, which, it will be recalled, Captain Trent had
erected during the preceding winter as a storehouse for the Ohio
Company. M. DeVilliers described it as "a sort of fort built of
logs, one upon another, well notched in, about thirty feet long and
twenty feet wide."
While at the mouth of the Redstone, M. DeVilliers learned
that Washington's forces were entrenching themselves at Gist's
plantation. He thereupon disencumbered himself of all his heavy
stores, and leaving a sergeant and a few men to guard the boats,
pushed on in the night, cheered by the hope that he was about to
capture the forces of Washington. Arriving at Gist's plantation
in the early morning of July 2nd," he saw the intrenchments which
Washington had there begun to erect, at once invested them, and
fired a general volley. No response came from the intrenchments;
for the prey had escaped. M. DeVilliers was then about to retrace
his steps, when a deserter, coming from the Great Meadows, dis-
closed to him the whereabouts and the half-famished condition of
Washington's forces. Having made a prisoner of the deserter with
a promise to reward or hang him after proving his story true or
untrue, M. DeVilliers continued the pursuit. While he is pursu-
ing Washington, we will relate how the latter's forces escaped
capture.
At Gist's plantation, on June 28th, Washington held a council
of war, upon receipt of intelligence that the French in large num-
Tanacharison, the Half King 205
bers, accompanied by many Indians, were marching against him.
At this council, it was resolved to send a message to Captain
Mackay, who was then at the Great Meadows, desiring him to join
Washington at once, and also to call in Captain Lewis and Captain
Poison, who, as we have seen, had been sent forward to cut the road
from Gist's to Redstone, and to reconnoiter. Captain Mackay and
his company arrived on the evening of the 28th, and the foraging
parties on the morning of the 29th, when a second council of war
was held, and it was decided to retreat as speedily as possible.
Washington Surrenders at Fort Necessity
The troops, with great difficulty, succeeded in reaching the
Great Meadows. Here they halted on July 1st. The suffering
among Washington's forces was great. For eight days they had no
bread, and had taken little of any other food. It was not the in-
tention of Washington at first to halt at this place, but his men had
become so fatigued from great labor and hunger that they could
draw the swivels no further. Here, then, it was resolved to make a
stand. Trees were felled, and a log breastwork was raised at the
fort, in order to strengthen it in the best manner that the circum-
stances would permit. Washington now named the stockade "Fort
Necessity" from the circumstances attending its erection. At this
critical juncture, many of Washington's Indian allies, under Tana-
charison, deserted him, being disheartened at the scant prepara-
tions of defense against the superior force, and offended at being
subject to military command.
Early on the morning of July 3rd an alarm was received from
a sentinel, who had been wounded by the enemy, and, at nine
o'clock, word was received that the whole body of the French and
Indian allies amounting, as some authorities say, to nine hundred
men, was only four miles off. Before noon, distant firing was
heard, and the enemy reached a woods about a third of a mile
from the fort. Washington had drawn his men up on the open and
level ground outside the trenches, and waited for the attack, which
he thought would be as soon as the enemy emerged from the woods;
and he ordered his troops to reserve their fire until they should be
near enough to do execution. The French did not incline to leave
the woods and to attack the fort by assault. Washington then
drew his men back within the trenches, and gave them orders to fire
at their discretion, as suitable opportunities might present them-
selves. The enemy remained on the side of the rising ground next
206 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
to the fort, and were sheltered by the trees. They kept up a brisk
fire of musketry, but never appeared in open view. In the mean-
time, rain was falling in torrents, the trenches were filled with
water, and many of the arms of Washington's men were out of
order. Until eight o'clock at night — the rain falling without inter-
mission — both parties kept up a desultory fire, the action having
started at about eleven o'clock in the morning. By that time, the
French had killed all the horses and cattle at the fort.
At eight o'clock at night, the French requested a parley, but
Washington, suspecting this to be a feint to procure the admission
of an officer into the fort to discover his condition, declined. They
repeated their request with the additional request that an officer
might be sent to them, they guaranteeing his safety. Washington
then sent Captain Jacob Van Braam, the only person under his
command who understood the French language, with the exception
of Chevalier de Peyrouny, an Ensign in the Virginia regiment, who
was dangerously wounded. Van Braam returned and brought with
him from D. DeVilliers, the French commander, the proposed
articles of capitulation. Villiers was a half-brother of the ill-
fated Jumonville. Owing to the overpowering number of the
enemy, Washington decided to come to terms. After a notification
of the proposed articles, he consented to leave the fort the next
morning, July 4, 1754, but was to leave it with the honors of war,
and with the understanding that he should surrender nothing but
the artillery.
French Accuse Washington of Having
Assassinated Jumonville
Considerable dissatisfaction was expressed with regard to
several of the article of capitulation when they were made public.
One of these was an article, by consenting to which Washington
virtually admitted that Jumonville had been "assassinated" in the
action of May 28th. Another was an article, by consenting to
which, Washington virtually admitted the validity of the French
claim to the Ohio Valley. M. DeVilliers, the commandant of the
French forces, in his account of the march from Fort Duquesne
and the affair at the Great Meadows said, "We made the English
consent to sign that they had assassinated my brother in his camp."
A copy of the capitulation was subsequently laid before the House
of Burgesses of Virginia, with explanations. The conduct of
Washington and his officers was properly appreciated, and they re-
Tanacharison, the Half King 207
ceived a vote of thanks for their gallant defense of their country.
However, from this vote of thanks, two officers were excepted —
Major Muse, who was charged with cowardice, and Captain Jacob
VanBraam, who was accused of treachery in purposely misinter-
preting the articles of capitulation. The truth is that Washington
had been greatly deceived by VanBraam, either through ignorance
or design. An officer of his regiment, who was present at the read-
ing and signing of the articles of capitulation, wrote a letter to a
friend, in which he discusses the true intent and meaning of the
articles and of their bungling translation by VanBraam, as follows:
"When Mr. VanBraam returned with the French proposals,
we were obliged to take the sense of them from his mouth; it rained
so hard that he could not give us a written translation of them;
we could scarcely keep the candle lighted to read them by; and
every officer there is ready to declare that there was no such word
as 'assassination' mentioned. The terms expressed were 'the death
of Jumonville.' If it had been mentioned, we would by all means
have had it altered, as the French, during the course of the inter-
view, seemed very condescending and desirous to bring things to a
conclusion; and, upon our insisting, altered the articles relating to
the stores and ammunition, which they wanted to detain; and that
of the cannon, which they agreed to have 'destroyed', instead of
'reserved for their use.'
"Another article, which appears to our disadvantage, is that
whereby we oblige ourselves not to attempt an establishment be-
yond the mountains. This was translated to us, not 'to attempt'
buildings or 'improvements on the lands of his most Christian Ma-
jesty.' This we never intended, as we denied he had any there, and
therefore thought it needless to dispute this point.
"The last article, which relates to the hostages, is quite dif-
ferent from the translation of it given to us. It is metioned 'for
the security of the performance of this treaty', as well as for the
return of the prisoners. There was never such an intention on our
side, or mention of it made on theirs, by our interpreter. Thus, by
the evil intention or negligence of VanBraam, our conduct is scrut-
inized by a busy world, fond of criticizing the proceedings of
others, without considering circumstances, or giving just attention
to reasons which might be offered to obviate their censures."
"VanBraam was a Dutchman, and had but an imperfect
knowledge of either the French or English language. How far his
ignorance should be taken as an apology for his blunders, is uncer-
tain. Although he had proved himself a good officer, yet there
208 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
were other circumstances, which brought his fidelity in question.
Governor Dinwiddie, in giving an account of this affair to Lord
Albermarle says: 'In the capitulation they made use of the word
'assassination', but Washington, not understanding French, was de-
ceived by the interpreter, who was a paltroon, and though an offi-
cer with us, they say he has joined the French."
Also, Washington expressed himself on Van Braam's transla-
tion, as follows:
"That we were willfully or ignorantly deceived by our inter-
preter in regard to the word 'assassination', I do aver and will to
my dying moment; so will every officer who was present. The in-
terpreter was a Dutchman little acquainted with the English ton-
gue, and therefore might not advert to the tone and meaning of the
word in English; but whatever his motives were for so doing, cer-
tain it is he called it the 'death' or the 'loss' of the Sieur Jumon-
ville. So we received and so we understood it until, to our great
surprise and mortification, we found it otherwise in a literal trans-
lation."
Washington Marches Out With Honors of War
On the morning of July 4th, Washington and his forces
marched out of Fort Necessity with the honors of war, taking with
them their regimental colors, but leaving behind a large flag, too
cumberous to be transported. His forces set out for Will's Creek,
but had scarcely left the Great Meadows when they encountered
one hundred Indian allies of the French, who, in defiance of the
terms of capitulation, began plundering the baggage, and commit-
ting other irregularities. Seeing that the French did not or could
not prevent their Indian allies, Washington's men destroyed their
powder and other stores, including even their private baggage, to
prevent its falling into the hands of the Indians. M. DeYilliers
sent a detachment to take possession of the fort as soon as Wash-
ington's forces defiled therefrom. Washington's regiment left
twelve dead on the ground, and the number left by Captain
Mackay's company is not known. DeVillier said that the number
of dead excited his pity.
Thus ended the affair at the Great Meadows, Washington's
first and last surrender, the location of which is along the National
Pike, in Fayette County, a few miles east of the Summit. On
reaching Will's Creek, where his half-famished troops found ample
provisions in the military magazine, he hastened with Captain
Tanacharison, the Half King 209
Mackay, to Governor Dinwiddie, at Williamsburg, whom they par-
ticularly informed of the events of their expedition. Washington
soon thereafter resigned his commission, and retired to private life
at Mount Vernon. His first act, after relinquishing his command,
was to visit his mother, inquire into the state of her affairs, and
look after the welfare of his younger brother and his sister, Betty.
He continued his residence at Mount Vernon until the following
year, when he again entered the service of Virginia in the army of
General Braddock.
Tanacharison Complains of Washington
After the defeat of Washington at the Great Meadows, Tana-
charison and Scarouady, with some of their followers, "came down
to the back parts of Virginia", and then with Seneca George and
about three hundred Mingos (Iroquois), retreated to George Crog-
han's trading post at Aughwick, now Shirleysburg, Huntingdon
County. At about the same time, many Shawnees, Delawares, and
an inconsiderable number of renegades of the Seneca tribe of the
Six Nations, joined the French. Tanacharison and Scarouady
after retreating to Aughwick, sent out messages to assemble the
friendly Delawares and Shawnees at that place, and asked the
Colony of Pennsylvania to support their women and children while
the warriors fought on the side of the English, whom they expected
speedily to take decisive steps against the French. In response to
these messages, great swarms of excited Indians came to Aughwick,
clamoring for food, and were fed at the expense of the Colony
throughout the fall and winter.
Angered by the charge of the Virginians that the friendly
Indians were treacherous and secretly aided the French in this cam-
paign, Tanacharison expressed himself as dissatisfied with the con-
duct of Colonel Washington. In August, 1754, the old chief came
to John Harris' Ferry (Harrisburg) to meet Conrad Weiser and
accompany him to Aughwick. "On the way," says Weiser, "Tana-
charison complained very much of the behavior of Colonel Wash-
ington, (though in a very moderate way, saying the Colonel was a
good-natured man, but had no experience) ; that he took upon him
to command the Indians as his slaves, and would have them every
day upon the Out Scout, and attack the Enemy by themselves, and
that he would by no means take advice from the Indians; that he
lay at one place from one full moon to another, and made no forti-
fications at all but that little thing upon the meadow, where he
210 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
thought the French would come up to him in open field; that had
he taken the Half King's advice and made such fortifications as the
Half King advised him to make, he would certainly have beat the
French off; that the French had acted as great cowards and the
English as fools in that engagement; that he [the Half King] had
carried off his wife and children; so did other Indians before the
battle begun, because Colonel Washington would never listen to
them, but was always driving them on to fight by his directions."
Tanacharison and Scarouady Protest
Albany Purchase
In order to combine the efforts of the colonies in their resist-
ance of the encroachments of the French, a conference was ordered
by the British Ministry, at Albany, New York, which was held in
June and July, 1754, to which the Six Nations were invited. They
came, and peace was established with them. Governor Hamilton
of Pennsylvania, unable to be present, commissioned John Penn
and Richard Peters of the Provincial Council, and Isaac Norris and
Benjamin Franklin of the Assembly, to attend the Council in his
stead. At this conference, a plan was proposed for a political
union, and adopted on the 4th of July. It was subsequently sub-
mitted to the Home Government and the Provincial Assemblies.
The British Government condemned it, according to Franklin, on
account of its being too democratic; and the various Provincial
Assemblies objected to it as containing too much power of the king,
Pennsylvania negativing the same without discussion.
Although the Albany Conference, therefore, was not satisfac-
tory in all its results, the Pennsylvania commissioners secured a
great addition to the Province of Pennsylvania, to which the Indian
title was not extinct. The deed, which was signed by chiefs of the
Six Nations on July 6, 1754, conveyed to Pennsylvania all the land
extending on the west side of the Susquehanna River from the
Blue Mountains to a mile above the mouth of Kayarondinhagh
(Penn's) Creek; thence northwest by west to the western boun-
dary of the Province; thence along the western boundary to the
southern boundary; thence along the southern boundary to the
Blue Mountains; and thence along the Blue Mountains to the place
of beginning.
George Croghan was in charge of distributing provisions and
supplies to the friendly Indians, who had assembled at Aughwick
after Washington's surrender at Fort Necessity. The bills which
Tanacharison, the Half King 211
he was sending the Colonial Authorities for feeding these Indians
having grown rather large, Croghan was suspicioned as not being
reliable, and finally there were hints that he was in league with the
French. The Pennsylvania Assembly then cut down his bills, and
he decided to leave Aughwick. Conrad Weiser was then directed
by the Colonial Authorities to go to Aughwick, and make a report
on Croghan. He reached this place on August 31st, 1754, being
accompanied by Tanacharison from Harris' Ferry, as we have
already seen.
Weiser found that Croghan was entirely worthy of being
trusted. He also found that the inhabitants of Cumberland Coun-
ty caused much trouble in selling so much strong liquor to the
Indians assembled at Aughwick. In the conferences which he held
with Tanacharison, Scarouady, King Beaver, and various other
chiefs, he completely won old Tanacharison and his people back
to the English cause after their anger at Washington and the Vir-
ginians. Moreover, at these conferences, Weiser learned that the
Shawnees and Delawares had formed an alliance; that the French
had offered them presents, either to join them or to remain neutral,
and that to these proposals, the Delawares made no reply, but at
once sent their deputies to Aughwick for the purpose, as Weiser
thought, of learning the attitude of the English.
Near the close of the conference, Tanacharison and Scarouady
pressed Weiser to tell them what transpired at the Albany Treaty;
and he then told them all about the purchase of the vast tract west
of the Susquehanna. "They seemed not to be very well pleased,"
says Weiser, "because the Six Nations had sold such a large tract."
Weiser then explained that the purchase was made in order to
frustrate land schemes of the Connecticut interests, and of the
French on the Ohio. This appeared to satisfy them, though they
resented not receiving a part of the consideration. For a time
they were content, not knowing that the purchase included most of
the lands on the West Branch of the Susquehanna. The Shawnee
and Delaware deputies then went back to the Ohio into danger
and temptations, and to learn from the French that their vast
hunting grounds on the West Branch of the Susquehanna had been
sold to the Province of Pennsylvania at the Albany Treaty.
No wonder that Tanacharison and Scarouady complained to
Weiser. The Albany purchase was a very powerful factor in
alienating, not only the Delawares, but the other Indians, from
Pennsylvania. The Shawnees and Delawares of the Munsee Clan
(Monseys) in the valleys of the Susquehanna, Juniata, Allegheny,
212 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
and Ohio, thus found their lands "sold from under their feet"
which the Six Nations had guaranteed to them, so they claimed,
on their migration to these valleys. It was provided in the con-
tract of sale of these lands that half of the purchase price should
be paid upon delivery of the deed, and the remainder was not to
be paid until the settlers had actually crossed the Allegheny Moun-
tains, and taken up their abode in the purchased territory. The
Indians declared in July, 1755, that they would not receive the
second installment, but the Mohawk chief, Hendricks, persuaded
them to stand by the deed. After Braddock was defeated on July
9, 1755, the entire body of dissatisfied Indians on the Albany Pur-
chase took bitter vengeance on Pennsylvania. After three years of
bloodshed, outrage and murder, Conrad Weiser persuaded the
Proprietaries of Pennsylvania to deed back to the Indians that
part of the Albany purchase which lay west of the Allegheny
Mountains. This was done at the treaty at Easton, in October,
1758, which treaty will be discussed in Chapter XXII.
Death of Tanacharison
After the series of conferences with Conrad Weiser at Augh-
wick, in September, 1754, Tanacharison returned to the trading
house of John Harris, at Harris' Ferry, where he became danger-
ously ill; and a conjuror, or "medicineman", was summoned to
make inquiry into the cause and nature of his malady. The
"medicineman" gave it as his opinion that the French had be-
witched Tanacharison, in revenge for the great blow he had struck
them in the affair of Jumonville; for the Indians gave him the
whole credit of that success, Tanacharison having made it clear
that it was he who killed Jumonville, in revenge of the French,
who, as he declared, had killed, boiled, and eaten his father. Fur-
thermore, Tanacharison had sent around the French scalps taken
at that action, as trophies. All the friends of the old chieftain
concurred in the opinion of the "medicineman", and when Tana-
charison died at the house of John Harris, on October 4, 1754,
there was great lamentation among the Indians, mingled with
threats of immediate vengeance. Thus was this noted sachem
gathered to his fathers in the "Happy Hunting Ground", at a time
when his services and influence among the Western Indians were
greatly needed by the English.
CHAPTER XV.
Scarouady
CAROUADY (Monacatuatha, Monacatoocha, etc.) was an
Oneida chieftain who was sent by the Great Council of
the Six Nations to the Ohio Valley, about 1747, as vice-
gerent over the Shawnees of that region. He was an
elderly man at that time, but lived long enough to take a prominent
part, on the side of the English, in the stirring events of King
George's War and the French and Indian War. Upon his coming
to the Ohio Valley, he took up his residence at Logstown.
The first mention of Scarouady in the recorded history of
Pennsylvania is when he, Kakowatcheky, Neucheconneh, Tana-
charison and others wrote a letter from "Aleggainey", on April
20th, 1747, to the Governor of Pennsylvania on behalf of the
Twightwees, or Miamis, of the Ohio Valley, a letter which has al-
ready been mentioned in Chapters VIII and XIII.
In November of this year, he accompanied Canachquasy and a
delegation of ten Mingo warriors from the Kuskuskies region to
Philadelphia, when Canachquasy informed the Provincial Council
that, while it was true that the Onondaga Council had taken a
stand for neutrality in King George's War, yet the young men of
that part of the Iroquois in the Ohio Valley, under his command,
had determined to take up arms against the French, — information
that caused Pennsylvania to send George Croghan and Conrad
Weiser on their embassies to Logstown, Croghan in April, 1748,
and Weiser, in September of that year, as related in Chapters VIII
and XIII. In the minutes of this Council (November 13th, 1747),
Scarouady is described as old and infirm and as having commend-
ed himself to "James Logan's and the Council's Charity." He ad-
vised the Council that he had visited Philadelphia many years be-
fore.
Conrad Weiser accompanied Scarouady, Canachquasy, and
their delegation on their homeward journey as far as John Harris'
Ferry (Harrisburg), where the old chief complained bitterly to
Weiser concerning the abuses of the rum traffic among the Western
Indians. Then Weiser wrote the Provincial Council, on Novem-
ber 28th, characterizing the abuses of the rum traffic among the
214 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Indians as "an abomination before God and man." On the way,
the party stopped at Weiser's home, near Womelsdorf, where
"Scarouady told Shikellamy very privately that Peter Chartier and
his company had accepted the French hatchet, but kept it in their
bosom till they would see what interest they could make in favor of
the French."
But it is in connection with the return to Logstown and other
parts of the upper Ohio Valley of a portion of Peter Chartier's
band of Shawnees that Scarouady's name comes into prominence
in the annals of Pennsylvania. Indeed, it was owing to the subtle
influence of Scarouady that a large number of Chartier's disaffected
Shawnees were induced to desert Chartier and come back under
dominion of the Six Nations. As stated in Chapter VIII, the
Shawnee chiefs, Kakowatcheky and Neucheconneh applied very
submissively to Scarouady, in 1748, to itercede with the Colonial
Authorities for those members of Chartier's band who had return-
ed; and Scarouady's apology for them was laid before the Penn-
sylvania Commissioners at Lancaster, on July 21st, of that year,
as also related in Chapter VIII.
Treaty with the Miamis, or Twightwees
This conference at Lancaster deserves additional mention for
the reason that the Colony of Pennsylvania then and there entered
into a treaty with the Twightwees, or Miamis. These Indians be-
came deeply interested in the English when Croghan carried the
information to Logstown in April, 1748, that Weiser was coming
later in the year with a substantial present from the Province to
the western tribes.
Their fur market with the French was very poor, and they had
heard of the profitable conferences of the Six Nations with Penn-
sylvania. Accordingly, they sent word to the Colonial Authori-
ties that their deputies were coming eastward with the hope of hold-
ing a conference with the Colony of Pennsylvania, at Lancaster.
Weiser urged that a delegation be sent to meet them and conduct
them to Lancaster.
In June, 1748, Weiser presented Andrew Montour, the son of
Madam Montour, to the Provincial Council as a person "who
might be of service to the Colony as Indian interpreter and mes-
senger." Andrew Montour was a prominent man among the Dela-
wares, and well fitted to serve as interpreter. In introducing Mon-
SCAROUADY 215
tour, Weiser said that "he had found him faithful, knowing and
prudent." During the previous winter Weiser had sent Montour
to the Indians on the Ohio and Lake Erie "to observe what passed
among the Indians."
Montour was directed to meet the deputies of the Twightwees
and, if possible, persuade them to come to Philadelphia instead of
Lancaster. When he met the Ohio Indians, however, he found it
impossible to persuade them to come to Philadelphia, because they
feared that the city was "sickly". The Council, therefore, decided
to appoint four commissioners to meet these Indians at Lancaster
at the treaty of July, 1748. At this conference, Montour was the
interpreter of the Twightwees, Conrad Weiser of the Six Nations,
and Scarouady was to have been the speaker of the Ohio Indians,
but was unable to speak on this occasion on account of being dis-
abled by a fall. Therefore, Andrew Montour became the speaker
for all the Western Indians.
After making an appeal on the part of the Shawnees who had
accompanied Chartier down the Ohio, the Twightwee chief took a
piece of chalk and drew on the court house floor a map of the Ohio,
Mississippi, and Wabash. He represented that on the Wabash and
another stream called the Hatchet, the Twightwees had twenty
towns in which they had more than one thousand fighting men.
After the Pennsylvania commissioners and the Twightwees had
smoked the pipe of peace together, a treaty of peace was formally
drawn up with the Twightwees, on condition that they would have
no communication with the French. An exchange of presents then
took place. Pennsylvania gave these Indians goods to the value
of one hundred eighty-nine pounds, and the Twightwees gave the
Pennsylvania commissioners many beaver and deer skins.
Before the Twightwees departed, they were told by the Penn-
sylvania commissioners that there was a prospect of peace be-
tween England and France, to which important statement the
Indians made no answer. The Pennsylvania authorities greatly
appreciated the valueof this newly formed relation with the Twight-
wees, inasmuch as such an alliance tended to enlarge the Indian
trade, and would seriously interrupt communication of the French
in Quebec with their settlements on the Mississippi River, for the
reason that the towns of the Twightwees lay on the route followed
by the French in traveling between their Quebec and Mississippi
settlements.
216 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Scarouady at Logstown Conferences
Scarouady took part in the following conferences at Logstown :
1st. The conference which George Croghan held with the
Indians of that place in April, 1748, advising them that Conrad
Weiser was coming later in the year with a generous present from
the Province of Pennsylvania.
2nd. The conferences which Conrad Weiser held with the
Indians at Logstown in September, 1748, when he delivered the
present above referred to, and allied them with Pennsylvania.
3rd. The conference which Celeron held with the Indians of
Logstown in August, 1749, while on his way down the Ohio, bury-
ing leaden plates at the mouths of tributary streams, proclaiming
that the region drained by the "Beautiful River" belonged to
France.
4th. The conference which George Croghan held with the
Indians at Logstown a few days after Celeron's departure, when
he succeeded in counteracting the influence of the Frenchman. At
about this time, he and Tanacharison deeded Croghan a large tract
of land near the Forks of the Ohio, as mentioned in Chapter XIII.
5th. The conference which George Croghan and Andrew Mon-
tour had with the Indians at Logstown on November 15, 1750, in
an effort to counteract the intrigues of the French, and in which
they promised that a present for the Indians would be brought
to that place the next spring from the Colony of Pennsylvania.
6th. The conference which Christopher Gist, the agent of the
Ohio Company, had with the Indians at Logstown on November 25
and 26, 1750, though, as stated in Chapter XIII, Gist said in his
journal that nearly all of the Indians were out hunting at that
time.
7th. The treaty which the Commissioners from Virginia held
with the Indians at Logstown in June, 1752, which was described in
Chapter XIII.
8th. Scarouady also attended the conference which Croghan
and Montour had with the Indians at Logstown in May, 1751,
when they delivered the present from the Colony of Pennsylvania,
which they had promised on their visit to this place in the preced-
ing November. This conference was mentioned in Chapter XIII.
It was pointed out, in Chapter XIII, that Scarouady was
present at the council held at George Croghan's trading house at
the mouth of Pine Creek on May 12, 1753, at which he and Tana-
charison. on learning that the French were descending the Alle-
SCAROUADY 217
gheny River, decided "that they would receive the French as
friends, or as enemies, depending on their attitude, but that the
English would be safe as long as they themselves were safe."
Scarouady's next important act was to join with Tanacharison
in writing a letter, on June 23d, 1753, to Governor Dinwiddie of
Virginia, appealing to this colony for help to resist the French.
This letter was mentioned in Chapter XIII; and, as stated in that
chapter, Scarouady was one of the deputies of the western tribes
at the treaty at Winchester, in September, 1753.
Scarouady at Carlisle Treaty
The treaty at Carlisle, in October, 1753, was described in
Chapter XIII. At this point, we call attention to the fact that
Scarouady took a prominent part in this treaty, and was one of the
principal speakers. His most important speech was a bitter com-
plaint against the abuses of the rum traffic among the Indians of
the Ohio Valley by the unlicensed traders. Said he:
"The rum ruins us. We never understood the trade was to be
for whiskey and flour. We desire it may be forbidden, no more
sold in the Indian country, but that if the Indians will have any,
they may go among the inhabitants and deal with them for it.
When whiskey traders come, they bring thirty or forty kegs and
put them down before us and make us drink, and get all the skins
that should go to pay the debts we have contracted for goods
bought of the fair traders, and by this means we not only ruin our-
selves, but them too. These wicked whiskey sellers, when they
have once got the Indians in liquor, make them sell the very clothes
from their backs. In short, if this practice be continued, we must
inevitably be ruined. We most earnestly, therefore, beseech you
to remedy it."
The Pennsylvania commissioners expressed their sympathy
for these complaints of the Indians, and promised to lay them be-
fore Governor Hamilton. Then the Indians went to their forest
homes, pleased with their presents and the promises, but the Colon-
ial Authorities did not recall the traders. Neither was the rum
traffic stopped, in spite of the Indians' most solemn protestations.
In the meantime, the great French and Indian War was coming
apace.
After the Carlisle Treaty, Scarouady returned to the Ohio,
where he joined with Tanacharison, an Shannopin's Town, on
October 27th, in writing letters to the Governors of Virginia and
218 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, urging that they join with the Indians of the Ohio
and Allegheny in resisting the occupation of the valleys of those
streams by the French.
Scarouady Meets Washington
Scarouady's next appearance in the history of Pennsylvania
was when George Washington met him at Logstown, in November,
1753, when Washington was on his way to the commandant of the.
French forts on the headwaters of the Allegheny, bearing the mes-
sage of Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia. This meeting was
described in Chapter XIII, and needs no further reference at this
point. Also, in January, 1754, he held council with George Crog-
han and Andrew Montour, at Logstown, and joined with Tana-
charison and Shingas in sending a request to Governor Hamilton
to build a fort on the Ohio, as stated at the end of Chapter XIII.
Scarouady in Washington's Campaign of 1754
In Chapter XIV, we found Scarouady assisting Washington in
his unsuccessful campaign of 1754. This campaign marked the
end of Scarouady's residence at Logstown. On June 26th, while
Washington's forces were in the neighborhood of Gist's plantation
(Mount Braddock), Washington made the following note in his
journal: "An Indian arrived bringing news that Monacatoocha
[Scarouady] had burned his village, Logstown, and was gone by
water to Redstone [Brownsville, Fayette County], and might be
expected there in two days." This was the end of "Old Logstown".
The French, however, rebuilt the village before March, 1755, for
the Shawnees who remained in the vicinity.
Scarouady Succeeds Tanacharison as Half King
In Chapter XIV, we saw that Scarouady, after the defeat of
Washington at the Great Meadows, retreated with Tanacharison
and the Indians remaining loyal to the English, to Aughwick,
where the Indians were provisioned throughout the fall and winter
at the expense of Pennsylvania. He took a prominent part in the
conferences with Conrad Weiser at this place in September, 1754,
in which, it will be remembered, he protested against the Albany
purchase. Upon the death of Tanacharison (October 4th, 1754),
Scarouady succeeded him, not only in the direction of Indian affairs
at Aughwick, but as Half King generally.
SCAROUADY 219
Scarouady Goes to Onondaga Council in English Interest
We saw, in Chapter XIV, how Scarouady, at a Council in
Philadelphia, on December 19th, 1754, gave Governor Morris an
account of the skirmish in which Jumonville was killed. He was
then on his way to the Great Council of the Six Nations, at Onon-
daga, as the representative of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the
Western Indians, to ask the Onondaga Council to send deputies to
Winchester, Virginia, the next spring, to confer on matters of
common interest. The old chief's heart was set on war against the
French. He remained in Philadelphia until Christmas day, and,
before leaving, was given a message by Governor Morris to deliver
to the Onondaga Council, protesting against the sale of the Wyom-
ing lands to Connecticut. This sale had been very irregularly
made by the Mohawks at the time of the great Albany Conference
of June and July, 1754; although the Great Council of the Six
Nations had declared, at this conference, that they would not sell
the Wyoming lands to either Pennsylvania or Connecticut, but
would reserve them as a hunting ground and for the residence of
such Indians as cared to remove from the French and settle there,
and had appointed Shikellamy's son, John, in charge of this terri-
tory.
Scarouady Returns from His Mission
Scarouady returned to Philadelphia in March, 1755, from his
journey to the Six Nations. At a meeting of the Provincial Coun-
cil held on March 31st, he gave a report of his mission. He had
gone no farther than to the Oneidas, who told him that the Onon-
dagas were not well disposed at that time toward the English. He
had held council with the representatives of the Oneidas, Mohawks,
Tuscaroras, and Nanticokes, who desired him, in the name of the
Six Nations, to deliver to them what he had to say, assuring him
that it would be as good and effectual as if delivered at the Great
Council House at Onondaga. Scarouady said to the Provincial
Council:
"I asked how the French came to set down on the Ohio. Is
it by the advice of the counsellors or is it by the orders of the
warriors of the Six Nations? I have it in charge from the Indians
with whom I live at the Ohio, to make this my first question and
not to proceed farther till I am informed of this fact, nor shall I
say a word more till you give me your answer. On which the
chiefs withdrew to council and then returned and spoke as follows:
"'Brother: Our four nations are no ways concerned in the
220 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
settlement of the French on the Ohio, nor is it with our advice or
well-liking. Our fathers, the Mohawks, when they first heard of
the French going to the Ohio, sent a message with a large belt to
the other nations, wherein they set forth that this proceeding of the
French was extremely disagreeable to them and desired that it
might be obstructed and that none of the Nations would suffer it,
but do all in their power to prevent any settlement of the French
in those parts. This message came first to our castles and was
readily agreed to, and then we sent it forward to Onondaga where
it has remained ever since; for the Onondagas said they approved
of what the French were doing, that it was good and would do
no hurt to the Indians, and by this means stopped the belt so that
it went no further.'
"I then delivered Assaragoa's [Virginia's] belt, inviting the
chiefs of the Six Nations to a Council at Winchester, and along
with it and tyed to it, the large belt that was given me jointly by
the Governments of Maryland and Pennsylvania, desiring them
to agree to the Governor of Virginia's proposal, and assuring them,
if they would come to Virginia, they would give them the meeting
there. These invitations they received very gladly, and said they
would lay them before the Great Council that was to meet in a
little time at Onondaga, and did not doubt but that they should
prevail with the Six Nations to comply with the invitation, and
that great numbers would go; but then, as there were several old
people, they could not take upon them to say that they could be
got to come as far as Winchester, but would rather choose Cono-
dogiunet [near Harrisburg], on Sasquehannah: but I said there
were no conveniences there, and that this was but a little way from
John Harris' Ferry where a large company might be accommo-
dated, and I believe they will readily come there.
"The next thing I have to communicate to you is a message
from these four nations to their brethren, the Shawnees, and their
cousins, the Delawares. They desire them to consider themselves
as under the protection of the Six Nations, and that they are well
affected towards them. They bid them be quiet, easy, and still,
nor be disturbed at what is going on, nor meddle at all on any
side till they see or hear from them, and that it will not be long
before they shall see one another and hold conversation together.
In the meantime, as the English were their brethren and their
cause was much favored by the Indians, they desired them to have
their eyes and ears towards the Six Nations and their brethren,
the English, as they had hitherto done, and not to look towards the
French."
SCAROUADY 221
Closing his address to the Provincial Council, Scarouady gave
the following good advice, not only to Pennsylvania but Virginia
and Maryland as well:
"You think you prefectly well understand the management of
Indian affairs, but I must tell you that it is not so, and that the
French are more politick than you. They never employ an
Indian on any business but they give him fine clothes, besides
other presents, and this makes the Indians their hearty friends and
do anything for them. If they invite the Indians to Quebec, they
all return with laced clothes on, and boast of the generous treat-
ment of the French Governor.
"Now, Brethren, some of the Six Nations are going to Canada,
and some say a great number are coming to Virginia. Let me ad-
vise you, as you have time enough, to open those large pieces of
goods that your city is full of, and cut them up into fine clothes,
and have them ready against the treaty at Virginia, for you may
depend upon it those who go to Canada will be finely clothed, and
if your Indians, at their return, do not appear finer than they, they
will be laughed at and made ashamed.
"Further, Brethren:
"I have brought with me three or four warriors, Mohawks and
Oneidas; they are in King George's service; they are valiant men
and faithful friends; I have a particular duty for them to do, of
great consequence to the general cause. These you will be pleased
to take notice of and give them clothes, that they may perform
their business cheerfully, and leave your city well pleased."
A few days later Governor Shirley and Governor Delancey
came to Philadelphia on their way to Annapolis, Maryland, to meet
General Braddock, Governor Dinwiddie, and Governor Sharp.
Scarouady was presented to the visiting governors, and made
many complaints that the Indians whom he had brought with him
from the country of Six Nations to serve in the operations against
the French, were "naked", and that he would be ashamed to take
them with him to Aughwick in so miserable condition. He pointed
out that, if they should be permitted "to go so bare to Aughwick,"
it would prejudice the Indians there very much against the people
of Pennsylvania.
The proposed treaty at Winchester, Virginia, in the spring of
1755 did not take place. General Braddock had his army on the
march toward Fort Duquesne early in the spring. On April 23rd,
Governor Morris of Pennsylvania, wrote George Croghan at
Aughwick advising:
222 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"Let the Indians know that there is no meeting of Governors
at Winchester, but that as the General is on his march, all true
friends of the English are desired not to proceed to Winchester, but
to repair to the army, and distinguish themselves agreeable to their
repeated professions."
Scarouady in Braddock's Campaign
Scarouady took an important part in the fateful campaign of
General Edward Braddock against Fort Duquesne, in the summer
of 1755. We shall not give the details of this campaign, more or
less familiar to all students of Pennsylvania history. All of Brad-
dock's forces were finally collected at Will's Creek, (Cumberland,
Maryland), on the 19th day of May, at which place he remained
until the 10th of June, before setting out for Pennsylvania.
In the latter part of May, George Croghan reached Braddock's
camp at Will's Creek with about fifty warriors whom he had
brought from Aughwick. Among the chiefs assembled to assist
Braddock were: Scarouady, White Thunder, the keeper of the
speech-belts, and Silver Heels, so called, probably, from being
swift of foot. Braddock had expected not only a large delegation
of the Indians from the Ohio Valley, but also a number of
Cherokees and Catawbas, whom Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia,
had given him reason to expect. He was therefore disappointed in
the number of his Indian allies. Scarouady addressed the assem-
bled chiefs and urged them to take up the English cause with
vigor.
Washington Irving's "Life of Washington" contains the fol-
lowing interesting paragraphs concerning the assembling of Scar-
ouady and his warriors at Will's Creek:
"Notwithstanding his secret contempt for the Indians, Brad-
dock, agreeably to his instructions, treated them with great cere-
mony. A grand council was held in his tent, at Fort Cumberland,
where all his officers attended. The chiefs, and all the warriors,
came painted and decorated for war. They were received with
military honors, the guards resting on their firearms. The general
made them a speech through his interpreter, expressing the grief
of their father, the great King of England, at the death of the
Half King, Tanacharison, and made them presents to console
them. They in return promised their aid as guides and scouts, and
declared eternal enemity to the French, following the declaration
with the war song, 'making a terrible noise.'
SCAROUADY 223
"The general, to regale and astonish them, ordered all the
artillery to be fired, 'the drums and fifes playing and beating the
point of war'; the fete ended by their feasting in their own camp
on a bullock which the general had given them, following up their
repast by dancing the war dance round a fire, to the sound of
their uncouth drums and rattles, 'making night hideous', by howls
and yellings.
"For a time all went well. The Indians had their separate
camp, where they passed half the night singing, dancing, and
howling. The British were amused by their strange ceremonies,
their savage antics, and savage decorations. The Indians, on the
other hand, loitered by day about the English camp, fiercely paint-
ed and arrayed, gazing with silent admiration at the parade of the
troops, their marchings and evolutions; and delighted with the
horse-races, with which the young officers recreated themselves.
"Unluckily the warriors had brought their families with them
to Will's Creek, and the women were even fonder than the men of
loitering about the British camp. They were not destitute of
attractions; for the young squaws resemble the gypsies, having
seductive forms, small hands and feet, and soft voices. Among
those who visited the camp was one who no doubt passed for an
Indian princess. She was the daughter of the sachem, White
Thunder, and bore the dazzling name of Bright Lightning. The
charms of these wild-wood beauties were soon acknowledged.
'The squaws,' writes Secretary Peters, 'bring in money plenty; the
officers are scandalously fond of them.'
"The jealousy of the warriors was aroused; some of them be-
came furious. To prevent discord, the squaws were forbidden to
come into the British camp. This did not prevent their being
sought elsewhere. It was ultimately found necessary, for the sake
of quiet, to send Bright Lightning, with all the other women and
children, back to Aughwick. White Thunder, and several of the
warriors, accompanied them for their protection.
"As to the Delaware chiefs, they returned to the Ohio, promis-
ing the general they would collect their warriors together, and
meet him on his march. They never kept their word. 'These
people are villians, and always side with the strongest,' says a
shrewd journalist of the expedition.
"Either from disgust thus caused, or from being actually dis-
missed, the warriors began to disappear from the camp. It is
said that Colonel Innes, who was to remain in command at Fort
Cumberland, advised the dismissal of all but a few to serve as
224 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
guides; certain it is, before Braddock recommended his march, none
remained to accompany him but Scarouady and eight of his war-
riors."
Scarouady Captured
On the 19th of June, when Braddock's first division, with
whom the Indian allies were marching as an advanced party, was
near or within the limits of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and
not far from the Maryland line, Scarouady and his son being at a
small distance from the line of march, were surrounded and taken
by some French and Indians. The son escaped and brought the
intelligence to the warriors, who hastened to rescue or avenge the
aged chief, but found him tied to a tree. The French had been
disposed to kill him; but the Indians with them declared that they
would abandon the French should they do so, thus showing some
tie of friendship or kindred with Scarouady, who then rejoined
Braddock's forces unharmed.
Scarouady's Son Killed
On the 6th of July, three or four soldiers, loitering in the rear
of Braddock's forces, were killed and scalped by the Indian allies
of the French, and several of the grenadiers set off to take revenge.
These came upon a party of the Indians who held up boughs and
grounded their arms as the sign of amity. Either Braddock's
grenadiers did not perceive this sign, or else misunderstood it. At
any rate, they fired upon the Indians and one of them fell, who
proved to be the son of Scarouady. The grenadiers brought the
body of the young warrior to camp. Braddock then sent for Scar-
ouady and the other Indians, and condoled with them on the la-
mentable occurrence, making them the customary presents to wipe
away their tears. He also caused the young man to be buried with
the honors of war, and at his request the officers attended the funer-
al and fired a volley over the grave. The camp that night, located
about two miles southeast of Irwin, Westmoreland County, was
given the name of Camp Monacatoocha, in honor of Scarouady.
Says Irving:
"These soldier-like tributes of respect to the deceased and
sympathy with the survivors, soothed the feelings and gratified the
pride of the father, and attached him more firmly to the service.
We are glad to record an anecdote so contrary to the general con-
tempt for the Indians with which Braddock stands charged. It
speaks well for the real kindness of his heart."
SCAROUADY 225
What part Scarouady played in the remaining part of Brad-
dock's march, or in the disastrous battle with the French and
Indians at the site of the present town of Braddock, Allegheny
County, on the afternoon of July 9th, is clouded in obscurity.
The story of Braddock's defeat has often been told and needs
no further reference at this place, except to point out that Brad-
dock was not ambushed, as many historians have stated. It is
true that Beaujeu, the French commander, had planned an ambush,
and picked a place for it on the evening of July 8th. In the mean-
time, Braddock had crossed the Monongahela, and started up the
slopes of the field of encounter, before the French and Indians had
reached the place which they had selected for ambushing him.
The French account of the battle, after giving the plans of
Beaujeu's detachment, says that he had orders to lie in ambush at
a favorable spot which had been reconnoitered the previous even-
ing; that the detachment, before it could reach the place selected
for ambush, found itself in the presence of Braddock's army; that
Beaujeu, finding his plan of ambush had failed, decided on an
attack; and that he made this attack with so much vigor as to
astonish Braddock's forces. Surely, if the French and Indians
had been lying in ambush, Braddock's scouts would have found
them.
Beaujeu fell early in the action, and the command of the
French and Indians then devolved upon M. Dumas, who with
great presence of mind rallied the Indians when they had begun to
waver upon the death of Beaujeu. They were terrified at the
sound of the English cannon. Dumas then ordered his officers to
lead the Indians to the wings and attack Braddock's forces in the
flank, while he, with the French troops, would maintain a position
in front. This order was promptly obeyed, resulting in the over-
whelming and inglorious defeat of Braddock's army.
Washington saved the army from total destruction. Two
horses were shot under him, and four balls passed through his
clothing. An Indian chief and his braves, after firing at him
many times, concluded that he was protected by the Great Spirit.
In 1770, when Washington, in company with Dr. Craik and
William Crawford, made a journey down the Ohio River to ex-
amine lands given the Virginia soldiers, he met this chief, who,
hearing that Washington was coming down the Ohio Valley, made
a long journey to see the man at whom he and his warriors fired
so often in the battle on the Monongahela fifteen years before.
At the time of the battle Colonel Dunbar, who followed in the
226 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
rear of Braddock's army with his division, artillery, and heavy
stores, had reached a point in the Allegheny Mountains not far
from the place where Jumonville was killed in the first skirmish of
the French and Indian War, and near the former Soldiers' Orphans'
Home at Jumonville. Here he encamped. Here also the survivors
of Braddock's defeat joined him on the 11th. Everything in the
camp was in the greatest confusion. Some of his forces had de-
serted upon hearing the reports of the battle, and "the rest", says
Orme, "seemed to have forgot all discipline." Destroying and
burying most of his ammunition, Dunbar then began his disgrace-
ful retreat. General Braddock, who had been carried with the re-
treating troops, died at the Orchard Camp near the Great Meadows
on the 13th.
Colonel James Smith's Account of Happenings at
Fort Duquesne on the Day of Braddock's Defeat
In May, 1755, the Colony of Pennsylvania began cutting a
wagon road from Fort Loudon to join Braddock's road at Turkey
Foot. James (later Colonel) Smith, then a young man eighteen
years of age, was one of the force of three hundred men engaged in
this work. At a point four or five miles above Bedford, he was
captured by the Indians and carried to Fort Duquesne, where he
was a prisoner at the time of Braddock's defeat. He gives the fol-
lowing description of the happenings at the fort on the day of the
battle:
"Shortly after this, on the 9th day of July, 1755, in the morn-
ing, I heard a great stir in the fort. As I could then walk with a
staff in my hand, I went out of the door, which was just by the
wall of the fort, and stood upon the wall and viewed the Indians
in a huddle before the gate, where were barrels of powder, bullets,
flints, &c, and every one taking what suited; I saw the Indians
also march off in rank entire — likewise the French Canadians, and
some regulars. After viewing the Indians and French in different
positions, I computed them to be about four hundred, and wond-
ered that they attempted to go out against Braddock with so small
a party. I was then in high hopes that I would soon see them fly
before the British troops, and that General Braddock would take
the fort and rescue me.
"I remained anxious to know the advent of this day; and, in
the afternoon, I again observed a great noise and commotion in
the fort, and thouoh at that time I could not understand French,
SCAROUADY 227
yet I found that it was the voice of joy and triumph, and feared
that they had received what I called bad news.
"I had observed some of the old country soldiers speak
Dutch [German]; as I spoke Dutch, I went to one of them, and
asked him, what was the news? He told me that a runner had
just arrived, who said that Braddock would certainly be defeated;
that the Indians and French had surrounded him, and were con-
cealed behind trees and in gullies, and kept a constant fire upon
the English, and that they saw the English falling in heaps, and if
they did not take the river, which was the only gap, and make
their escape, there would not be one man left alive before sundown.
Some time after this, I heard a number of scalp halloos, and saw a
company of Indians and French coming in. I observed they had
a great many bloody scalps, grenadiers' caps, British canteens,
bayonets, &c, with them. They brought the news that Braddock
was defeated. After that, another company came in, which ap-
peared to be about one hundred, and chiefly Indians, and it seemed
to me that almost every one of this company was carrying scalps;
after this, came another company with a number of wagon
horses, and also a great many scalps. Those that were coming in,
and those that had arrived, kept a constant firing of small arms,
and also the great guns in the fort, which were accompanied with
the most hideous shouts and yells from all quarters; so that it ap-
peared to me as if the infernal regions had broke loose.
"About sundown I beheld a small party coming in with about
a dozen prisoners, stripped naked, with their hands tied behind
their backs, and part of their bodies blackened, — these prisoners
they burned to death on the bank of the Allegheny river opposite
the fort. I stood on the fort wall until I beheld them begin to
burn one of these men; they had him tied to a stake, and kept
touching him with fire-brands, red-hot irons, &c, and he screaming
in the most doleful manner, — the Indians in the meantime yelling
like infernal spirits. As this scene appeared too shocking for me
to behold, I retired to my lodgings both sore and sorry.
"When I came into my lodgings, I saw Russel's Seven Ser-
mons, which they had brought from the field of battle, which a
Frenchman made a present of to me. From the best information
I could receive, there were only seven Indians and four French
killed in this battle, and five hundred British lay dead on the
field, besides what were killed in the river on their retreat. The
morning after the battle, I saw Braddock's artillery brought into
the fort; the same day I also saw several Indians in British
228 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
officers' dress, with sash, half moons, laced hats, &c, which the
British then wore."
Smith was a native of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He
remained in captivity among the Indians at Fort Duquesne, Ma-
honing, and Muskingum. He was adopted by his captors. Dur-
ing his captivity among the Indians, he was carried frorp place to
place, spending most of his time at Mahoning and Muskingum.
In about 1759, he accompanied his Indian relatives to Montreal,
where he managed to secrete himself on board a French ship. He
was again taken prisoner and confined for four months, but was
finally exchanged and reached his home in 1760, to find the sweet-
heart of his boyhood married, and all his friends and relatives
supposing him dead. He became a very prominent man on the
Pennsylvania frontier, and during the Revolution, was a captain
on the Pennsylvania line, being promoted, in 1778, to the rank of
colonel. In 1788, he removed to Kentucky, where he at once took
a prominent part in public affairs, serving in the early Kentucky
conventions and in the legislature. He died in Washington
County, Kentucky, in 1812, leaving behind him as a legacy to his-
torians a very valuable account of his Indian captivity.
In the autumn following Braddock's inglorious defeat, the
Delawares and Shawnees began their bloody invasion of Eastern
Pennsylvania. However, there were few, if any, of these tribes
fighting on the side of the French during the Braddock campaign.
The Indians fighting on the side of the French in this campaign
were mostly from the region of the Great Lakes. The Delawares
and Shawnees were simply waiting to see which side would be vic-
torious.
In closing this sketch of Scarouady's part in Braddock's cam-
paign, it may be interesting to state the route followed by Brad-
dock's army after entering Pennsylvania.
On June 19th the army reached Bear Camp, which was almost
directly on the Pennsylvania and Maryland line, about three miles
southeast of Addison, Somerset County. By the 23rd of June, it
had reached Squaw Fort, situated a short distance southeast of
Somerfield, Somerset County. On June 24th, the army passed
over the Great Crossing of the Youghiogheny and encamped three
or four miles east of the Great Meadows, the site of Fort Neces-
sity, where Washington surrendered the year before. On June
25th, the army marched over the very spot where Braddock was
buried a fortnight later, and encamped at the Orchard Camp, where
he died on the night of July 13th. Both the Orchard Camp and
SCAROUADY 229
the place of Braddock's burial are not far from the Summit on the
National Pike, in Fayette County. On June 26th, the army en-
camped at Rock Fort Camp, not far from Washington's Spring,
where, as stated in Chapter XIV, Tanacharison was encamped with
his warriors when he and Washington set out to make the attack on
Jumonville. On June 27th, the army reached Gist's Plantation,
the present Mount Braddock, in Fayette County. On June 28th,
the army reached Stewart's Crossing on the Youghiogheny, at
Connellsville, Fayette County, where it encamped on the western
side of this stream. The army remained in camp all day during
the 29th, crossing the river on the 30th and encamping on the flats
above the river at the mouth of Mount's Creek, Fayette County.
On July 1st, the army encamped at what is known as the Camp
at the Great Swamp, the location of which was near the old Iron
Bridge, southeast of Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, and
near the headwaters of Jacob's and Mount's creeks. On July
2nd, the army encamped at Jacob's Cabin, making a march of
about six miles. This "cabin" belonged to the famous Delaware
chief, Captain Jacobs, whose biography is given in Chapter XVI 1 1.
On July 3rd, the army passed near Mount Pleasant, and encamped
at the headwaters of Sewickley Creek, about five miles southeast of
Madison, Westmoreland County. The camp at this place was
called Salt Lick Camp. On July 4th, the army encamped at
Thicketty-Run (Sewickley Creek), about a mile west of Madison.
From this camp two Indians were sent forward as scouts, as was
also Christopher Gist. All three returned on the 6th, the Indians
bringing the scalp of a French officer they had killed near Fort
Duquesne. On July 6th, the army reached Camp Monacatoocha,
located as we have seen in this chapter, not far from Irwin, West-
moreland County. Here Braddock abandoned his plan to ap-
proach Fort Duquesne by the ridge route or Nemacolin's Trail, in
order to avoid the Narrows of Turtle Creek; and turning sharply
westward, the army followed the valley of Long Run at or near
Stewartsville, and encamped on the night of July 8th, about two
miles from the Monongahela and an equal distance from the mouth
of the Youghiogheny, near McKeesport, Allegheny County. This
was the last camp of the army before the fatal encounter. Here
George Washington, who had been left at the Little Crossing, near
Grantsville, Maryland, on June 19th, on account of illness, rejoin-
ed the army on the morning of July 9th.
230 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Scarouady's Opinion of Braddock
On August 15, 1755, Scarouady and six other chiefs who had
fought with the English at Braddock's defeat, appeared before the
Provincial Council at Philadelphia, received the thanks of the
Council, and were given rewards for their fidelity. At a council
held on August 22nd, Scarouady informed Governor Morris why
most of the Indians with Braddock's army had left him before he
reached the battlefield. Said he: "It is now well known to you
how unhappily we have been defeated by the French near Monon-
gahela. We must now let you know that it was the pride and
ignorance of that great general [Braddock] that came from Eng-
land. He is now dead; but he was a bad man when he was alive;
he looked upon us as dogs; would never hear anything that was
said to him. We often endeavored to advise him, and to tell him
of the danger he was in with his soldiers; but he never appeared
pleased with us, and that was the reason a great many of our war-
riors left him, and would not be under his command. We would
advise you not to give up the point; though we have in a manner
been chastised from above. But let us unite our strength. You
are very numerous, and all the English Governors along your sea-
shore can raise men enough. Don't let those that come from over
the great sea be concerned any more. They are unfit to fight in
the woods. Let us go ourselves, we that came out of this ground.
We may be assured to conquer the French. The Delawares and
Nanticokes have told me that the French never asked them to go
on the late expedition against Braddock; one word of yours will
bring the Delawares to join you. I am going to the Nanticokes,
and shall pass by the Delawares, and any message you have to
send or answer you have to give to them I will deliver to them."
Scarouady insisted that, if the Governor did not avail him-
self of this opportunity to engage these Indians as allies, they would
go over to the French. He endeavored to impress upon the Gov-
ernor and Provincial Council that it was impossible to remain
neutral and live in the woods. Moreover, he claimed to have
great influence among, not only the Indians on the Susquehanna,
but also the Western Indians and the Wyandots in Ohio.
Governor Morris was at a loss to know how to reply to
Scarouady's request that the Delawares be asked to take up arms
against the French. The King of England had not yet declared
war, and so the Governor did not feel at liberty to employ the
Delawares in warlike measures. In his embarrassment he turned
SCAROUADY 231
to Conrad Weiser, who advised him to give Scarouady a general
answer thanking him for his advice and soliciting the lasting
friendship of the old chief and his followers, begging them in the
meantime to await until the decision of the Great Council of the
Six Nations could be learned.
After holding conferences with the Governor on August 18th
and 22nd, Scarouady went by way of Harris' Ferry (Harrisburg)
to Shamokin (Sunbury) to hunt and await developments, from
which place he sent a message to Governor Morris on September
11th, advising him that the Six Nations had sent a black belt of
wampum to the Delawares and Shawnees, ordering them "to lay
aside their petticoats, and clap nothing on but a breech-clout"; to
come with speed to their assistance in the war against the French;
and that he [Scarouady] was assembling a force of Indians to go
against the French among whom were John, James-Logan, and
John-Petty, the three sons of Shikellamy. The Seneca chief, the
Belt, was Scarouady's authority as to the message of the Six Na-
tions, but it is not known to what extent the Belt's information
was true.
In the meantime, Conrad Weiser had gone to Harris' Ferry,
where, early in September, he distributed a wagonload of flour and
other supplies among the friendly Indians. Scarouady's wife was
one of the recipients of this bounty. She informed Weiser that,
shortly after Braddock's defeat, she had aroused her brothers,
Moses and Esras, to go to the Ohio and bring her some French
scalps in revenge for Braddock's death.
CHAPTER XVI.
Scarouady
(Continued)
Penn's Creek Massacre
T is the autumn of 1755. By this time nearly all the
Delawares and Shawnees have gone over to the French.
The bitter fruitage of the Walking Purchase of 1737 and
the Albany Purchase of 1754 is about to be gathered.
The Delawares and Shawnees are about to let loose the dogs of war
on defenseless Pennsylvania.
On the 16th of October of this year, occurred the first Indian
outrage in Pennsylvania after Braddock's defeat. This was an
attack upon the German settlers near the mouth of Penn's Creek,
which flows into the Susquehanna at Selinsgrove, in Snyder
County. It is known in history as the "Penn's Creek Massacre."
It was the first actual break of the treaty of peace which Penn had
entered into with Tamanend shortly after his arrival in the Prov-
ince; and it is significant that the massacre took place almost on the
line of the Albany Purchase of 1754, which so angered the Dela-
wares. The Indians killed, scalped and carried away all the men,
women and children, amounting to about twenty-five in number,
and wounded one man, who fortunately made his escape, and car-
ried the word to George Gabriel's, at the mouth of Penn's Creek.
