Chapter XXX: Section 8: provided minute directions for the distribution of the tracts (18)

The convoy was halted, the troops formed into line, and a general charge ordered. Bearing down through the forest with fixed bayonets, they drove the yelping savages before them, and swept the ground clear.

At this very moment of success, a fresh burst of whoops and firing was heard from either flank, while noise from the rear showed that the convoy was attacked. The column fell back for its support, drove off the assailants, and formed in a circle around the terrified horses. No man lost his composure, but each displayed implicit confidence in their commander.

Now ensued a combat most discouraging. Again and again, now one side and now on the other, a crowd of Indians rushed up, pouring in a heavy fire, in their effort to break into the circle. A well directed volley met them, followed by a charge of the bayonet. The Indians fled behind trees, few of them were hurt, while the English suffered severely.

Thus the fight went on without intermission for seven hours, until approaching night, when the Indian fire slackened, 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 where the combat had taken place, though not a drop of water was to be found there.

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.

The condition of the troops was deplorable. About sixty soldiers, besides several officers, had been killed or disabled. A space in the center of the camp was prepared for the care of the wounded, and surrounded by a wall built of bags of flour. Here they lay upon the ground, enduring agonies of thirst, as well as of pain.

The situation of those who hitherto escaped was not an enviable one. In event of defeat, a fate inexpressibly horrible waited them, while even victory did not assure their safety, since so many wounded comrades made it difficult to transport them. On the other side the enemy were exulting in the fullest confidence of success.

With the earliest dawn of day there broke out a general burst of those horrid yells which form the prelude of an Indian battle. Instantly from every side the fire poured in with deadly aim.

At each furious rush the savages were repulsed. The English, maddened more by the torments of thirst than the fire of the enemy, fought furiously. But the enemy saw their distress and pressed them closer and more desperately.

The center of the camp was all confusion. The horses broke away a dozen at a time and stampeded through the wounded troops. At ten o’clock the circle was yet unbroken, but there had been many killed. If the day was to be saved, the effort must be made at once and Bouquet was equal to the emergency.

In the midst of the confusion he conceived a masterly stratagem. Could the Indians be brought together in a body and made to stand their ground, there could be little doubt of the result. Bouquet instructed the men who were in the most exposed place to give way. The Indians mistook this movement for a retreat. Confident that their victory was sure, they leaped up on all sides and rushed headlong towards the spot.

Here they found themselves between two deadly fires and with the reserve troops blocking their retreat they were utterly routed. The Highlanders, with yells as wild as their own, fell on them with bayonet. The shock was irresistible and they fled before the charging ranks, not a living Indian remained near the spot. Among the dead were found several prominent chiefs.

The battle of Bushy Run was the best contested battle ever fought between white men and Indians. It was the most serious defeat ever inflicted upon the savages down to that time.

With the loss of eight officers and 115 men, Bouquet reached Fort Pitt August 10. It was a joyous moment both to the troops and the garrison, which had been surrounded and hotly pressed by the Indians since July 28.

The next year Bouquet led an expedition beyond the Ohio, but the Indians sued for peace and he compelled them to bring all their captives to Fort Pitt, where their friends could identify them.

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Indian Council Between Governor Denny
and Tedyuskung Ended at Easton
August 7, 1757

The fact that the great Delaware King Tedyuskung was not present at the important council at Lancaster in April, 1757, caused much more concern in the Provincial Government than is usually the case when one person of importance fails to attend. The Delaware Indians were still chafing under the rebuke they received at the hands of Canassetoga, the great Onondaga Chief Sachem, and the Six Nations, who ordered them from the lands at the Forks of the Delaware River to the Wyoming and Shamokin Valleys.

Soon as the Lancaster council was concluded, messengers were dispatched to Tedyuskung and to the Seneca and Shawnee, inviting them to hold a treaty with the English.

On June 16, Sir Wm. Johnson held a general conference with the Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca, of the Six Nations, at his estate “Fort Johnson,” in which he strongly urged these tribes to come to the support of the English in their warfare against the French. He severely censured Tedyuskung and the Seneca for their conduct.

The Indian messengers, Nathanial and Zacharias, failed to find Tedyuskung at Wyoming, and journeyed to the Seneca villages in New York where they found the King and delivered the Governor’s message. Tedyuskung and the messengers immediately set out for Pennsylvania, and on their way met Joe Peepy, Shikellamy’s son, and Tapescawen, the two messengers sent out by the Lancaster Council in quest of Tedyuskung. Nathanial and Zacharias hastened on to advise the Governor that Tedyuskung and his followers would set out from Tioga for Easton the middle of June.

Tedyuskung and his retinue arrived at Fort Allen July 3, 200 strong and waited there for the arrival of 100 Seneca. On July 8, 155 men, women and children followed Tedyuskung out of Fort Allen toward Easton, and a few days later 117 Seneca and other Six Nations’ Indians arrived at Easton, via Wyoming; among the Seneca delegation were old King Nutimus and “French Margaret.”

Governor Denny, accompanied by members of the Council, Board of Indian Commissioners and a large number of citizens, including many Quakers, arrived at Easton, July 20, and the next day the conference with the Indians was formally begun. Colonel Conrad Weiser and Colonel George Croghan were in attendance as interpreters and agents; there were more than 300 Indians representing ten nations, and Tedyuskung claimed authority over them all.

