Annals of
Sou thwesterit' PennsylvaniaSOUTHWESTERN PENN SYLVANIA
being then dark. We encamped and thought ourselves safe enough to
sleep.
"Saturday 29. We set out early, got to Allegheny, made raft,
and with much difficulty got over to an island, a little above Shannopin's Town. The Major having fallen from the raft, and my
fingers frost-bitten, and the sun down and very cold, we contented ourselves to encamp on that island. It was deep water between us and
the shore; but the cold did do us some service, for in the morning it
was frozen hard enough for us to pass over on the ice.
"Sunday 30. WVe set out about ten miles to John Frazier's at
Turtle Creek, and rested that evening.
"Monday 3 I. Next day we waited on Queen Aliquippa, who lives
now at the mouth of Youghiogany. She said she would never go down
to the River Allegheny to live, except the English built a fort, and
then she would go andlive there.
"Tuesday January I, I724. We set out from John Frazier's and
at night encamped at Jacob's Cabins.
"Wednesday 2. Set out and crossed Youghiogheny on the ice.
Got to my house in the new settlement.
"Thursday 3. Rain.
"Friday 4. Set out for Wills Creek, where we arrived on Sunday,
January 6."
The diaries of these two brave men are two of the most substantial contributions to American history that have ever been preserved.
The rugged experiences which they had together served both of them
well in their later lives. Both of them were in the army of General
Braddock as he made his attempt to dislodge the French from Fort
Duquesne in I755. Gist did not live many years, but his sons made
their substantial contribution to the cause of American independence;
one of them, Thomas Gist, destined to play a large part in the development of Southwestern Pennsylvania. This was Washington's first
trip over the Allegheny Mountains. He was destined to make five
others in I754, I755, I758, I1770, and I1784, and almost another at the
time of the Whiskey Insurrection, while he was President.
82CHAPTER VII
Fort 7rent and Fort Duquesne
Governor Dinwiddie Plans the Fortification at the Forks of the OhioCaptain William Trent Proceeds With the Fort's Erection-Washington Passes Trent's Detachment Westward Bound-The French
Prepare Plans for Fort Duquesne-They Equip Their Expedition
Down the Allegheny-The Erection of Fort Trent Almost Completed on April I7, I754-The French, Numbering a Thousand,
Under Captain Contracoeur, Demand Peaceable Evacuation from
Ensign Ward-Description of the Enlarged Fort Finished by the
French-Religious Services at Fort Duquesne.
The spring and summer of I754 was a period of interesting developments at the Forks of the Ohio. Long before Washington and Gist
had started for Fort LeBoeuf, the Virginians were perfecting their
plans to build a stronghold there. Governor Robert Dinwiddie was a
shrewd Scotchman, who had served as a clerk in a custom house in the
WVest Indies and commended himself to favor and promotion by discovering a vast system of fraud practiced by his superiors. He arrived
in Virginia in the early part of I752, and was appointed LieutenantGovernor. In December of that year he sent to England an elaborate
report recommending a series of forts on the western frontier. When
Christopher Gist came back in 1 751  and established his new settlement
between present Connellsville and Uniontown in I752, Governor Dinwiddie and his council determined to protect these pioneers by proper
fortifications. The first strong building erected by the Virginians west
of the Laurel Hill, with the possible exception of the dwellings on
Gist's plantation, was the storehouse of the Ohio Company at the
mouth of Redstone Creek, from which point they could have easy
river transportation down the Monongahela to the Forks. ThisSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
storehouse was located at present Brownsville, at the terminus of
Nemacolin's Path.
Captain William Trent is entitled to the historical distinction of
attempting to build the earliest fortification, which we shall designate
in this narrative as Fort Trent. He was born in Chester County,
Pennsylvania, in  171  5, and in I 746 was appointed a captain of Provincial soldiers by Governor James Hamilton for an intended expedition
against Canada. His commission expired the next year and he was
honorably discharged. In I750 he formed a partnership with George
Croghan, the famed Indian trader, having been, with Croghan,
appointed a Justice in the courts of Lancaster County. He was sent
by Pennsylvania as an Indian commissioner to Logstown in I752, and
all of these operations made him familiar with the strategic points in
this western country. Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, sought his
services in 1753, and thus sent him to the Ohio to select a site for the
new English fort, and to proceed with its erection.
After the French had built Fort Duquesne and planted themselves
firmly there, Captain Trent returned to the service of Pennsylvania in
I755, and became a member of the Proprietary Council. He again
entered the service of Virginia in I757, and the next year accompanied the Forbes expedition to Fort Duquesne, and had the satisfaction of seeing it reduced to ashes by the French, nearly five years after
his thwarted efforts. He was a trader at Fort Pitt in I763, and his
large trading house there was destroyed by the Indians in that year,
he taking refuge in the fort, and being attached to the military operations of the commandant, Captain Ecuyer. He was at the Treaty of
Fort Stanwix in I768, when the Penns negotiated for this vast territory concerning which we are writing. At the outset of the Revolution, at the age of sixty, he was given a major's commission in the
Continental Army.
Governor Dinwiddie was eminently resourceful, and all the while
that Washington and Gist were busy with their mission to the French,
he was preparing Captain Trent to undertake the occupation of the
Forks of the Ohio to back up his demands. As we shall see, the
French were likewise as active. After his return to Williamsburg,
Washington prepared a map of his travels, and presented it to Governor Dinwiddie on January I7, I754, with the following writing
upon it:
"The French are now coming from their forts of Lake Erie and
on the creek to Venango to erect another fort, and from thence they
84FORT TRENT AND FORT DUQUESNE
design to go to the Forks of the Monongahela and to Logstown, and
to continue down the river building at the most convenient places in
order to prevent our settlements, etc. N. B. A little below Shanapin's
Town in the Fork is the place where we are going immediately to erect
a fort as it commands the Ohio and the Monongahela."
It was Governor Dinwiddie and Captain Trent who planned Fort
Trent and Washington knew of their plans before he left for Fort
LeBoeuf on October 3I, I753. The contest as to whether Southwestern Pennsylvania was a part of the Province of Virginia, really
had its beginning then, and was destined to end twenty-five years later
during the throes of the Revolution, when common cause led to an
amicable adjustment of the lines. While Virginia seemed to take the
initiative in this movement, Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, sent
George Croghan and Andrew Montour to Logstown in January, 1754,
to learn from Chiefs Tanacharison and Scarouady what assistance
Virginia had given to the Indians there. Croghan and Montour found
some French soldiers at Logstown, and there was much drinking
among the Indians. The noted trader, John Patton, who was with
them, was taken captive by the French, but later released. The Indians evidently did not fully comprehend the growing differences as to
the lines of the respective provinces, for the three Chiefs, Tanacharison, Scarouady and Shingass addressed a speech to Governor Hamilton thus: "We now request that our brother, the Governor of Virginia, may build a strong house at the Forks of the Monongahela, and
send some of your 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 shall 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."
Following the refusal of the French to deliver up the valley of the
Ohio to the English, the plans of Governor Dinwiddie included not
only the sending of Captain William Trent's company to build the
fort, but a follow-up campaign to hold it, should the French descend
the valley and attempt to take it. In organizing the company, Captain
Trent was commissioned to recruit one hundred men, and he chose
John Frazer as lieutenant, and Edward Ward as ensign. Frazer and
Ward became equally famous as the frontier issues became moreSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
intense; Frazer later becoming a justice on the Bedford County Court,
and Ward in the Yohogania Court set up by the Virginians at Heathtown, near West Elizabeth. With such men on the bench it is little
wonder that they knew how to deal with frontier legal difficulties.
Captain Trent started west with seventy soldiers and artisans, going
first to Wills Creek, which he made his military base, and then over to
Gist's plantation and to the mouth of Redstone Creek, where they built
the first storehouse for the Ohio Company. Descending the Monongahela River in canoes and such larger boats as were necessary to
transport materials, they arrived at the Forks of the Ohio on February I7, I754, and promptly began the erection of the fort.
It was a detachment of Captain Trent's forces that Washington
and Gist met on January 6th, just west of Wills Creek, when they
passed the seventeen loaded horses, and the next day, some families.
After Washington had made his report, Governor Dinwiddie lost no
time in the preparations to back up Captain Trent with a superior
force. He appointed Colonel Joshua Fry to head the larger force,
and made Major Washington a lieutenant-colonel on March i5, I754.
Colonel Fry died as the result of an accidental fall from his horse on
May 3I, I754, and that automatically placed Colonel Washington in
command of this expedition, and paved his way to fame. Upon the
receipt of his commission he thus expressed himself as showing his
dominant purpose, even at this youthful age: "I flatter myself, that,
under a skilful commander, or man of sense (whom I most sincerely
wish to serve under), with my own application and diligent study of
my duty, I shall be able to conduct my steps without censure, and, in
time, render myself worthy of the promotion, that I shall be favored
with now."
To encourage enlistments in the expedition, Governor Dinwiddie
issued a proclamation granting 200,000 acres of land on the Ohio to
be divided among the officers and men who might serve. Washington
tactfully complained of the insufficient clothing and other equipment,
and he had some difficulty with his men, for he wrote that it was "a
fatiguing time to me, in managing a number of self-willed, ungovernable people." Major John Carlyle was getting the wagons ready to
convey the provisions, and Captain Jacob Van Braam, Ensign William Polson, Lieutenant John Mercer, and Captain Thomas Waggener were out through Augusta County and elsewhere making such
enlistments as they could secure. Washington then entered this record in his diary:
86FORT TRENT AND FORT DUQUESNE
"March 3I, I754. On the 3Ist March, I received from his Honour a Lieutenant-Colonel's Commission in the Virginia Regiment,
whereof Joshua Fry, Esquire, was Colonel, dated the I sth, with
orders to take the troops which were at that time quartered at Alexandria under my command, and to march with them towards the
Ohio, there to aid Captain Trent in building forts and in defending
the possessions of his Majesty against the attempts and hostilities of
the French.
"April the 2nd. Every thing being ready, we began our march
according to our orders, the 2d of April, with two companies of foot,
commanded by Captain Peter Hog, and Lieutenant Jacob Vanbraam,
five sub-alterns, two sergeants, six corporals, one drummer, and one
hundred twenty soldiers, one surgeon, one Swedish gentleman who was
a volunteer, two wagons, guarded by one lieutenant, sergeant, corporal and twenty-five soldiers. We left Alexandria on Tuesday noon
and pitched our tents about four miles from Cameron, having marched
six miles."
Captain William Trent's company of fort builders was the first
movement of troops into Southwestern Pennsylvania, the French force
led by Captain Contrecoeur, the second, and Lieutenant-Colonel
George Washington's expedition was the third. Washington's letters
to Dinwiddie must be depended upon to give the true details of his
experiences with Jumonville and at Fort Necessity, because his own
memoranda, made on the march, were captured by the French at Fort
Necessity. These memoranda were sent to Paris, translated and
garbled, re-translated into English, published in London, and brought
back to America in I757.  After reading the translation, Washington stated that he found them certainly and strangely metamorphosed, some parts left out, and many things added. His expense
account adds some light, however, and reveals that they traveled
through Loudon County, across the Blue Ridge at Vestal's Gap,
the Shenandoah at John Vestal's Ferry, thence to Winchester, to
Edward's Fort on the south branch of the Great Cacapehon Creek,
to Pearsall's on the south branch of Potomac, thence across the river
to Colonel Cresap's (Old Town) and thence up the Potomac to Wills
Creek. His next appearance was at Wills Creek on April 23, I754,
when he made an address, under his Indian name of Conotocarios, to
Half King Tanacharison, and the Chiefs and warriors of the Shaw87SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
nees and Loups, whom he designated as "Friends and Brethren."
This Indian name was bestowed upon his great-grandfather, John
Washington, who had been a colonel of Virginia militia. Washington
was here to learn of the surrender of Fort Trent just one week before,
a structure which he was never permitted to see, nor to garrison. Let
us now observe the preparations of the French during the same period.
When good weather again set in during the early part of I 754, the
French resumed their operations towards the Forks of the Ohio. The
fort at Venango was completed during the month of April and was
called "Fort Machault," in honor of Jean Baptiste Machault, a French
financier of I7OI-94. In their writings concerning the expedition they
used this name continually. One writer had described this fort as
being located on a rising piece of ground sixty yards west of the Allegheny River near the mouth of French Creek. It was built of saplings
eight inches thick and thirteen feet high, set in stockade fashion.
There were six ranges of barracks inside of it, two stories in height.
The French built with the idea of permanency, and were exceedingly
diligent in their preparations to build farther down the river. When
Washington was at Fort LeBoeuf on December 1 3,  1753, he estimated
the number of their canoes at 220, and all the while they were building more canoes and some batteaux for the transportation of troops,
munitions and provisions down the river.
The plans for the coming Fort Duquesne were being prepared by
Chevalier le Mercier, who had also planned Fort Machault, and
other fortresses in Canada. The fort was actually built later under
the direction of Contrecoeur, who was later succeeded in command by
Dumas, who in turn was followed by Captain Beaujeu. On March 1 2,
I754, there was evidence before the Provincial Assembly that there
were forts at both Venango and Logstown, but there is little detail as
to the latter. The French did, however, send Monsieur LaForce to
Logstown when Croghan and Montour were there in January, when
LaForce addressed the Six Nations Indians at Logstown: "Children;
I came here to know your minds whether you intend to side with the
English or not, and without asking you I am convinced that you have
thrown away your Fathers and taken to your Brothers, the English.
I tell you now that you have but a short time to see the sun, for in
twenty days you and your Brothers, the English, shall die." To this
rather forceful ultimatum, the speaker for the Six Nations made reply:
"Fathers, You tell us in twenty days we and our Brethren the English
883FORT TRENT AND FORT DUQUESNE
must all die. I believe you speak true, that is you intend to kill us if
you can; but I tell you to be strong and bring down your soldiers for
we are ready to receive you in battle but not in peace. We are not
afraid of you, and after an engagement you will know who are the
best men, you or we."
It was George Croghan who sent this information to Governor
Hamilton, that he might transmit it to the Governor of Virginia.
Croghan had stopped at Fort Trent on his way east from Logstown,
and reported Captain Trent and his men at the mouth of the Monongahela building a fort, which seemed to give the Indians great pleasure and put them in high spirits. There is little question that the
French had scouts out all the while and knew the movements of the
English. The events of the next few weeks indicated that they were
decidedly active in their preparations.
Captain William Trent and his soldiers and artisans were busy
for exactly two months in building their new stronghold before the
French arrived on April I7, I754. The foundations of the fort were
laid and the superstructure begun. Captain Trent had gone back to
Wills Creek to supervise the bringing up of additional material and
provisions, and Lieutenant John Frazer was temporarily absent at his
Turtle Creek trading post. The French arrived one thousand strong
on the north side of the Allegheny on the evening of April i6, I754,
and Ensign Ward was soon to learn that he could not combat a superior
force of that proportion. Captain Contrecoeur sent over to Ensign
Ward the following communication, representing himself as "Captain
of one of the Companies of the Detachment of the French Marine,
Commander-in-Chief of his most Christian Majestie's Troops now on
the beautiful River, to the Commander of Those of the King of Great
Britain at the Mouth of the River Mohongialo:
"SIR:
"Nothing can surprise me more than to see you attempt a settlement upon the lands of the King, my Master, which obliges me now,
Sir, to send you this Gentleman, Chevalier le Mercier, Captain of the
Bombardiers, Commander of the Artillery of Canada, to know of
you, Sir, by virtue of what authority you are come to fortify yourself
within the dominions of the King, my Master. This action seems so
contrary to the last Treaty of Peace at Aix-la-Chapelle between His
Most Christian Majesty and the King of Great Britain, that I do not
09SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
know to whom to impute such an usurpation, as it is incontestible that
the lands situated along the beautiful River belong to His Most
Christian Majesty.
"I am informed, Sir, that your undertaking has been concerted by
none else than by a Company who have more in view the advantage of
trade than to endeavor to keep the Union of Harmony which subsists
between the Crowns of France and Great Britain, although it is as
much the interest, Sir, of your nation as ours to preserve it.
"Let it be as it will, Sir, if you come into this place, charged with
orders, I summon you in the name of the King, my Master, by virtue
of orders which I got from my General, to retreat peaceably with your
troops from off the lands of the King (and not to return, or else I
find myself obliged to fulfil my duty and compel you to it. I hope,
Sir, you will not defer an instant, and that you will not force me to
the last extremity); in that case, Sir, you may be persuaded that I
will give orders that there shall be no damage done by my detachment.                                         "CONTRECOEUR."
The remainder of Captain Contrecoeur's emblandished ultimatum
contains threats of the seizure of goods and the taking of Ensign
Ward and his men captive, in case of their refusal. Tanacharison, the
Half King, was present at this time, and told Ensign Ward to ask
Contrecoeur the privilege of getting word to his superior officer, Captain Trent, before complying with his demand. Contrecoeur refused,
and Ward was under the necessity of delivering up the half-finished
fort to the French. The odds were too much against him, but Contrecoeur treated him kindly, ate with him, and wished him well as he
started up the Monongahela on his way to Virginia. Ward naturally
trailed back with his little company to Wills Creek. Possibly two
weeks afterwards, Ensign Ward reached Wills Creek and reported the
occurrence to Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, who in turn submitted
the information to Governor Hamilton by the following communication sent to Philadelphia:
"HONORABLE SIR:
"It is with the greatest concern I acquaint you that Mr. Ward,
Ensign in Capt. Trent's Company, was compelled to surrender his
small fort at the Forks of Mohongialo to the French on the seventeenth instant, who fell down from Weningo with a fleet of three hundred and sixty battoes and canoes, with upwards of one thousand men
90FORT TRENT AND FORT DUQUESNE
and eighteen pieces of artillery, which they planted against the fort,
drew up their men and sent the enclosed summons to Mr. Ward, who
having but an inconsiderable number of men and no cannon to make a
proper defense, was obliged to surrender. They suffered him to draw
off his men, arms and working tools, and gave leave that he might
retreat to the inhabitants....
"I have arrived thus far with a detachment of one hundred and
fifty men. Col. Fry with the remainder of the regiment and artillery
is daily expected. In the meantime we advance slowly across the
mountains, making the roads as we march fit for the carriage of our
great guns, c., and are designed to proceed as far as the mouth of
Red Stone Creek, which enters the Mohongialo about thirty-seven
miles above the fort taken by the French, from whence we have a
water carriage down the river, and there is a store house built by the
Ohio Company which may serve as a receptacle for our ammunitions
and provisions.
"Besides these French that came from Weningo, we have creditable accounts that another party are coming up Ohio. We also have
intelligence that six hundred of the Chippoways and Ottoways are
marching Scioda Creek to join them."
Captain Contrecoeur then proceeded to enlarge and complete the
fort which Captain Trent and his courageous soldiers had begun, and
called it Fort Duquesne, in honor of the new Governor of Canada.
John McKinney has given us the best description of Fort Duquesne.
He was a prisoner there in I 756, and was later taken to Canada, from
whence he escaped to Connecticut. He wrote:
"Fort Duquesne is situated on the east side of the Monongahela,
in the fork between that and the Ohio. It is four square, has bastions at each corner; it is about fifty yards long and forty yards wide,
has a well in the middle of the fort but the water is bad. About half
the fort is made of square logs, and the other half next the water of
stockadoes; there entrenchments cast up all around the fort about 7
feet high, which consists of stockadoes drove into the ground near
each other, and wattled with poles like basket work, against which
earth is thrown up, in a gradual ascent; the steep part is next the fort,
and has three steps all along the entrenchment for the men to go up
and down, to fire at an enemy; these entrenchments are about four
rods from the fort, and go all around, as well on the side next
giIllustrations
VOLUME I                          PAGE
Site of Loyalhanna Indian Town at Ligonier...............                 5
Raystown Branch of Juniata River at Wolfsburg...........    10
Indian Trails and Towns-Southwestern Pennsylvania- I740.    17
Kittanning Indian Town Marker at Kittanning.............                 2 I
Logstown Marker at the Byers Plant.....................    23
Quemahoning Dam, Somerset County, Above Johnstown.....   3I
The Governor's Palace, Williamsburg, Virginia............ 40
The House of Burgesses at the Capitol, Williamsburg, Virginia    4I
Conrad WVeiser......................................                     54
Airplane View of the Site of Logstown...................    6I
Youghiogheny River.................................73
Plaque on George Washington Bridge at 4oth Street, Pittsburgh    75
Washington and Gist's Crossing.........................   8I
Ohiopyle Falls on the Youghiogheny River................ 99
Jumonville's Grave..................................                   I02
Western Pennsylvania Historical Society Members at Fort
Necessity, July I7, I937............................   Io05
General Edward Braddock.............................   I 1I5
Fort Duquesne, 1754.................................   I20
View in Braddock Park Showing Grave and Trail Marker... 35
Braddock's Field in I803..............................   I39
Forbes Road Scar West of Bouquet's Breastworks..........   I62
Colonel Henry Bouquet...............................                    I7I
General John Forbes..................................   I8I
Forbes Road, One lMile West of Fort Dudgeon (I936)......   I83
Provincial Hikers at Bouquet's Block House (1936)........   I85
Scar of Historic Highways, Five Miles West of Bedford
(1935).........................................                    I87
xiSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the water as the land; the outside of the entrenchment next the water,
joins to the water. The fort has two gates, one of which opens to the
land side is, in fact a draw-bridge, which in daytime serves as a bridge
for the people, and in the night is drawn up by iron chains and levers.
"Under the draw-bridge is a pit or well, the width of the gate, dug
down deep to water; the pit is about eight or ten feet broad; the
gate is made of square logs; the back gate is made of logs also, and
goes upon hinges, and has a wicket in it for the people to pass through
in common; there is no ditch or pit at this gate. It is through this
gate they go to the magazine and bake-house, which are built a little
below the gate within the entrenchments; the magazine is made almost
under ground, made of large logs and covered four feet thick with clay
over it. It is about ten feet wide and about thirty five feet long; the
bake-house is opposite the magazine; the waters sometimes rise so
high as that the whole fort is surrounded with it, so that canoes may
go around it; he imagines he saw it rise at one time near thirty feet.
The stockadoes are round logs better than a foot over, and about
eleven or twelve feet high; the joints are secured by split logs; in the
stockadoes are loop holes made so as to fire slanting to the ground.
The bastions are filled with earth solid about eight feet high; each
bastion has four carriage guns about four pounds; no swivels, nor
any mortars that he knows of; they have no cannon but at the bastion. The back of the barracks and buildings in the fort are of logs
placed about three feet distant from the logs of the fort; between
the buildings and the logs of the fort it is filled with earth about
eight feet high, and the logs of the fort extend about four feet higher,
so that the whole height of the fort is about 1 2 feet.
"There are no pickets or palisadoes on the top of the fort to
defend it against sealing; the eaves of the houses in the fort are about
even with the top of the logs or wall of the fort; the houses are all
covered with boards, as well the roof as the side that looks inside the
fort, which they saw there by hand; there are no bogs nor morasses
near the fort, but good dry ground; a little without musket shot of
the fort, in the fork, is a thick wood of some bigness, full of large
timber.
"About thirty yards from the fort, without the intrenchments and
picketing, is a house which contains a great quantity of tools, such as
broad and narrow axes, planes, chisels, hoes, mattocks, pick-axes,
spades, shovels, c., and a great quantity of wagon wheels and tire.
92FORT TRENT AND FORT DUQUESNE
Opposite the fort, on the west side of the Monongahela, is a long, high
mountain, about a quarter of a mile from the fort, from which the
fort might very easily be bombarded, and the bombarder be quite
safe; from them the distance might not exceed a quarter of a mile;
the mountain is said to extend six miles up the Monongahela from the
fort; Monongahela, opposite the fort, is not quite a musket shot wide;
neither the Ohio nor the Monongahela can be forded, opposite the
fort. The fort is no defense against bombs. There are about 250
Frenchmen in this fort; besides Indians, which at one time amounted
to 500oo; but the Indians were very uncertain; sometimes hardly any
there; there were about 20 or 30 Indians about the fort."
Two other interesting characters give corroborative evidence of
the care with which Fort Duquesne was constructed. One of them,
Captain Robert Stobo, was delivered up to the French as a hostage
at the evacuation of Fort Necessity later in the year, by Colonel Washington, and while held there, he sent to the Governor of Virginia a
letter under date of July 28th, in which he wrote: "On the other side
you have a draft of the fort, such as time and opportunity would permit of at this time. The garrison consists of two hundred workmen,
and all the rest went in several detachments to the number of one
thousand, two days hence. Mercier, a fine soldier, goes; so that
Contrecoeur, with a few young officers and cadets, remain here. A
lieutenant went off some days ago, with two hundred men, for provisions. He is daily expected. When he arrives, the garrison willLaForce is greatly wanted here-no scouting now. He certainly must
have been an extraordinary man amongst them-he is so much regretted and wished for." Writing the next day he adds this interesting item: "The Indians have great liberty here; they go out and in
when they please without notice. If one hundred trusty Shawanese,
Mingoes and Delawares were picked out, they might surprise the fort,
lodging themselves under the platform behind the palisades by day,
and at night secure the guard with tomahawks. The guard consists of
forty men only, and five officers. None lodge in the fort but the
guard, except Contreceur, the rest in bark cabins around the fort."
Thomas Forbes gives a meagre description of the fort in the summer of I754, and writes about the activities of the French in completing it. He was a French soldier, who participated in the conflict at
the Great Meadows with Washington, and he reported provisions
93SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
sufficient to last two years, and a garrison of 400 men in December,
I754. One deserter from the French forces told about the digging
of mines in order to blow up the English in case of attack. All of
these preparations indicated that the French realized the importance
of building a strong post to hold their dominance of the region, and
particularly to strengthen their hold upon the Indians. They sought
to discredit the Pennsylvanians and the Virginians among the Indians,
and by the use of many donations to them and the feeding of them
from the ample stores at the fort, they created a new friendship with
them. This naturally established a new French trading in furs and
peltry, and this exchange and the constant gift of provisions, caused
many of the Indians to build huts not far from the fort, thus building
up a substantial community of them.
In all military movements, the battalions of soldiers have been
provided with chaplains to care for the spiritual needs of the men. In
their building of Fort Duquesne, these French soldiers were not without religious services, for they had with them a chaplain, the Rev.
Fr. Denys Baron. He has left among the French archives in Canada a record of funeral services and baptisms performed. There
seems, however, not to have been a church building of any kind, and
any masses that he might have performed for these soldiers of the
Catholic faith were either in the open, in nice weather, or in a room in
the fort. He conducted a mass at the unfinished Fort Trent on April
I17, I754, as the French soldiers took possession and replaced the
English soldiers and artisans of Ensign Ward. It was likely a mass
performed in thankfulness for the victorious achievement of Captain
Contrecoeur and his men, just as the Reverend Charles Beatty preached
a sermon, as chaplain of the Forbes army, four and one-half years
later, in thankfulness for the departure of the French and the success
of the English. This French priest's first entry in his records was the
death of "Toussaint Boyer, June 20, I754, unmarried, aged twentyfour years. His remains were interred in the place set apart for the
cemetery at the said fort, with the customary ceremonies by us, Recollect Priest, Chaplain of the fort and during the campaign on the
Beautiful River."
His first baptism was that of Denise, a Loup Indian, on November 3, I1754. Among others were Mary Jane Vermet, English, of the
household of Contracoeur, and Christignay, a Great Chief of the
Iroquois, 95 years old. This record contains quite a few names, and
94FORT TRENT AND FORT DUQUESNE
extends over the period from I753 to I756. This faithful priest
entered in his records also the death of Captain Beaujeu, in these
words: (translated)
"In the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five, on the
ninth of July, was killed in the battle fought with the English, and the
same day as above, Mr. Lienard Daniel, Esquire, Sieur de Beaujeu,
Captain of Infantry, Commander of Fort Duquesne, and of the army,
who was aged about forty-five years, having been at confession and
performed his devotions the same day. His remains were interred
on the twelfth of the same month, in the cemetery of Fort Duquesne
under the title of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin at the Beautiful River, and with the customary ceremonies by us, recollect priest,
the undersigned Chaplain of the King at the above mentioned fort.
In testimony whereof we have signed
"FR. DENYS BARON, P. R., Chaplain."
Ensign Edward Ward made a deposition at the house of John
Ormsby in Pittsburgh, March Io, I777, telling about his evacuation
of Fort Trent, "before the fort was nearly completed," and how the
Shawnee Indians inhabited Logstown and tended their corn on the
east side of the Ohio River. These and other records give us a good
idea of the substantial military life of the French at Fort Duquesne.
They built substantially, and maintained a strict military discipline.
95CHAPTER VIII'ashington's Campaign
Washington's Fine Military Spirit Displayed in His CorrespondenceThe Camp at Great Meadows-The Engagement with JumonvilleHe Builds Fort Necessity-Pushes on Towards Redstone-Conferences with the Indians-The French Bring a Strong Force up the
Monongahela in Canoes to Redstone-Washington Retires to His
Fort-The Battle of Fort Necessity-Washington Withdraws with
the Honors of War-Rebuilding the Shrines.
The surrender of Fort Trent changed the aspect of Colonel Joshua
Fry's military movement. It was now to become one of active aggression against the French, rather than the protection of an established
stronghold contemplated at the Forks of the Ohio. The French had
noved faster in a military way than the plodding Virginians. The
interchange of communications between the governors of New York,
Pennsylvania and Virginia was also slow, and their respective assemblies did not take prompt action to sustain them. There was the added
misfortune of the death of Colonel Fry after his battalion had reached
Wills Creek, and a large part of it was on ahead crossing the Youghiogheny. This necessitated Lieutenant-Colonel Washington's taking
complete command, and the movement from Wills Creek into this historic area became in very fact Washington's campaign. But Washington showed himself fully equal to the occasion and thus proved his
worth as a colonial officer, which carried him through the trying times
of the next two decades in preparation for the supreme struggle of the
Revolution.
Even before the death of Colonel Fry, the fine spirit of LieutenantColonel Washington is evidenced in his letter to Governor Dinwiddie,
dated April 25, I754, after learning of the fall of Fort Trent:WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN
"Immediately upon this information I called a council of war, to
advise on the proper measures to be taken in this exigency. A copy of
their resolves, with the proceedings, I herewith enclose by the bearer,
whom I have continued express to your Honor for more intelligence..... I hope my proceedings in these affairs will be satisfactory to
your Honor, as I have, to the utmost of my knowledge, consulted the
interest of the expedition and the good of my country; whose rights,
while they are asserted in so just a cause, I will defend to the last
remains of life. Hitherto the difficulties I have met with in marching
have been greater than I expect to encounter on the Ohio, when possibly I may be surrounded by the enemy, and these difficulties have
been occasioned by those who, had they acted as becomes every good
subject, would have exerted their utmost abilities to forward our just
designs. Out of seventy-four wagons impressed at Winchester, we
got but ten after waiting a week, and some of those so badly provided
with teams that the soldiers were obliged to assist them up the hills,
although it was known they had better teams at home. I doubt not
that in some points I have strained the law; but I hope, as my sole
motive was to expedite the march, I shall be supported in it, should
my authority be questioned, which at present I do not apprehend,
unless some busybody intermeddles.
"Your honor will see by the resolves in council, that I am destined
to the Monongahela with all diligent dispatch in my power. We will
endeavor to make the road sufficiently good for the heaviest artillery
to pass, and when we arrive at Redstone Creek, fortify ourselves as
strongly as the short time will allow. I doubt not that we maintain
a possession there, till we are reinforced, unless the rising of the
waters shall admit the enemy's cannon to be conveyed up in canoes,
and then I flatter myself we shall not be so destitute of intelligence as
not to get timely notice of it, and make a good retreat. I hope you
will see the absolute necessity for our having, as soon as our forces
are collected, a number of cannon, some of heavy metal, with mortars
and grenadoes to attack the French, and put us on an equal footing
with them.
"Perhaps it may also be thought advisable to invite the Cherokees,
Catawbas and Chickasaws to march to our assistance, and we are
informed that six hundred Chippawas and Ottawas are marching
down Scioto Creek to join the French, who are coming up the Ohio.
S. P.-I-7
97SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
In that case I would beg leave to recommend their being ordered to
this place first, that a peace may be concluded between them and the
Six Nations; for I am informed by several persons that, as no good
harmony exists between them, their coming first to the Ohio may
create great disorders, and turn out much to our disadvantage."
When he reached the Little Meadows, near present Grantsville,
Maryland, Washington reported back to Governor Dinwiddie on the
ninth of May, that he had one hundred and sixty effective men with
him, who had worked laboriously on the roads for the last twenty
miles. It took them two days to build a bridge, and the labor on the
road prevented their marching over two, three or four miles a day.
From the traders coming through, he learned of the reinforcement of
eight hundred men to the French, their whole force being engaged in
the completion of Fort Duquesne. One of these traders met Monsieur LaForce at Gist's new settlement with four French soldiers who,
under the pretence of hunting deserters, were reconnoitering the country. The French were sending presents to the Indians and trying in
every way to influence them, although Chief Tanacharison, the Half
King, reported fifty warriors on the way to join him. When Washington proceeded westerly, after meeting Captain Trent, some of Trent's
company joined him, but he must have had trouble with them because
of their independent attitude. He wrote: "I have not above one
hundred and sixty effective men with me, since Capt. Trent's have left
us, who I discharged from the detachment, and ordered them to await
your Honour's commands at Trent's for I found them rather injurious
to the other men, than serviceable to the expedition, till they could be
on the same establishment with us, and come under the rigor of martial law."
Washington's next letter to Governor Dinwiddie, on the eighteenth of May, told of the arrival back of Ensign Ward from his visit
to the Governor, of the prevalence of French scouts within five miles
of his camp at the Great Crossings, and how the Indians and traders
with him discouraged him in his present road building, saying that it
would be impracticable for wagons to pass from the Great Crossings
to Redstone. They rather encouraged him to provide a water route
down the river for the carriage of munitions and supplies. He then
resolved to go down to Turkey Foot (at present Confluence) on the
morrow, with an officer and five men in a canoe, and inform himself
of the nature of navigation.  Referring again to the refractory
98behavior of Captain Trent's men and of their dispersal, he advised
that if he found the Youghiogheny River navigable, canoes should be
built to carry the artillery down; "as the roads to this place are made
as good as it can be, having spent much time and great labor upon it,
I believe wagons can travel now with fifteen or eighteen hundred wt.
in them by doubling at one or two pinches."
It took Washington and his party three days to explore the Youghiogheny River below Turkey Foot, and he wrote his superior officer,
OHIOPYLE FALLS ON THE YOUGHIOGHENY RIVER, WHERE GEORGE WASHINGTON
DISCOVERED IN 1754 THAT THE RIVER WAS NOT NAVIGABLE
Colonel Fry, on May twenty-third, concerning this scouting, and other
matters, thus:
"This day I returned from my discoveries down the Youghiogheny,
which, I am sorry to say, can never be made navigable. We traced
the water course nearly thirty miles, with the full expectation of succeeding in the much desired aim; but at length we came to a fall, which
continued rough, rocky and scarcely passable for two miles, and then
fell, within the space of fifty yards, nearly forty feet perpendicular......By concurring intelligence, which we received from the Indians, the French are not above seven or eight hundred strong, and by aSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
late account we are informed, that one-half of them were detached in
the night, without even the Indians' knowledge, on some secret expedition; but the truth of this, though it is affirmed by an Indian lately
from the fort, I cannot vouch for, nor tell where they are bound."
Washington was depending much upon the Indians for assistance,
and in that way he was able to get information as to the movements of
the French. When he reached the Great Meadows, at the future
site of Fort Necessity, on May twenty-seventh, he informed Governor
Dinwiddie that Christopher had arrived telling him that Monsieur
LaForce had gotten to his plantation with fifty men, tracks of whom
were later found within five miles of the Great Meadows. Washington then dispatched seventy-five men in pursuit, so that they might
overtake the French before their arrival at Redstone, where they had
left their canoes. About nine o'clock that night he received an express
from the Half King, who was encamped with several other Indians
about six miles from the Great Meadows, that they had seen the
tracks of two Frenchmen crossing the road, and that he believed them
lying not far off. Washington then set out with forty men about ten
o'clock along a small path, in a heavy rain, on a night as dark as it was
possible to conceive. They were frequently tumbling over one another, and often so lost that it took fifteen or twenty minutes to find
the path again. After reaching the camp of the Half King a council
was held, and they too decided to strike the French. This was the
eventful day of May 28, I754, and we shall quote Washington's own
words for an account of it:
"Accordingly himself (Tanacharison, the Half King), Monacatoocha (otherwise known as Scarouady), and a few other Indians set
out with us, and when we came to the place where the tracks were, the
Half King sent two Indians to follow their tracks, and discover their
lodgement, which they did about half a mile from the road, in a very
obscure place surrounded with rocks. I thereupon, in conjunction with
the Half King and Monacatoocha, formed a disposition to attack them
on all sides, which we accordingly did, and after an engagement of
about fifteen minutes, we killed ten, wounded one, and took twentyone prisoners. Amongst them that were killed were Monsieur Jumonville, Commander; principal officers taken, Monsieur Druillong and
Monsieur LaForce, who your honor has often heard me speak of as
1 00WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN
a bold enterprising man, and a person of great subtilty and cunning.
With these were two cadets.
"These officers pretended they were coming on an embassy; but
the absurdity of this pretext is too glaring, and your honor will see
by the instructions and summons enclosed. These instructions were
to reconnoitre the country, roads, creeks, etc., to Potomack, which
they were about to do. These enterprising men were purposely chose
out to get intelligence, which they were to send back by some quick
dispatches, with mention of the day that they were to serve the summons; which could be through no other view, than to get sufficient
reinforcements to fall upon us immediately after.... The sense of
the Half King on this subject is, that they have bad hearts, and that this
is mere pretence; they never designed but to have come to us in a hostile manner, and if we were so foolish as to let them go again, he
never would assist us in taking another of them."
In a letter to his half-brother, John Augustine Washington, Colonel Washington wrote more personally as follows: "We had but one
man killed and but two or three wounded....  I fortunately escaped
without any wound, for the right wing where I stood was exposed to
and received all the enemies fire, and it was the part where the man
was killed, and the rest wounded. I heard the bullets whistle, and,
believe me, there is something charming in the sound....  Most of
our men were out on other detachments, so that I had scarcely forty
men remaining under my command, and about ten or twelve Indians;
nevertheless we obtained a most signal victory."
The late Judge James Veech, eminent historian who lived almost
a century ago, fixes the site of the Half King's camp near a fine spring
since called Washington's Spring, about fifty rods northward from the
Great Rock, which figures in the marking of prominent road junctions
in later local history. He was one of the earliest writers also to fix
the location of Jumonville's camp on that fateful night, as being a half
mile southward of the later camp of Colonel Dunbar during the Braddock campaign, and at a place well calculated for concealment, and
for secretly watching and counting Washington's little army as it
would pass along the road. The French characterized the killing of
Jumonville as the assassination of a peaceful envoy, claiming rather
that he was merely an envoy carrying dispatches from the commandant at Fort Duquesne to the commanding officer of the English.
IOIxii                    ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
The Forbes Road at Rohrs Gap........................   I90
View of Three Rivers, Confluence (Turkey Foot)..........   I96
Lincoln Highway, Looking East Near Latrobe.............  20I
Indian and Traders Path, North of Latrobe...............  207
Forbes Army Officers, I758............................  209
Provincial Hikers at Site of Dagworthy's Breastworks.......  223
Butler County Court House............................  230
Colonel James Burd...................................  232
Residence of Dr. C. C. Crouse, Five Miles North of Greensburg..........................................                     260
Along the Forbes Military Road of I758; Pronounced Scar..  263
Fort Burd or Redstone, Brownsville.....................  309
Plan of Fort Pitt....................................  3I9
Delaware Indian Long House-Bushy Run Park...........  330
Flour Bag Fort Site-Bushy Run Park...................  335
Fort Gaddis, Near Morgantown Road; Memorial to Colonel
Thomas Gaddis..................................                      34I
Front and Rear of Fort Gaddis on the Catawba Trail........  34I
Pennepack-Lower Dublin-Oldest Baptist Church in Pennsylvania.........................................                 373
Great Bethel Baptist Church, Uniontown.................  375
Goshen Church.....................................                      377
St. Luke's Church, Woodville..........................  380
Brush Creek Lutheran and Reformed Church..............  384
Old Stone Building of Sewickley Presbyterian Church........  387
Rev. Charles Beatty..................................388
VOLUME II
Hannastown in I782, Just Before Burning................                     3
Extract from  First Hannastown Court Minutes..........6, I0, I3
Loyalhanna-Kittanning Path; the Derry Settlement.........   34
Site of West Augusta Court............................    60Washington's outstanding military deportment through his entire
career sufficiently refutes such a charge. A translation of the orders
given to Jumonville from the French follows:
"Be it known that the captain of a company belonging to the
detachment of marines, commander-in-chief of the Ohio Fort du
JUMONVILLE'S GRAVE
Quesne, Presque Isle and Riviere aux Boeufs, hath given orders to
M. de Jumonville, an Ensign of the troops, to depart immediately,
with one officer, three cadets, one volunteer, one English interpreter,WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN
and twenty-eight men, to go up as far as the High Lands, and to make
what discovery he can; he shall keep along the Monongahela in Periguas, as far as the hangard, after which he shall march along until he
finds the road that leads to that said to have been cleared by the
English. As the English give out that the English are on their march
to attack us (which we cannot believe, since we are at peace), should
M. de Jumonville, contrary to our expectations, hear any attempt
intended to be made by the English on the lands belonging to the
French King, he shall immediately go to them and deliver them the
summons we have given him. We further charge him to dispatch a
speedy messenger to us before the summons be read, to acquaint us
of all the discoveries he hath made; of the day he intends to read
them the summons, and also to bring us an answer from them, with
all possible diligence after it is read. If M. de Jumonville should
hear that the English intend to go on the other side of the Great
Mountain he shall not pass the High Lands, for we would not disturb
them in the least, being desirous to keep up that union which exists
between the two crowns. We charge M. de Jumonville to stand upon
his guard against every attempt, either from the English or the Indians. If he should meet any Indians, he shall tell them he is traveling
about to see what is transacting on the King's territories, and to take
notice of every road, and shall show them friendship. Done at the
camp at Fort du Quesne, the 23d of May, I754.
"CONTRECOEUR."
After his clash with the detachment of Jumonville, Washington
retired to the Great Meadows where he established a fixed camp, and
proceeded to plan his advance. He sent his French prisoners, under
guard back to Winchester, with a report to Governor Dinwiddie. He
also sent a report back to his superior officer, Colonel Fry, but due to
the latter's death on May 3 I, I 754, Colonel Fry possibly never saw the
report. By this force of circumstances Washington became the actual
commander of the expedition. On the thirtieth of May he began to
raise a fort, with small palisades, at the Great Meadows, which was
completed on the second of June and blessed by religious services
held in it.
When Washington established his fixed camp there, he received
the Indians in conference, the Half King coming with twenty-five
families, about eighty persons in number, including women and chil.
I0o3SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
dren. In the early spring the French had been trying to win over the
Wyandots and Tightwees, but two Seneca Chiefs, Monacatoocha and
Big Kettle, were using their endeavors to counteract this. They counseled with the Chippewas and Ottawas along the same line. The
Half King sent Monacatoocha to Logstown with four French scalps,
two to be sent to the Wyandots and two to the Six Nations, telling
them that the French had tricked them out of their lands and they
intended to drive the French beyond the Lakes. Monacatoocha was
further ordered to draw all the Indians from the Ohio and repair to
the camp at Great Meadows. Washington longed, however, for
Andrew Montour, because he was the Indian interpreter upon whom
he could depend.
As a retaliation for the defeat and death of Jumonville, the French
were busy getting rid of the English traders. One of Washington's
men, Crawford, met three French deserters at Loyalhanna Indian
Town, who reported that the French held two traders in iron at Fort
Duquesne, and that a detachment of fifty French had gone down the
Ohio to kill or take prisoner all of the English they might meet with.
In a further letter to Governor Dinwiddie, Washington suggested
that, if the whole detachment of the French behaved with no more
resolution than Jumonville's party did, he would have no trouble in
driving them to Montreal. He commended Governor Dinwiddie's
young son for his fine behavior in action, and reported five or six
Indians had knocked the seriously wounded in the head and relieved
them of their scalps. Washington was somewhat embarrassed by the
presence of so many Indians at his camp and the scarcity of provisions
to feed them. He had tried to establish a rendezvous of the friendly
Indians at the mouth of Redstone Creek, but was not successful in the
effort, and on the second of June and succeeding days a company of
Shawnees came into camp.
Washington named his stronghold Fort Necessity, after its completion, and then' turned his attention to extension of the road from
thence to the mouth of Redstone Creek. On June sixth Christopher
Gist came from Wills Creek with the first information that Colonel
Joshua Fry had died. Washington was promoted to the command of
the Virginia Regiment only, for Governor Dinwiddie appointed his
personal friend, Colonel James Innes, of North Carolina, to command
the expedition after Colonel Fry's death. Colonel Innes did not reach
Winchester until June twentieth, and the North Carolina troops
I04WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEMBERS AT FORT
NECESSITY, JULY 17, 1937SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
accompanying him disbanded before they reached Winchester, so that
Washington was devoid of superior authority on the field. He had
some trouble with English officers of lesser rank. One, Captain
Mackay, of the South Carolina Independent Royal Company, arrived
at Fort Necessity on June tenth, and being a regular English officer,
he was not inclined to take orders from a provincial colonel like Washington, this spirit being carried down to the troops.
On June ninth Major Muse brought up the remainder of Washington's regiment from Wills Creek, and it then numbered a little over
three hundred men, in six companies, commanded by Captains Adam
Stephens, Jacob Van Braam, Robert Stobo, Peter Hogg, Andrew
Lewis, William Polson, and George Mercer. Other officers were
Lieutenants John Mercer and Waggener, and Ensigns Peyronie and
Tower. Major Muse was detailed as Quartermaster and Captain
Stephens as Miajor. Washington was concerned about the promotion
of some of the deserving men in his command. Once he was much
worried about the provisions that were to be sent on, being on one
occasion without flour and only two days provisions in camp. Providence, however, had sent on an Ohio trader, for whose flour he was
obliged to pay twenty-one shillings and eight pence per"hundred.
Reports also came back through Chief Monacatoocha and the Half
King, and George Croghan and Andrew NIontour, traders, that the
Indians were unsuccessful in getting the Delawares and Shawnees, who
had gone over to the French, to return to the English. The designs of
Washington were to have the troops under his command meet at
Redstone for a conference and a united attack on the French stronghold at Fort Duquesne.
Washington started again from Fort Necessity headed for Redstone, and on the way held three conferences with the Indians on June
eighteenth, twentieth and twenty-first, I754, but was unable to win
them to the English cause. They observed the weakness of his forces,
and they knew the strength of the French. After these conferences
the Indians returned with him to Great Meadows, but he regarded
them with suspicion and watched their movements carefully so that
he might not be surprised. Leaving one company under Captain
Mackay to guard the fort, Washington proceeded as far as Gist's
plantation, and it took him about two weeks to go over this thirteen
miles, because of the roughness of the road down over the Chestnut
Ridge. He and Chief Tanacharison could not agree on the conduct
I00WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN
of the campaign so they parted for a time, the Indian Chiefs returning to Great Meadows.
The French were busy with their movements to return to the seat
of action, and left Fort Duquesne on the twenty-eighth of June to
attack Washington, five hundred in number and a host of Indians, in
command of M. de Villiers, a half-brother of Jumonville, who sought
to avenge the killing of his brother. They traveled up the Monongahela River in canoes, reaching the Redstone two days later, where
they encamped about a mile from the storehouse which Captain Trent
had erected there during the preceding year for the Ohio Company.
It was described by deVilliers as built of logs, one upon another, well
notched in, about thirty feet long and twenty feet wide. At Redstone
camp, M. de Villiers soon learned that Washington was at Gist's
plantation, and leaving a small force to guard the heavy stores and
boats, he proceeded thence on the early morning of July second, in the
hope of capturing Washington. He fired on the entrenchments there,
with no response, for Washington, after a council of war on June
twenty-eighth, had already started the next day back to Fort Necessity. Washington had called in Captains Lewis and Polson from their
cutting of the road to Redstone. Captain Mackay had also come
down from Fort Necessity to participate in the conference, and George
Croghan's pack horses were pressed into service to aid the retreat.
He had been supplying provisions and munitions to the forces of
Washington.
The Indians and French made an attack on Gist's house and captured Elizabeth Williams, and three traders, Andrew McBriar, John
Kennedy and Nehemiah Stevens, who worked under James Lowrey,
and were about to return to Redstone. Barnabas Devan, a deserter,
came in from the Great Meadows, and told deVilliers about Washington's retreat and his famished army, which caused the French commander to hasten on towards Fort Necessity. There is great difficulty
in getting an exact story of the succeeding engagements, because the
French gained possession of Washington's diary; carried it to Paris;
had it translated into French; garbled it; and then translated it back
into English. When Washington saw its reproduction later, he
remarked that it was "strangely metamorphosed."
The little army arrived back at the Great Meadows on July first,
and although in a weakened condition for lack of sufficient food, felled
trees and strengthened Fort Necessity with log breastworks. The
I0o7SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Indian allies under Chief Tanacharison here deserted him, and the
next day Washington learned that the French forces were up to
Gist's plantation, intending to proceed easterly to make an attack.
The French lost no time in getting across the Chestnut Ridge to Great
Meadows, where they were halted and began their attack on the
morning of July 3, I754.
Washington established his little army at Fort Necessity with a
confidence that it could withstand any attack, but the French outnumbered him and made a determined attack upon the fort. In the
absence of his diary notes which the French captured, his own account
is best given in his report to the Governor of Virginia, under date of
July I19, I754.  He called it the "Engagement at the Great
Meadows":
"The third of this instant, about 9 o'clock, we received intelligence
that the French, having been reinforced with seven hundred recruits,
had left Monongahela, and were in full march with nine hundred men
to attack us. Upon this, as our numbers were so unequal (our whole
force not exceeding three hundred), we prepared for our defense in
the best manner we could, by throwing up a small entrenchment, which
we had not time to perfect before our sentinel gave notice, about I I
o'clock, of our approach, by firing his piece, which he did at the
enemy, and as we learned afterwards, killed three of their men, upon
which they began to fire upon us, at about six hundred yards distance,
but without any effect; we immediately called all of our men to their
arms, and drew up in order before our trenches; but as we looked
upon this distant fire of the enemy only as an artifice to intimidate, or
draw our fire from us, we waited their near approach before we
returned their salute. They then advanced in a very irregular manner
to another point of woods, about sixty yards off, and from thence
made a second discharge; upon which, finding they had no intention of
attacking us in the open field, we retired into our trenches, and still
reserved our fire, as we expected from their great superiority of numbers, that they would endeavor to force our trenches; but finding they
did not seem to intend this neither, the Colonel gave orders to fire,
which was done with great alacrity and undauntedness.
"We continued this unequal fight, with an enemy sheltered behind
the trees, ourselves without shelter, in trenches full of water, in a
settled rain, and the enemy galling us on all sides incessantly from
I08WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN
the woods, till 8 o'clock at night, when the French called to parley;
from the great improbability that such a vastly superior force and
possessed of such an advantage would offer a parley first, we suspected a deceit, and therefore refused to consent that they should come
among us; on which they desired us to send an officer to them, and
engaged their parole for his safety; we then sent Captain Van Braam
and Mr. Peyronee, to receive their proposals, which they did, and
about midnight we agreed, that each side should retire without molestation, they back to their fort at Monongahela, and we to Wills
Creek; that we should march away with all the honors of war and
with all our stores, effects and baggage. Accordingly the next morning,
with our drums beating and our colors flying, we began our march in
good order, with our stores, etc., in convoy; but we were interrupted
by the arrival of a reinforcement of one hundred Indians among the
French, who were hardly restrained from attacking us, and did considerable damage by pilfering our baggage. We then proceeded but soon
found it necessary to leave our baggage and stores; the great scarcity
of our provisions obliged us to use the utmost expedition, and having
neither wagons or horses to transport them. The enemy had deprived
us of all our creatures by killing in the beginning of the engagement,
our horses, cattle and every living thing they could, even to the very
dog. The number killed on our side was thirty to seventy wounded;
among the former was Lieutenant Nervier of Captain Mackay's Independent Company; a gentleman of true military worth, and his bravery would not permit him to retire, though dangerously wounded, till
the second shot disabled him, and the third put an end to his life, as
he was carrying to the surgeon. Our men behaved with singular
intrepidity and we determined not to ask for quarter, but with our
bayonets fixed to sell our lives as dearly as possibly we could."
The battle of Fort Necessity was regarded by some historians as
a defeat, and Washington wrote to his brother that he had been
soundly beaten. But it was not a defeat; it was the beginning, not
only of the Seven Years' War in Europe, that made over the map of
Germany, France, England, Russia and Austria, but its far-reaching
results here led to the American Revolution. This is the first time
that soldiers from more than one province fought side by side. It
was also the beginning of the defeat of the French, which ultimately
led to the formation of the United States of America, and the purchase by it of all the French lands on the North American continent,
iogSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
consummated by the later Louisiana Purchase. Washington left Fort
Necessity on July 4, I754 with the honors of war, and not with the
stigma of defeat. It was his pioneer "West Point" military training
secured in these western woods.
The association of the Indians with the events about the Great
Meadows is an interesting sidelight of the campaign. When the
French started out from Fort Duquesne, to avenge the death of
Jumonville, and drive the English out of the lands west of the crest
of the Alleghenies, the Indians were naturally of a wavering nature.
Many of them trailed into the Great Meadows, among them the
famed Queen Aliquippa and her son. The most of them were gone
when the battle of Fort Necessity took place. The Half King, Chief
Tanacharison, went on east to Paxtang (at present Harrisburg), and
there died on October 4, I754, his death being imputed by his close
friends to French witchcraft, for which they seemed eager to seek
revenge.
The engagement at Fort Necessity brought an end to the first settlement at Gist's plantation. The French commander, deVilliers,
reported that he had ordered the house there burned down, and
detached an officer with a squad to burn the houses round about.
Christopher Gist had established his settlement at present Mt. Braddock, Fayette County, in the early part of I753, and eleven families
joined it. The remaining settlers fled on the burning of the cabins,
and none returned until I760 or I76I, after the French were driven
out, and the settlers felt fairly safe due to the active trading at Fort
Pitt, just prior to Pontiac's War of I763.
Some have been wont to criticize Washington and make ridiculous
representations about him, but he received official recognition in the
Virginia Colony. The Virginia House of Burgesses passed a resolution of thanks, on August 30, I754, to Colonel George Washington,
Captain Mackay, of his Majesty's Independent Company, and the
officers under his command for their gallant and brave behavior in
defense of their country. As Washington entered the gallery of the
House at Williamsburg, the burgesses arose to express their admiration for the young officer who had led the first English forces west of
the Allegheny Mountains.
For many years efforts were made to preserve the site of Fort
Necessity, through the holding of celebrations, and the purchase of the
site originally owned by Washington and disposed of in his will.
IIOWASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN
Washington loved this spot of his early military life, and held title to
it until his death. An Act of the Assembly of Pennsylvania was passed
and approved by Governor William F. Johnston, April 6, i 850, incorporating the Fort Necessity Washington Monument Association. The
laying of the corner stone of this monument took place on July 4,
i854, but the monument was never erected. It remained for the late
patriotic efforts of Fort Necessity Chapter, Sons of the American
Revolution, to crystallize a movement to rebuild and dedicate a fitting
memorial on July 4, 1932, the bi-centennial year of Washington's
birth. It was a monster celebration participated in by fifteen thousand
people, including representatives of the English, French and the
States of the union. The title to the Great Meadows was secured by
this chapter, and that part including the fort deeded to the United
States Government.
This same chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution has also
secured title to the land upon which Jumonville's remains rest, and
has beautified more than twenty-five acres there into a park. Thousands of people, including historical society groups, high school history
clubs, and boy and girl scouts annually visit these beautiful shrines
to visualize the important engagements that there occurred. Thus
are preserved to posterity some of the most sacred spots in all American history.
IIIILLUSTRATION.                        xiiiPAGE
Minutes of Yohogania Court..........................73, 76
Marker at Site of Fort Hand...........................   I22
Fergus Moorhead Blockhouse, Indiana County.............   I26
Site of Fort McIntosh, Mouth of Beaver River............   I38
Goshen Cemetery Graves of Elizabeth Corbly, Rev. John
Corbly, and  Nancy  Corbly..........................   I6o
Fayette County Court House...........................   190
Scene at Fort Carnahan...............................   202
Marker at Fort Carnahan.............................   203
Scene at Fort Carnahan...............................   204
Garard's Fort Site Marker at Whitely, Greene County.......  2 I I
Chief Yellow Thunder and Family at the Site of Fort Ligonier,
I938...........................................                          221
Bouquet's Blockhouse at Fort Pitt, I764..................   228
Site of Fort Palmer, Fairfield Township, Westmoreland County   233
Site of Fort Williams.................................   242
Site of Fort Williams................................. 243
Hugh Henry Brackenridge, I748-I816...................   252
Building the Replica of Union Galley at West Newton......  29I
Preparing Boats and Canoes-Pioneer Boys of I938.......   293
Replica of the I788 Ox-Team  and Wagon.................   295
Pioneer Boys of I938 Trailing in Somerset County..........  295
Flotilla Arrives at Marietta, April 7, I938, in Commemoration
of Landing I50 Years Earlier.......................   296
Third Somerset County Court House....................   308
Rev. Demetrius A. Gallitzan...........................   314
View  of Berlin, Highest Borough in Western Pennsylvania...  317
Public  Square  in  Berlin...............................                      318
Plaque at Beula, Erected by the Cambria County Historical
Society..........................................   319
Cambria County Court House..........................   32I
Greene County Court House, Waynesburg................   329
Rev. William  Shadrach, D. D..........................   339CHAPTER IX
7he Braddock Expedition
The French Strengthen Fort Duquesne-Major-General Braddock
Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the American Forces-He Confers with Governors at Alexandria-His Dispute with Benjamin
Franklin, First Postmaster General-Chief Scarouady and Other
Indians on the Expedition-The March Westward from Wills Creek
-The Camps Along the Road-Colonel Dunbar Travels Slower with
the Artillery-Washington's Illness-The Army Prepares at Monongahela Camp to March on Fort Duquesne.
The late summer and fall of I754, after WVashington's return to
Virginia, was a time of preparation of both French and British for the
next campaign, which came to be known as the Braddock Expedition.
Colonel Washing'ton returned to his home to attend to some business
matters and then to visit his mother at Fredericksburg. Governor
Dinwiddie directed him to recruit the forces for the future strengthening of Fort Cumberland at Wills Creek. An inquiry was sent to
the British ministry asking about the rank of British and Colonial
officers, and the reply came back that the commissions issued by the
King would supersede those issued by Colonial officers. This had the
effect of reducing Washington to the rank of a captain, and he immediately resigned his commission. He did not return to the service
until he was later given a commission as an aide-de-camp on the staff
of General Edward Braddock.
At this period the frontiers east of the Allegheny Mountains were
kept in constant alarm, and none but traders and scouts ventured into
the Ohio Valley. The intrepid Indian agent and trader, George Croghan, sent this report to Governor Hamilton on September 27, I754:
"I have had many accounts from Ohio all of which agree that
the French have received a reinforcement of men and provisions fromTHE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION
Canada to the fort in particular. Yesterday an Indian returned here,
whom I had sent to the fort for intelligence; he confirms the above
accounts and further says there was about sixty French Indians came
there while he was there, and they expected better than two hundred
more every day. He says that the French designed to send those
Indians with some French in several parties to annoy the back settlements, which the French say will put a stop to any English forces
marching out this fall to attack them. This Indian, I think, is to be
believed, if there can be any credit given to what an Indian says."
Corroborative information came to Governor Morris that there
were more than one thousand French soldiers and Indians at Fort
Duquesne, which he reported to the Provincial Assembly on December 3, I754. The French Canadian records reveal that they had
experienced difficulty in supplying Fort Duquesne with men and provisions, due to obstacles in transportation. They tried to make it selfsupporting as to food, Marquis Duquesne stating in one report: "Fort
Duquesne could in less than two years support itself, since in the very
first year seven hundred minots (a measure containing about three
bushels) of Indian corn have been gathered there, and from the clearings that have been made there since, it is calculated that if the harvest
were good, at least two thousand minots could be saved. Peas are
now planted, and they have two cows, a bull, some horses and twentythree sows with young."
The French were determined to hold Fort Duquesne at all hazards, and kept a large garrison there. Except for the triangular area
between the rivers immediately east of the fort that was cleared for
their needs, it was a beautiful spot, and the accompanying visualization
of it by the artist is fairly descriptive of the view as it can be gathered
from the records. Upon its occupancy and strengthening, it became
the chief post of the French in their line established from Lake Erie
to the southward, which they proposed to hold against the British.
They used every device possible to win favor with the Indians, and
make them dependents as to food and other necessities. The Indian
mind was made distrustful of the Virginians in particular, and they
blamed the Pennsylvanians for taking away the hunting grounds. By
means of liberal donations to them from time to time, and a continual
trading with them in furs and peltry, many Indians were about Fort
S. P.-I-8
II3SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Duquesne all the while, and French officers were able from time to
time to lead bands of them against the frontier settlements of both
Pennsylvania and Virginia. When the French observed through their
scouting and the information which the Indians conveyed to them
that the English could not well make any attack in the latter part of
I754, the larger part of their force was withdrawn to Canada, and a
sufficient number only left at Fort Duquesne for the winter.
The Canadian records furnish a further estimate of conditions at
Fort Duquesne prior to the battle of Monongahela in a later letter of
Marquis Duquesne to Vaudreuil from Quebec, under date of July 6,
I755: "By Sieur de Contracoeur's letter of the 24th of May last, the
works of Fort Duquesne are completed. It is at present mounted with
six pieces of cannon of six, and nine of two or three-pound ball; it was
in want of neither arms nor ammunition, and since Sieur de Beaujeu's
arrival, it must be well supplied, as he had carried with his brigade
succors of every description.
"I must explain to the Marquis of Vaudreuil that much difficulty
is experienced in conveying all sorts of effects as far as Fort Duquesne;
for, independent of the Niagara carrying place, there is still that of
Presque Isle, six leagues in length. The latter fort, which is on Lake
Erie, serves as a depot for all the others on the Ohio; the effects are
next rode to the fort on the River au Boeuf (French Creek), where
they are put on board pirogues to run down to Fort Machault (Franklin), one-half of which is on the River Ohio (Allegheny), and the
other half on the River au Boeuf, and serves as a depot for Fort
Duquesne. This new post has been in existence only since this year,
because it has been remarked that too much time was consumed in
going in one trip from the fort on the River au Boeuf to Fort
Duquene, to the loss of a great quantity of provisions which have been
spoiled by bad weather. It is to be hoped that, by dispatching the
convoys opportunely from Fort Machault, everything will arrive safe
and sound in twice twenty-four hours; besides it will be much more
convenient at Fort Duquesne to send only to Fort Machault for
supplies.... "
All the while that the French were building and supplying Fort
Duquesne more or less permanently, the English were busy about their
preparations to dislodge them. The Provincial Governors sent full
II4reports to London, and Thomas Penn wrote Lieutenant-Governor
Morris, of Pennsylvania, the successor to Governor James Hamilton,
on October 17, I754, all about these preparations, and advising him
that two regiments were going from Ireland with many efficient officers and stores, and expressing the hope that Sir William Pepperel
GEN. EDWARD BRADDOCK
and Mr. Shirley would raise regiments in America. On November
25, I754, Major-General Braddock was commissioned Commanderin-Chief of His Majesty's forces in North America, and was fully
instructed as to the encroachments of the French. Early in I755 both
the French and English governments sent both men and munitions toSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
America, each under the convoy of a fleet. Before England and
France broke off negotiations, the English ministry had formed a plan
to have one provincial army advance on Acadia, a second to attack
Crown Point, and a third Niagara, while General Braddock, with
two regiments, aided by a small body of Provincials, was to dislodge
the French from Fort Duquesne.
Major-General Braddock was the only son of a former MajorGeneral Braddock, and was born at Perthshire, Scotland, about I695.
He entered the army as an ensign in the Grenadier Company of the
Coldstream Guards, October II, I7IO; was appointed lieutenant
August I, I7I6; and fought a duel with Colonel Waller May 26,
I718. He became captain February IO, I736, and after a campaign
in Flanders he was promoted major and lieutenant-colonel, successively, and became a brigadier-general April 23, I746. He was made
a major-general of the Line in 1754, and then became Commander-inChief of the forces in North America in I755, upon his arrival at
Hampton Roads on February twentieth, having sailed from England
on December 2 I, I754. He brought with him from Cork, Ireland, the
Forty-fourth Regiment, commanded by Colonel Thomas Dunbar, and
the Forty-eighth Regiment, commanded by Colonel Sir Peter Halket.
There were some delays in recruiting the regiments with provincials
up to one thousand each, and conferences were held at Alexandria,
Virginia, with the governors of Massachusetts, Virginia, New York,
Maryland and Pennsylvania, and with the former Commander-inChief, Admiral August Keppel of the British navy. There were also
added to this army two independent companies from New York. The
famous Sir John St. Clair had preceded Braddock to America, and he
was sent on ahead to Fort Cumberland to complete arrangements for
the transportation of the army supplies across the mountains. Lieutenant Spendelow and two midshipmen from the navy and about thirty
sailors joined the expedition to take care of cordage and tackles in
the building of bridges and the hoisting of artillery pieces up the steep
places. The entire number in the expedition at the beginning was
about two thousand two hundred men. There were also eight
friendly Indians along with it.
General Braddock brigaded his forces on this wise: First Brigade,
commanded by Sir Peter Halket, and made up of the Forty-fourth
Regiment of regulars, the two independent companies of Captain John
Rutherford and Captain Horatio Gates, of New York, Captain Wilii6THE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION
liam Polson's Company of Pioneers and Carpenters, the two Virginia
Ranger companies of Captain William Peyronie and Thomas Waggener, and Captain John Dagworthy's Maryland Rangers. The Second Brigade was commanded by Colonel Thomas Dunbar, and made
up of the Forty-eighth Regiment of Regulars, Captain Paul Demerie's
South Carolina detachment, Captain Dobb's North Carolina Rangers, Captain Hugh Mercer's Company of Carpenters, and the three
Virginia Ranger companies of Captain Adam Stephens, Captain Peter
Hogg and Captain Thomas Cocke.
When the army rendezvoused at Fort Cumberland it contained
these notable characters: Sir John St. Clair, road builder, and the
Quartermaster General of the later Forbes Expedition; LieutenantColonel Gage, who became the British commander at Bunker Hill two
decades later; Colonel Horatio Gates, to whom Burgoyne later surrendered at the battle of Saratoga; Captain Hugh Mercer, physician,
who was wounded in this expedition and also in the Armstrong campaign against Kittanning the following year, and finally killed at the
battle of Princeton; and General Daniel Mlorgan, the famous rifleman of later conflicts. In this army also were the illustrious Daniel
Boone, born a Pennsylvanian, but the pioneer of Kentucky later;
Christopher Gist, companion of Washington to Fort LeBoeuf, and
pioneer Western Pennsylvania settler; Dr. James Craik, Washington's personal physician, who accompanied him on nearly every trip
into this section, and who ministered to him on his death bed at Mt.
Vernon. Some of these also were in the Forbes expedition of I758,
and thus trained themselves to meet the trying military situations
during the Revolutionary War.
When General Braddock came into the conference at Alexandria
with the colonial governors, it soon developed that he needed the
services of George Washington. Washington was at Mt. Vernon,
concerned with the settlement of his family affairs. General Braddock then invited him to become a part of his military family, and he
agreed to accompany the expedition as an aide-de-camp, which gave
him great freedom of action. In a letter written to his family from
Winchester and Wills Creek, he described the movements of the
army through Frederick, Maryland, to Winchester, and thence to
Wills Creek.
Benjamin Franklin was Postmaster General for the Colonies and
visited General Braddock at Frederick to mature plans for transmitII7SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
ting dispatches between the general and the governors. Fully appreciating the obstacles in the way of the expedition, Franklin agreed
with General Braddock to furnish one hundred and fifty wagons and
sufficient horses within a given time, for which a specific sum was to
be allowed. Franklin returned to Lancaster and York counties, sent
out advertisements among the farmers, and in two weeks had all the
wagons and horses in readiness at Wills Creek, giving his personal
security that they would be paid for. It was at Frederick that Franklin suggested to General Braddock that the only danger that would be
attendant upon the march was from the ambuscades of the Indians.
General Braddock's military pride rose up and he contemptuously
replied: "These savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to your
raw American militia; but upon the King's regular and disciplined
troops, Sir, it is impossible they should make any impression."
On June 7, I755, WTashington wrote several letters back to his
family, in which he told how Sir John St. Clair had been sent ahead
from Wills Creek with a detachment of fifty men to mend the road,
establish a base of provisions at Little Meadows, and erect some kind
of defense for the convoys, so that the main body might pass with
greater ease. After seven days' travel General Braddock reached the
Little Meadows, where a council of war was held to consider future
operations. Washington suggested the use of pack horses for wagons
for the transportation of baggage. Complaint was here made that
Sir John St. Clair, "instead of pushing on with vigor, regardless of a
little rough road, halted to level every mole hill, and to throw bridges
over every rivulet," occupying four days to reach the Crossings of the
Youghiogheny, only nineteen miles from Little Meadows. Secretary Peters, of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council, suggested that
rangers should precede the army for its defense, and Sir Peter Halket
proposed that the Indians in the army should reconnoiter the woods
and passages on the front and flanks, but General Braddock rejected
these suggestions with his customary sneer.
Washington became very ill with fever, and had to remain at
Little Crossings on June I9th, under the care of Dr. Craik. He wrote
very fully to his brother, Jack, on June twenty-eighth, describing his
ailment, and telling how General Braddock had ordered the physicians
to give him Dr. Jame's powder, which he designated the most excellent medicine in the world, for it gave him immediate ease and
removed the fevers and other complaints in four days' time. Washii8THE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION
ington tried to ride a wagon, but that was too violent, and resting on
the assurance of the General's word of honor, that he should be
brought up before he reached the French fort, he remained behind
with Colonel Dunbar's detachment. Not until July third, was he able
to set out with his own corps, and an escort of one hundred men to
guard provisions, by which means he was able to catch up with the
main body of the army after it had reached the camp at the east side
of the Monongahela (at present McKeesport). Governor Morris
sent in a report that three hundred French had passed Oswego on their
way to Fort Duquesne, and more were reported following. This
caused Washington to write in one of his letters, that "I apprehend
we shall not take possession of Fort Duquesne'so quietly as imagined."
Colonel Dunbar's detachment contained eight hundred men and officers, and they were left behind at the Little Meadows, so that they
might proceed more slowly with the heavy baggage, the heavy artillery, and the provisions and stores, and as a protection to the women
of the expedition.
The old Oneida Indian Chief, Scarouady, otherwise known as
Monacatoocha, was a member of the Braddock expedition. He is first
mentioned in Southwestern Pennsylvania history as having been sent
by the Great Council of the Six Nations as a vice-regent over the Shawnees of the Ohio Valley in I747, and he was an elderly Indian at that
time. He both wrote to and visited the Provincial Council in Philadelphia, and Conrad Weiser entertained the chief at his home in
Womelsdorf. There Scarouady met the famed Chief Shikellamy, who
resided at Shamokin Indian Town (at present Sunbury), and told
Shikellamy that Peter Chartier had accepted the French hatchet, but
they kept the information privately for a long time. When Conrad
Weiser accompanied Scarouady as far as John Harris' ferry on the
Susquehanna, the old Chief complained bitterly about the abuses in
the rum traffic among the Western Indians. Weiser then wrote the
Provincial Council on November 28, 1747, that the rum traffic among
the Indians was "an abomination before God and man."
Between the years I 748 and I 752 Scarouady attended conferences
at Logstown at divers times with Croghan, Weiser, Celeron, Gist,
Montour and the Virginia commissioners. When a large number of
the deserting Shawnees returned to Logstown, they secured Scarouady's aid in an appeal to the Council asking to be taken back under
the wing of the Six Nations. His sympathies were with the English
iigFORT DUQUESNE, 1754THE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION
as against the French, and in the meeting promulgating the treaty of
Carlisle, he made his most important speech against the unlicensed
traders' traffic in the Ohio Valley. He spoke thus: "The rum ruins
us. We never understood the trade was to be for whisky 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 whisky 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 ourselves, but them too. These wicked whisky sellers,
when they have once got the Indians in liquor, make them sell the very
clothes from their backs. In short, if this practice is continued, we
must inevitably be ruined. We most earnestly, therefore, beseech
you to remedy it."
The Pennsylvania commissioners sympathized with their complaints and promised to help, and the Indians went back home satisfied, but the traders were not recalled, nor the traffic stopped, and the
old Chief's plea was unheeded as the French and Indian War came on.
Washington records in his journal on June 26, I754, that an Indian
had arrived bringing news that Mlonacatoocha (Scarouady) had
burned Logstown and gone by water to Redstone, expecting to join
him in two days. The French rebuilt Logstown in I755 for the Shawnees. Upon the death of Tanacharison on October 4, I754, Scarouady succeeded him in the direction of Indian affairs at Aughwick,
and as Half King. After attending important Indian conferences at
Onondaga and Philadelphia, he became a part of the Braddock
expedition.
When the Braddock expedition got under way, George Croghan
and Chiefs Scarouady, White Thunder, Silver Heels, and about fifty
warriors came over from Aughwick to Wills Creek, but General Braddock was disappointed in the small number of Indians who came. He
had expected a large number from the Ohio Valley, and many Cherokees and Catawbas from Virginia. The Indians brought their squaws
along, and Secretary Peters wrote, that "the squaws bring in money
plenty; the officers are scandalously fond of them." This caused the
warriors to be jealous, and to prevent discord, General Braddock
ordered the squaws away from the camp, and sent them back to
Aughwick. The Delaware chiefs became dissatisfied and went back to
I2IILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Armstrong County Court House........................  367
Beaver County Court House...........................  390
VOLUME III
Beaver, Beaver County, from a Sketch on Stone by Emil Bott,
Made in I853....................................                        5
Cherry Tree Monument, Indiana County.................    I4
Indiana County Court House............................    i6
St. Patrick's Day Flood, I936, Kiskiminetas at Saltsburg.....    20
Second Presbyterian Church, Washington.................    32
Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, Washington..    36
Rev. Charles Bonaventure Maguire......................                     43
"Great Crossing" Bridge at Somerset....................    67
Old Canal Days.....................................                        73
Plan of Fort Du Quesne..............................                       77
Engines of Pennsylvania Railroad and Waynesburg  Washington Railroad, During Busy Life of Latter Road......   9I
Earliest Type of Street Car Used in I 859 in Pittsburgh......  100
One of the First Electric Cars in Southwestern Pennsylvania;
Third Westmoreland County Court House (Now Razed)
in Background....................................   I03
Lawrence County Court House..........................   I14
Canal Locks in Ohio River, Beaver County................   II6
Canal Packet Boat...................................    I 17
Tin Mill, New  Castle.................................                    I19
Passenger Canal Boat Used on the Erie Division..........  122
Mt. Braddock, Built by Isaac Meason, Esq., I802..........   I29
Great Western Iron Works, Brady's Bend, Armstrong County.   I35
Mills at Johnstown, Looking East Towards Conemaugh; Franklin Street Methodist Church in Foreground.............   I38
Edgar Thomson Works (I875)........................  14I
Andrew  Carnegie....................................                      I45
xivSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Ohio. Thus, when the army started west from Wills Creek there
were only Chief Scarouady and eight of his warriors along with it.
During the march of the first division towards Fort Duquesne, Chief
Scarouady and his son were surrounded and taken by the French and
some Indians on June I9, I755. The son escaped and secured other
Indians to help rescue his father. The party found the Chief tied to
a tree, and learned that the French were disposed to kill him. The
Indians spared him, however, and he returned to the forces of Braddock, there to continue his faithful services to the English. Chief
Scarouady died about August 26, I758, after a further eventful three
years.
The military road which General Braddock's engineers and soldiers constructed from Wills Creek toward Fort Duquesne was an
historic one. Parts of it are in use today along the present Pennsylvania Highway Route 40, and it became the dividing line of townships in some parts of old Westmoreland County in I773. Washington contended strenuously for its use by the Forbes army three years
later, but lost out. General Braddock desired the construction of
another road from Raystown (Bedford) to Turkey Foot (Confluence) to connect up with the main road, which would be a communication for supplies. By direction of Governor Morris this work was
assigned to Colonel James Burd. Colonel Burd did not get his road
completed before the Braddock army came through, but he continued building operations, and was busily engaged in cutting the
road near the top of the Allegheny Mountain in the direction of present Berlin at the time of the battle of Monongahela on July 9, I 755.
One of the valuable men of the Braddock expedition was Captain
Robert Orme, who along with Washington, was an aide-de-camp on
General Braddock's staff. He has left a fine journal of this march,
which gives many interesting details. Leaving Little Meadows, his
fourth camp just south of the Pennsylvania-Maryland line, Braddock
took four days to travel the next nineteen miles to the Great Crossings on the Youghiogheny, near Somerfield. His fifth camp was two
miles west of the Little Crossings; his sixth stop was called "Bear
Camp," on the present line of Pennsylvania and Maryland; and his
seventh at the Great Crossings. This seventh camp was sometimes
called the "Squaw's Fort Camp." The troops crossed the Youghiogheny without bridging, and on the night of June twenty-fourth established his eighth camp four miles east of the Great Meadows. DurI22THE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION
ing the day they had passed a recently vacated Indian camp which
showed that it had been occupied by about one hundred and seventy
persons. The Indians had stripped and painted the trees, and the
French had written upon them many threats couched in scurrilous
language, by which they aimed to put consternation into the English
forces. These scouting parties murdered stragglers and kept the
French commander at Fort Duquesne informed of Braddock's movements. From the time that the English forces crossed the Youghiogheny hostile Indians were always hovering near, and evidence of
their presence increased with each succeeding day's march.
At daybreak on June twenty-fifth, three men, who went out without sentinels, were shot and scalped.  General Braddock was so
incensed with these murders that he issued an order that every soldier
or Indian should receive five pounds for each Indian scalp. Captain
Orme recorded in his journal that on that day the army traveled
seven miles to Orchard Camp, past Fort Necessity, which twenty days
later was to become the burial place of the General. The next day
the army moved four miles over exceedingly rough country, and established its tenth camp, called "Rock Fort Camp," where were located
the Half King's Rocks, because of a camp which the Half-King, Tanacharison, had there at the time of Washington's clash with Jumonville. Nearby was Washington's Spring, now well marked. Here
they found evidence of another French and Indian camp, so recently
vacated that the fires were yet burning. Trees were marked with
scalps taken a few days before, and some of the French had written
their names, accompanied by various insolent expressions. As Captain
Orme records: "This Indian camp was in a strong position, being upon
a high rock with a very narrow and steep ascent to the top. It had a
spring in the middle, and stood at the termination of the Indian path
to the Monongahela, at the confluence of Redstone Creek."
On an examination of the tracks at the Rock Fort Camp it
appeared that the French and Indians divided there, one party proceeding towards Fort Duquesne, and the other returning by way of
the Redstone to the Monongahela. On the march near here some of
Braddock's men picked up a commission showing that this scouting
party was under the command of Sieur Normanville. A captain, four
officers and ninety volunteers followed the tracks towards the Monongahela, but never came upon the party. They found a small quantity
of provisions and a very large batteau. The march on June 27, I755,
I23SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
was about six miles down the Chestnut Ridge to Gist's old plantation
over a very rough road. At Gist's they found Lieutenant-Colonel
Burton, with Sir John St. Clair, and about four hundred men sent
forward in advance of the main body to cut the road. This was the
eleventh camp of the Braddock army, and when it was reached the last
mountain barrier was passed. The road was cut about twelve feet
wide, and it was impossible in places for vehicles to pass. From that
point on towards Fort Duquesne, there was more rolling country,
and it was easier cut.
For a short distance northerly from Gist's the road followed the
old Catawba Trail, to the twelfth camp south of the Youghiogheny,
and then down Opossum Run to its'mouth at Stewart's Crossing, and
across the river to the thirteenth camp. Proceeding from that point
the army followed the divide between Jacob's Creek and Mount's
Creek to present Prittstown and on for another mile and a half to
the Truxell-Lauffer farm, where on July I, I755, a camp was made
to permit of making a more or less solid road across the swamp.
Remaining still on the east side of Jacob's Creek, Captain Orme reports
that on the second of July they marched to Jacob's Cabin, about six
miles from the camp (meaning possibly the camp at Stewart's Crossing). Braddock seems to have crossed Jacob's Creek near the old
Welshons mill, after leaving the Indian Jacob's Cabin, and proceeded
through Mt. Pleasant at Eagle Street, thence across the old turnpike (in Main Street, now designated by a marker), and past the
John McAdams farm, and the Warden farm to the sixteenth camp at
what was termed the "Great Swamp" by some, and "Salt Lick Camp"
by others. The patent for this land was later taken out by Ephraim
Blain, and it became in later years the Edward Stoner farm.
Captain Orme further records that on July fourth, "we marched
about six miles to Thicketty Run." The road crossed the Big Sewickley a short distance west of Hunker, and traversed the Colonel John
T. Fulton and the David Beck farms. The next three camps, No. I7
at Thicketty Run, No. I8, called Monacatoocha, and No. I9, called
Three Springs, are well marked by metal plaques erected by the public
schools of Hempfield, Sewickley and North Huntingdon townships.
Thicketty Run camp was on the Knappenberger-Moore farm west of
Seanor's Reformed Church; Monacatoocha was at the residence of
the late W. Buchanan Howell; and Three Springs Camp was near
124THE BRADDOCK EXPEDITION
the Presbyterian manse of Old Long Run Church, where the eminent
historian, Rev. Charles W. Maus, D. D., now resides. The army
rested a day at Thicketty Run, and proceeded six miles on July sixth
to Monacatoocha, so called because the son of Chief Monacatoocha
was killed there as a scouting party was out looking for hostile Indians.
This put great sadness into the Chief's heart, which General Braddock in some measure appeased by having the funeral services accompanied with full military honors.
-  General Braddock first intended to keep the ridge land along the
present Lincoln Highway, but when Sir John St. Clair, his road
builder, reported to him that it was not feasible, after a scouting party
of one hundred men had found the steep defiles of the Brush Creek
and Turtle Creek valleys to be crossed, he turned westward at present
Stewartsville and after keeping the high ground for some distance,
went down Long Run Valley past the old Sampson Mill, and established his twentieth, and last camp in the northerly section of McKeesport, a mile or two below the junction of the Youghiogheny and the
Monongahela rivers. Here was a fine spring of water, and they
called this rendezvous the "Monongahela Camp." At this camp
Washington joined the army again, having come up from Bear Camp
east of the Great Crossings, where he had been recuperating from his
illness.
Colonel Dunbar had been toiling slowly along with the rear division, containing the artillery and stores. Leaving Little Crossings
soon after Braddock's departure, he came on by the same route,
passing the ruins of Fort Necessity on the second of July, and a few
days later reaching the place, known as Dunbar's Camp, just northwesterly of the place where Washington had his clash with Jumonville the year before. Washington had been coming along with
Colonel Dunbar's train, but when he came to the point where he had
the severe experience of the preceding year, he hastened on to join
Braddock at the banks of the Monongahela. He made the trip in a
covered military wagon. The active men of Colonel Dunbar's detachment were taken forward under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Burton and prepared at the Monongahela Camp to participate in the further march towards Fort Duquesne.
The march of this disciplined army through the beautiful woods
of Southwestern Pennsylvania was one of confidence on the part of the
British officers.  Unquestionably they were expecting the French
I25SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
forces to be overcome at the Forks of the Ohio. General Braddock
will be remembered as a courageous man at best, although he lacked
the experience in the warfare of the woods. Through the years historians have been gathering additional material concerning this
famous march, and groups of hikers have trailed the road in a historical revisualization of this pioneer effort. In the months of June and
July, I909, Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart and Prof. John Kennedy ILacock, of Harvard, Prof. Andrew J. Waychoff, of Waynesburg College,
and others, have walked through from Cumberland to Pittsburgh and
photographed scenes along the way. In a check-up trailing a few
years ago, Professor Lacock slipped off one of the huge rocks along
the way on the western side of the Chestnut Ridge, and died a few
days later in the Connellsville Hospital as the result of his injuries.
General Braddock planned the work of his army so that they
should be most effective in making an open attack. At Monacatoocha
Camp he held a conference and gave these orders: "If it should be
ordered to advance the van or send back the rearguard, the advanced
parties detached from them are to remain at their posts facing outward. Whenever there is a general halt, half of each of the subaltern's advanced parties are to remain under arms with fixed bayonets facing outwards, and the other half may sit down by their
arms." At the Monongahela Camp, these further orders were issued:
"All the men are to draw and clean their pieces, and the whole are to
load tomorrow on the beating of the'general,' with fresh cartridges.
No tents or baggage are to be taken with Lieutenant-Colonel Gage's
party."
So, the Braddock army was preparing itself to make a final grand
march to Fort Duquesne, with bayonets gleaming, and the spirits of
the soldiers high. They and their officers were quite confident that
any force the French might send out to meet them would meet defeat,
and within a short time they would have completed their march to
the stronghold at the Forks of the Ohio, and entered it in victory.
126CHAPTER X
lrhe Battle of Monongahela
The Braddock Army Twice Crosses the Monongahela-It Reassembles
in Battle Array on the Western Side-The English Reach the High
Ground-The French Attack the Advancing Columns-Their Commander, Beaujeu, is Killed in the Artillery Defense-The French
and Indians Fight from Behind Trees-Braddock Attempts to Rally
His Forces, and Is Severely Wounded-The Retreat to Dunbar's
Camp-General Braddock Dies at Orchard Camp-Brutality of the
French-Consternation on the Frontiers.
Due to the narrow pass on the eastern bank of the Monongahela
River, General Braddock decided to cross over to the western side,
and then cross back again just below the mouth of Turtle Creek, on
his way from the Monongahela Camp to Fort Duquesne. After
Washington joined the forces again, the army numbered one thousand
four hundred and sixty officers and men, in addition to camp followers. It was Braddock's intention to get an early start and reach Fort
Duquesne before nightfall, and he still retained that same confidence
concerning his soldiers and as to his military tactics that he had
expressed to Benjamin Franklin earlier in the campaign. The French
and Indians had been lurking along his march all the while observing
his operations, and Christopher Gist, Andrew Montour, Chief Scarouady, and others had scouted on the French almost up to the coveted
fort. As late as July sixth, these scouts reported no ambush and no
elaborate preparations by the French.
The stirring scenes of the battle of Monongahela began with the
issuance of orders to Lieutenant-Colonel Gage to march before daybreak with three full companies, containing one hundred sixty rank
and file of the Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth regiments, with two
six-pounders, and accompanied by proper guides. He received ordersSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
to pass over to the west side of the Monongahela River, and then back
onto the flat below at the mouth of Turtle Creek, there to secure the
second fording so that the main body could get over safely. Sir John
St. Clair was ordered to march at four o'clock in the morning with
two hundred fifty men to open the road for the artillery and baggage.
The picture of those uniformed British soldiers must have been a wonderful sight as they approached the low water in the river and passed
over to the present city of Duquesne, with no crowds to cheer them on.
There were no river dams then to deepen the fording, and the primeval woods alone formed the sidelines through which they passed.
As the main army moved, with the British flags flying, arms cleaned
and gleaming, and uniforms bright,' Washington described it in after
years as the most beautiful sight he ever beheld.
The fine journal of Captain Robert Orme, who was an aide-de
camp with Washington on General Braddock's staff, furnishes the best
account of the events which immediately followed, because he wrote
as a participant in the battle. May we quote from him:
"July 9th. The whole marched agreeably to the orders before
mentioned, and about 8 in the morning the General made the first
crossing of the Monongahela by passing over about one hundred and
fifty men in front, to whom followed half the carriages. Another
party of one hundred and fifty men headed the'second division; the
horses and cattle then passed; and after all the baggage was over,
the remaining troops, which till then possessed the heights, marched
over in good order. The General ordered a halt, and the whole
formed in their proper line of march.
"When we had moved about a mile the General received a note
from Lieutenant-Colonel Gage acquainting him with his having passed
the river without any interruption, and having posted himself agreeably to his orders. When we got to the other crossing, the bank on
the opposite side not being yet made passable, the artillery and baggage drew up along the beach and halted till our General passed over
and a detachment of the Forty-fourth with the pickets on the right.
The artillery wagons and horses followed; and then the detachment
of the Forty-eighth with the left pickets, which had been posted during the halt upon the heights. When the whole army had passed, the
General again halted.
I28THE BATTLE OF MONONGAHELA
"It was now near two o'clock, and the advanced party under Lieutenant-Colonel Gage and the working party under Sir John St. Clair
were ordered to march on until three. No sooner were the pickets
upon their respective flanks, and the word given to march, but we
heard an excessive, quick and heavy firing in the front. The General
imagining the advance parties were very warmly attacked, and being
willing to free himself from the incumbrance of the baggage, he
ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Burton to reinforce him with the vanguard, and the line to halt. According to this disposition eight hundred men were detached from the line, free from all embarrassments,
and four hundred were left for the defense of the artillery and baggage, posted in such a manner as to secure them from any attack or
insults.
"The General sent forward an aide-de-camp to bring him an
account of the nature of the attack, but the fire continuing, he moved
forward himself, leaving Sir Peter Halket with the command of the
baggage. The advance detachments soon gave way and fell back upon
Lieutenant-Colonel Burton's detachment, who was forming his men
to face a rising ground upon the right. The whole were now got
together in great confusion. The colors were advanced in different
places, to separate the men of the two regiments. The General
ordered the officers to endeavor to form the men, and to tell them
off into small divisions and to advance with them; but neither entreaties nor threats could prevail. The advanced flank parties, which
were left for the security of the baggage, all but one ran in. The baggage was then warmly escaped by flight. Two of the cannon flanked
the baggage, and for some time kept the Indians off; the other cannon,
which were disposed of in the best manner, fired away most of their
ammunition, and were of some service, but the spot being so woody,
they could do little or no execution. The enemy had spread themselves in such a manner, that they extended from front to rear, and
fired upon every part.
"The place of action was covered with large trees, and much underwood on the left, without any opening but the road, which was about
twelve feet wide. At the distance of about two hundred yards in
front and upon the right were two rising grounds covered with trees.
When the General found it impossible to persuade them to advance,
S. P.-I- 9
I29SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
and no enemy appeared in view and nevertheless a vast number of
officers were killed, by exposing themselves before the men, he endeavored to retreat them in good order; but the panick was so great that
he could not succeed. During this time they were loading as fast as
possible and firing in the air. At last Lieutenant-Colonel Burton got
together about one hundred of the Forty-eighth Regiment, and prevailed upon them by the General's order, to follow him towards the
rising ground on the right, but he being disabled by his wounds, they
faced about to the right and returned.
"When the men fired away all their ammunition and the General
and most of the officers were wounded, they by one common consent
left the field running off with the greatest precipitation. About fifty
Indians pursued us to the river, and killed several men in the passage.
The officers used all possible endeavors to stop the men, and to prevail upon them to rally, but a greater number of them threw away
their arms and ammunition, and even their cloaths, to escape faster.
"About a quarter of a mile on the other side of the river, we prevailed upon near one hundred of them to take post upon a very
advantageous spot, about two hundred yards from the road. Lieutenant-Colonel Burton posted some small parties and sentinels. We
intended to have kept possession of that ground,'till we could have
been reinforced. The General and some wounded officers remained
there about an hour till most of the men run off. From that place the
General sent Mr. Washington to Colonel Dunbar with orders to send
wagons for the wounded, some provision, and hospital stores; to be
escorted by the two youngest Grenadier companies, to meet him at
Gist's Plantation, or nearer, if possible. It was found impracticable
to remain here, as the General and officers were left alone; we therefore retreated in the best manner we were able. After we had passed
the Monongahela the second time, we were joined by LieutenantColonel Gage, who had rallied near eighty men. We marched all that
night and the next day, and about ten o'clock that night we got to
Gist's Plantation."
Added to this record there are the maps made by Captain Patrick Mackellar, Chief Engineer of the Braddock Army, who was a
participant in the battle. Later map drawers would have the record
show that the General fell into an ambuscade between the two ravines,
but there was no ambuscade. The army had reached the higher
I30THE BATTLE OF MONONGAHELA
ground, and according to Mackellar's maps were at right angles to the
ravine on the higher ground. Lieutenant Harry Gordon, one of the
engineers, was ahead of the choppers, marking trees that were to be
cut in opening the road to the required width, and he was the first to
see the enemy.
The French account of the battle of Monongahela is needed to
give a proper view of their side of this noted engagement. Dumas
reported that the attack was made by the French forces when they
were not yet in order of battle, and that the first volley was fired when
they were not yet within range. General Braddock was defeated not
because he was ambushed, but because the English soldiers had not yet
learned from the Indians the secret of open order fighting. Contrecoeur, captain of infantry, and commandant of Fort Duquesne, dispatched scouts to observe the British, and he was advised that three
thousand regulars from old England were within six leagues of the
fort. On July ninth he detached M. de Beaujeu, seconded by Messrs.
Dumas and de Lignery, all three captains, together with four lieutenants, six ensigns, twenty cadets, one hundred soldiers, one hundred
Canadians and six hundred Indians, with orders to lie in ambush at a
favorable spot, which he had reconnoitered the previous evening. The
detachment found itself in the presence of the enemy within three
leagues of the fort, before it could reach its destination. M. de Beaujeu, finding his ambush had failed, decided on an attack. This he
made with so much vigor as to astonish the enemy, who were waiting for us in the best possible order; but their artillery, loaded with
grape, having opened its fire, our men gave way in turn. The Indians also, frightened by the report of the cannon rather than by any
damage it could inflict, began to yield, when M. de Beaujeu was killed.
"M. Dumas began to encourage his detachment, and ordered the
officers in command of the Indians to spread themselves along the
wings as to take the enemy in flank, while he and the other officers
were attacking them in front. This order was executed so promptly
that the enemy who were already shouting their'Long Live the King,'
thought now only of defending themselves. The fight was obstinate
on both sides and success long doubtful, but the enemy at last gave
way. Efforts were made in vain to introduce some sort of order in
retreat, but the whoop of the Indians, which echoed through the forest, struck terror into the hearts of the entire enemy, and the rout was
I3IILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Pouring a Steel Ingot, Carnegie-Illinois Steel Company......   I5 I
The LeMoyne Crematory, First in the United States, Washington..........................................                         I 6 I
Penn Albert Hotel, Greensburg.........................   I72
"The Unknown Plot" in Grandview Cemetery, Containing 777
Victims of Johnstown Flood.........................   I75
Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh..................  196
Modern  Coal Mining  Machine.........................   204
Coke Ovens, Star Junction.............................  208
Coke Ovens, Star Junction..............................   209
General View of Clairton By-Product Coke Plant, CarnegieIllinois Steel Corporation...........................   2 II
Washington College, I836.............................   220
McMillan Log College, Canonsburg-Built About I780.....   22I
Jefferson  College, I840................................   223
Washington and Jefferson College Building, Washington.....   226
Reverend Robert Bruce, Principal of University of Pittsburgh,
I819-42.........................................                          229
University  of Pittsburgh  Campus.......................   23I
Dr. John G. Bowman, Chancellor, UJniversity of Pittsburgh.. 233
Allegheny Observatory, University of Pittsburgh...........                     235
Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh...........   237
Elders Ridge Presbyterian Church and Manse, Built by Dr.
Donaldson......................................239
The Original Elders Ridge Academy.....................   24I
Elders Ridge Vocational School........................   242
Rev. Alexander Donaldson, D. D.......................   243
Prof. T. R. Elder, of Elders Ridge Academy..............   245
Prof. Samuel J. Craighead, of Elders Ridge Academy.......   247
St. Vincent College and Seminary.......................                       250
St. Vincent College, Entrance to Grounds.................   25I
Waynesburg College, First Presbyterian Church, Waynesburg.   255
St. Francis College, Administration Building...............  258
xvSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
complete. We remained in possession of the field with six brass grenade mortars, all their ammunition, and generally their entire baggage.
"Some deserters, who have come in since, have told us that they
had been engaged with only two thousand men, the remainder of the
army being four leagues farther off, and that the enemy was retreating
to Virginia, and some scouts, sent as far as the height of land, have
confirmed this by reporting that the thousand men who were engaged
had been equally panic-stricken and abandoned both provisions and
ammunition on the way. On this intelligence a detachment was dispatched after them, which destroyed and burnt everything that could
be found. The enemy have left more than one thousand men on the
field of battle. They have lost a great portion of the artillery and
ammunition, provisions, as also their General, whose name was Mr.
Braddock, and almost all their officers. We have had three officers
killed, two officers and two cadets wounded. Such a victory so entirely
unexpected, seeing the inequality of the forces, is the fruit of Mr.
Dumas' experience, and of the activity and valor of the officers under
his command."
The French also made a return of the following artillery, munitions of war and other effects found on the field of battle, exclusive of
the plunder that the Indians took.
Four brass pieces, with arms of England, of the calibre of I I lbs.
Four ditto of 5 2 lbs
Four brass mortars or howitzers, of 7/2 inch diameter.
Three other grenade mortars, of 42~ inch.
175 balls of I I lbs.
I9,740 musket cartridges.
A great quantity of muskets, fit and unfit for service.
A quantity of broken carriages.
400 or o500 horses, some of them killed.
About Ioo head of horned cattle.
A greater number of barrels of powder and flour broken.
About 6oo00 dead, of whom a great number are officers, and
wounded in proportion.
20 men or women taken prisoners by the Indians.
They also reported a considerable booty in furniture, clothing
and utensils, and a lot of papers which had not been translated for
want of time, among them a plan of Fort Duquesne, which Captain
132THE BATTLE OF MONONGAHELA
Robert Stobo, of the English forces, had drawn while a prisoner at
Fort Duquesne.