The company who went out to bury the dead found the corpses of
thirteen" men and elderly women and one child two weeks old. One
of the leaders of the Indians on this occasion was Keckenepaulin. a
Delaware chief, who lived near Jenner's Cross Roads, in Somerset
County. His name has been applied, as stated in Chapter VI, to
the Shawnee town at the mouth of the Loyalhanna, possibly due
to the fact that he resided there for a time. The prisoners were
taken to Kittanning, among them being Barbara Leininger and
Marie LeRoy (Mary King).
Only two days after the Penn's Creek Massacre, or on October
18th, another occurred only a short distance to the eastward, at the
mouth of Mahanoy Creek, about five miles south of Sunbury,
where twenty-five inhabitants were killed or carried into captivity
and every building of the settlement was burned. This massacre
SCAROUADY 233
differed from that of October 16th in that none escaped the massa-
cre of the 18th, whereas one escaped the massacre of the 16th.
Scarouady Warns Settlers
On the 23rd of October, John Harris, Thomas Forster, Captain
McKee, and Adam Terence went to Penn's Creek with a force of
forty men to bury the dead of the massacre of October 16th.
When they arrived, they found that this had already been done.
They then decided to return immediately to the settlements at
Paxtang (Harrisburg), but were urged by John Shikellamy, son
of the vice-gerent of the Six Nations, and the Belt, a Seneca chief,
to go to Shamokin (Sunbury), in order to ascertain the feelings of
the Indians at that place, which they did. They stayed at
Shamokin during the night of the 24th, and heard much in the talk
of the Delawares at that place to alarm them. Scarouady was
present, and advised the party to follow the eastern side of the river
on their return. They left on the morning of the 25th, but fearing
an ambush on the east side of the river they marched down the
western bank; and when they reached the mouth of Penn's Creek,
they were fired upon by a large number of Delawares hidden in
the bushes.
John Harris describes this attack as follows:
"We were attacked by about twenty or thirty Indians, received
their fire, and about fifteen of our men and myself took to the trees
and attacked the villians, killed four of them on the spot, and
lost but three men, retreating about half a mile through the woods
and crossing the Susquehanna, one of which was shot from off an
horse riding behind myself through the river. My horse before
was wounded, and falling in the river, I was obliged to quit and
swim part of the way. Four or five of our men were drowned
crossing the river." Harris further says that the Belt became en-
raged when he heard of this attack, and gathered up a party of
thirty friendly Indians, and pursued the enemy.
The same day that the attack was made on John Harris and
his force, or probably on the next day, the Indians crossed the
Susquehanna and killed many people from Thomas McKee's to
Hunter's Mill. Conrad Weiser gave an account of the massacre
in a letter written at eleven o'clock on the night of October 26th
from his home near Womelsdorf, to James Reed at Reading.
John Harris further advised in the above letter, which was
written from Paxtang on the 28th of October: "The Indians are
234 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
all assembling themselves at Shamokin to counsel; a large body of
them were there four days ago. I cannot learn their intentions,
but it seems Andrew Montour and Scaraouady are to bring down
the news from them. There is not a sufficient number of them to
oppose the enemy; and perhaps they will all join the enemy
against us. There is no dependence on Indians, and we are in
imminent danger.
"I got information from Andrew Montour and others that
there is a body of French with fifteen hundred Indians coming
upon us, — Picks, Ottawas, Orandox, Delawares. Shawnees, and a
number of the Six Nations, — and are not many days march from
this Province and Virginia, which are appointed to be attacked.
At the same time, some of the Shawnee Indians seem friendly, and
others appear like enemies. Montour knew many days ago of the
Indians being on their march against us before he informed; for
which I said as much to him as I thought prudent, considering the
place 1 was in."
Massacres in Fulton and Perry Counties
On October 31st the Delaware chief, Shingas, began incursions
into Fulton County which lasted for several days. Nearly all of
the settlers of the Great Cove and Little Cove were murdered or
taken captive, and their houses and barns were burned. The same
was true of the settlements at McDowell's Mill and Conococheague.
Most of the prisoners were taken to Kittanning where many of
them were burned to death.
Shortly after the incursion into Fulton County, occurred the
murder of the Woolcomber family, Quakers, in Perry County,
thus described in "Loudon's Narratives":
"The next I remember of was in 1755, the Woolcombers
family on Shearman's Creek; the whole of the inhabitants of the
valley was gathered at Robinson's, but Woolcomber would not
leave home, he said it was the Irish [Scotch-Irish] who were killing
one another; these peaceable people, the Indians would not hurt
any person. Being at home and at dinner, the Indians came in,
and the Quaker asked them to come and eat dinner; an Indian an-
nounced that he did not come to eat, but for scalps; the son, a boy
of fourteen or fifteen years of age when he heard the Indian say so,
repaired to a back door, and as he went out he looked back, and
saw the Indian strike the tomahawk into his father's head. The
boy then ran over the creek, which was near the house, and heard
SCAROUADY 235
the screams of his mother, sisters and brother. The boy came to
our Fort [Robinson] and gave us the alarm; about forty went to
where the murder was done and buried the dead."
Cause of Indian Alienation Investigated
The news of these various massacres was laid before the Pro-
vincial Assembly by Governor Morris; whereupon the Assembly
answered with a request to the Governor to inform the House "if
he knew of any injury which the Delawares and Shawnees had re-
ceived to alienate their affections, and whether he knew the part
taken by the Six Nations in relation to this incursion."
Robert Strettell, Joseph Turner, and Thomas Cadwalader,
were appointed a committee to inspect all "minutes of Council and
other books and papers" relating to Pennsylvania's transactions
with the Delawares and Shawnees from the beginning of the
Colony. The committee made an elaborate report, which was
approved and sent to the House on November 22nd, setting forth
the findings of the committee that "the conduct of the Proprietaries
and this Government has been always uniformly just, fair, and
generous towards these Indians."
Scarouady Threatens to Go to the French
While the terrible things related above were happening,
Scarouady was exerting his utmost influence on behalf of the Eng-
lish. On November 1st, he was at Harris' Ferry where he deliv-
ered a message to John Harris, who forwarded it to the Governor,
advising, among other things, that "about twelve days ago the
Delawares sent for Andrew Montour to go to Big Island [Lock
Haven], on which he [Scarouady] and Montour with three more
Indians went up immediately, and found there about six of the
Delawares and four Shawnees, who informed them that they had
received a hatchet from the French, on purpose to kill what game
they could meet with, and to be used against the English if they
proved saucy."
On November 8th, Scarouady and Montour appeared before
the Provincial Council, and gave additional details of their trip to
Big Island. Scarouady said that two Delawares from the Ohio
appeared at the meeting at Big Island and spoke as follows: "We,
the Delawares of Ohio, do proclaim war against the English. We
have been their friends many years, but now have taken up the
236 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
hatchet against them, and will never make it up with them whilst
there is an English man alive.
"When Washington was defeated, we, the Delawares, were
blamed as the cause of it. We will now kill. We will not be
blamed without a cause. We make up three parties of Delawares.
One party will go against Carlisle; one down the Susquehanna;
and another party will go against Tulpehocken to Conrad
Weiser. And we shall be followed by a thousand French and
Indians, Ottawas, Twightwees, Shawnees, and Delawares."
It will be noted that the Delawares gave their being blamed
for Washington's defeat at the Great Meadows, in the summer of
1754, as the cause of their having taken up arms against Penn-
sylvania. Later they told the Shawnee chief, Paxinosa, of
Wyoming, that the cause of their hostility was the Walking Pur-
chase of 1737 and the Albany Purchase of 1754; and the great
Delaware chief, Teedyuscung, stoutly insisted that it was these
wrongs upon the Delawares that caused these friends of William
Penn to take up arms against the Colony he founded.
On the afternoon of the same day, November 8th, Scarouady
appeared before the Governor, his Council, and the Provincial As-
sembly, and told them of the journey which he had recently made
in the interest of the English, up the North Branch of the Susque-
hanna "as far as the Nanticokes live." He stated that he had told
the Nanticokes and other Indians on the Susquehanna that the
defeat of General Braddock had brought about a great turn of af-
fairs; that it was a great blow, but that the English had strength
enough to recover from it. He further said that there were three
hundred friendly Indians on the Susquehanna. (Delawares and
Nanticokes) "who were all hearty in the English interest." For
these he desired the Colony's assistance with arms and ammunition.
He insisted that they should be given the hatchet, and that a fort
should be built for the protection of their old men, women, and
children. They had told him, he said, that whichever party, the
French or English, would seek their assistance first, would be first
assisted; and that he "should go to Philadelphia and apply immedi-
ately to the Government and obtain explicit answer from them
whether they would fight or no." These Indians "waited with im-
patience to know the success of his application."
Then the old chief threw down his belts of wampum upon the
table before the members of the Assembly and said: "I must
deal plainly with you, and tell you if you will not fight with us,
we will go somewhere else. We never can nor ever will put up the
SCAROUADY 237
affront. If we cannot be safe where we are, we will go somewhere
else for protection and take care of ourselves. We have no more
to say, but will first receive your answer to this, and as the times
are too dangerous to admit of our staying long here, we therefore
entreat you will use all the dispatch possible that we may not be
detained." It is possible that Scarouady meant that he and his
followers would go to one of the other colonies, but he was under-
stood as meaning that, unless the Pennsylvania Authorities acted
promptly, he and his followers would go over to the French.
Governor Morris then said to the Provincial Assembly:
"You have heard what the Indians have said. Without your aid,
I can not make a proper answer to what they now propose and ex-
pect of us." The Assembly replied that, as Captain General, the
Governor had full authority to raise men, and that "the Bill now
in his hands granting Sixty Thousand Pounds will enable him to
pay the expenses." This was a bill just passed by the Assembly,
granting this sum for the defense of the Colony, to be raised by a
tax on estates. The Governor opposed the bill on the ground that
the Proprietary estates should not be taxed. He then explained
to Scarouady how his controversy with the Assembly stood, and
that he did not know what to do. Scarouady was amazed and
said that Pennsylvania's failure to comply with his (Scarouady's)
request in behalf of his three hundred friendly Indians would mean
their going over to the French. However, he still offered his own
services and counseled the Governor not to be cast down, but to
keep cool.
After long consultations between Scarouady and Conrad
Weiser, it was determined that Scarouady could render an im-
portant service to the Colony by visiting the Six Nations and Sir
William Johnson, and, after gaining what intelligence he could on
his way to New York, as to the actions of the Indians on the Sus-
quehanna, by laying before the Great Confederation such intelli-
gence as well as the recent conduct of the Delawares.
Scarouady Sent on Mission to Six Nations
Scarouady's decided stand had a good effect on the Governor
and Council. On November 14th, the old chief and Andrew
Montour were sent by the Governor on a mission to the Six Na-
tions. They were instructed to convey the condolence of Pennsyl-
vania to the Six Nations on the death of several of their warriors
who had joined General Shirley and General Johnson and had
238 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
fallen in battle with the French, and to advise the Six Nations how
the Delawares had, in a most cruel manner, fallen upon and mur-
dered so many of the inhabitants of Pennsylvania. In a word,
Scarouady was to give the Six Nations a complete account of the
terrible invasion of the Delawares and Shawnees and to ascertain
whether or not this invasion was made with the knowledge, consent,
or order of the Six Nations, and whether the Six Nations would
chastise the Delawares.
Massacres in Berks County
Berks County, the home of Conrad Weiser, suffered terribly
during this dreadful autumn. On November 14th, as six settlers
were on their way to Dietrick Six's plantation, near what is now
the village of Millersburg, they were fired upon by a party of
Indians. Hurrying toward a watch-house, about half a mile dis-
tant, they were ambushed before reaching the same, and three of
them killed and scalped. A settler named Ury, however, succeeded
in shootng one of the Indians throught the heart, and his body was
dragged off by the other savages. The Indians then divided into
two parties. The one party, lying in ambush near the watch-
house, waylaid some settlers who were fleeing toward that place,
and killed three of them.
The next night some savages crept up to the home of Thomas
Bower, on Swatara Creek, and pushing their guns through a win-
dow of the house, killed a cobbler who was repairing a shoe. They
set fire to the house before being driven off. The Bower family,
having sought refuge through the night at the home of a neighbor,
named Daniel Snyder, and returning to their home in the morning,
saw four savages running away and having with them the scalps of
three children, two of whom were still alive. They also found the
dead body of a woman with a two week's old child under her body,
but unharmed.
Scarouady in Danger From Settlers
Conrad Weiser returned home from Philadelphia on Novem-
ber 17th, accompanied by Scarouady and Andrew Montour on
their way to the Six Nations. He found the Berks County settlers
in a state of great excitement, on account of the Indian outrages.
The settlers of Berks County knew that he had frequently accom-
panied delegations of friendly Indians to Philadelphia. To many
of the settlers whose homes and barns were destroved and whose
SCAROUADY 239
dear ones were murdered or carried into captivity, all Indians
looked alike. Consequently, many of the settlers were now sus-
picious of Weiser, and believed that he was protecting Indians who
did not deserve it. Consequently, also, he had now great difficulty
in conducting Scarouady and Montour towards the Susquehanna.
Said he, in a letter to Governor Morris on November 19th: "I
made all the haste with the Indians [Scarouady and Montour] I
could, and gave them a letter to Thomas McKee, to furnish them
with necessaries for their journey. Scarouady had no creature to
ride on. I gave him one. Before I could get done with the In-
dians, three or four men came from Benjamin Spikers to warn the
Indians not to go that way for the people were so enraged against
all the Indians and would kill them without distinction. I went
with them. So did the gentlemen before named. When we came
near Benjamin Spikers, I saw about 400 or 500 men, and there was
loud noise. I rode before, and in riding along the road and armed
men on both sides of the road, I heard some say: 'Why must we
be killed by the Indians, and not kill them? Why are our hands
so tied?' I got the Indians into the house with much ado, where
I treated them with a small dram, and so parted in love and friend-
ship. Captain Diefenback undertook to conduct them, with five of
our men, to the Susquehanna."
Weiser in Danger
Continuing the above letter, Weiser says:
"After this, a sort of a counsel of war was held by the officers
present, the before named, and other Freeholders.
"It was agreed that 150 men should be raised immediately to
serve as out scouts, and as Guards at Certain Places under the
Kittitany Hills for 40 days. That those so raised to have 2 Shill-
ings a Day & 2 Pounds of Bread, 2 Pounds of Beaff and a j i 11 of
rum, and Powder and lead. Arms they must find themselves.
"This Scheme was signed by a good many Freeholders, and
read to the people. They cried out that so much for an Indian
scalp would they have, be they friends or enemies, from the Gov-
ernor. I told them I had no such power from the Governor nor
Assembly. They began some to curse the Governor; some the As-
sembly; called me a traitor of the country, who held with the In-
dians, and must have known this murder beforehand. I sat in the
house by a lowe window; some of my friends came to pull me away
from it, telling me some of the people threatened to shoot me.
240 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"I offered to go out to the people and either pasefy them or
make the King's Proclamation. But those in the house with me
would not let me go out. The cry was, The Land was betrayed
and sold. The common people from Lancaster [now Lebanon
County] were the worst. The wages they said was a Trifle and
some Body pocketed the Rest, and they would resent it. Some
Body had put it in their head that I had it in my power to give
them as much as I pleased. I was in danger of being shot to death.
"In the meantime, a great smoke arose under Tulpenhacon
Mountain, with the news following that the Indians had committed
a murder on Mill Creek (a false alarm) and set fire to a barn;
most of the people ran, and those that had horses rode off without
any order or regulation. I then took my horse and went home,
where I intend to stay and defend my own house as long as I can.
The people of Tulpenhacon all fled; till about 6 or 7 miles from
me some few remains. Another such attack will lay all the coun-
try waste on the west side of Schuylkill."
Moravians Massacred
Scarouady was hardly started on his journey to the Six
Nations when the tomahawk and scalping knife of the Delawares
became stained anew with the blood of the settlers of Eastern
Pennsylania. On November 24th, the Moravian missionaries at
Gnadenhuetten, Carbon County, were cruelly murdered by a band
of twelve warriors of t.he Munsee Clan of Delawares, led by
Jachebus, chief of the Assinnissink, a Munsee town in Steuben
County, New York. The bodies of the dead were placed in a
grave. A monument marks the spot where the dust of these vic-
tims of savage cruelty reposes, a short distance from Lehighton,
and bears the following inscription:
"To the memory of Gottlieb and Joanna Anders, with their
child, Christiana; Martin and Susanna Nitschnann; Anna Cath-
erine Senseman; John Gattermeyer; George Fabricius, clerk;
George Schweigert; John Frederick Lesly; and Martin Presser;
who lived here at Gnadenhuetten unto the Lord, and lost their lives
in a surprise from Indian warriors, November 24, 1755. Precious
in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. — Psalm 96
CXVI 15".
Attack on Hoeth and Broadhead Families
On December 10th and 11th, occurred the attack on the
Hoeth and Broadhead families. The Hoeth family lived on Poco-
Poco Creek, afterwards known as Hoeth's Creek, and now generally
SCAROUADY 241
known as Big Creek, a tributary of the Lehigh above Weissport.
This family was almost exterminated.
After committing the outrages on the Hoeths, the same
band proceeded to the Broadheads, who lived near the mouth of
Broadhead Creek, not far from the site of Stroudsburg, Monroe
County. In the attack on the Broadhead family, they met with
determined resistance, and were finally obliged to retire. All the
members of the Broadhead family were noted for their bravery.
Among the sons was the famous Colonel, later General Broadhead,
of the Revolutionary War.
Also on New Year's Day, 1756, a guard of forty militia, who
had been sent to erect a fort near the Moravian town of Gnaden-
huetten, above mentioned, were attacked by hostile Delawares, and
the greater number of them killed. The Indians on the same day
laid waste the country between Gnadenhuetten and Nazareth.
Northampton County, killing many settlers and burning farm
houses and barns.
Assembly and Governor Dispute While Settlers Die
Indeed, from the Penn's Creek massacre until well into the
year of 1756, terror reigned throughout the Pennsylvania settle-
ments. It is a sad fact that while the Indians were thus burning
and scalping on the frontier, the Assembly and Governor, instead
of putting the Colony in a state of defense, spent their time in dis-
putes as to whether or not the Proprietary estates should be taxed
to raise money to defend the Province, — a disgusting chapter in the
history of Pennsylvania. The srhoke of burning farm houses
darkened the heavens; the soil of the forest farms of the German
and Scotch-Irish settlers was drenched with their blood; the
tomahawk of the savage dashed out the brains of the aged and the
infant; hundreds were carried into captivity, many of whom were
tortured to death by fire at Kittanning and other Indian towns in
the valleys of the Allegheny and the Ohio to which they were
taken — all of these dreadful things were taking place as the dis-
putes between the Governor and the Assembly continued.
Says Egle, in his "History of Pennsylvania": "The cold in-
difference of the Assembly at such a crisis awoke the deepest indig-
nation throughout the Province. Public meetings were held in
various parts of Lancaster and in the frontier counties, at which it
was resolved that they would repair to Philadelphia and compel
the Provincial authorities to pass proper laws to defend the country
and oppose the enemy. In addition, the dead bodies of some of
the murdered and mangled were sent to that city and hauled about
242 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the streets, with placards announcing that these were the victims
of the Quaker policy of non-resistance. A large and threatening
mob surrounded the house of Assembly, placed the dead bodies in
the doorway, and demanded immediate relief for the people of the
frontiers. Such indeed were the desperate measures resorted to for
self defense."
Finally, on November 26th, the very day that the news reach-
ed Philadelphia of the slaughter of the Moravian missionaries at
Gnadenhuetten, "An Act For Granting 60,000 pounds to the King's
Use" was passed, after the Proprietaries had made a grant of 5,000
pounds in lieu of the tax on the Proprietary estates.
Benjamin Franklin Begins Erection of Chain of Forts
Pennsylvania then began erecting a chain of forts and block-
houses to guard the frontier. These forts extended along the
Kittatinny or Blue Mountains from the Delaware River to the
Maryland line, and the cost of erection was eighty-five thousand
pounds. They guarded the important mountain passes, were gar-
risoned by from twenty-five to seventy-five men in pay of the Pro-
vince, and stood almost equi-distant, so as to be a haven of refuge
for the settlers when they fled from their farms to escape the
tomahawk and scalping knife. The Moravians at Bethlehem
cheerfully fortified their town and took up arms in self-defense.
Benjamin Franklin and James Hamilton were directed to go to the
Forks of the Delaware and raise troops in order to carry the plan
into execution. On December 29th, 1755, they arrived at Easton,
and appointed William Parsons major of the troops to be raised in
the county of Northampton. In the meantime, Captain Hays had
been ordered to New Gnadenhuetten, the scene of the massacre of
the Moravian missionaries on November 24th, with his militia
from the Irish settlement in the county. The attack on these
militia on New Year's Day, 1756, has been narrated. Finally, the
Assembly requested Franklin's appearance, and, responding to this
call, he turned his command over to Colonel William Clapham.
This chain of forts began with Fort Dupui, erected on the
property of the Hugenot settler, Samuel Dupui, in the present
town of Shawnee, on the Delaware River, in Monroe County.
Next came Fort Hamilton, on the site of the present town of
Stroudsburg, in Monroe County. Fort Penn was also erected in
the eastern part of this town. These three forts were in the heart
of the territory of the Munsee Clan of Delawares. Next was Fort
SCAROUADY 243
Norris, about a mile southeast of Kresgeville, Monroe County;
and fifteen miles west was Fort Allen where Weissport, Carbon
County now stands. Then came Fort Franklin in Albany Town-
ship, Berks County; and nineteen miles west was, Fort Lebanon,
also known at Fort William, not far from the present town of
Auburn, in Schuylkill County. Then came Fort Henry at Dietrick
Six's, near Millersburg, Berks County. This post is sometimes
called "Busse's Fort" from its commanding officer, also the "Fort
at Dietrick Six's". Fort Lebanon and Fort Henry were twenty-
two miles apart, and midway between them was the small post,
Fort Northkill. Next came Fort Swatara, located in the vicinity
of Swatara Gap, or Tolihaio Gap; then Fort Hunter, on the east
bank of the Susquehanna River at the mouth of Fishing Creek, six
miles north of Harrisburg; then Fort Halifax at the mouth of
Armstrong Creek, half a mile above the present town of Halifax,
on the east bank of the Susquehanna, in Dauphin County. While
there were numerous block-houses, these posts were the principal
forts east of the Susquehanna.
Crossing the Susquehanna, we find Fort Patterson in the
Tuscarora Valley at Mexico, Juniata County; Fort Granville, near
Lewistown, Mifflin County; Fort Shirley, at Shirleysburg, Hunt-
ingdon County; Fort Lyttleton at Sugar Cabins, in the
northeastern part of Fulton County; Fort McDowell, where Mc-
Dowell's Mill, Franklin County, now stands; Fort Loudoun, about
a mile distant from the town of Loudoun, Franklin County; and
Fort Lowther, at Carlisle, Cumberland County. Like the forts
east of the Susquehanna, these forts were supplemented with block-
houses in the vicinity. The erection of the entire chain of forts was
completed in 1756.
Regina Hartman, the German Captive
As an example of the tragedies which the invasion of the
Delawares brought upon the settlers of Eastern Pennsylvania, at
the time of which we are writing, we deem it not inappropriate to
insert, at this place, the account of the capture of Regina Hartman.
The story of her capture, captivity among the Indians, and release
has been told in many works dealing with the early history of
Pennsylvania; and we quote as it is related in the "Frontier Forts
of Pennsylvania":
"The Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenoerg [a son-in-law of
Conrad Weiser] relates in the 'Hallische Nachrichten,' p. 1029, a
244 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
touching incident, which has been frequently told, but is so
'apropos' to this record that it should not be omitted. It was of
the widow of John Hartman who called at his house in February,
1765, who had been a member of one of Rev. Kurtz's [a Lutheran
pastor in Berks County] congregations. She and her husband
had emigrated to this country from Reutlingen, Wurtemberg, and
settled on the frontiers of Lebanon County. The Indians fell
upon them in October, 1755, killed her husband, one of the sons,
and carried off two small daughters into captivity, whilst she and
the other son were absent. On her return she found the home in
ashes, and her family either dead or lost to her, whereupon she fled
to the interior settlements at Tulpehocken and remained there.
"The sequel to this occurrence is exceedingly interesting. The
two girls were taken away. It was never known what became of
Barbara, the elder, but Regina, with another little girl two years
old, were given to an old Indian woman, who treated them very
harshly. In the absence of her son, who supplied them with food,
she drove the children into the woods to gather herbs and roots to
eat, and, when they failed to get enough, beat them cruelly. So
they lived until Regina was about nineteen years old and the other
girl eleven. Her mother was a good Christian woman, and had
taught her daughters their prayers, together with many texts from
the Scriptures, and their beautiful German hymns, much of which
clung to her memory during all these years of captivity.
"At last, in the providence of God, Colonel Bouquet brought
the Indians under subjection in 1764, [at the end of Pontiac's
War] and obliged them to give up their captives More than four
hundred of these unfortunate beings were gathered together at
Carlisle, amongst them the two girls, and notices were sent all over
the country for those who had lost friends and relatives, of that
fact. Parents and husbands came, in some instances, hundreds of
miles, in the hope of recovering those they had lost, the widow be-
ing one of the number. There were many joyful scenes, but more
sad ones. So many changes had taken place, that, in many in-
stances, recognition seemed impossible. This was the case with
the widow. She went up and down the long line, but, in the young
women who stood before her, dressed in Indian costume, she failed
to recognize the little girls she had lost. As she stood, gazing and
weeping, Colonel Bouquet compassionately suggested that she do
something which might recall the past to her children. She could
think of nothing but a hymn which was formerly a favorite with
the little ones:
ScAROUADY 245
'Allein, und doch nicht ganz allein,
Bin ich in meiner Einsamkeit.'
[The English translation of the first stanza of this hymn is as
follows: fA1 , .
Alone, yet not alone am 1,
Though in this solitude so drear;
I feel my Saviour always nigh,
He comes the very hour to cheer;
I am with Him, and He with me,
E'en here alone 1 cannot be.']
"She commenced singing, in German, but had barely complet-
ed two lines, when poor Regina rushed from the crowd, began to
sing also and threw her arms around her mother. They both wept
for joy and the Colonel gave the daughter up to her mother. But
the other girl had no parents, they having probably been murdered.
She clung to Regina and begged to be taken home with her. Poor
as was the widow she could not resist the appeal and the three de-
parted together."
The Murder of Frederick Reichelsdorfer's Daughters
"The Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania" contains, also, the fol-
lowing account of one of the saddest tragedies of the autumn of
1755:
"The Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, D. D., in the Hall-
ische Nachrichten, tells the soul-stirring story of Frederick Reich-
elsdorfer, whose two grown daughters had attended a course of in-
struction, under him, in the Catechism, and been solemnly ad-
mitted by confirmation to the communion of the Ev. Lutheran
Church, in New Hanover, Montgomery County.
"This man afterwards went with his family some distance into
the interior, to a tract of land which he had purchased in Albany
township, Berks County (see under Fort Everett also). When
the war with the Indians broke out, he removed his family to his
former residence, and occasionally returned to his farm, to attend
to his grain and cattle. On one occasion he went, accompanied by
his two daughters, to spend a few days there, and bring away some
wheat. On Friday evening, after the wagon had been loaded, and
everything was ready for their return on the morrow, his daughters
complained that they felt anxious and dejected, and were impressed
with the idea that they were soon to die. They requested their
father to unite with them in singing the familiar German funeral
hymn,
246 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
'Wer weiss wie nahe meine Ende?'
[Who knows how near my end may be?]
after which they commended themselves to God in prayer, and re-
tired to rest.
"The light of the succeeding morn beamed upon them, and all
was yet well. Whilst the daughters were attending to the dairy,
cheered with the joyful hope of soon greeting their friends, and be-
ing out of danger, the father went to the field for the horses, to pre-
pare for their departure home. As he was passing through the
field, he suddenly saw two Indians, armed with rifles, tomahawks
and scalping knives, making towards him at full speed. The sight
so terrified him that he lost all self command, and stood motionless
and silent. When they were about twenty yards from him, he
suddenly, and with all his strength, exclaimed 'Lord Jesus, living
and dying, I am thine!' Scarcely had the Indians heard the words
'Lord Jesus' (which they probably knew as the white man's name
of the Great Spirit), when they stopped short, and uttered a
hideous yell.
"The man ran with almost supernatural strength into the
dense forest, and by taking a serpentine course, the Indians lost
sight of him, and relinquished the pursuit. He hastened to an ad-
joining farm, where two German families resided, for assistance,
but on approaching near it, he heard the dying groans of the
families, who were falling beneath the murderous tomahawks of
some other Indians.
"Having providentially not been observed by them, he has-
tened back to learn the fate of his daughters. But, alas! on ar-
riving within sight, he found his home and barn enveloped with
flames. Finding that the Indians had possession here too, he has-
tened to another adjoining farm for help. Returning, armed with
several men, he found the house reduced to ashes and the Indians
gone. His eldest daughter had been almost entirely burnt up, a
few remains only of her body being found. And, awful to relate,
the younger daughter though the scalp had been cut from her head,
and her body horribly mangled from head to foot with the toma-
hawk, was yet living. 'The poor worm,' says Muhlenberg, 'was
able to state all the circumstances of the dreadful scene.' After
having done so she requested her father to stoop down to her that
she might give him a parting kiss, and then go to her dear Saviour;
and after she had impressed her dying lips upon his cheek, she
yielded her spirit into the hands of that Redeemer, who, though
SCAROUADY 247
His judgments are often unsearchable, and His ways past finding
out, has nevertheless said, 'I am the resurrection and the life; if
any man believe in me, though he die yet shall he live.' '
Murder of the Kobel Family
On November 24th, 1755, Conrad Weiser wrote Governor
Morris concerning the murder of the Kobel family, as follows:
"I cannot forbear to acquaint your Honor of a certain Cir-
cumstance of the late unhappy Affair: One Kobel,
with his wife and eight children, the eldest about fourteen Years
and the youngest fourteen Days, was flying before the Enemy, he
carrying one, and his wife and a Boy another of the Children, when
they were fired upon by two Indians very nigh, but hit only the
Man upon his Breast, though not Dangerously. They, the In-
dians, then came with their Tomahawks, knocked the woman
down, but not dead. They intended to kill the Man, but his Gun
(though out of order so that he could not fire) kept them off.
The Woman recovered so farr, and seated herself upon a Stump,
with her Babe in her Arms, and gave it Suck, and the Indians driv-
ing the children together, and spoke to them in High Dutch, 'Be
still; we won't hurt you.' Then they struck a Hatchet into the
woman's Head, and she fell upon her Face with her Babe under
her, and the Indian trod on her neck and tore off the scalp. The
children then run; four of them were scalped, among which was a
Girl of Eleven Years of Age, who related the whole Story; of the
Scalped, two are alive and like to do well. The Rest of the Chil-
dren ran into the Bushes and the Indians after them, but our Peo-
ple coming near to them, and hallowed and made noise; the Indians
Ran, and the Rest of the Children were saved. They ran within
a Yard by a Woman that lay behind an Old Log, with two Chil-
dren; there was about Seven or Eight of the Enemy."
Scarouady Returns From Mission to the Six Nations
As stated earlier in this chapter, Scarouady and Andrew Mon-
tour had been sent by the Governor of Pennsylvania as messengers
to the Six Nations, late in 1755. They returned to Philadelphia
from this mission on March 21, 1756, and on the 27th of that
month, they appeared before the Provincial Council, and made a
report of their journey. They had gone by way of Tulpehocken
and Thomas McKee's trading post to Shamokin; and from there
through Laugpaughpitton's Town and Nescopeck to Wyoming
248 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
(Plymouth, Luzerne County). At Wyoming they found a large
number of Delawares, some Shawnees, Mohicans, and members of
the Six Nations. They next came to Asserughney, a Delaware
Town, twelve miles above Wyoming, on the north side of the
Lackawanna River at its mouth. Their next stop was at Chink-
annig (Tunkhannock), twenty miles farther up the Susquehanna,
where they found the great Delaware chief, Teeduscung, with
some Delawares and Nanticokes. Their next stop was at Diahogo
(Tioga), a town composed of Mohicans and Delawares of the
Munsee Clan, located where Athens, Bradford County, now stands,
at which place they found ninety men. About twenty-five miles
beyond, they came to the deserted town of Owegy. Leaving this
place they arrived at Chugnut, about twenty miles distant. About
five miles above Chugnut, was the town of Otseningo, where they
found thirty cabins and about sixty warriors of the Nanticokes,
Conoys, and Onondagas. Fourteen miles beyond this place they
came to Oneoquagque, where they sent a message to the Gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania, written by Rev. Gideon Hawley. From
there they proceeded to Teyonnoderre and Teyoneandakt, and next
to Caniyeke, the Lower Mohawk Town, located about two miles
from Fort Johnson, and about forty miles from Albany, New
York. At Fort Johnson, they held a conference in February, 1756,
with Sir William Johnson and the chiefs of the Six Nations, who
expressed great resentment over the action of the hostile Dela-
wares.
This was a very dangerous journey for Scarouady and Mon-
tour. While they were at Wyoming, their lives were threatened
by a party of eighty Delaware warriors, who came soon after their
arrival. While Scarouady was consulting with the oldest chief in
the evening, the rest cried out of doors: "Let us kill the rogue;
we will hear of no mediator, much less of a master; hold your ton-
gue, and be gone, or you shall live no longer. We will do what we
please." Said Scarouady: "All the way from Wyoming to
Diahogo, a day never passed without meeting some warriors, six,
eight, or ten in a party; and twenty under command of Cut Finger
Pete, going after the eighty warriors which we saw at Wyoming.
All the way we met parties of Delawares going to join
the eighty warriors there."
Scarouady reported that, at Wyoming he and Montour found
John Shikellamy, son of the great vice-gerent of the Six Nations,
with the hostile Delawares. They took him aside, and upbraided
him severely for his ingratitude to Pennsylvania, "which had ever
SCAROUADY 249
been extremely kind to his father when alive." Then John
Shikellamy explained that he was with the enemies of the Colony,
because he could not help it, as they had threatend to kill him if
he did not join them.
Scarouady again appeared before the Provincial Council on
April 3rd and gave additional details of his journey. Said he:
"You desired us in your instructions to inquire the particular rea-
sons assigned by the Delawares and Shawnees for their acting in
the manner they do against this Province. I have done it and all
I could get from the Indians is that they heard them say their
brethren, the English, had accused them very falsely of joining
with the French after Colonel Washington's defeat, and if they
would charge them when they were innocent, they could do no
more if they were guilty; this turned them against their brethren
and now indeed the English have good reason for any charge they
may make against them, for they are heartily their enemies."
As to the attitude of the Six Nations, Scarouady reported:
"The Six Nations in their reply expressed great resentment of the
Delawares; they threatened to shake them by the head, saying they
were drunk and out of their senses and would not consider the
consequences of their ill behavior and assured them that, if they
did not perform what they had promised they should be severely
chastized." At this meeting of the Provincial Council and at
others held early in April, Scarouady expressed himself as favoring
a declaration of war by Pennsylvania against the Delawares, and
ventured the opinion that the Six Nations would approve of such
action.
Pennsylvania Declares War Against the Delawares
As a result of the foregoing conferences with Scarouady, Gov-
ernor Morris and the Provincial Council on April 14, 1756, made a
formal declaration of war against the Delawares, and offered re-
wards for Indians' scalps, as follows:
"For every male Indian enemy above twelve years old, who
shall be taken prisoner and delivered at any fort, garrisoned by the
troops in pay of this Province, or at any of the county towns to
the keepers of the common jail there, the sum of 150 Spanish dol-
lars or pieces of eight; for the scalp of every male enemy above
the age of twelve years, produced to evidence of their being killed
the sum of 130 pieces of eight; for every female Indian taken
prisoner and brought in as aforesaid, and for every male Indian
prisoner under the age of twelve years, taken and brought in as
250 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
aforesaid, 130 pieces of eight; for the scalp of every Indian wo-
man, produced as evidence of their being killed, the sum of fifty
pieces of eight, and for every English subject that has been killed
and carried from this Province into captivity that shall be recov-
ered and brought in and delivered at the City of Philadelphia, to
the Governor of this Province, the sum of 130 pieces of eight, but
nothing for their scalps; and that there shall be paid to every
officer or soldier as are or shall be in the pay of the Province who
shall redeem and deliver any English subject carried into captivity
as aforesaid, or shall take, bring in and produce any enemy pris-
oner, or scalp as aforesaid, one-half of the said several and respec-
tive premiums and bounties."
The Scalp Act had the effect of causing hundreds of brave
warriors of the Delawares and Shawnees who were up to that time
undecided, to take up arms against the Colony. "A mighty shout
arose which shook the very mountains, and all the Delawares and
Shawnees, except a few old sachems, danced the war dance."
James Logan, a prominent Quaker member of the Provincial
Council, and former Secretary of the same, opposed the declaration
of war, though he was a strict advocate of defensive warfare.
Conrad Weiser was in favor of the declaration of war, but strongly
opposed to offering rewards for scalps. He said that the Colony
might offer rewards for Indian prisoners, but that a bounty for
scalps would certainly tend to aggravate existing affairs. He
argued that anyone could bring in these scalps, and there was no
means of distinguishing the scalps of friendly Indians. "Indeed,"
says Walton, "this was the core of the whole difficulty. Scalps of
friendly Indians were taken, and the peace negotiations with the
Eastern Indians frustrated."
Scarouady Favors Peace
The declaration of war against the Delawares was very dis-
tasteful to the Quaker members of the Provincial Assembly. They
believed that the entire Indian policy of the Colony had been re-
versed by such declaration and that the Delawares and Shawnees
would not have taken up arms against the Colony without a
grievance. Furthermore, they believed that adequate efforts had
not been made towards reconciliation before war was declared.
Therefore, when some friendly Indians were in Philadelphia a few
days after the declaration of war, Israel Pemberton waited upon
the Governor on behalf of numerous members of the Society of
SCAROUADY 251
Friends, and asked the Governor's permission to invite the Indians
to dine with a committee of Quakers, to the end that the Indian
grievances might be ascertained and additional efforts made to
bring about peace. The Quakers offered to bear all expenses, to
conduct the negotiations as a private matter, and do nothing with-
out the approval of the Governor. The Governor granted per-
mission on condition that Conrad Weiser should be informed of
everything said to the Indians by the Quakers and everything said
to the Quakers by the Indians. Pemberton then set forth at a din-
ner the well known peace principles of the Society of Friends.
The Indians, especially Scarouady, their speaker, were greatly
pleased. The old chief declared that the Six Nations would join
eagerly in a project for establishing peace.
Following the dinner, Weiser and Pemberton had a long con-
ference with Scarouady, in which it was decided to send messen-
gers to the Six Nations "setting forth their conferences with the
Quakers, their religious principles and their characters, and the
influence they had as well with the Government as a people, their
desiring to bring about a peace, and their offer to become media-
tors between them and the Government; that he [Scarouady] and
the other Six Nations had heard what they said with pleasure and
desired that they would hearken to it, cease their hostilities and
accept this mediation, and lest they (the Delawares and Shawnees)
might be afraid that they had done too much mischief and taken
too many lives, even more than could be possibly forgiven, he
assured them that these peaceable people would, notwithstanding
this, obtain their pardon if they would immeditaely desist, send
the English prisoners to some place, and deliver them up to the
Governor, and request peace of him and forgiveness for what was
passed."
Pemberton and Weiser laid the report of the conference before
the Governor, who called the Provincial Council together and sub-
mitted four questions:
1st. Whether it were proper to permit the Society of Friends
to act as mediators. 2nd. Whether or not a peace should be pro-
posed on conditions of forgiveness and return of prisoners taken.
3rd. Whether or not such a message would obstruct the establish-
ing of a fort which the Colony contemplated building at Shamokin.
4th. Whether or not it would be better to invite such friendly
Indians as Paxinosa, chief of the Shawnees of Wyoming, to come
near the settlements and be out of danger.
The Provincial Council being opposed to the Government's
252 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
assuming any responsibility, advised the Governor to leave the
matter entirely with the Quakers. Scarouady, Captain New
Castle, and several other friendly Indians agreed to carry the
peace message among the hostile Delawares and the Six Nations.
They were instructed to ask the Six Nations to solicit the influence
of Sir William Johnson, of New York, in persuading the Colony of
Pennsylvania to recall the declaration of war and the act providing
a bounty for scalps.
Weiser advised the Governor that the declaration of war
should stand, believing that it would influence the Delawares to
ask for peace. He believed further that the Six Nations would
agree to this, and called the attention of both the Governor and the
Provincial Council to the fact that Scarouady as the representative
of the Six Nations was not offended at the "Scalp Act."
The Delaware chiefs, Captain New Castle, Jonathan, and
Andrew Montour were very eager for peace and offered to risk
their lives in carrying the overtures of the Governor. However,
while the Delawares had virtually thrown off the yoke of Iroquois
bondage, yet the hatred of these three Delaware chiefs for their
former masters was so strong that they positively declared that
they would do nothing for Scarouady and the Six Nations. The
Governor then decided to have no professional connection with
the matter, but the day following his decision, he received a letter
from Sir William Johnson, of New York, criticizing Pennsylvania's
declaration of war and the Scalp Bounty Act. Governor Morris
then changed his mind once more, and decided that he would send
the peace message in his own name. The messengers then went
forth among the Delawares and the Shawnees of the Susquehanna.
Scarouady also went to the territory of the Six Nations, car-
rying the Governor's peace message to Sir William Johnson, at-
tending many conferences and making speeches in an effort to
bring about peace. One of these was delivered at a meeting at
Fort Johnson, New York, on May 10, 1756, between Sir William
Johnson and a number of Oneida chiefs. Another was delivered
on July 1, 1756, at the conference of the Six Nations with Sir
William Johnson in behalf of the Shawnees and Delawares. An-
other was made at the German Flats, New York, on August 26,
1756, when Sir William Johnson spoke to the two parties of In-
dians, one under the command of Scarouady and Montour and
another under command of Thomas, an Oghquaga chief. On
this occasion Johnson asked the two bands of Indians to go to the
Oneida Carrying Place to meet the army of General Webb. He
SCAROUADY 253
said that he would send Croghan with them to this place. Scar-
ouady and Montour promised to accompany Croghan, but delayed
their departure from day to day. In the meantime General Webb
having destroyd his forts and abandoned the Carrying Place, re-
turned to the German Flats. The proposed expedition under
Croghan therefore did not start.
Final Conferences of Scarouady
While Scarouady was in New York exerting all the powers of
his eloquence in behalf of peace, the French and Indian War went
on in Pennsylvania. A line of forts with intervening block houses
was erected along the base of the Blue Mountains from Easton to
the Maryland line; but the savages broke through this line of
fortifications and continued their work of blood and death on the
frontier. On April 4, 1756, they burned McCord's Fort on the
Conococheague, in Franklin County, and the entire garrison of
twenty-seven was killed or captured. On August 1, 1756, they
burned Fort Granville, near Lewistown, Mifflin County, and cap-
tured the entire garrison after killing Lieutenant Edward Arm-
strong, the commander. The Indian forces were Delawares under
command of Captain Jacobs of Kittanning. The prisoners were
carried to that place where some of them were tortured to death,
among these being John Turner, who had opened the gates at Fort
Granville to the enemy. Lieutenant Armstrong's brother, Colonel
John Armstrong, then raised a force of three hundred soldiers from
Cumberland County, marched over the Allegheny Mountains, and
on September 8th, burned the great Delaware town of Kittanning,
which had been the starting point for so many expeditions that
spread terror and death on the frontier. An account of the de-
struction of Kittanning will be given more fully in Chapter XVIII.
Scarouady returned to Pennsylvania and held a conference
with George Croghan and one hundred and sixty Indians, chiefly
chiefs from the Six Nations, at Harris' Ferry, on April 1st and 2nd,
1757. He then accompanied them to Lancaster, where they re-
mained until the end of the month and where additional confer-
ences were held in the hope of establishing permanent peace.
Many of the chiefs died of smallpox while at Lancaster.
On April 26, 1757, Scarouady, with a party of Mohawk war-
riors, set forth for Fort Augusta which had been erected at
Shamokin, to reconnoiter the wilderness in that vicinity, and then
to proceed toward the Ohio on a scouting expedition. Scarouady
254 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
proposed this expedition, stating that he was very apprehensive
that the French would make an attempt against Fort Augusta; and
so he believed it well to reconnoiter the country between that place
and the Ohio, and if he found any French in the region, he would
return and give notice to the commander of the fort.
The Colonial Records are not clear as to whether Scarouady
actually went to the region of the Ohio and Allegheny, but on May
9th, Croghan reported that "three of the messengers I sent to the
Ohio, returned." They had gone to Venango (Franklin) and other
points in the western region. They reported that they were ad-
vised by the Indians of Venango, Kuskuskies, and those who had
formerly lived at Kittanning, that the French were determined to
make another trial against the English, but that they could not tell
where they intended to strike next.
Death of Scarouady
The date of Scarouady's death is not known, but it was prior
to August 26th, 1758, on which day several Mohawks came to
Philadelphia from the territory of the Six Nations, bringing with
them Scarouady's wife and all her children. She presented
Governor Denny with "her husband's Calumet Pipe, and desired
that he and the Indians might smoke it together; she intended to
have gone into the Cherokee country, but had altered her mind,
and would stay here with her children." Probably the old chief
lost his life in one of Johnson's expeditions ; n New York.
It is with sincere regret that we take leave of Scarouady, an
admirable character, a forceful orator, the leading speaker at many
important conferences, the wise counselor, the strong enemy of the
French, the firm friend of the English. Far past the prime of life
when he first appears upon the scene, his aged shoulders bore a
mighty burden to the end of his eventful career.
CHAPTER XVII.
Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy
and Paxinosa
NTERRUPTING, for a moment, the recital of the atroci-
ties and battles of the French and Indian War, we devote
this chapter to the biographies of three great Indian per-
sonages who were loyal to Pennsylvania before and dur-
ing this bloody conflict.
QUEEN ALLAQUIPPA
Queen Allaquippa (Aliquippa), for whom the town of Ali-
quippa, in Beaver County, is named, and near which she is said to
have at one time lived, is generally spoken of as a Seneca, though
some authorities say that it is probable that she was a Mohawk.
The weight of authority, however, is in favor of the contention
that she was a Seneca. Conrad Weiser says that she belonged to
this tribe. If she were a Mohawk, Weiser certainly would have
known it, as he himself was an adopted son of the Mohawk nation.
By many authorities Queen Allaquippa is said to have been
the mother of Canachquasy, the account of whom is given later in
this chapter, and that she and her husband visited William Penn
at New Castle, Delaware, shortly before he sailed for England the
last time, in the autumn of 1701. There is no doubt that the par-
ents of Canachquasy, whoever they were, went with their child to
New Castle to bid farewell to the founder of the Colony; and if
Queen Allaquippa were the mother of Canachquasy, the bidding of
farewell to William Penn is her first appearance in history.
Distinguished Personages Visit Queen Allaquippa
When Conrad Weiser made his journey to the Ohio in the
summer of 1748, in order to enter into a treaty on behalf of Penn-
sylvania with the western tribes, at Logstown, as mentioned in
Chapter VIII, Queen Allaquippa was living at a village on the
north bank of the Allegheny, a short distance above the mouth of
the Monongahela. Weiser makes mention of his visit in a note in
his journal, under date of August 27th, as follows: "Set off again
256 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
in the morning early. Rainy weather. We dined at a Seneca
town where an old Seneca woman [Queen Allaquippa] reigns with
great authority. We dined at her house and they all used us very
well."
Weiser reached Logstown on the evening of that same day
(August 27th), at which place he made George Groghan's trading
house his headquarters until he left for the settlements, on Septem-
ber 19th, in the meantime having visited Sauconk, at the mouth of
the Beaver, and gotten in touch with the Indians of Kuskuskies,
who were to receive part of the Pennsylvania present. Before
leaving Logstown, he made another notation in his journal con-
cerning Queen Allaquippa, as follows:
"The old Sinicker Queen from above, already mentioned,
came to inform me some time ago that she had sent a string of
wampum of three fathoms to Philadelphia by James Dunnings,
to desire her brethren would send her up a cask of powder and
some small shot to enable her to send out the Indian boys to kill
turkeys and other fowls for her, whilst the men were gone to war
against the French, that they may not be starved. I told her I
had heard nothing of her message, but if she had told me of it
before I had parted with all the powder and lead, I could have let
her have some, and promised I would make inquiry; perhaps her
messenger had lost it on the way to Philadelphia. I gave her a
shirt, a Dutch wooden pipe and some tobacco. She seemed to
have taken a little affront because I took not sufficient notice of
her in coming down. I told her she acted very imprudently not to
let me know by some of her friends who she was, as she knew very
well I could not know by myself. She was satisfied, and went
away with a deal of kind expressions."
When Celeron led his expedition down the Allegheny and
Ohio in the summer of 1749, he found her living as nearly as can
be determined at Shannopin's Town, on the east bank of the Alle-
gheny, a few miles above the mouth of the Monongahela and with-
in the present limits of Pittsburgh, though some assert that her
residence was at McKees Rocks. He noted in his journal under
date of August 7th as follows: "I re-embarked and visited the
village which is called the Written Rock. The Iroquois inhabit
this place, and it is an old woman of this nation who governs it.
She regards herself as sovereign. She is entirely devoted to the
English."
When Messrs. Patten, Fry and Lomax, the Commissioners of
Virginia, who entered into a treaty with the Western Indians at
Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy and Paxinosa 257
Logstown in 1752, as referred to in former chapters, were on their
way to Logstown, they called on this old Indian Queen at Alla-
quippa's Town, located on the south bank of the Ohio below the
mouth of Chartier's Creek, where she was living at that time.
The journal of the Commissioners under date of May 30, 1752,
describes their visit as follows:
"The goods being put on board four large canoes lashed to-
gether [at Shannopin's Town], the Commissioners and others
went on board also, to go down the river with colors flying. When
they came opposite the Delaware town, they were saluted by the
discharge of firearms, both from the town and opposite shore
where Queen Allaquippa lives; and the compliment was returned
from the canoes. The company then went on shore to wait on the
Queen, who welcomed them, and presented them with a string of
wampum, to clear their way to Logstown. She presented them
also with a fine dish of fish to carry with them, and had some
victuals set, which they all ate of. The Commissioners then pre-
sented the Queen with a brass kettel, tobacco and some other trifles
and took their leave."
When Washington made his journey to the French forts in
the latter part of 1753, Queen Allaquippa was living at the present
site of McKeesport, Allegheny County. When he and Christopher
Gist reached Frazer's cabin at the mouth of Turtle Creek late in
December, he learned from Frazer that Queen Allaquippa was
offended by his failure to call on her on his way from Virginia to
LeBouef. He then determined to visit her on his way back. He
makes the following notation in his journal without giving a speci-
fic date, but from the context it is clear that it was some time be-
tween December 28th and the last day of the year: "As we intend-
ed to take horse here [at Frazer's], and it required some time to
find them, I went up about three miles to the mouth of the Yough-
iogheny to visit Queen Alliquippa, who had expressed great con-
cern that we passed her in going to the fort. I made her a present
of a match-coat and a bottle of rum, which latter was thought
much the better present of the two."
As has been seen in Chapter XIV, Queen Allaquippa was at
the Great Meadows during Washington's campaign in the summer
of 1754, and no doubt witnessed the conferring of the name of
Colonel Fairfax upon Canachquasy by Washington at that place
on the 10th day of June.
After Washington's surrender at Fort Necessity, July 4th,
1754, Queen Allaquippa went to Aughwick with the other Indians
258 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
of the Ohio still friendly to Pennsylvania. Here she died some
time prior to December 23rd, 1754, as, on that date, George Crog-
han, then in charge of Indian affairs at Aughwick, wrote the
Colonial Authorities: "Alequeapy, ye old quine, is dead."
CANACHQUASY (CAPTAIN NEW CASTLE)
As stated earlier in this chapter, it is probable that
Canachquasy was the son of Queen Allaquippa. But whether he
was her son or not, there is no doubt, as will be seen later, that,
when a child, he accompanied his parents to New Castle, Delaware,
in the autumn of 1701, when they went to that place to bid fare-
well to William Penn. His first appearance in Colonial history
after attaining manhood was when he led a band of ten Mingo
(Iroquois) warriors from Kuskuskies to Philadelphia in Novem-
ber, 1747, and brought the Provincial Council the first authentic
news of the operations of the French in that quarter. In his
speech delivered to the Provincial Council on November 13th, he
advised the Governor that, although the Onondaga Council had
taken a stand for neutrality during King George's War, which
was then raging, yet the young warriors of the Iroquois in the Kus-
kuskies region had determined to take up arms against the French.
The gist of his speech was given in the first part of Chapter XV.
After apprising the Provincial Authorities of the attitude of the
young Iroquois under his command, he asked for assistance by
way of arms and ammunition from the Colony. "The French,"
said he, "have hard heads, and we have nothing strong enough to
break them. We have only little sticks and hickories and such
things that will do little or no service against the hard heads of
the French."
Canachquasy was then told that a present had been prepared
for them and the Cuyahogas. He then thanked the Council on
behalf of his own delegation and the Cuyahogas, who, he said were
of their own flesh and blood, and were pleased for the regard
shown to them. The Council then purchased two hundred pounds
worth of goods, a present for these Indans, and sent them as far
as Harris' Ferry, where they were held until the following spring.
Additions thereto were made so as to bring the total value up to
about one thousand pounds. George Croghan was sent to Logs-
town the next spring, with a portion of these goods, to advise the
Indians of that place and of Kuskuskies that Conrad Weiser
would briny the balance later in the vear. This Weiser did, as has
Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy and Paxinosa 259
already been seen, in the summer of 1748, when as agent of Penn-
sylvania, he entered into a treaty at Logstown with the Western
Indians. Therefore, it is seen that Canachquasy's visit to the
Provincial Council in November, 1747, was the means of the
Colony's getting information which led to its sending Croghan
and later Weiser the following year on the first embassy on the
part of Pennsylvania to the Indians of the valleys of the Ohio
and Allegheny.
Canachquasy spent the winter of 1747-48 with the Nanticokes
at their village at the mouth of the Juniata. Just where he resided
from this time until Washington's campaign in the summer of
1754 is uncertain; but it is probable that, during a large part of
this period, his residence was at Kuskuskies or in that vicinity.
Canachquasy Given Name of New Castle
Canachquasy was the recipient of two English names. We
have already seen, in Chapter XIV, that he was given the name of
Lord Fairfax by Washington at the camp at the Great Meadows,
on June 10, 1754. Later, he attended Weiser's conferences at
Aughwick, in September, 1754. Likewise, we saw, in Chapter XV,
that he was one of the chiefs who fought on the side of the English
in Braddock's campaign in 1755, and that, at a meeting of the
Provincial Council on August 15th of that year, he was thanked
by the Council and rewarded for his fidelity. He was also present
at a meeting of the Provincial Council on August 22, 1755, when
Scarouady complained of the obstinacy of General Braddock. At
this meeting, Canachquasy was given the name of New Castle.
In the minutes of the Council, on this occasion, we read:
"The Governor [Governor Morris] addressing himself to
Kanuksusy [Canachquasy], the son of old Allaguipas, whose
mother was now alive and living near Ray's Town, desired
him to hearken for he was going to give him an English name,
then spoke as follows: 'In token of our affection for your parents
and in expectation of you being a useful man in these perilous
times, I do, in the most solemn manner, adopt you by the name of
New Castle, and order you to be called hereafter by that name,
which I have given to you, because, in 1701, I am informed that
your parents presented you to the late Mr. William Penn at New
Castle.' "
In this connection, we call attention to the fact that the min-
utes of the meeting of the Provincial Council above quoted (Col-
260 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
onial Records, Vol. VI, pages 588 and 589), refer to Canachquasy
as "the son of old Allaguipas, whose mother was now alive and
living near Ray's Town." That eminent authority on the
Indian history of Pennsylvania, Dr. George P. Donehoo, points
out that, inasmuch as George Croghan wrote from Aughwick, on
December 23d, 1754, that "Alaqueapy, ye old quine, is dead," the
"old Allaguipas," mentioned in the minutes of the Council of Aug-
ust 22nd, 1755, was not the mother of Canachquasy, but evidently
an Indian chief, the father of Canachquasy, having a name similar,
in sound, to that of Queen Allaquippa.