Tedyuskung demanded a clerk and refused to participate until furnished one, when a long debate ensued, but the old king won his point and chose Charles Thomson. Thomson exercised great influence over Tedyuskung and was his counsel as well as clerk.

The conference proceeded in peace. Tedyuskung declared it was time to declare mutual friendship and gave the Governor a belt of wampum. The Governor rejoiced in this expression of alliance and gave the Delaware a fine belt of wampum. This was a large belt with the figures of three men worked in the wampum, representing King George, taking hold of the King of the Five Nations with one hand, and Tedyuskung with the other, and marked “G. R., 5 N and D. K.,” for King George, Five Nations and Delaware King.

On Saturday, August 6, Paxinosa, with Abraham, the Mohegan Chief, arrived at Easton, with about sixty of their people. The Governor personally welcomed the newcomers to the council.

The most important matter broached by Tedyuskung touched on the future home of the Delaware. He then asked that persons be sent to instruct them to build permanent houses of a better class, and that other persons be sent “to instruct us in Christian religion, and instruct our children in reading and writing.”

Tedyuskung then expressed a desire that the Governor would send people to Wyoming during the coming fall or nearly next Spring, that a little fort might be built. The Indians would then move down from Tioga, about the beginning of May.

The conference came to an end on Sunday, August 7. The Governor and his attendants left for Bethlehem, enroute to Philadelphia. The following day many Indians were escorted by Conrad Weiser and a detachment of Provincials under Captain Jacob Arndt, towards Bethlehem.

The “Memorials of the Moravian Church” says, “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 Manakasy, and wrangled with each other over their cup at “The Crown.”

Tedyuskung, Abraham and Paxinosa set out from Fort Allen for Tioga, August 17, the former with a new saddle and bridle, and a supply of snuff, gingerbread, soap and other luxuries—in addition to the gifts he had received at the treaty.

When near Tunkhannock, this company was met by three Indian messengers, with a Peace Belt and four-fold string of wampum, for Tedyuskung from the two principal chiefs in the Ohio region. The King gave the Peace Belt he had received at Easton into the hands of one of his sons and messengers, directing them to carry it with a message which he dictated to the Ohio chiefs. Then he left his companions and started back to Bethlehem, where he arrived August 25. Five days later he arrived in Philadelphia and delivered the message from the Ohio Indians to the Governor and Council.

Tedyuskung urged the prompt assistance of the government in helping them locate at Wyoming, and a week later the Governor and Council decided to send proper persons to build a fort and houses for the Delaware. After much discussion it was decided to send John Hughes, one of the Indian Commissioners, Edward Shippen, prothonotary of the Lancaster County courts, and James Galbraith, also of Lancaster, and a prominent citizen to undertake the journey to Wyoming. On October 5, 1757, they set out and satisfactorily fulfilled the mission on which they were sent.

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Indians Surprise Reapers and Mortally
Wound James Brady August 8, 1778

During the first several years of the Revolution no section of Pennsylvania suffered more from the incursions of the hostile Indians than along both branches of the Susquehanna River, where nearly every man capable of bearing arms responded to the call and left his home and fireside in the care of aged men or young men of his family.

The Indians had taken a heavy toll along the West Branch, so small numbers of local militia and a few provincials garrisoned the several stockades erected as places of refuge for the inhabitants, when the Indians were reported by the scouts to be approaching.

August 8, 1778, a party of Indians fell upon a number of reapers and cruelly murdered young James Brady. The circumstances of the tragic affair, and the prominence of the victim and his illustrious family make the story one of value.

Colonel Thomas Hartley had been sent by General Washington to guard the West Branch Valley, and after arriving at Fort Augusta with his command, it was determined he should proceed to Muncy, erect a stockade, and from that place distribute his soldiers to points where they were most needed.

On the fatal day a corporal and three militiamen were ordered to go to Loyalsock and protect fourteen reapers and cradlers who were assisting Peter Smith, the unfortunate man who lost his wife and four children in the massacre, at what is now Williamsport, June 10. Smith’s farm was on Bull Run, nearly three miles east of Williamsport, and on the north side of the river.

It was the custom in those days of unusual peril, when no commissioned officer was present, for the company to select a leader, who was called “Captain,” and to obey him accordingly. Young James Brady, on account of his shrewdness, dash and well known bravery, was selected to take command of the party.

“Captain” Brady stationed a few sentinels and the rest proceeded to the work at hand on Friday, August 7. At sundown four of the party left and returned to Fort Muncy. The balance of the detail commenced work early the next day; the morning was foggy.

Not an hour had passed before the workers were surprised by the stealthy approach of a large band of Indians, who were able to draw near under the cover of the fog before being discovered.

The sentinels discharged their rifles at the savages and ran towards the reapers. A panic ensued and they all fled with the exception of young Brady, who ran for his rifle, closely pursued by three Indians. When almost within reach of his gun, an Indian shot at Brady, who was probably saved by his timely fall over a sheaf of wheat. When he grasped for his rifle he was shot in the arm, but succeeded in killing the Indian who fired at him.

Brady grabbed a second rifle and as quickly dispatched another Indian, but the savages now closed in on him, and he fought bravely until a warrior struck him with his tomahawk and another pierced him with a spear, which felled him to the ground. Brady had no sooner fallen than his scalp was torn from his head, and a young Indian was called upon to strike him with his tomahawk. The Indians then fled in great haste.

