During the latter part of the year 1789, the President and members of the Supreme Executive Council appointed a commission to view the Delaware, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers, in pursuance of an act of Assembly passed September 28, 1789, with the object of ascertaining data whether or not these waters could be rendered navigable.

This commission, composed of Timothy Matlack, Reading Howell, William Dean, John Adlum and Benjamin Rittenhouse, attended to the important duty assigned them and in their report strongly recommended that a commission of experienced surveyors be named for “the purpose of ascertaining the most convenient and practicable place for connecting the waters of the three rivers, with those of the Allegheny, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. And in cases where portage by land will be necessary, to examine the face of the country and report the most suitable places for landings and roads.”

A great meeting was held at Paxtang, October 20, 1789, which was attended by citizens of eight counties, when an organization was affected with James Ewing, of York County, as chairman. Committees were named for each county to solicit subscriptions for the furtherance of these surveys, and a commission was appointed, consisting of Frederic Antes, of Northumberland County; John Brattan, of Huntingdon; Andrew Galbraith, of Cumberland, and SebastianSebastian Graff and John Haldeman, of Lancaster, to superintend the work of removing obstructions in the Susquehanna and Juniata rivers.

A resolution was adopted which authorized the appointment of three surveyors, to begin at the mouth of the Juniata and proceed up the Susquehanna to Sunbury, thence up the West Branch to Sinnemahoning Creek, thence to Canoe Place, or such place “as will connect most easily with any practicable branch of the Allegheny, the Consua, Toby’s Creek, or any other which may discharge itself into the Allegheny nearest to the mouth of French Creek, and thence examine French Creek up to Le Boeuf and the portage to Presqu’ Isle.”

Timothy Matlack, John Adlum, Samuel Maclay, Reading Howell, Frederick Antes, and William Dean were appointed April 6, and commissioned and qualified April 9, 1790.

The three first mentioned set out on the work along the Susquehanna and the others took up the work on the lower Susquehanna and Schuylkill.

Samuel Maclay kept an interesting journal of the experiences of the commission, from which the following is taken.

Messrs. Matlack and Adlum set out from Philadelphia May 6, and met Maclay at Lebanon. They remained there nearly a week, and began their work when they set out from the Swatara, having taken James McLaughlin, Edward Sweeney, and Matthew Gray into the pay of the State.

The party reached Herold’s, below Selinsgrove, by May 17, then proceeded to Northumberland. Here Maclay went to visit his family at now Lewisburg. John Adlum visited with his friend Colonel Frederic Antes, and Timothy Matlack was the guest of Colonel William Wilson, of Northumberland.

The party was organized during this stay at Northumberland and proceeded up the West Branch to the mouth of the Loyalsock. They next encamped on the Great Island, then reached the Sinnemahoning, where they built several canoes.

The actual survey began at Canoe Place, where Adlum ran a line to the Allegheny. He writes in his journal of catching beaver, and of the large numbers of “wolves which frequently crossed their track, in a very indifferent manner.”

June 14, they surveyed the West Branch of the Sinnemahoning as far as Boyd’s quarry, the following day reached Bennett’s.

On July 2, the party reached the Ohio River, and went down it, being guided by an Indian, named Doctor Thomas.

When the western boundary of the State was reached, Conne Shangom, the chief, had gone to Venango, but another chief, Captain John, made the commissioners a speech of welcome. At this place they came across a Dutchman, who had been taken prisoner by the Indians in the last war, but who chose to continue to live with them.

On July 7, the commissioners had an interesting interview with the celebrated Indian Chieftain, Cornplanter, at Jenoshawdego.

Maclay records that the Indians were very jealous of them until they were made to fully understand their mission. Cornplanter then welcomed them with a speech. Maclay says, “we were addressed by an orator, on behalf of the women.” This speech of Cornplanter’s was responded to by Colonel Matlack.

The Commissioners then went to Cornplanter’s town and “had the honor of his company for supper.”