Canachquasy at Carlisle Council
An important Indian Council was held at Carlisle from
January 13th to 16th, 1756, which was attended by Governor
Morris, Richard Peters, William Logan, Joseph Fox, Conrad
Weiser, George Croghan, and the following Indians: Canach-
quasy, The Belt, Aroas (Silver Heels), Jagrea, Seneca George, and
others.
This Council had reference to Indian affairs on the Ohio and
Allegheny at that time. Croghan reported that he had sent a
friendly Indian, Delaware Jo, to the Ohio to get intelligence as to
the situation there. Delaware Jo had gone to Kittanning, where
the Delaware chief, Beaver, brother of Shingas, told him that the
Six Nations had given the war hatchet to the Delawares and
Shawnees. From Kittanning, Delaware Jo had gone to Logstown,
where he was told the same thing by the Shawnees of that place.
Furthermore, Delaware Jo had found some members of the Six
Nations living in the Delaware towns on the Ohio and Allegheny,
who always accompanied them in their war parties against the
Pennsylvania settlements.
James Hamilton told the members of the conference how he
had sent Aroas in the preceding November among the Indians of
the Susquehanna to gain information, and that Aroas had learned
from his uncle, who lived between Nescopeck and Wyoming, that
the Delawares and Shawnees on the Ohio were persuaded by the
French to strike the English, and had "put the hatchet into the
hands of the Susquehanna Indians." After Croghan had listened
to these accounts, he gave it as his opinion that the hostile Dela-
wares and Shawnees were acting by the advice and approval of the
Six Nations.
The Belt reviewed the events on the Ohio from the time of its
Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy and Paxinosa 261
first occupation by the French until the attacks upon Pennsylvania
by the Delawares and Shawnees. He said that the French had
entered into a secret treaty with the Delawares and Shawnees of
the Ohio, who were in alliance with the Six Nations and were oc-
cupying the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny by permission of the
Six Nations, by the terms of which the Delawares and Shawnees
permitted the French occupation and agreed to assist the French
against the English.
Therefore, the thing uppermost in the mind of Canachquasy
and his associates at the Carlisle Council was how to win back to
the English interest the hostile Shawnees and Delawares, especially
since it appeared, on the surface at least, that the Six Nations
countenanced their hostility. But it must be remembered that
those members of the Six Nations, living on the Ohio and Alle-
gheny, at that time, and to whom Delaware Jo referred, were not
true representatives of the Great Confederation of the Six Nations.
They were a mongrel population, a mixture of all the Iroquoian
stock on the outskirts of the territory of the Senecas. This mon-
grel population of the Ohio and Allegheny valleys was known as
"Mingoes," and was really beyond the jurisdiction of the Six
Nations.
Canachquasy Attends Other Conferences
Canachquasy attended a conference at Harris' Ferry on Janu-
ary 31, 1756, between Conrad Weiser, representing the Colony of
Pennsylvania, and the friendly Indians of the Susquehanna.
There was great danger, at this time, that the Pennsylvania settlers
would not distinguish between good Indians and bad Indians; and
Weiser's mission was for the purpose of retaining the friendship of
the few that had not taken up arms against the Colony. In his
report of this conference, written at his home at Womelsdorf on
February 4th, and laid before the Governor on February 10th, he
said:
"I had a good deal of trouble to quiet their minds (if I did at
all). Satacarkoyies and New Castle went to Michael Taefs that
night [January 31st], and New Castle got in the night light-
headed. He looked upon every person as an enemy, and did per-
suade Satacarkoyies to run away with him. He himself made off
privately next morning, and had not been heard of when I left
John Harris', which was on the second instant on the afternoon.
I sent word about it to the people to take care of the said
262 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
New Castle if he should be seen anywhere; he had no arms with
him. I think it highly necessary that the said Indians should be
taken care of deeper within the Inhabitants; for should they suffer
by our foolish people, we should lose all confidence and honor with
the rest of the Indians."
On February 24th, Canachquasy attended a Council at Phila-
delphia. It seems that, shortly after his disappearance from the
council held by Weiser at Harris' Ferry, on January 31st, he re-
turned to that place. At any rate, he accompanied the delegation
from Harris' Ferry which attended the conference at Philadelphia
on the 24th of February.
Canachquasy also attended the councils at Philadelphia
mentioned in Chapter XVI, held between the Colonial Authorities
and the friendly Indians prior to and following the declaration of
war against the Delawares, following which he offered, with Jona-
than, and Andrew Montour, to carry the Governor's peace pro-
posals among the Delawares.
Peace Missions of Canachquasy
Shortly after Pennsylvania's declaraton of war against the
Delawares, Canachquasy carried the Governor's proposals of peace
to these Indians. He spent four days at Wyoming, and then went
on to Tioga, an important town of the Six Nations, Nanticokes,
and Munsee Clan of Delawares, situated on the site of Athens,
Bradford County. It was the southern gateway to the country of
the Iroquois, and all the great war paths and hunting trails from
the South and Southwest centered there. He held conferences with
the Indians of this place and the surrounding towns, and made
known to them the Governor's message. These Indians agreed to
lay aside the hatchet and enter into negotiations for peace; but
they cautioned Canachquasy not to charge them with anything
that may have been done by the Delawares of the Ohio and Alle-
gheny valleys under the influence of the French.
Canachquasy then returned to Philadelphia early in June, and
laid his report before the Governor and Provincial Council. The
Governor and Council, upon hearing the favorable report, drafted
a proclamation for a suspension of hostilities with the enemy
Indians of the Susquehanna Valley for a period of thirty days, and
desired that a conference with them for the purpose of making
peace, should be held at the earliest possible date
Canachquasy then left once more for Tioga, bearing the
Governor's message, advising the Susquehanna Indians that the
Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy and Paxinosa 263
Colony would agree to a truce of thirty days and that, as one of
the conditions of making peace, the prisoners taken on both sides
should be delivered up. Shortly after he left, messengers were
sent to him by the Governor carrying a few additional instruc-
tions, which were delivered to him at Bethlehem. In the mean-
time, Sir William Johnson, of New York, was holding a peace con-
ference with the Six Nations at Otseningo, at which the assembled
sachems of the Iroquois decided that the Delawares were acting
like drunken men, and sent deputies to order them to become sober
and cease their warfare against the English. This conference was
composed of only a portion of the Iroquois, and the Delawares re-
plied very haughtily saying that they were no longer women but
men. "We are determined," said they, "to cut off all the English
except those that make their escape from us in ships."
After a dangerous journey over the mountains and through
the wilderness, Canachquasy reached Tioga, held conferences with
the great Delaware chieftain, Teedyuscung, and persuaded him to
bury the hatchet, — a most remarkable victory.
Canachquasy then returned to Philadelphia in the middle of
July, 1756, and laid before the Governor and Provincial Council
the results of his second mission to Tioga. Addressing the Gov-
ernor and Council he said:
"As I have been entrusted by you with matters of highest con-
cern, I now declare to you that I have used all the ability I am
master of in the management of them, and that with the greatest
cheerfulness. I tell you in general, matters look well. I shall not
go into particulars. Teedyuscung will do this at a public meeting,
which he expects will be soon. The times are dangerous. The
swords are drawn and glittering all around you; numbers of ene-
mies in your borders. I beseech you, therefore, not to give any
delay to this important affair; we hear the council fire is to be
kindled; come to a conclusion immediately; let us not wait a
moment, lest what has been done should prove ineffectual. The
times are very precarious; not a moment is to be lost without the
utmost danger to the good cause we are engaged in. The Delaware
King [Teedyuscung] wants to hear from your own mouth a con-
firmation of the assurances of peace and good will given him by me
in your name; he comes well disposed to make you the same
declarations. The Forks [Easton] is believed to be the place of
meeting. What need of any altercation? Let it be. Tarry not,
but hasten to meet him."
Arrangements were then completed for a conference with the
hostile Delawares at Easton, and Conrad Weiser was ordered to
264 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
concentrate his soldiers in the vicinity of that place and to furnish
a guard for the Governor, who, with his Council, reached Easton
on the 24th of July. Nothing of any moment could be done until
the 27th of that month, inasmuch as Weiser had not arrived.
Teedyuscung, on opening the conference, insisted on having his
own interpreter. This request was granted, and the treaty was
formally opened on July 28th. Teedyuscung claimed to have
been appointed King over all the Clans of Delawares and to have
been authorized by the Six Nations to negotiate for peace. The
details of the treaty will be set forth more fully in the account of
Teedyuscung, Chapter XXI. At this point, however, we call
attention to the fact that Canachquasy's advice and activities dur-
ing the treaty were very valuable; that the treaty resulted in a
temporary peace, and that Canachquasy and Teedyuscung were to
go back among the Delawares and give the "Big Peace Halloo."
At the end of the conferences, Teedyuscung lingered at Fort Allen,
which had been erected where the town of Weissport, Carbon Coun-
ty, now stands. At this place, Teedyuscung's inordinate appetite
for rum, the curse of the Red Man, was taken advantage of, and he
remained intoxicated for a considerable time. Canachquasy then
went away in disgust.
The Pennsylvania Authorities were apprehensive that Teedy-
uscung was not sincere in the peace proposals that he had made at
the treaty at Easton. Besides, a number of Indians on the border
insinuated that the Easton treaty was but a ruse to gain time; and
that Teedyuscung was a traitor working in the interest of the
French. Finally, the Governor, becoming suspicious of Teedy-
uscung's long delay at Fort Allen, sent Canachquasy secretly to
New York to learn from the Six Nations whether or not they had
deputized Teedyuscung to represent them in public treaties.
Canachquasy returned to Philadelphia in October with the report
that the Six Nations denied Teedyuscung's authority. At a
meeting of the Provincial Council on the 24th of that month, he
said:
"I have but in part executed my commission, not having op-
portunity of having done it so fully as I wished. I met with
Canyase, one of the principal counsellors of the Six Nations, a
Mohawk chief, who has a regard for Pennsylvania I re-
lated to this chief very particularly the manner in which Teedy-
uscung spoke of himself and his commission and authority from
the Six Nations at the treaty at Easton. I gave him a true notion
of all he said on this head and how often he repeated it to the Gov-
ernor, and then asked whether he knew anything of this matter.
Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy and Paxinosa 265
Canyase said he did; Teedyuscung did not speak the truth when
he told the Governor he had a regular authority from the Six
Nations to treat with Onas. Canyase then proceeded and said:
'Teedyuscung on behalf of the Delawares did apply to me as chief
of the Six Nations. He and I had long discourses together and in
these conversations, I told him that the Delawares were women
and always treated as such by the Six Nations.' "
Death of Canachquasy
While attending the Easton treaty, Canachquasy had a pre-
sentiment of impending death, — a presentiment soon to be fulfilled,
the account of which is thus given in Volume II of the Pennsyl-
vania Archives, Series 1, under date of July 27, 1756:
"Mr. Weiser coming to Town, the Governor proposed to open
the conferences, but on his saying he was a stranger to Teedy-
uscung and it would take up some time, at least a day, to be right-
ly informed of his temper and expectations, it was deferred till
tomorrow. Captain New Castle (Canachquasy) came to the
Governor, much in liquor, tho' otherwise a very sober man, and
requested a Council might be called, saying he had something of a
particular nature to communicate with which being
obliged, he acquainted the Governor that the Delawares had be-
witched him and he should die soon; the Governor would have
rallied it off, but he grew more serious and desired this information
might be committed to writing and inserted in the minutes of
Council, and sent to the Six Nations; that if any harm came to
him, they might know to whom to impute it, and not charge others
with it. Teedyuscung, he declared, had warned him in a friendly
manner, that he would not live long, having overheard two Dela-
wares say they would put an end to his life by witchcraft. And
whilst he was speaking, Teedyuscung mistrusting what New Castle
was upon, bolted into the room, fell into a violent passion with
New Castle, who he supposed had been telling the Governor foolish
words, and desired he might not be regarded in anything he
should say on such a foolish subject, exclaiming, 'He bewitched!'
The Governor was too wise to hearken to such silly stories, and
then left the room in as abrupt a manner as he had entered it.
After he was gone, the Governor endeavored to show New Castle
that he was in no danger, but he made no impression. New Castle
still urging that information might be taken down, and, in case of
his death, be communicated in a special message to the Six Nations,
266 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
which was promised; and he then withdrew, to appearance, more
composed."
Shortly after Canachquasy's appearance before the Provincial
Council on October 24, 1756, he contracted small-pox, at Philadel-
phia, and before the middle of November, this great peace apostle
among the Indians was no more. Canachquasy's devotion to the
cause of the English commands our great admiration and. respect.
He said that he would die for the sons of Onas. In the following
chapter (Chapter XVIII), we shall see some of the terrible atroci-
ties, committed by the Delawares, while this firm friend of Penn-
sylvania was wroking for peace.
PAXINOSA (PAXNOUS, PAXIHOS)
Paxinosa was a noted chief of the Shawnees. His first ap-
pearance in history is among the Shawnees at Pechoquealin, near
the Delaware Water Gap, and it is probable that he was one of
the band of this tribe which Arnold Viele conducted to that region
from the lower Ohio Valley, in 1794, as set forth in Chapter II.
He removed from the Pechoquealin and Minisink region, and took
up his abode just below Plymouth, Luzerne County, among the
other Shawnees who had removed from Pechoquealin to that place.
The date of his removal from Pechoquealin, however, is not
known. As stated in Chapter VIII, Kakowatcheky, who had
been chief of the Shawnees at Wyoming, removed to the Ohio
Valley in 1743. A few years later, Paxinosa succeeded him as
chief of the Shawnees at Wyoming.
Paxinosa Joins in Sale of Lands Between
Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers
As stated in Chapter XII, the Six Nations, on August 22nd,
1749, sold to the Colony of Pennsylvania, a vast tract of land be-
tween the Susquehanna and the Delaware, including all or parts
of the present counties of Dauphin, Northumberland, Lebanon,
Schuylkill, Columbia, Carbon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike and Wayne.
Paxinosa, as chief of the Shawnees at Wyoming, joined in the sale
of these lands. The sale was made at Philadelphia.
Paxinosa Befriends Moravians
In the summer of 1754, when most of the Shawnees and Dela-
wares of the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny began to waver in
Queen Allaquippa, Canachquasy and Paxinosa 267
their allegiance to the English, attempts were made to induce the
Christian Delawares at Gnadenhuetten to remove from that place
and come nearer the dissatisfied Indians. Paxinosa was one of
the chiefs who endeavored to induce the Christian Delawares of
Gnadenhuetten to move. At first, he was not friendly toward the
JYioravian missionaries, but later his wife, for whom he had great
affection and to whom he had been married almost forty years, was
converted to the Christian faith by the gentle Moravians and bap-
tized by Bishop Spangenberg, with Paxinosa's concent. A deep
impression of the truths of the Christian religion was thus made
upon the heart of the old chief, causing him to change his attitude
toward the Moravians and their converts.
At the time of the Penn's Creek Massacre and the attack upon
John Harris and his band, the Moravian missionary, Keifer, was
residing at Shamokin and exposed to imminent danger. Paxinosa,
who was then at Shamokin, sent two of his sons who rescued the
missionary and conducted him safely to Gnadenhuetten.
In the summer of 1757, he greatly befriended the Moravians.
A report had been circulated among the hostile Delawares and
Shawnees that the Moravian missionaries at Bethlehem were kill-
ing the Indian converts there, and sending their heads in bags to
Philadelphia. This report greatly excited the Delawares and
Shawnees, and they gathered a force of two hundred warriors for
the purpose of destroying the Moravians. Paxinosa and Teedy-
uscung pacified the enraged Delawares and Shawnees, and per-
suaded them to desist from their design.
Paxinosa Loyally Supports the English
Paxinosa attended the conference which Scarouady held with
the Indians at Wyoming on the latter's journey as the messenger
of Pennsylvania to the Six Nations, described in Chapter XVI.
On this occasion, he spoke boldly in favor of the English, but
was silenced by the Delawares, who threatened to knock him on
the head if he said anything more. He was also present at the
conference which Canachquasy held with the Indians of Tioga,
when the latter visited that place as the peace messenger of Penn-
sylvania shortly after the declaration of war against the Delawares
in the spring of 1756. Shortly before this time, he and the Shaw-
nees under his command at their town on the Shawnee Flats, now
Plymouth, Luzerne County, had removed, through compulsion of
the hostile Delawares, to Tioga. He sat for days meditating on
26S The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the waywardness of his people in taking up arms against the sons
of "Brother Onas."
Paxinosa Removes to the Ohio
In April, 1757, Paxinosa was living at Osteningo, now Bing-
hampton, New York; and, in August of that year, he attended the
third conference with Teedyuscung at Easton, more particularly
described in Chapter XXII. In the early part of May, 1758, he
was met by Benjamin, a Mohican Indian, of Bethlehem, near
Tioga, with his entire family. He told Benjamin that he had
heard that the English had very bad designs against the Indians,
and that he therefore was going with his family to the Ohio "where
he was born." Benjamin tried to persuade him not to go, but
without avail. Paxinosa had heard that his hated enemies, the
Cherokees, had been sent for by the English to destroy all the
Indians on the Susquehanna. As a matter of fact, there were a
few Cherokees and Catawbas at that time joining the expedition
of General Forbes against Fort Duquesne. Not only the recently
pacified Eastern Delawares, but also the Iroquois, were becoming
aroused because of the presence of their hated enemies in Forbes'
expedition. Paxinosa told Benjamin that he had recently been
asked to attend a great council at Onondaga, at which it would be
determined whether the Iroquois would side with the English or the
French, but, as he had already resolved to move to the Ohio, he
would not attend the council at Onondaga. The old chief then
went back to the land of his birth.
Final Conferences of Paxinosa
On the 29th of June, 1760, General Monckton arrived at Fort
Pitt for the purpose of taking possession of the posts on the Alle-
gheny, as well as those along the frontier to Detroit, at the close
of the French and Indian War. On August 12th of that year,
Monckton held a great conference at Fort Pitt, with the chiefs of
the Six Nations, Miamis, Delawares, Ottawas, Wyandots, and
Shawnees. General Monckton advised the assembled chiefs that
he had come to take possession of the western region; that he did
not intend to drive the Indians from their lands, nor to take their
lands from them, but he desired to establish once more peaceful
relations between the western tribes and the British Government.
Paxinosa attended this conference.
Not long thereafter, he ended his days on the Scioto Plains in
Ohio.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Captain Jacobs
APTAIN JACOBS was one of the Delaware chiefs who took
up arms against Pennsylvania shortly after Braddock's
defeat. He had at one time resided near Lewistown,
where he sold lands to Colonel Buchanan, who gave him
the name of Captain Jacobs, because of his close resemblance to a
burly German in Cumberland County. Later he resided at "Jacob's
Cabin," not far from Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County.
His principal residence was at the famous Indian town of Kittan-
ning, Armstrong County, which, as we have seen in an earlier
chapter, was the first town established by the Delawares on their
migration into the Allegheny Valley with the consent of the Iro-
quois Confederation. From this town, he and that other noted
chief, Shingas, led many an expedition against the frontier settle-
ments. For a time, in the autumn of 1755, they made their head-
quarters at Nescopeck, in Luzerne County, and at that place, also,
planned many a bloody expedition.
Captain Jacobs Captures Fort Granville
Reference was made, in Chapter XVI, to the capture of Fort
Granville, near Lewistown, Mifflin County, by Captain Jacobs, on
August 1, 1756. We quote the following account of this event
from the "Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania":
"The attack upon Fort Granville was made in harvest time of
the year 1756. The Fort at this time was commanded by Lieut.
Armstrong, a brother of Colonel Armstrong, who destroyed Kit-
tanning. The Indians, who had been lurking about this fort for
some time, and knowing that Armstrong's men were few in num-
ber, sixty of them appeared, July 22nd, before the fort, and chal-
lenged the garrison to a fight; but this was declined by the com-
mander in consequence of the weakness of his force. The Indians
fired at and wounded one man, who had been a short way from it,
yet he got in safe; after which they divided themselves into small
parties, one of which attacked the plantation of one Baskins, near
the Juniata, whom they murdered, burnt his house and carried off
his wife and children. Another made Hugh Carroll and his family
prisoners.
270 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"On the 30th of July, 1756, Capt. Edward Ward, the com-
mandant of Granville, marched from the fort with a detachment
of men from the garrison, destined for Tuscarora Valley, where
they were needed as guard to the settlers while they were engaged
in harvesting their grain. The party under Capt. Ward embraced
the greater part of the defenders of the fort, under command of
Lieut. Edward Armstrong. Soon after the departure of Capt.
Ward's detachment, the fort was surrounded by the hostile force of
French and Indians, who immediately made an attack, which they
continued in their skulking, Indian manner through the afternoon
and following night, but without being able to inflict much damage
on the whites. Finally, after many hours had been spent in their
unsuccessful attacks, the Indians availed themselves of the pro-
tection afforded by a deep ravine, up which they passed from the
river bank to within twelve or fifteen yards of the fort, and from
that secure position, succeeded in setting fire to the logs and burn-
ing out a large hole, through which they fired on the defenders,
killing the commanding officer, Lieut. Armstrong, .and one private
soldier and wounding three others.
"They then demanded the surrender of the fort and garrison,
promising to spare their lives if the demand was acceded to.
Upon this, a man named John Turner, previously a resident in the
Buffalo valley, opened the gates and the besiegers at once entered
and took possession, capturing as prisoners twenty-two men, three
women and a number of children. The fort was burned by the
chief, Jacobs, by order of the French officer in command, and the
savages then departed, driving before them their prisoners, heavily
burdened with the plunder taken from the fort and the settlers'
houses, which they had robbed and burned. On their arrival at
the Indian rendezvous at Kittanning, all the prisoners were cruelly
treated, and Turner, the man who had opened the gate at the fort
to the savages, suffered the cruel death by burning at the stake,
enduring the most horrible torment that could be inflicted upon
him for a period of three hours, during which time red hot gun
barrels were forced through parts of his body, his scalp torn from
his head and burning splinters were stuck in his flesh, until at last
an Indian boy was held up for the purpose who sunk a hatchet
in the brain of the victim and so released him from this cruel tor-
ture."
Captain Jacobs 271
Captain Jacobs Killed at the Destruction of Kittanning
Kittanning, in addition to being the center from which Cap-
tain Jacobs and Shingas sent their expeditions against the frontier
settlements, was the place for the detention of English prisoners.
George Croghan reported at the Carlisle Council of January 13,
1756, that he had sent the friendly Indian, Delaware Jo, in Decem-
ber, 1755, to the Ohio for intelligence; and that this friendly
Indian had visited Kittanning, where he found more than one hun-
dred English prisoners taken from various parts of Pennsylvania
and Virginia. In order, therefore, to break up this harboring
place of the Delawares, an expedition was authorized by the repre-
sentatives of Governor Morris and the Provincial Council, to be
conducted by Lieutenant-Colonel John Armstrong, of the Second
Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment. Colonel Armstrong was
a brother of the ill-fated Lieutenant Edward Armstrong, who was
killed by Jacobs in the attacks on Fort Granville.
The capture of Fort Granville greatly elated Captain Jacobs.
He said: "I can take any fort that will catch fire, and I will make
peace with the English when they teach me to make gun powder."
The following description of Colonel Armstrong's march over
the mountains to Kittanning and the destruction of that place is
quoted from Egle's "History of Pennsylvania":
"On the 20th of August, 1756, William Denny arrived in the
Province, superseding Governor Morris. He was hailed with joy
by the Assembly, who flattered themselves that, with a change of
government, there would be a change of measures. Upon making
known the Proprietary instructions, to which he stated he was com-
pelled to adhere, all friendly feeling was at an end, and there was
a renewal of the old discord.
"Before Governor Morris was superseded, he concerted with
Colonel John Armstrong an expedition against the Indian town of
Kittanning, on the Allegheny, the stronghold of Captain Jacobs
and Shingas, the most active Indian chiefs, and from whence they
distributed their war parties along the frontier. On the arrival of
Governor Denny, Morris communicated the plan of his enterprise
to him and his Council.
"Colonel Armstrong marched from Fort Shirley [Shirleys-
burg, Huntingdon County], on the 30th of August, with three hun-
dred men, having with him, besides other officers, Captains Hamil-
ton, Mercer, Ward, and Potter. On the 2nd of September, he join-
ed an advance party at the Beaver dams, near Frankstown. On
272 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the 7th, in the evening, within six miles of Kittanning, the scouts
discovered a fire in the road, and around it, as they reported, three,
or at most, four Indians. It was deemed prudent not to attack
this party; but lest some of them should escape and alarm the
town, Lieutenant Hogg and twelve men were left to watch them,
with orders to fall upon them at day-break. The main body,
making a circuit, proceeded to the village. Guided by the whoop-
ing of the Indians at a dance, the army approached the place by
the river, about one hundred perches below the town, at three
o'clock in the morning, near a cornfield, in which a number of the
enemy were lodged, out of their cabins, on account of the heat
of the weather. As soon as the dawn of day made the town visible,
the troops attacked it through the cornfield, killing several of the
enemy. Captain Jacobs, their principal chief, sounded the war-
whoop, and defended his house bravely through loop-holes in the
logs; and the Indians generally refused quarter, which was offered
them, declaring that they were men, and would not be prisoners.
"Colonel Armstrong, who had received a musket ball in his
shoulder, ordered their houses to be set on fire over their heads.
Again the Indians were required to surrender, and again refused,
one of them declaring that he did not care for death, as he could
kill four or five before he died, and as the heat approached, some
of them began to sing. Others burst from their houses, and
attempted to reach the river, but were instantly shot down.
Captain Jacobs, in getting out of a window, was shot, as also a
squaw, and a lad called the king's son. The Indians had a num-
ber of small arms in their houses, loaded, which went off in quick
succession as the fire came to them; and quantities of gunpowder,
which were stored in every house, blew up from time to time,
throwing some of the bodies of the enemy a great height in the
air. A party of Indians on the opposite side of the river fired on
the troops, and were seen to cross the river at a distance, as if to
surround them; but they contented themselves with collecting some
horses which were near the town to carry off their wounded, and
then retreated without attempting to take from the cornfield those
who were killed there in the beginning of the action. Several of
the enemy were killed in the river as they attempted to escape by
fording it, and between thirty and forty, in the whole, were de-
stroyed.
"Eleven English prisoners were released, who informed that,
besides the powder, of which the Indians boasted they had enough
for ten years' war with the English, there was a great quantity of
Captain Jacobs 273
goods burned, which the French had presented to them but ten
days before; that two batteaux of French Indians were to join
Captain Jacobs to make an attack upon Fort Shirley, and that
twenty-four warriors had set out before them on the preceding
evening. These proved to be the party discovered around the fire,
as the troops approached Kittanning. Pursuant to his orders,
and relying upon the report made by the scouts, Lieutenant Hogg
had attacked them, and killed three at the first fire. He, however,
found them too strong for his force, and having lost some of his best
men, the others fled, leaving him wounded, overlooked by the
enemy in their pursuit of the fugitives. He was saved by the
army on their return. [He afterwards died of his wounds].
Captain, afterwards General, Mercer was wounded in the action
at Kittanning, but was carried off safely by his men.
"The corporation of Philadelphia, on occasion of this victory,
on the 5th of January following, addressed a complimentary letter
to Colonel Armstrong, thanking him and his officers for their
gallant conduct, and presented him with a piece of plate. A medal
was also struck, having for device an officer followed by two sol-
diers, the officer pointing to a soldier shooting from behind a tree,
and an Indian postrate before him; in the background Indian
houses in flames. Legend: Kittanning, destroyed by Colonel
Armstrong, September the 8th, 1756. Reverse device: The arms of
the corporation. Legend: The gift of the corporation of Philadel-
phia.
"The destruction of the town of Kittanning, and the Indian
families there, was a severe stroke on the savages. Hitherto the
English had not assailed them in their towns, and they fancied
that they would not venture to approach them. But now, though
urged by an unquenchable thirst of vengeance to retaliate the
blow they had received, they dreaded that, in their absence on war
parties, their wigwams might be reduced to ashes. Such of them
as belonged to Kittanning, and had escaped the carnage, refused
to settle again on the east of Fort Duquesne, and resolved to place
that fortress and the French garrison between them and the Eng-
lish."
Many blankets were afterwards found on the ground where
Lieutenant Hogg and his party were defeated. Hence the battle-
field has ever since borne the name of "Blanket Hill." It is in
Kittanning Township, Armstrong County.
The English prisoners recovered from the Indians at the de-
struction of Kittanning were:
274 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Ann McCord, wife of John McCord, and Martha Thorn, a
child seven years of age, both captured at Fort McCord, on April
1st, 1756; Barbara Hicks, captured at Conolloways; Catherine
Smith, a German child captured near Shamokin; Margaret Hood,
captured near the mouth of the Conococheague, Maryland;
Thomas Girty, captured at Fort Granville; Sarah Kelly, captured
near Winchester, Virginia; a woman, a boy, and two little girls,
who were with Captain Mercer and Ensign Scott, and had not
reached Fort Littleton when Colonel Armstrong made his report.
It will be recalled that among the prisoners captured by the
Delawares at the Penn's Creek Massacre of October 16th, 1755,
were Barbara Leininger and Marie LeRoy (Mary King). They
were carried to Kittanning and were there when Colonel Armstrong
made the attack; but in order to prevent their being rescued by
Armstrong's forces, they were taken ten miles westward into the
wilderness, and thence to Fort Duquesne, where they stayed for
two months. They were then taken to Sauconk, at the mouth of
the Beaver; and in the spring of 1757, they were carried to Kus-
kuskies, where they remained until the Indians of that place learn-
ed during the next summer that General Forbes was marching on
Fort Duquesne. They were then taken to the Muskingum, where
they made their escape on March 16, 1759, and reached Fort Pitt
on the 31st of that month.
SOME OTHER EVENTS OF THE TERRIBLE
YEAR 1756
Massacre at Fort Allen
Reference was made, in Chapter XVI, to the massacre of a
number of militia at Fort Allen (Weissport, Carbon County) on
New Year's Day, 1756. The Governor had ordered the soldiers to
this place to protect the property of those Delawares who had
been converted to the Christan religion by the Moravians and to
defend the country in general. A temporary stockade had been
built, and, on this day, while the soldiers were amusing themselves
skating on the Lehigh River, they saw two Indians farther up the
stream. They gave chase, but the Indians proved to be decoys,
and skillfully maneuvered to draw the soldiers into an ambush.
After proceeding some distance, a band of Indians rushed out be-
hind the soldiers, cutting off their retreat, and massacreing almost
all. The Indians then fired the stockade and surrounding houses
and mills of the Moravians.
Captain Jacobs 275
On the same day, the Delaware chief, Teedyuscung led a band
of about thirty Indians into lower Smithfield Township, Monroe
County, destroying the plantation of Henry Hess, killing Nicholas
Colman and a laborer named Gotlieb, and capturing Peter Hess
and young Henry Hess, son of Peter Hess and nephew of Henry
Hess, the owner of the plantation. This attack took place about
nine o'clock in the morning. Teedyuscung's band then went over
the Blue Mountains and overtook five Indians with two prisoners,
Leonard and William Weeser, and a little later killed Peter Hess
in the presence of his son.
In a few days the Indians over-ran the country from Fort
Allen as far as Nazareth, burning plantations, and killing and
scalping settlers. During this same month, the Delawares entered
Moore Township, Northampton County, burning the buildings of
Christian Miller, Henry Shopp, Henry Diehl, Peter Doll, Nicholas
Scholl, and Nicholas Heil, and killing one of Heil's children and
John Bauman. The body of Bauman was found two weeks later,
and buried in the Moravian cemetery at Nazareth.
Massacre Near Schupp's Mill
On January 15th, some refugees at Bethlehem went out into
the country to look after their farms and cattle, among them being
Christian Boemper. The party and some friendly Indians who
escorted them, were ambushed by hostile Delawares near Schupp's
Mill, and all were killed except one named Adam Hold, who was
so severely wounded that it was necessary later to amputate his
arm. Those killed were Christian Boemper, Felty Hold, Michael
Hold, Laurence Knuckel, and four privates of Captain Trump's
Company then stationed at Fort Hamilton (Stroudsburg).
At about the same time, a German, named Muhlhisen while
breaking flax on the farm of Philip Bossert, in Lower Smithfield
Township, Monroe County, was fatally wounded by an unseen
Indian. One of Bosserts's sons, hearing the report of the Indian's
rifle, ran out of the house and was killed. Then old Philip Bos-
sert, the owner of the farm, appeared on the scene, wounded one of
the Indians, and was himself wounded badly. Neighbors then
arrived upon the scene, and the Indians retreated.
Massacre of Settlers in the Juniata Valley
On January 27th, a party of Indians from Shamokin made an
incursion into the Juniata Valley, attacked the house of Hugh
276 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Mitcheltree, near Thompson town, Juniata County, killing Mrs.
Mitcheltree and a young man named Edward Nicholas, Mr. Mit-
cheltree being then absent at Carlisle. This same party of savages
then went up the Juniata River to the house of Edward Nicholas,
Sr., where they killed Nicholas and his wife, and captured Joseph
Thomas, Catherine Nicholas, John Wilcox, and the wife and two
children of James Armstrong. While these atrocities were being
committed, an Indian named John Cotties, who had failed in his
effort to be chosen captain of the party, took with him a young
warrior and went to Sherman's Creek, where the two killed William
Sheridan and his entire family, thirteen in all. Proceeding down
the creek to the home of two old men and an elderly woman
named French, they took the lives of these aged people. Cotties
made the boast afterwards that he and his young companion had
taken more scalps than all the others of the party. It will be
noted that these massacres took place within the bounds of the
purchase of 1754, which so angered the Delawares and Shawnees.
Capture of John and Richard Coxe and John Craig
In February, 1756, occurred the capture of John Coxe, his
brother Richard, and John Craig, thus described in the "Frontier
Forts of Pennsylvania":
"At a council, held at Philadelphia, Tuesday, September 6th,
1756, the statement of John Coxe, a son of the widow Coxe, was
made, the substance of which is: He, his brother Richard, and
John Craig were taken in the beginning of February of that year
by nine Delaware Indians from a plantation two miles from Mc-
Dowell's mill, [Franklin County], which was between the east and
west branches of the Cononocheague Creek, about 20 miles west of
the present site of Shippensburg, in what is now Franklin County,
and brought to Kittanning on the Ohio. On his way hither he
met Shingas with a party of 30 men, and afterward Capt. Jacobs
and 15 men, whose design was to destroy the settlements on
Cononcocheague. When he arrived at Kittanning, he saw here
about 100 fighting men of the Delaware tribe, with their families,
and about 50 English prisoners, consisting of men, women and chil-
dren. During his stay here, Shingas' and Jacobs' parties returned,
the one with nine scalps and ten prisoners, the other with several
scalps and five prisoners. Another company of 18 came from
Diahogo with 17 scalps on a pole, which they took to Fort Du-
quesne to obtain their reward. The warriors held a council,
Captain Jacobs 277
which, with their war dances, continued a week, when Capt.
Jacobs left with 48 men, intending as Coxe was told, to fall upon
the inhabitants at Paxtang. He heard the Indians frequently say
that they intended to kill all the white folks, except a few, with
whom they would afterwards make peace. They made an ex-
ample of Paul Broadley, who, with their usual cruelty, they beat
for half an hour with clubs and tomahawks, and then, having fas-
tened him to a post, cropped his ears close to his head, and chopped
off his fingers, calling all the prisoners to witness the horrible
scene."
Additional details of the incursion during which the Coxe
boys and John Craig were captured are given in Egle's "History
of Pennsylvania", as follows:
"In February, 1756, a party of Indians made marauding in-
cursions into Peters Township. They were discovered on Sunday
evening, by one Alexander, near the house of Thomas Barr. He
was pursued by the savages, but escaped and alarmed the fort at
McDowell's mill. Early on Monday morning a party of fourteen
men of Captain Croghan's company, who were at the mill, and
about twelve other young men, set off to watch the motion of the
Indians. Near Barr's house they fell in with fifty, and sent back
for a reinforcement from the fort. The young lads proceeded by
a circuit to take the enemy in the rear, whilst the soldiers did
attack them in front. But the impetuosity of the soldiers defeated
their plan. Scarce had they got within gunshot, they fired upon
the Indians, who were standing around the fire, and killed several
of them at the first discharge. The Indians returned fire, killed
one of the soldiers, and compelled the rest to retreat. The party
of young men, hearing the report of firearms, hastened up; finding
the Indians on the ground which the soldiers had occupied, fired
upon the Indians with effect; but concluding the soldiers had fled,
or were slain, they also retreated. One of their number, Barr's son,
was wounded, would have fallen by the tomahawk of an Indian,
had not the savage been killed by a shot from Armstrong, who saw
him running upon the lad. Soon after soldiers and young men
being joined by a reinforcement from the mill, again sought the
enemy, who, eluding the pursuit, crossed the creek near William
Clark's, and attempted to surprise the fort; but their design was
discovered by two Dutch lads, coming from foddering their mas-
ter's cattle. One of the lads was killed, but the other reached the
fort, which was immediately surrounded by the Indians, who, from
a thicket, fired many shots at the men in the garrison, who appear-
278 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
ed above the wall, and returned the fire as often as they obtained
sight of the enemy. At this time, two men crossing to the mill,
fell into the middle of the assailants, but made their escape to the
fort, though fired at three times. The party at Barr's house now
came up, and drove the Indians through the thicket. In their re-
treat they met five men from Mr. Hoop's, riding to the mill; they
killed one of these and wounded another severely. The sergeant
at the fort having lost two of his men, declined to follow the enemy
until his commander, Mr. Crawford, who was at Hoop's, should
return, and the snow falling thick, the Indians had time to burn
Mr. Barr's house, and in it consumed their dead. On the morning
of the 2nd of March, Mr. Crawford, with fifty men, went in quest
of the enemy, but was unsuccessful in his search."
Attack on Andrew Lycans and John Rewalt
On March 7th, Andrew Lycans and John Rewalt, settlers in
the Wiconisco, or Lykens Valley in Dauphin County, went out
early in the morning to feed their cattle when they were fired upon
by savages. Hastening into the house, they prepared to defend
themselves. The Indians concealed themselves behind a pig-pen
some distance from the dwelling. Lycans' son, John, John Rewalt,
and Ludwig Shutt, a neighbor, upon creeping out of the house, in
an effort to discover the whereabouts of the Indians, were fired
upon and each one wounded, Shutt very dangerously. At this
point Andrew Lycans discovered an Indian named Joshua James
and two white men running away from their hiding place near the
pig-pen. The elder Lycans then fired, killing the Indian; and he
and his party then sought safety in flight, but were closely pur-
sued by at least twenty of the Indians. John Lycans and John
Rewalt, although badly wounded, made their escape with the aid
of a negro servant, leaving Andrew Lycans, Ludwig Shutt, and a
boy to engage the Indians. The Indians then rushed upon these
and, as one of their number, named Bill Davis, was in the act of
striking the boy with his tomahawk, he was shot dead by Shutt,
while Andrew Lycans killed another and wounded a third.
Andrew Lycans also recognized two others of the band, namely,
Tom Hickman and Tom Hays, members of the Delaware tribe.
The Indians then momentarily ceased their pursuit, and Lycans,
Shutt, and the boy, weak from the loss of blood, sat down on a
log to rest, believing that they were no longer in imminent danger.
Later, Lycans managed to lead his party to a place of concealment
Captain Jacobs 279
and then over the mountain into Hanover Township, where they
were given assistance by settlers. Andrew Lycans, however, died
from his wounds and terrible exposure. His name has been given
to the charming valley of the Wiconisco.
Attack on Zeislof and Kluck Families
On March 24th, some settlers with ten wagons went to
Albany, Berks County, for the purpose of bringing a family with
their effects to a point near Reading. As they were returning,
they were fired upon by a number of Indians on both sides of the
road. The wagoners, leaving the wagons, ran into the woods, and
the horses, frightened at the terrible yelling of the Indians, ran
off. The Indians on this occasion, killed George Zeislof and his
wife, a boy aged twenty, another aged twelve, and a girl aged four-
teen. Another girl of the party was shot through the neck and
mouth, and scalped, but made her escape.
On the same day the Indians burned the home of Peter Kluck,
about fourteen miles from Reading, and killed the entire family.
While the Kluck home was burning, the Indians assaulted the
house of a settler named Lindenman nearby, in which there were
two men and a woman, all of whom ran upstairs, where the woman
was killed by a bullet which penetrated the roof. The men then
ran out of the house. Lindenman was shot through the neck.
In spite of his wound, Lindenman succeeded in shooting one of the
Indians.
At about the same time a boy named John Schoep, who lived
in this neighborhood, was captured and taken seven miles beyond
the Blue Mountains where, according to the statement of Schoep,
the Indians kindled a fire, tied him to a tree, took off his shoes, and
put moccasins on his feet. They then prepared themselves some
mush, but gave him none. After supper they took young Schoep
and another boy between them, and proceeded over the second
mountain. During the second night of his captivity, when the
Indians were asleep, young Schoep made his escape, and returned
home.
During the raid in which the above outrages occurred, the In-
dians killed the wife of Baltser Neytong, and captured his son aged
eight. And in November, the Indians entered this region,
and carried off the wife and three children of Adam Burns, the
youngest child being only four weeks old. They also killed a man
named Stonebrook, and captured a girl in this raid.
280 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Shingas Captures Fort McCord
On April 1st, 1756, Shingas attacked and burned Fort Mc-
Cord, a private fort located several miles northwest of Fort Lou-
don, Franklin County, and all the inmates, twenty-seven in num-
ber, were either killed or carried into captivity. At the time of
the capture of the fort, Dr. Jamison was killed near that place;
and at about the same time, a number of persons, employed by
William Mitchell to harvest his crops, were likewise killed or cap-
tured in the field while at work. After the destruction of the fort,
Shingas' band was pursued by three parties of settlers. The
third party overtook them at Sidling Hill, where a brisk engage-
ment took place for two hours, but Shingas being reinforced, the
settlers retreated. Hance Hamilton, in a letter written to Captain
Potter, dated Fort Lyttleton, April 4th, 1756, at eight o'clock in
the evening, describes this engagement:
"These come to inform you of the melancholy news of what
occurred between the Indians, that have taken many captives from
McCord's Fort and a party of men under the command of Captain
Alexander Culbertson and nineteen of our men, the whole amount-
ing to about fifty, with the captives, and had a sore engagement,
many of both parties killed and many wounded, the number un-
known. Those wounded want a surgeon, and those killed require
your assistance as soon as possible, to bury them. We have sent
an express to Fort Shirley for Doctor Mercer, supposing Doctor
Jamison is killed or mortally wounded in the expedition. He be-
ing not returned, therefore, desire you will send an express, im-
mediately, for Doctor Prentic to Carlisle; we imagining Doctor
Mercer cannot leave the fort under the circumstances the fort is
under."
Likewise, Robert Robinson thus describes the attack on Mc-
Cord's Fort and the pursuit of the savages:
"In the year 1756 a party of Indians came out of the Conoco-
cheague to a garrison named McCord's Fort, where they killed
some and took a number prisoners. They then took their course
near to Fort Lyttleton. Captain Hamilton being stationed there
with a company, hearing of their route at McCord's Fort, marched
with his company of men, having an Indian with him who was un-
der pay. The Indians had McCord's wife with them; they cut off
Mr. James Blair's head and threw it into Mrs. McCord's lap, say-
ing that it was her husband's head; but she knew it to be Blair's."
As related earlier in this chapter, Mrs. McCord was taken to
Captain Jacobs 281
Kittanning, where she was recaptured by Colonel Armstrong when
he destroyed that Indian town on September 8, 1756.
An appropriate monument now marks the site of Fort Mc-
Cord.
Attack on Wuench and Dieppel Families
On June 8th, a band of Indians crept up on Felix Wuench as
he was ploughing on his farm near Swatara Gap, and shot him
through the breast. The poor man cried lamentably and started
to run, defending himself with a whip; but the Indians overtook
him, tomahawked and scalped him. His wife, hearing his cries and
the report of the guns, ran out of the house, but was captured with
one of her own and two of her sister's children. A servant boy
who saw this atrocity ran to a neighbor named George Miess, who,
though he had a crippled leg, ran directly after the Indians and
made such a noise as to scare them off.
On June 24th, Indians attacked the home of Lawrence Dieppel,
in Bethel Township, Berks County, carrying off two of the chil-
dren, one of whom they later killed and scalped.
Attack on Bingham's Fort
On June 12th occurred the attack on Bingham's Fort, located
in the Tuscarawa Valley, in Tuscarawa Township, Juniata County.
The Delaware chief, King Beaver, was the leader of the Indians on
this occasion. On that day, as John Gray and Francis Innis were
returning from Carlisle, where they had gone for salt, Gray's
horse scared at a bear, threw him off, and ran away. While he
was catching his horse and gathering up his pack of salt, Innis
pressed on rapidly toward the fort, where his wife and three chil-
dren, George Woods, Mrs. John Gray and her little daughter, Jane,
and others, were carried off by King Beaver of the Turkey Tribe
of Delawares. The Pennsylvania Gazette gave the following ac-
count of the capture of this fort: "George Woods, Nathaniel
Bingham, Robert Taylor, his wife and children, and John Mc-
Donell, were missing. Some of these it was supposed were burnt
as a number of bones were found. Susan Jiles was found dead
and scalped; Alexander McAlister and wife, James Adams, Jane
Cochran and two children were missed. McAlister's house had
been burned, and a number of cattle and horses had been driven
off."
All the prisoners taken at Bingham's Fort were marched to
Kittanning and from there to Fort Duquesne, where they were
282 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
parceled out and adopted by the Indians. George Woods, one of
the prisoners, was a very remarkable man. The French com-
mander gave him to an old Indian named John Hutson, who re-
moved him to his own wigwam. Woods later purchased his own
ransom, and returned to the settlements. He was a surveyor, and
followed this business in the counties of Juniata, Bedford, and
Allegheny. When Pittsburgh was laid out, in 1765, he assisted in
this work, and one of its principal streets, Wood Street, is named
after him.
Capture of John McCullough
On July 26th the Indians entered the valley of the Conoco-
cheague, in Franklin County, killing Joseph Martin, and taking
captive two brothers, John and James McCullough. James Mc-
Cullough, the father of these boys, had only a few years before re-
moved from Delaware into what is now Montgomery Township,
Franklin County. At the time of this Indian incursion, the McCul-
lough family were residing temporarily in a cabin three miles from
their home, and the parents and their daughter, Mary, on the day of
the capture, went home to pull flax. A neighbor, named John Allen,
who had business at Fort Loudon, accompanied them to their home,
and promised to return that way in the evening, and accompany
them back to their cabin. However, he did not keep his promise,
and returned by a circuitous route. When he reached the Mc-
Cullough cabin on his return, he told John and James to hide, that
Indians were near and that he supposed they had killed Mr. and
Mrs. McCullough. John was but eight years old, and James but
five at the time. They alarmed their neighbors, but none would
volunteer to go to the McCullough home to warn Mr. and Mrs.
McCollough, being too much interested in making preparations to
hurry to the fort a mile distant for safety.
Then the boys determined to warn their parents themselves.
Leaving their little sister, Elizabeth, aged two, asleep in bed, they
proceeded to a point where they could see the McCullough home,
and began to shout. When they had reached a point about sixty
yards from the house, five Indians and a Frenchman, who had been
secreted in the thicket, rushed upon them and took them captive.
The parents were not captured, inasmuch as the father, hearing
the boys shout, had left his work and thus the Indians missed him,
and they failed to notice the mother and Mary at work in the field.
John and James were taken to Fort Duquesne. From this
place James was carried to Canada, and all trace of him became
Captain Jacobs 283
lost. John was taken to Kittanning, Kuskuskies, and the Musk-
ingum, was adopted by the Delawares, and remained among them
for nine years until liberated by Colonel Bouquet in the autumn
of 1764. At one time his father came to Venango (Franklin) to
liberate him, but the boy had been so long among the Indians that
he preferred the Indian life to returning with his father, and suc-
ceeded in eluding him. After his liberation by Colonel Bouquet,
he returned to the community from which he had been taken nine
years before, and lived there nearly sixty years. He wrote a most
interesting account of his captivity, which sheds much light on the
manners and customs of the Delawares at that time.
During the same month (July), Hugh Robinson was captured
and his mother killed at Robinson's Fort, in Perry County. Hugh,
after being carried to the western part of the state, made his escape.
Also, during this same month a number of Indians appeared near
Fort Robinson, killed the daughter of Robert Miller, the wife of
James Wilson, and a Mrs. Gibson, and captured Hugh Gibson and
Betty Henry.
Also, during July, Samuel Miles and Lieutenant Atlee were
ambushed by three Indians near a spring about half a mile from
Fort Augusta, at Sunbury. A soldier named Bullock, who had
come to the spring for a drink, was killed. Miles and Atlee made
their escape. A rescuing party came out from the fort, and found
the soldier scalped, with his blood trickling into the spring, giving
its waters a crimson hue. The spring was ever afterwards called
the Bloody Spring.
Massacre Near Brown's Fort
On August 6th, a soldier named Jacob Ellis, of Brown's Fort,
about two miles north of Grantville, Dauphin County, desired to
cut some wheat on his farm a few miles from the fort, and, accord-
ingly, took with him a squad of about ten soldiers as a guard. At
about ten o'clock a band of Indians crept up on the reapers, shot
the corporal dead, and wounded another of the soldiers. A little
after this attack, a soldier named Brown was found missing, and
the next morning his body was found near the harvest field. On
October 12th, the Indians made an incursion into this same neigh-
borhood, killing Noah Frederick who was ploughing his field, and
capturing three children that were with him. A little later, Peter
Stample and Frederick Henley were killed in the same neighbor-
hood.
284 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Conococheague Valley Again Invaded
On August 27th, another incursion was made into the beauti-
ful valley of the Conococheague, resulting in the slaying of thirty-
nine settlers near the mouth of this stream. Also, early in Novem-
ber, some soldiers of the garrison at Fort McDowell, in the western
part of Franklin County, where McDowell's Mill now stands, were
ambushed, Privates James McDonald, William McDonald,
Bartholomew McCafferty, and Andrew McQuoid being killed and
scalped, and Captain James Corkin and Private William Cornwall
carried into captivity. At the same time, the following settlers in
the neighborhood were killed: John Culbertson, Samuel Perry,
Hugh Kerrel, John Woods and his mother-in-law, and Elizabeth
Archer; also four children of John Archer, and two boys named
Sam Neily and James Boyd, were carried into captivity.
Attack on the Boyer Family
Sometime during the summer of 1756, though authorities
differ as to the exact date, occurred the attack on the Boyer family,
who lived in the vicinity of Fort Lehigh, at Lehigh Gap. The
"Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania" thus describes this event:
"His [Boyer's] place was about \y 2 miles east of the Fort, on
land now owned by Josiah Arner, James Ziegenfuss and George
Kunkle. With the other farmers he had gathered his family into
the blockhouse for protection. One day, however, with his son
Frederick, then thirteen years old, and the other children, he went
home to attend to the crops. Mr. Boyer was ploughing and Fred
was hoeing, whilst the rest of the children were in the house or
playing near by. Without any warning they were surprised by the
appearance of Indians. Mr. Boyer, seeing them, called to Fred to
run, and himself endeavored to reach the house. Finding he could
not do so, he ran towards the creek, and was shot through the head
as he reached the farther side. Fred, who had escaped to the
wheat field, was captured and brought back. The Indians, having
scalped the father in his presence, took the horses from the plough,
his sisters and himself, and started for Stone Hill, in the rear of the
house. There they were joined by another party of Indians and
marched northward to Canada. On the march the sisters were
separated from their brother and never afterwards heard from.
Frederick was a prisoner with the French and Indians in Canada for
five years, and was then sent to Philadelphia. Of Mrs. Boyer, who
remained in the blockhouse, nothing further is known. After reach-
Captain Jacobs 285
ing Philadelphia, Frederick made his way to Lehigh Gap, and
took possession of the farm. Shortly after he married a daughter
of Conrad Mehrkem, with whom he had four sons and four daugh-
ters. He died October 31, 1832, aged 89 years."
Expedition Against Great Island and Other Indian
Strongholds
During the summer of 1756, Fort Augusta was built and gar-
risoned at Sunbury. The Delawares and Shawnees in the valley
of the West Branch of the Susquehanna were committing so many
atrocities that Colonel William Clapham, commander of the fort,
sent an expedition against the Indian towns on the Juniata,
Chincklamoose (Clearfield, Clearfield County), Great Island (Lock
Haven, Clinton County), and other places on both branches of the
Susquehanna. During October, Colonel Clapham received the
intelligence that the Indians at Great Island were making incur-
sions against the settlements. He then directed Captain John
Hambright, of Lancaster, to lead a company of thirty-eight men,
and destroy that Indian stronghold. There is no doubt that Captain
Hambright carried out his instructions, but, unhappily, no records
giving the details of his expedition are to be found. In this con-
nection, we state that Colonel Clapham was one of the most con-
spicious figures on the frontier. In the early spring of 1763, he
removed with his family to Sewickley Creek, where the town of
West Newton, Westmoreland County, now stands. Here he and
his entire family were cruelly murdered on the afternoon of May
8, 1763, by The Wolf, Kekuscung, and two other Indians, one of
whom was called Butler.
Attack on a Friendly Delaware
This chapter has been devoted largely to a recital of atroci-
ties committed by the Indians during the French and Indian War,
— atrocities that make our flesh creep and cause chills to run down
our pulses. Yet this history would be incomplete and unfair if we
neglected to say that the white men were not always fair and honor-
able, on their part. The following instance of an attack on a
friendly Delaware who had been converted to Christianity by the
Moravian missionaries was reported to Governor Denny by
Timothy Horsefield, in a letter dated November 29th, 1756:
"I beg leave to mention to your Honour, that a few Days
Since as one of our Indians was in the Woods a Small distance
286 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
from Bethlehem, with his Gun, hoping to meet with a Deer, on his
return home he met with two men, who (as he Informs) he Salut-
ed by taking off his Hat; he had not gone far before he heard a
gun fired, and the Bullet whistled near him, which terefied him
very much, and running thro' the thick Bushes, his gun lock Catch-
ed fast, and went off; he dropt it, his Hat, Blanket, &c, and came
home much frightened. The Indians came to me complaining of
this Treatment, Saying they fled from amongst the Murthering
Indians, and come here to Bethlehem, and Adresst his Honour the
Late Governor, and put themselves under His protection, which the
Governor Answered to their Satisfaction, Desireing them to Sit
Still amongst the Brethren, which they said they had done, and
given offence to none. I told them I would do all in my Power to
prevent such Treatment for the future, and that I would write to
the Governor and inform him of it, and that they might be Assured
the Governor would use proper measures to prevent any mischief
happening. I thought at first to write a few Advertisements to
warn wicked People for the future how they Behave to the Indians,
for if one or more of them should be kill'd in such a manner, I
fear it would be of very bad consequence; but I have since consid-
ered it is by no means proper for me to advertise, for as the Late
Governor's proclamation is Expired, the first Proclamation of War
against the Indians I conceive is still in force. I thought it my
Duty to Inform your Honor of this Affair, and Doubt not you will
take the matter into your wise Consideration."
CHAPTER XIX.
Shingas, King Beaver and
Pisquetomen
SHINGAS
HINGAS (Chingas, Shingiss, etc.) was a noted chief of the
Turkey Clan of Delavvares, a brother of King Beaver and
Pisquetomen. By many authorities he is believed to
have been a nephew of the great Sassoonan. He was a
very cruel warrior. Heckewelder says of him: "Were his war ex-
ploits all on record, they would form an interesting document,
though a shocking one. Conococheague, Big Cove, Sherman's Val-
ley, and other settlements along the frontier, felt his strong arm suf-
ficiently that he was a bloody warrior, cruel his treatment, relent-
less his fury. His person was small, but in point of courage and
activity, savage prowess, he was said to have never been exceeded
by anyone."