Brady recovered consciousness, and succeeded by walking and creeping, in reaching the cabin of an old man, named Jerome Vanness, near the bank of the river, who had been employed to cook for Brady and his companions while on this tour of duty.

Vanness heard the firing and had concealed himself, but on seeing Brady approach, rushed to his assistance. Brady urged the aged man to fly for his own safety, but he refused to leave his “captain,” and dressed his terrible wounds as best he could.

Brady requested to be assisted down to the river, where he drank much water, and lay until Vanness went back for his gun.

When the terrified reapers and militiamen reached Fort Muncy, Captain Andrew Walker hurried a detail to Smith’s farm. On approaching the spot where the gallant Brady lay weltering in his blood, he heard the relief party, and supposing them to be Indians, immediately jumped to his feet, cocked his rifle, and prepared to defend himself.

When Brady found the party to be friends, he requested to be taken to his mother, who was visiting among relatives at Sunbury.

He was tenderly cared for, placed in a canoe, and taken rapidly down the river. During the trip of nearly thirty miles he became delirious.

When the party arrived at Sunbury, although it was nearly midnight, his mother met the canoe at the landing and assisted to convey her wounded son to the house.

Brady presented a frightful appearance and the grief of his mother was pitiable. He lived five days, dying in the arms of his devoted mother, August 13, 1778.

On the day of his death his reason returned and he related with much detail the bloody scene through which he had passed.

Some writers have stated that Chief Bald Eagle scalped him, and that his brother, Captain Samuel Brady, afterwards avenged his death by shooting Bald Eagle through the heart.

The unfortunate young hero was buried near Fort Augusta. He was mourned by all who knew him.

James Brady was the second son of Captain John and Mary Brady, and a younger brother of Captain Samuel Brady, the famous scout and Indian killer. He was born in 1758, while his parents lived at Shippensburg, Cumberland County, and was in his twenty-first year at the time of his tragic death.

Many anecdotes of the Brady family have been handed down, and one relating to James is interesting. The men of that time wore their hair long, plaited and cued behind the head. James had a remarkably fine head of fiery red hair. A neighbor remarked that she feared the Indians would get this red scalp. James replied: “If they do, it will make them a bright light of a dark night.” In less than a week the noble youth fell beneath the cruel tomahawk and the savages had his red scalp.

His father, Captain John Brady, was murdered near Muncy by the Indians, April 11, 1779, while home on a leave of absence from the Continental Army.

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General John Bull, Distinguished Officer of
Revolutionary War, Died August 9, 1824

Among the early patriots of the Revolution was Colonel John Bull, and he was quite as much a distinguished citizen and statesman. John Bull was born in 1730, in Providence Township, now Montgomery County. He was appointed captain in the Provincial service, May 12, 1758, and the following month was in command of the garrison at Fort Allen.

In October the same year he accompanied General John Forbes’ expedition for the reduction of Fort Duquesne, and rendered important service in the negotiations with the Indians. The instructions to Captain Bull were dated Easton, October 21, 1758, and are most specific. He and William Hayes had volunteered to carry important messages to the Indians on the Ohio.

Pesquetomen and Thomas Hickman, two Delaware Indians from the Ohio, accompanied the provincial messengers, who set out in October, going by way of Reading and Fort Henry to Fort Augusta, where they were equipped and supplied with such articles as they needed. They carried belts of wampum and even the outlines of the speeches they were to make to the western Indians when in council. This mission was performed to the entire satisfaction of the Provincial Government and John Bull became at once a trusted official on important occasions.

In 1771 Captain Bull owned the Norris plantation and mill, and was residing there at the opening of the Revolution. This is on the present site of Norristown. He was a delegate to the Provincial Conferences of January 23, 1775, and of June 18, 1775, and a member of the Provincial Convention of July 15, 1776.

The First Pennsylvania Battalion was raised in pursuance of a resolution of Congress, October 12, 1775. The field officers were elected by Congress, November 25, and John Bull was commissioned a colonel.

On January 20, 1776, the Colonel resigned in a communication to Congress setting forth that he was ill-treated by many of the officers and that nearly one-half of them threatened to resign if he continued in command. He also stated that this circumstance would not alter his conduct or abate his zeal, and whenever called upon again to serve his country, he would, with the greatest pleasure, obey the summons. Colonel Bull was succeeded by Colonel John Philip DeHaas, of Lebanon, who was commissioned two days later.

Colonel Bull served as one of the Commissioners at the important Indian treaty held at Easton, January 30, 1777; in February he was in command of the works at Billingsport.

The Supreme Executive Council created the Board of War, March 13, 1777, and named Colonel John Bull as one of the original members. They organized the following day.

On May 2, he was commissioned colonel of the State Regiment of Foot, which was organized with the residue of the battalions of Colonels Samuel Miles and Samuel J. Atlee, as a nucleus. June 2 this regiment was stationed at Fort Mercer, under command of Colonel Bull, its strength being four hundred and sixty-three.

As Colonel Bull was not an officer of either battalion, the other officers claimed his appointment ruined their rank, and as the regiment was put in the Continental service, June 10, 1777, the Supreme Executive Council appointed Colonel Bull adjutant general of the militia of Pennsylvania, and appointed Walter Stewart to the command of the regiment, which participated at Brandywine and Germantown.

He was also colonel of the Sixth Battalion of Associators, of Philadelphia, during 1777. During October of this year, Colonel Bull’s barns, barracks, grain and hay were burned by the British, and his wagons, horses, sheep and Negroes carried off, although General Howe had given his word to Mrs. Bull that they would not be disturbed.