These figures of the numbers of English soldiers dead on the field,
and the horses and cattle left, seem much out of proportion, but in
the absence of a correct statement by the English, they must be taken
as indicating the thoroughness which General Braddock had equipped
his little army. The exact number of the casualties will never be
known, because many records were left behind when the rout took
place. Still a third account is given by Washington, when on July I8,
I755, he wrote on this wise to Governor Robert Dinwiddie, of
Virginia:
"When we came to this place, we were attacked (very unexpectedly I must own) by about three hundred French and Indians; our
numbers consisted of about one thousand three hundred well armed
men, chiefly regulars, who were immediately struck with such a deadly
panick, that nothing but confusion and disobedience of orders prevailed
amongst them. The officers in general behaved with incomparable
bravery, for which they bravely suffered, there being near sixty killed
and wounded, a large proportion out of the number we had. The
Virginian companies behaved like men and died like soldiers; for I
believe out of the three companys that were there that day, scarce
thirty were left alive. Captain Peyrouny and all his officers, down to
a corporal, were killed. Captain Polson shared almost as hard a fate,
for only one of his escaped. In short the dastardly behavior of the
English soldiers exposed all those who were inclined to do their duty
to almost certain death; and at length in despight of every effort to
the contrary, broke and ran as sheep before the hounds, leaving the
artillery, ammunition, provisions and every individual thing we had
with us a prey to the enemy; and when we endeavored to rally them
in hopes of regaining our invaluable loss, it was with as much success
as if we had attempted to have stopped the wild bears of the mountains.
"The General was wounded behind in the shoulder, and into the
breast, of which he died three days after. His two aides-de-camp
were both wounded, but are in a fair way to recovery. Colonel Burton and Sir John St. Clair are also wounded, and I hope will get over
it. Sir Peter Halket with many other brave officers were killed in the
field. I luckily escaped without a wound, though I had four bullets
through my coat and two horses shot under me. It is supposed that
I33SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
we left three hundred or more dead in the field; about that number
we brought of wounded, and it is imagined (I believed, with great
injustice too) that two-thirds of both received their shots from our
own cowardly English soldiers who gathered themselves into a body
contrary to orders ten or twelve deep, would then level, fire and shoot
down men before them. I tremble at the consequences that this defeat
may have upon our back settlers, who I suppose will all leave their
habitations unless there are proper measures taken for their security."
The personnel of General Braddock's army at the battle of Monongahela is one of greatest interest, because so many of them had a
prominent part in the later war of'the Revolution. Two of the General's aides-de-camp, Captain Robert Orme and Captain Roger Morris, were wounded, while the third, Washington, although being in
the thick of the fight, and rallying soldiers after the General was
struck down, was not injured. His favorite physician and companion
of many years, Dr. James Craik, was there dressing the wounds of the
soldiers. In addition to Daniel Boone, Captain Adam Stephens, Captain Christopher Gist, Captain Horatio Gates, Lieutenant-Colonel
Gage, Captain Hugh Mercer, there were on General Braddock's staff
Sir William Shirley, his versatile secretary, who was killed; Sir John
St. Clair, Deputy Quartermnaster General, who was wounded, Matthew Leslie, Assistant Quartermaster General, wounded; Brigade
Major, Francis Halket, wounded. In addition to Colonel Sir Peter
Halket, there were also killed out of the Forty-fourth Regiment, his
son, Lieutenant Halket, Captain Totten, Captain Githins, Lieutenant
Allen, and Privates Townsend, Nartlow and Kennedy. Among the
wounded were Lieutenant-Colonel George Gage, Lieutenant Sittler,
Lieutenant Dunbar, Lieutenant Freeby, Lieutenant Simpson, Lieutenant Lock, and Privates Disney and Pennington. Other names have
been preserved to us out of the rolls of the Forty-fourth regiment, and
not wounded, were Captain Hobson, Captain Beckwith, Lieutenant
Falconer, Lieutenant Bayley, Lieutenant Pottenger, and Private
Preston.
Those recorded as having been killed from the Forty-eighth Regiment were Captain Chomley, and Privates Crimble, Wideman, Hansard, Brereton and Hart, Lieutenant-Colonel Burton was wounded, as
were also Major Sparks, Captain Bowyer, Captain Ross, and Privates
Harbut, Walsham, Edmeston, Montreseur, McMullen, Crow, and
I34Sterling. Others attached to this regiment not wounded were Captain
Dobson, Captain Morris, Privates Hotham, Cope, Dunbar and Cowheart. Captain Orde and Lieutenant Smith, of the artillery, were
killed, and Lieutenants Buchanan, McCloud and McCuller wounded.
Among the engineers wounded were Robert MacKeller, Robert Gordon and one Williamson. In the squad of sailors that were a part of
the expedition some were killed and wounded, among them Lieutenant
Spendelow and Midshipman Talbot, and Captain Stone of General
VIEW IN BRADDOCK PARK SHOWING GRAVE AND TRAIL MARKER
Lascelles' Regiment were killed, and Captain Floyer, of General
Warburton's Regiment was wounded.
Out of the troops of the New York independent companies, and
from those of South Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, the following
were killed: Lieutenant Sunna, Captain William Poulson, Captain
Peyrouney, Privates Hamilton, Wright, Spydorff and Wagoner.
Among the wounded were Captain Gates, and Lieutenant Howard, of
Captain Demere's Company, Captain Stevens and Private Stewart.
The exact number of casualties of this battle will never be known,
although some officers returned that there were about six hundred
killed and wounded.SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
The battle of Monongahela lasted from two o'clock until five
o'clock in the afternoon of July 9, I755, and the retreat of the remains
of this army was a rather sorry spectacle. In his weakened condition
the General was taken to the opposite side of the Monongahela
River, where he conferred with his officers and men. After the orders
were given to Major Washington to proceed to Colonel Dunbar's
camp about fifty miles back and have the wagons and provisions sent
up, and after the brief stand by Colonel Burton and Colonel Gage,
they soon gathered the remnant of the men together, and arrived at
Gist's Plantation at io o'clock on the night of July tenth.
Colonel Dunbar's camp was up on the mountain east of Gist's
Plantation, and Major Washington and his companions reached that
point on the evening of July tenth, too. The news of the defeat had
preceded them, for those who drove the wagons and munition train
at the battle unhitched and mounted their horses and fled towards
Dunbar's camp, arriving there about noon, ahead of Washington.
"All is lost! Braddock is killed! The troops are cut to pieces."
Such were the expressions of Colonel Dunbar's detachment, which
caused a panic among his soldiers. The supplies and hospital needs
were sent back, however, to meet the retreating Braddock and his
train, and thus enabled them to reach Gist's Plantation on the morning of July eleventh. The General suffered much, and was particularly concerned about his soldiers who were left on the field of battle,
dying from wounds, exhaustion and starvation, and suffering atrocities at the hands of the Indians. VWhen Captain Robert Orme reached
Dunbar's camp, he recorded that the soldiers there "seemed to have
forgot all discipline." Some fled, taking the best horses with them;
most of the wagons were used to haul the wounded; and most of the
ammunition and military stores were destroyed or buried that the
French might not get them.
A very fine memorial park is maintained at the Orchard Camp
site on the old National Highway (now Highway Route 40), seven
or eight miles east of Uniontown, by the Fort Necessity Chapter,
Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the American Revolution.  Here
remains a beautiful scar of the old Braddock Road, in the middle of
which is a large granite marker. General Braddock died at Orchard
Camp during the night of July 13, I755, and his remains were buried
in the middle of the old road, where troops, horses and wagons
passed over the grave to prevent the Indians from discovering it, and
I36THE BATTLE OF MONONGAHELA
thus desecrating it. Some historians say that he was buried before
daylight, with Majior Washington reading the burial service by torchlight, others that he was buried after daylight. Just before his death
he admitted his mistake in not listening to the advice of Washington
as to the manner of Indian warfare, and said: "We shall know better
how to deal with them another time." On account of his obstinancy
and conceit, he was severely criticized for his actions by military men
in both England and America. He was a brave man, however, possessing great kindness of heart, and Washington paid him this tribute
in after years: "True, he was unfortunate, but his character was much
too severely treated. He was one of the honest and best men of the
British officers. Even in the manner of fighting he was not more to
blame than others, for of all that were consulted, only one person
objected to it. He was both my general and my physician."
The field of battle at the Monongahela bore mute testimony for
half a century concerning the hasty but awful slaughter that occurred.
Hundreds of scalped and mutilated bodies lay there after the battle,
many of the soldiers having possibly dragged themselves into the
woods to die, or having perished in flight. Three years later, on July
27, I758, Captain James Patterson of the Forbes Expedition, went
from Bedford on a scouting tour to reconnoitre Fort Duquesne, and
he recorded in his journal that on Tuesday, August I, I758, his party
"crossed Turtle Creek and turned off the road to the right hand upon
the hills and came up across the place of Braddock's engagement, and
stayed there until sunset. Marched down the road and saw the bones
of men who were killed at the battle laying very thick." After the
evacuation and burning of Fort Duquesne by the French on the
approach of the Forbes army, the General sent a detachment on
November 28, I758, to bury the bones of the soldiers slain at Braddock's defeat. As late as August I5, I8II, fifty-six years after the
battle, one John Melich, traveling by stage coach through Greensburg and Stewartsville, passed Turtle Creek and ascending the hill
on the other side, related that "we traveled about a mile, when we
came to the ground where Gen. Braddock was defeated.  Many
memorials of the battle are still to be seen, but none so characteristic
as the bones which lay bleaching by the wayside."
The defeat of General Braddock heartened the French, and the
capture of valuable papers, as well as his ammunition and supplies,
gave them valuable information, and from these papers they learned
I37SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the true purpose and plans of the English. Baron de Dieskau, writing from Montreal on August I6, I755, to Commissary Doreil, said:
"We are as well acquainted as themselves with all their treacheries, from General Braddock's papers, which have been found on the
field of battle near Fort Duquesne.... Their plan was concluded
two years ago, since which time they have not ceased their preparations for its execution this year, to wit: that General Braddock, with
a force of three thousand men, should attack Fort Duquesne, and proceed thence to Niagara, which was to be attacked at the same time by
the Governor of Boston, at the head of a force of three thousand men;
and in order to cap their treachery, General Johnson was to come
with four thousand five hundred men and enter the heart of the colony. It is with this last that I will have to do.... The defeat of the
English on the Ohio, and especially the death of General Braddock,
who had been killed, must have furiously deranged their plans, and I
calculate on deranging them still a trifle more, provided they hold on."
The secret instructions of King George to General Braddock,
which the French captured at the battle of Monongahela, contained
explicit instructions, among them being:
I. You will, therefore, order the troops to be carried up the
Potomac as high as Wills Creek, where we have ordered Sir John
St. Clair, our Deputy Quartermaster General, to erect a proper covering, and to provide magazines, and also to prepare a park for the
ammunition and artillery, which may be necessary on this first part of
your expedition; and we have likewise given directions to our Deputy Quartermaster General, to provide proper conveniences for a
general hospital at Hampton, and for a flying hospital at the creek
before mentioned.
2. As soon as you shall have been able to drive the French from
their posts upon the Ohio, you will take the proper measures for
erecting a good and sufficient fort, on the most convenient pass, upon
the said river, and you shall leave a strong garrison consisting of three
independent companies now in Virginia, sustained by such a part, or
the whole of the Provincial Troops, as you shall find necessary to
defend the same, and to protect the Indians in those parts, as well as
our settlements, which have lately been broken up....
The French attitude, following the defeat of Braddock, can be
further sensed by the story of James Smith who was confined at Fort
I38BRADDOCK'S FIELD IN 1803I40           SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Duquesne during the battle. He was one of the men engaged with
Colonel James Burd in cutting the road from Bedford towards Turkey Foot, and was captured along the Burd road on July 5, I755,
and taken to Fort Duquesne. He gives his experiences there in his
own words:
"Shortly after this, on the ninth day of July, I755, in the morning I heard a great stir in the fort. As I could then walk with a staff
in my hand, I went to the door, which was just by the wall of the fort,
and stood upon the wall and viewed the Indians in a huddle about the
gate, where were barrels of powder, bullets, flints, etc., and everyone
taking what suited; I saw the Indians also march off in rank attire,
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 wondered 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 the day, and, in the
afternoon, I again observed a great noise and commotion in the fort,
and though at that time I could not understand French, 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; 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 concealed
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 halloes, and saw a company of Indians
and French coming in. I observed they had a great many bloody
scalps, grenadiers' caps, British canteens, bayonets, etc., with them.
They brought the news that Braddock was defeated. After that
another company came in which appeared 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 thatTHE BATTLE OF MONONGAHELA
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 appeared 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 tied him to a stake, and kept touching him with firebrands,
red-hot irons, etc., and he screaming in the most doleful manner, the
Indians in the meantime yelling like infernal spirits. As this scene
appeared so shocking to me to behold, I retired to my lodging, both
sore and sorry. When I came into my lodgings, I saw Russel's Seven
Sermons, 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 the 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 officers' dress, with sash, half
moons, laced hats, etc., which the British then wore."
James Smith remained in captivity as far west as the Muskingum;
trying to escape in I759 on a French ship at Montreal, but he was
recaptured and later exchanged in 1760, when he returned to his home
in Cumberland County. He was an active frontiersman, becoming a
captain in the Pennsylvania line during the Revolution, and was promoted to colonel in I778. Ten years later he pioneered in Kentucky,
where he became prominent in its public affairs, and was a member of
its legislature. He died in Washington County, Kentucky, in I812.
His first wife, Anne Smith, lies buried in an unmarked grave on the
hill close to Jacob's Creek, back of Smithtown in Westmoreland
County.
The defeat of Braddock and the rout of his army, had the effect
of disintegrating his forces and leaving the frontier without protection, and thus a distressing situation for the settlers.
I4IILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Shady Side Academy, McCune Dining Hall, Ellsworth House
(Dormitory), View of Part of Campus from Porch of Ellsworth  House....................................                          260
Seton Hill College, Greensburg.........................   262
Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh..............   265
Southwestern  Pennsylvania  Map........................   277
The Block House, Pittsburgh...........................   282
Incline at Johnstown..................................   285
State  Teachers' College, Indiana.......................   287
State  Teachers' College, California.....................                      289
Chapel, State Teachers' College, Slippery Rock............   29I
Friendship  Hill.....................................                           294
Municipal Building, City of Jeannette, "The Glass City".......  295
Plate Glass Polishers, Ford City Plant, Pittsburgh Plate Glass
Company.......................................                            297
John Pitcairn, Founder of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company...   299
Three Views of Butler................................                           30I
An Old Well Near Butler.............................  303
The Original Drake Well at Titusville...................  304
George Westinghouse................................                            305
First Locomotive Equipped by George Westinghouse With
Compressed Air Power Brakes for Regular Road Service   306
Grave of Colonel Edward  Cook........................    312
Hugh  M. Brackenridge...............................                            314
Former Washington County Court House and Jail.........  316
Chauncey Forward  Black..............................  3I8
Chief Justice Jeremiah S. Black.......................... 320
A  Supreme Court Sitting in Pittsburgh, i868...............  322
The Late Chief Justice Robert S. Frazer, Pennsylvania Supreme
Court..........................................                           330
View  Near Portersville, Butler County...................  346
Busy Kittanning, Armstrong County-Courthouse in Background.........................................                           350
Washington  County  Court House, Washington............  352
xviCHAPTER XI
Colonel John Armstrong's Expedition
Washington's Impression of Braddock's Defeat-Preparations in Virginia to Oust the French-Indian Depredations in Eastern Pennsylvania-The Attack on Penn's Valley-Capture of Barbara Leininger
and Marie LeRoy-Smith's Description of Kittanning-Attack on
Fort Granville, and Death of Lieutenant Edward Armstrong-The
Pennsylvania Regiment and the Chain of Forts-Colonel John Armstrong Marches to Kittanning-The Town is Burned and Many
Indians Killed in Surprise Attack-Lieutenant Hugh Mercer Severely
Injured-The French Account of the Attack-Armstrong Voted
Thanks in Philadelphia-List of Casualties.
The defeat of General Braddock's army naturally scattered the
traders and settlers back east of the mountains. Up and down the
Allegheny and Ohio rivers were Indian towns, and in this region King
Shingass was carrying out his treacherous designs. Bands of Indians,
led by him, and sometimes commanded by French officers, spread terror along the western borders of the colonies of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The Delaware and Shawnee Indians had pretty
generally gone over to the French, and they proceeded to invade
these settlements with rifle, tomahawk, and scalping knife. While
many of these raids and their consequent massacres cannot be detailed
in this narrative, sufficient reference to them must be made to show the
conditions that existed here and caused them to be committed.
It is well to note the defenseless condition of Pennsylvania at this
time. Colonel Dunbar headed straight for Philadelphia to go into
winter quarters, although it was still summer, and that left the Pennsylvania frontier unprotected by militia. Governor Morris urged
Colonel Dunbar to keep his military forces on the frontier, and later
appealed to Governor Shirley, then in command at Boston, to have himCOLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
do so, but Dunbar stayed in the East. Governor Morris was unable
to raise troops in Pennsylvania, and advised Shirley that "uncommon
pains have been taken by the Quakers to dissuade the people from taking up arms upon the present occasion," a majority of the Assembly
then being composed of Quakers. With this defenseless condition
existing, the Delawares and Shawnees began their bloody invasion of
the frontiers in the fall of I755.
The Virginians approached this deplorable situation in a different
way. When Washington arrived back at Mt. Vernon from his trying
experiences at the battle of Monongahela, he had time to carefully
express himself in these thoughtful words:
"It's true, we have been beaten, most shamefully beaten by a handful of men; who only intended to molest and disturb our march. Victory was their smallest expectation; but see the wondrous works of
Providence; the uncertainty of human things! We, but a few
moments before, believed our numbers equal to the Canadian force;
they only expected to annoy us. Yet, contrary to all expectation and
human probability, and even to the common course of things, we were
totally defeated, sustained the loss of everything, which they have
got, and are enriched and strengthened by it. This, as you observe,
must be an affecting story to the Colony; and will, no doubt, license
the tongues of the people to censure those they think most blamable;
which by the by, often falls very wrongfully. I join very heartily with
you in believing that when this story comes to be related in future
Annals, it will meet with ridicule or indignation; for had I not been
witness to the fact on that fatal day, I should scarce give credit to it
now."
In preparations for coming expeditions to the Ohio in the very
near future, and to protect the frontiers of Virginia, Washington was
appointed Colonel of the Virginia Regiment on August I4, I755. His
commission said that it was to be raised for the defense of his Majesty's colony, and for repelling unjust and hostile invasions of the
French and Indians. Sixteen companies of sixty men each were to be
raised, and forty thousand pounds were voted for that purpose by the
Virginia Assembly. Washington was given three hundred pounds,
the captains seventy-five pounds, the lieutenants and surgeons thirty
pounds, and each soldier five pounds as a reward and compensation for
their gallant behavior and losses at the Monongahela. Washington
I43SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
was designated as Commander-in-Chief of all the forces that now are
and shall be raised. Due to the distinguished services of some, and the
less distinguished service of others in Southwestern Pennsylvania in
the succeeding years of frontier warfare, it is appropriate to provide a
list of the officers of that regiment here, for some of them rose to
higher rank, and rendered distinguished services during the Revolutionary War and even afterwards. Here again these primeval woods,
as in the case of Washington, were their training ground.
ISt Company-Captain Peter Hogg, Lieutenant George Frazier,
Ensign William Fleming.
2d Company-Captain George Mercer, Lieutenant Thomas Bullett, Ensign George Hedgman.
3d Company-Captain Thomas Waggener, Lieutenant Walter
Stewart, Ensign Nathaniel Milner.
4th Company-Captain Robert Stewart, Lieutenant John McNeil,
Ensign George Gordon.
5th Company-Captain Thomas Cocke, Lieutenant William Stark,
Ensign George Weedon.
6th Company-Captain John Savage, Lieutenant John Blagg,
Ensign Charles Smith.
7th Company-Captain William Bronaugh, Lieutenant Hancock
Eustace.
8th Company-Captain Hugh Mercer, Lieutenant John Lowry.
9th Company-Captain Joshua Lewis, Lieutenant John King,
Ensign Mordecai Buckner.
Ioth Company-Captain Henry Woodward, Lieutenant Austin
Brockenbrough.
I Ith Company-Captain Robert Spotswood, Lieutenant John Edward Lomax, Ensign Thomas Carter.
I2th Company-Captain Henry Harrison, Lieutenant John Hall,
Ensign Nathaniel Thompson.
I3th Company-Captain Charles Lewis, Lieutenant Peter Steenberten, Ensign Edward Hubbard.
I4th Company-Captain William Peachy, Lieutenant John Williams, Ensign William Dangerfield.
I Sth Company-Captain David Bell, Lieutenant John Campbell,
Ensign John Deane.
I6th Company-Captain Robert McKenzie, Lieutenant James
Baker, Ensign Leonard Price.
I44COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
The trader, George Croghan, had an important post at Aughwick, west of the Tuscarora Mountain, and from that point wrote to
Charles Swine at Shippensburg, that a friendly Indian coming from
the Ohio had warned him that one hundred and sixty Indians were
ready to set out for the eastern settlements. This Indian ventured
the opinion that these Western Indians intended to seek the aid of the
Susquehanna Indians, and then attack the Province.  "He desires
me," wrote Croghan, "as soon as I see the Indians remove from Susquehanna back to Ohio, to shift my quarters, for he says that the
French will, if possible, lay all back frontiers in ruins this winter."
Croghan also stated that he was building a stockade, to be completed
the middle of the next week, and asked for guns and powder.
The Indians began their invasion of I755 by making their first
major attack on the German settlers in Penn's Creek Valley near
Selinsgrove. There were fourteen Indians in the party, and they all
came from the Allegheny, principally from Kittanning. One of their
leaders was Chief Keckenepaulin, famous along the Traders Path at
Quemahoning Dam and at Saltsburg, and whose party killed Lieutenant Hays in the Forbes Expedition. Other members of his party
were Joseph Compass, young Joseph Compass, young Thomas Hickman, Kalasquay, Souchy, Machynego and Katoochquay. The trader,
John Harris, from his post at Paxtang, present Harrisburg, gave most
detailed accounts of this massacre of some twenty-eight persons who
were tomahawked or taken prisoner. Two young girls of the settlement, Barbara Leininger and Marie LeRoy, were taken with others to
Kittanning, some dying of starvation, but these two were later taken
to Fort Duquesne, then to Saukonk at the mouth of the Beaver River,
then to Kuskuskies. After the burning of Fort Duquesne they were
taken to Muskingum by the Indians, finally making their escape to the
new Fort Pitt, whence they received a military escort through Fort
Ligonier, Fort Bedford and Carlisle, to Philadelphia. There they
gave an account of their experiences to the Provincial Council.
Following the massacre at Penn's Creek, the Indians continued
their attacks on the eastern settlements. They even crossed the Susquehanna and penetrated the valleys of the Blue Mountains and thus
sought to terrorize the whole Province of Pennsylvania. Out of
ninety-three settlers in the Great Cove in Franklin and Fulton counS. P.-I-10
I45SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
ties forty-seven were killed or captured. Those captured were taken
back to Kittanning and other towns in the Ohio Valley. As the Delawares and Shawnees followed the dictates of the French, the Cherokees from Tennessee and the Carolinas helped the English. On one
occasion in the latter part of 1755 the Cherokees sent one hundred and
thirty warriors to protect the frontiers and particularly in the Cumberland Valley. Matters got so severe there that the Scotch-Irish
pioneers of that section were ready to shoot or scalp an Indian on
sight. There were severe attacks also at Croghan's Gap and McDowell's Mill and in the Juniata Valley as well, and at many other
places.
This condition caused the Pennsylvania Province to erect a chain
of forts extending along the Kittatinny or Blue Mountains to the
Maryland line at a cost of some eighty-five thousand pounds. Benjamin Franklin and James Hamilton were sent to the Forks of the
Delaware at Easton on December 29, I755, to handle the situation
after a severe massacre of Moravian missionaries at Gnaddenhutten,
now Weissport. Benjamin Franklin was then in command of troops,
and he had with him as Chaplain the famed Rev. Charles Beatty,
who afterwards was a chaplain in the Forbes army. His services were
needed later in the Provincial Council at Philadelphia, and his command was turned over to Colonel William Clapham, who later
founded the Sewickley settlement near West Newton. On the western side of the Susquehanna River were Fort Patterson in the Juniata
Valley (at present Mexico), Fort Granville near Lewistown, Fort
Shirley at Shirleysburg, Fort Littleton near Burnt Cabins, Fort McDowell at MlcDowell's Mill, Fort Loudon, Fort Morris at Shippensburg, and Fort Lowther at Carlisle. These forts were supplemented
with many blockhouses in their immediate neighborhoods, but no settlers ventured beyond the line of this frontier of I756.
The Province of Pennsylvania created the Pennsylvania Regiment
to guard these forts, and the Governor was ex-officio Commander-inChief. The first battalion was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel
Conrad Weiser, and consisted of ten companies and five hundred men.
Its duty was to guard the Blue Mountain section from the Susquehanna to the Delaware. The second battalion was commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel John Armstrong and its eight companies and four
hundred men guarded the section west of the Susquehanna, and particularly to guard the Blue Mountains westerly. Colonel William
I46COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
Clapham commanded the third battalion of eight companies and four
hundred men, and because of its headquarters at Fort Augusta at
present Sunbury, it was called the Augusta Regiment. Major James
Burd commanded this regiment for a period later. These soldiers
were distributed all along the frontier, where needed, and gave a
measure of security to those settlers whose homes were nearest to the
marauding Indians of the Ohio Valley.
King Beaver and King Shingass led many of these bands of Indians, and due to the severity of their attacks, Chief Scarouady treated
with the Six Nations, and particularly with Chief Shikellamy, in an
effort to appease the Indians, but to no avail. This resulted in the
Carlisle Council of January I3-I7, I756, when reports were given by
George Croghan and others. Further reports were made to the
Provincial Council by Scarouady and Montour in March, with the
final result that war was declared by Governor Morris on April 8,
1756, in the following words:
"I, therefore, by this belt, declare war against the Delawares and
all such as act in conjunction with them. I offer you the hatchet and
expect your hearty concurrence with us in this just and necessary war.
I not only invite you, but desire you will send this belt to all your
friends everywhere, as well on the Susquehannah, as to the Six Nations
and their Allies, and engage them to join us heartily against these
false and perfidious enemies. I promise you and them protection and
assistance, when you shall stand in need of it against your enemies.
For the encouragement of you, and all who will join you in the destruction of your enemies, I promise to give the following bounties or
rewards, vist:
"For every male Indian prisoner above twelve years old that shall
be delivered at any of the Government's forts or towns, one hundred
and fifty dollars.
"For every female prisoner, or male prisoner of twelve years old,
one hundred and thirty dollars.
"For the scalp of every male Indian above twelve years old, one
hundred thirty dollars.
"For the scalp of every Indian woman, fifty dollars.
"To our own people, I shall observe our own forms; to you I give
the hatchet according to yours. Agreeable to your repeated request,
I am now going to build a fort at Shamokin. Forces are raising for
that purpose and everything will soon be in readiness."
I47SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
The intensity of the Indian warfare can be attributed to two
things: the continual nagging and assistance of the French, and the
domineering attitude of the Iroquois over the Delawares. Governor
Morris' Scalp Act had the effect of alienating many Delawares who
were formerly neutral. The prominent Quaker, James Logan, who
was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council, and its secretary for a time, opposed this declaration, although he advocated a
defense of the settlements. Conrad Weiser favored the declaration
of war, but opposed the reward for scalps, but it was all right to take
Indian prisoners. The whole declaration and the rewards for scalps
were displeasing to Sir William Johnson, the colonial Indian agent.
The Quakers sided with the Delawares largely because the Six Nations
were selling away their lands over their heads, or as the Delawares
and Shawnees put it, "from under their feet."
Despite the Scalp Act and the erection of the chain of frontier
forts on the eastern frontier, the Delawares and the Shawnees continued to make their bloody raids into the Cumberland Valley and
elsewhere east of the Susquehanna. The harvest of I756 was a bountiful one, but the settlers had to flee from their farms, leaving the
grain and corn standing in the fields. The Colonial Records give many
instances where during this period men were murdered and scalped
in their cabins, while plowing in the fields or while defending a fort.
On June I i, I756 Bingham's Fort in Juniata County was attacked and
burned by a band of Indians under King Beaver. The prisoners taken
there were marched to Kittanning, and then to Fort Duquesne, and
still further distributed among the Indians and adopted by them.
Some were taken to Canada by the French, where they remained for
a time and then returned to the settlements. On the Conococheague
in Franklin County the McCullogh family had most of their members
captured, some never returning, and others being taken to Kittanning,
Kuskuskies, Shenango and Muskingum. There were many murders
during the later summer of I756 over an area extending from Fort
Granville, near Lewistown, and all through Perry, Cumberland and
Franklin counties, as far south as McDowell's Mills. Captain Jacobs,
with a French officer in command, and many savages, burned Fort
Granville, killing Lieutenant Edward Armstrong, a brother of Colonel
John Armstrong, a death which was to be avenged within the next
five weeks. The commander of Fort Granville, Captain Edward
Ward, he of Fort Trent fame, and a later participant in the Forbes
I48COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
Expedition, had gone on a ranging tour with soldiers to protect the
farmers in their harvesting, and he was not there at the burning.
Captain Jacobs, the destroyer of Fort Granville, was a Delaware
Chief who went over to the French after the Braddock expedition, and
had his principal residence at Kittanning. The Shawnees were aggressive against Fort Augusta, which caused Colonel William Clapham to
send Captain John Hambright, of Lancaster, and a company of rangers to attack the Indian town of Chinklacamouse, at present Clearfield, and Great Island, at present Lock Haven, as well as other points
along the west branch of the Susquehanna River.  It had been
reported to Colonel Clapham that the French were coming down the
river with a thousand Indians, but there are' no records of Captain
Hambright's operations, so his movements must have been successful,
for Fort Augusta was not attacked. Colonel Clapham then moved to
the mouth of Sewickley Creek and established himself on a plantation
about I759. The Shawnees must have remembered his activities, for
he and his wife and three children were cruelly murdered by the Wolf,
Kikiuscung, and two other Indians on May 28, I763, some ten weeks
before the battle of Bushy Run.
For a proper appreciation of the determination to eliminate the
Indian town of Kittanning, reference must be made to Fort Granville. This fort was erected on the banks of the Juniata River about
one mile west of the limits of Lewistown, and from a point where
Kishacoquillas Creek empties into the Juniata. The digging of the
Pennsylvania Canal in later years almost obliterated the site of it.
John Hogan, a soldier in Captain Ward's company, made affidavit
that he was taken prisoner on August I, I756, in the attack on Fort
Granville, and that there were about one hundred Indians and fifty
French in the party. The killing of Lieutenant Edward Armstrong
during this attack, without doubt had much to do with the desire of
his brother, Colonel John Armstrong, to lead the expedition against
Kittanning in September.
Heckwelder, the Moravian collaborator, gives perhaps the best
definition of the Indian name of Kittanning. It is a corruption of
Kit-han-nink, signifying "at or on the mainstream." The word, Kithan-ne, or in the language of the Munsi-Delaware Indians, Gichthan-ni, signifies "main stream." The Indians sometimes called the
town Attique, because the French so named it. It was a fairly well
established Indian town in I724, after the migration of the Delawares
I49SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
from Shamokin westward through Chinklacamouse and Punxsutawney.
In later years the Kittanning Path came westward from Frankstown
on the Juniata, up the gap now occupied by the Horseshoe Bend of
the Pennsylvania Railroad, thence across the northern part of Cambria County to Indiana and on to Kittanning. King Shingass, Captain Jacobs, Captain Hill and other Chiefs used it to reach the Cumberland Valley for their depredations on the settlers; it likewise
became the military trail over which Colonel Armstrong came in
retaliation.
One writer, Colonel Robert W. Smith, gives a comprehensive
description of this Indian town of that day:
"They cut logs about fifteen feet long, and laid those logs upon
each other, and drove posts in the ground at each end to put them
together; the posts they tied together at the top with bark, and by
this means raised a wall fifteen feet long, and about four feet high, and
in the same manner they raised another wall opposite to this at about
twelve feet distance; then they drove forks into the ground at the
center of each end, and laid a strong pole from end to end on these
forks, and from these walls to the poles, they set up poles instead of
rafters, and on these they tied small poles instead of lathes, and a
cover was over it even in the winter season.
"As every tree will not run, they examine the tree first by tying it
near the ground, and when they find it will do, they fell the tree and
raise the bark, about five or six inches broad, then put the tomahawk
handle under the bark, and pull it along down to the butt of the tree;
so that sometimes one piece of bark will be thirty feet long; this bark
they cut in suitable lengths in order to cover the hut. At the end of
these walls they set up split timber, so that they had timber all around,
excepting a door at each end. At the top, in place of a chimney, they
left an open place, and for bedding they laid down the aforesaid kind
of bark, on which they spread bear skins. From end to end of this
hut along the middle there were fires, which the squaws made of split
dry wood, and the holes or open places that appeared the squaws
stopped with moss, which they collected from old logs; and at the
door they hung a bear skin; and notwithstanding the winters are hard
here, our lodging was much better than I expected."
Marie LeRoy and Barbara Leininger, two of the captives in the
Penn Valley massacre, who were taken hither in October, I755, furI50COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
nished some idea of life at Kittanning Indian Town: "After having
rested for five days at Puncksotonay, we took our way to Kittanny.
As this was to be the place of our permanent abode, we here received
our welcome, according to Indian custom. It consisted of three blows
each on the back. They were, however, administered with great
mercy. Indeed, we concluded that we were beaten merely in order to
keep up an ancient usage, and not with the intention of injuring us.
The month of December was the time of our arrival, and we remained
at Kittanny until the month of September, I756. The Indians gave
us enough to do. We had to tan leather, to make shoes, to clear land,
to plant corn, to cut down trees and build huts, to wash and cook. The
want of provisions, however, caused us the greatest sufferings. During all the time we were at Kittanny, we had neither lard nor salt; and
sometimes we were forced to live on acorns, roots, grass and bark.
There was nothing in the world to make this sort of food palatable,
excepting hunger itself."
The Indian town of Kittanning seems to have consisted of triple
villages located along the bank of the Allegheny River between present McKean Street and Grant Avenue, two of the villages being above
and the third below McKean Street. The Indian corn field was
between the villages and the river. In addition to the story of the two
young ladies who described the conditions under which they lived at
Kittanning at the time of the raids, there is that of John Turner, who
had opened the gate at Fort Granville, and was seized and taken west
over the trail after the burning of the fort. When the Indians and
their prisoners reached Kittanning, Turner was tied to a block post,
a great fire made, with the Indians dancing about it, and his body run
through with hot gun barrels. After three hours of this kind of torment, the Indians scalped him alive. Turner had married the widow
of the elder Simon Girty, who had been the mother of the three Girty
boys, Simon, James and George, and who became famous in the later
Revolutionary struggle. The Indians took the widow and her son,
James Turner, Jr., to Fort Duquesne, where the record shows that this
son was baptized by a French priest on August i8, I756, at the age of
two and one-half years. James Turner, Jr., later resided in Peeble
Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
When the Governor and the Provincial Council learned that Kittanning was the rendezvous of the Indian raiders on the eastern settlements, an expedition was planned, with Lieutenant-Colonel John ArmI5IILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Memorial Hall, Pittsburgh............................   365
Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church.....................  372
Old Quaker Church, Perryopolis........................   373
Falls Methodist Church-Oldest Methodist Church West of
the Alleghanies...................................   374
Rev. Alexander Campbell, D. D.........................   375
Redstone Baptist Church  (Modernized)..................  377
First Baptist Church, Washington.................378
Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, Uniontown..379
Memorial Baptist Church, Johnstown....................   38i
East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Penn and Highland Avenues, East End...................................   382
First Baptist Church, Pittsburgh........................   383
Grove Avenue Evangelical Church, Johnstown.............  385
Washington's Mill Near Uniontown.....................   388
Mellon  National Bank, Pittsburgh......................  394
The Old Covered Bridge, Amity........................   397
East Waynesburg Two-Way Bridge, Morgantown-Brownsville
Road...........................................   397
The Business Section of Johnstown, Cambria County  (i935).   399
Skyline, Pittsburgh...................................  400
Point Bridge, Golden Triangle, Pittsburgh................   40I
William  Findley's Grave, Unity Churchyard...............   402
Birthplace of James G. Blaine, West Brownsville...........   404
United States Senator Boies Penrose.....................   406
Dr. John  A. Brashear................................   420
Aluminum  Company of America Tablet..................   422
High Water Mark, Flood of I936, Pittsburgh............ 424-25
New  Kensington, Part of Arnold to the Left...............   427
Pittsburgh-The Workshop of the World................                       440-4 I
Station KDKA'S  First Broadcast........................  45I
Three Characteristic Cartoons of "Cy" Hungerford........   452
Present Transmission Room, Station KDKA, at Saxonburg...  453
xviiSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
strong, commanding the Second Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment, as the leader, authorizing him to proceed against the town.
The battalion was composed of eight companies that were stationed
at different forts on the west side of the Susquehanna River, and
recruited from the courageous and determined Scotch-Irish of the
Cumberland Valley, who had suffered much from the Indian depredations. Some of the companies were commanded by such courageous
and intrepid frontiersmen as Captain Hance Hamilton, Captain Hugh
Mercer, Captain Edward Ward, and Captain Potter, three of whom
we shall meet in the later Forbes Expedition of I758. Colonel Armstrong assembled his little army at Fort Shirley on September 3,
I756, and proceeded westerly over the famed Kittanning Path, down
which the Indians had come in their incursions. He had already written Governor Morris from Fort Shirley on August twenty-ninth, giving an account of the occurrences at Fort Granville, and indicating that
the French and Indians intended to attack Fort Shirley with four hundred men, and that the Indian Chief, Captain Jacobs, had said: "I
can take any fort that will catch fire, and I will make peace with the
English when they learn me to make gunpowder." The finest and
most authentic account of Colonel Armstrong's expedition to Kittanning is given in this determined leader's own words, addressed to
Governor Morris:
"May it please your Honor: Agreeable to mine of the twenty-ninth
ultimo, we marched from Fort Shirley the day following, and came to
one Beaver Dam, a few miles from Frankstown, on the North. Wednesday, the third instant, joined our advance party at the Branch of
Juniata; we were informned there that some of our men having been
out upon a scout had discovered the tracks of two Indians, about
three miles on this side of the Allegheny Mountains, and about three
miles from the camp. From the freshness of the tracks, their killing
of a cub bear, and the marks of their fires, it seemed evident that they
were not twenty-four hours before us, which might be looked upon as
a particular Providence in our favor, that we were not discovered.
Next morning we encamped, and in two days we came within fifty
miles of Kittanning. It was then adjudged necessary to send some
persons to reconnoitre the town, to get the best intelligence they could
concerning the situation and position of the enemy; whereupon an
officer with one of the pilots and two soldiers were sent off for that
I52COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
purpose. The day following we met them on their return, and they
informed us that the roads were entirely clear of the enemy, and
that they had the greatest reason to believe they were not discovered,
but from the rest of the intelligence they gave it appeared they had
not been nigh enough to the town, either to perceive the true situation
of it, the number of the enemy, and what way it might most advantageously be attacked. We continued our march in order to get as
near the town as possible that night, so as to be able to attack it next
morning about daylight, but to our great dissatisfaction, about 9 or
IO o'clock that night, one of our guides told us that he perceived a
fire by the roadside, at which he saw 2 or 3 Indians a few perches
distant from our front; whereupon with all possible silence, I ordered
the rear to retreat about one hundred perches in order to make way
for the front, that we might consult what way we had best proceed
without being discovered by the enemy.
"Soon after the pilot returned a second time, and assured us, from
the best observations he could make, there were not more than three
or four Indians at the fire, on which it was proposed that we should
immediately surround them and cut them off, but this was thought too
hazardous, for if but one of the enemy had escaped, it would have been
the means of discovering the whole design; and the light of the moon
on which depended our advantageously posting our men, and attacking
the town, would not admit of our staying until the Indians fell asleep.
On which it was agreed to leave Lieutenant Hogg with twelve men,
and the person who first discovered the fire, with orders to watch the
enemy, but not to attack them until break of day, and then, if possible,
to cut them off. It was agreed (we believing ourselves about six
miles from the town) to leave the horses, many of them being tired,
with what blankets and baggage we then had, and to make a circuit off
he road, which was very rough and incommodious on account of the
stones and fallen timber, in order to prevent our being heard by the
enemy at the fire place.
"This interruption much retarded our march, but a still greater
arose from the ignorance of our pilot; he neither knew the true situation of the town nor the best paths that led hereto; by which means,
after crossing a number of hills and valleys, our front reached the
River Ohio (Allegheny), about one hundred perches below the main
body of the town, a little before the setting of the moon, to which
place, rather than by the Pilots, we were guided by the beating of the
I53SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
drum  and the whooping of the warriors at their dance.  It then
became us to make the best use of the remaining moonlight, but ere
we were aware, an Indian whistled in a very singular manner, about
thirty yards in our front at the foot of a cornfield; upon which we
immediately sat down, and after passing silence to the rear, I asked
one Baker, a soldier who was our best assistant, whether that was
not a signal to the warriors of our approach. He answered no, and
said it was the manner of a young fellow's calling a squaw after he
had done his dance, who accordingly kindled a fire, cleaned his gun,
and shot it off before he went to sleep.
"All this time we were obliged to lay quiet and hush, till the moon
was fairly set; immediately after a number of fires appeared in different places in the cornfield, by which Baker said the Indians lay, the
night being warm, and that these fires would immediately be out, as
they were only designed to disperse the gnats. By this time it was
break of day, and the men having marched thirty miles, were almost
asleep. The line being long, the three companies in the rear were
not yet brought over the last precipice. For these some proper persons were immediately dispatched, and the weary soldiers, being
roused to their feet, a proper number, under sundry officers, were
ordered to take the end of the hill at which they then lay, and march
along the top of said hill at least one hundred perches, and as much
farther, it then being daylight, as would carry them opposite the
upper part or at least the body of the town. For the lower part
thereof, and the cornfield (presuming the warriors were there) I kept
rather the larger number of men, promising to postpone the attack
on that part for eighteen or twenty minutes, until the detachment
along the hill should have time to advance to the place assigned, in
doing of which they were a little unfortunate.
"The time being elapsed, the attack was begun in the cornfield,
and the men with all expedition possible dispatched to the several
parts thereof, a party being also dispatched to the houses which
were then discovered by the light of day. Captain Jacobs immediately
gave the war-whoop, and with sundry other Indians, as the English
prisoners afterwards told us, cried that'the white men were come at
last, and that they would have scalps enough'; but at the same time
ordered their squaws and children to flee to the woods. Our men
with great eagerness, passed through and fired into the cornfield,
where they had several returned from the enemy, as they also had
I54COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
from the opposite side of the river. Presently, after a brisk fire
began among the houses, which from the house of Captain Jacobs were
returned with a great deal of resolution. To that place I immediately
repaired and found that, from the advantage of the house and the
port-holes, sundry of our people were wounded and some killed, and
finding that returning the fire upon the house was ineffectual, ordered
the contiguous houses to be set on fire, which was done by sundry of
the officers and soldiers with a great deal of activity, the Indians always
firing when an object presented itself, and seldom missed of wounding or killing some of our people. From this house, in moving about
to give the necessary orders and directions, I was wounded by a large
musket ball in my shoulder.
"Sundry persons during the action were ordered to tell the Indians
to surrender themselves prisoners; but one of the Indians, in particular, answered and said he was a man and would not be a prisoner,
upon which he was told in Indian that he would be burnt. To this he
answered he did not care for he would kill four or five before he died,
and had we not desisted from exposing ourselves, they would have
killed a great many more, they having a number of loaded guns with
them.
"As the fire began to approach and the smoke grew thick, one of
the Indian fellows, to show his manhood, began to sing. A squaw in
the same house and at the same time was heard to cry and to make a
noise, but for so doing was severely rebuked by the men; but by and
by, the fire being too hot for them, two Indian fellows and a squaw
sprung out and made for the cornfield, who were immediately shot
down by our people then surrounding the house. It was thought
Captain Jacobs tumbled himself out at a garret or cock-loft window,
at which he was shot, our prisoners offering to be qualified to the
powder horn and pouch there taken off him, which, they say, he had
lately got from a French officer in exchange for Lieutenant Armstrong's boots, which he carried from Fort Granville, where the lieutenant was killed. The same prisoners say they are perfectly assured
of his scalp, as no other Indians there wore their hair in the same
manner. They also say they knew his squaw's scalp by a particular
bob; and also knew that of a young Indian called the King's son.
"Before this time, Captain Hugh Mercer, who early in the action
was wounded in the arm, had been taken to the top of a hill above the
town (to whom a number of men and some officers were gathered),
155SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
from whence they had discovered some Indians across the river and
take the hill with an intent, as they thought, to surround us and cut off
our retreat, from whom I had sundry pressing messages to leave the
houses and retreat to the hill or we should all be cut off; but to this
we could by no means consent until all the houses were set on fire;
though our spreading on the hill appeared very necessary, yet it did not
prevent our researches of the cornfield and river side, by which means
sundry scalps were left behind, and doubtless some squaws, children
and English prisoners, that otherwise might have been got. During
the burning of the houses, which were near thirty in number, we were
agreeably entertained with a succession of reports of charged guns
gradually firing off, as the fire reached them, and much more so with
the vast explosion of sundry bags, and large kegs of gunpowder,
wherewith almost every house was abounded. The prisoners afterwards told us that the Indians had often boasted that they had powder
enough for a two years' war with the English. With the roof of Captain Jacobs' house, when the powder blew up, was thrown the leg and
thigh of an Indian, with a child three or four years old, to such a
height, that they appeared as nothing, and fell in the adjacent cornfield. There was also a great quantity of goods burnt, which the Indians had received as a present but ten days before from the French.
By this time I had proceeded to the hill to have my wound tied up and
the blood stopped, where the prisoners, who had come to us in the
morning, informed me that that very day two batteaux of Frenchmen, with a large party of Delaware and French Indians, were to join
Captain Jacobs at Kittanning, and to set out early the next morning to
take Fort Shirley, or, as they called it, George Croghan's Fort, and
that twenty-four warriors, who had lately come to the town, were
sent out the evening before, for what purpose they did not know,
whether to prepare meat, to spy the fort, or to make an attack on
some of our back inhabitants. Soon after, upon a little reflection, we
were convinced these warriors were all at the fire we had discovered
the night before, and began to doubt the fate of Lieutenant Hogg
and his party.
"From this intelligence of the prisoners (our provisions being
scaffolded some thirty miles back, except what were in the men's haversacks, which were left with the horses and blankets, with Lieutenant
Hogg and his party, and a number of wounded people then on hand),
and by the advice of the officers, it was thought imprudent then to wait
i56COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
for the cutting down of the cornfield (which was before designed),
but immediately to collect our wounded, and force our march back in
the best manner we could, which we did by collecting a few Indian
horses to carry off our wounded. From the apprehensions of being
waylaid and surrounded (especially by some of the woodsmen), it was
difficult to keep the men together, our march for sundry miles not
exceeding two miles per hour, which apprehensions were heightened
by the attempts of a few Indians who, for some time after the march,
fired upon each wing and ran off immediately, from whom we received
no other damage than one of our men being wounded through both
legs. Captain Mercer, being wounded, he was induced, we have
reason to believe, to leave the main body with his ensign, John Scott,
and ten or twelve men (they being overheard to tell him we were in
great danger and that they could take him into the road by a nigh
way), and is probably lost, there yet being no account of him. A
detachment of most our men was sent back to bring him in, but could
not find him, and upon the return of the detachment, it was generally
reported that he was seen with the above number of men to take a
different road.
"Upon our return to the place where the Indian fire had been seen
the night before, we met a sergeant of Captain Mercer's company
and two or three others of his men, who had deserted us that morning,
immediately after the action at Kittanning. These men, on running
away, had met with Lieutenant Hogg, who lay wounded in two different parts of the body, near the roadside. He then told them of
the fatal mistake of the pilot, who had assured us that there were but
three Indians, at the most, at the fire-place, but when he came to
attack them that morning, according to orders, he found a number
considerably superior to his, and believes they killed and mortally
wounded three of them at the first fire, after which a warm engagement began, and continued for above an hour, when three of his best
men were killed, and himself wounded. The residue fleeing off, he
was obliged to squat in a thicket, where he might have laid securely
until the main body came to, if this cowardly sergeant, and others
that fled with him, had not taken him away. They had marched but a
short distance, when four Indians appeared, upon which these deserters began to flee; the lieutenant, notwithstanding his wounds, as a
brave soldier, urging and commanding them to stand and fight, which
they all refused. The Indians pursued, killing one man and woundI57SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
ing the Lieutenant the third time, in the belly, of which he died in a
few hours; but having been placed on horseback some time before,
he rode some miles from the place of action.
"But the attack of the Indians upon Lieutenant Hogg was represented by the cowardly sergeant in an entirely different light; he tells
us there was a far larger number of Indians there than appeared to
them, and that he and the men with him had fought five rounds; that
he had there seen the lieutenant and sundry others killed and scalped,
and had also discovered a number of Indians throwing themselves
before us, and insinuated a great deal of such stuff as threw us into
much confusion, so that the officers had a great deal to do to keep the
men together, but could not prevail with them to collect the horses
and what other baggage the Indians had left after their conquest of
Lieutenant Hogg and the party under his command, in the morning,
except a few horses, which a few of the bravest men were prevailed
upon to collect; so that from thle mistake of the pilot who spied the
Indians at the fire, and the cowardice of the said sergeant and other
deserters, we have sustained a considerable loss of horses and baggage.
"It is impossible to ascertain the exact number of the enemy killed
in the action, as some were destroyed by fire, and others in different
parts of the cornfield; but, upon a moderate computation, it is generally believed that there can be no less than thirty or forty killed and
mortally wounded, as much blood was found in the cornfield, and Indians seen to crawl into the weeds upon their hands and feet, whom the
soldiers in pursuit of others then overlooked, expecting to find and
scalp them afterwards, and also several killed and wounded in crossing the river. On beginning our march back we had about a dozen
scalps of eleven English prisoners, but now find that four or five of
the scalps are missing, part of which were lost on the road, and part
in possession of those men who, with Captain Mercer, separated from
the main body, with whom, also, went four or five prisoners, the
other seven being now at this place, where we arrived on Sunday
night, not being even separated or attacked by the enemy during our
whole march. Upon the whole, had our pilots understood the situation of the town, and the paths leading to it, so as to have posted us
at a convenient place, where the disposition of the men and the duty
assigned to them, could have been performed with greater advantage, we had, by I)ivine assistance, destroyed a much greater number
of the enemy, recovered a greater number of prisoners, and sustained
I58COLONEL JOHN ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION
less damage than we at present have; but though the advantage
gained over our common enemy is far from being satisfactory to us,
yet must we not despise the smallest degrees of success that God was
pleased to give, especially at a time of such great calamity, when the
attempts of our enemies have been so prevalent and successful. I am
sure there was the greatest inclination to do more, had it been in our
power, as the officers and most of the men, throughout the whole
action, exerted themselves with as much activity and resolution as
could possibly be expected.
"Our prisoners inform us that the Indians have for some time
talked of fortifying Kittanning and other towns; that the number of
French at Fort Duquesne was about four hundred; that the principal
part of their provisions came up the river from the Mississippi; and
that in three other forts which the French have on the Ohio, there are
not more men altogether that there is at Fort Duquesne."
The return of Colonel John Armstrong and his little army to the
Cumberland Valley was without incident, except for his dealing with
some stragglers. On October 5, I756, he was called to Philadelphia,
voted the thanks of the city for his signal success in breaking up this
Indian base, and also voted a special medal in honor of his achievement. The Indians showed no disposition to return to rebuild the
town, and nothing occurred there until the settlers began to occupy the
lower part of present Armstrong County, which had previously been
a part of Cumberland County, then Bedford County, and then Westmoreland County, after the Indian purchase of I768, and the opening
up of these lands on April 3, I769. Its later fortification about the
year I774 will be the subject of later discussion in these annals.
It is interesting to note the French attitude after Kittanning's
destruction. They, under their commander Dumas, at Fort Duquesne,
gave it the name of "Attique," and reported to their superiors, by
their usual manner of exaggeration, that it was attacked by "le General Wachinton," with three or four hundred men on horseback; that
the Indians gave way; and that five or six Frenchmen in the town held
the English in check till the fugitives rallied. They further reported
that Washington and his men took flight, that some barrels of gunpowder happened to explode during the action, and that large parties
were trailing the enemy, with hopes of cutting them to pieces.
I59SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
This expedition against Kittanning became the training school for
several officers who later distinguished themselves in the Forbes Expedition and in the Revolutionary War. In many instances they were
neighbors in the Cumberland Valley; some became distinguished;
others later took up lands along the military roads in this western
country; and Captain Hugh Mercer, wounded as he was at Kittanning, was soon to trail through with Forbes, and still later to make the
supreme sacrifice at the battle of Princeton. The casualties suffered
by Colonel Armstrong's battalion were as follows:
In Lieutenant-Colonel John Armstrong's company: killed, Thomas
Power, John MIcCormick; wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel Armstrong,
James Carothers, James Strickland; Thomas Foster.
In Captain Hance Hamilton's company: killed, John Kelley.
In Captain Hugh Mercer's company: killed, John Baker, John
McCartney, Patrick Mullen, Cornelius McGinnis, Theophilus Thompson, Dennis Kilpatrick, Bryan Carrigan; wounded, William Findley,
Robert Robinson, John Ferrol, Thomas Camplin, Charles O'Neil;
missing, John Lewis, William Hunter, William Baker, George Appleby, Anthony Grissey and Thomas Swan.
i6oCHAPTER XII
The Intensive Years o Preparation
The French in Control, I756 and I757-Heroic Settlement of the Eckerlin Brothers-Governmental Changes in England-William Pitt
Appointed Prime Minister-General James Abercrombie Heads the
Military Forces Against the French-The Preparations in Maryland
-Washington Recruits and Trains the Virginia Forces-Colonel
John Dagworthy's Military Operations at Fort Cumberland-General John Forbes Appointed to Lead the Expedition Against Fort
Duquesne-The Personnel of the Forbes Army-Colonel Henry Bouquet Commands the Royal Americans-The Scotch Highlanders,
Otherwise Known as Montgomery's Highlanders-The Three Pennsylvania Battalions Under Colonels John Armstrong, James Burd,
and Hugh Mercer-The Officers of the Two Virginia Regiments.
While the Armstrong expedition against Kittanning in I756 was
an effective movement, there were, however, very few events west of
the Alleghenies of importance for the year I757. The French were
in full control of the area, and there were very few settlers. The outstanding story of this period is that of the Eckerlin Brothers, who
attempted a settlement, perhaps as early as I75I, in the southeast
corner of Greene County. Samuel, Israel and Gabriel Eckerlin came
westward from the Pennsylvania German settlement near Ephrata,
Lancaster County, and located at the mouth of Dunkard's Creek. In
religious belief they were known as German Baptists, otherwise called
"Dunkards." The oldest brother, Samuel, went by the name of Dr.
Eckerlin, because of his ability to aid his Indian neighbors when they
became sick. As the Indian troubles increased in the warfare between
the French and English, the Delaware Indians advised the Eckerlins
to move over to a better location at the mouth of the Cheat River.
S. P.-T-11
I Ixviii                                 ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Present Station KDKA at Saxonburg.....................454
Y. M. C. A. Building, Greensburg.......................457
Camp Wesco, Westmoreland Boy Scouts..................46
Portion of Camp Twin Echo, Allegheny County Boy Scouts.. 46i
New Castle Consistory Building.........................464
Masonic Temple, Pittsburgh...........................465
Building of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania,
Pittsburgh.......................................467
Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh..............................472
Masonic Temple, Johnstown...........................475George Croghan furnishes this record in his writing under date
of May 25, I75I, that "a Dunkar from the Colony of Virginia came
to Logstown and requested liberty of the Six Nations chiefs to make
a settlement of the River Yough-yo-gaine, a branch of Ohio." This
was probably one of the Eckerlin Brothers, who Croghan thought
came from the western part of Virginia. This would indicate a
friendship with the Delawares, whom the Six Nations tried to keep
in subjection. The Eckerlin location at the mouth of the Cheat was
known as "Dunker's Bottom."
Late in August, I757, Samuel Eckerlin started on a trading trip
to Winchester, in Virginia, and on his return stopped at Port Pleasant
on the south branch of the Potomac River. Here he was held
and charged as being a spy and
in league with the Indians. The
Governor of Virginia permitted
him to return to his home near
the mouth of the Cheat, but only
with the accompaniment of a
squad of soldiers.  During his
absence at Winchester, a group
of Indians came up the Monongahela, led by a French
FORBES  ROAD  SCAR  WEST  OF
BOUQUET'S BREASTWORKS
priest, and attacked the other brothers, Israel and Gabriel, and a
servant named Schilling. Others were killed and scalped, and the
cabins denuded of their contents and burned. The brother, Gabriel,
was scalped but not killed and he and his brother, Isaac, were taken
captive to Montreal and Quebec.
These occurrences took place just before Samuel Eckerlin arrived
home, and he later importuned Benjamin Franklin, by letter, to seek
his brothers in France, who were reputed to have been taken there.
Others reported that they had died at sea. After viewing the remains
Samuel Eckerlin returned to the east, and he did not learn of the fate
of his brothers until seven years later, when he took the matter up
with Franklin. Thus did this second settlement, founded about the
time of the settlement of Gist's Plantation, disappear from the pioneer
map of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Changes were taking place in England during this year of I757,
which were to affect the course of events here. Lord Loudoun wasTHE INTENSIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION
recalled by William Pitt, and Major-General James Abercrombie
appointed in his stead. The official notification was sent on December
30, I757, to Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, but he did not receive
it until March 7, I758. Reports of atrocities committed west of the
Susquehanna came continuously to the Provincial authorities, and on
receiving a report in I757 that the French and Indians were trailing
down the west branch of the Susquehanna, presumably over the Venango and old Ohio trails, through Punxsutawney, Colonel James Burd,
the commander at Shamokin, sent Captain Patterson with a detachment as far as Chinklacamouse, which was found burned down. Many
estimates as to the strength of the French garrison at Fort Duquesne
were reported, ranging from two hundred to six hundred soldiers.
William Pitt had become Prime Minister of England in I756,
and Governor Robert Hunter Morris was succeeded by Governor William Denny in the same year. In an effort to secure more or less of
peace among the Indians, Sir William Johnson was appointed director
of Indian affairs, and the Pennsylvania trader, George Croghan, was
appointed his deputy for Pennsylvania. Through this action Conrad
Weiser was practically removed from any connection with Indian
affairs, but he was continued as a colonel in the Provincial militia.
Indian councils were held at Easton on November 8, I756; George
Croghan conducted a council at Harris's Ferry early in April, I757,
which was adjourned to Lancaster on April seventh. The Cherokees
and Catawbas were favorable to the cause of the English, while the
Delawares and Shawnees gave most of their allegiance to the French.
Maryland was a commercial Colony, much as it is such a State
today, being fed by the Potomac and Susquehanna rivers, and it was
also much concerned in securing trade from west of the Alleghenies.
It was not able to furnish so much of a quota of provincial soldiers
as other colonies, but it was always a participant in the westward movements. The year I757 was also a depressing period within its borders
due to the cutting off of trade by the French.
Even before the coming of Forbes, Washington had mapped out
a plan of campaign against Fort Duquesne in I757, by which one
thousand men were to be at Fort Cumberland by April first of that
year. A redoubt was to be erected at Little Meadows, then another
at the Great Crossings, so that he would be ready to march to Gist's
Plantation in May, or to any other place that it should seem necessary
to erect any works to the westward of the Youghiogheny. His inteni63SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
tion was to march three thousand men to Fort Duquesne, keep it fortified, and then march five hundred of them towards the Kanawha,
and by means of the erection of forts, prove to the Delawares and
Shawnees that it was better for their welfare to ally themselves with
the English.
Washington was more or less of a disciplinarian, as he gave a
full code of instructions to the captains of the companies in his regiment on July 29, I757. He concludes these instructions in these significant words: "Permit me before I finish, and now that the companies are formed for service, and agreeable to order, to recommend,
and I do in the strongest manner I can to you and your officers, to
devote some part of your leisure hours to the study of your profession, a knowledge in which cannot be attained without application;
nor any merit or applause be achieved without a certain knowledge
thereof. Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers
formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all; and may,
in a peculiar manner to us, who are in a way to be joined to Regulars
in a very short time, and of distinguishing thro' this means, from
other Provincials. You are to be at no expense in building or repairing old works, without first apprizing me thereof, because the money
appropriated is all expended. The safety and convenience of soldiers
render it a duty upon them to repair the works and make lodgments
for themselves. I would therefore have you observe this, and act
conformable to it."
Colonel Washington did not have entirely harmonious co6peration in his military designs. A new and interesting character became
a thorn to him, and caused him much concern, in the person of Lieutenant-Colonel John Dagworthy. His military life is a matter of
great interest to Southwestern Pennsylvania because he was assigned
the task of erecting an important fortification on the high ground to
the south of Latrobe, and on the western side of the Loyalhanna Creek.
Had not the defeat of Major Grant caused the Forbes advance detachments to hurry back to the camp at Loyalhanna, to await the arrival
of the rear of General Forbes' army, Dagworthy's Breastworks would
have been the strong fortification east of Fort Duquesne. It is difficult to find the exact date of his birth, but a brief record of his early
life is found in letters of Governor Horatio Sharpe, of Maryland, to
Lord Calvert, Governor Dinwiddie and others, as found in Vol. I, pp.
94, 265 and 274, publications of the State of Maryland, wherein he
i64THE INTENSIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION
writes of the encroachments of the French towards Fort Cumberland: "I have given the command therefore to one Capt. Dagworthy,
a gentleman born in the Jerseys, who commanded a company raised
in that Province for the Canada Expedition, since the miscarriage of
which he has resided in this Province, upon an estate which he purchased in Worcester County; I have placed under him 3 Lieutenants
and I hope our company will not in any respect make the worst appearance of any of the expedition." Governor Sharpe further refers to
these soldiers on August I I, I755, a month after the battle of
Monongahela, as "the Maryland Company commanded by Capt.
Dagworthy that marched with the General (Braddock)."
Governor Sharpe placed Captain Dagworthy in charge of Fort
Cumberland, and he was there during the years 1755, 1756, 1757 and
I758, until he came westerly in the Forbes army. Washington and
Dagworthy had a very serious clash at Fort Cumberland concerning
authority. Quite a correspondence was carried on between Governor
Sharpe, Governor Dinwiddie and General William Shirley at Boston.
Captain Dagworthy was stationed there with one hundred and thirtyseven men, and he was continuously engaged in protecting the frontiers, as on one occasion one hundred persons were either murdered
or carried away by the Indians near there. Governor Sharpe supported Captain Dagworthy in this position, and when Colonel Washington came to the fort at the head of the Virginia soldiers, Captain
Dagworthy would not recognize him as a superior officer. Washington claimed that it was a fort belonging to all of the colonies, and Dagworthy maintained that it was a Maryland fortification solely. Sharpe
advised Dinwiddie: "Upon hearing that Colonel Washington excepted
against Captain Dagworthy's acting as Commander at Wills Creek
by virtue of his Majesty's commission, I sent him orders to confine
himself to the command of the fort alone and not interfere with any
troops in the barracks or assume any authority over the Virginians
that should be there posted."
Governor Dinwiddie then carried the issue up to General Shirley
at Boston, by sending Colonel Washington there to intercede, saying:
"Governor Sharpe has not answered your Excellency's intentions in
removing the dispute between Col. Washington and Capt. Dagworthy;
he has ordered him to keep command of the fort, which he does in an
absolute manner." Washington made the trip to Boston on February 4, I756, and after hearing him, General Shirley decided that
i65SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Washington was the superior officer. Governor Sharpe settled the
dispute locally by sending Captain Dagworthy down to Fort Frederick
among the frontier settlers. On April I6, I757, Colonel Washington
withdrew from Fort Cumberland, and Captain Dagworthy was again
placed in charge.
After the Forbes Expedition, Dagworthy, then a colonel of Maryland troops, moved to Sussex County, Delaware. As the issues of
the Revolution became more intense, the Delaware Council of Safety,
on September II, I775, placed him in charge of three out of nine
battalions of soldiers, calling it the Third Brigade, and appointed him
a Brigadier-General in command. In honor of his distinguished service, the Delaware Legislature in I907 appropriated $oo500.00oo for the
erection of a monument to Brigadier-General John Dagworthy in the
graveyard at Prince George's Church, Sussex County, near Dagsboro.
He was a sheriff in New Jersey in I732, and his will, probated in
Delaware in May 24, I784, would indicate that he must have been
about twenty years older than Washington. We shall learn more
about him as the Forbes army trails through.
Historians have pretty generally referred to the French occupation of the Forks of the Ohio as a major issue in the French and Indian
War. A more careful chronicle of the events that transpired here
makes a sub-division of this period necessary. The experiences of
Christopher Gist in I750, to be followed by those of Colonel George
Washington, Captain William Trent, General Edward Braddock,
Colonel John Armstrong, and General John Forbes, were each distinctive movements, all aimed at driving out the French and asserting
British supremacy over this section. After the Braddock rout, the
French were continually expecting a British attack in an attempt to
dislodge them.
After Major-General James Abercrombie was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, he planned three
mass movements against the French. Generals Amherst and Wolf
joined Admiral Boscawen in an attempt to re-capture Louisburg.
Lord Howe was given command of the movement against Crown Point
and Ticonderoga. To Brigadier-General John Forbes was given the
task of crossing the Allegheny Mountains and taking Fort Duquesne.
John Forbes was born in Pittencrieff, Dumferline, Fifeshire, Scotland in I7I0. He was trained in the art of medicine, like Arthur St.
Clair, but he early chose a military career. He was the son of Colonel
i66THE INTENSIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION
John Forbes. Beginning with I735, he served in the Austrian succession for six years, and rose successively from Lieutenant to Captain, Major, and Deputy Quartermaster-General. In I744 he was
promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and later made Lieutenant-Colonel
of his regiment in I750. He became Colonel of the Seventeenth Regiment of Foot in I757, and accompanied this regiment to Halifax,
Nova Scotia, in that year. Under orders from William Pitt, General
Abercrombie assigned him to command the expedition against Fort
Duquesne. On account of his indomitable will and tenacious purpose
he was known among the officers as the "Head of Iron" and, among
the common run of soldiers, as "Old Iron Head." In many of the
letters penned during the expedition, his name is spelled "Forbess,"
due to the Scotch pronouncing the name with two syllables, and the
English with one. He was a great leader, who had to deal with many
kinds of officers, British, Scotch, and Provincial, and one has described
him as a man just and without prejudices, brave without ostentation,
uncommonly warm in his friendship, incapable of flattery, and due to
his knowledge of human nature and his breeding, impatient of formality and affectation. He far outshone Braddock as a military
leader, and particularly in view of the infirmities with which he suffered, resulting in his early death on March 13, I759. The Forbes
expedition was one of the greatest in American history, and its proper
setting should ever be the aim of present and future historians.
Despite the fact that he did not get into real service in the Forbes
expedition until the last six weeks of the campaign, George Washington still stands out as the second in military importance in this successful movement. His experiences, beginning with Gist and ending
with Braddock, were the making of America's foremost military
genius. He was quite busy with family affairs and minor military
matters during I756, but in I757 he was exceptionally busy as the
representative of his Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, in building up the
two Virginia regiments that were later to play such an important part
here. He was at Fort Loudoun and Fort Cumberland much, and most
of his letters of that date have to do with recruiting and training.
Colonel William Byrd had been appointed to the command of the
second Virginia Regiment, and was also commissioner to the Cherokee and Catawba Indians, who were mostly allied with the British.
Colonel John Stanwix, who had built Fort Stanwix between the
Mohawk River and Lake Ontario, was promoted to Brigadier-Geni67SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
eral, and it is in a letter to him from Fort Loudoun, April io, I758,
that Washington's growing military genius is apparent:
"Dear Sir: Permit me, at the same time I congratulate you
(which I most sincerely do) upon your promotion, you have met
with and justly merited, to express my concern at the prospect of parting with you. I can truly say, it is a matter of no small regret to me,
and that I should have thought myself happy in serving this campaign
under your immediate command. But everything, I hope, is ordered
for the best, and it is our duty to submit to the will of our superior.
I must, nevertheless, beg that you add one more kindness to the many
I have experienced, that is to mention me in favorable terms to General Forbes (if you are acquainted with that gentleman) not as a
person who would depend upon him for further recommendation to
military preferment, for I have long conquered all such expectancies
(and serve this campaign merely for the purpose of affording my best
endeavors to bring matters to a conclusion), but as a person who
would gladly be distinguished in some measure from the common run
of provincial officers, as I understand there will be a motley herd of
us."
The guiding hand of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and Premier
of England, was clearly manifest all through the Forbes campaign.
He was eloquent in speech before Parliament, and he appealed to the
patriotism of the British people to protect the colonies from the power
of the French and the tomahawk of the Indian. The letters of William Pitt to the governors of the colonies gave assurance that England would soon send a powerful army to act with the provincial troops
in removing the French from the western frontier. Heretofore the
King's officers were wont to belittle the provincial officers, but Pitt
secured authority for the governors to issue commissions to the provincial officers from the colonel down, with rank from the date of their
commissions. The provincial troops were to be supplied with arms,
ammunition, tents and provisions, just as were the regulars, the colonies being required to provide only the clothing and the pay for their
own men.
The Pennsylvania Assembly passed a resolution to place two thousand seven hundred men at the disposition of the English General,
commanded by their own officers, and ranking with those in the regular
army. Enlistment was encouraged by voting a bounty of five pounds
i68THE INTENSIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION
to every soldier enlisting, and one pound to the recruiting officer.
Everything was to be in readiness for the army to proceed in the
month of May, I758. Other Colonies followed with approval of this
liberal policy, and Virginia raised and sent one thousand six hundred
men into the field, with Colonel George Washington in command.
The Maryland Assembly voted to raise one thousand troops, but its
Royal Governor refused to sign the bill, because of the manner of
raising the taxes.
When the three armies were gotten together General Abercrombie
had fifty thousand troops under his command. Admiral Boscawen
brought over twelve thousand British soldiers to Halifax. Early in
June General Amherst, at the head of fourteen thousand men and,
aided by the fleet of twenty ships and thirty frigates, captured Louisburg after a siege of seven weeks. Great quantities of arms, cannon
and stores were taken, and the French lost six ships and five frigates.
General Abercrombie's expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown
Point was not successful. He had an army of sixteen thousand and
lost two thousand killed and wounded, but a counter attack by Colonel
Bradstreet against Kingston caused the destruction of a large magazine of French supplies, and this helped to reduce the force and supplies at Fort Duquesne.
When General Forbes assembled his forces his army was composed of twelve hundred Highlanders, three hundred and fifty Royal
Americans, two thousand seven hundred Pennsylvania Provincials,
one hundred from Delaware, sixteen hundred Virginians, three hundred and fifty from Maryland, and one thousand wagoners and laborers, in all a force of seven thousand three hundred that trailed through
the woods of Western Pennsylvania. The troops from North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland were ordered to assemble at Winchester,
and the Pennsylvania soldiers at Raystown, now Bedford. The ill
health of General Forbes, the difficulties encountered in procuring
supplies and wagons, and the cutting of the new road, delayed the
expedition until late in the season. General Forbes remained in Philadelphia while the army was being assembled, but as early as March
20, I758, while he was yet in New York, he indicated his intentions
in a letter to Governor Denny, to go by the Braddock Road:
"Sir; I have the favor of yours of the I7th., and make no manner
of doubt of doing everything in your power in forwarding his Maji6qSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
esty's service, and therefore must beg that the officers and soldiers
raised in Pennsylvania for the service are able-bodied men, and
capable of enduring fatigue, and that their arms be the best that can
be found in the province. As carpenters and axmen are absolutely
necessary upon many occasions, I must recommend the sending as
many of these as can conveniently be got into the troops. And likewise, that the province shall raise fifty good men, well mounted upon
light serviceable horses and every way accoutred to serve in conjunction with those to be furnished by the provinces, and as a body of
light horse, from whom I expect very important service.
"As the roads from Lancaster to Williams' Ferry, upon the
Potomac, may want considerable repairs, and widening of them for
the carriages of cannon, etc., I have therefore wrote to the Governor
of Maryland for the purpose in order that those roads may be
repaired by the inhabitants of the two Provinces, Pennsylvania and
Maryland, living near those parts. As I propose assembling the regular troops and those of Pennsylvania at Conegochieque about the
twentieth of April, you will therefore give orders for all manner of
diligence to be used in raising the numbers that your province is to
send, who shall be paid at the rate of four pence per diem of provisions, from the time they begin their march until they are furnished
with provisions from the King's stores.
"I am informed that the inhabitants upon the frontiers of your
province being much used to hunting in the woods, would consequently
make good rangers, in which case I am to beg you will give your
directions for the forming of your proposed men into companies of
rangers, with good officers, who are well acquainted with the country,
to command them. If it could possibly be contrived to find some
intelligent person who would venture to the Ohio, either as a merchant, or as a deserter, and would bring us intelligence what was going
on in those parts, I should certainly reward him handsomely. Perhaps such a one might be found in some of your provincial companies
up at Fort Loudoun."
One of the most interesting officers in the Forbes expedition was
Colonel Henry Bouquet who, because of his connection with the history of Fort Pitt during the time of Pontiac's conspiracy, needs special
reference.  His actions during the expedition were calculated to
belittle the provincial officers, and he kept this more or less under cover
I70by writing his letters to General Forbes in French. Since their translation in later years from the originals on file in the British Museum,
his military egotism is clearly shown, and that accounts for much of
the strife among the officers along the newly-cut road. He was in
direct command of the Royal Americans, a battalion of about three hundred and fifty men, but he got the ear
of General Forbes and held it pretty
well, until Forbes finally sensed the
military genius of Washington, Burd,
Armstrong and Mercer, who performed more substantial work from a
military standpoint.
The Royal Americans were a battalion recruited in the Colonies, but
with officers whose commissions were
granted by the King of England. Fifty
of these were to be chosen from
Protestant foreign officers of ability
and experience, and the men were
enlisted from the Pennsylvania German and other English-speaking colonists. Colonel Henry Bouquet was born
at Rolle, Vaud Canton, Switzerland,
COL. HENRY BOUQUET
about 17I9, and after much military service in Sardinia and elsewhere,
he became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Swiss Guards in 1748. As France
and England got into conflict in I754, he was naturally drawn into it,
and enlisted in the British army and came to America. His first service with the Royal Americans was in South Carolina in I757, and on
February I4, I758, he was ordered to New York, arriving there by
boat on April fifteenth, with four companies of Royal Americans and
some Virginia troops, to join General Forbes. His experiences during the expedition will be detailed by his letters, and letters of other
officers, showing the type of military action he displayed. After the
Forbes expedition he was in service back and forth to Fort Pitt, and
had his serious engagement with the Indians at Bushy Run in I763.
He was a commandant at Fort Pitt in I764 also, and in the early part
of I765 was made a Brigadier-General and stationed at Pensacola,CHAPTER I
WVhence Came Our Indians?
Their Origin and Migrations Hither-The Testimony of Living Indians
-The Trails and Paths They Laid Down-The Ohio Trail-The
Kittanning Path-The Allegheny Trail-The Nemacolin Path-The
Warriors' Trail-The Catawba Trail-The Venango Trail-Other
Trails.
The glory of a vanquished race departs
As fades the sunlight of a summer day,
Which lingers long on purple mountain peak
Before it dies in slowly deepening night,
And dying leaves its beauty on the heights.
For those who once on hill and plain deployed,
And trod the lonely paths of wilderness,
And ranged in hunting parties through the wilds,
Or fished along the silver-glinting streams,
Or waged their warfare with ancestral foes,
The strange memorials of their passing show
In valley mounds and tracings on the cliffs,
And flints and flaying stones upturned afield,
And quaint traditions of a mystic past.
Through all the complex maze of circumstance
And harsh environment of a cruel age
How still in living characters remain
The noble outlines of the primal race:
A heart responsive to a kindness shown
And linked with unforgetfulness till death;
A nature loyal to its tribe and clan
Through every hardship torture might devise;
A spirit voicing in religious rite
A simple faith in dim-sensed Deity.
S. P.-I-1SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Florida, where he died of yellow fever in I766. His burial place is
unknown.
The Scotch Highlanders wore the distinctive uniform which has
come down through centuries of wars, and which was worn in this
expedition. The uniform of the Provincial troops is described in a
letter from George Stevenson to Colonel Bouquet, June 2, I753:
"Gen. Forbes' expectation is that all new levies be cloathed in the
same uniform with those already raised in the counties of Bucks, Philadelphia and Chester. These have all green coats, lapelled with the
same. The General chooses that the several captains in the back
counties should by all means use their best endeavors to provide
cloathing for their companies for which purpose he will allow them a
fortnight's time."
Several Scotch Highland regiments landed in America and took
part in the French and Indian War: the Forty-second, or Royal Highland Regiment, known as the "Black Watch"; the Seventy-seventh,
known as "Montgomery's Hlighlanders"; and the old Seventy-eighth,
known as "Fraser's Highlanders." It was Montgomery's Highlanders who took part in the Forbes expedition, taking its name from its
commander, Archibald Montgomery, son of the Earl of Eglinton.
Being very popular as an officer, Montgomery was commissioned
Colonel January 4, I757. The roster of his regiment, as originally
recruited, most of whom served in the Forbes campaign, was as
follows:
Lieutenant-Colonel commanding: Archibald Montgomery; Majors, James Grant, Alexander Campbell; Captains, John Sinclair,
Hugh MacKenzie, John Gordon, Alexander MacKenzie, William
MacDonald, George Munro, Robert MacKenzie, Allen Maclean,
James Robertson, Allen Cameron; Captain Lieutenant, Alexander
Macintosh; Lieutenants, Charles Farquarson, Nichol Sutherland,
Donald Macdonald, William MlacKenzie, Robert MacKenzie, Henry
Munro, Archibald Robertson, Duncan Bayne, James Duff, Colin
Campbell, James Grant, Alexander Macdonald, Joseph Grant, Robert
Grant, Cosmo Martin, Jacob Macnab, Hugh Gordon, Alexander MacDonald (2), Donald Campbell, James Campbell, Alexander Campbell,
John Campbell, James Macpherson; Archibald Macvicar; Ensigns,
Alexander Grant, William Haggart, Louis Houston, Ronald Mackinson, George Munro, Alexander MacKenzie, John Maclachlan, John
Macdonald, Archibald Crawford, James Bain, Allen Stewart; ChapI72THE INTENSIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION
lain, Henry Munro; Adjutant, Donald Stewart; Quartermaster, Alexander Montgomery; Surgeon, Allen Stewart.
The Pennsylvanians had the Honorable William Denny, Lieutenant-Governor, as their Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment composed of
three battalions, which were, in effect, present-day regiments. Their
general officers were: Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, Joseph Shippen;
Commissary of Musters and Paymaster, James Young; Surgeon, Dr.
Bond; Chaplain, Rev. Thomas Barton; Wagonmaster, Robert Irwin;
Deputy Wagonmaster, Mordecai Thompson.
First Battalion-Colonel, John Armstrong; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Hance Hamilton; Major, Jacob Orndt; Surgeon, John Thomas Blair;
Chaplain, Rev. Charles Beatty; Adjutant,' John Philip DeHaas;
Quartermaster, Thomas Smallman.
I st Company: Captain, Hon. William Denny; Captain Lieutenant, Samuel Allen; Ensign, James Hughes.
2d Company: Captain, John Armstrong; Lieutenant, James Potter; Ensign, Frederick Van Hornbach.
3d Company: Captain, Hugh Mercer; Lieutenant, Thomas
Smallman; Ensign, Robert Anderson.
4th Company: Captain, Hance Hamilton; Lieutenant, Jacob
Snaidor; Ensign, Hugh Crawford.
5th Company: Captain, George Armstrong; Lieutenant, John
Prentice; Ensign, John Lyttle.
6th Company: Captain, Edward Ward; Lieutenant, Henry Geiger; Ensign, James Pollock; (later Casper Stadtler, March 20,
I759).  
7th Company: Captain, Robert Callender; Lieutenant, Thomas
Hutchins; Ensign, John Philip DeHaas.
8th Company: Captain James Patterson; Lieutenant, Nicholas
Conrad; Ensign, Edmund Matthews.
9th Company: Captain John Nicholas Wetterholt; Lieutenant,
James Laughrey; Ensign, Joseph Armstrong.
ioth Company: Captain, William Thompson; Lieutenant, William Humphreys; Ensign, David Harrey.
i ith Company: Captain, Patrick Davis; Lieutenant, Charles
Broadhead; Ensign, William Work.
I2th Company: Captain, Charles Garraway; Lieutenant, James
Hyndshaw; Ensign, John Kennedy.
I73SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
I3th Company: Captain, WTilliam Armstrong; Lieutenant, William Blythe; Ensign, Conrad Bucher.
I4th Company: Captain, Richard Walker; Lieutenant, John
Craig; Ensign, Robert Crawford.
Isth Company: Captain, David Hunter; Lieutenant, Andrew
Finley; Ensign, William Hadden.
I6th Company: Captain, John McKnight; Lieutenant, David
McAllister; Ensign, Laughrey.
I 7th Company: Troop of Light Horse; Captain, William Thompson; Lieutenant, Robert Anderson; Ensign, John Lyttle.
Second Battalion-During the expedition the Second Battalion of
Pennsylvania troops was commanded by Colonel James Burd, the
intrepid road builder of I755 and I759, and one of the most useful
men in the army. His excellent judgment, due to his varied experiences, stood General Forbes in good stead as his abilities were
revealed. In this battalion also was the distinguished Lieutenant
Samuel Miles, who was commandant at Fort Ligonier in 1759, during
the intensive warfare with Indians along the new road, and who later
became the Colonel of the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment in the Revolutionary War, which suffered much at the battle of Long Island. The
roster of this regimental battalion follows:
Colonel, James Burd; Lieutenant-Colonel, Thomas Lloyd; Major,
David Jamison; Surgeon, John Morgan; Chaplain, Rev. John Steel;
Adjutant, Jacob Kern; Quartermaster, Asher Clayton; Commissary,
Peter Bard; Cadet, John Hassey.
ist Company: Captain, James Burd; Lieutenant, James Hayes;
Ensign, Caleb Grayson.
2d Company: Captain, Thomas Lloyd; Lieutenant, Samuel
Miles; Ensign, Adam Henry.
3d Company: Captain, Christian Busse; Lieutenant, Jacob Kern;
Ensign, George Craighead.
4th Company: Captain, Joseph Shippen; Lieutenant, Joseph
Scott; Ensign, Henry Haller.
5th Company: Captain, Patrick Work; Lieutenant, Samuel J.
Atlee; Ensign, John Baird.
6th Company: Captain, Jacob Orndt; Lieutenant, William Patterson; Ensign, Jacob Quicksel.
7th Company: Captain, David Jamison; Lieutenant, William
Reynolds; Ensign, Francis Johnston.
I74THE INTENSIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION
8th Company: Captain, John Hambright; Lieutenant, Patrick
Allison; Ensign, Martin Heidler.
9th Company: Captain, Levi Trump; Lieutenant, John Morgan;
Ensign, Jacob Morgan, Jr.
ioth Company: Captain, Jacob Morgan; Lieutenant, Samuel
Humphreys; Ensign, Daniel Harrey.
i ith Company: Captain, Samuel Weiser; Lieutenant, William
Clapham; Ensign, Edward Biddle.
I2th Company: Captain, Asher Clayton; Lieutenant, Alexander
McKee; Ensign, Joseph Falconer.
I3th Company: Captain, John Byers; Lieutenant, Ezekial Dunning; Ensign, James Piper.
I4th Company: Captain, John Haslet; Lieutenant, William Clinton; Ensign, Robert Bines.
Isth Company: Captain, John Singleton; Lieutenant, John Emmit; Ensign, John Jones.
I6th Company: Captain, Robert Eastburn; Lieutenant, Josiah
Davenport; Ensign, George Price.
I7th Company, Troop of Light Horse: Captain, John Hambright; First Lieutenant, Patrick Allison; Second Lieutenant, William Clapham.
It is of great interest how many of this and other battalions became
officers in the Revolutionary War two decades later. This Forbes
expedition was their training school, and they were not only able later
to meet the British forces effectively, but the intense Indian warfare
instigated by the British on the frontiers. Colonel Hugh Mercer
became General Mercer, who was killed at the battle of Princeton.
Adjutant John Philip DeHaas, Lieutenant Samuel J. Atlee, and Captain John Bull led regimental battalions in the Revolution, and Sergeant-Major Samuel Culbertson, a regiment of Frontier Rangers.
Lieutenant William Clapham was a son of Colonel William Clapham,
who commanded at Fort Hunter and Fort Augusta just after the
Forbes expedition, and who was murdered by Indians on his plantation on Big Sewickley Creek in I763. Lieutenant Thomas Hutchins
became the Surveyor-General of the Revolution.
Third Battalion-Colonel, Hugh Mercer; Lieutenant-Colonel,
Patrick Work; Major, George Armstrong; Surgeon, Robert Bines;
Chaplain, Rev. Andrew Bay; Adjutant, James Ewing; Quartermaster,
Thomas Hutchins; Sergeant-Major, Samuel Culbertson.
I75SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
I st Company: Captain, Robert Boyd; Lieutenant, Daniel Boyd;
Ensign, James Culbertson.
2d Company: Captain, John Blackwood; Lieutenant, William
Johnson; Ensign, Thomas Godfrey.
3d Company: Captain, Adam Reed; Lieutenant, John Simpson;
Ensign, Hugh Hall
4th Company: Captain, Samuel Nelson; Lieutenant, Nathaniel
Patterson; Ensign, John Nelson.
5th Company: Captain, John Montgomery; Lieutenant William
Maclay; Ensign, John Haddon.
6th Company: Captain, George Ashton; Lieutenant, Cromwell
Pierce; Ensign, Andrew Wilkey.
7th Company: Captain, Charles McClung; Lieutenant, Patrick
Craighead; Ensign, Matthew Patton.
8th Company: Captain, Robert McPherson; Lieutenant, James
Ewing; Ensign, Peter Meem.
9th Company: Captain, Paul Jackson; Lieutenant, John White;
Ensign, Elezier Davenport.
ioth Company: Captain, John Bull; Lieutenant, Samuel Price;
Ensign, Charles Van Warnsdorff.
IIth Company: Captain, William Biles; Lieutenant, Abraham
Williamson; Ensign, Samuel Jones.
I2th Company: Captain, Archibald McGrew; Lieutenant, Alexander McKean; Ensign, James Armstrong.
i3th Company: Captain, Thomas Hamilton; Lieutenant, Victor
King; Ensign, William McDowell.
I4th Company: Captain, Ludowick Stone; Lieutenant, Hugh
Conyngham; Ensign, Samuel Montgomery.
Isth Company: Captain, John Clark; Lieutenant, Samuel Postlewaite; Ensign, George Ashton, Jr.
Under new levies there were the following additional officers:
Captains: John Allison, Job Rushton, Thomas Smith, Alexander
Graydon, James Hyndshaw, William Biles, and Thomas Armour.
Lieutenants: Moses Irwin, George McCulloch, James Leeper, Benjamin Smith, Stephen Cochran, and James Lewis. Ensigns: James
Maxwell and John Kirkpatrick.
The part which the Virginians had in the success of the Forbes
expedition was an important one. Many of these, too, were trained
here for their later distinguished service in the Revolution. It has
I76THE INTENSIVE YEARS OF PREPARATION
been difficult to secure a complete roster of the two Virginia regiments,
but the names of their officers frequently appear in the letters passing back and forth along the lines as the road was being cut through,
and the successive encampments were established. In the Virginia
regiments were many men who had been already trained in these western woods. Dr. James Craik had been Washington's companion on
his scouting trips down the Ohio. He was with Washington at Fort
Necessity and on the Braddock expedition. We hear little of him
during the Forbes expedition, because he was probably busy with his
regimental duties as a surgeon. He held the rank of colonel in Colonel William Byrd's regiment.
Captain Peter Hogg's Company of Rangers, who had assisted
Colonel James Burd in cutting the road towards Turkey Foot from
Fort Bedford in I755, was in the Virginia forces. Captain John
Blagg was a lieutenant in the Braddock army. Captain Mordecai
Buckner was an ensign in I755, and Captain William Cocke was a captain in the Braddock expedition as well. Captain William Dangerfield was an ensign in the Braddock expedition, and later commanded
a Virginia regiment during the Revolution, after being first attached
to Colonel Adam Stephens' Virginia Regiment.
Captain Nathaniel Gist was a lieutenant in the company of rangers commanded by his father, Captain Christopher Gist in 1756, and
thus perpetuated the military genius of his father, who died of smallpox in I759. He was attached to Colonel Byrd's regiment in the
Forbes campaign, having earlier been in the First Virginia. In I762
he was a captain in Colonel Adam Stephens' regiment.
One of the officers best known in Provincial history was Captain
Thomas Bullit, who was first an ensign with Washington at Fort
Necessity in I754. He was a lieutenant with Braddock in I755; he
was left in charge of the baggage at the time of Grant's defeat; and
had an outstanding engagement with the Indians east of Ligonier in
I759.
Captain William Fleming was an assistant surgeon in Colonel
William Byrd's regiment. He had been an ensign with Braddock;
later was a colonel in Brigadier-General Andrew Lewis's regiment
during Dunmore's War; and was wounded in the battle of Point
Pleasant.
Others in Colonel George Washington's regiment were Major
Andrew Lewis, Captain Robert MacKenzie, Major Robert Stewart,
S. P.-I-12
I77I78           SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Captain Hy Woodward, Captain George Weedon, who had been in
Braddock's expedition as an ensign, Lieutenants Nathanael Thompson,
Charles Smith, Baker and Campbell; Ensigns Coleby Chew, Walt
Cunningham, James Duncanson, Baker and Allen. Some of these
were sent forward as scouts along the trail as early as August, and
have left illuminating diaries. Quartermaster David Kennedy had
also acted in that capacity with a troop of light horse commanded by
Captain Robert Stewart in 1755.
In Colonel William Byrd's regiment were Captain John McNeill,
Lieutenant William Hughes, and thle following lesser officers: John
Lawson, John McCulley, Leonard Price, James Roy, Hy Russell,
George Speak, William Woodford and John Sallard.
Many of these names became fixed in Southwestern Pennsylvania
history, when those who bore them returned to establish their homes
and carve out their destinies here.CHAPTER XilI
The Forbes Exptedition
The Rendezvous of the Army-Washington Pleads for the Braddock
Route-The Virginia Regiments Assemble at Fort CumberlandForbes and Bouquet Decide to Cut the Road Across the Alleghenies
The Route Passes Through Shawnee Cabins, Fort Duart, Fields'
Encampment, Edmund's Swamp, Fort Belle Air, Fort Stony Creek,
Keckenepaulin's Town, Clearfield at Fort Dudgeon, and Over Laurel
Hill to Loyalhanna-Views and Scars Along the Road-Grant's
Paradise, Dagworthy's Breastworks-Reading Howell's Map of I792
-John Potts' Journal-The Camp at Raystown, or BouquetsburgFootpaths Along the Road-Forbes' Severe Illness.
There are three distinct features of the Forbes expedition which
render it conspicuous and noteworthy. First, there is the fortuitous
cutting of a new road across the Alleghenies, which became a noted
artery of commerce. Second, the military genius of Forbes was everywhere present in his ability to harmonize conflicting ideas held by
Royal and Provincial officers. Third, the issues were determined in
skirmishes and battles along the road. The Forbes army did not capture Fort Duquesne. The French were able to keep the English officers in ignorance of their exact strength and at the opportune time, as
this superior force advanced, to burn the fort and withdraw in canoes
and bateaux down tbe Ohio River. The story of this expedition is
ever interesting and thought-provoking.
After the plans had matured for the rendezvous of his army, General Forbes decided to cut a new road directly west across the Alleghenies towards Fort Duquesne, which was forty miles shorter than
the Braddock Road. Washington had his mind set on the Braddock
Road, but he was not able to overcome the influence of Colonel HenrySOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Bouquet with General Forbes. He naturally wanted the Braddock
Road developed into a commercial highway to take care of the business of the Ohio Company up the Potomac and westward. As late as
August 2, I758, Washington wrote a long letter to Colonel Bouquet,
giving his reasons for wanting the expedition to go by the southern
route, with a table of the relative distances, but on the same date he
unburdened himself in another letter to Major Francis Halkett, in
these words:
"My dear Halkett: I am just returned from a conference held
with Colo. Bouquet. I find him fixed, I think I may say fixed, upon
leading you a new way to the Ohio; thro a road, every inch of it to
cut, at this advanced season, when we have scarce time left to tread
the beaten tract; universally confessed to be the best passage through
the mountains.  If Colo. Bouquet succeeds in this point with the
General, all is lost! All is lost by Heavens! Our enterprise ruined;
and we stopped at the Laurel Hill this Winter; not to gather laurels,
by the by, desirable in their effects. The Southern Indians turned
against us, and these Colonies become desolated by such an acquisition to the enemy's strength. These are the consequences of a miscarriage; and a miscarriage the consequence of the attempt; I have
drawn my reasons out at large and now send them to Colo. Bouquet.
He desired I would do so, that he might forward them to the General;
should this happen, you may judge of their weight. I am uninfluenced by prejudice, having no hopes or fears but for the general good.
That be assured of, and my sincere sentiments are spoke on this
occasion."
Colonel Washington had reported his arrival near Fort Cumberland on July 3, I758, to Colonel Henry Bouquet, who was at Raystown, in which he describes the condition of his equipment: "According to order, I marched from Winchester the 24th, and arrived at this
place yesterday in the afternoon, with five companies of the First Virginia Regiment, and a company of artificers of the 2d, as you may
observe by the enclosed return.... I have used my best endeavors
to get my men equipped with powder horns and shot pouches, and have
procured 330 of the former and 339 of the latter; besides the linen
ones, with which we are completed. I have received a very scanty
allowance of tents for the 5 companies with me, viz.: 60-9 only;
i8oGEN. JOHN FORBES
COMMANDER OF THE COLONIAL FORCES THAT CUT THE ROAD
THROUGH WESTMORELAND COUNTY IN 1758G EN. JO-HN FORBESSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
A race of poets they, who not in verse
The subtle meanings of expression told,
But in the names they gave to waterfalls
And mountains, valleys, rivers, rocks and woods.
We search the scanty records of the past
And find their natures similar to ours;
By evil passions swayed, their soul's fine harp
Clangs out of tune with base and vicious din,
But touched by kindness gives response with strain
Of richest tone and sweetest melody,
Some kindred disposition actuates
And meets in kind the conduct of our race.
What better verse can introduce us to this narrative! The quotation is from "The Indian," in Book II of the "Lost Empire," penned
by Dr. James R. E. Craighead. Dr. Craighead is "to the manner
born" in the Indian country north of the Conemaugh River, close to
the line of Armstrong and Indiana counties in historic Southwestern
Pennsylvania. It is even claimed that when he preaches to the congregation of ancient Elder's Ridge Presbyterian Church on a Sunday
morning, the message emanates from Armstrong County and at the
same time reaches the receptive ears of the congregation in Indiana
County. Dr. Craighead in former years served churches in the middle
West and there had opportunity to study the Indians of former days
under Chief Black Hawk along the Mississippi River, and out of this
study came his brilliant writings. He was born and now lives close to
the old Blacklegs Indian town of the Delawares at the mouth of Blacklegs Creek at Saltsburg. Whlence came the Delawares and the other
Indians who frequented this region?
Many writers have advanced their theories as to the origin of
Indians of the Western Hemisphere, and we shall avoid that discussion here. Some theorize that they are descendants of the mound
builders, some that the mound builders were distinct and highly civilized agriculturists who had lived in remote antiquity in the region of
the mounds, and were eventually wiped out by the nomadic tribes from
the north, known as Indians; and still others that they came by way
of Alaska from Asia. When one views the mounds, octagonal and
circular in form at Newark, Ohio, and serpentine farther south near
Lancaster, Ohio, one can but sense that they were the work of intelligent minds. It is difficult to attribute such buildings to the average
2SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
out of these most of the officers must either be supplied, or lie uncovered; they will readily pay for what they receive if required. No
bell tents were sent to us.
"My men are very bare of clothes (regimentals I mean), and I
have no prospect of a supply; this want, so far from my own inclinations, I would not only order the men to adopt the Indian dress, but
cause the officers to do it also, and be the first to set the example myself. Nothing but the uncertainty of its taking with the General
causes me to hesitate a moment at leaving my regimentals at this
place, and proceeding as light as any Indian in the woods.'Tis an
unbecoming dress, I confess, for an officer, but conveniences rather
than show, I think, should be consulted. The reduction of battalion
horses alone is sufficient to recommend it; for nothing is more certain that less baggage will be required; and that the public will be
benefitted in proportion."
Colonel Bouquet wrote to Colonel Washington on July I4th
about the Indian dress used by the frontiersmen, consisting of hunting
shirt and leggings, in approval of the dress with which the detachment
of Major Andrew Lewis, a Virginian, were equipped, and saying that
their dress should be the patterns for the expedition.  In a second
letter to Colonel Bouquet on July third, Colonel Washington impresses
the great need of salt, indicating that their stock of meat was chiefly
fresh, and that Joseph Galbraith, assistant victualler to Major Adam
Hoops, refused to find salt for it, and adding that unless it is done, the
men will inevitably be visited with fluxes and other disorders that may
render them incapable of immediate service. On July seventh, Colonel Washington reported the arrival at Fort Cumberland of Colonel
William Byrd, with eight companies of the Second Virginia Regiment.
For a time he directed the building of the road from Fort Cumberland
to Raystown, and all the while fully expected to convince General
Forbes and Colonel Bouquet that the army should proceed over the old
Braddock Road.