Shingas Made King of the Delawares
Shingas did not come into the kingship of the Delawares until
1752, on which date, at the Virginia treaty at Logstown, he was
made head chief of the Delawares by Tanacharison as representa-
tive of the Six Nations. The Journal of the Virginia Commission-
ers to this treaty, under date of June 1 1th, describes his coronation
as follows: "Afterwards the Half King [Tanacharison] spoke to
the Delawares: 'Nephews, you received a speech last year from
your brother, the Governor of Pennsylvania and from us, desiring
you to choose one of the wisest councellors, and present him to us
for a King. As you have not done it, we let you know it is our
right to give you a King, and we think proper to give you Shingas
for your King, whom you must look upon as your head chief, and
with whom all public business must be transacted between you and
your brethren, the English. On which the Half King put a laced
hat on the head of The Beaver, who stood proxy for his brother,
Shingas, and presented him with a rich jacket and a suit of English
clothes, which had been delivered to the Half King by the Com-
missioners for that purpose.' "
288 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Attention is called to the fact that, while Shingas is called
"King" of the Delawares, it is hardly likely that either he or his
brother, Beaver, who upon his death or abdication, became "King"
could have been the leading chief of this tribe as they belonged
to the Turkey Clan. According to immemorial custom the "King"
of the three Delaware Clans had to be a member of the Turtle
Clan, as were Tamanend and Sassoonan.
As has been seen in earlier chapters, a treaty between Penn-
sylvania and the Delawares, Shawnees and other Indians of the
valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny, was held at Carlisle in October,
1753. Shingas was present at this treaty, as was also his brother,
Pisquomen, representing the Delawares.
Washington Meets Shingas
When George Washington made his journey to the French
forts in November, 1753, he found Shingas living where the town
of McKees Rocks, Allegheny County, now stands. We read the
following in Washington's Journal : "About two miles from this
[the Forks of the Ohio], on the Southeast side of the River at 'a
place where the Ohio Company intended to erect a fort, lives
Shingas, King of the Delawares. We called upon him to invite
him to council at the Logs Town. Shingas attended us to the
Logs Town, where we arrived between sun setting and dark on the
25th day after I left Williamsburg."
Shingas took part in the conferences which Washington held
with the Indians of Logstown before setting forth from that place
to Venango and Le Boueff.
Croghan and Montour Meet Shingas at Logstown
When George Croghan and Andrew Montour were at Logs-
town in January and February, 1754, Shingas was one of the chiefs
with whom they had conferences. On this occasion, Shingas join-
ed with Scarouady, Delaware George, and several other chiefs on
the Ohio, in requesting that the Governor of Virginia might build
a "strong house" at the Forks of the Ohio and that the Governor
of Pennsylvania might build "another house" somewhere on the
Ohio. Just before these Pennsylvania messengers left Logstown
(February 2nd), Shingas delivered to them the following speech:
"Brother Onas: I am glad to hear all our people here are of
one mind. It is true I live on the river side, which is the French
road, and I assure you by these strings of wampum [gave them
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 289
strings of wampum] that I will neither go down or up, but will re-
move nearer to my brethren, the English, where I can keep our
women and children safe from the enemy."
This promise Shingas did not keep, but deserted to the French.
We have seen, in Chapter XVIII, that, at Kittanning, on the Alle-
gheny, and at Nescopeck, on the North Branch of the Susque-
hanna, he and Captain Jacobs planned many bloody expeditions
which they made against the frontier settlements after Braddock's
defeat. He spent much of his time, during the French and Indian
War, inciting the Indians of Kittanning, Kuskuskies,Logstown, and
Sauconk against the English. The latter town, at the mouth of
the Beaver, is sometimes called Shingas' Old Town.
Shingas Ravages the Frontier
As stated in Chapter XVI, on October 31st, 1755, Shingas be-
gan incursions into Fulton County, which lasted for several days,
and were the beginning of those incursions which made his name
"a terror to the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania." The fol-
lowing letters describe these initial incursions:
Adam Hoops wrote Governor Morris from Conococheague
November 3rd:
"I am sorry I have to trouble you with this melancholy and
disagreeable news, for on Saturday I received an express from
Peters Township that the inhabitants of the Great Cove were all
murdered or taken captive, and their houses and barns all in
flames. Some few fled, upon notice brought them by a certain
Patrick Burns, a captive, that made his escape that very morning
before this sad tragedy was done.
"Upon this information, John Potter, Esq., and self, sent ex-
press through our neighborhood, which induced many of them to
meet with us at John McDowell's Mill, where I with many others
had the unhappy prospect to see the smoke of two houses that were
set on fire by the Indians, viz, Matthew Patton's and Mescheck
James', where their cattle were shot down, the horses standing
bleeding with Indian arrows in them, but the Indians fled.
"The Rev. Mr. Steel, John Potter, Esq., and several others
with us, to the number of about an hundred, went in quest of the
Indians, with all the expedition imaginable, but to no success.
These Indians have likewise taken two women capitves, belonging
to said township. I very much fear the Path Valley has under-
gone the same fate.
290 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"We, to be sure, are in as bad circumstances as ever any poor
Christians were in, for the cries of the widowers, widows, father-
less and motherless children, with many others, for their relations,
are enough to pierce the hardest of hearts; likewise it's a very sor-
rowful spectacle to see those that escaped with their lives with not
a mouthful to eat, or bed to lie on, or clothes to cover their naked-
ness, or keep them warm, but all they had consumed into ashes.
"These deplorable circumstances cry aloud for your Honour's
most wise consideration, that you would take cognizance of and
grant what shall seem most meet, for it is really very shocking, it
must be, for the husband to see the wife of his bosom, her head cut
off, and the children's blood drank like water by these bloody
and cruel savages as we are informed has been the fate of many."
On the same day, John Potter, Sheriff of Cumberland County,
wrote Richard Peters:
"Sir: This comes ye melancholy account of the ruin of the
Great Cove, which is reduced to ashes, and numbers of the inhabi-
tants murdered and taken captives on Saturday last about three
of the clock in the afternoon. I received intelligence in conjunc-
tion with Mr. Adam Hoopes, and sent immediately and appointed
our neighbors to meet at McDowell's. On Sunday morning, I was
not there six minutes till we observed, about a mile and half dis-
tant, one, Matthew Patton's house and barn in flames, on which
we sat off with about forty men, tho' there was at least one hun-
dred and sixty there. Our old officers hid themselves for (ought as
I know) to save their scalps until afternoon when danger was over;
we went to Patton's with a seeming resolution and courage but
found no Indians there, on which we advanced to a rising ground,
where we immediately discovered another house and barn on fire
belonging to Mesach James, about one mile up the creek from
Thomas Bar's; we set off directly for that place, but they had gone
up the creek to another plantation left by one widow Jordan the
day before, but had unhappily gone back that morning with a
young woman, daughter to one William Clark, for some milk for
childer, were both taken captives but neither house nor barn hurt.
I have heard of no more burnt in that valley yet, which makes me
believe they have gone off for some time, but 1 much fear they will
return before we are prepared for them, for it was three of the
clock in the afternoon before a recruit came of about sixty men.
Then we held council whether to pursue up the valley all night or
return to McDowell's, the former of which I and Mr. Hoop and
some others plead for. but could not obtain without putting it to
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 291
votes, which done, we were out voted by a considerable number,
upon which I and my company was left by them that night and
came home, for I will not guard a man that will not fight when
called in so eminent manner, for there was not six of these men
that would consent to go in pursuit of the Indians.
"I am much afraid that Juniata, Tuscaroro, and Sherman's
Valley hath suffered. There is two-thirds of the inhabitants of
this valley who hath already fled, leaving their plantations, and,
without speedy succor be granted, I am of opinion this county
will be lead dissolute without inhabitant. Last night I had a
family of upwards of an hundred of women and children who fled
for succor. You cannot form no just idea of the distressed and
distracted condition of our inhabitants unless your eyes seen and
your ears heard their crys. I am of opinion it is not in the power
of our representatives to meet in assembly at this time. If our
Assembly will give us any additional supply of arms and am-
munition, the latter of which is most wanted, I could wish it were
put into the hands of such persons as would go out upon scouts
after the Indians rather than for the supply of forts."
Benjamin Chambers, on November 2nd, wrote the following
"to the inhabitants of the lower part of the County of Cumber-
land":
"If you intend to go to the assistance of your neighbours, you
need wait any longer for the certainty of the news. The Great
Cove is destroyed; James Campbell left this company last night
and went to the fort at Mr. Steel's meeting house, and there saw
some of the inhabitants of the Great Cove, who gave this account
that, as they came over the hill, they saw their houses in flames.
The messenger says that there is but 100, and that they divided
into two parts. The one part to go against the Cove and the other
against the Conolloways, and that there are no French among
them. They are Delawares and Shawnees. The part that came
against the Cove are under the command of Shingas, the Delaware
King; the people of the Cove that came off saw several men lying
dead; they heard the murder shout and the firing of guns, and
saw the Indians going into the houses that they had come out of
before they left sight of the Cove. I have sent express to Marsh
Creek at the same time that I send this, so I expect there will be a
good company from there this day, and as there is but 100 of the
enemy, I think it is in our power (if God permit) to put them to
flight, if you turn out well from your parts. I understand that the
292 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
west settlement is designed to go if they can get any assistance to
repel them."
Likewise, John Armstrong wrote Governor Morris from Car-
lisle, on November 2nd:
"At four o'clock this afternoon by expresses from Conego-
chego, we are informed that yesterday about 100 Indians were
seen in the Great Cove. Among whom was Shingas, the Delaware
King; that immediately after the discovery, as many as had notice
fled, and looking back from an high hill, they beheld their houses
on fire, heard several guns fired and the last shrieks of their dying
neighbours; 'tis said the enemy divided and one part moved
towards Canallowais. Mr. Hamilton was here with 60 men from
York County when the express came, and is to march early tomor-
row to the upper part of the county. We have sent out expresses
everywhere, and intend to collect the forces of this lower part, ex-
pecting the enemy every moment at Sherman's Valley, if not
nearer hand. I'm of opinion that no other means than a chain of
block houses along or near the south side of the Kittatinny Moun-
tain, from Susquehannah to the temporary line, can secure the lives
and properties even of the old inhabitants of this county, the new
settlement being all fled except Sherman's Valley, whom (if God
do not preserve) we fear will suffer very soon."
Sherman's Valley and numerous other frontier settlements
were desolated by this scourge of the frontier. Finally, Governor
Denny, in 1756, set a price of two hundred pounds upon Shingas'
head, but unhappily he was not killed or captured.
Capture of the Martin and Knox Families
Among the outrages committed by Shingas during the above
incursion into Fulton County, was the capture of the family of
John Martin, a settler in the Big Cove. On Saturday morning,
November 1, 1755, Mrs. Martin learned that Indians were in the
neighborhood, and, thereupon, sent her son, Hugh, aged seventeen,
to their neighbor, Captain Stewart, requesting him to come and
take her family with his to the block-house, as her husband, John
Martin, had gone to Philadelphia for supplies for the family, and
had not returned. When Hugh came in sight of his home on his
way back from Captain Stewart's, whose house was burned, he saw
the Indians capture his mother; his sister, Mary, aged nineteen;
his sister, Martha, aged twelve; his sister, Janet, aged two; his
brother, James, aged ten; and his brother, William, aged eight.
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 293
Hugh hid where a fallen tree lay on the bank of Cove Creek not
far from the Martin house, which the Indians now burned to the
ground.
After the Indians left, Hugh started toward Philadelphia to
meet his father. All that day he found nothing but desolation,
and in the evening, he came to a stable with some hay in it. Here
he lay until morning. During the night something jumped on
him, which proved to be a dog. In the morning he found some
fresh eggs in the stable, which he ate. When he was ready to
leave, a large colt came to the stable. Making a halter of rope, he
mounted the colt and rode on his way. In the afternoon, he met
some men who had gathered to pursue the Indians, among them
being the owner of the colt, who was much surprised to find it so
easily managed, as it was considered unruly. It is not known
when Hugh met his father, but, at any rate, they returned and re-
built the house.
Mrs. Martin and her children were taken to the Indian town
of Kittanning. A warrior wished to marry Mary, which made the
squaws jealous and they beat her dreadfully, so much so that her
health rapidly declined, and one morning she was found on her
knees dead in the wigwam. An Indian squaw claimed little Janet,
and tied her to a rope fastened to a post. While she was thus con-
fined, a French trader named Baubee came to the child, and she
reached out her arms and called him father. He then took her in
his arms, and the Indian woman who claimed her sold her to the
trader for a blanket, who carried her to Quebec intending to adopt
her. Later, Mrs. Martin was bought by the French, and also taken
to Quebec, not knowing her child was there. Still later, Mrs. Mar-
tin bought her own freedom, and one day she found little Janet on
the streets of Quebec. Janet was well dressed and had all appear-
ances of being well cared for, but did not recognize the mother.
Mrs. Martin followed Janet to the home of the French family who
had her, identified her by some mark, and the family reluctantly
gave up the child to the mother, who paid them what they had paid
the Indians for her.
Mrs. Martin then sailed with Janet to Liverpool, England,
from which place she took ship to Philadelphia, and joined her
husband.
The boys, James and William, and the daughter, Martha, were
taken to the Tuscarawas and Musknigum, in the state of Ohio.
After Mrs. Martin and Janet returned to their home in the Big
Cove, Mr. Martin, upon the close of the French and Indian War,
294 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
endeavored to recover his child from the Indians. Traveling on
horseback to the Ligonier Valley, he found an encampment of
Indians, and tried to make arrangements with them for the return
of his children, when they claimed to have raised his family and
wanted pay. Being unable to pay them, he said something about
not having employed them to raise his family; thereupon, they
became angry, and he made his escape as fast as he could, being
chased by two Indians on horseback to a point on the Allegheny
Mountain, where the sound of the bells of the Indian horses
ceased.
Mr. Martin eventually recovered his children when ten Shaw-
nee chiefs, with about fifty of their warriors, together with a large
body of Delawares, delivered to George Croghan, then deputy
agent of Sir William Johnson, at Fort Pitt, on May 9th, 1765, the
remainder of their prisoners that had not been delivered to Colonel
Henry Bouquet when the latter made his expedition to the Musk-
ingum, in the autumn of 1764, for the purpose of recovering the
prisoners taken by the Indians during the French and Indian and
the Pontiac-Guyasuta Wars, — just nine years and six months after
their capture. Martha could read when captured, but during her
captivity, she had forgotten this art. William and James, during
their captivity, assisted the squaws in raising vegetables, caring for
the children and old people, and grew up as Indians, in contrast to
their brother, Hugh, who had escaped capture and became a man
of considerable influence on the Pennsylvania frontier. Before be-
ing taken to the Muskingum, Martha, James, and William spent
some time with their Indian captors on Big Sewickley Creek, in
Westmoreland County. The boys became attached to the locality,
and after their return, they patented two tracts of land in that
vicinity, and lived there most of their lives.
Janet Martin, in 1774, married John Jamison. She has many
descendants in Western Pennsylvania, especially in Westmoreland
County, among them being the well-known Robert S. Jamison fam-
ily, of Greensburg.
During the same incursion, occurred the capture of the Knox
family, who lived some distance from the Big Cove. On Sunday
morning, November 2nd, 1755, while the family were engaged in
morning worship, they were alarmed by the barking of their dogs.
Then, two men of their acquaintance, who had come to the Knox
home on Saturday evening for the purpose of attending religious
services the next day, went to the door. They were immediately
shot down by the Indians, and the rest of the family taken prison-
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 295
ers. After the Indians returned to the town from which they had
come, no doubt Kittanning, each warrior who had lost a brother
in the incursion was given a prisoner to kill. As there were not
enough men to go around, little Jane Knox was given to one of the
warriors as his victim. Placing her at the root of a tree, this sav-
age commenced throwing his tomahawk close to her head, ex-
claiming that his brother, who was killed, was a warrior, and that
the other Indians had given him only a squaw to kill. Jane ex-
pected that every moment would be her last. Presently, an Indian
squaw came running and claimed Jane as her child, thus saving
her life. She later returned to the settlements, and became the
wife of Hugh Martin, mentioned above. Later Hugh Martin was
one of the commissioners who located the first court house in
Greensburg.
Shingas Burns Fort McCord
In the spring of 1756, Shingas again scourged the Pennsyl-
vania frontier. His principal act in the incursions of this spring
was the capture and burning of Fort McCord, in Franklin County,
on April 1st. This atrocity was described in Chapter XVIII, and
needs no further reference here.
Post Meets Shingas on Peace Mission
To Western Indians
When the Moravian missionary, Christian Frederick Post, as
the agent of Pennsylvania, made his two journeys to the Ohio and
Allegheny in the summer of 1758, he met and conferred with
Shingas. During this summer Shingas was located most of the
time at Kuskuskies, Logstown, and Sauconk, but shortly prior
thereto had been residing, for a time, on the Muskingum in Ohio.
The object of Post's mission was to make peace with the Western
Indians. The neutrality of the Delawares on the Susquehanna had
already been secured by treaties with Teedyuscung, an account of
which will be given in the chapters on Teedyuscung (Chapters
XXI and XXII), and now the problem was to secure the neutrality
of the Delawares and Shawnees of the valleys of the Ohio and
Allegheny.
It is doubtful whether any more suitable person could have
been found in all the colonies for carrying the peace proposal to
the Western Delawares than Christian Frederick Post. Born in
Germany, he came to America and labored as a Moravian mission-
ary among the Delawares. For a time he was located at Wyoming.
296 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
The Delawares loved and trusted him. For years he had lived
among them in all the intimacy of friends and companions. His
first wife was Rachael, an Indian convert, whom he married in
1743, and who died at the Moravian mission at Bethlehem in 1747
In 1749, he chose as his second wife, Agnes, a dusky daughter of
the Delawares, who was baptized by Bishop Cammerhof March 5,
1749, and who died at Bethlehem in 1751. So that the Delawares,
in dealing with Post, looked upon him as of their own flesh and
blood.
At Kuskuskies, on the 18th day of August, Shingas, Delaware
George, and King Beaver advised Post that before they could
enter into a treaty of peace with Pennsylvania, it would be neces-
sary for them to get in touch with the tribes living as far as be-
yond the Lakes, but that they would work steadfastly to this end.
Some of Post's conferences on this first mission to the Ohio
were held under the very guns of Fort Duquesne. On the 24th
of August his party arrived on the bank of the Allegheny River
directly opposite the fort, where King Beaver introduced the mis-
sionary to a number of Indians, all of whom were glad to hear his
message of peace, except an old, deaf Onondaga, who objected
strongly to both Post's message and his presence. At the same
place, on August 25th, Post was told "not to stir from the fire, that
the French had offered a great reward for my [Post's] scalp, and
that several parties were out for that purpose." "Accordingly,"
says Post, "I stuck constantly as close to the fire as if I had been
charmed there." At a council held here on the 26th, the intrepid
missionary gave his message of peace. There were present alto-
gether three hundred French and Indians. That aftrnoon, the
French in council at the fort, demanded that Post be delivered to
them, but their Indian allies objected. In fact the French were
anxious to kill him, and had bribed one of his Indian companions
named Daniel "to leave me there."
Says Dr. Donehoo: "It is a marvel that Post ever returned
from this mission at the site of Fort Duquesne, from which place
no Englishman had returned alive since Braddock's defeat, except
a few prisoners who had escaped. Post was in a hostile country,
with a large reward offered for his scalp, and there were many
Indians about him who were not entirely friendly, and one of his
own companions had been bribed to kill him — yet he came through
it all. On the night of 26th of August the Indians who had taken
Post to Fort Duquesne realized it was no longer safe for him to
remain there, so before daybreak on the 27th, Post left with a party
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 297
of six Indians taking a different trail than the ones over which
they had come. The main body of Indians remained behind to
know whether the French would make any attempt to take him
by force They [Post and his party] reached Sauconk
that night, where they were gladly received."
A Significant Question
Post notes in the journal of his first mission to the Ohio, under
date of August 28th, the following in regard to Shingas and
Daniel :
"We set out from Sauconk in company with twenty for Kus-
kuskies. On the road Shingas addressed himself to me and asked
if I did not think that, if he came to the English, they would hang
him, as they had offered a great reward for his head. He spoke in
a very soft and easy manner. I told him that was a great while
ago; it was all forgotten and wiped away; that the English would
receive him very kindly. Then Daniel interrupted me and said to
Shingas: "Don't believe him; he tells nothing but idle lying
stories. Wherefore did the English hire one thousand two hundred
Indians to kill us?' I protested it was false; he said: 'G — d d — n
you for a fool ; did you not see the woman lying in the road that
was killed by the Indians that the English hired?' I said:
'Brother, do consider how many thousand Indians the French have
hired to kill the English and how many they have killed along the
frontier.' Then Daniel said: 'D — n you. Why do not you and
the French fight on the sea? You come here only to cheat the poor
Indians and take their land from them.' Then Shingas told him
to be still, for he did not know what he said. We arrived at Kus-
kuskies before night, and I informed Pisquetomen of Daniel's be-
havior, at which he appeared sorry."
Shingas Kind to Prisoners
Also, under date of August 29th, Post notes again in his jour-
nal:
"I dined with Shingas. He told me, though the English had
set a great price on his head, he never thought to revenge himself,
but was always very kind to any prisoners that were brought him;
and that he assured the Governor he would do all in his power to
bring about an established peace, and wished he could be certain
of the English being in earnest."
We state in this connection that Heckewelder testifies that
29S The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Shingas, though a terrible warrior in battle, was never known to
treat prisoners cruelly. "One day," says Heckewelder, "in the
summer of 1762, while passing with him near by where two prison-
ers of his, boys about twelve years of age, were amusing them-
selves with his own boys, as the chief observed that my attention
was arrested by them, he asked me at what I was looking. Telling
him in reply that I was looking at his prisoners, he said: 'When
I first took them, they were such; but now they and my children
eat their food from the same bowl, or dish.' Which was equivalent
to saying that they were, in all respects, on an equal footing with
his own children, or alike dear to him." Shingas was, at that
time, living on the Muskingum.
The Indians' Point of View
On September 1st, at Kuskuskies, Shingas, King Beaver, Dela-
ware George, and Pisquetomen unburdened their hearts, and frank-
ly told Post the cause of their hostility to the English during the
French and Indian War. Their statements, also, revealed the real
reason why, after the close of this conflict, they again took up arms
against the English in Pontiac's War, which, in 1763, drenched the
frontier with the blood of the pioneers. Post reports the truly
patriotic speeches of these great chiefs, as follows:
"Brother, we have thought a great deal since God has brought
you to us ; and this is a matter of great consequence, which we can-
not readily answer; we think on it, and will answer you as soon
as we can. Our feast hinders us; all our young men, women and
children are glad to see you; before you came, they all agreed to-
gether to go and join the French; but since they have seen you,
they all draw back; though we have great reason to believe you in-
tend to drive us away, and settle the country; or else, why do you
come to fight in the land that God has given us?"
"I said, we did not intend to take the land from them; but
only to drive the French away. They said, they knew better ; for
that they were informed so by our greatest traders; and some Jus-
tices of the Peace had told them the same, and the French, said
they, tell us much the same thing, — 'that the English intend
to destroy us, and take our lands; but the land is ours, and
not theirs; therefore, we say, if you will be at peace with us, we
will send the French home. It is you that have begun the war,
and it is necessary that you hold fast, and be not discouraged, in
the work of peace. We love you more than you love us; for when
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 299
we take any prisoners from you, we treat them as our own chil-
dren. We are poor, and yet we clothe them as well as we can,
though you see our children are as naked as at the first. By this
you may see that our hearts are better than yours. It is plain that
you white people are the cause of this war; why do not you and
the French fight in the old country, and on the sea? Why do you
come to fight on our land? This makes every body believe you
want to take the land from us by force, and settle it.'
"I told them, 'Brothers, as for my part, I have not one foot
of land, nor do I desire to have any; and if I had any land, I had
rather give it to you, than take any from you. Yes, brothers, if
I die, you will get a little more land from me; for I shall then no
longer walk on that ground, which God has made. We told you
that you should keep nothing in your heart, but bring it before the
council fire, and before the Governor, and his council; they will
readily hear you; and I promise you, what they answer they will
stand to. I further read to you what agreements they made about
Wyoming, and they stand to them.'
"They said, 'Brother, your heart is good; you speak always
sincerely; but we know there are always a great number of people
that want to get rich; they never have enough; look, we do not
want to be rich, and take away that which others have. God has
given you the tame creatures; we do not want to take them from
you. God has given to us the deer, and other wild creatures, which
we must feed on; and we rejoice in that which springs out of the
ground, and thank God for it. Look now, my brother, the white
people think we have no brains in our heads; but that they are
great and big, and that makes them make war with us; we are but
a little handful to what you are; but remember, when you look for
a wild turkey you cannot always find it, it is so little it hides itself
under the bushes; and when you hunt for a rattlesnake, you can-
not find it; and perhaps it will bite you before you see it. How-
ever, since you are so great and big, and we so little, do you use
your greatness and strength in completing this work of peace.
This is the first time that we saw or heard of you, since the war
begun, and we have great reason to think about it, since such a
great body of you comes into our lands. It is told us, that you
and the French contrived the war to waste the Indians between
you; and that you and the French intended to divide the land be-
tween you; this was told us by the chief of the Indian traders; and
they said further, brothers, this is the last time we shall come
300 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
among you; for the French and the English intend to kill all the
Indians, and then divide the land among themselves.'
"Then they addressed themselves to me, and said: 'Brother,
1 suppose you know something about it; or has the Governor stop-
ped your mouth, that you cannot tell us?'
"Then I said: 'Brothers, 1 am very sorry to see you so jeal-
ous. I am your own flesh and blood, and sooner than 1 would tell
you any story that would be of hurt to you, or your children, I
would suffer death; and if I did not know that it was the desire of
the Governor, that we should renew our old brotherly love and
friendship, that subsisted between our grandfathers, 1 would not
have undertaken this journey. I do assure you of mine and the
people's honesty. If the French had not been here, the English
would not have come; and consider, brothers, whether, in such a
case, we can always sit still.'
"Then they said: 'It is a thousand pities we did not know
this sooner; if we had, it would have been peace long before now.'
"Sept. 2nd. — I bade Shingas to make haste and dispatch me,
and once more desired to know of them, if it was possible for them
to guide me to the General. [General Forbes, who was then
marching against Fort Duquesne]. Of all which they told me
they would consider; and Shingas gave me his hand, and said,
'Brother, the next time you come, I will return with you to Phila-
delphia, and will do all in my power to prevent any body's coming
to hurt the English more.'
"6th. — Pisquetumen, Tom Hickman and Shingas told me,
'Brother, it is good that you have stayed so long with us; we love
to see you, and wish to see you here longer; but since you are so
desirous to go, you may set off tomorrow; Pisquetumen has
brought you here, and he may carry you home again; you have
seen us, and we have talked a great deal together, which we have
not done for a long time before. Now, Brother, we love you, but
cannot help wondering why the English and French do not make
up with one another, and tell one another not to fight on our land.'
"King Beaver and Shingas spoke to Pisquetumen. 'Brother,
you told us that the Governor of Philadelphia and Teedyuscung
took this man [Post] out of their bosoms, and put him into your
bosom, that you should bring him here; and you have brought
him here to us; and we have seen and heard him; and now we give
him into your bosom, to bring him to the same place again, before
the Governor; but do not let him quite loose; we shall rejoice
when we shall see him here again.' They desired me to speak to
the Governor, in their behalf, as follows:
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 301
' 'Brother, we beg you to remember our oldest brother, Pis-
quetumen, and furnish him with good clothes, and reward him well
for his trouble; for we shall look upon him when he comes back.'"
While at Kuskuskies, on this first peace mission to the Western
Indians, Post received from Shingas, King Beaver, Delaware
George, Pisquetomen, John Hickman, Killbuck, Keckenapaulin,
and eight other chiefs, a "speech belt" of eight rows, by which the
western tribes agreed to the peace with the English. The accept-
ance of this belt by the Governor of Pennsylvania would make
peace effective with these Indians. Pisquetomen and John Hick-
man delivered the belt at the Grand Council at Easton, in October,
1758.
On Post's second journey to the Ohio (Autumn of 1758), he
again met Shingas and held council with him at Kuskuskies, Sau-
conk, and Logstown, finding him anxious to make peace with the
English on behalf of the Western Indians. Before Post left for
Eastern Pennsylvania, the French had abandoned and set fire to
Fort Duquesne, November 24th. The next day the advance troops
of the army of General John Forbes took possession of its smould-
ering ruins, and this "Gateway of the West", which had cost
Pennsylvania and the English great sacrifies of blood and treasure
to possess, was named Pittsburgh, in honor of William Pitt. Had
not Shingas and his associate chiefs, welcomed the peace message
of the gentle Moravian missionary, who can tell how different
would have been the result? Would the Anglo-Saxon today have
the ascendancy in the Western World? Would America be speak-
ing French today? Logstown and Sauconk were filled with war-
riors, and in the villages in the valleys of the Tuscarawas and
Muskingum were hundreds of others. One word from Shingas or
King Beaver, and they would have arisen in savage wrath. But
that word was not spoken, because Post, whom they loved and in
whom they had confidence, held them silent and kept them from
assisting the French, as the army of General Forbes marched over
the mountains and through the wilderness to dislodge the French
from the beautiful and fertile valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny,
and to end the French and Indian War in Pennsylvania.
Shingas at Fort Pitt
On July 5th, 1759, a council was held, at the newly erected
Fort Pitt, between George Croghan, Captain William Trent, and
Captain Thomas McKee, on the one hand, and the representatives
302 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
of the Six Nations, Delawares, Shawnees, and Wyandots. This
was the first large gathering of Indians at Fort Pitt. Andrew
Montour was the interpreter, while Colonel Hugh Mercer and the
garrison were also present. The Delawares were represented by
Shingas, King Beaver, Delaware George, Killbuck, and The Pipe;
and the Six Nations by Guyasuta. Croghan informed the assem-
bled chiefs of the terms of the Treaty of Easton. These were con-
firmed, and the Indians promised to return the captives held in
their villages.
On August 12th, 1760, General Monckton held a conference
at Fort Pitt with the Western Indians, for the purpose of assuring
them that the English had no design of taking the Indians' lands.
In the first part of September, Shingas and Andrew Montour went
to Presque Isle (Erie) to join Croghan and Major Robert Rogers
in leading an expedition to take possession of Detroit and other
western posts surrendered by the French.
Shingas Attends Lancaster Treaty of 1762
After the erection of Fort Pitt in 1759 Shingas retired to Kus-
kuskies, and later to the Muskingum and the Tuscarawas.
Early in February, 1762, Governor James Hamilton received
a letter from Shingas and King Beaver, through their faithful
friend, Christian Frederick Post, advising the Governor that they
desired to hold a treaty with him in the following spring.
The Colonial Authorities had made many efforts after Post's
mission to the Western Indians in 1758, to induce Shingas and
King Beaver to come to Philadelphia for a conference. Shingas
had declined to come, fearing that the English would retaliate
upon him for the terrible atrocities that he had committed upon
the frontier settlements during the French and Indian War. Now,
however, that peace was secure and the Indian raids upon the bor-
der had stopped, Shingas wanted to meet the Governor in con-
ference.
In March, the Governor sent a reply to Shingas and Beaver
through Post, inviting these two chiefs to come to Lancaster to
hold a conference at that place, inasmuch as smallpox was
raging in Philadelphia. Post was appointed as the guide
and escort, not only for the two chiefs and their delegation of
Indians, but also for the captives which were to be returned by the
Indians from the villages on the Muskingum and Tuscarawas, as
well as the villages on the Beaver and Ohio. Post immediately
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 303
went to the villages of Shingas and Beaver on the Tuscarawas, and
began preparations for their return on the 25th of June. He was
beset with many troubles. He had difficulty in getting Shingas
and Beaver to return with him and also in keeping the captives
from running away and returning to the Indian villages. Dr.
George P. Donehoo, in "Pennsylvania A History" thus comments
upon the reluctance of the white captives to return to the settle-
ments:
"One of the most remarkable facts in the relation of the Eng-
lish with the Indians during this entire period is that these cap-
tives, whose parents or husbands or wives had been most cruelly
killed and scalped by Indians, had to be guarded and oftentimes
fettered in order to keep them from running back to the captivity
from which they had been released. One explanation of this most
peculiar condition has been attempted by some writers, who have
dealt with the topic, saying that the captives were men and women
of the lower sort, and had not been accustomed to anything differ-
ent from that which had been their condition in the villages of
their Indian masters. But this is an absolutely false statement.
Some of them had been taken from the best class of frontier fami-
lies. The great majority of them, as shown by their names, be-
longed to the hardy, religious Scotch-Irish families along the
frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, which furnished the lead-
ing men and women of the Colonial period. The only explanation
is to be found in the statements made by the captives and by the
Indians, that these adopted relations were treated with the utmost
kindness and respect by their captors."
When Post, Shingas, Beaver, the other Indians, and the white
captives reached Fort Pitt, Post held a conference with King
Beaver in which this chief advised him that the Indians had
already delivered seventy-four prisoners at that fort. After many
difficulties, Post, Shingas, Beaver, the other Indians, and the re-
maining captives reached Lancaster, on August 8th, where the
great conference began on the 12th of that month. Further details
of this conference are given in Chapter XXII, but in this connec-
tion, we state that the principal matters discussed were the return
of the prisoners and the claim on the part of the Delawares that
they had been defrauded out of their lands by the Pennsylvania
authorities. The conference was closed by giving the Indian
delegation many presents.
304 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Shingas in Pontiac's War
After a few year's of peace between Pennsylvania and the
Indians, Pontiac's War, which opened in May, 1763, desolated the
frontier. On the opening of this war, Shingas was living on the
Tuscarawas, and Fort Pitt was commanded by Captain Simon
Ecuyer. On May 31st, Captain Ecuyer received the following
account from Shingas and King Beaver, which they had delivered
to Thomas Calhoun, a trader at Tuscarawas, at eleven o'clock, on
the night of May 27, 1763:
"Brother, King Beaver, with Shingas, Windohala, Wingenum,
Daniel, and William Anderson, out of regard to you and the
friendship that formerly subsisted between our grandfathers and
the English, which has been lately renewed by us, we come to in-
form you of the news we had heard, which you may depend upon
as true. All the English that were at Detroit were killed ten days
ago; not one left alive. At Sandusky, all the white people there
were killed five days ago, nineteen in number, except the officer,
who is a prisoner, and one boy who made his escape, whom we
have not heard of. At the mouth of the Mamee River, Hugh
Crawford with one boy was taken prisoner and six men killed. At
the Salt Licks [on the Mahoning in Ohio], five days ago, five white
men were killed. We received the account this day. We have
seen a number of tracks on the road between this and Sandusky,
not far off, which we are sure is a party come to cut you and your
people off; but as we have sent a man to watch their motions, re-
quest you may think of nothing you have here, but make the best
of your way to some place of safety; as we would not desire to see
you killed in our town. Be careful to avoid the road, and every
part where Indians resort. Brother, what goods and other
effects you have here, you need not be uneasy about them. We
assure you that they will take care to keep them safe for six
months. Perhaps by that time we may see you, or send you word
what you may expect of us."
As set forth in Chapter XXI II, Shingas took part in the siege
of Fort Pitt, in July, 1763. On July 26th, he and Turtle Heart,
held a parley with Captain Ecuyer, the commandant, under a flag
of truce, and requested him to withdraw the troops from that place.
Soon after this Shingas disappears from history. What became
of him or when he died is not known, though some authorities have
endeavored to identify him with Buckongehelas, a Delaware chief,
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 305
who was living in Ohio as late as 1800. Some have suggested, too,
that Shingas commanded the Indians at the battle of Bushy Run,
Westmoreland County, on August 6th, 1763, but this is very im-
probable, as both he and King Beaver were not in entire sympathy
with Pontiac's uprising. It is much more likely that Guyasuta, an
account of whom is given in Chapter XXIII, commanded the
Indians at this battle.
KING BEAVER
King Beaver, or Tamaque, a chief of the Turkey Clan of
Delawares, was, as has been seen in this chapter, a brother of
Shingas and Pisquetomen, and possibly a nephew of the great
Sassoonan. Upon the death or abdication of Shingas, he succeeded
to the kingship of the Delaware tribe.
King Beaver's first important appearance in history is when
George Croghan and Andrew Montour were at Logstown, in May,
1751, delivering the present of Pennsylvania to the tribes of the
Ohio and Allegheny. On this occasion, King Beaver requested
that Pennsylvania would build a "strong house on the River Ohio,
so that in case of war with the French, the Indians of the Ohio
Valley might have a place of security."
On this occasion, too, he replied to a suggestion that the Dela-
wares should comply with the promise that they had made the
Governor of Pennsylvania, three years before to choose a new chief
to succeed Sassoonan, who, as we have seen, died in the autumn of
1747. King Beaver said that, inasmuch as all the wise men of the
Delawares were not gathered together, it would take considerable
time to select a man competent to rule over them, but that as soon
as possible they would make a selection, which he trusted would
be satisfactory, not only to the English, but also to the Six Na-
tions.
He was also present at the treaty which the Virginia com-
missioners held with the Western Indians at Logstown, in June,
1752. On this occasion he stood proxy for his brother, Shingas,
when Tanacharison as the representative of the Six Nations crown-
ed Shingas King of the Delawares, as was seen earlier in this chap-
ter.
King Beaver at Aughwick Conferences
As was related in the latter part of Chapter XIV, King Beaver
attended the conferences with Conrad Weiser, George Croghan,
Tanacharison, and Scarouady, held at Aughwick in September,
306 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
1754. It will be recalled that upon Washington's defeat at the
Great Meadows in the early part of July of that year, the friendly
Indians assembled at Aughwick, where supplies were distributed
to them by George Croghan, and that Weiser was sent to Augh-
wick to investigate the manner in which Croghan was distributing
the supplies, and make a report thereon to the Pennsylvania
Authorities.
Tanacharison and Scarouady were the principal Indian
speakers at these conferences; but King Beaver, as the representa-
tive of the Delawares, also took part. A speech which he made at
Aughwick on this occasion sheds some light on the time of the
subjugation of the Delawares by the Iroquois.
Said he: "I must now go into the depth and put you in mind
of old histories and our first acquaintance with you when William
Penn first appeared in his ship on our lands. We looked in his
face and judged him to be our brother and gave him a fast hold to
tie his ship to; and we told him that a powerful people called the
Five Nations had placed us here and established a fair and lasting
friendship with us, and that he, the said William Penn, and his
people shall be welcome to be one of us, and in the same union, to
which he and his people agreed; and we then erected an everlasting
friendship with William Penn and his people, and we on our side,
so well as you, and observed as much as possible to this day. We
desire you will look upon us in the same light, and let that treaty
of friendship, made by our forefathers on both sides, subsist and
be in force from generation to generation."
King Beaver in the French and Indian War
There are very few records of the activities of King Beaver
during the French and Indian War; but there is no doubt that he
assisted in many an incursion against the Pennsylvania frontier.
Egle in his "History of Pennsylvania" states that it was King
Beaver who led the band of Delawares who captured Bingham's
Fort in the Tuscarora Valley in Juniata County, on June 12, 1756,
an account of which was given in Chapter XVIII. We have
already seen, in this chapter, the important part that he played in
the peace missions of Christian Frederick Post to the Western
Indians in the summer and autumn of 1758.
King Beaver was the principal speaker at the great council
held at Fort Pitt on July 5, 1759, referred to earlier in this chapter,
which gathered the fruits of Post's mission of the preceding year.
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 307
He was also present at the great Indian conference with
General Monckton at Fort Pitt on August 12, 1760, held for the
purpose of assuring the Western Indians that the English had no
design of taking their lands upon the close of the French and
Indian War. In the spring of 1761 he sent White Eyes, (also
known as Grey-Eyes) and Wingemund to meet Governor Hamil-
ton in council at Philadelphia and to advise him that a number of
chiefs of the Western Indians proposed coming to Philadelphia to
cement the bond of peace established between them and the
Colony at the close of the French and Indian War.
As we have seen in the present chapter, in 1762 King Beaver,
Shingas, and a number of other chiefs from the Mukingum, Tus-
carawas, and Ohio, accompanied Christian Frederick Post to the
great conference which was held at Lancaster in August of that
year, where they delivered up the white captives which had been
taken during the French and Indian War, and held in various
villages on the Muskingum and Tuscarawas. His speech at this
conference, that he knew nothing of the basis of the charge which
Teedyuscung made as to the fraudulent character of the Walking
Purchase, had no doubt much to do with Teedyuscung's finally
agreeing to withdraw the charge of fraud.
On the outbreak of Pontiac's War, in May, 1763, King
Beaver was one of the chiefs who, as related earlier in this chapter,
warned Thomas Calhoun, a trader at Tuscarawas, to flee toward
the eastern settlements. What part, if any, he took in Pontiac's
uprising is not definitely known, though both he and Shingas had
warned the English that a war 'would result if they remained on
the Ohio. From all the data that can be found, we are justified
in assuming that King Beaver was not in hearty sympathy with
Pontiac's aims and purposes, at least at the beginning of the up-
rising. When Colonel Bouquet led his expedition to the Musk-
ingum and Tuscarawas in the summer and autumn of 1764, King
Beaver was one of the principal Delaware chiefs in that region,
and Colonel Bouquet compelled him and the other chiefs of the
western tribes to surrender the prisoners which had been taken in
Pontiac's War.
King Beaver's next appearance in the history of Pennsylvania
is when he, with New Comer, Wingenund, Custaloga, Guyasuta,
White-Eyes, Captain Pipe, and other chiefs of the western tribes,
attended the great conference which opened at Fort Pitt, on May
10th, 1765, held for the purpose of resuming trade relations be-
tween Pennsylvania and these Indians after the close of Pontiac's
308 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
War. Andrew Montour, it will be remembered, was the interpreter
on this occasion.
King Beaver also attended the great council at Fort Pitt
April 26th to May 9th, 1768, held between Pennsylvania, the west-
ern tribes, and Six Nations, for the purpose of adjusting the diffi-
culties growing out of the fact that settlements were being estab-
lished in the valleys of the Youghiogheny and Monongahela, on
territory not purchased from the Indians. Over one thousand
Indians attended this council, which led to the great purchase at
Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York), on November 5th of this year,
more particularly described in Chapter XX.
King Beaver had various residences during that part of his life
spent in Western Pennsylvania — Logstown, Sauconk, and Kuskus-
kies. The Beaver River bears his name. As early as 1756, he
established the town of Tuscarawas on the river of the same name
in Ohio, a town which was later known as King Beaver's Town.
Here he died in 1771, admonishing his people to accept Christian-
ity. In the latter years of his life, he had come under the influence
of the Moravians, and invited them to establish missions among
the Delawares of Ohio. Upon his death, Captain Johnny, or
Straight Arm, succeeded to the kingship of the Turtle Clan of
Delawares, but White Eyes, an account of whom is given in Chap-
ter XXV, was the actual ruler.
PISQUETOMEN
As we have seen also, in this chapter, Pisquetomen, a chief of
the Turkey Clan of Delawares, was a brother of Shingas and King
Beaver, and possibly a nephew of Sassoonan. His first important
appearance in Pennsylvania history is when he, Sassoonan, and
other Delaware chiefs conveyed to the Penns, in September, 1732,
"all the land along the Schuylkill between the Lechay Hills and
Kittochtinny Hills, from the Branches of the Delaware to the
Branches of the Susquehanna." He was also one of the chiefs
who attended the great conference at Carlisle in October. 1753,
mentioned in former chapters.
We have seen in this chapter the important part that Pisqueto-
men played in Post's mission to the Western Indians in the summer
and autumn of 1758. It is on account of these services that this
chief especially claims our remembrance.
We close this sketch of these three distinguished brothers by
calling attention to the statement which Kins Beaver and Shingas
Shingas, King Beaver and Pisquetomen 309
made to Pisquetomen at Kuskuskies just before Post left for the
East upon the completion of his first mission to the Western
Indians:
"Brother, you told us that the Governor of Pennsylvania and
Teedyuscung took this man [Post] out of their bosoms and put
him into your bosoms, that you should bring him here; and you
have brought him to us; and we have seen and heard him; and now
we give him into your bosom, to bring him to the same place again
before the Governor."
*■■£■ 3>-v
§ 4 > %
# c S $
CHAPTER XX.
Madam Montour and Her Son,
Andrew Montour
MADAM MONTOUR
ADAM MONTOUR was the first of a family whose name is
closely connected with the Indian annals of Pennsylvania.
There is much doubt as to her birth. She claimed to
be the daughter of an Indian woman, probably a Huron,
and one of the governors of Canada. Whether this is true or not,
about 1664, a Frenchman, Montour by name, settled in Canada,
where he married an Indian woman by whom he became the father
of a son and two daughters. The son grew up among the Indians,
who were, at that time, allies of the French. In 1685, while in the
service of the French, he was wounded in a fight with two Mo-
hawks on Lake Champlain. Later, he deserted the French, and, in
1709, he was killed while inducing twelve of the western tribes
to support the English.
So much for the son of the nobleman, Montour. One of the
daughters married a Miami Indian, and became lost to history.
The other daughter, the noted Madam Montour, was born prior
to 1684. When a child of ten years, she was captured by the
Iroquois, and adopted, probably by the Seneca tribe, for, upon
reaching womanhood, she married a Seneca, named Roland Mon-
tour, according to the "Hand Book of American Indians," by
whom she had the following children: Andrew, Robert, Louis,
and Margaret. Upon the death of her Seneca husband, she mar-
ried the noted Oneida chief, Carondowanen, or "Big Tree", who
later took the name of Robert Hunter, in honor of the Governor
of New York. He was killed, about the year 1729, in North
Carolina, in the war between the Iroquois and the Catawbas.
Madam Montour's first appearance as an official interpreter
was at the Albany Treaty, in August, 1711. Her first appearance
as an official interpreter in Pennsylvania was at a conference held
in Philadelphia, July 3rd to 5th, 1727, between the Provincial
Council and chiefs of the Six Nations, mostly Cayugas, in which
the chiefs requested that no English settlements be made up the
Susquehanna farther than Paxtang (Harrisburg), explaining that
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew Montour 311
this territory was on the road by which the Six Nations went to
war against the Catawbas, and that they feared that misfortunes
would befall their warlike activities, if their warriors were fur-
nished with rum by the settlers along the route. She became a
noted interpreter, and was uniformly friendly to the Colony of
Pennsylvania. Her sons, too, were loyal to the Colony, and
Andrew, received large grants of donation lands lying along Chilli-
squaque Creek, in Northumberland County, and on the Loyalsock,
where Montoursville, Lycoming County, is situated. A creek, a
river, a town, a county, and a mountain range — all in Pennsyl-
vania — are named for her, or members of her family. She lived
for many years at the village of Ostonwackin, sometimes called
Frenchtown, at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek, in Lycoming
County.
She was living at Ostonwackin when she and her son, Andrew,
welcomed Count Zinzindorf, the Moravian missionary, upon his
visit to that place, in 1742. Upon hearing the Count preach the
Gospel and relate the history of the Saviour's life upon earth, she
burst into a flood of tears, as the almost forgotten truths flashed
upon her mind. It was learned that she believed that Bethlehem,
the birthplace of Christ, was situated in France, and that it was
the English who crucified Him, — a perversion of the truth that it
is believed, she had heard in her youth from French teachers among
the Indians. It is thought that she died in 1752 at the home of her
son, Andrew.
Madam Montour and two of her daughters attended the Lan-
caster Treaty of June and July, 1744. One daughter, known as
French Margaret, was the wife of Keteriondia, alias Peter Quebec,
and lived near Sunbury prior and subsequent to 1733. Another
daughter was one of the converts at the Moravian Mission, at New
Salem, Ohio, April 14th, 1791. This daughter spoke English,
French, and six Indian languages. A granddaughter was Cath-
erine, of Catherine's Town, near the head of Seneca Lake, New
York, destroyed by General Sullivan, on September 3rd, 1779.
Catherine was a daughter of French Margaret. Esther Montour,
known as Queen Esther, "the fiend of Wyoming," was a grand-
daughter of Madam Montour and a daughter of French Margaret.
It is claimed that Madam Montour was a lady of education,
of genteel manners, and handsome of face and form. It is said,
too, that, on her various trips to Philadelphia as interpreter at
Indian conferences, she was entertained by ladies of the best
society. But, inasmuch as she was twice married to an Indian
312 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
warrior, it is probable that her education and refinement have been
overstated. Some have made the claim that she had no Indian
blood, and that, for some unknown reason, she preferred the life
and dress of the Indian. Near the end of her life, she became
blind, but had sufficient bodily vigor to go on horseback from
Logstown to Venango in two days, a distance of about seventy
miles, her son, Andrew, leading the horse. She and this son are
among the most picturesque characters in the Indian history of
Pennsylvania.
ANDREW MONTOUR
Andrew Montour, whose Indian name was Sattelihu, was the
oldest and most noted of the children of Madam Montour. We
have met Andrew many times thus far in these sketches, but we
devote the remainder of this chapter to additional information
concerning this interesting character.
The first glimpse that we get of the "Half Indian", as Mon-
tour is frequently called, is when Count Zinzindorf, the Moravian
missionary, visited Ostonwackin in September of 1742. Zinzin-
dorf writes of his meeting with Montour as follows:
"On September 30, 1742, as we were not far from Oston-
wackin, Conrad Weiser rode to the village. He soon returned in
company with Andrew, Madam Montour's oldest son. Andrew's
cast of countenance is decidedly European, and had his face not
been encircled with a broad band of paint applied with bear's fat,
we would certainly have taken him for one. He wore a brown
broadcloth coat, a scarlet damasken lapel waistcoat, breeches,
over which his shirt hung, a black cordovan neckerchief decked
with silver bangles, shoes and stockings, and a hat. His ears were
hung with pendants of brass and other wires plaited together, like
the handle of a basket. He was very cordial; but on addressing
him in French, he, to my surprise, replied in English."
Montour's Activities Prior to Braddock's Campaign
Andrew Montour's first important appearance in Colonial his-
tory was in February, 1743, at a conference held at Shikellamy's
house, in Shamokin, between Conrad Weiser and the Indians of
that place. At this conference Montour acted as interpreter for
the Delawares. In 1744, he was captain of a party of warriors of
the Six Nations, who marched against the Catawbas of Carolina.
On this expedition, he fell sick on his way to the James River in
Virginia, and was obliged to return to Shamokin.
In May, 1745, as has already been seen, he accompanied
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew Montour 313
Shikellamy, Conrad Weiser, and Bishop Spangenberg on their
mission to the Onondago Council, in an effort to induce the Six
Nations to make peace with the Catawbas. In June, 1748, Conrad
Weiser introduced him to the President and Provincial Council of
Pennsylvania, and informed them that he had employed Montour
in various matters of importance and found him faithful and
prudent; "that he [Weiser] had, for his own private information,
as Andrew lives among the Six Nations between the branches of
Ohio and Lake Erie, sent a message to him in the winter, desiring
him to observe what passed among those Indians on the return
of Scarouady, and come down to his home in the spring, which he
did." The Council then voted Montour a reward for his trouble,
and employed him to meet a deputation of Shawnee chiefs from the
Allegheny then on their way to Philadelphia. He then assisted as
interpreter at the conference held with these chiefs and others of
the Six Nations and Miamis (Twightwees) at Lancaster in July,
1748, as was related in Chapter XIII. In August, 1748, he ac-
companied Weiser on his mission to Logstown. In May, 1750, he
came from the Allegheny Valley, possibly Kuskuskies, and took
part in the conference held at George Croghan's house at Penns-
boro, Cumberland County, with some chiefs of the Six Nations and
Conestogas.
Montour's next appearance in the history of Pennsylvania is
when he accompanied George Croghan to Logstown in November,
1750, as was also related in Chapter XV, where they succeeded in
counteracting, in a measure, the intrigues of the French, and
promised the Indians of that place that a present from the
Colony of Pennsylvania would be brought for them the following
spring. After leaving Logstown, Montour and Croghan proceed-
ed by way of the Lower Shawnee Town, at the mouth of the Sioto,
to the Miami village of Pickawillany in the lower Ohio Valley,
on a mission to strengthen the alliance between the English and
Ohio Indians. They returned in the spring of 1751, and were
sent in May of that year to carry the present to the Indians at
Logstown, which had been promised on their visit to that place in
the preceding November. As stated in Chapter VI K, Montour
and Croghan, by means of the Pennsylvania present, were able to
make quite a favorable impression upon the Indians of Logstown
in favor of the English on this occasion, and some French, who
were present, were virtually ordered away by a speech which a
certain speaker of the Six Nations delivered to the French Indian
agent, Joncaire.
Montour and Croghan returned to Pennsboro early in June.
314 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
In a letter which George Croghan wrote the Governor on June
10th, enclosing a journal of his and Montour's transactions at Logs-
town, he said: "Mr. Montour has exerted himself very much on
this occasion, and as he is not only very capable of doing the busi-
ness, but looked on amongst all the Indians as one of their chiefs,
I hope your Honor will think him worth notice, as he has em-
ployed all his time in the business of this Government."
Montour then returned to the Ohio some time in the summer
or autumn of 1751, where he remained until near the beginning
of the year 1752. His next act of importance was to act as in-
terpreter at the Virginia treaty at Logstown, in June, 1752. In
April of that year, he had received a grant of one hundred forty-
three acres of land lying on what is still called Montour's Run, near
its junction with Sherman's Creek, in Perry County; and on the
same day that he received the grant, he requested of Governor
Hamilton permission to interpret for the Governor of Virginia at
the Logstown Treaty. The Virginians were so well pleased with
his services that they allowed him thirty pistoles, and offered to
give him a tract of one thousand acres if he would remove to Vir-
ginia and settle within the grant of the Ohio Company. At this
treaty Montour was addressed by the Six Nations as one of their
counsellors.
Early in 1753 we find Montour visiting the Great Council of
the Six Nations at Onondaga, at the instance of Governor Din-
widdie, to invite the Iroquois to hold a treaty with Virginia at
Winchester. In August of that year, he stopped at John Frazer's
trading post near Braddock, Allegheny County, on his way back
to Virginia with a number of chiefs of the Six Nations, Picks,
Shawnees, Wyandots, and Delawares. Captain William Trent
accompanied the party and spent some time in viewing the ground
near the Forks of the Ohio, on which the Ohio Company con-
templated erecting a fort. As we have already seen, Virginia
made a treaty with the Iroquois chiefs at Winchester in September
of that year. Andrew Montour was the interpreter on the oc-
casion, as has been seen in former chapters.
The Indians who had attended the Winchester Treaty in Sep-
tember held a treaty with the Pennsylvania Commissioners at Car-
lisle in October. Andrew Montour also attended this treaty.
Toward the close of the conference, Scarouady presented a large
belt of wampum to Montour, addressing the Pennsylvania com-
missioners as follows: "Since we are now here together, with a
great deal of pleasure, I must acquaint you that we have set a
horn on Andrew Montour's head; and that you may believe what
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew Montour 315
he says to be true between the Six Nations and you, they have
made him one of their counsellors and a great man among them,
and they love him dearly."
At the close of the Carlisle conference, Montour went to his
home on Sherman's Creek, where he remained until early in Novem-
ber. He was then joined, at that place, by his brother, Louis,
bringing two messages from the Indians of the Ohio, one for the
Governor of Pennsylvania, and the other for Governor Din-
widdie of Virginia. These messages were sent by Tanacharison
and Scarouady from Old Town, which Louis Monour explained
was Shannopin's Town, on October 27th. Andrew then sent mes-
sengers to carry the Virginia message to its destination, and Louis
brought the other to Governor Hamilton. These messages, which
have been referred to in Chapters XIII and XV, contained the
urgent request that Pennsylvania and Virginia join with the In-
dians on the Ohio in prohibiting the French from occupying the
valleys of those streams.
Governor Hamilton replied to Tanacharison and Scarouady's
letter on November 20th, advising that he would communicate with
the Governor of Virginia in an effort to carry out their wishes.
The Governor's letter was sent to Andrew Montour and George
Croghan to be taken by them to the Ohio. On January 13, 1754,
Croghan reached Shannopin's Town, at which place he was over-
taken by Montour, and they proceeded to Logstown the next day,
where, as stated at the end of Chapter XIII, they held council with
Tanacharison and Scarouady, who requested both Pennsylvania
and Virginia to build forts on the Ohio. Montour then left for
Philadelphia, leaving Croghan at Logstown to interpret for Cap-
tain William Trent, who had "just come out with the Virginia
goods and has brought a quantity of tools and workmen to begin
a fort."
On February 20th, 1754, Montour was closely examined by
the Governor and Assembly as to the location of Shannopin's
Town, Logstown, and Venango. Montour proved that these towns
were all within the limits of the Province of Pennsylvania; but the
Assembly decided that the encroachments of the French on the
Ohio and Allegheny did not concern Pennsylvania any more than
Virginia. Montour then returned to his home on Sherman's
Creek, at which place he wrote to Secretary Richard Peters, on May
16th, advising that the Indians of the Ohio did not look upon their
friendship with Virginia as sufficient to engage them in war with
the French, and urged Pennsylvania to send assistance to these
Indians at once, as if they were to be retained in the interest of
316 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania. "I have delayed my journey to the Ohio," said he,
"and waited with great impatience for advices from Philadelphia,
but have not yet received any. 1 am now obliged to go to Colonel
Washingon, who has sent for me many days, to go with him to
meet the Half-King [Tanacharison], Monacatooth [Scarouadyj,
and others, that are coming to meet the Virginia Commissioners,
and, as they think, some from Pennsylvania."