In December, Brigadier General James Irvine was wounded and captured in the attempted surprise by the British at Whitemarsh, and Colonel Bull succeeded to the command of the Second Brigade Pennsylvania Militia, under command of General John Armstrong.

During Christmas week, 1777, the British crossed the Delaware and made a raid into New Jersey, another detachment at the same time crossed at Gray’s Ferry and took the road to Chester and Darby, with three hundred wagons. Howe and Erskine were with them; they made a demonstration towards Chester. Several pickets and detachments skirmished on their front and flank, under Captain Potterfield.

Colonel John Bull, with his brigade marched to force the foragers to retire by demonstrating against the enemy’s lines. His forces were distributed on the Frankford, Germantown and Ridge Roads, and caused the enemy to sound a general alarm. Bull planted his cannon, on Christmas Day, and fired several shots at the heart of the city, then withdrew to Frankford.

Marshall says: “Col. Bull, on the twenty-fifth instant, made an excursion into Fourth Street, Philadelphia, with two thousand militia, and alarmed the city by firing some pieces of cannon into the air, whereby some of the ball fell about Christ Church. He then made a good retreat back to his station, without the loss of a man.” The enemy, however, made no more raids.

In 1778 and 1779 he was engaged in erecting the defenses for Philadelphia; in 1779 he put down the chevaux de frize in the Delaware, and in 1780 he was Commissary of Purchases at Philadelphia, and appears to have been one of the busiest and most indefatigable of workers.

After the Revolution General Bull located at Northumberland, this was about 1785. In 1802 he was a candidate for the Legislature, but was defeated by Simon Snyder; in 1803, 1804 and 1805 he was elected to the Legislature, and three years later was defeated for Congress on the Federalist ticket.

General Bull died August 9, 1824, at the extreme age of ninety-four years. His wife, Mary Phillips Bull, died February 23, 1811, aged eighty years. The Northumberland Argus says “she was buried in the Quaker graveyard and General Bull, though much reduced by sickness and old age, previous to the grave being closed addressed the people as follows:

“'The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord; may we who are soon to follow be as well prepared as she was.'”

Truly a soldier to the very end of his eventful life.

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Colonel Bouquet Relieved Garrison at Fort
Pitt August 10, 1763

Colonel Henry Bouquet established his rendezvous in Carlisle during the latter part of June, 1763, where he had assembled five hundred troops, selected from his British forces and several companies of Provincial Rangers. He was preparing to rush to the succor of Fort Pitt and other places which were being attacked by Indians under the inspiring leadership of Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawa, who had formed a confederation of the Indians against the English.

Everywhere along the frontier of Pennsylvania was desolation, the settlers had fled in terror and the interior settlements were crowded with refugees. Especially is this true of Carlisle, where the brave Swiss, Colonel Bouquet, was receiving first hand intelligence of the sufferings and devastation caused by the savages.

On July 3, 1763, a courier from Fort Bedford rode into Carlisle, and as he stopped to water his horse, he was surrounded by an anxious crowd, to whom he told a sad tale of woe, and as he hurriedly mounted his horse to ride to Colonel Bouquet’s tent, he shouted, “The Indians will soon be here.”

Terror and excitement spread everywhere, messengers were dispatched in every direction to give the alarm, and the reports, harrowing as they had been, were confirmed by the fugitives who were met on every road and by-path hurrying to Carlisle for refuge.

A party armed themselves and went out to warn the living and bury the dead. They found death and destruction everywhere, and sickened with horror at seeing groups of hogs tearing and devouring the bodies of the dead.

After a delay of eighteen days, Bouquet secured enough wagons, horses and oxen, and began his perilous march towards Fort Pitt. His force was much smaller than General Braddock’s and he had to encounter a foe much more formidable. But Bouquet, the man of iron will and iron hand, had served seven years in American forests and, unlike the unfortunate Braddock, understood his work.

On July 25 Bouquet reached Fort Bedford, where he was fortunate in securing thirty backwoodsmen to accompany him. This little army toiled through the blazing heat of July over the Allegheny Mountains, and reached Fort Ligonier August 2.

The Indians who had besieged that fort for two months disappeared at the approach of the troops. Here Bouquet left his oxen and wagons and resumed his march two days later. At noon on the 5th he encountered the enemy at Bushy Run. A terrible battle raged for two days when the Indians were put to rout. The loss of the British was one hundred and fifteen men and eight officers. The little army was then twenty-five miles distant from Fort Pitt, which place was reached August 10.

The enemy had abandoned the siege on this fort and marched their forces to unite with those engaged in combat with Colonel Bouquet at Bushy Run, so when they were compelled to retreat after that battle, they had not sufficient time, or lacked the courage to attack Fort Pitt with Colonel Bouquet in hot pursuit.

It was at this time that Colonel Bouquet built the little redoubt which is at the present all that remains of Fort Pitt, in fact is the only existing monument of British occupancy in the vicinity of Pittsburgh.

The Indians abandoned all their former settlements, and retreated to the Muskingum; here they formed new settlements, and in the spring of 1764 again began to ravage the frontier. To put an end to these depredations, General Gage planned a campaign into the western wilderness from two points. General Bradstreet was ordered to advance by way of the lakes, and Colonel Bouquet was to go forward from Fort Pitt.

