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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many disturbances occurred in Mahanoy City, and an innocent citizen lost his life, when a disturbance arose between William M. Thomas and James Dugan. Both drew revolvers and fired at each other. Thomas was shot in the face, but Christian Zimmerman, who was standing across the street, waiting for his wife to complete her shopping, received a bullet through his lungs and died the following afternoon. Thomas was arrested for assault on Dugan, but no one was arrested for killing Zimmerman. Another man was shot through the leg during this wild duel, and a rioter was stabbed during the excitement.

McKenna hurried to Mahanoy City where he found the country in a blaze of excitement, and as the people believed him the worst Mollie Maguire in the regions, he remained but a short time, when he took a train for Shenandoah. He was in Shenandoah four hours when he learned who had fired the shot which killed Gomer James, and Tom Hurley became a refugee from justice.

The result of this unexpected success, was that all the Mollies in Shenandoah engaged in grand bacchanal, and to get rid of them McKenna left the place and went to Girardville. Here Jack Kehoe, one of the notorious Mollie leaders told him in a moment of confidence, that the murder of Squire Gwyther was the result of a drunken spree, and that Thomas Love, he was glad to say, had made his escape.

This was truly Bloody Saturday, but by no means was it the end of the reign of the Mollie Maguires in the coal regions of Pennsylvania.

Following the first massacre at Wyoming, October 15, 1763, it was more than five years before the first forty settlers arrived from Connecticut to reclaim their improvements. On their arrival they found Amos Ogden and a few other persons in possession of the lands, occupying them by authority of the Proprietary Government of Pennsylvania.

Now commenced a bitter civil war, which lasted with alternate success of the different parties for upwards of six years. The settlements of both parties were alternately broken up—the men led off to prison, the women and children driven away, and other outrages committed. Blood was often shed in this strange and civil strife.

Ogden and his little band were defeated, April 29, 1770, and the Yankees became the masters of the situation.

The Proprietaries of Pennsylvania raised a force in September, 1770, under Captain Ogden, to recover Wyoming. Governor Penn issued a proclamation, June 28, 1770, directing all intruders to depart from Wyoming.

Ogden planned a surprise attack and marching by way of Fort Allen, traveled the Warrior’s Path, then but little used. The stratagem succeeded, for the Yankees watched for them only along the regular path. Ogden again proved his shrewdness by outwitting the Yankees, and defeated them, capturing Major John Durkee, and others.

Ogden also captured Fort Durkee through a deception, and marched his prisoners off to Easton, where they were confined in jail. Major John Durkee, Major Simeon Draper and Captain Zebulon Butler, were put in irons and sent to Philadelphia.

Fort Durkee remained in possession of the Pennamites until December 18, 1770, when Captain Lazerus Stewart, and the “Paxtang Boys” surprised the garrison, and captured the fort.

The Pennsylvania authorities determined on the arrest of Captain Stewart, and a warrant was placed in the hands of Captain Ogden. He called upon Sheriff Peter Kechlin, of Northampton County, and a posse reached Wyoming, January 18, 1771. Stewart refused to submit to arrest and in the short fight, Nathan Ogden, brother of the Captain, was killed and three others wounded.

During the night Captain Stewart and forty of his men stole out of the fort and fled to the woods; the twelve remaining surrendered themselves to the sheriff. The death of his brother caused Captain Amos Ogden much distress. The coroner’s inquest found that Nathan Ogden had been horridly and wilfully murdered by Lazerus Stewart.

Fort Durkee was garrisoned by thirty Pennamites, when the sheriff, Captain Ogden, Justice Charles Stewart, with their associates, January 23, set out for Easton. Five of the ten prisoners taken at the capture of the fort were sent to Philadelphia and committed to jail, where Major Durkee and Captain Butler were still languishing. Those who escaped with Captain Lazerus Stewart scattered and returned to their homes. Thus was consummated the fifth expulsion of the Yankees from Wyoming.

The Pennamites in the two forts at Wilkes-Barre were reinforced by other Pennsylvanians and Captain Amos Ogden and Charles Stewart, Esq. Fort Wyoming was enlarged and strengthened and all the Pennamite settlers dwelt therein. Fort Durkee was abandoned and dismantled.

During the next four months peace reigned supreme, and the Proprietaries had much land surveyed in the Manors of Stoke and Sunbury, and laid out to various persons, under warrants of the Provincial Land Office.