July 14, they struck the old French road to Erie. Maclay records that “the cart ruts are quite plain yet.” He further records, “Lake Erie is a fresh water sea. You can see the horizon and water meet.”

The party was here caught in a terrible storm and thoroughly drenched.

The party pushed down the Allegheny a distance of eighty miles, and Sunday morning, July 18, they met Mr. Adlum and his party. Adlum finished a survey the next day, and the entire party was again united at Buckaloon, or Brokenstraw, about five miles from the present town of Warren.

On the 20th the party arrived at Fort Franklin, where the commanding officer, Lieutenant Jeffries, was very polite to them.

Two days later Maclay records, “we paired off and discharged an old Indian chief and a white savage.” The commissioners left Fort Franklin this day, and reached David Meads, at present Meadville. They then went to Le Boeuf, and from there back to Fort Franklin, where they arrived August 1.

Maclay writes about using some oil, collected from a small oil spring along French Creek, on his lame back. The effect was beneficial.

The survey of the Allegheny River began at this point, and they also explored the tributary streams all the way down that river to the Conemaugh, then to Frankstown, on the Juniata River, where they arrived September 8.

The commissioners proceeded down the Juniata to the Susquehanna. Samuel Maclay notes that he arrived at his home Friday, September 17, and found his family all well and at dinner.

The report was made as three different surveys, and the cost £561, 27s.

At the close of Governor John F. Hartranft’s second term the Republicans nominated General Henry Martyn Hoyt, of Wilkes-Barre, while the Democrats had as their standard-bearer Honorable Andrew H. Dill, of Lewisburg.

The campaign was conducted along the line of national issues, the leading discussion being the resumption of specie payments. This became the keynote of the campaign and Hoyt was elected by a large majority.

An interesting historical event occurred before the end of Hartranft’s administration, on December 19, 1878, when Bayard Taylor died in the city of Berlin, Germany, while serving at his post as Minister to Germany. He was a native of Chester County and through his literary works had done much to increase the fame of Pennsylvania.

After Governor Hartranft retired from the office of Governor he removed to Philadelphia, where he served as Postmaster of the city, and afterward as Collector of the Port.

His love for the National Guard continued and he was the commanding general from 1879 until his death on October 17, 1889. His memory as a soldier is perpetuated by an equestrian statue on the plaza of the Capitol at Harrisburg and by a beautiful monument in the cemetery at Norristown.

Governor Hoyt was inaugurated on January 21, 1879, being the first such ceremony held under the provisions of the new Constitution of 1874, and on January 7, following, the Legislature met in biennial session for the first time, as provided in the new Constitution.

On May 16, 1881, the Legislature adopted a joint resolution, which had for its purpose the reinterment of William Penn in the City of Philadelphia.

George L. Harrison, Esq., of Philadelphia, at his own expense, carried the Governor’s request to the legal representatives of William Penn, and trustees of Jordan’s Meeting House, England, but after some deliberation they refused to grant the request.

Had this been granted the body of the founder and former Proprietor of Pennsylvania would have been resting in Pennsylvania soil at the time the bicentennial of Penn’s arrival in the Province was observed with fitting ceremonies in October, 1882.

This great celebration was held in Chester and Philadelphia, beginning with appropriate religious services on Sunday, October 21. “Landing Day” was observed at Chester on Monday, the following day was known as “Landing Day” in Philadelphia, when the “Welcome” arrived at the foot of Dock Street, where the landing scenes of the previous day were again re-enacted, with Quakers, Swedes and Indians in the large cast.

The parade up Dock Street passed a stand, where Governor Hoyt, Alexander P. Colesberry, president Bi-Centennial Association Committee, and other members of the committee and distinguished guests reviewed the pageant. Here the character of William Penn made a speech, to which Tamanend, sachem of the Delaware Nation, made reply.

The great celebration ended on Friday with a grand military parade under command of General John F. Hartranft. This was a fitting and impressive observance in which the 200 years of history were recalled in tableaux, story, music, pageantry and parade.

The Republican Party received its first setback in a State campaign in 1882, when Robert E. Pattison, of Philadelphia, defeated General James A. Beaver, of Bellefonte, in a spirited contest.