Before the above letter was written, Governor Dinwiddie had
given Montour a captain's commission "to head a select company
of friendly Indians, as scouts, for our small army." Montour,
however, did not organize a company of Indians, as he had been
instructed, but raised a company of traders and woodsmen, who
had been driven from the valley of the Ohio on the approach of
the French. His company consisted of eighteen men, and with
these, he and Croghan joined Washington at the Great Meadows
on the 9th of June. Montour and his forces assisted Washington
in the battle of Fort Necessity, on July 3rd and 4th, where two of
his men, Daniel Lafferty and Henry O'Brien, were taken prisoners.
On August 31st, Montour met Weiser at Harris' Ferry and
accompanied him and Tanacharison to Aughwick, where, as has
been seen in Chapter XIV, Weiser held conferences with Croghan,
Tanacharison, and Scarouady, in September. On the way to
Aughwick, Montour became intoxicated several times, and abused
Governor Hamilton for not paying him for is trouble and expenses.
Weiser reprimanded him when sober, and he begged Weiser's par-
don and desired him not to mention the matter to the Governor.
"I left him drunk at Aughwick," said Weiser; "on one leg he had
a stocking and no shoe; on the other, a shoe and no stocking.
From six of the clock till past nine, I begged him to go with me,
but to no purpose. He swore terrible when he saw me mount my
horse." On Weiser's way home Montour met him at Carlisle, hav-
ing arrived there the day before. He again begged Weiser's par-
don, and left for Virginia.
Montour either remained in Maryland or Virginia until the
middle of December, or else returned there before that time, inas-
much as Governor Sharp mentions his being at Wills Creek (Cum-
berland, Md.,) on December 10th. He then came back to his
home in Sherman's Valley.
We next hear of him in the spring of 1755, when he and George
Croghan joined Braddock's army at Fort Cumberland with about
fifty warriors. After Braddock's army began to advance on Fort
Duquesne, many of the Indian allies under Montour and Croghan
deserted, or were dismissed by Braddock; and when the army
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew Montour 317
reached the Little Meadows, near Grantsville, Maryland, there
were but seven in the company. Both Montour and Croghan con-
tinued with Braddock and took part in the terrible defeat at the
mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Monongahela, on July 9th. We
have already seen how the seven faithful Indians were thanked
by the Provincial Council, in August, 1755, for the assistance which
they rendered in Braddock's campaign.
Montour's Activities in the French and Indian War
Montour and Scarouady, after leaving Philadelphia, in Aug-
ust, 1755, went to Shamokin, from which place Scarouady sent a
message to the Governor, on September 1 1th, advising that the Six
Nations had ordered the Delawares at Shamokin to take up arms
against the French.
The next glimpse we get of Montour is when he met John
Harris at Shamokin, on the night of October 24th, in full war
paint, and he and Scarouady advised Harris' party to keep on the
east side of the Susquehanna on their return to Paxtang. It will
be recalled that, as stated in Chapter XVI, John Harris had led a
party to bury the dead of the Penn's Creek Massacre of October
16th, but finding that they were already buried, had come to Sha-
mokin to ascertain the sentiments of the Indians at that place. Dur-
ing the month of October, Montour and Scarouady, as was also seen
in Chapter XVI, attended the Indian council at Big Island (Lock
Haven), where they found six Delawares and four Shawnees, who
informed them that they had received a hatchet from the French
to be used against the English "if they proved saucy."
Montour and Scarouady then went to Philadelphia, where, on
November 8th, they gave the Governor the details of their trip to
Big Island. In the middle of November, Montour and Scarouady
left Philadelphia on a trip up the North Branch of the Susque-
hanna to Onondaga, on a mission from Pennsylvania to the chiefs
of the Six Nations. The details of this trip have already been
given in Chapter XVI, and need not be stated at this point. We
have also seen, in Chapter XVI, that Montour and Scarouady re-
turned to Philadelphia in March, 1756, from their mission to the
Six Nations, and held conferences with the Governor and Pro-
vincial Council, which resulted in Pennsylvania's declaring war
against the Delawares, April 14, 1756.
We saw in Chapter XVI that shortly after Pennsylvania's
declaration of war against the Delawares, Scarouady went to the
territory of the Six Nations, carrying Pennsylvania's peace mes-
sage. He was accompanied on this mission by Montour, who, be-
318 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
fore leaving Philadelphia, put his children under the Governor's
care, "as well the three that are here, to be independent of the
mother, as a boy twelve years old, that he had by a former wife, a
Delaware granddaughter of Allompis [SassoonanJ".
Montour acted as interpreter at the conference at Fort John-
son, on May 10, 1756, between Sir William Johnson, Scarouady,
and a number of other Oneida chiefs. In June, he acted as inter-
preter at the camp on Lake Onondaga; and on July 25th, at Fort
Johnson, he was appointed Captain of the Indian allies of Sir
William Johnson. On September 10th, he appears once more as
interpreter at Fort Johnson, and on the 20th of that month, he
marched with Sir William Johnson to the relief of the army be-
sieged at Fort Edward. He was ordered back, however, by Gen-
eral Webb, and reached Fort Johnson on the 2nd of November,
where on the 17th to the 23rd of that month, he acted as interpreter
at a conference with a number of chiefs and warriors of the Six
Nations.
We find Montour at Fort Johnson once more, on June 13,
1757, attending a conference in which it was brought out that he
had been sent during the preceding winter by Sir William John-
son to Onondaga Castle, to let the Six Nations know that he "ex-
pected that they should use the hatchet against the French."
Another conference was held at Fort Johnson, on September 12,
1757, at which Montour offered five chiefs of the Mohawks and
Senecas and four deputies of the Cherokees, the calumet of peace.
On November 12th, 1757, the French burned the settlement at
the German Flats, in the Mohawk Valley; whereupon General
Johnson sent Montour and Croghan to the Oneida Castle to learn
why the Oneidas had not given the English notice of the approach
of the French. They met the leading Oneida chiefs at Fort Herki-
mer, on November 30th, who advised them and also some German
officers present, that the Oneidas had sent a warning to the settlers
at the German Flats more than two weeks before, and that the
settlers had paid no attention to it.
It is not clear as just how long Montour remained in the ser-
vice of Sir William Johnson; but it is likely that he took part in
the attack on Fort Ticonderoga and witnessed the terrible slaughter
of the English troops under General Abercombie. Montour then
returned to Pennsylvania, and with George Croghan, took part in
the Great Council at Easton in October, 1758, between the Gov-
ernors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, on the one hand, and the
chiefs of the Six Nations, Delawares, Nanticokes, Tutelos, and
other tribes on the other hand. He acted as the interpreter of the
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew -Montour 319
Delawares and Six Nations at this Council, but in the minutes of
the same, his name is erroneously set forth as Henry Montour.
At the close of the treaty, Montour and Croghan at once went
to the Ohio. As has been seen in Chapter XIX, the French burned
Fort Duquesne on November 24th, and General Forbes' army occu-
pied its site the next day. Two days later (November 27th),
Montour and Croghan crossed the Allegheny, and reached Logs-
town on November 28th. On the 29th they reached Sauconk, at
the mouth of the Beaver, where they were joined by some Dela-
wares from Kuskuskies, accompanied by Christian Frederick Post.
Here they conferred with Post, Shingas, and King Beaver, respecting
the message that General Forbes had sent to these Indians. On
December 2nd they returned to Logstown, and on the 3rd, reached
Killbuck, or Smoky Island, opposite Pittsburgh. On the 4th, they
crossed the river to Fort Pitt and held a conference with Colonel
John Armstrong and Colonel Henry Bouquet.
Montour and Croghan then returned to Philadelphia, where
the former was interpreter at a conference on February 8th and 9th,
1759, between General Forbes and some Indians from Buccaloons,
an Indian town in Warren County. On February 20th, Montour
reported to the Governor that these Indians were dissatisfied with
the answer that they had received from General Forbes, and desired
that he should return with them to the Allegheny, but that he had
told them that he was an officer subject to General Forbes and
could not go without his written consent. These Indians wished
to learn fully the intentions of the English after driving the French
from the Ohio and Allegheny.
Montour's Activities From the Close of the French
and Indian War to the Outbreak of the Pontiac-
Guyasuta War
In May, 1759, Montour was sent by Croghan to collect all the
Indians he could for the purpose of meeting the latter in council at
Fort Pitt; and on July 5th to 1 1th the conference took place there
between Croghan as Sir William Johnson's deputy, Col. Hugh
Mercer, and Captain William Trent, and the chiefs of the Six Na-
tions, Delawares, Shawnees and Wyandots, at which conference
Montour acted as interpreter. The chiefs were advised of the
terms of the Treaty of Easton, and promised to return the prisoners
taken during the French and Indian War. On October 24, 1759,
he acted as interpreter at a conference at Fort Pitt between General
Stanwix and the Western Indians. Still another conference with
320 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
these Indians was held at the same place, by General Monckton, on
August 12, 1760, at which Montour acted as interpreter.
Montour then accompanied Shingas to Presque Isle (Erie) to
join the expedition which Major Robert Rodgers and George
Croghan were leading to Detroit to take possession of the western
posts, which had been surrendered by the French. On November
4th, 1760, Rodger's expedition left Presque Isle, consisting of a
flotilla of nineteen whale boats and batteaux and a shore party of
forty-two rangers, as well as twenty Indians of the Six Nations,
Shawnees, and Delawares, under the command of Montour. De-
troit surrendered on November 29th, and on December 8th, Major
Rodgers and Montour set off with a party of Indians to take pos-
session of Mackinaw. After proceeding about ninety miles, the
Indians declared that it was impossible to proceed further without
snow-shoes, and returned to Detroit.
Montour's next important work was to act as interpreter at a
conference held at Philadelphia, on May 22, 1761, between the Gov-
ernor and a number of Indians from the Allegheny. In the sum-
mer and autumn of this year, he accompanied Sir William Johnson
to Detroit, narrowly escaping death by drowning, when his boat
overturned on Lake Erie. On December 22nd of this year, he re-
ceived a grant of two hundred acres of land in Sakson's Cove, be-
tween Kishacoquillas Creek and the Juniata River. He also
acted as interpreter at the great conference at Lancaster on August
23, 1762, between the Provincial Authorities and King Beaver,
Shingas, and other chiefs of the western tribes, who accompanied
Christian Frederick Post to that place, as related in Chapter XIX.
Montour's Activities in Pontiac's War
Pontiac's War began in May, 1763. On the 5th of this
month, Sir William Johnson directed Montour to proceed to
Chillisquaque, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, to en-
deavor to allay the fears of the Indians of that vicinity concerning
their lands and to co-operate with Thomas McKee, the assistant
deputy Indian Agent. In July, John Harris wrote Colonel Bou-
quet, at Carlisle, that Montour had arrived at Paxtang from a tour
of the villages of the upper Susquehanna, where he found the
Indians "inveterate and inclined for war", and that he, (Harris),
would have Montour go to Carlisle and give this information to
Colonel Bouquet personally. Soon thereafter Colonel Bouquet
wrote Governor Hamilton from Carlisle that Montour reported
that at the time of his leaving, neither he nor Johnson knew any-
thing of Pontiac's uprising. Montour, on July 23rd, was at Fort
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew Montour 321
Augusta (Sunbury) on his way up the Kest Branch of the Sus-
quehanna, returning on August 7th with the news of the attack on
Fort Pitt and Fort Ligonier.
Montour's next important act was to deliver, on December 19,
1763, to the newly arrived Governor, John Penn, an address of
welcome from the Conestoga Indians, of Conestoga, Lancaster
County. The unfortunate Conestogas had sent this address just a
few days before this massacre, on December 14th, by the Paxtang
boys.
Early in 1764, Sir William Johnson sent Montour with a
force of nearly two hundred Tuscaroras, Oneidas, and a few
rangers, against the Delawares on the upper Susquehanna, to pun-
ish them for their hostility against the settlers. On their way to
Kanestio, (a Delaware village in Steuben County, New York,) they
encountered a force of Delawares going against the English settle-
ments, and captured twenty-nine of them. These prisoners,
among whom was Captain Bull, son of the famous Teedyuscung,
were sent by way of Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York), to Johnson
Hall; and later Captain Bull and thirteen of his associates were
sent to New York, and confined in jail. On April 7th, Montour
wrote from Tioga concerning the success of his expedition, stating
that the Delawares had fled before his arrival at Kanestio, but
that, with one hundred and forty warriors, he had destroyed three
large Delaware towns, all the outlying villages, and one hundred
and thirty scattered Delaware houses, together with horses and
cattle. The houses were well built of square logs, with good
chimneys, and many had four fire places.
Later Activities of Montour
We hear little of Montour for the next three years. Part of this
time, he assisted Sir William Johnson in New York, and part was
spent in Pennsylvania. By many it is thought that he accom-
panied George Croghan and his party from Fort Pitt to New
Orleans in the summer and autumn of 1766. On May 19, 1767,
he received a large grant of land on the head of Penn's Creek, above
the Great Spring. Montour's next appearance in history is when
he attended the council at Fort Pitt, April 26th and May 9th, 1768,
between George Croghan, Deputy Agent of Indian affairs, John
Allen, and Joseph Shippen, Commissioners of Pennsylvania, and
eleven hundred and three chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations,
Delawares, Munsees, Shawnees, Mohicans, and Wyandots. He
acted as interpreter on this occasion. The matters taken up at
this conference or treaty were the difficulties growing out of the
322 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
fact that the whites were settling on lands west of the Allegheny
Mountains that had not been purchased from the Indians. It led
to the purchase at Fort Stanwix, in October, 1768, to be mentioned
presently.
Atrocious Murder of Indians By Frederick Stump
Shortly before the treaty at Fort Pitt, above mentioned, great
consternation was caused throughout Pennsylvania and great fear
of Indian outrages following the atrocious murders committed by
Frederick Stump. On Sunday morning, January 10, 1768, six
Indians, namely, White Mingo, Cornelius, John Campbell, Jones,
and two squaws, came to Stump's cabin on Stump's Run, near
Middleburg, Snyder County, in a drunken condition. Stump and
his servant, John Ironcutter, after endeavoring without success to
persuade them to leave, killed them all, dragging their bodies to
the creek, where they cut a hole in the ice, and pushed them into
the stream. Then fearing that the news of these murders might be
carried to other Indians in the vicinity, Stump went the next day
to their cabin fourteen miles up the creek, where he found a squaw,
two girls, and a child, killed them all and threw their bodies into
the cabin and burned it. One of the bodies which he had pushed
through the hole in the ice on the preceding day, floated down Mid-
dle Creek to the Susquehanna, and then down this stream, finally
lodging against the shore opposite Harrisburg, just below the loca-
tion of the present bridge on Market Street of that city.
Several Indians who had escaped the murderous wrath of
Stump, chased him toward Fort Augusta, at Sunbury. Stump did
not enter this fort, but ran to a house occupied by two women,
whose protection he implored, alleging that he was pursued by
Indians. The women did not believe his story, but he begged very
piteously. They then hid him between two beds. His pursuers
were only a moment behind him. To their questioning, the wo-
men replied that they knew nothing of Stump. Before the Indians
left the house of the two women, they seized a cat, pulled out its
hair, and tore it to pieces, thus illustrating what they would have
done with Stump, had they found him.
Shortly after the atrocious murder committed by Stump, the
Delaware chief, Newahleeka, residing at the Great Island (Lock
Haven), sent a message to Governor John Penn, advising that the
Delawares and other Indians at the Great Island were much dis-
pleased on account of the fact that five white men had lately been
seen marking trees and surveying land in that region not yet pur-
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew Montour 323
chased from the Indians. This message was delivered by a Dela-
ware named Billy Champion. Governor Penn then took occasion
to send a message to Newahleeka, advising him that the Province
had offered two hundred pounds as a reward for the capture of
Stump. Said Penn: "Brother, I consider this matter in no other
light than as the act of a wicked, rash man, and I hope you will
also consider it in the same way There are among you
and us some wild, rash, hot-headed people who commit actions of
this sort." Then Shawnee Ben, a chief of the Shawnees at Great
Island, sent word to Captain William Patterson: "As it was the
Evil Spirit who caused Stump to commit this bad action, I blame
none of my brothers, the English, but him."
Stump and Ironcutter were apprehended and lodged in jail at
Carlisle on Saturday evening, March 23rd. On the following Fri-
day, a company of settlers from Sherman's Valley, where he had
lived, marched to Carlisle, surrounded the jail, entered it with drawn
pistols, and released the murderers. After their rescue, they both
returned to the neighborhood of their shocking crime, where they
found their presence very disagreeable to the inhabitants. They
then left the neighborhood. They were never again arrested for
their crime. Both went to Virginia, where Stump died at an ad-
vanced age.
Penns Make Last Purchase at Fort Stanwix
Montour was also one of the interpreters at the Great Con-
gress with the Indians at Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York), in
October, 1768, in which the Six Nations conveyed to the Proprie-
taries of Pennsylvania all the land, within the boundaries of the
Province, extending from the New York line on the Susquehanna
River, past Towanda and Tyadahgon Creeks, up the West Branch
of the Susquehanna, over to Kittanning, and thence down the
south side of the Allegheny and the Ohio to the mouth of the Ten-
nessee River.
By this purchase, for a consideration of ten thousand pounds,
the Proprietaries acquired the present counties of Green, Washing-
ton, Fayette, Somerset, Westmoreland, Cambria, Susquehanna,
Sullivan, and Wyoming, and parts of Beaver, Allegheny, Arm-
strong, Indiana, Clearfield, Center, Clinton, Lycoming, Bradford,
Lackawanna, Wayne, Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Union, Pike,
and Snyder. The date of executing and delivering the deed was
November 5, 1768. This was the last purchase made by the Penns.
During the year 1769, Montour was granted a tract of three
hundred acres situated on the south side of the Ohio River oppo-
324 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
site Montour's Island, about nine miles below the mouth of the
Monongahela. This is the last definite reference that we have to
this distinguished and picturesque character, except that, on Sep-
tember 7, 1771, Richard Brown made an affidavit in which he men-
tioned that a certain Andrew McConnell had recently seen and
talked with Montour at Fort Pitt concerning the murder of two
Indians by a white man. His death occurred some time prior to
1775. Some claim that he ended his days at the home of his
niece, who was the wife of White Mingo, a Six Nation's chief, who
lived near the mouth of Pine Creek on the Allegheny, five or six
miles above the mouth of the Monongahela, from 1759 to 1777.
Others believe that he died on Montour's Island in the Ohio River
GEORGE CROGAN
We have met George Crogan, the "King of Traders," fre-
quently in these sketches. At this point, it will be well to devote
a few paragraphs to this influential man of the frontier. His
name was one of the most conspicuous in the western annals in
connection with Indian affairs at the time of which we are writing,
and for many years thereafter. Bore in Ireland and educated at
Dublin, he came to America somewhere between the years 1740
and 1744. He engaged in the Indian trade and appears to have
been first licensed as an Indian trader in Pennsylvania, in 1744.
In 1746, he was located in Silver Spring Township, in the present
county of Cumberland, a few miles west of Harris' Ferry, now
Harrisburg. During the same year, he was made a counsellor of the
Six Nations at Onondaga, according to his sworn statement; and in
March, 1749, he was appointed by the Governor and Council of
Pennsylvania one of the justices of the peace in Common Pleas for
Lancaster County.
As early as the years 1746 and 1747, he had gone as far as the
southwestern border of Lake Erie in his trading expeditions. In
1748, he had a trading house at Logstown, which was made the
headquarters of Weiser upon his visit to the Indians of that place,
in the month of September, 1748. He had also branch trading
establishments at the principal Indian towns in the valleys of the
Ohio and Allegheny, one being on the northwestern side of the
Allegheny River, at the mouth of Pine Creek, five or six miles
above the forks of the Ohio. From this base of operations and from
Logstown, trading routes "spread out like the sticks of a fan."
One of these routes went up the Allegheny past Venango, (Frank-
lin), where Crogan had a trading house and competed with John
Madam Montour and Her Son, Andrew Montour 325
Frazer, another Pennsylvania trader, who for some years, had
traded at this place, maintaining both a trading house and a gun-
smith shop.
Croghan's abilities and influence among the Indians soon
attracted the attention of Conrad Weiser, who, in 1747, recom-
mended him to the Council of Pennsylvania, and, in this way, he
entered the public service of the Colony. We have already seen
the part he played in Washington's campaign of 1754. The out-
break of the French and Indian War ruined his prosperous trading
business, and brought him to the verge of bankruptcy. To add to
his financial troubles, the Irish traders, because most of them were
Roman Catholics, fell under suspicion of acting as spies for the
French, and Croghan was unjustly suspicioned by many in author-
ity. He was granted a captain's commission to command the
Indian allies during Braddock's campaign. He resigned his office
early in the year 1756, and retired from the Pennsylvania service,
going to New York where his distant relative, Sir William Johnson,
chose him deputy Indian agent, and appointed him to manage the
Susquehanna and Allegheny tribes. From this time forward, he
was engaged in important dealings with the Western Indians, and
had much to do in swaying them to the British interest and mak-
ing possible the success of Forbes in 1758. In 1763, he went to
England on private business, and was shipwrecked upon the coast
of France. Upon his return to America in 1765, he was dispatched
to Illinois, going by way of the Ohio River, and was taken prisoner
near the mouth of the Wabash, and carried to the Indian towns
upon that river. Here he not only secured his own release, but
conducted negotiations putting an end to Pontiac's War. He also
took part in the Great Treaty of Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York),
in 1768, and, as a reward, was given a grant of land in Cherry
Valley, New York. Shortly prior to this, however, he had pur-
chased a tract on the Allegheny, about four miles above the mouth
of the Monongahela, where he entertained George Washington in
1770. When the Revolutionary War came on, it seems he em-
barked in the patriotic cause, and later was an object of suspicion;
and, in 1778, Pennsylvania proclaimed him a public enemy, and
his place as Indian agent was conferred upon Colonel George
Morgan. He continued, however, to reside in Pennsylvania — the
scene of his early activities and the Colony which he rendered such
signal service — and died at Passayunk on August 31, 1782. His
funeral was conducted at the Episcopal Church of St. Peter's in
Philadelphia, but the place of his burial remains unknown.
CHAPTER XXI.
Teedyuscung
|EEDYUSCL'NG was one of the famous, able chiefs of the
Delawares. He was the son of the Delaware chief,
Captain John Harris, of the Turtle Clan, and was born
at Trenton, New Jersey, about 1705. The early part of
his life is clouded in obscurity; but, when he was about fifty years
of age, he was chosen chief of the Delawares on the Susquehanna,
and from that time until his tragic death on April 16th, 1763, he
was one of the chief figures in the Indian history of Pennsylvania.
He was one of the founders, if not the actual founder, of the
Delaware town of Wyoming, in 1742 or 1743. He came under the
influence of the Moravian missionaries, and was baptized by them
as Brother Gideon. Honest John was also a name applied to him
by the Moravians and others. Later he became an apostate, and
endeavored to induce the Christian Delawares of Gnadenhuetten to
remove to Wyoming, actually succeeding in gaining a party of
seventy of the converts, who left Gnadenhuetten, April 24th, 1754,
and took up their abode at Wyoming.
In April, 1755, he attended a conference with the Provincial
Authorities at Philadelphia, assuring them of his friendship for
the English. At that time, he was still living at Wyoming. His
friendship for the English and Pennsylvania did not continue long
after the conference of April, 1755. When the Delawares and
Shawnees took up arms against Pennsylvania following Braddock's
defeat, Teedyuscung, at Nescopeck with Shingas and other leaders
of the hostile Indians, planned many a bloody expedition against
the frontiers of Eastern Pennsylvania. In Chapter XVIII, we saw
that, on New Year's Day, 1756, he led a band of twenty-five hostile
Delawares into Lower Smithfield Township, Monroe County, at-
tacking the plantation of Henry Hess, killing several persons and
capturing several others.
!n March, 1756, he and the Delawares under him left the
town of Wyoming and removed to Tioga (now Athens, Bradford
County), followed at about the same time by the Shawnees from
their town where Plymouth, Luzerne County, now stands, under
the leadership of Paxinosa. After the death of Shikellamy, in
Teedyuscung 327
1749, some of the Shamokin Delawares had settled at Tioga, and
upon Teedyuscung's removal to that place, they and the Delawares
of the Munsee Clan chose him "King of the Delawares". He was
at that time busily engaged in forming an alliance between the
three clans of Delawares and the Shawnees, Nanticokes, and Mohi-
cans of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
Teedyuscung Agrees to Enter Into Peace Negotiations
As was stated in Chapter XVI, Scarouady and Andrew Mon-
tour were sent by the Governor of Pennsylvania, in November,
1755, on a mission to the Six Nations, going as far as Fort Johnson,
New York, where, in February, 1756, they held council with the
Iroquois chiefs. On their way up the Susquehanna Valley, they
found Teedyuscung with a number of Delawares and Nanticokes
at the Indian town of Chinkanning, now Tunkhannock, Wyoming
County, shortly before taking up his residence at Tioga. We have
also seen, in Chapter XVII, that Canachquasy, shortly after Penn-
sylvana's declaration of war against the Delawares, in April, 1756,
carried the Governor's peace message to the Indians at Tioga, at
which place he held conference with Teedyuscung. We saw also,
in the same chapter, that Canachquasy returned from this mission
early in June, and laid before the Governor and Provincial Coun-
cil the favorable report that the Delawares, Nanticokes, and Shaw-
nees under Teedyuscung, were willing to enter into negotiations for
peace. Likewise it was seen, in the same chapter, that the Gov-
ernor then drafted a proclamation for a suspension of hostilities
against the Indians in the Susquehanna Valley, for a period of
thirty days, and sent Canachquasy once more to Tioga with this
information, where he held a number of conferences with Teedyus-
cung, persuaded this renowned warrior to lay aside the hatchet,
and returned to Philadelphia in July, where he laid before the
Provincial Council the result of his second mission to Tioga.
Teedyuscung at Easton Treaty of July, 1756,
Declares Delawares are No Longer Slaves of
the Six Nations
Immediately upon Canachquasy's return to Philadelphia from
his second mission to Tioga, arrangements were made for a con-
ference with Teedyuscung at Easton, which place Governor Morris
with the Provincial Council, reached on July 24, 1756. The con-
ference formally opened on July 28th, Conrad Weiser in the mean-
32$ The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
time having posted his troops in the vicinity of Easton. Teedyus-
cung's insistent request that he have his own interpreter was grant-
ed. He and the fourteen other chiefs accompanying him were for-
mally welcomed by Governor Morris. Teedyuscung made the
following reply:
"Last spring you sent me a string [of wampum j, and as soon
as 1 heard the good words you sent, 1 was glad, and as you told us,
we believed it came from your hearts. So we felt it in our hearts
and received what you said with joy. The first messages you sent
me came in the spring; they touched my heart; they gave me
abundance of joy. You have kindled a council fire at Easton.
I have been here several days smoking my pipe in patience, wait-
ing to hear your good words. Abundant confusion has of late
years been rife among the Indians, because of their loose ways of
doing business. False leaders have deceived the people. It has
bred quarrels and heart-burnings among my people.
"The Delaware is no longer the slave of the Six Nations. I,
Teedyuscung, have been appointed King over the Five United
Nations and representative of the Five Iroquois Nations. What
I do here will be approved by all. This is a good day; whoever
will make peace, let him lay hold of this belt, and the nations
around shall see and know it. I desire to conduct myself accord-
ing to your words, which I will perform to the utmost of my power.
I wish the same good that possessed the good old man, William
Penn, who was the friend to the Indian, may inspire the people of
this Province at this time."
In the conferences that followed, the Governor insisted that, as
a condition for peace, Teedyuscung and the Indians under his com-
mand should return all the prisoners that they had captured since
taking up arms against the Colony. But, inasmuch as only a small
delegation of chiefs had accompanied Teedyuscung to Easton, it
was desired that he and Canachquasy should go back among the
Indians, give the "Big Peace Halloo", and gather their followers
together for a larger peace conference that would be more represen-
tative of the Indians, and to be held in the near future.
The Governor then gave Teedyuscung a present, informing
him that a part of it "was given by the people called Quakers, who
are descendants of those who first came over to this country with
your old friend, William Penn, as a particular testimony of their
regard and affection for the Indians, and their earnest desire to
promote the good work of peace, in which we are now engaged."
1 EEDYUSCUNG 329
What Caused Teedyuscung to Declare That
the Delawares Were No Longer Women?
We saw in, Chapter XVII, that, at the council held at Otsen-
ingo (Binghampton, New York), in the spring of 1756, the Dela-
wares broke away from the Iroquois and declared: "We are men
and are determined not to be ruled any longer by you as women;
and we are determined to cut off all the English except those that
make their escape from us in ships." Teedyuscung, therefore, at
the Easton conference, simply was the spokesman expressing the
determination of the Delawares to remain free from the domination
of the Iroquois; and he also made the statement that the Iroquois
had authorized him as their spokesman at this conference.
What were the causes of Teedyuscung's assertion that the
Delawares were no longer women but men? Many answers have
been given to this question. The Quakers endeavored to make the
Delawares ascribe their bold stand against their conquerors, the
Iroquois, and the taking up of arms against the Colony, to the
Walking Purchase of 1737, in which they had undoubtedly been
overreached; and as we shall see, Teedyuscung bitterly complained
of this notorious purchase.
Others, including George Croghan, were of the opinion that it
was because the Quaker Assembly, of 1751, had refused to build a
"strong-house" at the Forks of the Ohio, when the Delawares and
Shawnees of the Ohio Valley were still united in the English inter-
est, and, as we have seen in former chapters, had repeatedly asked
that a fort be built in that region.
The Governor of Pennsylvania said that it was because, when
Scarouady appeared before the Governor and Assembly on
November 8, 1755, and implored that Pennsylvania give the hat-
chet to the Shawnees and Delawares on the Susquehanna, then
faithful in the English interest and anxious to take up arms against
the French, the Assembly did not permit Governor Morris to give
these Indians the hatchet and join them against the French, the
consequence being that the Delawares and Shawnees of the Susque-
hanna became greatly dissatisfied and went over to the French.
The great English statesman, Edmund Burke, said that it was
because it was "an error to have placed so great a part of the Gov-
ernment in hands of men who hold principles directly opposite to
its end and design; as a peaceable industrious people the Quakers
cannot be too much cherished; but surely they cannot themselves
complain that, when by their opinions they make themselves sheep.
330 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
they should not be entrusted with office, since they have not the
nature of dogs."
Benjamin Franklin said it was because "these public quarrels
were at the bottom owing to the Proprietaries, our hereditary Gov-
ernors, who, when any expense was to be incurred for the defense
of their Province, with increditable meanness, instructed their
deputies to pass no act for levying the necessary taxes, unless their
vast estates were in the same act expressly excused."
No doubt all of the reasons, enumerated above, contributed to
the remarkable change in the character of the Delawares, as did
also the Albany purchase of 1754, which, as we have seen in Chap-
ter XIV, caused the Delawares and Shawnees of the West Branch
of the Susquehanna and of the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny
to complain bitterly that their lands had been sold from under
their feet.
Then, the Delawares received a message purporting to come
from the Six Nations that their petticoats should be shortened to
reach only to their knees, and that they should again receive the
hatchet to defend themselves; but this was no doubt a message
from the Senecas and not from the whole Iroquois Confederation.
Teedyuscung Boastful
Teedyuscung was very boastful at this Easton conference of
July, 1756, conceiving himself to be a great man, and pompously
asserting that he appeared in the name of ten nations, meaning the
six clans of the Iroquois and the four tribes on the Susquehanna.
The Moravian missionary, Zeisberger, attended the conference,
and, during the six days of negotiations, moved among the Indian
delegation pleading that they accept Christianity; but Teedyuscung
had no ear for this message.
After Teedyuscung was given a present by the Governor, at
the Easton conference, he and his followers were given a grand
entertainment with which he was greatly pleased, and declared fre-
quently that he would go forth, and do all in his power for peace.
After the entertainment, when some of the Quakers, who attended
the conference, came to bid him farewell, "he parted with them in
a very affectionate manner." He plead strongly for peace, insist-
ing that he and his people on the Susquehanna were not responsible
for the actions of the Indians on the Ohio.
The peace belt, which he had brought to the conference and to
which he urged that the white people hold fast, was then produced.
Teedyuscung 331
It contained "a square in the middle, meaning the lands of the
Indians, and at one end the figure of a man, indicating the English,
and at the other end another, meaning the French." Teedyuscung
said that the Iroquois told the Delawares that both the English
and the French coveted their lands, and urged the Delawares to
join the Iroquois in defending against both the English and the
French. Governor Morris was suspicious of this statement, called
together his Council, and secretly consulted with Conrad Weiser
as to whether it would be proper to keep the belt. Weiser said
that he doubted the statement of Teedyuscung and sought advice
from New Castle (Canachquasy), who told him that the Six
Nations had sent the belt to the Delawares, who, in turn, sent it to
the Governor of Pennsylvania. Canachquasy advised that Teedy-
uscung be liberally supplied with wampum, if peace was expected
to be brought about. Weiser seconded this advice, and called
attention to the fact that the French gave great quantities of wam-
pum to their Indians, and that the English would have to outbid
the French in the length of wampum belts. A messenger was then
sent to the Moravian mission at Bethlehem to bring material for
making a belt to be given Teedyuscung, and the Indian women
converts were called in and set to work making the belts. The
belt that was to be given to Teedyuscung was to be a fathom long
and sixteen beads wide, in the center of which was to be the figure
of a man, typifying the Governor of Pennsylvania, and on each
side five other figures typifying the ten nations, which Teedyus-
cung claimed to represent.
While the Indian women were making the belts, Teedyuscung
became very angry. He supposed that the Governor had invited
Indian women into his councils. Said he: "Why do you council
in the dark? Why do you consult with women? Why do you
not talk in the light?" The Governor replied: "My councils are
set on a hill; I have no secrets. The Governor never sits in
swamps, but speaks his mind openly. The squaws are here mak-
ing belts, not holding council." This answer appeased the anger
of the great chief.
Before the end of the conference, the Governor, holding the
two belts in his hands and addressing Teedyuscung and Canach-
quasy, declared them to be messengers of peace for the Province
of Pennsylvania, to go among the hostile tribes on the Susque-
hanna in an effort to persuade them to desert the French and
unite with the English. Giving each of these peace messengers an
armload cf wampum, the Governor bade them Godspeed on the
332 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
important mission undertaken by these two chiefs, — a mission
fraught with much difficulty and danger, as the secret emissaries
of the French were using every device to thwart their designs.
As was related in Chapter XVII, Teedyuscung and Canach-
quasy, after the conference, started to give the "Big Peace Halloo"
among the hostile tribes, but Teedyuscung remained for a time at
Fort Allen, where he secured liquor and remained intoxicated for
a considerable time. Lieutenant Miller was in charge of the fort
at this time, and Teedyuscung brought sixteen deer skins which he
said he was going to present to the Governor "to make him a pair
of gloves." Lieutenant Miller insisted that one skin was enough
to make the Governor a pair of gloves, and after supplying
Teedyuscung liberally with rum, he secured from him the entire
sixteen deer skins for only three pounds. The sale was made
while the chief was intoxicated, and afterwards he remained at
the fort demanding more rum, which Miller supplied, Canach-
quasy in the meantime having gone away in disgust.
On August 21st, Teedyuscung and his retinue went to Bethle-
hem, where his wife, Elizabeth, and her three children desired to
remain while the "King" went on an expedition to the Minisinks,for
the purpose of putting a stop to some depredations which they
were committing in New Jersey. Returning from this expedition,
he went to Wyoming, where he sent word to Major Parsons at
Easton requesting that his wife and children be sent to join him.
Upon Parson's making known the King's desire, the wife deter-
mined to stay at Bethlehem. He then made frequent visits to
this place, much to the annoyance of the Moravian missionaries.
When the Provincial Authorities learned of the cause of
Teedyuscung's detention at Fort Allen, Lieutenant Miller was dis-
charged, and Teedyuscung went to Wyoming, thence up the North
Branch of the Susquehanna, persuading the Indians to lay down
their arms, and to send deputies to a second conference to be held
at Easton. in October. However, in the meantime, the Governor,
becoming suspicious of the chief's long delay at Fort Allen and
being influenced, no doubt by the statements of many Indians on
the border that Teedyuscung was not sincere in his peace profes-
sions, that he was a traitor, and that the Easton conference was
but a ruse to gain time, sent Canachquasy secretly to New York
to ascertain from the Six Nations whether or not they had depu-
tized Teedyuscung to represent them in important treaties.
Canachquasy returned with the report that the Six Nations denied
Teedyuscung's authority, as was related more fully in Chapter
XVII.
Teedyuscung 333
Obstacles in the Way of Peace
J. S. Walton, in his "Conrad Weiser and the Indian Policy of
Colonial Pennsylvania", thus sets forth the obstacles which con-
fronted Pennsylvania in her efforts to make peace with the hostile
Delawares:
"The prospects of peace were growing more and more embar-
rassing. England, now that war was declared with France (April,
1756) sent Lord Loudon to America to take charge. Indian
affairs were placed under the control of two men, Sir William
Johnson for the northern, and Mr. Atkins for the southern colon-
ies. Loudon's policy was to secure as many Indians as possible
for allies, and with them strike the French. To this end Mr.
Atkins secured the alliance of the Cherokee and other southern
tribes. These were immediately added to the armies of Virginia
and Western Pennsylvania. This act stirred the Northern Indians.
The Iroquois and the Delawares declared that they could never
fight on the same side with the despised Cherokees. This southern
alliance meant northern revolt, and threatened to crush the peace
negotiations at Easton. At this critical juncture, Lord Loudon,
whose ignorance of the problem before him was equalled only by
his contempt for provincialism, ordered the Governor of Penn-
sylvania to have nothing whatever to do with Indian affairs. Sir
William Johnson, only, should control these things. Moreover,
all efforts towards peace were advantages given to the enemy. John-
hon, however was inclined towards peace, but he seriously compli-
cated affairs in Pennsylvania by appointing George Croghan his
sole deputy in the Province. Croghan and Weiser had quite different
views upon Indian affairs. The Indians were quick to notice
these changes. Jonathan, an old Mohawk chief, in conversation
with Conrad Weiser said: 'Is it true that you are become a fallen
tree, that you must no more engage in Indian affairs, neither as
counsellor nor interpreter? What is the reason? Weiser replied,
'It is all too true. The King of Great Britain has appointed
Warruychyockon [Col. William Johnson] to be manager of all
Indian affairs that concern treaties of friendship, war, etc. And
that accordingly the Great General (Lord Loudon) that came over
the Great Waters, had in the name of the King ordered the Gov-
ernment of Pennsylvania to desist from holding treaties with the
Indians, and the Government of Pennsylvania will obey the King's
command, and consequently I, as the Government's servant, have
nothing more to do with Indian affairs.' Jonathan and his com-
334 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
panion replied in concert, 'Ha! Ha!' meaning 'Oh ,sad.' The two
Indians then whispered together a few minutes, during which
Weiser politely withdrew into another room. When he returned
Jonathan said, 'Comrade, I hear you have engaged on another
bottom. You are made a captain of warriors and laid aside coun-
cil affairs and turned soldier.'
"To this Weiser replied with some spirit, setting forth his
reasons for self-defense, the bloody outrages of the Indians, the
reception of the first peace messengers. 'You know,' said Weiser,
'that their lives were threatened. You know the insolent answer
which came back that caused us to declare war. I was at Easton
working for peace and if I had my wish there would be no war at
all So, comrade, do not charge me with such a thing as
that.' The Indians thanked Weiser for the explanation and went
away satisfied. But at the same time Weiser was shorn of his
power among the Indians. Making him commander of the Pro-
vincial forces robbed Pennsylvania of her most powerful advocate
at the council fires of the Indians."
Teedyuscung at the Second Easton Conference
In August, 1756, Governor Morris was superseded by Gov-
ernor William Denny. Governor Denny endeavored to have
Teedyuscung attend a conference in Philadelphia, in an effort to
continue the peace work begun at the Easton Conference of July
of that year. Teedyuscung sent the following reply by Conrad
Weiser to Governor Denny's invitation: "Brother, you remember
very well that in time of darkness and danger, I came in here at
your invitation. At Easton, we kindled a small council fire. . . .
If you should put out this little fire, our enemies will call it only a
jack lantern, kindled on purpose to deceive those who approach it.
Brother, I think it by no means advisable to put out this little
fire, but rather to put more sticks upon it, and I desire that you
will come to it [at Easton] as soon as possible, bringing your old
and wise men along with you, and we shall be very glad to see
you here."
Upon Teedyuscung's refusal to go to Philadelphia, Governor
Denny decided to meet the chief at Easton, where the second great
conference with him and the Indians under his command opened
on November 8, 1756. "The Governor marched from his lodgings
to the place of conference, guarded by a party of Royal Americans
on the front and on the flanks, and a detachment of Colonel
Teedyuscung 335
Weiser's provincial's in subdivisions in the rear, with colors flying,
drums beating, and music playing, which order was always ob-
served in going to the place of conference." Says Dr. George P.
Donehoo, in his "Pennsylvania — A History":
"Teedyuscung opened the council with a speech and with all
of the usual formalities of an Indian council. This Indian chief,
called a 'King', was a most gifted orator and talented diplomat.
His one most bitter enemy was his own vice of drunkenness which
led to all of his troubles and to his death. The one marvel about
him was that when he had been on a drunken spree all night and
kept so by his enemies, he would appear the next day with a clear
head, fully fit to deal with all of the complex problems which arose.
His foes among the Indians and among the English kept him filled
with rum in the hope that he could be rendered so drunk that he
could not attend to his business. He would sleep out all night,
under a shed, anywhere, in a drunken stupor, and appear the next
day with a clear head and an eloquent tongue to 'fight for peace,
at any price.' In his opening address, in referring to the tales
which had been told about him he says: 'Many idle reports are
spread by foolish and busy people; I agree with you that on both
sides they ought to be no more regarded than the chirping of birds
in the woods.' What great orator today could express himself
more perfectly and beautifully?"
In his opening address, Teedyuscung gave the following addi-
tional assurances of his desire to make peace with Pennsylvania:
"I remember well the leagues and covenants of our forefathers.
We are but children in comparison with them. What William
Penn said to the Indians is fresh in our minds and memory, and I
believe it is in yours. The Indians and Governor Penn agreed well
together; this we all remember, and it is not a small matter that
would then have separated us, and now you fill the same station
he did in this Province; it is in your power to act the same part.
I am sorry for what our foolish people have done. I have gone
among my people pleading for peace. If it cost me my life, I
would do it."
Teedyuscung Charges That Delawares Were
Defrauded Out of Their Lands
Governor Denny in his reply to Teedyuscung's speech, asked
him why the Delawares had gone to war against the English.
Teedyuscung in his reply stated that great injustice had been done
336 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the Delawares in various land purchases. The Governor then
asked him to be specific in his statements and point out what land
sales, in his opinion, had been unjust. Then Teedyuscung stamp-
ed his foot upon the ground and made the following heated reply:
"I have not far to go for an instance; this very ground that
is under me [striking it with his foot] was my land and inheritance,
and is taken from me by fraud. When I say this ground, I mean
all the land lying between Tohiccon Creek and Wyoming, on the
River Susquehannah. 1 have not only been served so in this
Government, but the same thing has been done to me as to several
tracts in New Jersey over the River. When I have sold lands
fairly, 1 look upon them to be really sold. A bargain is a bargain.
Tho' I have sometimes had nothing for the lands I have sold but
broken pipes or such triffles, yet when I have sold them, tho' for
such triffles, I look upon the bargain to be good. Yet 1 think
that I should not be ill used on this account by those very people
who have had such an advantage in their purchases, nor be called
a fool for it. Indians are not such fools as to bear this in their
minds."
Governor Denny then asked him if he (Teedyuscung) had
ever been dealt with in such a manner, and the chief replied:
"Yes, I have been served so in this Province; all the land
extending from Tohiccon, over the great mountain, to Wyoming,
has been taken from me by fraud; for when I agreed to sell the
land to the old Proprietary, by the course of the River, the young
Proprietaries came and got it run by a straight course by the
compass, and by that means took in double the quantity intended
to be sold I did not intend to speak thus, but I have done
it at this time, at your request; not that I desire now you should
purchase these lands, but that you should look into your own
hearts, and consider what is right, and that do."
It is thus seen that Teedyuscung referred directly to the notor-
ious Walking Purchase of 1737. Governor Denny then consulted
Richard Peters and Conrad Weiser about the transactions com-
plained of. Peters said that Teedyuscung's charges should be
considered, inasmuch as they had been made before; but Weiser
advised that none of the Indians attending Teedyuscung at this
second Easton conference had ever owned any of the lands in ques-
tion; that if any were living who had at one time owned the lands,
they had long since removed to the valleys of the Ohio and Alle-
gheny. Weiser further told the Governor that the land in question
had been bought by the Proprietaries when John and Thomas
Teedyuscung 337
Penn were in the Colony; that a line was soon after run by
Indians and surveyors; and that, when a number of the chiefs of
the Delawares complained about the Walking Purchase after-
wards, the deeds were produced and the names of the grantors
attached to them examined at the council held in Philadelphia, in
1742, at which council, after a long hearing, Canassatego as the
speaker of the Six Nations declared that the deeds were correct,
and ordered the Delawares to remove from the bounds of the pur-
chase.
The Governor then advised Teedyuscung that the deeds to
which he referred were in Philadelphia; that he would examine
them upon his return to the city, and if any injustice had been
done the Delawares, he would see that they should receive full
satisfaction. Some days later, however, Governor Denny denied
that any injustice had been done the Delawares by the Walking
Purchase, but offered a very handsome present to make satisfac-
tion for the injuries which they complained of. This present
Teedyuscung refused to receive; and the matter was then placed in
charge of an investigating committee.
It was then decided that a general peace should be proclaimed,
provided that the white prisoners were delivered up, and that the
declaration of war and Scalp Act should not apply to any Indians
who would promise to lay down their arms.
Teedyuscung then made the following promise in regard to the
delivery of the captives:
"I will use my utmost endeavors to bring you down your
prisoners. I have to request you that you would give liberty to
all persons and friends to search into these matters; as we are all
children of the Most High, we should endeavor to assist and make
use of one another, and not only so, but from what I have heard,
I believe there is a future state besides this flesh. Now I en-
deavour to act upon both these principles, and will, according to
what I have promised, if the Great Spirit spare my life, come next
spring with as great a force of Indians as I can get to your satis-
faction."
At the close of the conference, Teedyuscung's delegation was
given a present to the value of four hundred pounds, the Governor
advising that the larger part of it was from the Quakers. Teedy-
uscung in his reply urged that the work of peace be continued.
Said he:
"Hear me with patience; I am going to use a comparison in
order to represent to you better what we ought to do.
338 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"When you choose a spot of ground for planting, you first
prepare the ground, then you put the seed into the earth; but if you
don't take pains afterwards, you will not obtain fruit. To in-
stance, in the Indian corn, which is mine, I, as is customary, put
seven grains in one hill, yet without further care it will come to
nothing, tho' the ground be good; tho' at the beginning I take
prudent steps, yet if I neglect it afterwards, tho' it may grow up
to stalks and leaves, and there may be the appearance of ears,
there will be only leaves and cobs. In like manner in the present
business, tho' we have begun well, yet if we hereafter use not pru-
dent means, we shall not have success answerable to our expecta-
tions. God that is above hath furnished us both with powers and
abilities. As for my own part, I must confess to my shame I have
not made such improvements of the power given me as 1 ought;
but as 1 look on you to be more highly favored from above than
1 am, 1 would desire you that we would join our endeavours to
promote the good work, and that the cause of our uneasiness, begun
in the times of our forefathers, may be removed; and if you look
into your hearts, and act -according to the abilities given you, you
will know the grounds of our uneasiness in some measure from
what I said before in the comparison of the fire; tho' I was but a
boy, yet I would according to my abilities bring a few chips; so
with regard to the corn; I can do but little; you may a great deal;
therefore, let all of us, men, women, and children, assist in pulling
up the weeds, that nothing may hinder the corn from growing to
perfection. When this is done, tho' we may not live to enjoy the
fruit ourselves, yet we should remember our children may live and
enjoy the good fruit, and it is our duty to act for their good."
The second conference at Easton closed on November 17th.
In the minutes of this great council, we read: "Teedyuscung
showed great pleasure in his countenance, and took a kind leave of
the Governor and all present."
Teedyuscung's Activities After the Second
Easton Conference
Conrad Weiser accompanied Teedyuscung and the Indian
delegation to Fort Allen at the close of the conference, reaching
that place after dark. The old chief's wife was at that time
among the Moravians at Bethlehem, and the next morning she de-
clared that she would not live with Teedyuscung any longer on
account of his drunkenness. Teedyuscung then took all the chil-
Teedyuscung 339
dren away from her but one. Whereupon Weiser, induced by the
Moravians, urged his influence in persuading the wife to live once
more with her husband. In this task Weiser succeeded, and he and
the Indian delegation left Bethlehem for Fort Allen. At Hessey's
Inn at Bethlehem, the Indian delegation had dined on cider and
beef, and a ten gallon keg of rum had been sent along for them to
drink after they had gotten beyond Fort Allen. However, when
the party came near the fort, some Indians came to meet Teedy-
uscung, to receive their share of the presents which had been given
at the Easton conference, constantly importuning that the chief
treat them with rum. In spite of all that Weiser could do, five
gallons of rum were consumed by them before they reached the
fort; and then Teedyuscung demanded that the remaining five
gallons be given him to have a frolic with the Indians. After
much importuning, Weiser surrendered the keg, on condition that
the Indians stay away from the fort while engaged in their frolic,
to which terms Teedyuscung agreed.
"I ordered a soldier to carry it [the rum] down to the fire,"
said Weiser. "About the middle of the night he [Teedyuscung]
came back and desired to be let in and it was found that he was
alone; orders were given to let him in, because his wife and children
were in the fort; he behaved well. After awhile we were alarmed
by one of the drunken Indians that offered to climb over the
stocaddoes. I got on the platform and looked out the porthole and
saw the Indian and told him to be gone, else the sentry should fire
upon him. He ran off as fast as he could and cried, 'damn you
all, I value you not;' but as he got out of sight immediately we
heard no more of it."
After the rum was consumed, Teedyuscung parted with tears
in his eyes, desiring Weiser "to stand a friend to the Indians and
give good advice, till everything that was desired was brought
about." "Though he is a drunkard and a very irregular man,"
wrote Weiser, "yet he is a man that can think well and I believe
him to be sincere in what he says."
Teedyuscung then went out among the Delawares and other
Indians of the Susquehanna Valley, to hunt up the white captives
and to work for peace. By this time, as we say in Chapter XVII,
his great collaborator in the work of peace, Canachquasy, was no
more. Teedyuscung continued pleading for peace. The charge
that he had made concerning the Walking Purchase caused consid-
erable civil strife in the Colony. The Governor had promised
that the chief's charges would be investigated, and the Quakers
340 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
were determined that the committee in charge of the investigation
should not shirk their duty.
The Lancaster Treaty of May, 1757
At about this time, Sir William Johnson, who, as we have
seen, had been put in charge of Indian affairs in the colonies, ap-
pointed George Croghan as his deputy in charge of Indian affairs
in Pennsylvania. Following Croghan's desire, a treaty with a
large number of the Susquehanna Indians was held at Lancaster
during May, 1757. Teedyuscung, however, did not attend, being
still among the Indians, working for peace. It was the desire of
Johnson and Croghan that all friendly Indians should take up
the hatchet in the English cause; but Teedyuscung opposed this,
and contended that the friendly Indians should be asked no more
than to remain neutral. While the delegation of chiefs were wait-
ing near Lancaster for Teedyuscung, Governor Denny received
orders from Lord Loudon not to take part in Indian treaties, and
to forbid the Quakers from attending such treaties or contributing
thereto in any manner. The Governor then declined to take part
in the Lancaster treaty.
Says Walton: "Letters and petitions now poured in upon the
Governor. William Masters and Joseph Galaway, of Lancaster,
voiced the sentiment of that vicinity in a letter urging the Gover-
nor to come to Lancaster immediately, and use every possible
means to ascertain the truth or falsity of Teedyuscung's
charges. 'The Indians now present have plainly intimated
that they are acquainted with the true cause of our
Indian war.' The Friendly Society for the Promotion of
Peace Among the Indians asked permission of the Governor
to examine the minutes of the Provincial Council and the Proprie-
taries' deeds, in order to 'assist the Proprietaries in proving their
innocence of Teedyuscung's charges.' The Governor positively
refused to show them any papers. The Commissioners in charge
of Indian affairs were also refused the same request. The Gov-
ernor then lost his temper and charged the Quakers of Pennsyl-
vania with meddling in affairs which did not concern them. The
Assembly then sent a message to the Governor, denying that the
people of the Province ever interfered with his majesty's preroga-
tive of making peace and war Their known duty and
loyalty to his majestiy, notwithstanding the pains taken to mis-
represent their actions, forbids such an attempt. It is now clear
Teedyuscung 341
by the inquiries made by your Honor, that the cause of the present
Indian incursions in this Province, and the dreadful calamities
many of the inhabitants have suffered, have arisen in a great
measure from the exorbitant and unreasonable purchases made or
supposed to have been made of the Indians, that the natives com-
plain that there is not a country left to hunt or subsist in.' "
Governor Denny was compelled by pressure of the people to
go to the Lancaster conference. At this time, the Cherokees, who
were serving in the army at Fort Loudon and Fort Cumberland,
were particularly opposed to any peace wi.th the Delawares, and as
a consequence, while the conferences were in progress at Lancaster,
some Indian outrages occurred within a few miles of that place, so
exasperating the people that they brought the mutilated body of a
woman, whom the Indians had scalped, and left it on the court
house steps as the silent witness, as they said, of the fruits of an
Indian peace. All these matters, together with the absence of the
great Teedyuscung, made it impossible to accomplish anything defi-
nite at Lancaster. George Croghan was anxious that the Western
Indians be taken into a treaty of peace at Lancaster, and this
question was therefore postponed on account of the absence of
Teedyuscung.
While Teedyuscung did not attend the Lancaster treaty, he
sent a message complaining bitterly of the Moravians at Bethlehem,
as follows:
"Brothers, there is one thing that gives us a great deal of con-
cern, which is our flesh and blood that live among you at Bethle-
hem and in the Jersies, being kept as if they were prisoners. We
formally applied to the minister at Bethlehem [probably meaning
Bishop Spangenberg] to let our people come back at times and
hunt, which is the chief industry we follow to maintain our
families; but that minister has not listened to what we said to him,
and it is very hard that our people have not the liberty of coming
back to the woods where game is plenty, and to see their friends.
They have complained to us that they cannot hunt where they
are. If they go to the woods and cut down a tree, they are abused
for it, notwithstanding that very land we look upon to be our own;
and we hope, brothers, that you will consider this matter and let
our people come back into the woods, and visit their friends, and
pass and repass, as brothers ought to do."
The Moravian missionaries resented this message of Teedy-
uscung, claiming that he well knew the sentiments of the Indian
converts at Bethlehem, and that they were there of their own free
342 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
will. The Colonial Government paid no attention, however, to
this message. In June, 1757, the Governor received a message
from Teedyuscung, asking that four or five horseloads of pro-
visions be sent to Wyoming, not by white people, but by Indians.
Said he:
"I desire you to be careful. I have heard and have reason to
think it will grieve both you and me to the heart. Though many
nations belonging to the French can go round me, and as I have
heard and have reason to believe that they know and have under-
stood that I have taken hold of your hand, their aim is to break
us apart and to separate us. When I visited the Indians over the
Great Swamp and told them my message of peace, they said it was
a bait, and that the English would kill us all; but, however, when
they saw me come back safe the first time, they dropped their
tomahawks and said, 'If the English are true to you they will be
true to us.' "
The matter of the fradulent land sales came up at this confer-
ence at Lancaster. One of the chiefs of the Six Nations, Little
Abraham, spoke as follows concerning the frauds upon the Dela-
wares:
"They lived among you, brothers, but upon some difference
between you and them, we [the Six Nations] thought proper to
remove them, giving them lands to plant and hunt on at
Wyoming and Juniata on Susquehanna. But you, covetous of
land, made plantations there and spoiled their hunting grounds.