The controversy over the route was pretty well settled as early as
July twentieth, at least in the minds of Forbes and Bouquet, when
Colonel John Armstrong thus wrote to Governor Denny: "The General has sent my brother George (Major George Armstrong) to Raes
Town, with orders to take with him a hundred men, in order to find
out and mark the road from Raes Town as near to Fort Duquesne as
i82he can possibly go, leaving General Braddock's road and the Yohiogaine entirely to the left." Colonel Washington, however, kept up his
correspondence and arguments for another month. All the while the
Braddock Road was being cleared too, for a considerable distance
westward, principally for the purpose of fooling the French. Despite
the intense feelings in the matter, Washington still played the part of
a good soldier, when his judgment did not prevail. To Bouquet he
wrote on August sixth: "The
General's orders, or the orders
of any superior officer, will, when
once given, be law to me. I
shall never hesitate in obeying
them; but, till this order came
out, I thought it incumbent upon
me to say what I could do divert
you (the commanding officer
present) from a resolution of
opening a new road, of which I
had the most unfavorable reports, and believed from the
MARCH 1, 1936, FORBES ROAD, ONE MILE
WEST OF FORT DUDGEON, AT EASTERN
FOOT OF LAUREL HILL
heights of the hills, the steepness of them, the unevenness of the ground
in general, and, what above all principally weighed with me, the
advanced season, that it was impossible to open a road in time to
answer our purpose. I am still of this opinion; partly from my own
observations of the country, and partly from the information of as
good judges as any that will be employed."
The State of Pennsylvania has not yet performed its full duty in
appropriately marking the Bradock and Forbes roads. The Braddock
Road is the easier delineated from Cumberland to Braddock, and has
been appropriately marked by patriotic societies, schools, and historical associations in certain sections. The Historical Commission
of Pennsylvania has placed but thirteen markers in visualization of
the Forbes Road, one at Bedford, one at Bouquet's Block House in
Pittsburgh, and eleven distributed at the following points, proceeding westward: Forks of Highway Routes 30 and 3I; Schellsburg,
Rohr's Gap, Fort Duart, Edmund's Swamp, Kantner, Tomahawk
Camp, Ligonier, Twelve Mile Run, Murraysville, and the junction of
the Verona Road and Route 8o. At least three of these are not onSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the road, and should be corrected, as to location and legend. The
Lincoln Highway follows pretty generally the line of the Forbes Road
westerly to Wolfsburg, which is close to an Indian village referred to
as Old Town at the time of the cutting of the Burd Road in I755.
The traditions about Wolfsburg seem to confirm early maps that show
that the routes of the Allegheny Indian Trail and of Burd's Road
were on slightly different lines. These traditions are that the Traders'
Path utilized by the advance battalions of Forbes extended a short
distance up the easterly bank of the Raystown branch of the Juniata,
crossed over this stream, and as a pronounced scar on the farm of
Samuel Stuckey reveals, extended to the forks of the Burd Road,
where the Forbes soldiers cut their way over Tull's Hill to the Shawnee Cabins.
John Harris, trader, in his account of the road to Logstown in
I754, gives the distance from Raystown to Shawnee Cabins as eight
miles, and James Dunning, the guide who served with Major George
Armstrong, gives the following estimates, which Major Armstrong
considered "pretty true": From Raystown to water (Old Town),
three miles; to Smith's Run, two miles; to Nelson's, four miles; to
Dunning's Sleeping Place, three miles; and to the foot of Allegheny
Hill, three miles. The site of Shawnee Cabins is thus named by Dunning as "Nelson's," and it is easily located at a spot along the stream,
for Thomas Nelson made his application on July I, I762, for two
hundred acres of land, "including an improvement made by his father,
Joseph Nelson, at a place called Shawanese Cabins on the Great Road
about eight miles Westward from Bedford in the County of Cumberland."
It is easy to visualize the movement of the Forbes expedition up
the valley between the waters of Kegg's Run and Shawnee Cabins
Creek, past the Hillegas School in Juniata Township, Bedford County,
and by an easy grade to the foot of the Alleghenies. The Indian
Traders' Path led up the southerly spur of the mountain below Grandview, but the Forbes engineers had the road cut up the gap to the
northwest, close to what is called the "Shot Tower." Captain Harry
Gordon, engineer in both the Braddock and Forbes expeditions,
planned this route, and Ensign Harry Rohr cut the road through,
hence its name. After the cutting Sir John St. Clair wrote to Colonel
Henry Bouquet at Raystown on August I 2, 1758, and designated it as
i84"diabolical" and "immense." Captain Allen MacLean (he of the
MacLeans of Duart in Scotland) had been left at Shawnee Cabins to
build a redoubt, and Sir John St. Clair summoned him to the top of
the mountain to build Fort Duart, the remains of which compose one
of the best scars of the whole route. Three ancient trees and the line
of the breastworks still remain
there, in the center of which the
State of Pennsylvania has placed
a very imposing marker.
Fort Duart stood just on the
edge of the historic country covered by these annals, and as one
trails westerly along some scars,
about two miles, a fine view is
afforded  down  Shade  Creek
about twenty-five miles to the
Sang Hollow Gap in the Laurel
Hill west of Johnstown. ColPROVINCIAL HIKERS AT BOUQUET'S
BLOCK HOUSE, JUNE 13, 1936
onel Bouquet admired this view on August 20, I758, and thus
wrote back to General Forbes: "Yesterday I went to reconnoitre
this terrible mountain.... in mounting the second height which is
nothing at all, I observed as far as the sight can reach and saw distinctly the whole course of Laurel Hill. There is a large gap, bearing
N. by W. of us, about 20 miles N. of our Road, which cuts the mountain from top to bottom, and I am told it is the passage of the Kiskiminetas. I requested Sir John to have it reconnoitred to see if there
is an Indian Path."
The scars of the road, plainly visible, lead through Fields's encampment, one-half mile north of the present Reel's Corners, then
through the "Shades of l)eath," and over the hills to Edmund's
Swamp. At this point, near the present farmstead of A. Park Lohr,
was the famous trading post of Edmund Cartlidge, one of the earliest
traders to go through over the Indian path to the Allegheny River.
Xfter climbing the hill there, the trail leads down the higher ground
to the site of Fort Belle Air, on Oven Run, where John C. Cassidy,
teacher in the schools of Shade Township, Somerset County, lives,
and where the remains of the oven used by the bakers of the Forbes
army can be pointed out. It is a short three miles over to Stony CreekSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
where a crossing was made just below Kantner, and Stony Creek Fort
erected. At these important points Sir John St. Clair and Major
Adam Stephens engaged in a terrific quarrel over the policies of the
expedition, and while their abilities were being thus wasted, Ensign
Harry Rohr was busy engineering the road. The route up the hill
northwestwardly of Stoystown extended'for three miles over to the
middle of the present Quemahoning Dam. This beautiful body of
water, five miles long, now covers the site of Chief Keckenepaulin's
Indian Town, but a part of his corn fields are open and now cultivated
on the western side of the dam, from which point the road proceeded
by a gentle grade through a hemlock woods now represented by a
second growth of timber, and upon which there still remains a fine
scar.
As this military road rounded the hill above the orchard on the
farm of the late David Berkey, the Forbes soldiers must have further
enjoyed the view back eastward to the second rising of the Allegheny
Mountains at Rohr's Gap and Fort Duart, and to the westward
where the Lincoln Highway is visible and the gap that led up from
Fort Dudgeon to Loyalhanna Encampment at Ligonier. West of the
Berkey farm was the famous spring of Major George Armstrong,
and just beyond which was the noted Pilltown, where the herb doctor
lived, by name John Usaw, who peddled his pellets about the country
in later years. After crossing Roaring Run, the route extended westward over fairly level land, historically known as the Clearfields, and
thence to Fort Dudgeon. Fort Dudgeon was on the old Traders'
Path, but was not used very long, for Captain Shelby was given instructions to lay out a road from Fort Stony Creek to Laurel Hill, which
he designated as "four miles shorter and eight miles better" than the
difficult way through the "Shades of Death," south of the present
Central City, and across to Edmund's Swamp. It was on this new
Shelby Road that the later Tomahawk Camp was located, at which
General Forbes, on the return trip, nearly died because his "chimney"
had not been clayed and made warm. There still stands on this
Shelby road the picturesque Kline water mill, more than a century
old, just above Tomahawk Camp.
In its course from Fort Duart to Fort Dudgeon, the Forbes road
is easily delineated through the present farms of Alex Frazer, Guy C.
i86Lambert, the Bethlehem Steel Company, Thomas Ringler, the Barnett
farm, Isaac Horner, Newt Gonder, J. E. Friedline, John Fisher, F.
Brugh, M. Friedline and C. F.
Ream. The old patentees of
land along the route were Casper Stadtler, Barnard Dougherty, John McSweeney, Francis
Campbell, John Dibert, John
Read, Thomas Vickroy, Terrence Campbell, James McMullen, John Finney, Charles Boyle,
Nicholas Doran and others. In
the I770 survey of Nicholas
Doran, the land is designated as
the "Clearfields" and Fort Dudgeon as a breastworks.  ColOCTOBER 19, 1935-SCAR OF THE FOLLOWING HISTORIC HIGHWAYS
Allegheny Indian Path, 1735; Col. James
Burd Road, 1755; and Forbes Road, 1758. On
the Samuel Stuckey farm, five miles west of
Bedford
onel John Armstrong wrote Colonel Bouquet, September 17, I758:
"On looking over Col. (Hance) Hamilton's instructions and finding there are strong parties of the enemy out, and your orders
to evacuate the Forts Dudgeon and Dewart in order to strengthen
the escorts, it is done in this manner: Capt. MIcKnight being
unwell, Capt. Patterson, with the garrison at Fort Dudgeon and
the party with Ensign Quicsil, is charged with the convoy of flour,
which makes an escort of about 70 men." Fort Dudgeon was called
for an engineer of the British army.
The Forbes Road remains nicely scarred over the Laurel Hill at
different points, so that it can be readily followed. There were several interesting points on the old road on the western slope into Ligonier. There was some Indian fighting on the top of the mountain
and a site of "burned wagons," in later years, and from this point the
road passed between the waters of the south branch of Mill Creek
and McMullen's Run, otherwise called "Penrod's" or "Laurel" Run,
past the Abraham Penrod burial ground. Over the hill to the westward near the residence of John Steinberg is a well-kept scar showing
the foundation stones and excavation of the old Robert Irwin Hotel
and blacksmith shop. A mile farther west was the point of engagement of June 5, I759, when a large convoy with supplies for Fort
Ligonier was attacked by Indians, and Captain Joceyline killed. The
road scars are apparent in the orchard on the property of HarveySOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
B. West, where during the plowing of the years wagon tires, spikes,
bullets, Indian skinning knives, burnt wood, brass horseshoes and
other remains have been unearthed. Here was the site of Bullit's
defeat, which will be detailed later. After passing through the present George Thomas property, the next interesting point is the "Two
Mile Spring" on the farm of John B. and George B. Singer, which is
referred to in later court proceedings concerning roads, and as affecting
the property of the later Major-General Arthur St. Clair. The road
kept the high ground to the south of St. Clair Hermitage and iron furnace property into the site of old Loyalhanna Indian Town, and
close to the Bunger Spring, where Colonel James Burd started to
build his first fortification.
The cutting of the first fifty miles of the road from Raystown
to Loyalhanna severely tested the ability, patience and endurance of
the motley army that General Forbes commanded. It was also the
training ground on which the army acquired its ability to cut the road
so much more quickly over the second fifty miles west of that point.
The Indians gave the name of "Layalhanning" to this location, meaning "at the middle stream" between Raystown at Bedford and Shannopin's Town at Pittsburgh. When the Forbes soldiers arrived they
called it the "Camp at Loyal Hannon," sometimes separating it into
two words. We have softened it through the years into "Loyalhanna."
General Forbes named it "Pittsborough," in honor of William Pitt,
England's prime minister, which name it had until Fort Pitt was
established and the later fortification named Fort Ligonier.
The portion of the Forbes Road between the Camp at Loyalhanna and the later Hannastown has been a bit confusing to historians. Reading Howell's map of I792 does not really clear up the
location of the line of the military operations of the Forbes army over
Chestnut Ridge, west of Ligonier. This map represents the Forbes
Road as extending from a fork just above the old Hermitage Furnace
of General Arthur St. Clair, thence across the Chestnut Ridge westerly
to another fork at the Crabtree Bottoms, and crossing the Loyalhanna
Creek at Cochran's Fording two miles below Latrobe. Such a road
was laid out, from Hannastown to General St. Clair's mill, by the
court at Hannastown in I776, but the old surveys only refer to the
Hannastown road and not to a "great road." Near the Two Mile
Spring east of Ligonier the junction of the Forbes Road and this later
Hannastown road is nicely scarred on the ground. It must be kept in
i88THE FORBES EXPEDITION
mind, however, that the early scouts and trail blazers, as well as
Major Grant and his Hlighlanders, went down the Loyalhanna Creek
along the Trader's Path. No road was cut over Chestnut Ridge until
November, I 758, when the main body of the army under Forbes went
through. Lieutenant Coleby Chew appended to the report of his
scouting trip made between August 7 and 19, I758, from Raystown
to Fort Duquesne and back, on a sketch of which he designated the
Four Mile Run and the Nine Mile Run. This refutes the claim that
John Potts is reputed to have originated these terms at the time he
made his marching journal. Lieutenant Chew designated these streams
three months before John Potts entered them in his journal and three
weeks before Colonel James Burd laid out the "Camp at Loyalhannon," so, the mouths of these streams must have been four and nine
miles, respectively, from old Loyalhanna in the days of the traders.
By the same course of reasoning, Mlajor Grant must have taken his
eight hundred soldiers down the Loyalhanna Gap by the Traders
Path and across the Big Bottom, where he climbed the eminence at
the mouth of Nine Mile Run and proceeded to fortify it as "Grant's
Paradise," which later came to be known as "Dagworthy's Breastworks," when the haughty Marylander was assigned to hold it after
Grant's defeat near Fort Duquesne. Colonel Dagworthy was at his
breastworks near Latrobe in September, I758, while Colonel Washington was back at Wills Creek, so that all possibility of any contest
concerning military authority and rank as between them was removed.
That the Traders' Path, which the earlier detachments used, went
down the Loyalhanna, is further evidenced by the warrant for land
granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Elias Davidson on
November I2, I769, "on the I4 mile run at the old Beaver Dams
and on both sides of the Trading Path." This tract of two hundred
and sixty-seven acres is bounded on the east by the Loyalhanna Creek.
In forming his plans for the passage of the army west of the camp
at Loyalhanna, Colonel Henry Bouquet had written to General Forbes
about the route on September II, I758:
"After the good description given me of the roads, I have been
very much surprised to find them abominable. The way has been
opened by cutting down the trees, but that is all. They have taken
no trouble to wind around the heights, clear away the stone, or break
them, and the bridges are worth nothing. To my great regret it is
189necessary to begin over again.... After having passed the breakneck of Laurel Ridge, I found a more pleasing scene. Colonel Burd
and the Major (Grant) had discovered a better location for this post
than those that had been proposed. Their camp was well intrenched
though too much exposed, and they already have a couple of storehouses.... I am laying out a little fort around our storehouses at
the center of the inclosure of the intrenched camp, and when we have
provisions of 5 or six weeks on this side of the mountains, we shall be
able to advance to the other post, if you order it. Meanwhile I have
had it occupied by Lt. Col. Dagworthy and 300 men chosen from his
corps, from  North Carolina and the lower counties.  He is well
intrenched there, and the post
being naturally very strong, cannot be forced without cannon.... Yesterday I went to reconnoiter the roads and the
advance post which we call'Grant's Paradise.'  There  I
found the Major, who had been
detained by a misunderstanding
about his provisions. I saw them
leave this morning in the greatest order. No one knows where
he is going, but the officers and
the soldiers appeared willing, and although the undertaking is a little
hazardous, the step is absolutely necessary, and it will be a good lesson for the troops. The road will be very difficult in getting to this
post, there are three bottoms flooded at the time of the overflowing
of the rivers, and several very steep ascents. I will open the road very
wide in these rich bottoms so that air and sun can dry them.... In
coming back today, we separated into five parties to discover whether
a better route could be found, but there are impassable mountains all
about, and the Path, thoroughly bad as it is, is still the best."
The fortifications and camps along the Forbes Road are just as
interesting as the line of the road of march. Raystown became the
place of rendezvous, and the best picture of it is given in a letter from
the late Governor James Glan, of South Carolina, who wrote thus to
Colonels George Washington and William  Byrd, of the Virginia
troops, from the "Camp at Raes or Bouquetsburg," on July I9, I758:
THE FORBES ROAD AT ROHRS GAP. IT
TRAVERSED THE WOODED VALLEY IN
THE IMMEDIATE FOREGROUNDTHE FORBES EXPEDITION
"This camp is slightly fortified with a parapet of wicker work,
extremely neat, rammed full of earth. It was begun and finished in
one day, although it be near 400 feet square, with small bastions in
the middle of each side. There are at present i,5oo men in it but it
is capable of containing 4,ooo. There are also forts, redoubts, ravelins, magazines, etc., etc., and all this without one farthing of expense
(except about nine pence per day to the best carpenters), such wonders does the admirable Bouquet work in the wilderness."
A better understanding of the communications passing back and
forth as the army came through in detachments can be gotten by listing these important locations: I. Shawnee Cabins, or Nelson's. 2.
Foot of the Alleghenies. 3. Fort Duart, or Sir Allen MacLean's.
4. Fields' Encampment.. 5. Edmund's Swamp. 6. Fort Belle Air, or
Jamieson's. 7. Fort Stony Creek. 8. Keckenepaulin's, or Quemahoning. 9. Fort Dudgeon, or Clearfields. Io. Tomahawk Camp. I I.
Camp at Loyalhanna, or Pittsborough. I 2. Camp on Chestnut Ridge.
I3. Dagworthy's Breastworks. I4. Three Redoubts, or Armstrong's
Camp. I5. Washington's Camp. I6. Bouquet's Breastworks. I7.
The Bullock Pens. I8. The Ruins of Fort Duquesne.
Real work began on the cutting of the road late in July after the
scouts returned. Colonel Sir John St. Clair was in general charge of
the work over the Alleghenies. Major George Armstrong was sent
ahead with squads to blaze the way. Colonel James Burd was in
charge of the construction of encampments. The encampments were
necessary, both as fortifications for use of the soldiers while the road
was being constructed, and as depots of supply. In some instances
the groups worked both ways from each encampment until the working
squads would meet. It took two or three months of intensive work
to cut the road through from Raystown to Loyalhanna, and during
the whole time they were not molested by the French, but there were
unquestionably scouts and Indians all about to see what progress was
being made.
The Scotch Highlanders had difficulty in these western woods, so
General Forbes decided upon foot paths on each side of the road.
Colonel Bouquet approved of the suggestion, and sent the order out
along the road. Arriving at Keckenepaulin's Town on August twentythird, Sir John St. Clair directed Major Lewis to cut the foot paths,
stating that a half dozen men with tomahawks can do that as fast as
igiWHENCE CAME OUR INDIANS?3
Indian, as we know him at the present day. He has been a hunter
and not a mathematician, roaming about from hunting ground to
hunting ground, and along the river valleys in search of sustenance.
The Delawares and Shawnees were the principal despoilers of the
homes of the pioneers of Southwestern Pennsylvania, but other Indians
trod here in the days of the traders and for a decade or two after the
Revolution. When the settlers first located at Jamestown, Virginia,
in I607, and at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in I620, the great Algonquin Indian family were found principally in Canada and New England. They surrounded a particular group, commonly called Hurons,
but to whom the French explorers gave the name of Iroquois. In the
latter's dealings with the settlers they were known as the Five Nations,
having their council fires, or capital, at Onondaga, New York, and
being composed of the following tribes: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga,
Oneida and Mohawk. Later the Tuscaroras came north from the
Carolinas and were received into the Iroquois federation, thus forming the Six Nations of Indians, with whom the Penns later dealt in
making their final purchases. The Delawares had migrated from the
West as the Leni-Lenapi, and were thus designated because of having
established themselves along the Delaware River. The Shawnees
came from their base in the lower Ohio Valley to Maryland and eastern Pennsylvania, before their migration into the upper Ohio Valley.
In a brochure, "Fort Necessity and Historic Shrines of the Redstone Country," published in I932, J. W. Abraham writes that when
the first white man came to a point where Redstone Creek enters into
the Monongahela he saw a large artificial mound so ancient that trees
more than a hundred years old were growing on top of it. The Indi.
ans who used this section for a hunting ground did not know who had
built that mound, or many of those like it found up and down the Ohio.
They had been made long before the memory of any living Indian.
These and the Ohio mounds contained pearls, stone pipes, copper
objects and pottery, and these skillful ancients are known as Indians
of the Hopewell culture, somne archxologists believing that the people
of the Fort Ancient culture were among the ancestors of the Iroquois.
Let us add the testimony of a living American Indian Chief, Albert
Yellow Thunder, a full-blooded Winnebago, who lives at Wisconsin
Dells, in the State of Wisconsin, to whom a visit was made in I933,
and the further testimony of the eminent historian, John Clark Ridpath. Professor Ridpath charts the various Indian families and tribes
3SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
a convoy can march. On September second, Colonel Armstrong at
Stony Creek asked for orders respecting the two paths parallel to the
road. Once constructed, these foot paths were of great use in getting around any artillery or wagon movements up the steep grades,
thus facilitating movements back and forth. Flanking parties also
used them in protecting the road cutters from the lurking Indians and
French.
Even during the construction of the road there were many side
trips to explore the country for better means of communication. When
Colonel James Burd viewed the beautiful vista down Paint Creek
Valley, he sent his best scouting officer, Lieutenant James Hays, to see
how accessible it might be. This officer made the reconnoitre between
August twenty-sixth and thirtieth, and designated it as "25 miles from
the top of the Allegheny Mountain to the gap, 2 miles through the
gap; io miles from the gap to the road that the troops are making.
There is no path in the gap, neither is there any path or paths all that
course." It took him and his party three days to go down the Paint
Creek and Stony Creek valleys, because they encountered so much
laurel and climbed several hills to get a better view. The distances
given in the report are a bit confusing, but after viewing the Loyalhanna Creek, they seem to have reached the road which the troops
were making west of Quemahoning Creek, and thence proceeded easterly to the camp from which they started.
Lieutenant Hays became a part of Major Grant's eight hundred
who attempted a seizure of Fort Duquesne, and he was wounded in
that encounter. On November tenth, he was in command of a special
squad of fourteen who went on down the Loyalhanna Creek from the
forks of the road below Dagworthy's Breastworks. He and Post had
some difficulties at Kiskiminetas Old Town, and he left Post and took
a short cut across towards Fort Duquesne. Post reports in his diary
from Kuskuskies that Chief Keckenepaulin's party had metULieutenant Hays close to Fort Duquesne and killed him.
General Forbes kept William Pitt fully informed of his progress
as he received the reports from his officers out along the road. He
was suffering severely from his ailment, which he thus describes in a
letter to General Abercrombie, his commander-in-chief on August 3,
I758: "I have been very much out of order by what Dr. Russell will
call the flux, which is most violent constipation, attended with inflammation of the rectum, violent pain and total suppression of the urine."
I92THE FORBES EXPEDITION
But in his report to Pitt, he wrote: "My health, that has been extremely precarious for these two years, has of late been very near
brought to a close, by a long and severe attack of bloody flux, which
has reduced me to a state of weakness that I am obliged to travel in
a hurdle carried betwixt two horses, but I hope the animating spirits
of being able to do the smallest service to my King and country, will
leave nothing undone on my part that can anyways contribute to the
success of so glorious a cause."
S. P.-T-13
I93CHAPTER XIV
Lieutenant Coleby Chew and Other Scouts
General Forbes Sends Scouts Ahead to Reconnoitre Fort DuquesneLieutenant Coleby Chew, of the Ist Virginia Regiment Preserves a
Good Journal and Map-He is Killed at Grant's Defeat a Month
Later-He Reports to His Superior Officer, Colonel George Washington, With an Accompanying Map-Ensign Allen's Journal-Captain Edward Ward's Journal-Captain James Patterson's JournalConditions at Fort Duquesne Reported-Distances and Important
Topography Given.
The scouts of the Forbes army were of very material aid in bringing about the success of the expedition. They went forth courageously
to reconnoitre the Traders' Path, and to acquire information that would
help the trail-blazers under Major George Armstrong, the engineers
under Major Harry Gordon, and the fort builders under Ensign
Harry Rohr. Chief among these scouts was Lieutenant Coleby Chew,
of Virginia, who with Ensign Rohr, made the supreme sacrifice at
Grant's Defeat. The month of August was a busy time for them, and
the journals and diaries whichl they have left are most valuable. Even
though Colonels WTashington and Byrd were back at Wills Creek,
these outstanding scouts and officers were sent ahead to help in the
work of the advance detachments.
Lieutenant Chew was a courageous Virginia officer sent from
Raystown on a special assignment to learn the operations of the
French at Fort Duquesne. He reported back to his superior officer
of the Ist Virginia Regiment, Colonel George Washington, August
22, I758, saying: "As I think it my duty to report anything to you
that is extraordinary I take the freedom to enclose you a journal that
I kept from the time I received mny orders till I returned, which is as
exact a one as the place would permit of." To this journal was
ILIEUTENANT COLEBY CHEW AND OTHER SCOUTS 195
attached a crude, but fairly accurate map in aid of the location of the
places mentioned in the journal. Both the journal and the map are
on file in the Library of Congress. The entries in the journal follow:
"Monday, Aug. 7, I758. Set out from Raystown by order of
Colo. Bouquet with a party of (Cherokee) Indians and white men to
make a discovery of the strength and situation of Fort Duquesne. I
proceeded as far this night as the Shawnee Cabins about 8 miles S.
8o W.
"Tuesday the 8th. We continued our course along the old Trading Path, crossed the Allegheny Ridge and encamped at Edmons
Swamp 12 miles N 70 W.
"Wednesday, the 9th. We mnarched about 9 miles N. 60 W. to
Quemahony Creek at which place we continued Thursday ioth.
"Friday the i ith. We proceeded early in the morning, crossed
the Laurel Ridge and came to an old Incampment at Loyalhanan old
T'own i 5 miles N 55 W.
"Saturday, the I2th. We continued on our way along the old
Trading Path, which kept for Io or 12 miles or the most part of the
way along the low grounds of the Loyalhannon, though it sometimes
turned off the river and crossed some ridges and the points of hills.
The high land is well timbered, the ridges not high, the low ground of
the river and in general of all the creeks very thick and bushy. We
this day discovered some very late signs of Indians, 1 5 miles N. 60 WV.
"Sunday the I3th. We marched very early and continued on till
IO o'clock when the Indians halted to conjure, as they had all the day
seen fresh signs of enemy (the low grounds very thick and bushy);
we sent out scouts who continued out till near dark which occasioned
us to encamp that night. When the scouts returned they informed that
the enemy had gone directly towards Fort Duquesne. This afternoon when the sun was about an hour high heard the report of 1 2 cannon as we imagined at F. D. 5 miles N 80 W.
"Monday the I4th. WVe continued our march and sent out scouts
who discovered no signs unless those that were along the path, but
heard several guns firing and the path went over a great many ridges
well timbered 7 miles. Course near W.
"Tuesday the ISth. We march very early and came in about 8
miles from our camp to a large path that came from the Northward
into Old Trading Path, in which we saw the tracks of a great manyIndians going both ways. We imagine that the guns that our scouts
heard yesterday were fired by a party going along this road. Several
horses, some of which were shod, had been along this path the day
before towards F. D. The way was good, the ridges low and well
timbered, but all the branches were thick with crabtrees and haws.
I2 miles W. As the provisions were near spent, the Indians this night
CONFLUENCE (TURKEY FOOT) TOWARDS WHICH COLONEL JAMES BURD WAS
BUILDING HIS ROAD AT THE TIME OF BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT, JULY 9, 1775
held a council of war in which it was determined that all except myself, Sgt. Vaughn and five others should return.
"Wednesday, the I6th. We sent back those that were to return
and proceeded on our way, being only seven in number. We came
where a large party of Indians had been seen about Io days ago. I
imagine from the size of this encampment, about Ioo. They had
cleared about 5 feet square very clean, and had left in it five pieces
of bark, with two or three pipes full of tobacco on each piece; it was
about six miles from our last camp to this place, the path but different, crossing many ridges and course about N 81 IW.
"N. B. The hills end at this place, and it is a plain country from
here to the fort. We here left the old trading path and went about 3
miles N W, then turned S IW, crossed the path and kept a course N
70 W till we were within two miles of the French Fort, where I had a
good view up and down the river, and hid ourselves in a thicket tillLIEUTENANT COLEBY CHEW AND OTHER SCOUTS 197
the Indians conjured and painted, after which we went down the river
within 34 of a mile of the Fort, then turned S E, and went upon a
stony ridge where the Chief Warrior took his conjuring instruments
and tied them about the neck of three Indians and told them they
could not be hurt. Round my neck he tied an otter skin in which his
conjuring instruments had been kept, and round the Sarj'ts he tied a
bag of paint that had been kept with the rest of his conjuring things.
He then told us that none of us could be shot, for those things would
turn the balls from us; he then made us strip all our clothes except
our brichl clout and mokisons, shook hands with us and told us to go
and fight like men, for nothing could hurt us.
"The first view I had of the fort was from the banks of the Ohio,
but at great distance we saw a batteau and two canoes; there were
Indians in them fishing. We were then in a pasture fenced in with trees
fell one on the other. We saw by the tracks that this pasture (the
furthest part of which is not above 34 of a mile from the fort) was
much frequented by Indians. We continued in the pasture, from which
place I could make no great discovery except of the number of tents
till almost sun-setting at which time I let the Indians know that I
wanted them to accompany me to the top of the ridge that was directly
towards the fort, and they disliked the proposal and refused, as they
were in great expectation of getting a scalp. However, when they
saw that I was determined to go and had proceeded on towards the
place they followed me."
As Lieutenant Coleby Chew scouted about Fort Duquesne he puts
further entries into his diary, which give us a picture of that fortification as he saw it:
"From the top of the ridge I had an extraordinary good view of
the fort, as it overlooked, and scarce half a mile from the fort,
and there were several houses on the Monongahela. There were
neither canoes nor battoes in this river that I could perceive, nor
could I discern any new works about the fort. I imagine the men
parade in the fort as I saw them going in at retreat beating and from
what I saw I do not imagine there are above 200 (or 300) Frenchmen. The Indians kept a continual whooping and halloing but could
not see their camp unless the tents I mentioned were pitched for them,
which I judged were from the first, and the appearance of the people
at them, by their looks, noise, etc., imagined them to be Indians. ISOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
could see no sign of a camp or building on either of the rivers. After
dark the Indians got to singing and dancing and by their noise judged(
them to be about o50 in number, all of which the Cherokeys told me
were Shawneys.
"As I have taken a plan of that place and fort as well as I could
on a separate paper I shall make no mention of it here. This day's
march, had we kept the path, would have been I2 miles, the course
about N 80 W. The Ohio runs about S 20 W, the Monongahela at
the mouth runs from near E. From the top of this ridge I moved to
another place nearer the Monongahela, but could make no further
discoverys. From this place we went back to the head warriors and
after some consultations, agreed to return home, upon which we came
about a mile, and near the old Trading Path encamped. We heard
the Indians singing and dancing all night.
"August the I7th. As soon as day broke we began our march,
which we continued very fast till i o'clock, in which time we came near
30 miles, and overtook our party which we ordered back. We then
called a halt to refresh ourselves after which we continued our march
together, and came about I2 miles farther and halted that night.
About two miles before we camped we came upon some fresh tracks,
coming from the eastward.
"Friday the I8th. We continued our march pursuing the tracks
we came on last night. The low grounds and branches which I mentioned in my journey as I went towards Fort Duquesne as very low
and liable to be overflowed, and consequently very moist and soft, so
that I am afraid that a road through them will be indifferent for carriages. We followed the tracks till night when we encamped about
four miles from the camp at Quemahony Creek.
"Saturday, the i9th. WTe marched early in the morning and came
to the camp where we found it was Ensign Allen's that we tracked and
that they had arrived at camp but the night before."
This crude but interesting diary, and the accompanying map settle many disputed points about the routes taken by the soldiers between
the camp at Loyalhanna and Fort Duquesne. The general direction
of his scouting trip was along the old Allegheny Indian path later
used by the traders, and passing down the Loyalhanna Creek through
the Kingston Gap. A month later he traversed that path with Major
James Grant's battalions to Dagworthy's Breastworks, and on towards
igsLIEUTENANT COLEBY CHEW AND OTHER SCOUTS I99
Fort Duquesne. As he had viewed this French fortification a month
before, it is easy to visualize that he must have been sitting on the
eminence now occupied by Duquesne University. His observations
about the moist places along the path indicate that he traveled across
the Crabtree Bottoms and the Big Bottoms at Latrobe. His estimate of the number of French and Indians at Fort Duquesne must
have had much to do with bringing Major Grant to a quick decision
to make the dash in an effort to surprise the French. Lieutenant Chew
lost his life in the effort.
One day earlier than the departure of Lieutenant Coleby Chew,
another scout of the Ist Virginia Regiment, Ensign Allen, was sent to
examine conditions at Fort Duquesne. He too tells an interesting
story in the following entries in his diary:
"Tuesday, August the 8th, I758: Having obtained permission,
received orders from Colo. Sir John St. Clair to reconnoitre towards
Fort Duquesne and gain what intelligence I could of the strength of
it, I this day set out from the camp at Quemahony (in company with
Lieut. Patterson, who with a party of thirty men was ordered to waylay the Path, if possible, to retake some waggoners that had fallen
into the enemy's hands) and marched to the Cabbins near the Loyalhannon, I3 NI.
"Wednesday the 9th. We continued on our way along the old
Trading Path with Mr. Patterson: marched about I4 m. and
encamped.
"Thursday, ioth. We proceeded on our way about I 2 miles
when we came on the tracks of a small party of Indians supposed to
be those Lieut. Patterson was ordered to waylay. We slowly pursued the enemy's tracks about a mile at which time Lieut. Patterson
being asked why he did not follow faster if he intended to overtake,
answered I will be damned if I go farther than the top of the hill I
am now on. When I found that he had stopped being a little chagrined that so fine an opportunity of retaking the waggoners and killing some of the Indians should be lost, I past by him without taking
leave of him and marched along the road abt half a mile in which
space I had a good opportunity in some moist ground of counting their
tracks which were about I 2. Having but four men left with me, I
left the road on the right and went abt. 9 m.SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"Friday the I Ith. We continued our march between the old
Trading Path and the River Monongahela, IS m.
"Saturday the I2th. We marchled very early abt. nine o'clock,
crossed an Indian Path which runs towards F. Cumberland. We
heard several guns fired on each hand, some near and some at a great
distance. I imagine they were fired by a hunting party of Indians.
Came to the Monongahela abt. 2 m. above the mouth of Turtle Creek.
The way from Loyalhannon to this place is in general full of ridges
and broken hills.
"Sunday the i3th. We crossed Monongahela at Braddock's Ford
and marched down the river on the S. side and after marching 8 m.
abt. 3 o'clock in the afternoon came on a hill that overlooked F.
Duquesne abt. 34 of a mile distant from it. I had a good view from
the top of this hill but think I might make a better discovery by
approaching nearer. I left my men and went to ye river abt. a quarter of a mile from the Fort. Thle Fort appeared to be a wall made
with wood and clay abt. 9 feet high. I think there was an entrenchment on the banks of the Monongahela. I could discover no tents
nor Indian Encampment but on the N. side of the F. towards the Ohio
I saw smoak arise and heard Indian singing so that I judge the Indian
Camp to be there. I could discover no new works. I could not see
the men parade at Retreat Beating so that I imagine the parade is in
the F. or on the N. side. From the appearance of the men I judge
there are about 400 French and from the noise and firing near five
hundred Indians. About an hour before sunset they began to fire
cannon, a couple of minutesguns, which they repeated every half hour
of an hour till they had fired I0 which was answered by near 300 small
arms fired in an Indian manner some near the Fort and others at a
mile's distance on the N. side of the Ohio which I judge to be a large
party of Indians coming to the Fort as I heard the Indians whooping
whenever the small arms were fired. At dark I went to my party and
marched abt. half a mile from the hill and encamped. I heard the
Indians singing and dancing until I fell asleep.
"Monday, the I4th. We marched abt. 7 miles S, and then turned
towards the Ford where we had crossed the MIonongahela and came
to the river abt. 3 miles above and found that the river had raised so
considerably that we could not cross it. I went up the river about a
mile farther and encamped.
200"Tuesday, I5th. We marched up the river abt. I o m. and finding
it too deep to ford we made a raft and crossed it and encamped.
"Wednesday the I6th. We marched abt. 9 m. crossed the Yochiogany and abt. 7 m. on this side crossed Braddock's Road and very
near to it an Indian path much beaten and some fresh tracks in it.
Last one towards F. Duquesne. We this night encamped abt. 2 m.
on this side B. Road.
"Thursday and Friday I7th and I8th. We continued our march
without any remarkable occurrences and in the evening of the I8th
having marched very fast these
last two days, we arrived at the
Camp at Quemahoning Creek."
There is also the record of
the scouting of Captain Edward
Ward, who later became such a
prominent Southwestern Pennsylvanian, particularly in his
activities in the Virginia courts.
He was sent to reconnoitre the
Allegheny Mountain and the
Laurel Hill, starting at Raystown. In his party were mostly Virginians from the First Regiment, and included Captain Clayton, Lieutenants Campbell, Baker, Craighead and Hay, and one hundred privates.
His journal confirms the information given by others, and adds new
light to the details of the Forbes expedition.
"July 8, 1758. A journal of courses and distances and bearings
of the road. Marched late in the evening to the head of Old Town
(Wolfsburg), there encamped, distance 2 miles'2, placed 4 small
guards, bearing of our first course from  camp to where we first
crossed the creek N. From thence W. course to the Creek nigh W.
"July 9. Marched for Shawnee Cabins, took our departure from
Col. Burd's new road, distance 4 miles, our course WNW. Halted
at Shawnee Cabbin Creek at Io o'clock, course of the waters NNW.
Distance from Old Town to Shawnee Cabbins 7 miles. Marched from
thence'2 an hour past I I o'clock. Course of the road to the foot of
hill W southerly, distance from Shawnee Cabbins to the foot of the
Hill 5 miles. Halted at the foot of the hill 7?2 hour after one o'clock.
The course of the head branch of Holmes Creek WSW, the course
LINCOLN HGIHW'AY LOOKING EAST
NEAR LATROBESOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
as they were distributed in i 6oo, just before the dawn of Southwestern
Pennsylvania history. HIle places the Winnebago tribes on the western
shores of Lake Michigan, just where they are today, and surrounded
by the great Algonquin family, but not of it. The Chippewas, the
Sacs and Foxes, the Menominies, the Ottawas, the Miamis, and the
Pottawatamies, subdivisions of the Algonquin family, are shown as
their nearest neighbors. Farther south are the Kickapoos, the Illinois
and the Shawnees. West of the Mississippi River, in the great Missouri basin are several subdivisions of the Dakotas, one tribe of whom
are latterly known as the Sioux.
Chief Yellow Thunder is a veteran of the Spanish-American War,
a former Indian agent for the Government, a Christian Indian of the
Baptist denomination, and a capable lecturer on Indian lore before
Rotary and other service clubs and educational organizations. Chief
Yellow Thunder says:
"The name Indian was implied by Columbus, thinking he had
reached India. There is no regular name in general use by the North
American Indians to designate themselves, other than the names of
each individual tribe. As a whole, there is in each tribe's language a
similar term to designate them, which being translated means, THE
TWO-LEGGED WALKING PEOPLE. They think they are planted here
by the Creator of all things, who was recognized as the Father of all
things. The name, Winnebago, means,'the people speaking the original language,' and the Winnebago cannot be the offspring of any other
tribe. The Sioux themselves recognize the Winnebago as their elder
brothers, and neither the Sioux nor the Winnebago consider themselves
a part of the Algonquins or Hurons, but a distinct group.
"The Siouan tribes, whose original home was on the Atlantic
coast along the eastern foothills of the Southern Alleghenies, speak
about nine different dialects to this day. They are now scattered
over the states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North
Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma. The chieftainship is hereditary, the oldest son assuming the power on the death of his father,
provided the father makes no other designation. I am Chief Yellow
Thunder, III. My fa'ther was Chief Sharpwing, who survived his
father, Chief Yellow Thunder, II, but a short time. My great-grandfather was Chief Yellow Thunder I, and my great-great-grandfather
was Chief White Buffalo."
4SkOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
of the road up the hill Wt. Marched from the foot of the hill at 2
o'clock could perceive but one difficult place in ascending the hill to
the top and that could be wound around from the foot of the hill to
the top 2 2 miles. Encamped at a rivulet at the top of the hill at Y2
an hour after 4 P. M.-did not think it prudent to press my men the
first day. Course of rivulet WVSW. Course of the road NW.
"July I0. Advanced this morning at 6 o'clock and crossed the
head branch of the Kiskiminetas 6 miles distant from our encampment. Course of the branch NNE, halted at Edmund's Swamp.
Course of a little run at Edmund's Swamp NNE. From the head
branch of Kiskiminetas to Edmund's Swamp distance 2 miles ~2. 4
miles of my road today thickety from the top of the hill to Edmund's
Swamp stony but all loose stones. A fine encampment at Edmund's
Swamp, a small rivulet and good food for horse and clear woods.
Marched from Edmund's Swamp at one o'clock. Course of road to
Stony Creek NW. Course of I st branch S. Dist. 4 miles. 2d. Crossing sd. branch NE. Distance from the 2d. crossing to the main
body of Stony Creek Y2 mile.  Course of the Creek NE'2E.
Course of our encampment from Kickeny Paulin's NW.2W. Distance 62 2miles. Encamped at 7 o'clock P. M.
"July II. March at 6 o'clock from the encampment for Laurel
Hill, crossed the creek at Kickeny Paulin's, a distance from our encampment about'2 mile, halted 5 miles distant from crossing of the
creek, a good road, plenty of food for horses, the country extremely
well watered, the bearing of the creek where we crossed WNW.
At io o'clock halted at the run of the foot of Laurel Hill, distance
from where we made the last halt 2 52 miles, course to our W. Here
I left Lt. Hays, Lt. Baker, with'2 of the men and the pack horses,
as I marched up the hill with Capt. Clayton and Lt. Craighead. Our
course up the ridge to the top partly N. thence along the ridge our
course }5 pt. to the eastward of N. from the foot of the hill, from
Laurel Run, to where we halted 3 miles dist. Very stony for a mile
before we arrived at the foot of the hill. Stony up the hill and on the
hill chiefly stony but all loose stones and good earth. Where I halted
was partly the descent to Loyalhanna, thought it was needless to proceed further as I was acquainted with the road. Ascending the hill
easy returned to my party, marched back on the Trading Path from
the foot of the hill I'2 miles. From thence took my departure for
the 3 Forks of the Yohohongaley, concluded on our course for the
202LIEUTENANT COLEBY CHEW AND OTHER SCOUTS 2o3
Three Forks nearly WSW. Passed through bad thickets and swamp.
Obliged to march 2 2 miles round Beaver Dams."
The remainder of Captain Ward's report covers his passage to the
Three Forks (Confluence), and thence by the blazed road to the Allegheny Mountain, near Berlin, and back to Raystown, where he arrived
July 20, I758. This blazed path was the projection of Colonel James
Burd's road of I755, which he was forced to abandon because of
Braddock's defeat.
Captain James Patterson, of Colonel John Armstrong's battalion
of the Forbes army also reconnoitred from Raystown to Fort Duquesne
and he had an interesting experience. His journal gives these facts:
"Thursday, 27 July. Set out from Raestown and went to the foot
of the Allegheny.
"Friday, 28th. To K. P. (Keckenepaulin's), where Maj. Armstrong's party was.
"Saturday 29th. Crossed Laurel Ridge and went to a run 3 mi.
beyond L. Hanning, paid there on the side of the road.
"Sunday 3oth. At eight miles from the 3 Mile Run found tracks
of a party of 4 or 5 Indians coming this way and having seen us (as I
suppose) they left the path. I kept the road about a mile farther,
and there found an encampment where about 50 French and Indians
had layed. I found some piecses of haversacks which smelt strongly
of pork-and about two pieces of tobacco with a little paint tied to
each, which was tied upon a long white pole set up very high. I took
them off the road to the left, and took them through the woods very
cautiously and in about two miles came on the road again at the Two
Licks where I found a fresh Indian track and immediately heard a
gun go off just before us. I turned off to the left hand of the road
and heard another gun fired. I kept off to the left all that day and at
night came to the water of Licking Creek where I got into the thicket
and lay there all night.
"Monday, 3I July, 1758. I steered towards the mouth of Turtle
Creek. I came about io o'clock upon a Great Warriors' Path where
there were fresh signs of a large party coming this way which path
I followed about a mile and found it was frequently used. I kept
this to the left which course I steered till I crossed Gen'l Braddock's
Road that showed it was beat very much by warriors. I then took to
Yyheny River, where I slept that night.SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"Tuesday, ISt. August. Crossed Yygany thinking to cross also
Monongahela to get a view of the French Fort from the hills that lays
opposite to it. But this river was so high that we could not cross it
and were obliged to go over the Yygany and follow the ridge till I
came to Braddock's Road about six miles from the place where the
Battle was fought. I went to the mouth of Turtle Creek where I
found tracks of a great party that had just gone down the river
towards Cumberland which I judge to be about one hundred men.
Crossed Turtle Creek and turned off the road to the right hand upon
the hills and came up across the place of Braddock's Engagement and
stayed there until sunset. March then down the road and saw the
bones of the men who were killed' at the battle laying very thick.
Marched that night in the road till I came within  2 mile of the
French Fort, got there about midnight."
Captain Patterson did not get a very good view of Fort Duquesne
on his scouting trip, for he encountered one of the fogs for which
Pittsburgh has been famous through the years. Aside from his lack
of information as to the fort, his observations are valuable. Continuing his journal:
"Wednesday, 2d. August I758. I a little before day went upon
the road towards the Fort where I found great quantities of fallen
trees laid across the bottom. I kept towards the hill till I got to the
clearing of the Fort, where I intended to stay until sunrise that I
might get a sight of the Fort, but the fog was so thick that I could
not see 40 yards from me. I went a little higher and came across
the tracks of a reconnoitring party that had steered right towards the
road we had gone. In the night we came to Shannopen Town. I took
their tracks and followed them till I came to the road and from there
finding that they had seen my own tracks I thought I had no other way
left but to go back to Raestown. I found the tracks of the party that
was at the Two Licks going back to the Fort. I kept the road along
which lays thus:
"From the French Fort to Shonawpins Town, 2 miles.
"From S. T. to the run, 4 miles. Extraordinary fine level ground,
clear woods, no brush.
"To another run, 2 miles, a beautiful ridge.
"To another run, 2 miles. A fine ridge; none of the ridge steep,
either on going up or down. I think there cannot be a better ground
for an army to march into an enemy's country than this io miles.
204LIEUTENANT COLEBY CHEW AND OTHER SCOUTS 205
"Then the road crosses three ridges 3 miles. Water between each
ridge. Not stony on any of them; a good road can be made there
without much trouble.
"Over two other ridges to Caggy's Cabbin, 2 miles.
"Then two other ridges and a gradual descent to Beaver Dam,
IS5 miles. This is a beautiful place for an army to encamp on either
side of the run.
"From the Beaver's Dam good road, 3 miles.
"Then two bad ridges which I think can be shunned to the Two
Licks, 3 miles.
"From the Two Licks to the Big Bottom, 4 miles.
"From the B. B. to the 3 mile Run, 5 miles.
"From the 3 mile Run to Loyal Hanning, 3 miles."
By comparison with other diaries and their use of similar terms
the places mentioned by Captain Patterson are easily located in the
light of present-day geography. The added distance from Ligonier to
Pittsburgh is 48 miles, which is sufficiently accurate to make the estimate of real value. Caggy's Cabins was that of Cockeye, south of
Export. The Beaver Dams were near Stony Springs, three miles
north of Greensburg. The Two Licks were otherwise designated as
Crabtree Bottoms east of Hannastown, and the Big Bottom was at
Latrobe.
Lieutenant Coleby Chew and the other scouts, whose records are
here detailed, were concerned with the condition of the old Traders'
Path west of Loyalhanna. The advance detachments of road builders
were at the same time busy with cutting and clearing the road over
the mountains towards Loyalhanna from Raystown. The French had
their scouts out in large numbers as far as Loyalhanna on the Traders'
Path, and also along the Braddock Road, thinking that Washington
might yet prevail in his efforts to have the Braddock Road used. It
was a busy army blazing its military way through the primitive forest.
but along a highway which was destined to be a highwav to victoryCHAPTER XV
Grant's Defeat
Major George Armstrong Blazes the Road-Colonel James Burd Builds
the Camp at Loyalhanna-Its Military Life and Discipline-Dagworthy's Breastworks are Constructed Ten Miles West of Loyalhanna-Major James Grant Leads His Battalion from Thence to
Attack Fort Duquesne-His Account of the Engagement-Important
Assignments of Attack Given to Major Andrew Lewis and Lieutenant
Coleby Chew-The Position of the Highlanders Fronting the Fort
-The French Fight from Behind Trees-The Panicky Troops Retreat
to Dagworthy's Breastworks and Loyalhanna-A Sketch of the Military Career of Major Grant-French Accounts of the Engagement.
Major George Armstrong, a brother of Colonel John Armstrong,
was in charge of the advanced detachments blazing the trees, marking
out the line of the road, and scouting for suitable locations upon which
to build fortifications. When he reached Loyalhanna Indian Town,
the location close to it appealed to him and to Ensign Rohr, who was
assigned to the special task of designing the fortifications.  From
Keckenepaulin's town at Quemahoning Creek, Major Armstrong
reported back to Colonel Bouquet at Raystown on July 26, I758: "I
intend to set off immediately to Loyalhannon in order to view that or
some other convenient place; am leaving the remaining men at work."
After visiting Loyalhanna with Dunning, a fur trader and surveyor,
Major Armstrong reported it to be "a very pretty place; well watered
and grass in abundance, and a very proper and advantageous post for
us." Sir John St. Clair said that it was a good place for a fort, also,
which caused Colonel Bouquet to assign Colonel James Burd to the
duty of fortifying it. Colonel Burd was to march from Raystown on
August 23d, I758. The plans provided that the encampment was to
be laid out with two small redoubts at two hundred yards distance,
Iwith a storehouse 120 feet long and at least 25 feet wide, a hospital
and ovens. He was also to harvest hay, which was an indication that
there were some meadow lands along the Loyalhanna and Mill Creeks.
Colonel Burd reached Fort Duart on the top of the Allegheny Mountain on August twenty-sixth; was at the Quemahoning Camp August
twenty-eighth to thirtieth; Clearfield at the eastern foot of the Laurel
Hill August thirty-first; and reached the camp at Loyalhanna on
Sunday, September third.
Ensign Rohr had previously laid out a fort to include what is
known as the "Bunger Spring," on the present Renwick property in
Ligonier, and he had also done
some work on the advanced fort
which later became known as
Dagworthy's Breastworks at
Latrobe. When Colonel Burd
arrived on that Sunday he immediately set to work. He seems
not to have been satisfied with
that location and selected another nearer the Loyalhanna Creek,
which later became the site of
Fort Ligonier, for on Wednesday, September 6, 175 8, he wrote
his immediate superior officer, Colonel Bouquet, that he had evacuated
the old ground and begun work on a new breastworks at ten o'clock
that day. He promised to make a draft of the place, and said that he
could not find a place to make hay.
Colonel Burd had his mind on the advanced military post ten
miles to the westward, for he further writes in the same report, that
"Major Grant marched from thence yesterday morning at 5 A. M.
with 300 men and one officer and guard of the light horse. Mr. Rohr
went with him; they will return here to-night; the artillery are likewise on their march to this place from the Clearfields. I expect them
here today. The troops here are all employed on the breastworks,
and hope they will finish it tonight. We have been extremely interrupted and disconcerted with continual hard rains and the weather
does not appear altogether settled yet; if the Major (Hay) and the
artillery arrives here tonight, I shall be able to march to take up the
New Post on Friday, but you observe by the enclosed return of proINDIAN AND TRADERS PATH NORTH
OF LATROBESOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
visions that unless we receive immediate supplies we shall be in want
of provisions."
Colonel Henry Bouquet did not arrive at the camp at Loyalhanna
to make his first visit until September eleventh, and then sent his secret
report of conditions to General Forbes written in French.  He
reported in part: "After having passed the breakneck of the Laurel
Ridge, I find a situation very agreeable. Colonel Burd and the Major
have discovered at this post a much better location than was proposed.
Their camp was well entrenched although too much uncovered, and
they already have there a couple of storehouses. The consideration
of such a state of the roads, our magazines and the defects of the
wagons, and the pack horses ruined by their poor saddles, have determined me not to push further until there is a recovery from so great
an inconvenience. I have laid out a little fort about our magazine at
the center of the circumference of our entrenched camp and when we
shall have five or six weeks provisions on this side of the mountains we
will be able to advance to the other post, if you order it."
The orderly book of Colonel George Washington, the original of
which is on file in the Library of Congress, is a fine aid in visualizing
the strict military life that was carried on as the expedition proceeded.
It tells of the court-martialing of men for desertion, and in some
cases the administration of very many lashes as punishment, and the
sentencing of some to death. General Forbes on one occasion gave
orders "that no person whatever, either in the army or a follower of
it, shall give an Indian any spirituous or fermented liquors upon any
accounts whatever; if an officer, he shall be tried for disobedience of
orders; if a soldier, he shall suffer the severest corporal punishment;
and if a sutler, he shall have his goods plundered and be whipped out
of camp; and any person who is found to buy, exchange, or receive in
any shape whatever from an Indian any of the presents made them by
His Majesty, shall be deemed equally guilty and suffer the same
punishments."
When General Forbes arrived at the camp at Loyalhanna and
reviewed the troops on November second, Colonel Washington
recorded that "General Forbes is highly satisfied with the behavior of
the troops this campaign in consideration of the coldness of the
weather and fatigue of working they have to go through with, the
General is pleased to allow every man a gill of spirits per day whilst
2o8it can be provided and in case it shall fall short a further supply is daily
expected."
In passing out the ammunition each man was provided with 8o
rounds, part of which was to be stored in casks, and when marching
against the enemy he was to carry
36 rounds and good flints. The
letters written by Colonel Burd,
Colonel Bouquet, Major Halket,
Colonel Washington and General Forbes back and forth from
the several camps along the road
lead to the conclusion that this
army of 7,400 soldiers was well
disciplined. But upon reading
the orderly book of Colonel
Washington, in which he records
the strict military orders that
were given, how the officers of the day were assigned, the parole
pass-words given, the regiments paraded in review, and the assignment for the march planned, there is assurance that this was one
of the best disciplined armies in all history. The camp at Loyalhanna
was the point of training, discipline and struggle, which made of its
officers and men soldiers fit to lead and carry on in the Revolutionary
War, to come a score of years later.
There was a difference of opinion as to how well fortified the camp
at Loyalhanna should be. Colonel Bouquet first gave elaborate instructions to Colonel Burd on September fifteenth, after the defeat of
Major Grant near Fort Duquesne, to put I50 men to work on a
fort of logs to be built about the storehouse, and 250 men to work on
the road to an advanced post where three redoubts were to be constructed and garrisoned. General Forbes disapproved of this waste
of money and labor, and filed objections that Captain Gordon was
building at Loyalhanna a "fort fit to stand a siege." The General's
real intentions were to get nearer to Fort Duquesne, and the favorable
reports of the engineers as to "Dagworthy's Breastworks" and the
"Three Redoubts" impressed him better than their report about
Loyalhanna.
On account of Major James Grant's having started his dash
towards Fort Duquesne from Dagworthy's Breastworks, we should
S. P.-I 14
FORBES ARMY OFFICERS, 1758SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
know more about this important point. There is no record of Colonel
Burd ever having gotten any farther than the camp at Loyalhanna
in the Forbes Expedition, althoughl he sent in comprehensive reports
concerning Dagworthy's to his superiors. The operations of Major
James Grant within the next ten days changed the military picture for
the time being and Colonel Burd had plenty to do at Loyalhanna.
After the engineers and scouts had picked out this fine location near
the mouth of Nine Mile Run, Colonel Henry Bouquet first sent Lieutenant-Colonel John Dagworthy and 300 chosen men from his corps
of North Carolina and the Lower Counties of Pennsylvania (which is
now Delaware), to build a strong entrenchment, and Colonel Dagworthy followed instructions.
Major Grant's dash to Fort Duquesne, with such disastrous results,
checked the plans of General Forbes to cut a substantial road through
and keep it open through strong fortifications. His defeat on the hill
above Fort Duquesne, where the Allegheny County Court House now
stands, was the result of a coup planned by Colonel Bouquet and Major
Grant for the purpose of reconnoitering the French fort, and getting
acquainted with the territory over which the main army was to travel.
Major Grant's instructions were to not approach too near the fort,
and not to attack it. He was in command of 37 officers and 805
privates, the larger part of them Scotch Highlanders. Up to that
time the woods had been full of French scouts and their friendly Indians, but he and his battalion were able to reach the fort environment
without being discovered.  Colonel Bouquet was at Dagworthy's
Breastworks to see them off, and he had given sealed orders to the
officers. It took this little army but two days to march down the
Traders' Path to the brow of the hill where the encounter took place,
a distance of forty miles. Captain Thomas Bullit, with two other
officers and fifty men, were left two miles in the rear of the fort in
charge of the baggage. They found things quiet about the fort when
they arrived, and Major Grant directed two officers and fifty men to
approach the fort and fall upon the French and Indians that might be
about it. They saw none, and were not challenged even by the sentinels at the fort, so they returned to the hill, setting fire to a large
French storehouse, the flames of which were quickly extinguished.
Major Grant's report to his superior officer, General Forbes, after
the disastrous defeat, gives an interesting detailed account of the
engagement:
2IOGRANT'S DEFEAT
"Sir: If it had been in mny power to write sooner, you will do me
justice to believe that I would have troubled you long before this
time with an account of the detachment which marched the 9th. of
September from the Camp at Loyal Hannon. We were lucky enough
not to be discovered on our march, though several scouting parties
passed very near us. We got an advantageous post on the I 2th, about
three in the afternoon, which according to information of all our
guides, was ten or twelve miles from the French Fort. I thought it
was a proper place to encamp in, as I did not think it advisable to go
nearer, for fear of being discovered; but I afterwards found that our
guides were much mistaken about the distance, for, as near as I can
judge, the camp is about sixteen miles from the top of the Hill, where
we were to take post.
"The I3th, at break of day, I sent Major Lewis, with 200 men
and our Indians, with orders to post men in ambuscade, about five
miles from the fort, which was all the precaution I could take to prevent our being discovered in the camp. I flattered myself that, if a
reconnoitering party was sent out, it might possibly fall into the
ambuscade, and, in that case, in all probability they must have been
killed or taken; and, if they had been sent, in the event of our plans
succeeding, a second party fromrn the fort would have found the whole
party ready to receive them. I ordered Mr. Chew to march with a
party of fifteen or twenty men to reconnoiter the ground and to try,
without exposing himself or his men, to draw a party of the enemy into
the ambuscade. He only went withi three Indians, who soon left him,
and by that means, in place of returning to Major Lewis' about ten
o'clock as I expected, he was obliged to conceal himself till night came
on, and he joined me upon the march about eleven o'clock at night.
But I could not be understood to reflect upon him; he is a good, brisk
young lad.
"About three in the afternoon I marched forward to the rest of
the detachment, and I found Major LIewis advantageously posted
about four miles from our camp. The post, I was assured, was not
seven miles from the fort, though I found it was about twelve. After
giving orders to the troops, and particular instructions to the captains,
I proceeded about six in the evening towards the fort, expecting to get
to the top of the Hill about eleven at night - but as the distance was
so much greater than I imagined, it was after two in the morning
before we got there. The instructions when I left Loyal Hannon
2IIChief War Eagle, and other full-blooded Senecas, from Tonawanda, New York, participated in the I75th anniversary of the battle
of Monongahela, held at Braddock on July 9, I930. Chief War
Eagle insisted that the Indian had not been justly dealt with by the
whites in the early confiscation
of his lands. He was not able
to tell much about his ancestral
origin, except that he was descended from those Senecas who
had come down into the Allegheny and Ohio valleys in protest against both the French and
English settlers.
The Indians seem not to have
had any permanent habitations at
SITE OF LOYALHANNA INDIAN TOWN
AT LIGONIER
Mrs. A. K. Renwick
Chief Yellow Thunder, Wife and Son
the forks of the Ohio before the coming of the white man. In their
migrations back and forth, the valleys of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio were their great hunting and fishing grounds, until they
later sought to locate themselves permanently, on account of conditions east of the Alleghenies. The encroachments of the whites on
the Atlantic seaboard had much to do with driving the Indians into
the Susquehanna Valley.
Other writers of Indian lore tell about the apparent subjugation
of the Delawares by the Iroquois, and the exercise of authority over
them, when they appointed the great Chief Shikellamy over them as
vice-regent, with residence at Shamokin Indian Town, which was the
present Sunbury. One of the first complaints registered by the great
Chief was that, if the rum traffic among the Indians was not better
regulated, friendly relations between the Six Nations and the Pennsylvania Colony would cease. About the year I720 the Iroquois
assumed active jurisdiction over the Delawares, forbidding them to
make war or sell lands without their permission. A later Chief of the
Delawares, Teedyuscung, asserted and maintained their independence, beginning with the year I756. The Delaware migration into
Southwestern Pennsylvania occurred about 1724, when the Turtle and
Turkey clans of that nation moved westward from Shamokin and
other points in the Susquehanna Valley. They proceeded by the West
Branch of the Susquehanna River to Lock Haven, then up Bald Eagle
Creek to a point near Milesburg, thence over the Snowshoe MountainSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
were that a particular party should be sent to attack each Indian fire,
but as those fires had not been made, or were burnt out before we got
to the ground, it was impossible to make any disposition of that kind.
Major Lewis was informed of every particular of our project before
we left Loyal Hannon, and was told there that he was to command the
troops that were to be sent upon the attack.
"As I was to continue upon the height to make a disposition of his
retreat (which we did not desire to be made in good order) and for
forming the rear guard in our march from the fort, you will easily
believe that he and I had frequent conversation upon the march upon
our plan of operations. I sent for him the moment the troops arrived
on the Hill opposite the fort, and told him that as we had been misinformed by the guides in regard to the distance, and had got there much
later than we expected, it was impossible to make the projected disposition of a party of men for the attack on each fire; but that it was
possible to continue under another day without being discovered, and
that as the night was far advanced there was no time to be lost.
"I therefore ordered hiim to march directly with Ioo Americans
(Royal Americans, 6oth Regiment), 200 Highlanders and Io00 Virginians, and to attack anything that was found about the fort. I gave
orders that no attention was to be paid to the sentries, who would
probably challenge, and, in case they were fired upon they were not
to return it upon any account, but to march as fast as possible, and were
not to fire a shot until they were close to the enemy; and that after
they discharged their pieces they were to use their bayonets without
loading a second time. I told the Major that I would order all our
drums and pipes to beat the retreat when it was time for the troops
to relieve, that I was indifferent what order they came back in, that
it was the same thing to me if thlere were not three of them together,
provided they did the business they were set upon. The Major had
not half a mile to march into the open plain where the fort stands; the
400 men under his command had a white shirt over his clothes to
prevent mistakes and that they might even at a distance distinguish
one another. I saw the Americans and Highlanders march off and
gave instructions that the Virginians should fall in the rear. Sending
a greater number of men might possibly, I thought, occasion confusion,
and I was of opinion that 400 men were quite sufficient to carry the
service into execution. I was absolutely certain we were not discovered when the troops marchled from the hill. I thought our loss must
212GRANT'S DEFEAT
be considerable, and never doubted but that everything would succeed
beyond our most sanguine expectations.
"After posting the remaining part of the troops in the best manner
I could, I placed myself and the drums and pipes at the head of the
Highlanders who were in the center and exactly opposite the fort.
During the operation the time passed. The day advanced fast upon
us; I was turning uneasy at not hearing the attack begin, when to my
great astonishment Major Lewis came and told me that it was impossible to do anything, that the night was dark, that the road was bad,
worse than anything I had ever seen, that there were logs of wood
across it, that there were fences to pass, that the troops had fallen
into confusion and that it was a mercy that they had not fired upon
one another, that they had made so much noise he was sure they must
have been discovered and that it was impossible for the men to find
their way back through those woods. These were really the words
he made use of; this behavior in an officer was new to me; his conduct
in overturning a long projected scheme and in disobeying such positive orders was so unaccountable that I could not speak to him with
common patience, so that I just made answer to his last words, that
the men according to the orders that had been given to them would
have found their way back to the drums when the retreat beat.
"So I left him and went as fast as I could to Major McKenzie
and Mr. Fisher to see what the matter was and to give directions for
the attack if the thing was practicable. I found the troops in the
greatest confusion I ever saw men in, which in truth was not surprising, for the Major had brought them back from the plain when he
returned himself and everybody took a road of their own. I found
that it was impossible to think of forming them for an attack, and the
morning was too far advanced to send for other troops from the other
places where they were posted; thus I was reduced, after all my
hopes of success, to this melancholy situation. That something at
least might be attempted, I sent Lieutenants Thompson and McDonald with fifty men, to make an attack at the place where two or three
fires had been seen burning the night before. I desired them to kill a
dozen Indians, if possible, and I would be satisfied. They went
directly to the place where they were ordered and finding none of the
Indians they set fire to the house, but it was daylight before they
could return. I mention this last circumstance that it might appear
clearly to you, it was not in my power to send a greater number. The
213SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
surprise was complete, the governor knew nothing of us or our march,
and in all probability the enterprise must have succeeded against the
camps as well as against the Indians if the attempt had been made.
So favorable an opportunity I dare say never was lost.
"The difficulties which Major Lewis had represented to me to be
insurmountable appeared to me, as they certainly were, absolute imagery. I marched about twelve miles that night, with an advance
guard and flanking parties before it without the least confusion. The
Major had not a mile to march to the fort, and above two-thirds of
that was an open plain, and I can safely declare that there is no part
of the road in getting into the plain worse than that I had passed
without any difficulty in coming up the hill. I made no secret to the
people who were then about me that I was so much dissatisfied with
the Major's conduct that I was determined to carry him back to camp
in arrest, that he might answer to you for his behavior. Several officers heard me say so. Mr. Bentineck, if he escaped, has no doubt
informed you that such was my intention. However, I did not think
it advisable to take any step of that kind till we were out of reach of
the enemy. I, therefore, sent Major Lewis, the I4th, at break of day,
with the Americans and Virginians to reenforce Captain Bullit, whom
I had left with about fifty men as a guard upon our horses and provisions within two miles of the fort, directly upon the road by which
we were to return to our camp. I was afraid the enemy might send a
detachment that way to take possession of some passes to harass us
in our march or perhaps to endeavor to cut us off in case we were
forced to retreat, and I directed the Major to place these troops in
ambuscade that he might have all the advantage possible of any party
that could be sent out. About 7 in the morning after the fog was
gone and the day cleared up, it was found impossible to make a plan
of the fort from the height where the troops were posted, and as
Col. Bouquet and I had settled that a plan should be taken'a la barke
de la Garise' in case an attempt did not succeed in the night.
"I sent Mr. Rohr with Captain McDonald and a hundred men to
take the place, with directions not to expose himself or the troops.
About the same time, being informed that some of the enemy's Indians had discovered Captain MIcKenzie, who was posted upon the left,
almost facing the Monongahela, in order to put on a good countenance and to convince our men that they had no reason to be afraid,
I gave directions to our drums to beat the Revielle. The troops were
214GRANT'S DEFEAT
in an advantageous post, and I must own I thought we had nothing
to fear. In about half an hour after, the enemy came from the fort in
different parties without much order, and getting behind trees, they
advanced briskly and attacked our left, where there were two hundred
and fifty men. Captain McDonald and Lieutenant Campbell were
soon killed. I did all in my power to keep things in order, but to no
purpose; the Ioo Pennsylvanians who were posted upon the right at
the greatest distance from the enemy, were off without orders, without firing a shot; in short, in less than half an hour all was in confusion, and as soon as that happened we were fired upon from every
quarter. I endeavored to rally the troops at every rising ground, and
I did all in my power in that melancholy situation to make the best
retreat I could. I sent an officer to Major Lewis to make the best
disposition he could with the Americans and the Virginians till I could
come up, and I was in hopes to be able to make a stand there, and at
least make a tolerable retreat.
"Unfortunately, upon hearing the firing the Major thought the
best thing that could be done was to march to our assistance; unluckily they did not take the same road by which I marched the night
before and by which they had passed that morning, and as I retired
the same way I had advanced, I never saw them when I found Captain Bullit and his fifty men alone. I could not help saying to him
that I was undone. However, though there was little or rather no
hopes left, I was resolved to do the best I could, and whenever I could
get anybody to stay with me to make a stand, sometimes with Ioo and
sometimes with So, just as the men thought proper, for orders were to
no purpose. Fear had then got the better of every passion, and I
hope I shall never see again such a panic among troops-till then I
had no conception of it.
"At last, inclining to the left with fifty men, where I was told a
number of the Americans and Highlanders had gone, my party diminished insensibly, every soldier taking the road he liked best, and I
found myself with not above a dozen men and an officer of the Pennsylvanians who had been left with Captain Bullit. Surrounded on all
sides by the Indians, and when I expected every instant to be cut to
pieces, without a possibility of escaping, a body of the French with a
number of their officers came up and offered me quarters, which I
accepted of. I was then within short league of the fort; it was then
about eleven o'clock, and as far as I can judge, about that time the
215SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
French troops were called back and the pursuit ended. What our loss
is you best know, but it must be considerable. Captains McDonald
and Monroe, Lieutenants Alex McKenzie, Collin Campbell and William McKenzie, Lieutenant Rider, and Ensign Jenkins and Woller
are prisoners. Ensign J. McDonald is prisoner with the Indians;
from what I hear they have got two other officers, whose names or
corps I know not. Mr. Rohr and the officer who conducted the Indians were killed. Major Lewis and Captain McKenzie are prisoners.
I am not certain that Lieutenant McKenzie was killed, but I have
seen his commission, which makes it very probable. I spoke to Lieutenant McDonald, senior, after he was wounded, and I think he could
hardly make his escape. I wish I may be mistaken. This is the best
account I can give you of our unlucky affair. I endeavored to execute
the orders which I received to the best of my power; as I have been
unfortunate, the world may possibly find fault with my conduct; I
flatter myself that you will not. I may have committed mistakes without knowing them, but if I was sensible of them I most certainly should
tell you in what I thought I had done wrong. I am willing to flatter
myself that my being a prisoner will be no detriment to my promotion
in case vacancies should happen in the army, and it is to be hoped that
the proper steps will be taken to get me exchanged as soon as possible.
"P. S.-As Major Lewis is a prisoner, I thought it was right to
read to him that part of this which particularly concerns him. He
says when he came back to speak to me, that he gave no orders for the
troops to retire from the plain; that Captain Saunder, who was the
next officer to him, can best account for that step; for they did retire,
and I took it for granted that it was by the Major's orders, till he
assured me of the contrary. Mr. Jenkins of the Americans is a pretty
young lad, and has spirit. He is the oldest ensign, and is much afraid
that being a prisoner will be a detriment to his promotion. He begs
that I may mention him to you, and I could not think of refusing him."
Grant's defeat within sight of Fort Duquesne sent his retreating
soldiers who survived the conflict scurrying back to Dagworthy's
Breastworks, and the camp at Loyalhanna. The Highlanders were
quite bitter against the French because of their great loss of men, and
this put determination into them as the remainder of the army began
to come in from Raystown. Lieutenant-Colonel John Dagworthy,
stationed at the Breastworks, sent this hurried note to his superior
officer, Colonel Henry Bouquet, on September I4, I 758: "Sir: Ensign
2i6GRANT'S DEFEAT
Grant of the Highland Regiment, a number of Indians and eight
soldiers are just now come in here from Major Grant's party, and
report that this morning they had an engagement with a considerable
body of men in sight of Fort Duquesne, and that after some time our
men were sent to the rout and believes most if not the whole are cut
off; he left Major Grant near two miles on this side of the place.
They first engaged but the enemy was then all around him."
The next day, Lieutenant-Colonel Adam Stephens wrote to Colonel
Bouquet from "Col. Dagworthy's Camp," that "Ensign Grant is the
only Highland officer come in or expected. My corps is not even so
happy; or at least I am not so happy as to have reason to expect a
single one survives. Two Pennsylvania officers are come in. Fifty
men are got in. I sincerely condole with you. The enemy were chiefly
Indians. The French and they are very numerous, amounting, according to Captain Wires, of the Maryland's opinion, to upwards of two
thousand. God Bless you. I set off immediately to afford all the
assistance to the stragglers."
Later on the same day, as Colonel Stephens and his squads had gone
on the Traders' Path to the westward, he sent his commander, Colonel
Bouquet, a second letter telling about the retreating soldiers: "Dear
Colonel: I have been about fifteen miles to the westward and succored
the distress all in my power. Inclosed I send you a return of those
arrived, and do not fear what the French can do against us here. It
is uncertain whether Major Grant is killed or taken prisoner. The
French called him frequently by his name to surrender. The French
had received a very considerable reinforcement of Indians, etc., the
day before the engagement; confirmed by Captain Shelby and Ensign
Chin. The loss to our brave officers is irreparable and I imagine
about one half, rank and file, are gone. I shall not see you tomorrow
on account of sending about 30 miles after some wounded men."
The French furnished a list of officers on September twenty-third,
who had been made prisoners, in which were: Major Grant, Captain
McKenzie, Ensign Jenkins, Major Andrew Lewis, Ensign Hollar and
Ensign McDonald. The whole proceeding caused the English to fear
lest the French attack Loyalhanna. Colonel Bouquet, after receiving
reports from his officers, in turn sent in the following report to General
Jeffrey Amherst, on September 17, 1758: "At the first news of his
(Grant's) misfortune, I sent Lt. Col. Stephen with 300 men to join
Lt. Col. Dagworthy to cover their retreat. The Indians did not pur217SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
sue them far. The French had sent the Indians eastward from Fort
Duquesne to harass the retreating troops, but they soon retraced their
steps. "
Had Major Grant not made his unsuccessful dash towards Fort
Duquesne, Dagworthy's Breastworks would likely have become the
winter quarters of the Forbes army. It is located on a substantially
large plateau. By means of this quick but decisive defeat, the French
put consternation into the mind of Colonel Henry Bouquet, and neither
he nor Major Grant attempted to make of it a great fortification.
Colonel Dagworthy remained there but a short time until the main
body of the army, including Washington and General Forbes caught
up with the rest of the army late in October and early in November.
Major James Grant had an interesting career. He was born in
the Highlands of Scotland in 1720; studied law; but entered the army
as an ensign at the age of twenty-two years. He became a captain in
the First Battalion of the First Royal Scottish Regiment on October
24, I744. In I747 he was an aide to General James St. Clair, Ambassador to Vienna, and saw service in the wars of the Netherlands.
In January, I757, he was comnmissioned major of the First Battalion,
77th Regiment, known as Montgomery's Highlanders, commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Mlontgomery. He followed the fortunes of his regiment to Halifax, in August, i757, to Charleston,
South Carolina, in September, I757, and then back to Philadelphia
in 1758 to become part of the Forbes army.
Major Grant and nineteen officers were captured, but were exchanged in the Fort Duquesne engagement. After his service as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 40th Regiment of Foot, in I760, he was
appointed Governor of East Florida. In I76I he headed an expedition of thirteen hundred soldiers against the Indians in the Carolinas.
When he succeeded to the family estate on the death of his nephew,
Major William Grant, he went back to England and was a member
of Parliament for Wick Boroughs and Sutherlandshire in I773 and
I774. In December, I775, he was appointed colonel of the 5sth
Regiment of Foot, and in I776 sailed again as a brigadier-general to
America to become a part of General Howe's forces. General Grant
was in command of two British brigades at the battle of Long Island,
and of the same number at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, spending the memorable winter of I777 in Philadelphia. In
2i8GRANT'S DEFEAT
May, I778, he was unsuccessful in cutting off the forces of General
Lafayette.
He was advanced to the rank of major-general in I777; to lieutenant-general in I782, and became a general in I796. He had
earlier been transferred from the 55th to the I Ith Regiment of Foot
in I79 I, and became Governor of Dumberton and Stirling castles. In
his later years he was a good liver and became immensely corpulent,
dying at Ballindalloch on April i3, i806, at the advanced age of eightyfive years. He left no descendants and his estate went to his nephew,
George MNacpherson. Thus did this dashing soldier of fortune get his
training in the woods of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and was later
pitted against some of his fellow-officers in the former Forbes army.
One French account of the engagement with Major Grant recites
these exaggerated facts, being under date of November, I758, from
M. Daine to Marshall de Belle Isle, from Quebec:
"We learn by a courier from the Beautiful River to the Marquis
de Vaudreuil that the vanguard of the English, consisting of one
thousand of their best troops, destined for the attack on Fort
Duquesne, which would have surprised M. de Lignery, Commandant
at that fort, that the detachment having taken an unexpected route,
had not some Englishmen in advance made a noise and seen the fire,
awoke our men, who were asleep, crying out Aux Armes! In a
moment they proceeded against the enemy and pressed them so vigorously that the action scarcely lasted half an hour. The English
having taken to their heels, were pursued during two hours; the English lost at least six hundred to seven hundred men; four hundred have
remained on the field of battle; the remainder have been massacred
by our Indians, who have brought off a great many scalps, which makes
it to be presumed that very few escaped. We have taken prisoners,
the Commandant, four officers and one hundred soldiers, and have lost
only eight men and eight wounded, who fortunately, have not fallen
into their hands."
Another French report gave an account of the engagement on this
wise: "A detachment of eight hundred English, partly regulars, partly
militia, had marched very secretly from Pennsylvania to within a
quarter of a league of Fort Duquesne, by a very different road from
General Braddock's. Their object was to attack, in the night, the
219SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Indians encamped around the fort, guiding themselves by the fires the
latter are accustomed to have in front of their huts. But these fires
being extinquished, and the night already advanced when the English
arrived, they could not execute that attack; they posted themselves at
daybreak on a mountain near Fort Duquesne, and made arrangements
to facilitate its reconnoissance by an engineer whom they had brought
along. But the troops of the Mlarine and the Canadians, to the number of seven or eight hundred men, did not give them time. They
pounded suddenly and from all sides on the English, and immediately
threw them into disorder. Our Indians, who at first had crossed the
river, fearing to be surprised, then returned and also charged right
vigorously. It was nothing but rout on the part of the enemy. Five
hundred of them have been killed or taken, and almost all the officers.
On our side, only eight men have been killed or wounded."
The true number of casualties at Grant's defeat will never be
known, for the exaggerated accounts of the French (some of which
are not quoted here, but which are of the same nature as those above
recited) and the rather extended apologetic account of Major Grant,
are far from satisfactory. But one thing is certain: the iron will of
General Forbes became even stronger in its determination to make a
complete success of the expedition.
220CHAPTER XVI
The Battle of Loyalhanna
The Fortifications and the Camp at Loyalhanna-Colonel Washington
Described the Military Camp Life After His Arrival-General Forbes
Reviewed the Troops-Religious Services in the Camps-Sketches of
Chaplains John Steele, Andrew Bey and Charles Beatty-Colonel
James Burd's Order to Strengthen His Location-The French Attack
the Camp at Loyalhannon, as the English Term It-Colonel Burd's
Account of the Battle-General Forbes Reports to Sir William PittThe French Accounts of the Battle by Vaudreuil and MontcalmOther Accounts by Other Historians-The Letter of Edward Shippen,
Esq., to Colonel Burd-The Maryland Reports on the Battle-Colonel
Burd's Military Genius-He Was Not Permitted to Reach Fort
Duquesne.
It is difficult to describe the large camp at Loyalhanna, but it was
a busy place after Grant's defeat, and even before the arrival of Colonel George WVashington and General Forbes. The fortification,
which afterwards became known as Fort Ligonier, was not fully completed in the form that is shown in plans of it until I759, or perhaps
later. Colonel Joseph Shippen, writing from Raystown, described
the works there, which could apply to Ligonier as well: "We have a
good stockade fort built here with several convenient and large storehouses. Our camps are all secured with a good breastworks, and a
small ditch on the outside." In reporting Grant's defeat, Montcalm
said that the defeated soldiers "were pursued up to a new fort called'Royalhannon,' which they are building." If Colonel Bouquet had a
contingent of 2,500 soldiers when he arrived at Loyalhanna, many of
them must have encamped outside the confines of the fort. If Dagworthy's Breastworks and the Three Redoubts had been completed, it
might have had the same effect of awing the French, and would haveSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
and Moshannon Creek to Chinklacamouse Indian Town (at present
Clearfield). They then went up the Susquehanna to Anderson Creek
and over the divide into the valley of the Mahoning, down which they
trailed through Punxsutawney to the Allegheny River. Ten miles
down the river they established the famous Indian town of Kittanning.
The Wolf clan of the Delawares followed their tribesmen into Southwestern Pennsylvania, after they had been wronged in the measurement of their lands by the "walking purchase" of I737. With this
important town as a base these Delawares established themselves
rather firmly here by locating other towns, some of them small groups
of cabins, and others of varying proportions along the different trails,
as they had been laid down through'the years.
The Shawnee Indian migration into Southwestern Pennsylvania
began about I730, or a few years earlier. Before coming to Pennsylvania, the Shawnees were in three groups: one at the home base at
the mouth of the Ohio River; another in Tennessee; and a third in
South Carolina, where they were locally known as the Savannahs.
Arnold Viele, of Albany, New York, was the first trader to come
through in I692 to the mouth of the Ohio, and on his return he
brought with him a small colony of Shawnees and had them locate at
the town of Pechoquealin on the Delaware River above the Water
Gap in Monroe County. Other Shawnees, presumably from Tennessee, located at Pequea, Lancaster County, at Easton on the Delaware,
and near Plymouth, Luzerne County, on the north branch of the
Susquehanna. Still another group from South Carolina came to the
Potomac and established Old Town, Maryland. As the traders
encroached on them from the lower Potomac and from Virginia, that
group moved westward to the mouth of Sewickley Creek at the
Youghiogheny River, and established Sewickley Old Town, which was
considered the oldest Shawnee habitation here.
The Shawnees were more migratory than the Delawares and their
movements are sometimes hard to explain. The encroachments of the
settlers to the westward, and the liquor problem, likely had much to
do with their migration, and when Governor Gordon sought a reason
from them, they told him their king had died, and that they took their
wives and children and went over the Allegheny. As we shall learn
later, Peter Chartier, who was a half-breed Indian, is likely responsible for their ultimate arrival in the Ohio Valley.
The trails of the Indians were our primitive highways, and as
other towns were established by the two tribes of the Delawares and
6222            SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
distributed the forces along the road at these successive strategic
points. When General Forbes came with the remnant of the army,
the small fortification at present Ligonier could not have held them.
The substantial buildings would house the ammunition and other
valuable things necessary to an army of that size, and there was a fixed
and orderly camp all about.
Life at the camp can be well pictured in the entries which Colonel
George Washington made in his entry books. He did not arrive at
the camp until October 23, I758, and the command of the camp was
not taken over by General Forbes until possibly the evening of November 2, I758. That day the General reviewed the troops at noon.
"November 4, I758.... Brigadier-General Forbes was extremely well pleased with the appearance of the troops made this day
and returns the officers and soldiers with his most hearty thanks....
"November 5..... The arms are immediately to be reviewed
and put in the best repair possible; the ammunition also is to be
examined and those cartridges that are anyways damaged or deficient
are to be replaced and as several regiments have different calibres they
are to send people to the train to comnplete themselves with cartridges
to at least 8o rounds per man. Those regiments who make up their
cartridges with buckshot will apply for what they want. Each man
in marching against the enemy to carry 36 rounds and good flints
The different corps are to send their gunsmiths tomorrow morning at
9 o'clock to M\r. Butler near the 3d. Redoubt to repair the arms of
the troops for which they will be paid....
"November 9.... The troops to be under arms tomorrow at
I I o'clock in order to fire vollies in the front of their own encampment at 12 o'clock on account of his Majesty's Birthday....
"November I 2..... As General Forbes is apprehensive that
the stock of flour at Loyal Hannon may fall short by each soldier
receiving a pound per day, it is his orders for the future each soldier
shall receive one-half pound flour and one-half pound fresh beef in
lieu of a pound of each per day with a proportion of salt. Disposition of the troops in case of an alarm. Upon firing the 2 alarm guns
all the troops are to strike their tents and repair within the intrenchments, taking their posts as follows, 4 deep. The Royal Americans to
the right of the N. W. gate, leaving the 3rd. Ridout. The Highlanders at the left of the Royal Americans leaving Ioo men in the secondRidout. The Va. troops at the left of the Highl. leaving 50 men in
the Reveling. The Pennsylvanians the left of the N. W. gate. The
ist. Battalion leaving Ioo men in the Ist. Ridout. The Marylanders
and the North Carolinians with the ILower Counties within the fort.
The artillery at their posts."
Little has been recorded concerning the religious exercises at the
camp, but that can be vizualized by a brief reference to the three
chaplains attached to the Pennsylvania regiments; the Revs. Charles
Beatty, Andrew Bey and John
Steele. All three of them were
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and
they preached with much vigor
to the soldiers. Access has not
been secured to a diary of the
Rev. John Steele, but he was a
vigorous patriot who settled in
the Conococheague Valley, near
present Mercersburg, and was
sent into the Redstone country
by the Penns before the land
office was opened up to warn settlers to get out, or suffer the
consequences.  He received a
captain's commission in I755,
and retained it for many years. His church was a fortified one and
was used as a place of defense many times. He died in I779.
The Rev. Andrew Bey was a native of Ireland, and ordained by
the New Side Presbytery of New Castle sometime before I748. He
was pastor of the Round Hill and Marsh Creek churches in York
County, and in I755 headed a military company to defend the frontiers. His experiences as a chaplain in the Forbes expedition are best
illustrated by the entries in his diary, and they, too, give some insight
into the camp life at Raystown and Loyalhannon. Let us quote from
it:
"Friday, 7 of July, I758. Received the Governor's commission
appointing me Chaplain to the 3d. Battalion of the Pennsylvania Regiment commanded by Colo. Mercer, with a letter from the Secretary
apologizing for my not having the preference of the other two.
PROVINCIAL HIKERS AT SITE OF
DAGWORTHY'S BREASTWORKSSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"Saturday, 29 July. Arrived in Camp, Sir John St. Clair, as did
likewise Colo. Washington escorted by Capt. Stewart  part of his
Troop of Light Horses. He was conducted in by Colo. Bouquet
who went out to meet him with a party of Pennsylvania Troop.
"Sunday, 30 July I758. Preached from II Chron. I4:I I to about
3,000 men in the presence of Colo. Bouquet, Governor Glen (North
Carolina)  all the officers.
"Sunday, August 27. Arrived 54 Indians of the Catawbas, Tuscarora  Ottowa Nations. As soon as they laid down their baggage,
one of their Chiefs made a speech in English (which many of them
talk tolerably well) in the following effect:'This is the 3d. time we have left our country to revenge the
death of our brothers, whlose bones we have scattered at Monongahela. Our success has not been equal to our zeal  the reason
is, we had too far to travel to the Enemy; and our provisions
being generally spent before we could reach their borders, we were
obliged to return before we could kill a scalp,' etc.
"Monday, Aug. 28. The Indians are all drunk this evening,
which makes them very troublesome....
"September II. I-laving spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday
very agreeably at this place, I preached at 7 o'clock on Sunday morning by desire of Colo. Washington, from Nehemiah 4:I4, and about
9 o'clock set out for Raystown with my worthy friend Capt. Cameron,
where we arrived about 7 that evening.
"Tuesday, Sept. I9. An express arrived from Loyal Hannon with
the melancholy news that Maj. Grant, who on the 9th inst. set off with
800oo men towards Fort Duquesne, was defeated near that place about
5 days ago. [Here is given a detailed account, but in briefer form
than that of Major Grant.].... In this action the Royal Americans
lost 4 officers  35 soldiers; the Highlanders Io officers and I 3 I men,
the Virginians 6 officers  I03 men, the Carolineans 4 men and no
officer; and the Pennsylvanians I officer and I8 men. Capt. Bullet
was the last that left the field  seeing Maj. Grant sitting on a log
without a wound or any hurt, and asked him if he would come away;
but he absolutely refused, saying his heart was broke, upon which Capt.
Bullet left him, and knows not what became of him after wards."
Chaplain Bey went up to New York State in pastorates of Presbyterian churches, and had a rather stormy ecclesiastical career, being
224THE BATTLE OF LOYALHANNA
in disagreement with his brethren of the New York Presbytery in his
last days, and from which body he withdrew. He died shortly after
I 776.
We shall relate the later religious activities of Chaplain Beatty
west of the mountains in a subsequent chapter, but Benjamin Franklin
paid him a tribute in the I754 campaign when he was attached to
Franklin's regiment against the Indians in the Forks of the Delaware. Franklin described him as a zealous Presbyterian minister.
Chaplain Beatty complained to Colonel Franklin that the men did not
generally attend his services. The men were accustomed to receive a
half gill of rum each morning and the same amount each evening, but
were punctual to receive the rum. Colonel Franklin suggested: "It
is, perhaps, below the dignity of your profession to act as steward of
the rum, but if you were to deal it out and only just after prayers,
you would have them all about." Chaplain Beatty took up with this
plan and it is recorded that never were prayers more generally and
more punctually attended.
Back at Loyalhannon Camp Colonel James Burd proceeded to
strengthen his location in accordance with orders issued to him on
September 25, 1758.
I. He was to cause a fort of logs to be built around the storehouses.
2. The road was to be cut to the advanced post (Dagworthy's)
by 200 men and 200 more to cover the cutters. Captain Shelby will
attend to the cutting and making the route, and Captain Gordon will
review it from time to time. Lt. Col. Lloyd is to command the detachment and to march the 27th instant. The corps under Lt. Colonel
Dagworthy was to be reinforced by 40 Rangers of the First Pennsylvania Battalion under Captain Ward. Colonel Dagworthy was to be
in charge of the horse guards.
Aside from the defeat administered to Major Grant's battalions,
the battle of Loyalhanna was the engagement which gave the French a
correct idea of the strength of the Forbes army, and it thereby became
the decisive conflict of the expedition. After Grant's defeat many of
the Delawares, Shawnees and Mingoes left Fort Duquesne and
returned to their villages, carrying with them some of the spoils of
warfare captured from Grant's men. Despite the peace negotiations
S. P.-I-15
225SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
of Christian Frederick Post at Kuskuskies, the Indians still gave the
French a measure of loyalty, and the encampment at Loyalhanna was
a fit place upon which to make an attack and put consternation into
the English troops. The late Colonel James Smith, who was then a
prisoner among the Delawares, and who in later years wrote his narrative of these stirring days, says that the Indians held a council after
Grant's defeat, and were divided in opinion as to whether General
Forbes would make a retreat or come forward with the main body of
his army. Many of the Delawares went back to their habitations, so
that they might be with their families as this season of the year
approached, which reduced the number of Indians in league with the
French.
In spite of this partial defection, the French were encouraged, however, to make the attack on the camp at Loyalhanna. They sallied
forth by a premeditated arrangement on October I2, I758, against
the stockade at the camp. Colonel James Burd, courageous and coolheaded Pennsylvania officer, was in command for the day, and Colonel Bouquet was back at the camp at Stony Creek with 700 men and
a detachment of artillery. The following terse account of the battle,
presumably written by Colonel Burd, is found in the Pennsylvania
Archives, Vol. XII, p. 392:
"LOYALHANNING, October I4th. We were attacked by Ioo00
French and 200 Indians, commanded by M. de Vitri, on Thursday,
I 2th. current, at Ii o'clock, A. M., with great fury until 3 P. M.,
when I had a great pleasure in seeing victory attend the British arms.
The enemy attempted in the night to attack us the second time; but
in return for their most melodious music, we gave them a number of
shells, which soon made them retreat. Our loss on this occasion is
only 62 men and 5 officers killed, wounded and missing. The French
are employed all night in carrying off their dead and wounded, and,
I believe, carried off some of our dead in mistake."
General Forbes was not a participant in the battle of Loyalhanna,
as he was back at Raystown. From this base he, on October 20, I758,
wrote to his superior, Sir William Pitt in England, accounts of both
the defeat of Grant and of the battle of Loyalhanna:
"Sir: I have done myself the honor of acquainting you from time
to time of any material circumstances that have happened to the small
226THE BATTLE OF LOYALHANNA
body of troops under my command. But the variety of chances against
any letters going safe that is entrusted to a post office in this country,
more particularly in these uninhabited wilds, makes me afraid any
letters do not reach you in due time, or indeed miscarries, as we are
obliged to trust to merchant ships for the sending of them home. I
acquainted you of Major Grant of Col. Montgomery's Battalion with
a strong detachment of go900 men, having gone to Fort Duquesne, in
order to reconnoitre the roads and Fort, to check the enemy's scouting parties, and to endeavor to make some prisoners in order to get
some intelligence of the enemny's strength, etc., which in spite of all
my endeavors to learn by every means that I could devise we are still
in the dark of, as to the uncertainty of their numbers.
"Major Grant, trusting to false reports of their strength, dividing
his troops in order to bring them into an ambuscade, and at the break
of day, beat his drums and discovered himself to the Fort, who immediately poured out a large body of men, attacked his divided troops
one after another, never allowing him time to get them together and
consequently had no difficult task in totally dispersing him. The
Majors Grant and Lewis of the Virginia Provincials were made prisoners with 4 more officers, seven officers killed and 270 private men.
This was a most terrible check to my small army, at that time (the
I4 September) just got in readiness to have marched as to our men,
had the roads, provisions for man and horse, and other absolute necessaries corresponded, as it raised the enemy's Spirits and depressed
ours, and at that critical time was of great consequence, as it run a
risque of riveting the Indians to their interest, who were then fluctuating betwixt the side that they were to choose, and who then I verily
believed were upon the point of returning to their old habitations on
the Susquehannah, and declaring for us. For which reason I had
some time before that suspended all military operations against them
and their villages, in hopes of gaining them entirely to our interest,
which I hope is now in great measure done in a solemn meeting with
their Chiefs at Easton upon tile Delaware, where we have got the
Governors of Pennsylvania and Jersey to attend them, but as yet I do
not know the result of their deliberations.
"Since then nothing has happened except that upon the I2th inst.
a body of go900 French and Canadians came to repay Major Grant's
visit, and to attack our farthest advanced post at Loyal Hannon,
227SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
which if they did not carry, they were to destroy our baggage horses
and the live cattle for our subsistence. They attacked the post for
three hours, with little damage on either side, as our men were both
more numerous, covered with a good breastwork, and had two small
redoubts, and 5 pieces of cannon and cohorns that played upon the
enemy. They retreated in the evening after burying their killed
except a very few, and carrying off their wounded, so I do not know
their loss. Ours were the two Maryland officers and about 60 men
killed and missing, of which last several have come in since, having
been lost in the woods. They carried off all of the baggage horses
belonging to the post, but we saved all our oxen.
"I was extremely angry to find our people had not pursued and
attacked their rear in their retreat, from which we might have made
reprizalls, but as our troops were mostly provincialls, I was obliged
to attribute it to their ignorance, for to do justice I must commend
the spirit of some of the provincialls, particularly the Maryland troops,
who I retained in the service after being left to disband by their Province, and therefore I was obliged to keep them together on our pay,
and have been necessitated to advance them money for their support
and clothing, to enable them to carry on the service, and without which
they must have left us, as they had no manner of cloathing, but one
bad blanket each, which will not do in these cold evenings, and mornings, no shoes, no stockings or breeches, nor any one thing necessary
against the inclemency of the weather.
"The Cherokee and other Southern Indians who came last winter,
and so early in the spring to join us, after having, by every art they
were masters of, got everything they could expect from us, left us
without any remorse when they found they were not like to get any
more presents for retaining them, so that I have not now left with me
fifty, and I am now upon my march to the Ohio, and the season will
not admit of one moment's delay, and I wish most sincerely I could
have proceeded sooner, as I have no alternative left me now, but a
bold push at last, to which I have been absolutely drove by a multiplicity of cross events too long to trouble you with at present; but the
principal reasons that retarded us after gathering our troops together
was the wagon horses failing in bringing up the provisions, neither
making proper journeys, not carrying the stipulated weight, by which
the magazines (upon the faith and strength of which I was to have
228THE BATTLE OF LOYALHANNA
proceeded) diminished daily, nor is it easy to replenish them, or support the daily consumption of an army 300 miles distance, and that all
land carriage.
"The 2d was the roads, first over the Alleganey Mountains, and
then over the Laurell Hills, that are worse. The whole an immense
uninhabited wilderness overgrown everywhere with trees and underbrush, so that nowhere can anyone see twenty yards. Those roads
during the hott and dry seasons were made practicable for carriages,
and I was assured by everyone, and made to believe that the months
of October and November were the best two months in the year for
an expedition, because of the trees losing their leaves, by which one
can see a little thro the woods, and prevent the enemy's surprizes,
which is their only strength, and likewise that in those two months the
Indians leave the French, as it is their chief hunting season, in which
they provide for their familys during the winter. This last was of
great consequence to me, as the enemy's number had all along been
represented to me, not only equal, but even to exceed what I could
carry against them, so that it was absolutely necessary that I should
take precautions by having posts along my route, which I have done
from a project which I took from Turpin's Essay Sur La Guerre, Last
Chaptre 4th. Book; intitled Principe sur lequel on peut etabler un
project du Campagne; if you will take the trouble of looking
into this book, you will see the general principles upon which I proceeded.
"I am this moment in the greatest distress, occasioned by unusual
rains at this season, which joined to our number of carriages have rendered the clay roads absolutely impracticable to our artillery and
wagons. As the horses are a good deal wore out, I still hope a few
days will make a change and enable me to proceed. If the weather
does not favor I shall be absolutely locked up in the mountains, nor
do I scarce see a possibility of recrossing the Allegheny mountain.