The campaign disclosed the fact that there were too many members of the Republican Party dissatisfied with the conditions in their organization. The disaffected united in an independent movement and nominated John Stewart, of Chambersburg, afterward a Justice of the Supreme Court, as their candidate for Governor.

The Greenback-Labor Party also placed a candidate in the field in the person of Thomas A. Armstrong. The Prohibition candidate was Alfred C. Petit. Mr. Pattison easily overcame the normal Republican majority on account of the divided vote and was elected by more than 40,000 plurality.

Governor Pattison was inaugurated January 16, 1883, at the age of thirty-two years. He was of the opinion that the State should be redistricted in congressional, senatorial and representative districts, as required by the Constitution, and when the Legislature adjourned without passing the necessary legislation, the Governor issued a proclamation on the day fixed for final adjournment, June 6, 1883, and called an extra session to convene the following day.

The Legislature continued in session until December 6, and reapportioned the State into judicial districts, but the efforts in behalf of new districts for Congress and the Legislature proved unavailing.

The act creating the annual observance of Arbor Day was enacted on March 17, 1885, and Governor Pattison appointed April 16 of that year as the first Arbor Day in Pennsylvania, a custom which has been followed to the present time.

In 1886 four candidates were placed in the field for the office of Governor. The Republicans again nominated General James A. Beaver and the Democrats named Chauncey F. Black, of York. The Prohibitionists selected Charles S. Wolf, of Lewisburg, and the Greenback Party named Robert J. Houston.

The Republicans presented a solid front this time and easily elected General Beaver, who was inaugurated January 18, 1887.

In the first session of the General Assembly the State was divided into twenty-eight congressional districts and 204 legislative districts.

An amendment to the Constitution, proposing to “prohibit the manufacture, sale or keeping for sale of any intoxicating liquor to be used as a beverage” was defeated by the vote of the people almost two to one. This amendment was strongly urged by Governor Beaver.

An important movement was put into action by the Governor, himself a gallant veteran of the Civil War, when by the act of the Legislature memorial tablets were erected on the battlefield of Gettysburg. These tablets were dedicated on Pennsylvania Day, September 11–12, 1889.

An interesting historical event was the centennial anniversary of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, which was observed in Philadelphia September 15, 16 and 17, 1887. The Constitutional Centennial Commission arranged a civic and industrial procession, military parade and memorial ceremonies in a manner reflecting great honor and credit to all concerned.

One of the earliest of American romances is written about the character and thrilling experiences of Daniel Boone, who forsook the quiet and uneventful life of a Quaker, turned his back on the civilization of his native State, deserted his farm in North Carolina and went in search of adventure in the wilderness of Kentucky.

George Boone, III, sailed from England with his wife and three of their nine children, August 17, 1717, and landed in Philadelphia, October 10. This family resided for a short time at Abington, then for two years at North Wales. They belonged to the sect of Quakers and were members of the Gwynedd Meeting.

George Boone, next settled at Oley, then in Philadelphia County, but later, a part of Exeter Township, Berks County; named Exeter when Berks County was erected in honor of the Boone home in England. Here George Boone built a log house, in 1720, situated seven miles east of Reading. It is still standing, and is one of the priceless relics of old Berks County.

The third son of George and Mary Maugridge Boone was Squire Boone, the father of Daniel Boone, who was born on another farm in the same neighborhood, on October 22, 1733.

Daniel left Berks County with his parents for North Carolina in 1750, at the age of seventeen years. They seated themselves in Yadkin River Valley, and young Boone soon became the most expert woodsman and hunter in that section of the State. In 1755 Daniel married Rebecca Bryan, the prettiest girl in the neighborhood, and they were happy in their new log house.

The settlers became too numerous and soon the hunting was more difficult and longer trips necessary. Daniel grew restless, and about that time he was attracted by the tales of John Finley, an experienced Indian trader and adventurer, about the country beyond the mountains, known as Kentucky.