They then complained to us, and we looked over those lands and
found the complaints to be true The French became
acquainted with all the causes of complaint that the Delawares
had against you; and as your people were daily increasing their
settlements, by this means you drove them [the Delawares] back
into the arms of the French, and they took the advantage of
spiriting them up against you by telling them: 'Children, you
see, and we have often told you, how the English, your brethren,
did serve; they plant all the country, and drive you back; so that
in a little time you will have no land. It is not so with us.
Though we built trading houses on your land, we do not plant it.
We have our provisions from over the great waters.' '
The Six Nations' chiefs at this conference then advised that
part of the lands of the Delawares be given back to them and
promised to make both the Delawares and Shawnees return the
captives. They further urged that another invitation be sent to
Teedyuscung to come and bring some Senecas with him, in order
Teedyuscung 343
that the land question might be fully settled. Governor Denny
followed the suggestion of the chiefs of the Six Nations made at
the Lancaster conference, and accordingly arranged for the third
council or treaty at Easton, where the complaints of the Delawares
might be more fully heard. This treaty we shall discuss in the
next chapter.
We close this chapter by calling attention to the following
events which took place in the spring of 1757, while Teedyuscung
was working for peace:
Atrocities in Monroe County
On March 25th, the Delawares made an incursion into Monroe
County, in which Sargeant Leonard Den was killed. This was
followed by another on April 20th when Andreas Gundryman,a boy
aged seventeen, who had gone to bring some fire wood from the
neighborhood of Fort Hamilton to his father's house near the fort,
was killed. In the same incursions, Peter Soan and Christian
Kline were killed and several others carried into captivity.
Murder of John Spitler and Barnabas Tolon
On May 16th, John Spitler while fixing up a pair of bars on
his farm a few miles from Stumpton, was shot and his body cruelly
mangled. His body was buried in the graveyard at Hebron, near
Lebanon. The following account of his murder and burial is
contained in the records of the Hebron church:
"1757, May den 16, wurde Johannes Spitler, Jr., ohnweit von
seinem Hause, an der Schwatara von moerderischen Indianern
ueberfallen und ermordert. Er war im acht unddreisigsten Jahr
seines Alters, und verwichenes Jahr im April, an der Schwatara auf-
genommen. Seine uebelzugerichtette Leiche wurde den 17ten May
hieher gebracht, und bei einer grossen Menge Leute begleitet auf
unsern hiesigen Gottesacker beerdigt."
The following is the translation of the record:
"On the 16th of May, 1757, John Spitler, Jr., was fallen upon
and murdered by savage Indians not far from his house on the
Swatara. He was in the thirty-eighth year of his age, and had
taken up his residence on the Swatara in the preceding April. His
badly mangled body was brought here on the 17th of May, accom-
panied by a large concourse of people, and buried in the graveyard
of this place."
On May 22nd, Barnabus Tolon was killed and scalped in
344 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Hanover Township, Lebanon County. "We are," says the editor
of the Pennsylvania Gazette, "well informed that 123 persons have
been murdered and carried off from that part of Lancaster
[Lebanon] County by Indians since the war commenced, and that
lately three have been scalped and are yet living."
Massacre on Quitapahilla Creek
"Londonderry Township (Lebanon County) being more
towards the interior, was not so much exposed to the depredations
of the savages as those on the northern frontiers. Nevertheless, in
the more sparsely settled parts they committed various murders.
June 19, 1757, nineteen persons were killed in a mill on the Quita-
pahilla Creek, and on the 9th of September, 1757, one boy and a
girl were taken from Donegal Township, a few miles south of
Derry. About the same time, one Danner and his son Christian,
a lad of twelve years, had gone into the Conewago hills to cut down
trees; after felling one, and while the father was cutting a log, he
was shot and scalped by an Indian, and Christian, the son, taken
captive into Canada, where he remained until the close of the war
when he made his escape. Another young lad, named Steger, was
surprised by three Indians and taken captive whilst cutting hoop-
poles, but, fortunately, after remaining with the Indians some
months made his escape." — (Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania).
Murder of Adam Trump
On June 22nd occurred the murder of Adam Trump, in
Albany Township, Lancaster Cunty, thus referred to in a letter of
James Read, from Reading, on June 25th:
"Last night Jacob Levan, Esq., of Maxatawney, came to see
me and showed me a letter of the 22d inst. from Lieutenant Engel,
dated in Allemangel, by which he advised Mr. Levan of the mur-
der of one Adam Trump in Allemangel, by Indians, that evening,
and that they had taken Trump's wife and his son, a lad nineteen
years old, prisoners; but the woman escaped, though upon her fly-
ing, she was so closely pursued by one of the Indians, (of which
there were seven) that he threw his tomahawk at her, and cut her
badly in the neck, but 'tis hoped not dangerously. This murder
happened in as great a thunderstorm as has happened for twenty
years past; which extended itself over a great part of this and
Northampton counties. * * * *
"I had almost forgot to mention (but I am so hurried just
Teedyuscung 345
now, 'tis no wonder), that the Indians after scalping Adam Trump
left a knife, and a halbert, or a spear, fixed to a pole of four feet,
in his body."
News From Fort Duquesne
In the spring of 1757 Lieutenant Baker with five soldiers and
fifteen Cherokee Indians made a scouting expedition into the
vicinity of Fort Duquesne. His force encountered a party of three
French officers and seven men on the headwaters of Turtle Creek,
about ten miles from the fort. They killed five of the Frenchmen
and took one officer prisoner, who gave the information that
Captain Lignery was then commandant of the fort, and that there
were six hundred French troops and two hundred Indians at that
place. This is the latest definite information received as to the
conditions of Fort Duquesne until it was captured in November of
the next year by General Forbes.
w
CHAPTER XXII.
Teedyuscung
(Continued)
Teedyuscung at the Third Easton Council
HE third council with Teedyuscung at Easton opened on
July 21, 1757, and continued until August 7th. There
were almost endless discussions about Teedyuscung's
having a secretary of his own, deeds, frauds, and other
matters which had come before Indian councils for many years
prior to this council. Finally, John Pumpshire was selected by
Teedyuscung as his interpreter, and Charles Thomson, master of
the Quaker school in Philadelphia, as his clerk. Thomson, in writ-
ing of this affair to Samuel Rhodes, says:
"I need not mention the importance of the business we are come
about. The welfare of the Province and the lives of thousands
depend upon it. That an affair of such weight should be trans-
acted with soberness, all will allow; how, then, must it shock you
to hear that pains seem to have been taken to make the King
[Teedyuscung] drunk every night since the business began. The
first two or three days were spent in deliberating whether the King
should be allowed the privilege of a clerk. When he was resolute
in asserting his right and would enter into no business without
having a secretary of his own, they at last gave it up, and seem to
have fallen on another scheme which is to unfit him to say any-
thing worthy of being inscribed (?) by his secretary. On Satur-
day, under pretense of rejoicing for the victory gained by the King
of Prussia and the arrival of the fleet, a bonfire was ordered to be
made and liquor given to the Indians to induce them to dance.
For fear they should get sober on Sunday and be fit next day to
enter on business, under pretense that the Mohawks had requested
it, another bonfire was ordered to be made, and more liquor given
them. On Monday night the King was made drunk by Conrad
Weiser, on Tuesday by G. Croghan; last night he was very drunk
at Vernon's, and Vernon lays the blame on Comin and G. Croghan.
He did not go to sleep last night. This morning he lay down under
a shed about the break of day and slept a few hours. He is to
Teedyuscung 347
speak this afternoon. He is to be sure in a fine capacity to do
business. But thus we go on. I leave you to make reflections.
1 for my part wish myself at home."
Teedyuscung Renews Charge of Fraud
Teedyuscung entered this third Easton council with his mind
made up not to reiterate the charge of fraud concerning the Walk-
ing Purchase, doubtless fearing the Six Nations. His advisors told
him that he could afford to wait until peace was fully established,
before asserting the Delaware rights to lands drained by the Dela-
ware River. However, Governor Denny was determined to make
the great chief deny that any fraud had been practiced upon the
Delawares in land purchases. When pressed for the cause of the
alienation of the Delawares, Teedyuscung unequivocally asserted
that it was the land purchases. Said he:
"The complaint I made last fall I yet continue. I think some
lands have been bought by the Proprietors or his agents from
Indians who had not a right to sell I think, also, when
some lands have been sold to the Proprietors by Indians who had
a right to sell to a certain place, whether that purchase was to be
measured by miles or hours walk, that the Proprietors have con-
trary to agreement or bargain, taken in more lands than they
ought to have done, and lands that belonged to others. I therefore
now desire that you will produce the writings and deeds by which
you hold the land, and let them be read in public, and examined,
that it may be fully known from what Indians you have bought
the lands you hold; and how far your purchases extend; that
copies of the whole may be laid before King George, and published
to all the Provinces under his Government. What is fairly bought
and paid for I make no further demand about. But if any lands
have been bought of Indians to whom these lands did not belong,
and who had no right to sell them, I expect a satisfaction for
those lands; and if the Proprietors have taken in more lands than
they bought of true owners, I expect likewise to be paid for that."
Teedyuscung Requests Benefits of Civilization
Said Teedyuscung: "We [the Delawares] intend to settle at
Wyoming, and we want to have certain boundaries fixed between
you and us, and a certain tract of land fixed which it shall not be
lawful for us or our children ever to sell, nor for you or any of
your children ever to buy To build different houses from
348 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
what we have done before, such as may last not only for a little
time, but for our children after us; we desire you will assist us in
making our settlements, and send us persons to instruct us in build-
ing houses and making such necessaries as shall be needed, and that
persons be sent to instruct us in the Christian religion, and to in-
struct our children in reading and writing, and that a fair trade be
established between us, and such persons appointed to conduct
and manage these affairs as shall be agreeable to us."
Walton's Account of the Council
The remaining matters taken up at this great conference are
thus succinctly set forth by J. S. Walton, in his "Conrad Weiser
and the Indian Policy of Pennsylvania":
"Teedyuscung then asked that the territory of Wyoming be
reserved to the Indians forever. That it might be surveyed and
a deed given to the Indians, that they might have something to
show when it became necessary to drive the white men away.
After these charges were again made the Governor called Croghan
and Weiser together to know what was the best thing to do. Each
of these men with his large share of experience in Indian affairs
agreed in the opinion that some outside influence had induced
Teedyuscung to revive these charges. They also united in the
opinion that the Indians merely wanted a glimpse of the old deeds,
and would be satisfied with a cursory examination of the signa-
tures.
"Upon these assertions the Governor and Council were induced
to grant Teedyuscung's request and to show him the deeds of 1636
and 1637 from the Delawares, and of 1749 from the Iroquois.
When the Governor applied to Mr. Peters for the papers and deeds
they were again refused. Peters declared that he held them as a
sacred trust from the Proprietors and would neither surrender
them nor permit himself to be placed under oath and give testi-
mony. These two things could only be done, he insisted, in the
presence of Sir William Johnson, before whom as a final arbitrator,
the Proprietors desired that these charges should be laid. James
Logan immediately opposed Richard Peters. He insisted that all
deeds relating to lands which the Indians claimed were fraudu-
lently purchased, sould be shown. To refuse this would be unjust
to the Indians and dangerous to the cause of peace. Logan ex-
plained that the Proprietary instructions should not be too liter-
ally construed and obeyed. The Indians were opposed to having
Teedyuscung 349
their case settled before Sir William Johnson. After an animated
discussion in council it was reluctantly agreed that the deeds should
be shown. The Council only consented to this after Conrad
Weiser had assured them that Teedyuscung did not insist upon
seeing all the deeds, but only those pertaining to the back lands.
R. Peters again protested, but was overruled. The deeds were laid
on the table August 3, 1757.
"Charles Thomson, at Teedyuscung's request, copied these
deeds. The chief said he would have preferred to have seen the
deeds of confirmation given to Governor Keith in 1718, but the
great work of peace was superior to the land dispute, and if the
Proprietors would make satisfaction for the lands which had been
fraudulently secured, he would return the English prisoners held
captive among the Indians. The peace belt was then grasped by
the Governor and Teedyuscung, and the two years' struggle for
peace was crowned with victory. After much feasting and danc-
ing, drinking and burning of bonfires the treaty closed.
"Teedyuscung promised to fight for the English on condition
that his men should not be commanded by white captains. The
Governor and his party returned to Philadelphia, deeply worried
over the publicity of the Indian charges of fraud which had occur-
red at the Easton conference. Peace to the Proprietors was dearly
purchased, if the people of the Province were confirmed in their
belief that the Indian outrages had been caused by fraud in land
purchases."
The council ended on Sunday, August 7th. Governor Denny
then returned to Philadelphia realizing that two things were im-
perative. One was to disprove Teedyuscung's charge of fraud, in
order to remove from the Proprietaries of the Colony the respon-
sibility for the hostility of the Delawares and Shawnees; the other
was to make peace with the Indians of the valleys of the Ohio and
Allegheny, in order that the expedition of General Forbes then
planned might be a success. The Governor was very apprehensive
that, on account of the allegiance of the Western Indians with the
French, the proposed expedition of General Forbes would meet with
the same fate as the expedition of the ill-fated Braddock in the
summer of 1755. Besides, unless the hostile Indians of the Ohio
and Allegheny could be persuaded to sever their allegiance with
the French, there was little chance of ending the barbarous raids
which they were making on the frontier settlements. How these
Western Indians were induced by the Moravian missionary,
Christian Frederick Post, to sever their allegiance with the French,
350 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
as General Forbes was marching on Fort Duquesne in the autumn
of 1758, has already been told in Chapter XIX.
Atrocities of the Summer of 1757
Indian atrocities still continued as Teedyuscung worked for
peace. In August, 1757, incursions were made into Lebanon
County. John Andrews' wife and child were captured while going
to a neighbor's house. John Winklebach's two sons and Joseph
Fischbach were fired upon by fifteen Indians, while bringing in the
cows at sunrise. The boys were killed, and Fischbach was badly
wounded. At about the same time, Leonard Long's son was killed
and scalped while plowing in his father's field, and Isaac Williams'
wife was killed. In September, Christian Danner was killed and
his son, aged twelve, captured and carried to Canada, where he
made his escape after three years, as related in Chapter XXI.
During this summer, incursions were also made into Dauphin
County. At the time of one of these incursions, a Mr. Barnett
and a Mr. Mackey were at work on the former's farm near
Manada Creek, when news reached them that their families were
murdered in the block house nearby. They at once started for the
scene of horror, but had not gone far until they were ambushed by
a party of Indians who killed Mackey and severely wounded
Barnett who, nevertheless, was able to escape, owing to the swift-
ness of his horse. He concealed himself until the Indians left the
neighborhood the next day, when he learned that his family was
safe with the exception of his son, William, aged nine, whom the
Indians had captured, together with Mackey's son about the same
age. The Indians proceeded westward with the two little boys.
Upon learning that one of the boys was the son of Mackey, whom
they had just killed, they forced him to stretch his father's scalp.
For a time, the little Mackey boy carried his father's scalp, which
he would often stroke with his little hand, and say, "My father's
pretty hair."
Mr. Barnett at length recovered from his wound. In the hope
of recovering his son, he accompanied George Croghan to Fort
Pitt, and attended the council which Crogan, Colonel Hugh Mercer,
Captain William Trent, and Captain Thomas McKee held with
the Shawnees, Delawares, and other Indians at that place on July
5th, 1759. One day during his stay at the fort, he wished to get
a drink of water from Grant's Spring, above the fort, so named
from the defeat of Major James Grant at that place in the preced-
ing September. He had proceeded only a short distance, when
Teedyuscung 351
something told him to turn back. At the same instant, he heard
the report of a rifle, and looking towards the spring, saw the smoke
of the same and an Indian scalping a soldier, who had gone to the
spring for a drink.
Mr. Barnett returned home without recovering his son, but
Crogan promised to use every endeavor to obtain the child. At
length the boy was brought to Fort Pitt, but so great was his inclin-
ation to return to the Indians that it was necessary to guard him
closely until there would be an opportunity to send him to his
father. On one occasion, he jumped into a canoe, and was half
way across the Allegheny River before he was observed. Quick
pursuit followed; but he reached the other side and hid in the
bushes, where it took a search of several hours to find him. Soon
thereafter, he was sent to Carlisle, where the father received him
with tears of joy, and took him home to the arms of the mother.
During his captivity, the Indians frequently broke the ice on
rivers and creeks, and dipped him in "to make him hardy". This
treatment impaired his constitution. He sank into the grave in
early manhood, leaving a wife and daughter. Shortly thereafter,
the mother died. Then Mr. Barnett, the elder, removed to Alle-
gheny County, where he died at the great age of eighty-two years.
His dust reposes in the church yard of Lebanon, Mifflin Township,
Allegheny County.
But, to return to the Mackey boy. The Indians gave this
child to the French, and at the close of the French and Indian War,
he passed into the hands of the English, was taken to England, and
later, became a soldier in the British army, and was sent to America
during the Revolutionary War. He procured a furlough, and
sought out his widowed mother, who had mourned him as dead.
As he stood before her in the strength of robust manhood, she was
unable to see in him any trace of her long lost boy. "If you are
my son," said she, "you have a mark upon your knee that I will
know." He then exposed his knee to her view; whereupon she
threw her arms around his neck in unrestrained joy. He never
returned to the British army, but remained with his mother to the
end of her days, often meeting William Barnett, and recounting
with him their experiences while captives among the Indians.
Teedyuscung's Activities After the Third Easton Council
Two days after the third Easton conference closed, Teedyus-
cung and his family went to Bethlehem, where he tarried for sev-
eral days. Reichel, in his "Memorials of the Moravian Church,"
says of this visit:
352 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"Some of these unwelcome visitors halted for a few days, and
some proceeded as far as Fort Allen and then returned, undecided
as to where to go and what to do. During the month full 200 were
counted — men, women and children — among them lawless crowds
who annoyed the brethren by depredations, molested the Indians
at the Manakasy, and wrangled with each other over their cups at
'The Crown'."
After the third Easton treaty was over, and as Teedyuscung
was returning to Tioga, he met three messengers from the Ohio
Indians, who stated to him that they were sorry that they had taken
up arms against the English, and would do whatever he told them;
whereupon, he informed them of the peace that had been estab-
lished by the treaty at Easton, and that he would give them the
tomahawk against the French, and bring them down to Philadelphia
for a treaty. He then proceeded to Philadelphia, where he laid this
information before the Governor and Provincial Council on
August 30th, and advised them that he had sent his son, Amos,
and another Delaware back to the Ohio with the three messengers.
Teedyuscung again appeared before the Governor and Pro-
vincial Council on September 5th, and asked for a copy of the
Delaware deed of release, which Sassoonan and six other chiefs of
the Delawares had executed on September 17, 1718, by the terms of
which they acknowledged that their ancestors had conveyed to
Pennsylvania, in fee, and had then paid for all the land between
"the Delaware and the Susquehanna, from Duck Creek to the moun-
tains on this side of Lechay [Lehigh River]". He also asked why
the Easton treaty had not been published. Governor Denny ex-
plained that it was Sir William Johnson's business to order any
publication of the treaty, and that George Croghan had reminded
the Governor of this fact. Teedyuscung then declared that
Croghan was a rogue, and that he (Teedyuscung) would have
nothing to do with either Croghan or Johnson. The Governor
then handed over the copy of the deed of 1718, and assured Teedy-
uscung that the treaty would be published.
Teedyuscung appeared before the Governor and Provincial
Council on December 1st to urge that, as winter was coming on,
houses should speedily be built for the Indians at Wyoming. He
also visited the Governor and Provincial Council on January 17,
1758, in which he advised them that they might be assured that:
"I shall use my utmost endeavors to establish the peace so happily
concluded at Easton between the people of this Province and their
brethren, the Indians."
Teedyuscung 353
Teedyuscung Again Asks for Benefits
of Civilization
Teedyuscung again came to Philadelphia on March 13, 1758.
On this visit he was very spirited and asked for a clerk. The
Council having debated for more than an hour whether this request
should be granted, Teedyuscung sent a message that he was tired
of waiting, was at dinner, and would bring his clerk, or would not
speak at all. A public conference was then held in the council
chamber of the State House, which many persons of the city
attended. He advised the Council that, in compliance with his
promise at the third Easton conference, he had given the "Big
Peace Halloo", and had secured the alliance of eight nations of the
Western Indians, who had taken hold of the peace belt, in addi-
tion to the ten for which he had spoken at the Easton treaty. The
calumet which these recent allies had sent Teedyuscung in reply
to the publication of peace was smoked by himself, the Governor,
and members of the Provincial Council and the Assembly.
A week later, when Governor Denny made his reply accepting
the alliance of the eight nations and thanking Teedyuscung for his
great work in behalf of peace, the great chief repeated the request
for the benefits of civilization, which he had made at the third
Easton treaty. Said he:
"Brother, you must consider 1 have a soul as well as another,
and I think it proper you should let me have two masters to teach
me, that my soul may be instructed and saved at last. Brother, 1
desire moreover two school maste'rs, for there are a great many
Indian children who want school masters. One therefore is not
sufficient to teach them all, so that they may be sufficiently in-
structed in the Christian way. Brother, I have a body as well as a
soul. I want two men to instruct me and show me the ways of
living, and how to conduct temporal affairs, who may teach me in
everything to do as you do yourselves, that I may live as you do,
and likewise who may watch over me and take care of my things,
that nobody may cheat me. You tell us the Christian religion is
good, and we believe it to be so, partly upon the credit of your
words, and partly because we see that some of our brother Indians
who were wicked before they became Christians live better lives
now than they formerly did."
He added that he asked the liberty of choosing the masters and
that he wanted two instructors in temporal affairs, so that if one
should prove dishonest, the other might prevent him from doing
injury to or impose upon the Indians.
354 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Teedyuscung's Appeal Led to Post's Being Sent
on Mission to the Western Indians
During the conferences that attended the above visit of Teedy-
uscung to the Governor and Provincial Council, the old chief
urged that the Provincial Authorities should not neglect the oppor-
tunity to do everything possible to strengthen the alliance with the
eight western nations who had agreed to his peace proposal. He
said: "I have received every encouragement from the Indian
nations. Now, brother, press on with all your might in promoting
the good work we are engaged in. Let us beg the God that made
us to bless our endeavours, and I am sure if you assert yourselves,
God will grant a blessing, and we shall live."
Teedyuscung then urged that a messenger should be sent to his
friends on the Ohio and Allegheny, warning them to sever their
allegiance with the French. Teedyuscung's appeal was the first
move towards the daring mission of Christian Frederick Post to
the Indians of the Ohio in the summer and autumn of 1758, in
which he succeeded in persuading the western tribes not to give
further assistance to the French.
At this same conference, he also requested that a messenger be
sent to stop the Cherokees from coming any further. These Indians
were coming to assist in the expedition of General Forbes against
Fort Duquesne, much to the displeasure of the Delawares and
Shawnees. We have already seen, in Chapter XVII, that it was
the coming of the Cherokees to assist the English that caused
Paxinosa to leave for the Ohio. At the time of which we are writ-
ing, there was great danger that the presence of the Cherokees at
Fort Cumberland, Fort Littleton, Carlisle, and other places, with
the English forces, would seriously complicate any proceedings for
peace. Therefore, the Governor and General Forbes later sent
Christian Frederick Post on a mission to Wyoming, for the purpose
of explaining the situation concerning the Cherokees, and to request
the Indians on the Susquehanna to call the friendly Indians east
of the mountains while the General advanced against Fort Du-
quesne.
Post, accompanied by Charles Thomson and three friendly
Indians, left Philadelphia on June 7th and, reaching Bethlehem
the next day, they employed three others to accompany them.
From that place they went to the Nescopeck Mountain, about
fifteen miles from Wyoming, where they met a party of nine
Indians on their way to Bethlehem, who warned them not to go to
Teedyuscung 355
Wyoming, as the woods were full of strange Indians. It was then
decided to go back to the east side of the mountain, and to send
two messengers forward to invite Teedyuscung to meet them. The
next day Teedyuscung came from his new residence at Wyoming.
Post complained to him that the path to Wyoming was closed, and
it was his (Teedyuscung's) business to keep it open. The Dela-
ware "King" replied that the road had been closed by the Six
Nations. He told Post that he expected a great many Mohicans
and Wanamis to come during the summer to live with him at
Wyoming; and he begged for corn and flour for them, and that
arms and ammunition might be sent to Shamokin, whence they
might be transported by way of the river to Wyoming. He assur-
ed Post that a belt repeating an invitation to the Senecas to join
in the English interest would reach their head chief in eight days,
and that there must be a great treaty during the summer.
Post got much valuable information from Teedyuscung as to
the situation among the Indians of the Allegheny and Ohio. He
then returned to Philadelphia on June 16th, and delivered his
report to the Governor. On June 20th, a peace message from the
Cherokees was delivered to the Governor, who desired to send it at
once to Teedyuscung at Wyoming. Post was the messenger
selected for this purpose, who set out for Wyoming over the same
course that he had recently traveled, at which place he arrived on
June 27th, and delivered the message to Tedyuscung. At
Wyoming Post met a number of chiefs from the Allegheny, to
whom he explained all about the peace measures that were under
way. An old sachem, named Katuaikund, upon hearing the good
news, "lifting up his hands to heaven wished that God would have
mercy upon them, and would help them to bring them and the
English together again, and to establish an everlasting ground
foundation for peace among them. He wished further that God
would move the Governor and the people's hearts toward them in
love, peace, and union. ... He said further that it would be well
if the Governor sent somebody with them at their return home, for
it would be of great consequence to them who lived above Alle-
gheny to hear from the Governor's mind from their own mouths."
At Wyoming, Post learned that the garrison at Fort Duquesne
consisted of about eleven hundred French, almost starved, who
would have abandoned the fort, had not the Mohawks sent them
assistance, and that the commander had recently said that, "if the
English come too strong upon me, I will leave." Two of the
messengers who had come from the Allegheny with news concern-
356 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
ing the situation of the French were Pisquetomen and Keekyus-
cung.
Post then returned to Fort Allen (Weissport) on June 30th;
and after the Governor heard his report and had talked with
Pisquetomen and Keekyuscung, it was decided to send these two
Indians to the Ohio, in order to gain information as to the situation
among the Indians there, and to advise them of the peace measures.
Post was requested to accompany these messengers, and he agreed
to do so, if Charles Thomson were permitted to go with him. The
Governor replied that "he might take any other person." Post
then left Philadelphia on June 15th, reaching Bethlehem on the
17th, at which place he made preparations for his journey to the
Ohio. On the 19th he reached Fort Allen (Weissport), where
Teedyuscung tried to dissuade him from going on his dangerous
mission. Post says: "He [Teedyuscung] was afraid I should
never return, that the Indians would kill me." Post replied to
Teedyuscung that he was obliged to go, even if he should lose his
life. On the 22nd, when Post again prepared to set out, Teedyus-
cung again protested saying that he was afraid that the Indians
would kill Post, or that the French would capture him. Post then
made the final reply to Teedyuscung that he would go on this peace
mission to the Ohio, even if he died in the undertaking, and that,
if, unhappily, he should die before completing the mission, he
hoped that his death would be the means of saving many hundreds
of lives. Without further delay, he therefore set forth on his first
mission to the Ohio, accompanied by Pisquetomen and Keekyus-
cung, as related in Chapter XIX.
Teedyuscung Continues Working for Peace
During all the time between the close of the third council at
Easton, in the summer of 1757, to the opening of the fourth council
at Easton, on October 7, 1758, Teedyuscung worked steadfastly for
peace, and insisted from time to time that a strong fort be
built at Wyoming. However, he was unable to remain neutral,
and he petitioned the Governor for reward on scalps, believing that
if the white man could enjoy the profits of such a bounty, there was
no reason why the Indians friendly to the Province should not
come in for their share. He even sent friendly Indians to protect
the frontiers. When Will Sock, a Conestoga, had been over the
country carrying a French flag, and had murdered Chagrea and a
German in Lancaster County, Teedyuscung took away the flag,
Teedyuscung 357
sent it to Philadelphia, and gave him an English flag. In the
meantime, also, he kept urging the Provincial Authorities to build
houses for the friendly Indians at Wyoming, in accordance with
Pennsylvania's promise at the Easton conference of 1757 to enact
a law which would settle the Wyoming lands upon him and his
people forever.
Mary Jemison, White Woman of Genesee
While Teedyuscung was thus working for peace, two atrocities
were committed in Adams County during the month of April, 1758.
The first of these was the attack on the home of Thomas Jemison
near the confluence of Sharp's Run and Conewago Creek, Adams
County, on April 5th, by Indians from the Ohio and Allegheny
valleys. On the morning of that day, Jemison's daughter, Mary,
aged about fifteen, had returned from an errand to a neighbor's,
and a man took her horse to go to his house after a bag of grain.
Her father was busy with chores about the house, her mother was
getting breakfast, her two older brothers were at the barn, while
she, with the smaller children of the family and a neighbor woman,
were in the house. Suddenly they were alarmed by the discharge
of a number of guns. Opening the door they found the man and
the horse lying dead. The Indians then captured Mr. Jemison, his
wife, his children, Robert, Matthew, Betsy, and Mary, together
with the neighbor woman and her three children, the two brothers
in the barn making their escape. The attacking party consisted
of six Indians and four Frenchmen. They set out with their
prisoners in single file, using a whip when anyone lagged behind.
At the end of the second day's march, Mary was separated from
her parents. During the night her parents and all the other pris-
oners, except Mary and a neighbor boy, were cruelly put to death,
and their bodies left in the swamps to be devoured by wild beasts.
During the next day's march, the unhappy girl had to watch the
Indians scrape and dry the scalps of her parents, brothers, sisters,
and neighbors. Her mother had an abundance of beautiful, red
hair, and she could easily distinguish her scalp from the others, —
a sight which remained with her to the end of her days. The
neighbor boy was given to the French, and Mary was given to two
Shawnee squaws, and carried to the Shawnee towns on the Scioto.
Here these squaws adopted her, replacing a brother who had been
killed during the French and Indian War.
In the autumn of 1759, she was taken to Fort Pitt, when the
358 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Shavvnees and other western tribes went to that place to make peace
with the English. She accompanied them with a light heart, as
she believed she would soon be restored to her brothers who had
made their escape when she was captured. The English at Fort
Pitt asked her a number of questions concerning herself, which so
alarmed her adopted Indian sisters that they hastily took her down
the Ohio in a canoe. Afterwards she learned that some settlers
had come to the fort to take her away, but could not find her.
She married two Indian chiefs of renown. The first was a
Delaware named Sheninjee, of whom she spoke as "noble, large in
stature, elegant in appearance, generous in conduct, courageous in
war, a friend of peace, and a great lover of justice." To this hus-
band she bore two children. The first died soon after birth, but
the second, who was born in the fourth year of her captivity, she
named in memory of her father, Thomas Jemison. Her first hus-
band died while they were enroute with her child to her new home
in the Genesee Valley in New York. Several years after the death
of her first husband, she married Hiokatoo, also known as Gardow,
by whom she had four daughters and two sons. This second
husband was a cruel and vindictive warrior.
Two great sorrows came into her life. The first was when her
son, John, killed his brother, Thomas, her comforter and namesake
of her father. The second was when this same John a few years
later killed his other brother, Jesse. Her grief became somewhat
assuaged when John was murdered later in a drunken quarrel with
two Indians.
Mary Jemison continued to live in the German Flats, New
York, and upon the death of her second husband, she became pos-
sessed of a large tract of valuable land. She was naturalized April
19, 1817, and received a clear title to her land. In 1823, she sold a
major portion of her holdings, reserving a tract two miles long and
one mile wide.
This remarkable lady who preserved the sensibilities of a
white woman amidst the surroundings of barbaric life, died Sep-
tember 19, 1833, at the age of ninety-one years, and was buried,
with Christian rites, in the cemetery of the Seneca Mission on the
Buffalo Creek Reservation, in New York. On March 17, 1874,
her body was removed to the Indian Council House Grounds at
Letchworth Park, where a beautiful bronze statue marks the grave
of "The White Woman, The Genesee."
Teedyuscung 359
Capture of the Family of Richard Bard
The second atrocity committed by the Indians while Teedyus-
cung was working for peace, was the attack on the home of Richard
Bard, on April 13, 1758. The Bard family resided near a place
later known as Marshall's Mills, in Adams County. A little girl,
named Hannah McBride, was at the door when the Indians
approached. She ran screaming into the house where there were
Bard and his wife and six months' old child, an apprentice boy,
and a relative of the Bards, Lieutenant Thomas Potter by name, a
brother of General James Potter. One of the Indians attacked
Lieutenant Potter with a cutlass, but he succeeded in wresting it
from the savage. Mr. Bard seized a pistol and snapped it at the
breast of one of the Indians, but it failed to fire. As there was no
ammunition in the home, the occupants of the house, fearing a
slaughter or being burned alive, surrendered, as the Indians
promised no harm would be done to them. The savages then went
into the field nearby, where they captured Samuel Hunter, Daniel
McManiny, and a boy named William White, who was coming to
a mill near the Bard home.
The Indians then secured the prisoners, plundered the house,
and burned the mill. At a point about seventy rods from the
home, contrary to their promises, they killed Lieutenant Potter,
and having proceeded over the mountain for several miles, one of
them sunk the spear of his tomahawk into the breast of the child,
and scalped it. When they had proceeded with their prisoners
past the fort into Path Valley, they encamped for the night. The
next day they discovered a party of settlers in pursuit. They then
hastened the pace of their prisoners under threat of tomahawking
them. Reaching the top of Tuscarora Mountain, the party sat
down to rest, and one of the Indians, without giving any warning
whatever, buried his tomahawk in the head of Samuel Hunter, and
scalped him. They then passed over Sidling Hill and the Alle-
gheny Mountains by Blair's Gap, and encamped beyond Stony
Creek. Here they painted Bard's head red on one side, indicating
that a council had been held; that an equal number were for killing
him and for saving his life, and that his fate would be determined
in the next council.
Bard then determined to attempt his escape and, while assist-
ing his wife in plucking a turkey, he told her of his intentions.
Some of the Indians were asleep, and one was amusing the others
by parading around in Mrs. Bard's gown. As this Indian was
360 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
thus furnishing amusement for the others, Bard was sent to the
spring for water, and made his escape. After having made an un-
successful search for Bard, the party proceeded to Fort Duquesne
and then to Kuskuskies, where Mrs. Bard, the two boys and the
girl were compelled to run the gauntlet, and were beaten in a most
inhuman manner. Here also Daniel McManiny was put to death
by being tied to a post, scalped alive, and pierced through the body
with a red-hot gun barrel.
Mrs. Bard was separated from the other prisoners, led from
one Indian town to another, and finally adopted by two warriors,
to take the place of a deceased sister. Finally she was taken to the
headwaters of the Susquehanna, and during the journey, suffered
greatly from fatigue and illness. She lay for two months, a
blanket her only covering and boiled corn her only food. She re-
mained in captivity two years and five months.
Mr. Bard, after having made his escape and after a terrible
journey of nine days, during which his only food was a few buds
and four snakes, finally reached Fort Littleton, Fulton County.
After this, he wandered from place to place throughout the frontier,
seeking information concerning his wife. After having made
several perilous journeys to Fort Duquesne for the same purpose,
and in which he narrowly escaped capture on several occasions, he
finally learned that she was at Fort Augusta (Sunbury), where he
redeemed her.
During Mrs. Bard's captivity, she was kindly treated by the
warriors who had adopted her. Before the Bards left Fort
Augusta, Mr. Bard requested one of his wife's adopted brothers to
visit them at their home. This he did some time afterwards, when
the Bards were living about ten miles from Chambersburg, remain-
ing at the Bard home for some time; but finally he went one day
to McDowell's Tavern, where he became intoxicated and got into a
quarrel with a rough frontier character by the name of Newgen,
who stabbed him dangerously in the neck. Newgen fled from the
vicinity in order to escape the wrath of Bard's neighbors. The
wounded Indian, however, recovered after being tenderly nursed
by his adopted sister, Mrs. Bard. He then returned to his people,
who put him to death on the pretext of having, as they claimed
joined the white people.
Other atrocities than the attacks on the Jemison and Bard
families, were committed in Eastern Pennsylvania in the month of
April, 1758. A man. named Lebenguth, and his wife were killed
in the Tulpehocken Valley. Also, at Northkill, Nicholas Geiger's
wife and two children and Michael Ditzelar's wife were killed.
Teedyuscung 361
Teedyuscung at the Grand Council at Easton
While Christian Frederick Post was on his first mission to the
Ohio Indians, Teedyuscung was persuading the Six Nations to send
deputies to a fourth grand peace conference at Easton. His pur-
pose was to draw all the Indians into an alliance with the English,
and to secure a general and lasting peace. As a preliminary, he
had induced the Minisink Indians and a number of Senecas to go
to Philadelphia in August and hold a conference with the Governor.
The Grand Council at Easton, known as the Fourth Easton
Council, opened on Sunday, October 8, 1758, with more than five
hundred Indians in attendance, representing all the tribes of the Six
Nations, the Delawares, Conoys, Tuteloes, and Nanticokes.
Governor Denny, members of the Provincial Council and Assem-
bly, Governor Bernard, of New Jersey, Commissioners for Indian
affairs in New Jersey, Conrad Weiser, George Crogan, and a num-
ber of Quakers from Philadelphia, made up the attendance of the
whites.
Pennsylvania Deeds Back Albany Purchase of 1754
Three great land disputes came before this council. The first
was the Albany purchase of 1754, which, as we have already seen,
caused the Delawares of the West Branch of the Susquehanna and
the valleys of the Ohio and Allegheny to go over to the French.
To the credit of Conrad Weiser, it must be said that he had all
along insisted that this was not a just purchase; that the Indians
were deceived, and that the running of the lines had been greatly
misrepresented. Furthermore, the Six Nations had declared to
Sir William Johnson in 1755, that they would never consent to
this sale, pointing out that the West Branch of the Susquehanna
was held by them simply in trust as a hunting ground for their
cousins, the Delawares. The matter was adjusted at this treaty by
Governor Denny, on behalf of the Proprietaries, telling the Six
Nations that Conrad Weiser and Richard Peters would deed back
to them all of the Albany Purchase west of the summits of the
Allegheny Mountains, if the Six Nations would confirm the residue
of the purchase. This they agreed to, and the mutual releases were
executed October 24th.
But before the releases were executed, Christian Frederick
Post had succeeded in drawing the Shawnees and Delawares of the
Ohio away from the French, — a fact that shows the greatness of his
achievement. On his way back from his first mission to the Ohio
362 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Indians, he sent Pisquetomen and John Hickman to Philadelphia
to deliver the speech belt which Shingas, Beaver, and other chiefs
had given him, while he went on from Harris' Ferry to see General
Forbes. Pisquetomen and Hickman then went to the Great Coun-
cil at Easton, where Pisquetomen delivered the belt.
On the afternoon of October 22nd, just as Pisquetomen and
Hickman were leaving Easton, Post arrived at the Council with the
news from General Forbes that the General's advance guard, on
October 12th, was attacked at Loyal Hanning, later known as Fort
Ligonier, at the present town of Ligonier, Westmoreland County,
by twelve hundred French and two hundred Indians. Post then
left Easton on October 25th on his second mission to the Ohio
Indians, to make known to them the results of.the Easton Council.
The success of Post's second mission to the Ohio has already
been told, as has the fact that, in July, 1759, a great conference
was held at Fort Pitt with all the Ohio tribes by George Croghan,
Colonel Hugh Mercer, then commander at Fort Pitt, Captain
William Trent, and Captain Thomas McKee, which gathered the
fruit and glory of the peace missions of this Moravian missionary.
King Beaver was the principal speaker of the Indians on this
occasion. Guyasuta was also present, and Andrew Montour was the
interpreter.
The second land dispute taken up at the Grand Council was
the complaint of the Munsee Clan of Delawares (Munseys) that
their lands in New Jersey had never been purchased. Governor
Bernard, of New Jersey, when asked by the Munseys what he should
pay for the New Jersey land, offered them eight hundred dollars,
saying that it was a very extraordinary offer. The Munseys then
asked the Iroquois deputies for their opinion as to the price. The
Iroquois replied that the offer was fair and honorable; that if it
were their own case, they would cheerfully accept it; but, as there
were a great many of the Munseys to share in the purchase money,
they would recommend that the Governor add two hundred dollars
more. To this Governor Bernard agreed, and so this second great
land dispute was settled.
The third land dispute to come before the Grand Council was
the old complaints made by Teedyuscung concerning the Walking
Purchase. The Six Nations had not met with the Delawares at
any public treaty with Pennsylvania since the treaty of 1742, in
which Canassatego, as the spokesman of the Six Nations, ordered
the Delawares to remove from the bounds of the Walking Pur-
chase. Three questions called for an answer at the Grand Council :
Teedyuscung 363
(1) Was the Walking Purchase just? (2) Had the Six Nations
any right to sell lands on the Delaware? (3) Were the Delawares
subject to the Iroquois, or were they independent?
Teedyuscung Humbled By Iroquois Chiefs
Before taking up the matter of the Walking Purchase, the
Iroquois deputies concluded that the first thing to do was to humble
Teedyuscung, and break down his influence and standing. The
great Delaware had entered this council more humbly than he did
the councils of 1756 and 1757, realizing that his bitter enemy,
Nickas, a Mohawk chief, was in attendance.
Nickas began the attack on Teedyuscung, designed to break
down his influence. Pointing to Teedyuscung, he spoke with great
vigor and bitterness. Conrad Weiser was ordered to interpret
Nickas' speech, but declined, and desired that Andrew Montour
should do it. Weiser clearly saw that the interpretation of his
speech would cause great discord, and he planned to have the
interpreation postponed until the anger of the Iroquois had time
to cool. He therefore advised that the speech be interpreted at a
private conference, which was arranged to take place the next
morning, October 14th. The next morning came; but there was
no conference. Weiser had succeeded in causing more delay to
avert the threatening storm. However, on the morning of the
15th, Nickas, at a private conference, said: "Who made Teedy-
uscung chief of the nations? If he be such a great man, we desire
to know who made him so? Perhaps you have, and if this be the
case, tell us so. It may be the French have made him so. We
want to inquire and know where his greatness arose."
Nickas was followed by Tagashata, chief of the Senecas, who
said: "We do not know who made Teedyuscung this great man
over ten nations, and I want to know who made him so." Then
Assarandonquas, chief of the Onondagas, said: "I never heard
before now that Teedyuscung was such a great man, and much less
can I tell who made him so. No such thing was ever said in our
towns." Then Thomas King, in behalf of the Oneidas, Cayugas,
Tuscaroras, Nanticokes, and Conoys, said: "I now tell you we,
none of us, know who has made Teedyuscung such a great man.
Perhaps the French have, or perhaps you have, or some among you,
as you have different governments and are different people. We
for our parts entirely disown that he has any authority over us,
and we desire to know from whence he derives his authority."
364 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Under this concerted attack upon his kingly pretensions,
Teedyuscung sat like a stoic, never saying a word in reply, and his
features betraying no signs of emotion.
The following day, October 16th, after Conrad Weiser had
time to advise Governor Denny and Governor Bernard as to the
proper reply to make to these speeches of the Iroquois deputies,
Governor Denny advised them that he had never made Teedyus-
cung a great chief. He further told the deputies that, at the former
Easton conferences, Teedyuscung had spoken of the Iroquois as
his uncles and superiors; and Governor Bernard also denied mak-
ing Teedyuscung a great chief, or king. Thus, the skillful guidance
of Conrad Weiser, in delaying the outburst of Iroquois anger and
in framing the proper speeches for the Governors, smoothed matters
over, and prevented the cause of peace from suffering a serious
setback.
After the apologies of Governor Denny and Governor Ber-
nard, Teedyuscung arose to speak on his land claims. Said he:
"1 did let you know formerly what my grievance was. I told
you that from Tohiccon, as far as the Delawares owned, the Pro-
prietaries had wronged me. Then you and I agreed that it should
be laid before the King of England, and likewise you told me you
would let me know as soon as ever he saw it. You would lay the
matter before the King, for you said he was our Father, that he
might see what was our differences; for as you and I could not
decide it, let him do it. Now let us not alter what you and I have
agreed. Now, let me know if King George has decided the matter
between you and me. I don't pretend to mention any of my uncles'
[Iroquois'] lands. I only mention what we, the Delawares, own,
as far as the heads of Delaware. All the lands lying on the waters
that fall into the Susquehanna belong to our uncles."
lie then took another belt and turned to address the
Iroquois, but these proud sachems had, during his speech to
Governors Denny and Bernard, noiselessly left the room. Teedy-
uscung then declined to speak further. The next day, October
17th, the Indians spent in private conferences. On October 18th,
after Governor Denny had had a private interview with the Six
Nations, Teedyuscung came to his headquarters, stating that the
Delawares did not claim the land high up on the Delaware, as those
belonged to their uncles, the Iroquois, but that the land which he
did specifically complain about, was included in the Walking Pur-
chase. Governor Denny avoided giving Teedyuscung a direct
reply until he would lay the land dispute before the Six Nations'
deputies.
Teedyuscung 365
He then explained to the deputies that Pennsylvania had
bought land from them which the Delawares claimed, advising that
this was a matter which should be settled among themselves. The
Six Nations replied that they did not understand the Governor.
They said that he had left matters in the dark; that they did not
know what lands he meant; that if he meant the lands on the other
side of the Blue Mountains, he knew that the Proprietaries had a
deed for them (the Purchase of 1749), which ought to be produced
and shown to them; that their deeds had their marks, and when
they should see them, they would know their marks again. Conrad
Weiser then brought the deed. The Iroquois examined it and
said: "The land was ours and we can justify it."
Teedyuscung said no more at the Easton conference concern-
ing the Walking Purchase, but he charged the Six Nations with
selling his land at Wyoming to the Connecticut interests at the
Albany treaty of 1754. In fact, one of the conditions upon which
he was willing to make peace was that he and his Delawares be
settled at Wyoming, and that a deed be given to them for these
lands. Addressing the Iroquois deputies, he said:
"Uncles, you may remember that you placed us at Wyoming
and Shamokin, places where Indians have lived before. Now, I
hear since that you have sold that land to our brethren, the
English, [meaning the Connecticut commissioners]. Let the
matter now be cleared up in the presence of our brothers, the
English. I sit here as a bird on a bough. I look about and do not
know where to go. Let me therefore come down upon the ground
and make that my own by a good deed, and I shall then have a
home forever; for if you, my uncles, or I, die, our brethren, the
English, will say they bought it from you, and so wrong my pos-
terity out of it."
The Grand Council ended on October 26th. Peace was
secured, and through the efforts of Post, the Ohio Indians had been
drawn away from the French. Thus the good work inaugurated
by Canachquasy and furthered by Teedyuscung reached a happy
consummation.
The Murder of Dr. John and Family
In February, 1760, a friendly Delaware, named Doctor John,
his wife, and two children were massacred near Carlisle. Captain
Callender, a member of the inquest, was summoned by the Assem-
bly, and after interrogating him, the Governor offered a reward of
366 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
one hundred pounds for the apprehension of each person connected
with the murder. Great excitement prevailed throughout the
Province, on account of the assassination of these friendly Indians;
for it was feared that the recently pacified Shawnees and Delawares
would retaliate by attacking the settlements on the frontiers. A
letter was sent to Christian Frederick Post, the Moravian mission-
ary, desiring him "forthwith to make Teedyuscung and the Indians
at Wyoming acquainted with these murders and the issuing of the
proclamation, and to assure him that no pains would be spared to
discover and punish the authors." Similar messages were sent to
the Delawares and Shawnees in the valleys of the Ohio and Alle-
gheny.
Teedyuscung Makes Journey to Western Indians
Christian Frederick Post and John Hays, under instructions
from Governor Hamilton, left Easton in May, 1760, for the pur-
pose of making a journey with Teedyuscung up the North Branch
of the Susquehanna, thence across to the headwaters of the Alle-
gheny, and thence down this stream to "some principal Indian
town over the Ohio", where a great Indian council was to be held.
Teedyuscung joined Post and Hays at Wyoming, and the party
then went up the Susquehanna as far as Pasigachkunk, on
Cowanesque Creek, in Tioga County, where they were stopped by
Senecas, and the white men were forced to turn back; "for," said
Hays, "there was an old agreement that no white man should pass
through their country for fear of spies to see their land." How-
ever, Teedyuscung and a few Indian companions, among whom
was his son, Amos, kept on, and attended the great council of the
western tribes in Ohio.
On September 15th, Teedyuscung appeared before Governor
Hamilton and the Provincial Council, and related to them the re-
sults of his western mission as follows:
"You may remember that I often promised you to give the
halloo through all the Indian nations. I have been a long way
back, a great way indeed, beyond the Allegheny, among my friends
there. When I got as far as the Salt Lick Town towards the head
of Beaver Creek [River], I stopped there and sent messengers to
the chiefs of all the Indians in those parts, desiring them to come
and hold council. It took three weeks to collect them together; and
then, having a large number gathered together, I communicated to
them all that had passed between me and this government for four
Teedyuscung 367
years past, at which they were glad and declared that this was the
first time they had a right understanding of these transactions.
They said they had heard now and then that we were sitting to-
gether about peace, but they were not acquainted till now with the
particulars of our several conferences. I concealed nothing from
them, and when they had heard all, they were right glad. It gave
joy to their very hearts. This is all I have to say at this time.
Tomaquior [Tamaque], the Beaver King (who is the head man of
the Delawares at the Ohio), did not give me anything in charge to
say to the Governor. We were all present at the great council held
at Pittsburgh, and heard him [King Beaver] tell the General that
he would go to Philadelphia in the summer, and hold a council
with this government, in compliance with the several invitations
that he had received from it. I told Tamaque that Pittsburgh was
no place to hold council as the old fire was there; that Pittsburgh
was only a place for warriors to speak in, and that he should do no
council business at Pittsburgh. And accordingly Tamaque told
the General that he would not say anything to him, but say it at
the place where their grandfathers were always used to hold coun-
cil with the English."
The council referred to by Teedyuscung as being held at
Pittsburgh, was the great conference held at Fort Pitt, by General
Monckton, with the western tribes on August 12, 1760. The pur-
pose of this conference was to assure the Western Delawares, Shaw-
nees, and other tribes that the English had no design of taking
their lands. Reference was made to this conference in Chapter
XIX.
In 1761, Teedyuscung wished to leave Wyoming, inasmuch he
despaired of securing a title to that region, for his people. For-
tunately the Governor was able to persuade him not to do such a
rash act, and he continued then to reside at Wyoming until the
end of his days.
Teedyuscung is Paid for Withdrawing Charge of Fraud
On April 26, 1762, Teedyuscung attended a conference with
Governor Hamilton at Philadelphia, in which he was told that, if
he would withdraw his charges against the Proprietors of fraud in
the Walking Purchase, he would be given four hundred pounds.
Teedyuscung replied that he "never did charge the Proprietors
with fraud, but had only said that the French had informed them
that the English had cheated them out of their land, that his
36S The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
young men desired him to mention it at the treaty of Easton, and
that he did it to please them, and was sorry it had reached their
hearts." Governor Hamilton then told him that, if he would
acknowledge this in public, he would make him a present, not on
account of the lands, which had been bought and paid for, but on
account of the chief's needy circumstances. Then, when Teedyus-
cung made his public acknowledgment, the Governor made him the
present of four hundred pounds.
Reference was made, in Chapter XIX, to the fact that a great
conference was held at Lancaster beginning August 12, 1762, be-
tween the Provincial Authorities and Shingas, King Beaver, and
other western chiefs whom Christian Frederick Post had brought
from the Muskingum, Tuscarawas, and the Ohio. King Beaver,
who was at the head of the Western Indians at this conference, was
advised "that about six years ago your brother, Teedyuscung, made
a complaint to the Proprietaries wherein he charged them of de-
frauding the Delawares of a tract of land lying on the River
Delaware, between Tohiccon Creek and the Kittatiny Hills. He
alleged that this complaint was not made by him on his own
account, but on behalf of the owners of the lands, many of whom
he said lived on Allegheny. This dispute, brethren, was by mutual
consent, referred to our great King George, who ordered Sir
William Johnson to inquire fully into the matter, and make his
report to him, that justice might be done you, if you had been
wronged. Accordingly, Sir William Johnson, about two months
ago (June, 1762), came to Easton, whereupon the Proprietaries'
commissioners producing and reading sundry writings and papers,
Teedyuscung was convinced of his error, and acknowledged that
he had been mistaken with regard to the charge of forgery made
against the Proprietaries, having been misinformed by his ances-
tors, and desired that all future disputes about land should be
buried under ground, and never heard of more, offering that such
of the Indians as were then present should sign a release for the
land in question, and that he would endeavour to persuade the rest
of his brethren who were concerned to do the same at this treaty at
Lancaster. Now, brethren of Allegheny, as we are face to face, be
plain and tell whether you are satisfied with and approve of what
was done at the last treaty of Easton, and whether you lay any
claims to those lands, that there may be no room left for any future
dispute about it among our children."
To this King Beaver replied: "As to my own part, I know
nothing about the lands upon the River Delaware, but since you
Teedyuscung 369
request it I will first speak to my own people about it." Then
King Beaver, having consulted with his counsellors, further
replied: "1 must acknowledge I know nothing about lands upon
the Delaware, and I have no concern with lands upon that river.
We know nothing of the Delawares' claim to them. I have no
claim myself nor any of my people. I suppose there may be some
spots or pieces of land in some part of the Province that the Dela-
wares claim, but neither I nor any of my people know anything of
them. As to what you and our brother, Teedyuscung, have done,
if you are both pleased, I am pleased with it. As to my part, 1
want to say nothing about land affairs. What I have at heart and
what 1 came down about, is to confirm our friendship and make a
lasting peace, so that our children and grandchildren may live
together in everlasting peace after we are dead."
Teedyuscung and the Eastern Delawares then conferred to-
gether, but what was said by them was not made known. The old
chief then addressed Governor Hamilton as follows: "Before all
these Allegheny Indians here present, 1 do now assure you that 1
am ready and willing to sign a release to all the lands we have been
disputing about, as 1 told you I would at Easton and desire no
more may be ever said or heard of them hereafter."
Then Teedyuscung was given another present, being two hun-
dred Spanish dollars, and the value of two hundred pounds in
goods, — the last chapter in the history of the charge of fraud, made
by this able Delaware chief to the embarrassment of the Colonial
Authorities.
Teedyuscung was now approaching the end of his earthly career.
He was really a great man. It was but natural that he should, for
a time, have taken up arms against the Province which, by unfair
means, it must be admitted, had gotten possession of the hunting
grounds of his ancestors. In appraising his conduct, all honor
must be given him for his untiring labors in behalf of peace.
Indeed, the prominence that was his, in these labors, caused him
to be the object of the hatred of the Mohawks, who could not brook
the fact that one so much beneath them, a Delaware, should occupy
such an exalted position. This hatred led to Teedyuscung's death.
But this grave and dignified chieftain had a sense of humor.
There is a tradition that, on one occasion, he met, at Stroudsburg,
a blacksmith, named McNabb, a worthless fellow, who thus ad-
dressed the great Delaware: "Well, cousin, how do you do?"
"Cousin, cousin", said Teedyuscung, "how do you make that out?"
370 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"Oh, we are all cousins from Adam," said McNabb. "Ah," said
Teedyuscung, "then I am glad it is no nearer."
Death of Teedyuscung
This great leader of the Eastern Delawares, the last of their
great chiefs, was burned to death on the night of April 16, 1763, as
he lay in a drunken debauch on a couch in his house at Wyoming,
which was set on fire by some of his Indian enemies, either Senecas
or Mohawks. A monument has been erected to this noted chief,
in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia, which represents him, bow and
spear in hand, a plume of eagle feathers on his brow, as stepping
forth on his journey towards the setting sun.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Guyasuta
UYASUTA (Kiasutha) has generally been called a Seneca
chief, but he was probably of the mongrel Iroquois known
as the Mingoes, who inhabited the Allegheny Valley and
region to the westward. We have already met him as
one of the chiefs who accompanied George Washington from Logs-
town to Fort LeBouef, when the latter went to that place in Novem-
ber, 1753, carrying the protest of Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia
to St. Pierre, the commandant of the French forts. He is referred
to in Washington's journal of this trip as the Hunter.