After the usual delays and disappointments in securing troops from Pennsylvania and Virginia to aid in this expedition Colonel Bouquet again arrived at Fort Pitt, September 17, where he was detained until October 3. He led his troops from Fort Pitt following the north bank of the Ohio until he reached the Beaver, where he turned towards central Ohio.

Bouquet refused to listen to either threats or promises from the Indians, and declined to treat with them at all until they should deliver up their prisoners. Although not a single blow was struck the Indians were vanquished.

Bouquet continued his march down the valley of the Muskingum until he reached a spot where some broad meadows offered a suitable place for encampment. Here he received a deputation of principal chiefs, listened to their offers of peace, and demanded the delivery of all the prisoners. Soon band after band of captives arrived, until more than three hundred were brought into the encampment.

The scenes which followed the restoration of these prisoners to their families and friends beggar all description; wives recovering their husbands, husbands their wives, parents regaining children whom they could scarcely recognize, brothers and sisters meeting after long separation and sometimes hardly able to converse in the same language.

The story is told of a woman whose daughter had been carried off nine years before. The mother recognized her child among the prisoners, but the girl, who had almost forgotten her mother tongue, showed no sign of recognition. The mother complained to Colonel Bouquet that the daughter she had so often sung to sleep on her knee had forgotten her. “Sing the song to her that you used to sing when she was a child,” said Colonel Bouquet. She did so, and with a passionate flood of tears the long lost daughter flung herself into her mother’s arms.

Everything being settled the army broke camp November 18, and arrived again at Fort Pitt on the 28th.

Early in January Colonel Bouquet returned to Philadelphia, receiving wherever he went every possible mark of gratitude and esteem from the people. The Assembly of Pennsylvania and the House of Burgesses of Virginia each unanimously voted him addresses of thanks, and on the arrival in England of the first account of this expedition the King promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General, to command the Southern District of North America.

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Colonel Brodhead Wins Thanks of Congress
for Raid Started August 11, 1779

Raids on the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontier in 1778 were made by the Indians of the Ohio country; those of 1779 by the Seneca and Munsee of the North, from the upper tributaries of the Susquehanna and Allegheny Rivers.

The Seneca tribe of Western New York was the largest of the Six Nations, and its warriors second only to the Mohawk in courage and military prowess. Under Cornplanter, Guyasuta and other war captains they distressed a wide extent of territory in New York and Pennsylvania and decorated their huts with the scalps of hundreds of white persons.

Early in the summer of 1779, Washington directed that General John Sullivan lead a large force against the Iroquois country from the east, and in July Colonel Brodhead received permission to undertake a movement of cooperation up the Allegheny Valley.

The expedition consisting of 615 men under Colonel Brodhead left Pittsburgh August 11, 1779. Small garrisons were left to guard Forts Pitt, McIntosh, Crawford and Armstrong. A small band of Delaware accompanied the expedition, and acted as scouting parties under Captain Samuel Brady and Lieutenant Hardin.

The provisions were conveyed up the river by boats as far as the mouth of the Big Mahoning, where the supplies were taken from the boats, loaded on the horses, and the expedition proceeded under the most unfavorable conditions. The expedition here left the river and followed an Indian trail almost due north, through what is now Clarion county.

A few miles below Brokenstraw Creek occurred a fight with savages, near where Thompson is now situated. Lieutenant Hardin was leading the advance, with fifteen white scouts and eight Delaware, when they discovered more than thirty Seneca warriors coming down the river in seven canoes, under the famous Chief Guyasuta. Each party discovered the other at about the same time. The Seneca paddled for shore, threw off their shirts and prepared for battle, little aware of the number of their opponents.

Both sides took to trees and rocks and began a sharp fusillade, until a few minutes another party of scouts appeared, took the Seneca on the flank and poured a hot fire upon them. At the sound of this firing Colonel Brodhead formed his column so as to protect his pack train and then hurried forward with reinforcements. He arrived just in time to witness the retreat of the Seneca, who now realized the strength of the white force. Five Indians were killed and several wounded. Eight guns and seven canoes containing their blankets, shirts and provisions were prizes. Only three of Brodhead’s men were slightly wounded.

The army went into camp near the scene of the conflict and on the following morning moved to Brokenstraw Creek. Here Colonel Brodhead decided to leave his stores and baggage and march light to Conewago. A rude breastwork was constructed of fallen trees and bundles of faggots, on a high bluff which commanded an extensive view up and down the river. This post was garrisoned by an officer and forty men, while the expedition pushed on for Conewago. Upon arrival the Colonel was disappointed to find the Iroquois town deserted and their huts falling into decay.

After a hard march of twenty miles the army came again within sight of the Allegheny River, and from a hilltop they discovered a number of Indian villages, surrounded by great fields of splendid corn and patches of beans, squashes and melons. This Iroquois settlement extended for eight miles along the fertile bottom land of the Allegheny River, where the great Cornplanter reservation was afterwards established.

The Indian spies had discovered the approach of the American forces, and the warriors had fled so hastily with their women and children that they left behind many deer skins and other articles of value.

The Iroquois had long before this learned to build substantial log houses, even squaring the timbers as was the custom of the white pioneer settlers. In this village there were about 130 houses, some of them large enough to accommodate three or four families.