This I could not forsee, nor prevent, as it is quite uncommon here. I
have therefore, sent to Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, begging
to know what troops they will furnish me, during the winter, for the
protection of their frontiers and garrisoning the end footing we have
gone so nigh the enemy, representing to them the small number of
regulars I have (not above I200 men) and how unequal to such a
task.  But as all our troops are only engaged to the beginning of
229December, I dread the dilatory procedure of their assemblies will not
answer my peremptory demands of their aid, at this perplexing junction for me. I cannot form any judgment how I am to extricate myself as everything depends upon the weather, which snows and rains
frightfully, but I shall do myself
the honour of writing you every
step I take, which to the utmost
of my weak abilities, shall be for
the best.
"I have this moment an express from the treaty with the
Ohio Indians at Easton, who
have promised to join us, but
require time, a thing at present
so precarious to me, that I have
none to spare, and must in a day
or two choose either to risque
everything, and march to the
Enemy's Fort, retreat across the
Allegheny, if the provincials
leave me, or maintain myself
where I am to the Spring."
While this letter was written
to Sir William Pitt from  Fort
Bedford, General Forbes did not finish it until he added the following
postscript, penned at the "Camp at the Top of the Allegheny Mountains," adjoining Fort Duart, on October 27, I758: "Most of the
above letter was written some days ago, but finding the weather did
not mend, I thought it necessary to march forward, to be ready to
embrace the first opportunity." The land on which the remains of
Fort Duart stand was known in pioneer days as the Pugh place, and is
now owned by the MacNeil Estate. It lies in Shade Township, Somerset County, just across the Bedford County line, and has a substantial
marker, placed by the Historical Commission of Pennsylvania.
The French had a way of bragging about their engagements, and
minimizing their efforts. While they may be entitled to credit for
the defeat of Major Grant, the following reference to the battle of
Loyalhanna is hardly justified by the facts. Vaudreuil wrote to MasBUTLER COUNTY COURT HOUSETHE BATTLE OF LOYALHANNA
saiac thus: "The English suppose us to be very numerous at Fort
Duquesne. I am not sure whether the enemy will organize an expedition this fall, or wait until spring, the advanced seasons and the two
advantages we have gained in succession over them would lead me to
hope that they will adopt the latter course. It is much to be desired,
for it would not be profitable for M. de Ligneris to resist the superiority of the enemy's forces. Meanwhile, he will use all means in his
power to annoy them, embarrass their communications and intercept
their convoys. It is a great pity that he has been absolutely obliged,
by scarcity of provisions, to reduce his garrison to 200 men."
Another French report was sent into Paris by Montcalm on
November I5, I758, which contained the following exaggerated and
conflicting statements, and which most likely refers to the battle of
Loyalhanna: "We have just received news from Fort Duquesne of
the 23d of October, Captain Aubray of the Louisana troops, has
gained a tolerably considerable advantage there on the Isth. The
enemy lost on the occasion I50 men, killed, wounded and missing,
they were pursued as far as a new fort called Royalhannon, which they
built at the head of the River Attique. We had only two men killed
and seven wounded." The name Attique was used on French pioneer
maps to designate the waters of the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas.
Another historian reports the list of killed, wounded and missing
at the battle of Loyalhanna as: HIighlanders, I killed; Ist Virginia
Regiment, 4 killed and 6 wounded; Maryland companies, 2 killed, 6
wounded, I I missing; I st Pennsylvania Regiment, I killed, 4 wounded;
Lower Country Company, I missing; total, 12 killed, I7 wounded, 3I
missing. Lieutenant Samuel MIiles was attached to the 2d Battalion
of the Pennsylvania Regiment, and in his journal written some years
afterwards, he made this entry: "When the army lay at Ligonier, we
were attacked by a body of Frenchi and Indians, and I was wounded
in the foot by a spent ball." This officer later became Colonel Miles
of the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment during the Revolutionary War.
He was captured at the battle of Long Island, and was not exchanged
until I777. In later years he served for a time as the judge of the
high Court of Errors and Appeals, as the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania was then called, and resigned his commission on that Court,
April 3, I784.
In the Dauphin County HIistorical Society there reposes a personal
letter written to Colonel James Burd, the commander at the battle
231WHENCE CAME OUR INDIANS?
Shawnees at Kittanning and Sewickley, respectively, there resulted a
network of main trails, with cross trails, as a means of quick communication between them. They were not required to live unto themselves long, for the traders followed them into the waters of the Ohio,
establishing trading posts and initiating a development that has grown
for more than two centuries into the complex civilization which we
now enjoy. Let us describe these trails in the order of their establishment, and particularly in view of the trading that occurred along
them.
THE OHIO TRAIL-This is the route which the Delaware Indians
took in their migration from Shamokin to establish Kittanning. It
skirted the northerly line of the territory with which these annals deal,
and due to the sparse settlements in Northwest Pennsylvania, it did
not acquire the importance of the three main trails to the southward.
It is designated as the Ohio Trail because the Indians and earlier traders designated the Allegheny River as the upper part of the Ohio,
even as far as Ft. Venango at Franklin. Christian Frederick Post
followed the Ohio Trail in his first trip to Kuskuskies in I759, turning
off it onto the Venango Trail, as he arrived at Venango August 7,
I758.
THE KITTANNING PATH--This historic Indian highway came up
the Juniata Valley from Aughwick, through Frankstown, and on to
Kittanning Indian Town on the Allegheny River from which it received
its name. It entered Southwestern Pennsylvania upon the crest of
the Allegheny Mountain, the east line of Cambria County, by way of
Kittanning Gap, now crossed by the Horseshoe Bend of the Pennsylvania Railroad. From this Kittanning Gap it passed through the patented lands of John Douglass and Rufus Hannum to a point one-half
mile east of Ashville, where it crossed Clearfield Creek. Thence traversing the patented lands of James Hannum, Benjamin Say and
Alexander Stewart, it passed the head spring of Little Chest Creek at
Chest Springs, and thence over the lands of William Parker and Alexander MIcCausland to its crossing of Chest Creek at Eckenrode's Mill.
It proceeded thence through the lands of Abiah Taylor, John Hannum, Charles Dilworth, Rhoads Rankin and John Hudson to the lands
of John Price, where was located "Hart's Sleeping Place," named for
the trader, John Hart, who stopped there as he traveled back and
forth over the trail. From this point the path passed over the lands
7of Loyalhanna, by his father-in-law, Edward Shippen, Esq., from
Lancaster, dated November 6, I758, telling about the reports of the
engagement that have come through by messenger, that two or three
hundred French were killed and as many taken prisoner, commending
him on his bravery in maintaining the post, suggesting his approval
by the general as a good and faithful servant, and suggesting that it
would be impracticable to march farther than the camp at Loyalhanna this fall. The letter further remarks about the silence of
Colonel Burd in reporting the exact number killed, which further indicates the utter lack of boasting in Colonel Burd's character.
There is still another account of the battle of Loyalhanna that has come down to us
in the Maryland Archives. Governor Horatio Sharpe wrote to
Lord Calvert, on November 28,
1758, concerning the state of the
Maryland troops in the Forbes
army, on this wise:
"In my letter of the 3d. inst.,
I just intimated to you that there
had been a skirmish between
some of our troops and a body
of the enemy the I2th of last
month; since that time we have
received an account of that affair
to the following purport: The
enemy being in number about
I,200 fired upon a party of our
troops that had care of some
cattle that were feeding at a distance of a mile and a half from
the camp; the firing being heard at the camp, about 200 more of our
men that were without the breastwork ran out to the assistance of them
that were attacked, but they were all soon obliged to retire by the
superior number of the enemy who pursued them almost to the breastwork within which near 2,000 men were by that time drawn up under
arms, but it seems Col. Byrd (Burd) of the Pa. Forces who happened
to have the chief command did not think himself at liberty to order
COLONEL JAMES BURDTHE BATTLE OF LOYALHANNA
any of them out to act offensively, so that the enemy's loss was very
inconsiderable; they stayed about the camp all night and being
employed in killing or driving away nearly 200 horses which the General could but very ill spare and indeed we were not without some
apprehensions that the loss of them would have put an end to the
expedition. It is said that we had 64 officers and men killed and
wounded in this skirmish among whom were the officers and I2 men
of the Maryland forces.
"There was another skirmish the beginning of this month between
some of the enemy and a party of our men near Fort Duquesne, wherein we lost an officer and ten men and nine others were killed about a
fortnight ago by a party of our own people who fell in with them in
the evening and took them for enemies. If the intelligence given by
three prisoners that have been lately taken is to be depended on the
French Commandant has set off a considerable number of the soldiers
as well as Indians that have been this summer at Fort Duquesne; the
reason the prisoners give for this step is that provisions were scarce
and it was not imagined that Gen. Forbes would be able to proceed any
farther this season after the loss he suffered at Loyalhanna the I2th
of last month."
These slightly different accounts materially agree as to the importance of the battle of Loyalhanna in the Forbes expedition. Heartened by the rout of Major Grant the month before, the French unquestionably planned to deal the smaller portion of the army at Loyalhanna such a blow that they would become disconcerted and retreat
back east of the Allegheny MIountain. Colonel James Burd was made
of sterner stuff, and was not to be outgeneraled by the French. He
knew the ways of Indian warfare adopted by the French, just as well
as did they, for he had been up the west branch of the Susquehanna as
far as Chinklacamouse (Clearfield) from Fort Augusta, and was not
to be taken off his guard. He is entitled to the fullest praise for his
rebuff to the French in this battle. General Forbes, in his later arrangement of the army in its further march to Fort Duquesne, never permitted him to get beyond the Loyalhanna, and he was not at the ruins
of Fort Duquesne when the main body of the army arrived there.
That he was keenly disappointed in not being permitted to go ahead
with the army to the site of Fort Duquesne, was indicated by him in his
later writings. He distinguished himself in I759 by the building of
233234           SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the Burd Road past Gist's Plantation to old Fort Redstone, at present Brownsville, and he was at Fort Pitt on military errands in later
years.CHAPTER XVII
Post and the Indians
A Sketch of Christian Frederick Post-Teedyuscung, Chief of Delawares
-Chief Pisquetomen, Brother of King Shingass and King BeaverDelaware George-Governor Denny Commissions Post to Go to the
Western Indians at Kuskuskies-His Itinerary Through Fort Augusta
and Venango-Conferences With the Indians and the French Officers
at Kuskuskies and Saukonk-His Return Eastward, and Conference
With General Forbes at Raystown-He is Commissioned to Make a
Second Journey in Aid of Peace With the Indians-He Passes
Through the Camp at Loyalhanna-His Experiences Along the Trail
-Dr. Frank Cowan's Poem.
An outstanding figure in the life of the future Southwestern Pennsylvania during the time of the French occupation, and for several
years thereafter, was the Moravian lay missionary to the Indians,
Christian Frederick Post. H-e was born in Conitz, Prussia, in I7IO;
was a cabinetmaker by occupation; and arrived at Bethlehem in the
Colony of Pennsylvania in I742, after Count Zinzendorf had named
the place. His first contact with the Indians was near Poughkeepsie,
New York, where he became proficient in the language of the Mohicans. His first wife, Rachel, whom hle married in I743, was a Wampanoag. He had his troubles, along with Rev. David Weisberger,
another Moravian missionary, in the Indian wars of I744, and was
later sent with him to live with the Iroquois to learn their language.
Opposition to them developed and they were taken to New York and
imprisoned for seven weeks. Post's first Indian wife died in I747,
and in I749 he married Agnes, a Delaware convert to Christianity,
and went to live with her on the North Branch of the Susquehanna
near Wyalusing.  His second wife died in 175I. After a short
sojourn in London, and a later harrowing experience in Labrador,SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Post came back to his Wyoming cabin to live in I754. Here Chief
Teedyuscung came into his life.
Teedyuscung was a famous chief of the Delawares, who was converted under these Mioravian missionaries, baptized by them and
given the name, Brother Gideon. He was born near Trenton, New
Jersey, about the year I705, and died in his house at Wyoming on
April I6, I763, when it was set on fire by some of his enemies. He
had helped to establish the Indian town of Wyoming about I742. He
attended a Provincial Council meeting in Philadelphia during April,
I755, and seemed to be friendly to the Pennsylvanians, but he joined
with other Delawares and with Shawnees in allegiance with the French
after the defeat of General Braddock at the battle of Monongahela.
In the fall of I755 he planned a series of raids against the settlers,
and they were being carried out, but the Provincial Council had several meetings with him concerning the welfare of the Indians at
Wyoming. In these councils Post received much valuable information
from Chief Teedyuscung about the Indians on the Ohio and their relations with the French, and particularly that there were about I,I00
French at Fort Duquesne, short of rations, whose commander had said
that "if the English come too strong upon me, I will leave." Two of
the Chiefs who came to Wyoming for one of the conferences with
Post were Pisquetomen and Keekyuscung, otherwise known as "Kickyhuston." The former had a location two miles below present New
Alexandria on Loyalhanna Creek, and the latter, one mile above
Johnstown on Stony Creek.
Chief Pisquetomen had two brothers, King Shingass and King
Beaver, who were a power with the Indians of the Ohio Valley, whose
allegiance with the French caused them to send many bloody expeditions out from Kittanning, Logstown, Saukonk, and Kuskuskies against
the settlers between the years I755 and I758. Returning to Fort
Allen, near Weissport, in company with fifty Indians, Governor Denny
there on June 30, 1758, permitted Post to go on his first peace mission
to the Ohio within fifteen days. Chief Teedyuscung tried to persuade
him not to go, telling him that the Indians would kill him, and he
would never return. Post's final reply was that he would go, even if
this mission resulted in his death, and it would save many hundreds
of lives. Post was busy with these peace negotiations, just as Forbes
was busy with the expedition to reduce Fort Duquesne. To the northward were the Iroquois, otherwise called the Six Nations, who
236POST AND THE INDIANS
regarded the Delawares as "old women," and subservient to them.
This aspersion Chief Teedyuscung was determined to throw off. The
Shawnees were rather bitter against the English, and the Catawbas
and Cherokees from the south were friendly to them. So Post was
determined to make the effort, and he was of great assistance to the
Forbes expedition, as he came through practically lone-handed, and
independent of Forbes.
After Governor Denny had given him his orders on July 15, 1758,
Post started immediately for Bethlehem, through Germantown, where
on July eighteenth, he familiarized himself with the Easton and Philadelphia treaties. As they reached Fort Augusta on the Susquehanna,
news came that the English were cut off at Ticonderoga, which necessitated his encouragement of some of the fearful Indians. After
having their horses shod, and exchanging one lame one for a good one,
the party proceeded up the west branch of the Susquehanna, crossing
it at the Big Island at present Lock Haven, and thence by the trail
through "Shinglimuhee" (Clearfield) to Venango. Post's journal best
tells the story from this point:
"August 7, I758. We came in sight of Fort Venango, belonging
to the French situate between two mountains in the Fork of the Ohio
(Allegheny). I prayed the Lord to blind them, as he did the enemies
of Lot and Elisha, that I might pass unknown. When we arrived, the
fort being on the other side of the river, we halloed, and desired them
to fetch us over; which they were afraid to do; but showed us a place
where we might ford. We slept that night within half a gun shot of
the fort.
"8th. This morning I hunted for my horse, round the fort, within
ten yards of it. The Lord heard my prayer, and I passed unknown
until we mounted our horses to go off, when two French came to take
leave of the Indians, and were mrnuch surprised at seeing me but said
nothing. By what I could learn of Pisquetomen, and the Indians who
went along into the fort, the garrison consisted of only six men, and
an officer, blind of one eye. They inquired much of the Indians concerning the English, whether they knew any party coming to attack
them, of which they were very apprehensive."
On the ninth and tenth of August, Post and his party traveled
towards Kuskuskies, but were off the road to within twenty miles of
Fort Duquesne, and had a hard time finding it again. They lived on
237SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANJIA
deer meat, and at one point came upon a supposedly renegade Indian
trader. When they came to within fifteen miles of Kuskuskies, Post
sent Chief Pisquetomen forward with four strings of wampum and
the following message:
"Brothers, thy brethren have come a great way, and want to see
thee at thy fire, to smoke that good tobacco, which our good grandfathers used to smoke. Turn thy eyes once more upon that road, by
which I came. I bring thee words of great consequence from the
Governor and people of Pennsylvania, and from the King of England.
Now I desire thee to call all the kings and captains from all the towns
that none may be missing. I do not desire that my words may be hid,
or spoken under cover. I want to speak loud that all the Indians may
hear me. I hope thou wilst bring me on the road and lead me into the
town. I blind the French that they may not see me and stop their
ears that they may not hear the great news I bring you."
Close to Kuskuskies Post met some Shawnees, who used to live at
Wyoming, who knew him and received him kindly. They escorted
him into town, and King Beaver secured for his party a large house
to lodge in. Sixty able young men greeted them and the people shook
hands with them. The French were at this time building houses for
the Indians to the number of fifteen, and giving them goods, clothing,
powder and lead, and they came to speak with Post. Continuing with
the entries in his diary:
"I7th. Early this morning they called all the people together to
clean the place where they intended to hold the council, it being in the
middle of the town. Kuskuskies is divided into four towns, each a distance from the others; and the whole consists of about ninety houses,
and two hundred able warriors. About noon came two public messengers from the Indians at Fort Duquesne and the other towns. They
brought three large belts and two bundles of strings; there came with
them a French captain and IS men. The two messengers insisted that
I should go with them to Fort Duquesne; that there were Indians of
eight nations that wanted to hear me; that if I brought good news, they
inclined to leave off war, and live in friendship with the English. The
above messengers being Indian captains, were very surly. When I
went to shake hands with one of them, he gave me his little finger;
the other withdrew his hand entirely; upon which I appeared as stout
238POST AND THE INDIANS
as either, and withdrew my hand as quick as I could. This rudeness
to me was taken very ill by the other captains, who treated them in the
same manner in their turn.
"I told them my order was to go to the Indian Towns, Kings and
Captains and not to the French; that the English were at war with the
French; but now withdraw from the French, and they would be at
peace with the English. King Beaver invited me to his house for
dinner, and afterwards he invited the French captain, and said before
the Frenchman, that the Indians were very proud to see one of their
brothers, the English, among them; at which the French captain
appeared low spirited and seemed to eat his dinner with very little
appetite. In the afternoon the Indian Kings' and Captains called me
aside and desired me to read them the writings that I had. First
I read part of the Easton treaty to them, but they presently stopped
me and would not hear it; I then began with the articles of peace
made with the Indians there. They stopped me again and said they
had nothing to say to any treaty or league of peace made at Easton,
not having had anything to do with Teedyuscung; that if I had nothing to say to them for the Government or Governor, they would have
nothing to say to me; and further said, they had hitherto been at war
with the English, and had never expected to be at peace with them;
and that there are six of their men now gone to war against them with
other Indians; that had there been peace between us, these men should
not have gone to war. I then showed them the belts and strings from
the Governor, and they again told me to lay aside rTeedyuscung, and
the peace made by him; for they had nothing to do with it. I desired
them to suffer me to produce my papers and I would read what I had
to say to them. Delaware George is acting for peace. I believe he
is in earnest. Hitherto they have all treated me kindly. In the afternoon all the Kings and Captains were called together, and sent for me
to their council.... "
Post then gives the introductory address of King Beaver, and after
that the combined argument of the three chiefs, King Beaver, King
Shingass and Delaware George. His undaunted courage as he conferred
with them, is one of the highlights of Southwestern Pennsylvania history. As he traveled practically alone, the French were entrenched at
Fort Duquesne, the English army road cutters were busily at work
west of Raystown, and the master stroke to dislodge them was yet to
239SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
be made. Let us continue his contact with the Indians at Kuskuskies,
as the diary reveals the story:
"Two of them arose and signified they were glad to see me. But
an old deaf Onondaga Indian rose up and signified his displeasure.
This Indian is much disliked by the others; he had heard nothing yet
that had passed; he has lived here a great while, and constantly lives
in the fort, and is mightily attached to the French; he spoke as follows to the Delawares:'I do not know this Swannock; it may be
that you know him; I, the Shawanese, and our father, do not know
him. I stand here (stamping his feet) as a man on his own ground;
therefore, I, the Shawanese, do not like that a Swannock come on our
ground.'
"There was silence a while, till the pipe went round; after that
was over, one of the Delawares rose up and spoke in opposition to him
that spoke last, and delivered himself as follows:'That man speaks
not as a man; he endeavors to frighten us, by saying the ground is
his; he dreams; he and his father have certainly drank too much
liquor; they are drunk; pray let them go to sleep until they be sober.
You do not know what your own nation does at home; how much they
have to say to the Swannocks. You are quite rotten; you stink. You
do nothing but smoke your pipe here. Go to sleep with your father,
and when you are sober we will speak to you.'
"After this the French demanded me of the Indians. They said it
was customary among the white people, when a messenger came, even
if it was the Governor, to blind his eyes and lead him into the fort to
a prison or private room. They, with some of the Indians, insisted
very much on my being sent into the fort, but to no purpose; for the
other Indians said to the French:'It may be a rule among you, but
we have brought him here that all the Indians might see him, and hear
what our brothers, the English, have to say; and we will not suffer
him to be blinded and carried into the fort.' The French still insisted
on my being delivered to them, but the Indians desired them to let
them hear no more about it, but to send them one hundred loaves of
bread, for they were hungry.
"25th. This morning early they sent us a large bullock, and all the
Indian chiefs came over again, and counseled a great deal among
themselves; then the Delaware that handled the deaf old Onondaga
Indian so roughly yesterday, addressed himself in this manner:'I hope
240POST AND THE INDIANS
today you are sober. I am certain you did not know what you said
yesterday. You endeavored to frighten us; but know we are now men,
and not so easily frightened. You said something yesterday of the
Shawanese; see here what they have sent you.' (Presents him with a
small roll of tobacco.)  Then the old deaf Indian rose up and
acknowledged he had been in the wrong; he said that he had been
cleaned himself, and hoped they would forgive him."
Post then tells how the French still insisted that he should be
delivered up to them. French officers offered rewards for his scalp,
but the Indians made him stay close to the fire that day. Three hundred Canadians arrived from up the Allegheny River, with the report
that six hundred others were to follow, with forty bateaux laden with
ammunition. There were three hundred Indians in conference, and
seventy of them stayed with Post while the others went over to the
fort. It was then agreed that he should proceed down the river in the
early morning, so as to avoid further trouble. On August twentyeighth, he left Saukonk for Kuskuskies, and on the way there was
much contention between King Shingass and the others concerning the
question as to whether the Indians should give their allegiance to
either the French or the English. The party arrived at Kuskuskies
that night, and the next day Post dined with King Shingass there. He
remained at Kuskuskies until September seventh, holding conferences
with the different chiefs, during which King Shingass constantly
reminded him that the English and French were fighting "in the land
that God had given us."
Post had great difficulty in getting started back east from Kuskuskies. He remained there from August twenty-ninth to September
8, I758, and the Indians took him into council many times. Due to
their constant questioning, he had to speak many times of his great
desire for peace. Some of his last utterances to them were: "Consider how many thousands of men are killed, and how many homes
are burned since the French lived here; if they had not been here, it
would not have been so; you know we do not blame you; we blame
the French; they are the cause of this war; therefore, we do not come
to hurt you, but to chastise the French."
The Indians at Kuskuskies directed Chief Pisquetomen to conduct
Christian Frederick Post back to the Government, "but do not let him
S. P.-I-16
24ISOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
of Adam Brinneman, Charles Dilworth, Henry Funk, and Leonard
Leshhart, and thence by Plattsville on the lands of John Biddle, John
Musser, Caleb Carmelt, Thomas Grant, Joseph Drinker, Paul Fell
and Job Clay to a point one and one-half miles south of Cherry Tree
at a place called the Salt Well, and thence to a point where it enters
Indiana County. In Susquehanna Township, a branch turned to the
right leading down the Susquehanna Valley to Chinklacamouse at
Clearfield.
Entering Indiana County there is a point on the trail best described
in the survey of Samuel Caldwell, which says that it was "situate on
Muddy Run and on the Forks of the Paths leading to Kittanning  Winango (Venango) about four miles from Owens Sleeping ground in the
County of Westmoreland." This warrant bore the date of July 23,
I773, and this part of Indiana County was then a part of the recently
erected county of Westmoreland. This was on the dividing ridge between the waters of the Atlantic and the Mississippi, and the path is well
indicated on the surveys east of Indiana. On the Levi Hollingsworth
survey it is designated as being "one and one-half miles east of the
forks of the Kittanning and Shenango Trails," and this was the location of Col. John Armstrong's camp in I756, as he was on his way to
destroy Kittanning Indian Town. The next important point to the
westward is on the tract warranted in the name of Moses Bartram,
April 27, I773, and surveyed July Io0, I787, on the Shawanese Bottoms, and called "Spruce Camp or old Shawanese Cabins." This tract
was on the south branch of Two Lick Creek, about a mile above the
forks. From this point the trail passed near the old village of Diamondville, and through tracts warranted in the names of William
Bedford, Thomas Wharton, John Martin, and Thomas Canby, thence
across "Penn's Manor of Cherry Hill, in Cherry Hill Township,
through William Brown's land near the Village of Greenville," where
"there were a number of warriors' marks on the Kittanning Path."
Passing thence through tracts of Joshua Moore, James Bisham, James
Rannels, Amos Lynex and Andrew Taylor, it passed over the hill
ninety rods south of the Samuel Ralston house, and then down the
hill three-quarters of a mile to "Shaffer's Sleeping Place" on the Two
Lick Creek on the Elijah Brown warrant.
From Two Lick Creek the trail turned slightly northwest through
the warranted lands of Philip Walter, Jeremiah Williamson, David
Williamson, and Rev. John Smith, to Shaffer's Spring in Indiana, and
8SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
get quite loose; we shall rejoice when we shall see him here again."
Post then summed up his feelings in these words: "It is a troublesome
cross and heavy yoke to draw this people; they can punish and squeeze
a body's heart to the utmost. I suspect the reason they kept me here
so long was by instigation of the French. I remember somebody told
me, the French told them to keep me twelve days longer, for that they
were afraid that I should get back too soon, and give information to
the general. My heart has been very heavy here, because they kept
me to no purpose. The Lord knows how they have been counseling
about my life; but they did not know who was my protector and
deliverer. I believe my Lord has been too strong against them; my
enemies have done what lies in their power."
On the afternoon of September eighth, Post and his company
traveled ten miles to the eastward. On the ninth and tenth they
traveled through swampy ground and rough country, where his companion, Tom Hickman, shot a deer. He mentions crossing the Chowatin (Mahoning), and came to Ponchetanniag (Punxsutawney),
"an old deserted Indian town that lies on the same creek." On the
fifteenth he came to the upper Susquehanna, crossing it six times and
arriving at Catawameshink (probably Chinklacamouse), where had
been an old Indian town. On the sixteenth and seventeenth he crossed
the mountain and came again to Big Island, at present Lock Haven.
Here he met twenty warriors, six of them Delawares and the rest
Mingoes, and sat down to a council with them. Leaving this point
on September twentieth, he went down the Susquehanna and arrived
at Fort Augusta, present Sunbury, on the twenty-second.
During this trailing by Post along the Mahoning and the west
branch of the Susquehanna, the memorable battle at Grant's Hill in
sight of Fort Duquesne took place, of which he did not learn until
later. At Harris's Ferry he parted with Pisquetomen and Thomas
Hickman, sending them on to Philadelphia with the peace belt,
while he headed for Raystown to see General Forbes. These two
Indians went on to a grand council at Easton on October 8, I758,
where Governor Denny was, and after presenting the peace belt, were
given a reply to carry back to the western Delawares. Just as they
were about to leave for the west on October twenty-second, Post came
to the council bringing the news of the battle of Loyalhanna, October
twelfth, the details of which were given to him by General Forbes.
242POST AND THE INDIANS
This caused a hurried change of plans and a preparation for a second
journey by Post and his party to start October twenty-fifth. He had
reported that Fort Duquesne was undermanned, the French giving
out the information that, if overpowered, all would die with them;
that there was a force of I,4oo00 at Fort Duquesne, with a possible
3,oo000 French and Indians there when he returned from Kuskuskies,
due to his having seen two hundred of them pass through from Canada, and reports of others arriving.  Due to his experiences and
observations, it is interesting to note Post's summary of the Indians.
"The Indians are a people full of jealousy and will not easily trust
anybody; and they are very easily affronted, and brought into jealousy; then afterwards they will have nothing to do with those they
suspect, and it is not brought so easy out of their minds. They keep
it to their graves, and leave the seed of it in their children and grandchildren's minds; so, if they can, they will revenge themselves for
every imagined injury. They are a very distrustful people. Through
their imagination and reason they think themselves I,000ooo times
stronger than any other people."
Christian Frederick Post had not intended to return west of the
Allegheny Mountains so soon after his first peace mission. Under his
arrangement with Governor Denny, Chiefs Pisquetomen and Thomas
Hickman had prepared to leave with a special message on October
22, I758 for the Delawares, who seemed to be most wavering in their
allegiance to either the French or the English. The news of the
French attack and the resultant consternation caused by the battle of
Loyalhanna on October twelfth, which possibly meant that the army
would remain at the Loyalhanna encampment for the winter, or at
least retard the Forbes expedition, had the effect of changing Post's
plans immediately.
Three days later he started on his second peace mission to the
western Indians, and particularly the Delawares. The entries in his
diary record this outstanding piece of history:
"October 25, I758. Having received the orders of the Honorable
Governor Denny, I set out from Easton to Bethlehem, and arrived
there about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I was employed most of the
night, preparing myself with necessities, etc., for the journey.
"26th. Rose early, but my horse being lame, though I traveled
all the day, I could not, till after night reach an inn, about I0 miles
from Reading.
243SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"27th. I set out early, and in about 7 o'clock in the morning came
to Reading, and there found Captain Bull, Mlr. Hays, and the Indians
just mounted and ready to set out on their journey. They were heartily glad to see me. Pisquetomen stretched out his arms, and said:'Now, Brother, I am glad I have got you in my arms; I will not let
you go; I will not let you go again from me; you must go with me';
and likewise I said the same to him, and told him,'I will accompany
you, if you will go the same way as I must go.' And then I called
them together, in Mr. Weiser's house, and read a letter to them which
I had received from the Governor, which is as follows, viz.:
"'To Pisquetomen and Thomas Hickman, to Totiniontonna and
Shickalamy, and to Isaac Still. Brethren, Mr. Frederick Post is come
express from the general, who sends his compliments to you, and
desires that you would come by the way of his camp, and give him an
opportunity of talking with you. By this string of wampum I request
of you to alter your intended route by way of Shamokin, and to go to
the general, who will give you a kind reception. It is a higher way,
in which you will be better supplied with provisions, and can travel
with less fatigue and more safety. William Denny, Easton, October
23, 1758.'
"To which I added:'Brethren, I take you by this string, by the
hand, and lift you from this place, and lead you along to the general.'
"After which they consulted among themselves, and soon resolved
to go with me. We shook hands with each other, and Mr. Hays
immediately set out with them. After which, having with some difficulty procured a fresh horse, in the King's service, I set off about
noon with Captain Bull; and when we came to Conrad Weiser's plantation, we found Pisquetomen lying on the ground very drunk, which
obliged us to stay there all night; the other Indians were gone eight
miles farther on their journey.
"28th. We arose early and I spoke to Pisquetomen a great deal.
He was very sick, and could hardly stir. When we overtook the rest
we found them in the same condition, and they seemed discouraged
from going the way to the general, and wanted to go through the
woods. I told them I was sorry to see them wavering, and reminded
them that when I went to their towns, I was not sent to the French,
but when your old men insisted on my going with them, I followed
their advice and went. And as the general is, in the King's name,
over the provinces, in matters of war and peace, the Indians at Alle244POST AND THE INDIANS
gheny want to know whether all the English governments will join in
the peace with them. The way to obtain full satisfaction is to go to
him, and there you will receive another great belt to carry home,
which I desire you seriously take into consideration. They then
resolved to go to Harris's Ferry, and consider about it as they went.
We arrived there late in the night.
"29th. In the morning, the two Cayugas being most desirous of
going through the woods, the others continued irresolute; upon which
I told them,'I wish you would go with courage, and with hearty resolution,' and repeated what I had said to them yesterday, and reminded
them, as they were messengers, they should consider what would be
best for their whole nation.'Consult among yourselves, and let me
know your true mind and determination; and I informed them I could
not go with them, unless they would go to the general, as I had messages to deliver him. After which they consulted together. Pisquetomen came and gave me his hand, and said:'Brother, here is my
hand; we have all joined to go with you, and we put ourselves under
your protection to bring us safe through, and to secure us from all
danger.' We came that night to Carlisle and found a small house
without the fort for the Indians to be by themselves, and hired a
woman to dress their victuals, which pleased them well.
"3oth. Setting out early, we came to Shippensburg, and were
lodged in the fort, where the Indians had a house to themselves.
"3Ist. Set out early. In our passing by Chambers Fort, some of
the Irish people, knowing some of the Indians, in a rash manner exclaimed against them, and we had some difficulty to get them off clear.
At Fort Loudon we met about I6 of the Cherokees, who came in a
friendly manner to our Indians, inquiring for Bill Sockum, and
showed the pipe they had received from the Shawnees, and gave it,
according to their custom, to smoke out of, and said they hoped they
were friends of the English. They knew me. Pisquetomen begged
me to give him some wampum, and he then said to them: "We formerly had friendship one with another; we are only messengers and
cannot say much, but by these strings we let you know that we are
friends, and we are about settling a peace with the English, and wish
to be at peace with you, and all other Indians.
"And informed them further they came from a treaty which was
held at Easton, between the eight United Nations, and their confederates, and the English, in which peace was established, and showed
245SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
them the two messengers from the Five Nations, who were going with
them to make it known to all the Indians to the westward. Then the
Cherokees answered and said they should be glad to know how far
the friendship was to reach; they, for themselves, wished it might
reach from sunrise to sunset; for, as they were in friendship withl the
English, they would be at peace with their friends, and at war with
their enemies."
The casual traveler along the Lincoln Highway between Fort
Loudon and McConnellsburg, after traversing the trail from Chambersburg to Fort Loudon, wonders why the road traveled by the
Forbes army did not go over Tuscaroras Mountain, as the highway
does now. It turned up along the Cove Mountain to the gap which
led over to Fort Littleton, and thence westward towards the Juniata
Crossings. Let us trail with Post on his second peace mission further.
"Nov. I, I758. We reached Fort Littleton, in company with the
Cherokees, and were lodged in the fort; they, and our Indians, in distinct places; and they entertained each other with stories of their
warlike adventures.
"2d. Pisquetomen said to me:'You have led us this way, through
the fires; if any mischief should befall us, we shall lay it entirely to
you, for we think it was your doing, to bring us this way; you should
have told us at Easton, if it was necessary we should go to the general.' I told him that I had informed the great men at Easton, that I
then thought it would be best not to let them go from thence, till they
had seen the general's letter; and assured them that it was agreeable
to the general's pleasure.
"3d. Pisquetomen began to argue with Captain Bull and Mr.
Hays upon the same subject as they did with me when I went to them
with my first message; which was, that they should tell them, whether
the general would claim the land as his own, when he should drive the
French away, or whether the English thought to settle the country.'We are always jealous the English will take the land from us. Look,
brother, what makes you come with such a large body of men, and
make such large roads into our country; we could drive away the
French ourselves without your coming to our country.' Then I
desired Captain Bull and Mr. Hays to be careful how they argued
with the Indians; and be sure to say nothing that might affront them;
for it may prove to our advantage, when we come amongst them. This
246POST AND THE INDIANS
day we came to Raystown, and with much difficulty got a place to lodge
the Indians by themselves, to their satisfaction.
"4th. We intended to set out, but our Indians told us the Cherokees had desired them to stay that day, as they intended to hold a
council; and they desired us to read over to them the governor's message, which we accordingly did. Pisquetomen, finding Jenny Frazer
there, who had been their prisoner and escaped, spoke to her a little
rashly. Our Indians, waiting all the day, and the Cherokees not sending them, were displeased.
"sth. Rose early and, it raining smartly, we asked our Indians
if they would go; which they took time to consult about. The Cherokees came and told them the English had killed about thirty of their
people for taking some horses; which they resented much; and told
our Indians they had better go home than go any farther with us, lest
they should meet with the same. On hearing this, I told them how I
had heard it happened; upon which our Indians said, they had behaved
like fools, and brought the mischief on themselves. Pisquetomen,
before we went from hence, made it up with Jenny Frazer, and they
parted good friends; and though it rained hard, we set out at Io
o'clock and got to the foot of the Allegheny, and lodged at the first
run of water.
"6th. One of our horses went back; we hunted a good while for
him. Then we set off, and found one of the worst roads that ever was
travelled until Stony Creek. Upon the road we overtook a great
number of packhorses; whereupon Pisquetomen said:'Brother, now
you see, if you had not come to us before, this road would not be safe
as it is; now, you see, we could have destroyed all this people on the
road, and great mischief would have been done, if you had not stopped,
and drawn our people back.' We were informed that the general was
not yet gone to Fort Duquesne, wherefore Pisquetomen said he was
glad and expressed:'If I can come to our towns before the general
begins the attack, I know our people will draw back and leave the
French.' We lodged this night at Stony Creek.
"7th. We rose early and made all haste we could on our journey;
we crossed the large creek, Rekempalin, near Lawrel hill. (This was
the Quemahoning Creek, on which was Keckenapaulin's Town.) Upon
this hill we overtook the artillery; and came before sunset to Loyal
Hanning. We were gladly received in the camp by the general, and
most of the people. We made our fire near the other Indian Camps,
247SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
which pleased our people. Soon after, some of the officers came and
spoke very rashly to our Indians in respect to their conduct to our
people; at which they were very much displeased, and answered as
rashly, and said they did not understand such usage, for they were
come upon a message of peace; if we had a mind to war, they knew
how to help themselves, and that they were not afraid of us.
"8th. At eleven o'clock the general called the Indians together,
the Cherokees and Catawbas being present; he spoke to them in a
kind and loving manner, and bid them hearty welcome to his camp,
and expressed his joy to see themrn, and desired them to give his compliments to all their kings and captains. He desired them that had any
love for the English nation to withdraw from the French; for if he
should find them among the French, he must treat them as enemies,
as he should advance with a large army very soon, and cannot wait
longer on account of the winter season. After that he drank the
King's health, and all that wish well to the English nation; then he
drank King Beaver's, Shingass' and all the warriors' healths, and recommended us (the messengers) to their care; and desired them to
give credit to what we should say. After that we went to another
house with the general alone; and he showed them the belt, and said
he would furnish them with a writing for both the belt and string,
and after a little discourse more, our Indians parted in love and well
satisfied.
"9th. Some of the colonels and chief commanders wondered how
I came through so many difficulties, and how I could rule and bring
these people to reason, making no use of gun or sword. I told them
it is done by no other means than by faith. Then they asked me if I
had faith to venture myself to come safe through with my companions. I told them it was in my heart to pray for them.'You know
that the Lord has given many promises to his servants, and what he
promises you may depend upon he will perform.' Then he wished
us good success. We waited till almost noon for the writing of the
general.
"We were escorted by an hundred men, rank and file, commanded
by Capt. Haselet; we passed through a tract of good land, about 6 mi.
on the old trading path, and came to the creek again, where there is
a large fine bottom, well timbered; from thence we came upon a hill,
to an advanced breastwork, about ten miles from the camp, well situ248POST AND THE INDIANS
ated for strength, facing a small branch of the aforesaid creek; the
hill is steep down, perpendicular about 20 feet on the south side;
which is a great defense; and on the west side the breastwork, about
seven feet high, where we encamped that night."  (This was Dagworthy's Breastworks at Latrobe.)
As one follows the journal of Christian Frederick Post in his second gesture for peace, it clearly appears that the Forbes Road had
not yet been cut west of Loyalhannon camp. His night at Dagworthy's
Breastworks must have been an interesting one.  Continuing the
diary, as of November 9, 1758, he says:
"Our Indian companions heard that we were to part in the morning, and that I2 men were to be sent with us, and the others, part of
the company, to go towards Fort Duquesne. Our Indians desired that
the Captain would send 20 men, instead of I2; that if any accident
should happen, they could be more able to defend themselves in returning back,'for we know,' say they,'the enemy will follow the smallest
party.' It began to rain. Within five miles from the breastwork we
departed from Captain Haselet; he kept the old trading path to the
Ohio. Lieutenant Hays was ordered to accompany us to the Allegheny river, with I4 men. We went the path that leads along the
Loyalhanning creek, where there is a fine rich bottom, land well timbered, good springs and small creeks. At 4 o'clock we were alarmed
by three men, in Indian dress, and preparations were made on both
sides for defense. Isaac Still showed a white token, and Pisquetomen
gave an Indian halloo; after which they threw down their bundles,
and ran away as fast as they could. We afterwards took up their
bundles, and found that it was a small part of our men that had been
long out. We were sorry that we had scared them, for they lost their
bundles with all their food. Then I held a conference with our Indians, and asked them if it would not be good to send one of our Indians to Logstown and Fort Duquesne, and call the Indians from thence,
before we arrived at Kushkushing. They all agreed it would not be
good, as they were but messengers; it must be done by their chief men.
The wolves made a terrible music this night.
"IIth. We started early, and came to the old Shawnee town,
called Keckkeknepolin, grown up thick with weeds, briars and bushes,
that we scarcely could get through. Pisquetomen led us upon a steep
249SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
hill that our horses could hardly get up, and Thomas Hickman's horse
tumbled and rolled down the hill like a wheel; on which he grew angry
and would go no further with us and said he would go by himself. It
happened we found a path on the top of the hill. At 3 o'clock we
came to Kiskemeneco, an old Indian town, a rich bottom, well timbered, good, fine English grass, well watered and lays waste since the
war began. We let our horses feed here, and agreed that Lieutenant
Hays might go back with his party; and as they were short of provisions we therefore gave them a little of ours, which they took very
kind of us. Thomas Hickman could find no other road, and came
to us again a little ashamed; we were glad to see him, and we went
about three miles farther, where we made a large fire. Here the Indians looked over their presents, and grumbled at me; they thought if
they had gone the other way by Shamokin they would have got more.
Captain Bull spoke in their favor against me. Then I said to them:'I am ashamed to see you grumble about presents; I thought you were
sent to establish a peace.' Though I confess I was not pleased that
the Indians were so slightly fitted out from Easton, as the general had
nothing to give them, in the critical circumstances he was in, fit for
their purpose.
"I2th. Early in the morning I spoke to the Indians of my company:'Brethren, you have now passed through the heart of the country back and forward, likewise through the midst of the army, without any difficulty or danger; you have seen and heard a great deal.
When I was among you at Allegheny, you told me I should not regard
what the common people would say, but only hearken to the chiefs;
I should take no bad stories along. I did accordingly; and when I
left Allegheny I dropt all evil reports; and only carried the agreeable
news; which was pleasing to all that heard it. Now, brethren, I beg
of you to do the same, and to drop all evil reports which you may have
heard of bad people, and only to observe and keep what you have
heard of our rulers and the wise people, so that all your young men,
women and children may rejoice at our coming to them, and may have
the benefit of it.'
"They took it very kindly. After a while they spoke in the following manner to us, and said:'Brethren, when you come to Kushkushking, you must not mind the prisoners, and have nothing to do with
them. Mr. Post, when he was first there, listened too much to the
250POST AND THE INDIANS
prisoners; the Indians were almost mad with him for it, and would
have confined him for it; for, they said, he had wrote something of
them.'
"As we were hunting for our horses, we found Thomas Hickman's
horse dead, which rolled yesterday down hill. At I o'clock we came
to the Allegheny, to an old Shawnee town, situated under a high hill
on the east, opposite an island of about Ioo acres, very rich land, well
timbered. We looked for a place to cross the river, but in vain. We
then went smartly to work and made a raft; we cut the wood and
carried it to the water side. The wolves and owls made a great noise
in the night.
"I3th. We got up early and boiled some chocolate for breakfast, and then began to finish our rafts. We clothed ourselves as well
as we could in Indian dress. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon
before we all got over to the other side, near an old Indian town.
The Indians told us we should not call Mr. Bull captain, their young
men would be mad that we brought a warrior there. We went up a
steep hill, good land, to the creek Cowewanick, where we made our
fire. They wanted to hunt for meat and look for a road. Captain
Bull shot a squirrel and broke his gun. I cut firewood and boiled
some chocolate for supper. The others came home and brought nothing. Pisquetomen wanted to hear the writing from the general, which
we read to them to their great satisfaction. This was the first night
we slept in the open air. Mr. Bull took the tent along with him. We
discoursed a good deal of the night together."
Commenting on these later entries in Post's diary, we find on making a draft of the land patents in Allegheny Township that Kiskiminetas Old Town was at the mouth of Pine Run, and that the lands
extending through Weinel's Cross Roads and Shearersburg were
along and on both sides of the "Old Traders' Path from Kiskiminetas
Old Town to Shirtee's Landing." The term "Shirtee" is a phonetic
variation of Chartier. The trader, Peter Chartier, who was a halfbreed Indian, established his Shawnee town at present Tarentum.
The Indian town on the easterly side of the Allegheny River (at present Edgecliff) was thus known as "Shirtee's Landing," due no doubt
to the necessity of using a canoe or a raft to get across, and the necessity of remaining there over night as did Post and his party.
25IWHENCE CAME OUR INDIANS?
thence through the tracts of Charles Campbell, Fergus Moorhead,
where later was Moorhead's Fort, to Watt's Hill, across Kerr, or
Curry Run, through the lands of Jacob Peelor and Gilpin, to William
Armstrong's tract on Crooked Creek. Armstrong's tract is designated as including the crossings of the Kiskiminetas and Kittanning
paths, to the west of which is the land of Jacob Anthony and then
that of Andrew Wiggins, and then on to the ridge to the right of
Shelocta, near the bridge and the residence of James S. Ralston in
Armstrong County. It extended between two large licks on the Hugh
Espey land "situated on the forks of Crooked Creek and Plum Creek,
including the old field," and thence to Blanket Hill on the J. Vanderlin tract, six miles east of Kittanning. The trail then follows a fairly
direct course over the higher ground into Kittanning.
ALLEGHENY TRAIL-In their migrations the Indians knew how to
get from one part of the country to the other quickly. They went
with a peculiar gait, somewhat faster than a walk, but of a swinging
nature, and with their shoulders stooped and heads lowered. Their
trails were in straight lines as far as the topography of the country
would permit. These became well trodden, because they went to and
fro in single file. The middle trail over which they reached the Ohio
Valley was generally designated as the Allegheny Trail. Some called
it the Raystown Path, after the traders came through and trading was
begun at present Bedford. It branched off the Kittanning Path at
Black Log Mountain, thence proceeded southwesterly through Fort
Littleton to Juniata crossings, Raystown and Shawnee cabins. After
leaving Shawnee Cabins it followed up the Kegg's Run one and a half
miles to the southward of Schellsburg, and extended up the mountain
around the southerly spur of Grandview and then northwesterly
across the headwaters of Shade Creek to Edmund's Swamp on the A.
Park Lohr farm, where Edmund Cartledge later established his trading post. It proceeded thence down the valley of Oven Run to Stony
Creek and northwesterly across the middle of the present Quemahoning Dam and Clearfield northerly of Jenners, across Laurel Hill to
the headwaters of the south branch of Mill Creek and down the higher
ground to the mouth of Mill Creek where was located Loyalhanna
Indian Town.
Loyalhanna was important as being at the intersection with the
Catawba Trail extending north and south. The gap in the Chestnut
9SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
In his efforts among the Indians Post knew that it was not wise
to go down the Allegheny River, but by proceeding north of Fort
Duquesne, he would avoid contacts with the French and enhance his
chances to reach the hearts of the Indians. He steered his course,
therefore, directly west from Chartier's Town (at present Tarentum) towards present New Castle. The entries in his diary show that
his was a unique experience.
"Nov. I4. We rose early, and thought to make good progress on
our way. At one o'clock Thomas Hickman shot a large buck; and as
our people were hungry for meat, we made our camp there, and called
the water Buck Run. In the evening we heard the great guns fired
from Fort Duquesne. Whenever I looked towards that place I felt
a dismal impression, the very place seemed shocking and dark. Pisquetomen looked his things over, and found a white belt, sent by the
commissioners of trade for the Indian affairs. We could find no writing concerning the belt, and did not know what was the signification
thereof. They seemed much concerned to know it.
"isth.  We rose early, and had a good day's journey.  We
passed these two days through thick bushes of briars and thorns, so
that it was very difficult to get through. We crossed the creek Paquakonink; the land is very different. At I2 o'clock we crossed the road
from Venango to Fort Duquesne. We went west towards Kushkushking, about I 5 mi. from Fort. We went over a large barren plain and
made our lodging by a little run. Pisquetomen told us we must send
a messenger to let them know of our coming, as the French live
amongst them. He desired a string of wampum; I gave him three
hundred and fifty. We concluded to go within 3 miles of Kushkushking to their sugar cabins, and to call their chief there. In discourse,
Mr. Bull told the Indians the English should let all the prisoners stay
amongst the- that likes to stay.
"I6th. We met two Indians on the road, and sat down with them
to dinner. They informed us that nobody was at home, at Kushkushking; that I6o from that town were gone to war against our
party. We crossed the above mentioned creek, good land, but hilly.
We went down a long valley about 3 miles long. They both went with
us to the town. One of them rode before us to let the people in the
town know of our coming; we found there but 2 men, and some
women. Those that were at home received us kindly. Pisquetomen
desired us to read the message to them that were there.
252POST AND THE INDIANS
"I7th. There were 5 Frenchmen in the town; the rest were gone
to war. We held a council with Delaware George, delivered him the
string and presents that were sent to him, and informed him of the
general's sentiments, and what he desired of them; upon which he
agreed and complied to go with Mr. Bull to the general. Towards
night Keckkenepalin came home from the war and told us the disagreeable news that they had fallen in with that party that had guided
us. They had killed Lieut. Hays and four more, and took five prisoners, the others got clear off. They had a skirmish with them within
I2 miles of Fort Duquesne. Further he told us that one of the captives was to be burned, which grieved us. By the prisoners they were
informed of my arrival; on which they concluded to leave the French,
and to hear what news we brought them. In the evening they brought
a prisoner to town.
"We called the Indians together that were at home, and explained
the matter to them, and told them as their own people had desired the
general to give them a guide to conduct them safe home, and by a
misfortune, your people have fallen in with this party, and killed 5
and taken 5 prisoners, and we are now informed that one of them is
to be burnt;'consider my brethren, if you should give us a guide
to bring us safe on our way home, and our parties should fall in with
you, how hard would you take it.'
"They said,'Brother: it is a hard matter, and we are sorry it
hath happened so.' I answered,'Let us therefore spare no pains to
relieve them from any cruelty.' We could scarce find a messenger that
would undertake to go to Sawkung, where the prisoner was to be
burnt. We promised to one named Compass o500 black wampum, and
Mr. Hays gave him a shirt and a dollar, on which he promised to go.
We sent him as a messenger. By a string of wampum I spoke these
words,'Brethren, consider the messengers are come home with good
news, and 3 of your brethren, the English, with them. We desire you
would pity your own young men, women and children, and use no hardships towards the captives, as having been guiding our party.'
"Afterwards the warriors informed us, that their design had not
been to go to war, but that they had a mind to go to the general, and
speak with him, and on the road the French made a division among
them, that they could not agree, after which they were discovered by
the Cherokees and Catawbas, who fled, and left their bundles, where
they found an English color. So Kekeuscung told them he would go
253SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
before them to the general, if they would follow him, but they would
not agree to it, and the French persuaded them to fall upon the English at Loyalhanning; they accordingly did; as they were driven back
they fell in with that party that guided us, which they did not know.
They seemed very sorry for it.
"I8th. Capt. Bull acted as commander, without letting us know
anything, or communicating with us. He and George relieved a prisoner from the warriors, by what means I do not know. When the
warriors were met, he then called us first to sit down, and to hear
what they had to say. The Indian that delivered the prisoner to Bull
and George spoke as follows:
"'My brethren, the English are at such a distance from us as if
they were under ground, that I cannot hear them. I am very glad to
hear from you such good news; and I am very sorry that it happened
so, that I went to war. Now I let the general know he should consider
the young men, and if they should have any of us, to set them at liberty
so as we do to you.'
"Then Pisquetomen said:'As the Governor gave these 3 messengers into my bosom, so I now likewise, by this string of wampum, give
Bull into Delaware George's bosom, to bring him safe to the general.'
Mr. Bull sat down with the prisoner, who gave him some intelligence
in writing; at which the Indians grew more jealous, and asked them
what they had to write there? I wrote a letter to the general by Mr.
Bull. In the afternoon Mr. Bull, Delaware George, and Keckenepalin
set out for the camp. Toward night they brought in another prisoner,
whom Bull had relieved, and bound him and carried him to another
town, without our knowledge. I a thousand times wished Mr. Bull
had never meddled in the affair, fearing they would exceedingly punish, and bring the prisoner to confession of the contents of the writing."
The Forbes army did not get its real start from the camp at
Loyalhanna until November I5, I758, so that when Christian Frederick Post and his companions arrived at Kuskuskies, they were far to
the northwest of Fort Duquesne. The Indians soon learned of the
presence of Post at Kuskuskies, and the conferences with them, individually and in groups, were one of the features of the campaign which
did much to awe the French and cause them to make way with the
fort and flee down the river. The further entries in his diary show the
great tact of this great character, and out of the details of his diary
254POST AND THE INDIANS
here quoted we learn much of the important facts of Southwestern
Pennsylvania history.
Fifty years ago Westmoreland County had a very versatile citizen
in the person of Dr. Frank Cowan. During his active career he had
been secretary to President Andrew Johnson, a member of the Westmoreland County bar, a graduate in medicine, and a newspaper man,
publishing Frank Cowan's paper. He was the son of the late United
States Senator Edgar Cowan, and by the terms of his will, gave to the
city of Greensburg the beautiful park to the westward. Dr. Cowan
wrote many interesting stories of folk-lore, and other interesting
poems. In the following verse he has memorialized the messenger of
peace in a beautiful way:
CHRISTIAN FREDERICK PosT
An army of four thousand men
Wound through the wild, wild wood;
The British lion on their flag,
Their coats as red as blood;
The fate of Britain in their hearts
As they crept through the heath;
But never I ween, was foeman seen
And all was still as death;
For the Man of Peace their track had crossed
An hour before, in Frederick Post.
With drums unslung and pipes unblown,
With eyes and ears alert,
The trembling thousands shunned the glen
And glade with thickest girt;
But the sword by day with rust was red,
And by night with dew was wet,
While in mockery, the leaves of the tree
Fell on the bayonet;
For the Man of Truth had come with the frost
That shook the leaves, in Frederick Post.
The scout by day crept in the brake
And crouched behind the oak;
Or looked afar from the mountain's height
For the hidden campfire's smoke;
The sentinel alone at night
Stared at the ogling owl,
255SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
And shuddered at the scream of the cat,
And the wolf's discordant howl;
But the Man of Faith availed them most,
Who had gone before in Frederick Post.
The Head of Iron from his couch
Gave courage and command,
Which Washington, Bouquet and Grant
Repeated to the band;
Till, hark! The highlanders began
With their chieftain's words to swell,
Tonight, I shall sup and drain my cup
In Fort Duquesne-or Hell!
But the Man of Prayer, and not of boast,
Had spoken first, in Frederick Post.
At length the army stood amazed,
Upon a vacant plain,
And pitched their tent in wonderment,
On the ashes of Duquesne.
The formidable Frenchman, gone;
And the Redman came, in sport,
The peace-pipe to light in the gathering night,
With a brand from the burning fort;
For the Man of God, with mightier host,
Had gone before in Frederick Post.
256CHAPTER XVIII
The Reduction of Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne Was Not Captured-The Erroneous Map of Reading
Howell Attempting to Fix the Location of the Forbes Road-Colonel
Washington and General Forbes Arrive at the Camp at Loyalhanna
It Is Named "Pittsborough."-War Councils at the Camp-Washington's Skirmish of November I 2, I758-The General Decides to
Move On to Fort Duquesne-The Camps Along the Forbes Road
The Letters Exchanged by General Forbes and Colonel Washington from Three Redoubts, in Recognition of Washington's Military
Genius-The Trail and Scars of the Forbes Road from Ligonier to
Pittsburgh-The French Burn Fort Duquesne, and Flee-The British Flag Is Raised Over the Smouldering Ruins of the Fort-Washington Expresses Surprise at the Easy Victory.
So many are inclined to speak of Fort Duquesne as having been
captured by the English under General Forbes. Fort Duquesne was
gone when the Forbes army arrived, for the French had reduced it to
smoldering ruins. The issues that caused its reduction were fought
out along the road between the camp at Loyalhanna westward
towards the fort. That is why a study of the road between present
Ligonier and the Point at Pittsburgh, and a delving into the reports
and letters that were written along it, is one of the most fascinating
searches one can engage in. The line of this road has been somewhat
confusing until very recent years, due to too much reliance on single
items in historical research.
Reading Howell's map of 1792 helps to confuse the location of the
line of the military operations of the Forbes army over Chestnut
Ridge. It represents the Forbes Road as extending from a fork just
above the Hermitage Furnace of General Arthur St. Clair, across
S. P.-I-17SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Chestnut Ridge westerly to another fork near the Crabtree Bottoms,
passing over Loyalhanna Creek at Cochran's Fording two miles below
Latrobe. Such a road was laid by the Hannastown Court in I776
from Hannastown to General St. Clair's Mill, but the old surveys only
refer to it as the Hannastown Road, and not as a "Great Road."
Near the Two Mile Spring, east of Ligonier, the junction of the
Forbes Road and this last-named Hannastown Road is nicely scarred
in the ground. It must be kept in mind, however, that the early
scouts and trail blazers, as well as Major Grant and his Highlanders,
went down the Loyalhanna Creek along the Trader's Path. No road
was cut over Chestnut Ridge until November, I758, when the main
body of the army under the direction of General Forbes went through.
Lieutenant Coleby Chew appended to the report of his scouting trip
from Raystown to Fort Duquesne and back, made between August 7
and i9, I758, a sketch on which he designated the Four Mile Run
and the Nine Mile Run. This refutes the claim that these terms
originated on the marching journal of John Potts. Lieutenant Chew
designated these streams three months before John Potts entered the
terms in his journal, and three weeks before Colonel James Burd laid
out the camp at Loyalhanna; so the mouths of these streams must
have been, in the days of the traders, four and nine miles, respectively,
from old Loyalhanna. After the Revolution General Arthur St.
Clair secured a warrant for over six thousand acres on the crest of the
Chestnut Ridge. According to the survey, his property was bisected
by Loyalhanna Creek and the Traders Path; the south border being
marked by a dotted line, "Great Road," and the north border by
another, "Kittanning Path."
After the battle of Loyalhanna on October I2, I758, the camp at
that point became one of the most active military points in all America.
Colonel Bouquet and Colonel Washington came on westward to the
Loyalhanna, the latter arriving October twenty-third. He had been
successively at Shawnee Cabins October fourteenth, Edmund's Swamp
October fifteenth, Stony Creek October sixteenth, Muddy Run October seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth, White Oak Ridge, October twentieth, Southeast side of Laurel Hill, October twenty-first, and
the northwest side of Laurel Hill October twenty-second. General
Forbes left Raystown about October twenty-sixth, and was in camp
at Shawnee Cabins October twenty-seventh, Fort Duart October
258THE REDUCTION OF FORT DUQUESNE
twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth, Stony Creek October thirtieth and
thirty-first, Foot of Laurel Hill, and arrived at the camp at Loyalhanna November 2, I758. Accompanying General Forbes were
Colonel Archibald Montgomery with the remainder of the Scotch
Highlanders, and Colonel William Byrd with the Second Virginians.
There was some discontent in the encampment, and a lot of ignorance as to the exact strength of the French at Fort Duquesne. The
French were really in a bad way because their supplies had been cut off
from Fort Frontenac. Colonel Hugh Mercer was still back at Stony
Creek with the artillery, and soon came up.
General Forbes appreciated that there was a lack of clothing, and
the continuous rains made it hard to cut roads and transport artillery.
He wrote to William Pitt that he was shut up in the mountains and
unable to get out. He acquired a part of these misgivings on account
of the erroneous report as to the French given to him by Colonel Bouquet. He soon learned, however, to trust to the level-headedness of
Colonel James Burd, and to the military wisdom of Colonel Washington. He called a general court martial of the lieutenant-colonels,
majors and ten captains on November tenth, to get their ideas of the
situation. The following day he held a council of war with Colonels
Bouquet, Montgomery, Sir John St. Clair, Washington, Byrd of Virginia, Armstrong, Burd of Pennsylvania, and Mercer. He told this
council that he had abandoned the idea of advancing against Fort
Duquesne until next year. On this date General Forbes named the
place "Pittsborough," in honor of the English Prime Minister, William Pitt, and had his army remained on the banks of the Loyalhanna
in winter quarters, it would likely have retained that name. When he
arrived at the site of Fort Duquesne two weeks later, "Pittsborough"
lost its historical identity, and the shorter name of "Pittsburgh" was
given to the location at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. To this council of war also, he explained the situation of
the troops, the victuals, the instructions, and the knowledge of the
forces of the enemy, and he desired that they deliberate carefully
upon these points, and after discussing them at some length, that they
give him their opinion of what was fitting to do.
All the while General Forbes also kept in touch with LieutenantGovernor William Denny in Philadelphia. Before he started from the
Raystown camp towards Loyalhanna, he wrote Governor Denny, as
follows, on October 22, 1758:
259"It will easily occur to you the things that will be necessary for
making the soldiers' lives comfortable in this severe climate during
the winter. The most necessary are a second blanket in lieu of a
bed, a flannel jacket, a new pair of breeches, two pairs of stockings
and a pair of shoes." He also suggested the placing of I,200 soldiers
at the principal forts between Carlisle and Loyalhanna, and indicated
200 at Raystown and 300 at Loyalhanna.
The Governor then convened the Provincial Council in session on
November I6, I758, to consider both the adjustment of pay due the
RESIDENCE OF DR. C. C. CROUSE FIVE MILES NORTH OF GREENSBURG;
FORBES ROAD AT LEFT
Pennsylvania troops, and the request of General Forbes. He put the
matter up to the council in this wise:
"The advanced season, and the late heavy rains render it doubtful
whether the General will be able to accomplish the reduction of Fort
Duquesne this campaign, and it will be necessary to fortify this
advanced post. But if General Forbes should be fortunate enough to
take it, this will be of great interest to the province, to garrison the
fortresses, to establish trade and lasting friendship with the Indians."
The Council still debated the matter, while circumstances at Loyalhanna changed the mind of Forbes. The weather had become cold
and the mountains were white with snow. During these days three
Frenchmen who had been sent out to watch the movements of the
army were taken prisoners and confined at Loyalhanna, now calledTHE REDUCTION OF FORT DUQUESNE
Pittsburgh. After a severe questioning, they gave a report of the
weak condition of the garrison at Fort Duquesne. Christian Frederick Post came through on his second journey, and he confirmed the idea
that the effort should be made at this time.
It was a critical time at Pittsborough, for in that memorable council of war held November I I, I758, it is shown by Colonel Bouquet's
memorandum that the following reasons were given against an advance
at this time:
I. The lack of clothing to guarantee the troops from cold, and
the impossibility of overcoming this difficulty.
2. The scarcity of provisions and the uncertainty of a convoy
over the roads rendered almost impassable by'bad weather; the lack of
horses and grain for nourishing them, makes them so weak that one
can expect only little service from them.
3. The impossibility of providing the post with victuals for the
winter if, with the army, we should consume what we have.
4. The decrease of the army, reduced to half, and the absolute
lack of information of the forces of the enemy, in spite of all the means
employed for getting it.
5. The risk of losing the artillery if the bad weather, the want
of provisions, or a chance defeat should oblige us to withdraw without taking the place.
6. The impossibility of supporting this fort if he should gain it;
the provinces not having made any provision for maintaining it, and
of retaining or replacing the troops whose term is about to expire.
7. The consequences of a lost battle, which would make us lose
the advantages which we have gained by the extension of our frontiers, would open our provinces to the enemy, and would draw us
under the arms not only of the Indians who are declared enemies, but
even those who at the Treaty of Easton signed the peace, who through
scorn of us and fear of the French would not fail to declare against
us. The risks being so evidently greater than the advantages leave no
doubts about the only course which prudence demands.
These recommendations were hardly under consideration until the
French impressed upon the officers of this camp that it was time for
action. The wonder is that Colonel Bouquet would advance the idea
of the absolute lack of information of the forces of the enemy. The
French had been repulsed at the battle of Loyalhanna on October
twelfth, but they were continually on the alert by means of scouts to
26iRidge down the Loyalhanna Creek afforded a good trailway to the
westward and through the Big Bottoms at Latrobe. Two miles below
Latrobe there was an important forking of this Allegheny Path near
Cochran's Fording, the left fork extending by Crabtree Bottoms, and
the hill country to the south of the Turtle Creek Valley, crossing that
stream at Murraysville, and then along the high ground through
Wilkinsburg and East End, Pittsburgh, down to Shannopin's Town
(Photo by David W. Rial)
THE RAYSTOWN BRANCH OF THE JUNIATA RIVER AT WOLFSBURG, FORMER
INDIAN "OLD TOWN", ALLEGHENY INDIAN TRAIL AND TRADERS' PATH TO
THE LEFT ALONG THE BASE OF WILLS MOUNTAIN
near Thirty-first and Smallman streets, in Pittsburgh. The right fork
passed on down the Loyalhanna to its mouth, where Keckenepaulin
and Blacklegs Indian towns were located, and thence northwesterly to
Kiskiminetas Old Town at Pine Run, whence it extended westerly to
the Allegheny River at Chartiers Town at present Tarentum. From
this point their trails extend westwardly to Kuskuskies and Logstown,
and down the river to Shannopin's Town. The Allegheny Trail became the Muskingum Trail into Ohio, as it proceeded further through
Saukonk at Beaver.SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
observe the operations, particularly of any who might scout ahead.
But the French made a second attack on November twelfth, when
Washington came in great danger of losing his life. The entries in
the orderly book show a consideration of the disposition of the troops
in case of an alarm, and then the following late orders for the day:
"One Colonel, one Lt. Colonel, one Major, five Captains, I5 Subalterns, 20 Sergeants, 20 Corporals, and 480 privates to march tomorrow morning at reveille beating to the ground where the skirmish was
this evening and carry a proportion of spades in order to inter the
dead bodies."
This skirmish, so called, had the effect of changing the plans for
delay, as advanced the day before, into plans for action, as noted by
the entry for November thirteenth:
"A return to be given this evening after 7 o'clock of the number
of men killed, wounded and missing in the skirmish last night. The
line to hold themselves in readiness to march at an hour's warning,
and the ammunition to be strictly reviewed, and any deficiency replaced
immediately."
There has been much historical conjecture as to the location of the
skirmish in which Colonel George Washington was engaged at or near
Loyalhanna. Colonel Washington has left nothing in his writings to
give us any details about it. The entry in the orderly book for November I2, I758, shows the assignment of over o50o officers and men to
reconnoitre the ground and bury the dead bodies. No record of the
number of casualties seems to have been left, and reliance must be had
on other accounts to determine the seriousness of the engagement.
The first account available is that printed in the "Pennsylvania
Gazette," at Philadelphia, November 30, I758:
"On the 12, Col. Washington being out with a scouting party, fell
in with a number of the enemy about 3 miles from our camp, whom
he attacked, killed one, took 3 prisoners (an Indian man and woman,
and one Johnson, an Englishman, who it is said was carried off by the
Indians some time ago from Lancaster County) and obliged the rest
to fly. On hearing the firing at Loyal Hanning, Col. Mercer, with a
party of Virginians, was sent to the assistance of Col. Washington,
who arrived in sight of our people in the dusk of the evening, and see262ing them about a fire the enemy had been drove from, and the two
Indians with them imagined them to be French; and Col. Washington
being under the same mistake, unhappily a few shots were exchanged
by which a lieutenant and 13 or 14 Virginians were killed. That
Johnson being examined, was told he had forfeited his life by being
found in arms against his king and country, and the only way to save
it and make atonement, was to give as full an information of the condition of Fort Duquesne, and of the enemy, as he could, which being
found true, his life should be spared, and in case of success he should
be well rewarded; but if he should give any false intelligence, or not
so full as he had it in his power then to do, he should certainly be put
to death in an extra-ordinary manner. That upon this threatening
and promise Johnson said, that the Canadians who had been with
Mons. Vetri at Loyal Hanning was only to make us apprehend their
strength at Fort Duquesne to be very great, whereas they were very
weak there, and added that our army would certainly succeed. That
the Indian man, being likewise examined, his relation, we are told,
agreed with that of Johnson; and they both said the French were very
scarce of provisions, as well as weak in men, and that upon this
information Colonel Armstrong, with Iooo men and part of the train,
was ordered to march next day, and the General designed to have followed the next day after with the whole army, but was necessarily
detained till the I7th, when he certainly marched, and we hope is now
in possession of Fort Duquesne.
ALONG THE FORBES MILITARY ROAD OF 1758. RIGHT, RESIDENCE OF DR. C. C.
CROUSE, FIVE MILES NORTH OF GREENSBURG; LEFT, PRONOUNCED SCAR
(Photo by Arthur Swoger)SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"The General marched from Loyal Hanning 43oo00 effective men,
all well in good spirits, besides Indians, and left a strong garrison
there at Raystown.
"It is said that Certi and his people on the return from Loyal
Hannig, were obliged to kill and eat several of our horses, whose
skins and bones were afterwards found by some of our men."
The following week the "Pennsylvania Gazette" added this interesting detail of the engagement of November twelfth:
"The party of the enemy mentioned in last week's paper to be
attacked by our people near Loyal Hanning, we hear consisted of
above 200 French and Indians, and it is said that had before taken
and sent off Lieut. Jas. Hayes, of our Provincials, and another man."
In a letter to Gov. Thomas Penn written from London, January
3, I759, William  Smith corroborates much of the "Pennsylvania
Gazette" story, and adds the information that the French army did
not exceed 5oo men, and that it was necessary for them to kill and eat
some of the horses captured at Loyal Hanning. Smith writes further
that Colonel Washington fell in with a party of the enemy about
"three miles beyond Loyal Hanning."
Hon. William Findley, Westmoreland County's first Congressman
under the new Constitutional government, wrote on March 27, I8i8,
to the "Niles Register," and published May, i8i8, concerning interviews which he had with Washington at Philadelphia, from which is
quoted the following extract:
"Since I am in the way about writing about Washington, I will
add one serious scene through which he passed, which is little known
and with which he concluded this conversation. He asked me how
near I lived to Loyalhanna Old Fort, and if I knew a run from the
Laurel Hill that fell into the creek near it. I told him the distance of
my residence and that I knew the run. Ile told me that a considerable distance up that run his life was in as great hazard as ever it had
been in war. That he had been ordered to march some troops to
reenforce a bullock guard on their way to camp-that he marched his
party in single file with trailed arms, and sent a runner to inform the
British officer in what manner he would meet him. The runner arrived
and delivered his message, but he did not know how it was that the
264THE REDUCTION OF FORT DUQUESNE
British officer paid no attention to it, and the parties met in the dark
and fired on each other till they killed thirty of their own men; nor
could they be stopped till he had to go in between the fires and threw
up the muzzles of their guns with his sword."
Findley's account would possibly place the site of Washington's
engagement up Mill Creek, while Smith's reference would place it to
the westward. If the bullocks were coming in from the east to replenish the army, that would fix it to the eastward. At all events, the
engagement and the information received from the captives, caused
the following action as recorded in the orderly book, November I4,
I758:
"Whereas the circumstances of the times require that a disposition be immediately made of the troops under Brig. Gen. Forbes'
command, the army is to be divided into three bodies and to be commanded by Cols. Bouquet, Montgomery, and Washington, who is to
act as Brigadiers, receiving all reports  giving orders, etc., regarding their respective divisions or brigade. The right wing to be commanded by Colo. Washington to consist of the Ist Va. Regt., two
companies of Artificers, N. Carolineans, Marylanders and Lower
Countys. The center to be commanded by Colo. Montgomery and to
consist of Highdrs.  2d Va. Regt. The left wing to be comd. by
Colo. Bouquet consisting of the 3 Battalions of Penns and Royal
Americans. The reserve to be comd. by,to consist of
2oo Highds., 200 of the 2d Va. Regt., and 200 of the Penn's. Meantime the Virginians to be under the command of Brigr. Washington.
The Highds. under the command of Brigr. Montgomery and the
Penns under the command of Colo. Bouquet."
While Colonel John Armstrong was not in command of a brigade,
the letters of Colonel Washington, which have come down to us,
reveal that he was ahead of Washington cutting his section of the
road. Colonel Washington left the Camp at Loyalhanna, which he
then calls "Pittsbourgh," on November 15, I758, at four o'clock in the
afternoon, camped on top of Chestnut Ridge that night, and wrote
back to General Forbes at i I P. M. The next three letters are from
the camp on Chestnut Ridge to General Forbes, and on November
seventeenth he wrote:.... "I shall punctually observe all of the
directions,.... altho I shall at the same time confess I think it
much safer and more eligible to have marched briskly on to our second
265SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
post, leaving the road for Colonel Montgomery to open.".... "I
have opened the road between seven and eight miles today, and am
yet three miles short of Colonel Armstrong, who marched at eight
o'clock. I understand by Captain Shelby, who has just come from
him, that Col. Armstrong is not yet begun entrenching his camp which
must again retard us tomorrow. Forwarding provisions is highly
necessary; hard labor consumes it fast; but all the men are in high
spirits, and are anxious to get on."....
That there were women followers of the Forbes army is revealed
by the orderly book, when on November sixteenth, the General gave
orders that no women were to march with Brigadier Washington's
division. This orderly book details the camp on Chestnut Ridge, and
these additional camps: "Bush Run," November sixteenth, where
Lieutenant-Colonel Dagworthy is in command of the artificers and
their escort; "Bullock Camp," November seventeenth, where the soldiers dress their provisions over night; "New Camp," November
eighteenth, where the "Highlanders are to remain here till Brig.
Montgomerie comes up, and to finish the works begun at this place
agreeable to Capt. Gordon's plan"; "Camp at Turtle Creek," November nineteenth, twentieth; "Camp Cross Turtle Creek," November
twenty-second; "Bouquet's Camp," November twenty-third, twentyfourth. In writing his letters from the Bush Run Camp, Washington
calls it Bushy Run, and thereby some scent the latter Bushy Run of
I 763. This Bushy Run was possibly close to Nine Mile Run near
Dagworthy's Breastworks. The Bullock Camp was possibly at Crabtree Bottoms, and the New Camp was later known as "Armstrong's
Camp," or the "Three Redoubts."
The Three Redoubts was the second ten-mile camp planned by
General Forbes and his engineer, lharry Gordon, west of the camp at
Loyalhanna, the first having been at Dagworthy's Breastworks. Here
Colonel Washington writes one of the most informing letters of his
Forbes Road experience, and addresses it to General John Forbes,
who had left Loyalhanna camp on November eighteenth, and was
possibly on his way along the road, because, he, too, arrived at the
Three Redoubts on November twentieth:
"ARMSTRONG'S CAMP, November I8, I758.
"SIR: I came to this camp about eleven o'clock today, having
opened the road before me. I should immediately have proceeded
266THE REDUCTION OF FORT DUQUESNE
on, but, as the bullocks were to slaughter, and provisions to be dressed,
I thought it expedient to halt here till three in the morning, when I
shall begin to march on with one thousand men, leaving Colonel Armstrong and five hundred more in this camp, until Colonel Montgomery
joins. I took care that the road should not be delayed by this halt,
for I ordered out a working party, properly covered, before I came
here, to cut it forward till night should fall upon them, and then
return back again.
"I fear we have been greatly deceived with regard to the distance
from hence to Fort Duquesne. Most of the woodsmen that I have
conversed with, seem to think that we are thirty miles from it. I
have sent out one party that way to ascertain the distance, and the
kind of ground between; and two others to scout on the right and
left, for the discovery of tracks, c. Tomorrow, Capn. Shelby and
Lt. Gist of my regiment, will go off on the like service that the former of these parties has done this day, under Lt. Ryley.
"I found three redoubts erecting for the defence of this camp.
Mr. Gordon thinks that it will be sufficiently secured by this means;
but, for my own part, I do not look upon redoubts alone, in this close
country, to be half as good as the slightest breastwork; indeed, I do
not believe they are any security at all where there are no other works.
I enclose you a return of the total strength of this place, and for what
time they are served with provisions, by which you will see how much
a supply is needed, and I must beg, that commissaries and stilliards
may be sent forward, otherwise a continual dissatisfaction will prevail, as well on the part of the contractors, as on that of the soldiers,
who think they have injustice done them in their allowance, notwithstanding the fifteen bullocks, which were received as provisions for
four days, were issued out for three only, by the judgment of an officer
of each corps, as well as my own, for I took pains to examine into it
myself.
"I had wrote thus far, when your favor of this morning came to
hand. I shall set out at three o'clock, as above, leaving the Highlanders to finish the redoubts, according to Mr. Gordon's plan, and
to secure the tools, until Colonel Montgomery comes up, leaving it
then to Colonel Bouquet's option to bring or leave them. We shall,
I am apprehensive, have a great space between this post and the
next, as I have before observed, tho I shall be a better judge tomorrow night.
267SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"The enclosed return shows what provisions each corps ought to
have on hand; but few can make it hold out, so that I must again
urge the necessity of a commissary and weights, also of provisions,
for were we all completed properly to a certain day, there are yet
parties and light horsemen coming and going, who complain much on
this head.
"Your chimney at this place is finished. I shall take care to put
one up at the next post. I shall use every precaution to get timely
notice of the enemy's approach, so that I flatter myself you need be
under no apprehensions on that head. A scouting party is just returned, and reports that, five miles advanced of this they discovered tracks of about forty persons making towards Kiskamanetes.
The tracks appear to have been made today, or yesterday. I am, c."
The chimney to which Colonel Washington refers was one built
at each of the camps, so that he might not suffer any inconvenience
from cold as he proceeded with the expedition. This is Washington's
last letter until the English reach the site of Fort Duquesne. While
the expedition did not have the full benefit of Washington's military
experience in the woods of Southwestern Pennsylvania, due to the
early rivalry as to the route westward, General Forbes came to recognize his military genius, in the following letter, unaddressed. In
view of his reference to other colonels in his forces, by the natural
process of elimination, it is safe to assume that it was addressed to
Colonel Washington.
"From the Camp where they are building the
Redoubts, just arrived a o'clock afternoon.
"SIR:
"The Catawbas and those Indians that came with Croghan I have
permitted to march forward and join you were it never so late this
night. The Cherokees are not come up. I know nothing of how far
you go this night, or where you make your last stop, as by this time
Col. Bouquet must have joined you. I suppose all that is settled;
be therefore so good as send me back with a fresh horse where you
are this night, where you go tomorrow, what orders Col. Montgomery
has, and as far as you have learned, the distances of the places before
you as well as those distances from this forward to you, Turtle Creek,
c., and where you intend to push for that wve may assemble and pro268THE REDUCTION OF FORT DUQUESNE
ceed together. I have sent forward 30 head of cattle from the 90 that
came from Loyal Hanning with the last division. They have orders
to make no stops until they reach you. I shall order Col. Montgomery to strengthen their escort.
"I never doubted the enemy's scouting party discovering us, but
I think it highly necessary that we discover them likewise, as also the
sure knowledge if ever they send out any from their force capable of
attacking us. I could not well join Montgomery this night, but shall,
if possible tomorrow, for which reason, if he is not absolutely necessary up with you, his making a short march tomorrow will give an
opportunity of joining him tomorrow night. We can join you next
day. The stillyards, c. were sent you p. express days ago. I have
sent another express back to hasten up the Carpenter. I have ordered
40 of the waggon horses that arrived yesterday at Loyal Hanning
(which are very fine) to be directly sent off with eight loads of flour,
in order to make the train quite easy, and as there are a great number of horses loaded with flour, I should think the men ought to be
put again to their old allowance, for otherwise our cattle will not do
and we have flour enough.
"Croghan has sent off 3 of his Indians towards the Ohio for intelligence, and Jacob Lewis that Col. Armstrong sent last Thursday
is just come in without having done, or learning any one thing. If
Col. Bouquet chooses that Col. Montgomery should halt one hour or
two for me tomorrow morning, let him send him back orders by the
return of this express tonight or order him a short march  I can
join him and bring cattle, artillery and all in with us. This must
serve as an answer to Col. Bouquet and your letters that I received
this morning. Wrote in my litter so excuse.
Yr most ob"20 Nov.                                     "Jo. FORBES."
The line of the Forbes Road from Ligonier to Pittsburgh is well
scarred in many places, and is quite confusing in others. The Provincial Hikers made the trek over its line in'1936, as it proceeded around
the hill of the Valley Cemetery westward, and north of the Hargnett
Withrow farm buildings, and along a pronounced scar to Two Mile
Run near the old Fisher Blockhouse. It then proceeded across Four
Mile Run, past the buildings of the Robert Riggs property, and
across the Chestnut Ridge through present Youngstown, then cross269SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
ing Twelve Mile Run and passing by the high ground between St. Vincent's College and St. Xavier's Academy, and northerly and northwesterly past the site of the future Unity Presbyterian Church. The
surveys of the following early settlers show that the road passed
through their properties: Robert McGinnis, John Crawford, David
Rankin, Ephraim Blaine, Alexander Mackay, where was the Crabtree Bottoms, Robert Mcllhaney, Samuel Drummond, John Thomas,
and Charles Brookins, to the later site of Hannastown. More recent
owners of these lands were Peter H. Saxman, John Fowler, George
Bridge, Armour Mellon, Peter Ruffner, Samuel Ruff and others.
The road from the Crabtree Bottoms to the Bullock Pens (at
present Wilkinsburg) is decidedly well scarred, and several short sections of it are in use as highways today. The Three Redoubts were
on a commanding position on the farm of Dr. C. C. Baldwin, Greensburg physician, and the camp probably extended over onto the property of Lewis Kunkle to the southward. The Three Redoubts' location was used as a military stopping place for several years before
historic Hannastown was laid out.
From the Three Redoubts' site the trail leads directly westward
to within three-quarters of a mile from the forks of the Bouquet
Road of I763, from where it passes along well-marked scars across
fields, by Alwine's schoolhouse, the residence of Dr. C. C. Crouse,
and following the line of the present Penn and Salem townships in
Westmoreland County. At the end of this township line the trail
takes to the fields again, by the location of Cockeye's Cabin on the
James F. Torrance farm, and then over well-scarred high ground
along the line of the Berlin farm, close to the residence of Simon D.
Kiester, to "Washington's Camp."  This camp was located on the
high divide between Turtle Creek and Lyons Run just south of Newlonsburg, but its contours are decidedly altered by steam shovel coal
operations of a few years ago. When the pioneer Eli Coulter acquired
title to the land it was erroneously referred to as "Bouquet's Breastworks." The old road is well marked and much traveled from Washington's Camp, down a beautiful ravine, and then crosses the present
William Penn Highway at Murraysville, proceeding up Haymaker's
Run, which it crossed, and then to the northwest on the Sardis Road
and over the divide and across Hlumm's Run. From that point a part
of the old road is used for two miles westerly; it then goes across the
hills by the site of old Center schoolhouse at the headwaters of Plum
270THE REDUCTION OF FORT DUQUESNE
Creek, and then onto the high ground between the waters of Thompson's Run and Plum Creek.
The thirteenth and last camp of the Forbes army was on the land
of William Bousman "at the breastworks on the old road." The land
patented to Hugh Davidson slightly overlapped the Bousman land on
the east, but was "situate on Forbes Road adjoining General Bouquet's Breastworks."  Colonel Bouquet received no promotion in
rank during the Forbes campaign, nor during his military operations
at Bushy Run and about Fort Pitt, but he had planned, as shown by
some of his correspondence, to succeed Forbes, after the latter died
at Philadelphia in March, I759. Still keeping to the divide from the
site of Bouquet's Breastworks, the old road comes upon the present
Highway Route 80 east of the Alcoma Country Club, and follows that
route down into Wilkinsburg, where was located the famous Bullock
Pens. Before the days of congested city streets the Forbes Road
extended diagonally across the present Brushton and Homewood districts to the Point Breeze Presbyterian Church and then followed the
course of Penn Avenue and parts of Liberty Avenue past the site of
Shannopin's Indian Town near Smallman and Thirty-fifth streets in
the city of Pittsburgh at Two Mile Run. To the east of this run was
located one of the plantations of George Croghan, the "king of Pennsylvania traders," and to the west of it that of Lieutenant Thomas
Smallman, who was an officer in Captain Hugh Mercer's company,
Colonel John Armstrong's battalion, in the Forbes army.
There is little question but that the French were fully aware of
the effective movement that was made by the Forbes army from Loyalhanna encampment. The greater part of the forces, except those
that had been left behind at Loyalhanna, and at the Three Redoubts,
were assembled at Bouquet's Breastworks, the last fortification ready
to strike the blow against Fort Duquesne.  As they were there
encamped on November 24th, Indian scouts brought the information that the fort was on fire. Captain John Haslet was sent down
with a detachment to put the fire out. The fort blew up about midnight, sending a dull heavy sound back towards the camp. The next
morning, Saturday, November 25, I758, the entire army marched
down the trail and possession of the smoldering ruins was taken.
The British flag was raised on the spot where the French flag had
flown for four long years. The expedition was successfully ended.
27IWHENCE CAME OUR INDIANS?
THE NEMACOLIN PATH-The southern primitive highway traversing old Westmoreland was best laid down by the Delaware Indian Chief Nemacolin. It first comes into prominence as the path over
which Christopher Gist brought his first colony of settlers to present
Mt. Braddock. Nemacolin's Path likely existed before Nemacolin's
time, but when the Ohio Company was preparing to engage in the
Indian trade on a large scale, Col. Thomas Cresap, at Old Town,
Maryland, engaged Chief Nemacolin to mark the pathway over which
they should move. It followed pretty well the line of the later Braddock Road until it reached the Great Rock near Jumonville. There
it kept to the northwest and down to the later Gist's plantation and
over to Fort Redstone. Nemacolin had his cabin at the mouth of
Dunlap's Creek, which was sometimes called Nemacolin's Creek.
From the Great Rock the Dunlap Path extended westerly down the
Chestnut Ridge a little to the south of the National Pike to Lick Run.
past the later McCoy's Fort, through the David Jennings and John
Woods' land to Vail's Sugar Camp Hollow near Grace Church, where
it joined the Redstone Trail again.
This trail becomes important in historical investigations later,
because it afforded a basis for the James Burd Road to Redstone and
the attempts of Virginia to fix a boundary line.
THE WARRIORS' TRAIL-This was an important Indian highway
crossing the southern part of present Greene County. Many artifacts
and other evidences of activity indicate that this was an important
highway for quick movements, as it might be termed an important
branch of the Catawba Trail from the southward. It came up from
Tennessee, through Kentucky and southern Ohio. It came into the
county at the West Virginia line and up Fish Creek, but keeping to
the higher ground to the south of Aleppo and particularly between
Whitely and Dunkard's Creek. It joined the main Catawba Trail
near its entry into Fayette County at the mouth of Grassy Run. This
trail was of great historical importance because of Indian traffic it
bore in harassing the settlements of Greene County in the succeeding
years.
THE CATAWBA TRAIL-When the Tuscarora Indians were so
harassed by the Catawbas and Cherokees in North and South Carolina about I720, they came north, sought an asylum with the Five
Nations at Onondaga, and thus helped to establish the Six Nations of
Indians at Onondaga. This did not end their contacts with the CatawIISOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
In his letter of November 28, I758, to Governor Francis Fauquier, Colonel Washington perhaps gives the best impression that
these historic incidents made on the conquering army:
"Honble Sir: I have the pleasure to inform you, that Fort Duquesne, or the ground rather on which it stood, was possessed by his
Majesty's troops on the 25th instant. The enemy, after letting us get
within a day's march of the place, burned the fort, and ran away
(by the light of it), at night, going down the Ohio by water, to the
number of about five hundred men, from 6ur best information. The
possession of this fort has been a matter of great surprise to the whole
army, and we cannot attribute it to more probable causes, than those
of weakness, want of provisions, and desertion of their Indians. Of
these circumstances we were luckily informed by three prisoners, who
providentially fell into our hands at Loyal Hannan, at a time when
we despaired of proceeding, and a council of war had determined,
that it was not advisable to advance beyond the place above mentioned this season, but the information above caused us to march on
without tents or baggage, and with a light train of artillery only, with
which we have happily succeeded."....
272CHAPTER XIX
Fort Pitt and Pittsburgh
General Forbes Names Fort Pitt-Reverend Charles Beatty, Pennsylvania Regiment, Preached Sermon of Thanksgiving-Christian Frederick Post at Kuskuskies Councilling the Indians-Plans of General
Forbes to Build a Strong Fort-The Ruins of Fort Duquesne
Described-Plans of the French-Post Arrives at Pittsburgh as General Forbes Leaves-Rough Weather and Restricted ProvisionsColonel Bouquet and Post Leave for Fort Ligonier-The Indisposition of General Forbes There and Post's Conference with HimColonel George Washington Marches the Virginians to Fort Loudon
and Williamsburgh-Post's Diary Between Fort Ligonier and Fort
Bedford-Lodges with John Frazer.
The story of Fort Pitt and Pittsburgh begins with the occupation
of the abandoned ruins of Fort Duquesne by the Forbes army. The
date of the naming of the community is best given in the letter of General John Forbes to William Pitt, written from "Pittsbourgh," November 27, 1758:
"Sir: I do myself the Honour of acquainting you that it has
pleased God to crown His Majesty's Arms with success over all His
Enemies upon the Ohio, by my having obliged the Enemy to burn and
abandon Fort Duquesne, which they effectuated on the 25th; and of
which I took possession next day, the Enemy having made their
Escape down the River towards the Mississippi in their Boats, being
abandoned by their Indians, whom I had previously engaged to leave
them, and who now seem all willing and ready to implore His Majesty's most Gracious Protection. So give me leave to congratulate
you upon this great event, of having totally expelled the French from
S. P.-I- 18SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
this prodigious tract of Country, and of having reconciled the various
tribes of Indians inhabiting it to His Majesty's Government....
"I used the freedom of giving your name to Fort Duquesne, as I
hope I was in some measure being actuated by your spirits that now
makes us Masters of the place. Nor could I help using the same
freedom in the naming of two other Forts that I built (Plans of
which I send you) the one Fort Ligonier  the other Bedford. I
hope the name Fathers will take them under their Protection, in which
case these dreary deserts will soon be the richest and most fertile of
any poseest by the British in No. America.. "
This letter fixes the time of the naming of Forts Pitt, Ligonier
and Bedford. Previous to this date they were known respectively as
Fort Duquesne, Pittsborough and Raystown. Fort Ligonier had this
name of "Pittsborough" for a brief ten days, as General Forbes wrote
from the camp at Loyalhanna on November 9, I758. He also wrote
an additional letter from "Fort Duquesne," on November 26, I758,
in which he said: "On the twenty-fourth the English Flag waived triumphantly over Fort Du Quesne. In the third year after the commencement of hostilities about that fortification, it fell into our hands
after having kindled so fierce a flame in so destructive a war. With
the change of masters it has assumed the name of Fort Pitt, and
Pittsburgh the propriety of which is too evident to require a justification of the change."
November 25, I758, was Sunday, and a perusal of all of the writings show that General Forbes observed the day as one of thanksgiving for the victory. It fell to Chaplain Charles Beatty, of the
Pennsylvania soldiers, to have the honor of preaching this sermon of
thanksgiving to the assembled troops. He will more fully participate
in the religious life of Southwestern Pennsylvania, as this narrative
proceeds. He became a Presbyterian missionary to these western pioneers before the establishing of their churches.
Because of his great part, lone-handed, in the success of the expedition, let us follow the trailings of Christian Frederick Post. He was
at Kuskuskies when Fort Duquesne was reduced to ashes.
The Indians were fast travelers along the paths to the eastward
of Fort Duquesne, and between Fort Duquesne, Sawkonk, and Kuskuskies. They communicated the information quickly that Post was
holding conferences, and he proved a magnet to draw them away
274FORT PITT AND PITTSBURGH
from the war councils at Fort Duquesne. The further entries in his
diary give the story best in his own words:
"November I9, I758. A great many of the warriors came home.
The French had infused bad notions into the Indians by means of the
letters they found upon Lieut. Hays, who was killed, which they
falsely interpreted to them, viz.: That in one letter it was wrote that
the general should do all in his power to conquer the French, and, in
the meantime the messengers to the Indians should do their utmost
to draw the Indians back, and keep them together in conferences, till
he, the general had made a conquest of the French, and afterwards he
should fall upon all Indians, and destroy them. And that, if we
should lose our lives, the English would carry on the war so long as
an Englishman or Frenchman was alive. Thereupon the French said
to the Indians:
"'Now you can see, my children, how the English want to deceive
you, and if it would not offend you, I would go and knock these messengers in the head, before you should be deceived by them.' One of
the Indian captains spoke to the French and said:'To be sure it
would offend us, if you should offer to knock them on the head. If
you have a mind to go to war, go to the English army, and knock them
on the head, and not these three men, that come with a message to us.'
"After this speech the Indians went all off, and left the French.
Nevertheless it had enraged some of the young people, and made
them suspicious; so that it was a precarious time for us. I said:'Brethren, have good courage, and be strong; let not every wind disturb your mind; let the French bring the letter here; for, as you cannot read, they may tell you thousands of false stories. We will read
the letter to you. As Isaac Still can read, he will tell you the truth.'
"After all this the young men were gathered together, Isaac Still
being in the company. The young men said:'One that had but half
an eye could see that the English only intended to cheat them; and
that it was best to knock everyone of us messengers on the head.'
"Then Isaac began to speak and said:'I am ashamed to hear such
talking from you; you are but boys like me; you should not talk of
such a thing. There have been I3 nations at Easton, where they have
established a firm peace with the English; and I have heard that the
Five Nations were always called the wisest; go tell them they are
fools, and cannot see; and tell them you are kings, and wise men.
275SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Go and tell the Cuyhoga chiefs so, that are here, and you will become
great men.' Afterwards they were all still, and said not one word
more.
"20th. There came a great many more together in the town, and
brought Henry Osten, the serjeant, who was to have been burnt. They
halloed the war halloo; and the men and women beat him till he
came into the house. It is a grievous and melancholy sight to see our
fellow mortals so abused. Isaac Still had a long discourse with the
French Captain; who made himself great, by telling how he had
fought the English at Loyal-Hanning. Isaac rallied him, and said he
had seen them scalp horses, and take others for food. The first he
denied, but the second he owned. Isaac ran the captain down before
them all. The French captain spoke with the two Cayugas; at last
the Cayugas spoke very sharp to him, so that he grew pale.
"These three days past was precarious time for us. We were
warned not to go far from the house, because people who came from
the slaughter, having been driven back, were possessed with a murdering spirit; which led them as in a halter, in which they were catched,
and with bloody vengeance were thirsty and drunk. This afforded a
melancholy prospect. Isaac Still was himself dubious of our lives.
We did not let MVIr. Hays know of the danger. I said:'As God hath
stopped the mouth of the lions, that they could not devour Daniel, so
he will preserve us from their fury, and bring us through.' I had a
discourse with Mr. Hays concerning our message, and begged him he
would pray to God for grace and wisdom, that he would grant us peace
among this people. We will remain in stillness, and not look to our
own credit. We are in the service of our king and country. This
people are rebellious in heart; now we are here to reconcile them
again to the General, Governor, and the English nation; to turn them
again from their errors. And I wished that God would grant us his
grace, whereby we may do it; which I hope and believe He will do.
Mr. Hays took it to heart and was convinced of all; which much
rejoiced me. I begged Isaac Still to watch over himself.
"In the afternoon all the captains gathered together in the middle
town; they sent for us, and desire we would give them information
of our message. Accordingly we did. We read the message with
great satisfaction to them. It was a great pleasure both to them and
to us. The number of captains and counsellors were I6. In the
evening messengers arrived from Fort Duquesne with a string of
276FORT PITT AND PITTSBURGH
277
wampum from the commander; upon which they all came together in
the house where we lodged. The messengers delivered their string,
with these words from their father, the French King:
"'My children, come to me, and hear what I have to say. The
English are coming with an army to destroy both you and me. I,
therefore, desire you immnediately, my children, to hasten with all
the young men; we will drive out the English and destroy them. I as
a father, will tell you always what is best.'
"He laid the string before one of the captains. After a little conversation, the captain stood up and said:'I have just heard something
of our brethren the English, which pleaseth me much better. I will
not go. Give it to others, may be they will go.' The messengers took
up the string and said:'He won't go, he has heard of the English.'
Then all cried out:'Yes, yes, we have heard from the English.' He
then threw the string to the other fire place, where the captains were;
but they kicked it from one to the other, as if it were a snake. Captain Peter took a stick, and with it flung the string from one end of the
room to the other, and said:'Give it to the French captain, and let
him go with his young men; he boasted much of his fighting; now let
us see his fighting. We have often ventured our lives for him; and
had hardly a loaf of bread when we came to him; and now he thinks
we should jump to serve him.' Then we saw the French captain mortified to the uttermost; he looked as pale as death. The Indians discoursed and joked till midnight, and the French captain sent messengers at midnight to Fort Duquesne.
"2Ist. We were informed that the general was within twenty
miles of Fort Duquesne. As the Indians were afraid the English
would come over the river Ohio, I spoke with some of the captains,
and told them that,'I supposed the general intended to surround the
French, and therefore must come to this side of the river, but we
assure you that he did not come to your towns to hurt you.' I begged
them to let the Shawanese at Logstown know it, and gave them four
strings with 3oo00 wampum, with this message:'Brethren we are
arrived with good news waiting for you; we desire you to be strong,
and remember the ancient friendship your grandfathers had with the
English. We wish you would remember it, and pity your young men,
women and children, and keep away from the French; and if the
English should come to surround the French, be not afraid. We
assure you they won't hurt you.'SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"22nd. Kittiuskund came home, and sent for us, being very glad
to see us. He informed us the general was within fifteen miles of the
French fort; that the French had uncovered their houses, and laid
the roofs round the fort to set it on fire, and made ready to go off
and would demolish the fort, and let the English have the bare ground,
saying:'They are not able to build a strong fort this winter, and we
will be early enough in the spring to destroy them. We will come with
I7 nations of Indians, and a great many French, and build a stone
fort.'