Long years afterward, Washington met Guyasuta near the
mouth of the Muskingum, when, in October, 1770, accompanied
by his friend, neighbor, and former companion in arms, Dr. Craik,
and William Crawford, he journeyed down the Ohio Valley to
examine the lands apportioned among the Virginia soldiers.
Guyasuta was at his hunting camp when Washington met him.
Seventeen years had matured the young ambassador to thoughtful
manhood; yet Guyasuta held a perfect recollection of him. With
a hunter's hospitality, he gave Washington, Dr. Craik, and Craw-
ford a quarter of a buffalo, just killed. He insisted that they
should encamp together for the night, and not wishing to detain
Washington, he moved his hunting party to another camp some
miles down the Ohio. Here the great Virginian and Guyasuta
held long talks around the council-fire that night. During the
intervening years, Guyasuta had fought against the English, in the
French and Indian War, had helped Pontiac form his great con-
spiracy, in 1763, and was one of the most vindictive in carrying it
into terrible and bloody execution upon the English forts and
settlements; while Washington, in both these conflicts, was one of
the powerful leaders on the side of the English. We cannot but
wonder what were the subjects of conversation of Washington and
Guyasuta around that council-fire.
Guyasuta Goes Over to the French
Guyasuta was one of the western chiefs, who went over to the
French shortly after Braddock's defeat. At the head of a party
372 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
of twenty Senecas, he visited Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of
Canada, at Montreal, Joncaire accompanying him as interpreter,
where they were received with much ceremony, so pleasing to the
Indians. Guyasuta, as the chief and orator of the Seneca delega-
tion, addressed the Governor on this occasion. He and his warriors
remained near Montreal during the winter, it being too late in the
year to make the journey back to the Ohio.
Grant's Defeat
The most important service Guyasuta rendered the French
during the French and Indian War was leading the Indians in the
attack on Major James Grant, where the Allegheny County Court
House, in the city of Pittsburgh, now stands, on September 14,
1758. When Forbes' army was advancing on Fort Duquesne in
the autumn of this year, and the advance, under Colonel Bouquet,
had reached the Loyalhanna and Ligonier, Westmoreland County,
Major Grant, with a force of thirty-seven officers and eight hun-
dred and five privates, was sent by Bouquet to reconnoiter the fort
and adjacent country. Grant's instructions were not to approach
too near the fort and not to attack it. The wilderness between
Ligonier and Fort Duquesne was filled with Indians constantly
watching the movements of Grant's little army; yet he succeeded in
coming within sight of the fort without being discovered. Late at
night he drew up his troops on the brow of the fatal hill in the city
of Pittsburgh, which still bears his name, about a quarter of a mile
from the fort.
Not having met with either French or Indians on the march,
and believing from the stillness of the enemy's quarters that the
forces in the fort were small, Grant at once determind to make an
attack. Accordingly, two officers and fifty men were directed to
approach the fort and fall upon the French and Indians that might
be outside. They saw none and were not challenged by the senti-
nels; and as they returned, they set fire to a large storehouse, but
the fire was extinguished. At the break of day, September 14th,
Grant sent Major Lewis with two hundred regulars and Virginia
volunteers to take a position about a half mile back, and lie in
ambush where they had left their baggage. Four hundred men
were posted along the hill facing the fort, while Captain Mc-
Donald's company, with drums beating and bagpipes playing,
marched toward the fort in order to draw out the garrison. The
music of the drums and bagpipes aroused the garrison from their
Guyasuta 373
slumber, and both the French and Indians sallied out in great
numbers, the latter led by Guyasuta.
The French and Indians separated into three divisions. The
first two were sent under the cover of the banks of the Mononga-
hela and Allegheny to surround the main body of Grant's troops,
while the third was delayed awhile to give the others time, and
then lined up before the fort as if exhibiting the whole strength of
the garrison. This plan worked admirably. Captain McDonald
was obliged to fall back on the main body, and at the same time,
Grant found himself flanked by the detachments on both sides.
A desperate struggle ensued. The highlanders, exposed to the
enemy's fire without cover, fell in great numbers. The provin-
cials, concealing themselves among the trees, made a good defense
for a while, but not being supported and being overpowered by
numbers, were compelled to fall back. The result was that Grant's
forces were overwhelmingly and ingloriously defeated. Many of
his brave troops were driven into the Allegheny River and drown-
ed. The total loss was two hundred and seventy killed, forty-two
wounded, and several taken prisoners. Among the latter was
Major Grant himself.
Grant's expedition was a monstrous blunder. General Forbes,
with the main body of the army was as far in the rear as Bedford,
and neither he nor Colonel Bouquet had any definite knowledge of
the strength of the French and Indians at Fort Duquesne. In view
of these facts, it seems strange, indeed, that Colonel Bouquet per-
mitted Grant to advance into a death trap. Grant himself showed
utter lack of judgment in playing the bagpipes and beating the
drums at daylight, which had only the effect of telling the enemy of
his advance. Neither the French nor the Indians knew of Grant's
presence until the music broke the stillness of the autumn morning.
How Grant's conduct impressed the Indians was expressed by one
of their chiefs in a conversation with James Smith, at that time a
captive among them. This chief told Smith that the Indians be-
lieved that Grant "had made too free with spiritous liquors during
the night, and had become intoxicated about daylight."
French and Indians Attack the Camp on the Loyalhanna
Emboldened by the defeat of Major Grant, Captain
DeLignery, then commander of Fort Duquesne, sent about one
thousand French and two hundred Indians, the latter most likely
led by Guyasuta, against the English camp on the Loyalhanna, at
374 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Ligonier, hoping to compel them to retreat as did Dunbar after the
defeat of Braddock. They attacked the camp on October 12th,
but were repulsed by Colonel James Burd, who was then in com-
mand of the camp, the English loss being twelve killed, eighteen
wounded, and thirty-one missing. Colonel Bouquet was not at
the camp at the time of the engagement, being at Stony Creek with
seven hundred men and a detachment of artillery.
Before Forbes' army left Ligonier, a thrilling event in the life
of George Washington took place. He was a colonel in the army,
and, on November 12th, was out with a scouting party which
attacked a number of the enemy about three miles from the camp,
killing one and taking three pisoners, an Indian man and woman,
and an Englishman, named Johnson, who had been captured by
the Indians several years before, in Lancaster County. Captain
Mercer, hearing the firing, was sent with a party of Virginians to
the assistance of Washington. The two parties approaching each
other in the dusk of the evening, each mistook the other for the
enemy, and fired upon each other, killing several Virginians and
wounding about a dozen others. Washington, upon recognizing
the terrible mistake, rushed between the two parties, and knocked
up the presented muskets with his sword.
Washington's skirmish, on November 12th, was the last clash
of arms between the French and Indians on the one side and the
English on the other, in the Ohio Valley during the French and
Indian War. It will be remembered that Washington was a lead-
ing figure in the opening conflict in this war, the attack on Jumon-
ville, May 28th, 1754.
The Englishman, Johnson, gave Forbes the information rela-
tive to the conditions at Fort Duquesne that caused the General
to decide to press forward against the fort at once, instead of going
into winter quarters on the Loyalhanna. His army accordingly
left the Loyalhanna on November 17th, finding the way to the fort
strewed with the bodies of Major Grant's soldiers who had died on
the retreat. On the 24th, the French set fire to Fort Duquesne and
fled, and on the 25th, Forbes, army took possession of its smoulder-
ing ruins. Says Bancroft: "As the banners of England floated
over the waters, the place, at the suggestion of Forbes, was with
one voice called Pittsburg(h). It is the most enduring monument
to William Pitt. America raised to his name statues that have
been wrongfully broken, and granite piles of which not one stone
remains upon another; but, long as the Monongahela and the
Allegheny shall flow to form the Ohio, long as the English tongue
Guyasuta 375
shall be the language of freedom in the boundless valley which
their waters traverse, his name shall stand inscribed on the gate-
way of the West."
Forbes' troops found many of the dead of Grant's defeat
within a quarter of a mile of the fort. They also found a number
of stakes driven into the ground on which were stuck the heads and
kilts of the Highlanders, captured on that fateful September
morning. Detachments then buried Grant's dead and the bones of
those who were slain at Braddock's defeat over three years before.
Guyasuta at Council of July, 1759
Guyasuta's next act of importance was to attend the council
held at Fort Pitt, July 5, 1759, mentioned in Chapters XIX, XX,
and XXII, between George Croghan, Colonel Hugh Mercer,
Captain William Trent, and Captain Thomas McKee, on the one
hand, and the representatives of the Six Nations, Delawares, Shaw-
nees, and Wyandots, on the other, at which the terms of the
Easton treaty of October, 1758, were confirmed, and the Western
Indians promised to surrender the prisoners taken in the French
and Indian War.
Guyasuta in Pontiac's War
The fall of Quebec, in the autumn of 1759, practically ended
the French and Indian War. Then the English came to take pos-
session of the surrendered French forts. The Indians soon found
that their new masters had a very different attitude towards them
than had the French. While the French had lavished presents
upon them, the English now doled out blankets, ammunition, and
guns with a sparing hand. The proud-spirited western tribes were
exasperated at the patronizing air of the English, and their indig-
nation was encouraged by the Frenchmen among them.
A few years of discontent, and then Pontiac, the great chief of
the Ottawas, formed a conspiracy, bold in its design and masterful
in its execution, to drive the English into the sea. In this plan
and in its execution, he was ably assisted by Guyasuta. The Dela-
wares, Shawnees, and, in fact almost all the tribes of the great
Algonquin family, and one tribe of the Six Nations, the Senecas,
joined in this uprising, known as Pontiac's Conspiracy, also as the
Pontiac and Guyasuta War.
In carrying the Pontiac and Guyasuta Conspiracy into execu-
tion, these chiefs were ably assisted by Custaloga or Kustaloga, a
37o The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
chief of the Munsee or Wolf Clan of Delawares. Custaloga was
living at Venango when John Frazer, the English trader, was
driven from that place by the French late in the summer of 1753,
and when Washington stopped there in November of that year on
his way to St. Pierre, at Fort LeBoueff. However, Custaloga's
principal seat was Custaloga's Town, located about twelve miles
above the mouth of French Creek and near the mouth of Deer
Creek, in French Creek Township, Mercer County. He also ruled
over the Delawares at the town of Cussewago, or Cassewago, on
the site of the present town of Meadville, the county seat of Craw-
ford County. He was one of the chiefs with whom Colonel
Bouquet dealt when he made his expedition to the Muskingum in
the autumn of 1764. His successor was Captain Pipe of the Wolf
Clan of Delawares.
In May, 1763, the dogs of war were once more let loose on the
English forts and settlements. Almost every fort along the Great
Lakes and the Ohio was instantly attacked. Those that did not
fall under the first onslaught were resolutely besieged. On June
15th, Fort Presqu' Isle (Erie), commanded by Ensign Price, was
attacked, and all of the garrison who were not killed, were taken
to Detroit, except Benjamin Gray, who escaped to Fort Pitt and
gave the news. On June 18th, Fort LeBouef (Waterford, Erie
County) was captured; and at about the same time, Fort Venango
Franklin, commanded by Lieutenant Gordon, was burned and the
entire garrison put to death. Lieutenant Gordon was tortured
over a slow fire for several successive nights.
Fort Pitt was attacked on June 22nd, and later the siege of
the place was commenced. On the 26th of July a party of Indians
approached the gate, displaying a flag of truce, among whom were
Shingas and Turtle Heart. They were admitted, and Captain
Simeon Ecuyer, the commandant, held a parley with them. The
Indian delegation complained that the English were the cause of
the war, saying that they had marched their armies into the country
and built forts against the repeated protests of the Indians. Said
the Indian speaker: "My brothers, this land is ours, and not
yours." Captain Ecuyer refused to leave the place, and told the
Indians if they would not abandon the siege, he would "throw
bomb shells, which will burst and blow you to atoms, and fire
cannon among you loaded with a whole bag full of bullets."
Says Parkman : "Disappointed of gaining a bloodless pos-
session of the fort, the Indians now, for the first time, began a
general attack. On the night succeeding the conference, they
Author's note on second paragraph, page 376
Inadvertantly it was stated in above paragraph that Ensign Price was
in command of Fort Prequ' Isle. He was in command of Fort LeBeouf,
and Ensign Christie was in command at Fort Presqu' Isle.
Guyasuta 377
approached in great multitudes, under cover of the darkness and
completely surrounded it; many of them crawling beneath the
banks of the two rivers, which ran close to the rampart, and, with
incredible perseverance, digging, with their knives, holes in which
they were completely sheltered from the fire of the fort. On one
side, the whole bank was lined with these burrows, from each of
which a bullet or an arrow was shot out whenever a soldier chanced
to expose his head. At daybreak, a general fire was opened from
every side, and continued without intermission until night, and
through several succeeding days. Meanwhile, the women and
children were pent up in the crowded barracks, terror-stricken at
the horrible din of the assailants, and watching the fire-arrows as
they came sailing over the parapet, and lodging against the roofs
and sides of the buildings. In every instance, the fire they kindled
was exringuished. One of the garrison was killed, and seven
wounded. Among the latter was Captain Ecuyer, who, freely
exposing himself, received an arrow in the leg. At length, an
event hereafter to be described put an end to the attack, and drew
off the assailants from the neighborhood of the fort, to the un-
speakable relief of the harassed soldiers, exhausted as they were by
several days of unintermitted vigilance."
Fort Bedford, commanded by Captain Wendell Ourry (Uhrig)
was also attacked as was Fort Ligonier, commanded by Lieutenant
Archibald Blane. Indeed, terror reigned on the whole Pennsyl-
vania frontier. From many fertile valleys rose the smoke of
burning settlements. The mutilated bodies of slain settlers were
torn and devoured by hogs and wild beasts. Hundreds of families
fled over the mountains to the extreme eastern settlements.
Battle of Bushy Run
Then Colonel Bouquet was sent with an army to the relief of
Fort Pitt, composed of five hundred regulars, lately returned from
the West Indies, and two hundred rangers from Lancaster and
Cumberland Counties. On his way to Fort Pitt, Bouquet fought
the terrible battle of Bushy Run, about a mile east of Harrison
City, Westmoreland County, August 5th and 6th, 1763. Inasmuch
as it is almost a certainty that Guyasuta commanded the Indians
at this bitterly contested engagement, we give the following descrip-
tion of Bouquet's advance and of the battle, from the classic pen
of Francis Parkman, the great authority on Pontiac's Conspiracy:
"Orders were therefore sent to Colonel Bouquet, who com-
378 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
manded at Philadelphia, to assemble as large a force as possible,
and cross the Alleghenies with a convoy of provision and ammuni-
tion. With every effort, no more than five hundred men could be
collected for this service. They consisted chiefly of Highlanders
of the 42nd Regiment, which had suffered less than most of the
other corps, from West Indian exposure. Having sent agents to
the frontier to collect horses, wagons, and supplies, Bouquet soon
after followed with the troops, and reached Carlisle about the first
of July. He found the whole country in a panic. Every building
in the fort, every house, barn, and hovel in the little town, was
crowded with the families of settlers, driven from their homes by
the terror of the Indian tomahawk. None of the enemy, however,
had yet appeared in the neighborhood, and the people flattered
themselves that their ravages would be confined to the other side
of the mountains. Whoever ventured to predict the contrary
drew upon himself the indignation of the whole community.
"On Sunday, the third of July, an incident occurred which re-
doubled the alarm. A soldier, riding express from Fort Pitt,
galloped into the town, and alighted to water his horse at the well
in the centre of the place. A crowd of countrymen were instantly
about him, eager to hear the news. 'Presqu'lsle, Le Boeuf, and
Venango are taken, and the Indians will be here soon.' Such was
the substance of the man's reply, as, remounting in haste, he rode
on to make his report at the camp of Bouquet. All was now con-
sternation and excitement. Messengers hastened out to spread the
tidings, and every road and pathway leading into Carlisle was beset
with the flying settlers, flocking thither for refuge. Soon rumors
were heard that the Indians were come. Some of the fugitives had
seen the smoke of burning houses rising from the valleys, and these
reports were fearfully confirmed by the appearance of miserable
wretches, who half frantic with grief and dismay, had fled from
the sight of blazing dwellings and slaughtered families. A party
of the inhabitants armed themselves and went out, to warn the
living and bury the dead. Reaching Shearman's Valley, they
found fields laid waste, stacked wheat on fire, and the houses yet
in flames, and they grew sick with horror, at seeing a group of
hogs tearing and devouring the bodies of the dead. As they ad-
vanced up the valley, everything betokened the recent presence of
the enemy, while columns of smoke, rising among the surrounding
mountains, showed how general was the work of destruction.
"On the previous day, six men, assembled for reaping the
harvest, had been seated at dinner at the house of Campbell, a
Guyasuta 379
settler on the Juniata. Four or five Indians suddenly burst the
door, fired among them, and then beat down the survivors with the
butts of their rifles. One young man leaped from his seat, snatch-
ed a gun which stood in a corner, discharged it into the breast of
the warrior who was rushing upon him, and, leaping through an
open window, made his escape. He fled through the forest to a
settlement at some distance, where he related his story. Upon
this, twelve young men volunteered to cross the mountain, and
warn the inhabitants of the neighboring Tuscarora Valley. On
entering it, they found that the enemy had been there before them.
Some of the houses were on fire, while others were still standing,
with no tenants but the dead. Under the shed of a farmer, the
Indians had been feasting on the flesh of the cattle they had killed,
and the meat had not yet grown cold. Pursuing their course, the
white men found the spot where several detached parties of the
enemy had united almost immediately before, and they boldly
resolved to follow, in order to ascertain what direction the maraud-
ers had taken. The trail led them up a deep and woody pass of
the Tuscarora. Here the yell of the war-whoop and the din of
firearms suddenly greeted them, and five of their number were
shot down. Thirty warriors rose from their ambuscade, and
rushed upon them. They gave one discharge, scattered, and ran
for their lives. One of them, a boy named Charles Eliot, as he
fled, plunging through the thickets, heard an Indian tearing the
boughs behind him, in furious pursuit. He seized his powder-
horn, poured the contents at random down the muzzle of his gun,
threw in a bullet after them, without using the ramrod, and,
wheeling about, discharged the piece into the breast of his pursuer.
He saw the Indian shrink back and roll over into the bushes. He
continued his flight; but a moment after, a voice earnestly called
his name. Turning to the spot, he saw one of his comrades
stretched helpless upon the ground. This man had been mortally
wounded at the first fire, but had fled a few rods from the scene of
blood, before his strength gave out. Eliot approached him.
'Take my gun,' said the dying frontiersman. 'Whenever you see
an Indian, kill him with it, and then I shall be satisfied.' Eliot,
with several others of the party, escaped, and finally reached
Carlisle, where his story excited a spirit of uncontrollable wrath
and vengeance among the fierce backwoodsmen. Several parties
went out, and one of them, commanded by the sheriff of the place,
encountered a band of Indians, routed them after a sharp fight, and
brought in several scalps.
380 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
"The surrounding country was by this time completely
abandoned by the settlers, many of whom, not content with seek-
ing refuge at Carlisle, continued their flight to the eastward, and
headed by the clergyman of that place, pushed on to Lancaster,
and even to Philadelphia. Carlisle presented a most deplorable
spectacle. A multitude of the refugees, unable to find shelter in
the town, had encamped in the woods or on the adjacent fields,
erecting huts of branches and bark, and living on such charity as
the slender means of the townspeople could supply. Passing
among them, one would have witnessed every form of human
misery. In these wretched encampments were men, women, and
children, bereft at one stroke of friends, of home, and the means
of supporting life. Some stood aghast and bewildered at the sud-
den and fatal blow; others were sunk in the apathy of despair;
others were weeping and moaning with irrepressible anguish.
With not a few, the craven passion of fear drowned all other
emotion, and day and night they were haunted with visions of the
bloody knife and the reeking scalp; while in others, every faculty
was absorbed by the burning thirst for vengeance, and mortal
hatred against the whole Indian race.
"The route of the army lay along the beautiful Cumberland
Valley. Passing here and there a few scattered cabins, deserted
or burnt to the ground, they reached the hamlet of Shippensburg,
somewhat more than twenty miles from their point of departure.
Here, as at Carlisle, was congregated a starving multitude, who
had fled from the knife and the tomahawk.
"By the last advices from the westward, it appeared that Fort
Ligonier, situated beyond the Alleghenies, was in imminent
danger of falling into the enemy's hands before the army could
come up; for its defences were slight, its garrison was feeble, and
the Indians had assailed it with repeated attacks. The magazine
which the place contained made it of such importance that
Bouquet resolved at all hazards to send a party to its relief.
Thirty of the best men were accordingly chosen, and ordered to
push forward with the utmost speed, by unfrequented routes
through the forests and over the mountains, carefully avoiding the
road, which would doubtless be infested by the enemy. The party
set out on their critical errand, guided by frontier hunters, and
observing a strict silence. Using every precaution, and advancing
by forced marches, day after day, they came in sight of the fort
without being discovered. It was beset by Indians, and, as the
party made for the gate, they were seen and fired upon; but they
GUYASUTA 381
threw themselves into the place without the loss of a man, and
Ligonier was for the time secure.
"In the meantime, the army, advancing with slower progress,
entered a country where as yet scarcely an English settler had
built his cabin. Reaching Fort Loudon, on the declivities of Cove
Mountain, they ascended the wood-encumbered defiles beyond.
Far on their right stretched the green ridges of the Tuscarora,
while, in front, mountain beyond mountain rose high against the
horizon. Climbing heights and descending into valleys, passing
the two solitary posts of Littleton and the Juniata, both abandoned
by their garrisons, they came in sight of Fort Bedford, hemmed in
by encircling mountains. Their arrival gave infinite relief to the
garrison, who had long been beleaguered and endangered by a
swarm of Indians, while many of the settlers in the neighborhood
had been killed, and the rest driven for refuge into the fort.
Captain Ourry, the commanding officer, reported that, for several
weeks, nothing had been heard from the westward, every messen-
ger having been killed, and the communication completely cut off.
By the last intelligence, Fort Pitt had been surrounded by Indians,
and daily threatened with a general attack.
"Having remained encamped, for three days, on the fields nea;
the fort, Bouquet resumed his march on the twenty-eighth of July,
and soon passed beyond the farthest verge of civilized habitation.
The whole country lay buried in foliage. Except the rocks which
crowned the mountains, and the streams which rippled along the
valleys, the unbroken forest, like a vast garment, invested the
whole. The road was channelled through its depths, while, on
each side, the brown trunks and tangled undergrowth formed a
wall so dense as almost to bar the sight. Through a country thus
formed by nature for ambuscades, not a step was free from danger,
and no precaution was neglected to guard against surprise. In
advance of the marching column moved the provincial rangers,
closely followed by the pioneers. The wagons and cattle were in
the centre, guarded in front, flank, and rear by the regulars, while
a rear-guard of rangers closed the line of march. Keen-eyed rifle-
men of the frontier, acting as scouts, scoured the woods far in front
and on either flank, so that surprise was impossible. In this order
the little army toiled heavily on, over a road beset with all the
obstructions of the forest, until the main ridge of the Alleganies,
like a mighty wall of green, rose up before them, and they began
their zigzag progress up the woody heights, amid the sweltering
heat of July. The tongues of the panting oxen hung lolling from
382 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
their jaws, while the pine trees, scorching in the hot sun, diffused
their resinous odors through the sultry air. At length, from the
windy summit the Highland soldiers could gaze around upon a
boundless panorama of forest-covered mountains, wild as their own
native hills. Descending from the Alleganies, they entered upon a
country less rugged and formidable in itself, but beset with con-
stantly increasing dangers. On the second of August, they reached
Fort Ligonier, about fifty miles from Bedford, and a hundred and
fifty from Carlisle. The Indians who were about the place van-
ished at their approach; but the garrison could furnish no intelli-
gence of the motions and designs of the enemy, having been com-
pletely blockaded for weeks. In this uncertainty, Bouquet resolv-
ed to leave behind the oxen and wagons, which formed the most
cumbrous part of the convoy, since this would enable him to
advance with greater celerity, and oppose a better resistance in case
of attack. Thus relieved, the army resumed its march on the
fourth, taking with them three hundred and fifty pack horses and
a few cattle, and at nightfall encamped at no great distance from
Ligonier. Within less than a day's march in advance, lay the
dangerous defiles of Turtle Creek, a stream flowing at the bottom
of a deep hollow, flanked by steep declivities, along the foot of
which the road at that time ran for some distance. Fearing that
the enemy would lie in ambuscade at this place, Bouquet resolved
to march on the following day as far as a small stream called
Bushy Run, to rest here until night, and then, by a forced march,
to cross Turtle Creek under cover of the darkness.
"On the morning of the fifth, the tents were struck at an early
hour, and the troops began their march through a country broken
with hills and deep hollows, everywhere covered with the tall,
dense forest, which spread for countless leagues around. By one
o'clock, they had avanced seventeen miles, and the guides assured
them that they were within half a mile of Bushy Run, their pro-
posed resting place. The tired soldiers were pressing forward with
renewed alacrity, when suddenly the report of rifles from the front
sent a thrill along the ranks; and, as they listened, the firing thick-
ened into a fierce, sharp rattle, while shouts and whoops, deadened
by the intervening forest, showed that the advanced guard was
hotly engaged. The two foremost companies were at once ordered
forward to support it; but far from abating, the fire grew so rapid
and furious as to argue the presence of an enemy at once numerous
and resolute. At this, the convoy was halted, the troops formed
into line, and a general charee was ordered. Bearing down
Guyasuta 383
through the forest with fixed bayonets, they drove the yelping
assailants before them, and swept the ground clear. But at the
very moment of success, a fresh burst of whoops and firing was
heard from either flank, while a confused noise from the rear show-
ed that the convoy was attacked. It was necessary instantly to
fall back for its support. Driving off the assailants, the troops
formed in a circle around the crowded and terrified horses.
Though they were new to the work, and though the numbers and
movements of the enemy, whose yelling resounded on every side,
were concealed by the thick forest, yet no man lost his composure;
and all displayed a steadiness which nothing but implicit confi-
dence in their commander could have inspired. And now ensued
a combat of a nature most harassing and discouraging. Again
and again, now on this side and now on that, a crowd of Indians
rushed up, pouring in a heavy fire, and striving, with furious out-
cries, to break into the circle. A well-dircted volley met them,
followed by a steady charge of the bayonet. They never waited
an instant to receive the attack, but, leaping backwards from tree
to tree, soon vanished from sight, only to renew their attack with
unabated ferocity in another quarter. Such was their activity
that very few of them were hurt, while the English, less expert in
bush fighting, suffered severely. Thus the fight went on, without
intermission, for seven hours, until the forest grew dark with
approaching night. Upon this, the Indians gradually slackened
their fire, and the exhausted soldiers found time to rest.
"It was impossible to change their ground in the enemy's
presence, and the troops were obliged to encamp upon the hill
where the combat had taken place, though not a drop of water
was to be found there. Fearing a night attack, Bouquet stationed
numerous sentinels and outposts to guard against it, while the
men lay down upon their arms, preserving the order they had
maintained during the fight. Having completed the necessary
arrangements, Bouquet, doubtful of surviving the battle of the
morrow, wrote to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in a few clear, concise words,
an account of the day's events. His letter concludes as follows:
'Whatever our fate may be, I thought it necessary to give your ex-
cellency this early information, that you may, at all events, take
such measures as you will think proper with the provinces, for their
own safety, and the effectual relief of Fort Pitt; as, in case of
another engagement, I fear insurmountable difficulties in protect-
ing and transporting our provisions, being already so much weak-
ened by the losses of this day, in men and horses, besides the addi-
384 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
tional necessity of carrying the wounded, whose situation is truly
deplorable.'
"The condition of these unhappy men might well awaken
sympathy. About sixty soldiers, besides several officers, had been
killed or disabled. A space in the centre of the camp was prepared
for the reception of the wounded, and surrounded by a wall of
flour-bags from the convoy, affording some protection against the
bullets which flew from all sides during the fight. Here they
lay upon the ground, enduring agonies of thirst, and waiting,
passive and helpless, the issue of the battle. Deprived of the ani-
mating thought that their lives and safety depended on their own
exertions; surrounded by a wilderness, and by scenes to the horror
of which no degree of familiarity could render the imagination
callous, they must have endured mental sufferings, compared to
which the pain of their wounds was slight. In the probable event
of defeat, a fate inexpressibly horrible awaited them; while even
victory would by no means insure their safety, since any great
increase in their numbers would render it impossible for their com-
rades to transport them. Nor was the condition of those who had
hitherto escaped an enviable one. Though they were about equal
in numbers to their assailants, yet the dexterity and alertness of the
Indians, joined to the nature of the country, gave all the advant-
ages of a greatly superior force. The enemy were, moreover,
exulting in the fullest confidence of success; for it was in these very
forests that, eight years before, they had well-nigh destroyed twice
their number of the best British troops. Throughout the earlier
part of the night, they kept up a dropping fire upon the camp,
while, at short intervals, a wild whoop from the thick surrounding
gloom told with what fierce eagerness they waited to glut their
vengeance on the morrow. The camp remained in darkness, for it
would have been highly dangerous to build fires within its pre-
cincts, which would have served to direct the aim of the lurking
marksmen. Surrounded by such terrors, the men snatched a
disturbed and broken sleep, recruiting their exhausted strength for
the renewed struggle of the morning.
"With the earliest dawn of day, and while the damp, cool
forest was still involved in twilight, there rose around the camp a
general burst of those horrible cries which form the ordinary pre-
lude of an Indian battle. Instantly from every side at once, the
enemy opened their fire, approaching under cover of the trees and
bushes, and levelling with a close and deadly aim. Often, as on
the previous day, they would rush up with furious impetuosity,
Guyasuta 385
striving to break into the ring of troops. They were repulsed at
every point; but the English, though constantly victorious, were
beset with undiminished perils, while the violence of the enemy
seemed every moment on the increase. True to their favorite
tactics, they would never stand their ground when attacked, but
vanish at the first gleam of the levelled bayonet, only to appear
again the moment the danger was past. The troops, fatigued by
the long march and equally long battle of the previous day, were
maddened by the torments of thirst, more intolerable, says their
commander, than the fire of the enemy. They were fully conscious
of the peril in which they stood, of wasting away by slow degrees
beneath the shot of assailants at once so daring, so cautious, and so
active, and upon whom it was impossible to inflict any decisive
injury. The Indians saw their distress, and pressed them closer
and closer, redoubling their yells and howlings, while some of them
sheltered behind trees, assailed the troops, in bad English, with
abuse and derision.
"Meanwhile the interior of the camp was a scene of confusion.
The horses, secured in a crowd near the intrenchment which cover-
ed the wounded, were often struck by the bullets, and wrought to
the height of terror by the mingled din of whoops, shrieks, and
firing. They would break away by half scores at a time, burst
through the ring of troops and the outer circle of assailants, and
scour madly up and down the hillsides; while many of the drivers,
overcome by the terrors of a scene in which they could bear no
active part, hid themselves among the bushes and could neither
hear nor obey orders.
"It was now about ten o'clock. Oppressed with heat, fatigue,
and thirst, the distressed troops still maintained a weary and wav-
ering defence, encircling the convoy in a yet unbroken ring. They
were fast falling in their ranks, and the strength and spirits of the
survivors had begun to flag. If the fortunes of the day were to be
retrieved, the effort must be made at once; and happily the mind
of the commander was equal to the emergency. In the midst of
the confusion he conceived a stratagem alike novel and masterly.
Could the Indians be brought together in a body, and made to
stand their ground when attacked, there could be little doubt of the
result; and to effect this object, Bouquet determined to increase
their confidence, which had already mounted to an audacious pitch.
Two companies of infantry, forming a part of the ring which had
been exposed to the hottest fire, were ordered to fall back into the
interior of the camp, while the troops on either hand joined their
386 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
files across the vacant space, as if to cover the retreat of their
comrades. These orders given at a favorable moment, were
executed with great promptness. The thin line of troops who took
possession of the deserted part of the circle, were, from their small
numbers, brought closer in towards the centre. The Indians
mistook these movements for a retreat. Confident that their time
was come, they leaped up on all sides, from behind the trees and
bushes, and, with infernal screeches, rushed headlong toward the
spot, pouring in a most heavy and galling fire. The shock was too
violent to be long endured. The men struggled to maintain their
posts, but the Indians seemed on the point of breaking into the
heart of the camp, when the aspect of affairs was suddenly revers-
ed. The two companies, who had apparently abandoned their
position, were in fact destined to begin the attack; and they now
sallied out from the circle at a point where a depression in the
ground, joined to the thick growth of trees, concealed them from
the eyes of the Indians. Making a short detour through the woods,
they came round upon the flank of the furious assailants, and dis-
charged a deadly volley into their very midst. Numbers were
seen to fall; yet though completely surprised, and utterly at a loss
to understand the nature of the attack, the Indians faced about
with the greatest intrepidity, and boldy returned the fire. But the
Highlanders, with yells as wild as their own, fell on them with the
bayonet. The shock was irresistible, and they fled before the
charging ranks in a tumultuous throng. Orders had been given to
two other companies, occupying a contiguous part of the circle, to
support the attack whenever a favorable moment should occur;
and they had therefore advanced a little from their position, and
lay close crouched in ambush. The fugitive multitude, pressed by
the Highland bayonets, passed directly across their front, upon
which they rose and poured among them a second volley, no less
destructive than the former. This completed the rout. The four
companies, uniting, drove the flying savages through the woods,
giving them no time to rally or reload their empty rifles, killing
many, and scattering the rest in hopeless confusion.
"While this took place at one part of the circle, the troops
and the savages had still maintained their respective positions at
the other; but when the latter perceived the total rout of their
comrades, and saw the troops advancing to assail them, they also
lost heart, and fled. The discordant outcries which had so long
deafened the ears of the English soon ceased altogether, and not a
living Indian remained near the spot. About sixty corpses lay
Guyasuta 387
scattered over the ground. Among them were found those of
several prominent chiefs, while the blood which stained the leaves
of the bushes showed that numbers had fled severely wounded from
the field. The soldiers took but one prisoner, whom they shot to
death like a captive wolf. The loss of the English in the two
battles surpassed that of the enemy, amounting to eight officers and
one hundred and fifteen men.
"Having been for some time detained by the necessity of
making litters for the wounded, and destroying the stores which the
flight of most of the horses made it impossible to transport, the
army moved on, in the afternoon, to Bushy Run. Here they had
scarcely formed their camp, when they were again fired upon by a
body of Indians, who, however, were soon repulsed. On the next
day, they resumed their progress towards Fort Pitt, distant about
twenty-five miles, and though frequently annoyed on the march by
petty attacks, they reached their destination, on the tenth, without
serious loss. It was a joyful moment, both to the troops and to the
garrison. The latter, it will be remembered, were left surrounded
and hotly pressed by the Indians, who had beleaguered the place
from the twenty-eighth of July to the first of August, when, hearing
of Bouquet's approach, they had abandoned the siege, and marched
to attack him. From this time, the garrison had seen nothing of
them until the morning of the tenth, when, shortly before the army
appeared, they had passed the fort in a body, raising the scalp-yell,
and displaying their disgusting trophies to the view of the English.
"The battle of Bushy Run was one of the best contested
actions ever fought between white men and Indians. If there
were any disparity of numbers, the advantage was on the side of
the troops, and the Indians had displayed throughout a fierceness
and intrepidity matched only by the steady valor with which they
were met. In the provinces, the victory excited equal joy and
admiration, more especially among those who knew the incalculable
difficulties of an Indian campaign. The assembly of Pennsylvania
passed a vote expressing their high sense of the merits of Bouquet,
and of the important service which he had rendered to the province.
He soon after received the additional honor of the formal thanks
of the king.
"In many an Indian village, the women cut away their hair,
gashed their limbs with knives, and uttered their dismal howlings
of lamentation for the fallen. Yet though surprised and dispirited,
the rage of the Indians was too deep to be quenched, even by so
signal a reverse, and their outrages upon the frontier were resumed
3SS The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
with unabated ferocity. Fort Pitt, however, was effectually re-
lieved, while the moral effect of the victory enabled the frontier
settlers to encounter the enemy with a spirit which would have been
wanting, had Bouquet sustained a defeat."
Andrew Byerly
In this connection, we call attention to the fact that Andrew
Byerly, at the head of a detachment of eighteen of the Royal
Americans, was in the advance of Bouquet's army when the battle
of Bushy Run commenced. Also, during the terrible night of
August 5th, he, at great risk, brought several hatfuls of water from
a neighboring spring to allay the thirst of Bouquet's wounded.
This noted man of the Westmoreland frontier had settled in the
Brush Creek Valley along the Forbes road, in 1759. In the latter
part of May, 1763, the Indians had warned Byerly to leave this
settlement. Captain Ecuyer, in a letter written to Colonel
Bouquet, on May 29th, refers to this fact as follows:
"Just as I had finished my letter three men came in from
Clapham's [Colonel William Clapham, who lived near West
Newton, Westmoreland County] with the melancholy news that
yesterday, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the Indians murdered
Clapham and everybody in his house. These three men were out at
work, and had escaped through the woods. I immediately armed
them and sent them to assist our people at Bushy Run. The
Indians have told Byerly to leave his place in four days, or he and
his family would all be murdered."
Later, Mr. Byerly and his family escaped to Fort Ligonier,
as thus related in Cort's "Colonel Henry Bouquet":
"As Ecuyer states, Byerly had received warning; but his
family was in no condition to be moved. Mrs. Byerly had just
been confined and the departure was delayed as long as possible,
indeed until certain death was imminent, if the flight should be
any longer postponed. Byerly had gone with a small party [per-
haps Clapham's men referred to above] to bury some persons who
had been killed at some distance from his station. A friendly
Indian who had often received a bowl of milk and bread from Mrs.
Byerly came to the house after dark, and informed the family that
they would all be killed, if they did not make their escape before
daylight. Mrs. Byerly got up from her sick couch and wrote the
tidings on the door of the house for the information of her hus-
band when he should return. A horse was saddled on which the
Guyasuta 389
mother with her tender babe three days old in her arms, was
placed, and a child not two years old was fastened behind her.
"Michael Byerly was a good sized lad, but Jacob was only
three years old and had a painful stone bruise on one of his feet.
With the aid of his older brother who held him by the hand and
sometimes carried him on his back, the little fellow, however, man-
aged to make good time through the wilderness to Fort Ligonier,
about thirty miles distant. But although he reached his ninety-
ninth year, he never forgot that race for life in his childhood, nor
did he feel like giving quarter to hostile Indians, one of whom he
killed on an island in the Allegheny in a fight under Lieutenant
Hardin in 1779, although the savage begged for quarter.
"Milk cows were highly prized by frontier families in those
days, and the Byerly family made a desperate effort to coax and
drive their small herd along to Fort Ligonier. But the howling
savages got so close that they were obliged to leave the cattle in the
woods to be destroyed by the Indians. Byerly in some way eluded
the Indians and joined his family in the retreat. They barely
escaped with their lives. The first night they spent in the stock-
ade, and in the morning the bullets of the pursurers struck the
gates as the family pressed into the fort."
Attempt to Inoculate Indians with Small-pox
When Colonel Bouquet was preparing to lead his army over
the mountains to the relief of forts Bedford, Ligonier, and Pitt,
General Sir Jefferey Amherst, then in command of all the English
troops in the colonies, wrote him as follows: "I wish to hear of
no prisoners, should any of the villians be met with in arms. . . .
Could it not be contrived to send the small-pox among those dis-
affected tribes of Indians?" To this Bouquet replied: "I will
try to inoculate them with some blankets, and take care not to get
the disease myself. As it is a pity to expose good men against
them, I wish we could use the Spanish method, to hunt them with
English dogs who would, I think, effectually extirpate or remove
that vermin." Then Amherst replied: "You will do well to try
to inoculate the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try
every other method that can serve to extirpate this exorable race."
Parkman calls attention to the fact that, while there is no
direct evidence that Bouquet carried into effect the shameful plan
of infecting the Indians with small-pox, yet a few months after
Amherst's suggestion, this disease made havoc among the tribes of
390 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
the Ohio. Also, on June 24th, Captain Ecuyer, the commandant
at Fort Pitt, after narrating the fact that he and Alexander McK.ee
held a short parley that day with Turtle Heart and another
Delaware chief who had come to the fort for the purpose of terri-
fying the garrison by reports of great numbers of Indians marching
against the place, noted the following in his journal: "Out of our
regard to them [Turtle Heart and his companion], we gave them
two blankets and a handkerchief out of the Small-pox Hospital.
1 hope it will have the desired effect."
Murder of Colonel William Clapham
In closing the account of Bouquet's expedition to the relief of
forts Ligonier, Bedford, and Pitt, we call attention to the fact that
Colonel William Clapham, mentioned above, had taken his family
to the frontier near the present town of West Newton, in the early
spring of 1763. On May 28th, the Indians rushed into his house,
killed and scalped his wife and three children, and another woman.
The two women were treated with shocking indecency. At the
time of the murders, three men who were working at some distance
from the Clapham house, hastened to Fort Pitt, and carried the
news to the garrison. Two soldiers who were in Clapham's detail
of scouts, who were stationed at a saw-mill near the fort, were also
killed and scalped by the same party. It would appear that others
were slain in this same massacre, for Colonel Burd entered in his
journal on June 5th that, "John Harris gave me an account of
Colonel Clapham and twelve men being killed near Pittsburgh and
two Royal Americans being killed at the saw-mill." Thus it is
seen that the Indians visited terrible retribution upon Colonel
Clapham for the expedition which he sent against them in the
summer of 1756, as related in Chapter XVIII.
Guyasuta Confers with Bradstreet and Bouquet
Guyasuta, in August, 1764, attended a conference with Colonel
Bradstreet, near Erie, in which Bradstreet concluded a peace with
the Delawares and Shawnees. However, Colonel Bouquet, upon
learning of this fact, while at Fort Loudon, Franklin County, and
perceiving that the Delawares and Shawnees were not sincere in
their intentions, as they continued their depredations, refused to
ratify the treaty, and pushed on with his army to the Muskingum,
as referred to in Chapter XIX, where he compelled Guyasuta and
the other chiefs of the western tribes to surrender the prisoners
GUYASUTA 391
captured during Pontiac's War, as well as many captured during
the French and Indian War. Bouquet dealt sternly with the
chiefs, and they were glad to make peace.
More than two hundred prisoners were yielded up to Bouquet
by Guyasuta and his associate chiefs. Some of the captives had
been among the Indians since the early days of the French and
Indian War, and in many cases, it was with extreme reluctance
that they consented to accompany Bouquet's army back to the
Pennsylvania settlements. Indeed, in some cases it was found
necessary to deliver the captives bound to Bouquet. The Indians
had become greatly attached to these captives, and had adopted
them into their families. They shed torrents of tears when they
were compelled to deliver them up.
However, Colonel Bouquet, on account of the lateness of the
season, was obliged to return to Pennsylvania without having
secured all the prisoners held by the Shawnees. On November
12th, he held a conference with a number of their chiefs, among
whom were Nimwha and Red Hawk. At this conference, he took
hostages from the Shawnees, and laid them under the strongest
obligation for the delivery of the rest of the prisoners at Fort Pitt
in the ensuing spring. These hostages escaped soon afterwards,
thus giving reason to doubt the sincerity of the intentions of the
Shawnees with respect to performance of their promises. But to
the credit of the Shawnees it must be said that they punctually
fulfilled all their promises. Ten of their chiefs, with about fifty of
their warriors, met George Croghan, then deputy agent to Sir
William Johnson, at Fort Pitt, on May 9, 1765, and delivered the
remainder of their prisoners, "brightened the chain of friendship,
and gave every assurance of their firm intentions to preserve the
peace inviolable forever."
i %
SSMfcS*
CHAPTER XXIV.
Guyasuta
(Continued)
OTHER EVENTS OF THE PONTIAC-GUYASUTA
WAR IN PENNSYLVANIA
Maiden Foot and Miss Means
URING the spring of 1763 Lieutenant Blane, in command
of Fort Ligonier, was visited by several parties of
friendly Indians, among whom was a young brave named
Maiden Foot. When Maiden Foot was at the fort on
one of these occasions, a settler named Means with his wife and
little daughter, Mary, aged eleven, were there also. Maiden Foot
seemed much pleased with the girl. The Means' home was about
a mile south of the fort. On leaving the fort, Maiden Foot gave
Mary Means a string of beads. He seemed sad and heartbroken
at the time.
In the latter part of May or early in June, after the Pontiac
and Guyasuta War had started, Mrs. Means and Mary started for
the fort on hearing a rumor that the Indians had become hostile.
On their way to the fort, they were captured by two Indians, who
took them into the woods and tied them to saplings. Soon they
heard the report of rifles, which was the first Indian assault on the
fort. Later in the afternoon, Maiden Foot appeared before Mrs.
Means and her daughter, no doubt being the Indian selected to
scalp them. He recognized them, cut the bands which bound them
to the tree, and conducted them by a roundabout way to their
home, where Mr. Means met them. Maiden Foot then told the
family to flee to the mountains, and pointed to a ravine in which
they could hide until after the Indian band left the neighborhood.
On leaving them Maiden Foot took the little girl's handkerchief, on
which was worked in black silken thread her name "Mary Means".
Some years afterwards the Means family moved to a point
near Cincinnati, Ohio, where the parents died; and the girl having
grown to womanhood, married an officer named Kearney, who
commanded a company under Wayne at the battle of the Fallen
Guyasuta 393
Timbers, August 20, 1794. After this battle, Kearney and some
companions found an elderly Indian sitting on a log on the battle-
field and waving a white handkerchief. On their approaching
him, the Indian said that he had been a warrior all his life; that
he had fought at Ligonier, at Bushy Run, the Wabash against St.
Clair, and at the recent battle against Wayne. He then explained
that he had enough of war, and desired henceforth to live in peace
with all mankind. Searching in his pouch he brought forth the
handkerchief of Mary Means. Officer Kearney had often heard
his wife tell the story of Maiden Foot. He took the old Indian
home with him. Mrs. Kearney and the Indian immediately recog-
nized each other, although thirty-one years had elapsed since they
parted near Fort Ligonier. Maiden Foot now explained that
shortly before he met Mary Means, he had lost a sister about her
age and size, and that the giving of the string of beads to her was
in effect the adopting of her as his sister. He was taken into the
Kearney family, according to Boucher's "History of Westmoreland
County", and upon his death four years later, was buried in a
graveyard at Cincinnati, where a tablet was erected at his grave
bearing the following inscription:
"In memory of Maiden Foot, an Indian Chief of the
Eighteenth Century, who died a Civilian and a Christian."
Expedition Against Great Island
At the time of Colonel Bouquet's expedition for the relief of
Fort Pitt, the Delawares, Shawriees, and other tribes composing
Pontiac and Guyasuta's confederation, planned to attack the
interior settlements of Pennsylvania as far as Tulpehocken, their
main object being to capture Fort Augusta, at Sunbury. Reports
reaching Carlisle, Paxtang, and other places that Fort Augusta
would be attacked by a great force of Indians, Colonel John Arm-
strong, with about three hundred volunteers from Cumberland
and Bedford counties marched from Carlisle to destroy the Indian
town at Great Island, [Lock Haven.] At Jersey Shore, Lycoming
County, Armstrong's force advanced so suddenly upon the Indian
village located there, that the Indians were scarcely able to escape,
leaving their food, hot upon their bark tables, which they had pre-
pared for dinner. Arriving at Great Island, Armstrong found the
place had been deserted a few days before. His army then de-
stroyed the village at Great Island together with a large quantity of
grain and provisions.
As part of Armstrong's army was returning down the West
394 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Branch of the Susquehanna, on August 26th, 1763, they encounter-
ed a force of Indians at Muncy Creek Hill, Lycoming County. A
hot skirmish followed in which four of Armstrong's men were
killed and four wounded; while the Indians suffered as severely,
and carried away their dead and wounded.
Captains Patterson, Sharp, Bedford, Laughlin, and Crawford,
with seventy-six of their comrades arrived at Fort Augusta the
next day, and other stragglers came in that night and the following
day. These soldiers reported the details of the battle at Muncey
Creek Hill and also that, after the battle, a party of twelve Indians
returning to Great Island from a mission to Bethlehem, were
attacked by them on a hill north of the present town of North-
umberland, and, they believed, all were killed.
Attacks on Friendly Indians
In September and October, 1763, Indian outrages were com-
mitted as far into the heart of the settled parts of the Province as
the neighborhood of Reading and Bethlehem; and many of the
settlers believed that the Moravian Indians were secretly giving
assistance to their brethren at war against the Province. A party
of rangers murdered a number of the Moravian Indians as they
were found asleep in a barn. Among these were an Indian woman
named Zippora, who was thrown down upon the threshing floor
and killed, and an Indian man named Zachari, his wife and little
child, who were put to the sword, although the mother begged
upon her knees that the life of her child might be spared.
About the middle of October a party of rangers marched
against the Moravian Indians at Wichetunk, in what is now Polk
Township, Monroe County, intending to surprise them by night,
but their plans were frustrated by a violent storm in the evening.
The Moravian missionary, Bernard Adam Grube, then led these
Indians to Nazareth, but Governor Penn suggested that, in order
to watch their behavior, it would be. better to disarm them and
bring them into the interior parts of the Province. They were
accordingly taken to Province Island on the Delaware by the
Moravian missionary, John Roth.
Among the troops under the command of Captain Jacob
Wetterhold, stationed at Fort Allen during the summer and
autumn of 1763, was Lieutenant Jonathan Dodge, "a most precious
scoundrel", who committed many atrocious acts against his fellow
soldiers, and particularly against friendly Indians. One of the
wron<is he committed against the Indians, is thus described in a
Guyasuta 395
letter which he wrote to Timothy Horsfield, on August 4th, 1763:
"Yesterday there were four Indians came to Ensign Kern's
I took four rifles and fourteen deer skins from them, weighed them,
and there were thirty-one pounds." After these Indians had left,
Dodge continues: "I took twenty men and pursued them; then I
ordered my men to fire, upon which I fired a volley on them; could
find none dead or alive." These were friendly Indians, who were
on their way from Shamokin (Sunbury) to the Moravian mission
at Bethlehem.
In the "Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania", we read of another
attack made by Dodge upon friendly Indians:
"Jacob Warner, a soldier in Nicholas Wetterholt's company
made the following statement September 9th: 'That he and
Dodge were searching for a lost gun, when, about two miles above
Fort Allen, they saw three Indians painted black. Dodge fired
upon them and killed one; Warner also fired upon them, and
thinks he wounded another; but two escaped; the Indians had not
fired at them. The Indian was scalped, and, on the 24th, Dodge
sent Warner with the scalp to a person in Philadelphia, who gave
him eight dollars for it. These were also friendly Indians."
The Killing of Captain Jacob Wetterholt
Determined to avenge themselves on account of the atrocious
acts of Dodge, the Delawares attacked Captain Jacob Wetterholt
on October 8th, as thus described in Egle's "History of Pennsyl-
vania":
"Before daybreak in the morning of the 8th of October, some
Delawares attacked the house of John Stenton, in Allen Township,
(Northampton County), on the main road from Bethlehem to Fort
Allen, eight miles northwest from the former place, where Captain
Jacob Wetterhold, of the Province service, with a squad of men,
was lodging for the night. Meeting with Jean, the wife of James
Horner, who was on her way to a neighbors for coals to light her
morning fire, the Indians, fearing lest she should betray them or
raise an alarm, dispatched her with their tomahawks. Thereupon
they surrounded Stenton's house. No sooner had Captain Wetter-
hold's servant stepped out of the house (he had been sent to saddle
the captain's horse) than he was shot down. The report of the
Indian's piece brought his master to the door, who, on opening it,
received a mortal wound. Sergeant Lawrence McGuire, in his
attempt to draw him in, was also dangerously wounded and fell,
whereupon the lieutenant advanced. He was confronted by an
396 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Indian, who, leaping upon the bodies of the fallen men, presented
a pistol, which the lieutenant thrust aside as it was being dis-
charged, thus escaping with his life, and succeeding also in repell-
ing the savage. The Indians now took a position at a window, and
there shot Stenton as he was in the act of rising from bed. Rush-
ing from the house, the wounded man ran for a mile, and dropped
down a corpse. His wife and two children had meanwhile secreted
themselves in the cellar, where they were fired upon three times, but
without being struck. Captain Wetterhold, despite his sufferings,
dragged himself to a window, through which he shot one of the
savages while in the act of applying a torch to the house. Here-
upon, taking up the dead body of their comrade, the besiegers
withdrew. Having on their retreat plundered the house of James
Allen, they attacked Andrew Hazlitt's, where they shot and scalped
a man, shot Hazlitt after a brave defence, and then tomahawked
his fugitive wife and two children in a barbarous manner. Finally
they set fire to his house, and then to that of Philip Kratzer, and
crossing the Lehigh above Siegfried's bridge, passed into Whitehall
Township.
"In this maraud twenty-three persons were killed, and many
dangerously wounded. The settlers were thrown into the utmost
distress, fleeing from their plantations with hardly a sufficiency of
clothes to cover themselves, and coming into the town of North-
ampton (now Allentown), where, we read, there were but four guns
at the time, 'and three of them unfit for use, with the enemy four
miles from the place.' At the same time, Yost's mill, about eleven
miles from Bethlehem, was destroyed, and all the people at the
place, excepting a young man, cut off.
"This was ^the last invasion of the present Northampton County
by a savage foe. Old Northampton, and especially that part of
it which was erected into Monroe, by act of Legislature, in April,
1836. suffered subsequent! v, at intervals, from the Indians as late
as 1765."
The Murder of the Conestogas
One of the events of the Pontiac and Guyasuta War, which,
as Dr. Geo. P. Donehoo remarks, "attracted wide attention and
has been a source of discussion ever since," was the murder of six
members of the Conestoga tribe at the town of Conestoga, Lan-
caster County, on December 14, 1763, by a band of Scotch-Irish
settlers, "The Paxton Boys", from the neighborhood of Paxtang
church not far from Harrisburg. Edward Shippen, in a letter to
Governor Penn, dated at Lancaster December 14th, gives the fol-
Guyasuta 397
lowing account of this event: "One, Robert Edgar, a hired man
to Captain Thomas McKee, living near the Borough acquainted
me today that a Company of People from the Frontier had killed
and scalped most of the Indians at the Conestoga Town early this
morning; he said he had his information from an Indian boy who
made his escape; Mr. Slough has been to the place and held a
Coroner's inquest on the corpses, being Six in number; Bill Sawk
and some other Indians were gone towards Smith's Iron Works to
sell brooms; but where they are now we can't understand
Warrants are issued for the apprehending of the murderers, said to
be upwards of fifty men, well armed and mounted."
Great excitement was caused in Philadelphia by the murder of
these Indians. Just a short time before, on November 30th, they
sent a letter to John Penn, in which they congratulated him on his
arrival in the Province and asked his favor and protection. The
Quakers especially were loud in their denunciation of this atrocity,
seemingly unmindful of the fact that John Harris and Colonel
John Elder, pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Paxtang, had
frequently appealed to the Colonial Authorities to remove the
Conestogas to a place of safety, owing to the excitement prevailing
in the Paxtang region on account of the many raids of the hostile
Indians.
Furthermore, during October, Captain Bull, the son of the
great Teedyuscung, had led a band of one hundred thirty-five
Delawares from the Ohio and Allegheny, with whom he had lived
for ten years, into the Wyoming Valley. They committed many
atrocities. Many of the Paxton Boys had just returned from an
expedition against Captain Bull's band and, as Rev. Elder said, in
a letter written on October 25th, had seen "the mangled carcasses
of these unhappy people", which "presented to our troops a melan-
choly scene, which had been acted not above two days before their
arrival." The Paxton Boys were therefore in a state of excite-
ment and rage against all Indians, especially when they discovered
that some of the Indians who were committing outrages along the
Susquehanna had been traced to Conestoga. Likewise, it must be
said to the credit of Rev. Elder that, when he learned that a large
number of the Paxtang settlers were assembling to march against
the Conestogas, he sent a messenger to them urging them to desist.
Governor Penn issued a proclamation on December 22nd,
calling upon judges, justices, sheriffs, and other civil and military
officers, to make diligent search for the perpetrators of this crime,
and to place them in the public jails of the Province, the remain-
ing Conestogas, fourteen in number, in the meantime having been
398 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
placed in the Lancaster workhouse for protection. How the Pax-
ton Boys replied to this proclamation of the governor is thus set
forth in a letter of Edward Shippen to Governor John Penn written
from Lancaster on December 27th: "I am to acquaint your
Honor that between two and three of the clock this afternoon, up-
wards of a hundred armed men from the westward rode very fast
into town, turned their horses into Mr. Slough's (an In-keeper)
yard, and proceeded with the greatest precipitation to the work
house, stove open the door and killed all the Indians, and took
to their horses and rode off. All their business was done, and they
were returning to their horses before I could get half way down to
the Work House."