Colonel Brodhead sent a report to General Washington, saying: “The troops remained on the ground three whole days, destroying the towns and corn fields. I never saw finer corn, although it was planted much thicker than is common with our farmers. The quantity of corn and vegetables destroyed at the several towns, from the best accounts I can collect from the officers employed to destroy it, must certainly exceed 500 acres, which is the lowest estimate and the plunder taken is estimated at $3,000. From the great quantity of corn in the ground and the number of new houses built and building, it appears that the whole Seneca and Muncy nations intended to collect in this settlement.”

On the return march the supplies were picked up at Buckaloons and the troops marched across country to French Creek. At Oil Creek the soldiers rubbed themselves freely with oil which they found floating on the water, and received great relief from their rheumatic pains and stiffness. For many years this petroleum was called Seneca oil, and was supposed to be valuable only for its medicinal qualities.

The army soon reached French Creek, at the mouth of the Conneaut Creek, where the Munsee town of Maghingue-chahocking was found to be deserted. It consisted of 35 large huts, which were burned. The Munsee formed a branch of the Wolf clan of the Delaware, and they enjoyed an unenviable reputation as thieves, murderers and general desperadoes.

The army descended French Creek almost to its mouth and thence returned to Fort Pitt by what is known as the Venango path almost due north and south through the heart of Butler County.

The expedition arrived at Fort Pitt on September 14 without the loss of a man or a horse. Brodhead wrote: “I have a happy presage that the counties of Westmoreland, Bedford and Northumberland, if not the whole western frontier, will experience the good effect of it. Too much praise cannot be given to both officers and soldiers of every corps during the whole expedition. Their perseverance and zeal can scarcely be equaled in history.”

The thanks of Congress were voted to Colonel Brodhead, and in a general order, issued October 18, General Washington said: “The activity, perseverance, and firmness of all the officers and men of every description in this expedition, do them great honor, and their services entitle them to the thanks and to this testimonial of the General’s acknowledgement.”

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Era of Indian Traders to Death of Allummapees,
August 12, 1731

At what date and by whom the North and West Branch Valleys of the Susquehanna and the Juniata Valley were first traversed, and the Alleghenies first crossed by Europeans in a journey to the Ohio, is unrecorded, and must forever remain unknown.

The first white men who ventured into the unexplored forests among these mountains were not given to keeping journals of their travels for future historians. No one seems to have thought of immortalizing himself by bequeathing to us a good description giving minute details of the country and its tribes.

At first the natives brought their peltry hundreds of miles to the Delaware River; but, in course of time, these skins and furs became so valuable in Europe that many of the worst class of men were stimulated to penetrate the depths of the forest in order to hasten and monopolize the trade. In this way the entire Juniata and West Branch regions were traversed many years before there was a settlement established in those fertile valleys.

From the days of William Penn’s advent up to 1722 the Indian expenses to the Province were inconsiderable, being limited by law to £50 per annum. In that year the Assembly paid Governor Keith’s expenses for a trip to Albany, where an important council with the Six Nations was held, but in 1727 they refused to pay more than half the amount of an account of Conrad Weiser, who was sent on a similar mission. In 1728, under an alarm, they agreed to pay without limitation the expenses of an Indian conference. After this they sometimes paid half, and sometimes all.

The appetite for presents which the Indians acquired was not easily appeased. Constant disturbances, frequently caused by rum, called for expensive treaties, and the donations allured the Indians and made them more insolent and exacting. The expenses soon rose above £8,000, and the question whether these treaties were more for the benefit of the Proprietaries in buying lands than for the safety of the inhabitants gave rise to heated controversy. The result was that Indian affairs began to take a wider and more public range, and the records of those days begin to throw more light upon the uninhabited interior of the Province.

As early as 1722 we read that “William Wilkins was 150 miles up the Sasquehannah trading for his master.” His master was John Cartlidge, an Indian trader living at Conestoga, and 150 miles farther up the Susquehanna was a venturesome trip at that date. There are also records of several Frenchmen engaged in the trade living among the Indians east of the mountains, extending their travels up the Susquehanna and its branches.

A great council was held in Philadelphia, July 3, 1727, with the chiefs of the Six Nations, but most of those in attendance were Cayuga, Conestoga and Ganawese. Madame Montour, the celebrated interpreter, was present at this conference and exerted her great influence toward an amicable treaty.

In an address made by one of the chiefs to the Governor, he said: “They desire that there may be no settlements made up the Sasquhannah higher than Pextan (Harrisburg), and that none of the settlers thereabouts be suffered to sell or keep any rum there, for that being the road by which their people go out to war, they are apprehensive of mischief if they meet with liquor in these parts. They desire also, for the same reasons, that none of the traders be allowed to carry any rum to the remoter parts where James Le Tort trades,—that is, Allegany on the branch of Ohio. And this they desire may be taken notice of, as the mind of the chiefs of all the Five Nations, for it is all those nations that now speak by them to all our people.”

The following day the Governor made this reply: “We have not hitherto allowed any settlements to be made above Pextan, but, as the young people grow up, they will spread, of course, yet it will not be very speedily. The Governor, however, will give orders to them all to be civil to those of the Five Nations as they pass that way, though it would be better if they would pass the Susquehannah above the mountains. And the sale of rum shall be prohibited both there and at Alegany; but the woods are so thick and dark we cannot see what is done in them. The Indians may stave any rum they find in the Woods, but, as has been said, they must not drink or carry any away.”