"The Indians danced round the fire till midnight, for joy of their
brethren, the English coming. There went some scouting parties
towards the army. Some of the captains told me that Shamokin Daniel, who came with me on my former journey, had fairly sold me to
the French; and the French had been very much displeased, that the
Indians had brought me away.
"23d. The liar raised a story, as if the English were divided into
3 bodies, to come on this side of the river. They told us the Cayugas,
that came with us, had said so. We told the Cayugas of it, on which
they called the other Indians together; denied that they ever said so,
and said, they were sent to this place from the Five Nations, to tell
them to do their best endeavors to send the French off from this country; and when that was done they would go and tell the general to go
back over the mountains.
"I see the Indians concern themselves very much about the affairs
of land; and are continually jealous and afraid the English will take
their land. I told them to be still and content themselves,'for there
are some chiefs of the Five Nations with the army-they will settle
the affair, as they are the chief owners of the land; and it will be
well for you to come and speak with the general yourselves.'
"Isaac Still asked the French captain whether it was true that
Daniel had sold me to the French. He owned it, and said I was theirs;
they had bought me fairly; and, if the Indians would give them leave,
they would take me.
"24th. We hanged out the English flag, in spite of the French;
on which our prisoners folded their hands, in hopes that their redemption was nigh, looking up to God, which melted my heart in tears,
and prayers to God to hear their prayers, and change the times and
the situation which our prisoners are in, and under which they groan.'Oh Lord,' said they,'when will our redemption come that we shall be
278FORT PITT AND PITTSBURGH
delivered and return home?' And if any accident happeneth, which
the Indians dislike, the prisoners all tremble with fear, saying:'Lord
what will become of us, and what will be the end of our lives?' So
that they often wish themselves rather under the ground than in this
life. King Beaver came home and called us to his house, and saluted
us in a friendly manner, and we in like manner did to him. The French
captain told us that they would demolish the Fort, and he thought the
English would be today at the place."
General Forbes reported to Governor William Denny that he
should leave two hundred of the Pennsylvania troops to Fort Pitt to
join a proportion of Virginia and Miarylanders, in order to protect the
country during the winter, by which he hoped that the Provinces would
be sensible of the great benefit of this new acquisition, as to enable
him "to fix this noble, fine country to all perpetuity, under the Dominion of Great Britain." As the Forbes army planned its march back to
Philadelphia, the General also had his mind set on making a strong
fortification to replace Fort Duquesne, had he lived. It is not definitely known just when the fort was begun, nor completed, and one of
the first letters referring to itwas from Colonel Hugh Mercer, dated
January 8, I759: "This garrison now consists of two hundred and
eighty men, and is capable of some defense, though huddled up in a
very hasty manner, the weather being extremely severe." General
Jeffrey Amherst was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the American
forces in December, I758, and in a letter from him on March I8,
I759, the death of General Forbes was announced, and also the
appointment of General John Stanwix as his successor. This placed
the military jurisdiction of the new Fort Pitt directly under General
Stanwix. The historian Sparks describes General Stanwix as a military man, "and a gentleman of an elevated and liberal spirit." His
letters bear a high testimony to his good sense, as well as to the delicacy of his feelings, the amenity of his temper, and the generosity of
his character.
The ruins of Fort Duquesne are described by Captain John Haslet in a letter to the Rev. Dr. Allison, written November 26, I758, in
these words: "We arrived at 6 o'clock last night, and found it in a
great measure destroyed. There are two forts about 200 yards distant, the one built with immense labor, small but a great deal of very
strong works collected into a little room, and stands on the point of a
279SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
very narrow neck of land at the confluence of the two rivers. It is
square and has two ravelins of gabions at each corner. The other fort
stands on the bank of the Allegheny, in the form of a parallelogram,
but not so strong as the other. Several of the outworks are lately
begun and still unfinished. There are, I think, 30 stacks of chimneys standing-the houses all burnt down. They sprung one mine
which ruined one of their magazines. In the other we found I6 barrels of ammunition, a prodigious quantity of old carriage iron, barrels
of guns, about a cart load of scalping knives. They went off in such
haste they could not destroy their works as they intended. We are
told by the Indians that they lay the night before last at Beaver Creek,
40 miles down the Ohio from here. Whether they buried their dead
in the river or carried them down in their bateaux, we have not yet
learned. A boy of I2 years old who has been their prisoner two
years, who escaped on the 2d instant, tells us they had carried a prodigious amount of wood into the fort, that they had burnt five of the
prisoners that they took at Major Grant's defeat, on the parade, and
delivered others to the Indians, who were tomahawked on the spot.
We have found numbers of dead bodies within a quarter of a mile of
the fort unburied, as so many monuments of French humanity! A
great many Indians, mostly Delawares, are gathered on the Island
last night and this morning, to treat with the General, and we are
making rafts to bring them over. Whether the General will think of
repairing the ruins, or leaving any of the troops here, I have not yet
heard. Mr. Beatty is appointed to preach a thanksgiving sermon, for
the remarkable superiority of his Majesty's arms. We left our tents
at Loyalhanna, and every convenience except a blanket and a knapsack."
In his full report of conditions General Forbes further told William Pitt of his intention to send Brigade-Major Halkett over to
England to give him details of the expedition, "whose zeal and abilities in the service have been particularly distinguished, not only in
this but in every preceding campaign from the beginning of the war
in this country, and whose father, Sir Peter Halkett, lost his life at the
Monongahela under General Braddock."  Said General Forbes
further:
"I should have carried the troops up the River to Lake Erie, and
destroyed the French posts at Venango and Presque Isle, but the season of the year, and the scarcity of my provisions, does by no means
28oFORT PITT AND PITTSBURGH
admitt of it, this last inconvenience (being obliged to carry every bit
of my provisions for man and horse for betwixt 3  400 miles thro'
almost impassable roads and mountains) renders it extremely difficult
for me to leave a sufficient garrison here for the protection of this
country, as all manner of communication with the inhabited parts of
the provinces will be cut off during the winter for at least four months.
notwithstanding that I have built forts, and erected posts at proper
distances, to have kept the communication open if possible."
The French divided into two parties, the greater number going
down the Ohio, and the remainder northerly. About Ioo of the latter went overland to the fort at Presque Isle, and about 200 went up
the Allegheny River to Fort Machault, which had the other name of
Venango. The Indians scattered to their towns to the westward for
the winter, destined, however, to make the next ten years very trying
to those adventuresome pioneers who sought to take up tomahawk
claims under a measure of military permits. The French strengthened
the fort at Venango, with the intention of defending the place, should
the English attempt to come up the Allegheny and attack them.
Colonel George Washington was quick to get back to Virginia.
He requested that his regiments might return by the old Braddock
Road, but his commanding officer evidently denied that, for we find
him at Loyalhanna on December 2, I758, writing a very illuminating
letter to Governor Fauquier, stressing that Virginia should interest
itself in securing the communication to Redstone Creek and construct.
ing a post there; that the trade with the Indians should be transacted
by men of principle, to remove the bad impressions given them by the
rascally fellows, so that Virginia could get a large share of the fur
trade, with both the Ohio Indians and those on westward. His vision
of the commercial importance of these parts was ever increasing in
size, as he led his ill-clad Virginia soldiers back home. He next
appears at Fort Loudon at Winchester on December ninth, and on
December thirtieth he was in Williamsburgh. General Forbes had
spent the larger part of the month of December at the new Fort
Ligonier.
General Forbes left Pittsburgh on December 3, I758, and trav.
eled to Ligonier. But the free-lance messenger of peace, Christian
Frederick Post spent this eventful day of November twenty-five in a
long conference with the Indians, delivering to them the messages of
28iAnnals of
Soutlwestern. Pennsylvania
By
LEWIS CLARK WALKINSHAW, A M.
//
Historian, Pennsylvania Society, Sons of tAe
Americans Revolution,
VOLUME I
LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
NEW YORK
I
I
iSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
bas and Cherokees, for there was an interchange of warfare north
and south, and sometimes peaceful relations, and this caused the laying down of the Catawba Trail. It entered the southern side of Fayette County at the mouth of Grassy Run on the Cheat River, and came
northerly by Long's Mill, Ashcraft's Fort, keeping the divide between
York's Run and the upper reaches of George's Creek, past Fort Gaddis, Beeson's later mill site, across Shute's Run, past Pearse's Fort,
just west of the present Mt. Braddock mansion, across the summit of
Limestone Hill, to Robinson's Falls on Mill Run, and thence down it
to the famed Stewart's Crossings on the Braddock Road. It proceeded from the mouth of Mount's Creek on the Youghiogheny River
up that stream and across to Laurelville on Jacob's Creek. Following this stream to its source near Freeman's Falls, it extended northeasterly and across the upper Four Mile Run Valley past Fort Williams, Stahlstown and Pleasant Grove into Ligonier. Here it crossed
the Allegheny Trail at Loyalhanna Indian Town and proceeded part
way up Mill Creek to Oak Grove and then kept the high ground of
the present Highway Route 7I I, past Fort Palmer and West Fairfield to Squirrel Hill Indian Town at New Florence. The trail then
proceeded northerly by a diagonal course across the Chestnut Ridge
to Peholand Indian Town at Homer City, and thence past Moorhead's Fort at Indiana and northerly to Kelleysburg, to the westerly
of Marion Center and, after crossing the Venango Trail, proceeded
close to Marchand and Covode, crossed the Mahoning Creek below
Punxsutawney. TIhe trail headed on across Clarion County to old
Goshgoshing Indian Town at Tionesta, and thence on to the council
fires at Onondaga, near Syracuse, New York.
THE VENANGO TRAIL-Venango was an important point in both
Indian and military history, the original Indian town being located at
Franklin. Many trails led thither, but two of them may be mentioned
in particular. There was the Venango Trail which branched off the
Kittanning Path on the eastern edge of Indiana County and thence
extended through Green, East, South and West Mahoning townships
to Venango. There was also the well-known Venango Trail extending southerly to the Ohio, forking at Murthering Town in Butler
County, one branch reaching to Shannopin's Town, and the other to
Logstown.
There were many other shorter cross connecting trails, which can
only be best considered in dealing with the location of the important
Indian towns with which this historic country was dotted.
12SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Governor Denny and General Forbes. After the council broke up,
he added in his diary the following entries which give us more light on
the beginnings of Fort Pitt and Pittsburgh:
"After a little while messengers arrived, and Beaver came to our
house, and gave us the pleasure to hear, that the English had the
field, and that the French had demolished and burnt the place entirely,
and went off; that the commander is gone with two hundred men to
Venango, and the rest gone down the river in battoes, to the lower
Shawanese town, with an intention to build a fort there; they were
seen yesterday passing Saukung. We ended this day with pleasure and
great satisfaction on both sides; the Cayuga chief said he would
speak further to them tomorrow."
November twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth and thirtieth,
there were other conferences with the Indians, George Croghan, Henry
Montour, and Thomas King being present. There was a final conference on December first, and Post set out for Pittsburgh on December
second, crossing the swollen Beaver River in the afternoon, and reaching Logstown, where he observed thirty houses built by the French.
His party camped eight miles below Pittsburgh, and his entry following gives added interest to the beginnings of Pittsburgh:
"December 3d. We started early and came to the river by Pittsburg; we called that they should come over and fetch us; but their
boats having gone adrift, they made a raft of black oak pallisadoes,
which sunk as soon as it came into the water. We were very hungry
and staid on that Island, where I had kept council with the Indians
in the month of August last; for all I had nothing to live on, I thought
myself a great deal better off now, than at that time, having now liberty to walk upon the Island according to my pleasure, and it seemed
as' if the dark clouds were dispersed.
"While I waited I saw the General march off from Pittsburg,
which made me sorry that I could not have the pleasure of speaking
with him. Towards evening our whole party arrived; upon which
they fired from the fort with twelve guns; and our Indians saluted
about three times round with their small arms. By accident some of
the Indians found a raft hid in the bushes, and Mr. Hays, coming last,
went over first with two Indians. They sent us but a small allowance
so that it would not serve each round. I tied my belt a little closer,
282FORT PITT AND PITTSBURGH
being very hungry, and nothing to eat. It snowed and we were
obliged to sleep without any shelter. In the evening they threw light
balls from the Fort; at which the Indians started, thinking they would
fire at them; but seeing it was not aimed at them, they rejoiced to
see them fly so high.
"4th. We got up early and cleared a place from the snow, cut
some firewood and halloed till we were tired. Towards noon Mr.
Hays came with a raft and the Indian Chiefs went over; he informed
me of Colonel Bouquet's displeasure with the Indians' answer to the
General, and his desire that they should alter their mind, in insisting
upon the General's going back; but the Indians had no inclination to
alter their mind. In the afternoon some provision was sent over,
but a small allowance. When I came over to the Fort, the council with
the Indians was almost at an end. I had a discourse with Col. Bouquet about the affairs, disposition and resolution of the Indians.
"I drew provision for our journey to Fort Ligonier, and baked
bread for our whole company; towards noon the Indians met together
in a conference.. "
This conference was participated in by George Croghan, Colonel
Armstrong, Andrew Montour, and Colonel Bouquet, and he proceeds with the diary:
"Colonel Bouquet set out for Loyalhannon; the Indians got some
liquor between ten and eleven o'clock. One Mohock died; the others
fired guns three times over him; at the last firing one had accidentally
loaded his gun with a double charge; this gun burst to pieces and
broke his hand clean off; he also got a hard knock on his breast; and
in the morning at nine o'clock he died, and they buried him in that
place, both in one hole.
"6th. It was a cold morning; we swam our horses over the river,
the ice running violently.... Then we took leave of them, and
promised to inform the general, governor, and all other gentle people
of their disposition; and so we set out from Pittsburgh, and came
within fifteen miles of the breastwork, where we encamped. It snowed
and we made a little cabin of hides.
"7th. Our horses were fainting, having little or no food. We
came that day about twenty miles, to another breastwork, where the
whole army had encamped on a hill; the water being far to fetch.
283SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"8th. Between Pittsburg and Fort Ligonier the country is very
hilly, with rich bottoms, well timbered, but scantily watered. We
arrived at Fort Ligonier in the afternoon about four o'clock, where we
found the General very sick; and therefore could have no opportunity
to speak with him.
"9th. We waited to see the general; who told us he would march
the next day, and we should go with him. Captain Sinclair wrote us
a return for provisions for four days.
"ioth. The General was still sick so that he could not go on the
journey.
I Ith. We longed very much to go farther; and therefore spoke
to Major Halket, and desired him to inquire of the General if he
intended to speak with us, or if we might go, as we were in a poor
condition for want of linen and other necessities. He desired us to
bring the Indians' answer, and our journal to the general. Mr. Hays
read his journal to Major Halket and Governor Glen. They took
memorandums, and went to the general.
"I2th. They told us we should stay till the general went.
"I4th. The general intended to go, but his horses could not be
found. They thought the Indians had carried them off. They hunted
all day for the horses, but could not find them. I spoke to Col. Bouquet about our allowances being so small, that we could hardly subsist; and that we were without money, and desired him to let us have
some money that we might buy necessities. Provisions and everything
is exceeding dear. One pound of bread costs a shilling, one pound of
sugar four shillings, a quart of rum seven shillings and six pence, and
so in proportion. Col. Bouquet laid our matters before the general;
he let me call, and excused himself, that his distemper has hindered
him from speaking with me; and promised to help me in everything I
should want, and ordered him to give me some money. He said farther that I often should call, and when he was alone he would speak
with me.
"I6th. Mr. Hays, being a hunting, was so lucky as to find the
general's horses, and brought them home; for which the general was
very thankful to him.
"I7th. Mr. Hays being desired by Major Halket to go and look
for other horses, went but found none."
The further entries on the Post diary shows the activities at Fort
Ligonier on the succeeding days, so long as General Forbes remained
284FORT PITT AND PITTSBURGH
there. December eighteenth, they kept in readiness; nineteenth, the
soldiers were busy hunting for horses that had strayed away; twentieth, it was cold and stormy; twenty-third, they were still hunting for
the strayed horses; on this day Henry Hosten, whose life was saved
from burning at the stake at the hands of the Indians, arrived in camp
from Fort Pitt, and there was much rejoicing. On this day, also,
General Forbes sent Captain Wetterholt back to Fort Pitt to
strengthen the garrison there. There was a great Christmas party on
the twenty-fifth, such as could be had, in view of the provisions. On
the twenty-sixth an express came from Pittsburgh informing the general of conditions there since his departure. The general finally set
out for the east on D'ecember twenty-seventh, arriving at Stony Creek
on the twenty-eighth, at a camp on "this side of Allegheny Hills,"
which may have been Fort Duart, or the former camp near present
Grandview at the foot of the mountain. Post then records that he
arrived at Fort Bedford on the thirtieth of December, and lodged with
the noted trader, John Frazer, who had established a new home
there, after leaving his trading post at the mouth of Turtle Creek
about four years before, when Captain Trent's company, in command
of Ensign Ward, left the half finished Fort Trent in the hands of the
French, and from the foundations of which they began the strong
Fort Duquesne. John Frazer and Christian Frederick Post would
have much to talk about during that interesting visit.
One interesting incident happened when General Forbes reached
the Tomahawk Camp at the eastern side of the Laurel Hill. One of
the officers, in his letter, tells how the general almost died from the
cold, because his chimney was not clayed. The inexperienced soldier
who built this hut of protection for the general, failed to make the
comfortable quarters that he needed, and the wet wood made the circumstances all the more disagreeable. The Historical Commission of
Pennsylvania has appropriately marked the site of Tomahawk Camp
just west of Jenners, Somerset County. This site was about a mile
from that of Fort Dudgeon, on the road westward a few months
before.
285CHAPTER XX
The Commercial Pioneers
First Poetry Written in Southwestern Pennsylvania-"The Glooms of
Ligonier"-The Beginnings of Commercial Life at PittsburghJames Kenny, Pioneer Quaker Trader, Brings Cargo West-His
Experiences Along the Braddock Road and the Monongahela River
-First Dealings With the Indians-The Beginnings of Fort PittActivities at Fort Ligonier to Protect the Pack Trains-The Journal
of Colonel John Michael Lindenmuth-His Itinerary to Fort Ligonier-Severe Clashes, With Indians on the Western Slope of Laurel
Hill-Bullitt's Defeat, and Other Serious Engagements-Colonel Lindenmuth's Other Service and Honorable Discharge.
THE GLOOMS OF LIGONIER
From climes deformed with frost severe,
From mountains wrapt in snow,
Where surly winter rules the year,
And howling tempests blow:
To you, whose modest charms improve
The lightning of your eyes;
Still conscious of the force of love,
We soldiers waft our sighs.
Though fortune calls us here, beyond
Each gay engaging view,
Yet, pleased, we do our duty, fond
To serve our prince and you.
Our prince, to merit ever just,
Rewards the soldier's toil,
You too will deign, we humbly trust,
To pay us with a smile.
While happy thus the scene shall shift,
We've nothing more to ask;THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
Honor, the king's peculiar gift,
And love, your tender task.
Of these possest, at fate we'll smile,
Defy the surly year,
Honor and love shall reconcile
The glooms of Ligonier.
This love ballad of a soldier with leisure time on his hands after
his military duties at Fort Ligonier, during the year I759, is perhaps
the first poem written west of the mountains. The author was an
officer of the battalion of the Pennsylvania regiment stationed there.
His specific duties, and those of his fellow officers and soldiers, were
to keep the communications open between Fort Pitt and Philadelphia.
The desultory trading by those who dealt with the Indians between
approximately the years I730 and I754, when the French came in,
cannot be considered as basic. During the four years of occupancy
by the French, and the attempt of the English to dislodge them, the
English traders were mostly back east of the mountains, and some of
them were a part of the Braddock and Forbes armies. The foundations of commercial and industrial life of Southwestern Pennsylvania
began to be laid in the year I759. There were important factors:
first, the Forbes Road, primitively and hastily cut as it was, became
the main commercial highway; second, the old traders, largely, and
many new ones, became the fortuitous adventurers on the frontier,
and, therefore, the pioneers who laid the foundations; and third, in
spite of the large and growing trade, the Indians were by no means
reconciled to this adventuresome occupancy, most of it under military
permit.
Fort Pitt was the military garrison on the very frontier, and the
town which grew up about it, known as Pittsburgh, was the great frontier trading post. Fort Bedford and Fort Ligonier were intermediate
strongholds along the new road, each subject, however, to Indian
incursions from the side, as adventurers carved out their tomahawk
claims. Some came over the Braddock Road, although it had been
little used, except by scouting French who might have ventured that
far easterly, almost to Fort Cumberland, at Wills Creek, where Lieutenant-Colonel John Dagworthy had been in charge. Those who
brought their goods west over the Braddock Road soon came to use
the new road built in I759 by Colonel James Burd from the top of
287SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Chestnut Ridge, above Uniontown, over to the mouth of Redstone
Creek, where they were transported down the Monongahela to Pittsburgh. By far the greater amount of trading came over the Forbes
Road, by pack-horse through Fort Bedford and Fort Ligonier.
The diary of James Kenny, a Quaker merchant at Pittsburgh,
during the years I759, I76I, I762 and I763, is the most illuminating
record that has been left, with which to visualize these commercial
beginnings, in the light of the attitude and trade of the Indians, and
the attendant military protection. In a reading of the very first entries,
which began December Io, I758, one senses the vision of commercial
expansion which these Philadelphians had, even while the Forbes expedition was in progress. General Forbes was just going to Fort
Ligonier. James Kenny calls his diary a "Journal to Ye Westward,"
and his first entries were:
"I758, I2 mo ioth. This morning received a letter from Israel
Pemberton signifying that I might come to Town to Speak with ye
Commissioners for Indian Affairs upon which I went ye same day 
put up at Joseph Ways.
"I Ith. Was invited by my friend Isr Pemberton to take my horse
to his stable  come  lodge at his house, informing me that as he
thought delays might be dangerous to ye public interest in not sending goods in due time to ye Westward; he was determined to send a
quantity to meet ye General to be apply'd as he would think best
amongst ye Western Indians  as some person must go to see ye goods
delivered he would send me as one for that purpose in case I agreed
not with ye Commissioners  ye Comisss being for having me
engage certain for a year as assistant to one not being a Friend I
choose to go first more at Liberty so I concluded to go with ye goods
for Isreal Pemberton."
After making a trip back home for preparations, he returned to
Philadelphia, and got ready his consignment of goods, and then
started westward December 25, I758, through Lancaster, and by
ferry across the Susquehanna, and to York. His employer, Isaac
Pemberton, accompanied him that far, and then turned north to Carlisle, in company with Samuel Lightfoot, who was to go with Kenny
to Fort Pitt.
"I759. Imo. 4th. Samuel Lightfoot returned from Carlisle  we
prepared to set off on our journey. Before I leave York I may state,
288THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
that ye day my employer left it, he  I entered into articles specifying
that I should receive as wages five Pounds pr. month for my services
on this side of ye Kittatinny Hill, but crossing them towards ye Ohio,
I was to receive my wages increased in proportion to ye dangers  difficulties that I must be exposed to there  to assist my partner, truly
both being bound in one hundred Pounds penalty; he not to discharge
me nor I not quit his service without at least one month's warning;
after which we parted, my employer showing much concern  tenderness in respect of gaining ye Indians to ye English interest. We left
York  lodged that night at Jno. Abbots."
The succeeding entries tell of their going through Fort Frederick,
and having great difficulty in securing wagons and in fording the
Potomac. James Kenny made a side trip to Winchester, where he first
met Levi Levy, "ye Jew," where he "got a grant of i o50 shillings," of
Pennsylvania money upon exchange at Philadelphia. He spent the
period from January fourth to April fourth, getting as far as the
Little Meadows on the old Braddock Road, being busy with his
wagons and cargo, and having difficulty along the Potomac, and
through Colonel Thomas Cresap's village of Old Town, and along
the Sideling Hill Mountain. The details of this three-months' experience are decidedly interesting, but do not directly concern the development of Pittsburgh. Samuel Lightfoot had ridden on over the
mountains and was at the mouth of Redstone Creek on April 6, I759,
twelve days before James Kenny went on from Little Meadows with
the wagons. A report also came to him of the Indians having killed
and taken some at "Loyalhannan."
4mo. i9th. In ye morning it rained, but I set off  overtook ye
company in about four miles farther, so they got loaded  proceeded
to ye Great Bear Camps within Seven miles of ye Big Youghany. Four
loads of Lead being left there; ye Wolves having destroyed ye ropes
we were obliged to encamp there.
"20th. It Rained a good deal in ye night  this morning, but abating a while we got up ye horses  loaded them, covering each load.
It rained smartly wholst we were loading, but I was for getting over
ye Big Youghogany least it should rise too high for us; but we got
over safe, one blanket falling off as we crossed  it floating down
about 40 perches one of ye drivers Thomas Mercer stripped all off 
S. P.-I-19
289SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
waided up to his armpits  brought it out.  so we encamped near ye
river upon a little creek-side, as there was no more good pasture until
we go to ye Great Meadows. This evening James Hammons  John
Mickle killed a bear, which is good eating.
"2Ist. Proceeded to ye Great Meadows. Three of ye creatures
gave out about'2 of ye way, but I tarried behind  brought them
along. Put two loads on my own horse, so got them all to ye Meadows, where is good pasture. One of them belonging to William Underwood died in ye night; he could not swallow grass when he chewed
it, but put it out.
"22d. Christy Miller killed two Turkey cocks this morning. Its
concluded to lie by here today to let ye creatures rest  feed or else
we cannot get ye goods to Redstone Creek, as all of them are loaded.
"23d. As ye pasture is so good here, I think it prudent to let ye
horses stay here this day also, as we cannot get all ye goods along
without ye horses that failed last Seventh day,  must carry ye dead
horse's loads also amongst them,  as these two days is fine weather, it
is some mortification for me to wait. There was an account come to
Cumberland before I left it, of two men being killed  four taken
near to Loyalhannon; ye officers at Cumberland advised me not to
follow ye lads  horses, esteeming it too dangerous, but I did not
follow their advice.
"24th. Set off this morning  came to Guest's Place  met an
express going to Cumberland. I received a letter from Samuel, the
express and ye letter mentioning of many people killed  taken on ye
other road.
"25th. Proceeded this day to a Bottom upon Redstone Creek,
about 9 miles from Guest's Place. As our creatures are so weak we
cannot go long journeys. It rained some as we went  smartly whilst
unloading, but piled up ye goods and covered them, none being hurt
by it. In this bottom grows plenty of clover,  I found some pieces
of Stone Coal that burns well.
"26th. Came to the mouth of Redstone Creek upon ye Monongahela  piled up our goods  covered them: it rained in ye night.
"27th. We spent this day in making a bark canoe. It thundered
 rained this night.
"28th. Like for a wet day ye lads killed a deer  a cub Bear. We
have made ye canoe so that I intend to set off tomorrow is so be it is
290THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
not very wet. I am to take down some strouds  saddles according
to Samuel's letter.
"29th. Set off down ye river this morning with one of ye hands;
took three bundles of Strouds  three Saddles; got as far as ye mouth
of ye Youhigany; struck up a fire  tarried till morning.
"3oth. Got to Pittsburgh about ten of ye clock this day, where I
found Samuel sick of ye Measels.
"s5mo. Ist. This evening got ye skins and furs made up  got
ye grant of bateaus  men to carry them up to ye mouth of Redstone
 bring down ye goods.
"2d. Bateaus set off this morning; one of our packhorse drivers
entrusted to return with ye goods who is to stay here as he can talk
ye Indian tongue.  Several Indians have been here dealing, who
seemed well satisfied.
"6th. Here was an Indian who had a white woman, he seemed
glad to see ye Quakers  ye woman mentioned that she wondered at
ye esteem ye Indians professed for ye Quakers.
"ioth. Here was ye Crow Indian  family; they are very difficult to deal with  recond thievish.
"I4th. Delaware George being lying on ye Island over ye River
rescued a prisoner that had made his escape,  hallowing to be brought
over, ye young warriors wanted him  was going to kill him.
"Isth. Some of ye soldiers being out hunting over ye Monongahela, were fired on by some French Indians one killed  2 missing.
A party sent out, who buried ye man  found ye blood of two Indians
that was killed or wounded  carried off.
"i6th. A party gone in quest of ye enemy; some of ye Indians
that lay here gone likewise  very eager to come up with them as ye
white men relate. I am about making a dictionary of ye names of
goods in ye Delaware tongue.
"I7th. This day come some pork  2 bullocks, 2 others lost last
night. Received a letter from Lieut. Linn at Cumberland signifying
that our cow has arrived  in ye care of Capt. Paris's wife.
"I8th. Bought a rifle gun of one Donnelson, that came as Packhorse Master. The Indians took ye other 2 bullocks off in ye night,
as they tracked them.
"I9th. It rained smartly  ye packhorses with a command of men
have gone back. The Colonel hired 2 Indians today to go on some
29ICHAPTER 11
The Indian Towns and Fillages
The Cause of Their Location-Early Indian Population EstimatesAliquippa's Town at McKeesport-Blacklegs and Keckenepaulin's
at Saltsburg-Catfish Camp at Washington-Conemaugh at Johnstown-Kittanning, the Largest Delaware Town-King Beaver's at
Beaver-Kuskuskies at New  Castle-Loyalhanna at LigonierShannopin's Town at Pittsburgh-Sewickley at West NewtonOther Towns.
After the general migration of the Delawares and Shawnees into
Southwestern Pennsylvania between the years I724 and I730, they
established themselves in towns at convenient places along our historic
rivers. Some of these habitations were of considerable size, while
others were of but a few cabins, and in some instances a single habitation of a prominent chief along the trails later trodden by the white
man. The other Indians from New York and Ohio who frequented
these important centers and who participated in the important treaties,
land negotiations and later conflicts with the settlers, came down the
established trails. There are several sources of historical material
which enable the student of history to locate these towns, villages
and cabins with a fair degree of accuracy. First, there are the colonial records of the Province of Pennsylvania, containing the dealings
of the Supreme Executive Council, with their agents, the Indians and
the traders. Second, the letters and reports of the traders, in many
instances sworn to. Third, the diaries of the traders. Fourth, the
later land records and surveys in the Land Office at Harrisburg and in
the respective counties. Fifth, the private records and archives of
families, whose forbears suffered and endured the rigors of frontier
life. Family traditions are not always accurate, but where they corr I I ~SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
errand, but returned having met some French  Indians coming this
way.
"20th. This morning two strange Indians hallowed to be brought
over ye river, but upon confessing that they came from ye French 
one of them a Tawa, they were denied being sent for, but told to come
in another canoe that lay in the far side, which when they found we
would not send over, they came in ye canoe, desiring to be taken to
ye Colonel  see ye Fort, but he sent them victuals  a dram, signifying that as they came from ye French they must not see him. So they
were sent over again by a party of men  a bateau.
"2ist. Being almost out of provisions, there was some hints that
we must soon eat horses  dogs, if'relief did not come soon.
"22d. Here came a command of men today with packhorses 
provisions of which we were not out of ye need amongst ye garrison,
tho' we did not suffer. Samuel received some letters  wampum. I
wrote to Humphrey Marshall, my brother  Geo. Carter.
"23d. Today ye command returned; consisting of about o50 men;
Thomas Kenton  horses being pressed  in ye same company.
"24th. We had some dealing this day with ye Indians, here was
John  Beaver's son. The Colonel  about 60 men have been over
ye river some miles.
"25th. Here was Philip Powel  2 of his brothers  another
man who had skins  furs to some considerable value. Philip being
my old acquaintance was glad to see me; he was like to be wronged
out of ISs. by Kennedy. The old trader talking about stealing said
he hoped to God he would never be guilty of stealing.
"27th. Came last night from Ligonier, an express that brings
account that some of ye last command from here, were cut off  some
from Bedford coming with wagons  provisions were destroyed. Pescattame (Pisquetomen) here today  states that ye peace will be promoted amongst them.
"28th. Last night ye soldiers that lay out were all ordered into
ye fort. A party of about I6o gone off to meet some that is coming.
I have been setting Pisquetims raisors this morning; he says he is ye
brother of Shingas ye Beaver  that they will do all they can to make
peace.
"29th. Some Indians being over ye Monongahela say they were
where some of ye enemy had crossed ye river to this side. No trade
today, only a little Mingo man for cash.
292THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
"3oth. Returned Thomas Kenton  ye packhorses being pressed
again. Six men of ye company killed as they went to Ligonier  all
being eat by ye wolves when they returned, so buried them.
"3Ist. It rained most of ye day. Andrew Montour came today
with some Indians about ye 3 Mingoes that had been waiting here
being set off home.
"6mo. Ist. Killbuck  Johny son of Teedyuscung came here, 
Montour has sent out several messengers to invite ye Indians to a
treaty. Killbuck is to go to see Venango  he commonly lodges in our
house; he  Montour this night with us.
"2d. This day a command of many men have gone to Ligonier
with Thomas Kenton  ye packhorses, some Indians gone also to meet
Croghan. Killbuck dined with us  told us his mind more freely concerning ye French than before  owned ye odds betwixt our dealing
with them  ye French dealings.
"4th. An express camne with secret news from Ligonier this morning  another since. We sold an old rifle gun to an Indian called
Simon.
"sth. One command of about 50 men went off toward Ligonier 
5 batteus are gone towards ye mouth of Redstone Creek, to bring
down provisions. TIoday three rounds of ye great guns  small arms
fired, rejoicing at ye reducing of Guadaloupe.
"7th. Two horses came from ye far side of ye Island; ye soldiers
brought them over  put them to plow, but this morning both got
hoppled together.
"8th. This morning came here old Teedyuscung  about I4 Tawa
or French Indians; they made a great show shooting their guns 
singing; they informed ye colonel they came to smoke ye Pipe of
Peace. Some being of ye Tawa Nation they carried ye pipe with a
wing of some foul as an sign or flag of Truce,  Sung loud until they
got into ye Colonel's house  there smoked.
"9th. The Tawas  some other Indians with them, live over ye
Allegheny at night  come to this side in ye daytime; ye batteaus
returned last night from Redstone Creek with provisions. I have been
altering Colonel Mercer's account respecting ye Garrison in ye Book,
as it was in some places mixed with his Indian accounts."
The succeeding entries in the Kenny diary up to July I, I759, show
dealings with the Indians James Morriss, Pisquetomen, Killbuck,
293SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Teedyuscung, and Nanticoke Will, a Shawnee. There were Delawares, Shawnees, Mingoes, Tawas, and Wyandots. George Croghan
discourses on the prices for goods and skins set by the Commissioners,
and indicates that they will be accused of cheating, and the Province
suffer injustice thereby. Having thus gotten this picture of the very
beginnings of trade at Pittsburgh, let us travel down the Forbes Road
and note the important events that are transpiring there. The Braddock Road over which Kenny and his goods came did not have the
commerce that was attempted over the Forbes Road. The French and
the Indians naturally directed their attack at the nearest point to their
military base at Venango and northerly fortifications. Even before
General Forbes arrived back at Philadelphia on January I8, I759,
the trade had already started. The problem was to make the communication safe by an adequate military protection.
The processes of the construction of the new Fort Pitt are not
clearly set out in the historical writings, but this mention of a fort
and of a "Colonel's house," as well as his own habitation, by Kenny,
would indicate that Colonel Mercer and his men were continually
enlarging the fortification to meet their needs. During the month of
August, I759, Colonel Mercer wrote to Governor Denny: "Capt.
Gordon, chief engineer, has arrived with most of the artificers, but
does not fix the spot for constructing the Fort till the General comes
up. We are preparing the materials for building with what expedition so few men are capable." The General to whom Colonel Mercer
refers was General John Stanwix, who commanded at Fort Pitt, I7591760. The exact date of his arrival and the day when work was begun
by him is not known. A letter written there September 24, I759,
gives the following account: "It is now near a month since the army
has been employed in erecting a most formidable fortification, such a
one as will to latest posterity secure the British empire on the Ohio.
There is no need to enumerate the abilities of the chief engineer nor
the spirit shown by the troops in executing the important task; the
fort will soon be a lasting monument of both."
The fort was built near the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio, and was a little farther inland
than Fort Duquesne, about where the Duquesne Freight Station of
the Pennsylvania Railroad now stands. It was five-sided, the two
sides facing the land of brick, and other sides stockade, the whole
occupying much of the land north of Liberty Avenue and west of
294THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
Third Avenue. There are varied estimates of its cost, but if labor is
included, the most reasonable one given is six hundred pounds. The
lumber that went into the fort would be easily accessible at small financial cost, and the construction of the ramparts, the pickets beyond, and
the moat, would be largely an item of labor. Barracks and storehouses
were constructed to provide for one thousand officers and men, and
on the bastions were placed eighteen pieces of artillery. The exact
date of its completion is not known, but Major-General John Stanwix
left for Philadelphia on March 2I, I760, after he was satisfied of
its effectiveness. The construction of this strong fortification had the
effect of attracting both traders and settlers hither.
On June 9, I759, Colonel Hugh Mercer, Commandant, reported
the following officers on duty there: First Pennsylvania, Captains John
Prentice, Thomas Smallman, Edward Ward; Lieutenants Edmund
Matthews, Nicholas Conrad, David Kennedy, Robert Anderson,
Thomas Hutchins; Ensigns H-lugh Crawford and Robert Crawford;
Second Pennsylvania, Captains Asher Clayton, John Morgan; Lieutenants Martin Hydler, Edward Biddle; Ensigns Jacob Morgan, Jr.
He also reported Captains William Dangerfield and Hy Woodward,
of the First Virginia, and Captain Andrew Waggoner, organization
not stated, together with Captain Wright of the train (possibly packhorse).
With Fort Pitt fairly well started, and James Kenny also well set
in his trading, let us now, in visualization, go out along the Forbes
Road and observe what is taking place. East and west of Ligonier
there was great military activity during the first six months of I759,
and many casualties, more, perhaps, than we shall ever know. At
Fort Loudoun General Forbes, on January fourth, ordered 750 men
to march westerly to Fort Ligonier and Fort Pitt. This may have
included the one hundred provincials ordered from Fort Bedford to
Ligonier, and the 200 Highlanders and the 50 Royal Americans. The
soldiers were busy strengthening Fort Ligonier, too. General Amherst
wrote to Colonel Bouquet on March I6, I759, that from the description he had of it and its distance from Pittsburgh, as well as the
facility to get provisions there, that it would be the proper place to
have a corps of troops, to secure Pittsburgh, the post at Fort Ligonier,
and the road itself.
But the French were active, and as they sallied down from Fort
Venango, with their Indians, they worked more or less of military
295SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
havoc on the pack horse trains coming through to Fort Pitt. There
were varying reports as to the condition of the troops, but on March
eighteenth, Colonel Bouquet sent one hundred men east for fresh beef
for the sick. Lieutenant Alexander Blaine, one of the officers in
charge, reported to his superiors that a sixth of his men were sick, and
another Pennsylvania officer, Thomas Lloyd, gave a very dismal picture of the situation. They had great difficulty in securing wagons to
haul beyond Fort Bedford, due to these conditions, and only with the
aid of the military battalion horses were they able to get the supplies
delivered, and then it took sometimes a month to make the trip.
The most serious engagement took place on May 22, 1759, and
is designated as "Bullit's Defeat." The land was so designated when
the Penns later made a grant of it, and it is about three miles east of
Ligonier. After it had been reported to him that the Indians were all
about, Captain McKenzie went out at the head of one hundred and
forty-five men, to afford protection to the incoming pack trains. Captain Thomas Bullit, a Virginia officer, was in charge of a convoy of
provisions coming down the western slope of Laurel Hill. Captain
McKenzie's men had gone out the day before. On the day of the
attack the Indians kept out of sight of two different companies sent
out from Fort Ligonier, and thus were the one hundred men under
Captain Bullit unprotected. The Indians killed and captured thirtysix of them, according to one report sent in, and besides wounding several others, they carried off the horses and burned five of the twelve
wagons which were loaded with pork and beans. The Pennsylvania
Archives tell of another attack made by the French and Indians on
July 6, I759. The capture of Fort Niagara by Sir William Johnson
and his forces had the effect of withdrawing the French, and their
accompanying Indians as well, from these marauding parties that
infested the pack trains so seriously.
A new and hitherto unpublished journal concerning the Forbes
expedition and the stirring events of the succeeding years has come to
light in the translation of the Family Journal of John Michael Lindenmuth, from the old style Pennsylvania German, by one of his
descendants, the Rev. Henry Sylvester Bickel, of Brunswick, Maryland. The Berks County Militia in I777 was composed of six battalions of eight companies each, recruited for the Revolution, and by
reason of his experience he was appointed Colonel of the Third Battalion, and commissioned June I4, I777. He led 286 men into the
296THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
campaign just preceding Valley Forge; he supplied 300 men for the
expedition up the Susquehanna following the Wyoming Massacre; he
was appointed a justice for Lancaster County, along with Gabriel
Hiester, on April 24, I778; and in I780 he was zealous in protecting the pioneers of Berks County from attacks, and the year before
was a Commissioner to purchase flour for the French fleet. So much
of his journal will be quoted to show his fine contribution to the life
of Colonial Southwestern Pennsylvania:
"In the year of our Lord, I737, on the 25th of April, I, John
Michael Lindenmuth, was born into this wretched world. My father
was John Michael Lindenmuth, whom next to God, I thank for my
being. Mly grandfather was George Lindenmuth, who was born in
Boedigheim in the Odenwald, under the dominion of Kurt von Collenburg, under the Governor of Mainz. My mother was Maria Margaretha Wolf; her father, or my grandfather was John Wolf. He
was born in County Hohenlohe, in the City of Oehringen. My grandmother on my father's side was Anna Katharine Baumaennin....
"On Palm Sunday, 175 1, I was confirmed in the Evangelical Lutheran doctrine, and for the first time partook of the Lord's Supper at
the banquet table of my Lord, by Reverend Hossofer Boinge, Pastor
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Hussenhardt. May God
stablish, ground and keep us in this doctrine to eternal life, Amen..
"November 20th, I75 I, my father decided the second time to go
to America and sold his estate for 2,700 gulden. May 5, I752, with
God's assistance we started on our journey for America, from Muehlbach (Triel) with a ship on the River Nechar to Heidelburg, where
we went on board of a ship. The name of the owner was Daniel
Seydennabel. After a few days we came to Rotterdam with fourteen
ships, where we had to wait several weeks. Finally my father made a
contract with Carl Steattman to take us to Philadelphia for seven and
one-half bistel per ship load. WVe left Rotterdam for Philadelphia on
a big ship (the name of the ship was'Brothers.') The name of the
captain was James Mohr. For eight days we floated around on the
sea which was like a mad dog, and another six days we lay at anchor
before we could put to sea. At last we reached the sea, and after thirteen weeks of troublesome and dangerous sailing from a rough sea,
we came to Philadelphia on St. Matthew's Day, September 2I, I752,
in good health and spirits. We lived two weeks in Jacob Beyer's
297SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
house. From there we moved to Windsor Township in Berks County,
where we lived in Abraham Berlin's house one winter near the Schuylkill, three miles from the Blue Mountain, one mile from Benjamin
Keper's Mill and sixteen miles from the town of Reading.
"Finally, my father again decided to buy property. In I753 he
bought a place of one hundred forty acres from Henrich Adam, which
was two miles from Keper's Mill; three miles from Kauffman's Hill;
one mile from the Blue Mountains; and one mile from the Schuylkill,
for the sum of one hundred forty pounds of Pennsylvania money. We
moved on this property in the spring, the beginning of April, and supported ourselves there with trouble and hard work for three years,
until in the Province of God the Indian War troubled us. They took
Martin Specht and two children from the field. In the fall they also
took away two horses. We had to leave our home for a time. Since
there was little to do at the frontier, it was decided to recruit out of
our province as many thousand men as were willing to fight against the
Indians and the French. I enlisted with my father's consent for three
years in Captain Morgan's Company, the second battalion under Colonel Bort (Burd). My father did not know what to do on account
of the Indians fighting, so he also enlisted fourteen days after I did,
under the same conditions. My mother, my grandmother and my
brothers were with us the first in Fort Lebanon, over the Blue
Mountains.
"May IO, I758, we were ordered by General Forbes to Reading
and from there to Pittsburgh. May 20th, we marched to Sinking
Springs; the 2ISt to Herkel Road in Tulpenhocken; the 22d, to
Swatara; 23d, to Harris Ferry on the Susquehanna water where we
met our battalion which had been in Fort Augusta in Shamokin. May
26th, we marched to Carol Hill (Carlisle) where we met the Kingly
Regiment, Royal America, and the Mountain or Highland Scotch,
and joined them under General Forbes. We stayed four weeks at
Carol Hill and were drilled every day. Meanwhile they had drafted
a corps of fifty men from the Pennsylvania settlers, whom Captain
Hambrecht had to command. June 22d, the whole army marched to
Shippensburg; June 23d and 24th to Fort Loudoun, where the soldiers from Maryland and Virginia, with sixty Indians from the Cherokee Tribe joined us. June 25th we marched to Fort Littleton; June
26th, rest day. June 27th, we marched to Sideling Hill. July ist we
marched to Fort Groosen on the Juniata Water, where Captain Mor298THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
gan and three other Captains, with two hundred men, were ordered to
build a stockade fort, which was done. They started it on the first
of July and at the end of the month it was completed.
"August Ist, we continued our march to Raystown where a garrison of fifty men was left behind. On the same day we reached the
chief army at Raystown. August 2, 3, 4 and 5, rest days. August
6th we marched to Johnny (Shawnee) Cabin, twelve miles. August
7th we marched to Allegheny Mountain where we stayed four weeks
with six hundred men to dig a road on the mountain, which was done.
Here on September 4th, we met the heavy guns. September 6th, we
marched to Stone Bridge (Stony Creek). September 7th to Laurel
Hill on Klair Hill. September 8th, to Loyalhanna, where we built
another fort. Until this time we had not been attacked by the enemy.
Finally, on September 8th, fourteen men with six Indians were sent
out to the French fort on the Ohio in order to spy. September I6th
they luckily returned unharmed with two calves and three horses, and
then the trouble began. A few days later twenty-five Indians and the
French attacked our oxen guard; killed one Highlander; captured
George Meyer and three or four horses; and turned back home again
to Ohio. In the meantime several skirmishes took place between us
and the French and Indians. September Ist, Brigadier-General Boget
decided to send several hundred men with their officers and one engineer to search the place under Major Grant, but Major Grant was an
ever curious man; with the engineer and others he ventured too near
the Fortress, so that the enemy found out our strength, and sent an
ambuscade on the Monongahela and surrounded us. The fighting
became hot from the front and rear, Major Grant was captured by the
French; the engineer and one hundred fifty men lost their lives. Sixteen wounded men with bloody heads came back to Loyalhanna on
the I8th. Adjutant Meten commended those which were left, and
were not scattered. Two days before an attachment of two hundred
men under Captain Morgan's command were sent to Endtregen to
support them. They met them fifteen miles this side of Pittsburgh in
a pitiable condition.
"On the I2th of October about eleven hundred French and Indians came to attack us, but they were discovered about one mile from
the Fort. Two thousand men were sent against them at 7 o'clock in
the evening to surround them in a valley behind a mountain. Our men
left the camp, but in the darkness attacked one another, killing eleven
299SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
and wounding a number of our men. They came back in several hours
in a pitiful condition. The enemy disappeared without doing any harm.
The next morning, on the I3th we buried our dead with sorrowful
hearts.
"Finally, by and by, it was decided to send the whole army against
the enemy, which was done. We began to march November I7th, with
seven thousand men altogether, the drivers not included. The weather
was very rough and cold. The march went very slow until finally on
November 23d we came to General Boget's Camp by the name of
Brust Work (Bouquet's Breastworks). November 24th, in the morning there was a deep snow; the whole army was ordered to march,
but halted because one of our officers discovered a corps of Indians,
which ran away as fast as they could. Fifty men of the cavalry were
sent under Capt. Hambrecht's command. Before the infantry was
ready a shaking was heard like an earthquake. We then made a mad
march while the cavalry was riding very fast. Eight miles out, this
side of the Fort, we met a boy about sixteen years of age who had
escaped and said that they were busy burning everything. This stirred
Captain Hambrecht so much that he gave orders to go after them
quickly. They rode with such swiftness that they found seven barrels of powder; one barrel, the bottom was only one inch from the
fire, and eight barrels of hog meat, which was put away, because we
were afraid it was poisoned. All the buildings were in flames. The
cavalry and infantry arrived that evening at six o'clock and took
charge of the place, and had to camp at night in the open field in very
rough and cold weather. It was too cold to remain on the open field,
and we were ordered into the woods to camp, which was done. The
whole army was for several days out of provisions because the roads
were so bad that the teams could not move. The next day, when the
inspection was made the booty was very scant, everything was burned.
The cannons were taken away. We had the place in our possession,
but they left nothing behind for us except a ruined place. For six or
seven days we had hardly anything to eat. Since we left Loyalhanna
we had to lay under the bare heavens.
"General Forbes, who was a sickly man, did not wait longer, but
gave orders to build barracks. The most of the sick men were sent
to Raystown because the most of the wagons were sent back there.
December 8, I758 Captain Morgan got orders to take forty men and
march ahead on the 9th, to build for the General a trench and put up
300THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
his tent on account of the cold weather, wherever it was necessary.
General Forbes started the trip with the Royal Americans.  On
December I9th we came to Carol Hill (Carlisle). On January 20th
General Forbes came there. We all were quartered in Carol Hill,
but General Forbes went to Philadelphia, where he died that same
winter. Our command was permitted to go home. We came to Reading December 3ist; we were given leave January 3, I759. I arrived
home on the 4th, and found my father and mother, my grandfather
and brothers in good health. We heartily and joyously thanked the
dear Lord for his gracious protection and keeping."
This record of John Michael Lindenmuth, so illuminating, is a
valuable addition to the historic lore of the Forbes expedition. Having enlisted for three years, he was still subject to military call, and
the succeeding entries in his journal tell of his exciting experiences,
with others of his company, along the new Forbes Road, which he had
helped to cut through the woods and over the mountains.
"I stayed several weeks with them  (his parents), and then
received orders from Captain Morgan to come to Reading. I arrived
there on the Ig9th (February); and on the 2oth I was ordered to
recruit as strong as I could, which we did, until March i5th, when we
had twenty-three men for our battalion. Then we received orders
from the General to march to Pittsburgh.
"We started on our march on March 20th (1759), and came to
Hergel Roth on the 2ISt. On the 22d to Swatara, where we stayed
two days on account of high water. The 25th we marched to Harris
Ferry, where we stayed three days on account of high water. The
29th we marched to Tobias Henrichs. On the 3oth we lay quiet. On
the 3fst we came to Carol Hill and stayed one day. On April 2, 1759
we marched to Shippensburgh where we stayed twelve days on account
of heavy rain. On April I4th we marched twelve miles. On the Is5th
we came to Fort Loudoun and stayed there one day. The I6th to
Fort Littleton. The I7th to Fort Grosson. The i8th to Raystown.
The I9th, rest day. The 20th, we marched to the Allegheny Mountain, where an express came to us with information that the Indians
had killed a Welsch and some of his people three miles from Loyalhanna. We camped on the Allegheny Mountain that night. On
April 2ISt, we came to Fort Stony Crik. The 22d, rest day. The
23d, we came to Fort Ligonier or Loyalhanna, with forty-five men,
301SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
roborate established records in part, they can be accepted and woven
into the interesting historical story.
The Indians located their towns at the junction of streams or at
other advantageous points opposite those junctions or along their
banks. Two things served to drive them from their eastern habitations, in addition to their differences with the whites over the encroachments: the introduction of firearms and the use of the horse. When
the settlers found great bodies of Indians along the Atlantic and at
the mouths of great rivers where much fishing was done, they imagined
that the interior was thickly populated by Indians; but this was not
the case. One hundred Indian warriors, by their method of open warfare, gave the white troops the impression of larger numbers, and
when in conflicts it was estimated that one thousand Indians had taken
part, there were perhaps but one-fifth of that number. If only a few
Indians were found dead on the field, many were reported as having
been slain and carried off the field, when in fact they left every body
where it had been shot down. Some of the largest raiding parties
would have but twenty or twenty-five Indians in them, and some as
few as four or five warriors.
The historian, Bancroft, estimated the Indian population before
the settlers came to America as 90,000 Algonquins, I7,000 Iroquois,
3,00o0 Catawbas, I2,000 Cherokees, 3,oo000 Eastern Dakotas (Sioux),
50,000 M1obilian Confederacy, I,ooo Uches (Utes), 4,000 Nachez,
or in all about I8o,ooo souls. The writer's friend, Chief Yellow
Thunder, of the Winnebagos, in an address given in I933, estimated
the Indian population of the United States at approximately 338,000ooo,
as shown by government statistics. So, in spite of their being now
restricted on reservations, there are almost twice as many Indians in
the United States today as when the early settlers came. The original
American, most entitled to occupy this portion of the earth, is not
growing extinct by any means.
Our own Westmoreland County trader, George Croghan, in I765
estimated the number of fighting men of the different tribes of North
America as follows: Mohawks I6o, Oneidas 300, Tuscaroras 200,
Onondagas 260, Cayugas 200, Senecas I,oo000, totaling 2,120; Delawares on the Susquehanna 6oo00, Delawares on the Ohio 6oo00, Shawnees
300, Chippewas 8oo00, Ottawas 550, Illinois 300, Wyandots 250, and
the Sioux (who would represent the central western Indians) Io,ooo.
On his visit to Logstown on September 8, I748, Conrad Weiser,
I4SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
where most of our company was sick and had to go to the hospital
for treatment, much to our sorrow.
"On the 27th, there came one corps of Virginians of one hundred
sixty men and four wagons. The Indians attacked them three miles
from Ligonier, or Loyalhanna. The number of the enemy was only
sixty, but they made them flee. The drivers left the wagons with all
that was in them, unhitching one of their horses and rode away. The
next day a command of one hundred fifteen men were sent out and
found all the roads clear. Some things were burnt. Everything was
brought to the garrison. We had no dead to bury, we lay quiet one
day. The Indians were continually around us. We had some skirmishes with them. On May 6th, 1759, two wagons were made ready
to take the sick to Raystown. On the 7th, sixteen sick men were
loaded into two wagons. One sergeant, with six men who were well,
were sent along for protection. They came to Laurel Hill where the
Indians waylaid them and killed thirteen men. The others fled back
to the Fort. The Indians scalped all of the dead, and took all of the
horses with them. May 9th, we buried all of our thirteen dead in
one grave. When we came back to the fort we had to march out every
day for provisions. Our men were more or less sickly in the Fort, so
that not half of them was able to do duty.
"On May I4, I759, an ensign of the Mountain or Highland
Scotch was sent with fourteen men, seven loaded pack horses, and six
fat oxen to Pittsburgh. On the i sth, they saw Indians along the way,
but did not attack them. They camped for the night in the three
Redentens (Three Redoubts) until morning of the I6th, when they
marched away very carefully. About three miles from there they were
attacked by the Indians and were put to flight. They captured two of
our men and the others fled back to the three Redentens. Three of
our men lost themselves in the woods and returned to the command
the next day, the I7th, but were right away placed under arrest in
Pittsburgh. Several hours later the command came also with provisions. Then one of the deserters, Biesel Hamen, was given five hundred strokes on the back. Several days afterwards the other five hundred strokes. The other two men were sent back to Loyalhanna; one
was John Clawser; the other one was a Mountain Scotch. The next
day each was given five hundred strokes on the back. After five days
they were given the other five hundred strokes because they were
deserters.
302THE COMMERCIAL PIONEERS
"May 30th, Captain Morgan was sent to Pittsburgh with fortytwo men and fifty pack horses. We began to march. We camped on
the Nine Mile Run. May 3Ist, we marched to four miles on this side
of Pittsburgh. That night a command came and took us into the Fort,
because of the Indians. About one hundred fifty in number camped
not far from us. We stayed in the fort four days.
"On June 5, I759, we started again for Loyalhanna at 5 o'clock
in the morning, expecting any time to be attacked, which was done.
At I2 o'clock we halted a mile from Turtle Creek for our meal, but
put guards at all ends. Several of us were dipping water and noticed
along the water footprints of the Indians.  We also found a new
tomahawk which was an indication to us that there had been a fight.
Captain Morgan was very careful and ordered a sergeant with seven
men to go as an advance party and several for a flank guard. We
marched very carefully in single file. By the time we had marched
one mile the Indians had attacked the advance party and killed seven
men, scalping them all, before we could with the greatest swiftness
get there. The Indians, however, fell upon us with such fury, that
they expected to put us to flight, but we received them. We had a very
hot fight with them for three hours. The enemy was fifty men strong,
while we had but forty-two. We lost eight men in the first fire. The
Indians lost four. At four o'clock in the evening we started again
on our march, carrying our dead, seven in number, behind a fallen
block. The eighth one was fatally wounded, but lived three days.
"The 6th, we came to Loyalhanna in the night. The 7th, we took
in provisions. The 8th, we started out again with sixty'men and came
to a camping place. The 9th, we buried our died. The enemy was
gone, but we found their entire baggage in one big pile. We marched
again to Loyalhanna to the garrison, where we lay very quietly for the
summer. In the meantime I fell into a hot fever and lay sick for five
weeks; the others came out of their winter quarters and thirteen hundred new men, who had been enlisted for six months, were attacked
on Laurel Hill. Captain Shasslodt and one Indian from the enemy
side were killed. The others with fifty team loads came luckily to
Loyalhanna.
"July Ist, the most of our men were ordered to Pittsburgh, to
again build the fort. Our company was very much scattered. We
were busy with skirmishes which were too many to tell. December I,
I759, we were ordered to go home. I arrived home December 27,
3o3304           SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
I759, and on March 20, I760, we were ordered to Carol Hill to
receive our pay, because most of us has served our time. We all
returned to our homes, but the war was not yet ended. Colonel Boget
was promoted to Brigadier-General to command the army at Pittsburg next year."CHAPTER XXI
Pontiac's War
The Real Cause of Pontiac's War-Chief Pontiac Forms His League ot
Indian Tribes to Make the Attack-Colonel James Burd Builds the
Road to Redstone-A Description of Fort Burd at BrownsvilleColonel Burd's Journal at Fort Pitt in I76o-James Kenney, Quaker
Merchant, Further Adds Sidelights to Life About Fort Pitt-Early
Settlers: William Burbridge, Andrew Byerly, Colonel William Clapham, George Weddell, Patrick Campbell, William Colvin, William
Jacobs, Wendell Brown, Enoch Abraham and Others-The Bouquet
Road-Kenney's Second Commercial Life at Fort Pitt-The Clapham Massacre-Pontiac Prepares to Strike.
Wars are not haphazard affairs. It may take a Boston Tea Party,
or a firing on Fort Sumter to precipitate the main struggle, but the
causes are more deep-seated. Colonel Lindenmuth was correct in
entering in his journal, that the war was not yet ended, but he was
giving Colonel Bouquet a higher rank than he held during his experiences in Pennsylvania. Colonel Bouquet attained the rank of brigadier-general after he left his military work in Pennsylvania. He was
planning to succeed General Forbes, but his ambitions were never realized. During their occupancy of the Forks of the Ohio, the French
poisoned the minds of the Indians against the English. The French
studied Indian life and tried to become a part of it, while the English
did not always carry out their contracts with the Indians. The Colonial Records are full of the negotiations with the Indians, reaching
back through the years, before the fury of Pontiac and those who were
in league with him broke loose. Different historians, like Parkman
and Donohoe, have given their reasons for this movement which
struck so much terror to the westward of the Allegheny Mountains,
S. P.-I-20SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
but our own eminent Western Pennsylvanian, Senator C. Hale Sipe,
in his "Indian Wars of Pennsylvania," pp. 407 to 412, inclusive, has
well collated the basic causes for Pontiac's War, and then summarized
it, partly in the words of George Croghan, as found in the Pennsylvania Archives, 2d Series, Vol. VI, p. 620: "The Indians have discernment enough, if they see a tract of country secured to them under
the sovereignty, protection and dominion of His Majesty for the hunting and planting grounds, and a trade and commerce carried on with
them to supply them with such necessaries, as they want from time to
time, to see their own interest living in friendship with His Majesty's
subjects in America.... the several encroachments attempted to be
made on their country, contrary to our repeated promises to them and
without their consent, or receiving any consideration for it, has alarmed
them much, so that now they place very little confidence in what we
tell them.... By entering into a war with the Indians, we can get
nothing but fatigue and devastation of our frontiers, and load the
Nation with debt, tho' they may deserve to be severely punished for
their behavior last summer, but I don't look on it any ways decisive
between the Indians and us, who, we know, won't give us a meeting,
but where they have the advantage of either beating us or running
away, and then content ourselves in burning their villages of Bark
Huts, destroying the corn, and driving them into the woods. This
cannot be called conquering Indian Nations; I grant it is removing
them, and that the removing Indians from their villages is practicable
if we will go to the expense; but what end does it answer? Often a
very fatal one, for as soon as they fly before our troops, a number of
their warriors in small parties make a descent on different parts of our
defenceless frontiers, and commit the most cruel murders, and driving the inhabitants before them, lay waste a great part of the country
while the remainder of them are retiring over some mountains, lakes
or rivers with their women and children to a place of safety, where we
can't pursue them with our carriages, and an army of British troops
can't support themselves in the Indian country without taking the
means of carrying on war with them."...
In all of the treaties held in Western Pennsylvania, and especially
beginning with Christian Frederick Post's negotiations at Kuskuskies
in November, I758, that of Colonel Henry Bouquet on December 4
and 5, I758, at the new Fort Pitt, that of Colonel Hugh Mercer at
Fort Pitt on January 3, I759, that of Captain William Trent and
3o6PONTIAC'S WAR
others at Fort Pitt on July 5 and 9, I759, that of General Robert
Monckton with the Chiefs on August I2, I760, at Fort Pitt, and continuing up through the eventful year of I763, the Indians were given
to understand that the English would withdraw from the territory.
Senator Sipe has well summed the situation up in these words on p.
412, "Indian Wars of Pennsylvania":
"The British forgot their promises and treaties as soon as they
made them. But the Indian never forgot a promise, a treaty, a kindness or an injury. The strongest love of his heart was a love for the
lands he considered his own, as the gift of the Great Spirit; and the
fiercest passion of his heart was love of revenge. Now that the Indians' loved home and hunting ground were invaded in violation of
solemn promises and formal treaties, it is no wonder that the storm
that had been brewing for ten years broke with fury in the summer
of I763; it is no wonder that the warriors of Pontiac, Guyasuta and
Custaloga rose in savage wrath in an effort to drive the English into
the sea, and that the Pennsylvania Valleys ran red with the blood of
the pioneers. Pontiac's uprising was, therefore, not a'conspiracy,'
but a war brought about by the English breaking their promises and
treaties with the Indians; a war in which the Indians attempted to
drive out the perfidious invader of their homes and hunting grounds."
All the while that Chief Pontiac was forming his league to strike
two or three years later, the commercial advance of the Pennsylvanians
was proceeding. These pioneer merchants and traders were depending upon the British Colonial prowess to protect them in their movements. They little sensed the deep purpose of the Indians. The
famed Colonel James Burd again comes into the historical picture
west of the mountains, first as a road builder in I759, and then as a
military officer at Fort Pitt in I760. General Forbes did not permit
him to get beyond Ligonier in 1758. His first attempt at road building
extended towards the summit of the Allegheny Mountain towards
Turkey Foot (present Confluence) in 1755, which he was forced to
abandon because of Braddock's defeat. This important beginning,
however, later formed the basis of the well-known Glades Road, extending westward through Somerset County. His most successful
piece of road building was that extending from the Braddock Road,
near to Gist's plantation, to Fort Redstone. Major Washington had
307SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
sent Captain Andrew Lewis out along the Nemacolin Trail to widen
it in I754, but Captain Lewis's party retreated back to the Big Rock
when a large force of French appeared at Gist's Plantation. Then, in
I759, Colonel Bouquet sent Colonel Burd westward with 200 men
to complete the road to the Monongahela River. Colonel Thomas
Cresap, of Oldtown, Maryland, was a part of this battalion. On September 13, I759, Colonel Burd made this entry in his journal:
"At noon began to cut the road to Redstone, along some old
olazes, which we take to be General Washington's. Began a quarter
of a mile from camp, the general course N N W. The course of General Braddock's Road N N E, and turns much to the eastward.
Marked two trees at the beginning, thus:'The Road to Redstone,
Col. J. Burd, I759, the road to Pittsburg.'"
After the completion of the road, Colonel Burd wrote to his fatherin-law, Edward Shippen, at Lancaster, from the camp at Monongahela, October Io, I759: "We arrived here the 23d of last month, all
in good health. We cut a fine road from Guest's place on General
Braddock's Road to this river; measured and marked every mile; the
measure is I6 miles, I quarter and I6 perches. This is a very fine
river and a delightful situation for the post, and a charming country
all around.... The General sent two battoes from Pittsburg on
Monday last and wrote me a very affectionate letter."
The fort at the mouth of Redstone was completed in November,
I759, and by many it was called Fort Burd, in honor of its builder.
The first "Redstone Old Fort," the site of an ancient Indian stronghold, was built by Captain William Trent, as a strong storehouse for
supplies and munitions of the Ohio Company, about February, I754.
When M. Coulon de Villiers, French commander in the Fort Necessity campaign came upon it on June 30, I754, he called it a "hangard," and described it as a sort of fort, built with logs, one upon
another, well notched in, about thirty feet in length and twenty feet
wide. After putting their large canoes in a safe place, de Villiers
speaks of putting his effects in the hangard the next day, along with
some sick Indians, and having one good sergeant and twenty men to
guard it. Colonel Burd was instructed, when he had cut the road and
finished the fort, to leave one officer and twenty-five men and march
the remainder of his battalion to Pittsburgh. The new fort was
described as a regularly constructed work of defense. with bastions,
308ditch and drawbridge, built, however, wholly of earth and wood. The
bastions and central house were of timbers laid horizontally; the curtains were of logs, set in the ground vertically, like posts, in close contact, and it was called a stockade, or palisade. In his journal Colonel
Burd recorded that on Sunday, October twenty-eight, they had a sermon in the fort, and another sermon on November fourth. It continued to be a rallying point during Dunmore's War and in the Revolution. Captain Michael Cresap, of later historical fame, came into
a title of the land around the fort in succeeding years.
Colonel Burd came back to Fort Pitt in the summer of I760, in a
military capacity, when soldiers were being sent north towards Presque
Isle, and his journal gives some interesting side lights:
FORT BURD OR REDSTONE, BROWNSVILLESOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"Sunday, 6th July, I760. This day arrived with the Pennsylvania
Regt at Pittsburgh, Colonel Bouquet, to march tomorrow to Presqueel, with a detachment of 400 Royal Americans, Ioo Virginians,
total 500oo men....
"The General desires me to stop all pack horses to go one trip to
Presque Isle, to be paid 2/6 each horse per day,  2/6 per day to a
driver, to drive 6 horses, the horses to be appraised.
"Monday, July 7, Colonel Bouquet, with his detachment, marched
to 3 P. M. Colonel Mercer, with a detachment of the Pennsylvania
Regiment, to march on Wednesday morning, the 9th inst., consisting of I5o men, 5 horses of Captain Patterson appraised, and not
gone forward....
"Tuesday, 8th. Four wagons, with I9 bags of flour arrived;
pressed I8 horses of Mr. Small's and 14 Mr. Paris's; three strays
brought in to me.
"9th Wednesday. Col. Mercer marched at 3 P. M., with a
detachment of I 50 men.
"ioth Thursday. This morning John Meach express arrived 
Mr. Hutchins arrived from Presque Isle. Col. G. Armstrong, Major
Clayton,  Doctor Bass.
"i3th Sunday. The battoes go to Fort Burd this morning.
"i14th Monday. Capt. Craighead arrived with artillery stores.
"I6th Wednesday. Arrived today 50 bullock  70 sheep; 2I
wagons arrived.
"I7th Thursday. This morning,.... Lang, wagon master
and 2I wagons went from this. Mr. Young the Pry. Mr. arrives.
(Master of Provisions.)
"i8th Friday. This afternoon Keemer, with a brigade of i 8
wagons loaded with flour arrived, and likewise Capt. Stephens with
battos from Fort Burd, with 24I bushels of corn. The wagons set
off for Ligonier this evening.
"20th Sunday. The General orders I2 bushels of oats  7 bushels
of corn for the teams, instead of 25 bushels of oats. Twelve wagons
and two guns arrived today at noon from Ligonier. The twelve
wagons set out this evening.
"2Ist Monday. Today numbered the houses at Pittsburgh and
made a return of the number of people, men, women and children,
that do not belong to the army.
3IOPONTIAC'S WAR
Number of houses......... I46  Number of men..........  88
"   of unfinished houses  I9     "   of women........   29
" of huts..........  36          "   Male children....  I4
_" Female children. I8
20I
I49
N. B.-The above houses exclusive of those in the Fort; in the
Fort five long barricks and a long casinett.
23d Wednesday. John Meach express arrived this evening at 8
o'clock; 9 Chipway Indians from the lakes.
"24th Thursday. This day at noon, Thomas Morgan arrived
with 13 wagons, and this evening at 8 o'clock Capt. Stephens arrived
with 6 battoes from Fort Burd.
"25th Friday. This day Lieut. Boskridge arrived with is wagons,
artillery stores, etc. At noon Thomas Morgan, with his wagons,
went away. This afternoon, Capt. Patterson arrived with I53 pack
horses, Presque Isle, Mr. Croghan, etc.
"October 27th Monday. This morning at I0 A. M. set out from
Pittsburgh with General Monchton  Major Gates, got this night to
Bushy Run; stayed all night.
"28th Tuesday.  Set out this morning early; got to Ligonier;
stayed all night.
"29th Wednesday. Set out this morning early and got to Stony
Creek; stayed all night.
"3oth Thursday. Set out this morning, got to Bedford; stayed
all night."
Colonel Burd had also an interesting military career at Fort
Augusta, at present Sunbury, during this period, and on June 2 I, I762,
wrote Lynford Lardner from Lancaster: "I have gone through a long
series of fatigue in opening a communication from this Province to
Ohio, and had a hard task to obtain it for Pennsylvania, much opposition being made by Colonel Washington on the part of Virginia.
However, we have opened to us that large and rich country."
James Kenney, the Quaker merchant at Fort Pitt, gives illuminating entries in his diary, and tells particularly of the great fears
entertained by the residents about Fort Pitt, that the French were
coming to take the place, but still with some doubt as to the credibility of the Indian reports. We shall resume his story, as shown by his
entries:
3IITHE INDIAN TOWNS AND VILLAGES
Indian agent of the Penns, requested the representatives of the tribes
there assembled in conference to give a list of their fighting men.
They gave him bundles of sticks containing the following numbers:
Senecas I63, Shawnees I62, Wyandots Ioo, Tisagechroanu 40, Mohawks 40, Mohicans i5, Onondagas 35, Cayugas 20, Oneidas 15, Delawares I65-in all 789. It is a difficult matter, therefore, to even
estimate the number of Indians there were here at the dawn of our
history. Conrad Weiser mingled with them in Eastern Pennsylvania,
in the council fires at Onondaga in New York, and in his treaty with
them at Logstown, and the information secured by him is perhaps the
most reliable.
The Ohio Valley and its tributaries contained many Indian towns,
some of which we shall be unable to name. Those that ranked first
in importance were Kittanning on the Allegheny; Sewickley on the
Youghiogheny at the mouth of Sewickley Creek; Loyalhanna (at present Ligonier), Logstown on the Ohio; and Kuskuskies at the mouth
of the Shenango. Some of the towns were established because the
traders established a post there and dealt with them at such central
points. One was a short-lived Seneca town, some were distinctly
Delaware, some were distinctly Shawnee, and as the traders extended
their activities more vigorously, some had a mixture of inhabitants.
They can best be considered in their alphabetical order.
ALIQUIPPA'S TOWN-George Washington and Conrad Weiser
give prominence to the only outstanding woman of these parts, "Queen"
Aliquippa. She lived in at least three places during her lifetime:
McKees Rocks, McKeesport and Aughwick, where she died. No one
seems able to establish her Indian authority as a "Queen," although
she went by that appellation because of her prominent personality.
Her name is of Delaware origin, signifying "a hat." Conrad Weiser
first visited her at her habitation at present McKees Rocks in I748,
when he writes in his diary: "We dined in a Seneka Town where an
old Seneka woman rules with great authority." During the following
year Celeron de Bienville, who headed the French traders from the
north, met her at McKees Rocks, and said: "She regards herself as
a sovereign, and is entirely devoted to the English."  But shortly
afterwards she located her village at the present site of the city of
McKeesport and there dwelt for some years.  When Washington
and Gist came through over the Nemacolin Trail and the Warrior's
I5SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"7th mo. I Ith. This day returned Killbuck with 4 more Indians,
who had been sent express about four days since to Ligonier; they
bring account of that place being attacked by a large party of Indians
for ye space of three days, in which ye garrison had one Capt. Jones
killed  one other man  a woman, but that ye enemy got neither
prisoners or scalps. The last company of men that came here with
provisions is to set off tomorrow to meet another escort that is coming; these were detained here as we had divers accounts by ye Indians
that they expected this place to be attacked, which by their staying 
ye number of Indians that came here to ye Treaty, our flour is out 
our meat very near.
"I2th. This day ye Colonel has issued orders for all ye traders
 others to appear on ye parade under arms,  that they have all their
skins and goods made into small handy bundles, that one man might
carry them in order to have them in ye Fort in case of an alarm.
"I3th. This day orders issued that all our goods should be carried into ye fort, as ye provisions are out  ye milch cows to be killed
tomorrow, in case of ye enemy hearing of this  should attempt to
take ye place, that these houses must be set on fire, otherwise ye enemy
might shelter in ye houses, which had been complied with.
"I4th. This morning before we were out of bed ye Sergeant
Major came and told us that our house must be pulled down, which
was executed, only ye house built for ye Provincial Companies where
ye guard is to be. We moved our goods on ye left in ye Colonel's
house, so we are got to live in a tent again. We are out of bread,
but some milch cows being killed, we had some meat  some Indian
corn, a little boiled for dinner. We do not expect ye command to
come with provisions under two days,  if they should be attacked 
overcome it seems that no less than a miracle can save our lives. The
officers were all assembled this evening to conclude on defending in ye
best manner they could, as one told me after that they had certain
account of fifteen hundred Indians and French coming to attack this
place, which is now scarce of men and provisions. Late this evening
came in a friendly Indian, a spy from Venango, with information
that they had set out for this place  had come but a short way,
when they were called back to go to reinforce Niagara, having just
heard of that place being attacked, which favors us at present, but
could not trust much to his report  told my friends I would not
believe they would come until I saw them.
312PONTIAC'S WAR
"i sth.  This day ye men were kept very busy pulling down
houses that stood in ye glasis of ye Fort  repairing ye glasis and this
evening came in some Indians who had been spying up ye River 
Capt. Jacob's son came here, as it was reported that spies had seen
ye French about I5 miles up ye river, which made many wish they
were at home."
Kenney refers to the real cause of the Indian trouble, and as to
conferences with Chief Pisquetomen and others, wherein the Indians
were jealous of the English because they were coming with a great
army. He countered with the argument that the English were only
building a strong house to drive the French away and carry on trade
with them, and that when subdued, the army would be called home.
This, too, confirms the theory that the real cause of Pontiac's War
was the Indians' distrust of the English.
In the course of his dealings, Kenney contacts such important
pioneers as George Croghan and Hugh Crawford, Ensign Thomas
Hutchins, the eminent surveyor. One day he helped a competitor,
George Allen, to unload seventy horse loads of goods. On another
day a brigade of wagons, as he calls them, came in from Virginia
with goods, on which he loaded skins for the return trip. During
the latter part of October, I759, he decided to return to Philadelphia, and after settling his accounts, put his skins in the old magazine. He took some skins with him, and traveled up the Monongahela, crossing the Monongahela at Braddock's lower fording, proceeding by Gist's Plantation and the Great Meadows. On the way
up the Monongahela he met Colonel Burd coming down with a party
with wagons and pack horses. He observed droves of Potomac
people along the road going towards Pittsburgh. When he reached
Cumberland he paid  i i5 for the transportation of his 9,000 pounds
of skins from Pittsburgh to Cumberland. Passing through Harper's
Ferry, he came to his home to greet his mother on November 8, 1759,
"who was glad to see me."
There were many Virginians who were officers and soldiers in
the forces of General Stanwix, General Monckton, and other officers
at Fort Pitt, but Virginia as a colony did not make much move to
gain a foothold in the Ohio Valley trading during the years 1759
to I769. The great bulk of the trading came over the Forbes Road,
and the letters and diaries indicate a heavy traffic through these
313SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
western woods. When the news came through that Fort Niagara
had fallen, there was naturally less fear of any attack by the French,
and this stimulated pioneering in making settlements.  Many of
these very early settlers are the forebears of present-day families
within the territory covered by this narrative. Who were those who
are entitled to be known as pioneers? We must consult military warrants, diaries, land records, military rolls, traditions and letters, to
determine that.
William Burbridge is a pioneer who was reputed to have been
in the Forbes Army and to have returned to scout down the Indian
trail along the Loyalhanna, and take up a tomahawk claim at present
New Alexandria. In due time his land came into the ownership of
the Craigs and the Dennistons, who helped to found the New Alexandria community. The British Army had this fine definition for the
pioneer: "A military artisan marching at the head of each battalion to clear a passage through the woods, improving roads and
making bridges, and instead of carrying a rifle, each carries a sawbacked sword, an axe, and two gun spikes." William Burbridge was
on friendly terms with the Indians as they passed up and down the
trail along the Loyalhanna, but one of them one day coveted his fine
rifle and killed William Burbridge in order that he might possess it.
His brother, Thomas Burbridge, then came on from Cumberland
County, took over the claim, and secured a military permit, holding
it until he sold three hundred acres of it to Lieutenant Samuel Craig,
Sr., in I769, and the remaining three hundred acres to Arthur Denniston in I774. William Burbridge, the pioneer, had come on the
land as early as I760.
Andrew Byerly, intrepid pioneer and hero of the battle of Bushy
Run, was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, near the old home of
Colonel Bouquet, and he is definitely known to have lived at his location at Bushy Run in the month of May, I76i. He was a baker by
trade, and conducted one of the first inns in Lancaster, where his first
wife, Beatrice Guldin, who accompanied him to America, died and
is buried. He baked for the Braddock army in Fort Cumberland in
I755 and for the garrison at Fort Bedford in later years. His son,
Jacob Byerly, later a Revolutionary soldier, was born at Bedford, in
1760, so that the father must have pioneered to Bushy Run in the
fall of I760, or very early in I76I. He came by the new road built in
I 759, under the direction of General John Stanwix, who airrived at Fort
3I4PONTIAC'S WAR
Pitt late in August in that year, but which was so much used by Colonel
Bouquet in his later military operations that it is properly designated
the "Bouquet Road." Its actual construction was under the officers
-Colonel Shelby, Major Stephen, and Captain Hubbard, as is shown
by the following letter from Major Adam Stephens to Colonel Bouquet, written from Fort Ligonier, September I6, I759: "I have
orders to carry all the tools to Pittsburgh. Captain Shelby with a
party from the post meets us from this at the three redoubts. As
you proposed clearing the new road as they come along Capt. Hubbard with a detachment of Virginians opens and repairs the road to
the three redoubts. I have a small party with me and shall proceed
when the horses are fed."
Other land records clearly indicate an Indian path extending
from Shirtee's Landing, opposite Tarentum, across to Puckety and
thence by the Denmark Manor to Sewickley Old Town. These were
both Shawnee towns and the intercommunication is a reasonable one.
Cockeye's cabin was likely at the crossing of the Forbes Road and
the Puckety Trail, and Andrew Byerly likely staked out his claim,
and located his cabin, just east of the present Harrison City, on this
Puckety Trail. With these Bouquet Road operations beginning at
the Three Redoubts, the main Forbes Road was improved to the
"Forks," near Detar's, and thence proceeded by present Bushy Run,
Harrison City, Pleasant Valley, Blackburn, and after conquering the
Turtle Creek defile there, went on down the Turtle Creek Valley to
Braddock's field.
There came into this historic area, as a pioneer, the famed Colonel William Clapham, who was destined to make the supreme sacrifice during Pontiac's War. According to Colonel Samuel Miles, of
the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment during the Revolution, who was a
lieutenant at Fort Ligonier, there is this record:  "In the fall of
I755, after General Braddock's defeat, there were several companies
of militia sent into Northampton, and other frontier counties, to
guard the inhabitants. Among the rest was one raised by Isaac
Wayne, father of the late General Wayne, with whom I entered as
a volunteer, being then turned sixteen years. Our company, with
some others, rendezvoused at Easton, under the command of General Dr. Benjamin Franklin for some days, until the arrival of a New
England gentleman, of the name of Clapham, who took upon him
the command, and Dr. Franklin returned to Philadelphia." This
3I5SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
was the beginning of Colonel Clapham's experience in the Pennsylvania Colony. In I756 he was quite busy on the Susquehanna, being
in charge of Fort Harris, Fort Halifax and Fort Hunter, having
erected some of these, and being later called to erect Fort Augusta
at the old Indian town of Shamokin at present Sunbury. As he took
up the post at Shamokin, he wrote Governor Morris, July I, I756:
"I shall leave a sergeant's party at Harris', consisting of twelve men;
twenty-four at Hunter's Fort; twenty-four at McKee's Store, each
in command of an ensign; and Captain Miles with thirty men at Fort
Halifax."
The friendly Indians at Shamokin had urged Governor Morris
to erect a strong house for his and their defense, and as a rallying
point for such Indians as were friendly to the English. The Indians
well knew of the growing dissatisfaction among the western Indians
which was soon to crystallize in the league of Chief Pontiac. With
the securing of ~2,000 for the purpose, Colonel Clapham proceeded
with the building of Fort Augusta. There is little record of his
activities after his military tenure at Fort Augusta, and he next
appears on the Big Sewickley, near its mouth, where he establishes
himself in a large plantation, close to the site of the ancient Sewickley Old Town of the Shawnees. It was a military permit, to be sure,
possibly under the approval of General John Stanwix. The path
from his plantation to that of Andrew Byerly is sometimes designated in old records as "Clapham's Path."
Across from the mouth of Big Sewickley Creek, on the westerly
side of the Youghiogheny River, in what later became Rostraver
Township in both Bedford and Westmoreland counties, settled a
very early pioneer, George Weddell. He is reputed to have come
through with the Braddock army from Maryland, and admiring these
western lands, came back in I757 over that road and turned down
over one of the Indian paths to his tomahawk claim. He and his
four sons built a log cabin, where he had found a spring of unusual
volume. They also cleared sufficient land on which to plant corn.
In the fall George Weddell returned East with his other sons, leaving the sixteen-year-old one and the son of a neighbor to take care of
the plantation. The boys lived on parched corn and game during
the winter and were not molested by the Indians. George Weddell
returned with the rest of his family the following year, and then
others came to settle in the same neighborhood. Banding together
3i6PONTIAC'S WAR
for their protection, they constructed an earth fortification at a point
afterwards known as "Fort Field." Three of George Weddell's
sons became Revolutionary soldiers and, with him, are buried in the
Weddell cemetery close by the old Weddell plantation in Elizabeth
Township. These tomahawk titles were later perfected by patents
issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Into the Clapham settlement came also another interesting pioneer to whom the following military permit was given:
"Permission is hereby granted to Patrick Campbell to settle the
land adjoining Clapham's meadows up Big Sewickley Creek to the
Pine Bank and from thence a straight course to the Narrows of
Byerly's Path, and from thence a straight'course taking in a large
sugar camp, and from thence to Clapham's meadows, observing the
orders issued by the Commander-in-Chief, the commanding officer
on the communication, or the officer commanding at Fort Pitt, for
the good of His Majesty's service. Given under my hand at Pittsburgh, November the Isth, Anno Domini, I762. Henry Bouquet,
Colonel of the Royal Americans, Fort Commanding." The permit
is on record at Carlisle.
In present Fayette County there were also a few very early settlers east of the Monongahela River. Near Fort Burd at present
Brownsville, William Colvin is reputed to be an early pioneer in
I176I. In the same year William Jacobs settled at the mouth of
Redstone Creek. He was driven away through fear of Indian attacks
about I763, but afterwards returned and patented his lands. Wendell Brown and his sons, Maunus, Thomas, and Adam, are very
early pioneers in Fayette County, Adam particularly having claimed
to be a King's lieutenant serving in the Virginia provincial regiments
during the French and Indian War. He claimed also to have had a
royal grant of land nine miles square, extending from near Mt.
Braddock southward and westward as far as present New Salem.
The Browns also had land in what was designated as Province's
Bottom along the Youghiogheny. Dunlap's Creek was named for
the trader Dunlap who located along it as Colonel Burd opened up
this communication from the Braddock Road to Redstone.  The
stream had formerly been known as Nemacolin's Creek during the
supremacy of the Indians here.
When peace was concluded between France and England, by the
Treaty of Paris, February Io, 1763, this put an official end to the
3I7SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
French and Indian War. The King of England made a gesture
towards the Indians by issuing a proclamation that they should not
be molested in their hunting grounds by the encroachments of the
settlers, and forbidding the governors of the provinces, or any of
the military commanders, to issue any patents, warrants, surveys, or
settlement permits for lands to the westward of the head streams
of rivers flowing into the Atlantic. This prohibition was disregarded
by the Colonial authorities, and had the effect of making the Indians
more jealous of their rights, and to dislike and distrust the incoming settlers. While the main conflict was to occur at Bushy Run on
the northerly Great Road, yet the Indians worried the settlers to the
southward to such an extent that they became terrified and fled to
the eastern settlements.  Some of these unquestionably returned in
later years, but their earlier experiences are not available in recorded
documents.
Enoch Abraham, forebear of the Abraham family in Fayette
County, is a type of the earlier soldier who served during this period,
and later returned to make this rich country his permanent home.
He was a member of one of the companies of Colonel James Burd's
road builders of I759 who returned East to Chester County, married, and later came back after ten years to Turkey Foot for a brief
residence, and finally located on York Run, a branch of George's
Creek, about I 775, for his permanent residence.
The intrepid trader, James Kenney, made a second trip into this
western country in I76I, remaining two years. His contact with the
Indians, the other traders and with the military men afford us a fine
picture of conditions as Pontiac's War was in the making. He hired
with the Commissioners of Indian Affairs to assist in their store at
Pittsburgh, and began his journey westward April 20, I76i.  He
came by the Forbes Road, and his interesting entries which most
concern this narrative are as follows:
"May I3th, I76I. Got to Bedford; waited on Capt. Oury for
a pass, and until he wrote some letters he sent by me to Pittsburgh
from here; so proceeded to the foot of ye Allegheny Mountain,
made a fire and lay there that night.
" I4th. Crossed the mountains to Stony Creek, being mostly
bad road, but some hills, ye finest chestnut woods I ever saw, so got
to Ligonier; stayed at Chas. Brookens that night.
318IOLAN    OF
Aft oft   IM  =wow,
M M im
V            FW  I 9 w
I A. Fort mquevne,.
2. stockazte-yort l7jo.
C. Ivortlitt--fiUiV,17,f*-MD. steckaAc. cbvern,"SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"Isth. Set off soon, it being mostly good land to Pittsburgh
from here, but hilly; we got to Turtle Creek, within about nine miles
of Pittsburgh, where we overtook Knox's wife  ye rest, with their
milch cows, but could hardly get any rest for muskeetose.
"I6th.  Came to Pittsburgh pretty soon and was soon asked
where I delayed so long. I went to Col. Bouquet with my pass and
Capt. Oury's letters. He made me sit down, and said he was glad
to see me.....
"23d.  Doctor Millan requested me to go out with him to ye
woods to show him some plants what he knew not, so we went and
gathered some sassaparalla, apicoco, anna  Indian ginger or
assesabana.
"27th.  I and my brother  two other men went to see ye coal
pit on land in ye mountain side over ye Monogahela; ye mountain
is so high and steep that its with care and difficulty people gets up to
it; but its easy got, as ye bank of it being dug away a piece its level
ground from ye coal and ye coal is in a bank fronting like an upright
wall in ye hillside. They put it into bags and tumble them down hill."
During the month of June, I76I, he visits the run over the
mountain where there is a sawmill; investigates the forks of two
warrior paths going to Greenbrier and Carolina, or the Cherokees;
observes Shirtee's Island; picks strawberries and mountain tea, and
further up the river some huckleberries; and tells about fish being
caught ranging from nine to forty-three pounds. Captain William
Clapham, Jr., son of the colonel, came to confer with him about
Langdale, the agent of the previous year, I760, and Christian Frederick Post came the same day, June twenty-third. Post stayed two
days and then set off for Beaver Creek "to preach to the Indians,
and inform them of the principle of Christianity as the Moravians
hold the same." On July I, I76I, word came of a proposed attack
by the Indians, and the soldiers worked diligently to get the fort
strengthened. As a precaution all the powder in the store was put
into the fort magazine, and Colonel Bouquet posted a notice that all
inhabitants were to attend a muster. Mr. Kenney sent a request to
Colonel Bouquet that such military service was against his conscience
and principles as a Quaker, and requested him to take over the goods,
and permit him to get a horse and depart. Colonel Bouquet, after
a conference, relieved him of military duty.
320PONTIAC'S WAR
The Indian trail that extended down to Colonel Clapham's plantation was so much used by Andrew Byerly that it came to be called
"Byerly's Path" and James Kenney used it and gives the following
entries:
"It's less or more snow every night, and generally dull weather.
I understand by Josiah Davenport, who was lately up at Clapham's
place, that ye old Colonel lives like some prince; keeps many hands
at work; raises many hundreds of bushels of corn this summer, but
the turkeys like to destroy much of it; they were so thick about in
his cornfield, they shot a heap of them. The place is situated at the
mouth of Sewickley Creek on the Youghiogheny."
James Kenney made a trip as far East as Ligonier in February,
I762, and thus describes some of the democracy along the road: "2d
Mo. 8th day. Got to Andy Byerly's at Bushy Run about 25 miles
down ye road in quest of ye Indian that was said to have many pelts
thereabouts. I only met The Wolf, who owed us for a match coat,
who paid me, having his skins about 20 miles off. 9th day. Being
informed several of them lay near Ligonier, I went there. It snowed
most of ye way. Went off ye road at ye Nine Mile Run, down it
were three cabins there, but they were gone. Got into ye old road
and got to Ligonier before dark; put up at ye Bakers.  ioth day.
Last night a corporal came to ask me to wait on ye commanding officer, so I went today to let him know I was going no further, and had
no pass, so he sent for me after to dine with him, which I did; his
name is Blaine; had no company, but met at dinner..... IIth
day. Returned this day back to Bushy Run, ye snow about a foot
deep, but trod by some pack horses that carried skins back from our
store. I2th day. Got back home this day, having seen many deer
and wolf tracks."
These few entries tell an interesting story of life between Fort
Ligonier and Fort Pitt. It was because of Andrew Byerly's energy
and activity that a large number of the traders turned off the old
Forbes Road from the East at the forks some two miles or more
west of the Three Redoubts, and his plantation became a favorite
stopping place. Some of the Indians whom Chief Pontiac banded
together unquestionably noted the strategic positions of Fort Ligonier, Three Redoubts and Fort Pitt from a military standpoint. They
S. P.-I-21
32ISOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Path in I753, she declared that "she would never go down to the
river Allegheny to live, except the English built a fort." When Washington stopped at the mouth of Turtle Creek to see John Frazer on
his return from Venango, he paid Queen Aliquippa a visit at her
town a few miles up the river. While there he made her a "present
of a watch (match) coat and a bottle of rum, which latter was
thought the much better present of the two." Some are wont to confuse Queen Aliquippa with Chief Alleguippas, who resided east of
Bedford, and was perhaps at Old Town, near present Wolfsburg, at
different times.
BLACKLEGS TowN-It is difficult to distinguish whether this was
a Delaware or a Shawnee town. It is referred to as both, and was
quite an important place, contiguous to present Saltsburg, and reputed
to have been on both sides of Blacklegs Creek at its mouth. It was
on the line of the Allegheny Trail which came down the Loyalhanna
Creek from the town of Loyalhanna (at present Ligonier). At a
meeting of the Board of Property for the Province of Pennsylvania
held February 7, I769, John Montgomery and Alexander Stuart
obtained applications for 2,000 acres on the north side of Kiskiminetas
Creek (River), including the mouth of Blacklegs Town, and I,ooo
acres on the south side of the Kiskiminetas below the mouth of Black
Legs Creek.
CATFISH CAMP-The Delaware chief, Tangooqua, who was commonly called "Catfish," had a camp on a branch of Chartier's Creek
within the limits of the present city of Washington, Pennsylvania. On
their map of I757 the French marked it "Wissameking," which
means "catfish place" or "where there are catfish," according to the
translations of the Moravians, Heckewelder and Zeisberger. When
the West August County court of the Virginians was moved away from
Fort Dunmore, at Pittsburgh, the first few sessions were held at Catfish, until the new log court house was erected over the hill to the westward. After the organization of Washington County in I78I, the
name was changed to Washington.
CHARTIER'S TOWN-A prominent early trader, Martin Chartier,
was of French origin and married an Indian woman. He first lived
in Canada, then at trading posts on the Mississippi River, and later
at Old Town, Maryland, where he is first mentioned in I693. HeSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
sensed also the important part Colonel William Clapham, on the
Sewickley, Andrew Byerly at Bushy Run, Jacob Myers at future
Hannastown, William Burbridge at New Alexandria, George Weddell
on the Youghiogheny, and other intrepid settlers would play in building
up democracy here.  So, the Indians first attacked the plantations
farthest removed from the protection of a fortification, and they murdered Col. William Clapham and several members of his family on
May 28, 1763.
If Colonel Clapham had cornfields on the Big Sewickley in I76I
it is reasonable to assume that he came West even as early as I759
and turned off down the new Bouquet Road to Big Sewickley even
before Andrew Byerly established his new home. Kenney gives authentic information in his diary containing the Clapham massacre as
follows:
"sth mo. I4th, I763.  I have been down to Ligonier, and
back to Clapham's at ye mouth of Sewickley creek, and have taken
ye courses, and esteemed ye distances 20 ps all round.....
"29th. This morning before I was up Capt. Trent called at my
window and told me that Wm. Clapham (who had been a colonel)
and most of his work people was killed, two men having made their
escape, one of which I seen at our house after, who informed us
that ye agent's horse was stole by ye Indians that I left at Clapham's
about two weeks before."
Kenney did not stay long at Fort Pitt after that, and the very next
day purchased a little pack horse for ~7 and set off by way of Fort
Burd, Gist's plantation, and Dunbar's camp home. In his diary are
many references to the threatened attacks of the Indians, which
showed the league of Pontiac in the making, although the soldiers
and traders knew little about it.
In spite of the treaty of peace between the contending nations of
the French and Indian War, the league of Chief Pontiac came upon
the frontier settlements rather unexpectedly, and when the settlers
thought themselves secure. They further thought that these military
operations had awed them and made them subject to the power of
the English. But not so. Pontiac and his warriors fell upon the settlements and committed many depredations similar to the Clapham
massacre before the furious attack was made at Bushy Run. The
Shawnees, Delawares and other Ohio tribes took the lead, and
322PONTIAC'S WAR                          323
because of the rather precipitate way in which it was begun, the other
tribes were not prepared for action. The general plan was to make
a concerted attack upon all the frontier settlements simultaneously,
and particularly at harvest time, and to destroy not only the inhabitants, but their corn and cattle, and thus bring starvation to the forts.
The frontiers were immediately overrun by scalping parties, in the
provinces of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Through this
concerted attack the Indians secured possession of Forts LeBoeuf,
Venango and Presque Isle, and other forts further west, but Forts
Niagara, Detroit and Pitt were still held by the English. The story
of the defeat of Pontiac's league of Indians is one of the first importance, and will be told in the succeeding chapter.CHAPTER XXII
The Battle of Bushy Run
Military Life at Bushy Run-Pioneers on the Road Between Fort Pitt
and Ligonier-The Indian Attacks-Fort Pitt Besieged-General
Amherst Recruits an Army for the Relief of Fort Pitt-Andrew
Byerly, Pioneer-Colonel Henry Bouquet's Account of the Battle of
Bushy Run-The List of Casualties-The One Hundred and Twentieth Anniversary Celebration-The One Hundred and Fiftieth
Anniversary.
Where was the fortification at Bushy Run? Was it at the point
where the Bouquet Road crossed that stream as cut through in I759,
or was it at the location of Andrew Byerly's stopping place on the
road? The records are meagre in that regard, and we shall perhaps never know. Colonel James Burd gives the first reference to
Bushy Run in his journal of October 27, I760, when he stopped there
over night with General Monckton and Major Horatio Gates. The
next reference is in a letter of Colonel Bouquet to General Monckton,
dated March I8, I76I: "I received yesterday by the express Boyle
your letter of the 27th February, in consequence of which Colonel
Vaughn's detachment is to march tomorrow to Philadelphia. As
they have no men detached beyond this, I have only to relieve Bushy
Run, Ligonier and Stony Creek, one sergeant and six privates at
Bushy Run; Lieutenant Blaine, one sergeant and one corporal and
eighteen at Ligonier; one sergeant and six at Stony Creek."
Nine months later, Colonel Bouquet sent a report to General Stanwix, dated December 2, I76I, that he had sent a corporal and four
men of the Royal Americans to Juniata; small forces to Bedford,
Stony Creek and Ligonier, and one sergeant and two men to Bushy
Run. On June I0, I762, Lieutenant Blaine reported from Ligonier
to Colonel Bouquet that he had made arrangements to relieve the
I I ~ ITHE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN
posts at Stony Creek and Bushy Run. Captain Simeon Ecuyer, commander at Fort Pitt, reported on June 2, I763, that the men from
Bushy Run have retreated to Ligonier. This may have been due to
the prevalence of many Indians and the Clapham massacre of the
week before. Even three weeks after the battle of Bushy Run, Colonel Bouquet wrote to Major Gladwin, from Pittsburgh, on August
28, I763: "Fort Burd on the Monongahela, Stony Creek and Bushy
Run were abandoned for lack of men." The fortification at Bushy
Run existed for at least two years, and was about six miles west of
Three Redoubts.