Boone then gathered together five companions and set out on a hunting and exploration trip. After a long, weary march they reached the heights overlooking the plains of Central Kentucky, and observed the huge herds of buffalo and deer, and felt amply rewarded for the hardships endured in getting there.

They erected a cabin and passed a happy and busy summer hunting and exploring. A few days before Christmas the camp was broken up through the capture of Boone and a companion while out hunting. They were suddenly surprised by fifteen Indians and taken prisoners.

Boone and his companion made their captors believe they were happy in their experience and promptly accepted the Indian manner of doing things.

In the middle of the night Boone awakened his companion, grabbed their rifles and escaped.

When they arrived at their cabin it was deserted. The two men realized they were the only white men west of the mountains, but they remained and resumed their hunting.

Some days later Squire Boone, a brother of Daniel, and a friend, arrived at Daniel’s camp. The neighbor who accompanied Squire soon grew homesick and returned to North Carolina. Boone’s other companion was killed by the Indians, and only the brothers were left alone in that wilderness of Kentucky.

They hunted all winter, and in the spring Squire tramped back home for a supply of powder leaving Daniel alone. Three months later Squire returned with powder, lead, horses and the happy tidings that all was well at home.

The following spring Daniel and his brother made a trip home. A year later he sold his farm and planned to make his home in Kentucky. Several neighbors decided to join him, and soon five families, forty in all, with cattle and household goods, were tramping toward the western country.

Suddenly the men driving the cattle were fired at from ambush and six of them killed, one of whom was Daniel Boone’s eldest son. This so saddened the emigrants that Daniel Boone led them back to the Clinch River, where they remained until 1774.

Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, employed Boone to rescue a party of surveyors, and he made a round trip of 800 miles, to the Falls of the Ohio and back to Virginia in sixty-two days, bringing the men back without a mishap.

On April 1, 1775, he began the erection of his famous fort on the Kentucky River. It was finished in June and named Boonesborough.

Boone then returned home, gathered up his family and took them to the new home he had prepared. Here they were happy until the Indians began to make trouble.

The day before Christmas one of his men was killed and another wounded. The following June, Boone’s young daughter and two girls foolishly crossed the river in a boat and were carried away by the Indians.

Boone and eight companions started in pursuit, and forty miles distant came upon them at dinner. The Indians were taken by surprise and fled without their rifles, two being killed on the jump. The girls were rescued unharmed.

During the winter of 1778 Boone was captured at a salt springs, with about thirty of his men. The Indians led them toward Canada, reaching Detroit in March.

The English bought the prisoners, offering a large sum for Boone, but the Indians refused it, saying they liked him and wanted to make him one of their tribe. Boone returned with them, always conducting himself in a cheerful manner. He was adopted in the tribe as a son of Chief Blackfish.

One evening he learned the Indians planned an attack on Boonesborough. He hid food in his shirt and at daybreak started on a hunting trip. Covering his trail, he set out for home, walking day and night, eating few meals during the 160 miles through the woods.

When he arrived he found his wife, believing him dead, had returned to her father’s home. He assembled his sixty men and prepared for the attack of 400 Indians.

The attack was made, British and Canadians being among the savages under Chief Blackfish. A parley of two days was agreed to, but Boone used the time to better protect the fort.

After a fierce fight lasting nine days the Indians gave up and started home, leaving behind thirty-seven dead and many wounded. Boone lost two men and had four wounded.

In 1780 Squire Boone was killed and Daniel had a narrow escape from capture.

In 1782 Boone was commissioned a lieutenant colonel. One of his sons was killed and the other wounded.

Kentucky was admitted as a State February 4, 1791. Boone’s restless spirit then moved him westward and in 1795 he settled in Missouri. He died September 26, 1820, and his body was buried beside his wife, who had died seven years before.

In 1845 Boone’s remains were re-interred near Frankfort, Ky.

After the murder of Colonel William Crawford, which occurred June, 1782, about five miles west of Upper Sandusky, the Scots and other frontiersmen were saddened but far from being discouraged.