The interesting fact ascertained from these two addresses is that James Le Tort, who had settled near Carlisle, as early as 1720, and was a well known trader, had already passed over the Allegheny Mountains and established his trading post on the Ohio River. As he was also known to have lived and traded as early as 1701 on the island at the Forks of the Susquehanna, long known as Packer’s Island, between Sunbury and Northumberland, it may be fairly inferred that Le Tort found his way to the West through the West Branch Valley and thence by the Indian path leading from Great Island through what is now Clearfield and Kittaning to the west.

This is interesting also because it was at this time that the Shawnee began to pass over the mountains, followed by some Delaware, especially those of Conestoga descent, and began to settle on the Ohio. The Shawnee had established a large village at the mouth of Chillisquaque Creek, where it empties into the West Branch, a mile below Lewisburg on the east side of the stream.

The second inference is that at the date of the above conference there were white people already seated on the Juniata and Susquehanna, farther west than Paxtang, or there were already such decided symptoms of danger in that direction that the Iroquois deputies considered it necessary to forbid that anyone should presume to settle beyond the Kittatinny Mountains. A violation of this precautionary restriction led to a series of complaints about intruders into these valleys for the next thirty years.

During the first quarter of the eighteenth century the history of Indian affairs on the Susquehanna and Juniata, and especially the West Branch of the former river, is nearly all connected closely with the Iroquois agency on the northern border of the Province.

The principal representatives of this great Nation were Allummapees, also called Sassoonan, the great Delaware King, and Shikellamy, the great Oneida vicegerent.

Allummapees resided at Paxtang, as early as 1709. He removed from Paxtang to Shamokin about 1718, and there resided among the Munsee, the most belligerent of the Lenape clans. He ruled as king from 1718 till his death. He was a good-hearted chieftain, true to the English and an advocate of peace. When he died he was supposed to be one hundred years of age. His death occurred August 12, 1731, when in a state of helpless intoxication he was stabbed to the heart by his nephew, Shockatawlin, of whom Allummapees was jealous.

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Indians Massacre Major John Lee and
Family, August 13, 1782

On the evening of August 13, 1782, John Lee and his family with one or two neighbors were seated at the supper table in their comfortable log home in what is now Winfield, Union County. Without a moment’s warning a band of Indians, supposed to be sixty or seventy in number, rushed in on them, and killed Lee and his family. The events of this crime rank among the most cruel and revolting of those along the frontier.

A young woman, named Katy Stoner, hurried upstairs and concealed herself behind the chimney, where she remained undiscovered and escaped. She related the details of this horrible tragedy.

Lee was tomahawked and scalped, and an old man named John Walker shared the same fate. Mrs. Claudius Boatman and daughter, who were guests of the Lees, were killed and scalped; Mrs. Lee, with her small child, and a larger boy, named Thomas, were led away captives.

The savages fled from the scene along the Great Path, leading up that side of the West Branch Valley, over the White Deer Mountains, and then crossed to the eastern side of the river below Muncy.

One of Lee’s sons, Robert, happened to be absent and thus escaped the fate of his parents. He was returning, however, and came in sight of the house just as the Indians were leaving it, but they did not observe him. He fled to Northumberland and gave the alarm.

A party of about twenty volunteers was organized by Colonel Samuel Hunter, at Fort Augusta, and hastened in pursuit. On arriving at Lee’s house they beheld some of the victims yet alive and writhing in agony. Lee was not dead, and Mrs. Boatman’s daughter also survived. Litters were hastily constructed, and they were carried to Fort Augusta. Lee expired in great agony soon after arrival at the fort. Miss Boatman was nursed back to health and lived many years afterwards.

Colonel Hunter and his party, without delaying to bury the dead, pushed on after the savages as rapidly as possible with a view of overtaking them, and releasing the captives. They came in sight of them above Lycoming Creek.

In crossing White Deer Mountains Mrs. Lee was accidentally bitten on her ankle by a rattlesnake, and her leg became so swollen and pained her so severely, that she traveled with great difficulty. The Indians, finding themselves pursued, urged her along as fast as possible, but she weakened rapidly. When near the mouth of Pine Creek, about four miles below the present Jersey Shore, Mrs. Lee’s strength failed her and she seated herself on the ground.

The whites were rapidly approaching and the Indians were afraid she would fall into their hands. A warrior stealthily slipped up behind her, placed the muzzle of his rifle close to her head and fired. The entire upper portion of her head was blown off. One of the Indians then snatched up her young child and holding it by the feet, dashed it against a tree.

The Indians then fled with renewed speed, crossing the river at Smith’s fording, at Level Corner, and hurried up through Nippenose Valley.

When Colonel Hunter and his men came up to where Mrs. Lee was murdered her body was yet warm. The sight was horrible. The child was but little injured, but was found moaning piteously.

The pursuit was now so hot that near Antes’ Gap, the Indians separated, and ran up both sides of the mountains. Colonel Hunter concluded that further pursuit was imprudent, and the chase was abandoned.

The detail returned, buried the body of Mrs. Lee, and brought back the child. At Lee’s house they halted and buried the dead there.

Young Thomas Lee who was taken prisoner, was not recovered for many years afterwards. The son, Robert, made arrangements with the Indians to bring his brother to Tioga Point, where he was delivered to his friends. Such was the love of Indian life, however, that he was so reluctant to return, they were obliged to bind him and place him in a canoe. When near Wilkes Barre they untied him, but as soon as the canoe touched shore he darted off like a deer. It was several hours before he was retaken. On arriving at Northumberland he evinced all the sullenness of a captive. Indian boys and girls, near his own age were made to play about him for days before he showed any disposition to join with them. At last he began to inquire the names of things, and by degrees he became civilized, obtained a good education, and lived a useful life.