Professor Albert P. James, of the University of Pittsburgh, on
July I4, I934, delivered an illuminating address at Ligonier, entitled
"Fort Ligonier, Additional Light from Unpublished Documents,"
which was later published in "The Western Pennsylvania Historical
Magazine," in December, I934, Volume XVII, page 259, parts of
which deserve quotation in this narrative. Dr. James wrote:
"How many of the fourteen families living between Bushy Run
and Laurel Hill at the outbreak of the Indian attack in I763 established their homes in the west in I762, it is impossible to determine.
Early in January Byerly complained to the commanding officer that a
Munsey Indian has stolen from him'five of the Kings Bullocks and
some Cows.' On July I i Christian Frederick Post, taking some Ohio
Indians east for a conference at Lancaster, stopped at Byerly's
place. He writes:'When we came to Byerly's they were hungry.
I bought a young steer for them, which they stripped, roasted and
Buyld, and then went 14 miles further well pleased.' A petition of
William Ewer to Bouquet on November I4 says that on his way up
he left his mare, gun, shot pouch, powder horn and ammunition in
care of Byerly, who had'put out of the way or disposed of them.'
Clapham, in his second year at'Sewickley old town' seems to have
had a trustworthy reputation. Blane sent Bouquet's horse to him to
send on to Fort Pitt, and on September i6 Bouquet instructed David
Franks to send twenty-five oxen to be stall-fed at Clapham's at seven
pence per pound. Clapham was killed at the opening of the Indian
attack in I763; and Andrew Byerly's historical r6le at the Battle of
Bushy Run is well known. Isaac Stimble was also in the region earl,
in I762.  Some of the horses stolen by the Indians at that time
belonged to him, and Blane wrote,'Poor Stimble will be ruined if the
325SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
horses are not recovered.' Stimble and others set off in pursuit, and
four days later Blane was alarmed because nothing had yet been
heard from him, since his name appears again in the records of the
next year (in connection with a matter of debt to a man named Duncastle) he must have returned, though whether with his horses one
cannot say.....
"On August 20 (I763) the name of a settler, not before mentioned, appears in a letter from Blane to Bouquet certifying to property losses at the hands of the Indians on behalf of Robert Lachlin,
who had served as a militiaman during the siege of Fort Ligonier
in June and July."
After referring to three lists of those who were killed, scalped
and captured, and particularly to Michael Shannon, Dr. James then
proceeds:
"A third document of the petition of fourteen settlers'Lately
Resideing Betwixt Legonier and Fort Putt, their houses and Furniture Being all Burned; and.... Crops all Destroyed,' to the'Gentlemen Commissioners.... Sitting at Carlisle,' to take'our
Distressed Circumstances under your Consideration.'  The names
of the petitioners, as spelled in the body of the document, were:'Andrew Byardly, Jacob Myards, Robert Craigton, John Fields,
Samuel Shannon, Frederick Seever, Isaac Stimble, Andrew Bonsure,
Micheal Rutter, Robert Lauglin, Michael Cofman, John Long, Robert Rodgers,  Robert Atkins.' Six persons signed on behalf of
themselves'and what is abscent of the Above mentioned persons.'
Their signatures read: Andrew Byerly, Jacob Mayer, Robt Creighton, Saml Shanenn, Frederick Saeher, and Robt Laughlin. Those of
Byerly, and Mayer, and Saeher are in German script."
Lieutenant Blaine, at Fort Ligonier, certified to and approved
another list of inhabitants which contained some of the names above
referred to, and the additional names of Daniel Lafaar and Joseph
Senovina.
Pontiac was a great chief of the Ottowas, who formed the league
with the Delawares, Shawnees, and most of the Algonquin family,
and one tribe of the Six Nations, the Senecas, through which he
attempted to drive the white man east of the Alleghenies, so that
the Indians might enjoy these lands and hunting grounds unmolested.
In this plan and its execution he was ably assisted by Guyasuta, some326THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN
times known as Kiasutha. Some call Guyasuta a Seneca chief, but he
is better designated as one of the mongrel Iroquois, called Mingoes,
who inhabited the Allegheny Valley and on westward. He went over
to the French after Braddock's defeat, and led the Indians at Major
James Grant's defeat on September I4, I758. It wis most likely
Guyasuta who led the Indians at the battle of Loyalhanna. He
attended the conference at Fort Pitt, July 5, I759, between George
Croghan, Colonel Hugh Mercer, Captain William Trent, and Thomas
McKee, and the representatives of the Six Nations, Delawares,
Shawnees, Wyandots, and others, when the Easton Treaty of October, I758, was confirmed.
As one writer puts it, these Indians were skulking along the road
between Bedford and Fort Pitt continuously, and that accounts for
the many depredations committed. The posts were warned at times
of threatened attacks for three years, which was indication that the
Indians were preparing to strike all the while. Many attacks were
made, and many settlers killed and taken prisoner. There was naturally reduced trade at Fort Pitt because of this condition. The major
attack on the settlements began in May, I763, when most of the
forts along the Great Lakes were attacked, and some besieged for a
time. Fort Presque Isle (Erie) was attacked on June fifteenth, with
Ensign Price in command, and a great part of the garrison was
killed, and the remainder taken prisoner to Detroit. One, Benjamin
Gray, escaped and brought the thrilling news to Fort Pitt. Both
Fort LeBoeuf and Fort Venango were attacked about June eighteenth, and the former captured, and the latter burned and all of the
soldiers put to death. The commander at Fort Venango, Lieutenant
Gordon, was burned to death by a slow fire lasting several days.
Fort Pitt did not fall, although it was attacked on June twentysecond, when the Indians began their siege of it. On July sixteenth,
King Shingass and Chief Turtle Heart came up to the entrance to
the fort with a flag of truce. Captain Ecuyer took them in. Their
complaint was that the English had caused the war by marching their
armies into this country and building forts, in spite of the many
protests from them. "This land is ours, and not yours," said the
spokesman for the Indians. Captain Simeon Ecuyer held the fort
and warned the Indians that he "would throw bombshells, which
would burst and blow you to atoms, and fire cannon among you
loaded with a whole bag of bullets." This ultimatum by Captain
327SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Ecuyer brought on another attempt to reduce the fort, which the
Indians, under cover of darkness, surrounded, on the next night, and
as the historian, Francis Parkman, describes their operations: "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 extinguished. One of the garrison was killed, and seven
wounded. Among the latter was Captain Esuyer, who freely exposing himself, received an arrow in the leg."
Fort Bedford, where Captain Wendell Oury was in command,
and Fort Ligonier were attacked, but not so heavily, because of the
Fort Pitt engagement. The Indians remained in the Fort Pitt environment until about August one, the greater part of them having
camped on the north side of the Allegheny River. They had attained
a measure of success in cutting off Captain Ecuyer's communications by means of the three forts on the trail to Lake Erie. Colonel
Henry Bouquet was at Carlisle when these three forts fell, and,
realizing the seriousness of the situation, and the necessity of saving
Fort Ligonier on the line of communication, first had Captain Oury
send twenty men to aid Fort Ligonier, and later in the month of
June had sent thirty Highlanders to reinforce its garrison. In sending in a report of the attack on Fort Ligonier in June, Lieutenant
Archibald Blaine had advised his superiors of the seriousness of the
situation. Colonel Bouquet fully sensed it, but he could not bring
General Jeffrey Amherst to see it. Like General Braddock, he had
a misinformed estimate of the Indian, for when Colonel Bouquet
advised him of the distress of Fort Pitt and the communication to.it,
he wrote back to Bouquet: "The post at Fort Pitt, or any of the
others commanded by officers, can certainly never be in danger from
such a wretched enemy." All of the forts from Erie to Bedford were
in command of officers of the Royal American Regiment.
328THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN
General Amherst finally came to see the necessity of the situation, and reinforced Colonel Bouquet with five hundred new troops
from the 42d and the 77th Highlanders, and additions from  the
Royal Americans. A detachment of two hundred Pennsylvania
Rangers was also sent along. Colonel Bouquet hurried to carry out
his mission to save the western settlements from destruction. As his
soldiers traveled westward they met many settlers fleeing to the
eastern settlements. He had difficulty with the Scotch Highlanders,
who would get lost in the woods of the mountains, and the rangers
were used to guide them. Bouquet's small army reached Bedford
July twenty-fifth, where he remained three days for a rest for his
horses and men and to review the situation. It was a great relief to
the garrison there, on account of the Indian raids, to have this augmented force. Captain Oury reported that he had heard nothing
from west of the mountains for several weeks, his messengers having
been killed and communication with Fort Pitt having been cut off.
The army left Bedford on July twenty-eighth, reaching Fort Ligonier on the second of August. Lieutenant Archibald Blaine could
give no information, which was because his express had not been able
to get through.
During all this period approaching the culmination of Pontiac's
War, the pioneer, Andrew Byerly, stands out as a heroic figure. He
stood by his stopping place almost to the last, even though the few
soldiers stationed at the Bushy Run fortification had gone to Ligonier. Fort Pitt was full of refugees, especially defenseless women,
and so was Fort Ligonier. He had received many warnings, but his
family was in no condition to be moved. Mrs. Byerly had recently
given birth to a child, and the departure was delayed on that account.
When certain death seemed imminent, and Andrew Byerly had gone
to help bury some persons who had been killed, presumably his neighbor Clapham's family, a friendly Indian, who had often received
hospitality from Mrs. Byerly, informed them one evening after dark
that they would be killed if they did not escape before midnight.
After posting a note on the door of the house advising her husband
where she had gone, she rode a horse in her weakened condition,
and holding her three-day-old babe, with a two-year-old son fastened
behind the saddle, reached Ligonier with the remainder of her family in safety. The older lad, Michael Byerly, helped his younger
brother, three years old, who was suffering from a stone-bruise, to
329walk to Ligonier, sometimes carrying him. They tried to drive their
milch cows to Ligonier, but the Indians harassed them so much the
cows were abandoned in the woods. Andrew Byerly was able to
escape the Indians and rejoined his family at Ligonier, where he was
soon to join Bouquet's forces.
Colonel Henry Bouquet was at Fort Ligonier just one day. He
arrived August fourth and left on August fifth, early in the morning, intending to reach Bushy Run by evening to encamp there.
Andrew Byerly was of inestimable value to him in showing the way
westward. On the very day that the Indians attacked Bouquet at
Bushy Run, an old diary of August 5, I763, furnishes the following
entry: "Three expresses came in from Colonel Bouquet whom they
left with the troops at Ligonier. These expresses report that they
heard at Small's plantation at Turtle Creek, about eighteen miles
from here, a great deal of cheering, shooting, bells and some Indians.
We imagine they are gathering there to attack the Colonel, and at
9 o'clock two expresses were despatched to meet the Colonel."  The
best account of the actual battle available is given in Colonel Bouquet's two letters to General Amherst, written after each day's conflict, which are here quoted in full:
"CAMP AT EDGE HILL,
"26 Miles from Fort Pitt, 5th Aug. I763.
"SIR: The second instant the troops and convoy arrived at Ligonier, where I could obtain no intelligence of the enemy. The expresses
DELAWARE INDIAN LONG HOUSE-BUSHY RUN PARKTHE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN
sent since the beginning of July, having been either killed or obliged
to return, all the passes being occupied by the enemy. In this uncertainty I determined to leave all the wagons, with the powder, and a
quantity of stores and provisions, at Ligonier, and on the 4th proceeded with the troops and about 340 horses loaded with flour.
"I intended to have halted today at Bushy Run, (a mile beyond
this camp), and after refreshing the men and horses, to have marched
in the night over Turtle Creek, a very dangerous defile of several
miles, commanded by high and rugged hills; but at one o'Clock this
afternoon, after a march of 17 miles, the savages suddenly attacked
our advance guard, which was immediately supported by two Light
Infantry companies of the 42d regiment, who drove the enemy from
their ambuscade and pursued them a good way. The savages
returned to the attack, and the fire being obstinate on our front, and
extending along our flanks, we made a general charge with the whole
line to dislodge the savages from their heights, in which attempt we
succeeded, without by it obtaining any decisive advantage, for as
soon as they were driven from one post, they appeared on another,
till, by continued reinforcement, they were at last able to surround
us and attacked the convoy left in our rear; this obliged us to march
back to protect it. The action then became general, and though we
were attacked on every side, and the savages exerted themselves with
uncommon resolution, they were constantly repulsed with loss; we
also suffered considerably. Capt. Lieut. Graham and Lieut. James
McIntosh, of the 42d, are killed, and Capt. Graham wounded. Of
the Royal American Regt. Lieut. Dow, who acted as A. D. Q. M. G.,
is shot through the body. Of the 77th Lieut Donald Campbell and
Mr. Peebles, a volunteer, are wounded. Our loss in men, including
rangers and drivers, exceeds sixty killed or wounded. This action
has lasted from one o'clock till night, and we expect to begin at
daybreak.
"Whatever our fate may be, I thought it necessary to give your
Excellency this early information, that you may at all events take such
measures as you 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 protecting and transporting our
provisions, being already so much weakened by the losses of this day
in men and horses, besides the additional necessity of carrying the
wounded, whose situation is truly deplorable.
33Imoved to the Shawnee Town on Pequea Creek, Lancaster County, in
I698, and had trading posts at Paxtang, at the mouth of Yellow
Breeches Creek, and at Conodogwainet, near Carlisle. He died in
I7 I 8. His son, Peter Chartier, being a half-breed Shawnee, moved to
the Allegheny River in I734 and established Chartier's Town (at
present Tarentum). He also married a Shawnee woman, thus making
him an outstanding character in their history. When Conrad Weiser
tt'IDIri TKRAILS ND TOWNS - SOUTHWESTERN TE.NF - 1740
came through in 1748 he mentions it as "the old Shawones Town, commonly called Chartier's Town." It is designated many times in the
records by the euphonious "Shirtee's Town." On the eastern side of
the Allegheny River at present Edgecliff was a companion village
known as Chartier's Landing, indicating that the river was possibly
too deep for fording at that point.
S. P. I-2SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"I cannot sufficiently acknowledge the constant assistance I have
received from Major Campbell during this long action, nor express
my admiration of the cool and steady behavior of the troops who did
not fire a shot without orders, and drove the enemy from their posts
with fixed bayonets. The conduct of the officers is much above my
praises.
"I have the honor to be with great respect, Sir, etc.,
"HENRY BOUQUET.
"To His Excellency, SIR JEFFREY AMHERST."
"CAMP AT BUSHY RUN, 6th Aug. I763.
"SIR: I had the honor to inform your Excellency in my letter of
yesterday of our first engagement with the savages. We took the
post last night on the hill where our convoy halted, when the front
was attacked (a commodious piece of ground and just spacious
enough for our purpose). There we encircled the while and covered
our wounded with flour bags.
"In the morning the savages surrounded our camp, at the distance of o50o yards, and by shouting and yelping, quite around that
extensive circumference, thought to have terrified us with their numbers. They attacked us early, and under favor of an incessant fire,
made several bold efforts to penetrate our camp, and though they
failed in the attempt, our situation was not the less perplexing, having experience that brisk attacks had little effect upon an enemy who
always gave way when pressed, and appeared again immediately.
Our troops were, besides, extremely fatigued with the long march,
and as long action of the preceding day, and distressed to the last
degree, by a total want of water, much more intolerable than the
enemy's fire.
"Tied to our convoy, we could not lose sight of it without exposing it and our wounded to fall a prey to the savages, who pressed
upon us on every side, and to move it was impracticable, having lost
many horses and most of the drivers, stupified by fear, hid themselves
in the bushes, or were incapable of obeying orders. The savages
growing every moment more audacious, it was thought possible to
entice them to come close upon us, or to stand their ground when
attacked. With this view two companies of Light Infantry were
ordered within the circle, and the troops on their right and left
opened their files and filled up the space, as it might seem they were
intended to cover the retreat.
332THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN
"The Third Light Infantry company and the Grenediers of the
42d were ordered to support the two first companies. This maneu.
ver succeeded to our wish, for the few troops who took possession
of the ground lately occupied by the two Light Infantry companies
being brought in nearer to the center of the circle, the barbarians
mistaking these motions for a retreat, hurried headlong on, and
advancing upon us, with the most daring intrepidity, galled us excessively with the heavy fire; but at the very moment when they felt
certain of success and thought themselves masters of the camp, Major
Campbell, at the head of the first companies, sallied out from a part
of the hill they could not observe, and fell upon the right flank.
They resolutely returned the fire, but could'not stand the irresistible
shock of our men, who, rushing in among them, killed many of them
and put the rest to flight. The orders sent to the other two companies were delivered so timely by Captain Basset, and executed
with such celerity and spirit, that the routed savages who happened
that moment to run before their front, received their full fire, when
uncovered by the trees. The four companies did not give them time
to load a second time, nor even to look behind them, but pursued
them till they were totally dispursed. The left of the savages, which
had not been attacked, were kept in awe by the remains of our troops,
posted on the brow of that hill for that purpose; nor durst they
attempt to support or assist their right, but being witness to their
defeat, followed their example and fled. Our brave men disdained
so much as to touch the dead body of a vanquished enemy that scarce
a scalp was taken by the Rangers and pack horse drivers.
"The woods being now cleared and the pursuit over, the four
companies took possession of a hill in our front, and as soon as litters could be made for the wounded, and the flour and everything
destroyed, which for want of horses, could not be carried, we marched
without molestation to this camp.
"After the severe correction we had given the savages a few
hours before, it was natural to suppose we should enjoy some rest,
but we had hardly fixed our camp, when they fired upon us again.
This was very provoking, however, the Light Infantry disbursed
them before they could receive orders for that purpose. I hope we
shall be no more disturbed, for, if we have another action, we shall
hardly be able to carry our wounded. The behavior of the troops
333SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
on this occasion, speaks for itself so strongly, that for me to attempt
their eulogium would but detract from their merit.
"I have the honor to be, most respectfully, Sir  c.
"HENRY BOUQUET.
"To His Excellency, SIR JEFFREY AMHERST.
"P. S. I have the honor to enclose the return of the killed,
wounded and missing in the two engagements.           H. B."
The return referred to in the postscript of Colonel Bouquet
3howed the following tabulation of the casualties on the part of his
little army:
Forty-second, or Royal Highlanders-One captain, one lieutenant, one sergeant, one corporal, twenty-five privates killed; one captain, one lieutenant, two sergeants, three corporals, one drummer,
twenty-seven privates wounded.
Sixtieth, or Royal Americans-One corporal, six privates killed;
one lieutenant, four privates wounded.
Seventy-seventh, or Montgomery's Highlanders-One drummer,
five privates killed; one lieutenant, one volunteer, three sergeants,
seven privates wounded.
Volunteers, Rangers and Packhorse Men-One lieutenant, seven
privates killed; eight privates wounded; five privates missing.
OFFICERS.
Forty-second Regiment-Captain-Lieutenant John Graham,
Lieutenant McIntosh and Lieutenant Joseph Randal, of the rangers
killed; Captain John Graham, Lieutenant Duncan Campbell
wounded.
Sixtieth Regiment-Lieutenant James Dow wounded.
Seventy-seventh Regiment-Lieutenant Donald Campbell and
volunteer, Mr. Peebles, wounded.
Total-Fifty killed, sixty wounded, five missing.
Colonel Bouquet stayed at the site of the battle for the remainder
of the day to make litters for the wounded, to bury the dead, and to
destroy his excess of supplies, because many of his horses were killed
and some got away. Late in the afternoon they moved forward to
Bushy Run, a mile west of the battlefield and camped there for the
night. He reached Fort Pitt on August tenth and the inhabitants
joyfully welcomed him after their long siege by the Indians.
334Two outstanding celebrations have been held to memorialize this
historical victory over the Indians at Bushy Run. The first one was
not held until one hundred twenty years after the battle, and was
attended by ten thousand or more people. It took place on the sixth
of August, 1883, and was in charge of a large committee headed by
the late Amos B. Kline, of Greensburg. General Richard Coulter,
renowned commander of the old IIth Regiment in the Civil War,
was the presiding officer, and G. Dallas Albert, Esq., late Westmoreland County historian, the Rev. Cyrus Cort, Reformed Church minister, a descendant of Andrew Byerly, and Edward B. Kenly, head of
the Grand Army of the Republic, comprised the Committee on Memorials. In the morning session at a huge grandstand the Rev. B. F.
Boyle, Irwin, offered the prayer, and Dr. Frank Cowan read one of
his characteristic poems. There were eight brass bands, many Posts
of the Grand Army of the Republic, and other patriotic organizations, and the majority of those who did not arrive by their own
conveyances, either walked or rode in hacks from Manor or Penn
stations on the Pennsylvania Railroad. The late J. Laurie Kunkle,
one of the North Huntington Township's farmers, brought seventytwo persons to the celebration in one huge wagon, drawn by four
large and beautiful Percheron horses, for which he always had so
much admiration.
The greatest side attraction was the presence of the little Seneca
Indian boy, and his mother, from the Cattaraugus Reservation in
New York State. His name was Guyatau, or Guito, and he was
FLOUR BAG FORT SITE-BUSHY RUN PARKSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
dressed up in full Indian costume, and was one of the brightest sevenyear-old Indian boys ever seen. As he sat upon the great platform
with the other officers and speakers he was the cynosure of all eyes.
Beside him sat also Ralph Bouquet Cort, the four-year-old grandson
of Dr. Cyrus Cort, and a great-great-great-grandson of Andrew
Byerly. The writer of these annals was present at this great celebration as a lad of nine years, and the one thing that impressed his boyish mind was the little Seneca Indian boy. Like other lads, he trailed
him the two miles from Penn Station, after disembarking from the
excursion train, to the Bushy Run grandstand. At the afternoon session
General Coulter again presided; the prayer was offered by Dr. William Wallace Moorhead, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of
Greensburg, and enthusiastic addresses were made by General James
A. Beaver, of Bellefonte; Judge John E. Park, President of the
Western Pennsylvania Historical Society, of Pittsburgh; and Congressman T. J. Bigham, of Pittsburgh. The Rev. Dr. David B.
Lady, Reformed Church minister of Manor, pronounced the
benediction.
A second celebration was held at the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of the battle on August 6, I913, when the following program
was carried out:
President-John N. Boucher, Esq., Westmoreland County Historical Society.
Prayer-Rev. Cyrus Cort, D. D., Baltimore, Maryland.
Chairman-Hon. Alexander D. McConnell, Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Westmoreland County.
Address of Welcome-James S. Moorhead, Esq., Greensburg.
Reading of Col. Bouquet's Accounts of the Battle-Paul H.
Gaither, Esq., Greensburg.
Address-Colonel John S. Mallory, U. S. Army.
Address-"The Braddock and Forbes Roads," Prof. John Kennedy Lacock, Harvard University.
Address-"Col. Henry Bouquet in Western Pennsylvania," Dr.
Henry W. Temple, Congressman from western Pennsylvania.
Address-"The Battle of Bushy Run," Dr. Samuel Black McCormick, President, University of Pittsburgh.
The State of Pennsylvania was woefully negligent in the matter
of preserving its historic shrines until the administration of Governor
336THE BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN
John S. Fisher. During that period there were more markers erected
and dedicated than at any other time in its history, and the appropriations for Bushy Run were ample for the time being. It was not,
however, until a primary effort was made by the Bushy Run Battlefield Association, a public organization of which the late George W.
Flowers, Irwin lawyer, was president, and C. Martin Bomberger.
Jeannette newspaper editor, was secretary, that substantial progress
was made, beginning with the year I918. The twenty members of
the association first subscribed $o50 each, and then over 70,000 school
children in the public and parochial schools of Westmoreland County
added penny collections of $726, which enabled the association to
purchase the initial tract of six and one-half acres of the battlefield
site. In I927 the first Bushy Run Battlefield Commission was
appointed by Governor Fisher, and was composed of General Richard Coulter, Jr., Robert W. Smith, H. F. Bovard, John S. Hamberg,
John P. Archibald, and C. Martin Bomberger, who was secretary.
General Coulter later resigned, and the Rev. Dr. Lawrence E. Bair
substituted, when Mr. Bomberger was chosen chairman. With the
appropriations provided by the State this commission was enabled
to purchase almost the remainder of the entire battlefield, and by
this means the park has been beautifully landscaped and thousands
of trees planted. A huge boulder was secured at the blue rock quarries at Long Bridge on the old Allegheny Indian trail down the
Ligonier Gap, and erected at the site of Colonel Bouquet's flour-bag
fort. Appropriate bronze markers were also provided, telling the
story of the battle. The old springhouse at the Andrew Byerly
spring has been transformed into a sizable museum, which in the coming years, through accretions, will become a shrine of relics of these
old Indian days. There has also been erected a memorial Indian
"long house," built after the pattern of the Six Nations, which, with
the memorialized Indian trails, named after the various tribes that
participated in the battle, will make of Bushy Run Battlefield one of
the most beautiful shrines in historic Pennsylvania.
The change of political complexion during the administration of
Governor George H. Earle brought also a change in the personnel
of the commission. James K. Clarke, of Greensburg, is now chairman, with these additional members: Mrs. Kittie Painter Lafoon,
M. A. Gillespie, H. Burns Smith, John B. Brunot, Esq., and the late
S. P.-I-22
337338           SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
H. Albert Lauffer. Increasing thousands are visiting the battlefield
each year, and under the wise and tactful management of W. E.
Moog, it is becoming the mecca for historical parties and picnickers
of all kinds beneath its ever-increasing shades.CHAPTER XXIII
The Indian Purchase of 1768
The Indian Depredations Continue-The Building of Fort Gaddis by
Colonel Thomas Gaddis-His Military Life in the Redstone Country
-Captain Arthur St. Clair Locates at Nine Mile Run and LigonierColonel Henry Bouquet's Expedition of I764-The Return of the
Prisoners-The Redstone Country Fills up with Settlers-The Proclamations of Governor John Penn to Vacate the Indian Lands-Captain John Steele's Committee Attempts to Persuade the Settlers to
Leave-The List of Settlers Attending the Meetings-The Fort Pitt
Indian Conference in May, I768-The Treaty of Fort Stanwix, and
the Indian Purchase of November 5, I768-The First Attempt to
Establish the Mason and Dixon Line.
The period of five years between the time of Colonel Bouquet's
successful expedition for the relief of Fort Pitt in I763 and the
making of the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, was one of courage and hardship. Those pioneers who blazed their way, under military approval,
are deserving of the greatest praise for their fortitude.  Andrew
Byerly went back with his family to Bushy Run to reestablish his
home there, and his descendants have woven themselves into the warp
and woof of his community and far beyond. George Weddell
strengthened his position on the Youghiogheny, and his progeny have
helped to build up southwestern Pennsylvania. After the Indians
had killed William Burbridge on the Loyalhanna, his brother, Thomas
Burbridge, carried on where the slain one left off. These three are
but types of the many pioneer traders and artisans who returned to
lay the foundations of this ample community's greatness. Hither
also came during this period many who had never been here before,
but who became outstanding historic characters. The decisive battle
at Bushy Run did not put a stop to the Indian depredations, nor did
_ __ _SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
it stop the killing and capture of the pioneers. They were still to
suffer from these attacks, less severe in their nature as the Indians
moved westward for the next third of a century. These courageous
pioneers were laying the foundations of a legal and social democracy
which was in the making in these western woods.
The Pennsylvania archives do not contain much about that group
of Virginians who were crowding the roads westward in I763, and
whom the trader, James Kenney, met on his way East. As they
approached Fort Burd and found its garrison gone, nearly all of
them would naturally turn back until Pontiac's War was over. As
the news of the Bushy Run engagement spread, the Virginians, too,
returned to take up their tomahawk claims again, and establish themselves in their home life. Some of them came by the Braddock Road
and others down the Tygert's Creek Valley to the Redstone country.
Thomas Gaddis was born in Frederick County, Virginia, the son of
William and Priscilla Bowen Gaddis. As he came into this section
he located a tract of land on the Catawba Trail two miles south of
present Uniontown, and there erected his cabin in the fall of I763,
or very early in I764. He built it exceeding strong and sufficiently
large to accommodate his neighbors in the event of Indian attack.
It was enclosed within a good sized stockade, and within which was
a good spring of water. Some of the added log buildings have been
removed, but the original structure still remains, and it is now well
preserved through the instrumtnentality of the Fort Gaddis Chapter,
Daughters of the American Revolution, at Fairchance. The building is at least six months older than Colonel Henry Bouquet's blockhouse at Pittsburgh, and is therefore the oldest historical existing
shrine west of the Allegheny mountains. The accompanying pictures of Fort Gaddis were taken on the occasion of the trek of the
Provincial Hikers over the Catawba Trail from Point Marion to
Tionesta in the years I936-37.
Being a Virginian, Thomas Gaddis naturally cast in his lot with
the Virginia sympathizers in the opening years of the Revolution.
Were the burned records of the old Monongalia Court now available, their entries would most likely disclose his hearty participation
in the legal affairs of that tribunal, as it convened at Phillipstown on
George's Creek. The Virginia records show his appointment as a
captain by Governor Patrick Henry, and soon afterwards he was
appointed a colonel on this western frontier, and later became a colo34oFORT GADDIS, NEAR MORGANTOWN ROAD, TWO MILES SOUTH OF UNIONTOWN.
A MEMORIAL TO COLONEL THOMAS GADDIS
FRONT AND REAR OF FORT GADDIS ON THE CATAWBA TRAIL, THREE MILES SOUTH
OF UNIONTOWN, BUILT IN 1763SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
COCKEYE'S CABIN-This was the name given this Indian habitation by the traders coming through on the Allegheny Trail. It was
northerly from the famed Bushy Run battlefield of I763. Christopher
Gist mentions it in I750 as being an old Indian camp. The Paxtang
trader, John Harris, coming through in I754, places it eight miles
west of James Dunning's sleeping place, and it is also noted as being
fifteen miles from Shannopin's Town. Its exact location is somewhat
confusing, although tradition places it on the James F. Torrance farm
near the northwest corner of the Manor of Denmark, and at a possible
intersection of a cross trail from Chartier's Landing to Sewickley Old
Town. Indian artifacts have been plowed up here in corroboration
of its location.
CONEMAUTGH OLD TowN-Its real name is Connemach, but usage
has softened it to Conemaugh, and as in a majority of the cases, it
derives its name from the stream which the Indians first named. Connemach means: "otter." The trader, Jonas Davenport, refers to this
Indian town in an affidavit made before the Provincial Council on
October 29, I73I, when he stated that "on Connemach Creek there
are three Shawneese towns, forty-five families, two hundred men,"
and that their Chief is Okawela. Scull's map of I770 places this
town at the junction of South Fork and Stoney creeks at the present
site of Johnstown. An outstanding Johnstown historian, Mr. Dwight
Roberts, with his usual scrutinizing care, places it a mile up from the
junction, close to present Moxham. Chief Okawela, otherwise called
Ocowellos, came westward from the former Shawnee town at Chillisquaqua on the Susquehanna River, and the three towns over which he
ruled are conjectured to be by some as Connemach, Black Legs and
Keckenepaulin's.
DEUNDAGA-This was a Seneca town located at the junction of
the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, and it had been discontinued
at the time Captain William Trent began the erection of his fort in
I754, under the direction of the Ohio Company. The word translated means "The Forks."  Queen Aliquippa is reported to have
lived there for a short time also, before the French came down the
Allegheny.
GosHGOSHING-This Indian town is northerly of the territory
concerning which these annals deal, but because of its importance onSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
nel in the Pennsylvania Continental Line in I777. Colonel Gaddis
was early advised of the formation of a baid of one hundred Tories
west of the Monongahela River, who planned an attack on Redstone
Fort, where they intended to surprise the guard, capture the fort
and seize the ammunition stored there for the use of the soldiers
west of the Alleghenies. These Tories had taken an oath to defend
King George and help to undermine the Revolution. The Tories
came to John Mason's blacksmith shop at Masontown, and Mason
promptly advised Colonel Gaddis, who sent word to LieutenantColonel Thomas Brown at Redstone. Colonel Brown then sent word
to General Edward Hand at Fort Pitt.
Colonel Gaddis was dispatched to go after the Tories, and the
story is recorded that with Major Springer and Captain Enochs he
went at once to Province Fort on the east bank of the Monongahela
River, about two miles above Whitely Creek and encamped for the
night close to the assembly field of the Tories, where they were in
daily drill preparing for their attack upon the Fort Redstone powder
magazine. The morning after Colonel Gaddis and his troops had
encamped at Providence Fort, a lone horseman was seen on the river
bank, evidently a scout sent to find out the position and number of
Gaddis' men. The scout turned and rode down the river at full
gallop to warn the Tories of the advance of the soldiers. Gaddis
and his force crossed the river at once and, well-mounted, they pursued the scout, who led them direct to the Tory camp. Approaching
the picket line they captured the sentinel, and from him learned that
the Tories were in camp about a quarter of a mile distant and numbered one hundred men, organized and drilled. Nothing daunted,
Colonel Gaddis ordered an immediate advance; when they were in
sight of the Tories the enemy broke and ran in great confusion, some
of them hiding in a large cornfield. Colonel Gaddis divided his men
and ordered each man to take so many rows of corn and hunt the
Tories down. In this manner twelve were captured and taken to
William Minor's Fort, where they were ironed, held in confinement,
and finally ordered to Williamsburg, Virginia. They were taken
there by slow marches, where they took the Oath of Allegiance, were
pardoned, and returned home.
Colonel Thomas Gaddis was third in command under Colonel
William Crawford in the Sandusky expedition in May and June, I782,
when Colonels Crawford and McClelland were taken prisoners and
342THE INDIAN PURCHASE OF 1768
343
burned at the stake. In the legal life of West Augusta, Thomas Gaddis was appointed a justice in the courts, and at the organization of
Fayette County, in I783, he was a member of the first grand jury,
and from I787 to I789 he served as a county commissioner. The
first Gaddis baby was born within Fort Gaddis in I766, and through
intermarriage with the Brownfield and other pioneer families, his
descendants have aided greatly in building up the Redstone country. This land on which Fort Gaddis is located is now owned by the
family of Basil Brownfield, a member of Fort Necessity Chapter.
Sons of the American Revolution, since deceased.
Arthur St. Clair came into the life of southwestern Pennsylvania,
and later into the larger life of the Nation,' beginning with the year
I764. He was not in these parts prior to that time. He was born
to the purple at Thurso Castle, Scotland, on April 3, I734, and
because of the Scotch descent of estates, by right of primogeniture,
he did not inherit anything from the landed estate of his father, William St. Clair. His mother was Margaret Balfour St. Clair, and
his family, of Norman origin, became one of the most noted in English history. After his graduation in medicine from the University
of Edinburgh, he started for London to gain experience with a famous
doctor of that day, William Hunter. There the Duke of Cumberland was organizing a regiment of Royal Americans, consisting of
four battalions of one hundred men each, and young St. Clair attached
himself to the second battalion, and sailed for the new America with
the fleet of Admiral Boscawen. His battalion was a part of the
troops under the command of Sir William Howe that scaled the
heights of Quebec on September I3, I759. Wilkinson's "Memoirs"
record him as having carried the colors on the Plains of Abraham,
which he seized after they had fallen from the hands of a dying
soldier.
Arthur St. Clair seems to have risen no higher than the title of
lieutenant in the British Army, but when the Penns later placed him
in charge of their land interests in southwestern Pennsylvania they
designated him in their correspondence as a captain as late as I773
and I774, a title which they must have bestowed upon him. He
resigned his commission in the British Army on April I9, I762, while
he was in Boston, and after he had married Phoebe Bayard on May
10, I760. There is some conjecture as to how young St. Clair met
up with Miss Bayard, the daughter of Balthazer Bayard, and hisSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
wife, the former Mary Bowdoin. One writer, Robert C. Winthrop,
suggests that Major William Ewing, as an aide-de-camp on the staff
of General Wolfe at Quebec, was a brother of Governor James
Bowdoin, and that through this friendship he might have been introduced to Miss Bayard. It can be said that Lieutenant Arthur St.
Clair married to the purple also, for his wife, Phebe Bayard, received
a legacy of ~I4,00ooo from the Bowdoin estate, which, with the allotments which his military record brought him, enabled him to take up
large amounts of land in this western country, when he and his courageous wife decided to cast their lot here.
They lived in Boston for the first four years of their married life,
where one or two of the older children were born. It is believed by
some that they first moved to Bedford in I764, when that was a part
of Cumberland County. The exact date of St. Clair's arrival at
Fort Ligonier had not been determined by any records now known.
He was at the fort as early as April I I, I767, when he granted Frederick Rohrer military permission to cultivate a tract of land at the
mouth of Coal Pit Run on the Loyalhanna Creek. In the case of
Todd's Lessee v. Ockerman, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reports,
I Yeates 295, a case reported in I793, there is the following record:
"Governor St. Clair (he was then Governor of the Northwest Territory), being sworn, proved that he had obtained permission from
Colonel Reid, (Commander at Fort Pitt), in I766 or I767, to make
a settlement on the road to Pittsburgh at the Nine Mile Run from
Ligonier and at Dagworthy's Breastworks, and to occupy the land
between the road and the Loyalhanna; that in I776 he sent his permission with other valuable papers from Philadelphia to Carlisle in
a trunk, which miscarried by the way, and notwithstanding all his
efforts, he had never been able to retrieve it; that in I767 to 1768,
he took possession of these lands and surveyed and marked all the
lines thereof.... except to the Loyalhanna Creek, which possession had continued by himself and his son (Daniel St. Clair) and
their tenants to the time of commencing this ejectment, with considerable improvements, except that about six years ago one Patrick
Graham tried to possess himself of part of the lands in question, and
some time after ran away." Thus by his own testimony we have the
best evidence that young Lieutenant St. Clair, with his small family,
scouted over the Forbes Road into these western woods, and fully
decided to cast his lot here. St. Clair took up other tracts about Fort
344THE INDIAN PURCHASE OF 1768
Ligonier, and later 6,2i9 acres on the crest of Chestnut Ridge on
both sides of the Loyalhanna Creek. He was in charge of the opening of the land office on April 3, I769, and his skillful handling of
the military and land affairs of the Penns brought him an appointment as their land agent here in I77I. He was not, however, to
become a real part of the life of Hannastown until the establishing
of the courts there in I773. The lordly St. Clair pursued his own
way in these spacious woods as the eager settlers were receiving their
allotments and staking out their claims.
Colonel Bouquet had a great desire to follow up his victory at
Bushy Run with a further expedition into the western Indian country. Sir William Johnson, the Indian Agent of the Colonies, learned
from a Seneca Indian chief, who had been at the Delaware village
on the Muskingum, that the Ottawa Confederacy, in October, I763,
had asked the Delawares to help drive the English out of the country. They emphasized that Fort Pitt and Fort Augusta were eyesores to the Indians of those parts, and that they should proceed
together, attack them and then proceed towards Philadelphia. General Thomas Gage succeeded General Jeffrey Amherst as commanderin-chief of the British forces in America in November, I763. Governor Penn on December twentieth went right on with the preparations to carry the war into the enemy's country. The Delawares and
Shawnees in the upper Susquehanna kept up their raids on the eastern fringe of settlements. This spurred the provincial authorities on
to a recruiting of soldiers for Colonel Bouquet's army of I764, and
he finally reached Fort Pitt on September I7, I764, at the head of
about seven hundred troops. To this force was added the Virginians,
making about i,5oo men that marched down the Ohio on October
fourth. The journal of this expedition shows that they went down
through Logstown and Saukonk, thence to the Indian villages on the
Tuscarawas River. Here he went into conference with such prominent chiefs as King Beaver, Custaloga, Guyasuta, John Killbuck, Keissinautchtha, and John Killbuck, Jr. He did not mince words with
them, and planted his soldiers in firm military array at the council,
finally delivering the ultimatum that all prisoners were to be delivered to him within twelve days at a given point at Wakatomika,
below Coshocton. The army was marched thirty miles further into
the Indian country, and there two hundred and six prisoners were
345SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
delivered up, eighty of them Virginians and one hundred sixteen
Pennsylvanians.
The Shawnees were more hostile and were inclined to kill their
prisoners, but by hasty action and proper diplomacy with them, they
too promised to deliver their prisoners to George Croghan at Fort
Pitt. It took ten days for this conquering army, with the reclaimed
prisoners, to reach Fort Pitt on November 28, I764. They were
then sent on to Carlisle in charge of Lieutenant-Colonel Clayton,
soon to be reunited in their family life, husbands with wives and
children with parents. Their residence with the Indians caused some
of them to make lasting friendships, and even to adopt their manner of
life, and these breaking of Indian home ties were sometimes as touching
as the homely greeting on their return to the settlements in the East.
The expedition of Colonel Bouquet was considered so successful that
Governor John Penn issued a proclamation on December 5, I764,
declaring Pontiac's War officially closed. Colonel Bouquet was congratulated by his commander-in-chief, and the Provincial Assembly
of Pennsylvania tendered him a vote of thanks. Virginia refused to
pay her troops engaged in this expedition, much to the discouragement of Bouquet, but Pennsylvania finally paid this obligation to the
Virginia soldiers. At his own request Colonel Bouquet was relieved
of his command, and was preparing to sail for England, when the
King appointed him a brigadier-general and sent him to Pensacola,
Florida, where he died later in I765. There stands near the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in the city of Pittsburgh the old blockhouse built by Colonel Bouquet in I764, finely
preserved by the Daughters of the American Revolution. A movement is now on foot, sponsored by the Historical Society of Western
Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, whereby
the historic area at the Forks of the Ohio shall be made into a beautiful and appropriate park, with a rebuilding of the fortifications
which meant so much to the military life of the frontier.
After the issues of Pontiac's War were determined, the Redstone
country was filling up so with settlers, and many were securing locations along the Forbes Road, that the King of England, due to this
and other circumstances, issued a proclamation against the settlement of Indian lands. During this period George Croghan had visited England, and upon his return to America made a trip West as
far as Detroit, holding conferences there and at other points with
346THE INDIAN PURCHASE OF I768
the Indians. Not having participated in the I764 campaign, he was
more or less of a free lance. There arose also the situation due to
the rebellious spirit of Captain James Smith, and his "Sideling Hill
Volunteers," which caused an interruption in trade to Fort Pitt.
These are complications which need not be detailed here, but they
had the effect of bringing about the King's proclamation against indiscriminate settlements. George Croghan wrote to General Gage from
Fort Pitt on May 26, I766, advising that he would try to remove
the dissatisfaction of the Indians on account of the murders committed on their people, and that if some effectual measures were not
speedily taken to remove the people settled on Redstone Creek, till
a boundary can be properly settled as proposed, and the governors
pursue vigorous measures to deter the frontier inhabitants from murdering Indians which pass to and from war against their natural
enemies, the consequences may be dreadful, and we be involved in
all the calamities of another general war.
In accordance with the King's instructions, Governor Francis
Fauquier, of Virginia, issued his proclamation warning "the settlers
on Redstone Creek,.... to quit these illegal settlements, and in
case of refusal to threaten military execution." Governor Penn and
Governor Fauquier were in communication, despite their differences
as to provincial boundaries, and the former then promulgated the
following:
"A PROCLAMATION.
"Whereas, I have received information that many ill-disposed
persons, in express disobedience of His Majesty's Proclamation and
Royal Instructions, and regardless of the rights of the Proprietaries,
or the Indians in alliance with the English, have, without any license
or authority, seated themselves upon lands within this Province, not
yet purchased of the Natives;
"And, Whereas, the making such settlements doth greatly tend
to irritate the Indians, and may again resolve us in a war with them,
if not put an immediate stop to;
"And, Whereas, I have lately received His Majesty's positive
commands to suppress such unwarrantable proceedings, and to put
an end to these and other the like encroachments for the future;
"I have, therefore, thought fit, with the advice of the Council, to
issue this proclamation, hereby strictly enjoining and requiring, in
347SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
His Majesty's name, all persons whatsoever, who have made any
such settlements in this Province, immediately to evacuate and abandon them, as they will answer the contrary at their peril: And I do
prohibit all His Majesty's subjects, of this or any other Province or
Colony, from making any settlements, or taking any possession of
lands, by marking trees, or otherwise, beyond the limits of the last
Indian purchase, within this Province, upon pain of the severest penalties of the law, and of being excluded from the privilege of securing
such settlements, should the lands, where they shall be made, be hereafter made by the Indians.....
"Given under my hand and the Great Seal of said Province at
Philadelphia, the twenty-third day of September, in the year of our
Lord, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, and in the sixth year
of His Majesty's reign.                            JOHN PENN.
"By His Honour's Command,
"JOSEPHI SHIPPEN, JR., Secretary.
"GOD SAVE THE KING."
Little or no attention was paid to this proclamation by the pioneers, due most likely to the uncertainty as to the provincial jurisdiction. In the due course of military authority, there then came the
following from Captain Alexander Mackay, commanding a battalion
of the 42d Regiment at Fort Pitt:
"To all whom it may concern, at Redstone Creek, June 22, I766":
(After reciting his authority from the commander-in-chief).
"His Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief, has ordered, in case
you remain after this notice, to seize and make prize of all goods and
merchandise brought on this side of the Allegania Mountains, or
exposed to sale to Indians, at any place except at His Majesty's Garrison; that goods thus seized will be a lawful prize, and become the
property of the captors. The Indians will be incouraged in the way of
doing themselves justice, and if accidence should happen, you lawless people must look upon yourselves as the cause of whatsoever may
be the consequence, hurtful to your persons and estates, and if this
should not be sufficient to make you return to your several Provinces,
His Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief, will order an armed force
to drive you from the lands you have taken possession of to the Westward of the Allegania Mountains, the property of the Indians till
such time as His Majesty may be pleased to fix a further boundary."
348THE INDIAN PURCHASE OF I768
This show of military force had the effect of terrifying some of
the settlers but the great majority of them remained, and Captain
Mackay's battalion went back to Fort Pitt. The Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania then passed the drastic act of February 3, 1768,
providing for the serving of a thirty-day notice to vacate, and in case
of failure so to do, "being thereof legally convicted by their own confessions or the verdict of a jury, shall suffer death without the benefit
of clergy." The act made an exception of those lands settled by military permission, or those secured through the approbation of George
Croghan, deputy agent of Indian affairs under Sir William Johnson.
Soon after the passage of the law Governor Penn appointed Captain
John Steele, a Presbyterian minister who had been a chaplain in the
Forbes army, and John Allison, Christopher Lemes, and Captain
James Potter, of Carlisle, as a committee to visit this area and warn
all of the settlers off the lands by May i, I768. The work of the
committee was not successful, but their report furnishes much valuable
information as to the persons who then exercised a fortuitous occupancy of these lands. They came by the Braddock Road from Fort
Cumberland to Gist's Plantation, and then by the Burd Road to Redstone. A meeting was held here, attended by some Indians from
Mingo, who encouraged the settlers in their demands that they
remain on the lands until a treaty was effected. Other meetings were
held at Gist's Plantation, Stewart's Crossing, and Turkey Foot, and
the discussions were animated. Some derogatory words were spoken
of Croghan's operations, and disrespect for law and government, as
thlen constituted, was voiced by one settler, Lawrence Harrison. The
Indians at the conference were Indian Peter, Captains Haven, Hornets, Mygog-Wigo, Nogawach, Strikebelt, Pouch, Gilley, and Slewbells. Captain Steele attached to his report the following names of
persons who attended the meetings in the different communities:
Redstone-John Wiseman, Henry Prisser, William Linn, William Colvin, John Vervalson, Adam Tygard, Thomas Brown, Richard
Rodgers, Henry Swatz (Swartz), Joseph McClean, Jesse Martin,
Adam Hatton, John Verwal, Jr., James Waller, Thomas Douter
(Douthet), Captain Coburn, John Delong, Peter Young, George
Martin, Thomas Down, Andrew Gudgeon, Philip Sute (Shute), James
Crawford, John Peters, Michael Hooter, Andrew Linn, Gabriel Conn,
John Martin, Hans Cook, Daniel McKay, Josias Crawford, one
Province.
349SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Giesse's (Gist's)-One Bloomfield (Brownfield), James Lynn,
Ezekiel Johnson, Thomas Giesse (Gist), Charles Lindsay, James
Wallace, Henry Burkman, Lawrence Harrison, Ralph Hickenbottom.
Turkey Foot-Henry Abrahams, Ezekial Dewitt, James Spencer,
Benjamin Jennings, John Cooper, Ezekiel Hickman, John Enslow,
Benjamin Pursley.
There were many other pioneers already in this area, who are
not mentioned in this report, possibly because they did not attend
the meetings. Other records show that Captain William Crawford,
others of the Gists, Hugh Stevenson, Mlartin Hardin and John McKibben were there at the time.
There remained but one thing to do, and that was for the Penns to
effect a purchase of these lands on which settlements had been made.
As preliminary to this, a great conference was held at Fort Pitt from
April 26 to May 9, I768, inclusive, which was attended by more than
a thousand Indians. George Croghan, as deputy superintendent of
Indian affairs, was in charge of this meeting, and Governor Penn was
represented by John Allen and Joseph Shippen. Such outstanding
Indian chiefs as Guyasuta, White Mingo, Newcomer, Custaloga, King
Beaver, Wingenund, Captain Pipe, White Wolf, White Eyes, Captain John Nimwha, Captain Jacobs, and many others of the Senecas,
Delawares, Shawnees, Mohicans, Wyandots, other tribes. The gist
of the discussions at the conference was the claim of the Indians that
the white man had no right to settle until he had first made a purchase. This conference led to that other and more important one
held at Fort Stanwix, New York, November 5, I768, when the Penns
acquired a title from the Indians for a consideration of ~Io,ooo, that
section of southwestern Pennsylvania bounded on the north by a line
running from Cherry Tree to Kittanning, and continuing down the
Allegheny and the Ohio to the boundary of the province, and thence
by the present State line to the eastern line of the Allegheny mountain, along which it extended northeasterly diagonally across the State.
This great strip of land became subject to later subdivisions, as later
counties were laid off, but upon its acquisition the area with which
these annals deal became a part of Cumberland County. That portion to the northwest of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers was acquired
by the later purchase of I784.
It should be noted here that the first attempt to run the Mason
and Dixon line was made in 1767, and was participated in by Colonial
350THE INDIAN PURCHASE OF I768                      35I
representatives and several groups of Indians.  On September 27,
I767, the surveying party camped on the Monongahela, near the
crossing of the Catawba Trail, two hundred thirty-three miles from
the Delaware. There were desertions in the party, and when the
Indians refused to permit the line to be run beyond the crossing of the
Warrior's Path, near Mt. Morris in Greene County, the surveyors
took them at their word, and the line was not completed at that time.
A fuller discussion of the final running of the line will be given later,
but it is notable that the dispute over that line was the cause of many
severe conflicts during the succeeding fifteen years, which forms some
of the most interesting chapters in the building up of this great
country.THE INDIAN TOWNS AND VILLAGES
the line of the Catawba Trail we need to know of it also. It was a
former Munsee Delaware town at the mouth of Tionesta Creek, and
was settled about I765. Its variable name was sometimes Cuchcushing, and at other times Gosgoschunk and Cushcheating. The name
translated means, "Place of hogs."  The northerly part of the
Catawba Trail has been also designated as the "Cushcheating Path to
Ligonier." It was the location of a Moravian mission established by
David Zeisberger in I767, and there were really three villages, one
two miles above and the other four miles below the central one.
JACOBS' CABINS-Captain Jacobs and King Shingass were Delaware chiefs at Kittanning, who led various' bands eastward in the
devastation of pioneer homes in the Cumberland and Susquehanna
valleys. This Captain Jacobs was killed when Colonel John Armstrong marched his 300 Cumberland County soldiers westward in
I756 and destroyed the Indian town of Kittanning. Colonel Armstrong says that a son of Captain Jacobs was killed at Kittanning, and
if that be so, there were two Captain Jacobs, one of them living at
Jacobs' Cabin near Iron Bridge at the Great Swamp on Jacob's Creek.
The settlers called him Captain Jacobs because he resembled a burly
Dutchman of that name in Cumberland County. Orme's "Journal of
the Braddock Expedition in I755" says: "We marched to Jacobs'
Cabin about six miles from the camp." Gist's diary says that he and
Washington set out from his plantation and went across the Youghiogheny about twenty miles to Jacobs' Cabins. Peter Tittle, of Cumberland County, made affidavit on March 4, I760, at the age of 35
years, that an Indian Doctor John spoke contemptuously concerning
the soldiers, saying they were good for nothing, and that they had
killed Captain Jacobs, but that he had known another Captain Jacobs,
a very big man, bigger and stronger than he who was killed.
KASKASKUNK-In some of the Butler County archives this town
is given as being located on the Venango Trail from Logstown, and
at a possible intersection of the path leading from Kittanning westward to Kuskuskies. There are several Indian villages noted in Butler County, but the names of them have not been handed down.
KECKENEPAULIN'S TOWN-Chief Keckenepaulin was a noted
Delaware who knew the traders and the military men well. The
diaries of each indicate that he had two habitations: one on the KisigCHAPTER XXIV
Bedford County Erected
The Settlers Hasten to Take up Lands-The New Purchase Added to
Cumberland County-Many Apply for Lands West of the Allegheny
Mountains-Colonel George Washington Seeks Pennsylvania LandsThe Agitation for a New County Before the Provincial AssemblyThe Dissatisfaction of the Seneca Indians-Colonel Washington
Visits the Western Lands and Pittsburgh in I77o-The New County
of Bedford Erected in I77I-Six Justices Appointed West of the
Allegheny-Their Oath of Office as Compared With the Modern
One- The Townships of Brothers Valley, Fairfield, Mt. Pleasant,
Tyrone, Springhill, Hempfield, Pitt and Armstrong Erected-The
Roads and Trails by Which the New Settlers Came.
After the purchase from the Indians at Fort Stanwix, New York,
by which the Penns acquired that diagonal strip across Pennsylvania
from the northeast to the southwest corner of the present State boundaries, they made immediate preparations to open up the land to the
settlers. Those having military permits and remaining on the lands
were entitled to hold them, provided they made formal application
for them through the land office. Hundreds of Scotch-Irish and Pennsylvania Germans flocked West to take up these lands, and many Virginians came too, and some military officers who had been to Forts
Pitt, Ligonier and Burd. The whole area was designated as the
"New Purchase," and the land office opened in Philadelphia showed
applications as early as February 9, I769. The many hundred warrants first issued were all dated April 3, I769, and this date marks
the beginning of orderly land titles in this area.
Cumberland County had been erected out of the western portion
of Lancaster County on January 27, I750, with its county seat first at
Shippensburg, and later at Carlisle. By their Indian purchase of
IBEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
I758, the Penns had added an additional portion of Indian lands as
far West as the Allegheny mountains, which included Fort Bedford
and its adjacent town. Among the earlier application for lands after
the purchase of 1768 were the following:
February 9, I769-John Montgomery and Alexander Stewart,
i,ooo acres on the north side of Kiskiminetas Creek, including the
mouth of Black Log Creek and Black Log (Black Legs) Town; and
an additional I,ooo acres of the southside below the mouth of Black
Log Creek.
February I4, I769 Alexander McKee, five hundred acres on
the south side of the Ohio, below Fort Pitt, at the mouth of Chartiers Creek, including an improvement made by him.
February 9, I769-Arthur St. Clair, three hundred acres on the
east side of Loyalhanna Creek, opposite to the great bend of the
creek, and extending downward about four miles above Fort Ligonier.
April I, i769  George Croghan, i,5oo acres on the Ohio (Allegheny), beginning at the mouth of Two Mile Run (Shannopin's
Town), and running up the river to the Narrows, including all his
improvements, where six families were living, and which he had been
improving since I760. Also four hundred acres at the mouth of
Plumb Creek, including improvements, later surveyed to Robert
Elliott and James Vorner. Also six hundred acres at the Bullock
Pen; and four hundred acres at Four Mile Run, including Sly's
improvement,.
April I, I769-David Franks, five hundred acres at the mouth
of Sewickley Old Town Creek, and on the east side of Youghiogheny,
including the improvements thereon, later warranted to Bernard
Gratz in I78I and to Mary Plumstead in I787, together with four
other tracts at the Forks of Spring Run, later taken up by Gratz and
Plumstead.
April I, I769 Aeneas Mackey, three hundred acres situate at
a place called "Dirty Camp," on both sides of the Turtle Creek, on
the road from Ligonier to Fort Pitt upon which he had made great
improvements by virtue of a permission from Lieutenant-Colonel
Reid, commanding officer at Fort Pitt.
April I, I769-Mrs. Meyers, widow, three hundred acres on
Turtle Creek thirteen miles from Fort Pitt; patents later issued to
Henry and Annanias Chalfant in I844.
S. P. I-23
353SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
April i, I769-Andrew Byerly, three hundred acres at Bushy
Run, twenty-five miles from Fort Pitt.
April I, I769-Captain John Proctor, three hundred acres twelve
miles beyond Ligonier, including his improvements; returned to
James Guthrie in I802 and George Smith in I8I9.
April I, I1769-John Campbell, three hundred acres, called
"Recovery," situated near the fort on Conemaugh and on a small
creek called lMcGee's Run, at his hunting cabins.  (Fort Wallace,
near Blairsville.)
April I, I769-John Frazier, three hundred acres at the mouth
of Turtle Creek on Monongahela, and including a bottom and a part
of Braddock's field.
April I, I769-John Ormsby, John Ormsby, Jr., and Oliver
Ormsby, on the west side of Monongahela, three, four and five
miles, respectively, above Fort Pitt, on which stands a large dwellinghouse and field, cleared by permission of the commanding officer at
Fort Pitt in 1768; good improvements.
April I, I769- William Thompson, three hundred acres adjoining WilliamElliott and Alex McGregor, on both sides of the Great
Road, including a small improvement, about seven miles from Fort
Pitt.
April I, I769-Robert Thompson, three hundred acres adjoining John Frazier and Peter Rolleter, at Braddock's field, on the north
side of Monongahela, including improvement made by order of Captain Edmundson.
April 3, 1769-Abraham  Smith, three hundred acres on the
mouth of a large run where it empties into Ligonier Creek on the
north side of said creek below two small islands.
April 3, I769-John Carothers, three hundred acres upon a
large lick upon the north side of a branch of Sewickley that leads
from Proctor's, about six miles from Proctor's.
April 3, I769, Hugh Crawford, three hundred acres on the east
side of the Youghiogheny, including Crawford's Sleeping Place, and
bounded on each side by narrows up and down the river.
April 3, I769-John Ramsey, one hundred fifty acres on Stony
Creek, including the old fort at the crossing and extending down said
creek.
To these names of early applicants for land warrants could be
added many others during the succeeding period of two years, but
354BEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
they are sufficiently varied in location and personnel to indicate the
substantial and determined character of the movement to settle
the country. Even Colonel George Washington sought lands from the
Penns, and thus recognized that they had some rights here by reason of the Indian purchase. Washington appointed as his agent Captain William Crawford, who later became so prominent in the real
estate operations and the military and legal life of this section. Captain Crawford was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in I722;
had served in the Virginia Regiment with Washington in I758, and
took an active part in Pontiac's War of I763. He first went to the
Youghiogheny to perfect his settlement in the summer of I765, and
the next year brought his wife and three children across the mountain to their new home. Washington first wrote him to pick out
some good land for purchase in I767, and also sought the aid of
Colonel John Armstrong, at Carlisle, to secure surveys from the
Penns for these western lands, as early as I767. Colonel George
Croghan sought to sell Washington larger tracts than Washington
wanted, and was very insistent about it, and the former declined to
purchase. As late as December 6, I77I, despite his seeking of land
rights from the Penns, and even after Crawford became a justice in
the courts of Bedford County, Washington disclosed the designs of
Virginia by his letter to Crawford:
"I believe from what I have lately heard, that there is no doubt
now of the charter government taking place on the Ohio; but upon
what terms or how lands will be granted to the people, I have not
been able to learn..... As soon as the tract at the Great Meadows
is enlarged I should be glad to have the surveys returned to the office,
and to get a plan of it myself, as I am determined to take out a patent
for it immediately."
Washington did not, however, secure a patent for the Great
Meadows tract of two hundred thirty-four acres until February 28,
I782, when he paid the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ~33 I SS.
and 8d. for it. William Brooks had applied for the tract June I3,
1769, after the Penns opened their land office and Washington bought
his interest in the application on October I7, I77I. Captain Arthur
St. Clair, as agent for the Penns, had been busy during the summer
and fall of I769, helping surveyors to stake out the claims of the
pioneers, and the work needed his direction all the while, for there
355SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
were undoubtedly some squatters and some overlapping of claims.
He informed these western settlers that the matter of establishing a
court west of the mountains had been repeatedly before the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, but had never been
favorably considered. The records of the Assembly, under date of
January I8, I769, show the type of effort that was being made:
"A petition from Bernard Dougherty, in behalf of the inhabitants
of the Bedford Settlement, and divers townships in the western part
of Cumberland County, was presented to the Hlouse, and read, setting
forth that many hundred families labor under the greatest difficulties,
the nearest of them being at least sixty miles distant, and some of
them an hundred and fifty from the town of Carlisle, which is the seat
of justice in the county; being also separated from it by large chains
of mountains, so that their attendance in time of court is almost
impracticable, and the ordinary course of justice is stopped; delinquents escape before they can be apprehended, or, when apprehended,
are at great expense and hazard conveyed to a place of confinement;
thus rapine, violence and injustice are suffered to pass unpunished,
and the lives as well as the properties of the inhabitants are rendered
insecure, to the great vexation and terror of His Majesty's good subjects, and the great damage of many, who would rather sustain the
loss of small debts than spend the whole principal, with the additional expense of much labor and time, in the means of obtaining
justice at so great a distance;
"That the petitioners apprehend the settlement in the remote part
of the county is large enough to form a county by itself, even on this
side of the Laurel Hill; to which must be added, for some time at
least, the inhabitants of Redstone Creek, and sundry other tracts
within the late purchase; in which settlements industrious and sober
people will be greatly encouraged, by seeing a court of justice erected
in their neighborhood, and the number of inhabitants would be daily
increased, from the very circumstance of having their properties more
secure; that the petitioners further beg leave to show that he is very
certain the inhabitants of those parts would cheerfully contribute to
the building of a Gaol, and in due time of a proper Court House;
the petitioners, therefore, humbly pray, in behalf of the said inhabitants, that the upper or westerly part of said county of Cumberland
may be erected into a separate county, with the privileges usually
356BEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
357
granted to other counties of this province, in order to relieve them
from the dangers and grievances aforesaid. Ordered to lie on the
table."
In this country west of the Allegheny Mountain there were all
the while many Delaware Indians traversing the trails through the
woods and off the main highways. The bulk of the Shawnees, being
more migratory than the others, had gone down the Ohio Valley
towards their own home base. That portion of the Senecas, who
were sometimes called Mingoes, kept up their incessant warfare with
the Catawbas and Cherokees on the south, and groups of them were
continually on the trails north and south. Despite the fact that the
Six Nations had ratified the treaty of Fort Stanwix, the Senecas were
still displeased because settlements had been made. The unscrupulous trader and the heartless military commander appeared at times.
There were good traders and good Indians, and some military commanders knew the Indian temperament better than others. Bad
traders put a spirit of distrust into the minds of the Indians. Even
as late as February 26, I769, before the opening of the land office,
Colonel Caleb Perry (Parry) reported that "about twenty miles
from Pittsburgh, on the main road leading over the mountains,
eighteen persons-men, women and children-were either killed or
taken prisoners." Colonel Parry had sent out small squads of soldiers to protect the settlers while they gathered the harvests.
When Washington's land agent, Captain William Crawford,
answered the former's request to get him some good land on the
Youghiogheny and elsewhere in western Pennsylvania, he wrote on
November I7, 1770, that the "Indian's will not run any farther until
they are paid for their land. The Indians who lived upon the Ohio
(the upper parts of it, at least) are composed of Shawnees, Delawares, and some of the Mingoes, who, getting but little paid of the
consideration that was given for the lands eastward of the Ohio, view
the settlement of the people on the river with an uneasy and jealous
eye, and do not scruple to say that they must be compensated for
their right of the people to settle thereon, notwithstanding the cession of the Six Nations thereto. On the other hand the people of
Virginia and elsewhere are exploring and marking all the lands that
are valuable not only on the Redstone and other waters of the Monongahela, but along down the Ohio, as low as Little Kanawha."SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Colonel Washington made his fifth trip into southwestern Pennsylvania in I770, while this was still a part of Cumberland County,
and the entries in his diary best tell the story:
"October I4, I770. At Captain Crawford's all day. Went to
see a coal mine not far from his house, on the banks of the river. The
coal seemed to be of the very best kind, burning freely, and abundance
of it.
"Isth. Went to view some lands which Captain Crawford had
taken up for my brothers Samuel and John. I intended to have visited the land which Crawford had procured for Lund Washington
this day also, but time falling short I was obliged to postpone it.
Night came on before I got back to Crawford's where I found Colonel Stephen. The lands which I passed over today were generally
hilly, and the growth chiefly white oak, but very good notwithstanding, and what is extraordinary, and contrary to the property of all
other lands I ever saw before, the hills are the richest land; the soil
upon both sides and summits of them being as black as coal, and the
growth walnut and cherry. The flats are not so rich and a good
deal mixed with stone."
Dr. James Craik was a constant companion of Washington during nearly the entire period of his adult life. He was with him at
Fort Necessity, in the Braddock campaign, during the Revolutionary
War, and attended him on his death bed at Mt. Vernon. That Washington kept in good health throughout his career can be attributed
in large part to this faithful companionship with his personal physician. The picture of early Pittsburgh which he gives can be relied
on as a faithful description.
"I7th. Dr. Craik and myself, with Captain Crawford and others,
arrived at Fort Pitt, distant from the crossing forty-three and one
half measured miles. In riding this distance we passed over a great
deal of exceedingly fine land, chiefly white oak, especially from Sewickley Creek to Turtle Creek, but the whole broken; resembling, as I
think the whole lands in this country do, the Loudoun lands. We
lodged in what is called the town, distant about three hundred yards
from the fort, at one Semple's (this was at Water and Ferry streets),
who keeps a very good house of public entertainment. The houses,
which are built of logs and ranged in streets are on the Monongahela,
358BEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
and I suppose may be about twenty in number, and inhabited by
Indian traders. The fort is built on the point between the rivers
Allegheny and Monongahela, but not so near the pitch of it as Fort
Duquesne stood. It is five-sided and regular, two of which near the
land are of brick; the others stockade. A moat encompasses it. The
garrison consists of two companies of Royal Irish, commanded by
Captain Edmondson."
On this occasion Washington dined in the fort with Colonel
George Croghan, and on the succeeding day he dined at Colonel
Croghan's seat up the Allegheny, above Shannopin's Town. He
sent the horse back to Captain Crawford's, and he and his party went
on down the Ohio in canoes, Colonel Croghan accompanying him as
far as Logstown. He then proceeded farther down the Ohio to
Kanawha to examine other lands.
Justice carried her scales into the western woods a little farther
when the Pennsylvania Provincial Government erected a new county
in I77I. The agitation for the new county had been kept before the
assembly continuously ever since Justice Bernard Dougherty, of Bedford, presented it, and it was many times laid upon the table. One
group of pioneers who lived in the Coves still wanted to go to court
at Carlisle, and pleaded not to be included in the new county, giving
as reasons that there were better roads to Carlisle; that as former
residents of Lancaster County, they had been taxed heavily to build
the courthouse and jail there; that they were likewise taxed to build
the second set of public buildings at Carlisle, and that they would be
still further taxed to build new county buildings at Bedford. They
were outvoted, however, when the matter came up for final consideration. Under the title, "An Act for erecting a part of the County
of Cumberland into a separate county," the Legislature on March
9, I77I, brought a measure of legal relief to the large number of
settlers west of the Susquehanna Valley. Its historical provisions
read:
"Be it enacted by the Honorable John Penn, Esquire, Lieutenant
Governor under the Honorable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn,
Esquires, true and lawful proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania, and the Counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex upon Delaware, by and with the advice and consent of the said Province in
General Assembly met, and by the authority of the same; That all
359SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
and singular the lands lying and being within the boundaries following, that is to say; Beginning where the Province line crosses the
Tuscarora Mountain and running along the summit of that mountain to the gap near the headwaters of Path Valley, thence with a
Northerly line to Juniata, thence with the Juniata to the mouth of
Shaver's Creek, thence northeast to the line of Berks County, thence
along the Berks County line northwestwardly to the western boundaries of the province, thence southwardly according to the several
courses of the western boundary of the province to the southwest
corner of the province, and from thence eastward with the southerly
line of the province to the place of beginning; shall be and the same
is hereby erected into the county of Bedford."
The Act further provided for orderly elections for Representatives in the Assembly, county commissioners, assessors, and collectors
of excise taxes; the giving of adequate bond by the officer appointed
and elected; and the making of a correct survey of the county. The
new county government did not begin to function until the first court
was held more than a month later.
Dorsey Pentecost became one of the most interesting characters
in all the legal and military life of this section from the time of his
first residence in Rostraver Township and during the period of his
later life in Washington County. He never had much to do with the
Hannastown Court, but he was a justice in Cumberland and Bedford
counties, before Westmoreland County was erected.  During the
earlier years of the Revolutionary War he was the county lieutenant
for Yohogania County set up by Virginia in I776. On May 23, I770,
there were eleven justices appointed for the Cumberland County Court
and among them the following four west of the Laurel Hill: Arthur
St. Clair, William Crawford, Thomas Gist, and Dorsey Pentecost.
There is a record of Justice Arthur St. Clair presiding at one session
of the court at Carlisle at least before the erection of Bedford County,
and the later appointment of all four of them to the Bedford court
bench would indicate that the other three had judicial experience in
Cumberland County also.
Three days after the passage of the Act erecting Bedford County,
Lieutenant-Governor John Penn appointed Justices John Frazer,
Bernard Dougherty and Arthur St. Clair, or either of them, to administer to all justices, sheriffs, coroners. and all other officers, civil and
36oBEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
military, and all other persons within the county of Bedford as well,
the oath of office, as also the oath of allegiance and supremacy. These
three were at the time justices of the courts of Cumberland County,
and Governor Penn well knew that the new court at old Fort Bedford would start off in orderly procedure with such seasoned pioneers
on the bench. Justice John Frazer was the famous Indian trader
who seventeen years before had been driven away from his post at
the mouth of French Creek by the invading French, later locating at
the mouth of Turtle Creek, where he was a lieutenant in Captain
William Trent's company in I754, and who later lived and died at
Bedford. Justice Bernard Dougherty was an early citizen of Bedford and became a colonel of a battalion of Bedford County Associators and Militia in I775, as the Revolutionary War was coming on.
The additional commissions issued March II, I77I, were to William Proctor, Jr., Robert Cluggage, Robert Hanna, George Wilson,
George Woods, William Lochrey, William Crawford, Dorsey Pentecost, William McConnell, Thomas Gist, James Milligan, and Alexander McKee. Justices Frazer, Dougherty and Proctor lived at Bedford; Justice Cluggage within the confines of present Huntingdon
County; Justice Pentecost, first in Rostraver Township, later of
Springhill Township, Washington County; while Justice William
McConnell, founder of present McConnellsburg, represented his
neighbors of the eastern section.  Justices Wilson, Crawford and
Gist were representatives of the settlers south of the Youghiogheny
River, while Justices Milligan and McKee were in present Blair
County, McKee becoming decidedly famous in later years in his
activities about Fort Pitt. Justice Arthur St. Clair was appointed
the first clerk of court, prothonotary, register of wills and recorder
of deeds for the county; William Proctor, Jr., sheriff; Robert Hanna,
Dorsey Pentecost and John Stephenson county commissioners.
Governor Penn had appointed Justices William Proctor, Jr., Robert Cluggage, Robert Hanna, George Wilson, William Lochrey and
William McConnell to hold the first court session on April I6, I77I.
On his arrival at Bedford the first duty of Justice Arthur St. Clair
was to administer the oath of office to the new justices and other
chosen officers. It was a verbose and cumbersome oath, but indicative of monarchial government then existing, as compared with democracy soon to be. On March 29, I77I, Justice Bernard Dougherty
36i20            SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
kiminetas River opposite Blacklegs Town at Saltsburg, and the other
on Quemahoning Creek where it was crossed by the Allegheny Trail.
Christian Frederick Post, the Moravian missionary and peace ambassador, gives us the information that on November Io, I758, after
staying at Dagworthy's Breastworks south of Latrobe all night, he,
with Captain Hazlett and one hundred men, rank and file, started
down the old trading path. Within five miles below Captain Hazlett
gave Post an escort of fourteen men in command of Lieutenant Hays,
and proceeded westerly on the old trading path. Post went down the
Loyalhanna and came "to an old Shawneese Town, called Keckkeknepolin," which was grown up and deserted.
KECKENEPAULTLIN'S CABINS-After Keckenepaulin had deserted
his town on the flat below the present Kiskiminetas Springs School, he
took up a new location on the Allegheny Trail which was near the
middle of the present Quemahoning Dam in Somerset County. His
cabins and cornfields there are frequently mentioned in the journals of
the traders and the military men, and on this account this was likely
his more recent habitation. He was an active Chief, participating
with King Beaver, Delaware George, Pisquetomen, John Hickman,
Killbuck, and others in conferences at Kuskuskies with Post on September 3, I758.
KISKIMINETAS OLD TowN-The Kiskiminetas River is one of the
shortest in the State, scarce twenty miles, and is formed from the
Loyalhanna and the Conemnaugh. There are three translations for
the name: Heckewelder derives it from the Delaware Gieschgumanito, meaning "to make daylight"; another translates it "cut spirit";
and still another, "plenty of walnuts." The Delawares needed a connecting trail between the Kittanning Path and the Allegheny Trail,
so they laid down the Kiskiminetas Path from Letort's Town, southerly to the mouth of Pine Run below Vandergrift across the Kiskiminetas River in present Westmoreland County. There was established Kiskiminetas Old Town, so frequently mentioned by the traders. When Conrad Weiser came through on August 25, I748, he
crossed Kiskiminetas Creek and came to Ohio (Allegheny, which was
then sometimes called Ohio up to present Franklin) River that day.
Ten years later, Post has the entry in his journal for November II,
1758: "At three o'clock we came to Kiskemeneco, an old Indian
town, a rich bottom, well timbered, good fine English grass, well
watered, and lays waste since the war began."SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
swore to and signed the following oath before Justice St. Clair, as
shown by the records of Bedford County:
"I, Bernard Dougherty, do sincerely promise and swear that I
will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty, King George
the Third. So help me God.
"I, Bernard Dougherty, do swear that I do from my heart abhor,
detest and abjure as impious and heretical that damnable doctrine
and position that Princes excommunicated and deprived by the Pope
or any authority of the See of Rome may be deposed or murdered by
their subjects or any other whomsoever, and I do declare that no
foreign prince, person, prelate, state or potentate, hath or ought to
have jurisdiction, priority, preeminence or authority, ecclesiastical or
spiritual, within this realm. So help me God.
"I, Bernard Dougherty, do declare that I believe that there is not
any transsubstantiation in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or in
the elements of bread and wine after the consecration thereof by any
person or persons whatsoever. So help me God.
"I, Bernard Dougherty, do truly and sincerely acknowledge, profess, testify and declare in my conscience before God and the world,
that our Sovereign Lord King George the Third is lawful and rightful King of the Realm and other of His Majesty's Dominion thereunto belonging, and I do solemnly and sincerely declare that I do
believe in my conscience that not any of the descendants of the
person pretending to be the Prince of Wales, during the life of
the late King James the Second, and since his decease pretending to be and took upon himself the style and title of King of England by name of James the Third, and of Scotland by the name
of James the Eighth, or the style and title of King of Great Britain, hath any right or title whatsoever to the crown of this realm
or any other the dominions thereunto belonging, and I do renounce
and abjure allegiance or obedience to them, and I do swear that I
will bear faithful and true allegiance to His Majesty, King George
the Third and him will defend to the utmost of my power against all
traitorous conspiracies and attempts whatsoever which shall be made
against his person, crown and dignity, and I will do my endeavor to
disclose and make known to His Majesty and his successors all
treasonous and traitorous conspiracies which I shall know to be
against him or any of them, and I do faithfully promise to the utmost
362BEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
of my power to support, maintain and defend the successor of the
crown against the descendants of the said James, and against all other
persons whatsoever, which successors (by an Act entitled'An Act
for the further limitation of the Crown and the better securing the
rights and liberties of the subjects), is, and stand limited to the Princess Sophia, late Electress and Duchess Dowager of Hanover and
the heirs of her body, being Protestants, and all these things I do
plainly and sincerely acknowledge and seal according to the express
words by me spoken and according to the plain common sense view
and understanding of the same words, without any equivocation,
mental reservation, or evasion whatsoever, and I do make this recognition, acknowledgment, abjuration, renunciation and promise heartily, willingly and truly upon the true faith of a Christian. So help
me God."
The Westmoreland County records do not contain a copy of the
oath administered to its justices, but so long as English jurisprudence
was here in vogue, undoubtedly they subscribed to just such an
oath. The working out of democracy, and the establishing of constitutional government, has produced the following oath of much
fewer words, shorn of intolerance and void of historical reference,
which Pennsylvania judges take upon their ascending the bench: "I
do solemnly swear that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of this Commonwealth, and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity;
that I have not paid or contributed, or promised to pay or contribute,
either directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing to
procure my nomination or election except for necessary and proper
expenses expressly authorized by law; that I have not knowingly
violated any election law of this Commonwealth, or procured it to be
done by others in my behalf; that I will not knowingly receive, directly
or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing for the performance
or non-performance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, other
than the compensation allowed by law."
The township is the first form of local democracy in Pennsylvania.
The down town portion of Pittsburgh was in later years called the
"Township of Pittsburgh," before it was ever incorporated into a
borough. One of the first official actions of the court at Bedford in
I77I was to divide the county into townships. The court used the
363SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
natural boundaries of the mountains, the streams and the great roads
and paths, and with a view to accommodate the segregated settlers
in their pioneer communities. The good sense of Justices Arthur St.
Clair, of the Ligonier Valley; Robert Hanna, of Hannastown on the
Forbes Road; George Wilson and Thomas Gist, of the Redstone
country; William Crawford, of the Youghiogheny Valley; Dorsey
Pentecost, in the Forks of the Yough, and Alexander McKee, of
Fort Pitt, is quite manifest in the action of the court.
The big township erected east of the Laurel Hill was called
"Brothers Valley," and in its naming due respect and honor was
given to the pioneers who first came there. The old Forbes Road
ran through pretty rough and hilly country, although such early
pioneers as Casper Statler, Captain Robert Callender, and Daniel
Stoy picked land there. Casper Statler is buried near Fields Encampment on the Guy Lambert farm, a place that possibly appealed to
him when he was an ensign in Captain Edward Ward's company, in
Colonel John Armstrong's ISt Pennsylvania Battalion in the Forbes
expedition. But the bulk of the early settlers of this township were
Dunkard or German Baptist Brethren, and they called the place
"Brueders Thal," Brothers Valley. The English were wont to call
it the Stony Creek Glades, and on the map of William Scull, 1770,
it is designated as the "Great Glade." From these names the road
first projected towards Turkey Foot by Col. James Burd in I755,
and extended through Somerset and West Newton to Washington,
came to be generally known as the Glades Road. The first company,
headed by Rev. George Adam Martin, is reputed to have come
through in I762. His congregation contained a group of seventeen
persons in I770, including Henry Roth and wife, Henry Roth, Jr.,
and wife (who were possibly the Rhodes family listed three years
later), and Abraham Gebel, otherwise known as Cable. Henry
Rhodes, Jr., was a captain of the Brothers Valley Company during
the Revolution.
Brothers Valley Township had the following boundaries: Beginning where the south line of the Province crosses the Allegheny
Mountain, then running along the summit of it to the heads of
"Conemach," then down Conemach to the west side of Laurel Hill,
then along the foot of that hill to where the Youghiogheny breaks
through it, then up that river to the Province line, and thence to the
place of beginning. The pioneers conveniently called the region
364BEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
drained by the Youghiogheny, the Castleman and Laurel Hill Creek
the "Turkey Foot" region, while the northerly watershed towards
the Conemaugh was called "Stony Creek Glades." The central portion about Somerset was also known as "Cox's Glades." Herman Husband was an early arrival about I77I on Stony Creek, and
the Castleman River, having been formerly known as the Little
Youghiogheny, was named for Jacob Castleman, an early hunter and
settler from Hampshire County, Virginia. When the Rev. John
Heckewelder, Moravian missionary, came through he stopped at the
cabin of John Miller at Edmund's Swamp, and after John Miller
came Richard Wells to the Forks of the Quemahoning. The assessment list for Brothers Valley Township, in 1773, contains but one
hundred thirty-three names, so that in I77I the inhabitants must
have been much fewer. The great bulk of the settlers passed by the
uplands of Brothers Valley Township and hastened on west of the
Laurel Hill. The court at Bedford divided that vast territory into
the following townships, which were more thickly settled:
Fairfield began "where the Youghiogheny comes through the
Laurel Hill on the west side and running down the hill with the line
of Brothers Valley Township to the Conemach River, thence down
the Conemach to the top of Chestnut Ridge, thence along the Chestnut Ridge to the Youghiogheny, if it extends that far, if not, with the
Laurel Hill to the Youghiogheny, and with that river to the beginning." Mount Pleasant Township, lying westerly over the Chestnut Ridge, had the following distinctive landmark boundaries:
"Beginning where the Loyalhanna breaks through the Chestnut Ridge
and running down the Loyalhanna to the mouth of Crabtree Run,
and up the same to the main road (Forbes), then with a due course
to Braddock's Road, thence with the South side of that road to where
it crosses Jacob's Creek, then up Jacob's Creek to the line of Fairfield."
The settlers south of Jacob's Creek were given two important
municipal divisions of the territory, in which lived Justices William
Crawford, Thomas Gist and George Wilson. The upper township
was called "Tyrone," and had the following boundaries:  "Beginning at the mouth of Jacob's Creek and running up that creek to the
line of Fairfield, then with that line to the Youghiogheny, then along
the foot of Laurel Hill to Gist's, thence by Burd's Road to where
it crosses Redstone, thence down the Creek to the mouth, thence
with a straight line to the beginning."
365SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
The lower township skirted the Maryland and Virginia line, and
was possibly named Springhill by Justice Wilson, who lived on Dunlap's Creek near Fort Burd at present Brownsville.  Its historic
boundaries extended thus: "Beginning at the mouth of Redstone
Creek, and running thence a due course to the western boundary of
the province, thence south with the province line to the southern
boundary of the province, thence east with that line to where it
crosses the Youghiogheny, then with the Youghiogheny to Laurel
Hill, then with the line of Tyrone to Gist's and then with that line
to the beginning." Springhill and Tyrone townships became the
place of much controversy as the Virginia settlers flocked in and
aided their provincial government at Williamsburg in claiming provincial title west of the Laurel Hill. The new Pitt Township likewise shared in this controversy.
The new Hempfield Township, in Bedford County, became the
most populous because it was bisected by the Great Road (Forbes),
and Hannastown, its most important village, was to become a legal
center. The court decree gave it these boundaries: "Beginning at
the mouth of Crabtree Run and running down the Loyalhanna to the
mouth of Conemach, thence down the Kiskiminetas to the mouth,
thence with a straight line to the headwaters of Brush Run, thence
down Brush Run to Brush Creek, thence with a straight line to the
mouth of Youghiogheny, thence up the Youghiogheny to the mouth
of Jacob's Creek, thence up Jacob's Creek to the line of Mt. Pleasant."
This large area included the sites of the present towns of Scottdale,
West Newton, Jeannette, Greensburg and Vandergrift.
To the east of the Loyalhanna Creek and to the north of the Kiskiminetas lay the township of Armstrong, named for the intrepid
Colonel John Armstrong, hero of the expedition against the Indian
town of Kittanning. It was the largest in area, and included present
Derry Township, and the southern half of both Armstrong and
Indiana counties, and a substantial corner of present Cambria County
up the Blacklick to the crest of Laurel Hill. Its boundaries were:
"Beginning where the Conemach rises in the Allegheny Mountains
and running with that river to the line of Fairfield, then along that
line to the Loyalhanna, thence down the Loyalhanna and the Kiskiminetas to the Allegheny, thence up the Allegheny to Kittanning,
then with a straight line to the headquarters of Two Lick or Blacklick Creek, and thence with a straight line to the beginning."
366BEDFORD COUNTY ERECTED
Rostraver Township occupied the familiar territory known as
the Forks of the Yough, and had its line beginning at the mouth of
Jacob's Creek, and running down the Youghiogheny to where it joins
the Monongahela, thence up the Monogahela to the mouth of Redstone Creek, and thence with a straight line to the beginning. Within
its borders were later located great river coal mines and industrial
towns, and portions were sliced off it to form parts of Fayette County
and Allegheny County in later years.
Pitt Township took its name from Fort Pitt, and being on the
frontier, it was not so well settled, except to the east of Fort Pitt,
where there was ample military protection. The inhabitants of this
township went to court at Hannastown for fourteen years after Westmoreland was cut off from Bedford in I773. This township had
within its municipal territory the land beginning at the mouth of the
Kiskiminetas and running down the Allegheny River to its junction
with the Monongahela, then down the Ohio to the western limits of
the Province, thence by the western boundary to the line of Spring
Hill, thence with that line to the mouth of Redstone Creek, thence
down the Monongahela to the mouth of the Youghiogheny, then with
the line of Hempfield to the mouth of Brush Run, thence with the
line of said township to the beginning.
The court at Carlisle, beginning with I769, did not lay out any
roads here, and the court at Bedford, between the years I77I and
I773, did not help the early settlers out in this wise, so that there
were but the Braddock Road to the south, and its branches, the Burd
Road over to the mouth of Redstone Creek, and the Forbes Road,
on which Robert Hanna had promoted his pioneer town. The rest
of the settlers to the north and south of these main roads used the
old Indian trails, and widened them to suit their needs themselves,
until the Westmoreland County Court of I773 afforded them legally
laid out roads.
The citizens of the Township of Fairfield used the Catawba
Trail up and down the Ligonier Valley. Those who settled in Armstrong Township had to use Indian trails almost exclusively. There
was the Loyalhanna-Kittanning Path, which extended from present
Ligonier across the Chestnut Ridge to West Derry, and thence down
McGee's Run through Cokeville and Blacklick and thence to connect with the main northerly Kittanning path on Crooked Creek.
This was used by the pioneers of the Derry settlement to develop
367368           SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
that section of Armstrong Township. William Burbridge at New
Alexandria, John Montgomery, Alexander Stewart and William
Perry at Blacklegs Town, at Saltsburg, and the pioneers on towards
Kittanning, used the trails down the Conemaugh and the Loyalhanna.
Patrick Campbell and George Weddell, of the Sewickley settlement,
would come up the Byerly Path to reach the main road at Bushy
Run. Those in the Redstone country would possibly go to court
either by the Braddock Road to Cumberland, and thence to Bedford,
or perchance, they would go to Turkey Foot, and take the Indian
Trail and the Burd Road of I755 into Bedford.CHAPTER XXV
Re igious Beginnings
The Earliest Church Congregations-Religious Conditions at Fort PittDiary of Rev. David McClure-Comments of Rev. David Jones-The
Baptist Beginnings Through the Philadelphia, Ketoctin and Redstone Associations-Great Bethel Baptist Church at UniontownThe Work of Rev. John Corbly-The Protestant Episcopal Churches
of St. Thomas, St. Luke at Woodville, and St. Luke at GeorgetownMinisterial Work of Dr. Joseph Doddridge and Rev. Francis RenoThe Harrold Settlement of the Lutherans, and Their Beginnings,
Through Balthazer Meyer, Schoolmaster-The Brush Creek Church,
Rev. Anthony Ulrich Luetge, and the Lutheran Ministerium of
Pennsylvania-Rev. John M. Steck, First Ordained Minister-The
Reformed Church Beginnings Under Rev. John William WeberThe Coetus of Pennsylvania of the Reformed Church-Brothers Valley Township Lutheran and Reformed Congregation-Early Presbyterian Ministers-Long Run, Sewickley and Mt. Pleasant-The Redstone Presbytery-The Revs. Joseph Smith, John McMillan, James
Power, and Thaddeus Dodd, Early Presbyterian Ministers.
The pioneers brought with them their deep religious convictions.
From the days of the very earliest congregations there has been a
democracy in religious affairs in southwestern Pennsylvania that is
outstanding, and this very democracy has permitted a freedom of
worship down to our day. These deep religious convictions had their
inception in Europe, whence the pioneers and their immediate forebears came, and here they found freest and fullest expression. Our
substantial religious beginnings did not start with the ministrations
of a single priest at Fort Duquesne, nor with the preaching of a sermon at its ruins. These military services conducted by chaplains were
S. P.-I-24
mSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
in aid of the military esprit de corps. Hannastown, laid out in 1769,
never had a church building within its confines during the eighteen
years of its existence. Pittsburgh, likewise, had no church building
until many years after it was established. We turn again to the
diary of the Quaker merchant, James Kenney, to get a picture of the
religious life, or rather the lack of a stable religious atmosphere, at
Fort Pitt and its nearby village:
"I2th mo. last day. Many of ye inhabitants here have hired a
school master, and subscribed about 60 Pounds for this year to him.
He has about 20 scholars, likewise, ye sober sort of people seems to
long for some public way of worship, so ye school master reads ye
litany and common prayer on ye first day to a congregation of different principles, he being a Presbyterian, where they behave very
grave, as I hear. On ye occasion ye children also are brought to
church as they call it."
"3d mo. 2Ist day. This being the first day of ye week, I may
say that ye people regard every day so much alike, that ye shopkeepers sell more, I think, out that day to ye inhabitants than on week
days."
"4th mo. Sth day. Frederick Post set off to Tuscarora last night.
He and I had some argument, he having often been carping about
Friends' religion, a little principleless, signifying that they are not
always subject to ye government, where they live, and that they that
resist ye power of ye legislature shall receive damnation, hinting
that when they had suffered (as I took it in New England) they cry
out persecution which they bring justly on themselves; also as a law
was made to pay tithes, they should do it. I objected and argued
that if he made it his fixed principles to obey all laws that were made
in any government where he might come, he might be guilty of idolatry, and consequently he must think the legislators in full ability to
fix such principles, all one, as the Church of Rome thinks their church,
but this stalled him, and he gave up."
"sth mo. 2d day. This day Delaware George was interred over
ye Allegheny River; a file of soldiers attended, who fired three rounds
over his grave. George Croghan and many white people attended
ye funeral. In the night ye Indians shot off guns many times. as they
say, to drive away ye evil spirits."
370RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS
37I
"8th mo. 30th day. Ye common prayer is read now every first
day and ye Colonel is pleased to see many of ye inhabitants go to
hear it."
Social conditions at Fort Pitt are well detailed in the diary of
the Rev. David McClure, who termed himself a New England Congregationalist minister, but who later attached himself to the Presbyterian ministry when objection was made to his not being a member of any of their bodies. On August I5, I772, he arrived in Ligonier and put up at the Widow Campbell's. The "i6th Sabbath, we
preached in the house of Mrs. Cambel to the people of the settlement, who live in 20 or 30 log houses. Capt. Arthur St. Clair
resided there, who treated us with polite attention. Dined with him
on Monday. His wife was a Miss Bethun (Bayard) of Boston.
They had a number of pretty children. He said that the settlement
in the Valley of Ligonier consisted of about Ioo families, principally
Scotch and Irish; that they had purchased a parsonage for a minister
and had subscribed ioo Pounds, currency, salary, and wished to obtain
a settled clergyman. Baptised a child of Thomas Gray's by the name
of Jonah. Capt. St. Clair has this week in Old Westmoreland...
4 or 5 soldiers under him, principally for the purposes of express."
When the Reverend David McClure arrived at Pittsburgh on
August nineteenth he described it as the headquarters of Indian
traders, and the resort of Indians of different and distant tribes, who
come to exchange their peltry and furs for rum, blankets and ammunition; that he put up at Semple's, as did Washington two years
before; that the village is about one-fourth mile distant from the
fort, and consists of about forty dwelling houses made of hewed logs,
and stands on the bank of the Monongahela. On August 23d he
preached in the fort to two hundred of the garrison and the villagers,
remarking that "a great part of the people here make the Sabbath
a day of recreation, drunkenness and profanity." On Sunday, August
thirtieth, he preached at Joseph Hunter's on the Youghiogheny, and
adds: "There was no settled minister or church organized in all the
country west of the Appalachian Mountains. The people are generally Presbyterians. A few illiterate preachers of the Baptist presuasion have preached about, zealous to make proselytes." Mr. McClure
had evidently not touched the Redstone country, where the Baptists
had already established themselves.KITTANNING-This name is a euphonious combination of the
Delaware "kit" meaning "great," and "hanne" meaning "stream," so
that these sturdy Indians built themselves this formidable dwelling
place on the great river, Allegheny, when they migrated from the east
about I724. Here the famous Delaware Chiefs, Shingass, Captain
Jacobs, and Captain Hill lived and sent out their raiding parties into
the eastern settlements in the Susquehanna Valley.  Colonel John
At  I          I   I   I'. I
Armstrong mustered his three
hundred Scotch-Irish from Cumberland County, marched out the
Kittanning Path and destroyed
the town on September 8, I756.
It was later rebuilt on a smaller
scale and in the days of the Revolutionary War, and for some
years following, was a strong
fort and refuge for the settlers.
The present Borough of Kittanning is on the location of this old
Indian town, and thus fittingly
honors this historic spot by retaining the name.
KING BEAVER'S TOWN-The
Allegheny and Ohio rivers were
the northwesterly line of old
Westmoreland County before
the Indian puchase by Pennsylvania after the Revolution. The
KITTANNING INDIAN TOWN MARKER
AT KITTANNING
(Photo by Arthur Swoger)
Indian towns and trails in the later counties of Beaver, Lawrence and
Butler must be studied that we may get the proper historical setting.
King Beaver was a brother of King Shingass and Chief Pisquetomen,
all three of them being Delawares. King Shingass was a fearless and
determined raider of the settlements, taking most of his parties out
from Kittanning, although he lived with his brothers for a part of the
time at the mouth of the Beaver River where the town was located.
It also came to be known as Shingass Town.
KUSKUSKIES-At and near present New Castle was located a
group of four Indian towns which went by the name of Kuskuskies.SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Another brief mental picture of Pittsburgh is given by the Rev.
David Jones, a Baptist minister, who came through in June, I772,
and described it as "a small town chiefly inhabited by Indian traders
and some mechanics..... Part of the inhabitants are agreeable,
while others are lamentably dissolute in their morals." While the
Congregationalist-Presbyterian McClure may have viewed the Baptist Jones as illiterate, they agreed as to the moral conditions at
Pittsburgh. With no basic religious congregations in the towns, few
in number, we must look to the settlements out along the highways
and old Indian trails to determine the religious foundations.
The opening of the land office on April 3, I769, and the great
rush of settlers to occupy these fertile valleys and wooded hills, created the need for Congregational worship that the spiritual longings
of the pioneers might be satisfied.  Five distinct religious groups
first came here to settle: Baptist, Church of England, German Lutheran, German Reformed, and Presbyterian. They came from the
great religious crucible in Europe, and brought with them as many
types of church polity. After a while there came Roman Catholicism, Methodism, and divers divisions in the fundamental groups,
which have still further divided in our day. The first five groups will
be dealt with here.
The religious trail of the Baptists into southwestern Pennsylvania
came by way of Virginia. Due to their religious democracy in congregational life, the Baptists have no governing or appellate bodies,
each local church being a law unto itself. The First Baptist Church
of Philadelphia was organized on this wise. In I686 one John
Holmes, who was Baptist, settled in the neighborhood. He was
a man of property and became a judge of Salem Court. In I696
John Farmer and his wife, members of a Baptist church in London,
then under the pastoral care of Hansard Knollys, settled here also.
In I697 one Joseph Todd and Rebecca Woosoncroft came to the
same neighborhood, being members of a Baptist church in Limmington, Hampshire, England, where Rev. John Rumsay was pastor. In
the same year William Silverstone, William Elton and wife, and
Mary Shepard were baptized by Thomas Killingsworth. These nine
persons assembled on the second Sunday of December, I698, in a
house at Second and Chestnut streets in Philadelphia, known as the
Barbados lot, and there organized themselves into a church body
372with Rev. John Watts to guide them. An earlier church had been
organized on Pennepack Creek, some miles northerly, which was
known as "Pennepack" or "Lower Dublin" church. It was organized by a group from Wales in I689, and had Rev. Elias Keach as
its first pastor. These two churches are examples of the simple manner of establishing Baptist churches, and similar groups were begun
at Providence, Rhode Island, under the leadership of Roger Williams, and at Charleston, South Carolina, under the Rev. William
Scriven, about the same period.
Other churches were organized by groups of Baptist folks near
Philadelphia and in New Jersey, and in I707 the Philadelphia Baptist Association, one of the first on the continent, was organized by
the churches of Lower Dublin, Piscataway, Middletolwn, Cohansey
and Welsh Tract, the Philadelphia group being considered at that
time as attached to Lower Dublin. In the course of missionary journeys to the southward, through Maryland, a church was organized
on Ketoctin Creek in Loudoun County, Virginia, a few miles from
the Potomac River in I75I, which became a constituent member of
the Philadelphia Baptist Association. Out of this movement grew
PENNEPACK-LOWER DUBLIN-OLDEST BAPTIST CHURCH IN PENNSYLVANIASOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the new Ketoctin Baptist Association, with Mill Creek (Opeckon),
Smith's Creek (Linville), Ketoctin and Broad Run as constituent
churches, the first three having been dismissed from the Philadelphia
Association.
The Rev. John Corbly, who a little later becomes such an out
standing character in southwestern Pennsylvania history, was born in
England on February 25, I733, and died in Greene County on June
9, I803. He came first into the Pennsylvania Colony, later becoming a Baptist preacher in Virginia, where he came into the life of the
Ketoctin Association. Hle was put in jail at Culpeper for preaching
against the Established Church of England, and in the general movement into the Redstone country,'along with other Virginians he
arrived in the Upper Monongahela Valley about I768, and by missionary work began to establish churches. He was instrumental in
establishing Goshen, on Whitely Creek, Ten Mile, and the later
Peter's Creek, first called Yough, all in the year I773. The Goshen
Church in particular was a constituent member of the Ketoctin Association in Virginia, and he went back to associational meetings at old
Ketoctin for a few years.