In the mid-summer seventy men of Connecticut, formerly owners of land at Wyoming, were enlisted under Captain Zebulon Butler to go forward to the much-coveted valley. While preparations were going on in Connecticut for the Wyoming expedition Lazerus Stewart was gathering together a few of the “Paxtang Boys,” who hastened to join Captain Butler on the march to Wyoming.

Colonel Asher Clayton was the chief man among the Pennamites, who now seemed secure and thrifty. On July 6, news reached him that armed forces of Yankees were approaching, and scouts brought him intelligence that the Yankees were determined to secure possession of this country. Clayton went forward and met Butler, but they could not come to terms, and Clayton returned to the fort. Captain Butler and his men invested the block house at Mill Creek and awaited developments.

Captain Amos Ogden again arrived at Wyoming and almost as soon as the Yankees. He found the situation so serious that he determined to be his own messenger to Philadelphia, where he arrived July 16, in three days’ travel. He appeared before Provincial Council and related the story. They agreed to raise 100 men and immediately set about to recruit them, but met with unexpected difficulty.

Captain Butler did not wait for these reinforcements to reach the Pennamites, but, Sunday, July 21, believed the time had come for the offensive. That night he silently marched them to the vicinity of Fort Wyoming, where, before daylight he had entrenched. By Monday these intrenchments were occupied by Yankees and the battle for Fort Wyoming was begun. Other redoubts were erected by which all communication with the outside was cut off from Fort Wyoming, but the Pennamites possessed means of defense so long as their provisions and ammunition would hold out.

Reinforcements under Captains John Dick and Joseph Morris left their rendezvous in the Blue Mountains, Sunday, July 28, and arrived before daybreak on the 30th. Within 200 yards of the block house they were attacked by the Yankees and lost two loads of flour and nine men. The Yankees continued a constant fire, day and night, until August 10, the defenders returning the fire.

Efforts to send volunteers to the relief of the Pennamites were unavailing, until Ogden, Van Campen and others, who had extensive land claims there, induced 62 men to march under command of Dr. Andrew Leslie from Reemeys, they arrived August 15, at “Ten-Mile Run,” where they bivouacked, after sending a messenger to the inmates of the fort.

But before the arrival of this detail and the supplies which they brought, the garrison was nearly starved and on the 15th Colonel Clayton sent out a flag of truce, and after several consultations accepted the best terms he could obtain. By the Articles of Capitulation 23 men were to march out armed, the remainder unarmed, and all to return to their homes unmolested; men who had families could remain two weeks to collect their effects; and the sick and wounded could be cared for until able to leave. The Indian messenger from the relief party arrived just as the fort was surrendered.

Thus Wyoming was again in the possession of the settlers of the Susquehanna Company and Captain Zebulon Butler the hero of the hour.

Early in April, 1749, the Six Nations held a Grand Council at Onondaga Castle, when it was decided to send deputies from each of the nations to Philadelphia, to shake hands with Governor James Hamilton, who had assumed the office in the previous November; to answer a proposal for peace with the Catawba, which had been made by the former Governor of Pennsylvania, and to consider other matters. It was agreed that all the deputies should meet together at Wyoming, and proceed thence in a body to Philadelphia.

About the middle of May the four deputies of the Seneca accompanied by other members of their nation, arrived at Wyoming, where they waited a month for the arrival of the deputies of the other nations, who, however, failed to appear. The Seneca thereupon continued their journey via the North Branch to Shamokin, then the main river, and arrived at Philadelphia, June 26, accompanied by some Tutelo, Nanticoke and Conoy. These Indians were received by the Governor and Council on July 1, when Ogashtash, the Seneca speaker, stated that the Grand Council at Onondaga had heard that the white people had begun to settle on the Indians’ side of the Blue Mountains, in the present Juniata Valley.

Ogashtash further said that during their stay at Wyoming they had heard things which made them believe this was true. They wanted to know if this was done wickedly by bad people or if the new Governor had brought some instructions from the King, or Proprietaries, which the Grand Council did not yet know, but would cause much hurt.

Governor Hamilton informed the Seneca that the settling of the white squatters along the Juniata was contrary to the terms of the treaties made by the Government with the Indians, and that a proclamation would be issued commanding all the white people who had settled north of the Blue Mountains to remove by November 1, 1749.