The details of the massacre of these unarmed and defenseless
Conestogas are most shocking and revolting. Protesting their
innocence and their love for the English, they prostrated them-
selves with their children before their infuriated murderers, and
plead for their lives. Their appeal was answered by the rifle,
hatchet, and scalping knife. Some had their brains blown out,
others their legs chopped off, and others their hands cut off. Bill
Sawk (Sock) and his wife, Mollie, with their two children, had
their heads split open, and were scalped. The mangled bodies of
these Indians, who had never been at war with the whites and had
always been claimed as friendly Indians, were buried at Lancaster.
Thus perished the last remnant of the once mighty tribe of
Susquehannas. The excitement on the frontier at the time, and
the laxity on the part of the Colonial Assembly in providing for
the defense, may, in a measure, explain why the harassed frontiers-
men committed such a horrid and notorious act; but the historian
searches the records of the time in vain for any justification for
this atrocity, which is a black spot on the pages of the history of
Pennsylvania.
Not content with the butchery of the Conestogas, the Paxton
Boys threatened to go to Philadelphia and kill the Moravian In-
dians on Province Island. These Indians were then lodged in the
barracks in Philadelphia. A report reached the city that the
Paxton Boys were on the march. Cannon were then planted
around the barracks, volunteers were called into service, and alarm
bells were rung. About two hundred of the Paxton Boys actually
crossed the Schuylkill at Swedsford, and advanced to German-
town, when hearing of the preparations which had been made, they
wisely proceeded no further.
Guyasuta 399
Pennsylvania Offers Bounty For Scalps
On July 7th, 1764, Pennsylvania offered a bounty for Indian
scalps, even the scalps of children, "for the better carrying on of
offensive operations against our Indian enemies", as follows:
"For every male Indian enemy above ten years old, who shall
be taken prisoner and delivered at any forts garrisoned by the
troops in the pay of this Province, or at any of the county towns,
to the keeper of the common gaols there, the sum of one hundred &
fifty Spanish dollars, or pieces of eight; for every female Indian
enemy taken prisoner and brought in as aforesaid, and for every
male Indian enemy ten years old, or under, taken prisoner, and
delivered as aforesaid, the sum of one hundred and thirty pieces of
eight; for the scalp of every male Indian enemy above the age of
ten years, produced as evidence of their being killed, the sum of one
hundred and thirty-four pieces of eight; and for the scalp of every
female Indian enemy above the age of ten years, produced as evi-
dence of their being killed, the sum of fifty pieces of eight; and
that there shall be paid to every officer, or officers, soldier, or sol-
diers, as are or shall be in the pay of this Province, who shall take,
bring in, and produce any Indian enemy prisoner, or scalp, as
aforesaid, one half of the said several and respective premiums &
bounties."
As a result of the scalp bounties, "secret expeditions", say the
Pennsylvania Archives, "were set on foot by the inhabitants which
were more effectual than any sort of defensive operations."
Murder of Schoolmaster Brown and His Pupils
One of the most terrible atrocities committed within the
bounds of Pennsylvania by the Delawares during the Pontiac-
Guyasuta War is thus described in "Colonel Henry Bouquet and
His Campaigns", by Cort:
"In 1764, July 26, three miles northwest of Greencastle,
Franklin County, was perpetrated what Parkman, the great his-
torian of Colonial times, pronounces 'an outrage unmatched in
fiend-like atrocity through all the annals of the war.' This was
the massacre of Enoch Brown, a kindhearted exemplary Christian
schoolmaster, and ten scholars, eight boys and two girls. Ruth
Hart and Ruth Hale were the names of the girls. Among the boys
were Eben Taylor, George Dustan and Archie McCullough. All
were knocked down like so many beeves, and scalped by the merci-
less savages. Mourning and desolation came to many homes in
the valley, for each of the slaughtered innocents belonged to a dif-
400 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
ferent family. The last named boy, indeed, survived the effects
of the scalping knife, but in somewhat demented condition. The
teacher offered his life and scalp in a spirit of self-sacrificing devo-
tion, if the savages would only spare the lives of the little ones
under his charge and care. But no! the tender mercies of the
heathen are cruel, and so a perfect holocaust was made to the
Moloch of war by the relentless fiends in human form It
is some relief to know that this diabolical deed, whose recital
makes us shudder even at this late date, was disapproved by the
old warriors, when the marauding party of young Indians came
back with their horrid trophies. Neephaughwhese, or Night
Walker, an old chief or half-king, denounced them as a pack of
cowards for killing and scalping so many children Who
can describe the horror of the scene in that lonely log school house,
when one of the settlers chanced to look in at the door to ascertain
the cause of the unusual quietness? In the center lay the faithful
Brown, scalped and lifeless, with a Bible clasped in his hand.
Around the room were strewn the dead and mangled bodies of
seven boys and two girls, while little Archie, stunned, scalped and
bleeding, was creeping around among his dead companions, rub-
bing his hands over their faces and trying to gain some token of
recognition. A few days later the innocent victims of savage
atrocity received a common sepulchre. All were buried in one
large rough box at the border of the ravine, a few rods from the
school house where they had been so ruthlessly slaughtered. Side
by side, with head and feet alternately, the little ones were laid
with their master, just as they were clad at the time of the massa-
cre."
John McCollough, a cousin of Archie, had been captured in
the same neighborhood just nine year previously, and was living
among the Delawares at Muskingum when the young warriors re-
turned with the scalps of the schoolmaster and his pupils. He was
among the prisoners surrendered to Bouquet, and is the authority
for the statement concerning the indignation expressed by old
Night Walker.
During the same incursion in which Schoolmaster Brown and
his pupils were killed, Susan King Cunningham, who lived in the
same neighborhood, was brutally murdered while on her way
through the woods to call on a neighbor. As she did not return
when expected, a search was made, and her body was found near
her home. Not content with murdering and scalping the poor
woman, the fiends performed a Caesarian operation, and placed
her child on the ground beside her.
GUYASUTA 401
Guyasuta at the Council at Fort Pitt
But to return to Guyasuta. His next act of importance was
to attend the great council at Fort Pitt which opened on May 10th,
1765, relative to resuming trade relations between Pennsylvania
and the Western Indians after Pontiac's War. He was one of the
principal speakers on this occasion, and represented the Senecas.
The Delawares were represented by New Comer,. King Beaver,
Wingenund, Turtle Heart, White Wolf, Sun Fish, Thomas Hick-
man, and many others. George Croghan, as deputy agent of
Indian affairs, had arrived at the fort on February 28th, accom-
panied by Lieutenant Alexander Frazer. At the council Guyasuta
made the following speech:
"When you first came to drive the French from this place, the
Governor of Pennsylvania sent us a Message that we should with-
draw from the French, & that when the English was settled here,
we should want for nothing. It's true, you did supply us very
well, but it was only while the War was doubtful, & as soon as you
conquer'd the French you did not care how you treated us, as you
did not then think us worth your Notice; we request you may not
treat us again in this manner, but now open the Trade and do not
put us off with telling us you must first hear from your great man
before it can be done. If you have but little goods, let us have
them for our skins, and let us have a part of your rum, or we can-
not put dependence on what you tell us for the future."
To the above speech of Guyasuta and the speeches of the other
chiefs, Croghan faithfully promised that trade relations would be
opened without delay.
When Croghan set out from Philadelphia for Fort Pitt, he gave
a pass for a large number of wagons and pack horses belonging to
Boynton and Wharton of Philadelphia, loaded with guns, knives,
blankets, and other goods intended as presents for the Indians at
Fort Pitt. However, the people of Cumberland County and the
valley of the Conococheague, upon whom such terrible atrocities
had been so recently committed by the Indians, determined to pre-
vent these war-like supplies being carried to the Indians. Accord-
ingly, on March 6th, when the pack train had reached Sidling Hill,
about seventeen miles beyond Fort Loudon, sixty-three horse loads
were either burned or pillaged by the force of infuriated settlers,
since known as the "Sidling Hill Volunteers", led by Colonel James
Smith, who, it will be remembered, was a captive at Fort Du-
quesne at the time of Braddock's defeat. This action of Smith and
his followers obstructed communication with Fort Pitt for some
time.
402 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Guyasuta Attends Council at Fort Pitt,
April and May, 1768
Guyasuta also attended the great conference held at Fort Pitt
from April 26th to May 9th, 1768, for the purpose of adjusting the
difficulties due to the fact that many settlements had been made in
the valleys of the Youghiogheny and the Monongahela on land not
purchased from the Indians. This conference led to the purchase
at Fort Stanwix (Rome, New York), November 5th, 1768, more
particularly described in Chapter XX, and needing no additional
reference at this point, except to point out that, shortly after the
treaty and purchase of Fort Stanwix, marauds were made into
Western Pennsylvania. On February 26, 1769, eighteen persons
were either killed or taken prisoner in the Brush Creek settlement,
in Westmoreland County. Whether Guyasuta had anything to do
with these outrages is not known.
Guyasuta Arouses Anger of White Eyes
In May, 1774, Guyasuta attended a conference with George
Croghan at Ligonier. On October 27th, 1775, he was the principal
speaker at the treaty held at Fort Pitt between the Commissioners
of the Continental Congress and a few of the chiefs of the Senecas,
.')elawares, Shawnees, and Wyandots, in an effort to secure their
neutrality during the Revolutionary War. He represented the
iroquois, or Mingoes, in the Allegheny Valley and Ohio. As an
Iroquois, he assumed to speak for all the western tribes, and
thereby aroused the anger of White Eyes, the great Delaware
chief, who thereupon declared the absolute indpendence of the
Delawares. This council was far from harmonious, but the chiefs
declared their intention to remain neutral; and Guyasuta promised
'o use his influence at the Great Council of the Iroquois in New
York, to obtain a decision in favor of peace.
Guyasuta in the Revolutionary War
In May, 1776, Sir Guy Johnson and Colonel John Butler held
a great council with the Iroquois chiefs at Fort Niagara, New
York, when the overwhelming majority of the sachems voted to
accept the war hatchet against the Americans. Guyasuta then
came from his home near Sharpsburg, Allegheny County, to a
council at Fort Pitt on July 6th of that year, and declared that
neither the English nor the Americans should be permitted to pass
through the territory of the Six Nations. This was a conference
between Majors Trent and Ward, and Captain Neville, on the one
hand, and Guyasuta, Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, Shade, a
Guyasuta 403
Shawnee chief, and other Western Indians. The object of the
conference seems to have been to enable Guyasuta, as the out-
standing representative of the Six Nations in the Ohio and Alle-
gheny valleys, to define his position in the struggle between Eng-
land and her American Colonies.
"I am appointed," said Guyasuta, "by the Six Nations to take
care of this country, that is of the nations on the other side of the
Ohio [meaning the present Allegheny River], and I desire you will
not think of an expedition against Detroit, for, I repeat, we will
not suffer an army to pass through our country." Captain Neville
replied that the Americans would not invade Guyasuta's domain,
unless the British should try to come through the same towards
Fort Pitt. Detroit was then in the possession of the British, and,
no doubt, as an actual ally of the British, it was the task assigned
Guyasuta to prevent an advance against this post by the Ameri-
cans.
At any rate soon thereafter this great chief of the Senecas
took up arms against the Americans, and led many a bloody
expedition against the settlements of Western Pennsylvania. Dur-
ing the summers of 1778 and 1779, he was especially active against
the settlements of New York and Pennsylvania, and decorated the
Seneca towns of the upper Allegheny with the scalps of hundreds
of settlers.
Broadhead's Expedition Against Guyasuta's Warriors
In order to put a stop to the raids of Guyasuta's warriors
Colonel Broadhead, who was in command of Fort Pitt during the
summer of 1779, begged General Washington for permission to
lead an expedition into the Seneca country. Early in the same
summer, Washington directed General John Sullivan to invade
the territory of the Iroquois from the East; and about the middle
of July, Broadhead received permission from Washington to under-
take a co-operating movement up the Allegheny. With sixty
boats, two hundred pack horses and six hundred and five soldiers,
he left Fort Pitt on August 11th. Small garrisons were placed at
Fort Mcintosh (Beaver), Fort Crawford (New Kensington, West-
moreland County), and Fort Armstrong (Kittanning, Armstrong
County). A band of friendly Delawares, under Captain Samuel
Brady and Lieut. John Hardin, accompanied the expedition as
scouts. Broadhead's small army ascended the beautiful Allegheny,
whose banks were now clothed in the verdure of midsummer.
404 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Majestic stood the river bills,
Clothed in living green,
While Allegheny gently rolled
Its winding way between.
Reaching the mouth of the Mahoning, Broadhead left the
river and followed the Indian trail running almost due north
through the wilderness of what is now Clarion County, and reached
the Allegheny near the mouth of Tionesta Creek, Forest County.
A few miles below the mouth of Brokenstraw Creek, Warren
Count}', Broadhead's force encountered a party of thirty Seneca's,
under Guyasuta, descending the Allegheny on their way to raid
the frontier settlements. Both sides discovered each other at
about the same time, took position behind trees and rocks, and a
sharp fight commenced, which lasted but a few minutes, when a
party of Broadhead's scouts, moving over the river hill, attacked
the Senecas on the flank. The Indians then took to flight, leaving
five of their number dead on the field. It has been said that Corn-
planter was the commander of the Indians at this engagement, but
it is clear that he was at this time in the Genesee country endeavor-
ing to oppose the advance of Sullivan's army. Broadhead then
marched up the river, destroyed the Seneca towns, and burned one
hundred thirty of their houses, some of them large enough for
three or four families. They also destroyed five hundred acres of
corn, of which Broadhead said: "I never saw finer corn, although
it was planted much thicker than is common with our farmers."
Guyasuta Burns Hannastown
The hardest blow dealt by the Indians during the Revolu-
tionary War, within the limits of Western Pennsylvania, was the
burning of Hannastown, the county seat of Westmoreland, by
Guyasuta, on Saturday, July 13th, 1782. This historic frontier
village was located about three miles north of Greensburg. The
town grew up around the tavern of Robert Hanna, on the old
Forbes Road, before the Revolutionary War.
At the time of its destruction, Hannastown contained thirty
log houses, and, at the northern end, was a stockade fort of logs
set upright, and erected in 1773. In the centre was a spring
whose waters still gush forth to quench the thirst of the lover of
Pennsylvania history, who makes a pilgrimage to the spot where
the frontier village stood.
Guyasuta, with a band of one hundred Seneca warriors and
sixty Canadian rangers, left Lake Chautauqua, New York,
descended the Allegheny River to a point a short distance above
Guyasuta 405
Kittanning, and leaving the canoes on the bank of the river,
marched overland into the settlements of Westmoreland. While
the expedition was making its visitation of death and destruction,
many of these canoes broke loose from their moorings, and floated
down the river to Fort Pitt, where some of them were picked up
py the garrison.
On this midsummer day when Guyasuta's warriors destroyed
he historic town, one of the harvesters, who were cutting wheat on
he farm of Michael HufTnagle, the county clerk, about a mile
lorth of the village, discovered a band of Indians, in war paint,
reeping through the woods. He informed his companions, and
11 fled unseen to the stockade. The alarm was spread throughout
he Hannastown settlement by Sheriff Matthew Jack. About
ixty persons were in the village, and they took refuge within the
Drt. Huffnagle carried most of the county records safely into the
fort.
Four young men were sent out to scout. Coming upon the
Indians creeping through the thick woods in the valley of Crab-
tree Creek, they narrowly escaped death, and fled back to the fort,
followed closely by the Indians. It seems that Guyasuta intended
to take the fort by storm; for his warriors did not shoot or yell
until they rushed into the village. One man was wounded before
he reached the fort.
The Indians then drove into the woods all the horses found
in the pasture lots and stables, killed one hundred cattle, and
plundered the deserted houses. From the shleter of the houses,
they opened a hot rifle fire upon the stockade, defended
by twenty men with seventeen rifles, only nine of which
were fit for use. With these, the frontiersmen took turns
at the loopholes, and succeeded in preventing the Indians from
assaulting and battering down the gates. At least two of the
savages were killed, and others wounded; while only one person
inside the stockade was wounded, a maiden of sixteen summers
named Margaret Shaw, who received a bullet in her breast while
exposed before a hole in one of the gates, as she was rescuing a
child, who had toddled into danger. The young lady died from
the effects of her wound about two weeks later. Her dust reposes
in the soil of "Old Westmoreland", a short distance north of Mt.
Pleasant.
The attack on the fort continued until night, when the Indians
set fire to the village,, and danced in the glare of the flames. The
county jail and all the other buildings, except the court house and
one dwelling, were reduced to ashes. These two had been set on
400 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
fire, but the lire went out; and, as they stood near the fort, the
unerring rifles of the frontiersmen frustrated an attempt to set fire
to them again. Happily, the wind blew strongly from the north,
carrying the flames and burning embers away from the fort.
After the buildings were burned, the Indians and their white allies
retired to the valley of Crabtree Creek, and reveled and feasted
until late at night.
The attack was not renewed in the morning, and Guyasuta
and his forces made good their escape. It was not until Monday
morning that a force of sixty frontiersmen took up the pursuit,
following them to the crossing of the Kiskiminetas.
Other places in the neighborhood of Hannastown were also
attacked with deadly effect. A wedding had taken place, on July
12th, at the home of Andrew Cruikshank at Miller's Station, two
miles south of Hannastown; and on July 13th, many friends of
the happy couple were gathered at the Cruikshank home for the
wedding party, when Guyasuta's warriors fell upon them, killing
several and making prisoners of fifteen. Among the latter were
Lieutenant Joseph Brownlee, his wife and several children, Mrs.
Robert Hanna and her daughter, Jennie, and a Mrs. White and
two of her children. As these prisoners were being taken through
the woods, Mrs. Hanna addressed Lieutenant Brownlee as "Cap-
tain"; whereupon the Indians killed him, his little son whom he
was carrying, and nine other captives. The others were taken to
Canada.
Also, on Sunday morning, some of Guyasuta's force attacked
the Freeman settlement on Loyalhanna Creek, a few miles north-
east of Hannastown, killing one of Freeman's sons and capturing
two of his daughters. On the same day, an attack was made on
the Brush Creek settlement west of Hannastown, where many
farm animals were killed, and several farm buildings burned.
This attack was promptly reported to General William Irvine,
then the commander at Fort Pitt, by Michael Huffnagle, the de-
fender of the Hannastown fort.
Hannastown never arose from its ashes. Court was held there
for a few sessions after the burning of the village. Then a new
road was laid out from Bedford to Pittsburgh, following the course
of the present Lincoln Highway; and, in January, 1787, the West-
moreland Court began its sessions in the town of Greensburg, on
the new road, the present county seat of the historic county of
Westmoreland.
It appears that there was a previous attack on Hannastown.
Guyasuta 407
Boucher, in his "History of Westmoreland County," refers to this
former attack, as follows:
"Eve Oury was granted a special pension of forty dollars per
year by Act of April 1, 1846. The act itself recites that it was
granted for heroic bravery and risking her life in defense of the
garrison of Hannastown Fort in 1778, when it was attacked by a
large number of Indians, and that by her fortitude, she performed
efficient service in driving away the Indians, and thus saved the in-
mates from a horrid butchery by the merciless and savage foe."
Eve Oury (Uhrig) was the daughter of Francis Oury. She
died at Shieldsburg, Westmoreland County, in 1848, and is buried
at Congruity, in the same county.
Reference has been made to the fact that the Six Nations,
owing principally to the influence of Sir Guy Johnson, Colonel
John Butler, and other British sympathizers and agents, were
overwhelmingly on the side of the British during the Revolutionary
War. The British offered the Iroquois great plunder and boun-
ties for American scalps, as an inducement for them to attack the
Americans. To be specific, the League of the Iroquois voted to
take no part in the great conflict, but allow each tribe to decide for
itself. A large part of the Tuscaroras and nearly all the Oneidas,
owing to the influence of Rev. Samuel Kirkland, remained neutral;
but the other four tribes of the historic confederation went over to
the British, and brought desolation and death upon the frontiers
of New York and Pennsylvania. Witness Cherry Valley, in New
York, and Wyoming and Hannastown, in Pennsylvania.
Guyasuta's tribe, the Senecas, were the most numerous and
warlike of the Six Nations. A recital of the bloody outrages com-
mitted by them upon the Americans struggling for liberty during
the American Revolution would fill many pages. While it is not
to be wondered at that Guyasuta sided along with his nation in
the American Revolution, it is sincerely to be regretted that one of
the most noted chiefs that ever trod the soil of Pennsylvania took
the side of the British in this conflict Terrible was the retribution
visited upon the Senecas and their allies by General Sullivan — a
retribution that led to the final extinction of the Iroquois Confed-
eration. No wonder that the old chiefs declining years were em-
bittered.
Last Days of Guyasuta
After the Revolutionary War, Guyasuta lived in the vicinity
of Fort Pitt. As old age crept upon him, he became virtually desti-
tute. In 1790, he sent a pathetic message to the Quakers of Phila-
4U8 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
delphia, addressing them as the sons of his beloved "Brother Onas"
and imploring their assistance. Said he: "When I was young
and strong, our country was full of game which the good Spirit
sent for us to live upon. The lands which belonged to us were ex-
tended far beyond where we hunted. Hunting was then not
tiresome; it was diversion; it was pleasure. When your fathers
asked land from my nation, we gave it to them, for we had more
than enough. Guyasuta was among the first people to say, 'give
land to our brother Onas for he wants it; and he has always been
a friend to Onas and his children. But you are too far off to see
him. Now he is grown old. He is very old and he wonders at his
own shadow; it has become so little. He has no children to take
care of him and the game is driven away by the white people. . . .
1 have no other friends but you, the children of our beloved
Brother Onas."
From December, 1792, to the middle of April, 1793, General
Anthony Wayne trained the Legion of the United States at that
place on the Ohio River, twenty miles below Pittsburgh, since
known as Legionville. Before leading the Legion from that place
against the Western Indians, he was visited by Guyasuta.
In May, 1793, Captain Samuel Brady was tried at Pittsburgh
for the murder of certain Indians near the mouth of the Beaver,
in the spring of 1791. Due at least in part to the testimony given
in his behalf by Guyasuta, he was acquitted. Guyasuta's testi-
mony was so strongly in favor of the defendant that even Brady's
counsel, James Ross, Esq., was abashed. At the close of the trial,
Mr. Ross spoke to Guyasuta, expressing his surprise at the decided
tone of his testimony. The aged chief then clapped his hand
upon his breast, and said: "Am I not the friend of Brady?"
General James O'Hara bought Guyasuta's interest in the large
tract of land on the west side of the Allegheny near Sharpsburg,
Allegheny County, and gave the old chief a home on the plantation
during his declining years. Here he died some time in the closing
years of the eighteenth century, and his body was placed in the old
Indian mound on the estate by General O'Hara. Guyasuta station
on the Pennsylvania Railroad nearby bears the name of this noted
chieftain.
The claim has been made, however, that Guyasuta died at
Custaloga's Town on French Creek about twelve miles above its
mouth and near the mouth of Deer Creek in French Creek Town-
ship, Mercer County, and was buried at that place. (See Frontier
Forts of Pennsylvania, Volume Two, pages 322, 323).
CHAPTER XXV.
New Comer, White Eyes and Killbuck
NEW COMER
EW COMER, or Nettawatwees, was a chief of the Turtle
Clan of Delawares, his authority being limited, it seems,
to that Clan alone, though he was the nominal head of
the Delaware nation. His first appearance in history is
when he was a witness to the deed which Sassoonan and six other
chiefs gave to William Penn, on September 17th, 1718, by the terms
of which they released all the land "between the Delaware and the
Susquehanna from Duck Creek to the Mountains [the South
Mountain] on this side of Lechay [the Lehigh River]", men-
tioned more particularly in Chapter VII.
New Comer was one of the chiefs who met George Croghan at
Logstown in January, 1754, and joined with Scarouady, Tana-
charison, Shingas, and Delaware George, in requesting both
Pennsylvania and Virginia to build forts near the Forks of the
Ohio as a place of security for the Indians of that region in case
of war with the French. He went to the Muskingum and Tusca-
rawas near the close of the French and Indian War, from which
place he joined with King Beaver and Shingas in sending White
Eyes and Wingenund to Philadelphia in May, 1761, to advise the
Governor that a large delegation of chiefs from Ohio proposed
coming to meet him in order to cement the bond of peace.
When Colonel Bouquet led his expedition to the Muskingum
and Tuscarawas in the summer and autumn of 1764, to quell
Pontiac's uprising and to force the Western Indians to deliver up
the prisoners which they had captured, New Comer, as chief of
the Turtle Clan was nominally the head of the Delaware nation at
that time. Bouquet deposed him on this occasion for refusing to
attend the conference between this resolute soldier and the chiefs
of the hostile tribes. The deposition, however, was never accepted
by the Delawares.
New Comer attended the conference at Fort Pitt, beginning
May 10th, 1765, relative to resuming trade relations with the
western tribes after the close of Pontiac's War; also the great coun-
410 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
cil at the same place, April 26th to May 9th, 1768, relative to the
settlements made at Redstone and other places in the valleys of the
Monongahela and Youghiogheny, on land not purchased from the
Indians — the council which led to the Great Congress at Fort
Stanwix, (Rome, New York,) in October of that year, at which
Pennsylvania purchased from the Six Nations that part of the
state known as the "Purchase of 1768", the counties included in
which were set forth in Chapter XX.
In his latter years, New Comer came under the influence of
the Moravian missionaries, and granted them lands on the Tus-
carawas, in 1772. He was especially friendly to Bishop Zeisberger
of the Moravian Church. He was much perplexed, however, on
account of the lack of unity among Christians. He could not
understand why there were so many different denominations; and,
in the latter part of 1772, he advised the Governor of Pennsyl-
vania that he intended to go to England to consult the King on
this matter which was disturbing his heart, a journey which he did
not take, however.
Last Days of New Comer
When William Wilson, as the ambassador of George Morgan,
then in charge of Indian affairs at Fort Pitt, was sent in the sum-
mer of 1776 on a mission to invite the Delawares, Shawnees, and
Wyandots of Ohio to a conference to be held at Fort Pitt in
October of that year, he was greatly befriended by New Comer at
the Delaware town of Coshocton, located on the site of the present
town of that name, in Coshocton County, Ohio. Wilson, in spite
of the interference of Hamilton, commander of the British fort at
Detroit, succeeded in persuading a number of the chiefs of the
western tribes to attend the conference at Fort Pitt in October
Among these chiefs was the venerable New Comer. Unusual
solemnity was given to the conference by the fact that he breathed
his last at Fort Pitt before the treaty was concluded.
WHITE EYES
White Eyes, also sometimes Grey Eyes, became the ruler of
the Turkey Clan of Delawares upon the death of King Beaver.
During the winter of 1776-1777, he was elected chief sachem of the
Delaware nation, following the death of the aged New Comer in
Pittsburgh in the autumn of 1776. His Delaware name was
Coquetakeghton.
While White Eyes met Post on the latter's first mission to the
New Comer, White Eyes and Killbuck 41 i
Ohio in the summer of 1758, his first appearance of importance in
Pennsylvania history is when he and the Delaware chief, Winge-
nund, as the ambassadors of King Beaver and New Comer, met
Governor Hamilton in council at Philadelphia, on May 22nd,
1761, and delivered the promise of these "chief men at Allegheny"
to meet the Provincial Authorities in the near future further to
confirm the peace "that was begun at Easton" [Treaty of Easton,
October, 1758], "a peace", said White Eyes, "that has a good face,
and seems to be as well established as that made by William
Penn. .... at the first settlement of the Province." Andrew
Montour was the interpreter. The Governor received White
Eyes and Wingenund very cordially, and requested them to advise
their superior chiefs to make arrangements for the delivery of the
white prisoners taken in the French and Indian War, a request,
which, as was seen in Chapter XIX, was carried out by King
Beaver and Shingas, at the Lancaster conference of August, 1762.
Nothing definite is known as to the part taken by White Eyes
in Pontiac's War. But in Lord Dunmore's War, in the autumn
of 1774, we find him an earnest advocate of peace. Many of his
people reviled him and accused him of ingratiating himself with
the Virginians in his efforts to persuade the Shawnees to make
peace with Dunmore; but the great chieftain's purpose was to save
the Shawnees from destruction. Taunts and abuse did not swerve
him. He was Lord Dunmore's advisor; and, when peace was
.concluded between the Virginians and the Shawnees, at Camp
Charlotte, near Circleville, Ohio, in October, Lord Dunmore took
occasion to extol White Eyes and his people, saying that they had
been the unflinching advocates of peace, and telling the Shawnees
that only out of regard for them, the Delawares, as "grandfathers"
of the Shawnees, had he made the terms of peace so lenient. Both
the Shawnees and the Virginians had suffered severe losses at the
battle of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, described in the sketch of
Cornstalk, Chapter XXVII.
Reference was made, in Chapter XXIV, to the fact that White
Eyes attended the treaty held at Fort Pitt on October 27th, 1775,
in an effort to secure the friendship of the western tribes in the
Revolutionary War, at which he resented Guyasuta's claim to
represent the Delawares. White Eyes' sympathy for the Ameri-
cans gave offense to Guyasuta, who reminded him that the Dela-
wares were "women".
"Women!" was the scornful reply of White Eyes. "Yes, you
say that you conquered me, that you cut off my legs, put a petti-
412 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
coat on me, and gave me a hoe and compounder in my hands.
Look at my legs. If, as you assert, you cut them off,
they have grown again to their proper size. The petticoat I have
thrown away; the corn-hoe and pounder I have exchanged for
these firearms; and I declare that I am a man. Yes, all the
country on the other side of that river" — waving his hand in the
direction of the Allegheny — "is mine."
White Eyes Accompanies William Wilson to Detroit
In the sketch of New Comer, reference was made to the fact
that, in the summer of 1776, William Wilson, as agent of George
Morgan, made a journey among the Indians of Ohio, to invite
them to a treaty at Fort Pitt in October, and that he was befriended
by New Comer at Coshocton. On this occasion, New Comer, be-
lieving it unsafe for Wilson to proceed to the Wyandots at San-
dusky, sent Killbuck to carry his message to them. Killbuck re-
turned in eleven days with word from the Wyandot chiefs that
they wanted to see Wilson and hear his message from his own
mouth. Wilson then decided to go to see them, and New Comer
directed Killbuck to accompany him. Scarcely had the journey
begun when Killbuck became ill, and his place was taken by White
Eves. Proceeding, Wilson and White Eyes learned that the
Wyandot chiefs had gone to Detroit. Wilson then boldly pressed
on to the neighborhood of the British post, where he and White
Eyes met the Wyandots. Both he and White Eyes addressed them
urging them to attend the treaty. The Wyandot chiefs betrayed
Wilson's presence to the British commander, Colonel Henry Ham-
ilton, Lieutenant Governor, to whom Wilson frankly told the ob-
ject of his mission. Though greatly angered, Hamilton respected
Wilson's character as an ambassador, and gave him a safe con-
duct through the Indian country to Fort Pitt; but scathingly de-
nounced White Eyes, and ordered him to leave Detroit within
twenty-four hours, if he valued his life.
White Eyes Makes Alliance With the Americans
The Delawares on the Tuscarawas and Muskingum, owing
principally to the influence of White Eyes, having maintained
neutrality between the Americans and the British, during the early
years of the Revolutionary War, and this remarkable chieftain
having shown an intelligent sympathy with the American cause and
expressed the hope that the Delaware Nation might form the four-
New Comer, White Eyes and Killbuck 413
teenth state in the American union, Congress, in June, 1778,
ordered a treaty to be held at Fort Pitt, on July 23rd, for the pur-
pose of forming an alliance with these Indians, and requested
Virginia to choose two commissioners and Pennsylvania, one, for
this purpose. Pennsylvania neglected to choose a commissioner;
but Virginia appointed General Andrew Lewis, the conqueror of
Cornstalk, at Point Pleasant, and his brother, Thomas Lewis, a
civilian. The time of the treaty was postponed to September,
owing to the inability of the American troops to reach Fort Pitt
in July.
Messengers had been sent to the Shawnees, inviting them to
come with the Delawares to the treaty, but they declined, except a
small band under Nimwha, who lived with the Delawares at Cos-
hocton.
The conference began on September 12th, and the treaty was
signed on the 17th. Besides White Eyes, the Delawares were repre-
sented by Killbuck, successor to New Comer of the Turtle Clan,
Captain Pipe, successor to Custaloga, of the Wolf Clan, and
Wingenund, the Delaware "wise man." These three chiefs appear-
ed at the councils, in all their gaudy attire, painted, feathered, and
beaded; while General Mcintosh and his staff officers attended in
new uniforms. The interpreter was Job Chilloway, a Delaware
from the Susquehanna, who had learned the English language
from having lived for a number of years among the white people.
General Lewis advised the Delaware chiefs of his intention
to send an army against the British at Detroit, and asked the per-
mission of the Delawares for the army to pass through the terri-
tory over which they claimed control, bounded on the east by the
Ohio and Allegheny, and on the west by the Hocking and Sandusky.
By the terms of the treaty as finally concluded, all offenses
were mutually forgiven; a perpetual friendship was pledged; each
party agreed to assist the other in any just war; the Delawares
gave permission for an American army to pass through their terri-
tory, and agreed to furnish meat, corn, warriors and guides for the
army. The United States agreed to erect and garrison a fort,
within the Delaware country, for the protection of the old men,
women, and children; and each party agreed to punish offenses
committed by citizens of the other, according to a system to be
arranged later. The United States promised the establishment of
fair and honest trade relations; and lastly, the United States
guaranteed the integrity of the Delaware nation, and promised to
admit it as a state of the American Union, "provided nothing con-
tained in this article be considered as conclusive until it meets the
414 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
approbation of congress." With reference to the promise to admit
the Delaware nation as a state of the Union, the commissioners
must have known that this was an impossibility.
But the guileless White Eyes never suspected that he and his
people were being imposed upon. Said he: "Brothers, we are
become one people. We [the Delawares], are at a loss to express
our thoughts, but we hope soon to convince you by our actions of
the sincerity of our hearts. We now inform you that as many of
our warriors as can possibly be spared will join you and go with
you."
The great courage of White Eyes in forming this alliance of
the Delawares with the Americans is seen when it is recalled that
all the other western tribes were on the side of the English, and, for
some time, had been endeavoring, by solicitation and threats, to
draw the Delawares into a British alliance. Governor Hamilton,
at Detroit, who had charge of the operations of the British against
the frontiers, had been ordered, on October 6th, 1776, to enlist the
various western tribes and have them ready for a campaign
against the frontier the next spring. Hamilton gave the savages
fifty dollars for each American scalp taken by them. The Ameri-
cans held him in abhorrence, and called him the "hair-buyer"
general. For more than two years before White Eyes allied his
people with the Americans, the other western tribes, instigated by
the British and induced by the scalp bounty, were desolating the
Pennsylvania frontier. The terrible situation of the settlers in
this region is shown by the following letter written to President
Wharton, in November, 1777, by Archibald Lochry, County Lieu-
tenant of Westmoreland:
"The distressed situation of our country is such, that we have
no prospect but desolation and destruction. The whole country
on the north side of the road [Forbes Road] from the Allegheny
Mountains to the river is all kept close in forts; and can get no
subsistance from their plantations; they have made application to
us requesting to be put under pay, and receive rations As
we could see no other way to keep these people from flying
and letting the country be evacuated, we were obliged to adopt
these measures."
Then, on March 28th, 1778, the Pittsburgh Tories, Captain
Alexander McKee, Matthew Elliott, Robert Surphlit, and Simon
Girty, deserted the American force at Fort Pitt, and went over to
the British. McKee was a man of education, and had long been in
secret correspondence with British officers in Canada. General
New Comer, White Eyes and Killbuck 415
Hand, the commandant at Fort Pitt, had received a hint of Mc-
Kee's intention, early in the evening, and he ordered a squad of
soldiers to go to the deserter's house the next morning, and remove
him to the fort. When the troops arrived the next morning, they
found that the renegades had escaped from McKee's house during
the night. For a number of years, Captain McKee had lived on a
plantation of fourteen hundred acres, at the mouth of Chartiers
Creek, granted to him by Colonel Bouquet, in 1764, the site of the
town of McKees Rocks, on the left bank of the Ohio, in Allegheny
County. It was from the house on this plantation that he made
his escape.
He and his companions made their way to the chief town of
the Delawares, Coshocton, Ohio, where they endeavored to arouse
this tribe against the Americans. A great debate took place in the
Delaware council between Captain Pipe, who advocated that the
Delawares give McKee's request favorable consideration, and
White Eyes, who, by his oratory thwarted the plans of the
renegades.
The renegades then went to the Shawnees on the Scioto,
where they were welcomed. James Girty, a brother of Simon, was
there with the Shawnees, having been sent by the commandant of
Fort Pitt on a peace embassy. This natural savage at once joined
his brother and the other tories. Then Governor Hamilton, learn-
ing that McKee and his companions were among the Shawnees,
sent Edward Hazle to the Scioto, who conducted them safely to
Detroit, where Hamilton gave them commissions in the British
service, and they became the merciless scourgers of the frontiers.
Thus, it is seen that White Eyes, in daring to form an alliance
with the Americans, exposed the Delawares to destruction by the
British and their savage allies. But he had the courage to do
what he believed to be right.
White Eyes' Grand Plan
At this treaty, White Eyes avowed that his people had em-
braced Christianity. During the few years prior to this treaty,
the Moravian missionaries made good progress in Christianizing
the Delawares, under White Eyes, in their villages on the Tus-
carawas. White Eyes told the Moravians, in 1774, that he
sincerely believed the Gospel. He then unfolded to Bishop Zeis-
berger this grand plan: Christianity should be the national
religion. He would go to England and lay before the king the
416 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
differences between the Delavvares and the white people, tell the
king of the rapid westward march of the whites, and induce him to
guarantee to the Delawares the country they then possessed,
which should be their home to all generations. There the Dela-
wares would live as a civilized and Christian people. To bring
about this happy result should be the work of the Moravian
missions. Then White Eyes journied to Philadelphia and request-
ed the Continental Congress to send the Delawares teachers and
clergymen of the Episcopal Church. Lord Dunmore had promised
this remarkable chief his assistance; but later, on account of the
disturbed condition of the colonies, persuaded him to give up his
projected visit to England.
The noble aspirations of the great chieftain command our
admiration. Behold the contrast between the plans of Pontiac
and those of White Eyes. Pontiac desired the Indian to remain
for all time a warrior and hunter; and, in an attempt to carry his
plans into execution, and drive the English into the sea, he drench-
ed the frontiers with the blood of the settlers. White Eyes, on the
other hand, deeming the plow a blessing and all the implements of
industry good, hoped, by statesman-like negotiations, to secure for
his people a home, where they might enjoy the benefits of civiliza-
tion.
Plot Against Friendly Delawares
Due to the alliance between the Delawares and the United
States, Colonel Broadhead, then commandant at Fort Pitt, in the
autumn of 1780 received the aid of more than forty friendly
Delawares, who had come to assist him in his operations against
the hostile tribes. In a letter to President Reed, dated November
2nd, 1780, he says: "I believe 1 could have called out near an hun-
dred. But as upwards of forty men from the neighborhood of
Hannastown have attempted to destroy them whilst they consider
themselves under our protection, it may not be an easy matter to
call them out again, notwithstanding they [the Hannastown set-
tlers] were prevented from executing their unmanly intention, by
a guard of regular soldiers posted for the Indians' protection. I
was not a little surprised to find that the late Captains Irwin and
Jack, Lieutenant Brownlee, and Ensign Guthrie concerned in this
base attempt. I suppose the women and children were to suffer an
equal carnage with the men."
It was very fortunate for Colonel Broadhead that he was able
to save the lives of these friendly Delawares. Provisions at Fort
Pitt had become very scarce, and Colonel Broadhead had sent
New Comer, White Eyes and Killbuck 4 1 7
Captain Samuel Brady through the Chartier's Creek settlement for
the purpose of procuring cattle and sheep for the hungry garrison.
The Scotch-Irish settlers of this region greatly resented Brady's
activities, and his mission was a failure. Then Colonel Broadhead
sent many of the friendly Delawares, whose lives he had saved, to
the Great Kanawha to spend the winter there hunting buffaloes,
and to bring the meat to Fort Pitt.
White Eyes and Heckewelder
White Eyes was a very warm friend of the Moravian mission-
ary, Heckewelder. They first met when Heckewelder visited him
at his home near the mouth of the Beaver, when the missionary was
on his way to the Tuscarawas in the spring of 1762. Heckewelder
relates the following incidents in the life of this noted chieftain:
"In the year 1777, while the Revolutionary War was raging,
and several Indian tribes had enlisted on the British side, and
were spreading murder and devastation along our unprotected
frontier, I rather rashly determined to take a journey into the
country on a visit to my friends. Captain White Eyes, the Indian
hero, whose character I have already described, resided at that
time at the distance of seventeen miles from the place where I
lived. Hearing of my determination, he immdiately hurried up
to me, with his friend Captain Wingenund, whom I shall presently
have occasion further to mention, and some of his young men, for
the purpose of escorting me to Pittsburgh, saying, 'that he would
not suffer me to go, while the Sandusky warriors were out on war
excursions, without a proper escort and himself at my side.' He
insisted on accompanying me, and we set out together. One day,
as we were proceeding along, our spies discovered a suspicious
track. White Eyes, who was riding before me, inquired whether
I felt afraid. I answered that while he was with me, I entertained
no fear. On this he immediately replied: 'You are right; for
until I am laid prostrate at your feet, no one shall hurt you.'
'And even not then,' added Wingenund, who was riding behind me;
'before this happens, I must be also overcome, and lay by the side
of our friend Koguethagechton [the Indian name of White Eyes].'
I believed them, and I believe at this day that these great men were
sincere, and that, if they had been put to the test, they would have
shown it, as did another Indian friend by whom my life was saved
in the spring of the year 1781. From behind a log in the bushes
where he was concealed, he espied a hostile Indian at the very
moment he was leveling his piece at me. Quick as lightning he
418 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
jumped between us, and exposed his person to the musket shot just
about to be fired, when fortunately the aggressor desisted, from
fear of hitting the Indian whose body thus effectually protected
me, at the imminent risk of his own life. Captain White Eyes,
in the year 1774, saved in the same manner the life of David
Duncan, the peace messenger, whom he was escorting. He rushed,
regardless of his own life, up to an inimical Shawanese, who was
aiming at our ambassador from behind a bush, and forced him to
desist."
Death of White Eyes
Immediately after the forming of the alliance with the Dela-
wares, General Mcintosh, then in command at Fort Pitt, prepared
to lead an expedition against the British at Detroit. With an
army of thirteen hundred troops, he moved down the Ohio to the
mouth of the Beaver early in October, 1778. Here he built Fort
Mcintosh on the high bluff overlooking the Ohio, on the western
side of the Beaver. Four weeks were consumed in erecting the
fort, and the sixty Delaware warriors who accompanied the army,
could not understand why so much time was spent in erecting a
fortification that would not be needed when Detroit was taken.
However, on November 5th, the army began its march through
the wilderness towards Detroit. In accordance with the provisions
of the treaty with the Delawares, General Mcintosh intended to
erect a fort for the protection of their women and children at the
Delaware capital of Coshocton at the junction of the Tuscarawas
and the Walhonding. On the march to the Tuscarawas, White
Eyes was treacherously put to death, it is believed by a Virginia
militiaman, causing dismay among the warriors, most of whom
returned to Coshocton. Such is the account of his death, given by
most authorities. However, DeSchweinitz, in his "Life of David
Zeisberger", says that this greatest and best of the later Delaware
chiefs died of small-pox on November 10th, in the camp on the
Tuscarawas. But whatever the manner of his death, whether by
the hand of an assassin or by small-pox, the sudden ending of his
earthly career had the effect of causing General Mcintosh to
abandon the attempt to take Detroit that winter.
Says DeSchweinitz: "Where his [White Eyes'] remains are
resting, no man knows; the plowshare has often furrowed his
grave. But his name lives; and the Christian may hope that in the
resurrection of the just, he, too will be found among the great
multitude redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation."
New Comer, White Eyes and Killbuck 419
KILLBUCK
Upon the death of White Eyes, Killbuck, the firm friend of
the Americans, was elected as his successor. However, he soon
found himself in the minority, and Captain Pipe, the head of the
war faction among the Delawares, influenced the great Delaware
council at Coshocton, as will be seen in Chapter XXVI, in
February, 1781, to join the hostile tribes in alliance with the Brit-
ish. Killbuck was absent at Fort Pitt when this action was taken,
and on account of threats against his life, was afraid to return to
Coshocton. He went to Salem, located on the Tuscarawas about
fourteen miles below New Philadelphia. Here, on February 26th,
he wrote a long letter by the hand of Missionary Heckewelder, to
Colonel Broadhead, advising him of the action taken by the Dela-
ware council. Then, as will be seen in Chapter XXVI, Broadhead
determined to punish the Delawares for their perfidy, and in April,
1781, led an expedition against the Delaware capital of Coshocton.
As Broadhead's troops were on their way back from the attack at
Coshocton and while resting at New Comer's Town, Killbuck
appeared in the camp and threw at Broadhead's feet the scalp of
"one of the greatest villians" among the hostile Delawares.
After Broadhead's expedition against Coshocton, the hostile
Delawares, under their leader, Captain Pipe, went to the head-
waters of the Sandusky, while those friendly to the United States
moved, with Killbuck, to Smoky Island (also known as Killbuck's
Island) within sight of Fort Pitt. Here Killbuck remained until
after the Revolutionary War.
Killbuck's Indian name was Gelelemend (i. e. a leader). He
was a grandson of the great New Comer. In consequence of his
friendship for the United States during the Revolutionary War, he
incurred the hatred of the war faction among the Delawares, which
continued even after the general peace concluded between the
Delawares and the United States by the treaty of Greenville,
August 3rd, 1795. Most authorities say he was born near the
Lehigh Water Gap, Carbon County, Pennsylvania, in 1737. In
the summer of 1788, he united with the Moravian Indians at Salem,
on the Petquotting, in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, being given, in
baptism, the name .William Henry, after Judge William Henry of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Here he died in the early winter of
1811. Says DeSchweinitz: "The vices of the generation, which
he had lived to see, caused him deep sorrow, and he protested, even
with his dying breath, against their degeneracy."
CHAPTER XXVI.
Captain Pipe and Glikkikan
CAPTAIN PIPE
APTAIN PIPE was a chief of the Wolf Clan of Delawares,
and succeeded Custaloga. He was "a very artful and
designing man, and a chief of considerable ability- and
influence." He was very active in Pontiac's War; and
when Colonel Bouquet left Fort Pitt, in the summer of 1764, on his
way to bring the western tribes into subjection, and compel them
to surrender the prisoners taken in that memorable uprising, he
had this chief detained at the fort as a hostage.
Shortly after the treaty held at Fort Pitt on October 27, 1775,
at which White Eyes, replying to the taunts of Guyasuta, boldly
asserted the independence of the Delawares, Captain Pipe seceded
from the tribe with a number of his followers. His ostensible
reason for this action was that he feared that the speech of White
Eyes would arouse the anger and vengeance of the Iroquois; but
his real reason seems to have been that he was not in sympathy
with the friendly attitude of the Delawares towards the American
cause; for later on he boldly declared against the Americans.
When the renegades, McKee, Elliott, and Girty, came to the
Delaware capital of Coshocton in the spring of 1778, they reported
that the American armies on the Atlantic Seaboard had been over-
whelmed by the English. This false report encouraged Captain
Pipe to renew vigorously his attempts to have the Delawares take
up arms against the Americans. It has already been related how
he was opposed in the Delaware council by White Eyes, whose
oratory prevailed. The Moravian missionary, Rev. John Hecke-
welder, left Bethlehem, Pa., on March 23, 1778, to visit the
Moravian missions in Ohio. Arriving at Fort Pitt, he found the
garrison much disturbed over the flight of the tories, McKee,
Elliott, and Girty, and hastened to the Ohio Delawares as fast as
his horse could carry him. Upon his arrival, he gave the Dela-
ware council the true state of affairs as to military operations in
the East, advising them of the recent capture of General Burgoyne
and his army. Captain Pipe then left the council in chagrin and
went back to his village.
Captain Pipe and Glikkikan 421
On the death of White Eyes, Captain Pipe continued as head
of the war faction among the Delawares; and so great was his
influence that he succeeded in persuading the majority of the tribe,
in violation of the alliance which they had made with the Ameri-
cans, to go over to the British. The Delaware council at Coshoc-
ton took this action in February, 1781, during the absence of
Killbuck at Fort Pitt. Colonel Broadhead, then in command at
Fort Pitt, determined to attack the Delaware town of Coshocton,
and punish them for their perfidy. He proceeded to Wheeling
with his little army of three hundred troops, from which place he
took up the march toward the Delaware capital, on April 10th.
On April 20th, Broadhead's advance having come upon three Dela-
wares about a mile from Coshocton, captured one, but the other
two escaped and gave the alarm. Broadhead's force then dashed
into the Delaware capital, where they found but fifteen warriors,
every one of whom was put to death in the resistless rush of the
American troops; but no harm was done to the old men, women
and children. Broadhead's troops then set fire to the town after
having "taken great quantities of peltry and other stores", and
destroyed about forty head of cattle. The reason that Broadhead
found so few warriors in Coshocton was that a band of forty who
had just returned from a raid on the settlements, laden with scalps
and prisoners, had crossed to the farther side of the river, a few
miles above the town, to enjoy a drunken revel. On account of
the swollen condition of the stream and the fact that the war par-
ties had taken their canoes with them, the troops were unable to
cross to the farther side. Broadhead wished to send a detail to
the Moravian towns farther up the river, for the purpose of pro-
curing boats; but the volunteer soldiers protested, saying that they
had done enough, suffered severely from the weather, had almost
worn out their horses, and proposed to return to fort Pitt. The
Colonel, finding that he could not help himself, inasmuch as the
troops were not subject to strict military discipline, consented to
their proposal.
On the return march, Broadhead followed the Tuscarawas to
New Comer's Town, at which place he found about thirty friendly
Delawares who had withdrawn from Coshocton when the Dela-
ware council voted to espouse the British cause. "The troops,"
said Broadhead in his report of the expedition, "experienced great
kindness from the Moravian Indians and those at New Comer's
Town, and obtained a sufficient supply of meat and corn to subsist
the men and horses to the Ohio River."
422 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
Captain Pipe Befriends the Moravian Missionaries
When the Delaware council at Coshocton voted to take up
arms against the United States, the Moravian converts renounced
all fellowship with them. The British, believing that the converts
were being instigated by the Moravian missionaries to take an
active part on the American side, set on foot measures to punish
them. A treaty with the Iroquois took place at Niagara, at which
the renegade, McKee, as agent of Indian affairs, proposed, by
authority of the commandant of Detroit, an expedition against the
Moravian towns. The Six Nations were not willing themselves to
take part in the expedition, but sent a message to the Chippewas
and Ottawas, saying: "We give you the believing Indians and
their teachers to make broth of." These tribes declined, and then
the same message was sent to the Wyandots, whose chief accepted
it, but, as he protested, merely in order to save the lives of the
Christian Indians. The expedition was then planned at a great
feast among the Shawnees on the Scioto "in the presence and by
the help of British officers and under the folds of the British flag.
Wyandots, Mingoes, and Delawares, together with a few Shawnees,
formed the troop. To the captains only was the real object of the
expedition made known. They received secret instructions to
drive the Christian Indians from their seats, to seize their teachers,
and either convey them as prisoners to Detroit, or put them to
death and bring their scalps."
The result of the expedition was that the Moravian missions
were broken up, the Christian Delawares taken to the north bank
of the Sandusky, in Wyandot County, Ohio, and the Moravian
missionaries taken to Detroit for trial, on the charge that they had
rendered assistance to the Americans. The exodus from the mis-
sions began in September, 1781 ; and the trial took place in Novem-
ber, before Major De Pyster, who had succeeded to the command
of Detroit after the capture of Hamilton, the "hair buyer", by
George Rogers Clark, in February, 1779. De Pyster opened the
council by rehearsing the charges against the missionaries, and then
addressing Captain Pipe, asked him whether the accusations were
correct and founded in fact, and especially whether the missionaries
had corresponded with the Americans.
"There may be some truth in the accusations," said Captain
Pipe. "I am not prepared to say that all that you have heard is
false. But now nothing more of that sort will occur. The teach-
ers are here." De Pyster replied: "I infer, therefore, that these
Captain Pipe and Glikkikan 423
men have corresponded with the rebels, and sent letters to Fort
Pitt. From your answer this seems to be evident. Tell me, is it
so?"
Captain Pipe then sprang to his feet and exclaimed: "Father,
I have said that there may be some truth in the reports that have
reached you; but now I will tell you exactly what has occurred.
These teachers are innocent. On their own account they never
wrote letters; they had to do it. I [striking upon his breast]
and the chiefs at Goshachgunk are responsible. We induced these
teachers to write letters to Pittsburgh, even at such times when
they at first declined. But this will no more occur, as I have said,
because they are now here."
Major De Pyster then acquitted the missionaries, explaining
that he was not opposed to the preaching of the Gospel among the
Indians and cautioned the missionaries not to meddle with the war.
He gave them permission to return to their converts as soon as they
pleased.
Andrew Poe's Fight with Big Foot
"A striking incident in the history of Washington County
was connected with the removal of the Moravians [to Sandusky,
just related]. While the exiles were being conducted up the
Walhonding, seven Wyandot warriors left the company and went
on a raid across the Ohio River. Among the seven were three sons
of Duquat, the half-king, and the eldest son, Scotosh, was the
leader of the party. They crossed the Ohio on a raft, which they
hid in the mouth of Tomlinson's run. They visited the farm of
Philip Jackson, on Harman's creek, and captured Jackson in his
flax field. The prisoner was a carpenter, about 60 years old, and
his trade made him valuable to the Indians, as he could build
houses for them. The savages did not return directly to their
raft, but traveled by devious ways to the river, to baffle pursuit.
The taking of the carpenter was seen by his son, who ran nine miles
to Ft. Cherry, on Little Raccoon Creek, and gave the alarm. Pur-
suit the same evening was prevented by a heavy rain, but the next
morning seventeen stout young men, all mounted, gathered at
Jackson's farm. Most of the borderers decided to follow the
crooked and half obliterated trail, but John Jack, a professional
scout, declared that he believed he knew where the Indians had
hidden their raft, and called for followers. Six men joined him,
John Cherry, Andrew Poe, Adam Poe, William Castleman,
424 The Indian Chiefs of Pennsylvania
William Rankin, and James Whitacre, and they rode on a gallop
directly for the mouth of Tomlinson's run.
"Jack's surmise was a shrewd one, based on a thorough knowl-
edge of the Ohio River and the habits of the Indians. At the top
of the river hill, the borderers tied their horses in a grove and
descended cautiously to the river bank. At the mouth of the run
were five Indians, with their prisoner, preparing to shove off their
raft. John Cherry fired the first shot, killed an Indian, and was
himself killed by the return fire. Four of the five Indians were
slain, Philip Jackson was rescued without injury, and Scotosh
escaped up the river with a wound in his right hand.
"Andrew Poe, in approaching the river, had gone aside to
follow a trail that deviated to the left. Peering over a little bluff,
he saw two of the sons of the half-king sitting by the stream. The
sound of the firing at the mouth of the run alarmed them, and they
arose. Poe's gun missed fire, and he jumped directly upon the
two savages, throwing them to the ground. A fierce wrestling
contest took place. Andrew Poe was six feet tall, of unusual
strength, and almost a match for the two brothers. One of them
wounded him in the wrist with a tomahawk, but he got possession
of the only rifle that was in working order and loaded, and fatally
shot the one who had cut him. Poe and the other savage [His
English name was Big Foot. He was a large and powerful Indian]
contested for the mastery, awhile on the shore, and then in the
water, where Andrew attempted to drown his antagonist. The
Indian escaped, reached land and began to load his gun, when
Andrew struck out for the opposite shore, shouting for his brother
Adam. At the opportune moment, Adam appeared and shot the
Indian through the body, but before he expired the savage rolled
into the water and his corpse was carried away down the stream.
One of the borderers, mistaking Andrew in the stream for an
Indian, fired at him and wounded him in the shoulder. The
triumphant return of the party to Ft. Cherry was saddened by the
death of John Cherry, who was a man of great populari
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