Contemporaneous with Mr. Corbly there came into the Redstone country the Rev. Henry Croslye (Crosbye), direct from New
Jersey, where he was a member of the Philadelphia Association, who
was instrumental in establishing the Great Bethel Baptist Church,
close to Beesontown, which was afterwards called Uniontown. It is
unquestionably the first church organization formed West of the
Laurel Hill, and has continuous minutes down to the present day.
Its first recorded minutes read as follows:
"The Church of Jesus Christ at Great Bethel, Constituted as is
supposed in the Province of Pennsylvania, holding Believers' Baptism, c., sendeth greeting. To all Christian people to whom these
may concern, know ye that Isaac Sutton is in full communion with us,
and is of a regular and of a Christian conversation, and for aught we
know is approved of by us as a gifted Brother, and we do unitedly
agree that he should improve his gifts as a candidate for the ministry wherever God in his Province shall call him. Signed by us this
eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord Christ, I770.
"Witness our hands, JACOB VANMETRE, RICHARD HIALL, ZEPHANIAH BLACKFORD.
374"Because we are few in number our Sisters are allowed to sign:
RACHEL SUTTON, LETTICE VANMETRE, SARAH HALL.
"N. B. That this Church was constituted by me, Nov. 7th, I770,
and that the bearer was licensed to preach before me, or in my presence, as witness my hand this 8th day of Nov. 1770. HENRY
CROSBYE."
The eminent Baptist historian, Rev. Dr. David Benedict,
states that the Great Bethel
Church was gathered under the
ministry of Elder John Sutton,
but not finding the name of John
Sutton in the records, he assumed
that Isaac Sutton was the successor to Henry Croslye. The title
page of the first church book has
this  caption:  "Isaac  Sutton,
Great Bethel Church Book, for
the use of inserting minutes
of business transacted by the
Church." There was a church,
called the Uniontown Baptist
Church in later years, which
united with the Great Bethel
Church, which was originally onthe outskirts of the town.
Other churches were established in other communities by the Baptists which resulted in their
forming also the first religious body west of the Alleghenies. Let us
quote from the "Minutes of the Annual Association of the Baptist
Churches West of the Laurel Hill, called THE REDSTONE ASSOCIATION":
"Met in an association at Goshen, West of the Laurel Hill, October 7th, I776, the following messengers from the several churches,
viz:
CHURCHES                       MESSENGERS
I. Great Bethel Isaac Sutton, Jos. McCoy and Elija Barclay.
2. Goshen        John Corbly, John Gerard,  Jacob Vanmetre.
GREAT BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH,
UNIONTOWN, FOUNDED 1770, OLDEST
CONGREGATION IN SOUTHWESTERN
PENNSYLVANIASOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
3. Ten Mile    James Sutton, David Enoch, Robert Bennet
4. Turkeyfoot   Isaac Morris
5. Pike Run       William Wood, David Ruble
6. Yough          Samuel Luallan and John McFarland
"Ist. The introductory sermon was preached by Mr. James Sutton, from these words, The Angel of the Church, Rev. 2,1, wherein
the duties of messengers was clearly exhibited.
"2nd.  Proceeded to business. Brother John Corbly was chosen
moderator and William WVood clerk.
"3rd.  Resolved as a rule of business, that every participating
representation of the delegates met here shall be addressed to the
moderator first, and that a due place be given for each to deliver his
sentiments one at a time.
"4th.  A request from  Cross Creek for the constitution of a
church. Granted. And our brethren John Corbly and William
Wood appointed to officiate in constituting the said church.
"sth.  Request from the Forks of Cheat for a ministerial supply. Granted. And our Rev'd Brother James Sutton appointed to
attend them the third Sabbath in this instant, October, and Brother
William Wood, on the second Sabbath of November ensuing.
"6th.  Proceed to solve the following queries:
"Query Ist. In what state did Adam stand in Paradise whether
he partook of the Divine nature or not? Ansr'd. Adam created in
an upright state, but that he partook of the divine nature as the
essence of God. We cannot suppose, only that he received so much
of the Divine nature as was sufficient to actuate his righteous soul
thereby.
"Query 2nd. What are the common calls of the gospel, ought it
to be dispensed to mankind in general, as a special purchase of
Christ's death, or was it not an act of obedience to the perceptive
part of the law? Ansr'd. The common calls of the gospel are an
effect of Christ, active and passive obedience.
"Query 3rd. Did Christ die spiritually, temporarily and eternally? Ansr'd. Christ did not die spiritually. Temporarily he did
die. It is improper to say that he died eternally, though the sanction
of Christ's death answered in lieu of man's eternal death.
"Query 4th. Is faith the leading grace of the soul? Ans. Yes.
"Query 5th. Whether a child be an actual sinner before born?
Ansr'd. No.
376"Query 6th. When a member commits a fault and removes with
a letter and joins another church before the fault is known, where
must the fault be tried? Ansr'd. In that church where his present
standing is.
"Query 7th. Is a member living in neglect of family duty to be
held in full communion? Ansr'd. No.
"Query 8th. Whether prayer be a duty or no? Ansr'd. Yes.
"Query gth. Whether a minister of the gospel ought not to be
acquitted of the incumbrance of the world so as to give himself wholly
to the work of the ministry? Ansr'd. Yes.
"Query Ioth. Whether a minister may not supply requests which
interfere not with his own appointments without consent of his own
church? Ansr'd. Yes.
GOSHEN CHURCHSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"7th. Agreed that our association be held annually at Goshen
and that our next meeting be held on Saturday before the first Sabbath in October, and our brother William Wood preach the introductory sermon next year, and in case of failure brother James Sutton.
"Adjourned till the next year."
The next associational meeting was not held October I8, 1777,
at Goshen, but at Great Bethel, near Beesontown, evidently by prior
agreement. The minutes say: "Great Bethel, Monongalia County,
Virginia," which would indicate that the church house, whatever it
may have been, was south of the northerly line of this Virginia
County, which was "Dunlap's Old Road," and that these Baptists
considered themselves within the territorial limits of the Virginia
colony. The following ten churches composed the association: Great
Bethel, Goshen, Turkey Foot, Pike Run, Forks of Cheat, Yough, Ten
Mile, Simpson Creek, George's Creek, Cross Creek. William Wood,
of Pike Run, was moderator, and Joseph Barnett, of George's Creek,
Clerk. At the meeting of I778 Henry Flagan and Nathaniel Sands
were messengers from the Ketoctin Association, and John Corbly and
Isaac Sutton were chosen as messengers to the next session of Ketoctin
Association. At a later annual meeting messengers were chosen to
the Philadelphia Association, thus indicating the Baptist lineage and
fellowship.
The beginnings of the Protestant Episcopal Church in southwestern Pennsylvania came also by way of Virginia. It is natural that
some of those who were adherents of the Church of England should
come this way also with the development of the country. Some of
them were officers in the previous military movements. They did
not come in so large numbers as to establish many churches. The
derivative life of the Episcopalians came largely through the Colonial establishment of Virginia, which retained the idea of a state
church until after the Revolution. The religious attitude of the other
colonies inclined to the desire to break away from the established
church.
Dr. J. P. Norman, rector of old St. Thomas' Episcopal Church
in West Pike Township, Washington County, in an address at a
meeting of the Historical Society of the Diocese of Pittsburgh on
November i5, 1915, stated that the date cut on the log at the front
of the old church was I770, thus indicating the year of its erection,
378RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS                        379
but he produced no minutes of a church meeting to substantiate that
early date. The erection of this old log church was in -the year
I777, according to Alfred Creigh, who wrote an earlier history of
Washington County. At a later date Thomas West conveyed the
land on which the log church building stood to Thomas Dowler, William Crawford, Henry Gregg, John Gregg, Frederick Cooper, Jacob
Springer, James Ellis, Edward Mlorton, Robert Kerr, William Riggs,
Jacob Crabs and John Housh, vestrymen and trustees of the church,
and the church came to be commonly called "West's Church."
Being in the old Yohogania County, where Virginia maintained
a court for three or four years, St. Thomas' Church became the religious center for many years, antedating and outranking Trinity
Church, Pittsburgh. The church was quite liberal in granting the
use of its log building to Old School Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians and others for meetings. The building was weatherboarded
in later years, and contained a large gallery in which was a large
stone, seventeen by twenty inches in size, upon which was the inscription: "Surely the Lord is here. How dreadful is this place. This
is no other but the house of God and gate of Heaven. A. D. I79I."
The Rev. Dr. Joseph Doddridge came into this section in I773 from
Bedford County and became a moving spirit in the affairs of this
denomination. There was a Doddridge Chapel in Independence
Township, Washington County, called for him, and he pleaded continuously with the Episcopal authorities east of the mountains to
establish more churches here. His final words on the subject were:
"I lost all hope of ever witnessing any prosperity in our beloved
church in this part of America. Everything connected with it fell
into a state of languor. The vestries were not reelected and our young
people joined other societies. I entertained no hope that my remains
after death would be committed to the dust with the funeral service
of my own church. Had we imitated the example of other church
communities, employed the same means of collecting our people into
societies and building churches, we should by this time have four or
five bishops in this country, surrounded by a numerous and respected
body of clergy, instead of having our name consistent with a fallen
church. Instead of offering a rich and extensive plunder to every
sectarian missionary we should have occupied the first and highest
station among the church societies of the west."Perhaps the principal reason for Doctor Doddridge's religious
wailing was that many of the Established Church of England remained
Loyalists and left the country when the issues of the Revolution
came on, being adherents of the crown. Many withdrew, some joined
forces with the Revolution, and some remained silent. It was through
the influence of such men as Dr. William Smith, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, that the Revolutionary Episcopalians ceased
to be adherents of the Church of England, and became the Protestant Episcopal Church of America instead. It is little wonder, then,
that Dr. Doddridge's dream of a virile Protestant Episcopal Church
in western Pennsylvania was delayed, and later came into being after
the doctor had passed from earthly scenes.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church,
formerly designated as being on
Chartier's Creek, but now of
Woodville, Allegheny County,
was founded about 1775 and
was firmly established with the
coming of General John Neville
and his family. The church's records designate it as the first
Episcopal Church west of the
mountains in I79o, and it seems
to take no account of St. Thomas'
prior history. If St. Thomas
was established in I777, then St.
Luke's at Woodville is the older.
Others prominent in the organization of St. Luke's were Pressly
Neville, Major Isaac Craig, and
William Lea. The last named gave the lot for the church site and
graveyard when the first log church was built. The present stone
church replaced it in I851. Out of this church came the movement to
establish Trinity Parish, Pittsburgh.
St. Luke's Episcopal Church at Georgetown, Beaver County, is
an old church organization which prospered under the rectorship of
the Rev. Francis Reno, a religious protege of General Neville. He
was born in the eastern part of Virginia, February 7, I758, and came
to the Chartier's Valley with his parents, John and Susannah Reno,
ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, WOODVILLERELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS
about I1765. He attended Dr. John McMillan's "log college" at
present Canonsburg, and was ordained in Christ Church, Philadelphia, October 8, 1792, by Bishop William White, later being sent to
the west, where he spent his active religious life in Beaver County.
The first attempt at an organized work for the new Protestant
Episcopal Church of America in these parts has been preserved to
us in minutes written by Dr. Doddridge:
"At a convention held at St. Thomas' Church in Washington
County, Pennsylvania, September 25, I803, were present the Rev.
Robert Ayres, the Rev. Joseph Doddridge, the Rev. Francis Reno,
and the Rev. Mr. Seaton. After divine services the Rev. Robert
Ayres was appointed chairman and Stephen John Francis secretary,
when the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That applications for supply shall be made to the
convention in writing with the names annexed of those who wish the
supply, and that they shall become responsible to the minister for a
sum not less that $4.00..... "
The convention met at St. Luke's Church on General Neville's
farm six months later. The centenary of this organized work of the
Protestant Episcopal Church here was celebrated by the Pittsburgh
Diocese on September 26, I903. This diocese was not organized,
nor a presiding bishop elected until November i5, i865, and its work
will be narrated later.
The initial efforts of the German Lutheran Church in. southwestern Pennsylvania began with the schoolmaster, Balthazer Meyer, in
the Harrold settlement, three miles southwesterly from Greensburg,
in I772, where was located the famed Fort Allen, a military stronghold for the protection of the settlers. The Rev. William F. Ulery,
in his work, "Southern Conference History," published in I903, very
aptly says: "The history of the Lutheran Church in Western Pennsylvania reaches back over I20 years, but the early beginnings are
difficult to trace, as only imperfect records of those times have been
preserved and handed down. Its origin here is like the course of a
mountain stream that winds its way unseen amid woods and forest
until it comes into the open country. Its beginnings were small and
obscure, but it has gradually developed into its present status and
influence. Lutheran families came from eastern counties of our state,
and from the Fatherland, to Western Pennsylvania before West38iCopyright
LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
I939SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Being on the outer fringe of Indian settlements, it became a rather
neutral place for conferences of the Chiefs and the white men. The
Senecas first came down from New York State to the northward and
located the first of the group at the mouth of the Mahoning River,
before the Delawares came westward.  Christian Frederick Post
again supplies the record that there were four Indian towns in his
day, all Delaware, each some distance from the others, and the whole
containing ninety houses and 200 able warriors. The name, Kuskuskies, seems to have been a variation of another name, Goshgoshing,
and signified a "place of hogs."
LETORT'S TOWN-James Letort was one of the earlier Shamokin
traders with the Delawares, and he naturally followed them westward to the Ohio Valley. Letort's Town was well known as late as
I 769, and was located near present Shelocta, in Indiana County. The
Indians had an earlier village there, which they called "Tohogus," and
it is clearly marked on Sir William Johnson's map of Indian trails.
Letort formerly lived at Carlisle, where is Letort's Spring. At a
conference of Chiefs of the Six Nations at Philadelphia on July 4,
I727, the Indians made their declaration against the trading in liquor,
and desired "that none of the traders be allowed to carry any rum to
the remoter parts where James LeTort trades."
LOYALHANNA-This was an important cross-roads town in Indian
travel, because two main trails crossed here, and another led over to
Kittanning. Christopher Gist, then a scout for the new Ohio Companv, formed by Virginians to develop the Ohio Valley, came westward over the Allegheny Trail and stopped at Loyalhanna on November I4, I750. It was located where the town of Ligonier now stands
in the Forks of Loyalhanna and Mill Creek, and it became a great
military base when the Forbes army came through in I758. The
Indian name was Layalhanning, meaning "at the middle stream,"
which was half way from Old Town on the Juniata near present Bedford to Shannopin's Town on the Allegheny. The English traders
and soldiers called it "Loyalhannon," and we have softened it to
Loyalhanna. With the erection of Fort Ligonier after the Forbes
Expedition in I758, the Indian town soon vanished. Through the
active years of its existence Loyalhanna was a stopping place for the
Indians and traders going east and west over the Allegheny Trail and
the Catawbas, Cherokees and the Iroquois north and south over the
22SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
moreland County was erected. The Altmans, Detars, Eisamans,
Gongawares, Harrolds, Longs, Millers, Rughs and Rowes settled in
Hempfield Township between I762 and I770.  To these may be
added the Allemans, Ottermans, Marchands, Ehrenfriedts, Huffnagles, Rosensteels, Kemps, Corts, Byerlys, Strohs, Trubys, Buergers
and Myers."
Lutheran Church polity had its origin at the time of Martin ILuther
in Germany, with a fruitful field in Sweden. These German and
Swedish Lutherans emigrated to America and a great host of them
settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where they founded many of their
ancient churches. Many of them enlisted in the military expeditions
that came hither, and in that way they acquired an admiration for
these fertile hills and valleys, which urged them to settle here, too.
The Rev. H. Melchoir Muhlenberg, a son-in-law of Conrad Weiser,
and other Lutheran ministers organized the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in August, I748, which served as a church authority until the
organization of synods. The later ministers who came into this section beginning with the Rev. John M. Steck were ordained by the
Pennsylvania Ministerium before coming hither, and they labored
faithfully until the organization of the Pittsburgh Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, at the First Church, Pittsburgh, on January
I5, I845. Up until that time there was no Lutheran body functioning strictly in this territory.
The schoolmaster, Balthazer Meyer, although never an ordained
minister of the Lutheran Church, began to exercise one of the ministerial functions by baptizing children at the school which he had
established in the Harrold settlement. He continued this practice
between the years I772 and I782, until the coming of the Rev.
Anthony Ulrich Luetge. He was born in Germany and acquired
more or less of a classical and theological education there, but never
secured a license to preach until Balthazer Meyer assumed to give
him such a license in I782. He built a log church at Harrold's, and
also preached in the log church built at Brush Creek in I780 before
his coming. This Brush Creek church building had been preceded by
a log schoolhouse in which Balthazer Meyer also taught and conducted lay religious services, but the log schoolhouse was burned by
the Indians during one of the raids on Fort Walthour, the details of
which will be given in a later chapter. The Lutheran historians have
pretty generally accepted the year 1772 as the beginnings of their
382RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS
work here, although it was not at the direction of an ordained minister. They had no ordained ministerial pastor until the coming of
the Rev. John M. Steck in I792 upon the resignation of the Rev.
Mr. Luetge. Mr. Luetge attended the meeting of the Pennsylvania
Ministerium in 1785, and requested ordination, but his licensing by
Meyer was not considered regular, because not with the sanction of
the synod, and he was not accepted as a member until so licensed by
it.  He resigned in I79I and accepted calls to Shippensburg and
other places. He is entitled, however, to recognition as a Lutheran
pioneer in the laying of the foundations of Old Zion and Brush Creek
churches, out of which grew other strong Lutheran churches in later
years.
The German Reformed people established themselves here principally through the initial ministry of the Rev. John William Weber.
He was born in the Province of Wittgenstein, Germany, March 5,
I735, and died in I814, being buried in the Milliron Cemetery, near
Youngwood, Pennsylvania. The Coetus of Pennsylvania was the
organization under which Reformed Churches in Pennsylvania functioned between I747 and I792, before the organization of synods
and classes. This Coetus was organized under the authority of the
Synod of Holland and was in ecclesiastical allegiance to it. The
records of the Coetus show that in I 77I he was found capable to supply congregations without ministers with preaching and catechization, and to be sound in doctrine. The Coetal letter to Holland in
I774 reported the ordination of Mr. Weber, and he was pastor at
Plainfield and Greenwich beginning with I776. The minutes of the
Coetus show in May, I782, at its Reading meeting: "A congregation
in Westmoreland County, near Pittsburgh, a new settlement where
there was no German minister heretofore, very earnestly petitioned
for an able minister, whom it promised eighty pounds annually,
together with other necessities of life. Since Mr. Weber showed an
inclination for this congregation, the Reverend Coetus resolved to
recommend him, so that he may receive a regular call to the place."
May I4, I783, the minutes show: "Weber took charge of the congregations which called him at the last Coetus, namely, Fort Pitt,
Hantown, Hempfield and Mt. Pleasant in Westmoreland County."
Fort Pitt was the present Evangelical Protestant Church on Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh; Hantown may have been Hannastown;
383BRUSH CREEK LUTHERAN AND REFORMED CHURCH-STILL HOUSING BOTH CONGREGATIONSRELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS
Hempfield was the old Harrold Church; and Mt. Pleasant was the
Ridge Church above present Trauger.
One interesting feature of the religious life of these German
Lutheran and German Reformed congregations was their joint ownership of church buildings. The picture of Brush Creek Church shows
that of the only jointly owned building now in use, in which the two
congregations still hold services on alternate Sundays. The more particular operations of the Pittsburgh Synod, and its conferences, and
of the Westmoreland Classis, will be detailed later in this narrative,
as showing the large constituencies and great religious work of these
respective bodies. The respective religious organizations, through
these humble but fortuitous beginnings, have' now become a part of
the United Lutheran Church, and the Evangelical and Reformed
Church.
In this reference to early churches, due honor must be given to
an old record belonging to the Reformed Congregation in Berlin,
Pennsylvania, on the title page of which appears this sentence:
"Church Book of both the Evangelical Lutheran and the Evangelical
Reformed Congregations in the Glades, Brothers' Valley Township,
Bedford County, Province of Pa., written in the year of our Lord
Jesus Christ, I777." This book also contains the following minute:
"Both congregations resolved together to build a decent school
house where their children may be instructed in the word and grace
of God, where also from time to time service may be held, at which
the school teacher, or if there should be none, some member of either
congregation, shall read prayers, as well as a sermon and where also
sermons may be preached and the Holy Sacraments administered by
visiting ministers in regular connection with the very Reverend Coetus
of the Reformed and Ministerium of the Lutheran Church."
There is a record of settlers in present Fayette County, in German Township, having built a church building of logs fully eighteen
years before they secured their first pastor. It had one door, puncheon
floors, a rude altar table, a roof of clapboards, seats of split logs with
stout legs at either end, a "wine-glass" pulpit in one corner, and was
made of well selected logs. It went by the name of Jacob's Church,
and on July 3I, I773, at the time of its erection there was the
following partnership arrangement between the Lutherans and
Reformed:
S. P.-I-25
385SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"The condition of this agreement concerning the Reformed congregation is that the Lutheran congregation shall have as much right
to the church and the land as the Reformed congregation. If this
congregation should become too strong, and should disputes arise,
then both congregations must build another church after this same
plan, and our Reformed congregation binds itself for fifty pounds,
Pennsylvania current money; and no minister shall come into the
churches to preach unless he has a good testimony that he is ordained
by other ministers, which we acknowledge with our own hands.
Signed: John Ertman, Jacob Reish, Casper Bohner."
The Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who came into the settlements of
Fairfield, Armstrong (later Derry), Mt. Pleasant, Sewickley, Redstone and Chartiers, brought with them some outstanding ministers.
The Sewickley Church above the old Clapham settlement on Sewickley Creek, near West Newton, and the Long Run Church, at the old
Three Springs encampment of the Braddock army, were in existence
as early as I772. The Rev. David McClure has an entry in his diary
that he preached in the meetinghouse at Long Run on October I4,
I772, and both of the two ancient churches were started about the same
time. A bronze tablet in the present Long Run Church gives the
names of the pastors from I772 to I793 as David McClure, Levi
Frisbee, John McMillan, Joseph Smith, James Power, John Clark,
James Finley. The Rev. James Power was an outstanding pastor at
both Long Run and Sewickley, who later organized the Mt. Pleasant
Presbyterian Church (The Middle Church) in I776, two years after
he had come into the Sewickley settlement. He later acquired an
acreage at the Mt. Pleasant Church, and made that his main charge,
along with Unity Church near Latrobe, and at his death in I830 was
buried in the Mt. Pleasant burying ground. He was born in I745,
and during his active life was a private in the Westmoreland County
Militia, in the Revolution.
The Rev. John McMillan came west on a preaching tour in I775,
and visited old churches and the homes of the settlers, which so
impressed him that he permanently located in the Chartiers Valley
two years later, and became an outstanding figure in Presbyterian
Church history here. His fundamental and important work will be
detailed later. The Rev. Thaddeus Dodd was born at Newark, New
Jersey, March 7, I740; graduated from Princeton in I773 and was
ordained by the New York Presbytery in October, I777. A week
386after his ordination he started for the western country, and came
to the Lindley settlement on Ten Mile Creek, with his wife and two
children. Conditions were unfavorable, and he moved to Patterson's Creek, Virginia, for two years, after which he came back to
Ten Mile, built a log cabin and began his ministerial work. Out of his
first two years' work came the organization of the Ten Mile Church
in I78I, in present Washington County. The Rev. Joseph Smith
became an outstanding minister at Upper Buffalo, in Washington
County, at this period, and his work will be detailed later, also.
Out of these beginnings grew the Redstone Presbytery, which
historic body still functions as a religious body south of the Lincoln
Highway, and having its ancient churches of Long Run, Sewickley
and Mount Pleasant as contributing bodies. Its minutes give the best
record of its beginnings:
"At a meeting of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia,
held at Philadelphia ye I6th of May, I78I. The Revd. Messrs.
Joseph Smith, John McMillan, James Power and Thaddeus Dodd,
having requested to be erected into a separate P. b. y. to be known
as the P. b. y. of Redstone, the Synod grant their request, and
appoint their first meeting to be held at the Laurel Hill Church, the
third Wednesday of September next, at I I A. M.
OLD STONE BUILDING OF SEWICKLEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,
STILL IN USE"Wed. September ye igth, I78I.
"The P. b. y. met according to the appointment of the Reverend
Synod of New York and Philadelphia, at Pidgeon Creek, as the circumstances of some members, by reason of the incursions of the
savages, rendered it impracticable for them to attend at Laurel Hill.
U. P. P. S. (Ubi post preces sederunt), the Rev'd Messrs. John
McMillan, James Power, and Thaddeus Dodd; Elders, John Neil,
Demas Lindley, and Patrick Scott. Absent, the Rev'd Joseph Smith.
"The P. b. y. was opened by Mr. Dodd, with a sermon from
Job xlii, 5,6.
"The P. b. y. then proceeded to the choice of a Moderator and
Clerk, whereupon Mr. McMillan was chosen Moderator, and Mr.
Power Clerk for the ensuing year.
REV. CHARLES BEATTY
First Presbyterian Missionary West of the Mountains,
Chaplain in Forbes Army, Preached First Sermon at the
Newly Established Fort Pitt, 1758RELIGIOUS BEGINNINGS
"Application was made on behalf of Muddy Creek and the South
Fork of Ten Mile, in conjunction for supplies, and also for liberty
to apply to the P. b. y. of Donegal. Adjourned to meet tomorrow
morning at 8 o'clock. Concluded with Prayer."
Succeeding minutes show meetings at Mt. Pleasant on Wednesday, November 7, I78I; at Sewickley, Tuesday, April 9, I782; at
Delap's Creek (Dunlap's, east of present Brownsville), October I5,
I782, and continuously down to the present day.
The Redstone Presbytery became a constituent part of the Synod
of Virginia in I788, and continued this connection, until the organization of the Synod of Pittsburgh on September 29, I 802. Like many
other denominations it lacks its church and session minutes. Along
this line Dr. Aaron Williams wrote, in his "Centenary Memorial,"
"Had those old fathers of our Western Presbyterianism been more
careful than they were to keep memoranda of their abundant labor
and their trials and success; had they even cared to keep their sessional records in some more permanent form than on loose scraps of
paper, how highly should we prize such records today. But they are
not to be found. None of our oldest churches can present their earliest
sessional records, or tell us of the date or circumstances of their
organization. The men of that day were too busy making history
to find time to write it. It was sufficient for them that their record
was on High."
389CHAPTER XXVI
7he Body Politic
Bedford County Furnishes the First Assessment Lists for the Townships of Southwestern Pennsylvania in I773-The List of Pioneers in
Brothers Valley, Fairfield, Armstrong, Mt. Pleasant, Hempfield, Pitt,
Rostraver, Tyrone and Springhill Townships-MMany Military Officers,
Justices in the Courts, Builders of Early Mills and Forts, Inn-keepers, Merchants and Other Artisans Establish the Pioneer Communities-Many Citizens in Pitt, Springhill and Tyrone Townships
Change Their Legal Allegience to Virginia Courts, After the Entry
of Governor Dunmore and Captain John Connolly-Many Reach the
Historical Hall of Fame During the Revolution.
The list of taxable inhabitants of the county of Bedford for the
year I773, as given in the "Pennsylvania Archives," is the best picture of the body politic of the county just before the erection of
Westmoreland. The assessments were unquestionably made in I772,
just before these townships in Westmoreland, and the one township,
Brothers Valley, that formed the larger part of the later Somerset
and Cambria, being excepted, were to be cut off from Bedford. The
Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania assumed jurisdiction over the
entire distance westward for five degrees of longitude, even though
the Indians had halted Mason and Dixon near the mouth of Cheat
River on the Monongahela when they were staking out the southern
line of the Province. The purchase line from Cherry Tree to Kittanning did not concern them much, because the settlements were
fewer north of the Conemaugh, and the Allegheny and Ohio rivers
were natural and undisputed boundary landmarks. The trouble
arose through the influx of Virginians towards the southwest, along
the Monongahela River, and their claims that this was Virginia territory. The Pennsylvania Assembly planned wisely and well, and it
I I ~ ITHE BODY POLITIC
39I
was more than two years afterwards that the Virginia Colonial
authorities awoke to assert their "color of title," to send the usurping
Connolly, and to set up three courts of justice in opposition to the
later Hannastown tribunal. It is decidedly interesting to observe that
the southwesternmost township of both Fayette and Greene counties
in our day is Springhill, each having originally been a part of the
Springhill Township in Bedford County.
These lists of names are valuable for two reasons: first, they
represent that bold group of pioneers who braved the storms of
protest put forth by the Indians as they resented the intrusions; and
second, they are in many instances the forebears of the substantial
citizenry of this area today. The names are variously spelled, due to
phonetic spellings and bad copying and translations, but the original
pioneer families can easily be discerned. Some were officers in former military movements, some came from earlier families in the eastern counties of the Province, and still others were more recent
immigrants.
The first westerly township was Brothers Valley, lying between
the Allegheny and the Laurel Hill, with the Conemaugh on the north
and the Youghiogheny on the south. The larger portion of this
area became the later Somerset County. The names of its list of
Colonial taxables were:
Henry Abraham
Frederick Ambrose
Samuel Adams
Frederick Acre
Gabriel Abraham
Samuel Adams
Solomon Adams
Richard Brown
John Bridges
John Baxter
Ludwick Barricle
Christopher Benuch
Benjamin Biggs
Peter Booker
James Black
Henry Bruner
George Bruner
John Bowman
William  Cracart
James Claypoole
Frederick Cesar
James Campbell
Abraham Cable, Esq.
John Catta
Michael Cesar
Martin Cesar
Toscape Death
Oliver Drake
James Dougherty
William Dwier
John Dilliner
Mathias DitchCatawba Trail. Loyalhanna was a Delaware town as far as its fixed
population was concerned. Out of it also ran a fifth trail, which is
best designated as the Loyalhanna-Kittanning Path. It crossed the
Chestnut Ridge in a northwesterly direction, and thence down through
the McGee's Run Valley to Cokeville, thence to Blacklick, and across
to Shelocta to join with the main Kittanning Path into Kittanning. It
is clearly indicated on early surveys and patents at the northwesterly
foot of the Chestnut Ridge in Derry Township and it is clearly marked
on Sir William Johnson's map.
LOGSTOWN--It is reputed
that Logstown was established
by Shawnees as early as I725.
The town is located on the northerly side of the Ohio River, just
below the present town of Ambridge and old Economy. The
Fort McIntosh Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, of Beaver, erected a fifteenton boulder in the business yard
of the A. M. Byers Company,
and dedicated it on October i6,
I932. The legend on the bronze
marker embedded in the boulder
best tells the story briefly.
LOGSTOWN MARKER AT THE BYERS
PLANT
(Photo by Arthur Swoger, Wilkinsburg)
LOGSTOWN
1725-1758
An historic Indian village was located a short distance
Northwest of this spot. It was founded by the Shawnees
and later occupied also by Delawares, Senecas, Mohawks
and Wyandots.
Here in 1748 Conrad Weiser, agent of Pennsylvania,
negotiated a treaty with the Indians, that opened the
region west of the Allegheny Mountains to Anglo-Saxon
influence and development.
June 11, 1752, the Treaty of Logstown was made
between the Iroquois Indians and the Virginians, givingSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Henry Enlows
Robert Estep
Adam Flick
Jacob Fisher
John Ferguson
Andrew Friend
Augustine Friend
Paul Frowman
Michael Flick
Charles Friend
John Frigs
John Fry
Nicholas Friend
John Glessner
Joseph Greenawalt
William Greathouse
Thomas Green
Edward Grimes
Lodowick Greenawalt
Walter Hite
Michael Huff
Richard Hogland
Andrew Hendrix
Francis Hay
James Hogland
John Hendrix
Edward Henderson
William Haskin
Edward Higgins
John Hankbaugh
Benjamin Jennings
William Johnston
Joseph Jennings
Matthew Judy
Solomon Kessinger
Philip Kimble
George Kimble
Valentine Lout
Daniel Lout
John Markley
John Miller
James Moore
Felix Morgan
James McMullin
William McClee
Joseph Ogle
Thomas Ogle
Adam Polen
John Pursley
Benjamin Pursley
Danes Pursley
John Peters
John Penrod
James Pursley
Robert Pulelut
Daniel Pursley
Henry Rhoads
Jacob Rhoads
Gabriel Rhoads
Henry Rhoads, Jr.
John Rhoads
John Reed
John Rice
Cutlip Rose
Hugh Robeson
Frederick Sheaf
John Swiser
John Sappington
Adam Small
Bastian Shells
James Spenser
Nathaniel Skinner
William Sinclear
Henry Smith
Solomon Shute
Thomas Stinton
John Sinclear
392THE BODY POLITIC
George Shidler
Henry Shidler
Casper Stoy
William Tyshoe
Ephraim Tessey
Thomas Urey
Abraham Vaun
Frederick Vandrex
Philip Wagaly
Frederick Wimer
John Wimer
Richard Wells
George Wells
Aquila White
John Winsel
Peter Winard
Thomas John Waller
Samuel Wellis
James Winler
Samuel Worrall
James Wells
Jacob Wingart
Attewell Worrall
Richard Wells
Some of these Brothers Valley pioneers came by the Turkey Foot
Road leading off the Braddock Road, others by the Burd-Glades
Road, and still others by the Forbes Road. The whole township
had a higher general elevation than any other part of the county,
and it attracted a class of Pennsylvania Germans who created a basic
sturdy life.
The new Fairfield Township extended between the Laurel Hill
and the Chestnut Ridge, and likewise had the Conemaugh River as its
northern boundary, and the Youghiogheny River as its southern limit.
Its military center and chief haven of refuge before the Revolution
was Fort Ligonier, and the settlers who came after the treaty of
Fort Stanwix penetrated its valleys by way of the Catawba Indian
Trail. Its body politic was more largely Scotch-Irish, with a scat.
tering of Pennsylvania Germans. Captain Arthur St. Clair was its
outstanding citizen, and his fellow-justice on the Bedford County
bench, Robert Hanna, also owned some taxable land there. As the
settlement grew north and south of Fort Ligonier, two other fortifications were erected for the protection of these pioneers, Fort Williams and Fort Palmer. Let us call the roll of the Fairfield Township pioneers:
Patrick Archibald
George Bartten
James Bogle
James Benford
John Brant
Lodowick Busney
Barbara Bonjour
George Beatty
William Cunningham
Michael Cawfman
393SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Jean Campbell
Robert Campbell
Cornelius Campbell
Thomas Cheney
George Egar
Gassaway Freeman
George Finla
John Guild
James Gray
James Guffy
Thomas Gray
George Glen
Samuel Gibb
John Hankston
George Henry
Daniel Hendrix
John Hamble
Robert Hanna, Esq.
James How,
Philip Harman
George Hutcheson
Michael Hays
Abraham Hendrick
Jacob Hargenough
George Henry
John Hanna
Alexander Johnston
Thomas Jameson
William Kilpatrick
George Kells
Robert Kelsey
Nicholas Lute
Daniel Levoire
Robert Laughlin
Robert Lorrimore
John Lafferty
Nathaniel Miller
Robert Magaw
John McMullin
Andrew McDowell
Edward McDowell
James McCurdy
John McNocher
John McDougal
Adam Niseley
Henry Overly
Martin Overly
Garrat Pendergrass
John Palmer
James Pollock
William Piper
Robert Read
Leonard Read
George Row
Alexander Ramsey
John Redman
Robert Smiley
Peter Smith
John Simons
Samuel Smith
Andrew Sober
Henry Slaughter
John Smith
Samuel Shannon
Joseph Serana
Jacob Shaw
Thomas Thompson
David Thompson
Martin Witteman
John Wilkins
Out of this noble list came much hardship endured, and here we
note the founder of Laughlintown, Robert Laughlin, the noted Captain John HaAkston, who had the trouble with the Indian Joseph
394THE BODY POLITIC
Wipey, and on whose head the Provincial Council placed a bounty
for a time; the pioneer, Robert Campbell, of Donegal Presbyterian
Church fame; and the patriot, Philip Harman, who lost his life at
the hands of the Indians. These pioneers live still in name, with
slight variation in spelling, up and down the Ligonier Valley.
Armstrong Township was the largest one in area, having the
crest of the Chestnut Ridge as its line to the eastward, the Loyalhanna, the Kiskiminetas, and the Allegheny as its natural water
boundary southward and westward, and the purchase line on the
north. Out of it was later carved the Derry settlement, which was
south of the Conemaugh, but it contained few early adventurers north
of that stream, due to its predominence as "Indian country." This
list represents those who were nearest to the northerly Indians, who
made their incursions hither:
Thomas Anderson
Joshua Anderson
Peter Alkman
Andrew Alkman
James Baird
Moses Beard
Thomas Beard
Charles Beard
James Blain
Alexander Barr
Robert Blair
James Barr
James Bogle
Alexander Barryhill
Matthew Cleghorn
William Caldwell
Edward Cahill
James Campbell
Charles Campbell
Edward Cahill, Jr.
James Cooper
James Carr
Jean Campbell
John Craighton
Samuel Craig
Joseph Campbell
William Cochran
Thomas Cahill
Daniel Carns
John Dunahee
David Duncan
Joseph Dixon
Arthur Denniston
Samuel Dixon
Samuel Duncan
James Eaton
John Eaton
Joshua Elder
John Gibson
Robert Gibb
William Guthery
Levy Gibson
John Glaghorn
Edward Harbridge
William Hughes
Joseph Hughes
Alexander Johnston
George LIeasure
395SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
John Lambert
Andrew Mitchell
William Mitchell
Michial McGraw
William McCune
John Montgomery
James McFarlin
John McCrady
James Norton
John Pomeroy
Isaac Parr
Samuel Perry
John Reynolds
Frederick Rorer
Samuel Sloan
Moses Stewart
Abraham Smith
Thomas Taylor
Richard Wellis
Thomas Wilkins
James Wilson
John Woods
In the above list of first citizens of Bedford County there is
Thomas Anderson, outstanding patriot, who came over in Admiral
Boscawen's fleet, fought at Quebec, and lived to the ripe age of one
hundred three years, after a service in the Revolution; James Baird,
later founder of Bairdstown; Colonel Charles Campbell, of Campbell's Mills, who was county lieutenant and the builder of Campbell's
Mills; Lieutenant Samuel Craig, who later lost his life at the hands
of Indians as he was on the way to Fort Ligonier for salt; Arthur
Denniston, who built an early mill on the Loyalhanna, and started
the New Alexandria community; Colonel John Pomeroy, fortbuilder and a justice at Hannastown; and Richard Wallace (Wellis), for whom the haven of refuge, Fort Wallace, was named; and
others.
Mt. Pleasant Township lay west of the Chestnut Ridge and south
of the Loyalhanna, and had as its western line a rather irregular line,
extending up Crabtree Creek, through the ancient Crabtree Bottoms
of the trader days, and across to the Braddock Road near the present
town of Mt. Pleasant. Many pioneers who later gained prominence
in military affairs, and in legal life, had come by the Forbes Road,
which bisected the township, as the following list shows:
William Anderson
Hugh Bay
Rodey Bear
George Beard
John Beard
Richard Beard
William Bracken
Thomas Bay
John Boyd
Ralph Cherrie
Josiah Campbell
Conrad Culmore
Philip Cost
Joseph Cessna
396THE BODY POLITIC
Joseph Campbell
Samuel Coulter
James Catent
Michael Delue
John Davis
Benjamin Delworth
John Dillworth
James Dickey
Elias Davis
Joseph Eager
Lawrence Erwin
Simon Eacor
William Ferguson
James Ferguson
John Fiskes
Garrat Fiskes
James Flatcher
Charles Fiskis
William Greegor
John Graa
John Giffin
Adam Hatfield
Robert Hall
Nathaniel Husk
John Hutchison
James Hunter
James Hamilton
Hans Ireland
John Jack
Robert Jameson
David Kilgore
Benjamin Kelley
Thomas Loudan
Abraham Lazer
William Laver
Christopher Lavorjoy
William Lochry, Esq.
Jeremiah Lochry
John Ludwick
Archibald Lochry
James Marshall
John Moore
Hugh Martin
Daniel Mickey
Joshua Meck
Daniel Morrison
Samuel Moorhead
Robert Marshall
Francis McGinnis
Joseph McHenry
John McCullough
John McClure
John McKee
George McDonnell
James McCuston
Alexander McKinney
Isaac McHenry
Clemons McGeary
Martin McDonald
John Nicholas
Samuel Newell
James Newell
Robert Nicholas
Hugh Neily
Arthur O'Hara
Thomas Patten
John Proctor, Esq.
William Perry
William Reydock
William Robeson
Barnard Rice
John Robeson
Philip Screter
Thomas Simpson
William Screeter
John Shotwell
Solomon Sheepherd
Casper Smitley
397SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Michael Stockberger
James Scott
William Stewart
John Scott
Mathias Stockberger
Samuel Sorralls
Nicholas Smitley
John Teach
Roger Tabpens
William Thompson
Samuel Willson
Francis Waddle
David White
Adam Walter
John Waugh
Valentine Weaver
Edward Wells
Paul Waugh
William Wells
Moses White
John White
In this list are Nathaniel Hurst (Husk), of the Sewickley Manor,
the latter Colonels David Kilgore, Jeremiah Lochry, Archibald Lochry,
John Proctor and several others who becamne a part of the military
forces of the frontier.
Hempfield Township was perhaps the most populous, because it
was along the Forbes Road, and many early settlers kept close to this
main thoroughfare. This list contains a great lot of interesting
pioneers:
Anthony Altman
Peter Altman
William Altman
Doctor Allison
James Bevard
William Beard
James Bowell
William Brown
John Brown
John Boyd
John Browster
Michael Bann
Jacob Busman
George Balster
Mathias Bradsworth
Joseph Brady
Joseph Beeler
Philip Busan
James Blackburn
Andrew Byerly
James Bartherton
Thomas Beard
Richard Beeman
Joseph Blackburn
William Beaty
William Brown
Michael Byerly
William Bartherton
Conrad Beghly
Matthias Cowan
Patrick Campbell
Abraham Carelaser
Samuel Culbertson
James Callen
John Craig
Peter Castner
Michael Cunkle
John Camer
398THE BODY POLITIC
Joseph Courtney
James Catermus
John Carney
James Carnahan
John Carnahan
Levan Cooper
William Clugston
James Carrothers
Joshua Cole
Samuel Cooper
David Carnahan
Benjamin Clark
Eli Coulter
Peter Cook
John Cristy, Jr.
John Cristy
John Davis
Hanover Davis
Hannicle Davis
Joseph Davis
James Darraugh
William Darraugh
Robert Dill
Elias Davis
William Dean
Joseph Erwin
Joseph Ekely
John Erwin
Laurence Erwin
Peter Ekely
Clemons Finley
John Fulton
Adam George
Adam Grant
James Gobin
George Gree
James Gray
William Graham
Manua Gallaher
William Gaff
Christopher Harmon
Joseph Hunter
William Harry
Henry Huffman
Stophel Hays
Samuel Hake
Robert Hanna, Esq.
Stophel Harhold
Cinrad Hake
William Hollis
Mr. Isherwood
John Johnston
James King
James Kenkead
George Lattimore
David Lattimore
David Marshall
Samuel Miller
Robert Miller
Gideon Miller
William Marshall
Bryan Marks
Mathew Miller
Jacob Miliron
George Metaphor
Daniel Morrison
William Milinor
Daniel Matthews
David Marks
William Martin
William Mason
Hugh Michial
Casper Metaphor
George Mathias
John Muffly
Hans Morrison
Alexander McNees
John McGrue
399SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Samuel McKee
David McMahon
David McKee
Robert McKee
Joseph McDowell
Andrew McConnal
Alexander McNees
Alexander McKinzee
Daniel McManamy
Thomas McKee
Samuel McClure
Simon McGrue
James McGrue
Archibald McKee
Alexander McGrue
James McCalester
Robert Newell
Nathaniel Nelson
William Niece
Francis Oury
Peter Oury
Patrick Ogoullion
Wendall Oury
Garret Pendergrass
George Patty
Adam Pricer
Joseph Peoples
William Pitton
Hugh Parks
Nicholas Parchman
James Parks
John Robeson
Dennis Raredon
Rodebaugh, Jr.
John Ross
Alexander Ross
Thomas Ralph
William Ralston
Michael Rugh
Peter Rugh
John Reed
Michael Shorts
Joseph Shaney
William Shaw
Jacob Straw
William Sherrer
John Sheals
John Stephenson
Hugh Stephenson
Charles Starret
Adam Stott
Adam Samm
Abraham Studebaker
Timothy Shearer
John Simeral
Moses Spear
George Shilling
Robert Smith
James Seat
Casper Truby
James Thompson
John Thompson
Garret Thomas
Alexander Thompson
William Thomas
Prior Theobold
Frederick Verner
David Vance
James Verthemes
Barnard Varnard
Robert Vance
Samuel Wilson
John Whittacre
Martin Weaver
Charles Wilson
Filty Whitehead
John Waterson
Stophel Welhourt
400THE BODY POLITIC
George Welhourt
James White
Daniel Williams
Samuel Warden
Samuel Wallace
Charles Wilson
Nicholas Yount
In this list of first citizens we find Captain Wendall Oury, in charge
of Fort Bedford when Colonel Bouquet was at Bushy Run in I763.
Here also is Eli Coulter, of Washington's camp on the Forbes Road;
Andrew Byerly, of Bushy Run fame; Joseph Erwin, innkeeper at
Hannastown; Michael Rugh, of Rugh's Blockhouse; Adam Samm,
of Brush Creek; Captain David McKee and his family south of
Hannastown; Lieutenant John Craig, of Shields Fort; Patrick
Campbell, pioneer of the Clapham settlement; Henry Huffman, north
of Jacobs Creek; John Carnahan, of Carnahan's Blockhouse, and
many others prominent in the building up of the western frontier,
and in the severe struggle of the Revolution about to begin.
Pitt Township was named for Fort Pitt, and was the municipality bounded north and west by the Allegheny and the Ohio.
Across these waters it was Indian country.  The greater part of
these first citizens of Pitt Township were close to the Bouquet
Road and about the Forks of Ohio:
Jacob Bowsman
Richard Butler
William Butler
Colonel Bird
John Barr
Andrew Boggs
Charles Bruce
John Cavit
James Cavit
William Cunningham
George Croghan
William Christy
John Campbell
John Crawford
Joseph Closeing
David Cristlow
Morris Coe
S. P.-I-26
Jacob Divelbiss
William Elliot
Joseph Erwin
Samuel Elliott
William Edwards
Mary Ferry
John Ferry
Thomas Gibson
Samuel Heath
Ephraim Hunter
George Kerr
Peter Loflater
Eleziar Mires
William Martin
John McCalister
John McDaniel
Thomas McCamish
40ISOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the latter the right to build a fort and establish a trading
post at the Forks of the Ohio (Pittsburgh).
MAJOR GEORGE WASHINGTON
Held councils at Logstown with Tanacharison, Shingass
and other Indian chiefs, November 24 to 30, 1753, while
on his important mission to Fort LeBoeuf.
Erected by
FORT MCINTOSH CHAPTER, DAUGHTERS OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
1932
MURTHERING TOWN-This place has the alternate name of Murdering Town, but the first pronunciation seems less modern, and more
Indian. It was on the Conoquenessing Creek a few miles from Evans
City, Butler County, and possibly at an intersecting path that came
over from Chartier's town and on across to Kuskuskies at New Castle.
Close to this point Washington was almost killed by the Indians, which
will be detailed in a later chapter. Christopher Gist fixes this location
thus: "Thursday 27 (December, I 753). We rose early in the morning and set out abouit 2 o'clock and came to Murthering Town, on
the southeast fork of Beaver Creek." Washington tells in his diary
of dressing in Indian apparel and walking toward Shannopin's Town
because of the weakness of their horses, and then states: "I set out
with Mr. Gist fitted in the same manner on Wednesday the 26th. The
day following, just after we had passed a place called Murdering
Town (when we intended to quit the path and steer across the country
for Shannopin's Town) we fell in with a party of French Indians who
had lain in wait for us."
PISQUETOMEN'S PLACE-This Chief was a brother of King Shingass and King Beaver. He joined in the deed to the Penns for land
along the Schuylkill in I732, and attended the Carlisle conference in
I753. He had a cabin or village location two miles below present
New Alexandria on the Loyalhanna Creek, and on the Allegheny
Trail, down which he and Christian Frederick Post traveled in I758.
He came through from the east with Post on that second journey and
was a useful personage to him in his negotiations at Kuskuskies, just
before the burning of Fort Duquesne.
PEHOLAND-Across Two Lick Creek on the western side was the
town of Peholand (at present Homer City). In later years it was
24SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Thomas McBride
Charles McGinnis
Loughlan McGlaughlin
Aeneas McKay
John Ormsby
William Owins
Hugh O'Hara
William Powell
Abraham Power
Jonathan Plummer
William Pizardon
James Royal
James Reed
William Ramage
Andrew Robeson
James Rice
Henry Rites
Jacob Rebold
Alexander Ross
John Sampson
Robert Sampel
George Sley
Deveraux Smith
Samuel Semple
Joseph Spare
John Small
Abraham Slover
Charles Smith
Alexander Stull
John Sampson
Doctor Smith
William Thompson
Benjamin Tate
Christian Tubb
John Thompson
John Thomas
Rynard Undus
Conrad Winbittle
Conrad Winemiller
Philip Whitesell
Jacob Winemiller
Some of this group made up the frontier town of Pittsburgh,
such as the innkeeper, Samuel Semple; while Colonel George Croghan, two miles up the Allegheny River; William Elliot, determined
patriot at the Bullock Pens, at present Wilkinsburg; John Ormsby,
merchant and ferryman on the south side of the Monongahela; the
later Aeneas Mackay, of the 8th Regiment, Pennsylvania Line, in
the Revolution; Captain Eleziar Myers, of the same regiment, made
up the settlements near at hand.
One of the most interesting townships was Rostraver in the Forks
of the Yough.  Its area extended up to the mouth of Redstone
Creek, and many of these early settlers crossed the Monongahela
and joined in with the Virginians from the southerly townships in
the formation of the later West Augusta County, which caused more
or less of legal confusion. The greater part of them gave allegiance
to the Pennsylvania court during the Revolutionary period:
Benjamin Applegate
Thomas Applegate
William Applegate
Daniel Applegate
402THE BODY POLITIC
Benjamin Allen
Alexander Bowling
Andrew Baker
James Burns
Isam Barnet
Morris Brady
Samuel Burns
Samuel Biggon
Samuel Beckett
Nathaniel Brown
Benjamin Burkham
John Bleasor
William Bolling
Edward Cook
Samuel Clem
Thomas Cummins
Andrew Dye
James Devore
John Dogtauh
William Dunn
Benjamin Dumort
Samuel Davis
Hugh Dunn
Jesse Dumont
Peter Elrod
Peter Easman
Paul Froman
Rev. James Finley
John Fin
James Gragh
John Greer
Samuel Grissey
Samuel Glass
Isaac Greer
Christopher Houseman
Luellin Howell
Thomas Hina
Peter Hildebrand
Peter Hanks
Joseph Hill
Moses Holliday
Deverick Johnston
James Johnston
Jacob Johnston
Joseph Jones
Peter Johnston
Ignatius Jones
John Kiles
John Kelton
Andrew Linn
Nathan Linn
William,inn
Joseph Leamon
Abraham Miller
Andrew Moorhead
Alexander Miller
Alexander Mitchell
Jesse Martin
John Miller
John Mitchell
Morgan Morgan
Oliver Miller
William Moore
Thomas Miller
Ralph Nissley
Philip Nissley
Daniel McGoogan
James McKinley
John McClellon
Felty McCormick
John McMeen
Martin Owins
Andrew Peers
Dorsey Pentecost
John Perry
Joseph Pearce
Samuel Perry
Benjamin Pelton
4o3SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
David Price
Jacob Paul
Abraham Retchy
Edward Smith
Henry Spear
John Shannon
Michael Springer
Richard Sparks
Van Swearingen
Samuel Sinclear
William Saltsman
Walter Skinner
Beltser Shilling
Levi Stephens
Phillip Tanner
William Turner
Cornelius Thompson
Robert Turner
Joseph Vanmaitre
Jacob Vanmaitre
Peter Vandola
John Van Metre
Adam Wickenhimen
David William
George Weddell
James Wall
James Wilson
John Wiseman
John Weddell
Isaac Wilson
Samuel Wilson
Thomas Wells
James Young
In the foregoing list we find such important personages as Judge
Edward Cook; James Devore, who conducted the ferry on the Monongahela; Paul Froman, the miller; the Rev. James Finley, who
later founded Rehoboth Presbyterian Church in the township; Cdptain Andrew Linn, of the Revolution; Judge Dorsey Pentecost, who
moved west of the Monongahela and became a judge in the Yohogania Court; Captain Van Swearingen, who was a captain in the
famous 8th Pennsylvania Regiment, and later the first sheriff of the
new Washington County; Captain Van Metre; George Weddell,
perhaps the earliest settler in the township; and many others who
helped to build up this community.
Lying as it did between Jacobs Creek and the Burd Road north
and south, from the Chestnut Ridge to the Monongahela east and
west, the township of Tyrone was an interesting one. In it were the
Washington acreages and his mill, and the Gist plantations. George,
John, Samuel, and Leonard Washington were assessed with lands
here, and taxed according to their valuation. This was for a very
few years, because when Governor Dunmore and Captain John Connolly came through two years later and set up the Virginia courts, the
Washington land agents, Judge William Crawford and Judge Thomas
Gist, both of whom had presided at Bedford and Hannastown in the
404THE BODY POLITIC
405
Pennsylvania courts, transferred their
until the boundary dispute was settled.
is basically heroic in its make-up also:
Andrew Arnold
David Allen
Jonathan Arnold
Halbert Adams
Andrew Byers
Christopher Beelor
Henry Beeson
John Boggs
Thomas Brownfield
Redin Blunt
George Brown
James Barrick
Robert Beall
Barnet Cunningham
Daniel Cannon
Edward Corn
George Clark, Jr.
John Cherry
James Creavin
John Clem
John Cornwell
John Castleman
William Castleman
William Crawford, Esq.
Valentine Crawford
William Collins
George Clark
Peter Castner
Zachariah Connell
Edward Doyle
George Dawson
John Dickinson
Joshua Dickinson
Thomas Davis
Robert Erwin
legal allegiance to Virginia,
This list of pioneer citizens
Thomas Freeman
Thomas Felton
John Felty
James Gamble
Reason Gale
Thomas Gist, Esq.
Charles Harrison
Ezekiel Hickman
Henry Hartly
James Harper  
Joshua Huston
William Handshaw.
William Harrison
Joseph Hunter
John Keith
David Lindsay
John Laughlin
Samuel Loyon
Francis Lovejoy
Elijah Lucas
Alexander Mowland
Augustine Moore
Edmond Martin
Hugh Masterson
Isaac Meck
Isaac Meason
Michael Martin
Philip Mason
Providence Mounts
William Massey
William Miller
Agney Moloney
Francis Main
James Mack
Thomas MooreSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Patrick Masterson
Robert McLaughlin
William McKee
Robert O'Gullion
Andrew Payn
Elisha Pearce
George Paul
Isaac Parks
Isaac Pearce
Andrew Robeson
Edmond Rice
Robert Ross
Samuel Rankins
William Rankin
Joseph Reyley
Dennis Springer
George Smith
Josiah Springer
John Stephenson
John Stewart
Moses Smith
Philip Shoop
Richard Stephenson
William Sparks
Corbit Smith
Edward Stewart
Daniel Stephens
William Shepard
James Torrance
Philip Tanner
John Vance
Conrad Walter
Henry White
Joseph Wells
John Waller
Richard Waller
Samuel Wells
William White
George Young
Aside from the Washingtons and Gists, we have here as citizens
and taxpayers, Henry Beeson, who founded the future Uniontown;
Zachariah Connell, for whom Connellsville was named; Isaac Meason, who was a pioneer iron manufacturer; and Valentine Crawford,
who managed Washington's mill. These citizens were likewise to
make their contribution towards American independence.
A line running due west from the mouth of Redstone Creek to
the western limits of the Province divided the townships of Springhill and Pitt as erected in both Bedford and Westmoreland counties.
Due to the halting of Mason and Dixon by the Indians, and the later
occupancy by the Virginians, that Province line was not officially determined until the closing months of the Revolution. Justices William
Crawford, Dorsey Pentecost, and Thomas Gist helped to establish
this line in the Bedford Court, and Crawford and Gist later decreed
the same line in Westmoreland. The names here given from the
assessment lists of Bedford County a month or two before the erection of Westmoreland County, in I773, are the names of many who
came up from Virginia as early settlers, and who naturally threw
4o6THE BODY POLITIC
407
their legal allegiance to the new Virginia courts when they were
established:
John Allen                        Jeremiah Beck
Ekebet Ashcraft                   Isher Budd
Joseph Auger                      Charles Burkham
John Ally                         Joseph Batton
William  Allen                    Edward Brownfield
John Alison                       William  Bills
Samuel Adams                      Epsom  Brownfield
Robert Adams                      Alexander Bryan
Edward Askins                     Charles Brownfield
John Armstrong                    Benjamin Brooks
Richard Ashcraft                  Peter Bachus
Ephraim  Ashcraft                 Richard Brownfield
Walter Briscoe                    Bazil Brown
Peter Bekes                       Benjamin Beshears
James Burdin                      Lewis Bremit
John Burris                       Coleman Brown
Joseph Brown                      James Brown (Dunlap's)
Robert Brownfield                 Samuel Bridgewater
Jacob Beason                      Henry Brenton
Alexander Buchanan                John Beason
Samuel Brown                      Nicholas Baker
James Black                       William  Burt
Morris Brown                      John Braddock
Adam Brown                        John Bachus
John Barkley                      Josias Crawford
Nicholas Buck                     William Cr)awford, Quaker
Thomas Banfield                   Richard Chinner
Thomas Batton                     Oliver Crawford
John Brown                        Peter Clean
Joseph Barker                     Jacob Cleam
William  Brown                    John Cateel
Thomas Brown                      George Church
William  Beshears                 Michael Carn
James Branton                     William  Case
George Boydston                   Adam  Cumbert
David Blackston                   Joseph CaldwellSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
John Crag
James Crooks
William Campbell
John Carr
John Carr, Jr.
Moses Carr
William Cochran
George Corn
Nicholas Crowshoe
Anthony Cashaw
Michael Cox
Joseph Cox
Michael Catt
Abraham Cills
Anthony Cills
William Colvin
John Conwell
George Colvin
William Conwell
Michael Cresap
Gabriel Cox
Joseph Coon
Robert Cavines
John Cross
Edward Carn
Christian Coffman
John Curley
Nathaniel Case
John Crossly
Christopher Caply
George Catt
John Chadwick
Jonathan Chambers
Israel Cox
John Cline
Hugh Crawford
Daniel Cristey
James Chamberlain
James Carmichael
James Campbell
John Catch
John Crawford
Peter Drague
Samuel Douglas
Owin David
Jesse Dument
William Downhard
Henry Dever
Zephaniah Dun
Lewis Davison
George Debolt
William Dawson
Andrew Davison
John Death
Jacob Dicks
Jeremiah Downs
Augustine Dilliner
Edward Death
John Dragoe
Jeremiah Davis
James Davis
John Decker
Edward Dublin
John Douglass
Henry Enoch
John Evans
Richard Evans
Barnard Eckley
Elias Eaton
Alexander Elliner
Hugh Evans
Samuel Ekely
Michael Franks
Jacob Franks
Nathan Frigs
James Fleeharty
High Ferry
John Fisher
408THE BODY POLITIC
James Flannigan
James Fraim
Henry Friggs
David Flowers
Thomas Flower
James Fugate
Jacob Funk
Martin Funk
Thomas Gaddis
George Graft
Samuel Glasby
William Garrat
Joseph Goodwin
Frederick Garrison
Jacob Grow
Leonard Garrison
Zachariah Goben
David Ginons
John Griffith
Hugh Gilmore
Thomas Gregg
Charles Gause
Daniel Goble
Robert Gilmore
Nicholas Gilbert
Andrew Gutshell
John Garrat
John Garrat, Jr.
William Gooden
Thomas Gooden
John Glascoe
Samuel Gilpen
William Groom
John Guthery
Joseph Guire
Bartlet Griffith
Henry Hart
David Hatfield, Jr.
Charles Hickman
John Hendricks
Aaron Hackney
Martin Hardin
Henry Hall
James Hughey
Benjamin Hardin
Thomas Heady
Thomas Heady, Jr.
John Henthorn
John Henthorn, Jr.
Owin Hughes
William Hardin
John Hardin, Jr.
John Harman
George Huckleberry
John Huffman
John Harrison
Adam Henthorn
David Hawkins
James Herod
John Hall
Henson Hubbs
Samuel Howard
Levi Herod
William Herod
William House
Jesse Hollingsworth
Mark Hardin
Capt. John Hardin
William Henthorn
William Hugland
Edward Hatfield
John Hawkins
Samuel Herod
John Harges
Abraham Holt
John Holt
John Huston
John Hupp
409SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Thomas Hughes
Joshua Hudson
Philemon Hughes
John Hutton
Hugh Jackson
Aaron Jenkins
Jonathan Jones
John Jones
Joseph Jackson
Jacob Jacobs
Cornelius Johnston
John Kennedy
Thomas Kindel
John Kineson
Thomas Lane
Absolam Little
Samuel Lucas
Thomas Lucas
Hugh Lachlin
Richard Lucas
Jacob Link
David Long
John Long
John Long Jr.
William Lee
Andrew Link
Josiah Little
Aaron Moore
David Morgan
William Master
Henry Myers
Martin Mason
John Mason
Alexander Miller
John Moore
Wolrick Myers
John Mesmore
John Mene
Charles Morgan
John Masterson
Daniel Murdock
James Murdock
John Moore
Simon Moore
Adam Mannon
Henns Moore
John Mannon
John Marr
George Myers
Elijah Mickle
William Murphy
John Morgan
Samuel Merryfield
John Main
William Martin
Morgan Morgan
John Morrice
Jacob Morrice
William Marshall
James Morgan
Hugh Murphy
George Morris
Joseph Morris
Samuel McCray
James McCoy
Hugh McCleary
William McDowell
John McFarling
Francis McGinnis
Nathaniel McCarty
George McCoy
William McClamon
David McDonnal
John McGilty
Abraham McFarling
Tunis Newkirk
4IOTHE BODY POLITIC
James Neal
Barnet Newkirk
Peter Newkirk
Andrew Newlan
Charles Nelson
John Notts
John Notts, Jr.
George Newell
John Nevell
Philip Nicholas
Barnard O'Neal
Jacob Poundstone
Frederick Parker
Philip Pearce
Theophilus Philips
Adam Penter
Richard Parr
Thomas Philips
Henry Peters
John Peters
Balzer Peters
Christian Pisner
Samuel Pain
John Pollock
John Wm. Province
John Pettyjohn
Thomas Pyburn
John Philips
Thomas Province
James Peters
Isaac Pritchard
Jonathan Paddox
Ebenezer Paddox
Ironimus Rimley
Casper Rather
Teley Rood
Jesse Rood
Daniel Robins
Roger Roberts
Jacob Riffell
William Rail
John Robins
David Rogers
Thomas Roach
Edward Rolands
William Rees
Ralph Riffle
Jacob Rich
Jonathan Rees
Thomas Rail
Noah Rood
Samuel Robb
Philip Rogers
Nathan Reynhart
James Robertson
Edward Scott
Conrad Six
Isaac Sutton
Isaac Sutton, Jr.
Samuel Stilwell
Lewis Saltser
William Spangler
Thomas Scott
John Smith
Andrew Scott
Robert Smith
James Smith
Philip Smith
James Scott
William Smith
John Swearingen
John Smith, Dunlap's
John Swan, Jr.
William Shepard
Stephen Styles
John Swan
4rlTHE INDIAN TOWNS AND VILLAGES
mentioned in describing the trail northerly across Indiana County as
being on the Peholand-Coucheating Trail. Coucheating was another
name for Goshgoshing at Tionesta, but Peholand was on the main
Catawba Trail, as it came over the Chestnut Ridge from Squirrel
Hill at New Florence.
PUNXSUTTAWNEYThis Delaware Indian village was a little north
of the area we are considering, but being on the main trail of the Delaware migration in I724, it deserves a mention here. It was designated as a "place of gnats," which Heckewelder, the Moravian,
encountered there in large quantities in his travels. On his first journey to the Delawares at Kuskuskies, Post came westward over the old
Ohio Trail up the Susquehanna and across through Punxsutawney.
SAUKONK-When the Shawnees migrated from the Tennessee
Valley to the Ohio Valley about the year I730, they established this
village on the northern side of the Ohio, close to the mouth of the
Beaver River. Some place it a mile or two below the mouth of that
stream. It did not reach the size and importance of others.
SEWICKLEY-In their distinct movements into the Potomac and
Susquehanna valleys, the Shawnees established an important town
fifteen miles east of Cumberland, which was then called "Opessah's
T'own," and later "Old Town," which name adheres to the location
today. The Shawnee Indians from Old Town migrated westward
and founded Sewickley at the mouth of the creek of that name on the
Youghiogheny River, two miles below West Newton. The Indian
trader, Jonas Davenport, made an affidavit before the Provincial
Council on October 29, I73I, in which he described the Indian town
of Sewickley as "fifty families lately from South Carolina to Potowmack, and from thence thither, making Ioo men. Acqueloma is their
Chief." It was such an important place that Col. William Clapham
located his fertile plantation close by, after having distinguished himself on the Susquehanna at Fort I-lunter and Fort Augusta, and there
he and members of his family were later massacred.
SEWICKLEY, No. 2-There was another town of the Sewickley
Indians on the western bank of the Allegheny River, opposite the
mouth of Puckety Creek, above Springdale in present Allegheny
County. It is mentioned in later land surveys, and it must have been
settled by a group from the larger town on the Youghiogheny. It was
25SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Samuel Sampson
Joseph Starkey
David Shelvey
Elias Stone
Thomas Swan
Edward Saylor
Robert Saylor
Stophel Swoop
William Spancer
Alexander Smith
John Snively
Francis Stanator
Ralph Smith
John Sultzer
Lewis Teem
Obadiah Truax
John Thompson
Michael Tuck
George Teigarden
Abraham Teigarden
Michael Thomas
John Taylor
William Thompson
William Teigarner
Henry Vanmaitre
Jacob Vanmaitre
John Vantress
Abraham Vanmaitre
John Vervell
David Walter
David Wright
James White
George Wilson, Esq.
James Wilson
John Waits
John Watson
George Watson
Ephraim WValter
David White
George Williams
John Williamson
Alexander White
Benjamin Wells
Michael Whitelock
John Williams
Teley Yourk
Jeremiah Yourk
Ezekial Yourk
Out of this large list of the early settlers, many of them unquestionably spelled phonetically, and thus written down, and then carelessly copied from the original, may be selected: Ichabod (Ekebet)
Ashcraft, who built the fort on the Catawba Trail; Colonel Thomas
Gaddis, who had erected Fort Gaddis ten years before this, also on
the Catawba Trail; the noted Captain Michael Cresap, soon to have
trouble with the Indians; Justice George Wilson, of the Hannastown
Court, who later died in New Jersey, while on the battlefield, as
Lieutenant-Colonel of the 8th Regiment, near Quibbletown. Here
we find the progenitors of many Washington, Greene and Fayette
County families. There are also Colonel Theophilus Philips, at
whose farmstead the Monongalia County Court was established; the
Baptist ministers, John Corbly (Curley) and Isaac Sutton. All these
made up the body politic of all southwestern Pennsylvania, out of
4I2THE BODY POLITIC                        4I3
which has come through the years a diversified and fruitful agricultural, mining, manufacturing and varied business life. The names
here recorded represent those who laid the foundations upon which
later generations have built, and their memories should ever be
revered and kept before us in the historical Hall of Fame.CHAPTER XXVII
Jirginia's Color of Title
The Virginia Line of the "Setting Sun"--The Indian Considered it the
Crest of the Allegheny Mountains-Governor Dinwiddie's Allotment
of 2oo00,000ooo Acres on the Ohio, to the Soldiers of Washington's Expedition of I754-George Croghan's Trading Connections-Frankstown
Established on the Juniata-The Trading Operations of David
Franks, Stephen Franks, Bernard Gratz, and Others-Governor
James Hamilton's Warnings About Encroachments-The Combined
Trading Operations of Pennsylvanians and Virginians to the Westward-Pittsylvania Almost Established as the Fourteenth ColonyColonel George Washington Seeks Pennsylvania Titles-Colonel
Croghan's Deeds From the Indians-Quarrels in the Redstone Country-Washington's Titles to Pennsylvania Lands, Including the Site
of Fort Necessity.
This pioneering into the western Indian lands brought with it
much contention and rivalry. All the while that Pennsylvania was
pushing her legal borders farther west by the erecting of the county
of Bedford, the Virginians were evolving an extensive plan of settlement beyond the mountain as well. While Pennsylvania, through
its court decree at Bedford in I77I, divided its territory west of the
Monongahela into the townships of Pitt and Springhill by a line due
west from the mouth of Redstone Creek, Virginia did not set up its
rival court at Pittsburgh until February Term, I775. In the meantime Pennsylvania had erected the new Westmoreland County, with
its new court at Hannastown.
Virginia had its eyes on the fruitful lands at the Forks of the
Ohio, and on down that river from the days of I744, when at the
Lancaster Treaty the Iroquois designated the western line of their
purchase as "the setting sun." The interpretation of that term caused
trouble at the later conferences with the Indians. After the visit ofVIRGINIA'S COLOR OF TITLE
George Croghan and Conrad Weiser to Logstown in I748, Weiser
advised the Governor of Pennsylvania that the term "setting sun"
meant nothing more than the crest of the Allegheny Mountains,
which formed the watershed between the Atlantic and the Mississippi
Basin. The Virginians attempted a confirmation of their claim at
the Logstown Treaty of I75I. Two of the chiefs were quick to tell
Christopher Gist, agent of the Ohio Company, that "the French
claim all on one side of the river, and the English on the other side.
Where does the Indians' land lie?"
George Washington, in his correspondence, for many years kept
harking back to the inducements which Governor Dinwiddie had
handed out to the soldiers of his battalion of I754 by which those
who volunteered for service were to have parceled out to them two
hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Colonel Joshua Fry was placed
in command of this battalion, but his early death brought leadership
to Washington as lieutenant-colonel. The French and Indian War,
and some differences as to land titles claimed by the Loyal Company
of Virginia and the Ohio Company, stayed the movement of the Virginians into this section. The commercial developments were decidedly interesting, however. In these early days Colonel George Croghan was, in common parlance, a designing realtor, who later tried
to take advantage of Washington in land manipulations. He was a
part of a related group who stand out in southwestern Pennsylvania
history.
Croghan was in partnership with Captain William Trent in the
trading business, and was his brother-in-law. Ensign Edward Ward,
whom the French drove from the Forks of the Ohio in I754 while he
was building Fort Trent and who, during the Revolution, was an outstanding justice on the Yohogania court bench, was a half-brother of
Croghan. William Croghan, his nephew and associate, was married to a sister of the renowned George Rogers Clark, and there
were also associated with him his cousins, William Powell, Daniel
Clark, and Major Thomas Smallman. Major Smallman located his
plantation also at Old Shannopin's Town, just across Two Mile Run
from Croghan's plantation on the Allegheny, and also became a justice
on the Yohogania bench.
There came into the life of the Pennsylvania Colony a Jewish
pioneering group, whose contribution to the commercial life of this
area was marked. Dr. Henry W. Shoemaker, State Archivist of
4I5SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania, has produced a delightful brochure on "Fox Hunting,"
in which he makes interesting reference to the Franks family. They
have left their imprint on the commercial life west of the mountains,
after first establishing the trading post at Frankstown on the Juniata
River just east of Hollidaysburg. From them we get the name for
the Frankstown Road, and Frankstown Avenue in Pittsburgh. According to some historians Stephen Herman Otto Franks, better known
as Stephen Franks, or "Old Franks," first appeared along the Juniata
in present Blair County as early as I746, and perhaps as early as
I734, when many traders were beginning to come through. He was
the son of Isaac Franks, a fur dealer of Coblenz, Germany, who
came over as a missionary to the Pennsylvania Indians. He was possessed with the idea that he had discovered the lost tribes of Israel.
David Franks was a brother of Stephen Franks, and was a merchant in Philadelphia, and is termed the "father of Pennsylvania
transportation." He maintained a fleet of a thousand pack horses,
ponies and donkeys which carried all kinds of goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and also saddle horses, which were rented to
travelers and explorers. Stephen Franks was helping to carry out
the dream of his brother, David, to open up and control a transportation route to the western Indians, and the later Fort Duquesne and
Fort Pitt. David Franks must have had some contact with Colonel
William Clapham, who pioneered to the mouth of Sewickley Creek,
for after the murder of Colonel Clapham and members of his family, in May, I763, and the opening up of the land office in I769, he
took out applications for a few thousand acres of land right at and
adjoining the old Clapham military claim, which were later transferred to Bernard Gratz.
Bernard Gratz and his brother, Michael Gratz, were Germanborn and came to America to eventually join up with the Franks'
enterprises in trading. Bernard Gratz became the assignee of David
Franks in the surveys which Franks had taken out in different places, and
the lands were patented to him. The village of Gratztown at the mouth
of Sewickley Creek thus carries down to this present day this historic trading name, because of Bernard Gratz. George Croghan was
shrewd enough to make connections with the Franks' enterprises, and
to profit thereby. He used John Campbell in his associations with
them, and the famous army officer and surveyor, Thomas Hutchins.
V66VIRGINIA'S COLOR OF TITLE
Stephen Franks, of Frankstown, was a great fox hunter, using
the Dutch method of hunting with hounds on foot, and there joined
him in this pioneer pastime quite a motley array of folks, as they
gathered at his trading post and sallied out from the Kittanning
Path. He was reputed to have been a dead shot, who could split a
hand rail at one hundred fifty paces, a fearless rider, and an expert
at broadswords as well. Those who knew him believed him to have
been born in I7IO in Lebanon County, and he died at Frankstown in
I785.
George Croghan profited further by his appointment as deputy
Indian agent in the Pennsylvania Colony, under Sir William John.
son, of New York. He was keen to use members of his family and
others thus connected in furthering his plans. The real controversy
over these lands began back in I754, when Governor Dinwiddie sent
Captain William Trent to bu'ld a fort. Governor James Hamilton,
of Pennsylvania, sensing the grant of large tracts of land "to certain gentlemen and merchants of the city of London and to inhabitants of the colony of Virginia," wrote President Thomas Lee, of
Virginia, in I749, suggesting the appointment of commissioners and
surveyors to ascertain the lines. The Virginians made no response
to this request. Governor Hamilton was referring to the newly
organized Ohio Company. The Virginians themselves had more or
less controversy concerning the claims of the Loyal Company, the
Greenbrier Company, and the Ohio Company. This area was not
historically concerned with any other claims than those of the Ohio
Company, because the others extended farther down the Ohio River
and down into Kentucky.
When Ensign Ward was forced to withdraw from his fortbuilding operations on April I6, I754, the Virginians were concerned with the Washington campaign, the Braddock campaign, and
the other movements westward until the end of both the French and
Indian War and Pontiac's War. These have been detailed in previous chapters. Governor Hamilton had, however, in March, I752,
been instructed by Thomas Penn concerning the building of a fort:
"I desire you will enter into any reasonable measure to assist the government of Virginia to build there, to wit, at the Ohio, taking some
acknowledgment from him, that this settlement shall not be made
use of to prejudice our right to that country." He also wrote, July
S. P.-I-27
417SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
3, I752: "I hope you will, as I wrote you on the 9th of March,
acquaint the Governor of Virginia that we consent to this without
prejudice to our right to the land in case it should be found to lie
within our province, to be granted to the bonafide settlers on the same
terms and conditions as they are to have from Virginia."
During the period that trading was pretty well demoralized about
Fort Pitt, and Colonel Henry Bouquet was bringing relief to the
garrison there, at the time of the Bushy Run battle, George Croghan
was arranging to go to England, to try to straighten out the claims
of traders for losses, but he found much apathy and no encouragement among the British authorities. He had sailed from Philadelphia in December, I763, was in a shipwreck on the coast of France,
and returned to Philadelphia late in I764. After his return George
Croghan became attached to the firm of Baynton, Wharton and
Morgan, in their trading out to the Illinois country, which did not
result successfully. There were operations by a Burlington company,
composed of Johnson, Trent, Croghan, and others, and through
other combinations matters of trade were very much muddled. Connecticut came in with claims overlapping some of Pennsylvania's territory. There was still another group of traders who dealt under
the name of the Indiana Company, whose lands overlapped some
others also. With this situation, together with the dissatisfied Indians,
matters led up to the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, held in New York in
I 768.
While the Pennsylvania Colony was pushing its legal frontier to
the westward of the mountains from I771 to I773, a rather fierce
controversy was going on in England between Horace Walpole, Lord
Hillsborough, Benjamin Franklin and his illegitimate son, William
Franklin, as to the organization of a new colony. There were some
resignations and deaths, and finally Lord Hillsborough, Secretary
of State for the Colonies, on August I, I, 772, gave his approval,
and on August fourteenth the King and Council authorized the formation of a new colony under the name of "Pittsylvania." The new
colony was to extend from the mouth of the Scioto River to the
Cumberland Gap, then by the line between North Carolina and Virginia to the Allegheny Mountains, and to the western boundaries of
Maryland and Pennsylvania. Later it was proposed to call the
colony "Vandalia." But the rivalries as to land grants and officers
among the Whartons, Morgans, Johnsons and others, and the dif4i8VIRGINIA'S COLOR OF TITLE
ferences among surveyors, caused the new state of Pittsylvania to
die aborning. The story is too long to detail here, but the controversy brought out the true characteristics of the traders big and little. Many hopes were blasted. The Franks group became involved
in it, too, as each other group sought for an advantage. In the meantime Lord Dunmore was coming into the picture, and the seeds of
the oncoming Revolution were being planted.
Colonel George Washington was too busy with his business
affairs at Mt. Vernon, between his last trip into the Ohio country as
a member of Forbes' expedition in I758 and this date, to be much
concerned about the fierce conflict that was going on between the
traders as to the new colony that was to be formed. He was raising
tobacco and shipping it, and had much dealing with the firm of Robert Cary and Company, British merchants. After he married the
widow of Daniel Parke Custis, he wrote this firm in London, telling
them that he was settling the Custis estate, and that their dealings
in that regard should be with him. He had his eye on the western
lands, however, and he kept continually prodding each successive
Governor of Virginia about the land that Governor Dinwiddie promised to parcel out to his officers and soldiers in return for their
marching out to the Forks of Ohio to protect the fort which Captain William Trent started to build.
At this time Colonel Washington introduced the famous character, William Crawford, to the realty, legal and military life of
southwestern Pennsylvania, and had him acquire Pennsylvania surveys in what they both considered as Pennsylvania territory. Through
the influence of Colonel John Armstrong at Carlisle he tried to secure
surveys in the new county of Cumberland almost as soon as the ink
was dry on the Fort Stanwix Treaty. Colonel George Croghan had
his old Indian rights for sale, but Washington would not deal with
him finally, because of his shifting of lines. He wrote quite characteristically to Captain Arthur St. Clair on June 4, I772, the following quotation (revising the miserable spelling of Colonel Croghan):
"DEAR SIR: Your favor of the 2d was delivered to me by Mr.
Espy and Mr. Galbraeth and I observe the contents. Mr. Collins
did write me some time ago, and I enclose ye copy of a letter from
Colonel Cresap to ye inhabitants there, and desired my opinion
thereon. In my answer I told him that my letters from England did
419SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
mention that the Western bounds of Pennsylvania could not come
any distance on this side ye hills, and I made no doubt that Colonel
Cresap had been well informed before he wrote that letter, and that
in my opinion, how far it may be consistent with the good of society
for the King's subjects to be under the regulation of laws. Everyone will agree any law is better than no law, but when laws are
administered with too much severity, which have been too often done
for three years past, it becomes oppressive and unjust.
"As I conceive your letter and information as an act of friendship, and that I have the highest opinion of your upright and just
sense of justice of those matters, I write you with freedom, and as
we are on this topic, pray why did not the proprietors prevent all
these disputes, by asserting their bounds. I will submit it to yourself how far it is consistent with the principles of justice, for their
agents to open an office to dispose of lands so circumstanced as to
admit of dispute, without prescribing themselves any limits, when
they must well remember, that it's not a great number of years since
the Assembly refused to build a trading house or fort here, alleging
it to be out of Mr. Penn's grant, and after that ye same Assembly
refused granting money for the King's use, to assist in the reduction
of Fort Duquesne, and I don't know that ever Mr. Penn took any
measures since that time to ascertain his bounds, or make it known to
the public, as to any right that Pennsylvania has, to have jurisdiction
over ye King's subjects till the limits of the Province is ascertained,
as many of ye subjects come from Virginia and Maryland, and settled under ye Ohio Company. These colonies have as good pretensions as Pennsylvania, and as to extending ye line by Dixon beyond
ye end of Maryland, it's too well known that was not done by authority to determine anything.  Considering all these circumstances, I
may venture to say you will be of opinion, that if any objections be
made to the laws or taxes, it will be entirely owing to ye measures
taken by Pennsylvania in ascertaining the true limits of their jurisdiction, and publishing it to the public.
"I can truly say that I never advised any person to use a sheriff
or civil officer of the Province. All and such as have asked my opinion on these matters, which I assure you are but very few, I have
advised them to comply. But with respect to lands or taxes I will
give you my opinion, which is, that I think the people are fools if
they don't keep their money until they are fully satisfied that their
420VIRGINIA'S COLOR OF TITLE
property is sure, and that they are under the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania. When I have the pleasure of seeing you, we may talk more
on this subject, and I will show you the copy of my letter to Mr.
Tilghman on these subjects last August, which you will find fair and
open; for though I know that I am much blamed by the agents and
other officers of the Government, yet I assure you I have very little
connection or intercourse with any of the settlers of this country."
Captain Michael Cresap was an important character who helped
to boost the claims of Virginia here. He was born at Oldtown,
Maryland, on the plantation of his father, Colonel Thomas Cresap.
In his active days as a landowner, the father attempted to secure land
north of the Mason and Dixon line in Lancaster County, along the
Susquehanna River, and on account of which he was taken to Philadelphia and put in jail. Colonel Thomas Cresap located his plantation on the Potomac River fifteen miles east of Cumberland at the
site of the Indian town of King Opessa. When southwestern Pennsylvania was filling up with Virginia and Maryland settlers, the son,
Michael Cresap, located on Dunlap's Creek near Fort Redstone, at
present Brownsville. It can well be assumed that his mental attitude
towards the Penns, due to their treatment of his father for getting
over the Province line, would be unfavorable, and that he would
throw his influence to the Virginians in any jurisdictional controversy over lands. When Dunmore's War was in full swing a little
later, Captain Cresap was blamed with having to do with the killing
of Chief Logan's family, but wrongfully so.
While he was attending to his court duties at Bedford on September 24, I77I, Justice St. Clair wrote to Joseph Shippen, Jr., Secretary of the Provincial Council, about conditions here, and said:
"I am sorry the papers I now enclose will contradict the favorable account I have given of our county; indeed I am apprehensive
there will be a great deal of trouble on our frontier. A ridiculous
story that Mr. Cresap has spread with much industry that this Province did not extend beyond the Allegheny Mountain, but that all to
the westward of it was King's land, has taken great hold of the people, and together with Mr. Croghan's claims and surveys has put
numbers in a very doubtful situation, and will probably make it very
difficult like that what was lately in Carolina; certain it will be impossible to collect taxes in some parts of the county."
42ISOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
distinct from the Shawnee town of Chartier's, or Shirtee's, at Tarentum, although but a few miles below.
SHANNOPIN'S TOWN-The Delaware Chief, Shannopin, selected
the mouth of Two Mile Run above the mouth of the Allegheny
River as his home base, and through the years after I730 it became
an important historical point. Colonel George Croghan, the most
resourceful of the traders, located his famous trading post close by
and later secured title to the acreage up the river to the east of the
run. In later years Major Thomas Smallman, who had been through
as an officer in the Forbes army, had his plantation to the west of the
run. He became a justice of the Virginia court that flourished in these
parts for a few years. Shannopin's Town was located close to Thirtyfirst and Smallman streets in the present city of Pittsburgh. It was
visited by Washington, Gist, and many other officers of the colonial
government.
SQUIRREL HILL-A beautifully rounded knob at the edge of the
borough of New Florence, in Westmoreland County, stands out as a
geological marker of the old Indian village of Squirrel Hill. It was an
important location on the old Catawba Trail as it passed up through
the Ligonier Valley and on over to Peholand, at Homer City. There
were towns up and down the Conemaugh Valley, and Wipey's Cabin
was a few miles above the present town of Cramer. While few details
are obtainable as to the life of this town, there is much evidence of
the movement of Indians through it, as the Ligonier Valley settlements
were harassed.
ToHoGUs-The Sir William Johnston map also shows this town
at the location of the village which James Letort and the Indians
established at Shelocta. This may have been the Indian Chief whom
James Letort first came in contact with in his trading to the westward.
Two LICK-The map of Sir William Johnson, in the New York
State Archives shows two Indian habitations where the Kittanning
Path crosses Two Lick Creek a few miles east of Indiana. It also
shows an Indian habitation at Black Lick on the "Ligonier-Kittanning"
Path, which proceeded across the Conemaugh at Cokeville, and thence
to connect with the main Kittanning Path at Shelocta.
There were other Indian towns dotted over Southwestern Pennsylvania, but many of their names have not been left to us. Some Indi9.6SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Colonel George Croghan secured the first Indian deeds for lands
here as shown by a deed from Johonorissa, Scarouady and Coswantinicea, chiefs or sachems of the Six Nations, as early as August 2,
I749, first referred to on the records of both Bedford and WVestmoreland counties, for I oo00,000ooo acres, beginning at the mouth of
Turtle Creek, thence down the Monongahela and Ohio to Raccoon
Creek, up Raccoon ten miles, and thence by a straight line to the place
of beginning. The original deed is recorded in Philadelphia County
in "Deed Book I," Vol. V, page 239. From out this large tract
George Croghan conveyed I,I6I 2 acres to John Campbell, lying on
both sides of Shirtee's (Chartier's) Creek, for ~II6 3s., and this
was the first deed recorded in Bedford County on May 4, I77I.
Colonel Croghan proceeded to apply the "kangaroo" law of the
clearings against the settlers south of the Ohio and west of the
Monongahela almost as soon as he put his deed on record by moving
his southern corner up to Pidgeon Creek. That is evidently the
action that made Washington wary of purchasing any of Croghan's
land.
Justice William Crawford wrote to James Tilghman, Esq., an
officer of the Provincial government at Philadelphia, on August 9,
I177I, from his home at Stewart's Crossings, that there was an
agreement entered into by a number of the inhabitants of Monongahela and Redstone, who have entered into a bond to keep off all
officers belonging to the law, under penalty of ~5o to be forfeited by
the party refusing to join; that this movement was set on foot by a
set of people who had made a breach of the law by driving out men
from their homes, for which there was a King's warrant issued against
them; together with a notion propagated by Colonel Croghan, that
the posts would not fall within Pennsylvania. Justice Crawford
further wrote that Colonel Croghan had run a line from the mouth
of Raccoon Creek up the Ohio to Fort Pitt, and from thence up the
Mlonongahela above Pidgeon Creek, and from thence across until it
strikes Raccoon Creek ten miles up, and that he had one more grant
6f Ioo,ooo acres to lay in a parcel with that. He referred to many
surveys cutting into this large tract, and it would be attended with
very bad consequences, if a stop were not put to these proceedings.
Justice George Wilson, who also lived on Dunlap's Creek, near
Fort Redstone, after his return from court at Bedford one August
day, came into a personal encounter with some of these defiers of the
422VIRGINIA'S COLOR OF TITLE
Bedford County law, and grasping one of them, broke his gun. On
August 14, I77I, he wrote the details of this encounter to Justice
St. Clair at Bedford, and after expressing his great pleasure that
his neighbors were determined not to join in, but that great threats
were made against him personally, and against the sheriff, constables,
and all ministers of justice, he closed his letter with these fearless
words: "But I hope the laws, ye bullwarks of our nation, will be
supported in spite of these low, trifling raskells."
Thomas Hutchins, an engineer in the Forbes army, surveyed
lands for the Indiana Company, organized by Virginians, this survey being made under a grant from the Indians. He made a map of
it in I763, and he wrote a book, "A Topographical Description of
Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and North Carolina," printed in
London in I778. He was a captain in the 6oth Regiment of Foot.
His notation was: "Indiana, as may be seen on my map, lies within
the territory here described. It contains about three million and a
half acres, and was granted to Samuel Wharton, William Trent, and
George Morgan, Esquires, and a few other persons in I763.....
Latitude of Fort Pitt, 40~o 3I' 44". In the year 1760, a small town,
called Pittsburgh, was built near Fort Pitt, and about 200 families
resided in it; but upon the Indian war breaking out (May, I763)
they abandoned their homes and retired into the fort. In the year
I765 the present town of Pittsburgh was laid out. It is built on
the Eastern bank of the River Monongahela about 200 yards from
Fort Pitt."
A further indication that Colonel Washington was in doubt as to
the Virginia line is found in a letter to Colonel John Armstrong, at
Carlisle, September 2I, I767: "I have been informed that much of
the land upon Yaughyaughgany and Monongahela which was formerly
conceived to lye within the limits of Virginia and on which many of
our people have settled, are taken into Pennsylvania by the established line now running between that Provence and Maryland and that
grants may at any time be obtained from the Proprietary for tracts on
these waters." After inquiring about the expense of making the surveys, he continues: "I have desired one Mr. Crawford who lives
upon Yaughyaughgany, a friend of mine, and I believe an acquaintance
of yours as he was an officer in my regiment and in General Forbes'
Campaign to look me a tract of about 2,oo000 acres and endeavor to
secure it till he can give me advice of it. I have likewise taken the
423SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
liberty of saying to him that I was fully persuaded if the Land Office
was kept in Carlyle and you had any share in the management of it
you would do me the favour of giving him any assistance in your power
consistent with the rules of the office."
Colonel Washington acquired a measure of title to the Fort Necessity plantation at Great Meadows on October I7, I77I, when he purchased the interest of William Brooks in a survey dated February 14,
I77I, based on an earlier application to the land office of Pennsylvania, June I3, I769. He did not perfect this title until after the
Revolution, when on February 28, I782, he secured a patent for a
tract called "Mt. Washington, situate on the east side of Laurel Hill
where Braddock's Road crosses the'Great Meadows, formerly Bedford County, now in the county of Westmoreland, containing 23412
acres."  This patent is recorded in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in
"Deed Book 507," page 458, and shows a consideration of ~33  15s. 6d.
He purchased the rights of William Athel on February I2, I782,
in an application filed by Athel on April 3, 1769, and had this title perfected by a patent from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, February
8, I782. For a consideration of ~48 3s. 5d., Pennsylvania granted to
him a tract called "Spring Run," on the south side of Youghiogheny,
on the waters of said river, formerly in Cumberland, now in Westmoreland County, containing three hundred thirty-one acres, one hundred forty-seven perches, and bounded by lands of Thomas Jones,
John Patty, John Pearsall, and Washington's other lands. These
other lands were those which Washington had personally applied for
on April 3, I769, when the land office was opened, and which the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania granted to him February 8, I782,
for a consideration of ~48 7d., and described as the "Meadow," situate on the south side of "Youghogeni" on the waters of said river,
formerly in Cumberland County, now in Westmoreland County,
bounded by John Darsall's (Pearsall's), William Athel's, John Patty's,
and John Bishop's. The deeds for these two tracts are recorded in
Fayette County in "Deed Book I8o," pages 294, 296, respectively.
George Washington owned the Great Meadows tract at the time
of his death on December I4, 1799, and under the authority contained
in his will, William A. Washington, George S. Washington, Samuel
Washington, and George W. P. Custis, his executors, by Bushrod
Washington and Lawrence Lewis, their attorneys, conveyed the Great
424VIRGINIA'S COLOR OF TITLE                       425
Meadows to Andrew Parks of the town of Baltimore. By later conveyances this historic shrine has come under the control of the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, with the actual fort site
deeded to the United States of America.
The story of the Indians and the pioneers who entered the Indian
domain has been related in the foregoing narrative. It has been a
period of trading, then of military movements in control of that trade,
and finally the laying of the foundations of orderly government within
this area. That government was still to undergo a severe test, through
the periods of Dunmore's War, the Revolutionary War, the Virginia
controversy, and the growth of constitutional government. The early
citizens were still to be harassed by the Indians for a considerable time,
until they reached a period of stability and expansion. The narrative
will be continued in the second volume, where the interesting story
will be unfolded.THE INDIAN TOWNS AND VILLAGES
ans, like Joseph Wipey on the Conemaugh, near Cramer, and he who
entertained Christopher Gist over night and next day, about November IS, I750, had lone cabins. Chief Nemacolin had a cabin at the
mouth of Dunlap's Creek, at present town of Brownsville, and the
ancient Indian Fort Redstone is a study in itself. Thomas Hutchins,
who was a lieutenant in the 7th Company, of the Ist Battalion, Pennsylvania troops in the Forbes Army, and accompanied George Croghan in his later contacts with Indians, and who still later became the
Geographer General of the Revolution, made a survey of the Kiskiminetas River and its branches and located five old Indian towns
between the Laurel Hill and the Chestnut Ridge in seven miles. He
also found a number of others between the Chestnut Ridge and the
mouth of the Kiskiminetas. Some of these towns have been already
described, and it is important also that General Hutchins recorded
the Kiskiminetas as being navigable with canoes to the Little Fork,
and the Loyalhanna to the Chestnut Ridge.
Some of these towns referred to by Hutchins may have been the
ones over which Chief Ocowellos ruled, after he came west from Chillisquaqua Creek in Northumberland County. There are records of
Indian burial places all about. They buried their dead in graves
about two feet deep, covering the bodies first with leaves, and then
mixing many stones with the earth to prevent the bodies as far as possible from being dug up.
It is interesting indeed that the settlements along the Atlantic Seaboard were begun and continued in their growth and development for
a century before the white man ventured beyond the Allegheny Mountains. Jamestown, Virginia, was established in I607, and Plymouth,
Massachusetts, in I620, by the English. The French settled in the
Mississippi Valley, and thus the boundary line between them and the
English was never satisfactorily adjusted. There were just three ways
to get west of the mountains: (a) by the St. Lawrence River; (b)
by the Mississippi Valley from the southward; or (c) by trails and
roads directly across the mountains. The French chose the two firstnamed routes, and until the early traders blazed the way over the new
Indian trails across the mountain, Southwestern Pennsylvania was
untrodden by the English.
27CHAPTER III
First Traders and Indian Agents
French and English Colonization-Arnold Viele, of Albany-James Letort, of Carlisle-Peter Chartier, of Paxtang-Edmund Cartledge,
of the Susquehanna-Jonas Davenport, of Sewickley-John Frazer,
of Venango and Turtle Creek-Andrew Montour, of the Susquehanna
-George Croghan, of Aughwick-Conrad Weiser, of WomelsdorfOther Traders.
The chief cause of the French and Indian War, which began in
I754, was the conflicting territorial claims of the two nations, France
and England, in America. This was based on the more immediate
cause of the conflict between the frontiersmen of the two nations to
colonize the Ohio Valley. Through its chief explorer, Robert De La
Salle, and the zealous Jesuit priests, France had sought to colonize the
region of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley, beginning with
I64I and for the next succeeding century. They had military posts at
Niagara, at the Straits of Mackinaw, and on the Illinois River as
early as I688, and their important settlement up the Ohio Valley on
the lower Wabash was established at Vincennes about the year I735.
During this same period the Atlantic shore from Maine to Georgia
was spread with English colonies. There were no great inland settlements, and the great towns were naturally at the edge of the Atlantic
Ocean, or on tidewater, like Philadelphia and Jamestown. The Ohio
Valley west of the Alleghenies was practically an unsettled and untraveled forest, when the Delawares and Shawnees decided to move westward into it about the year I724, to establish their towns and villages
here, and to lay down their convenient trails connecting their habitations. For a time prior to this movement the French fur trading with
the Indians was practically confined to the St. Lawrence River and the
Great Lakes, while the English dealt east of the Alleghenies.
I _ _FIRST TRADES AND INDIAN AGENTS
The Susquehanna Valley was a fruitful trading ground, after the
three original counties in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester were organized in I 682. Bucks and Chester counties extended into
the woods as far westward as civilization penetrated, and the fourth
county, Lancaster, was not organized until I729. Ten years later
York County was organized west of the Susquehanna, to be followed
by Cumberland in I750, and Northampton and Berks in I752. The
traders became so numerous that they had to be licensed and regulated
by the Pennsylvania Provincial Council, and some older ones who
operated on the Susquehanna were quick to follow the Indians into the
western country and ply their trade there. It was but a natural business proposition that they should follow the Indians along the trails
across the mountain into the Ohio Valley, and deal once more with
those with whom they had been dealing in the east. The Indian trails
thus came to be known as Traders' Paths also. As the story unfolds
we shall see how there were two classes of traders: those who treated
the Indian fairly in his dealings, and those who struck bad bargains
and fed him rum. Had the Indian been treated fairly by all of the
traders, and likewise by all of the early settlers, there would never
have been the great amount of Indian atrocities with which our colonial
history is replete.
The honor of being the first white man to tread the soil of Southwestern Pennsylvania must go to Arnold Viele. He was a Dutch
trader from Albany, New York, and sought to extend his trading to
the Ohio Valley. In 1692 he traveled across the headwaters of the
Susquehanna and down the Allegheny and Ohio until he reached the
Shawnee country near the mouth of the Ohio. He spent the winter
of I692-93 there, and in the summer of I694 induced a large group
of Shawnees to return east with him as far as the upper Delaware
River. Just above the Delaware Water Gap this pioneering band of
Shawnees settled the new town of Pechoquealin, and traded with
Arnold Viele and his associates, until they joined the Shawnee movement to the Ohio Valley again.