Thomas lived on the home farm for many years, as is proved by a deed which he and his wife, Eliza, executed April 1, 1797, to William Beard and Sarah, his wife. Robert Lee and his descendants lived on part of the property as late as the beginning of the 19th century.

The massacre at Lee’s home resulted in the death of seven persons, and only four of the six taken captive were returned to their kin. The others were two sisters and a brother, liberated in 1785.

Since the beginning of spring in the year 1782, there had been sixty-two inhabitants butchered by the Indians.

Judge John Joseph Henry, in a letter to Secretary of War, says that when his father was returning home from Congress, then sitting in New York (1784–85), he found Rebecca Lee on the road desolate and moneyless. He took her to his own home in Lancaster, and, a few months later, restored her to their brother, Robert, at Northumberland. The sister was recovered at Albany a year later, and Thomas was turned over to his brother in 1788.

Lee was the assessor in the township in which he lived. The Indians hated him because they believed he had cheated them in a trade and they sought an opportunity for revenge.

Lee was a prominent citizen, a major in the Northumberland militia, February 7, 1776, and December 26, following, when a company volunteered for the main army, Lee was chosen captain. The company was attached to Colonel James Potter’s Second Battalion and saw much active service.

Claudius Boatman was a Frenchman and after the massacre of his wife, he took the remainder of his family, in 1786, and settled far up Pine Creek. He had several daughters, one of whom married John English. Claudius died in 1802, and was buried in the village of Waterville.

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Mollie Maguires Commit Murders on
Bloody Saturday, August 14, 1875

Such a great number of outrages were committed in the anthracite coal regions by the Mollie Maguires on August 14, 1875, that the day came to be known as “Bloody Saturday.”

Early in the month symptoms of smouldering disorder began to increase in severity and numbers. The situation became so alarming that Superintendent Franklin, of the Philadelphia and Reading Company arranged to hold a meeting with the two great Pinkerton detectives, James McParlan and Captain Linden, who had been working for some time among the members of this outrageous organization of criminals.

This meeting was held at Glen Onoko, in the environs of Mauch Chunk. Here the three men cleverly managed to get together, and in the quiet shadows of the great hills, in that Switzerland of America, they fully discussed the situation and the work being performed.

It so happened that while they were returning from this meeting McParlan, otherwise James McKenna, as he was known to the Mollies, encountered some of the ringleaders of that organization: Alexander Campbell, Hugh McGehan, and others, all under suspicion for murder.

McParlan found himself in the position where it was necessary to accompany the Mollies to their homes, but he never was in their company very many minutes before he learned much of value to his chief, Allan Pinkerton. Captain Linden remained in Mauch Chunk, and Superintendent Franklin returned to Philadelphia.

B. F. Yost, a policeman of Tamaqua, had been cruelly murdered, July 6, and word had reached the detective that John P. Jones, of near Lansford, Carbon County, was marked as the next victim of the Mollies. He was murdered by James Kerrigan, Mike Doyle and Edward Kelly, September 3, following.

The Mollies sat together in the smoking car bound for the Summit. McParlan was under suspicion by the Mollies, and Linden had slipped into the car unobserved, ready at any moment to take the part of his brother detective, should he find himself in trouble. Nothing occurred to require his services and Captain Linden feigned to sleep the time away, until the drunken crowd left the car. Linden continued his journey to Tamaqua, and there awaited McParlan’s arrival.

Reaching Summit, Campbell pressed the detective to remain all night at his house, and he thought it best not to refuse and did so.

Campbell believed McParlan or McKenna as he knew him, had been in Mauch Chunk that day to obtain a new stock of counterfeit money, which he was supposed to be passing. McKenna had exchanged some money for crisp bills, but they were genuine. Campbell arranged with the detective for a supply of the “spurious” bills, to be delivered in the near future.

This tended to restore Campbell’s confidence in McKenna, and they were soon discussing Mollie topics with their former freedom of speech. Campbell was a candidate for the office of body master and McKenna was strongly for his election.

Campbell then told him the plans for killing Jones, and after McKenna sang “Widow Machree” for Mrs. Campbell, he retired to his apartment.

Then came the Bloody Saturday events, which proved a horrible experience for the people of Mahanoy Valley. The crimes for that day were two dastardly assassinations and one case of manslaughter, besides several cases of lesser crimes.

The most heinous crime was the murder of Thomas Gwyther, Justice of the Peace, of Girardville. He was an inoffensive man, of mild disposition and a reputable, public spirited citizen.

The miners of the Mahanoy Valley had this day received the first pay of any consequence since the long strike began and the result was that Girardville, in the evening, was crowded with drunken men.

Gangs of ruffians flourished revolvers, looking for some one to shoot. A fight ensued and an arrest resulted. Application was made of Squire Gwyther for a warrant and as he was in the act of preparing it a man stepped up to him and shot him dead. The assassin fled and escaped.

At Shenandoah, Gomer James, a young Welsh miner, who had defended his friend, Tom Jones, when assaulted by Mollies, August 11, 1873, and had since been marked by them, was killed at a picnic in Hecksher’s Grove, while he was inside a bar, waiting upon his patrons. The assassin escaped in the darkness.