Presents to the value of £100 were distributed on July 4 to the Indians, and a day or two later Conrad Weiser conducted them out of the city and journeyed with them as far as his house in Heidelberg Township. Here the Indians concluded to remain for a few days to visit with their old friend and brother, and without invitation they camped out near his house and made themselves very much at home. The Tutelo injured and destroyed a large amount of Weiser’s movable property and damaged his plantation generally. Weiser tried in vain to influence them to proceed on their journey. Finally, after an unpleasant experience of a week or ten days with these unruly visitors, Weiser induced the Seneca to take their departure, and they forced the Tutelo to go along.

The Tutelo were from villages on the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Zeisberger speaks of this tribe as a “degenerate remnant of thieves and drunkards”; he says that their village near Shamokin was “the only town on the continent inhabited by Tutelos.”

These Indians loafed and loitered along the way to the Susquehanna, taking along anything which struck their fancy, and when that stream was reached they paddled their canoes up the river, stopped awhile at Shamokin, then at Nescopeck, then at Wyoming, where they arrived August 1.

Two days after these Indians arrived at Wyoming, a large fleet of canoes came unexpectedly down the North Branch bearing the belated deputies of the Onondaga, Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Tuscarora nations together with many other representatives—chiefs, warriors, squaws and children of these several nations, and many Indians of other tribes.

This large company remained at Wyoming for a day, and then proceeded down the river, accompanied by the Seneca deputies, and their party, who had just returned from Philadelphia, also by Chief Paxinosa and a large number of his Shawnee from their new home in what is now Plymouth, Luzerne County, and by a number of Delaware, Nanticoke and Mohican from the different villages along their route. At Nescopeck they were joined by King Nutimus and a number of his people, and then, without further delay, they floated down the river to Shamokin.

Arriving at this old Indian town at the Forks of the Susquehanna, now Sunbury, a messenger was sent in haste over the mountains to Conrad Weiser to announce the coming of the deputies. Soon as Weiser received this intelligence he dispatched an express to Governor Hamilton, who immediately directed the messenger to hurry back to Weiser, who was instructed by the Governor and Council “to try all ways to divert the Indians from coming to Philadelphia.” This the good old interpreter tried to do, but his efforts were resented by the Indians with so much spirit that he was obliged “to turn his protestations into invitations and make the best of circumstances.”

When this small army of deputies reached Tulpehocken, Conrad Weiser joined them and was the leader of the party from there to Philadelphia, where they arrived August 14, and according to the official records they numbered 280 in all. Governor Hamilton paid a ceremonious visit to the Indians, and appointed August 16 as the date for the conference with them.

Several days time of this conference was consumed in discussing the matters which had brought the Indians to Philadelphia. As a result of the conference the Proprietaries obtained for £500 a deed dated August 22, 1749, for a strip of land northwest and contiguous to the Blue Mountains, and extending from the Susquehanna to the Delaware River, the northwest boundary of this strip being a straight line running in a northeasterly direction from the north side of the mouth of the “Cantagny or Maghonoy Creek,” and now known as Mahanoy Creek, a mile below the present city of Sunbury, “to the north side of the south of the creek called Lechawachsein,” now Lackawaxon, which flows into the Delaware near the northern limit of Pike County; the southern boundary was the mountain range, beginning near Dauphin and running in a northeasterly direction until it falls into the Delaware River at the present Delaware Water Gap.

This new purchase included all or parts of the present counties of Dauphin, Northumberland, Lebanon, Schuylkill, Columbia, Carbon, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike and Wayne.

Robert Fulton demonstrated the first successful commercial steam vessel August 17, 1807, when he opened the throttle and the Clermont slowly, but surely, moved against the swift current of the Hudson River.

Robert Fulton was born on a farm in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, in 1765. His father was a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, and emigrated to Lancaster County in 1735, where he soon became one of the foremost citizens, but did not make a success of farming. A year after Robert’s birth he mortgaged the farm and moved to Lancaster, where he died in 1768.

Mrs. Fulton was left with three daughters and two sons, and but little money and less time to spare to help meet the mortgage. She managed well with her family but the farm was lost.

The boyhood of Robert was filled with a desire to express his feelings through the dual medium of painting and mechanics. He seemed to love both with equal ardor.

His first great thrill came through the acquisition of some discarded paints and brushes brought to school one day by a companion. Fulton accomplished great things with them, and quite forgot he was in school to study.