Many of the eastern traders and their sons became traders on the
Kittanning Path and the Allegheny Trail to the westward. From
I700 on they had been dealing with the Indians at the important
towns of Pequea, Conestoga, Conoy and Paxtang. Let us keep in
mind that the Allegheny Path, west from Paxtang, parted at Black
29SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Log Mountain, and the northerly branch, up the Frankstown branch of
the Juniata River, became the well-known Kittanning Path.
James Letort is the earliest trader mentioned after Arnold Viele.
He was the son of Captain Jacques Letort and Ann Letort, his
father being a French Huguenot who came to America in I686. Letort's first mentioned place of residence was at Letort's Spring, within the present confines of the Borough of Carlisle, Cumberland
County. Just when he began his trading on the Allegheny is not
known, but it was some time before I727. He established his trading post at about the junction of Plum Creek with Crooked Creek,
near the line of Armstrong and Indiana counties, and close to present
Shelocta, where was the Indian village of Tohogus. The town existed
as late as I769. The colonial records tell of a conference with the
chiefs of the Six Nations of Indians, held at Philadelphia, on July 4,
I727, when they desired "that none of the traders be allowed to carry
any rum to the remoter parts where James Letort trades." Conrad
Weiser, writing to Governor Hamilton on September I3, I754, from
George Croghan's trading post at Aughwick, Shirleysburg, had this to
say: "It is a surprising thing that no means can be found to prevent
the inhabitants in Cumberland County from selling strong liquor to
the Indians. I am creditably informed that some of the magistrates
of that county sell the most. Mr. Smith was at Aughwick, I suppose,
to gather some money for the liquor he sent. He is an old hypocrite."
James Letort left his trading for a sufficient time to become a member of Captain Peter Hoge's Company from the Cumberland Valley,
and to participate in the battle of Great Meadows, when Major
George Washington and his small army were compelled to evacuate
Fort Necessity on July 4, I754.
Peter Chartier was an outstanding trader and adventurer who followed the Indians, and particularly his own Shawnees into the Ohio
Valley. The stream which bears his name flows into the Ohio River
at McKees Rocks from Washington County. His father, Martin
Chartier, married a Shawnee woman, and is reputed to have married a
second, after the death of the first.  Martin Chartier was an old
trader in the Susquehanna Valley, having previously lived at Old
Town, Maryland, from whence he moved to the mouth of Pequea
Creek in Lancaster County in I698. He had a trading post at Conestoga and died there in I718, and the son, Peter, was granted 300
acres where the father lived. Before coming west Peter Chartier had
30trading posts at Paxtang, at the mouth of Yellow Breeches Creek, and
on the Conodogwainet near Carlisle. He first traded on the Allegheny about I730, and then established the Shawnee town at the site
of present Tarentum. After a nine-years' residence there, he then
went down to the mouth of the Scioto River. Conrad Weiser passed
through his old Indian town in I748 on his way to the conferences at
Logstown in I748. His name is sometimes pronounced Shirtee. In
I745 he went over to the French and accepted a military command
under the French King. Associated with him in his trading were
Jacob Pyatt, and his servant James Cunningham, the latter having
QUEMAHONING DAM, SOMERSET COUNTY, ABOVE
JOHNSTOWN, SITE OF CHIEF KECKENEPAULIN'S
TOWN ON ALLEGHENY  INDIAN PATH AND
FORBES ROAD
advised the Provincial Council of his defection. The council took
steps to defeat Chartier in his perfidious designs, and to preserve the
Shawnees steady in their friendship with the government.
Edmund and John Cartledge were two brothers trading in earlier years on the Susquehanna, and were at one time accused of killing
an Indian at Conestoga. This resulted in their arrest and confinement
in the Philadelphia jail for a time. There is no record of John Cartledge going into the Allegheny Valley to trade, but his brother
Edmund did. Edmund's Swamp is frequently mentioned in the colonial correspondence as the scouts of the Forbes army came through.
This was one of the early cabin locations and trading posts of EdmundForeword
HE young people of today, for whom this record is really
being made, will appreciate the value of it many years
later, as they seek to trace the development-educationally, governmentally, commercially, spiritually, and scientifically-of the institution under which they shall then be living. It
was a long struggle, with the Indians and white men contending
against one another for supremacy, to secure a measure of pioneer
security and to establish orderly government. It took two hundred
years to work that out. We have reviewed the development of these
two centuries of trading, home-building, and governmental security,
and have detailed the strides made in the last century.
Southwestern Pennsylvania did not achieve its present greatness
meteorically, but through a long period of years, when there was
mighty endeavor and a great vision of the possibilities that lay in
this area. God endowed this region with great forests, fertile soil,
immense coal beds, and ample pockets of oil and gas. But it took
the determination of educated and equipped men to develop these
resources; and these men were available when the need for development arose. They were our forebears, and we have come into their
inheritance of opportunity and endeavor. They felled the forests to
provide their homes, manufactories, bridges and wagons. The soil
has produced abundantly. The great coal beds are being mined, and
oil and gas are coming forth from their storage pockets, to aid manufacture and commerce to supply our needs.
How has all of this development been accomplished? It is a thrilling story, early and modern; and as the years roll on succeeding
generations will appreciate it all the more.
LEWIS C. WALKINSHAW.SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Cartledge, on the Allegheny Indian Trail, two or three miles northeast
of Buckstown in Somerset County, on the old Forbes Road later, and
at the A. Park Lohr farm. One of the scouts, Edward Ward,
described this location on July I0, I758, as being a fine encampment,
with good food for horses and clear woods. Edmund Cartledge testified before the Provincial Council in I173 I that there were about 500
Delawares, Shawnees Assiwickla (Sewickleys), near the western trading posts. These were the Shawnees at Sewickley Old Town. James
Letort and Jonas Davenport, other traders, told the council about a
French gentleman, Cavalier, who came down from Montreal in I730
and sold cheaper to the Indians, in order to undermine the trade of
the English. On May 14, I732, Cartledge wrote Governor Gordon
and referred to the traffic in rum in these words: "The eyes of the
Indian is now on us weighing us and the French in the balance."
Edmund Cartledge traded at Kittanning Indian Town in I730.
George Miranda was an active companion with Peter Chartier in
Indian trading. On March 20, I783, three Shawnee Chiefs, Loyporcowah (son of Opessah), Newcheconnah (Deputy King), and
Coracolenne (Chief Councillor), on the Kiskiminetas and the Allegheny, wrote to Thomas Penn and James Logan, Secretary of the
Provincial Council, at Philadelphia, thanking them for the gifts of
powder, lead and tobacco delivered to them by the trader, George
Miranda, and giving the decision of the council to leave off drinking
for four years. Following this decision all rum in the towns, about
forty gallons belonging to both Indians and whites, was staved and
spilled in the streets, and a committee of four appointed in each town
to stave and spill all brought in for the next four years. Anthony
Sadowsky, John Maddox and John Fisher, three traders on the Allegheny, complained to the council of being robbed of their goods by a
band of Indians on August 8, I730, and their complaint was referred
to the Delaware Chief, Sassoonan, to ferret out and make redress.
Jonas Davenport and Henry Bailey traded on the Allegheny as
early as I727. Jonas Davenport was particularly active at Kittanning
and down the river with the Shawnees. It was he who gave the first
census of Sewickley Old Town at the mouth of the Sewickley Creek,
when he made the affidavit on October 29, I73I, that there were
"fifty families lately from South Carolina to Potowmack, and thence
thither, making Ioo men. Acqueloma is their Chief." There was a
trader, Josiah Davenport, at Fort Pitt in I76I, who had dealings with
32FIRST TRADES AND INDIAN AGENTS
James Kenny, the Quaker merchant, and he may have been a son of
the pioneer trader, Jonas.
John Frazer was an adventurer who traded on the Allegheny and
Monongahela rivers, and was one of those who tried to establish permanent trading posts, not sensing at the time that there would soon
be bitter warfare for the control of this trading. He first attempted
a permanent settlement at Venango, at the mouth of French Creek,
but when the French came down from Lake Erie under Celoron in
I749, they were determined to drive all of the English traders back
east of the Alleghenies. This caused Frazer to take up a new location
at the mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Monongahela, where he received
Washington and Gist, and later had considerable military experience.
He was a justice on the Bedford County Court in I77I, and his estate
is settled in that county.
Andrew Montour (sometimes designated Henry Montour) was a
famous trader in his day, being of three-quarter Indian blood. Perhaps his most important work was as an interpreter. He was the son
of Madame Montour, who married a Seneca Indian, and his mother
was the daughter of a French nobleman and an Indian woman. The
first Montour settled in Canada about I665, and his son was killed by
order of Governor Vaudreuil for alienating the Indians beyond Montreal from the French trade. The daughter, Madame Montour, was
captured by the Iroquois about I694, and later married the Oneida
Chief, "Big Tree."  On account of the killing of her brother she
became embittered against the French, and thenceforth interpreted for
the English. Andrew Montour was much in demand as an interpreter
among the traders, and first appears in I743 at the Indian town of
Otstonwakin, at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek in Lycoming County,
at the present site of Montoursville. In I748 he accompanied Conrad Weiser and George Croghan and interpreted for them at
Logstown.
Montour's first residence location was near Landisburg, on Shermans Creek, in present Perry County, just across the mountain from
George Croghan's location in the Cumberland Valley. In I76I he was
given a grant of i,5oo acres on Kishacoquillas Creek, near its mouth
on the Juniata. He was appointed captain of a company of supposed
Indians in I754, but it later developed at Fort Necessity that they
S. P.-I-3
33SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
were white men, painted up like Indians. He marched with Braddock's army in I755, acted as interpreter to I,I03 Chiefs and warriors at Fort Pitt in I768, and interpreted at the famous treaty of
Fort Stanwix in the same year, which resulted in the addition of the
territory west of the Laurel Hill to Cumberland County, and through
which the Penns were enabled to open up Southwestern Pennsylvania
southeast of the Allegheny and the Ohio to the settlers on April 3,
I769. His Indian name was Oughsara, and on June 29, I769, there
was surveyed to him by the Penns a tract of 335 acres under the name
of Henry Montour. It was patented to Alexander Brackenridge on
August 24, I826, and the town of Coraopolis is now located upon it.
Andrew Montour is reputed to have died on Neville Island, which was
earlier called Montour's Island, prior to I775.
There were two John Harts among the traders. The elderly John
Hart was licensed as a trader in I724. The Provincial Council was
advised of his death through a letter signed by James Letort,
Edmund Cartledge, and Chief Shannopin. He was killed in the
autumn of I729, one report being that his death occurred at what is
now designated as Hart's Rock, near Smith's Ferry just below
Beaver; the other, that it was farther down the river, just above
Steubenville. He had been induced to engage in a "fire-hunt" of the
Indians, during which he was shot in the eye and in the neck. The
younger John Hart was the one for whom "Hart's Sleeping Place,"
on the Kittanning Path east of Plattsville, was called and, possibly,
"Hart's Log" on the trail west of Cumberland County. He was
licensed about I744.
Captain Thomas McKee was a trader who did some military
measuring for the Province, in company with John Carson and William West at Logstown in I752. HIe later became a major in Colonel
Cadwallader's 4th Battalion in the Revolutionary War. His son,
Captain Alexander McKee, was a well-known officer at Fort Pitt, and
went over to the British later, taking a great many Indians with him.
Thomas Burney was a blacksmith at Logstown, and from that
point sent an interesting report to the Provincial Council of an occurrence at Tightwees Town on the Allegheny. (Tightwee is another
name for the Miami Indian.) "On June 2ISt last early in the morning two Frenchmen and 240 Indians came to Tightwees Town, and in
a hostile manner attacked the people there residing. In the skirmish
there were one white man and fourteen Indians killed, and five white
34FIRST TRADES AND INDIAN AGENTS
men taken prisoners. The party who came reported that they had
received as a commission two belts of wampum from the Governor of
Canada to kill all such Indians as are in amity with the English, and
to take the persons and effects of all English traders as they could
meet with, but not to kill any of them, if they could avoid it."
James Dunning was an active trader through these years, and on
July 9, I747, was accused by the Indians before the Provincial Council with having stolen forty-seven deer skins and three horses from a
sober, quiet Delaware on the Juniata River. The Indian pursued
him to Erie and to Ohio, but could not come up with him, and reported
him as having gone down the Ohio. Dunning had a sleeping place on
the Allegheny Trail to Shannopin's Town somewhere near the head
of Brush Creek, but its exact location has never been determined.
Other traders whose names appear in the Colonial Records of
Pennsylvania as having operated to the westward, were Peter Tostee,
John Kelley, Peter Cheaver (Shaver), John Evans, Henry Devoy,
Owen Nicholson, Alex. Magenty, Patrick Burns, George Hutchison,
Barney Curran, John McGuire, and James Hamilton, most of them
being from Cumberland County, where they learned their trading,
and from that point they were licensed to proceed to the Ohio. The
Provincial Council heard many complaints from the Indian chiefs and
their representatives, but it tried to maintain harmonious relations
with them, as well as with the traders.
Because of his extended dealings with the Indians and the settlers
for so many years, George Croghan was the most prominent trader
here. He was born in Ireland, educated in Dublin, and migrated to
the Colonies about I740. He was first licensed as a trader in I744,
and he knew well how to strike a bargain. His first location was on
the Conodogwainet Creek, west of John Harris' Ferry, in I746 when
that section was still a part of Lancaster County. His home was near
the present Sterret's Gap on the road from Carlisle to New Bloomfield, which was earlier called Croghan's Gap, and should be still so
called. In the course of his trading through the years he had posts
at Aughwick, present Shirleysburg, at Logstown (present Ambridge),
and at Venango, in competition with John Frazer. He had a post at
Pine Creek in Allegheny County, trading as far as Lake Erie in I746
and I 747, and in I 746 he was a counsellor of the Iroquois at
Onondaga.
35SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
George Croghan can be said to have been the first realtor west of
the mountains, and he took into consideration, as did the Penns, that
the land belonged primarily to the Indians. After the French expedition led by Celoron in I749, he was sent by Governor Hamilton to
confer with Indians at Logstown and arrived there just before Celoron
left. He later induced Chiefs Tanacharison and Scarouady to take
the French flag down and to again hoist that of the English. On
October 2, I749, he secured deeds from the Indian Chiefs for a tract
of land extending between Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, for
another at the mouth of Sewickley Creek, and for a third for Ioo,ooo
acres, beginning at the mouth of Turtle Creek, thence down the Monongahela and Ohio to the mouth of Raccoon Creek, thence up Raccoon Creek ten miles, and thence by a straight line to the place of
beginning. He located his principal plantation on the Allegheny
River about four miles up from the mouth and just above Shannopin's
Town. Much of his Indian holdings were later parceled out by the
Province of Pennsylvania after its Indian purchase of I768, and the
erection of the new Westmoreland County in I773. The Indian
deeds are referred to in the Recorder's office of Westmoreland County
in Deed Book A, pp. 395, 5 1 I, and in the Recorder's office of Bedford
County in Deed Book 5, p. 239.
In his extensive operations George Croghan was a partner with
his brother-in-law, Captain William Trent. They furnished a great
deal of powder and lead for Washington's expedition of I754, and
were under contract with Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, to furnish flour and ammunition to Washington's little army. Ten thousand
pounds of flour were to be transported to Redstone, but the failure
of the expedition caused delay in filling the contract and consequently
distress to Washington's soldiers. He was a captain in the Braddock
expedition in I755 and was at the battle of Monongahela. The
French and Indian War financially ruined him for a time, and he came
near being imprisoned for debt. There was some suspicion of his
being a French spy and he removed to New York in I756. There he
was chosen as a deputy Indian agent for the Allegheny and Susquehanna tribes, thus dealing with the western Indians and holding them
in sympathy with the plans of General Forbes in I758.
He went to England in I763 on private business and was shipwrecked on the coast of France. Returning to America in I765 he
went to Illinois and was taken prisoner at the mouth of the Wabash,
36FIRST TRADES AND INDIAN AGENTS
but after securing his own release, conducted negotiations in aid of the
settlement of Pontiac's War. He helped to frame the Treaty of
I768 at Fort Stanwix, and in I770 entertained Washington on his
fifth trip to this section at his home on the Allegheny. He entered
the service of the Revolutionary War, and became the object of suspicion, and was later declared a public enemy of the Province. He
died in Passayunk, Philadelphia, on August 3I, I782, with his
funeral service being conducted at St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
George Croghan had a daughter to a Mohawk woman, who
became the third wife of the famous Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant.
As he came to the end of his career Croghan thus expressed his
sentiments:
"I know many people will think I am wrong, but had I continued
I could be of no more service than I have been in this eighteen months
past, which was none, as no regard was had to any intelligence I sent,
no more than to my opinion."
Conrad Weiser was not a permanent adventurer into these parts,
but he came on a very important mission as the agent of the Penns.
He was born at Afsteadt, in Herrenberg, near Wiirttemberg, Germany, November 2, I696, and came to America at the age of thirteen
with his father, John Conrad Weiser. From I713 to I729, he lived
with the Iroquois, near Schenectady, and in the Schoharie Valley, New
York, where he came to know the Iroquois language and customs,
with the aid of Quagnant, an Iroquois Chief. He was adopted into
the tribe, and later came with his bride to the Lebanon Valley, and
built his home a mile east of Womelsdorf, which now stands as a fine
historical museum. Due to his fluent use of the Iroquois tongue he
became a fast friend of Chief Shikellamy, of Shamokin, and the Chief
died at Weiser's house on the occasion of a friendly visit.
Weiser was much involved in the negotiations in different treaty
conferences east of the Alleghenies before I748, and on August 27 of
that year started for Logstown as the first ambassador to the Indians
on the Ohio. He made George Croghan's trading post his headquarters, and on September 3, 1748, first raised the British flag over
Logstown. On September i i of that year he and Croghan smashed
an eight-gallon keg of rum brought by another trader, Henry Nordland, in the presence of the Indians there. During his useful life, he
3738            SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
spent more than a quarter of a century in the service of his country,
just prior to his death on July I3, 1760.
Two other traders, John and Alexander Armstrong came west
over the Kittanning Path. John Armstrong, the trader, and two of
his fellow servants and fellow traders, were murdered by the Delaware Indians at Jack's Narrows on the Juniata River just east of
Lewistown in the month of April, I744. Any trader who dealt
unfairly with the Indians was in disfavor with them, and some of them
were doomed to suffer the extreme penalty. All of these trading
operations were the beginning of the troubles of the French and
Indian War, when the French cast a jealous eye hither, and made
ready soon to assert claims to this territory.CHAPTER IV
The Ohio Company
The Original Charter of the London Company-The New Ohio Company
Organized by Virginia and London Traders-William Penn's Charter Boundaries-Colonel Thomas Cresap a prominent Figure-First
Storehouse at Wills Creek-Christopher Gist's Commission to Examine Lands West of the Alleghenies in I75o-His Second Journey
in I75I-First Road to Turkey Foot-The Preliminary Issue Defined
by Lieutenant-Governor James Hamilton of Pennsylvania and President Thomas Lee of Virginia.
While the Pennsylvania traders were busy following the Indians
into the Ohio Valley to continue their trading with them, they were
thus beginning to build up a new civilization. The French in the
North country by the Great Lakes noted this movement, and generally
considered it as one on the part of the English to acquire more territory, thus encroaching on the French domain west of the Allegheny
Mountains. Pennsylvania was naturally concerned with its relationships with the Indians to the West and Northwest, and used every conciliatory means to keep peace with them. The minutes of the Provincial Council of the colonial period are replete with their dealings with
the Indians and the traders, and in their land dealings, their claims.under the charter granted by the English government being always
supplemented by a treaty or deed from the Indian Chiefs, even down
to the time of the last purchase after the boundary dispute with Virginia as late as I784.
One of the most interesting developments following the entry of
the traders was the claim of Virginia beginning with 1 748 and ending
with the final marking of the line between them, to lands which rightfully belonged to Pennsylvania. This claim arose over the original
Iaction of King James I of England, when he chartered two companies, known as the North Virginia Company and the South Virginia
Company. The first came to be called the Plymouth Company and the
second, the London Company. The new patent to the London Company issued in I609 described the boundaries of its lands as follows:
"All those lands, countries and territories situate, lying and being
in that part of America called Virginia, from the point of land called
Cape or Point Comfort, all along the sea-coast to the northward two
hundred miles, and from the said Point or Cape Comfort all along the
sea-coast to the southward two hundred miles; and all that space and
THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
(Photo by Arthur Swoger, Wilkinsburg)
circuit of lands lying from the sea-coast of the precinct aforesaid up
into the land throughout, from sea to sea, west and northwest; and
also the lands lying within one hundred miles along the coast of both
seas of the precinct aforesaid."
While this description is rather void of clear understanding to
others, the Virginians maintained that they had a jurisdiction westward as far as they cared to go, subject, of course, to the French
encroachments, and by running a line northwesterly they would have
crossed Pennsylvania diagonally. Virginia received its name upon the
return of Sir Walter Raleigh, after the grant of Queen Elizabeth to
him in I583. This colonization failed and the patent rights became
extinct. The charter of the London Company was similiar in effectto that granted to William Penn, but it was dissolved by a writ of
quo warranto in the English courts in I624. This had the legal effect
of making Virginia a crown colony, while Pennsylvania had the distinction of being a colony, with contractual rights of the proprietaries which had to be respected just like any other contract. Thus
we find Virginia asserting these old confusing boundary rights clear
down almost to the close of the Revolution.
William Penn had a much better title under his colonial charter
granted by King Charles II on March 4, I68I. Under Section 2, of
that document we find the Penns entitled to assert jurisdiction over
the following boundaries, which are clear of interpretation:
(Photo by Arthur Swoger, Wilkinsburg)
"All tract or part of land in America, with the Islands therein
contained, as the same is bounded on the east by the Delaware River,
from twelve miles distant northward of New Castle town unto the
three and fortieth degree of northern latitude, if the said river do
extend so far northward; but if the said river shall not extend so far
northward, then by the said river as far as it doth extend; and from
the head of the said river to the three and fortieth degree. The said
land to extend westward five degrees in longitude to be computedAdvisory Committee)
HON. JOHN S. FISHER         FREDERICK K. WEAVER
REV. JAMES R. E. CRAIGHEAD, D.D.    CHARLES T. STROSNIDER
MAJOR ROBERT M. EWING        DR. ALEXANDER L. EDDY
PROFESSOR DEMASS BARNES    CAPTAIN WILLIAM S. FINNEY
CAPTAIN WADE T. KLINE    CAPTAIN J. CLARK MANSFIELD
REV. W. A. SITES, D.D.     JOHN R. HAUDENSHIELD
E. O. KOOSER               T. FRANK COVERT
HON. EDMUND H. REPPERT           R. V. MCCREARY
LAWRENCE W. CAMPBELL           JOHN W. PATTISON
P. J. LITTLE             EDWIN F. G. HARPER
JAMES A. WEDDELL         COL. FRANKLIN BLACKSTONE
DR. WM. L. DOOD           CLARENCE E. RALSTON
HoN. J. W. KING           HON. JOHN H. WILSON
THOMAS H. GREERSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
from the eastern bounds; and the said lands to be bounded on the
north by the beginning of the three and fortieth degree of northern
latitude, and on the south by a circle drawn at twelve miles distance
from New Castle northward and westward, unto the beginning of the
fortieth degree of northern latitude, and then by a straight line westward to the limits of longitude above mentioned."
Under their color of right to claim from sea to sea, and to counteract the beginning of operations of the French, the Virginians conceived
the idea of a colonization company. They had begun their competitive
trading into the Ohio Valley about I740 by way of the Potomac Valley. Colonel Thomas Cresap was a principal figure in this movement,
coming up to the Old Town of Chief Opessah, fifteen miles east of
present Cumberland, Maryland, and building his fortified home on a
beautiful bluff overlooking the Potomac. He was a native of Skipton, Yorkshire, England, and had emigrated to Maryland about I720,
when he was fifteen years old. He first settled at Havre de Grace at
the mouth of the Susquehanna River, and then moved up to a point
five miles below Wrightsville in I73I, presumably on a Maryland
warrant for o500 acres of land. This was a part of the border contentions concerning the Maryland line also and the Pennsylvanians contested this move on his part and surrounded his home and fort by an
armed force of twenty-three men, headed by the sheriff of Lancaster
County, on November 24, I734. They had to burn Colonel Cresap's
house to capture him, and he was taken to Philadelphia and imprisoned for a time. He was released by order of the King in Council on
May 25, I748. Colonel Cresap engaged in considerable warfare with
the Indians on Conococheague Creek in Cumberland County, during
which his son Thomas was killed. His other son, Captain Michael
Cresap, who figured so prominently in Southwestern Pennsylvania history later, was designated, possibly without warrant, by Thomas Jefferson as "infamous for his many Indian murders and the massacre
of Chief Logan's family."
The organizers of the Ohio Company in I748 were Thomas Lee,
president of His Majesty's Council in Virginia, Augustine Washington, Lawrence Washington, Colonel Thomas Cresap, John Mercer,
James Scott, Robert Carter, George Mason, Arthur Dobbs, Samuel
Smith, James Wardrop, Arthur Doyle, Jacob Giles, John Hanbury,
and Capel Hanbury. The last two were representatives of John Hanbury and Company, London traders, who shipped large quantities of
42THE OHIO COMPANY
the goods to the company for disposal. Other members who joined
the company were Thomas Nelson, Colonel William Thornton, William Nimmo, Daniel Cresap, John Carlisle, George Fairfax, Jacob
Giles, Nathaniel Chapman, the later Governor Dinwiddie, George
Washington, Richard Lee, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Philip Ludwell Lee,
John Taylor, Gawin Corbin, and three sons of John Mercer. The
charter for the company was received from King George II in May,
1749, and included a grant of 5oo,ooo acres, on the following terms:
200,000ooo acres to be at once located on the north of the Ohio River,
with the provision that if the company did not erect a fort on the land
and maintain a sufficient garrison thereon in seven years, said grants
would be void. If these terms were accomplished, they were to receive
the further grant of 300,000 acres. The company filed a second petition by which it secured the entire grant with very little restriction as
to location. Colonel Thomas Cresap was instrumental in having
Chief Nemacolin blaze the path across from Wills Creek to Redstone
so that roads might be constructed to facilitate communication between
the head of the Potomac and the Monongahela. The plans of the
Company further provided for the settlement of one hundred families
on the lands, and the negotiations of a treaty between the Indians and
Virginia.
In furtherance of its ambitious plans the Ohio Company first built
a storehouse at Wills Creek (present Cumberland). The distinguished lawyer, John Mercer, was the secretary and legal advisor of
the company, and Colonel Thomas Cresap was the manager in the
field. Contracts were made with H. Parker for the transportation of
goods from the Falls of the Potomac to a proposed general factory
to be established on the Ohio as soon as communications were opened.
Then the renowned Christopher Gist was chosen as its agent to examine the lands and report to the Company. He was of English descent
and a resident of North Carolina when he cast his lot with the Ohio
Company. His father was Richard Gist, only child of the grandfather, Christopher Gist, the father being one of the commissioners
who plotted the town of Baltimore. The elder Christopher Gist married Edith Cromwell and later died in I69I. The father, Richard
Gist, married Zipporah Murray in I705, and of this issue there were
three sons, Christopher being one of them. Christopher Gist, the
younger, married Sarah Howard, and had three sons: Nathaniel,
Thomas, and Richard; and two daughters, Anne and Violet. He and
43SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
his two sons, Nathaniel and Thomas, were in the Braddock expedition, and Richard was later killed at the battle of King's Mountain,
during the Revolution.
Christopher Gist was given these comprehensive instructions by
the Ohio Company on September I I, I750, after engaging himself to
enter their service in the development of the Ohio Valley:
"You are to go out as soon as possible to the Westward of the
great Mountains, and carry with you such a number of Men, as You
think necessary, in Order to search out and discover the Lands upon
the River Ohio,  other adjoining Branches of the Mississippi down
as low as the great Falls thereof; You are particularly to observe
the Ways  Passes thro all the Mountains you cross,  take an exact
Account of the Soil, Quality  Product of the Land, and the Wideness
and Deepness of the Rivers,  the several Falls belonging to them,
together with the Courses and Bearings of the Rivers  Mountains as
near as you conveniently can; You are also to observe what Nations
of Indians inhabit there, their strength  Numbers, who they trade
with,  in what Commodities they deal.
"When you find a large Quantity of good, level Land, such as you
think will suit the Company, You are to measure the Breadth of it, in
three or four different places,  take the Courses of the River and
Mountains on which it binds in Order to judge the Quantity: You are
to fix the Beginning  Bounds in such a Manner that they may be
easily found again by your Description; the nearer in the Land lies,
the better, provided it be good and level, but we had rather go quite
down the Mississippi than take mean broken Land. After finding a
large Body of good level Land you are not to stop, but proceed
farther, as low as the Falls of the Ohio, that We may be informed of
that Navigation; And You are to take an exact Account of all large
Bodies of good level Land, in the same Manner as above directed,
that the Company may the better judge where it will be most convenient for them to take their Land.
"You are to note all the Bodies of good Land as you go along,
tho there is not sufficient Quantity for the Company's Grant, but You
need not be so particular in the Mensuration of that, as in the larger
Bodies of Land. You are to draw as good a Plan as you can of the
Country You pass thro: You are to take an exact and particular
Journal of all your Proceedings, and make a true Report thereof to the
Ohio Company."
44THE OHIO COMPANY
Nemacolin's Trail was evidently not in Gist's mind when he
undertook to carry out his mission. He chose rather to proceed
northerly to the Juniata from Opessah's Town, than by the path
which this noted Indian followed to the westward, and his well-kept
diary is full of historical incidents giving early geographical locations.
The part that concerns Southwestern Pennsylvania is quoted:
"Wednesday, Oct. 3 I. Set out from Col. Thomas Cresap's at the
Old Town on Potomack in Maryland, and went along an old Indian
Path, N. 30 E. about I I miles.
"Thursday, Nov. I. Then N I mile N 3o E 3 m; here I was
taken sick and stayed all night.
"Friday 2. N. 30 E 6 m, here I was so bad that I was not able to
proceed any farther that night, but grew better in the morning.
"Saturday 3. N 8 m to Juniata, a large branch of Susquehanna,
where I stayed all night."
The resourceful historian, the late W. M. Darlington, has given
this excellent explanation of Gist's movements, in his "Wilderness
Trail": "Gist's route from Old Town lay by the Warrior's Path, along
the base of Great Warrior Mountain on the eastern side, passing
through the present district of Flintstone, Allegany County, Maryland, and the Townships of Southampton, Monroe and Providence in
Bedford County, reaching the Juniata River at the Warrior's Gap,
near the village of Bloody Run, eight miles east of Bedford. There
he entered the Indian path leading westward."
Continuing the diary, we see how Gist came westward over the
Allegheny Trail which the Delawares had already laid down:
"Sunday 4. Crossed Juniata and went up it S 55 W  I6 M.
"Monday 5. Continued the same course S 55 W 6 M to the top
of a large mountain called Allegheny Mountain; here our path turned
and we went N 45 W 6 M; here we camped.
"Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8. Had snow and such
bad weather that we could not travel for three days, but I killed a
young bear so that we had provisions enough.
"Friday 9. Set out N 70 W about 8 M; here I crossed a creek
of Susquehanna, and it raining hard, I went into an Indian cabin
where I stayed all night.
"Saturday io. Rain and snow all day but cleared away in the
evening.
4546            SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"Sunday I I. Set out late in the morning N 70 W 6 M crossing
two forks of a creek of Susquehanna; here, the way being bad, we
encamped and I killed a turkey.
"Monday I2. Set out N 45 WV 8 M  crossed a great Laurel
Mountain.
"Tuesday I3. Rain and snow.
"Wednesday I4. Set out N 45 W 6 M to Loyalhanna, an old
Indian town on a creek of Ohio, called Kiskiskominetas, then N I MNW i M to an Indian's camp on said creek.
"Thursday. The weather being bad and I unwell, I stayed here
all day. The Indian to whom this camp belonged spoke good English and directed me the way to his town, which is called Shannopin's
Town; he said it was about 60 M and a pretty good way.
"Friday I6. Set out S 70 W I0 oI.
"Saturday I7. The same course I5 M to an old Indian's camp.
"Sunday I 8. I was very sick, and sweated myself according to the
Indian custom in a sweathouse, which gave me ease, and my fever
abated.
"Monday 19. Set out early in the morning the same course; traveled very hard about 20 M to a small Indian town of the Delawares
called Shannopin on the SE side of the river Ohio where we rested
and got corn for our horses."
This diary is remarkably accurate in view of the passage of Christopher Gist through a country entirely new to him. He did not sense
that he was over the Allegheny watershed and on the waters of the
Mississippi when he called Stoney Creek and Quemahoning Creek,
waters of the Susquehanna. The Indians he stayed with on November
9 and November I7, I750, and whose hospitality and healing helped
him in his illness, were possibly Chief Shannopin and Chief Cockeye.
As he started out from the Indian's cabin near Coal Pit Run, below
present Ligonier, he must have traveled the general direction of N 70
W towards Shannopin's Town, and tarried on the Big Bottom at
Latrobe on November I6th. Shannopin's Town was quite an important place at the time of Christopher Gist's visit. As early as I730
Chief Shannopin signed agreements with the Pennsylvania Provincial
Council, which were interpreted by James Letort, written down by
Edmund Cartledge, and witnessed by Jonas Davenport, noted traders, although Chief Shannopin is reputed by some to have died in
1749, a year before Gist came through. Continuing the diary:THE OHIO COMPANY
"Tuesday 20, Wednesday 2I, Thursday 22, Friday 23, I was unwell and stayed in this town to recover myself. While I was here I
took an opportunity to set my compass privately and took the distances
across the river, for I understood it was dangerous to let a compass
be seen among these Indians. The River Ohio (Allegheny) is I6
poles wide at Shannopin's Town. The land in general from Potomack
to this place is mean, stony and broken; here and there good spots
upon the creeks and branches but no body of it.
"Saturday 24. Set out from Shannopin's Town and swam our
horses across the River Ohio and went down the river S 75 W 4 M,
N 75 W 7 M, W 2 M; all the land from Shannopin's Town is good
along the river, but the bottoms not broad.' At a distance from the
river, good lands for farming, covered with small white and red oaks
and tolerable level; fine runs for mills, etc.
"Sunday Nov. 25. Down the River W 3 M, NW 5 M to Loggstown; the lands these last 8 M very rich, the bottoms above a mile
wide but on the SE side scarce a mile wide, the hills high and steep. In
the Loggstown I found scarce anybody but a parcel of reprobate
Indian traders, the Chiefs of the Indians being out hunting. Here I
was informed that George Croghan and Andrew Montour, who were
sent upon an embassy of Pennsylvania to the Indians, were passed
about a week before me. The people in this town began to enquire
my business, and because I did not readily inform them, they began to
suspect me, and said I was come to settle the Indians' lands, and they
knew I should never go home again safe. I found this discourse was
like to be of ill consequence to me, so I pretended to speak very
slightingly of what they had said to me, and enquired for Croghan
(who is a mere idol among his countrymen, the Irish traders) and
Andrew Montour, the interpreter of Pennsylvania, and told them I
had a message to deliver the Indians from the King, by order of the
President of Virginia, and for that reason wanted to see Mr. Montour. This made them all pretty easy (being afraid to interrupt the
King's message) and continued for me quiet and respect for them,
otherwise I doubt not they would have contrived some evil against
me. I immediately wrote to Mr. Croghan by one of the Trader's
people.
"Monday 26. Tho I was unwell, I preferred the woods to such
company and set out from Loggs Town down the River NW 6 M to
Great Beaver Creek where I met one Barney Curran, a trader from
47SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the Ohio Company, and we continued together as far as Muskingum.
The bottoms upon the River below Loggs Town very rich but narrow,
the high land pretty good but not very rich; the land upon Beaver
Creek the same kind. From this place we left the Ohio River to the
SE and traveled across the country."
Barney Curran had his trading post at the mouth of the Beaver
River, possibly across at the site of the town of Rochester. The
stream was named for King Beaver, a Delaware Chief, and in the
Delaware tongue it was Amahkhanne, meaning "beaver stream."
The Indian town of Saukonk stood at present Bridgewater, and on the
table land at the lower end of present Beaver was Shingass Town,
built afterwards in I756 for the Shawnees, Delawares and Mingoes
to live in. They deserted it after the evacuation of Fort Duquesne.
Saukonk lost its identity after the decisive battle of Bushy Run in
I763. Here the Indian path used by the traders forked, one branch
going northwest to Kuskuskies (close to New Castle), and the other
directly west to the Muskingum. Christopher Gist passed over this
path near West Salem and out of the Province at the western boundary a little south of New Lisbon, to the town of Muskingum. This
was a village of the Wyandots, where he found about one hundred
families. Here he also caught up with George Croghan and Andrew
Montour, who had left Logstown a week in advance of him, and who
possibly did not know that he was on the way.
Gist remained at the town of Muskingum until after Christmas,
and gives many interesting incidents. On Christmas day, desirous of
having some sort of a religious service befitting it, he expounded the
"Doctrine of Salvation, Faith and Works," extracted from the Homilies of the Church of England. It was given to the Indians through
interpreters, and they took him to be a minister of the Gospel, and
wanted him to baptize their children. The next day he saw the killing and scalping of a deserting Indian woman. He, Croghan and
Montour traveled together as far as the Scioto River and then to
Miami. He returned by the Big Kanawha River and in the month of
May, I75 I, came to the Yadkin, where he had left his family. During his absence the Indians had frightened his family away and they
had proceeded on farther to Roanoke, where he arrived on May 17,
175 I, and found his family well.
After making his report to the Ohio Company, Christopher Gist
started out on a second journey west of the mountains, in aid of this
48THE OHIO COMPANY
company's purposes, on July I6, I75 I, from Wills Creek. This time
he proceeded by the south branch of the Potomac River to seek out a
route across the mountain to a landing place on the Monongahela
River. The diary is a bit confusing as to locations because of its lack
of detail on measurements, but he comes to the "upper forks of the
Monongahela," which is possibly the mouth of the Cheat River, as
distinguished from the lower forks at the mouth of the Youghiogheny.
He passes leisurely down the Monongahela Valley observing the character of the land, and stopping occasionally to talk with traders and
Indians, and lodged in the old Indian village at McKees Rocks. On
this trip he went as far as the Kanawha also and back again to report
to the company.
The Ohio Company's first attempt at colonization was made at
the point known as Gist's plantation. After his two successful trips
in 1750 and 1 75 I, the Ohio Company sent three commissioners, Joshua
Fry, L. Lomax and James Patton, to Logstown in June, I752, to
effect a treaty with the Shawnees, Delawares and Mingoes of the Ohio
Valley. Christopher Gist, George Croghan and Andrew Montour
were present at this meeting, the last named acting as interpreter.
The object of this treaty was a confirmation of the Lancaster treaty of
I744, because of the claim to the lands of the Ohio Valley by the
Virginians. The Pennsylvania traders had gotten so well into the
good graces of the Indians that Virginia did not make much headway.
The Indians, however, consented to the erection of two forts. Chief
Tanacharison had asked the Virginians to build a "strong house" at
the mouth of the Monongahela to resist the French. When George
Croghan held his conference with the Chiefs at Logstown in May,
175 I, these Chiefs requested the Governor of Pennsylvania to do the
same thing, but this request went unheeded for the time. At this conference two old Chiefs, through interpreters, told Christopher Gist
that "the French claim all on one side of the river, and the English
all on the other side, and where does the Indians' land lie?"
In the latter part of I752 Christopher Gist brought his colony of
eleven families westward over the Nemacolin Path, and they made
their first settlement midway between present Uniontown and Connellsville. The disastrous effects of the Braddock campaign three
years later caused this first colonization to be short lived. The Gists
came back in later years to make their permanent habitation there, and
S. P.-I-4
49SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
to become a part of the outstanding history of the later Fayette
County.
From east of the mountains at Wills Creek in 175 I the Ohio Company opened a road to Turkey Foot (at present Confluence) where
the three streams, Castleman's River, Laurel Hill Creek and Youghiogheny River come together to form the larger stream. This road was
used three years later by George Washington in attempting to secure
a water route to the Forks of the Ohio. He abandoned his explorations down this stream when he came upon the falls at Ohiopyle in
company with four white men and an Indian on May 20, I754, and
canoed back to the Great Crossings and proceeded over the high
ground traversed by Nemacolin's Path.
James Hamilton was Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of
Pennsylvania during these important years from I748 to I754, and
the Provincial government of Pennsylvania was not unfamiliar with
the designs of the Virginians, through their Ohio Company. On
November 22, I749, Thomas Lee, the Virginia President, wrote
Governor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, on this wise:
"His majesty has been graciously pleased to grant to some Gentlemen and Merchants of London, and some of both sorts of inhabitants of this colony, a large quantity of land west of the mountains,
the design of this grant and one condition of it, is to erect and garrison a fort to protect our trade (from the French) and that any of
the neighboring colonies, and by fair open trade to engage the Indians
in affection to His Mlajestie's subjects to supply them with what they
want so that they will be under no necessity to apply to the French,
and to make a very strong settlement on the frontiers of this colony, all which his Majesty has approved and directed the Governor
here to assist the said Company in carrying their laudable design into
execution; but your traders have prevailed upon the Indians on'the
Ohio to believe that the Fort is to be a bridle for them, and that the
roads which the Company are to make is to let in the Cawtawbas
upon them to destroy them, and the Indians naturally jealous are so
possessed with the truth of these insinuations that they threaten our
agents if they survey or make those roads that they have given leave
to make and by this the carrying the King's Grant into execution is at
present impracticable, yet these are the lands purchased of the Six
Nations by the Treaty of Lancaster.
50THE OHIO COMPANY
"I need not say any more or prevail with you to take the necessary
means to put a stop to those mischievous practices of those traders.
We are informed that there is measures designed by the Court of
France that will be mischievous to these Colonys which will in prudence oblige us to unite and not divide the interest of the King's subjects on the Continent."
On January 2, I750, Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton replied to
this communication from the Virginia President, and after felicitating
him on the beginning of his administration, and promising to break up
any vile practices of the Pennsylvania traders, he met this preliminary
challenge in this dignified and peaceful way:
"As you have mentioned the large grant his Majesty has lately
been pleased to make to some Gentlemen in Virginia of lands on the
Branches of the Ohio, I am induced to desire your opinion whether' it
may be of use that the Western Bounds of this Province be run by
Commissioners to be appointed by both Governments, in order to
assure ourselves that none of the lands contained in that grant are
within the limits of this Province. If you should join me in sentiment
that the work is necessary to be done, I shall at all times be ready to
appoint commissioners and surveyors to run the lines in conjunction
with persons to be commissioned by you for that purpose."
This correspondence thus shows the beginning of a controversy
over the jurisdictional territory of the larger part of Southwestern
Pennsylvania in I749, which was not finally adjusted by running the
true Mason and Dixon line until as late as I780. For more than thirty
years there was not only a common cause against the French, but a
period when three courts were set up as against that of old Westmoreland County; Justices in each court were jailed and many controversies were to arise between these pioneer neighbors. The story
is indeed a thrilling one as the great events that took place here come
in natural sequence within the succeeding pages of these annals.
5IContents
VOLUME I
CHAPTER                                                        PAGE
I.  Whence Came Our Indians?...................                            I
II.  The Indian Towns and Villages................. 3
III.  First Traders and Indian Agents...............    28
IV.   The Ohio  Company.........................                          39
V.   The French  Occupation.......................     52
VI.  Washington  and  Gist.........................    66
VII.   Fort Trent and Fort Duquesne.................    83
VIII.   Washington's Campaign......................                          96
IX.   The Braddock  Expedition....................                       II2
X.  The Battle of Monongahela...................   I27
XI.   Colonel John Armstrong's Expedition............   I42
XII.  The Intensive Years of Preparation.............   I6I
XIII.   The Forbes Expedition......................                         I79
XIV.  Lieutenant Coleby Chew  and Other Scouts.......   I94
XV.   Grant's Defeat.............................                          206
XVI.  The Battle of Loyalhanna.....................   22I
XVII.   Post and the Indians..........................   235
XVIII.   The Reduction of Fort Duquesne...............   257
XIX.   Fort Pitt and  Pittsburgh.....................   273
XX.  The Commercial Pioneers.....................   286
XXI.   Pontiac's War..............................                          305
XXII.  The Battle of Bushy Run......................  324
XXIII.   The Indian Purchase of I768..................339
XXIV.   Bedford  County Erected......................352
XXV.   Religious Beginnings......................... 369
XXVI.  The Body Politic............................390
XXVII.   Virginia's Color of Title......................  4I6
viiCHAPTER V
7t'he French Occupation
The French Territorial Claims-Peter Chartier, Shawnee Chief, Deserts
to the French-Conrad Weiser, Commissioner of Pennsylvania, to
the Indians at Logstown-His Diiary-Celoron, French Commander,
Comes Down the Allegheny and Ohio in I749-George Croghan
Resumes Trade at Logstown-Joncaire Plans Forts at Presque Isle,
LeBoeuf, Venango, and Forks of Ohio-John Frazer Moves from
Venango to Turtle Creek-Lancaster Indian Conference of I753Captain William Trent Plans Fort at Junction of Allegheny and
Monongahela for the English.
While the Pennsylvania traders were extending their business into
the Indian country in the Ohio Valley, and the Virginians were planning an extensive land and trade movement hither, the French traders
were penetrating this territory from the north in greater or less numbers, from time to time, with the idea of winning the Indian trade
away from the Pennsylvanians. They called the Ohio "La Belle
Riviere," the beautiful river, and they began to lay claim to these
waters and all the lands which its tributaries drained. About I748
this important question might well be asked: To whom did this great
section of the future Pennsylvania belong-to the Indians, the French,
the Province of Pennsylvania, or the Colony of Virginia, represented
by the Ohio Company?
The first serious disturbance which affected the peaceful development of all this vast territory was the defection of Peter Chartier, the
half-breed Shawnee trader, who founded Chartier's Town at the site
of present Tarentum, on the west bank of the Allegheny River. He
was associated with the Shawnee Chief, Neucheconnah, and they
together possibly built up this important trading community on the
I~~~~~~~THE FRENCH OCCUPATION
Allegheny and Kiskiminetas paths. Peter Chartier and about 400
Shawnees deserted to the French in I745, and went down the Ohio to
the mouth of the Scioto River, where was the Lower Shawnee Town,
and further along, so that they might be near the French settlements
on the Mississippi. The Colonial Records of Pennsylvania show that
on July 2 I, I748, Neucheconnah, Kakowatcheky, Sonatziowanah and
Sequeheton, Chiefs of the Shawnees, through Scarouady, implored the
Provincial Council at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to be taken back into
the allegiance of those Indians favorable to the Pennsylvanians. The
Council agreed that this might be done if they showed by their future
actions that they were worthy. Despite the return of this repentant
group, the Shawnees from that time on were more in alliance with the
French until the issues of the French and Indian War were finally
determined.
These inroads of the French caused the Provincial Council to send
the famed Conrad Weiser, of Womelsdorf, to Logstown, to confer
with the Indians, and bring back a report. Specific instructions were
given to him at its Philadelphia meeting of June 23, I748, parts of
which were:
"You are to proceed thither with all convenient Dispatch. Mr.
George Croghan, the Indian Trader, who is well acquainted with the
Indian country and the best Roads to Ohio, has undertaken the Convoy of you and the Goods with his own Men and Horses at the Publick Expence,  as it cannot be foreseen how long the Journey will take
him nor what trouble may attend it, so as to enter into Contract before
hand with him, all affairs relating thereto are entirely left to You,
wherein we recommend all the frugality that can consist with the
Nature of Your Business, the Treasury being Low and a large Sum
expended in the Purchase of the Present....
"You cannot be at a loss for Matter from which to form your
Speeches. The ancient Enmity of the French to the Indian Nations,
their perfidy on all occasions,....  in the cruel Treatment of the
Indians in general in Canada, who are confined to loathsome prisons
without proper and wholesome Sustenance.... You are to use all
means in your Power to get from them all kinds of Intelligence as to
what the French are doing or design to do in these parts,  indeed in
every other Place.... You are to make particular Enquiry into the
Behavior of the Shawonese since the commencement of the War,  in
relation to the Countenance they gave to Peter Chartier."...
53Conrad Weiser, able and efficient Indian interpreter and ambassador of peace, accepted the commission given him and started for the
Ohio Valley to carry it out. His complete diary was laid before the
CONRAD WEISER
From a Photograph in Possession of His Family
Provincial Council in Philadelphia on October I4, I748, and from it
we quote in part:
"Augst. IIth. Set out from my House and came to James Galbraeth that day, 30 miles.THE FRENCH OCCUPATION
"I2th.  Came to George Croghans, I5 miles.
i3th. To Robert Dunnings, 20 miles.
"I4th. To the Tuscarroro Path, 30 miles.
"ISth and I6th. Lay by on Account of the Men coming back
sick,  some other Affairs hindering us.
" I 7th.  Crossed the Tuscarroro Hill  came to the Sleeping
Place called the Black Log, 20 miles.
"I8th. Had a great Rain in the afternoon; came within two
miles of the Standing Stone, 24 miles.
"i 9th. We travelled but I 2 miles; were obliged to dry our
Things in the afternoon.
"2o0th.  Came to Franks Town, but saw no Houses or Cabins;
here we overtook the Goods, because four of George Croghan's Hands
fell sick, 26 miles.
"2Ist. Lay by, it raining all day.
"22d.  Crossed Allegheny Hill  came to the Clear Fields, I6
miles.
"23d.  Came to the Shawonese Cabbins, 34 miles.
"24th.  Found a dead Man on the Road who had killed himself
by Drinking too much Whisky; the Place being very stony we cou'd
not dig a Grave; He smelling very strong we covered him with Stones
 Wood  went on our Journey; came to the io Mile Lick, 32 miles.
"25th.  Crossed Kiskeminetos Creek  came to Ohio that Day,
26 miles.
"26th. Hired a Cannoe; paid i,000ooo Black Wampum for the
loan of it to Logs Town. Our Horses being all Tyred, we went by
Water  came that Night to a Delaware Town; the Indians used us
very kindly.
"27th. Sett off again in the morning early; Rainy Weather. We
dined at a Seneka Town, where an old Seneka Woman Reighns with
great Authority; we dined at her House,  they all used us very
well; at this  the last mentioned Delaware Town they received us
by firing a great many Guns; especially at this last Place. We saluted
the Town by firing off 4 pair of Pistols; arrived that Evening at Logs
Town,  Saluted the Town as before; the Indians returned about One
hundred Guns; Great Joy appeared in their Countenances. From
the Place where we took Water, i. e., from the old Shawones Town,
commonly called Chartier's Town, to this Place is about 60 Miles by
Water  but 35 or 40 by Land.
55SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
"The Indian Council met this Evening to shake Hands with me 
to shew their Satisfaction at my safe arrival; I desired of them to
send a Couple of Canoes to fetch down the Goods from Chartier's old
Town, where we were obliged to leave them on account of our Horses
being all tyred. I gave them a String of Wampum to enforce my
Request.
"28th. Lay still.
"29th. The Indians set off in three Canoes to fetch the Goods.
I expected the Goods wou'd be all at Chartier's old Town by the time
the Canoes wou'd get there, as we met about twenty Horses of George
Croghans at the Shawonese Cabbins in order to fetch the Goods that
were then lying at Frankstown. This Day news came to Town that
the Six Nations were on the point of declaring War against the
French, for reason the French had Imprison'd some of the Indian
Deputies. A Council was held  all the Indians acquainted with the
News, and it was said the Indian Messenger was by the way to give all
the Indians Notice to make ready to fight the French. This Day my
Companions went to Coccosky, a large Indian Town about 30 miles
off.
"3oth.  I went to Beaver Creek, an Indian Town about 8 miles
off, chiefly Delawares, the rest Mohocks, to have some Belts of Wampum made. This afternoon Rainy Wheather set in which lasted above
a Week. Andrew Montour came back from Coscosky with a message
from the Indians there to desire of me that the ensuing Council might
be held at their Town. We both lodged at this Town at George
Croghan's Trading House.
"3Ist. Sent Andrew Montour back to Coscosky with a String of
Wampum to let the Indians there know that it was an act of their
own that the ensuing Council must be held at Logs Town, they had
order'd it last Spring when George Croghan was up,  at the last
Treaty in Lancaster the Shawonese and Twightwees have been told so,
 they stayed accordingly for that purpose,  both would be offended
if the Council was to be held at Coccosky, besides my Instructions
binds me to Logs Town,  could not go further without giving offense.
"Septr. I. The Indians in Logs Town having heard of the Message from Coscosky sent for me to know what I was resolv'd to do, and
told me that the Indians at Coscosky were no more Chiefs than themselves,  that last Spring they had nothing to eat,  expecting that
they shou'd have nothing to eat at our arrival; order'd that the
56THE FRENCH OCCUPATION
Council should be held here; now their Corn is ripe, they wanted to
remove the Council, but they ought to stand by their word; we have
kept the Twightwees here  our Brethren the Shawonese from below
on that account, as I told them the Message that I had sent in by
Andrew Montour; they were content.
"2d.  Rain continued; the Indians brought in a good deal of
Venison.
"3d. Set up the Union Flagg on a long Pole. Treated all the
Company with a Dram of Rum; the King's Health was drank by
Indians  White men. Towards Night a great many Indians arrived
to attend the Council. There was great firing on both sides; the
Strangers first Saluted the Town at a quarter of a Mile distance, and
at their Entry the Town's People return'd the fire, also the English
Traders, of whom there were above twenty. At Night, being very
sick of the Cholick, I got bled.
"4th  Was oblig'd to keep my bed all Day, being very weak.
"5th. I found myself better. Scaiohady came to see me; had
some discourse with him about the ensuing Council.
"6th. Had a Council with the Wondats, otherwise called Ionontady Hagas, they made a fine Speech to me to make me welcome, 
appeared in the whole very friendly. Rainy Wheather continued.
"7th.  Being inform'd that the Wondats had a mind to go back
to the French,  had endeavor'd to take the Delawares with them to
recommend them to the French, I sent Andrew Montour to Beaver
Creek with a string of Wampum to inform himself of the Truth of
the matter; they sent a String in answer to let me know they had no
Correspondence that way with the Wondats, and that the aforesaid
Report was false."
Conrad Weiser spent the next ten days in a conference with the
Chiefs of the Wyandots, Senecas, Delawares, Shawnees, Mohicans,
Onondagas and other Indians making up the motley population of
Logstown. The old Shawnee Chief, Kakowatcheky, was in Logstown
at the time but took no great part in the conferences. Weiser presented him a strand, a blanket, a match-coat, a shirt, a pair of stockings, and a large piece of tobacco, which greatly pleased him, and for
which he returned his thanks. On September I9, I748, when he
departed for the east Weiser had an exchange of sentiment with
Scarouady, Tanacharison and other Chiefs, who assured him of their
friendship, and their intentions to convey the same to the other Indians
57SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
by visitation to different towns and nations. He made the trip back in
rainy weather, and arrived at George Croghan's near the Susquehanna
on September 28th, and immediately sent in his report to the Provincial Council.
In planting its dominions on the waters of the Mississippi, extending from New Orleans to the Great Lakes, France needed fortifications to maintain its supremacy. Its chief aim was to keep the English east of the Allegheny Mountains. In the course of its military
operations, it established a stronghold at Detroit in I70I, and at
Niagara in I720. Then, as the Iroquois Indians mingled with the
other tribes at Logstown and carried the story of their negotiations
with George Croghan, Andrew Montour, Conrad Weiser and other
traders and agents of Pennsylvania back to the French at Niagara,
there was a renewal of French activities. Marquis de la Galissionaire,
acting Governor of Canada, made the first decisive move in I748 to
take possession of the Forks of the Ohio, by sending Celoron de
Bienville hither to make the French territorial claims.
Celoron was a capable officer, accustomed to the life of the forest,
and he knew the Indians and their way of dealing. He prepared a
flotilla of canoes, and transported them and his supplies by land from
the waters of Lake Erie across to Lake Chautauqua, on the headwaters of the Allegheny, and then proceeded down the Allegheny and
the O'hio. Galissionaire had held a conference with Iroquois Indians
at Quebec on November 2, I748, in which some of the chiefs assured
him that the Six Nations were not subjects of England. Because of
correspondence with Governor Clinton, of New York, and Governor
Shirley, of Massachusetts, he advised the Indians that they had been
considered by the English as "vassals of the Crown of England." In
response to this statement, one of the Chiefs of the Onondagas said:
"Formerly there were no whites in the whole of this continent, but
since about one hundred years both French and English have settled
on it; they established trade with one and with the other, in order
to obtain guns, blankets, and other commodities, formerly unknown
to us and we are glad to see traders settling in this neighborhood, but
we had not ceded to any one our lands, which we hold only of Heaven."
Celoron first prepared a number of leaden plates to deposit at
strategic points, and to be later used as evidence of their established
claims. These plates were similar to those which the French had
deposited in the Mississippi Valley earlier. In his detachment he hadTHE FRENCH OCCUPATION
eight subaltern officers, six cadets, a chaplain, twenty soldiers, one
hundred eighty Canadians and about thirty Indians, about half of
them of the Six Nations of Iroquois. An inscription of like character
to the following, except as to the location, was impressed on the
leaden plates:
"In the year I 749, in the reign of Louis XV, King of France. We,
Celoron, commanding officer of the detachment sent by the Marquis de
la Galissionaire, Captain-General of New France, to reestablish peace
in some Indian villages of these Cantons, have buried these plates at
the confluence of the Rivers Ohio and Kanaouagan, this twenty-ninth
day of July, as a monument of the renewal of the possession which
we have taken of the River Ohio, and of all the lands on both sides,
up to the source of the said rivers, as the preceding Kings of France
have enjoyed, or ought to enjoy, the same, and have maintained themselves there by arms and treaties, and especially by those of Riswick,
Utrecht and Aix La Chapelle."                 "CELORON."
As Celoron and his two hundred French and Indians floated down
the Conewango Creek to the Allegheny, one of these plates was buried
opposite the mouth of the Conewango, but this plate was afterwards
stolen by Indians and carried to Sir William Johnson, who lived on
the Mohawk River in New York, on December 4, I750. Johnson
transmitted the inscription to Governor George Clinton on January 29,
I75I, and he in turn sent a copy of it to Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania. Other plates were buried seven miles below present Franklin, on the Allegheny, at the mouth of the Monongahela, at the mouth
of the Muskingum, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, and at the
mouth of the Great Miami, up which Celoron and his detachment
canoed on their way to Detroit. Later historical investigations indicate that a plate was imbedded by a group of Celoron's Canadians as
far south as the mouth of Whitely Creek in the upper Monongahela.
The Muskingum plate was found in I798 and the Kanawha plate in
I 846.
On his way down the river Celoron encountered many English
traders and held conferences with the Indians at Cut Straw (Buccaloons), Venango, Kittanning, Chartier's Town, Logstown, and other
places. The noted Pennsylvania trader, John Frazer, had his cabin
and trading post farthest north at Venango and remained there until
the French came down in large numbers in I753. In her town near
59SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
the present site of Pittsburgh he found Queen Aliquippa, the Seneca,
"entirely devoted to the English." After putting fear into the hearts
of the traders and warning them not to return to the domains of the
French King, he further wrote three communications in French to
Governor James Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, the following one being
characteristic of the French assertion of authority.
"We, Celoron, Captain, Knight of the Military Order of St.
Louis, comnmanding a detachment sent by the Marquis de la Galissionaire, Governor in charge of New France, have on the banks of the
Beaver River, summoned the Englishmen whom we have found in an
Indian Town, situate on the banks of the Beaver River, to retire with
all their effects and baggage to New England, on pain of being
treated as interlopers and rebels, in case of refusal; to which summons they have answered that they are going to start to Philadelphia,
their country, with all their effects.
"Done in our camp on the Beaver River this ioth day of August,
I 749.                                            "CELORON."
"Mons. Hamilton, Governor of Philadelphia."
The Provincial Council of Pennsylvania was not unaware of the
French intentions to drive the English traders out of the Ohio Valley, for Governor George Clinton, of New York, had already
advised Governor James Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, and on June 30,
I749, upon the latter's advice, the Council voted to send George
Croghan to the westward to discover whether any French were
coming into these parts, and if any, in what numbers and what
appearance they made, that the Indians might be apprised and put on
their guard. Croghan arrived at Logstown just after Celoron and
his detachment went down the river Ohio, and in conference with
Scarouady, Tanacharison and other Chiefs, he counteracted the influence of the French, and was able to secure the deeds signed by them
for some 260,000 acres, before referred to. These deeds were dated
back as of August 2, I749, possibly with intention of asserting an
earlier title to the land.
The years 1750, 175 I, 1752, 1753 and 1754 were momentous in
the planning of the Colonial governments of New York, Pennsylvania
and Virginia. New York had its Sir William Johnson, living among
the Mohawks, who kept his contacts with the Iroquois, and advised
his Province of the French intentions, as he gathered them from the
6oAIRPLANE VIEW  OF THE SITE OF LOGSTOWN
Now Occupied by the Byers Plant, Amrbridge. Shawnee Cornfields Across the Ohio River at Aliquippa.   Site of
Saukonk Indian Town and Fort McIntosh at the Moutlh of the Beaver River (Upper Right Hand Corner)
(Photograph Copyright by Trinity Court Studio)viii                          CONTENTS
VOLUME II
CHAPTER                                                             PAGE
I.  Westmoreland  County Erected.................                            I
II.  The Court Functions at Hannastown............                          i6
III.  The Derry  Settlement.......................                          30
IV.   The Virginia  Occupation.....................                          42
V.   Dunmore's War............................                              57
VI.   The Three  Virginia  Counties..................    7I
VII.   Law  and  Patriotism..........................                          85
VIII.   The Continental Army About Fort Pitt..........    99
IX.   Indian Warfare During the Revolution..........   ii9
X.   The Closing of the Revolution.................   I35
XI.   Washington  County Erected...................   I5o
XII.   The Burning of Hannastown...................   i68
XIII.   Fayette  County  Erected.......................   I79
XIV.   Frontier Forts..............................   I94
XV.   Allegheny County..........................    245
XVI.   The Whiskey  Insurrection....................                          263
XVII.   The Northwest Territory....................                           284
XVIII.   Somerset County  Erected.....................   299
XIX.   Cambria  County............................   3II
XX.   Greene  County.............................   323
XXI.   Religious Expansion.........................   334
XXII.   Armstrong  County...........................    364
XXIII.   Butler County..............................   373
XXIV.   Beaver County.............................   386
VOLUME III
I.  Political Establishments......................                           I
II.  Indiana  County.............................                 I3
III.  Other Religious Foundations...................                         25
IV.   Transportation.............................                           60
V.   From  Railroads to Airplanes...................                         87SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Indians. Pennsylvania sent Conrad Weiser up to confer with the
Chiefs at Onondaga in I750, and he reported the enmity of the
Indians against the English, due to the French influence. Virginia
sent Christopher Gist to spy out the land and learn conditions, and the
reports that came to Governor Robert Dinwiddie greatly alarmed him.
Pennsylvania requested Conrad Weiser to make a second journey to
Logstown with goods and presents for the Indians in August, I75I,
but he declined because the goods could not be sent out in time, stating
that "the Indians cannot be sent for until the goods are upon the spot,
because this is a hungry time with the Indians, and the few that live
at Logstown cannot provide for the rest that come from other towns."
George Croghan and Andrew Montour continued their trading out
that way, and John Frazer traded on at Venango.
As the Virginia commissioners and the Pennsylvania traders were
holding their conference at Logstown in May, 1752, the French plans
were being perfected to build a line of forts from present Erie down
the Allegheny Valley. Marquis de la Galissionaire was succeeded by
Marquis de la Joncaire, who laid the plans for an early invasion of
the Allegheny in 1752, but his death in that year delayed matters and
the expedition was carried out by Marquis Duquesne, who was
appointed in his place. In the spring of I753 the French began the
erection of a chain of five forts; the first at Presque Isle (Erie); the
second at LeBoeuf (Waterford); the third at Venango (Franklin),
and the fourth at the Forks of the Ohio (Pittsburgh). Presque Isle
was built of squared chestnut logs and had a height of fifteen feet,
being one hundred twenty feet square. This work was started the
latter part of May by Monsieur Marin, who was in command of five
hundred Canadians and twenty Indians. As soon as this first fort was
completed Captain Depontency was placed in command, and Marin
and his forces proceeded on to the headwaters of French Creek and
built Fort LeBoeuf. After these two were completed, Marin left
three hundred men to garrison the two of them, and he went back with
the rest to Canada for supplies to be brought down in the spring to
complete the other two. While he was at Fort LeBoeuf, Marin sent
Monsieur Bite with fifty men to erect a fort at the Indian village of
Ganagarahhare at the mouth of French Creek, but the Indians
objected. This so displeased Marin that he wanted to be placed in
the fort and burned after its erection. The site of the new Fort
Venango was then appropriated, and Captain Joncaire placed in John
62THE FRENCH OCCUPATION
Frazer's trading house, from which he had been driven on down the
river. John Frazer was still undaunted, and secured a new location
for his cabin at the mouth of Turtle Creek.
The actions of the French had the effect of bringing consternation
among the Indians on the Ohio also, for the English traders had dealt
quite fairly with them. The Indian Council at Onondaga considered
the French as intruders on their own land, and ordered them to withdraw. Tanacharison, the Half King, went personally to Fort Le
Boeuf, and asked the French to leave. Out of this situation grew
the important Treaty of Lancaster of I753, to consider the state of
the Indians. John Frazer, the Venango trader, had written a very
informing letter to his business partner, a Mr. Young, which Edward
Shippen brought to the Council and had placed in the records. It
read, in part:
"FORKS (Turtle Creek), August 27, I753.
"Mr. Young:
"I have sent the bearer in all haste to acquaint you what narrow
escape William made from the French at Weningo. I have sent him
off there the same time that you ordered him, and from that time until
he ran away he sold only eight bucks worth of goods which Custologo
took from him, and all his corn, when he was making his escape in the
night. He is made a Captain by the French, and next morning after
William's escape he delivered John Trotter and his men to the
French, who tied them fast and carried him away to their new fort
that they made a little from Wenningo at a place called Caseoago, up
French Creek. The night that William ran away, that afternoon
two French Men came to Wenningo, who told William that there was
no danger, but William being a little afraid got all ready that night
and came as far as Licking Creek and there staid till break of day, and
then came by land to the top of the hill against my house, where he
saw about one hundred of the French Dogs, all under arms, and had
Trotter and his man then tied. Fourteen of them followed William,
but it being a foggy morning he outran them, so that there is nothing
lost yet only those eight bucks and all the corn. I would have sent
William down only I do not know every moment what time I will be
obliged to move my goods from here back in the woods.
"I have thrown a parcel of my goods against another parcel of
yours and sell them now since William came here. I have not got any
63SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
skins this summer, for there has not been an Indian between Wenningo
and the Pict country hunting this summer, by reason of the French.
"There is hardly any Indians now here at all, for yesterday there
set off along with Capt. (William) Trent and French Andrew the
heads of the Five Nations, the Picts, the Shawonese, the Owendats,
and the Delawares, for Virginia; and the Half King set off to the
French Fort, with a strong party along with him, to warn the French
off their land entirely, which if they did not comply to, then directly
the Six Nations, the Picts, Shawonese, Owendats, and Delawares,
were to strike them without loss of time. The Half King was to be
back in twenty days from the time he went away, so were the Indians
from Virginia.
"Capt. Trent was here night before last and viewed the ground
the fort is to be built upon, which they will begin in less than a month's
time. The money has been laid out for the building of it already, and
the great guns are lying at Williamsburg ready to bring up.
"The French are daily deserting from the new Fort-one of them
came here the other day whom I sent to Capt. Trent; he has him
along with him to Virginia; he has given the true account of the
number of French and all their designs; there are exactly twenty-four
hundred of them in all; here is enclosed the draught of the fort the
French built a little way the other side of Sugar Creek, not far from
Weningo, where they have eight cannon. Which is all from your
friend                                        "JoHN FRAZER."
"P. S.-The Captain of the French that took John Trotter from
Weningo was the White French Man that lived last winter at Log's
Town."
The personnel of the Lancaster Conference, which met October I,
1753, and on succeeding days, was quite representative, and it was one
of the most important meetings ever held, bearing on the situation in
the Ohio Valley. Richard Peters, Isaac Norris and Benjamin Franklin represented the Provincial government, as Commissioners; Conrad
Weiser and Andrew Mlontour acted as interpreters; James Wright
and John Armstrong attended as members of the Provincial Assembly, and among the Indian Chiefs were King Shingass, Pisquetomin,
Delaware George, representing the Delawares, and Nechona, representing the Shawnees. In earlier days the Indians gave the name of
"Onas" to William Penn, and when they came into later conferences,
64THE FRENCH OCCUPATION
they addressed the Penn governmental representatives as "Onas." A
chief of the Twightwees, speaking through Andrew Montour as interpreter, spoke these words concerning the French situation:'"BROTHER ONAS:
"Hearken to what I have to say to the Six Nations, Delawares,
Shawonese and English. Tlhe French have struck us; but though we
have been hurt it is but on one side, the other side is safe. Our arm
on that side is entire, and with it we laid hold on our pipe and have
brought it along with us to show you it is as good as ever, and we shall
leave it with you that it may be always ready for us and our brethren
to smoke in when we meet together.... We have a single heart, we
have but one heart. Our heart is green and'good and sound. This
shell painted green on its hollow side is a resemblance of it.
"The country beyond us towards the setting sun where the French
live is all in darkness, we can see no light there. But towards sun
rising where the English live we see light, and that is the way we turn
our faces. Consider us your fast friends and good brethren."
At this conference also was presented a letter from Governor
Robert Dinwiddie, of Virginia, showing his knowledge of the French
building two forts on the river 120 miles up the Allegheny from Logstown, and of their intention to build two more near Logstown, thus
alarming the friendly Indians. He sent a consignment of small arms
and ammunition to these Indians, and also wrote the London Board
of Trade, as did also Governor Hamilton of Pennsylvania, giving full
information as to the French operations.
This lack of unity of action on the part of the different Colonies
delayed the assertion of English rights, which did not fully culminate
until after the Braddock and Forbes expeditions. This momentous
year of I753 was the beginning of a discovery of the young man,
George Washington, who through his experiences in the wilds of
Southwestern Pennsylvania, was to become the outstanding character
of all American history. He was about to enter these western woods
to carve out his destiny, for it was here that he was to endure those
trying experiences which trained him to become the man of the hour
in every crisis, military and governmental, that arose in building the
foundations of a new nation.
S. P.-I-5
65CHAPTER VI
Wfashington and Gist
Dinwiddie Commissions Washington to Visit the French Commander
at Fort LeBoeuf-Christopher Gist is Selected as His Pilot-They
Visit Logstown and Other Indian Towns-Their Conference with
the Indians-They Reach Venango and LeBoeuf-The French Commander's Refusal to Withdraw-Their Rough Return JourneyThey are Fired on by a Treacherous Indian-Their Difficulty in
Rafting the Allegheny-The Visits to John Frazer at the Mouth of
Turtle Creek, and to Queen Aliquippa at the Mouth of the Youghiogheny-They Meet the Supplies to Build Fort Trent-Washington
Delivers His Message to Governor Dinwiddie.
George Washington was twenty-one years of age when he entered
the domain of Southwestern Pennsylvania in I753 to carve out his
destiny. Previous historians have stressed the colonial development
along the Atlantic, east of the Allegheny Mountains, and have been
content to start their narratives with the eventful trip which Washington and Gist made to see the French commander at Fort LeBoeuf.
Washington senses the value of Christopher Gist to him at the very
outset of the trip, when he entered these words in his diary: "I
engaged Mr. Gist to pilot us and also hired four other servitors," naming them. The way was already prepared for Washington along the
trails of the Indians and the traders. Before he crossed the Maryland
line and first set foot in present Somerset County on his way westward
over the Nemacolin Path, Captain William Trent had already viewed
the proposed site for the new fort to be built for the Ohio Company at
the Forks of the Ohio on August 25, I753. Governor Dinwiddie,
who was a member of the Ohio Company, had the small cannon ready
at Williamsburg, Virginia. Christopher Gist was a proper pilot because
he had trailed these forests and river valleys since I750, and CapWASHINGTON AND GIST
tain Trent and George Croghan were justices on the bench of the
new Cumberland County, by appointment of the Provincial Council of
Pennsylvania in 1749, as the new county began its legal functions early
in I750 at Shippensburg. Washington was not entering a trackless
wilderness alone; he was traveling beaten paths, and he was accompanied by older men, experienced in the rugged life of the woods just
as he was, who were able to deal with the Indians and the French.
There are no recorded writings of Washington in the early months
of I753, nor in I752. He first began his diary on March II, I748,
as he started his journey as a boy of sixteen years with George Fairfax
to survey up the Potomac River. They arrived at Colonel Thomas
Cresap's plantation at Old Town, and remained there four days before
proceeding up the South branch of the Potomac. He tells here of
thirty Indian warriors coming through and of a war dance which they
executed, after some liquor had been given them to elevate their spirits.
He also describes their manner of dancing by clearing a large circle
and building a great fire about which the Indians seat themselves.
Their speaker tells them how to dance, and one of the best dancers
jumps up as if awakened out of sleep, leaps about the ring, followed
by the others, in a comical manner. Their musician begins to play on
a pot half full of water, but with a deer skin stretched over it as tight
as can be, and a gourd with shot in it to rattle. With a horse's tail
tied to it to make it look pretty, one warrior rattles, another drums,
and the rest dance. After this early experience in the woods for a
period of more than thirty days surveying, he accompanied his brother,
Lawrence Washington, to the Bermudas, I751-52, on a health trip,
but the brother died on July 6, 1752. George Washington suffered an
attack of smallpox from November I7, I75I until December I2th.
The story of his trip to see the French commander is best told in his
own words.
"Wednesday 3 ISt (October, I753). I was commissioned and
appointed by the Honourable Robert Dinwiddie, Esq., Governor, etc.,
of Virginia, to visit and deliver a letter to the Commandant of the
French forces on the Ohio and set out on the intended journey same
day. The next, I arrived at Fredericksburg, and engaged Mr. Jacob
Vanbramm to be my French interpreter; and proceeded with him to
Alexandria, where we provided necessaries. From thence we went
to Winchester, and got baggage, horses, etc., and from thence we
67SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
pursued the new road to Wills Creek (Cumberland), where we arrived
the I4th of November. Here I engaged Mr. Gist to pilot us out,
and also hired four other servitors, Barney Curran and John MacQuire, Indian traders, Henry Steward and William Jenkins; and in
company with those persons left the inhabitants the day following.
The excessive rains and vast quantity of snow which had fallen, prevented our reaching Mr. Frazier's, an Indian trader, at the mouth of
Turtle Creek, on Monongahela, till Thursday, the 22d.
"Thursday, November 22. We were informed here, that expresses had been sent a few days before to the traders down the river,
to acquaint them with the French General's death, and the return of
the major part of the French army into winter quarters." This war
Pierre Paul Sieur de Mlarin, who had supervised the erection of the
forts at Presque Isle and LeBoeuf before his death. "The waters
were quite impassble without swimming our horses, which obliged us
to get the loan of a canoe from Frazier, and to send Barney Curran
and Henry Steward down the Monongahela, with our baggage, to
meet us at the Forks of the Ohio, about I0 miles, there to cross the
Alighany.
"As I got down before the canoe, I spent some time in viewing the
rivers, and the land in the Fork which I think extremely well situated
for a fort as it has the absolute command of both rivers. The land
at the point is 20 or 25 feet above the common surface of the water;
and a considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land around it, very
convenient for building. The rivers are each a quarter of a mile or
more across, and run here very near at right angles; Alighany bearing
N. E. and Monongahela S. E. The former of these two is a very
rapid and swift running water, the other deep and still, without any
perceptible fall. About two miles from this on the South East side
of the river, at the place where the Ohio Company intended to erect a
fort, lives Shingass, King of the Delawares; we called upon him to
invite him to the council at Loggstown.
"As I had taken a good deal of notice yesterday of the situation
at the Forks, my curiosity led me to examine this more particularly
and I think it greatly inferior either for defense or as advantages,
especially the latter. For a fort at the Forks would be equally well
situated in the Ohio and have the entire command of the Monongahela which runs up to our settlements and is extremely well designed
for water carriage, as it is of a deep still nature. Besides a fort at the
68WASHINGTON AND GIST
Forks might be built at a much less expense than at the other place.
Nature has well contrived this lower place for water defense but the
hill whereon it must stand being about a quarter of a mile in length
and then descending gradually on the land side will render it difficult
and more expensive to make a sufficient fortification there. The whole
flat upon the hill must be taken in, the side next the defense made
extremely high or else the hill itself cut away; otherwise the enemy
may raise batteries within that distance without being exposed to a single shot from the fort."
Washington was here arguing out with Governor Dinwiddie the
relative value of the present McKees Rocks and the present downtown Pittsburgh as a location for the fort which the Virginians proposed to erect here to protect their trade. Captain Trent had already
viewed this site with favor three months before, and this advice of
the youthful Washington was in supplementation to Trent's judgment. During the last week of November, 1753, Washington was busy
at Logstown conferring with such Indian Chiefs as Monacatoocha,
Tanacharison and Jeskakake. Tanacharison brought him a report of
his conference with the French commander at Venango, in which he
told the commander that "both you and the English are white, we
live in a country between, therefore the land belongs to neither one
nor t'other, but the Great Being above allowed it to be a place of
residence for us," and instructing him to retire. To this the French
Commander replied that his forces were as the sands on the seashore
and that it was his land because of the depositing of the lead plates.
The French commander further told Tanacharison that they had
built the two forts on Lake Erie and French Creek, with a fifteenmile wagon road between, both being built on the same plan, the one
at the lake the larger.
Washington also conferred with about ten Frenchmen who
deserted their military company at Kuskuskies when they came up
from New Orleans with one hundred men and eight canoe loads of
provisions, expecting to meet a like number from Lake Erie, to take
the cargo on. He was keen to get from the Frenchmen information
about New Orleans, where the French had thirty-five companies of
forty men each, and advice about their fortifications at the mouth of
the Wabash. Resuming his diary:
"November 26, I753. We met in council at the Long House
about 9 o'clock, where I spoke to them as follows: Brothers: I have
69SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
called you together in council by order of your Brother, the Governor
of Virginia, to acquaint you that I am sent with all possible dispatch,
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 directed, Brothers, by your friend 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 to the
nearest and best road to the French. You see, Brothers, I have gotten
thus far on my journey. His Honor 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 confirm
what I have said, I give you this string of wampum."
The wampum to which Washington refers was a certain kind of
shell which had been given a ceremonial value by the Indians, using it
for treaty belts and personal decoration. Afterwards it came into
use, particularly among the Algonquin tribes, as having some monetary
value. Washington then records some delays at Logstown due to conference with the Indians, but on November 30, I753, he set out for
Venango with four of the Indian Chiefs, and arrived there on December 4, during a few days of bad weather. Continuing his narrative:
"4th December. This is an old Indian town, situated at the mouth
of French Creek on Ohio; and lies N. about 60 miles from the Loggstown, but more than 70 the way we were obliged to go. We found
the French colors hoisted at a house from which they had driven Mr.
John Frazer, an English subject. I immediately repaired to it, to
know where the Commander resided. There were three officers; one
of them, Capt. Joncaire, informed me that he had the command of
the Ohio; but there was a general officer at the near fort, where he
advised me to apply for an answer. He invited me to sup with them,
and treated me with the greatest complaisance. The wine, as they
dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it, soon banished the restraint
which at first appeared in their conversation, and gave a license to
their tongues to reveal their sentiments more freely. They told me
that it was their absolute design to take possession of the Ohio, and
by G  -they would do it; for that tho they were sensible the Eng70WASHINGTON AND GIST
lish could raise two men for their one; yet they knew their motions
were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertakings of theirs.
They pretend to have an undoubted right to the River, from a discovery made by one LaSalle 60 years ago; and the rise of this expedition is to prevent our settling on the river or waters of it, as they had
heard of some families moving out in order thereto."
Washington had a wet time of it going up French Creek, due to
rains and high waters, making entry that they "were prevented from
arriving there (Fort LeBoeuf) till the I Ith by excessive 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 was near four
miles in length, and considerably wide in some places.
"I2th. I prepared early to wait upon the Commander, and was
received and conducted to him by the second officer in command. I
acquainted him with my business, and offered my commission and letter, both of which he desired me to keep till the arrival of Monsieur
Riparti, 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 Lagardeur 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 2 o'clock the gentleman who was
sent for arrived, when I offered the letter, etc. again, which they
received and adjourned into a private apartment for the Captain to
translate, who understood little English. After he had done the Captain desired that I walk in, and bring my interpreter to peruse and
correct it, which I did.
"i3th. The chief officers retired to hold a council of war, which
gave me an opportunity of taking the dimensions of the fort, and making what observations I could." He then described the fort, and estimated the French forces at one hundred men and officers, with fifty
birch bark canoes and one hundred seventy pine ones.
"I4th. As the snow increased very fast, and our horses daily
became weaker, I sent them off unloaded, under the care of Barney
Curran, and two others, to make all convenient dispatch to Venango,
7ICONTENTS                              ix
CHAPTER                                                       PAGE
VI.  Lawrence County...........................   I I I
VII.  Iron and Steel..............................  I25
VIII.  Doctors and Hospitals........................  I55
IX.  Coal and Coke..............................  201
X.  Education.................................  218
XI.  The Public Schools...........................  267
XII.  Enlarging Business..........................   293
XIII.  The Contribution of Jurists....................  3II
XIV.  War's Aid to Democracy......................  355
XV.  Modern Churches and Cathedrals...............  37I
XVI.  The Depression of I932......................  387
XVII.  Scientific Advancement.......................               419
XVIII.  Publicity..................................  432
XIX.  Community Service..........................   456SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
and there await our arrival, if there was a prospect of the rivers
freezing; if not, then to continue down to Shannopin's Town, at the
Forks of the Ohio, and there to wait till we came to cross the Aliganey; intending myself to go down by water, as I had the offer of a
canoe or two.
"As I found many plots concerted to retard the Indian's business,
and prevent their returning with me; I endeavored all in my power
to frustrate their schemes, and to hurry them on to execute their
intended design. They accordingly pressed for admittance this evening, which at length was granted them, privately, with the Commander and one or two other officers.... I was enquiring of the
Commander, by what authority he made prisoners of several of our
English subjects. He told me that the country belonged to them;
that no Englishman had a right to trade upon those waters; and that
he had orders to make every person prisoner who attempted it on the
Ohio, or the waters of it....
"This evening I received an answer to his Honour the Governor's
letter from the Commandant."
When Commander St. Pierre handed his reply to Washington, he
regretted that the latter would not go to Canada, but that Dinwiddie's
request would be forwarded to the Marquis Duquesne. He then
added: "As to the summons you send me to retire, I do not think
myself obliged to obey it; whatever your instructions, I am here by
virtue of the order of my General; and I entreat you, Sir, not to doubt
one moment, but I am determined to conform myself to them, with
all the exactness and resolution which can be expected from the best
officer." Continuing Washington's story:
"Isth.  The Commandant ordered a plentiful store of liquor,
provision, c., to be put on board our canoe; and appeared to be
extremely complaisant, though he was exerting every artifice which he
could invent to set our own Indians at variance with us, to prevent their
going'till after our departure. Presents, rewards and every thing
which could be suggested by him or his officers. I can't say that ever
in my life I suffered so much anxiety as I did in this affair. I saw that
every strategem which the most fruitful brain could invent, was practiced, to win the Half King to their interest; and that leaving him
here 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
72that the commandant would not discharge him'till 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 company, was detaining me. This he promised not to do, but to
forward 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., if they
would wait'till morning. As I was very much pressed by the Indians,
to wait this day for them, I consented, on a promise, that nothing should hinder them in the
morning.
"I6th. The French were not
slack in their inventions to keep
the Indians this day also, but as
they were obligated according to
promise, to give the present, they
then endeavored to try the power
of liquor, which I doubt not
YOUGHIOGHENY RIVER
would have prevailed at any other time than this; but I urged and
insisted with the King 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 were like to have been staven 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 impossible by water; therefore we were
obliged to carry our canoe across a neck of land, a quarter of a mile
over. We did not reach Venango till the 22d, where we met with our
horses. This creek is extremely crooked, I dare say the distance
between the fort and Venango can't be less than I30 miles to follow
the meanders.
i"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 I 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; I told him I hoped he would guardSOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
against his flattery, and let no fine speeches influence him in their favor.
He desired I might not be concerned, he knew the French too well,
for anything to engage him in their behalf; and that though he could
not go down with us, he yet would endeavor to meet us at the Forks
with Joseph Cappell, to deliver a speech for me to carry to his
Honor the Governor. He told me he would order the young Hunter
to attend us, and get provision, c., if wanted.
"Our horses were now so week 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 baggage.
I put myself in an Indian walking dress, and continued with them three
days, till I found there was no probability of their getting home in any
reasonable time. The horses grew less able to travel every day; the
cold increased very fast; and the roads were becoming much worse
by a deep snow, continually freezing; therefore, as I was uneasy to
get back, to make report of my proceedings to his Honor, the Governor. I determined to prosecute 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 dispatch in
travelling. I took my necessary papers; pulled off my cloaths; and
tied myself in a match coat. Then with gun in hand and pack at my
back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with Mr.
Gist, fitted in the same manner, on Wednesday the 26th.
"The day following, just after we had passed a place called the
Murdering Town (where we intended to quit the path, and steer
across the country for Shannopin's Town) we fell in with a party of
French Indians, who had lain in wait for us. One of them fired at
Mr. Gist or me, not i 5 steps off, but fortunately missed. We took this
fellow into custody, and kept him till about 9 o'clock at night; then
let him go, and walked all the remaining part of the night without making any stop; that we might get the start, so far, as to be out of the
reach of their pursuit the next day, since we were well assured they
would follow our track as soon as it was light. The next day we
continued travelling till quite dark, and got to the river about two miles
above Shannopins. We expected to have found the river frozen, but
74it was not, only about 50o yards from each shore; the ice, I suppose,
had broken up above, for it was driving in vast quantities.
"There was no way of getting over but on a raft; which we set
about with but one poor hatchet, and finished just after sunsetting.
This was a whole day's work. Then set off, but before we were half
way over, we were jammed in the ice, in such a manner that we
expected every moment our raft to sink, and ourselves to perish. I
PLAQUE ON GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE AT 40th STREET, PITTSBURGH
put out my setting pole to try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass
by; when the rapidity of the stream threw it with so much violence
against the pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet of water; but I
fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the raft logs.
Notwithstanding all our efforts we could not get the raft to either
shore; but were obliged, as we were near an island to quit our raft
and make to it.
"The cold was so extremely severe, that Mr. Gist had all his fingers and some of his toes frozen; but the water was shut up so hard,
that we found no difficulty in getting off the island, on the ice, in the
morning, and went to Mr. Frazier's. We met here about 20 warriors
who were going to the southward to war, but coming to a place upon
the head of the Great Kunnaway, where they found seven people
killed and scalped (all but one woman with very light hair) they turned
about and ran back for fear the inhabitants should rise and take them
as the authors of the murder. They report that the bodies were
lying about the house, and some of them much torn and eaten by hogs.SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
By the marks which were left, they say they were French Indians of
the Ottaway Nation, etc., who did it.
"As we intended to take horses here, and it required some time to
find them, I went up about three miles to the mouth of the Yaughyaughane to visit Queen Aliquippa, who had expressed great concern that
we passed her in going to the Fort. I made her a present of a Matchcoat and a bottle of rum; which latter was thought much the best
present of the two."
"Tuesday the Ist day of January (I754), we left Mr. Frazier's
house, and arrived at Mr. Gist's at Monongahela the 2d, where I
bought a horse, saddle, etc., the 6th. We met I7 horses loaded with
materials and stores, for a fort at the Forks of Ohio, and the day after
some families going out to settle. This day we arrived at Wills Creek,
after as fatiguing a journey as it is possible to conceive, rendered so
by excessive bad weather. From the first day of December to the
Isth there was but one day on which it did not rain or snow incessantly; and throughout the whole journey we met with nothing but
continued series of cold weather, which occasioned very uncomfortable lodgings; especially after we had quitted our tent, which was
some screen from the inclemency of it."
Washington tells of his arrival at intermediate points beyond
Wills Creek, and finally at Williamsburg on January I6, I754, where
he delivered the terse answer of the French commander to Governor
Robert Dinwiddie. The diary which Christopher Gist kept is equally
informing, corroborating Washington's account of the journey in
many particulars, and giving details which Washington omitted. The
style of his entries in few words, but highly informing, shows the substantial character of this brave scout and the noble part he had in
helping Washington to reach Fort LeBoeuf. Let us follow his entries, and learn the story better.
"Wednesday, I4 November, I753. Then Major George Washington came to my house at Wills Creek, and delivered me a letter
from the council in Virginia, requesting me to attend him up to the
commandant of the French fort on the Ohio River." (At this date
they called the Allegheny the Ohio.)
"Thursday, I5. We set out and at night encamped at George's
Creek, eight miles, where a messenger came with letters from my
son, who was just returned from his people at the Cherokees, and lay
76WASHINGTON AND GIST
sick at the mouth of Conogocheague. But as I found myself entered
again on public business, and Major Washington and all the company
unwilling I would return, I wrote and sent medicines to my son, and
so continued my journey, and encamped at big hill in the forks of
Youghiogany, about eighteen miles.
"Friday I6. The next day set out and got to the big fork of said
river, about ten miles.
"Saturday I7. We encamped and rested our horses, and then we
set out early in the morning.
"Sunday i 8. And at night got to my house in the new settlement,
about twenty-one miles; snow about ankle deep.
"Monday I9. Set out, crossed Big Youghiogany, to Jacob's Cabins, about twenty miles. Here some of our horses straggled away
and we did not get away until about eleven o'clock.
"Tuesday 20. Set out, had rain in the afternoon; I killed a deer;
travelled about seven miles.
"Wednesday 2I. It continued to rain. Stayed all day.
"Thursday 22. We set out and came to the mouth of Turtle
Creek, about twelve miles, to John Frazier's; and he was very kind
to us, and lent us a canoe to carry our baggage to the forks, about ten
miles.
"Friday 23. Set out, rid to Shannopin's Town, and down Allegheny to the mouth of Monongahela, where we met our baggage, and
swimmed our horses over Allegheny, and there encamped that night.
"Saturday 24. Set out; we went to King Shingass, and he and
Lawmolach went with us to Logstown, and we spoke to the chiefs this
evening, and repaired to our camp.
"Sunday 25. They sent out for their people to come in. The
Half King came in the afternoon.
"Monday 26. We delivered our message to the Half King and
they promised by him that they would set out three night after.
"Tuesday 27. Stayed in our camp. Monacatoocha and Pollathha
Wappia gave us some provisions. We stayed until the 29th when the
Indians said they were not ready. They desired us to stay until the
next day and as the warriors were not come, the Half King said he
would go with us himself and take care of us.
"Friday 30. We set out, and the Half King and two old men and
one young warrior with us. At night we encamped at the Murther77SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
ing Town, about fifteen miles, on a branch of Great Beaver Creek.
Got some corn and dried meat.
"Saturday I December. Set out, and at night encamped at the
crossing of Beaver Creek from the Kuskuskies to Venango about
thirty miles. The next day rain; our Indians went out a hunting;
they killed two bucks. IHad rain all day.
"Monday 3. We set out and travelled all day. Encamped at
night on one of the head branches of Great Beaver Creek, about
twenty-two miles.
"Tuesday 4. Set out about fifteen miles to the town of Venango,
where we were kindly and complaisantly received by Monsieur Joncaire, the interpreter for the Six Nations.
"Wednesday 5. Rain all day. Our Indians were in council with
the Delawares, who lived under the French colors, and ordered them
to deliver up to the French the belt, with the marks of the four towns
according to the desire of King Shingass. But the Chief of these
Delawares:'It was true King Shingass was a great man, but he had
sent no speech,' and said he,'I cannot pretend to make a speech for a
King.' So our Indians could not prevail with them to deliver their
belt, as he had determined. Joncaire did everything that he could to
prevail on our Indians to stay behind us, and I took all care to have
them along with us.
"Thursday 6. We set out late in the day accompanied by the
French General and four servants or soldiers, and,
"Friday 7. All encamped at Sugar Creek, five miles from Venango. The creek being very high we were obliged to carry all our
baggage over on trees, and swim our horses. The Major and I went
first over with our boots on.
"Saturday 8. We set out and traveled twenty-five miles to Cussewago, an old Indian town.
"Sunday 9. We set out, left one of our horses here that could
travel no further. This day we travelled to the big crossing, about
fifteen miles, and encamped, our Indians went out to look out logs to
make a raft; but as the water was high, and there were no other
creeks to cross, we concluded to keep up this side of the creek.
"Monday Io. Set out, travelled about eight miles, and encamped.
Our Indians killed a bear. Here we had a creek to cross very deep;
we got over on a tree, and got our goods over.
78WASHINGTON AND GIST
"Tuesday i i. We set out, travelled about fifteen miles to the
French fort, the sun being set. Our interpreter gave the commandant
notice of our being over the creek; upon which he sent several officers
to conduct us to the fort, and they received us with a great deal of
complaisance.
"Wednesday I2. The Major gave the passport, showed his commission, and offered the Governor's letter to the commandant; but he
desired not to receive them, until the other commander from Lake
Erie came, whom he had sent for, and expected him next day by
twelve o'clock.
"Thursday I3. The other General came. The Major delivered
the letter, and desired a speedy answer; the time of year and business
required it. They took our Indians into private council, and gave
them several presents.
"Friday I4. When we had done our business, they delayed and
kept our Indians until Sunday; then we set out with two canoes, one
for our Indians and one for ourselves. Our horses we had sent away
some days before to await at Venango, if ice appeared in the rivers
and creeks.
"Sunday I6. We set out by water about sixteen miles, and encamped. Our Indians went before us, passed the little lake, and we
did not come up with them that night.
"Monday I 7. We set out, came to our Indians camp. They were
out hunting; they killed three bears. We stayed this day, and
"Tuesday I8. One of our Indians did not come to camp. So we
finding the waters lower very fast, were obliged to go and leave our
Indians.
"Wednesday 19. We set out about seven or eight miles, and
encamped, and the next day
"Thursd(lay 20. About twenty miles where we stopped by ice, and
worked until night.
"Friday 2I. The ice was so hard we could not break our way
through, but were obliged to haul our vessels across a point of land
and put them in the creek again. The Indians and three French canoes
was lost with her cargo of powder and lead. This night we encamped
about twenty miles above Venango.
"Saturday 22. Set out. The creek began to be very low and we
were forced to get out, to keep our canoe from oversetting, several
times; the water freezing to our clothes; and we had the pleasure of
79SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
seeing the French overset, and the brandy and wine floating in the
creek, and run by them and left them to shift for themselves. Came
to Venango and met with our people and horses.
"Sunday 23. We set out from Venango, traveled about five miles
to Lacomick Creek.  
"Monday 24. Here Major Washington set out on foot in Indian
dress. Our horses grew weak that we were mostly obliged to travel
on foot, and had snow all day. Encamped near the barrens.
"Tuesday 25. Set out and traveled on foot to branches of Great
Beaver Creek.
"Wednesday 26. The Mlajor desired me to set out on foot, and
leave our company, and the creeks were frozen, and our horses could
make but little way. Indeed, I was unwilling he should undertake
such a travel, who had never been used to walking before this time.
But as he insisted on it, we set out with our packs like Indians, and
travelled eighteen miles. That night we lodged at an Indian cabin,
and the Major was much fatigued. It was very cold; all the small
streams were frozen, that we could hardly get water to drink.
"Thursday 27. We arose early in the morning and set out about
2 o'clock. Got to the Murthering Town on the Southeast fork of
Beaver Creek. Here we met with an Indian whom I thought I had
met at Joncaire's, at Venango, when on our journey to the French fort.
This fellow called me by my Indian name, and pretended to be glad
to see me. He asked us several questions, as how we came to travel
on foot, when we left Venango, where we parted with our horses,
and when they would be there, etc. Major Washington insisted on
travelling on the nearest forks of Allegheny. We asked the Indian if
he could go with us and show us the nearest way. The Indian seemed
very glad and ready to go with us. Upon which we set out, and the
Indian took the Major's pack. We travelled very brisk for eight or
ten miles, when the Major's feet grew very sore, and he very wary,
and the Indian steered too much northeasterly. The Major desired to
encamp, to which the Indian asked to carry his gun. But he refused
that, and then the Indian grew churlish, and pressed us to keep on,
telling us that there were Ottowa Indians in these woods, and they
would scalp us if we lay out; but to go to his cabin and we would be
safe. I thought very ill of the fellow, but did not care to let the Major
know I mistrusted him. But he soon mistrusted him as much as I. He
said he could hear a gun to his cabin and steered us more northwardly.
80We grew weary, and then he said two whoops might be heard to his
cabin. We went two miles farther; then the Major said he would
stay at the next water, and we desired the Indian to stop at the next
water. But before we came to water we came to a clear meadow; it
was very light and snow on the ground. The Indian made a step,
turned about; the Major saw him point his gun towards us and fire.
Said the Major:'Are you shot?''No,' said I. Upon which the
Indian ran forward to a big standing white oak, and set to loading his
gun; but we were soon with him. I would have killed him; but the
Major would not suffer me to kill him. We let him charge his gun;
we found he put in a ball; then we took care of him. The Major and
I always stood by the guns; we made him make a fire for us by a
little run, as if we intended to sleep there. I said to the Major,'As
WASHINGTON AND GIST'S CROSSING. POINT OF LAND ON VWHICH THEY SPENT
THE NIGHT AT RIGHT
you will not have him killed we must get away, and then we must travel
all night.' Upon which I said to the Indian,'I suppose you were lost
and fired your gun.' He said he knew the way to his cabin, and it was
but a little way.'Well,' said I,'do you go home, and as we are much
tired, we will follow your track in the morning and here is a cake of
bread for you, and you must give us meat in the morning.' He was
glad to get away. I followed him and listened until he was fairly out
of the way, and then we set out about half a mile, when we made a fire,
set our compass, and fixed our course, and travelled all night, and in
the morning we were at the head of Piney Creek.
"Friday 28. We travelled all the next day down the said creek,
and just at night found some tracks where Indians had been hunting.
We parted, and appointed a place a distance off, where to meet, it
S. P.-I-6