The fugitives of the ill-fated expedition to the Sandusky had hardly returned to their homes along the western frontier of Pennsylvania when they began preparations for another expedition.

The borderers possessed a fierce determination to crush out the “red vipers” and one more trip into the Indian country soon as harvest was gathered was but an incident in their exciting life.

General William Irvine, the commandant at Fort Pitt, was urged to command, and principal men of that vicinity agreed to furnish the provisions, not only for the volunteers but for the regular troops.

The General determined to lead the expedition if he should be satisfied with its size and equipment. Men who were too aged for service agreed to furnish the horses and provisions.

It was intended to start early in August, but the summer had been so dry that the mills could not grind until the water was sufficient, so a postponement was announced until September 20.

General Irvine kept the State Government advised of the preparations on the frontier and at the same time intimated that State and Congress would materially assist in the enterprise.

After a conference between members of Congress and the Supreme Executive Council a recommendation was made, September 1, 1782, to General Washington that the General Government should aid in this campaign against the savages. It was an opportune moment as operations in the East were quiet and peace was soon expected with Great Britain.

General Washington agreed that three expeditions should penetrate the Indian country, each to be composed of regulars, militia and volunteers, and Congress voted to bear the expenses of the regular troops.

Brigadier General Irvine was to command in person the expedition which would move from Fort Pitt against the Wyandot and Delaware on the Sandusky River; Major General James Potter, of Northumberland County, was to advance from Sunbury into the Seneca land, in the Genesee Valley of New York State, and a third expedition was to be sent by the State of New York against the Eastern Iroquois in the vicinity of Oswego.

Two companies of militia, one from York and the other from Cumberland County, were sent to Westmoreland to guard its settlements while its own men were absent in the Indian country.

Detachments of Colonel Moses Hazen’s “Canadian Regiment” stationed at Lancaster and Carlisle were ordered to march to Fort Pitt and there join General Irvine, who had at that post two companies of the Eighth Pennsylvania regiment, commanded by Captains Samuel Brady and John Clark.

General Lincoln, Secretary of War, proposed that General Irvine’s force should aggregate 1200 men and set October 8 as the date to begin the campaign, and assured General Irvine that the additional troops would be there by that time.

While preparations were being made the Indians struck a blow against the border. Early in September, Captain Andrew Bradt and forty Canadian Rangers and 238 Indians, Wyandot, Delaware and Shawnee, set out from Upper Sandusky to attack Wheeling.

Fort Henry, at that place, was defended by twenty-seven men, only eighteen of whom were fit for duty. One swivel gun, which had been discarded by the French and thrown into the river when Fort Duquesne was evacuated in 1758, had been recovered by the pioneers and again set up.

All the inhabitants of that neighborhood flocked to the stockade on the news of the approach of the enemy. Colonel Ebenezer Zane was in command of the garrison.

Captain Bradt’s force crossed the Ohio and paraded in front of Fort Henry in the evening of Wednesday, September 11. The captain displayed the British flag and demanded a surrender, which was promptly rejected, and soon firing was opened on the fort from long range.

At midnight the savages attempted to carry the fort by storm, but were repulsed. The French swivel gun proved to be more than a relic and rendered a good account of itself, and especially as the Indians were much afraid of any sort of cannon.

Two more attempts to gain by storm were made before daybreak, and both proved futile. The enemy, however, kept up a steady fire during the day. Captain Bradt sent a Negro to the fort with a second demand for surrender, and during Thursday night a fourth desperate attempt to take the fort by storm was made.

Again the brave riflemen repulsed the savage horde and broke their spirit, and they retired and recrossed the Ohio. Only one defender was wounded in the foot.

After the failure to invest Wheeling, seventy of the Indians who cut loose from the main force and went for scalps and plunder, attacked the blockhouse of Abraham Rice, on Buffalo Creek, within the present Donegal Township, Washington County.

Six men in that blockhouse successfully defended it from 2 o’clock in the afternoon of September 13 until 2 o’clock the following morning. They killed four Indians and lost one of their own number, George Felebaum, who was shot in the brain while looking through a loophole.