When Robert was thirteen, the citizens of Lancaster wished to light up the town on the evening of July 4. It was in the midst of the Revolution and candles were as scarce as money. The demonstration was given up until Robert thought out a plan for skyrockets and the lad made possible the celebration.

In Lancaster lived a clever man named William Henry, who had made some experiments with a steamboat. Robert often visited the Henry home, and there saw some pictures painted by Benjamin West, a former Chester County boy, who had gained great fame as an artist. Here was a man who appealed to young Fulton.

Robert placed a paddle wheel on his rowboat after the Henry plan, but propelled it by hand. It is quite possible that he dreamed of the greater speed if steam power could be applied.

When Robert was seventeen his mother apprenticed him to a Philadelphia silversmith. This was a mistake. He showed his character by quitting and establishing himself as a miniature painter—work that he loved. His plain studio was at the corner of Second and Walnut Streets. Here he supported himself for four years. He sketched and painted portraits and landscapes, and made drawings of machinery. So well did he work that at twenty-one he returned to Lancaster with enough money to buy a small farm for his mother.

Following the advice of some friends in 1786, he went to England, where he devoted several years to his profession, under the tuition of Benjamin West, who received him into his own home. Here he became acquainted with the Duke of Bridgewater, the founder of the great canal system of Great Britain, who induced Fulton to abandon art, and take up the study of mechanical science.

Fulton soon invented a double-inclined plane for raising or lowering boats from one level to another. In 1794 he devised a mill for sawing marble. In 1796 he evolved the idea of cast iron aqueducts, and a structure of this kind was built over the River Dee. He designed several bridges; he invented machinery for spinning flax; another for making ropes; one for digging ditches, and a dispatch boat.

In 1796 he published a “Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation,” copies of which were sent to President Washington, and other public officials, accompanied by letters telling of the advantages to be derived by canal navigation in America.

From 1797 to 1804 he resided in Paris with Joel Barlow, the American representative at the French court. During this period Fulton invented a submarine or plunging boat, called a “torpedo” designed to be used in naval warfare. Bonaparte appointed a commission to examine it. Fulton could easily descend to any depth, or rise to the surface. On one occasion he remained below the surface for four hours.

The French Government declined to patronize the project, and Fulton accepted the invitation from the English ministry, but would not agree to sell them a secret which the United States might need.

In 1806, after an absence of nineteen years, Fulton returned to the United States, and devoted his thought to the perfection of a steamboat, a project which he had in his mind for many years.

When in France Fulton met Robert R. Livingston, a rich man from New York, who was much interested in steamboats. Livingston had already built one, which proved a failure. The two men now joined forces. This made a fine association for Fulton’s knowledge of machinery was far greater than Livingston’s, but the latter had the wealth and influence which could bring an invention to the public.

Livingston obtained the sole right for them to navigate the waters of New York State for twenty years, if they could produce a steam vessel capable of a speed of four miles an hour against the current of the Hudson River.

Fulton finished his first steamboat in the Spring of 1807. He called it the Clermont, which was the name of Livingston’s estate near Albany. The first trip from New York to Albany was made on Monday, August 17, 1807—a day that will never be forgotten.

Crowds assembled at the wharf to see the Clermont start. Few believed it would move; most called it “Fulton’s Folly.” The trip was even more successful than Fulton had anticipated; it excited great admiration, and steamboats were rapidly multiplied on American waters. The Clermont made regular trips between New York and Albany, at the rate of five miles per hour, but this speed was soon increased by improvements in the machinery.

The success of the Clermont caused Fulton to construct other and larger boats and ferry boats. He also built the world’s first steam propelled warship, in the War of 1812.

In 1806 he married Harriet, daughter of Walter Livingston, by whom he had four children. He possessed great personal dignity and agreeable manners, and many noble qualities of heart.

In the midst of his triumph and in the height of his prosperity he died.

During the winter of 1814–15 he was building a floating steam battery and visited the works at Paulus Hook, now Jersey City. He stood three hours in the cold, and then tramped through pools of water. He became ill from this exposure, but again visited the construction, and died February 24, 1815. The New York Legislature wore mourning six weeks. His funeral was the largest ever held in New York City up to that time. The body of this distinguished Pennsylvanian rests in Trinity churchyard on Broadway, at the head of Wall Street.