The savages killed many cattle and burned the barn. On their return toward the Ohio they met and killed two settlers who were going to the relief of Rice’s blockhouse. This was the last invasion of Western Pennsylvania by a large body of Indians.

While General Irvine was impatient that Hazen’s regulars did not arrive, on October 23, he received word from Philadelphia that the Indian war was at an end and that his expedition was countermanded.

To the credit of General Sir Guy Carleton is due the cessation of the Indian depredations. Soon after his appointment he was shocked by the cruel burning of Colonel William Crawford and other American prisoners, and he immediately put an end to the six years of terrible savage butchery.

General Washington learned of General Carleton’s action September 23, when he directed the authorities in Philadelphia to stop General Potter at Sunbury from marching to Fort Pitt.

On September 27 General Lincoln ordered Generals Hazen and Irvine to call off the expedition. The former immediately returned with his command to Lancaster. The letter to General Irvine was not promptly delivered and Captain Samuel Brady found the bearer at a wayside inn, and he hurried the intelligence to General Irvine too late.

But in the autumn of 1782, the sorely harried frontiersmen were encouraged to believe their distresses were at an end, and with much joy they were able to participate in the first general Thanksgiving Day celebrated in the United States on the last Thursday of November.

Two great waters south of Pennsylvania admit ships from Europe, and by them white men came. Their first approach was up the Chesapeake.

Captain John Smith sailed from the colony of Jamestown, Va., July 24, 1608, on an exploring expedition, and his little craft, bearing thirteen souls, was propelled with sail and oar.oar. Even with such a vessel he experienced some danger and suffered privations, before he pushed as far up the “northwest branch” as he could. This, of course, was the Susquehanna River.

Captain Smith first saw the Susquehanna Indians, and he is the one explorer who has given us a fine account of the country he visited and the people he met.

Twelve months after Captain Smith’s visit to the head of the Chesapeake, Henry Hudson, in the “Half Moon,” sailed along the Atlantic Coast and discovered the existence of the Delaware Bay, on August 28, 1609.

But neither Captain John Smith nor Henry Hudson entered Pennsylvania. They approached or reached the open doorway, but it is not certain either came inside. The first actual visit of a white man was not made until six years after Hudson’s call at the Capes.

The first exploration of the Susquehanna River for its entire length was made in the fall, winter and spring of 1615–16 by Etienne (Stephen) Brulé, a Frenchman in the employ of Samuel Champlain, the first Governor of New France. He entered Pennsylvania via the North Branch the latter part of October, 1615.

A narrative of Brulé's explorations is given by John G. Shea and is to the effect that Brulé crossed from Lake Ontario to the headwaters of the Susquehanna, descended the North Branch, and furnished the Jesuit Fathers with the earliest information we have of the aborigines of that section.

The glowing description which Brulé gave of these Neuters led Father de la Roche Daillon to visit them. Brulé must have been among these Indians as early as 1610, and perhaps earlier. He was one of the first Europeans ever to visit the Huron country and acquire a knowledge of their language.

Brulé was a dauntless woodsman, interpreter and guide and seems to have possessed the requisite quantity of genuine bravado to have done the things with which he is credited.

September 8, 1615, when Champlain was preparing to join the Huron in their expedition against their ancient enemies, the Iroquois, Brulé set out with a party of twelve Huron from Upper Canada for the town of Carantouan on the Susquehanna, to obtain their co-operation against the common enemy. The Indians formed part of the confederacy known later as the Andastes.

Brulé, with his little band of Huron, crossed from Lake Ontario to the Susquehanna, defeated on the way a war-party of Iroquois and entered Carantouan in triumph.

This was that tribe’s principal town and was palisaded. From this town they could send out 800 warriors, which would indicate a total population of 4000 souls. Brulé obtained here a force of 500 Carantouan, and they set out to join Champlain and the Huron; but as they proceeded slowly, they reached the Iroquoian town only to find that Champlain had attacked it with his force, had failed, had himself been wounded, and had returned to Canada.

Brulé and his allies returned to Carantouan, and here Brulé remained the rest of the autumn and winter, “for lack of company and escort home.”

While thus waiting Brulé explored the country and visited tribes adjacent to that region. He explored along the river “that debouches in the direction of Florida,” and left the neighborhood of Oneida, N. Y., in the fall of 1615, and descended the Susquehanna River to at least the present Pennsylvania-Maryland boundary. This is evidenced by the fact that in the report of his journey he refers to meeting with tribes who complained of the harshness of the Dutch.

Certainly these early settlers had not gone far from the mouth of the great rivers at this early date, even to explore the country. He reported many warlike nations carrying on wars against each other; the climate as very temperate, and great numbers of animals and an abundance of small game.

He continued his course “along the river as far as the sea, and to islands and lands near them, which are inhabited by various tribes and large numbers of savages, who are well disposed and love the French above all nations. But those who know the Dutch complain severely of them, since they treat them roughly.”

When he attempted to rejoin his countrymen, his party was attacked and scattered by the Iroquois and Brulé, losing his way, entered an Iroquois village. He tried to convince them that he was not of the same nation of whites who had just been attacking them, but the savages fell upon him, tore out his nails and beard and began to burn him in different parts of the body.

He was far from being an exemplary character, but wore an Agnus Dei, and when the Indians went to tear this from his neck he threatened them with the vengeance of heaven. Just then a terrible thunderstorm came up, his tormentors fled in all directions and the chief of the tribe released Brulé.

After this he spent some time with them. They escorted him on a four days’ journey to visit the Huron tribe on Lake Huron.

He found Champlain in 1618, and made his report to him. It was apparently on this return trip that he passed through the territory of the Neuters, as it would be his safest course.

It may be well to record here the ultimate fate of this intrepid adventurer. In 1623 he was in Quebec, where he was sent to meet and bring down the Huron coming to trade. He returned with them, leading a very dissolute life among the Indians.

Sagard, in his “History of Canada,” says when Kirk took Quebec Brulé deserted the French and went over to the English. He was sent up to the Huron, in 1629, in the interest of the English, notwithstanding the bitter reproaches of his old commander, Champlain. Sagard further states that the traitorous conduct of Brulé provoked the Huron, who put him to death and devoured him.

The Jesuits do not mention this fate, but intimate that he met his death at the town of Toanchain, about one mile from Thunder Bay.

Such was the fate of the man who was the first to cross from Lake Ontario to the Susquehanna and pass from the villages of the Iroquois through neutral country to the shores of Lake Huron. Certainly he was the first European to discover the picturesque beauty of the great Susquehanna River.

John Harris, Sr., built his log house on the bank of the Susquehanna River where the City of Harrisburg now stands in the year of 1705. This building was subsequently stockaded and became known as Fort Harris.

Harris was especially an Indian trader, but engaged largely in agriculture. It is said of him that he was the first person to use a plow on the Susquehanna, and moreover, that “he was as honest a man as ever broke bread.”

The elder Harris was born in the County of Yorkshire, England, of Welsh parents, in the year 1673, and was brought up in the trade of his father, that of a brewer. He was of middle age when he emigrated to America and located in Philadelphia, where he became a contractor for cleaning and grading the streets of the city. He married Esther Say, an English lady, who possessed a remarkable personality and was noted for her extraordinary energy and learning.

In January, 1705, John Harris was given a license to “seat himself on the Susquehanna, and to erect such buildings as are necessary for his trade, and to enclose and improve such quantities of land as he shall think fit.”

He tarried at Conewago awhile, but soon learned of the beauty and superior advantages of Paxtang, and that the best fording-place on the Susquehanna was near there, so he removed and, immediately upon his arrival, commenced the erection of a home and storehouse, which were subsequently to figure so conspicuously in the pioneer history of the young Province.

In connection with his farming he established a ferry which became known throughout the entire Eastern section of the United States.

Miss Wharton, in her delightful story, “In Old Pennsylvania Towns,” refers to the elder Harris as follows:

“John Harris is said to have lived on fairly good terms with the surrounding Indians, but one thrilling experience of his is among the cherished traditions of Harrisburg.

“It seems that a band of roving Indians from the Carolinas halted at his trading post to exchange their goods probably for rum, of which the savages already had too much. They became riotous in their drunken revelry and, demanding more rum, were refused by Mr. Harris, who began to fear harm from his visitors.

“Not to be denied they again demanded ‘Lum’ and, seizing him, they took him to a mulberry tree near by and bound him to it, intending to burn him after they had helped themselves to his stores.

“Before the savages were able to carry out their evil designs, some friendly Indians arrived on the scene, having been warned of the danger of his master by Hercules, a faithful colored servant of Mr. Harris. It is said that these friendly Indians had come to the rescue of Mr. Harris in consequence of some act of kindness which they had received from him.

“The grave of Mr. Harris may be seen in the river bank opposite the Cameron house and is now inclosed by a railing. He is buried under the mulberry tree to which he had once been bound, and at his feet rest the remains of the faithful Hercules, who had saved his master’s life.

“There are men living in Harrisburg who remember the stump of the historic mulberry tree which residents of Harrisburg preserved for years by applying cement and plaster and later a shoot from the original tree flourished and bore fruit to which children strolling along the river bank would stop and help themselves.”

He died in 1748, and was succeeded by his son, who was born in the original Harris home, or Fort Harris, in 1727.

He was the first white child born in Pennsylvania west of the Conewago hills. He was carried to Philadelphia by his mother for the purpose of being baptized, and according to the parish register of Christ Church, in Philadelphia, this event was duly solemnized September 22, 1728, his age at that time being eleven months.

When only a young man, John Harris, Jr., was occasionally employed by the Province of Pennsylvania to transact important business with the Indians at critical periods.

His house was frequently visited by the aborigines, and several very important conferences were held there between the several tribes of Indians on the Susquehanna, Ohio, etc., and the Provincial Government of Pennsylvania.

Under the will of his father he became possessed of 700 acres of land, on a part of which he later laid out the city of Harrisburg.

John Harris, Jr., was an energetic and an extensive farmer and an Indian trader, who enjoyed the confidence of the Indians to an unusual degree. His ferry became the most prominent place along the frontier.

Prior to 1754, he had been sent on an Indian mission to Ohio, and at the same time to notice the practical route from his ferry to Logstown. He performed his errand satisfactorily.

Having accepted an Indian agency he was faithful to his charge, both to the Indians and the Provincial Government. The latter was kept constantly advised of happenings among the frontier settlements, for at this time many of the Ohio Indians had already taken up the hatchet against the English.

He frequently visited the Indians at Shamokin (now Sunbury), and when the French and Indians had committed atrocious murders upon the frontier inhabitants he, aided by others, rushed to their rescue and often buried the bodies of the slain.

These missions were frequently carried out under great hardship and danger. The most serious experience in the life of John Harris occurred October 25, 1755, when the party he was leading from Shamokin was attacked near Mahanoy Creek by Indians lying in ambush and four of his party were killed and four drowned. The person riding on the same horse with Harris was shot and killed, and a moment later the horse was killed and Harris compelled to flee for safety by swimming the river.

John Harris was a sincere patriot. When the independence of the colonies was being agitated he thought it premature, fearing that the colonies were unequal to the task of combating with Great Britain, but when independence was declared, he advanced £3000 to carry on the contest.

He was a man of keen foresight. He understood the natural advantages of Harris’ Ferry, and twenty years before he laid out the town, he observed that it would be a place of business and the seat of the government of Pennsylvania.

When he laid out Harrisburg in 1785, he conveyed, with other property, four acres on Capitol Hill, east of the present State buildings, for public use.

After a life of usefulness, he closed his eventful career, July 29, 1791, and his remains rest in the old Paxton Presbyterian Church graveyard alongside of the illustrious fellow-patriot, William Maclay, whose daughter was his loving and devoted wife.